February 2004
2004 : January - February
- March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of
Haiti and flees the country for the Central African Republic. The chief justice of the Haitian supreme court, Boniface Alexandre, is sworn in as interim president. (Sydney Morning Herald) (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/29/1077989442372.html) (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4461959) (Globe and Mail) (http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040228.whaiti0228_2/BNStory/International/)
- Occupation of Iraq
- Iraq's leaders meet deadline for drafting interim constitution. (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/02/29/sprj.nirq.main/index.html)
- Saddam Hussein's government systematically extorted billions of dollars in illegal payments from companies doing business with Iraq. (Seattle Times) (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001867868_oilforfood29.html)
- Kurdistan activists bring petition to the authorities in Baghdad asking for a referendum on whether
Kurds will stay within a united Iraq or to form an
independent Kurdistan. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3492630.stm)
- 76th Academy Awards: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King wins Best Picture and Director awards and nine others for a total of 11
Academy Awards, a tie for the most ever won by a single film, and the
largest sweep ever for a single film, having received 11 nominations. Acting honors were as follows: Best Actor: Sean Penn for Mystic River, Best Actress: Charlize Theron for Monster,
Best Supporting
Actor: Tim Robbins for Mystic River, Best Supporting Actress: Renee Zellweger for Cold Mountain. (Newsday)
(http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/ny-oscarwinners-list,0,6833602.story?coll=ny-movies-bigpix)
(Box Office Mojo) (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/oscar/chart/?view=allcategories&yr=2003&p=.htm)
(IMDB) (http://www.imdb.com/)
- IDF soldiers fire against protesters against the
Israeli West Bank barrier killing two and
injuring 60, several of them seriously. (palestine-info.co.uk) (http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4825.shtml)
- The United States lifts a ban on travel to Libya, ending travel restrictions to the nation that had lasted for 23 years. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4447998)
- Expressions by Disney shareholders of a lack of confidence in its management
continue. Five more state
pension funds announced that they will not vote for the re-election of chairman (and chief executive) Michael Eisner at next week's meeting. These pension funds – New York,
New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia – are following the lead of California – CalPERS made its
announcement to the same effect Wednesday. (TheStreet) (http://www.thestreet.com/p/_tscs/rmoney/jamesjcramer/10145911.html)
- Russian President Vladimir Putin opens the 2,165 km (1,345 mile) Chita-to-Khabarovsk Amur Highway connecting the Russian Far East alongside the Pacific
to the rest of the country. Construction of the highway was begun in 1978. (Guardian) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3793188,00.html) (Tri-Valley Herald) (http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~1985699,00.html)
- Swiss police are investigating a man in the killing of an air traffic controller. The suspect apparently lost his family in a
midair collision in 2002; the murder victim was on duty at the time of the crash.
- Microsoft's Japan headquarters are
raided on suspicion of violating anti-monopoly laws by the fair trade watchdog. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3488186.stm) (Mainichi) (http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040226p2a00m0dm004000c.html)
- Israel raids four banks in the West Bank seizing currency amounting to over 6 million dollars from accounts which it
alleged had been used to fund terrorism. Israel claims it will use the funds for
humanitarian projects in Palestinian areas. The U.S. State Department criticized the Israeli
raid, and Palestinian Arabs condemned it utterly. (VOA) (http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=F3713E59-ED0B-4EFB-9EFEF60D085BF0B0) (SVT) (http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=1805&a=180907)
- Clare Short, former British Cabinet Minister, alleges on the BBC Today radio programme that
British spies regularly intercept UN communications, including those of Kofi Annan, its
Secretary-General.
