October 2005

Portal:Current events

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October 1, 2005 (Saturday)

• Internet sensation Fred Figglehorn makes his first video on YouTube
• The Ilamatepec volcano erupts in a coffee-growing area 40 miles (60 km) west of San Salvador, El Salvador, spitting rock and ash into the air. The Salvadoran government evacuates hundreds of people in the region and there are no reported injuries. San Salvador's air quality - already the most polluted in Central America - is significantly worsened by the additional volcanic debris. (Yahoo! news)(Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
• A bomb explodes outside of a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma, killing one. (ABC) (NYTimes) (registration required)
• A Russian rocket lifts a Soyuz spacecraft towards the International Space Station, carrying the third fare-paying space tourist, American Gregory Olsen. (CNN) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)) (FloridaToday)
• Four explosions are reported in Bali at popular tourist areas, killing at least 36 and injuring 103 people. (CNN) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)) (BBC) (WRKO)
• New Zealand's Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark is set to form a third-term government after the National Party loses a seat following the count of 'special' votes. She begins talks with minor party leaders to form a coalition government as well obtain the support of enough minor parties to have a majority on supply and confidence issues. (SBS) (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)) (NZ election results)
• The Indonesian government raises fuel prices by more than 100%, resulting in petrol prices of 4,500 rupiah (US$0.44) a litre (US$1.67 per gallon). (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
• (United States) American Rock band "First October" founded in South Florida

October 2, 2005 (Sunday)

• Mexico wins the FIFA U-17 Men's Championship 2005 in Lima, Peru, beating Brazil 3-0 (Notimex)
• Severely injured victims of the 2005 Bali bombings are being evacuated to medical facilities in Australia and Singapore. The Australian Government has made moves to assist Indonesia in its response, dispatching Australian Federal Police officers and forensic experts to assist in investigations. (ABC)
• The Ethan Allen, a boat on Lake George, in Upstate New York, capsized killing 20 people. The boat has been raised by investigators. (CNN)
• The Ugandan Army is deploying troops to West Nile in readiness for an imminent military combat against the Lord's Resistance Army at the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. (allAfrica)
• The astronomers who discovered Eris, referred to as "the tenth planet" by NASA and some media outlets, have announced that it has a moon, Dysnomia. (CNN)

October 3, 2005 (Monday)

• St. Tammany Parish Schools reopen in Louisiana just over a month after Hurricane Katrina closed them.
• West African leaders call for the strengthening of United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure efforts to end the three year civil war in Côte d'Ivoire pay off. A total 6,640 peacekeepers are currently serving in the UN force, which is under Senegalese command, monitoring the buffer zone between the north and south with the help of 4,000 French troops. (allAfrica)
• South Africa announces a ZAR 140 million (USD $22 million) donation to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to alleviate food shortages in Southern Africa. (allAfrica)
• Australians Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren have been awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylouri and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease". (BBC)
• U.S. Representative Tom DeLay is indicted on a charge of money laundering. (Reuters)
• Up to 60 police cadets have been swept away by powerful Typhoon Longwang in Fujian, south-east China. (BBC)
• Former Manchester United footballer George Best reported to be in intensive care (due to a kidney infection) at Cromwell Hospital, London. (BBC)
• At least 11 people die during a stampede at a concert in Sangju, South Korea. (BBC)
• Welsh heavy metal band Bullet For My Valentine release their debut album The Poison. On January 30, 2009, the album was certified gold by the RIAA after 500,000 copies were sold in the United States. (RIAA)
• On the first day of the U.S. Supreme Court's fall term, President George W. Bush nominates White House Counsel Harriet Miers to fill the seat currently held by Sandra Day O'Connor. The nominee has no judicial experience. (BBC).
• Conflict in Afghanistan: Afghan troops kill 31 suspects following clashes in Paktika, in eastern Afghanistan. (BBC)
• Millions of people view the solar eclipse which occurred at 10:31 UTC, mainly in Africa and south-west Europe. (BBC)
• A train derails and crashes in Datia, Madhya Pradesh in India, killing 16 people. (BBC)
• NTL, the largest British cable television company, telco and ISP, announces its multi-billion pound purchase of Telewest, the second largest cable company, creating one of the largest companies in the British media industry. (Guardian) (Bloomberg)
• Turkey and Croatia begin talks about joining the European Union following over a day of debate over an Austrian proposal that Turkey should be offered an associate status short of full membership. (BBC)
• In Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Media Guild announce a preliminary agreement to end the current lockout of CMG members in most of the country which seriously impaired corporation's programming since August 17. (Toronto Star)

October 4, 2005 (Tuesday)

