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A member of the board of directors of major German steel manufacturing company ThyssenKrupp AG says the company is "examining all its options," and may not complete its proposed acquisition of Canadian steel company Dofasco. (MSN Money)
Traces of a prehistoric, 8,000-year-old civilization are found in Shahrud, Iran. The discoveries included ovens, craft workshops, and other evidence of settlements. (Payvand)
Just two days before U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush is scheduled to visit Pakistan, a car bomb exploded in the Marriott Hotel Karachi parking lot adjacent to a United States consulate in Karachi, killing at least four people including a US diplomat and his driver and injuring at least fifty others. (CNN)
Kenya and Sudan, completing trade talks that have gone on since 2001, announce plans to sign a landmark trade agreement. (AllAfrica) Kenya, which is currently in a drought, is in desperate need of food to feed 3.5 million Kenyans by the end of March, despite the presence of the U.N. food agency. Sudan has had a huge surplus this season. (Reuters)
Former U.S. House Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (Rep., CA) is sentenced to eight years and four months in prison, the longest sentence ever for a congressman, for collecting $2.4 million in bribes. (CNN)
British Rock star Gary Glitter is convicted of the molestation of one 11- and one 12-year-old girl in the town of Vung Tau in southern Vietnam. He is sentenced to 3 years in prison, but may be back in the United Kingdom by December. (BBC News)
Israeli aircraft fire rockets at a car in Gaza, killing two Islamic Jihad members and three innocent bystanders as well as wounding seven other people, mostly children. Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Air Force, Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Shkedy said: "We are doing everything we can possibly think of to prevent innocent people from being harmed, but this is a war and nothing is certain." (JPost)
British Lieutenant General Nick Houghton announces that the UK's 8,000 soldiers in Iraq could begin leaving the country within weeks. Most would be home by 2008, he says. (Guardian Unlimited)
The Government of Chad renews accusations of Sudanese support for attacks by the UFDC into eastern Chad, despite the recent signing of the Tripoli Accord and the successful formation of the ministerial committee. Sudan has accused Chad of supporting ARFWS rebels in the past, and Chad is believed to have stepped up support in light of recent attacks. (AlertNet)
The European Union announces that it has lifted a worldwide ban on the export of Britishbeef introduced in 1996 to prevent the spread of BSE (Mad Cow Disease). (BBC)
A cash-for-honours scandal has erupted around UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. A millionaire donor has revealed that Labour fundraisers had arranged secret loans from businessmen who were then nominated for peerages. (Daily Mail)
A major oil slick, which could contain some 40 tonnes of fuel, has been detected off the coast of Estonia, one week after the Runner-4 cargo vessel sank in the Baltic Sea. Heavy sea ice prevents an accurate estimate of the content of the oil slick that may have killed 35,000 sea birds. (Yahoo News)
In retaliation for the Israeli attack in Jericho, Palestinian gunmen kidnap and then release American professor Douglas Johnson. (Forbes)
15 March 2006 (Wednesday)
Two armed gunmen attacked the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) compound in Yei, Sudan, killing a local guard and leaving two others in critical condition. (Angola Press)
Tens of thousands of Thai anti-government protesters continue their rally against the country's current Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today. They also demand his resignation from the post. The opposition leader, Sondhi Limthongkul, declared he and his party would not stop protesting all day and night until the PM resigns. (Reuters)
The 2006 NCAA Men's Division 1 Basketball Tournament begins in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Salt Lake City, Utah; Jacksonville, Florida; and San Diego, California
Six people have been charged in connection with Kenya's biggest fraud, which cost the government about $600m. (BBC)
Following an outbreak of bird flu in Israel, Europe bans imports of Israeli chicken; Ministry of Agriculture halts exports of unprocessed birds; Kibbutzim in the south, heart of Israel put under closure; four people hospitalized in the south are found not to be infected with the disease. (Ynetnews)
The International Crisis Group warns that continued neglect of the Darfur conflict may lead to thousands more deaths and spill over into neighboring countries, further destabilizing the region. (Reuters)
2006 labor protests in France: In Paris, and other major French cities, hundreds of thousands of people march in protest of the Contrat de première embauche (First Employment Contract), a labor law set to take effect in April that gives employers the right to fire workers under the age of 26 in the first two years of their employment without justification.(BBC)
US Navy warships engage pirates off the coast of Somalia, killing one, capturing 12, after the U.N. Security Council on March 15, encouraged any naval forces near Somalia to take action against suspected piracy. This occurred after an attack on a UN World Food Program-chartered ship bringing drought-relief food supplies on March 13. (AP)(UPI)
Part of a tunnel in the Moscow Metro collapses on a train setting the train on fire. Russian emergency services were dispatched to the scene, passengers were evacuated, and no one was hurt. (BBC)
With the exception of Uganda and South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa is failing to meet United Nations standards for accessibility to clean water or sanitation. (Reuters)
20 March 2006 (Monday)
The UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, says it has been ordered to leave Uzbekistan within one month. (BBC)
The United States and EU condemn the elections. The White House, which has previously labeled Mr Lukashenko a dictator, says it does not accept the results. The EU says it is likely that it will impose sanctions.(BBC)
At 0730 AEST, Tropical CycloneLarry makes landfall near Innisfail, Queensland, Australia, with wind gusts of 290 km/h (180 mph) recorded, which would make it a Category 5 storm on the Australian scale for severity of cyclones. (AAP)
The French National Assembly votes on "DADVSI" ("Right of the Author and related rights in the information society") with 296 votes for against 193. The DADVSI act implements the 2001 EU Copyright Directive with some modifications. The UMP (right-wing), which has the absolute majority at the National Assembly, voted for, while the left voted against it. MPs of the center-right UDF voted either against the text or abstained themselves. Le Monde
Ethiopia: Government prosecutors withdrew charges against 18 out of 129 opposition figures and journalists facing charges following last year's violent skirmishes in the country. However, none of the party leaders of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) were included in this action.
Canada's annual seal hunt has begun, amid international appeals for an end to the controversial cull of up to 325,000 young harp seal pups. The Canadian government says the cull, which reportedly earns C$16.5m (£8.3m) in meat and pelt sales, is also necessary to control seal numbers. (BBC)
An explosion at a French university chemical research facility kills one professor. The cause is unknown. (National Nine News)
The CBS television program 60 Minutes airs a story on a lawsuit against the hedge fund SAC, alleging that it orchestrated a fall in the stock price of Canadian drug company Biovail.
Officials in Afghanistan say that Abdul Rahman may be released soon, although the case may have only been temporarily dropped to gather more evidence. (CNN)(BBC)
U.S. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt has been claiming a degree in secondary education from the University of Cincinnati she did not receive. Her spokesman said Schmidt earned the degree but did not complete the paperwork to be awarded it. (The Plain Dealer)
In Brussels, Microsoft claims a breakthrough, as an independent monitor of its hearings with European Union regulators in Brussels has outlined what it can do to avoid paying fines of 2 millions euros a day. (IHT)
