Portal:Current events/November 2004
Time: 00:37 UTC | Date: October 20 | See also: Current sports events
- Further discrepencies are discovered in electronic voting tallies in Florida from the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. In Broward County, Officials found the software used in Broward can handle only 32,000 votes per precinct. After that, the system starts counting backward.(The Palm Beach Post). In Palm Beach County, about 88,000 more votes are recorded than voters recorded as having turned out for the election. (The Wasington Dispatch)
- U.S. Federal District Judge James Robertson rules that the system of tribunals set up by the United States military to try and sentence prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay is illegal. Washington Post, ACLU, The Guardian
- Microsoft announces it will pay Novell USD $536 million to settle its ten-year-long antitrust suit and will pay legal costs incurred by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA). In return, CCIA will not pursue its arguments in favor of the European Union's antitrust suit. (Reuters)
- The Pitcairn Island governing council selects the first female mayor in its 214 year history after the former mayor, Steve Christian, was convicted of rape. (BBC)
- The United States dollar falls to a record low of $1.2985 against the euro. (BBC)
- China confirms that two Hong Kong officials have been convicted and jailed for spying for the United Kingdom. (BBC)
- Intelligence services intercept FARC guerrilla communications calling all units to focus on assassinating Colombian President Álvaro Uribe. (BBC)
- Russian troops storm a Chechen rebel base and kill 22 militants. (Reuters)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi publicly authorizes an offensive in Fallujah and Ramadi to "liberate the people" and "clean Falluja of terrorists". U.S. and Iraqi forces advance. A hospital doctor in Falluja reports 15 people killed and 20 wounded. (Reuters)(BBC)
- In Baghdad, three Iraqis are killed when a suicide car bomb explodes near a U.S. convoy. A U.K. soldier is killed by a roadside bomb near Camp Dogwood. A U.S. soldier is killed when gunmen open fire on a military patrol. At least three people are killed and 40 others injured in explosions at two Christian churches. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Illness of Yasser Arafat: Officials of the Palestinian Authority travel to France to see Yasser Arafat. Suha Arafat, wife of Yasser Arafat, says, "They are trying to bury Abu Ammar (Arafat) alive". Israeli security officials believe Arafat is brain-dead or comotose, and is on life support equipment and will be disconnected on Tuesday, the Muslim holiday of Lailat-ul-Qadr so that he will be declared dead on that day. (Reuters)
- A 5.8 magnitude earthquake rocks northern Japan. It was centered close to the earth's surface in the Chuetsu area of Niigata prefecture. (CNN)
- A Muslim school in Eindhoven in the Netherlands suffers a bomb attack. It is believed to be a revenge attack in retaliation for the murder of Theo van Gogh, following a weekend in which several mosques were attacked throughout the Netherlands. (BBC)
- The current wave of violence in the Ivory Coast causes London markets to fear a lack of cocoa exports, sending cocoa to a five-year high. French forces, including tanks, deploy throughout the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, to restore order. (BBC)
- An electronic voting machine in 1B in Franklin County, Ohio recorded 260 votes for John Kerry and 4258 votes for George W Bush though only 638 people voted there, one of several alleged problems. (IDG) (c|net) (Dissident Voice)
- At an anti nuclear waste shipment protest rally near the French town of Avincourt a protester is killed after a train severs both his legs. The 21-year old French man was protesting against the Castor-transport. (BBC)
- Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Lebanese Militant group, Hezbollah, has flown a reconnaissance drone over Israeli territory for the first time. (BBC)
- Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites is officially awarded the Ansari X Prize for the first privately funded space flight (AP).
- The Iraq interim government declares a state of emergency ahead of an expected assault on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.
