2006 Year in Review

Highlights

• TDY to the Financial Support and Training Office (FSTO)  in Paris to spell the Director from  January 9 - February 3.  The office had been moved from its previous location in the 8th arrondissement fairly close to the embassy to the Neo Building on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th.  Instead of staying in a hotel we stayed in an embassy apartment in the Neuilly compound.  Doris and I took a bus into central Paris every day an would usually meet for lunch.  Besides sightseeing and shopping Doris did manage to buy her wedding dress.         

• I had a couple of major projects to head up as chief of disbursing at CGFS/CHS.  The first was to continue the ongoing effort to convert embassies from check payments to Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).  When I took over we only had 60 embassies converted to EFT.  It required posts to deal banks that were members of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial  Telecommunication to facilitate electronic payments.  It was a continuing challenge for not only making vendor payments but also employee payroll processing.

• The second major challenge was to implement the Paper Check Conversion (PCC) Program.  This effort required processing accommodation exchange checks from FSOs at embassies electronically through PCC.  This program allowed our embassy cashiers to scan the checks immediately via PCC as opposed to having the send the checks to a financial service center for processing.  This was a much faster system and also meant processing the checks at the prevailing rate of exchange for local currency.       

• I was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service in March and attended the Senior Executive Seminar in April 12-28. 

Senior Seminar Certificate

Senior Foreign Service Certificate

Senior Class

      Signed by President Bush  

• March 13-14, DAS Offsite, followed by a Disbursing Conference March 15-17 at the Raddisson Hotel in North Charleston.

• Doris made a trip to visit her sister Raine and her husband Dick in York, Maine from April 6-10.  While there she was able to shop at the Polo outlet store for my underwear and at Stonewall Kitchen to stock up on jams and my favorite Roasted Garlic Peanut sauce.

• Every year during April-May was probably my most demanding and time consuming period preparing Employee Evaluation Reports (EERs) for my staff of eight FSOs for the past year and establishing Work Requirements for the new evaluation period.      

• Continued individual meetings with Management Officers and FMOs on consultations before going out to embassies on assignments.  

• June 3-8 attended a CGFS/CHS offsite with RFMS User Group workshop in Budapest, Hungary.  The timing coincided with Jim Millett's birthday and we celebrated on a cruise of the Danube.

• Before leaving to Bangkok I attended a three day offsite to discuss the deployment of the Global Financial Management System (GFMS).

• Pack Out July 10-12.  Since Bangkok was a furnished post we were authorized 9,000 lbs. for Household Effects and 250 lbs.  of Air Freight.  

• Farewell luncheon was held August 3rd.  

Farewell from the staff at CGFS/Charleston

• Arrived August 28 in Bangkok for an assignment as the Director of the Financial Services Center servicing our embassies in Asia, Pacific and post-Soviet republics in Eurasia.  

• I was blessed with an excellent American FMO and Locally Employed Staff heading up Disbursing, Accounting, FSN Payroll, Systems, Training and Customer Support servicing our embassies in Asia, Pacific and former Soviet Union.    CGFS/Bangkok was also the principal site for systems development particularly for the Automated Cashier System and successor Cashier Reconciliation programs.  Kanikar Daily was the supervisor of this effort and assisted by not only her staff but others from CGFS/Charleston like Randy Carrico as well as systems upgrades to the RFMS/Disbursing program.  Former Director, Howard Renman, also worked on American and FNS payroll systems programs.  Howard moved to Hua Hin, Thailand but was on contract and travelled a lot back and forth to Charleston.  For the longest time we had two legacy FSN Payroll systems one for Bangkok and other for Paris.  Overtime we were able to combine the systems into one.       

• I remember having to attend weekly country team meetings at the embassy and maintaining good relations with Ambassador Ralph "Skip" Boyce.   Ambassador Boyce was a career FSO well connected and the ultimate diplomat and even played drums with a jazz trio.  He was  on his third tour of Bangkok and upon retirement in December he became president of Boeing Southeast Asia. The Management Counselor Rosemary Hanson.  Rosie had a tour with the OIG as a Senior Inspector before retiring.  The FMO was Charlie Slater who was assigned to Nairobi during the 1998 bombings.  He ended up living in the apartment across from us.       

