January 2004
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December 2003
-Events:-December 1:* Occupation of Iraq:** The firefight in which more than 50 Iraqis are reported killed is now thought to have been an attempted currency heist. ** One GI is killed Monday in fighting west of Baghdad. * World AIDS Day:...
– January – February
February 2004
February 2004 was the second month of the leap year in the Gregorian calendar. It began on a Sunday and ended after 29 days on a Sunday.February 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October –...
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March 2004
March 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:...
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April 2004
2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December-Events:2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December-Events:...
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May 2004
May 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:...
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June 2004
June 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:...
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July 2004
July 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:July 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:...
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August 2004
August 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:August 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December...
– September
September 2004
September 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:September 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December...
– October
October 2004
October 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December -Events:October 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December -Events:October 2004: January – February –...
– November
November 2004
November 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:November 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:November 2004: January – February –...
– December
December 2004
December 2004: ← – January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-→-Deaths in December:*30 Artie Shaw*29 Julius Axelrod*28 Jacques Dupuis*28 Jerry Orbach*28 Susan Sontag*26 Reggie White...
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January 2005
January 2005: ← – January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December – →...
Events
Ongoing events 2004 Canadian Federal Election Canadian federal election, 2004 The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections... Conservative leadership race Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2004 The 2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election took place on March 20, 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, and resulted in the election of Stephen Harper as the first leader of the new Canadian Conservative Party... 2004 Taiwan Presidential Election ROC presidential election, 2004 The Election for the 11th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China , the third direct presidential election in Taiwan's history and the 11th presidential election overall under the 1947 Chinese Constitution, was held on March 20, 2004... 2004 U.S. Presidential Election Democratic Presidential Primary Bloody Sunday Inquiry Exploration of Mars Exploration of Mars The exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s... Mars Exploration Rovers Mars Express Orbiter Bird flu H5N1 Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species... Hutton Inquiry Hutton Inquiry The Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee... Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israeli-Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or... Road Map to Peace Road map for peace The roadmap for peace or "road map" for peace is a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposed by a "quartet" of international entities: the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations. The principles of the plan, originally drafted by U.S. Foreign Service... Kyoto Protocol Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming... North Korean Crisis Same-sex Marriage Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality.... SCO v. IBM SCO v. IBM SCO v. IBM is a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court of Utah. The SCO Group asserted that there are legal uncertainties regarding the use of the Linux operating system due to alleged violations of IBM's Unix licenses in the development of Linux code at IBM.-Summary:On March 6, 2003,... War on Terrorism War on Terrorism The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries... Occupation of Iraq Iraqi Insurgency Iraq Timeline |
January 1
- Ireland's Roman Catholic and Protestant Boy ScoutsScouting IrelandScouting Ireland is the World Organization of the Scout Movement-recognised Scouting association in the Republic of Ireland, although it also has Scout Groups in Northern Ireland. Scouting Ireland is a voluntary, non-formal educational movement for young people...
organisations merge after nearly a century of division, in spite of efforts by the Roman Catholic bishopBishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s to block the merger. - State papers released under Britain's Thirty Year RuleThirty year ruleThe "thirty year rule" is the popular name given to a law in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Australia that provides that the yearly cabinet papers of a government will be released publicly thirty years after they were created....
suggest that the United States considered using force to seize oil fields in the Middle East during an oil embargoEmbargoAn embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
by Arab states in 1973. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3333995.stm State papers also released reveal that, contrary to what was believed at the time, Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom would not have lost her title and Civil ListCivil list-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...
payments if she had married Group CaptainGroup CaptainGroup captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
Peter Townsend, a divorced War hero in the 1950s. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3363809.stmhttp://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-12964688,00.html - The Republic of IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
takes over the presidency of the European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, succeeding Italy, whose presidency is widely criticised as having been a failure due to the collapse of efforts to adopt a European constitution. http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0101/eu.html - Montréal/Dorval International Airport is renamed Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International AirportMontréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International AirportMontréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport or Montréal-Trudeau, formerly known as Montréal-Dorval International Airport, is located on the Island of Montreal, from Montreal's downtown core. The airport terminals are located entirely in Dorval, while the Air Canada headquarters complex...
. - A British AirwaysBritish AirwaysBritish Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
flight from London to Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, is canceled one day after the same flight is delayed for three hours on the tarmacTarmacTarmac is a type of road surface. Tarmac refers to a material patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901...
at Dulles International Airport for security screening. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20040101/ap_on_re_eu/britain_flight_canceled - Comparing planned United States finger-printing and photographic security controls on travelers from Brazil and other nations to NaziNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
actions, a Brazilian judge orders the fingerprinting of all arriving United States citizens in response. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=1&u=/nm/20040101/ts_nm/brazil_usa_immigration_dc - No leap secondLeap secondA leap second is a positive or negative one-second adjustment to the Coordinated Universal Time time scale that keeps it close to mean solar time. UTC, which is used as the basis for official time-of-day radio broadcasts for civil time, is maintained using extremely precise atomic clocks...
is added this year. This is the fifth year in a row without a leap-second after 28 years of adding leap-seconds to compensate for the slowing of the Earth's rotation. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/01/01/leap.second.ap/index.html - HaitiHaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
's bicentennial celebrations erupt in violence. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040102T230000-0500_53845_OBS_CALM_RETURNS_TO_HAITI_AFTER_CLASHES_AT_BICENTENNIAL_CELEBRATIONS.asp - MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
had its official launch.
January 2
- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, composed of foreign ministerForeign ministerA Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
s from seven south Asian countries (PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Sri LankaSri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, MaldivesMaldivesThe Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
and BhutanBhutanBhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
) meeting in IslamabadIslamabadIslamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
agree to create the South Asian Free Trade AreaSouth Asian Free Trade AreaThe South Asian Free Trade Area or SAFTA is a pact signed in 6 January 2004 that would gradually eliminate most tariffs and other trade barriers on products and services passing between the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka...
(SAFTA) by 2006. http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Indopakfaceoff&slug=Foreign+Ministers+clear+SAFTA+draft&id=13501&callid=0&category=National - It appears that StardustStardust (spacecraft)Stardust is a 300-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on February 7, 1999 to study the asteroid 5535 Annefrank and collect samples from the coma of comet Wild 2. The primary mission was completed January 15, 2006, when the sample return capsule returned to Earth...
has successfully flown past Comet Wild 2 collecting samples that it will return to Earth in two years time. This is the first sample return mission to a comet and the first time that samples have returned to Earth from any celestial body since 1974. The spacecraft also took detailed images of the comet's icy nucleus. http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/news/status/031230.htmlhttp://spaceflightnow.com/stardust/040102image.htmlhttp://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/stardust_update_040102.html - U.S. Representative Ralph HallRalph HallRalph Moody Hall is a United States Representative from . First elected in 1980, Hall is the chairman of the Science Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee...
from TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
files for reelection and switches parties from Democrat to Republican. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/02/national1903EST0642.DTL
January 3
- A Boeing 737Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
, Flight 604Flash Airlines flight 604Flash Airlines Flight 604 was a charter flight operated by Egyptian charter company Flash Airlines. On 3 January 2004, the Boeing 737-300 crashed into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, killing all 142 passengers, many of them French tourists, and all six...
, flown by EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian charter company Flash AirlinesFlash AirlinesFlash Airlines was a private charter airline operating out of Cairo, Egypt that was part of the Flash Group tourism company. The airline operated two Boeing 737-3Q8 aircraft manufactured in 1993 on non-scheduled commercial passenger flights on both international and domestic routes.-History:The...
headed for CairoCairoCairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
crashes into the Red SeaRed SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
minutes after take-off from the holiday resort of Sharm el-SheikhSharm el-SheikhSharm el-Sheikh is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 35,000...
in EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. All 148 people on board are killed, of whom more than 120 were French tourists. Though both United Kingdom Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and Egyptian PresidentPresident of EgyptThe President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt.Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government....
Hosni MubarakHosni MubarakMuhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
were in the area, neither were involved in the incident, contrary to initial reports.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3364795.stmhttp://airdisaster.com/news/0104/03/news.shtmlhttp://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20040103/ts_nm/egypt_plane_dc - The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
cancels the appearance of Coca Cola sponsorship credits in the music charts in its BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
Top of the PopsTop of the PopsTop of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
show, after criticism from politicians and health campaigners that it would be promoting junk foodJunk foodJunk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value ; to products with nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all...
and unhealthy drink products to teenagers. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/03/nchart03.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/01/03/ixportal.html - Ricardo Palmera, better known as Simon TrinidadSimón TrinidadSimón Trinidad is the alias of Juvenal Ovidio Ricardo Palmera Pineda, a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , and reputedly the first high-ranking member of that guerrilla group to be captured...
, one of top seven ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n rebel group, FARCRevolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaThe Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...
(Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) is arrested in EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/379017.html - Exploration of MarsExploration of MarsThe exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
: The first of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit, has successfully landed on the MartianMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
surface with a "very strong signal" being received from the lander. It was a tense few minutes as no signal was received from the lander during the minutes while it bounced over the surface. Mission Control is described as being a wild place with the mission scientists very happy. The first pictures are expected at the earliest around 0730 UTC http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.htmlhttp://www.space.com/missionlaunches/spirit_lands_040103.htmlhttp://www.marsdaily.com/2004/040104045302.b7uog1c3.htmlhttp://www.marsdaily.com/2004/040104045621.j8itddj8.html - The People's Republic of China's fifth-largest brokerage is seized by China Securities Regulatory CommissionChina Securities Regulatory CommissionThe China Securities Regulatory Commission is an institution of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , with ministry-level rank...
and local authorities for "illegal and irregular management operations and disorderly management." The unusual move to clamp down on China Southern Securities is a high-profile attempt to stem corruption. http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/01/02/china.broker.reut/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_4-1-2004_pg5_20 - Casey Kasem hosts his final edition of the popular radio program American Top 40. The following week, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest officially took over hosting duties of the show. Casey continues to host two other radio programs, American Top 20 and American Top 10.
January 4
- The Loya jirga adopts a new Constitution of AfghanistanConstitution of AfghanistanThe Constitution of Afghanistan is the supreme law of the state Afghanistan, which serves as the legal framework between the Afghan government and the Afghan citizens...
- A military court in IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
sentences five Israelis to one year in jailPrisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
for refusing to serve in the militaryRefusal to serve in the Israeli militaryRefusal to serve in the Israeli military includes both refusal to obey specific orders and refusal to serve in the Israel Defense Forces in any capacity due to pacifist or anti-militarist views or disagreement with the policies of the Israeli government as implemented by the army, such as the...
because of Israel's occupation of the West BankWest BankThe West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. (Compare conscientious objectorConscientious objectorA conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
) - Exploration of MarsExploration of MarsThe exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
: American MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
probe "Spirit" mission is successful and is sending back images. Spirit is alive after rolling to a stop on the surface of Mars; confirmed by NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Deep Space NetworkDeep Space NetworkThe Deep Space Network, or DSN, is a world-wide network of large antennas and communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe, and supports selected...
