Portal:Current events/October 2006

General elections are held in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BBC)
A BBC investigation finds that, before he became Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger enforced the Catholic Church's secret policy on Crimen sollicitationis to cover up child sex abuse cases involving the clergy. (BBC) (BBC)
The Social Democratic Party of Austria has won today's election in Austria. (International Herald Tribune)
Georgia-Russia spying dispute:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Georgia's arrest of four Russian army officers for spying was "an act of state terrorism with hostage-taking". (BBC)
General Elections 2006 in Brazil are taking place.
Incumbent President of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa is in the lead in early results in the Presidential election, according to the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
General Surayud Chulanont is appointed interim prime minister of Thailand by the ruling military regime, following the recent coup. (Channel News Asia)
A superbug, Clostridium difficile, is said to have killed at least 49 people at hospitals in Leicester, England, according to a National Health Service investigation. Another 29 similar cases are being investigated by coroners. (BBC)
The last Israeli troops leave Lebanon in accordance with UN Resolution 1701, two months after occupying the territory. UNIFIL officials, however, claim that they still occupy the border village of Ghajar. (Reuters)
New laws against age discrimination in the workplace - officially titled the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 - come into force in the United Kingdom. (BBC)
In the Australian National Rugby League's premiership-deciding game for season 2006, the Brisbane Broncos defeat the Melbourne Storm by 15–8 to win its sixth premiership title. (BBC)

October 2, 2006 (Monday)

South Korea's Foreign Minister, Ban Ki-Moon, wins a crucial informal poll for the next United Nations Secretary-General with no opposition from any of the five veto-bearing Security Council members. (Reuters)
Zambia's President, Levy Mwanawasa, is re-elected, according to the Zambian Electoral Commission. (BBC)
At least five pupils, a teacher's aide, and a gunman are dead after an Amish school shooting in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, United States. Some reports have the number of dead at six. (The Guardian) (ABC) (CNN) (BBC)
Željko Komšić, Nebojša Radmanović and Haris Silajdžić are elected new members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country's collective head of state. (ABC)
Georgia-Russia spying dispute:
- Four Russian officers arrested as spies in Georgia leave for Moscow after being released. (BBC)
- Russia suspends all transport and postal links with Georgia. (The New York Times)
Two schools in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, United States, are locked down, after a former student reportedly brought an AK-47 or other automatic weapons to school. (Wikinews) (KVBC)
Casino company Harrah's Entertainment receives an $81-per-share cash offer from private-equity firms Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group.
Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, under FBI investigation for e-mail exchanges with teenage congressional pages, has checked himself into rehabilitation facility for alcoholism treatment.
Andrew Fire and Craig Mello win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in controlling the activity of genes. (ABC)
Canada's Meteorological Service issues a tropical storm warning for the Avalon Peninsula in southeastern Newfoundland, including the cities of Cape Race and St John's, due to Hurricane Isaac. (CNN)

October 3, 2006 (Tuesday)

Viktor Khristenko, the Russian Industry and Energy Minister, and Baktykozha Izmukhambetov, the Kazakh Energy and Mineral Resources' Minister, sign an intergovernmental agreement creating a joint venture to process gas from the Karachaganak field in West Kazakhstan. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the agreement was the solution to "the energy problems of key partners, including those in Western Europe." (Interfax)
The United States National Labor Relations Board determines that workers normally assigned as shift supervisors should not be covered by a federal law ensuring a right to union membership. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
EADS delays delivery of the Airbus A380 jet for the third time in 16 months, due to wiring problems, with the first plane now expected in late 2007. (Bloomberg)
North Korea announces plans to conduct a nuclear test. (BBC)
United States scientists John C. Mather and George Smoot win the Nobel Prize in physics for research into cosmic microwave background radiation that helps explain the origins of galaxies and stars. (Bloomberg)
Deposed Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra has resigned as head of his Thai Rak Thai party due to "changing circumstances". (Reuters)
Turkish Airlines Flight 1476, a Turkish Airlines plane carrying 113 people from Tirana, Albania to Istanbul, Turkey, was hijacked, but lands at Italy's Brindisi Airport. The hijackers surrendered and were arrested by Italian police. (Fox News)

October 4, 2006 (Wednesday)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches another record high close, rising above 11,850 for the first time. (CBS News)
A United States Appeals Court in Cincinnati, Ohio rules that the U.S. government can continue to use its warrantless domestic wiretap program pending the Justice Department's appeal of a federal judge's ruling outlawing the program. (Reuters)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Food and Drug Administration searches two spinach packaging companies in the Salinas Valley in California for evidence related to a recent outbreak of E. coli in the United States and Canada that made 200 people sick. (San Francisco Chronicle)
The European Union imposes an anti-dumping tariff on leather shoe imports from the Far East - 16.5% on imports from China and 10% on imports from Vietnam. China supplies about 1.25 billion pairs of shoes to the EU each year. (EUobserver.com)
American Roger Kornberg wins the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for describing the essential process of gene copying in cells, research that can give insight into illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. (Boston Globe)
Mark Foley scandal:
- The Drudge Report alleges that one teen with whom Mark Foley engaged in cybersex during a House vote was 18 years old at the time of the communications. (Drudge Report)
- A former page states that he was warned of Representative Foley's advances by a departing page in 1995. Among his claims are that Foley made him uncomfortable and offered to buy him ice cream on several occasions. (Chicago Tribune)^{[permanent dead link]}
- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert states that he will not resign from his position in the wake of the scandal. (Chicago Sun-Times)

