Current events
Time: 06:40 UTC |
Date: August 30 |
See also:
Current sports events
- Illness of Yasser Arafat: A spokesman for Yasser Arafat says that Arafat is not comatose. It remains unclear whether Arafat had regained conciousness or had been conscious all along. (AP) (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041107/ap_on_re_mi_ea/arafat&cid=540&ncid=716) (The Age) (http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Arafat-stable-not-in-a-coma/2004/11/07/1099781228880.html?oneclick=true)
- Iran's nuclear program: Talks between Iran and three European Union members, Great Britain, France and Germany 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 indefinate 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) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6735025§ion=news)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3989277.stm)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3987897.stm)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3987341.stm)
- Darfur conflict: African Union mediators adjourn negotiations with Sudan after numerous security issues are not agreed upon, mainly a no-fly zone in Darfur. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6734420&pageNumber=0)(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3988709.stm)
- 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) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6734598)(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3987927.stm)
- Côte d'Ivoire: Nine French peacekeepers and a U.S. citizen are killed in the rebel-held town of Bouake 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) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/11/06/ivorycoast.reut/index.html) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3989127.stm)
- 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) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6725339§ion=news)
- 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) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6731678§ion=news)[1] (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6734598§ion=news)
- 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) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6731581§ion=news)(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3985493.stm)
- Mohammed Bouyeri, identified by the Dutch media only as "Mohammed B.", a Dutch-Moroccan Muslim, is to be charged for murdering filmmaker Theo van Gogh and for being a member of a group with "terrorist intentions". (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=G5EKT0PFITMBICRBAEKSFFA?type=worldNews&storyID=6731257§ion=news)
- 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) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=G5EKT0PFITMBICRBAEKSFFA?type=worldNews&storyID=6730716§ion=news)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3984387.stm)
- Same-sex marriage in Canada: A judge in Saskatchewan rules that same-sex couples must enjoy the right to equal marriage in that province. [2] (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/11/05/same-sex_marriage_041105.html)
- 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) (http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,97229,00.html), (CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/11/04/spam041104.html)
- 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) (http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=615771§ion=news)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3982895.stm)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- The NGO aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) ends work in Iraq due to the "escalating violence" and "the warring parties have repeatedly shown their disrespect for independent humanitarian assistance." (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3982689.stm)
- A suicide car bomb and mortar fire kills three Scottish soldiers and an Iraqi translator south of Baghdad at Camp Dogwood. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3983443.stm)
- 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) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6717491) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3981499.stm)
- 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) (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002081775_arafat04.html) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3980903.stm)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3981259.stm)
- 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. [3] (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041103.wdiab1103/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/)
- 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. [4] (http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/11/110404canMarr.htm)
- Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, the son of Sheikh Zayed who died yesterday, is elected President by the United Arab Emirates' federal council. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6703716§ion=news)
- 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) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6703896) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3980533.stm)
- 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) (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/)
- 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) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/02/senate.main/index.html)
- 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) (http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_11.php#002062)
- 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. [5] (http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/11/110304amendments.htm)
- 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) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6704830&pageNumber=0) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3977379.stm)
- 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) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6704982§ion=news)
- 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) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6703743)(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3979349.stm)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3975055.stm)
- The Republic of China (Taiwan) establishes diplomatic relations with Vanuatu, bringing its international recognition to 27 countries. (CNN) (http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/11/02/taiwan.vanuatu.ap/index.html)
- Puerto Rico General Elections:
- 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) (http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/breaking_news/10050609.htm)
- 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) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/29/obit.meader.ap/)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3965861.stm)
- 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) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3963701.stm)
- Norodom Sihamoni is crowned King of Cambodia. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3963945.stm)
- 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) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6655937)
- 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) (http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=3&story_id=16454)
- 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) (http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol364/iss9445/full/llan.364.9445.early_online_publication.31137.1) (Lancet report [pdf]) (http://image.thelancet.com/extras/04art10342web.pdf) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3962969.stm) (Slate) (http://slate.msn.com/id/2108887/)
- 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) (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/29/politics/29bomb.html)
- 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) (http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6664227) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3966741.stm)
- Belgium : Strike of the buses, metros and tramways of the Brussels public transport company STIB/MIVB. Buses of De lijn however worked. (Expatica.com) (http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=13323&name=STIB+strike+over+passenger+violence) (Xinhua) (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/22/content_2126422.htm)
- 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) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/10/28/latvia.coalition.reut/index.html)
- 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) (http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20041028-122637-6257r.htm) (VOA) (http://www.voanews.com/english/2004-10-28-voa49.cfm) (Interfax) (http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=10715486)
- 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) (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/health/10035419.htm?1c) (New Scientist) (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996594)
- U.S. presidential election:
- 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) (http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=610775§ion=news)
- 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) (http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2004Oct28/TLE2004Oct28.html) (Seattle Times) (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002075277_weblunareclipse28.html)
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