September 4, 2005

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[edit] 4 September 2005 (Sunday)

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: PNA President Mahmoud Abbas said that 97.5 percent of Gaza Strip lands that Israel would evacuate from were state-owned lands and that the Islamic University was entitled to receive lands in order to expand its facilities.(IPC)
• Hurricane Katrina:
  • Estimates of the death toll in New Orleans are made by H&HS Secretary Michael Leavitt: "I think it's evident it's in the thousands. It's clear to me that this has been sickeningly difficult and profoundly tragic circumstance" (Express News)
  • The Coast Guard asks people in the New Orleans area to hang brightly colored or white sheets, towels or anything else that might help draw attention to those needing assistance. (The Times-Picayune)
  • Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits her native Alabama and defends President Bush's response to the hurricane saying "Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race." (Express News)
  • With 250,000 refugees already in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry ordered emergency officials to begin preparations to airlift some of them to other states that have offered to help. (Denton Record Chronicle)
  • 1,800 aerial photos of Gulf Coast destruction areas are posted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the web which display each neighborhood in high resolution. (NOAA)
  • The United States receives offers of financial and humanitarian assistance from multiple nations and international groups, including NATO and Iran. Iran says all aid will be sent through the Red Crescent organization. (CNN) (Reuters)
• Typhoon Talim brings torrential rains and landslides in east People's Republic of China's Anhui Province, claiming 53 lives and leaving 12 missing. (Xinhua)(BBC)
• Wistar Institute scientists say they will present details of research on their creation of "miracle mice" next week at a Cambridge University conference on Regeneration. The experimental animals are able to regenerate amputated limbs or body organs.(The Australian))
• In Bregenz, Austria, a German woman attacks the Roy Lichtenstein painting Nudes in Mirror with a jackknife. Witnesses say that the woman claimed that the painting was not authentic. Although there were several slashes in the painting, valued at €4 million, it can be repaired. (Reuters)