AIDS. Thompson said, "We need America, the European Union and everybody. Nobody is going to be spared unless we all come together in the fight against this disease." [3]
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan reportedly tells the BBC that the world is losing the war against AIDS because governments remain indifferent to the threat. [5]
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao marks World AIDS Day by visiting AIDS victims in a Beijing hospital. [6]
Venezuelan opposition leaders claim to have gathered enough petition signatures to force a referendum to recall President Hugo Chávez; in response, the government alleges the four-day signature drive was tainted by "massive fraud". [12][13]
The US dollar continues to decline, hitting a new low of 1.2 against the euro; the dollar is suffering from deteriorating support against the background of a large current account deficit and fears of growing protectionism. [15]
Andrei Illarionov, economic advisor to President Vladimir Putin, indicates Russia will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol in its current form, a decision that would kill the accord. Some observers speculate that this is purely domestic posturing for forthcoming elections. [16]
Pirate copies of a pre-alpha version of Microsoft's Windows "Longhorn" operating system go on sale in Malaysia more than a year ahead of its expected release date. [22]
GIMPS has confirmed that 220996011-1 is prime. At 6320430 decimaldigits, it is easily the largest known prime number. 220996011-1 is the 40th known Mersenne prime and the 6th Mersenne prime discovered by GIMPS. [23]
illegal combatant and Taliban fighter Yaser Esam Hamdi will be allowed access to a lawyer after having been denied such counsel for two years. [24]
sanctions on $2.2 billion of U.S. products that would have taken effect in mid-December based on a ruling from the World Trade Organization that the tariffs were in violation of global trade rules. [36]
Hourly
quarter of 2003 at an annual rate of 9.2%, the highest since the Reagan years (Q2 of 1983). [37]
Queen Elizabeth II. The future of Zimbabwe's membership is threatening to dominate the gathering. The debate has been marked by bitter personal polemics between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whom Mugabe accuses of leading an "Anglo-Saxon conspiracy" against Zimbabwe. Mugabe himself is barred from entering the European Union. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth last year on charges that Mugabe had rigged his re-election in 2002. [43][44]
SCO v. IBM: in the opening discovery stages of the SCO v. IBM conflict, a judge grants IBM's two motions to compel
against SCO, and defers consideration of SCO's motions until later.
The
22nd SEA Games open in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This is the first time Vietnam has hosted the regional athletic event and the first time East Timor has sent a delegation. Indonesia and Vietnam are expected to top the medal tallies. [47][48]
) section, making the group three-quarters of a home nations championship - Scotland missed out by being drawn (amongst others) against Italy and Norway.
flu season will be worse than average, but they are not yet ready to say how bad it will be. [57] The USA is running out of the injectable version of the vaccine and is encouraging people to use the nasal spray. [58]
Zimbabwe fails to find supporters at the Commonwealth Prime Minister's Conference in Nigeria. [59]
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe announces that he is withdrawing his country from the Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth had earlier decided to maintain Zimbabwe's suspension until human rights and democratic reforms had taken place. [63]
2003 Russian election, with 37% of the vote. Second place and 12.5% of the vote goes to the Communist Party, with Zhirinovsky's LDPR nationalists close behind with 11.5%. However, electoral monitors say the democratic process was "overwhelmingly distorted" in the government's favour. [64][65]
Afghan villagers have disputed United States claims that a bombing by the US that killed nine children had killed the intended target, Taliban militant, Mullah Wazir. They say Wazir had left the village ten days earlier. [66][67]
King Harald V of Norway successfully undergoes a 5½-hour cancer operation in which his bladder is removed and a new one constructed, at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo. [71]
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, four men are killed and a woman critically injured during a massacre in a discotheque. It is the largest massacre in Puerto Rico since 1988. [75] (in Spanish)
UTC) kills six people and wounds 13 others. The police reports that one of the dead bombers has been identified as a woman. [79]
Doctors at the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control are worried that the 2003-2004 influenza season will be the worst in years. Early signs indicate that a particularly virulent strain of the flu virus that is not well-covered by this year's vaccine is hitting hard in some states. Young children and the elderly have been urged to receive the vaccine, doses of which are running low. [80][permanent dead link
Some 60 U.S. soldiers and a handful of Iraqis are injured in Tal Afar, west of Mosul, when a pre-dawn car bomb explodes at an entrance to an army base. [83][84]
A U.S.
