Open Site News. The top 5 stories of the day for October 2004.

Week

Name	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1						01	02
2	03	04	05	06	07	08	09
3	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
4	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
5	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
6	31

01

1: An attack by US and Iraqi military in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra has killed up to 100 and wounded 100, including both militants and civilians, local authorities have reported. The US claims to have killed 100 militants and captured several dozen others. Other fighting leads to 12 deaths in Sadr City and 7 in Fallujah.
2: Israeli military forces move into Jabaliya in the Gaza Strip, killing five Palestinians in rocket attacks. Footage of apparent UN vans being used by Palestinian militants has angered Israel.
3: An estimated 19 have died in a suicide attack in a Shia mosque in Sialkot, Pakistan.
4: Mary McAleese wins the Irish Presidential Election to take another term at office, while John Kerry appears to have won the Presidential Debate in the United States.
5: A Japanese player in the American Major League Baseball competition, Ichiro Suzuki, has broken George Sisler's 84-year-old US record of hits in a season.

02

1: Bombings in north-eastern India have killed 48. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland are being blamed for attacks in the states of Nagaland and Assam.
2: Israeli forces have killed four in the Gaza Strip near the Karni border, while Hamas threatens to continue rocket attacks on Israeli citizens. The US has asked Israel to use less force. A 9 km buffer zone is being established by Israeli in the Gaza Strip as Yasser Arafat asks for aid from other countries.
3: Riots by youths in Pakistan include arson attacks on the police station and mayor's house in Sialkot. The riots are in anger of the mosque bombing.
4: The United States Presidential Elections are next month, with Bush attacking Kerry's policies and Kerry pointing our Bush's high-cost military activities. The support Bush lost in the recent debate is unknown, but he still has a lead over his competitor.
5: American photograph magazine LIFE has been relaunched, with actress Sara Jessica Parker fronting the first copy of the new-look magazine.

03

1: The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 60, but Israel has refused to stop until Hamas ends rocket attacks, despite UN and US requests.
2: The suspected leader of separatist group ETA has been arrested by French and Spanish officials, as well as between 16 and 20 other group members.
3: Bird flu has cost the life of one person in Thailand, rising the death toll from the virus to 11.
4: The Slavenian election has been won by the Slovenian Democrats and leader Janez Jansa hopes to better-equip the country for UN and Nato memebership.
5: Five individuals have been beautified in a ceremony by Pope John Paul II, including Anne Catherine Emmerick, who helped inspire Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. The Pope has made 1340 beatifications, which is more than any pope in history.

04

1: Car bomb attacks have killed over 26 and left over 100 injured in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Mosul, while Fallujah rebels are attacked by the air from the air and two US soldiers die in Baghdad.
2: A day of violence in and around the Gaza Strip has seen continuing attacks by Palestinian militants and Israeli military forces, killing 6 militants and 3 other Palestinians. A 15-year-old girl is among them, rising the Palestinian death toll to 63. A rocket attack on Sderot in Israel has injured another while the UN investigates whether their ambulances are being used by Palestinian terrorists.
3: SpaceShipOne has reached 112.2 km and won the X Prize competition in the United States. Flight 17P is the second in two weeks which succeeded in taking a pilot to space.
4: US Presidential candidate Kerry today spoke of the importance of stem-cell research and criticized Bush's policies on the topic. The elections are still more than four weeks away but in many states voters have already voted and requests for voter IDs has become an issue. Meanwhile Vice-President Candidates Dick Cheney and John Edwards are preparing for their debate.
5: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been jointly given to American scientists Richard Axel and Linda Buck for their medical discoveries about human smell.

05

1: A US Vice-Presidential Candidate debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards is seen as equal, with the strongest points being made regarding the war on Iraq. Claims by the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that evidence did not suggest a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda hours before was used to support Edward's arguments, although Rumsfeld later said the statements were taken out of context.
2: The USA has stopped UN plans to ask Israel to pull out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel today arrested 13 UN workers for suspected terrorist involvement and killed Bashir al-Dabbash, a leader of Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad. Israeli military no longer suspect UN vehicles to be involved in rocket attacks.
3: Iran's Shahab-3 missile now has an increased range of 2000km, making Middle East and western Europe vulnerable to attack.
4: The closure of British flu-vaccine manufacturer Chiron Corp. is likely to effect many, with 48 million doses being shipped to the US alone.
5: The Nobel Physics Prize has gone to Americans David Gross, David Politzer, and Frank Wilczek "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction."

