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20 December 2005 (Tuesday)

• In the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case, Judge John E. Jones III rules that it is unconstitutional to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom in the United States. (BBC) (CNN) (Guardian)
• At least 20 people die as a bus in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir skids from the road, tumbles down a hill and lands in the river Jhelum. (BBC)
• Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union declares a New York City transit strike after talks fail, shutting down the subway and bus system that constitute the largest transportation system in the United States. (Wikinews) (AP via Yahoo!) (CNN) (BBC)
• Israel:
  • In the Likud primary elections, Benjamin Netanyahu wins, becoming the new Likud leader, he was followed by Silvan Shalom. Moshe Feyglin came third and Yisrael Katz was fourth. (Ynetnews)
  • Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, is released from Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital after being treated for a mild stroke. (Ynetnews)

December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kitzmiller, et al. ... John E. Jones III (born 1955 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania) is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. ... Intelligent design (ID) is a perspective on origins that proposes that certain features of the universe and of living things exhibit the characteristics of a product resulting from an intelligent cause or agent, as opposed to an unguided process such as natural selection. ... A phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes, as described initially by Carl Woese. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... The Jhelum River is the largest and most western of the five rivers of the Punjab province of Pakistan, and passes through Jhelum City. ... The Transport Workers Union (TWU), currently aligned with the AFL-CIO, was started in 1934 by New York City transit workers who were tired of the abuses by the managers and owners of the transportation companies, who took advantage of high unemployment rates sparked by The Great Depression by offering... The 2005 New York City transit strike against the New York City Transit Authority by Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union began at 3 a. ... Likud (Hebrew: ליכוד, literally means consolidation) is a right-wing political party in Israel. ... Benjamin Netanyahu ▶(?) (Hebrew: בִּנְיָמִין נְתַנְיָהוּ (without niqqudot: בנימין נתניהו), transliteration: Binyamin Netanyahu, nicknamed Bibi) (born October 21, 1949, Tel Aviv) was the 9th Prime Minister of Israel. ... Silvan Shalom Silvan Shalom ▶(?) (Hebrew סילבן שלום) (born 1958) is an Israeli politician and current Foreign Minister of Israel, having been appointed in 2003 by the current Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. ... Moshe Feiglin is a Jewish Israeli right-wing political activist. ... ▶(?) Hebrew: אריאל שרון (born February 27, 1928) is the eleventh and current Prime Minister of Israel, serving from March 2001. ... ŃńŕĹĻļùéÉàí Ó Èä The Prime Minister of Israel (Hebrew: ראש הממשלה, Rosh Hamemshala, lit. ... Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital (בית החולים הדסה עין כרם) is a University hospital in Jerusalem, Israel. ... A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted. ...

19 December 2005 (Monday)

• A Chalk's Ocean Airways airplane flying from Miami, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas, crashes in Miami Beach, killing 18 passengers and two crew members.(CNN)
• Evo Morales becomes the latest Leftist to win the Presidency of a South American nation after he claimed victory in the Bolivian Presidential Election. (BBC)
• Early returns in the Iraqi legislative election, December 2005 indicate that religious parties have done quite well, winning up 80 percent of the vote. Election officials are investigating more than 1,000 complaints about irregularities, 20 of them considered serious. Final results will not be released until early January.
• The Free Aceh Movement surrenders the last of its weapons following a peace agreement with the Government of Indonesia. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: An insurgent group broadcasts a video over the Internet of what they claim is the death of American Ronald Allen Schulz. (BBC)
• Nazi Officer Ladislav Niznansky is acquitted of charges relating to three massacres of Slovaks during World War II. (IOL)
• Governor Antonio Fazio of Bank of Italy resigns, after having been officially put under investigation for insider trading, and following heavy pressure from both government and opposition. (BBC)
• The Likud primary elections for the party's leadership between the candidates Benjamin Netanyahu, Silvan Shalom, Yisrael Katz and Moshe Feyglin opened at 10:00 a.m. (Ynetnews)

December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chalks Ocean Airways is an airline based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. It operates scheduled seaplane flights. ... Downtown Miami as seen from Watson Island City nickname: The Magic City, The American Riviera, The Sixth Borough Official website: http://www. ... Map of the Bahamas with the Biminis positioned center left (click to enlarge). ... Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (born October 26, 1959) is a Bolivian politician who, although it has not yet been officially confirmed, appears to be the president-elect of Bolivia. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... The 2005 Bolivian Presidential Elections are being held on December 18, 2005. ... Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on October 15, 2005, a general election was called for 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly. ... ASNLF Flag The Free Aceh Movement (Indonesian: Gerakan Aceh Merdeka or simply GAM), also known as the Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF), is an armed separatist group seeking independence for the Aceh region on Sumatra from Indonesia. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article deals with the post-invasion period in Iraq and its occupation. ... An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority, by any irregular armed force that rises up against an enforced or established authority, government, or administration. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Nazism. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... Antonio Fazio (born 1936 in Alvito, province of Frosinone) is the Governor of the Bank of Italy, a lifetime appointment (although legislation establishing a fixed-term appointment is now expected), and considered one of the most powerful men in Italy. ... Please see: Banca dItalia is the Italian Central Bank. ... There are two kinds of trading that are referred to as insider trading or inside dealing: Usually illegal: Trading of a security of a company (, stocks, bonds or stock options) based on material non-public information. ... Likud (Hebrew: ליכוד, literally means consolidation) is a right-wing political party in Israel. ... Benjamin Netanyahu ▶(?) (Hebrew: בִּנְיָמִין נְתַנְיָהוּ (without niqqudot: בנימין נתניהו), transliteration: Binyamin Netanyahu, nicknamed Bibi) (born October 21, 1949, Tel Aviv) was the 9th Prime Minister of Israel. ... Silvan Shalom Silvan Shalom ▶(?) (Hebrew סילבן שלום) (born 1958) is an Israeli politician and current Foreign Minister of Israel, having been appointed in 2003 by the current Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. ... Moshe Feiglin is a Jewish Israeli right-wing political activist. ...

18 December 2005 (Sunday)

• Air Nauru's only passenger jet is seized by creditors in Melbourne, leaving the island nations of Nauru and Kiribati without air transport to the rest of the world. (ABC)
• Extinct mammoth mitochondrial DNA decoded. (BBC)
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) holds its first national democratic poll in 40 years. (BBC) (Reuters)
• The Bolivian presidential election, 2005 takes place in Bolivia, with Evo Morales and Jorge Quiroga as front-runners. Morales is expected to win a plurality of votes but not an absolute majority. If no candidate wins a majority, the election of the President will be by vote in the National Congress, also elected today. (BBC)
• 42 people die following a stampede in the Indian city of Chennai. (BBC)
• Bono, Melinda Gates and Bill Gates are named Time's Persons of the Year. (CNN)
• U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is on a trip to various countries including Oman, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He made a surprise stop to Iraq today. (Yahoo! News) (Reuters)
• Philippines finish in 5th place in the medal tally for the 2005 ASEAN Para Games in the Philippines. Thailand finishes with 84 golds, followed by Malaysia. (The Nation, Bangkok)
• The prime minister of Israel Ariel Sharon is transferred to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem after suffering a minor stroke. Meanwhile, some Palestinians have taken to the streets in Gaza to celebrate Sharon's health condition and the Kahane organisation has urged Jews to pray for his death. (Ynetnews) (Wikinews)
• São Paulo win the FIFA Club World Championship in Yokohama, Japan, defeating Liverpool F.C. 1-0. (BBC)
• President George W. Bush defends the Iraq War in a rare primetime Oval Office address. He said, "Not only can we win the war in Iraq — we are winning the war in Iraq." (USAToday) (The Guardian)

December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Air Nauru Logo Air Nauru is the national airline HUDLA HUDLA of the Pacific island Republic of Nauru. ... Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of approximately 3. ... Species Mammuthus columbi Columbian mammoth Mammuthus exilis Pygmy mammoth Mammuthus jeffersonii Jeffersonian mammoth Mammuthus meridionalis Mammuthus primigenius Wooly mammoth A mammoth (from Russian мамонт) is any of a number of an extinct genus of elephant, often with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. ... Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA, or less popularly, mDNA) is DNA which is not located in the nucleus of the cell but in the mitochondria. ... The 2005 Bolivian Presidential Elections are being held on December 18, 2005. ... Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (born October 26, 1959) is a Bolivian politician who, although it has not yet been officially confirmed, appears to be the president-elect of Bolivia. ... Jorge Fernando Tuto Quiroga Ramírez (born May 5, 1960) was President of Bolivia from August 7, 2001 to August 6, 2002. ... The National Congress (Spanish: Congreso Nacional) is the national legislature of Bolivia, based in the capital of La Paz. ... Chennai (சென்னை in Tamil), formerly known as Madras, is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu and is Indias fourth largest metropolitan city. ... Bono Paul David Hewson (born May 10, 1960, Dublin, Ireland), nicknamed Bono Vox, stage name Bono, is the lead singer of the Irish rock band, U2. ... Melinda Gates Melinda Gates, née French, is a former Microsoft employee who was the project manager of Microsoft Bob, Microsoft Encarta, and Microsoft Expedia. ... William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955), is the co-founder, Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worlds largest computer software company. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Notable Time magazine covers from the dates May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Person of the Year is an annual issue of U.S. newsmagazine TIME that features a profile ostensibly on the man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year. ... Richard B. Cheney, 46th and current Vice President of the United States The Vice President of the United States is the second-highest executive official of the United States government, the person who, in the words of Adlai Stevenson, is a heartbeat from the presidency. ... Richard Bruce Cheney (born January 30, 1941), widely known as Dick Cheney, is an American politician and businessman affiliated with the U.S. Republican Party. ... The 23rd Southeast Asian Games (also known as the 2005 SEA Games) was a biannual multi-sport event held in the Philippines from November 27, 2005 to December 5, 2005. ... ŃńŕĹĻļùéÉàí Ó Èä The Prime Minister of Israel (Hebrew: ראש הממשלה, Rosh Hamemshala, lit. ... ▶(?) Hebrew: אריאל שרון (born February 27, 1928) is the eleventh and current Prime Minister of Israel, serving from March 2001. ... Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital (בית החולים הדסה עין כרם) is a University hospital in Jerusalem, Israel. ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ... A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted. ... The Palestinian flag, adopted in 1948, is a widely recognized modern symbol of the Palestinian people. ... The city of Gaza is the principal city in the Gaza Strip. ... ▶(?) Hebrew: אריאל שרון (born February 27, 1928) is the eleventh and current Prime Minister of Israel, serving from March 2001. ... Some people named Kahane include Jean-Pierre Kahane, a French mathematician. ... São Paulos Mascot São Paulo is a very traditional Brazilian football team from São Paulo, founded on January 25, 1930, and Re-founded on December 16, 1935. ... The 2005 FIFA Club World Championship trophy. ... Japans tallest building, the Landmark Tower, is in the Minato Mirai 21 district of Yokohama. ... Liverpool Football Club (often known simply as Liverpool), an English football club based in the North-West of England, are the current champions of Europe and the most successful English football team. ... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... The Iraq war or war in Iraq, is both an informal and formal term for military conflicts in Iraq that began with the invasion of 2003 by the multinational coalition of American, British, and other forces. ... The Oval Office is the official office of the President of the United States, in the West Wing of the White House, built in 1909. ...

