May 4, 2005

Sober-N Worm Shows No Sign of Retreat CIO Today - "One in every 22 emails sent across the internet is currently infected by the Sober-N worm -- making this one of the biggest virus outbreaks of the year," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. 6:49:12 PM

Chretien's wife, Aline, picked souvenir watches to give away ... Macleans, Canada - Chuck Guite, the man who ran the federal sponsorship program in the late 1990s, was also in charge of providing memorabilia for then-prime minister Jean Chretien to give away on his travels across Canada and around the world. But not all the items could boast of receiving the personal stamp of approval of Chretien's wife, Aline. Just the wrist watches. Guite recalled at the Gomery inquiry how he paid a visit one day to Jean Carle, Chretien's director of operations, and ran into Aline Chretien, who was on her way out just as he arrived. 6:47:08 PM

Oklahoma City Bomber Nichols Says a 3rd Man Took Part in Plot Los Angeles Times, CA -  After a decade of silence, Terry L. Nichols, who was convicted in the Oklahoma City bombings, has accused a third man of being an accomplice who provided some of the explosives used to kill 168 people at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building 10 years ago. Nichols, in a letter written from his cell at the U.S. government's Supermax prison in Colorado, said Arkansas gun collector Roger Moore donated so-called binary explosives, made up of two components, to bomber Timothy J. McVeigh that were used in Oklahoma City, as well as additional bomb components that recently were found in Nichols' former home in Kansas. 10:36:03 AM

Washington Post Senior al-Qaeda suspect arrested, Pakistan says USA Today - Authorities arrested the nation's most-wanted militant, the head of al-Qaeda operations in Pakistan who had a $10 million bounty on his head, and said Wednesday they now were "on the right track" to catch Osama bin Laden. Abu Farraj al-Libbi, who allegedly orchestrated two assassination attempts against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was arrested after a firefight on the outskirts of Mardan, 30 miles north of Peshawar, capital of the deeply conservative North West Frontier Province, the government and security officials said. Al-Libbi, a native of Libya who authorities say is a close associate of bin Laden and acted as al-Qaeda's operational chief in Pakistan, was arrested earlier this week, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Associated Press. 9:30:29 AM

Liberal stalwart to appear at inquiry Winnipeg Sun - A Liberal stalwart who allegedly pocketed $20,000 in sponsorship money, including at least $5,000 in a shadowy restaurant exchange, has been scheduled to testify at the Gomery inquiry this week. 9:25:36 AM

Gates accidentally reveals next Xbox release date addict3d.org -  Microsoft has been highly secretive about whether it will release its next Xbox video-game console this year or next. Apparently, Bill Gates didn't get the memo. Speaking yesterday to a national convention of business editors and writers, the Microsoft chairman seemed to confirm widespread industry speculation about the timing of the release, referring to plans to ship the console "this year." The remark, apparently inadvertent, came as Gates talked about consumer adoption of high-definition displays, which Microsoft is incorporating into its strategy as it takes on market leader Sony Corp. and its dominant PlayStation franchise. "What will the year of high-definition be?" Gates asked, rhetorically. He then answered the question by saying that it would be tempting to think of it as "this year, because we're going to ship this next Xbox." A representative of the Xbox team declined to comment on Gates' remark. Microsoft plans to announce details and timing for the next Xbox during a TV special next week. Gates made the statement during the annual convention of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in Seattle, where he gave a speech and took questions on stage from BusinessWeek's Jay Greene. 9:20:14 AM

CJAD Patient silent for years suddenly gets chatty Kansas City Star - Nearly 9½ years after a firefighter was left brain-damaged and mostly mute in a roof collapse, he did something that shocked his family and doctors: He asked for his wife. Staff members of the nursing home where Donald Herbert has lived for more than seven years raced to phone Linda Herbert. The conversation was the first of many the patient had with his relatives and friends Saturday in a 14-hour stretch, said Herbert's uncle, Simon Manka. "How long have I been away?" Herbert asked. "We told him almost 10 years," the uncle said. "He thought it was only three months." 9:13:59 AM