2005 Belfast riots
The 2005 Belfast riots were serious loyalist riots and civil disturbances in Belfast, Northern Ireland in September 2005. The violence broke out after the Protestant Orange Order Whiterock parade was re-routed to avoid the Irish nationalist Springfield Road area. Clashes also broke out in several towns in County Antrim. The incidents took place amid a fierce feud between members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), who are also thought to have orchestrated the riots.


2005 Belfast riots, Background
Amid increasing sectarian violence and feuds between loyalists, the Whiterock Orange Order parade was delayed in June by the Order in protest against the decision to re-route it via a disused factory site. Irish nationalists opposed the Order to run through their streets. On 8 September, the Parades Commission said that the decision will stand. Loyalists blocked roads in north and west Belfast as a result.


2005 Belfast riots, Background
On 13 July 2005, 80 police officers and seven civilians were injured during nationalist rioting in Ardoyne, north Belfast. Members of the Continuity IRA were blamed after police officers were attacked after withdrawing from policing an Orange Order parade with petrol and blast bombs.


2005 Belfast riots, Background
On 4 August 2005, a five-hour loyalist riot in north Belfast injured 40 police officers. The rioting broke out after the arrests of six men in connection with the loyalist feud between the UVF and LVF paramilitaries.


2005 Belfast riots, Clashes
On the first night of violence on Saturday 10 September, a policeman was shot in the eye as a barrage of petrol bombs were thrown at Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers. An Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member was also hurt in a bomb blast. A cameraman from the BBC was also abducted by loyalist gunmen in Lower Shankill estate, where his camera was destroyed before being released.


2005 Belfast riots, Clashes
Rioting continued for a second day on 11 September as a 700-strong mob clashed with police, blocking roads and setting cars on fire. The violence spread to Albertbridge Road in east Belfast. 1,000 police officers and 1,000 British Army soldiers were deployed.


2005 Belfast riots, Clashes
On the third night of rioting, violence spread to County Antrim where police were attacked and cars set ablaze in Lisburn, Ballymena, Carrickfergus and other towns. The situation in Belfast was reduced.


2005 Belfast riots, Aftermath
The riots were the worst in Northern Ireland since the end of the Troubles. PSNI statistics show that 115 shots were fired at police, 146 blast bombs thrown, and 116 vehicles were hijacked. The Orange Order blamed the PSNI's actions for being "brutal". A police investigation discovered a loyalist bomb factory in Highfield estate, north Belfast.


2005 Belfast riots, Aftermath
On 14 September 2005, the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain announced that the British government no longer recognised the UVF's ceasefire implemented in 1994 following the "ruthless" attacks on police during the riots.


2005 Belfast riots, Aftermath
Two loyalist men, John Main and Colin Harbinson, from Belfast's Glencairn area, were jailed in 2007 for opening fire and attempting to murder security forces during the riots.


2005 Belgian Cup Final
The 2006 Belgian Cup Final, took place on 28 May 2005 between Club Brugge and Germinal Beerschot. It was the 50th Belgian Cup final and was won by Germinal Beerschot.


2005 Belgian Figure Skating Championships
The 2005 Belgian Figure Skating Championships (Dutch: Belgisch Kampioenschap 2005; French: Championnat de Belgique 2005) took place between 26 and 27 November 2004 in Lommel. Skaters competed in the discipline of ladies' singles.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix
The 2005 Belgian Grand Prix (officially the 2005 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 11 September 2005 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium. It was the sixteenth race of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship and the 62nd Belgian Grand Prix.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix
The 44-lap race was won by Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, after he started from second position. Räikkönen's Colombian teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya, took pole position and led until his second pit stop on lap 33; he then maintained second place until a late collision with Brazilian driver Antônio Pizzonia in the Williams-BMW. Spaniard Fernando Alonso thus took second in his Renault, with Englishman Jenson Button third in a BAR-Honda.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix
With three races remaining, Alonso led the Drivers' Championship by 25 points from Räikkönen, needing only six more to clinch the title. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren reduced Renault's lead to six points.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the 2004 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Before the race, Renault were leading the Constructors' Championship with 144 points and McLaren were second with 136 points, with Ferrari third on 58 points. In the World Drivers' Championship, Renault driver Fernando Alonso was leading with 103 points; Kimi Räikkönen was second on 76 points, 27 points behind Alonso. Behind Alonso and Räikkönen in the Drivers' Championship, Michael Schumacher was third on 55 points in a Ferrari, with Juan Pablo Montoya and Jarno Trulli on 50 and 43 points respectively.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Four practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday from 11:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 15:00 local time, with the final two sessions held on Saturday morning between 09:00 to 09:45 and 10:15 to 11:00.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Saturday's afternoon qualifying session took place as a one-lap session held between 13:00 and 14:00. Drivers went out one at a time in the reverse order of their finishing positions at the previous race. The cars ran on the fuel that would be used for the Sunday race.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Giancarlo Fisichella started the race from 13th place – the result of a ten-place grid penalty given for an engine change between final practice and qualifying on the Saturday.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
The race took place in the afternoon from 14:00 local time. On lap 11 Fisichella had an accident at Eau Rouge, emerging unhurt from his wrecked Renault but this brought out the safety car. On lap 14, Takuma Sato hit Michael Schumacher's car from behind, causing both to retire. Antônio Pizzonia crashed into Juan Pablo Montoya—in second position at the time—shortly before the finish of the race. Jacques Villeneuve was able to finish sixth by virtue of a one-stop pit strategy, while other drivers stopped as many as five times.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
This race saw the Jordan team score their final point, courtesy of Tiago Monteiro, while the BAR team achieved their last podium finish through Jenson Button. Also, Ralf Schumacher scored his last, and Toyota's first, fastest lap.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
The race stewards ruled that Sato had caused the collision with Schumacher, and he would consequently drop ten places on the grid for the next Grand Prix in Brazil. They also fined Pizzonia $8,000 for his collision with Montoya.


2005 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Unusually, McLaren did not send a representative to the podium to collect the constructors' trophy, so, Räikkönen accepted it on behalf of the team.


2005 Belgian Super Cup
The 2005 Belgian Supercup was a football match between the winners of the previous season's Belgian First Division and Belgian Cup competitions. The match was contested by Cup winners Germinal Beerschot, and 2004–05 Belgian First Division champions, Club Brugge on 30 July 2005 at the ground of the league champions as usual, in this case the Jan Breydel Stadium.


2005 Belgian Super Cup
Club Brugge won its fourth consecutive Supercup title and 13th in total, as it beat Germinal Beerschot on penalty kicks.


2005 Belize unrest
The 2005 protests in Belize are two separate but related incidents of civil unrest in the Central American nation, occurring in January and April.


2005 Belize unrest, January 2005 budget protests
Civil unrest broke out in the capital city of Belmopan in Belize during mid-January 2005. The unrest was provoked by the release of a new national budget with significant tax increases. It was also guided by anger at the ruling People's United Party for the worsening fiscal condition of the Belizean government.


2005 Belize unrest, January 2005 budget protests, Run-up
On January 14, 2005 Said Musa's administration announced its budget for 2005-2006. The budget included major tax increases on a variety of businesses and commodities. It included an 11% increase in the real estate sales tax, a five percent tax increase for financial institutions, an eight percent tax increase on tobacco, and a 100% tax increase on rum. The government claims that these tax increases were comparable to increases instituted in 1998 under the United Democratic Party (UDP).


2005 Belize unrest, January 2005 budget protests, Run-up
However, after years of popular frustration at alleged financial mismanagement and corruption by the People's United Party (PUP), the new budget sparked condemnation from local interest groups and protests at the National Assembly building on January 14, with demonstrations continued throughout the following week. The main protesters were the National Trade Union Congress of Belize and the Belize Chamber of Commerce.


2005 Belize unrest, January 20 and 21
On January 20, the business community and labor unions called for a two-day nationwide strike. Employees did not report to work, and water service for much of Belize was turned off. A major public demonstration planned by the opposition took place on January 21 in Belmopan. (The ruling PUP reportedly planned a counter-demonstration.) This was a large demonstration outside the National Assembly building in Belmopan which ended in violence. Protesters threw rocks at the police, who responded with rubber bullets and riot gas. The gunfire and sirens were audible at a distance of at least 1 km. At least one larger booming sound, significantly louder than gunfire, was heard; the cause of this is unclear.


2005 Belize unrest, January 20 and 21
Several protesters were arrested, including 'Yellowman', a UDP stalwart. The permission for the demonstration ended at 3pm, but the protesters were given a one-hour extension. At the end of the extension, repeated demands for dispersal were largely ignored. Former Superintendent (now Assistant Commissioner) of Police Crispin Jeffries read the riot act to the crowd, and after waiting an additional 40 minutes he ordered riot police to disperse the crowd, which they did using teargas and rubber bullets. Some union workers laid down and refused to disperse; they were physically dragged from the area.


2005 Belize unrest, January 20 and 21
This is only the third time that this kind of unrest has hit Belize. The most recent occasion was in the 1980s, when a proposal was drafted to cede part of the country to Guatemala occasioned the Heads of Agreement Crisis.


2005 Belize unrest, January 20 and 21
Reports indicate that the police were very calm throughout the day, although some police cadets were said to have employed unnecessary force against orders. There were reports of fully trained officers restraining cadets and removing them from the police lines, and some people assert that no rocks were thrown until after a protester was hit in the head by a club wielded by a cadet.


2005 Belize unrest, Between the protests
After the conclusion of the Friday protest, the Belize National Teachers' Union, led by President Anthony Fuentes, began a prolonged strike action that left the majority of schools closed going into February. Shortages of water and electricity were also common.


2005 Belize unrest, Between the protests
Initial agreements were made as of January 26 between the government and the Congress; in support of these deals university and college students took to the streets that day, representing the University of Belize and ATLIB affiliated institutions. But by Friday January 28, talks had broken down again as the Public Service Union of government workers left their jobs and forced a new round of negotiations that dragged on in the early days of February even as teachers began to return to school.


