Portal:Current events/2004 October 8

October 8, 2004 (Friday)

U.S. presidential debates:
- U.S. President George W. Bush and challenger Senator John Kerry meet at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, for the second of three U.S. presidential debates. (BBC) (AP) (Reuters) (AFP)
- Third-party candidates for U.S. president, Michael Badnarik of the United States Libertarian Party and David Cobb of the United States Green Party, are arrested while attempting to attend the second of the three planned U.S. presidential debates. (AP) (WorldNetDaily)
Rescue teams retrieve at least 30 bodies from the ruins of the Hilton Taba in Taba, Egypt. Officials say up to 20 more bodies could be recovered. (Haaretz)
An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 occurs near Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. Its effects are felt as far as 90 miles (145 km) north of the city. The quake causes buildings to sway and knocks out power in some areas, but no serious damage or injuries are reported. (CNN) (USGS)
Conflict in Iraq:
- Reports confirm that British hostage Kenneth Bigley was beheaded yesterday by his captors, members of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad militant group, despite last-minute exchanges between the group and the British government. (The Guardian) (The Telegraph) Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine (Al Jazeera) (Al-Bawaba)
- A U.S. air strike destroys a building in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, killing at least 12 people and wounding 16. The U.S. says that it bombed a safe-house used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but local doctors say the strike hit a house soon after a wedding party, killing civilians, including children. (Swiss Info) (Reuters) (Boston Globe) (BBC)
Kenyan environmental and political activist Wangari Maathai is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace". (Nobel Prize) (BBC)
A bomb explodes outside the Indonesian Embassy in Paris, shattering windows in nearby buildings and injuring about 10 people. (Reuters) (BBC)