May 2005

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Deaths in May May 26: Eddie Albert May 25: Ismail Merchant May 25: Sunil Dutt May 25: Graham Kennedy May 22: Thurl Ravenscroft May 21: Howard Morris May 21: Subodh Mukherjee May 21: Stephen Elliott May 20: Paul Ricoeur May 19: Henry Corden May 19: Richard Lewine May 17: Frank Gorshin May 17: Piero Dorazio May 16: Albert "Smiler" Marshall May 15: Les Bartley May 13: George Dantzig May 13: Michael Ross May 12: Monica Zetterlund May 7: Peter Wallace Rodino May 6: Narayan Pokharel May 4: David H. Hackworth May 3: Jagjit Singh Aurora May 3: Don Canham May 2: Bob Hunter Events •

May 31 2005 (Tuesday)

• In Bolivia, police and protesters clash in the capital La Paz outside congress, disrupting its meetings. Protesters have closed the roads to the city. They demand nationalization of energy industry. (Reuters AlertNet) Private Entrepreneurs Confederation of Bolivia demands resignation of president Carlos Mesa (MercoPress)
• Serbia withdraws arrest warrant of Mirjana Marković, wife of Slobodan Milošević (Kosovareport) (BBC)
• United Nations Security Council votes to extend its peacekeeping mission in Haiti until June 24 (UN News Centre) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Botswana, Australian lecturer Kenneth Good loses his appeal against deportation. He had criticized the government of president Festus Mogae (Republic of Botswana) (Reuters SA) (SABC) (BBC)
• In South Africa, Nelson Mandela gains a court order to stop Ismail Ayob and Ross Calder selling art in his name (News24) (Reuters SA)
• India opens new naval base in Karwar in the state of Karnataka (NDTV) (Hindu) (WebIndia123) (BBC)
• Russian billionaire and businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky is sentenced to 9 years in prison in his tax evasion trial. (Moscow Times) (Mosnews) (Bloomberg)(Spiegel online, german) (BBC)
• In Bangkok, Thailand, the Canadian contestant Natalie Glebova is crowned Miss Universe 2005.
• Vanity Fair magazine reports that Ex-FBI official W. Mark Felt admits that he was the Watergate source known as Deep Throat. (CNN)
• Hamas have declared that they will be boycotting the re-vote which was requested in three Districts of the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
• Police in Israel say they have uncovered an Industrial espionage plot involving 15 Israeli firms. Trojan horse computer viruses are believed to have been used to hack into rivals' systems and 20 people have so far been arrested. (BBC)
• China and Japan have opened two days of closed-door negotiations in Beijing aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over natural gas drilling rights in a disputed area of the East China Sea (VOA News)
• In France, the Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin resigns following the country's rejection of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. In an expected move, President Jacques Chirac appoints Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin to succeed him. (Reuters)
• China claims that arrested Singaporean journalist Ching Cheong was spying. (BBC) (Reporters Without Borders) (Reuters) (Forbes)
• China opens Three Gorges Dam to tourists. (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Senegal, opposition leader Abdourahim Agne is charged with incitement to rebellion after he urged demonstrations against the president Abdoulaye Wade. (Reuters SA) (BBC)
• Indonesia intends to vaccinate 6.4 million children against polio in the next couple of days. There are already 16 cases in the country. (Jakarta Post) (Channel News Asia) (Reuters AlertNet)
• Bob Geldof announces plans for a concert similar to Live Aid, which took place in 1985, to coincide with the G8 Summit in Edinburgh this July. The concert, named ‘Live 8’, will take place in Hyde Park, London on 2 July, with other concerts in Paris, Rome, Berlin and Philadelphia, and is intended to raise awareness of the Make Poverty History campaign. It is expected to include acts such as Sir Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Madonna, the Rolling Stones, Coldplay and U2, as well as a rumoured reunion of the Spice Girls. (BBC), (Guardian Unlimited)
• The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of defunct accounting giant Arthur Andersen on charges arising from the Enron scandal, on the ground that the jury instructions were faulty, (thestreet.com)

May 30 2005 (Monday)

