August 2003

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This article covers breaking news and events in August 2003.

Daily events

Friday August 1, 2003

• Mosdok / Russia : At least 40 people are killed in a bomb attack on a military hospital in the city ​​of Mosdok, part of the southern Russian Republic of North Ossetia . The authorities believe that Chechens are responsible for the attack.

Saturday 2nd August 2003

• New York / United States : The United Nations approves the deployment of a peacekeeping force in Liberia . The US has come under fire for demanding that its soldiers be exempted from possible prosecution for war crimes. The deployment of UN troops led to the resignation of Liberian President Charles Taylor , who eventually went into exile in Nigeria, clearing the way for a peace solution in Liberia.

Sunday 3rd August 2003

• Pakistan : At least 52 people are killed and 150 injured in a series of bomb attacks in the Pakistani part of Kashmir .

Monday 4th August 2003

• Germany : The SPD and the Greens agree on the key points for the reform of municipal finances, which should relieve the municipalities by 4.5 billion euros next year. The reform sees u. a. the expansion of trade tax for freelancers .
• Portugal : The forest is on fire in several places in Portugal . The authorities currently state 72 forest fires that have already destroyed more than 100 km² of forest.
• Seoul / South Korea : The manager of the Hyundai group, Chung Mon Hung , killed himself by jumping out of his office window. He had come under pressure from being involved in a scandal .

Tuesday 5th August 2003

• Jakarta / Indonesia : At least 13 people died in an attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in the Indonesian capital .

Wednesday August 6, 2003

• Ivory Coast : An amnesty law comes into force in Ivory Coast .
• Italy : An Italian laboratory announces the birth of the first cloned horse , Prometea .

Thursday August 7, 2003

• Indonesia : An Indonesian court sentenced Amrozi bin Nurhasyim to death by shooting for his involvement in the terrorist attacks on Bali .
• Obrigheim / Germany : Because of the heat wave, the Obrigheim nuclear power plant in Baden-Württemberg will be temporarily shut down completely.
• United States : Representatives of the US Department of Defense confirm the use of "MK-77 fire bombs" in the Iraq war . They are said to have a similar effect to napalm bombs, but with a different chemical composition.

Friday August 8, 2003

• Berlin / Germany : Chancellery and Ministry of Defense agree to expand operations in Afghanistan . The Bundeswehr is to be sent to the city of Kunduz (approx. 200 kilometers northwest of Kabul ) for reconstruction work.
• Perl / Germany, Spain : In the Nennig district of the municipality of Perl in Saarland , the Meteomedia weather service measures 40.3 ° C, the highest temperature in Germany to date; recognition by the German Weather Service is still pending. In Andalusia the temperature is 49 ° C, in Mallorca the heat wave leads to severe forest fires.
• Yaren / Nauru : René Harris becomes President, Head of Government and Foreign Minister of the Pacific State of Nauru.

Saturday August 9, 2003

• Iraq : Former Iraqi Interior Minister Mahmud Dhijab el Ahmad has surrendered to the American authorities in Iraq. He was number 29 on the list of the most wanted Iraqis.
• Karachi / Pakistan : Five men are shot dead in an attack on a truck. The police suspect a terrorist background.
• California / United States : Austrian film actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is officially running for the upcoming governor elections in California on October 7th.

Sunday August 10, 2003

• France : Over 100,000 people gather on the Larzac plateau in southern France for a protest against the WTO summit in Cancun, Mexico.
• London / United Kingdom : In view of the increasing threat of terrorism, the London police apply the “shoot-on-sight” order with regard to possible suicide bombers. This means that the firearm is used if there is immediate suspicion. This order is later jointly responsible for the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes on July 22nd, after serious attacks on July 7th, 2005.

Monday August 11, 2003

• Monrovia / Liberia : President Charles Taylor resigns after weeks of fighting over the Liberian capital Monrovia and boards a plane that takes him into exile in Nigeria . The current Vice President Moses Blah will be the new head of state .
• Traiskirchen / Austria : In the largest mass brawl to date in the city's refugee camp , a person is killed.
• Switzerland : In Grono in the canton of Graubünden , the highest temperature value since measurements began in Switzerland was measured: 41.5 ° C. The previous record of July 2, 1952 of 39.0 ° C in Basel was massively exceeded.