RPG near Fallujah; the two-man crew is uninjured. [85]
Canada's BC Ferry system experiences a total shutdown due to job action by its union, after an 80-day cooling-off period, imposed by the provincial government, was not rescinded. [97]
The
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings in 1974 concludes that the Ulster Volunteer Force was responsible for the largest terrorist attack in the history of the Irish Troubles, which killed 33 people. It also concludes that some members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British military intelligence may have been involved in the attacks. The report strongly criticises the Irish National Coalition government (1973-77) for its handling of the crisis and criticises the United Kingdom for failures to offer assistance and information to track down the murderers. [98]
human rights violations. She also repeats her argument that discrimination against women in Muslim countries has no foundation in religion, but rather in culture. [99][100]
Occupation of Iraq
:
The
crimes against humanity committed under the Ba'ath Party régime (14 July 1968 to 1 May 2003). [101][102]
The
Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemns the "divisive" exclusion. [104]
Queen of Canada, issues a proclamation officially acknowledging the deportation of the Acadians, 248 years after it took place. The proclamation is delivered by Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, who is of Acadian descent. [108]
Holocaust, with a monument to be erected in central Berlin. [122]
Queen
Elizabeth II has a benign non-cancerous growth removed from her face. Buckingham Palace confirms the removed growths will be subject to further tests but denies there are any cancer fears surrounding the 77-year-old sovereign. She also underwent a knee operation. [123]
Keiko (whale) from Warner Brothers movie's Free Willy dies at age 27, at Norway
's bay
In Haiti the biggest anti-government demonstrations in a decade take place, calling for the removal of President Aristide; after nightfall, squadrons of armed Aristide supporters take to the streets in response. [128][129]Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
Spain has announced an agreement with Morocco to proceed with plans to build a rail tunnel beneath the Strait of Gibraltar, linking Europe and Africa. Assuming the project is technically and financially feasible, digging would start in 2008. [133], [134]
At the
EU Commissioner Chris Patten describes the United States' method of awarding contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq as politically maladroit. [135]
Wanderley Carlos Stringhini, retired partner of Ernst Young, dies at age 51, of suicide. During his life, he was partly responsible for the founding of Ernst Young offices in Curitiba, Blumenau, and Porto Alegre.
Coalition custody at an undisclosed location. At a press conference, Bremer presents video of Saddam in custody with a full beard, which is later shown removed. Bremer says that Saddam is in good health and is being "co-operative and talkative". He says that Saddam will "face justice" before an Iraqi court and under Iraqi law. [142][143][144][145]
In an address to his nation, US president George W. Bush comments on the capture of Saddam, "Now the former dictator of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions." [146]
British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomes the capture of Saddam, urging the Iraqi people "to reach out and to reconcile." Other world leaders offer similar sentiments: Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says that the arrest "will contribute to the strengthening of security in Iraq and to the process of political regulation in the country," while UN Secretary General Kofi Annan comments that Saddam's capture provides a chance "to give fresh impetus to the search for peace and stability in Iraq". [147][148]
A
Khaldiyah, 60 km west of Baghdad, killing at least 17 and wounding 30. [149]
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. [154]
US Secretary of State Colin Powell successfully undergoes two hours of prostate cancer surgery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. [155]
The results of parliamentary elections in the self-proclaimed
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are announced: pro-European Union parties won a narrow victory over the ruling nationalist coalition, with the opposition Republican Turkish Party becoming the largest party. However, the republic's complicated electoral system means that the two sides will each have 25 seats in the 50-seat assembly. [158]
Scud missile attacks on that country during the Gulf War. The plan was called off after five commandos were accidentally killed while training for the mission. [163]
Saddam Hussein's daughter, Raghad Saddam Hussein, tells the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television network, Saddam "should not be tried by the Iraqi governing council which was put in place by occupiers ... we want an international, fair and legal trial". [164]
Occupation of Iraq
:
Security Council debate, urges member states to define a clearer role for the UN in Iraq. [165]
Mowaffaq al-Rubaie says that Saddam Hussein will be tried in Iraq by an Iraqi court. Mowaffaq, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, denies reports that the prisoner has been taken out of Baghdad. [170]
Stephen Kenny, the first civilian lawyer to visit any of the former Afghan war suspects in
Guantanamo Bay, describes it as a physical and moral black hole. He says prisoners are not treated equally and that there is a pecking order with Americans being treated best. (In fact there are no Americans being held at Guantanamo Bay.) [172][173]Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
Occupation of Iraq: A fuel tanker explodes in downtown Baghdad, killing 10 and wounding 15. Initially believed to be caused by a bomb, officials later conclude that a traffic accident was responsible. [174]
