Portal:Current events/December 2005

Ongoing armed conflicts
	Arab-Israeli conflict (Al-Aqsa Intifada); Second Chechen War; Second Congo War; Conflict in Iraq; Darfur conflict in Sudan; Civil war in Côte d'Ivoire; Conflict in northern Uganda; South Thailand insurgency; Chad-Sudan conflict;

Deaths
	7: Devan Nair; 7: Rigoberto Alpizar; 9: Robert Sheckley; 10: Eugene McCarthy; 10: Richard Pryor; 12: Ramanand Sagar; 12: Gebran Tueni; 13: Stanley Williams; 15: James Freed; 15: William Proxmire; 16: John Spencer; 17: Jack Anderson; 19: Vincent Gigante; 24: Michael Vale; 24: Wang Daohan; 25: Joseph Pararajasingham; 25: Birgit Nilsson; 26: John Diebold; 26: Kerry Packer; 26: Vincent Schiavelli;

Events
	Ongoing Abramoff-Reed gambling scandal; Al Jazeera bombing memo; Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak; Black sites scandal; Iran's nuclear program; Malawi food crisis; Malaysian prisoner abuse scandal; NSA Spying Controversy; North Indian cyclone season; South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season; Pacific typhoon season; Plame CIA leak investigation; Australian region cyclone season; South Pacific cyclone season; Stormontgate affair; Tropical Storm Zeta; World Pyro Olympics;

December 2005 was the twelfth and final month of that common year. The month, which began on a Thursday, ended on a Saturday after 31 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from December 2005.

December 1, 2005 (Thursday)

South Africa's Constitutional Court declares that current marriage laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples are unconstitutional and must be changed within a year. Once the change is made, South Africa will be the fifth country in the world where same-sex marriages are recognized, after Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. (AP via Yahoo)
The European Central Bank raises interest rates for the first time in five years, from 2.0% to 2.25%. This will affect the cost of money in the twelve Eurozone countries. (BBC)
A Buddhist manuscript written on birch bark in the 1st century or 2nd century passes from a private collection to the University of Washington library, becoming part of the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project. (uwnews.org)
Muriel Degauque is identified as the Belgian suicide bomber who killed herself in Iraq on November 9, 2005. (BBC)
Ray Hanna, who died on this day in Switzerland, was an air-display pilot, regarded by many as the best of the best, and was well known for flying Spitfire Mk IX MH-434. He was with the Red Arrows from 1965 to 1971, and in that time was their longest serving - and some say their most influential - leader. He and his son, Mark Hanna, started the Old Flying Machine Company The Red Arrows paid tribute to him with a flypast at his funeral.

December 2, 2005 (Friday)

About 4,000 military history enthusiasts from 23 countries gathered at Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic to re-enact the Battle of Austerlitz on the 200th anniversary of the epic battle between the First French Empire, the Austrian Empire and Imperial Russia. (BBC) (BBC) (AP via CBS) (AP via ABC) (Austerlitz2005.com)
Proposed internet domain .xxx for pornography has been dropped shortly before the domain was set to receive approval. (techtree)
Conflict in Iraq: 10 U.S. Marines are killed following an insurgent roadside bomb attack in Falluja. (BBC)
Scientists in Gabon and the Republic of Congo discover that three species of fruit bat serve as animal reservoirs for the Ebola virus. The virus probably first spread from animal to human in 1976 by local hunters eating the bats. (Nature) (LA Times)
Hurricane Epsilon strengthens from a tropical storm to become the record breaking fourteenth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. (CNN) (Reuters via Yahoo)
Kenneth Boyd becomes the 1000th person to be executed in the United States since the re-introduction of capital punishment in 1976. (BBC)
Australian Van Tuong Nguyen is executed by hanging in Singapore for drug trafficking. (AP via Yahoo)
An independent commission to investigate the Malaysian prisoner abuse scandal is established by Prime Minister of Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. (The Sun Malaysia)
The "Thermopolis" specimen, recently donated to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, Wyoming and described in the Science article "A well-preserved Archaeopteryx specimen with theropod features", shows that the Archaeopteryx lacked a reversed toe—a universal feature of birds—limiting its ability to perch in trees and implying a terrestrial lifestyle. This has been interpreted as evidence of theropod ancestry. The specimen also has a hyperextendible second toe. "Until now, the feature was thought to belong only to the species' close relatives, the deinonychosaurs."
The European release of the Xbox 360.

December 3, 2005 (Saturday)

Talks on the new EU budget may not be completed under the United Kingdom's presidency, the UK's minister for Europe warns. (BBC)
ROC local elections, 2005: Republic of China (Taiwan) opposition party Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) makes major gains in municipal elections, taking 14 of 23 mayor or county magistrate seats. Ruling Democratic Progressive Party takes six seats. People First Party and New Party each takes one seat, and an independent wins one seat. DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang resigns to take responsibility for his party's defeat. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)
Pakistan's information minister claims Pakistani forces have killed al-Qaeda operational commander Abu Hamza Rabia in fighting along the Afghanistan border. (BBC)
An attack about 60 miles from Baghdad, involving a roadside bomb, kills 19 Iraqi soldiers. (Yahoo)
Some 40,000 protest inaction on global warming in Montreal. The demonstration, held as part of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, is one of the largest environmental protests ever and is accompanied by marches worldwide, including one in hurricane-devastated New Orleans. (CTV) Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine (Independent)
Marilyn Manson marries Dita Von Teese in a lavish ceremony.