• In Prague, Prince Hamid Bin Abdul Sani al-Thani of Qatar has been found guilty of sexually abusing girls younger than 15 from 2001 and 2004 and sentenced to 30 months in prison. (BBC)
• Amidst scandals regarding the sale of land in Jerusalem,Patriarch Irenaios I of Jerusalem has been replaced by Metropolitan Cornelius of Petra, who serves as locum tenens of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem.BBC
• Fighting in the proposed Somali capital of Baidoa threatens the stability of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. BBC
• Angela Merkel is elected by the CDU/CSU as candidate to become Chancellor of Germany in the upcoming German federal election, 2005. (Spiegel online, german)
• Amnesty International has urged foreign governments to investigate high level US government officials for human rights violations committed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay.
• Pope Benedict XVI says he wants to heal the rift with the Orthodox Church during his papacy. He spoke to hundreds-of-thousands of people attending a mass in the southern Italian city of Bari during his first pilgrimage away from the Vatican since he was elected less than two months ago. (VOA News)
• Lebanese general election, 2005:
  • Preliminary results indicate that political alliance of Saad Hariri, son of killed Rafiq Hariri, wins in Beirut parliamentary elections, despite of the low turnout (Daily Star, Lebanon) (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters)
  • The son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who was assassinated in February 2005, Saadettin Hariri declared his victory at the end of the first round of the first general elections in Lebanon after the end of 29-year Syrian military presence. (Zaman Online)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel fires rockets at the Jabaliya, a Palestinian refugee camp, injuring two civilians. The IDF says it was targeting militants who were planning a rocket attack on Israel. (BBC)
• Astronomers of California Institute of Technology and Astronomical Observatory of Strasbourg state that the Andromeda galaxy is three times bigger than previously estimated (Space.Com) (Universer Today) (Reuters)
• Red Cross of Canada admits that it has used blood infected with HIV or hepatitis virus (Canada Newswire) (Canada.Com) (CTV) (Bloomberg)

May 29 2005 (Sunday)

• A London newspaper reports that Merrill Lynch, New York, is trying to persuade at least seventeen members of the corporate derivatives team of rival investment bank JP Morgan to defect. An anonymous source/headhunter quoted in the newspaper predicted that the seventeen will be working at Merrill Lynch by the end of the summer. (Reuters)
• The French electorate reject the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe by approximately 55% to 45%, igniting a political crisis in the union and dealing a sharp blow to French President Jacques Chirac. All 25 EU member states must ratify the treaty for it to come into effect - 9 have done so to date, but only Spain has previously held a referendum. (BBC) (Los Angeles Times) (Bloomberg) (Reuters)
• Dan Wheldon won the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500, beating rookie Danica Patrick, who led the race three times and came in an impressive fourth place (CNN/SI)
• In Brazil, huge Gay Pride parade begins in Sao Paulo. (CNN) (CBC) (BBC)
• In Taiwan, thousands of mourners attend the funeral of reputed gangster Hsu Hai Ching. (TaiwanNews) (Taipei Times) (BBC)
• Three US senators visit Uzbekistan to demand investigation on the crackdown of unrest. (ABC) (Reuters AlertNet)
• Paolo Savoldelli wins the 2005 Giro d'Italia. <<NEWSLINK MISSING>>

May 28 2005 (Saturday)

• The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster in London, commonly known as Big Ben, renowned for its accuracy and chimes, stopped ticking for 90 minutes, an engineer said Saturday. (BBC)
• Japan announces closure of World War II sex slave fund by March 2007. The Asian Women's Fund, set up in 1995, paid 2M yen ($19,470) each in compensation, plus medical and welfare support, to 285 so-called "comfort women" in the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. (BBC)
• California State Senator Joseph Dunn, local school officials, and environmental professionals meet with parents of Kennedy Elementary School students in a town-hall style meeting in Santa Ana Thursday evening. The parents air their concerns over health issues at schools and workplaces, including a rash of leukemia cases in the student population, and begin a dialogue they have been working toward for years. (Wikinews)
• In Ethiopia, provisional results indicate that the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front of prime minister Meles Zenawi has won parliamentary majority. Opposition claims vote rigging. Final results are due June 8 (Reuters) (News24) (BBC)

May 27 2005 (Friday)