October 5, 2006 (Thursday)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at a record high for the third day in a row. (ABC News Australia Online)
German authorities uncover 51 skeletons from a mass grave at the village of Menden-Barge in the Sauerland region of the country, thought to be remains of victims of Nazi atrocities during World War II. (BBC)
Mark Foley scandal
- The House Ethics Committee issued four dozen subpoenas to members of Congress and aides to discover who was aware of explicit exchanges between former representative Mark Foley and underage Congressional pages. (MSNBC)
Reports indicate that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq who succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after his death, may have been killed in Haditha. A body initially tentatively identified as his is undergoing DNA analysis but most government sources are skeptical. (BBC)
The European Central Bank raises its interest rate from 3% to 3.25% representing the fifth rise in eleven months. The Bank of England decides to leave interest rates in the United Kingdom unchanged. (Marketwatch)
Edmund Daukoru, a Nigerian oil minister and president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) flags that the organization will hold an emergency meeting to cut output. The Financial Times reports that OPEC has informally agreed to cut output 4% to defend the oil price. (USA Today)
Post-Soviet Georgia holds the municipal elections seen as a crucial test for the country’s current government amid the ongoing tensions with Russia. (International Herald Tribune)
NTV television in Turkey reports that 260 Turkish soldiers will join the peacekeeping force in Lebanon. (The Boston Globe)
NATO expands its security mission to the whole of Afghanistan, taking command of more than 13,000 U.S. troops in the east of the country. (CNN)
Thai authorities take steps to hold peace talks with two Muslim insurgencies, the Patani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) and Bersatu, who are fighting the Government in the Muslim-majority southern provinces of Thailand. (News Limited)
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales determines that a merchant ship, SS Storaa, is eligible for consideration for protection as a war grave under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. (BBC)

October 6, 2006 (Friday)

President Bush has declared space to be essential to US defence in a new National Space Policy document. Not only has the United States declared that it has rights in space, but, if necessary, it will deny its adversaries access to space if those adversaries seek to impede those rights. The new policy was agreed upon in August but the document[1] was not released until 6 October. See Wikinewsn:US declares vital interest in space
A truce is called in Bolivia after a dynamite battle between rival groups of tin miners kills 16 people in the department of Oruro, with another 60 people injured. President Evo Morales sacks his mining minister for not anticipating the violence. (ABC News Australia)^{[permanent dead link]}
Some 18,000 people are evacuated from the Apex area of the U.S. state of North Carolina and 13 are reported injured after a blast and fire at an Environmental Quality Industrial Services chemical plant. (CNN)
Negotiators from the European Union and the United States reach a deal on sharing trans-Atlantic passenger data used in anti-terrorism investigations. (The Independent)
The Roman Catholic Church's Theological Commission are reviewing the teaching of limbus infantium (limbo for infants who died before being baptised) and may recommend to Pope Benedict XVI that it be amended. (BBC)
The new Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, presents his new cabinet. (BBC)
2006 Southeast Asian haze: Smoke from fires in western Indonesia causes air quality and visibility to plummet to unhealthy levels in neighboring Malaysia. (AP via CNN)
NASA releases close-up photos taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the planet Mars revealing its hidden, oceanic past. (The Times (UK))

October 7, 2006 (Saturday)

New Guinea volcano Rabaul caldera erupts. Two hundred people are evacuated but favourable winds help protect nearby towns from the impact. (ABC News Australia)
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, famous for her criticism of President Vladimir Putin and his government's actions in Chechnya, is found murdered in Moscow. (Interfax), (BBC)
Sixty warning shots are fired by South Korean soldiers at the Korean Demilitarized Zone after they observe five North Korean soldiers crossing part of the boundary. (AP via CNN)
Latvian parliamentary election: The governing coalition led by Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis wins re-election, the first Latvian administration to be re-elected since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. (BBC)

October 8, 2006 (Sunday)

The results of the Belgian municipal elections show losses for the liberals and progress for the conservatives and nationalists. (CNN)
Iraq's Environmental Secretary claims that 11 police officers have died of food poisoning in the Wasit province of that country. The governor of the Wasit province claims that no officers have died, but that several are in critical condition. It is unclear whether or not the poisonings were intentional. (Associated Press)

October 9, 2006 (Monday)

The Supreme Islamic Courts Council of Somalia declare 'jihad' against Ethiopia following the Ethiopian military incursions into Bur Haqaba close to the shared border. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]} (BBC)
French lawmakers introduce a bill to criminalize Armenian Genocide denial. The legislation would imprison offenders for one year and fine them up to €45,000. Turkey calls upon French legislators to vote against the bill. The Turkish Parliament is considering a bill that would criminalize denial of French human rights violations in Algeria. (TurkishPress)
Google officially announces that they will buy video sharing website YouTube for US$1.65 billion. (BBC)
South Korean Ban Ki-moon is nominated to succeed Kofi Annan as the United Nations Secretary-General in an affirmation vote by the Security Council. A confirmation vote by the General Assembly is expected within the next fortnight. (Reuters via CNN)
2006 North Korean nuclear testing
- The Korean Central News Agency of North Korea reports that the nation has tested its first nuclear weapon in an underground facility at Gilju in North Hamgyong province. This report was at least somewhat confirmed by a seismic event that was measured around the world. (AP) (Adelaide Now)
- The United States Geological Survey says it detected an earthquake of 4.2 in North Korea suspected to be caused by the effects of the underground blast. (AFP via ABS_CBN)^{[permanent dead link]}
- China expresses its "resolute opposition" to what it described as North Korea's "brazen" nuclear test. (The Australian)
- United States President George W. Bush, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun, are among world leaders to condemn North Korea's nuclear testing, calling it "provocative", "irresponsible" and "a serious threat to peace", respectively. (BBC)
American Edmund S. Phelps wins the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for work on the trade-offs between inflation and unemployment. (ABC News)