( PST). - Mikhail Saakashvili becomes president-elect of GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, following the Presidential elections. He had been widely expected to win following the November 23, 2003, ousting of President Eduard ShevardnadzeEduard ShevardnadzeEduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
. - Bolivian Gas WarBolivian Gas WarThe Bolivian gas conflict was a social confrontation in Bolivia centering on the exploitation of the country's vast natural gas reserves. The expression can be extended to refer to the general conflict in Bolivia over the exploitation of gas resources, thus including the 2005 protests and the...
: In a televised speech, BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n President Carlos MesaCarlos MesaCarlos Diego Mesa Gisbert is a Bolivian politician, historian and President of Bolivia from October 17, 2003 until his resignation on June 6, 2005....
announces that a national referendum will be held on 28 March to resolve the issue of how Bolivia's large natural gas reserves will be exploited. - Britney SpearsBritney SpearsBritney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
abruptly marries a childhood friend, Jason Allen Alexander, in a Las VegasLas Vegas metropolitan areaThe Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, wedding chapel at ; by afternoon, the couple have arranged an annulment, which is expected to be made official when the courts reopen on Monday.
January 5
- A British and a German Member of the European ParliamentMember of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
both receive letter bombs in the post. This follows an earlier letter bomb sent to the President of the European CommissionPresident of the European CommissionThe President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
, Romano ProdiRomano ProdiRomano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3369129.stm - Ulster Unionist PartyUlster Unionist PartyThe Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
defector Jeffrey DonaldsonJeffrey DonaldsonJeffrey Mark Donaldson, MP is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley belonging to the Democratic Unionist Party...
and two other MLAs join Rev. Ian PaisleyIan PaisleyIan Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
's Democratic Unionist PartyDemocratic Unionist PartyThe Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
, pushing the DUP's numbers in the Northern Ireland AssemblyNorthern Ireland AssemblyThe Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
to 33. http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0105/north.html - Jaap de Hoop SchefferJaap de Hoop SchefferJakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as the 11th Secretary General of NATO from January 5, 2004 until August 1, 2009....
of the Netherlands became the new Secretary General of NATO, replacing Britain's Lord RobertsonLord RobertsonLord Robertson may refer to:*James Robertson, Baron Robertson *George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen *Ian Robertson, Lord Robertson TD, Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland, 1966-1987, chairman of the Merchiston Board of governors, 1970-1996...
. http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2004/01-january/e0105a.htm - The United States begins tracking foreign arrivals according to the new United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator TechnologyUnited States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator TechnologyUnited States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology is a United States Department of Homeland Security immigration and border management system...
(US-VISIT) program. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040105/ap_on_re_us/airport_security&cid=519&ncid=716 - Pakistan President Pervez MusharrafPervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari VajpayeeAtal Bihari VajpayeeAtal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from...
meet face-to-face to discuss improving relations between their two countries. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040105_817.html - South Asian Association for Regional CooperationSouth Asian Association for Regional CooperationThe South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an organisation of South Asian nations, founded in December 1985 by Ziaur Rahman and dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development emphasising collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Bangladesh,...
(SAARC), which comprises IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Sri LankaSri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, BhutanBhutanBhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and the MaldivesMaldivesThe Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
, signs the South Asia Free Trade Agreement, a draft agreement to eliminate tariffTariffA tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
s by 2016. http://www.iht.com/articles/123880.html - NorwegianNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
prosecutors announce that they have abandoned their attempts to prosecute Jon Johansen for his release of the DeCSSDeCSSDeCSS is a computer program capable of decrypting content on a commercially produced DVD video disc. Before the release of DeCSS, there was no way for computers running a Linux-based operating system to play video DVDs....
DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
decryption software. http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=702236 - Panhellenic Socialist MovementPanhellenic Socialist MovementThe Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...
, the ruling political party of Greece, is about to change leadership. The official report is expected to be published on January 7, 2004. It is expected by many that the new leader will be George Papandreou, junior. See http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=506866&lngDtrID=244 and http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=506507 (Greek) - A potential local root vulnerability http://isec.pl/vulnerabilities/isec-0013-mremap.txt has been found in LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
2.2, 2.4, and 2.6, and Linux KernelLinux kernelThe Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
developers have corrected the issue in 2.4 and 2.6; distributors are expected to offer the patches soon, for the benefit of those users who do not compile their own kernels.
January 6
- The man charged for the murder of Sweden's FM Anna LindhAnna LindhYlva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003...
on September 10, Mijailo MijailovićMijailo MijailovicMijailo Mijailović is the self-confessed and convicted assassin of the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh, whom he stabbed on 10 September 2003 at the NK department store in Stockholm...
, through his defence lawyer requests an interrogationInterrogationInterrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
to give critical details on the stabbing. Seemingly Mijailović thereby confesses the assault.
- The Daily Mirror, a British tabloid, publishes the blacked out portion of a letter wherein Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
alleged that someone was trying to kill her. The relevant portion reads: "[M]y husband is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure & serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry." The part "my husband" (referring to Charles, Prince of WalesCharles, Prince of WalesPrince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
) had been previously blacked out, and the word "him" replaced with "Charles" in transcripts of the letter released by Diana's butler, Paul BurrellPaul BurrellPaul Burrell, RVM is a former servant of the British Royal Household. He was a footman for Queen Elizabeth II and later butler to Diana, Princess of Wales...
. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=13785435&method=full The revelation comes on the same day the inquest into the death of Diana and her lover Dodi Al-FayedDodi Al-FayedEmad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed , known as Dodi Fayed , was an Egyptian film producer. He was best known internationally as the boyfriend of Diana, Princess of Wales, with whom he died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris along with driver Henri Paul on 31 August...
is officially opened. http://people.aol.com/people/news/now/0,10958,571219,00.html - Pakistan is cited as the source of nuclear weaponNuclear weaponA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
technology supplied to LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
. The components intercepted at sea by Italy en-route to Libya were fabricated in Malaysia. There is no evidence that the Pakistani government of President Pervez MusharrafPervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
knew about the transfer of technology of Libya. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/01/06/MNGD7448BA1.DTL http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=107214
- Pakistan and India have agreed to a new round of talks to settle the KashmirKashmirKashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
dispute. The talks will be begin February 2004. http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=107214 - Exploration of MarsExploration of MarsThe exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
: The first color images have been released from the Spirit rover on MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. They are the highest resolutionImage resolutionImage resolution is an umbrella term that describes the detail an image holds. The term applies to raster digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail....
images ever taken on the surface of another planet. It has also been announced by NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
that they plan to name the rover's landing site on Mars "Columbia Memorial Station" in honor of the crew of STS-107STS-107-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...
.http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/040106columbia.htmlhttp://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040106a/PIA04995_br.jpghttp://www.space.com/missionlaunches/spirit_color_040106.htmlhttp://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04i.html - Jaya Bharata Jananiya TanujateJaya Bharata Jananiya TanujateJaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate is a Kannada poem, which was composed by the Indian Kannadiga poet Kuvempu. The poem was officially declared the state anthem of the Indian state of Karnataka on January 6, 2004....
is declared the official anthem of KarnatakaKarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/01/11/stories/2004011103410400.htm
January 7
- In the United States, the Bush administrationGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
proposes a major reform of immigration lawImmigration lawImmigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigraton law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...
, creating a temporary worker program and giving legal status to both illegal and foreign workers for renewable three-year periods. http://www.iht.com/articles/124131.htmlhttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107644,00.html - The Supreme Court of IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
upholds the death sentence handed down to Bali bomber Amrozi. The 12 October 2002 attacks killed 202 mainly holiday makers on the resort island of BaliBaliBali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1021822.htmJuly 1073437329581.html
- Costas SimitisCostas SimitisKonstantinos Simitis , usually referred to as Costas Simitis or Kostas Simitis, was Prime Minister of Greece and leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement from 1996 to 2004.- Biography :...
, the prime ministerPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of Greece and president of the ruling PASOKPanhellenic Socialist MovementThe Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...
, after informing the country's president Costis StephanopoulosCostis StephanopoulosKonstantinos Stephanopoulos was the sixth President of the Third Hellenic Republic.Stephanopoulos was born in Patras. After attending the Saint Andrew school of Patras, he studied law at Athens University...
, announced his resignation. At the same time he announced national electionsGreek legislative election, 2004Legislative elections were held in Greece on March 7, 2004. At stake were 300 seats in the Greek Parliament, the Vouli . The New Democracy Party of Kostas Karamanlis won a decisive victory in the elections, ending eleven years of rule by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement .PASOK was led into the...
for March 7, 2004, when PASOK will have a new president, expected to be George Papandreou. PASOK will be challenged by the New DemocracyNew Democracy (Greece)New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...
opposition led by Kostas Karamanlis. See http://www.primeminister.gr/gr/showdoc2.asp?menu=3000104&p1=1328&p2=3&p3=1&p1s=&p2s=&p3s=, http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=507210&lngDtrID=244, http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=507133, http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=507247 (GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
) and http://www.mpa.gr/article.html?doc_id=426057, http://www.mpa.gr/article.html?doc_id=426055, http://www.mpa.gr/article.html?doc_id=426060, http://www.mpa.gr/article.html?doc_id=426206, http://www.mpa.gr/article.html?doc_id=426061 (English). - Exploration of MarsExploration of MarsThe exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
: Mars ExpressMars ExpressMars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...
failed to hear any signal from the Beagle 2Beagle 2Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful British landing spacecraft that formed part of the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. All contact with it was lost upon its separation from the Mars Express six days before its scheduled entry into the atmosphere...
spacecraft during its first pass over the landing site. This is major blow, but scientists have once again not given up all hope. They will attempt again tomorrow using a different communication mode. The Beagle 2 mission manager, Colin PillingerColin PillingerColin Trevor Pillinger, CBE, is a planetary scientist at the Open University in the UK. He was the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and has done much work studying a group of Martian meteorites.In May 2005 Pillinger was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.-Early...