Ambassador Boyce with Nattanne, Som amd Staff

Favorite Memories:

• During the TDY in Paris Doris and I took advantage of the French cuisine and many of the tourist sights through "Paris Walks" like Monmartre and Bastille and took in shows like Jacques Brel and at the Moulin Rouge and Crazy Horse.  We had an apartment in the Neuilly district near the Bois de Boulogne and used to take the bus into work together each morning.  Doris would do more sightseeing and shopping and we would meet for lunch.  In fact, she found her wedding dress at a store in Paris. 

• Continued to attend cultural and music events in Charleston at the Symphony and North Charleston Performing arts center Broadway series.  Tristan & Isolde

• March 18 our wedding at St. Mary's of the Annunciation downtown followed by a reception at Magnolia's.  My cousin Father John Kelly from Biloxi, Mississippi said Mass and gave us our vows.  The Frank Duvall trio played.  We first met Frank at Charleston Place where he used to play on the weekends.  He still teaches at the College of Charleston and plays Bass for the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. Wedding was preceeded by receptions at the Darby's (March 16) and Groceclose's (February 12).  My cousins from California Bob and Rosemarie Porter and Tom and Sondra Meehan as well as my Peace Corps buddy Jack Colbourn and his wife Kathy also flew out for the wedding.  Brother Chris was my best man.

• March 25 - April 1 Honeymoon cruise on Norwegian to Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Key West.   Remember Jim and Mary Millette waving to us from the shore as we left. 

• April 10-16 - Volunteered at the annual WTA Family Circle Cup tournament working with court maintenance.  Nadia Petrova (Russsia) defeated Patty Schnyder (Swiss).  Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur defeated Virginia Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy in doubles.   

• On Friday, April 21st in conjunction with a visit to D.C. Doris and I went to the famous Blues Alley to catch a performace by singer-songwriter Regina Belle.

• May 6 Doris and I rented kayaks and paddled Beresford Creek out to Clouder Creek and Cooper River.

• May 11-12 Visited Patrick in Fairfax.

• May 26-29 Visited Highlands, NC for long weekend of hiking and rafting down the Natahala river.

• While in Budapest in June the participants took a night dinner cruise on the Danube.  It happened to be Jim Millette's birthday as well so we celebrated.  We also found a neat English pub near our hotel to congregate after meetings each night.  Budapest was formed by the union of Buda on the right bank and Pest on the left bank of the Danube.    

• Out to San Francisco June 23-27 staying at the El Rancho Inn in Millbrae, remebering the BART trains passing in the night.  Visit the brothers and got to a Giants game. Meehan family reunion.

• We also managed to visit David in Atlanta on the weekend of July 8th and attend a Braves game at Turner field.

• I remember pack out and closing on the purchase of the lot for our eventual new home the week of July 10.

• Within a month of my arrival I had visitors from Charleston like my boss Jim Millette, Randy Carrico disbursing guru, and Richard Sizemore, Customer Support and Training.  Given the constant influx of visitors Doris and I often hosted guests at our apartment or at a restaurant for luncheons or dinners. One such dinner at a restaurant included Bill Estell and his wife Amika, Marilyn Ferdinand, Fred Mauren and visitors from FSTO/Paris Bernard Lefevre and Rachid Razuanne.  

• Doris and I made our first trip out of Bangkok to Hua Hin on the long weekend of          September 2-4. 

• It didn't take long to get introduced to Bobby Raja (Raja's Fashions) Soi 4 Sukumvit for tailoring my shirts, pants and suits.

• My son Patrick and his girlfriend Catie visited Charleston and stayed in our town house on Daniel Island May 4-6.

• October 7-9 we participated in our first CLO (Community Liaison Office) trip to Luang Prabang original capitol of Laos headed up by Kuhn Jeed.    

• Spent the weekend of October 21-23 in Phuket.  Our first visit to this popular resort town and beautiful beaches on the Andaman sea which had been hit with a terrible Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004, which killed 250 people (230,000 in Thailand total) captured in the movie "The Impossible"

• October 26-November 3 attended an ICASS conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney, Australia .  Doris accompanied me and we visited both Meehan and Booth relatives.  Alan and Kate Jones (Meehan) in E. Lindfield just outside Sydney.  We learned that last year 2020 Alan and Kate were killed in a head-on car accident.  We went out to Windsor, NSW by train to visit Muriel Gilmore (Booth) about 30 miles from Sydney.

For more photos see:  Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Sydney 2006  

November 4 attended the Marine Ball, which celebrates the birthday of the Marine Corps and celebrations are held annually at all the embassies worldwide.

