Al Gore's son arrested for pot possession
BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The 21-year-old son of former Vice President Al Gore has been arrested in Bethesda, Md., for possession of marijuana.
Albert Gore III was driving a Cadillac late Friday night when he was pulled over by a unit of the Montgomery County Police Holiday Task Force, according to a police statement detailed by CNN Saturday.
Despite freezing temperatures, the car's sunroof and windows were open and the officer "smelled the odor of marijuana," the release said.
A search turned up "a partial marijuana cigarette" and "a cardboard cigarette box with a baggie containing suspected marijuana," the police said.
Gore and two passengers were charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and were released pending trial.
This is not the first brush with the law for the Harvard University student. He was clocked going 94 mph and ticketed for reckless driving in North Carolina in 2000 and was arrested for drunken driving near a military base in Virginia last year.
Libya follows up on forsaken WMD
VIENNA, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Libya acted quickly Saturday to prove it really is abandoning efforts to build any weapons of mass destruction, arranging for international inspections.
Libya sent its chief of scientific research to Vienna to meet with Mohammed ElBaradei to clear the way for IAEA inspections of nuclear installations.
Libya said is it also abandoning its chemical and bio-weapons capabilities.
The surprise announcement Friday came after nine months of secret talks between Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi and officials from the United States and Britain, the Voice of America reported.
Libya said it originated the talks, voluntarily deciding to renounce the potential use and development of the weapons after becoming persuaded that divisions among Arab countries made its isolation and the cost of maintaining the arsenal too high a price to pay.
Gadhafi said he hopes two decades of isolation can be ended, along with U.S. sanctions, so the country's oil riches can be developed by outside firms.
Malayasia delays terrorist expulsion
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Malaysian officials have delayed the expulsion of a suspected terrorist leader who was supposed to go to Indonesia Sunday.
Mohamad Iqbal Abdul Rahman, alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiah, has been held without charge in Malaysia for two years, the BBC reported. He was released to immigration authorities about four months ago and just recently announced he would willingly return to his native Indonesia.
He was supposed to be released Sunday, but Malaysian officials announced the action would be delayed indefinitely, the BBC said.
It was widely feared Mohamad would go free in Indonesia even though
Jemaah Islamiah is suspected in last year's deadly Bali bombings.
The United States has frozen Mohamad's assets and designated him a terrorist.
Mohamad spent years teaching at religious schools in Malaysia along with Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, said to be Jemaah Islamiah's spiritual leader, and its alleged former operations chief, known as Hambali.
Hambali is being held by U.S. authorities.
No decision on where to put fision reactor
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Officials from several nations meeting in Washington Saturday announced they could not decide where to put the world's first large nuclear fusion reactor.
Representatives from the United States, European Union, Japan, Russia, China and South Korea had hoped to make a final decision on the location of the project during two days of meetings, the BBC reported.
However, at the end of Saturday's session the group remained divided between putting the $12 Billion project in France or Japan, the BBC said.
The United States opposed the French site because of France's opposition to the war in Iraq, the BBC said.
The European Union, Russia and China backed France while South Korea, the United States and Tokyo voted for Japan, the BBC said.
Scientists say it will be the first fusion device to produce thermal energy at the level of an electricity-producing power station.
It was unknown when the group might meet again.
