2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Levee investigations
Soil borings in the area of the 17th Street Canal breach showed a layer of peat starting at about 30 feet (9.1 m) below the surface, and ranging from about 5 feet (1.5 m) to 20 feet (6.1 m) thick. Engineers misjudged the strength of the peat which is from the remains of the swamp on which some areas of New Orleans (near Lake Ponchartrain) in the 20th century were built. The shear strength of this peat was found to be very low and it had a high water content.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Levee investigations
According to Robert Bea, a geotechnical engineer from the University of California, Berkeley, the weak soil made the floodwall very vulnerable to the stresses of a large flood. "At 17th Street, the soil moved laterally, pushing entire wall sections with it. ... As Katrina's storm surge filled the canal, water pressure rose in the soil underneath the wall and in the peat layer. Water moved through the soil underneath the base of the wall. When the rising pressure and moving water overcame the soil's strength, it suddenly shifted, taking surrounding material – and the wall – with it."


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Levee investigations
The Federal study was initiated in October 2005, by Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, Chief of Engineers and the Commander of the Corps of Engineers; he established the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET) to "provide credible and objective scientific and engineering answers to fundamental questions about the performance of the hurricane protection and flood damage reduction system in the New Orleans metropolitan area.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Levee investigations
IPET consisted of independent and recognized experts from the Universities of Maryland, Florida, Notre Dame, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the South Florida Water Management District, Harris County Flood Control District (Houston, TX), the United States Department of Agriculture, and the United States Bureau of Reclamation as well as those from USACE.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Levee investigations
With the exception of four foundation design failures, all of the major breaches were caused by overtopping and subsequent erosion. Reduced protective elevations increased the amount of overtopping, erosion, and subsequent flooding, particularly in Orleans East. The structures that ultimately breached performed as designed, providing protection until overtopping occurred and then becoming vulnerable to catastrophic breaching. The levee-floodwall designs for the 17th Street and London Avenue Outfall Canals and the northeast breach of the IHNC were inadequate due to steel sheet-pilings driven to depths that were too shallow.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Levee investigations
In four cases the structures failed catastrophically prior to water reaching design elevations. A significant number of structures that were subjected to water levels beyond their design limits performed well. Typically, in the case of floodwalls, they represented more conservative design assumptions and, for levees, use of higher quality, less erodible materials.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Criticism of the IPET Federal Investigation
The IPET's findings are challenged by Levees.org (a grass roots organization) as lacking credibility since the USACE convened and managed the study and also chose and directly compensated its peer review team. The groups points out that eighty percent of the participants in IPET either worked for the Corps of Engineers or its sister agency Army Research and Development. The top three leaders all were Corps employees or past employees.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Criticism of the IPET Federal Investigation
The credibility of the IPET was also challenged in a 42-page letter to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) submitted by Dr. Ray M. Seed, co-chair of the ILIT study. Dr. Seed described an early intentional plan by the Corps of Engineers to hide their mistakes in the New Orleans flooding after Katrina and to intimidate anyone who tried to intervene. All of this was done with the help and the complicity of some at the ASCE, according to Dr. Seed.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
Investigators focused on the 17th Street and London Avenue canals, where evidence showed they were breached even though water did not flow over their tops, indicating a design or construction flaw. Eyewitness accounts and other evidence show that levees and flood walls in other parts of the city, such as along the Industrial Canal, were topped by floodwaters first, then breached or eroded.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
A preliminary report released on November 2, 2005, carried out by independent investigators from the University of California, Berkeley and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) stated that many New Orleans levee and flood wall failures occurred at weak-link junctions where different levee or wall sections joined together. This was not supported by later final studies.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
A forensic engineering team from the Louisiana State University, using sonar, showed that at one point near the 17th Street Canal breach, the piling extends just 10 feet (3.0 m) below sea level, 7 feet (2.1 m) shallower than the Corps of Engineers had maintained. "The Corps keeps saying the piles were 17 feet, but their own drawings show them to be 10 feet, Ivor van Heerden said. "This is the first time anyone has been able to get a firm fix on what's really down there. And, so far, it's just 10 feet. Not nearly deep enough."


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
The two sets of November tests conducted by the Corps of Engineers and LSU researchers used non-invasive seismic methods. Both studies understated the length of the piles by about seven feet. By December, seven of the actual piles had been pulled from the ground and measured. The Engineering News Record reported on December 16 that they ranged from 23' 3 1/8" to 23' 7 7/16" long, well within the original design specifications, contradicting the early report of short pilings.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
They also found that homeowners along the 17th Street Canal, near the site of the breach, had been reporting their front yards flooding from persistent seepage from the canal for a year prior to Hurricane Katrina to the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. However, no data exists confirming that the water was coming from the canal.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
Other studies showed the levee floodwalls on the 17th Street Canal were "destined to fail" from bad Corps of Engineers design, saying in part, "that miscalculation was so obvious and fundamental," investigators said, they, "could not fathom how the design team of engineers from the Corps, local firm Eustis Engineering, and the national firm Modjeski and Masters could have missed what is being termed the costliest engineering mistake in American history."


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
Dr. Robert Bea, chair of an independent levee investigation team, has said that the New Orleans-based design firm Modjeski and Masters could have followed correct procedures in calculating safety factors for the flood walls. He added, however, that design procedures of the Corps may not account for changes in soil strength caused by the changes in water flow and pressure during a hurricane flood. Dr. Bea has also questioned the size of the design safety margins. He said the corps applied a 30% margin over the maximum design load. A doubling of strength would be a more typical margin for highway bridges, dams, off-shore oil platforms and other public structures. There were also indications that substandard concrete may have been used at the 17th Street Canal.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
In August 2007, the Corps released an analysis revealing that their floodwalls were so poorly designed that the maximum safe load is only 7 feet (2.1 m) of water, which is half the original 14-foot (4.3 m) design.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
A report released in August 2015 in the official journal of the World Water Council concluded the following:


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
"... What is evident from the project record is that the Army Corps of Engineers recommended raising the canal floodwalls for the 17th Street Canal, but recommended gated structures at the mouths of the Orleans and London Avenue Canals because the latter plan was less expensive. The OLB convinced Congress to pass legislation that required the Corps to raise the floodwalls for all three canals.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Flood wall design
Furthermore, the Corps, in a separate attempt to limit project costs, initiated a sheet pile load test (E-99 Study), but misinterpreted the results and wrongly concluded that sheet piles needed to be driven to depths of only 17 feet (1 foot ¼ 0.3048 meters) instead of between 31 and 46 feet. That decision saved approximately US$100 million, but significantly reduced overall engineering reliability..."


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Overtopping of levees in the Eastern New Orleans
According to Professor Raymond Seed of the University of California, Berkeley, a surge of water estimated at 24 feet (7 m), about 10 feet (3 m) higher than the height of the levees along the city's eastern flank, swept into New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico, causing most of the flooding in the city. He said that storm surge from Lake Borgne travelling up the Intracoastal Waterway caused the breaches on the Industrial Canal.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Overtopping of levees in the Eastern New Orleans
Aerial evaluation revealed damage to approximately 90% of some levee systems in the east which should have protected St. Bernard Parish.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, National Academy of Sciences Investigation
On October 19, 2005, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced that an independent panel of experts, under the direction of the National Academy of Sciences, would convene to evaluate the performance of the New Orleans levee system, and issue a final report in eight months. The panel would study the results provided by the two existing teams of experts that had already examined the levee failures. The academy concluded that “the engineering of the levee system was not adequate.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, National Academy of Sciences Investigation
The procedures for designing and constructing hurricane protection systems will have to be improved, and the designing organizations must upgrade their engineering capabilities. The levees must be seen not as a system to protect real estate but as a set of dams to protect people. There must be independent peer reviews of future designs and construction.”


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Senate Committee hearings
Preliminary investigations and evidence were presented before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on November 2, 2005, and generally confirmed the findings of the preliminary investigations.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Senate Committee hearings
On November 9, 2005, The Government Accountability Office testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The report cited the Flood Control Act of 1965, which authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct a flood protection system to protect south Louisiana from the strongest storms characteristic of the region.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Corps of Engineers admits problems with design
On April 5, 2006, months after independent investigators had demonstrated that the levee failures were not due to natural forces beyond intended design strength, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water that, "We have now concluded we had problems with the design of the structure." He also testified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not know of this mechanism of failure prior to August 29, 2005.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Corps of Engineers admits problems with design
The claim of ignorance is refuted by the National Science Foundation investigators hired by the Army Corps of Engineers, who point to a 1986 study (E-99 study) by the corps itself that such separations were possible in the I-wall design.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Corps of Engineers admits problems with design
This issue is addressed again in a study released in August 2015 by J. David Rogers et al., who concluded that a misinterpretation of the 1986 study occurred apparently because the Corps had draped a tarpaulin over the gap that formed between the bases of the deflecting sheet piles and the soil in which they were embedded, so they did not see the gap. The tarpaulin was there for safety and to stop water that would seep through the interlocks. Failure to include the gap in interpretation of the test results introduced unconservatism in the final designs based on these tests. It allowed the use of shorter sheet piles, and reduced overall flood protection reliability.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Investigations, Corps of Engineers admits problems with design
Nearly two months later, on June 1, 2006, the USACE finalized their report. The final draft of the IPET report states the destructive forces of Katrina were "aided by incomplete protection, lower than authorized structures, and levee sections with erodible materials.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Conspiracy theories
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan among other public figures claimed the levees were dynamited to divert waters away from wealthy white areas. The conspiracy theory reached a United States House of Representatives committee investigating Katrina when a New Orleans community activist made the claim. According to the New Orleans Times Picayune this is an "urban myth".


