April 1, 2006 (2006-04-01) (Saturday)
April 2, 2006 (2006-04-02) (Sunday)
- In Thailand, the 2006 legislative election is held. All three major opposition parties have announced they are boycotting the election. (Indep. UK)
- An outbreak of tornadoes, the April 2, 2006 Tornado Outbreak, hits northeastern Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel, and West Tennessee killing 27.
- Lucent Technologies announced its merger agreement with Alcatel. (BBC)
- The Human Rights Protection Party wins Samoa's general election. The HRPP was already the ruling party, and its leader Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi the Prime Minister, but the party did better in the election than polls had indicated. (Radio NZ)
- After about three months captivity as a hostage in Iraq, American journalist Jill Carroll returns to American soil in Boston, Massachusetts. (CNN)
April 3, 2006 (2006-04-03) (Monday)
April 4, 2006 (2006-04-04) (Tuesday)
April 5, 2006 (2006-04-05) (Wednesday)
April 6, 2006 (2006-04-06) (Thursday)
- An earthquake of 5.5 magnitude is reported in Western Gujarat in India. (ASC-India.org)
- The World Meteorological Organization has announced the retirement of a record five storm names from the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Retired names include Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma. (CNN)
- The National Geographic Society unveils the restored Gospel of Judas in Washington, D.C. Written in Coptic, the document is thought to have come from the 2nd century. It had been deteriorating rapidly when found. (NPR)
- A 1,500-year-old pyramid called the Hill of the Star has been found in Mexico City. (The Guardian) (BBC)
- Orthodox Jews in Boro Park in New York City continue to protest after a 75-year-old Hasidic man was beaten and arrested by police for talking on a cell phone while driving. NYPD Chief Joseph Esposito allegedly cursed out the protestors in anti-Semitic terms, resulting in condemnations and calls for him to step down. (New York Sun)
- Palaeontologists announce the discovery of the Tiktaalik genus, an important fossil link between fish and land animals. (BBC)(The Guardian)(The New York Times)
- Israeli police arrest and release Khaled Abu Arafa, minister of Jerusalem affairs in the new Hamas-led government of the Palestinian Authority. (Associated Press)
- The Parliament of New Zealand passes a bill that on receiving Royal Assent will make New Zealand Sign Language the third official language of New Zealand, alongside English and Māori. (TVNZ)
- Health experts announce that a dead swan found in Scotland has tested positive for bird flu. It has been further confirmed that the bird had the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus (Bloomberg). Scotland and the UK confirm H5N1 virus, but say a GB-wide poultry housing requirement would be "disproportionate." (Farmers Weekly) (BBC)
April 7, 2006 (2006-04-07) (Friday)
April 8, 2006 (2006-04-08) (Saturday)
April 9, 2006 (2006-04-09) (Sunday)
April 10, 2006 (2006-04-10) (Monday)
April 11, 2006 (2006-04-11) (Tuesday)
April 12, 2006 (2006-04-12) (Wednesday)
April 13, 2006 (2006-04-13) (Thursday)
April 14, 2006 (2006-04-14) (Friday)
- Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticizes Israel in a three-day conference attended by Palestinian Hamas officials. He calls the Israeli regime "a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm." (Washington Post) Archived 2012-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
- Chad severs diplomatic ties with Sudan following an attempted coup by Chadian rebels in which around 350 died. Chad accuses Sudan of sponsoring the rebels. (AP)
- Burundi lifts a midnight-to-dawn curfew that has been in place for 34 years. (BBC)
- 2006 European floods: The Danube, swollen by heavy rain and melting snow, rises to record levels, and floods hundreds of homes in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. (BBC)
- In Delhi, India, two explosions inside the 16th century mosque Jama Masjid injure at least nine people. (BBC) (VOA)
- An editorial in The Lancet, an influential medical journal, says that researchers should study the effects of drugs by using them themselves, and thereby weakening the force of the social demonization of such substances. (Guardian)
- An accident occurs on the Yurikamome rail line in Tokyo, Japan, when a damaged axle causes a rubber traction tire on a train to fall off, forcing the cancellation of all weekend train services. (Kyodo News)
- Suspected militants kill at least four civilians in a series of grenade attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir. A fifth civilian dies after police opens fire on the suspected militants. At least 17 others are injured. (BBC)
- A man disfigured in a bear attack becomes the first in China to have a face transplant. (BBC)
April 15, 2006 (2006-04-15) (Saturday)
April 16, 2006 (2006-04-16) (Sunday)
April 17, 2006 (2006-04-17) (Monday)
April 18, 2006 (2006-04-18) (Tuesday)
April 19, 2006 (2006-04-19) (Wednesday)
April 20, 2006 (2006-04-20) (Thursday)
April 21, 2006 (2006-04-21) (Friday)
April 22, 2006 (2006-04-22) (Saturday)
April 23, 2006 (2006-04-23) (Sunday)
April 24, 2006 (2006-04-24) (Monday)
- Famous Bangladeshi social worker and human rights activist Nasreen Pervin Huq died at his own house in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by a tragic accident. She had been the country director of the ActionAid Bangladesh (ActionAid) since 2003 up until her death.
