July- August, 2002
July 1st: The international criminal court is established, and Denmark takes over the Presidency of the European Union.
July 2nd: A US spy plane spots a massive mobilization in North Korean forces along the DMZ line.
July 3rd: After an emergency meeting in the White House, President Cheney sends a message to North Korea, demanding the removal of excess forces along the DMZ line or risk an attack by the US.
July 5th: Through state controlled media, Kim Jong-il tells the people that the United States has threatened war with them. He says “We shall not back down to the American Imperialists.”
July 9th: The Organization of African Unity is replaced with the African Union.
July 14th: During Bastille Day celebrations, French President Jacques Chirac is assassinated by Maxime Brunerie, a far-right radical.
July 20th: The news of North Korea’s massive mobilization of forces along the DMZ line is leaked to foreign press.
July 22nd: An Israeli warplane fires a one ton bomb at an apartment in a densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City, killing
Salah Shehade, top commander of Hamas's military wing.
July 25th: President Cheney sends what he calls the “Final Ultimatum” for North Korea. He demands that either North Korea pull back the additional mobilized forces by September 30th, or the US will act.
July 27th: The Homeland Security bill is passed, establishing the Department of Homeland Security.
July 31st: A
Hamas-affiliated member leaves a bag containing a bomb in the cafeteria of
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing nine Jewish students, and injuring 85 others. Palestinian Arabs rally in
Gaza waving Hamas flags to celebrate the attack.
August 3rd: The interim President of Venezuela, Pedro Carmona, announces the creation of a new constitution. Elections for the new government were announced to take place in November.
August 4th: A Palestinian
suicide bombing claims nine lives, near
Safed; there is a shooting attack in
Jerusalem, claiming 2.
August 7th: Explosions went off near the parliament building as
Colombia's President
Álvaro Uribe was being sworn in, killing at least 10 people. Israeli forces kill six Palestinians: Israeli undercover soldiers kill four Palestinian militants wound three in a gun-fight in
Tulkarm. An Israeli sniper kills
Hussam Hamdan, a member of
Hamas in the
Gaza Strip. Israeli troops and 30 tanks push into northern Gaza, killing a Palestinian policeman. These come in response to the attacks of August 4
August 12th: Colombian president
Álvaro Uribe declares state of emergency.
August 15th: Kim Jong-il announces that his successor will be his youngest son, Kim Jong-un. This announcement increases international suspicions that North Korea is planning to either attack South Korea or not pull away from the DMZ line before September 30th.
August 21st: In India, a 125-year-old dam bursts under torrential rains, killing 10.
August 31st: A think tank affiliated with the
Arab League ended its meeting in
Cairo by calling Jews "enemies of all nations", by claiming that Arabs, as Semites, cannot be
anti-Semitic, and by claiming that the
events of September 11, 2001 were concocted by the United States government.