An Internet video newscast called the Voice of the Caliphate was broadcast for the first time on Monday, purporting to be a production of al-Qaida and featuring an anchorman who wore a black ski mask and an ammunition belt. The anchorman, who said the report would appear once a week, presented news about the Gaza Strip and Iraq and expressed happiness about recent hurricanes in the United States. The broadcast was first reported by the Italian AdnKronos news agency. The 16-minute production was shown on Italian newspaper Web sites.
Israel: Sharon wins key vote
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon survived a major challenge to his leadership in the Likud Party he helped found, narrowly claiming victory Monday in a vote, ostensibly over whether to hold elections for party leader in April, as scheduled. It was widely seen as a vote of confidence on his rule and the recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Likud members voted 1,433 to 1,329 to keep the schedule.
Spain: Al-Qaida leader convicted
A Syrian-born businessman was sentenced in Madrid to 27 years in prison Monday after being convicted of leading a terrorist cell and conspiring to commit murder in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Imad Yarkas was cleared of a more serious charge in Europe’s biggest trial of suspected al-Qaida members. Another man accused of helping one of the hijackers set up a key meeting was acquitted of being an accessory to murder but was convicted of collaborating with a terrorist group. Sixteen other people were convicted of collaborating with or belonging to the terror cell.
China: Typhoon Damrey hits south
Typhoon Damrey, “elephant” in Cambodian, slammed into southern China’s resort island of Hainan on Monday, killing at least nine people, collapsing houses and sweeping away rice, rubber and banana crops before heading west toward Vietnam. More than 200,000 people were being evacuated along the Vietnam coast ahead of its expected arrival today, the Chinese news agency said.
Russia: Ukrainian official comes in
Russian prosecutors said Monday they had canceled an arrest warrant for former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko after she appeared in Moscow over the weekend and was questioned. Tymoshenko had been accused of bribing Russian defense officials while she headed Ukraine’s main gas distributor, which she denies.
From Herald news services
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