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December 2004 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →
[edit] Events
- U.S. TV personality Tom Brokaw ends his career as anchor for NBC Nightly News.
- Palestinian presidential election, 2005: Jailed Palestinian Marwan Barghouti joins the race to succeed Yasser Arafat, bringing the total to 10 candidates, drawing criticism from Arafat's Fatah movement. (Reuters)(BBC)
- AIDS pandemic: The head of Brazil's AIDS program says the government will violate patents on anti-AIDS drugs by copying them, citing unsustainable increases in cost. (BBC)
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ends the Likud-led coalition after he fires ministers from the secular Shinui party, which voted to defeat the annual budget over subsidies to religious parties. (Haaretz) (BBC) (Reuters)
- 2004 Ukrainian presidential election: Ukraine's parliament, Verkhovna Rada, passes a vote of no-confidence to dismiss Viktor Yanukovich as Prime Minister. The opposition led by Viktor Yushchenko agrees to continue negotiations and end the blockade of official buildings. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Serbia's interior minister says the "assassination attempt" on president Boris Tadić was a case of road rage against his motor convoy in Belgrade traffic. (Reuters)
- CBS and NBC refuse to air an advertisement by the United Church of Christ citing the advocacy of accepting homosexuals is "too controversial". The advertisement was accepted by numerous other networks including Fox, ABC and TBS. (CNN) (UCC)
- A French appeals court reduces former Prime Minister Alain Juppé's disqualification from holding public office from ten years to one, opening up the way for him to contend in the 2007 presidential election. (BBC)
- Côte d'Ivoire conflict: French officials acknowledge troops killed around 20 people during clashes with anti-French protestors, but maintain the French troops acted in self-defense and gave warning shots, contrary to Ivoirian police claims. (BBC)
- Chinese state media confirms all 166 miners missing after a coal mine explosion in central Shaanxi province on November 28 are dead. (Xinhua) (BBC)
- Rwandan troops are spotted by UN personnel in eastern Congo where Congolese officials say the troops are attacking and burning villages. The last invasion started the Congo Civil War, which resulted in the deaths of 3-4 million people. (Reuters)
- An Indonesian MD-82 from the charter airline Lion Air crashes in Central Java, killing at least 31 people and injuring at least 62 people. (CNN) (Reuters)
- A report commissioned by U.N. Secretary General calls for radical reform of the United Nations, including expansion of the U.N. Security Council. (AP)
- Egypt and Israel hold talks in Jerusalem to discuss the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
- United States President George W. Bush holds talks with Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin in his first official visit to the country and agrees to work together to combat terrorism. (BBC)
- David Blunkett, U.K. Home Secretary, insists that he did no wrong in the controversy surrounding the alleged misuse of his position, and receives the backing of Prime Minister Tony Blair. Sir Alan Budd is appointed to carry out an independent enquiry. (BBC)
- 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy: The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary requests Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to respond to alleged voting irregularities. (House.gov (PDF))
- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights upholds Peru's conviction and continued imprisonment of U.S. citizen Lori Berenson on terrorism charges. (BBC) (AP)
- A spokesman for George W. Bush requests that Myanmar release dissident opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose house arrest was recently extended. (BBC)
- Iran's nuclear program: United Nations inspectors wishing to inspect the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran and Lavizan II in northeastern Tehran lack the legal authority according to United Nations diplomats. (Reuters)
- British Member of Parliament and anti-war activist George Galloway wins his libel case against the Daily Telegraph, which during the invasion of Iraq had published a story suggesting that Galloway had been in the pay of Saddam Hussein. (BBC)
- U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns to become the next Secretary of Agriculture. If confirmed by the Senate, Johanns would fill the Cabinet position currently held by resigning Secretary Ann Veneman. (Reuters) (Transcript)
- The life sentence of Mijailo Mijailovic, killer of Swedish minister Anna Lindh, is confirmed by the Swedish Supreme Court (BBC) (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
- The European Union takes over from NATO in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largely replacing the NATO-led SFOR with a new Eufor. (BBC)
- India announces a new effort to survey and decontaminate the area affected by the December 3, 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq: The U.S. military, citing security concerns for the Iraqi transitional parliamentary election scheduled for January 30, 2005, announces the deployment of 1,500 additional troops to Iraq and tour extensions bringing the number to an all time high of 150,000. (Reuters) (CNN)
- Dragomir Milošević, the general who besieged Sarajevo for 3 years during the Bosnian Civil War surrenders to the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. 12,000 people died during the siege. (AFP)
