Al Jazeera broadcasts a video tape claimed to be supplied by Al-Qaeda which apparently shows suicide bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan prior to the 7 July 2005 London bombings stating that he would take part in the attacks. He warned Westerners that they would not be safe because of their "crimes against humanity."(Guardian/AP)
U.S. President George W. Bush in an early morning interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer at the White House said: "I fully understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday" (ABC)
tragedy in which militants seized nearly 1,200 hostages, killing 331, more than half of them children. (The Guardian)
Adel Abdul Mehdi signed instead. Talabani has also said he will refuse to sign the death warrant of Saddam Hussein should he be convicted and sentenced to death. (Times Online)
The
Common Chimpanzee genome sequence has been released, revealing genetic differences between chimps and humans including differences in a region of the genome thought to be involved in speech acquisition. (VoA)
As part of celebrations for the 40th Anniversary for the founding of the
California Senate passes the first bill to allow same-sex marriage in the United States. The vote of 21 in favor and 15 against sets the stage for a showdown in the state Assembly, which narrowly rejected a similar bill in June by a margin of two votes. Since the June vote some major California organizations have changed stance to support same-sex marriage, including the influential Latino group: the United Farm Workers. Latinos account for 34 percent of the population in the state. (The Advocate)(San Francisco Gate)
The oil-rich nation of Qatar has offered the United States $100 million to assist in the humanitarian crisis triggered by Hurricane Katrina. (CNN)
Spain joins the global effort to prevent a US oil crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina by providing the United States with 70,000 barrels per day (11,000 m3/d) during September. (International Herald Tribune)
Over 40,000 military personnel will be deployed along the
Gulf Coast in the coming week: President George W. Bush is ordering 7,023 additional active duty forces to the Gulf Coast to add to the 4,000 active duty personnel and 21,000 National Guard troops already in the area. The Pentagon announced an additional 10,000 troop deployment from the National Guard. (The White House)(BBC)
socio-economic fallout from response to Hurricane Katrina continues to grow. Poor black people, says Lani Guinier, a Harvard University law professor, are "the canary in the mine. Poor black people are the throwaway people. And we pathologize them in order to justify our disregard." (Washington Post)
"The people of our city are holding on by a thread," Mayor Ray Nagin says. (The Argus)
PNA President Mahmoud Abbas said that 97.5 percent of Gaza Strip lands that Israel would evacuate from were state-owned lands and that the Islamic University was entitled to receive lands in order to expand its facilities.(IPC)
Estimates of the death toll in New Orleans are made by H&HS Secretary Michael Leavitt: "I think it's evident it's in the thousands. It's clear to me that this has been sickeningly difficult and profoundly tragic circumstance" (Express News)
The Coast Guard asks people in the New Orleans area to hang brightly colored or white sheets, towels or anything else that might help draw attention to those needing assistance. (The Times-Picayune)
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits her native Alabama and defends President Bush's response to the hurricane saying "Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race." (Express News)
With 250,000 refugees already in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry ordered emergency officials to begin preparations to airlift some of them to other states that have offered to help. (Denton Record Chronicle)
Wistar Institute scientists say they will present details of research on their creation of "miracle mice" next week at a Cambridge University conference on Regeneration. The experimental animals are able to regenerate amputated limbs or body organs.(The Australian)
In
jackknife. Witnesses say that the woman claimed that the painting was not authentic. Although there were several slashes in the painting, valued at €4 million, it can be repaired. (Reuters)
Admiral Kuznetsov after the plane's arresting cable broke during the landing attempt; the pilot ejected out of the plane and survived. Due to the plane's reportedly containing secret high-tech military equipment, Russian authorities have decided to destroy it using underwater bombs. (Pravda.Ru), (Aftenposten
)
Ethiopian general elections, 2005: The National Elections Board of Ethiopia, following repeat voting in 31 areas, announces that the ruling EPRDF coalition has retained control of the government, obtaining 59 percent of the seats in Parliament. (IRIN
Maale Adumim Israeli settlement and Jerusalem in the coming years, adding that Israeli government statements to the contrary were part of the “internal conflict” at the Likud party. (IMEMC
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana President Aaron Broussard told CBS's Early Show anchor Harry Smith today: "Bureaucracy has murdered people in the Greater New Orleans area and bureaucracy needs to stand trial in Congress today. Take whatever idiot they have at the top and give me a better idiot." (News Busters)
President George W. Bush announces he will head an investigation into the New Orleans disaster response. He tells reporters in the Cabinet Room: "People want us here to play a blame game. We got to solve problems. We're here to solve problems. There'll be ample time for people to figure out what went right and what went wrong." (Al Jazeera)
Houston, TX. Mrs. Bush stated on the NPR program "Marketplace: "So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (chuckles)--this is working very well for them." The former First Lady also said that the fact that the 15,000 evacuees in the Astrodome might want to stay in Texas was "kind of scary". (EditorAndPublisher.com)
Cairo: At least 34 people were killed and 60 injured by flames and an ensuing stampede when a fire broke out in the theater run by Egypt's Culture Ministry; about 1,000 people were watching the play. (Y! & AP)(BBC)
Four people died and 27 were wounded following an explosion in
Typhoon Nabi kills at least 21 in Japan with over 50 still missing. (AFP) Over 100,000 people were told to evacuate. (CBC)
Almost 600 people have now been officially declared dead in an
Japanese Encephalitis in India. Officials fear the actual death toll might be much higher because many deaths in rural areas are not reported. (BBC)
Australian Securities and Investment Commission launches a criminal probe of Telstra's leaked and negative statements. (The Australian)(The Australian)
Babyface has confirmed he will be participating. The single is titled "From The Bottom of My Heart" and is due for release in two weeks. All proceeds will go to the victims of Hurricane Katrina
. However, over one year later the single has not been released.
