Polls close in Iraq marking the first multi-party election in 50 years. Electoral officials estimate about a 50–70% turnout. A series of election day attacks across the country killed at least 44 people, mainly in Baghdad. The 275-member National Assembly will create a new constitution, choose a new president and two new vice presidents. Most candidate names on the various party lists remained anonymous. (BBC)ReutersNews24
Between nine and fifteen British soldiers die as a C-130 Hercules transport plane crashes about 40km north west of Baghdad. The cause of the crash is under investigation. (BBC), (CNN)
A firefight leaves 3 suspected militants and one Kuwaiti police officer dead after security forces raid an alleged hideout in Kuwait City. (BBC)
In eastern Sudan, demonstrators on their way to a meeting with tribal leaders clash with police leaving up to 17 protestors dead. A Sudanese general states that the protestors were looting and inciting violence against his men. Members of eastern tribes, mainly Beja, presented a list of demands which included better representation to the provincial governor three days ago. (BBC)
In Spain, a bomb explodes at a hotel in the southwest town Denia injuring one. Police officials say the detonation occurred after a telephone warning from the BasqueETA group. Spanish parliament is scheduled to debate and vote on a Basque plan for independence from Spain in two days. (BBC)
The deadline passes for the finalization of constituencies for Afghanistan's May 21 parliamentary elections, UN officials say. Though the constituencies were supposed to be set up 120 days before the election, officials have not yet announced an election delay. Violence still continues, particularly in the south of the country where the Taliban still remains active. (Pakistan Daily Times)(Reuters)
Procter & Gamble plan to purchase competitor Gillette in a deal worth $52.4 billion. Industry experts, including Gillette CEO Jim Kilts , expect further industry consolidation this year, spurred in part by a 40% rise in oil prices last year and the need to gain clout against economic giant Wal-Mart. (Bloomberg)
Michael McManus, author of the U.S.-wide syndicated newspaper column "Ethics & Religion", was paid $10,000 by the DHHS for writing articles promoting a marriage initiative. (Salon)
An Australian recently freed from Guantanamo Bay claims U.S. agents told him they killed his whole family and strung the interrogation room with faked photos of his wife and children with animals' heads. He also says he was sexually assaulted and menstrual blood had been put all over him before being left alone in a cell with no water. (news.com.au)(yahoo/AP)
Asia's richest woman, Nina Wang, is formally charged with forgery of her kidnapped husband's will. (BBC)
Latest investigation into the career of UK serial killer Dr. Harold Shipman increases the count of his victims to 284, the first having been killed just after he left medical school. (Reuters)(Telegraph)(BBC)
In Russia, special forces have killed seven people in a fight against what they described as islamic militants. The fight happened in an apartment block in Nalchik near Chechnya border (Reuters)(MosNews)(BBC)
Conflict in Darfur: Around 100 people have been killed following an Air Raid into the Darfur region of Sudan according to the African Union. Jean Baptiste Natama, the A.U's spokesperson has described it as a "major ceasefire violation". (BBC)
French national railways SNCF are severely disrupted by a 24-hour walkout by staff to protest the rape of a ticket inspector on a Toulouse - Cahors train on Tuesday. The inspector had been attempting to charge a man for not having a ticket. A 24 year old man was later arrested. The strike is due to end at 1500 UTC. (BBC)
New York radio station HOT 97 has suspended the staff of the show Miss Jones in the Morning. The show came under criticism for broadcasting a parody song that ridicules the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. (BBC)(Reuters)(MTV.COM)
After being incarcerated without trial for almost three years, the four British detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Moazzam Begg, Feroz Abbasi, Martin Mubanga and Richard Belmar , are free to go home, having been released without charge by the UK government. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: 36 US soldiers have died in a single day in Iraq. A helicopter crash in western Iraq has claimed the lives of 30 USmarines and a sailor. It is the single worst loss of life for US forces since they invaded Iraq in March 2003. Elsewhere insurgents killed 4 US troops in Anbar, and another soldier was killed in Baghdad following an RPG attack. (Reuters)(BBC)
In Moscow, students from Guinea Bissau seize the country's embassy and take the ambassador as a hostage. They protest because they have not received their student's grants for more than a year (BBC)
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake: Indonesia has again raised its estimate of the number of people killed by December's earthquake and tsunami to 220,000; the total known to have been killed in the region is now 280,000. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: The U.S. army expects to keep 120,000 soldiers for at least two more years in Iraq, according to the Army's top operations officer, Lt. Gen. James J. Lovelace Jr . (MSNBC)
After being incarcerated without trial for almost three years, the four remaining British detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Moazzam Begg, Feroz Abbasi, Martin Mubanga and Richard Belmar , are released and flown back to the United Kingdom, where they are immediately arrested by British police. (BBC)(Guardian)
