November 20, 2005 (Sunday)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- At least forty people died following a series of insurgent and American led attacks. (Reuters)
- The Independent reports that British-trained police tortured and killed at least two Iraqis using electric drills. (The Independent) (Khilafah)
- One British soldier dies following a roadside Bomb in Basra, southern Iraq. (BBC)
- Israeli army radio reports Ariel Sharon, the current Prime Minister of Israel, will leave Likud and create a new centrist party positioned between it and Israeli Labor Party. This move ends more than a year of Likud infighting between Sharon and hard-right members led by Benjamin Netanyahu who opposed withdrawal from Gaza, and closely follows Labour's departure from the present grand coalition government. Early elections are now a near-certainty. (BBC) (Haaretz)
- U.S. President George W. Bush attends a church service during his visit to People's Republic of China as he presses for greater freedoms of expression and faith during his east Asian tour. (BBC)
- Russia:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Japan with 100 business leaders for trade talks. (BBC)
- A Cessna light aircraft departing northward from the Russian city of Voronezh to the capital Moscow explodes upon landing. Igor Olshansky, an assistant to a deputy in the State Duma (The lower house of the Russian legislature), is one of eight people who died in the plane crash. (Gulf News)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the latest film based on the books by J. K. Rowling, earns US$101.4 million in its first three days of release across North America, making it the fourth-largest opening ever. (Reuters)[permanent dead link]