Tuesday August 12, 2003

• Tel Aviv / Israel : Two suicide attacks by the Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade in a shopping center end the ceasefire that has been in place since the beginning of July. Two Israeli youths are killed and thirteen people injured.
• World: A computer worm that an error in the RPC / DCOM Service of Microsoft - operating systems Windows 2000 and XP exploits spread with great speed in the Internet . The antivirus software manufacturer Symantec baptizes it " W32.Blaster ", McAfee calls it "W32.Lovsan".

Wednesday August 13, 2003

• Germany , France , Portugal : The Michaela high pressure area again leads to record values: In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a minimum temperature of 27.6 ° C is measured near Neustadt an der Weinstrasse . According to the German Weather Service , this was the hottest night in Germany since weather records began. Michaela also ensured high temperatures in the rest of Europe . In France, more than 3,000 people died as a result of the heat wave. In forest fires in Portugal, more than 200 km² of forest were destroyed by Wednesday.
• Germany : The Federal Cabinet decides to bring forward the 3rd stage of the tax reform and to merge unemployment benefits and social assistance . The reform projects are criticized by the opposition.

Thursday August 14, 2003

• Canada , United States : On the east coast of mainland North America, the power goes out in the afternoon . Of these are u. a. the cities of Detroit , Cleveland , New York City and Toledo in the USA and Ottawa and Toronto in Canada were affected. In a chain reaction, the electricity supplier's network was automatically switched off due to overload. About 50 million people in an area that is larger than the area of ​​Germany are affected by the failure. It was the third such incident in the USA after 1965 and 1977, and Canada has been affected for the second time since 1965.
• Monrovia / Liberia : West African peacekeepers take control of the port of the Liberian capital.
• Germany : The Lothar low pressure area brings Germany the long-awaited cooling. The temperatures drop by about 10 degrees on average. However, there is no rain in large parts of Germany, so that there is still the highest risk of forest fires.

Friday August 15, 2003

• Israel : Prime Minister Ariel Sharon orders the release of 73 Palestinian prisoners. The release was temporarily suspended after the suicide bombings by Palestinian terror groups on August 12th.
• Paraguay : Nicanor Duarte Frutos becomes the new President of Paraguay. He succeeds Luis Ángel González Macchi .

Saturday August 16, 2003

• Redmond / United States : The software and hardware manufacturer Microsoft fends off a major attack by the Lovesan computer worm , also known as "MS Blast", on its update computers.

Sunday 17th August 2003

• Baghdad / Iraq : US soldiers shoot Mazen Dana , a cameraman with the Reuters news agency , for mistaking his camera for a grenade launcher. This is the 17th journalist dead since the war began .

Monday August 18, 2003

• Mali : The last 14 kidnapped Sahara - tourists are free. The holidaymakers were kidnapped by Algerian terrorists in February 2003 from the graveyard . The hostages are to be flown to Germany on Tuesday . 19 hostages were freed by the Algerian army in May, and many kidnappers were killed.
• France : The heat wave of recent weeks has claimed more lives in France than originally assumed. The exact number will not be known for a few weeks, but the authorities are now assuming 5,000 victims.
• United States : A sniper shot and killed last week near Charleston ( West Virginia ) three people with a small caliber weapon. A year ago two snipers terrified the area around Washington, DC , and the police now fear a copycat perpetrator.

Tuesday August 19, 2003

Cleaning up at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad on August 22nd

• Baghdad / Iraq : 23 people died in a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel , the headquarters of the United Nations (UN) in Iraq. The UN special envoy for Iraq, Sérgio Vieira de Mello from Brazil, was among the dead .
• Hamburg / Germany : Hamburg's mayor Ole von Beust ( CDU ) dismisses his deputy, Interior Senator Ronald Schill from the Schill Rule of Law Party , as well as Interior Councilor Walter Wellinghausen (Schill Party) , who has come under public pressure, because of his lack of “character aptitude” . Schill announces that he will turn his back on politics.
• Jerusalem / Israel : 20 people, including six children, are killed in a suicide attack in a fully occupied bus. Two other people later die of their injuries in hospital. The terrorist organizations Hamas and Jihad are committed to the attack. Israel is now suspending the beginning of the peace process with political representation of the Palestinians .

