January 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → January is the first month of the year and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... December 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → 31 December 2005 (Saturday) 25-year-old Scottish human rights worker Kate Burton and her parents are freed unharmed in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian gunmen who kidnapped them two days earlier. ... Media:Example. ... March 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase announces that the 2006 Fiji general elections will be held in the second week of May 2006 from the 6th to the 13th. ... April 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Events 1 April 2006 (Saturday) Marcos Pontes, Brazils first astronaut, reaches the International Space Station. ... May 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → May 1, 2006 (Monday) Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association outraged Vatican by planning to ordain another bishop, Liu Xinhong in Anhui Province. ... June 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Extraordinary renditions. ... Early elections in November are announced in the Netherlands. ... August 2006 is the eighth month of that year, and has yet to occur. ... September 2006 is the ninth month of 2006 and has begun on a Friday. ... October 2006 is the tenth month of that year and has yet to occur. ... 67 die and about 300,000 people are affected by floods in Ethiopias Somali Region of Ogaden after the Shabelle River bursts its banks. ... December 2006 is the twelfth and final month of the year and will begin in 2 day(s). ... It is proposed that this article be deleted, because of the following concern: Crystal ball, user has created future months and dates before, and been told not to (See User Talk:Jose and Ricardo). ...

1 January 2006 (Sunday)

• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accuses European nations of trying to complete the Holocaust by creating a "Jewish camp" Israel in the Middle East. "Don't you think that continuation of genocide by expelling Jews from Europe was one of their aims in creating a regime of occupiers of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Isn't that an important question?" He went on to say that Europe should cede some of their territory for a Jewish state, and that anti-Semitism has a long history in Europe, while Jews have lived peacefully among Muslims for centuries. (Reuters)
• Russia-Ukraine gas dispute: Russian natural gas supplier Gazprom cuts gas supplies to Ukraine, following Ukraine's rejection of a 460% price increase. President Vladimir Putin had offered a three-month price freeze if Ukraine would agree to pay the higher price thereafter, but this was rejected. Ukraine currently pays US$50 per 1000 cubic metres, Russia claims the market rate is $230. (BBC)
• Tropical Storm Zeta continues activity in the Atlantic Ocean, becoming only the second North Atlantic tropical cyclone to exist across two calendar years and extending the already historic 2005 Atlantic hurricane season even further. (CNN)
• At least three Qassam rockets landed in the western Negev, despite Israel Defense Forces' Operation Blue Skies. At least one Qassam rocket landed in Sderot, in which the Red Dawn alert system was activated around 15:30. Two Qassam rockets landed in an open area near Israeli communities in the western Negev. In all the cases there were no injuries. (Ynetnews)
• Residents brace as a second winter storm hits the region, a day after the first caused floods and mudslides across northern California. (LA Times) (AP via Yahoo!)