, set February 7 as the day to abandon contact efforts. By that time Beagle 2 would have switched into an autotransmit mode after having not received any signal for over a month if it was still alive http://www.beagle2.com/news/index.htm. - A report from the International Monetary FundInternational Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
expresses alarm regarding mounting budget deficits in the United States due to recession, tax cuts, and spending for the war on terrorism. The report says that the unprecedented level of external debt incurred poses "significant risks" not just for the United States but for the rest of the world. However, many outside economists note that other countries are also running large deficits and that underlying economic conditions in the U.S. are still robust. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/07/politics/07CND-FUND.html?hp http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3377795.stm
- U.S.-led occupation of Iraq: MortarMortar (weapon)A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
attacks by Anti-American insurgents wound 35 U.S. soldiers at a military camp west of BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. Six mortar rounds exploded around local time. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/07/international1725EST0702.DTL
January 8
- Levi StraussLevi StraussLevi Strauss was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co., began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.-Origins:...
& Co. shuts its last U.S. jeansJeansJeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...
sewing plant in San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, TexasSan Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, ending all U.S. manufacturing as it shifts to a contract production model. The closure ends a "Made in the U.S.A." tradition dating back to the 1870s. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2343774 - The Queen Mary 2RMS Queen Mary 2RMS Queen Mary 2 is a transatlantic ocean liner. She was the first major ocean liner built since in 1969, the vessel she succeeded as flagship of the Cunard Line....
is christened by Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3368707.stm - An RTÉRTERTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
Prime Time investigation accuses the Garda SíochánaGarda Síochána, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
, the Republic of IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
's police force, of violent abuse of people arrested. Irish Minister of StateMinister of State (Ireland)A Minister of State in Ireland is of non-Cabinet rank, attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland....
Dick RocheDick RocheDick Roche is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Wicklow constituency, and also served in Seanad Éireann from 1992 to 1997.-Early and private life:...
accuses Gardaí of "torture" of one student beaten up in a Dublin police station, while a former judge accuses police of committing perjuryPerjuryPerjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
in his courts. The Gardaí deny all allegations. http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0108/garda.html
- The United States withdraws a group of 400 weapons inspectors from IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
after finding nothing of substance. 1400 inspectors remain. http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2386490 http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2004&dt=0109&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=World&pg=wo_03.htm - Occupation of Iraq: Nine United States soldiers are reported killed after a Black Hawk helicopter makes an emergency landing near the central Iraqi town of Falluja. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/3379433.stm
- The Carnegie Endowment for International PeaceCarnegie Endowment for International PeaceThe Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a foreign-policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. The organization describes itself as being dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States...
publishes a report accusing the United States of "systematically misrepresenting" the threat posed by "Iraq's weapons of mass destruction". http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1467121,00.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1118424,00.html http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/7662169.htm - The New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
legislature passes a bill creating a domestic partnershipDomestic partnershipA domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...
status for same-sexGayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
couples, with many of the same legal rights as marriage. It becomes the fifth U.S. state to offer such a status to same-sex couples. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/08/nj_senate_oks_legal_rights_for_same_sex_couples_governor_expected_to_sign/
January 9
- Education in GreeceEducation in GreeceThe Greek educational system is mainly divided into three levels, namely primary, secondary and tertiary, with an additional post-secondary level providing vocational training. Primary education is divided into kindergarten lasting one or two years, and primary school spanning six years...
: George Papandreou, junior talks about the possibility to allow private universities in Greece. http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=507815 (Greek) - Turkey fully abolishes the death penaltyCapital punishmentCapital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3384667.stm - The US lowers the terrorism advisory level to yellow (elevated) from orange (high). http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/09/terror.threat.level/
- BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
bans books published by the AhmadiyyaAhmadiyyaAhmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
movement, an Islamic sect. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3382931.stm - Exploration of MarsExploration of MarsThe exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
: Engineers at JPL decide to turn the Mars Spirit Rover around on its lander after it was found the airbags could not be retracted enough to allow it to move off in a forward direction. It is expected the rover will drive off sometime next week. The Rover has also stood up and deployed its front wheels. http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/040108airbags.html http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html - Two volcanoVolcano2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
es erupt: the Piton de la FournaisePiton de la FournaisePiton de la Fournaise : "Peak of the Furnace" is a shield volcano on the eastern side of Réunion island in the Indian Ocean. It is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world, along with Kīlauea in the Hawaiian Islands , Stromboli, Etna and Mount Erebus in Antarctica...
on RéunionRéunionRéunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
Island, and the Volcán de FuegoVolcán de FuegoVolcán de Fuego is an active stratovolcano in Guatemala. It is close to the city of Antigua Guatemala. It has erupted frequently since the Spanish conquest. "Fuego" is famous for being almost constantly active at a low level. Smoke issues from its top daily, but larger eruptions are rare. On...
near Antigua GuatemalaAntigua GuatemalaAntigua Guatemala is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Mudéjar-influenced Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches...
, GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. The eruption in Guatemala is not thought to be serious enough to require evacuations. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040109.wvolc0109/BNStory/International/ - In Guatemala CityGuatemala CityGuatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
, fifteen people die and twenty are hurt when a public bus collides with a crane. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0109GuatemalaCrash09-ON.html http://www.lahora.com.gt/04/01/09/index.html - Enron Corporation: Former Assistant Treasurer Lea FastowLea FastowLea Weingarten Fastow is the wife of former Enron executive and convicted felon Andrew Fastow and is the second former Enron executive to go to prison after Enron collapsed due to fraud in December 2001....
and wife of Andrew FastowAndrew FastowAndrew Stuart Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation that was based in Houston, Texas until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his and the company's conduct in 2001...
, failed to respond to a plea agreement by the deadline. The offer would have allowed her to plead guilty in federal court to lesser charges and serve five months in return for her testimony. Her trial for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion is scheduled to start February 10. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/10/business/10enron.html
January 10
- Occupation of Iraq: Protests in the city of AmarahAmarahAmarah , is a city in southeastern Iraq, located on a low ridge next to the Tigris River waterway south of Baghdad about 50 km from the border with Iran. It lies at the northern tip of the marshlands between the Tigris and Euphrates....
because of unemploymentUnemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
occur. Police officers and soldiers open fire on demonstrators. Five or six are killed and one or eleven wounded. http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/11/sprj.nirq.main/index.html - In publicity for a new book for which former U.S. Treasury SecretaryUnited States Secretary of the TreasuryThe Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
Paul O'Neill is the primary source, 60 Minutes60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
reveals O'Neill's claims that the BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration was making plans for an invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
within days of Bush's inaugurationInaugurationAn inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
. Bush officials note that regime changeRegime change"Regime change" is the replacement of one regime with another. Use of the term dates to at least 1925.Regime change can occur through conquest by a foreign power, revolution, coup d'état or reconstruction following the failure of a state...
in Iraq had been official U.S. policy since 1998, three years before Bush took office. O'Neill, fired for his opposition to tax cutsJobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 , was passed by the United States Congress on May 23, 2003 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 28, 2003...
, also characterized Bush as so disengaged in cabinet meetingsUnited States CabinetThe Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
that he "was like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people". On the positive side, O'Neill also described Bush as such a good listener that he (O'Neill) was able to give a non-stop monologue for nearly an hour in a one-on-one meeting. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml - SCO v. IBMSCO v. IBMSCO v. IBM is a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court of Utah. The SCO Group asserted that there are legal uncertainties regarding the use of the Linux operating system due to alleged violations of IBM's Unix licenses in the development of Linux code at IBM.-Summary:On March 6, 2003,...
: SCO GroupSCO GroupTSG Group, Inc. is a software company formerly called The SCO Group, Caldera Systems, and Caldera International. After acquiring the Santa Cruz Operation's Server Software and Services divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, the company changed its focus to UNIX...
claims that it has "low-level talks" with GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
about a possible license agreement related to LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
.http://www.forbes.com/markets/bonds/newswire/2004/01/09/rtr1205268.html - Iraq and weapons of mass destructionIraq and weapons of mass destructionDuring the regime of Saddam Hussein, the nation of Iraq used, possessed, and made efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction . Hussein was internationally known for his use of chemical weapons in the 1980s against Iranian and Kurdish civilians during and after the Iran–Iraq War...
: On January 9, 2004, Danish troopsMilitary of DenmarkThe armed forces of the Kingdom of Denmark, known as the Danish Defence is charged with the defence of the Kingdom of Denmark.The Chief of Defence is the head of the Danish Armed Forces, and is head of the Defence Command which is managed by the Ministry of Defence. Constitutionally, the...
discovered decade-old mortarMortar (weapon)A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
rounds containing suspicious liquid buried in Southern IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Initial tests now indicate that the rounds contain the banned chemical weaponChemical warfareChemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
blister gas. Final tests should be available in two days. http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/10/sprj.irq.chemicals/index.html http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=3&u=/nm/20040110/ts_nm/iraq_chemicals_dc_5 - A speed boat carrying illegal immigrants from AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, bound for Italy broke down and capsized. There were 11 survivors, while as many as 21 died due to drowning and exposure. Two have been arrested by Albanian authorities for people smugglingPeople smugglingPeople smuggling is defined as "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries laws, either clandestinely or through deception, such as the use of fraudulent documents"...
, while other senior officials have been implicated in connection with the tragedy. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3386481.stm http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/01/10/albania.immigrant.ap http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=436718§ion=news - American Idol host Ryan Seacrest officially takes over hosting duties of the popular radio program American Top 40. His predecessor, Casey KasemCasey KasemKemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...
, continues to host other similar programs. - CITV show Ministry of Mayhem was first aired
January 11
- Exploration of MarsExploration of MarsThe exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
: NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Spirit rover now has its arm and all six of its wheels free, and only a single cable must be cut before it can turn and roll off its lander onto the soil of Mars. As that milestone is completed, scientists are taking opportunities to take extra pictures and gather other data.http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2004/15.cfm - Occupation of Iraq:
- U.S. military records show that attacks against coalition soldiers have decreased by 22% in the four weeks following the capture of Saddam Hussein. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-01-12-iraq-attacks-down_x.htm
- More protests in AmarahAmarahAmarah , is a city in southeastern Iraq, located on a low ridge next to the Tigris River waterway south of Baghdad about 50 km from the border with Iran. It lies at the northern tip of the marshlands between the Tigris and Euphrates....
take place. Demonstrators, many of them related to the victims of January 10, requested compensation. No significant violence reported. http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/11/sprj.nirq.main/index.html
- Drake & JoshDrake & JoshDrake & Josh is an American sitcom that premiered on the Nickelodeon television network on January 11, 2004, which follows the lives of two stepbrothers. It stars Drake Bell and Josh Peck as stepbrothers Drake Parker and Josh Nichols, respectively. Both actors had played roles in The Amanda Show,...
made its debut on television.
