June 2005

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Other events in June 2005 World - Sci-Tech - Sports Britain and Ireland - Canada Hong Kong and Macao Australia & NZ - India - US

Deaths in June June 27: Shelby Foote June 27: John T. Walton June 26: Richard Whiteley June 25: John Fiedler June 25: Chet Helms June 24: Paul Winchell June 21: Jaime Cardinal Sin June 20: Jack Kilby June 18: Syed Mushtaq Ali June 13: Lane Smith June 11: Juan José Saer June 9: Richard Eberhart June 6: Anne Bancroft June 4: Chloe Jones June 1: George Mikan Deaths in June 2005

June 30 2005 (Thursday)

• In Belgium, the Parliament Speaker Herman De Croo cancels a lunch with a delegation from the Iranian parliament, led by Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, because of the Iranians' insistence on not serving alcoholic drinks, and a meeting with senate president Anne-Marie Lizin because of the men in the delegation refusing to shake hands with her, a non-related woman.
• In Russia, a court in St. Petersburg sentences two men for the 1998 murder of liberal MP Galina Starovoitova. Organizer Yuri Kolchin received 20 years in prison, Vitaly Akishin receives 23.
• Indian police in Delhi have arrested tiger poacher Sansar Chand
• In Lebanon, former Minister of Finance, Fouad Siniora is appointed prime minster.
• The Sudanese government releases jailed Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi and lifts a ban of his Popular Congress Party. He was detained for plotting a coup
• Somalian gunmen hijack a ship carrying United Nations food aid and demand $500.000 ransom for the crew.
• Spain's parliament votes to legalize same-sex marriages, the third European country to do so after the Netherlands and Belgium, and in the same week as Canada. The bill passed by a margin of 40 votes, with 187 votes in favor, 147 opposed, and four abstentions.
• There are conflicting reports about Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabian ambassador to United States. BBC reports that he has resigned but the Saudi embassy says he is just in a holiday.
• International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo states that they have credible evidence of crimes against humanity in Darfur. Sudan refuses to extradite those suspected of war crimes.
• In France, a court in Paris convicts 14 militant separatists from ETA and Breton Revolutionary Army
• In the Philippines, agriculture minister Arthur Yap resigns because of charges of tax evasion
• In India, Gautam Goswami, main suspect of a massive flood relief scam connected to 2005 Indian Ocean earthquake, gives himself up after several weeks and is remanded to judicial custody. He is also under another investigation of misusing public funds meant for social programs.
• Time Magazine says that it will hand over records in compliance with a court order in the investigation of the leak of a covert CIA operative's name. This decision in the matter of Valerie Plame could avoid jail time for one of its reporters, Matthew Cooper.
• The EPA says that a chemical used to make Teflon is "likely" to cause cancer. The compound is used in the creation of cookware and clothing.
• Survivors of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis claim that Iran's president-elect, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was among their captors. The United States is looking into the matter.
• In Scotland, Western Isles Council approves plans to build a large wind farm in North Lewis
• In Brazil, president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva orders an investigation into allegations of corruption at the energy company Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA
• In Egypt, Ayman Ismail, co-defendant in the case of forged signatures with Ayman Nour, withdraws his guilty plea, stating that government security agents pressured him to do so.
• In the United States President George W. Bush names U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Cynthia A. Glassman as acting chair, replacing William Donaldson, who announced his retirement early this month, effective today.

June 29 2005 (Wednesday)

