Portal:Current events/December 2005: Difference between revisions

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• British doctors are to continue checks on Andrew Stimpson, a Scotsman whose body has reportedly cured itself of the HIV virus. (BBC) (Reuters)
• Conflict in Iraq - Iraqi president Jalal Talabani tells British television that Iraqi troops could replace UK forces by the close of 2006. (BBC)
• Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi defends his handling of opposition demonstrations against claims of abuse. (BBC)
• 7.5 millions voters in Burkina Faso participate in the presidential elections of 2005. (BBC)
• Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asks Nepalese King Gyanendra to take steps towards restoring democratic rule. (BBC)
• Thailand confirms its 4th H5N1 bird flu case this year. The victim is an 18 month-old boy living in Bangkok. Health experts advise the public to be on high alert. (The Nation) (Bangkok Post)
• Explosions in a Chinese chemical plant force the evacuation of over 10,000 people. (Xinhua)
• Following the bomb attacks in Amman, Jordanian police arrest a woman said to be the wife of a suicide attacker. (BBC)

• Amir Peretz, the new head of the Israeli Labour Party, warns Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that if Sharon does not pick a date for an early election, Peretz will institute a motion of no-confidence forcing a snap election within 90 days. (Reuters)
• Aargau, Switzerland: A rare earthquake is measured in the region. The earthquake has a magnitude of 4.4. (Yahoo)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, makes a surprise visit to Iraq and expresses support for an Arab League conference discussing cooperation with Iraq's many factions. (BBC) (Reuters)
  • Four people die following a car bomb in Baghdad. (BBC)
• Tens of thousands of people gather at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv in a rally to mark a decade since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. (Ynetnews)

• British hostages are freed in Iran after pressure from the British Foreign Office. The trio were seized at by Iranian Navy patrol boats on 28 October, when they sailed their boat to the disputed island of Abu Musa, which is claimed by both Iran and the United Arab Emirates. (BBC)
• Albania suffers its worst ever electric power shortage. Due to low water levels, hydroelectric power is reduced to the minimum and there are blackouts in all the country. Water supplies won't last for more than two weeks, so electricity is currently available just six hours a day. The government plans to import power from Romania, Bulgaria and Italy. (BBC)
• A Pakistani cargo plane carrying eight to ten people crashes near Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. There are no survivors. The cause of the crash is unknown. (BBC)
• The deadly H5N1 bird flu is found in Kuwait. It's the first case of the virus in the Middle East. (BBC)
• Saudi Arabia becomes a member of the World Trade Organization after twelve years of talks. (BBC)

• Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf wins the Liberian presidential runoff, defeating George Weah and becoming the first-ever female president on the continent of Africa. (CNN) (Indystar)
• Investigations of the 17th Street Canal, whose failure flooded much of New Orleans, Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, show that metal pilings were 7 feet shallower than engineering specifications. (Times-Picayune)
• The United States House of Representatives drops a provision in the Deficit Reduction Bill that would permit the drilling of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for fear of losing moderate Republicans when the bill comes to a final vote. (SFGate) (Seattle-PI)
• A Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner jet aircraft breaks the record for the longest non-stop passenger airline flight. The 20,000-kilometer (12,500-mile) flight from Hong Kong to London lasted 23 hours. (Boeing) (BBC)
• Conflict in Afghanistan: Afghan Insurgents, suspected members of the Taliban, kill seven police in an ambush in Kandahar. Two civilians from Uruzgan were also found decapitated. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: At least 30 people have died following an insurgent suicide bomb attack on a restaurant in Baghdad. (BBC)
• In Addis Ababa the capital city of Ethiopia, 7 members of the police have been killed and 250 sustained injuries from attacks by rioters using guns, hand grenades and stones. (AllAfrica)

