August 2005

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[edit] Portal:Current events

**((John E Dodd))

[edit] August 1, 2005 (Monday)

• Conflict in Iraq: At least six US Marines have died following an insurgent attack in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. (NBC)
• A survey of the world's strongest brands by Anholt-GMI has placed Australia as the leading "nation brand", ahead of Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Last years top brand, Sweden, dropped to fifth place, whilst the United States dropped from fourth to eleventh place. (Sydney Morning Herald) (NZ Herald)
• One person has been killed and another injured in an explosion on a Russian nuclear-powered submarine in dock for decommissioning. (BBC)
• Leaked communications between two U.S. military prosecutors reveal internal doubts about the military commission system established to try Guantanamo Bay detainees. In separate emails, the prosecutors allege that the commission system is rigged in favour of the prosecution and that the cases being pursued are "marginal". In Australia, the Australian Government came under renewed pressure to withdraw its support for the commissions, under which Australian citizen David Hicks would be tried. (Wikinews) (ABC)
• Vice-President John Garang of Sudan, a central figure in the new peace deal ending the Second Sudanese Civil War, is reported dead with 13 other people in an aircraft crash near the Uganda-Sudan border. (Wikinews), (Reuters), (CNN), (AP via Yahoo!News) (Link dead as of 02:29, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
  • Deadly riots erupt in Khartoum after Garang's death. (Reuters) (Link dead as of 02:29, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
• King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has died in a hospital at the age of 83. It was believed that he was in poor health and entered the hospital on May 27 with acute pneumonia. Crown Prince Abdullah, who had been effective regent for years, accedes to the throne. Defence Minister Prince Sultan will be the new Crown Prince. (Wikinews) (Reuters) (Al-Jazeera)
• New European Union directive banning tobacco advertising comes into effect (Euronews)
• President Bush circumvents the Senate after a five-month impasse to appoint John Bolton as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. (Wikinews) (Yahoo News) (Link dead as of 02:29, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
• In Egypt, opposition party al-Wafd (Delegation Party) announces that it will endorse its leader Numan Gumaa as a candidate in presidential election next September (Al-Jazeera)
• NASA announces that astronauts will make repairs on the bottom of the space shuttle Discovery to ensure its safety in re-entry (Space.com) (Science Daily) (Reuters) (Link dead as of 02:29, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
• In Colombia, paramilitary group United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia begins disarming (BBC)
• In Brazil, Valdemar Costa Neto, leader of the Liberal Party, steps down after he admitted that he received money from the ruling Worker's Party (MercoPress (Reuters) (Link dead as of 02:29, 15 January 2007 (UTC)), (Bloomberg)
• In India, HCL infosystems and Dayanidhi Maran, communications minister, unveil cheap "PC for India" with Linux OS, costing 9990 rupees (equivalent to US$225) (The Hindu) (Hindu Business Line) (BBC)

[edit] August 2, 2005 (Tuesday)

• In Iran, Judge Masoud Ahmadi Moghaddasi, who had ruled the case of Akbar Ganji, is assassinated by a gunman. (Guardian)
• President Bush endorses intelligent design, stating that it should be taught in school. He is quoted as saying: "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought. You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes." A large portion of the scientific community does not recognise ID as a scientific theory and considers it to be creationist pseudoscience.(Boston Globe)
• In Ohio's Second District, voters are choosing a new congressman. The candidates are Jean Schmidt and Paul Hackett. Schmidt ultimately wins the election.
• While landing during a severe lightning storm, Air France Flight 358 skidded off the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 4:03 p.m. local time and burst into flames. All 309 passengers and crew on board survive. (CJAD 800) (CBC) (BBC)
• Anti-disengagement protesters rally in Sderot. The organizers said the crowd numbered 50,000, but police estimated the figure between 10,000 and 15,000. Some 18,000 troops and 12,000 police are involved in preventing protesters from getting to the Gush Katif Israeli settlement on the Gaza Strip. (INN), (BBC), (HaAretz)
• Scientists at Stanford University have used nanotechnology to kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: At least 15 people have died following a series of insurgent attacks throughout Iraq. (BBC)
• The Chinese national oil company CNOOC has withdrawn a bid for Unocal quelling the fears that the deal would give a foreign government too much control over American oil reserves. Chevron is now expected to acquire Unocal. (NY Times)
• In Zimbabwe, state prosecutors dropped treason charges against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, was accused of organising mass protests in 2003 to overthrow Robert Mugabe's controversial régime. (AFP)
• In Germany, police in Brandenburg announce that they have uncovered bones of nine newborn babies that had been buried in flower pots. The woman believed to be their mother, identified in newspapers as "Sabine H.", has been arrested in the worst case of individual infanticide in German history. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore agree to joint anti-piracy patrols in the Malacca Strait. (Jakarta Post) (Channel News Asia) Thailand later joins them. (Channel News Asia) (New Straits Times) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Turkey, two explosions injure 6 people in Antalya, a popular tourist resort. The tourism minister blames gas leaks but the police are investigating. (Turkish Press) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In France, medical authorities investigate a case where remains of 351 stillborn fetuses had been kept in storage in St Vincent de Paul hospital against the law and the parents' consent. (BBC)

