International Events in August 1998
3rd Aug
Taiwan test-fires a locally developed anti-missile system, an Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missile, thereby technically surpassing China.
4th Aug
The Sri Lankan President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, extends the emergency, already in force in the disturbed areas, to the whole of the country.
Mrs. Corazon Aquino, who played a pivotal role in restoring democracy to the Philippines, is named winner of the 1998 Ramon Magsaysay award for international understanding.
5th Aug
Cambodia's strongman, Mr. Hun Sen, emerges a clear winner in the country's latest general election.
6th Aug
The Pakistan Finance Minister, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, is appointed Foreign Minister. He replaces Mr. Gohar Ayub Khan.
7th Aug
At least 90 are killed and 1,200 injured in twin bomb explosions in Kenya and Tanzania. The bombs also damage the U.S. embassies there.
8th Aug
Taliban forces seize Mazhar-i-Sharif flushing out opposition fighters.
11th Aug
The South African President, Mr. Nelson Mandela, presents the country's highest honour for foreigners to the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat.
13th Aug
A Russian crew blasts off for the Mir space station from the former Soviet Cosmodrome in Baikonur.
A Pakistani court formally indicts the former Premier, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, and her husband, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, for their alleged involvement in a gold import scandal.
15th Aug
Twenty five persons are killed as a car bomb rips through the Northern Ireland town of Omagh.
The Congo President, Mr. Laurent Kabila, flees Kinshasa as rebel forces push towards the capital.
16th Aug
South Africa joins Western Countries in evacuating its nationals from Congo as the rebel forces continue their advance towards Kinshasa.
17th Aug
The U.S. orders all its citizens and hundreds of its non- essential employees and their dependents in Pakistan to leave the country.
Mr. Clinton gives his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky case in the Map Room of the White House and admits to liaison with Ms. Lewinsky.
The Russian Government sharply devalues the rouble in a move to defend the currency.
In a bid to shed the perception of Albania as being part of the Muslim world, the socialist Prime Minister, Mr. Fatos Nano, withdraws from OIC membership.
18th Aug
The Nepalese Government bans all bottled drinks from the Everest region to minimise littering on the slopes of the world's highest peak.
19th Aug
The Taliban rejects a U.S. call to hand over Saudi terrorist, Osama bin Laden, and vows to protect him ``at all costs''.
A Swiss judge issues an indictment order against Ms. Benazir Bhutto on money laundering charges related to kickbacks from two Swiss firms.
20th Aug
Mr. Bill Clinton orders air strikes on ``terrorist bases'' in Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for the bomb attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
21st Aug
The Security Council decides to continue the eight-year-old economic sanctions against Iraq.
22nd Aug
Mr. Clinton blocks all financial transactions between U.S. companies and Osama bin Laden.
23rd Aug
The Russian President, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, fires the Prime Minister, Mr. Sergei Kiriyenko, and the rest of the Government and says he is reappointing Mr. Viktor Chernomyrdin.
The South African President, Mr. Nelson Mandela, announces a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending hostilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
24th Aug
The overall commander of the Indonesian military forces, General Wiranto, dismisses Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, son-in-law of the former ruler, Mr. Suharto. Lt. Gen. Prabowo was the head of Army's Special Forces Unit.
25th Aug
The longest-serving U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, Mr. Scott Pitter, quits charging that the U.N. Secretary-General, the Security Council and the Clinton administration have stymied the inspectors ``on the doorstep'' of uncovering Iraq's hidden weapons programmes.
28th Aug
Mr. Nawaz Sharif announces his intention to make the Quran and the ``Sunnah'' (sayings of the Prophet) the law of Pakistan.
31st Aug
North Korea test-fires a missile, the second stage of which flew over the main Japanese island of Honshu that includes Tokyo.