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)
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 US)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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 pipeline 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)
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 shutdown of the Number 2 Balakovonuclear reactor in the Saratov region of southern Russia due to a turbine malfunction causes widespread local panic. Local pharmacies' supplies of iodine sell out; residents flee, urging each other to drink vodka and avoid public water. Engineers at the plant find no leak of radiation. A number of people are hospitalized for iodine overdose; the government and media are criticized for poor coordination. (Bellona)
SpammerJeremy 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)
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)
The United States recognizes the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name rather than the name "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" used by the United Nations, 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)
Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Maryland State Police say Phelps was stopped around 11:30 Thursday night, near the intersection of Route 13 and Bateman Street in Salisbury, after a trooper spotted an SUV that failed to stop at a stop sign. Beside the charge of driving under the influence, Phelps was also charged with driving while impaired by alcohol, violation of a license restriction, and failure to obey a traffic control device. (WBAL Radio)
November 5, 2004
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)
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan warns that an assault on Falluja may result in a SunniMuslim 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)
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)
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)
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)
At an anti-nuclear waste shipment protest rally near the French town of Avricourt a protester, Sébastien Briat, is killed after a train severs his leg. The 23-year-old French man was protesting against the CASTOR transport. (BBC)
In Broward County, officials find the software used in Broward can handle only 32,000 votes per precinct. After that, the system starts counting backward. The problem affected running tallies and not the final vote totals. All absentee ballots had been placed in a single precinct to be counted and only the votes for constitutional amendments reached the threshold and encountered the problem. (The Palm Beach Post)
Microsoft announces it will pay NovellUSD $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)
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)
The current wave of violence in Côte d'Ivoire 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)
Supercomputers: The Top 500 Supercomputers list, which officially charts the records for the 500 fastest computers in the world, announces IBM's Blue Gene/L prototype as the world's fastest supercomputer. Using the Linpack benchmark, it achieved a record computational speed of 70.72 TFlops, taking the title away from Japan's Earth Simulator (35.86 TFlops) which held the title since June 2002. NASA's Columbia takes second place with 51.87 TFlops. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: U.S. troops reach the center of Falluja with heavy fighting reported throughout the city. The Pentagon announces 10 U.S. and two Iraqi soldiers killed in the assault. One third of prisoners captured in Falluja by Iraqi forces have been foreigners from Egypt and Syria. Residents say a U.S. airstrike hit a clinic killing medical staff and patients. A 9 year old boy dies because of lack of medical assistance after he was hit by shrapnel in what parents say was a separate airstrike. The mainly SunniIraqi Islamic Party withdraws from the Iraq Interim Governing Council. Iraqi and U.S. forces capture a mosque in northwest Falluja that was being used as an arms depot and insurgent meeting place and the Muslim Clerics Association called for a boycott of the election in protest of the assault. In Mosul, two U.S. soldiers are killed when mortars land in a military base. Three police stations are attacked in Baquba with casualty reports ranging from 25 to 45 people killed. A car bomb outside an Iraqi National Guard base near Kirkuk kills three people and wounds two. In Samarra, a senior local government official is assassinated. (Reuters)(BBC)
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas have visited Arafat at his bedside, and Mr. Abbas has described his condition as "very serious" (BBC)
The euro reaches a new record high against the United States dollar, valued at more than $1.30. Concerns over the U.S.trade deficit, the $427 billion budget deficit and $166 billion current account deficit are thought to be behind the dollar's recent losses. (BBC)(BBC)
The trial of the suspected Frenchserial killerÉmile Louis proceeds, as the Yonneassize court transports itself to the location where the bodies of two victims were found under Louis' indications.
