Current events/September 2002

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

See also:

• Afghanistan timeline September 2002

September 30, 2002

• Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) withdraws from his campaign for reelection following ethics scandals.
• NOAA and NASA researchers announce the ozone hole over Antarctica has grown markedly smaller since last year and has broken into two, due to warmer temperatures.
• Accounting scandals: New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has filed civil fraud lawsuits against ex-WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers, Qwest Communications executives Philip Anschutz and Joseph Naccio, Metromedia Fiber Networks chairman Stephen Garofalo, and ex-McLeod USA CEO Clark McLeod.
• 2002 stock market downturn: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi fired financial regulator Hakuo Yanagisawa in favor of economy minister Heizo Takenaka.

September 28, 2002

• Hundreds of thousands of people marched in London, England to protest the U.S. plan to invade Iraq. About a hundred thousand also protested in Rome, Italy.

September 27, 2002

• Several thousand people marched in Denver, Colorado to protest the U.S. plan to invade Iraq when President Bush visited the city.
• Sports: The best golfers in Europe and the United States begin competition for the 2002 Ryder cup at The Belfry in England.
• The annual G7 meeting begins the weekend of the 2002 IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, D.C.. 649 protesters from the alternative globalization movement are arrested.
• East Timor becomes the 191st member of the United Nations.

September 25, 2002

• India: The federal government has moved thousands of troops into the state of Gujarat after 32 people were killed in an attack on a Hindu temple. According to the government, the move is aimed at preventing further communal violence in the aftermath of the attack.

September 24, 2002

• Technology: Motorola has announced a single-chip satellite navigation receiver, opening the possibility of the addition of location-specific functions to low cost ubiquitous computing devices. The chip combines RF processing, analog signal processing, digital signal processing and a CPU on a single chip.
• Côte d'Ivoire: Côte d'Ivoire rebel soldiers, still attempting to overthrow the government, have invested a compound containing over 100 American citizens and other foreigners. 200 United States Marines have entered the country to rescue the foreigners.

September 23, 2002

• Belgium is the second European country (after the Netherlands) to legalise euthanasia.
• Stock market downturn of 2002: Global indices sink heavily today, with the Nasdaq falling 3 percent to a 6-year low of 1,184.94. The yield of the U.S. Treasury's 10-year bond sank to a 40-year low of 3.70 percent, with the 2-year bond yield falling to a record low of 1.89 percent. Meanwhile, concern of the U.S. plan to invade Iraq pushed oil prices to over $30 a barrel, not seen since February 2001.
• Spratly Islands: The Governor of the Philippine state of Palawan has sent Philippine soldiers to take possession of the uninhabited oil-rich Spratly Islands, which are claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, the People's Republic of China, Malaysia, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Vietnam.

September 22, 2002

• A new Bundestag (German parliament) is chosen. In a very tight election, Gerhard Schröder defeats Edmund Stoiber to remain Chancellor. The German Green Party does very well.
  • Politics of Germany, Bundestag, List of political parties in Germany (SPD, CDU/CSU, Greens, FDP, PDS)
  • People: Guido Westerwelle

September 21, 2002

• recent celebrity deaths: Science fiction author Robert L. Forward dies.

September 20, 2002

• U.S. plan to invade Iraq: White House and Pentagon officials announce that Gen. Tommy Franks presented detailed war plans to President Bush in early September.

September 19, 2002

• An attempted coup by disaffected former soldiers of Côte d'Ivoire was put down, with the death of the alleged coup leader, General Robert Guei, a former military dictator of the country. Guei was killed when his car refused to stop at a roadblock in downtown Abidjan. Rebels continue in control of the cities of Bouake and Korhogo.
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: After a suicide bomber kills 5 and wounds more than 60 on a bus next to Tel Aviv's Great Synagogue, Israeli troops, tanks, and bulldozers destroy buildings in Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters.
• U.S. plan to invade Iraq: The Bush administration pressures Congress to pass a resolution giving Bush authority to use "all means he determines to be appropriate, including force" to oust Saddam Hussein and disarm Iraq.
• Extreme weather, recent celebrity deaths: About one-third of the Maili glacier breaks off from the Caucasus Mountains and buries Karmadon, Russia under up to 500 feet of ice and debris, killing 95, including the young Russian movie star Sergei Bodrov Jr.

