Current events

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Time: 13:40 UTC | Date: Saturday, February 7, 2004

February 7, 2004

Chechnya's spiritual leader condemns the Moscow subway car bombing. Investigators question hospitalized rush hour commuters and examine documents retrieved from the blast site. [1]

February 6, 2004

Ministers of Finance from Europe, North America, and Asia meet in Florida. They are focusing on the strength and stability of the U.S. dollar. [2]
Russian billionaire Victor Vekselberg purchases a huge private collection of Fabergé art pieces, including nine Fabergé eggs, from the Forbes family. The collection had been expected to go up for auction in April. [3]
Gerhard Schröder announces his intention to resign from his post as chairman of the Social Democratic Party but to continue as Chancellor of Germany. [4]
An earthquake, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, occurs in the Papua province of Indonesia and kills at least 23 people. [5]
At least 39 people are killed and around 120 injured in an explosion aboard a train on the Moscow Metro (subway) during the morning rush hour. The authorities are investigating the apparent bombing, which may be connected to a series of terrorist attacks in the Russian capital. President Vladimir Putin publicly blames the blast on Chechen militants and their leader, Aslan Maskhadov. The Chechen rebel leadership issues a statement denying responsibility. [6] [7] [8]
A party of cockle pickers - believed to be Chinese immigrants - is caught by tides in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, England, drowning at least 19 people. [9]
The UK Home Office confirms that Maxine Carr, convicted with Ian Huntley concerning the Soham murders of 2001, could be released from prison in the next few days. [10]
Parliamentarians in Iran end their sit-in of the country's parliament but vow to continue fighting the mass disqualification of reformist candidates by the conservative Council of Guardians. [11]
In Australia, the Music Industry Piracy Investigations organization uses an Anton Pillar order to raid offices of P2P companies Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, the homes of their key executives, as well as several ISPs and universities. [12]
Democratic Presidential Primaries: Howard Dean tells his supporters that he must win the Wisconsin Democratic primary in order to stay in the Democratic presidential race. [13]
Electronic voting: The U.S. military abandons plans for a trial of internet voting in the upcoming presidential election. [14]
American and British study reports that the 1918 flu virus may have had a unique bird-like protein. The past outbreak, which killed 20 million people, has hallmarks of the current outbreak of bird flu in east Asia. [15]
The body of Carlie Brucia, a girl reported missing on Sunday, February 1, 2004 is discovered. Suspect Joseph P. Smith is charged with the murder.
U.S. President George W. Bush appoints an Iraq Intelligence Commission to investigate United States intelligence capabilities, specifically regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The commission is headed by Governor, and former Senator, Chuck Robb and Judge Laurence Silberman. [16]

February 5, 2004

SCO v. IBM: SCO Group widens Unix and Linux lawsuit against IBM. They add a copyright infringement claim to case. [17]
The United Nations releases a science and technology strategy report, "Inventing a Better Future: A Strategy for Building Worldwide Capacities in Science and Technology", produced by the InterAcademy Council (IAC). [18]
Carmine Caridi is expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the "Academy" in the Academy Awards) by vote after having been found to have leaked hundreds of screeners over the past five years to Russell Sprague in Chicago, Illinois. [19]
Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan publicly admits illegally transferring nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Following a written apology from Khan, President Pervez Musharraf issues a formal pardon. [20] [21]
2003 invasion of Iraq: Responding to criticism that pre-war intelligence gathering was faulty, CIA director George Tenet states that analysts had never presented Saddam Hussein's Iraq as an "imminent threat" in the years immediately preceding the coalition invasion. Tenent states that an overall "objective assessment" for policymakers of a "brutal dictator who was continuing his efforts to deceive and build programs" that might "surprise" and "threaten" American interests was outlined in the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate. [22] [23] [24] [25]
U.S. Army Sergeant Jerry Onken of Onamia, Minnesota is sentenced to five years in prison by a South Korean court for killing a Korean woman in a hit-and-run crash involving alcohol. The U.S. established a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with South Korea in 2001 that allowed such prosecutions, and this case marked the first time that an off-duty member of the U.S. military had been charged under that agreement. [26]
The United States Department of Interior states that the survival of sea otters in southwest Alaska is threatened. The department proposes adding the sea otter, Enhydra lutris, to the government's endangered species list. [27]
The coalition government of Latvia, headed by PM Einars Repse, resigns, but will continue to work until the president appoints a new cabinet. [28]