A Dutch police squad comes under a grenade attack, injuring 3 policemen, following an antiterrorist raid on a house in The Hague. The area's airspace is closed as a precaution. Two arrests have been made.(BBC)(Reuters)
President Bush says, "For the Palestinian people, we hope that the future will bring peace and the fulfillment of their aspirations for an independent, democratic Palestine that is at peace with its neighbors." (Washington Times)
IsraeliJustice minister Tommy Lapid says it is "good that the world is rid of him... The sun is shining in the Middle East". (BBC)
Scott Peterson is found guilty of murder in the first degree of his wife, Laci Peterson, and in the second degree of his unborn son, Connor. The penalty phase of the trial was scheduled for November 22, 2004. (CNN)
Yasser Arafat's funeral procession is held in Cairo, Egypt. Arafat is given full military honours and his coffin is led by a horse drawn carriage. Leaders of Muslim and Arab countries as well as other dignitaries attend, including Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas, who is currently sought by Israel. (Reuters)(BBC)
Israel has barred the entire population of the Gaza Strip from attending Yassir Arafat's funeral in Ramallah, and has sealed off many West Bank towns. (BBC)
Ramallah is described as in a state of "chaos" as tens of thousands of people pack the area in and around the Muqata, prior to Arafat's burial. Gunmen in the crowd shot repeatedly into the air, but there is no serious violence; and plans for Arafat to lie in state appear to have been dropped due to the huge crowd. He was buried in soil from Al Quds.(BBC)
November 13, 2004
US Troops are preventing a Red Crescent aid convoy from entering the city of Falluja, reportedly for safety reasons (Reuters)
A fire has badly damaged a mosque in the south-eastern village of Helden, Netherlands, in the latest of a series of attacks on Dutch Muslim sites. (BBC)
Japan's trade minister Shoichi Nakagawa says he believes that a Chinese submarine, which Tokyo says intruded into Japanese waters last week, is linked to gas exploration by China in a remote island area claimed by both countries. (VOA)
Researchers claim to have found the lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east Mediterranean Sea, 80 kilometers southeast of Cyprus. The Cypriot government disputes the claim, saying more evidence is needed. (CNN)
US troops in Falluja have launched new air strikes and artillery attacks against suspected rebel positions. (BBC)
The US military says they believe civilian casualties are low in Falluja because so many people fled the city before the assault began, but this is disputed by some eyewitnesses. The military is still refusing to allow aid workers in and casualty figures cannot yet be confirmed. (BBC)(Gulf Daily News)(AP)
November 16, 2004
Japan says the People's Republic of China has apologized for one of its submarines sailing into Japanese waters last week. The PRC has refused to confirm the apology, saying only that a "diplomatic" resolution has been reached. (VOA)
Margaret Hassan, the Irish-born aid worker kidnapped in Iraq, is believed to have been killed. A tape apparently showing her being shot has surfaced. (BBC)
Three apparently home-made explosive devices are detonated in three Buenos Aires banks in Argentina, killing a security guard and wounding a police officer. (BBC)(Reuters)
In Israel, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), investigating alleged crimes by an Israeli officer, is seeking to exhume the body of 13-year-old Iman al-Hams. The schoolgirl was shot at least 15 times by the IDF. (BBC)
Three Palestinians are buried while digging a smuggling tunnel in Rafah. The tunnel collapsed due to heavy rain. The Israeli Defence Force permitted Palestinian rescue forces to try to rescue them, and later sent its own bulldozers to help. The rescue efforts succeeded and three Palestinian were recovered from the ruins alive. They were treated by IDF medical staff and later taken to investigation. (Washington Times), (Maariv), (Haaretz)
Three Egyptian paramilitary security officers stationed at the Sinai-Gaza border are killed by Israeli tank fire, after IDF troops allegedly mistook them for Palestinianterrorists or militants . The Egyptian government accepts an apology from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and demands an investigation on the incident. (Haaretz)(Reuters)(BBC)
Sudanese Civil War: At a special session of the United NationsSecurity Council in Nairobi, Kenya, the government of Sudan and southern rebels sign an agreement which states that both sides will commit themselves to ending the 21 year conflict by December 31. The Council then unanimously passes a resolution which promises substantial aid to the country after the wars in the south and in the region of Darfur come to an end. (Reuters)
Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, one of the most controversial Dutch politicians, advocates a five-year halt to non-Western immigration in the wake of the murder of Theo van Gogh stating: "The Netherlands has been too tolerant to intolerant people for too long, we should not import a retarded political Islamic society to our country". (NYT)
United States Congress: The U.S. Congress has passed a bill reinstating and extending a ban on taxation of internet access for another three years. (Reuters)
Russia announces it will sell off the main production unit of Yukos, the energy company seized last year for supposedly failing to pay taxes. (BBC)
The U.S.U.S. Congress raises the national debt ceiling by USD 800 billion to a total of USD 8.18 trillion. This makes the new borrowing cap 30% higher than the debt Bush inherited, and 70% of the size of the U.S. economy. (CNN)(Debt Clock)
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, members of the NBAIndiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons engage in an ugly brawl involving players and spectators. Ron Artest of the Pacers initiated the conflict with fans when he entered the crowd at the Palace of Auburn Hills after a fan threw a cup of beer at him. The game was postponed with 45 seconds remaining. Artest was suspended for the rest of the season, while several members of both teams were suspended by the league for their involvement.
