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- A judge in Aruba orders the conditional release of Joran van der Sloot, the 18-year-old Dutch citizen being held in connection with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
- 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)
- Hurricane Katrina:
- Typhoon Talim passes over Taiwan, killing at least 1 person and injuring 24. (BBC)
- On the eve of People's Republic of China President Hu Jintao's first visit to North America next week, a PRC foreign ministry spokesman warned against any government providing Taiwan (ROC) with missile defense systems. Hu Jintao arrives in Washington, D.C. on Monday, then visits Canada and Mexico before visiting the United Nations General Assembly. (BBC)
- Russia marks the first anniversary of the Beslan tragedy in which militants seized nearly 1,200 hostages, killing 331, more than half of them children. (The Guardian)
- Iraq hanged three men in the first executions in the country since the 2003 invasion. They were part of the Jaish Ansar al-Sunna group and had been convicted of kidnapping and murdering three policemen and abducting, raping and killing Iraqi women. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani refused to sign the death warrants, but his Deputy President 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 Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China, 20,000 people gather at the Potala Palace Square for a cultural performance. CPC Politburo's Jia Qinglin attended. (Dazhong Daily)
- 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 2 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)
- William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States, dies of thyroid cancer at the age of 80. He was appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1971 by Richard Nixon and was named Chief Justice by Ronald Reagan in 1986. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Hurricane Katrina:
- 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 a day during September. (International Herald Tribune)
- Over 40,000 military personnel will be deployed along the Gulf Coast in the coming week: President 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)
- The White House announced that President George W. Bush will return to undisclosed parts of the Gulf Coast on Monday. (BBC)
- The racial and 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)
- People's Republic of China President Hu Jintao has postponed his scheduled visit to Washington in the coming week. He plans to meet with President Bush later in the month while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. (Seattle Times)
- A unilateral three-month ceasefire is declared by Nepal's Maoist rebels as negotiations begin with an alliance of political parties. Their leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said they would "not launch any offensive" during the truce. (BBC) (ABC)
- The Japan Meteorological Agency announces Category 5 Typhoon Nabi is set to hit Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands and possibly Kyūshū on Monday. (ABC)
- French President Jacques Chirac, 72, will be hospitalised for a week after suffering a "minor vascular incident" which is affecting his vision. (BBC)
- Musician Seth Weddle joined in holy matrimony with actress Jordan Power during Laternen Fest in Frankfurt, Germany.
- A Russian Navy fighter jet crashes and sinks to a depth of 1,100 meters near Shetland in the Norwegian Sea during a military exercise. The jet, a Sukhoi Su-33, slid off the flight deck of aircraft carrier 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)
- Typhoon Nabi (Category 3) reaches the Japanese coasts. It will make landfall today, and is expected to take 3 days to cross the island of Kyūshū. (Reuters)
- Hurricane Katrina: Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton calls for a "9/11 Style Inquiry" into the U.S. federal government's response to the Hurricane. (The Myrtle Beach online)
- A cable car crash at Sölden, Ötztal, in the Austrian Alps leaves nine people dead when a helicopter carrying construction materials dropped concrete onto the cable. (BBC) (Sky News)
- American jurist John G. Roberts, Jr. is nominated by US President George W. Bush as the next Chief Justice of the United States. (MSNBC) Bush withdrew Roberts' original nomination to succeed retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
- Three teenage girls admit starting a fire in Paris on September 3 which left 16 people dead. (CFRA Canada)
- Google taps into the Chinese local markets by opening their fifth international Local Search Engine on Google China at bendi.google.com. (SINA)
- Ibrahim Rugova, the President of Kosovo, has announced that he has lung cancer but will not be stepping down. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: Two British Soldiers have been killed following a roadside IED bomb in Basra, southern Iraq. (BBC)
- Mandala Airlines Flight 091: A Mandala Airlines flight crashes into a residential area of the Indonesian city of Medan, killing at least 100 passengers. Among the dead are the governor and former governor of Sumatra Utara, Rizal Nurdin and Raja Inal Siregar. (CNN)
- A painting discovered in the Kunsthalle Bremen museum in Bremen, Germany is believed by art historians to be a previously-unknown work by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. (The Independent)
- Michael Jackson has announced he will record and release a charity single dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Jackson has asked other recording stars to provide vocals for the single. 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)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An investigation by B'Tselem and Haaretz casts doubt on the IDF version of events which left 5 Palestinians, including 3 minors, dead in Tulkarm on August 24. IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz announces that he will open an investigation, and Colonel Kobi Barak declares that the operation was a "Failure". (Haaretz), (Haaretz)
- Hurricane Katrina
- 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 United States government offers $2000 debit cards to each dispossessed family, to replenish immediate needs (Yahoo)