2005 Belize unrest, Between the protests
Taking advantage of numerous faults in communication between the union representatives, Government negotiators Carla Barnett and Assad Shoman came up with an agreement on February 11. The NTUCB received a review of the budget, salary increases for its members, various reform measures tied to national development corporations and a promise of cooperation. The budget's tax increases were suspended to March 1, pending their review. A planned national shutdown and strike was averted.


2005 Belize unrest, Between the protests
Almost an aberration in the midst of the storm and fury was the takeover of Belize Telecommunications Limited by the Government following investor Jeffrey Prosser's failure to pay for his batch of shares bought the previous year. That deal would be more closely examined in the months to come.


2005 Belize unrest, Conditions leading to March and April unrest
The Union Congress and GOB met in talks throughout late February, but as of February 28, there was little progress.


2005 Belize unrest, Conditions leading to March and April unrest
On March 1, the agreed-upon tax increases were implemented with little comment other than a threat of strike action from the NTUCB. Other proposals, such as committees to investigate alleged wrongdoing at the Social Security Board and Development Finance Corporation were implemented.


2005 Belize unrest, Conditions leading to March and April unrest
The main news in early March centered on the utility companies, BTL, BEL and BWS. BTL was locked in an investor war between Michael Ashcroft of England and Jeffrey Prosser, majority holder at the time, of the United States. Ashcroft's reps claimed Prosser was not fulfilling his duties to the board of BTL and challenged his authority in a court order after he was found unable to pay for his stake in the company, which was taken over by GOB. Meanwhile, BEL had applied for a rate hike of 14% over five years, and BWS were granted a small increase.


2005 Belize unrest, Conditions leading to March and April unrest
On March 11, the trend was set for confrontation. In Miami, Florida, judge Ursula Ungaro Benages restored Prosser to his position on the board with six directors to Ashcroft's two, throwing out the deal Government had made to offer shares to Belizeans. March 14 marked the first appearance of the Belize Communication Workers Union, led by Paul Perriott, who insisted that foreign ownership was not desirable for the workers of BTL and called for funding to put the company in Belizean hands. The NTUCB planned a demonstration for later that week in Belmopan.


2005 Belize unrest, Conditions leading to March and April unrest
On March 15, phones across the nation were cut off, purportedly by BTL workers as part of their disgust with the Government and foreigners. The Supreme Court issued a ruling against the Miami injunction, declaring it non-enforceable in Belize.


2005 Belize unrest, Conditions leading to March and April unrest
Friday, March 18, saw the planned demonstration by the trade unions, precipitated by a nationwide blackout beginning the previous night. The unions were much more peaceful than in their previous protest in January. Inside the House, the government passed the reform measures agreed to by the Unions.


2005 Belize unrest, Conditions leading to March and April unrest
Going into the long Easter weekend, the big story was government's deal with Michael Ashcroft's Ecom Ltd. to buy the shares not paid for by Prosser; upon appeal to the Miami Court Benages reversed her decision and agreed with the GOB position-or so it was thought.


2005 Belize unrest, April unrest and aftermath
Going into April, the back and forth between Michael Ashcroft and Jeffrey Prosser in both Miami and Belize reached new lows. On March 31, Benages found GOB in contempt; the ruling was challenged days later by Belize Supreme Court Justice Abdulai Conteh, but Prosser appealed.


2005 Belize unrest, April unrest and aftermath
Benages, on April 13, agreed with Prosser and fined GOB $50,000 US dollars per day for every day in contravention of her order since March 29. Government planned to comply, but not before appealing the decision. On April 14, disgruntled BTL workers left the compound (or were forced out by a bomb threat), which was seized on by the Communication Workers' Union to express its dissatisfaction at the legal wrangling.


2005 Belize unrest, April unrest and aftermath
The week of April 18 brought to a head the majority of the troubles facing Belize in this period. Over the weekend telephone service was brought down and the BTL compound on Saint Thomas Street barricaded by workers and supporters, who gave in only as Police stormed the compound. BTL manager Dale Trujeque was arrested for illegal strike action. The unions called on April 18 for Prime Minister Musa to resign; his response was that the BTL situation was not properly handled but that he would not resign based on "politics." On April 19, the Opposition United Democratic Party unveiled a plan of "civil disobedience" to force early elections, and the country's tertiary level students came out in support of the unions and BTL workers. Late on April 19 another crippling electricity blackout was reported.


2005 Belize unrest, April unrest and aftermath, April 20
At about 1:00 pm that Wednesday afternoon, students of the University of Belize, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, walked out of their campus on College Street in West Landivar and went to rouse students from schools in the area, including St. John's College High School and Junior College, Edward P. Yorke, Nazarene and Pallotti High Schools. Having achieved a sizable number of participants, the march traveled to Said Musa's home in the City for an hour (ignoring Police attempts to disperse them) and then marching to and blocking the Belcan Bridge, one of the City's main arteries.


2005 Belize unrest, April unrest and aftermath, April 20
Union leaders and Opposition politicians joined them thereafter and police and crowd engaged in a standoff with occasional outbursts and usual elements of protesting until nightfall, when a few city residents came out and began burning tires on the bridge. The crowd then began to disperse, some chanting "Albert Street", the main commercial center of Belize City.


2005 Belize unrest, April unrest and aftermath, April 20
What happened next was an hour to 90 minutes of indiscriminate looting in the downtown area, particularly on King, Bishop, Church, Albert and Regent Streets, but extending as well to the Pound Yard Bridge and Vernon Street. Police failed to restore calm before damage amounting to more than a million dollars occurred.


2005 Belize unrest, April unrest and aftermath, April 20
Fingers flew all next day, April 21, as the Government, Opposition and unions made claims, counterclaims and threats. Meanwhile, accused looters were being brought to court and UB student body president Moses Sulph charged for leading the previous day's strike. Another tense moment came on the afternoon of April 21 as reports of Sulph's arraignment (he was actually arraigned April 22) brought out hundreds to the Queen and North Front Street areas for a few hours.


2005 Belize unrest, April unrest and aftermath, April 20
On Monday, April 25, plans were announced by public servants and teachers to strike, but these were called off by the end of the week after limited participation. One last tense moment came in Belmopan near the end of April when Opposition rep Patrick Faber was roughed up while attending a meeting of the Prime Minister and UB students there.


2005 Belize unrest, In popular culture
Artist Dan Man released a song called "Albert Street" mocking the looting on that City street on April 20. Poet Erwin X (Jones)' "Life Haad Out Ya" was another favorite of protesters, and the phrase became a catchphrase for much of 2005 and 2006.


2005 Belize unrest, In popular culture
The season 1 episode of the Canadian TV series Survivorman named "Lost At Sea" featured the host Les Stroud attempt to survive one week in a life raft adrift off of the Belize coast. Filming began mere days before the unrest broke out, and filming the episode had to be cut short before the end of Les' 6th day - as the unrest made the situation difficult for the foreign-based production crew.


2005 Belmont Stakes
The 2005 Belmont Stakes was the 137th running of the Belmont Stakes. The 1 1⁄2-mile (2,400 m) race, known as the "test of the champion" and sometimes called the "final jewel" in thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown series. It was held on June 11, 2005, three weeks after the Preakness Stakes and five weeks after the Kentucky Derby.


2005 Belmont Stakes
In 2005, the Kentucky Derby was won by long-shot Giacomo while the Preakness Stakes was won by Afleet Alex. Therefore, there was no Triple Crown at stake, which caused a sharp decline in attendance from the year before when Smarty Jones was attempting to sweep the three races. The race proved fairly uneventful, with favorite Afleet Alex winning by seven lengths and stamping himself as the top three-year-old in the nation. Longshots finished in the next three places, resulting in high payouts for the trifecta and superfecta.


2005 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
Giacomo won the 2005 Kentucky Derby in a major upset at odds of 50-1. Afleet Alex, who had finished third in the Derby, rebounded to win the Preakness Stakes despite nearly falling when another horse swerved into his path at the head of the stretch. Afleet Alex was favored to win the Belmont, with morning line odds set at 6-5 while Giacomo was the second choice at 4-1. The third choice at 6-1 was Reverberate, who had finished second in his previous start in the Peter Pan Stakes. The other horses in the field were all at double digit odds. Trainer Nick Zito entered three horses in the Belmont, having already entered five in the Derby and three in the Preakness without finishing in the money. Andromeda's Hero was considered to have the best chance, having finished eighth in the Derby and with an excellent pedigree for the taxing distance.


2005 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
Afleet Alex arrived at Belmont Park on June 4. His trainer Tim Ritchey focused on long exercise sessions to build up the colt's stamina, including two gallops on the Wednesday before the race when the colt galloped a total of 4 1⁄2 miles. Meanwhile, various racetracks across the country agreed to set up Alex's Lemonade Stands on Belmont day to raise money for pediatric cancer research. The charity was set up by a young girl, Alex Scott, and had come to the attention of Afleet Alex's owners. By the end of 2005, over $4 million had been raised. By 2015, the fundraising has surpassed $100 million, and the publicity associated with Afleet Alex's Triple Crown run was a major factor in the continued success.


2005 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
A "docile" crowd of 62,274 showed up to watch the race. The previous year, a record crowd of over 120,000 had attended to watch Smarty Jones attempt to sweep the Triple Crown.


2005 Belmont Stakes, Race description
Longshot Pinpoint went to the early lead and set a slow pace, with Afleet Alex sitting back in eighth place. His jockey, Jeremy Rose, had been cautioned about making his move too early – a common mistake for young jockeys not familiar with the dimensions of Belmont Park. "He was the best horse", he said. "I knew that if I didn't do something stupid, I was going to win this race. He's just that good."


2005 Belmont Stakes, Race description
His biggest challenger, Giacomo, raced just a few lengths behind the early leaders, a change from his normal come-from-behind tactics. His jockey Mike Smith explained that the horse had "flipped his palate" before the start of the race, which obstructed his breathing. "I could hear (a roaring sound) into the gate", said Smith, "and it got louder during the race." By being closer to the pace, Smith hoped to conserve energy and get a jump on Afleet Alex. Giacomo moved to the lead at the top of the stretch but then tired, eventually finishing seventh.