- The People's Republic of China launches a new long-range nuclear submarine and an accompanying class of ballistic missiles, with a range in excess of 7,400 km (4,600 miles), developed by the People's Liberation Army. (AP)
- 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy: The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary schedules a public congressional forum on voting irregularities in Ohio on December 8. (House.gov (PDF))
- Yukos loses an appeal to halt the auctioning off of its main production unit. President of Russia Vladimir Putin, while on his three day visit to India, says Indian firms are welcomed to bid. (BBC)
- Kosovo's parliament elects a former KLA commander, Ramush Haradinaj, who has been questioned twice by UN war crimes investigators. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- U.S. President George W. Bush nominates former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik to replace outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge in the Cabinet position. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson also announces his resignation. (Reuters)
- Following warnings by separatist group ETA, a number of devices explode in Madrid. (Reuters) (BBC) (Wikinews)
- Ukrainian Supreme Court rules that the 2004 second round presidential results are invalid and requires a new vote to be completed within three weeks without determining whether the second round will be re-run or an entirely new election will be run. (BBC) (Yahoo! News)
- Former Israeli chief Rabbi and Holocaust survivor Meir Lau says that "Jewish history in Europe is nearing its end" and called the Jewish Agency to prepare for the absorption of Europe's Jews in Israel. Lau conveyed concern over rise in antisemitism and fading of the Holocaust remembrance in Europe.(Haaretz)
- Rwanda denies it has sent any troops to Congo. Reuters quotes unnamed diplomatic sources that claim that the troops were there only temporarily. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Brazilian paleontologists of the University of Rio de Janeiro announce a find of a new dinosaur species, Unaysaurus tolentinoi. The find also shows links to Europe when both continents were part of Pangaea. (Reuters) (BBC) (News 24)
- Typhoon Nanmadol slams into the island of Luzon in the Philippines, less than a week after tropical depression locally called "Winnie" caused landslides and floods in the region also affected by the earlier typhoons Muifa and Merbok. Floods and landslides by Winnie killed at least 495 persons. More people are expected to be declared missing or dead as typhoon Nanmadol leaves the country later today. (CNN) (Inquirer/GMA7)
- Dissident investors in Disney, including former board member Roy Disney, nephew of the company founder Walt Disney, announced that they won't nominate a slate of alternate directors for the 2005 annual meeting. The announcement is a sign of an easing of tensions at that corporation's board. thestreet.com
- In Taiwan, rallies are held in support of candidates in this week's elections to the Legislative Yuan (parliament). Party sources estimate that separate rallies held in Taipei by the Kuomintang and Taiwan Solidarity Union drew around 100,000 each. (VOA) (TaipeiTimes)
- A referendum in Hungary to grant citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living in other countries appears to have failed due to insufficient turnout. The proposal has angered the governments of countries with significant Hungarian populations, particularly Romania. The Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsány, opposed the referendum. (Reuters)
- 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy:
- Hundreds gather at the Ohio statehouse to demand a recount of votes, citing fraud that took votes from John Kerry and gave them to George W. Bush. (AP)
- A lawsuit challenging the Volusia County, Florida election is thrown out for being a day late. The suit claims paperwork is missing from 59 of Volusia's 179 precincts and that precinct printouts show different numbers. (AP)
- The Thai government drops millions of origami cranes on its restive, predominantly Muslim provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, saying that they are a gesture of goodwill and peace. (Channel News Asia) (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin seeks to ban Hizbullah's TV channel al-Manar from broadcasting in France due to purported anti-Semitic content, most recently involving a commentator speaking of "Zionist attempts to transmit AIDS to Arab countries". al-Manar claims to be anti-Israeli rather than anti-Semitic. (BBC)
- In a Prisoner exchange between Israel and Egypt, Egypt releases Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Druze businessman sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by Egypt in 1997 on charges of spying for Israel, while Israel releases 6 Egyptian students who allegedly infiltrated Israel to kidnap soldiers. (Haaretz) (BBC)
- With more than 1000 people dead or missing, devastation in the northern agricultural regions, and damaged infrastructure after Monday's storm and Thursday's Typhoon Nanmadol, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo suspends logging and pledges to prosecute violators. (Malaysia Star)(Boston Globe) (New York Times)
- Former Houston Rockets star Calvin Murphy acquitted of charges that he molested his five daughters. (Houston Chronicle)
- Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams recommends that Sinn Féin support a British-Irish power-sharing plan for Northern Ireland that involves the public decommissioning of the arms held by the Irish Republican Army. Ian Paisley of the loyalist Democratic Unionist Party may become first minister of Northern Ireland, with former IRA member Martin McGuinness as his deputy. (BBC)
- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has come under fire after reports claim that his son received payments from a Swiss company that won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil for Food program. (BBC)
- The U.S. consular compound in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is stormed by gunmen, who kill nine Saudis in a four-hour battle but do not gain entry to the consulate building itself. Saudi security forces kill three of the gunmen, arrest two others, and pursue several more. There are no Americans dead, though some are slightly wounded. (BBC) (Reuters/AFP)
- In Spain the Basque separatist group ETA detonate seven bombs in bars, cafes and town squares across the country. The cities attacked are León, Ávila, Santillana del Mar, Ciudad Real, Málaga, Valladolid, and Alicante. All the attacks were preceded by warnings and nobody was seriously hurt. (BBC)
- Ukrainian presidential election controversy: EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has returned to Ukraine for talks on the country's political crisis.(BBC)
- Delegates from twelve South American countries meeting in Cuzco, Peru, sign a deal creating the South American Community of Nations, a bloc modelled on the European Union. (BBC)
- The Israeli government indicates that it will recognize same-sex partnerships for certain benefits, and will introduce legislation formalizing this status. (365gay.com)
- Civil unions in New Zealand: Parliament passes civil union legislation by 65 votes to 55. The new law provides a way for de facto couples, including same-sex couples, to gain legal recognition of their relationships, but stops short of same-sex marriage. (Scoop) (TVNZ)
- The White House affirms that, despite reports to the contrary, John Snow will remain Treasury Secretary during President George W. Bush's second term of office. Meanwhile, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi announces his expected resignation. (CNN)
- The United States Senate follows the U.S. House of Representatives in approving a complete overhaul of government intelligence services, creating the post of United States Director of National Intelligence. (BBC)
- The European Union says it is not ready to lift its 15-year-old arms embargo on the People's Republic of China, set after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. (BBC)
- Malaysian Deputy Home Affairs Minister Tan Chai Ho announces that once an extended amnesty sought by Indonesia comes to an end later this year, illegal immigrants will face up to 5 years in prison and a whipping; their employers will also be punished. More than 18,000 undocumented migrants have already been whipped since the 2002 amendment to the Malaysian Immigration Act. (China View) (Channel News Asia)
- IBM announces that it will sell its PC hardware business to Lenovo, a Chinese computer company. (BBC)
- Seer Jayendra Saraswathi, a senior Hindu cleric, has been denied bail over his murder charge in India's southern Tamil Nadu state. (BBC)
- The Times reports that Dr. Nikolai Korpan, who treated Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko in Vienna, announced Yushchenko had been poisoned, and that the specific poison would be identified within days, but later denied the report, saying he had been cited wrongly and that it would be hard to gain hard evidence for a poisoning. (Times Online) (Yahoo News)
- While performing with post-Pantera band Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott was shot and killed onstage by Nathan Gale. Abbott was shot a total of five times. He was 38 years old. Three others were killed in the shooting: concert attendee Nathan Bray, 23, of Columbus; club employee Erin Halk, 29, of northwest Columbus; and Damageplan security guard Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, 40, of Texas. The band's drum technician, John Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were injured.
- Israeli troops kill Rania Siam, an 8-year-old Palestinian girl, as she eats lunch in the kitchen of her home in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip. Earlier, three mortar shells are fired into the nearby Israeli settlement of Neve Dekalim injuring four people, one of them a child. Hamas claims responsibility. Israeli troops fire in the general direction the source of mortar fire. The Israeli army says it will investigate Rania Siam's death. (NYT)
- A riot forms in Puerto Rico between members of the PIP, the FUPI, the Socialist party and members of the police in front of the federal court business, where PIP and PNP backers had shown two days before the outcome of the 2004 Puerto Rican elections are decided by a judge. Several people, including seven policemen, are severely injured. (El Vocero, in Spanish)
- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is acquitted of bribery thanks to the statute of limitations. The court's ruling implied that Berlusconi probably was guilty of bribing a judge in 1991, but said that too much time had passed for him to be punished. Financial Times Reuters
- The 2004 Nobel Prizes are handed out at twin ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm. (Canadian Press) (BBC)
- "Godfather of Soul" James Brown is diagnosed with prostate cancer and will undergo surgery next week. (BBC)
- A bomb explodes at a market in the Pakistani city of Quetta, leaving at least ten people dead. (BBC)
- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights orders Guatemala to pay USD $7.9 million in compensation to 317 survivors of the 1982 Plan de Sánchez massacre in which soldiers and paramilitaries killed 268 villagers.
