November 2004

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November 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December
See also: November 2004 in sports November 2004 in science

Events

Oct – November – Dec Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Deaths in November • 30 Pierre Berton • 29 John Drew Barrymore • 26 Bill Alley • 24 Arthur Hailey • 23 Rafael Eitan • 18 Bobby Frank Cherry • 16 John Morgan • 13 Russell Jones • 12 Mike Smith • 11 Yasser Arafat • 9 Iris Chang • 9 Emlyn Hughes • 7 Howard Keel • 7 Gibson Kente • 6 Fred Dibnah • 2 Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan • 2 Theo van Gogh Other deaths Ongoing events AIDS pandemic Iran's nuclear program Nigerian oil crisis Same-sex marriage debates U.S. election controversy U.S. presidential transition Ukrainian election controversy • Orange Revolution Ongoing armed conflicts Arab-Israeli conflict Conflict in Chechnya Second Congo War Conflict in Iraq • Conflict in Fallujah Darfur conflict in Sudan Civil war in Côte d'Ivoire Second Sudanese Civil War Ongoing wars Election results in November 28: Romania presidential 28: Romania legislative 22: Alberta legislative 21: Ukraine presidential (runoff) 2: USA presidential 2: USA congressional 2: USA gubernatorial (11 states) 2: Guam general 2: Puerto Rico general Ongoing trials Chile: Augusto Pinochet ICTY: Slobodan Milošević Iraq: Iraqi Special Tribunal — Saddam Hussein, among others USA: Michael Jackson USA: Zacarias Moussaoui India: Jayendra Saraswathi Related pages About this page Year in... Wikipedia Announcements

November 1, 2004

• The Grímsvötn volcano under the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland erupts (BBC).
• An inquiry by the Egyptian Interior Ministry into last month's bombings of hotels in the Sinai concludes that the perpetrators received no external help, contradicting assertions by Israeli officials that the blasts were linked to al-Qaeda. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • The deputy governor of Baghdad, Hatem Kamil, is assassinated. The militant group Army of Ansar al-Sunna claims responsibility. (Reuters)(BBC)
  • A Reuters cameraman is shot dead by suspected sniper fire. In Ramadi, hospital officials report six dead from fighting between United States armed forces and rebels. A U.S. citizen, an unidentified Nepali and four Iraqi workers are taken hostage at gunpoint from their office in Baghdad. (Reuters)(BBC)
• Over 300 mm of rain fall on Venice, Italy, flooding an estimated 80% of the city and shutting down the public transit system. (Reuters) (SBS)
• Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William H. Rehnquist, who has been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments for thyroid cancer, announces he will delay his return to the courtroom on the advice of his doctors. (CNN)
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A suicide bombing by a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in Tel Aviv kills three and wounds over 30 people. The Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claims responsibility. (Reuters)(BBC)
• Martial law is imposed in parts of China's Henan province after fighting between Hui Chinese and Han Chinese ethnic groups kills between 7 and 148 people. (TIME)(BBC)
• Bank of Japan began to issue new Japanese yen banknotes, known as Series E.[1]

November 2, 2004

• Conflict in Iraq: Iraqi officials report at least eight dead in a car bomb outside the education ministry in Baghdad. In Mosul, another car bomb kills two and wounds four Iraqi National Guard. (Reuters)(BBC)
• Darfur conflict: United Nation officials say Sudanese troops have surrounded two refugee camps in Darfur and are blocking access. The Sudanese military say they were asked to protect refugees and evict imposters. (Reuters)(BBC)
• Attempts to totally outlaw parents spanking children in England and Wales fail as a majority of 424 to 75 members of parliament vote against the ban. (BBC)
• NASA says it will resume its space shuttle program next May or early June after a lengthy investigation of the Columbia disaster in 2003, and a setback of a March date due to an active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. (BBC)
• UAE president and founding father Sheikh Zayed dies. Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Maktoum temporarily assumes presidential role. (Reuters)
• Controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh is stabbed and shot dead in Amsterdam; the suspected murderer is arrested after a firefight with police. van Gogh had received numerous death threats after his movie Submission elicited criticism among the Dutch Muslim community. (Reuters) (ABC US)
• U.S. presidential election:
  • U.S. civil rights organizations report on a number of misleading voter fliers and phone calls aimed at African-American voters, alleging that these are an attempt to suppress the African-American vote in today's U.S. presidential election. (Reuters)
  • U.S. presidential election, 2004 timeline: Voting begins for the 2004 U.S. presidential election, as well as for elections to the U.S. Congress and many state and local offices. The incumbent, Republican George W. Bush, and the challenger, Democrat John Kerry, are statistically tied in the latest opinion polls.
• Puerto Rico General Elections:
  • Aníbal Acevedo Vilá leads with 3,880 votes of advantage against Pedro Rosselló with 98.27% of the total votes counted. By law, a recount must be performed when the winning margin is less than 0.5%. The official winner will be certified on December 31 after the recount is finished. (CEE-PUR)
  • The Puerto Rican Independence Party has been unable to reach 3% of the total votes so far, putting in danger their franchise as a principal political party by Puerto Rican electoral laws. Because of this, the party may not receive funds from the government of Puerto Rico nor have a separate column in ballot papers on the following elections. However, Maria de Lourdes Santiago makes history by becoming the first woman to be elected Senator in the party's history. (El Nuevo Dia)

