Four
car bombs explode just minutes apart outside
neighboring four churches in central
Baghdad and one car bomb explodes at a church in Mosul during Sunday evening services, killing 5 and injuring at least 46 people, witnesses say. The attacks appeared to be the first targeting churches during the 15-months of violent
insurgency.
(AP)CNN
The French
Ambassador to
Chad,
Jean Pierre Bercot, says that France will deploy 200 soldiers to help secure Chad's eastern border with
Sudan's conflict-torn
Darfur region. The troops will also bring humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Darfur refugees in Chad.
(BBC)
World Trade Organization members agree on a revised draft deal that aims to revive stalled talks on freeing up
trade between rich and poor nations. Key WTO members accept proposals to cut the subsidies wealthy countries give their farmers for exports. International
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) denounced the results as a sell-out of poor countries and the
environment.
(BBC)(OneWorld.net)
Turkey's truckers' association says it will stop delivering goods to U.S. forces in
Iraq, in what appears to be a direct response to
insurgents' videotaped killing of a Turkish hostage.
(Herald Sun)
Doom 3, the long-awaited second follow-up to the 1993 first-person shooting classic, is leaked online.
(BBC)
A
Philippine lawyer who helped recover millions of dollars stashed by late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos and a doctor who exposed China's
SARS outbreak are among this year's winners of the
Ramon Magsaysay Award, a prestigious prize in Asia.
(AP)
The government of
Paraguay confirms that at least 275 people died in a
supermarket fire in
Asunción. The death toll is still expected to rise as a more thorough search is completed.
(Seattle Post)(CNN)
The truce between
Muqtada al-Sadr's
militia and occupation troops ends as US troops surround his house in
Najaf to arrest him.
(BBC)
Reports state that information that led the US to raise the
terror alert for five
financial centers in
New York City, northern
New Jersey and
Washington, D.C. was mainly three or four years old but had been updated as recently as January. Administration officials note, too, that
al Qaeda is known for its planning, and that this information became available following the
apprehension of a Pakistani member of the organization.
(CNN)(Xinhuanet)
The death toll in the market fire in
Asunción,
Paraguay rises to 464. Six people, including the co-owner, are arrested for
manslaughter on charges that they locked the doors after the fire started, in order to prevent looting.
(The Scotsman)(ABC News)
The
National Institutes of Health decides not to override drug patents to allow generic production of anti-
AIDS drug
Norvir in the United States, despite claims of
price gouging by patients' groups and some members of Congress.
(ABC)
A ceremony is held at London's
Cenotaph to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the United Kingdom's entry into the
First World War. Four of the 23 surviving British veterans of the war, aged between 103 and 108, are well enough to attend.
(BBC)
Mary Kay Letourneau is released from a
Washington prison after serving a sentence of over seven years for
statutory rape. The former elementary school teacher became notorious for her sexual involvement with one of her male students, who was 12 years old when the illicit relationship began. She bore two children by the boy, who is now 21 years old.
(FOX News)
Radical
IraqiShia cleric
Moqtada Sadr calls for a truce to be restored after a day of heavy fighting between his militia and U.S. troops in
Najaf.
(BBC)
The U.S. claims that over 300 of Sadr's fighters have been killed in two days of clashes.
(Reuters)
Chess master
Bobby Fischer, apparently seeking to avoid deportation to, and trial in the U.S., says he is renouncing his U.S. citizenship.
(AFP)
U.S. intelligence officials and non-government experts conclude that diplomatic efforts to prevent the proliferation of
nuclear weapons to
Iran and
North Korea have failed to slow their weapons development programs.
Fierce fighting continues between U.S. forces and backers of Shiite cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr. Sadr threatens that he "will defend
Najaf until my last drop of blood." According to the U.S. military, U.S forces have killed 300 supporters of Sadr in some of the most violent clashes since the fall of
Baghdad.
(democracy now!)
Scientists speaking at a news conference on
natural disasters raise the alarm that the
Cumbre Vieja volcano on
La Palma,
Canary Islands, could erupt at any time, sending a 250 km2. rock crashing into the Atlantic Ocean and producing a
tsunami that could devastate the Atlantic's coastline, within hours. Very little
seismological monitoring of the volcano is being carried out.
(BBC)
Bombs explode at two small hotels and a gas plant in the
Turkish city of
Istanbul, killing two people and injuring at least nine.
(BBC)
The U.S. deals a major blow to German prosecutors at the re-trial of
MoroccanMounir al-Motassadek, one of the only
9/11 suspects to face justice to date, by refusing to allow an alleged
al-Qaeda member to testify via
videolink, citing security concerns and the need to protect secret information.
(BBC)
Pakistan announces that it will soon release 449 Indian prisoners, a majority of them fishermen who were detained for allegedly entering the country's territorial waters.
(Navhind Times)
New JerseyGovernorJim McGreevey resigns his post effective November 15, saying that his extramarital
homosexual affair would leave the governor's office "vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure.".
(CNN)
Aides to rebel
IraqiShia cleric
Moqtada al Sadr report that he has been wounded in fighting in the holy city of
Najaf; the government denies the reports. The Najaf offensive triggers pro-Sadr protests in cities all over Iraq.
(BBC)(protest pictures – BBC)
US planes bomb the city of
Samarra, north-west of
Baghdad. In
Najaf, a fragile
ceasefire holds, with
Muqtada al-Sadr making defiant statements but continuing negotiations. The
Allawi government decides to withdraw from the negotiations in the afternoon.
(BBC)(BBC)(BBC)
1,600
Palestinians in
Israeli jails begin a liquids-only diet, which they are describing as a
hunger strike to protest against their prison conditions. Israeli Internal Security Minister
Tzahi Hanegbi comments: "As far as I'm concerned, they can strike for a day, a month, until death."
