Portal:Current events/2006 October 19

October 19, 2006 (Thursday)

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth rules that Mohammad Munaf, a United States citizen, can be transferred to Iraqi authorities to face a death sentence over the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in 2005 around Baghdad. (AP via New York Times)
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV states that Operation Together Forward, a coalition operation against the Iraqi insurgency in Baghdad, has not met expectations. (Washington Post)
Tan D. Nguyen, a Republican candidate for California's 47th congressional district in Orange County, California, denies authorizing a letter warning Hispanic immigrants that they could go to jail or be deported if they vote next month, a mailing that prompted an investigation by the state government. (CBS News)
An Uzbek military Antonov An-2 aircraft crashes near Tashkent, Uzbekistan, killing all of the 15 people on board. The Uzbek Emergency Ministry says the pilots lost control of the plane while trying to land. (BBC)
Scientists at Duke University have created a device out of metamaterials that makes objects harder to detect at microwave frequencies. (LiveScience)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closes at a record high just above 12,000 points in today's trading, as investors welcome the latest batch of corporate earnings. (The Australian)
Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, accuses Eritrea of arming the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia and of attacking Ethiopia. (Financial Times)
A spokesman for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer says that a judge has ordered former New York Stock Exchange Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Grasso to repay part of his deferred compensation pay package. (AP via Kiplinger)
The United States has adopted a document that rejects any proposals to ban space weapons. (BBC)
Nissan Motor Co. begins recalling over 130,000 vehicles globally including 80,000 in North America because of an ignition key defect. (ABC News)
Ethiopia's prime minister Meles Zenawi tells the parliament that he had sent military trainers to help Somalia's struggling government, but had not deployed a fighting force. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
2006 North Korean nuclear testing:
- former Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan has met North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il as tensions mount over the North's nuclear test, according to Chinese officials. (BBC)
- South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, also the incoming United Nations Secretary-General, has warned that a second nuclear test by North Korea will bring "grave consequences." (CNN)