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Conspiracy theories
Reasons for belief in these theories have been ascribed to the decision by city officials during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to set off 30 tons of dynamite on the levee at Caernarvon, Louisiana which eased pressure on levees at New Orleans but flooded St. Bernard Parish, the Ninth Ward taking the brunt of the city's flooding during Hurricane Betsy, the general disenfranchisement of blacks and lower-class people, and the similarity of the sound of the levees collapsing to that of a bombing.


2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans, Further reading
Bush, Ann McReynolds, "Katrina: 10 Years On" (year 2015 publisher+Amazon


2005 national road cycling championships
The 2005 national road cycling championships began in January in Australia and New Zealand. Most of the European national championships take place in June.


2005 national road cycling championships, Jerseys
The winner of each national championship wears the national jersey in all their races for the next year in the respective discipline, apart from the World Championships, or unless they are wearing a category leader's jersey in a stage race. Most national champion jerseys tend to represent a country's flag or use the colours from it. Jerseys may also feature traditional sporting colours of a country that not derived from a national flag, such as the National colours of Australia on the jerseys of Australian national champions.


2005 papal conclave
The 2005 papal conclave was convened to elect a new pope following the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005. After his death, the cardinals of the Catholic Church who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave to elect his successor. Of the 117 eligible members of the College of Cardinals, those younger than 80 years of age at the time of the death of Pope John Paul II, all but two attended.


2005 papal conclave
After several days of private meetings attended by both cardinal electors and non-voting cardinals, the conclave began on 18 April 2005. It ended the following day after four ballots with the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. After accepting his election, he took the pontifical name of Benedict XVI.


2005 papal conclave, Procedures
Pope John Paul II laid out new procedures for the election of his successor in his Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis in 1996. It detailed the roles of the cardinals and support personnel, the scheduling of the conclave, the text of oaths, penalties for violating secrecy, and many details, even the shape of the ballots ("the ballot paper must be rectangular in shape"). He denied the cardinals the right to choose a pope by acclamation or by assigning the election to a select group of cardinals.


2005 papal conclave, Procedures
He established new voting procedures the cardinals could follow if the balloting continued for several days, but those were not invoked in this conclave. He maintained the rule established by Paul VI that cardinals who reached the age of eighty before the day the pope died would not participate in the balloting.


2005 papal conclave, Procedures
In previous conclaves, the cardinal electors lived in the Sistine Chapel precincts throughout the balloting. Conditions were spartan and difficult for those with health problems. Showers and bathroom facilities were shared and sleeping areas separated by curtains. John Paul kept the voting in the Sistine Chapel, but provided for the cardinal electors when not balloting to live, dine, and sleep in air-conditioned individual rooms in Domus Sanctae Marthae, better known by its Italian name Casa Santa Marta, a five-story guesthouse, completed in 1996, that normally serves as a guesthouse for visiting clergy.


2005 papal conclave, Procedures
The cardinals departed from his instructions only in that they did not assemble in the Pauline Chapel. Restoration work begun in 2002 required a change of venue, and they used the Hall of Blessings instead.


2005 papal conclave, The cardinal electors
Although there were 183 cardinals in all, cardinals aged 80 years or more at the time the papacy fell vacant were ineligible to vote in the conclave, according to rules established by Pope Paul VI in 1971 and modified slightly in 1996 by John Paul II. At the time of John Paul's death, there were 117 cardinals under the age of 80.


2005 papal conclave, The cardinal electors
The cardinal electors came from slightly over fifty nations, a slight increase from the 49 represented at the 1978 conclave. About 30 of those countries had a single participant. The Italian electors were the most numerous at twenty, while the United States had the second largest group with 11. Poor health prevented two of the 117 cardinal electors from attending: Jaime Sin of the Philippines and Adolfo Antonio Suárez Rivera of Mexico.


2005 papal conclave, The cardinal electors
All the electors were appointed by Pope John Paul II except for three: Jaime Sin, who was not attending, William Wakefield Baum and Joseph Ratzinger, making Baum and Ratzinger the only participants with previous conclave experience from the two conclaves of 1978. With 115 cardinals electors participating, this conclave saw the largest number of cardinals ever to elect a pope, a number later matched by the 2013 conclave. Both conclaves in 1978 had 111 electors. The required two-thirds majority needed to elect a pope in 2005 was 77 votes.


2005 papal conclave, Pre-conclave activities
In the nine-day period of mourning following the funeral services for John Paul II, many cardinals attended a Mass celebrated each day by a senior cleric, often a cardinal elector or papabile, who had the opportunity to preach a homily. Celebrants included Bernard Law, Camillo Ruini, Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez, Eugênio de Araújo Sales, Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, Leonardo Sandri, and Piergiorgio Silvano Nesti.


2005 papal conclave, Pre-conclave activities
On Saturday, 9 April, in Rome, 130 cardinals meeting in the "General Congregation", including some non-voting cardinals, agreed to Ratzinger's proposal that, while it would be unfair for a majority to restrict anyone's right to speak to the press, they might agree to such a restriction unanimously. In La Repubblica, veteran journalist Gad Lerner wrote that preventing "public reflection" by the cardinals "mutes their relationship to the world", deprives them of a "beneficial antidote to excessive scheming", increases the influence of the Curia. He cited "the fertility of ideas" generated by public discussion during the two 1978 conclaves.


2005 papal conclave, Pre-conclave activities
Presiding over the pre-conclave events was the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Ratzinger. For the first several days discussions were conducted largely in Italian, putting some cardinals at a disadvantage. Ratzinger responded to complaints by organizing simultaneous translation. On 14 April, in one of the daily general congregations, they heard the first of two mandated exhortations. The preacher was Raniero Cantalamessa, a Capuchin friar and Church history scholar, who had for several years preached the Lenten sermons to the Pope and his staff.


2005 papal conclave, Pre-conclave activities
On 15 April, officials and personnel who were not cardinal-electors but had duties during the conclave formally took the oath of secrecy The oath bound them to secrecy about anything they would observe in the course of their duties throughout the conclave, under pain of punishment at the discretion of the incoming pope. The oath was administered in the Hall of Blessings in the presence of the Camerlengo Cardinal Eduardo Martínez Somalo and two masters of ceremonies.


2005 papal conclave, Pre-conclave activities
One round of balloting was to be held the first evening. Then balloting was to continue until a new Pope was elected, with two ballots each morning and two each afternoon. The traditional procedure is that the ballots are burned, in times past reinforced by adding handfuls of dry or damp straw, to produce white smoke for a conclusive vote or black smoke for an inconclusive one. The straw had been replaced by chemically produced smoke. The ballot slips were to be burned at noon and 7 pm Rome time (10:00 and 17:00 UTC) each day.


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day one
On 18 April, the cardinals assembled in St. Peter's Basilica in the morning to concelebrate the mass Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice (For the Election of the Roman Pontiff). As Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the principal concelebrant. He chose to give the homily himself. In the afternoon, the cardinals assembled in the Hall of Blessings for the procession to the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals proceeded to the Sistine Chapel while the Litany of Saints was chanted. After taking their places the "Veni Creator Spiritus" ("Come, Creator Spirit") was sung. Cardinal Ratzinger read the oath.


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day one
Each cardinal elector beginning with Ratzinger, followed by Vice Dean Angelo Sodano and the other cardinals in order of seniority, affirmed the oath by placing his hands on the book of the Gospels saying aloud: "And I, [name], do so promise, pledge and swear. So help me God and these Holy Gospels which I touch with my hand."


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day one
Two cardinals wore attire that made them stand out from the red and white worn by the others: Cardinals Ignatius I Daoud of the Syriac Catholic Church and Lubomyr Husar of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. After Archbishop Piero Marini (the Papal Master of Ceremonies) intoned the words extra omnes (Latin, "everybody out! "), the members of the choir, security guards, and others left the chapel and the doors of the Sistine Chapel were closed. Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík, a non-elector and a Jesuit theologian, delivered the second required exhortation. He and Marini then left.


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day one, First ballot
All discussions of the balloting are speculative. On the first ballot, according to the Italian daily Il Messaggero, Carlo Maria Martini, the archbishop of Milan, obtained 40 votes, Ratzinger obtained 38 votes, and Camillo Ruini a substantial number of votes, the rest of the votes being dispersed.


