Portal:Current events/March 2006
May 28, 2025 (Wednesday)
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- Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed at Hadjar Marfaine by members of the UFDC, effectively starting a long anticipated civil war, and clearly renewing hositilities between Chad and Sudan. (Reuters)
- In the United Kingdom, Metropolitan Police confirm they are to investigate claims the ruling Labour Party broke the 1925 Honours (Preventions of Abuses) Act in the ongoing controversy over "cash for peerages" row. (BBC)
- Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has said in Parliament that he believes the British security forces colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in the planning of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane's murder in 1989. (Irish Times)
- In a major Sino-Russian energy deal, it is announced that Gazprom intends to build two large natural gas pipelines directly to China within the next 5 years. (Forbes) Russia will also help construction of two nuclear power plants in China. (Makfax)
- The UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, says it has been ordered to leave Uzbekistan within one month. (BBC)
- Belarusian presidential election, 2006: Alexander Lukashenko has been re-elected president of Belarus with 82.6 percent of all votes, in an election which is considered by many to have been rigged. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which monitored the election, concluded that the presidential election failed to meet OSCE commitments for democratic elections. (Reuters), (BBC) The Commonwealth of Independent States also monitored the election and declared that the election was fair and that the results must be respected. (Monsters and Critics)
- The United States and EU condemn the elections. The White House, which has previously labelled Mr Lukashenko a dictator, says it does not accept the results. The EU says it is likely that it will impose sanctions.(BBC)
- At 0730 AEST, Tropical Cyclone Larry makes landfall near Innisfail, Queensland, Australia, with wind gusts of 290km/h (180 mph) recorded, which would make it a Category 5 storm on the Australian scale for severity of cyclones. (AAP).
- Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Beijing on energy talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. (Forbes)
- The Liberal Party of Canada announces it has scheduled the vote for a new leader for December 3. (CBC)
- Part of a tunnel in the Moscow Metro collapses on a train setting the train on fire. Russian emergency services were dispatched to the scene, passengers were evacuated, and no one was hurt. (BBC)
- Former Prime Minister of Iraq Iyad Allawi says that he believes that Iraq is engaged in a civil war, although the country has not passed "the point of no return." British and American officials dispute calling the conflict a civil war. (BBC)
- Polling stations open for the Belarusian presidential election, 2006. (VOA) The main opposition candidate Alaksandar Milinkievič calls for a re-run of the presidential election within hours of polls closing. (BBC)
- With the exception of Uganda and South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa is failing to meet United Nations standards for accessibility to clean water or sanitation. (Reuters)
- Hamas announces the formation of its new cabinet to govern the territory under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas, however, in a last ditch effort to include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the government, postponed by one day the submission of the new cabinet to the approval of PNA President Mahmoud Abbas. (IOL) (Al-Jazeera)
- 2006 labor protests in France: In Paris, and other major French cities, hundreds of thousands of people march in protest of the Contrat de première embauche (First Employment Contract), a labor law set to take effect in April that gives employers the right to fire workers under the age of 26 in the first two years of their employment without justification.(BBC)
- US Navy warships engage pirates off the coast of Somalia, killing one, capturing 12, after the U.N. Security Council on March 15, encouraged any naval forces near Somalia to take action against suspected piracy. This occurred after an attack on a UN World Food Program-chartered ship bringing drought-relief food supplies on March 13. (AP)(UPI)
- Beijing's wealthiest millionaire, Yuan Baojing, and two alleged accomplices are sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection for murder by a Liaoyang court, making Baojing the wealthiest person to be executed in PRC history. (Xinhuanet) (Washington Post)
- The European Parliament demands that Senegal turn over Hissène Habré to Belgium to be tried for his actions while he was President of Chad. Senegal is not expected to comply, as it already refused extradition demands from the African Union. The ATDPH has expressed its approval of the decision. (allafrica)
- Six people have been charged in connection with Kenya's biggest fraud, which cost the government about $600m. (BBC)
- Following an out-break of bird flu in Israel, Europe bans imports of Israeli chicken; Ministry of Agriculture halts exports of unprocessed birds; Kibbutzim in the south, heart of Israel put under closure; four people hospitalized in the south are found not to be infected with the disease. (Ynetnews)
- Thomas Lubanga, former leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots militia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, becomes the first person arrested on behalf of, and then referred to the International Criminal Court for war crimes.(ICC)
- The fourth global World Water Forum meets in Mexico City to address problems of water shortages and conflicts. Protesters claim the forum is a platform for further privatization of water supplies. (AP via Forbes)
