December 2004

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This article covers breaking news and events in December 2004.

Daily events

Wednesday December 1, 2004

Honor for Armando Guebuza

• Belgrade / Serbia and Montenegro : According to official information, the President of the Republic of Serbia Boris Tadić narrowly escaped an attack in Belgrade on the evening of November 30th.
• Berlin / Germany : In Germany the next stage of the tobacco tax increase comes into force, making all tobacco products more expensive. The tobacco industry uses the tax hike for an additional price premium. The next increase in the tobacco tax is to take place in September 2005.
• Berlin / Germany : For the “Days of the Arab World”, representatives of the Arab League meet for the first time with prominent figures from politics, science and business in the Bundestag .
• Geneva / Switzerland : On World AIDS Day makes the World Health Organization of the United Nations pointed out that nearly half of those infected with HIV is female.
• Karlsruhe / Germany : Property owners who were expropriated on the territory of the Soviet occupation zone between 1945 and 1949 are not entitled to compensation or return of their previous property according to a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court .
• Maputo / Mozambique : Mozambique will hold two-day presidential elections following the resignation of Joaquim Alberto Chissano . Armando Guebuza emerged from them as the clear winner with 63.7%.
• New York / United States : News presenter Tom Brokaw resigns. He hosted the television program "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" for 21 years.

Thursday December 2, 2004

EUFOR sign for Bosnia-Herzegovina

• Riga / Latvia : Aigars Kalvītis becomes the new head of government in Latvia after parliament expressed its distrust of his predecessor Indulis Emsis in October .
• Sarajevo / Bosnia-Herzegovina : The European Union (EU) is taking on the task of securing peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina from the NATO military alliance . In the place of the NATO protection force “ Stabilization Forces ”, multinational military units of the EU member states are taking the acronym EUFOR in Operation Althea .

Friday 3rd December 2004

Logo from Wikinews

Runoff election of the Ukrainian presidential election on November 21: pro-European (yellow) versus pro-Russian (blue)

Ukrainians abroad protest against the outcome of the runoff election on November 21st, in the picture Frankfurt / Main

• Berlin / Germany : The German-language portal of Wikinews publishes an article for the first time with the article "BBC declares its own article about compensation payments for Bhopal victims for false reports".
• Germany : Three suspected members of the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group were arrested in several raids early this morning . According to press reports, they were planning an assassination attempt on Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi , who is currently on a state visit to Berlin .
• Kiev / Ukraine : The Supreme Court of Ukraine invalidates the result of the autumn presidential election and orders a repeat of the runoff election , which won Viktor Yanukovych from the pro-Russia Party of Regions on November 21 , leading to outraged protests by ethnic Ukrainians who questioned the result.
• Madrid / Spain : In the early evening, low-explosive bombs explode at five petrol stations, which are said to have been announced by the Basque underground organization ETA , according to media reports . None of the five explosions ignite a tank, the property damage is minor. Despite the timely evacuation, five people suffer minor injuries.
• Vienna / Austria : In Austria, too, allegations of mistreatment are being raised against military instructors.

Saturday 4th December 2004

• Berlin / Germany : The Federation of German Industries calls for more emission rights for the emission of climate-damaging carbon dioxide .

Sunday 5th December 2004

• Breisgau / Germany : In the vicinity of Waldkirch there is a slight earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4. In many places building damage is found, which is estimated at a total of 10 million euros .
• Linz / Austria : At the Kammerspiele 16 years after the premiere in the Vienna Hofburg , the work Heldenplatz by Thomas Bernhard re-listed. According to some critics, the play equates those Adolf Hitler- loving Austrians of the 1930s with the patriotic Austrians of the 1980s.
• Linz / Austria : Union officials demonstrate against the Sunday opening of a market in Linz train station, because with 600 m² it has more than the 80 m² of retail space for travel supplies authorized in Upper Austria according to the shop closing law for Sunday business. In addition to 150 demonstrators, 3,500 customers are counted.
• Qaraghandy / Kazakhstan : 23 people are killed in a mine accident in Kazakhstan.