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day one, First ballot
An anonymous cardinal provided his diary to an Italian journalist in September 2005 and it was published in full in 2011. That source gives the results of the first ballot as:


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day one, First ballot
At 20:05 local time, a thin white plume of smoke seemed for a moment to indicate the election was already over, and the 40,000 people who had spent the afternoon watching the ceremonies on large screens in St. Peter's Square broke into applause and song. But the smoke quickly grew stronger and clearly dark. The crowd quieted and cleared in a matter of minutes.


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day two
The two ballots on the morning of the second day failed to result in an election. The results of the second ballot, according to the anonymous cardinal's diary, were:


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day two
The results of the third ballot, according to the anonymous cardinal's diary, were:


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day two
Tens of thousands of people waiting in St Peter's Square reacted with timid applause and then silence a little before noon when smoke of indeterminate color appeared and the lack of bell-ringing indicated that the morning's ballotting was inconclusive. Press speculation held that "a pope who was elected tonight at the fourth-fifth ballot or tomorrow morning at the sixth-seventh would still be a pontiff elected promptly. Beyond that perhaps some problems might arise."


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day two
The results of the fourth ballot, according to the anonymous cardinal's diary, were:


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day two, Election results
Given that Ratzinger, Dean of the College, was elected pope, Angelo Sodano as the vice-dean performed the dean's role and asked Ratzinger if he would accept the election and what name he would adopt.


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day two, Election results
As the voting slips and notes were burnt after that ballot, "All of a sudden, the whole Sistine Chapel was filled with smoke", according to Adrianus Johannes Simonis. "Fortunately, there were no art historians present," joked Christoph Schönborn.


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day two, Election results
At 15:50 UTC, white smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel. The bells of St. Peter's pealed at about 16:10 UTC.


2005 papal conclave, Conclave day two, Election results
At 16:43 UTC, Cardinal Protodeacon, Jorge Medina, emerged on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and announced the election of Cardinal Ratzinger and that he had chosen the name Benedict XVI.


2005 raid on Nalchik
The 2005 raid on Nalchik  was a raid by a large group of militants on Nalchik (pop. 250,000), in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic (KBR) of southern Russia, on 13 October 2005.


2005 raid on Nalchik
A number of buildings associated with the Russian security forces were targeted. At least 80 people (142 according to official tallies), including at least 14 civilians, were reported to have been killed during the ensuing shooting, which continued into the next day. At least 240 wounded.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Outbreak of fighting
According to the Russian news source Agentura, fighting began about 9 AM on the morning of 13 October,. The initial attack included nine targets:


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Outbreak of fighting
Soon after, a gun store called Arsenal was robbed and three police stations were attacked as well.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Outbreak of fighting
An attack on the KBR MVD directorate on fighting the organized crime, one more target, was prevented by pure chance. Public transport shut down across Nalchik, and sporadic fighting continued across the city until at least noon.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Public announcements and prolongation of the conflict
At 1:20 pm, the President of Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria republic Arsen Kanokov, announced on Echo of Moscow that several of the attackers been taken alive. He also claimed that all enemy combatants seized so far were members of a radical Islamist group known as Yarmuk Jamaat. Radio Free Europe speculated that the name of this group may be a reference to a 7th-century battle in which Arab forces defeated a Byzantine army.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Public announcements and prolongation of the conflict
At 1:45, according to an FSB source cited by Echo of Moscow, attackers attempted to seize an FSB building but were repelled. A rebel sniper killed one FSB worker and wounded four, and the building was seriously damaged and caught fire.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Public announcements and prolongation of the conflict
At 2:30, a group of policemen located in a building surrounded by attackers managed to free themselves. Agentura also reports that at this time the first communications from the attackers were published on the kavkazcenter website.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Public announcements and prolongation of the conflict
At 3:00 RIA Novosti announced, quoting Interior Minister Alexander Alexeyevich Chekalin, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered a full blockade of Nalchik. Chekalin announced that the Interior Ministry, Defense Ministry, and FSB were conducting a joint operation, in which "anyone with weapons in his hands who displays armed opposition, should be subject to liquidation."


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Public announcements and prolongation of the conflict
By the early afternoon Dmitry Kozak, Vladimir Putin's envoy to the Southern Federal District had arrived in Nalchik from Rostov-na-Donu, and was quoted by Radio Free Europe as saying: The situation is normalizing... At least mass unrest and attacks have been put down. The bandits that today attacked the law enforcement forces have been dispersed. There remain only a few pockets of resistance—two, to be more precise. Fighting is still going on near the Interior Ministry's third department, where unfortunately people are being held hostage. There is an operation going there at the moment. [ But] there are no more threats. However, Radio Free Europe also relayed reports from Russia's ORT state television channel that "heavy gunfire could still be heard near the central market by mid-afternoon" and that "explosions were reported in various neighborhoods of Nalchik."


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Public announcements and prolongation of the conflict
Eventually, most of surviving rebel forces retreated to the mountains.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Second day
A few, mostly wounded gunmen, who were cut off by federal reinforcements, holed up with police and civilian hostages in captured buildings (including a police station and souvenir shop) but were killed by special forces the following day. According to the Russian officials, no hostages were killed during these final rounds of fighting. According to MSNBC, on the morning of 14 October, attackers fired on a police car in the suburb of Khasanya outside Nalchik, killing two OMON riot police officers.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Second day
MSNBC also described the conditions in central Nalchik on the next morning:


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Second day
Bloodied corpses still lay in the streets on Friday. One was near the entrance to police station No. 2 and the regional anti-terrorist center, where most of the windows had been blown out and even tramway lines outside had been brought down. Seven more bodies were sprawled across the street, most with horrific head wounds. Heavily armed police poked and kicked at the bodies, presumably those of militants, all clad in tracksuits and running shoes. Outside the local Federal Security Service building, several heavily armed officers picked gingerly through a black backpack that had apparently belonged to a militant, pulling out a candy bar, a bottle of water and a black T-shirt.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Attack, Second day
By midday on 14 October, the head of the regional government Gennady Gubin, told Interfax that "all points of rebel resistance have been suppressed and hostages freed. Now the security forces are conducting a sweep of the city to find terrorists who are hiding." The Russian government had deployed 1,500 regular troops and 500 special forces troops to Nalchik to regain government control of the city.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Identity and number of attackers
There was an uncertainty about the size of the terrorists force. Russian sources put the figure at between 80 and 300, while Basayev claimed that 217 fighters had been involved. Police told the news agency TASS that the attackers had operated in 10 mobile groups, each with a different set of targets.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Identity and number of attackers
MSNBC reported several statements made by Deputy Interior Minister Andrei Novikov to reporters in Nalchik. In particular Novikov announced that:


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Identity and number of attackers
Asked about who might have been behind the terrorists raid on Nalchik, pro-Kremlin prime minister of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov answered that Chechens had nothing to do with it:


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Identity and number of attackers
If Chechens had been there, then it wouldn't have ended so quickly. It was their own people there. It was weak guys, which is why it ended quickly – they got the better of them in two hours.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Arrests
Following the raid, law enforcement officials detained dozens of people; many of the detainees were reportedly tortured. At least one person was reported to have "disappeared" following the raid. Upon investigation, some of the detainees have been charged under nine articles such as terrorism, murder, armed rebellion, and infringement on the life of police officers. There was a number of documented cases of torture of detainees and the investigation was roundly criticized by Russian and international human rights groups. Mass media published photos of the detainees with traces of tortures.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Arrests
Kommersant reported on 28 October 2006, citing detainees' lawyers, that the charges against 13 of them had been dropped because of an amnesty, while the pre-trial detention period for the remaining 56 was extended to April 2007. Another 39 people accused of involvement in the raid remained at large.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Arrests
On 27 June 2006, the ex-Guantanamo prisoner, Ruslan Odizhev, a lifelong friend of Anzor Astemirov and suspected of leading the attack on Omon headquarters, was killed in the centre of Nalchik, in an apartment block on Schokenzukov Prospekt, facing the local (official) mosque, while resisting arrest, together with another suspect, Anzor Tengizov.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Claim of responsibility
After the raid, Arsen Kanokov, the newly appointed president of the KBR, admitted publicly that it could have been triggered at least in part by brutal crackdowns by local police.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Claim of responsibility
The Nalchik attack came just over a year after the Beslan school hostage crisis, for which Basayev also claimed responsibility. An Ingush militant, Ilias Gorchkhanov, leader of the Ingush Jamaat, was said to have been one of the attack's commanders on the ground. Basayev claimed that Russian security forces had been tipped off some five days before the attack, which resulted in increased security in Nalchik, but that despite increased security, the attack was not cancelled.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Claim of responsibility
The raid was reportedly in response to months of persecution of practising Muslims in the region, including arbitrary detention and torture by law enforcement officials, and wholesale closure of mosques.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Claim of responsibility
In April 2006, asked about the upsurge in attacks in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria and whether fighters there coordinate their actions with the Chechen terrorists, the top rebel commander Doku Umarov responded:


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Claim of responsibility
We have three fronts [outside Chechnya] – in Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and Dagestan. Fighters in Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria communicate with the military amir and then through myself. They coordinate all their actions with us. (...) They are ordinary civilians who have risen against arbitrariness toward Muslims in those republics. No matter how hard we try to make them refrain from combat operations, we will not succeed. They are our brothers in faith and therefore we help them – we share our experience and direct them. God willing, we are planning to send our experienced instructors there this year. We will not leave them on their own. It is our duty to help them.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Trial
Preliminary hearings in the prosecution of 59 men suspected of taking part in the attack began in October 2007, but the trial was then delayed for more than a year as court officials sought to find a team of jurors. Between October 2007 and November 2008, an estimated 1,200 citizens were summoned as potential members of the jury. However, more than 500 never appeared in court, and all but 13 of the remainder asked to be excused. In February 2009, the court finally abandoned the idea of a jury trial, deciding it would go ahead with three presiding judges instead.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Trial
The trial proper began in March 2009 in a specially constructed and heavily guarded building in Nalchik and continued as of June 2011. Fifty-eight men are being prosecuted, one of the original 59 accused having died in custody in 2008. The men are indicted on a range of charges including murder, hostage-taking, terrorism and illegal possession of weapons. Nine of the men admit illegal possession of arms, one admits being part of a "criminal armed group" and one has admitted "partial guilt". The rest deny all charges.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Trial
During hearings the defendants are held in four or five groups in metal cages and they address the court via microphones placed at the front of each cage.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Trial
Several of the men on trial have claimed they were tortured in custody.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Aftermath, Trial
The defendants have used court hearings to threaten their enemies in the police and security forces. In February 2011, one of the accused said that Khachim Shogenov, the former interior minister of Kabardino-Balkaria, should be called to give evidence "while he was still alive." He added: "Such people will be killed in this republic. By the time this process ends, praise be to Allah, they will all be destroyed."


2005 raid on Nalchik, Casualties
The Russian government and the terrorists have published significantly different casualty figures. According to the Russian officials, 89 attackers were killed and 36 captured, while 35 federal servicemen and 14 civilians also died. At 15:40 GMT, CNN reported that 97 people were hospitalized in connection with the attack, according to the Russian Health Ministry.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Casualties
According to the Basayev's later statement, 37 attackers died in the operation. The rebels put the federal losses at over 300 dead and wounded. In his statement, Basayev blamed guerrilla casualties on the information leak before the operation.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Casualties, Bodies controversy
According to news reports, some of the dead classified as "terrorists" were actually civilians accidentally killed in the crossfire. There were also reports that young men have simply vanished without a trace despite having no proven connection to the raid, some other allegedly detained in the day after the raid and then presented dead as the killed insurgents. Despite public protests by family members, the bodies were not released.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Casualties, Bodies controversy
A year later, many relatives were still demanding in vain that authorities return for proper burial the bodies of 92 men allegedly killed during the attacks; a number of families have taken cases to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to petition for the return of bodies. In June 2007 the government said it had cremated the bodies of the 95 suspects on 22 June 2006. The relatives argue that the decision, taken by one of investigators for the Southern Federal District, Aleksei Savrulin, and former Deputy Prosecutor for the Southern Federal District Nikolai Shepel, was unlawful.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Allegations by the Russian government, Alleged connections with international terrorism
On 20 October 2005 Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Nikolai Shepel, stated that the attack was organized by "International Terrorist Organizations", that also previously organized the Beslan school hostage crisis, raid on Ingushetia, and the attack on Gosnarkocontrol (drug control agency) in Kabardino-Balkaria. The Duma deputy from Chechnya Akhmar Zavgayev also blamed international terrorists for the attack.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Allegations by the Russian government, Alleged connections with international terrorism
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Rasul Kudayevwas arrested in Nalchik for allegedly taking part in the preparation of the attack, and participation in the attack itself (taking the road police post in Khasanya suburb of Nalchik). According to same source Rasul Kudayev pretends being at home at the time of the incident, which can be witnessed (according to his brother) by relatives, neighbours, journalists, and his lawyer.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Allegations by the Russian government, Alleged connections with international terrorism
It was reported that the militants may have planned to overrun the city's airport and use the aircraft there in suicide attacks similar to the 11 September attacks.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Allegations by the Russian government, Alleged financing by foreign intelligence agencies and NGOs
The deputy head of the Kabardino-Balkaria Interior Ministry's anti-organized crime department, Albert Sizhazhev, claimed on 14 February 2006, that the attack in Nalchik was financed by foreign intelligence agencies. According to NTV, Sizhazhev said the attack was organized by "ringleaders of the bandit underground of Kabardino-Balkaria" who "had the powerful financial support of foreign special services."


2005 raid on Nalchik, Allegations by the Russian government, Alleged financing by foreign intelligence agencies and NGOs
According to ITAR-TASS, the head of the religious affairs department of Kabardino-Balkaria's Ministry of Culture, Dzhambulat Gergokov, claimed that the "bandit underground" in the republic was funded via non-governmental organizations working in Chechnya.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Allegations by the Russian government, Alleged financing by foreign intelligence agencies and NGOs
On 17 October 2006, deputy Interior Minister of Russia Arkady Yedelev was quoted by RIA Novosti saying about Anzor Astemirov, one of the organizers of the militant attack:


2005 raid on Nalchik, Allegations by the Russian government, Alleged financing by foreign intelligence agencies and NGOs
I will put it straight, that people like [Anzor] Astemirov are linked to the secret services of some countries that are planning blitzkriegs in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the South Caucasus, and are pursuing a militant escalation on our territory to transfer some of their gunmen from Iraq to Russia.


2005 raid on Nalchik, Allegations by the Russian government, Alleged financing by foreign intelligence agencies and NGOs
Yedelev's allegations were repeated by him on 4 June 2007. He did not identify any countries.


2005 reasons of the Supreme Court of Canada
The table below lists the reasons delivered from the bench by the Supreme Court of Canada during 2005. The table illustrates what reasons were filed by each justice in each case, and which justices joined each reason. This list, however, does not include decisions on motions.


2005 storm in Uruguay
In 2005, a heavy storm swept across southern Uruguay from 23 to 24 August. The storm started at the River Plate, entered Uruguayan territory at Kiyú (San José) and moved towards Juanicó (Canelones), where it died down.


2005 storm in Uruguay
This storm produced strong winds which exceeded 187 km/h. Destruction was severe in the affected cities in Uruguay and Argentina.


2005 storm in Uruguay, Aftermath
Many years later, Uruguayan people keep commenting this cyclone as the worst they remember. The 2005 storm is widely regarded as the worst disaster to befall Uruguay in recent years, even prompting United Nations intervention. The storm cause most of its serious damage in Canelones, Montevideo, San Jose, Colonia and  Maldonado. These combined cities contain about 70% of the entire country's population. Reestablishment of public services was slow due to a lack of resources, including power saws, emergency shelter, and other essentials like mattresses, blankets, sheets, hygiene kits, and diapers.


2005 storm in Uruguay, Aftermath
10 people were reported dead, including two teenagers who died when an antenna was blown into their house. Three people were killed by an uprooted trees, displaying the severe winds that were associated with this storm. and dozens were injured, a high number of fatalities for a small country like Uruguay. In addition to this, thousands of homes were damaged with most of the damage occurring to roofing. Over 20,000 people lost electricity and phone service. The same storm in Argentina cause two deaths and forced the evacuation of 2,400 people in downtown Buenos Aires.


2005 storm in Uruguay, Culture
Each year as the end of August nears, Uruguayans and Argentinians prepare for "La Tormenta de Santa Rosa" or the Santa Rosa storm. According to local legend, this storm is predicted to occur anywhere from five days before or after August 30, which also happens to be the annual celebration of the festival of Santa Rosa. The legend originated from the belief that Isabel Flores de Oliva concocted a deadly storm to prevent Dutch pirates from attacking the city of Lima in 1615. It is believed by locals to be the deadliest storm of the year.


2005 storm in Uruguay, Culture
This particular storm is believed by many to be the Santa Rosa storm of 2005, despite the fact that it occurred on the six to seven days before the 30th of August. The Santa Rosa storm does not necessarily have to be an extratropical cyclone, and usually is not.


2005 term opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
The 2005 term of the Supreme Court of the United States began October 3, 2005, and concluded October 1, 2006. The table illustrates which opinion was filed by each justice in each case and which justices joined each opinion.