2005 Belmont Stakes, Race description
Afleet Alex continued to rate near the back of the pack for the first 1 1⁄8 miles then unleashed a "devastating" kick around the far turn. He quickly hit the lead and continued to draw away down the stretch, winning by seven lengths. He ran the final quarter mile in 24.50 seconds, the fastest closing fraction since Arts and Letters in 1969. "We expected this kind of performance", said Ritchey. "I wasn't surprised he was that far back, but when he got rolling, it was a lot of fun."


2005 Belmont Stakes, Race description
Andromeda's Hero and Nolan's Cat used similar tactics to Afleet Alex but could not match his acceleration. Andromeda's Hero moved from 10th place early in the race to finish 2nd, while Nolan's Cat closed from 11th to 3rd. "I stayed comfortable in good position, trying to stay close to Afleet Alex," said Rafael Bejarano, the jockey of Andromeda's Hero. "When he moved at the three-eighths pole, I followed him, and when I asked my horse at the quarter pole, my horse started running strong. But Afleet Alex just ran away."


2005 Belmont Stakes, Race description
Due to the slow early pace, the final time was a modest 2:28.75.


2005 Belmont Stakes, Chart
Source: EquibaseTimes: 1⁄4 – 0:24.47;  1⁄2 – 0:48.62; 3⁄4 – 1:12.92; mile – 1:38.05; 1 1⁄4 – 2:02.45;  final – 2:28.75. Fractional Splits: (:24.47) (:24.15) (:24.30) (:25.13) (:26.20) (:24.50)


2005 Berlin Marathon
The 2005 Berlin Marathon was the 32nd edition of the Berlin Marathon. The marathon took place in Berlin, Germany, on 25 September 2005.


2005 Berlin Marathon
The men's race was won by Philip Manyim in 2:07:41 hours and the women's race was won by Mizuki Noguchi in a time of 2:19:12 hours.


2005 Berlin Thunder season
The 2005 Berlin Thunder season was the seventh season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Rick Lantz in his second year, and played its home games at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. They finished the regular season in first place with a record of seven wins and three losses. In World Bowl XIII, Berlin lost to the Amsterdam Admirals 27–21.


2005 Betta Electrical 500
The 2005 Betta Electrical 500 was the ninth round of the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of the 9 to 11 September at Sandown Raceway in Victoria.


2005 Bhutan A-Division
The 2005 season of the Bhutanese A-Division was the eleventh recorded season of top-flight football in Bhutan. The league was won by Transport United, their second title in a row. As a result, they qualified as Bhutan's representatives in the 2006 AFC President's Cup.


2005 Bhutan A-Division, League table
Teams played each other on a home and away basis, with the bottom two teams qualifying for a relegation playoff against the top two teams from the B-Division.


2005 Bhutan A-Division, Relegation playoffs
Choden won the final of the B-Division on 19 June 2005, beating Rookies 3-0. Choden and another unknown team then entered the playoffs against Rigzhung and Dzongric. From the known fixtures that took place in 2006, it can be extrapolated that Choden beat Dzongric, whilst Rigzhung beat the other unknown team from the B-Division.


2005 Biante Model Cars Historic Touring Car Series
The 2005 Biante Models Cars Historic Touring Car Series was an Australian motor racing competition for Group N cars. It was recognised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as a National Series.


2005 Biante Model Cars Historic Touring Car Series
The series was won by Brad Tilley driving a Ford XY Falcon.


2005 Biante Model Cars Historic Touring Car Series, Schedule
The series was contested over six rounds with each round contested over three races.


2005 Biante Model Cars Historic Touring Car Series, Points system
Outright series points were awarded at each race on the following basis:


2005 Biante Model Cars Historic Touring Car Series, Points system
Class points were awarded at each race on the following basis:


2005 Biante Model Cars Historic Touring Car Series, Series standings
The above table shows only the top ten series placings outright and the top three placings in each class.


2005 Big 12 Championship Game
The 2005 Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game was held at Reliant Stadium on December 3, 2005. The game saw the Big 12 South champions Texas Longhorns take on the Colorado Buffaloes, winners of the Big 12 North. Texas, undefeated and at #2 in the BCS standings, was looking to travel to the national championship.


2005 Big 12 Championship Game
Texas defeated Colorado, 70–3. The win was the 8th largest margin of victory in Texas football history, and sent the Longhorns to the BCS title game in Pasadena, where they defeated USC 41–38. The game would also be the last for Colorado head coach Gary Barnett, who was replaced on December 15 by Dan Hawkins. Colorado would go on to lose 19–10 to Clemson in the Champs Sports Bowl.


2005 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2005 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament was held at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, OK from May 25 through May 29. Nebraska won their fourth tournament in seven years and earned the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. This was the last year that the tournament mirrored the format of the College World Series, with two 4-team double-elimination brackets and a final championship game.


2005 Big 12 Conference Softball Tournament
The 2005 Big 12 Conference Softball tournament was held at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, OK from May 11 through May 14, 2005. Texas won their fourth conference tournament and earned the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament.


2005 Big 12 Conference Softball Tournament
Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma State received bids to the NCAA tournament. Texas would go on to play in the 2005 Women's College World Series.


2005 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
The 2005 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2005 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship, was the 2005 edition of the Big 12 Conference's championship tournament. The tournament was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City from 8 March until 12 March 2005. The Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals were televised on the ESPN family of networks. The championship game, held on March 12, 2005, featured the number 1 seeded Baylor Lady Bears, and the number 3 seeded Kansas State Wildcats. Baylor won the contest by a 68-55 margin.


2005 Big 12 Conference Women's Soccer Tournament
The 2005 Big 12 Conference Women's Soccer Tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big 12 Conference held from November 2 to 6, 2005. The 7-match tournament was held at the Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio, TX with a combined attendance of 6,768. The 8-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Texas A&M Aggies defeated the Colorado Buffaloes in the championship match to win their 4th conference tournament.


2005 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2005 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big 12 Conference. It was played from March 10 to 13 in Kansas City, Missouri at the Kemper Arena. Oklahoma State won the tournament for the 2nd time and received the conference's automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Tournament.


2005 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeding
The Tournament consisted of a 12 team single-elimination tournament with the top 4 seeds receiving a bye.


2005 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2005 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Commerce Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ. This was the twenty first annual Big East Conference Baseball Tournament and last to be held at Commerce Bank Ballpark. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish won their fourth tournament championship in a row and claimed the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Notre Dame would go on to win five championships in a row.


2005 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament, Format and seeding
The Big East baseball tournament was a 4 team double elimination tournament in 2005. The top four regular season finishers were seeded one through four based on conference winning percentage only.


2005 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament, Jack Kaiser Award
Matt Edwards was the winner of the 2005 Jack Kaiser Award. Edwards was a senior first baseman for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.


2005 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2005 Big East Men's Basketball Championship was played from March 9 to March 12, 2005. The tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Syracuse Orange won the tournament and were awarded an automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.


2005 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket
Note: By finishing in last place during the regular season, St. John's did not qualify for the tournament.


2005 Big League World Series
The 2005 Big League World Series took place from July 30-August 6 in Easley, South Carolina, United States. Easley, South Carolina defeated Thousand Oaks,  California in the championship game. It was South Carolina's third straight championship.


2005 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2005 Big Sky Men's Basketball Tournament was played from March 5 to March 9. The First Round of the tournament was held at the higher seed's home arena, and the semi-finals and championship were held at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, which is the home of regular season champion Portland State. The top 6 teams from regular season play qualified and the top 2 teams received a bye to the semi-finals. The tournament was won by Montana and they received an automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.


2005 Big South Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2005 Big South Conference Baseball Tournament  was the postseason baseball tournament for the Big South Conference, held from May 25–28, 2005 at Charles Watson Stadium, home field of Coastal Carolina in Conway, South Carolina. The top six finishers participated in the double-elimination tournament. The champion, Winthrop, won the title for the fourth time, and earned an invitation to the 2005 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2005 Big South Conference Baseball Tournament, Format
The top six finishers from the regular season qualified for the tournament. The teams were seeded one through six based on conference winning percentage and played a double-elimination tournament.


2005 Big South Conference Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Valuable Player
Daniel Carte was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Carter was an outfielder for Winthrop.


2005 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2005 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place from March 1–5, 2005 at campus sites. The tournament was won by the Winthrop Eagles, their first of what would become four consecutive titles, led by head coach Gregg Marshall. They defeated the #7 Charleston Southern Buccaneers in the championship game 68–46.


2005 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
The top eight of the conference's nine teams were eligible for the tournament, seeded by conference winning percentage. All games were hosted at campus sites, with home-field advantage going to the higher seed. This gave the #1 seed Winthrop home-court advantage throughout the tournament.


2005 Big Ten Baseball Tournament
The 2005 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Illinois Field on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in Champaign, Illinois from May 15 through 19. The top six teams from the regular season participated in the double-elimination tournament, the twenty fourth annual tournament sponsored by the Big Ten Conference to determine the league champion. Ohio State won their seventh tournament championship and earned the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2005 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, Format and seeding
The 2005 tournament was a 6-team double-elimination tournament, with seeds determined by conference regular season winning percentage only. Michigan claimed the fourth seed over Ohio State by tiebreaker. As in the previous three years, the top two seeds received a single bye, with the four lower seeds playing opening round games. The top seed played the lowest seeded winner from the opening round, with the second seed playing the higher seed. Teams that lost in the opening round played an elimination game.


2005 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, Tournament
* - Indicates game required 13 innings. † - Indicates game required 11 innings.


2005 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Outstanding Player
Steve Caravati was named Most Outstanding Player. Caravati was an outfielder for Ohio State.


2005 Big Ten Conference football season
The 2005 Big Ten Conference football season was the 110th season for the Big Ten Conference.