17 December 2005 (Saturday)

• Hong Kong police detain 900 protesters at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005 after an anti-globalization demonstration became violent. The protesters object to trade rules that they say hurt poor farmers. 74 people are injured. (Reuters) (CNN)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Palestinian militant Khaled Abu Sitta is killed and three others injured when Sitta's car explodes in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources say the explosion was caused by an Israeli air strike, although the Israeli Defense Force denies any involvement but admits bombing roads and bridges and shooting dead a suspect.(BBC) (Y-Net) (Haaretz) (Reuters)
• Condoleezza Rice and the African Union request additional funds to enable the A.U.'s peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan to continue. Without additional aid, the African peacekeeping force will run out of funds in four months. Violence in the region has resurged recently. (Boston Globe) (Reuters) (LA Times via Chron.com)
• A group of over 40 people, dressed in Santa Claus costumes, go on a rampage through downtown Auckland, New Zealand, robbing stores and assaulting security guards. (AP)
• Thieves use a flatbed truck to steal a 2-ton Henry Moore statue from the grounds of his foundation in Hertfordshire, England. The statue is valued at more than $5.2 million dollars. (AP) (Telegraph.co.uk)

December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... WTO Logo The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a multinational rules-based and member driven organization which oversees a large number of agreements defining the rules of trade between its member states (WTO, 2004a). ... The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, also known as the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the WTO and abbreviated as MC6, is being held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong from 13th to 18th December 2005. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... The word militant can refer to any individual engaged in warfare, a fight, combat, or generally serving as a soldier. ... The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (Hebrew: צבא ההגנה לישראל Tsva Ha-Haganah Le-Yisrael ([Army] Force [for] the Defense of Israel), often abbreviated צהל Tsahal, alternative English spelling Tzahal, is the name of Israels armed forces (army, air force and navy). ... Condoleezza Rice, Ph. ... Anthem: Let us all unite and celebrate together Official languages The African languages, as well as Arabic, Swahili, English, French and Portuguese Some member states have other official languages. ... The country of Sudan The Darfur conflict is an ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a government-supported militia recruited from local Arab tribes, and the non-Arab peoples of the region. ... Darfur (Arabic دار فور, meaning home of the Fur) is a region of far western Sudan, bordering the Central African Republic, Libya, and Chad. ... A classic image of Santa Claus. ... Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... A security guard is a private person who is employed to protect property and people. ... Reclining Figure (1951) is characteristic of Moores sculptures, with an abstract female figure intercut with voids. ... Hertfordshire (pronounced Hartfordshire and abbreviated as Herts) is an inland county in the United Kingdom, officially part of the East of England Government region. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK...

16 December 2005 (Friday)

• Bulgaria starts withdrawing its troops from Iraq. (Reuters)
• Extreme levels of radiation have been found at a chemical factory in Chechnya. (BBC)
• United States Government:
  • Senator John McCain persuades President George W. Bush to accept a ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees. (AP)
  • The United States House of Representatives has requested that the Bush administration give Congress details on any secret detention facilities overseas. (AP)
  • The United States Senate rejects the extension of the PATRIOT Act. Critics had said it infringed on civil liberties and made the government too powerful. (AP).
  • United States President George W. Bush refuses to comment on whether the National Security Agency spied on American citizens without a legal warrant. (AP)
• Conflict in Iraq: Iraqi Police claim that they captured Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and then released him by mistake. (BBC)
• Hamas, the main Palestinian opposition party make a large series of gains in the West Bank municipal elections. (BBC)
• At least 39 people, 33 of whom were patients, die after a fire breaks out in a hospital in the city of Liaoyuan, near Changchun in China's Jilin Province. The cause of the fire is unknown. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: An Israeli settler dies following a drive-by shooting claimed by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Islamic Jihad. (Ynetnews) (RTÉ)
• Intellectual property dispute: a US federal judge upholds Pfizer's two main patents for Lipitor, which had been challenged by Ranbaxy Laboratories. The decision is the latest defeat for Ranbaxy, an Indian generic drugmaker, which has also lost in a UK court. (MSNBC)
• Denis Donaldson is expelled from Sinn Fein for being a British spy. He later confirms this in a statement. (BBC)

December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that Coalition of the Willing be merged into this article or section. ... Capital Grozny Area - total - % water 78th - 15,500 km² - negligible Population - Total - Density 49th - est. ... // Legislative branch Article I of the Constitution grants all legislative powers of the federal government to the Congress, which is divided into two chambers, a Senate and a House of Representatives. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is an American politician. ... The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States. ... The Bush administration is a group of people that includes President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Bushs Cabinet, and other select officials and advisors. ... A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... President George W. Bush signing the Patriot Act in the White Houses East Room on October 26, 2001. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... NSA seal The National Security Agency / Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is the largest United States government intelligence agency. ... This article deals with the post-invasion period in Iraq and its occupation. ... The Iraqi Police are the organic civil police force of the Republic of Iraq. ... Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an undated AP photograph. ... The Hamas emblem shows two crossed swords, the Dome of the Rock, and a map of the land they claim as Palestine (roughly, present-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... Liaoyuan(simplified Chinese: 辽源; traditional Chinese: 遼源; pinyin: Liáoyuán) is a Chinese city in the western portion of Jilin province. ... Location within China Changchun (Simplified Chinese: 长春; Traditional Chinese: 長春; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chang-chun) is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located at the northeast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Jilin (Chinese: 吉林; pinyin: Jílín; Wade-Giles: Chi-lin; Postal System Pinyin: Kirin), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. ... Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... One of the most contentious issues in the Arab-Israeli Conflict has been the Israeli policy of sponsoring, supporting, and/or tolerating the establishment of Jewish communities in areas that came under Israeli control as a result of the 1967 Six Day War. ... A drive-by shooting (sometimes referred to merely as a drive-by) is an attack on a person carried out with one or more firearms from a moving vehicle (or a momentarily stopped vehicle). ... The Al_Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (كتائب شهداء الاقصى) are one of the militias of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafats al_Fatah faction. ... Islamic Jihad (Arabic: Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami) is a militant Islamist group based in the Syrian capital, Damascus. ... Intellectual property or IP refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea, or to some other intangible subject matter. ... Pfizer, Incorporated (NYSE: PFE), is a global pharmaceutical company, with headquarters in New York City. ... In medicine and pharmacology, atorvastatin (Lipitor® or atorvastatin calcium) is a member of the drug class of statins, used for lowering cholesterol and thereby preventing cardiovascular disease. ... Denis Donaldson (1950—) is a former member of Sinn Féin and a former spy in the employ of the British intelligence services and the Special Branch of of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. ... Sinn Féin (in the Irish language ourselves or we ourselves; not as sometimes incorrectly translated, ourselves alone) is an Irish political party. ... Espionage is the practice of obtaining secrets (spying) from rivals or enemies for military, political, or economic advantage. ...

15 December 2005 (Thursday)

• Former United States presidential candidate Al Sharpton agrees to pay $100,000 to the Federal Election Commission in a settlement over alleged corrupt practices during his 2004 electoral bid. (Reuters)
• A colleague of South Korean biomedical researcher Hwang Woo-Suk says that Hwang admitted that he faked nine of eleven stem cell colonies used in what had been hailed as a medical breakthrough in the journal Science. (BBC)
• Thousands of Iraqi Shia protest against Al Jazeera after a guest on a talk show on the network suggested that the Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shia Islam's most senior cleric, should stay out of politics. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel continues to strike Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip. (RTÉ)
• The European Council meets to discuss the next 7-year budget for the European Union. (BBC)
• Voting starts in Iraq to elect the first permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly under the new Constitution of Iraq. (BBC)
• A comparison of 42 articles by the journal Nature concludes that Wikipedia is almost as accurate on science topics as the Encyclopædia Britannica. The study also notes that Wikipedia's writing is more disorganized than Britannica's. (Nature) (BBC) (NPR)
• A Nepalese soldier shoots dead 11 people at a temple in Nagarkot, near Kathmandu. (BBC)
• Marwan Barghouti launches a new party called al-Mustaqbal (The Future), splitting from the Fatah movement in the Palestinian National Authority. (BBC)
• Bradley John Murdoch, convicted murderer of British backpacker Peter Falconio, is sentenced to a non-parole period of 28 years in prison in Australia. (NineMSN)

December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... Reverend Al Sharpton The Reverend Alfred Charles Al Sharpton Jr. ... The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency created in 1975 by Congress to administer and enforce campaign finance legislation in the United States. ... National motto: 널리 인간 세계를 이롭게 하라 Translation: Broadly bring benefit to humanity Official language Korean Capital Seoul Largest city Seoul President Roh Moo-hyun Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 108th 99,274 km² 0. ... Hwang Woo-Suk (December 15, 1952) is a South Korean biomedical scientist and professor of Theriogenology and Biotechnology at Seoul National University, who rose to fame after claiming a series of remarkable breakthoughs in the field of stem cell research. ... Mouse embryonic stem cells. ... Science is the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). ... Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ... Al Jazeera logo Al Jazeera (الجزيرة), meaning The Island or The (Arabian) Peninsula (whence also Algiers) is an Arabic television channel based in Qatar. ... Sayyid Ali Husaini Sistani His Honourable Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Husaini Sistani (Arabic: السيد علي الحسيني السيستاني Persian: سید علی حسینی سیستانی), born approximately August 4, 1930, is a Grand Ayatollah, a Shia marja and currently an important person in relation to the occupation of Iraq. ... Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... The European Council, sometimes informally called the European Summit, is a meeting of the heads of state or government of the European Union, and the President of the European Commission (not to be confused with the Council of the European Union, or the Council of Europe). ... The financial perspective (sometimes financial framework) of the European Union is a seven-year framework for its spending. ... Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on October 15, 2005, a general election was called for 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly. ... The Iraqi National Assembly is the unicameral parliament of Iraq which meets in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. ... The current constitution of Iraq was approved by an October 15, 2005 ratification vote. ... Nature is one of the oldest and most reputable scientific journals, first published on 4 November 1869. ... The Wikipedia logo. ... // What is science? There are various understandings of the word science. According to empiricism, scientific theories are objective, empirically testable, and predictive — they predict empirical results that can be checked and possibly contradicted. ... 1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt — look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelt with æ, the ae-ligature) is the oldest English-language general encyclopedia, first published in 1768–1771 as From the late 18th century to the... == This article is about the city. ... Marwan Barghouti in Israeli custody Marwan Barghouti (born June 6, 1959) is a Palestinian leader from the West Bank and a leader of the Fatah movement that forms the backbone of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). ... Marwan Barghouti, locked up in an Israeli prison, leads the new party Al-Mustaqbal are a new Palestinian Arab political party launched in December 2005, headed by Marwan Barghouti. ... The Fatah official emblem shows two fists holding rifles and a hand grenade superimposed on a map of the land they claim as Palestine (roughly, present-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). ... ... Bradley Murdoch, police mugshot. ... Backpacking is traveling long distances with a backpack. ... Peter Falconio, 28, a British tourist from Hepworth, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire disappeared in the Australian outback whilst travelling with girlfriend, Joanne Lees during July 2001. ...

