September 2007:
September 2007 is the ninth month of that year. It began on a Saturday and 30 days later, ended on a Sunday.
[edit] International holidays
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- Dave Zabriski, an American professional cyclist, defended his National Time Trial Championship by winning by 2 seconds in Greenville, SC.
- The Church of Uganda, the Anglican province of Uganda, appoints a bishop in the United States, John Guernsey, deepening a split with the Episcopal Church over the ordination of gay priests and bishops. (BBC)
- World Championships in Athletics: American athlete Tyson Gay wins his third medal of the championship as part of the 100 metres relay team after earlier winning gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres. (Reuters)
- The Sri Lankan Army captures territory near Mannar from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after a week of heavy fighting. (AFP via Lanka Business Online)
- Protesters in Southeast Aceh try to stop the swearing in of the regent and deputy regent with riot police using tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd resulting in 26 people being injured. (Reuters Alertnet)
- In a stunning college football upset, Appalachian State defeated #5-ranked Michigan at Michigan Stadium by a score of 34-32. This is the first time a team from the second-tier NCAA Division I FCS has defeated an AP-ranked Division I FBS opponent. Armanti Edwards was the quarterback for the underdog Mountaineers. (Ann Arbor News)
- Eleven World Wrestling Entertainment performers are suspended for suspected illegal steroid abuse.(Newsday)
- Thousands of former military officers protest in Yemen with Yemeni riot police firing bullets and tear gas to disperse them. (AP via CNN)
- The United Nations launches a food assistance program to assist Iraqi refugees in Syria. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
- Two small planes collide during an air show in Radom, Poland resulting in the deaths of both pilots (Marek Dubkiewicz and Sebastian Chrząszcz) . (AP via Sydney Morning Herald)
- The National Assembly of Panama selects Pedro Miguel González Pinzón as its President despite the fact that he is wanted in the United States for an alleged murder of a United States Army sergeant and the attempted murder of another. González has been cleared by a Panamanian court of these charges. (AP via the Guardian)
- Iraq is to free up to 6,000 Sunni insurgents in an attempt at reconciliation by the Government. (The Telegraph)
- French and Spanish police foil an ETA car bomb plot and arrest the man who is alleged to be the organisations top bombmaker and his accomplices. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appoints Mohammed Ali Jafari to replace General Yahya Rahim Safavi as the leader of the Revolutionary Guard. (The Canadian Press via Google News)
- Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto promises to return to Pakistan very soon. (Daily Telegraph)
- Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig resigns from the United States Senate effective 30 September following a guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge following his arrest in a restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. (Wikinews)
- 2007 Ogaden conflict: International aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières has accused Ethiopia of denying it access to the country's eastern Ogaden region.(BBC News)
- The Second Tuareg Rebellion spreads rapidly as a Malian army colonel has deserted to join a Tuareg rebellion in the northern desert, taking with him nearly 60 fighters. (Reuters)
- New gambling legislation comes into effect in the United Kingdom, relaxing advertising restrictions and extending opening hours. (The Telegraph)
- Hurricanes and tropical storms:
- A bomb in the Indian state of Assam kills one person and injures 12, with police suspecting the United Liberation Front of Asom. (AP via IHT)
- Two people go missing and six people are injured following a boat accident at the mouth of the Brisbane River in Australia. (ABC News Australia)
- Kurds in northern Iraq flee from Iranian shelling aimed at Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK) positions. (AP via Google)
- Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Takehiko Endo refuses to resign over allegations that a group that he chaired received state subsidies illegally. (AFP via Google News)
- Envoys from the United States and North Korea meet in Geneva to discuss normalising relations. (BBC)
- A concrete and steel fence is built in Sydney to protect leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting next week. (BBC)
- There has been a spike in dengue fever cases in 2007 in Malaysia with seventy-five people dying in the first eight months. (Times of India)
- 2007 Greek forest fires: The Prime Minister of Greece Costas Karamanlis says that the fires are now under control after killing 64 people and causing £800 million worth of damage. (Press Association via Google News)