January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Mohammad Khatami, Irans president, 1997-2005. ...   (Persian: ‎ ​, IPA: ), transcribed into English as Mahmud or Mahmood, Ahmadinezhad, Ahmadi-Nejad, Ahmadi Nejad, Ahmady Nejad) (born October 28, 1956) is the current president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. ... World map exhibiting the location of Europe. ... 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. ... A ghetto is an area where people from a specific ethnic background or united in a given culture or religion live as a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, in milder or stricter seclusion. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Look up Genocide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim) (Standard) Yerushalayim or Yerushalaim Arabic commonly القـُدْس (Al-Quds); officially in Israel أورشليم القدس (Urshalim-Al-Quds) Name Meaning Hebrew: (see below), Arabic: The Holiness Government City District Jerusalem Population 724,000 (2006) Jurisdiction 123,000 dunams (123 km²) Mayor Uri Lupolianski Web Address www. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian and Urdu: مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ... Wikinews has news related to: Russia cuts off gas supplies to Ukraine The dispute between Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom and Ukraine over natural gas prices started in March of 2005 (over the price of natural gas and prices for the transition of Gazproms gas to Europe). ... Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. ... Gazprom (LSE: OGZD; Russian: , sometimes transcribed as Gasprom) is the largest Russian company and the biggest extractor of natural gas in the world. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: ) (born October 7, 1952) is the incumbent President of Russia. ... Tropical Storm Zeta was the late-developing twenty-seventh named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. ... Cyclone Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 Hurricane and Typhoon redirect here. ... The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, shattering previous records on repeated occasions. ... The remnants of an exploded Qassam rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel. ... Ruins in the Negev desert The Negev (Hebrew נֶגֶב;, Tiberian Hebrew Néḡeḇ; Arabic النقب an-Naqab) is the desert region of southern Israel. ... The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (Hebrew: ‎  , [Army] Force for the Defense of Israel), often abbreviated with the Hebrew acronym צהל Tsahal, alternative English spelling Tzahal, is the name of Israels military forces, comprising the Israeli Army, the Israeli Air Force and the Israeli Sea Corps. ... Sederot (Hebrew: (help·info); unofficially also spelled Sderot) is a city in the Southern District of Israel in Israel. ... Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. ...

2 January 2006 (Monday)

• Ugandan presidential candidate Kizza Besigye is released from prison. Besigye was arrested on November 14 on treason and rape charges. (News24)
• Thirteen U.S. coal miners are trapped after an underground explosion in Upshur County, West Virginia. (ABC)
• Russia-Ukraine gas dispute: Countries across Europe report reductions in gas supplies after Russia disconnected supplies to Ukraine yesterday. Russia accuses Ukraine of stealing 100 million cubic metres of gas yesterday from pipelines transiting the country; Ukraine denies this but has previously claimed the right to 15% of the gas as a transit toll. Hungary reports supplies are down by 40%, France and Italy by 30%, and Poland by 14%. Germany, Russia's principal customer, also reports reductions. Russian supplier Gazprom says that it will increase supplies and return them to normal by Tuesday night. (Sky News)
• Police are investigating the New Year's Day murder of Bryan Harvey, who with his wife and two young daughters were found dead with their throats slashed in the basement of their South Side Richmond, Virginia home, which was then set afire. Harvey was former singer and guitarist of 1980’s band House of Freaks and his wife was the half-sister of Steven Culp, who played Rex Van De Kamp on Desperate Housewives. The fire was discovered by Johnny Hott, HOF bandmate and drummer for the band Cracker (ABC) wikinews (New York Daily News) (Billboard)
• Eleven people are killed when the roof of an ice rink collapse in Bad Reichenhall, southern Germany, under the weight of recent snowfall, trapping some 50 skaters underneath. (CNN)
• Several exploits of a severe Windows security vulnerability are spreading over the Internet, permitting compromise of any Windows computer merely by viewing a maliciously crafted image on a website or in e-mail or instant messaging. No patch from Microsoft is available, however an unofficial patch exists [1]. The vulnerability affects every version of Windows, potentially affecting more computers than any prior computer security vulnerability in history. (Microsoft) (CERT) (Slashdot) (Sans) (F-Secure)
• The leader of the Maoist guerrillas in Nepal issued a statement that his group, the People's Liberation Army, will resume its war with the monarchy after a four month truce. (New Kerala)
• Severe storms affected East Java, Indonesia, leading to flooding and landslides. At least 57 people are believed to have been killed in the flooding and up to a further 200 people were assumed to be buried alive in the town of Cijeruk 350 kilometers east of Jakarta. (BBC)