2005 term opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, 2005 term membership and statistics
This was the first term of Chief Justice Roberts, who was confirmed following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist on September 3. Justice O'Connor also retired midterm on January 31, 2006, when she was replaced by Justice Alito. The Court's membership had not changed for the previous eleven terms.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States handed down sixteen per curiam opinions during its 2005 term, which lasted from October 3, 2005 until October 1, 2006.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
Because per curiam decisions are issued from the Court as an institution, these opinions all lack the attribution of authorship or joining votes to specific justices. All justices on the Court at the time the decision was handed down are assumed to have participated and concurred unless otherwise noted.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States
The cases for this term are listed chronologically, noting the midterm change in the Court's membership caused by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the confirmation of Justice Samuel Alito to her seat on January 31, 2006.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Court membership
Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor (retired January 31, 2006), Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito (confirmed January 31, 2006)


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Dye v. Hofbauer
546 U.S. 1 Decided October 11, 2005. Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Dye v. Hofbauer
The Court of Appeals had ruled that the habeas corpus petitioner failed to exhaust state remedies by not arguing his federal claim of prosecutorial misconduct in state court, which it concluded only because the state court's opinion failed to discuss that argument. The Supreme Court reversed, ruling that the failure of a court decision to discuss an argument does not by itself establish that the argument was never raised. The habeas petitioner's state court appellate brief clearly indicated that the federal claim had been raised in that forum.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Schriro v. Smith
546 U.S. 6 Decided October 17, 2005. Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Schriro v. Smith
The Court of Appeals had suspended habeas proceedings and ordered Arizona state courts to conduct a jury trial on the issue of whether the petitioner was mentally retarded and therefore could not be executed under the Supreme Court's ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002). The Supreme Court ruled that the court exceeded its authority by determining the method by which the petitioner's status was to be determined, because Atkins had expressly left it up to the states to decide their own procedures.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Kane v. Garcia Espitia
546 U.S. 9 Decided October 31, 2005. Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Kane v. Garcia Espitia
The Court of Appeals had ruled that the habeas petition of a pro se defendant (representing himself) who was denied access to a law library during his trial should not have been dismissed. The court believed that the Supreme Court's decision in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975) established that such a denial of access violated a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to defend himself. The Supreme Court reversed, observing that Faretta said nothing specific about a state's duty to aid pro se defendants, and that lower court rulings conflicted on whether Faretta established such a right. It accordingly could not be used to claim an error of "clearly established" federal law as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1).


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Eberhart v. United States
546 U.S. 12 Decided October 31, 2005. Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Eberhart v. United States
On appeal from a conviction for conspiracy to sell narcotics, the Court of Appeals had ruled that the time limit set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 33 for motions for a new trial was a requirement of subject-matter jurisdiction. It accordingly allowed the government to raise the issue on appeal for the first time. The Supreme Court reversed, ruling that Rule 33 merely established a non-jurisdictional, inflexible claim-processing rule that was forfeited if not timely asserted.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Bradshaw v. Richey
546 U.S. 74 Decided November 28, 2005. Sixth Circuit vacated and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Bradshaw v. Richey
The Court of Appeals had ruled that the habeas petitioner's conviction was contrary to Ohio law, which it claimed did not recognize transferred intent as a theory for aggravated felony murder; and that petitioner's trial counsel was ineffective under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). The Supreme Court vacated the court's decision, holding that it had directly contradicted the authoritative interpretation of the relevant state law by the Ohio Supreme Court. The Court further held that the ineffective assistance of counsel claim was inappropriately based on evidence that had not been properly presented first to the state habeas courts, and on arguments that had not been presented on state court appeal.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission
546 U.S. 410 Argued January 17, 2006.Decided January 23, 2006. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission
The District Court had dismissed an "as-applied" challenge to the prohibition of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 against the funding of "electioneering communications" from the general treasury funds of corporations, finding such challenges foreclosed by the Supreme Court's decision in McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S. 93 (2003). The Supreme Court vacated, ruling that "as-applied" challenges to this provision had not been foreclosed by McConnell, and that the District Court had instead incorrectly interpreted a footnote from that case.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission
This case was addressed in full by the Court in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., 551 U.S. 449 (2007).


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ministry of Def. & Support v. Elahi
546 U.S. 450 Decided February 21, 2006. Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ministry of Def. & Support v. Elahi
The Court of Appeals had ruled that the property of the Iranian Ministry of Defense could be attached by a private plaintiff under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). It disagreed with the District Court's conclusion that the Ministry had waived its FSIA immunity, but instead ruled that it was amenable to attachment as an "agency or instrumentality" of a state rather than immune as a foreign state. The Supreme Court reversed because whether the Ministry itself qualified as a foreign state under FSIA was not a distinction that had been argued or considered in the lower court.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ministry of Def. & Support v. Elahi
This opinion was the first handed down by the Court in which Alito participated.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc.
546 U.S. 454 Decided February 21, 2006. Eleventh Circuit vacated and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc.
The Court of Appeals had reversed a verdict for Title VII plaintiffs, ruling that use of the word "boy" without qualifications or modifiers could never by itself constitute a racial slur. The court also found insufficient plaintiffs' evidence that the defendant's explanation of its conduct was merely a pretext for racial discrimination, because it failed to "jump off the page and slap you in the face."


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc.
The Supreme Court vacated, ruling that there was no basis for the lower court to conclude that the unqualified word "boy" was always benign. The Court also found the Court of Appeals' standard for evaluating the significance of pretextual evidence to be imprecise and unclear.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Lance v. Dennis
546 U.S. 459 Decided February 21, 2006. District Court for the District of Colorado vacated and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Lance v. Dennis
The District Court had dismissed a suit supporting a legislative redistricting plan that the Colorado Supreme Court had invalidated in a prior action that was lost by the Colorado General Assembly, in part by challenging the state court's decision under the U.S. Constitution. The District Court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction over the suit under the federal Rooker-Feldman doctrine.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Lance v. Dennis
Although the plaintiffs were not parties to the prior state court action as the doctrine required, the District Court found that it nevertheless applied because the outcome of a government's litigation on a matter of public concern has preclusive effect over its citizens, such that the plaintiffs were in privity with the Colorado General Assembly. The Supreme Court vacated, ruling that the District Court had erroneously conflated preclusion principles with the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. This would cause the doctrine to conflict with the Full Faith and Credit Clause, because federal courts would then ignore the preclusive effects that state law would actually extend to state court decisions in favor of an exclusively federal law of preclusion.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Lance v. Dennis
Ginsburg filed a concurrence, joined by Souter, noting that the issue in Stevens' dissent was better determined by the District Court on remand. Stevens filed a dissent, arguing that while the District Court erroneously decided that it lacked jurisdiction, dismissal was nevertheless correct because under Colorado state law, the issues in the suit were precluded from being relitigated.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Gonzales v. Thomas
547 U.S. 183 Decided April 17, 2006. Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Gonzales v. Thomas
The Court of Appeals had ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals had failed to consider whether applicants for asylum could base a claim of persecution for membership in a particular social group on their family membership. The court furthermore determined that the applicant's family satisfied the requirement. The Supreme Court ruled that because the Board had not yet developed a factual record on the issue or made its own findings, the court should not have decided that issue itself, but rather left it for the Board to determine on remand.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Salinas v. United States
547 U.S. 188 Decided April 24, 2006. Fifth Circuit vacated and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Salinas v. United States
The Court of Appeals had concluded that the defendant's conviction for simple possession of a controlled substance constituted a "controlled substance offense" for purposes of the sentencing guidelines of the United States Sentencing Commission. However, the Supreme Court vacated, because the definition of "controlled substance offense" requires possession with intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or dispense, of which the defendant was not convicted.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Whitman v. Dep't of Transportation
547 U.S. 512 Decided June 5, 2006. Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Whitman v. Dep't of Transportation
The Court of Appeals had affirmed the District Court's judgment that the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) did not expressly confer, and therefore precluded, federal court jurisdiction over a grievance suit filed by an FAA employee under his collective-bargaining agreement. The Supreme Court found that his claim fell within the general federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The question was accordingly not whether the CSRA precluded jurisdiction, but whether it divested the federal courts of the jurisdiction that is generally conferred by section 1331. Because the CSRA treats claims differently based upon where they fall in its statutory scheme, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded the case to the Court of Appeals for it to decide whether Whitman's claim fell within a category of the CSRA that would grant federal courts jurisdiction.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Whitman v. Dep't of Transportation
Alito did not participate in the consideration or decision of the case.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Youngblood v. West Virginia
547 U.S. 867 Decided June 19, 2006. Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia vacated and remanded.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Youngblood v. West Virginia
In a rape case, the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence that was in the form of a note from one of the alleged victims.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Youngblood v. West Virginia
Scalia filed a dissent, joined by Thomas. Kennedy filed a dissent.


2005 term per curiam opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings v. Metabolite Laboratories, Inc.
548 U.S. 124 Argued March 21, 2006.Decided June 22, 2006. The Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.


2005 totesport League
The 2005 totesport League season was a 45 over English county cricket competition; colloquially known as the Sunday League. Essex Eagles won the League for the fourth time.


2005 totesport League, Final standings, Division One, Season Progression
A detailed description of the season progression can be found here Division One Progression


2005 totesport League, Final standings, Division two, Season Progression
A detailed description of the season progression can be found here Division Two Progression


2005 Úrvalsdeild
The 2005 season of Landsbankadeildin was the 94th season of league football in Iceland. FH defended their title. Fram and recently promoted Þróttur were relegated.


