April 21 2005

• American, French and Israeli naval forces have rescued 3 Syrian and Egyptian sailors from a sinking North Korean ship, which sank in the international waters off the coast of Nahariya. (Ynet)
• Aipac, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, has fired two of its members who are suspected of passing on US secrets to Israel. (BBC)
• At least 17 people die after two trains collide in the Baroda district of Gujarat, in West India. (BBC)(Times of India) (NDTV)
• Three Israeli soldiers were hurt in a blast when their jeep went on an IED roadside bomb, near Karni Crossing , on the edge of the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz)
• The next launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-114, is postponed until at least May 22. This is to be the first Space Shuttle launch since the Columbia distaster in February 2003. (BBC)
• In Ecuador, new president Alfredo Palacio orders the arrest of Lucio Gutiérrez. Former president takes refuge in the Brazilian embassy (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
• According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the army of Burma/Myanmar uses chemical weapons against Karen rebels (BBC)
• In Zanzibar, electoral commission accepts Seif Shariff Hamad , secretary general of the opposition party Civic United Front, as a legitimate voter and therefore eligible candidate (IPPMEdia, Zanzibar) (BBC)

April 20 2005

• Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell signs a bill making same-sex civil unions legal. Connecticut is now the second U.S. state to legalize same-sex civil unions. (ABC)
• RTÉ News states that Pope Benedict XVI won "far more than the 77 votes" required to secure his election as pope. (RTÉ)
• Zacarias Moussaoui plans to plead guilty to charges in connection with September 11, which could bring him the death penalty (AP)
• Conflict in Iraq
  • Over 50 human corpses are removed from the River Tigris. Some appeared to have their throats cut, some others decapitated. (BBC)
  • In Haditha , a town North-West of Baghdad, at least 19 men are shot dead. The Interim Government maintains that they are the bodies of Iraqi soldiers and had been killed by insurgents. (BBC)
• The Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, resigns so as to form a new government. He is expected to maintain the post of Prime Minister in this new government. (BBC)
• The Government of Singapore's approval for the building of two casinos as part of integrated resorts in Singapore's new downtown, and on Sentosa island ignites intense speculation on the likely winners from 19 submitted proposals, and caps off more than a year of moral debates in the traditionally conservative city. (The Standard) (BBC) (CNA)
• In Israel, Uriel Yitzhaki is arrested on allegations of selling passports for bribes. (BBC)
• In Japan, a 5.8 Richter scale earthquake hits northern Kyushu (Japan Today) (Channel News Asia) (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
• Vice President Alfredo Palacio is sworn in as new interim President of Ecuador, after Congress removes President Lucio Gutiérrez from office after a week of escalating street protests demanding his ouster.
  • In Ecuador, riot police fire tear gas at protesters who demand the resignation of president Lucio Gutiérrez. One man has died of a heart attack during the demonstration. (ABC) (Independent) (BBC)
• United Nations Commission on Human Rights demands that government of Nepal restore civil liberties and democracy (Bloomberg) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Mexico, two members of the ruling National Action Party post bail for Andrés Manuel López Obrador so he would not run a presidential campaign from jail. He cannot return to his post as mayor of Mexico City (Reuters)
• Maurice Strong, Canadian United Nations representative, steps down due to allegations of involvement with Tongsun Park and oil for food scandal (CBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
• European Union representatives cancel meeting with Pakistan delegation because of inclusion of hardliner Maulana Sami ul-Haq , who allegedly has links to Taliban (Pakistan Times) (Daily Times) (BBC)
• Portuguese parliament debates on possible referendum to relax country's abortion laws (BBC)
• Spanish officials state that they are "concerned" about an apparent disappearance of Severo Moto , leader of a political movement opposed to government of Equatorial Guinea, who has lived in Spain in exile. His wife reported him missing (AllAfrica) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• In Zambia, an explosion in mining explosives factory near Chambishi copper mine kills 46 (Reuters) (BBC)

