October 18, 2004
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- India's most wanted bandit, sandalwood smuggler and elephant poacher Veerappan, is shot dead by the Special Task Force in Tamil Nadu at 11 p.m. IST, after having evaded capture for 20 years. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Venkaiah Naidu resigns from his post as president of India's main opposition party, BJP. He will be replaced by Lal Krishna Advani. (BBC)
- Conflict in Iraq:
- Early voting begins in Florida and ten other U.S. states for the 2004 U.S. presidential election, which officially takes place November 2. (CNN)
- A referendum is held in Belarus on a proposal by President Alexander Lukashenko to permit Lukashenko to run for a third term by amending the country's constitution to remove term limits. The Belarus electoral commission says the referendum won the support of at least 75 percent of voters, but independent elections monitors say that the voting procedures "fell significantly short" of international standards. In Minsk, the capital, more than 2,000 people protest the results of the referendum. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Iran says that it is willing to negotiate with the U.K., Germany, and France regarding a suspension of its uranium enrichment activities, but that it will never renounce its right to enrich uranium. Iran's nuclear program is currently under investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency. (Reuters)
- The Anglican Communion's Lambeth Commission on Communion releases the Windsor Report. The Commission recommends that churches throughout the Communion express regret for the divisions that they have caused in the Communion. This report was precipitated by the consecration of the openly gay Reverend Gene Robinson as a bishop in the United States Episcopal Church, and by the responses of other Anglican churches to his consecration. (BBC) (Windsor Report)
- David Ortiz single-handedly triumphed over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series twice on this day. His first triumph occurred at 1:10 a.m. EST when he hit a two-run walkoff home run. At 10:50 p.m., Ortiz hit a walk-off single into center field. [1]
- Australian journalist John Martinkus is released after approximately one day in the custody of unknown captors in Iraq. Martinkus was in Iraq compiling a report for SBS' Dateline program. (AAP)