- The International Crisis Group warns that continued neglect of the Darfur conflict may lead to thousands more deaths and spill over into neighboring countries, further destabilizing the region. (Reuters)
- Tens of thousands of Thai Anti-Government protesters continue their rally against the country's current Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today. They also demand his resignation from the post. The opposition leader, Sondhi Limthongkul, declared he and his party would not stop protesting all day and night until the PM resigns. (Reuters)
- U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne as United States Secretary of the Interior. (CNN)
- Near the third anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war, U.S. and Iraqi forces on Thursday launch an air assault known as Operation Swarmer into Salahuddin province in what was termed the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. (ABC News), (BBC), (USDoD)
- The Iraqi National Assembly meets for the first time since it was elected in December 2005. (Reuters)
- An international child pornography network is discovered using information from an Internet chat room, leading to the world-wide arrests of 4 Australians, 13 Americans, 10 Canadians, and 2 Britons. (National Nine News)
- Two armed gunmen attacked the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) compound in Yei, Sudan, killing a local guard and leaving two others in critical condition. (Angola Press)
- The U.S. online magazine salon.com publishes the most extensive documentation of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse. (salon.com)
- United Kingdom: The House of Commons votes to approve an education reform bill. The Prime minister, Tony Blair's authority is called into question for his relying on the opposition Conservative party to secure the vote, due to revolt within his own Labour party. (Bloomberg)
- War in Iraq: A raid by the United States military kills eleven Iraqis, mostly civilians. (Channel 4 News)
- The United Nations General Assembly votes to establish the United Nations Human Rights Council, a new human rights organization to replace the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, with only the United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau opposing. (United Press International) (Reuters.uk)
- Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth opens the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. (BBC)
- Five arrests are made over the UK Islamist demonstration outside the Danish Embassy in London against the cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. (Guardian)
- An attempted coup d'état against Chadian President Idriss Déby is foiled. (AP via The Guardian)
- In London, six men taking part in a clinical trial for a new monoclonal antibody anti-inflammatory drug, TGN1412, are placed in intensive care, some in a life-threatening condition, after suffering adverse side-effects. (BBC)
- Euronext, a derivatives exchange based in Amsterdam and Paris, announces that it might join the ongoing auction for the London Stock Exchange — which would put it in competition with bidders Nasdaq and Deutsche Börse. (Forbes)
- Jordan is to indict Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for bombings that killed over 60 people. (ABC)
- At least 80 people die in Iraq following an attack on a Shiite holy site. (LA Times)
- At least seven people have died in wildfires in the U.S. state of Texas which have burned 1,000 mi² (2,500 km²), forcing 1,900 people to evacuate. (AP)
- The 2006 National People's Congress concludes in Beijing, China. Premier Wen Jiabao holds annual press conference from Chinese and foreign reporters. Wen reiterates Taiwan issue in serious tone. (People's Daily)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Israeli troops shell and demolish a Palestinian prison in Jericho, seizing Ahmad Sa'adat, imprisoned for allegedly assassinating an Israeli minister. (BBC)
- In retaliation for the Israeli attack in Jericho, Palestinian gunmen kidnap and then release American professor Douglas Johnson. (Forbes)
- A cash-for-honours scandal has erupted around UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. A millionaire donor has revealed that Labour fundraisers had arranged secret loans from businessmen who were then nominated for peerages. (Daily Mail)
- A major tornado outbreak finally ends in the central United States. In all, more than 70 tornadoes were reported and 11 people were killed. Two tornadoes hit Springfield, Illinois late on the 12th, causing major damage to the city.
- U.S. climate scientists working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have recorded a significant rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, pushing it to a new record level. (BBC)
- A major oil slick, which could contain some 40 tonnes of fuel, has been detected off the coast of Estonia, one week after the Runner-4 cargo vessel sank in the Baltic Sea. Heavy sea ice prevents an accurate estimate of the content of the oil slick that may have killed 35,000 sea birds. (Yahoo News)
- The judge in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui is considering throwing out the death penalty as an option after lawyers from the Federal Aviation Administration coached four government witnesses. (CNN)
- German drug & chemical manufacturer Merck KGaA announces plans to buy Schering in a merger of €14.6 billion. Merck and Schering would become Germany's largest pharmaceutical company. - (Telegraph)
- London Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair admits secretly recording conversations with the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, an act that could lead to a civil legal proceedings if the other party has not granted permission for conversations to be taped. (BBC)
- Algerian "national reconciliation". Abdelhak Layada, one of the founder of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), is released from prison due to the February 28, 2006 national reconciliation charter decree of application RFI.
