2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group A
Third: James PierceSecond: James JosephLead: Missy KeiserAlternate: Bob PrenoveauCoach: Bill Rotton, Diane Brown


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group A
Third: Clark ShielsSecond: Ian JonesLead: Marion HarrisonAlternate: Peter KnapperCoach: John Stone


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group B
Third: Svetozar KirovSecond: Rumen PanayotovLead: Neli SabevaAlternate: Stela EnevaCoach: Dimitar Dimitrov


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group B
Third: Bruce McAninchSecond: Jim PrimaveraLead: Karen BlachfordAlternate: Gerry AustgardenCoach: Amy Reid, Joe Rea


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group B
Third: Jens GäbelSecond: Christian ConradLead: Inge WenzlerAlternate: Jürgen SommerCoach: Bernd Weisser, Katja Weisser


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group B
Third: Orazio FagoneSecond: Lucrezia CelentanoLead: Danilo DestroAlternate: Pierino GaspardCoach: Mauro Maino


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group B
Third: Arkadiusz PawlowskiSecond: Ireneusz JonskiLead: Magdalena KarlewskaAlternate: Katarzyna BielawskaCoach: Arkadiusz Detyniecki


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group B
Third: Kim Myung-jinSecond: Cho Yang-hyunLead: Cho Yae-leeAlternate: Ham Dong-heeCoach: Kim Chang-gyu


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group B
Third: Glenn IkonenSecond: Rolf JohanssonLead: Anette WilhelmAlternate: Bernt SjöbergCoach: Olle Brudsten, Thomas Wilhelm


2005 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams, Group B
Third: Manfred BolligerSecond: Cesare CassaniLead: Therese KämpferAlternate: Erwin LauperCoach: Urs Keller


2005 World Women's Curling Championship
The 2005 World Women's Curling Championship was held from March 19–27, 2005 at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley, Scotland. The tournament was the first since the 1988 event to be held separately from the 2005 Ford World Men's Curling Championship.


2005 World Women's Curling Championship
The tournament was plagued with problems from the start. Ice conditions were not the best, due to a number of factors, including the arena being located adjacent to a swimming pool. Also, de-ionized water, a standard at major events was not used for the first draws, due to a refusal by the organising committee to pay for it. These ice issues led to the postponement of the fourth draw. Also, ticket prices were very expensive, leading to poor attendance numbers. Due to a dispute with volunteers who wanted to be paid, time clocks were not used. This meant that the on-ice umpire was allowed to pull rocks out of a game as a penalty for slow play. This arguably cost the Russian team a loss in one game.


2005 World Women's Curling Championship
In the end, it was Sweden, skipped by Anette Norberg who won her first championship, and Sweden's first since 1999, with a win in the final over the United States, skipped by Cassandra Johnson. Norway, skipped by Dordi Nordby won bronze.


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Qualifying
Teams qualified for the World Curling Championship in a series of different tournaments depending on their location.


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Qualifying
European teams qualified through the Le Gruyère 2004 European Curling Championships, held in Sofia, Bulgaria, December 4–11, 2004. Eight of the twelve qualifying teams (Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Italy, Finland, and Denmark) were selected from Europe.


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Qualifying
Australian and Asian teams qualified through the 2004 Pacific Curling Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea. Two teams (Japan and China) qualified for the World Curling Championship.


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Qualifying
The Canadian women's team was selected through the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts. The U.S. team was selected through the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
The 2005 World Women's Curling Championship was contested between teams from three continents: Asia, Europe, and North America. The list of teams differed from the Men's Curling Championship. Teams included 1990 and 1991 World Champion Dordi Nordby of Norway and 2001 Silver medalist Anette Norberg of Sweden. Joining them in their 4th trip to the worlds was Olga Jarkova's Russian team, in their 3rd appearance were Yumie Hayashi of Japan and Diana Gaspari of Italy, making their 2nd appearance were Mirjam Ott of Switzerland, Madeleine Dupont of Denmark, Kirsi Nykanen of Finland and Kelly Wood of Scotland. Making their first appearance at the worlds were Jennifer Jones of Canada, Wang Bingyu of China and Cassandra Johnson of the United States.


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Jennifer Jones Third: Cathy Overton-Clapham Second: Jill Officer Lead: Cathy Gauthier Alternate: Trisha Eck


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Wang Bingyu Third: Yue Qingshuang Second: Liu Yin Lead: Zhou Yan Alternate: Yu Xinna


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Madeleine Dupont Third: Denise Dupont Second: Lene Nielsen Lead: Maria Poulsen Alternate: Helle Simonsen


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Fourth: Tiina Kautonen Skip: Kirsi Nykänen Second: Sari Laakkonen Lead: Minna Malinen Alternate: Riikka Louhivuori


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Diana Gaspari Third: Giulia Lacedelli Second: Rosa Pompanin Lead: Violetta Caldart Alternate: Eleonora Alvera


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Fourth: Yumie Hayashi Skip: Ayumi Onodera Second: Mari Motohashi Lead: Sakurako Terada Alternate: Ai Kobayashi


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Dordi Nordby Third: Linn Githmark Second: Marianne Haslum Lead: Camilla Holth Alternate: Marianne Rørvik


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Ludmila Privivkova Third: Nkeiruka Ezekh Second: Yana Nekrosova Lead: Ekaterina Galkina Alternate: Olga Jarkova


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Kelly Wood Third: Lorna Vevers Second: Sheila Swan Lead: Lindsay Wood Alternate: Claire Milne


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Anette Norberg Third: Eva Lund Second: Cathrine Lindahl Lead: Anna Bergström Alternate: Ulrika Bergman


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Mirjam Ott Third: Binia Beeli Second: Brigitte Schori Lead: Michèle Knobel Alternate: Valeria Spälty


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Cassandra Johnson Third: Jamie Johnson Second: Jessica Schultz Lead: Maureen Brunt Alternate: Courtney George


2005 World Women's Curling Championship, Page playoffs
For the first time ever, the World championships used the page playoff system where the top four teams with the best records at the end of round-robin play meet in the playoff rounds. The first and second place teams play each other, with the winner advancing directly to the final. The winner of the other page playoff game between the third and fourth place teams plays the loser of the first/second playoff game in the semi-final. The winner of the semi-final moves on to the final.


2005 World Women's Handball Championship
The 2005 World Women's Handball Championship, the 17th team handball world championship for women, was played in Saint Petersburg, Russia between 5 and 18 December 2005. Russia won their second title.


2005 World Women's Handball Championship squads
The following squads and players competed in the World Women's Handball Championship in 2005 in Russia, Saint Petersburg.


2005 World Women's Snooker Championship
The 2005 Women's World Snooker Championship was a women's snooker tournament played in the United Kingdom in 2005. Reanne Evans beat Lynette Horsburgh 6–4 in the final to win her first world title.


2005 World Women's Snooker Championship, Tournament summary
Kelly Fisher was the reigning champion, having won the 2003 Championship, as the Women's World Championship was not held in 2004, but did not participate, having left snooker to play on the pool circuit in the United States. The tournament was played at the Cambridge Snooker Centre.


2005 World Women's Snooker Championship, Tournament summary
The third frame of the final between reigning IBSF World Women's Snooker Champion Reanne Evans and Lynette Horsburgh was replayed due to a scoring error. Evans won the replayed frame went on to win the match 6–4, taking the last four frames after being 2–4 behind. Evans received £1,500 in prize money as champion, and Horsburgh received £750 as runner-up. The losing semi-finalists received £300 each


2005 World Women's Snooker Championship, Tournament summary
Horsburgh also lost in the final of the 2005 World Women's Billiards Championship, held at the same venue.


2005 World Wrestling Championships
The 2005 World Wrestling Championships were held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary. The event took place from September 26 to October 2, 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's Greco-Roman 120 kg
The men's Greco-Roman 120 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 2 October 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's Greco-Roman 55 kg
The men's Greco-Roman 55 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 30 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg
The men's Greco-Roman 60 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 2 October 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's Greco-Roman 66 kg
The men's Greco-Roman 66 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 1 October 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's Greco-Roman 74 kg
The men's Greco-Roman 74 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 1 October 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's Greco-Roman 84 kg
The men's Greco-Roman 84 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 1 October 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's Greco-Roman 96 kg
The men's Greco-Roman 96 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 2 October 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's freestyle 120 kg
The men's freestyle 120 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 28 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's freestyle 55 kg
The men's freestyle 55 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 26 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's freestyle 60 kg
The men's freestyle 60 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 26 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's freestyle 66 kg
The men's freestyle 66 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 26 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's freestyle 74 kg
The men's freestyle 74 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 27 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's freestyle 84 kg
The men's freestyle 84 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 27 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Men's freestyle 96 kg
The men's freestyle 96 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 27 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 48 kg
The women's freestyle 48 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 28 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 51 kg
The women's freestyle 51 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 28 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 55 kg
The women's freestyle 55 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 29 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 59 kg
The women's freestyle 59 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 29 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 63 kg
The women's freestyle 63 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 29 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 67 kg
The women's freestyle 67 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 30 September 2005.