• Facing the world's highest HIV infection rate, Swaziland is drafting a Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill proposing the death penalty for child rape, incest and the intentional transmission of HIV. (IRIN)
• Amir Peretz is elected leader of the Labour Party in Israel, narrowly defeating the incumbent, Shimon Peres. (BBC)
• A gunbattle between the Indonesian police and militants in East Java kills seven militants, including suspected Bali bombings mastermind Azahari Husin who is believed to have blown himself up. (Reuters) (Reuters)
• Three explosions rock the city of Amman, Jordan, killing at least 67 and injuring more than 300 other people, mostly Westerners. (BBC)
• In Israel, archaeologists discover two lines of a Phoenician or Hebrew alphabet on a stone dating to the 10th century BC, suggesting that literacy existed in ancient Israel earlier than had been thought. "All successive alphabets in the ancient world, including the Greek one, derive from this ancestor at Tel Zayit," says the excavation's director. (IHT) (AP)
• In the United States, the visit of Iraqi Deputy Premier Ahmed Chalabi to the Department of State and Department of the Treasury arouses controversy. (BBC)
• In the United Kingdom, the Government loses a key House of Commons vote on detaining terrorism suspects for 90-days without charge, in the report stage of the Terrorism Bill. This is Tony Blair's first ever commons defeat and has been described a serious blow to his authority. Michael Howard advises him to resign now. (BBC)
• Venus Express, the first mission to Venus in over a decade, lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (BBC)
• U.S. General Election, 2005
  • California special election, 2005: voters reject all eight statewide ballot propositions, including four backed by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Judith Miller, controversial reporter for The New York Times, announces her retirement. (New York Times business)

• Liberian elections, 2005: Liberians go to the polls in a presidential runoff between millionaire soccer star George Weah and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a former finance minister known as the "Iron Lady". (Reuters) (Scotsman) (CBC)
• U.S. General Election, 2005:
  • Virginia gubernatorial election, 2005: Democrat Tim Kaine is declared the winner and next Governor of Virginia.(Yahoo)
  • New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2005: Democrat Jon Corzine is declared the winner and next Governor of New Jersey. (AP)
• French President Jacques Chirac declares a state of emergency on the 12th day of the civil unrest. Chirac's move followed the re-activation in a cabinet emergency session of a 1955 law allowing local authorities to impose curfews. (NYT) (CNN)
• Trials of Saddam Hussein: Three gunmen assassinate Adel al-Zubeidi, the defense lawyer for Taha Yassin Ramadan, a former Iraqi Vice President under Saddam Hussein. (Reuters)
• Italian state-owned channel Rai News 24 airs a controversial documentary in which Iraqi people and ex-U.S. soldiers report that white phosphorus, a chemical weapon, and Mk-77 napalm bombs were used by the U.S. Army against civilians in Fallujah last year. (BBC) (Rai News 24, with video)
• Australian police claim to have disrupted a large-scale terrorist attack as 17 suspects are arrested in Melbourne and Sydney following raids. (Sydney Morning Herald) (CNN)
• The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) says that the Tokyo-based Institute of Cetacean Research is about to start a controversial program that could kill up to 940 whales in the name of scientific research, abusing the rights under the International Whaling Convention. (abc.net.au) (IOL)

• Sierra Leone Health and Sanitation Minister, Abator Thomas says that polio has been eradicated in the country, following a successful immunization program. (allAfrica)
• The United Nations is asking donors for US$3.2 million to help six West African countries fight cholera. The disease has killed at least 700 people and infected over 42,000 in the region since June, a sharp rise due to the unusually heavy rains this year. (allAfrica)
• India's foreign minister, K. Natwar Singh, is forced to step down from his post amid allegations that he and the governing Indian National Congress had illegally benefited from the UN Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq. (Reuters)
• Canadian New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton withdraws his support to the minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin. This decision might set a confidence vote in the next week. (Globe & Mail)
• China closes all Beijing poultry markets. Authorities ordered all live poultry markets in China's capital to close immediately and went door-to-door seizing chickens and ducks from private homes, as the government dramatically ramped up its fight against avian influenza today. (Business Week)
• Alberto Fujimori, former President of Peru, is arrested in Chile whilst a Chilean judge considers a Peruvian extradition request. (BBC)
• India opens the first of three frontier checkpoints at Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch on the Kashmir Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan, for 2005 Kashmir earthquake relief work. (Rediff)
• The 2005 French urban riots continue to intensify and spread, in the eleventh consecutive night of rioting in cities across France. A related incident has been reported in Saint-Gillis, Brussels, Belgium (Guardian) (BBC) (CNN) (Le Figaro) (in French)

