National & World News Archive December 2005
Kidnapped British Family Freed in Gaza
Sunnis Shun Government Talks in Protest at Election Results
From Dream Home in the Sun to Pile of Rubble: How Costa Boom Turned Sour
11 Years On, Battles of Apartheid Still Rage
The Fat One Showers £350m on the People of Vic
Alcohol the Battleground in East-west Conflict
Life Among the Ghosts of Banda Aceh
Students Bear Brunt of Racist Fury
Hundreds Gather to Mourn 'tookie' Williams
Mafia 'oddfather' Dies After Faking Madness
Violence Overshadows Presidential Campaign
Allawi Trails in Third Place in Poll Update
Florida Plane Crash Kills 19
Sharon Recovers As Chief Rival Wins Control of Likud
Stampede at Madras Relief Centre Kills 40
Swiss Hospital the First to Allow Assisted Suicides
How Your Gifts of Learning Save Lives
Garda in Dock Over Travelers
PM Denies President Bouteflika is Seriously Ill
Nepal's Bitter War
Belarus Leader Tightens Grip in Run-up to March Poll
Judge Tells Ankara to Decide on Fate of Leading Author
Fatal Flight Conditions to Be Recreated in Crash Inquiry
Drunken Soldier Kills 12 Pilgrims
Meyer Was Warned Over Memoirs
America's Right Rally to Protect a Christmas 'under Siege'
Sunnis Ready to Grasp a Share of Power
Britons Named in Us 'good News' Furore
Quiet Death of a Man Condemned
Life for Outback Drifter Who Killed Briton
Investigator Links Europe's Spy Agencies to Cia Flights
Gang Killer 'tookie' is Executed
Condemned Killer's Last Hope of Reprieve Dies As Schwarzenegger Refuses Clemency
Weah Supporters' Riots Raise Fears for Liberian Stability
Mandelson Rules Out Concessions
Revenge Attacks Bring Second Night of Race Violence to Sydney
No Record of Rendition Flights in Uk, Says Straw
Africa's Poorest Fight Hypocrisy and Vested Interests
US and Britain Urged to Set Out 'milestones' for Exit Strategy
Kurdish Youth Hold Key to Power
New Jersey Gives Hunters Licence to Kill 'nuisance' Bears
Sunnis Defy Zarqawi's Violence With Confidence in Ballot Box
Young Lives Protected By Two Small Tablets
Hopes High for New Climate Pact Despite Us Snub
Kibaki Coalition at Risk As Politicians Snub Posts
Mentally Unstable Man Shot Dead By Air Marshals
Oil Industry Targets Eu Climate Policy
Britain Backed Only By Malta on Plans to Slice Eu Budget
ANC Suspends Deputy Leader After Rape Charges
Man Shot Dead at Florida Airport
New Video Shows Hostage Appeal
Greens at Odds Over High-speed Rail Tunnel
Former Sa Deputy President Charged With Rape
EU Wants Action Against Election Fraudsters
Judge Orders Detention of Opposition Politician
UK Peace Campaigner's Kidnappers Contacted
Fraud Alleged in Kazakh Election
Himalayan Winter Fires Opening Salvo on Quake Survivors
Life on Death Row
Mission to Save Planet is 'failing'
Roadside Bomb Kills 10 Marines Near Falluja
US Executes 1,000th Prisoner Since 1976
Chirac Aims to Put Troubles Behind Him As Britain Backs Down in Rebate Wrangle
Torture 'state Policy' in Burma
Grateful Fans Bring Live Recordings Back From the Dead
Chirac Seizes the Moment on Deal in Bid to Put Domestic Troubles Behind Him
Humanitarian Crisis Worsens As Violence in Darfur Escalates
Another Onassis Wedding - Another Drama
ECB Increases Interest Rates
Beckett Crushes Hopes of New Carbon Deal
Fear of Gas Shortage After Ukraine Rejects Huge Price Rise
Shining Path Resurgence May Be Financed By Cocaine Money
20 Killed As Egyptian Police Evict Sudanese Protesters
