December 6, 2003

• Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett stands aside after allegedly assaulting Liberal Jeannie Ferris on the floor of Parliament. [1]
• Occupation of Iraq:
  • George W. Bush asks James Baker to oversee the reconstruction of Iraq's USD $125 billion foreign debt. [2]
  • US soldiers in and returning from Iraq are affected by "Baghdad Boil" (Leishmaniasis) that can cause disfiguring skin lesions. [3]
  • Japan mourns the two Japanese diplomats killed in Iraq. [4]
• The USA admits that at least nine children have been mistakenly killed in a bombing attack near Ghazni, Afghanistan. [5][6]
• Delegates representing the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada vote 90% to 10% in favour of forming a union with the Canadian Alliance. The Alliance approved the measure even more overwhelmingly yesterday, with 96% support. The new party is to style itself the Conservative Party of Canada. [7]
• The first major winter storm strikes the North East United States. [8]
• Experts say that the US flu season will be worse than average, but they are not yet ready to say how bad it will be. [9] The USA is running out of the injectable version of the vaccine and is encouraging people to use the nasal spray. [10]
• Zimbabwe fails to find supporters at the Commonwealth Prime Minister's Conference in Nigeria. [11]
• George Clinton, founder of P-Funk, is arrested for cocaine possession in Tallahassee, Florida. [12]