2005 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 72 kg
The women's freestyle 72 kilograms is a competition featured at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 30 September 2005.


2005 World Wushu Championships
The 2005 World Wushu Championships was the 8th edition of the World Wushu Championships. It was held at the Quan Ngua Sports Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam from December 9 to December 14, 2005. 525 athletes from 67 IWUF national federations participated in this event.


2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics
The 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics were held in Marrakesh, Morocco on July 13–July 17. The host stadium was Stade Sidi Youssef Ben Ali.


2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics
The boy's 400 metres hurdles event was initially won by Sudan's Abdulagadir Idriss in a time of 50.78 seconds, but this was later annulled due to Idriss failing a doping control.


2005 World's Strongest Man
The 2005 World's Strongest Man was the 28th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Mariusz Pudzianowski from Poland. It was his third title. Jesse Marunde from the United States finished second, and Dominic Filiou from Canada third. The contest was held at Chengdu, China.


2005 Wyoming Cowboys football team
The 2005 Wyoming Cowboys football team represented the University of Wyoming in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Joe Glenn, who was in his third year at Wyoming. They played their home games at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming, and competed in the Mountain West Conference.


2005 Yale Bulldogs football team
The 2005 Yale Bulldogs football team represented Yale University in the 2005 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Bulldogs were led by ninth year head coach Jack Siedlecki, played their home games at the Yale Bowl and finished tied for fourth in the Ivy League with a 4–3 record, 4–6 overall.


2005 Yemeni League
The 2005 Yemeni League is the 13th edition of top level football in Yemen.


2005 Yemeni uprising
The 2005 Yemeni uprising was a nationwide revolution and popular protest movement against president Ali Abdullah Saleh after fuel price hikes on 19 July. Mass protests first broke out in Aden on 20 July, but spread nationwide between 20 and 23 July. Growing mass street protests, massive civil disobedience and disturbances, and increasingly violent street demonstrations characterised by riots and Civil disorder hit and rocked Yemen, mainly Sanaa and Aden. The rioting and uprising consisted of lobbying, rallies, looting, arson attacks and battles between police and demonstrators.


2005 Yemeni uprising
In Hudaydah, thousands demonstrated against fuel price hikes and soon, Stone-throwing took place and 8 were killed. 36 were killed in the bloody crackdowns, in which the military was deployed to disperse and quell the mass uprising by using live ammunition and rubber bullets to dispel the fuel price hike movement and anti-government revolt.


2005 Ykkönen
League tables for teams participating in Ykkönen, the second tier of the Finnish Soccer League system, in 2005.


2005 Ykkönen, League table, Promotion Play-Offs
RoPS as 13th placed team in the 2005 Veikkausliiga and VPS as runners-up of the 2005 Ykkönen competed in a two-legged play-off for a place in the Veikkausliiga. VPS won the play-offs on away goals (the teams finishing 1-1 on aggregate) and were promoted to the Veikkausliiga.


2005 Ykkönen, League table, Promotion Play-Offs
VPS Vaasa - RoPS Rovaniemi          0-0RoPS Rovaniemi - VPS Vaasa          1-1


2005 Ykkönen, League table, Relegation Play-Offs
SalPa Salo - FC Hämeenlinna         0-4FC Hämeenlinna - SalPa Salo         3-1


2005 Ykkönen, League table, Relegation Play-Offs
Klubi-04 Helsinki - VG-62 Naantali  2-1VG-62 Naantali - Klubi-04 Helsinki  3-2


2005 Ykkönen, League table, Relegation Play-Offs
Klubi-04 Helsinki were promoted to the Ykkönen and VG-62 Naantali relegated to the Kakkonen. Klubi-04 won on away goals. FC Hämeenlinna remained in the Ykkönen after beating Salpa 7-1 on aggregate.


2005 Youth Parapan American Games
The 2005 Youth Parapan American Games were an international multi-sport event for athletes aged 12 to 21 with physical disabilities held from October 22 to October 30, 2005 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. They were the first edition of the Youth Parapan American Games, created by the Americas Paralympic Committee after the 2003 Pan American Games in order to reduce the large average age gap between countries in the Americas.


2005 Youth Parapan American Games
Venezuela ended the games at the top of the medals table, with Mexico coming in second, Argentina in third, and Colombia in fourth. Other nation participants included Uruguay, Equador, and Bolivia.


2005 Yuzawa mayoral election
Yuzawa, Akita held a mayoral election on April 17, 2005 after the merger of two cities and a village. Suzuki Toshio won the election.


2005 Zagreb local elections
The Zagreb local elections of 2005 were held on 15 May 2005 in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Following the last local elections in 2001, Milan Bandić of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) had been re-elected as the mayor of Zagreb. In 2002, an incident made him resign in favor of Deputy Mayor Vlasta Pavić, also from the SDP. Pavić remained formally in control of the city until 2005. In the 2005 elections, she was moved down the list of candidates to the 16th place, while the list holder and SDP's candidate for mayor was Bandić.


2005 Zagreb local elections
The elections mainly pitted two former mayors, Bandić of the SDP and Marina Matulović Dropulić of the  Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The SDP formed a coalition with the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and the Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU), while the HDZ was in a coalition with the Democratic Centre (DC), the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), and the Croatian Demochristians (HD). The SDP gained 25 seats in the Zagreb Assembly, receiving 40.95% of the vote, with Milan Bandić winning his third term as the Zagreb mayor.


2005 Zagreb local elections, Coalitions
The Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) ran with the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and the Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU). Former Mayor Milan Bandić, who had to resign from his earlier term due to a driving under the influence scandal in 2002, was the list holder and the coalition's candidate for mayor. Vesna Pusić, the head of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), announced that the HNS won't be a member of the coalition due to the candidacy of Bandić. Pusić added that Milan Bandić is "at the top of each affair causing damage" to the city.


2005 Zagreb local elections, Coalitions
The SDP and the HNS were in coalition in the previous Assembly. Due to this breakup, the HNS ran together with the Liberal Party (LS), with Pusić as the list holder. The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) entered a coalition with the Democratic Centre (DC), the Croatian Demochristians (HD), and the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS).


2005 Zagreb local elections, Results
The turnout at the election was 35%. The SDP–HSS–HSU coalition, led by incumbent Mayor Milan Bandić, won 41% of the vote and 25 out of 51 seats in the Zagreb Assembly. Bandić was elected mayor by the new Assemby and started his third term as the mayor of Zagreb. The HDZ–DC–HSLS–HD coalition, with former Mayor Marina Matulović Dropulić as the list holder, won 9 seats, while the HSP list, led by Miroslav Rožić, finished third with 6 seats. The HNS–LS coalition won 8% of the vote and 4 seats, down from 12 in the 2001 elections. The LS was later incorporated into the HSLS.


2005 Zagreb local elections, Results
Milan Bandić was elected mayor by the Assembly on 14 June 2005.


2005 Zarand earthquake
The 2005 Zarand earthquake affected several villages in the Kerman province of Iran on February 22 at 05:55:23 local time. The shock measured 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Zarand is located 740 km southeast of Tehran. The maximum recorded peak ground acceleration was 0.51 g at Shirinrud dam. The United States' National Earthquake Information Center and the Belgian' Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters both show that 612 died and 1,411 were injured in the event.


2005 Zarand earthquake, Damage and casualties
Four villages,  each having around 1,000 inhabitants, were reported completely destroyed, and 30% to 70% of buildings in more than 40 villages were reported damaged. It is estimated that the population of the affected area exceeds 30,000. A great portion of population of several villages are severely affected because of poor condition of buildings. The epicenter of the quake was in a mountainous and sparsely inhabited area. It is believed that the death toll could have been much higher if the quake had stricken a more densely populated area like Bam.


2005 Zarand earthquake, Previous events
The region of Zarand is close to an active fault, known as the Kuhbanan fault in the north east of the city. Its trend is northwest-southeast and its length is 160 km. Zarand has been hit by several quakes in the last 70 years, with the oldest recorded one going back to 1933. On December 21, 1977, the area was hit by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake leaving 521 dead and 3 villages completely destroyed. On December 26, 2003, another devastating earthquake happened in Bam, 200 km southwest of Zarand, which is in the same province.


2005 Zimbabwean Senate election
Senate elections were held in Zimbabwe on 26 November 2005 to elect members to the newly formed Zimbabwe Senate. There were a total of 3,239,574 registered voters, of which 631,347 or 19.5% voted. ZANU-PF won in a landslide election, received over 73% of the popular vote, in what was the nation's first senate elections. The elections were also boycotted by many members of the Movement for Democratic Change as a protest against the suspected election rigging of the 31 March parliamentary election earlier that year, which also saw a low voter turnout of 47.7%.