U.S. Military officials report that 102 soldiers, 85% of which are serving in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, have contracted a rather rare blood infection by Acinetobacter baumannii. Military investigators say there is no evidence of biochemical agents in the infection which surfaces occasionally in unsanitary hospitals, but that some soldiers were arriving with infections. (CNN)
World Vision, one of the last aid agencies left in Iraq, announces it will pull its staff out of the country following the murder of its senior manager. (BBC)
In Baghdad, two people are killed when clashes break out as Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops enter a popular Sunnimosque to arrest dozens of members reportedly including the imam. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: The nineteen member Paris Club agrees to forgive 80% of nearly $40 billion in Iraqi debt, in three stages: 20% now, 30% in 2005 and 20% in 2008 in tandem with Iraq's implementation of an International Monetary Fund economic programme. $80 billon in debt to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, among others, will remain. (BBC)
Ukraine holds the second vote in a run-offpresidential election today. Voters will decide between Moscow-oriented Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and western-leaning reformer Viktor Yushchenko. Observers have expressed concern over possible Russian interference, election abuses, and bias in reporting by the state media. With 74% of vote counted, Yanukovych leads Yushchenko 49%-48%. Yushchenko has alleged that massive election fraud has taken place. (BBC)(BBC)
Iran's nuclear program: Iran declares that it will suspend its uranium enrichment programme to comply with a European Union-brokered deadline. Iran will review its decision in three months. The EU seeks to have the suspension made permanent and is willing to provide economic and political incentives. (Reuters)(BBC)
A mechanical failure has been blamed for an oil spill on the eastern coast of Canada. Experts estimate 170,000 litres of oil have been spilled into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, covering an area 9 km long by 1 km wide. (CBC)
An Israeli military court indicts an unidentified outpost commander in charge of soldiers who killed a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in the Gaza Strip on October 5. (Haaretz)
2004 Ukrainian presidential election: Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declares himself winner and takes a symbolic oath of office at a parliament special session, boycotted by pro-government MPs. Crowds of around 200,000 Yushchenko supporters rally outside the parliament building in Kiev. Freedom House releases a statement saying that the runoff election was "tainted by massive voter fraud." Russian Foreign Ministry expresses "extreme concern" about the disobedience actions by the Ukrainian opposition. (BBC)(Reuters)(FH)
The city governments of Lviv, Ternopil, Vinnytsia and Ivano-Frankivsk announce their support for Yushchenko. A crowd estimated at 200,000 surrounds the Parliament building in Kiev, calling for Yanukovych to step down. (The Guardian)
Ohio law requires state officials to perform a recount when called for by candidates on the ballot, but a federal judge today declared that the results can be declared final before the recount occurs. (CNN)
Justice Through Music has posted a minimum $200,000 reward for specific evidence of vote fraud in the recent election in light of the many instances of reported voter irregularities. (eMediaWire)
Israeli Defence Force officer claims, he was right to repeatedly shoot an unarmed 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza, saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old. [6]
Despite earlier reports that Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko had agreed to hold talks over the country's heavily disputed elections, this now seems unlikely. Protests continue, with an official election result due to be announced at around 1400 UTC. (BBC)
The Ukrainian Supreme Court bars publication of the presidential election results, delaying inauguration, and decides to examine a complaint alleging fraud on November 28. (Reuters)
The Luhans'k region of Ukraine, the easternmost Russian-speaking region, has reportedly declared itself autonomous and requested recognition from the Russian Federation. Several more regions, including Donetsk, have ruled to put autonomy on popular referendum.
