March 1, 2005

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March 1, 2005
In Afghanistan, president Hamid Karzai appoints Abdul Rashid Dostum as his chief-of-staff. Dostum has been accused of involvement in human rights abuses. (Reuters) (Daily Times, Pakistan) (BBC)In Bangladesh, 15 suspected radical leaders of Islamic groups are charged with sedition (Reuters) (Matamat, Bangladesh)In Burundi, a referendum approves the new constitution, which is intended to end 12 years of civil war (Reuters AlertNet) (IAfrica) (BBC)Canada deports Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel to Germany, where he is arrested (CTV) (CNews) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)In the Democratic Republic of Congo, militia leader Floribert Ndjabu of Nationalist and Integrationist Front is reportedly arrested for the killing of nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers last week (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)A French court in Angers prepares for a major child sex trial (BBC)In Italy, a court sentences Laura Proietti, a member of the Red Brigades, to life in prison for involvement in the murder of Massimo D'Antona in 1999. A second member, Cinzia Banelli, receives 20 years (BBC) (Newsday)Protests break out in Indonesia over fuel price increases (Reuters) (Channel News Asia)In Lebanon, opposition leaders call for the protest to continue even when the government has resigned. New protests demand that all Syrian troops leave the country (Reuters) (BBC)Malaysia begins to round up illegal immigrants after a 4-month amnesty (Channel News Asia) (ABC Asia) (Reuters) (BBC)David Crane, the chief prosecutor of Sierra Leone's war crimes tribunal, will step down in July after three years (Reuters AlertNet) (AllAfrica) (BBC)Greenpeace in Switzerland accuses three chemical firms based in Basel of failing to clean up toxic waste (SwissInfo) (NZZ)Syrian president Bashar al-Assad states that Syria could withdraw all its troops from Lebanon in a couple of months (Reuters) (Jerusalem Post) Lebanese protestors destroy a statue of former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in the southern village of Qana (Daily Star, Lebanon)President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan orders the closure of all the hospitals in the country except those in the capital, Ashgabat. He also orders the closure of all rural libraries, as he believes that village Turkmen do not read. (BBC)The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, announces that suspected killers of a journalist Georgiy Gongadze have been arrested (DVC, Ukraine) (Bloomberg) (Reuters) (BBC)In Uruguay, Dr. Tabaré Vázquez, the first leftist president in the country's 180-year history, takes office, announces his cabinet and restores diplomatic relations with Cuba. (Prensa Latina), (Bloomberg),(XinHua), (Globe&Mail), (BBC)In a major change to capital punishment in the United States, by a closely-divided vote, the US Supreme Court rules, in Roper v. Simmons, that imposition of the death penalty on persons convicted of capital crimes committed before they were 18 is unconstitutional. (BBC)(CSM)In the USA, New York Federal court hears a case of Vietnamese plaintiffs who demand compensation for effects of the Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. United States Justice Department and companies that manufactured Agent Orange demand that the federal judge dismiss the case.(Forbes) (Voice of Viet Nam) (International Herald Tribune) (BBC)March 1 falls on a Tuesday for the first time since 1994.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2005