2005 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2005 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was played between March 9 and March 12, 2005 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. This was the eighth annual Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. The championship was won by Illinois who defeated Wisconsin in the championship game. As a result, Illinois received the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The win marked the second tournament championship for Illinois in their fifth championship game appearance.


2005 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeds
All Big Ten schools played in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. Seeding for the tournament was determined at the close of the regular conference season. The top five teams received a first round bye.


2005 Big Ten Softball Tournament
The 2005 Big Ten Conference Softball tournament was held at Alumni Field on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan from May 12 through May 14, 2005. The championship game was aired on CSTV. As the tournament winner, Michigan earned the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament.


2005 Big Ten Softball Tournament, Format and seeding
The 2005 tournament was an eight team single-elimination tournament. The top eight teams based on conference regular season winning percentage earned invites to the tournament.


2005 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2005 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 9–12 at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.


2005 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Utah State defeated Pacific in the championship game, 65–52, to obtain the sixth Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament championship in school history.


2005 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The Aggies earned the conference's automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament as the #14 seed in the Chicago regional. Pacific received an at-large bid as the #8 seed in the Albuquerque regional.


2005 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
Eight of the ten teams in the conference participated, with UC Riverside and Cal Poly not qualifying. Teams were seeded based on regular season conference records. The top four seeds received byes, with the top two seeds receiving a second bye into the semifinal round.


2005 Billboard Music Awards
The 2005 Billboard Music Awards were held December 6, 2005 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The awards recognized the most popular artists and albums from 2005. Green Day and 50 Cent dominated the awards this year, with both winning 6 awards each.


2005 Birmingham riots
The Birmingham riots of 2005 occurred on two consecutive nights on Saturday 22 October and Sunday 23 October 2005 in the Lozells and Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. The riots were derived from ethnic tensions between the Caribbean and British Asian communities, with the spark for the riot being an alleged gang rape of a teenage black girl by a group of South Asian men. The rape allegation has never been substantiated.


2005 Birmingham riots
No evidence has been found to support the rumour nor has any victim come forward (further rumours asserted that this was because the victim was present in Britain unlawfully and feared deportation). The clashes involved groups of Caribbean and South Asian men committing serious acts of violence against various targets from both communities. The riots were connected to the deaths of two men, 23-year-old Isaiah Young-Sam and 18-year-old Aaron James.


2005 Birmingham riots, Background
The majority of the Asian population in the Lozells area are of Pakistani origin. The black population is predominantly of Caribbean origin. The animosity that preceded the rioting appears to have been largely based on local economic rivalry combined with possible agitation from opposing criminal gangs.


2005 Birmingham riots, Background
During a 2004 documentary titled Who You Callin' a Nigger? writer and broadcaster Darcus Howe picked up and commented upon a backdrop of mutual ethnic minority racism both in the West Midlands and the rest of Britain. His documentary did not focus solely on the differences between the Caribbean and British Asian community but also included tensions between the Caribbean community and recent African immigrants as well as inter-Asian racism. The problems specific to the Lozells area appear to be centered on the prevalence of Asian-owned businesses, the "unfair treatment" and "derogatory attitudes" of each community to the other.


2005 Birmingham riots, The alleged rape
There has never been agreement on the date the alleged rape occurred and the exact circumstances remain unclear: descriptions of the event change dependent on source. The earliest news items concerning the issue seem to begin with the BBC reporting a "Stop traffic" protest on 18 October 2005.


2005 Birmingham riots, The alleged rape
The rumours involved a 14-year-old girl of Jamaican heritage attempting to shoplift from a branch of "Beauty Queen Cosmetics". When caught by the British Pakistani owner, either she offered herself sexually or he proposed to her that in exchange for sex she would be free to go. The girl was then allegedly raped by a group of eight to nineteen men. Afraid of being deported due to her illegal immigrant status the girl supposedly refused to provide a statement to the police.


2005 Birmingham riots, The alleged rape
The police appealed for any evidence of the event occurring and stated at the very least her immigrant status would not be an issue until after the allegations had been dealt with. Despite the appeal, forensic searches and questioning of several individuals, the allegations have never been substantiated and no witnesses have come forward, nor was the girl - if she even existed - ever identified.


2005 Birmingham riots, Rumours and riot
Local pirate radio stations, most notably Hot 92 along with one of its DJs 'Warren G' discussed the details of the alleged rape and a picket was set up outside the premises of the shop in question. There were also calls for boycotts of other British Asian businesses. Ajaib Hussein, 33, the shop owner denied the event ever occurred and blamed business rivals for starting the rumour. A public meeting  was held on Saturday 22 October at the New Testament Church of God. At around 17:45 the meeting ended and violence erupted outside.


2005 Birmingham riots, Rumours and riot
Gangs of men fought running battles and at 19:15 Isaiah Young-Sam, who later died, was stabbed. As the night progressed the police recorded 80 offences occurring. Rioting also occurred to a lesser extent during the night of 23 October. Between 30 and 50 individuals were thought to be involved in the most serious incidents.


2005 Birmingham riots, Rumours and riot
Three men were convicted, but after a subsequent retrial acquitted  of the murder of Isaiah Young-Sam. A man pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Aaron James. In July 2007 six people were convicted of various offences related to the riots; four men were subsequently jailed in November 2007. In May 2008 four men were convicted for a being part of a mob that confronted and threatened a fire crew with firearms and machetes.


2005 Birmingham riots, Rumours and riot
In the aftermath of the riots a solidarity march for unity was conducted by Caribbean, white and British Asian women and children. On 5 November 2005 graves in the Muslim part of a local cemetery were desecrated. Vandals who pushed over and destroyed several grave stones left behind leaflets insulting Muslims. The leaflets were signed by a group calling itself "Black Nation". There is no previous history of any such organisation and it is not known whether it does in fact exist. Dr John Sentamu, the first African archbishop in the Church of England, strongly condemned the desecrations.


2005 Birmingham riots, Media coverage
On 21 February 2006 the Press Complaints Commission censured The Voice, the leading Black newspaper in Britain, for reporting the alleged rape in terms that suggested it was unchallenged fact (the newspaper had headlined "Gang of 19 rape teen"). The rumours were picked up by two Caribbean websites Blacknet and Supertrax which each allowed their chatrooms to post reactions from around the country.


2005 Birmingham riots, Media coverage
Supertrax reported that Lozells was swarming with "Paki gangs" with "sumtin to prove"; whilst Blacknet, a website promoted by The British Council, printed various contributions one of which was: "I hope Asian women are getting their throats cut as we speak", followed by a response: "Narrow it down to Pakistani women and I'll agree with you". After the riot, Blacknet apologised and removed what it called "absolutely disgusting" material posted on its site.


2005 Birmingham tornado
The 2005 Birmingham tornado was one of the strongest tornadoes recorded in  Great Britain in nearly 30 years, occurring on 28 July 2005 in the suburbs of Birmingham. It formed on a day when thunderstorms were expected to develop across the Midlands and eastern England. The tornado struck at approximately 14:30 BST in the Sparkbrook area and also affected King's Heath, Moseley and Balsall Heath as it carved a 7 kilometre-long path through the city.


2005 Birmingham tornado
Its main effects were felt on Ladypool Road, which bore the brunt of the damage. Ladypool Primary School was extensively damaged and lost its distinctive Martin & Chamberlain tower. The adjacent St Agatha's Church also suffered some damage. Christ Church (consecrated in 1867), on the corner of Dolobran Road and Grantham Road in Sparkbrook, was also damaged and has now been demolished.


2005 Birmingham tornado
The Met Office and TORRO (The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation) estimated that the tornado had a general T4 rating on the TORRO scale, with a short spell as a T5 tornado, which would indicate wind speeds between 137 and 186 mph (220 and 299 km/h), equivalent to an F2 or F3 tornado on the Fujita scale.


2005 Birmingham tornado
There were no fatalities, although there were approximately 19 injuries, three of which were reported to be serious. The tornado uprooted an estimated 1,100 trees, removed the roofs of buildings, picked up and deposited cars and caused other damage during its short existence. The total cost of damage was estimated at £40 million, making it the most costly tornado in British history.


2005 Birmingham tornado
While the United Kingdom has more reported tornadoes, relative to its land area, than any other country excluding the Netherlands, the vast majority are weak. The strongest recorded tornado in the country struck Portsmouth on 14 December 1810, with a T8 (F4) rating and a top wind speed of 213 to 240 mph (343 to 386 km/h).


2005 Birmingham tornado, Second tornado
Three months later, thunderstorms brought a second tornado, which hit less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) away from the original twister. The Met Office said there were winds of up to 80 mph (130 km/h) and it was strong enough to rip the roof off a corner house. Following this came widespread flooding across the region which brought havoc to Birmingham.


2005 Birmingham tornado, Earlier tornadoes
A tornado struck the city in 1931, killing one woman and severely damaging several houses. On 23 November 1981, during a record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak, two tornadoes touched down within the Birmingham city limits – in Erdington and Selly Oak – with six tornadoes touching down within the boundaries of the wider West Midlands county.


2005 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2005 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2005 to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of2005. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged first by the country whose ministers advised the Queen on the appointments, then by honour, with classes (Knight, Knight Grand Cross, etc.) and then divisions (Military, Civil, etc.) as appropriate.


2005 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)
The 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours in New Zealand, celebrating the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, were appointments made by the Queen in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of the New Zealand government, to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. They were announced on 6 June 2005.


2005 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.


2005 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes
The 2005 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes was the 81st running of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. The race took place on May 20, 2005, and was televised in the United States on the Bravo TV network owned by NBC. Ridden by jockey John Velazquez, Spun Sugar, won the race by three and three quarter lengths over runner-up R Lady Joy. Approximate post time on the evening before the Preakness Stakes was 5:14 p.m. Eastern Time and the race was run for a purse of $200,000. The race was run over a fast track in a final time of 1:53.27. The Maryland Jockey Club reported total attendance of 23,994.