(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3488548.stm) (Scotsman) (http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2578236) The claim comes the day after Katharine Gun, formerly an employee of British spy agency GCHQ, had a charge of breaching the Official
Secrets Act dropped after prosecutors offered no evidence, apparently on the advice of the Attorney-General. Gun had admitted leaking
American plans to bug UN delegates to a newspaper. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3485072.stm)
- Same-sex marriage in
the United States:
- The mayor of New Paltz, a
village in New York State, announces that the town will start performing civil
marriages for same-sex couples. It will not attempt to issue marriage certificates, but married couples in New York State have
six months from the date of their wedding to seek a certificate. (365Gay) (http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/02/022604nyWed.htm)
- Rosie O'Donnell marries her partner Kelli Carpenter at San Francisco City Hall. (AP) (http://www.canada.com/entertainment/story.asp?id=FBE5BCB2-5EF7-4287-80D5-7A1478A7D271)
- Maysun Al-Atawana,
director of family and children affairs in the Palestinian
Authority's social affairs ministry, claims that Israeli shelling of heavily
populated suburbs was targeting children. She noted that 35.5% of casualties among the Palestinians wounded since start of the Aqsa intifada in late
September 2000 were children
including 1.4% less than five years old. (palestine-info.co.uk) (http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_4794.shtml)
- Libya's Foreign Minister, Abdulrahman Shalgam, issues
a statement reaffirming its acceptance of culpability for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, after the Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem, in an interview for the BBC, claimed Libya had "bought
peace" with the $2.7bn compensation payments, but had not accepted guilt. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3487562.stm) (Mercury News) (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/8042204.htm)
- A wolverine, the state
animal of Michigan, has been spotted in that state for the first time in 200
years.
- The California Public Employees' Retirement System, CalPERS, a major shareholder in The Walt Disney Company, indicated that it will withhold its votes from Disney chief
executive Michael Eisner at next week's shareholders' meeting, a new
sign of a growing rebellion against Eisner's leadership, (TheStreet) (http://www.thestreet.com/tech/georgemannes/10145572.html)
- The controversial film, The Passion of the Christ opens in theaters in the United States. Jewish leaders fear the film will stoke antisemitism, while some Christians laud the realistic
depiction of the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus. (Washington Post) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2863-2004Feb24.html) A woman in Wichita, Kansas collapses and dies of a massive heart attack while viewing
the harrowing Crucifixion scene. (KAKE) (http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/653662.html)
- Pakistani leaders pressure Muslim
militants in Kashmir to declare a ceasefire with India. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee tries to gain Muslim votes for his
Bharatiya Janata Party with the prospect of peace with
Pakistan. (Reuters) (http://in.news.yahoo.com/040225/137/2bnd1.html) (Reuters) (http://in.news.yahoo.com/040225/137/2bo5l.html)
- In the northern Uganda city of Lira, protests and riots cause at least nine deaths
after the Ugandan army announces it killed 21 members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group, in retaliation for an attack on a refugee camp at Barlonyo.
(CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/02/25/uganda.massacre.rebels.ap/index.html)
- King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, who recently made a statement in support of same-sex marriage, responded to an "insulting" e-mail by announcing he is not gay. The king is 81 years old and has 14 children. (Telegraph)
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/25/wcam25.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/02/25/ixworld.html)
- Guantanamo Bay: The Pentagon announces that the first charges are to be filed against two of the six hundred detainees of the
detention camp, but human rights groups have had their request to observe
the military tribunals turned down. The defendants are named as
Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul and Ibrahim
Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, both alleged to be Al-Qaeda members and charged with
"conspiracy to commit war crimes". (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3518653.stm) The Pentagon also confirms that even if
cleared by the tribunals, the defendants may still not be released. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3487958.stm)
- Zvi Mazel, the ambassador of Israel
in Sweden, calls former foreign minister Sten Andersson and Sweden's UN ambassador Pierre Schori "professional anti-Israelis". (Aftonbladet) (http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyheter/story/0,2789,437040,00.html) (TV4.se) (http://tv4.se/visa/?ID=304771) (Aftonbladet) (http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/telegram/0,1082,63110927_852__,00.html) (dn.se) (http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1042&a=236848&previousRenderType=1)
(SVD) (http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/inrikes/did_6951586.asp)
- Rebels capture Haiti's second-largest city, Cap-Haitien, after just a few hours of fighting Sunday. (Washington Post) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62122-2004Feb22.html)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 8
Israelis are killed and 60 wounded, among them children on their way to school, in a suicide bombing of a city bus in Jerusalem, Israel. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades branch of Fatah claimed
responsibility. The attack occurs one day before the start of hearings at the International Court of Justice regarding the Israeli West Bank barrier. "This attack proves just how urgent it is to build the fence,"
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said. "It is a clear preventive measure ... We will continue building it because it saves
lives." The suicide bomber came from Husan, a populated area near Bethlehem.
(NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html?hp) (Haaretz) (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/396964.html)
- 2004 U.S. Presidential Election:
Ralph Nader declares his candidacy for the position of President of the United States as an
independent candidate. (Guardian) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3776917,00.html) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3510679.stm)
- Same-sex marriage in
the United States: Saying he will defend California's laws limiting
marriage to opposite-sex couples, state attorney general Bill Lockyer dismisses California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger's "order" in the San Francisco marriage
licenses debate, saying his office is independent of gubernatorial power. (Mercury News) (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/8012589.htm)
- A Pentagon report is leaked predicting global doom from climate change. The report was reportedly suppressed by the Bush administration. (Guardian) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1153530,00.html)
- The death toll from an outbreak of dengue fever on Java has risen to 224. (ChannelNewsAsia) (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/72205/1/.html)
- In Tirana, Albania, a crowd of up to
20,000 protesters, led by ex-president and opposition party leader Sali
Berisha, demanded once again that Prime Minister Fatos Nano resign for failing to improve the economy. This protest, though a peaceful
one, comes on the heels of a more violent protest two weeks ago in which protesters threw rocks at police and tried to storm the
Prime Minister's office. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3509877.stm) (ChannelNewsAsia) (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/72161/1/.html)
- The Lord's Resistance Army kills more than 190
people in an attack on a camp for displaced persons near Lira, Uganda. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3513039.stm)
- Stanislaw Ryniak (88),
the first person imprisoned at the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, is buried in
Wroclaw, Poland. (AP) (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/2420786)
- Latvia's president Vaira Vike-Freiberga has appointed Indulis
Emsis, a Green party legislator, as the new Prime Minister, after the resignation of Einars Repse's cabinet on 5
February. (BCC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3507007.stm) (Greens-EFA) (http://www.greens-efa.org/en/press/detail.php?id=1808&lg=en)
- Hubble Space Telescope measurements show that
"Dark energy" is pushing apart the universe; this appears to be the constant,
repulsive force that Albert Einstein once predicted. Astronomers
announce this as evidence that the theory of the cosmological
constant proposed, but later discarded, by Einstein may have been right after all. (Mercury News) (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/8003724.htm) (MSNBC) (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4327735/) (Washington Post) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58912-2004Feb20.html)
- Microsoft denies that it illegally uses its desktop computer operating system
monopoly to hurt digital media rivals. (CNet) (http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5162785.html?tag=nefd_lede)
- During the past month and a half, the total number of hits to NASA's homepage was 6.5
billion, a record for the agency. (CNet) (http://news.com.com/2100-1025-5162838.html)
- The insecticide Regent (fipronil), from BASF, is banned in France for its implication in Pollinator decline, The firm itself will be sued.
(Le Monde) (http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_articleweb/1,13-0,36-353552,0.html?query=regent&query2=&booleen=et&num_page=1&auteur=&dans=dansarticle&periode=30&ordre=pertinence&G_NBARCHIVES=810101&nbpages=1&artparpage=10&nb_art=5)
- Lithuania's parliament starts impeachment proceedings against President Rolandas
Paksas, who is charged with violating the constitution by leaking state secrets, rewarding a financial supporter with
citizenship and illegally influencing companies. (Bloomberg) (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=ajIRo3yZp6xU&refer=top_world_news)
- Linda Schade, spokeswoman for Ralph Nader's presidential exploratory committee, states Nader will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" to announce whether he will make
another run for the White House. (Kansas City Star) (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/8000581.htm)
- Louise Arbour is nominated by Kofi Annan to serve as the next United Nations
High Commissioner for Human
Rights. Arbour, currently a justice of the Supreme
Court of Canada, will replace the late Sérgio Vieira
de Mello, pending ratification by the General Assembly. (CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/02/20/arbour_UN040219) (UN) (http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9836&Cr=human&Cr1=rights)
- 5,500 workers for CN Rail, members of the Canadian Auto Workers, go on strike. (CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/02/19/cn_strike040219)
- 90482 Orcus, a huge planetoid, is discovered by the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking survey team. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3506329.stm)
- Former Alabama attorney general Bill Pryor is appointed by President Bush to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals during the U.S. Congress's recess period, avoiding
U.S. Senate confirmation. Pryor was first nominated in April 2003. (ABC US) (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040220_1495.html)
- Same-sex marriage:
- One Dane and five of the nine Britons held without trial as terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay are to be released, probably within the next two weeks, according to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. The soon-to-be-released captives have been amongst the 660 detainees at the US
base in Cuba, held for the past two years as suspected Al-Qaida or Taliban 'combatants'. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3504221.stm) (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3505365.stm)
- Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling surrenders to the FBI in Houston and is arraigned on charges of
fraud and insider trading.
