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February 2006 ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →
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Ongoing
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!Elections
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Results
8: Nepal, municipality election
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1 February 2006 (Wednesday)
Shares in Google fall dramatically after the company reported profits below Wall Street estimates. $12 billion in market value was lost. (AP)
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2 February 2006 (Thursday)
A leaked memo in the UK, detailing a conversation between U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003, has revealed that Blair intended to follow the US into Iraq even without a UN resolution, and that Bush considered provoking a response from Iraq using falsely marked Lockheed U-2 spy planes to provide an excuse for war. (Guardian)
Royal Dutch Shell breaks the record for the highest ever annual profit for a British company with a total of £13.12bn (BBC)
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3 February 2006 (Friday)
The United States expels Venezuelan diplomat Jeny Figueredo Frias in retaliation for yesterday's expulsion of suspected US spy John Correa from Venezuela. A State Department spokesman described the move as part of "tit-for-tat diplomatic games". (VOA)
Queues build up at vendors as the EuroMillions lottery offers a jackpot of €180 million after 11 successive rollovers (statistically expected once in 25 years). Some British vendors report a 1200% increase in sales. EuroMillions tickets are sold in Austria, Belgium. France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. An Irish woman won €115,436,126 last July. (BBC), (Guardian). UPDATE: The winning numbers were 9 21 30 39 50 with Lucky Star numbers 01 and 03; the jackpot was shared between three winning tickets, two in France and one in Portugal. (UK National Lottery)
Two car bombs explode minutes apart in southern Baghdad, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 90 others. (CNN)
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4 February 2006 (Saturday)
Georgia, USA. 17 human rights activists sentenced to prison including one 81 year old retired World War II Veteran for protesting outside Fort Benning military camp. (Scoop, New Zealand)
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5 February 2006 (Sunday)
Israel bombs a sport club in Gaza. When people came to help the wounded they fired another missile. When they manage to get a badly injured into a car a third missile is fired at the car killing three persons. (SFT)
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6 February 2006 (Monday)
Isabelle Dinoire, the French woman who received the world's first partial face transplant appears before the media for the first time, saying she expects to resume a normal life. (CBC)
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7 February 2006 (Tuesday)
As the Danish embassy in Tehran is attacked by hundreds of protesters, five people are killed in Afghanistan as protests against European Muhammed cartoons sweep across the country. (BBC)
Japan urges North Korea to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program and halt missile development, but a Japanese official said Pyongyang insists that Washington drop sanctions first. (Reuters)
The number of people attempting to view illegal child pornography on the web has risen since 2004, according to British Telecommunications (BT). They use a system to block sites carrying the images of children, which has been getting some 35,000 hits a day for the past four months. (BBC)
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8 February 2006 (Wednesday)
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9 February 2006 (Thursday)
U.S. forces are searching for the USS ''Cole'' attacker who escaped from prison last Friday. According to Interpol, an al-Qaida operative who had been sentenced to death for plotting the bombing of the USS ''Cole'' in 2000 escaped with a group of convicts from their prison last week in Sanaá, Yemen. (BBC) This is not the first group to have escaped. 10 other chief suspects escaped from custody in Aden during April of 2003 (BBC)
In Turkey, Istanbul's police chief said a bomb blast at an Internet cafe in the city had wounded 14 people. (ABC)
A suicide bombing occurs during a Shiite Muslim procession in Hangu, Pakistan, resulting in riots during the Muslim branch's most important holiday, Ashura. At least 27 people were killed and dozens injured in the result violence. (ABC)
A large-scale slaughter is planned at a Nigerian farm where thousands of chickens have died from bird flu. (BBC)
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10 February 2006 (Friday)
Finance chiefs of the G8 countries meet this weekend in Moscow with energy security at the top of their agenda. (BBC)
Israel has criticised Russia's decision to invite Hamas leaders to Moscow for talks, following the militant group's victory in Palestinian elections. (BBC)
A medium-sized earthquake, registering 4.9, shook central Chile, rattling buildings, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damages. (ABC)
Two Indonesian women from an area just east of the capital are in hospital after local tests showed they had the H5N1 bird flu virus. (ABC)
At least eight people are killed and 22 wounded by a car bomb in the southern Doura district of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. (BBC)
The television series Arrested Development airs its final four episodes.
