The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait which subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Persian Gulf War. In 1990 Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraq's oil through slant drilling, but some Iraqi sources indicate Saddam Hussein’s decision to attack Kuwait was made only a few months before the actual invasion[3] suggesting that the regime was under feelings of severe time pressure. The invasion started on August 2, 1990, and within two days of intense combat, most of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard or escaped to neighboring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Iraqi forces invade Kuwait August 2 after Kuwait refuses demands by President Saddam Hussein that she pay compensation for allegedly drilling oil on Iraqi territory, cede disputed land, reduce oil output, and raise prices. Kuwait has rebuffed Iraqi demands that she forgive $15 billion in loans extended during the Iraq-Iran war. The Bush administration has told Saddam Hussein that it has no treaty obligation to defend Kuwait and would not take sides (Saddam has interpreted remarks by U.S. ambassador to Iraq April Gillespie that Washington would not oppose him), but Washington, Moscow, Tokyo, London, Teheran, and Beijing unite in denouncing his move and the United Nations Security Council votes 13 to 0 August 6 to impose economic sanctions (Yemen and Cuba abstain). Iraq masses troops on the border of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh agrees to receive U.S. ground and air forces. President Bush says Iraq's aggression "will not stand" and dispatches forces to Saudi Arabia August 7, risking his presidency. Iraq annexes Kuwait August 8 and proceeds to loot the country; Egypt, Syria, Morocco, and nine other Arab states vote August 10 to oppose Iraq with military force; Saddam Hussein calls for a "holy war" against Westerners and Zionists, gaining wide popular support among Arabs; he holds more than 10,000 foreigners hostage beginning August 18 but permits women and children to leave August 29 and releases all the others by early December as the standoff continues. Kuwait's billionaire emir Sheik Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, 64, has narrowly escaped capture and fled to Saudi Arabia; he addresses the United Nations General Assembly September 27, urging it to stand by the sanctions it has imposed. His relatives have acted swiftly to keep Kuwaiti funds abroad out of Saddam Hussein's hands. Bush ups the ante November 8 (2 days after the elections), committing far more U.S. forces to "Operation Desert Shield," but popular opposition grows to launching any offensive action Nelson Mandela Released 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa following the relaxation of apartheid laws. He'd served 27 years after being convicted of treason in 1964. When Mandela appeared at the prison gates with his wife Winnie, people danced in the streets and the world celebrated alongside them. Later that year Mandela's ANC party suspended its 30 year old armed struggle against the country's minority white government. In return, President FW de Klerk promised to free political prisoners and consider the repeal of security legislation. The end of the oppressive apartheid regime had begun. American law enforcement agencies warn that smoking of methyl-amphetamine "Ice" threatens to become America's drug problem of the 1990's. Vets in Naples discover a kilogramme of heroin hidden inside a cow's stomach in an alleged bungled mafia smuggling operation. Lee Harris owner of London's oldest 'head shop', Alchemy, is sentenced to 3 months' imprisonment for selling items such as cigarette papers and pipes "believed to be used for the smoking of cannabis." Sentence later quashed on appeal. Poll tax 'riot' in Trafalgar Square. A referendum for the preservation of the USSR was held on March 17, 1991, with the majority of the population voting for preservation of the Union in nine out of fifteen republics. The referendum gave Gorbachev a minor boost, and, in the summer of 1991, the New Union Treaty was designed and agreed upon by eight republics which would have turned the Soviet Union into a much looser federation. Yeltsin stands on a tank to defy the August Coup in 1991. The signing of the treaty, however, was interrupted by the August Coup — an attempted coup d'état against Gorbachev by hardline Communist Party members of the government and the KGB, who sought to reverse Gorbachev's reforms and reassert the central government's control over the republics. After the coup collapsed, Yeltsin came out as a hero while Gorbachev's power was effectively ended. The balance of power tipped significantly towards the republics. In August 1991, Latvia and Estonia immediately declared restoration of full independence (following Lithuania's 1990 example), while the other 12 republics continued discussing new, increasingly looser, models of the Union. On December 8, 1991, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belavezha Accords which declared the Soviet Union dissolved and established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place. While doubts remained over the authority of the Belavezha Accords to dissolve the Union, on December 21, 1991, the representatives of all Soviet republics except Georgia, including those republics that had signed the Belavezha Accords, signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which confirmed the dismemberment and consequential extinction of the USSR and restated the establishment of the CIS. Ricky Martin, formerly of the boy group Menudo, struck out on his own last year with his english language self-titled debut album. Hordes and hordes of female followers lined up for hours at autograph sessions just to catch a glimpse of Ricky Martin. Other latin superstars such as Enrrique Iglasias, son of Jullio Iglasias, Marc Anthony, and Jennifer Lopez soon followed suit. On Saturday, 19 June 1999, HRH Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones were married at 5pm at St. George's Chapel, Windsor. Following the wedding there was a reception at Windsor Castle. The Wedding Service was conducted by the Right Reverend Peter Nott, Bishop of Norwich. Speaking publicly for the first time since announcing the marriage and following a five-year courtship the 34-year-old prince said: "It's impossible for anybody else to understand why it has taken me so long. "But I don't think it had been right before and I don't think Sophie would have said yes. Hopefully the fact that she has said yes means I've got the timing right."  