April 19 2005

• George W. Bush's nomination of John R. Bolton for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations receives a serious setback when Ohio senator George Voinovich announces in committee that he cannot vote to endorse Bolton for this important diplomatic position. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee agrees to postpone a vote for at least one month while allegations that Bolton abused subordinates is investigated. (Reuters) (NY Times)
• Papal conclave, 2005: Ringing bells and white smoke at the Vatican indicate that, after four ballots, a new Pope, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has been elected. He has taken the regnal name Pope Benedict XVI. (BBC)
• MyPyramid is released by the United States Department of Agriculture. The new food guidance icon is an update of the 13-year old food guide pyramid. (NY Times)
• The United Iraqi Alliance, the leading coalition in the new Government of Iraq, demands the death penalty for Saddam Hussein, accused of genocide in Kurdistan as well as torture and other human rights violations in Baghdad. (Al Jazeera)
• Victims and families observe 168 seconds of silence on the tenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing at 9:02 a.m. (local time). (Guardian)
• Iran suspends operations of al-Jazeera and accuses it of inflaming protests of the Iranian Arab minority. 220 people have been arrested during the unrest. (Al-Jazeera), (IRNA), (Middle East Online), (Reuters), (BBC)
• Paris police arrest a woman suspected of connection with the hotel fire on April 15. (Scotsman)
• The inquiry into the murder of Rosemary Nelson , Northern Ireland solicitor who was killed by UDA bomb in 1999, begins. (Ireland On-Line), (BBC), (Scotsman)
• Peruvian authorities submit a $130 million plan to UNESCO to preserve Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, (BBC)
• The first part of Obelisk of Axum, a 1700-year-old artefact of the Axumite Kingdom taken to Rome by Benito Mussolini's troops in 1937, arrives back in Ethiopia. (Reuters), (BBC)
• Japanese researchers have reversed diabetes of a female patient with transplantation of pancreatic cells from her mother (Medical News Today) (Reuters) (Forbes)
• High court in Spain sentences Adolfo Scilingo, former Argentinean navy captain, for 640 years in prison for crimes against humanity during the Dirty War (Reuters AlertNet) (IHT) (CourtTV) (Pensa Latina)
• A girlfriend of a Paris Opera Hotel employee admits that she might have accidentally started the fire that destroyed the hotel last Friday. The death toll has risen to 24 (IHT) (Reuters AlertNet) (Scotsman)
• Israel extends travel ban of Mordechai Vanunu (Ha'arets) (Jerusalem Post) (BBC)
• In Syria, Jassem Alwan , who lead a failed military coup in 1963, returns from exile in the United Arab Emirates (BBC)
• Parliament of Kuwait gives initial backing to law that would allow women to vote (Al-Jazeera) (Middle east Online) (BBC)
• In Lebanon, prime minister Najib Mikati forms a new government to lead the country until the May elections (Daily Star) 2005/04 19 05 Mikati Forms 'No-Hate Cabinet' Sworn to Conduct Elections on Time.htm (Lebanese Lobby) (Reuters) (Al-Jazeera)
• French police states that DNA tests confirm that the body found in the French Alps is Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury (Scotsman) (BBC)
• Auction house Christie's withdraws an ancient Persian relic from sale when Iran states that it was smuggled out of the country illegally (CHN) (Al-Jazeera) (BBC)
• Parliament of Greece ratifies European Union Constitution (MPA) (EUBusiness) (IHT)
• President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, meets the president of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo, in Manila (Pakistan Times) (Manila Bulletin) (Sun Star) (BBC)
• Zanzibar bars foreign workers (IOL) (BBC)

April 18 2005

• The largest moving object on Earth, the iceberg B15A in Antarctica has collided with the Drygalski ice tongue, a feature large enough to be included in Antarctic maps. During the collision, a five-kilometre-long section of the ice tongue was broken off. (ESA) (AP)
• Physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory announce that they have created a newly discovered state of matter by smashing atoms in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. This new state of matter behaves like a hot and dense liquid made up of basic atomic particles such as quarks and gluons. Researchers claim that all matter in the universe for a fraction of a second after the Big Bang was in the form of this liquid. (MSNBC), (BNL News)
• Catherine Ndereba of Kenya and Hailu Negussie of Ethiopia win in the 109th Boston Marathon. Negussie was successful in finally breaking the Kenyan-dominated men's race. Defending champion Ndereba became the first four-time woman's winner. (ABCnews) (CNN)(Boston.com)
• Black smoke signals no new Pope is chosen in the first ballot in the Papal conclave, 2005. (BBC), (ABC), (Yahoo! News/AP)
• Two Israelis, one a soldier in the Combat Engineering Corps, and one a civilian, are wounded by a Palestinian sniper in an attack on Philadelphi Route of the southern Gaza Strip, close to the Egyptian border. The Popular Resistance Committees claims responsibility. (Haaretz)
• Adobe Systems buys Macromedia for $3.4 billion. (Yahoo! Financial), (New York Times), (USA Today), (MSNBC).
• The death toll in the collapse of a garment factory in Dacca, Bangladesh reaches 74. Dozens are still missing. (Reuters AlertNet)
• Japanese history textbooks controversy: Sino-Japanese relations worsen after a meeting between Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura in Beijing. China continues to refuse an apology for the increasing number of anti-Japanese protests, and further accuses Japan for handling the issues of history and Taiwan incorrectly. (Radio Australia)
• The Ecuador congress votes to dismiss supreme court judges. A debate for the selection of the new ones is set for Tuesday. President Lucio Gutiérrez lifts a day-old state of emergency, but thousands of protesters still demand his resignation. (Reuters) (BBC)
• In the Philippines, the government begins talks with Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (Manila Times) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi refuses to resign and intends to continue with minority government (AGI) (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
• Bosnian serb officer Vujadin Popović , accused of complicity in Srebrenica massacre in 1995, pleads not guilty in the Hague. He surrendered to the ICTY in April 14 (FENA) (Reuters) (BBC)
• Governments of India and Pakistan declare that peace between them is "irreversible". United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan welcomes the move (Hindu) (Deepika) (IHT) (Daily Times)
• Mexican government rules out pardoning Andrés Manuel López Obrador. His supporters continue their protests (Reuters)
• Pakistani government releases 500 members of Pakistan People's Party it detained prior to return of opposition leader Asif Zardari . Zardari hopes to have dialogue with the government. (Pakistan Times) (Daily Times) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• Former Lebanese minister Bassel Fleihan dies of wounds he received in the bombing that killed Rafik Hariri (Daily Star) (Reuters AlertNet) (CNN)
• Spain returns Rabei Osman Ahmed , who had been extradited as a prime suspect in the Madrid bombings, to Italian custody. (Reuters Alertnet) (World Peace Herald) (BBC)
• In Rwanda, supreme court hears appeals for Pasteur Bizimungu, first president of Rwanda after the genocide, who was arrested last June (Rwanda Information Exchange) (IOL) (BBC)
• Four people are charged with 1982 murder of Roberto Calvi. Suspects have Mafia ties (Financial Times) (Reuters) (BBC)

