May 2004

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Events

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May 1, 2004

EU enlargement: Ten new member states (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) join the European Union, increasing the EU's population by 75 million people to a total of roughly 455 million. (BBC) (Guardian)
In Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, gunmen kill five Westerners and a Saudi security guard in a shooting spree and car chase. (BBC)
A fire at the Parco dei Principe hotel in Rome kills three, and forces the evacuation of a number of professional tennis stars, including Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Mariano Zabaleta, and Max Mirnyi. (AP)
Smarty Jones wins the Kentucky Derby. (AP)
The separatist region of Ajaria attempts to sever its links from Georgia by blowing up the three bridges connecting it to the rest of the country over the Choloki River. (AP)
Riot police clash with masked left-wing anarchists in Berlin and Leipzig, Germany. 100 people are arrested. (Deutsche Welle) (Reuters AlertNet)

The Rochester Americans rally from a 3-1 series deficit to complete the comeback and defeat the Syracuse Crunch on Norm Milley's OT goal in the first round of the American Hockey League playoffs at the Onondaga County War Memorial.

May 2, 2004

Investment banker Frank Quattrone of Credit Suisse First Boston is convicted of obstructing justice and witness tampering. Quattrone played a significant role in the Initial Public Offerings of Amazon, Netscape, Intuit and other Internet companies. (NYT)
Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller resigns one day after Poland becomes a member of the European Union. His government was the most unpopular of the nine that have ruled Poland since the fall of the communist regime in 1989. Miller's Left Democratic Alliance party, plagued by a series of corruption scandals (including the Rywin affair), hit a record low in popularity rankings in the last months which led some of its members to break away and form a new party, the Social Democracy of Poland. President Aleksander Kwaśniewski announces he will designate Marek Belka, a liberal economist, as new prime minister. (Reuters)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Israel's Likud Party votes in a referendum not to pull out of the Gaza Strip unilaterally. The referendum's defeat is seen as a major blow to the Sharon government. Sharon subsequently says that he will not resign and may modify the plan. (BBC)
- Palestinian gunmen kill a pregnant Israeli mother, Tali Hatuel, and all four of her young daughters near the Kissufim Crossing in the Gaza Strip. The killers are shot dead by security forces. The incident is believed to have influenced voting intentions in the referendum held the same day. (INN) (BBC)
Martín Torrijos wins Panama's presidential election. (BBC)
U.S. civilian contractor Thomas Hamill, who was taken hostage by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, is found by U.S. forces south of Tikrit after escaping his captors. (MSNBC)
The Sasser worm is spreading. It has the chance of becoming as big as the Blaster worm epidemic because it can infect computers running Microsoft Windows directly without user interaction. (AP)
A government report has found that secret searches in the U.S. are up 85% since 2001. (Baltimore Sun)
A shell containing mustard gas, was found in the middle of a street west of Baghdad. Officials from the Defense Department commented that this was part of an improvised explosive device (IED). It was not certain that use was to be made as a bomb. (Fox News) (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

May 3, 2004

The USA is starting to lose its dominance in the sciences; "the rest of the world is catching up", according to John E. Jankowski of the National Science Foundation. Scientists from Europe and now other countries are now publishing more papers in major professional journals than scientists from the U.S.. New York Times p.A1.
An Egyptian court rejects the petition of an Egyptian movie producer seeking to establish an Egyptian-Israeli friendship organization stating: "Egyptian society does not need a friendship association with Israel. The Egyptian public and Arabs do not need such false friendships, as demonstrated by the attacks on the Palestinian people."" (INN)(HaAretz)
French police seek 500 kg (1,100 lb) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer stolen from the port of Honfleur at the mouth of the Seine River. The fertilizer can be converted easily into a powerful explosive. Such an explosive was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. AZF recently suspended operations inside France while the group seeks to upgrade its arsenal. (NYT)
Mexico and Peru recall their ambassadors from Cuba, citing recent "offensive" comments by Cuban head of state Fidel Castro. The Cuban ambassador to Mexico is also expelled, for "activities incompatible with his diplomatic status". (VOA) (BBC)
At US$38.21 per barrel of crude, oil prices hit their highest level since 1990. (AP)
In an open letter to George W. Bush more than 50 former high-ranking United States diplomats (including former ambassadors to Saudi Arabia and Qatar) complain about the Bush administration's policy towards the Middle East claiming that the President's approach, and specifically his endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, is losing the U.S. "credibility, prestige and friends". The letter follows a similar one written by 52 former British diplomats sent to Tony Blair a few days earlier. (BBC)