• The King of Saudi Arabia, Fahd Bin Abd-al-Aziz, has been taken to hospital, overtly for tests; however, the BBC quotes an unofficial source who claims the King has water in his lungs. (BBC)
• Qur'an desecration by US military: Protests have occurred in Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Malaysia after the US military admitted that the Qur'an had been "mishandled" by soldiers. (BBC)
• The Bundesrat of Germany ratifies the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. (BBC)
• Australian Schapelle Corby has been found guilty by a Bali court of importing a narcotic into Indonesia. She has appealed the AU$13,875 fine and the 20-year jail sentence. (ABC News) (Jakarta Post)
• The Federal Court of Australia rejects an attempt from Humane Society International to sue a Japanese whaler because such an action might generate conflict with Japan. The organisation claims the whaling company is hunting unlawfully in Australian waters near Antarctica. The Humane Society is now considering appeal. (ABC News)
• The 148 members of the World Trade Organization officially appoint the former European Union Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy, as its 5th Director-General. (VOA News), (WTO official website)
• The majority of members of Basque parliament, Spain, condemn the ETA bomb attack in Madrid, though the communists abstain. A bomb explodes later in a Basque train station. (EITB) (Reuters AlertNet)
• The planned 48 hour strike at the BBC in Britain is called off, unions announce, following talks. (BBC) (ThisIsLondon)
• 14 people die as a bomb explodes near a shrine in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Al-Jazeera) (BBC) (Bloomberg)
• Ethiopian general elections: European Union observers report that the National Elections Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) may be losing control of the vote counting for the recent May 15 election, potentially marring the most open election in Ethiopian history. Meanwhile the NEBE has postponed announcement of the election's provisional results until June 8, due to the volume of complaints of election irregularities. (CBC)
• Popular singer Morrissey's official Website released the following statement: "Morrissey will regrettably not be appearing at the Isle Of Wight Festival on the 11th of June as scheduled. The pressure of preparing the new album and losing his drummer earlier this month has made it impossible to do the gig without massively compromising both the gig and the album. Apologies to all the fans, the organisers and the people of the Isle Of Wight."[1]

May 26 2005 (Thursday)

• Elections in Suriname: Preliminary results show Suriname's ruling coalition survived an election challenge from former dictator Dési Bouterse in this former Dutch colony. (Guardian Unlimited)
• Conflict in Iraq: Two US Soldiers are killed as a helicopter is shot down near Baquba, North of Baghdad. (BBC)
• A coalition of citizen groups will ask United States Congress to file a formal "Resolution of Inquiry", the first necessary legal step to determine whether U.S. President George W. Bush has committed impeachable offenses. The request, written by Boston constitutional attorney John C. Bonifaz, cites the Downing Street memo and issues surrounding the planning and execution of the Iraq war. (Raw Story)
• The South African Geographical Names Council unanimously approves a recommendation to change the name of the country's executive capital Pretoria to Tshwane. (BBC)
• U.S. President George W. Bush has promised the President of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, $50 million in aid and reiterated that Israel was to stop all settlement activity on the West Bank. (BBC)
• The British Association of University Teachers decides to cancel the boycott on Israeli Universities of Haifa and Bar-Ilan. The decision comes in a special meeting after both external and internal debate over the orginal decision.(BBC), (The Guardian)
• British Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy calls for a reform of the UK voting system after Labour took the majority of the seats in the UK election with just 35% of the votes. (The Independent)
• British Foreign Minister Jack Straw announces that Iran has renewed its promise to refrain from developing nuclear weapons, and talks on its atomic program will continue following a meeting between Iranian nuclear officials and European Union ministers in Geneva. (VOA News), (BBC)
• In Thailand, police officer Somchai Visetsingha is sentenced to a life in prison for murder of two British backpackers in 2004. (MCOT) (BBC) (Reuters)
• A flash flood strikes São Paulo, Brazil. (BBC)
• French official Pascal Lamy, former trade commissioner for European Union, is expected to be appointed as ahead of the World Trade Organization. He will assume the post in September. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Australia observes the National Sorry Day as a way to remember the Stolen Generation of Australian Aboriginals. (National Indigenous Times) (ABC AU) (Radio Australia)
• India and Pakistan begin talks to resolve a military stand-off on the Siachen glacier. (Hindu.com) (Pakistan Dawn) (Reuters)
• In New York, USA, attorney general charges insurance company American International Group and two of its former executives for fraud and manipulating the accounts (New York Times) (Businessweek) (Forbes) (Bloomberg) (Reuters)
• Spanish court imprisons Arnaldo Otegi, head of Herri Batasuna party in the Basque region for having links to ETA. Batasuna claims that the move undermines peace efforts. Otegi is in prison pending ?400.000 bail. (EITB) (Reuters AlertNet)
• French authorities arrest Chechen named Bislan Ismailov suspected for complicity in the murder of Theo van Gogh (Expatica) (Reuters)
• In Egypt, referendum favours constitutional changes for presidential elections witn 83% in favor (Al-Jazeera) (BBC)
• The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate approved a bill to create a $140 billion trust fund for the payment of asbestos-related claims. The bill now goes to the Senate floor, no analogous bill is yet before the House of Representatives. (Investors Business Daily)
• In Tennessee, five members of the state legislature are arrested on federal bribery charges in Operation Tennessee Waltz.

