June 15, 2005

June 15 2005 (Wednesday)

* Venezuela officially requests extradition of Luis Posada Carriles from USA [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8803973 (Reuters)] (Link dead as of 03:21, 15 January 2007 (UTC)) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4097734.stm (BBC)]
* The Serbian special war crimes tribunal asks the government to ask Argentina for extradition of Nebojša Minić, suspected of crimes against humanity in Kosovo in 1999 [http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=12&nav_id=32218&order=priority&style=headlines (B92)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8799462 (Reuters)] (Link dead as of 03:21, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
* Zambian government reopens a case against Kashiwa Bulaya, former health ministry official and ally of president Levy Mwanawasa. Bulaya is accused of diverting AIDS drugs funds [http://www.times.co.zm/news/viewnews.cgi?category=4&id=1118877083 (Times of Zambia)] [http://allafrica.com/stories/200506150037.html (AllAfrica)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8799619 (Reuters)]
* In Mexico, supreme court rules that former president Luis Echeverría can be charged with human rights violations connected to 1971 deaths of student activists [http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=10853&tabla=miami (El Universal)] [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aVcLl8UVsl3A&refer=latin_america (Bloomberg)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4097528.stm (BBC)]
*Microsoft is criticized for censoring Chinese blogs. They are accused of censoring words such as "freedom", "democracy", and "human rights". [http://www.realopinion.com/realboards/showthread.php?p=4630 (RealOpinion.com)] , [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4088702.stm (BBC)]
*World leaders of the Group of 77 and China today launched in Doha the two-day second South Summit amid calls to wealthy countries to honour pledges of additional aid to close the gap between the rich and poor. [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-06/16/content_3091337.htm (Xinhua)] , [http://www.reuters.co.in/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&localeKey=en_IN&storyID=8796388 (Reuters)] (Link dead as of 03:21, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
*Qatari Prime Minister Abdallah ibn Khalifah Al Thani and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder agree to begin a study to look into the feasibility of building a maglev line approximately 160 km long linking Qatar and Bahrain, powered by Transrapid technology developed by Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp. Also being considered is a possible extension to the United Arab Emirates that would make the combined length of the line roughly 800 km. [http://www.ameinfo.com/62493.html (AME Info)] [http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52&story_id=21075&name=Qatar+agrees+to+feasibility+study+for+Gulf+maglev (Expatica)]
* Spanish police arrest 17 suspected Islamic extremists in a series of raids around the country. Eleven are alleged to be associated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and 5 are alleged to be connected to the Madrid train bombings of 11 March 2004. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1655089,00.html (Times)]
* The Israeli Shin Bet (SHABAK) states that one month ago it arrested an alleged eight-member Palestinian militant cell in Nablus that included four teenage would-be suicide bombers. It claimed that the cell was part of Fatah (the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority), and that the Lebanese group Hezbollah was behind it. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/588229.html (Haaretz)] (Link dead as of 03:21, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
* A memo from 1998 from an executive of Cotecna Inspection S.A. suggests that Kofi Annan was aware of their bid to participate in the Oil-for-Food Programme, reawakening suspicions of a conflict of interest. [http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_oil_for_food (Yahoo! News)] (Link dead as of 03:21, 15 January 2007 (UTC)). However, the IIC’s 2nd Interim Report of March 29, 2005, concluded that “the evidence is not reasonably sufficient to show that the Secretary General knew that Cotecna had submitted a bid on the humanitarian inspection contract in 1998.” [http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/InterimReportMar2005.pdf Second Interim Report (29 March 2005)]
* In Russia, explosion and fire in an oil depot near Moscow kills two [http://en.rian.ru/society/20050615/40523015.html (RIA Novosti)] [http://www.russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=48348 (Russia Journal)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4094200.stm (BBC)]
* Catholic Archbishop Chaput warns Europe about growing anti-Semitism and intolerance. [http://www.beyondthenews.com/1335491.aspx (BeyondtheNews)]
* Douglas Wood, an Australian hostage residing in California is released in Iraq after 47 days in captivity, and is now being moved to a secret location. [http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1393894.htm (ABC Online)]
* In Guatemala, a mudslide kills 22 people and injures around 45 others. [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16346818.htm (Reuters AlertNet)] (Link dead as of 03:21, 15 January 2007 (UTC)) [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17128301.htm (Reuters AlertNet)] (Link dead as of 03:21, 15 January 2007 (UTC))