Almost three months after the legislative election in Iraq, the National Assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve a Shi'a-led cabinet, establishing the first elected government in the history of Iraq. Two of the four deputy prime minister's slots remained vacant, however, and five ministries, including the important defence and oil slots, were left in the hands of temporary managers. (International Herald Tribune), (CBC)
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker, long thought to be extinct, has been rediscovered in the "Big Woods" area of Arkansas. (CNN)
In France, Bernard Guillet, an aide to former interior minister Charles Pasqua is questioned in connection with the oil for food probe. (Financial Times) (BBC)
Swiss engineers blast through the Lötschberg Tunnel through the Alps from Germany to Italy. The tunnel will be ready for traffic in two years. (SwissInfo) (NZZ) (BBC)
In Kenya, British peer and Kenyan rancher Thomas Cholmondeley is charged with the murder of two Maasai game wardens. (IOL) (Guardian) (BBC)
In Australia, Palacom has received permission to create a cemetery for upright burials. (Herald Sun) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez visits Cuba to foster cooperation between the countries. (BBC) (Periodico26) (Reuters)
April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Iraqi police officers hold up their index fingers marked with purple indelible ink, a security measure to prevent double voting. ... The Iraqi National Assembly is the unicameral parliament of Iraq which meets in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. ... Shia Islam ( Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite or Shiite) is the second largest Islamic denomination; some 20-25% of all Muslims are said to follow a Shia tradition. ... A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... This history of Iraq includes an overview from prehistory to the present in the region of the current state of Iraq in Mesopotamia. ... A ministry is a department of a government, led by a minister. ... Binomial name Campephilus principalis (Linnaeus, 1758) The Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is a very large and extremely rare member of the woodpecker family, Picidae. ... In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... State nickname: The Natural State Other U.S. States Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Governor Mike Huckabee (R) Senators Blanche Lincoln (D) Mark Pryor (D) Official language(s) English Area 137,732 km² (29th) - Land 134,856 km² - Water 2,876 km² (2. ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. ... Lord Goldsmith Attorney General Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, PC (born 5 January 1950), is the current Attorney General of England and Wales. ... Her Majestys Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known as the Attorney General, is the chief legal adviser of the Crown in England and Wales. ... This article covers invasion specifics. ... Self portrait, 1895 Edvard Munch (December 12, 1863 â January 23, 1944) was a Norwegian expressionist painter and printmaker. ... The Mona Lisa is perhaps the best-known artistic painting in the Western world. ... An agonized figure wails against a blood red Oslofjord skyline in Edvard Munchs The Scream (1893), National Gallery, Oslo. ... Edvard Munchs Madonna Madonna is a famous painting by the Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch. ... Self portrait, 1895 Edvard Munch (Løten, December 12, 1863 - Ekely (near Oslo), January 23, 1944) was a Norwegian Expressionist painter and printmaker. ... County Oslo NO-03 Landscape Viken Municipality NO-0301 Administrative centre Oslo Mayor (2004) Per Ditlev-Simonsen (H) Official language form Neutral Area - Total - Land - Percentage Ranked 224 454 km² 426 km² 0. ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A death toll is the number of dead as a result of war, violence, accident, natural disaster, extreme weather, or disease. ... JR-West207 The Amagasaki rail crash occurred on 25 April 2005 at around 9:18 local time (0:18 UTC), just after the local rush hour. ... The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945. ... Wanted poster for the ICTR The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is a court under the auspices of the United Nations for the prosecution of offenses committed in Rwanda during the genocide which occurred there during April, 1994, commencing on April 6. ... Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. ... Life imprisonment is a term used for a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment. ... The skulls of victims show gashes and signs of violence The Rwandan Genocide was the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus by a group of Hutu extremists known as Interahamwe during a period of 100 days in 1994. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments, which ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host countrys laws (although they can be expelled). ... Charles Pasqua (born April 18, French businessman and politician. ... The Oil-for-Food Programme was established by the United Nations in 1996 to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine and the like. ... The Lötschberg Tunnel is a 14. ... Image:Alps in the Chamonix Valley, near the Mer de Ice Cream . ... A Maasai tribesman The Maasai or Masai, an indigenous African tribe of semi-nomadic people located primarily in Kenya and northern Tanzania, are probably one of the most familiar tribes of East Africa. ... Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery or graveyard is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. ... Hugo Rafael Chávez FrÃas (born July 28, 1954) is the 53rd and current President of Venezuela. ...