- Former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, and current Leader of the Opposition, Basdeo Panday, is convicted on three counts of failing to declare a London bank account in 1997, 1998, and 1999. He is sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour, fined TT$20,000 on each count, and ordered to forfeit approximately TT$1,600,000 (the accumulated year-end balances of the account in question). He intends to appeal the sentence, but resigned as Leader of the Opposition. (T&T Express), (Radio Jamaica)
- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unexpectedly lifts a 27-year ban on female attendance of public sporting events in Iran. They still need permission of the male head of the household to attend and they will sit in a special female-only section. (AP) (Guardian) (BBC)
- 2006 Democracy movement in Nepal: Hundreds of Maoist rebels stormed the town of Chautara, attacking government offices and a prison. (BBC). King Gyanendra orders the recall next Friday of the parliament which he suspended in 2005 – a key demand of the protestors. (BBC)
- 2006 Dahab bombings: Witnesses reporting hearing three explosions in the Egyptian Sinai resort town of Dahab at about 1715 UTC. Dr. Said Essa, who runs the Sinai Peninsula rescue squad, estimates there were at least 100 dead or wounded. (CTV)[permanent dead link]
- Pope Benedict XVI is reported to have agreed to a relaxation of rules for the use of condoms. (BBC)
- Dubai International Finance Centre, owner of the Dubai stock exchange, announces that it has increased its equity stake in Euronext NV, which runs stock exchanges in four European capitals. There are rumors of an impending take-over bid. (MSN)
- Sri Lankan Civil War: Two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels are shot dead in Batticaloa while being caught planting mines, after rebels reportedly hacked a young mother to death. In the eastern part of the island, two Sinhalese guards are killed as they returned from a funeral and one Tamil is shot dead by unidentified gunmen. (BBC)
- Ken Lay, former chairman of the board of defunct Enron Corporation, took the stand in his own defense in his criminal trial in Houston, Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
- A collision between a passenger bus and a truck kills 10 people, members of two different families, in Marcos Paz, Argentina. (Telefe video, in Spanish)[permanent dead link]
April 25, 2006 (2006-04-25) (Tuesday)
- Sri Lankan Civil War: A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber attacks the Sri Lankan Army headquarters in the capital, Colombo, killing 8. Twenty-seven have been injured, including the army commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, as the female suicide bomber, pretending to be pregnant to conceal explosives, detonates her bomb near the military's hospital. The Sri Lankan military has begun aerial assaults on rebel positions in the north-eastern part of the island nation. (BBC), (MumbaiMirror), (Reuters)
- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi appears unmasked in a newly released video taunting the "crusade" by the American-led coalition and Iraqi authorities. At one point, he addresses U.S. President George W. Bush. (BBC), (CNN)
- The UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions on four Sudanese citizens involved in the Darfur conflict: Maj.-Gen. Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan of the Sudanese Air Force; Sheikh Musa Hilal, paramount chief of the Jalul Janjaweed tribe in North Darfur; Commander Adam Yacub Shant of the Sudanese Liberation Army; and Commander Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri of the National Movement for Reform and Development. The vote marks the first time UN sanctions have been adopted against individuals involved in this conflict. (CBC), (BBC)
- In the Philippines, 49 people are charged with rebellion over an alleged plot to overthrow President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in February 2006. (CBC), (BBC)
- The Communist Party of Vietnam announces at the closing of the Tenth National Congress that Nông Đức Mạnh will be re-appointed as its general secretary for another five-year term. Other key positions, such as those of prime minister and president, are yet to be appointed. New faces are expected. (BBC)
- Darwin, Australia, is spared a projected direct hit by Cyclone Monica. (BBC)
April 26, 2006 (2006-04-26) (Wednesday)
- The Governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, signs an executive order in which the government's budget will be exclusively used for health and security services. 43 agencies of the government will be shut down, while 15 will provide services partially. Another 60 will continue operating normally. The order is a result of the budget running dry before the end of the fiscal year. (AP via ABC News)
- University of California at San Diego psychology researcher Tim Gentner reportedly discovers that songbirds are capable of learning simple grammar, which may disprove Noam Chomsky's long believed hypothesis that humans are the only organism able to comprehend recursive grammar. (AP)
- Tony Snow is named White House Press Secretary.(AP via Guardian), (BBC), (VoA)[permanent dead link]
- Ukraine marks the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power station explosion. (BBC), (VoA)
- Snyder Rini resigns as Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands immediately before facing a motion of no confidence in Parliament, prompting celebrations in the streets of Honiara. (NZ Herald)[permanent dead link] (BBC), (VoA)
- Egyptian police arrest 10 people in relation to the 2006 Dahab bombings, which has killed 24 people and injured more than 80 on 24 April. (Independent)
- Peacekeeping Forces in Egypt were attacked outside the Nile Delta by two suicide bombers. No casualties. (Fox News)
- Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May host a two and a half hour evening show on Southern Counties Radio.
