01|Charles, Prince of Wales, begins an official tour of South Africa. With him is his son, Prince Harry, making his first public appearance since the death of his mother (see August 31). Prince Charles introduces South African President Nelson Mandela to a British pop group, the Spice Girls, before a Nations Trust charity concert in Johannesburg.|
01|The south of England is suffering from its worst drought since records began, raising concerns that new water restrictions may be enforced. The past 30 months are the driest such period ever recorded, and environmental damage is threatened unless substantial rain falls during the winter.|
02|A ceremony in remembrance of homosexual soldiers takes place at the Cenotaph in London, with gay servicemen and women paying tribute to those who lost their lives during active service. The event is controversial and is condemned by the Royal British Legion as "distasteful and offensive".|
02|The leaders of Japan and Russia pledge to seal a peace treaty by the year 2000, ending territorial disputes that have lasted since the end of the World War II. The talks between President Yeltsin and Prime Minister Hashimoto take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, and promise a new era of cooperation between the two powers.|
03|In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jim Bolger announces he will stand down after seven years in office, leaving Jenny Shipley as leader of the National Party which forms part of the country's current coalition government. This move is expected to lead to Shipley gaining power as New Zealand's first female prime minister.|
03|In the United Kingdom, a businessman is jailed for life for the murder of his wife in the Punjab in 1987. Just prior to the death of Ninderjit Kaur Kular, her husband, Mohan Singh Kular insured her life for more than 1.3 million U.S. dollars. He then bribed officials in India to uphold his claim that she was killed in a traffic accident. It has taken ten years for British police to uncover the true version of events.|
04|Australia proposes the conversion of two of its three Antarctic research bases into summer tourist centres. Because Australia has a territorial claim on 43 per cent of Antarctica, environmentalists fear that tourism will threaten the area's ecosystem. Officials stress that the influx of tourists will be strictly controlled, and the proposition will effectively meet the growing demand for access to the continent for exploration.|
04|The judge in the trial of au pair Louise Woodward is to announce his decision to uphold, overturn, or change her conviction via a web page on the Internet. This is the first time that the Internet has been used to directly release a court decision (see also October 30 and November 10).|
04|It is announced by a British research team in London that they have successfully developed a technique for repairing damaged brain tissue in rodents. The new treatment transplants brain cells grown from fetal tissue into a damaged brain. The transplanted cells then migrate to the areas of damage and take on the characteristics of the dead cells. It is hoped the treatment can be developed to lead to cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.|
05|Ireland's Labour Party Leader Dick Spring steps down after 15 years in office. A cabinet minister since 1981, Spring retires following Mary McAleese's defeat of his preferred candidate in the presidential elections (see October 30).|
05|A former prisoner of the Auschwitz concentration camp is paid compensation from the German government, who were proven to have financially benefited from the slave labour enforced upon the plaintiff. This is the first time the German government has been successfully sued for compensation, and it is thought that many more former prisoners will now lodge their own complaints against the state.|
05|In South East Asia, 265 people die and thousands more are missing as Typhoon Linda devastates areas in and around Thailand and Vietnam. In Vietnam, 128-kilometres-per-hour winds and 3.3-metre-high waves leave 235 dead, and a further 150,000 homeless. The damage caused by the typhoon is expected to run into hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.|
05|Sir Isaiah Berlin, the Russian philosopher and historian famous as a witness and commentator on the most significant events of this century, dies aged 88. Sir Isaiah, a strong believer in the importance of integrating philosophy with human affairs, was also well known for his theories of liberalism, and his belief in the principle of liberty. He dies in hospital in Oxford, UK, and is remembered by many as "the world's wisest man".|
06|Snorre Linquist, a Swedish architect, wins an international competition to redesign Bethlehem, a town in the West Bank, for the millennium. Linquist is to undertake the redesigning of Manger Square, birthplace of Jesus, as part of the "Bethlehem 2000" scheme aimed at improving the appearance of one of the most important places of pilgrimage for Christians.|
06|Torrential rainstorms in southern Portugal and Spain kill 31 people and leave others injured. The 100-kilometres-per-hour winds devastate villages in southern regions, cutting off electricity and telephone supplies, as well as road, rail, and air links. Army units are brought in to help free those trapped by the waters, and to clear up the debris left by the storms.|
07|The strike by French truck drivers that began on November 2 ends as a pay deal is struck between the largest French drivers' union and employers. Work is begun to remove the barricades that have blocked many roads, and caused frustration for drivers trapped in the country.|