January 12
- The U.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeUnited States Patent and Trademark OfficeThe United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
announces the ten top United States patent recipients. For the 11th year in a row, IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
tops the list; the next three in the list are headquartered in Japan. Companies from the Netherlands (PhilipsPhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
) and Korea (SamsungSamsungThe Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
) also make appearances. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/04-01.htm - The U.S. State Department concludes that the Israeli attack on USS Liberty in 1967, although probably accidental, was an act of gross negligenceNegligenceNegligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...
and that Israel should be held responsible. http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/12/us.israel.ussliberty/index.html http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1073881745637 - Canadian federal election, 2004Canadian federal election, 2004The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
: Stephen HarperStephen HarperStephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
announces his entry into the race to lead the new Conservative Party of CanadaConservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
. Earlier today, Jim PrenticeJim PrenticeJames "Jim" Prentice, PC, QC is a Canadian lawyer, and politician. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada...
drops out of the leadership contest, citing a lack of funds. http://globeandmail.ca/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040112.wprentince0112/BNStory/National/ - Israeli-Palestinian conflictIsraeli-Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
: Over 100,000 people rally in Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
to protestProtestA protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
Prime MinisterPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Ariel SharonAriel SharonAriel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
's plans to withdraw from parts of GazaGazaGaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
and the West BankWest BankThe West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, which would involve abandoning some Israeli settlements in those areas. http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/12/sharon.protest/index.html - The deadline for SCO GroupSCO GroupTSG Group, Inc. is a software company formerly called The SCO Group, Caldera Systems, and Caldera International. After acquiring the Santa Cruz Operation's Server Software and Services divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, the company changed its focus to UNIX...
to present evidence "with specificity" in the SCO v. IBM lawsuit expires - IBM and Intel Set Up $10m SCO Defense Fund. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5138820.html
- Astronauts on board the International Space StationInternational Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
think that a leak in a hose used to stop the fogging of an Earth observation window was causing the slow loss of pressure in the station. Although it would have taken a couple of months for the crew to be in any danger, some equipment on the station was only rated to just below the normal pressure. Although the cause appears to have been located, ground controllers are still getting the crew to close the station into three sections to allow them to get baseline pressure readings and to make sure that there are no more leaks. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2004/iss04-3.html - Computer Associates says may face SEC civil action: Software company Computer Associates International Inc, which is under investigation by federal regulators over its accounting practices, says it may face civil charges for improper accounting of revenue in fiscal 2000. http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=4111261
- IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
's provincial governors are threatening to resign unless a decision by the conservative Guardian Council is reversed. http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=D0FAA0AF-CD90-4691-90C40E9FCF88BA77 - Mars Exploration Rover Mission: The Spirit
' s air bags that cushioned its landing on Mars have been obstructing the vehicle's path, and this complication has postponed its exit of the launch vehicle until Wednesday or Thursday. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=753&e=10&u=/ap/20040112/ap_on_sc/mars_rover_shoving_off - The World Wildlife Fund-UK reports that the orangutanOrangutanOrangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
is in danger of becoming extinctExtinctionIn biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
within the next 20 years because of commercial loggingLoggingLogging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
and clearance for oil palmOil palmThe oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...
plantationPlantationA plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040112/sc_nm/environment_orangutans_dc_1 - AyatollahAyatollahAyatollah is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin...
Ali KhameneiAli KhameneiAyatollah Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i is the Supreme Leader of Iran and the figurative head of the Muslim conservative establishment in Iran and Twelver Shi'a marja...
, religious leader of IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, announces that he will not intervene in a growing political confrontation between progressives and hardliners after the Guardian Council, which he controls, barred thousands of candidates from running in upcoming Parliamentary elections (including 80 current members of Parliament). http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/international/middleeast/13TEHR.html?ex=1074574800&en=4ad1412984e737e9&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
January 13
- Israeli-Palestinian ConflictIsraeli-Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
: Tom HurndallTom HurndallThomas "Tom" Hurndall was a British photography student, a volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement , and an activist against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. On 11 April 2003, he was shot in the head in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defense Forces sniper, Taysir Hayb...
, a British peace activist with the International Solidarity MovementInternational Solidarity MovementThe International Solidarity Movement is an organization focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using nonviolent protests. It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, an Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a...
, dies after being shot in the head by an Israeli soldier on April 11, 2003. The Israeli government say that they may consider bringing manslaughterManslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
charges against the soldier; the man's family claim that he should be tried for murder.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3394899.stm - Education in GreeceEducation in GreeceThe Greek educational system is mainly divided into three levels, namely primary, secondary and tertiary, with an additional post-secondary level providing vocational training. Primary education is divided into kindergarten lasting one or two years, and primary school spanning six years...
: Debate over the private universities issue and George Papandreou, junior's suggestions (see 9 January) between New DemocracyNew Democracy (Greece)New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...
and PASOKPanhellenic Socialist MovementThe Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...
. http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=508624 (Greek) - The Constitutional Court of Italy strikes down a law enacted to give Prime Minister Silvio BerlusconiSilvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
immunity from prosecution while in office. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3392973.stm - British serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Dr Harold ShipmanHarold ShipmanHarold Fredrick Shipman was an English doctor and one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history with 218 murders being positively ascribed to him....
is found dead in his cell. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3391871.stm - The Bichard Inquiry into events preceding the Soham murdersSoham murdersThe Soham murders was an English murder case in 2002 of two 10-year-old girls in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire.The victims were Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman...
formally opens http://www.bichardinquiry.org.uk/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3391433.stm - Occupation of Iraq: A United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
AH-64 ApacheAH-64 ApacheThe Boeing AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement, and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. The Apache was developed as Model 77 by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the...
attack helicopter is shot down near the central Iraqi town of Habbaniya, but is able to land without casualties. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3392211.stm - A Yak-40Yakovlev Yak-40The Yakovlev Yak-40 is a small, three-engined airliner that is often called the first regional jet transport aircraft...
airlinerAirlinerAn airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
en route from TermezTermezTermez is a city in southern Uzbekistan near the border with Afghanistan.Some link the name of the city to thermos, "hot" in Greek, tracing its name back to Alexander the Great. Others suggest that it came from Sanskrit taramato, meaning "on the river bank". It is the hottest point of Uzbekistan...
in UzbekistanUzbekistanUzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
crashes near the capital TashkentTashkentTashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, killing all 37 crew and passengers, including the U.N.United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
's top official in the country, Richard Conroy. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3393845.stm - Robin CookRobin CookRobert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Livingston from 1983 until his death, and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001....
says that the British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
's Parthenon MarblesElgin MarblesThe Parthenon Marbles, forming a part of the collection known as the Elgin Marbles , are a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures , inscriptions and architectural members that originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens...
must be returned to Greece. http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=508606 (Greek), http://www.mpa.gr/article.html?doc_id=427404 (English), http://www.greece.gr/CULTURE/CulturalHeritage/marbles.stm (Background, English)
January 14
- J.P. Morgan Chase strikes a merger deal to buy Bank One to create the second-largest bankBankA bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
in the United States. - Iraq and weapons of mass destructionIraq and weapons of mass destructionDuring the regime of Saddam Hussein, the nation of Iraq used, possessed, and made efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction . Hussein was internationally known for his use of chemical weapons in the 1980s against Iranian and Kurdish civilians during and after the Iran–Iraq War...
: Tests performed by American and Danish military experts indicate no chemical agents are present in the "suspicious" mortarMortar (weapon)A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
shells discovered in Iraq on January 9. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=5&u=/ap/20040114/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_mortar_shells_9 - Self-confessed killer of Swedish FM Anna LindhAnna LindhYlva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003...
, 25-year-old Mijailo MijailovićMijailo MijailovicMijailo Mijailović is the self-confessed and convicted assassin of the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh, whom he stabbed on 10 September 2003 at the NK department store in Stockholm...
, says during cross-examination in a StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
court that he heard voicesHallucinationA hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
in his head commanding him to attack Lindh when he encountered her in a Stockholm shopping mall 10 September last year. Lindh died the next day from the many stab wounds she received. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3396409.stm - Federal Reserve BankFederal Reserve BankThe twelve Federal Reserve Banks form a major part of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The twelve federal reserve banks together divide the nation into twelve Federal Reserve Districts, the twelve banking districts created by the Federal Reserve Act of...
Chairman Alan GreenspanAlan GreenspanAlan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...
said, "It's just a matter of time before we begin to see employment start to pick up quite significantly, as it always has in the past." Greenspan is also not worried about the fall of the dollar or the half trillion dollar U.S. trade deficit. http://www.washtimes.com/business/20040113-113126-4771r.htm - Israeli-Palestinian conflictIsraeli-Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
:- Reem El-Reyashi, a PalestinianPalestinian peopleThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
suicide bomber, kills four border guards at the Erez CrossingErez CrossingThe Erez Crossing is a pedestrian/cargo terminal on the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the northern end of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Israel.It is part of a complex formerly including the Erez Industrial Park....
. She is the first female suicide bomberFemale suicide bomberThough the majority of suicide bombers have been male, female suicide bombers have carried out a number of attacks.-History:Female suicide bombers have been employed in several conflicts, by a variety of organizations, against both military and civilian targets.*In Lebanon on April 9, 1985, Sana'a...
used by HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. Four months before, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
targeted Hamas leadership, including Ahmed YassinAhmed YassinSheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin was a founder of Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian paramilitary organization and political party. Yassin also served as the spiritual leader of the organization...
, as a result Hamas halted all suicide bombing for four months.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3395973.stm - Jack Kelley, USA TODAYUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
foreign correspondent and a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize just two years ago, was forced to resign after the newspaper determined he repeatedly misled editors during an internal investigation into stories he wrote. Among the stories that are being investigated is one published September 4, 2001, contains an account of an attack on Palestinians by 13 Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Mark Memmott, the reporter asked to investigate Kelley, said he could not find anyone with first-hand knowledge of the attack.http://www.usatoday.com/news/2004-01-13-reporter_x.htm
- Reem El-Reyashi, a Palestinian
- A secondary school student in the Netherlands kills a teacher in his school cafeteria. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3394831.stm
- Greek electronic game banGreek electronic game banIn 2002 the Greek government, ostensibly in an attempt to fight illegal gambling, passed the ambiguous and controversial law 3037/2002 which effectively banned all electronic games in public places...
: Greek police raid Internet cafés in LarissaLarissaLarissa is the capital and biggest city of the Thessaly region of Greece and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the city of Thessaloniki and Athens...
. 80 computers are taken by the police as evidence and three Internet café owners are arrested. http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=508793&lngDtrID=252 (in Greek). - Education in GreeceEducation in GreeceThe Greek educational system is mainly divided into three levels, namely primary, secondary and tertiary, with an additional post-secondary level providing vocational training. Primary education is divided into kindergarten lasting one or two years, and primary school spanning six years...