FSC/Bangkok staff Steve Carignan, Jim Basso and spouse, Marilyn Ferdinand, Bill Estell, Amika and Fred Mauren.  I ran into Jim Basso "the old curmudgeon" when I was on an OIG inspection of embassy Moscow in 2013 while he was TDY deputy FMO.  Fred Mauren ended up marrying a Thai lady and going to Baghdad.  Presently in New Delhi.  Bill Estell recently passed away. We still stay in touch with Marilyn whos retired here in Charleston.  We lost contact with Fran and Steve. 

November 23rd, in route to Cairo for an ICASS Conference, we stopped over in Singapore and spent Thanksgiving and had dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel.  We also visited the famous Raffles hotel, Botanical Gardens and Little India.

In Egypt we visited Cairo and took a cruise down the Nile to Luxor returning to Bangkok December 2

For more photos see:  Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Egypt 11/12-2006

• Played tennis at the JUSMAG compound mostly with GSO Dave Rockey and his wife.  JUSMAG compound also included the offices of American dentist,  

• FSNs planned holiday parties especially at Christmas time where they would rent a ballroom at a local hotel and celebrate with a luncheon followed by singing and performances by staff.  We also had a lot of office parties with pot luck luncheons and especially remember the smoked salmon prepared by Bill Estell.

U.S. Events:

·       Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist with ties to several members of Congress, is sentenced to six years in prison by a Florida judge on fraud charges (Mar. 29).

·         Democrats gain control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections (Nov. 7).

·       House releases a report on the response to Hurricane Katrina, assigning blame on all levels of government (Feb. 15).

·        President Bush signs a law renewing the Patriot Act, including a signing statement stating that he does not consider himself bound by its requirement to tell Congress how the law is being used (Mar. 9).

·       George Bush and Tony Blair express regret for the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison, for removing all Baathists from positions of power in Iraq, and for other missteps (May 25).

·       The Supreme Court rules that military tribunals cannot be set up to try prisoners in the absence of Congressional authorization and that prisoners are entitled to fair trials under the Geneva Conventions (June 29).

·       President Bush uses his veto power for the first time, striking down legislation that would have expanded the number of stem cell lines available for embryonic research using federal financing. (July 19).

·      John Bolton steps down as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations when it becomes clear that he does not have enough votes in the Senate to win confirmation (Dec. 4).

World Events:

·       After weeks of crippling student-led protests, French president Jacques Chirac repeals a new labor law that would have made it easier for employers to fire workers under the age of 26 (Apr. 10).

·       Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon suffers a massive stroke; he is replaced by acting prime minister Ehud Olmert (Jan. 5).

·       North Korea test fires missiles over the Sea of Japan (July 4) and explodes a nuclear device in the North Korean mountains (Oct. 9). The U.N. Security Council votes in favor of a resolution banning the sale of materials to North Korea that could be used to produce weapons (Oct. 14). North Korea agrees to resume disarmament talks with China, Russia, the U.S., and South Korea (Oct. 31).

·       Militant group Hamas wins 74 of 132 seats in Palestinian legislative elections (Jan. 25). Israeli leaders vote to withhold $50 million per month (Feb. 19).

·       A Danish newspaper challenges taboos against illustrations of Muhammad by printing several negative cartoons depicting him. Angry demonstrators throughout the Muslim world smash windows, set fires, and burn flags of Denmark and other nations whose newspapers reprint the cartoons (Feb. 4 onward).

·       India test-launches a missile with a range of 1,800 miles (July 9). More than 200 people die and hundreds more are wounded when a series of bombs explode on commuter trains in Mumbai, India during the evening rush hour (July 11).

·       Saddam Hussein is convicted of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court (Nov. 5), and hanged in Baghdad. A witness videotapes the hanging using a cell phone and captures the chaos that unfolds as Shiite guards taunt Hussein (Dec. 30).

·       In defiance of the U.N. Security Council, Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium (Apr. 11). The International Atomic Energy Agency reports to the Security Council that it has found traces of highly enriched uranium at Iran's Natanz facility (July 31). U.N. Security Council resolution bans the Iranian import and export of materials and technology used to enrich uranium (Dec. 23).

·       In Iraq, a coalition of Shiites and Kurds dominates the new government. Sectarian violence wracks the country, killing tens of thousands, with fatality rates rising throughout the year; some observers describe the situation as a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. Several internal reports characterize the U.S. military efforts as failing. See Iraq Timeline 2006.

