October 9, 2003
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Palestinians: Time magazine reports that Yassir Arafat, whose health has led to confused reporting over the past days, with him variously reported as having had flu and having had a heart attack, in actuality has stomach cancer. [1]
- Nuclear Weapons: Pakistan successfully test fires a medium-range, nuclear-capable missile, the second such test in less than a week, the Pakistan army states. The Hatf-4 missile, also known as the Shaheen 1, was fired off, according to the army. The missile has a range of 435 miles, meaning it can hit most major targets in India. The test followed a similar launching on Friday of the short-range Hatf-2 Ghaznavi after which Pakistan said it was in the middle of a series of such tests. Pakistani army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said India had been told of each of the launches beforehand and he states the tests should not affect the international relations between the two neighbors. [2]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered dispatches of Israeli troop reinforcements to the Palestinian Areas, West Bank and Gaza Strip, and weighed a call-up of reserves, citing new warnings about planned attacks by Palestinian militants. The Israeli military also extended a two-week lockdown on Palestinians' travel within the West Bank and Gaza in what it states as a bid to prevent further attacks. [3] Meanwhile, prime minister Ahmed Qurei is reported to have declined to form a government and told President Yasser Arafat he wants to quit his post.[4]
- Occupation of Iraq: Twin attacks in Baghdad killed a Spanish diplomat (by gunshot) and, in the other, at least ten people following an attack on a police station in Baghdad's main Shi'ite neighbourhood, exactly half a year since Coalition troops occupied the Iraqi city. [5] [6]
- Safe sex: A BBC report claims that the Roman Catholic Church is incorrectly claiming that condoms are ineffective to prevent the spread of AIDS for ideological reasons, and hence putting lives at risk in high-risk countries. [7] [8]
- Stereotyping: Ghettopoly board game upsets black leaders and clergymen in Philadelphia and they are outraged by this new unofficial version of Monopoly. The board game has "playas" acting like pimps, cards reading "You got yo whole neighbourhood addicted to crack. Collect $50" and squares labelled "Smitty's XXX Peep Show" and "Tyron's Gun Shop". Opponents state the game should be banned and have called for a boycott of Pennsylvania company, Urban Outfitters, unless they stop selling it. [9]
- Cell phones: A Dutch teenager suffers burns to his leg when his Nokia mobile phone explodes in his pants pocket. Nokia previously stated that such incidents could result from use of non-Nokia replacement batteries. [10]