[edit] August 3, 2005 (Wednesday)

• The FCC and DOJ have given approval to the proposed merger of Sprint and Nextel, to create the new company of Sprint Nextel
• Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin will announce on Thursday that Michaëlle Jean has been chosen to succeed Adrienne Clarkson as Governor General of Canada. (CBC)
• Two people are known to have died following a bomb blast in Istanbul, Turkey. (BBC) (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters AlertNet)
• The BBC has uncovered documents which reveal that in 1958 the British Government helped Israel attain nuclear weapons. (BBC)
• The chairman of the British Council of Mosques and Imams has advised British Muslim women to refrain from wearing clothing, such as the Hijab, which identifies them as Muslim following a large increase in "Islamophobia" and Hate crimes. (BBC), (BBC)
• Mo Mowlam, the former Northern Ireland Secretary, has been admitted to hospital, apparently critically ill. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: 14 US Marines have been killed following an insurgent attack in Haditha, north-western Iraq. U.S. Officials deny that a Marine has been taken hostage. (BBC)
• More than 800 people have been wounded and 84 killed in the violence which erupted in Sudan after ex-rebel southern leader John Garang died in a helicopter crash. (BBC) (Reuters)
• In Singapore, an announcement was made declaring the election date for the presidential election to be on 27 August, with nomination day slated for 17 August. (CNA)
• NBC Universal gets permission from parent company General Electric to buy Dreamworks SKG. (Yahoo)
• Adidas acquires Reebok for $3.8 billion. (Economic Times) (BBC)
• Oracle Corporation acquires i-flex for $909 million. (Business Standard)
• In Australia, Morris Iemma becomes the 40th Premier of New South Wales after being elected unopposed as leader of the state Australian Labor Party.
• In Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad officially becomes new president. (IRNA) (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters)
• In Saudi Arabia the new King Abdullah has been invested. Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac, along with many European Monarchs are present for the "bayaa" ceremony while George H. W. Bush and Dick Cheney will meet with the new King the following day. (BBC)
• In Malaysia, former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim receives apology and compensation from former chief of police Rahim Noor, who beat him September 1999 ago when he was arrested on dubious grounds. In return, Ibrahim drops the case again him. (Channel News Aaia) (Reuters)
• Australian justice minister Chris Ellison wants to create tough laws against practice of sending young girls overseas to forced marriages. (The Australian) (BBC)
• Reports from Mauritania indicate that the Army has seized control of the government. State media is reportedly taken over by troops, signaling a military coup while President Ould Taya is out of the country attending the funeral of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd. (Middle East Online) (BBC) (afrol News)
• In China, death toll of the pig-carried disease rises to 38, The Ministry of Agriculture announces a new prevention program (Xinhua) (Channel News Asia) (Xinhua)
• In USA, fake Saudi princess who used a name Antoinette Millard, pleads guilty to fraud in New York court and is sent to mental hospital for one year (Newsday) (Reuters)
• In Norway, thieves steal three worthless copies of Edvard Munch's paintings from an Oslo hotel (Aftenposten) (Reuters)

[edit] August 4, 2005 (Thursday)

