The only person in the world convicted in the Sept. 11 attacks on the US won a retrial on Thursday after an appeals court faulted Washington's refusal to allow testimony from a key al-Qaeda captive. Mounir el Motassadeq, a Moroccan, had his year-old conviction overturned, leaving German prosecutors with little to show for their efforts to pursue helpers of the Hamburg cell that included three of the suicide hijackers.
■ Russia
Scientists stranded on ice
Twelve Russian scientists were stranded on a disintegrating free-floating ice pack near the north pole Thursday night with dwindling power and food supplies, after 90 percent of their research base was destroyed when the ice pack it was built upon began to fragment and sink. A high-risk rescue operation using the world's largest helicopter to pluck the men off the ice is being planned, but rescuers say the task will be dangerous and highly dependent upon weather conditions. Artur Chillingarov, the rescue team leader and a seasoned Arctic explorer, said it was possible to begin the operation as early as yesterday but warned that the scientists' location -- 725km north of Norway's Spitzbergen archipelago -- was generally considered inaccessible for helicopters and planes because it was so remote.
■ Israel
Jewish bomber arrested
Israeli police said on Thursday they had arrested an ultranationalist Jew who had confessed to a three-year bombing campaign against Arabs and to plotting the assassination of Israeli Arab lawmakers. Police said Eliran Golan, 22, had begun his attacks soon after the start of the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but the only casualty of the 10 homemade bombs he planted was a woman injured in an explosion at a mosque. Golan was arrested at his family's home in the northern city of Haifa, where police found an explosives laboratory and more than 30 bombs ready to use. Police said Golan had confessed and they now wanted to find out if he had acted alone.
■ United States
Paintballers convicted
Three American Muslims accused of training for holy war against the US by waging paintball battles in the Virginia woods were convicted of conspiring to support terrorism. Prosecutors said on Thursday the three were part of a "Virginia jihad network" that used paintball games in 2000 and 2001 to train for holy war around the globe. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the group allegedly focused its efforts on defending the Taliban. Two of the defendants were accused of traveling to Pakistan to train with a terrorist group.
■ Israel
Sharon losing support: poll
Battered by multiple scandals, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a fresh blow yesterday when an opinion poll in Israel's biggest newspaper showed that for the first time a majority of Israelis want him to quit. The former general has vowed to weather the storms kicked up by allegations of corruption and misconduct that he denies. But much will depend on whether prosecutors now weighing criminal charges against Sharon decide to indict him. The poll in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily found that 53 percent of those surveyed believe Sharon should resign as a result of the scandals, while 43 percent wanted him to stay on.
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