April 17, 2005

• A major breakthrough in the study of ancient Greek and Roman texts may lead to the revelation of hundreds of lost comedies, tragedies and epic poems. Using an infrared technique originally developed for satellite imaging, classicists at Oxford University, in the past four days alone, have made a series of new discoveries from Oxyrhynchus, including writings by Sophocles, Euripides, Hesiod and other literary giants. It may also be used to reveal lost Christian gospels. (The Independent), (Blogger News Network)
• Over one hundred thousand people throughout Indonesia have taken part in Anti-Israeli and Anti-American protests. The protest was organised by the Prosperous Justice Party in order to show Muslim unity regarding the Al Aqsa Mosque. (Herald Sun), (Guardian), (Jerusalem Post)
• Privacy groups in the United Kingdom along with opposition Liberal Democrats decry fingerprint passports as 'ID card by stealth'. (Telegraph), (Wikinews). ID Card scheme in question. (Guardian), (Telegraph)
• Marla Ruzicka, a US activist and aid worker, is killed by a car bomb in Iraq. (CIVIC Worldwide), (Guardian)
• In Switzerland, 12 people die and 15 are injured when a coach plunges into a ravine near the Great-St-Bernard pass. (Swissinfo, (BBC)
• In the Comoros Islands, the volcano Mount Karthala begins to erupt, forcing hundreds of villagers to flee. (Reuters), (CNN)
• In Togo, seven people die in clashes between supporters of rival political factions prior to forthcoming presidential election. (Reuters AlertNet), (ReliefWeb), (BBC)
• In Cyprus, Turkish cypriots elect Mehmet Ali Talat as their new president. Talat endorses unification of the island and membership in the European Union. (Reuters), (Turkish Weekly), (Guardian)
• In Mexico, 100 supporters of the Party of the Democratic Revolution protest outside the ranch of president Vicente Fox. They protest against the trial of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, popular mayor of Mexico City. (El Universal, Mexico), (Reuters)
• In Spain, Basque National Party of Juan José Ibarretxe wins regional elections in the Basque autonomous region but votes to EHAK, the Communist Party of Basque Lands , denies them majority. EHAK may have gained votes of supporters of banned Herri Batasuna party. Results may threaten Ibarratxe's plans for autonomy. (EITB), (Reuters), (Bloomberg), (BBC)
• In Austria, Jörg Haider launches his new party, Alliance for Austria's Future. (Deutsche Welle)
• Negotiations in Helsinki between the government of Indonesia and Free Aceh Movement end "constructively", according to mediator Martti Ahtisaari. Talks are scheduled to continue in May. (Bloomberg) (BBC)

April 16, 2005

• Najib Mikati becomes the new Prime Minister of Lebanon, replacing Omar Karami, who has resigned for a second time after seven weeks of frustrated efforts to form a consensus government. (Reuters)
• The Gaelic Athletic Association congress votes overwhelmingly to suspend its controversial rule 42 ban on 'foreign games' being played at its sports venues, to enable Irish soccer and rugby international fixtures to be played at its Croke Park stadium. (RTÉ News)
• A magnitude 5.1 earthquake hits Southern California. No injuries or major damage have been reported. (CNN)
• The G7 leaders meet in Washington, D.C. in the World Bank headquarters. Among the main discussion points are the rising price of oil and the pegging of the Chinese yuan to the U.S. dollar. (CNN)