06

1: Israeli forces killed 4 civilians and 3 Hamas leaders in a day of fighting, while UN officials say no staff were arrested by Israel yesterday.
2: Bush attacks the ideas Kerry promoted at the last Presidential debate as another approaches. Cheney's reference to Fast-Check.com instead of Factcheck.org at the recent Vice-Presidential debate causes embarrassment and frustration, made worse by the website's decision to redirect to a Democrat website.
3: A suicide bombing outside an Iraqi National Guard building killed 16 and wounds another 24, while 1 is dead and 4 are injured in a Basra bombing and 2 are dead in Mosul. A peace deal has been sought to stop ongoing fighting between Shiite militia and US soldiers. No evidence appears to have been found that Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction since 1991.
4: The World Trade Organization has been faced with complaints of European Union funding of Airbus and resulting claims of illegal US funding of Boeing. The European Union meanwhile has decided to discuss allowing Turkey into the European Union.
5: Israel's Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko and USA's Irwin Rose are the winners of the Nobel Chemistry Prize.

07

1: In Egypt, Taba's Hilton Hotel has been hit by a terrorist bombing that killed 35 and left another 114 injured. Another six are dead in attacks in nearby towns. Jamayia al-Islamia al-Alamiya has claimed responsibility and are suspected to have targeted Israeli tourists.
2: 82 Palestinians and 5 Israelis are now suspected dead. Over one third are children, including two Palestinian children killed in an Israeli helicopter attack today. The UN has drawn attention to the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine with estimates of almost three quarters of Palestinians in poverty by 2006.
3: President Bush is standing by his invasion of Iraq despite a report by a US weapon's inspector that said no weapons of mass destruction had been produced by Saddam Hussein since 1991.
4: Serveral Independent Media Center servers have been removed for unknown reasons by the FBI.
5: Austrian feminist author Elfriede Jelinek, who's work includes The Piano Teacher, has won the Nobel Literature Prize.

08

1: Kenneth Bigley, a Briton kept hostage in Iraq, has been beheaded. A day of conflict in Iraq also saw 12 dead and 16 wounded in a US air strike, which apparently destroyed the building of a wedding party.
2: The Afghani election nears is just hours away, with women getting the vote for the first time in three decades and the strong support of warlords Abdulrashid Dostum and Ismail Khan raising concern. John Howard is predicted to win the Australian Federal Election, although opposition leader Mark Latham has strong support as well.
3: The upcoming US Presidential Debate is set to pressure Bush instead of Kerry say political analysts.
4: A bomb injures 10 outside the Indonesian Embassy in the French capital of France.
5: Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan activist, has won the Nobel Peace Prize "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace."

19

1: The Iranian Supreme National Security Council has shown favour for a Bush victory, saying the country's interests are better served under a Bush government. France, Germany and the UK are considering offering Iran one more chance to stop uranium weaponry testing before imposing sanctions.
2: Another day of conflict in Iraq has been noted by the kidnapping CARE International leader Margaret Hassan, two mortar attacks targeting US and Iraqi military bases which kills 5 and wound 80, three car bombs taking the lives of two civilians and the arrest by Iraqi officials of an estimated 100 people suspected of being involved in insurgent activity.
3: The refusal of a US reservist unit to undertake a supply mission in Iraq because of the conditions they would face has prompted an investigation by the United States Army.
4: International Institute for Strategic Studies suggests the Iraq war has increased the chance of further terrorist attacks in an annual military report.
5: Muslim Cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has been charged by British police on 16 charges, including encouraging the murder of non-believers. This has prevented a planned US extradition for 11 charges by American officials.