October 10, 2006 (Tuesday)

A passenger bus plunges into a ravine near the city of Chiantla in northwestern Guatemala, killing 42 people. (BBC)
BP shuts down the Prudhoe Bay oil fields due to losing power as a result of high winds. (AP via ABC News)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei states that the country would pursue its right to develop nuclear technology and will not suspend uranium enrichment as the West demands, declaring: "Our policy is clear, progress with clear logic and insisting on the nation's right without any retreat." (Reuters)
A chartered Atlantic Airways Flight 670 skids off the runway at Stord Airport in Norway, killing four people. (BBC)
Iraq insurgency
- Iraqi police announce they have found a total of 110 corpses at locations across Baghdad in the previous 48 hours, thought to be more victims of insurgent death squads. In addition, a bomb planted under a car explodes in the city's southern district of Doura, killing 10 people. (CNN) (Reuters)
- United States military sources state that a total of 30 militants and 4 US soldiers have been killed since the weekend. (BBC) (Reuters)
- A mortar fired by insurgents landed on an ammunition dump at Camp Falcon U.S. military base on the outskirts of Baghdad, causing a huge fire. At least 30 explosions were reported. There were no reported casualties. (Reuters)
Six people die in a bomb attack on a festival in the town of Makilala in the Philippines. Two others are killed and four injured in a blast at a market in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat. Officials blame Muslim extremist groups. (AFP) (Sun Star) (BBC) (CNN)
A naval base and oil facility in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, are captured by armed attackers who are now thought to be holding 60 people hostage. (CNN)
Hundreds of thousands of people made a protest against President Chen Shui-bian in Taipei, Taiwan, surrounding Office of the President, where Chen took part in ceremony marking Double Tenth Day. (BBC)

October 11, 2006 (Wednesday)

A small aircraft crashes into a building at 524 East 72nd Street, on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City killing 2 people. FBI states that there is so far no reason to suspect terrorism, and the alert level hasn't been raised. The plane was registered to New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. Lidle is reported to have been the pilot, and along with his flight instructor, was killed in the crash. (CBS 2 New York) (CNN) (The New York Times) (ESPN)
Minutes from the United States Federal Reserve meeting held on September 20 predict a "modestly better inflation outlook" due to a softening economy and lower energy prices. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. (Fox News)
Iraq War:
- An estimated 655,000 Iraqis have died since 2003 who might still be alive but for the US-led invasion, according to a survey by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study is in dispute though since The Iraqi Ministry of Health places the death toll at 50,000. (BBC) (CTV News) Archived 2006-10-13 at the Wayback Machine (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}
Twelve people have died following a train crash at Zoufftgen in north-east France, near the Luxembourg border. (BBC)
2006 North Korean nuclear testing
- A North Korean official stationed in Beijing tells the Yonhap news agency that "If all out sanctions are implemented, we will take it as a declaration of war". (News Limited)
- Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's number two leader, tells the Japanese news agency Kyodo that North Korea will have no choice but to take physical steps if the United States continues to adopt a hostile attitude towards it. (AFP via ABC Australia)
A United Nations report declares that abuse of children is "widespread and tolerated" in many parts of the world. A separate report by charity Save the Children states that more than a million children around the world are in prison. (BBC)
In Melbourne, Australia, the Eureka Tower residential building is officially opened. At 297.5m (976ft), the structure is the second tallest skyscraper in the Southern Hemisphere, and the second tallest residential building in the world.
In the International Space Station Gyro Failures may spell doom if focus of next Shuttle mission is not changed.[2]
In New York, It is officially declared "Final Fantasy XII" day. (Gamespot)^{[permanent dead link]}

October 12, 2006 (Thursday)

The Federal Reserve finds that economic growth in the United States is "moderate or mixed" with "widespread cooling" in the housing market. (Fox News)
Members of the Janjaweed militia attack Sudanese refugees from the Darfur region in eastern Chad. (BBC).
Nine Palestinians have been killed during an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip, reports say. (BBC)
The French parliament adopts a bill criminalizing Armenian genocide denial, despite significant lobbying efforts by the Government of Turkey. (BBC)
The New Zealand Auditor-General's report into 2005 election funding is released. NZ$1.17 million dollars was unlawfully spent during the election by seven parties, more than half of it by Labour. Labour immediately promises to repay the money. (NZ Herald)
Iraq insurgency:
- A gun attack on the office of a satellite TV station in Baghdad kills 11 people. (BBC)
- Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff and head of the British Army, gives an interview stating that British forces should "get out some time soon" from Iraq as their presence "exacerbates the security problems". (BBC)
Workers begin demolishing the one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania where five girls were shot to death and five others were injured. (Forbes)
Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, whose novels discover "new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures", wins the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. (The Washington Post) Archived 2012-10-24 at the Wayback Machine

October 13, 2006 (Friday)

