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August

Specialty Definition: August

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Specialty Definition: August

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

simple:August

August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. Named for Augustus Octavianus. The month has 31 days because Augustus wanted as many days as Julius Caesar's July. Augustus placed the month where it is because that's when Cleopatra died. Before Augustus renamed August, it was called Sextilis in Latin, since it was the sixth month in the Roman calendar which started in March.

August begins on the same day of week as February in a leap year.

In Ireland, August used to be known as Lughnasadh, named after the god Lugh

See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

Historical anniversaries

August 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 August is a November of 1986 (see 1986 in music) album by blues rocker Eric Clapton.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "August."

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August (album)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

August is a November of 1986 (see 1986 in music) album by blues rocker Eric Clapton.

Tracks

1. It's In The Way You Use It
2. Run
3. Tearing Us Apart
4. Bad Influence
5. Walk Away
6. Hung Up On Your Love
7. Take A Chance
8. Hold On
9. Miss You
10. Holy Mother
11. Behind The Mask
12. Grand Illusion

Singles

• 1986 - It's In The Way You Use It
• 1987 - Miss You
• 1987 - Run
• 1987 - Tearing Us Apart
• 1988 - Behind The Mask

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "August (album)."

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August 2001

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

Films:

• August 10 - Osmosis Jones played by Chris Rock, starring Bill Murray
• August 24 - Bubble Boy

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "August 2001."

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August 2002

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

A timeline of events in the news for August, 2002.

See also:

• Afghanistan timeline August 2002

August 31, 2002

• Recent celebrity deaths: Lionel Hampton, jazz vibraphone master, dies.
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A think tank affiliated with the Arab League ended its meeting in Cairo by calling Jews "enemies of all nations", by claiming that Arabs, as Semites, cannot be anti-Semitic, and by claiming that the events of September 11, 2001 were concocted by the United States government. See http://www.zccf.org.ae/LECTURES/E2_lectures/e255.htm

August 23, 2002

• Recent celebrity deaths: Baseball Hall of Fame player Hoyt Wilhelm dies.

August 22, 2002

• Extreme weather: In China, the Dongting Lake floods Yueyang, forcing the evacuation of 600,000 people; the crest of the flooding from the Yangtze River is expected Sunday. Floods and landslides have killed nearly 1000 people in China, 200 in the Hunan province. There have been 376 deaths in India, 494 in Nepal, and 158 deaths in Bangladesh this monsoon season.
• Government of Canada: Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister of Canada, announces he will step down in February 2004.

August 21, 2002

• Extreme weather: In India, a 125-year-old dam bursts under torrential rains, killing 10.

August 19, 2002

• Martin Strel is approaching Memphis, Tennessee in his effort for peace to swim the length of the Mississippi River.
• Recent celebrity deaths: Al Ayyam reports that international terrorist Abu Nidal was found dead of apparent suicide.
• Extreme weather: The flooding death toll in Europe reaches 109. The Danube peaks at Budapest at a record 28.3 feet, mostly contained by the walls along the river. Dessau is flooded. Overall damage in the Czech Republic is expected to cost $2.8 billion.

August 18, 2002

• Extreme weather: One of the sea lions who escaped from the Prague Zoo on the 13th is safely recaptured near Wittenberg.

August 17, 2002

• Extreme weather: The Elbe crests at Dresden at the record height of 30.84 feet. 30,000 Germans are evacuated along the river's path.

August 16, 2002

• Thousands of fans gather at Graceland in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the death of Elvis.

August 14, 2002

• Vladimir Putin announces that Belarus will be fully integrated into Russia, with each of Belarus's six provinces to become a separate republic within the Russian Federation.
• Recent celebrity deaths: Larry Rivers, American painter, dies at 78.
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Marwan Barghouti, captured April 15, is indicted in a civilian Israeli court.
• The United States Food and Drug Administration orders a recall of all soft tissues processed since October 3 by CryoLife, the largest supplier of implant tissue in the United States, after 27 cases of serious infection, including one death in November.
• Extreme weather: The peak of a 100-year flood of the Vltava River surges through the Czech Republic into the Elbe in Germany. In Plzen the city center is flooded, and breweries shut down. In Ceske Budejovice, most of the old town is under more than a foot of water, and the Czech Budweiser breweries are shut down. More than 200,000 Czechs are forced to leave their homes. Damages are estimated at over $600 million. In Dresden, the Zwinger Palace courtyard and basement are flooded, damaging paintings. The Semper Opera basement is flooded, closing it for weeks. More than 3,000 hospital patients are evacuated. Europe-wide death toll is now 99.

August 13, 2002

• Extreme weather: On the seventh day of heavy rains, the peak of 100-year flood of the Vltava River reaches Prague, and the Kampa district is submerged under several yards of water, as well as the Prague Zoo, killing an elephant, five rhinoceros, a lion, a gorilla and 80 birds, and allowing five seals to escape. The Kampa Museum is flooded. 15,000 people were evacuated from Melnik, and 1,600 people were evacuated from Decin. The death toll in Europe is at 88, 9 in the Czech Republic.

August 12, 2002

• Recent celebrity deaths: Enos Slaughter, Baseball Hall of Famer, dies at 86 from the disease non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
• Extreme weather: The death toll in Europe caused by flooding has risen to at least 74, with 58 deaths in Russia, 3 in Germany, 3 in Austria, and one in the Czech Republic. Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla declared a state of emergency in Prague, Bohemia, Plzen and Karlovy Vary. All shipping on the Danube has been halted. Premier Silvio Berlusconi approved $50 million in emergency aid in response to the $300 million in damage of northern Italy's crops.
• US Airways declares bankruptcy, caused by the air travel slowdown following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.
• Colombian president Alvaro Uribe declares state of emergency.