Thousands of Us Troops to Oversee Iraqi Police
Muslim Delegation to Go to Gaza
Beijing Journalists Stage Walkout
10 Dead in Cairo Protest Camp Clearance
Suicide Attack in Israel
Paris Metro May Install Radar to Tackle Suicides
Indonesian Military Admits Being Paid By Us Mining Firm
Austria 'fed Up' With Eu As It Takes on Presidency
US Intelligence Service Bugged Website Visitors Despite Ban
Frantic Search for Aid Worker and Parents As Gang Fails to Make Contact
US Judge Orders Nazi Death Camp Guard to Be Deported to Native Ukraine
Three Britons Kidnapped in Gaza Amid Poll Tensions
Sailors Jailed in Nigeria for Smuggling Are Freed
Berlusconi Let Off Charge After Change in Law
Japan Says Diplomat's Suicide Followed Blackmail By China
Retired German Diplomat and Family Seized in Yemen
Indonesian Army Completes Withdrawal From Aceh As Part of Deal to End 29-year Conflict
Nine Killed in Baghdad Prison Breakout Attempt
MPs Lay Blame for School Siege on Beslan Officials
Three Britons Kidnapped in Gaza Strip As Fatah's Young Guard Fights for Election Role
Thousands Protest Over Iraq Election
Three Britons Kidnapped in Gaza
Eight Killed in Baghdad Prison Shooting
Zambia Struggles With Power of Witchdoctors
American Marines Charged With Rape in the Philippines
Greece Urged to Investigate Mi6 Torture Link
Sleaze Exposed in China As Former Minister is Jailed
Booming and Broke - a Tale of Two Cities
Arrest of Mladic 'has Never Been Closer' After Phone Call Intercepted
Israel Hits Back to Halt Palestinian Rocket Attacks
Serbian Officials Close in on Key Massacre Suspect
Europe's Space Race With Us Begins
Straw Says Sorry to British Families
Thousands Gather on Beaches to Mourn the Day the Wave Came
US Embassy Close to Admitting Syria Rendition Flight
Sharon's Doctors Go Public to Calm Israeli Poll Jitters
Weddings Bring Love and Cash Back to Mexico
Ukraine and Russia Go to Brink Over Huge Gas Price Rise
Fears Over Rail Safety As Four Killed in Latest Japanese Crash
26 Die in Chinese Bar Blaze After Narrow Doorway Slows Escape
Allegations of Ill-treatment After Protest By Iraqi Detainees
Boredom Sets in Over Saddam Trial 'soap Opera'
New York Times Journalist to Go on Trial in China
Remember Our History, Emperor Warns Japanese As Fears Grow Over China Fallout
Dutch Dealer Gets 15 Years for Chemical Sales to Saddam
Body of Genocide Witness Found in River
Where the Stigma of Aids Became the Killer
Stars Turn Backs on America's Troops in Iraq
Slowly, Painfully, Expensively, Ruined Communities Are Put Back Together
Pitiful Progress in Sri Lanka
India Emerged As Provider Despite Its Own Huge Losses
Mixed Blessings for Thais
Russian Town Stockpiles Water As Industrial Spill From China Raises Fear of Deadly Contamination
Tamiflu Still Best Hope Against Bird Flu, Says Who
Annan Enraged By 'overgrown Schoolboy' Reporter
Turkey Faces Huge Payout for Homes in Cyprus
US Rejects Beating Claims As Saddam Says Wounds Took Eight Months to Heal
Israel Jails Jewish Woman for Meeting Palestinian Militant
Booming China Promises Peace and Goodwill
Sri Lankan Children 'missing Out' on Education
Chinese Toxic Spill Flows Into Russian City
Times Reporter Feels Kofi Annan's Wrath
Flu Pandemic: New Doubts Over Key Drug
Saddam Accuses Us Jailers of Beating Him
Widow Wins Right to Have Dead Husband's Baby
Fugitive State Governor Faces £32m Theft Charges
