Current events

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

February 3, 2005

• Indonesia's Welfare Minister thanks departing U.S. troops for tsunami relief work. Minister's appreciation reflects sentiments of the nation. (Fox (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146248,00.html))
• Pope John Paul II's medical condition is "evolving positively" but the Vatican says the 84-year old pontiff will remain in hospital for another week. However, there is still concern over the pontiff's continuing fever, which some medical experts fear could be a sign of pneumonia.(CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/02/03/newpope050203.html)
• Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania of Georgia dies of gas poisoning. Zhvania was found dead by security guards, an apparent victim of carbon monoxide exposure. (Civil Georgia) (http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8955) (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7521565) (Interfax) (http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=10745842) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4231653.stm)
• Greece hands over Dejan Milenkovic, main suspect of the murder of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, to Serbian authorities. (Athens News Agency) (http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=2560496&service=10) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4230569.stm)
• Emergency measures of King Gyanendra of Nepal include media censorship. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4231605.stm)
• A cargo plane crashes near Khartoum, Sudan, killing seven people. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7523258) (IOL) (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=136&art_id=qw1107418862912B262) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4231913.stm)
• In Cambodia, opposition leader Sam Rainsy is stripped of his parliamentary immunity. He may face libel charges, and has fled the nation. (Reuters AlertNet) (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK215881.htm) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4231771.stm)

February 2, 2005

• Eleven people die in a Baghdad bombing, according to the Al-Zaman newspaper. Of these, eight are policemen or soldiers. (Informed Comment) (http://www.juancole.com)
• The IRA withdraws its weapons decommissioning offer because of claims that the organisation is connected to a Belfast bank raid last December in which £26.5m was stolen. (Ireland Online) (http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=108802780&p=yx88x336x&n=108803389) (Reuters) (http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7518536) (Bloomberg) (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aHZ8othznuXE&refer=top_world_news) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4231753.stm) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4231951.stm)
• President of the United States George W. Bush delivers his 2005 State of the Union address. The section on Social Security reform is booed by some members of Congress, a very rare show of open disdain for the President during such a speech. Transcript (WP) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/bushtext_020205.html)
• A former secret U.S. military investigative report on Guantánamo Bay is revealed to conclude there is no evidence of systemic detainee abuse but cited several cases of questionable physical force documented on videotape. Prisoners released have stated abuse is commonplace and one former U.S. National Guardsman received brain damage after being beaten while posing undercover as a rowdy detainee. All Freedom of Information Act requests by the ACLU for video and photographs depicting detainee treatment have been denied. (Newsday AP) (http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-guantanamo-videotapes,0,901965.story)
• The unemployment rate hits a 70-year high in Germany. More than 5 million people are unemployed today in Germany. Ignoring different statistical methods and the different areas, that's the highest since the Great Depression and the Weimar Republic. BBC World (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4228739.stm).
• The cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise is announced, marking the end of 18 consecutive years of Star Trek on television. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4231873.stm)
• Jerusalem/Israel: Horst Koehler, President of Germany, has a special audience in the Knesset, the highest chamber of Israel. He says that Germany has to fight more aggressively against anti-semitism and far-right parties. (BBC World) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4229845.stm).
• Arab-Israeli Conflict:
  • Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Abu Mazen, the President of the Palestinian National Authority, have been invited by Egypt to attend a summit at Sharm el-Sheikh. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4229007.stm)
  • Abu Mazen, the President of the Palestinian National Authority, has accepted an Iranian invitation to pay an official visit to Tehran. (Reuters) (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20050202/wl_nm/mideast_abbas_iran_dc)
• King Gyanendra of Nepal forms a new cabinet and names himself as its head. His decision to dismiss his former cabinet has been widely condemned. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7508300) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4228309.stm)
• Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, announces that a general election will be held March 31. The country's main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change has not yet decided whether to participate. (IAfrica) (http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/409845.htm) (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7501618)
• The Spanish parliament rejects an appeal from the Basque regional government for more autonomy and a referendum for eventual independence. (Bloomberg) (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aOyCCyMoyrBU&refer=europe) (Reuters AlertNet) (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01183479.htm) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4228297.stm)
• The parliament of Slovenia ratifies the European Union Constitution. (EUobserver) (http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=18307) (EurActiv) (http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-134943-16&type=News) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4227685.stm)
• In Japan, the first of the former residents of the island of Miyakejima return to their homes they left after a volcanic eruption in 2000. (Reuters AlertNet) (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/T348402.htm) (Mainichi Daily News) (http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20050202p2a00m0dm004000c.html)