November 3, 2004

• Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, the son of Sheikh Zayed who died yesterday, is elected President by the United Arab Emirates' federal council. (Reuters)
• 2004 U.S. Presidential election:
  • Senator John Kerry concedes to President George W. Bush "The outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process," Kerry said. "I would not give up if there was a chance we could prevail." (Reuters) (BBC)
  • Republican President George W. Bush wins the popular vote, receiving 3.58 million more votes than Democratic Senator John Kerry. (51.6% to 48.4%, 59.0 million to 55.4 million) Claiming victory in the swing state of Ohio, Bush will probably have more than the 270 votes needed when the U.S. Electoral College meets on December 13. (CNN)
  • The Republican Party widens its majority in the Senate and House of Representatives. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle concedes defeat to Republican challenger John Thune, thus becoming the first Senate leader in 52 years to lose a re-election bid and leaving the leadership of the Democratic Party in the Senate open. (CNN)
  • The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports that on November 2, touch-screen electronic voting machines in at least six U.S. states had incorrectly recorded their choices, including for the presidential election. Incorrectly recorded votes make up roughly 20 percent of the e-voting problems. (EFF)
  • Same-sex marriage in the United States: Gay rights activists suffer a severe setback when state constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage are passed in eleven states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah. The measures in Oregon, Mississippi, and Montana bar same-sex marriage only; those in the other states bar civil unions and domestic partnerships as well; and Ohio bars granting any benefits whatsoever to same-sex couples. (365Gay)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • A roadside bomb kills a U.S. soldier and wounds another in Salman Pak, south of Baghdad. An Iraqi Oil Ministry official is shot dead while leaving his house in Baghdad. The militant group Army of Ansar al-Sunna release a video on their website confirming the beheading of an Iraqi officer kidnapped in Mosul. In Tikrit, fires continue to burn from major oil wells and a pipelane attacked earlier, halting oil exports. The militant Brigades of Iraq's Honorable People release videos showing beheadings of three Iraqi security guards kidnapped in Baghdad. (Reuters) (BBC)
  • The court martial begins for nine U.S. marines charged with the death of an Iraqi prisoner who died after being dragged by his neck to a pen at Camp Whitehorse jail near Nassiriyah. (Reuters)
  • Hungary announces the withdrawal of its 300 troops by the end of next March. Poland says it will scale back the 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq early next year. (Reuters)(BBC)
• Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins, who crossed over the DMZ to North Korea in 1965, pleads guilty to desertion and aiding the enemy at his court martial in Japan. He is sentenced to 30 days in prison and given a dishonorable discharge. (BBC)
• The Republic of China (Taiwan) establishes diplomatic relations with Vanuatu, bringing its international recognition to 27 countries. (CNN)
• Puerto Rico General Elections:
  • The State Commission of Elections of Puerto Rico preliminarily certifies Aníbal Acevedo Vilá as the winning candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico, and Luis Fortuño as Resident Commissioner after computing 98.3% of the total votes. A full recount will begin on November 9 to announce the official winner. (El Nuevo Día) (CEE-PUR)
  • The Senate of Puerto Rico and the House of Representatives wlll be dominated by the New Progressive Party for the new term. Future senators from the party have already decided certain positions for once they are in office, and how do they plan to work with a governor of the opposing party. (El Nuevo Día)