- Self-confessed cannibal Yoo Young-Chul, convicted of killing 20 people, mostly prostitutes, is sentenced to death in Seoul, South Korea. (Xinhua)
- France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'État, bans Hizbullah's al-Manar TV station on the grounds that it incites racial hatred and antisemitism. (BBC)
- The jury in the Scott Peterson trial recommends that he be sentenced to death for the murder of his wife and unborn son. (CNN)
- Augusto Pinochet is charged by Chilean prosecutors for alleged involvement in murder and "disappearances" in Chile in the 1970s, and is placed under house arrest. (BBC)
- 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy:
- United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael O. Leavitt is nominated by President George W. Bush to succeed outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson in the Cabinet-level post. (Bloomberg)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration: Human Rights Watch, a New York based NGO claims that another three prisoners have died while in U.S. detention in Afghanistan. (BBC)
- Hundreds of protesters have gathered in Cairo outside Egypt's Supreme Judiciary buildings, defying a ban on public protests, to call for an end to Hosni Mubarak's 23-year presidency of Egypt. (BBC)
- Romanian presidential election, 2004: Prime Minister Adrian Năstase concedes defeat to opposition candidate Traian Băsescu after a close contest. With 99% of the vote counted, Băsescu took 51.23% of the vote to Năstase's 48.77%. (BBC)
- Oracle Corporation announces a merger deal to acquire PeopleSoft for approximately US$10.3 billion. (Oracle Press Release)
- CNN's business news network CNNfn ends transmissions. (CNN)
- U.K. Home Secretary David Blunkett resigns from his post in the wake of numerous controversies. He is replaced by Charles Clarke, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. Ruth Kelly takes over from Clarke as Education Secretary and becomes the sixth woman in prime minister Tony Blair's Cabinet. Kelly is replaced as Cabinet Office minister by David Miliband. (Sky) (BBC)
- In Athens, Greece, two gunmen, possibly Albanian, seize a bus at 7:00 local time and take 25 hostages on board. The hijackers threaten to blow up the bus at 08:00 Greek time (06:00 GMT, Thursday) if their demands for €1 million and a flight to Russia are not met. The hostage crisis ends peacefully after 18 hours when the two gunmen surrender. All the hostages are released unharmed. (Sky)(News24) (OfficialWire)(Reuters)
- An armed group of young ethnic Albanians, allegedly former NLA guerrilla members, seal off the village of Kondovo, Macedonia, a suburb of the capital Skopje, citing poor conditions and repression by state authorities. The fledgling multi-ethnic governing coalition plays down the incident stating it is a local problem stemming from the slow implementation of the peace agreement after the 2001 civil war, while some opposition parties call for "strong action". (RealityMK) (TOL)
- Democratic Party members of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary request an FBI investigation into alleged Ohio voting problems, (NYT) (pdf) prompted by affidavits and sworn testimony taken at a congressional forum held on December 13. [1]
- A US$85 million test of the U.S. National Missile Defense system by the Missile Defense Agency is aborted when an unknown anomaly is detected before the launch of an interceptor missile in the Marshall Islands, 16 minutes after the launch of the target from Kodiak Island, Alaska. It is the first test since a previous failed test in 2002. As in 2002, the Bush administration abandons plans to activate the system by the end of the year, and projects its activation in early 2005. (Reuters) (Associated Press)
- Sprint Corporation announces a US$35 billion deal to acquire Nextel Communications. With about $40 billion in combined yearly revenue the resulting company (called Sprint Nextel) will be the third largest wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.. (MSNBC)
- Human rights in Iraq: The U.S. is forced to release evidence which shows prisoners in Iraq were subject to mock executions, electric shocks, and burns by US Marines. (BBC)
- Iraqi transitional parliamentary election: Iraq's defense minister accuses Iran and Syria of supporting terrorists and charges that a senior Iraqi Shiite was leading a "pro-Iranian" coalition into next month's national elections. (AP via Yahoo)
- North Korea announces that if Japan is to impose any sanctions over the ashes of kidnap victim Yokota Megumi, it will be regarded as a declaration of war. (Japan Today) The Japanese government downplays the criticism. (News24)(Bloomberg) (Japan Today)
- At least four people die in a second Indian train accident, blamed by railway officials on the driver of a van stopped on train tracks near Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu. The new accident comes after the previous day's train crash with a death toll of at least 37. (The Tribune, Chandigarh, India)
- United Nations envoy Jan Pronk says that 10,000 peacekeepers are needed in Sudan to monitor the forthcoming peace deal. (Reuters Alertnet)
- Pitcairn Islands election, 2004: Jay Warren becomes Mayor of Pitcairn Island.
- Belgian child killer Marc Dutroux loses an appeal against his life sentence . (Expatica)(News.Com)
- Leaders of the European Union, meeting in Brussels, agree to invite Turkey to begin negotiations to join the EU from 3 October 2005, about 36 years after they first applied to join. (BBC)
- In the Western Districts of Nepal, nearly 50 people are killed in clashes between Nepalese troops and Maoist rebels. (BBC)
- A commuter in Zimbabwe who allegedly insulted President Robert Mugabe could face up to five years in prison for undermining the president's authority. (BBC)
- Inuit leaders want to sue the U.S. government at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for causing global warming. They view the melting of the polar icecap in the Arctic as a threat to their existence as a people, an assault on their basic human rights. The announcement is expected today in Buenos Aires at the 10th round of international talks on climate change. (NYT) (Democracy Now!)