07|In Japan, an animated film smashes box office records and proves more popular and lucrative than even "ET", Steven Spielberg's record-breaking film. "The Princess Mononoke" carries an environmental message, and is accompanied by a range of themed souvenirs.|
08|In China, the main channel of the Yangtse River is blocked as work begins on the construction of the controversial Three Gorges Dam. The dam is due to be completed by 2009, and will cause the relocation of 1.2 million people whose homes will be flooded as the river's course is blocked. The dam project has been attacked as dangerous. Some experts predict that any dam attempting to contain the Yangtse, the third longest river in the world, will inevitably collapse. The project, which will involve the creation of a 183-metre-high dam and a 644-kilometre-long reservoir, has also been condemned because it will flood areas of archaeological interest and exterminate the rare river dolphin. Once completed, the dam will be capable of generating as much electricity as about 18 nuclear power plants.|
09|Throughout the UK, a two minute silence is observed at 11 am as those who died in active service are remembered. In London, the Queen, Queen Mother, and other members of the British Royal family attend the Remembrance Sunday Memorial ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. In Coventry, the Japanese Ambassador Sadayuki Hayashi lays a wreath at the city's cathedral, becoming the first Japanese representative to pay such a tribute in the UK.|
09|The US spacecraft Soho discovers a magnetic field lying between the Sun's surface and its corona. This field transfers energy to the corona, resulting in it becoming a hundred times hotter than the actual surface of the sun.|
09|President Nursultan of Kazakhstan presides over the ceremony marking the move of the country's capital from Almaty to Akmola.|
09|Israeli archaeologists reveal the discovery of a large rock in Jerusalem, thought to be that which was worshipped as the resting place of the Virgin Mary as she travelled to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus Christ. The stone, believed to have been revered by Christians until the 1,000's, has been excavated from a site along the road to Bethlehem from Jerusalem.|
10|Archaeologists announce the discovery of a Neolithic temple in Somerset, in the United Kingdom. The 5,000-year-old structure is the largest prehistoric building ever discovered, and is near the site of the Stanton Drew stone circles. The site is entirely underground, and was discovered using a magnetometer. It is unlikely to be excavated for fear of damaging the structure. The temple is thought to be as important as Stonehenge, an ancient stone monument in Wiltshire, UK.|
10|China and Russia formally end a territorial dispute by signing a declaration that maps out the border between the two countries. Presidents Jiang Zemin and Boris Yeltsin signed the agreement in Beijing at the end of the Sino-Russian summit, ending a territorial dispute that has lasted since the 1600's.|
10|In Boston, U.S.A., British au pair Louise Woodward has her murder conviction reduced to manslaughter by Judge Hiller Zobel. Zobel passes a sentence of 279 days in prison, the time already served by Woodward since she was charged in February. Woodward walks free from the courtroom but is ordered to stay in the USA until a prosecution appeal has been heard (see also November 4 and October 30).|
11|The European Court of Justice rules against a male teacher's claim that he lost a promotion because of his gender. Helmut Marschall of Germany took his claim to court when a female colleague was given the job under "female promotion" rules. The court's ruling means that preferring women who are equally qualified for jobs does not infringe equal opportunity regulations, and is hailed as a "victory for working women".|
11|The mayor of Lokeren in Belgium issues a special decree banning people from gathering in groups of more than five. The decree follows a period of unrest in and around Belgium's capital, Brussels, between armed police and hundreds of immigrants, most of whom come from North Africa.|
12|Ronnie Biggs avoids extradition from Brazil to the United Kingdom 32 years after escaping from Wandsworth Prison where he was imprisoned for his part in the Great Train Robbery. Brazil's Supreme Court rejects the UK's extradition case on the grounds that their statute of limitations prevents action being taken on crimes committed more than twenty years ago. Biggs is now certain of escaping British justice if he remains at his home in Rio de Janeiro.|
12|In China, a team of Chinese and American scientists reveal the discovery of the near-perfect skeleton of a mammal that lived almost 140 million years ago. It is hoped the rat-like mammal will give information about the development of evolution.|
12|Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and Eyad Ismail are found guilty of the bomb attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 which killed six people and injured more than a thousand others. Yousef was found guilty of masterminding a plot to destroy the building and kill many thousands of people, and Ismail was convicted on conspiracy charges. Both men face life in prison without parole.|