August 11, 2002

• UNEP (UN Environment Programme) reports on the Asian brown cloud.

August 10, 2002

• Charlton Heston, movie actor and president of the National Rifle Association, announces that he has Alzheimer's disease

August 9, 2002

• Extreme weather: Dozens are killed by floods caused by torrential rains in Europe, including the Malse and Blanice rivers of the Czech Republic, the Black Sea resort village of Shirokaya Balka near Novorossiisk in Russia, and Romania. The downpours have also caused extensive damage in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, and Spain.
• A massive explosion in Jalalabad at the maintenance facility of the Afghan Construction and Logistics Unit, a private construction company, kills at least 10 and injures 25, damaging 50 homes and a hydroelectric dam.

August 8, 2002

• Accountancy scandals: WorldCom announced it had discovered $3.3 billion in false accounting in addition to the $3.8 billion discovered earlier.
• The F.C.C votes to require television manufacturers to include digital tuners in nearly all televisions by 2007.

August 7, 2002

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli forces kill 6 Palestinians: Israeli undercover soldiers kill four Palestinian militants wound three in a gun-fight in Tulkarm. An Israeli sniper kills Hussam Hamdan, a member of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops and 30 tanks push into northern Gaza, killing a Palestinian policeman. These come in response to the attacks of August 4 listed below.

• Three members of Manchester rock band Oasis have been injured in a head-on car crash in Indianapolis while on tour in the U.S.A. None were seriously injured.
• Mathematics: A group at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur have presented an algorithm that they claim determines whether a number is prime in polynomial time relative to the length of the input number in bits. This is an important result in computational complexity theory.
• Stock market downturn of 2002: The stock market remains volatile.

• Explosions went off near the parliament building as Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe was being sworn in, killing at least 10 people.
• Recent celebrity deaths: Edsger Dijkstra, one of the giants of the field of computer science, has died.

August 5, 2002

• Recent celebrity deaths: Chick Hearn, pro-basketball announcer dies at the age of 85.
• Stock market downturn of 2002: U.S. indices continue heavy losses from the previous week and fall by over three percent on the day, NASDAQ falling below its July 23 low.
• British cases of Legionnaires' disease continue to rise, to a total of 56 diagnosed cases so far, in that country's largest outbreak for many years.
• Microsoft has announced that it is to make some concessions towards the proposed final settlement of its antitrust case ahead of the judge's verdict.
• The gun turret of the USS Monitor was raised from the sea bottom off the coast of North Carolina, where it had lain since sinking in 1862.

August 4, 2002

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A Palestinian suicide bombing claims 9 lives, near Safed; there is a shooting attack in Jerusalem, claiming 2; there is an attack upon a settler family, killing the parents. Not all of the victims of these attacks were Israeli Jews; some were Israeli Arabs and Druze.

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "August 2002."

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August 2003

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

A timeline of events in the news for August, 2003.

See also:

• Afghanistan timeline
• California recall
• Dodgy Dossier
• Columbia investigation
• EU enlargement
• Hong Kong Basic Law
• Hutton Inquiry
• Liberian crisis
• North Korea crisis
• Occupation of Iraq: Timeline
• Road map for peace
• Same-sex marriage
• SARS: Timeline
• SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit
• US v. EU on GM food
• US-Canada blackout
• War on Terrorism

August 31, 2003

• Tens of thousands of people turn out in Baghdad for the funeral procession of the murdered Shia Muslim leader Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. [1] 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. [1]
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declassifies carbon dioxide as a pollutant, a move seen as leading to the elimination of restrictions on industrial emissions of the controversial gas. Climate scientists have debated carbon dioxide's role in global warming for over a decade, with most voices (though notably fewer within the US) calling it the biggest factor, while others call it neglible. [1]
• '\'Occupation of Iraq'': Americann and Iraqi officials are discussing the possibility of forming a large Iraqi militia or paramilitary force to help improve security in the country. [1]
• Terrorist: Terrorism group Jemaah Islamiyah has schemes, revealed in a 40-page manifesto (the Pupji book or General Guide to the Struggle of Jemaah Islamiyah), for a 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. [1]
• Afghanistan: Soldiers are killed in a remote region (near the town of 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. [1]

August 30, 2003

• Software patents: After protests, the European Parliament has postponed its decision about legality of patents on software in the European Union from September 1st to September 22nd. [1]
• WTO deal to allow poor countries to bypass drug patents and import cheap copies to treat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. [1]
• 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 nuclear submarine of 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 12 August 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. [1]

August 29, 2003

• Najaf, Iraq: A car bomb explodes during prayers outside the holiest shrine for Shiites, Imam Ali Mosque (Tomb of Ali), just as main weekly prayers are ending. More than 125 people are killed, including the influential cleric Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shiite leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Dozens are injured. [1] class="external">[1 [1] [1] [1]
• Israel is alleged to have contingency plans to bomb an Iranian nuclear power plant if it begins producing weapons grade material. [1]
• Tensions flare again over the main religious site in Jerusalem, the location of both the Temple Mount and the 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. [1]
• 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. [1]
• 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. [1] [1]
• The Inuit of Labrador sign an agreement with the Canadian federal government, giving them self-government in a 72,500 sq.km region of northern Labrador called Nunatsiavut. - [1]
• Sage may help combat Alzheimer's disease. Study finds chemical in the herb improves memory. The study was conducted to verify herbalists writings centuries ago. [1]
• Surgeons in Baltimore, Maryland remove a woman's heart, rebuild its upper chambers from cow and human tissue, and reinstall it in her body.[1]
• Congressman 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.[1]