November 4, 2004

• The shutdown of the Number 2 Balakovo nuclear reactor in the Saratov region of southern Russia due to a turbine malfunction causes widespread local panic. Local pharmacies' supplies of iodine sell out; residents flee, urging each other to drink vodka and avoid public water. Engineers at the plant find no leak of radiation. A number of people are hospitalized for iodine overdose; the government and media are criticized for poor coordination. (Bellona)
• The Number 4 Rivno nuclear reactor of the Ukraine is shut down after 19 days of operation due to an oil leak. No leak of radiation is found.
• Spammer Jeremy Jaynes, rated the world's eighth most-prolific spammer, is convicted of three felony charges of sending thousands of junk e-mails through servers located in Virginia, and is recommended to be sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. His sister is fined $7500 for related offences. (Computerworld) (CBC)
• President designate of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso announces that Franco Frattini from Italy and Andris Piebalgs from Latvia will complete his commission.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a bill approving parliament's ratification of the Kyoto protocol bringing the number of countries binded by the treaty to 126. (Reuters)
• The Israeli senior commander in the Gaza Strip, Brig. Gen. Shmuel Zakai, resigns amid allegations of telling the press Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered to increase Operation Days of Penitence on Day 14 while the army considered the operation extracted itself. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • The NGO aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières ends work in Iraq due to the "escalating violence" and "the warring parties have repeatedly shown their disrespect for independent humanitarian assistance." (BBC)
  • A suicide car bomb and mortar fire kills three Black Watch(Scottish) soldiers and an Iraqi translator south of Baghdad at Camp Dogwood. (BBC)
• The United States recognizes the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name rather than the name "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" used by the United Nations, the first major foreign policy move by the re-elected Bush administration. The move outrages Greece, who had the European Union's support in lobbying against recognition since Macedonia's independence in 1991. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, announces that she has breast cancer.
• Yasser Arafat, who is on a life-support machine, has been officially declared brain-dead while in intensive care at a hospital in Paris, according to medical sources inside the hospital. (Seattle Times) (BBC)
• The High Court in the Republic of China rejects a petition by the Kuomintang to nullify the March 2004 presidential election result that saw Chen Shui-bian re-elected president by a margin of 0.2% over Lien Chan. The KMT plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. (BBC)
• Researchers of Type 2 diabetes at a Winnipeg laboratory announce that they have isolated a previously hypothetical second substance, called hepatic insulin sensitizing substance or HISS, that participates in sugar storage along with insulin. (Globe and Mail)
• Same-sex marriage in Canada: Two lesbian couples denied marriage licences file a lawsuit against the governments of Canada and of Newfoundland and Labrador, asking for the legalization of same-sex marriage in that province. (365Gay)
• Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Maryland State Police say Phelps was stopped around 11:30 Thursday night, near the intersection of Route 13 and Bateman Street in Salisbury, after a trooper spotted an SUV that failed to stop at a stop sign. Beside the charge of driving under the influence, Phelps was also charged with driving while impaired by alcohol, violation of a license restriction, and failure to obey a traffic control device. (WBAL Radio)

November 5, 2004

• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Two Palestinian children are killed by an explosion in the refugee camp of Khan Yonis in the Gaza Strip. Hospital officials say it was from a tank shell that hit a house. Israeli spokesmen said there had been no army fire in the area. They believe it was either caused when a Palestinian mortar misfired or by the detonation of a roadside bomb. (Reuters)
• Conflict in Iraq:
  • United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan warns that an assault on Falluja may result in a Sunni Muslim boycott of January elections. British ambassador to Iraq Jones Parry states: "You can't have an area the size of Falluja operating as a base for terrorism." Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi describes Annan's letter as confused and unclear. (Reuters)
  • Two U.S. soldiers are killed and five wounded when fighting breaks out near a base on the outskirts of Falluja. After weeks of intensive airstrikes, U.S. and Iraqi troops seal off all roads to the city. They drop leaflets and play loudspeaker messages encouraging all civilians to leave, but say they would arrest any men under 45. Near Baghdad, two children are killed when a mortar shell lands near a police station. (Reuters)(BBC)
• Dutch-Moroccan Muslim Mohammed Bouyeri, identified by the Dutch media as "Mohammed B.", is to be charged for murdering filmmaker Theo van Gogh and for being a member of a group with "terrorist intentions". (Reuters)
• Illness of Yasser Arafat: Israel refuses to allow Yasser Arafat to be buried in Jerusalem. The ailing leader of the Palestinian Authority is still in a coma, which might be reversible; an aide rejects reports that Arafat is "brain dead". Palestinians claim they will only trust a successor who is "determined and steadfast on the fundamental Palestinian rights", some say who is less willing to compromise. (Reuters)
• Voters in the north east of England decisively reject plans for a devolved assembly for the region. With a turnout of 47.8% 197,310 vote for and 696,519 vote against the plans. It is a serious setback for the British Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, who had championed the plans. (BBC)
• Same-sex marriage in Canada: A judge in Saskatchewan rules that same-sex couples must enjoy the right to equal marriage in that province. (CBC)
• Episcopal Church: The Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh approves an amendment to its Constitution which allows it to differ with the opinion of the national church on issues which the diocese believes to be "contrary to the historic faith and order" of the church. (Diocese of Pittsburgh)