Skilling pleads not guilty and the judge sets bail at $5 million and confiscates Skilling's passport. (CNN) (http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/19/news/companies/skilling/index.htm)
- Lt. Gurgen Markarian,
an Armenian military officer attending a NATO
Partnership for Peace program, is hacked to death with an
axe and a knife by Lt. Ramil Safarov,
an Azerbaijani participant. The officers were attending an English language
course at the Hungarian Military University within the framework of the Partnership
for Peace program, which is aimed at increasing cooperation between neutral and former Soviet bloc nations and NATO in peacekeeping and other areas. (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Armenian-Killed.html)
- European Commission President Romano Prodi vows stronger action to combat anti-Semitism in Europe. Prodi states that some criticism of Israel
was inspired by "what amounts to anti-Semitic sentiments and prejudice." Youths from the large Arab immigrant communities in France, Belgium and other European countries are blamed for the rise in attacks against Jews in Europe. The European Union's European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (http://eumc.eu.int/eumc/index.php) in Vienna, Austria, found the increase of anti-Semitic attacks was "committed above all either by
right-wing extremists or radical Islamists or young Muslims mostly of Arab descent."
(Haaretz) (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/396146.html)
- Reformist newspapers Shargh and Yas-e-no are shut down by the Iranian judiciary, only one day before the
parliament elections.(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3502995.stm)
- The Kuwaiti newspaper A-Siasa reports that Palestinian and international terrorist organizations
have decided at a recent Beirut conference to launch a wave of terror attacks against
Israeli and Jewish interests worldwide. According
to the report, there will also be similar attacks against coalition troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The conference, which took place at the start of February, was
also said to have been attended by senior members of the Syrian, Lebanese and Iranian intelligence services who presented a list of
Israeli intelligence officials to be assassinated. Organizations in
attendance included: Al-Qaeda, Ansar al-Islam, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad. (Haaretz) (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/396163.html) (Al Bawaba) (http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=270760&lang=e&dir=news)
- The International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear agency, finds undeclared
components in Iran compatible with advanced uranium centrifuge designs, increasing Western
concerns that it may be developing nuclear weapons. (Haaretz) (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/396159.html)
- The United Kingdom decides to award an honorary knighthood to Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal in recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity". The
knighthood also recognized the work of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, which was founded in 1977 to promote remembrance of the Holocaust and the defense of human
rights. (Haaretz) (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/396278.html)
- ROC presidential election,
2004: Lagging behind his rival Lien Chan in opinion polls, President Chen Shui-bian promises not to declare Taiwan independence if he is re-elected. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3501887.stm)
- Same-sex marriage in
the United States:
- States of emergency are declared in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Canada, after a prolonged blizzard dumps 90 centimetres of snow on the
provinces. This doubles the previous record, set in the 1950s. Roads are completely impassable, blocked with drifts of up to 3 to
4 metres. (CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/02/20/newweather_atl040220)
- It's reported that billionaire Philip Anschutz is purchasing the
San Francisco Examiner for an estimated $20
million.
- The California state
agency that records marriages states that forms that have been altered, which San Francisco
has done slightly on its same-sex marriage licenses, will not be
registered. (Washington Times) (http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040219-123003-6956r.htm)
- An internal memo (http://www.99mac.se/vbindex.php?id=34#more) suggests that Apple Computer has paid off its remaining 3 million dollars debts and is now debt-free with 4.8 billion
dollars in cash.
- At least 200 people are reported to have been killed in Iran after rail wagons carrying
sulphur, petrol and fertiliser derailed and exploded. The accident happened near the town of Neyshabur in Khorasan province. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3498851.stm)
- Occupation of Iraq: Suicide bombers in two vehicles killed 11 Iraqis and wounded 58
foreign troops and 44 Iraqis near the entrance to a Polish-manned coalition logistics
base near the town of Hilla in central Iraq south
of Baghdad. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3498577.stm)
- Howard Dean officially ends his campaign for President of the United States, after placing a
distant third in the Wisconsin primary elections of February 17, 2004. "I am no longer actively pursuing the presidency," he announced.