The head of the Greek terrorist group Revolutionary Organization 17 November and their chief hitman are jailed for life, along with four other members of the organisation. [175]
September 11, 2001 attacks, says that the attacks could have been prevented and that public officials were to blame for not anticipating and pre-empting the threat. The commission's report is due in May, 2004. [176][177]
Taiwan reports the first confirmed SARS case in 5 months, a medical researcher who had studied the virus. [179]
The United StatesNational Weather Service warns of "excessive heat" after the Earth reportedly breaks out of its orbit and begins falling into the sun. Fortunately, it turns out to be a mistakenly published test message. [180]
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the final part of Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, goes on broad public release in the United States and much of Europe. Industry pundits predicted that it could have become the second film, after Titanic, to earn over US$1 billion at the box office. [181]
George H. Ryan is indicted on corruption charges for receiving payoffs, gifts and vacations in return for government contracts and leases while he served as the Governor and Secretary of State of Illinois. [184]
Governor of Connecticut John G. Rowland announces that he will not resign, despite allegations of corruption involving the receipt of free modifications to a vacation cottage, and the indictments of several of his top aides. [185]
yarmulkes and large Christiancrosses in schools and government offices. If passed, the law will come into effect in September 2004. Muslim clerics counter that the ban is an attack on their religion. [186][187]
Elephant's Trunk nebula, the dusty arms of the Messier 81 spiral galaxy, a disc of planet-forming debris, and organic material 3.25 billion light years away. [191][192][193][permanent dead link
UK Parliament recommends that the power to hold terrorist suspects without trial be repealed. [194]
A
illegal combatant and must be released from military custody within 30 days. [195][196] The Bush administration announces that it will seek a stay of the Padilla decision. [197]Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
A
illegal combatants" being held at Camp X-Ray in Cuba should have access to lawyers and to US courts. [198]
It is alleged that, in cases where their treatment of a detainee may never come under public scrutiny,
CIA are using a number of controversial techniques to extract information. [199]
Prosecutors in California charge singer Michael Jackson with seven counts of child molestation and schedule hearings for January 16, 2004. [202]
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warns the Palestinian Authority that Israel will take unilateral steps to separate from the Palestinians unless there is progress on the road map peace plan and sets a deadline of "a few months" for Palestinian compliance. The speech is strongly criticised by the United States, the Israeli left, the Jewish settler movement and the Palestinians. [203]
Red Hat, in its third quarter, buys Sistina Software. Red Hat expects that it will close the deal by early January for $31 million dollars. [204]
Sudanese authorities close the Khartoum office of the Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera and detain its bureau chief for questioning. [205]
Italian dairy company Parmalat declared a 3.96 billion euro hole in its accounts when the amount held by Cayman Islands-based unit, Bonlat Financing Corporation, was declared false by Bank of America. [206]Archived 2013-02-01 at archive.today
weapons of mass destruction but now agrees to its dismantling. [207]
L. Paul Bremer reveals that he survived an attack on his convoy on December 6. [210]
Prime Minister of JapanJunichiro Koizumi orders the deployment of Japanese forces for non-combat duties in Southern Iraq; polls show that most Japanese voters are opposed to the mission. [211]
Flights from Vancouver International Airport bound for the U.S. are delayed following the discovery of an envelope containing suspicious white powder and a threatening note at one of the terminals. [212][permanent dead link]
SARS quarantine orders are lifted on up to 75 people in Singapore but concerns remain that the deadly virus could yet make a comeback across Asia. [213]
Pacific island-state can pay its public servants before Christmas in a move that Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says illustrates the need for long-term solutions to the island's deep-seated problems. [214]
In a major blow to the
subpoenas issued against Verizon to identify individual P2P users. [215]
The British spacecraft Beagle 2 successfully separates from the ESA's Mars Express orbiter and is now less than 10 days away from its scheduled landing on the surface of Mars; it will attempt to parachute onto the surface on Christmas morning. [216][217][218]
Police seal off the printing plant and offices of Zimbabwe's last remaining independent daily newspaper, Daily News. [219]
class-action lawsuit awarding compensation to gays and lesbians anywhere in the world. [220]
Henry VIII of England, is released, and claimed to show a "ghost". The footage, taken in October 2003, shows a man in 16th century clothes closing a firedoor that had blown open. The palace markets itself as one of Britain's most haunted locations. [224][225]
Irish charity fundraiser John O'Shea attacks Manchester United football manager Sir Alex Ferguson as "greedy" for demanding £90,000 to attend a cancer charity function in Ireland in 1999. According to O'Shea, a sports celebrity demanding 'appearance money' from a charity is unheard of in his experience. Ferguson's appearance fee amounted to half the money raised. The fundraisers, until now unaware that Ferguson had taken half the proceeds, denounce his behaviour and say if they had known about it at the time they would have cancelled the event.
