Portal:Current events/2004 December 1
December 1, 2004 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Ivorian Civil War
- Rwandan troops are spotted by UN personnel in eastern Congo where Congolese officials say the troops are attacking and burning villages. The last invasion started the Congo Civil War, which resulted in the deaths of 3–4 million people. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
Arts and culture
- CBS and NBC refuse to air an advertisement by the United Church of Christ citing the advocacy of accepting homosexuals is "too controversial". The advertisement was accepted by numerous other networks including Fox, ABC and TBS. (CNN) (UCC)
Disasters and accidents
- Chinese state media confirms all 166 miners missing after a coal mine explosion in central Shaanxi province on November 28 are dead. (Xinhua) (BBC)
- An Indonesian MD-82 from the charter airline Lion Air crashes in Central Java, killing at least 31 people and injuring at least 62 people. (CNN) (Reuters)[permanent dead link]
Health
- The head of Brazil's AIDS program, Pedro Chequer, says the government will violate patents on anti-AIDS drugs by copying them, citing unsustainable increases in cost. (BBC)
International relations
- A report commissioned by the Secretary-General of the United Nations calls for radical reform of the United Nations, including expansion of the Security Council. (AP)
- Egypt and Israel hold talks in Jerusalem to discuss the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
- U.S. President George W. Bush holds talks with Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada in his first official visit to the country and agrees to work together to combat terrorism. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Serbia's interior minister says the "assassination attempt" on president Boris Tadić was a case of road rage against his motor convoy in Belgrade traffic. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
- A French appeals court reduces former Prime Minister Alain Juppé's disqualification from holding public office from ten years to one, opening up the way for him to contend in the 2007 presidential election. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- 2005 Palestinian presidential election
- Jailed Palestinian Marwan Barghouti joins the race to succeed Yasser Arafat, bringing the total to 10 candidates, drawing criticism from Arafat's Fatah movement. (BBC)
- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ends the Likud-led coalition after he fires ministers from the secular Shinui party, which voted to defeat the annual budget over subsidies to religious parties. (Haaretz) (BBC) (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
- 2004 Ukrainian presidential election
- The Verkhovna Rada (parliament of Ukraine) passes a vote of no confidence to dismiss Viktor Yanukovich as Prime Minister. The opposition led by Viktor Yushchenko agrees to continue negotiations and end the blockade of official buildings. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine (BBC)
- David Blunkett, United Kingdom Home Secretary, insists that he did no wrong in the controversy surrounding the alleged misuse of his position, and receives the backing of Prime Minister Tony Blair. Sir Alan Budd is appointed to carry out an independent enquiry. (BBC)