March 2005 - March 17 2005

March 17 2005

• At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider particle accelerator in Upton, New York, physicist Horatiu Nastase may have created a black hole. (BBC)
• The People's Republic of China frees Uyghur dissident and businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer on medical parole. (BBC)
• U.S. Congressman Rob Portman (R-Ohio) was nominated by President George W. Bush to be the United States Trade Representative, replacing Robert Zoellick. Portman is subject to Senate confirmation. (Reuters)
• Transparency International (TI), a nonprofit which works against corruption, warns about US companies overcharging for the rebuilding of Iraq. A TI study showed that a multi-million-dollar deal was awarded to a US company only for it to sub-contract the work to an Iraqi firm for a fraction of the cost. (Zaman) (Aljazeera)
• A number of non-governmental organizations meet in Geneva, Switzerland in the World Water Forum. They call for water to be treated as a common asset instead of being privatized. (Swissinfo)
• In China, a bus explosion kills about 30 people in Jiangxi province. (China Daily) (Reuters AlertNet) (Channel News Asia) (BBC)
• In Bolivia, opposition leader Evo Morales calls off blockades against the government of Carlos Mesa after it raises taxes of foreign energy companies. (Bloomberg) (Reuters) (BBC)
• London police say they have foiled an attempt to steal £220 million from the London offices of the Sumitomo Mitsui Bank. (BBC) (Reuters UK)
• The only remaining statue in Madrid of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco is removed on government orders. (BBC)
• In Italy, the staff of Milan's La Scala opera vote for the resignation of the famous conductor Riccardo Muti. (Reuters) (BBC).
• In Russia, Anatoly Chubais, head of Russia's state power monopoly RAO UES, survives an apparent ambush (Interfax) (RIA Novosti) (Reuters)
• King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, intends to personally direct artificial rain making project to end drought in the country. He intends to use his own cloud seeding technique (BBC)
• In Zimbabwe, president Robert Mugabe states in his election campaign that the country is short of food. Local opposition group the National Constitutional Assembly says that ZANU-PF use food as a political tool (Reuters AlertNet)
• Russian police arrests an Australian man who threatened to blow up a passenger plane (Moscow Times) (Australian) (Reuters)
• St Patrick's Day celebrations take place worldwide