Current Events

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28 December 2005 (Wednesday)

• Europe's "sat-nav" technology satellite, Giove-A, is launched with the goal of providing access to timing and location information independent of the United States' prevelant GPS system. (BBC)
• Militants from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, linked to ruling Fatah party have stormed electoral offices in Gaza ahead of January elections (BBC) (TVNZ)
• The United States National Academy of Sciences claims high doses of Vitamin D could have ability to fight many forms of cancer - (The Daily Telegraph)

27 December 2005 (Tuesday)

• Israeli jets carry out airstrikes on a training camp near Beirut operated by the PFLP, a Palestinian militant group. The airstrikes come in response to a rocket attack in northern Israel a day earlier. (CNN)
• Indonesia's Free Aceh Movement formally disbands its armed wing. (Reuters)
• Andrei Illarionov, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin quits, saying Russia is "no longer free". (Washington Post)
• The government of Poland announces it will keep troops in Iraq until the end of 2006, longer than earlier planned. (Al jazeera)
• A mass grave is discovered in the predominantly Shia city of Karbala south of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. (BBC)
• The serial rape suspect accused of terrorizing two South Florida neighborhoods with attacks on victims ranging from elderly women to an 11-year-old girl was back in custody Tuesday, a week since his brazen jail escape, after a tipster recognized his face and called police. (AP via Yahoo! News)
• Rebels in Colombia kill 24 soldiers guarding coca eradication workers. (BBC)
• The Ugandan army kills seven civilians who had been protesting over the killing of a 15 year old boy. Sixteen others are injured. (BBC)

26 December 2005 (Monday)

• A young woman is killed and six others are wounded when two gunmen open fire outside the Eaton Centre in Toronto. (CNN)
• Memorial services around the world, including one in Banda Aceh, Indonesia attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, mark the one year anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which saw 275,000 people killed or left missing. (CNN)
• A gas attack occurs at an outlet of the Maksidom chain on Moskovsky Prospect in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and led to the hospitalization of numerous victims. (BBC)
• The prime minister of Israel Ariel Sharon will undergo a cardiac catheterization to seal a hole in his heart. The surgery is a routine procedure for this congenital defect, according to doctors in Jerusalem. (CNN)
• A Qassam rocket fires at the Israeli kibbutz Sa'ad lands near a preschool. No injuries are reported. (Ynetnews)

25 December 2005 (Sunday)

• Five children died in Guatemala City when a blaze started by fireworks swept through their house. A traditional holiday firecracker called a "silbador" shot into their small wooden house started the fire. The children were aged 2, 3, 6, 10 and 13. (Scotsman)
• 40 people killed in DR Congo in a clash between Ugandan rebels and UN-Congolese troops. The Ituri area has been the site of a joint action. (BBC)
• A railroad train on the Uetsu Main Line in northern Japan derailed, killing four and injuring at least 33. (CNN) (BBC)
• Joseph Pararajasingham, 71, a pro-Tamil Tiger politician, was shot dead at a Christmas Midnight Mass in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. (BBC) (reuters)
• Nazir Ahmad, a Pakistani laborer, admitted to, and was arrested for murdering his four daughters, aged 4, 8, 12, and 25, after his eldest daughter, Muqadas Bibi, married a man against his wishes. (Reuters)
• The Supreme Court in Libya overturned the death sentences given to international health workers charged with infecting children with HIV. (BBC)

24 December 2005 (Saturday)

• The Egyptian opposition leader, Ayman Nour, was found guilty of fraud and jailed for five years. (BBC)
• The United Kingdom began commemorations for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami ahead of the official Thai commemorations in Thailand. (BBC)
• The Congress of the United States rejected Condoleezza Rice's request to restore $50 million in aid to the African Union that human rights groups say had been cut from the budget in November. The money would have gone to maintain AU peacekeepers in controlling the Darfur conflict, in which about 180,000 people have died. (Herald News Daily) (UN)
• A tourism-promoting agency announced that it is purchasing the Maryland land, and the small one-room building thereon, said to have been the original of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," made famous by Harriet Beecher Stowe. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