14 December 2005 (Wednesday)

• The European Parliament has adopted the directive on Telecommunications data retention. (BBC)
• U.S. Budget Approval — More than 100 religious activists were arrested on Wednesday after they staged a peaceful sit-in at the Cannon House Office Building, near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.. They were protesting the proposed cuts to health care and other social welfare programs in the Federal Budget. The protest was organized by Jim Wallis, editor of the liberal Christian journal Sojourners Washington Post SJMN
• U.S. President George W. Bush says that the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was the result of faulty intelligence, and accepts responsibility for that decision. He maintains that his decision was still justified. (BBC)
• Doctors in Pakistan marvel at the survival of Naqsha Bibi, rescued last Saturday, 63 days after she was buried in the 8 October 2005 Kashmir earthquake. (BBC)
• The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announces that Brazil will clear its IMF debt of $15.5bn two years early. (BBC)
• In India, 11 Hindus are sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in the murder of Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat violence. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • An Israeli Air-Strike in the Gaza Strip leaves four Palestinians dead. Israel claims that all four were militants and were about to launch a rocket attack into Israel. (BBC) (Haaretz)
  • Israel has approved further expansion of the Jewish Settlements within the West bank. A further 300 Jewish houses will be added to the Maale Adumim settlement. (BBC)
• The President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, describes the holocaust as a myth. He also said that Europe should house the Jews of the world, rather than the Palestinians. (BBC) (The Guardian)
• A reservoir bursts near Lesterville, Missouri at the Taum Sauk hydroelectric power plant on the Black River, causing significant damage. (DisasterNews)

December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... In the field of telecommunications, data retention generally refers to the storage of telephony and internet traffic and transaction data by governments and commercial organisations. ... The process of creating the budget for the United States Government is known as the budget process. ... The Cannon House Office Building, completed in 1908, is the oldest congressional office building as well as a significant example of the Beaux Arts style of architecture. ... United States Capitol The United States Capitol is the building which serves as home for the legislative branch of the United States government. ... Washington, D.C. is the capital city of the United States of America. ... The process of creating the budget for the United States Government is known as the budget process. ... Reverend Jim Wallis (born June 4, 1948 in Detroit, Michigan) is a Christian writer and political activist, best known as the founder and editor Sojourners magazine (and the Christian community of the same name). ... Sojourners is a Christian magazine and a religious community based in Washington, D.C.. Though it has promoted itself with the slogan Not from the Left, not from the Right, but from the Spirit, the magazines content is generally left-leaning in political outlook, and is probably the most... The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... Intelligence is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... Naqsha Bibi was a 40-year-old Kashmiri woman who was remarkably found alive in the ruins of her house near Muzaffarabad on 10 December 2005, 63 days after she was buried in the 8 October Kashmir earthquake. ... October 8 is the 281st day of the year (282nd in leap years). ... The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the Northern Pakistan earthquake or South Asia earthquake) of 2005 was a major seismological disturbance (earthquake) that occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC, 09:20:38 India Standard Time, 08:50:38 local time at epicenter) on October... See also List of Presidents of Brazil The President of the Federal Republic of Brazil is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. ... Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (born October 6, 1945) is a left-wing Brazilian politician. ... The flag of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the international organization entrusted with overseeing the global financial system by monitoring foreign exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering technical and financial assistance when asked. ... USD redirects here. ... A Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural systems of Bharat (India) and Nepal. ... Life imprisonment is a term used for a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also pronounced Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. ... 2002 Gujarat violence refers to a series of riots and other incidents of mob violence that occurred in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002. ... Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... A military strike is a limited attack on a specified target. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... One of the most contentious issues in the Arab-Israeli Conflict has been the Israeli policy of sponsoring, supporting, and/or tolerating the establishment of Jewish communities in areas that came under Israeli control as a result of the 1967 Six Day War. ... // The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי transliterated: Yehudi) is used in many ways, but generally refers to a follower of Judaism, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes. ... Maale Adummim (מעלה אדומים; unofficially also spelled Maale Adumim) is an outlying suburb east of Jerusalem in the West Bank. ... The President of Iran holds a very important office in Irans political establishment. ... Order: 6th President of Iran First Vice President: Parviz Dawoodi Term of office: August 3, 2005 – present Preceded by: Mohammad Khatami Succeeded by: Incumbent Date of birth: October 28, 1956 Place of birth: Aradan, Iran Political party: Islamic Society of Engineers Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (also written Ahmadinezhad) (Persian: محمود احمدی‌نژاد [mæɦˈmuːd... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ... Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering around 10,790,000 km² (4,170,000 sq mi) or 2. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... Lesterville, Missouri is an unincorporated community in southeast Missouri. ... Water stored in the upper reservoir is available for hydroelectric generation during times of peak demand. ... The Black River is a tributary of the White River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, and is approximately 280 miles (450 km) long. ...

13 December 2005 (Tuesday)

• Conflict in Iraq:
  • Four American Soldiers are killed following an IED attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (AP)
  • The U.S. ambassador issues a statement saying that the total number of abused prisoners found so far in jails run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry is about 121. (AP)
• The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization opened in Hong Kong. European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said that he expected little progress on resolving disagreements between ministers. Meanwhile, some protesters from South Korea unsuccessfully attempted to bypass the cordon to reach the location of the conference by swimming across Victoria Harbour. (BBC) (AP via Yahoo) (Reuters via Yahoo)
• The collapse of a residential building in New Jersey kills three people and sends plumes of smoke into the air. (BBC) (Wikinews)
• The President of the United States, George W. Bush, acknowledges the deaths of approximately 30,000 Iraqi civilians since the commencement of the Iraq War. (The Australian)
• Swiss Councillor Dick Marty, commissioned by the Council of Europe to investigate CIA black sites and prisoner abuse in Europe says that the CIA has "disregarded all standards of legality". (CNN) (Houston Chronicle)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Palestinian stone thrower is shot in the head and killed by Israeli troops raiding the West Bank city of Nablus. At least ten other Palestinians were injured by the IDF troops while two Israeli soldiers were injured by a bomb during the raid. (BBC)
• An earthquake of Richter scale magnitude 6.7 rocks South Asia. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake was centred in the Hindukush region of northeastern Afghanistan. (Times of India) (BBC) (CNN)
• Stanley Williams is executed at San Quentin State Prison by the U.S. state of California. (BBC)
• In response to Canadian Prime Minister criticizing the United States on its resistance to climate change initiatives, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, openly responds to the statements that he complains were used for political advantage during an election.(Toronto Star)
• North America: The Canadian provinces, Ontario and Quebec and the US states Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin sign an international agreement to preclude significant water diversion from the Great Lakes. (Toronto Star)
• The $100 laptop project announces that it has chosen Quanta Computers to make its laptops, which it hopes to distribute to low-income people around the world. (IDG News Service)
• US Federal Reserve rises the target for the interest rate to 4.25%. The rate lead to the highest in more than four years.

December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article deals with the post-invasion period in Iraq and its occupation. ... An improvised explosive device (IED) is a formal name for explosive devices as used in unconventional warfare by terrorists, guerrillas or commando forces in a theater of operations. ... In politics, a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of capital) is the principal city or town associated with its government. ... Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Province. ... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, also known as the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the WTO and abbreviated as MC6, is being held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong from 13th to 18th December 2005. ... WTO Logo The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a multinational rules-based and member driven organization which oversees a large number of agreements defining the rules of trade between its member states (WTO, 2004a). ... The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive of the European Union. ... The Rt Hon. ... A cordon is the descriptive term for a particular style of pruning woody plants. ... Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre New Wing Harbour view of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre New Wing The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (香港會議展覽中心; often abbreviated as HKCEC or 會展) is a convention and exhibition venue in Wan Chai North, Hong Kong Island, the business hub of Hong... Victoria Harbour Part of the harbour being engulfed by reclamation off the shore of Central. ... State nickname: The Garden State Official languages None defined Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Governor Richard Codey (D) Acting, Outgoing Jon Corzine (D) (Governor-Elect) Senators Jon Corzine (D) (Outgoing) Bob Menendez (D) (named as Corzines replacement) Frank Lautenberg (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 47th 22,608 km² 14. ... The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... The Iraq war or war in Iraq, is both an informal and formal term for military conflicts in Iraq that began with the invasion of 2003 by the multinational coalition of American, British, and other forces. ... The Council of States of Switzerland (German: Ständerat, French Conseil des Etats, Italian Consiglio degli Stati) is the upper house of the Swiss parliament. ... Dick Marty (born January 7, 1945 in Lugano) is a Swiss politician and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. ... The Palace of Europe in Strasbourg The Council of Europe is an international organisation of 46 member states in the European region. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Black site is a military term (comp. ... Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... Nāblus (sometimes Nābulus; Arabic: نابلس â–¶(?); pronounced Naablus) ( Hebrew: שכם â–¶(?); pronounced Shkhem ); 32°13′ N 35°16′ E) is a major Palestinian city in the West Bank and, with a population of over 100,000, is one of the largest Palestinian population centers in the Middle East. ... A massive earthquake of magnitude 6. ... The Richter magnitude test scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake. ... In science, magnitude refers to the numerical size of something: see orders of magnitude. ... Composite satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia. ... The Hindu Kush or Hindukush (هندوکش in Persian) is a mountain range in Afghanistan as well as in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005), was an early leader and co-founder of the Crips, a criminal organization. ... San Quentin State Prison is located on 432 acres (1. ... A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia and Palmyra Atoll (an uninhabited incorporated unorganized territory), form the United States of America. ... State nickname: The Golden State Official languages English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Senators Dianne Feinstein (D) Barbara Boxer (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 3rd 410,000 km² 4. ... The Prime Minister of Canada (French: Premier ministre du Canada), the head of the Government of Canada, is usually the leader of the political party with the most seats in the Canadian House of Commons. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years The term climate change is used to refer to changes in the Earths global climate or regional climates. ... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... David H. Wilkins David Horton Wilkins (born October 12, 1946) is a former South Carolina politician and an American diplomat. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Area 1,076,395 km² (4th) • Land 917,741 km² • Water 158,654 km² (14. ... The first European explorer of what is now Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross either in the Gaspé in 1534 or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore and sailed into the St. ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states which have membership of the federation known as the United States of America (USA or U.S.). The separate state governments and the U.S. federal government share sovereignty. ... State nickname: Land of Lincoln, The Prairie State Other U.S. States Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) Senators Richard Durbin (D) Barack Obama (D) Official language(s) English Area 149,998 km² (25th)  - Land 143,968 km²  - Water 6,030 km² (4. ... State nickname: The Hoosier State Official languages English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Governor Mitch Daniels (R) Senators Richard Lugar (R) Evan Bayh (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 38th 94,321 km² 1. ... State nickname: The Wolverine State, The Great Lakes State Official languages English de-facto Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) Senators Carl Levin (D) Debbie Stabenow (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 11th 96,889 mi² / 250,941 km² 41. ... State nickname: North Star State, The Land of 10,000 Lakes, The Gopher State Official languages None Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) Senators Mark Dayton (D) Norm Coleman (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 12th 225,365 km² 8. ... State nickname: The Empire State Official languages None. ... State nickname: The Buckeye State Official languages None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus (largest metropolitan area is Cleveland) Governor Bob Taft (R) Senators Mike DeWine (R) George V. Voinovich (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 34th 116,096 km² 8. ... State nickname: The Keystone State Official languages None Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Governor Ed Rendell (D) Senators Arlen Specter (R) Rick Santorum (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 33rd 119,283 km² 2. ... State nickname: Badger State Official languages None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Governor Jim Doyle (D) Senators Herb Kohl (D) Russ Feingold (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 23rd 169,790 km² 17 Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 18th 5,453,896 38. ... The Great Lakes from space The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes on or near the United States-Canadian border. ... The $100 laptop is a design for an inexpensive laptop computer being developed by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. ... Quanta Computers Incorporated is a large Taiwan-based manufacturer of notebook computers and of other electronic hardware. ... The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. ... An interest rate is the price of money. ...