• A bomb explosion near a convoy of cars carrying Somalia's prime minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi in Mogadishu. Although the PM escapes unhurt, 9 people have been killed and 20 others wounded. (Reuters)
• Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori arrives in Santiago, Chile after being exiled in Japan since 2000. Although he is the subject of an Interpol arrest warrant, the Chilean government said he cannot be arrested without an order from a Chilean judge. Fujimori arrives at a time of tension between Chile and Peru over sea boundaries. (CNN)
• People in several parts of Germany report several fireballs in the sky, leading to speculation that they may be UFOs. Scientists report that the sightings are of the Taurid meteor shower. (Yahoo! News)
• Azerbaijani citizens go to the polls in the Azerbaijan parliamentary election, 2005. Opposition parties have alleged that there is voting fraud. (Reuters)
• The tenth night of the 2005 French riots is reported as being the most intense yet, and the riots are now the subject of crisis meetings in the French government. President Jacques Chirac has called for the arrest, trial and punishment of the rioters. (BBC)
• A tornado estimated to be over 1/2 mile wide and of F3 strength on the Fujita scale hits around 2 AM near Evansville, Indiana. Over 20 are killed and 200 injured. (National Weather Service) (Yahoo! News) Southern Indiana Tornado

• The Seabourn Cruise Line cruise ship The Seabourn Spirit evades an attack by pirates off the coast of Somalia. (Yahoo! News)
• Archaeologists in Israel discover a rare early Christian church, dating to circa AD 300. The church was uncovered near the prison at Megiddo. (Reuters) (Ynetnews)
• Gene Robinson, the first openly gay U.S. ordained Episcopalian bishop describes Pope Benedict XVI's response to the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal by placing restrictions on gay clergy: "an act of violence that needs to be confronted." He delivered the speech at St Martin-in-the-Fields church, in Trafalgar Square. Robinson's appointment, and the reaction to it, has contributed to an open schism in the Anglican Communion. YahooABC

• Clashes continue in Debre Berhan, while government forces succeed in pacifying Bahir Dar and Awassa. The Ethiopian capital Addis Abeba remained calm, with few shops open and no taxis operating. (BBC)
• The Old Bailey in the U.K. sentences five white supremacists to jail for 15 years for creating and distributing race hate material. (BBC)
• One of three men arrested last month in the U.K. is charged under the Terrorism Act 2000. The others were charged with, among other things, conspiracy to murder and possessing bomb-making materials. (BBC)
• The 2005 Paris suburb riots continue for an eighth consecutive night. Hundreds of arson attacks have taken place in the last few nights. Shots fired at police and firefighters. Rioting continues to spread. France described as facing a crisis. (BBC)
• Israelis begin to mark the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. (BBC) (Reuters) (IOL)
• Massive demonstrations against U.S. President George W. Bush continue to grow at the Fourth Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina. (Reuters)

• Measles Initiative (MI) announces that since 1999, more than 200 million children in Africa have been vaccinated against measles, reducing the infection rate by 60 percent and saving 1 million lives. (allAfrica)
• The 2005 Paris suburb riots continue for a seventh consecutive night.
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • A joint Israeli-Palestinian doctors group has filed a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel requesting an end to the Israel Defense Forces use of sonic booms to terrify the Palestinian populace. The Doctors complain that the "sound bombs" cause widespread fear, induce miscarriages and traumatise children. The United Nations claim that the tactic causes panic attacks in children and has smashed thousands of windows. (The Guardian), (BBC)
  • A 12 year old Palestinian boy is in a criticial condition after being shot by an Israeli soldier. The soldiers had been in a firefight with Islamic Jihad members, and the boy was carrying a toy gun. Haaretz (BBC).
  • Israeli troops raid the West Bank area of Jenin. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: Seven U.K. troops accused of murdering an Iraqi civilian have had their cases dropped after a judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence against the soldiers and that the Iraqi witnesses lied. (BBC)
• Five U.S. Marines have been arrested after they were accused of raping a local Filipino woman. The USS Essex (LHD-2) was prevented from leaving the Philippines until the men were apprehended. (BBC) (Xinhua)
• Two more people have died as protests against the government of Ethiopia continue in Addis Ababa. (BBC)
• Sagittarius A, a complex radio source at the center of the Milky Way, is proved to be a supermassive black hole. (CNN)
• A bomb explodes in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon. No casualties have been reported. (Radio Australia)

