Portal:Current events/April 2006

April 2006: ← – January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December –→

Deaths
2: Nina von Stauffenberg 2: Michael J. Novosel 4: Denis Donaldson 5: Gene Pitney 8: Gerard Reve 11: DeShaun "Proof" Holton 11: June Pointer 12: William Sloane Coffin 12: Rajkumar 13: Muriel Spark 19: Scott Crossfield 22: Alida Valli 23: Ghafar Baba 24: Steve Stavro 25: Jane Jacobs 25: Peter Law 27: Julia Thorne 29: John Kenneth Galbraith 30: Paul Spiegel

Events

Abramoff scandal Ariel Sharon illness Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak Black sites scandal CIA leak grand jury investigation Cole Inquiry Demonstrations in Nepal Formation of a new Iraqi government Horn of Africa food crisis Iran's nuclear program Liberal leadership race in Canada Malawi food crisis Montenegrin independence campaign Muhammad cartoons controversy North Indian cyclone season NSA warrantless surveillance controversy Pacific typhoon season Southern Hemisphere cyclone season

Ongoing armed conflicts
Acholiland insurgency Arab-Israeli conflict (Al-Aqsa Intifada) Darfur conflict in Sudan Iraq War Ituri conflict in the DR Congo Ivorian Civil War Nepal Civil War Second Chechen War South Thailand insurgency

Elections
2: Thailand, Legislative (Lower house) 9: Peru, President (1st Round) and legislature 9 and 10: Italy, Parliament 9: Hungary, Parliament (1st Round) 17: India, State legislature 19: Thailand, Legislature (Upper house) 21: Haiti, Parliament (2nd Round) 23: Hungary, Parliament (2nd Round) 27: Scotland, Moray by-election 30: Laos, Parliamentary

Trials

Chile: Alberto Fujimori (extradition) Chile: Augusto Pinochet Ethiopia: 111 defendants, including leaders of the CUD and journalists, for charges related to the 2005 elections Iraq: Iraqi Special Tribunal Saddam Hussein, among others Netherlands: ICC Thomas Lubanga Netherlands: ICTY Russia: Nur-Pashi Kulayev Sierra Leone: SCfSL Charles Taylor South Africa: Jacob Zuma UK: Leo O'Connor and David Keogh U.S.: Brian Nichols U.S.: Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling U.S.: Tom DeLay U.S.: Zacarias Moussaoui

Events

1 April 2006 (Saturday)

• Marcos Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut, reaches the International Space Station. (CNN)
• A small aircraft goes missing whilst in flight towards Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with 19 people onboard. It is found to have crashed near Saquarema, about 100 km from Rio. There are no survivors. (BBC)
• The Serious Organised Crime Agency, dubbed the 'British FBI', is launched in the United Kingdom. (BBC)
• First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains combined into the new Greater Western franchise. (BBC)

2 April 2006 (Sunday)

• In Thailand, the 2006 legislative election is held. All three major opposition parties have announced they are boycotting the election. (Indep. UK)
• An outbreak of tornadoes, the April 2, 2006 Tornado Outbreak, hits northeastern Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel, and West Tennessee killing 27.
• Lucent Technologies announced its merger agreement with Alcatel. (BBC)
• The Human Rights Protection Party wins Samoa's general election. The HRPP was already the ruling party, and its leader Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi the Prime Minister, but the party did better in the election than polls had indicated. (Radio NZ)
• After about three months captivity as a hostage in Iraq, American journalist Jill Carroll returns to American soil in Boston, Massachusetts. (CNN)

3 April 2006 (Monday)

• The jury in the first phase of the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui has decided that he is eligible for the death penalty. (CNN)
• A large air force C-5 Galaxy military cargo jet crashed when landing at Dover Air Force Base in the U.S. state of Delaware. (CNN)
• Judge Anand Satyanand has been appointed to succeed Dame Silvia Cartwright as Governor-General of New Zealand. He will take up office on August 4, 2006. (Beehive)