Conflict in Iraq: 16 people die following a car bomb attack in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. (BBC)
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin again urges the city's remaining holdouts to leave the area. New Orleans is now only 60% underwater. The number of dead in the city could be as few as 2,000 and as many as 20,000, according to estimates. (IHT)
J. T. Alpaugh, pool helicopter reporter for the major media, says today on NBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann that: "There is the strong smell of rotting water, an awful smell, something you don't ever want to have to smell" rising high into the air space around New Orleans. (Los Angeles Times)
The
debit cards to each dispossessed family, to replenish immediate needs (Yahoo)
first multi-candidate presidential election in the history of Egypt with 78 percent of the vote. Ayman Nour is the nearest runner-up with 12 percent. (Fox News)
News Corporation says it will buy IGN Entertainment for $650 million. IGN is one of the largest multimedia sites on the Internet and also owns the GameSpy Network and AskMen.com. (BBC)
Emergency officials requisition 25,000 body bags as search and rescue operations continue in Louisiana. A spokesman for the state's department of health and hospitals said: "We don't know what to expect ... It means we are prepared." (The Guardian)
anti-terrorism laws would not deter terrorism. Others say the laws would radicalise young Muslims and civil liberty groups say the laws would make Australian society more dangerous.(ABC)(ABC)
India and Pakistan will exchange civilian prisoners on September 12 at the Waga border. Those exchanged have completed their sentences. (The Indian Express)
September 11, 2001 attacks "blessed events" and commenting on possible attacks in the future stated, "This time, don't count on us demonstrating restraint and compassion." (Jerusalem Post)(ABC News), (Reuters)
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin interviewed on NBC's Meet the Press is critical of suggestions that tent cities be constructed to house Hurricane Katrina survivors. He promises to lead the rebuilding of the city saying: "New Orleaneans are the only ones to rebuild. We're going to rebuild New Orleans and make sure we have resources to get the job done." (NBC)
Over 800,000 people in the Zhejiang province of China are evacuating as the province is hit by Typhoon Khanun which has a packing center winds of 144 kilometers per hour. (Chinadaily)
According to the Department of Water and Power, the power outage is of "non-malicious cause" triggered by an accidental error in connecting lines to a newly installed computer. DWP (Dept of Water and Power) General Manager Ron Deaton says repairs have been made and the system will be restored in an orderly manner. (Newsday)
Despite the disruption to two million customers, the system's successfully controlled shutdown prevented a blackout from extending beyond the region.
Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States (FEMA) following several days of criticism concerning his handling of the disaster following Hurricane Katrina, and allegations that his official biography is misleading and contains unsubstantiated claims. (MSNBC)
ministers voted against dismantling due to their religious significance, while others scavenged through the rubble of demolished settlement homes, taking furniture, doors, electricity cables and what ever else they could find. (The Jerusalem Post),(YNETnews), (BBC), (Jerusalem Post)
According to witnesses, the Egyptian border patrol police opened fire at crowds swarming the
Palestinian man and injuring another. An Egyptian spokesman later denied that Egyptian troops fired the shots that killed the man. (Reuters)(Al Jazeera), (BBC)
Three
Palestinian teenagers drowned as they rushed into the beachside at Neve Dekalim without knowing how to swim. (The Guardian)
eBay announced it will buy Skype, the Luxembourg-based web telephone network, in a $2.6 billion deal. (BBC)
Hong Kong Disneyland opens in a partnership between Disney and the Hong Kong government. This marks the first attempt of Disney tapping into the Chinese and southeastern Asian market. (BBC)(CNN)
sharia law as well as religious arbitration of all other faiths, declaring that one public law is to be used for all family disputes. The decision follows a year of debate and worldwide protests. (Globe and Mail)
Hamas blows a hole through the wall between Egypt and Gaza, allowing free passage for Palestinians to and from Egypt for the first time since 1967. (BBC)
New Orleans saying: "We have witnessed the kind of devastation no citizen of this great and generous nation should ever have to know. We will do what it takes and stay as long as it takes to help New Orleans to return their community and their lives." He provides the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) phone number to assist families in reuniting: 877‒568‒3317. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
The
Clinton Global Initiative is inaugurated in New York
Vice Admiral Thad Allen warns that New Orleans tap water is still unfit to drink. He cautions that mayor Ray Nagin's encouragement of residents outside the French Quarter to return is "extremely problematic" at this time. (Washington Times)
Afghan parliamentary election, 2005, the first legislative elections in Afghanistan in decades. (Reuters)
Green party 8.1% and 51 seats. There is likely to be several weeks of horse trading to form a workable coalition. (Deutsche Welle Election Night Ticker)