12 December 2005 (Monday)

• At an inquest into the death of UN worker Iain Hook, Paul Wolstenholme, a United Nations worker in Jenin claims that moments after Iain Hook was shot by a mysterious sniper rifle-shot to the pelvis, an Israeli sniper rifle laser was pointed at his head. He also supplied documentary evidence which stated that the Israeli army had delayed an ambulance which was sent to take the wounded Mr Hook to hospital. (BBC)
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe grossed $65.6 million in the United States and Canada ($107 million worldwide) on its opening weekend, making it the #2 December opening weekend film of all time (behind The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and in front of the first two Lord of the Rings films). With this news, Disney has officially given the greenlight to cinema production of the second book in the series, Prince Caspian, by 2007.
• Stanley Williams is denied clemency by the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The US Supreme Court also refuses to stay his execution. Williams is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 0:01 PST on December 13. There are some concerns of potential rioting and violence tonight across the state. (SF Chronicle) (Governor's statement (PDF))
• Gebran Tueni, a prominent Lebanese anti-Syrian member of parliament and managing editor of the leading liberal An-Nahar newspaper, has been killed in a car bomb attack in Beirut. He had spent months in Paris because of security concerns, reportedly only returning to Lebanon on Sunday. Another An-Nahar journalist, the anti-Syrian writer Samir Kassir, was killed in a car bomb in June. (BBC)
• ASEAN Summit begins in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Channel News Asia)

December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the United Nations, for other uses of UN see UN (disambiguation) Official languages English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic Secretary-General Kofi Annan (since 1997) Established October 24, 1945 Member states 191 Headquarters New York City, NY, USA Official site http://www. ... The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... Jenin (Arabic: جنين â–¶(?), Hebrew: גנין), a city on the West Bank, is a major Palestinian agricultural center. ... The traditional definition of a sniper is an infantry soldier especially skilled in field craft and marksmanship, who kills selected enemies from concealment with a rifle at long distances. ... Human male pelvis, viewed from front Human female pelvis, viewed from front The pelvis is the bony structure located at the base of the spine (properly known as the caudal end). ... The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (Hebrew: צבא ההגנה לישראל Tsva Ha-Haganah Le-Yisrael ([Army] Force [for] the Defense of Israel), often abbreviated צהל Tsahal, alternative English spelling Tzahal, is the name of Israels armed forces (army, air force and navy). ... Ambulance An ambulance is a vehicle designated for the transport of sick or injured people. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Dust jacket of the 1968 UK edition The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy story by J. R. R. Tolkien, a sequel to his earlier work, The Hobbit. ... Prince Caspian is a novel for children by C. S. Lewis, first published in 1951. ... 2007 (MMVII) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005), was an early leader and co-founder of the Crips, a criminal organization. ... A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ... Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis with President George W. Bush (2003) Seal of the Governor of California (without the Roman numerals designating the governors sequence) See also: List of pre-statehood governors of California, List of Governors of California The Governor of California is the highest executive authority... Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American actor, Republican politician, and bodybuilder, currently serving as the 38th Governor of California. ... Seal of the Supreme Court Scotus redirects here. ... PST is UTC-8 The Pacific Standard Time Zone (PST) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) resulting in UTC-8. ... December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Gebran Ghassan Tueni (Arabic: جبران تويني) (September 15, 1957 – December 12, 2005) was a Lebanese politician and the former editor and publisher of the mass circulation An-Nahar daily newspaper in Beirut, Lebanon. ... Travel guide to Syria from Wikitravel Look up Syria in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Inter. ... An-Nahar is a leading daily newspaper in Lebanon. ... Terrorism is the unconventional use of violence for political gain. ... Central Beirut (2004) Beirut (Arabic: , transliterated BayrÅ«t - the French name, Beyrouth, was also commonly used in English in the past) is the capital, largest city and chief seaport of Lebanon. ... Samir Kassir (سمير قصير in Arabic) (1960 – June 2, 2005), was a university professor, journalist and historian of Palestinian origin who held Lebanese and French nationality. ... The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holds annual meetings in relation to economic, and cultural development of Southeast Asian countries. ... Mayor Datuk Ruslin Hasan District Kuala Lumpur District Area  - Total (City) 243. ...

11 December 2005 (Sunday)

• According to some reports, Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, put the Israeli Defense Force on high alert for possible airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Sharon's office, however, denied this or that they had any plans to do so. (Times Online) (Y-Net) (Y-Net)
• Chief minister of the Indian state of Karnataka, Dharam Singh announced that the state government had accepted Jnanpith awardee U R Ananthamurthy's suggestion to rename Bangalore to its colloquial name, Bengaluru. The new name will be effective from November 1, 2006. (The Times of India)
• Brian Chase of Nashville, Tennessee admits putting false information about John Seigenthaler Sr. into a Wikipedia article, leading to widespread debate. (NYT via Seattle Times) (CNN) (BBC)
• A suicide bombing in Kandahar, Afghanistan, injures 3 people while killing the bomber. (Reuters) (Guardian)
• 2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire: Explosions are reported at the Buncefield oil depot north of London ten miles from the Luton airport. (BBC) (Sky News)
• Racially motivated violence erupts in the suburbs of Sydney, leading authorities to condemn the incidents as "shameful". (ABC)
• Korean Air, both national and international has been shut down due to the strike going on in Korea. The national airplane circulation has been stopped already and the Korean Airline planes that were in a foreign country are returning to Korea.
• Vengeance of Rain is crowned Hong Kong's first World Racing Championship winner after winning the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse [1]

December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... â–¶(?) Hebrew: אריאל שרון (born February 27, 1928) is the eleventh and current Prime Minister of Israel, serving from March 2001. ... ŃńŕĹĻļùéÉàí Ó Èä The Prime Minister of Israel (Hebrew: ראש הממשלה, Rosh Hamemshala, lit. ... The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (Hebrew: צבא ההגנה לישראל Tsva Ha-Haganah Le-Yisrael ([Army] Force [for] the Defense of Israel), often abbreviated צהל Tsahal, alternative English spelling Tzahal, is the name of Israels armed forces (army, air force and navy). ... An airstrike is a military strike by air forces on an enemy ground position, which depending on the selected tactics may or may not be followed up by artillery, armor, and/or infantry units. ... A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors generating nuclear power. ... A Chief Minister is the elected Head of Government of a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British overseas territory that has attained self-government. ... Karnataka (ಕನಾ೯ಟಕ in Kannada) is one of the four southern states of India. ... N. Dharam Singh (born on December 25, 1936), is the 17th Chief Minister of Karnataka state in India. ... Jnanpith Award (pronounced Gyanpeeth Award) is the highest literary honour presented by the Government of India. ... U. R. Ananthamurthy was a great thinker and writer of the Kannada language. ... Bangalore (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು) (pronounced // in Kannada, Telugu and // in English) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. ... A colloquialism is an informal expression, that is, an expression not used in formal speech or writing. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... The Nashville skyline Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee. ... Press photo of Seigenthaler John Lawrence Seigenthaler (pronounced , born July 27, 1927) is an American journalist, writer, and political figure. ... The Wikipedia logo. ... A suicide bombing is an attack using a bomb in which the individual(s) carrying the explosive materials composing the bomb intend(s) and expect(s) to die upon detonation (see suicide). ... Kandahār (or Qandahār) is a city in southern Afghanistan, the capital of Kandahar province. ... The 2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire began after a series of explosions early on the morning of 11 December 2005. ... The Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal (known locally as the Buncefield oil depot) is an oil depot located near Hemel Hempstead (HP2 7HZ) to the north of London in the United Kingdom. ... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,500,000 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. ... London Luton Airport (IATA Airport Code LTN, ICAO Airport Code EGGW, previously called Luton International Airport) is an airport about 30 miles to the north-west of London in the town of Luton, Beds. ... The 2005 Sydney race riots began with an incident of mob confrontation which took place at Cronulla Beach, a southern coastal suburb of Sydney, Australias largest city. ... This is a complete listing of the suburbs and localities in the greater Sydney area in alphabetical order. ... Sydney is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian state of New South Wales, as well as Australias largest and oldest city (founded in 1788). ... Korean Air (KSE: 003490) is the largest airline based in Korea. ... National is the Japanese brand under which Matsushita products are sold. ... link titleThe word international can mean: Between nations or encompassing several nations. ... The word circulation can mean the following: The transport of blood through the circulatory system. ... Sha Tin Horse Racing Track is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. ...

10 December 2005 (Saturday)

• The International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. (BBC)
• The other 2005 Nobel Prizes are handed out in Stockholm to Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren (Physiology or Medicine), Roy J. Glauber and John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch (Physics), Robert H. Grubbs, Richard R. Schrock and Yves Chauvin (Chemistry), Robert J. Aumann and Thomas C. Schelling (Economics), and Harold Pinter (Literature). (CNN)
• At least 103 people are killed and 7 injured when Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes en route to Port Harcourt from the Nigerian capital Abuja. (CNN)
• American comedian and actor Richard Pryor dies of cardiac arrest at the age of 65 at 7:58 AM (Pacific Time).