- Venezuela introduces its new national flag with eight, instead of seven, stars and the coat of arms in the upper left corner. (The Washington Post)
- Reports claim that a post-mortem examination has found that former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević died from heart failure. (Channel 4 News)
- Six car bombs explode in Sadr City, a neighborhood in Baghdad, killing at least forty-six people. (CNN)
- In Malta, the Malta Labour Party makes a big victory in the Local Council Elections (Times of Malta)
- U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announces that he will introduce a motion of censure against President George W. Bush. (RawStory)
- Schering, a Berlin, Germany based pharmaceutical firm, announces that it has received a hostile merger bid from Frankfurt-based rival Merck. (MSNBC) (Reuters)
- The former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević has been found dead in his prison cell in The Hague, Netherlands. (CNN) (Reuters) (BBC) (Times)
- Michelle Bachelet takes office as the first female President of Chile. (BBC) (CBC) (VOA) (CNN)
- Further evidence accrues to show that the polar ice caps are shrinking. (BBC)
- The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters orbit around Mars. (BBC)
- More than 250 medical experts sign a letter in The Lancet urging the United States to stop force-feeding of Guantanamo Bay detainees and close down the prison. (BBC)
- The World Health Organization announces that the number of people killed by measles declined by 48% between 1999 and 2004, from 871,000 to 454,000. The greatest decline, 60%, was in sub-Saharan Africa. The improvement is attributed to increased vaccination. (BBC)
- John Profumo, the man at the centre of Britain's most famous political scandal of the 20th century, has died at the age of 91. (Channel 4 News)
- Italian prosecutors ask for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and British lawyer David Mills to be indicted in the on-going alleged bribery case (BBC)
- Twenty-six people are killed in Dera Bugti, southwest Pakistan, when their vehicle hits a landmine. The victims were primarily women and children. Both tribal rebels and security forces planted landmines in the area. (BBC)
- Terminal D at LaGuardia Airport in New York City was closed due to a security breach. (CNN)
- Gale Norton has announced her resignation as United States Secretary of the Interior, effective March 31, 2006. (CNN)
- Astronomers announce that the Cassini-Huygens probe has detected possible geysers of water on Saturn's moon Enceladus, perhaps the first example of naturally-occurring liquid water beyond Earth. (AP) (JPL)
- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan launches the Central Emergency Response Fund to provide aid to regions of Africa currently facing starvation.(BBC)
- The Sablé-sur-Sarthe hostage crisis in France ends peacefully with no casualties. The gunman had suffered from depression. (ABC)
- The notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is to close and its prisoners to be housed elsewhere, the U.S. military has said. (Channel 4 News)
- The world's biggest expo on information technology, CeBIT, opens in Hanover, Germany. (news.com)
- Slovenia asks to join the Euro monetary union. (Business week)
- The United States House Appropriations Committee votes to block the Bush administration's plan for Dubai Ports World to take over operations at six major U.S. ports. (Houston Chronicle)
- The Government of Chad renews accusations of Sudanese support for attacks by the UFDC into eastern Chad, despite the recent signing of the Tripoli Accord and the successful formation of the ministerial committee. Sudan has accused Chad of supporting ARFWS rebels in the past, and Chad is believed to have stepped up support in light of recent attacks. (AlertNet)
- The Channel Island of Sark votes to maintain its feudal system of governance (BBC)
- Iran threatens 'harm and pain' against the United States for its role in putting Iran before the United Nations Security Council. (Channel 4 News)
- The European Union announces that it has lifted a worldwide ban on the export of British beef introduced in 1996 to prevent the spread of BSE (Mad Cow Disease). (BBC)
- An Argentine military airplane crashes after take off from El Alto International Airport in La Paz, Bolivia, killing all six people on board. The airplane was a Learjet 35A.(planecrashinfo.com)
- The Dutch Labour party gains more than five hundred seats in the country's municipal election. (Financial Times)
- Fifteen people die and many others are injured in three blasts throughout Varanasi, India. (CNN)
- Kizza Besigye, formerly opposition presidential candidate in the recent Ugandan elections, is cleared of rape charges.(BBC)
- Israel's defense minister Shaul Mofaz says that the Hamas PNA prime minister-designate, Ismail Haniyeh, may be subject to an Israeli targeted killing if Hamas resumes attacks against Israel. (AP)
- British Lieutenant General Nick Houghton announces that the UK's 8,000 soldiers in Iraq could begin leaving the country within weeks. Most would be home by 2008, he says. (Guardian Unlimited)
- Anibal Ibarra, former mayor of Buenos Aires is removed from office over allegations of poor government safety regulation in last year's club fire. (The Mercury News)