4 April 2006 (Tuesday)

• 2006 labor protests in France: Three million people march against the First Employment Contract (CPE) law, 700 000 in Paris. Student organizations call for a general strike. (Washington Post)
• In the Republic of Ireland, Denis Donaldson a former senior Sinn Féin member, is found shot dead near the village of Glenties, County Donegal, close to where it is believed he had been living since he admitted, in December 2005, to being a paid British agent for over twenty years. (BBC)
• Thailand legislative election, April 2006: Thaksin Shinawatra resigns as Prime Minister of Thailand despite his ruling Thai Rak Thai party winning an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives. (BBC)
• A security expert testifies to an inquest that film director James Miller was shot intentionally by an Israeli soldier while making a film in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. (The Independent) (BBC)
• Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay announces his resignation from the United States House of Representatives. (TIME)
• The 39th Canadian Parliament opens in Ottawa, with the Speech from the Throne delivered by the Governor General on behalf of the newly elected government of Stephen Harper. (Toronto Star)

5 April 2006 (Wednesday)

• US scientists have successfully implanted artificial bladders (artificial urinary bladders) grown in the laboratory from patients' own cells into patients. (VoA)

6 April 2006 (Thursday)

• An earthquake of 5.5 magnitude is reported in Western Gujarat in India.
• The World Meteorological Organization has announced the retirement of a record five storm names from the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Retired names include Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma. (CNN)
• The National Geographic Society unveils the restored Gospel of Judas in Washington, D.C. Written in Coptic, the document is thought to have come from the 2nd century. It had been deteriorating rapidly when found. (NPR)
• A 1,500 year old pyramid called the Hill of the Star has been found in Mexico City. (Guardian Unlimited) (BBC)
• Orthodox Jews in Boro Park in New York City continue to protest after a 75-year-old Hasidic man was beaten and arrested by police for talking on a cell phone while driving. NYPD Chief Joseph Esposito allegedly cursed out the protestors in anti-Semitic terms, resulting in condemnations and calls for him to step down. (FOX news) (New York Sun)
• Palaeontologists announce the discovery of the Tiktaalik genus, an important fossil link between fish and land animals. (BBC)(Guardian)(New York Times)
• Israeli police arrest and release Khaled Abu Arafa, minister of Jerusalem affairs in the new Hamas-led government of the Palestinian Authority. (Associated Press)
• The Parliament of New Zealand passes a bill that on receiving Royal Assent will make New Zealand Sign Language the third official language of New Zealand, alongside English and Māori. (TVNZ)
• Health experts announce that a dead swan found in Scotland has tested positive for bird flu. (BBC). It has been further confirmed that the bird had the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus (Bloomberg). Scotland and the UK confirm H5N1 virus, but say a GB-wide poultry housing requirement would be "disproportionate." (Farmers Weekly).

7 April 2006 (Friday)

• For the second time in less than a week, a number of tornados strike the U.S. states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. (FOX News)
• The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown and his publisher, Random House, win the lawsuit that claimed that Brown committed copyright infringement by using ideas similar to those in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. (CNN)
• At 10 o'clock UTC NASA's Pluto probe New Horizons crossed the orbit of Mars, after 78 days journey. This is a new Earth-to-Mars-distance flight record.

8 April 2006 (Saturday)

• Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight members of the infamous Bandidos biker group are found by a resident in a cornfield in southwest Ontario, Canada. The incident is considered a cleansing of the gang's inner circle. The Ontario Provincial Police launch a full-scale murder investigation. (CBC) (London Free Press (Ontario)) (National Nine News)
• The United Front for Democratic Change has attacked and gained control of the cities of Haraze Mangueigne, Am Timan, and Abou-Deia, in Chad. Their initial attack came from northern Central African Republic with the help of the Military of Sudan. This is the largest and most successful attack since the start of the Chadian-Sudanese conflict despite taking only an hour, with only four men injured and none killed because the Chadian military has either fled or refused to fight the rebels. (AlertNet)
• The death toll in the Djibouti ferry disaster reaches 109. (Reuters)
• The Aligarh Riots between Hindus and Muslims enter its fourth day. At least five people have been killed in the rioting in the North Indian town of Aligarh so far. (Reuters)
• Three protesters are wounded and six buildings are burned down in the fourth day of the pro-Democracy general strike in Nepal against King Gyanendra. (AFP)
• The World Health Organization announces that the average life expectancy of Zimbabweans has declined to 37 years for men and 34 years for women. (BBC)
• Newcastle Falcons sevens team win the annual Melrose Sevens rugby tournament in Scotland. They beat Edinburgh team Heriots in the final.

