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[edit] Events
(AP)
- In Iraq, a spate of suicide bombings (including one near Iraqi National Accord headquarters) kills 27. Interim defence minister Hazim al-Shaalan hints that the assembly elections scheduled for 30 January could be delayed to allow for Sunni Muslim participation. (Oman Times) (Al Jazeera)
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake:
- The United Nations accepts Singapore's offer to set up a UN Regional Coordination Centre to coordinate relief efforts to stricken areas. This centre will see an influx of UN staff and it is likely to be a long-term infrastructure to help reconstruction efforts. John Budd, UNICEF head of communications in Indonesia, said, "The Singapore government's military (SAF) response to the emergency in Aceh has been nothing less than outstanding. It has done a phenomenal job; all the aid agencies and the UN are very grateful for the enormous and fast response the military in Singapore brought to bear on this disaster." (CNA)
- Three U.S. Presidents – George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush – make a joint appeal urging Americans to aid the tsunamis' victims. (BBC) Bush makes a presidential proclamation to fly the U.S. flag at half staff from 3-7 Jan in honor of the tsunami victims. (whitehouse.gov)
- The United Kingdom's Metropolitan Police announces that they have arrested a suspect in a hoax case where Britons missing relatives or friends in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake received e-mail messages informing them that the person had died. The messages came from the improbably fake address ukgovfoffice@aol.com. (Telegraph) (BBC) (London Free Press)
- In Peru, 200 men from the ultranationalist Movimiento Etnocacerista who took over the town of Andahuaylas and its police station first say they intend to give up their weapons, then retract, saying the government had reneged on a surrender deal. (BBC) (Bloomberg) (New York Times)
- In the Croatian election, incumbent President Stipe Mesic receives 49% of the vote. He will face Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor in a second round commencing on January 16. (Reuters) (BBC)
- In Uganda, a seven-week ceasefire between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army ends with the rebel ambush of government troops near the town of Gulu. President Yoweri Museveni promises to increase military action against the rebels. (BBC)
- Ethiopian opposition groups demonstrate against the government's plan to reopen border talks with Eritrea. (IOL) (BBC)
- Former South African President Nelson Mandela breaks a strong taboo when he announces that the death at age 54 of his sole surviving son, Makgatho Mandela, was caused by AIDS, which kills about 600 people daily in South Africa. His action is viewed as being critical of his successor, Thabo Mbeki, who has denied a link between HIV and AIDS. (ABC), (BBC).
- 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy:
- Camp X-Ray: The United States Department of Defense announces a new investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse at the Camp X-Ray detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: An Iraqi civilian testifies that U.S soldiers, including Sergeant Tracy Perkins, forced him and his cousin to jump into the Tigris River and laughed as his relative was swept to his death. (BBC)
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake: World leaders gather in Jakarta, Indonesia, for an emergency summit with the United Nations. Aid pledges since the Asian Tsunami disaster are near USD 4 billion (€ 3 billion). Nearly 150,000 people have been confirmed dead in the four hardest hit nations - Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. (CNA)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr joins Sunnis in calling for a delay in the assembly election, saying that it cannot happen if Sunnis cannot fairly participate. President of Iran Mohammad Khatami says his country opposes a postponement because the elections will facilitate "the exit of occupation forces". (Boston Globe) (BBC)
- The Iraqi interior ministry reports that U.S. soldiers mistakenly shot and killed two Iraqi policemen and two civilians after an attack on their convoy.
- Gunmen kill the deputy police chief of the city of Samarra, Major Muhammad Muzaffar. (BBC)
- The U.S. military frees about 230 prisoners it was holding at Abu Ghraib. Around 7,400 remain in custody. (BBC)
- Arab-Israeli Conflict: A French officer, working for the United Nations, is killed by shelling in the disputed Shebaa Farms area of Southern Lebanon. Israeli planes and artillery had been firing on suspected Hezbollah positions in the area in retaliation for Hezbollah's attack which killed an Israeli officer. (BBC)
- After a 66% turnout and extended hours, an exit poll shows Mahmoud Abbas winning the Palestinian presidential election with two-thirds of the vote and challenger Mustafa Barghouti getting 19.7%. (AP) (BBC)
- Storm winds sweep across northern Europe, leaving at least 13 people dead and millions without electricity. (CNN) (BBC)
- In Nairobi, Kenya, a peace treaty is signed between warring factions in the Sudanese civil war, which has claimed over 1.5 million lives in more than 20 years. (BBC)
- After convincing the authorities that he was shooting a documentary, Borat managed to infuriate a crowd at a rodeo in Salem, Virginia, USA: first by saying that "I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards...and may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq" (which received a fair amount of applause); and then, by rendering a mangled version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that was misreported as ending with the words "your home in the grave" by the Roanoke Times (Borat had actually sung "home of the gays"). He was then escorted off of the premises.
