Events

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) (Channelnewsasia)
• 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)
• 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) (BBC)
• Democrat Stephanie Herseth narrowly defeats Republican Larry Diedrich in a closely-watched by-election for South Dakota's US House seat. (The Guardian) (CNN) (Reuters)
• 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)
• Norway becomes the world's second nation after Ireland to ban smoking in all bars and restaurants. (Reuters)
• Jennifer Hawkins, a twenty-year-old Australian, wins the Miss Universe contest, held in Quito, Ecuador. (AP)
• Dr. Jiang Yanyong disappears days before the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

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) (MSF Press Release)

In a speech given at the United States Air Force Academy, President Bush compares the present War on Terrorism in the Middle East to World War II in Europe. (AP) (BBC)

Zhou Zhengyi, the 11th richest businessman in mainland China, is given a three-year jail sentence for stock market fraud. (BBC)

Norman Hutchins, who has a fetish for surgical masks becomes the first person in history to be banned from all British hospitals. (BBC)

Scaled Composites announces that the world's first private manned space flight is scheduled for June 21, 2004. (BBC)

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)

June 3, 2004

The secretive Bilderberg Group meets near Milan, Italy. (BBC)

All outgoing flights from the UK are temporarily grounded following an air traffic control computer failure. (BBC)

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) (BBC) (Reuters)

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 occurred after the events at Abu Ghraib prison. (CNN) (BBC)

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) (BBC)

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) (Calgary Herald)

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) (VOA)

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) (Reuters)

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan dies at the age of 93 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. (SF Chronicle) (BBC) (Reuters) (Washington Post)

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)

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's interpreting French law, inspired by similar actions in San Francisco and other US cities. (swissinfo)

North Light wins the 225th Epsom Derby, the second race in the British Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. (BBC)

Belmont Stakes: Birdstone defeats Smarty Jones to prevent Smarty Jones from winning the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. (ESPN)

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)

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)

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's 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)

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)

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) (IMRA)

Gunmen attack a BBC news team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing cameraman Simon Cumbers and seriously injuring correspondent Frank Gardner. (BBC)

U.S.-led occupation of Iraq: The UN Security Council reaches a compromise agreement on the draft resolution on Iraq. (BBC)

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)

A civil trial begins in San Francisco, California, in the U.S. Justice Department's effort to prevent the purchase of PeopleSoft by Oracle Corporation. Antitrust authorities contend that the proposed acquisition of PeopleSoft, for USD $7.7 billion, would effectively monopolize the market for enterprise software. (NYT)

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals 2-1, their first Stanley Cup victory. (ESPN) (SI.com) (TSN)

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)

Al-Qaeda members in Saudi Arabia threaten new attacks on Western passenger airliners. (Reuters)

A March 2003 memorandum by US administration lawyers is released, which concludes that President George W. Bush wasn't bound by international treaty or by federal law against torture because the commander-in-chief had the authority to protect national security. (BBC)

Venus passes between the Sun and the Earth in the first transit of Venus since 1882. (BBC)

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) (Daily Telegraph)

The heart of the dauphin Louis-Charles, recognized by French royalists 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. (CBC)

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)

An explosion injures at least 17 in a commercial district of Cologne, Germany. Authorities are treating it as a bomb attack. (CBC) (BBC)

The British Phonographic Industry decides not to follow the rest of the IFPI in suing for file sharing of music. (CIO Today) (IFPI press release)

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft tells the Senate Judiciary Committee that George W. Bush didn't approve the torture of terrorist prisoners; he also reiterates his stance that the Geneva Conventions don't apply to al-Qaeda fighters. (Salt Lake Tribune) (BBC)

Twenty heavily armed foreign militants are killed by Pakistan in the South Waziristan mountainous tribal region near the Afghan border where it's believed that hundreds of al-Qaida members are hiding. (NYT)

Canada announces it'll be increasing its non-military role in Iraq, while NATO is currently undecided about sending more support to Iraq. (The Globe and Mail)

