Indonesia: An Indonesian court sentences Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to four years in prison for treason against the Indonesian government. However, the court found insufficient proof that Bashir was the leader of the militant Islamic organization Jemaah Islamiyah. [3]
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. [10]
Astronomy: Astronomers announce the discovery of an asteroid (2003 QQ47) whose orbit has a remote chance of striking earth. Meteorite researchers are not worried; all such previous discoveries have been followed by later observations which reduced the chance of collision from highly improbable to utterly impossible, but announcements like that of 2003 QQ47 help maintain sufficient public interest to attract funding for skywatch projects. [11]
SCO vs Linux: SCO Germany is ordered to pay fine of 10,000 Euro because they were ordered to cease their allegations that Linux contains stolen intellectual property of SCO. [12] [ German ]
Occupation of Iraq: Poland assumes a position in postwar Iraq. The coalition in Iraq hands over the south-central part of the country to a force led by Poland. The force of Polish troops leads a multinational peacekeeping brigade that will relieve Coalition forces (in particular the United StatesMarine expeditionary force). This is Poland's biggest military operation since World War II. This is also the first sign of the global community's commitment to a postwar Iraq. [17][18]Secretary of StateColin Powell seeks support from Britain, France, Germany, and Russia on a proposed United Nations resolution that would give the United Nations a role in Iraq's economic and political future.[19][20] Coalition soldiers strongly desire to see more troops from other nations share the work of occupation. [21]
Iraq: Iraqi Governing Council swears in the first ministerial cabinet since Saddam Hussein's removal. They urge the cabinet to help restore stability to the country. [23]
Irish minister Frank Fahy accuses USImmigration authorities at Shannon Airport of acting 'disgracefully' in turning back a group of 13 Irish musicians travelling to attend New York benefit concert to raise money for an Irish cancer victim in the United States for treatment. Ireland's 2003 Eurovision Song Contest singer Mickey Joe Harte, one of the singers refused entry, said they were told they needed no visas in their case. However, at Shannon, the musicians were suddenly told they needed work visas, though the event was for charity and they were providing their services 'free of charge'. Irish people travelling to the United States do not normally need visas except to get paid employment. The concert is scheduled for Friday. [28]
Miss Justice Mary Laffoy dramatically resigns as chairperson of the Laffoy Commission on Child Abuse, which is investigating evidence of child sex abuse in schools, orphanages and Catholic Church-run institutions over decades in Ireland. Her resignation followed one day after the Minister for Education, Noel Dempsey told RTÉ Radio that the Irish Government, worried by suggestions that the investigation would last more than a decade and cost hundreds of millions of euro, wanted to restructure the investigation to examine only a sample of the 1800 cases being investigated. The government has delayed publishing Justice Laffoy's resignation letter. Abuse victim and crusader against abuse Christine Buckey calls for Dempsey's resignation. Colm O'Gorman, of the child abuse charity One in Four, and himself a prominent survivor of abuse, calls on TaoiseachBertie Ahern to publish all correspondence relating to the resignation. [29]
California legislature passes expanded domestic partnership bill. The state assembly approved a measure to extend nearly all the legal rights of married couples to people in same-sex partnerships. If signed by the governor, the bill will become law in 2005.[32]
Singapore drops its 21-year ban on Cosmopolitan magazine and slightly relaxes its film censorship policy. Despite this move, the censorship board's surveyors found the Singaporean public largely does not want the country's tough censorship rules liberalized. [34]
Natural disaster: The Booth and Bear Butte forest fires in the Cascade Mountains, which had been 45% contained, explodes to burn an additional 20,000 acres (80 km²). Estimates of the size of this fire vary between 62,000 and 80,000 acres (250 and 320 km²). The resort community of Camp Sherman, where authorities allowed residents to return, is once again evacuated. [35]
Hong Kong's leader Tung Chee-hwa announces that he will indefinitely postpone plans for an extremely unpopular security bill which sparked massive public protests and would have granted the government broad powers to prosecute vaguely defined threats to national security. [37]
Palestinian Authority: Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas tells the Palestinian parliament to either support him or fire him, a move seen as making public for the first time his quarrel with Yasser Arafat. [38]VOA characterizes Mr. Abbas' ultimatum as the latest twist in a power struggle between him and Arafat, who is the President of the Palestinian Authority. [39]
A car explodes in Vaasa, Finland. One man was killed in this suicide bombing in the corner of a city centre square. This was the second bombing in Finland in a short time: in Jyväskylä an apartment building was bombed on Thursday and is in danger of collapsing. Next bombing was on Friday in Keuruu, where a summer cottage exploded. [40][41][42]
David Blaine begins a new stunt. He will stay in a small transparent capsule suspended 30 feet above the ground near Tower Bridge on London's River Thames without food for 44 days.[43]
Johns Hopkins researchers retract all results of a frequently-cited study which claimed that extensive and permanent brain damage occurred after just a single dose of Ecstasy. Due to a labelling mistake on the experimental drug vials, all but one of the animals involved in the study were not actually given Ecstasy at all, but were instead given the drug d-methamphetamine. [45]
War on Terrorism: European Union foreign ministers denounce the political wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization following the group's claim of responsibility for a truce-shattering bomb attack in Jerusalem. [46]
War on Terrorism: An Israeli warplane drops a relatively small bomb on a house in Gaza City (in an effort to avoid killing innocents, according to military sources who spoke to AP), lightly wounding Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin and 15 other people in an airstrike that Israeli officials confirm was an attempt to wipe out the Islamic group's top leaders as they assemble for a meeting. [47]
Palestinian Authority: Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas submits his resignation to the President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat. According to Palestinian sources, he will play a "caretaker" role of the position until a new prime minister is sworn in. [49]
Tennis: Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters 7-5, 6-1 to win her first U.S. Open title. She had defeated Clijsters earlier this year to take the French Open as well.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declares that Hamas leaders are "marked for death" and won't have a moment's rest, after Israel failed in an attempt to kill the top-ranking members of Hamas with a 550-pound bomb dropped on a Gaza City apartment.