• United States President George W. Bush expresses concern for a potential avian flu outbreak. He requests Congressional legislation permitting the military to impose a quarantine in the event of a deadly flu pandemic. (IndyStar)
• Eleven embassies in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, receive suspicious packages containing threatening letters and an unidentified liquid, triggering security alerts. (Forbes)
• Conflict in Iraq: Five U.S. soldiers die during sweeps of insurgent-held towns in Iraq. (Seattle Times).
• The Malawi government says that 650,000 people in the country have died due to AIDS in the past two decades. There are now 850,000 orphaned children, 50% resulting from AIDS. (allAfrica)
• The United Nations Security Council demands that Rwandan rebels, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), immediately disarm and leave Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)
• Two Congolese soldiers die and eleven others are injured in a plane crash as the United Nations and Democratic Republic of the Congo's army airlifted local troops to the northeastern frontier to confront Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels. (Reuters)
• One million French transportation workers and teachers hold a nationwide strike in opposition to the Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's economic and labor policies, forcing the closure of schools and airports. (Reuters)
• Ohio Iraqi War veteran Paul Hackett is expected to run in the state Democratic primary to contest the seat of Republican Senator Mike DeWine. Hackett lost in a closely contested House race on August 2.(The Cincinnati Enquirer)
• Roy J. Glauber, John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch share in the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics. (Nobelprize.org)
• Four Ugandan civilians are killed in a rare afternoon ambush on a pickup truck in northeast Uganda by Lord's Resistance Army rebels. The insurgents are suspected of shooting the driver and two passengers and killing a fourth with an axe. (BBC News)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A 37-year-old Palestinian mother of six is shot and killed after she stabbed and lightly injured a female Israel Defense Forces soldier at the Hawara roadblock south of Nablus. No militant group claimed the attack, but it is known that the woman's brother was killed by the IDF at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. (Ynetnews), (BBC)

October 5, 2005 (Wednesday)

• Level 3 Communications terminates peering connectivity between its Internet network and the one belonging to Cogent Communications over a financial dispute. As a result, thousands of Internet users are unable to access some sites. (PC World)
• England international football player Wayne Rooney is named as FIFA SOS Ambassador for England, in support of the official FIFA World Cup charity. (the FA) (SOS)
• Uganda-born John Sentamu is formally confirmed in office as the Archbishop of York, the second-highest post in the Church of England. (BBC) (The Telegraph)
• U.S. Marine Leandro Aragoncillo is indicted for espionage, accused of passing classified information from the Vice President's office to the Philippines. (Reuters)
• The Roman Catholic bishops of England, Wales, and Scotland issue a teaching guide which explains biblical passages should not be taken literally. The Creation, Garden of Eden and the creation of Eve from Adam's rib are considered to be "symbolic language". (Scotsman)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin in a ceremony at 10 Downing Street awards the Order of Maritime Service to six British military and civilian personnel responsible for the rescue of the mini-submarine AS-28 off the Kamchatka Peninsula. (North West Evening Mail)
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs, and Richard R. Schrock the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, "for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis". (Nobelprize.org)
• South Thailand insurgency: Five Thai soldiers are killed in a drive-by shooting in Thailand's Narathiwat province. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: The British Government alleges that Iran is responsible for recent attacks on British military forces. (BBC)
• Hurricane Stan strikes Mexico and Central America, at least 66 people have died, most of them in landslides in El Salvador. (CBC)
• Braving the threat of a veto from United States President George W. Bush, U.S. Senate Republicans joined Democrats, voting 90 to 9 to amend defense spending bill with a ban the use of torture by U.S. military forces. (FT) (Mercury News)
• The National Hockey League returns after a year-long lockout. Opening night featured all 30 teams in action, including Sidney Crosby's debut against the New Jersey Devils and Alexander Ovechkin's debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets where he scored 2 goals.

October 6, 2005 (Thursday)

• Five leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group begun in Uganda, are targeted by the first arrest warrants to be issued by the International Criminal Court. (BBC)
• Gabon announces that the presidential elections are to be held on 27 November with security forces voting two days earlier, but opposition denounces the move as a ruse for ballot rigging. (allAfrica)
• Zimbabwe is facing increasing threat of military revolt, as soldiers are increasingly dissatisfied by the government's failure to increase their salaries and by chronic food shortages at their barracks. (allAfrica)
• New York City increases police presence in the New York City subway system after receiving a credible terror threat. (BBC)
• Hurricane Katrina: Louisiana National Guard officials say repeated news reports by CNN on September 1, 2005 that shots were fired at a UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter at the Louisiana Superdome were false. (Washington Post)
• Conflict in Iraq: As Iraqi president Jalal Talabani tells UK Prime Minister Tony Blair any troop withdrawal would be a "catastrophe" (BBC), 10 people die following a bomb near the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad. (BBC)
• The European Court of Human Rights rules the United Kingdom's ban on voting rights for prisoners is unlawful. (BBC)
• Properties in Manchester, England are searched by the Assets Recovery Agency during on-going investigations into the business activities of men alleged to have links with the Irish Republican Army. (BBC)
• Death toll of Hurricane Stan reaches 166. (Reuters)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel is to ban using Palestinians as human shields following a Supreme Court of Israel ruling. (BBC)
• Malalai Joya, a 27 year old women's rights worker, has won one of the first seats in Afghanistan's National Assembly, also called the Wolesa Jirga. (CNN)
• Ted Koppel will anchor his last broadcast of Nightline on 22 November and not in December 2005 as had been previously announced. (Reuters)

October 7, 2005 (Friday)

• Conflict in Afghanistan: U.S. Troops kill four Afghan police, after mistaking them for militants in the Girishk district of the Helmand Province. (BBC)
• Militants kill at least 8 members of the Ahmadiyya faith inside a Mosque as worshippers were performing Salah. The attack occurred in Mandi Bahauddin in Punjab, Pakistan. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • At least twenty-nine Iraqi fighters and six U.S. Marines are killed in major fighting in western Iraq. (BBC) (Reuters)
  • British forces have detained 12 people, including three police officers, in connection with a series of deadly attacks on UK forces in southern Iraq. (BBC)
• The UN International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei share the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to limit the spread of atomic weapons. (CNN) (Aftenposten) (Nobel Prize)
• Three Hamas members are kidnapped from their homes in the West Bank. A group, supportive of the Palestinian National Authority, calling itself the "Omar Ben al-Khatib Warriors" claims responsibility for the kidnappings of the three, and one is later freed. (Ynetnews)
• According to the BBC, the industrial solvent gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) is being used in the UK as a club drug, with lethal results. (BBC)