9 April 2006 (Sunday)

• Scooter Libby says U.S. President George W. Bush okayed leaks of secret CIA intelligence material. (Buffalo News)
• Hungarian parliamentary election, 2006: The ruling Hungarian Socialist Party wins the first round. Voter turnout was 67.7 percent.(XinHua)
• Peru hold presidential election: Peruvian national election, 2006

10 April 2006 (Monday)

• Preliminary results from the general election in Peru shows Ollanta Humala leading, but certain to face a runoff election in late May or early June. Alan García is narrowly leading Lourdes Flores for second place and a spot in the runoff. (Bloomberg) (BBC)
• Non-violent demonstrations for immigrant rights are held in dozens of U.S. cities today in opposition to H.R. 4437, which would classify illegal aliens as felons. (Reuters) (New York Times) (AP via Wired)
• Shedden massacre: Ontario Provincial Police announce that five people have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the slaying of eight people found dead in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The OPP also confirms that the deaths were connected to an "internal cleansing" of the Bandidos biker gang. (CBC)
• Matthias Platzeck resigns from the Chair of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) after suffering a major hearing loss in March 2006 because of occupational stress. The next SPD chairman will be Kurt Beck (Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate). (BBC)
• Italian general election, 2006: Romano Prodi declares victory in a tight election as preliminary results show L'Unione (The Union) ahead of Silvio Berlusconi's House of Freedoms by 0.1 percent in the Chamber of Deputies, but Berlusconi refuses to concede. (BBC) (La Stampa)
• The government of France announces the withdrawal of its youth employment law. The proposed law had catalyzed more than a month of sometimes-violent protests on the streets of Paris and other cities. (Washington Post)
• Sri Lankan Civil War: a claymore mine explodes in northern Jaffna, killing five soldiers on patrol and two civilians working for the Caritas Internationalis aid agency. (BBC)
• Pakistan's foreign office declares that the United States did not keep it fully informed about the Indo-US nuclear deal as the information shared initially with it did not match the final agreement. (Pakistan Link) (The Dawn, Pakistan)

11 April 2006 (Tuesday)

• The city of Essen, Germany, is selected to be the European Capital of Culture of 2010 by the EU jury. (Deutsche Welle)
• A suspected suicide bomber detonates a bomb at a religious gathering in Karachi, Pakistan, killing at least 47 and injuring more than 80 celebrating Mawlid al-Nabi. (BBC)
• Bernardo Provenzano, boss of the Sicilian Mafia (capo di tutti i capi), is caught near the town of Corleone. (BBC)
• The Venus Express spacecraft of the European Space Agency approaches Venus approximately five months after it was launched and starts its main engine burn to slow itself down and allow the capture into orbit around Venus. (BBC) (ESA)
• Sri Lankan Civil War: a bus carrying soldiers from Trincomalee hits a claymore mine, killing 10 navy sailors, their driver and leaving another eight wounded. A pair of British tourists are also injured in the blast. (BBC)
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium. In a televised address from the northeastern city of Mashhad, Ahmadinejad said "I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology". (Bloomberg)
• Musician Proof of Eminem's hip hop group D12 is shot to death in a Detroit night club.

12 April 2006 (Wednesday)

• United Front for Democratic Change rebels approach N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. (BBC)
• Coronary specialist Sir Magdi Yacoub operates on Welsh schoolgirl cardiomyopathy patient Hannah Clark, whose original heart is reconnected, after a donor heart was rejected by her body. This is a UK-first organ-replacement reversal. (BBC)
• The UK's Terrorism Act 2006 comes into force, making illegal the act of glorifying terrorism. (BBC)
• Sri Lankan Civil War: coordinated bombings and rioting in the north-eastern part of the country leaves 16 dead. A claymore anti-personnel mine explodes in Trincomalee, killing two policemen in their vehicle. Another blast set off in a crowded vegetable market kills one soldier and civilians. Ensuing rioting leaves more than a dozen dead. Authorities have blamed LTTE rebels for the recent attacks since Monday. (BBC) (Reuters)
• Fossils of Australopithecus anamensis help bridge a long gap during a crucial phase of human evolution. (BBC)