August 28, 2003

• 9/11: Nearly two years after the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, transcripts of World Trade Center emergency calls are released. Voices of victims are identified on emergency calls and radio transmissions. [1] [1] [1] [1] [1]
• 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. [1]
• Nuclear program: North Korea announces that it is in possession of nuclear weapons, has the means to deliver them, and will soon be carrying out a nuclear test to demonstrate this capability. [1], [1], [1], [1]
• Archaeology: Archaeologists have determined how big the triangle-shaped log enclosure was at Jamestown, Virginia when it was founded in 1607. [1]

August 27, 2003

• Astronomy: Mars passes Earth at a distance of under 55.76 million kilometers, the closest it's been in approximately 60,000 years [1] [1]
• Private Jessica Lynch, whose rescue from an Iraqi hospital has been surrounded by controversy, is honourably discharged from the United States Army National Guard.
• Occupation of Iraq: According to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans polled say the war in Iraq was worth fighting. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 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. [1]
• 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. [1] [1] Only one in five (20%) Americanss 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. [1]
• Crime: 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. [1]
• Crime: A painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the Madonna with the Yarnwinder is stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland, the home of the Duke of Buccleuch.
• Crime: A body of a woman is found in a shallow grave on a beach near Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland. It is suspected to be the body of Jean McConville, a young Belfast woman and mother of ten children kidnapped and murdered by the 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. [1]
• Crime: Two bombs explode at the Emeryville, California corporate offices of Chiron (corporation); electronic mail sent to reporters from Revolutionary Cells claims responsibility.

August 26, 2003

• 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. [1] [1] [1] [1] [1]
• Space Shuttle program: Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) releases 200 page final dossier over the space shuttle Columbia's destruction (and the death of its seven astronauts). It states the cause is from NASA's cultural traits, lack of funds, and insufficient safety program. [1] [1] [1] [1]
• Technology: California Supreme Court rules that publishers could be barred from posting DVD descrambling code (DeCSS) online without infringing on free speech rights. [1] [1]
• O. J. Simpson, giving an interview to Playboy, states that he is still innocent, but says "dream team" lawyers saved him. Without the money to pay for a "dream team" of lawyers, he says he would not have prevailed by being acquitted. In the interview, he also states that after his acquittal he smoked marijuana to get to sleep. [1] [1] [1] [1]
• Former British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath is flown home from his holiday in Salzburg, Austria to receive treatment in London for pulmonary embolism. [1]

August 25, 2003

• 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. [1]
• In Australia's One Nation Party case, it has been revealed that Federal Cabinet Minister Tony Abbott controlled "slush funds" which were used to lay the groundwork for party leader Pauline Hanson's prosecution, and to guarantee a private lawsuit against the party. [1]. Liberal ranks split as Abbot's colleague Bronwyn Bishop joined many Labor MP's 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. [1]
• The Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed in Canada's Northwest Territories. It grants the Dogrib people self-government in an area the size of Belgium. [1]
• Pete Sampras announces his retirement from competitive tennis.
• Two Iranian intelligence officers are charged in connection with the death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. [1]

August 24, 2003

• NASA launches the Space Infrared Telescope Facility on a Delta 2 rocket. [1]
• Hurricane Ignacio approaches the coast of Baja California. Harbours and airports close and low-lying areas are evacuated. [1]
• 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 invoked after four innings.

August 23, 2003

• 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. class="external">[1
• Natural disaster: Wildfires sweep into the southern suburbs of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, destroying more than 200 homes. 30,000 people, or one-third of the city's population, have been evacuated.[1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian leaders state they will try to negotiate a new ceasefire by extremist groups and urge Israel to stop their action against top militants. [1] [1]
• 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.[1] [1]
• California recall: Republican Bill Simon drops out of the California gubernatorial recall race. [1]
• Iran makes protest and cuts diplomatic ties with Argentina over the arrest in Britain of its former ambassador with the United Kingdom and Argentina for the alleged bombing Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1994 in which 85 people died. class="external">[1
• John Geoghan, a defrocked Roman Catholic priest and convicted child molester, dies following an attack in prison. Initial reports say that he was strangled to death.[1] [1] [1]

August 22, 2003

• A Brazilian Space Agency VLS-1 space rocket explodes on its launch-pad at Alcantara 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$12m worth of damage. This ends Brazil's third attempt since 1997 at becoming a space power. class="external">[1
• Natural disaster: Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano sends a column of smoke and ash three kilometres into the air. [1]
• Natural disaster: Wildfire forces around 10,000 people from their homes in British Columbia. This is Western Canada's worst fire season in decades. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: United Nations Security council members are split on the issue of Iraq. France, Russia, People's Republic of China, and Germany are proposing differing ways to expand the United Nations mandate in Iraq beyond humanitarian aid and reconstruction. 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. [1] Powell also sought a new Security Council resolution that would involve other nations to contribute troops and aid in securing and rebuilding Iraq. [1]
• War on Terrorism - Canal Hotel: Investigators focus on the possibility that former Iraqi intelligence agents working as security guards may have assisted the attack. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 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. [1] They urge militant cells in Palestine to strike. Israeli security officials state this is "only the beginning" of responses to Palestinian attacks. [1] [1]
• War on Terrorism: President of the United States George W. Bush announces a freeze on the assets of the Palestinian militant leaders of Hamas and organizations financially supporting the "terrorist organization". The action is taken due to the fact that Hamas officially claims responsibility for the act of terror on August 19. [1] [1]
• Efforts by US broadcaster Fox News to seek an injunction preventing satirist Al Franken from publishing a book backfire as the judge not merely refuses their request but ridicules it. Judge Denny Chin told Fox, which had claimed that the subtitle of the book, which included the words "fair and balanced", infringed on their trademark of the term, "this is an easy case. This case is wholly without merit, both factually and legally". Chin added "It is ironic that a media company, which should be protecting the First Amendment (guaranteeing free speech), is seeking to undermine it." Franken, who as a result of the Fox case had received massive media exposure, commented "I'd like to thank Fox's lawyers for filing one of the stupidest briefs I've ever seen in my life." [1]
• Separation of church and state: Alabama's 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. [1] [1]