Osaka Groper Dies After Being Caught By Commuters
Car Boot Call Fails to Save Kidnapped Lawyer's Life
American Global Warming Gas Emissions Accelerate to a Record High
Palestinians May Delay Poll Over Voting Ban
Britain Suspends Aid to Uganda Over Allegations of Human Rights Abuse
Sunni and Secular Parties Seek Iraq Election Rerun
Eurofighter Sale to Saudi Arabia Agreed
Religious Parties Deal Blow to Us Hopes for Iraq
Christmas Appeal: How an Aids Widow is Filling the Care Gap
Transport Strike Forces New Yorkers to Walk to Work
Pilot Jailed for Poisoning Indonesian Rights Activist
White House Man Rejects Putin's Offer of Oil Firm Job
Western Music is Latest Target of Iran's Hardline President
Judge Rules Against 'intelligent Design'
Iran Declares Ban on Western Music
Sharon Leaves Hospital
Governor of Bank of Italy Finally Resigns
Violence Overshadows Presidential Campaign in Haiti
India to Investigate People's Causes of Death
US Research 'endangered Amazon Villagers'
Triumph for Bolivia's Candidate of Poor
Shipwrecked Pair Survive 11 Days in Stormy South China Sea
Court Orders Uganda to Pay Congo Damages
War Crimes Suspect, 88, Freed After Judge Doubts Evidence
Simple Ceremony Heralds New Era for Afghanistan
Defiant Bush Defends Wiretapping Powers
Bush Defends Phone-tapping Policy
Sharon to Leave Hospital Tomorrow
14 Arrested in Spanish Anti-terror Swoops
'Big Improvement' in Sharon's Condition
Sharon's Aide Helps Spielberg Promote Controversial Film
Sharon in Hospital After Suffering Stroke
Rampaging Santas Take Too Much Christmas Spirit
King to Step Down and Hand Over to Son
Gulf States Show Concern at Iran's Nuclear Plans
Warlords and Women Take Seats in Afghan Parliament
Rise in Poll Complaints Troubles Iraq Vote Monitors
Cherie Booth's Role in Cyprus Land Dispute Angers President
Unprotected Sex Pays Double, So Poverty Helps Spread of Hiv
Beleaguered Bush Steps Up Pr Blitz With Live Address
Melinda, Bill and Bono Are Time's People of the Year
Lamy Calls on Blair to Broker Trade Deal
Bush Admits Spying on America
After the Wave, the Struggle to Rebuild Shattered Lives
Global Trade Riots Rock Hong Kong
Merkel Tries to Act As Dealmaker in Change of German Style
Blair Clinches Deal With Offer of Big Rebate Cut
Merkel Tries to Broker Deal in Change of German Style
Police Break Up Beijing's First Gay Festival
11 Hurt in Clashes Over Ban on Female Taxi Passengers
Tutu Bemoans Failure to Bring Rights Abusers to Justice
World Trade Negotiations Are Going Backwards, Says Peter Mandelson
Iran's Fishermen Struggle Under Caviar Boycott
US Republicans Back Fence to Keep Out Drugs and Immigrants
Chinese Party Official in Dock Over Rent-a-mob Raid on Villagers
US Calls for Sacking of Iraq's Interior Minister Over Sunni Prisoner Abuse
South Africa's Townships Battle Double Trouble
Blair's £1bn Offer in Frantic Quest for Eu Deal
Black Pleads Not Guilty to New Charges
No Breakthrough in Sight As Wto Deadline Nears
Trial of Turkish Author Adjourned
Hamas Wins West Bank Elections Landslide
North Korea to Start Nuclear Dismantling 'soon'
Terrorist Leader Released By Mistake
Dozens Killed in Chinese Hospital Fire
White House Drops Long-standing Opposition to Torture Legislation
Iraqis Flock to Polls As Insurgents Urge Sunnis to Vote
Snipers and Sandbags - Iraq Votes
Kurds Flock to Polling Stations to Back De Facto Independence
Bush Knows Source of Cia Leak, Says Plame Affair Columnist