February 4, 2004

A US federal appeals court rules scientists can study the 9,300-year-old remains of the Kennewick Man. The court denies a request by American Indian tribes, who sought an immediate burial. [29] [30]
The European Space Agency announces plans to send humans and robot probes to the Moon and Mars over the next three decades.[31]
Same-sex marriage in the United States: The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court answers the state's Senate that the proposed civil unions will still violate the constitution by maintaining an inferior status of same-sex couples. [32] [33] White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan states that the Bush administration is reviewing the legal decision. The spokesman also states that the court's findings are "deeply troubling" and that the president is "firmly committed to protecting and defending" marriage (as being defined between a man and a woman).[34] [35] [36]

February 3, 2004

Israeli Army Chief of Personnel Major-General Gil Regev told a Knesset committee that the number of soldiers refusing to serve in the territories had dramatically decreased in 2003. He said that 26 persons had been imprisoned for refusal in 2003 compared to 129 in 2002, a decrease of 80%. The refusers' organization Yesh G'vul claimed that Regev's figures were "ridiculous" since 76 persons had been imprisoned for refusal in 2003. [37] [38] [39]
British Prime Minister Tony Blair announces an independent inquiry, to be chaired by Lord Butler, to examine the reliability of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [40]
An apartment block collapses in the Turkish city of Konya, killing at least 14 people. [41]
Astronomers detect the presence of oxygen and carbon in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet. This world, provisionally known as Osiris, is known to be venting gas into space. [42] [43] [44]
Political status of Taiwan: President Chen Shui-bian proposes to set up a demilitarized zone between Taiwan and Mainland China.[45]
U.S. presidential election, 2004: In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts wins primary elections in Arizona, Delaware, New Mexico, Missouri and North Dakota. His best result is 51% in Missouri. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina wins in South Carolina, and General Wesley Clark narrowly wins in Oklahoma. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, who has opted to campaign for the Michigan and Washington primaries on Saturday, polls poorly in all these primaries — his best result is third with 18% in New Mexico. These primaries give Kerry a majority of delegates so far elected for the first time, with 244 delegates to Dean's 121, Edwards' 102 and Clark's 79. Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who has come second in Delaware but not achieved the breakthrough he needs to maintain his candidacy, announces his withdrawal from the race.
Nine Cuban migrants attempt to reach Florida in a modified 1959 Buick that was converted to a boat. They are intercepted by the United States Coast Guard. The same group had made a similar attempt the summer before in a modified 1951 Chevrolet truck.[46]

February 2, 2004

U.S. President George W. Bush announces he will form an independent, bipartisan inquiry presidential commission to probe into prewar intelligence regarding weapons of mass destruction leading up to the decision to invade Iraq. Former weapons inspector David Kay, meeting with Bush with at the White House, maintains that Bush was right to go to war in Iraq and characterizes Saddam's regime as "far more dangerous than even we anticipated" when it was thought he had WMDs ready to deploy. [47] [48] [49]
Traces of ricin are found in the mailroom of a U.S. Senate office building. [50]
Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon announces to the Ha'aretz newspaper that he plans to dismantle 17 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, and that he foresees a time when there are no Jews in Gaza at all. [51]
Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan confesses to smuggling nuclear hardware on chartered planes, sharing secret designs for the centrifuges that produce the enriched uranium necessary to develop a nuclear weapon, and giving personal briefings to nuclear scientists from Iran, North Korea and Libya, believing that nuclear proliferation would "ease Western attention on Pakistan" and "help the Muslim cause" [52]
The leader of Norway's Conservative Party (Høyre), Jan Petersen, announces his resignation as party leader after 10 years at the helm. He will continue as Foreign Minister in the current coalition government where Høyre is the largest part. [53]