January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Kizza Besigye with his wife, former MP Winnie Byanyima. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ... Upshur County is a county located in the state of West Virginia. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area  Ranked 41st  - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 240 miles (385 km)  - % water 0. ... Wikinews has news related to: Russia cuts off gas supplies to Ukraine The dispute between Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom and Ukraine over natural gas prices started in March of 2005 (over the price of natural gas and prices for the transition of Gazproms gas to Europe). ... Gazprom (LSE: OGZD; Russian: , sometimes transcribed as Gasprom) is the largest Russian company and the biggest extractor of natural gas in the world. ... Bryan Harvey (c. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Nickname: The River City Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: Country United States State Virginia County Independent City Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (D) Area    - City 62. ... House of Freaks was a two-man band formed in Richmond, Virginia in the mid 1980s. ... Steven Culp as Jeff Haffley on NBCs The West Wing. ... This section does not cite its references or sources. ... Johnny Hott was the drummer for the House of Freaks, a musical duo with singer/guitarist Bryan Harvey. ... Cracker is an American alternative rock band fronted by former Camper Van Beethoven singer David Lowery, with guitarist Johnny Hickman. ... At approximately 15:00 UTC on Monday January 2, 2006, the roof of a 1970s-built ice rink collapsed under the weight of heavy snowfall in the town of Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, Germany, near the Austrian border, trapping 50 underneath the rubble. ... Alte Saline (old salt refinery) former Townhall Bad Reichenhall is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. ... In computer security, an exploit is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or sequence of commands that take advantage of a bug, glitch or vulnerability in order to get unintended or unanticipated behavior out of computer software, hardware, or something electronic (usually computerized). ... The 2005 WMF vulnerability was a flaw in the Windows operating system that was first disclosed on Bugtraq on 28 December 2005, and was subsequently used in a variety of exploits. ... Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of proprietary software operating systems by Microsoft. ... A website (or Web site) is a collection of web pages, typically common to a particular domain name or subdomain on the World Wide Web on the Internet. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A screenshot of PowWow, one of the first instant messengers with a graphical user interface Instant messaging or IM is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. ... Mao could refer to: Mao Zedong, (Mao Tse-Tung in Wade-Giles) leader of the Communist Party of China from 1935 to 1976. ... Look up guerrilla in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... East Java (Indonesian: Jawa Timur) is a province of Indonesia. ... Landslide of soil and regolith in Pakistan A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows. ... Jakarta (also Djakarta or DKI Jakarta), formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. ...

3 January 2006 (Tuesday)

• U.S. pilots targeting a house outside of Baghdad where they believed insurgents had taken shelter killed a family of 12. (Washington Post)
• Israeli television claims that Police in Tel Aviv found evidence that proves Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon's family took bribes while Sharon was running for the leadership of the Likud Party. An aide dismissed the allegations. (BBC)
• Sago Mine disaster: In West Virginia, USA, family members now say only one trapped miner has been brought out alive from the collapsed coal mine. All 12 others are dead. Earlier news reports, at approximately 10:30 p.m. EST, indicated that 12 miners were found alive. Rescue crews found one body late Tuesday after 13 miners were trapped following an explosion on Monday. (Yahoo!) (ABC)
• Russia-Ukraine gas dispute: The Russian and Ukrainian natural gas companies agree to end their dispute and resume gas supply to Ukraine under a complex price scheme in which OAO Gazprom will sell gas to the Rosukrenergo trading company (owned by Gazprom Bank and Raiffeisen Bank) for US$230 (E195) per 1,000 cubic meters as of Jan. 1, and Ukraine will buy gas from the company for US$95 (E80). (IHT)
• Chinese journalist and whistleblower Jiang Weiping, who was jailed in 2000 for violating the State Secrets Law on charges of "subversion," is released after the one year left on his prison sentence is commuted. In 1999 Jiang wrote two articles for a Hong Kong magazine accusing Bo Xilai, who at the time was governor of Liaoning province, but is now China's economic minister, of covering up corruption. (Reuters)
• Conflict in Iraq: 6 members of the same family of 14 have been confirmed killed following a U.S. airstrike in Northern Iraq. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel Police prevents Palestinians in East Jerusalem from campaigning in the upcoming Elections in the Palestinian National Authority. (BBC)
• Rescue workers are still battling to find survivors after the roof of an ice rink collapsed in Bad Reichenhall, southern Germany, leaving at least 10 people dead, some of them children. It is thought many are still trapped under the rubble. (BBC)
• Bidding continues in an international auction for Canadian steel company Dofasco Inc., Hamilton, Ont. -- the latest bid, C$4.9 billion, came Tuesday from German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG. (CBC Business News)
• Four years after defaulting on its external debt, Argentina pays its USD 9.57 billion debt with the IMF. (Reuters)
• Jack Abramoff of the Jack Abramoff lobbying and corruption scandal pleads guilty to federal conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges. According to NPR, this puts Abramoff on the prosecutor's side and he is expected to cooperate in the continuing investigation that could involve "up to 20 members of Congress" (NPR). The court filing is available as a PDF here: [2]
• Mirant Corp., Atlanta, Georgia, a power generation company that filed for bankruptcy court protection in July 2003, emerges from chapter 11 status after converting more than $6 billion of debt and liabilities into equity. (company website)
• National Express has its worst ever coach crash, 2 people were killed.