Wednesday August 20, 2003

• France : According to an extrapolation of the funeral services, around 10,400 more people died during the heat wave in France than usual for the time of the year. At the beginning of the week, Health Minister Jean-François Mattei declared a number of 5,000 heat deaths to be "plausible" without initially providing officially confirmed information. It is unclear whether the situation in the French health system was decisive or whether the elderly were treated by their families during the holiday season.

Thursday August 21, 2003

• Israel , Palestinian Territories : Israeli troops kill leading Hamas activist Ismail Abu Shanab in rocket attack on Gaza ; also, in response to a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem, tanks are being sent to the West Bank cities of Hebron , Nablus and Tulkarem . Hamas and Islamic Jihad declare the ceasefire with Israel over.

Friday August 22, 2003

• Israel : According to a report in the Ha'aretz newspaper, Israeli police arrested members of an extremist Jewish vigilante group. The group is believed to be responsible for attacks that killed 8 Palestinians and injured 20. In addition, an attack on a Palestinian elementary school is said to have been planned.

Saturday August 23, 2003

• Berlin / Germany : The Hanfparade took place in Berlin . The tens of thousands of participants were able to listen to speakers such as Hans-Christian Ströbele (Greens) and Freke Over (PDS). A legalization of the drug as a luxury food and raw material was demonstrated . The visitors were also informed about the benefits of hemp.
• Brazil : The third attempt of Brazil, a rocket into space to send failed 3 days before the scheduled start. At least 21 people were killed.
• Donauwörth / Germany : Six people were killed in the collision of two small aircraft .
• Iraq : Four days after the attack on the UN building in Baghdad , the UN resumed its work in troubled Iraq.

Sunday August 24, 2003

• Germany : In Saxony-Anhalt there was a serious bus accident in the morning. The coach came off the road and overturned. 5 passengers were killed, the other 17 occupants, including the driver, were seriously injured.
• Hamburg / Germany : In the run-up to the game between Hamburger SV and FC Bayern Munich , the 40th anniversary of the Bundesliga is being celebrated.
• Israel , Palestinian Territories : Middle East violence continued to escalate. A Qassam-2 rocket was launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip . Nobody got hurt. In retaliation, a helicopter attack was carried out on Gaza City that evening . A car was shot at and four people were killed, two of whom were Hamas members.
• Milan / Italy : This year 's World Rowing Championships begin.
• Turkey : There was a serious bus accident in northern Turkey. 19 people were killed. A brake defect was probably the cause.

Monday August 25, 2003

• Cape Canaveral / United States : Launch of the Spitzer space telescope under the name SIRTF. It explores space in the infrared spectrum.
• India : Four bombs explode simultaneously in Bombay . 50 people are killed and 150 injured.
• Rwanda : Ex-rebel leader Paul Kagame , incumbent president, wins the first election after the civil war with 94% of the vote. Critics accuse him of electoral fraud .

Tuesday August 26, 2003

• United States : The final report on the shuttle disaster on the space shuttle Columbia on February 1 stipulates that foam falling after take-off was responsible for the catastrophe that killed 7 crew members; at the same time, serious weaknesses in the general management of NASA are criticized.

Wednesday August 27, 2003

• Brussels / Belgium : In the run-up to the vote in the European Parliament on the introduction of software patents on September 1st, protests by activists from the open source and free software scene are taking place today . The demonstration in Brussels, organized by FFII and Eurolinux, is accompanied by an online demo, during which numerous projects have exchanged their homepage for a protest page.
• Mars : At 55.758 million km, Mars has reached the closest position to the earth in almost 60,000 years.
• Nepal : The Maoist leadership announces the ceasefire in Nepal.

Thursday August 28, 2003

• United Kingdom : The south-east of the country, including the capital London , was paralyzed by a power failure for an hour . Large parts of the subway network failed.