- Opinion poll results indicate either of the two main Democratic presidential candidates would beat President Bush by at
least 10 points. (VOA) (http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=962CC8A6-5A56-4E5F-9BCBDCAAE4E0329A)
- Israel is condemned by the International Committee of the Red Cross for the location of the Israeli West Bank barrier. The aid agency declared that
the barrier at its current position was contrary to international humanitarian law and had caused extensive damage to Palestinian land and property and deprived thousands of Palestinians access to water,
health care and education. (ICRC) (http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList4/F06BB484D900B227C1256E3E00324D96)
- A federal appeals court in the United States ruled that district
court judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, presiding judge in the much-watched Martha Stewart trial, was in the wrong in barring the media from the voir dire process at the beginning of that trial. (AP) (http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2093737)
- Scientists at NASA and the ESA witness a supermassive black hole in galaxy RXJ1242-11 graze, partially consume, and tear apart a star. This is the first time such
a phenomenon has been observed. (NASA) (http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/feb/HQ_04061_black_hole.html)
- Bishop Thomas O'Brien,
the former head of Arizona's largest Roman Catholic diocese, is convicted of a hit and run making him the first Catholic bishop in the United States to be convicted of a felony. (Washington Post) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48397-2004Feb17.html)
- Democratic presidential nomination: Wisconsin held its primary election. John Kerry got 40% of the vote, followed by John Edwards with 34%, and Howard Dean with 18%.
- The US FAA announces it will
attempt to require a fuel tank inerting system in most large
airliners in an effort to prevent fuel tank explosions such as the one which apparently destroyed TWA Flight 800 in 1996. The order could take two years to
complete and then would require a retrofit of about 3,800 large Boeing and Airbus jets over the next seven years. (Newsday) (http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-faa-release,0,5969466.story?coll=ny-business-headlines)
(NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/17/politics/17CND-FUEL.html?ex=1077685200&en=a6919999ea77849f&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE)
- A CNN survey finds that children made more than 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The 4,450 accused priests represent about 4 percent of the 110,000 priests who served
during the 52 years covered by the study. Nearly 3 percent, or 133 of the priests, had 10 or more allegations. (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/02/16/church.abuse/index.html)
- Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, a top Vatican official arrives in Moscow for sensitive talks with the
Russian Orthodox hierarchy, which accuses the Catholic Church of aggressive proselytizing in traditionally Orthodox lands.
(NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Russia-Vatican.html) (Russian
Orthodox Church) (http://www.mospat.ru/text/e--news/id/6388.html)
- An outbreak of dengue fever kills 91 people in Indonesia and infects thousands more. Health officials report that 4,500 people have been
hospitalized for the mosquito-borne disease, mostly in the capital and other parts of East Java, including the city of Yogyakarta. The number
hospitalized is double that of last year. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3495437.stm) (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Indonesia-Dengue-Fever.html)
- A study published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests breast cancer is linked to the use of antibiotics.
(Tucson Citizen) (http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=national&story_id=021703a1_antibiotics)
(NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/17/health/17CANC.html)
- As expected, the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company unanimously rejects a hostile buyout offer by
Comcast, saying the cable
television giant's $66 billion bid is too low, but does not rule out accepting a higher bid in the future. (AP) (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7971658.htm)
- Cingular wins the auction for AT&T Wireless by offering to pay $40.7 billion to become the United States' largest wireless telephone company. (Forbes) (http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/02/17/rtr1263115.html)
- Same-sex marriage in
the United States: San Francisco Superior court Judge James L.
Warner postpones any decision to block the city and county of San Francisco, California from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and to void the 2,464 same-sex marriages that were performed in the city since February 12. This was on the grounds that the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund's order for San Francisco
to "cease and desist issuing marriage licenses to and/or solemnizing marriages of same-sex couples; to show cause before this
court..." had an improper semicolon; to do both, rather than one or the other, would have exceeded the judge's jurisdiction.
(MSNBC) (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4251510/)
- Temple in Jerusalem: An 800 year old wall holding back
part of the hill jutting out from the Western Wall leading up to the
Mughrabim Gate partially collapses. Authorities believe a recent earthquake may be responsible. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3494035.stm) (Sydney Morning Herald) (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/16/1076779901850.html)
- India and Pakistan begin formal peace
negotiations, with Kashmir on the agenda.
(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3486731.stm)
- L. Paul Bremer, the United States administrator of Iraq states he will veto any interim
constitution that would make Islam
"the chief source of law", as opposed to "a source of inspiration for the law." Many Iraqi women express fears that the rights
they hold under Iraq's longtime secular system may be denied them in the interim constitution based upon Islam as "the chief
source of law." (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-Women.html)
- The United States states that Afghanistan's elections scheduled for this June may have to be postponed because of security problems and the
failure to register enough voters. Only 8 percent of eligible Afghan voters have been enrolled to date. (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/16/international/asia/16AFGH.html?hp)
- The Taiwan (ROC)'s pro-independence president, Chen Shui-bian,
states that Taiwan may eventually reunify with Mainland China.