September 18, 2002

• After three days of negotiations in Sattahip, Thailand, the Tamil Tigers agreed to drop their demand for independence from Sri Lanka, and accepted autonomy in the north and northwest of the country.
• Archaeologists use a remote-controlled robot to access a hitherto sealed chamber within the Great Pyramid of Giza: the robot drilled a hole in a long-sealed door and poked a fiber-optic camera through. Unfortunately, all that was revealed was another closed door.
• Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon is released from jail due to health reasons.
• Recent celebrity deaths: Athlete Bob Hayes dies.

September 16, 2002

• U.S. plan to invade Iraq: Colin Powell meets with the U.N. Security Council to push for stronger resolutions against Iraq. In a surprise reversal, Iraq tells the UN it will allow weapons inspectors "immediately and without condition."
• Cryptography: A worrying theoretical cryptanalytic attack on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) has been announced in a paper by Nicolas Courtois and Josef Pieprzyk entitled "Cryptanalysis of Block Ciphers with Overdefined Systems of Equations". This appears to show a surprising potential theoretical weakness in the AES algorithm.

September 14, 2002

• Tim Montgomery of the United States broke the world record in the 100 meter dash at the IAAF Grand Prix Final, running 9.78 seconds to beat the former record of 9.79 set by Maurice Greene of the United States in 1999.
• In both San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, hundreds of anti-war protesters marched and spoke out against the U.S. plan to invade Iraq.

September 12, 2002

• U.S. plan to invade Iraq: In a speech before the U.N. General Assembly, George W. Bush asserts that Iraq has defied various U.N. resolutions and is "a threat to the authority of the United Nations and a threat to peace". He says that the US will work with the Security Council to draft the necessary resolutions for military action.

September 11, 2002

• The first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack is marked by many services and memorials.
• Ramzi Binalshibh, a key al Qaeda member who supposedly helped to plan the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack was captured in Pakistan
• Johnny Unitas dies.

September 10, 2002

• Switzerland becomes a full member of the UN.
• Large deposits of methane hydrate are found off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

September 9, 2002

• Martin Strel is swimming to his final destination of the Gulf of Mexico.

September 8, 2002

• 2002 US Open: Pete Sampras defeats Andre Agassi in four sets to win his record 14th major.

September 7, 2002

• 2002 US Open: Serena Williams defeats Venus Williams.

September 6, 2002

• September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack/Memorials and Services: The US Congress convenes for a one-day joint session in Federal Hall in New York City, the original capital of the United States.

September 5, 2002

• An assassination attempt was made on President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan in Kandahar. A gunman wearing the uniform of the new Afghan Army opened fire, wounding the Governor of Kandahar and an American Special Operations officer. The gunman and one of the President's bodyguards were killed.

September 4, 2002

• Argentina defeated the United States, 87-80, at the World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the first loss ever in international play for a United States team containing National Basketball Association players.
• The Oakland Athletics baseball team won their 20th consecutive game, an American League record.

September 3, 2002

• Stock market downturn of 2002: The Nikkei stock average falls 3.2 percent to 9,217.04, an 18-year low.
• 2002 US Open: Lindsay Davenport defeated Yelena Bovina to advance to the semi-finals against the winner of Serena Williams vs. Daniela Hantuchova; Monica Seles defeated Martina Hingis to advance to the quarter-finals against Venus Williams.

September 1, 2002

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Arab League disavowed the final statement made by the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-up, claiming that they adhere to a policy of supporting Israel's right to exist within pre-1967 borders, and restating that the conflict in the Middle East is between Palestinians and Israelis, not all Jews.