December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The IAEA flag The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. ... Mohamed ElBaradei Mohamed ElBaradei (Arabic: محمد البرادعي) (born June 17, 1942, Egypt) is the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an inter-governmental organization under the auspices of the United Nations. ... The Nobel Peace Prize Medal featuring a portrait of Alfred Nobel The Nobel Peace Prize is one of five Nobel Prizes bequested by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ... 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. ... Sir Edward Appletons medal Photographs of Nobel Prize Medals. ... The Old town in Stockholm from the air â–¶(?) is the capital of Sweden, located on the east coast at the entrance of lake Mälaren. ... Barry J. Marshall, M.D. is an Australian doctor and Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the University of Western Australia. ... J. Robin Warren (born June 11, 1937 in Adelaide) is an Australian pathologist and researcher who is credited with the 1979 discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... Roy Jay Glauber (born 1 September 1925) is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University and Adjunct Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. ... John L. Hall (born 1934) is a JILA (formerly known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics) fellow and Physics lecturer at the University of Colorado at Boulder Physics department. ... Theodor Wolfgang Hänsch (b. ... Hannes Alfvén, 1970 winner for work on astrophysical plasmas List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... Robert H. Grubbs (b. ... Richard Royce Schrock (born January 4, 1945) was one of the recipients of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contribution to the metathesis method in organic chemistry. ... Yves Chauvin (born October 10, 1930) is a French chemist and Nobel Prize winner. ... This is a list of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to the present day. ... Israel Robert John Aumann (born June 8, 1930, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) is an Israeli mathematician and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. ... Thomas Schelling Thomas Crombie Schelling (born 14 April 1921) is an American economist and professor of foreign affairs, national security, nuclear strategy, and arms control at the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Policy. ... The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (in Swedish Sveriges Riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is a prize awarded each year for outstanding intellectual contributions in the field of economics. ... Harold Pinter Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (born October 10, 1930) is a British playwright and theatre director. ... The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of Alfred Nobel, produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual... Wikinews has news related to this article: Airplane crashes in Nigeria Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-12-11, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Location of Port Harcourt in Nigeria Port Harcourt is a city located in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. ... Location of Abuja in Nigeria Abuja, estimated population 1,078,700, is the capital city of Nigeria in western Africa. ... A comedian (also comedienne, female) is a person who attempts to make people laugh through a variety of methods, normally through joke telling, or a stream of funny banter. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. ... PST is UTC-8 The Pacific Standard Time Zone (PST) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) resulting in UTC-8. ...

9 December 2005 (Friday)

• Viacom's Paramount Pictures agrees to buy the Dreamworks SKG company founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen for $1.6 billion. (NY Times)
• The Groups for the 2006 FIFA World Cup to be held in Germany are finalized. (BBC) Both Group C and Group E have been dubbed "groups of death". (SI), (Globe&Mail), (ChicagoTribune)
• The Bush administration summons Canadian ambassador Frank McKenna, and is expected to formally lodge a complaint after Prime Minister Paul Martin's criticism on December 7 of the United States at the Montreal conference on climate change. U.S.-Canada relations are already a major issue in the upcoming Canadian federal election. (CBC)
• Reports emerge of an alleged massacre of protesting farmers and fisherman in Dongzhou, Guangdong, China by police forces. The protesters are believed to be upset with government plans to build a new power plant in the area and infill part of the bay. The death toll, pegged at 20, is the worst act of violence by Chinese security forces since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. The town is reportedly still sealed off by government forces. (IHT) (BBC)

December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Viacom is an international media conglomerate owned by National Amusements. ... The Paramount Pictures logo used since 2003. ... The DreamWorks Boy on the Moon Logo DreamWorks SKG (Spielberg, Katzenberg, Geffen) is a Big Ten studio in the United States of America which develops, produces, and distributes films, music, and television programming. ... Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg KBE (born December 18, 1946) is an Oscar winning Jewish American film director and producer. ... Jeffrey Katzenberg (born December 21, 1950 in New York City) is a film producer and co-founder of DreamWorks SKG. He is most famous for producing the movie Shrek (2001). ... David Geffen (born February 21, 1943 in New York City, New York) is a Jewish-American record executive, film and theatrical producer, and philanthropist. ... The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, universally known by its acronym FIFA, is the international governing body of football (soccer). ... The 2006 Football World Cup (officially titled 2006 FIFA World Cup Germanyâ„¢) finals are scheduled to take place in Germany between 9 June and 9 July 2006. ... Group of death is an informal term used in football (soccer) to describe the situation which occurs during the group stage of a tournament (such as the first round of the World Cup), where due to the small difference in quality between the teams, any could possibly qualify and any... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... His Excellency The Honourable Francis Joseph (Frank) McKenna, P.C., ONB (born January 19, 1948, in Apohaqui, New Brunswick, Canada) is a Canadian politician and diplomat, and current Canadian Ambassador to the United States. ... The Prime Minister of Canada (French: Premier ministre du Canada), the head of the Government of Canada, is usually the leader of the political party with the most seats in the Canadian House of Commons. ... The Right Honourable Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC, MP, BA, LLB (born August 28, 1938 in Windsor, Ontario) is the Prime Minister of Canada. ... To suggest a relevant news story for the main page, refer to the criteria then add your suggestion at the candidates page. ... The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 11 or COP/MOP 1, is a global event taking place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from November 28 to December 9, 2005. ... Canada-United States relations were famously described by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as being like sleeping with an elephant. ... A Canadian federal election (more formally, the 39th general election) will occur on January 23, 2006. ... The word massacre has a number of meanings, but most commonly refers to individual events of deliberate and direct mass killing, especially of noncombatant civilians or other innocents, that would often qualify as war crimes or atrocities. ... The Dongzhou protests that took place in December 2005 have been reported in the Western media to have resulted in a massacre of villagers by Chinese security forces. ... Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1; Vietnamese: Quảng Đông), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices. ... Violence refers to acts —typically connotative with aggressive and criminal behaviour —which intend to cause or is causing of injury to persons, animals, or (in limited cases) property. ... The Unknown Rebel — This famous photo, taken by Associated Press photographer Jeff Widener, depicts a lone protester who single-handedly halted the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour. ...

8 December 2005 (Thursday)

• A six-year-old boy is killed after Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 skids off a runway at Chicago's Midway Airport. (CNN)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • Hamas leader Khaled Mashal declares at a rally in Damascus, Syria that its informal ceasefire with Israel, which expires at the end of the year, will not be renewed. (BBC)
  • Two Palestinians, believed to be militants, are killed following an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
  • An Israeli soldier dies after being stabbed by a Palestinian at a Checkpoint in the West Bank. (BBC)
• President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remarks that Israel should be moved to Europe and the "issue will be resolved." His remarks were widely condemned as Holocaust denial by Israeli, European and American politicians, The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, issued a statement indicating that he "was shocked", while Saudi, Turkish and Iranian officials criticized his speech because it undermined a Mecca summit dedicated to showing Islam's moderate face.(DailyStar)(UN) (AP) (KUNA)(BBC) (Reuters)
• Conflict in Iraq: At least 32 people have died following an attack on a bus in Baghdad. (BBC) (Fox News)
• Croatian general Ante Gotovina, rated the third-most-wanted war criminal from the Yugoslav wars by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, is arrested by Spanish police in Tenerife and extradited to face the tribunal in The Hague. (BBC)
• Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher has left hospital after being given a clean bill of health by doctors after feeling faint yesterday. (BBC)
• The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopt a Red Crystal design, allowing Israel to join as a fully-participating member. (BBC)
• UK Law Lords rule in A v. Secretary of State for the Home Department that evidence which may have been obtained by torture cannot be used against suspects in terrorism cases. (BBC)
• Lawyers for convicted murderer and Crips co-founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams meet with Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger in a final plea for clemency. (MTV)
• In Australia, the voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation has passed the Senate. (ABC)

December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 is a flight from Baltimore, Maryland to Chicago, Illinois. ... ... Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport (IATA: MDW, ICAO: KMDW), also known simply as Midway Airport. ... Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... The Hamas emblem shows two crossed swords, the Dome of the Rock, and a map of the land they claim as Palestine (roughly, present-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). ... Khaled Mashal, also known as Khaled Mashaal (b. ... Damascus by night, pictured from Jabal Qasioun; the green spots are minarets Damascus (Arabic officially دمشق Dimashq, colloquially ash-Sham الشام) is the capital city of Syria. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... The President of Iran holds a very important office in Irans political establishment. ... Order: 6th President of Iran First Vice President: Parviz Dawoodi Term of office: August 3, 2005 – present Preceded by: Mohammad Khatami Succeeded by: Incumbent Date of birth: October 28, 1956 Place of birth: Aradan, Iran Political party: Islamic Society of Engineers Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (also written Ahmadinezhad) (Persian: محمود احمدی‌نژاد [mæɦˈmuːd... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering around 10,790,000 km² (4,170,000 sq mi) or 2. ... Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering around 10,790,000 km² (4,170,000 sq mi) or 2. ... The United Nations Secretary-General is the head of the Secretariat, one of the principal divisions of the United Nations. ... Kofi Atta Annan (born April 8, 1938) is a Ghanaian diplomat and the seventh and current Secretary-General of the United Nations. ... This article is about the holy city in Saudi Arabia. ... Islām is described as a dÄ«n, meaning way of life and/or guidance. Six articles of belief There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims: 1. ... This article deals with the post-invasion period in Iraq and its occupation. ... Ante Gotovina Ante Gotovina (born October 12, 1955) is a former Major-General of the Croatian Army who served in the 1991-1995 war in Croatia. ... 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. ... It has been suggested that Timeline of Yugoslavia be merged into this article or section. ... The International Criminal Tribunal for Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, acronym ICTY, is a body of the United Nations (UN) established... Flag of Tenerife Tenerife (English also Teneriffe), a Spanish island, is the largest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. ... Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, or officially s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ... 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 Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British politician. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Red_Crystal_flag. ... It has been suggested that Protocol III be merged into this article or section. ... The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, has a judicial function as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. ... The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg was an infamous torture device. ... Terrorism is the unconventional use of violence for political gain. ... The blue bandannas worn by most crip gangs. ... Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005), was an early leader and co-founder of the Crips, a criminal organization. ... Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis with President George W. Bush (2003) Seal of the Governor of California (without the Roman numerals designating the governors sequence) See also: List of pre-statehood governors of California, List of Governors of California The Governor of California is the highest executive authority... Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American actor, Republican politician, and bodybuilder, currently serving as the 38th Governor of California. ... A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ...