August 21, 2003

• Occupation of Iraq: General Ali Hassan al-Majid (Chemical Ali) is reportedly captured in Iraq. He had previously been reported dead. [1] [1] [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israel kills senior Hamas official, Ismail Abu Shanab, by a missile strike in the Gaza Strip and sent tanks into the West Bank towns of Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem in response to a deadly suicide bombing of a bus in Jerusalem. In Hebron, troops destroy the terrorist bomber's home. [1] [1] Hamas and Islamic Jihad end their participation in the cease fire (in response to Israel's action from the two groups' bombing), declaring themselves as enemies to the peace plan, and vow further terrorist acts. [1] [1] [1] [1] [1] The militants demand that Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, leave their area of control.
• Canadian transport minister David Collenette announces that Montreal Dorval International Airport will be renamed in September for former prime minister Pierre Trudeau. [1]

August 20, 2003

• War on Terrorism - Canal Hotel: US officials comment terror group linked to 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." [1]
• Natural disaster: French 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. [1]
• A 4-week-old boy, born to Nigerian parents, dies after a botched home circumcision by a friend of the boy's parents, in the Republic of Ireland. The Garda Siochána are searching for the man, who had no medical qualifications. [1]
• One of the holiest sites in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the 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. [1]
• California recall: Republican recall candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger promises to take quick action. [1]
• 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. [1] [1] [1] [1] [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, breaks negotiations with the Islamic militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad in response to the bombing in Jerusalem. [1] Israel notifies the public that it will retaliate with military strikes for bus bombing. [1] There are conflicting reports that Israel will hold off on the attacks to see if the Palestinian administration takes action against terrorist groups. [1]
• Fighting persists in Chechnya, with six Russian servicemen killed and 11 others wounded in the war-ravaged region.
• Pauline Hanson, former leader of the Australian anti-immigration 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 Mehmood Kasuri's visit to Kabul. Afghanistan claims Pakistani based Taliban have killed many Afghan soldiers. [1]

August 19, 2003

• War on Terrorism - Canal Hotel: A 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 shockwave is felt a mile away. [1] [1] [1]

• 20 killed, 136 wounded by an explosion on board an Israeli bus in Jerusalem. Among the victims are several children. The explosion was caused by a Palestinian suicide bomber. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Hebron claims responsibility for the attack. There are conflicting reports that Hamas is reponsible for the bombing. Israeli government reportedly freezes road map for peace negotiations. In the following days, two additional victims died of their wounds, raising the death toll to 22. [1] [1] [1] [1]
• War on Terrorism: A Moroccan court sentences four men to death and jails 83 others for their involvement in a wave of terror attacks in Casablanca that killed 33 bystanders and a dozen suicide bombers in May 2003. The trial involved dozens of defendants accused of belonging to a clandestine Moroccan group, the Salafia Jihadia. Moroccan authorities have linked the group to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
• Occupation of Iraq: Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, disguised as an Arab Bedouin, has been captured. Ramadan served as Saddam's thug and a member of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council. Kurdish group claims responsibility for the capture of Ramadan. He was handed over to Coalition forces in Mosul. [1] [1] [1]
• Afghanistan celebrates its Independence Day amid one of the bloodiest weeks in a year, with heavily armed guerrillas killing at least nine policemen in the latest in a string of ambushes. In the last week, the country has been battered by an onslaught from insurgents, who are believed to be a mix of guerrillas from the ousted Taliban regime, al-Qaida fighters and supporters of renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. [1]
• The International Survivors Action Committee releases a 152-page report on the controversial Tranquility Bay behavior correction facility.
• Natural disaster: Start of the Booth and Bear Butte 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, and burning at least 41,000 acres.

August 18, 2003

• War on Terrorism: Arab television airs an audio tape allegedly from al Qaeda official Abdel Rahman al-Najdi saying Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Omar are alive. The tape advocates Muslims to commit terroristic acts and fight the Coalition forces in Iraq. [1] [1] [1]
• Terroristss associated with al-Qaida releases a statement in which it claims responsibility for the blackout. The statement says that the group acted on Osama bin Laden's orders. [1], [1], [1]

August 17, 2003

• Major blackout: investigators now believe the blackout began in Ohio. 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. [1]
• Terrorists again fired on children in Gorazdevac, near Pec, this time while they were in the center of the village. No children were injured in this incident, just 4 days since the last. [1]
• Saboteurss cause a series of explosions that damaged oil and water pipelines in Iraq. class="external">[1
• Iceland resumes whaling, 14 years after it stopped commercial whaling in 1989. It says that it will hunt 38 minke whales for research on the impact of the whales on fish stocks. [1] [1] [1]
• Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appoints Hermenegilde Chiasson lieutenant governor of New Brunswick.
• 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. [1]

August 16, 2003

• 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 [1].
• West Virginia: Kanawha County Sheriff's office reports that a string of four fatal shootings over the past week were linked by ballistics testing to the same type of weapon. The perpetrator(s) remain at large. class="external">[1. The incident is reminiscent of the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks.
• Idi Amin, whose eight years as president of Uganda were characterized by bizarre and murderous behavior, died in Saudi Arabia. [1]

August 15, 2003

• Power is restored to many, but not all areas of the north-eastern United States and Canada affected by the previous day's blackout [1]. Investigations into the root cause of the grid collapse are currently focusing on transmission lines circling Lake Erie [1].
• 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. [1] Although some claim the acceptance is just a business deal and not a true admission of guilt. [1]
• Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein announces that he will abdicate the throne in 2004, in favor of his son, Prince Alois.