The Queen and France's President Francois Mitterrand have formally opened the Channel Tunnel during two elaborate ceremonies in France and Britain. At first the Channel Tunnel looked like it was going to be a financial disaster. A year after the official opening, the tunnel operator Eurotunnel announced a loss of £925m, one of the biggest in UK corporate history at the time. To add to its woes, freight traffic was suspended for six months in 1996 after a fire broke out on a lorry in the tunnel. A scheme in which banks agreed to swap billions of pounds worth of loans for shares saved the tunnel from going under and in 1999, Eurotunnel was able to announce its first net profit - £64m. It still has huge debts - to the tune of £6.4bn in 2004. But it has become an accepted and popular mode of transport, not least among illegal immigrants trying to get into Britain from Europe. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990. It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. Although not the first space telescope, the Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well-known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy. The HST is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, and is one of NASA's Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope Space telescopes were proposed as early as 1923. The Hubble was funded in the 1970s, with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the Challenger disaster. When finally launched in 1990, scientists found that the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, severely compromising the telescope's capabilities. However, after a servicing mission in 1993, the telescope was restored to its intended quality. Hubble's position outside the Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely sharp images with almost no background light. Hubble's Ultra Deep Field image, for instance, is the most detailed visible-light image ever made of the universe's most distant objects. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.

On Friday, February 26, 1993, a massive explosion occurred in the public parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. As a result of the explosion, 6 persons were killed, and more than 1,000 injured. The site of the blast became one of the largest crime scenes in NYPD history. Estimates showed property damage in excess of onehalf billion dollars. The sense of fear and panic in the city was palpable. Indeed, many in law enforcement thought of this investigation as the "case of the century." The JTTF stepped into the maelstrom and helped restore calm to the city. Within a month of the blast, the JTTF apprehended four individuals responsible for the attack. The suspects went on trial on September 13, 1993. The trial lasted 6 months with the presentation of 204 witnesses and more than 1,000 pieces of evidence. A jury convicted the four defendants on March 4, 1994, in federal court on all 38 counts against them. On May 25, 1994, a judge sentenced each of the four defendants to 240 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. On February 7, 1995, authorities in Pakistan arrested the prime fugitive wanted in connection with the bombing and subsequently rendered him to U.S. authorities. This suspect, the mastermind behind the bombing, was sentenced to 240 years in prison on January 8, 1998. The quick action taken by the JTTF did much to allay fears and return a sense of normalcy to New York City. The World Trade Center bombing will be remembered as the gravest attack of international terrorism to occur directly on American soil. As part of the plot to strike at the United States, these international terrorists intended to disrupt the dynamics of daily life, commerce, and finance in one of the most heavily populated cities in the United States. The suspect and his associates had hoped to kill upwards of 35,000 innocent people. The excellent work accomplished by the JTTF in investigating and successfully resolving the case dispelled the sense of vulnerability the terrorists had hoped to instill. When war loomed in the Gulf in late 1990/early 1991, Britain committed a large number of forces, including the 22nd Special Air Service. Initially brought into the Gulf without a clear role, the SAS feared that the much-touted high-tech air war might mean a quite war for them. Their traditional role of reconnaissance had largely been assigned to U.S. Special Forces. The human shield crisis seemed like a promising way into the conflict at first but it soon became clear that any attempt to rescue the hundreds of Western civilians held by Saddam Hussein would most likely end in failure and not go ahead. Besides, it wasn't long before the crisis was ended with the release of all the hostages. It was through the efforts of Sir Peter de la Billiere, commander of UK Forces and an Ex-SAS officer, that the SAS were finally given something to get their teeth into. de la Billiere had been lobbying for the use of Special Forces behind Iraq lines. Mindful of the Regiment's beginnings in the Deserts of Africa during World War 2, he persuaded his U.S. counterpart, Norman Schwarzkopf of the need for small fighting columns of SAS forces operating deep behind Iraqi lines, hitting targets of opportunity and generally making a nuisance of themselves. 'Stormin Norman' was distrustful of special operations forces, questioning what the SAS could do that an F16 couldn't and was equally as concerned about diverting resources to rescue an special ops that went wrong. With the air campaign now underway, the SAS were ordered to prepare to move across the border from Saudi Arabia into Southern Iraq, where they were to have carte blanche to attack and harass Iraqi forces at will. For the SAS it was a dream assignment, although soon the focus of their missions would significantly narrow. What began as two-way communications with taxi cabs and police cruisers has grown into one of the most popular, as well as one of the most dependent, means of communication available today, regardless of the brief history of cellular phones in the United States. From the very first mobile phones that were installed in cars to the micro devices that are smaller than the palm of a person's hand, cellular-phone history tracks the technology of radio wave communications. At first mobile phones were installed into cars and only those who had