December 4, 2005 (Sunday)

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel launches a series of air strikes as reprisals after the Palestinians fired Qassam rockets, hitting what local officials called an Islamic Jihad charity in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
Hong Kong people marched today to oppose the political reform set out by Chief Executive Donald Tsang in favour of a timetable on the full implementation of universal suffrage in the territory. Organisers claimed 250,000 attended the march, while police put the figure at 63,000. (AP via Yahoo!News) (Link dead as of 22:46, 14 January 2007 (UTC)), (NYTimes) (registration required), (Xinhua)
Exit polls indicate that Kazakhstan's incumbent leader Nursultan Nazarbayev wins the presidential election by a landslide. (Forbes) (Financial Times) (Guardian) (Xinhua)
Conflict in Iraq:
- Former chief of the RUC police force will head a British investigation into possible infiltration of Iraq's police force by insurgents. (BBC)
- Former prime minister Iyad Allawi says he survived an assassination attempt at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. Police say his group fled from the Shi'ite Muslim shrine under a hail of debris by a mob. (ReutersUK)(Link dead as of 22:46, 14 January 2007 (UTC)), (NYTimes) (registration required)
Former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser calls for a worldwide ban on capital punishment. (The Australian)
The people of Venezuela vote in Parliamentary Elections. (BBC)
A London tabloid claims that the CIA's use of Scotland's airports was part of an alleged CIA operation to catch and transfer terrorist suspects to secret prison camps in Europe. The three airports allegedly involved were Glasgow International, Glasgow Prestwick, and Edinburgh Airport. (BBC News) (Hindustan Times) Archived 2007-03-01 at the Wayback Machine (Photo of aircraft (Airliners.net))

December 5, 2005 (Monday)

The 23rd Southeast Asian Games officially closes with Philippines gaining the top medal ranking for the first time. (Manila Bulletin)
An earthquake strikes the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). Many people are feared dead after an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck Lake Tanganyika near the town of Kalemie. (TimesOnLine) (News24) (The Independent) (BBC)
Civil Partnership Act 2004: The United Kingdom begins registration of civil unions for same-sex couples. (BBC)
2005 Kashmir earthquake: Pakistan renews SOS Children's Villages role as custodian of all orphans and unaccompanied children following the earthquake. (SOS)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A suicide bomb attack kills at least five people in Netanya, north-western Israel. The attack follows confirmation from Shaul Mofaz that Israel will resume its policy of "targeted killings". (Ynetnews) (BBC)
Venezuelan parliamentary elections apparently result in Hugo Chávez's party and allies winning all 167 seats, as opposition parties boycott the election claiming election fraud. (BBC)

December 6, 2005 (Tuesday)

The BBC World Service reports that the U.S. are moving into four new bases in Romania, one of the bases is where the CIA has been accused of carrying out extraordinary rendition. (BBC)
An Iranian C-130 Hercules airplane crashes into a ten-story building in a civilian area of the Iranian capital Tehran, killing all 94 people aboard and 34 residents of the building - a total of 128+ people. (BBC) (BBC)
David Cameron wins the leadership election for the United Kingdom Conservative Party. (BBC)
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) photographs what appears to be a new species in Borneo. The lemur-like carnivorous mammal is apparently a member of the viverrid family, related to the mongoose and civet. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: Two suicide bombers kill 27 Iraqi Police at a police academy in Baghdad. (BBC)
The Red Cross mulls adding a new Red Crystal symbol to ensure continuing acceptance of its work. (BBC)
Deposed Iraq president Saddam Hussein has refused to attend his trial for crimes against humanity, throwing the sometimes chaotic Iraqi proceedings into further confusion. (ABC)
At least 123 miners are missing following an explosion at a coal mine in China's Hebei province, the official Xinhua news agency says. (ABC)
South Africa's axed deputy president Jacob Zuma, who lost his job in post-apartheid South Africa's most sensational corruption scandal, has been charged with rape. (ABC)

December 7, 2005 (Wednesday)

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin addresses the Montreal conference on climate change, and is critical of the United States's stance on the issue. Martin's allegedly "undiplomatic" comments—"there is such a thing as a global conscience, and now is the time to listen to it"—reportedly anger Vice President Dick Cheney. (CBC)
The third President of Singapore, Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, passes away in Canada at the age of 82. (CNA)
Two people are wounded in Malawi, which is facing serious food shortages, following clashes between police and people trying to buy cornmeal. (BBC)
Microsoft loses a South Korean antitrust case, and is fined ₩n32 billion (USD 32m). (Reuters) (BBC)
A U.S. Federal Air Marshal fatally shoots Rigoberto Alpizar on American Airlines Flight 924 in a jetway at Miami International Airport in Florida. Alpizar, a U.S. citizen who had disembarked from an American Airlines flight from Medellín, Colombia, claimed to have a bomb. No explosive was found. (BBC) (CNN)
Nobel Prize in Literature winner Harold Pinter accuses Britain and the United States of engaging in state terrorism in Iraq and demands the prosecution of George W. Bush and Tony Blair. (Reuters) (BBC)
An Italian court rules that calling someone a "dirty negro" while committing a crime is not necessarily a hate crime. (Reuters)