Monday December 6, 2004

• Spain . In four Spanish cities ( León , Ciudad Real , Santillana del Mar and Ávila ), seven low-explosive bombs, which, according to media reports , had been announced by the Basque underground organization ETA , explode at the same time . Despite early evacuations , several people are slightly injured. Five bombs exploded in Madrid on Friday and one bomb was defused in Almería on Saturday .
• Jeddah / Saudi Arabia . Five terrorists infiltrate the US consulate with firearms and hand grenades and take 18 local employees hostage. Five of the hostages die in an attack by an anti-terrorist unit . Four security forces and three terrorists are killed, two terrorists injured and arrested. Numerous people are injured. US citizens are not affected. The terrorist organization Al-Qaeda is committed to the attack.
• Düsseldorf / Germany . Angela Merkel is confirmed in her office as federal chairwoman of the CDU with 88.4 percent of the valid votes (2002: 93.7%, 2000: 95.9%). The election took place in Düsseldorf with around 1,000 delegates.
• Paris / France . The new OECD study on the educational situation PISA -II will be presented exclusively to the international press. The study will not be made available to the public until the following day.

Tuesday December 7, 2004

• London / United Kingdom . The new General Director of the British radio and television broadcaster BBC , Mark Thompson, who was appointed in March 2004 , announced that the traditional broadcaster will cut 2,900 of its 27,600 jobs in the short term. 2,000 employees are required to move from London to Manchester . The BBC is a public broadcaster , the fate of which is decided by Parliament every ten years in the “Royal Charter and Agreement”. The currently valid law dates from 1996.
• Iraq . An Armenian Catholic church and the seat of the Chaldean archbishop are destroyed in explosive attacks .
• Washington, DC / USA . As part of the reorganization of the US secret services, the office of Director of National Intelligence is created; in February 2005, John Negroponte was introduced to this office.
• Kabul / Afghanistan . Hamid Karzai is sworn in as President of Afghanistan.
• Milan / Italy . The La Scala reopens after years of renovations.
• Accra / Ghana . John Kufuor from the New Patriotic Party prevails in the presidential elections in Ghana .

Wednesday December 8, 2004

• Bern / Switzerland . The Swiss Federal Councilor Samuel Schmid is elected Swiss Federal President for 2005. Moritz Leuenberger becomes Vice President for the second time.
• Florida / USA . The software developer Clinton Curtis is a sworn statement from in which he claimed that the Republican US politician Tom Feeney had instructed his company in 2000 to develop a software that US voting machines could manipulate in a desired manner.
• Karlsruhe / Germany . The Federal Constitutional Court complained under a constitutional complaint of the CDU , the composition of the Mediation Committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat because the coalition government of SPD and Greens has a seat too much.
• Camp Buehring / Kuwait . During a visit by troops who are about to be sent to Iraq , the US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld replies to complaints from soldiers about chronic deficiencies in their equipment by commenting that the war with the army is in their real, not in a desired or ideal state to lead.
• Cuzco / Peru . Representatives of the 12 states of South America meet in Cuzco, Peru and agree in the Cuzco Declaration to found the South American community of states .

Thursday December 9, 2004

• Shanxi / China . In the city of Nanlou, a gas explosion in a coal mine leads to the province's second serious mine disaster in two weeks. 33 miners die, 24 are injured. On November 28th, 116 miners were killed.
• Lechfeld / Germany . An unarmed Tornado fighter aircraft of the German Air Force crashed into a forest near Kaufering shortly after take-off . Both crew members are killed.
• Dresden / Germany . In the election of the Saxon Commissioner for Foreigners, the NPD candidate receives two more votes than his party has members in the state parliament.

Friday December 10, 2004

• La Spezia / Italy : In the process of a massacre of 60 civilians in the Tuscan monastery Farneta near Lucca on September 2, 1944, a military court acquitted the accused former Waffen SS officer Hermann Langer for lack of evidence. The 85-year-old was charged with commanding the mass murder of monks and refugees hiding by them as the unit in command. He stayed away from the trial in protest.
• Milan / Italy : Italian Prime Minister and media billionaire Silvio Berlusconi reached in Milan corruption trial an acquittal on charges of Judge bribe to the accusation of bribery however, it is only a consequence of experiencing limitation not to several years in prison convicted. With an immunity law in his favor, the constitutionality of which is controversial, Berlusconi delayed the process for years.
• Oslo / Norway , Stockholm / Sweden : Awarding of the Nobel Prizes . The laureates include the Kenyan Wangari Maathai (peace) and the Austrian Elfriede Jelinek (literature).
• Paris / France : The 27-year-old Maxime Brunerie , whose attempt on the French President Jacques Chirac failed during the national holiday parade on July 14, 2002, is sentenced to ten years in prison .
• Vienna / Austria : Interior Minister Ernst Strasser announced his resignation in the morning.
• Wiesbaden / Germany : " Hartz IV " as the name for the newly regulated unemployment benefit II claim within the framework of Agenda 21 is the word of the year in Germany for the Society for the German Language .
• United States : Soul singer James Brown announces he has prostate cancer . His diabetes has been known for a long time .

