On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 2005, the world population was approximately 6,586,970,132 people[†]
2005K. Sello Duiker, South African author and screenwriter (born 1974)[†]
Kabelo Sello Duiker was a South African novelist. His debut novel, Thirteen Cents, won the 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, Africa Region. His second novel, The Quiet Violence of Dreams, won the 2002 Herman Charles Bosman Prize. He also worked in advertising and as a screenwriter.
Frank Bruni At Lunch With column on author John Grisham, whose 18th novel The Broker hits bookstores and, inevitably, best-seller lists; Grisham talks about opportunities he has had because his books are so successful; photos (M)
Group of 13 health and information technology organizations give Bush administration its recommendations for national health information network; group's report suggesting principles that should guide creation of such network make emphatic call for open, nonproprietary technical standards for communication across network; report contends information on patient inside doctor's office must be capable of being sent across network freely to hospitals, laboratories, specialists, insurers and researchers, if promise of improved care and reduced costs are to be achieved (M)
Barrage of lawsuits is filed against mutual funds, contending that they did not claim money due their investors from settlements of securities class-action lawsuits; complaints name more than 40 fund managers, including Merrill Lynch, Vanguard, Wells Fargo, Janus and Dreyfus, accusing them of violating their fiduciary duty to investors by failing to file claims for money from settlements of shareholder lawsuits (M)
IBM reports strong fourth-quarter results, surpassing Wall Street's expectations and earnings reaching $3 billion for first time in company's history; reports earnings of $1.80 per share, and earnings from continuing operations of $1.81, a 16 percent increase from year-earlier quarter; revenues rose 7 percent, to $27.7 billion; chief financial officer Mark Loughridge comments (M)
Condoleezza Rice refuses at Senate confirmation hearing to set timetable for US military withdrawal from Iraq, declares that 'some progress' is being made on training Iraqi forces and says most urgent task for Iraqis after election will be to seek political reconciliation between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds; says under persistent bipartisan questioning that Iraqis 'lack certain capacities'; Pres Bush's nominee for secretary of state is clearly rankled at Sen Barbara Boxer's sharp questioning and quotations from Rice's differing remarks about her advocacy of war and whether or not Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; Rice pledges to reinvigorate diplomacy on Middle East, North Korea and European issues; tells Sen John Kerry that overthrowing Hussein was right decision, that success in Iraq would spread freedom and stability; photos; hearing ends with colloquy in which Kerry discusses foreign policy themes of his presidential campaign but also pledges to meet Rice halfway in her new post; Sen Joseph Biden calls Rice's claim of 120,000 trained Iraqi troops 'malarkey,' putting figure at 4,000; Rice declines to characterize as torture several Iraqi prisoner incidents cited by Sen Christopher Dodd; she also responds to policy criticisms from Republicans, reports cooperation with Pres Vladimir Putin despite democracy setbacks in Russia and harshly criticizes Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez (M)
R W Apple Jr article surveys restaurants in Falls Church, Va; contends area boasts numerous restaurants serving finest Southeast Asian cuisine on East Coast; photos (M)
Daniel Cifonelli, former assistant superintendent for businees of William Floyd School District in Suffolk County, NY, is charged with stealing $687,850 from district and New York State's teachers' pension system; is second administrator from district to be accused following theft charges against former treasurer James Wright in June; Cifonellli funnelled $243,082 away from district and $444,768 from pension fund after retiring in 1998; continued to work for district as consultant in almost identical job; was dismissed in June when financial irregularities were revealed; photo (M)
Ben Brantley reviews Ontological Theater production of play The Gods Are Pounding My Head! (a k a Lumberjack Messiah), written, directed an designed by Richard Foreman; Jay Smith, T Ryder Smith and Charlotta Mohlin star; photos (M)
Airbus unveils A380 airplane, with 262-foot wingspan, 239-foot-long fuselage, cabin that can comfortably seat 555 and takeoff weight when fully loaded of 1.2 million pounds, Toulouse, France; Pres Jacques Chirac of France, Prime Min Tony Blair of Britain, Prime Min Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain and Chancellor Gerhard Schroder of Germany attend unveiling; plane is seen as proud symbol of economic integration of Europe; A380's maiden flight is not scheduled until March; but pomp and ceremony of unveiling unscores critical importance of plane to Airbus and its fierce battle with Boeing; Airbus, part of European consortium EADS, surpassed Boeing in 2004 in number of planes delivered to airlines for second consecutive year; chart; photo (M)
Solo skier or snowboarder cutting virgin tracks through deep powder on steep mountain slope, signature of Western tourism industry, may be encouraging more and more people, many without experience, to venture beyond relative safety of big resorts, risking harm to themselves and others; seven people have died in backcountry avalanches in Utah alone this season; ski industry has responded to hunger for untrammeled terrain with special equipment, but knowledgeable backcountry skiers, trained in survival skills and never without electronic homing device, look with barely concealed disdain on 'out of bounds' skiers who ride chairlifts up and then duck past warning signs; snowboarder killed last week near Canyons Resort apparently reached place of his death through gate marked with skull-and-crossbones warning; photos; experienced skiers are angry that reckless behavior gives landowners excuse to close off areas, especially as private development limits access to public lands; men are worst offenders at ignoring warnings, accounting for about ninety percent of 629 people killed in US avalanches since 1950
New York Gov George Pataki proposes $105.5-billion budget that would dedicate increases in taxes and fees to mass transit but leave in doubt future of major projects such as Second Avenue subway and Long Island Rail Road access to Grand Central Terminal; Pataki proposes spending $15.2 billion over five years to maintain New York City region's transit but proposes only three-year funding, hoping for federal and private aid and 'innovative' financing for remainder; budget seeks to close $4.15-billion gap with deep cuts in health care, taxes on hospitals and nursing homes and giving New York City only fraction of court-mandated education increases; graph and table on major spending proposals; transit and civic groups see crippling of long-sought projects and maintenance; Robert D Yaro of Regional Plan Assn sees jeopardy for state's own economic forecasts; Pataki would cut $137 million in college funding and authorize trustees to raise tuitions; he proposes about $700 million in tax increases, including levies on wine and clothing under $110, which is set to end this May; says spending would rise 2.4 percent, less than 2.7 percent inflation rate; call for $4.7 billion in state, local and federal funds for New York City schools mirrors proposal that court-appointed panel rejected last fall; governor would also allow unlimited number of charter schools in city (M)
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts announces retirement of chief executive Scott A Livengood and hires his successor, Stephen F Cooper, specialist in corporate reorganizations who is running Enron Corp; Cooper has history of working with companies that enter bankruptcy protection and reorganizing their debts; says company has reasonable level of free cash flow, so there is no reason it should be bankruptcy candidate; company says it is negotiating with lenders and has secured extension to keep it from being declared in default until Jan 24; says sales in company stores declined 25 percent in eight weeks ended Dec 26; systemwide sales, including those of franchises, were down 18 percent for most recent period, compared with drop of 16.7 percent in third quarter; chart; photos (M)