the financial means were able to afford to get them installed. Later, the next-generation models were equipped with a plug that can be inserted into a car's cigarette lighter and were dubbed as "bag phones" and could be transported from vehicle to vehicle. This beginning step in the history of cell phones pushed the industry to transform cellular phones into devices that could be carried in your shirt pocket. At Bell Labs and engineer first thought of the idea of making available towers that would carry the singles from each respective telephone in the squares in which they were placed, called cells, required the user of the cell phone to stay within the particular cell from which the call originated or they would lose single strengthened and consequently the call would end abruptly. It was not until the year 1970 that the next step in the history of cell phones took place with the advent of the call hand off system giving a call the ability to be transferred from cell to cell without any loss of signal strength. Computing in the first years of the new millennium is continuing the trend of the 1990s. The small are getting smaller, the powerful are getting more powerful, and they're all getting smarter. Computing has become not only increasingly personal in the last two years, but also pervasive. The term pervasive computing describes the emerging trend toward numerous, casually accessible, often invisible computing devices, frequently embedded in the environment and connected to an increasingly ubiquitous network structure. The devices themselves have begun to merge. You can buy a cell phone that's also a camera and a PDA. You can install a refrigerator that can download your e-mail and tell you when the milk is going bad. Experts say all these trends will soon have computers melding with the environment until you won't know you're using computers at all. They'll be your microwave, your front door, your jacket. Once they cease to be intrusive, they'll become truly helpful. Although the 1995 criminal trial of O. J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman has been called a "a great trash novel come to life," no one can deny the pull it had on the American public.  If the early reports of the murder of the wife of the ex--NFL football star (turned-NBC-sports-announcer) hadn't caught people's full attention, Simpson's surreal Bronco ride on the day of his arrest certainly did--ninety-five million television viewers witnessed the slow police chase live. The 133 days of televised courtroom testimony turned countless viewers into Simpson trial junkies.  Even foreign leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Boris Yeltsin eagerly gossiped about the trial.  When Yeltsin stepped off his plane to meet President Clinton, the first question he asked was, "Do you think O. J. did it?"  When, at 10 A.M. PST on October 3, Judge Ito's clerk read the jury's verdict of "Not Guilty," 91% of all persons viewing television were glued to the unfolding scene in the Los Angeles courtroom. On April 17, 1995 Timothy McVeigh reportedly picked up a 20-foot Ryder truck from Elliott's Body Shop in Junction City. The truck was filled with roughly 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural fertilizer, and nitromethane, a highly volatile motor-racing fuel-a mixture also known as Kinepak or ANFO (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil). At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995,  the truck exploded in the street in front of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building. About 90 minutes later, McVeigh was stopped by an Oklahoma state trooper for driving a vehicle without a license plate, who then arrested him on a firearms charge. Two days later he was charged in the bombing. His friend Terry Nichols was arrested in Kansas, and formally charged with the bombing on May 10. The IRA announced a "complete cessation of military operations". The statement was greeted by widespread celebrations in nationalist areas. But unionists and the UK government pointed out that there was no explicit promise that the truce was permanent. "We believe that an opportunity to create a just and lasting peace has been created," the statement said. "We note that the Downing Street Declaration is not a solution - a solution can only be found as a result of inclusive negotiations." UK Prime Minister John Major said that the statement was "very welcome indeed" but complained that it should be "clear and unambiguous" that violence was over for good. DUP leader Ian Paisley went further saying that the ceasefire statement was an "insult to the people [the IRA] has slaughtered because there was no expression of regret". Ötzi the Iceman Carbon dating tests show that the well-preserved body of a prehistoric human hunter found in an Alpine glacier last year is 5,000 to 5,500 years old, scientists reported yesterday. The first scientifically established age for the frozen corpse is more than 1,000 years older than original estimates. It means the man lived and presumably froze to death well before the Bronze Age replaced the late Stone Age in Europe. "Now we know he's not from the Bronze Age, but much older," said Dr. Werner Platzer, head of the anatomy department at Innsbruck University in Austria, who is directing research on the mummified corpse. "That's very important. It means, I believe, that this is the only corpse we have from the Stone Age." Unusual Post-Mortem The tests on bones and skin tissue were conducted by scientists at Oxford University in England and a Swiss physics institute in Zurich. The results were announced by Innsbruck University, which is keeping the body in cold storage and supervising one of the most unusual post-mortems in history. Ötzi was found by two German tourists from Nuremberg, Helmut and Erika Simon, on 19 September 1991. The body was at first thought to be a modern corpse, like several others which had been recently found in the region. Lying on its front and frozen in ice below the torso, it was crudely removed from the glacier by the Austrian authorities using a small jackhammer (which punctured the hip of the body) and ice-axes using non-archaeological methods. In addition, before the body was removed from the ice, people were allowed to see it, and some took portions of the clothing and tools as souvenirs. The body was then taken to a morgue in Innsbruck, where its true age was subsequently ascertained.

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