- The first deaths from disease have been recorded. The water borne bacterium Vibrio vulnificus has killed 5. (Independent) (TVNZ)
- Moussa Arafat, cousin of Yassir Arafat and former Palestinian Authority security chief, is shot and killed by members of the Popular Resistance Committees. (BBC)
- Egyptian presidential election, 2005: The first ever multi-party elections in Egypt are conducted, with incumbent President Hosni Mubarak expected to win a fifth six-year term. (BBC), (BBC), (Reuters)
- The California State Assembly passes a bill recognizing same-sex marriage. Earlier this week the state Senate approved the measure; it now heads to the desk of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger where there is uncertainty whether he will sign or veto the measure. The legislation is the first passed by a U.S. state legislature recognizing same-sex marriage. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- A report by the Independent Inquiry Committee criticizes U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and the U.N. Security Council's role in the Oil-for-Food Programme. (Washington Post) (FOX)
- One woman was killed and over a dozen were injured following a stampede when people fled the Saudi Arabian Airlines plane they were on after a hoax bomb threat was made. (Reuters) (Link dead as of 00:43, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Up to 33 Indian troops die when a bridge they are crossing collapses in Himachal Pradesh, North India. (BBC)
- Several people were injured when bombs exploded in a KFC and McDonalds restaurants in the Pakistani city of Karachi. (BBC)
- Hosni Mubarak wins the 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)
- Hurricane Katrina:
- 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)
- Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko fires Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and most of his cabinet amid accusations of graft and serious infighting. (Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 00:43, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Guy Theunis, a Catholic priest from Belgium, has been arrested on a charge of republishing articles in a magazine that the authorities cite as encouraging genocide in Rwanda. (BBC)
- Reporters Without Borders accuses Yahoo! of assisting the People's Republic of China government to identify Shi Tao, the journalist sentenced to 10 years jail in April 2005. Shi released on the Internet a government letter which advised the Chinese media not to report on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests. (Reporters sans frontières) (Daily Telegraph)
- 103 Croatians were arrested in Malta following supporter disturbances after a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying football match which Croatia unexpectedly failed to win. (HINA)
- Apple Computer has unveiled a pencil-thin iPod nano digital music player and a long-anticipated cell phone that plays music like an iPod, both aimed at extending its domination of the digital music market. Also, Apple discontinued their iPod mini. (New York Times) (registration required), (CNN) (Link dead as of 00:43, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he would veto a bill allowing same-sex marriage citing the March 2000 Proposition 22 ballot initiative that stated "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California". (LA Times) (Link dead as of 00:43, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff appoints Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen, chief of staff of the United States Coast Guard, to direct Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans, in place of Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael D. Brown, who returns to Washington to direct planning for future disaster relief. (CTV.ca)
- During a military exercise, a Belgian Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashes in the Wadden Sea (Waddenzee), near the Dutch island of Vlieland. The pilot failed to eject, and died in the crash. (Expatica)
- People's Republic of China President Hu Jintao meets with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Ottawa. The event is met with protesters and supporters of the Chinese government. Martin and Hu agree on a new "Strategic Partnership", and sign a series of agreements on transportation, food inspection, and scientific research. Hu also meets with Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. (CBC) (Chinesenewsnet) (CTV.ca)
- A federal grand jury in Providence, Rhode Island indicts Richard Hatch, winner of Survivor: Pulau Tiga, for income tax evasion and fraud for allegedly failing to pay taxes on his winnings and misusing charity funds. (Fox News)
- An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale is detected off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea, though no damage has been recorded. (Manichi Daily News) (BBC)
- Australian Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley says the Australian Government's proposed new 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)
- The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation plans to recruit an additional 500 spies for its current staffing of 1,000 to counter terrorism. (The Australian)
- India and Pakistan will exchange civilian prisoners on September 12 at the Waga border. Those exchanged have completed their sentences. (The Indian Express)
- An eleven minute video tape purporting to be from Al Qaeda is delivered to American network ABC in Pakistan and shown on Good Morning America, warns of future attacks on Los Angeles, California and Melbourne, Australia. Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American convert to Islam, called the 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)
- According to exit polls, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party has won a landslide victory in the Japan general election, 2005. Democratic Party leader Katsuya Okada concedes defeat and announces his resignation as party leader. (Reuters), (Aljazeera)
- The death toll of the Japanese Encephalitis outbreak in Uttar Pradesh has reached an official number of 650, with estimates of aid agencies about double this number. (BBC), (China Daily), (Washington Post).