Bill Gates donates $750 million through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, to provide vaccines to children in poor countries. This is one of the largest philanthropic donations ever made by a living donor. (Guardian)
Conflict in Iraq: A suicide car bomb is detonated near interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord party office. Officials say Allawi was not in the area at the time and that seven policemen and three civilians were wounded. U.S. military officials confirm the death of one soldier in Mosul and state four of Iraq's 18 provinces, a quarter of the total population and predominately Sunni, will be unsafe to vote in Sunday's elections. (Reuters)
In India, priest Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, his deputy Vijayendra Saraswathi and various other people have been charged for murder. Saraswathi has been released on bail after two months in prison and denies involvement. (NDTV)(BBC)
In United Kingdom, Alan Roy Williams , a doctor who gave evidence against Sally Clark who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of her two sons, is charged with serious professional misconduct. (BBC)
North Korea has cut its food rations to half the amount that the United Nations World Food Program recommends. U.N. officials say the cut appears temporary and is not unprecedented in a country where fluctuations in public food distribution are regular. (Reuters Alertnet)
The police chief in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, is shot dead. The new Somali government is slated to begin relocating from Kenya on February 1st. (BBC)
Viktor Yushchenko is invested as president of Ukraine at a ceremony in Kiev before a large crowd of supporters and attended by numerous heads of state and other dignitaries from around the world. (BBC)(AP)
Eid ul-Adha the second in the series of Eid festivals that Muslims celebrate.
In the basement of a hotel in the New York City borough of Queens, people hold a memorial service for the late Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang. This memorial follows the one held in the Shangri-la hotel yesterday. (NYT)
Hamas publishes a document in which it recognizes the 1967 borders. (Haaretz)
B15A, the world's largest iceberg with 160 km length, seems to have run aground in Antarctica, threatening to cut off supply ships for a number of scientific research stations and to starve tens of thousands of penguins. (CBC)
Grenada switches recognition from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the People's Republic of China following a million dollar aid deal from the PRC. This brings the number of countries that officially recognize the ROC to 25. (BBC)
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney blames Saddam Hussein for the slow pace of the Iraqi reconstruction: "I think the hundreds of thousands of people who were slaughtered at the time, including anybody who had the gumption to stand up and challenge him, made the situation tougher than I would have thought." (AP)
Pilgrims on Hajj celebrate Eid ul-Adha in Saudi Arabia, and prepare to stone the pillars that represent satan, and eat meat of a newly killed animal, while giving meat to those less fortunate as qurbani. Hajj Celebrations will also be held around the world, but some will wait until Friday. (BBC)
The most senior Islamic cleric in Saudi Arabia, Sheik Abdul-Aziz al-Sheik, again uses his Hajj sermon to speak out against terrorism, saying that the militants "were lured by the devil", and also states, "Faith does not mean killing Muslims or non-Muslims who live among us, it does not mean shedding blood, terrorising or sending body parts flying." (Chicago Sun-Times)(The Guardian)
Brazil offers to mediate between Colombia and Venezuela in a disagreement about the capture of Rodrigo Granda . (BBC)
In Peru, after vice president David Waisman faints during a TV interview, PresidentAlejandro Toledo demands that criticism of his government be toned down. (BBC)
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake: The number of people known to have died in last month's Asian tsunami has reached 226,000, following an announcement by Indonesian officials that more than 166,000 had been confirmed dead in their country alone. (BBC)
Hajj: Around two million Muslims from around the world are converging on Mount Arafat for the most important day of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. (BBC)
Following negotiations with President Abu Mazen, Zachariya Zubaidi, the leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, has announced that his militant group are to halt attacks inside Israel but said it would continue to strike at Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (Al Jazeera)
The top Palestinian security commander, Abdul Razeq Majaydeh, has promised swift action to stop militant attacks against Israel and has deployed Security forces along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel "to prevent violations". (Pravda)(BBC)
In Nablus, IDF Shayetet-13 forces arrest 13 suspected Hamas members and demolished two buildings. (Haaretz)
Hamas has said that its meeting with President Abu Mazen was "positive", but has not indicated if an agreement on a cease-fire, or Hudna, has been made. (China View)
In Peru, prime minister Carlos Ferrero and defence minister Roberto Chiabra survive a censure motion in parliament connected to earlier nationalist uprising in January. (BBC)
Bao Tong , Zhao Ziyang's former secretary and the highest ranking official to be jailed after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 is blocked from paying his respects at a mourning hall set up in Zhao's Beijing home. Bao's wife, Jiang Zongcao, was injured in the scuffle with plain-clothes police and had to be hospitalized.(Reuters)