Two undercover UK soldiers are detained on claims they had been planting bombs, evading arrest, exchanging fire with police, killing one, and failing to stop at a checkpoint. An operation to free the two prisoners ends with civilians gathering around the tanks sent to free the prisoners and setting the tanks they were in alight. Soldiers from the tanks flee the scene while being stoned by the locals, one man, Sergeant George Long, of the Staffordshire Regiment, was seen on fire and another man was seen being surrounded and beaten by locals. One Iraqi official claimed that 150 prisoners escaped including the two soldiers. (China view)(The Times)(BBC)(Washington Post), (the Independent)
At least 10 people, nine police and one civilian, have died following a series of explosions at a
Israeli Arabs during a violent demonstration in 2000 due to lack of sufficient evidence, as fellow soldier refused to testify against the man. (BBC)(Ha'aretz)[permanent dead link
]
At least 154 of the dead in New Orleans were patients in hospitals and nursing homes. They represent more than 25 percent of the bodies recovered to date. (CivilRights.org)
North Korea announces that its offer to end its nuclear arms program is dependent on it being allowed to build a civilian nuclear reactor. (ABC)[permanent dead link], (BBC)
German green politician Joschka Fischer announced his retirement from leading the Green party in the newly elected Parliament, retiring to become an "elder statesman" in the back benches. Spiegel online
At least 50 people die following a series of storms and floods that hit the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh and India; many more are missing, and officials fear for the safety of over a hundred fishermen. (BBC)
Vioxx, cloned beef, approval of malfunctioning heart devices, and alleged corruption. He served two months in office. (AP on Yahoo!)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
:
At least 10
salat parade organised by Hamas. Hamas blames Israel, claiming an Israeli plane blew up the vehicle, while Israel and the Palestinian Authority blames Hamas. (Jerusalem Post), (ABC News)
3
Palestinian gunmen are killed following an Israeli military incursion into the West Bank. (BBC)
UTC, September 25), the center of Tropical Depression Rita was located on land 40 miles (65 km) north of Shreveport, Louisiana. Rita was moving north at 10 mph (16 km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h) (CNN
)
Hundreds of thousands of people protest wars in the
pancreatic and liver duct cancer. Peck, 69, was the author of The Road Less Traveled. (New York Times), (NPR)
2005 northern Peru earthquake: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake, the strongest in the country in four years, strikes northern Peru, with at least four persons reported dead. (CNN)
Swiss voters approve a referendum by 56% to 44% to allow citizens from the 10 newest European Union member countries to travel and work in Switzerland. Quotas will be applied until 2011 on the number of people allowed to settle. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq
:
At least four
Shia Muslims, believed to be members of the Mahdi Army are killed by US soldiers in a gunfight following a U.S. raid into Sadr City, eastern Baghdad. (BBC)
Nine people die following a bomb attack on a police station in Hillah. (BBC)
The Israel Defense Forces launch Operation First Rain, a series of air strikes on Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip, including an alleged Hamas weapons factory and a children's school. According to Israel the operation's goal is to stop shelling of southern Israeli towns and villages by Palestinian militants, though several civilians have been injured, including an infant. At least 200 Palestinians have been arrested in overnight IDF raids in the West Bank. (BBC)(The Guardian)(YNETnews)(Al Jazeera)
EuroBasket 2005: Greece beats Germany 78 to 62 and wins for the second time in its history the Eurobasket.
September 11, 2001 attacks and sentenced to 27 years. Driss Chebli, was convicted of collaborating with a terrorist group and sentenced to six years, Al Jazeera journalist Tayseer Allouni was also convicted of collaborating with a terrorist group and sentenced to seven years, while Ghasoub al-Abrash Ghalyoun was acquitted on all counts. (AP)
Saudi women be allowed to drive cars and to "fully participate" in society.(NYT)
(registration required)
sunset clause. The new laws allow police to detain terrorism "suspects" without charge for up to two weeks, and electronically tag them for up to a year. The measures have been attacked by civil libertarians and Muslim groups. (ABC)(ABC)
Likud Party. The proposal, which would have ordered the next Party Leader election be held in October 2005 rather than April 2006, is voted down by the party's Central Committee, 48% to 52%. (Yahoo!News)
People's Republic of China Government unveils their new official Internet website, now to be found at www.gov.cn. (Beelink)
The family of
Jean Charles de Menezes arrives in London looking for justice. The innocent Brazilian was shot six times by police exercising a shoot-to-kill policy. Metropolitan Police CommissionerIan Blair has offered his personal apology for the killing, but this has been rejected by the family. (The Times)
The new United Nations coordinator for human and avian influenza warns that 5-150 million people could die in a flu epidemic. Humans have no natural immunity to the virus. (M&C News)(BBC)
