2008 Review: September

RIA Novosti looks back at the main events of the outgoing year; below the month by month review of 2008 continues, with September

September 1

* Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announces his resignation, less than a year after taking office, saying a 'new team' is needed to overcome a political standoff

September 2

* Georgia officially notifies Russia of its decision to sever diplomatic relations

September 4

* BP and Russian shareholders at TNK-BP approve a deal to end their protracted dispute over the joint oil venture's management, including agreeing to remove the CEO and appoint independent executives

September 6

* Nicaragua recognizes the independence of Georgia's breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia

September 8

* The U.S. government takes control of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stop their possible collapse causing major damage to the economy

September 9

* Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is sworn in as Pakistan's president

September 14

* A passenger plane en route from Moscow crashes on a rail line in the outskirts of the Urals city of Perm killing all 88 people on board, including seven children and 21 foreign nationals

September 15

* Iran launches a three-day series of Air Force and missile defense exercises throughout the country

September 17

* Russia signs friendship and cooperation treaties with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, promising them military and economic support

September 21

* At least 53 people are killed and another 226 injured in a suicide bomb attack on the Marriott hotel in Pakistan's capital

* Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announces resignation

September 22

* North Korea removes seals from its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, closed down last year under denuclearization agreements

September 24

* Conservative former foreign minister Taro Aso becomes Japan's prime minister

* The Large Hadron Collider is shut down until spring due to a helium leak into the tunnel housing the device

September 26

* Russia's Navy sends the Neustrashimy (Fearless) missile frigate to waters off the Somali coast to fight piracy in the region

September 30

* The U.S. House of Representatives rejects a historic $700 billion bailout plan to rescue the country's financial system, sending the stock market into a steep decline and pushing down oil prices