29 September 2006: US Senate approves legislation severely restricting rights of detainees accused of conspiring with terrorists or committing terrorist acts; bill to set up military tribunals for detainees, includes "restrictions on a suspect's ability to challenge his detention, examine all evidence against him, and bar testimony allegedly acquired through coercion of witnesses"... 25 September 2006: Lebanon has begun the process of cleaning up the Mediterranean's worst-ever oil spill, leaked from a power plant destroyed by Israeli missiles during the conflict with Hezbollah... China closes more than 50 schools for children of migrant workers, in an effort to "clean up" Beijing for the 2008 Olympics... 20 May 2006: US has proposed new nuclear weapons treaty, to ban future construction of any nuclear weapons; though treaty seems soft on enforcement, would allow existing nuclear powers to build weapons using whatever materials they already have; signatories would be empowerd to use spy agencies to detect violations...

[SEPTEMBER 2006]
20 September: UN report says 6,600 Iraqi civilians were killed in conflict in July, August; 3,500 civilians were killed in Baghdad in July alone... 2 September: Wash. Post reports experts place likelihood of Democratic takeover of House at 70% to 90%, while Republicans reportedly plan "a national effort to focus on terrorism and security to raise voter fears"... 1 September: Series of apparently coordinated blasts kill 55 people overnight in Baghdad, as extreme level of violence against civilians continues... California Assembly passes Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, Gov. Schwarzenegger agrees to sign; bill mandates reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020...

[AUGUST 2006]
24 August: China jails human rights campaigner for four years, then sentences New York Times researcher to three years, for "fraud"; sentences are part of what appear to be wider campaign against rights groups... 1 August: Cuban pres. Fidel Castro temporarily handed over presidential, military and Communist party powers to his brother, Raúl, while he underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding, yesterday... US senators increase push to eliminate all manufacture of anti-personnel or victim-activated landmines in US...

[JULY 2006]
31 July: Ceasefire in Sri Lanka collapses, Tamil rebels announce they are officially back at war with Sri Lankan gov't, leader saying ceasefire agreement "null and void at the moment"... Massive Russian oil pipeline bursts, causing spill of more than 50 cubic meters, affecting an estimated area of more than 6 square miles... 23 July: HRW report presents evidence that prisoner abuse was routine in prisons operated by US forces in Iraq between 2003 and 2005, suggesting a policy condoning abuse... Israeli tanks moved into southern Lebanon, after offensive against 10 villages in south Lebanon and the destruction of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp's Beirut transmitters... Thousands of protesters in Chicago call for a halt to Israel-Lebanon conflict, say peace must be negotiated...

[JUNE 2006]
29 June: Supreme Court rules Authorization for Military Action in Afghanistan did not give president power to detain without due process or setup ad-hoc militiary tribunals... Israeli arrests several Hamas cabinet ministers, as response to kidnapping of soldier... 27 June: Hamas, Fatah, reportedly reach agreement to jointly recognize state of Israel;negotiator Salah Zeidan says formal signing is being planned, "All political groups are prepared for a mutual cease-fire with Israel"... 5 June: Islamic Courts militia has claimed victory over warlord alliance in Mogadishu...

[MAY 2006]
31 May: House Judiciary Comm. Chair Sensenbrenner (R-WI), has called 1st in series of probes into FBI raid on congressional office 11 days ago, 1st such raid in US history... 30 May: Chinese media have reported Yangtze River "cancerous" with toxic pollutants, leaving "dead river" in 5 years... US court rules online reporters enjoy same press freedom, same right to gather information, use sources, as traditional print and TV journalists... 22 May: Montenegro chooses independence from Serbia in referendum... 12 May: NSA building database of "all calls ever made" in US...

[APRIL 2006]
23 April: NYT reports Director Goss' campaign to heighten secrecy at CIA has led to "highly unusual" polygraph test for the chief of the agency's independent watchdog... 19 April: Independent reports "The United States emitted more greenhouse gases in 2004 than at any time in history"... 6 April: Google wants to be able to track physical location of wi-fi users under free San Francisco citywide service... 4 April: Iran has test-fired a high-speed underwater missile, during a week of war games in the Gulf...

[MARCH 2006]
29 March: EPA reports 25% of Americans breathing air hazardously polluted air... 27 March: Hamas forms cabinet, submits new gov't agenda to parliament for consideration, on eve of Israel elections... 24 March: Spain now in first day of "permanent ceasefire" declared by Basque separatist group ETA... 19 March: Taiwan pres. Chen Shui-Bian has declared "Taiwan is an independent sovereign state... French students, unions protest en masse across nation; police say at least 500,000, while CGT union cites figure of 1.5 million in several cities, opposing Villepin's "first contract law"...

