September 2005 - 7 September 2005 (Wednesday)

7 September 2005 (Wednesday)

• Michael Jackson has announced he will record and release a charity single dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Jackson has asked other recording stars to provide vocals for the single. Babyface has confirmed he will be participating. The single is titled "From The Bottom of My Heart" and is due for release in two weeks. All proceeds will go to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. However, over one year later the single has not been released.
• Conflict in Iraq: 16 people die following a car bomb attack in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. (BBC)
  • American hostage Roy Hallums is rescued in Iraq. He was kidnapped in November 2004 and later showed up on the video released by militants. (dailybulletin)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An investigation by B'Tselem and Haaretz casts doubt on the IDF version of events which left 5 Palestinians, including 3 minors, dead in Tulkarm on August 24. IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz announces that he will open an investigation, and Colonel Kobi Barak declares that the operation was a "Failure". (Haaretz), (Haaretz)
• Hurricane Katrina
  • New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin again urges the city's remaining holdouts to leave the area. New Orleans is now only 60% underwater. The number of dead in the city could be as few as 2,000 and as many as 20,000, according to estimates. (IHT)
  • J. T. Alpaugh, pool helicopter reporter for the major media, says today on NBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann that: "There is the strong smell of rotting water, an awful smell, something you don't ever want to have to smell" rising high into the air space around New Orleans. (Los Angeles Times)
  • The United States government offers $2000 debit cards to each dispossessed family, to replenish immediate needs (Yahoo)
  • The first deaths from disease have been recorded. The water borne bacterium Vibrio vulnificus has killed 5. (Independent) (TVNZ)
• Moussa Arafat, cousin of Yassir Arafat and former Palestinian Authority security chief, is shot and killed by members of the Popular Resistance Committees. (BBC)
• Egyptian presidential election, 2005: The first ever multi-party elections in Egypt are conducted, with incumbent President Hosni Mubarak expected to win a fifth six-year term. (BBC), (BBC), (Reuters)
• The California State Assembly passes a bill recognizing same-sex marriage. Earlier this week the state Senate approved the measure; it now heads to the desk of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger where there is uncertainty whether he will sign or veto the measure. The legislation is the first passed by a U.S. state legislature recognizing same-sex marriage. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• A report by the Independent Inquiry Committee criticizes U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and the U.N. Security Council's role in the Oil-for-Food Programme. (Washington Post) (FOX)