: 114 University professors sign a document against George Papandreou's positions on private universities and their recognition (anagnorisi). http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=508745&lngDtrID=244 (Greek) - Jacques DelorsJacques DelorsJacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office .-French Politics:...
referred to Prime MinisterPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of Greece Costas SimitisCostas SimitisKonstantinos Simitis , usually referred to as Costas Simitis or Kostas Simitis, was Prime Minister of Greece and leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement from 1996 to 2004.- Biography :...
, Prime Minister of LuxembourgLuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
Jean-Claude JunckerJean-Claude JunckerJean-Claude Juncker is a Luxembourg politician, 23rd and current Prime Minister of Luxembourg, since 20 January 1995. He is the longest standing head of government of any European Union state...
, and former Prime Minister of Belgium Jean Luc Dehaene as the top three candidates for the position of the President of the European CommissionEuropean CommissionThe European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. http://www.mpa.gr/article.html?doc_id=427305 - A 45-year old SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese man travelling from Washington Dulles International AirportWashington Dulles International AirportWashington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
to airport DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
is arrested en route at London's Heathrow Airport on suspicion of carrying five bullets in his coat pocket. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3396667.stmhttp://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/7708240.htm - U.S. President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, in a speech at NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
headquarters, announces a plan to develop a new space vehicle to return humans to the moonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
by 2015 and proposes the retirement of the space shuttleSpace ShuttleThe Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
fleet by 2010 along with a funding increase for NASA. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040114-3.html - Enron Corporation: Former CFO Andrew FastowAndrew FastowAndrew Stuart Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation that was based in Houston, Texas until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his and the company's conduct in 2001...
and his wife Lea FastowLea FastowLea Weingarten Fastow is the wife of former Enron executive and convicted felon Andrew Fastow and is the second former Enron executive to go to prison after Enron collapsed due to fraud in December 2001....
, former Assistant Treasurer, accept a plea agreement. Andrew Fastow will serve a ten-year prison sentence and forfeit . Lea Fastow will serve a five-month prison sentence and a year of supervised release, including five months of house arrest. Both will provide testimony against other Enron corporate officers. http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4319468.html - Turkey and Greece: 22 Turkish military aircraft entered into the Greek AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
FIRFIRFIR or fir may refer to:*fir, a type of conifer tree*USCGC Fir, either of two buoy tenders of the United States Coast Guard*Fir , free ideal ring -Acronyms:* Falling In Reverse, a post-hardcore band...
. Five of these aircraft were loaded with ammunition. Greek aircraft intercepted them. Source: Athens News AgencyAthens News AgencyThe Athens News Agency was one of the two major news agencies in Greece, the other being the Macedonian Press Agency, before they merged together into the Athens News Agency-Macedonian Press Agency .-History:...
and in.grIn.grin.gr is a Greek Web site with an Alexa Internet traffic of 1 641, being visited by approximately 0.05% of the global Internet population. The site, which is owned by Lambrakis Press Group , is written in the Greek language and exists from November 1999....
. http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=508975&lngDtrID=244 (Greek) - Noted author d.g.k. goldberg died after a long and hard-fought battle with brain tumors and lung cancer.
January 15
- The United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
sides with the United States on voting in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Secretary-General Kofi AnnanKofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
and other UN officials call direct elections in advance of July 2004 impractical, due to continuing disorder in Iraq and other factors. http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040115-112502-3479r.htm - 30,000 Shiite protesters in BasraBasraBasra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
call for immediate country-wide elections in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, a move that would give them more power than the UN-backed plan for regional caucusCaucusA caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
es mandated by the US-led coalition http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1074166569307&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154 - South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
's foreign minister Yoon Young-kwan resigns after a controversy in which his ministry was accused of diverging from the government's policy of increased independence from the United States. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3627495,00.html - The European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
asks the World Trade OrganizationWorld Trade OrganizationThe World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
for authorization to impose trade sanctions against the United States in response to the U.S.'s anti-dumpingDumpingDumping may refer to a subject......in computing:*Recording the contents of memory after application or operating system failure, or by operator request, in a core dump for use in subsequent problem analysis.*Recording a file or medium as a backup....
scheme, which has been ruled illegal by the WTO. http://www.guardian.co.uk/wto/article/0,2763,1123880,00.html - Canadian federal election, 2004Canadian federal election, 2004The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
: Former OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
Health Minister Tony ClementTony ClementTony Peter Clement, PC, MP is a Canadian federal politician, President of the Treasury Board, Minister for the Federal Economic Initiative for Northern Ontario and member of the Conservative Party of Canada....
declares his candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party of CanadaConservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
. Also confirmed is the candidacy of auto parts magnate Belinda StronachBelinda StronachBelinda Caroline Stronach, PC is a Canadian businessperson, philanthropist and former politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 2004 to 2008. Originally elected as a Conservative, she later crossed the floor to join the Liberals...
, who will announce her entry into the leadership race next week. http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/15/conservatives_clement040115 - Italy has indicted three Germans, all former members of an SSWaffen-SSThe Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
Panzergrenadier Division, on charges of massacring 560 people in 1944 in the Italian village of Sant'Anna di StazzemaSant'Anna di StazzemaSant'Anna di Stazzema is a village in Tuscany in central Italy. Administratively, it is a frazione of the comune of Stazzema, in the province of Lucca....
. The three Germans, Gerhard SommerGerhard SommerGerhard Sommer is a former SS-Untersturmführer in the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS who was involved in the massacre of 560 civilians on 12 August 1944 in the Italian village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema....
, 83; Alfred Schonenberg, 83; and Ludwig Sonntag, 80, are currently living in Germany. It is not clear whether Italy will request the three men's extraditionExtraditionExtradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
from Germany. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=56139 - U.S. presidential election, 2004: Carol Moseley BraunCarol Moseley BraunCarol Elizabeth Moseley Braun is an American feminist politician and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first and to date only African-American woman elected to the United States Senate, the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator in an...
drops out of the race and endorses Dr. Howard DeanHoward DeanHoward Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
, confirming rumors circulating the night before as she taped an appearance on The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040115/ap_on_el_pr/braun&cid=694&ncid=716 - The date for the publication of the Hutton InquiryHutton InquiryThe Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
's report into the death of British weapons scientist Dr David Kelly is announced as January 28, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3400303.stm - The creditors of ailing FinnishFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
low-cost carrierLow-cost carrierA low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...
Flying FinnFlying Finn (airline)Flying Finn Ltd was a low cost airline, based at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Finland. It ceased operations in 2004.- History :The airline was established in December 2002 and started operations on 16 March 2003. Its cheap air fares were based on the fact that the e-tickets were only sold through...
have threatened to confiscate the airline's planes. http://www.iltasanomat.fi/uutiset/sahkeet.asp?id=703525 - Exploration of MarsExploration of MarsThe exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
: The Spirit Rover has rolled off its lander to start its exploration. The first journey was only three metres. It took the rover about 78 seconds, ending with the back of the rover being 0.7 metres from the lander. http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/040115drive.html - The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)World Wide Web ConsortiumThe World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
announces the release of the Composite Capability/Preference ProfilesComposite Capability/Preference ProfilesComposite Capability/Preference Profiles is a specification for defining capabilities and preferences of user agents. CC/PP is a vocabulary extension of the Resource Description Framework...
(CC/PP 1.0). W3C's new standard profiling language CC/PP provides a standardInternet standardIn computer network engineering, an Internet Standard is a normative specification of a technology or methodology applicable to the Internet. Internet Standards are created and published by the Internet Engineering Task Force .-Overview:...
ized format of the description of information that will allow Web-enabled devices to effectively communicate their capabilities to the desired serverServer (computing)In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
and aids in delivering Web content to broad range of devices. - José Bono, a prominent Socialist Spanish politician, is recorded calling Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
"a complete dickhead" (un gilipollas integral). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/16/wspain16.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/16/ixworld.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=165966 - PopeyePopeyePopeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
, like TintinThe Adventures of TintinThe Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...
, turns 75 this month. http://www.kingfeatures.com/pressrm/rel_154_12_1_2004.htm
January 16
- Chen Shui-bianChen Shui-bianChen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...
makes a televised address reiterating the Four Noes and One WithoutFour Noes and One WithoutThe Four Noes and One Without , also known as the Four Noes was a pledge by former President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian made in his inauguration speech on 20 May 2000 concerning the political status of Taiwan...
pledge and announcing the two questions for a referendum to coincide with the ROC presidential election, 2004ROC presidential election, 2004The Election for the 11th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China , the third direct presidential election in Taiwan's history and the 11th presidential election overall under the 1947 Chinese Constitution, was held on March 20, 2004...
on March 20. http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/01/16/taiwan.referendum.ap/index.htmlhttp://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/17/content_299926.htm - U.S. President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
appoints Charles PickeringCharles W. PickeringCharles Willis Pickering, Sr. is a retired federal judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.- Background :...
to the United States Court of AppealsUnited States court of appealsThe United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
. His nomination was filibusterFilibusterA filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
ed in the U.S. SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, so President Bush made a recess appointmentRecess appointmentA recess appointment is the appointment, by the President of the United States, of a senior federal official while the U.S. Senate is in recess. The U.S. Constitution requires that the most senior federal officers must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office, but while the Senate is in...
. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040116/D8044KNG0.html - Earthquake in IranBamBam is commonly used as an onomatopoeia for a sound, mostly that of an impact or collision.Bam or BAM may also refer to:Places:*Bam, Iran, a city*Bam County, an administrative subdivision of Iran*Bam Province, Burkina Faso...
: Iran updates the death toll from the BamBam, IranBam is a city in and the capital of Bam County, Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 73,823, in 19,572 families.The modern Iranian city of Bam surrounds the Bam citadel. Before the 2003 earthquake the official population count of the city was roughly 43,000. There are...
earthquake to 41,000 people. The final figure could be as high as 45,000. http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=21685&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs - The People's Republic of China arrests a top Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
official into custody over suspicion of espionage for the United Kingdom. http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1073281079666 - Nunavut general election, 2004Nunavut general election, 2004The Canadian territory of Nunavut conducted its second general election on February 16, 2004, to elect the 19 members of the Legislative Assembly.Premier Paul Okalik asked for the five-year-old territory's first parliament to be dissolved on January 16....
: Premier Paul OkalikPaul OkalikPaul Okalik MLA is a Canadian politician. He is the first Inuk member called to the Nunavut Bar, the first Premier of Nunavut and the only multi-term premier of a Canadian territory....
of NunavutNunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
, Canada, requests a dissolution of the territory's legislature and an election call for February 16. http://north.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=nune-nominations - On or around this date, the United States national debt passes US$7 trillion.
