Portal:Current events/2005 September 25

September 25, 2005 (Sunday)

American psychiatrist and best-selling author M. Scott Peck, M.D. dies after suffering from Parkinson's disease and pancreatic and liver duct cancer. Peck, 69, was the author of The Road Less Traveled. (New York Times), (NPR)
2005 northern Peru earthquake: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake, the strongest in the country in four years, strikes northern Peru, with at least four persons reported dead. (CNN)
Renault driver Fernando Alonso becomes the youngest ever Formula One champion when finishing 3rd behind McLaren rivals Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Räikkönen in the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix (F1Racing.net)
Polish parliamentary election, 2005: As predicted by polls, support for Prime Minister Marek Belka's post-communist Democratic Left Alliance drops sharply to about 11%, while center-right opposition parties Law and Justice and Civic Platform will obtain about 28% and 26%, respectively. (onet.pl [Polish])^{[permanent dead link‍]} (BBC)
Swiss voters approve a referendum by 56% to 44% to allow citizens from the 10 newest European Union member countries to travel and work in Switzerland. Quotas will be applied until 2011 on the number of people allowed to settle. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq:
- At least four Shia Muslims, believed to be members of the Mahdi Army are killed by US soldiers in a gunfight following a U.S. raid into Sadr City, eastern Baghdad. (BBC)
- Nine people die following a bomb attack on a police station in Hillah. (BBC)
Conflict in Afghanistan: 5 US soldiers die when a Chinook helicopter crashes in Zabul, southern Afghanistan. (BBC)
Over 100,000 people attend anti-Iraq War rally held in Washington, D.C. (BBC)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- The Israel Defense Forces launch Operation First Rain, a series of air strikes on Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip, including an alleged Hamas weapons factory and a children's school. According to Israel the operation's goal is to stop shelling of southern Israeli towns and villages by Palestinian militants, though several civilians have been injured, including an infant. At least 200 Palestinians have been arrested in overnight IDF raids in the West Bank. (BBC) (The Guardian) (YNETnews) (Al Jazeera)
EuroBasket 2005: Greece beats Germany 78 to 62 and wins for the second time in its history the Eurobasket.