Fatah Faces Split As Militant Leader Quits to Set Up Rival Movement
Mugabe Goes Back to the 70s on Cd of Speeches
High Turnout, Low Level of Violence As Iraqis Vote
Developing States Defy Eu Push to Open Up Services
Paris Raid Nets Arms Haul
Eight Held As 'modern-day Slaves' Found at French Travellers' Site
Ford U-turn Over Gay Media Ads
Police Smash People Smuggling Ring
Developing Countries Voice Fury at Farm Subsidies
Merkel Warns Cameron Over Mep Plans
High Turnout in Iraqi Elections
US Abusing Extradition Rules, Says Cbi Chief
Trade Negotiators Locked in Secret Talks
Election Revolt Against Fatah's 'old Guard' Splits Party in Two
100,000 Gather for Funeral of Murdered Editor in Beirut
Sharon 'plans to Share Jerusalem With Palestinians'
General Investigated Over Murder of Prisoner
Russia Threatens to Cut Off Ukraine's Gas Supply
Colombian Leader's U-turn Offers Hope to Families of Hostages
Israeli Missile Strike Kills Four Palestinians
Inside the South African A&es Where British Surgeons Train for the Battlefield
Iranian President Calls Holocaust a 'myth' in Live Tv Broadcast
Iraq Intelligence Wrong - But I Was Right to Take Us to War, Bush Insists
Bush Admits Iraq Intelligence Was Wrong
Four Palestinians Killed in Israeli Air Strike
Thousands Protest at Journalist's Funeral
US Accuses Eu of Blocking Trade Deal
Parents 'were Given Body' of Girl in Tsunami Mystery
Sydney Police to Get New Powers in Wake of Riots
War is Over But Ivorians Are Still Paying the Price: Poverty, Desperation and Infection
Sunni Toll Rises in Iraqi Election Campaigning
Calls for Mass Protest As Syria Critic's Murder Plunges Lebanon Into Crisis
Curfew Imposed to Stop Insurgent Attacks in Iraq
Shoppers Stampede Sale of Spanish Nuns' Festive Treats
Korean Farmers Take Lemming-like Plunge Into Hong Kong Harbour
Court Hears How Tourists Were Hacked to Death at Reserve
China to Overtake Britain After Beijing Underestimates Growth
Bush Friend Linked to Top Job in Russian Oil Industry
Australian Terror Suspect Can Become Uk Citizen
24 Years of Appeals From Death Row
Earthquake Hits Afghanistan and Sparks Panic in Kashmir
Bush Gives His First Estimate of Death Toll Since Invasion
Beirut Bomb 'linked to Hariri Investigation'
Local Radicals Warn Against Violent Protests
EU Shelves East Jerusalem Report Over Fear of Alienating Israel
All Eyes on Schwarzenegger As Execution Day Dawns
Schröder Faces Growing Scandal Over Job With Russian Gas Giant
The Balance Shifts in the Battle Between Secular and Islamist Iraq
Car Bomb Kills Lebanese Journalist As Un Attacks Syria Over Hariri Murder Inquiry
Sydney Suffers Second Night of Race Riots
Saudi Prince Changes Fox's Paris Riots Coverage
Chilean Socialist Poll Leader Faces Runoff
MP Claims Hariri Link to Beirut Bomb
Neo-Nazis Blamed for Sydney Riots
Race Riots Turn Sydney's Suburbs Into Battleground
Iran's President Forced to Compromise on Oil Chief
Wait Goes on for Kember Family As Kidnappers' Deadline Passes
Publisher in Legal Challenge to Zimbabwean Travel Ban
Israeli Consul Attacks Spielberg's Munich As 'problematic'
Straw Sets Britain on Collision Course With France Over Cap
Chinese Paramilitary Chief Held After Village Killings
Taliban Exploit Drug Trade to Step Up Afghan Attacks
Hong Kong on High Alert As Thousands of Protesters Fly in
EU Anti-terror Chief Sounds Warning
Laureate Urges Ban on Nuclear Weapons
Children Among 103 Dead in Air Disaster
