Portal:Current events/2005 November 15

November 15, 2005 (Tuesday)

2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal: Sony BMG recalls all unsold CDs that are equipped with XCP, a controversial copy protection software. (vnunet.com) (FT) (NBC4) (BBC) (Reuters)
173 prisoners are found in an Iraqi government bunker in Baghdad, having been starved, beaten and tortured. (CBC) (BBC)
Terrorism in Pakistan: A car bomb explodes outside a KFC outlet in Karachi, Pakistan around 08:45 (UTC+5). At least three people are killed and eight others wounded. (CNN)
Quebec, Canada: Former Minister André Boisclair is elected Leader of the Parti Québécois, the provincial official opposition and Quebec's main party promoting separation of the French-speaking province from Canada, in the Parti Québécois leadership election, 2005. (CBC)
Mid-November 2005 Tornado Outbreak: Many tornadoes (at least 50 confirmed) have been reported during the afternoon and evening across central North America, stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Damage has been reported in many areas, and at least one person was killed. [1]
Japan: 2005 Sanriku Japan Earthquake A 6.9-magnitude earthquake, as determined by the Japan Meteorological Society, occurred off the northern coast of Japan near Sanriku at 6:39am Japan Standard Time (UTC+9), prompting a tsunami warning to be issued in Japan and the western coast of the United States. (Yahoo) (USGS)
Sayako, Princess Nori of Japan marries a commoner and thereby leaves the Imperial Family, taking the surname of her husband. (The Age) (Reuters) (BBC)
The French Parliament permits President Jacques Chirac's government to extend emergency powers for three months to quell civil unrest. (BBC) (Guardian) (Indian Express)
The New York Stock Exchange reaches an out-of-court settlement with some of its seat holders who had filed a lawsuit in an effort to prevent the NYSE's proposed acquisition of electronic trading firm Archipelago Holdings. The settlement requires a new independent financial review of the merits of the deal. Dissidents complain that the NYSE is over-paying. (Reuters)
Students at the University of Tennessee (UT) received international criticism and praise for interrupting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's keynote speech at the groundbreaking of the Howard Baker Center. The students protested in favor of ending the Iraq War by "heckling" Cheney while a group of 50-100 protesters gathered outside the building also protesting the war. This incident has come to be known as the Baker Center Protest. [2]