13|Scientists from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London announce their discovery that a cancer cell's signalling mechanism is on the surface of the cell and not inside it was previously thought. This mechanism determines whether the cell lives or dies, and it is believed that its location should now be an easier target for new drugs to regulate its lifespan. The new drugs would be able to attack cancer cells without damaging normal ones, and thus would be an easier and safer way of treating cancer patients.|
13|Somalia suffers extensive flooding in the southern Juba region as torrential rains cause rivers to overflow. At least 500 people are announced dead, but it is feared many more will perish if rains continue over Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The floods destroy livestock, food supplies and crops, and leave more than 200,000 people homeless. |
14|French President Jacques Chirac opens the seventh summit of Francophone countries. Held in Vietnam, the aim of the meeting of 49 nominally French-speaking countries is, according to Chirac, to resist the dominance of English as a world language and to promote the use of French. Although the 49 countries that make up 'La Francophonie' have a population of 450 million people, only 160 million of them speak French as a first language. Boutrous Boutros-Ghali is elected as secretary-general of the summit, following his resignation of the same post in the United Nations.|
14|A jury in the USA recommends the death penalty for Mir Aimal Kasi, a Pakistan citizen found guilty of killing two Central Intelligence Agency employees during a shooting rampage outside the agency's headquarters in January, 1993. Prosecutors say Kasi, aged 33, shot the two people because he was angry at American interference in Muslim countries. The trial has heightened anti-American feeling in Pakistan, where four American oil executives were killed on November 12 in retaliation against Kasi's conviction.|
15|An Iraqi newspaper calls for political sympathisers in the Arab world to launch terrorist attacks against American and British targets in the Middle East. The Baghdad daily newspaper 'Babel', which is owned by Uday Hussein, eldest son of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, says that civilian as well as military targets should be attacked. The threat is the latest escalation in the war of words between Iraq and the USA since the Iraqi leader expelled United Nations weapons inspectors earlier this month.|
15|Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismisses two pro-Western reformers because of a corruption scandal. Maxim Boiko, minister for privatization, and Pyotr Mostovoi, head of the Russian Bankruptcy Commission, are found guilty of accepting large sums of money from a publisher in exchange for favouring the company during the sale of state assets. Several other top aides have also resigned, although Anatoly Chubais, the first deputy prime minister and chief driving force behind privatization, remains in his post.|
16|The Chinese government frees a sick dissident and allows him to travel to the USA on medical parole. Wei Jingsheng, aged 47, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in 1993 on charges of trying to overthrow the government. A long-term critic of China's communist system and an advocate of Western-style democracy, he has spent almost 20 years in prison for his beliefs. Wei's release has been expected since President Jiang Zemin returned from his state visit to the USA earlier this month.|
16|Pope John Paul II inaugurates the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in Rome. The assembly, which will last until December 19, aims to highlight ways in which to attract lapsed Roman Catholics back to the church, and is attended by 297 people, ranging from archbishops to priests. Others assemblies on Asia, Oceania, and Europe are expected to follow.|
16|Jenny Shipley is confirmed as New Zealand's first woman prime minister when her National Party's junior coalition partner, the New Zealand First party, agrees to stay in the government, which has a majority of one (see also November 3).|
17|In Rwanda, almost 300 people are killed as more than a thousand Hutu rebels attack a jail in an attempt to free Hutu genocide suspects. Clashes between the rebels and the predominantly Tutsi army continue for many hours.|
17|In Egypt, 62 people, most of them tourists, are killed by terrorists at the historic Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Luxor. The attack, which involved indiscriminate killing with knives and guns, is believed to be the work of the Gamaat Islamiya, a radical Islamist extremist group. Six of the attackers are hunted down and killed.|
17|Nigeria's military ruler General Sani Abacha dissolves his cabinet so that some of its members will be free to take part in his plan to restore civilian rule. General Abacha also announces his plans to grant amnesty to some of the many political prisoners held by his government.|
18|In Delhi, India, at least 27 children are killed when their school bus crashes into the Yamuna River. The bus, carrying nearly twice its permitted capacity of 60, was transporting the pupils to school. More than 70 passengers are injured and others are still missing. The city government announces two days of mourning for the dead.|
18|A baby kidnapped seven years ago at the age of 14 months is found in Puerto Rico with the help of the Internet site of the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. The child was found nearly 5,000 kilometres away from San Diego, U.S.A., where she was abducted when the woman who claimed to be her mother was investigated for alleged abuse of the child. Investigators consequently discovered that the child's birth certificate was a fake, and then compared a recent photograph of the girl with those on the website. The child was identified through her distinctive smile and a tiny birthmark on her face. Her abductor is under arrest.|