October 8, 2005 (Saturday)

• Five autonomous robots have completed the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, the winner (to be declared on Sunday) travelling the 132 mile course in less than 7.5 hours. (SFGate)
• A mudslide in Guatemala triggered by heavy rains buries the village of Panabaj. All 800 residents of the village are feared dead. (CNN)
• 2005 South Asia earthquake: An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale occurred at 08:52:38 UTC in a Pakistan- disputed territory of Kashmir, killing over 175,000 people. (NDTV) (USGS) (Indian Express)
• After 26 months of construction as part of People's Republic of China's Tenth Five-Year Plan, Nanjing's Third Yangtze Bridge opens. (Xinhua)
• Uganda Human Rights Commission, in its 2004 report, states that at least 4,000 children who were among the tens of thousands abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels cannot be traced. This estimate is much lower than the previous estimate of 20,000 kidnapped children released by the most recent Human Rights Watch report. The UHRC accuses the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) of torturing the Acholi people of northern Uganda through brutal methods to extract information or to instill discipline in suspects. (allAfrica)
• 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Germany are: Italy, England, the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Croatia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Angola, Togo, Ghana, Tunisia, Ivory Coast and Costa Rica.

October 9, 2005 (Sunday)

• In the Polish presidential election, frontrunner Donald Tusk of the liberal (libertarian) Civic Platform party receives approximately 35.8% of the vote, slightly ahead of Lech Kaczyński of the conservative Law and Justice Party with 33.3%. A run-off election between Tusk and Kaczyński will take place on October 23. (BBC)
• Three white New Orleans police officers are arrested after a video surfaces showing the officers brutally beating unarmed 64-year old Robert Davis. The victim, who is black, has been charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. (Reuters), (BBC), (Footage of incident from BBC)
• New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. (Reuters)
• United Kingdom: In a joint statement, Anglican and Catholic leaders voice concerns over euthanasia as the House of Lords gears up for debate on legislation. (BBC)
• United Kingdom: Former actress and current Labour MP Glenda Jackson announces she intends to stand against Tony Blair in a leadership bid if he doesn't stand down in the near future. (BBC) (Scotsman)
• Tropical Storm Vince, the 20th named storm of the season (making the current Atlantic hurricane season the 2nd most active since recording first took place) is gaining hurricane strength while heading towards Europe. It is unusual for such a storm to form so far east in the Atlantic Ocean, and more so gaining hurricane strength, since the waters are much cooler than in the Caribbean area. (National Hurricane Center)
• Southend Pier, in the East of England, is devastated by a fire. (BBC)
• The members of the Canadian Media Guild vote 88% in favour of the proposed settlement of the lockout with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, officially ending the current labor dispute with the affected personnel resuming regular duties on October 11 with a gradual resumption of regular programming. (Toronto Star)
• The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6 in the 18th inning of the longest post-season game in Major League Baseball history. (Houston Chronicle)

October 10, 2005 (Monday)

• New Orleans:
  • Three New Orleans officers accused of near fatally beating Robert Davis and assaulting a cameraman who taped the ordeal, plead not guilty.
  • Allegations that New Orleans police looted 200 cars (41 Cadillacs) are under investigation by Louisiana police.(Yahoo)
  • Widespread desertion, suicide, and crime among New Orleans police officers has been reported in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. (Reuters)
• The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully tests a $10 million jet that travels at twice the speed of sound. (Reuters)
• 2005 Kashmir earthquake: SOS Children have reported that despite the destruction of much of their Children’s Village in Muzaffarabad all of the children in their care are believed safe. [1]
• Conflict in Iraq: Insurgent attacks throughout Iraq leave seven Iraqis, two security officials from the Arab league and one U.S. soldier dead. (BBC)
• Following the German federal election, 2005, Christian Democrat Angela Merkel will become the next Chancellor of Germany, replacing Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder, although Schröder's party will be the dominant party in the grand coalition.(BBC) (Reuters)
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards Thomas Schelling and Robert Aumann the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics, "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis". (nobelprize.org)
• Aardman Animations, the company behind films such as Chicken Run, Creature Comforts, and the just-released Wallace and Gromit film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit lose their entire history, but not their film library, in a fire. (BBC)
• The former President of Uganda, Milton Obote, has died of kidney failure at the age of 80. Obote led the East African country from 1962-1971 and again from 1980-1985. (BBC)

October 11, 2005 (Tuesday)

• Conflict in Iraq: Insurgent suicide bomb attacks leave over 30 people dead in Talafar, North West Iraq. (BBC)
• Conflict in Afghanistan: 18 Afghan police die following an ambush in Halmand, southern Afghanistan. (BBC)
• 2005 Malawi food crisis: SOS Children launches emergency food program around Lilongwe and Mzuzu Malawi Crisis
• Liberian elections, 2005: Liberians head for the poll today to select a new president, 30 senators and 64 representatives for the lower house of parliament. (allAfrica)
• Divers off Portsmouth harbour raise the anchor and part of the bow of the wreck of the Tudor period warship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545. (BBC)
• Olivia Marshall finally kissed Eric True, and they lived happily ever after.