Record Snowfall in Buffalo, New York and surrounding metro area leaves up to two feet of heavy wet snow, three people dead, damaged trees, and over 400,000 residents without power. [3]
Sharp and Fujitsu begin to recall laptop Lithium ion batteries made by Sony.(Associated Press via Houston Chronicle)
Vladimir Kramnik beats Veselin Topalov in a World Chess Championship reunification match. (NY Times)
Cellulose plant conflict: Demonstrators again block border crossings between Argentina and Uruguay after the World Bank announces its decision to continue funding the disputed paper mills. (BBC)
Abimael Guzmán, leader of Peru's Sendero Luminoso guerrillas, is sentenced to life imprisonment at the conclusion of his retrial on terrorism charges. (BBC)
Boulus Iskander, an Iraqi priest of the Syriac Orthodox Church, is kidnapped and beheaded by Islamist terrorists in Mosul. (MET) (ACI)
Ban Ki-Moon is elected to be the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, to succeed Kofi Annan in January 2007. (BBC)
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration bans fixed-wing aircraft from the East River corridor in New York City unless they are in contact with air traffic control. The change follows a crash of a plane into an apartment building earlier in the week. (AP via CBS)
Wal-Mart is ordered to pay $78 million in compensation to current and former employees for breaking labor laws in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania by forcing its employees to work through rest breaks and off clock. (USA Today)
The US government has rebuffed UK calls to close its controversial detention centre at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. (BBC)
Iraq War:
- A coroner has recorded a verdict of unlawful killing on ITN reporter Terry Lloyd, who was shot dead by US forces in southern Iraq in March 2003. (BBC)
- Tony Blair has said he agrees with "every word" the new head of the British Army said on the Iraq war that UK troops "exacerbated" security problems and should withdraw "sometime soon". (BBC)
Two people protesting the impeachment of Plateau State governor Joshua Dariye are killed by riot police in Jos, Nigeria. (BBC)
The British and Irish governments set a provisional date of 26 March 2007 for restoring devolution to Northern Ireland through the St Andrews Agreement. (BBC)
Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank win the Nobel Peace Prize for working to advance economic and social development among the poor. (Bloomberg) (Nobel Foundation)
2006 North Korean nuclear test
- The United States is encouraging a vote on a United Nations resolution, which currently would impose an arms embargo and freezing of North Korean funds connected to North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs, despite opposition from the People's Republic of China, which has veto power. (Reuters)
Veterinarians are reported to use vasectomies to control elephant overpopulation in Africa. At Kruger National Park, their numbers have doubled in the last decade. (North County Times)

October 14, 2006 (Saturday)

Six Palestinians from the armed wing of the militant group Hamas have been killed in an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say. (BBC)
Thousands of people have been attending mass ceremonies in India at which hundreds of low-caste Hindus (Dalits) converted to Buddhism and Christianity. (BBC)
2006 North Korean nuclear testing
- The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1718, imposing sanctions on North Korea in response to its recent nuclear test. (BBC)
- North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Kil-yon, says Pyongyang "totally rejects" United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 sanctioning his country, calling the measure "gangster-like". (AP via KCBI)^{[permanent dead link]}
- President of the United States George W. Bush says the UN Security Council has taken "swift and tough" action and sent a clear message to North Korea about its nuclear weapons program.
- UN Secretary General Designate Ban Ki-Moon says the vote represents a "strong and clear message" and promises, if necessary, to visit North Korea to discuss the situation. (BBC)
A re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings takes place in Sussex, UK to mark the 940th anniversary of the event which saw William of Normandy's forces defeat the Saxon army of King Harold II, and began the Norman conquest of England. (BBC)
Maria Borelius, Minister for Foreign Trade in the Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt in Sweden, resigns after one week in office following allegations of tax evasion. (BBC) (CNN)
Chelsea FC goalkeepers Petr Čech and Carlo Cudicini both suffered serious injuries in a game against Reading FC. Cech suffered a depressed fracture of the skull after colliding with Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt. The injury kept him out of action until January 20, 2007. Cudicini suffered concussion after colliding with Reading defender Ibrahima Sonko as the ball curled in from a corner. John Terry took the position as goalkeeper for the remainder of the game.

October 15, 2006 (Sunday)

Ecuador's presidential election goes to a second-round run-off between Rafael Correa and Álvaro Noboa, to be held on 26 November. (BBC News)
Hawaii earthquake: A 6.7-magnitude earthquake and a series of aftershocks hit the U.S. state of Hawaii at 7:07am local time, with an epicentre 9 miles (14 km) NNW of Kalaoa. 95% of power was lost throughout the state. Widespread structural damage on the Big Island is being reported, but no major injuries and no fatalities as of yet. Airports are only accepting incoming flights. (CNN) (USGS)
Israeli police recommend charging President Moshe Katsav with rape, sexual assault and fraud. The final decision on bringing charges is up to Attorney General Meni Mazuz. (The Washington Post)

October 16, 2006 (Monday)