December 8, 2005 (Thursday)

A six-year-old boy is killed after Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 skids off a runway at Chicago Midway International Airport. (CNN)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- Hamas leader Khaled Mashal declares at a rally in Damascus, Syria that its informal ceasefire with Israel, which expires at the end of the year, will not be renewed. (BBC)
- Two Palestinians, believed to be militants, are killed following an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
- An Israeli soldier dies after being stabbed by a Palestinian at a Checkpoint in the West Bank. (BBC)
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remarks that Israel should be moved to Europe and the "issue will be resolved." His remarks were widely condemned as Holocaust denial by Israeli, European and American politicians, The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, issued a statement indicating that he "was shocked", while Saudi, Turkish and Iranian officials criticized his speech because it undermined a Mecca summit dedicated to showing Islam's moderate face.(DailyStar)(UN) (AP) (KUNA)(BBC) (Reuters)
Conflict in Iraq: At least 32 people have died following an attack on a bus in Baghdad. (BBC) (Fox News)
Croatian general Ante Gotovina, rated the third-most-wanted war criminal from the Yugoslav wars by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, is arrested by Spanish police in Tenerife and extradited to face the tribunal in The Hague. (BBC)
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher has left hospital after being given a clean bill of health by doctors after feeling faint yesterday. (BBC)
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopt a Red Crystal design, allowing Israel to join as a fully participating member. (BBC)
UK Law Lords rule in A v. Secretary of State for the Home Department that evidence which may have been obtained by torture cannot be used against suspects in terrorism cases. (BBC)
Lawyers for convicted murderer and Crips co-founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams meet with Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger in a final plea for clemency. (MTV)
In Australia, the voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation has passed the Senate. (ABC)

December 9, 2005 (Friday)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe comes out to theatres. Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media
Viacom's Paramount Pictures agrees to buy the DreamWorks SKG company founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen for $1.6 billion. (NY Times)
The Groups for the 2006 FIFA World Cup to be held in Germany are finalized. (BBC) Both Group C and Group E have been dubbed "groups of death". (SI), (Globe&Mail), (ChicagoTribune)
The Bush administration summons Canadian ambassador Frank McKenna, and is expected to formally lodge a complaint after Prime Minister Paul Martin's criticism on December 7 of the United States at the Montreal conference on climate change. U.S.-Canada relations are already a major issue in the upcoming Canadian federal election. (CBC)
Reports emerge of an alleged massacre of protesting farmers and fishermen in Dongzhou, Guangdong, China by police forces. The protesters are believed to be upset with government plans to build a new power plant in the area and infill part of the bay. The death toll, pegged at 20, is the worst act of violence by Chinese security forces since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The town is reportedly still sealed off by government forces. (IHT) (BBC)

The last London Routemaster double-decker bus makes its final journey on route 159 before being withdrawn from general service. (BBC)

December 10, 2005 (Saturday)

The International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. (BBC)
The other 2005 Nobel Prizes are handed out in Stockholm to Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren (Physiology or Medicine), Roy J. Glauber and John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch (Physics), Robert H. Grubbs, Richard R. Schrock and Yves Chauvin (Chemistry), Robert J. Aumann and Thomas C. Schelling (Economics), and Harold Pinter (Literature). (CNN)
At least 103 people are killed and 7 injured when Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes en route to Port Harcourt from the Nigerian capital Abuja. (CNN)
American comedian and actor Richard Pryor dies of cardiac arrest at the age of 65 at 7:58 AM (Pacific Time).

December 11, 2005 (Sunday)

According to some reports, Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, put the Israeli Defense Force on high alert for possible airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Sharon's office, however, denied this or that they had any plans to do so. (Times Online) (Y-Net) (Y-Net)
Chief minister of the Indian state of Karnataka, Dharam Singh announced that the state government had accepted Jnanpith awardee U R Ananthamurthy's suggestion to rename Bangalore to its colloquial name, Bengaluru. The new name will be effective from November 1, 2006. (The Times of India)
Brian Chase of Nashville, Tennessee admits putting false information about John Seigenthaler Sr. into a Wikipedia article, leading to widespread debate. (NYT via Seattle Times) (CNN) (BBC)
A suicide bombing in Kandahar, Afghanistan, injures 3 people while killing the bomber. (Reuters) (Guardian)
2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire: Explosions are reported at the Buncefield oil depot north of London ten miles from the Luton airport. (BBC) (Sky News)
Ethnically motivated violence erupts in the suburbs of Sydney, leading authorities to condemn the incidents as "shameful". (ABC)
Korean Air, both national and international has been shut down due to the strike going on in Korea. The national airplane circulation has been stopped already and the Korean Airline planes that were in a foreign country are returning to Korea.
Vengeance of Rain of Hong Kong, was crowned the World Racing Championship winner after winning the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse

December 12, 2005 (Monday)

