May 4, 2004

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[edit] May 4, 2004

• The Legislative Yuan in Taiwan passes a bill mandating that official documents in Chinese be written from left to right instead of right to left, ending centuries of tradition. (Straits Times) (BBC)
• The United Nations Commission on Human Rights elects thirteen countries to serve on it for 3-year terms. Sudan is elected unopposed to represent the African bloc, prompting a walk-out by the U.S. delegation. (NYT) (CNN)
• Hundreds of Muslim cattle herders are killed by Christian farmers in central Nigerian town of Yelwa. (Reuters)
• U.S. Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress condemn the alleged mistreatment of Iraqi detainees in the strongest terms and call for a congressional investigation. (Reuters) (PolitInfo)
• Iraq Occupation and resistance:
  • The Pentagon announces that it plans to keep as many as 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq through the end of 2005. (Bloomberg) (NYT)
  • The U.S. Department of Defense announces that 37,000 National Guardsmen and 10,000 active duty Army and Marine Corps troops are to be called up to serve a one-year tour of duty in Iraq by early 2005. (AP)
• A Chicago laboratory announces they helped choose embryos by genetic testing to yield five babies who could donate stem cells to sick siblings. (CNN)
• William Krar, a Texan with ties to white supremacists, is sentenced to 11 years in prison after he pled guilty to building and possessing chemical weapons in what has been described as one of the most serious cases of domestic terrorism since the Oklahoma City bombing. (Reuters) (KRT) (AP)