Events in February 2005
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Feb. 1
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King Gyanendra of Nepal dismisses the Sher Bhadur Deuba Government and declares a state of emergency. Political leaders are put under house arrest and civil liberties curtailed. |
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Feb. 2
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The SAARC summit scheduled for February 6 and 7 in Dhaka is put off after the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh decides to abstain. |
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The Nepal King announces a 10-member Cabinet to be headed by him and offers to renew peace talks with the Maoist rebels. |
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The World Bank estimate puts Sri Lanka’s tsunami damage at $ 1 billion. |
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Feb. 3
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The Georgian Prime Minister, Zurab Zhvania (41), is found dead at a friend’s apartment of apparent gas poisoning. |
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Russia and China launch regular security consultations, in Moscow. |
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One hundred and four persons are killed as an Afghan passenger jet crashes in a snowstorm, near Kabul. |
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Feb. 4
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The Ukranian Parliament votes 373-0 to endorse Yulia Timoshenko as Premier. |
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Militants kidnap an Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, working for Il Manifesto newspaper in Baghdad. |
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Benon Sevan in charge of the U.N. oil-for-food deal with Iraq and Joseph Stephanides, head of the U.N. Security Council affairs division are suspended for misconduct following a probe by the former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker. |
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Feb. 5
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The Togo President, Gnassingbe Eyadema (69), Africa’s longest-ruling leader, dies while on way to Europe for treatment of a heart attack. His son Faure Gnassingbe is sworn in “the acting President.” |
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Feb. 6
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The Thailand Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra wins a second term following a massive mandate favouring his Thai Rak Thai Party. |
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A probe links the former U.N. Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros Ghali and two of his relatives to corruption in the $64-billion oil for-food programme with Iraq. |
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Feb. 7
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E. Kousalyan, a key eastern political wing leader of the LTTE, is killed in an ambush at Welikanda in the Sinhalese-majority Polonnaruwa district, adjoining Batticaloa. |
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Cuba bans smoking in public places. |
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At least 30 persons are killed as militants strike at Iraqi police forces in Mogul and Baqouba. |
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Feb. 8
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The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, declare a formal end to violence at a summit hosted by the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, in the resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh. |
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The Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, gets re-elected in general elections. |
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The British Government gives Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the Sheep a licence to clone human embryos for medical research on how nerve cells go awry to cause motor neuron disease. |
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Feb. 10
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North Korea admits possessing nuclear arms and announces withdrawal from talks on its weapons programme. |
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Saudi Arabia holds the first phase of municipal polls taking the first step of introducing elements of democracy. |
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France’s International Francophonie Organisation (OIF), a grouping of French-speaking nations around the world akin to the Commonwealth, suspends Togo. |
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The twoexiled former Pakistan Prime Ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh. |
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Prince Charles (56) announces plan to marry Camilla Parker-Bowles (57) on April 8, more than 30 years after their first meeting at a polo match. |
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Feb. 11
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Over 200 people are killed after the Shadi Kor dam in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province bursts and sweeps several villages into the sea following incessant rains. |
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A Reuters picture of an Indian woman mourning a relative killed in the tsunami by Arko Datta, wins the 2004 World Press Photo of the Year award. |
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Feb. 12
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Hollywood blockbuster, The Aviator and Vera Drake, a low-budget British drama, share the Best Picture prize at the British Academy Film Awards, in London. |
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Feb. 13
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The United Iraqi Alliance, a coalition of religious Shia candidates, backed by Iraq’s top spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, wins most votes in the January 30 polls. |
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Nepal’s Moist rebels reject the Government’s talks offer. |
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The death toll in rain-related incidents in Pakistan’s Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province goes up to 400. Two more dams burst washing away villages. |
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Germany pays respects to thousands killed in the bombing of Dresden on Feb. 13, 1945. |
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Genius Loves Company”, the late Ray Charles’ album wins eight Grammys at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles. John Mayer’s “Daughters” bags the Song of the Year award. |
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Feb. 14
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The former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik al-Hariri is assassinated in a car bombing in central Beirut close to the harbour. |
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Fiftynine persons are killed in a blaze that rages through the Argh mosque in the Iranian capital, Teheran after a female worshipper’s veil catches fire from a kerosene heater. |
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At least 203 workers are killed in a gas explosion in a local mine in China’s Liaoning province. |
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For the first time, three Indians, Ram Shriram, Promod Haque and Vinod Khosla, make it to the Top Ten on the Midas List of 100 venture capitalists put out by Forbes Magazine. |
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Feb. 15
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A Briton, Natallie Evans, launches an unprecented case at the European Court of Human Rights to stop destruction of six embryos created with her eggs and her ex-partner, Howard Johnston’s sperm. |
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Feb. 16
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India and Pakistan agree to allow travel by bus across the Line of Control between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad after talks between the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh and the Pakistan leadership, in Islamabad. |
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The Kyoto Protocol which requires industrialised nations to reduce carbondioxide and other greenhouse gases emissions comes into force. |
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Feb. 17
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The United Iraqi Alliance backed by the Shia spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, wins absolute majority in the 275-member Iraqi Parliament. |
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The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon’s son Omri is indicted for alleged financial irregularities in the 1999 poll campaign. |
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Scientists reveal that a December 27, 2004 cosmic explosion, the greatest ever-monitored, caused by a neutron star would have literally fried the planet had it occurred within a few light years of home. |
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Feb. 19
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An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale rocks Indonesia’s eastern Sulawesi region. |
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Over 100 people are killed as a ferry capsizes in the Buriganga river on the outskirts of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka. |
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Feb. 20
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Israeli Cabinet approves the evacuation of 8,000 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. |
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Spanish voters endorse the European Union Constitution in the first of 10 referendums that is to be held across Europe over the next 18 months. |
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The former Dutch Prime Minister, Ruud Lubbers quits as U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees over allegations of sexual harassment. |
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Hunter S. Thompson (67), the pioneer of “gonzo” journalism commits suicide at his Colarado home. |
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Feb. 21
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Israel releases 500 political prisoners. |
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Feb. 22
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A powerful earthquake leaves 500 dead in Kerman province, south-east Iran. |
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Feb. 25
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Wissower Klinken, a well-known landmark comprising sagged chalk cliffs in Rugen, Germany’s largest island on its northern coast, vanishes. |
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Feb. 26
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Togo’s army-installed President surrenders power to Speaker. |
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Feb. 27
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A landmark anti-smoking treaty comes into force after 57 countries ratify international curbs on tobacco producers and smokers. |
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Iraqi forces capture Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, Saddam Hussein’s half brother. |
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Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, an intimate film about an underdog female boxer, bags top four awards at the 77th Academy Awards, overshadowing the three-hour epic, The Aviator. Jamie Foxx bags the Best Actor award for his role in Ray. |
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The first phase of parliamentary polls is held in Kyrgyzstan. |
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Feb. 28
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One hundred and fifteen persons are killed in a car bombing outside a medical centre in Hilla south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. |
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Events 2005
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
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