• Ayman al-Zawahri, a leader of Al-Qaeda, has issued a televised statement blaming Tony Blair and his government's foreign policy for the July 2005 London bombings. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • The Ministry of Housing in Israel has issued tenders for the construction of a further 72 houses in an Israeli settlement of Betar Illit, near Bethlehem, on the West Bank. (BBC)
  • Four Israeli Arabs, two Christian and two Muslim, are killed by Eden Nathan-Zadah, member of the banned Jewish extremist Kach party, when he opens fire on a bus in Shfar'am, Israel. He was later lynched by a mob. Nathan-Zadah was AWOL from his IDF post. (Haaretz), (the Guardian) (CNN), (BBC),
• In the UK, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has cut its interest rate by a quarter percent to 4.5% (BBC)
• The leaders of the recent bloodless Coup in Mauritania name Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, former national police chief, as the new president of the country (Al-Jazeera)
• Scientists in Seoul National University, South Korea, have cloned a dog named Snuppy (Dong, South Korea) (Channel News Asia) (Science Daily)
• New Zealand's ruling Labour Party state that they plan to set limit to claims to Waitangi Tribunals to 2008 and settlements to 2020 (Stuff) (Channel News Asia) (BBC)
• Negotiations between the Philippines government and the National Democratic Front, the political wings of the Communist Party of the Philippines, break down. The Government has ended immunity of their members from arrest (INQ7) (Reuters AlertNet) (IHT)
• The African Union suspends Mauritania from the group after the recent coup. (Reuters AlertNet)
• Portuguese firefighters fight huge forest fires in the districts of Aveiro, Braga and Porto (Euronews)
• Italian scientists have found cocaine residue in the Po River water (Medical News Today) (BBC)
• The parliament in Senegal votes to put former prime minister Idrissa Seck on trial for embezzlement and threatening state security. (Reuters SA) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• The Nepalese court rejects criminal Charles Sobhraj's appeal against his life sentence. His lawyer intends to appeal to the United Nations Court of Human Rights (HImalayan Times) (BBC)
• The Indian Supreme Court upholds the death sentence of Mohammad Afzal in connection with parliament attack case

[edit] August 5, 2005 (Friday)

• An Israeli archaeologist working in East Jerusalem reports that she has discovered a palace dating from the 10th century BC, which may have belonged to King David. NY Times, (International Herald Tribune), (Washington Times), (Houston Chronicle), (Taipei Times)
• Wikimania has started. Audio streams are available on Meta. Reuters has reported that new restrictions on editing Wikipedia and other rules, such as removing the ability to edit articles with "stable contents", are being considered, allegedly to protect against vandalism. (Reuters) The report is based on an interview with Jimmy Wales conducted by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.(SZ)
• Three Irishmen accused of training Colombian FARC rebels have returned to Ireland. (RTÉ)
• Conflict in Afghanistan: Al-Arabiya television broadcasts video footage shot by al-Qaeda which appears to show the downing of a US Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan. (BBC)
• Yahoo! has introduced a test version of a new search service Yahoo! Audio Search that it claims can comb through 50 million music, voice and other audio files. (Yahoo! Audio)
• An earthquake in Papua, Indonesia, reached 6.0 on the Richter scale. There are no reports of casualties.(Channel News Asia)
• Newmont Minahasa Raya, a local subsidiary of U.S. mining giant Newmont Mining, and its executive Richard Ness, go on trial in North Sulawesi accused of polluting a Buyat Bay near its mine in Indonesia. (Channel News Asia) (Forbes) (Bloomberg)
• The People's Republic of China formally charges Hong Kong reporter Ching Cheong, journalist for The Straits Times, of spying. (China Post) (Channel News Asia)
• Typhoon Matsa hits Taiwan (Channel News Asia)
• Russian Priz class mini-submarine AS-28 and its 7 crewmembers are stuck underwater off the Pacific coast (Reuters) (BBC)

[edit] August 6, 2005 (Saturday)

• The British politician and former Cabinet Minister Robin Cook dies suddenly at the age of 59. (BBC)
• Jimmy Wales clarifies the recent media statements made about possible changes to Wikipedia editorial content. (Mailing list)
• India and Pakistan announce that they have agreed to give each other advance notice of future nuclear missile tests. (BBC)
• Fourteen people are killed when a Tunisian ATR 72 passenger plane carrying 39 passengers and crew ditches in the sea off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily. (CBS/AP), (Reuters)
• Cuban veteran singer Ibrahim Ferrer, vocalist and front man of the Buena Vista Social Club band, dies at the age of 78 (Prensa Latina singer ferrer dies (Contactmusic) (Reuters)

