August 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December
See also: August 2004 in sports
Events
- The WTO authorizes the imposition of sanctions against the United States for persistent violation of global trade laws. (NYT)
- A female suicide bomber kills ten and injures 51 others near a subway station in Moscow. (CNN) (Reuters) (BBC)
- Despite demands from Iraqi resistance Islamist militant elements threatening to kill two French hostages, France upholds its law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools, specifically its ban on Muslim hijabs. (ABC News)(Reuters)
- In Iraq, the radical Islamist group, Army of Ansar al-Sunna, kill 12 Nepali civilians employed as cooks and cleaners, stating "We have carried out the sentence of God against 12 Nepalis who came from their country to fight the Muslims and to serve the Jews and the Christians ... believing in Buddha as their God" (Reuters)
- Repeated attacks on pipelines linked to southern oil fields have significantly hampered oil exports from Iraq. (Washington Post)(Moscow Times)
- Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević, a University of Belgrade Faculty of Law graduate, opens his defence at the trial which accuses him of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his alleged role in the conflicts in which tens of thousands were killed. He maintains the charges are 'unscrupulous lies'. (BBC News) (Reuters)
- Palestinian suicide bombers kill at least 16 Israelis and wound more than 91 others aboard two city buses in Beer Sheva, Israel in the first successful Palestinian suicide bombings since March 14, 2004, with Hamas claiming responsibility. (BBC) (Haaretz)
- Afghan police say a United States bombing raid killed at least six civilians in the eastern province of Kunar. (Reuters) (BBC)
- 2004 Atlantic hurricane season: Hurricane Frances affects the British Virgin Islands, the United States Virgin Islands and the northern-east part of Puerto Rico. (AP/The Star Tribune)
- California Governor and former Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger extols the United States as a greater source of good in the world than the UN: "If you believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope of democracy in the world, then you are a Republican," he shouts, at the Republican National Convention. (Washington Times) (BBC)
- Following a dramatic intra-party campaign, Betty Castor and Mel Martinez win primary elections in Florida for the U.S. Senate election, 2004. The seat is the most heavily contested in the U.S. Congress, with over $30 million budgeted among twelve candidates' campaigns. (AP/Bradenton Herald)
- The two smallest extrasolar planets ever discovered are announced: one orbiting 55 Cancri in the constellation Cancer, and another orbiting Gliese 436 in the constellation Leo. They are both around the size of Neptune. (Globe and Mail)
- 2004 Atlantic hurricane season: Tropical Storm Gaston makes landfall at Bulls Bay, South Carolina with near hurricane strength 70 mph winds. (CNN)
- An explosion at a school in southern Afghanistan has killed at least 10 people, many of them children, the US military has said. (BBC)
- Australian Prime Minister John Howard announces that the 2004 Australian federal election will take place on October 9, 2004. (ABC Au)
- The 2004 Summer Olympics are closed by IOC President Jacques Rogge. (Reuters)
- More than 400,000 demonstrators march in New York City, protesting U.S. President George W. Bush and the policies of the Republican Party on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention. Republican delegates and politicians, including Vice President Dick Cheney, also begin to arrive in the city. (The Scotsman) (Houston Chronicle) (Reuters) (BBC)
- The Lebanese Cabinet, under Syrian pressure and despite widespread opposition, votes to modify the constitution to allow President Émile Lahoud a second term in office. Patriarch Sfeir states "we have completely lost sovereignty of our territory and our independence and freedom in choosing our rulers and deciding our own affairs." (NYT)
- The British Royal Society, with 68 other organizations, urges the UN to ban reproductive but not therapeutic use of the technology in response to a US bid to ban human cloning altogether. (BBC)
- Between 5,000 and 6,000 participants take part in the Critical Mass bicyclist ride as part of the 2004 Republican National Convention protest activity. The monthly NYC Critical Mass ride usually attracts about 1500 riders. Police eventually arrested 264 people for deliberately blockading roads during the event. This is the first time the NYPD made any significant arrests of Critical Mass participants. (NYC-IMC)
- Interbrew completes its merger with Ambev. Both were among the top five largest breweries in the world, and together they will become the largest, when measured by volume. The merged company will be called InBev (Bloomberg)
- The FBI has launched a full espionage investigation into Larry Franklin after obtaining evidence pointing to a high-ranking spy in the Pentagon. According to CBS News, the spy has been giving classified secrets to Israel which could compromise U.S. national security. Israel denies the charges.
- Following the intervention of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, an agreement is found to end the standoff in Najaf. Although the terms are not clear, the deal requires both the al-Sadr militia and U.S. troops to leave the city, to be replaced by the police interim government. Responsibility for the Imam Ali Mosque goes to Sistani. (BBC) This resolution occurs two days before the one year anniversary of the assassination of Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, a prominent Shi'ite cleric from Najaf.