23 December 2005 (Friday)

• An Azeri passenger jet crashed after taking off from the Azerbaijan capital, Baku. (BBC)
• Different sources report that Chadian president Idriss Déby has said his country is in a state of either "war" or "belligerence" with Sudan following a recent rebel attack in which around 100 people were killed. (BBC) (Reuters)
• The 2012 Summer Olympics may have been given to London by a voting error, a senior IOC official theorised. (BBC)
• Astronomers have discovered new moons and rings around Uranus using the Hubble Space Telescope. (CNN)
• Lech Kaczyński was sworn in as President of the Republic of Poland. (BBC)
• U.S. News and World Report claimed that the United States government has been monitoring mosques in the United States since September 11 for traces of radiation. (US News)

22 December 2005 (Thursday)

• Judge Richard Fred Suhrheinrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, arguing that the US Constitution does not include "a wall of separation between church and state," denies a claim by the ACLU, thereby approving the continued display of the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky courthouse. (Cincinnati Enquirer) (AP) (Catholic World News)
• The 2005 New York City transit strike is halted as strikers agree to return to work when negotiations resumed. (BBC)
• India's most advanced INSAT-4A telecommunication satellite is successfully launched by the EADS SPACE Transportation generic rocket, Ariane 5, from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. (BBC)
• Acetylene and hydrogen cyanide, precursors to life's basic ingredients (DNA and proteins), are found around a star in the constellation Ophiuchus. (NASA JPL) (MSNBC)
• Tony Blair makes a surprise visit to Basra in Iraq, to address 4,000 British soldiers and discuss withdrawal. He states that "we can eventually draw down our own capability" once the Iraqi forces "build up their own strength". (BBC)

21 December 2005 (Wednesday)

• The former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, claims in court that American officials tortured him. Part of his testimony is censored and the US strongly denies the accusations. (BBC)
• 2005 Canadian Supreme Court Swinging Ruling: In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada rules that swingers clubs do not harm society and are legal as long as there is no exchange of money and the activities are conducted in private. (CTV) (CBC)
• A mugger who attempted to escape pursuit on Sunday by entering Bloemfontein Zoo in South Africa is killed after jumping into the Bengal tigers area. He was found with bite marks all over his body, and all his clothes removed, but the tigers had not attempted to eat him, having been fed the previous afternoon. (BBC) (Mail & Guardian (SA))
• A bomb explodes near a nightclub in Spain, but no one is hurt. The Basque separatist movement ETA claims responsibility. (Reuters)
• The U.S. Senate blocks oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (CNN)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel bans Palestinians from East Jerusalem from voting in the next Palestinian legislative election throwing the entire election in doubt. Israel claims that it made the ban out of fears that Hamas would do well. (BBC)
• Musician Elton John and Canadian filmmaker David Furnish are joined in a civil partnership ceremony at Windsor Town Hall. The couple are among hundreds of same-sex couples entering civil partnerships in England and Wales on the first day that such ceremonies become possible. Ceremonies were held earlier this week in Northern Ireland and Scotland. (BBC) (BBC)
• 2005 Kashmir Earthquake. SOS Children's Villages field workers report a rapid deterioration in weather conditions and increase in weather-related death. 64 more children believed orphaned have been taken into emergency care this week. (SOS)
• Winter Solstice:
  • The December solstice, occurring at 18:35 UTC, is observed around the world in both astronomical and spiritual terms; this day has the least hours of sunlight and the longest night of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and vice versa in the Southern hemisphere. (North County Times)
  • 20,000 people apply for lottery tickets for the 20 places available to view the winter solstice sunrise from inside the Newgrange stone age burial mound in County Meath, Ireland, although cloud cover prevented the sun from shining into the passage grave this morning. (Fairfield County Weekly) (Ireland Online)
• The United States Senate passes a six-month extension of the USA PATRIOT Act late Wednesday night by a voice vote. This clears the way for a final vote in the House. (AP via Yahoo! News)
• Connecticut. A former hedge fund manager, Scott Sacane, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 in connection with the manipulation of the prices of two biotechnology stocks between November 2002 and July 2003. (Stamford (CT) Advocate)

