February 27, 2005

• Syria is reported to have handed over Saddam Husseins' half-brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, to the interim Iraqi government. (BBC)
• The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control becomes legally binding upon ratifying countries. (VOA) (DNC)
• A small bomb explodes at a hotel in Villajoyosa, Spain, after a warning by the Basque separatist group ETA. No one is injured. (CNN) (eitb24)
• Russia agrees to sell fuel to Iran for development of a nuclear reactor, stating that tough safeguards will be enacted to prevent any diversion to a nuclear weapons programme. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston denies reports that Dennis Rader has confessed to the BTK killings, calling whatever anonymous source the Associated Press has cited "unreliable." Wichita Eagle
• Indian divers have found more evidence of possible underwater ruins of a port city near the Tamil Nadu coast. The ruins were revealed after the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. Archaeological Survey of India connects them to the legendary city of Mahabalipuram (KeralaNext) (News Today) (BBC)
• In Somalia, some cabinet ministers and warlords denounce government proposals to deploy foreign peacekeepers (News24) (Sudan Tribune) (BBC)
• In Togo, police clash with protesters who denounce selection of Abass Bonfoh to replace Faure Gnassingbé as an interim president. Opposition protesters support former parliamentary speaker Fambare Ouattara Natchaba (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
• In Japan, engineers finish blasting a 26.5 km (16.5 miles) long railway tunnel through a mountain in the Aomori prefecture. The tunnel is the longest in the world so far (Japan Today) (Pacific Business News) (Channel News Asia) (BBC)