News review of 2005 part 2 of 6

Including: Lebanon - Hariri Assassination; Bird flu; Kyoto pact comes into effect; Iraq violence - insurgency continues; Global flyer world record; Indonesia earthquake; and more. LEBANON - HARIRI ASSASINATION February was marked by the assasination of former Lebanese President Rafik Al Hariri on Valentine's day (February 14). A massive car bomb in Beirut's waterfront district killed the ex-premier and 19 others in an attack that would reverberate through the following months and leave an indelible change in the Lebanon's political landscape. The explosion gouged a huge crater out of the road, ripped facades from luxury buildings and left cars ablaze on the rubble-strewn street. At least 150,000 people attended his funeral including French President Jacques Chirac. Sixty-year-old Hariri had held office for most of the previous 12 years before quitting in October 2004 amid a bitter rift with President Emile Lahoud. A direct consequence of the attack was the removal of 14,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon, which Hariri had been calling for in the run up to a May general election. Syria had been a major power broker in its smaller neighbour since the civil war when it was credited with helping to bring the conflict to a close in 1990. A U.N. report issued in late October accused high-ranking Syrian security officials and their allies in Lebanon of involvement in the plot to kill Hariri. The United States and France threatened economic sanctions if Syria did not cooperate in the probe and detain officials for interviews with U.N. investigators. BIRD FLU PANDEMIC FEARS IN YEAR OF ROOSTER Earlier in the month, fears of a bird flu pandemic emerged as the Chinese celebrated the start of the Year of the Rooster. In Vietnam, where 41 people have died of bird flu, over half of the country's 64 provinces are infected despite ruthless measures to stop the spread of the H5N1 strain, including the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of poultry. The World Health Organisation...