13 April 2006 (Thursday)

• Battle of N'Djamena: The United Front for Democratic Change's attack on the Chadian capital of N'Djamena is repelled by the Chadian army. (Canadian Press) The UN Security Council condemns the rebel attack. (BBC)
• John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia denies being aware of an Australian company giving "kick-backs" to Saddam Hussein during the United Nations' Oil for food programme. (BBC)

14 April 2006 (Friday)

• Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticizes Israel in a three-day conference attended by Palestinian Hamas officials. He calls the Israeli regime "a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm." (Washington Post)
• Chad severs diplomatic ties with Sudan following an attempted coup by Chadian rebels in which around 350 died. Chad accuses Sudan of sponsoring the rebels. (AP)
• Burundi lifts a midnight-to-dawn curfew that has been in place for 34 years. (BBC)
• 2006 European floods: The Danube, swollen by heavy rain and melting snow, rises to record levels, and floods hundreds of homes in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. (BBC)
• In Delhi, India, two explosions inside the 16th century mosque Jama Masjid injure at least nine people. (BBC) (VOA)
• An editorial in The Lancet, an influential medical journal, says that researchers should study the effects of drugs by using them themselves, and thereby weakening the force of the social demonization of such substances. (Guardian)
• An accident occurs on the Yurikamome rail line in Tokyo, Japan, when a damaged axle causes a rubber traction tire on a train to fall off, forcing the cancellation of all weekend train services. (Kyodo News)
• Suspected militants kill at least four civilians in a series of grenade attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir. A fifth civilian dies after police opens fire on the suspected militants. At least 17 others are injured. (BBC)
• A man disfigured in a bear attack becomes the first in China to have a face transplant. (BBC)

15 April 2006 (Saturday)

• 2006 European floods: The Danube rises to its highest level in more than a century. (CNN)
• In a gunfight with the Afghani Police Force, the Taliban lose 41 fighters and the police lose 6. (National Nine News)
• Two trains collide in Java, Indonesia, killing at least 13 people and injuring 26 others. (BBC)
• The Jammu and Kashmir police arrest nine suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed members in connection with the grenade attacks that shook Srinagar killing five and injuring 40 others. (The Tribune) (The Hindu)
• April 2006 Nepalese general strike: Thousands of people have taken part in pro-democracy marches in towns and cities across Nepal. (BBC)

16 April 2006 (Sunday)

• In Dublin, Irish military forces parade for the first time since 1970 in commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern lays a wreath at Kilmainham Jail, where most of the rebel leaders were subsequently shot, in memory of the civilian and military dead of both sides. (BBC)
• Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, holds an official meeting and banquet with the Honorary Chairman of the Nationalist Party of China (Kuomintang), Lien Chan. The two reached on the new "15 Favourable Policies" on relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. (People's Daily)

17 April 2006 (Monday)

• A general strike in Nepal called by political parties opposed to King Gyanendra enters its 12th day, with food shortages and price rises triggering panic buying in some areas. (BBC) Security forces fatally shot a protester and wounded five in Nijgadh, 75 miles south of Katmandu. (CNN)
• 21-year-old Palestinian Sami Hammad, a suicide bomber, blew himself up at the old central bus station in southern Tel Aviv, in the Neveh Sha'anan neighborhood. Eleven people were killed and 70 more were wounded in the blast. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad has taken responsibility for the bombing. A Hamas spokesman calls the attack an "act of self-defense." (Haaretz) (Ynetnews) (CNN) (BBC)