- New laws come into effect giving China more control over the selection of the Dalai Lama. (BBC)
- Finland ceased all of its analog television transmissions in the terrestrial network as part of the digital switchover. (Wikinews)
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- Peace talks in Finland aimed at ending sectarian violence in Iraq end successfully, resulting in the "Helsinki Agreement". (Wikinews)
- China charges human rights activist Yang Chunlin, who gathered 10,000 signatures to an open letter opposing the Beijing Olympics on human rights grounds, with attempting to subvert state power. (AFP via Google)
- Panama begins work on its £2.7 billion Panama Canal expansion project. (The Scotsman)
- Six expatriate judges resign from the Fijian legal system following disagreements with the military-appointed acting Chief Justice Anthony Gates. (AAP via News Limited)
- The Financial Times reports that China's military successfully hacked into The Pentagon's computer network. (Reuters)
- Japan and Chile sign a free trade agreement. (Associated Press via Forbes)
- Mittal Steel completes the first part of its takeover of Arcelor with ArcelorMittal being listed on European stock exchanges with the combined company becoming the world's largest steel producer. (CNN)
- Tomás Medina Caracas (known by his nom de guerre "Negro Acacio"), one of FARC's most important leaders and the liaison between this Colombian guerrilla and Brazilian drug dealers, is killed in action by Colombian armed forces in Guaviare. (El Tiempo)
- The Israeli Defense Forces announce plans for a force upgrade following problems in the 2006 Lebanon War and a perceived threat from Iran. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
- War in Iraq:
- The Rail Maritime and Transport Union threatens a three day strike on the London Underground with last minute talks between the union and Transport for London failing to prevent this outcome. (Telegraph)
- Myanmar's National Convention finally completes 14 years of talks on a new constitution in a military base north of Yangon. (AFP via Google)
- Two groups from the Terai region of Nepal – the Terai Army and the Nepal People's Army – claim responsibility for bombs that killed two people and injured 30 in Kathmandu yesterday. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon arrives in Sudan to press for an end to violence in Darfur. (BBC)
- European energy companies Gaz de France and Suez agree to merge in what would be a privatisation of the French state-owned Gaz de France. (The Telegraph)
- Justice Susan Kiefel becomes the third woman to serve on the High Court of Australia. (ABC News Australia)
- Four cargo ships carrying methanol sink on the Hanjiang River, the source of the water supply for Wuhan, China, with environmental authorities monitoring water quality. (Shanghai Daily)
- Sun Zhengcai, the Chinese Minister for Agriculture, states that China will clamp down on foods tainted with illegal and excessive chemicals. (Reuters)
- The interim Government of Bangladesh arrests former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia and her son on corruption charges. (BBC)
- APEC:
- Jamaican voters go to the polls for the Jamaican general election, 2007. (AP via IHT)
- According to reports in Japanese media, Takehiko Endo resigns as the Japanese Agriculture Minister due to involvements in illegal dealings in 1999. (BBC)
- Hurricane Felix
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- In a ceremony at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, priests chanted prayers in honor of the Russian Defense Ministry's 12th Main Directorate, which is responsible for the storage and maintenance of Russia's nuclear arsenal. (The Moscow Times)
- German authorities arrest three people for planning attacks on Frankfurt and a United States military base in Ramstein. (Reuters)
- A spokesman for Idaho Senator Larry Craig indicates that the Senator is rethinking his decision to resign following his plea of guilty to "disorderly conduct" charges in Minneapolis. (New York Times)
- Mattel and the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the United States announces that it is recalling 700,000 Chinese made toys on the grounds of excessive lead paint making it the third recall in the past month. (AP)
- The Klaxons win the Mercury Prize for their album Myths of the Near Future beating favourites Amy Winehouse and the Arctic Monkeys. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- A week long heatwave in Southern California results in the death of 13 people and 500,000 people losing power in outages. (Reuters), (AP via Fox News)
- Hurricane Felix:
- Adventurer Steve Fossett is reported missing over the Nevada desert. (CNN)
- Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia expels party Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Joint Secretary General Ashraf Hossain accusing breaching party discipline.