Saturday December 11, 2004

• Vienna / Austria . Doctors confirm that the Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko at a dioxin poisoning suffers.
• Baghdad / Iraq . A US - military court sentenced the US Sergeant Johnny Horne to three years in prison , demotion and dishonorable discharge instead of the regular life imprisonment . The 30-year-old soldier shot an unarmed and seriously injured 16-year-old Iraqi civilian in violation of international law .
• Taipei / Taiwan . In the Taiwanese parliamentary elections , the opposition wins over the government alliance and receives 114 of the 225 seats.
• Port Vila / Vanuatu . On the Pacific island nation, Ham Lini is replacing the previous Prime Minister Serge Vohor after a motion of no confidence.

Sunday December 12, 2004

• Bucharest / Romania . In the presidential election in Romania, Traian Băsescu wins the runoff against incumbent Prime Minister Adrian Năstase .
• Ramallah / Palestinian Territories . Marwan Barghouti, imprisoned in Israel , is withdrawing his controversial candidacy for the presidential elections in the Palestinian Territories.
• Germany . The German railway increased for the second time in 2004 prices (by more than 3%); The increase is justified with increased energy costs and an improved supply.
• General Santos / Philippines . A bomb explosion in the Philippine city of General Santos kills 14 and injures 59.
• Washington, DC / USA . Reports the Washington Post , according to have US - intelligence chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei overheard. Thereafter, el-Baradei should be discredited with the information obtained.
• Yokohama / Japan : The last time the played soccer World Cup club championship is an 8: 7-victory on penalties to the Colombian Once Caldas Sociedad Anónima from Manizales to the FC Porto .

Monday December 13, 2004

• Baghdad / Iraq : A car bomb attack kills seven people and injures 17 others at the entrance to the “Green Zone” .
• Frankfurt am Main / Germany : The German Triathlon Union bans the winner of this year's Ironman Hawaii and confessed doping sinner Nina Kraft for two years. The Hawaii title has already been revoked.
• Madrid / Spain . The Bernabeu stadium, home of Real Madrid , is evacuated due to a bomb threat from the Basque separatist organization ETA .
• Central America : A 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes the Pacific coast of El Salvador .
• Paris / France : To European Footballer of the Year is Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan chosen. The striker from the Italian Serie A prevailed in the 49th election with 175 points against the Portuguese Deco and the Brazilian Ronaldinho , both of FC Barcelona .
• United States : Oracle buys PeopleSoft for 10.3 billion US dollars .

Tuesday December 14, 2004

• New York / USA . The New York Times publishes a report according to which the US IT company Symantec is planning to take over the American software manufacturer Veritas .
• Millau / France . The Viaduc de Millau is inaugurated in the south of France. With its pillar "P2" at 343 meters, it is the tallest bridge in the world.
• Punjab / India . Two passenger trains collide head-on in the northern Indian state of Punjab. At least 50 people lose their lives and 150 are injured.
• Baghdad / Iraq . A suicide bomber carried out a car bomb attack in the so-called "green zone", an urban area specially protected by the US military. Two Iraqi civilians die. At least seven Iraqis had been killed in an attack the day before.
• Berlin / Germany . Federal Interior Minister Otto Schily ( SPD ) presents the concept of a joint counter-terrorism center from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution . The aim is to accelerate the exchange of information and improve analysis.
• Planet mars . The American Mars robot " Spirit " provides new evidence of earlier water resources on Mars : It detects the mineral goethite , which can only form together with water.
• Geneva / Switzerland . One year after the capture of Saddam Hussein , his whereabouts are announced: He is being held at the US military camp "Cropper" near Baghdad airport.
• Strasbourg / France . The Belarusian Association of Journalists is awarded the Sakharov Prize .
• Luxembourg / Luxembourg . The European Court of Justice declares the German can deposit to be partly illegal. The planned amendment to the Packaging Ordinance is intended to eliminate these violations.
• Santiago de Chile / Chile . Ex- dictator Augusto Pinochet is charged with the so-called " Operation Condor ": Thousands of members of the opposition were kidnapped and murdered under his reign of terror.
• Istanbul / Turkey . 164 people are injured in a fire in a cinema.

