Portal:Current events/2005 August 17

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[edit] August 17, 2005 (Wednesday)

Indonesia Republic's 60th Independent Day

• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Israeli settler kills 3 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. The attack was condemned by Ariel Sharon as a "Jewish Terror act" and "twisted thinking" while Hamas claimed the right to avenge the deaths. (Reuters) (BBC)
• At least two people have been killed and several others injured in a series of over 300 blasts across Bangladesh. An outlawed Islamist group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, has claimed responsibility. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: At least 42 people have died following a series of co-ordinated car bombings in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. (BBC)
• The first actual pullout of settlers in the Gaza Strip, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, has started. (FOXNews)
• S.R. Nathan returns unopposed for a second term in the Singapore presidential elections. Three other candidates who filed for candidature were rejected by the Presidential Elections Committee due to "lack of experience", amongst other reasons. (CNA), (Reuters)
• The governors of the U.S. states of New Mexico and Arizona declare an emergency along their borders with Mexico citing recent violence, and inaction in both the US government and the Mexican government. (NY Times), (Arizona Republic), (UK Telegraph).
• The Zotob computer worm causes fatal crashes of computers worldwide. The worm only crashes PCs running Windows 2000 and earlier versions of Windows XP, shutting down and rebooting the computer endlessly. Affected were CNN, ABC, Caterpillar, New York Times and Capitol Hill PCs. (CNN).