- Former President of Iran, Hashemi Rafsanjani is elected the chairman of the Assembly of Experts (AP)
- The Iraqi Supreme Court confirms the death sentence passed on Ali Hassan al-Majid, Sultan Hashim al-Tai and Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti. (RTE)
- 2007 Lebanon conflict: Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias al-Murr claims that at least 222 Fatah al-Islam militants were killed during the struggle. (Reuters via News Limited)
- 2007 Pacific Hurricane season: Tropical Storm Henriette becomes Hurricane Henriette on its way to Baja California. (AP via Google)
- The United States Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Indian Navy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Republic of Singapore Navy conduct exercises in the Bay of Bengal, (BBC)
- Israel threatens to cut off electricity, water and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip for hours if Hamas launches rocket attacks. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- The strike by Rail Maritime and Transport Union employees on the London Underground continued but the strike was called off later in the day after lengthy talks with Transport for London. (AFP via ABC News Australia) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Australian company Zinifex and Belgian company Umicore merge their zinc smelting operations to form Nyrstar, the largest zinc smelting company. (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald)
- Denmark's intelligence service arrests several people on suspicion of plotting a bomb attack. (Reuters and AFP via Melbourne Herald-Sun)
- The Iranian military bombs villages in northern Iraq, targeting PEJAK militants. (NYT)
- Pakistan bombings:
- APEC summit meeting:
- Jamaica election: With all the votes counted, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is headed to victory with 31 seats compared to the incumbent People's National Party (PNP) with 29 seats. The current Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, is calling for a recount in marginal seats. (Reuters)
- A Eurostar train sets a new record of 2 hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds for rail travel between Paris and London, on the inaugural journey from Gare du Nord to St Pancras International on the new High Speed 1 line. (BBC)
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- Apple released a new selection of iPods, creating an "iPod touch," updating the "nano," and re-branding the "classic" iPods.
- A battle between Somali police and insurgents in Mogadishu results in six casualties. (AP via Google)
- A Congressional committee has voted to remove the President of the Senate of Brazil Renan Calheiros as a result of a corruption scandal. (BBC)
- Two candidates from Rigoberta Menchú's Encuentro por Guatemala Party are shot dead as part of a wave of campaign-related violence that has claimed 50 lives. (AP via the Guardian)
- 2007 Pacific hurricane season: Hurricane Henriette makes landfall near the port of Guaymas in the Mexican state of Sonora. (ABC News America)
- The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown launches the International Health Partnership consisting of the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- Fred Thompson, a former U.S. Senator and actor, announces that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election. (CanWest via National Post)
- Judge William Hoeveler places a stay on ex-Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega's extradition from the United States to France so that his defence can present a new appeal. (BBC)
- Lawyers for U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) ask the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to reject a complaint following a guilty plea to disorderly conduct charges in Minneapolis. The Ethics Committee rejects his plea. (UPI) (Fox News)
- Reynaldo Francis, the Governor of Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region, estimates that the death toll from Hurricane Felix has risen to at least 21. Since his statement, the death toll has risen to 38, with 80 people missing. (AFP via the Philippines Inquirer) (Reuters via ABC)
- The World Bank launches its Lighting Africa initiative, aiming to provide modern lighting by renewable or mechanical means to 250 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who lack access to electricity. (AFP via Google)
- The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in the United Kingdom allows the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos for research purposes in principle. (AFP via Google)
- Norman Hsu, controversial fund-raiser for the U.S. Democratic Party, skips a bail hearing, prompting a new warrant for his arrest. (LA Times)
- Paul Gillmor, United States Representative from Ohio's 5th congressional district, is found dead in his Washington, D.C. apartment. (AP via CNN)
- The Australian Government files appeal against court decision to set aside Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef visa cancellation.