April 15, 2005

• The ongoing Spring 2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations in China might have been scripted and manipulated by the Chinese government as a bargaining tool against its neighbor in the recent Sino-Japanese energy and territory disputes (NY Times). Personal announcements appeared on blogs [1] [2] attempting to stage massive anti-Japanese riots not only in the capital but also in 17 major Chinese cities, responding to the April 17 visit of the Japanese Foreign Minister to Beijing, and the 86th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement.
• UN Secretary General Kofi Annan accuses the United States and Britain of not accepting enough responsibility for the Oil for Food Scandal. (BBC) (Canberra)
• A Palestinian Fatah gunman infilitrates the Golan Heights from Syria and attacks an IDF outpost near the border. The outpost commander manages to disarm the gunman and arrest him. The IDF will investigate how the 21 year old man, draped in a Palestinian flag, managed to penetrate so deep without being detected earlier. (Haaretz), (BBC)
• A Human Rights Watch report states that the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Canada rely on "flimsy" diplomacy in attempts to send foreign terror suspects back to countries that routinely use torture against their prisoners (AP Wire)
• Soyuz TMA-6 lifts off at dawn from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the Expedition 11 crew to the International Space Station. (Fox News) (Yahoo! News)
• Prince Rainier is buried in Monaco. (BBC), (CNN)
• In France, 20 people die in a fire at the Paris-Opera Hotel . (Reuters), (CNN)
• In Australia, Raymond Williams, former CEO of insurance company HIH Insurance, is jailed for 4 and half years. (BBC)
• Canada's Federal Court of Appeal denies Chinese businessman Lai Changxing refugee status. China wants him for large-scale smuggling. (National Post, Canada), (Xinhua)
• UK Passport applicants must give fingerprints. Preparation for ID cards goes ahead without parliament. (Guardian Unlimited)
• UK Greens unveil radical manifesto aiming at measures against climate change. (Science Daily)
• France plans to introduce biometric ID cards in 2007. (Infoworld)
• The European Union denies ruling out lifting an EU arms embargo on the People's Republic of China before June. (The Australian)

April 14, 2005

• Today Microsoft Encarta is launching a Nupedia-like version of its encyclopedia where anonymous users can submit their new or edited entries to be approved by a paid staff of editors. Server problems have so far delayed launch until later tonight. (FairfaxDigital), (Business Week)
• The claim that traces of the deadly poison ricin had been found in the London apartment of alleged al Qaeda operatives is proved wrong, according to a senior British official. (Seattle Times), (Guardian Unlimited)
• Researchers from the University of Miami have published a study which claims that prisoners executed by lethal injection in the US may have been aware of what was happening to them. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • Israel kills a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade following a raid into the Palestinian town of Nablus. Palestinians maintain that a special unit disguised as Arabs carried out the act. Israeli Defence Forces say the man was a "ticking bomb" and that soldier shot only after he opened fire on them. Witnesses from the Balata camp, however, say the Israelis opened fire without warning and then took the body away.(BBC), (Haaretz), (NY Times)
  • The Israeli soldier accused of shooting British Cameraman James Miller is cleared of any wrongdoing by an Israeli Judge, meaning the soldier will not be prosecuted. Miller's family accuse the Israel Defense Forces of a coverup and threaten to sue. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: At least 11 people have been killed following a double Suicide bombing in the Iraqi Capital of Baghdad. (BBC)
• In Quito, Ecuador, riot police clash with demonstrators and strikers that protest against the government of president Lucio Gutiérrez. Congress replaced the entire supreme court last December and has not come to an agreement with the political opposition. (Reuters), (World Peace Herald)
• In the Czech Republic, the coalition government agrees to form a new cabinet. Jan Kohout is expected to succeed Stanislav Gross as the new prime minister. (Bloomberg) (CNN) Deal collapses later in the day when the Social Democrats reject it. (Prague Post), (Bloomberg), (BBC)
• Police in China arrest 15 people involved with illegal blood trade that may have contributed to the spread of AIDS. (China Daily), (People's Daily), (Reuters), (Guardian)
• According to Amnesty International, prisoners of the Black Beach prison in the Equatorial Guinea are starving. (Amnesty International USA), (Reuters SA) (BBC)
• Three paparazzi who were pursuing Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed when they died face a new trial in France. (IHT), (Reuters UK), (BBC)
• In Australia, funding difficulties threaten the Murray-Darling Basin river system. (The Australian), (BBC)
• The trial of Schapelle Corby, an Australian facing drug smuggling charges in Indonesia, is adjourned after she collapses in the Bali courtroom. (ABC News)
• Bulgaria sends a diplomatic mission to Libya to seek a solution to the ongoing criminal prosecution of five nurses from Bulgaria for an HIV outbreak among Benghazi children. (Bulgaria News Network)
• Craig Murray, former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan, will contest election seat against UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw in order to highlight Straw's alleged use of false confessions extracted by CIA torture in Uzbekistan. (Guardian Unlimited), (Background: International Herald Tribune)
• In Angola, in the face of the spread of the Marburg virus, government tries to curb traditional funerary practice of kissing and hugging the dead for farewell. The death toll is already over 210. (Reuters), (CNN)
• South Korean Tongsun Park , Texas oilman David Chalmers and two others are indicted for bribery in the oil for food scandal. (Reuters), (Washington Post)
• United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announces that law enforcement agencies have arrested 10340 fugitives in Operation Falcon between April 4-10. (Operation Falcon website), (ABC) (Reuters)
• In Zimbabwe, two British journalists, Sunday Telegraph correspondent Toby Harnden and photographer Julian Simmonds , are acquitted. They were accused of covering the last month's parliamentary elections without permission. They were charged with overstaying their visas and released on bail. (BBC), (AllAfrica), (Reuters)
• Three students of MIT successfully submit a paper "" into World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics . The paper was made of computer-generated nonsense. (Boston Herald) (CNN), (SciGen)
• Indian police arrest 16 people in a case where more than US$400.000 was transferred from Citibank accounts to fraudulent accounts in India. (Times of India), (Reuters)