Friday August 29, 2003

• Berlin / Germany : Government circles confirm that Joschka Fischer does not want to run for the office of EU foreign minister after all. Instead, he and Gerhard Schröder announced that they would run again for Chancellor and Foreign Minister in 2006 . There was criticism from the opposition for this .
• Gaza / Palestinian Territories : The Palestinian Authority can bank accounts of terrorist groups and their front organizations close.
• Iraq : In the southern Iraqi city of Najaf one was attack with a car bomb perpetrated. At least 125 people died and over 200 were injured. One of the victims was the Shiite leader Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim .
• United Kingdom : The head of communications of the British government , Alastair Campbell , has resigned. It was because of the affair to the controversial Iraq - Dossier and the death of David Kelly come under pressure.

Saturday August 30, 2003

• Berlin / Germany : Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen boss Angelika Beer speaks out for the first time in favor of a Bundeswehr deployment under UN mandate in Iraq .
• United Kingdom : As reported by the Observer, weapons expert David Kelly penned an article just before the start of the Iraq war, in which he described the war as "may be inevitable" due to the Iraqi threat from weapons of mass destruction.

Sunday August 31, 2003

• Anniston / United States : The US Army burned 2,000  liters of sarin gas at the Anniston base in Alabama . This is the first time that nerve agents are destroyed in densely populated regions. In previous systems on the Johnston Atoll in Hawaii and in the desert of Utah , there was so far to 14 incidents in which poison gas was released.
• Baghdad / Iraq : Thousands of Iraqis take part in the funeral ceremonies for the Shiite leader Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim , who was killed in a car bomb two days earlier .
• Frankfurt am Main / Germany . In the elections for the IG Metall executive board, the candidates Jürgen Peters and Berthold Huber received only around two thirds of the votes.
• Iraq : In order to master the difficult security situation in Iraq, the US is planning to set up an Iraqi military reaction force. This should at least partially guarantee security itself.
• Israel , Palestinian Territories : After the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv published a card game with the most important Palestinian politicians , Palestinian militants followed suit and published a list of kills with Israeli politicians in the form of a card game. The picture of the former tourism minister Rechaw'am Ze'ewi who died in an attack in 2001 has been crossed out. Both publications are based on the US card game with the 55 most wanted Iraqis as a model.
• Republic of the Congo : A massacre occurred in the northeast of the Republic of the Congo . More than 200 residents of Fataki city were killed and 140 kidnapped. Thousands are on the run.
• Sardinia / Italy : The President of the Council of Ministers Silvio Berlusconi agrees with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin on closer cooperation between Italy and Russia. There should also be cooperation in the military sector, such as a joint naval maneuver and the development of a fighter aircraft . Another point of discussion is the future of Iraq , both countries are in favor of sending an international peacekeeping force.
• Taiwan : A high-rise fire near the capital Taipei kills 13 people and injures 70 others. A woman on the first floor doused herself in turpentine after a marital argument and set herself on fire. The flames spread over the stairwell, some residents fell while trying to abseil down the windows.

See also

• Nekrolog August 2003 for deaths that month
• List of annually recurring commemorative and action days in August
• Category for commemorative days, holidays or action days in August

Web links

Canton of Lucerne in August 2003

Commons : August 2003  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 50 dead in Mozdok. In: n-tv.de . August 3, 2003, accessed September 15, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Is this the long-awaited attack on the Internet? In: zdnet.de . August 12, 2003. Retrieved July 25, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Microsoft lets attack by Lovsan / W32.Blaster come to nothing. In: heise.de . August 16, 2003. Retrieved July 25, 2019 . 
4. ↑ Series of attacks shakes the country. In: rundschau-online.de . March 2, 2004, accessed June 3, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Mayor von Beust dismisses Roland Schill. In: faz.net . August 19, 2003. Retrieved November 14, 2017 . 
6. ↑ 40 years of the Bundesliga - everyone celebrates. In: rp-online.de . August 22, 2003, accessed June 20, 2010 . 
7. ↑ With demo and website blocks against software patents. In: heise.de . August 22, 2003. Retrieved August 22, 2003 . 
8. ↑ Fire disasters in residential buildings in the past 15 years. In: nachrichten.at . June 14, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2018 .