Portal:Current events/2006 September 19
September 19, 2006 (Tuesday)
- Thailand coup d'état:
- A coup d'état occurs in Thailand, with tanks seen moving into place around government buildings in Bangkok. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declares a state of emergency in a TV broadcast from the United States, where he went for the United Nations General Assembly, but the transmission is reported to have been cut off.
- An announcement on Thai television declared that a "Council of Administrative Reform" with King Bhumibol Adulyadej as head of state had seized power in Bangkok and nearby provinces without any resistance. State TV stations are broadcasting messages of loyalty to the King, while international broadcast channels were blocked. (Reuters) (Forbes) (BBC) (ABC News)
- President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President of the United States George W. Bush both speak at the United Nations General Assembly. Ahmadinejad said that Bush's policies in the Middle East were "moving the world toward war." Bush said that "The greatest obstacle to this future is that your (Iranian) rulers have chosen to deny you (the Iranian people) liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons." (MSNBC) (Reuters)
- A judicial panel in Canada finds that Canadian citizen Maher Arar was falsely accused when he was secretly extradited by the United States to Syria, and that he was tortured there. (MSNBC).
- Israeli media report an explosion in Tel Aviv. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the blast appeared to be criminal in nature and not a terrorist attack. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- The return of the space shuttle Atlantis is delayed by one day after a mysterious object is found floating near the shuttle. (AP via Yahoo! News) (SpaceflightNow)
- 2006 protests in Hungary: demonstrations continue in Hungary peacefully to enforce the resignation of the Gyurcsány-government. The demonstrators expressed their regret on the vandalism done at the Hungarian Television's headquarters last night. In the meantime, farmers announced that they will close roads in the countryside and around Budapest. (HírTV)
- Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy: In Ankara, protesters demand that the Justice Ministry arrest the Pope upon his arrival in Turkey, should he go ahead with his planned visit there in November. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- A corporal in the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment becomes the first British soldier to confess to committing a war crime in Iraq, after admitting inhumane treatment of civilians, at a court martial. (BBC)
- Western New England College has embarked on the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the College's history. Transformations: The Campaign for Western New England College is a $20 million effort that will enable the College to advance its mission of helping students achieve their educational and career goals. [1]