April 13 2005

• Canada's most prominent white supremacist and founder of the Heritage Front, Wolfgang Droege, is shot to death in his apartment. One suspect is arrested at the scene. (CTV)
• Omar Karami resigns his position as the Prime Minister of Lebanon after he fails to form a government. Without a government to call them, no elections can take place in Lebanon. Elections are due this May. (BBC)
• The European Parliament votes to allow Bulgaria and Romania to join the European Union in 2007. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq
  • At least nine Iraqi police have been killed by insurgents in Kirkuk. The Police were defusing a decoy bomb, when another nearby bomb detonated and killed them. (Al Jazeera), (BBC)
  • Al Jazeera broadcasts a video of the civilian contractor, Jeffrey Ake, abducted in Iraq earlier this week. (BBC), (Al Jazeera)
• Japan increases the already boiling tension with China as Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry begins allowing Japanese companies rights to drill for oil in a part of the East China Sea claimed by both nations. (BBC)
• The College of American Pathologists asks laboratories worldwide to destroy a flu sample they sent in their testing kits. Canadian National Microbial Laboratory identified it as a strain of Asian flu virus that killed millions in 1957. People born after 1969 would have no antibodies to resist it. WHO supports the plea. (CNN) (Yahoo) (CBC)
• National Geographic Society and IBM support a project to take DNA samples from various people all over the world to track migration of Homo sapiens from Africa (Reuters) (New York Times)
• Death toll in the collapse of a factory in Dacca, Bangladesh increases to 30 (The Hindu) (Reuters AlertNet)
• Mount Talang volcano erupts in Sumatra, Indonesia. 27,000 residents are evacuated (Jakarta Post) (Indonesia Relief) (Reuters)
• In Nigeria, former education minister Fabion Osuji , former senate president Adolphus Wabara and five others are charged with corruption (Vanguard) (NigeriaWorld)
• In Germany, Armin Meiwes appeals for the reduction his sentence of eight years for cannibalism. His defense says that the killing was a mercy killing, eligible only for five years. State prosecutors appeal as well so he could retried for murder (Deutsche Welle) (Independent)
• In Australia, group of aboriginals threaten to disrupt the Commonwealth Games next year unless prime minister John Howard and others are charged with genocide (Radio Australia) (SBS) (BBC)
• Burundi's last rebel group Hutu Forces for National Liberation states that they are ready to negotiate with the government (Reuters SA) (BBC)

April 12 2005

• A 15-year Palestinian boy was caught in Hawara checkpoint (near Nablus), hiding five pipe bombs under his coat. He apparently tried to ignite them with a match when the soldiers apprehended him. Soldiers later pose for photographs with the boy. His brother says he did so in order to study for his High-school matriculation exams in an Israeli prison.[3][4] (Haaretz)
• Andrus Ansip is confirmed by the Riigikogu, the Estonian Parliament, as the country's next Prime Minister, following the 24 March resignation of former Prime Minster Juhan Parts. (BBC)
• Four girls who were held hostage for four hours are freed from a house in Ennepetal, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. (BBC)
• Israeli citizens against the proposed Israeli dismantling of Jewish Settlements on the Gaza Strip have chained shut 167 schools and nurseries in Tel Aviv as part of their protest. The Fire Service quickly cut through the chains. (BBC), (Jerusalem Post), (Haaretz)
• Death toll in the collapse of a factory in Dacca, Bangladesh rises to 21 and hundreds are still trapped. (New Kerala), (Reuters)
• Anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles applies for asylum in the United States. Fidel Castro accuses the US of hypocrisy for protecting a terrorist. (Prensa Latina), (Wired)
• MareNostrum, Europe's most powerful (and the world's fourth most powerful) supercomputer, is booted up for the first time in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain. (BusinessWeek)
• In Hungary, a group of people that claim descent from Attila the Hun demand minority status. (BBC)
• Three British men are indicted by a United States court in a 2004 alleged plot to destroy financial institutions in the USA, including such notable landmarks as the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, the Prudential building in New Jersey, and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C.. The U.S. claims that one is a senior Al-Qaeda. (Wired), (ABC News)
• Same-sex marriage in Canada: The Canadian government's Bill C-38 survives a vote on a wrecking amendment which would have defined marriage as an union between a man and a woman, introduced by the Conservative Party of Canada. (CBC)
• According to report of the Human Rights Watch, young veterans of wars in West Africa have been recruited to fight in other conflicts because they have had no other means of support (Human Rights Watch) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• Iran parliament approves abortion in cases where mother's life is in danger or the fetus is deformed. The bill still needs the approval of the Guardian Council (IranMania) (Reuters UK) (Middle East Online) (Persian Journal)
• In Israel, Mordechai Vanunu is charged with 21 counts of violating the terms of his parole (Ha'aretz) (Arutz Sheva) (Reuters)
• In Saudi Arabia, grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh rules that forcing women marry against their will is against Islam. (Arab News) (Al Jazeera) (Middle East Online)
• Britney Spears announced through her website that she is expecting her first child, reportedly a girl, with her husband of six months Kevin Federline. The baby is due sometime in Autumn.
• Indonesian army promises to give up its businesses within two years (Jakarta Post) (Bloomberg) (BBC)
• Anheuser-Busch, the largest U.S. beer brewer and the No. 1 buyer of rice in the United States said it would not purchase rice grown in Missouri if it were genetically modified. This decision was prompted by a Ventria Bioscience plan to grow 200 acres of genetically engineered rice in Missouri. (AP)

