Portal:Current events/2004 November 19
< Portal:Current events
November 19, 2004 (Friday)
- Research by the Medical Research Council shows that the antibiotic co-trimoxazole can halve the death rate in HIV-positive children in Zambia. (BBC)
- Attempts by the United States to draft a U.N. treaty banning human cloning have been abandoned. (CNN)
- U.S. President George W. Bush arrives at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Santiago de Chile for talks with China and other nations. The summit's agenda includes nuclear proliferation and new free trade agreements, particularly on agriculture. Bush hopes to revive six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program and promote the "War on Terrorism". The Chinese delegation ask Bush to take "all measures necessary" to halt the slide in value of the U.S. dollar. About 40,000 people protest against the summit, Bush, the war in Iraq, and globalization; they are blocked by Chilean police with tear gas and water cannon. (MSNBC) (CBC)
- Sudanese Civil War: At a special session of the United Nations Security Council in Nairobi, Kenya, the government of Sudan and southern rebels sign an agreement which states that both sides will commit themselves to ending the 21-year conflict by December 31. The Council then unanimously passes a resolution which promises substantial aid to the country after the wars in the south and in the region of Darfur come to an end. (Reuters)
- Sino-Japanese relations: Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian says information provided by his government helped Japan locate a Chinese nuclear submarine in Japanese waters a week ago. The PRC expressed "regret" after the incident. (VOA)
- Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, one of the most controversial Dutch politicians, advocates a five-year halt to non-Western immigration in the wake of the murder of Theo van Gogh stating: "The Netherlands has been too tolerant to intolerant people for too long, we should not import a retarded political Islamic society to our country". (NYT)
- 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy: A recount has begun in New Hampshire, testing anomalous statistical discrepancies related to voting machine technologies.[1][2]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The commander of the Israeli Defense Force, Moshe Yaalon, orders an investigation "to reach the truth" of claims by the Yediot Ahronot newspaper that IDF troops abused Palestinian corpses. (BBC)
- United States Congress: The U.S. Congress has passed a bill reinstating and extending a ban on taxation of internet access for another three years. (Reuters)
- Russia announces it will sell off the main production unit of Yukos, the energy company seized last year for supposedly failing to pay taxes. (BBC)
- The U.S. U.S. Congress raises the national debt ceiling by USD 800 billion to a total of USD 8.18 trillion. This makes the new borrowing cap 30% higher than the debt Bush inherited, and 70% of the size of the U.S. economy. (CNN) (Debt Clock)
- In Auburn Hills, Michigan, members of the NBA Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons engage in a brawl involving players and spectators. Ron Artest of the Pacers initiated the conflict with fans when he entered the crowd at The Palace of Auburn Hills after a fan threw a cup of beer at him. The game was postponed with 45 seconds remaining. Artest was suspended for the rest of the season, while several members of both teams were suspended by the league for their involvement.
- Conflict in Iraq:
- U.S. Military officials report that 102 soldiers, 85% of which are serving in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, have contracted a rather rare blood infection by Acinetobacter baumannii. Military investigators say there is no evidence of biochemical agents in the infection which surfaces occasionally in unsanitary hospitals, but that some soldiers were arriving with infections. (CNN)
- World Vision, one of the last aid agencies left in Iraq, announces it will pull its staff out of the country following the murder of its senior manager. (BBC)
- In Baghdad, two people are killed when clashes break out as Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops enter a popular Sunni mosque to arrest dozens of members reportedly including the imam. (BBC)
- The Spongebob Squarepants Movie debuts in movie theaters across the United States, grossing $32,018,216 during its opening weekend.
- Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi premieres on Cartoon Network and scores the highest-ever Kids 2-11 rating and delivery and the second highest Kids 6-11 rating (4.4) and delivery (1,068,000) ever for an original series premiere.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2004-12-07. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)