Current events
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(Redirected from As of June 2005)
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28 October 2005 (Friday)
- Sina-1, the first Iranian satellite built jointly with Russia was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Murmansk Oblast in northwestern Russia at 22:52 Thursday local time (14:52 Friday UTC). (Iran-daily.com)
- Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Chief of Staff to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, resigns after being indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice by a grand jury. (BBC)
- Elvis Presley tops Forbes´ list of Top Ten Earning Dead Celebrities for the fifth successive year, earning US$45 million in royalties. He is followed by Charles Schulz ($35M), John Lennon ($22M), and Andy Warhol ($16M). (Ireland Online)
- President Fidel Castro of Cuba agrees to allow three officials from the United States Agency for International Development into the country to assist in relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Wilma. The communist nation typically turns down offers of assistance from the United States since trade embargoes from the US have been in place for over 40 years. (Yahoo! via AP)
- In the continuing negotiations over global free trade,the trade commissioner for the European Union, Peter Mandelson, said Friday that the EU will cut its average farm tariff by 47%, reducing the highest rates by 60%. Jacques Chirac, the president of France, said that he doesn't have France's support in such a proposal. (Financial Times)
27 October 2005 (Thursday)
- Conflict in Iraq: At least 20 Shia Militia members and Iraqi Police have died following a Sunni Arab ambush in Nahrawan, South East of Baghdad. (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- Israeli troops raid the Palestinian town of Jenin, in the West Bank. (BBC) (IMEMC)
- Eight Palestinians, including three militants, have died following Israeli Air Strikes in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls for the expulsion of Iran from the United Nations after the Iranian President repeated Ruhollah Khomeinis call for Israel to be "wiped off the map". (BBC)
- As the relief operation of 2005 Kashmir earthquake is facing great difficulties in reaching victims due to bad weather, mountainous terrain, landslides and blocked roads, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz makes an appeal to millions of survivors in the mountains to leave their villages and come down to the valleys and cities for shelter before the start of winter in about three weeks. (Bloomberg)
- Former Northern Irish footballer George Best's medical condition worsens in an intensive care unit at a private English hospital, as he is reportedly suffering from serious internal bleeding. (BBC News)
- President George W. Bush's nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Harriet Miers, has turned down the nomination made on October 3, 2005. The President has accepted her withdrawal. (CNN)
26 October 2005 (Wednesday)
- Conflict in Iraq: Three US Soldiers die in two separate insurgent attacks in Baghdad and near Baqouba. (BBC)
- Baseball: In the deciding game of the 2005 World Series, the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros 1-0 to sweep the series 4 games to 0. This is the first World Championship for the Sox since 1917. Outfielder Jermaine Dye is named Series MVP. (Houston Chronicle)
- For the first time in Iranian history, Indian soldiers killed fighting for the British in Iran have been commemorated in an official ceremony in Tehran. (BBC)
- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quotes the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the destruction of Israel, calling it a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map". Ahmadinejad made the reference to 3,000 students during a speech at the "World without Zionism" conference. (Reuters) (AP)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- 5 people are killed in a bombing at a market place in the Israeli town of Hadera. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the attack. (YNETnews), (BBC)
- Israeli warplanes hit areas in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
- Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is to be relocated from the south island of Okinawa to the main island, affecting thousands of U.S. Marines. Protests from residents, environmental groups, local businessmen and politicians on both sides are likely to ensue. The move is partially due to the rape of a local Okinawa girl, a helicopter crash into a university campus in Ginowan last year, and racial tensions between locals and Marines. (AP) (BBC)
- Avian influenza:
- The "Al-Tawhid trial" in Düsseldorf, Germany results in sentences between five and eight years against the defendants, four Palestinian men charged with plotting attacks on Jewish installations in Germany on the orders of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
- The British Government, after several days of debating, confirms its plans to ban smoking in public places in England with the exemption of pubs and clubs not serving food. (BBC)