• The United States House of Representatives passes a $1.17 billion funding bill for Amtrak in fiscal year 2006, an amount that is still short of the $2 billion Amtrak was originally seeking. The funding was approved in an amendment to a more general transportation and treasury appropriations bill. The House also removed the requirement in the bill that would mandate Amtrak to end passenger train service on currently unprofitable routes. The funding has yet to be approved by the Senate.
• The United States Capitol in Washington D.C. was briefly evacuated due to an aircraft that entered restricted airspace.
• New York officials release the design for the signature building of the World Trade Center. The building will be called "The Freedom Tower" and shine a ray of light from its spire.
• In Spain, Manuel Fraga, the last politician from the era of Francisco Franco, loses in elections in Galicia.
• A Belgian jury finds two Rwandans, Etienne Nzabonimana and Samuel Ndashyikirwa, guilty of involvement in the Rwandan genocide.
• Hezbollah shells Israeli positions with mortars and rockets in the disputed Shebaa farms, wounding five soldiers and killing one, The Israeli military shelled areas around several villages in southern Lebanon and planes launched missiles. Israel intends to file a complaint against Lebanon and UNIFIL for failing to prevent aggression by Hezbollah.
• UN special envoy Anna Tibaijuka meets Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, discussing about a recent urban crackdown that has left 300.000 people homeless
• In Serbia, Belgrade court convicts 10 officials from the government of Slobodan Milošević for an assassination attempt against then-opposition leader Vuk Drašković. they include special police commander Milorad Ulemek and chief of state security Radomir Marković (B92) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Ethiopia, government promises to rerun some elections in constituencies where there have been allegations of election fraud (IOL) (Reuters AlertNet) Government also arrests four journalists who had criticized the government crackdown against protesters (Reuters AlertNet)
• Venezuela forms Petrocaribe, an energy cooperation pact with 13 Caribbean states to supply them with cheaper oil. Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados opt out (Caribbean Net News) (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
• International Federation for Human Rights demands that International Criminal Court investigate human rights abuses of Colombian paramilitary group Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) (World peace Herald) (BBC)
• In Liberia, Gyude Bryant, president of transitional government, states that he is going to use death penalty against those who commit gboyo human sacrifice, especially presidential candidates trying to boost their chances (Liberian Observer) (AllAfrica) (Reuters AlertNet)
• Giant sudoku puzzle appears near Bristol, England (BBC)

June 28 2005 (Tuesday)

• Garda Siochána (Irish police) dig up a garden in a Dublin suburb to search for the remains of a baby murdered in the 1970s. The child's mother states that she became pregnant twice, aged 11 and 15, as a result of incest. On both occasions her family murdered her newborn child. One of the two murdered children was found dumped on a Dun Laoghaire street in 1973. (RTÉ)
• Bill C-38 passes through the Canadian House of Commons, placing Canada on track to become the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, likely by July. (CBC)
• AMD files an antitrust lawsuit against rival chipmaker Intel (Tom's Hardware)
• Pakistan's Supreme Court suspends the acquittal of five men accused of raping Mukhtaran Bibi. (BBC)
• In the Solent, Queen Elizabeth II conducts a fleet review of 167 naval, merchant and tall ships from Britain and 35 other nations to commemorate the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Ironically, the largest ship in attendance is the French aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle. Naval vessels from as far away as Japan and South Korea are in attendance. The tall ships will conduct a re-enactment of a Napoleonic War naval battle later in the day. (BBC)
• In France, police search offices of specialty chemicals company Rhodia and finance ministry in the investigation of accounting irregularities and inside trading. Finance minister Thierry Breton was a member of the Rhodia board. (Business Week) (Forbes) (IHT)
• Countries backing the ITER fusion reactor meet in Moscow to decide if the experimental fusion reactor will be built in Cadarache, Southern France, instead of Japan. (PhysOrg) (European Commission) (BBC) (IHT)
• Emperor Akihito of Japan and empress Michiko pay an unannounced visit to the memorial of Korean war dead during his visit in Saipan. (Japan Today Asahi Shimbun) (Reuters)
• A team of US and Canadian scientists announces that they may have found a way of vaccination against Lassa fever. (BBC) (Reuters)
• Italian police detain Angelo Sacco after a shooting spree in Bogogno, near Milan. Three people are dead. (AGI) (BBC)
• Guinea-Bissau's former president Kumba Yala declares that he accepts the results of presidential elections in the country "in the interest of peace and democracy" but still insists that he actually won. No candidate has won 50% of the vote and the next round of elections commences in July. (Reuters SA) (BBC)
• United Nations rapporteur Manfred Nowak states that the United States may be secretly holding prisoners on military vessels. (BBC)
• In Egypt presidential candidate Ayman Nour pleads not guilty in forging signatures in his party's registration. His supporters demonstrate outside the courthouse. Nour is regarded as the main rival canditate to incumbent president Hosni Mubarak. (Arab News) (Al-Jazeera) (BBC) (Reuters)
• Ugandan parliament votes to remove the law that limits presidential terms to two 5-year terms. Opposition critics say that it intended to make Yoweri Museveni president-for-life. Police disperses opposition demonstrators with tear gas. (BBC) (Reuters) (Reuters AlertNet)
• Supreme court of Canada rules that Rwandan Leon Mugesera should be deported. He is accused of incitement during Rwandan genocide. (Canada.Com) (Reuters)
• In Malawi, parliament speaker Rodwell Munyenyembe dies, four days after he collapsed during a heated parliamentary debate. (News24) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• In Pakistan, fault in undersea cable severs some of the country's internet and mobile phone links abroad. Repairs may take three days. (Pakistan Dawn) (Channel News Asia (Reuters)
• In Germany, former deputy defense minister Holger Pfahls admits that in 1990 he took a bribe worth million euros from arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber in connection of a sale of armored vehicles to the USA. He is in trial accused of taking bribes from Saudi Arabia in a similar deal in 1991. (Deutsche Welle) (Bloomberg)
• In Australia, councillor Paul Tully wants to exhume the bodies of outlaws Steve Hart and Dan Kelly, two members of Ned Kelly's gang, because he suspects they may have survived and fled to Queensland. (ABC) (Australian) (BBC)
• A federal jury in Birmingham, Alabama acquits Richard Scrushy, the former chief executive of HealthSouth, of all criminal charges arising out of the $2.7 billion in accounting fraud at that company.

