Portal:Current events/2005 March 17

March 17, 2005 (Thursday)

At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider particle accelerator in Upton, New York, physicist Horatiu Nastase may have created a black hole. (BBC)
The People's Republic of China frees Uyghur dissident and businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer on medical parole. (BBC)
U.S. Congressman Rob Portman (R-Ohio) was nominated by President George W. Bush to be the United States Trade Representative, replacing Robert Zoellick. Portman is subject to Senate confirmation. (Reuters) [1]
Transparency International (TI), a nonprofit which works against corruption, warns about US companies overcharging for the rebuilding of Iraq. A TI study showed that a multi-million-dollar deal was awarded to a US company only for it to sub-contract the work to an Iraqi firm for a fraction of the cost. (Zaman) (Aljazeera)
A number of non-governmental organizations meet in Geneva, Switzerland in the World Water Forum. They call for water to be treated as a common asset instead of being privatized. (Swissinfo)
In China, a bus explosion kills about 30 people in Jiangxi province. (China Daily) (Reuters AlertNet) (Channel News Asia) (BBC)
In Bolivia, opposition leader Evo Morales calls off blockades against the government of Carlos Mesa after it raises taxes of foreign energy companies. (Bloomberg) (Reuters) (BBC)
London police say they have foiled an attempt to steal £220 million from the London offices of the Sumitomo Mitsui Bank. (BBC) (Reuters UK)
The only remaining statue in Madrid of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco is removed on government orders. (BBC)
In Italy, the staff of Milan's La Scala opera vote for the resignation of the famous conductor Riccardo Muti. (Reuters) (BBC).
In Russia, Anatoly Chubais, head of Russia's state power monopoly RAO UES, survives an apparent ambush (Interfax) (RIA Novosti) (Reuters)
King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, intends to personally direct artificial rain making project to end drought in the country. He intends to use his own cloud seeding technique (BBC)
In Zimbabwe, president Robert Mugabe states in his election campaign that the country is short of food. Local opposition group the National Constitutional Assembly says that ZANU-PF use food as a political tool (Reuters AlertNet)
Russian police arrests an Australian man who threatened to blow up a passenger plane (Moscow Times) (Australian) (Reuters)
Saint Patrick's Day celebrations take place worldwide