Nonetheless, Chen rejects the People's Republic
of China's one country, two systems
formula which was applied to Hong Kong and Macau. This is a new step for Chen who, shortly after taking office in 2000, had said unification was just one
option—comments widely seen as a push for independence for the island. (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-taiwan-china.html)
- Same-sex marriage in
the United States:
- The territory of Nunavut, Canada, holds
its second general election since its
creation. Of the 19 members, one is chosen by acclamation. Eight members of the previous government are returned to office, and
five are defeated. The members will elect a premier
on March 5.
- Iraqi lawyers say Saddam Hussein is unlikely to stand trial for at least another two years. (Hi Pakistan) (http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en54149&F_catID=&f_type=source)
- United Nations Afghanistan envoy voices disdain at the "brutal and cold-blooded" murder of four deminers working to eradicate landmines in Afghanistan. (UN) (http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9775&Cr=Afghanistan&Cr1=)
- Canadian Prime Minister
Paul Martin goes on record that anyone found to be culpable in the sponsorship scandal, including himself,
will be immediately discharged. The issue could delay the upcoming election until after the public enquiry is completed.
- Same-sex marriage in
the United States: Officials at the city and county of San Francisco, California turn away hundreds of would-be same-sex newlyweds after thousands of
gay and lesbian couples show up to marry over the weekend. The city claims it can only handle between 400 and 600 marriages a
day, or about one a minute. (365Gay) (http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/02/021604sfUpdt.htm) (AP) (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040215_814.html) (Washington Post) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44385-2004Feb15.html) (USA Today) (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-02-15-gay-marriage-legal_x.htm) (SF Chronicle) (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/16/WEDDINGS.TMP)
- Thousands of protestors in Madrid and other Spanish cities march in opposition to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The protests mark the one-year anniversary of the large protests against the U.S.
invasion of Iraq. (Newsday)
(http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-spain-iraq-protest,0,4992788.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines)
- Scientists at the California
Institute of Technology announce the discovery of a galaxy which is the farthest
known object in the universe. The galaxy was found with the help of the magnification effect from the Abell 2218 galaxy cluster. (AP) (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20040215-1033-ca-farthestgalaxy.html)
- Russian rescue workers are digging through what remains of an indoor water park in Moscow after the roof collapsed
yesterday. At least 25 people have been killed, more than 100 people are injured, and at least 17 people are missing. (AP) (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040215_606.html) (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/02/15/russia.roof.collapse/)
- Two fires sweep through China, one in a shopping center and the other in a temple,
killing at least 90 and injuring 71. (AP) (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20040215/D80NOIU00.html)
- The British government draws up plans to break up the BBC in the wake of the Hutton inquiry.
(Times) (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1001928,00.html) (AFP)
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040214/wl_uk_afp/britain_politics_media_040214223216)
- Iraqi police arrest Mohammed Zimam Abdul-Razaq, a member of the
Baath Party and number 41 on the U.S. military's list of most wanted Iraqis. (AP) (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20040215/D80NPEK00.html)
- Iran offers to sell nuclear
reactor fuel on the international market under the supervision of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. (NYT) (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iran-Nuclear.html)
- Mars Exploration Rover
Mission: Mars surface temperatures appear to vary more frequently and dramatically than on Earth, preliminary data from NASA's Opportunity rover shows. [10] (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/martian_winds_040213.html)
- Logging, conducted illegally, is
destroying the equatorial rain
forests of Indonesian Borneo.
[11] (http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,62252,00.html)
- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announces alleged al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, who are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may apply annually for release. [12] (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/jan-june04/detainees_2-13.html)
- Scientists announce the possible discovery of a 10 billion trillion trillion (1×1034) carat diamond, 2,500 miles (4,000 km) across and 50 light-years away from Earth in the core of the decayed star BPM 37093 in the constellation of Centaurus. [13] (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/press/pr0407.html)
- Ivan Rybkin, a Russian
presidential candidate and fierce critic of president Putin, holds a press conference in
London, stating that during his recent disappearance for several days he was drugged and ma