UN Security Council election: The United Nations General Assembly elects Belgium, Indonesia, Italy and South Africa to two-year terms on the Security Council, commencing 1 January 2007. The fifth seat remains deadlocked after ten rounds of voting between Guatemala and Venezuela and may be thrown open to other candidates from Latin America and the Caribbean. (BBC)
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemns movement by Eritrea of 1,500 troops and 14 tanks into the UNMEE-monitored Temporary Security Zone with Ethiopia as a "major breach" of the ceasefire agreement that ended the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. (ABC News)
2006 North Korean nuclear test: The United States confirms that North Korea conducted a nuclear test on October 9, 2006. (FOX News)
The government of Sudan and the Eastern Front rebels sign a peace treaty in Asmara, Eritrea. (IRIN)
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China starts its dual initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange, in what would be the world's largest ever IPO. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonate a truck packed with explosives amongst a convoy of buses carrying Sri Lankan Navy personnel in the country's northeast. Approximately 102 people are killed, and 150 people are wounded. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Swedish Minister for Culture Cecilia Stegö Chilò resigns after 11 days in office, the second resignation within the Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt. (BBC)
The government of Hong Kong will not appeal a court ruling striking down the territory's sodomy law. (365gay.com)
American and Russian scientists announce the discovery of a new chemical element with the atomic number 118, temporarily designated as Ununoctium. (ABC News)
Uzbek President Islam Karimov fires Saidullo Begaliev, Governor of Andijan, for "short-sighted policies" and "lack of attention to the people's needs" that led to the Andijan massacre in 2005. Karimov appoints Ahmad Usmonov as Begaliev's replacement. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)

October 17, 2006 (Tuesday)

Iraq War: The United States military in Iraq says a marine and nine soldiers have been killed in Iraq, including four in a roadside bombing near Baghdad. (BBC NEWS)
UN Security Council election: The contest between Guatemala and Venezuela for a seat on the United Nations Security Council remains stalemated after a second day of voting. (BBC)
The population of the United States reaches 300 million people. (CNN)
- Married couples are now in the minority of the nation. (NPR: Talk of the Nation)
North Korea says the United Nations effectively declared war on the country when it imposed sanctions through United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 in response to North Korea's nuclear test. (AP via CBS)
The military of Fiji issues an ultimatum to the government to drop legislation which would give an amnesty to the leaders of the 2000 coup, or resign. (SMH)
Whaling in Iceland is to resume, in contravention of a 20-year moratorium passed by the International Whaling Commission. (BBC)
Rapper Fabolous is shot at a Manhattan parking garage, spurring a sequence of events that left him both hospitalized in stable condition and under arrest.
Two metro trains collide in Rome, killing at least two people and injuring about 120 others. (BBC)
It is reported that former British Home Secretary David Blunkett ordered prison staff to machine gun prisoners during a 2002 riot regardless of loss of life. (BBC)

October 18, 2006 (Wednesday)

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Tokyo for talks with Japanese officials amid fears North Korea could be readying for a second nuclear test. (USA Today)
Tamil Tiger rebels are suspected to be responsible for attacks on a Sri Lankan navy base and an adjoining port in the southern city of Galle, police and military officers claim. (CNN)
Chilean police detain 366 high school student protestors in Santiago, and use tear gas and water cannons to disperse their one day strike which called on the government to reform the education law, originally enacted under Augusto Pinochet. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)
Microsoft Corporation released version 7 of its Internet Explorer internet browser software.

October 19, 2006 (Thursday)

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth rules that Mohammad Munaf, a United States citizen, can be transferred to Iraqi authorities to face a death sentence over the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in 2005 around Baghdad. (AP via New York Times)
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV states that Operation Together Forward, a coalition operation against the Iraqi insurgency in Baghdad, has not met expectations. (Washington Post)
Tan D. Nguyen, a Republican candidate for California's 47th congressional district in Orange County, California, denies authorizing a letter warning Hispanic immigrants that they could go to jail or be deported if they vote next month, a mailing that prompted an investigation by the state government. (CBS News)
An Uzbek military Antonov An-2 aircraft crashes near Tashkent, Uzbekistan, killing all of the 15 people on board. The Uzbek Emergency Ministry says the pilots lost control of the plane while trying to land. (BBC)
Scientists at Duke University have created a device out of metamaterials that makes objects harder to detect at microwave frequencies. (LiveScience)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closes at a record high just above 12,000 points in today's trading, as investors welcome the latest batch of corporate earnings. (The Australian)
Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, accuses Eritrea of arming the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia and of attacking Ethiopia. (Financial Times)
A spokesman for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer says that a judge has ordered former New York Stock Exchange Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Grasso to repay part of his deferred compensation pay package. (AP via Kiplinger)
The United States has adopted a document that rejects any proposals to ban space weapons. (BBC)
Nissan Motor Co. begins recalling over 130,000 vehicles globally including 80,000 in North America because of an ignition key defect. (ABC News)
Ethiopia's prime minister Meles Zenawi tells the parliament that he had sent military trainers to help Somalia's struggling government, but had not deployed a fighting force. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
2006 North Korean nuclear testing:
- former Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan has met North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il as tensions mount over the North's nuclear test, according to Chinese officials. (BBC)
- South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, also the incoming United Nations Secretary-General, has warned that a second nuclear test by North Korea will bring "grave consequences." (CNN)

October 20, 2006 (Friday)

OPEC agrees to reduce its output by 1.2 million barrels per day (190,000 m³/d), its first cut for more than two years, to halt falling oil prices. (USA Today)
The Indian conglomerate Tata Group agrees to buy Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus in the largest ever Indian takeover of a foreign company. (NDTV)
Ethiopia expels two European Union diplomats for allegedly trying to smuggle two fugitives into Kenya. The European Union criticises the expulsions as "totally unacceptable." (BBC)
United States authorities charge a Wisconsin man with making a hoax threat against seven American football stadiums that said they would be targeted by terrorists with radiological dirty bombs on the weekend. (AP via WCBS)^{[permanent dead link]}
The Government of Kazakhstan is building a security fence on its border with Uzbekistan to prevent terrorist attacks in the country. (The New York Times)
Clare Short, the former British cabinet minister, has left the Labour Party to sit as an Independent Labour MP. (BBC)
Solomon Islands police and members of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) raid the office of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in Honiara. (ABC News Australia)^{[permanent dead link]}
European Union leaders gather in Lahti, Finland, for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (BBC) (CNN)
Newly convicted prisoners in the United Kingdom are to be held in police cells rather than prisons, as the nation's prison service faces chronic overcrowding in its jails. (BBC)

