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April 22, 2005
Rumors abound that a nuclear test by North Korea may be imminent,
and that the United States is urging the People's Republic of
China to pressure North Korea not to do so. (Reuters) (The Hindu)
(Washington Post) (Drudge Report)
Zacarias Moussaoui pleads guilty to terror
charges in U.S. federal court. (Yahoo)
At London's Old Bailey, Saajid Badat, who
had earlier pled guilty to being part of Richard Reid's shoe-bombing
conspiracy, is sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. (BBC)
A German court orders a retrial in the
case of Armin Meiwes, who was jailed in 2004 for eight years
for killing and eating a man (with the man's supposed consent).
(BBC)
In an attempt to ease recent tensions between
the two Asian economic powerhouses in the Japanese history textbook
controversy, Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi publicly
expressed his "deep remorse" for actions of Japanese
troops in China during World War II for the first time in a decade.
He intends to meet PRC president Hu Jintao at the Asia-Africa
Conference in Jakarta. However, 81 Diet members visit Yasukuni
Shrine the same day, causing more controversy inside and outside
Japan about the true attitude of Tokyo on this subject. (Japan
Today), (Bloomberg), (Reuters), (Guardian Unlimited), (Telegraph
UK)
In the UK, the National Portrait Gallery
states that the so-called Flower portrait of William Shakespeare
is a 19th-century forgery. (BBC), (Herald)
Canadian prime minister Paul Martin promises
in a televised address to call for an early general election
once the Gomery inquiry into the current corruption scandal is
over. (CTV), (Globe and Mail), (Reuters), (BBC)
Togolese interior minister François
Boko wants to postpone next Sunday's presidential election, claiming
that there is a threat of civil war. ECOWAS wants them to continue
as scheduled. (IOL), (Reuters AlertNet)
Nepal releases 61 political prisoners,
including the former deputy prime minister. (Sify), (BBC) Amnesty
International states that human rights violations have escalated
under the state of emergency. (Indian Express), (ReliefWeb)
Medtronic, Inc. paid US$ 1.35 billion to
settle a patent lawsuit and also to acquire disputed spine surgery-related
patents from Gary K. Michelson. [5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2005
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