Portal:Current events/2005 April 19

April 19, 2005 (Tuesday)

George W. Bush’s nomination of John R. Bolton for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations receives a serious setback when Ohio senator George Voinovich announces in committee that he cannot vote to endorse Bolton for this important diplomatic position. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee agrees to postpone a vote for at least one month while allegations that Bolton abused subordinates is investigated. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-20 at the Wayback Machine (NY Times)
Papal conclave, 2005: Ringing bells and white smoke at the Vatican indicate that, after four ballots, a new Pope, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has been elected. He has taken the regnal name Pope Benedict XVI. (BBC)
MyPyramid is released by the United States Department of Agriculture. The new food guidance icon is an update of the 13-year-old food guide pyramid, which was itself an update of charts expounding on the four basic food groups. (NY Times)
The United Iraqi Alliance, the leading coalition in the new Government of Iraq, demands the death penalty for Saddam Hussein, accused of genocide in Kurdistan as well as torture and other human rights violations in Baghdad. (Al Jazeera)
Victims and families observe 168 seconds of silence on the tenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing at 9:02 a.m. (local time). (Guardian)
Iran suspends operations of al Jazeera and accuses it of inflaming protests of the Iranian Arab minority. 220 people have been arrested during the unrest. (Al Jazeera), (IRNA), (Middle East Online), (Reuters), (BBC)
The inquiry into the murder of Rosemary Nelson, a Northern Ireland solicitor who was killed by a UDA bomb in 1999, begins. (Ireland On-Line), (BBC), (Scotsman)
Peruvian authorities submit a $130 million plan to UNESCO to preserve the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. (BBC)
The first part of the Obelisk of Axum, a 1700-year-old artefact of the Axumite Kingdom taken to Rome by Benito Mussolini's troops in 1937, arrives back in Ethiopia. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-20 at the Wayback Machine, (BBC)
Japanese researchers have reversed diabetes of a female patient with transplantation of pancreatic cells from her mother. (Medical News Today) (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]} (Forbes)
A high court in Spain sentences Adolfo Scilingo, former Argentinian navy captain, for 640 years in prison for crimes against humanity during the Dirty War. (Reuters AlertNet) (IHT) (CourtTV) (Pensa Latina)
The girlfriend of a Paris Opera Hotel employee admits that she might have accidentally started the fire that destroyed the hotel last Friday. Police later take her into custody. The death toll has risen to 24. (IHT) (Reuters AlertNet) (Scotsman)
Israel extends the travel ban of Mordechai Vanunu. (Ha'arets)^{[permanent dead link]} (Jerusalem Post) (BBC)
In Syria, Jassem Alwan, who led a failed military coup in 1963, returns from exile in the United Arab Emirates. (BBC)
The parliament of Kuwait gives initial backing to law that would allow women to vote. (Al Jazeera) (Middle east Online) (BBC)
Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati forms a new government to lead the country until the May elections. (Daily Star) (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-28 at the Wayback Machine (Al Jazeera)
French police state that DNA tests confirm that the body found in the French Alps is Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. (Scotsman) (BBC)
Auction house Christie's withdraws an ancient Persian relic from sale when Iran states that it was smuggled out of the country illegally. (CHN) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
The parliament of Greece ratifies the European Union Constitution. (MPA) (EUBusiness) (IHT)
President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf meets the president of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo, in Manila. (Pakistan Times) (Manila Bulletin) (Sun Star) (BBC)
Zanzibar bars foreign workers. (IOL)