7 December 2005 (Wednesday)

• Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin addresses the Montreal conference on climate change, and is critical of the United States's stance on the issue. Martin's allegedly "undiplomatic" comments—"there is such a thing as a global conscience, and now is the time to listen to it"—reportedly anger Vice President Dick Cheney. (CBC)
• The third President of Singapore, Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, passes away in Canada at the age of 82. (CNA)
• Two people are wounded in Malawi, which is facing serious food shortages, following clashes between police and people trying to buy cornmeal. (BBC)
• Microsoft loses a South Korean antitrust case, and is fined ₩n32 billion (USD 32m). (Reuters) (BBC)
• A U.S. Federal Air Marshal fatally shoots Rigoberto Alpizar on American Airlines Flight 924 in a jetway at Miami International Airport in Florida. Alpizar, a U.S. citizen who had disembarked from an American Airlines flight from Medellín, Colombia, claimed to have a bomb. No explosive was found. (BBC) (CNN)
• Nobel Prize in Literature winner Harold Pinter accuses Britain and the United States of engaging in state terrorism in Iraq and demands the prosecution of George W. Bush and Tony Blair. (Reuters) (BBC)
• An Italian court rules that calling someone a "dirty negro" while commiting a crime is not necessarily a hate crime. (Reuters)

December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Prime Minister of Canada (French: Premier ministre du Canada), the head of the Government of Canada, is usually the leader of the political party with the most seats in the Canadian House of Commons. ... The Right Honourable Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC, MP, BA, LLB (born August 28, 1938 in Windsor, Ontario) is the Prime Minister of Canada. ... UNFCCC logo. ... The United Nations, with its headquarters in New York City, is the largest international diplomatic organization. ... Richard B. Cheney, 46th and current Vice President of the United States The Vice President of the United States is the second-highest executive official of the United States government, the person who, in the words of Adlai Stevenson, is a heartbeat from the presidency. ... Richard Bruce Cheney (born January 30, 1941), widely known as Dick Cheney, is an American politician and businessman affiliated with the U.S. Republican Party. ... Flag of the President of Singapore Presidential Crest The President of Singapore is the head of state. ... Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, also known as C. V. Devan Nair, (August 5, 1923–December 7, 2005) was the third President of Singapore and was elected by Parliament on October 23, 1981. ... The 2005 Malawi food crisis is a severe food security crisis affecting more than five million people in Malawi, especially in the south, caused by the failure to harvest sufficient staple maize due to a drought. ... Cornmeal is flour ground from dried maize (corn) with usage ranging from bread to pesticides. ... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEx: 4338) is the worlds largest software company, with 2005 global annual sales of 40 billion US dollars and more than 55,000 employees in 85 countries and regions. ... National motto: 널리 인간 세계를 이롭게 하라 Translation: Broadly bring benefit to humanity Official language Korean Capital Seoul Largest city Seoul President Roh Moo-hyun Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 108th 99,274 km² 0. ... It has been suggested that competition law be merged into this article or section. ... The won is the currency of South Korea, introduced on June 9, 1962, and the sole legal tender since March 22, 1975. ... USD redirects here. ... ... The Federal Air Marshal Service is a U.S. federal agency. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Passengers of Flight 924 exiting the plane on December 7, 2005 while it is on the ground at Miami International Airport. ... A Jetway is a moveable bridge, normally enclosed, which extends from an airport terminal allowing passengers to board an airplane without having to go outside. ... Miami International Airport (IATA: MIA, ICAO: KMIA), is located in unincorporated Miami, Florida between the suburbs of Hialeah, Doral, Fontainbleau, and Miami Springs. ... State nickname: Sunshine State Official languages English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville (largest metropolitan area is Miami) Governor Jeb Bush (R) Senators Bill Nelson (D) Mel Martinez (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 22nd 170,451 km² 17. ... AA 777-200ER landing at London Heathrow Airport American Airlines and American Eagle aircraft at San Juan Note: For the arenas named after this company, see American Airlines Center (Dallas, Texas), or American Airlines Arena (Miami, Florida). ... Country Colombia Department Antioquia Temperature 22. ... The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of Alfred Nobel, produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual... Harold Pinter Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (born October 10, 1930) is a British playwright and theatre director. ... State terrorism is a controversial concept that is without a clear definition (see below). ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... 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. ... A Jewish cemetery in France after being defaced by Neo-Nazis. ...

6 December 2005 (Tuesday)

• The BBC World Service reports that the U.S. are moving into four new bases in Romania, one of the bases is where the CIA has been accused of carrying out extraordinary rendition. (BBC)
• An Iranian C-130 Hercules airplane crashes into a ten-story building in a civilian area of the Iranian capital Tehran, killing all 94 people aboard and 34 residents of the building - a total of 128+ people. (BBC) (BBC)
• David Cameron wins the leadership election for the United Kingdom Conservative Party. (BBC)
• The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) photographs what appears to be a new species in Borneo. The lemur-like carnivorous mammal is apparently a member of the viverrid family, related to the mongoose and civet. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: Two suicide bombers kill 27 Iraqi Police at a police academy in Baghdad. (BBC)
• The Red Cross mulls adding a new Red Crystal symbol to ensure continuing acceptance of its work. (BBC)
• Deposed Iraq president Saddam Hussein has refused to attend his trial for crimes against humanity, throwing the sometimes chaotic Iraqi proceedings into further confusion. (ABC)
• At least 123 miners are missing following an explosion at a coal mine in China's Hebei province, the official Xinhua news agency says. (ABC)
• South Africa's axed deputy president Jacob Zuma, who lost his job in post-apartheid South Africa's most sensational corruption scandal, has been charged with rape. (ABC)

December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... World Service logo The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 43 languages to around 150 million people throughout the world. ... The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... N379P, one of the planes used by the CIA Extraordinary rendition is a procedure practiced by the government of the United States (and possibly aided by other western countries) whereby criminal suspects are sent to countries in which torture is routinely used in interrogation. ... A United States Air Force C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop aircraft that serves as the main tactical airlifter for military forces worldwide. ... The ten-floor apartment building was engulfed in flames after the crash. ... Map of Iran and surrounding lands, showing location of Tehran Tehran is Irans commercial, economic, and political capital. ... David Cameron MP The Right Honourable David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician, Leader of the Conservative Party, and Leader of Her Majestys Loyal Opposition in the House of Commons. ... The 2005 Conservative leadership election was announced by party leader Michael Howard on May 6, 2005, when he announced that he would be stepping down as leader in the near future. ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the right-of-centre in the United Kingdom. ... WWF, the global conservation organization, was originally known as World Wildlife Fund. ... The cat-fox is a carnivore species recently discovered in Indonesia, on the island of Borneo. ... Borneo and Sulawesi Borneo (politically divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei) is the third largest island in the world. ... Superfamilies and Families Cheirogaleoidea Cheirogaleidae Lemuroidea Lemuridae Lepilemuridae Indridae Lemurs are part of a class of primates known as prosimians, and make up the infraorder Lemuriformes. ... Orders Subclass Multituberculata (extinct) Plagiaulacida Cimolodonta Subclass Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Subclass Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Eutheria (includes extinct ancestors)/Placentalia (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata (extinct) Perissodactyla Pholidota Plesiadapiformes... Subfamilies Cryptoproctinae Euplerinae Hemigalinae Paradoxurinae Viverrinae The 35 species of civet, genet and linsang make up the family Viverridae. ... Subfamiles Herpestinae Galidiinae A mongoose is any member of the Herpestidae family of small, cat-like carnivores. ... Subfamilies Cryptoproctinae Euplerinae Hemigalinae Paradoxurinae Viverrinae The 35 species of civet, genet and linsang make up the family Viverridae. ... This article deals with the post-invasion period in Iraq and its occupation. ... A suicide bombing is a bomb attack on people or property, committed by a person who knows the explosion will cause his or her own death (see suicide, suicide weapons). ... The Iraqi Police are the organic civil police force of the Republic of Iraq. ... Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Province. ... The Anarchist Black Cross was originally called the Anarchist Red Cross. The band Redd Kross was originally called Red Cross. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Red_Crystal_flag. ... Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician. ... The President of Iraq is Iraqs head of state and chief of government. ... Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic: صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي), born April 28, 1937 , was President of Iraq from 1979 until his removal and capture after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A province, in the context of China, is a translation of sheng (省 shÄ›ng), which is an administrative division of China. ... The Deputy President of South Africa is appointed by the President of South Africa. ... Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a former Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, and current Deputy President of the African National Congress. ...

5 December 2005 (Monday)

• The 23rd Southeast Asian Games officially closes with Philippines gaining the top medal ranking for the first time. (Manila Bulletin)
• An earthquake strikes the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). Many people are feared dead after an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck Lake Tanganyika near the town of Kalemie. (TimesOnLine) (News24) (The Independent) (BBC)
• Civil Partnership Act 2004: The United Kingdom begins registration of civil unions for same-sex couples. (BBC)
• 2005 Kashmir earthquake: Pakistan renews SOS Children's Villages role as custodian of all orphans and unaccompanied children following the earthquake. (SOS)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A suicide bomb attack kills at least five people in Netanya, north-western Israel. The attack follows confirmation from Shaul Mofaz that Israel will resume its policy of "targeted killings". (Ynetnews) (BBC)
• Venezuelan parliamentary elections apparently result in Hugo Chávez's party and allies winning all 167 seats, as opposition parties boycott the election claiming election fraud. (BBC)

December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) is being held in the Philippines from November 27 to December 5, 2005, although events in Mens Football has already started on 20 November. ... Location of earthquake Workers in Nairobi were quick to rush to safety when the quake hit. ... The Richter magnitude test scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake. ... Fishermen on Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika is a large lake in central Africa (3° 20 to 8° 48 South and from 29° 5 to 31° 15 East). ... Kalemie, fomerly Alberville, is a town on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of Congo. ... The Civil Partnership Act 2004 grants legal status to gay and lesbian couples in the United Kingdom. ... There are currently no plans to introduce same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom. ... The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the Northern Pakistan earthquake or South Asia earthquake) of 2005 was a major seismological disturbance (earthquake) that occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC, 09:20:38 India Standard Time, 08:50:38 local time at epicenter) on October... SOS Childrens Villages is a large international charitable group dedicated to the care of orphaned and abandoned children. ... Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... A suicide bombing is an attack using a bomb in which the individual(s) carrying the explosive materials composing the bomb intend(s) and expect(s) to die upon detonation (see suicide). ... Netanya (Hebrew: נְתַנְיָה, Standard Hebrew Nətanya) is a city in the Center District of Israel in Israel. ... Israeli Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz Shaul Mofaz (b. ... Targeted killing is a controversial strategy whereby anticipated acts of terrorism are prevented by killing a person deemed to be related to those acts. ... Venezuela held a parliamentary election on 4 December 2005. ... Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (born July 28, 1954) is the 53rd and current President of Venezuela. ... Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...

