Portal:Current events/2007 February 19

February 19, 2007 (Monday)

Three Salvadoran deputies to the Central American Parliament from the ruling ARENA party are killed execution-style in Guatemala City. One of the dead is the son of former president and party founder Roberto D'Aubuisson. (BBC)
Between 40,000 to 100,000 Italians march in protest against the extension of Caserma Ederle, a United States Army military base near Vicenza. (BBC)
The U.S. moves forward with plans to base a missile shield for National Missile Defense in the Czech Republic and Poland. In response, Russian officials have claimed they may target the two Eastern European countries. The Russians also claimed they could pull out of the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. (International Herald Tribune)
Colombian foreign minister María Consuelo Araújo resigns days after the arrest of her brother, Senator Álvaro Araújo, in the country's ongoing para-political scandal. President Álvaro Uribe Vélez appoints Fernando Araújo as the new Minister. (BBC). (El Tiempo)
Also in Colombia the Nevado del Huila, the country's highest volcano, has showed increasing seismic activity including a cloud of ash. A high state of alert is in place for 4 departments. (El Tiempo)
A man is arrested over a series of letterbomb attacks that occurred in Britain during the past few weeks. (The Times)
A truth commission is set up by East Timor and Indonesia to promote reconciliation after the violence surrounding the 1999 independence referendum. (BBC)
Iraq War:
- Two suicide car bombs kill at least eleven people in Ramadi. (Reuters via Malaysia Star)
- Prime Minister of Australia John Howard announces plans to send up to 70 additional Australian soldiers to Iraq to train the Iraqi Army. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Samjhauta Express bombings: At least 66 people die in bomb blasts on the Samjhauta Express travelling from India to Pakistan. The blasts occurred near Deewana, 80 kilometres north of New Delhi. (DNA) (Reuters Alertnet) (AP via CNN) (Reuters via the Star Online)
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with the Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert and the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas. (BBC)
New Jersey becomes the third U.S. state to offer civil unions to homosexual couples, including all the rights and responsibilities of heterosexual marriage. (NY Times)