November 2006

November 1, 2006 (Wednesday)

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67 die and about 300,000 people are affected by floods in Ethiopia's Somali Region of Ogaden after the Shabelle River bursts its banks. (Angola Press)
The UN Security Council votes unanimously to extend the mandate of Côte d'Ivoire's transitional government by one year, granting its Interim Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny sweeping powers over security forces. UNSC deadline for Elections, originally set for November 2006, was delayed to November 2007. (AP)
Arab League-sponsored talks between the Somali transitional government and the Islamic Court Union are postponed indefinitely after the latter seek a delay. A Somali Minister says that war appears likely. (Reuters)
Bolivian President Evo Morales retracts plans to nationalize the country's mining industry, promising to do so at an unspecified later date. (UPI)
Venezuela and Guatemala have agreed to withdraw from the race for a seat on the United Nations Security Council; both agreeing to support Panama after 47 rounds of voting. (The Canadian Press)
U.S. Senator John Kerry apologizes for a "poorly stated joke," which he says was aimed at President Bush but was widely perceived as an attack on U.S. troops. Kerry had said in a rally on 30 October: "You know, education if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." (CNN)
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said in a statement that "We are therefore increasingly concerned by mounting evidence that the Syrian and Iranian governments, Hezbollah, and their Lebanese allies are preparing plans to topple Lebanon's democratically elected government," and that "We're making it clear to everybody in the region that we think that there ought to be hands off the [Prime Minister Fouad] Siniora government; let them go about and do their business."(Reuters)
The Swedish Ro-Ro ship M/S Finnbirch sinks in a blizzard in the Baltic Sea, killing two of its fourteen crew members. The vessel had some 260 tons of fuel and lubrication oil onboard which might present a hazard to the environment. (Helsingin Sanomat) (Reuters) (CNN)
Turkish archaeologist Muazzez Ilmiye Cig is acquitted of inciting religious hatred; a charge made after she published a book stating that the Muslim headscarf originated in the clothing of Sumerian priestesses who initiated young men into sex. (BBC News)
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a rural police command in Colombia, killing at least 16 officers as part of a two-week offensive. President Álvaro Uribe had earlier withdrawn from negotiations. (Reuters)
The government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army rebels sign a second truce as negotiations restart in Juba, Sudan. (IRIN)
An Israel Defense Forces soldier and six Palestinians were killed in an IDF operation in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. (Haaretz), (BBC News)
The Prime Minister of Fiji Laisenia Qarase reportedly meets with his security chiefs this morning after yesterday trying to sack Fiji's military commander Frank Bainimarama. Alexander Downer, the Foreign Minister of Australia, has raised concerns about a coup. (ABC News Australia)
The World Confederation of Labour and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions merge to form the International Trade Union Confederation. (International Herald Tribune)
Typhoon Paeng (Cimaron) kills at least 19 people, displaces some 65,000 families and damages more than 3,000 houses as it moves across Luzon. (Xinhua via ReliefWeb.int), (Sun.Star)

November 2, 2006 (Thursday)

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Competing software manufacturers Microsoft and Novell hold a press conference to announce a collaboration on technologies for inter operation between Microsoft's Windows and Novell's SUSE Linux operating systems.
The governments of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles sign an agreement in The Hague, disbanding the Netherlands Antilles on July 1, 2007. The islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten become autonomous associated states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius become Dutch municipalities. (Nu.nl) (Dutch language)
The Rev. Ted Haggard resigns as head of the National Association of Evangelicals in the United States amidst allegations of a gay affair. (Fox Colorado)
The journal Science publishes a study by B. Worm et al. predicting the collapse of commercial fisheries in 2048, due to overfishing, pollution and other environmental factors. (The Washington Post)
Iran fires dozens of unarmed missiles to begin 10 days of military war games, with "ranges from 300 km to up to 2,000 km," some of which have "the capacity to carry 1,400 bombs," Iranian state television reported. (CNN).
The UK Office for National Statistics announces that, in 2005, 565,000 immigrants arrived in the UK, mainly from Poland, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, while there were 380,000 emigrants, over half of whom were UK citizens. The most popular emigration destinations were Australia, Spain, and France. The net immigration total, 185,000, was 17,000 less than 2004's record. (BBC)
Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly, intends to double the price it charges Georgia. This follows the 2006 Georgian-Russian espionage controversy in early October. (Civil Georgia)
Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, conveys the support of the Commonwealth of Nations to the Prime Minister of Fiji Laisenia Qarase. He warned Fijian military commander Frank Bainimarama against staging a coup d'etat. (ABC News Australia)
The U.S. military identifies Ahmed Qusai al-Taai, an Iraqi-American translator, as the U.S. soldier kidnapped at gunpoint in Iraq on October 23, 2006. (CNN)