- The Russian Federal Security Service announces that traces of the explosive hexogen have been found in the wreckage of the two Russia airliners which crashed on August 24, 2004. The Islamic group "the Islambouli Brigades" claims responsibility. (AP)
- Enzo Baldoni, an Italian journalist kidnapped by Islamic militants in Iraq, is killed by his kidnappers. (Reuters)
- The Interior Minister of France announces that the number of anti-Semitic attacks in France this year is more than double that of the same period last year. (Reuters)
- An on-going battle, apparently between a combination of U.S. and Iraqi forces, and the al-Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr, damages two of minarets of the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq, which al-Sadr's forces occupied. (CNN)
- Artillery and mortar fire again rock Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia, scuppering efforts to enforce a ceasefire. (BBC)
- At the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Durban, South African President Thabo Mbeki calls for reform of the UN and other international institutions, saying that developing countries should not allow powerful nations to dictate the world on their own terms. (BBC)
- A jury including U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey convicts Dion Coleman of murder after two hours of deliberation. (BBC)
- Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, vows to press on with his disengagement plan, despite it receiving another rejection from his Likud party. (BBC)
- Nature magazine reveals that five new satellites and a further candidate moon have been discovered orbiting Neptune, bringing its tally to 13. (BBC)
- Shares of stock in Google, Inc. begin trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange at around $100 per share in one of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings of the year. It is estimated that the IPO raised a total of $1.66 billion, the third highest ever for an IPO. (Reuters) (CBS MarketWatch)
- Hungarian prime minister Péter Medgyessy resigns following a row with his Socialist party's liberal coalition partner, the Free Democrats. (BBC)
- Aides to rebel Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr report that he has been wounded in fighting in the holy city of Najaf; the government denies the reports. The Najaf offensive triggers pro-Sadr protests in cities all over Iraq. (BBC)(protest pictures - BBC)
- In Basra, Iraq, masked militants kidnap and threaten to kill James Brandon, 23, a freelance British journalist, working for the Sunday Telegraph, unless US troops withdraw from Najaf within 24 hours. He is released after intervention by al-Sadr. (BBC)
- Hurricane Charley makes landfall just north of Fort Myers, Florida, USA, around 16:00 EDT (2000 UTC). At landfall, Charley has a windspeed of 145 mi/h (230 km/h), Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. There are multiple fatalites.(CNN)
- A spectacular opening ceremony marks the start of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. (Athens 2004) (BBC)
- A group of women kill an alleged rapist during his trial in Nagpur, India. (BBC)
- Microsoft issues Service Pack 2 for its Windows XP operating system. (BBC)
- Pakistan protests to the U.S. over an FBI sting operation involving a fake plot to kill Pakistan's UN envoy. (BBC)
- At least 15,000 people are left homeless after several days of storms and heavy rains around the South African city of Cape Town. (BBC)
- A non-radioactive steam leak at the nuclear power plant in Mihama, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, kills 4 and scalds 8 others. (AP)
- Richard Butler, the controversial governor of the Australian state of Tasmania, resigns. (ABCnews)
- Fierce fighting continues between U.S. forces and backers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Sadr threatens that he "will defend Najaf until my last drop of blood." According to the U.S. military, U.S forces have killed 300 supporters of Sadr in some of the most violent clashes since the fall of Baghdad. (democracy now!)
- Scientists speaking at a news conference on natural disasters raise the alarm that the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, Canary Islands, could erupt at any time, sending a 250 sq.km. rock crashing into the Atlantic Ocean and producing a tsunami that could devastate the Atlantic's coastline, within hours. Very little seismological monitoring of the volcano is being carried out. (BBC)
- Pacific Islands Forum leaders call for assistance for Nauru to prevent the emergence of another "failed state". (The Age)
- U.S. Senate election, 2004: Alan Keyes, a resident of Maryland, indicates he will seek the Republican nomination for the Illinois seat, to run against Barack Obama. (CNN)
- Mohammed M. Hossain and Yassin M. Aref, leaders of the Masjid as-Salam mosque in Albany, New York, are arrested for their part in an alleged plot (actually an FBI sting operation) to use an RPG-7 to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat in New York City.
- A Kuwaiti transport company says it is willing to pay millions of dollars ransom to secure hostages' release. (Times of India)
- In Derry, Northern Ireland, police are attacked by people carrying petrol bombs. (Reuters)
- Saudi police arrest terror suspect Faris Ahmed Jamaan al-Showeel al-Zahrani. (ABC)
- Israel reopens the Gaza-Egypt border crossing after a three-weeks shutdown, allowing 1,500 Palestinians on the Egyptian side to return home. (AP)
- Two Afghan men deny being enemy fighters, in appearances before U.S. military tribunals reviewing the status of Guantanamo Bay detainees. For the first time, the US allows journalists to attend the hearings.
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