[FEBRUARY 2006]
28 February: Gov't of Philippine pres. Arroyo has charged 16 people with capital offense of plotting overthrow of gov't... 25 February: Documents reveal FBI agents warned military officials interrogation techniques used at Guantánamo detention center were illegal... 18 February: Exiled political opponents of Uzbek regime sent back by Ukraine to face persecution, possible abuse, disappearance... Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Cisco accused by US Congress of collusion with Chinese regime in "cyber sledgehammer of oppression"... 17 February: Landslide 650 km southeast of Manila kills at least 250, with 1,500 missing...

[JANUARY 2006]
31 January: Cuts in production, high prices bring Exxon record $36.13 billion profit for 2005... 27 January: Hamas victory in Palestinian elections reshapes stalled peace process; Isreal, US say no negotiation with group unless it renounces violence... 25 January: Google announces it will censor its site in China, creating controversial Google.cn... 7 January: Congressional research finding says Bush NSA order to spy on Americans may have no basis in law, was never approved by Congress... 6 January: UN FAO warns 11 million face starvation in Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia as repeated drought causes mounting food supply crisis...

[DECEMBER 2005]
24 December: Nigeria, nation with 3rd most HIV cases, behind India, South Africa, will provide free anti-retroviral treatment in collaboration with the Global Fund... 22 December: Duma passes Putin's NGO control law with 376 to 10 vote, raising concerns of national shift toward authoritarianism... 10 December: Spanish newspaper El País reports Bush used false al-Libi confession, obtained through torture, to claim link between Al-Qaeda, Hussein...

[NOVEMBER 2005]
29 November: Uganda may face "double parasite threat" if to strains of bacteria that cause sleeping sickness come together via livestock... 21 November: Sharon leaves Likud party, forming new centrist party; observers describe new Sharon politics as "center-left"... 17 November: Pentagon admits (after recent firm denials) it used white phosphorous in attack on Fallujah... 9 November: After 13th straight night of riots, France declares state of emergency in Paris, 30 other cities... Int'l observers say Azeri election was fraught with irregularities...

[OCTOBER 2005]
28 October: VP Cheney chief of staff Lewis Libby resigns after being indicted on five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury and giving false statements to investigators... 26 October: IISS says China is spending double published amount on military... 19 October: Microsoft warns UK gov't biometric ID cards could permanently compromise people's identity, produce credit, banking, ID fraud on an unprecedented scale...

[SEPTEMBER 2005]
29 September: Commission confirms IRA has destroyed it weapons, ended armed campaign... 26 September: Pres. Hu Jintao of China calls for "smokeless war" against press, dissidents... 22 September: Ecuador ex-pres. requests safe harbor in Colombia, while facing charges of harming national security at home... 4 September: US Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist dies...

[AUGUST 2005]
31 August: Flooding reportedly reached height of 3-storey buildings in New Orleans; 80% of city underwater, city councillor reports "The looting is out of control"... 15 August: Aceh rebels sign peace accord with Indonesian government... Modified hybrid cars reportedly get up to 250 mpg... 11 August: Author Salman Rushdie calls for "nothing less than a reform movement to bring the core concepts of Islam into the modern age"...

[JULY 2005]
26 July: Teamsters, SEIU leave AFL-CIO, saying federation was no longer effective... 7 July: 4 bomb blasts hit central London transportation system... 6 July: NYT reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to divulge confidential source in Plame case...

[JUNE 2005]
29 June: UN pressures Jakarta to prosecute for war crimes committed against East Timorese, suggests international tribunals... 12 June: Senior White House environment advisor resigns after revelations he altered studies demonstrating perils of climate change... 10 June: Eduardo Rodríguez begins to serve as Bolivian president...

[MAY 2005]
24 May: New planet discovered 15,000 light years from Earth... 19 May: Korea announces production of cloned embryonic stem cells for medicinal use... 11 May: Rioting breaks out in Afghanistan in reaction to rumors Koran had been placed on or near toilets in Guantanamo prison...

[APRIL 2005]
30 April: US military confirms it will not punish soldiers who killed Italian agent Nicola Calipari... 6 April: Jalal Talabani, Kurdish party leader, named Iraq's first post-Hussein president... 2 April: UN votes to send Darfur war crimes suspects to International Criminal Court at Hague...

