Current events
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Time: 07:58 UTC
| Date: June 12
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June 11, 2004
- Ken Livingstone is re-elected Mayor of London for a second four-year term. He polled 828,380 first and second preference votes, defeating his nearest rival Conservative Steve Norris by 161,202 votes. (Guardian) (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/story/0,14549,1236758,00.html)
- 11 Chinese road construction workers and an Afghan guard are murdered in their sleep 20 miles south of the Afghan city of Kunduz. Four more Chinese were hospitalized for wounds suffered in the same attack. The Chinese are among more than 100 engineers and workers on a World Bank project to build a road from Kabul to the Tajikistan border. Mullah Dadullah, one of the top Taliban commanders, recently issued orders to his fighters to strike at road builders. (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/11/international/asia/11afgh.html)
- Cassini-Huygens probe approaches within 1,250 miles of Phoebe, the outermost moon of the planet Saturn (Wired News) (http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,63815,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2)
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June 10, 2004
- Votes are counted on Super Thursday in the UK as elections are held for the European Parliament, local council elections and for London Mayor and the London Assembly. The local council elections show major losses for the Labour Party, attributed by Labour to protest voting over the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3796075.stm) (Guardian) (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/story/0,14549,1236480,00.html) (Guardian) (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/story/0,14549,1236841,00.html) (Daily Telegraph) (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=TUNF2GL3IJQP3QFIQMFSNAGAVCBQ0JVC?xml=/news/2004/06/11/uvote.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/06/11/ixportaltop.html) (Daily Telegraph) (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=TUNF2GL3IJQP3QFIQMFSNAGAVCBQ0JVC?xml=/news/2004/06/11/ublair.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/06/11/ixportaltop.html) (results from Guardian) (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/tables/0,14549,1231654,00.html)
- Voting begins in the four-day-long European Parliament election; the United Kingdom and the Netherlands vote today. The Dutch authorities, in breach of an EU-wide reporting embargo, release their results in the early evening. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3792877.stm)
- Mathematics professor Louis de Branges de Bourcia claims a proof of the Riemann hypothesis, a long-standing and fundamental mathematical problem for a solution of which the Clay Mathematics Institute has offered a USD $1m prize. (CNet) (http://news.com.com/Riemann+hypothesis+proven%3F/2100-7348_3-5229702.html) (Purdue University press release) (http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/2004/040608.DeBranges.Riemann.html)
- The U.S. State Dep't. announces that its Patterns of Global Terrorism report for 2003 was incomplete and partially incorrect. Instead of a decrease in terrorist attacks and casualties since 2002, the revised version will show a "sharp increase" over the previous year. (Press briefing) (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2004/33455.htm), (Guardian) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1236520,00.html)
- A polling organization announces that there is broad support in the U.S. state of California for a November ballot measure to limit the effect of the "three strikes" sentencing law. The Field Poll shows the measure, which would impose the 25-years-to-life only if the third felony is a serious or violent crime, is supported by 76% of those asked, opposed by 14 percent. (Sacramento Bee) (http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/courts_legal/story/9599760p-10523267c.html)
- Turkey releases 4 Kurdish prisoners. (Salt Lake Tribune) (http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jun/06102004/nation_w/174278.asp)
- Pakistani paramilitary troops launch an offensive, hunting for foreign fighters in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan. (Asian times) (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FF11Df04.html)
- The Zimbabwean cricket team is suspended from playing Test Matches by the ICC till the end of 2004 due to their policy of racial bias in team selection.