January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ... The Prime Minister of Israel (Hebrew: ראש הממשלה, Rosh HaMemshala, lit. ...   (Hebrew: , also known by his diminutive Arik אָרִיק) (born February 27, 1928) is a former Israeli politician and general. ... Likud party logo Likud or ליכוד literally means consolidation. ... Wikinews has three articles on the accident: Coal miners trapped in West Virginia mine 13 coal miners trapped in West Virginia mine 12 coal miners are found dead, 1 in critical condition, in West Virginia mine The Sago Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion on January 2, 2006 in... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area  Ranked 41st  - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 240 miles (385 km)  - % water 0. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ... Wikinews has news related to: Russia cuts off gas supplies to Ukraine The dispute between Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom and Ukraine over natural gas prices started in March of 2005 (over the price of natural gas and prices for the transition of Gazproms gas to Europe). ... Gazprom (LSE: OGZD; Russian: , sometimes transcribed as Gasprom) is the largest Russian company and the biggest extractor of natural gas in the world. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... A whistleblower is an employee, former employee, or member of an organization who reports misconduct to people or entities that have the power and presumed willingness to take corrective action. ... Jiang Weiping is a Chinese journalist and whistleblower, who was jailed in 2000 for violating the State Secrets Law on charges of subversion. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Subversion is an overturning or uprooting. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Bo Xilai (薄熙来; pinyin: Bó XÄ«lái) (born July 1949) is the current Minister of Commerce of the Peoples Republic of China. ...   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Liáoníng) is a northeastern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Iraqi insurgency is the armed resistance by diverse groups within Iraq to the US occupation of Iraq and to the U.S.-supported Iraqi government. ... The military of the United States, officially known as the United States Armed Forces, is structured into five branches consisting of the: United States Army United States Navy United States Marine Corps United States Air Force United States Coast Guard; these comprise five of the seven United States Uniformed Services. ... 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. ... Israel, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip in diagonal stripes The Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is an ongoing dispute between two peoples, Jewish Israelis and Arab Palestinians, that both claim the right to sovereignty over the land of Israel/Palestine. ... Israeli Police logo The Israel Police (משטרת ישראל Mishteret Yisrael) is a civilian force in the State of Israel. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... East Jerusalem is that part of Jerusalem which was held by Jordan from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War until the Six-Day War in 1967. ... Elections in the Palestinian National Authority gives information on election and election results in the PNA. Palestine elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. ... Alte Saline (old salt refinery) former Townhall Bad Reichenhall is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. ... A male Caucasian toddler child A child (plural: children) is a young human. ... Dofasco TSX: DFS is a steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, as is longtime rival Stelco. ... Nickname: Ambitious City, Steeltown, The Hammer Motto: Together Aspire - Together Achieve Location in the province of Ontario, Canada Coordinates: Country  Province Canada  Ontario Incorporated June 9, 1846 [1] Mayor Fred Eisenberger City Council Hamilton City Council Representatives MPs and MPPs Area    - City 1,138. ... German industrial company ThyssenKrupp AG, with about 200,000 employees, mainly operates in the steel industry, but also in the automotive, industrial construction, and shipbuilding areas, as well as manufacturing lifts and providing other technologies and services. ... In finance, default is what occurs when a party is unwilling or unable to pay their debt obligations. ... 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. ... Abramoff on the cover of the January 16, 2006 issue of TIME magazine after pleading guilty earlier that month. ... Lobbyist Jack Abramoff was featured on the cover of TIME magazine, the week of January 9, 2006, after his guilty plea. ... Mirant is an energy company headquartered in Atlanta. ... Nickname: Hotlanta, The Big Peach, The ATL, A-Town Location in Fulton County in the state of Georgia Coordinates: Country United States State Georgia Counties Fulton, Dekalb  - Mayor Shirley Franklin (D) Area    - City 343. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for July, 2003. ... National Express is the brand under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in the United Kingdom are marketed, and also the company that manages this network and operates some of the services. ... The 2007 National Express coach accident occured on 3 January 2007 at approximately a 23:45 (GMT)[1] on a slip road connecting the M25 motorway and the M4 motorway west of London, when a National Express coach travelling from London to Aberdeen overturned. ...