June 27 2005 (Monday)

• The Supreme Court of the United States releases a unanimous decision in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., finding that P2P file sharing companies can be held liable for the copyright infringement of their users. (Wired), (Financial Times)
• Walmart heir John T. Walton dies when his ultra-light plane crashes right after taking off in Jackson, Wyoming. (CNN)
• Kenya releases three men suspected of conspiracy to a suicide bombing in 2002 and links to al Qaeda. (BBC) (Reuters)
• South Africa's Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has organized a nationwide strike to protest job losses and unemployment. (IOL) (Reuters SA) (BBC) (Bloomberg)
• In the Philippines, president Gloria Arroyo apologizes and admits that she took a phonecall to an election official during the presidential elections last. She denies any vote fixing and refuses to resign. (Manila Bulletin (Sun Star) (Reuters)
• In Mexico, Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas announces a "new political initiative" after a week-long meeting in the jungle. (Indymedia Chiapas - Spanish and English) (Reuters AlertNet)
• Greek prosecutor launches a preliminary investigation to determine if Greeks fighting for Bosnian Serbs were involved with the Srebrenica massacre. (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Bosnia, Bosnian Serb police arrests 11 for connection with war crimes. (Reuters)
• Israeli military tribunal convicts ex-soldier Wahid Taysir of manslaughter for killing British peace activist Tom Hurndall in April 2003. The victim's family accuses Israeli army of using Taysir as a scapegoat. (Jerusalem Post) (Ha'aretz) (Times) (BBC)
• Dennis Rader plead guilty in the Sedgwick County District Court to ten counts of murder in the BTK trial.

June 26 2005 (Sunday)

• The Kremlin has called for an inquiry into fighting that took place on June 4, 2005, between Chechens and Avars. Russian president Vladimir Putin threatens that if any future incidents take place, "the North Caucasus will burn." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• The Israeli Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, apologises to New Zealand for the actions of two Israeli citizens, believed to be Mossad agents, who attempted to gain New Zealand passports under false pretences in 2004. The apology allows diplomatic relations between the two countries to return to normal. (NZ Herald)
• U.S. officials meet with Iraqi insurgents in attempt to quell attacks. More than 30 are killed in series of suicide bombings across the country. (London Times), (NY Times)
• Elections in Bulgaria
  • The Socialists win a plurality with 31.44% of the vote, with incumbent Prime Minister and ex-Tsar Simeon Saxe-Coburg receiving 20.13%. Despite the plurality, the results fall far short of pre-election forecasts for the Socialists. (Reuters)
  • Ataka, a nationalist party founded only two months ago, suprises many observers by winning 7.9 percent of the vote. The party opposes membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (Int'l Herald Tribune)
• Florida beaches reopen after the shark attack Saturday that killed Jamie Daigle. (CNN)
• Fires in the Southwestern United States threaten a small community and close a highway in Utah. Blazes in California, Arizona, and Nevada have already consumed 200,000 acres. (Guardian)
• Colombia launches a large counter-offensive against FARC (BBC) (CNN)
• In Chile, senator Jorge Lavandero receives suspended sentence for child molestation. Opposition critisizes the sentence (CNN)
• In Kenya 49 people die and 174 are hospitalized after drinking industrial alcohol (Standard, Kenya) (Reuters AlertNet) (Guardian Unlimited)
• In Paris, former sports minister Guy Drut withdraws from the Paris' bid to host 2012 Olympic Games because he is charged with involvement with corruption (GamesBids) (BBC)
• Syrian court acquits human rights activist Aktham Naisse (Al-Jazeera) (Al bawaba
• Rev. Billy Graham finishes what might be his final crusade. He preached before a crowd of 90,000 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York. (New York Times)