20

1: As the US Presidential Election nears, both candidates are equal. In today's campaign speeches Kerry said there was a difference between the war on Iraq and the war on terrorism. Audio coverage of the day's conflict is available from PBS.
2: Typhoon Tokage has killed 21 with heavy rain and a series of landslides. Thousands have been forced from their homes and major traffic problems have been caused, with The Japan Times reporting exact details.
3: Iran has carried out a missile test despite European threats of sanctions. The attacks are thought to be a warning to Israel and the US against military attacks on nuclear facilities, reports The Guardian
4: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the new president of Indonesia, has made some surprising announcements in the naming of his cabinet. Judge Abdul Rahman Saleh takes the role of Attorney General in an attempt to prevent corruption and Jusuf Anwar is Finance Minister, reports The NZ Herald.
5: Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty has won the Man Booker Prize, with 10,000 additional copies being printed within hours because of expected extra sales, according to Louise Jury Arts of The Independent.

21

1: A US commander was relieved of duty after the troops she commanded refused to deliver fuel in Iraq. The troops claimed that unsafe conditions was the basis for their refusal of orders.
2: Care International suspended work in Iraq after a female worker, Margaret Hassan, was kidnapped by gunmen.
3: Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick pleads guilty in military court to charges of mistreatment of prisoners in Abu Gharib prison.
4: Two Japanese climbers were killed on the face of El Capitan during an unexpected blizzard.
5: A gas explosion in central China killed 56 miners and left numerous more trapped.

22

1: The No.2 Hamas leader, Adnan al-Ghoul, was killed by an Israeli missile while traveling in a car.
2: Pope John Paul II agrees to return the bones of two saints to Istanbul, Turkey. The bones were taken during the crusades in 1204.
3: Four military officers were charged in Nigeria for attempting to assassinate President Olusegun Obasanjo.
4: In Columbia, four counterfeiters were arrested for duplicating the US $20 bill. Officials seized $600,000 in US counterfeit currency.
5: The United Nations agrees to increase the number of troops in Sudan so that peace maybe restored to the region.

23

1: In Iraq, 22 Iraqis were killed by suicide bombers in separate blast in Baghdad and Khan al-Baghdadi.
2: President Bush signs a tax law that provides for $136 billion in corporate tax breaks.
3: Several earthquakes hit the northern portion of Japan while killing at least 16 people and causing damage to over 900 buildings.
4: Kidnapped care worker, Margaret Hassan, pleads with Prime Minister Tony Blair for her life.
5: A Romanian nuclear-power worker was arrested for smuggling a homemade machine gun into the reactor.

24

1: A Taliban suicide bomber sets off grenades strapped to his body in a busy Kabul street, killing one American woman and one Afghan girl.
2: The newly elected president of Somalia, Abdullahi Yusuf, requests 20,000 peacekeepers from the African Union to restore peace in his country.
3: The Russian Soyuz capsule safely returns a US-Russian crew after six months in space.
4: Japan agrees to resume imports of United States beef, ten months after the discovery of mad-cow disease in Washington state.
5: In Acapulco, Mexico, three US tourists were kidnapped while two others were killed.

25

1: Interim President Hamid Karzai was elected as the first Afghanistan President after defeating former Education Minister Yunuz Qanooni.
2: In Iraq, insurgents execute 49 newly trained National Guard recruits along a road northeast of Baghdad.
3: United Nation troops alongside Haitian police show force in a once held militant zone in Haiti. One police officer was killed in the action.
4: US Secratry of State, Colin Powell, tells Japanese reporters that North Korea is a 'terrorist state' that shows 'no respect whatsoever for human rights'.
5: Via a video link, victims of sex attacks help convict the mayor of Pitcairn Island in the south pacific on rape charges.

26

1: At least 78 people in Thailand were killed after a riot in the southern portion of the country. The deaths were the results from suffocation after being placed in crowded police trucks.
2: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made a request to the Israel Parliament for the withdrawal of troops from the Gaza Strip and portions of the West Bank.
3: US air strikes in Falluja, Iraq claims the life of several Zarqawi associates in four safe houses.
4: Israel grants Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat permission to leave his West Bank compound for treatment of Parkinson's disease. Palestinian officials denies ever making the request for medical leave.
5: The National Transportation Safety Board rules that pilot error was to blame for the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 that killed 265 people in Queens, New York on November 12, 2001. According to the report, the co-pilot overused the rudder during turbulence which caused the tail section of the aircraft to break off.