[MARCH 2005]
23 March: Police clash with demonstrators in Kyrgyzstan's capital, opposition claims recent elections were rigged... 17 March: Independent media watch group finds FOX News refusing to report DeLay's multiple scandals, possible indictment... 15 March: UN reports 180,000 may have been killed in Darfur in just 18 months, far above previous estimates...

[FEBRUARY 2005]
25 February: UN refuses treaty to combat mercury pollution worldwide, opting for "voluntary controls"... 23 February: Ukraine chief prosecutor investigating Russian "political technologist" in poisoning of Yuschenko... 16 February: Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, comes into effect today...

[JANUARY 2005]
25 January: Indonesia has increased its estimate of tsunami dead to 220,000, bringing the regional total to 280,000 killed by the disaster... 20 January: Pakistan has officially banned "honor killings"... Bush inaugural greeted by protests in Washington, around US, including a universal consumer spending boycott...

[DECEMBER 2004]
26 December: Massive offshore earthquake spawns tsunami, wave hits south Asian coastlines; initial estimates of 20,000 killed... Maldives, island nation in Indian Ocean, partially submerged, sees damage greater than GDP...

[NOVEMBER 2004]
15 November: BBC publishes evidence that mass killings are still going on in Darfur; estimated 70,000 civilians have been slaughtered by gov't-backed militia... 6 November: FL touchscreen voting machines were still not clearly defined as fully legal by election day...

[OCTOBER 2004]
27 October: Israeli Knesset votes to support Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan... Greenpeace activists weld doors shut at Brazil's nuclear energy HQ, call for end to proliferation of nuclear power in Brazil... AI criticizes Bush administration's detention centers as eroding human rights...

[SEPTEMBER 2004]
30 September: Russia signs on to Kyoto, could lead to global adoption of treaty... 20 September: Deaf Nicaraguan children create new language, unique independently evolved sign language... 13 September: Hong Kong elects new pro-democracy officials, but not majority; polling marred by ballot shortages, voters turned away...

[AUGUST 2004]
31 August: Al-Sadr reportedly calls for ceasefire across Iraq, asking all followers not to fire unless in self-defense... 28 August: NYPD arrest 264 in bicycle protest, alleging "massive disruptions"; thousands of cyclists joined the anti-Bush protest that wound its way through Manhattan...

[JULY 2004]
31 July: UN Security Council 13-0 vote threatens sanctions against Sudan if militia killings do not halt within 30 days... 25 July: Tank-like armored military vehicles are deployed in Boston, gunboats on Charles River; CBS news reports security forced correspondent to throw away coffee before entering DNC compound...

[JUNE 2004]
30 June: Police in Baku, Azerbaijan, reportedly storm 1,000 year old mosque to expel worshippers; government seeks to make carpet museum of site... UPI says Caspian Sea may become environmental dead zone; Russian industrial pollution, undisciplined petroleum development blamed...

[MAY 2004]
31 May: Evidence of systematic torture, police killings, disappearance under Karimov's regime in Uzbekistan, justified as acts in furtherance of US war on terror... 16 May: Israel hits Hamas newspaper, Arafat office, in missile strike; est. 120,000 rally in Israel, calling for peace, Gaza pullout...

[APRIL 2004]
5 April: Utah citizens demand halt to development of new nuclear weapons; Bush budgeted $25 million to accelerate readiness for new testing... New US jobs pay 21% less than jobs lost...

[MARCH 2004]
30 March: Argentina convicts 2 men of stealing babies from victims of political violence under juntas of 1976-83; estimated 30,000 people were kidnapped or killed... 11 March: 10 explosions hit Madrid trains, train stations: 186 killed...

[FEBRUARY 2004]
29 February: Aristide relinquishes power at dawn, flees to Dominican Republic (Haiti's 33rd coup in 200 years)... 21 February: Swaziland declares national emergency as AIDS, poverty put 250,000 at hunger risk (UN: 40% of adult Swazis HIV positive)... Guardian reports possible wrongful death suits in Iraq conflict...

[JANUARY 2004]
26 January: Chief US Weapons Inspector says there were no WMD in Iraq... 12 January: Iranian hard-liners decree ban on reformist candidates in upcoming elections (including current MPs), Pres. Khatami opposes ban... FBI asks Bush administration officials to waive reporter-source privilege in leak probe...