April 29, 2005

"See also": April 28, 2005 - April 2005 - April 30, 2005

----
April 29 2005 was a Friday
* The next launch of the Space Shuttle "Discovery", STS-114, is delayed until at least July 13. This is to be the first Space Shuttle launch since the "Columbia" disaster in February 2003. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4496955.stm (BBC)] [http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/04/29/shuttle.delay/index.html (CNN)]
* U.S. Congressman Rob Portman was confirmed by the United States Senate to be United States Trade Representative. [http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BD8143D14-B626-4FD8-8D82-1568451035C3%7D&siteid=google (CBS Marketwatch)]
* The death toll in the Amagasaki rail crash in Japan totals 106. Rescue efforts are over and police begin the crash investigation. [http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=335311 (Japan Today)]
* Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan meets with Communist Party of China Secretary-General Hu Jintao in the highest level contact between leaders of the two parties since the meeting of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong in August 1945 at the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/85702204-b864-11d9-bc7c-00000e2511c8.html]
* A prominent article in the state-owned China Securities Journal says conditions are ripe for changes in the country's policy of keeping the yuan pegged to the U.S. dollar. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042901705.html (Washington Post)]
* Three currencies join the ERM II: The Cyprus pound, the Latvian lat, and the Maltese Lira. The ERM II is one of the steps needed for a currency to become part of the Eurozone. [http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/050429215029.w0uofrf7 EUbusiness]