The village of Fucking, Austria votes to keep its name, despite the cost of stolen traffic signs and possible embarrassment over its meaning in English. (Ananova) (Daily Record)

Votes are counted on Super Thursday in the UK as elections are held for the European Parliament, local council elections and for Mayor of London 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) (Guardian) (Guardian) (Daily Telegraph) (Daily Telegraph) (results from Guardian)

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)

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) (Purdue University press release)

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), (Guardian)

A polling organization announces that there's 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)

Turkey releases 4 Kurdish prisoners. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Pakistani paramilitary troops launch an offensive, hunting for foreign fighters in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan. (Asian times)

Apple Computer announces its new top-of-the-line Mac G5 will use water-cooling technology. ITworld

Martha Stewart asks a federal judge to throw out charges of obstructing justice, claiming false evidence. (Bloomberg)

June 11, 2004

On the third anniversary of the execution of Timothy McVeigh for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing, the penalty phase of his co-accomplice, Terry Nichols, ends in a deadlocked jury over the issue of handing out a death penalty verdict. By law, the judge in the case must sentence Nichols to life in prison (a term he's already serving). (CNN)

Ken Livingstone is re-elected Mayor of London for a second four-year term after polling 828,380 first and second preference votes, defeating his nearest rival Conservative Steve Norris by 161,202 votes. (Guardian)

Eleven 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 are hospitalized for wounds suffered in the same attack. The dead are among more than 100 engineers and workers engaged 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)

The Cassini-Huygens probe approaches within 2000 km (1,250 miles) of Phoebe, the outermost moon of the planet Saturn. (Wired News) (BBC)

Ronald Reagan's funeral held at Washington National Cathedral and burial service at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library later in the day. (White House) (Washington National Cathedral)

A meteorite plunges into a family's living room in the Auckland, New Zealand suburb of Ellerslie on Saturday afternoon. No-one is hurt. Weighing 1.3 kilograms (2.9 pounds), it's the ninth ever meteorite to be found in the country, and the first to hit a home. (TVNZ) (Stuff) (Reuters)

In a Constitutional referendum in Ireland, the electorate approves a constitutional amendment denying Irish citizenship to all children born in Ireland unless one of the parents is an Irish citizen or the parents were legally resident for three years prior to the birth. This closes a perceived loophole where considerable numbers of women in the late stages of pregnancy were allegedly arriving in Ireland, since the parents of citizens were also allowed to remain in the country. (BBC)

Football (soccer): Greece upset favourites Portugal in the Euro 2004 tournament opening match, beating the Portuguese 2-1. (BBC)

Results of Serbian presidential elections show expected lead of Tomislav Nikolić with 30.1% of votes, followed with Boris Tadić with 27.3%; but it comes as a surprise that Bogoljub Karić has 19.3% of votes, more than government's candidate Dragan Maršićanin with 13.3%. Second round will be held on Sunday 27 June. (cesid.org)

Taiwanese pop singer A-Mei cancels a concert in the mainland Chinese city of Hangzhou after protesters accused her of supporting Taiwan independence. (BBC)

Australian federal election, 2004: The Australian Labor Party slightly backs away from its promise to withdraw the country's troops from Iraq by Christmas if it wins. (VOA)

Football (soccer): In Euro 2004, Zinedine Zidane scores two second-half goals in added time to lead France to a 2-1 win over England. Fabien Barthez saved a David Beckham penalty earlier in the second half to help make France's win possible. (BBC)

Internet censorship in mainland China: Access to Wikimedia has been blocked by the People's Republic of China. (ITworld) (China Tech News) (Slashdot)

June 14, 2004

Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency accuses Iran of "less than satisfactory" cooperation during the IAEA's investigation of its nuclear program. ElBaradei demands "accelerated and proactive cooperation" from Iran, while Iran rejects further restrictions on nuclear programs. (NYT) (BBC)

The Supreme Court of the United States overturns a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling (Newdow v. United States Congress) that would have removed the phrase under God from the Pledge of Allegiance by an 8 - 0 ruling that the father can't file a complaint on behalf of his noncustodial daughter. (AP)

Unofficial Reading Festival forum Reading Festival Online (http://forum.readingfestivalonline.co.uk) moved from its old server and location to a new, aesthetically and technologically superior VBB based server.