The very first episode of Zoey 101 is aired.
- Purged Chinese Communist leader Zhao Ziyang is hospitalized, but in stable condition, according to the People's Republic of China government. The announcement came after rumors spread that he had died. (BBC)
- Italian motorcyclist Fabrizio Meoni is the second competitor to die in as many days in the 2005 Paris Dakar Rally. (TSN)
- In Nigeria, Audu Ogbeh, chairman of the ruling People's Democratic Party, resigns over disagreements with President Olusegun Obasanjo. (Vanguard) (NigeriaWorld) (Reuters Alertnet) (BBC)
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez signs a land reform decree aimed at reducing unused and absentee-owned agricultural properties. (Bloomberg) (BBC)
- In Australia, 9 people are dead and 15 others are unaccounted for, in a bushfire in Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. (News.com.au) (The Australian) (Reuters)
- 4 die, 11 are injured, and 13 are missing after a mudslide in La Conchita, California, in the U.S. (Reuters) (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Intense flooding hits the Caribbean coasts of southern Central America; Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco declares a state of emergency. (BBC)
- Dr. Albert Hofmann celebrated his 99th birthday. Dr. Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 while working at Sandoz Laboratories in Basle, Switzerland. He became the first person to discover its psychedelic effects on April 16, 1943. (MAPS)
- Conflict in Iraq: Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister of Iraq has admitted parts of the country will not be voting in this month's election. (BBC)
- British Airways flight 175 from London to New York is turned back by the U.S. TSA, who claim a passenger's name matches a suspected Moroccan terrorist. The passenger is questioned for two hours by British police and then released. The other 239 passengers resume their journeys nine hours late. (Sky News)
- Reports are emerging, from Channel 4 news and other sources, that Sir Mark Thatcher is to plead guilty over his part in an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. (BBC)
- United States intelligence officials confirm that its search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq ended last month. The claim that Iraq had an active WMD program was the White House's key justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (CNN) (BBC) (Reuters) (Link dead as of 03:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Camp X-Ray: Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for the release of the remaining inmates at Guantanamo Bay and terror suspects detained without trial in the UK referring to the detentions without trial as "unacceptable" and "distressing". (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel has carried out a series of raids into the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Two armed men were shot and killed in Ramallah, while four men were arrested in Gaza City. An Israeli civilian was also killed, and three Israeli soldiers were wounded following an Islamic Jihad attack on Morag, in the southern Gaza Strip. (BBC)
- In China, fire in a fireworks factory in Shanxi province leads to 25 deaths (Reuters) (Link dead as of 03:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- In Côte d'Ivoire, former rebels warn that controversy over a disputed nationality law could restart the civil war (BBC). South African president Thabo Mbeki is in the country to mediate but ex-rebels refuse to meet him (SABC) (Reuters Alertnet)
- In Senegal, there is a growing opposition to a recent bill that grants amnesty to political crimes since 1983 (BBC)
- Indonesian army tightens its control over foreigners in the Aceh province (BBC)Yahoo! News (Link dead as of 03:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- In Abkhazia, breakway province of Georgia, government re-runs disputed presidential election of last October. Sergei Bagapsh and Raul Khadzhimba run as a team. Most countries do not recognize Abkhazian independence. (ITAR-TASS) (Interfax) (BBC)
- In the USA, Lithuanian-born Vladas Zajanckauskas is charged with killing Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War Two. If sentenced, he may lose his US citizenship (Boston Herald) (Link dead as of 03:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Spies that worked for CIA during the Cold War sue for promised life-long support (Reuters) (Link dead as of 03:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC)), (NPR audio) (Washington Times) (Link dead as of 03:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- The People's Republic of China forcibly shuts down a press conference about North Korean refugees held by South Korean legislators. (Reuters) (Link dead as of 03:06, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Deep Impact was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral at 1:47 p.m. EST (1847 UTC) by a Delta 2 rocket. (NASA)