Wednesday December 15, 2004

• Athens / Greece . As the first second division club in German football history, Alemannia Aachen reached the third round of the UEFA Cup : The club won the decisive game at AEK Athens 2-0.
• Athens / Greece . A bus with 25 passengers is hijacked in Athens. The kidnappers want to force a flight to Russia . All hostages will later be released unharmed.
• London / United Kingdom . British Home Secretary David Blunkett resigns. He was accused of abuse of office.
• Berlin / Germany . At the Berlin Holocaust Memorial , the last of the approximately 2,700 steles will be set in a ceremony.
• USA . Sprint Communications and Nextel merge for $ 36 billion to create Sprint Nextel , the third largest American telecommunications company at the time .
• Germany in the lottery fever : A jackpot amounting to 25 million euros triggers a run on the acceptance points.
• Strasbourg / France . The European Parliament votes in a resolution with 407 to 262 votes for the start of EU accession negotiations with Turkey .
• Engelskirchen / Germany . The Christkindl post office opens until December 22nd. There, up to eight volunteer postal workers will reply to all children's wish lists in time by Christmas Eve.
• Houston / USA . The Russian oil company Yukos is insolvent and is applying for bankruptcy protection under US bankruptcy law.
• Berlin / Germany . The Federal Office for Goods Transport grants Toll Collect the operating license for the new toll system.
• Karbala / Iraq . A bomb attack is carried out on the office of Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali al Sistani . Eight people are killed and 30 injured.
• Berlin / Germany . Tom Koenigs will be the new human rights commissioner of the federal government. He replaces Claudia Roth in office.
• Nepal . At least six government soldiers and 20 rebels are killed in fighting.
• Geneva / Switzerland . According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it was the fourth warmest year since 1861 and the beginning of weather records. It's just past the 2003 heat wave .

Thursday December 16, 2004

• Atlanta / USA . CNNfn, a station in the Time Warner CNN group , is broadcasting its last program in nine years.
• Brussels / EU . The European Parliament passes the EU budget for 2005. The budget of the enlarged Union provides for an increase of 4.4 percent to around 106 billion euros.
• Berlin / Germany . A majority of the German Bundestag is in favor of starting accession talks between the EU and Turkey .
• Yokohama / Japan . The German national soccer team wins against Japan 3-0. The goal scorers were Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack .
• Berlin / Germany . US President George W. Bush is expected to visit Germany on February 22, 2005.
• Brussels / Belgium . The EU Council of Heads of State and Government of all member states begins in the Belgian capital . The main topic is a possible decision to start accession negotiations with Turkey .
• Potsdam / Germany . The highest jackpot in German lottery history has been cracked. The prize from the jackpot of 26.7 million euros goes to two lottery players from North Rhine-Westphalia
• London / United Kingdom . The UK Supreme Court ( Law Lords ) declares UK anti-terrorism inadmissible. The unlimited imprisonment of terror suspects is not constitutional, incompatible with the European human rights conventions and, moreover, discriminatory, as only foreigners are affected by this regulation.
• Rome / Italy . The Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi rejects the controversial judicial reform of the Silvio Berlusconi government .
• Paris / France . A court imposed prison sentences of between 18 months and 10 years for ten men who planned an attack in Strasbourg (according to the indictment on the Christmas market, according to the defense on the synagogue).