4 January 2006 (Wednesday)

• Turkey announces two confirmed human cases of the avian influenza. (BBC)
• The King of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah al-Saud, offers to pay for repairs to the Jama Masjid in Delhi, India. The King also offers to fund education in India. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: At least 50 die following a series of insurgent attacks across Iraq, including a suicide bomb at a Shia funeral which left 36 mourners dead. (BBC)
• Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 77, suffers "a significant stroke". He is currently "under anaesthesia and receiving breathing assistance". Power is transferred to his deputy, Vice Minister Ehud Olmert. (CNN) (Yahoo!)
• Dow Jones & Co., one of the world's most important financial publishers, announces its new CEO, Richard Zannino, takes over from Peter Kann. Since Mr. Zannino is not a reporter, this breaks a century-old tradition of keeping newsmen at the helm. (New York Sun)
• A leaked intelligence report states that Iran has been "successfully scouring Europe" for the equipment needed to create a nuclear bomb, as well as parts for a ballistic missile. (The Guardian)
• Fourteen people are killed, with many more feared dead, after a landslide destroys a village in Java after flash floods in the region. It is the second such incident in the region within a week. (BBC)
• Fourteen people are now confirmed dead in the Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof collapse, with one person still trapped in the rubble. (New York Times)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • Israel shells eight roads in Palestinian areas of the Gaza Strip. (IMEMC)
  • Seven Qassam rockets are fired on civilian Israeli targets by Palestinian insurgents. Two rockets land near a gas station on a road leading to the Israeli town of Sderot, and another five land near Kibbutz Zikim. There are no reports of injuries or damage. (B92)