2005 Boise State Broncos football team
The 2005 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. Boise State competed as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and played their home games at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos were led by fifth-year head coach Dan Hawkins. He resigned at the end of the regular season to take the head coaching job at Colorado, but remained to coach the Broncos in their bowl game. The Broncos finished the season 9–4 and 7–1 in conference to win their fourth straight WAC title (shared with Nevada) and played in the MPC Computers Bowl, where they lost to Boston College, 27–21.


2005 Bolivarian Games
The XV Bolivarian Games (Spanish: Juegos Bolivarianos) were a multi-sport event held between 12–21 August 2005 in Armenia and Pereira, Colombia. Some events took place in Cartagena de Indias and in Bogotá. The Games were organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization (ODEBO).


2005 Bolivarian Games
The opening ceremony took place on August 12, 2005, at the Estadio Hernán Ramírez Villegas in Pereira, Colombia. The Games were officially opened by Colombian president Álvaro Uribe. Torch lighter was former road racing cyclist Rubén Darío Gómez, gold medallist at the 1961 Bolivarian Games. The athlete's oath was sworn by weightlifter Óscar Figueroa


2005 Bolivarian Games, Venues
Armenia hosted the following competitions:athletics (Pista Atlética La Villa), basketball (Coliseo del Café), billiards (Bolo Club de Armenia), boxing (Coliseo Municipal de La Tebaida), fencing (Coliseo Colegio San Luis Rey), football (Estadio Centenario), artistic gymnastics (Coliseo de Gimnasia), rhythmic gymnastics (Coliseo del Sur), karate (Coliseo Municipal de Calarca), roller speed skating road (Pista Estadio Centenario), roller speed skating track (Patinodromo Parque de la Vida), squash (Canchas Universidad del Quindío and Portal del Quindío), table tennis (Coliseo Universidad del Quindío), wrestling (Coliseo del INEM)


2005 Bolivarian Games, Venues
Pereira hosted the following competitions:archery (Cancha Liga de Fútbol Villa Olímpica), beach volleyball (Parque Metropolitano del Café), bowling (Bolera Pereira), BMX racing (Parque Metropolitano del Café), mountain biking (Parque Metropolitano del Café), road cycling, track cycling (Velódromo Alfonso Hurtado Sarria), diving (Piscinas Olímpicas Villa), football (Estadio Hernán Ramírez Villegas), judo (Coliseo Menor), racquetball (Canchas Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira), shooting (Club de Tiro Punto 30), swimming (Piscinas Olímpicas Villa), taekwondo (Coliseo Menor), tennis (Tenis Country Club), volleyball (Coliseo Mayor), weightlifting (Coliseo Instituto Técnico Superior)


2005 Bolivarian Games, Venues
Cartagena hosted the following competitions:baseball† (Estadio 11 de Noviembre), canoeing (Laguna Luruaco), softball† (Estadio Unidad Deportiva El Campestre), triathlon (Boca Grande and Castillo Grande), yachting (Bahía de Cartagena) †: Event initially scheduled, but cancelled at short notice.


2005 Bolivarian Games, Venues
Bogotá hosted the following competitions:equestrianism (Country Club), water skiing (Parque Simón Bolívar)


2005 Bolivarian Games, Participation
About 2026 athletes from 6 countries were reported to participate:


2005 Bolivarian Games, Sports
Both baseball and softball competitions were cancelled at short notice. The following 28 sports were explicitly mentioned:


2005 Bolivarian Games, Medal count
The medal count for these Games is tabulated below. This table is sorted by the number of gold medals earned by each country. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, and then the number of bronze medals.


2005 Bolivian general election
General elections were held in Bolivia on 18 December 2005. Evo Morales of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party was elected President of Bolivia with 54% of the vote, the first time a candidate had received an absolute majority since the flawed 1978 elections. Morales was sworn in on 22 January 2006 for a five-year term. The MAS also won a majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and emerged as the largest party in the Senate.


2005 Bolivian general election
Simultaneously voters elected prefects, the highest executive office in each of Bolivia's nine departments. This was the first time the office had been chosen at the ballot box. Subsequently, departmental elections were held separately from national elections, with the next one held in April 2010.


2005 Bolivian general election, Background
In the early 2000s there were high levels of political instability across the country, including five Presidents in four years. Much of the instability dates back to the economic reforms otherwise known as "shock therapy" implemented by President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada whereby many formerly public utilities were privatized.


2005 Bolivian general election, Background
These reforms ultimately led to the First Bolivian Gas War in October 2003 where protesters, many of them of indigenous descent, essentially forced the resignation of Sánchez de Lozada. Vice President Carlos Mesa took office as president.


2005 Bolivian general election, Background
In his year in office, Mesa held a national referendum on the prospect of the nationalization of the hydrocarbons industry which he claimed to have won. Critics however said that the questions were vague and ambiguous with regard to outright nationalization of the hydrocarbons industry.


2005 Bolivian general election, Background
In May 2005 the Second Bolivian Gas War began after Congress agreed to raise taxes on foreign companies from 18% to 32%. The unions, led by Evo Morales, felt the law did not go far enough and effectively shut down the country, blockading major roads and cutting off the food supplies of several large cities.


2005 Bolivian general election, Background
In June 2005 the protests ultimately led to Mesa's resignation. Supreme Court Chief Justice Eduardo Rodríguez assumed the position of interim President of the Republic after the presidents of both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies declined the position and Rodríguez was fourth in line of succession.


2005 Bolivian general election, Background
Viewed as an apolitical figure, Rodríguez was welcomed by protesters and called for the presidential elections slated to take place in 2007 to be brought forward to December 2005.


2005 Bolivian general election, Electoral system
Voters had two ballots; a national-level ballot to elect the President and the nationally-elected members of Congress, and one for members of Congress elected in single-member constituencies in the Chamber of Deputies. Senators and Deputies were returned on a departmental basis; Senators were elected on a majoritarian basis, with the first-place party receiving two and the second-place party one, while deputies were elected on a mixed-member basis, with district deputies joining list deputies awarded by compensatory proportional representation. However, there was no national distribution of seats.


2005 Bolivian general election, Electoral system
Voting was compulsory for all Bolivians over the age of 18, but Bolivians living abroad were not able to take part.


2005 Bolivian general election, Aftermath
Morales claimed his victory marked Bolivia's first election of an indigenous head of state, but this claim generated controversy, due to the number of mestizo presidents who came before him, and was challenged publicly by such figures as Mario Vargas Llosa, who accused Morales of fomenting racial divisions in an increasingly mestizo Latin America.


2005 Bonnaroo Music Festival
The 2005 Bonnaroo Music Festival took place from June 10–12, and more than 75,000 people were in attendance. New Line Cinema introduced a twenty-four-hour "cinema tent," showing popular and cult films. Wireless Internet access was provided by Cisco Systems. There was a "comedy tent" featuring Jim Breuer as well as some lesser-known comedians and even daily yoga classes. Like 2004, rain marked each day of the festival. The children's area was provided by Kidz Jam.


2005 Bonnaroo Music Festival, Superjam
Herbie Hancock (keyboard), Pino Palladino (bass), Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (drums), Lionel Loueke (guitar)


2005 Boston City Council election
Boston City Council elections were held on November 8, 2005. Ten seats (six district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 5, 7, and 8 were unopposed. Five seats (the four at-large members, and district 9) had also been contested in the preliminary election held on September 27, 2005.


2005 Boston City Council election, At-large
Councillors Michael F. Flaherty, Felix D. Arroyo, and Stephen J. Murphy were re-elected, while the seat formerly held by Maura Hennigan was won by Sam Yoon. Hennigan did not seek re-election, as she ran for Mayor of Boston; she was defeated by incumbent Thomas Menino in the general election. Yoon became the first Asian American to hold elected office in Boston.


2005 Boston City Council election, District 1, Special election
Scapicchio resigned his seat effective April 30, 2006, in order to join a private lobbying firm. This created a vacancy that needed to be filled by a special election, which took place on June 13, 2006, with the preliminary election on May 16, 2006. Salvatore LaMattina was elected to serve the remainder of Scapicchio's term.


2005 Boston City Council election, District 2, Special election
Kelly died in January 2007, creating a vacancy that needed to be filled by a special election, which took place on May 15, 2007, with the preliminary election on April 17, 2007. Bill Linehan was elected to serve the remainder of Kelly's term.


2005 Boston College Eagles football team
The 2005 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. Boston College was in their first year as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Eagles played their home games at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, which has been their home stadium since 1957.


2005 Boston Marathon
The 2005 Boston Marathon was the 109th running of the annual marathon race in Boston, United States and was held on April 18. The elite men's race was won by Ethiopia's Hailu Negussie in a time of 2:11:45 hours and the women's race was won by Kenya's Catherine Ndereba in 2:25:13.


2005 Boston Red Sox season
The 2005 Boston Red Sox season was the 105th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League East with a record of 95 wins and 67 losses, the same record as the New York Yankees. The Yankees were deemed the division winner, due to their 10–9 head-to-head record against the Red Sox during the regular season. The Red Sox qualified for the postseason as the AL wild card, but were swept by the American League Central champion Chicago White Sox in the ALDS.


2005 Boston Red Sox season
On offense, the Red Sox led Major League Baseball in runs scored (910), hits (1,579), doubles (339), RBI (863), walks (653), batting average (.281), OBP (.357), OPS (.811) and sacrifice flies (63). Red Sox pitchers hit opposing batters with 89 pitches, the most by any major league pitching staff in 2005.


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Offseason
The Red Sox made a few notable offseason moves coming off their 2004 World Series championship. The team brought back Jason Varitek by re-signing the veteran catcher to a 4-year $40 million deal. Outfielder Dave Roberts – who played a key role as a base stealer during the 2004 postseason – was traded to the Padres in exchange for shortstop Ramon Vazquez and left fielder Jay Payton.