Friday December 17, 2004

• Brussels / Belgium . The European Union will start accession negotiations with Turkey on October 3, 2005 . The prerequisite is the recognition of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkey. Bulgaria and Romania should be able to join on January 1, 2007; signing is scheduled for April 25, 2005.
• Nyon / Switzerland . Soccer. The draw for the UEFA Cup results in the following pairings from a German point of view: FC Parma against VfB Stuttgart , the second division Alemannia Aachen meets AZ Alkmaar , Schachtar Donezk plays for FC Schalke 04 .
• Berlin / Germany . The Federal Council passes a law change on can deposit . Accordingly, it should be possible to return disposable packaging with a deposit to sellers of disposable packaging of the same type of material nationwide from spring 2006.
• Nyon / Switzerland . Soccer. The Champions League round of 16 will be drawn in Nyon . The Bayern Munich plays against Arsenal , Werder Bremen has Olympique Lyon to opponents and Bayer 04 Leverkusen has the Liverpool line up.
• Thimphu / Bhutan . Bhutan is the first country in the world to ban the sale of tobacco products .
• Berlin / Germany . The negotiations in the Federalism Commission fail. The reason for this are differences in educational policy.
• Berlin / Germany . The German Bundestag votes for a German music quota .

Saturday December 18, 2004

• Kourou / French Guiana . The European Ariane 5 launch vehicle transports the French "Helios II-A2" spy satellite into space. The flight was the 164th of an Ariane rocket and the 17th of an Ariane 5 rocket.
• Vienna / Austria . Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel honors Liese Prokop the new interior minister . She will be sworn in by the Federal President on Wednesday and is the first woman to hold this post.
• Aachen / Germany . In 2005 the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi received the International Charlemagne Prize for his services to Europe.
• Buenos Aires / Argentina . The UN climate conference ends in Buenos Aires . A follow-up meeting for May 2005 is agreed. USA , China and India are still not joining the Kyoto Protocol .

Sunday December 19, 2004

• New York / USA . George W. Bush is again named "Person of the Year" for 2004 by Time Magazine after 2000. The annual selection of the magazine aims at which person influenced the events in the year concerned - regardless of whether they were negative or positive.
• Moscow / Russia . The subsidiary Yuganskneftegas of the Russian oil company Yukos is foreclosed in Moscow. The bid was awarded to the unknown Baikal finance group, which is considered a cover company, with the equivalent of 7 billion euros, well below market value. The state-owned energy company Gazprom , previously traded as a safe buyer, did not bid.
• Busan / South Korea . The German national soccer team surprisingly loses the international test match against South Korea. Michael Ballack's goal was not enough. With a result of 1: 3 (1: 1) this was the first defeat under national coach Jürgen Klinsmann .
• Ashgabat / Turkmenistan . Parliamentary elections are held in Turkmenistan. A unity party rules the country, opposition parties are banned.
• Jakarta / Indonesia . A meteorite burns up over the Indonesian capital . Due to a previous terror warning, the loud explosion caused by the event caused great confusion.
• Maiwand / Afghanistan . 6 people are killed and four others injured in an attack on a military post.
• Sichuan / China . 14 miners die in an accident in a coal mine. Three more are injured.
• Chan Yunis / Palestinian Territories . In the largest attack by the Israeli army since the death of Yasser Arafat , 11 Palestinians died and 43 were injured. This was followed by a Palestinian rocket attack on Israel . Two people are injured in Sderot .
• Israel . The Israeli government has announced the release of 170 Palestinian prisoners.
• Iraq . Serious attacks in Iraq kill more than 60 people and injure 120. Najaf and Karbala , among others, are affected .

Monday December 20, 2004

• Zurich / Switzerland . The 24-year-old Brazilian Ronaldinho is named FIFA World Player of the Year . In the women’s category, Birgit Prinz from Germany defends her title.
• Frankfurt am Main / Germany . The former Frankfurt Vice Police President Wolfgang Daschner is found guilty of the order of a threat of torture in a police interrogation in the case of the kidnapping of Jakob von Metzler by the Frankfurt Regional Court . He is given a suspended fine.
• Berlin / Germany . The CDU chairwoman Angela Merkel decides that the party's general secretary, Laurenz Meyer , will remain in office despite controversial payments from RWE .
• Budapest / Hungary . The Hungarian parliament is the second country after Lithuania to ratify the EU constitutional treaty .
• Belfast , Northern Ireland . Bank robbers looted £ 26.5 million in a robbery on Northern Bank in Belfast. The Provisional IRA is later held responsible for the act, but denies involvement.

