November 9, 2003

=November 9, 2003=

* Guatemalan election: Large numbers of voters turn out for the general election, despite fears of violence. In the presidential race, former Guatemala City mayor Óscar Berger receives 34% of the vote, and center-left candidate Álvaro Colom gets 26%; former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt comes in third in with 19%. A run-off vote between Berger and Colom is to take place on December 28. [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N10212574.htm] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3256721.stm]
* Coca Cola sends some of its most senior executives to Dublin to discuss a spreading student boycott of Coca Cola products. Students in University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, National University of Ireland, Maynooth and Queens University Belfast announced their boycott amid allegations of ill-treatment of Colombian workers who bottle the company's drinks for sale in Latin America. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-887398,00.html]
* Japan general election: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wins the election in Japan but with a reduced majority. The opposition Democratic Party is projected to win almost 180 seats which for the first time will take them into the position of forming a credible opposition. Other small parties like Japan Communist Party loses seats significantly, making two-party system realistic in politics of Japan. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3254075.stm] [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20031110e1.htm]
* War on Terrorism :
** Seventeen people are killed and more than 120 are injured, many of them children, in a midnight car bomb attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=MPGZ5XEVQGOHSCRBAEKSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=3783647] Suspicions immediately fall on the terrorist movement al-Qaeda. The victims included Saudis as well as Sudanese, Lebanese, and Egyptian residents of the compound, which was less rigorously protected than similar facilities inhabited by westerners. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3254103.stm] [http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1110593,00.htm] [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/24/terror/main579968.shtml]
** The Venice Commission: (The European Commission for Democracy through Law) criticizes the regime under which men are held in Guantanamo Bay. It concludes that it is wrong to ignore the Geneva Conventions and basic human rights law. [http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=031108001265&query=Venice&vsc_appId=totalSearch&state=Form]
** British special forces commanders criticise the quality of the intelligence given to them before and during the conflict with Iraq. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/11/09/nirq09.xml]
** The UK Secretary of Defence Geoff Hoon is accused of providing misleading figures about the true cost of conflict in Iraq. [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200311/09/eng20031109_127925.shtml]
** U.S. troops shoot and kill Mohannad Ghazi al Kaabi, the appointed interim mayor of Sadr City (formerly Saddam City), Baghdad. [http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=7741] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3260469.stm] The incident reportedly occurs from a confrontation following Mohannad's refusal to follow instructions from the on-site security official. The security official was enforcing security procedures stemming from recent car bombing incidents in accordance with standard rules of engagement. [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s986884.htm]
* Peruvian armed forces capture a leader of the Shining Path rebel group after a clash in the Andes in which four guerrillas were killed and an officer wounded. [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=400935&section=news]
* 2003 Rugby Union World Cup: England beats Wales to reach the semi-final of the World Cup, but Wales led in the first half. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/3243911.stm]
* Beginning at about 1 a.m. UTC there is a lunar eclipse, visible from the Americas, Europe, Africa, central Asia.
* William Donaldson, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, launches a scathing attack on the US securities and mutual fund industries. [http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1066565719033&p=1012571727088] Eliot Spitzer, New York Attorney General, is expected to shortly file civil and criminal charges against a widening group of fund management companies. [http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1066565747059&p=1012571727088]
* Experts conclude that dioxin probably killed off the trout in the Great Lakes. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031109/D7UMP0OO0.html]
* In the United States, support for George W. Bush decreases as casualties mount in Iraq. [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=461948]
* British bank Barclays Bank Plc is reported to be in talks with 3 US banks with regard to a takeover bid for one of them. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=1PNZWSW3S0YMCCRBAEOCFEY?type=businessNews&storyID=3782435]