The United States defence budget is set to exceed US$400400 billion next year—an almost 7% increase—according to budget proposals inadvertently posted on the Pentagon's website. [1][1]
The Svalbard Undersea Cable System is officially put into operation, giving the island group at 78° North a 40Gb connection to the Norwegian mainland. The dual 1,440 km fiber optic lines from Svalbard to Harstad is needed for communicating with polar orbiting satellite stations on Svalbard, some owned by NASA and NOAA. [1], [1]
Former French Prime Minister and current Mayor of BordeauxAlain Juppe is convicted of a party funding scam in the 1980s and early 1990s, and is given an 18 month suspended jail sentence and disqualified from elected office for 10 years, although he retains his mayoralty pending his appeal. He had been viewed as Jacques Chirac's likely successor in the 2007 Presidential election. [1]
Sheik Ahmed Yassin, leader of Hamas, announces that his group is making an all-out effort to kidnap Israeli soldiers to use as bargaining chips for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, following the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in which the remains of three Israeli soldiers and a businessman were exchanged for over 400 prisoners on January 29, 2004. [1]
Self-confessed GermancannibalArmin Meiwes is sentenced to 8 years and 6 months' imprisonment for manslaughter[1]. The prosecution had sought a life sentence for murder.
A 60-ton sperm whale carcass explodes in downtown Tainan, Taiwan, causing traffic chaos and showering vehicles and pedestrians with blood and entrails. [1]
A report submitted today to the State of Maryland states that the electronic votingmachiness made by Diebold "have such poor computer security and physical security that an election could be disrupted or even stolen by corrupt insiders or determined outsiders". The machines have been purchased by a number of states in the United States. [1] This is the third report to state that the machines do not meet the security requirements of an election. Previous reports are available online: [1], [1].
Hutton Inquiry: The BBC Director-General, Greg Dyke, resigns in the continuing fall-out from the report. Mr Dyke is the second high-ranking BBC official to resign. Mark Byford is appointed Acting Director-General. [1] The UK media in general condemns the report as a whitewash. [1]
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades of Fatah claim responsibility for a suicide bombing aboard a city bus, in which Ali Yusuf Jaara, a member of the Palestinian police force, kills 10 Israelis and wounds more than 50, outside the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem. Simultaneously with the bombing, Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Defense Minister, is meeting with American envoys Wolfe and Sauterfield, who have requested an easing-up of conditions for the Palestinians. The explosion also coincides with a German-brokered prisoner swap between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah. [1][1][1]
David Kay testifies before a United States Senatecommittee stating that evidence of weapons of mass destruction was based on inaccurate intelligence. "I believe that the effort that has been directed to this point has been sufficiently intense that it is highly unlikely that there were large stockpiles of deployed, militarized chemical weapons there" and, even if Iraq did not have weapons stockpiles, this does not mean that nation wasn't dangerous. Kay urges for an inquiry into the intelligence failure and states that the United States needed better intelligence. [1][1][1][1]
San Jose, California mayor Ron Gonzales suffers a mild stroke while giving the State of the City address. The mayor is expected to make a full recovery.
A rare artefact from 1800s used against witchcraft is found in United Kingdom. Now displayed in a museum. [1]
British Prime Minister Tony Blair narrowly defeats a rebellion in his own party over the Higher Education Bill - a highly controversial bill to reform higher education funding, including the introduction of increased and variable tuition fees. It is approved in the House of Commons by 316 votes to 311. [1][1]
Avian influenza has now been detected in a total of nine countries, with Pakistan and Laos as the latest additions. Pakistan has detected less dangerous strains H7 and H9. A six-year-old Thai boy became the seventh victim in Asia, with another ten suspected cases in the country. Around 19 million chickens have been slaughtered as a result of fighting the spread of the flu. The World Health Organisation expresses concern about a serious human outbreak. (WHO)[2]class="external">[1