May 4, 2004

The Legislative Yuan in Taiwan passes a bill mandating that official documents in Chinese be written from left to right instead of right to left, ending centuries of tradition. (Straits Times) (BBC)
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights elects thirteen countries to serve on it for 3-year terms. Sudan is elected unopposed to represent the African bloc, prompting a walk-out by the U.S. delegation. (NYT) (CNN)
Hundreds of Muslim cattle herders are killed by Christian farmers in central Nigerian town of Yelwa. (Reuters)
U.S. Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress condemn the alleged mistreatment of Iraqi detainees in the strongest terms and call for a congressional investigation. (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
Iraq Occupation and resistance:
- The Pentagon announces that it plans to keep as many as 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq through the end of 2005. (Bloomberg) (NYT)
- The U.S. Department of Defense announces that 37,000 National Guardsmen and 10,000 active duty Army and Marine Corps troops are to be called up to serve a one-year tour of duty in Iraq by early 2005. (AP)
A Chicago laboratory announces they helped choose embryos by genetic testing to yield five babies who could donate stem cells to sick siblings. (CNN)
William Krar, a Texan with ties to white supremacists, is sentenced to 11 years in prison after he pled guilty to building and possessing chemical weapons in what has been described as one of the most serious cases of domestic terrorism since the Oklahoma City bombing. (Reuters) (KRT) (AP)

May 5, 2004

Parliament grounds and adjoining footpaths in New Zealand host 15,000 people (many of whom have participated in several days of route march - "hīkoi") protesting about the proposed law that is expected to change the ownership of foreshore and seabed.
The Dalai Lama ends his visit to Canada with a ceremony initiating thousands in Tibetan Buddhism. (Toronto Star)
Israeli company Givot Olam announces that from a previously known oil reserve near Kfar Sava believed to contain 980 million barrels (156 million m³) of oil, 20% of it is extractable. (INN) (Haaretz)
During a raid in Gaza Israeli troops kill a police captain and wound 15 people, in an area that is used to fire Qassam rockets into Israeli towns. (Reuters)
Maya artifacts are discovered in Cival, a ruined city in the Petén region of Guatemala, suggesting an earlier development of dynastic customs than previously known. (Washington Post)
Three bombs explode in Athens outside a single police station, 100 days before the start of the Olympic Games. One policeman was injured. (BBC) (Boston Herald)
George W. Bush speaks on the Al Arabiya and Alhurra Arabic-language television networks, stating he was 'appalled' at the conduct of U.S. soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. (Toronto Star)
Houston Astros baseball pitcher Roger Clemens records his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. (AP) (Reuters)
A judge of the Ontario Superior Court, overseeing the bankruptcy and reorganization of Air Canada, approved an amended "standby purchase agreement" from Deutsche Bank, which stands to become a major owner of equity in the revived airline. (Globe and Mail)
President of the breakaway Georgian republic of Ajaria, Aslan Abashidze is forced to resign by Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili. (BBC) (Independent) (Guardian) (Washington Post)