- The British final court of appeal, the Law Lords, rule that the suspension of habeas corpus for foreign nationals detained under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 is illegal, being incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. (BBC) (judgment)
- Cambodian soldiers discover a cache of Angkor Wat-era carvings that were to be smuggled out of the country. (Reuters)
- Thai security forces pursue 100 people connected to the unrest in the south of the country. Four Islamic teachers have been arrested on suspicion of inciting terrorism. (Channel News Asia) (Reuters)
- Former chess champion Bobby Fischer has been offered residency in Iceland. He is currently detained in Japan, and is wanted by the United States. (BBC)(Reuters)
- Researchers at the University of Tübingen report the discovery of a 30,000 to 37,000-year-old flute, the earliest musical instrument ever found. [2]
- United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld faces criticism from both Democrats and Republicans following a dismissive reply to a soldier in Iraq when questioned about vehicle armor. (CNN)
- Cuban authorities put up photos of abused Iraqi prisoners in front of the US interests section in Havana after the U.S. displayed Christmas decorations in a protest against Cuba's human rights record. (BBC)
- The United States declares Hizbullah's al-Manar TV channel to be a terrorist organization. (White House Official Statement) (Al-Jazeera)
- A public inquiry into the deaths of 85 Muslim protesters in southern Thailand claims the killings were "not deliberate". 78 people suffocated to death after being piled into army trucks by Thai security forces; 7 were shot at the separatist protests on October 25. (BBC)
- U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, creating the office of the Director of National Intelligence to oversee the country's fifteen spy agencies. (ABC News)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- The Israeli Labor party and Ariel Sharon's Likud Party reach an agreement, forming a unity government in order to implement Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004. In return, the Labor will receive eight cabinet portfolios, including "peace/disengagement minister" specially suited for Shimon Peres and Internal Affairs. (Yahoo/Reuters) (BBC)
- Israeli forces, accompanied by armored bulldozers and helicopter gunships, raid the Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis, killing 8 Palestinians, including 2 civilians, and wounding 24, after 50 mortar shells were fired on the Gush Katif settlements and caused injuries to some Israeli Soldiers and killed a Thai worker. (BBC) (Maariv) (Haaretz)
- In retaliation for the Israeli raid, Palestinians from Hamas and the Abu-Reish faction shoot at least five anti-tank missiles, wounding two Israeli soldiers. (BBC) (Haaretz) (Maariv) (CTV Canada)
- Hundreds of Palestinians flee homes in the area, fearful that Israeli troops will destroy their homes. They take refuge in nearby hospital and a stadium, while others have moved to relatives who live further to the centre of the Gaza Strip. (BBC) (Haaretz)
- In Rafah, five Palestinians are trapped when the tunnel they were digging collapsed. Rescue efforts, with the assist of Israeli bulldozers, are in progress though estimations are that the five are dead. (Haaretz) (Yahoo\Reuters)
- U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking to business executives and economists at the White House, vows to push through big reforms to the Social Security program, including partial privatization of the state pension fund, during his second term. (BBC)
- The E.U. states that Turkey must recognize the ethnic-Greek government of E.U. member state Cyprus before it can begin negotiations for E.U. membership. Currently Turkey is the only country that recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. (ITV) (Turkish Press)
- Police in West Java, Indonesia, say that they have found nine home-made bombs on a bus during a security operation. (Channel News Asia)(Jakarta Post)
- Three suspected IRA members who were accused of training rebels in Colombia flee while on bail. An appellate court overturned their earlier acquittals yesterday. They had been sentenced to prison for 17 years. (BBC) (Ireland Online)
- Bhutan's ban on the sale of all tobacco products comes into effect. (Hindustan Times) (BBC)
- Russia intends to allow Polish officials to see files related to the Katyn massacre. (BBC)
- The United Nations finds a surveillance bug in its European headquarters in Geneva in a room used by ministers from major powers last year during private talks on Iraq. (BBC) (NZZ)
- Hundreds of Sikh demonstrators protest outside a Birmingham, England theatre against a play (Behzti) depicting sex abuse and murder in a Sikh temple. Theatre stormed by a few demonstrators. (BBC)
- 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy:
- In Topeka, Kansas, USA, infant Victoria Jo Stinnett is returned to her father three days after her mother was allegedly strangled to death and she was cut from her mother's uterus and abducted. The AMBER Alert system is credited with helping to safely recover the child. (CNN)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- Palestinians fire several Qassam rockets at the civilian town Sderot and the northern Negev, causing damage but no casualties. (Haaretz)
- Another three Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers on Saturday during an Israeli incursion into the Khan Younis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, raising the death toll to 11. According to Palestinian sources, three of those killed were civilians, the rest were militants from Hamas and Fatah's Abu Reish Brigades. The IDF has officially ended Khan Yunis raid, dubbed "Operation Orange Iron", and threatened to return if mortar shelling will be renewed by militants. (BBC), (Haaretz)