April 11 2005

• Yad Vashem bestow the honour of "Righteous Among the Nations" posthumously upon a Nazi Major, Karl Plagge. Plagge saved around 1,200 Jews, mostly women and children, from execution during the Holocaust by putting them in forced labor positions at a vehicle workshop. (BBC)
• At least 54 Hindu pilgrims have been killed when a dam in the Madhya Pradesh state is apparently opened by mistake. (BBC)
• Hezbollah, the Lebanese political and militant organisation, flies another unmanned drone plane over Israel. Hezbollah claims the "reconnaissance mission" was in retaliation for alleged Israeli violations of Lebanese Airspace. Israel quickly retaliates by sending jets to fly at a low altitude over southern Lebanon and caused sonic booms. (BBC)
• The election of a new secretary general of the Organization of American States ends in an unprecedented stalemate after five rounds of voting. (BBC)
• President George W. Bush praises the Israeli P.M., Ariel Sharon, for his "courageous initiative" to pull all Israeli settlements out of the Gaza Strip, however Bush also told Sharon not to expand other existing settlements. The two leaders met in Texas, USA. (BBC Video), (BBC), (CNN)
• Tulip Revolution: The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan finally approves the resignation of deposed President Askar Akayev. (Fox News)
• Spring 2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations in China: 20,000 protesters marching in two cities in southern Guangdong province objecting to a recently amended Japanese schoolbook which allegedly glosses over Japan's imperialist past. (CNN)
• Jeremy Jaynes, estimated to be the world's eighth most prolific spammer, is sentenced to nine years imprisonment. (IDG), (Spamfo.co.uk)
• The International Court of Justice at The Hague begins hearing a complaint by the Democratic Republic of Congo that Uganda of invaded its territory and committed human rights violations. (AllAfrica) (BBC)
• In Australia, Liberal MP David Tollner urges people to kill poisonous cane toads with cricket bats and golf clubs. The toads have become a nuisance in the Northern Territory. Animal rights groups prefer freezing them to death. (ABC), (Reuters AlertNet), (BBC),
• In Dhaka, Bangladesh, a 9-story factory building collapses; five deaths are reported. (Reuters AlertNet), (BBC)
• The World Health Organization announces that 203 people have died in Angola from the Marburg virus. News.com.au
• In Norway, court in Oslo detains a man suspected of involved with the theft of the Edvard Munch paintings The Scream and Madonna. (Afternposten), (Reuters)
• Nepal allows United Nations Human Rights Commission to send monitors to the country to investigate claims of human rights abuses. (Times of India), (Bloomberg), (Reuters AlertNet), (BBC)

April 10 2005

• Earthquake of 6.7 Richter scale occurs near Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia at 10:18 UTC. (BBC)
• The Mainland Affairs Council of the Republic of China (Taiwan) bans reporters from the People's Daily and Xinhua from Taiwan saying the mainland's state-controlled media "tried to present their people with a distorted image of Taiwan". (BBC)
• Over 20,000 Lebanese women, Children and infirm begin the United We Run campaign for unity against Syrian influence. The event began with Rafik Hariri's sister releasing fifty white pigeons and calling for Lebanese unity. [NEWSLINK MISSING]
• Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pushed for cooperation between India and the PRC to dominate high-tech industries. Urging the historical rivals to forget past tension, Wen said cooperation "will signify the coming of the Asian century of the IT industry" (ABC News)
• Former South African President FW de Klerk has called for a new political party to be set up following the dissolution of the New National Party. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • Israel arrests Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef on his return home after he illegally makes his way from Ramallah to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to deliver a sermon. (UPI) (Haaretz)
  • A large security operation in Jerusalem appears to have prevented Israeli Zionist extremists from staging a rally at the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif. The rally was to be in opposition to the proposed Israeli pull-out from the Gaza Strip. The police are also able to quell a stone-throwing Arab counter-demonstration. (BBC) (Haaretz)
  • Israeli Zionist extremists block a road near Tel Aviv during rush hour. Protesting the proposed Israeli pull-out from the Gaza Strip, they set tires alight and sit down on the road. Several are arrested and police are able to end the blockade within minutes. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
  • Militant Palestinian extremists again fire mortars at settlements in the Gaza Strip. They are believed to have been fired by Islamic Jihad. (Al Jazeera)
  • Al Jazeera states that Palestinian sources report that Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has apologised to Palestinian Authority Interior Minister Nasr Yusuf for the deaths of 3 Palestinian teenagers on Saturday, April 9. (Al Jazeera)
• US spammer Jeremy Jaynes is sentenced for nine years in prison. The sentence is suspended until further appeals (Spamfo) (E-Commerce News) (CNN)
• 6.1 Richter scale earthquake strikes Tokyo. There are no reports of serious damages (Japan Times) (Reuters)
• British carmaker MG Rover receives a loan of £6.5 million from the British government (BBC) (Bloomberg) (Financial Times)
• Spanish police seizes an ETA cache of explosives in Hernani , near San Sebastián (EITB) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Italy, deputy prime minister Marco Follini calls for an early general election after the centre-right coalition of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi lost in in a regional ballot last week (AGI) (ITH)
• In Mexico, Raúl Gibb Guerrero , editor of La Opinión newspaper, who covered Mexican drug cartels is killed. (Prensa Latina) (Reuters AlertNet) (San Diego Tribune)
• Haitian police team and UN peacekeepers kill a prominent gang leader Grenn Sonnen (Jean Anthony Rene) and five of his supporters in a shootout (Haiti Action Committee) (Reuters)
• Tiger Woods wins his fourth U.S. Masters golf tournament in a sudden-death playoff.