June 15, 2004

Tim Berners-Lee receives Millennium Technology Prize in Helsinki. (Technology awards)

Janis Karpinski, the United States Brigadier General at the center of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq says that she was "ordered from the top" to treat detainees "like dogs", as they're treated in Guantanamo. (BBC) (Guardian) (Voice of America)

Bombs detonated against oil pipelines in Iraq result in the main Iraqi oil terminal being shutdown for at least 10 days, an estimate revenue loss of USD 600 million to the Iraqi government. (NYT) (BBC)

A militant Islamic group that has been identified as connected to Al Qaida releases a video-tape where they state that'll kill an American hostage, Paul Johnson, if group members are not released from Saudi Arabian prisons in 72 hours. (BBC)

FARC guerrillas massacre 34 coca farmers in Norte de Santander department, Colombia, in the worst such attack since President Álvaro Uribe took office. (BBC) (AP)

U.S. Rep. Chris Bell files an ethics complaint against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. (CNN)

Apple Computer launches its iTunes Music Store digital music service in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. The price for a single track will be 79 pence or 99 euro cents. (Forbes) (The Register)

The Detroit Pistons win their first NBA Championship since 1990 by defeating the widely-favored Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in a best-of-seven series. The Pistons swept all three of their home games, a first in the 20 years of the 2-3-2 game format. The final game's score was 100-87. (NBA.com)

June 16, 2004

EU leaders meet in Brussels to try to agree on the draft European constitution amid the showing of popular discontent with national governments in the recent European Parliament election. (BBC) (Guardian)

The USA's 9/11 Commission states that although meetings between al Qaeda representatives and Iraqi government officials had taken place, it has found "no credible evidence" of a "collaborative relationship" between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks or in any other strike against U.S. interests. It also finds that the original plan involved ten jets and that there was dispute within the terrorist network about its implementation until only shortly before September 11. (Washington Post) (AP) (BBC)

Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr calls upon members of his Mahdi Army to return to their homes and end their attacks. (NYT)

The trial begins of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russian oil tycoon on charges of tax evasion and fraud; the proceedings are later adjourned. (VOA) (BBC)

25 people die and 100 hurt in a train derailment on the Konkan Railway in India, near the western city of Mumbai. (Times of India)

Jiang Yanyong's wife, Hua Zhongwei, is reported to have been freed from detention incommunicado in China and returned to the couple's Beijing home. (Reuters)

The Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of 27 retired U.S. diplomats and military officers, publishes an open letter that states that U.S. President George W. Bush has so harmed international relations that only a new leader can repair them. (BBC) (Newsweek) (CNN)

A computer virus capable of infecting cellphones running the Symbian OS with Bluetooth capabilities, "Cabir", has been developed by software experts. (Forbes) (BBC) (Reuters)

The Bloomsday centennial is commemorated in Dublin and around the world. (IHT) (Reuters UK)

The Hong Kong securities-industry watchdog obtained a court order freezing all assets belonging to hedge fund manager Charles Schmitt, or his fund of funds, CSA Absolute Return. Mr. Schmitt himself is in the custody of Hong Kong authorities on suspicions that he's misappropriated investor funds. (TheStreet.com)

June 17, 2004

The Pentagon confirms a report in The New York Times that CIA chief George Tenet - who steps down from the post next month - was allowed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to have an Iraqi prisoner secretly detained in alleged violation of the Geneva Convention. (BBC) (NYT)

June 18, 2004

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Russia had warned the United States several times that Saddam Hussein was planning terrorist attacks against the US. (BBC) (Pravda.RU)