Iraq is to close all its land borders for three days around the 30 January elections in an attempt to enhance security, election officials have said. (BBC)
The government of Sudan signs a preliminary peace treaty with the National Democratic Alliance , an opposition umbrella group of rebels in the north and east of the country. (Sudan Tribune)(IslamOnline)(BBC)
The Airbus A380 is officially launched at a ceremony in the main FrenchAirbus factory in Toulouse. Carrying between 550 and 840 passengers (depending on configuration), the double decker A380 is now the largest passenger airliner in the world. (Reuters)(BBC)
Two former BosnianSerb officers, Vidoje Blagojevic and Dragan Jokic , have been convicted and imprisoned for their complicity in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. (BBC)
State television and radio in the People's Republic of China make no announcement of Zhao Ziyang's death. Newspapers carry a short five-line announcement. Zhao's secretary Bao Tong and other dissidents and activists call for democratic reforms. Messages of condolence posted on the People's Daily and sina.com message boards are promptly deleted. (BBC)(BBC)
An Indian train fire that killed up to 60 Hindus and sparked deadly religious riots in 2002 was started by accident - not firebombs thrown by Muslims as had been reported, an Indian Railways inquiry headed by a retired Judge Bannerjee has said. Justice Banerjee said that according to eyewitness accounts people had been cooking in the carriage at the time it caught fire. (BBC)
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh writes in The New Yorker[2] that sources inside the military and the intelligence communities say the United States administration has indicated its resolve to attack Iran and to conduct broad covert action in many countries. The Pentagon released an official statement saying "Mr. Hersh's article is so riddled with errors of fundamental fact that the credibility of his entire piece is destroyed." (BBC)(DOD)
Venezuela has rejected the suggestion of Colombia to hold a regional summit to resolve the dispute over the capture of FARC leader Rodrigo Granda . Hugo Chávez states that he is willing to discuss the matter personally with Álvaro Uribe. (MercoPress)(BBC)
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon instructs the army to take action against terrorism and Palestinian rocket attacks stating it was to be "without restrictions, I emphasize, without restrictions" following an attack by militants at a Gaza crossing that killed 6 Israelis, which followed several Israeli raids into the West Bank and Gaza which killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP)(The Guardian)
The PLO has called for an end to attacks by Palestinian militant groups against Israelis. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: US-led forces in Iraq have destroyed and contaminated precious ancient Babylonian archaeological evidence and sites according to a report by the British Museum. (AFP)(AP)
Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian President, has called for an end to the violence, and a mutual ceasefire between the Israelis and the Palestinian Militant factions. (BBC)
Qassam rocket fire hits Sderot, wounding 6 people, a 17 year old Israeli woman suffered critical wounds. (Haaretz)
Eight Palestinians have been killed in two separate clashes in the Gaza strip. An Israeli child living on a settlement was also injured. (BBC), (Haaretz)
The fictional characterJára da Cimrman is reported in a big surprise to lead the scores of The Biggest Czech person competition organized by Czech television.
Saudi Arabia's supreme judicial council announced that the ritual of the day of Arafat would take place Wednesday rather than Thursday as expected. This means that Eid ul-Adha will begin a day earlier than thought. (The Guardian), (Arabicnews.com)
The World Health Organization reports that worldwide polio cases rose by more than one-third in 2004, from 784 in 2003 to 1,185 last year. The increase is attributed to a boycott on vaccines in Kano, Nigeria led by a group of hard-line Islamic clerics who claim that vaccines are part of an American conspiracy. (CNN)
Record temperatures across Europe make many animals awake early from hibernation. Avalanche alerts are raised to the highest level in Romania and Austria. (CBC)
Conflict in Iraq: Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister of Iraq has admitted parts of the country will not be voting in this month's election. (BBC)
British Airways flight 175 from London to New York is turned back by the U.S.TSA, who claim a passenger's name matches a suspected Moroccan terrorist. The passenger is questioned for two hours by British police and then released. The other 239 passengers resume their journeys nine hours late. (Sky News)
Camp X-Ray: ArchbishopDesmond Tutu has called for the release of the remaining inmates at Guantanamo Bay and terror suspects detained without trial in the UK referring to the detentions without trial as "unacceptable" and "distressing". (BBC)
Dozens of mostly elderly Asian pilgrims have died thus far on Hajj, including over 30 Pakistanis and 29 Indians. Some have been critical of the Health provisions on site. The Saudi authorities' work on the Jamrat Bridge , where many pilgrims died last year, is almost complete. (Daily Times)(Islam Online)(Times of India)
In the Philippines, the truce between the army and Islamist rebels collapses. Government forces exchange fire with the MILF rebels in Mindanao. The peace talks are still ongoing. (Reuters Alertnet)
The Iraqi interior ministry reports that U.S. soldiers mistakenly shot and killed two Iraqi policemen and two civilians after an attack on their convoy.