April 9 2005

• Cardinals gather to elect new Pope.
• A zircon crystal, thought to be the oldest piece of Earth at about 4.4 billion years old, goes on a one-day display at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (BBC)
• Chinese rioters storm the Japanese embassy in Beijing. The riot grew from a protest against Japan's newly approved history textbooks, which according to critics, whitewashed Japanese wartime atrocities. (Wikinews)(Wikipedia ongoing event)
• The South African New National Party, successor to the National Party which governed in the apartheid era, votes to dissolve itself following poor results in last year's elections. Its elected representatives are expected to join the governing African National Congress. (Daily News (South Africa)
• The World Health Organization announced a worsening of the Marburg virus in Angola. Doctors have suspended casualty counts due to worsening conditions; medical personnel are under increasing attacks by residents who blame doctors for the virus's spread. (CNN)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Islamic Jihad have announced that they are to "re-evaluate" their cease-fire after Israeli soldiers kill 3 Palestinians, all aged 14. Palestinian witnesses allege they were killed trying to retrieve a football in a no-go area near the Egypt border at the Rafah Refugee camp. According to Israel Radio, Palestinian security services notified Israel they had detained two boys who were not hit by IDF fire, and that the group of five youths were smugglers. At least 10 mortar shells are then fired at the Gush Katif settlements. A Hamas leader, Saeed Siyam, is quoted by the AP as saying the boys deaths would be "avenged". (Haaretz), (BBC), (Al Jazeera), (RTÉ), (Reuters), (Scotsman)
• Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker Bowles in a 20-minute ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, which is followed by a blessing at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. (BBC) (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • 15 Iraqi soldiers have been killed following an insurgent attack near the town of Latifiya . (BBC)
  • Tens of thousands of Iraqis have staged an Anti-American protest in Firdus Square, where Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled on 9 April 2003. (BBC)
• Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says that despite his plans to go to New Delhi to watch the last Indo-Pak cricket ODI, Kashmir, and not cricket, was on top of his agenda. (Hindu)
• Calling for the abolition of death penalty, the Dalai Lama, currently on a visit to Japan, says criminals must be treated with compassion and made to feel part of the society. (Peninsula On-Line)

April 8 2005

• The Funeral of Pope John Paul II takes place. (BBC)
• Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty to four bombings including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in exchange for four life sentences. (AP/Yahoo! News)
• Islamic insurgents kill 14 people in an attack outside Algiers, trapping the victims at a fake roadblock, then killing them and burning their vehicles. (AP\Ynet News)
• A suicide bomber kills two foreign tourists in a Cairo market and injures a further score of bystanders. A group called "Islamic Pride Brigades " claims responsibility. (Haaretz), (BBC)
• Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz announces that private homes in the Gaza strip settlements will not be demolished after the disengagement plan. Religious structures such as synagogues, Mikveh baths and cemeteries will be dismantled and transferred inside the "Green line". (Haaretz), Ynet News
• Scientists at Manchester's Christie Hospital claim a cure for cancer could be available in 5 years. (BBC)
• In an interview with the Financial Times, a Hezbollah leader announces that the group would be willing to discuss potential disarmament after Israel withdraws from the Shebaa Farms. Lebanon and Syria maintain that the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese territory, while the rest of the world community insists that the farms are part of the Golan Heights, thus part of Syrian territory occupied by Israel. (Financial Times), (Haaretz)
• Presidential elections begin in Djibouti. Incumbent president Ismail Omar Guelleh is the only candidate (BBC)