20 December 2005 (Tuesday)

• Chiyoda Corp. and Technip SA win a 500-billion Yen contract to build two LNG (liquefied natural gas) facilities in Qatar. Bloomberg
• In the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case, Judge John E. Jones III rules that it is unconstitutional to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom in the United States. (Aljazeera) (Associated Press) (BBC) (Christian Science Monitor) (CNN) (Guardian) (Time)
• At least 20 people die as a bus in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir skids from the road, tumbles down a hill and lands in the river Jhelum. (BBC)
• Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union declares a New York City transit strike after talks fail, shutting down the subway and bus system that constitute the largest transportation system in the United States. (Wikinews) (AP via Yahoo!) (CNN) (BBC)
• Israel:
  • In the Likud primary elections, Benjamin Netanyahu wins, becoming the new Likud leader. In the voting, he is followed by Silvan Shalom, Moshe Feyglin, and Yisrael Katz. (Ynetnews)
  • Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, is released from Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital after being treated for a mild stroke. (Ynetnews)
• Midwest Airlines Flight 210 lands safely at Boston's Logan International Airport with a landing-gear problem late Tuesday after circling the airport for approximately two hours. (AP via Yahoo!)

19 December 2005 (Monday)

• Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 flying from Miami, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas, crashes in Miami Beach, killing 18 passengers and two crew members.(CNN)
• Evo Morales becomes the latest Leftist to win the Presidency of a South American nation after he claimed victory in the Bolivian Presidential Election. (BBC)
• Early returns in the Iraqi legislative election, December 2005 indicate that religious parties have done quite well, winning up 80 percent of the vote. Election officials are investigating more than 1,000 complaints about irregularities, 20 of them considered serious. Final results will not be released until early January.
• The Free Aceh Movement surrenders the last of its weapons following a peace agreement with the Government of Indonesia. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: An insurgent group broadcasts a video over the Internet of what they claim is the death of American Ronald Allen Schulz. (BBC)
• Nazi Officer Ladislav Niznansky is acquitted of charges relating to three massacres of Slovaks during World War II. (IOL)
• Governor Antonio Fazio of Bank of Italy resigns, after having been officially put under investigation for insider trading, and following heavy pressure from both government and opposition. (BBC)
• The Likud primary elections for the party's leadership between the candidates Benjamin Netanyahu, Silvan Shalom, Yisrael Katz and Moshe Feyglin opened at 10:00 a.m. (Ynetnews)

18 December 2005 (Sunday)

• Air Nauru's only passenger jet is seized by creditors in Melbourne, leaving the island nations of Nauru and Kiribati without air transport to the rest of the world. (ABC)
• Extinct mammoth mitochondrial DNA decoded. (BBC)
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) holds its first national democratic poll in 40 years. (BBC) (Reuters)
• The Bolivian presidential election, 2005 takes place in Bolivia, with Evo Morales and Jorge Quiroga as front-runners. Morales is expected to win a plurality of votes but not an absolute majority. If no candidate wins a majority, the election of the President will be by vote in the National Congress, also elected today. (BBC)
• 42 people die following a stampede in the Indian city of Chennai. (BBC)
• Bono, Melinda Gates and Bill Gates are named Time's Persons of the Year. (CNN)
• U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is on a trip to various countries including Oman, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He made a surprise stop to Iraq today. (Yahoo! News) (Reuters)
• Philippines finish in 5th place in the medal tally for the 2005 ASEAN Para Games in the Philippines. Thailand finishes with 84 golds, followed by Malaysia. (The Nation, Bangkok)
• The prime minister of Israel Ariel Sharon is transferred to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem after suffering a minor stroke. Meanwhile, some Palestinians have taken to the streets in Gaza to celebrate Sharon's health condition and the Kahane organisation has urged Jews to pray for his death. (Ynetnews) (Wikinews)
• São Paulo win the FIFA Club World Championship in Yokohama, Japan, defeating Liverpool F.C. 1-0. (BBC)
• President George W. Bush defends the Iraq War in a rare primetime Oval Office address. He said, "Not only can we win the war in Iraq — we are winning the war in Iraq." (USAToday) (The Guardian)