June 25 2005 (Saturday)

• In Destin, Florida, a 14-year-old Louisiana girl is killed in a shark attack.
• A second case of mad cow disease has been confirmed in the United States. (Chicago Tribune)
• Elections in Bulgaria: The people of Bulgaria are voting today and the government of Prime Minister Simeon Sakskoburggotski, the country's former Tsar, is expected to be defeated. (Reuters)
• Pope Benedict XVI's new book contains material critical of the European Union's efforts that he characterizes as an "attempt to build a human community absolutely without God" and Western liberalization of abortion. (The Associated Press)
• Hong Kong's new leader, Donald Tsang, promises to rebuild the trust of the people in the government of the Chinese territory. (The Associated Press)
• The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, a political party, says it would boycott the deal between the government and Tamil rebels for sharing tsunami relief because it shortchanged Muslims. (BBC)
• China's southern province of Guangdong suffers great damage from the flooding Pearl River. (The Associated Press)
• In Iran, the hardline Mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wins Friday's run-off election for the nation's presidency with 62% of the vote. (BBC) (Bloomberg News)
• Residents in St. Louis, Missouri are allowed back to their homes early today after an explosion at an industrial gas plant forced evacuations Friday. (The Associated Press)
• The board of the NAACP unanimously selects business executive Bruce S. Gordon as the civil rights organization's next president. (Guardian)
• Billy Graham meets former President Bill Clinton onstage before a crowd of 80,000 during the second of three services of his last crusade at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York. (AP) (New York Times)

June 24 2005 (Friday)

• Five people are found shot to death at their Yuma, Arizona home, and a sixth victim dies at a local hospital [1]
• Share prices of American airlines fell sharply as oil neared $60 a barrel. (Reuters)
• The United States House of Representatives voted to prevent United Airlines from transferring its pension plan obligations to the government insurer, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. (Chicago Sun-Times)
• An Italian judge ordering the arrest of 13 people linked to the CIA on charges of kidnapping terrorism suspect Abu Omar allegedly in order to have him tortured in Egypt dramatizes a growing rift between the US and its allies in the War on Terrorism. (IHT)

(Chicago Tribune)

• Ohio Governor Bob Taft says he will not resign, despite ethical questions around him and his administration. (Akron Beacon-Journal)
• The Irish Republican Army apologises unreservedly to the family of 14-year old Kathleen Feeney, whom it shot dead in Londonderry in November 1973. The IRA had previously blamed the British Army for the killing. (BBC), (RTE)
• Sir Donald Tsang is sworn in as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong in the Great Hall of the People following his appointment by the Election Committee. (BBC)
• Iranian presidential election, 2005
  • Second round of voting begins in presidential elections between candidates Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (IRNA) (Iran Focus) (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters)
  • Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi announces that she will boycott the election (Al-Jazeera)
  • 26 Iranians have been arrested for poll violations. (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters)
  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins the Iranian presidential elections. (Reuters)
• In China, death toll in summer floods has risen to 536 (Xinhua) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In the Indian state of Bihar, Maoist rebels clash with police, leaving at least 21 people dead. (The Hindu) (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

