October 2005
Portal:Current events
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1 October 2005 (Saturday)
- The Ilamatepec volcano erupts in a coffee-growing area 40 miles (60 km) west of San Salvador, El Salvador, spitting rock and ash into the air. The Salvadoran government evacuates hundreds of people in the region and there are no reported injuries. San Salvador's air quality - already the most polluted in Central America - is significantly worsened by the additional volcanic debris. (Yahoo! news)(Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
- A bomb explodes outside of a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma, killing one. (ABC) (NYTimes) (registration required)
- A Russian rocket lifts a Soyuz spacecraft towards the International Space Station, carrying the third fare-paying space tourist, American Gregory Olsen. (CNN) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)) (FloridaToday)
- Four explosions are reported in Bali at popular tourist areas, killing at least 36 and injuring 103 people. (CNN) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)) (BBC) (WRKO)
- New Zealand's Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark is set to form a third-term government after the National Party loses a seat following the count of 'special' votes. She begins talks with minor party leaders to form a coalition government as well obtain the support of enough minor parties to have a majority on supply and confidence issues. (SBS) (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC)) (NZ election results)
- The Indonesian government raises fuel prices by more than 100%, resulting in petrol prices of 4,500 rupiah (US$0.44) a litre (US$1.67 per gallon). (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
2 October 2005 (Sunday)
- Mexico wins the FIFA U-17 Men's Championship 2005 in Lima, Peru, beating Brazil 3-0 (Notimex)
- Severely injured victims of the 2005 Bali bombings are being evacuated to medical facilities in Australia and Singapore. The Australian Government has made moves to assist Indonesia in its response, dispatching Australian Federal Police officers and forensic experts to assist in investigations. (ABC)
- The Ethan Allen, a boat on Lake George, in Upstate New York, capsized killing 20 people. The boat has been raised by investigators. (CNN)
- The Ugandan Army is deploying troops to West Nile in readiness for an imminent military combat against the Lord's Resistance Army at the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. (allAfrica)
- The astronomers who discovered Eris, referred to as "the tenth planet" by NASA and some media outlets, have announced that it has a moon, Dysnomia. (CNN)
3 October 2005 (Monday)
- St. Tammany Parish Schools reopen in Louisiana just over a month after Hurricane Katrina closed them.
- West African leaders call for the strengthening of United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure efforts to end the three year civil war in Côte d'Ivoire pay off. A total 6,640 peacekeepers are currently serving in the UN force, which is under Senegalese command, monitoring the buffer zone between the north and south with the help of 4,000 French troops. (allAfrica)
- South Africa announces a ZAR 140 million (USD $22 million) donation to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to alleviate food shortages in Southern Africa. (allAfrica)
- Australians Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren have been awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease". (BBC)
- U.S. Representative Tom DeLay is indicted on a charge of money laundering. (Reuters)
- Up to 60 police cadets have been swept away by powerful Typhoon Longwang in Fujian, south-east China. (BBC)
- Former Manchester United footballer George Best reported to be in intensive care (due to a kidney infection) at Cromwell Hospital, London. (BBC)
- At least 11 people die during a stampede at a concert in Sangju, South Korea. (BBC)
- On the first day of the U.S. Supreme Court's fall term, President George W. Bush nominates White House Counsel Harriet Miers to fill the seat currently held by Sandra Day O'Connor. The nominee has no judicial experience. (BBC).
- Conflict in Afghanistan: Afghan troops kill 31 suspects following clashes in Paktika, in eastern Afghanistan. (BBC)
- Millions of people view the solar eclipse which occurred at 10:31 UTC, mainly in Africa and south-west Europe. (BBC)
- A train derails and crashes in Datia, Madhya Pradesh in India, killing 16 people. (BBC)
- NTL, the largest British cable television company, telco and ISP, announces its multi-billion pound purchase of Telewest, the second largest cable company, creating one of the largest companies in the British media industry. (Guardian) (Bloomberg)
- Turkey and Croatia begin talks about joining the European Union following over a day of debate over an Austrian proposal that Turkey should be offered an associate status short of full membership. (BBC)
- In Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Media Guild announce a preliminary agreement to end the current lockout of CMG members in most of the country which seriously impaired corporation's programming since August 17. (Toronto Star)
4 October 2005 (Tuesday)
- United States President George W. Bush expresses concern for a potential avian flu outbreak. He requests Congressional legislation permitting the military to impose a quarantine in the event of a deadly flu pandemic. (IndyStar)
- Eleven embassies in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, receive suspicious packages containing threatening letters and an unidentified liquid, triggering security alerts. (Forbes)
- Conflict in Iraq: Five U.S. soldiers die during sweeps of insurgent-held towns in Iraq. (Seattle Times).