- Apple Computer announces its new top-of-the-line Mac G5 will use water-cooling technology. (IT World) (http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1184/040610liquidcooling/)
- Martha Stewart asks a federal judge to throw out charges of obstructing justice, claiming false evidence. (Bloomberg) (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a1S1spwzpN8o&refer=us)
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June 9, 2004
- Kurdish leaders in Iraq state that the Kurds would "refrain from participating in the central government" should the interim constitution be modified or replaced with a constitution that diminishes Kurdish political role in the central government. (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/09/international/middleeast/09KURD.html?hp)
- An explosion injures at least 17 in a commercial district of Cologne, Germany. Authorities are treating it as a bomb attack. (CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/09/canada/cologne_blast040609) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3791965.stm)
- The British Phonographic Industry decides not to follow the rest of the IFPI in suing for file sharing of music. (CIO Today) (http://cio-today.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml%3Fstory_title%3DBPI-Sits-Out-Europe-s-Legal-Fight-Against-Music-Piracy%26story_id%3D24507%26category%3Decommerce) (IFPI press release) (http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20040608.html)
- U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft tells the Senate Judiciary Committee that George W. Bush did not approve the torture of terrorist prisoners; he also reiterates his stance that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to al-Qaeda fighters. (Salt Lake Tribune) (http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jun/06092004/nation_w/173862.asp) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3788935.stm)
- Twenty heavily armed foreign militants are killed by Pakistan in the South Waziristan mountainous tribal region near the Afghan border where it is believed that hundreds of al-Qaida members are hiding. (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-al-Qaida-Hunt.html)
- Canada announces it will be increasing its non-military role in Iraq, while NATO is currently undecided about sending more support to Iraq. (The Globe and Mail) (http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040609.wnato0609_3/BNStory/International/)
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June 8, 2004
- Venezuela's National Electoral Council announces that Hugo Chávez's presidency will be subject to a recall referendum on 15 August, with general elections to follow within 30 days if the vote goes against the president. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3789219.stm)
- Al-Qaeda members in Saudi Arabia threaten new attacks on Western passenger airliners. (Reuters) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5363727)
- A March 2003 memorandum by US administration lawyers is released, which concludes that President George W. Bush was not bound by international treaty or by federal law against torture because the commander-in-chief had the authority to protect national security. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3783869.stm) The U.S. Constitution states that "International law is the supreme law of the land."
- Venus passes between the Sun and the Earth in the first transit of Venus since 1882. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3784293.stm)
- U.S.-led occupation of Iraq:
- U.S.-led special forces free three Italians and a Pole held hostage in Iraq. They are among the civilians kidnapped on April 12 near Baghdad. At that time, a fifth hostage was murdered after Italy refused the kidnappers' demands to withdraw its troops from Iraq. (Reuters) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5372576)
- A suspected car bomb kills 4 Iraqis and wounds 11 outside a United States military base in the northern town of Baquba. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5367304)
- A suspected suicide car bomb kills 9 and wounds at least 25 others in Mosul. (Reuters) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5369583)
- UK Health Minister John Reid warns against anti-tobacco vigilantism, defending cigarettes as one of the "very few pleasures in life" available to the poor. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3789591.stm) (Daily Telegraph) (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/09/nsmok09.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/09/ixhome.html)
- Chinese Internet authorities shut down the website of the Open Constitutional Initiative (OCI), a leading website campaigning for greater constitutional protections in China. OCI is a group of intellectuals that have been posting essays on the website related to constitutional issues and the protections of citizens rights as laid out in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
- The heart of the dauphin Louis-Charles, recognized by French loyalists as Louis XVII of France, is entombed in the royal crypt of Saint-Denis Basilica outside Paris, 211 years after he perished in the French Revolution. DNA testing had verified the heart as belonging to the son of the guillotined King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. No French government officials or members of reigning royal families attend the service. [1] (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/08/world/dauphin_heart040608)
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June 7, 2004
- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) opens its two day conference on Humanitarian Needs of Palestinian Refugess opens in Geneva, Switzerland. Participation in the conference is by invitation only. Israel is excluded from the conference. (UNRWA) (http://www.unog.ch/news2/documents/newsen/m04015e.htm) (IMRA) (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=21143)
- Gunmen attack a BBC news team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing cameraman Simon Cumbers and seriously injuring correspondent Frank Gardner. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3783799.stm)