Gunmen kill the deputy police chief of the city of Samarra, Major Muhammad Muzaffar. (BBC)
Storm winds sweep across northern Europe, leaving at least 13 people dead and millions without electricity. (CNN)(BBC)
In Nairobi, Kenya, a peace treaty is signed between warring factions in the Sudanese civil war, which has claimed over 1.5 million lives in more than 20 years. (BBC)
An Islamist group with alleged al Qaeda links has set up a relief camp on Indonesia's Sumatra island, raising concerns in the U.S. and Australia that it could stir up sentiment against their troops who are also assisting the aid effort. The Laskar Mujahidin group has posted a sign at its camp that reads (in English) "Islamic Law Enforcement". (CNN)
The U.S. Army promises an investigation into an incident in Mosul in which an F-16 jet dropped a 5 hundred pound "precision-guided" bomb on the wrong target. The army claims five civilians were killed; 14 died, say locals. (BBC)
Ten gang members are sentenced to prison terms of 25 to 40 years for the murders of 12 women in Juárez, Mexico; however, many hundreds of the deaths in Ciudad Juárez remain unsolved. (BBC)
One Israeli is killed and four are wounded in a Palestinian shooting attack in the north West Bank. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim responsibility. (Haaretz)
The Ukrainian Supreme Court rejects Viktor Yanukovych's appeal against the electoral commission's decision that he lost the presidential election. (BBC)(Reuters)
Former South AfricanPresidentNelson Mandela breaks a strong taboo when he announces that the death at age 54 of his sole surviving son, Makgatho Mandela, was caused by AIDS, which kills about 600 people daily in South Africa. His action is viewed as being critical of his successor, Thabo Mbeki, who has denied a link between HIV and AIDS. (ABC), (BBC).
Conflict in Iraq: An Iraqi civilian testifies that U.S soldiers, including Sergeant Tracy Perkins, forced him and his cousin to jump into the Tigris River and laughed as his relative was swept to his death. (BBC)
Venezuela promises to investigate claims that Rodrigo Granda , a prominent member of the Colombian rebel group FARC, was captured from Caracas instead of from inside Colombia. Granda was arrested December 132004. (BBC)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Seven Palestinians are killed when an Israeli tank opens fire on farmland in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian presidential candidate and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas responds to the deaths with a strong verbal attack on the "Zionist enemy" Israel. Six of the dead were from the same family, including an 11-year-old boy. All the dead were civilians younger than 18. (The Guardian)(BBC)(BBC)
The Algerian government announces a crackdown on the GIA rebel organization. Its leader Nourredine Boudiafi was arrested and his deputy Chaabane Younes killed in operation two months ago. (Afrol)(Reuters)(BBC)
In Burundi, government forces and members of various armed groups begin to join to form a national army. (BBC)
The United Nations has accepted Singapore's offer to set up a UN Regional Coordination Centre to coordinate relief efforts to stricken areas. This centre will see an influx of UN staff and it is likely to be a long-term infrastructure to help reconstruction efforts. John Budd , UNICEF head of communications in Indonesia, said, "The Singapore government's military (SAF) response to the emergency in Aceh has been nothing less than outstanding. It has done a phenomenal job; all the aid agencies and the UN are very grateful for the enormous and fast response the military in Singapore brought to bear on this disaster." (CNA)
The United Kingdom's Metropolitan Police announces that they have arrested a suspect in a hoax case where Britons missing relatives or friends in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake received e-mail messages informing them that the person had died. The messages came from the improbably fake address ukgovfoffice@aol.com. (Telegraph)(BBC)(London Free Press)
In Peru, 200 men from the ultranationalist Movimiento Etnocacerista who took over the town of Andahuaylas and its police station first say they intend to give up their weapons, then retract, saying the government had reneged on a surrender deal. (BBC)(Bloomberg)(New York Times)
The Washington Post and Reuters report that the US government is preparing to keep suspected terrorists in detention without charge for life. (Reuters)
The world rings in 2005. Some nations observe a moment of silence with candles and white roses for the at least 150,000 dead and 5,000,000 left homeless after the 26 Decembertsunamis. In many countries flags are flown at half staff. (Reuters)
A group of Peruvian army reservists from the Movimiento Etnocacerista seize a police station in Andahuaylas , Apurímac, demanding the resignation of PresidentAlejandro Toledo. Four police officers die in a shootout, another dozen police are taken as hostages, and a state of emergency is declared in the region. (BBC)