UK Kidney Patients Head for China
US Retreats at Climate Change Talks
Fears Grow Over Fate of British Hostage in Iraq
MI6 and Cia 'sent Student to Morocco to Be Tortured'
Muslim Group Backs Kember Plea
US Isolated After Climate Talks Walkout
Calls Grow for Withdrawal of Nobel Prize
Christmas Row Hits White House
Soviet Air Bases in Poland Are Labelled Secret Cia Sites
Blair to Scupper Eu Budget Unless France Accepts Farm Review
How Planespotters Turned Into the Scourge of the Cia
A Year After the Tsunami, Couple Believe Image Shows Missing Girl is Alive
Climate Talks 'turning Sour', Warns Beckett
Prewar Claims 'sourced From Rendition Detainee'
Islamic Leaders Unveil Action Plan to Rescue a 'nation in Crisis'
Kidnappers Extend Deadline for British Hostage in Iraq
Israel Should Move to Europe, Says Iran's Leader
Three Cleared of Stormont Spying Charges
Stars Cry Blue Murder Over Italy's Porn Tax
Suicide Bomber Kills 30 in Baghdad Bus Station Attack
'Shades of Srebrenica' Overshadow Nato's Mission in Afghanistan
Zimbabwe's Last Independent Publisher Has Passport Seized
Air Marshals Knew Man Was Mentally Ill Before Opening Fire
Life Under Siege in a Divided City
Dam to Shield Russia From Factory's Toxic Slick
Chinese Militia Open Fire on Demonstrators Opposing Coal Plant
Capture of War Crimes Suspect Paves Croatia's Way to Eu Entry
Croatian War Crimes Suspect Arrested in Canaries
Red Crystal Adopted As Medical Relief Symbol
Coca Farmer Turned Saviour of the Left Promises Wind of Change in Bolivia
Trial Continues After Saddam Refuses to Appear in Court
Havana on the Offensive As Castro Lashes Out at 'fat Little Brother' Bush
France Warned of More Flare-ups Rooted in Urban Insecurity
Eritrea Expels Un Observers Along Border With Ethiopia
Cheap Fuel for the Bronx, With Love From Venezuela
Anger in Iran As Calls Grow for Air Crash Answers
Aid Chief Urges Charges Over Mass Slum Clearance
Rice Speaks Out Against Torture of Detainees
Syria Ready to Reopen Israel Peace Talks
Air Strike Kills Palestinian Militant
Pinochet Stripped of Legal Immunity
DNA Samples 'linchpin' in Outback Murder Case
Bin Laden Alive Claim is From Old Video
'Bin Laden Still Alive'
Initial Test of Patriot Act Fails to Produce One Conviction
Beckett Urges Binding Targets to Fight Climate Change
Prosecutor Heading Un's Hariri Inquiry Stands Down
Rice Admits Us Mistakes in War on Terror After Wave of Criticism Across Europe
LA Authorities Warn of More Booby-trapped Pens
Islanders Make New Attempt to Go Home
TV Channel Staff Resign Over Kremlin 'censorship'
Obituary: Liu Binyan
Falconio Police Did Not Plant Dna, Jury Hears
Healthy Basics That Keep Killer at Bay
Chirac Tells Blair to Try Harder on Eu Budget
Eta Bombs Around Madrid Wreck Hopes of Ceasefire
Tsunami Inquest Records More British Tragedies
Sarkozy Takes Big Step Towards French Presidency
Iranian Military Plane Crash Kills 100
Plame is Quitting Cia Over Outing, Say Friends
South Africa Plunges Into Political Crisis As Mbeki's Ex-deputy Charged With Rape
Woman Witness Tells Saddam Trial of Beatings, Torture and Sexual Humiliation
Two Suicide Bombers Kill 36 at Police Academy
Tsunami Victim's Body Returned Without Hands, Court Told
Human Rights Group to Sue Cia
Islanders Bid to Overturn Expulsion Ruling
Eta Threats Mar Spain's Constitution Day
Iraq Bombers Kill 43 at Police Academy
128 Killed As Plane Hits Tehran Flats