18 April 2006 (Tuesday)

• Hu Jintao arrives in Seattle, Washington, on his first visit to the United States since becoming President of the People's Republic of China in 2003. (CNN).
• The H5N1 strain of avian influenza is reported in Sudan following reports in neighbouring Egypt. (BBC)
• The New York Stock Exchange is in merger talks with London Stock Exchange. If the merger went ahead, it would create a stock exchange giant. (Reuters)
• The Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam opens in Hanoi amid the PMU-18 corruption scandal. (Reuters) (BBC)
• 2006 European floods: Thousands of emergency workers in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia try to bolster dikes to prevent flooding along the swollen Danube River, which has surged to its highest level in more than a century. (CNN) Several thousand people have been evacuated from their homes. (BBC)
• An El Al airplane in which a malfunction had been detected made a successful emergency landing at the Ben Gurion Airport. The flight, which had departed for Moscow made its way back to Tel Aviv after a malfunction was discovered in one of its wheels upon liftoff. The plane emptied its fuel tank above the sea and then landed at the Ben Gurion airport. (Ynetnews)
• Today marks the 100th Anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Events marking the centennial will be held today and will continue through the end of the year. (CBS) (BBC)
• The head of Gazprom, Russia's natural-gas monopoly, told officials of the European Union not to "politicize" the gas market—the speech was part of an escalating war of words between Russia as supplier and the EU as customer. (Moscow Times)

19 April 2006 (Wednesday)

• The Italian Supreme Court has confirmed the victory of centre-left opposition candidate Romano Prodi in last week's contested Italian general election, 2006, dismissing complaints by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that the vote was marred by irregularities. (BBC) (Reuters)
• White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announces his resignation. Karl Rove is expected to lose his position as Deputy Chief of Staff for political development. President George W. Bush tries to shake up his cabinet because of the mid-term elections in November. (BBC)
• The Bolivian army frees three ministers taken hostage by local village people in El Mutún, the world's largest iron ore deposit (Le Monde).
• Elections in the Solomon Islands: The announcement of the new Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Snyder Rini, causes riots in Honiara. Australia and New Zealand promise to send more troops to keep order. (Radio NZ) (VOA)

20 April 2006 (Thursday)

• The President of Singapore, Sellapan Ramanathan, "on the advice of the prime minister (Lee Hsien Loong), has dissolved parliament" to prepare for the 2006 general election, to be held on May 6. (BBC)
• Following reports of the UK government's hostility to a takeover of Centrica, Russian gas giant Gazprom warns of Europe-wide supply disruption (Channel4 News)
• April 2006 Nepalese general strike: Nepali police open fire on pro-democracy protesters to prevent them from marching into Kathmandu, the capital, killing at least three people and injuring dozens. (Reuters) The United Nations condemns "the excessive and deadly use of force by members of the security forces against protesters and innocent bystanders". (BBC)
• Sri Lankan Civil War: The Tamil Tigers have ended peace talks, stating they are not viable indefinitely. (Reuters)
• Famous U.S. test pilot Scott Crossfield dies in an air crash of a Cessna 210.(AP)
• A vast river system connecting various subglacial lakes is discovered under the Antarctic ice shield. (MSNBC) (BBC) (nationalgeographic.com)
• U.S. President George W. Bush welcomes the Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House. A Falun Gong protester—an accredited journalist from The Epoch Times—interrupts Hu's speech at the arrival ceremony before being removed by the Secret Service. The announcer violates protocol by accidentally calling the March of the Volunteers the "National Anthem of the Republic of China". (BBC)
• German automaker Volkswagen is in talks for a restructuring program to cut costs and make the core unit Volkswagen more profitable. (AP via Yahoo)
• Snyder Rini was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands and took office in secret, amid continued post-election rioting targeting ethnic Chinese. (Guardian)

21 April 2006 (Friday)

• April 2006 Nepalese general strike: King Gyanendra of Nepal asks for Prime Minister nominations to be made to assist in ending unrest in the country. (BBC)
• Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms celebrates her 80th birthday. On the same day, the BBC marks eighty years since the granting of its first Royal Charter. (BBC)
• The California court of appeal heard oral arguments over bloggers' challenges to an effort by Apple Computer to force the ISP of an Apple news site to hand over the email records of bloggers it claims revealed trade secrets. (ITWire)
• Haitian elections, 2006: Voter turnout in the second round of the legislative elections is deemed low. (Reuters)
• The 2005–2006 National Hockey League playoffs started.

