Portal:Current events/2005 December 13

Current events of December 13, 2005 (2005-12-13) (Tuesday)

• Conflict in Iraq:
  • Four American soldiers are killed following an IED attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (AP)
  • The U.S. ambassador issues a statement saying that the total number of abused prisoners found so far in jails run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry is about 121. (AP)
• The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization opened in Hong Kong. European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said that he expected little progress on resolving disagreements between ministers. Meanwhile, some protesters from South Korea unsuccessfully attempted to bypass the cordon to reach the location of the conference by swimming across Victoria Harbour. (BBC) (AP via Yahoo) (Reuters via Yahoo)
• The collapse of a residential building in New Jersey kills three people and sends plumes of smoke into the air. (BBC) (Wikinews)
• The President of the United States, George W. Bush, acknowledges the deaths of approximately 30,000 Iraqi civilians since the commencement of the Iraq War. (The Australian)
• Swiss Councillor Dick Marty, commissioned by the Council of Europe to investigate CIA black sites and prisoner abuse in Europe says that the CIA has "disregarded all standards of legality". (CNN) (Houston Chronicle)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Palestinian stone thrower is shot in the head and killed by Israeli troops raiding the West Bank city of Nablus. At least ten other Palestinians were injured by the IDF troops while two Israeli soldiers were injured by a bomb during the raid. (BBC)
• An earthquake of Richter scale magnitude 6.7 rocks South Asia. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake was centred in the Hindukush region of northeastern Afghanistan. (Times of India) (BBC) (CNN)
• Stanley Williams is executed at San Quentin State Prison by the U.S. state of California. (BBC)
• Politics of global warming, US-Canada relations
  • In response to Canadian Prime Minister criticizing the United States on its resistance to climate change initiatives, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, openly responds to the statements that he complains were used for political advantage during an election.(Toronto Star)
• North America: The Canadian provinces, Ontario and Quebec and the US states Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin sign an international agreement to preclude significant water diversion from the Great Lakes. (Toronto Star)
• The $100 laptop project announces that it has chosen Quanta Computers to make its laptops, which it hopes to distribute to low-income people around the world. (IDG News Service)
• US Federal Reserve rises the target for the interest rate to 4.25%. The rate lead to the highest in more than four years.
• It was announced that on 1 April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains would combine into the new Greater Western franchise. (BBC)