2005 Úrvalsdeild, Results
Each team played every opponent once home and away for a total of 18 matches.


2005 Ýokary Liga
The 2005 Turkmenistan Higher League (Ýokary Liga) season was the thirteenth season of Turkmenistan's professional football league. Nine teams competed in 2005.


2005 İstanbul Cup
The 2005 İstanbul Cup was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the first edition of the İstanbul Cup, and was part of the WTA Tier III tournaments of the 2005 WTA Tour. It was held in İstanbul from 16 through 21 May 2005.


2005 İstanbul Cup, Singles main-draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2005 İstanbul Cup, Doubles main-draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2005 İstanbul Cup, Finals, Doubles
Marta Marrero /  Antonella Serra Zanetti defeated  Daniela Klemenschits /  Sandra Klemenschits, 6–4, 6–0


2005 İstanbul Cup – Doubles
Marta Marrero and Antonella Serra Zanetti won the title by defeating Daniela Klemenschits and Sandra Klemenschits 6–4, 6–0 in the final.


2005 İstanbul Cup – Singles
This was the first the first time a WTA level was held in İstanbul. Top seed Venus Williams won the title, defeating Nicole Vaidišová in the final, 6–3, 6–2.


2005 İstanbul Cup – Singles, Seeds
The top two seeds received a bye into the second round.


2005–06 1. FC Nürnberg season
The 2005-06 1. FC Nürnberg season was the 106th year of existence.


2005–06 2. Bundesliga
The 2005–06 2. Bundesliga was the 32nd season of the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system. VfL Bochum, Alemannia Aachen and Energie Cottbus were promoted to the Bundesliga while Dynamo Dresden, 1. FC Saarbrücken, LR Ahlen and Sportfreunde Siegen were relegated to the Regionalliga.


2005–06 2. Bundesliga, League table
For the 2005–06 season Eintracht Braunschweig, SC Paderborn 07, Kickers Offenbach and Sportfreunde Siegen were newly promoted to the 2. Bundesliga from the Regionalliga while VfL Bochum, F.C. Hansa Rostock and SC Freiburg had been relegated to the league from the Bundesliga.


2005–06 2. Frauen-Bundesliga
The 2nd Fußball-Bundesliga (women) 2005–06 was the 2nd season of the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga (women), Germany's second football league. It began on 14 August 2005 and ended on 5 June 2006.


2005–06 2. Frauen-Bundesliga, Group North, Final standings
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points


2005–06 2. Frauen-Bundesliga, Group South, Final standings
* VfL Singelfingen was relegated to the 2. Bundesliga therefore Sindelfingen II was automatically relegated to the Regionalliga instead of Karlsruher SC.


2005–06 2. Frauen-Bundesliga, Group South, Final standings
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points


2005–06 2. Liga (Slovakia)
The 2005–06 season of the Slovak Second Football League (also known as 2. liga) was the thirteenth season of the league since its establishment. It began on 22 July 2005 and ended on 28 May 2006.


2005–06 A Group
Statistics of Bulgarian A Football Group in the 2005–2006 season.


2005–06 A Group, Overview
It was contested by 16 teams, and Levski Sofia won the championship. Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo, PFC Nesebar, and Spartak Varna were relegated to the B PFG at the end of the last season. The relegated teams were replaced by Vihren Sandanski, Pirin 1922 Blagoevgrad, and Botev Plovdiv. Vihren made their debut in the top tier of Bulgarian football, Pirin 1922 returns after a two-year absence, while Botev returns after four-year absence.


2005–06 A-League
The 2005–06 A-League was the 29th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the inaugural season of the A-League. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition since the close of the 2003–04 National Soccer League season, the first match in the A-League was played on 26 August 2005. The competition was made up of a triple round robin league stage before a championship playoff featuring the top four teams.


2005–06 A-League
Of the eight participants, four came from the National Soccer League (1977–2004): Perth Glory (established 1995), New Zealand Knights (1999), Newcastle Jets (2000) and Adelaide United (2003). New Zealand Knights had previously entered the NSL as the Auckland Football Kingz, but were significantly restructured and have a vastly different playing roster. Queensland Roar previously competed in the NSL from 1977 to 1988 and had competed in the Queensland State League since then as Brisbane Lions.


2005–06 A-League
Adelaide United were named Premiers after finishing the season seven points clear at the top of the league. The first A-League Grand Final took place on 5 March 2006, with Sydney FC becoming the league's inaugural Champions, defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1–0.


2005–06 A-League, Clubs, Foreign players
The following do not fill a Visa position:1Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian Residency (and New Zealand Residency, in the case of Wellington Phoenix);2Australian residents (and New Zealand residents, in the case of Wellington Phoenix) who have chosen to represent another national team;3Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players;4Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games)


2005–06 A-League, Preliminary Competitions
Two competitions were held prior to the start of the A-League season.


2005–06 A-League, Preliminary Competitions, Oceania Club Championship Qualification
This three-round competition was held in May 2005 to determine Australia's qualifier for the 2005 season of the Oceania Club Championship. It consisted of all Australian A-League clubs (i.e. all clubs except for the New Zealand Knights) and granted Perth Glory – the reigning NSL champions – a bye into the semi-finals.


2005–06 A-League, Preliminary Competitions, Oceania Club Championship Qualification
Sydney FC qualified for and subsequently won the 2005 Oceania Club Championship entitling it to a place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship to be played in Tokyo.


2005–06 A-League, Preliminary Competitions, Pre-Season Challenge Cup
The inaugural pre-season cup was held in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. Commentators did not give much weight to the competition as a guide for performance during the season proper, as injuries or club strategic policy ruled that many teams did not use their best players and often used experimental tactics.


2005–06 A-League, Preliminary Competitions, Pre-Season Challenge Cup, Finals
The Central Coast Mariners were the inaugural Pre-season Challenge Cup winners.


2005–06 A-League, Regular season
The A-League season commenced on 26 August 2005 with two Friday night fixtures. Games each round were held throughout the weekend, though certain rounds also featured Thursday night games. As there was no concurrent cup competition, midweek fixtures were uncommon unless they were held on Australian public holidays. A three-week break was also scheduled in December to coincide with the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo.


2005–06 A-League, Regular season, Finals series
After the home and away season, the finals series began, with the top four teams. The finals series used a modified Page playoff system, with the difference that each first-round game would be played over two legs. The winner of the finals series, Sydney FC was crowned as the A-League champion. Adelaide United, as the holder of the top position on the league ladder, were named the 2005–06 premiers.


2005–06 A-League, Regular season, Finals series
Standard cup rules – such as the away goals rule (two-leg ties only), extra time and penalty shootouts were used to decide drawn games.


2005–06 A-League, AFC Champions League
Although Australia became a member of the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, Australian teams were not invited to participate in the 2006 AFC Champions League competition.


2005–06 A-League, AFC Champions League
The AFC later determined that qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League would be based on the 2005–06 A-League competition, despite that ACL matches will commence after the completion of the A-League 2006–07 season. Adelaide as Premiers and Sydney as Champions were the representatives.


2005–06 A.C. Cesena season
The 2005–06 season was the 66th season in the existence of A.C. Cesena and the club's second consecutive season in the second division of Italian football. In addition to the domestic league, Cesena participated in this season's edition of the Coppa Italia.


2005–06 A.C. Mantova season
The 2005–06 season was the 95th season in the existence of A.C. Mantova and the club's first season back in the second division of Italian football. In addition to the domestic league, Mantova participated in this season's edition of the Coppa Italia.


2005–06 A.C. Milan season
In 2005–06 season Associazione Calcio Milan had a rather modest season compared to its previous seasons, before being rocked by a minor involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal, where rivals Juventus was relegated and stripped of two league titles. Due to Milan's involvement, it did not inherit either of the titles, instead being penalised and dropped down the 2006 order, initially out of European football but later reinstated into fourth, which meant UEFA Champions League qualification, a tournament Milan then went on to win. However, Milan started the 2006–07 Serie A season with an eight-point deduction, which complicated hopes of a new league title.


2005–06 A.C. Milan season
On the pitch, Milan was not able to challenge Juventus for the virtual league title, then going out against Barcelona in the Champions League.


2005–06 A.C. Milan season
Following the season, the club sold Andriy Shevchenko for €40 million, the highest fee paid for a player turning 30 in the same year, to English club Chelsea.


2005–06 A.C. Milan season, Players, Squad information
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 A.C. Milan season, Players, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 A.C. Milan season, Players, Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2005–06 A.C. Rimini 1912 season
The 2005–06 season was the 94th season in the existence of A.C. Rimini 1912 and the club's second consecutive season in the second division of Italian football. In addition to the domestic league, Rimini participated in this season's edition of the Coppa Italia.


2005–06 A.S. Bari season
The 2005–06 season was the 66th season in the existence of A.S. Bari and the club's second consecutive season in the second division of Italian football. In addition to the domestic league, Bari participated in this season's edition of the Coppa Italia.