[edit] August 7, 2005 (Sunday)

• Peter Jennings, long-time anchor of ABC World News Tonight, has died from lung cancer at the age of 67. (ABC News)
• Conflict in Iraq: 39 people have died, including at least two U.S. soldiers, following a series of insurgent attacks throughout Iraq. (AFP via Yahoo!)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • A 10-year old Israeli boy is severely wounded after being shot in the head when an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades gunman opened fire on the vehicle he was travelling in outside the Israeli settlement of Ateret in the West Bank. (Reuters) (YNETnews)
  • A Palestinian man, Muhammad Qashta, is shot dead as he stands outside his home in Rafah, Gaza Strip. IDF soldiers fire shots to the head and chest from an observation post. (Al Jazeera), (Kuwait News Agency)
  • Binyamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister of Israel, resigns his cabinet post as Finance Minister in protest against the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been appointed to succeed him. (BBC), (Reuters)
• Russian Priz class mini-submarine AS-28 and its 7 crew members are saved at 03:25 UTC off the Pacific coast (RIAN - in Russian) (Reuters), (Guardian)
• England wins the second match of The 2005 Ashes test cricket series over Australia in a nail biter, winning by 2 runs at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England. (Cricinfo)
• Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez dismisses cooperation with the US DEA, claiming that they spy on him (BBC) (Reuters)
• In China, flood in coal mine traps at least 102 (Xinhua) (People's Daily) (Channel News Asia) (Reuters)
• In South Africa, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) begins the first country-wide strike in the gold mines (BBC) (Forbes) (Reuters SA)

[edit] August 8, 2005 (Monday)

• Banco Central robbery at Fortaleza: In Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, an estimated 156 million reais was discovered to be stolen over the weekend in one of the world's largest bank robberies. (Agencia Brasil), (BBC)
• Oil for food scandal: the UN-appointed panel released its third report. According to it, Benon Sevan took nearly $150,000 in cash bribes. A former UN procurement officer Alexander Yakovlev has pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from UN contractors. (BBC)
• Same sex marriage debate: The top legislative body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is set to take key votes this week on ordaining gays and blessing same-sex unions. Conflicts over what the Bible says about homosexuality have been tearing at Protestant denominations for years. Cleveland Plain Dealer AP feed in Guardian UK
• Iran resumes its nuclear programme at its uranium facility near the city of Isfahan. (BBC) (Guardian)
• A suicide bombing kills 1 and injures 32 in Fuzhou, provincial capital of Southeastern China's Fujian Province. (Reuters)
• STS-114: The Shuttle Discovery was waved off by Mission Control in Houston for a landing at Kennedy Space Center due to bad weather. NASA has said they will land the Orbiter in 24 hours, with Six opportunities available — the first two at Kennedy Space Center and the second two at Edwards Air Force Base and the final two at the White Sands Missile Range (also known as the White Sounds Spaceport). (Reuters) (Space.com)
• Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has dissolved the Japanese House of Representatives and will call a snap election for September 11. The move came after rebel lawmakers from his own Liberal Democratic Party voted down postal reform legislation on which he had staked the party's mandate. The postal reform would have led to privatization of the country's postal service. It is thought that the move will plunge normally staid Japanese politics into great uncertainty.(Japan Today) (Channel News Asia) (Bloomberg) (BBC)
• In Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia airline pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto goes on trial for poisoning human rights activist Munir Said Thalib (Channel News Asia)
• Benon Sevan, head of the United Nation's oil-for-food program, resigns before the publication of a report that is expected to accuse him of corruption. He blames Kofi Annan for "sacrificing" him and denies all charges (BBC) (Reuters)
• Chile plans to limit migration to Easter Island (MercoPress) (BBC)

[edit] August 9, 2005 (Tuesday)

• Space Shuttle Discovery, the craft for the STS-114 mission, lands at 05:12 PDT (12:12 UTC) at Edwards Air Force Base in California. (BBC) (BBC)
• Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, has announced that there is to be a Palestinian general election in January 2006. (BBC)
• Israel orders Israeli settlers on the Gaza Strip to leave their settlements or face eviction. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • The Mayor of Baghdad, Alaa al-Tamimi, has been removed from office after 120 armed men, operating on behalf of the Interim Iraqi Government, stormed his office and installed the provincial governor in his place. (BBC)
  • 10 members of the Iraqi police have been shot dead following insurgent attacks across Baghdad and in Baqouba, Iraq. (BBC)
  • At least three civilians have died following a suicide car bomb in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. (BBC)
• Mamadou Tanja, the President of Niger, has denied reports claiming a famine in Niger. (BBC)
• A committee in Sudan is formed to investigate the death of vice-president John Garang in a helicopter crash. (BBC)
• Matthew McGrory dies from natural causes at his home.