At an inquest into the death of UN worker Iain Hook, Paul Wolstenholme, a United Nations worker in Jenin claims that moments after Iain Hook was shot by a mysterious sniper rifle-shot to the pelvis, an Israeli sniper rifle laser was pointed at his head. He also supplied documentary evidence which stated that the Israeli army had delayed an ambulance which was sent to take the wounded Mr Hook to hospital. (BBC)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe grossed $65.6 million in the United States and Canada ($107 million worldwide) on its opening weekend, making it the #2 December opening weekend film of all time (behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and in front of the first two The Lord of the Rings films). With this news, Disney has officially given the greenlight to cinema production of the second book in the series, Prince Caspian, by 2007.
Stanley Williams is denied clemency by the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The US Supreme Court also refuses to stay his execution. Williams is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 0:01 PST on December 13. There are some concerns of potential rioting and violence tonight across the state. (SF Chronicle) (Governor's statement (PDF))
Gebran Tueni, a prominent Lebanese anti-Syrian member of parliament and managing editor of the leading liberal An-Nahar newspaper, has been killed in a car bomb attack in Beirut. He had spent months in Paris because of security concerns, reportedly only returning to Lebanon on Sunday. Another An-Nahar journalist, the anti-Syrian writer Samir Kassir, was killed in a car bomb in June. (BBC)
ASEAN Summit begins in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Channel News Asia)

December 13, 2005 (Tuesday)

Conflict in Iraq:
- Four American soldiers are killed following an IED attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (AP)
- The U.S. ambassador issues a statement saying that the total number of abused prisoners found so far in jails run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry is about 121. (AP)
The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization opened in Hong Kong. European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said that he expected little progress on resolving disagreements between ministers. Meanwhile, some protesters from South Korea unsuccessfully attempted to bypass the cordon to reach the location of the conference by swimming across Victoria Harbour. (BBC) (AP via Yahoo) (Reuters via Yahoo)
The collapse of a residential building in New Jersey kills three people and sends plumes of smoke into the air. (BBC) (Wikinews)
The President of the United States, George W. Bush, acknowledges the deaths of approximately 30,000 Iraqi civilians since the commencement of the Iraq War. (The Australian)
Swiss Councillor Dick Marty, commissioned by the Council of Europe to investigate CIA black sites and prisoner abuse in Europe says that the CIA has "disregarded all standards of legality". (CNN) (Houston Chronicle)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Palestinian stone thrower is shot in the head and killed by Israeli troops raiding the West Bank city of Nablus. At least ten other Palestinians were injured by the IDF troops while two Israeli soldiers were injured by a bomb during the raid. (BBC)
An earthquake of Richter scale magnitude 6.7 rocks South Asia. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake was centred in the Hindukush region of northeastern Afghanistan. (Times of India) (BBC) (CNN)
Stanley Williams is executed at San Quentin State Prison by the U.S. state of California. (BBC)
In response to Canadian Prime Minister criticizing the United States on its resistance to climate change initiatives, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, openly responds to the statements that he complains were used for political advantage during an election.(Toronto Star)
North America: The Canadian provinces, Ontario and Quebec and the US states Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin sign an international agreement to preclude significant water diversion from the Great Lakes. (Toronto Star)
The $100 laptop project announces that it has chosen Quanta Computers to make its laptops, which it hopes to distribute to low-income people around the world. (IDG News Service)
US Federal Reserve rises the target for the interest rate to 4.25%. The rate lead to the highest in more than four years.
It was announced that on 1 April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains would combine into the new Greater Western franchise. (BBC)

December 14, 2005 (Wednesday)

The European Parliament has adopted the directive on Telecommunications data retention. (BBC)
U.S. Budget Approval — More than 100 religious activists were arrested on Wednesday after they staged a peaceful sit-in at the Cannon House Office Building, near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. They were protesting the proposed cuts to health care and other social welfare programs in the Federal Budget. The protest was organized by Jim Wallis, editor of the liberal Christian journal Sojourners Magazine Washington Post SJMN
U.S. President George W. Bush says that the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was the result of faulty intelligence, and accepts responsibility for that decision. He maintains that his decision was still justified. (BBC)
Doctors in Pakistan marvel at the survival of Naqsha Bibi, rescued last Saturday, 63 days after she was buried in the 8 October 2005 Kashmir earthquake. (BBC)
The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announces that Brazil will clear its International Monetary Fund debt of $15.5bn two years early. (BBC)
In India, 11 Hindus are sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in the murder of Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat violence. (BBC)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- An Israeli Air-Strike in the Gaza Strip leaves four Palestinians dead. Israel claims that all four were militants and were about to launch a rocket attack into Israel. (BBC) (Haaretz)
- Israel has approved further expansion of the Jewish Settlements within the West Bank. A further 300 Jewish houses will be added to the Maale Adumim settlement. (BBC)
The President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, describes the Holocaust as a myth. He also said that Europe should house the Jews of the world, rather than the Palestinians. (BBC) (The Guardian)
A reservoir bursts near Lesterville, Missouri at the Taum Sauk hydroelectric power plant on the Black River, causing significant damage. (DisasterNews)
In Japan, former one-class authorized architect Hidetsugu Aneha, Takeshi Uchikawa, Akira Shinozuka and Moriyoshi Kimura receives a summons of witnesses by the Diet because of concerning falsification of earth-quake resistant structural data about condominiums and hotels. (The Japan Times Online) Subtitled "Tuba Adventure"
the movie King Kong was remade on 14th December 2005