- 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)
- The Norwegian parliamentary election, 2005, held September 12, is set to be a very close race, according to pollsters. The vote will determine the balance of power in the Storting for the coming four years. The centre-right government under Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik faces a centre-left opposition led by Jens Stoltenberg of the Norwegian Labour Party. (Aftenposten)
- In Colombia, an airplane hijacker and his son surrender peacefully after five hours of negotiations. Officials coaxed him out with what he later learned was a worthless bank cheque. (CNN)
- In Norway, the Red-Green Coalition led by Jens Stoltenberg wins the 2005 election to the Storting (Legislature). (Reuters)
- Los Angeles Power Outage:
- 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.
- Michael D. Brown resigns as the head of the 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)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- Israel withdraws the last of its troops from the Gaza Strip, effectively completing its unilateral disengagement plan. (Reuters) (CNN) (Ha’aretz)
- Following the pullout many Palestinians rush into abandoned Israeli settlements in celebration, some burning down synagogues which Israel's 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)
- Several hours after the pullout two Qassam rockets are fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip. The first lands near the Israeli town of Sderot, while the second lands near Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. (Ha’aretz),(YNETnews)
- According to witnesses, the Egyptian border patrol police opened fire at crowds swarming the Egypt-Gaza border at Rafah, killing a 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)
- Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario, Canada rejects the use of Islamic 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)
- Oracle Corporation announced that it has agreed to purchase Siebel Systems for approximately $5.85 billion in cash. (BBC)
- England wins the 2005 Ashes 2-1. Final Test match ends in a draw. (BBC)
- Panic buying of petrol and diesel is in full swing across Britain, with long queues outside service stations in a worrying echo of the 2000 Fuel Protest. (BBC)
- The President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, shakes hands with the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, the first time such an encounter has been made in public. (BBC)
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees and World Food Programme appeal for more funds to provide food for two million refugees in Africa, in countries such as Tanzania, Central African Republic, Liberia and Kenya. (Reuters)
- Mandatory emergency evacuation is ordered for Outer Banks in North Carolina as Hurricane Ophelia approaches. (Washington Post), (Reuters), (Guardian)
- Two American air carriers, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Delta has lost over six billion USD since the start of 2001.
- The Massachusetts General Court rejects a proposed amendment to ban Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts by a vote of 157-39, meaning that Massachusetts will remain the only state in the United States to allow gay marriage.
- Ugandan Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army cross the White Nile for the first time to carry out attacks near Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan. (BBC)
- 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)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Melissa O'Neil wins the 3rd season of Canadian Idol.
- Frances Newton is executed by lethal injection by the U.S. state of Texas for the murder of her ex-husband and two children. She is the first African American woman executed in Texas since 1858. (Reuters)
- Robert Wise, film director, dies at the age of 91, at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
- Following serious Loyalist rioting during which dozens of shots were fired at riot police, the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain announced that the British government no longer recognized the Ulster Volunteer Force ceasefire.
- Armored car robber Heather Tallchief turns herself into authorities.
- Nintendo finally reveals the controller for its next generation console on its website. Reactions from gamers are mixed. (Nintendo)
- President Bush addresses the nation from Jackson Square in 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 FEMA phone number to assist families in reuniting: 877‒568‒3317.
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