May 23, 2005

=May 23 2005 (Monday)=

* Channel 10, an Israeli television station, broadcasts footage of what it claims is Israeli Defence Forces using a Palestinian youth as a human shield against rock-throwers in the West Bank. The IDF denies the allegation. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/579444.html (Haaretz)]
* A bipartisan group of fourteen U.S. Senators has successfully negotiated a compromise whereby a "nuclear option" showdown over judicial filibusters would be averted. [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=784390 (ABC News)]
* Five Irish teenage school girls, all from the Loretto Convent in Navan, are killed and six others are critically injured in a bus crash in County Meath. The bus was carrying students from the Loretto Convent, the Mercy Convent, St. Patrick's Classical School and Beaufort College, all in Navan and did not have fitted seatbelts. [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0523/rta01.html (RTÉ)]
* The Palestinian Election Commission delays the Palestinian parliamentary elections, citing that there was not enough time to prepare. Critics of the ruling Fatah party had predicted the delay, and believed it was a way to prevent Hamas, the main opposition party, from gaining power. [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1F9D51B8-E421-42C3-AD8A-07CD7E1E58DD.htm (Al Jazeera)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4573247.stm (BBC)]
* Health officials in Norway fear a Legionnaires' Disease epidemic after the death of four people during the last five days and the hospitalisation of many others in southeastern county of Østfold, particularly in the Fredrikstad-Sarpsborg urban area. At least 24 people are known to be infected, with many of them in critical condition. Legionnaires' Disease killed seven people in the southwestern city of Stavanger in 2001, in an outbreak that was later traced to a hotel air conditioning system. [http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1044030.ece (Aftenposten)]
* 11,000 journalists and other employees of the BBC go on a 24-hour strike to protest over approximately 4,000 planned job cuts. TV and Radio news output has been the worst affected, with few new stories materialising and only a skeleton service being offered. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4570237.stm (BBC)] [http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-05-23T054604Z_01_CAS242766_RTRUKOC_0_BRITAIN-BBC.xml (Reuters UK)] [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=a.XRhuZrFlbg&refer=uk (Bloomberg)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4536107.stm (BBC strike Q&A)]
* Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urges the Council of Guardians to review applications of two reformist candidates, Mostafa Moin of the Islamic Iran Participation Front and Vice President Mohsen Mehralizadeh, after the council qualified only six candidates to the country's presidential election. Opposition groups threaten to boycott the elections and students of Tehran University protest against the disqualification of Moin. [http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=5/24/2005&Cat=2&Num=007 (Tehran Times)] [http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=32066&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs (IRanMania] [http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0505240046013033.htm (IRNA)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/OLI365571.htm (Reuters AlertNet)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8578939 (Reuters)]
* The death toll of the bird flu in Vietnam rises to 18. China informs the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that it has sealed off the Qinghai province to stop the spread of bird flu and vaccinated farmbirds. [http://english.people.com.cn/200505/24/eng20050524_186495.html (People's Daily)] . [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HAN290447.htm (Reuters AlertNet)]
*The Walt Disney Internet Group launches the Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK) in beta testing, scheduled to open to the public in July