truck bomb destroys a military hospital in Mozdok in Southern Russia, near Chechnya, killing 41 and wounding at least 76. The Russian government blames the attack on Chechen separatists. A media spokesman for rebel political leader, Aslan Maskhadov, denied any connection with the incident.[1]
nuclear standoff with Japan, South Korea, Russia, The United States, and the People's Republic of China.[2]
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health plans to propose an amendment to Finnish tobacco legislation which would make retail sales of tobacco products subject to a license.[3]
in the weeks before his suicide were foiled by a security guard, who found the documents scheduled for destruction and called the police. The MoD insists the documents were not that important but will now be preserved and supplied to the Hutton Inquiry into the Kelly case.
The
war crimes
prosecution. The U.S. demand is described by its critics as a breach of international law.
José Bové, a radical French activist against genetically modified food, is released from prison after serving only five weeks of a 10-month jail sentence.
Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Two of the bombs are damaged, and the gas poisons 43 (one died 19 days later). Japan a week later accepts responsibility and sends doctors and compensation to China.[7]
The clergy and lay people of the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America, by a comfortable margin, vote in favor of the appointment of an openly gaybishop. The vote is thought likely to get confirmation from the bishops' collegium, which however is delayed due to last minute independent allegations of misconduct and intense conservative opposition.[8][9]
SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit: Reuters have reported that Red Hat intends to start legal action against SCO
to establish that SCO's claims against the Linux operating system are invalid.
would be freed but only released 342 names in a prisoner list. Israel accuses the Palestinians of not curbing terrorist attacks on Israel.
A further twist to the British David Kelly scandal occurs, as Tony Blair's official spokesman, Tom Kelly, apologizes to David Kelly's family for having compared the late and still un-buried Dr. Kelly to a "Walter Mitty" character in a "private" conversation with a journalist.[13][14]
Liberals
12.
The Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, approves its first openly gaybishop as the final vote was cast to confirm Gene Robinson as the Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was cleared of allegations of misconduct before the vote. The action incites protests, a declaration of a "pastoral emergency", and calls for intervention by the Anglican Communion chief bishops.[15][16][17]
Department of Homeland Security are providing funds to expand Matrix coverage to the entire country.[21][22][23]
An Italian laboratory announces the birth of the world's first cloned horse, Prometea.[24]
The United States Pentagon establishes that a unit of military personnel has arrived in Liberia, coordinating support for the West African peacekeepers in the country.[25][26]
North Korea and Iran are planning to form an alliance to develop long-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. Under the plan, North Korea will transport missile parts to Iran for assembly at a plant near Tehran, Iran.[27][28]
FBI agent who posed as a member of the Real IRA to get close to McKevitt. The three judges of the SCC will sentence McKevitt later.[29]
2002 Bali terrorist bombing. The court found Amrozi guilty of planning and carrying out the attack. The verdict comes two days after another attack outside Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. Jemaah Islamiyah is linked with both of the attacks.[33]
Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. At least 10 people are killed and more than 30 are injured. The bomb, hidden in a minibus, is believed to be detonated remotely.[34]
Hezbollah, a militant Lebanese group backed by Syria and Iran, fires artillery toward Israeli border posts, drawing return fire. It was the first such exchange in eight months. AP story
A Ma'ariv
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is involved in corruption, with 52% saving he will have to resign if he behaved illegally. The controversy is over a $1.5 million loan given in January 2002 to Sharon's son, Gilad that was the loan originated from Cyril Kern, a friend of Ariel Sharon.[36]
Occupation of Iraq: At his ranch in Crawford, Texas, President Bush noted the 100th day since overt military action in Iraq ended, saying that the United States has made "good progress" in helping Iraq's democratic processes, overall national security, and economy.[37][38][39]
US v. EU on GM food: The European Union expresses their disapproval over the American, Canadian and Argentinian effort to launch a World Trade Organization formal challenge against its decision to keep the policy of banning genetically modified crops.[40][41][42]
SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit: IBM furnishes more information on their SCO countersuit and states that they have Novell support.[43][44][45]
United Airlines flight 93 into the Pennsylvania farmland because of the passenger uprising in the cabin trying to seize the plane's controls.[46][47][48][49]
