March 11, 2005

A day of mourning is held in Spain to mark the first anniversary of the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks. At noon, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía inaugurate the Forest of the Departed (Bosque de los Ausentes), a memorial park in Madrid where an olive or cypress tree has been planted for each victim of the tragedy. (BBC) (CNN) (Toronto Star) (4ni)
Released official documents have confirmed that the U.S. held children as young as 11 years old at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. (BBC)
President of Switzerland, Samuel Schmid, speaks in Madrid in a conference on terrorism and urges countries to respect international law and human rights (Swissinfo) (NZZ)
The former chess world champion Garry Kasparov announces he is going to retire from professional competitions (ITAR-TASS) (BBC)
In Brussels airport, 56 Iranian monarchist protesters sit in an airliner for 16 hours to protest against the Islamic government of Iran. Police later remove them from the plane. (Reuters) (CNN) (BBC)
All is set for the local council elections in Malta which shall take place tomorrow. The results are expected to be in favour of the Malta Labour Party, the current opposition party. (di-ve) (MaltaToday) (Independent Online)
In the UK, the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 was finally given Royal Assent after one of the longest ever sittings by the House of Lords.