Inside
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Month in review: International
Nawaz Sharif returns, departs Pakistan Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif is arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia on September 10, within hours of arriving home after seven years in exile. President Parvez Musharraf sees off the immediate challenge from rival Sharif, but faces a probable backlash from countrymen dissatisfied with his rule. Sharif supporters say he was illegally deported, as the Supreme Court had ruled in August that the two-time PM had an "inalienable right" to return home.
Microsoft loses a major antitrust appeal on September 17 as a European Union court upholds a landmark ruling that the world's largest software maker has abused its dominant market position to quash rivals. The second-highest EU court dismisses the company's appeal against the 2004 European Commission ruling, and upholds a record 497 million euro ($689.9 million) fine. Microsoft lawyers say it will affect the way the company markets its products in future. Competition experts say the ruling gives the EC the go-ahead on antitrust cases against Intel and Qualcomm among others. Bangladeshi aid workers at risk in Afghanistan
BRAC says they may have to rethink their Afghanistan operations after one of their staff is killed and another kidnapped within days of each other. Four gunmen in police uniform abduct BRAC area manager Nurul Islam on September 15 from his office in Logar province, south of the capital Kabul. BRAC worker Abdul Alim is reportedly shot dead on September 12. Thai plane crash leaves 89 dead
At least 89 people are killed in Thailand when a plane, operated by budget airline One-Two-Go, skids off a runway in heavy rain on the island of Phuket on September 16. Rescue teams and investigators, sifting through the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 wreck, are hampered by monsoon rains after the crash. About 130 people, mostly foreigners, were on board the plane. An estimated 40 people escaped the burning plane. Osama surfaces again
In his first video appearance for almost three years, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden says Bush is repeating the mistakes of the former Soviet Union by refusing to acknowledge losses in Iraq. To signal that the 30-minute tape is recent, bin Laden mentions new French President Sarkozy and British PM Brown, but makes no specific threats. Opinion is divided as to whether the video is meant to inspire new attacks. In a second videotape released on the sixth anniversary of the US attacks, a voiceover by bin Laden praises one of the 9/11 hijackers.
Strongest earthquake of the year shakes Indonesia The world's strongest earthquake so far this year strikes Indonesia on September 12 with a magnitude of 8.4, followed by a second quake of magnitude 7.8 At least 13 people are reported dead and thousands more are left homeless. The quakes spark repeated tsunami warnings in the region, including across the Indian Ocean. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh soon call off their tsunami alerts as the danger passes. Myanmar's monks protest military junta Myanmar
Up to 10,000 Buddhist monks march through Mandalay in peaceful protest against the military junta, with demonstrations also taking place in five townships across Burma. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi comes out of the house she has been detained in since 2003 to greet the monks as they are allowed through a roadblock. Ms Suu Kyi has spent 11 of the last 18 years in detention. In 1990 her party won national elections, which were annulled by the army and she was never allowed to take office.
Mexican drug lord spared death sentence |