It is reported that the Canadian Grand Prix is dropped from the 2004Formula One calendar as a result of its anti-tobaccolaws. The Montreal race was given a grace of seven years before the introduction of the new law, announced in 1997. This comes a week after it was announced that the Belgian GP will be re-introduced in the 2004 season.[50] However, Formula One director general Bernie Ecclestone says that no such decision has been made.[51]
The draft EUconstitution could lead to the establishment of foreign-owned private health care and educational services.[52]
Newtown St. Boswells, Borders, the previous record had stood since 1908. The cause of the heat wave is believed to be a stagnant air mass over the Sahara sending hot air as far north as Sweden.[53]
Occupation of Iraq: United States Central Command military officials confirm that Mahmoud Diyab al-Ahmed, the Iraqi Minister of Interior was in its custody. He occupies the number 29 position on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis. The Iraqi Minister of Interior surrendered to coalition forces yesterday. He was the seven of spades on the deck of cards distributed to U.S. troops.[54][55][56]
Aduva, Inc., a Linux developing company, releases this week a tool to allow companies to replace any offending Linux code, if it exists, with code that does not infringe on SCO's intellectual property rights.[57][58][59]
It is unknown how this tool will work, as SCO has not disclosed which code it considers infringing.
One hundred thousand people attend a rally in the French countryside to condemn next month's round of trade liberalisation talks being held under auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Cancún in Mexico.[61]
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir
suicide bombers as expectations rise of an Al-Qaeda attack on the British capital.[62]
War on Terrorism: The Sunday Times reports that Al-Qaedaterrorists have infiltrated Iraq from surrounding Arab countries and have aligned themselves with former intelligence agents of Saddam Hussein to fight the Coalition forces. Their attacks have killed Coalition soldiers and Iraqi police officers, among others.[63]
Warnings of avalanches are issued in the Alps, as mountain glaciers melt.
Charles Taylor, who is to step down tomorrow, has appealed to rebels to "submit to the democratic process'". He also accuses the United States of funding the rebels who have besieged the capital, Monrovia, for a week.[65]
The British
Dr. David Kelly, the BBC source who took his own life after his identity was revealed by the Ministry of Defence, to the fictional Walter Mitty character.[66]
A 16-year-old Israeli was killed and five people were injured in Hezbollah shelling of the northern Israeli town of Shlomi. Israeli planes attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response. Some sources claim Hezbollah's attack was a response to Israel's car-bomb assassination of Hezbollah member Ali Hussein Saleh in Beirut on August 3 in which two passersby were injured.[67]
While retired South African Archbishop
sever relations with the American dioceses that supported the election of a gay priest as bishop if what they called the "path of deviation" is not changed.[68][69]
The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK – 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) at Brogdale near Faversham in Kent.[70] It is the first time the UK has recorded a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Anglicans in Malawi, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe informed him they would could cut ties with the United States organization unless the appointment of an openly gay bishop is overturned. The Anglican Church in Kenya also demanded a reversal.[77][78][79]
European heat wave: Parisian health authorities charge that fifty people have died in Paris owing to the heat wave, particularly elderly people, and that the government is ignoring the crisis.[80] In Catalonia, five people from one family are killed by a wildfire that encircles their home. Four villages are evacuated in the Algarve.[81]
Doctors in Montreal successfully deliver by Caesarean section a healthy baby who grew in an ectopic pregnancy. Such a pregnancy, which begins outside the uterus, is all but invariably fatal to the fetus and is extremely dangerous to the mother. The woman and her doctors were unaware of the ectopic pregnancy until she went into labour.[82]
FBI agent go to Saint Petersburg, where the agent posed as an Islamic extremist and met the British arms dealer supplying the missile. The missile was shipped from Saint Petersburg to Baltimore in the United States. The British arms dealer "arranging" the deal was arrested when he arrived in Newark, New Jersey, in the United States today. The White House has publicly denied that Air Force One was to be the target of the missile. However Tom Mangold, the BBC veteran investigative reporter who broke the story, claims the British dealer supplying the missile recommended to the undercover FBI agent that the President's jet, rather than a commercial jet, be the target, saying that he could get another 60 Ingla missiles which could then be used to launch a co-ordinated attack on Air Force One.[84]
Ariel. Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attacks. The IDF retaliated on Wednesday by demolishing the house in Nablus where the bomber in the Rosh Ha-Ayin attack lived with his family.[92]