- Palestinians have been unable to bury the dead because Israeli forces were in control at the local cemetery, medics told the Reuters news agency. (BBC)
- Six Palestinians were rescued from a collapsed tunnel under an Israel-controlled corridor in the Egypt-Gaza border area. (BBC)
- Former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet has been taken to hospital after suffering a stroke. (BBC)
- Darfur conflict: The African Union has given both sides involved in the Darfur conflict a deadline of 1700 GMT to halt the fighting in the region which currently violates the ceasefire agreement. If this condition is not met, talks in Nigeria to find a solution to the conflict would end. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Former senior Iraqi official Ali Hassan al-Majid (aka "Chemical Ali") is questioned by Iraqi judges in a pre-trial hearing. He is accused of crimes committed by the regime, such as the gassing of Iraqi Kurds in 1988. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Iraqi insurgents attack election offices in northern Iraq, killing two people and wounding nine, six weeks before the country is due to go to the polls. (Reuters)
- Analysts attribute a sharp drop in the price of crude oil to the unexpected outcome of the auction of Yukos' Siberian production unit yesterday. The value of the January futures contract fell 64 cents to $45.64 on the Nymex.
- China announces reforms to its legal system effective in 2005, including the introduction of jury trials and a 10% increase in the number of judges. Jurors will be elected to a five-year term, and must have at least two years' university education. (BBC) (Xinhua)
- The Head of the Egyptian Coptic Christian Church, Pope Shenouda III, has gone into seclusion in a desert monastery to draw attention to grievances among Egyptian Christians. (BBC)
- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has admitted that he had used a machine to sign letters of condolence to relatives of more than 1,000 troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but pledged to sign the letters personally in future. (BBC)
- In Sudan, fighting has not stopped after a ceasefire between government troops and rebels. Although the government of Sudan has said that they have stopped the Darfur offensive, there are still reports of battles. Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail rules out any withdrawal from the positions government troops have taken. An observing African Union helicopter was shot at. (BBC)(Iafrica)
- Prachanda, leader of the Maoist guerillas in Nepal, announces his intention to disrupt elections if the government refuses to abolish the monarchy. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has given them until January 13, 2005 to begin peace talks. (Reuters)
- An explosion in a Chinese coal mine kills 14. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Rice University computer scientists find a security hole in Google's desktop search program. (New York Times)
- African National Congress of South Africa accuses U.S. officials covering up adverse side effects of AIDS medications. (Iafrica) (Reuters)
- Police arrest former Miss World Yukta Mookhey's uncle, aunt and two cousins in a case of harassment for dowry. (Hindustan Times) (Indian Express) (Times of India)
- Rumaisa Rahman, the smallest baby ever to be born according to medical records, and her twin sister Hiba, are announced to have been born in a Chicago hospital.(AOL)
- European Union ministers postpone a controversial vote on the proposed Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions in the EU after Poland asks for more time to think about it. (Reuters)(BBC)
- The Boeing Delta 4 Heavy rocket launches successfully for the first time. (MSNBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- US forces say twenty-two people have been killed and at least 67 injured in an attack at a US military base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The dead include 13 US Soldiers, making the attack one of the deadliest attacks on US forces since the start of the war. (BBC) (CNN)
- Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, the two French hostages held in Iraq since August, are freed. Their captors claim they were freed because of France's anti-war stance. (BBC)
- Former British Home Secretary David Blunkett's office is found to have assisted in the fast-tracking of his lover's nanny's visa-application, thereby confirming the allegation that led to his dismissal. (BBC)
- The White House announces that allegations of abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay by US military personnel will be "fully investigated". The allegations were prompted by a memo, obtained by ACLU FOIA requests, dated two months after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke which reference an executive order that authorized questionable interrogation techniques. The White House spokesman flat out denied this in saying "there is no executive order on interrogation techniques". (BBC) (White House) (ACLU)
- Japan issues a tourist visa to former Taiwanese leader Lee Teng-hui despite protests from the People's Republic of China that such a move would harm bilateral relations. The PRC considers Lee a Taiwan independence agitator. (BBC)
- Same-sex marriage in Canada: The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador finds the banning of same-sex marriage unconstitutional, making that province the eighth of Canada's provinces and territories to legalize same-sex marriage. (CBC)
- Arab-Israeli Conflict: The leaders of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) urge US President George W. Bush to make the creation of an independent Palestinian state an absolute priority at their annual meeting, which is being held in Bahrain. (BBC)
- UK Prime Minister Tony Blair makes a surprise visit to Baghdad. (BBC) (Guardian) (Number 10)
- Author J.K. Rowling announces that the sixth book in her Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will be published on 16 July 2005. The share price of her British publisher, Bloomsbury, rises 7.5% on the news. (Reuters)