- Illness of Yasser Arafat: A spokesman for Yasser Arafat claims that all the Palestinian president's vital functions are fine although it remains unclear why Arafat has not regained consciousness and if or when he will. (AP) (The Age)
- The Ralph Nader/Peter Camejo campaign has filed a challenge to the voting results in New Hampshire after receiving numerous complaints from voting rights activists. This effort is widely encouraged by Democrats and Independents due to suspected flaws related to Diebold voting machines. [1] [2]
- Talks between Iran and three European Union members, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, on the Iranian nuclear program end without an agreement and no further meetings planned. Iran has offered a six-month suspension of its uranium enrichment program. The European Union seeks an indefinite halt to the program. The issue is expected to be referred to the United Nations Security Council at the November 25 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. (Reuters). Others report, however, that a prelimary agreement has been reached. (AP BBC)
- An express train has collided with a stationary car near the village of Ufton Nervet, England. It is thought that nine carriages of the 17:35 First Great Western service between London Paddington and Plymouth have been derailed. Six people have reportedly been killed, with around 150 more injured. (BBC)
- An Indian spokesman says the Indian Army has been conducting counter-insurgency operations on the border of Burma. Two Indian soldiers and 13 rebels have been killed so far. (BBC)
- Chilean army commander General Juan Emilio Cheyre releases a statement saying abuses under Augusto Pinochet were "punishable and morally unacceptable acts of the past", reversing its previous stance that they were excesses carried out by individual officers. (BBC)
- African Union mediators adjourn negotiations with Sudan on the Darfur conflict after numerous security issues are not agreed upon, mainly a no-fly zone in Darfur. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: Three suicide car bombs in Samarra kill 19 Iraqi police, two Iraqi National Guardsmen, two Iraqi Rapid Reaction Forces, and 11 civilians, with 48 wounded. In Ramadi, an Iraqi is killed and 20 U.S. Marines are wounded after a shoot-out between the Marines and rebels. A physician at Fallujah General Hospital reports two dead and maintains no foreign fighters have been admitted to his hospital. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Nine French peacekeepers and a U.S. citizen are killed in the rebel-held town of Bouake in Côte d'Ivoire after government warplanes bomb the town to root out insurgents. In response, the French military launches attacks which destroy two warplanes at Yamoussoukro airport. (CNN) (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Two Palestinian children are killed by an explosion in the refugee camp of Khan Yonis in the Gaza Strip. Hospital officials say it was from a tank shell that hit a house. Israeli spokesmen said there had been no army fire in the area. They believe it was either caused when a Palestinian mortar misfired or by the detonation of a roadside bomb. (Reuters)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan warns that an assult on Falluja may result in a Sunni Muslim boycott of January elections. British ambassador to Iraq Jones Parry states: "You can't have an area the size of Falluja operating as a base for terrorism" Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi describes Annan's letter as confused and unclear. (Reuters)[3]
- Two U.S. soldiers are killed and five wounded when fighting breaks out near a base on the outskirts of Falluja. After weeks of intensive airstrikes, U.S. and Iraqi troops seal off all roads to the city. They drop leaflets and play loudspeaker messages encouraging all civilians to leave, but say they would arrest any men under 45. Near Baghdad, two children are killed when a mortar shell lands near a police station. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Dutch-Moroccan Muslim Mohammed Bouyeri, identified by the Dutch media as "Mohammed B.", is to be charged for murdering filmmaker Theo van Gogh and for being a member of a group with "terrorist intentions". (Reuters)
- Illness of Yasser Arafat: Israel refuses to allow Yasser Arafat to be buried in Jerusalem. The ailing leader of the Palestinian Authority is still in a coma, which might be reversible; an aide rejects reports that Arafat is "brain dead". Palestinians claim they will only trust a successor who is "determined and steadfast on the fundamental Palestinian rights", some say who is less willing to compromise. (Reuters)
- Voters in the north east of England decisively reject plans for a devolved assembly for the region. With a turnout of 47.8% 197,310 vote for and 696,519 vote against the plans. It is a serious setback for the British Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, who had championed the plans. (BBC)
- Same-sex marriage in Canada: A judge in Saskatchewan rules that same-sex couples must enjoy the right to equal marriage in that province. [4]
- Episcopal Church: The Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh approves an amendment to its Constitution which allows it to differ with the opinion of the national church on issues which the diocese believes to be "contrary to the historic faith and order" of the church. (Diocese of Pittsburgh)
- Spammer Jeremy Jaynes, rated the world's eighth most-prolific spammer, is convicted of three felony charges of sending thousands of junk e-mails through servers located in Virginia, and is recommended to be sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. His sister is fined $7500 for related offences. (Computerworld), (CBC)
- President designate of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso announces that Franco Frattini from Italy and Andris Piebalgs from Latvia will complete his commission.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a bill approving parliament's ratification of the Kyoto protocol bringing the number of countries binded by the treaty to 126. (Reuters)
- The Israeli senior commander in the Gaza Strip, Brig. Gen. Shmuel Zakai, resigns amid allegations of telling the press Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered to increase Operation Days of Penitence on Day 14 while the army considered the operation extracted itself. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- The NGO aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières ends work in Iraq due to the "escalating violence" and "the warring parties have repeatedly shown their disrespect for independent humanitarian assistance." (BBC)
- A suicide car bomb and mortar fire kills three Scottish soldiers and an Iraqi translator south of Baghdad at Camp Dogwood. (BBC)
- The United States recognizes the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as the Republic of Macedonia, the first major foreign policy move by the re-elected Bush administration. The move outrages Greece, who had the European Union's support in lobbying against recognition since Macedonia's independence in 1991. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, announces that she has breast cancer.