February 1, 2005

• Pope John Paul II is taken to hospital suffering from a serious case of influenza. (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/01/pope.health/index.html)
• Same-sex marriage in Canada: The Liberal government presents Bill C-38, an act to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, to the Canadian House of Commons. (CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/02/01/same-sex050201.html)
• Arab-Israeli Conflict
  • The Attorney General of Israel, Meni Mazuz, has told the government to call an immediate halt to confiscating Palestinian property in East Jerusalem under a 1950 land law. The legislation entitles Israel to take Arab-owned land without compensation, and Mr Mazuz described it as Illegal. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4226497.stm)(Al Jazeera) (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/69CBFD8D-E028-4E01-9919-FB74C1E97660.htm)
  • Five people are suspected to have died following clashes between Egyptian security forces and Bedouins suspected of being involved in last years bombings in Taba, which was aimed at Israeli holiday makers. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4226741.stm)
• Government of Israel announces that it intends to bring the last 20,000 Falash Mura, Ethiopian Jews, to Israel by 2007 (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7498360) ((Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs) (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches+by+Israeli+leaders/2005/Sharon+-+Rest+of+Falash+Mura+here+by+end+of+2007+31-Jan-2005.htm?DisplayMode=print) (Jerusalem Post) (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1107141481515) (Haaretz) (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/534391.html)
• Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir has denied any involvement in the Bali bombing and the Marriott Hotel attack, saying that the bombings were wrong. He also denied being a member of Jemaah Islamiah. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4226005.stm)
• A man who had been detained since December 2001 in the UK without a trial, or a charge, on suspicion of being involved in terrorism has been released without conditions, his lawyer has stated. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4226097.stm)
• A United Nations report has made accusations of killings, torture and rape of civilians in Sudan's Darfur area, and has called for those accused of carrying out war crimes to be put on trial. The report stops short of calling the events a genocide. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4225353.stm)
• At least three people are known to have died following a bomb blast in Gori, northern Georgia. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4225901.stm)
• King Gyanendra of Nepal sacks the government of Sher Bahadur Deuba and takes direct power for himself. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7492904) (Rediff) (http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/feb/01nepal.htm)
• Chinese goverment issues emergency orders to stop a meningitis outbreak that has killed 16 people. (Xinhua) (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/31/content_2532392.htm) (ChinaDaily) (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-02/01/content_413871.htm) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4224917.stm) (Reuters AlertNet) (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/T247733.htm)
• Ex-president of Kenya and chairman of KANU party, Daniel Arap Moi, is due to step down. His successor will be Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Jomo Kenyatta. (Standard, Kenya) (http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=12143) (Reuters SA) (http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp?type=topNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=7494172) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4222655.stm)
• South Korea's foreign minister believes that North Korea will re-enter talks about its nuclear proliferation. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7492343)
• A consortium of micro-lenders supported by U.S. investors announced plans to "play a big role in rebuilding the jobs and small businesses of Asia" in the areas devastated by the recent tsunami and earthquake.

Last month

Past events by month

2005: January
2004: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2003: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2002: January February March April May June July August September October November December

Logarithmic timeline of current events - most important events of the last ten years on one page.

News collections and sources

• Wikipedia:News collections and sources.
• Wikipedia:News sources - This has much of the same material organised in a hierarchical manner to help encourage NPOV in our news reporting.