- A Wal-Mart internal memorandum determines that benefits costs are unsustainable, driven by an aging work force. A recommendation is to shift to more part time associates to lower health care enrollment. (WalmartWatch) (NYT)
- What may be the first pyramid in Europe has been discovered in Bosnia. (BBC) FENA
- WNBA superstar Sheryl Swoopes of the Houston Comets publicly announces that she is a lesbian in an interview with ESPN The Magazine.(ESPN)
25 October 2005 (Tuesday)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israeli warplanes and artillery units hit areas in the northern Gaza Strip. (BBC)
- AIDS pandemic: The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), UNAIDS and other partners launch a global campaign, known as "Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS", to spur action for the millions of children affected by HIV/AIDS. Fewer than 5 percent of HIV-positive children are receiving treatment. (Unicef)
- Conflict in Iraq: Staff Sergeant George T. Alexander, Jr. becomes the 2000th U.S. military fatality in Iraq. (Yahoo/AFP) (DOD)
- Rumours that a 14-year-old Afro-Caribbean girl had been sexually assaulted, and possibly raped, by several South Asian men, leads to a race riot in Birmingham, England. 20 are injured after violence between South Asian and black gangs, and local police. (The Mercury)
- An Irish government-commissioned report, carried out by a retired Supreme Court judge, condemns two Irish bishops, the Roman Catholic Church, the Garda Siochána (police) and health authorities for their failure to deal with clerical sex abuse over 40 years in the Diocese of Ferns (Wexford). The report suggested that 10% of priests in the diocese sexually abused children. (RTÉ) (BBC)
- BBC World Service announces that it will launch an Arabic language TV news channel in 2007. Radio services in ten languages, mainly Central European but including Kazakh and Thai, will be abandoned in 2006 to release funding for the new service. (BBC)
- The Swedish telecoms manufacturer Ericsson has bought most of the troubled British telecoms manufacturer Marconi. (Guardian) (BBC)
- Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission announces that the country's draft constitution was approved in the vote held October 15. (AP)
- Paul Hackett, who in August narrowly lost an April 2005 by-election for an Ohio U.S. House of Representatives seat to Jean Schmidt, announced that he will seek the Democrat Senate nomination to run against incumbent Ohio Senator Mike DeWine, a Republican. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
24 October 2005 (Monday)
- Rosa Parks, whose famous refusal in 1955 to surrender her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama triggered a bus-boycott and the beginning of the modern U.S. civil rights movement, died at the age of 92. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom was known to have suffered from dementia. Sources state that she died at her home in Detroit of natural causes. (Bloomberg) (ClickOnDetroit.com).
- The Terrafrica partnership, a US$4 billion, 12-year campaign supported by the African Union, World Bank, United Nations, European Commission, and regional African governments, and aimed at fighting current, and preventing future desertification in Africa, begins. (Reuters)
- Escalating a 'minor diplomatic crisis' between Russia and Norway, two Russian fishing trawlers are taken into custody by the Norwegian Coast Guard after allegedly having done illegal reloading of their vessels near the Norwegian Sea island of Bjørnøya. (RIA Novosti) (Aftenposten)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Two Palestinian militants have died following an Israeli raid into the West Bank area of Tulkarm. (BBC) (IOL)
- 2006 World Cup: Gordon Strachan is named as FIFA/SOS Ambassador for Scotland (joining Wayne Rooney for England) for the 2006 World Cup. (SOS Children's Villages) (Celtic FC)
- Zhou Shaoning is selected as the Chief Chinese Operations Officer for Google China. (Yahoo!)
- 11 Nepali Sherpa and 7 French mountaineers are feared dead by an attempt to climb 6981 metre (20000 feet) Mount Kanguru in north-west Nepal. (NepalNews) (Reuters) (Japan Today) (Kantipuronline)
- U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Ben Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as chair of the Federal Reserve Board. (New York Times) (CNN)
23 October 2005 (Sunday)
- Avian influenza:
- The Swedish National Veterinary Institute reports a dead duck discovered near Stockholm was infected with an undetermined strain of avian influenza. (ABC)
- Nigerian airline Bellview Airlines Flight 210 crashed in Oyo State, Nigeria shortly after take-off from Lagos en route to Abuja. The Red Cross reports there are no survivors. (theStar) (Reuters) (BBC) (CNN)
- The second round of the Polish Presidential election is held today between conservative candidates Lech Kaczyński and Donald Tusk. According to exit polls conducted by Polish television stations, Kaczyński is the winner. (Bloomberg) (AFP)
- A referendum to ban civilian manufacture and sale of firearms in Brazil is rejected by a vote of 64 percent to 36 percent. (ABC News)
- Pope Benedict XVI canonizes Chilean Jesuit Alberto Hurtado.