October 12, 2005 (Wednesday)

• Six armed Somali pirates hijack the MV Miltzow, a freighter that is carrying United Nations food aid. After its cargo of 850 tonnes of food aid was offloaded in the port of Merka, the ship was forced to sail down the coast to Barawa before being released two days later. (Reuters)
• CNN reports that the Louisiana attorney general is investigating the possibility that mercy killings of critically ill patients by staff medical professionals at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana occurred during Hurricane Katrina. (CNN) (BusinessWire) (DallasBusinessJournal)
• German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder informs that he won't play a role in the Merkel grand coalition cabinet. He criticizes the United States for its response to Hurricane Katrina and "Anglo-Saxon economic policies," while stressing the importance of Franco-Germanic ties. (Reuters)
• Conflict in Iraq: At least 30 people die following an insurgent suicide bomb attack in Talafar, North Western Iraq, the second such attack in as many days. (BBC)
• The People's Republic of China launches the manned Shenzhou 6 spacecraft. Fei Junlong and Niè Hǎishèng will spend five days in orbit in their Shenzhou spacecraft. (People's Daily)
• Iraq's Constitutional referendum: the prospects of the proposed Iraqi constitution being approved in Saturday's referendum are boosted by a deal struck with a major Sunni Arab party, the Iraqi Islamic Party. (CNN)
• Syria's interior minister, Ghazi Kanaan, who was head of the country's military intelligence in neighboring Lebanon for nearly 20 years, has committed suicide. (CNN)

October 13, 2005 (Thursday)

• The United Nations is to evacuate some staff from Sudan's West Darfur state because of an increase in violence. U.N. officials said that the violence had hindered aid access to 650,000 refugees in the region. (Reuters)
• Right to Information Act 2005, (Act No. 22/2005) law enacted by the Parliament of India giving citizens of India access to Government records, came into force in India. (RTIAct)
• ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross reports that security at nuclear reactors on U.S. college campuses is easily compromised. (ABC)(BadgerHerald)
• Shenzhou 6 could be brought back one day earlier than planned due to weather conditions at the landing area and the physical condition of the astronauts. The People's Republic of China's second human spaceflight was originally planned for the mission to last five days. (SpaceDaily)
• Scores of suspected Chechen separatist rebels attack the southern Russian city of Nalchik in a coordinated operation against Russian security forces, killing dozens of people. BBC 85 killed and map: (Washington Post)
• The presence of the dangerous H5N1 avian influenza virus is confirmed in dead birds found in Turkey, marking the first cases of the disease in Europe. (BBC)
• In Stockholm, it is announced that British playwright Harold Pinter is the 2005 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. (Reuters)
• Iraq's Constitutional Referendum: A four day curfew has been announced in order to hamper terrorists. Early voting has begun. (Reuters)

October 14, 2005 (Friday)

• Zimbabwean state-owned media announces that the Zimbabwean government briefly detained the United States ambassador, on Monday, October 10. The United States considers the matter closed following a formal apology. (Wash. Times)
• 2005 Kashmir earthquake: SOS Children's Villages have been appointed temporary custodian of unaccompanied children. SOS will run the family tracing database and look after children in their emergency centre in Islamabad and in other six villages in Kashmir. (SOS)
• A high ranking undercover Central Intelligence Agency officer, known only as "Jose," will coordinate CIA, FBI, and State Department spying operations as the new director of the National Clandestine Service. (Reuters)
• Futures industry regulators, brokerages, and futures exchanges in the United States engage in furious talks over how to avoid, or how to minimize the consequences of, the impending failure of Refco, a global commodities broker-dealer. (MSN Money)
• Security concern over Google maps - India's President has warned that the Google map service could help terrorists by providing satellite photos of potential targets.
• Former President of Ecuador, Lucio Gutiérrez Borbúa, deposed by the Ecuadorian military on April 20, 1995, after days of civil disturbances in Quito, returns voluntarily to Ecuador and is immediately locked in a maximum security prison cell in Quito, on charges of attempting to subvert national security, after having repeatedly stated to the international media that he continues to be the legitimate President of the Republic of Ecuador. (El Universo, Guayaquil) (article in Spanish).
• Daniel Craig is announced as the sixth official James Bond actor.

October 15, 2005 (Saturday)

• Conflict in Iraq:
  • Jean Ziegler, a Human rights investigator and senior United Nations official, has accuses the United States and occupying forces of "using hunger and deprivation of water as a weapon of war against the civilian population" in Iraq. (BBC)
  • The Iraqi people go to the polls to vote on whether to approve the proposed constitution, amidst heavy security. (AP)
• Crown Princess Mary of Denmark gives birth to her first child, a 3.5 kg boy, at 0157 local time (2357 UTC Friday). The prince, likely to be named Christian, is second in line of succession to Europe's oldest crown. (Reuters)
• The Brazilian government extends a state of emergency to cover the whole of Amazonas, the country's largest state, following a severe drought which has seen many rivers and lakes dry up. (BBC)
• Election officials in Somaliland's first multiparty parliamentary elections in the breakaway republic announce that the ruling party, the For Unity, Democracy, and Independence won the most seats. (seattlepi)
• 2005 Malawi food crisis: President Bingu wa Mutharika declared a national disaster due to the worsening food shortages in the country. (Reuters)
• Seven train cars and a tank car containing flammable gas derailed at a railroad switch yard in Texarkana, Arkansas. The derailment caused a liquefied gas leak and explosion that killed one person and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes.