May 6, 2004

Iraq Occupation and resistance:
- The United States Senate votes (95-3) to approve John Negroponte as the head of the new U.S. embassy in Iraq despite concerns over his role in allegedly supporting widespread campaigns of terror and human rights abuses as ambassador of Honduras in the 1980s. (Los Angeles Times) (IPS) (Democracy Now!)
- In Baghdad, a suicide bomber using a car packed with explosives and artillery shells kills 5 Iraqis and one American soldier and injures 25 people, including two American soldiers. (NYT)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Over U.S. and Israeli objections, the UN General Assembly votes 140-6, with 11 abstentions, to adopt a resolution that affirms the Palestinians' right of sovereignty over the territories seized by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. (Reuters) (AP)
- An Israeli government report finds that Israel's Housing Ministry secretly gave about $6.5 million to help expand settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank territory between 2000 and 2003 which are illegal according to Israel. These included outposts which the government had promised to remove. (Philadelphia Inquirer) (Haaretz)
Hamas co-founder Mohammad Taha, aged 68, is released from an Israeli prison. (INN)
Iraqi abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison
- The International Committee of the Red Cross states that, over a period of some months, it has repeatedly requested that the United States take action on alleged prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. (NYT)
- U.S. Democratic Senator Tom Harkin calls on Donald Rumsfeld to resign from office to protect the image of America around the world in light of the abuse. (AP)
President George W. Bush states that a resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would be the result of negotiations and that the United States would oppose "any developments in the region that might endanger your (Jordan's) interests." (NYT)
The television sitcom Friends airs its final episode in the United States and Canada.
It is announced that John Scarlett is to succeed Sir Richard Dearlove as the head of the Secret Intelligence Service with Dearlove becoming master of Pembroke College at Cambridge University. Scarlett is the first head of the SIS ever to have a current photograph published.
President George W. Bush calls for Israel to withdraw to her borders prior to the Six Day War of 1967, and to give the occupied territories to the Palestinians for a homeland. (Guardian Unlimited)
Aslan Abashidze resigned as the head of the Autonomous Republic of Ajaria, Georgia, after months of tensions with the central Georgian government. (BBC)

May 7, 2004

Japan's longest-serving chief cabinet secretary, Yasuo Fukuda, resigns to take responsibility for not making pension payments. (VOA)
A report from the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights describes a "reign of terror" imposed by government-backed militias in Sudan's western province of Darfur. (UN)
A bomb blast during Friday prayers at a Shia mosque in Karachi, Pakistan kills 10 people and injures 100. A suicide bombing is suspected. The head cleric of the mosque is among the dead. (NYT) (National Post)
Vladimir Putin is sworn in for his second (and final) four-year term as Russian president. (BBC)
Iraq Occupation and resistance:
- Shieik Abdul-Satar al-Bahadli, a senior aide to Muqtada al-Sadr, is offering a reward of 250,000 dinars (~ USD 170) to any Iraqi who captures a British woman soldier; he says the captive will be kept as a concubine. (Reuters)
- United States Armed Forces encounter heavy fighting in Karbala, Iraq where at least 24 gunmen of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army are killed and in Najaf where another 12 gunmen are killed. (NYT)
- Three Polish journalists are killed and a third wounded by Iraqi gunmen on the road between Baghdad and Karbala. (BBC)
- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifies before the U.S. Congress, taking "full responsibility" and apologizing for the abuse of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison. The hearing highlights a split between how the abuses are perceived either as "isolated incidents" or as part of the "chain of command". (BBC)
- The International Committee of the Red Cross states that on some of its inspection visits to Coalition detention centres in Iraq, it observed "incidents tantamount to torture". (Reuters)
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos signs legislation legalizing divorce. (BBC)
U.S. attorney Brandon Mayfield is detained in the investigation of the 11 March Madrid attacks. (CNN) (BBC)
The Prime Minister of Nepal Surya Bahadur Thapa resigns amid protests by opposition parties. Prime Minister Thapa was appointed by King Gyanendra eleven months ago. The opposing parties are demanding formation of an all party government with a Prime Minister of their choice. (BBC)
The FDA blocks the Over-the-counter sale of a morning-after pill despite the (23-4) recommendation of a federal advisory panel. (NYT)

