Portal:Current events/2005 April 15

April 15, 2005 (Friday)

NASA reports that the Gulf Stream is slowing. The resulting colder climate could cause severe climatic and economic disruption in Northern Europe. (NASA) Archived 2005-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
The ongoing anti-Japanese demonstrations in China might have been scripted and manipulated by the Chinese government as a bargaining tool against its neighbor in the recent Sino-Japanese energy and territory disputes. (NY Times) (registration required). Personal announcements appeared on blogs [1] [2] attempting to stage massive anti-Japanese riots not only in the capital but also in 17 major Chinese cities, responding to the April 17 visit of the Japanese Foreign Minister to Beijing, and the 86th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan accuses the United States and Britain of not accepting enough responsibility for the Oil for Food Scandal. (BBC) (Canberra)
A Palestinian Fatah gunman infiltrates the Golan Heights from Syria and attacks an IDF outpost near the border. The outpost commander manages to disarm the gunman and arrest him. The IDF will investigate how the 21-year-old man, draped in a Palestinian flag, managed to penetrate so deep without being detected earlier. (Haaretz) (Link dead as of 02:40, 15 January 2007 (UTC)), (BBC)
A Human Rights Watch report states that the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Canada rely on "flimsy" diplomacy in attempts to send foreign terror suspects back to countries that routinely use torture against their Prisoners. (AP Wire)
Soyuz TMA-6 lifts off at dawn from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the Expedition 11 crew to the International Space Station. (Fox News) (Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 02:40, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
Prince Rainier is buried in Monaco. (BBC) (CNN)
In France, 20 people die in a fire at the Paris-Opera Hotel. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]} (Link dead as of 02:40, 15 January 2007 (UTC)), (CNN)
In Australia, Raymond Williams, former CEO of insurance company HIH Insurance, is jailed for 4 and half years. (BBC)
Canada's Federal Court of Appeal denies Chinese businessman Lai Changxing refugee status. China wants him for large-scale smuggling. (National Post, Canada) (Link dead as of 02:40, 15 January 2007 (UTC)) (Xinhua)
UK passport applicants must give fingerprints. Preparation for ID cards goes ahead without parliament. (Guardian Unlimited)
Green Party of England and Wales unveil radical manifesto aiming at measures against climate change. (Science Daily)
France plans to introduce biometric ID cards in 2007. (Infoworld)
The European Union denies ruling out lifting an EU arms embargo on the People's Republic of China before June. (The Australian)
The Sea organ site opens to the public in Zadar, Croatia.