22 April 2006 (Saturday)

• Colombian Armed Conflict: Seventeen Colombian soldiers and a secret policeman were killed by rebels in an ambush in the mountains near the Venezuelan border. (BBC)
• Conflict in Afghanistan: Four Canadian soldiers were killed 75 kilometers north of Kandahar by a roadside bomb planted by Taliban militants. (Canada.com)
• April 2006 Nepalese general strike: Opposition leaders in Nepal reject King Gyanendra's proposals for restoring democracy. Thousands of protesters approaching the Narayanhity Royal Palace in Kathmandu are fired upon by security forces with tear gas. (VOA), (Reuters), (CBC)
• The first city-wide election in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina takes place. (Reuters)
• The Iraqi Parliament meet to vote on choosing a Prime Minister, only the second time since the December elections. The nominee Jawad al-Maliki has been put forward by the dominant Shia block. (BBC) (CNN International)
• Kharkiv supermarket bombings: Two homemade bombs exploded at supermarkets in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, injuring 14. (Seattle Post Intelligencer) (Interfax Russia) (ABC)
• In India, BJP leader Pramod Mahajan is shot at his home, and reported to be in critical condition. (Hindustan Times) (BBC)

23 April 2006 (Sunday)

• Osama Bin Laden calls for Jihad against "Crusaders" in Darfur in audiotape released to Al Jazeera. (Reuters)
• Parliamentary elections in Hungary: The Hungarian Socialist Party wins with a plurality of the votes and will therefore continue to govern in coalition with the Alliance of Free Democrats; it also becomes the first re-elected government of Hungary since the end of the Cold War. (BBC) (Washington Post) (Washington Post/Reuters)
• Elections in the Solomon Islands: Beijing begins to evacuate ethnic Chinese from Solomon Islands following Anti-Chinese riots during the election protests that destroyed the Chinatown. (Xinhua) (Washington Post)
• Cyclone Monica, a Category 5 cyclone on the Australian and Saffir-Simpson scales, threatens Australia's northern coast including the city of Darwin. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has warned of "dangerously high tides" that may cause "extensive flooding" along part of the coast and ordered the sounding of emergency sirens in the Gove Peninsula. Alcan, the world's second-biggest aluminium producer, has warned customers of potential interruptions to supplies on contracts from its Gove refinery. (Bloomberg)
• A silent march through Brussels, Belgium, takes place with 80,000 participants, following the murder on April 12 of a teenager, stabbed at rush hour in Brussels Central Railway station when he refused to hand over his MP3 player. (VRT) (Le Soir)
• Sri Lankan Civil War: six Sinhalese rice farmers are executed in their paddy fields by suspected Tamil Tigers terrorists in the northeastern Trincomalee district. (AlertNet)
• Peru declares a state of emergency in towns near the volcano Ubinas. (Reuters)

24 April 2006 (Monday)

• Famous Bangladeshi social worker and human rights activist Nasreen Pervin Huq died at his own house in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by a tragic accident. She had been the country director of the ActionAid Bangladesh (ActionAid) since 2003 up until her death.
• Former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, and current Leader of the Opposition, Basdeo Panday, is convicted on three counts of failing to declare a London bank account in 1997, 1998, and 1999. He is sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour, fined TT$20,000 on each count, and ordered to forfeit approximately TT$1,600,000 (the accumulated year-end balances of the account in question). He intends to appeal the sentence, but resigned as Leader of the Opposition. (T&T Express), (Radio Jamaica)
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unexpectedly lifts a 27-year ban on female attendance of public sporting events in Iran. They still need permission of the male head of the household to attend and they will sit in a special female-only section. (AP) (Guardian) (BBC)
• 2006 Democracy movement in Nepal: Hundreds of Maoist rebels stormed the town of Chautara, attacking government offices and a prison. (BBC). King Gyanendra orders the recall next Friday of the parliament which he suspended in 2005 – a key demand of the protestors. (BBC)
• 2006 Dahab bombings: Witnesses reporting hearing three explosions in the Egyptian Sinai resort town of Dahab at about 1715 UTC. Dr. Said Essa, who runs the Sinai Peninsula rescue squad, estimates there were at least 100 dead or wounded. (CTV)
• Pope Benedict XVI is reported to have agreed to a relaxation of rules for the use of condoms. (BBC)
• Dubai International Finance Centre, owner of the Dubai stock exchange, announces that it has increased its equity stake in Euronext NV, which runs stock exchanges in four European capitals. There are rumors of an impending take-over bid. (MSN)
• Sri Lankan Civil War: Two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels are shot dead in Batticaloa while being caught planting mines, after rebels reportedly hacked a young mother to death. In the eastern part of the island, two Sinhalese guards are killed as they returned from a funeral and one Tamil is shot dead by unidentified gunmen. (BBC)
• Ken Lay, former chairman of the board of defunct Enron Corporation, took the stand in his own defense in his criminal trial in Houston, Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
• A collision between a passenger bus and a truck kills 10 people, members of two different families, in Marcos Paz, Argentina. (Telefe video, in Spanish)