• Palestinian militants kill an Israeli in drive-by shooting near the Israeli settlement of Beit Haggai, in the West Bank outside Hebron. (BBC) (Al-Jazeera)
• Palestinian Authority arrests eight Palestinians in connection with the previous day's killing of a Palestinian policeman, accusing Said Amin of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades of leading the killers. (Al- Jazeera)

• Billy Graham began his last crusade in New York. He led the first of three services at Flushing Meadows Corona Park (New York Times)

June 23 2005 (Thursday)

• The Supreme Court of the United States decides 5-4 in the case Kelo v. New London that local governments can seize residential and commercial property for private development projects against the will of property owners as a "public use" under the 5th Amendment. Chit Winterwheat goes on holiday(Market Watch),(New York Times)
• Elderly former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the 1964 killing of three civil rights workers, the notorious crime that galvanized the civil rights movement and inspired the 1988 movie Mississippi Burning. Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon handed down the maximum possible sentence for the 80-year-old former Baptist preacher, a punishment which will likely keep him in prison for the rest of his life. (Reuters)
• In Indonesia, the team that is investigating the death of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib states that the Indonesian intelligence agency BIN may be involved. Munir died of arsenic poisoning en route to the Netherlands on September 7, 2004. (Channel News Asia)
• Thousands of workers from UPM-Kymmene and Stora Enso, two leading Finnish companies in the paper industry go on strike over pay and working hours. Finland provides two thirds of the paper supply for the European magazine market. Industry analysts believe that the strike may have serious repercussions on the magazine market of Europe. (BBC)
• In the United Kingdom, Prince William graduates from St Andrews University (BBC) (BBC "slideshow") (Guardian Unlimited) (Reuters)
• Japanese Sohgo Security Services announces a security robot GuardRobo D1 (Reuters)
• In the USA, large fires break out in Arizona and California. In Arizona, 250 people are evacuated and 10 houses destroyed northeast of Phoenix. Two fires break out in California in Morongo Valley and San Bernardino Valley (Los Angeles Times) (KESQ) (Reuters)
• In Spain, regional Basque parliament elects Juan Jose Ibarretxe as their new president (EITB) (Berria) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Romania, orthodox priest Daniel Corogeanu was arrested for 24 hours and faces charges for death of nun Maricica Irina Cornici. He allegedly crucified her for exorcism and claims that her death was the "Will of God". Four nuns who helped him were arrested as well. Church has closed the convent. (Scotsman) (Reuters)
• In Israel, Mordechai Vanunu appeals to the supreme court to order Shin Bet to release letters he wrote during his time in prison. Security service claims that the letters contain sensitive information (Haaretz (Reuters)
• In Lebanon, victorius anti-Syria coalition demands resignation of pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud. They hold him responsible for assassinations of opposition figures (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Malawi, parliament debates about possible impeachment of president Bingu wa Mutharika. United Democratic Party accuses him for violation of the constitution and misusing public funds. Debate is interrupted when the speaker of the house Rodwell Munyenyembe collapses. (Nation Online, Malawai (about proposed impeachment) (BBC) (Reuters)
• Cameroon accuses Nigeria of attacks in the disputed and oil-rich Bakassi peninsula (AllAfrica) (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
• The investment bank Morgan Stanley agrees to an out-of-court settlement with Italian dairy group Parmalat. The new management of the reorganized Italian company sued Morgan Stanley for work it did that may have assisted the old management in looting the company. (BBC)
• In the equatorial Pacific Ocean, a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket lifts off at 1403 GMT, and successfully places its payload, the 12,125-pound Intelsat Americas 8 satellite, in orbit. (Spaceflight Now) (Sea Launch)

June 22 2005 (Wednesday)