2005 Zimbabwean Senate election
The decision by some in the MDC to contest the election led to the MDC splitting in two. After the split there was MDC T being led by Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC led by Welshman Ncube.


2005 Zimbabwean Senate election, Results
On 29 November 2005 it was announced that President Mugabe had appointed Kantibhai Patel, Sheila Chipo Mahere, Peter Haritatos, Aguy Clement Georgias, Tazvitya Jonathan Mapfumo and Joshua Teke Malinga as Senators.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Zimbabwe on 31 March 2005 to elect members to the Zimbabwe House of Assembly. All of the 120 elected seats in the 150-seat House of Assembly were up for election. (In addition, there were 20 members appointed by the President and ten elected by the traditional chiefs, who mostly support the government. Electoral colleges for the election of 10 chiefs to the parliament were to be held on 8 April.)


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election
The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front party (ZANU-PF) of President Robert Mugabe won the elections with an increased majority against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). ZANU-PF won 78 seats to the MDC's 41, with one independent. (In the 2000 election, the ZANU-PF won 62 seats to the MDC's 57). According to the Zimbabwe Election Commission, ZANU-PF polled nearly 60% of the vote, an increase of 11% over the 2000 results. The MDC's vote fell 9 to 39 percent. As a result of the election, ZANU-PF had a two-thirds majority in the legislature, allowing the government to change the Constitution.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election
As the results became clear the MDC denounced what it called "the sham elections," which it said had been marked by massive electoral fraud. "The elections cannot be judged to be free and fair," an MDC statement said. "The distorted nature of the pre-election playing field and the failure to address core democratic deficits precluded a free and fair election." The MDC claimed it would have won 90 seats if the vote had been free and fair.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election
A detailed account of the MDC's allegations of electoral fraud can be seen at the . Sokwanele, a Zimbabwean underground pro-democracy movement, also released a report entitled . Their report focuses specifically on the time after voting until results were announced.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Background
High Court Judge George Chiweshe, who chairs the recently established Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, stated that 8227 polling stations will be set up in all of the country's 10 provinces – more than double the number used in previous elections.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Background
Harare alone is expected to have 522 polling stations, up from 167 polling stations in the presidential elections. For the first time since independence from white minority rule in 1980, Zimbabwe will be holding elections on one day as opposed to two. Ballot counting will also take place at individual polling stations and new, translucent ballot boxes will replace wooden ones used in previous elections.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Background
Voting must take place at these polling stations: any Zimbabweans living overseas must therefore have registered to be in the electoral roll by 4 February, and must vote in Zimbabwe. Requirements such as these are not uncommon in democratic countries.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Timetable and voters roll
The election date was set by President Robert Mugabe on 1 February. 31 March was a public holiday to enable easier voter participation. The parliament was dissolved on 30 March, one day before the elections. The voters' roll was closed on 4 February. Nomination courts sat on 18 February to receive names of those intending to contest in the polls ().


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Timetable and voters roll
The voters roll is the cornerstone of "one person – one vote." Attempts to verify this have been extremely difficult to carry out because of obstruction and non-co-operation from the Zimbabwe Registrar General.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Timetable and voters roll
The Registrar General refused to release the roll in electronic form, supported by judgments from the Supreme Court, necessitating any analysis to work from a paper copy. Electoral Law is very specific in that the roll must be readily and freely available to any person, however it took two years to obtain such a copy.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Timetable and voters roll
In February, South African president Thabo Mbeki conceded that Zimbabwe's voters roll was defective and needed to be looked at.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Timetable and voters roll
Only a single MDC constituency managed to complete the audit ahead of the deadline for objections to the voters' roll – a month before the poll.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Timetable and voters roll
In that constituency, 64 percent of people in one densely populated block in Harare North, are not known at the addresses given on the voters' roll.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Timetable and voters roll
Tens of thousands of former workers on white-owned farms were deprived of their votes in the March election. The workers were expelled from their homes on farms along with their employers. Thus they did not have the necessary wad of official documents required to register as voters. In addition, many could not afford to travel to their original farm constituencies to verify their details on voters' rolls. Recently enacted laws demand that potential voters provide proof of residence before they can register. Rural Zimbabweans either produce letters from their headman or chief or from their farm employer as proof of residence.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Campaign
Zanu-PF is using claimed interference of Tony Blair, the British prime minister, and United States president George W. Bush in Zimbabwean politics, as an election issue. ZANU-PF is also stressing the benefits obtained through its policy of land reform.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Campaign
The MDC sees the main issues as being jobs, food, peace, affordable AIDS drugs and honest, competent emphatic leadership. Their rallying cry is Change!, and their symbol is an open hand.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Campaign
Roy Bennett's wife Heather Bennett intended to stand for Chimanimani rural district after the nomination court refused papers filed on behalf of her jailed husband.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Campaign
However, on 15 March Zimbabwe's new Electoral Court ruled he could contest parliamentary elections. Nomination would be accepted on 4 April, while polling would take place on 30 April. An appeal by the government reversed this. The appeal was not contested by the MDC or the Bennetts. They considered that voters would be safer polling on the same day as the rest of the country, where a delay would allow Zanu-PF to concentrate efforts in that district. The MDC has never won a by-election.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Campaign
Roy Bennett's application for release before the elections, on the basis of good behaviour and dissolution of the parliament that ordered the incarceration, failed.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Campaign
Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, a former ZANU PF Bulawayo Provincial Information and Publicity Secretary, is co-ordinating the Independent Candidates Solidarity Network. Members are:


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Conduct
The opposition MDC and Jonathan Moyo alleged that voters have been threatened with starvation or violence if they fail to support Zanu-PF. No-go areas have been declared in Bindura.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Conduct
Zanu-PF candidates took over control of grain stocks in Manicaland and Masvingo from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and are vetting beneficiaries.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Conduct
Muchauraya said in Chipinge South, Enock Porusingazi was issuing badges inscribed "Election 2005" to supporters attending his rallies. The badges are then used as a ticket to buy maize.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Conduct
On 8 March at Betura village, ward 16, more than 2 000 people were denied access to buy grain for allegedly failing to produce the badges. Only 200 people who had attended Zanu-PF rallies over the weekend had the badges and were allowed to buy maize.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Conduct, Vote-counting
Zimbabwe's main opposition party said an investigation indicates massive electoral fraud in at least 30 seats won by the ruling Zanu-PF party.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Conduct, Vote-counting
The Movement for Democratic Change said in 11 races the winning Zanu-PF candidate got more votes in the official returns than the government's own electoral commission said were cast in those races.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Conduct, Vote-counting
In each case, the MDC said its candidate had an unassailable lead, polling more than half the official total of votes cast. However, the official returns showed 183,000 more votes than the electoral commission said were cast.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Conduct, Vote-counting
MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi said the MDC limited its analysis to the 30 seats because the electoral commission refused to release figures for other races, a decision he said "indicates widespread irregularities" in those other areas.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Zimbabwe ratified new Southern African Development Community rules  in August 2004 governing principles and guidelines on elections; however, no reports on Zimbabwe's compliance have been issued by the body. One of the stipulations is that SADC monitors be invited 90 days before the poll.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
By 4 February, an SADC team tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that Zimbabwe complies with the regional protocol had yet to receive permission to visit.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Non -government organisations (NGOs), among them Amnesty International, 32 Nigerian NGOs and 17 from Zimbabwe, have expressed concern about the continued abuses of human rights in the country. African Union Chairman, President Olusegun Obasanjo, has been urged to prevail on Zimbabwe, to fully implement recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), on improving human rights conditions. The Commission made a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe in June 2002, and the Union's findings and recommendations were adopted in January 2005, at its summit in Abuja.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
"The majority of human rights concerns documented by the fact-finding mission in 2002 remain serious problems today," the NGOs said.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
On 19 February 2005, 32 nations were invited by President Robert Mugabe to observe the parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Other organisations among those invited are the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Law Society of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Affirmative Action Group, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Centre for Peace Initiatives in Southern Africa and the Southern African Institute for Democracy and Good Governance.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Aziz Pahad, deputy foreign minister for South Africa, said the country has been invited to observe the Zimbabwean poll in at least five different capacities.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
It has been invited as a member of SADC, as chair of the organ on politics, defence and security, and as a neighbouring country. The ruling African National Congress has also been asked to send an observer team, while parliament has set up a multi-party delegation.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Five members of South Africa's governing African National Congress party arrived in Harare on 10 March headed by James Motlatsi, the first foreign observers.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
The 20-member South African parliamentary observer mission led by ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe left for Zimbabwe on 14 March, and will return to South Africa on 3 April. On 18 April, the Independent Democrats Member of Parliament and mission member Vincent Gore withdrew, saying that since their arrival in Harare, the mission had been plagued by inefficiency, bad planning "and wasted time".


