November 17, 2004
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- Conflict in Iraq: U.S. officers in Fallujah say marines are "cleaning up" remaining insurgents, as artillery and airstrikes continue. In Baiji, A suicide car bomb kills 15 Iraqis and wounds 22. Three Turkish truck drivers are ambushed and killed in Mosul. In Ramadi, nine Iraqis are killed and 15 wounded when U.S. forces confront insurgents. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Three apparently home-made explosive devices are detonated in three Buenos Aires banks in Argentina, killing a security guard and wounding a police officer. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Kmart purchases Sears in a deal worth $11.5 billion. The combined resources of the companies results in a $55 billion/year company and encompasses close to 3,500 stores. (Reuters)
- The British House of Lords passes a bill to allow same-sex couples to obtain civil partnerships. This is the final legislative hurdle for the bill, which is expected to receive Royal Assent later in the week. [1]
- Iran's nuclear program: A spokesman for the controversial National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) states that Pakistani nuclear scientist "Abdul Qadeer Khan gave Iran a quantity of HEU (highly enriched uranium) in 2001" and a nuclear bomb design and that Iran "continues to enrich uranium as we speak". (Reuters)
- Death of Yasser Arafat: Le Monde reports that former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat suffered from cirrhosis before dying. (IOL, Ireland)
- The U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has launched the National Children's Study to follow 100,000 humans from birth to age 21 in what will be the largest-ever comprehensive study of children. (Reuters)
- Dino Rossi defeats Christine Gregoire by 261 votes in the Washington governor's race, pending a state-mandated recount. It is the final undecided race of the 2004 United States election season. (Note: After the recount, Gregoire is shown to have, in fact, won the highly contested race.)