- Elections in Argentina, 2005.Candidates supporting Argentina's President, Néstor Kirchner, won the parliamentary elections in Buenos Aires Province (his wife was elected as Senator) and several other provinces. However, they lost in Buenos Aires City and Santa Fe Province. (Bloomberg).
22 October 2005 (Saturday)
- Tropical Storm Alpha forms in the Carribean, threatening the island of Hispaniola and becoming the record-breaking 22nd named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. (Reuters)
- The first case of avian influenza (bird flu) has been discovered in the United Kingdom from a South American parrot. Tests are being carried out on the parrot, which died in quarantine, to determine whether it had the H5N1 strain of the virus. (BBC News) (The Daily Mail)
- The Lozells riots in Birmingham begin, leaving according to the most recent reports at least two dead. (BBC)
21 October 2005 (Friday)
- The Government of Nepal seized equipment used by the Kantipur FM radio station for the normal transmission of news at Bhedetar, Dhankuta. Dhankuta lies in the eastern part of Nepal.(Kantipuronline)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank after they attacked an Israeli Defence Forces vehicle in Tulkarm. (BBC)
- Telecommunications company Inmarsat is planning to launch the second in a series of two super-satellites into geosynchronous orbit. They are designed to be among the most powerful commercial communications satellites in orbit. They will beam broadband data and voice services to almost any location on the planet. (Wired)
- Avian influenza:
- Avian influenza is detected in Croatia. Six of twelve swans were infected by a H5 type of virus. The swans were found near Orahovica. It is suspected that they came to Croatia from a still unknown place in the European Union.
- The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service discovers antibodies of avian influenza and newcastle disease in pigeons imported from Canada to Melbourne, leading to a blanket ban on all live bird imports from Canada. (ABC) (ABC)
- Avian influenza is found in a parrot that died in quarantine in England. The Department for the Environment, Fisheries and Food has not said if it is the lethal strain H5N1. (BBC)
- Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi, the defense lawyer of Awad Hamed al-Bandar in the Al-Dujail trial, is found dead of gunshot wounds near a Baghdad mosque, after having been kidnapped on Thursday evening by unknown assailants. AP
- In Portsmouth, UK, the parents of the brain-damaged baby Charlotte Wyatt have won a partial victory in their legal battle to have her resuscitated by doctors if she falls seriously ill. (BBC)
- A United Nations investigation headed by Detlev Mehlis has found that high-ranking members of the Syrian and Lebanese governments were involved in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (ABC)
- A ceremony is held in Portsmouth, UK, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar; other events include the Queen Elizabeth II lighting one of many nationwide beacons. (BBC)
- An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale hits the Turkish city of İzmir, injuring 15 people and causing one fatal heart attack. This is the fourth strong tremor this week. (AFP) (AP) (USGS)
20 October 2005 (Thursday)
- In a bid to stay in step with its largest trading partner, the United States, Ontario announces it will become the first Canadian province to extend daylight saving time. (CBC)
- Two weeks after the Kashmir earthquake death toll reaches 79,000, the UN estimates that 500,000 people are cut off from relief aid. The UN appeals to the international community for more aid, warning that tens of thousands of people could die if aid does not reach them before the harsh winter. (Guardian) (USA Today)
- In the United Kingdom, David Cameron and David Davis go through to a runoff vote of Conservative Party members after a second round of voting amongst Tory MPs in the party's leadership election. Liam Fox is eliminated. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Four U.S. soldiers are killed in two insurgent attacks north of Baghdad, Iraq. (BBC)
- A defense lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants is kidnapped. (BBC)
- Conflict in Afghanistan: Several US soldiers are caught setting fire to dead Taliban fighters, in defiance of Muslim beliefs and practices, in scenes broadcast on Afghan TV. (BBC)
- Guinea's government announces that municipal elections will be held on 18 December. (Reuters)
- One ticket sold in Oregon matched all the numbers in the United States Powerball Lottery which was worth US$340 million. (Boston Globe)
19 October 2005 (Wednesday)
- The death toll in the 8 October Kashmir earthquake exceeds 79,000. (Guardian)
- Hurricane Wilma goes through one of the most intense rapid intensification processes in hurricane history to become the third Category 5 storm of 2005. Its central pressure falls to 882 mb (hPa), becoming the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. To date, the 2005 Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season has seen 21 storms of tropical storm strength or greater and 12 hurricanes, both of which tie the records set in 1933 and 1969, respectively. (NHC) (AP/YahooNews)
- Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity. The former President of Iraq is led into court with seven associates, charged with ordering the killing of 143 Shi'a men in the town of Dujail in 1982. If convicted, Hussein could face capital punishment. (BBC)
- Avian influenza:
- China reports 2600 birds have died of the H5N1 virus near Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. (BBC)
- Russia reports outbreaks of the virus in Kurgan Oblast, west Siberia, and in Tula Oblast, western Russia. (Mosnews) (AP/Canada.com)
- The European Union suspects a new outbreak has occurred in the Republic of Macedonia. (CNN)
- Liverpool City Council, UK, issued an apology for the destruction of the Welsh community of Capel Celyn in 1965 to create the Llyn Celyn reservoir, which supplies Liverpool and The Wirral with drinking water. (BBC)
- Former Congressman Bob McEwen of Ohio is considering challenging incumbent Jean Schmidt in the 2006 Republican primary. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
18 October 2005 (Tuesday)
- Ex-chancellor Ken Clarke has been knocked out of the race to become the next leader of the UK Conservative Party. (BBC)
- Malawi food crisis: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) increases its appeal for Malawi to USD13 million, as the humanitarian crisis worsen with an estimated 46,000 severely malnourished children. (allAfrica)
- Conflict in Iraq: Two US Marines and around four Iraqi insurgents are killed in Western Iraq. (NBC)
- The independent electoral commission in Iraq issues a statement saying that statistical irregularities in the constitution ratification referendum on October 15, 2005 require that the balloting be audited, which will delay the announcement of the final count. According to the New York Times, "The statement made no mention of the possibility of fraud." though according to the BBC "Iraq's independent electoral commission says statistical irregularities in last week's referendum could indicate fraud." (BBC), (New York Times)(mirror), (MTV)
- William Evan Allan, the last surviving Australian First World War veteran, dies aged 106. (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth is formally opened. Five years overdue and massively over budget, the tower offers the highest public vantage point in the UK. Project manager David Greenhalgh becomes trapped in the tower's external glass lift for over an hour at the opening. (BBC). (BBC)
- Authorities closed one of two highway tunnels carrying traffic under Baltimore, Maryland's harbor following a threat to detonate explosive filled vehicles.
17 October 2005 (Monday)
- 2 Umrah pilgrims die as the ship they were returning in crashed into a cargo ship in the Suez Canal. Initial reports of 20 fatalities proved unfounded, though over 90 people were injured. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: The US claims to have killed 70 insurgents near Ramadi in eastern Iraq. However, eyewitnesses maintain that most of those killed were innocent civilians, and photographs released show locals burying at least 18 children, including infants. (BBC), (LA Times)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel bans Palestinians from travelling throughout the West Bank and cuts off contact with the Palestinian Authority. (BBC)
- Jens Stoltenberg takes over as the Prime Minister of Norway after Kjell Magne Bondevik. In Stoltenberg's majority coalition government, ten ministers represent the PMs own party, the Norwegian Labour Party (Ap), five come from the Socialist Left Party (SV), and four from the Centre Party (Sp). Nine of the nineteen ministers are women. (Aftenposten)
- Helen Clark announces the formation of a Labour-led Government in New Zealand. The Progressive Party is in coalition. New Zealand First and United Future support the government and are each given ministerial positions outside Cabinet. (NZ Herald)
- Tropical Storm Wilma forms, making it only the second time there have been 21 recorded tropical storms in a single hurricane season in the north Atlantic basin, tying the 1933 season. It was upgraded to hurricane status on 18 October. (United States National Hurricane Center)
- Refco, New York based commodity brokerage, files for chapter 11 (bankruptcy) protection after an 8 day melt-down.
16 October 2005 (Sunday)
- Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, addresses the Millions More event in Washington DC and condemns George W. Bush for the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. (BBC)
- South Thailand insurgency: A Buddhist monk and five other people are killed and a Buddhist temple is set on fire. (Reuters)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- A leader of Islamic Jihad is killed in a shoot-out following an Israeli raid into the West Bank town of Jenin. (BBC)
- The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim responsibility for a West Bank shooting attack that kills three Israeli Settlers at a hitchhiking post. Another Israeli is seriously wounded in a second shooting attack. (Haaretz)
- The reentry module of the Chinese manned spacecraft Shenzhou 6 lands safely in Inner Mongolia, China. (People's Daily).
- Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visits the Yasukuni shrine which honors Japan's war dead including 14 Class A war criminals of World War II. This is Koizumi's fifth visit to Yasukuni since taking office in 2001. (CNN)
- More than 4 million people vote in Italy for the primaries of the center left to elect the person that should represent the main antagonist to the current Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. (La Repubblica)
15 October 2005 (Saturday)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Jean Ziegler, a Human rights investigator and senior United Nations official, has accused the US and occupying forces of "using hunger and deprivation of water as a weapon of war against the civilian population" in Iraq. (BBC)
- The Iraqi people go to the polls to vote on whether to approve the proposed constitution, amidst heavy security. (AP)
- Crown Princess Mary of Denmark gives birth to her first child, a 3.5 kg boy, at 0157 local time (2357 UTC Friday). The prince, likely to be named Christian, is second in line of succession to Europe's oldest crown. (Reuters)
- The Brazilian government extends a state of emergency to cover the whole of Amazonas, the country's largest state, following a severe drought which has seen many rivers and lakes dry up. (BBC)
- Election officials in Somaliland's first multiparty parliamentary elections in the breakaway republic announce that the ruling party, the For Unity, Democracy, and Independence won the most seats. (seattlepi)
- 2005 Malawi food crisis: President Bingu wa Mutharika declared a national disaster due to the worsening food shortages in the country. (Reuters)
14 October 2005 (Friday)
- Zimbabwean state-owned media announces that the Zimbabwean government briefly detained the American ambassador, on Monday, October 10. The United States considers the matter closed following a formal apology. (Wash. Times)
- 2005 Kashmir earthquake: SOS Children have been appointed temporary custodian of unaccompanied children. SOS will run the family tracing database and look after children in their emergency centre in Islamabad and in other six villages in Kashmir. (SOS)
- A high ranking undercover Central Intelligence Agency officer, known only as "Jose," will coordinate CIA, FBI, and State Department spying operations as the new director of the National Clandestine Service. (Reuters)
- Futures industry regulators, brokerages, and futures exchanges in the United States engage in furious talks over how to avoid, or how to minimize the consequences of, the impending failure of Refco, a global commodities broker-dealer. (MSN Money)
- Security concern over Google maps - India's President has warned that the Google map service could help terrorists by providing satellite photos of potential targets.
- Former President of Ecuador, Lucio Gutiérrez Borbúa, deposed by the Ecuadorian military on April 20, 1995, after days of civil disturbances in Quito, returns voluntarily to Ecuador and is immediately locked in a maximum security prison cell in Quito, on charges of attempting to subvert national security, after having repeatedly stated to the international media that he continues to be the legitimate President of the Republic of Ecuador. (El Universo, Guayaquil) (article in Spanish).
13 October 2005 (Thursday)
- The United Nations is to evacuate some staff from Sudan's West Darfur state because of an increase in violence. U.N. officials said that the violence had hindered aid access to 650,000 refugees in the region. (Reuters)
- ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross reports that security at nuclear reactors on U.S. college campuses is easily compromised. (ABC)(BadgerHerald)
- Shenzhou 6 could be brought back one day earlier than planned due to weather conditions at the landing area and the physical condition of the astronauts. The People's Republic of China's second human spaceflight was originally planned for the mission to last five days. (SpaceDaily)
- Scores of suspected Chechen separatist rebels attack the southern Russian city of Nalchik in a coordinated operation against Russian security forces, killing dozens of people. BBC 85 killed and map: (Washington Post)
- The presence of the dangerous H5N1 avian influenza virus is confirmed in dead birds found in Turkey, marking the first cases of the disease in Europe. (BBC)
- In Stockholm, it is announced that British playwright Harold Pinter is the 2005 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. (Reuters)
- Iraq's Constitutional Referendum: A four day curfew has been announced in order to hamper terrorists. Early voting has begun. (Reuters)
12 October 2005 (Wednesday)
- Six armed Somali pirates hijack the MV Miltzow, a freighter that is carrying United Nations food aid. After its cargo of 850 tonnes of food aid was offloaded in the port of Merka, the ship was forced to sail down the coast to Barawa before being released two days later. (Reuters)
- CNN reports that the Louisiana attorney general is investigating the possibility that mercy killings of critically ill patients by staff medical professionals at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans occurred during Hurricane Katrina. (CNN) (BusinessWire) (DallasBusinessJournal)