• German car manufacturer BMW acquires the Formula 1 team Sauber Petronas. In the next season the new team will be probably known as BMW Sauber. BBC Sport
• The entire network of the Swiss Federal Railways shuts down due to a power failure in its overhead wire system. The power failure is also affecting international transit through Switzerland as such intercity trains use the same system. Initial reports indicate that the power failure started with a voltage drop in Ticino (in the St. Gotthard region) that then spread to the entire system. The initial failure happened at about 1700 local time, with some power supplies restored about 2015, but the last trains did not reach their destinations until 0300. (SwissInfo) (BBC)
• In Chad, referendum votes to allow president Idriss Deby to stand elections for the third term in office (Reuters SA)
• According to former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg and former journalist Don Oberdorfer, George W. Bush in 2002 turned down an offer from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to discuss the issue of nuclear weapons. (Reuters)
• An Italian military tribunal in La Spezia has sentenced 10 German former Nazi officers in absentia to life imprisonment for their role in a World War II massacre of 560 civilians in the Tuscan village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema. (BBC News)
• In Colombia, congress approves a draft bill that offers sentences of only eight years to those members of paramilitary militias who give up their weapons. It demands that they confess, return the stolen property and disarm. Critics of president Álvaro Uribe say that the law is too lenient (IHT) (Colombia Journal) (Reuters AlertNet)
• International Whaling Commission meeting in Ulsan, South Korea, does not support Japan's suggestion to resume coastal whaling or increase its own scientific one. Commission also voted down a request that Japan could catch 150 minke whales a year (Japan Today) (Channel News Asia) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki names energy and minerals minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as his deputy president. She is the first woman to hold the position. (SABC) (Reuters SA) (News24) (BBC profile)
• The Peruvian government condemns supreme court decision to drop the case of former president Alberto Fujimori for forging signatures for 2000 elections (Reuters AlertNet)
• The Peruvian government states that it will allow limited growing of coca plant for traditional uses (MercoPress (BBC)
• In Brazil, heated arguments in the congress result in fighting and the session is suspended. Fighting begun when former chief of staff José Dirceu, who had rejoined the congress, tried to defend the government against the bribery allegations (Bloomberg)
• In Ethiopia, main opposition group Coalition for Unity and Democracy states that government investigators have dropped all their complaints about possible election fraud. Government still has not released any results (AllAfrica) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• United Nations Security Council votes to send 750 more peacekeepers to Haiti for elections and extend the UN mandate to February 15 2006 (UN News Centre) (ReliefWeb)
• In Poland, oppositon demands resignation of prime minister Marek Belka because of allegations that declassified files show he had ties to communist-era security services. Belka refuses to do so, stating that he signed a contract to be allowed to go to study trip to USA (Radio Polonia) (Warsaw business Journal) (Reuters)

June 21 2005 (Tuesday)