- The Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade Sten Tolgfors becomes Defense Minister, succeeding Mikael Odenberg who resigned after being overruled by the Finance Minister Anders Borg in budget talks. (Aftonbladet) (TT)
- Three suspects arrested on terrorism charges yesterday appear before the Federal Court of Justice of Germany in Karlsruhe. (AP via The Guardian)
- War in Afghanistan: Afghan and U.S led coalition forces kill 20 insurgents while two Afghan policeman die in a bomb attack. (AP via The Canadian Press)
- Israeli tanks and bulldozers enter the Gaza Strip in a limited operation against rocket launchers. (AP via IHT)
- Singapore jails the leader of the Singapore Democratic Party Chee Soon Juan for failing to pay a fine of S$4,000 for trying to leave the city-state without permission. (Reuters)
- A group of 50 asylum-seekers held in an Australian facility on Nauru have started a hunger strike. (SBS and AAP)
- Japanese and North Korean envoys begin in Ulan Bator, Mongolia to resolve long-standing differences. (BBC)
- Special prayers are said at the tomb of Mother Teresa at her tomb in Calcutta in honour of the tenth anniversary of her death. (BBC)
- The Solomon Islands government rejects an extradition request by Australia for Attorney-General Julian Moti to face child-sex charges. (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald)
- Pakistani police arrest approximately 50 supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League in Punjab prior to his return to Pakistan next week. (AFP via Google)
- APEC
- The Military Times reports that a United States Air Force B-52 bomber carried six nuclear warheads from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in violation of rules concerning the handling of nuclear weapons. In addition, the bombs were not reported as missing from the Minot weapons inventory. The squadron commander was relieved of his position, but Representative Ike Skelton says that his committee would investigate the incident. (New York Times), (MSNBC).
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- Wikipedia's English site is again blocked in the People's Republic of China, possibly due to upcoming Communist Party Congress. (PC World)
- War in Iraq: Four US Marines are killed in Anbar and three US Army soldiers are killed in Nineveh province. (Reuters)
- United States District Court judge Victor Marrero strikes down a key part of the Patriot Act authorising national security letters. (AP via the Guardian)
- Syria accuses Israel of invading its airspace on Wednesday and dropping ammunition. The operation, known as Operation Orchard, is later speculated to be a raid on a nuclear site being run in collaboration with North Korean technicians, or a raid on a Hizbollah convoy, a missile facility or a terrorist camp. (The Independent) (Guardian)
- Democratic Party fundraiser Norman Hsu is arrested in Grand Junction, Colorado and charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. (NBC11 San Francisco)
- Hurricane Felix: The death toll from Hurricane Felix in Honduras and Nicaragua rises to at least 98, with a high casualty level amongst Miskito Indians who failed to evacuate. Thousands of houses have also been destroyed. (CNN) (Sky News)
- An Islamist website claims it will soon carry a new video of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities. (Reuters)
- 12 people, including 11 New Jersey public officials, are arrested by the FBI on corruption charges. Among those arrested are Mayor Samuel Rivera of Passaic and Mayor Mims Hackett of Orange. (CNN)
- A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits off shore of Taiwan near the capital city Taipei. (Reuters) (USGS)
- Paras, Crown Prince of Nepal, undergoes angioplasty operation after a heart attack.
- British RAF Tornados intercept eight Russian Tupolev Tu-95 bombers as they approach UK airspace. (Sky News)
- Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti dies at 71, after suffering from pancreatic cancer for more than one year. (BBC)
- A study published by United States and Czech researchers claims that there is a 90% chance that the object that caused the Chicxulub crater in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and probably led to the extinction of the dinosaurs came from the Baptistina family of asteroids. (Melbourne Age)
- APEC
- Fiji reintroduces martial law.
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