2005–06 A.S. Roma season
The 2005–06 season saw Associazione Sportiva Roma experience several ups and downs, as it went through periods of poor form which bracketed a then-record 11 match winning streak in Serie A. Despite this period of excellent form, the club originally finished just fifth in the final standings, before Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina all were declared of varying guilt in a scandal that rocked Italian football in the summer of 2006. The resulting point deductions directed toward all three aforementioned clubs promoted Roma to second in the final standings.


2005–06 A.S. Roma season
The season also saw Roma hit with a one-year transfer ban, since it poached Philippe Mexès from Auxerre in spite of a rolling contract in 2004. Before the axe fell, Roma had already made its summer signings Doni, Samuel Kuffour, Rodrigo Taddei and Shabani Nonda, which made the ban redundant. It did however, delay Antonio Cassano's long-awaited transfer to Real Madrid, which lifted the morale of the squad following Cassano's long-time public feud with captain Francesco Totti.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia
The 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia was an A1 Grand Prix race held on the weekend of 6 November 2005 at the Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney, Australia. Approximately 51,000 fans attended the event over the three days.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Practice
The fourth round of the 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season was held in Australia, and the field was again reduced to 24 nations following the withdrawal of A1 Team Indonesia due to driver Ananda Mikola's commitments to his Formula 3 Championship. Within 10 minutes of the start of the first practice session, the lap record at Eastern Creek Raceway was broken by A1 Team Brazil driver Nelson Piquet Jr. Piquet set a time of 1'19.266 on his fourth lap of the day, breaking the previous record by more than 3 seconds.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Practice
This time would end the session at the top of the sheets, but by that time another 13 teams had beaten the previous record, which was set in a Formula Holden. It rained heavily midway through the session, leaving Mexico's Salvador Durán in second place, but more than a second behind the pacesetter Piquet. A1 Team France came in third with a 1'20.627, followed by Switzerland and a resurgent New Zealand. A1 Team China managed 13th place, 3.116 seconds behind Piquet, whilst A1 Team Russia continued to struggle, down in 23rd, ahead of only A1 Team India, whose car was still slightly damaged from the previous race.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Practice
The track dried in time for the second timed session, which saw France's Nicolas Lapierre come out on top with a 1'21.037. Brazil and Switzerland continued their good form to come in 2nd and 3rd, in a session where the top 11 cars were within one second of France's best time. USA's Bryan Herta, on debut, was just outside this range, coming in 12th with a 1'22.084, followed by Great Britain's Robbie Kerr, just 0.089 seconds behind. Italian driver Andrea Montermini, also on debut, came in last, but was creditably less than one second behind Pakistan's 19th-placed time of 1'23.127. China's Tengyi Jiang suffered a 100 mph accident late in the session, causing it to be red-flagged, and leaving the Chinese team with a long night ahead of them to rebuild the car in time for qualifying.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Practice
Practice 3 on Sunday saw Brazil return to the head of the field, with Piquet setting a time of 1'19.476. Malaysia's former F1 driver Alex Yoong came in 2nd with a 1'19.840, followed by Great Britain, Portugal and A1 Team Germany, with home team Australia finishing the session with the sixth fastest time. Enrico Toccacelo returned to the Italian car to set the eighth quickest time, while China proved that their hard work overnight paid off, Tengyi coming in 20th. USA came in 22nd, while A1 Team Canada elected not to set a time for the session, preferring to conserve their tyres for the qualifying session.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Qualifying
Qualifying saw France take its second pole position of the season, and possibly setting itself up for an incredible fifth consecutive race victory. Lapierre posted a 1'18.886 on his first lap, followed by a remarkable 1'18.150 on his second to put himself in a good position for the rest of the session. However, Portugal, Switzerland and Brazil were all able to respond with sub-1'19 laps on the second run to give themselves a chance at the top spot.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Qualifying
Lapierre was unable to improve on either of his times on his third lap, and with Portugal setting a 1'18.582 to move to just 0.490 seconds behind on aggregate, France took the risk of waiting in the garage to see if they needed to defend their provisional pole. However, Álvaro Parente was only able to manage a 1'19.685, leaving him in second position. The front-row result, however, is Portugal's best in the series so far. The usual suspects of Switzerland, Brazil and Great Britain completed the top 5, with A1 Team Ireland's Ralph Firman taking 6th.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Qualifying
Traditional rivals Australia and New Zealand will line up together on the seventh row of the grid, after Will Davison and Jonny Reid qualified 13th and 14th respectively at their teams' "home" race. Bryan Herta continued to struggle in his first round, and will line up 22nd for the sprint race, ahead of only Austria and India. Remarkably, by the end of the third qualifying session, all 24 teams entered into the round had broken the previous Eastern Creek lap record.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Sprint race
France, starting from the front on the rolling start, managed to hold its lead into turn 1, followed closely by Portugal and Brazil, able to move up from fourth. The cars got through the corner cleanly, but as they arrived at the tighter turn 2, A1 Team Czech Republic and A1 Team South Africa got tangled up and both ended up in the dirt. South Africa managed to rejoin the race, albeit in last position, but the race was unfortunately over for the Czech Republic before Tomáš Enge was even able to complete a lap.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Sprint race
The incident saw the safety car deployed in order to allow marshalls to remove the Czech car from a potentially dangerous position, forcing the cars to remain in order until it left pulled into the pits at the end of lap 3. As the race restarted, France held its lead over Portugal, Brazil, Ireland and Great Britain, with Switzerland in sixth spot after losing three positions off the line. Further back in the field there was again trouble at turn 2 from the restart, with both 11th-placed Germany and 12th-placed Mexico locking their brakes and spinning out of the race. Toccacelo in the Italian car somehow managed to avoid the chaos, dropping just one position to 11th as Australia moved into a pointscoring position. The safety car was again deployed while the cars were recovered, protecting France's lead for a further 3 laps.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Sprint race
The racing restarted on lap 8, with The Netherlands (7th) and Switzerland (6th) locked in a fascinating battle, but the experience Jos Verstappen was unable to make his moves stick. Also at the restart, Italy was able to make a move on Australia to move into the potential pointscoring position of tenth. Another battle arose on the ninth lap, and ended when Stephen Simpson (South Africa) and Basil Shaaban (Lebanon) had a collision, which forced Simpson out of the race with rear suspension damage.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Sprint race
Shaaban was able to continue in the race for a few more laps, but the damage had taken its toll, slowing the Lebanese driver before he eventually pulled out. France was able to hold its lead for the remainder of the race, keeping a steady 3 second gap back to Portugal, who was concentrating on keeping the fast-moving Brazil behind. When the allocated 30 minutes were complete, the race was ended, France taking its fifth consecutive win in the series (and Lapierre's third) to increase its points gap back to Brazil.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Sprint race
Portugal and Brazil took the other podium positions, while Italy was able to hold on to the final point. France was also able to set the race's fastest lap, meaning a possible extra point to add to its ever-increasing tally. One lap from the end, Austria and Japan spun off together without contact, whilst in a three-way tussle with USA for 15th place. Herta managed to keep his car straight, driving between the two others as they went off the circuit and eventually finishing 15th.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Main race
After its dominant win in the earlier sprint race, Team France took pole position for the 40-lap feature race. However, a poor start saw Lapierre drop to third as second-placed Portugal took the lead into the first corner, followed by Brazil. Ireland, starting from fourth, dropped down to 12th, while Australia moved up to 7th from 11th position on the grid. The first retirement of the race came on only the second lap, as South African driver Stephen Simpson was forced to swerve around Italy's Enrico Toccacelo after he reportedly "slowed suddenly on the racing line".