April 27, 2006 (2006-04-27) (Thursday)
- The Scottish National Party wins the Moray by-election, 2006 for the Moray constituency to the Scottish Parliament. (BBC)
- The Government of Chad and the World Bank end a four-month-long dispute over allocation of Chadian petroleum funds. The World Bank will allow Chad to spend more of its oil revenue on its military in exchange for a resumption of oil output through the Chad-Cameroon pipeline. (New York Times)
- Construction begins on the Freedom Tower in New York City breaking a deadlock between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, and private developer Larry Silverstein. The 1,776-foot tower is the centerpiece of the rebuilding effort for the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks. (BBC)
- Nepal Civil War: Maoist insurgents in Nepal, responding to a demand by the newly appointed prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, announce a unilateral three-month truce. Kathmandu gradually resumes normality after weeks of pro-democracy protests. (BBC), (VoA)
- The head of the London Stock Exchange publicly warned the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, that his recent decision to bar the head of a large equity fund from that country could send "a very negative signal" to the world's equity markets. (Guardian)
- In Israel, the centrist Kadima party forms a coalition government with the left-leaning Labor party. (CBC), (Reuters)
- The Metro Rail project for Bangalore City (India) has been cleared and work on the project will begin soon. The implementation of this project aims at decongesting the traffic and streamlining the public transport system in the city. Bangalore, also known as the Silicon Valley of India, is one of the most congested cities in India.
April 28, 2006 (2006-04-28) (Friday)
- U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan becomes the highest-ranking officer to have charges brought against him in connection with the Abu Ghraib abuse. (Seattle Times)
- The Bush administration takes initial steps to use the States Secrets Privilege to block a lawsuit against AT&T and the NSA brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF has alleged that the government has secret computer rooms conducting broad, illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens. (News.com)
- United States Congressman John Conyers and others file a lawsuit (Conyers v. Bush) against President George W. Bush alleging a violation of the United States Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. (ABC)
- Guilliame Mbairessem, the secretary-general of the Episcopal Conference of Bishops of Chad, joins U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto in calling for a delay of the upcoming presidential elections in Chad. (ABC News)
- The Congress of Mexico passes a bill which, if signed by the President, will decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, opium, LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines, and peyote. (Reuters)
- Five members of the United States Congress are arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., for protesting the Darfur genocide. (CNN)
- Around 50,000 people participate in the Puerto Rico Shouts march in San Juan, Puerto Rico, demanding a budget agreement to avert a partial shutdown of government offices and public schools. (Reuters)
- Chung Mong Koo, head of Hyundai Motor Company, is arrested in South Korea on charges of embezzlement of 100 billion won ($106 million USD), among other corruption charges. (CNN) (NY Times)
- In Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, memorial services are held to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre, in which a lone gunman murdered 35 people at the popular tourist town in the country's worst killing spree. Prime Minister John Howard led prayers at the service. (BBC)
- US and Danish scientists conclusively date the massive Thera eruption, which destroyed the Minoan civilization on Crete, to the period around c.1627–1600 BC based on sophisticated radio-carbon analysis.(The Telegraph) Archived 2007-12-24 at the Wayback Machine (MSNBC)
April 29, 2006 (2006-04-29) (Saturday)
April 30, 2006 (2006-04-30) (Sunday)
|
| Elections
|
- 2: Thailand, Legislative (Lower house)
- 9: Peru, President (1st Round) and legislature
- 9 and 10: Italy, Parliament
- 9: Hungary, Parliament (1st Round)
- 17: India, State legislature
- 19: Thailand, Legislature (Upper house)
- 21: Haiti, Parliament (2nd Round)
- 23: Hungary, Parliament (2nd Round)
- 27: Scotland, Moray by-election
- 30: Laos, Parliamentary
edit sidebar
|
|