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Offseason
Management sought to fill the void left by Orlando Cabrera and Pokey Reese at shortstop by signing free agent Édgar Rentería to a 4-year $40 million year with a 5th year option. The move sat well with fans because Rentería was coming off a very successful 2004 campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals. Rentería hit .287 with 10 homeruns and 72 RBI in 2004.


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Offseason
The Red Sox front office looked to bolster their starting pitching by signing two veteran pitchers. The need for starting pitching was a point of emphasize due to the departure of Pedro Martínez to the New York Mets after 7 years in a Red Sox uniform. The first pitcher signed was former Padres starter David Wells. Wells was coming off a surprising 2004 season with the Padres in which he posted a 3.73 ERA over 195 innings pitched at the age of 41. The second pitcher signed was former Cubs starter Matt Clement. Clement was coming off a season in which he posted a respectable 3.68 ERA over 181 innings pitched.


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ER = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


2005 Boston Red Sox season, ALDS
The Chicago White Sox swept the Red Sox in the American League Division Series. The White Sox went on to win the World Series that year against the Houston Astros. The Red Sox were forced to play in the 2005 Postseason as a wild card team even though they had the same regular season record as their interdivision rival the New York Yankees. That is due to the fact that the Yankees had won the regular season head to head matchups versus the Red Sox 10-9.


2005 Boston Red Sox season, ALDS
A crucial moment of the series came in game 2 when Red Sox second baseman Tony Graffanino made a crucial error that led to the White Sox scoring three unearned runs in the fifth inning. A slow groundball hit to the right side of the infield was able to get past Graffanino and a key double play was not turned. Later in the inning, White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi hit a three-run homerun to give the White Sox a one-run lead. Red Sox pitcher David Wells was pitching well in the game until the error. The error is viewed by many fans as having the Red Sox lose Game 2 and eventually the American League Division Series.


2005 Boston Red Sox season, ALDS
Red Sox ace Curt Schilling did not start a game in the American League Division Series after pitching in the last game of the season against the Yankees.


2005 Boston Red Sox season, Farm system
The Wilmington Blue Rocks replaced the Sarasota Red Sox as the Class A-Advanced affiliate, and the Greenville Bombers replaced the Augusta GreenJackets as the Class A affiliate.


2005 Boston mayoral election
The Boston mayoral election of 2005 occurred on Tuesday, November 8, 2005, between incumbent mayor Thomas Menino and City Councilor Maura Hennigan. Menino was re-elected to a fourth term.


2005 Boston mayoral election
36% of registered voters turned out to vote in the election.


2005 Boston mayoral election
As Menino and Hennigan were the only two candidates, no preliminary election was held.


2005 Bowling Green Falcons football team
The 2005 Bowling Green Falcons football team represented Bowling Green State University in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Gregg Brandon and played their home games in Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio. It was the 87th season of play for the Falcons.


2005 Boxing World Cup
The 2005 Boxing World Cup was held in Moscow, Russia from July 12 to July 17.


2005 Boys' Youth European Volleyball Championship
The 2005 Boys' Youth European Volleyball Championship was the 6th edition of the Boys' Youth European Volleyball Championship, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, the CEV. It was held in Riga, Latvia from March 29 to April 3, 2005.


2005 Boys' Youth European Volleyball Championship
Poland won their 1st title in the tournament by defeating France. Jakub Jarosz was elected the Most Valuable Player.


2005 Boys' Youth European Volleyball Championship, Pool standing procedure
Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loserMatch won 3–2: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser


2005 Brabantse Pijl
The 2005 Brabantse Pijl was the 45th edition of the Brabantse Pijl cycle race and was held on 27 March 2005. The race started in Zaventem and finished in Alsemberg. The race was won by Óscar Freire.


2005 Bradford Bulls season
This article details the Bradford Bulls rugby league football club's 2005 season, the 10th season of the Super League era.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
The Bulls started their campaign with a 28–16 loss to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Iestyn Harris, Jamie Langley and Karl Pryce all scored for the Bulls whilst Paul Deacon kicked 2 goals. Bradford continued their poor start to the season by losing 31–22 to Widnes Vikings, Iestyn Harris, Karl Pryce, Leon Pryce and Andy Smith scored tries whilst Deacon kicked 3 goals. Bradford finally got their first win of the season by beating Wigan Warriors 28–27. Iestyn Harris, Jamie Langley, Jamie Peacock, Stuart Reardon and Michael Withers all scored and Deacon kicked 4 conversions.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Bradford started March with a 48–22 win over London Broncos. Paul Deacon and Lesley Vainikolo both scored 2 tries whilst Paul Johnson, Jamie Langley, Brad Meyers, Robbie Paul and Karl Pryce also scored. Deacon added 6 goals. The Bulls continued their good form as they hammered Leigh Centurions 46–6, Iestyn Harris and Karl Pryce both grabbed a brace each while Deacon, Langley, Rob Parker, Leon Pryce and Vainikolo all scored 1 a piece. Deacon added 5 goals. Bradford grabbed another win as they beat Hull F.C. 32–22.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Iestyn Harris, Andy Lynch, Karl Pryce and Leon Pryce all scored tries and Deacon kicked 8 goals to ensure Bradford won the game. Bradford's winning streak came to an abrupt halt as they lost 42–12 to rivals Leeds Rhinos. Karl Pryce and Stuart Reardon scored the Bulls only tries and Deacon converted both. The final game of the month saw the Bulls lose to St Helens R.F.C.. Lynch scored a brace of tries and scored from Robbie Paul and Karl Pryce wasn't enough to get the win, Deacon also kicked 5 goals and a drop goal.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
The Bulls progressed in the Challenge Cup by beating Featherstone Rovers 80–14. Robbie Paul and Andy Smith grabbed hat-tricks, Iestyn Harris and Brett Ferres scored a brace each. Rob Parker, Stuart Fielden, Leon Pryce and Karl Pratt also scored. Paul Deacon kicked 11 goals and Joe Vagana also kicked 1. Bradford's poor form in the league was extended as Warrington Wolves beat them 35–32, Jamie Langley and Lesley Vainikolo both scored two tries each whilst Brad Meyers and Michael Withers also crossed, Deacon kicked 4 goals.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Bradford recorded a 54–10 win over the Huddersfield Giants, Vainikolo scored a hat-trick, Stuart Reardon scored two, Stuart Fielden, Jamie Langley, Robbie Paul, Karl Pratt and Lee Radford wrapped up the scoring. Deacon kicked a goal and Iestyn Harris kicked six. The Bulls beat Wigan Warriors 40–8 in a one sided affair, Brad Meyers scored a brace whilst Fielden, Paul, Reardon, Vainikolo and Withers also scored tries. Deacon kicked 6 goals.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
The Bulls started May with a big win over London Broncos. The Bradford side ran out 41–22 winners with tries coming from Stuart Fielden, Iestyn Harris, Jamie Langley, Jamie Peacock, Karl Pryce, Leon Pryce and Stuart Reardon. Paul Deacon kicked 6 goals and also knocked over a drop goal. Bradford's Challenge Cup was ended by a strong Hull F.C. side. The Bulls went down 26–24 with Peacock, Lesley Vainikolo (2) and Karl Pryce all scoring, Deacon kicked 4 goals.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Their league form was still going strong with a 58–0 win against Salford City Reds, Karl Pryce and Deacon both scored hat-tricks whilst Vainikolo grabbed 2 tries. Other scores came with tries from Rob Parker, Karl Pratt and Leon Pryce, Deacon kicked 7 goals. The following week Bradford lost 44–24 to Warrington Wolves, Iestyn Harris, Peacock, Reardon and Vainikolo scored tries and Deacon converted all 4. In revenge for their Challenge Cup loss the Bulls hammered Hull F.C. 42–24. Tries came from Leon Pryce (2), Brett Ferres, Brad Meyers, Karl Pryce and Reardon, Deacon managed to kick all 9 goals.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Bradford didn't get off to a good start in June as they were beat 66–4 by St Helens R.F.C. with Stuart Reardon scoring Bradford's only try. They followed this defeat with a 38–20 win against Huddersfield Giants, Robbie Paul scored 2 tries whilst Ben Harris, Rob Parker, Karl Pryce, Lee Radford and Reardon also touched down to score. Paul Deacon added 5 goals to ensure a Bradford win. However their next game against Widnes Vikings ended in an 18–18 draw, Paul scored 2 tries, Deacon and Radford also crossed to score tries and Deacon kicked 4 goals and a drop goal.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
July started off with two defeats for the Bulls. The first was a 36–26 loss to archrivals Leeds Rhinos. Tries came from Paul Johnson (2), Ben Harris, Brad Meyers and Jamie Peacock whilst Paul Deacon kicked 3 goals. The second defeat at the start of July came at the hands of Wakefield Trinity Wildcats who beat Bradford 44–34. Karl Pratt claimed a hat-trick while Deacon, Meyers and Michael Withers also scored, Deacon kicked 5 goals. However the Bulls got back to winning ways with a 58–12 win over Leigh Centurions.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Ben Harris grabbed a hat-trick, Stuart Fielden, Iestyn Harris, Ian Henderson, Meyers, Pratt, Leon Pryce and Withers all scored tries. Deacon kicked 6 goals and Iestyn Harris kicked 3 goals. This win was followed by a hard fought 24–18 victory against Salford City Reds, Deacon, Iestyn Harris, Karl Pryce and brother Leon Pryce all scored tries whilst Deacon kicked 3 goals and Iestyn Harris slotted over a goal to ensure the win.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Bradford's first game in August was against Widnes Vikings, the Bulls racked up a 74–24 win against the struggling side. Shontayne Hape, Stuart Reardon, Lesley Vainikolo and Michael Withers all scored 2 tries each while Stuart Fielden, Iestyn Harris, Andy Lynch, Jamie Peacock and Leon Pryce all took a try a piece. Paul Deacon kicked 11 goals to round off a huge victory. This was followed by a 58–12 win against Salford City Reds.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Hape and Iestyn Harris both grabbed 2 tries, Deacon, Paul Johnson, Lynch, Peacock, Leon Pryce and Vainikolo also scored with Deacon kicked 7 goals and Iestyn Harris kicked 2 goals. The Bulls last game in August came against their old rivals Leeds Rhinos, this time Bradford managed a 42–10 win. Hape grabbed a hat-trick while Deacon, Iestyn Harris, Jamie Langley, Lynch and Robbie Paul rounded off the tries, Deacon kicked 5 goals.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Lesley Vainikolo had an outstanding start to September as he scored a Super League record 6 tries in the 49–6 win over Hull FC, other tries came from Stuart Fielden, Shontayne Hape, Jamie Peacock and Joe Vagana. Paul Deacon kicked 4 goals and a drop goal. This win was followed up by a 52–34 victory over the Huddersfield Giants. Tries were scored by Paul Johnson (2), Vainikolo (2), Deacon, Fielden, Ian Henderson, Brad Meyers and Lee Radford. Deacon kicked 8 goals to ensure victory. The last league game of the season came against St Helens R.F.C. at Knowsley Road.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
The Bulls won 32–18 with Johnson and Vainikolo scoring a brace of tries, Ben Harris and Leon Pryce rounded off the try scoring whilst Deacon kicked 4 goals. This win meant the Bulls finished the season on an 8-game winning streak and finished the league in 3rd place. The playoffs pitted Bradford against London Broncos, the Bulls came away with a convincing 44–22 win, Iestyn Harris scored 2 tries, Vainikolo scored 2 tries with Hape, Henderson, Peacock and Karl Pryce all grabbing a try a piece. Iestyn Harris kicked 5 goals while Karl Pryce kicked 1 goal.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
The next round of the playoffs saw Bradford against Hull FC, the Bulls achieved a record playoff win as they coasted to a 71–0 win. Lesley Vainikolo scored 4 tries, Ian Henderson grabbed a brace while Stuart Fielden, Shontayne Hape, Iestyn Harris, Paul Johnson, Jamie Peacock and Michael Withers also crossed for tries. Paul Deacon kicked 10 goals, Robbie Paul kicked a goal and Iestyn Harris kicked a drop goal. In the semi final the Bulls beat St Helens R.F.C. 23–18, Hape grabbed 2 tries, Johnson also crossed for a try and Jamie Langley grabbed the winner.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Season review
Deacon kicked 4 goals and a drop goal to ensure the Bulls a place in the Grand Final. The Grand Final marked the 6th consecutive appearance for the Bulls and it pitted them in a rematch of the 2004 Grand Final as they faced arch enemies Leeds Rhinos. The Bulls won 15–6 with Vainikolo and Leon Pryce scoring, Deacon kicked 3 goals and Iestyn Harris slotted a drop goal to give the Bulls their 4th Super League title. It also marked the last game for Bradford legend Robbie Paul as he moved to Huddersfield Giants.