The Serbian government has indicated that it wants to retake control of the province of Kosovo, arguing that the United Nations, which currently has control, has failed to reestablish the rule of law.[93][94]
Sir Jocelyn Gore-Booth announces the sale of the historic
W.B. Yeats. Critics condemn the Irish government for failing to buy the estate; Sir Jocelyn had offered it first refusal. The identity of the buyer has not yet been revealed but rock singer Bono had shown major interest in the property.[95]
The remains of a
viking warrior are found at a building site in Dublin. The warrior had been stabbed to death during a 9th-century Viking raid on Dubhlinn monastery. The dagger was still attached to his body when his remains were found. The archaeological
dig is expected to continue at the site for six months.
Ivan Jovovic and Bogdan Bukomiric, both 16 years old, from
UNMIK and KFOR claimed that they transferred one of them, Marko Bogicevic, to Belgrade, but he is actually in a German military hospital at Prizren, against his parents' wishes. An Italian KFOR patrol refused to lend fuel for the car which was transporting wounded children to hospital in Pec, when it ran out of fuel, and took no action when car was stoned by local Albanians. After finally arriving at Pec, doctors there refused to treat the children. KFOR claims that it is researching the location of the incident with 300 men.[citation needed
]
Discovery of a Saudi Arabia airplane plot. Intelligence agencies producing alerts and relaying them to Washington, D.C., and London of a specific threat to airlines flying around Riyadh international airport. The plan to shoot down a British Airways plane was discovered after a member of the plot drove his car through a checkpoint in Riyadh. In response to the threat BA cancels all flights to Saudi Arabia until further notice. The United States issues a travel alert for Saudi Arabia citing the threat of terrorism including potential attacks against civil aviation.[99][100][101]
Arnold Schwarzenegger names Warren Buffett as his economic adviser on Wednesday. Mr Buffett will help the actor build a team to lead the state out of its fiscal crisis.[103]
Disgraced Irish former
tax-evasion is the subject of a judicial inquiry and which have largely destroyed his reputation, bought the palatial mansion for £120,000 in the 1960s. Haughey, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer
, will not be allowed to remain in the house as a sitting tenant for the rest of his life, a demand of his which scuppered past attempts to sell.
Canadian Department of National Defense, the chain reaction was started by a lightning strike in the Niagara Falls region on the U.S. side of the border.[108] A press release with some technical details of the event is available at.[109] The NRC reports that all nine affected nuclear power plants have been safely shut down.[110]
Heat wave: French health officials estimate that as many as 3,000 people may have died in France as a result of the heat wave. Fatalities and illnesses are swamping the French health system. The city of Paris launches its Plan blanc emergency response procedure. However, temperatures in Paris have now dropped from 40 °C to 30 °C.[111]
Vancouver). However, until more is known about the disease, the home will be treated as a SARS site for safety's sake.[112]
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israel frees another 76 prisoners, a week after releasing more than 300 people. Israel argues that it is a gesture of goodwill and in accordance with agreements. The Palestinian authority disagrees and says that most were not arrested for terrorist activities, and that it was the people arrested for the latter that Israel originally agreed to release. Palestinian officials want the release of 6000 prisoners, many of whom it claims were wrongly arrested, to obtain public support for the US-backed road map for peace.[119]
Power is restored to many, but not all areas of the north-eastern United States and Canada affected by the previous day's blackout.[120] Investigations into the root cause of the grid collapse are currently focusing on transmission lines circling Lake Erie.[121]
Libya formally accepts responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. It consists of general language that lacks expression of remorse for lives lost.[122] Although some claim the acceptance is just a business deal and not a true admission of guilt.[123]
Major blackout: Power is now restored in New York City, Toronto, and most of Ottawa. Authorities warn of possible future disruptions and advise conservation as work continues to restore power to the entire grid. Theories as to the cause of the event, meanwhile, are becoming more substantial and coherent.[124]
FirstEnergy Corporation, which services 1.4 million people in the state, released a statement Saturday that three of its transmission lines tripped off at Unit 5 of their Eastlake Plant hours before the blackout, and may have been its cause.[130]
Terrorists again fired on children in Goraždevac, near Pec, this time while they were in the center of the village. No children were injured in this incident, just four days since the last.[131]
minke whales for research on the impact of the whales on fish stocks.[134][135][136]
In Canada,
lieutenant governor of New Brunswick on the recommendation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
.