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
There is also a South African government delegation, led by Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, which arrived 15 March.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
The 50-member SADC observer mission including 10 South African delegates headed by Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (later Deputy President), spokesperson South African foreign affairs official Nomfanelo Kota, left on 15 March.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)—a member of the South African ruling party alliance— sent a fact-finding mission in October 2004 to talk to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and research conditions for a fair poll. They were deported from Zimbabwe within hours after police broke up a meeting between them and ZCTU.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
On 2 February 2005, a second mission led by Zwelinzima Vavi, Secretary-General of COSATU, was turned back  at Harare airport, charged under Section 18A of the Immigration Act which relates to prohibited immigrants. In response, George Bizos, a respected human rights lawyer, said that all Southern African Development Community members are allowed to enter Zimbabwe without applying for a visa.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
After a meeting the next day between the unions in South Africa Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said "It is quite clear at the moment as things stand that there cannot be free and fair elections".


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
ZCTU requested that an independent electoral commission be established and international observers be allowed in the country, and the government also needed to scrap strict laws restricting the opposition's access to the media and barring it from holding public rallies and meetings without police permission.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), it is a requirement for organisers of public meetings to first notify the police of the intention to gather. It is an offence, under the same law, for more than five people to meet without notifying the police, who have the prerogative to permit or deny permission to hold public meetings. ZTCU suggested that the date of the elections be postponed. ZCTU themselves have been barred from observing the election.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Amnesty International has said that Zanu-PF has used threats and intimidation against opposition supporters ahead of the elections which now cannot be free and fair.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
"It is the view of the mission that the 2005 parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe reflect the free will of the people of Zimbabwe" said South African Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, who led the South African government observer mission for the elections.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Mdladlana said the elections on Thursday "by and large" conformed to election guidelines adopted by southern African leaders last year for holding a democratic vote.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
"Let me congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for holding a peaceful, credible and well-organised election which we feel reflects the will of the people" said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the South African cabinet minister that led the 55-member, 11-country observer mission from the Southern African Development Community.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
Mlambo Ngcuka said the observer mission had asked the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to provide evidence to support their claims of discrepancies in 32 of the 120 constituencies.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Observer mission statements
"We have received complaints and asked for information. We still don't have it. There is not much more we can do." she said.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Results
The results showed the same pattern as in 2000. The MDC won virtually all the seats in the main cities, Harare and Bulawayo, where civil society organisations are relatively strong and able to prevent electoral manipulation. The MDC also won a majority of seats in the southern region of Matabeleland, where the Ndebele people, once supporters of Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU, continue to oppose the Shona-dominated ZANU-PF. But in rural Mashonaland, in central and northern Zimbabwe, where the majority of the population lives, ZANU-PF won all but one seat.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Results
In some notable local results, Emmerson Mnangagwa, speaker of the previous parliament, and tipped at one time to succeed Mugabe but recently fallen from grace, lost his seat Kwe-kwe to the MDC's Blessing Chebundo. Jonathan Moyo, an independent, won the Tsholotsho constituency from the MDC. Another significant loss for the MDC was Chimanimani, contested by Roy Bennett's wife Heather.


2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election, Results
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, which had some 6,000 observers in the 8,000 polling stations, says that some 10% of would-be voters were turned away, either because their names were not on the electoral roll, they did not have the right identity papers, or they were in the wrong constituency.


2005 Zurich Open
The 2005 Zurich Open was a women's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 22nd edition of the event known as the Zurich Open, and was part of the Tier I Series of the 2002 WTA Tour. It took place at the Hallenstadion in Zürich, Switzerland, from 17 October through 23 October 2002. First-seeded Lindsay Davenport won the singles title.


2005 Zurich Open, Finals, Doubles
Cara Black /  Rennae Stubbs defeated  Daniela Hantuchová /  Ai Sugiyama, 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), 6–3


2005 Zurich Open – Doubles
Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs were the defending champions and successfully defended their title, defeating Daniela Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), 6–3 in the final.


2005 Zurich Open – Singles
Alicia Molik was the defending champion, but retired in the first round against Jelena Janković.


2005 Zurich Open – Singles
Lindsay Davenport won the title, defeating Patty Schnyder 7–6(7–5), 6–3 in the final.


2005 Züri-Metzgete
These are the results for the 2005 edition of the Züri-Metzgete race, won by Paolo Bettini after a long breakaway under the rain.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations
The anti-Japanese demonstrations of 2005 were a series of demonstrations, some peaceful, some violent, which were held across most of East Asia in the spring of 2005. They were sparked off by a number of issues, including the approval of a Japanese history textbook and the proposal that Japan be granted a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations
Across China businesses with connections to Japan were vandalized by protesters, as were billboards advertising Japanese goods and stores stocking Japanese made products. Most of the damage was caused to businesses which were Chinese-owned and operated. Several Japanese nationals residing in China were injured in the violence, though there were no known fatalities.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China
In March 2005, demonstrations were organized in several cities in the People's Republic of China, including Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Ningbo, Harbin, Chengdu, Luoyang, Qingdao, Changsha, Hefei, Beijing, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Hangzhou  and Shanghai. In some cases, demonstrators attacked and damaged Japanese embassies, consulates, supermarkets, restaurants (mostly franchise businesses owned by Chinese) as well as people, prompting the Japanese government to demand an apology and compensation for damages.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China
The official PRC attitude towards the demonstrations is considered by foreign observers as enigmatic. On the one hand, the government allowed the demonstrations to occur in the first place. While the PRC policed the protests, some observers believe that measures to rein in the violence and property damage were deliberately ineffective. However, the PRC has only indirectly reported the current protests in state-owned media, withholding coverage from a national audience.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China
State-owned media in the PRC nevertheless carried extensive coverage of anti-Japanese demonstrations in South Korea, as well as distant but related events, such as the European commemoration of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Internet censorship has been extended to subjects related to the protests. Many universities prohibited students from coming onto or leaving the campus. Mass transit systems in close proximity to protest rally points were shut down. However, this policy was contradicted in several cities, including Beijing, where city buses were used by the municipal authorities to ferry students into the protests. Students at Tsinghua and Peking Universities also reported receiving phone calls from university authorities encouraging them to demonstrate. In the second half of April 2005, the People's Daily published several articles to calm down the protesters, and the Ministry of Public Security declared that "unauthorized marches were illegal".


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China
PRC police tactics are perceived to be similar to those utilized when demonstrations were held outside the American embassy in Beijing after NATO forces bombed the PRC embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in May 1999.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China
The slogan "patriotism is not a sin" (Chinese: 爱国无罪; pinyin: àiguó wúzuì; lit. ' patriotism [is] no crime') is popular, albeit in a sarcastic sense, among the PRC protesters.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China
Political observers on the U.S. National Public Radio have argued that the controversy is being allowed by the PRC government partly in order to further a multitude of political goals. American news outlets CNN and Time Magazine have also pointed out that historical inaccuracies are not limited to Japanese textbooks, but that Chinese government-made textbooks are equally rife with omissions and non-neutral point of view.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China
Cases of questioned text include the Great Leap Forward, China's 1979 invasion of Vietnam, the Cultural Revolution ("lots of appalling events happened") and the Tiananmen Square "Incident" of 1989, in which hundreds or thousands of protesters were killed. Tibet is a subject given scant mention except by foreign press,  and Xinjiang remains detached from the ongoing controversy.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China, Japanese response to Chinese protests
In Japan, no large-scale anti-PRC rallies or demonstrations took place, although a small number of protesters demonstrated outside PRC consulates, and in one case a spent cartridge case was mailed to Chinese officials. Nevertheless, more and more people canceled their travel plans to China, and some doubt was raised about the 2008 Summer Olympics, scheduled to be held in Beijing.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China, Japanese response to Chinese protests
The Japanese foreign minister visited Beijing to meet his counterpart on April 17. The Xinhua News Agency reported that in the meeting held in Beijing between PRC and Japanese foreign ministers, the Japanese minister offered an apology for Japan's wrongdoings during World War II . However, Xinhua omitted in its report that in this meeting the Japanese negotiators demanded an apology and compensation for damage against Japanese property and people. That demand was rejected by Li Zhaoxing, the Chinese foreign minister. Meanwhile, the Japanese foreign ministry officially denied the news reports from the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency, which reports little about the ongoing patriotic demonstrations in major Chinese cities.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China, Japanese response to Chinese protests
The Tokyo Stock Exchange recorded a sharp plunge on Monday, April 18, and correlations between the demonstrations and Sino-Japanese economic ties are raised in the financial industry.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Mainland China, Japanese response to Chinese protests
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed his "deep remorse and heartfelt apology" for the suffering that Japan caused other Asian nations during World War II at the Asia-Africa Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 22. However, 81 Diet members visited Yasukuni Shrine hours before, causing more controversy inside and outside Japan about the true attitude of Tokyo on this subject. . Koizumi met with Hu Jintao on April 23.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Taiwan
Although in the past the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan has been severely critical of the content of Japanese history textbooks, in the wave of 2005 revisions of the textbooks, Taiwan has, for the most part, been much quieter than the PRC. This is indicative of the relatively high level of tension in the relationship between the PRC and the ROC and the comparatively good relations between Taiwan and Japan. Earlier in 2005, Japan and the United States had issued a joint declaration calling for a "peaceful solution" to the Taiwan issue, a declaration that angered the PRC, which protested that this declaration constituted interference in "internal affairs".