January 17
- Planned NASA servicing missions for the Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
are cancelled. Safety concerns are cited as the main reason behind the decision. http://www.seattlepi.com/national/157010_hubble17.htmlhttp://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0401/16hubblesm4/ - Human cloningHuman cloningHuman cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
: Fertility expert Dr. Panos Zavos claims to have successfully transplanted a two week old embryo into a 35 year old woman. He said he had not done the act anywhere where "the spirit of the law" was against such a procedure. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3406129.stm - George Papandreou of Greece promised that he will suggest to sign a mutual agreement with Turkey for lowering their defense militaryMilitaryA military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
expenses. http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=509619&lngDtrID=244 (Greek). - Protesters call for resignation of German Federal Police chief Ulrich Kersten: about 6,000 people demonstrates against moving Germany's Federal Police (BKA) headquarters from WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
to Berlin. http://www.deutschewelle.de/english/0,3367,1432_A_1091660_1_A,00.html
January 18
- Occupation of Iraq: At around local time ( GMT) in BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, an insurgent suicide bomber driving a car filled with explosives blew himself up while attempting to enter "Assassin's Gate." Early reports said that about 18 people, including 16 Iraqi civilians and two United States Department of DefenseUnited States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
workers were killed, while another 56 Iraqi civilians were wounded. http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/18/sprj.nitop.baghdad.blast/index.html - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel SharonAriel SharonAriel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
praises the Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Zvi MazelZvi MazelZvi Mazel is an Israeli diplomat. He was the Israeli ambassador to Sweden from 2002 to 2004, after serving as ambassador in Egypt from 1996 to 2001 and, later, Romania...
, for vandalising the artwork entitled "Snow White and The Madness of TruthSnow White and The Madness of TruthSnow White and The Madness of Truth was an item of installation art by Swedish, Israeli-born composer and musician Dror Feiler, and his Swedish wife, artist Gunilla Sköld-Feiler...
" displayed at a StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
museum. The piece, created by an Israeli-born composer/musician, consists of a white float carrying a picture of a Palestinian suicide bomber in a pool of blood-coloured water. Mazel was caught on surveillance video disconnecting the electric power from the display and throwing a lamp into the water. Mazel says, "This exhibit was the culmination of dozens of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish events in Sweden." http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3639943,00.html - Ex-Australian cricketer and current VictorianVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
coach David HookesDavid HookesDavid William Hookes was an Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in the middle order...
is rushed to hospital after being hit from behind during a brawl outside the Beaconsfield Hotel in St Kilda, VictoriaSt Kilda, VictoriaSt Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
. He is "technically dead" by the time paramedics arrive, but is revived, and is placed in MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
's Alfred Hospital in a coma and on life support. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/19/1074360687447.html
January 19
- Cargo ship "MS Rocknes" with a crew of 30 including the pilot capsizes near Bergen, Norway at 1630 local time (1530 UTC). Two people are reported dead and 24 still missing the morning after the accident. The ship was carrying a heavy load of rocks for use as shielding on top of a gas pipeline to EmdenEmdenEmden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...
, Germany, from the Norwegian Ormen Lange offshore gas field.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3412079.stm - The English Court of Appeal calls for an end to the prosecution of parents whose babies may have died of Sudden Infant Death SyndromeSudden infant death syndromeSudden infant death syndrome is marked by the sudden death of an infant that is unexpected by medical history, and remains unexplained after a thorough forensic autopsy and a detailed death scene investigation. An infant is at the highest risk for SIDS during sleep, which is why it is sometimes...
(cot death) in cases where the only evidence is contended expert testimony. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/3409183.stm - The European Space AgencyEuropean Space AgencyThe European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
releases detailed colour images of the surface of MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, taken by its orbiting Mars ExpressMars ExpressMars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...
probe. http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMWF0474OD_0.html - NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Spirit rover arrives at its initial destination, a rock named "AdirondackAdirondack (Mars)Adirondack is the nickname for Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's first target rock. Scientists chose Adirondack to be Spirit's first target rock after considering another, called Sashimi, that would have been a shorter, straight-ahead drive...
", and prepares for analysis. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=96&e=1&u=/space/20040120/sc_space/spiritpreparestounlockadirondack http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040119/spirit.html - U.S. presidential election, 2004: The IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
caucuses yield unexpectedly strong results for Democratic candidates John KerryJohn KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, who earns 38% of the state's delegates and John EdwardsJohn EdwardsJohnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
, who takes 32%. Former front-runner Howard DeanHoward DeanHoward Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
slips to 18%, and Richard A. "Dick" GephardtDick GephardtRichard Andrew "Dick" Gephardt is a lobbyist and former prominent American politician of the Democratic Party. Gephardt served as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from January 3, 1977, until January 3, 2005, serving as House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995, and as Minority Leader from 1995 to...
's fourth-place (11%) finish http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30424-2004Jan19.html http://pennlive.com/newsflash/lateststories/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/107456304117782.xml prompts him to end his presidential bid. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040119_1786.html - Yigal AmirYigal AmirYigal Amir is the Israeli assassin of Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin. The assassination took place on November 4, 1995 at the conclusion of a rally in Tel Aviv. Amir is currently serving a life sentence for murder plus six years for injuring Rabin's bodyguard, Yoram Rubin, under...
, assassinAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of Yitzhak RabinYitzhak Rabin' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
, plans to marry. http://www.blogitorial.com/2004/01/yigal_amir_to_marry.html - "Snow White and The Madness of TruthSnow White and The Madness of TruthSnow White and The Madness of Truth was an item of installation art by Swedish, Israeli-born composer and musician Dror Feiler, and his Swedish wife, artist Gunilla Sköld-Feiler...
" displayed at a StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
museum is again vandalized. A Russian-Jewish artist floats another image in the pool, that of Mijailo MijailovićMijailo MijailovicMijailo Mijailović is the self-confessed and convicted assassin of the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh, whom he stabbed on 10 September 2003 at the NK department store in Stockholm...
, the murderer of Swedish foreign minister Anna LindhAnna LindhYlva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003...
.http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=56425 - José María AznarJosé María AznarJosé María Alfredo Aznar López served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation.-Early life:...
's government in Spain is dissolved prior to March general elections. He has said he will not run for a third term of office. http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,2763,1126831,00.html.
January 20
- 2004 Canadian Federal ElectionCanadian federal election, 2004The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
: Belinda StronachBelinda StronachBelinda Caroline Stronach, PC is a Canadian businessperson, philanthropist and former politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 2004 to 2008. Originally elected as a Conservative, she later crossed the floor to join the Liberals...
officially announces her run for leadership of the Conservative Party of CanadaConservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
. http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1074596565057&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154 - Martha StewartMartha StewartMartha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
pleads not guilty to five criminal counts that include conspiracy, obstruction of justice and securities fraud stemming from a sale of ImClone stock in 2001. Conviction on any of the charges against her could put Ms. Stewart in federal prison. The five counts carry a total prison term of 30 years and a fine.http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/20/business/20CND-MARTHA.html?hp - Colonel Rashid Abu Shbak of the Palestinian Authority, said that information was still coming in and the investigating team had been upgraded, but he had no new leads on who was behind the bombing attack of an American diplomatic convoy on October 15, 2002. Three people died in the attack. U.S. officials have been stopped from going to GazaGazaGaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
since the attack. No decision has been made yet on when they might be allowed to return. Col. Shbak blamed IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
for the lack of progress in the investigation.http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4169415
January 21
- The International Olympic CommitteeInternational Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
urges AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
to continue working round-the-clock for the 2004 Summer Olympics2004 Summer OlympicsThe 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
. The deadline is for August 13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2004/3417755.stm - NorwegianNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Crown Prince Haakon Magnus's wife Crown Princess Mette-MaritMette-Marit, Crown Princess of NorwayMette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway , is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.-Background and education:...
gives birth to a daughter, at 0913 local time (0813 UTC), at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in OsloOsloOslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. The newborn princess, named Ingrid Alexandra, weighs in at 3,686 gramGramThe gram is a metric system unit of mass....
s and is 51 cm tall. She is second in succession to the Norwegian throne. http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=713922 http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=714840 - The latest World Economic ForumWorld Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
event opens in DavosDavosDavos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
, Switzerland, with a keynote address by IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian President Mohammad KhatamiMohammad KhatamiSayyid Mohammad Khātamī is an Iranian scholar, philosopher, Shiite theologian and Reformist politician. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 3, 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture in both the 1980s and 1990s...
. - The Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceRoyal Canadian Mounted PoliceThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
raid the residence of Ottawa CitizenOttawa CitizenThe Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
reporter Juliet O'NeillJuliet O'NeillJuliet O'Neill is a Canadian journalist who was the subject of controversy when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided her house, in an attempt to find the source of an alleged internal leak giving her access to privileged documents related to the Maher Arar case.In 1996 O'Neill was awarded a...
for the purposes of searching for evidence of leaked information in the Maher ArarMaher ArarMaher Arar is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who resides in Canada. Arar's story is frequently referred to as "extraordinary rendition" but the U.S. government insisted it was a case of deportation.Arar was detained during a layover at John F...
deportationDeportationDeportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
scandalScandalA scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
. It was widely denounced by media groups and civil libertarians
January 22
- Mars Exploration Rover Mission: MER-A Spirit rover stops transmitting meaningful data and has thought to have gone into safe modeSafe mode (spacecraft)Safe mode is an operating mode of a modern spacecraft during which all non-essential systems are shut down and only essential functions such as thermal management, radio reception and attitude control are active.-Triggering events:...
. The cause of this is unknown but the rover is still able to send back a simple acknowledgement tone.http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/status.html - Staff members of the United States Republican Party are accused of infiltrating Democratic Party computers and making copies of confidential files stored on the compromised computers. The infiltrations reportedly began in early 2002.http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/22/infiltration_of_files_seen_as_extensive/
- Maher ArarMaher ArarMaher Arar is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who resides in Canada. Arar's story is frequently referred to as "extraordinary rendition" but the U.S. government insisted it was a case of deportation.Arar was detained during a layover at John F...
sues the United States government for having deported him to SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and not Canada, his country of citizenship. He was reportedly tortured in Syria.http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/22/ararsuit040122 - Enron Corporation: Richard CauseyRichard CauseyRichard Alan Causey is one of the prominent figures in the Enron accounting scandal. Causey was Enron's Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer....