A
Palestinian cameraman working for Reuters, Mazen Dana, is shot dead by a Coalition tank crew in Iraq while trying to film around Abu Ghraib prison, after a mortar attack on the prison. The tank crew mistook the camera for a grenade launcher.[137]
truck bomb explosion at the Baghdad Canal Hotel that houses the United Nations mission kills at least 17 people and injures over 100. Among the casualties is Sérgio Vieira de Mello, U.N. special representative in Iraq. The bomb damages a hospital nearby, and the shock wave is felt a mile away.[144][145][146]
20 killed, 136 wounded by an explosion on board an
Jerusalem bus 2 massacre
al-Qaida
network.
Kurdish group claims responsibility for the capture of Ramadan. He was handed over to Coalition forces in Mosul.[151][152][153]
forest fires in the Cascade Mountains, the worst fire in Oregon of this year. Within three days the resort community of Camp Sherman is evacuated, affecting 1,500 residents and campers, closure of US highway 20 over Santiam Pass
al Qaeda, Ansar al-Islam, is emerging as a top suspect in the U.N. headquarters bombing in Baghdad. "It's part of a global war against terrorism that was officially declared on us on September 11. It's quite clear we do have terrorists inside Iraq now."[155]
undertakers state that 10,000 more French people died during the early August summer heatwave than the first two weeks of August in 2002. It had previously been suggested that the number was 3,000. President Jacques Chirac demands reports from cabinet ministers on the crisis, while in Italy the newspaper La Repubblica suggests that Italy had 2000 more deaths than normal due to the heatwave.[156]
One of the holiest sites in
Haram al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary, is re-opened to controversy. Jerusalem's police chief, Mickey Levey says the decision was taken before the most recent suicide bombing. However the decision is condemned by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, who says the re-opening was done without the agreement of the Waqf, the Muslim authority that oversees the site. Palestinians from outside Jerusalem who are under the age of 40 are currently barred from entering. The compound includes the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.[157]
A computer worm called W32.Welchia.Worm infects computers across the Internet. The virus has been labeled "good" by some, because it attempts to remove W32.Blaster.Worm, and downloads the Windows security patch which prevents W32.Blaster.Worm infections before spreading to other computers. It will also remove itself once the date hits 2004.[158][159][160][161][162]
Islamic Jihad in response to the bombing in Jerusalem.[163]Israel notifies the public that it will retaliate with military strikes for bus bombing.[164] There are conflicting reports that Israel will hold off on the attacks to see if the Palestinian administration takes action against terrorist groups.[165]
Fighting persists in Chechnya, with six Russian servicemen killed and 11 others wounded in the war-ravaged region.
One Nation Party, is sentenced in Queensland to three years in prison for electoral fraud
.