Tuesday December 21, 2004

• Bucharest / Romania . The Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Năstase resigns after losing the election.
• Kennedy Space Center / USA . The largest and most powerful launch vehicle in the world, " Delta 4 Heavy ", is successfully launched on its maiden flight. It can bring 22 tons of payload into low earth orbit.
• Mosul / Iraq . An attack on a US military base kills 22 people, including 19 US soldiers. 57 people are injured.
• Bangkok / Thailand. The German national soccer team wins 5-1 against Thailand in Bangkok .
• Dresden / Germany . Scientists from the Dresden Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Sintered Materials (IKTS) provide information about the registration of a patent for a material that is supposed to improve the service life of fuel cells through to everyday practicality.

Wednesday December 22, 2004

• Luxembourg / Luxembourg . The European Court of First Instance (EuGI) rejects Microsoft's application for a temporary injunction to suspend the European Commission's sanctions against them . Until the decision is made, the company must a. offer their Windows operating system in the EU without Windows Media Player .
• Berlin / Germany . The General Secretary of the CDU , Laurenz Meyer , finally resigns after renewed allegations of false information about RWE's salary payments .
• Baghdad / Iraq . The two French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot kidnapped four months ago by the group “Islamic Army in Iraq” are handed over to the French embassy in Baghdad.
• Madrid / Spain . In the Christmas lottery , which has been taking place since 1812 , of the 2.6 billion euros collected, a total of 1.8 billion euros is distributed. The main prize of 390 million euros is divided among around 2,000 winners due to the system.

Thursday December 23, 2004

• Frankfurt am Main / Germany . The euro is quoted on the Frankfurt stock exchange for the first time above 1.35 US dollars .
• Fuerteventura / Spain . A wrecked boat is salvaged off the coast of the Canary Island of Fuerteventura . The corpses of 13 African refugees are on board, and 30 more people can be rescued from distress at sea . Every year more than 100 people die trying to illegally go from the West African coast to the Canary Islands Fuerteventura and Lanzarote in small boats .
• Cologne / Germany . The late-night talk show presenter Harald Schmidt returns after switching from Sat.1 for ARD back and a year's break with the show "Harald Schmidt" on the screen.
• Macquarie Island / Australia . Not far from Macquarie Island, south of Australia, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 struck, which caused no further damage. Indirectly, however, it is possibly the trigger of the severe earthquake off Sumatra that occurred 3 days later, which resulted in a devastating tsunami.
• Moscow / Russia . Instead of the previous 39 percent, the government under President Vladimir Putin will receive an unknown majority stake in the gas monopoly Gazprom , which is taking over the state-owned oil company Rosneft , which in turn has acquired the "Baikal finance group". The letterbox company Baikalfinanzgruppe, which had been founded a few days earlier, had acquired the Yukos subsidiary Juganskneftegas, which was foreclosed by the government, under dubious circumstances.
• Ramallah / Palestinian Territories . Local council elections are held in the West Bank with high voter turnout . It is the first free election in nine years. They are seen as a mood test for the political balance of power after the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat .

Friday December 24, 2004

• Berlin / Germany . In his first Christmas address , Federal President Horst Köhler calls on Germans to be more human and courageous for change.
• San Pedro Sula / Honduras . Heavily armed perpetrators took control of a bus and murdered 27 passengers . There were numerous injuries. The motive for the act is unclear. Several suspects are arrested.

Saturday December 25, 2004

• Vatican city . Pope John Paul II calls for peace and dialogue in his Christmas message. The Pope also reminds of the war regions in Sudan , Iraq and Ivory Coast .
• Columbus (Ohio) / USA . More than 20 people die in a snowstorm that has struck the American Midwest for days . The states of Indiana , Kentucky , Missouri and Ohio are affected . Over 300,000 households are without electricity .
• Najaf / Iraq . A car bomb attack on a US military convoy between the cities of Najaf and Karbala kills five civilians .
• Planet saturn . The European landing unit Huygens decouples from the American mother ship Cassini and sets course for Saturn's moon Titan . Huygens is scheduled to land there on January 14th.
• Havana / Cuba . New oil deposits are discovered off the north coast of Cuba . The deposit found around 60 kilometers east of Havana presumably holds more than 100 million barrels .