27

1: With the election only six days away, John Kerry has closed to within one percentage point of George Bush according to poll conducted by Reuters/Zogby.
2: In Israel, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to resign after Ariel Sharon gained support in the Israeli Parliament for evacuating settlements on the Gaza Strip.
3: Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi insisted that they would remain in Iraq despite threats by insurgents to behead Japanese citizens in Iraq.
4: In Iraq, British troops begin their movement north from Basra to Hillah, a city located to the south of Baghdad. The British troops are expected to replace US troops that are needed to fight militants north of Baghdad.
5: President Bush plans to ask for $70 billion in funding for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars early next year if re-elected.

28

1: With Yasser Arafat's health deteriorating, Jordanian doctors take care of the 75-year old Arafat as he slips in and out of consciousness.
2: Three election workers in Kabul, Afghanistan were kidnapped at gunpoint as they were driving a United Nations vehicle. The three were from Britain, the Philippines, and Kosovo. Two of the victims were women.
3: The government of Latvia resigned after refusing to pass next year's budget proposed by Prime Minister Indulis Emsis.
4: In Santiago, Chile, three politic groups filed a lawsuit against US President Bush claiming abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison. The groups filing the petition were the Communist Party, the Humanist Party, and the Leftist Revolutionary Movement.
5: The Boston Red Sox celebrated their World Series Victory in baseball after sweeping the Cardinals in four games. This was the first time the Red Sox had won a World Series since 1918, breaking the so called 'Babe Ruth Curse'.

29

1: With assistance from a Jordanian military helicopter, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrived at a Paris, France hospital for treatment of an undisclosed illness. Arafat has had symptoms of Parkinson's disease since the 1990's.
2: With four days remaining before the United States election, a Reuters/Zogby poll released today shows both candidates in a tie at 47 percent each.
3: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand has outraged the Muslim community in Thailand by stating the death of 78 Muslims rioters were caused by illegal drugs and by religious fasting. The deaths of the rioters are thought to have been a result of suffocation after being placed in a over-crowded military truck.
4: The European Union, consisting of 25 countries, signed a constitution after 28 months of debate. The constitution will increase the speed of decision-making. It is expected to be formally ratified by all EU states within the next two years.
5: United Stated Marines are prepared to attack Sunni Muslim insurgents in the cities of Falluja and Ramadi, Iraq. The population of Falluja has dropped from 60,000 to 50,000 residents due to the fear of fighting in the area.

30

1: The German Parliament passed legislation to allow same sex couples the same rights as married couples. The law allows the domestic partners to adopt the children of the other and provides for alimony in case of the dissolution of the partnership.
2: Citing corruption and terrorism problems, the Kremlin gained a vote of confidence from the lower Russian Parliament to abolish the free election of the local governors. The proposal needs approval from the State Duma before becoming law. If approved, President Vladimir Putin would be responsible for appointing the local governors.
3: Four people died and 17 were injured in religious rioting between the Christian and Muslim population of Liberia. Over 15,000 United Nation troops, the largest U.N deployment in the World is assisting in the 14-year civil war.
4: Accusation arise in Haiti after the deaths of 17 civilians spawn investigations into the possible police executions. Justice Minister Bernard Gousse says that it is possible that there are corrupt police officers in the force responsible for the executions.
5: After the election of a Somalia's warlord, Abdullahi Yusuf, as president of the country, rival states in the country clashed in fighting that has killed over 100 residents. Yusuf was elected as President on October 10, 2004.

31

1: With the U.S. elections only two days away, both Kerry and Bush are making last minute pleas for votes in states that could go either way. Bush spent much of the day in campaigning Florida, where in 2000 the vote was so close that a recount was called for. Democratic nominee Senator John Kerry campaigned in Ohio while speaking at an African-American church.
2: The body of Japanese citizen, Shosei Koda, was scheduled to be flown home to Japan after his beheading yesterday. A terrorist cell of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is claiming responsibility for the murder.
3: A video plea from three election workers kidnapped three days earlier from Kabul, Afghanistan shows them in good health but shaken. The kidnappers are members of the Muslim Army and are demanding the release of prisoners in Afghanistan and from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
4: In Iran, the members of the lawmaking government chanted 'Death to America' as they unanimously voted to continue their uranium enrichment program.
5: NASA announced today the tentative schedule of May 2005 for the next mission of the space shuttle. The space shuttle program was shut down after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas on February 1, 2003 killing all seven crew aboard.