December 15, 2005 (Thursday)

Former United States presidential candidate Al Sharpton agrees to pay $100,000 to the Federal Election Commission in a settlement over alleged corrupt practices during his 2004 electoral bid. (Reuters)
A colleague of South Korean biomedical researcher Hwang Woo-Suk says that Hwang admitted that he faked nine of eleven stem cell colonies used in what had been hailed as a medical breakthrough in the journal Science. (BBC)
Thousands of Iraqi Shia protest against Al Jazeera after a guest on a talk show on the network suggested that the Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shia Islam's most senior cleric, should stay out of politics. (BBC)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel continues to strike Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip. (RTÉ)
The European Council meets to discuss the next 7-year budget for the European Union. (BBC)
Voting starts in Iraq to elect the first permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly under the new Constitution of Iraq. (BBC)
A comparison of 42 articles by the journal Nature concludes that Wikipedia is almost as accurate on science topics as the Encyclopædia Britannica. The study also notes that Wikipedia's writing is more disorganized than Britannica's. (Nature) (BBC) (NPR)
A Nepalese soldier shoots dead 11 people at a temple in Nagarkot, near Kathmandu. (BBC)
Marwan Barghouti launches a new party called al-Mustaqbal (The Future), splitting from the Fatah movement in the Palestinian National Authority. (BBC)
Bradley John Murdoch, convicted murderer of British backpacker Peter Falconio, is sentenced to a non-parole period of 28 years in prison in Australia. (NineMSN)

December 16, 2005 (Friday)

Bulgaria starts withdrawing its troops from Iraq. (Reuters)
Extreme levels of radiation have been found at a chemical factory in Chechnya. (BBC)
United States Government:
- Senator John McCain persuades President George W. Bush to accept a ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees. (AP)
- The United States House of Representatives has requested that the Bush administration give Congress details on any secret detention facilities overseas. (AP)
- The United States Senate rejects the extension of the PATRIOT Act. Critics had said it infringed on civil liberties and made the government too powerful. (AP).
- United States President George W. Bush refuses to comment on whether the National Security Agency spied on American citizens without a legal warrant. (AP)
Conflict in Iraq: Iraqi Police claim that they captured Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2004 and then released him by mistake. (BBC)
Hamas, the main Palestinian opposition party make a large series of gains in the West Bank municipal elections. (BBC)
At least 39 people, 33 of whom were patients, die after a fire breaks out in a hospital in the city of Liaoyuan, near Changchun in China's Jilin Province. The cause of the fire is unknown. (BBC)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: An Israeli settler dies following a drive-by shooting claimed by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Islamic Jihad. (Ynetnews) (RTÉ)
Intellectual property dispute: a US federal judge upholds Pfizer's two main patents for Lipitor, which had been challenged by Ranbaxy Laboratories. The decision is the latest defeat for Ranbaxy, an Indian generic drugmaker, which has also lost in a UK court. (MSNBC)
Denis Donaldson is expelled from Sinn Féin for being a British spy. He later confirms this in a statement. (BBC)

December 17, 2005 (Saturday)

Hong Kong police detain 900 protesters at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005 after an anti-globalization demonstration became violent. The protesters object to trade rules that they say hurt poor farmers. 74 people are injured. (Reuters) (CNN)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Palestinian militant Khaled Abu Sitta is killed and three others injured when Sitta's car explodes in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources say the explosion was caused by an Israeli air strike, although the Israeli Defense Force denies any involvement but admits bombing roads and bridges and shooting dead a suspect.(BBC) (Y-Net) (Haaretz) (Reuters)
Condoleezza Rice and the African Union request additional funds to enable the A.U.'s peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan to continue. Without additional aid, the African peacekeeping force will run out of funds in four months. Violence in the region has resurged recently. (Boston Globe) (Reuters) (LA Times via Chron.com)
A group of over 40 people, dressed in Santa Claus costumes, go on a rampage through downtown Auckland, New Zealand, robbing stores and assaulting security guards. (AP)
Thieves use a flatbed truck to steal a 2-ton Henry Moore statue from the grounds of his foundation in Hertfordshire, England. The statue is valued at more than $5.2 million dollars. (AP) (Telegraph.co.uk) Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine

December 18, 2005 (Sunday)

Air Nauru's only passenger jet is seized by creditors in Melbourne, leaving the island nations of Nauru and Kiribati without air transport to the rest of the world. (ABC)
Extinct mammoth mitochondrial DNA decoded. (BBC)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) holds its first national democratic poll in 40 years. (BBC) (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
The Bolivian presidential election, 2005 takes place in Bolivia, with Evo Morales and Jorge Quiroga as front-runners. Morales is expected to win a plurality of votes but not an absolute majority. If no candidate wins a majority, the election of the President will be by vote in the National Congress, also elected today. (BBC)
42 people die following a stampede in the Indian city of Chennai. (BBC)
Bono, Melinda Gates and Bill Gates are named Time's Persons of the Year. (CNN)
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is on a trip to various countries including Oman, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He made a surprise stop to Iraq today. (Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 22:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC)), (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:48, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
Philippines finish in 5th place in the medal tally for the 2005 ASEAN Para Games in the Philippines. Thailand finishes with 84 golds, followed by Malaysia. (The Nation, Bangkok)
The prime minister of Israel Ariel Sharon is transferred to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem after suffering a minor stroke. Meanwhile, some Palestinians have taken to the streets in Gaza to celebrate Sharon's health condition and the Kahane organisation has urged Jews to pray for his death. (Ynetnews) (Wikinews)
São Paulo win the FIFA Club World Championship in Yokohama, Japan, defeating Liverpool F.C. 1-0. (BBC)
President George W. Bush defends the Iraq War in a rare primetime Oval Office address. He said, "Not only can we win the war in Iraq — we are winning the war in Iraq." (USAToday) (The Guardian)