17 December 2005 (Saturday)

• Hong Kong police detain 900 protesters at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005 after an anti-globalization demonstration became violent. The protesters object to trade rules that they say hurt poor farmers. 74 people are injured. (Reuters) (CNN)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Palestinian militant Khaled Abu Sitta is killed and three others injured when Sitta's car explodes in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources say the explosion was caused by an Israeli air strike, although the Israeli Defense Force denies any involvement but admits bombing roads and bridges and shooting dead a suspect.(BBC) (Y-Net) (Haaretz) (Reuters)
• Condoleezza Rice and the African Union request additional funds to enable the A.U.'s peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan to continue. Without additional aid, the African peacekeeping force will run out of funds in four months. Violence in the region has resurged recently. (Boston Globe) (Reuters) (LA Times via Chron.com)
• A group of over 40 people, dressed in Santa Claus costumes, go on a rampage through downtown Auckland, New Zealand, robbing stores and assaulting security guards. (AP)
• Thieves use a flatbed truck to steal a 2-ton Henry Moore statue from the grounds of his foundation in Hertfordshire, England. The statue is valued at more than $5.2 million dollars. (AP) (Telegraph.co.uk)

16 December 2005 (Friday)

• Bulgaria starts withdrawing its troops from Iraq. (Reuters)
• Extreme levels of radiation have been found at a chemical factory in Chechnya. (BBC)
• United States Government:
  • Senator John McCain persuades President George W. Bush to accept a ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees. (AP)
  • The United States House of Representatives has requested that the Bush administration give Congress details on any secret detention facilities overseas. (AP)
  • The United States Senate rejects the extension of the PATRIOT Act. Critics had said it infringed on civil liberties and made the government too powerful. (AP).
  • United States President George W. Bush refuses to comment on whether the National Security Agency spied on American citizens without a legal warrant. (AP)
• Conflict in Iraq: Iraqi Police claim that they captured Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and then released him by mistake. (BBC)
• Hamas, the main Palestinian opposition party make a large series of gains in the West Bank municipal elections. (BBC)
• At least 39 people, 33 of whom were patients, die after a fire breaks out in a hospital in the city of Liaoyuan, near Changchun in China's Jilin Province. The cause of the fire is unknown. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: An Israeli settler dies following a drive-by shooting claimed by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Islamic Jihad. (Ynetnews) (RTÉ)
• Intellectual property dispute: a US federal judge upholds Pfizer's two main patents for Lipitor, which had been challenged by Ranbaxy Laboratories. The decision is the latest defeat for Ranbaxy, an Indian generic drugmaker, which has also lost in a UK court. (MSNBC)
• Denis Donaldson is expelled from Sinn Fein for being a British spy. He later confirms this in a statement. (BBC)

15 December 2005 (Thursday)

• Former United States presidential candidate Al Sharpton agrees to pay $100,000 to the Federal Election Commission in a settlement over alleged corrupt practices during his 2004 electoral bid. (Reuters)
• A colleague of South Korean biomedical researcher Hwang Woo-Suk says that Hwang admitted that he faked nine of eleven stem cell colonies used in what had been hailed as a medical breakthrough in the journal Science. (BBC)
• Thousands of Iraqi Shia protest against Al Jazeera after a guest on a talk show on the network suggested that the Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shia Islam's most senior cleric, should stay out of politics. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel continues to strike Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip. (RTÉ)
• The European Council meets to discuss the next 7-year budget for the European Union. (BBC)
• Voting starts in Iraq to elect the first permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly under the new Constitution of Iraq. (BBC)
• A comparison of 42 articles by the journal Nature concludes that Wikipedia is almost as accurate on science topics as the Encyclopædia Britannica. The study also notes that Wikipedia's writing is more disorganized than Britannica's.