Unix Timestamp: 1064448000
Thursday, September 25. 2003, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Science – Space: Europe gets set for Moon mission. Rocket operators clear the Smart 1 probe to begin its lunar adventure on an Ariane 5 rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Smart 1 will test a novel type of propulsion system on its mission and map lunar surface features. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3136004.stm

Natural disaster: An earthquake of magnitude 8.0 struck near the island of Hokkaidō in Japan at 19:50:07 (UTC). A tsunami was generated off the coast of Hokkaidō as a result of the quake and tsunami warnings have been issued for most of the Pacific Rim, including Japan, Russia's eastern coast, Alaska, and Hawaii. //earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/uszdap.htm

Shariah: An Islamic appeals court in northern Nigeria has acquitted single mother Amina Lawal. A Shariah court had sentenced her to death by stoning for adultery, but a five-judge panel rejected her March 2002 conviction under Shariah saying she was not given le opportunity to defend herself. //web.amnesty.org/pages/nga-010902-background-eng//www.hrw.org/reports/2004/nigeria0904/5.htm