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Hong Kong
In late April 2005, peaceful marches and rallies concerning Japanese war crimes during the occupation of Hong Kong took place. The Government of Hong Kong also issued a statement of protest against the official approval of the 2005 Japanese history textbooks.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, North Korea
In 2005, North Korea condemned the official approval of the revision of Japanese textbooks. One official was quoted as calling the textbooks "philistinism peculiar to Japan, a vulgar and shameless political dwarf".


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, South Korea
South Korea vigorously protested the official approval of the 2005 Japanese history textbooks. South Korean Minister of Trade Kim Hyun-Chong canceled a planned visit to an Asian trade summit in Japan.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, South Korea
On May 6, 2005 in a meeting between then-President Roh Moo-hyun and Liberal Democratic Party's Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe, President Roh demanded Japan takes step to properly educate its citizens. He told Takemura that the teaching of history should not be treated as the academic matter and freely discussed but as the political matter and with the responsibility falling on the government to control it.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Philippines
Similar to Taiwan, the Philippines has been much quieter than other Asian countries invaded by the Japanese during World War II, even though many atrocities were committed by the invading Japanese during the war, such as the systematic rape of Filipino women whom the Japanese referred to as comfort women. An estimated one million Filipinos were killed during the war, out of a wartime population of 17 million, and many more were injured. Nearly every Filipino family was hurt by the war on some level.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Demonstrations, Philippines
Despite this, "Filipinos are not as offended as the Chinese or the Koreans are, for example, about the fact that these atrocities are given only fleeting attention in Japanese classrooms, if at all...". The soothing of Filipino anger towards Japanese imperialism is helped by close ties with the Japanese people and cooperation of Japan government with the Philippines government for infrastructure building and rural development. However, many Filipinos still do harbor anger toward the Japanese government. For example, there are the anti Japanese-U.S. military alliance protests and the comfort women issues.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Textbook controversy
A significant contributing factor to the demonstrations was Japanese state approval of the "Atarashii Rekishi Kyōkasho" (新しい歴史教科書 - the New History Textbook) written by the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Textbook controversy
According to critics, the textbook covers up Japanese war crimes committed during the First Sino-Japanese War, in Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and in World War II.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Textbook controversy
Japan's official policy is that publishers have the right to freedom of speech. The central government does have the right to stop textbooks from being published (see Japanese history textbook controversies), provided that they do not contain factual errors or personal opinions. The particular concern of the 2005 demonstrations was the textbook of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform. Since its official authorization in 2001, this textbook has hampered relations between Japan and its East Asian neighbors, primarily Korea and China.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Textbook controversy
In early 2005, news of the Japanese government's re-authorization of the "Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho" led to multinational public protest demonstrations. The textbook has been publicly denounced by the Japan Teachers Union. According to a CNN article in April 2004, it is being used by only 18 of the nation's 11,102 junior high schools. According to a recent Asahi Shimbun article from September 2005, in the four years since its initial adoption, the textbook is only being used in 0.04% of Japan's junior high schools, which is far from the 10% penetration that the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform had aimed for.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Textbook controversy
The United Nations Human Rights Commission, the United States House of Representatives, the European Parliament and the Dutch and Canadian Parliaments have issued reports and passed resolutions calling on Japan to take clear, full and open responsibility for the war crimes of the Japanese military against women who were forced into prostitution during World War II.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Nanking Massacre
Many historians recognize that widespread atrocities were committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in and around Nanking (now Nanjing), China, after the capital's fall to Japanese troops on 13 December 1937. This event and associated atrocities breeds considerable anger in many Chinese today. The Japanese textbook in question only briefly mentions the atrocities committed and refers to Nanking Massacre as follows:


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Nanking Massacre
While the use of the word "incident" is standard Japanese historiographical terminology for focal events, such as Tiananmen "Incident"  (天安門事件) rather than massacre, it is objected to by Chinese as a deliberate playing down of the events in question.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Japan's membership in the UN Security Council
Another fact that contributed to a resurgence of anti-Japanese sentiment in 2005 was Japan's bid for permanent membership to the United Nations most influential organ, the United Nations Security Council. However, this is not a recent development. The Japanese government's first attempted to gain permanent member status in 1969 when Foreign Minister Aichi made a bid to the U.N., but failed to win support of the international community. On September 21, 2004, the G4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India and Japan) issued a mutual declaration supporting each other's claim to permanent membership status on the U.N. Security Council. Current P5 members France and the United Kingdom supported their bid.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Japan's membership in the UN Security Council
There is strong sentiment, particularly in China and South/North Korea, against giving Japan a seat. Suggestions have been made that it would be dangerous to give Japan too much power on an international level, since it could give rise to new Japanese imperialism, and that Japan should not be given a seat since they felt that Japan's lack of repentance over wartime atrocities was unfair.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Comfort women
Comfort women were women who worked as prostitutes in brothels in Japanese-occupied countries during World War II. There is much controversy surrounding this subject namely, to what extent the women were forced and to who moral culpability falls on. On one side, some groups in Japan claimed that prior to Japanese expansion, brothels always existed in the eastern and southeastern regions of Asia in order to service European and American sailors and merchant vessels.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Comfort women
According to Bradley Martin, a journalist and expert on Korean history, claims the majority of comfort women actually volunteered to work in the brothels, as employment in the occupied areas was very limited. On the other side, most nations in the world believe that the majority of comfort women were young girls abducted from their homes and forced into prostitution by the Japanese government and Imperial Japanese Army as sexual slaves and demand Japan take responsibility and formally apologize and educate the next generation about such atrocity.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Testing of chemical and biological weapons on civilians and POWs
In 1942, the Japanese military began testing various chemical and biological agents as an alternate method to win the war. Human experiments were conducted on Chinese and Korean civilians; Allied POWs were also subjected to experimentation. After the war, China (PRC) demanded data from these experiments in exchange for not raising the issue, while the U.S. granted immunity from prosecution to many of the scientists involved (see Unit 731) in exchange for their weapons research.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Senkaku Islands
The Senkaku Islands, known in Chinese as the Diaoyu Islands, are a group of islands in the East China Sea with an area of 7 km2. Japan currently has control over the islands, but both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China government on Taiwan claim them. Tensions over the islands have surfaced in the late 1990s and were one issue in the 2005 protests in China.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Gas and oil in the East China Sea
Both China and Japan are interested in exploiting deposits of natural gas and oil in the Xihu Trough of the East China Sea. Both countries are net importers of energy, and the energy needs of China are mushrooming. The U.S. Department of Energy notes a moderate estimate of 100 billion barrels of oil in the South China Sea.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Gas and oil in the East China Sea
China has been drilling in the Xihu Trough since 2003. China's claims to these islands come from its claim of the entire continental shelf. Japan's claim is by the standard 200 nautical mile (370 km) EEZ international maritime treaty. Practically speaking, both nations have split the territory. Japan fears that Chinese drilling is likely to remove oil from Japan's side of territory claimed by Japan through suction.