·       Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group, fires rockets into Israel. In response, Israel launches a major military attack, sending thousands of troops into Lebanon. (July 13–Aug. 15).

Movies:

" Crash" won the Oscar for best picture at the 78th Academy Awards.  Philip Seymour Hoffman won lead actor award for "Capote ”, and the lead actress Oscar went to Reese Witherspoon "Walk the Line", Rachel Weisz,  "The Constant Gardener" and George Clooney, "Syriana " won for supporting actress and supporting actor.

Super Bowl

 Super Bowl XL (40) was between Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh   Steelers.  The Steelers defeated the Seahawks by the score of 21–10.   The game was played on February 5, 2006 at Ford Field in Detroit,     Michigan.  With the win, the Steelers tied the San Francisco 49ers   and the Dallas Cowboys with the then-record five Super Bowls.   Pittsburgh capitalized on two big plays that were converted into   touchdowns. The Steelers jumped to a 14–3 lead early in the third quarter with running back Willie Parker's Super Bowl record 75-yard touchdown run. Seahawks defensive back Kelly Herndon's Super Bowl record 76-yard interception return set up a Seattle touchdown to cut the lead 14–10. But Pittsburgh responded with Antwaan Randle El's 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, the first time a wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl, to clinch the game in the fourth quarter. Ward, who caught 5 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 18 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP.

World Series

  St. Louis Cardinals defeated Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 1. Shortstop    David Eckstein was named MVP the after a 1–11 start in the first 2      games of the World Series, he went 8 for 22 with 4 RBI and scored      three runs in the series, including going 4-for-5 with three doubles      in game four. The World Series victory with the Cardinals made          Eckstein one of few starting shortstops who have won a World            Series  in both the American and National Leagues.  The Cardinals      finished the regular season 83–78. This is the second-worst record ever for a league champion (the 1973 New York Mets finished 82–79) and the worst record ever for a World Series champion. Previously the 1987 Minnesota Twins finished 85–77 and defeated the Cardinals in the 1987 World Series.

St. Louis also won their 10th Fall Classic, the most of any National League franchise, and second to only the Yankees' 27 (then 26) titles, and their first since 1982.  Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who won the 1989 World Series title with the Athletics, became the second manager in history to lead teams in both leagues to championships, joining Sparky Anderson. Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who won the 1997 World Series title with the Marlins, also could have become the second manager in history to lead teams in both leagues to championships, had the Tigers won the series.

Recap of 2007 Grand Slam Tennis Tournament Winners

·         Australian Open Men's Singles. Winner – Roger Federer defeated Marcos Baghdatis

·     French Open Men's Singles. Winner– Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer

·     Wimbledon Men's Singles. Winner – Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal

US Open Men's Singles. Winner –  Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick

Australian Open Ladies Singles. Winner – Amelie Mauresmo defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne

French Open Ladies Singles. Winner– Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 

Wimbledon Ladies Singles. Winner – Amelie Mauresmo defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne

US Open Ladies Singles. Winner – Maria Sharapova defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne

2005 Year in Review

Highlights:

• Implementation of ISO 9000 quality management system which established detailed standards for employee work requirements by position with annual certification.

• Began implementation of Paper Check Conversion (PCC) program with embassy cashiers to allow for personal checks from American staff to be immediately debited to the employee's bank account, which eliminated the opportunity to take advantage of the "float".   Resulted in the worldwide deployment.  

• Major update to the Cashier User Guide released January 20th.

• Continued efforts to increase electronic payments including upgrading to the Society of Worldwide Inter-bank Fund Transfer (SWIFT) format.

• February 14-15 travel to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH to give a presentation on Global Financial Services financial support for USAF operations overseas.   

• Inter Agency conference March 14-15.  

• April 18-22 FMO Conference in Vienna, Austria 

• June 7-9 TDY to FSC/Bangkok with stopover in San Francisco on the return.  

Superior Honor Award from CGFS

• Maintained contact with Citibank representative Ed Maloney for liaison with support for USDO banks overseas.

• October 25 - 27 TDY to Athens for pilot Resource Allocation Budget Initiation Toolkit (RABIT) project.

• November 16 participated in the E2 pilot.

• Implemented Debit Card program.

Favorite Memories:     

• While attending an ICASS conference in Vienna I enjoyed sightseeing with Tom Quinzio and Ralph Hamilton visiting a Leonardo De Vinci exhibit and the National Gallery particularly the Gustav Klimt paintings.