May 8, 2004

Israel makes the first permanent appointment of an Arab to its Supreme Court as Salim Jubran is selected unanimously; Esther Hayut and Elyakim Rubinstein are also selected unanimously. Edna Arbel, the former state prosecutor who recommended indicting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on bribery charges, is selected amongst considerably more controversy and opposition. (Haaretz)
Computer security: German authorities arrest an 18-year-old high school student on suspicion that he is responsible for creating the Sasser worm, which has infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide by exploiting a flaw in the Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems. According to CNET, a US$5 million reward from Microsoft was instrumental in leading investigators to the suspect. (AP) (CNET)
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wraps up a landmark visit to Greece. Both sides pledge cooperation—Erdoğan visits the Turkish minority in Thrace and urges reconciliation, and his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis says Greece will support Turkey's EU bid, marking a high point in Greco-Turkish relations. (BBC) (BBC) (BBC)

May 9, 2004

Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed in a landmine bomb blast under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya. (Reuters) (AP) (BBC)
The scandal about U.S. torture in Iraq widens as The New Yorker reports about guards setting dogs against naked prisoners. (newyorker)
Twenty-two passengers, two stoweaways and crew are injured when an American Eagle ATR 42, flight 1450, crash-lands in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP)

May 10, 2004

Turkey begins construction of a tunnel under the Bosporus. (Moscow Times)
A judicial recount in the 2004 Taiwanese presidential election begins. (VOA) (CNA)
The Arab League agrees to hold a summit in Tunis. The summit originally scheduled for March of this year was scrapped over differences between the participants. (NYT)
At the Commonwealth military cemetery in Gaza City where 3000 WWI casualties are buried, Palestinian vandals desecrate 32 graves, breaking headstones and affixing photographs of Iraqi POW abuse to others. (NYT)
The Palestinian Cabinet announces plans to hold municipal elections, starting with Jericho and followed by some Gaza Strip municipalities. The elections, starting in August, will replace mayors appointed by the Palestine Authority. The previous elections, for president and legislature, were held in 1996. (NYT), (VOA)
President George W. Bush is expected to impose economic sanctions on Syria, alleging support of terrorism and failure to stop guerrillas from entering Iraq. (NYT), (Reuters)
The United States Armed Forces destroy the Baghdad headquarters of Moqtada al-Sadr. The building had been evacuated by al-Sadr's forces. There were no casualties. (NYT)
Philippine elections: About 40 million Filipinos go to the polls to elect candidates for national and local positions from the President down to municipal councilors. (BBC)
Canadian bureaucrat Chuck Guite and GroupeAction president Jean Brault have been arrested and charged with six counts each of fraud in connection with the Liberal sponsorship scandal. (CTV)
The United States Department of Justice reopens an investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, an important event during the American civil rights movement. (NYT)
Voting concludes in the marathon elections in India. (IHT)
The first Dutch soldier dies in the occupation of Iraq. (Radio Netherlands)

May 11, 2004

Nine factory workers in Glasgow, Scotland, are killed in a midday explosion at the Stockline Plastics factory. (BBC)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Six Israeli soldiers are killed in the Gaza Strip during an incursion when their armored personnel carrier triggered an explosive device. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim to hold a portion of the remains of the soldiers: "We possess the remains of your bodies that were thrown into the streets of Gaza. We have our demands to hand them over to the Zionist occupier" (HaAretz)
Iraq Occupation and resistance:
- Hundreds of civilians march to the Muslim shrines in Najaf, calling upon Moqtada al-Sadr to remove his Mahdi Army from the city. (NYT)
- Video is released of the decapitation of Nick Berg, a U.S. civilian, murdered by an Islamist group allegedly in retaliation for the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib Prison. (Reuters) (Arabnews) (NYPost) (Radio Free Europe)
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra buys a 30% stake in Liverpool Football Club for approximately £60 million (~ USD100 million). It is unclear whether most of the money originates from the Thai government or is the prime minister's own money. It is hoped that the purchase will assist with the development of football in Thailand. (BBC) (Guardian)