Afghanistan: Afghan President Hamid Karzai's spokesman comments that the issue of Taliban crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan will be discussed during Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's visit to Kabul. Afghanistan claims Pakistani based Taliban have killed many Afghan soldiers.[166]
Alcântara space base, killing at least 21 people. It is thought that one of the rocket's four motors caught fire; the subsequent explosion destroyed the rocket, its cargo of two satellites, and the launch-pad, as well as the deaths of many of Brazil's space-specialists, causing an estimated US$12 million worth of damage. This ends Brazil's third attempt since 1997 at becoming a space power.[177][178]
Kelowna, British Columbia. This is Western Canada's worst fire season in decades.[180]
Secretary of State of the United States Colin Powell states that there is no plan to cede authority to the United Nations from the Coalition forces.[181] Powell also sought a new Security Council resolution that would involve other nations to contribute troops and aid in securing and rebuilding Iraq.[182]
intelligence agents working as security guards may have assisted the attack.[183]
Palestinian militants and the Israeli Government vow to continue attacks on each other after the terrorist attacks and bloodshed. Hamas and Islamic Jihad release an official joint statement on their participation ending in the peace plan.[184] They urge militant cells in Palestine to strike. Israeli security officials state this is "only the beginning" of responses to Palestinian attacks.[185][186]
Palestinian militant leaders of Hamas and organizations financially supporting the "terrorist organization". The action is taken because Hamas officially claims responsibility for the act of terror on August 19.[187][188]
Chief Justice Roy Moore is suspended by a Judicial Ethics Panel over his refusal to remove a monument listing the Ten Commandments which he had installed in the state Supreme Court building. Moore had been ordered to remove the controversial monument by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, who in a judgment in 2002 said the monument "violates the constitution's ban on government promotion of a religious doctrine". Thompson's judgment was upheld by eight Associate Justices. Their ruling was criticised by Moore and the Christian Defense Coalition, who have threatened to block the court building to prevent the monument's removal.[189][190]
In an unprecedented move, the British government submit thousands of official documents (many of which would not normally be seen by the public for 30 years) to the Hutton Inquiry, and publication on the Internet.[191][192]
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, destroying more than 200 homes. One-third of the city's population, or 30,000 people, have been evacuated.[193]
extremist groups and urge Israel to stop their action against top militants.[194][195]
Power outage happens all of Southern Finland for 30 to 60 minutes, because one underground line in Central Helsinki short circuits. The lack of electricity begins at 20:20 and causes radio broadcasts, public lights, elevators, trains, trams and metro traffic to stop. Also people have to be evacuated in Linnanmäki amusement park.[196]August 182357
Republican Bill Simon drops out of the California gubernatorial recall race.[197]
ambassador with the United Kingdom and Argentina for the alleged bombing Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1994 in which 85 people died.[198][199]
Roman Catholic priest and convicted child molester, dies following an attack in prison. Initial reports say that he was strangled to death.[200][201][202]
Hurricane Ignacio approaches the coast of Baja California. Harbours and airports close and low-lying areas are evacuated.[204]
Little League World Series: Tokyo, Japan, defeats Boynton Beach, Florida, 10–1. The Tokyo team went undefeated in the tournament, defeating the Saudi Arabia team 17–0, with a perfect game pitched by four Japanese pitchers, and the mercy rule
Two explosions, apparently caused by car bombs placed in taxis, kills at least 44 and injures a further 150 in Mumbai, India. It is the sixth bombing in Mumbai in a year.[205]
In Australia's
MPs in calling for disclosure of his role in the case, and described Hanson as a "political prisoner". Remarkably, the nearly defunct One Nation Party's support surged to 21% on news of Hanson's imprisonment.[207]
The
Dogrib people self-government in an area the size of Belgium.[208]
War on Terrorism: President Bush, speaking to American Legion veterans convention, defends the Iraq policy, declaring the United States had hit terrorism in overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. President Bush vows "no retreat" from Iraq. President Bush also states that the United States may carry out other pre-emptive strikes.[210][211][212][213][214]
Astronomy: Mars passes Earth at a distance of under 55.76 million kilometers, the closest it has been in approximately 60,000 years[226][227]
Private
Army National Guard
.
