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- A Russian Tupolev Tu-154 airliner and a Boeing 757 operated by DHL collide at 35,000 ft over Überlingen, due to failure of correct communication from ground-to-air. The 69 people aboard the Tupolev (mainly Russian schoolchildren) and the two pilots of the Boeing are all killed.
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- John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban", pled guilty to two charges, and prosecutors dropped the rest. He will be sentenced in October.
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- A few hours after the spiritual leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yassin, offered to halt all suicide attacks in exchange for full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, an Israeli F-16 jet dropped a bomb into a densely populated residential area of Gaza City. Fifteen people were killed, including Salah Shehade (the leader of Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din el-Qasam Brigades), and more than 100 others were wounded. Nine of the dead were children, including Mohammed al-Huwaiti (aged 4), his brother Subhi (aged 3), Ayman Mattar (aged 1) and Dunya Rami Mattar (aged three months). The United Nations swiftly condemned the action as a flagrant violation of international law. Ariel Sharon, Israel's Prime Minister, said it was "one of our biggest successes", though the Prime Minister's office later added, "it is well known he regrets the killing of civilians."[1]
- An earthquake (magnitude 4.7) hits parts of Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
- Accounting scandals: WorldCom filed for bankruptcy protection, in the largest corporate insolvency ever.
- Harry Potter. The director for the third Harry Potter film has been announced as Mexican-born Alfonso Cuarón. Cuarón will start directing "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" next year.
- Politics of the Netherlands. A new cabinet is sworn in, with Jan Peter Balkenende replacing Wim Kok as Prime Minister. He heads a coalition of three parties: Christen Democratisch Appèl, Lijst Pim Fortuyn and Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie. One of the state secretaries of the new cabinet resigned a few hours later.
- Steve Fossett circles the Globe in a balloon.
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- England beats India in the first cricket Test match of the series.
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