4 December 2005 (Sunday)

• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel launches a series of air strikes as reprisals after the Palestinians fired Qassam rockets, hitting what what local officials called an Islamic Jihad charity in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
• Hong Kong people marched today to oppose the political reform set out by Chief Executive Donald Tsang in favour of a timetable on the full implementation of universal suffrage in the territory. Organisers claimed 250,000 attended the march, while police put the figure at 63,000. (AP via Yahoo!News) (NYTimes) (Xinhua)
• Exit polls indicate that Kazakhstan's incumbent leader Nursultan Nazarbayev wins the presidential election by a landslide. (Forbes) (Financial Times) (Guardian) (Xinhua)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • Former chief of the RUC police force will head a British investigation into possible infiltration of Iraq's police force by insurgents. (BBC)
  • Former prime minister Iyad Allawi says he survived an assassination attempt at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. Police say his group fled from the Shi'ite Muslim shrine under a hail of debris by a mob. (ReutersUK) (NYTimes)
• Former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser calls for a worldwide ban on capital punishment. (The Australian)
• The people of Venezuela vote in Parliamentary Elections. (BBC)
• A London tabloid claims that the CIA's use of Scotland's airports was part of an alleged CIA operation to catch and transfer terrorist suspects to secret prison camps in Europe. The three airports allegedly involved were Glasgow International, Glasgow Prestwick, and Edinburgh Airport. (BBC News) (Hindustan Times) (Photo of aircraft (Airliners.net))

December 4 is the 338th day (339th on leap years) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... A military strike is a limited attack on a specified target. ... The Qassam rocket is a simple steel rocket filled with explosives, developed by the Palestinian organization Hamas. ... Islamic Jihad (Arabic: Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami) is a militant Islamist group based in the Syrian capital, Damascus. ... Protesters passing Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay. ... The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Traditional Chinese: 香港特別行政區行政長官; Simplified Chinese: 香港特别行政区行政长官; Jyutping: hoeng1 gong2 dak6 bit6 hang4 zing3 keoi1 hang4 zing3 zoeng2 gun1; pinyin: XiÄ... Donald Tsang Yam Kuen GBM JP OBE KBE (Chinese: 曾蔭權, born 1944) is currently the Chief Executive of Hong Kong and former career civil servant. ... Universal suffrage (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of suffrage, or the right to vote, to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief or social status. ... An exit poll is an opinion poll taken after voters have exited the polling stations and is designed to give an early indication as to how an election has turned out as the actual result may take hours to count (such as in UK General Elections) and are usually done... Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев) (born July 6, 1940 in Chemolgan, Kazakhstan) is the current leader of Kazakhstan. ... The Kazakhstan presidential election, 2005 was held on December 4, 2005. ... This article deals with the post-invasion period in Iraq and its occupation. ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ... Iyad Allawi Dr Iyad Allawi (اياد علاوي) (born 1945) is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraqs 2005 legislative elections. ... Jack Ruby murdered Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in a very public manner In its most common use, assassination has come to mean the killing of an important person. ... Exterior view of Imam Ali Mosque The Imam Ali Mosque, also known as Meshed Ali or the Tomb of Ali, is a mosque located in Najaf, Iraq. ... Najaf (Arabic: ) is a city in Iraq, about 160 km south of Baghdad, located at 31. ... 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 Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also pronounced Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. ... A crowd is a group of people, also known (especially in the United States) as a mob. ... The current (25th) Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard (sitting, fifth from left), with his Cabinet, 1999 The office of Prime Minister is in practice the most powerful political office in the Commonwealth of Australia. ... John Malcolm Fraser (born 21 May 1930), Australian politician and 22nd Prime Minister of Australia, came to power in the circumstances of the dismissal of the Whitlam government. ... Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted felon as a punishment for a crime (often called a capital offence or a capital crime). ... Venezuela held a parliamentary election on 4 December 2005. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Travel guide to Scotland from Wikitravel Transport in Scotland Timeline of Scottish history Caledonia List of not fully sovereign nations Subdivisions of Scotland National parks (Scotland) Traditional music of Scotland Flower of Scotland Wars of Scottish Independence National Trust for Scotland Historic houses in Scotland Castles in Scotland Museums in... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering around 10,790,000 km² (4,170,000 sq mi) or 2. ... Glasgow International Airport (IATA: GLA, ICAO: EGPF) (sometimes referred to as Glasgow Abbotsinch International Airport), located 13 km (8 miles) west of Glasgow, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew, is the largest international airport in Scotland, and number five in the UK. The airport is owned by BAA plc... Glasgow Prestwick International Airport (IATA: PIK, ICAO: EGPK) is a facility situated north of the town of Prestwick in Ayrshire, Scotland. ... Edinburgh Airport (IATA: EDI, ICAO: EGPH), (also called Turnhouse) located in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the sixth largest international airport in the UK. It is located 13 km (8 miles) West of the city centre. ...

3 December 2005 (Saturday)

• Talks on the new EU budget may not be completed under the United Kingdom's presidency, the UK's minister for Europe warns. (BBC)
• ROC local elections, 2005: Republic of China (Taiwan) opposition party Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) makes major gains in municipal elections, taking 14 of 23 mayor or county magistrate seats. Ruling Democratic Progressive Party takes six seats. People First Party and New Party each takes one seat, and an independent wins one seat. DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang resigns to take responsibility for his party's defeat. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)
• Pakistan's information minister claims Pakistani forces have killed al-Qaeda operational commander Abu Hamza Rabia in fighting along the Afghanistan border. (BBC)
• An attack about 60 miles from Baghdad, involving a roadside bomb, kills 19 Iraqi soldiers. (Yahoo)
• Some 40,000 protest inaction on global warming in Montreal. The demonstration, held as part of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, is one of the largest environmental protests ever and is accompanied by marches worldwide, including one in hurricane-devastated New Orleans. (CTV) (Independent)

December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Graphic depiction of the city mayor / county magistrate election results (blue=KMT; green=DPP; orange=PFP; yellow=CNP; gray=independent; white=no election) Comparison of Pan-Blue vs. ... National motto: None Official language Mandarin Chinese Capital and largest city Taipei President Chen Shui-bian Premier Frank Hsieh Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 138th 35,980 km² 2. ... The Chinese Nationalist Party (Traditional: 中國國民黨; Simplified: 中国国民党; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo Kuo-min-tang; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhongguo Guomindang), commonly known as the Kuomintang (KMT), is a conservative political party currently active in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. ... The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (Chinese: 民主進步黨; abbrev. ... The People First Party (親民黨, pinyin: Qīnmíndǎng) is a conservative political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan. ... The New Party (新黨, xÄ«ndăng), formerly the Chinese New Party (CNP; 中華新黨, zhōnghúa xÄ«ndăng), is a political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan. ... Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌, pinyin: Sū Zhēngchāng) (born July 28, 1947) is the Secretary-General to the President of the Republic of China and one of the founding members of the Democratic Progressive Party. ... Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Province. ... An improvised explosive device (IED) is a formal name for explosive devices as used in unconventional warfare by terrorists, guerrillas or commando forces in a theater of operations. ... Global mean surface temperatures 1856 to 2004 Mean temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980 Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the Earths atmosphere and oceans. ... City motto: Concordia Salus (Latin: Well-being through harmony) Province Quebec Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area  - % water 500. ... The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 11 or COP/MOP 1, is a global event taking place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from November 28 to December 9, 2005. ... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ...

2 December 2005 (Friday)

• About 4,000 military history enthusiasts from 23 countries gathered at Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic to re-enact the Battle of Austerlitz on the 200th anniversary of the epic battle between the First French Empire, the Austrian Empire and Imperial Russia. (BBC) (BBC) (AP via CBS) (AP via ABC) (Austerlitz2005.com)
• Proposed internet domain .xxx for pornography has been dropped shortly before the domain was set to receive approval. (techtree)
• Conflict in Iraq: 10 U.S. Marines are killed following an insurgent roadside bomb attack in Falluja. (BBC)
• Scientists in Gabon and Congo discover that three species of fruit bat serve as animal reservoirs for the Ebola virus. The virus probably first spread from animal to human in 1976 by local hunters eating the bats. (Nature) (LA Times)
• Hurricane Epsilon strengthens from a tropical storm to become the record breaking fourteenth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. (CNN) (Reuters via Yahoo)
• Kenneth Boyd becomes the 1000th person to be executed in the United States since the re-introduction of capital punishment in 1976. (BBC)
• Australian Van Tuong Nguyen is executed by hanging in Singapore for drug trafficking. (AP via Yahoo)
• An independent commission to investigate the Malaysian prisoner abuse scandal is established by Prime Minister of Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. (The Sun Malaysia)
• The "Thermopolis" specimen, recently donated to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, Wyoming and described in the Science article "A well-preserved Archaeopteryx specimen with theropod features", shows that the Archaeopteryx lacked a reversed toe—a universal feature of birds—limiting its ability to perch in trees and implying a terrestrial lifestyle. This has been interpreted as evidence of theropod ancestry. The specimen also has a hyperextendible second toe. "Until now, the feature was thought to belong only to the species' close relatives, the deinonychosaurs."

December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Slavkov u Brna (-Czech; German: Austerlitz) is a town in the Czech Republic, in the South Moravian Region. ... Map of the battle from the 4th edition of Meyers Konversationslexikon. ... This article might not be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire until 1867 and of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary until 1918. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start of... .xxx is an unofficial top level domain intended for sexually explicit sites on the Internet. ... Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφία pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) (also informally referred to as porn, porno, and more recently, pr0n) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. ... This article deals with the post-invasion period in Iraq and its occupation. ... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the U.S. military. ... An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority, by any irregular armed force that rises up against an enforced or established authority, government, or administration. ... An improvised explosive device (IED) is a formal name for explosive devices as used in unconventional warfare by terrorists, guerrillas or commando forces in a theater of operations. ... Fallujah (Arabic: فلوجة; sometimes transliterated as Falluja and less commonly Fallouja, Falloujah, Faloojah, Faloojeh) is a city of about 350,000 inhabitants in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly 69km (43 miles) west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. ... Large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus) Megabats constitute the suborder Megachiroptera within the order Chiroptera (bats). ... Species Ivory Coast ebolavirus Reston ebolavirus Sudan ebolavirus Zaire ebolavirus Ebola hemorrhagic fever (alternatively Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever, EHF, or just Ebola) is a very rare, but severe, mostly fatal infectious disease occurring in humans and other primates, caused by the Ebola virus, which is possibly carried by fruit bats. ... The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) A virus is a microscopic parasite that infects cells in biological organisms. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... National Hurricane Center NHC preliminary summary of 2005 wind speeds and deaths National Hurricane Centers 2005 Archive Hydrometeorological Prediction Centers 2005 Archive US National Climatic Data Center - Atlantic Basin 2005 Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) Index William Grays 2005 Extended Range Forecast (issued December 3, 2004) Flash Hurricane... Tracking and Warning Joint Typhoon warning Center - Western Pacific MetService, New Zealand - Tasman Sea, South Pacific south of 25&deg S Australian Bureau of Meteorology - Southern hemisphere from 90° E to 160° E Canadian Hurricane Centre - Northwest Atlantic (overlaps US NHC) Hurricane & Storm Tracking for the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans - Shows... This article is about weather phenomena. ... National Hurricane Center NHC preliminary summary of 2005 wind speeds and deaths National Hurricane Centers 2005 Archive Hydrometeorological Prediction Centers 2005 Archive US National Climatic Data Center - Atlantic Basin 2005 Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) Index William Grays 2005 Extended Range Forecast (issued December 3, 2004) Flash Hurricane... Kenneth Lee Boyd (January 19, 1948 – December 2, 2005) was a murderer who was executed by the U.S. state of North Carolina. ... Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted felon as a punishment for a crime (often called a capital offence or a capital crime). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Van Tuong Nguyens mugshot Van Tuong Nguyen (Vietnamese: Nguyá»…n Tường Vân, baptised Caleb[1]) (17 August 1980 – 2 December 2005) was a Thailand–born Vietnamese Australian from Melbourne, Victoria, convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore. ... Capital punishment is a legal form of punishment in Singapore. ... Retail selling Street selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events... In November 2005, a prisoner abuse scandal arose in Malaysia. ... The Prime Minister of Malaysia is the elected head of government of Malaysia. ... Yang Amat Berhormat Dato Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi (born November 26, 1939) is the current prime minister of Malaysia, succeeding Tun Mahathir bin Mohamad. ... Thermopolis is a town located in Hot Springs County, Wyoming. ... Binomial name Archaeopteryx lithographica Meyer, 1861 Archaeopteryx lithographica, a Jurassic fossil with both bird and dinosaur features, is widely accepted as the earliest and most primitive known bird. ... Subdivisions Coelophysidae Ceratosauria Abelisauridae Spinosauroidea Carnosauria Coelurosauria Theropods (beast foot) are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. ...