Former Argentinian president Carlos Menem is charged with tax fraud for failing to declare a Swiss bank account containing $600,000. If convicted he could be debarred from public office. [227]
The
Palestinian areas. The hearings will begin on 23 February 2004. [228]
Massive landslides in the Philippines caused by heavy rain result in the deaths of up to 90 people. [230]
A Malaysian opposition website is shut down by its British web-hosting company amid claims of "political censorship" from the opposition. [231]
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai tells his supporters to "fight fear" as they campaign against President Robert Mugabe. His comments follow the decision of Zimbabwe's police to occupy the offices of Zimbabwe's only privately owned newspaper in defiance of a court order that the newspaper could resume publication. [232]
Citing increased "chatter" regarding potential terrorist attacks over the holiday period, the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security raises its terrorism alert level from "elevated" (yellow) to "high" (orange). [242]Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
A senior French police source claims
Dodi Al-Fayed had long insisted that Diana was pregnant with Dodi's baby and that she was murdered to stop her from giving birth. [243][244]
Quoting an unnamed senior British military intelligence officer, a report in the Sunday Express (Britain) claims that before Saddam Hussein was captured by US troops, he had already been discovered by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Kurdish forces had been alerted to his location by a member of the al-Jabour tribe whose daughter had been raped by Saddam's son Uday Hussein. [245]
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark presented 4,000 petition signatures to qualify for South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary ballot today. He's the second of the nine candidates for the Democratic nomination to file for the February 3 ballot. Campaign workers for Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts gave the state Democratic Party a check for $2,500 last week to qualify.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher is assaulted by Palestinians during prayer at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Mr. Maher was taken to an Israeli hospital for observation as a result of the incident after being treated at the scene by the Magen David Adom. After several hours care in the hospital, he was escorted to his airplane by an Israeli cardiologist and paramedic. [249][250]
The Gulf Cooperation Council announces that they will revise school textbooks and remove from them material describing followers of other religions as infidels and enemies of Islam. [254]
Linus Torvalds says, in a post to the Linux kernelmailing list, "... I think we can totally _demolish_ the SCO claim that these 65 files were somehow "copied". They clearly are not."[257]
Novell has also registered their claim to the copyright of original UNIX source code, effectively challenging SCO's registration of the same code [258][259]
An
Richter magnitude scale, and causes two deaths from the collapse of a building in the town of Paso Robles. [260],[261]
The Philippines declares a calamity in a southern province after floods killed up to 209 people. [262]
Drive-By Truckers' bassist, Earl Hicks, leaves the band and is replaced by Shonna Tucker.
Brett Favre played one of the most memorable games of his career, leading the Green Bay Packers to a win over the Oakland Raiders, 41-7, the day after the death of his father, Irvin.
The United States Department of Agriculture confirms the first case of BSE (mad cow disease) in the United States, detected at a small slaughter house. The USDA has found no evidence that the infected materials made it into the food supply. Specimens have been sent to the United Kingdom for further analysis. Authorities quarantined a ranch near Yakima where the animal was raised. [264][265]
Los Angeles are canceled due to security concerns expressed by the U.S. embassy in France. [271]
Bolivian President Carlos Mesa declares a state of emergency because of flooding in central Bolivia, which killed at least 19 people and collapsed a bridge crucial to Bolivian exports. [272]
A UK lab confirms the presence of BSE in samples taken from a cow in Washington [279]. Mexico joins the list of countries which have banned imports of US beef.
Reports emerge of a major leak of natural gas in a gas field near the south-western Chinese city of Chongqing. Over 100 people are believed dead and up to 40,000 people have been evacuated from the area surrounding the leak. [280]
Bam Citadel the largest adobe structure of the world is destroyed. The area of the citadel is about 180,000 square meters and the construction date of parts of it goes back for about 2500 years. [282][283][284]
The death toll in the Chinese gas-leak rises to 191. [285]
The estimate of the number of dead in the Bam earthquake increases to 40,000, according to the provincial governor. Iran has refused earthquake aid from Israel.[287]
British scientists are continuing their efforts to make contact with the Mars probe Beagle 2, which was designed to perform advanced studies of the Martian soil in an effort to find microbial life. [291]Archived 2007-09-07 at the Wayback Machine
The United States Department of Homeland Security announces that it will require armed security personnel on all airline flights, whether US or foreign carriers, when the department has intelligence that there is a threat to a flight. [294]
Cuban officials are investigating who is responsible for altering a photograph of Fidel Castro on the front page of the official government newspaper, Granma, to make him look like Adolf Hitler. [295]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation issues a memo instructing police to be alert of people carrying almanacs, stating that information in these reference works could be used to aid in the planning of terrorist attacks. [296]
Occupation of Iraq: A car bomb detonates outside an upmarket Baghdad restaurant much favoured by foreign journalists, killing five New Year revelers. [302]
