August 2005 - August 28, 2005 (Sunday)

August 28, 2005 (Sunday)

• Iraq's National Assembly signs the text of the proposed Iraqi constitution. A referendum will be held on 15 October, with leaders of the Sunni community already calling for a "no" vote. (BBC)
• Hawaii, represented by Ewa Beach, Hawaii, defeats Willemstad, Curaçao 7-6 in the Little League World Series (Yahoo)
• Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says the country will help Afghanistan deal with terrorism and rebuilding the country. (NDTV)
• Omri Sharon, son of the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, has been formally indicted on charges of corruption following allegations concerning Ariel Sharon's bid to become leader of the Likud party in 1999. (BBC)
• People begin to return to their homes as road and rail routes reopen after the 2005 European floods. (BBC)
• Hurricane Katrina:
  • Hurricane Katrina continues to rapidly strengthen reaching Category Five status. It has the second lowest pressure for an American hurricane in recorded history, with only the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 having a lower measurement. Katrina is at 908 mb. and dropping; the Labor Day event of 1935 had 892 mb. (Weather Channel) (National Hurricane Center) (The Most Intense Hurricanes in the United States 1851-2004)
  • Millions of people living in and around the below sea-level Louisiana city of New Orleans are leaving as Hurricane Katrina approaches. Storm surge is forecasted at 25 ft. The Mayor of New Orleans has issued a mandatory evacuation order, citing fears that the storm will break the levees protecting the city. (BBC), (CNN)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Palestinian Islamic Jihad suicide bomber kills himself and injures close to 50 people in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba near the main bus terminal. According to sources, the bomber was trying to make his way to Beersheba's Soroka Hospital. (YNETnews) (Ha'aretz) (The Jerusalem Post) (BBC) (Reuters)
• Two Serb youths have been killed and two wounded in a drive-by shooting in Kosovo (BBC)
• The exiled ex-Ugandan president Milton Obote has announced he is to retire as president of the Uganda People's Congress, the party he has led since 1959. (Xinhua)
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez threatens to take legal action against Pat Robertson and potentially seek his extradition after the U.S. evangelist called for the assassination the South American leader. (Reuters)
• Cincinnati, Ohio area residents were forced to shelter-in-place late in the day because of a train car that began leaking styrene.