August 14, 2003

• A major power outage due to a power grid failure affects more than 50 million people in the northeast of North America, including New York City, New Jersey, Cleveland, Ottawa, Toronto and Detroit [1] [1] [1] ABC BBC CNN. According to U.S. authorities, the cause is still unclear; according to the 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 [1]. A press release with some technical details of the event is a available at [1]. The NRC reports that all 9 affected nuclear power plants have been safely shut down [1].
• 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. [1]
• SARS: Public health officials are investigating seven deaths and several infections in an outbreak that resembles, but is not believed to be, SARS in a nursing home in Surrey, British Columbia (a suburb of Vancouver). However, until more is known about the disease, the home will be treated as a SARS site for safety's sake. [1]
• A single-celleded microbe, of the domain Archaea, is found to be able to survive at 121°C (250°F), making it the life form that can tolerate the highest temperature. The microbe, temporarily named Strain 121, which was found 200 miles away from Puget Sound in a hydrothermal vent, may provide clues to when and where life first evolved on Earth. It metabolizes by reducing iron oxide. [1] [1] [1] [1]
• Terrorism: Hambali, an important leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, is in U.S. custody after being captured in Thailand. [1]
• Liberian crisis: News services are reporting that Moses Blah met with Sekou Conneh of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) group and Thomas Nimley of a smaller faction known as Model. Meanwhile, the Pentagon expands the United States' military presence by adding a "quick reaction" force of 150 combat troops to back up Nigerian peacekeepers. [1] [1]
• 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 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. [1]

August 13, 2003

• Ivan Jovovic and Bogdan Bukomiric, both 16 years old, from Gorazdevac near Pec die after two attackers fired from AK-47 on group of children from Gorazdevac who were bathing in river Bistrica. Four children got injured in the attack, two of which are in critical condition. UNMIK and KFOR claimed that they transferred one of them, Marko Bogicevic, to Belgrade, but he is actually in German military hospital at Prizren, against his parents' wishes. Italian KFOR patrol refused to borrow fuel to 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 to Pec, doctors there refused to treat the children. KFOR claims that it researches the location of the incident with 300 men.
• 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. [1] [1] [1]
• Iraq's northern oil fields resumes exports. [1]
• 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. [1]
• Disgraced Irish former Taoiseach Charles J. Haughey sells his historic home and estate, Kinsealy, in north Dublin to a property developer for 35 million euro. The former taoiseach, whose financial dealings and 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.
• Same-sex marriage in Canada: At its convention in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, the United Church of Canada votes overwhelmingly to ask the federal government to allowsame-sex marriage.
• A National Geographic team releases the discovery of a new species of large dinosaur, Rajasaurus Narmadensis, native to the Indian subcontinent. The research effort was made by a joint Indo-American group, including members from the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, and the Punjab University of Northern India. [1]

August 12, 2003

• War on Terrorism: An exclusive BBC report says a joint United States, Russia and United Kingdom "sting" halted a plot to shoot down Air Force One using an Igla surface to air missile. According to the BBC, the plot, initially unearthed by the Russians, led President Vladimir Putin to request that an FBI agent go to St. Petersburg, where the agent posed as an Islamic extremist and met the British arms dealer supplying the missile. The missile was shipped from St. Peterburg to Baltimore in the United States. The British arms dealer "arranging" the deal was arrested when he arrived in Newark 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 commerical 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. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq: The Associated Press is reporting that troopss in Iraq should expect to serve for at least a year according to the commander of United States forces. [1] [1] [1] [1] [1] [1]
• George W. Bush nominates former NGA chairman and current governor of Utah, Michael O. Leavitt for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. [1]
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Two Israelis killed and about a dozen wounded in two separate suicide bombings by Palestinian terrorists in the towns of Rosh-Ha'ayin and 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, an activity which is specifically outlawed as a war crime by the Fourth Geneva Convention.[1]
• 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. [1] [1]
• Sir Jocelyn Gore-Booth announces the sale of the historic Lissadell estate in County Sligo in Ireland, the childhood home of early twentieth century Irish republican Constance Gore-Booth (Countess Markievicz) and which had major associations with the poet 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. [1]
• The remains of a viking warrior are found at a building site in Dublin. The warrior had been stabbed to death during a ninth 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.
• The Rev. Peter Short is elected Moderator of the United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant denomination, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. [1]
• Microsoft has decided to appeal a verdict to pay $520.6 million from a Chicago federal jury that affirms the Internet Explorer browser violated Intellectual Property rights of Eolas Technologies (concerning Patent US 5838906). [1] [1]

August 11, 2003

• Liberian president Charles Taylor resigns. He is replaced by vice-president Moses Blah. [1]
• 2003 California recall: New California voter survey finds nearly two-thirds of the state's voters want a new governor. [1] [1] [1] [1]
• Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 US gold medal ice hockey team that beat the Soviet Union in a game that was called The Miracle on Ice, dies in a car accident.[1]
• African church leader, Archbishop Bernard Malango, states that the leaders of 600,000 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. [1] [1] [1]
• 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. [1] In Catalonia, five people from one family are killed by a wildfire that encircles their home. Four villages are evacuated in the Algarve. [1]
• Doctors in Montreal successfully deliver by Caesarean section a healthy baby who grew in an ectopic pregnancy. Such a pregnancy, which begins outside the womb, 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. [1]
• Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of British scientist Dr. David Kelly begins in London. [1]
• The Spirit of Butts Farm becomes the first radio-controlled model aeroplane to cross the Atlantic.