February 1, 2004

A team composed of Russian scientists at Dubna (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research), and American scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory report on the discovery of two new chemical elements, called "superheavies" because of their atomic mass. From the international convention governing the Periodic Table, element 113 will be given the temporary name Ununtrium (Uut) and element 115 will be designated Ununpentium (Uup). Their discovery still awaits confirmation.[54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59]
Over one hundred MPs in Iran's parliament resign in protest at the Council of Guardians banning nearly two thousand candidates from standing at forthcoming general elections. [60]
Pakistan removes Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, from his post as a special adviser to the country's prime minister. Dr. Khan, three scientists and three low-level army officers are the focus of an investigation into the possible sharing of Pakistani nuclear technology with Iran, Libya and other countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s. [61]
244 Muslim worshippers are trampled to death during the ritual of the stoning of the devil at the Hajj (annual Muslim pilgrimage) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.[62]
Iraq: At least 56 are killed and over 200 injured when two suicide bombers hit the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Irbil, 200 miles north of Baghdad. Hundreds had gathered at the party offices for the start of al-Adha. [63] [64] [65]
The European Union and the United States file documents with the International Court of Justice opposing the court's decision to deliberate on Israel's "security fence".[66]
The new Minato Mirai subway line in Yokohama, Japan opens. [67]
The first Ghan passenger train across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin sets off on its three-day journey. [68]
For the second time in three years, Adam Vinatieri kicks a late field goal to give the New England Patriots a Super Bowl victory. [69]

Past events by month

2004: January
2003: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2002: January February March April May June July August September October November December

News collections

External links to news pages that can be used to gather new topics for the above list:

News sources

External links to leading English language news organizations from around the world:

Broadcast
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (UK)
- Cable News Network (CNN) (US)
- FOX News Channel (FNC) (US)
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) (CA)
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) (AU)
- Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) (IE)
- Al Jazeera (ME) [English Edition]
- Radio Netherlands (NL) [English Edition]
- NDTV (IN)
- tagesschau.de (Germany)
- Aljazeera.Net (Qatar)
Print
- Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) (CH)
- The Times (UK)
- The Independent (UK)
- The Guardian (UK)
- The Financial Times (UK)
- The Economist (UK)
- The New York Times (US)
- The New York Post (US)
- The Washington Post (US)
- The Washington Times (US)
- The International Herald Tribune (US in Paris)
- The Globe and Mail (CA)
- The National Post (CA)
- The Sydney Morning Herald (AU)
- The Hindu (IN)
- The Times of India (IN)
- The Indian Express (IN)
- The New Indian Express (IN)
- The Statesman (IN)
- The Hindustan Times (IN)
- The Telegraph (IN)
- The Deccan Herald (IN)
- Granma International (CU) [English Edition]
- Aftenposten (NO)
Wire
- Reuters (UK)
- Associated Press (US)
Internet-only
- Yahoo! News, world news and general information
- Refdesk, world news and general information
- EUobserver.com (reports on the European Union; see also Wikipedia:EUobserver cooperation)
- Arutz-7 headlines MiddleEast News
- UPI world news and general information

	Main Page \| Recent changes \| Edit this page \| Page history Printable version \| Disclaimers	Not logged in Log in \| Help
	Other languages: Català \| Dansk \| Deutsch \| Español \| Français \| Nederlands \| Esperanto \| 日本語 (Nihongo) \| 한국어 (Hangukeo) \| Русский (Russkij) \| Suomi \| Simple English \| Svenska \| Tiếng Việt \| 中文 (Zhongwen)