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11 February 2006 (Saturday)
H5N1 avian flu virus: Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy report their first cases of H5N1-infected wild birds, all swans thought to have migrated from Russia in recent months. (BBC)
Steve Fossett completes the world record for the longest non-stop, unrefuelled, flight when the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer lands at Bournemouth airport in southern England after a flight lasting 76 hours and 45 minutes which covered a distance of 26,389.3 miles (42,469.46 km). The aircraft had to declare an emergency landing after suffering total electrical failure, and had only 200 lb (90 kg) of fuel remaining. (BBC)
The Danish editor who first published the Prophet Mohammed cartoons that sparked global protests has been placed on leave. (ABC)
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12 February 2006 (Sunday)
A royal tomb from the 2nd or 3rd century BC is found in Pella, Greece. It is the largest Greek tomb found to date. This announcement comes a few days after the Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings was found. (Reuters)
United States military strategists reportedly are developing plans for a possible major military bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear sites as a "last resort" in the event that diplomatic efforts fail to convince Iran to voluntarily end what Western governments consider to be efforts at acquiring a nuclear weapon. (The Telegraph)
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13 February 2006 (Monday)
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonates an explosive belt in a line of people waiting to receive government payments, killing at least eight other people and wounding about 30, including children and police. (CTV)
Saddam Hussein is forced to attend the latest session of his trial, wearing a traditional Islamic robe rather than his usual crisp suit, as he shouted "Down with Bush." (CTV)
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14 February 2006 (Tuesday)
Kenyan Police instruct 20 leading figures not to leave the country as investigations into two corruption scandals, the Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing scandals continue. Among the people told to hand in their passports is George Saitoti whose resignation as education minister was announced by President Mwai Kibaki yesterday. Meanwhile, 80 Members of Parliament have demanded the resignation of Deputy President Moody Awori, who is accused of involvement in the Anglo Leasing affair. (BBC)
A top Iranian official confirms that Iran has resumed small-scale enrichment of uranium at one of its main nuclear facilities last week. (CBC)
Iran's veterinary organization said the first cases of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu had been detected in wild swans in the Islamic Republic. (Reuters)
The New York Times reveals the existence of a "destabilization plan" for Hamas, winner of the Palestinian legislative elections. The intention is, according to Israeli officials and Western diplomats, to make sure that Hamas officials fail in fulfilling their campaign promises so that the president, Mahmoud Abbas, is forced to call a new election. The plan would cut all Quartet funds from the Palestinian National Authority (PA), while Israel would refuse to release taxes and custom duties it collects on behalf of the PA and also block movements between the West Bank and the Gaza strip. A third of the Palestinian population would suffer from the Quartet's decision to cut funds to the PA. (NYT)
In Israel, the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court sentences Omri Sharon to a nine-month prison term, a nine-month suspended sentence, and a NIS 300,000 (USD 65,000) fine after he is convicted of violating political fundraising law and providing false testimony. (Ynetnews)
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15 February 2006 (Wednesday)
The United States and Israel deny a "destabilisation plan" of Hamas, winner of the January 2006 legislative elections, which was revealed on February 14 by the New York Times. However, they do acknowledge that they would cut off funds and transfers of tax-receipts to the Palestinian Authority. The aim of the "destabilisation plan" was to push the PA to organize new elections (NYT).
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16 February 2006 (Thursday)
A United Nations report condemns the continued existence of Camp Delta, and multiple breaches of Human Rights by the US. (BBC). The UN says that prisoners held there should be immediately charged or released. Like many other countries that the UN Human Rights watchdog has heavily criticised, the US has attacked the report as invalid (BBC). The UN report is available online as a large 54 page PDF
US civil liberties groups have called for an inquiry into treatment of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib after new images of apparent abuse were shown. (BBC)
U.S. slams new Abu Ghraib leak (CNN)
After allegations of fraud, officials in Haiti have reached an agreement to declare René Préval the winner of that country's election. (BBC)
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17 February 2006 (Friday)
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18 February 2006 (Saturday)
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez threatens to cut off oil supplies after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice claims that the Venezuelan government poses "one of the biggest problems" in the region. (CNN)
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19 February 2006 (Sunday)
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20 February 2006 (Monday)
Retired scientist Don Kennedy suggests the entire population of Tuvalu should move to the Fijian island of Kioa, to preserve Tuvaluan culture as their homeland becomes uninhabitable due to rising sea levels. (Pacific Magazine)
Russian and Iranian negotiators begin talks today on a plan that may have the former enrich uranium for the latter, as part of the international community's efforts to dissuade Iran from doing its own enrichment. (AP)
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21 February 2006 (Tuesday)
Enron: The High Court in London rules that three bankers may be extradited to the United States to face trial on Enron-related charges. The three, David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby, former executives at Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC unit Greenwich NatWest, had argued unsuccessfully that since the majority of the alleged offenses took place in Britain, any trial should be held in that country. (Houston Chronicle)
Eight men are acquitted of the 1999 murder which has many hundreds of witnesses of model Jessica Lal in India. The acquittal causes outrage among the Indian community with petitions to President Abdul Kalam for a review of the case (Hindustan Times).
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22 February 2006 (Wednesday)
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23 February 2006 (Thursday)
47 factory workers are forced off buses and shot at Nahrawan, near Baghdad.
About 50 bullet-riddled bodies are found in Baghdad overnight.
At least 11 people are abducted from jail in Basra by gunmen dressed as police, and shot.
One person is killed in a Sunni mosque in Baquba, where a bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol also kills 12 people. (BBC)
A roof at a marketplace in Moscow collapses under heavy snow at approximately 4:50am local time (0150 UTC), killing at least forty-nine people. The 1970s-built building had the same architect as the Transvaal Water Park, whose roof collapsed in 2004 killing 28 people. (BBC) (CNN)
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurred at 12:19am local time (Feb.22, 2219 UTC) in southern Mozambique, 140 miles southwest of the coastal city of Beira, centered near Espungabera, a small farming town in a remote and sparsely populated area near the border with Zimbabwe. (USGS), (AP)
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24 February 2006 (Friday)
It is revealed that MI5 (British Intelligence) withheld vital anti-terrorism intelligence just months before the Omagh Bombing in 1998. RTÉ News
Venezuela orders US airlines to reduce the number of flights into the country by up to 70% in a dispute over safety regulations. (BBC)
NASA announces the unusual gamma ray burst GRB 060218 that is not yet explained and may be a predecessor to a supernova. It was located 440 million light-years away and lasted for 33 minutes, closer and longer than any previous gamma ray burst. (Space.com)
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25 February 2006 (Saturday)
It is revealed that MSN Messenger silently removes messages containging links to freeware and open source software.(BBB)
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26 February 2006 (Sunday)
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27 February 2006 (Monday)
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