2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations, Specific issues, Gas and oil in the East China Sea
After two years of repeated requests to China to disclose information on the deposits in the hope of co-development, on April 13, 2005, Japan granted drilling rights to two Japanese companies, a move immediately protested by the Chinese as the drilling will take place in disputed territorial waters. The companies have not yet been formally granted permission to drill and this is expected to take several months. China National Offshore Oil Corporation, a Chinese, state-owned company, plans to drill near the disputed EEZ line between China and Japan beginning in August.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate)
The 2005 debate on the nuclear option was a political debate in the United States Senate regarding the possible use of the nuclear option to allow a simple majority to confirm judicial nominees. At the time, three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn (then 60 votes) were required to end debate on nominations under Rule XXII of the Senate's standing rules.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate)
The debate was sparked when Majority Leader Bill Frist (Republican of Tennessee) threatened its use to end Democratic-led filibusters of judicial nominees submitted by President George W. Bush. In response to this threat, Democrats threatened to shut down the Senate and prevent consideration of all routine and legislative Senate business. The ultimate confrontation was prevented by the Gang of 14, a group of seven Democratic and seven Republican Senators, all of whom agreed to oppose the nuclear option and oppose filibusters of judicial nominees except in extraordinary circumstances.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Judicial nominations leading up to 2005, Clinton appointments: 1993–2000
In 1995, Democrats held the White House. The New York Times editorialized, "The U.S. Senate likes to call itself the world's greatest deliberative body. In the last session of Congress, the Republican minority invoked an endless string of filibusters to frustrate the will of the majority. This (is a) relentless abuse of a time-honored Senate tradition … Once a rarely used tactic reserved for issues on which Senators held passionate convictions, the filibuster has become the tool of the sore loser, dooming any measure that cannot command the 60 required votes." There was no attempt to rewrite Senate rules for cloture at that time.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Judicial nominations leading up to 2005, Clinton appointments: 1993–2000
In 1996, President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Richard Paez to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Republicans held up Paez's nomination for more than four years, culminating in a failed March 8, 2000 filibuster. Only 14 Republicans approved it. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) was among those who voted to filibuster Paez. Paez was ultimately confirmed with a simple majority.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Judicial nominations leading up to 2005, Clinton appointments: 1993–2000
In addition to filibustering nominations, the Republican-controlled Senate refused to hold hearings for some 60 Clinton appointees, effectively blocking their nomination from coming to a vote on the Senate floor.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Judicial nominations leading up to 2005, Bush appointments: 2001–04
When George W. Bush took office in 2001 there remained dozens of federal court vacancies. Democratic Senators contended that these vacancies remained despite Clinton nominations to fill them because of obstruction by Republican Senators. Republicans held a majority in the Senate during the last six years of the Clinton administration and controlled who would be voted on. Democratic Senators asserted that, for the most part, Republicans did not raise objections to those judicial candidates, but simply refused to hold hearings on the nominations.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Judicial nominations leading up to 2005, Bush appointments: 2001–04
During his first term, President Bush nominated 46 people to federal appeals court seats, of which 36 were confirmed. Democrats blocked the confirmation of 10 nominees, on the grounds that they were too "out of the mainstream" for a lifetime appointment. At the beginning of his second term, Bush resubmitted seven of the 10 names. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) vowed to fight their confirmation. Senate Majority Leader Frist threatened to use the nuclear option to get them confirmed.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Judicial nominations leading up to 2005, Coining the term, 2003
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) suggested using a ruling of the chair to defeat a filibuster of judicial nominees in February 2003. The code word for the plan was "Hulk". Weeks later, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) coined the term nuclear option in March 2003 because the maneuver was seen as a last resort with possibly major consequences for both sides. The metaphor of a nuclear strike refers to the majority party unilaterally imposing a change to the filibuster rule, which might provoke retaliation by the minority party.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Lines are drawn
In the 2005 Senate, Republicans held 55 seats and the Democrats held 45 including Jim Jeffords, an independent from Vermont who caucused with the Democrats. Confirmation requires a plurality of votes, and the Republicans could easily confirm their nominees if brought to the floor. Earlier in 2005, Democrats had blocked the nomination of 10 of George W. Bush's nominees, saying they were too conservative and that Republicans had blocked many of their nominees back in the 1990s. Frist then threatened to use the nuclear option in response. Democrats warned that if Frist used the nuclear option they would shut down the Senate so that no business of any sort could be transacted.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Lines are drawn, "Extremist" judges
In March 2005, President Bush announced that the administration would no longer seek the American Bar Association's (ABA) evaluations of federal judicial candidates, responding to Republican complaints of liberal bias and ending a tradition started by Eisenhower in 1953. Despite this, the ABA's committee continues to provide the service. Democratic senators all favor the ABA input.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Lines are drawn, "Extremist" judges
In April 2005, Senate Democrats were blocking the confirmation of seven of President Bush's nominees, calling them too extreme for a lifetime appointment. The most controversial nominees were Janice Rogers Brown and Priscilla Owen (both later confirmed).


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied
Under pressure by the White House and social conservatives,  Majority Leader Bill Frist signaled his readiness to pull the trigger on the 'nuclear option' to push through Bush's appellate court choices blocked by the Democrats' threat of filibuster.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied
Senate majority leader Bill Frist said that Owen ought to have the "courtesy of an up-or-down vote" and was reportedly deciding whether to use the "nuclear option". Senate minority leader Harry Reid wrote, in a letter to Frist, "But I want to be clear: we are prepared for a vote on the nuclear option."


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied
Republican pollster Ayres, McHenry and Associates found that 82 percent of registered voters believe that "well-qualified" nominees should receive an up or down vote (which would have included all of the candidates except Janice Rogers Brown). An Associated Press-Ipsos poll released May 20, 2005, found 78 percent of Americans believe the Senate should take an "assertive role" examining judicial nominees rather than just give the president the benefit of the doubt. Democratic pollster Westhill Partners found that only 30 percent of Americans approve changing "the rules to require only 51 votes to end a filibuster – thereby eliminating the current system of checks and balances on the majority party."


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied, Political motivations
Many Democrats viewed Frist's threats to push the nuclear option button to be more about his plan to run for president in 2008 than about the qualifications of the few nominees currently blocked in the Senate. Quoting from Slate.com:


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied, Political motivations
Frist has made clear he will give up his Tennessee Senate seat in 2006, keeping his pledge to serve just two terms and leaving himself free to campaign for president. He has begun to court his party's conservative base.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied, Political motivations
Pat Robertson, founder of Christian Coalition of America, and several other prominent Christian conservatives endorsed the nuclear option as a necessary means of getting conservative judges onto the bench. In a May 1, 2005 interview on ABC's 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos', Pat Robertson said that Democratic judges are a greater threat to U.S. unity and stability than Al Qaeda, Nazi Germany or Civil War. On Sunday, April 25, 2005, Family Research Council sponsored "Justice Sunday" featuring Bill Frist – a 90-minute simulcast over Christian radio and television networks enthusiastically supporting the nuclear option.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied, Political motivations
In January 2005, Dr. James C. Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, threatened six Democratic senators if they block conservative nominees. On May 24, 2005, after the compromise negotiated between 14 Senators was announced (the Gang of 14), Dobson said the agreement "represents a complete bailout and a betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats."


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied, Political motivations
One of the arguments made by Senate Republicans opposed to the nuclear option was that Democrats might gain a Senate majority, or the Presidency, again. Thus the GOP might need the filibuster to block the appointment of what Republicans might consider to be an unacceptable nominee by the Democratic president.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Nuclear option readied, Political motivations
Protests against the nuclear option took place on numerous college campuses; on the Princeton University campus, outside the Frist Campus Center (named for the senator's family) students staged a protest against the nuclear option by simulating a filibuster for two weeks non-stop, beginning on April 26, 2005.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Democratic opposition, Obstruction or a "power grab"
In response to claims of "Senate obstructionism," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) pointed out that only 10 of 214 nominations by President Bush have been turned down. Former President Bill Clinton called Republican efforts to paint Democrats as obstructionist "a hoax" stating "The Republicans wouldn't even give a vote to 40 of my Court of Appeals judges... never mind all the others that they wouldn't have voted." One of Democrats' biggest complaints had been that more than 60 of President Clinton's nominees were bottled up in committee, leaving positions available for Bush to fill.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Democratic opposition, Obstruction or a "power grab"
(Republicans were the majority in the Senate for six of Clinton's eight years as President—1995–2001.) On April 27, 2005, Former Vice President Al Gore said, "Their grand design is an all-powerful executive using a weakened legislature to fashion a compliant judiciary in its own image. ... What is involved here is a power grab."


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Democratic opposition, Democratic proposal
On May 9, 2005, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid offered the Democrats' support for one of President Bush's judicial nominees, former Senate lawyer Thomas B. Griffith. Democrats cited this offer as a goodwill gesture to show that they are willing to cooperate with Republicans and confirm "acceptable" nominees. Reid stated that Democrats "will only block unacceptable nominees" (such as Brown and Owen), but would confirm Griffith, saying "Let's take a step away from the precipice. Let's try cooperation, rather than confrontation."


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Democratic opposition, Democratic proposal
Republican spokesman Bob Stevenson rejected the offer, saying, "Why stop at one? We should take them all up." Republicans contended that the Democrats' offer was empty, since the Democrats would have retained the discretion to block any of President Bush's future nominees that they deemed "extremist," even when those nominees enjoyed the support of all Republican Senators. Thus, that Reid's offer did not resolve the problems that led to consideration of the nuclear option in the first place. Republicans also noted that the Democrats' judicial filibusters had already killed three of President Bush's Court of Appeals nominations (Miguel Estrada, Charles Pickering, and Carolyn Kuhl), as those judges withdrew their nominations rather than continue to fight the filibuster.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Democratic opposition, Republican counter-proposal
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn) floated a Republican counter-offer. In exchange for ending the filibuster against judicial nominees, the Republicans offered to end the practice of bottling up appellate-court nominees in committee (a nod to President Clinton's nominees who were denied floor votes), and to guarantee up to 100 hours of debate on each nomination. Minority Leader Reid rejected that offer calling it, "a big wet kiss to the far right."