October 16, 2005 (Sunday)

• Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, addresses the Millions More event in Washington DC and condemns George W. Bush for the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. (BBC)
• South Thailand insurgency: A Buddhist monk and five other people are killed and a Buddhist temple is set on fire. (Reuters)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • A leader of Islamic Jihad is killed in a shoot-out following an Israeli raid into the West Bank town of Jenin. (BBC)
  • The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim responsibility for a West Bank shooting attack that kills three Israeli settlers at a hitchhiking post. Another Israeli is seriously wounded in a second shooting attack. (Haaretz)
• The reentry module of the Chinese manned spacecraft Shenzhou 6 lands safely in Inner Mongolia, China. (People's Daily).
• Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visits the Yasukuni shrine which honors Japan's war dead including 14 Class A war criminals of World War II. This is Koizumi's fifth visit to Yasukuni since taking office in 2001. (CNN)
• More than 4 million people vote in Italy for the primaries of the center left to elect the person that should represent the main antagonist to the current Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. (La Repubblica)

October 17, 2005 (Monday)

• 2 Umrah pilgrims die as the ship they were returning in crashed into a cargo ship in the Suez Canal. Initial reports of 20 fatalities proved unfounded, though over 90 people were injured. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: The U.S. claims to have killed 70 insurgents near Ramadi in eastern Iraq. However, eyewitnesses maintain that most of those killed were innocent civilians, and photographs released show locals burying at least 18 children, including infants. (BBC), (LA Times)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel bans Palestinians from travelling throughout the West Bank and cuts off contact with the Palestinian Authority. (BBC)
• Jens Stoltenberg takes over as the Prime Minister of Norway after Kjell Magne Bondevik. In Stoltenberg's majority coalition government, ten ministers represent the PMs own party, the Norwegian Labour Party (Ap), five come from the Socialist Left Party (SV), and four from the Centre Party (Sp). Nine of the nineteen ministers are women. (Aftenposten)
• Helen Clark announces the formation of a Labour-led Government in New Zealand. The Progressive Party is in coalition. New Zealand First and United Future support the government and are each given ministerial positions outside Cabinet. (NZ Herald)
• Tropical Storm Wilma forms, making it only the second time there have been 21 recorded tropical storms in a single hurricane season in the north Atlantic basin, tying the 1933 season. It was upgraded to hurricane status on 18 October. (United States National Hurricane Center)
• Refco, New York based commodity brokerage, files for chapter 11 (bankruptcy) protection after an 8 day melt-down.
• The Colbert Report debuts.

October 18, 2005 (Tuesday)

• Ex-chancellor Kenneth Clarke has been knocked out of the race to become the next leader of the UK Conservative Party. (BBC)
• Malawi food crisis: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) increases its appeal for Malawi to USD13 million, as the humanitarian crisis worsen with an estimated 46,000 severely malnourished children. (allAfrica)
• Conflict in Iraq: Two U.S. Marines and around four Iraqi insurgents are killed in Western Iraq. (NBC)
• The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq| issues a statement saying that statistical irregularities in the constitution ratification referendum on October 15, 2005 require that the balloting be audited, which will delay the announcement of the final count. According to the New York Times, "The statement made no mention of the possibility of fraud." though according to the BBC "Iraq's independent electoral commission says statistical irregularities in last week's referendum could indicate fraud." (BBC), (New York Times)_(mirror), (MTV)
• William Evan Allan, the last surviving Australian First World War veteran, dies aged 106. (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth is formally opened. Five years overdue and massively over budget, the tower offers the highest public vantage point in the UK. Project manager David Greenhalgh becomes trapped in the tower's external glass lift for over an hour at the opening. (BBC). (BBC)
• Authorities closed one of two highway tunnels carrying traffic under Baltimore, Maryland's harbor following a threat to detonate explosive filled vehicles.

October 19, 2005 (Wednesday)

• The death toll in the 8 October Kashmir earthquake exceeds 79,000. (Guardian)
• Hurricane Wilma goes through one of the fastest and most amazing rapid intensification processes in hurricane history to become the third Category 5 storm of 2005. Its central pressure falls to 882 mb (hPa), becoming the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. To date, the 2005 Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season has seen 21 storms of tropical storm strength or greater and 12 hurricanes, both of which tie the records set in 1933 and 1969, respectively. (NHC) (AP/YahooNews)
• Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity. The former President of Iraq is led into court with seven associates, charged with ordering the killing of 143 Shi'a men in the town of Dujail in 1982. If convicted, Hussein could face capital punishment. (BBC)
• Avian influenza:
  • China reports 2600 birds have died of the H5N1 virus near Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. (BBC)
  • Russia reports outbreaks of the virus in Kurgan Oblast, west Siberia, and in Tula Oblast, western Russia. (Mosnews) (AP/Canada.com)
  • The European Union suspects a new outbreak has occurred in the Republic of Macedonia. (CNN)
• Liverpool City Council, UK, issued an apology for the destruction of the Welsh community of Capel Celyn in 1965 to create the Llyn Celyn reservoir, which supplies Liverpool and the Wirral with drinking water. (BBC)
• Former Congressman Bob McEwen of Ohio is considering challenging incumbent Jean Schmidt in the 2006 Republican primary. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

October 20, 2005 (Thursday)

• In a bid to stay in step with its largest trading partner, the United States, Ontario announces it will become the first Canadian province to extend daylight saving time. (CBC)
• Two weeks after the Kashmir earthquake death toll reaches 79,000, the UN estimates that 500,000 people are cut off from relief aid. The UN appeals to the international community for more aid, warning that tens of thousands of people could die if aid does not reach them before the harsh winter. (Guardian) (USA Today)
• In the United Kingdom, David Cameron and David Davis go through to a runoff vote of Conservative Party members after a second round of voting amongst Tory MPs in the party's leadership election. Liam Fox is eliminated. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • Four U.S. soldiers are killed in two insurgent attacks north of Baghdad, Iraq. (BBC)
  • A defense lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants is kidnapped. (BBC)
• Conflict in Afghanistan: Several U.S. soldiers are caught setting fire to dead Taliban fighters, in defiance of Muslim beliefs and practices, in scenes broadcast on Afghan TV. (BBC)
• Guinea's government announces that municipal elections will be held on 18 December. (Reuters)
• One ticket sold in Oregon matched all the numbers in the United States Powerball Lottery which was worth U.S.$340 million.