November 3, 2006 (Friday)

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U.S. evangelical minister Ted Haggard is accused of methamphetamine use and engaging in homosexual sex acts. (AP via ABC News)
U.S. Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio resigns from Congress after having pleaded guilty to charges relating to Jack Abramoff. (AP via Pioneer Press)
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board states that a stiff wind blew the plane carrying New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle off-course and into an apartment building in New York City. (Canadian Press)
The World Meteorological Organisation reports that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2005 and are still increasing. (Washington Post)
A draft European Commission report raises new doubts about Turkey's bid to join the European Union. (BBC)
Trevor Berbick's nephew Harold Berbick is charged with his uncle's murder along with another man in Jamaica. (BBC)
Jackson Pollock’s No. 5, 1948 becomes the world's most expensive work of art, after entertainment mogul David Geffen sells the work for US$140 million. (The Times)
Wu Shu-chen, the wife of the President of the Republic of China, is indicted on corruption charges by Taiwan prosecutors. President Chen Shui-bian is not indicted due to presidential immunity, but prosecutors say he will be charged once he is no longer president. (BBC)
The New York Times reports that a website created at the request of United States Representative Peter Hoekstra and Senator Pat Roberts was found to contain detailed information which could help nuclear-capable states produce nuclear weapons. The website was shut down on November 2 following questioning by The New York Times and protests by International Atomic Energy Agency officials. (The New York Times)
Australia dispatches two warships, HMAS Kanimbla and HMAS Newcastle, to Fiji to evacuate Australian citizens in the event of a coup. (Melbourne Age)
The Conference of Rulers elects Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu to be the future King of Malaysia from 13 December 2006 onwards. (JapanToday), (TimesOnline)

November 4, 2006 (Saturday)

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The death toll in a fire at the historic Mizpah Hotel in Reno, Nevada rises to nine with not all of the ruins having been searched yet. (Las Vegas Sun)
Ted Haggard resigns after the New Life Church's investigative board finds him guilty of "sexually immoral conduct". (AP via WCBS)
Tomihiro Taniguchi, Deputy Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, announces that Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, and possibly Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, will launch nuclear programs for desalination. A proliferation expert asserts the real reason behind the programs is for a "security hedge." (The Times)
The North Korean Foreign Ministry releases a statement calling for Japan to leave the six-party talks regarding DPRK's nuclear program because the Japanese officials involved in the talks are "imbeciles" and Japan is a state of the U.S. The Foreign Ministry accuses the United States of "warmongering." (ABC News)
Operation Autumn Clouds: Israeli forces have mounted a series of air strikes as part of an on-going Gaza offensive, killing at least eight.(BBC NEWS), (Al Jazeera)
Two women have been killed as Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of women gathered to help besieged gunmen flee a mosque in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. (BBC NEWS), (Al Jazeera)
Former Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon is admitted to the intensive care unit of the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv with a chest infection. (BBC)
Hu Jintao, the President of the People's Republic of China, promises to double foreign aid to Africa at a conference attended by many of the top African leaders. (CNN)
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says that the humanitarian crisis in Iraq is greater than at the beginning of the war on Iraq with 1.6 million Iraqis displaced internally and 1.8 million in overseas countries. (ABC News Australia)
Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase drops amnesty provisions for the leaders of the 2000 coup after threats from the military to remove him from office. (NZ Herald)

November 5, 2006 (Sunday)

