[edit] 26 October 2005 (Wednesday)

• Conflict in Iraq: Three U.S. Soldiers die in two separate insurgent attacks in Baghdad and near Baqouba. (BBC)
• Baseball: In the deciding game of the 2005 World Series, the Chicago White Sox defeat the Houston Astros 1-0 to sweep the series 4 games to 0. This is the first World Championship for the Sox since 1917. Outfielder Jermaine Dye is named Series MVP. (Houston Chronicle)
• For the first time in Iranian history, Indian soldiers killed fighting for the British in Iran have been commemorated in an official ceremony in Tehran. (BBC)
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quotes the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the destruction of Israel, calling it a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map". Ahmadinejad made the reference to 3,000 students during a speech at the "World without Zionism" conference. (Reuters) (AP)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
  • 5 people are killed in a bombing at a market place in the Israeli town of Hadera. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the attack. (YNETnews), (BBC)
  • Israeli warplanes hit areas in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
• Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is to be relocated from the south island of Okinawa to the main island, affecting thousands of U.S. Marines. Protests from residents, environmental groups, local businessmen and politicians on both sides are likely to ensue. The move is partially due to the rape of a local Okinawa girl, a helicopter crash into a university campus in Ginowan last year, and racial tensions between locals and Marines. (AP) (BBC)
• Avian influenza:
  • The British Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge confirms that swans found near Orahovica, Croatia, were infected by the H5N1 flu strain. (BBC)
• The "Al-Tawhid trial" in Düsseldorf, Germany results in sentences between five and eight years against the defendants, four Palestinian men charged with plotting attacks on Jewish installations in Germany on the orders of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
• The British Government, after several days of debating, confirms its plans to ban smoking in public places in England with the exemption of pubs and clubs not serving food. (BBC)
• A Wal-Mart internal memorandum determines that benefits costs are unsustainable, driven by an aging work force. A recommendation is to shift to more part time associates to lower health care enrollment. (WalmartWatch) (NYT)
• What may be the first pyramid in Europe has been discovered in Bosnia. (BBC) (FENA)
• WNBA superstar Sheryl Swoopes of the Houston Comets publicly announces that she is a lesbian in an interview with ESPN The Magazine. (ESPN)