November 6, 2004

• Talks between Iran and three European Union members, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, on the Iranian nuclear program end without an agreement and no further meetings planned. Iran has offered a six-month suspension of its uranium enrichment program. The European Union seeks an indefinite halt to the program. The issue is expected to be referred to the United Nations Security Council at the November 25 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. (Reuters) Others report, however, that a prelimary agreement has been reached. (AP) (BBC)
• An express train has collided with a stationary car near the village of Ufton Nervet, England. It is thought that nine carriages of the 17:35 First Great Western service between London Paddington and Plymouth have been derailed. Six people have reportedly been killed, with around 150 more injured. (BBC)
• An Indian spokesman says the Indian Army has been conducting counter-insurgency operations on the border of Burma. Two Indian soldiers and 13 rebels have been killed so far. (BBC)
• Chilean army commander General Juan Emilio Cheyre releases a statement saying abuses under Augusto Pinochet were "punishable and morally unacceptable acts of the past", reversing its previous stance that they were excesses carried out by individual officers. (BBC)
• African Union mediators adjourn negotiations with Sudan on the Darfur conflict after numerous security issues are not agreed upon, mainly a no-fly zone in Darfur. (Reuters)(BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: Three suicide car bombs in Samarra kill 19 Iraqi police, two Iraqi National Guardsmen, two Iraqi Rapid Reaction Forces, and 11 civilians, with 48 wounded. In Ramadi, an Iraqi is killed and 20 U.S. Marines are wounded after a shoot-out between the Marines and rebels. A physician at Fallujah General Hospital reports two dead and maintains no foreign fighters have been admitted to his hospital. (Reuters)(BBC)
• Nine French peacekeepers and a U.S. citizen are killed in the rebel-held town of Bouake in Côte d'Ivoire after government warplanes bomb the town to root out insurgents. In response, the French military launches attacks which destroy two warplanes at Yamoussoukro airport. (CNN) (BBC)

November 7, 2004

• At an anti-nuclear waste shipment protest rally near the French town of Avricourt a protester, Sébastien Briat, is killed after a train severs his leg. The 23-year-old French man was protesting against the CASTOR transport. (BBC)
• Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Lebanese Militant group, Hezbollah, has flown a reconnaissance drone over Israeli territory for the first time. (BBC)
• Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites is officially awarded the Ansari X Prize for the first privately funded space flight. (AP)
• The Iraq interim government declares a state of emergency ahead of an expected assault on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.
• Illness of Yasser Arafat: A spokesman for Yasser Arafat claims that all the Palestinian president's vital functions are fine although it remains unclear why Arafat has not regained consciousness and if or when he will. (AP) (The Age)
• The Ralph Nader/Peter Camejo campaign has filed a challenge to the voting results in New Hampshire after receiving numerous complaints from voting rights activists. This effort is widely encouraged by Democrats and Independents due to suspected flaws related to Diebold Election Systems voting machines. (Portland Independent Media Center) (Nashua Telegraph)

November 8, 2004

• In Broward County, officials find the software used in Broward can handle only 32,000 votes per precinct. After that, the system starts counting backward. The problem affected running tallies and not the final vote totals. All absentee ballots had been placed in a single precinct to be counted and only the votes for constitutional amendments reached the threshold and encountered the problem. (The Palm Beach Post)
• In Palm Beach County, about 88,000 more votes are recorded than voters recorded as having turned out for the election. (The Washington Dispatch)
• U.S. Federal District Judge James Robertson rules that the system of tribunals set up by the United States military to try and sentence prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay is illegal.