Portal:Current events/2005 March 9

March 9, 2005 (Wednesday)

Cyclone Ingrid diminishes to a category 3 storm, and is crossing the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland, Australia late on March 9, 2005 UTC. ABOM
In Australia, immigration minister Amanda Vanstone grants Cui Yu Hu permanent residency (News.com.au) (Australian) (BBC)
In Bolivia, Congress refuses to accept resignation of President Carlos Mesa and he withdraws it (Reuters) (BBC)
Akhmed Zakayev, envoy of the killed Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov, states that Maskhadov's death does not end resistance to Russian rule and that his successor would be chosen in a couple of days (Bloomberg) (BBC)
Colombia extradites captured FARC leader Omaira Rojas Cabrera, also known as Sonia, to [US to face drug trafficking charges (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: Iraqi police discover the bullet-riddled and/or headless bodies of 41 people at two sites, one near the Syrian border, the other just south of Baghdad. (AP)
Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian head of the PNA Mahmoud Abbas have not agreed upon giving Jericho and Tulkarm to Palestinian security control, as early reports suggested, but talks continue. (Haaretz) (BBC)
In Israel, an official report has revealed that Israeli state bodies have been diverting funds from state projects to fund the establishment of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Former state prosecutor Talia Sasson has recommended that criminal investigations be launched. (BBC)
Ramush Haradinaj, the former prime minister of Kosovo, flies to International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague to answer for charges for his role as a former commander of Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998-1999. He goes there voluntarily. (OneWorld) (Reuters) Archived 2005-03-12 at the Wayback Machine (BBC)
In the Philippines, 29 children from San Jose Elementary School die from food poisoning after eating cassava balls. (Reuters) Archived 2005-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
Syria says its troops will leave Lebanon before parliamentary elections in May (BBC) (Reuters) Archived 2005-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
In Costa Rica, bank robbers take hostages in the western town of Santa Elena de Monteverde. Three robbers, five hostages and a security agent are killed during the siege. Last robber surrenders (Reuters AlertNet) (San Jose Mercury News) (BBC)
In South Africa, 5.3 Richter scale earthquake collapses Hartebeestfontein gold mine south of Johannesburg and traps 40 miners undersground. One miner is killed and 23 injured. Medics and volunteer miners rescue them in a 12-hour rescue operation (IOL) (Reuters) (BBC)
In Spain, Alfredo Galán, a serial killer who left playing cards on the bodies of some of his victims, is sentenced to jail for 142 years (Reuters) (BBC)
In Guinea, president Lansana Conté sacks three senior ministers, security minister Moussa Sampil, foreign affairs minister Mamadi Condé and mines minister Alpha Mady Soumah, to replace them with the members of his own Party of Unity and Progress. Journalists and students welcome sacking of Sampil because of his handling of an alleged assassination attempt against the president in January. (Reuters) (BBC)
World Health Organization issues a warning that cases of malaria have increased to 500 million- much more than they anticipated (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-06 at the Wayback Machine (Scientific American) (BBC)