May 25 2005 (Wednesday)

• Human Rights:
  • Amnesty International releases its annual Human Rights report for the year 2004. Amnesty Report
  • Human Rights Watch releases a report accusing the FBI of misconduct in the illegal detention and torture of two American citizens. (NYTimes)
• Elections in Suriname: General elections are underway in Suriname. Likely winner could be former dictator and drug smuggler, Dési Bouterse. (Scoop)
• The American Family Association, a Christian group, ends its nine-year boycott of the Walt Disney Company but continues to boycott Kmart and Abercrombie & Fitch and the book One of the Guys by Robert Clark Young. [2]
• Voyager 1, the most distant man-made object, has entered the heliosheath and is on the cusp of leaving the Solar System and entering the interstellar medium. (BBC)
• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts that economic growth will slow a bit in the industrialised world this year to an annual rate of 2.6 percent. The OECD's report blames rising energy costs and economic problems in Europe for the slowdown. (VOA News), (The Telegraph)
• The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the longest oil pipeline in the world, begins operations today, with an opening ceremony in Azerbaijan. (BBC)
• Elections in Egypt: Egyptians vote in a referendum on a constitutional amendment allowing multi-candidate presidential elections while opposition groups call for a boycott, saying that requirements for candidates are too hard and still favour the ruling National Democratic Party. (Egypt Election DAily News) (Al-Jazeera) (Khaleej Times) (Bloomberg) (Reuters)
• Soledad Alvear, former Chilean foreign minister, withdraws her presidential candidacy and supports Michelle Bachelet. (MercoPress) (BBC)
• An ETA car bomb explodes near Madrid, Spain after a warning call. (EITB24) (Scotsman)
• In Guinea-Bissau, an armed group of men led by former President Kumba Ialá briefly occupies the presidential palace. The ousted president claims that he is still in charge. (BBC)
• At Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadyumu in Istanbul, Liverpool F.C. scores three goals in six minutes to tie the game and after extra-time goes on to defeat AC Milan 3-2 in a penalty shootout to win its first UEFA Champions League title since 1984.
• In Russia, a 10.00 AM explosion in a power substation causes a power outage that cuts electricity from Moscow and four surrounding regions. Government blames Unified Energy Systems and the Prosecutor General's Office opens a investigation for "criminal negligence". UES CEO Anatoly Chubais accepts responsibility. Energy minister Viktor Khristenko states that the power cuts have nothing to do with terrorism. (Moscow Times) (RIA Novosti) (IHT)
• Accused Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton is charged with a total of 27 murders (CTV) (National Post) (Reuters Canada) (New Criminologist)
• In Panama, police has clashed for three days with demonstrators that protest new pension reforms of president Martin Torrijos (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Bolivia, Commander-in-chief of Bolivian army, Luis Aranda, refutes claims that military is planning a coup [] (Bloomberg) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• NATO soldiers raid the home of son of Radovan Karadžić but fail to apprehend him. (FENA) (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
• Slovenian government charges former communist leader Mitja Ribičič of genocide when he was a Yugoslavian security chief after World War Two (Balkan Update) (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
• In Haiti, former prime minister Yvon Neptune is formally charged with political killings in in 2004. He has been in a hunger strike. (Caribbean Net News) (Jamaica Observer) (BBC)

May 24 2005 (Tuesday)

• Conflict in Iraq: At least five Iraqis and seven US Soldiers have been killed following a spate of bombings in Iraq. (BBC)
• Mathematician Peter Lax receives the Abel Prize, worth nearly one million USD, from Norway's Crown Prince Haakon in a ceremony in Oslo. The prize is awarded for his work on "the theory and application of partial differential equations."(CNN)
• Israeli soldiers catch a 15 year old Palestinian carrying two pipe bombs at a West Bank checkpoint. (Haaretz)
• Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims in its website that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been wounded. (Yahoo!)
• John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, has written to his Japanese counterpart, Junichiro Koizumi, urging Japan to reconsider its position on whaling. The International Whaling Commission is expected to consider Japan's expansion proposal when it meets next month. (ABC News)
• The Chilean army buries 24 of 46 conscripts that died in an snow storm in the Andes. Presidential candidates have called for an end to compulsory military service. 13 bodies still unfound.(SantiagoTimes) (BBC)
• The appeal of six Pitcairn men who were sentenced for sexual abuse of young girls fails. An Auckland court is to decide whether to grant them bail. The men plan to appeal to the Privy Council. (BBC) (Reuters)
• Canadian Liberal candidate Todd Russell wins a crucial by-election in the federal riding of Labrador. This result consolidates the shaky Liberal balance of power in the federal government. (CBC)
• Jurors in the criminal trial of Richard M. Scrushy, founder of HealthSouth Corp., send notes to the presiding judge that indicate they are having difficulty reaching unanimity. The case is part of the wave of U.S. corporate scandals of recent years. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Scrushy and others conspired to overstate profits at HealthSouth by circa $2.7 billion, in the period 1996 - 2002. (Reuters)