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Operation Autumn Clouds: Israel Defense Forces troops kill two Palestinians in a northern Gaza Strip operation. (Haaretz)
Trial of Saddam Hussein
- Sweeping curfews go into effect in Baghdad, Iraq, in anticipation of the reading of the verdict by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal in the trial of Saddam Hussein. (BBC News) (CNN)
- Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is convicted of crimes against humanity by a Baghdad court and sentenced to death by hanging. Two senior Ba'ath party officials from Hussein's regime are also sentenced to death, one is jailed for life, three are jailed for 15 years, while a seventh is acquitted. (BBC News) (RTÉ News)
- Reactions to the verdicts against Saddam and his compatriots vary with approval from some areas, particularly Iran and Shi'a regions of Iraq, but condemnation of the trial and process from some other quarters of the Muslim world. United States officials called it "a good day for the Iraqi people". The European Union, while welcoming the guilty verdicts, expresses its opposition to the imposition of the death penalty on humanitarian grounds. (CNN) (Reuters)
Nicaraguans go to the polls to elect a new President and National Assembly, with the presidential race led by Sandinista Daniel Ortega and conservative Eduardo Montealegre. (BBC News)
A large area of Western Europe is affected by power cuts, starting when two high-voltage transmission lines fail in Germany, and causing a cascading failure which also knocks out power in areas of France and other surrounding nations. (BBC News)
The Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, calls State Premiers to a crisis meeting to discuss the current drought and problems in the Murray-Darling Basin. (ABC Australia)

November 6, 2006 (Monday)

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Somalian War: Heavy fighting has been reported between forces of Union of Islamic Courts and Puntland, the semi-autonomous region of Somalia. (Al Jazeera)
Felipe Pérez Roque, the Foreign Minister of Cuba, backs away from earlier predictions that Fidel Castro would return as the President of Cuba by December raising concerns about the progress of Castro's recovery from intestinal surgery. (USA Today)
The Iraqi government prepares a law that may see former Baath Party supporters restored to their former jobs. (ABC News)
Tony Blair opposes the death penalty for Saddam Hussein but says the trial had reminded the world of Hussein's brutality. (CNN)
Bombs explode at Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal, an opposition party's headquarters and a bank in the capital. (RTÉ News)
Operation Autumn Clouds: A female Palestinian suicide bomber has blown herself up in a Gaza Strip town, killing herself and injuring an Israeli soldier, the Israeli army says. (BBC)
The Polish President, Lech Kaczyński, proposes that there be a 100,000 man-strong EU Army designed to work with NATO. (RTÉ News)
Ariel Sharon is moved out of the intensive care unit at the Sheba Medical Center. (AP via Malaysia Star)
Daniel Ortega has an early lead over Eduardo Montealegre, according to partial results from the general elections in Nicaragua. (CNN)
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-12) opens in Nairobi, Kenya. (UNFCCC)
The legal challenge to President George W. Bush's ratification of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Conyers v. Bush) led by United States Congressman and member of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers (together with ten other representatives of the House of Representatives) is dismissed due to lack of standing (ABC)

November 7, 2006 (Tuesday)

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The World Trade Organization invites Vietnam to become the WTO's 150th member. [1] (BBC News)
Daniel Ortega is elected President of Nicaragua in the 2006 general election, after rival candidate Eduardo Montealegre concedes defeat. (BBC News) (CNN) (Reuters)
After 48 rounds of voting, Panama is elected to a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. (DPA)
José Montilla becomes the new President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, renewing the left-of-centre tripartite pact between his PSC, the pro-independence ERC and the leftist ICV-EUiA alliance after the election held on 2006-11-01. (Monsters and Critics)
John Bolton, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, claims that United States diplomat Josette Shiner has been selected to head the United Nations World Food Programme. (ABC News)
Dhiren Barot of London is convicted of conspiracy to murder for developing al-Qaeda plots to kill thousands of people in the United Kingdom and United States in the 2004 Financial buildings plot. (BBC News)
United States general elections, 2006: Voters go to the polls today in the United States. (Scotsman)
- The Democrats regain control of the United States House of Representatives. Tony Snow, the White House Press Secretary, concedes that "Democrats will have control of the House". (ABC News Australia)
- While Democrats have gained at least 5 seats in the Senate, the majority is still unclear. In order to take control, Democrats would need to take the seat in Virginia; they are leading in that state. (CNN)
- Marie Steichen wins the election as county commissioner in Jerauld County, South Dakota, beating a Republican rival by 100 votes to 64, two months after she has died of cancer. (AFP via Yahoo), (MSNBC)
Trial of Saddam Hussein:
- The trial of Saddam Hussein for alleged genocide of Kurds during the Anfal campaign resumes today. (ABC News Australia)
- Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki states that he expects Hussein to be executed by the end of the year following conviction in his first trial, which Hussein is appealing. BBC
Operation Autumn Clouds: The Israeli Defense Forces began to pull its troops out of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, Palestinian officials said. Fifty-three Palestinians, including 16 civilians, and an IDF soldier have been killed since the operation began on October 31. (Haaretz)
A deadly tornado kills nine and injures twelve in Saroma, Hokkaido, Japan. (Sky News)