August 10, 2003

• 100,000 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 Cancun in Mexico. [1]
• British police in London are given 'shoot-on-sight' orders to deal with possible suicide bombers by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens as expectations rise of an Al-Qaeda attack on the British capital. [1]
• War on Terrorism: The Sunday Times reports that Al-Qaeda terrorists 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 soliders and Iraqi police officers, among others. [1]
• Pope John Paul II urges Catholics to pray for rain in Europe as the heat wave continues. The heatwave in Britain reaches 100° Fahrenheit (just under 38° Celsius) at Heathrow, for the first time in history. [1] Warnings of avalanches are issued in the Alps, as mountain glaciers melt.
• Liberian President and convicted war criminal 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. [1]
• The Russian space program has the been the first to send a man, a dog, a woman, and a tourist into space. And it may be the first to marry a couple in space. Yuri Malenchenko (41), aboard the international space station, and his bride, Yekaterina Dmitriyeva (26) in Texas, are making preparations for what seems to be the first cosmic wedding. [1] [1] [1] [1]
• The British Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith demands that Prime Minister Tony Blair apologise for the comments of his press secretary, Tom Kelly, in which Kelly compared 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. [1]
• 16-year-old Israeli killed and five other injured in Hizbollah shelling on the northern Israeli town of Shlomi. Israeli planes attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to the shelling. 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 which also seriously injured 2 passers-by. [1]
• While Retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his successor, Archbishop Njongonkulu Winston Ndungane, fails to see what "all the fuss" is over the ordination of a gay bishop, other African Anglicans suggest that their churches may sever relations with the American dioceses which supported the election of a gay priest as bishop if what they called the "path of deviation" is not changed. [1] [1]

August 9, 2003

• A historic heat wave continues to afflict Europe and is expected to continue for another week. Spain and Portugal are particularly hard hit; forest fires in Portugal are declared a national disaster, with damages estimated at €1 billion. Other fires are reported on Majorca and in the Canary Islands. Temperatures of 49°C are recorded in Andalusia. London records its highest temperature in history. 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. [1]
• 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. [1] [1] [1]
• SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit: 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. [1] [1] [1] It is unknown how this tool will work, as SCO has not disclosed which code it considers infringing.
• The city of Vyborg commence the 600-years anniversary of King Eric of Pomerania establishing the town's trading privileges in a Royal Charter.[1]

August 8, 2003

• 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 opinion poll shows 37% of his supporters think Israeli 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. [1]
• 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 processeses, overall security, and economy. [1] [1] [1]
• 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. [1] [1] [1]
• SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit: IBM furnishes more information on their SCO countersuit and states that they have Novell support. [1] [1] [1]
• War on Terrorism: According to the latest disclosed analysis of the cockpit recordingss by the United States investigators, the September 11th terrorist-pilot Ziad Jarrah got instructions to crash the United Airlines flight 93 into the Pennsylvania farmland because of the passenger uprising in the cabin trying to seize the plane's controls. [1] [1] [1] [1]
• Michael Johnston, a prominent "ex-gay" Christian, is said to have engaged in unprotected gay sex, despite his own opposition to homosexuality. [1], [1], [1]
• It is reported that the Canadian Grand Prix is dropped from the 2004 Formula 1 calendar as a result of its anti-tobacco laws. The Montreal race was given a grace of 7 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. [1] However, Formula One director general Bernie Ecclestone says that no such decision has been made. [1]
• The draft EU constitution could lead to the establishment of foreign-owned private health care and educational services. [1]

August 7, 2003

• 2003 California recall: Republican Darrell Issa, the person behind the effort of recall election of Gray Davis, quickly and without warning dropped out of the gubernatorial race. [1] [1]
• Convicted terrorist, Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, found guilty yesterday by the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court of "membership of an illegal organisation" and "directing terrorism", is sentenced to twenty years in prison. [1]
• An Indonesian court sentences Amrozi bin Nurhasyim to death for his role in the 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. [1]

• Occupation of Iraq: A car bomb explodes near the Jordanian 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. [1]
• Liberian crisis: President Charles Taylor resigns as Nigerian peacekeepers entered Liberia. Taylor names his vice president, Moses Blah, as his successor. Peacekeepers intercepted an arms shipment to Liberia from Libya. Taylor, who is indicted for war crimes, indicates that he will seek asylum in Nigeria. [1]

August 6, 2003

• 2003 California recall: Arnold Schwarzenegger announces he will run for Governor of California in the recall election of Gray Davis. [1] [1] [1]
• Florida is set to begin paying $1.6 million in fees to pilot/database guru and alleged former drug smuggler turned government informant Hank Asher in payment for his Matrix system, a rapidly searchable database combining existing police records and several large commercially available computer databases. Civil libertarians are outraged at the system, claiming it is Orwellian and reminiscent of the Federal Total Information Awareness program. The United States Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security are providing funds to expand Matrix coverage to the entire country. [1] [1] [1]
• An Italian laboratory announces the birth of the world's first cloned horse, Prometea. [1]
• 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. [1] [1]
• 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. [1] [1] [1]
• Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt is convicted in the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court of two terrorist offences, "directing terrorism" and "membership of an illegal organisation". One of the key witnesses was David Rupert, an 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. [1]