19|In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe announces a list of farms he intends to acquire in order to nationalize half of the country's commercial farms. His action is part of the programme of redistribution of land begun after Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980. Many white farmers are angry that they may lose their livelihoods.|
19|In Taiwan, the country's most wanted criminal surrenders to police after a hostage siege lasting two days. Chen Chin-hsing is wanted in connection with a number of rapes and murders. He took hostage a South African diplomat and his family in Taipei in an attempt to negotiate for the release of his wife and brother but finally gave himself up following lengthy police negotiations.|
19|A woman from Iowa, USA, gives birth to the world's first successfully delivered set of septuplets. Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to the seven babies following fertility treatment with the drug Pergonal. Doctors are optimistic that all the babies will live, giving them a 96 per cent chance of survival.|
20|In the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary at a special banquet held in Whitehall, London. Many well-wishers turn out to congratulate the royal couple as they greet the public on the way to the banqueting hall. The royal couple are also celebrating the reopening of Windsor Castle, which has been fully restored following its destruction in a fire five years ago.|
20|A fossilised section of a jawbone from a shrew-like animal is discovered in Australia. The finding of the fossil may lead to a rewriting of evolutionary history, as placental mammals were not thought to have reached Australia until 5 million years ago, yet the fossil dates from more than 115 million years ago. If the analysis of the fossil proves correct, it will revolutionise theories of where mammals first evolved and lived.|
20|The Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein backs down on his expulsion of U.S. weapons inspectors from the country. He agrees to let the inspectors return with the rest of the UN inspectorate team, whose duties are to ensure Iraq does not manufacture nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons.|
21| In New Zealand, an indigenous land claim is finally settled after 149 years with the signing of the Ngai Tahu deal. The deal includes an apology for breaches of agreement by the former colonial British powers, a large compensation payout from the Crown to Maori tribespeople, and the renaming of Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, as Aoraki/Mt Cook.|
21|North Korea agrees to resume its talks with South Korea, China, and the United States in order to agree on an agenda for peace negotiations to be held in Geneva in December. It is hoped this will bring an end to the hostility between North and South Korea, who are technically still at war since no peace treaty was signed following the end of the Korean War in 1953.|
21|Historical research into the Old City in Jerusalem claims that the Wailing Wall, the holiest site of Jewish worship, belongs to Muslim authorities and not the state of Israel. The site of the wall is also part of the Temple Mount where two important Muslim places of worship were relocated for political reasons. Shmuel Berkovitch's study claims that because the Jewish authorities have not laid claim to it, the wall belongs to the Muslim faith since it remains the property of the Waqf, the Islamic trust which administers the Temple Mount. |
22|Australian rock star Michael Hutchence is found dead in a hotel room in Sydney. Hutchence, aged 37, is discovered hanging by a leather belt from the door to his suite. Police are investigating the circumstances of his death.|
22|In Portsmouth, UK, Her Majesty's yacht Britannia arrives after its final voyage. The boat has travelled more than 1.6-million-kilometres during its 43 years as the Royal yacht. Britannia attracts crowds of onlookers as it arrives in port for its decommissioning in December.|
23|In Slovenia, the former Yugoslav republic, Milan Kucan is reelected as president for a second five-year term.|
23|Nirad C. Chaudhuri celebrates his 100th birthday at Oxford University, United Kingdom. Chaudhuri is regarded by many as one of the twentieth century's greatest writers following works such as "The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian".|
23|Elections begin in Banja Luka, the largest Serb town in Bosnia. Banja Lukans, once the most ardent supporters of an ethnically pure Serbian state, are expected to back Biljana Plavsic and her plans to implement the Dayton peace treaty. This would mean the return of Muslim and Croat refugees, and freedom of movement across Bosnia. The results of the election will determine the make-up of the Bosnian Serb parliament.|
24|In London, the new British Library building opens at a cost of 511 million-pounds-sterling. The library is one of the most expensive public buildings erected this century, and is completed more than fifty years after the project was first suggested at the end of World War II.|
24|In South Africa, Winnie Mandela, former wife of President Nelson Mandela, attends the first day of an inquiry into her alleged links with a series of tortures, kidnappings, and murders. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is investigating claims that Mandela led a campaign of fear and violence during the apartheid era. Present are 34 accusers who give evidence against her in a hearing that has been called by Archbishop Desmond Tutu a "search for truth, not a trial".|