May 23 2005 (Monday)

• Channel 10, an Israeli television station, broadcasts footage of what it claims is Israeli Defence Forces using a Palestinian youth as a human shield against rock-throwers in the West Bank. The IDF denies the allegation. (Haaretz)
• A bipartisan commission of fourteen U.S. Senators has successfully negotiated a compromise whereby a "nuclear option" showdown over judicial filibusters would be averted. (ABC News)
• Five Irish teenage school girls, all from the Loretto Convent in Navan, are killed and six others are critically injured in a bus crash in County Meath. The bus was carrying students from the Loretto Convent, the Mercy Convent, St. Patrick's Classical School and Beaufort College, all in Navan and did not have fitted seatbelts. (RTÉ)
• The Palestinian Election Commission delays the Palestinian parliamentary elections, citing that there was not enough time to prepare. Critics of the ruling Fatah party had predicted the delay, and believed it was a way to prevent Hamas, the main opposition party, from gaining power. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
• Health officials in Norway fear a Legionnaires' Disease epidemic after the death of four people during the last five days and the hospitalisation of many others in southeastern county of Østfold, particularly in the Fredrikstad-Sarpsborg urban area. At least 24 people are known to be infected, with many of them in critical condition. Legionnaires' Disease killed seven people in the southwestern city of Stavanger in 2001, in an outbreak that was later traced to a hotel air conditioning system. (Aftenposten)
• 11,000 journalists and other employees of the BBC go on a 24-hour strike to protest over approximately 4,000 planned job cuts. TV and Radio news output has been the worst affected, with few new stories materialising and only a skeleton service being offered. (BBC) (Reuters UK) (Bloomberg) (BBC strike Q&A)
• Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urges the Council of Guardians to review applications of two reformist candidates, Mostafa Moin of the Islamic Iran Participation Front and Vice President Mohsen Mehralizadeh, after the council qualified only six candidates to the country's presidential election. Opposition groups threaten to boycott the elections and students of Tehran University protest against the disqualification of Moin. (Tehran Times) (IRanMania (IRNA) (Reuters AlertNet) (Reuters)
• The death toll of the bird flu in Vietnam rises to 18. China informs the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that it has sealed off the Qinghai province to stop the spread of bird flu and vaccinated farmbirds. (People's Daily). (Reuters AlertNet)

May 22, 2005 (Sunday)

• In Shenzhen, China, what is believed to be the largest urban demolition blast in China uses 684 kg (1,500 lbs) of explosives to simultaneously topple 16 tower blocks. Because of misplaced charges, one tower does not topple, but is reduced from 14 stories to 12, and will have to be demolished manually. (Xinhua (Pictures)) (The Star (Malaysia)) (Boston Globe).
• Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, was heckled and booed at a meeting to promote the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip by several US Jews. (BBC)
• Laura Bush, the First Lady of the United States, was heckled by both Israeli and Palestinian protesters as she visted the Wailing Wall and the outside of the Dome on the Rock. (Haaretz) (BBC)
• The British government declines a request from the families of soldiers killed in Iraq for an investigation into the legality of the war. (BBC) (Chicago Tribune)
• Israel arrests a 15-year-old Palestinian at a Hawara checkpoint, near Nablus, wearing a suicide bomb belt. (Haaretz)
• German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has declared that he will seek the next German federal election to be held this autumn, a year earlier than set out by the constitution, after the CDU and FDP defeated the Social Democrats (SPD), who were in coalition with the Greens, at the regional election in North Rhine-Westphalia. (BBC).
• Elections in Mongolia: Former Prime Minister of Mongolia Nambariin Enkhbayar wins presidential election. (Reuters) (CNN) (Forbes) (Xinhua)
• In Nepal, thousands of opposition supporters demonstrate against the rule of king Gyanendra and demand restoration of parliament. Royalist government is dismayed by EU and Indian demands to return to democracy (Reuters AlertNet) (Reuters Alertnet) (ABC) (BBC)
• Egyptian police arrests Mahmud Ezzat, leader of banned Muslim Brotherhood. Various reports tell of different amounts (from 11 to 24) of other arrested members (Al-Jazeera) (ABC) (BBC)
• Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez says he may consider breaking diplomatic ties with the USA if it will not extradite Luis Posada Carriles. (Reuters (BBC) (World Peace Herald)

