1998 U.S. embassy bombings: the bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, kill 224 people and injure over 4,500; they are linked to terrorist Osama bin Laden, an exile of Saudi Arabia. August 15 – The Troubles: The Omagh bombing is carried out in Northern Ireland by the Real Irish Republican Army. Shortly after these events, the group would call a ceasefire in response, signaling an end to the 30+ year conflict. August 26 – Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama wins the Libertadores Cup after a 2–1 win against Barcelona S.C. September September 2 A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 airliner (Swissair Flight 111) crashes near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, after taking off from New York City en route to Geneva; all 229 people on board are killed. A United Nations court finds Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, guilty of nine counts of genocide, marking the first time that the 1948 law banning genocide is enforced. September 4 – Google, Inc. is founded in Menlo Park, California, by Stanford University PhD candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin. September 5 – The Government of North Korea adopts a military dictatorship on its 50th anniversary. September 8 – St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire hits his 62nd home run of the season, thus breaking the single season record of 61 which had been held by Roger Maris since 1961. September 10 – At midnight, a shooting occurs aboard an Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Russian Navy docked in the northern Russian port city of Severomorsk. September 12 – The Cuban Five intelligence agents are arrested in Miami, and convicted of espionage. The agents claim they were not spying against the United States Government but against the Cuban exile community in Miami. September 24 – Iranian President Mohammad Khatami retracts a fatwa against Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie that was in force since 1989 stating that the Iranian government will "neither support nor hinder assassination operations on Rushdie". September 29 – Nipah virus epidemic begins in Malaysia. October October 1 – Europol is established when the Europol Convention signed by all of its member states comes into force. October 3 – 1998 Australian federal election: John Howard's Liberal/National Coalition Government is re-elected with a substantially reduced majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Kim Beazley. October 6 – Matthew