June 22, 2005

June 22 2005 (Wednesday)

* German car manufacturer BMW acquires the Formula 1 team Sauber Petronas. In the next season the new team will be probably known as BMW Sauber. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4118472.stm BBC Sport]
* The entire network of the Swiss Federal Railways shuts down due to a power failure in its overhead wire system. The power failure is also affecting international transit through Switzerland as such intercity trains use the same system. Initial reports indicate that the power failure started with a voltage drop in Ticino (in the St. Gotthard region) that then spread to the entire system. The initial failure happened at about 1700 local time, with some power supplies restored about 2015, but the last trains did not reach their destinations until 0300. [http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=5891657&cKey=1119459101000 (SwissInfo)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4121072.stm (BBC)]
* In Chad, a referendum for allowing presidents, particularly Idriss Déby, run for office for three straight terms, passes. [http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp;:42b90698:8c9d8ac3b9c887ad?type=topNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=8858370 (Reuters SA)]
*According to former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg and former journalist Don Oberdorfer, George W. Bush in 2002 turned down an offer from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to discuss the issue of nuclear weapons. [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22655064.htm (Reuters)]
* An Italian military tribunal in La Spezia has sentenced 10 German former Nazi officers in absentia to life imprisonment for their role in a World War II massacre of 560 civilians in the Tuscan village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4121510.stm (BBC News)]
* In Colombia, congress approves a draft bill that offers sentences of only eight years to those members of paramilitary militias who give up their weapons. It demands that they confess, return the stolen property and disarm. Critics of president Álvaro Uribe say that the law is too lenient [http://iht.com/articles/2005/06/22/news/colombia.php (IHT)] [http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia211.htm (Colombia Journal)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N21644945.htm (Reuters AlertNet)]
* International Whaling Commission meeting in Ulsan, South Korea, does not support Japan's suggestion to resume coastal whaling or increase its own scientific one. Commission also voted down a request that Japan could catch 150 minke whales a year [http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=341246 (Japan Today)] [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/154232/1/.html (Channel News Asia)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SEO348341.htm (Reuters AlertNet)]
* In South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki names energy and minerals minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as his deputy president. She is the first woman to hold the position. [http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/education/0,2172,107034,00.html (SABC)] [http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp;:42ba539c:d267697b3043d549?type=topNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=8868200 (Reuters SA)] [http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_1725296,00.html (News24)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4120168.stm (BBC profile)]
* The Peruvian government condemns supreme court decision to drop the case of former president Alberto Fujimori for forging signatures for 2000 elections [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22429237.htm (Reuters AlertNet)]
* The Peruvian government states that it will allow limited growing of coca plant for traditional uses [http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=5884 (MercoPress] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4118734.stm (BBC)]
* In Brazil, heated arguments in the congress result in fighting and the session is suspended. Fighting begun when former chief of staff José Dirceu, who had rejoined the congress, tried to defend the government against the bribery allegations [http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aCaNsPwarvRQ&refer=news_index (Bloomberg)]
* In Ethiopia, main opposition group Coalition for Unity and Democracy states that government investigators have dropped all their complaints about possible election fraud. Government still has not released any results [http://allafrica.com/stories/200506220233.html (AllAfrica)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/1686f65f99f7364cad25849d7ed3d820.htm (Reuters AlertNet)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4119320.stm (BBC)]
* United Nations Security Council votes to send 750 more peacekeepers to Haiti for elections and extend the UN mandate to February 15 2006 [http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=14697&Cr=haiti&Cr1= (UN News Centre)] [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/HMYT-6DLM46?OpenDocument (ReliefWeb)]
* In Poland, opposition demands resignation of prime minister Marek Belka because of allegations that declassified files show he had ties to communist-era security services. Belka refuses to do so, stating that he signed a contract to be allowed to go to study trip to USA [http://www.radio.com.pl/polonia/article.asp?tId=24246&j=2 (Radio Polonia)] [http://www.wbj.pl/?command=article&id=27328 (Warsaw business Journal)] [http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-06-22T162802Z_01_KNE259253_RTRUKOC_0_POLAND-PREMIER.xml (Reuters)]