October 21, 2005 (Friday)

• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank after they attacked an Israeli Defence Forces vehicle in Tulkarm. (BBC)
• Telecommunications company Inmarsat is planning to launch the second in a series of two super-satellites into geosynchronous orbit. They are designed to be among the most powerful commercial communications satellites in orbit. They will beam broadband data and voice services to almost any location on the planet. (Wired)
• Avian influenza:
  • Avian influenza is detected in Croatia. Six of twelve swans were infected by an H5 type of virus. The swans were found near Orahovica. It is suspected that they came to Croatia from a still unknown place in the European Union.
  • The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service discovers antibodies of avian influenza and newcastle disease in pigeons imported from Canada to Melbourne, leading to a blanket ban on all live bird imports from Canada. (ABC) (ABC)
  • Avian influenza is found in a parrot that died in quarantine in England. The Department for the Environment, Fisheries and Food has not said if it is the lethal strain H5N1. (BBC)
• Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi, the defense lawyer of Awad Hamed al-Bandar in the Al-Dujail trial, is found dead of gunshot wounds near a Baghdad mosque, after having been kidnapped on Thursday evening by unknown assailants. AP
• In Portsmouth, UK, the parents of a brain-damaged baby won a partial victory in their legal battle to have her resuscitated by doctors if she falls seriously ill. (BBC)
• A United Nations investigation headed by Detlev Mehlis has found that high-ranking members of the Syrian and Lebanese governments were involved in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (ABC)
• A ceremony is held in Portsmouth, UK, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar; other events include the Queen Elizabeth II lighting one of many nationwide beacons. (BBC)
• An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale hits the Turkish city of İzmir, injuring 15 people and causing one fatal heart attack. This is the fourth strong tremor this week. (AFP) (AP) (USGS)

October 22, 2005 (Saturday)

• Conflict in Iraq: Staff Sergeant George T. Alexander, Jr. becomes the 2000th U.S. military fatality in Iraq. (Yahoo/AFP) (DOD)
• Tropical Storm Alpha forms in the Caribbean, threatening the island of Hispaniola and becoming the record-breaking 22nd named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. (Reuters)
• The first case of avian influenza (bird flu) has been discovered in the United Kingdom from a South American parrot. Tests are being carried out on the parrot, which died in quarantine, to determine whether it had the H5N1 strain of the virus. (BBC News) (The Daily Mail)
• The Lozells riots in Birmingham begin, leaving according to the most recent reports at least two dead. (BBC)* Rumours that a 14-year-old Afro-Caribbean girl had been sexually assaulted, and possibly raped, by several South Asian men, leads to a race riot in Birmingham, England. 20 are injured after violence between South Asian and black gangs, and local police. (The Mercury)
• Reporter Rory Caroll prints his kidnap story in The Guardian.
• The Chicago white Sox defeat the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the World Series, 5-3.

October 23, 2005 (Sunday)

• Avian influenza:
  • The Swedish National Veterinary Institute reports a dead duck discovered near Stockholm was infected with an undetermined strain of avian influenza. (ABC)
• Nigerian airline Bellview Airlines Flight 210 crashed in Oyo State, Nigeria shortly after take-off from Lagos en route to Abuja. The Red Cross reports there are no survivors. (theStar) (Reuters) (BBC) (CNN)
• The second round of the Polish Presidential election is held today between conservative candidates Lech Kaczyński and Donald Tusk. According to exit polls conducted by Polish television stations, Kaczyński is the winner. (Bloomberg) (AFP)
• A referendum to ban civilian manufacture and sale of firearms in Brazil is rejected by a vote of 64 percent to 36 percent. (ABC News)
• Pope Benedict XVI canonizes Chilean Jesuit Alberto Hurtado.
• Elections in Argentina, 2005.Candidates supporting Argentina's President, Néstor Kirchner, won the parliamentary elections in Buenos Aires Province (his wife was elected as Senator) and several other provinces. However, they lost in Buenos Aires City and Santa Fe Province. (Bloomberg).
• The Chicago White Sox defeat the Houston Astros 7-6 to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series.