- Zhao Ziyang, former Premier of the People's Republic of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, dies at age 85. (XinhuaNet), (Reuters), (CNN), (BBC).State television and radio in the People's Republic of China make no announcement of Zhao Ziyang's death. Newspapers carry a short five-line announcement. Zhao's secretary Bao Tong and other dissidents and activists call for democratic reforms. Messages of condolence posted on the People's Daily and sina.com message boards are promptly deleted. (BBC) (BBC)
- An Indian train fire that killed up to 60 Hindus and sparked deadly religious riots in 2002 was started by accident - not firebombs thrown by Muslims as had been reported, an Indian Railways inquiry headed by a retired Judge Bannerjee has said. Justice Banerjee said that according to eyewitness accounts people had been cooking in the carriage at the time it caught fire. (BBC)
- Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh writes in The New Yorker [3] that sources inside the military and the intelligence communities say the United States administration has indicated its resolve to attack Iran and to conduct broad covert action in many countries. The Pentagon released an official statement saying "Mr. Hersh's article is so riddled with errors of fundamental fact that the credibility of his entire piece is destroyed." (BBC) (DOD)
- Croatian president Stipe Mesic is elected for a second term. (Reuters)
- A subway crash in Bangkok, Thailand, injures over 100. (Malaysia Star) (BBC)
- Scandinavian prime ministers Göran Persson, Kjell Magne Bondevik and Matti Vanhanen visit Thailand in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. (ScandAsia) (Bangkok Post) (BBC)
- James Morris, the head of the United Nations World Food Program, visits Tamil Tigers over the objections of the Sri Lankan government (Bloomberg) (BBC)
- Venezuela has rejected the suggestion of Colombia to hold a regional summit to resolve the dispute over the capture of FARC leader Rodrigo Granda. Hugo Chávez states that he is willing to discuss the matter personally with Álvaro Uribe. (MercoPress) (BBC)
- Two people sue the Metropolitan Police in London, which detained them after the May Day riots in 2001. (BBC) (Guardian) (Politics.co.uk)
- In Kobe, Japan, people remember the victims of the 1995 Kobe earthquake. At the same time, there is a large disaster conference in the city. (Asahi Shimbun) (Bloomberg) (Channel News Asia)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Bao Tong, Zhao Ziyang's former secretary and the highest ranking official to be jailed after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 is blocked from paying his respects at a mourning hall set up in Zhao's Beijing home. Bao's wife, Jiang Zongcao, was injured in the scuffle with plain-clothes police and had to be hospitalized.(Reuters)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- A U.N. World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan begins. About 3,000 government officials, non-governmental experts and other specialists from around the world will discuss the growing trend of people affected by natural disasters. (BBC) (WCDR Official Site)
- The government of Sudan signs a preliminary peace treaty with the National Democratic Alliance, an opposition umbrella group of rebels in the north and east of the country. (Sudan Tribune) (IslamOnline) (BBC)
- In France, labour unions are threatening to begin a succession of strikes to protest against the government of president Jacques Chirac. (Expatica) (BBC)
- The Airbus A380 is officially launched at a ceremony in the main French Airbus factory in Toulouse. Carrying between 550 and 840 passengers (depending on configuration), the double decker A380 is now the largest passenger airliner in the world. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Mark Latham, leader of Australia's opposition Labor Party, resigns from his position and from parliament due to ill health. Possible replacements include former deputy prime minister Kim Beazley, shadow foreign minister Kevin Rudd and shadow health minister Julia Gillard. (Melbourne Herald Sun) (ABC) (BBC)
- The United Nations World Food Program appeals for aid to Mauritania, after drought and large locust swarms destroy the harvest. (AllAfrica) (Planet Ark) (Reuters Alertnet)
- Two former Bosnian Serb officers, Vidoje Blagojevic and Dragan Jokic, have been convicted and imprisoned for their complicity in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. (BBC)