May 21, 2005 (Saturday)

• In visiting Calvin College to give a commencement speech, George W. Bush is met with a petition by a third of the college faculty, stating "We believe your administration has launched an unjust and unjustified war in Iraq.", and strongly criticizing his policies. (FOX News)
• The Greek entry "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou wins the 50th Annual Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Ukraine. 24 countries of the European Broadcasting Union participate in the final, fifteen other countries having been eliminated in Thursdays' semi-finals. (Radio Free Europe) (Eurovision)
• The Sun, the largest selling British tabloid newspaper, publishes more surreptitiously taken pictures of Saddam Hussein, while claiming to condemn the leaking of the first photographs. Other pictures also published show the imprisoned Ali Hassan al-Majid ("Chemical Ali") and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash ("Mrs Anthrax"). President Bush intervenes to support an investigation into the leaking of the photos. (Vancouver Sun) (The Statesman) (Guardian Unlimited)

May 20 2005 (Friday)

• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith reaches a record high at the box offices on opening day with $50 million on 9,400 screens at 3,661 theaters worldwide, edging out Spider-Man 2's top opening day record of $40.4 million and Shrek 2's top single day record of $44.8 million. (marketwatch) (AP via Yahoo! News) (boxofficemojo.com)
• Daytime Emmys are awarded, and three records are broken. General Hospital wins Best Drama for a record eighth time, Erika Slezak of One Life to Live wins her sixth Daytime Emmy for Best Actress, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show wins five Daytime Emmys, including Best Talk Show Host, and Best Talk Show. (Washington Post)
• Reports say that five corpses are found and 200 men are safe in a high mountain encampment in the Andes after a Chilean Army instruction raid got hit by a severe storm. 47 recruits are missing and temperatures drop to -15ºC (5ºF) in the area. (Reuters)
• The town of Etoumbi in the Republic of the Congo is put under quarantine after an Ebola outbreak kills nine people. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli troops kill one Palestinian militant as three to four Hamas, Popular Resistance Committees, and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade militants fire mortar shells and anti-tank missiles on Israelis living in the Kfar Darom settlement in the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz) (BBC)
• 2005 Pacific hurricane season: Two people die as Hurricane Adrian makes landfall near San Salvador, El Salvador.(MSNBC)
• In Togo, talks to resolve a crisis after last month's disputed presidential election end without agreement. Refugees continue to arrive in Benin. (BBC) (Reuters AlertNet)
• After six years, the last United Nations peacekeepers have left East Timor. (Bloomberg) (BBC)
• Elections in Papua New Guinea: Bougainville in Papua New Guinea begins the first elections of its autonomous government. (National, Papua New Guinea) (Radio Australia) (BBC)
• Australian pop star Kylie Minogue is released from the hospital after surgery to treat breast cancer. (The Age)

May 19 2005 (Thursday)

• Scientists discover that the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was the longest ever recorded — lasting nearly ten minutes when most powerful earthquakes last no more than a few seconds — and shook the entire planet. (CNN)
• The Canadian House of Commons votes on two crucial budget bills. Bill C-43 carries with a vote of 250 yea, 54 nay. Bill C-48 is tied with a vote of 152 yea, 152 nay, with the Speaker voting in favour, breaking the tie and carrying the bill. The Canadian government survives the Motion of no confidence. (CBC)
• 2005 Pacific hurricane season: Tropical Storm Adrian reaches hurricane strength, and is about 12 hours away from making landfall over or near El Salvador. (NHC)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is released in the United States. Just hours after its release, the workprint DVD of the film was "leaked" to file sharing networks. (BBC)
• Unrest in Uzbekistan: Various governments, including that of the United States, demand further investigation into the events. Uzbek government troops report that they have retaken the town of Korasuv. President Islam Karimov rejects calls for international inquiry. Oppositions group fear that state will begin active oppression against them (Reuters Alertnet) (Mosnews) (ReliefWeb) (Reuters)(BBC) (Moscow Times) (CNN) (BBC)
• In Brazil, an environmental ministry study states that destruction of the Amazon rainforest is accelerating.