October 24, 2005 (Monday)

• Rosa Parks, whose famous refusal in 1955 to surrender her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama triggered a bus-boycott and the beginning of the modern U.S. civil rights movement, died at the age of 92. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom was known to have suffered from dementia. Sources state that she died at her home in Detroit of natural causes. (Bloomberg) (ClickOnDetroit.com).
• The Terrafrica partnership, a US$4 billion, 12-year campaign supported by the African Union, World Bank, United Nations, European Commission, and regional African governments, and aimed at fighting current, and preventing future desertification in Africa, begins. (Reuters)
• Escalating a 'minor diplomatic crisis' between Russia and Norway, two Russian fishing trawlers are taken into custody by the Norwegian Coast Guard after allegedly having done illegal reloading of their vessels near Bear Island (Norway). (RIA Novosti) (Aftenposten)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Two Palestinian militants have died following an Israeli raid into the West Bank area of Tulkarm. (BBC) (IOL)
• 2006 World Cup: Gordon Strachan is named as FIFA/SOS Ambassador for Scotland (joining Wayne Rooney for England) for the 2006 World Cup. (SOS Children's Villages) (Celtic FC)
• Zhou Shaoning is selected as the Chief Chinese Operations Officer for Google China. (Yahoo!)
• 11 Nepali Sherpa and 7 French mountaineers are feared dead by an attempt to climb 6981 metre (20000 feet) Mount Kanguru in north-west Nepal. (NepalNews) (Reuters) (Japan Today) (Kantipuronline)
• U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Ben Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as chair of the Federal Reserve Board. (New York Times) (CNN)
• Hurricane Wilma hits South Florida with Category 3 and makes landfall.
• Xbox Live is shut down to upgrade for the Xbox 360.

October 25, 2005 (Tuesday)

• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israeli warplanes and artillery units hit areas in the northern Gaza Strip. (BBC)
• AIDS pandemic: The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), UNAIDS and other partners launch a global campaign, known as "Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS", to spur action for the millions of children affected by HIV/AIDS. Fewer than 5 percent of HIV-positive children are receiving treatment. (Unicef)
• An Irish government-commissioned report, carried out by a retired Supreme Court judge, condemns two Irish bishops, the Roman Catholic Church, the Garda Siochána (police) and health authorities for their failure to deal with clerical sex abuse over 40 years in the Diocese of Ferns (Wexford). The report suggested that 10% of priests in the diocese sexually abused children. (RTÉ) (BBC)
• BBC World Service announces that it will launch an Arabic language TV news channel in 2007. Radio services in ten languages, mainly Central European but including Kazakh and Thai, will be abandoned in 2006 to release funding for the new service. (BBC)
• The Swedish telecoms manufacturer Ericsson has bought most of the troubled British telecoms manufacturer Marconi. (Guardian) (BBC)
• Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission announces that the country's draft constitution was approved in the vote held October 15. (AP)
• Paul Hackett, who in August narrowly lost an April 2005 by-election for an Ohio U.S. House of Representatives seat to Jean Schmidt, announced that he will seek the Democratic Senate nomination to run against incumbent Ohio Senator Mike DeWine, a Republican. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

October 26, 2005 (Wednesday)

• Conflict in Iraq: Three U.S. Soldiers die in two separate insurgent attacks in Baghdad and near Baqouba. (BBC)
• Baseball: In the deciding game of the 2005 World Series, the Chicago White Sox defeat the Houston Astros 1-0 to sweep the series 4 games to 0. This is the first World Championship for the Sox since 1917. Outfielder Jermaine Dye is named Series MVP. (Houston Chronicle)
• For the first time in Iranian history, Indian soldiers killed fighting for the British in Iran have been commemorated in an official ceremony in Tehran. (BBC)
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quotes the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the destruction of Israel, calling it a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map". Ahmadinejad made the reference to 3,000 students during a speech at the "World without Zionism" conference. (Reuters) (AP)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
  • 5 people are killed in a bombing at a market place in the Israeli town of Hadera. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the attack. (YNETnews), (BBC)
  • Israeli warplanes hit areas in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
• Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is to be relocated from the south island of Okinawa to the main island, affecting thousands of U.S. Marines. Protests from residents, environmental groups, local businessmen and politicians on both sides are likely to ensue. The move is partially due to the rape of a local Okinawa girl, a helicopter crash into a university campus in Ginowan last year, and racial tensions between locals and Marines. (AP) (BBC)
• Avian influenza:
  • The British Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge confirms that swans found near Orahovica, Croatia, were infected by the H5N1 flu strain. (BBC)
• The "Al-Tawhid trial" in Düsseldorf, Germany results in sentences between five and eight years against the defendants, four Palestinian men charged with plotting attacks on Jewish installations in Germany on the orders of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
• The British Government, after several days of debating, confirms its plans to ban smoking in public places in England with the exemption of pubs and clubs not serving food. (BBC)
• A Wal-Mart internal memorandum determines that benefits costs are unsustainable, driven by an aging work force. A recommendation is to shift to more part time associates to lower health care enrollment. (WalmartWatch) (NYT)
• What may be the first pyramid in Europe has been discovered in Bosnia. (BBC) (FENA)
• WNBA superstar Sheryl Swoopes of the Houston Comets publicly announces that she is a lesbian in an interview with ESPN The Magazine. (ESPN)

October 27, 2005 (Thursday)

• Conflict in Iraq: At least 20 Shia Militia members and Iraqi Police have died following a Sunni Arab ambush in Nahrawan, South East of Baghdad. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • Israeli troops raid the Palestinian town of Jenin, in the West Bank. (BBC) (IMEMC)
  • Eight Palestinians, including three militants, have died following Israeli Air Strikes in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
• Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls for the expulsion of Iran from the United Nations after the Iranian President repeated Ruhollah Khomeini's call for Israel to be "wiped off the map". (BBC)
• As the relief operation of 2005 Kashmir earthquake is facing great difficulties in reaching victims due to bad weather, mountainous terrain, landslides and blocked roads, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz makes an appeal to millions of survivors in the mountains to leave their villages and come down to the valleys and cities for shelter before the start of winter in about three weeks. (Bloomberg)
• Former Northern Irish footballer George Best's medical condition worsens in an intensive care unit at a private English hospital, as he is reportedly suffering from serious internal bleeding. (BBC News)
• President George W. Bush's nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Harriet Miers, has turned down the nomination made on October 3, 2005. The President has accepted her withdrawal. (CNN)