Sunday December 26, 2004

The tsunami hit the coast of Thailand

• Southeast Asia / Indian Ocean : A seaquake of magnitude 9.3 on the Richter scale with subsequent devastating tsunami tidal waves occurs around 01:57 CET near Sumatra / Indonesia . In addition to Indonesia, the natural disaster hits India , Sri Lanka and Thailand in particular , killing around 230,000. See 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake .
• Kiev / Ukraine : Viktor Yushchenko wins another runoff election for the presidency of Ukraine. After counting 94.57% of the ballot papers, Yushchenko received 52.91% of the vote and the opposing candidate Viktor Yanukovych received 43.31%.

Monday December 27, 2004

• Kiev / Ukraine . The Ukrainian Transport Minister Heorhij Kirpa is found shot dead in his country house near Kiev. At first it is unclear whether Kirpa was murdered or committed suicide.
• Berlin / Germany . In December 2004 around 4.43 million people in Germany were officially registered as unemployed. That is the highest December number since 1997.

Tuesday December 28, 2004

• Washington, DC / United States : Another 25 American films that are considered to be particularly worth preserving will be entered into the National Film Registry , including the Rocky Horror Picture Show , The Clou and Giants .
• Wolfsburg / Germany : Media reports that the Lower Saxony SPD member of the state parliament and Wolfsburg mayor Ingolf Viereck receives salary payments from Volkswagen AG without being employed by the company or providing any other visible services for it. Viereck himself disclosed the payments.

Wednesday December 29, 2004

• Berlin / Germany : three days before the start of the truck toll in Germany , around 3,700 pay machines are put into operation.
• Frankfurt am Main / Germany : The euro has reached an all-time high against the US dollar of 1.3646 US dollars.

Thursday December 30, 2004

• Buenos Aires / Argentina : 169 people die and 375 are injured in a disco fire in the Argentine capital. The fire was triggered by fireworks that were ignited inside the building.
• Kiev / Ukraine : The country's Supreme Court dismisses all claims by the defeated candidate Viktor Yanukovych in connection with the re-run of the presidential election in Ukraine.

Friday December 31, 2004

Taipei 101 in Taipei

• Stockholm / Sweden : The Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds are made serious allegations in connection with the response of the Ministry to the flood disaster. After being briefed on the disaster on Sunday, she went to the theater and did not deal with the matter until Monday morning.
• Southeast Asia : The number of known fatalities from the December 26 tsunami in the Indic rises to over 120,000. It is expected that many more dead will be found. Initial reports of epidemics allegedly having broken out among the survivors have not been confirmed.
• Taipei / Taiwan : The tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 , is inaugurated in the Taiwanese capital . It measures 508 m and has 101 floors.

See also

• Nekrolog December 2004 for deaths that month
• List of annually recurring commemorative and action days in December
• Category for commemorative days, holidays or days of action in December

Web links

Valletta in December 2004

Commons : December 2004  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

 Wikinews: Article Published December 2004  - In The News

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The number of HIV-infected women is increasing worldwide. In: Spektrum.de . November 24, 2004, accessed March 1, 2017 . 
2. ↑ About EUFOR. In: euforbih.org, EUFOR . March 28, 2018, accessed September 27, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Wikinews: Milestones
4. ↑ Wikinews: BBC declares its own article about compensation payments for Bhopal victims to be a hoax
5. ↑ "Hartz IV" is word of the year. In: faz.net . December 10, 2004, accessed October 10, 2016 . 
6. ↑ World Cup, competitions 1960-2004. In: ifosta.de. Retrieved November 3, 2016 . 
7. ↑ Ironman winner Nina Kraft admits epo-doping. In: faz.net . November 10, 2004, accessed October 10, 2016 . 
8. ^ Schmidt happens. In: spiegel.de . December 20, 2004, accessed September 16, 2016 . 
9. ↑ Penguins escape huge earthquake. In: bbc.co.uk . December 24, 2004, accessed September 16, 2016 . 
10. ↑ Chronology since the Orange Revolution. In: kleinezeitung.at . February 19, 2014, accessed October 4, 2018 . 
11. ^ Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry. In: loc.gov . December 28, 2004, accessed October 28, 2018 . 
12. ^ Chronology of the VW salary affair. In: ksta.de . July 15, 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2018 .