Portal:Current events/2005 April 22

April 22, 2005 (Friday)

Rumors abound that a nuclear test by North Korea may be imminent, and that the United States is urging the People's Republic of China to pressure North Korea not to do so. (The Hindu) (Washington Post) There was no test however for over a year following.
Zacarias Moussaoui pleads guilty to terror charges in U.S. federal court. (Yahoo)
At London's Old Bailey, Saajid Badat, who had earlier pled guilty to being part of Richard Reid's shoe-bombing conspiracy, is sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. (BBC)
A German court orders a retrial in the case of Armin Meiwes, who was jailed in 2004 for eight years for killing and eating a man (with the man's supposed consent). (BBC)
In an attempt to ease recent tensions between the two Asian economic powerhouses in the Japanese history textbooks controversy, Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi publicly expressed his "deep remorse" for actions of Japanese troops in China during World War II for the first time in a decade. He intends to meet PRC president Hu Jintao at the Asia-Africa Conference in Jakarta. However, 81 Diet members visit Yasukuni Shrine the same day, causing more controversy inside and outside Japan about the true attitude of Tokyo on this subject. (Japan Today), (Bloomberg), (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-23 at the Wayback Machine, (Guardian Unlimited), (Telegraph UK) Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
In the UK, the National Portrait Gallery states that the so-called "Flower portrait" of William Shakespeare is a 19th-century forgery. (BBC), (Herald)
Canadian prime minister Paul Martin promises in a televised address to call for an early general election once the Gomery inquiry into the current corruption scandal is over. (CTV) Archived 2005-11-01 at the Wayback Machine, (Globe and Mail), (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}, (BBC)
Togolese interior minister François Boko wants to postpone next Sunday's presidential election, claiming that there is a threat of civil war. ECOWAS wants them to continue as scheduled. (IOL), (Reuters AlertNet)
Nepal releases 61 political prisoners, including the former deputy prime minister. (Sify), (BBC) Amnesty International states that human rights violations have escalated under the state of emergency. (Indian Express), (ReliefWeb)
Medtronic, Inc. paid US$ 1.35 billion to settle a patent lawsuit and also to acquire disputed spine surgery-related patents from Gary K. Michelson. [1]