- Grenada switches recognition from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the People's Republic of China following a million dollar aid deal from the PRC. This brings the number of countries that officially recognize the ROC to 25. (BBC)
- In Belize, unrest over the government's new taxes boils over as people burn the government offices and union workers strike, closing ports and shutting down water services. There are reports that the United Kingdom says it will send in 1500 soldiers to maintain peace. Belizetimes Belize channel 5 Belize channel 7 (Amandala) (Belizean)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israeli soldiers shoot dead a 13 or 14 year old Palestinian boy, after he points a toy rifle at them, and kill another 13 year old boy walking with his parents near Rafah. (BBC)
- United States:
- Hajj:
- Pilgrims on Hajj celebrate Eid ul-Adha in Saudi Arabia, and prepare to stone the pillars that represent satan, and eat meat of a newly killed animal, while giving meat to those less fortunate as qurbani. Hajj Celebrations will also be held around the world, but some will wait until Friday. (BBC)
- The most senior Islamic cleric in Saudi Arabia, Sheik Abdul-Aziz al-Sheik, again uses his Hajj sermon to speak out against terrorism, saying that the militants "were lured by the devil", and also states, "Faith does not mean killing Muslims or non-Muslims who live among us, it does not mean shedding blood, terrorising or sending body parts flying." (Chicago Sun-Times) (The Guardian)
- The Republic of Ireland, one of the last countries to use non-metric speed limits, officially changes all road signage and regulations to use kilometres per hour (km/h). Speed limits in Northern Ireland remain in miles per hour (mph). (RTÉ) (BBC)
- In Ukraine, the Supreme Court dismisses prime minister Viktor Yanukovych's appeal and confirms that Viktor Yushchenko has won the presidential election. (Bloomberg) (ITAR-TASS) (Reuters) (BBC)
- President of Guinea Lansana Conté survives an apparent assassination attempt. (IAfrica) (Reuters)
- Brazil offers to mediate between Colombia and Venezuela in a disagreement about the capture of Rodrigo Granda. (BBC)
- In Peru, after vice president David Waisman faints during a TV interview, President Alejandro Toledo demands that criticism of his government be toned down. (BBC)
- Cuba announces a ban of smoking in public places that is due to begin next month. Cigars are one of Cuba's main exports. (Reuters Alertnet) (Jamaica Observer)
- The trial of Bernie Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom, begins in New York with the jury selection. (Silicon.com) (Newsday)
- Mars rover Opportunity uses its spectrometers to prove that Heat Shield Rock is a meteorite, the first to be found on another planet. (BBC) (Space.com)
- In Belize, the unrest continues for a second day. Water has been cut and government buildings have been torched. (Belize channel 5) (Belize channel 7)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- B15A, the world's largest iceberg with 160 km length, seems to have run aground in Antarctica, threatening to cut off supply ships for a number of scientific research stations and to starve tens of thousands of penguins. (CBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- 5 Danish troops, including an army intelligence officer, have been charged with mistreating Iraqi prisoners in southern Iraq last year. (BBC)
- At least 14 people die in a car bombing at a Shi'a mosque in Iraq's capital, amid threats of a long war from a key militant. (BBC)
- In Lucerne, Switzerland, a trial opens against a nurse accused of killing 24 patients. (SwissInfo)
- The Italian government condemns the destruction of an Italian cemetery in Mogadishu, Somalia. Local militia wanted to clear the area for a base. (BBC)
- Italian police have arrested number of people connected to smuggling of illegal immigrants from Libya. (AGI) (BBC)
- Chilean judge Sergio Munoz intends to launch an international investigation for secret bank accounts of Augusto Pinochet. (Reuters) (BBC)
- In France, teachers and civil servants join the growing numbers of strikers to protest over job cuts in the public sector. (BBC) (Reuters)
- The relatives of victims of Kursk submarine disaster appeal to the European Court of Human Rights for an additional investigation into the catastrophe. (Mosnews) (St.Petersburg Times)
- France extradites Holger Pfahls, former German deputy defence minister suspected of corruption. (Deutsche Welle) (Bloomberg) (PolitInfo)
- The Washington Post alleges that the Pentagon is running a clandestine military organization known as the Strategic Support Branch which is under the direct control of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Allegedly it is used to bypass the limitations of working with the Central Intelligence Agency. The Pentagon stated "There is no unit that is directly reportable to the secretary of defense for clandestine operations" and the department "is not attempting to 'bend' statutes to fit desired activities". (Washington Post/MSNBC) (Yahoo News)