December 19, 2005 (Monday)

Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 flying from Miami, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas, crashes in Miami Beach, killing 18 passengers and two crew members.(CNN)
Evo Morales becomes the latest Leftist to win the Presidency of a South American nation after he claimed victory in the Bolivian Presidential Election. (BBC)
Early returns in the Iraqi legislative election, December 2005 indicate that religious parties have done quite well, winning up 80 percent of the vote. Election officials are investigating more than 1,000 complaints about irregularities, 20 of them considered serious. Final results will not be released until early January.
The Free Aceh Movement surrenders the last of its weapons following a peace agreement with the Government of Indonesia. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: An insurgent group broadcasts a video over the Internet of what they claim is the death of American Ronald Allen Schulz. (BBC)
Nazi Officer Ladislav Niznansky is acquitted of charges relating to three massacres of Slovaks during World War II. (IOL)
Governor Antonio Fazio of Bank of Italy resigns, after having been officially put under investigation for insider trading, and following heavy pressure from both government and opposition. (BBC)
The Likud primary elections for the party's leadership between the candidates Benjamin Netanyahu, Silvan Shalom, Yisrael Katz and Moshe Feyglin opened at 10:00 a.m. (Ynetnews)

December 20, 2005 (Tuesday)

Chiyoda Corp. and Technip SA win a 500-billion Yen contract to build two LNG (liquefied natural gas) facilities in Qatar. Bloomberg
In the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case, Judge John E. Jones III rules that it is unconstitutional to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom in the United States. (Aljazeera) (Associated Press) Archived 2012-10-19 at the Wayback Machine (BBC) (Christian Science Monitor) (CNN) (Guardian) (Time) Archived 2009-11-15 at the Wayback Machine
At least 20 people die as a bus in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir skids from the road, tumbles down a hill and lands in the river Jhelum. (BBC)
Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union declares a New York City transit strike after talks fail, shutting down the subway and bus system that constitute the largest transportation system in the United States. (Wikinews) (AP via Yahoo!) (CNN) (BBC)
Israel:
- In the Likud primary elections, Benjamin Netanyahu wins, becoming the new Likud leader. In the voting, he is followed by Silvan Shalom, Moshe Feyglin, and Yisrael Katz. (Ynetnews)
- Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, is released from Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital after being treated for a mild stroke. (Ynetnews)
Midwest Airlines Flight 210 lands safely at Boston's Logan International Airport with a landing-gear problem late Tuesday after circling the airport for approximately two hours. (AP via Yahoo!)

December 21, 2005 (Wednesday)

The former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, claims in court that American officials tortured him. Part of his testimony is censored and the US strongly denies the accusations. (BBC)
In a 7–2 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada rules that swingers clubs do not harm society and are legal as long as there is no exchange of money and the activities are conducted in private. (CTV) Archived 2006-04-09 at the Wayback Machine (CBC)
A mugger who attempted to escape pursuit on Sunday by entering Bloemfontein Zoo in South Africa is killed after jumping into the Bengal tigers area. He was found with bite marks all over his body, and all his clothes removed, but the tigers had not attempted to eat him, having been fed the previous afternoon. (BBC) (Mail & Guardian (SA))
A bomb explodes near a nightclub in Spain, but no one is hurt. The Basque separatist movement ETA claims responsibility. (Reuters)
The U.S. Senate blocks oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (CNN) (Link dead as of 00:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israel bans Palestinians from East Jerusalem from voting in the next Palestinian legislative election throwing the entire election in doubt. Israel claims that it made the ban out of fears that Hamas would do well. (BBC)
Musician Elton John and Canadian filmmaker David Furnish are joined in a civil partnership ceremony at Windsor Town Hall. The couple are among hundreds of same-sex couples entering civil partnerships in England and Wales on the first day that such ceremonies become possible. Ceremonies were held earlier this week in Northern Ireland and Scotland. (BBC) (BBC)
2005 Kashmir earthquake. SOS Children's Villages field workers report a rapid deterioration in weather conditions and increase in weather-related death. 64 more children believed orphaned have been taken into emergency care this week. (SOS)
December solstice:
- The December solstice, occurring at 18:35 UTC, is observed around the world in both astronomical and spiritual terms; this day has the least hours of sunlight and the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (winter solstice), and vice versa in the Southern Hemisphere (summer solstice). (North County Times)
- 20,000 people apply for lottery tickets for the 20 places available to view the winter solstice sunrise from inside the Newgrange stone age burial mound in County Meath, Ireland, although cloud cover prevented the sun from shining into the passage grave this morning. (Fairfield County Weekly) (Ireland Online)
The U.S. Senate passes a six-month extension of the USA PATRIOT Act late Wednesday night by a voice vote. This clears the way for a final vote in the House. (AP via Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 00:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
Connecticut. A former hedge fund manager, Scott Sacane, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 in connection with the manipulation of the prices of two biotechnology stocks between November 2002 and July 2003. (Stamford (CT) Advocate) (Link dead as of 00:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC))