• Guinea-Bissau's President Nino Vieira appoints Aristides Gomes, a former African Development Bank official, as new prime minister, replacing the dismissed Carlos Gomes Júnior. (xinhua)(Reuters)
• Donald E. Powell, former chief executive of the First National Bank of Amarillo, Texas and current Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chairman is named to coordinate rebuilding of the Gulf Coast by President George W. Bush. (White House) (WashingtonTimes)
• The Washington Post reports that the Central Intelligence Agency has been operating, perhaps illegally, a covert network of "black site" prisons for terrorist suspects in eight foreign countries, including Afghanistan, Thailand, and several Eastern European democracies for the last four years, with little or no oversight from the United States Congress. (The Washington Post)
• Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nominates Sadeq Mahsouli as Supervisor of Ministry of Petroleum of OPEC's number two producer, risking domestic political commotion and a parliamentary veto after already making a disturbance abroad with a call for Israel's destruction. (Reuters)
• The Delhi police release three sketches of one of the suspected bombers involved in 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings. (NDTV)
• A car bomb kills six in Srinagar, India (Rediff)
• The British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, David Blunkett, resigns a second time, following allegations of ministerial misconduct over his directorship and purchase of shares in a bioscience company. John Hutton is named as his replacement. (Investment & Pensions Europe).
• The 2005 Paris riots continue for the sixth consecutive night. Rioting spread through impoverished suburbs, which was sparked by the death of two youths who were allegedly fleeing police and were accidently electrocuted while hiding in an electrical substation. The riots have caused increased strains between the authorities and the inhabitants of the poor suburbs. (AP)
• 80 of the world's top radio astronomers meet in Pune, India to decide how and where to set up the world's biggest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array. (NDTV)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Israel Defense Forces soldier is seriously wounded and later dies of his wounds in an overnight arrest raids near the West Bank town of Jenin. (Ynetnews)
• At least 23 people are killed and 150 wounded in clashes between opposition supporters and police in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. (Reuters)

• Award-winning Irish racehorse Best Mate suffers a heart attack and dies while racing in front of a live television audience .
• U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats force a closed session of the Senate over misinformed intelligence that led to the Iraq war and evasion of a congressional inquiry.(CNN)
• The discovery of two additional moons of Pluto is announced. (CNN)
• The United Nations Security Council passed a UNSC resolution (S/RES/1636 (2005)) which requests urgently and forcefully Syria's full cooperation with the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (CCTV)
• Zanzibar's ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party and President Amani Abeid Karume are declared re-elected in a disputed election. Police clashed with opposition supporters, leaving 9 dead. (Reuters) (Reuters) (Guardian)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: 2 Palestinian militants, one from Hamas, the other the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, have died following an Israeli air-strike in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
• North Korea and South Korea will field a united Olympics team at the next Olympic Games. (BBC)
• Justice John Gomery releases the first part of the Gomery Commission report on corruption in the Liberal Party of Canada and the sponsorship scandal. Gomery exonerates current prime minister Paul Martin but criticizes former prime minister Jean Chretien and his Quebec lieutenant Alfonso Gagliano. (CBC)
• 2005 Paris riots continue for the fifth consecutive night, sparked by the death of two Muslim youths from electric shock. The controversy caused by police firing tear gas into a mosque on Sunday night led to families of the dead youths pulling out of a meeting with the French Interior Minister. (news24)
• Makybe Diva wins the Melbourne Cup thoroughbred horse race for the third consecutive year, becoming the first horse ever to do so. Shortly thereafter, owner Tony Stantic announces her retirement from racing. (Herald Sun)
• U.S. prosecutors admitted that Omar al-Faruq was one of four detainees to escape from the Bagram base, Afghanistan, in July, all of whom are still on the run. (BBC)

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2002: January February March April May June July August September October November December
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