August 5, 2003

• A powerful car bomb explodes outside the Marriott Hotel[1], killing at least fourteen people and injuring about 150 in downtown Jakarta, a popular district for foreigners. It is believed to be a suicide bombing. The blast comes two days before a Bali court was due to deliver the verdict of the first suspect of the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing and four days after President Megawati Sukarnoputri vowed to wipe out terrorist networks in Indonesia. Jemaah Islamiyah claimed responsibility for the attack through a Singapore newspaper. class="external">[1
• A planned meeting between Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas is cancelled by Abbas. He accuses Israel of not doing enough in a US-backed road map for peace. Israel had said that 540 Palestinian prisoners would be freed but only released 342 names in a prisoner list. Israel accuses the Palestinians of not curbing terrorist attacks on Israel. [1]
• 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. class="external">[1
• The father of two teenage French tennis players is arrested in France and accused of drugging their opponents to ensure his children win their games. The issue arose when a tennis player, having played against one of the man's daughters, was killed in a car crash having fallen asleep while driving. Tests showed he had been drugged some hours earlier. [1]
• 2003 Nova Scotia election: the Progressive Conservative Party of Premier John Hamm is reelected with a minority government. They receive 25 seats, the New Democratic Party 15, and the Liberals 12.
• The Episcopal Church, the U.S branch of the Anglican Communion, approves its first openly gay bishop 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. [1] [1] [1]

August 4, 2003

• Construction workers of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, People's Republic of China accidentally dig out five Japanese mustard gas bombs from the 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. [1]
• The clergy and lay people of the Episcopal Church in the United States, by a comfortable margin, vote in favor of the appointment of an openly gay bishop. 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. class="external">[1
• 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.

August 2, 2003

• The Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom claims attempts by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) to destroy allegedly important documents about its treatment of BBC source Dr. David Kelly 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 United Nations authorizes an international peacekeeping force for Liberia. The United States is criticized by members of the Security Council for insisting that UN peacekeepers serving in Liberia be granted immunity from war crimes prosecution. The U.S. demand is described by its critics as a breach of international law.
• A huge condominium complex under construction in San Diego, California is destroyed, supposedly by the Earth Liberation Front. [1]
• 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.
• Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein publicly rebukes Ariel Sharon's son Gilad for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into graft and influence peddling. [1]
• Scientists announce that the ozone layer may be showing signs of recovery due to an international ban on chlorofluorocarbons. [1]

August 1, 2003

• A 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]
• North Korea agrees to multilateral talks in its nuclear standoff with Japan, South Korea, Russia, The United States, and the People's Republic of China. [1]
• 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 licence. [1]

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "August 2003."

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August Wilhelm von Schlegel

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

This entry is based on an article from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

August Wilhelm von Schlegel (September 8, 1767 - May 12, 1845), German poet, translator and critic, was born at Hanover, where his father, Johann Adolf Schlegel (1721-1793), was a Lutheran pastor. He was educated at the Hanover gymnasium and at the university of Göttingen.

Having spent some years as a tutor in the house of a banker at Amsterdam, he went to Jena, where, in 1796, he married Karoline, the widow of the physician Böhmer and in 1798 was appointed extraordinary professor. Here he began his translation of Shakespeare, which was ultimately completed, under the superintendence of Ludwig Tieck, by Tieck's daughter Dorothea and Graf Wolf von Baudissin. This rendering is one of the best poetical translations in German, or indeed in any language. At Jena Schlegel contributed to Schiller's periodicals the Horen and the Musenalmanach; and with his brother Friedrich he conducted the Athenaeum, the organ of the Romantic school. He also published a volume of poems, and carried on a rather bitter controversy with Kotzebue.

At this time the two brothers were remarkable for the vigour and freshness of their ideas, and commanded respect as the leaders of the new Romantic criticism. A volume of their joint essays appeared in 1801 under the title Charakteristiken und Kritiken. In 1802 Schlegel went to Berlin, where he delivered lectures on art and literature; and in the following year he published Ion, a tragedy in Euripidean style, which gave rise to a suggestive discussion on the principles of dramatic poetry. This was followed by Spanisches Theater (2 Vols., 1803/1809), in which he presented admirable translations of five of Calderon's plays; and in another volume, Blumensträusse italienischer, spanischer und portugiesischer Poesie (1804), he gave translations of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian lyrics.

In 1807 he attracted much attention in France by an essay in the French language, Comparaison entre la Phèdre de Racine et celle d'Euripide, in which he attacked French classicism from the standpoint of the Romantic school. His lectures on dramatic art and literature (Über dramatische Kunst und Literatur, 1809-1811), which have been translated into most European languages, were delivered at Vienna in 1808. Meanwhile, after a divorce from his wife Karoline, in 1804, he travelled in France, Germany, Italy and other countries with Madame de Staël, who owed to him many of the ideas which she embodied in her work, De l'Allemagne.

In 1813 he acted as secretary of the crown prince of Sweden, through whose influence the right of his family to noble rank was revived. Schlegel was made a professor of literature at the university of Bonn in 1818, and during the remainder of his life occupied himself chiefly with oriental studies, although he continued to lecture on art and literature, and in 1828 he issued two volumes of critical writings (Kritische Schriften). In 1823-1830 he published the journal Indische Bibliothek (3 vols.) and edited (1823) the Bhagavad Gita with a Latin translation, and (1829) the Ramayana. These works mark the beginning of Sanskrit scholarship in Germany.

After the death of Madame de Staël Schlegel married (1818) a daughter of Professor Paulus of Heidelberg; but this union was dissolved in 1821. He died at Bonn on the 12th of May 1845. As an original poet Schlegel is unimportant, but as a poetical translator he has rarely been excelled, and in criticism he put into practice the Romantic principle that a critic's first duty is not to judge from the standpoint of superiority, but to understand and to characterize a work of art.

