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)
US financial markets opened with mixed volatility in reaction to disruptions to the nation's oil distribution system along the Gulf coast and concerns for consumer spending. By the closing bell the NASDAQ and Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped two percent. President Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and top economic advisers gave the markets a favorable bump after a noon meeting to consider financial impacts of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. (MarketWatch)
Russia marks the first anniversary of the Beslantragedy in which militants seized nearly 1,200 hostages, killing 331, more than half of them children. (The Guardian)
The Common Chimpanzeegenome 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))
The CaliforniaSenate 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)
President Bush tours the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina amidst growing criticism of his lack of leadership. Media reports say he will not visit New Orleans. Bush said order would be restored and New Orleans would emerge from its "darkest days". (BBC)
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 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)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: PNA President Mahmoud Abbas said that 97.5 percent of Gaza Strip lands that Israel would evacuate from were state-owned lands and that the Islamic University was entitled to receive lands in order to expand its facilities.(IPC)
Estimates of the death toll in New Orleans are made by H&HS Secretary Michael Leavitt: "I think it's evident it's in the thousands. It's clear to me that this has been sickeningly difficult and profoundly tragic circumstance" (Express News)
The Coast Guard asks people in the New Orleans area to hang brightly colored or white sheets, towels or anything else that might help draw attention to those needing assistance. (The Times-Picayune)
Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice visits her native Alabama and defends President Bush's response to the hurricane saying "Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race." (Express News)
With 250,000 refugees already in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry ordered emergency officials to begin preparations to airlift some of them to other states that have offered to help. (Denton Record Chronicle)
The United States receives offers of financial and humanitarian assistance from multiple nations and international groups, including NATO and Iran. Iran says all aid will be sent through the Red Crescent organization. (CNN)(Reuters)
Wistar Institute scientists say they will present details of research on their creation of "miracle mice" next week at a Cambridge University conference on Regeneration. The experimental animals are able to regenerate amputated limbs or body organs.(The Australian))
In Bregenz, Austria, a German woman attacks the Roy Lichtenstein painting Nudes in Mirror with a jackknife. Witnesses say that the woman claimed that the painting was not authentic. Although there were several slashes in the painting, valued at €4 million, it can be repaired. (Reuters)
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)
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana President Aaron Broussard told CBS's Early Show anchor Harry Smith today: "Bureaucracy has murdered people in the Greater New Orleans area and bureaucracy needs to stand trial in Congress today. Take whatever idiot they have at the top and give me a better idiot." (News Busters)
President George W. Bush announced today he would head an investigation into the New Orleans disaster response. He told reporters in the Cabinet Room: "People want us here to play a blame game. We got to solve problems. We're here to solve problems. There'll be ample time for people to figure out what went right and what went wrong." (Al Jazeera)
Barbara Bush comes under criticism while visiting Hurricane Katrina relief centers in Houston, TX. Mrs. Bush stated on the NPR program "Marketplace: "So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (chuckles)--this is working very well for them." The former First Lady also said that the fact that the 15,000 evacuees in the Astrodome might want to stay in Texas was "kind of scary". (EditorAndPublisher.com)
Cairo: At least 34 people were killed and 60 injured by flames and an ensuing stampede when a fire broke out in the theater run by Egypt's Culture Ministry; about 1,000 people were watching the play. (Y! & AP)(BBC)
Typhoon Nabi kills at least 21 in Japan with over 50 still missing. (AFP) Over 100,000 people were told to evacuate. (CBC)
Almost 600 people have now been officially declared dead in an outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis in India. Officials fear the actual death toll might be much higher because many deaths in rural areas are not reported. (BBC)
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.
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)
News Corporation says it will buy IGN Entertainment for $650 million. IGN is one of the largest multimedia sites on the Internet and also owns the GameSpy Network and AskMen.com. (BBC)
Emergency officials requisition 25,000 body bags as search and rescue operations continue in Louisiana. A spokesman for the state's department of health and hospitals said: "We don't know what to expect ... It means we are prepared." (The Guardian)
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)
India and Pakistan will exchange civilian prisoners on September 12 at the Waga border. Those exchanged have completed their sentences. (The Indian Express)
Four people are known to have died following a football match in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a wall collapsed in the stadium the teams were playing in. (BBC)
Russia is planning to build the world's first low capacity floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) at a cost of $200,000. The plant will produce 1/150th the power of a standard Russian facility. (MOSNEWS)
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin interviewed on NBC's Meet the Press is critical of suggestions that tent cities be constructed to house Hurricane Katrina survivors. He promises to lead the rebuilding of the city saying: "New Orleaneans are the only ones to rebuild. We're going to rebuild New Orleans and make sure we have resources to get the job done." (NBC)
Over 800,000 people in the Zhejiang province of China are evacuating as the province is hit by Typhoon Khanun which has a packing center winds of 144 kilometers per hour. (Chinadaily)
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)
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.
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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
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. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