Rice Meets German Chancellor Amid Cia Row
Eta Threat Clears Spanish Airport
Rice Pressured Eu Over Internet Control
111 Killed As Plane Hits Tehran Flats
Iraq Bombers Kill 27 at Police Academy
At Least 90 Feared Dead in Plane Crash
Hidden Witness Gives Evidence As Saddam Trial Resumes
'No Evidence' of Police Corruption in Falconio Case
France and Poland Lead Assault on Blair Eu Budget Plan
US Defence of Tactic Makes No Sense Says Legal Expert
Police 'may Have Planted Desert Murder Evidence'
Families Relive Moments When Happiness Turned to Horror at First Inquests Into Tsunami Victims
Long Journey of Ramsey Clark
Red Cross and Crescent Meet to Make New Sign Crystal Clear
African Earthquake Buries Children in Homes
Jamaican Gay Activist Shot Dead After Being Abducted
Company Head is Second to Lose Job Over Toxic Spill
Self-healing Car Paint to Smooth Over Life's Scrapes
Five Killed As Suicide Bomber Strikes in Israel
Saddam: 'i'm Not Afraid of Execution'
Detainee Flights Have Saved European Lives, Says Rice
Inquiry Into Deaths of Uk Tsunami Victims Begins
Saddam: I Don't Fear Execution
Uzbekistan Jails 25 Andijan Uprising Suspects
Rice Defends Us Treatment of Terror Suspects
Lawyer: Falconio Suspect May Have Been Framed
Five Killed in Israeli Shopping Centre Blast
Iran Plans New Nuclear Reactor
Four Killed in Israeli Shopping Mall Blast
Saddam's Lawyers Walk Out of Court
Hollywood: Ego, Politics And Wealth
Mass Protest Demands Full Democratic Reform
Ulster's Ex-police Chief to Report on Iraq
Ex-US Diplomat Blames Israel for Pakistani Dictator's Death
Peru May Sue Yale for Inca Relics' Return
US Court Rules Against Lesbian Fertility Patient
General Investigated Over Death of Soldier in Iraq
Annan's Axe Hangs Over Rising Star of Un Accused of Harassing Staff
Nigerian Church Puts Texans' Love for Their Neighbours to the Test
Relatives Angry Over Tsunami Inquest
Saddam's Trial Will Not Be Fair, Says United Nations
CIA's Secret Jails Open Up New Transatlantic Rift
India's Newly Rich Battle With Obesity
Peres Defends His Breakaway With Sharon
Onassis Heiress Weds Her Brazilian Show Jumper
Kenya's Children of the Desert Find That Knowledge Comes on the Back of a Camel
Rice Rejects Eu Protests Over Secret Terror Prisons
Al in the Family, on the Television, As Himself
Romania Hails Orphanage Success Story
Ukrainian Salt Mines Reinvented As a Haven for Asthma Sufferers
Protest to Libya After Satellites Jammed
Navy Deal to Fight Illegal Migration
Moscow Voters to Give Verdict on Putin Reforms
Health Agency Refuses to Hire Any More Smokers
Fire at Hostel Kills Nine Homeless People
Lifeline for Victims of Sexual Aggression
Torture Still Widespread in China, Says Un Investigator
EU Deal on Capturing Phone Data
North Korea Makes New Nuclear Weapons Offer
China Cracks Down in 'asian Las Vegas'
Blair Accused of Sellout Over Eu Rebate Deal
Poland's Small Farmers Fear for the Future
French Paedophile Ring Case Turns Into Judicial Fiasco
Resistance Fears As 'life-saver' Malaria Drug Loses Potency
Former Covert Israeli Forces 'training Kurds in Iraq'
Masked Insurgents Mount Show of Force in Ramadi After Bush Speech
Pay Women Not to Have Abortions, Say Italian Mps
From Belgian Cul-de-sac to Suicide Bomber in Iraq
Thai Police Investigate 'too Realistic' Guide Book
Five Jailed Over Sex Trafficking
New Yorkers favor Bush’s Iraq strategy while Washingtonians don’t