, former chief accounting officer was indicted in Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, on federal charges of securities fraud and conspiracy for his role in masking Enron's faltering fiscal health in late 2001. He has pled not guilty. http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-bzenro233638506jan23,0,167980.story?coll=ny-business-print - ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
's only independent daily newspaper resumes publishing. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040123/ap_on_re_af/zimbabwe_media
January 23
- David KayDavid KayDr. David A. Kay is best known for heading the Iraq Survey Group and acting as a Weapons inspector in Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion.-Education:...
steps down from Iraq Survey GroupIraq Survey GroupThe Iraq Survey Group was a fact-finding mission sent by the multinational force in Iraq after the 2003 invasion of Iraq to find the alleged weapons of mass destruction alleged to be possessed by Iraq that had been the main ostensible reason for the invasion. Its final report is commonly called...
. George TenetGeorge TenetGeorge John Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University....
names former UN weapons inspector Charles Duelfer to succeed Kay. http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040123222319.3mq7ylpu.html - The International Monetary FundInternational Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
has joined the World BankWorld BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
in forgiving of the $6.5bn debt owed by NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, sharply reducing the nation's overall debt payments. http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=2D3D6D01-D8B3-4FA3-9F6AB47FF0B27966 - The European Space AgencyEuropean Space AgencyThe European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
's Mars ExpressMars ExpressMars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...
orbiter directly detects water ice in the southern polar region of the planet MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEM8ZB474OD_index_0.html http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/01/23/mars.water.ice/ - NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Spirit rover communicated with Earth in a signal detected by NASA's Deep Space NetworkDeep Space NetworkThe Deep Space Network, or DSN, is a world-wide network of large antennas and communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe, and supports selected...
antenna complex near Madrid, Spain, at 12:34 Universal Time ( PST) this morning. The transmissions came during a communication window about 90 minutes after Spirit woke up for the morning on Mars. The signal lasted for 10 minutes at a data rate of 10 bits per second. Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, plan to send commands to Spirit seeking additional data from the spacecraft during the subsequent few hours. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040123a.html The flight team for NASA's Spirit received data from the rover in another communication session that began at 13:26 Universal Time ( PST) and lasted 20 minutes at a data rate of 120 bits per second. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040123b.html - A ThaiThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
man suspected of having bird fluH5N1Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species...
died, according to the Public Health Ministry. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=753&e=10&u=/ap/20040123/ap_on_sc/asia_bird_flu - At least 51 people, including a bridegroom, were killed on Friday when a fire ripped through a makeshift wedding hall in the southern Indian state of Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
during a marriage ceremony.http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EE0FD6AA-6A32-4B78-82F7-4D6BEE0C8AC0.htm - An explosion has killed two people at ZhengzhouZhengzhouZhengzhou , is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China. A prefecture-level city, it also serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational centre of the province, as well as a major transportation hub for Central China...
railway station, one of the People's Republic of China's biggest transport hubs.http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/68E3BD44-319D-4D3B-AE3D-67CD101F491D.htm
January 24
- Mars Exploration Rover Mission
- NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
isolates the flash memoryFlash memoryFlash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
aboard Spirit as the most probable cause of communications problems; work continues on a method to operate the rover without it. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040124a.html - MER-B Opportunity successfully lands on Mars and continues communications through all stages.
- NASA
January 25
- GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
's new president, Mikhail Saakashvili, is sworn in. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3426977.stm - ChessChessChess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
player Viswanathan AnandViswanathan AnandV. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
wins in group A of the Corus chess tournamentCorus chess tournamentThe Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands...
. Thirteen-year-old Norwegian prodigy, Magnus CarlsenMagnus CarlsenSven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
, wins in group C. http://www.coruschess.com/ - David KayDavid KayDr. David A. Kay is best known for heading the Iraq Survey Group and acting as a Weapons inspector in Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion.-Education:...
says, in his opinion, IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
had no banned WMDWeapons of mass destructionA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
stockpiles: "I don't think they existed", Kay said, "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last (1991) Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, and I don't think there was a large-scale production program in the '90s."http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1615880.html David Kay also says that part of Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's secret weapons programme may have been hidden in SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. http://www.manoramaonline.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=manorama/MmArticle/CommonFullStory&c=MmArticle&cid=1074829704662&channel=News&p=1002194839100&count=7 http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7ECE4398-8057-49B2-8B13-1B3D7F7CADCB.htm Syria denies receiving Iraq arms. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3428383.stm - IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
announces that millions of birds have died from avian influenza in the last few months. http://www.guardian.co.uk/indonesia/Story/0,2763,1131233,00.html - Golden Globe Awards: Major winners include The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
, Lost in TranslationLost in Translation (film)Lost in Translation is a 2003 American film written and directed by Sofia Coppola; her second feature film after The Virgin Suicides and it stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson...
, and Angels in AmericaAngels in America (miniseries)Angels in America is a 2003 HBO miniseries adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name by Tony Kushner. Kushner adapted his original text for the screen, and Mike Nichols directed...
. - HungarianHungary national football teamThe Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation....
footballer Miklos FehérMiklós FehérMiklós "Miki" Fehér was a Hungarian footballer who played as a striker.On 25 January 2004, Fehér died of a cardiac arrest during a match between Vitória de Guimarães and his team Benfica in Guimarães, Portugal....
dies in a match between Benfica and Vitória Guimarães in Portugal. Benfica will subsequently retire his number 29 shirt.
January 26
- President Hamid KarzaiHamid KarzaiHamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
signs into law the new constitution of AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1075117169557&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037 - Avian influenza has now been detected in a total of nine countries, with Pakistan and LaosLaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
as the latest additions. Pakistan has detected less dangerous strains H7 and H9. A six-year-old ThaiThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
boy became the seventh victim in Asia, with another ten suspected cases in the country. Around chickens have been slaughtered as a result of fighting the spread of the flu. The World Health Organisation expresses concern about a serious human outbreak. (WHO)http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/01/27/d4012701066.htmhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/445711.cmshttp://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1031975.htm - In Fellers v. United StatesFellers v. United StatesFellers v. United States, 540 U.S. 519 , is a United States Supreme Court case regarding the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel.-Facts:...
, the United States Supreme Court unanimously reaffirms the Miranda WarningMiranda warningThe Miranda warning is a warning given by police in the United States to criminal suspects in police custody before they are interrogated to preserve the admissibility of their statements against them in criminal proceedings. In Miranda v...
. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=558&e=8&u=/ap/scotus_police_questioning - A federal judge in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, declares a portion of the USA Patriot ActUSA PATRIOT ActThe USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
, banning "expert advice and assistance" to suspected foreign terroristTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
groups, to be unconstitutionalConstitutionalityConstitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=3&u=/nm/security_patriotact_dc - The House of RepresentativesConnecticut House of RepresentativesThe Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents...
of ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
votes unanimously to investigate the dealings of Governor John G. RowlandJohn G. RowlandJohn Grosvenor Rowland was the 86th Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004; he is a member of the Republican Party. He is married to Patty Rowland, his second wife, and the couple have five children between them...
, a step which might lead to impeachmentImpeachmentImpeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
proceedings. Rowland is accused of using state contractors for his personal gain. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4211318 - The US Energy DepartmentUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
's Inspector General releases a report stating that guards at the Y-12Y-12 National Security ComplexThe Y-12 National Security Complex is a United States Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration facility located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory...
enriched uraniumEnriched uraniumEnriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
storage facility in Oak Ridge, TennesseeOak Ridge, TennesseeOak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
, have been cheating on securitySecuritySecurity is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...
drills, possibly for 20 years. http://www.ig.doe.gov/pdf/ig-0636.pdf http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,62052,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2 - Top HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
official Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year truce if IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
would withdraw from territory occupied since 1967 and acknowledge the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel dismissed the peace offer as "ridiculous". http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4209129
January 27
- The People's Republic of China announces an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza in the autonomous region of GuangxiGuangxiGuangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
, becoming the 10th country in Asia to do so http://www.straitstimes.com.sg/latest/story/0,4390,232055,00.html?. There are suspected cases in HunanHunan' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
and HubeiHubei' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
provinces http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/27/content_301172.htm http://www.iht.com/articles/126779.html. - British Prime Minister Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
narrowly defeats a rebellion in his own party over the Higher Education BillHigher Education Act 2004The Higher Education Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced several changes to the higher education system in the United Kingdom, the most important and controversial being a major change to the funding of universities, and the operation of tuition fees, which...
– a highly controversial bill to reform higher educationHigher educationHigher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
funding, including the introduction of increased and variable tuitionTuitionTuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
fees. It is approved in the House of CommonsBritish House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
by 316 votes to 311. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3434329.stm http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/tuitionfees/story/0,12757,1132974,00.html - U.S. presidential election, 2004: Senator John KerryJohn KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
wins the New Hampshire primaryNew Hampshire primaryThe New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
. Howard DeanHoward DeanHoward Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
comes second. - Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: nominations announced, leading films are The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
(11), Master and CommanderMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the WorldMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin and released by 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films and Universal Studios...
(10), SeabiscuitSeabiscuit (film)Seabiscuit is a 2003 American biographical film based on the best-selling non-fiction book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand...
(7), Mystic RiverMystic River (film)Mystic River is a 2003 American drama film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney and Emmy Rossum. The film was written by Brian Helgeland, based on Dennis Lehane's novel of the same...
(6), and Cold MountainCold Mountain (film)Cold Mountain is a 2003 war drama film written and directed by Anthony Minghella. The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Charles Frazier...
(6). Keisha Castle-HughesKeisha Castle-HughesKeisha Castle-Hughes is a New Zealand film actress who rose to prominence at the age of eleven when playing Paikea "Pai" Apirana in the 2002 film Whale Rider...
, at 13, becomes the youngest nominee ever for the Academy Award for Best ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... - A new e-mailE-mailElectronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
wormComputer wormA computer worm is a self-replicating malware computer program, which uses a computer network to send copies of itself to other nodes and it may do so without any user intervention. This is due to security shortcomings on the target computer. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach...
, Novarg/Mydoom, is spreading rapidly to thousands of machines running Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. It rapidly becomes the fastest-spreading e-mail worm to date. http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/novarg.shtml, http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_100983.htm, http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.novarg.a@mm.html, http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virus.aspx?ID=38102, http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=WORM_MIMAIL.R http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/0,2000061744,39115847,00.htm.
January 28
- Milan BabićMilan BabicMilan Babić was from 1991 to 1995 the first President of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, a Croatian region at the time of the war largely populated by a Serbs of Croatia that wished to break away from Croatia.He was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former...