Gallup poll, nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans polled say the war in Iraq was worth fighting.[228]
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat calls on militant groups to reinstate a ceasefire they formally ended last week after a Hamas leader was killed by Israeli gunships.[229]
Separation of church and state: The controversial Ten Commandments monument in Alabama's Supreme Court building is removed from public view, following a court order stating that the monument's location in the court building breaches the separation of church and state. The monument, nicknamed Roy's Holy Rock, was installed two years ago by the conservative Christian Chief Justice Roy Moore.[230][231] Only one in five (20%) Americans approve of the federal court order under which workers removed the Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of Alabama's state judicial building Wednesday, according to a new poll.[232]
Seven people, including the gunman, are killed in a shooting in Chicago as a worker opens fire on his colleagues at a car parts store. The police shoot the gunman dead.[233]
A body of a woman is found in a shallow grave on a beach near
Provisional IRA in the mid-1970s. The IRA had suggested two years ago that McConville was buried in the vicinity. Previous attempts to find her remains had failed.[234]
World Trade Center emergency calls are released. Voices of victims are identified on emergency calls and radio transmissions.[235][236][237][238][239]
United Kingdom – London blackout: A 34-minute power outage causes major disruptions in rail and Tube services in London and the South East when one of the National Grid circuits that feeds south London fails at about 6.15 pm.[240]
nuclear weapons, has the means to deliver them, and will soon be carrying out a nuclear test to demonstrate this capability.[241][242][243][244]
Israel is alleged to have contingency plans to bomb an Iranian nuclear power plant if it begins producing weapons grade material.[250]
Tensions flare again over the main religious site in
Noble Sanctuary. The holy site had been closed to non-Muslims since September 2000. Israeli officials say they are maintaining calm over a site sacred to three religions. But Muslim authorities say the Israeli government is risking a backlash here and throughout the Muslim world.[251]
Occupation of Iraq: General in Iraq says more soldiers are not needed. The American Coalition commander encouraged Muslim allies like Turkey and Pakistan to send peacekeepers and said accelerating the training of a new Iraqi army should be considered.[252]
Tony Blair's communications director, Alastair Campbell, resigns, leaving Blair with none of the three key players he has relied on for the last decade left.[253][254]
The Inuit of Labrador sign an agreement with the Canadian federal government, giving them self-government in a 72,500 km2 region of northern Labrador called Nunatsiavut.[255]
Surgeons in
bovine and human tissue, and reinstall it in her body.[256]
William J. Janklow, the only Representative from the state of South Dakota, is charged with vehicular manslaughter for an accident on August 16 in which Janklow's speeding car ran a stop sign and hit and killed a motorcyclist.[257]
Natural disaster: French official first report from the Institut de Veille Sanitaire was presented to Jean-François Mattei (Health Minister). It reports 11,500 more deaths than the previous three years would be due to the heat wave of early August. It had previously been suggested that the number was 3,000.
Russian
K-159 November class sinks in the Barents Sea. The sub was decommissioned and it had 10 crew on board. The incident comes three years after Russia's worst peacetime naval disaster when all 118 crew of the nuclear submarine Kursk died when it sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000. Environmental organizations say that the submarine could be dangerous for fishes, because radioactive material could leak to the sea from its two nuclear reactors.[260]
Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim.[261] The Iraqi police handling the investigation say they have arrested 19 men in connection with the blast, many of them foreigners and all with admitted links to al-Qaeda.[145]
The U.S.
global warming for over a decade, with most voices (though notably fewer within the US) calling it the biggest factor, while others call it negligible.[262]
Occupation of Iraq: American and Iraqi officials are discussing the possibility of forming a large Iraqi militia or paramilitary force to help improve security in the country.[263]
suicide bombing campaign designed to change Asia and the Pacific region into Islamic provinces. Jemaah Islamiyah is also shown to be a well-formed organization with a constitution, rules of operation, and leadership structure.[264]
Shkin) near the Pakistani border. Taliban reinforcements moved into mountainous region in southern Afghanistan where U.S. and Afghan forces have been attacking hideouts in a battle over the past week.[265]