October 28, 2005 (Friday)

• Sinah-1, the first Iranian satellite built jointly with Russia, was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Murmansk Oblast in northwestern Russia at 22:52 Thursday local time (18:52 UTC). (Iran-daily.com)
• Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Chief of Staff to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, resigns after being indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice by a grand jury. (BBC)
• Elvis Presley tops Forbes' list of Top Ten Earning Dead Celebrities for the fifth successive year, earning US$45 million in royalties. He is followed by Charles M. Schulz ($35M), John Lennon ($22M), and Andy Warhol ($16M). (Ireland Online)
• President Fidel Castro of Cuba agrees to allow three officials from the United States Agency for International Development into the country to assist in relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Wilma. The communist nation typically turns down offers of assistance from the United States since trade embargoes from the U.S. have been in place for over 40 years. (Yahoo! via AP)
• In the continuing negotiations over global free trade, the trade commissioner for the European Union, Peter Mandelson, said Friday that the EU will cut its average farm tariff by 47%, reducing the highest rates by 60%. Jacques Chirac, the president of France, said that he doesn't have France's support in such a proposal. (Financial Times)

October 29, 2005 (Saturday)

• Conflict in Iraq:
  • More than 20 people die when a car bomb detonates in Howaider, a Shia village near Baquba, 60 miles north of Baghdad. (BBC)
  • A train derails in Andhra Pradesh, India, killing 100. (BBC)
  • A series of blasts detonate in New Delhi, the Capital of India. 61 people are known to have died; many more are injured. (NDTV), (BBC)
  • Three Christian Indonesian girls are beheaded as they walk through a cocoa plantation near a private Christian school in Central Sulawesi. (BBC)

October 30, 2005 (Sunday)

• Italian Minister of the Environment Altero Matteoli announces interest in switching to nuclear power as the main source of energy within 10-15 years. Nuclear power has been banned in Italy since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. (Reuters)
• Hurricane Beta, the first hurricane named with the Greek letter Beta, approaches Nicaragua and Honduras as a Category 3 storm, (BBC), and makes landfall on the Mosquito Coast at Category 2 intensity. Thousands of residents of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua have been evacuated to shelters. (VOA), (Scotsman)
• Further rioting occurs overnight in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois following the electrocutions of two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, and a third teenager suffering severe burns when they entered a substation whilst fleeing police. Rioters attacked police and journalists. Critics allege that the teenagers were targeted because they were Muslim, though this claim has been denied by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. (BBC) (ABC News)
• After an official 3-day visit to Pyongyang, North Korea, President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China returns to Beijing, having reached new directions in Sino-DPRK relations. This comes after North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il called Hu the "most respected guest". (Xiaoxiang Morning News) (QQ News)
• The Dresden Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), a Protestant Church in Dresden, Germany is re-consecrated. The church was destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in World War II. The remains of the church had been left untouched by the government of East Germany as an anti-war monument. Some 60,000 people celebrated the reopening. Both Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and German President Horst Köhler said that the rebuilding was a 'symbol of reconciliation'. (Reuters) (AustBC) (Scotsman) (BBC) (CNN)

October 31, 2005 (Monday)

• Guinea-Bissau's president, João Bernardo Vieira, announces the dissolution of the government headed by his rival Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior. (allAfrica)
• In Germany, Social Democratic Party chairman Franz Müntefering announces his intention to retire after the party convention on November 14. The decision came after his candidate for Secretary General of the SPD, Kajo Wasserhövel, lost to left-wing candidate Andrea Nahles. (BBC)
• U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Judge Samuel Alito of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. (CNN) (BBC)
• Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announces his fifth cabinet. Shinzo Abe, former Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party, becomes Chief Cabinet Secretary and is widely speculated to be Koizumi's chosen successor. Former Interior Minister Taro Aso becomes Foreign Minister, and is replaced by former economic advisor Heizo Takenaka. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • A Pentagon report suggests that since 2004 about 26,000 Iraqi people have been either killed or injured in attacks by insurgents. (BBC)
  • Reports indicate that 40 people have died following a U.S. Air raid near Karabilah in Western Iraq. The military says it was a targeted strike against Al Qaeda, whereas doctors treating the injured and dead said the dead were all civilians, including many women and children. (Reuters)
  • 6 U.S. Soldiers die in two separate insurgent attacks. (BBC)
  • Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi tries to distance himself from the U.S. President George W. Bush and claims that he "tried on several occasions to convince the American president not to wage war". (The Guardian)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: 3 Palestinian militants die following an Israeli attack in the West Bank city of Jenin. (BBC)
• Roman Catholic priest, Father Athanase Seromba, denies charges of genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. (BBC)
• The Spanish telco Telefónica announces a £18 billion deal to buy the British mobile network operator O2 plc. (Reuters) (Dow Jones/Cellular News)
• Infanta Leonor of Spain, second in the succession line to the Spanish throne, is born in Madrid at 01:46 AM, local time. (BBC)
• Exiled GAM leader, Bakhtiar Abdullah, visits the Indonesian special territory of Aceh for the first time in 25 years to see the peace process aimed at ending nearly three decades of conflict. (BBC)

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