- The Tsunami relief concert is held at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, in aid of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, raising over £1.25 million (€1.8 million or $2.4 million), making it the biggest charity concert in the United Kingdom since Live Aid in 1985. (BBC)
- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cancels his attendance at the Munich Security Conference in February due to a war crimes investigation filed against him in Germany by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights in connection with detainee abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. (Expatica) (DW)
- Song Xiuyan is confirmed by the 3rd Plenum of the 10th Qinghai People's Congress as Governor of Qinghai, making her the only female Provincial Governor in the People's Republic of China at the time. (ChineseNewsNet)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades agrees to a ceasefire if Israel will promise to fully halt military operations inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including arrest raids and assassinations and releases Palestinian prisoners from its jails. The militant group rejects Israel's offer to ease operations. (BBC) (Reuters) (Link dead as of 02:35, 15 January 2007 (UTC)), (Haaretz) (Link dead as of 02:35, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Eid ul-Adha the second in the series of Eid festivals that Muslims celebrate.
- In the basement of a hotel in the New York City borough of Queens, people hold a memorial service for the late Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang. This memorial follows the one held in the Shangri-la hotel yesterday. (NYT) (registration required)
- The Philadelphia Eagles win the 2004 NFC Championship game
- Conflict in Iraq: A suicide car bomb is detonated near interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord party office. Officials say Allawi was not in the area at the time and that seven policemen and three civilians were wounded. U.S. military officials confirm the death of one soldier in Mosul and state four of Iraq's 18 provinces, a quarter of the total population and predominantly Sunni, will be unsafe to vote in Sunday's elections. (Reuters)
- Yulia Tymoshenko is appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine as one of President Viktor Yushchenko's first official acts, before a state visit in Moscow. Her post still requires ratification by the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament. (Kyiv Post) (Guardian)
- New "Wall of Names" holocaust memorial is unveiled in Paris. The site will be officially opened on Thursday. (Reuters) (Haaretz) (BBC)
- In Sudan, leader of Sudan People's Liberation Army John Garang says that the northern government would have to say why the country should stay united. SPLM leadership is to ratify the peace deal with the Khartoum government later. (BBC)
- JP Morgan Chase bank apologizes for its predecessors Canal Bank and Citizens' Bank which accepted slaves as collateral. (CBS2) (Vanguard) (BBC)
- In Kenya, attorney general Amos Wako gives an order to drop charges against journalist Kamau Ngotho. Ngotho was charged with libel after he wrote about government corruption. (Legalbrief) (BBC)
- In South Africa, 40 members of the country's parliament will be charged with fraud for using parliamentary travel vouchers worth 17.5 million rand illegally. (IAfrica) (IOL) (Guardian)
- In India, priest Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, his deputy Vijayendra Saraswathi and various other people have been charged for murder. Saraswathi has been released on bail after two months in prison and denies involvement. (NDTV) (BBC)
- In the United Kingdom, Alan Roy Williams, a doctor who gave evidence against Sally Clark who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of her two sons, is charged with serious professional misconduct. (BBC)
- North Korea has cut its food rations to half the amount that the United Nations World Food Program recommends. U.N. officials say the cut appears temporary and is not unprecedented in a country where fluctuations in public food distribution are regular. (Reuters Alertnet)
- According to Finland-based Crisis Management Initiative group, Free Aceh Movement and the Indonesian government have agreed to negotiate for ceasefire in Helsinki. (Bloomberg) (London Free Press) (Reuters Alertnet)
- A 6.2 Richter scale earthquake in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, results in one reported death. (ChannelNewsAsia) (Malaysia Star)