, the former leader of the breakaway Republic of Serbian KrajinaRepublic of Serbian KrajinaThe Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
(now re-incorporated into CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
), pleads guilty to crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. - David KayDavid KayDr. David A. Kay is best known for heading the Iraq Survey Group and acting as a Weapons inspector in Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion.-Education:...
testifies before a United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
committeeCommitteeA committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
stating that evidence of weapons of mass destruction was based on inaccurate intelligenceIntelligence (information gathering)Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
. "I believe that the effort that has been directed to this point has been sufficiently intense that it is highly unlikely that there were large stockpiles of deployed, militarized chemical weapons there" and, even if IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
did not have weapons stockpiles, this does not mean that nation was not dangerous. Kay urges for an inquiryInquiryAn inquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ways that each type of inquiry achieves its aim.-Deduction:...
into the intelligence failureIntelligence FailureIntelligence Failure is the eighth studio album of the actor Viggo Mortensen and seventh with the avant-garde guitarist Buckethead, released on 2005. The album combines traditional and original compositions, as well as clips of public speeches, most notably of George W. Bush and members of his...
and states that the United States needed better intelligence. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040128_129.html http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0401/S00195.htm http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2464394 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=4230282 - The Hutton InquiryHutton InquiryThe Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
report is released, stating the suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
of IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i weapons expert David Kelly did not involve "dishonourable conduct" on the part of the United Kingdom's government and exonerates Prime MinisterPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
of any wrongdoing in Kelly's death. The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
receives harsh criticism for the allegations within Andrew GilliganAndrew GilliganAndrew Paul Gilligan is a British journalist best known for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme in which he said a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction had been 'sexed up', a claim that ultimately led to a public inquiry that criticised Gilligan...
's report on weapons of mass destructionWeapons of mass destructionA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
and the BBC's subsequent backing of the report. Gavyn DaviesGavyn DaviesGavyn Davies, OBE was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004, a former Goldman Sachs banker and a former economic advisor to the British Government...
takes full responsibility for any wrong-doing and resigns as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC. http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3434661.stm http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1099230_1_A,00.html http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DC3A6AA9-AF97-45F3-9920-71731BAC5FE3.htm - The discovery of a new form of matter, Fermionic condensateFermionic condensateA fermionic condensate is a superfluid phase formed by fermionic particles at low temperatures. It is closely related to the Bose–Einstein condensate, a superfluid phase formed by bosonic atoms under similar conditions. Unlike the Bose–Einstein condensates, fermionic condensates are formed using...
, has been announced. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/01/28/matter.new.reut/index.html. - The World Wide Web ConsortiumWorld Wide Web ConsortiumThe World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
releases Document Object ModelDocument Object ModelThe Document Object Model is a cross-platform and language-independent convention for representing and interacting with objects in HTML, XHTML and XML documents. Aspects of the DOM may be addressed and manipulated within the syntax of the programming language in use...
Level 3 Validation as a W3C RecommendationW3C recommendationA W3C Recommendation is the final stage of a ratification process of the World Wide Web Consortium working group concerning a technical standard. This designation signifies that a document has been subjected to a public and W3C-member organization's review. It aims to standardise the Web technology...
.http://www.w3.org/ - San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, mayor Ron GonzalesRon GonzalesRonald R. Gonzales is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party, who served as the 63rd Mayor of San Jose, California. Gonzales was the first Hispanic Mayor of San Jose since California became a U.S. state in 1850.-Career:...
suffers a mild strokeStrokeA stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
while giving the State of the City address. The mayor is expected to make a full recovery. - A rare artefact from the 1800s used against witchcraftWitchcraftWitchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
is found in the United Kingdom. Now displayed in a museum. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/3437241.stm
January 29
- A 60-ton sperm whaleSperm WhaleThe sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...
carcass explodes in downtown Tainan, TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, causing traffic delays and showering vehicles and pedestrians with blood and entrails. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4096586/ - A report submitted today to the State of MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
states that the electronic votingElectronic votingElectronic voting is a term encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes....
machineVoting machineVoting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information...
s made by Diebold Election SystemsDiebold Election SystemsPremier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold Election Systems, Inc. was a subsidiary of Diebold that makes and sells voting machines. In 2009 it was sold to competitor ES&S. Another subsidiary selling electronic voting systems in Brazil is Diebold-Procomp, with minor market share in that nation...
"have such poor computer security and physical security that an election could be disrupted or even stolen by corrupt insiders or determined outsiders". The machines have been purchased by a number of states in the United States. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/29/technology/29CND-SECU.html This is the third report to state that the machines do not meet the security requirements of an election. Previous reports are available online: http://www.dbm.maryland.gov/dbm_search/technology/toc_voting_system_report/votingsystemreportfinal.pdf, http://avirubin.com/vote/. - Hutton InquiryHutton InquiryThe Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
: The BBC Director-General, Greg DykeGreg DykeGregory "Greg" Dyke is a British media executive, journalist and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing 'tabloid' television to British broadcasting, and reviving the ratings of TV-am...
, resigns in the continuing fall-out from the report. Mr Dyke is the second high-ranking BBC official to resign. Mark ByfordMark ByfordMark Byford was Deputy Director General of the British Broadcasting Corporation and head of BBC Journalism from 2004-2011. He chaired the BBC Journalism Board and had overall responsibility for the world’s largest and most trusted news organisation, and all its radio, television and interactive...
is appointed Acting Director-General. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3441181.stm The UK media in general condemns the report as a whitewash. http://media.guardian.co.uk/huttoninquiry/story/0,13812,1134025,00.html - The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' BrigadesAl-Aqsa Martyrs' BrigadesThe al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is a coalition of Palestinian nationalist militias in the West Bank. The group's name refers to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem...
of FatahFatahFataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
claim responsibility for a suicide bombing aboard a city bus, in which Ali Yusuf Jaara, a member of the PalestinianPalestinian National AuthorityThe Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
police force, kills 10 Israelis and wounds more than 50, outside the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem. Simultaneously with the bombing, Shaul MofazShaul MofazLt. General Shaul Mofaz is an Israeli politician who serves as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs And Defense Committee at the Knesset...
, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Defense Minister, is meeting with American envoys Wolfe and Sauterfield, who have requested an easing-up of conditions for the Palestinians. The explosion also coincides with a German-brokered prisoner swap between Israel and the Lebanese guerrillaGuerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
group Hezbollah. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/388486.html http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=56993 http://www.dunnconnect.com/articles/2004/01/28/ap/Headlines/d80chhb00.txt
January 30
- Hutton InquiryHutton InquiryThe Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee...
: Reporter Andrew GilliganAndrew GilliganAndrew Paul Gilligan is a British journalist best known for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme in which he said a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction had been 'sexed up', a claim that ultimately led to a public inquiry that criticised Gilligan...
resigns from the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in the continuing fallout of the publication of Lord Hutton's report into the circumstances of the death of Dr David Kelly. This follows the earlier resignation of the Director-GeneralDirector-General of the BBCThe Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC.The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC and is now appointed by the BBC Trust....
Greg DykeGreg DykeGregory "Greg" Dyke is a British media executive, journalist and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing 'tabloid' television to British broadcasting, and reviving the ratings of TV-am...
and chairman of the Board of Governors Gavyn DaviesGavyn DaviesGavyn Davies, OBE was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004, a former Goldman Sachs banker and a former economic advisor to the British Government...
. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3446391.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3446443.stm - Former French Prime Minister and current Mayor of BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
Alain JuppeAlain JuppéAlain Marie Juppé is a French politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac and the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs from 2010 to 2011...
is convicted of a party funding scam in the 1980s and early 1990s, and is given an 18 month suspended jail sentence and disqualified from elected office for 10 years, although he retains his mayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
alty pending his appeal. He had been viewed as Jacques ChiracJacques ChiracJacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
's likely successor in the 2007 Presidential electionFrench presidential election, 2007The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...
. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3444239.stm - Muslims begin the annual HajjHajjThe Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
today amid fears of a possible attack by Saudi-born Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's al Qaeda network. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4249017 - Sheik Ahmed YassinAhmed YassinSheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin was a founder of Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian paramilitary organization and political party. Yassin also served as the spiritual leader of the organization...
, leader of HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, announces that his group is making an all-out effort to kidnap IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i soldiers to use as bargaining chips for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, following the prisoner exchange between IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Hezbollah in which the remains of three Israeli soldiers and a businessman were exchanged for over 400 prisoners on January 29, 2004. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html - Self-confessed German cannibalCannibalismCannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
Armin MeiwesArmin MeiwesArmin Meiwes is a German man who achieved international notoriety for killing and eating a voluntary victim whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh...
is sentenced to eight years and six months' imprisonment for manslaughterManslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3443293.stm The prosecution had sought a life sentence for murder. - David BradleyDavid Bradley (engineer)David Bradley was one of the twelve engineers who worked on the original IBM PC, developing the computer ROM BIOScode. He is credited by some for inventing the "Control-Alt-Delete" key combination that was used to reboot the computer.-Control-Alt-Delete:...
, creator of the famous "Ctrl-Alt-DelControl-Alt-DeleteControl-Alt-Delete is a computer keyboard command on IBM PC compatible systems that can be used to reboot the computer, and summon the task manager or Windows Security in more recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system...
" keystroke combination, retires from IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/35226.html
January 31
- The United States defence budget is set to exceed US$400 billion next year—an almost 7% increase—according to budget proposals inadvertently posted on the PentagonThe PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
's website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3447281.stm http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=93200472&p=93zxyy78 - The People's Republic of China puts poultryPoultryPoultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
export bans on three more areas after a World Health OrganizationWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
warning that the chance of controlling the Avian flu outbreak is slipping. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3446881.stm A new SARSSevere acute respiratory syndromeSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...
case is confirmed in GuangdongGuangdongGuangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
province. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=4254330§ion=news - British AirwaysBritish AirwaysBritish Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
and Air FranceAir FranceAir France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
cancel five upcoming US flights to Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Miami, FloridaMiami, FloridaMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
amid fears of targeting by Al-Qaida. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3447715.stm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A839-2004Jan31.html http://www.forbes.com/personalfinance/retirement/newswire/2004/01/31/rtr1237099.html - The SvalbardSvalbardSvalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
Undersea Cable System is officially put into operation, giving the island group at 78° North a 40GbGigabitThe gigabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix giga is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 109 , and therefore...
connection to the NorwegianNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
mainland. The dual 1,440 km fiber optic lines from Svalbard to HarstadHarstadis the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...
is needed for communicating with polar orbitPolar orbitA polar orbit is an orbit in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited on each revolution. It therefore has an inclination of 90 degrees to the equator...
ing satellite stations on Svalbard, some owned by NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and NOAA. http://www.ksat.no/, http://www.tyco.com/tyco/press_release_detail.asp?prid=622 - CopperCopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
prices rise to a 6-year high in New York as 441 unionised workers strikeStrike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
at BHP BillitonBHP BillitonBHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...
's Cerro Colorado mine in northern ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
after pay negotiations fail. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040131/RCOMX31/TPBusiness/MoneyMarkets