In the Republic of Ireland, Denis Donaldson a former senior Sinn Féin member, is found shot dead near the village of Glenties, County Donegal, close to where it is believed he had been living since he admitted, in December 2005, to being a paid British agent for over twenty years. (BBC)
Orthodox Jews in Boro Park in New York City continue to protest after a 75-year-old Hasidic man was beaten and arrested by police for talking on a cell phone while driving. NYPD Chief Joseph Esposito allegedly cursed out the protestors in anti-Semitic terms, resulting in condemnations and calls for him to step down. (New York Sun)
Health experts announce that a dead swan found in Scotland has tested positive for bird flu. It has been further confirmed that the bird had the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus (Bloomberg). Scotland and the UK confirm H5N1 virus, but say a GB-wide poultry housing requirement would be "disproportionate." (Farmers Weekly)(BBC)
Shedden massacre: Ontario Provincial Police announce that five people have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the slaying of eight people found dead in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The OPP also confirms that the deaths were connected to an "internal cleansing" of the Bandidosbiker gang. (CBC)
The government of France announces the withdrawal of its youth employment law. The proposed law had catalyzed more than a month of sometimes-violent protests on the streets of Paris and other cities. (Washington Post)Archived 2012-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
Pakistan's foreign office declares that the United States did not keep it fully informed about the Indo-US nuclear deal as the information shared initially with it did not match the final agreement. (Pakistan Link)(The Dawn, Pakistan)
A suspected suicide bomber detonates a bomb at a religious gathering in Karachi, Pakistan, killing at least 47 and injuring more than 80 celebrating Mawlid al-Nabi. (BBC)
The Venus Express spacecraft of the European Space Agency approaches Venus approximately five months after it was launched and starts its main engine burn to slow itself down and allow the capture into orbit around Venus. (BBC)(ESA)
Sri Lankan Civil War: a bus carrying soldiers from Trincomalee hits a claymore mine, killing 10 navy sailors, their driver and leaving another eight wounded. A pair of British tourists are also injured in the blast. (BBC)
The UK's Terrorism Act 2006 comes into force, making illegal the act of glorifying terrorism. (BBC)
Sri Lankan Civil War: coordinated bombings and rioting in the north-eastern part of the country leaves 16 dead. A claymore anti-personnel mine explodes in Trincomalee, killing two policemen in their vehicle. Another blast set off in a crowded vegetable market kills one soldier and civilians. Ensuing rioting leaves more than a dozen dead. Authorities have blamed LTTE rebels for the recent attacks since Monday. (BBC)(Reuters)
Chad severs diplomatic ties with Sudan following an attempted coup by Chadian rebels in which around 350 died. Chad accuses Sudan of sponsoring the rebels. (AP)
Burundi lifts a midnight-to-dawn curfew that has been in place for 34 years. (BBC)
An accident occurs on the Yurikamome rail line in Tokyo, Japan, when a damaged axle causes a rubber traction tire on a train to fall off, forcing the cancellation of all weekend train services. (Kyodo News)
In Dublin, Irish military forces parade for the first time since 1970 in commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising. TaoiseachBertie Ahern lays a wreath at Kilmainham Jail, where most of the rebel leaders were subsequently shot, in memory of the civilian and military dead of both sides. (BBC)
A general strike in Nepal called by political parties opposed to King Gyanendra enters its 12th day, with food shortages and price rises triggering panic buying in some areas. (BBC) Security forces fatally shot a protester and wounded five in Nijgadh, 75 miles south of Katmandu. (CNN)
2006 European floods: Thousands of emergency workers in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia try to bolster dikes to prevent flooding along the swollen Danube River, which has surged to its highest level in more than a century. (CNN) Several thousand people have been evacuated from their homes. (BBC)
An El Al airplane in which a malfunction had been detected made a successful emergency landing at the Ben Gurion Airport. The flight, which had departed for Moscow made its way back to Tel Aviv after a malfunction was discovered in one of its wheels upon liftoff. The plane emptied its fuel tank above the sea and then landed at the Ben Gurion airport. (Ynetnews)
Today marks the 100th Anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Events marking the centennial will be held today and will continue through the end of the year. (CBS)(BBC)
The head of Gazprom, Russia's natural-gas monopoly, told officials of the European Union not to "politicize" the gas market—the speech was part of an escalating war of words between Russia as supplier and the EU as customer. (Moscow Times)
Following reports of the UK government's hostility to a takeover of Centrica, Russian gas giant Gazprom warns of Europe-wide supply disruption (Channel4 News)
April 2006 Nepalese general strike: Nepali police open fire on pro-democracy protesters to prevent them from marching into Kathmandu, the capital, killing at least three people and injuring dozens. (Reuters) The United Nations condemns "the excessive and deadly use of force by members of the security forces against protesters and innocent bystanders". (BBC)
The California court of appeal heard oral arguments over bloggers' challenges to an effort by Apple Computer to force the ISP of an Apple news site to hand over the email records of bloggers it claims revealed trade secrets. (ITWire)
Colombian Armed Conflict: Seventeen Colombian soldiers and a secret policeman were killed by rebels in an ambush in the mountains near the Venezuelan border. (BBC)
Cyclone Monica, a Category 5 cyclone on the Australian and Saffir-Simpson scales, threatens Australia's northern coast including the city of Darwin. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has warned of "dangerously high tides" that may cause "extensive flooding" along part of the coast and ordered the sounding of emergency sirens in the Gove Peninsula. Alcan, the world's second-biggest aluminium producer, has warned customers of potential interruptions to supplies on contracts from its Gove refinery. (Bloomberg)
Former Trinidad and TobagoPrime Minister, and current Leader of the Opposition, Basdeo Panday, is convicted on three counts of failing to declare a London bank account in 1997, 1998, and 1999. He is sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour, fined TT$20,000 on each count, and ordered to forfeit approximately TT$1,600,000 (the accumulated year-end balances of the account in question). He intends to appeal the sentence, but resigned as Leader of the Opposition. (T&T Express), (Radio Jamaica)
2006 Dahab bombings: Witnesses reporting hearing three explosions in the EgyptianSinai resort town of Dahab at about 1715 UTC. Dr. Said Essa, who runs the Sinai Peninsula rescue squad, estimates there were at least 100 dead or wounded. (CTV)[permanent dead link]
Sri Lankan Civil War: Two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels are shot dead in Batticaloa while being caught planting mines, after rebels reportedly hacked a young mother to death. In the eastern part of the island, two Sinhalese guards are killed as they returned from a funeral and one Tamil is shot dead by unidentified gunmen. (BBC)
The Governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, signs an executive order in which the government's budget will be exclusively used for health and security services. 43 agencies of the government will be shut down, while 15 will provide services partially. Another 60 will continue operating normally. The order is a result of the budget running dry before the end of the fiscal year. (AP via ABC News)
The head of the London Stock Exchange publicly warned the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, that his recent decision to bar the head of a large equity fund from that country could send "a very negative signal" to the world's equity markets. (Guardian)
The Metro Rail project for Bangalore City (India) has been cleared and work on the project will begin soon. The implementation of this project aims at decongesting the traffic and streamlining the public transport system in the city. Bangalore, also known as the Silicon Valley of India, is one of the most congested cities in India.
In Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, memorial services are held to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre, in which a lone gunman murdered 35 people at the popular tourist town in the country's worst killing spree. Prime Minister John Howard led prayers at the service. (BBC)
Various rebel Janjaweed militias, required to be disarmed according to the deal, struggle to extract last-minute concessions and have yet to give a clear signal on whether they would sign. (Reuters)