2005 Bradford Bulls season, Table
Source: . Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference. Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.


2005 Brasil Open
The 2005 Brasil Open was an ATP men's tennis tournament held in Mata de São João, Brazil. It was the fifth edition of the tournament and was held from February 14 to February 21. Rafael Nadal won the singles title.


2005 Brasil Open, Finals, Doubles
František Čermák /  Leoš Friedl defeated  José Acasuso /  Ignacio González King 6–4, 6–4


2005 Brasil Open – Doubles
Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals to František Čermák and Leoš Friedl.


2005 Brasil Open – Doubles
František Čermák and Leoš Friedl won in the final 6–4, 6–4, against José Acasuso and Ignacio González King.


2005 Brasil Open – Singles
Gustavo Kuerten was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2005 Brasil Open – Singles
Rafael Nadal won in the final 6–0, 6–7(2–7), 6–1, against Alberto Martín.


2005 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2005) was a Formula One motor race held on at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil on 25 September 2005. The 71-lap race was the seventeenth round of the 2005 Formula One season. The race was won by McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who took the final race victory of his career, ahead of his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen, who finished second. Renault driver Fernando Alonso became the Drivers' Champion for the first time after he finished the race in third place. Only he and Räikkönen had entered the race within mathematical contention of winning the title, and Alonso's podium ensured that he did with two rounds remaining. Alonso also qualified in pole position for the race, but the fastest lap went to Räikkönen.


2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the 2004 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.


2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
As Takuma Sato was subject to a ten-place grid penalty given for the accident in the Belgian Grand Prix where he crashed into Michael Schumacher, Sato did not attempt a qualifying lap. Jarno Trulli also had a ten-place penalty, in his case the result of an engine change before qualifying. The Italian started from 18th on the grid.


2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Juan Pablo Montoya won the race ahead of teammate Kimi Räikkönen; McLaren's first 1–2 finish since the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso finished 3rd and thus became World Champion for the first time, at the time the youngest ever champion at 24 years and 59 days surpassing Emerson Fittipaldi's record of 25 years and 273 days set in 1972. Jacques Villeneuve was forced to start from pit lane as a penalty for infringement of parc ferme regulations.


2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, Report, Race
After getting involved in an accident at the start of the race, Mark Webber was able to rejoin, over 20 laps behind the leaders and do some laps, sufficient to position himself fourth in the official qualifying order for the subsequent Grand Prix at Suzuka. The result of the Grand Prix marked the only point during the season when McLaren had more championship points than Renault. Due to a driveshaft failure, this was Tiago Monteiro's only retirement of the 2005 season.


2005 Brazilian Grand Prix, Classification
Commentators have judged Renault's qualifying performance as evidence that their "conservative phase" was over. Renault's Pat Symonds had said that the team was not aiming to settle for a simple podium finish, rather they were aiming to win. BBC's Maurice Hamilton said that "the thought that Fernando Alonso might cruise to the Championship.....was dispelled in the most convincing fashion". McLaren CEO Ron Dennis remained confident of his team's race strategy given Juan Pablo Montoya's strong second position, despite a major error in the qualifying lap of Kimi Räikkönen.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum
On October 23, 2005, Brazil held a country-wide referendum on article 35 of the Disarmament Statute to determine whether to approve or disapprove the article, which states in full, "The sale of firearms and ammunition is prohibited in the entire national territory, except to those entities provided in article 6 of this Law." ("Art. 35. É proibida a comercialização de arma de fogo e munição em todo o território nacional, salvo para as entidades previstas no art. 6o desta Lei.") The referendum failed by nearly ⅔ and that part of the statute was not enacted.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum
The referendum and its date had been provided by the Disarmament Statute itself (art. 35, §1o). During the drafting and development of the law, it had been decided that article 35 should be submitted to a referendum because of the importance of its subject. On July 7, 2005, the Federal Senate of Brazil promulgated legislative decree 780, which authorized the referendum. Article 2 of its decree stipulated that the public consultation should employ the following question: "Should commerce in firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil?" ("O comércio de armas de fogo e munição deve ser proibido no Brasil?")


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background
Voting was compulsory for people between the ages of 18 and 70. The belief of a fundamental natural human right to self-defense, low efficacy of police, high levels of use of illegal weapons in crimes in contrast to a very rare usage of legal weapons, are some of the factors that may have influenced 65% of Brazilian people to vote against the ban proposal.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background
The gun ban proposal received broad support in the press, while celebrities were generally in favor of it, only Brazil's anti-ban social groups and right-wing press, most importantly Veja the Brazilian news magazine (indeed weekly publication of any kind) with the largest paid circulation in the country. Other media, like the powerful Globo group (owners of Brazil's largest TV network Rede Globo) and newspapers of record like Folha de S.Paulo advocated clearly pro gun ban. The then President Lula was a self-declared pro gun ban power.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background
According to the Brazilian constitution, every citizen has the right to self-defense and the pro-gun campaigners focused their arguments on this constitutional right, as well as making economic arguments.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background
A decisive argument made by the pro-gun campaigners was to question the morality of the government removing a right from its citizens, resulting in a strong feeling among voters that no rights should ever be allowed to be taken away by the government. Also, there were debates about the significant cultural status of gun ownership in the southern states of the country.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background
Another major argument used by the pro-gun ownership campaigners was the fact that the absolute majority of the gun crimes in Brazil were committed with unregistered and illegal guns, specially high caliber guns, that were already forbidden in Brazil and due to that, it would be of no use to forbid law-abiding citizens to own legal registered guns in accordance to the law. This argument was strongly reinforced by the fact that the regions where gun ownership is widespread were the ones with the smallest number of gun-related deaths. In the South region where there is the highest number of legal guns per citizen only 59% of all murders were caused by firearms in contrast to 70% in the Northeast where there is the lowest number of legal firearms per citizen.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background
The anti-gun proponents argued that guns are dangerous for society and that their only reason to exist is to harm others.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background
The anti-gun campaign received widespread support from several famous actors, musicians and other Brazilian celebrities and a noticeable support from the nation's main TV station, Rede Globo.


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background
The ban had the backing of the federal government and sections of the Brazilian Roman Catholic Church. The anti-gun lobby received vast support and free coverage from the press, including Rede Globo, Brazil's largest TV network despite its parent company fairly neutral stance which eventually was reflected. By that time most Protestant-evangelical news organizations had taken a clearly anti-ban stance (including the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus-owned Rede Record, Globo's main competitor at the time).


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Background, International support
The IANSA member groups Instituto Sou da Paz and Viva Rio campaigned for a complete ban on civilian gun sales in Brazil, in support of the referendum. A week before the vote, IANSA, an international gun control organization coordinated an international day of support for the Brazilian ban, with demonstrations taking place in Britain, Italy, South Africa, and other countries. IANSA urged support of the ban to "reinforce the movement in favor of gun control in other Latin American countries riddled with armed violence, and back the efforts to control private gun ownership at [an] international level."