Supporters of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko blockaded official buildings in Kiev Friday, in a direct challenge to the Moscow-backed government's control of the country. (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said after a summit meeting with the European Union that the results of the Ukrainian presidential elections are absolutely clear. (AFP)
Fatah officially picks former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, already PLO chairman, as its candidate for January's presidential elections. (BBC)(Reuters)
According to the chairman of the Duma commission investigating the Beslan school massacre, there is indirect evidence of involvement by a foreign intelligence agency; however, the agency remains unnamed. (Interfax)
Ukraine's parliament votes for the annulment of the election results and asks PresidentLeonid Kuchma to dissolve the country's Central Election Committee. This is a non-binding request as the parliament cannot annul the results itself. (CNN)
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot says that the EU believes fresh elections are the best option for Ukraine. (Reuters)
Swiss voters overwhelmingly approve government proposals to permit research using stem cells of human embryos. (BBC)
An explosion in a coal mine in the Chinese central province of Shaanxi leaves 187 men trapped underground. Official figures show 4,153 mining accident deaths in the last 9 months, while 119 miners are still missing from a November 20 iron mine fire in Hebei. (BBC)(Xinhua)(Xinhua)
Conflict in Iraq: 42 primarily Shi'a parties release a statement saying a postponement of elections would be illegal. The U.S. military reports a U.S. soldier is killed by a roadside bomb in Duluiya north of Baghdad and that troops discover 17 more corpses in Mosul, raising the number found to at least 50 in two weeks. Hospital officials in Ramadi say two people are killed and three wounded when U.S. troops fire on suspected insurgents. (Reuters)(BBC)
Two U.S. soldiers are killed and three wounded when a roadside bomb in Baghdad detonates. Four Iraqi National Guard are killed in an attack on a checkpoint in nearby Baghdadi. Six Iraqis are killed in a blast near a police station in Ramadi. The Iraqi Red Crescent establishes a relief center in Fallujah, while the International Red Cross says the city remains under siege and workers are unable to freely administer aid. (Reuters)(BBC)
Deputy leader of al QaidaAyman al-Zawahiri releases a videotape vowing to continue fighting "until the last hour" and urging the U.S. to cooperate with Muslims and stop dealing "with them as free loot, robbed land and violated sanctity." (Reuters)
Attorneys for Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb asked a federal court today to take jurisdiction of, and ultimately dissolve, a temporary restraining order issued by a Delaware County, Ohio, judge attempting to prevent Cobb from seeking a recount of the presidential ballots cast in that county. [8]
Attorneys representing John Kerry filed papers to join the Cobb / Badnarik Ohio recount case. [9]
If the Ohio recount does not begin before the votes are certified, then electors will be chosen before the recount begins. [10]
Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio dissolves the parliament after Prime minister Pedro Santana Lopes fails to present a plan to solve cabinet instability. The elections are expected to be scheduled to February 2005. (CNN)(BBC)
U.K.Home SecretaryDavid Blunkett defends his actions after newspaper allegations that he used his position to acquire a fast-track visa application for his former lover's nanny, ordering an independent enquiry into his own actions and denying any impropriety, whilst apologising for inadvertently misusing government funds to obtain her a first class train ticket. (BBC)