- German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder informs that he won't play a role in the Merkel grand coalition cabinet. He criticizes the United States for its response to Hurricane Katrina and "Anglo-Saxon economic policies," while stressing the importance of Franco-Germanic ties. (Reuters)
- Conflict in Iraq: At least 30 people die following an insurgent suicide bomb attack in Talafar, North Western Iraq, the second such attack in as many days. (BBC)
- The People's Republic of China launches the manned Shenzhou 6 spacecraft. Fei Junlong and Niè Hǎishèng will spend five days in orbit in their Shenzhou spacecraft. (People's Daily)
- Iraq's Constitutional referendum: the prospects of the proposed Iraqi constitution being approved in Saturday's referendum are boosted by a deal struck with a major Sunni Arab party, the Iraqi Islamic Party. (CNN)
- Syria's interior minister, Ghazi Kanaan, who was head of the country's military intelligence in neighboring Lebanon for nearly 20 years, has committed suicide. (CNN)
11 October 2005 (Tuesday)
- Conflict in Iraq: Insurgent suicide bomb attacks leave over 30 people dead in Talafar, North West Iraq. (BBC)
- Conflict in Afghanistan: 18 Afghan police die following an ambush in Halmand, southern Afghanistan. (BBC)
- 2005 Malawi food crisis: SOS Children launches emergency food program around Lilongwe and Mzuzu Malawi Crisis
- Liberian elections, 2005: Liberians head for the poll today to select a new president, 30 senators and 64 representatives for the lower house of parliament. (allAfrica)
- Divers off Portsmouth harbour raise the anchor and part of the bow of the wreck of the Tudor warship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545. (BBC)
10 October 2005 (Monday)
- New Orleans:
- Three New Orleans officers accused of near fatally beating Robert Davis and assaulting a cameraman who taped the ordeal, plead not guilty.
- Allegations that New Orleans police looted 200 cars (41 Cadillacs) are under investigation by Louisiana police.(Yahoo)
- Widespread desertion, suicide, and crime among New Orleans police officers has been reported in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. (Reuters)
- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully tests a $10 million jet that travels at twice the speed of sound. (Reuters)
- 2005 Kashmir earthquake: SOS Children have reported that despite the destruction of much of their Children’s Village in Muzaffarabad all of the children in their care are believed safe. (SOS)
- Conflict in Iraq: Insurgent attacks throughout Iraq leave seven Iraqis, two security officals from the Arab league and one US soldier dead. (BBC)
- Following the German federal election, 2005, Christian Democrat Angela Merkel will become the next Chancellor of Germany, replacing Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder, although Schröder's party will be the dominant party in the Grand Coalition. (BBC) (Reuters)
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards Thomas Schelling and Robert Aumann the 2005 Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis". (Nobel Prize)
- Aardman Animations, the company behind films such as Chicken Run, Creature Comforts, and the just-released Wallace and Gromit film Curse of the Were-Rabbit lose their entire history, but not their film library, in a fire. (BBC)
- The former President of Uganda, Milton Obote, has died of kidney failure at the age of 80. Obote led the East African country from 1962-1971 and again from 1980-1985. (BBC)
9 October 2005 (Sunday)
- In the Polish presidential election, frontrunner Donald Tusk of the liberal (libertarian) Civic Platform party receives approximately 35.8% of the vote, slightly ahead of Lech Kaczyński of the conservative Law and Justice Party with 33.3%. A run-off election between Tusk and Kaczyński will take place on October 23. (BBC)
- Three white New Orleans police officers are arrested after a video surfaces showing the officers brutally beating unarmed 64-year old Robert Davis. The victim, who is black, has been charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. (Reuters), (BBC), (Footage of incident from BBC)
- New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. (Reuters)
- United Kingdom: In a joint statement, Anglican and Catholic leaders voice concerns over euthanasia as the House of Lords gears up for debate on legislation. (BBC)
- United Kingdom: Former actress and current Labour MP Glenda Jackson announces she intends to stand against Tony Blair in a leadership bid if he doesn't stand down in the near future. (BBC) (Scotsman)
- Tropical Storm Vince, the 20th named storm of the season (making the current Atlantic hurricane season the 2nd most active since recording first took place) is gaining hurricane strength while heading towards Europe. It is unusual for such a storm to form so far east in the Atlantic Ocean, and more so gaining hurricane strength, since the waters are much cooler than in the Caribbean area. (National Hurricane Center)
- Southend Pier, in the