Violence surges sharply in Indian-controlled Kashmir with a series of separatist attacks across the Himalayan region. This follows a bomb explosion on Saturday in the main wholesale market for fruit in the region, which killed six people and wounded 25.
Tennis: Andy Roddick defeated Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets (6-3, 7-6, 6-3) in the Men's Singles Final at the U.S. Open. This marks the first Grand Slam victory for the 21-year-old American.
Iraq: The Iraqi Governing Council gains the seat at the Arab League left open since Saddam Hussein's ouster by the US-led coalition earlier this year. The council, which was formed under US auspices, seems to have taken a step toward sovereign legitimacy in the eyes of the international community. [53]
The United States Department of the Treasury revamps its $20 bill as part of its never-ending quest to foil counterfeiters, including the addition of a peach-hued background to the denomination. (Many non-US citizens regard the US dollar as "hard currency" and keep much of their wealth in it as a hedge against inflation.) [67]
Japan is to freeze and confiscate assets linked to the removed Iraqiregime based on a United Nations resolution. The assets belong to former Iraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein, his two sons, and 52 other former top officials of the removed regime. [77]
Terrorism: ImamSamudra became the second Bali bomber to be sentenced to death by firing squad for his role in the October 12 atrocity which killed 202 people. Samudra greeted the sentence with chants of "Allahu Akbar" (God is great). [78][79]
War on Terrorism : An Israeli warplane targeted the apartment building which is home of the senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Zahar, in Gaza. Al-Zahar is lightly wounded; his adult son and a bodyguard are killed in the attack. A half-tonbomb destroys the building, marking the first time a Hamas leader has been attacked in his home, an escalation of Israel's campaign against the group. Twenty-five people were wounded, including Zahar's wife and a daughter. [80][81]
Terrorism: The leader of Hamas, says that its jihad will continue, and that the group may now attack Israeli homes. The military wing of the group has threatened to change tactics by attacking Israeli houses and buildings after Israel tried to kill Hamas political leader. [82][83]
War on Terrorism: Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia will amend its Penal Code to punish not just terrorists but also those who provide financial services or facilities to them. Changes will penalize those who help terrorists. [86]
Swedish Foreign MinisterAnna Lindh has died in hospital from stab wounds inflicted while she was shopping in a department store in the centre of Stockholm. In the wake of the incident, both the Yes and No Euro campaigns suspended their activities. [90]
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Israeli Security Cabinet votes in principle to expel Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, from the West Bank. According to one source, the cabinet decided to ask the Israeli Defense Force to draw up a plan to expel Arafat. No timeline was specified, and Israeli government sources say that the decision was not to expel him immediately. The United StatesState Department criticises such a move as "unhelpful". Thousands of Palestinians travel to the presidential compound in Ramallah to protest at the Israeli decision. The Palestinian prime minister-designate, Ahmed Qurei, announces in response to the Israeli decision that he is halting efforts to form a government. RussianForeign MinisterIgor Ivanov states an international force may be needed to end spiraling violence in the Palestinian territories. [91][92][93]
John Ritter-from 8 simple rules died from Aortic dissection in the hospital where he was born. He died days before his 55th birthday. The date of his death was the same as his daughters 5th birthday, the day before his wifes 41st birthday and six days before his wedding anniversary. He died a couple hours after being admitted to the hospital.
Zimbabwe's only opposition newspaper, the Daily News ceases publication following a court order that it breached the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act introduced by President Robert Mugabe in 2002. The closure follows an armed raid on the paper's offices by police. One reporter told Reuters that the action was an "unprecedented attack on press freedom". [98]
Libya : The United Nations today ends 15-year old sanctions against Libya. The sanctions were imposed following the Lockerbie disaster. The sanctions are lifted following payment by Libya (following an admission of responsibility) of $2.7 billion to the families of those who died in the bombing.
Johnny Cash died at the age of 71 due to complications from diabetes, which resulted in respiratory failure, while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He was interred next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Natural disaster: Some of the severe wildfires in British Columbia have been contained, including the one threatening Kelowna. The one near Kamloops is still threatening structures. This has been the worst wildfire season in BC in fifty years. [104]
