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April 15, 2005
NASA reports that the Gulf Stream is slowing. The resulting colder
climate could cause severe climatic and economic distruption
in Northern Europe. (NASA)
The ongoing anti-Japanese demonstrations
in China might have been scripted and manipulated by the Chinese
government as a bargaining tool against its neighbor in the recent
Sino-Japanese energy and territory disputes. (NY Times). Personal
announcements appeared on blogs [3] [4] attempting to stage massive
anti-Japanese riots not only in the capital but also in 17 major
Chinese cities, responding to the April 17 visit of the Japanese
Foreign Minister to Beijing, and the 86th anniversary of the
May Fourth Movement.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan accuses
the United States and Britain of not accepting enough responsibility
for the Oil for Food Scandal. (BBC) (Canberra)
A Palestinian Fatah gunman infiltrates
the Golan Heights from Syria and attacks an IDF outpost near
the border. The outpost commander manages to disarm the gunman
and arrest him. The IDF will investigate how the 21 year old
man, draped in a Palestinian flag, managed to penetrate so deep
without being detected earlier. (Haaretz) (BBC)
A Human Rights Watch report states that
the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Canada rely on
"flimsy" diplomacy in attempts to send foreign terror
suspects back to countries that routinely use torture against
their Prisoners. (AP Wire)
Soyuz TMA-6 lifts off at dawn from Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the Expedition 11 crew to the
International Space Station. (Fox News) (Yahoo! News)
Prince Rainier is buried in Monaco. (BBC)
(CNN)
In France, 20 people die in a fire at the
Paris-Opera Hotel. (Reuters) (CNN)
In Australia, Raymond Williams, former
CEO of insurance company HIH Insurance, is jailed for 4 and half
years. (BBC)
Canada's Federal Court of Appeal denies
Chinese businessman Lai Changxing refugee status. China wants
him for large-scale smuggling. (National Post, Canada) (Xinhua)
UK passport applicants must give fingerprints.
Preparation for ID cards goes ahead without parliament. (Guardian
Unlimited)
Greens Party of England and Wales unveil
radical manifesto aiming at measures against climate change.
(Science Daily)
France plans to introduce biometric ID
cards in 2007. (Infoworld)
The European Union denies ruling out lifting
an EU arms embargo on the People's Republic of China before June.
(The Australian)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2005
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