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Democratic opposition, Critical mass
On Friday, May 20, 2005, a cloture vote for the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown was rescheduled for Tuesday, May 24. The failure of this cloture vote would be the beginning of the nuclear option, immediately followed by the asking for the ruling of the chair on the constitutionality of the filibuster. On May 23, Majority Leader Frist called for a vote on Priscilla Owen. This threatened to trigger the nuclear option.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Gang of 14
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) reached out to a number of colleagues on both sides to compromise by winning confirmation of some of the disputed nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor, and Priscilla Owen) while preserving the judicial filibuster on William Myers and Henry Saad. Their efforts succeeded on the evening of May 23, 2005, one day before the cloture vote. They announced an agreement by seven Republican and seven Democratic Senators to avert a vote on the nuclear option while preserving the filibuster for "extraordinary circumstances."


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Gang of 14
The block of senators who agreed to the compromise included Republicans John McCain, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Warner of Virginia, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island; and Democrats Nelson, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and Ken Salazar of Colorado. This group was quickly dubbed "the Gang of 14" in various blogs and news outlets. McCain, Chafee, Collins, and Snowe were already on record as opposing the nuclear option, leaving the Democrats two votes short of defeating an attempt to trigger it (they would have needed 51 votes to override Vice President Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote).


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Gang of 14
The bipartisan group was large enough to deny Frist the 50 votes he needed to trigger the nuclear option, and also large enough to reach cloture on a Democratic filibuster. It states, in part:


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Gang of 14
...we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress, which we understand to be any amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a judicial nomination by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Gang of 14
Democrats in the Gang agreed not to filibuster the judges listed in the agreement (save in "extraordinary" circumstances) and Republicans in the Gang agreed not to vote for the nuclear option. The definition of what constituted an "extraordinary" circumstance was left up to the individual senator. For example, Graham and DeWine let it be known that they did not consider nominations to the Supreme Court to fit the definition.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Gang of 14
Frist reluctantly approved the compromise. Several of the blocked nominees were brought to the floor, voted upon and approved as specified in the agreement, and others were dropped and did not come up for a vote, as implied by the agreement. As a result of this agreement, Owen was confirmed 55–43, Brown was confirmed 56–43, and Pryor was confirmed 53–45.


2005 debate on nuclear option (United States Senate), Later developments
The agreement held force until 2013, when the Senate Democratic majority invoked the nuclear option for all nominations except Supreme Court nominations. In 2017, the Senate Republican majority eliminated the Supreme Court exception in order to defeat a filibuster on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore
In the 2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, a significant rise in the number of dengue fever cases was reported in Singapore, becoming the country's worst health crisis since the 2003 SARS epidemic. In October 2005, there were signs that the dengue fever outbreak had peaked, as the number of weekly cases had declined and the outbreak of this infectious disease declined by the end of 2005.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Status of outbreak
In 2005, there were a total of 14,209 dengue fever cases and 27 people died. The outbreak peaked in the months of September and October, when it caused hospitals to cancel some elective surgery due to the need to allocate more beds for dengue patients.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Status of outbreak
Singapore's health-care system is helping to maintain a low fatality rate at 0.2% (2005), which is lower than Southeast Asia's regional average of 0.8% in 2004, according to the World Health Organization.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Status of outbreak
The National Environment Agency said that the dengue fever problem may be worsening because of higher temperatures and changes in viral strains. The mean temperature has risen to 28.2 °C (82.8 °F) from 27.8 °C in 2003.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Status of outbreak
In the second week of September, more than 100 new cases were reported daily and many were admitted to public hospitals.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Status of outbreak
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that one of the concerns is that more Singaporeans are infected with Dengue Type 3, which is a new strain of the dengue virus.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Status of outbreak
Some experts, such as Dr Paul Reiter, Professor of Entomology at the Pasteur Institute in France, suggested that Singapore's success in suppressing the dengue has partly contributed to this year sudden increase in dengue cases. The population born over the last two decades has a low herd immunity and therefore more susceptible to the virus.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Inter-ministerial and inter-agency committees
In September, an inter-ministerial committee headed by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Yaacob Ibrahim, was formed to tackle the dengue outbreak. Yaacob Ibrahim delivered a ministerial statement on the issue in the parliament on 19 September.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Inter-ministerial and inter-agency committees
An inter-agency Dengue Coordination Committee and a community-centred Dengue Watch Committee have also been established. The Dengue Coordination Committee involves the permanent secretaries of the Environment, Health, and National Development ministries, and Chief Executive Officers of key government statutory boards, and it aims to ensure that the various policy initiatives by the various ministries are well-coordinated. Land Transport Authority (LTA) would make sure that bus-stops, Mass Rapid Transit stations, construction sites are free of mosquito breeding. Singapore Land Authority (SLA) were also stepping up their checks on vacant state land and properties, while the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and town councils are stepping up the cleaning of common areas.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Inter-ministerial and inter-agency committees
The Dengue Watch Committee is chaired by Khoo Tsai Kee who is the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment and Water Resources. He will co-ordinate with the five mayors in Singapore to reach out to the 84 advisers and the town councils, to oversee dengue prevention measures at the community level.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Inter-ministerial and inter-agency committees
A panel of experts had also been set up to advise the government on anti-dengue measures. The panel is chaired by Dr Chee Yam Cheng, Clinical Professor and Assistant chief executive officer of National Healthcare Group.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures
Singapore launched a number of measures to contain the dengue outbreak, including public awareness campaigns and regular fogging with insecticides. 4,200 volunteers, 970 environmental control officers hired by construction sites, 350 so-called "mozzie busters" made up of girl guides and scouts, have participated in the preventive efforts.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures
The Ministry of Health stepped up its monitoring of common mosquito breeding sites and launched an online map listing "hotspots" for the insects. Residents who allow mosquitoes to breed in their homes can be fined between S$100 to S$200, and heavier penalties may be issued for construction sites found with standing water. The number of officers conducting such checks have tripled since the start of the year to 360, and may increase to 510 by December.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures
The National Environment Agency has allocated an additional S$7.5 million on top of its existing S$2.5 million budget to clear drains of stagnant water where mosquitoes breed. Singapore Land Authority has also stepped up its checks on vacant state properties.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures
On 10 September, National Environment Agency started collecting blood samples from residents of Sims Avenue, a dengue hotspot, to help track the infection. The residents were asked to provide voluntarily 5 millilitres of blood sample and a swab of saliva for the study. The samples were to be analysed for antibodies against dengue infection in the last 2 months.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures
The National Parks Board (NParks) is considering removing broad-leafed plants which may breed mosquitoes. These plants like palm trees or any plants with axils capable of trapping water, are potential breeding sites. Holes in tree trunks is also a concern, and NParks workers have been filling these holes with sands. NParks has engaged 16 pest companies to stop mosquito breeding in the parks it manages. Due to the dengue threat, some schools are cancelling excursions to the parks.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Community response
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan urged the public to help in the fight against the disease. As households are common breeding grounds for mosquitos and are less accessible for fogging, residents can help by checking for stagnant water in their households and neighbourhood and ensuring no blockage of drains. Due to the short life cycle of Aedes aegypti mosquitos (7 to 10 days), frequent checks are necessary to eradicate dengue. These checks only take several minutes and could potentially save lives.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Community response
Dr Kevin Palmer, World Health Organization's regional adviser for mosquito-borne diseases, said that it is important for ordinary residents to play their part. He added that fogging alone was not effective as winds could blow the insecticide away. Yaacob Ibrahim also said that fogging only kills adult mosquitoes, but not the larva and therefore less effective compared to removing breeding sites.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Community response
Singapore residents are also arming themselves with anti-mosquito products including insecticides, repellents and electronic mosquito traps. For repellents, experts are recommending those with an active ingredients, such as DEET which provide more effective and lasting protection.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Community response
Some residents are buying a potted plant called Citronella and placing it at their home. The perennial grass plant, imported from Cameron Highlands, gives off a strong lemon-like fragrance which repels mosquitoes.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Community response
To prevent the spread of the virus, those who are already infected with dengue are encouraged to use mosquito repellents, wear long-sleeved clothing and sleep under mosquito nets to prevent mosquitoes from biting them again and spreading the virus to others.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Weekend blitz, First blitz, 17–18 September
On the weekend of 17–18 September, more than 700 officers and volunteers launched a house-to-house campaign to remove breeding sites at four neighbourhoods, in what Minister Mah Bow Tan described as "sort of a carpet-combing exercise". The four neighbourhoods involved in the weekend blitz are Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Hougang and Marsiling, which are among the worst affected regions.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Weekend blitz, First blitz, 17–18 September
In this "search-and-destroy" operation, mosquito-fighting "commandos" combed the streets, checked the drains, looked at the bins and the roof structures at all estates to seek and destroy breeding sites. They found 172 mosquito-breeding sites, mainly flower pot trays, water containers, litters and tree holes.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Weekend blitz, Second blitz, 24–25 September
In the following weekend, five more areas were added to the weekend blitz, namely Toa Payoh/Bishan, Tampines, Choa Chu Kang, Bedok and Boon Lay/Jurong, and more than 200 breeding sites were found.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Preventive measures, Weekend blitz, Third blitz, 1–2 October
More than one thousand volunteers were involved in this third blitz to cover areas including Kallang, West Coast and Jurong East. 187 breeding sites were found and removed.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Treatment
In September, Singapore experienced a drastic rise of dengue cases. In the first week alone, 547 new cases were reported and many required hospital care. As the treatment lasts about 10 days, many hospitals across Singapore are experiencing shortage of hospitals beds. To cope with the strain, hospitals are postponing non-emergency operations to accommodate the dengue patients.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Treatment
General practitioners and polyclinics are on high alert to check for cases of dengue and are ordering more patients to have their blood tested for suspected dengue. The test, which takes fifteen minutes, is based on platelet count;dengue sufferers have 100,000 or lower platelet count as compared to 140,000 to 400,000 of a healthy person. If a suspected dengue patient is diagnosed, the patient will be referred to a hospital for more accurate testing.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Dengue diagnostic kits
In July 2005, a Singapore life science start-up company Veredus Laboratories launched a DNA- and RNA-based diagnostic kits for dengue, avian influenza and malaria. The kit is based on technologies licensed from A*STAR and the National University of Singapore.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, Dengue diagnostic kits
Another Singapore company Attogenix Biosystems has also developed a biochip called AttoChip which has successfully undergone an independent clinical trial conducted by Tan Tock Seng Hospital and is 98 percent accurate. The AttoChip identifies genes, viruses and bacteria-causingdiseases from a blood sample. It can detect the presence of the dengue virus within two to three days of the onset of the virus.