- The Malawi government says that 650,000 people in the country have died due to AIDS in the past two decades. There are now 850,000 orphaned children, 50% resulting from AIDS. (allAfrica)
- The United Nations Security Council demands that Rwandan rebels, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), immediately disarm and leave Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)
- Two Congolese soldiers die and eleven others are injured in a plane crash as the United Nations and Democratic Republic of the Congo's army airlifted local troops to the northeastern frontier to confront Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels. (Reuters)
- One million French transportation workers and teachers hold a nationwide strike in opposition to the Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's economic and labor policies, forcing the closure of schools and airports. (Reuters)
- Ohio Iraqi War veteran Paul Hackett is expected to run in the state Democratic primary to contest the seat of Republican Senator Mike DeWine. Hackett lost in a closely contested House race on August 2.(The Cincinnati Enquirer)
- Roy J. Glauber, John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch share in the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics. (Nobelprize.org)
- Four Ugandan civilians are killed in a rare afternoon ambush on a pickup truck in northeast Uganda by Lord's Resistance Army rebels. The insurgents are suspected of shooting the driver and two passengers and killing a fourth with an axe. (BBC News)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A 37-year-old Palestinian mother of six is shot and killed after she stabbed and lightly injured a female Israel Defense Forces soldier at the Hawara roadblock south of Nablus. No militant group claimed the attack, but it is known that the woman's brother was killed by the IDF at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. (Ynetnews), (BBC)
5 October 2005 (Wednesday)
- Level 3 Communications terminates peering connectivity between its Internet network and the one belonging to Cogent Communications over a financial dispute. As a result, thousands of Internet users are unable to access some sites. (PC World)
- England international football player Wayne Rooney is named as FIFA SOS Ambassador for England, in support of the official FIFA World Cup charity. (the FA) (SOS)
- Uganda-born John Sentamu is formally confirmed in office as the Archbishop of York, the second-highest post in the Church of England. (BBC) (The Telegraph)
- U.S. Marine Leandro Aragoncillo is indicted for espionage, accused of passing classified information from the Vice President's office to the Philippines. (Reuters)
- The Roman Catholic bishops of England, Wales, and Scotland issue a teaching guide which explains biblical passages should not be taken literally. The Creation, Garden of Eden and the creation of Eve from Adam's rib are considered to be "symbolic language". (Scotsman)
- Russian President Vladimir Putin in a ceremony at 10 Downing Street awards the Order of Maritime Service to six British military and civilian personnel responsible for the rescue of the mini-submarine AS-28 off the Kamchatka Peninsula. (North West Evening Mail)
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs, and Richard R. Schrock the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, "for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis". (Nobelprize.org)
- South Thailand insurgency: Five Thai soldiers are killed in a drive-by shooting in Thailand's Narathiwat province. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: The British Government alleges that Iran is responsible for recent attacks on British military forces. (BBC)
- Hurricane Stan strikes Mexico and Central America, at least 66 people have died, most of them in landslides in El Salvador. (CBC)
- Braving the threat of a veto from United States President George W. Bush, U.S. Senate Republicans joined Democrats, voting 90 to 9 to amend defense spending bill with a ban the use of torture by U.S. military forces. (FT) (Mercury News)
- The National Hockey League returns after a year-long lockout. Opening night featured all 30 teams in action, including young phenom Sidney Crosby's debut against the New Jersey Devils.
6 October 2005 (Thursday)
- Five leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group begun in Uganda, are targeted by the first arrest warrants to be issued by the International Criminal Court. (BBC)
- Gabon announces that the presidential elections are to be held on 27 November with security forces voting two days earlier, but opposition denounces the move as a ruse for ballot rigging. (allAfrica)
- Zimbabwe is facing increasing threat of military revolt, as soldiers are increasingly dissatisfied by the government's failure to increase their salaries and by chronic food shortages at their barracks. (allAfrica)
- New York City increases police presence in the New York City subway system after receiving a credible terror threat. (BBC)
- Hurricane Katrina: Louisiana National Guard officials say repeated news reports by CNN on September 1, 2005 that shots were fired at a UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter at the Louisiana Superdome were false. (Washington Post)
- Conflict in Iraq: As Iraqi president Jalal Talabani tells UK Prime Minister Tony Blair any troop withdrawal would be a "catastrophe" (BBC), 10 people die following a bomb near the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad. (BBC)
- The European Court of Human Rights rules the United Kingdom's ban on voting rights for prisoners is unlawful. (BBC)
- Properties in Manchester, England are searched by the Assets Recovery Agency during on-going investigations into the business activities of men alleged to have links with the Irish Republican Army. (BBC)
- Death toll of Hurricane Stan reaches 166. (Reuters)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel is to ban using Palestinians as human shields following a Supreme Court of Israel ruling. (BBC)
- Malalai Joya, a 27 year old women's rights worker, has won one of the first seats in Afghanistan's National Assembly, also called the Wolesa Jirga. (CNN)
- Ted Koppel will anchor his last broadcast of Nightline on 22 November and not in December 2005 as had been previously announced. (Reuters)
7 October 2005 (Friday)
- Conflict in Afghanistan: U.S. Troops kill four Afghan police, after mistaking them for militants in the Girishk district of the Helmand Province. (BBC)
- Militants kill at least 8 members of the Ahmadiyya faith inside a Mosque as worshippers were performing Salah. The attack occurred in Mandi Bahauddin in Punjab, Pakistan. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- At least twenty-nine Iraqi fighters and six U.S. Marines are killed in major fighting in western Iraq. (BBC) (Reuters)
- British forces have detained 12 people, including three police officers, in connection with a series of deadly attacks on UK forces in southern Iraq. (BBC)
- The UN International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei share the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to limit the spread of atomic weapons. (CNN) (Aftenposten) (Nobel Prize)
- Three Hamas members are kidnapped from their homes in the West Bank. A group, supportive of the Palestinian National Authority, calling itself the "Omar Ben al-Khatib Warriors" claims responsibility for the kidnappings of the three, and one is later freed. <a href="http://www.yn