- Up to £30 million are reported stolen from the headquarters of the Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Two members of the bank's senior staff and their families are reported to have been held hostage before the robbery. This is likely to be the second biggest bank robbery in British history, and the fourth largest in the world. (BBC) (Reuters) (Glasgow Evening Times)
- Pakistan's Anti Terrorism Court cancels the bail of Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the Pakistan People's Party and husband of Benazir Bhutto. Zardari was released last month after eight years in prison. He was charged with corruption and conspiracy to murder. (GEO) (BBC)
- A court in Chile upholds the indictment and house arrest of Augusto Pinochet. Prosecution lawyers claim that his hospitalization for a heart condition was a political ploy. Pinochet's lawyers intend to appeal. (BBC) (Bloomberg)
- A court in Nigeria upholds the election of Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo. Opposition parties, led by Muhammadu Buhari, have challenged the result, and the EU and U.S. question the election's validity. (AllAfrica) (BBC) (Vanguard, Nigeria)
- A bus accident in Peru claims 49 lives and injures 15. (Reuters)
- Archaeologists in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, find the remains of a 7,500-year-old man on the island of Marawah. (Khaleej Times) (Reuters)
- French President Jacques Chirac demands improved hospital security after two nurses are killed. A suspected mental patient was released. (Reuters Alertnet)
- The US government decides to settle a suit in which Hungarian Jews have demanded compensation for a train full of valuables the US Army took at the end of World War II. (Wired News) (New York Post)
- The USA pressures Iceland not to grant Bobby Fischer sanctuary. (Reuters)
- Zahira Sheikh, a key witness in the Best Bakery case, is declared hostile by the prosecution after she goes back on her police statement during retrial of the case. (Times of India) (Indian Express)
- Gambian journalists march in protest of the murder of Deyda Hydara, newspaper editor who had criticised new strict press legislation. UNESCO also condemns the killing. (BBC) (UNESCO portal)
- Switzerland increases its financial support for the forthcoming re-run of election in Ukraine. (NZZ)
- The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirm that the haul in last Monday's Northern Bank Belfast bank heist was £22 million, comprising £1.15 million in new Northern Bank £100 and £50 notes, £12 million in new Northern Bank £20 and £10 notes, £5 million in used Northern Ireland notes issued by various banks, and the remainder in other sterling banknotes. Since Northern Irish notes are rarely seen outside Northern Ireland, the gang may have difficulty in laundering most of their haul. (Scotsman)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- The British charity organization Save the Children withdraws from Darfur after rebels kill their aid workers. (BBC) (IAfrica) (AllAfrica)
- The Indian election commission investigates railways minister Laloo Prasad for allegations of electoral bribery. He has given money to dalit women in public. (ExpressIndia) (BBC)
- A Pakistani court restores bail for Asif Ali Zardari. (BBC) (GEO)
- In Mozambique, the national election commission declares Armando Guebuza, presidential candidate of ruling party Frelimo, the winner of the election. He received 64% of the vote despite alleged irregularities. (AllAfrica) (Afrol) (BBC)
- In the Philippines, the funeral of Fernando Poe, Jr, movie star and presidential candidate, attracts large numbers of supporters. Security is high due to rumors of potential anti-government revolt. The detained ex-president Joseph Estrada condemns incumbent president Gloria Arroyo in his eulogy. (Reuters) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- The first survey of language use in the People's Republic of China reveals that 53% of its population can communicate in Standard Mandarin, the official spoken language of the country. (China Daily)
- An earthquake of magnitude 9.0, the strongest earthquake in 40 years, strikes in the Indian Ocean off the western coast of Sumatra. While initial reports state that the resulting tsunamis killed approximately 100 people, by the end of the day this estimate has increased to over 14,000 people in coastal areas of Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia and Malaysia. Tremors are also felt as far as Singapore, eastern countries of Africa, and north-western Australia. A state of emergency is declared in Sri Lanka, where over 31,000 people are feared dead. (USGS) (CNN) (BBC) (The Star) (Wikinews) (Channel News Asia) (The Times of India)
- Ukrainians go to the polls in a rerun of the presidential runoff vote, supervised by about 12,000 international observers. Turnout is reported to be comparable to the two previous votes, just short of 55 percent at 1300 GMT. Early exit polls suggest opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko has won by a wide margin (Reuters) (Guardian) (BBC)
- The Shiveluch volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula erupts, causing a large earthquake and producing a 6,500 foot plume of hot ash. (Russian Information Agency) (Washington Times) (KVERT) (webcam)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Conflict in Iraq: In an apparent coordinated attack, insurgents raid a police station in Dijla and execute 12 police officers. Three Iraqi policemen are shot at a checkpoint outside of Tikrit. Four policemen and one national guardsman are gunned down at a police station in Ishaki. A local police commander is assassinated in Baquba. A car bomb detonated near a US-Iraqi military convoy in Samarra kills three national guardsmen and three civilians. All these attacks occurred in the Sunni Triangle. (BBC)
- Jerry Orbach died of prostate cancer, at age 69.