December 22, 2005 (Thursday)

Judge Richard Fred Suhrheinrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, arguing that the US Constitution does not include "a wall of separation between church and state," denies a claim by the ACLU, thereby approving the continued display of the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky courthouse. (Cincinnati Enquirer) (AP) (Catholic World News)
The 2005 New York City transit strike is halted as strikers agree to return to work when negotiations resumed. (BBC)
India's most advanced INSAT-4A telecommunication satellite is successfully launched by the EADS SPACE Transportation generic rocket, Ariane 5, from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. (BBC)
Acetylene and hydrogen cyanide, precursors to life's basic ingredients (DNA and proteins), are found around a star in the constellation Ophiuchus. (NASA JPL) (MSNBC)
Tony Blair makes a surprise visit to Basra in Iraq, to address 4,000 British soldiers and discuss withdrawal. He states that "we can eventually draw down our own capability" once the Iraqi forces "build up their own strength". (BBC)

December 23, 2005 (Friday)

An Azeri passenger jet crashed after taking off from the Azerbaijan capital, Baku. (BBC)
Different sources report that Chadian president Idriss Déby has said his country is in a state of either "war" or "belligerence" with Sudan following a recent rebel attack in which around 100 people were killed. (BBC) (Reuters)
The 2012 Summer Olympics may have been given to London by a voting error, a senior IOC official theorised. (BBC)
Astronomers have discovered new moons and rings around Uranus using the Hubble Space Telescope. (CNN)
Lech Kaczyński was sworn in as President of the Republic of Poland. (BBC)
U.S. News and World Report claimed that the United States government has been monitoring mosques in the United States since September 11 for traces of radiation. (US News)
The ITV News Channel closes after 5 years

December 24, 2005 (Saturday)

The Egyptian opposition leader, Ayman Nour, was found guilty of fraud and jailed for five years. (BBC)
The United Kingdom began commemorations for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami ahead of the official Thai commemorations in Thailand. (BBC)
The Congress of the United States rejected Condoleezza Rice's request to restore $50 million in aid to the African Union that human rights groups say had been cut from the budget in November. The money would have gone to maintain AU peacekeepers in controlling the Darfur conflict, in which about 180,000 people have died. (Herald News Daily) (UN)
A tourism-promoting agency announced that it is purchasing the Maryland land, and the small one-room building thereon, said to have been the original location that inspired the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin," written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

December 25, 2005 (Sunday)

Five children died in Guatemala City when a blaze started by fireworks swept through their house. A traditional holiday firecracker called a "silbador" shot into their small wooden house started the fire. The children were aged 2, 3, 6, 10 and 13. (Scotsman)
40 people killed in DR Congo in a clash between Ugandan rebels and UN-Congolese troops. The Ituri area has been the site of a joint action. (BBC)
A railroad train on the Uetsu Main Line in northern Japan derailed, killing four and injuring at least 33. (CNN) (BBC)
Joseph Pararajasingham, 71, a pro–Tamil Tiger politician, was shot dead at a Christmas Midnight Mass in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. (BBC) (Reuters)
Nazir Ahmad, a Pakistani laborer, admitted to, and was arrested for murdering his four daughters, aged 4, 8, 12, and 25, after his eldest daughter, Muqadas Bibi, married a man against his wishes. (Reuters)
The Supreme Court in Libya overturned the death sentences given to international health workers charged with infecting children with HIV. (BBC)

December 26, 2005 (Monday)

15-year-old Jane Creba is killed and six others are wounded in Toronto's Boxing Day shooting, when two groups of gunmen open fire outside a Foot Locker store near the Eaton Centre in Toronto. (CNN) (CBC)
Memorial services around the world, including one in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, mark the first anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which saw 275,000 people killed or left missing. (CNN)
A gas attack occurs at an outlet of the Maksidom chain on Moskovsky Prospect in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and leads to the hospitalization of numerous victims. (BBC)
The prime minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, will undergo a cardiac catheterization to seal a hole in his heart. The surgery is a routine procedure for this congenital defect, according to doctors in Jerusalem. (CNN)
A Qassam rocket fired at the Israeli kibbutz Sa'ad lands near a preschool. No injuries are reported. (Ynetnews)
SeaQuest DSV is released on DVD for the first time.
Kerry Packer, major shareholder of PBL, dies of kidney failure at the age of 68.