April 7 2005

• The Mexican Chamber of Deputies votes by 360 to 127 to suspend the executive immunity of Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico City, thereby removing him from office to face criminal charges. (BBC), (Reuters)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
  • A Palestinian-fired Qassam rocket hits a cemetery in the Israeli town of Sderot, causing minimal damage and no injuries. Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz says Israel will not let it pass and criticises the PA's lack of action. This is the first rocket fired inside the carrot-shaped "Green line" since late January.(Haaretz)
  • Two Jews are arrested on suspicion of planting fake bombs in Jerusalem in an attempt to disrupt the planned Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
  • Environmental groups condemn a plan by Israel to relocate Israeli settlers from Gaza to the Nitzanim nature reserve in southern Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon supports the request of some settlers to relocate the entire Gush Katif to the Nitzanim area and orders experts to start checking this issue thoroughly. Nitzanim is home to endangered turtles and around 100 gazelle. (BBC), (Haaretz)
• Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, has replaced Iyad Allawi as the interim prime minister of Iraq. (BBC)
• Passenger buses set out from India to Pakistan across the Indian Kashmir barrier through the troubled and controversial Kashmir region in a symbolic "Caravan of Peace." Some attacks on the buses were reported in the militant-occupied area, but none were successful, according to local media outlets. (MSNBC)
• The President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Chen Shui-bian will be accompanied by his foreign minister as well as Roman Catholic and Muslim religious figures for the trip to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II. (CNN), (BBC), (TVBS)
• Representatives of the government of Canada withdraw from a business conference with Iran in protest of the case of deceased journalist Zahra Kazemi. Kazemi died in Iranian police custody and Iranian refugee doctor Shahram Azam says that she had extensive injuries and had been tortured. Iranian officials deny the charges. Canada has unsuccessfully demanded return of Kazemi's body (CTV) (IranMania) (IranMania) (BBC)
• In London, Sir Ian Blair, the chief of metropolitan police, orders an inquiry of claims that journalists of The Sun smuggled a fake bomb into grounds of Windsor Castle (BBC)
• Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams appeals to IRA to stop violence (Reuters UK) (Reuters) (Irish Times) (BBC)
• In Nepal, according to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of the country, 42 people die in clashes between Maoist rebels and villagers (Reuters). Nepalese radio begins to block BBC World Service (Hindustan Times) (Asia Pacific Media Network)
• Switzerland cabinet intends to outlaw English-sounding names of government departments (SwissInfo)
• Prime ministers of Malaysia and Australia announce that they intend begin talks of free trade agreement (Bloomberg) (Radio Australia) (Malaysian Star)
• Police in the Netherlands arrests a gang that has smuggled Chinese asylum seekers and sold them for cheap labor (Expatica) (BBC)
• The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) announces that it has drilled a hole to the lowest level of the Earth's crust, and that it is poised to break through to the mantle, in search of the Mohorovicic discontinuity. SPACE.com

April 6 2005

• Warring factions sign a peace treaty to end the civil war in Côte d'Ivoire, start immediate disarmament and make plans for new elections. (Globe&Mail)
• Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition party in Zimbabwe, presents 'proof of fraud' in the recent parliamentary elections that kept Robert Mugabe and the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front in office. (BBC) (Reuters via Yahoo!News)
• At least 16 people are killed in Afghanistan when a Chinook helicopter of the U.S. military crashes in the south-eastern province of Ghazni. (BBC)
• The College of Cardinals sets April 18 as the date for a conclave for a papal election to select a successor to Pope John Paul II. (CNN)
• The world famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci, the Mona Lisa, is taken to its original location, the Salle des Etats, in the Louvre, Paris. (SKY News)
• Hong Kong's government asks Beijing to intervene in a dispute over the term to be served by new Chief Executive. (BBC)
• Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader, is named as Iraq's President. (FOX News)
• The United Nations is looking at the allegations that some UN staff added false details to a UN document about the conflict of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. William Church , former UN employee and US intelligence analyst , says that some UN staff added false information about Rwandan military incursions to Congo last year. (BBC)
• Murdered British banker Alistair Wilson is buried in Nairn. The murderer is still at large. (Scotsman) (BBC)
• Monaco's Prince Rainier III dies at age 81. (NYT)
• In Brazil, members of Landless Workers Movement (MST) occupy 12 farms trying to pressure the government to speed up land reform. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• A court on Guernsey in the English Channel blocks the release of papers that would name alleged backers of an aborted coup in Equatorial Guinea last year, due to bank secrecy in that jurisdiction (This Is Guernsey) (BBC) (Reuters SA)
• In Togo, police clash with demonstrators of the opposition party the Union of Forces for Change , who are demanding that presidential elections be postponed so that they would have more time for campaigning (Reuters AlertNet) (Republic of Togo)
• In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission, by a 3-2 vote, adopts a set of rules designed to create a National Market System -- critics complain that the NMS rules favor the New York Stock Exchange over competitors. SEC website

April 5 2005

• The government of South Korea complains to the Japanese government about a revised set of official Japanese history schoolbooks. The complaint alleges the textbooks whitewash Japan's "imperialist" past, and question Korean sovereignty of the disputed Liancourt Rocks. (Korea Herald) (Japan Times)
• Tony Blair calls the General Election in the United Kingdom for 5 May 2005 on the same day as the local elections. (BBC)
• In Guatemala, five politicians are convicted of racial discrimination for taunts hurled at Rigoberta Menchú. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• In Italy, preliminary results of regional elections show heavy losses for the parties in Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition. (Bloomberg) (Reuters)