- The death toll from tsunamis resulting from the Indian Ocean Earthquake is known to be at least 59,000 and still rising. (BBC)
- In Colombia, government soldiers search for at least seven people taken hostage by FARC rebels last Friday. Kidnappers have not made any demands as of yet. (BBC)
- Ukrainian presidential election: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych challenges the result of the re-run of the presidential election and threatens to take the case to the Supreme Court. (Guardian) (BBC)
- A scrap metal plant, located in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA, explodes. The blast is felt about 50 miles away. The cause of the explosion, which occurred at the Yaffe Iron and Metals plant, is unknown. [3]
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- In Sudan, the government and the rebel group SPLA have agreed to sign a ceasefire in Naiwasha on the road to a peace deal. The treaty would end the civil war that began in 1983. (IAfrica) (News24) (BBC)
- The Ukrainian Central Election Commission rejects complaints of prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, who lost the presidential election. (Reuters) (BBC)
- In Spain, parliament of the Basque regions favors increasing autonomy and eventual negotiated independence (Independent Online) (BBC)
- A Dutch court hands down the country's first fines to spammers. (PCWorld) (DV Hardware)
- In Senegal, President Abdoulaye Wade signs a peace deal with separatist rebels in the Casamance region. The war has lasted 22 years. (BBC) (News24)
- In Zimbabwe, four people are charged for selling secrets to unspecified foreign agents. They include former political allies to President Robert Mugabe. (Iafrica) (Reuters)
- The death toll from the Indian Ocean Earthquake and subsequent tsunamis on December 26 reaches more than 120,000 in 12 countries from Malaysia to Somalia; the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang reports a current total of 115,982 deaths. The Malaysian News Agency reports the death toll in Sumatra may exceed 400,000. According to the WHO, as many as five million people are at risk, with little water, food or shelter.
- The Canadian Food Inspection Agency reported what may be a second case of mad cow disease in a ten-year old dairy cow at the same time as the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced an end to their ban on imports of live Canadian cattle. (International Herald Tribune) (Bloomberg)
- A fire in República Cromagnon, a nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 194 and injures 714. (Reuters) (CNN) (BBC)
- Colombia extradites FARC leader Simón Trinidad to the USA to face conspiracy, kidnapping, and drug trafficking charges. (BBC)
- Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovych resigns from his post as Prime Minister. (Reuters)
- Taipei 101, the world's tallest skyscraper, is officially opened by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian. (CNN) (Washington Times)
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
- Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia, Rusdihardjo, claims that the death toll from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake may eventually exceed 400,000 in Indonesia alone. (Malaysia Star) (Washington Times)
- The Canadian government pledges to match dollar-for-dollar the donations of private Canadian citizens, in addition to the $40,000,000 in federal funds already committed; so far, Canadians have donated CAD 20,000,000, mostly on-line. The government also announces plans to forgive the debt of the tsunami ravaged nations. (GM) (CTV) (Ottawa Citizen)
- The US government pledges $350,000,000 for relief. (BBC)
- In 48 hours British charities have raised £45,000,000 from public donations; the UK government increases its donation from £15,000,000 to £50,000,000. (BBC)
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- In Pakistan, president Pervez Musharraf announces that he will keep his additional role as an army chief. He had previously stated that he would give it up. (Reuters) (Pakistan Dawn) (Times of India)
- North Korea announces that it may break off talks about the fate of the eight Japanese citizens it kidnapped in the 1980s. (Channel News Asia) (Mainichi Shimbun) (Reuters)
- The cabinet of Spain approves the Zapatero administration's bill to legalize same-sex marriage. It will now go to the Cortes. [4]
[edit] News collections and sources
