November 24, 2003
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Radical Muslim cleric Sheik Nasser al-Fahd denounces suicide bombings, declaring on Saudi TV that "blowing oneself up in such operations is not martyrdom; it is suicide". Some consider this a response to pressure from the Saudi government to recant previous statements.[1]
- The High Court in Glasgow rules that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, convicted in 1999 of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988, must serve a minimum of 27 years before being considered for parole. [2]
- A former ANC intelligence operative appears in a South African Court on Monday in connection with an alleged plot to oust or kill President Thabo Mbeki. [3] [4]
- A fire in a student hostel at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba University kills 32 and injures about 150 people, all foreign students. The fire services blame an electrical fault. [5]
- Pro-democracy groups gain in the Hong Kong District Council elections, as the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong loses 21 of its previous 83 elected seats. DAB chairman Tsang Yok-sing offers to resign. [6]
- Canada, Northwest Territories general election, 2003: Voters in the NWT choose their new government, electing the independent members of their consensus legislature. The premier will be chosen by and among the members on Dec. 10. [7]
- In the United States, telephone number portability as mandated by the FCC takes effect in major metropolitan areas. [8]
- HIV-positive muppet Kami is appointed UN mascot for juvenile AIDS victims. [9]