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Main race
The car slammed into the barrier and the damage was enough to force the team out of the race. Ireland reacted to its poor start by calling in Ralph Firman for his compulsory pit stop on the second lap, leaving the car in 18th position of the 23 cars remaining in the race. The order of the top 10 teams remained the same until lap 8, with Portugal handed a drive-through penalty for a false start. This gave France the race lead, with Great Britain second. Lap 8 also saw a collision, as Mexico and Russia crashed at turn two, forcing both into early retirement from 11th and 12th positions. Lebanon, following closely behind, was able to narrowly avoid being taken out by the pair, and moved into 12th after a short trip through the gravel.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Main race
The incident brought out the safety car, which gave many of the teams the opportunity to take their pitstops. Front-runners France and Great Britain both peeled off into the pits on lap 9, handing Lebanon the race lead, a remarkable occurrence given the team had not yet scored a point in A1GP. Switzerland also benefited from the safety car period, moving into fourth spot, whilst Australia dropped four positions to 8th.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Main race
The cars held their on-track positions until the safety car left the circuit on lap 12, ending Lebanon's moment of glory as they were shuffled back to third on lap 13, then 8th, 11th and 19th (last) on consecutive laps. Brazil, who already had wheel nut problems in their pitstop drop them down the field, were dealt a further blow when they were handed a penalty for an infringement on that stop. The penalty left Brazil in 16th place with only 15 laps remaining.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Main race
On lap 18, Austria and the Czech Republic collided whilst sitting in 13th and 14th, forcing both cars out of the race. The safety car was deployed again as the debris was cleared away, not leaving the circuit until lap 21. The deployment of the safety car again cut into France's lead, and bunched up the cars at the front of the field. Michael Devaney, sensing an opportunity to move out of 8th at the restart, accidentally passed the Portuguese car before the start-finish line, and incurred a 25-second penalty, which was added at the end of the race. Meanwhile, Brazil attempted to move up the field from 15th, but as he moved to overtake Tengyi Jiang in the Chinese car, India's Armaan Ebrahim forced Tengyi to brake hard, his engine stopped suddenly, causing his retirement.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Main race
A more dramatic incident, however, occurred on lap 26. Japanese driver Hayanari Shimoda went off the circuit at turn one at very high speed, the car flipping several times before hitting a wall on the outside of the corner. Shimoda was removed from the car by emergency staff, and airlifted by helicopter to Westmead Hospital where precautionary checks were undertaken. Shimoda was later declared fit after spending the night at the hospital, demonstrating the overall strength of the A1 Grand Prix cars.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Main race
The safety car was sent out for the third time in the race, but the amount of debris created in the accident meant that safety crews were unable to fully clear the circuit until lap 33, when racing restarted. However, the time taken during the safety car periods meant that the scheduled 40 laps could not be completed in the allotted one hour, and the race was ended just two laps later. France took the win over Great Britain and Switzerland, followed by the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia and Portugal.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Report, Main race
Ireland finished the race in 7th spot, but the 25-second penalty dropped the team out of the points to 14th, allowing New Zealand, Brazil and the USA to add to their respective tallies. France's fastest lap during the feature race of 1'21.015 was not quick enough to beat their best in the sprint race, but the team walked away with a maximum 21 points for the second round in succession. The result boosted France's season tally to 71, well ahead of Brazil on 52, who are closely trailed by Switzerland, just 10 points behind.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Results, Sprint Race results
The Sprint Race took place on Sunday, 6 November 2005.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Australia, Results, Main Race results
The Main Race took place on Sunday, 6 November 2005.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China
The 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China was an A1 Grand Prix race, held on the weekend of April 2, 2006 at Shanghai International Circuit.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Qualifying
A1 Team Malaysia snatched their first pole position for the final Sprint race of the 2005/06 A1 Grand Prix season this afternoon after the flag had dropped in the last of the four qualifying sessions. A1 Team Great Britain’s Darren Manning, who led from the word go, was denied the opportunity to head up the grid in his first A1GP race by Malaysia’s Alex Yoong. While Manning still recorded the fastest lap of qualifying (1.51.832), Yoong pushed his aggregate time ahead of A1 Team France and Great Britain, with a 1.51.846 flying lap after leaving the pits in the last few minutes of the session.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Qualifying
With three official practice sessions and four 15 minute qualifying sessions completed over two days, not a single red flag was seen all weekend. There were a few spins including a matching pair from A1 Team Australia and USA on turn one in the first qualifying session and another from A1 Team New Zealand in Q3, but they each managed to get themselves back on track for the subsequent sessions.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Qualifying
Home racers A1 Team China and series leaders A1 Team France are both taking advantage of a rule which allows teams to change drivers between qualifying and each of the two races. A1 Team China will run with Ma Qinghua in the sprint race and Tengyi Jiang in the feature race while A1 Team France will run Alexandre Premat for the sprint and Nicolas Lapierre for the feature race. All other A1 Teams will keep their qualifying driver behind the wheel for both races.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
A1 Team Malaysia's Alex Yoong converted his first pole position into the team's first race win after a dominant performance in the sprint race at the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Shanghai International Circuit, China, taking his spot at the head of the grid for the following feature race.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
Series leaders, France put pressure on from the start, trying everything possible to pass Great Britain and Malaysia ahead of them. From the approach to turn one, Alexandre Premat slipped the tricolour car between Malaysia and Britain trying to edge ahead through turns one and two but the grid leaders held their positions and France fell back to its third place starting position out of turn three. It was the start of an unusually bad race for the French who may have laid claim to the Series title but were still under attack from the rest of the field throughout the race.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
As the field crossed the start/finish line into the second lap, Malaysia was building its lead on Great Britain, with Mexico shortly behind having overtaken France at the end of the first lap. Italy brought up the rear after an earlier spin and continued to battle with China whose second driver, Ma Qinghua defended well in front of his home crowd. A collision between Switzerland and Canada saw retirements from both, while A1 Team Austria at seventeenth across the line, completed the 100,000th race mile for the A1 engine, demonstrating its reliability having nearly completed the first season without a single engine failure.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
While an incident between Lebanon and Austria saw both teams retire from the rear of the field, the major battles continued at the front. A1 Team Ireland's number two, Michael Devaney, racing for only the second time this season, used his last PowerBoost on the approach to turn one stealing fourth place from France on lap five.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
Just one lap later and France was once again the victim of an overtaking move, this time by the Netherlands' Jos Verstappen, who also cleared a path for Indonesia to follow through. Determined to maintain his position, France's Alexandre Premat defended hard but the Czech Republic with Tomáš Enge behind the wheel fought its way past a few laps later.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
While France and the Czech Republic contested sixth place, Indonesia kept the pressure on the Netherlands ahead of them for fifth. Verstappen's vast race experience did not make the defence of his position an easy task and the dogged determination of Ananda Mikola eventually paid off. As technical problems brought an early end to the Dutch race, Indonesia was the first to head past before the orange car of Verstappen slowed on the track eventually pulling into the pits at the end of lap 11.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
As the grid headed into lap 12, the battle focused on second and third place Great Britain and Mexico as Salvador Durán intensified the pressure on newcomer Darren Manning. Manning held his nerve to the flag, holding off double winner at the previous race in Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to take second place with Durán less than a second behind.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
Winning his first race in A1 Grand Prix, Malaysia's Alex Yoong said: "The car was good, we knew the temperature was rising, and were worried about the condition of the tyres. Fortunately after the start I was able to conserve the tyres and still able to push at the end".


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
Commenting on the trend of drivers winning the Sprint and Feature races, Alex said "I really like that trend! Hopefully I will be able to repeat it. But it will be very competitive in the main race. The pit stops will be crucial and it will be really important to look after the car."


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
Finishing second in his first race in A1 Grand Prix, Darren Manning was pleased to secure A1 Team Great Britain's third place in the standings. "This was obviously the main goal for the team, and it has been a great weekend. I think I have acclimatised myself now. I didn't have the pace of Alex in the race, but I managed to fend off France and the charging Salvador. I'm not really used to this two race thing! The second race will be more like I'm used to, a long race with strategy and pit stops, so I think past experience will help me."


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Sprint race
Salvador Durán battled hard to pass Darren Manning, right up to the last lap. "It was really difficult to pass, we were managing to do similar times, but we had different set ups on the cars, so we were faster on different parts of the track. I did try really hard one time to get past, but when that didn't work, I knew I was done, as I had no more PowerBoosts left. Hopefully the next race will be different."


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Main race
The Czech Republic became the eighth nation to win an A1 Grand Prix event, crossing the line first at the end of the Shanghai Feature race. Snatching first place from Sprint race winner, Malaysia's Alex Yoong who still managed to retain second ahead of Australia's Ryan Briscoe who had his first podium finish of the season, the third for the team.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Main race
All 22 cars made a clean start to this afternoon's Feature race going straight into battle for vital points in the last race of the season. Having taken advantage of A1 Grand Prix's unique driver rules, A1 Team France, this time with Nicolas Lapierre behind the wheel, made the best gain rising from seventh to fourth putting them back into contention for a final podium finish.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Main race
A bad start for A1 Team Ireland was made even worse before the first lap was over. After a strong and determined performance in the Sprint race the luck of the Irish ran out as they came wheel to wheel with Indonesia on turn seven. The green car flipped over the Indonesia, spinning several times before coming to a halt upside down in the gravel trap.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Main race
As the safety car came out, every team took the chance to make their compulsory pit stop and as the entire field filed in, the pressure turned to the race crews as they worked to get their car out ahead of its rivals. An excellent stop for Malaysia saw the bright yellow car pull out as other cars continued to head and smooth stops for Switzerland and Canada saw them move up from the back of the grid to ninth and tenth respectively.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Main race
The safety car came in at the end of lap four and racing resumed with Malaysia leading the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Mexico, Australia, USA, New Zealand and Pakistan. But this order did not remain for long as the Czech Republic was quick to pounce on Malaysia making its move around the outside of turn one while Great Britain fell victim to Mexico and Australia.


2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Report, Main race
On lap six Great Britain suffered again, being the first to take a drive through penalty also given to Mexico and the USA for a false start. The penalty cost Great Britain a points position but having grabbed nine points in the Sprint race, their third place in the Series was confirmed. When all three teams had taken their penalties, the leading pack looked considerably different with the Czech Republic ahead of Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Canada, Italy and Lebanon.