2005 dengue outbreak in Singapore, In other countries
Dengue outbreaks are also reported in many countries this year, especially in Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. According to World Health Organization, about 50 million people are infected worldwide each year.


2005 elections in India, Legislative Assembly elections
Elections to the State Legislative Assemblies were held in three Indian states during February 2005, Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand. In Haryana the Indian National Congress won a landslide victory, dethroning the long-time Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. In Bihar and Jharkhand there was a fractured verdict. Since no government could be formed in Bihar, fresh elections were held in October–November the same year.


2005 electoral calendar
This electoral calendar 2005 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2005 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not included.


2005 end-of-year rugby union internationals
The 2005 end of year tests, also known as the 2005 Autumn Internationals, refers to several international rugby union matches that took place during November/December period between touring teams from the southern hemisphere – Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa – and one or more teams from the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. South Pacific team also tour the northern hemisphere as well as tier 2 European sides.


2005 end-of-year rugby union internationals
Wales had the main headline during the tests after beating Australia 24-22, their first victory over Australia since the third place match in the 1987 Rugby World Cup.


2005 end-of-year rugby union internationals
New Zealand completed a grand slam tour, their first since 1978.


2005 in Afghanistan
The following lists events that happened during 2005 in Afghanistan.


2005 in Afghanistan, February
In February 2005, U.S. Senator John McCain called for the establishment of permanent U.S. military bases in Afghanistan, saying such bases would be "for the good of the American people, because of the long-term security interests we have in the region".


2005 in Afghanistan, February
He made the remarks while visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul as part of a five-member, bi-partisan Senate delegation travelling through the region for talks on security issues. The same delegation also included then-Senator Hillary Clinton, who later became U.S. Secretary of State.


2005 in Africa, International organisations, African Union
Kofi Annan, secretary general of the UN has sought to strengthen the partnership between the UN and the African Union for Africa to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. He declared that "Africa isn't on schedule to reach the Millennium Development Goals. But it will be able to reach these goals if the world partnership, promised a long time ago, does come together completely".


2005 in Africa, International organisations, African Union
The question of how to represent Africa in the best possible way in the UN Security Council was delayed, following a disagreement among the member countries of the African Union. This was referred to a committee composed of 15 countries to assemble in Swaziland from February 2005.


2005 in Africa, International organisations, African Union
The mandate of the current chairman, Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria, was prolonged from July 2005 to January 2006. Next summits will be held in Libya in July 2005 and in Sudan in January 2006.


2005 in Africa, International organisations, Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC)
The summit also touched the situation in Togo and welcomed a delegation, led by Kokou Tozoun, minister of foreign affairs. A statement was made, inviting "the international community to encourage the Togo authorities to do its utmost to establish a swift and peaceful return of the peace process in the country". Omar Bongo Ondimba, present chairman of the Cemac, yielded his chair to Teodoro Obiang Nguema, president of Equatorial Guinea.


2005 in Africa, International organisations, West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)
Tandja Mamadou, president of Niger returned to the chair of the UEMOA following the summit of the organisation in Niamey (Niger) on 30 March 2005. Different heads of state participated in the summit: Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal), Mathieu Kérékou (Benin), Blaise Compaoré (Burkina Faso), Amadou Toumani Touré (Mali), Henrique Rosa (Guinea-Bissau) and Tandja Mamadou (Niger). Togo was represented by Koffi Sama, prime minister, and Côte d'Ivoire by Théodore Mel Eg, minister for regional integration and the African Union. In a final communiqué, the UEMOA congratulated itself for "the results on price stability in the Union, following a better provisioning of the food markets" and "welcomed the actions intended to preserve the value of the common currency", the CFA franc.


2005 in Africa, Conflict and civil war, Sudan, South-Sudan
A final agreement of peace in South-Sudan was signed on 9 January 2005 in Nairobi between the Sudanese vice-president Ali Osman Taha and John Garang, leader of the southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), putting a term to the longest conflict in Africa (21 years), that killed 1,5 million. During a 6-year period, this agreement envisages broad autonomy for the south of Sudan which will have its own government and an autonomous army. At the end of this period, a self-determination referendum will be organized.


2005 in Africa, Conflict and civil war, Sudan, South-Sudan
The income resulting from oil will be shared in equal share between the south and north. In addition, the government will have 70% of the positions in the central administration against 30% for the southern rebels. Lastly, the Sharia (Islamic law) will be into force only in the north of the country, with Muslim majority. It will not be applied in the south, having a Christian and animist majority. On 10 January, thousands of Sudanese expressed their joy in the streets of Khartoum. The National Liberation Council of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) ratified unanimously on 24 January the peace agreement in Rumbek.


2005 in Africa, Conflict and civil war, Political crisis in Togo
On 5 February 2005, president Gnassingbé Eyadéma died after having led Togo for 38 years. According to the constitution, the chairman of the National Assembly should have been acting president until new presidential elections, to be held in 60 days. The army however decided to bring to power a son of the late president, Faure Gnassingbé Eyadéma. To endorse the decision of the army, the parliament urgently modified the constitution. The African Union, the ECOWAS, the UN, the European Union condemned what they called a "coup d'etat" and demanded the re-establishment of the constitutional order.


2005 in Africa, Conflict and civil war, Political crisis in Togo
In spite of a ban on public demonstrations issued by the government, the principal opposition parties demanded free and pluralist elections and appealed each day for peaceful demonstrations, which gathered several hundreds to a few thousand people. These were dispersed by the police, using teargas. On 25 February Faure Gnassingbé Eyadéma renounced from the position of president of the Republic, and announced to be standing as a candidate to the presidential elections, to be held on 24 April 2005. Abass Bonfoh, vice-president of the National Assembly became acting president.


2005 in Africa, Conflict and civil war, Political crisis in Togo
Four candidates presented themselves at the election of 24 April: Faure Gnassingbé Eyadéma, supported by the Rassemblement du peuple togolais (RPT), Emmanuel Bob Akitani, candidate for the coalition of the radical opposition, Harry Olympio, candidate for the Rassemblement pour le soutien à la démocratie et au développement (RSDD, moderate opposition) and Nicolas Lawson, a businessman who withdrew his candidature on 22 April. The campaign was held in a climate of violence. The opposition denounced the conditions in which they had to prepare, and request a postponement of the election. Two days before the poll, François Boko, Minister for the Interior of the temporary government, requested the postponement of the scrutiny. In a press conference, he denounced "a suicidal electoral process". He was then forced to resign.