(BBC)
India's Independence Day celebrations are marred by a bomb blast that kills some 18 people at a parade in
Dhemaji,
Assam. Immediate suspicion falls on
ULFA separatists.
(BBC)
Same-sex marriage in Canada: Three
Nova Scotia couples have filed suit requesting that the provincial government be ordered to issue them marriage licences. Such a ruling would make Nova Scotia the fifth province or territory to recognize same-sex marriages.
(365Gay.com)
After 60 mm (2.4 in) of rain in two hours, severe
flash flooding at
Boscastle in
Cornwall, UK, results in buildings, roads, and over 50 cars swept away. Flood waters race through town at speeds up to 65 km/h (40 mph). Many have to leave their homes; helicopters airlift 150 people to safety.
(BBC)(Reuters)
Same-sex marriage in Canada: Federal justice minister
Irwin Cotler announces that the federal government will no longer resist court proceedings aiming to require provincial governments to issue same-sex marriage licences.
(Toronto Star)
At the
Non-Aligned Movement summit in
Durban, South African President
Thabo Mbeki calls for reform of the
UN and other international institutions, saying that developing countries should not allow powerful nations to dictate the world on their own terms.
(BBC)
Israel's prime minister,
Ariel Sharon, vows to press on with his disengagement plan, despite it receiving another rejection from his
Likud party.
(BBC)
Nature magazine reveals that five new satellites and a further candidate
moon have been discovered orbiting
Neptune, bringing its tally to 13.
(BBC)
Three individuals in the United States are arrested and charged with supporting the
Palestinian militant group
Hamas over a 15-year period.
(Washington Times)
High-level American military leaders are said to be at least partly responsible for abuses of
Iraqi prisoners at
Abu Ghraib prison in a report written by an investigative panel headed by
James Schlesinger.
(Toronto Star)
French police launch a manhunt as
Cesare Battisti, a wanted left-wing extremist who was facing extradition from France to Italy, goes missing.
(BBC)
Astronomers announce the discovery of a third
extrasolar planet orbiting
Mu Arae. The planet may be the first rocky world detected orbiting a
star other than the
Sun.
Soft drinks company
Rubicon announces the release of the Sensory Straw, which has four small holes rather than one large one, an innovation said to improve the drinking experience.
(Marketing Magazine)
Chile's
Supreme Court strips former military ruler
Augusto Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution, allowing him to be prosecuted for alleged crimes including involvement in murder and
torture.
(BBC)
Between 5,000 and 6,000 participants take part in the
Critical Mass bicyclist ride as part of the
2004 Republican National Convention protest activity. The monthly NYC Critical Mass ride usually attracts about 1500 riders. Police eventually arrested 264 people for deliberately blockading roads during the event. This is the first time the NYPD made any significant arrests of Critical Mass participants.
(NYC-IMC)
Interbrew completes its merger with
Ambev. Both were among the top five largest breweries in the world, and together they will become the largest, when measured by volume. The merged company will be called
InBev(Bloomberg)
The
FBI has launched a full espionage investigation into
Larry Franklin after obtaining evidence pointing to a high-ranking
spy in
the Pentagon. According to
CBS News, the spy has been giving classified secrets to
Israel which could compromise U.S.
national security. Israel denies the charges.
Following the intervention of Grand
AyatollahAli al-Sistani, an agreement is found to end the
standoff in
Najaf. Although the terms are not clear, the deal requires both the
al-Sadrmilitia and U.S. troops to leave the city, to be replaced by the police
interim government. Responsibility for the
Imam Ali Mosque goes to Sistani.
(BBC) This resolution occurs two days before the one-year anniversary of the assassination of
Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, a prominent Shi'ite cleric from Najaf.
The Russian
Federal Security Service announces that traces of the
explosivehexogen have been found in the wreckage of the two Russia
airliners which crashed on August 24, 2004. The
Islamic group "the Islambouli Brigades" claims responsibility.
(AP)
The Interior Minister of France announces that the number of
anti-Semitic attacks in France this year is more than double that of the same period last year.
(Reuters)Archived 2005-04-08 at the
Wayback Machine
The
Lebanese Cabinet, under
Syrian pressure and despite widespread opposition, votes to modify the constitution to allow President Émile Lahoud a second term in office. Patriarch Sfeir states "we have completely lost sovereignty of our territory and our independence and freedom in choosing our rulers and deciding our own affairs."
(NYT)
The British
Royal Society, with 68 other organizations, urges the UN to ban reproductive but not therapeutic use of the technology in response to a US bid to ban human cloning altogether.
(BBC)
Two amateur French
Egyptologists claim to have discovered, using
radar, a previously unknown corridor inside the
Great Pyramid of
Khufu. They believe the corridor would lead directly to Khufu's burial chamber, a room which – if it exists – is unlikely to have been accessed since the burial and may still contain the king's remains.
(The Guardian)(AustBC)
Republic of China (Taiwan) President
Chen Shui-bian cancels the annual Han Kuang live-fire exercises previously schedule for September 9 as a goodwill gesture to the mainland after the People's Republic of China reportedly halted its military drills at
Dongshan Island on the
Taiwan Strait.
(VOA)(CNN)
In Iraq, the radical
Islamist group,
Army of Ansar al-Sunna, kill 12
Nepali civilians employed as cooks and cleaners, stating "We have carried out the sentence of God against 12 Nepalis who came from their country to fight the Muslims and to serve the Jews and the Christians ... believing in
Buddha as their
God"
(Reuters)[permanent dead link]