• In Canada, after 2 straight days of rain, the city of Calgary, AB is under another state of emergency ands now the Elbow River is now flowing steadily over the Glenmore Dam. The towns of Bragg Creek, High River, Sundre, Okotoks, Drumheller, and Cochrane have to be evacuated. The low lieing area of Calgary also have to be evacuated. This wave of floods is the last of the floods and the damage of the floods is almost incalcuable.
• The Cosmos 1 experimental solar sail spacecraft, a project of international space advocacy group The Planetary Society and science based entertainment company Cosmos Studios, is launched by a Russian R-29R Volna ICBM from a Russian Delta III submarine submerged in the Barents Sea. However, the spacecraft is feared lost, for the rocket failed 83 seconds after launch. (PhysOrg) (Washington Post) (BBC) (SBS) (The Planetary Society)
• The LA Times suspends an experiment called "wikitorial" after three days because of vandalism. (MSNBC) (BBC)
• In Israel 8 people are killed and about 200 injured when a train is reported to have struck a truck on a level crossing near Kiryat Gat. (BBC)
• At Stonehenge in England, some 19,000 people gather to celebrate the rising sun on the summer solstice.
• Clearup operation continues in North Yorkshire after the serious flash flooding on Sunday Night / Monday Morning. The towns of Thirsk, Helmsley and Hawnby were seriously affected, as were several villages when the rivers Swale and Rye burst their banks.
• In Manchester, UK, 30 police raid a house at 5 a.m. and arrest a 40-year old man on suspicion of involvement in suicide bombings in Iraq. Another man resident in the same house is believed to have gone to Iraq in February to carry out a bombing. Last week, police in Spain and Germany also made arrests in connection with bombings in Iraq, but it is not known if the cases are related. (BBC)
• New Zealand's telecoms network crashes for five hours when a rat chews one of the North Island's main fibre-optic cables at the same time as a workman damaged another cable in another part of the island. Mobile phone and internet communications were badly affected, and the Stock Exchange had to close for several hours. (BBC)
• In Mexico, Zapatista rebels are in alert, pulling out of villages and closing their radio stations. The reasons are unknown, although the move may be due to an army drug raid in Los Altos. Subcomandante Marcos announces that foreign aid workers can stay only at their own risk. Later news indicate that Zapatistas are gathering for a conference. Marcos announces that the movement is entering a "next step in the struggle" and that the organization has reorganized itself to survive the loss of current leadership. (Indymedia Chiapas, English translation (Indymedia Chiapas, English translation) (Reuters) (Reuters AlertNet) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Brazil, president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva demands that the opposition present proof of its allegations that government had given bribes for political support (Reuters) (BBC)
• In Lebanon, a remote control bomb that had been placed under the passenger seat of his car kills anti-Syrian politician George Hawi, former secretary general of Lebanese Communist Party (Daily Star) (Ya Libnan) (Al-JAzeera) (IHT) (Reuters)
• In the Philippines, congress begins an inquiry into allegations that president Gloria Arroyo had rigged votes in last year's presidential elections. President states that she will comment on the process later. Her supporters and the opposition demonstrate in Manila (INQ7, Philippines) (Manila Times) (Sun Star) (Channel News Asia)
• In Zambia, former health ministry official Kashiba Bulaya has been charged again with accepting a bribe from a Bulgarian firm that manufactures anti-retrovirus drugs against AIDS. Government's decision to halt the case a month ago aroused protests. (Reuters SA) (BBC)
• A U.S. Court of Appeals struck down a regulation of the SEC designed to ensure an independent board of directors for mutual funds, holding that the SEC didn't comply with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act. (Chamber of Commerce)
• A hitherto unknown poem by Sappho was identified on an Oxyrhynchus papyrus by scholars of Cologne university, and published in the Times Literary Supplement [2].

June 20 2005 (Monday)

• In USA, chief US immigration judge Michael Creppy rules that Ukrainian-born John Demjanjuk can be deported because he was a concentration camp guard during World War Two (WBNS, Ohio) (Washington Post) (Reuters)
• In Brazil, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva names energy minister Dilma Rousseff as a cabinet chief because of José Dirceu's resignation (AE Brazil) (Reuters)
• Turkey sentences Islamist extremist Metin Kaplan, the "Caliph of Cologne", to life in prison for his role in a plot to blow up the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk.
• Cedar Revolution: The Anti-Syrian bloc of Saad al-Hariri captured control of the Lebanese Legislature in the Lebanese general election of 2005, winning 72 of the 128 available seats. (Yahoo!)
• A Suicide bomber in Iraq kills 13 policemen, and injured more than 100 people, in the city of Irbil, northern Iraq. BBC News
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
  • One Israeli is killed in West Bank ambush after Palestinian militants shot his car. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, calling it retaliation for arrests of Islamic Jihad members. (Ynet), (Haaretz)
  • An unarmed Palestinian teenager, Ihab an-Nabahin, is shot by Israelis in a closed border area of the Gaza Strip, and killed according to Palestinian sources. (BBC) (Al-Jazeera)
  • According to the Israeli army, a Palestinian female suicide bomber was caught in the Erez Crossing, carrying explosives and a detonator in her underwear. Israeli media added that she planned to carry out a suicide bombing attack in the Soroka hospital, where she received medical treatment and was scheduled for a doctor's appointment (the army has not confirmed this.) The woman was identified as Wafa Samir Ibrahim Bass and said she was sent by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades decline to comment. (Haaretz NewsFlash), (Ynet) (BBC) (Al-Jazeera)
• British Potato Council demonstrates for the removal of the term "couch potato" from the Oxford English Dictionary because potatoes are "inherently healthy" (BBC) (Guardian Unlimited)
• In Japan, magnitude 4.9 earthquake hits central Niigata prefecture, with little reported damage and no tsunami risk (Japan Today) (Reuters AlertNet)
• International Whaling Commission meets in Ulsan, South Korea. Japan tries to ease its restrictions to whaling but its suggestion to exclude proposed creation of whale sanctuaries is voted down