- The United Kingdom government is defeated in the House of Lords over a plan to make biometric ID cards compulsory for passport applicants. The government is to seek to overturn the defeat in the House of Commons, and has suggested that it might invoke the Parliament Act. (United Press International)
- Israeli aircraft fire rockets at a car in Gaza, killing two Islamic Jihad members and three innocent bystanders as well as wounding seven other people, mostly children. Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Air Force, Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Shkedy said: "We are doing everything we can possibly think of to prevent innocent people from being harmed, but this is a war and nothing is certain." (JPost)
- Milan Babić, former leader of the breakaway Republic of Serbian Krajina, commits suicide in prison while serving a sentence for war crimes. (BBC)
- M. Michael Rounds, governor of the U.S. State of South Dakota, signs an abortion ban that conflicts with the United States Supreme Court's landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. (MSNBC)
- The sentencing hearing of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person indicted in the US for a direct role in the 9/11 attacks, has opened in Virginia. (BBC)
- Avian flu outbreak: Poland confirms first outbreak of H5N1, the bird flu virus, in two wild swans. (News-Medical Net) (BBC)
- In South Africa, former Deputy President (1999-2005) Jacob Zuma pleads not guilty of rape as his trial starts. (Iafrica) (BBC)
- 78th Academy Awards: Crash wins Best Picture, Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) wins Best Director, Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) wins Best Actress, and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) wins Best Actor. (CNN)
- The 2006 National People's Congress opens in Beijing, beginning a 10-day session of China's parliament. Premier Wen Jiabao makes a Working Report and vows for support for the poor. (CNN) (People's Daily)
- Benin presidential election, 2006: Voters in Benin go to the polls to decide who will succeed Mathieu Kérékou as President. Results are expected to be announced by Wednesday. If no single candidate of the 26 wins an outright majority, a runoff election will take place in two weeks. (Scotsman), (VOA), (Reuters)
- Tens of thousands of protesters in Bangkok demand the resignation of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand. (BBC), (Reuters), (CNN)
- The central Papeete power station is damaged by a fire, resulting in limited power for some areas of Tahiti for a couple of weeks. (Pacific Magazine)
- Research In Motion, a Waterloo, Ontario, Canadian based company, agrees to pay NTP Inc. $612.5 million to settle NTP's patent-infringement suit against RIM. NTP had argued RIM's BlackBerry wireless-communication devices use technology patented by NTP. (AP)
- The ruling African National Congress takes 66% of the votes in the 2006 South African municipal election. Voter turnout was 46%. No party in the City of Cape Town claims an outright majority. (BBC)
- Russian-Hamas talks, 2006: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in his talks with the Hamas leader Khaled Mashal , calls on Hamas to transform itself into a political organisation, recognise Israel's right to exist, and to keep previous peace accords. (BBC), (Reuters)
- Kenya and Sudan, completing trade talks that have gone on since 2001, announce plans to sign a landmark trade agreement. (AllAfrica) Kenya, which is currently in a drought, is in desperate need of food to feed 3.5 million Kenyans by the end of March, despite the presence of the U.N. food agency. Sudan has had a huge surplus this season. (Reuters)
- Three Israelis ignite firecrackers in an attempt to detonate gas canisters smuggled into the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth during prayer services, sparking riots and confrontation between thousands of protestors and Israeli police. (CBC) (YNet)
- After a federal judge's ruling, the United States releases transcripts of hearings at Guantanamo Bay. (ABC)
- Former U.S. House Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (Rep., CA) is sentenced to eight years and four months in prison, the longest sentence ever for a congressman, for collecting $2.4 million in bribes. (CNN)
- British Labour Party MPs close to Gordon Brown call for Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell to resign over her husband, David Mills' alleged acceptance of money from Silvio Berlusconi. (Financial Times)
- The 2006 Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference opens in Beijing. (People's Daily)
- British Rock star Gary Glitter is convicted of the molestation of one 11- and one 12-year-old girl in the town of Vung Tau in southern Vietnam. He is sentenced to 3 years in prison, but may be back in the United Kingdom by December. (BBC News)
- An Italian parliamentary commission accuses the former Soviet Union of orchestrating the 1981 attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II (Telegraph)
- Ukraine imposed new customs regulations on its border with Transnistria, leading to the Ukraine-Transnistria border customs conflict.