Works and Literature

In 1846/1847 Schlegel's Sämtliche Werke were issued in twelve volumes by E. Bocking. There are also editions by the same editor of his Œuvres écrites en francais (3 vols., 1846), and of his Opuscula Latsne scripta (1848). Schlegel's Shakespeare translations have been often reprinted; the edition of 1871/1872 was revised with Schlegel's manuscripts by M. Bernays. See M. Bernays, Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Schlegelschen Shakespeare (1872); R. Genée, Schlegel end Shakespeare (1903). Schlegel's Berlin lectures of 1801/1804 were reprinted from manuscript notes by J. Minor (1884). A selection of the writings of both AW and Friedrich Schlegel, edited by O. Walzel, will be found in Kürschner's Deutsche Nationalliteratur, 143 (1892). See especially R. Haym, Romantische Schule, and the article in the Allg. deutsche Biographie by F. Muncker.

Letters

• Ludwig Tieck und die Brüder Schlegel. Briefe ed. by Edgar Lohner (München 1972)

Weblinks

• http://www.gutenberg2000.de/autoren/schlegla.htm -- Schlegel's Shakespeare translations as E-Texts of Projekt Gutenberg-DE

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "August Wilhelm von Schlegel."

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August, California

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

August is a town located in San Joaquin County, California. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 7,808.

Geography

August is located at 37°58'48" North, 121°15'50" West (37.979890, -121.263984)¹. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.3 km² (1.3 mi²). 3.3 km² (1.3 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 7,808 people, 2,412 households, and 1,736 families residing in the town. The population density is 2,337.0/km² (6,034.9/mi²). There are 2,614 housing units at an average density of 782.4/km² (2,020.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 51.33% White, 1.32% African American, 3.04% Native American, 3.24% Asian, 0.54% Pacific Islander, 34.13% from other races, and 6.40% from two or more races. 55.97% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 2,412 households out of which 41.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% are married couples living together, 18.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 28.0% are non-families. 21.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.23 and the average family size is 3.78. In the town the population is spread out with 33.4% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 29 years. For every 100 females there are 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 103.2 males. The median income for a household in the town is $25,222, and the median income for a family is $26,676. Males have a median income of $25,922 versus $20,317 for females. The per capita income for the town is $11,037. 29.8% of the population and 28.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 34.9% are under the age of 18 and 11.3% are 65 or older.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "August, California."

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Augustus

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Augustus (pl. Augusti) is Latin for "majestic" or "venerable". It is chiefly significant as a cognomen first awarded to Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus (who styled himself "Imperator Caesar" on January 16, 27 BC, along with the office of princeps senatus (lit., "prince of the senate"), the parliamentary leader of the house. Caesar Augustus continued to be elected consul each year until 23 BC. He was given imperium maius (his supreme command outranked that of any provincial governor), and owned all of Aegyptus as private property (he had succeeded Cleopatra VII of Egypt as Pharaoh in 30 BC).

In 23 BC, in the so-called "Second Settlement", the Senate voted him tribunicia potestas ("tribunician power"), thereby investing him with the powers of a tribune of the people, most importantly personal inviolability (sacrosanctitas) and the right to veto any act or proposal of any magistrate (ius intercessio). His power was further augmented in 19 BC when he accepted an ad personam grant of consular imperium (i.e., without holding the consulate itself) and in 18 BC when he was elected Pontifex Maximus.

Augustus subsequently became the principal rank associated with the Roman Emperors; a designated successor to an emperor adopted the title Caesar (later Nobilissimus Caesar, "Most Noble Caesar"), or would occasionally be awarded the title Princeps Iuventutis ("Prince of Youth"), and adopted the titles "Imperator" and Augustus upon accession to the full imperial dignity; a wife or mother of the emperor could be invested with the title Augusta. In this sense, "Augustus" is broadly comparable to "Emperor", though a modern reader should be careful not to project onto the ancients a modern, monarchical understanding of "emperor"; there was no constitutional office associated with the imperial dignity. The emperor's personal authority (dignitas) and influence (auctoritas) derived from his position as princeps senatus, and his legal authority derived from his consulari imperium and tribunicia potestas; it is more accurate to describe the emperor as "princeps senatus et pontifex maximus consulari imperio et tribuniciae potestate" (loosely, "Leader of the House and Chief Priest with Consular Imperium and Tribunician Power").

In many ways, Augustus is comparable to the British dignity of prince; it is a personal title, dignity, or attribute rather than a title of nobility such as duke or king. The emperor was most commonly referred to as princeps (basileys, "king", in Greek). Later, under the Tetrarchy, the rank of Augustus referred to the senior emperor, while Caesar referred to the junior sub-emperor. The three principle titles of the emperors -- Imperator, Caesar, and Augustus -- were rendered as autokratôr, kaisar, and augustos (or sebastos) in Greek. The Latin title of the so-called "Holy Roman Emperors" was usually "Imperator Augustus" ("August Emperor"), which conveys the modern understanding of "emperor" rather than the original Roman sense (i.e., the "first citizen" of the Republic).

As a note of historical interest, the first modern use of the original sense of "emperor" was in the French Republic (République française). Napoléon Bonaparte, who was already First Consul of the French Republic (Premier Consul de la République française) for life, was crowned "Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) in 1804; despite being ruled by an emperor, it continued to be the French Republic until 1808, when it was renamed the French Empire (Empire français).

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Augustus."

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Abbreviations & Acronyms: August

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Synonyms within Context: August

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