December 31, 2004

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[edit] December 31, 2004

• Colombia extradites FARC leader Simón Trinidad to the USA to face conspiracy, kidnapping, and drug trafficking charges. (BBC)
• Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovych resigns from his post as Prime Minister. (Reuters)
• Taipei 101, the world's tallest skyscraper, is officially opened by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian. (CNN) (Washington Times)
• 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
  • Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia, Rusdihardjo, claims that the death toll from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake may eventually exceed 400,000 in Indonesia alone. (Malaysia Star) (Washington Times)
  • The Canadian government pledges to match dollar-for-dollar the donations of private Canadian citizens, in addition to the $40,000,000 in federal funds already committed; so far, Canadians have donated CAD 20,000,000, mostly on-line. The government also announces plans to forgive the debt of the tsunami ravaged nations. (GM) (CTV) (Ottawa Citizen)
  • The US government pledges $350,000,000 for relief. (BBC)
  • In 48 hours British charities have raised £45,000,000 from public donations; the UK government increases its donation from £15,000,000 to £50,000,000. (BBC)
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
  • At least two Palestinians are killed when an Israeli aircraft fires a missile at the Khan Younis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
  • A 16-year-old Palestinian boy dies after being shot in Rafah, near the border with Egypt. (BBC)
• In Pakistan, president Pervez Musharraf announces that he will keep his additional role as an army chief. He had previously stated that he would give it up. (Reuters) (Pakistan Dawn) (Times of India)
• North Korea announces that it may break off talks about the fate of the eight Japanese citizens it kidnapped in the 1980s. (Channel News Asia) (Mainichi Shimbun) (Reuters)
• The cabinet of Spain approves the Zapatero administration's bill to legalize same-sex marriage. It will now go to the Cortes. [1]