October 21, 2006 (Saturday)

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda meets rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army for the first time in an attempt to revive the Juba talks. (BBC)
Dariga Nazarbayeva, daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, says it is time for Kazakhstan to "stop behaving like an obedient colony that bows to a foreign gentleman," referring to Lakshmi Mittal of Arcelor Mittal, "whose name appears on the Forbes magazine list." (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 hits the central Philippines. The quake struck at 10:30 p.m. with its epicenter some 35 kilometers south of Boac, Marinduque. The temblor was felt at intensity 4 in the capital Manila. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Tropical Storm Paul forms off Mexico's west coast and forecasters predict it could strengthen into a hurricane and reach land within days. The storm is over the Pacific Ocean about 315 miles (500 km) south of Cabo Corrientes on the Jalisco coast. (AP via ABC Chicago)^{[permanent dead link]}
Iraqi insurgency:
- President of the United States George W. Bush confers with his top Iraq commanders. The meeting is met with a surge in sectarian violence. (Bloomberg)
- Mortar fire on a crowded outdoor market in Mahmoudiyah south of Baghdad kills at least 18 people and injures dozens, police say. (Boston Herald)
- Three U.S. Marines are killed in combat in Anbar province, making October the deadliest month for American forces in Iraq in 2006. (Boston Herald)
- Senior U.S. Department of State diplomat Alberto Fernandez says on Al-Jazeera that the United States had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq but was ready to talk with any group except Al-Qaida in Iraq to facilitate national reconciliation. (AP via Southern Illinoisan)
Fighting has broken out between Somalian troops and a local militia in alliance with the country's new Islamic movement. (Reuters)

October 22, 2006 (Sunday)

Tropical Storm Paul is upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane and is threatening Baja California. (Reuters Alertnet)
Mohammed Shahadeh, leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip Bureij refugee camp, is shot to death outside his home. Fatah officials accuse members of Hamas of being behind the assassination. (BBC News)
Alberto Fernandez, Director of Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the United States Department of State, apologises for saying the United States Government has shown "arrogance and stupidity" in Iraq. (New York Times)
Iraqi insurgency:
- Gunmen kill 15 police recruits and wound 25 south of the city of Baqouba in Iraq. (AP via ABC News America)
Based on extraofficial partial results, Panama has approved in a referendum a $5.25 billion USD plan to expand the Panama Canal by 79% (40% of votes counted). Real-Time counting of votes (BBC News) (CNN)
Icelandic fisherman kill a Fin Whale, breaking the International Whaling Commission's ban on commercial whaling. (BBC News)
The government of Sudan gives United Nations envoy Jan Pronk three days notice to leave the country over comments on the military situation in Darfur made on his weblog. (BBC News)
Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz says flights over Lebanon will continue until UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is fully implemented. (Ynet News)
Michael Schumacher, seven times Formula One World Champion, retires from the sport. (BBC News) (Canada.com)

October 23, 2006 (Monday)

The Romanian Army officially ends the use of conscription. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
The Initiative Group of Independent Rights Defenders in Uzbekistan demands the Karimov administration release political opposition leader Sanjar Umarov, calling the case against him "entirely fabricated." Uzbek authorities arrested Umarov in 2005. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
Police in Hungary fire tear gas on crowds of about 1,000 demonstrators during the 50th anniversary of the country's revolt against Soviet rule. (BBC)
Sir Michael Somare, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, and Ham Lini, Prime Minister of Vanuatu, condemn the police raid on the office of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. (ABC News Australia)
Hurricane Paul becomes a Category 2 hurricane off Mexico's Pacific coast as it heads for Baja California. (CBS News)
Two of the three people accused of plotting to steal trade secrets from Coca-Cola have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. (AP via Sharewatch)
Authorities say an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Pennsylvania has killed one person. (AP via Fox North Carolina)
Avigdor Liberman signs a coalitionary agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to join the cabinet as Minister for Strategic Affairs, a new position. (Ynetnews)
Jeffrey Skilling is sentenced to 24 years, 4 months in prison for his role in the collapse of Enron, concluding the Trial of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. (AP via CBS News)
Though given three days to leave Sudan for blogging on recent government defeats in the Darfur conflict, UN envoy Jan Pronk left the next day when UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recalled him to New York for consultations. (BBC)
The airing of excerpts from a controversial DVD in Australia leads to a police investigation and public condemnation.(The Age)

October 24, 2006 (Tuesday)

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi accuses the Government of Eritrea of jeopardizing regional stability by engaging in a proxy war through its assistance to the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. Zenawi warns the Ethiopian Parliament that "Jihadists are amassing their forces near our borders."(allAfrica)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at another record high. (News Limited)
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare formally proposes reducing the role of Australia in the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in his country at a Pacific leaders forum in Fiji. (ABC News Australia)
The European Union announces it plans to assist Kazakhstan in developing nuclear power for "peaceful purposes." (NASDAQ)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opposes a bill in Iranian parliament that would require the fingerprinting of any citizens of the United States that are visiting Iran, stating, "We do not have a problem with American people. We oppose only the U.S. government." (AP via ABC)
An Associated Press photographer is released after a day in the hands of Palestinian gunmen. (AP via WCBS)
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert sits down with ethics investigators trying to determine when he and his staff learned about ex-Rep. Mark Foley's come-ons to former male pages and what they did to stop it. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)
Firefox 2.0 is released. (CNET)