24|In Niger, President Ibrahim Mainassara dismisses his government for alleged "incompetence". Mainassara seized power in the country last year, and is now appealing to opposition groups to form a new administration with him.|
25|In Afghanistan, United Nations monitors are allowed by Taliban authorities to supervise the destruction of opium poppies in the Kandahar province. Afghanistan, the world's largest opium producer, plans to phase out poppy production althogether over the next five years. The UN and foreign governments have pledged economic assistance to the country in order for the plan to be viable.|
25|Using their hands, an American and a Japanese astronaut recapture a rogue spinning satellite. In a three-hour operation, during which the astronauts are secured by their feet to the outside of their space shuttle Columbia, the malfunctioning satellite Spartan 201 is recaptured and returned to the shuttle for repair.|
25|Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the first president of Malawi, dies in a Johannesburg hospital at the age of 99. Banda led Malawi to independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, and became president in 1966. Until the country's first democratic elections in 1994, he ruled as dictator. Malawi's president, Bakili Muluzi, announces a period of mourning until December 3, even though Banda was accused of committing torture and murder during his period in power.|
26|A United Nations report reveals that more than 30 million people worldwide are infected with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. Developing countries, especially in Africa, are being worst hit by the disease due to the lack of education and available contraception. The UN warns that if the rate of infection continues unchecked, more than 40 million people will be living with the disease by the year 2000.|
26|In Berlin, more than 40,000 students march the streets in protest against reduced government funding of university education. The students target the poicies of Chancellor Helmut Kohl as the cause of funding cuts, but he blames opposition-controlled local governments.|
27|The United Nations reveal that the death toll in Somalia has risen to 1,461 as a result of the flooding that began almost a month ago. More than 230,000 Somalis have been made homeless as the rains continue over East Africa, and many refugees are left stranded by the waters. Food stocks and crops have also been destroyed, and aid attempts are being hampered by the lack of a central administration in Somalia.|
27|British scientists announce that 1997 will be the world's hottest year since records began in the 1860's, with the year's temperature being 0.43 degrees centigrade above the 1961-1990 average. The scientists also reveal that the five hottest years have all been since 1990, and this rise in global temperature is probably due to human abuse of the ecosystem.|
27|The International Football Hall of Fame is inaugurated in London with the publication of a top twenty players list. More than 500,000 fans from across the world voted via the Internet to elect Pele, from Brazil, as the greatest footballer ever.|
28|In New South Wales, Australia, more than 150 forest fires are burning, prompting warnings that the fires may be as bad as those which destroyed nearly 770,000 hectares of forest and killed four people in 1994. So far, almost 6,000 hectares have been destroyed in the area.|
28|India's prime minister, Inder Kumar Gujral, resigns his post as the government collapses for the third time in two years. Gujral is forced to step down after the Congress Party withdraws its support from the ruling coalition. Congress Party members accuse one of the other coalition members of supporting rebels linked with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.|
29|In the West Bank town of Bethlehem 48 people are killed as fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian demonstrators lasts for five hours. The demonstratotrs were protesting against the imprisonment of Itaf Alayan, a Palestinian woman linked with a militant Islamist group.|
29|In California, USA, a surrogate mother makes medical history as she becomes the first woman to become pregnant using the eggs of a dead woman. The eggs belong to Julie Garber who died of leukaemia a year ago after having her eggs harvested and fertilized by an anonymous donor. Her parents advertised for a surrogate mother to carry the eggs in spite of an outcry in the USA over the ethics of the case. |
30|The Czech prime minister, Vaclav Klaus, resigns after most of his cabinet withdraw their support. Klaus was the longest serving prime minister in eastern Europe, and oversaw the change from communism to capitalism in the Czech Republic.|
30|In Montserrat, fears are raised over the survival of the island's national bird, the Monserrat Oriole, one of the rarest species in the world. Only 200 of the island's population of orioles survived the recent volcanic eruption on Montserrat (see June 27).|
30|A British woman convicted of the murder of Australian nurse Yvonne Gilford becomes the first foreign female prisoner to marry in prison in Saudi Arabia. Lucille McLaughlan marries her fiance, Grant Ferrie, in a courthouse in Dammam, following negotiations between Saudi and British diplomats. McLaughlan has still to serve the eight years of her murder sentence.|