- U.S.-led occupation of Iraq: The UN Security Council reaches a compromise agreement on the draft resolution on Iraq. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3780699.stm)
- North American Free Trade Agreement: The United States Supreme Court opens US roads to trucks from Mexico, enforcing a key component of the NAFTA agreement over the protests of some environmentalists and Teamsters. (Washington Post) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23391-2004Jun7.html)
- A civil trial begins in San Francisco, California, in the U.S. Justice Department's effort to prevent the purchase of PeopleSoft by Oracle. Antitrust authorities contend that the proposed acquisition of PeopleSoft, for USD $7.7 billion, would effectively monopolize the market for enterprise software. (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/08/technology/08soft.html)
- The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals 2-1, their first Stanley Cup victory. (ESPN) (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=240607020) (SI.com) (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/hockey/nhl/specials/playoffs/2004/06/07/bc.hkn.stanleycup.runni.ap/?cnn=yes) (TSN) (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=86744)
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June 6, 2004
- Heads of state and war veterans mark the sixtieth anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Nazi-controlled Europe in World War II. An estimated 250,000 people died in the Battle of Normandy. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3780381.stm)
- Palestinian Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is sentenced to five life terms plus forty years by an Israeli court for his role in Palestinian terrorism. (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/06/06/barghouti/)
- U.S.-led occupation of Iraq : Brigadier General Mark Hertling, a top US commander in charge of Najaf, Iraq, states "The Moqtada militia is militarily defeated. We have killed scores of them over the last few weeks, and that is in Najaf alone. [...] The militia have been defeated, or have left." US Coalition patrols and checkpoints are still active around Najaf and its twin city of Kufa, Iraq. (News.com.au) (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9763089%255E1702,00.html)
- French Open: Gastón Gaudio wins the men's singles title, defeating compatriot Guillermo Coria 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6. (AP) (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040606/ap_on_sp_te_ga_su/ten_french_open_211)
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June 5, 2004
- Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan dies at the age of 93 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. (SF Chronicle) (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/06/05/obituary1648EDT0615.DTL) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3779583.stm) (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=J33QU2XYQDMX4CRBAELCFEY?type=topNews&storyID=5352591) (Washington Post) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18566-2004Jun5.html)
- An outbreak of pseudomembranous colitis, a Clostridium difficile infection, is believed to have killed as many as 89 people in hospitals in Montreal, Quebec and Calgary, Alberta. (CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/04/sci-tech/c_difficile040604)
- Noël Mamère, mayor of Bègles (near Bordeaux), France, celebrates the first same-sex marriage in France, between Bertrand Charpentier and Stéphane Chapin. Interior minister Dominique de Villepin states that the wedding is illegal and announces that the mayor will face censure. Mamère claims he is interpreting French law, inspired by similar actions in San Francisco and other US cities. (swissinfo) (http://www.swissinfo.org/sfr/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=4982913)
- North Light wins the 225th Epsom Derby, the second race in the British Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/3731319.stm)
- Belmont Stakes: Birdstone defeats Smarty Jones to prevent Smarty Jones from winning the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. (ESPN) (http://espn.go.com/horse/triplecrown04/s/2004/0605/1816487.html)
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June 4, 2004
- George W. Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II who criticizes him for the Iraq war while more than 100,000 protest in Rome and other Italian cities. (The Independent) (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=528435) (Calgary Herald) (http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=ece923e3-dd82-418d-b99b-35a5da18aaa4)
- North Korea bans citizens from using mobile phones. (CNN) (http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/04/news/funny/cellphone_ban.reut/)
- The 15th anniversary of the crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 is marked in Hong Kong by a candlelight vigil. Police keep Tiananmen Square and other places in mainland China free of demonstrators. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3775463.stm) (VOA) (http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=77B73ABF-032F-48D7-937FD19EBC740D99&title=Hong%20Kong%20Residents%20Hold%20Candlelight%20Vigil%20for%20Tiananmen%20Anniversary&catOID=45C9C78B-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C&categoryname=Asia%20Pacific)
- A second high-ranking CIA official, Deputy Director for field operations James Pavitt, is to retire early, after 31 years, citing personal reasons; speculation arises that his resignation and that of former Director George Tenet are possibly linked with the Iraq weapons of mass destruction or 9-11 intelligence issues. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3775423.stm) (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5348947)
- New Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gives his first televised national address. Five U.S soldiers are killed and another five wounded when their convoy comes under attack from roadside bombs and RPGs near Sadr City. The Mahdi Army agrees to a truce in Najaf with U.S forces and vows to withdraw if the Americans make a similar commitment.
