January 2005 - January 6, 2005

January 6, 2005

• Former South African President Nelson Mandela breaks a strong taboo when he announces that the death at age 54 of his sole surviving son, Makgatho Mandela, was caused by AIDS, which kills about 600 people daily in South Africa. His action is viewed as being critical of his successor, Thabo Mbeki, who has denied a link between HIV and AIDS. (ABC), (BBC).
• 2004 United States election voting controversies:
  • House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff releases a 100 page report on the Ohio election.
  • For the first time since 1877, the electoral vote certification in Congress was interrupted by a formal challenge to an entire state's Electoral votes. The challenge of Ohio's Electoral votes, brought by U.S. Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones and U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, lead to a 2-hour debate. The challenge was rejected by a vote of 1-74 (Yea-Nay) by the Senate and by a vote of 31-267 in the House; the electoral vote for the presidency is officially certified as 286 for Republican George W. Bush, 251 for Democrat John Kerry, and 1 for Democrat John Edwards, leading to Bush's reelection. (CNN)
• Camp X-Ray: The United States Department of Defense announces a new investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse at the Camp X-Ray detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (BBC)
• Conflict in Iraq: An Iraqi civilian testifies that U.S soldiers, including Sergeant Tracy Perkins, forced him and his cousin to jump into the Tigris and laughed as his relative was swept to his death. (BBC)
• 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake: World leaders gather in Jakarta, Indonesia, for an emergency summit with the United Nations. Aid pledges since the Asian Tsunami disaster are near USD 4 billion (€ 3 billion). Nearly 150,000 people have been confirmed dead in the four hardest hit nations - Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. (CNA)