October 25, 2006 (Wednesday)

2006 North Korean nuclear testing: North Korea warns that any participation by South Korea in U.S. led sanctions would be seen as a serious provocation leading to a "crisis of war" on the Korean peninsula. (CNN)
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki objects to U.S. efforts to get his government to set a timetable for achieving security goals and denounces a raid by U.S. and Iraqi forces on the militias in Sadr City that was done without his knowledge. (AP via ABC)
The CITIC Group of Beijing buys the Nations Energy Company, the state-owned petroleum company of Kazakhstan, for USD $1.91 billion. (Canadian Business Online)^{[permanent dead link]}
Surgeons in the United Kingdom are given permission by a National Health Service ethics committee to prepare to perform the world's first full face transplant at London's Royal Free Hospital. (BBC)
Argentine prosecutors formally charge the Iranian government and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre which killed 85 people. (BBC)
The United States Federal Reserve keeps its benchmark interest rate at 5.25 percent for a third month and reiterates that officials are relying on lower energy prices and slowing growth to reduce inflation. (Bloomberg)
Conflict in the Niger Delta: Villagers in Nigeria storm and seize three Royal Dutch Shell oil platforms in the Niger Delta, forcing oil production to be shut down at each one. (AP via Daily Comet)
The Islamic Courts Union in Somalia has begun recruiting thousands of people in response to alleged military action by neighboring Ethiopia, amid fears of all-out war across the country. (Al Jazeera)
The government of Niger announces that due to "difficult relations with indigenous rural populations," the country's 150,000 Mahamid Arab refugee population who have lived in Niger since having fled Chad two decades earlier, will be deported back to Chad. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}
General George W. Casey Jr., the top United States commander in Iraq, has said it will take 12 to 18 months before Iraqi security forces are ready to take over in the country. (CNN)
South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok resigns. Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-ung had resigned earlier in the week with the President of South Korea Roh Moo-Hyun expected to announce changes in his foreign policy and defence advisers soon. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
Brigadier Mick Slater, the commander of Australian troops in East Timor warns that a humanitarian disaster could happen in that nation, unless housing for refugees fleeing the unrest in Dili can be arranged before the approaching wet season. (ABC News Australia)^{[permanent dead link]}
Carl Scully resigns as Police Minister of New South Wales for misleading the New South Wales Legislative Assembly twice in two weeks over a report on the 2005 Cronulla riots. (Daily Telegraph)
Jon Lech Johansen claims to have reverse engineered the FairPlay copy protection used by Apple's iPod and iTunes Store. (BBC) (AP via CNN)

October 26, 2006 (Thursday)

George W. Bush signs into law The Secure Fence Act of 2006 to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. (Wikinews)
In Australia, Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly apologizes after a public uproar over his statement comparing women who did not wear the hijab to "uncovered meat". (BBC News)
The National Assembly of Nicaragua passes a law banning all abortions in the run-up to general elections.(BBC News)
A Russian Progress spacecraft hauling fresh food, oxygen and vital spare parts for the International Space Station (ISS) arrived at its orbital destination after a successful rendezvous marred by a last-minute antenna glitch. (USA Today)
Four firefighters are killed and one is critically injured as they tried to control the Esperanza Fire that drove hundreds from their homes near Palm Springs, California, United States. An arsonist started the fire. (CNN) (CBS)
Fifteen people die and 400 are admitted to hospital in Pskov, Russia, after consuming alcohol suspected of being tainted with medicinal drugs or chemicals. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}
The Governments of Kiribati and Tuvalu say the citizens of their countries will need to be permanently relocated over the next ten years due to rising sea levels caused by global warming. (TNZH)^{[permanent dead link]}
ExxonMobil Corp., the world's largest petroleum extracting company, says its third-quarter net income rose to USD $10.5 billion from $9.92 billion as crude prices rise to an all-time high. This is the second highest quarterly profit figure for a United States company. (Bloomberg)
Afghan government officials claim at least 60 civilians were killed in ISAF Operation Medusa in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province on Tuesday. (ABC News)
A German minister claims that two Israeli fighter jets fired two shots over a German naval peacekeeping ship near the Lebanese coast. Israel denies the jets fired. (Times)
The Sims 2 Pets is released in Australia and is announced that AU$1 will be donated from every game for the first 50,000 games sold to the RSPCA

October 27, 2006 (Friday)