- Yasser Arafat, who is on a life-support machine, has been officially declared brain-dead while in intensive care at a hospital in Paris, according to medical sources inside the hospital. (Seattle Times) (BBC)
- The High Court in the Republic of China rejects a petition by the Kuomintang to nullify the March 2004 presidential election result that saw Chen Shui-bian re-elected president by a margin of 0.2% over Lien Chan. The KMT plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. (BBC)
- Researchers of Type 2 diabetes at a Winnipeg laboratory announce that they have isolated a previously hypothetical second substance, called hepatic insulin sensitizing substance or HISS, that participates in sugar storage along with insulin. [5]
- Same-sex marriage in Canada: Two lesbian couples denied marriage licences file a lawsuit against the governments of Canada and of Newfoundland and Labrador, asking for the legalization of same-sex marriage in that province. [6]
- Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, the son of Sheikh Zayed who died yesterday, is elected President by the United Arab Emirates' federal council. (Reuters)
- 2004 U.S. Presidential election:
- Senator John Kerry concedes to President George W. Bush "The outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process," Kerry said. "I would not give up if there was a chance we could prevail." (Reuters) (BBC)
- Republican President George W. Bush wins the popular vote, receiving 3.58 million more votes than Democratic Senator John Kerry. (51.6% to 48.4%, 59.0 million to 55.4 million) Claiming victory in the swing state of Ohio, Bush will probably have more than the 270 votes needed when the U.S. Electoral College meets on December 13. (CNN)
- The Republican Party widens its majority in the Senate and House of Representatives. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle concedes defeat to Republican challenger John Thune, thus becoming the first Senate leader in 52 years to lose a re-election bid and leaving the leadership of the Democratic Party in the Senate open. (CNN)
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports that on November 2, touch-screen electronic voting machines in at least six U.S. states had incorrectly recorded their choices, including for the presidential election. Incorrectly recorded votes make up roughly 20 percent of the e-voting problems. (EFF)
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: Gay rights activists suffer a severe setback when state constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage are passed in eleven states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah. The measures in Oregon, Mississippi, and Montana bar same-sex marriage only; those in the other states bar civil unions and domestic partnerships as well; and Ohio bars granting any benefits whatsoever to same-sex couples. [7]
- Conflict in Iraq:
- A roadside bomb kills a U.S. soldier and wounds another in Salman Pak, south of Baghdad. An Iraqi Oil Ministry official is shot dead while leaving his house in Baghdad. The militant group Army of Ansar al-Sunna release a video on their website confirming the beheading of an Iraqi officer kidnapped in Mosul. In Tikrit, fires continue to burn from major oil wells and a pipelane attacked earlier, halting oil exports. The militant Brigades of Iraq's Honorable People release videos showing beheadings of three Iraqi security guards kidnapped in Baghdad. (Reuters) (BBC)
- The court martial begins for nine U.S. marines charged with the death of an Iraqi prisoner who died after being dragged by his neck to a pen at Camp Whitehorse jail near Nassiriyah. (Reuters)
- Hungary announces the withdrawal of its 300 troops by the end of next March. Poland says it will scale back the 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq early next year. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins, who crossed over the DMZ to North Korea in 1965, pleads guilty to desertion and aiding the enemy at his court martial in Japan. He is sentenced to 30 days in prison and given a dishonorable discharge. (BBC)
- The Republic of China (Taiwan) establishes diplomatic relations with Vanuatu, bringing its international recognition to 27 countries. (CNN)
- Puerto Rico General Elections:
- The State Commission of Elections of Puerto Rico preliminarily certifies Aníbal Acevedo Vilá as the winning candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico, and Luis Fortuño as Resident Commissioner after computing 98.3% of the total votes. A full recount will begin on November 9 to announce the official winner. (El Nuevo Día) (CEE-PUR)
- The Senate of Puerto Rico and the House of Representatives wlll be dominated by the New Progressive Party for the new term. Future senators from the party have already decided certain positions for once they are in office, and how do they plan to work with a governor of the opposing party. (El Nuevo Día)
- Conflict in Iraq: Iraqi officials report at least eight dead in a car bomb outside the education ministry in Baghdad. In Mosul, another car bomb kills two and wounds four Iraqi National Guard. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Darfur conflict: United Nation officials say Sudanese troops have surrounded two refugee camps in Darfur and are blocking access. The Sudanese military say they were asked to protect refugees and evict imposters. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Attempts to totally outlaw parents spanking children in England and Wales fail as a majority of 424 to 75 members of parliament vote against the ban. (BBC)
- NASA says it will resume its space shuttle program next May or early June after a lengthy investigation of the Columbia disaster in 2003, and a setback of a March date due to an active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. (BBC)
- UAE president and founding father Sheikh Zayed dies. Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Maktoum temporarily assumes presidental role. (Reuters)
- Controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh is stabbed and shot dead in Amsterdam; the suspected murderer is arrested after a firefight with police. van Gogh had received numerous death threats after his movie Submission elicited criticism among the Dutch Muslim community. (Reuters) (ABC)
- U.S. presidential election:
- U.S. civil rights organizations report on a number of misleading voter fliers and phone calls aimed at African-American voters, alleging that these are an attempt to suppress the African-American vote in today's U.S. presidential election. (Reuters)
- 2004 US election in progress: Voting begins for the 2004 U.S. presidential election, as well as for elections to the U.S. Congress and many state and local offices. The incumbent, Republican George W. Bush, and the challenger, Democrat John Kerry, are statistically tied in the latest opinion polls.
