Portal:Current events/2003 November 6

November 6, 2003 (2003-11-06) (Thursday)

• Weather is an unseasonably warm 18 degrees c in London Heathrow Airport
• A Foxborough company, Cyberkinetics Inc, plans to asks permission from United States federal regulators to test a device that would enable paralyzed people to control computers directly with their brains or possibly help them move their limbs.
• Scientists report to United States senators the potential to find energy on the moon. Solar power from the moon could provide clean, affordable, and sustainable electric power.
• An intruder attempts to insert a Trojan horse program into the code of the next version of the Linux kernel, stored at a publicly accessible source-code repository database. Security features of the BitKeeper system detect the illicit changes within 24 hours. The changes, which would have introduced a security flaw to the kernel, never became a part of the Linux code.
• The United States will focus its foreign policy on bringing democracy to all peoples of the Middle East. In a major policy speech, US President George W. Bush states that some states people of the region should have responsible democratic leaders, announcing a new American "forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East." Bush states a failure to establish democracy in Iraq would embolden terrorists around the world, increase the danger to the US, and extinguish the hopes of millions in the region. "Our commitment to democracy is being tested in the Middle East," Bush states. He describes democratic reforms in the region as the next great turning point and blames decades of post-colonial Western foreign policy for allowing the many dictatorships and violent theocracies to develop. "As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish," Bush states, "it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment and violence ready for export. And with the spread of weapons that can bring catastrophic harm to our country and to our friends, it would be reckless to accept the status quo."
• War on Terrorism: Suspected al Qaeda member tried unsuccessfully to enter the country around the same time as the September 11 hijackers may have been part of a plan to launch other attacks on targets in the United States. Identities of the suspects were discovered after a comparison of visa applications received before September 11 with names recovered from documents seized in caves in Afghanistan. Roger Cressey, former director for counterterrorism for the National Security Council, states the attack may have been "not on 9/11 but certainly afterward. [Osama] bin Laden and his people think strategically."
• In the United States, Democratic candidate Howard Dean issues an apology for controversial remarks. He stated previously he wanted to be a candidate for "guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks."
• Also in the United States, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is reported ready to take further action in widening mutual fund investigations.
• SCO v. IBM: Lawyers representing SCO Group in intellectual property litigation stand to benefit significantly if the company settles lawsuits or is sold.
• In the United Kingdom, the Prince of Wales issues a denial of an unspecified allegation whose publication has been prohibited by court injunction granted against the Mail on Sunday tabloid newspaper. The injunction had been granted to one former Royal Aide, but earlier today The Guardian newspaper had been granted permission to name a person who had sought an injunction. Sir Michael Peat, the Prince's Private Secretary who issues the Prince's statement, attacks the person who had made the original allegation now subject to a court injunction, describing him as someone "who, unfortunately, has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and has previously suffered from alcoholism following active service in the Falklands" and who has a history of making wild allegations which when investigated by police were found to be untrue. Peat says the country has been awash with rumours on the issue for the last week and that the Prince's statement was intended to kill off the unfounded speculation. The Prince's Household was previously embroiled in allegations of homosexual rape involving a staff member, amid the allegation that the Prince failed to take appropriate action against the person who allegedly committed the offence. Though details of the incident are not clear, they appear to involve the alleged witnessing of a male royal in bed with a male servant.
• A book reveals the details of the capture and captivity of Jessica Lynch. She was treated brutally (resulting in Lynch's shattered body) and, says medical records, confirm she was anally raped. The book says some Iraqi doctors said Lynch was virtually dead.
• The U.S. nickel design changes for the first time since 1938.
• US President Bush signs Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. This new law, supported by 70% of Americans, takes effect in all states but Nebraska.
• Just hours after Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, federal judges in California and New York issue injunctions against the newly signed "partial birth abortion" law, forcing the United States government to stop any legal action against doctors who work for Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation, until full hearings can be held on the law's constitutionality.
• In the United States, NPR is given $200 million, bequeathed by Joan B. Kroc, the widow of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds.
• In the United Kingdom, Michael Howard is confirmed as the new leader of the Conservative Party.
• The Bank of England increases base interest rate 0.25% to 3.75% in an attempt to damp down rising consumer borrowing. This is the first increase in base rate for four years.
• In Rwanda, four former government ministers go on trial on charges of masterminding genocide in 1994.
• Occupation of Iraq:
  • Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld unveils a troop replacement plan for Iraq. Overall number of American soldiers in the country will decrease next year, if security conditions permit.
  • United States Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticizes the Bush administration's plans to reduce troops in Iraq. The former Vietnam POW discusses why more ground troops are needed to meet policy goals.
  • One US soldier is killed and 2 injured in another ambush.
  • The US begins informing units that will be needed in Iraq in 2004.
  • The Marines will be returning.
  • The United States Department of Defense summarizes US casualties so far.
  • The first Polish soldier is killed in Iraq.
  • A CNN/USA Today Gallup poll suggests that support for President Bush's handling of Iraq is slipping; a majority of the people polled disapprove of what is being done.
• In Seattle, Washington, the text of Gary Ridgway's ("Green River Killer") confession is released.
• Free software: The People's Republic of China government has announced that it will fund Linux software development as an alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating system.
• In Brisbane, Australia, the criminal convictions of controversial right wing politicians Pauline Hanson and David Etteridge for electoral fraud, were completely overturned on appeal
• Pornographic movies: A Seattle-based porn site reportedly will broadcast the sex video of the Los Angeles-based celebutante, Paris Hilton. Friends of hotel heiress state that new video is a "terrible invasion of her privacy". Roger V, president of the company, claims the video is Hilton and Rick Solomon having sex.
• Four people were found shot to death in a motorcycle shop in Chesnee, South Carolina. The case remained unsolved for nearly thirteen years. Following his arrest for an unrelated crime in 2016, Todd Kohlhepp confessed to committing the shootings.

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