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake: Indonesia has again raised its estimate of the number of people killed by December's earthquake and tsunami to 220,000; the total known to have been killed in the region is now 280,000. (BBC)
- Camp X-Ray: The US has confirmed that 23 prisoners held in the Guantanamo Bay military base attempted a mass suicide two years ago. (BBC) (BBC video) (CNN)
- Conflict in Iraq: The U.S. army expects to keep 120,000 soldiers for at least two more years in Iraq, according to the Army's top operations officer, Lt. Gen. James J. Lovelace Jr. (MSNBC)
- Up to 300 Hindus are feared to have died in a stampede, reaction to a fire caused by a short circuit, near a temple in Wai in the Satara district of western Maharashtra, India. Scores of others are crushed or burned. An estimated 300,000 people had gathered at the temple. (Rediff, india) (New Kerala) (Reuters Alertnet) (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel resumes construction of one of the most controversial parts of the Israeli West Bank barrier, around the Ariel settlement, 20km into the West Bank. (BBC)
- The nominees for the 77th Academy Awards are announced, with The Aviator and Finding Neverland leading with 11 and 7 nominations respectively. (BBC) (MTV) (MSNBC)
- After being incarcerated without trial for almost three years, the four remaining British detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Moazzam Begg, Feroz Abbasi, Martin Mubanga and Richard Belmar, are released and flown back to the United Kingdom, where they are immediately arrested by British police. (BBC) (Guardian)
- Bill Gates donates $750 million through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, to provide vaccines to children in poor countries. This is one of the largest philanthropic donations ever made by a living donor. (Guardian)
- The Bush administration is requesting an additional $80 billion from Congress for Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the total cost of both operations over $280 billion. (Reuters) (CNN)
- In Kenya, clashes between Kikuyu and Maasai in the Rift Valley have led to at least 14 deaths. The fight is over water rights of Ewaso Kedong River. (Standard, Kenya) (AllAfrica) (Reuters Alertnet)
- In the Republic of China/Taiwan, President Chen Shui-bian names fellow Democratic Progressive Party member Frank Hsieh, as the new premier. He calls for a reconciliation with the political opposition, which maintained its legislative majority in last month's elections. (Channel News Asia) (Bloomberg)
- Large scale strikes begin in Andhra Pradesh, India, in protest of the killing of Paritala Ravi, a senior leader of Telugu Desam Party assassinated two days ago. (New Kerala) (Hindustan Times) (BBC)
- Marcial Maciel, Mexican founder of Roman Catholic order of Legion of Christ resigns due to his age. The stepping down coincides with the Vatican investigation about claims that he had sexually abused former members. (Reuters) (Newsday)
- Condoleezza Rice is confirmed in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 85-13 to become the first African-American woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. (CNN) (BBC)
- After being incarcerated without trial for almost three years, the four British detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Moazzam Begg, Feroz Abbasi, Martin Mubanga and Richard Belmar, are free to go home, having been released without charge by the UK government. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: 36 U.S. soldiers have died in a single day in Iraq. A helicopter crash in western Iraq has claimed the lives of 30 U.S. marines and a sailor. It is the single worst loss of life for US forces since they invaded Iraq in March 2003. Elsewhere insurgents killed 4 US troops in Anbar, and another soldier was killed in Baghdad following an RPG attack. (Reuters)(BBC)
- The World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland (BBC) (SwissInfo) (CNN) (Forbes)
- In Glendale, California, a commuter train crashes into a sports utility vehicle left on the tracks, derailing the train and sending it into another commuter train, killing 11 and injuring at least 100. Juan Manuel Alvarez, who allegedly drove the car to the railway in an attempt to commit suicide, is accused of eleven murders. (CNN) (CNN)
- United States Supreme Court rejects appeal of Florida governor Jeb Bush to keep brain damaged Terri Schiavo alive against the wishes of her husband. Her parents try to remove her husband from the post of her guardian (Washington Times)
- In Moscow, students from Guinea Bissau seize the country's embassy and take the ambassador as a hostage. They protest because they have not received their student's grants for more than a year (BBC)
