Wikinews:Briefs/October 27, 2007

Audio Wikinews Audio Wikinews News Brief for October 27, 2007
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Plotter of USS Cole attack freed from prison

Jamal al-Bedawi, one of the mastermind plotters of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 that killed 17 American NAVY personnel and injured 39 others in Yemen, has been freed from a prison in Sanaá, the capital of Yemen after he "pleaded allegiance" to the president of the country, and will be kept under house arrest with extreme security.

Al-Bedawi, who was serving a death sentence for his role in the attack, escaped from a Yemeni prison in February of 2006 along with another plotter of the attack, Fawaz al-Rabeiee, who has yet to be captured. Al-Bedawi turned himself in to authorities just over two weeks ago.

United States officials have described the move as "disappointing."

Elderly couple found slain in scrapyard in Staffordshire, England

Bodies of an elderly couple have been found in Barlows scrapyard in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. BBC reports the bodies were found on Friday night.

A 29-year-old man was the only person at the scrapyard when police and ambulance crews arrived and has now been arrested as a suspect.

The scene has been cornered off by police.

Unexpected comet 'outburst' could be visible for weeks

If you've noticed a fuzzy yellowish object at night in the northeast sky, immediately to the left of the constellation Perseus, that's because it is the Comet Holmes which has suddenly gotten brighter in what scientists say is "absolutely unprecedented" in comet research.

Earlier reports were that the object might have been a star that went super nova, or that a new star might have formed, but because the comet does not have a tail, the earlier reports were later dismissed.

The comet took just 24 hours to get more than 400,000 times brighter than it usually is, and is currently over one million times brighter, but Brian Marsden, director of the Minor Planet Center, says the comet's brightness could dim in days or even weeks.

Dalai Lama to meet with Canada's PM on Monday

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be meeting with the Dalai Lama on Monday at his office in Ottawa at 2 p.m.

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to give a speech on Sunday in downtown Ottawa. He is also planned to meet various Canadian officials and hold a news conference later in the week.

This is the second time the Dalai Lama will meet with a Canadian Prime Minister.

New bill will ban Muslims from wearing veils at polls; Canada

A new bill will propose a law to amend the Canada Elections Act to ban Muslims from wearing veils (or niqab's) while at polls.

According to a Canadian government press release it will allow "someone to be recognized, who is attempting to commit an offense at the polls such as trying to vote twice)," and it will "restore public confidence in the electoral process."

Complaints arose from the Quebec elections that some people reportedly concealed their faces during voting.

Sarah Elgazzar, a spokeswoman for the Canada Council on American-Islamic Relations in September stated that the small minority of women targeted by the bill already remove their veils for identification.

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