August 2005 - August 25, 2005 (Thursday)

August 25, 2005 (Thursday)

• French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière warns that Al-Qaeda is planning a terrorism attack in Asia, singling out Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore as potential targets. (Financial Times)
• Arab–Israeli conflict
  • Two Qassam rockets fired out of the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants landed near the southern Israeli town of Sderot. (YNETnews),(The Jerusalem Post)
  • Two mortar rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel, one of which struck a chicken coop in the Northern Galilee Moshav of Margaliot, while the other landed in Lebanese territory. Nobody was reported injured. (YNETnews),(The Jerusalem Post)
    • Later reports suggest that for the first time, Hizb Allah test-fires an Iranian medium-range rocket near the Lebanese border with Israel. One of the three 240 mm Fajr-3 rockets, launched about six kilometers north of the border, landed in Israel and the other two fell inside Lebanon. (MENL)
• Two Egyptian policemen die following two explosions in northern Sinai. (BBC)
• At least 42 people die following a series of floods throughout Europe. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • 36 male corpses have been found in a shallow river near the town of Kut, Iraq. (BBC)
  • Violence occurs in Najaf, Nasiriyah, Diwaniyah and Sadr City (Baghdad). Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr calls for an end to violence between his followers engaging a rival Shiite group, the Badr Organizations (backed by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Both groups blame the other, while some Shia National Assembly members and ministers suspend their membership in the council because of the violence. (CNN) (Standard) (New Kerala)
• The German Constitutional Court rules that early elections on September 18 may go ahead. (BBC)
• The foreign minister of India, Natwar Singh, calls on Pakistan high commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan to plead the case of Sarabjit Singh. (NDTV.com)