[edit] August 10, 2005 (Wednesday)

• In Delhi, India - SaMaPa (Sopori Academy Of Music and Performing Arts) presents its Inaugural Music Festival - SamaPA Sangeet Sammelan -2005' at IHC. the chief guests on the occasion are Chief Minister Smt. Sheila Dikshit and Dr. Farooq Abdullah. the function began with the Academy's Anthem -Saraswati Vandana composed by Abhay Rustum Sopori. a sitar and sarod recital by two young Zunain Halim Khan and Anirban Dasgupta and vocal recital by Bugum Parween Sultana are the main highlights of the day. Also samapa has introduced a cash award of Rs. 1,00,000 to Smt. Shameem Azad (for her contribution to Kashmiri Music) and Pandit Ramashray Jha (for contribution to Indian classical music).

• In Chile, special Judge Sergio Muñoz indicts Lucía Hiriart and Marco Antonio Pinochet, wife and youngest son of Augusto Pinochet, on charges of tax evasion. Hiriart is confined in a military facility in Santiago and Marco Pinochet in Santiago's Capuchinos Jail (BBC).
• The Transportation Equity Act of 2005 is signed into law in the United States by President George W. Bush. (Reuters)
• Conflict in Iraq: Six US soldiers are killed in insurgent attacks throughout Iraq, including four killed in one attack in the northern oil-producing Kurdish town of Baiji, bringing the total US military death toll in Iraq to 1,841. (CNN) (BBC)
• A Sikorsky S-76 helicopter of the Finnish company Copterline has crashed into the Gulf of Finland near Estonia's capital Tallinn with 14 on board; eight Finns, four Estonians and two Americans. There are no survivors..(BBC)
• The United States and the African Union have dropped their demands that last week's coup in Mauritania be reversed. The US is working with the military junta to ensure that multi-party elections are held as soon as possible (BBC)
• Yahoo Inc. is negotiating to pay approx. US$1 billion, plus the transfer of its own China operations, in return for a 35% equity stake in Alibaba.com, China's second-largest e-commerce concern. (Reuters)
• A private company, Space Adventures, announces plans to create a tourism program to send people around the Moon. A 5 1/2 day lunar flight could happen in 2008 or 2009, and cost about 100 million USD. (Yahoo), (CNN)
• The airline catering firm Gate Gourmet sack 670 workers at London's Heathrow Airport, sparking a sympathy strike from British Airways staff. (TGWU)

[edit] August 11, 2005 (Thursday)

• Tens of thousands of Israelis have converged on Tel Aviv to protest the proposed removal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. (Ynet) (BBC)
• Scientists at the German Primate Centre and the University of Göttingen announce the discovery of two new species of lemur, Mirza zaza and Microcebus lehilahytsara. (German press release), (BBC)
• Pakistan's first domestically designed cruise missile, the Babur missile, is test launched. (BBC)
• Salva Kiir has been sworn in as the Vice-President of Sudan, following the recent death of John Garang. (BBC) Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has threatened to close down newspapers which continue to publish "conspiracy theories" about Garang's death. (BBC)
• Abortion in Ireland: Three Irish women are taking the Government of Ireland to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge Ireland's constitutional ban on Abortion. (BBC)
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was scheduled to be launched at 9:00am EST (local time for launch), but the launch was scrubbed due to technical problems. (BBC) (Spaceflightnow.com)
• Malaysia has announced a state of emergency in two towns after air pollution reached dangerous levels. The pollution is blamed on fires lit to clear land in neighbouring Indonesia, seriously affecting air quality and visibility across the Strait of Malacca. (BBC)
• Scott Sullivan, once the chief financial officer of WorldCom, then the star witness in the prosecution of his former boss there, Bernie Ebbers, is sentenced to five years in prison.

[edit] August 12, 2005 (Friday)

• Conflict in Iraq:
  • Three US Soldiers are killed following an IED attack by insurgents in