Portal:Current events/2007 February 20

February 20, 2007 (Tuesday)

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves an African Union force to help stabilise Somalia. (AP via the Guardian)
The Kazakh Foreign Ministry denies Kazakhstan has a nuclear program, saying all alleged active nuclear sites were from the Soviet era. (Kazinform)
Felix Kulov, former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, breaks his political alliance with President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Kulov forms the United Front for a Worthy Future for Kyrgyzstan with Ar-Namys and other political parties. (RFE/RL)
Iran:
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he wants talks on his nation's nuclear program, but only if no pre-conditions are imposed. (BBC)
- Nasrollah Shanbe Zehi, convicted of a bombing last week in Zahedan is hanged. (CNN)
- The BBC reports that U.S. plans for a possible military attack against Iran include nuclear sites and most of the country's military infrastructure. (BBC)
At least 35 people have died and up to 340,000 are affected by flooding after months of heavy rain in Bolivia. The eastern departments of Santa Cruz and Beni are the worst affected. (BBC)
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rules 2-1 to uphold an act of the 109th Congress removing the right of Guantánamo Bay detainees to challenge their detention in lower federal courts. The Military Commissions Act suspends the right to habeas corpus and bars anyone deemed an "enemy combatant" access to the federal courts. (Miami Herald) (Reuters)
Zilla Huma Usman, minister for social welfare of Punjab province, Pakistan, is assassinated near Lahore by Mohammed Sarwar for not wearing a hijab and campaigning for women's emancipation. (The Times) (FOX)
A river boat carrying children on a school trip on the Periyar River in southern India capsizes, killing at least 18 students and four teachers. (AP via CNN)
Kraft Foods announces plans to close up to 20 production facilities and cut up to 8,000 jobs worldwide. (AP via ABC News)
Australia announces plans to ban incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. (BBC)
Global Spread of H5N1: Cases of avian flu are confirmed at two chicken farms near Moscow, Russia. Villages are quarantined until prescriptions can be filled. (The Times)
Anglican archbishops give the U.S. church an ultimatum over its approach to issues such as homosexual clergy and blessings of same-sex marriages. (BBC)
A powerful earthquake in northeastern Indonesia sparks a tsunami warning. (AP via IHT)
Volvo AB agrees to buy truckmaker Nissan Diesel for $1.1 billion. (Bloomberg)
NATO troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina carry out early morning raids on the houses of the children of convicted war criminal Radovan Karadžić. (BBC)
Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney visits Japan to discuss regional security issues and Iraq. (BBC)
In Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Horacio Garza, a federal congressman for the PRI, is seriously wounded by gunmen, and his driver killed. (BBC)