- The United States Senate voted 89-10 to renew the USA PATRIOT Act after two extensions. In its vote next week, the United States House of Representatives will likely also vote to renew the Act, analysts say. (MSNBC)
- In a major turnaround for American policy, the United States signs a historic civilian nuclear pact with India, which promises to bolster India's rapidly growing economy. (Forbes) (Times of India) (CNN)
- A shipwreck from the 14th century was found buried in Riddarfjärden Bay in Stockholm, Sweden. If the ship is well preserved, there are plans to remove it from the waters. (ABC)
- Alaksandar Kazulin, the Social Democratic Party candidate for the office of President of Belarus, was detained by Minsk police after he was rejected entrance to a congress hosted by current leader Alexander Lukashenko. Kazulin also suffered injuries during the course of his detention, which is still being enforced, though the elections will commence in 17 days. (BBC).
- Traces of a prehistoric, 8,000-year-old civilization are found in Shahrud, Iran. The discoveries included ovens, craft workshops, and other evidence of settlements. (Payvand)
- Televangelist Pat Robertson loses his bid for re-election to the board of directors of the National Religious Broadcasters. (Associated Press)
- Dubai Ports World controversy: The United States urges the United Arab Emirates to end its boycott of Israel: "The Bush administration said yesterday it is pressing the United Arab Emirates to drop its economic boycott of Israel - a major sticking point in the proposed takeover of key U.S. ports by a UAE-owned firm." (The Washington Times)
- Sir Menzies Campbell has been elected the new leader of the UK Liberal Democrats Party. (BBC)
- The European Central Bank raises Euro base interest rates by 0.25% to 2.5%. The move affects the 12 members of the Eurozone. (FT)
- Kenya: Masked gunmen, since revealed to be Kenyan police, attack the offices of leading newspaper The Standard and its television station KTN, following their report that President Mwai Kibaki held secret meetings with key opposition figure Kalonzo Musyoka. (BBC), (Reuters)
- CIA flights: French newspaper Le Figaro reveals that the attorney general of Bobigny has opened up an investigation concerning the landing of a CIA flight in Le Bourget Airport following a complaint deposed at the end of December 2005 by NGOs International Federation of Human Rights Leagues and the French Ligue des droits de l'homme. [1]
- Crowds of 100,000 people protest against President of the United States George W. Bush while he is in Delhi. (Times of India)(Khaleej Times).
- Just two days before U.S. President George W. Bush is scheduled to visit Pakistan, a car bomb exploded in the Marriot Hotel Karachi parking lot adjacent to a United States consulate in Karachi, killing at least four people including a US diplomat and his driver and injuring at least fifty others. (CNN)
- A prison riot involving close to 1,300 prisoners at Afghanistan's Pul-e-Charkhi prison ended after four days. (BBC)
- Italian judges in Milan to charge Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and David Mills (husband of Tessa Jowell, a British Minister) in connection with a bribery scandal. (Independent).
- Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, member of the moderate wing of the regime, describes the Holocaust as a "historical reality," contradicting the current leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an extremist who has described it as a "myth" last year. (BBC)
- Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase announces that the 2006 Fiji general elections will be held in the second week of May 2006 from the 6th to the 13th. (Radio New Zealand)
- A member of the board of directors of major German steel manufacturing company ThyssenKrupp AG says the company is "examining all its options," and may not complete its proposed acquisition of Canadian steel company Dofasco. (MSN Money)
- A video obtained by the Associated Press shows United States president George W. Bush being warned that the levees in New Orleans could break one day before Hurricane Katrina hit. (MSNBC.com)
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