September 3, 2009 (Thursday)
- Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is confirmed dead when the wreckage of the helicopter that crashed with him on-board in southern India on Wednesday is located. (BBC) (CNN) (Economic Times) (Press Trust of India)
- Iranian ministerial appointments:
- The Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran approves at least 18 ministers for the 21 available posts. (Xinhua)
- Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi becomes the first woman minister since the 1979 Revolution. (BBC News)
- Legislators vote overwhelmingly to ratify Ahmad Vahidi, wanted by Interpol in connection with the 1994 Jewish centre bombing in Buenos Aires, as defence minister. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
- The death toll from the 2009 Java earthquake rises to at least 57. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Gabonese presidential election
- The results of Gabon's presidential election were delayed as backers of the main candidates waited outside the offices of the Electoral Commission. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Ali Bongo, son of recently deceased leader Omar Bongo, is declared the winner with 41.73% of the vote. (IOL) (BBC News)
- Opposition supporters attack a prison and the French consulate in Port-Gentil, amid several disturbances in the city. (AFP)
- Research indicates the Andromeda Galaxy appears to have expanded by digesting stars from other galaxies. (BBC)
- Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi lodges an appeal against her conviction for breaching the terms of her house arrest. (RTÉ) (Wall Street Journal) (BBC) (Bangkok Post)
- American pop star and entertainer Michael Jackson was laid to rest at a private ceremony during a sunset service in a mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, USA. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (CNN)
- China's State Food and Drug Administration grants approval to a homegrown swine flu vaccine, which producer Sinovac Biotech claims is effective after only one dose. (Xinhua) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Fresh protests are reported in the province of Xinjiang in western China, after a series of stabbings with hypodermic needles. (BBC) (Swissinfo)[permanent dead link] (People's Daily) (Al Jazeera)
- Australia experiences its warmest August on record amid soaring winter temperatures. (BBC)
- The Russian Supreme Court overturns a lower court ruling in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, ordering several probes into her death to be merged into one. (RIA Novosti) (CNN)
- 11 people are shot dead and a bomb at a restaurant injures 27 amid unrest in Thailand's Muslim south. (Bangkok Post) (The Independent)
- Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis launches a difficult election campaign after calling an early parliamentary vote for October 4 to seek a new mandate and deal with a sharp economic crisis. (Reuters)
- English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. are barred from purchasing players on transfer until January 2011 by FIFA for inducing Gaël Kakuta to illegally break his contract with French Ligue 1 club RC Lens in 2007. (The Sun) (Sky Sports)