November 8, 2006 (Wednesday)

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Legislators in the Jogorku Kenesh approve a new constitution amid fears of another revolution in Kyrgyzstan. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
China has a record high surplus in its balance of trade of $23.8 billion as exports rise and imports fall. (AP via Newsvine)
United States general elections, 2006
- The Associated Press declares Democrat Jim Webb as the winner of the 2006 Senate elections in Virginia. This would give the Democratic Party of the United States an effective majority if Independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders caucus with the Democrats.(Yahoo), (CNN)
- Amy Klobuchar overwhelmingly defeats Mark Kennedy in the 2006 Senate elections in Minnesota, becoming the first female Senator in Minnesota history.(Minnesota Public Radio)
- United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announces he will step down from his cabinet position. Former Director of the CIA Robert Gates will replace Rumsfeld if confirmed by the Senate. (AP)
- Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, tells colleagues that he does not intend to run for the position of Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives. (AP via MSNBC)
- George W. Bush congratulates the Democrats on their success in the election and vows to try to find common ground with Nancy Pelosi, likely the next Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. (AP via Kane County Chronicle)
Dr. Margaret Chan, former director of Hong Kong Health Department, represented China to win the nomination to the Director-General of the World Health Organization. (Peoples' Daily Online), (BBC News)
At least 42 people die and 20 people are injured in a bomb blast outside an army training centre in north-west Pakistan. (BBC News)
Beit Hanoun November 2006 incident:
- Nineteen Palestinian civilians are killed in the Gaza Strip from Israeli tank fire according to medical officers. (Reuters), (BBC News)
- Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh states that talks between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas have been suspended. (News Limited)
- The United Nations Security Council agrees to let Arab and Muslim countries air their concerns about the incident. [2]
Five senior ministers in the Cabinet of the British Government are questioned by police as part of an investigation into alleged "cash for honours". (BBC News)
Windows Vista, Microsoft's newest operating system is RTM (released to manufacturers). (Windows Vista Blog)

November 9, 2006 (Thursday)

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Ken Mehlman is to step down as chairman of the National Committee of the United States Republican Party. (CNN)
Eight synchronized bombs hit car showrooms in Southern Thailand, nine injured. (Reuters)
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev formally signs the new Constitution of Kyrgyzstan. The Constitution drastically weakens the power of the executive branch in favor of the legislative. Bakiyev and Prime Minister Felix Kulov are expected to maintain their positions until 2010. (EurasiaNet)
United States general elections, 2006:
- Montana Senator Conrad Burns concedes his U.S. Senate race to Jon Tester. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- Virginia Senator George Allen to concede his U.S. Senate race to James Webb. This gives control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- A recount is reported to be underway in Florida's 13th congressional district, after Christine Jennings, who lost her bid for Katherine Harris's former House seat by 373 votes, alleges that touch-screen voter machine malfunctions failed to record 18,000 votes in Sarasota County, Florida, a Jennings stronghold. (AP via Yahoo! News)
BP settles the last remaining lawsuit from the 2005 explosion at its Texas oil refinery that cost 15 lives. (Reuters via Interactive Investor)
The Bank of England raises interest rates in the United Kingdom to five percent. (Daily Telegraph)
Israel braces itself for revenge attacks after yesterday's dawn barrage in the Gaza Strip leaves a family of 18 dead. The general in charge of Israel's Southern Command, Youav Galant, blames problems with the targeting device for the artillery strike. (The Times)
Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack announces he will be running in the 2008 US Presidential Election. (CNN)
Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, is hospitalized following a heart attack. (CNN)
France successfully performs the first flight test of its new nuclear missile, the M51. (AP via CBS)
Hundreds of young British Muslims are being radicalised, groomed and set on a path to mass murder, according to the head of security service MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller. (The Times)

November 10, 2006 (Friday)

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The Los Angeles Police Department holds an investigation after a video showing police officers beating a man is posted on YouTube. (BBC News)
NASA's Cassini spacecraft records a hurricane-like storm on the south pole of Saturn which is the first time such an event has been observed on another planet. (ABC News Australia)
Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, and activist Mark Collett are cleared of inciting racial hatred after a retrial at Leeds Crown Court. (BBC News)
Russia announces that it has reached an agreement with the United States over the terms of Russian entry to the World Trade Organization with a formal deal to be signed next week. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
Scientists at Rice University discover that using nanotechnology tiny particles of iron oxide, when placed under a strong magnet, bind with arsenic, a potentially important benefit for countries plagued with arsenic contamination of groundwater. (BBC News)

