November 2005

Updated July 10, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

World

• Iraq Seeks Former Soldiers (Nov. 2): Iraqi Defense Ministry begins recruiting former junior officers from Saddam Hussein's army to bolster army's forces and to siphon fighters away from the insurgency.
• Bush Faces Protests in Argentina (Nov. 4): Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez leads a protest of 25,000 anti-Bush demonstrators at a soccer stadium during a summit meeting with Latin American leaders.
• First Death Occurs in Paris Riots (Nov. 7): A 61-year-old man dies days after being beaten by rioters. The rioting started in Paris's working-class, mostly Muslim, suburbs after two boys were accidentally killed while hiding from police. About 5,000 vehicles and dozens of public buildings and private businesses have been destroyed. (Nov. 8): For only the second time in 50 years, the French government declares a state of emergency, which allows officials to impose a curfew. (Nov. 9): The French government says it will deport foreigner who are found guilty of rioting.
• Suicide Bombers Strike in Iraq (Nov. 7): Bomber kills four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad in the deadliest suicide attack since June. (Nov. 10): Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia claims responsibility for attack in a Baghdad cafe that kills about 30 people, including many police officers. (Nov. 18): Two suicide bombers blow themselves up in two Shiite mosques in the Kurdish town of Khanaqin. About 70 people are killed.
• Former Peruvian President Arrested (Nov. 7): Alberto Fujimori, who fled Peru in 2000 and has since been living in Japan, is arrested shortly after his plane lands in Chile. He had been planning to return to Peru to run for president, defying a ban on such acts. He was charged with 21 human-rights violations and corruption.
• Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Jordan (Nov. 10): Three bombs explode simultaneously in three hotels in Amman, killing 57 people and wounding hundreds. The popular hotels are the Days Inn, the Radisson SAS, and the Grand Hyatt. Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, claims responsibility, saying Jordan had been targeted because it was friendly with the United States. (Nov. 13): Jordanian authorities arrest an Iraqi woman, Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, who they say intended to be a fourth attacker. Her husband was one of the attackers.
• Israel's Labor Party Elects New Leader (Nov. 10): Trade union leader and member of Parliament Amir Peretz upsets Shimon Peres. He threatens to withdraw Labor from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition.
• Woman Wins Liberia's Presidential Election (Nov. 11): Harvard-educated economist Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf defeats soccer star George Weah in runoff election. She is Africa's first woman head of state.
• Iraq to Investigate Prisoner Abuse (Nov. 15): Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announces a prompt inquiry into alleged torture of more than 170 prisoners—mostly Sunnis—by Shiite police officers.
• Rice Brokers Gaza Travel Deal (Nov. 15): Agreement between Israelis and the Palestinian Authority—mediated in a marathon session by U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice—allows Palestinians to travel in and out of the Gaza Strip with minimal restrictions.
• Sharon Forms a New Party (Nov. 21): Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon quits as head of the Likud Party, which he founded, to start a new, more centrist organization, called Kadima. He also asks President Moshe Katsav to dissolve parliament and call for early elections. (Nov. 30): Longtime Labor Party leader Shimon Peres announces he's leaving the party and will support Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in March elections.
• Iraqi Leaders Call for a Timetable for Troop Withdrawal (Nov. 21): For the first time, a group of Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish leaders sign a statement that demands a specific time for the pullout of foreign troops.
• Merkel Sworn in as Chancellor (Nov. 22): Parliament elects Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Party as Germany's chancellor. She's the first woman and the first person from East Germany to lead the country.
• Bosnian Leaders Agree to Amend Constitution (Nov. 22): Ten years after the signing of the Dayton Accords, leaders of the Serbian, Croatian, and Muslim groups agree to change their system of government.
• Hussein Returns to Court (Nov. 28): After a 40-day recess, trial of former Iraqi president resumes.
• Ruling Party Handed No-Confidence Vote in Canada (Nov. 28): House of Commons votes, 171–133, to give Liberal Party a vote of no confidence.
• Bush Outlines Plan for Iraq (Nov. 30): President unveils his vision for victory in Iraq and rejects calls by Democrats and some Republicans for a timetable for withdrawal. “Pulling our troops out before they've achieved their purpose is not a plan for victory.”

Nation

• Senate Democrats Call for Closed Session (Nov. 1): Harry Reid, minority leader, initiates the unusual move to discuss the Bush administration's use of faulty intelligence to justify the war in Iraq and the Senate's failure to investigate it in a timely manner.
• Bush Seeks Money for Flu Preparation (Nov. 1): Asks Congress for $7.1 billion to ready the country for a potential flu epidemic. Most of the money would cover research and a stockpile of flu vaccine.
• Tax Panel Submits Report (Nov. 1): The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform outlines a proposal for a simplified tax system.
• Libby Enters Plea (Nov. 3): I. Lewis Libby pleads not guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, two of perjury, and two of making false statements in connection with an investigation into who disclosed the identity of a covert CIA officer.
• Tornado Kills Dozens (Nov. 6): At least 24 people die in a tornado that rips across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky.
• Democrats Prevail in Gubernatorial Elections (Nov. 8): Sen. Jon Corzine takes the New Jersey race over Republican opponent Douglas Forrester, and Virginia Democrat Timothy Kaine defeats Republican Jerry Kilgore. Many observers interpret results to be a reaction to dissatisfaction with President Bush's recent performance.
• Reporter Leaves the Times (Nov. 9): New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who served 85 days in jail over the summer rather than reveal a source to a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative, agrees to resign. She will receive a severance package.
• Senate Changes Prisoners' Rights (Nov. 10): Votes, 49–42, to rescind the right of foreigners deemed enemy combatants imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to challenge their detentions in U.S. courts.
• Senate Vote Seeks More Information on Iraq (Nov. 15): Senators vote, 79–19, in favor of Republican plan for quarterly reports on troops and the status of the Iraqi army. They reject, 58–40, a Democratic proposal that calls on the White House to give estimated dates for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
• Enrollment Begins for New Drug Plan (Nov. 15): Medicare beneficiaries can start signing up for new prescription drug plan.
• Reporter Admits to Withholding Leak Information (Nov. 15): Esteemed Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward announces that he heard from a senior Bush administration official in June 2003 that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA. His testimony to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald on Nov. 14 revealed that he was the first reporter to learn of her identity.
• Former Aide to DeLay Pleads Guilty (Nov. 21): Michael Scanlon, Rep. Tom DeLay's former spokesman and a former partner of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleads guilty to conspiring to bribe a Congressman and other officials.
• U.S. Changes Tactics in Combatant Case (Nov. 22): Jose Padilla, held for three years as an enemy combatant in military custody, charged in criminal court as a terrorism suspect.
• Congressman Resigns After Guilty Plea (Nov. 28): California Republican representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham steps down after pleading guilty to taking at least $2.4 million from contractors in exchange for help in securing government contracts.

Business/Science/Society

• Scientists Announce Discovery of Distinct Crocodile (Nov. 11): Researchers from the Mathematical Biosciences Institute at Ohio State University have found the skull of a sea-dwelling crocodile that lived 135 million years ago. Unlike other crocodiles, it has a short snout.
• Major League Baseball to Change Drug Rules (Nov. 15): Players association agrees to suspend players who fail a test for steroids 50 games for the first offense, 100 games for the second, and for life for a third failure.
• Chemical Spill Contaminates Water Supply in Part of China (Nov. 13): An explosion at the state-owned Jilin Petrochemical Company in Jilin City releases about 100 tons of benzene and nitrobenzene into the Songhua River. Water is shut off in Harbin for five days.