1 December 2005 (Thursday)

• South Africa's Constitutional Court declares that current marriage laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples are unconstitutional and must be changed within a year. Once the change is made, South Africa will be the fifth country in the world where same-sex marriages are recognized, after Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. (AP via Yahoo)
• The European Central Bank raises interest rates for the first time in five years, from 2.0% to 2.25%. This will affect the cost of money in the twelve Eurozone countries. (BBC)
• A Buddhist manuscript written on birch bark in the 1st century or 2nd century passes from a private collection to the University of Washington library, becoming part of the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project. (uwnews.org)
• Muriel Degauque is identified as the Belgian suicide bomber who killed herself in Iraq on November 9, 2005. (BBC)

December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The South African Constitutional Court was established in 1994 by South Africas first democratic constitution: the Interim Constitution of 1993. ... Constitutionality is the status of a law, procedure, or act being in accordance with the laws or guidelines contained in a constitution. ... Same-sex marriage (also called gay marriage, and—less frequently—homosexual marriage) refers to marriage between partners of the same gender (for other forms of same-sex unions that are different from marriages, see the articles linked in that section). ... The European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany is the central bank of the eurozone, in charge of monetary policy for the 12 countries that use the euro currency. ... The Euro area (also called Euro zone or Eurosystem) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... A Birch bark document is a document written on pieces of birch bark. ... (1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century - other centuries) The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100. ... // Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ... The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a major public research university in the Seattle metropolitan area. ... Modern-style library In the traditional sense of the word, a library is a collection of books and periodicals. ... Muriel Degauque (1967—November 9, 2005) was a Belgian woman from Charleroi and a convert to Islam. ... A suicide bombing is a bomb attack on people or property, committed by a person who knows the explosion will cause his or her own death in addition to the attacks primary purpose (see suicide, suicide weapons). ... November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ...

Past events by month

2005: January February March April May June July August September October November December
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
2001: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2000: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in January • 29 Ephraim Kishon • 25 Philip Johnson • 23 Johnny Carson • 22 Parveen Babi • 20 Jan Nowak-Jeziorański • 17 Virginia Mayo • 17 Zhao Ziyang • 15 Ruth Warrick • 14 Rudolph Moshammer Recent deaths Ongoing events • Tsunami relief... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Ongoing events • Iraqi legislative election • Bill C-38 (Canada gay marriage) • Tsunami relief Upcoming events • March 11: Red Nose Day 2005 in the UK. Deaths in February • 26 – Jef Raskin • 25 – Hugh Nibley • 25 – Peter Benenson • 21... ← - 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in March • 31 – Terri Schiavo • 30 – Mitch Hedberg • 29 – Johnnie Cochran • 27 – Wilfred Bigelow • 26 – Paul Hester • 26 – James Callaghan • 21 – Jeff Weise • 21 – Bobby Short • 19 – John De Lorean • 18 – Gary Bertini • 17 – George F... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in April • 26: Augusto Roa Bastos • 24: Ezer Weizman • 23: Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen • 23: John Mills • 16: Marla Ruzicka • 9: Andrea Dworkin • 6: Prince Rainier III • 5: Dale Messick • 5: Saul Bellow • 2: Pope John... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → 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... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → 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... Ongoing events • 2005 Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes • 2005 Maharashtra floods • 2005 Gujarat Flood • Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan • Fuel prices • Gomery Comm. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in August August 31: Michael Sheard August 26: Lord Fitt August 24: Jack Slipper August 24: Maurice Cowling August 24: Dr. ... Ongoing events • Abramoff-Reed gambling scandal • Atlantic hurricane season • Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak • Bali bombings investigation • California wildfires • UK Conservative Party leadership election • DeLay political financing scandal • Dengue outbreak in Singapore • Fuel prices / Peak oil • Harriet Miers nomination and hearings • Hurricane Wilma • Irans nuclear program • Kashmir earthquake • London bombings... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in October 28: Richard Smalley 26: Emil Kyulev 24: José Azcona del Hoyo 24: Rosa Parks 23: Stella Obasanjo 22: Liam Lawlor 22: Shirley Horn 20: Endon Mahmood 17: Ba Jin 10: Milton Obote 7: Charles... Ongoing events • Abramoff-Reed gambling scandal • Al Jazeera bombing memo • Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak • Black sites scandal • Conservative leadership race (UK) • Fuel prices • Irans nuclear program • Jilin chemical plant explosions • Kashmir earthquake • Malawi food crisis • Malaysian prisoner abuse scandal • New Delhi bombings investigation • Niger food crisis • North Indian cyclone... Ongoing events • 2005 Kuomintang visits to Mainland • Bill C-38 (Canada gay marriage) • German Visa Affair 2005 • Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan • Fuel prices • Election of OAS Secretary General • Stanislav Gross scandal in Czech republic Upcoming events Deaths in May May 3: Jagjit Singh Aurora May 3: Don Canham May... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → January 31, 2004 The United States defence budget is set to exceed US$400 billion next year—an almost 7% increase—according to budget proposals inadvertently posted on the Pentagons website. ... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → // February 29, 2004 Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of Haiti and flees the country for the Central African Republic. ... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths • 08 Abu Abbas • 20 Queen Juliana • 28 Peter Ustinov • 30 Alistair Cooke More March 2004 deaths Ongoing events EU Enlargement Exploration of Mars: Rovers Haiti Rebellion Israeli-Palestinian conflict Occupation of Iraq Same-sex marriage in... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths in April • 18 Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara • 19 Norris McWhirter • 22 Pat Tillman • 24 Estée Lauder Other recent deaths Ongoing events EU Enlargement Exploration of Mars: Rovers Haiti Rebellion Reconstruction of Iraq – Occupation & Resistance Israeli... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths in May • 28 Gerald Anthony • 27 Umberto Agnelli • 22 Richard Biggs • 20 Len Murray • 17 Tony Randall • 17 Ezzedine Salim • 9 Alan King • 9 Akhmad Kadyrov • 8(?) Nick Berg • 7 Waldemar Milewicz Other recent deaths Ongoing... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: June 2004 in sports Deaths in June • 28 Anthony Buckeridge • 26 Naomi Shemer • 26 Yash Johar • 22 Bob Bemer • 22 Thomas Gold • 22 Francisco Ortiz Franco • 16 Thanom Kittikachorn • 10 Ray Charles • 5 Ronald Reagan... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: July 2004 in sports Deaths in July • 31 David B. Haight • 29 Francis Crick • 29 Nafisa Joseph • 23 Joe Cahill • 23 Mehmood • 23 Illinois Jacquet • 23 Carlos Paredes • 22 Sacha Distel • 21 Jerry Goldsmith • 21... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: August 2004 in sports Deaths in August 2004 • 30 Fred Whipple • 26 Laura Branigan • 24 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross • 18 Elmer Bernstein • 15 Amarsinh Chaudhary • 14 CzesÅ‚aw MiÅ‚osz • 13 Julia Child • 8 Robert... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: September 2004 in sports Deaths in September • 27 Tsai Wan-lin • 24 Françoise Sagan • 20 Brian Clough • 18 Russ Meyer • 15 Johnny Ramone • 12 Fred Ebb • 11 Peter VII of Alexandria • 8 Richard Girnt... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: October 2004 in sports Deaths in October • 29 HRH Princess Alice • 25 John Peel • 24 James Cardinal Hickey • 23 Robert Merrill • 19 Paul Nitze • 18 K. M. Veerappan • 16 Pierre Salinger • 10 Christopher Reeve • 9... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: November 2004 in sports November 2004 in science Deaths in November • 30 Pierre Berton • 29 John Drew Barrymore • 26 Bill Alley • 24 Arthur Hailey • 23 Rafael Eitan • 18 Bobby Frank Cherry • 16 John Morgan • 13... ← - 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in December • 30 Artie Shaw • 29 Julius Axelrod • 28 Jacques Dupuis • 28 Jerry Orbach • 28 Susan Sontag • 26 Reggie White • 26 Sir Angus Ogilvy • 23 P. V. Narasimha Rao • 23 Doug Ault • 19 Renata Tebaldi • 16... 2003: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for January, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for February, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → A timeline of events in the news for March, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → A timeline of events in the news for April 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → A timeline of events in the news for May, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for June, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for July, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for August, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for September, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for October, 2003. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for November, 2003. ... December 2003: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → Events December 31, 2003 In Taiwan, President Chen Shui-bian signs a law that allows referendums to be held. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for January, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December February 27, 2002 Alicia Keys wins five Grammys. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for March, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for April, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for May, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for June, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for July, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for August, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for September, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for October, 2002. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for November, 2002. ... 2002 : January _ February _ March _ April _ May _ June _ July _ August _ September _ October _ November _ December _ → A timeline of events in the news for December, 2002. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a month starting on Monday with 31 days. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: February - Iraq disarmament crisis: British and U.S. forces carry out bombing raids attempting to disable Iraqs air defense network. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: March 3 - A U.S. Air Force Materials Command C-23 Sherpa transport crashes during stormy weather in the U.S. state of Georgia, killing 21. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: April 1: An EP-3E United States Navy plane collides with a Chinese Peoples Liberation Army fighter jet. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: May 1 - Chandra Levy disapears while jogging. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: June 5-June 9 - Houston, Texas is devastated by flooding when Tropical Storm Allison dumps 36 inches of rain on the city. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths: July 3 - Mordecai Richler July 23 - Eudora Welty July 31 - Poul Anderson Films: July 4 - Cats and Dogs July 6 - Kiss of the Dragon starring Jet Li July 18 - Jurassic Park III July 27 - Planet of... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths: August 25 - Aaliyah Films: August 10 - Osmosis Jones played by Chris Rock, starring Bill Murray August 24 - Bubble Boy Categories: 2001 by month ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: September 4 - Google Inc. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: October 2 - Bankruptcy of Swissair. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of the Volunteer The United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations Events January January 1 - A black monolith measuring approximately nine feet tall appears in Seattles Magnuson Park, placed by an anonymous... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: December 2 - Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection five days after Dynegy canceled a US$8. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: January 1- Millennium celebrations take place throughout the world. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in February, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in March, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in April, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in May, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in June, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in July, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in August, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in September, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in October, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in November, 2000. ... 2000 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December This is a timeline for events in December, 2000. ...

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