- In Swaziland, country's main labour union have begun a two-day general strike to protest the new constitution because it would increase the power of the king Mswati III (Reuters AlertNet) (AllAfrica) (BBC)
- In Liberia, United Nations peacekeeping forces have sent troops and imposed a curfew to town of Harper to quell riots over alleged ritual killings (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
- In China, the death sentence of Tibetan lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is commuted to life imprisonment (Reuters AlertNet) (Human Rights Watch) (BBC)
- A meteorite lands in Cambodia and sparks several fires. Some locals hope it is a divine omen for peace (Reuters)
- In Germany, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (supreme court) nullifies legislation that prevented tuition fees. Several states now are planing to introduce such fees. [4]
[edit] January 27, 2005
- President of the Royal Society warns of oil companies' funding of lobbies in the UK to cast skepticism over the debate on climate change. (Guardian)
- Conflict in Darfur: Around 100 people have been killed following an Air Raid into the Darfur region of Sudan according to the African Union. Jean Baptiste Natama, the A.U's spokesperson has described it as a "major ceasefire violation". (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: At least 11 people are known to have died in Iraq today, including at least one United States Marine. (Bloomberg)
- Holocaust survivors, former Red Army soldiers, leaders of more than 40 countries, and other people gather in Oświęcim, Poland for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp where more than 1 million people were killed. Reuters (Jerusalem Post) (Deutsche Welle) (BBC) (CBC) (Bloomberg) (Reuters Alertnet)
- French national railways SNCF are severely disrupted by a 24-hour walkout by staff to protest the rape of a ticket inspector on a Toulouse - Cahors train on Tuesday. The inspector had been attempting to charge a man for not having a ticket. A 24 year old man was later arrested. The strike is due to end at 1500 UTC. (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has said he is "very satisfied" with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's efforts to restore calm. Sharon pledged to further peace process efforts with Abbas, with a meeting possible within two weeks. (Swiss Info) (Kerala Next)
- New York radio station Hot 97 has suspended the staff of the show Miss Jones in the Morning. The show came under criticism for broadcasting a parody song that ridicules the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. (BBC) (Reuters) (MTV.COM)
- The fifth World Social Forum begins in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The event is accompanied by tens of thousands of activists (Forbes) (BBC)
- In Burundi, South African mediator, deputy president Jacob Zuma has warned the president of the transitional government, Domitien Ndayizeye, not to try to change the draft constitution to let himself run in the forthcoming elections (Reuters Alertnet) (IOL) (BBC)
- According to family members, funeral of the purged Chinese communist leader Zhao Ziyang will be held on next Saturday (Reuters) (BBC) (Epoch Times)
- In a conference hosted by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, several scientists state that the ecology of Prince William Sound in Alaska still has not recovered from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (Reuters Alertnet)
- Riggs Bank agrees to pay a $16 million fine after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by hiding transfers of millions of dollars in accounts controlled by Chilean despot Augusto Pinochet and top officials of Equatorial Guinea. (The Seattle Times)
- Michael McManus, author of the U.S.-wide syndicated newspaper column "Ethics & Religion", was paid $10,000 by the DHHS for writing articles promoting a marriage initiative. (Salon)
- An Australian recently freed from Guantanamo Bay claims U.S. agents told him they killed his whole family and strung the interrogation room with faked photos of his wife and children with animals' heads. He also says he was sexually assaulted and menstrual blood had been put all over him before being left alone in a cell with no water. (news.com.au) (yahoo/AP)
- Asia's richest woman, Nina Wang, is formally charged with forgery of her kidnapped husband's will. (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Hamas, contesting their first election, have swept to power in local elections in Gaza. (BBC)
- Kim Beazley is re-elected to the leadership of the Australian Labor Party unopposed, succeeding Mark Latham, in the fourth leadership change since losing government in 1996. (ABC News).
