November 2, 2004 (Tuesday)
- Conflict in Iraq: Iraqi officials report at least eight dead in a car bomb outside the education ministry in Baghdad. In Mosul, another car bomb kills two and wounds four Iraqi National Guard. (Reuters) Archived 2005-03-10 at the Wayback Machine(BBC)
- Darfur conflict: United Nations officials say Sudanese troops have surrounded two refugee camps in Darfur and are blocking access. The Sudanese military say they were asked to protect refugees and evict imposters. (Reuters)(BBC)
- Attempts to totally outlaw parents spanking children in England and Wales fail as a majority of 424 to 75 members of parliament vote against the ban. (BBC)
- NASA says it will resume its Space Shuttle program next May or early June after a lengthy investigation of the Columbia disaster in 2003, and a setback of a March date due to an active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. (BBC)
- UAE president and founding father Sheikh Zayed dies. Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Maktoum temporarily assumes presidential role. (Reuters)
- Controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh is stabbed and shot dead in Amsterdam; the suspected murderer is arrested after a firefight with police. van Gogh had received numerous death threats after his movie Submission elicited criticism among the Dutch Muslim community. (Reuters)[permanent dead link] (ABC US)
- U.S. presidential election:
- U.S. civil rights organizations report on a number of misleading voter fliers and phone calls aimed at African-American voters, alleging that these are an attempt to suppress the African-American vote in today's U.S. presidential election. (Reuters)
- U.S. presidential election, 2004 timeline: Voting begins for the 2004 U.S. presidential election, as well as for elections to the U.S. Congress and many state and local offices. The incumbent, Republican George W. Bush, and the challenger, Democrat John Kerry, are statistically tied in the latest opinion polls.
- Puerto Rico General Elections:
- Aníbal Acevedo Vilá leads with 3,880 votes of advantage against Pedro Rosselló with 98.27% of the total votes counted. By law, a recount must be performed when the winning margin is less than 0.5%. The official winner will be certified on December 31 after the recount is finished. (CEE-PUR)
- The Puerto Rican Independence Party has been unable to reach 3% of the total votes so far, putting in danger their franchise as a principal political party by Puerto Rican electoral laws. Because of this, the party may not receive funds from the government of Puerto Rico nor have a separate column in ballot papers on the following elections. However, Maria de Lourdes Santiago makes history by becoming the first woman to be elected Senator in the party's history. (El Nuevo Dia)