December 27, 2005 (Tuesday)

Indonesia's Free Aceh Movement formally disbands its armed wing. (Reuters) (Link dead as of 21:18, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
Andrei Illarionov, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin quits, saying Russia is "no longer free". (Washington Post)
The government of Poland announces it will keep troops in Iraq until the end of 2006, longer than previously planned. (Al jazeera)
A mass grave is discovered in the predominantly Shia city of Karbala south of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. (BBC)
The serial rape suspect accused of terrorizing two South Florida neighborhoods with attacks on victims ranging from elderly women to an 11-year-old girl was back in custody Tuesday, a week since his brazen jail escape, after a tipster recognized his face and called police. (AP via Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 21:18, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
Rebels in Colombia kill 24 soldiers guarding coca eradication workers. (BBC)
The Ugandan army kills seven civilians who had been protesting over the killing of a 15 year old boy. Sixteen others are injured. (BBC)

December 28, 2005 (Wednesday)

M. C. Puri, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, is killed and three others are injured when an unidentified gunman opened fire at India's premier educational institute, the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore. (BBC) (The Hindu)
Jürgen Chrobog, Germany's former Deputy Foreign Minister, his wife and three children, are kidnapped in Yemen by tribesmen pressing for the release of jailed members of their tribe. (IHT) (Deutsche Welle)
Europe's "sat-nav" technology satellite, Giove-A, is launched as part of the Galileo positioning system with the goal of providing access to timing and location information independent of the United States' prevalent GPS system. (BBC)
Arab–Israeli conflict:
- Israeli jets bomb the PFLP-GC base in Naameh, Lebanon, a few miles outside Beirut, wounding two people, in retaliation for a rocket attack that hit Qiryat Shemona. Israeli warplanes then fly over southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa Valley in reconnaissance flights, drawing anti-aircraft fire from the Lebanese army. The PFLP-GC denies responsibility for the rockets that hit Kiryat Shmona. Major General Udi Adam has not ruled out targeting installations in Syria. (Reuters)
- Israel Defense Forces forces launch Operation Blue Skies, firing artillery rounds against areas in the northern Gaza Strip and at the areas in proximity to the newly established ‘security strip’ - an area of the Gaza Strip that Israel has declared off limits to Palestinians which Israel claims is aimed at distancing Qassam rocket launchers from the border with Israel. (Ynetnews)
- Militants from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and other militants linked to Fatah storm electoral offices in Gaza. (BBC) (TVNZ)

December 29, 2005 (Thursday)

At least 30 people are killed following a large landslide in a village close to Sanaa in Yemen. (BBC)
Arab–Israeli conflict:
- A suicide bomber attacks a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Tulkarm, killing one Israeli soldier, two Palestinian civilians and himself. Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the attack. (The New York Times) (The Los Angeles Times) (Telegraph) Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
- A statement is posted, apparently from al-Qaeda in Iraq, on several websites claiming responsibility for a recent Katyusha bombardment of northern Israeli towns. (CNN) (Ha'aretz)
A Scottish human rights worker, Kate Burton, and her parents have been kidnapped in Gaza. Palestinian authorities have stepped up work to find them. (BBC News) (Scotsman)
Chinese state media announce that the country's government will abolish its national agricultural tax starting January 1, 2006. (Reuters) (China Daily)
The Associated Press reports story of Farris Hassan, a young Iraqi-American teenager who travelled to Iraq without informing his parents and was picked up by the 101st Airborne.(AP)

December 30, 2005 (Friday)

Twenty Sudanese migrants are killed when a Cairo camp is broken up by police. (BBC)
A consortium led by New York based Citigroup has won the right to buy 85% of the Guangdong Development Bank, in the People's Republic of China, according to a Reuters report. It beat out a rival Europe-based consortium.
Tropical Storm Zeta, the twenty-seventh named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, forms in the Atlantic Ocean one month after the season's official end. (Reuters) (US NHC)
Drake Bell was injured in a car accident. A Mercedes plowed into his 1966 Mustang. Bell suffered a broken jaw and a fractured neck. Due to this, his hit television show "Drake and Josh" was post-poned until March.

December 31, 2005 (Saturday)

25-year-old Scottish human rights worker Kate Burton and her parents are freed unharmed in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian gunmen who kidnapped them two days earlier. (ABC Australia)
A bomb explodes in downtown Palu, Indonesia, killing at least eight people and wounding 45 people. (BBC)
After heavy rains, Napa, California experienced its worst flooding in 20 years. (Napa Valley Register) Two days later, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Napa and 6 other California counties (Napa Valley Register), and one month later, U.S. President George W. Bush signed a declaration stating that a major disaster existed in Napa and 9 other California counties, allowing Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance for those areas affected by the flooding. (Napa Valley Register)

Elections
3: Taiwan, Local 3: Kazakhstan, President 4: Venezuela, Parliament 7: St. Vinc. & Grenadines, Parliament 11: Chile, Parliament 15: Iraq, Parliament 18: Bolivia, President 18: Tanzania, General 24: Pitcairn Is., Council

Trials
Chile: Alberto Fujimori Chile: Augusto Pinochet Indonesia: Bali Nine Iraq: Iraqi Special Tribunal — Saddam Hussein, among others Libya: Bulgarian nurses & Ashraf al-Hajuj Netherlands: ICTY — Slobodan Milošević, among others Russia: Nur-Pashi Kulayev UK: Leo O'Connor & David Keogh U.S.: Tom DeLay U.S.: Zacarias Moussaoui U.S.: Brian Nichols

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