- Puerto Rico General Elections:
- Aníbal Acevedo Vilá leads with 3,880 votes of advantage against Pedro Rosselló with 98.27% of the total votes counted. By law, a recount must be performed when the winning margin is less than 0.5%. The official winner will be certified on December 31 after the recount is finished. (CEE-PUR)
- The Puerto Rican Independence Party has been unable to reach 3% of the total votes so far, putting in danger their franchise as a principal political party by Puerto Rican electoral laws. Because of this, the party may not receive funds from the government of Puerto Rico nor have a separate column in ballot papers on the following elections. However, Maria de Lourdes Santiago makes history by becoming the first woman to be elected Senator in the party's history. (El Nuevo Dia)
- The Grimsvotn volcano under the Vatnajokull glacier in Iceland erupts (BBC).
- An inquiry by the Egyptian Interior Ministry into last month's bombings of hotels in the Sinai concludes that the perpetrators received no external help, contradicting assertions by Israeli officials that the blasts were linked to al-Qaeda. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- The deputy governor of Baghdad, Hatem Kamil, is assassinated. The militant group Army of Ansar al-Sunna claims responsibility. (Reuters)(BBC)
- A Reuters cameraman is shot dead by suspected sniper fire. In Ramadi, hospital officials report six dead from fighting between United States armed forces and rebels. A U.S. citizen, an unidentified Nepali and four Iraqi workers are taken hostage at gunpoint from their office in Baghdad. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Over 12 inches of rain fall on Venice, Italy, flooding an estimated 80% of the city and shutting down the public transit system. (Reuters) (SBS)
- Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William H. Rehnquist, who has been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments for thyroid cancer, announces he will delay his return to the courtroom on the advice of his doctors. (CNN)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A suicide bombing by a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in Tel Aviv kills three and wounds over 30 people. The Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claims responsibility. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Martial law is imposed in parts of China's Henan province after fighting between Hui Chinese and Han Chinese ethnic groups kills seven and wounds 42 people. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Tabaré Vázquez is elected the next president of Uruguay. (Reuters UK)
- Two days before the 2004 United States presidential elections, President George W. Bush and challenger John Kerry tour the swing states of Ohio, New Hampshire, and Florida. (CNN)
- A section of the Berlin Wall is re-erected at the former Checkpoint Charlie as a memorial to the 1,065 people who were killed trying to escape from East Germany. (BBC)
- Three United Nations workers taken hostage in Afghanistan are shown on a video issued by their captors. (BBC)
- Shamil Basayev, the Chechen rebel commander who claimed responsibility for the September 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis, threatens more attacks against Russian civilians. (BBC)
- The 2004 presidential election in Ukraine is held. Preliminary results indicate Viktor Yanukovich in first place with 40% and Viktor Yushchenko in second with 39%. The run-off will be held on November 21. International monitors report "serious irregularities" in the voting. (BBC)
- Darfur conflict: Rwanda begins deploying a contingent of 237 troops to Darfur, Sudan, as part of an African Union mission to bring stability to the troubled region. Sixty-five soldiers have been sent this weekend; the rest will be deployed as the week progresses. Rwanda already had some troops in Darfur. (CNN)
- Conflict in Iraq: 15 Iraqi Shia workers are killed and eight wounded in a rocket attack on a hotel in the predominately Sunni city of Tikrit. (Reuters)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi indicates that he will likely withdraw the controversial nomination of Rocco Buttiglione to the European Union Commission which caused deadlock in the European Parliament this week. (BBC)
- NAACP send out warnings about a forged letter that threatens the arrest of voters who have outstanding parking tickets or have failed to pay child support. (The State)
- Vaughn Meader, whose The First Family comedy-album spoof of John F. Kennedy was the fastest-selling American album of all time and won the 1963 Grammy Award for best album of the year, dies in Auburn, Maine. (CNN)