• Watching Charleston Battery soccer matches at Blackbaud Stadium and Charleston Riverdogs (Class 2a Yankees) baseball at Joe Riley park.

• At this year's Family Circle Cup Tennis Tournament Justine Henin defeated Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-4. 

• Played League tennis for 60+ team "Viagra Boys" travelling around the area to Summerville (Pine Forest); Seabrook Island, Dunes West, Wild Dunes, Snee Farm, Goose Creek and others.   

• Joined Toastmasters but didn't fair too well I was envious of those other members who were so much more smarter and more eloquent than me.

• Visit to Corsica:
•  Sailing with Alain Bouguane (See separate Blog) Corsica Trip
•  Shopping the local market with Corsican salami, fresh fish, fruit and veggies.
•  Road trip south to the towns of Bonafacio and Porto Vecchio
•  Visiting northern coastal towns.

• Continued visits to family in Falls Church, VA on long weekends including Patrick's graduation form High School June 22.  Patrick excelled in Auto Shop and ended up working as an Auto Technician and then mechanic for a couple of Ford dealerships for over 14 years before being employed by Fairfax Country. 

• July 29-31 Doris and I drive to Asheville, NC and visit Biltmore estate.

• August 4-10 Touring Ireland and attending the Meehan Family Reunion in County Sligo with Jeffrey (See Separate Blog) 

• September 30 - October 5 trip to York, Maine to visit Dick and Raine. 

• November 18 - 22 visit to San Francisco to visit the brothers and Meehan relatives.

• North Charleston Performing Arts Center and other Charleston Jazz and Charleston Symphony Orchestra performances throughout the year.  

• December 21-24 travel to Northern Virginia to visit Jeffrey and Patrick.  While there I went to the National Gallery of Art in D.C. to see the exhibit of the "Monumental Sculpture from Renaissance Florence"  which featured statues by Nanni di Banco, Donatello, Andrea Del Verrocchio and Ghiberri.

Donatello, Saint Mark

Verrocchio, Christ and Saint Thomas 

              

U.S. Events:

·        George W. Bush is officially sworn in for his second term as president (Jan. 20).

·        In his State of the Union address, President Bush announces his plan to reform Social Security (Feb. 2). Despite months of campaigning, his plan receives only a lukewarm reception.

·        Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announces her retirement (July 1).

·        President Bush signs the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which will remove trade barriers between the U.S. and Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Aug. 2).

·         Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, dies (Sept. 3).

·         John Roberts becomes 17th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (Sept 22).

·         Another major hurricane, Rita, ravages the Gulf coast (Sept. 23).

·         House majority leader Tom Delay is accused of conspiring to violate Texas's election laws. He steps aside from his House leadership position (Sept. 28).

·         Number of deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq reaches 2,000 (Oct. 25).

·        A federal grand jury indicts I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, with obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with a White House leak investigation. (Oct. 28).

·        California Republican congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigns after pleading guilty to taking at least $2.4 million in bribes (Nov. 28).

·        The Sept. 11 Public Discourse Project reports that the country is still "alarmingly vulnerable to terrorist strikes." (Dec. 5).

·        President Bush selects Harriet Miers, White House counsel, to replace Justice Sandra Day  O'Connor (Oct 3). Miers withdraws her nomination after strong criticism from the president's conservative base (Oct. 27).

·       The press reveals that in 2002, Bush signed a presidential order to allow the National Security Agency to spy on Americans suspected of being connected to terrorist activity without warrants. (Dec. 15).

·       The Terry Schiavo case becomes the focus of an emotionally charged battle in Congress (March 20).

·        Hurricane Katrina wreaks catastrophic damage on the Gulf coast; more than 1,000 die and millions are left homeless. Americans are shaken not simply by the magnitude of the disaster but by how ill-prepared all levels of government are in its aftermath. (Aug. 25-30). See also Hurricane Katrina Timeline.

·        President Bush nominates conservative judge Samuel Alito to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court (Oct. 31).

·      World Events:

•  Sudanese government and Southern rebels sign a peace agreement to end a 20-year civil               war that has claimed the lives of two million people (Jan. 9).

·       The Syrian military, stationed in Lebanon for 29 years, withdraws (April 26).

·       London hit by Islamic terrorist bombings, killing 52 and wounding about 700. It is Britain's worst attack since World War II (July 7).

·       Former Teheran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-line conservative, wins Iran's presidential election with 62% of the vote. He defiantly pursues Iran's nuclear ambitions over the course of his first year in office (June 24).