May 12, 2004

The United States Department of Energy announces plans to build the world's fastest supercomputer, capable of a sustained performance of 50 trillion calculations per second (compared to 36.5 trillion for Japan's Earth Simulator and less than 8 trillion for the USA's ASCI White). The computer, to be federally funded to the tune of USD 50 million, will be built at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (AP)
The Mexican Air Force releases a video of eleven UFOs filmed over the state of Campeche. The lights were filmed on March 5 by pilots using infrared equipment. UNAM scientists say the phenomenon was probably caused by pockets of atmospheric gas. (CNN) (AP)
War on Terrorism: An al Qaeda manual sets a hierarchy of terrorism targets: first, U.S. citizens, followed by Britons, Spaniards, and Australians. (ABC AU)

May 13, 2004

Scaled Composites sets a new civilian altitude record of 60 kilometres in a craft called SpaceShipOne during a test flight above California's Mojave Desert in preparation for the X-Prize. (CNN) (SPACE)
Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse: Some members of the British government begin to distance themselves from the Bush administration and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Peter Hain, Leader of the House of Commons, tells Parliament that the pictures are "appalling and possibly in breach of the Geneva Convention". (The Independent) (Guardian)
Iraq Occupation and resistance:
- A poll commissioned by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority has found that 80% of Iraqis distrust the occupying government and 82% want the U.S. and its allies to leave Iraq. (Seattle Times)
Yang Jianli, a Chinese dissident with U.S. residency, is sentenced to five years in prison by the People's Republic of China for illegally entering the country and "spying for Taiwan". (BBC)
Indian general elections: Sonia Gandhi's opposition Congress Party scores an upset victory as the vote is tallied for the formation of the 14th Lok Sabha. The ruling BJP-led coalition concedes defeat, and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee resigns. (Indian Express) (CNN)
The television sitcom Frasier airs its final episode, bringing to an end Kelsey Grammer's 23 years playing the character Frasier Crane. (Newsday)
A joint Polish-Egyptian archaeological team claims to have discovered the Library of Alexandria. (BBC)
Ontario New Democratic Party candidate Andrea Horwath wins the provincial riding of Hamilton East, returning the NDP to official party status in the Ontario Legislature. The by-election was held to replace Liberal MPP Dominic Agostino, who had died in office.

May 14, 2004

Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo says torture of prisoners is a "more serious" blow for U.S. than September 11 (Al Jazeerah). American reaction is negative. (Catholic News)
The British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror, which published photos allegedly depicting British Army soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners, concedes that it was hoaxed, apologises, and sacks its editor Piers Morgan. (BBC) (Al Bawaba) (Reuters)
Danish Crown Prince Frederik marries Australian Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen. The service is attended by royalty and dignitaries from around the world, amidst very high security in the face of terrorism fears. (BBC)
Roh Moo-hyun is reinstated as President of South Korea after that country's Constitutional Court overturns the National Assembly's March 12 impeachment vote against him. (KBS News)
Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka loses a parliamentary vote of confidence, less than two weeks after he was appointed to the post. He will continue in a caretaker capacity until a new candidate is appointed. (BBC) (PolitInfo)
The impact crater of the "Great Dying" — the end-Permian event, the largest extinction event in the history of life on Earth — appears to be a 125 mile (200 km)-wide crater called "Bedout" off the northwestern coast of Australia. (UCSB Press release)
Iraqi Occupation and resistance:
- Mohammad's Army, in an interview with IWPR, states "We want to inform America that its attempt to stir up sectarian discord is a failure." (IWPR)

May 15, 2004

Hallie Geier, an eleven year-old philanthropist and social activist, dies after being hit by an SUV outside her home in Sunnyside, Queens. In her legacy, LOVE, HALLIE, a non-profit organization that promotes kindness, repsect, and positive action amongst young people, is founded.
A 145-mm artillery shell is used as an improvised bomb on a road against US troops in Iraq. The shell explodes and two soldiers receive mild exposure to a nerve agent. (Fox News) (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Ukraine wins the 49th annual Eurovision Song Contest. (BBC)