January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as A(H5N1) or H5N1, is a subtype of the Influenza A virus that can cause illness in humans and many other animal species. ... This is a list of kings of Saudi Arabia: King Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud) (1902/1932-1953) King Saud, son of King Abdul Aziz (1953-1964) King Faisal, son of King Abdul Aziz (1964-1975) King Khalid, son of King Abdul Aziz (1975-1982) King Fahd, son of King Abdul... King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud (Arabic: عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, born 1924) [1] is the King of Saudi Arabia. ... The Masjid-i-Jahan Numa The Masjid-i-Jahan Numa, commonly known as Jama Masjid of Delhi is the principal mosque of Old Delhi in India. ... For other uses, see Delhi (disambiguation). ... 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). ... 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. ... The Prime Minister of Israel (Hebrew: ראש הממשלה, Rosh HaMemshala, lit. ...   (Hebrew: , also known by his diminutive Arik אָרִיק) (born February 27, 1928) is a former Israeli politician and general. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Ariel Sharon. ... Anesthesia (AE), also anaesthesia (BE), is the process of blocking the perception of pain and other sensations. ... Ehud Olmert (IPA ; Hebrew: אהוד אולמרט; born September 30, 1945) is the 12th and current Prime Minister of Israel. ... Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ), based in the United States is a publishing and financial information firm. ... World map exhibiting the location of Europe. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... Diagram of V-2, the first ballistic missile. ... Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of sandstone by flash floods A Flash Flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas (washes), rivers and streams, caused by the intense rainfall associated with a thunderstorm, or multiple training thunderstorms. ... At approximately 15:00 UTC on Monday January 2, 2006, the roof of a 1970s-built ice rink collapsed under the weight of heavy snowfall in the town of Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, Germany, near the Austrian border, trapping 50 underneath the rubble. ... Israel, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip in diagonal stripes The Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is an ongoing dispute between two peoples, Jewish Israelis and Arab Palestinians, that both claim the right to sovereignty over the land of Israel/Palestine. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... The remnants of an exploded Qassam rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... Sederot (Hebrew: (help·info); unofficially also spelled Sderot) is a city in the Southern District of Israel in Israel. ... Zikim (זיקים) is a kibbutz in the northern Negev region of Israel. ...

5 January 2006 (Thursday)

• Peru recalls Carlos Urrutia, its ambassador to Venezuela, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez praises Peruvian presidential hopeful Ollanta Humala for his left-leaning policies. A spokeswoman for the Peruvian Foreign Ministry stated, "There are concerns of political meddling in Peru's electoral affairs and comments by President Chávez were out of place." (Yahoo! News)
• The leader of Britain's Liberal Democrat Party, Charles Kennedy, admits being treated for alcohol-related problems for the last 18 months but has not drunk for the last two months. The revelation comes following mounting criticism of his leadership from party MPs. He calls a party leadership election, in which he will stand. (BBC)
• At least 130 people have died following insurgent attacks on the Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Ramadi. (BBC)
• At least 76 people have died following the collapse of a five story hotel in Mecca. The death toll is expected to rise. Most of the dead are foreign Muslim pilgrims who had made their way there for the Hajj. (Forbes)
• Hewlett-Packard, a computer manufacturing giant, and a private equity firm, the Blackstone Group, may bid for Computer Sciences Corporation, according to anonymous sources cited by The Wall Street Journal. (thestreet.com)

January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Carlos Urrutia is Perus ambassador to Venezuela. ... 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 Presidential Army Ensign of Venezuela. ... Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (IPA: ) (born July 28, 1954) is the 53rd[1] and current President of Venezuela. ... Ollanta Humala Tasso (born June 26, 1963) is a Peruvian left-leaning nationalist politician and a Lieutenant Colonel (retired) in the Peruvian army. ... A foreign minister is a cabinet minister that helps to form foreign policy for sovereign nations. ... The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. ... Rt. ... Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ... Chris Huhne, Menzies Campbell and Simon Hughes at the London Hustings in Friends Meeting House on 23rd February The 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election was won by Menzies Campbell. ... 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. ... Karbalā (كربلاء; also transliterated as Kerbala or Kerbela) is a city in Iraq, located about 100 km southwest of Baghdad at 32. ... Saddam Mosque Ramadi (Arabic: ‎ ; BGN: Ar RamādÄ«) is a city in central Iraq, about 100 kilometers west of Baghdad. ... Mecca IPA: or Makkah IPA: (in full: Makkah al-Mukarramah IPA: ; Arabic: ‎, Persian: ‎, Turkish and Kurdish: Mekke, Urdu: مکہ مکرمہ) is the capital city of Saudi Arabias Makkah province, in the historic Hejaz region. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian and Urdu: مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ... Traditionally, pilgrims travel to Mecca in groups with their friends or family, or people from thei