Australia's senior Muslim cleric Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly is barred from preaching for three months after his controversial speech comparing women who did not wear the hijab to "uncovered meat". (BBC)
Baseball: The St. Louis Cardinals win the 2006 World Series, beating the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 1. This is the Cardinals' first title since 1982. David Eckstein is named the World Series MVP, winning his second ring. (ESPN)
A judge orders the arrest of former President of Chile Augusto Pinochet for torture, murder and kidnapping (Villa Grimaldi case) in the early years of his regime, from 1973 to 1990. (ABC News Australia)^{[permanent dead link]}
Thousands of young Muslim men demonstrate in the Somali capital of Mogadishu in support of a call for a holy war against Ethiopia. (BBC)
Washington D.C.-area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo admitted that he and partner John Allen Muhammad were responsible for the 2002 murder of a 60-year-old man on a Tucson golf course, police claim. (AP via KPHO)
The Iranian Students' News Agency reports that Iran has injected gas into a second network of centrifuges and has obtained the output, a possible step in developing nuclear materials. (CNN)
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of the U.S. state of California, declares a state of emergency, and a reward of USD $500,000 is offered for the capture of the arsonist responsible for the wildfires started in the Twin Pines area of the state.(CNN)
Shares in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China go on sale at the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the world's biggest Initial Public Offering (IPO). (CNN)
Johannesburg International Airport is renamed to OR Tambo International Airport. (News24)
A controlled explosion is carried out by an Army Bomb Disposal squad on Dublin's O'Connell Street after a security alert on an Aircoach bus, although no explosive material was found. Traffic in the city has been severely affected. (RTÉ)
The Ford Taurus rolls off the assembly line for the last time. The Ford plant in Atlanta, USA, closes and 2,000 employees are all laid off. MSNBC

October 28, 2006 (Saturday)

General Henry Obering, the head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency welcomes what he cast as epochal progress toward putting a high-energy laser aboard a modified Boeing 747 to attack ballistic missiles that could be fired by North Korea and Iran. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Cuban television shows images of convalescing leader Fidel Castro walking and reading the day's newspapers showing that he is recovering from his emergency surgery in July. (Reuters), (BBC)
The Russian political parties Rodina, the Russian Party of Life and the Russian Pensioners' Party merge to form a new leftist party, Fair Russia, effectively making Sergey Mironov the new leader of the opposition in the Russian legislature. (ITAR-TASS)^{[permanent dead link]}, (IHT)
Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki tells the U.S. ambassador that he is Washington's friend but "not America's man in Iraq." (CBS News)
At least 42 people are killed in a bus crash in Nepal. (BBC)
Violence breaks out during street protests in Bangladesh, causing the deaths of at least 9 people, as confusion continues over who will take over governing the country from former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}
The genome of the honeybee Apis mellifera has been fully sequenced and analyzed. (Nature)
German newspaper Bild publishes photos allegedly showing Bundeswehr troops posing with human remains in Afghanistan while on peacekeeping duties there. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}
NATO apologizes for the deaths of Afghan civilians in an air raid on Tuesday, October 24, in Kandahar province, blaming Taliban insurgents for using the villagers as cover. (BBC)
Voting begins on a new Serbian constitution that would make Kosovo officially a part of Serbia; voter turnout on day one was low. (BBC)
Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba face-off in the presidential run-off election in Democratic Republic of the Congo. (BBC)

October 29, 2006 (Sunday)

Mexican federal police seize the center of Oaxaca, which had served as the headquarters for the five-month protest occupation of the city. (International Herald Tribune)
President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wins a second term in a landslide victory with 61 per cent of voters supporting him. (AP via Phillyburbs)^{[permanent dead link]}
Serbian constitutional referendum, 2006: Serbian voters approve the new constitution. (BBC)
Iraqi insurgency: 17 police officers, 15 of them police trainers, are abducted and murdered in Basra. (BBC)
War in Afghanistan (2001–present): One NATO soldier and about 70 Taliban insurgents were killed in southern Afghanistan when fighting broke out between insurgents and Afghan troops and NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), officials said. (CNN)
The Attorney-General of Israel delivers a brief to the Supreme Court of Israel arguing that the President of Israel Moshe Katsav should stand aside pending a possible indictment for rape. (AFP via New Sunday Times)^{[permanent dead link]}
ADC Flight 53, a Nigerian Boeing 737 airliner carrying more than 100 passengers, crashes near Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The Sultan of Sokoto Mohammadu Maccido, the sultan's son, Muhammed Maccido, a senator, and Abdulrahman Shehu Shagari, son of former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari, are on the list of passengers on board. (CBS), (Reuters), (Xinhua) There are six confirmed survivors. (SABC), (CNN)
Fierce political rioting in Bangladesh kills at least 10 people and wounds about 500 as the main political parties fail to agree on a successor after the expiry of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia's five-year term. President Iajuddin Ahmed becomes interim PM. Opposition Awami League accuses Iajuddin of violating the Constitution of Bangladesh by appointing himself as head of the interim government. (Reuters), (CNN), (Telegraph)

October 30, 2006 (Monday)

President of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov is reelected after a run-off election with Volen Siderov in the presidential elections. (EITB)
Chenagai airstrike: Pakistani helicopter gunships fired missiles and destroyed an al-Qaeda-linked training facility and killed 80 suspected terrorists in a northwestern tribal area near the Afghan border, in a madrassa near the town of Khar. (Reuters AlertNet)
The Israeli cabinet has approved the addition of the Yisrael Beitenu party into the governing coalition. (BBC News)
Sir Nicholas Stern, the former chief economist of the World Bank, submits a report to the British Government warning of the economic costs and damage to the world that could result from global warming. (The Times)
Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Duleimi, walks out of court after 12 of his requests were rejected, but the chief judge immediately appoints other attorneys to defend the deposed President of Iraq. (USA Today)
Specialist Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, an Iraqi American United States Army soldier currently listed as missing in action in Iraq, is reported to have married an Iraqi citizen, against U.S. military regulations. (MSNBC)
A bomb at a Baghdad market kills 31 people and wounds more than 50 others. (AP via ABC News America)
Super Typhoon Cimaron, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines in eight years, kills at least three people as it makes landfall in Luzon. (Reuters), (Reuters)

October 31, 2006 (Tuesday)