Portal:Current events/2004 November 7

November 7, 2004 (Sunday)

In Broward County, officials find the software used in Broward can handle only 32,000 votes per precinct. After that, the system starts counting backward. The problem affected running tallies and not the final vote totals. All absentee ballots had been placed in a single precinct to be counted and only the votes for constitutional amendments reached the threshold and encountered the problem. (The Palm Beach Post)
In Palm Beach County, about 88,000 more votes are recorded than voters recorded as having turned out for the election. (The Washington Dispatch)
U.S. Federal District Judge James Robertson rules that the system of tribunals set up by the United States military to try and sentence prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay is illegal. (Washington Post) (ACLU) (The Guardian)
Microsoft announces it will pay Novell USD $536 million to settle its ten-year-long antitrust suit and will pay legal costs incurred by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA). In return, CCIA will not pursue its arguments in favor of the European Union's antitrust suit. (Reuters) Archived 2013-09-29 at archive.today
The Pitcairn Island governing council selects the first female mayor in its 214-year history after the former mayor, Steve Christian, was convicted of rape. (BBC)
The United States dollar falls to a record low of $1.2985 against the euro. (BBC)
China confirms that two Hong Kong officials have been convicted and jailed for spying for the United Kingdom. (BBC)
Intelligence services intercept FARC guerrilla communications calling all units to focus on assassinating Colombian President Álvaro Uribe. (BBC)
Russian troops storm a Chechen rebel base and kill 22 militants. (Reuters) Archived 2005-01-04 at the Wayback Machine
Conflict in Iraq:
- Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi publicly authorizes an offensive in Fallujah and Ramadi to "liberate the people" and "clean Falluja of terrorists". U.S. and Iraqi forces advance. A hospital doctor in Falluja reports 15 people killed and 20 wounded. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link]}(BBC)
- In Baghdad, three Iraqis are killed when a suicide car bomb explodes near a U.S. convoy. A U.K. soldier is killed by a roadside bomb near Camp Dogwood. A U.S. soldier is killed when gunmen open fire on a military patrol. At least three people are killed and 40 others injured in explosions at two Christian churches. (Reuters) Archived 2005-03-10 at the Wayback Machine (BBC)
Illness of Yasser Arafat: Officials of the Palestinian Authority travel to France to see Yasser Arafat. Suha Arafat, wife of Yasser Arafat, says, "They are trying to bury Abu Ammar (Arafat) alive". Israeli security officials believe Arafat is brain-dead or comatose, and is on life support equipment and will be disconnected on Tuesday, the Muslim holiday of Lailat-ul-Qadr so that he will be declared dead on that day. (Reuters) Archived 2005-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
A 5.8 magnitude earthquake rocks northern Japan. It was centered close to the Earth's surface in the Chuetsu area of Niigata prefecture. (CNN)
A Muslim school in Eindhoven in the Netherlands suffers a bomb attack. It is believed to be a revenge attack in retaliation for the murder of Theo van Gogh, following a weekend in which several mosques were attacked throughout the Netherlands. (BBC)
The current wave of violence in Côte d'Ivoire causes London markets to fear a lack of cocoa exports, sending cocoa to a five-year high. French forces, including tanks, deploy throughout the country's largest city, Abidjan, to restore order. (BBC)
An electronic voting machine in 1B in Franklin County, Ohio, recorded 260 votes for John Kerry and 4258 votes for George W. Bush though only 638 people voted there, one of several alleged problems. (IDG) [https://web.archive.org/web/20050416015433/http://asia.cnet.com/news/security/0,39037064,39200322,00.htm (c