2002
Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operations, and human rights concerns arose surrounding the treatment of suspected terrorists.
[6]: 87 The Colombian conflict escalated after far-left insurgents occupied demilitarized zones and kidnapped Íngrid Betancourt, effectively ending peace talks.
[5] The largest attack on civilians in 2002 was a series of bombings in Bali that killed or injured hundreds on October 12, with Australian tourists making up a large portion of the victims.
[9]: 502 The Documenta11 exhibition took place in Kassel, Germany, contributing to the early movement of art globalization with its focus on experimental and documentary works from developing nations.
Good Morning Afghanistan began airing to provide the Afghan people real-time updates on the nation's political situation, while Radio Liberty was expelled from Russia in October.
[8]: 273 The magazine industry faced similar challenges, as well as a separate controversy when the February 11 issue of Newsweek International was banned throughout the Muslim world for its depiction of Muhammed.
The traditionally well-performing teams of Argentina, France, and Italy did not meet expectations, while Senegal, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States performed better than they had historically.
[9]: 513 Michael Schumacher significantly exceeded his competition and set numerous records with the Ferrari F2002 during the 2002 Formula One World Championship, prompting the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to make several rule changes; this included reforms for team orders following a controversial move at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix in which Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello moved aside to let him win.
[28] The New Zealand All Blacks received wide attention in rugby union for its victory in the 2002 Tri Nations Series, making a comeback performance following its losses in previous years.
[29]: 11 Most countries experienced only limited growth of output and employment in the year, and economic policy within the largest economies focused primarily on combating inflation.
These scandals brought the arrests of several high-profile executives,[10] negatively affected public trust in corporate accounting,[8]: 185 and increased the volatility of global stock markets.
[8]: 211 The war in Afghanistan caused widespread environmental issues, with forests destroyed, wildlife poached by refugees,[8]: 213 and the Kabul Zoo requiring international support.
[8]: 212 The January eruption of Mount Nyiragongo brought destruction to Goma, prompting an evacuation of 400,000 people, with 12,000 finding themselves homeless with damage across 14 villages.
[8]: 222 The year's increased focus on terrorism, particularly after the 2001 anthrax attacks, prompted many countries to invest in vaccines, antibiotics, and antivirals as a precaution against bioterrorism.
[8]: 221 Renewed attention was brought to the case of family doctor Harold Shipman when it was announced in July that he had killed 200 other people under his care beyond the 15 for which he was prosecuted.
[36]: 16 The majority of Gibraltar's population engaged in protests when the British government considered delivering partial control of the territory to Spain; this culminated with a referendum that rejected the move.
Venezuela also underwent political crisis with an attempted coup against President Hugo Chávez in April and a national strike against his administration later in the year.
[8]: 277 A wave of social pension reform took place in European nations, with Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland all in various phases of implementation.
[8]: 309–311 Anti-globalization protests took place during the September World Bank–IMF meeting in Washington, D.C.[8]: 314 The Rome Statute entered into force in July, establishing the International Criminal Court.
[8]: 225 In August, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda saw the arrests of nine more people accused of genocide, including army chief of staff Augustin Bizimungu.
[8]: 282 A major espionage case in the United States ended in May with Robert Hanssen sentenced to life in prison for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union.
[8]: 232 Serbia and Montenegro abolished capital punishment to qualify for entry to the Council of Europe, and Turkey did so to garner support for its incorporation into the European Union.
[8]: 228 Anti-terrorism actions by the United States, including the arbitrary arrest and deportation of non-citizens and indefinite detention of suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan, were condemned as human rights violations.
[8]: 278 George W. Bush defined an "axis of evil" in an address in January, naming Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as foreign adversaries of the United States.
Hindu–Muslim relations were strained in India, most prominently by Muslim attack on a Hindu train car in February that led to weeks of deadly riots in Gujarat.
The removal of the Taliban from power allowed girls to attend school in Afghanistan for the first time, and textbooks funded by the United States included images of women.
[8]: 204–205 Archeological finds in 2002 included the alleged ossuary of James, brother of Jesus; red ochre cave art in the Blombos Cave in South Africa, created approximately 77,000 years ago and the oldest known artwork; the largest Etruscan civilization settlement found to date, from approximately 2,600 years ago; a collection of bamboo slips featuring 200,000 characters of calligraphy from the Qin dynasty; two stone slabs featuring the Indian emperor Ashoka; ancient irrigation canals under Tucson, Arizona; a Mayan mural in San Bartolo, Guatemala; an Aztec shrine on Pico de Orizaba in Mexico; and the Palace of Parliament of Upper Canada that had been destroyed in the War of 1812.
[8]: 234 Chemists in 2002 synthesized uranium from noble gases, observed a blackberry-shaped molecular structure in molybdenum blue, fluorinated carbon nanotubes, synthesized a stable cyclopentadienyl cation, discovered the oxidation-resistant gold Au55, incorporated a photonic lattice into a tungsten filament, invented the ITQ-21 zeolite to more efficiently refine petroleum, and developed a method to create crystalline oxide film without extreme heat.
[8]: 266 Two major breakthroughs were made in number theory in 2002: Manindra Agrawal led a team in developing the AKS primality test, and Preda Mihăilescu created a proof for the 150-year-old Catalan's conjecture.
[9]: 458 China blocked Google Search and AltaVista in August,[8]: 233 provoking a hacktivist movement in the United States that worked to circumvent such restrictions in authoritarian nations.