·       Mahmoud Abbas wins presidency of the Palestinian Authority in a landslide. This is the first presidential election for Palestinians since 1996 (Jan. 9).

·       Iraqi elections to select a 275-seat National Assembly take place despite threats of violence (Jan. 30). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.

·       Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri—a nationalist who had called for Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon—is assassinated (Feb. 14). Weeks of protests ensue.

·       Violent protests follow elections in Kygyzstan (March 13), which international monitors deem severely flawed. President Askar Akayev flees the country and then resigns (April 4).

·         Pope John Paul II Dies (April 2). Benedict XVI becomes the next pope (April 24).

·       Tony Blair becomes first Labour Party prime minister to win three successive terms, but his party loses a large number of seats in the elections (May 5).

·       The European Union abandons plans to ratify the proposed European constitution by 2006 after both France and the Netherlands vote against it (June 16).

·        Group of Eight industrial nations pledge to double aid to Africa to $50 billion a year by 2010, cancel the debt of many poor countries, and open trade (July 8).

·        A 7.6 earthquake centered in the Pakistani-controlled part of the Kashmir region kills more than 80,000 and leaves an estimated 4 million homeless (Oct. 2).

·         Millions of Iraqi voters ratify a new constitution (Oct. 15).

·       Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein goes on trial for the killing of 143 people in the town of Dujail, Iraq, in 1982 (Oct 19).

·       Several weeks of violent rioting begins in the impoverished French-Arab and French-African suburbs of Paris after two boys are accidentally killed while hiding from police (Oct 27).

·       Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf becomes Africa's first woman elected head of state (Nov. 11).

·       Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon quits as head of the Likud Party, which he founded, to start a new, more centrist organization, called Kadima (Nov. 21).

·       About 11 million Iraqis (70% of the country's registered voters) turn out to select their first permanent Parliament since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein (Dec. 15). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.

·       Worldwide aid pours in to help the eleven Asian countries devastated by the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami (Jan.). See Tsunami Factfile.

·       Israel begins evacuating about 8,000 Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip, which has been occupied by Israel for the last 38 years (Aug. 15).

·       Pentagon assessment finds Iraq's police force is, at best, "partially capable" of fighting the country's insurgency. The U.S.'s eventual withdrawal plan hinges upon Iraqi security forces replacing U.S. soldiers: "As Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down," President Bush had stated (July 20). See also Iraq; Iraq Timeline.

·       The Irish Republican Army announces it is officially ending its violent campaign for a united Ireland and will instead pursue its goals politically (July 27). See also Northern Ireland Peace Process.

·       The Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) sign a peace accord to end their nearly 30-year-long civil war (Aug. 15).

·       Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, which narrowly prevailed over Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democratic Party in September elections becomes the country's first female chancellor (Oct. 10).

Movies:

" Million Dollar baby" won the Oscar for best picture at the 79th Academy Awards.
Jamie Fox won lead actor award for "Ray”, and the lead actress Oscar went to Hilary Swank "Million Dollar Baby", Virginia Madsen,  "Sideways" and Morgan Freeman, "Million Dollar Baby" won for supporting actress and supporting actor.  Directing Clint Eastwood "Million Dollar Baby"

Super Bowl

The Patriots defeated the Eagles by the score of 24–21. The Patriots, who entered the Super Bowl after compiling a 14–2 regular season record, became the most recent team to win consecutive Super Bowls. New England also became the second team after the Dallas Cowboys to win three Super Bowls in four 

years.  The Eagles were making their second Super Bowl appearance after posting a 13-3 season.

The game was close throughout, with the teams battling to a 14–14 tie by the end of the third quarter. The Patriots then scored 10 points in the 4th quarter with Corey Dillon's 2-yard touchdown run and Adam Vinatieri's 22-yard field goal. The Eagles then cut their deficit to 24–21, with quarterback Donovan McNabb's 30-yard touchdown pass to receiver Greg Lewis with 1:48 remaining in the game but could not sustain the comeback. Overall, New England forced four turnovers, while Patriots wide receiver Deon Branch was named Super Bowl MVP for recording 133 receiving yards and tied the Super Bowl record with 11 catches.  

World Series

 The 2005 World Series, the 101st playing of     Major Leagues Baseball's championship series,   saw the American League champion Chicago   White Sox sweep the National League champion   Houston Astros 4 games to 0 in the best-of-seven-   games series, winning their third championship   and first since 1917.  Jermaine Dye was the World   Series MVP.