November 11, 2006 (Saturday)

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that the Government of Turkmenistan has discovered a "super giant" field of 7 trillion cubic meters of natural-gas. President Saparmurat Niyazov wants companies from Germany and Russia to build a pipeline to carry the gas. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
The United States vetoes a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the Beit Hanoun November 2006 incident and urging for a quick withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip. (BBC News) (Reuters)
Aung San Suu Kyi meets with a United Nations official Ibrahim Gambari in Myanmar. It is the first time she has left her house since having been placed under house arrest in May. (AP via NASDAQ)
Somali Civil War (2006-present):
- Somalia's Islamist leaders say they have agreed a deal to avoid hostilities with the transitional government. (BBC)
- Somalia's transitional government has dismissed as irrelevant an agreement struck between a group of Somali MPs and the Union of Islamic Courts. (BBC)
Iraq insurgency: At least eight people are killed and thirty injured in two simultaneous explosions in Baghdad, Iraq. (BBC News)
A 5.9 earthquake occurs near Papua New Guinea. No damage is reported. (The Star Online)
Five Shiite ministers resign from the cabinet of Lebanon, complicating the situation for Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. (CNN)

November 12, 2006 (Sunday)

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Central African Republic Civil War: Rebels claim to have captured a second town in the Central African Republic during a two-week long offensive. (BBC News)
Iranian nuclear program: Israel threatens to launch air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities "as a last resort", and the Iranian foreign ministry responds that it would "retaliate with a crushing blow" should Israel act. (BBC News)
Somali Civil War (2006-present): Heavy fighting broke out in central Somalia, officials said, a day after the transitional government rejected a peace initiative with the country's Islamic movement. (The Jerusalem Post)
An international treaty, the 2003 Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War, comes into force aiming to limit the impact of cluster bombs and other unexploded devices on civilian populations after a conflict ends. (BBC via ABC News Australia)
A suicide bomber kills at least 35 people and injures about 50 more at a police recruiting center in Baghdad. (AP via ABC News)
The former Soviet autonomous oblast of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia, heightening tension in the Caucasus. (BBC News)
The first round of the 2006 local elections for local mayors and local city councils takes place in Poland.

November 13, 2006 (Monday)

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Voters in South Ossetia vote 98-99% in favor of independence from Georgia in a referendum. 78% of the vote has been counted. Neither Russia nor the West recognize the poll's legitimacy. (CNN)
Rwandan President Paul Kagame denies previous reports that quoted him as saying Rwanda would invade the Democratic Republic of Congo to deal with Hutu rebel groups responsible for the Rwandan genocide. (AlertNet)
South Korea says it won't participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative that aims to intercept North Korean ships suspected of carrying supplies for North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. (AP via ABC News)
A colliery explosion in Shanxi province in northern China kills at least 24 miners. (The Australian)
A train crash near Cape Town, South Africa, kills at least 27 people. (BBC News)
Joseph Kony, head of the Lord's Resistance Army terrorist organization in Uganda, meets with Jan Egeland, the United Nations' highest humanitarian official. (The Times)
Lebanese Environment Minister Yaacoub Sarraf, a Christian allied with Hezbollah, joins the rank of five other cabinet members who resigned on November 11, 2006. The cabinet later unanmously approved a UN-proposed international tribunal to try suspects over the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. (Canadian Press)
In a major development for the Free Software movement, Sun Microsystems releases the Java programming language under the GNU General Public Licence. (BBC) (ZDNET)

November 14, 2006 (Tuesday)

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The President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he expects its nuclear enrichment program to be ready by February 2007. (CNN)
The first babies to have been screened for faulty genes by Preimplantation Genetic Haplotyping (PGH) have been born in London's Guy's Hospital. (The Times)
Gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms kidnap up to 100 people from a Higher Education Ministry building in Baghdad. (BBC News)
In Kenya, flash flooding in the Mombasa region claims at least 21 lives. The Kenyan Red Cross claims 60,000 people have been made homeless. (BBC News)
The European Union has renewed diplomatic sanctions for Uzbekistan. The sanctions, which have been violated repeatedly by the governments of Britain and