25 April 2006 (Tuesday)

• Sri Lankan Civil War: A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber attacks the Sri Lankan Army headquarters in the capital, Colombo, killing 8. Twenty-seven have been injured, including the army commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, as the female suicide bomber, pretending to be pregnant to conceal explosives, detonates her bomb near the military's hospital. The Sri Lankan military has begun aerial assaults on rebel positions in the north-eastern part of the island nation. (BBC), (MumbaiMirror), (Reuters)
• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi appears unmasked in a newly released video taunting the "crusade" by the American-led coalition and Iraqi authorities. At one point, he addresses U.S. President George W. Bush. (BBC), (CNN)
• The UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions on four Sudanese citizens involved in the Darfur conflict: Maj.-Gen. Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan of the Sudanese Air Force; Sheikh Musa Hilal, paramount chief of the Jalul Janjaweed tribe in North Darfur; Commander Adam Yacub Shant of the Sudanese Liberation Army; and Commander Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri of the National Movement for Reform and Development. The vote marks the first time UN sanctions have been adopted against individuals involved in this conflict. (CBC), (BBC)
• In the Philippines, 49 people are charged with rebellion over an alleged plot to overthrow President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in February 2006. (CBC), (BBC)
• The Communist Party of Vietnam announces at the closing of the Tenth National Congress that Nông Ðức Mạnh will be re-appointed as its general secretary for another five year term. Other key positions, such as those of prime minister and president, are yet to be appointed. New faces are expected. (BBC)
• Darwin, Australia, is spared a projected direct hit by Cyclone Monica. (BBC)

26 April 2006 (Wednesday)

• The Governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, signs an executive order in which the government's budget will be exclusively used for health and security services. 43 agencies of the government will be shut down, while 15 will provide services partially. Another 60 will continue operating normally. The order is a result of the budget running dry before the end of the fiscal year. (AP via ABC News)
• University of California at San Diego psychology researcher Tim Gentner reportedly discovers that songbirds are capable of learning simple grammar, which may disprove Noam Chomsky's long believed hypothesis that humans are the only organism able to comprehend recursive grammar. (AP)
• Tony Snow is named White House Press Secretary.(AP via Guardian), (BBC), (VoA)
• Ukraine marks the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power station explosion. (BBC), (VoA)
• Snyder Rini resigns as Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands immediately before facing a motion of no confidence in Parliament, prompting celebrations in the streets of Honiara. (NZ Herald) (BBC), (VoA)
• Egyptian police arrest 10 people in relation to the 2006 Dahab bombings, which has killed 24 people and injured more than 80 on 24 April. (Independent)
• Peacekeeping Forces in Egypt were attacked outside the Nile Delta by two suicide bombers. No casualties. (Fox News)

27 April 2006 (Thursday)

• The Scottish National Party wins the Moray by-election, 2006 for the Moray constituency to the Scottish Parliament. (BBC)
• The Government of Chad and the World Bank end a four-month long dispute over allocation of Chadian petroleum funds. The World Bank will allow Chad to spend more of its oil revenue on its military in exchange for a resumption of oil output through the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. (New York Times)
• Construction begins on the Freedom Tower in New York City breaking a deadlock between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, and private developer Larry Silverstein. The 1,776-foot tower is the centerpiece of the rebuilding effort for the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks. (BBC)
• Nepal Civil War: Maoist insurgents in Nepal, responding to a demand by the newly appointed prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, announce a unilateral three-month truce. Kathmandu gradually resumes normality after weeks of pro-democracy protests. (BBC), (VoA)
• The head of the London Stock Exchange publicly warned the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, that his recent decision to bar the head of a large equity fund from that country could send "a very negative signal" to the world's equity markets. (Guardian)
• In Israel, the centrist Kadima party forms a coalition government with the left-leaning Labor party. (CBC), (Reuters)
• The Metro Rail project for Bangalore City (India) has been cleared and work on the project will begin soon. The implementation of this project aims at decongesting the traffic and streamlining the public transport system in the city. Bangalore, also known as the Silicon Valley of India, is one of the most congested cities in India.

