November 20, 2004 (Saturday)
- María Isabel from Spain wins the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004. (JESC)
- NASA launches a satellite, named Swift, to investigate gamma-ray bursts. (BBC)
- The 25th annual BBC Children in Need telethon has raised over £17 million (£1.5 million more than in 2003). (BBC)
- The Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France (CRIF), an umbrella group of French Jewish organisations, accused the French government of failing to protect citizens from broadcasts by Hezbollah's al-Manar TV, which includes films that CRIF claims are anti-Semitic and incite Muslims to attack Jews. (Reuters-Haaretz)
- A small China Eastern Airlines jet, a Bombardier CRJ2000, crashes in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, causing the deaths of 53 persons. (CNN)
- Indian policemen and soldiers of the Indian Army recover 300 kg of RDX from a grocery store near the southern Kashmir town of Anantnag, 55 km from Srinagar. This is the biggest ever explosive haul in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. (The Hindu) (Indian Express)
- The Madras High Court in India dismisses the bail petition of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, the prime accused in the murder of temple manager Sankararaman. (Times of India)