2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum, Results
The result of the referendum ended with a victory of those against the gun ban, with over 63% of the voters opposed. Although the Brazilian federal government, the Catholic Church, and the United Nations argued in favor of a gun ban, it was argued successfully that guns are needed for personal security.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal
Máfia do Apito (literally The Whistle Mafia), sometimes referred to as the Escândalo do Apito (The Whistle Scandal), was the name given by the Brazilian press to the football match-fixing scandal reported by Veja magazine on 23 September 2005.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
Some investors, who were not related to any club, bribed referees Edílson Pereira de Carvalho (a member of the FIFA referee staff) and Paulo José Danelon to fix results according to what was determined by the betting websites Aebet and Futbet. The investors made a deal with Edílson Pereira de Carvalho to fix the results of the matches refereed by him, and then, the investors made millionaire bets on the betting websites.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
Edílson Pereira de Carvalho said that he agreed to receive R$10,000 (US$4,400) to fix the result of the Brazilian National Championship match between Juventude and Figueirense, and that he was paid between R$10,000 and R$15,000 per fixed match. Edílson Pereira de Carvalho said he accepted the money to fix the results only because he had a R$30,000 debt.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
The eleven Brazilian National Championship matches refereed by Edílson Pereira de Carvalho was made null and void by the Supreme Court of Sporting Justice (STJD), presided by Luiz Zveiter, even though Edílson Pereira de Carvalho assured he did not fix all eleven matches. The Supreme Court decided that all eleven matches needed to be replayed. This decision was not popular among the board of directors and supporters of the harmed clubs. Five clubs, which are Ponte Preta, Santos, Internacional, Figueirense and Cruzeiro appealed the decision, but the decision was kept.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
On 28 November, Brazilian lawyer Luís Carlos Crema sought a court injunction requesting the cancellation of the decision that annulled the eleven Brazilian National Championship matches, Minister Nancy Andrighi of the Second Section of the Supreme Court of Justice rejected the demand.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
However, another lawyer, Leandro Konrad Konflanz sought a lawsuit requesting the annulment of the replayed matches. If those matches are annulled, Internacional would win the competition, instead of Corinthians. The decision was that no club should be announced as champion during the dawn of Sunday, 5 December. CBF, ignoring the decision, on 6 December, declared Corinthians as the 2005 Campeonato Brasileiro champion. Judge Munira Hanna, of the First Civil Court of Porto Alegre, dispatched a temporary restraining order obligating the CBF to obey that decision.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
However, FIFA and CBF rules forbid clubs to petition regular courts of justice (courts that are not dedicated to sporting arbitration) when the claim is directly related to a match, as was the case; thus, on 7 December, Internacional's chairman, Fernando Carvalho, made a request to lawyer Konflanz to withdraw the lawsuit, which he did on 9 December.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
Four Brazilian Second Division first stage matches were refereed by Paulo José Danelon. These matches were not annulled.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
Paulo José Danelon and Edílson Pereira de Carvalho, together, refereed 22 Paulista Championship matches. None of these matches has been annulled, including two of them which were initially considered suspected of being fixed. Both suspected matches were refereed by Paulo José Danelon. The São Paulo Football Sporting Justice Court's Inquiry Court, after analyzing all the 22 matches, concluded that no matches were fixed, with the exception of the two suspected matches. Even after coming to the conclusion that these two matches were fixed, the São Paulo Football Sporting Justice Court decided that the results should be kept.


2005 Brazilian football match-fixing scandal, Overview
Edílson Pereira de Carvalho was banned for life by the STJD's First Disciplinary Commission. Paulo José Danelon was removed from the referee staff of Paulista Football Federation. On 31 October 2005, the São Paulo Football Sporting Justice Court's First Disciplinary Commission banned for life both Edilson Pereira de Carvalho and Paulo José Danelon. So, they are prohibited from refereeing Paulista football competitions matches. Both Edílson Pereira de Carvalho and Paulo José Danelon face charges of fraud, conspiracy and crimes against the economy. The entrepreneur Nagib Fayad (nicknamed Gibão), suspected of commanding the gambling ring in Piracicaba was arrested on 25 September.


2005 Breeders' Cup
The 2005 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 22nd edition of the premier event of the North American thoroughbred horse racing year. The eight races, all of which were Grade I, took place on October 29 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York and were telecast by NBC. The Breeders' Cup is generally regarded as the end of the North America racing season, although a few Grade I events take place in later November and December. The results of the races were highly influential in that year's Eclipse Award voting.


2005 Breeders' Cup
The highlight of the event was Saint Liam's victory in the Classic, wrapping up a campaign that earned him Horse of the Year honors.


2005 Breeders' Cup, Lead-up
In 2005, Belmont Park celebrated its 100th anniversary and hosted the Breeders' Cup for the fourth time. At the time, Belmont Park was part of a regular rotation of the event between racetracks on the East Coast, West Coast (Hollywood Park or Santa Anita), Kentucky (Churchill Downs) and Florida (Gulfstream Park) with smaller venues also used on occasion. Despite the success of the 2005 event, Belmont Park has not played host since that time.


2005 Breeders' Cup, Lead-up
Most of the races had a strong morning-line favorite, led by four horses who were unbeaten in 2005 and some returning champions:


2005 Breeders' Cup, Lead-up
However, the Classic was considered wide open, in part because of the injury or retirement of several stars including dual Classic winner Afleet Alex and the 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper. In their absence, Saint Liam was slightly favored over Rock Hard Ten and Borrego in a full field of 14.


2005 Breeders' Cup, Results
A crowd of 54,289 attended the event and bet $14.6 million on-track, then the largest handle in Belmont Park history. Only two favorites won and they had been considered the most vulnerable according to the morning line odds: Folklore and Saint Liam. Saint Liam's job was made easier by the late scratch of 2nd favorite Rock Hard Ten. He had however drawn an outside post position, which was a particular disadvantage as the Classic started on the clubhouse turn due to the dimensions of Belmont Park.


2005 Breeders' Cup, Results
Saint Liam broke poorly but jockey Jerry Bailey got him to settle before starting his move on the far turn. Saint Liam dueled with Flower Alley down the stretch, then drew away in the last 100 yards. "You shouldn't dismiss the fact that the post this horse had breaking," said Bailey. "He took the worst of it today, and still was very authoritative in winning."


2005 Breeders' Cup, Results
The most disappointing performance was by Lost in the Fog, who would finish unplaced after starting his career with 10 straight wins. It is possible that he was already suffering the effects of the cancer that was diagnosed in August of the next year. In the Filly & Mare Turf, Ouija Board made a late run but could not catch front-running Intercontinental. Ashado was defeated by 30-1 longshot Pleasant Home, who made an explosive move from last to first and won by 9+1⁄4 lengths, the largest margin of victory at the 2005 Breeders' Cup.


2005 Breeders' Cup, Results
Stevie Wonderboy posted a slight upset in the Juvenile, and the impressive performance combined with an earlier win in the Del Mar Futurity earned him Champion Two-Year-Old honors. It was the first win at the Breeders' Cup for owner Merv Griffin, trainer Doug O'Neill and jockey Garrett Gomez. Stevie Wonderboy became the early favorite for the 2006 Kentucky Derby but suffered a condylar fracture while in training for the race.


2005 Breeders' Cup, Results
Shirocco became the first German-bred horse to win a Breeders' Cup race when he topped an "all-European trifecta" over Ace and Azamour in the Turf. Jockey Christophe Soumillon said, "(Shirocco) likes soft ground and a good pace to run at and with the pacemaker in there, we got both today. When I got to the turn, I just wanted to let him go and not try to pull him back to mix up his action. We got two (lengths) in front and when he saw the wire, he just flew home."


2005 Breeders' Cup, Results
Several jockeys and trainers achieved notable results at the event. Jerry Bailey earned his fifteenth Breeders' Cup win on Saint Liam in the Classic – then a record. Garrett Gomez won both the Juvenile on Stevie Wonderboy and Mile on Artie Schiller, earning him the Shoemaker Award for outstanding performance by a jockey at the Breeders' Cup. Edgar Prado had also been under consideration for the award after scoring two wins of his own. Both Prado and Gomez had been winless at the Breeders' Cup prior to 2005. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas scored a record 18th victory with Folklore in the Juvenile Fillies. Trainer Rick Dutrow, who had served a 60-day suspension earlier in the year, trained two winners – Saint Liam in the Classic and Silver Train in the Sprint.


2005 Breeders' Cup, Results
The races were telecast live by NBC, while Sirius Satellite Radio produced an 8-hour radio broadcast hosted by track announcer Dave Johnson.


2005 Breeders' Cup, Results
In the 2005 Eclipse Award voting, four Breeders' Cup winners went on to be named the champion in their divisions (Stevie Wonderboy, Folklore, Saint Liam and Intercontinental), with Saint Liam also being named Horse of the Year.


2005 Breeders' Cup Classic
The 2005 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 22nd running of the Breeders' Cup Classic, part of the 2005 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on October 29, 2005 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York with a purse of $4,000,000. It was won by Saint Liam, who was subsequently named American Horse of the Year.


2005 Breeders' Cup Classic
The Classic is run on dirt at a distance of 1 1⁄4 miles (approximately 2000 m). It is run under weight-for-age conditions, with entrants carrying the following weights:


2005 Breeders' Cup Classic, Contenders
The Classic drew a full field although some of the most highly regarded horses of 2005 (Ghostzapper, Roses in May and Afleet Alex) were retired early due to injury. The leading contenders for the Classic were:


2005 Breeders' Cup Classic, Contenders
In the absence of Afleet Alex and Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, Flower Alley (Travers Stakes) was the most highly regarded three-year-old. The New Zealand-bred horse Starcraft, who won the 2004 Australian Derby and 2005 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, was supplemented to the Classic at a cost of $800,000 as he had not been nominated as a foal.


2005 Breeders' Cup Classic, Contenders
Due to the dimensions of Belmont Park, the starting gate for the Classic was located on the clubhouse turn. This placed horses who drew outside post positions (especially Saint Liam and Starcraft) at a disadvantage as they would have to run somewhat farther. Rock Hard Ten drew post position one, which was also disadvantageous as he risked getting caught in traffic along the rail.


2005 Breeders' Cup Classic, Race Description
Rock Hard Ten was scratched shortly before the race due to a hoof injury.