Portal:Current events/2005 November 24

November 24, 2005 (Thursday)

CHOGM - Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is currently underway in Malta.
The city of Khabarovsk in Far Eastern Russia declares a state of emergency as the 80 km benzene slick released by an explosion in a Chinese chemical plant on 13 November, which has already caused water supplies for 4 million inhabitants of the Chinese city of Harbin to be suspended, approaches the Amur river which is the main water source for 1.5 million people in Russia. (Forbes) (Moscow Times)
Two people were injured in an accident at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City when the M&M's balloon was tangled in a light pole and fell near Times Square. (AP via Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 00:46, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
Conflict in Iraq:
- 15 people die after a suicide bomb attack in Hilla. (ABC aus)
- Prisoners at an Iraqi detention centre revealed to the BBC details of apparent widespread use of torture and abuse in prisons and detention centres in Iraq. (BBC)
- At least thirty people have died following a car bomb outside a hospital in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. (BBC)
- Khadim Sarhid al-Hemaiyim, one of the most important Sunni Arab tribal leaders in Iraq, has been shot dead, along with his three sons and a son-in-law in Baghdad. The gunman appeared to be a member of the new Iraqi Army. (BBC)
Canadian federal election, 2006: Opposition leader Stephen Harper introduces a motion of no confidence in the Canadian House of Commons. With the support of all opposition parties, it is expected to pass on Monday, toppling Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberals and forcing a campaign spanning the holiday season. (CBC) (BBC)
There are further calls in the media and Parliament of the United Kingdom for Prime Minister Tony Blair to publish a full account of his discussions with US President Bush on the bombing of Al Jazeera TV station headquarters in Doha. A memo on the conversation has been partly leaked to the Daily Mirror newspaper, before the Official Secrets Act was invoked. (Guardian) The widow of journalist Tareq Ayyoub, who was killed in the 2003 bombing of Al Jazeera offices in Baghdad, says she is considering legal action against the US government. (Adnki) Al Jazeera staff later staged a 15-minute symbolic walk-out from all their offices around the world in protest. (BBC)