- A month after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis, more than 1000 bodies a day are still being recovered in Aceh. (Melbourne Herald Sun)
- Latest investigation into the career of UK serial killer Dr. Harold Shipman increases the count of his victims to 284, the first having been killed just after he left medical school. (Reuters) (Telegraph) (BBC)
- 70 Nobel Prize laureates have released a statement that supports United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in the face of US Republican calls for him to resign (Reuters) (BBC)
- Thailand's prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra demands that Malaysia extradite separatist leader of Gerakan Mujahideen Islam Pattani party known as Jehkumir Kuteh or Abdul Rahman Ahmad (in addition to other names). Malaysian government refuses because he is Malaysian but they would cooperate the best they can (Malaysia Star)(Bangkok Post) (Reuter AlertNet) (Channel News Asia)
- In Russia, special forces have killed seven people in a fight against what they described as islamic militants. The fight happened in an apartment block in Nalchik near Chechnya border (Reuters) (MosNews) (BBC)
- President of Ireland Mary McAleese causes an uproar when she says that Nazis taught their children to hate Jews like Northern Ireland Protestants taught theirs to hate Irish Catholics (Ireland Online) (RTE) (BBC)
- A heavy blizzard in Algeria causes death of at least 13 people and paralyzes traffic in the capital Algiers (Reuters) (BBC)
- In Bangladesh, a grenade attack kills former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria of Awami League and four others (Reuters Alertnet) (Channel News Asia)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Polls close in Iraq marking the first multi-party election in 50 years. Electoral officials estimate about a 50–70% turnout. A series of election day attacks across the country killed at least 44 people, mainly in Baghdad. The 275-member National Assembly will create a new constitution, choose a new president and two new vice presidents. Most candidate names on the various party lists remained anonymous. (BBC) Reuters News24
- Between nine and fifteen British soldiers die as a C-130 Hercules transport plane crashes about 40km north west of Baghdad. The cause of the crash is under investigation. (BBC), (CNN)
- A firefight leaves 3 suspected militants and one Kuwaiti police officer dead after security forces raid an alleged hideout in Kuwait City. (BBC)
- In eastern Sudan, demonstrators on their way to a meeting with tribal leaders clash with police leaving up to 17 protestors dead. A Sudanese general states that the protestors were looting and inciting violence against his men. Members of eastern tribes, mainly Beja, presented a list of demands which included better representation to the provincial governor three days ago. (BBC)
- Former UK Labour Culture Secretary, Chris Smith, states he has been HIV positive for 17 years. (BBC)
- In Spain, a bomb explodes at a hotel in the southwest town Denia injuring one. Police officials say the detonation occurred after a telephone warning from the Basque ETA group. Spanish parliament is scheduled to debate and vote on a Basque plan for independence from Spain in two days. (BBC)
- Talks between the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement leaders in Helsinki end a day early, possibly signaling a breakdown in negotiations. (IHT)
- The deadline passes for the finalization of constituencies for Afghanistan's May 21 parliamentary elections, UN officials say. Though the constituencies were supposed to be set up 120 days before the election, officials have not yet announced an election delay. Violence continues, particularly in the south of the country where the Taliban still remains active. (Pakistan Daily Times) (Reuters)
- Arab-Israeli Conflict: A ten-year-old Palestinian girl dies after being shot in the head as she played in her school playground in Rafah. The source of the gunfire is disputed. Hamas launches mortar shells in retaliation, damaging a house in an Israeli settlement.(Al Jazeera)(Reuters) (Jerusalem Post) (BBC) (CBS)(Haaretz)
- Conflict in Iraq: U.S. guards shoot dead four Iraqi prisoners following an alleged riot at the Camp Bucca prison in southern Iraq. (BBC)
- US entertainer Michael Jackson pleads his innocence before his trial for alleged child molestation begins in Santa Maria, California (Reuters) (CNN) (LA Times)
- In Chile, former head of secret police, general Manuel Contreras, is sentenced to 12 years in jail for the 1975 disappearance of left-wing activist Miguel Angel Sandoval (Reuters) (BBC)
- In Uganda, police find the body of Shaban Kirunda Nkutu, killed in 1973 during the reign of Idi Amin (AllAfrica) (BBC)
- The summit of the African Union begins in Nigeria, with 25 African heads of state and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in attendance. (News24) (Reuters) (BBC)
- Bird flu spreads in Vietnam with the 12th reported death (Bloomberg) (Reuters)
- In the Solomon Islands, former rebel leader Harold Keke is put on trial for the murder of a priest Augustine Geve (ABC) (Channel News Asia) (BBC)
- Sefer Halilovic, former head of the Bosnian army, goes on trial for killing Bosnian Croats during the Yugoslav wars (FENA) (BBC)
- In France, 16 people and companies go on trial for effective manslaughter for the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire in 1999 (IHT) (Expatica) (BBC)
- Car bomb explodes in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan (ITAR-TASS) (Interfax) (BBC)