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June 3, 2004
- The secretive Bilderberg Group meets near Milan, Italy. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3773019.stm)
- All outgoing flights from the UK are temporarily grounded following an air traffic control computer failure. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3772077.stm)
- Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet tenders his resignation, citing "personal reasons". He will serve as CIA Director until mid-July. John McLaughlin, the deputy director for the CIA will become the acting Director until a permanent Director is chosen and confirmed by Congress. (AP) (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=513&e=1&u=/ap/20040603/ap_on_go_ot/tenet_resigns) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3774089.stm) (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=N5NHE1WPOFGGACRBAEOCFEY?type=topNews&storyID=5336032)
- Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal: Two U.S. Marines, Pfc. Andrew J. Sting and Pfc. Jeremiah J. Trefney, have been jailed for between eight to twelve months after pleading guilty to prisoner abuse at Al Mahmudiya prison in Iraq which occured after the events at Abu Ghraib prison. (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/03/prisoner.abuse.marines.ap/index.html) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3775175.stm)
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will raise output by 2 million barrels a day from July 1 and by another 500,000 barrels a day from August 1. (IHT) (http://www.iht.com/articles/523283.htm) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3771939.stm)
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June 2, 2004
- Five aid workers representing Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are killed in a Taliban ambush in north-western Afghanistan. The workers are one Dutchman, one Belgian, one Norwegian, and two Afghans. The incident leads MSF to temporarily suspend their activities nation-wide, except for life-saving activities. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3770999.stm) (MSF Press Release) (http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=42321CB8-D3C1-46D4-8E51D8FB3EE593E2)
- In a speech given at the U.S. Air Force Academy, President Bush compares the present War on Terrorism in the Middle East to World War II in Europe. (AP) (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040602/D82V24301.html) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3771401.stm)
- Zhou Zhengyi, the 11th richest businessman in mainland China, is given a three-year jail sentence for stock market fraud. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3767815.stm)
- Norman Hutchins, who has a fetish for surgical masks becomes the first person in history to be banned from all British hospitals. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/3770081.stm)
- Scaled Composites announces that the world's first private manned space flight is scheduled for June 21, 2004. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3770919.stm)
- U.S. government prosecutors, preparing for an upcoming trial of four former executives of Merrill Lynch and two former executives of Enron released a document that could prove helpful to the defense -- indicating that the intent of the allegedly fraudulent transaction was, at the least, a bit equivocal. Trial begins Monday. (NYT) (http:www.nytimes.com/2004/06/04/business/04ENRON.html?th)
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June 1, 2004
- RoC Premier Yu Shyi-kun is prevented for six hours from delivering a key government report on the floor of the Legislative Yuan when opposition lawmakers, refusing to recognize President Chen Shui-bian's narrow re-election on March 20, tore up his report and unfurled banners and placards with the words "no truth, no president" and "bogus regime". (TheStraitsTimes) (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,254059,00.html?) (Channelnewsasia) (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/87866/1/.html)
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) releases a new report in which Iran amends its claims. Iran now states that it imported parts for centrifuges capable of making bomb-grade uranium that it previously said were made in the country. Highly enriched uranium (weapons grade 36% uranium-235) is found at a Farayand, a site previously unknown to the IAEA. (Reuters) (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5315392&pageNumber=1)
- Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, a powerful Sunni Muslim tribal leader and critic of the U.S.-led occupation, is named president of Iraq's incoming government, after Iraqi leaders reject the Americans' preferred candidate for the post.
- Shi'ite Muslims in Karachi, enraged by a mosque bombing that killed 20 worshippers, battle police and burn U.S. fast food restaurants as the government struggles to contain a third day of violence in Pakistan's largest city. (CNN) (http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/06/01/pakistan.funeral.ap/index.html) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3765047.stm)
- Democrat Stephanie Herseth narrowly defeats Republican Larry Diedrich in a closely-watched by-election for South Dakota's US House seat. (The Guardian) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4158603,00.html) (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/02/south.dakota.ap/index.html) (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5318487)
- The government in Zimbabwe proposes new contracts for all Internet service providers that will force them to block content or report "malicious messages" to the authorities. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3764133.stm)
- Norway becomes the world's second nation after Ireland to ban smoking in all bars and restaurants. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5308749)
- Jennifer Hawkins, a twenty-year-old Australian, wins the Miss Universe contest, held in Quito, Ecuador. (AP) (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=7&u=/ap/20040602/ap_on_en_ot/ecuador_miss_universe)
- Dr. Jiang Yanyong disappears days before the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
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Past events by month
2004: January February March April May
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
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