Portal:Current events/2004 September 12

September 12, 2004 (Sunday)

The Hong Kong Legislative Council election, 2004 achieves record turnout. In the direct election, the pro-democracy parties gain one seat and receive 60 percent of the vote while the pro-government parties unexpectedly gain seven seats. (BBC)
At least 110 Iraqis are killed in a day of widespread violence, as the U.S. engages in new offensives to retake insurgent-held areas before the January elections. An al-Arabiya journalist is killed during a live broadcast when attack helicopters fire at a crowd gathered around a burning Bradley vehicle in Baghdad. Helicopters and tanks fire on residential areas in rebel-occupied Ramadi. More fighting takes place in Tal Afar and Hilla. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link‍]} (BBC)
40,000 demonstrators protest in Jerusalem against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plans to force all Israeli Jews to leave the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. (Haaretz)
Vojislav Koštunica, Prime Minister of Serbia, reverses the earlier decision by Serbian Minister of Education Ljiljana Colic to suspend the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in Serbian schools for the current school year. Colic had declared that the suspension would continue until schools could give equal weight to the ideas of Creationism. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link‍]} (news.telegraph) Archived 2008-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
Ryanggang explosion:
- The South Korean news agency Yonhap reports that on September 9 (or possibly 8) there was an explosion in the North Korean province of Ryanggang massive enough to produce a mushroom cloud 3.5–4.0 km (2.0–2.5 miles) in diameter. National security officials worldwide are hesitant to classify it as a nuclear explosion (Yonhap) (AP) (CNN)
- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says specifically that the explosion "does not appear to be a nuclear event." (VOA)
The government of Saudi Arabia announces that the first nationwide elections in the kingdom's history will occur early next year. This is the biggest step toward reform the Gulf state has ever taken, although the government has been promising to hold elections since October of 2003. The first ballots will be cast on February 10, 2005, for council seats in the Riyadh capital district. It is not known if women will be allowed to vote in the elections. (MSNBC.com)
Higglytown Heroes premieres on Playhouse Disney