28 April 2006 (Friday)

• U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan becomes the highest ranking officer to have charges brought against him in connection with the Abu Ghraib abuse. (Seattle Times)
• The Bush administration takes initial steps to use the States Secrets Privilege to block a lawsuit against AT&T and the NSA brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF has alleged that the government has secret computer rooms conducting broad, illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens. (News.com)
• United States Congressman John Conyers and others file a lawsuit (Conyers v. Bush) against President George W. Bush alleging a violation of the United States Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. (ABC)
• Guilliame Mbairessem, the secretary-general of the Episcopal Conference of Bishops of Chad, joins U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto in calling for a delay of the upcoming presidential elections in Chad. (ABC News)
• The Congress of Mexico passes a bill which, if signed by the President, will decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, opium, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines, and peyote. (Reuters)
• Five members of the United States Congress are arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., for protesting the Darfur genocide. (CNN)
• Around 50,000 people participate in the Puerto Rico Shouts march in San Juan, Puerto Rico, demanding a budget agreement to avert a partial shutdown of government offices and public schools. (Reuters)
• Chung Mong Koo, head of Hyundai Motor Company, is arrested in South Korea on charges of embezzlement of 100 billion won ($106 million USD), among other corruption charges. (CNN) (NY Times)
• In Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, memorial services are held to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre, in which a lone gunman murdered 35 people at the popular tourist town in the country's worst killing spree. Prime Minister John Howard led prayers at the service. (BBC)
• US and Danish scientists conclusively date the massive Thera eruption, which destroyed the Minoan civilization on Crete, to the period around c.1627–1600 BC based on sophisticated radio-carbon analysis.(The Telegraph) (MSNBC)

29 April 2006 (Saturday)

• In Italy, after three weeks of wrangling over a narrow election defeat, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi finally says he will resign within a week, clearing the way for Romano Prodi and his L'Unione coalition to form a new government. (CNN), (CBC)
• Protesters demonstrate against the Iraq war and possible military actions against Iran in New York City. (Washington Post) (The Hindu) (Al Jazeera)
• United States-Iran relations continue to deteriorate after US officials called Iran one of the world's most active sponsors of terrorism, as IAEA reveals that Tehran has successfully enriched uranium and is racing ahead with its nuclear programme. Iran says it does not "give a damn" about the verdict from the IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei and what it might lead to. (The Guardian) (AP/ABC News)
• U.S. employers, workers, and police brace for a day-long boycott and strike to demonstrate the economic impact of illegal immigrants on the U.S. economy.(Los Angeles Times) (CNN)

30 April 2006 (Sunday)

• Darfur conflict:
  • The Sudanese government accepts a peace plan brokered by mediators of the African Union. (Reuters), (CNN)
  • Various rebel Janjaweed militias, required to be disarmed according to the deal, struggle to extract last-minute concessions and have yet to give a clear signal on whether they would sign. (Reuters)
• The rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement refuses to sign on to the proposed peace agreement in its current form. (Reuters)
• The Government of the Central African Republic joins the United States Government and the Government of Chad in formally accusing the Government of Sudan of supporting the United Front for Democratic Change rebels and further alleges that UFDC rebels are entering southern Chad through the CAR-Chad-Sudan border area. (AFP via Yahoo!)
• The Parliament of Nepal, reinstated last week after a 4-year hiatus, unanimously approves a proposal by new prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala to hold elections for a special assembly to draw up a new constitution. (Reuters), (CBC)
• 24 miners have been killed in a mine explosion in the Chinese province of Shaanxi. (BBC)