- Fighting broke out for the second time in a month in Somalia between the declared independent Republic of Somaliland and the autonomous Puntland. So far, fighting in the disputed region has left over a hundred dead.(BBC)
- In Rome, heads of state and government from the countries of the European Union sign the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe. The treaty is still subject to ratification by the member nations. (BBC)
- Norodom Sihamoni is crowned King of Cambodia. (BBC)
- Yasser Arafat is flown to Paris, France for medical treatment at Percy military hospital which specializes in blood disorders and cancer. Ahmed Qurei will manage the daily affairs of the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Organization. (Reuters)
- Two bombings occur in southern Thailand, in the wake of clashes between minority Muslim protesters and Thai soldiers in which about 80 protesters were suffocated while being transported to detention camps. (see 26 October current events.) (INQ7.net)
- A Johns Hopkins University study, published in the British medical journal the Lancet, estimates that an additional 100,000 civilian deaths have occurred since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. However, the study has a significant margin of error — the actual figure predicted by the study is anywhere from 8,000 to 194,000 excess deaths. (The Lancet) (Lancet report [pdf]) (BBC) (Slate)
- The New York Times reports the existence of a videotape made by a KSTP St. Paul, Minnesota television crew embedded with U.S. 101st Airborne Division troops on April 18, 2003, nine days after Hussein's fall. The videotape shows the sealed explosives containers at Al Qaqaa, clearly displaying the ammunition cache of explosives and other weapons supplies, sealed with the IAEA seals which were reported by the IAEA 18 months ago. (NY Times)
- Arab television network Al Jazeera broadcasts a new video tape of Osama bin Laden, addressing citizens of the United States, acknowledging his responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks, threatening further action against the U.S., and criticizing U.S. President George W. Bush. He said that the security of the American people depended neither on Mr. Bush nor on John Kerry, but on US policy. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Belgium : Strike of the buses, metros and tramways of the Brussels public transport company STIB/MIVB. Buses of De lijn however worked. (Expatica.com) (Xinhua)
- In Latvia, Indulis Emsis, the first Green Party prime minister steps down when the country's minority coalition government dissolves after the parliament rejects its 2005 budget. (CNN)
- An article in the Washington Times, citing U.S. Defense Department official John A. Shaw, alleges that Russian special forces moved weapons, explosives, and related materials out of Iraq and into Syria, Lebanon, and possibly Iran, shortly before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Russia denies the allegation, calling the claims "absurd". U.S. officials later say they cannot corroborate the claim, but are investigating. (Washington Times) (VOA) (Interfax)
- A Los Angeles-based company, Allerca, announced that within three years it will be able to produce a hypoallergenic cat using genetic modification. At the same time, the company denied that it will be able to do the same for dogs, because whereas cats have a single gene that produces the allergenic protein, dogs have many allergenic proteins controlled by multiple genes. (San Jose Mercury News) (New Scientist)
- U.S. presidential election:
- Election officials in Broward County, Florida report that over 50,000 absentee ballots for next Tuesday's U.S. presidential election are missing. Officials mailed 60,000 absentee ballots earlier this month, but only 2,000 were delivered. (BBC)
- Iraq explosives issue: U.S. presidential candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry accuse each other regarding Monday's announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency that 380 tons (345,000 kg) of explosives are missing from the Al Qa'qaa industrial facility in Iraq. (Japan Today)
- A methane gas explosion in Russia's Listvyazhnaya mine, which is located in Siberia near the border with Mongolia, kills 13 people and injures 23. (Reuters)
- A total lunar eclipse, visible in western Europe, western Africa, and most of North and South America, takes place. It lasts for 3 hours, 40 minutes (1:15 to 4:54 UTC); the next total lunar eclipse will not occur until March 2007. (NASA) (Seattle Times)
- The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series title since 1918 — and break the "Curse of the Bambino" — by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 3–0 in the fourth game of the [[20