Wednesday March 16, 2005

Holidays

• St. Urho's Day - the fictional patron saint of Finnish immigrants to the US, created by Richard Mattson in 1956
• Latvia - The controversial Latvia Legions are celebrated in Latvia, where about 140,000 men joined the Waffen SS National Legions during World War II, trying to defend Latvia. Since February 23, 2000, this day is no longer an official celebration day.
• Saint Heribert of Cologne (died 1021)
• Saint Eusebia (+680)
• Saint Benedicta (+1260)
• Saint Agapitus
• The first day of the Bacchanalia in ancient Rome
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Events

• Israel officially handed over Jericho to Palestinian control.
• Israel formally hands Jericho to Palestinian Authority control, which is likely to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas. The PA will resume security control over the city and will have to make sure that wanted militants will remain in check. (Yahoo!)(BBC)
• Anti-fascist protesters in the center of Riga, Latvia, end up in custody after trying to stop the annual march of Waffen-SS veterans and young radical nationalists. (BBC)
• Russia announces that it will pay US$10 m to the people who betrayed Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed by Russian special forces. (The Guardian)
• President of Bolivia Carlos Mesa has asked the country's congress to approve early elections in August to replace him to "prevent bloodbath". There are still widespread opposition protests against his economic policies. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (BBC)
• President of El Salvador, Tony Saca, criticises new inquiries of The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights into El Mozote massacre in 1981. (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• The United States Senate accuses seven US banks of complicity of allowing Augusto Pinochet to set up 100 bank accounts to hide money total to US$15 million. (Reuters) (CNN) (BBC)
• Amnesty International states that fair elections are "impossible" in Zimbabwe. (Amnesty International) (Reuters AlertNet) (News24)
• In the Supreme Court of British Columbia today, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were found not guilty in their trial for the bombing of Air India Flight 182. (The Globe and Mail) (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
• European Union postpones negotiations for Croatia's possible membership. Delegates state that Zagreb has not cooperated with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in trying to arrest suspected war criminal Ante Golovina. (EUObserver) (Bloomberg) (Reuters) (World Peace Herald)
• A plane crash in Russia kills 28, some of them employees of Lukoil oil company. (Mosnews) (RIA Novosti) (Bloomberg)
• Zambian government files corruption charges against ex-president Frederick Chiluba in a British High Court. He is accused of defrauding the state of the equivalent of US$35 million. (Reuters SA) (BBC)
• United Nations withdraws its foreign personnel from west of Darfur after threats from pro-government militias. (AllAfrica) (Reuters) (BBC)
• Iran publicly executes serial killer Mohammed Bijeh, nicknamed the "Tehran Desert Vampire". (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• In Japan, Hitachi unveils two examples of its wheeled robot Emiew. (Reuters) (Slashdot)
• In China, smth, the biggest BBS in Chinese campus, announced that IP outside the Tsinghua University would be blocked off. (yahoo)
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Famous Deaths

• Todd Bell

  American football player (Born 1958).

• Anthony George

  American TV actor (Born 1921).

• Ralph Erskine

  English-Swedish architect designed The...

• Dick Radatz

  American baseball player (Born 1937).

• Allan Hendrickse

  South African minister and politician...

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Top #5 songs in the USA

1. 50 Cent - Candy Shop
2. Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
3. Mario - Let Me Love You
4. The Game - How We Do
5. 50 Cent - Disco Inferno

Top #5 songs in the UK

1. Nelly featuring Tim McGraw - Over And Over
2. McFly - All About You / You've Got A Friend
3. Jennifer Lopez - Get Right
4. Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
5. Stereophonics - Dakota

Top #5 R&B songs

1. 50 Cent Featuring Olivia - Candy Shop
2. Mario - Let Me Love You
3. The Game Featuring 50 Cent - How We Do
4. Fantasia - Truth Is
5. Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz Featuring Usher & Ludacris - Lovers And Friends

Top #5 Latin songs

1. Conjunto Primavera - Hoy Como Ayer
2. Intocable - Aire
3. Cristian Castro - Te Buscaria
4. Julieta Venegas - Algo Esta Cambiando
5. Juanes - Volverte A Ver

Jupiler League

• Standard - Louvieroise : 1 - 0

Bundesliga 2

• Dresden - FC Koln : 2 - 1
• Saarbrucken - Karlsruhe : 3 - 4

La Liga Primera Division

• Ath Bilbao - Getafe : 1 - 2

Le Championnat

• Sochaux - Metz : 2 - 1
• St Etienne - Ajaccio : 3 - 0
• Strasbourg - Monaco : 0 - 0

Stock Markets

• ExxonMobil XOM: opens at $60.00
• Apple AAPL: opens at $41.21
• Microsoft MSFT: opens at $24.82
• General Electric GE: opens at $35.81
• International Business Machines IBM: opens at $90.74

Exchange Rates

• 1 USD = 104.13 JPY
• 1 USD = 1.2046 CAD
• 1 USD = 1.1521 CHF
• 1 EUR = 139.71 JPY
• 1 EUR = 0.6965 GBP