March 2004 - meaning of word
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March 2004



__NOTOC__ 2004 : January 2004 - February 2004 - March 2004 - April 2004 - May 2004 - June 2004 - July 2004 - August 2004 - September 2004 - October 2004 - November 2004 - December 2004 {| style="float: right; margin-left: 3em; margin-bottom: 2em" |- | {| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: 70%; width: 100%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #333333; font-family: Arial" |- style="background-color: #DDDDDD" | style="padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px" | February 2004 | colspan="5" style="padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px" | March 2004 | style="padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px" | April 2004 |- | style="padding-top: 5px" | S | style="padding-top: 5px" | M | style="padding-top: 5px" | T | style="padding-top: 5px" | W | style="padding-top: 5px" | T | style="padding-top: 5px" | F | style="padding-top: 5px" | S |- | | | #March_1 | #March_2 | #March_3 | #March_4 | #March_5 |- | #March_6 | #March_7 | #March_8 | #March_9 | #March_10 | #March_11 | #March_12 |- | #March_13 | #March_14 | #March_15 | #March_16 | #March_17 | #March_18 | #March_19 |- | #March_20 | #March_21 | #March_22 | #March_23 | #March_24 | #March_25 | #March_26 |- | #March_27 | #March_28 | #March_29 | #March_30 | #March_31 | | | |- | | | | | | | |} |- | style="border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #fff5f5; padding: 10px" | ===Deaths=== • March 8 Muhammad Zaidan
• March 20 Juliana of the Netherlands
• March 28 Peter Ustinov
• March 30 Alistair Cooke
''Recent deaths#March 2004'' ===Ongoing events=== Enlargement_of_the_European_Union
Exploration of Mars: Mars Exploration Rover Mission
2004 Haiti Rebellion
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
2003 invasion of Iraq
Same-sex marriage in the United States
War on Terrorism === March election results === • 7 March Greek legislative election, 2004
• 14 March Russian presidential election, 2004
• 14 March Spanish legislative election, 2004
• 21 March Malaysian general election, 2004
• 21 March Salvadoran presidential election, 2004
• 20 March ROC presidential election, 2004
• 20 March ROC referendum, 2004
• 28 March French regional elections, 2004 ===Related pages=== Wikipedia:How the Current events page works
List of '2004 in' articles
Wikipedia:Announcements
==March 31, 2004== * Four United States civilian Blackwater USA are killed in a grenade attack by Iraqi resistance in Fallujah, Iraq. A violent mob pulls charred bodies from the burning vehicles and hang two bodies from a bridge over the Euphrates. In a separate incident, five U.S soldiers are killed in a large roadside bomb attack 12 miles (20 km) northwest of Fallujah. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/31/iraq.main/index.html (CNN)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3587931.stm (BBC)] * The Korea Train Express high-speed rail line opens, connecting Seoul to Busan and Mokpo. [http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/03/30/bt.korea.train.ap/ (CNN)] * The ''The Guardian'' newspaper quotes British security service sources as believing that yesterday's raids may have stopped a major terrorist bombing. The sources state that MI5 and MI6 worked with police during the investigation leading to the raids. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1182570,00.html (Guardian)] * The International Court of Justice rules that the United States violated the rights of 51 Mexico citizens on Capital punishment in the United States for murder and orders a review of their cases. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040331/D81LEJBG0.html (AP)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3584539.stm (BBC)] * The controversial Higher Education Bill, which will introduce variable tuition fees in England and Wales, passes its third reading in the House of Commons by 316 votes to 288, despite many MPs still vocally opposed. The Bill's second reading in January was passed with a majority of only 5 votes. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3587263.stm (BBC)] [http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/tuitionfees/story/0,12757,1182944,00.html (Guardian)] [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=486155§ion=news (Reuters)] * Politics of Austria: Jörg Haider, a leading figure in the Austrian Freedom Party who is widely viewed as Neo-Nazism, is re-elected governor of the state of Carinthia (state). [http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2721412 (Scotsman)] [http://www.diepresse.at/Artikel.aspx?channel=&ressort=ee&id=413182 (Die Presse)] *A Canada court rules that the Canadian Recording Industry Association did not prove that the downloading of music from the Internet is a copyright violation. The ruling is in line with a decision from the Copyright Board of Canada that downloading music is legal. [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1080732966812&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154 (Toronto Star)] [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040401/MUSIC0111/TPNational/Canada (Bell Globemedia)] *Air America Radio, a self-styled political liberalism alternative to political conservatism talk shows on the radio, is launched on six stations from New York City to Los Angeles, California. [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/8324016.htm?1c (Kansas City Star)] * East African artifacts support evolution of symbolic thinking in Middle Stone Age. [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-03/asu-eaa032504.php (National Geographic Society via EurekAlert)] ==March 30, 2004== *A suicide bomber sets off a small explosion inside the Bolivian Congress. The bomber – a miner, protesting unpaid pensions – and the chief congressional security guard are killed; several bystanders are wounded. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3584447.stm (BBC)] [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-03-30-bolivia-blast_x.htm (USA Today)] * President of France Jacques Chirac retains his Prime Minister of France, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, but asks Raffarin to reform the country's government. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36005-2004Mar30.html (Washington Post)] * New Jersey physicist Greg Olsen pays United states dollar20 million to conduct environmental research for eight days aboard the International Space Station. [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8312158.htm (Miami Herald)] * Police in Uzbekistan raid a militant's hideout south of the capital, Tashkent. Fighting has caused 23 deaths in the area. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4701844§ion=news (Reuters)] * The Philippines prevents a "Madrid-level attack" after arresting four members of the Islam extremist Abu Sayyaf group. [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2004/03/30/international1147EST0595.DTL (SFGate)] * The White House allows Condoleezza Rice, the president's United States National Security Advisor, to publicly testify under oath on the investigation into the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-03/30/content_1392734.htm (XINHUA)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/30/rice.testimony/index.html (CNN)] * Eight men are arrested after a series of raids in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000. Half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertiliser was found during the raids. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1181017,00.html (Guardian)] * ''SCO v. IBM:'' IBM has applied for a declaratory judgment that it does not infringe the SCO Group's copyrights. [http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040330184527522 (Groklaw)] [http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5182078.html (ZDNET)] ==March 29, 2004== *Foreign relations of Taiwan: Dominica switches diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China. [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/77738/1/.html (Channel News Asia)]. *ROC presidential election, 2004: The Pan-Blue Coalition drops its demand for another round of voting by members of the military and the police who were put on a heightened state of alert on election day. Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu sign letters promising not to contest the Pan-Blue petition for a recount.[http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/8308379.htm (Miami Herald)][http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=an8jQ.GItx0s&refer=asia (Bloomberg)] * Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin has a close encounter with a unidentified flying object. Most likely the UFO was actually a Meteorite. [http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/03/28/399829-cp.html (Canadian Press)] * An explosion occurs close to the main bazaar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, killing two and injuring around twenty; preliminary reports point to two female suicide bombers. Also in the capital, three police officers are shot dead; and, in the city of Bukhara, another explosion at a suspected terrorist bomb factory claims ten fatalities. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4685593 (Reuters)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3577803.stm (BBC)] * The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country to ban tobacco smoking in all enclosed workplaces (including bars and restaurants); infringers risk a EUR3,000 (USD3,600) fine. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3577001.stm (BBC)] * NATO welcomes seven new members, as Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia formally became members by depositing their instruments of accession with the United States' government, though the countries will join officially next month at a NATO meeting. All but Slovenia were formerly members of the Warsaw Pact. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3578837.stm (BBC)] [http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2004/03-march/e0329a.htm (NATO)] * Nanoparticles allegedly cause brain damage in fish, according to a study of the toxicity of synthetic carbon molecules called "buckyballs". [http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994825 (NewScientist)] * Beauty firm Unilever is to use "''real women''" in advertising after a survey finds two-thirds of United Kingdom women feel Clinical depressioned about their figures and have low self-esteem as a result of beauty advertising. [http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_905522.html (Ananova)] * Scientists discover methane in the Mars (planet) Celestial body atmosphere and state it could mean there is life on the Red Planet. [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_methane_040329.html (Space.com)] * Spain is reported to be considering doubling her number of troops stationed in Afghanistan. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3579411.stm (BBC)] [http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/29/spain.troops.ap/ (CNN)] ==March 28, 2004== * Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, leader of Hamas, states that Allah has declared war on the United States. [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/international/middleeast/28CND-HAMA.html (NYTimes)] [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=WORLD&oid=47988 (abs-cbnNEWS)] [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=484422§ion=news (Reuters)] [http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=032904022618 (INDOlink)] * Cambridge University wins a controversial victory in the 150th Boat Race by 6 lengths, with a total time of 18:47 minutes. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/boat_race_2004/3572649.stm (BBC)] * The Arab League summit is postponed. The meeting was put off indefinitely because of differences of opinion regarding ways to encourage reform in the region, including democracy. [http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=0F845116-0EF2-4C11-90F1A12AF8FC4A45 (VOA)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3575691.stm (BBC)] * United Kingdom Home Secretary David Blunkett prepares to publish a white paper on organized crime that will unveil new details of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the proposed "British FBI". [http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_904498.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery.medicalbreakthroughs (Ananova)] * Israeli State Attorney Edna Arbel recommends that Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon be indicted for taking bribes. [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040328/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_sharon_10 (AP)] * The French regional elections, 2004 result in massive losses for the governing conservative parties and victories for socialist-green alliances in at least 20 of 22 regions. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3575779.stm (BBC)] [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,292926,00.html (Spiegel)] [http://fr.news.yahoo.com/elections2004/regionales/resultats.html (Yahoo France)] * A coup d'etat attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo fails. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3577197.stm (BBC)] * The skeletal remains of Cecilia Zhang are found in a Toronto ravine after her high-publicity kidnapping. [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1080477804939 (Toronto Star)] ==March 27, 2004== * John Kerry joins other Democrats calling for United States National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to testify before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States and states the White House should learn from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's openness during an inquiry after Pearl Harbor. [http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/election/0304nation/28kerry.html (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)] *ROC presidential election, 2004: 500,000 Pan-Blue Coalition protesters take to the streets in Taipei to demand a recount. [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=484110§ion=news (Reuters)] *NASA succeeds in a second attempt to fly its X-43A experimental airplane from the Hyper-X project, attaining speeds in excess of Mach number 7, the fastest ever air-breathing hypersonic flight. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/27/hypersonic.jet.flight.ap/index.html (CNN)] * In Brussels, European Union Leaders express a sense of unity in the aftermath of the Madrid train bombings, and state that there is a new impetus to reaching a deal on the Union's draft constitution. [http://www.iht.com/articles/512188.html (IHT)] * A powerful cyclone hits the coast of southern Brazil. Brazilian and U.S. meteorologists disagree over whether South_Atlantic_tropical_cyclone#Cyclone_Catarina is a hurricane, the first ever recorded in the South Atlantic. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040328/D81J2KKG0.html (AP)] ==March 26, 2004== * The United States Congress prepares legislation against peer-to-peer technology on multiple fronts. [http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,62830,00.html (Wired News)] * United Nations election experts and security support arrive in Baghdad. [http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10221&Cr=iraq&Cr1= (UN News Center)] * The first Atlantic Ocean tropical cyclone ever recorded forms 275 miles off the coast of Brazil. [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/8286042.htm (Miami Herald)] * George Leonard Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, says that Islam is authoritarian, inflexible and under-achieving; and that Muslim countries have contributed little of major significance to the world's culture for century, at the same time stating that most Muslims are peace love people who should not be demonized. He, however, denounces Moderate Muslimss for not unequivocally denouncing the "evil" of suicide bombers. Critics said his critique of Islamic culture amounted to an "attack". [http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/03/26/narch26.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/03/26/ixnewstop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=5165 (Daily Telegraph)] *ROC presidential election, 2004: The controversial victory of Chen Shui-bian is confirmed by the state electoral commission, with a margin of only 29,518 votes – 0.2% of the total – separating the candidates. Pan-Blue Coalition protestors storm and hurl eggs at the Central Electoral Commission building. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3570531.stm (BBC)] *Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The United States vetoes a United Nations Security Council resolution (sponsored by Algeria and Libya) condemning the killing by Israel of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin along with six other Palestinians outside a mosque in Gaza City and calling for a complete cessation of Execution (legal)s. The veto is publicly motivated by the resolution making no mention of suicide bombings committed by Hamas and attributed to Yassin. 11 votes are recorded in favour, with three (United Kingdom, Germany, and Romania) abstaining and one (the United States) against. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3568349.stm (BBC)] [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/8277736.htm?1c (KC Star)] ==March 25, 2004== * The 2004 Abel Prize in mathematics is announced to be awarded to Michael Francis Atiyah and Isadore Singer for their Atiyah-Singer index theorem. [http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article760518.ece (Aftenposten)] * The terrorist group AZF suspends its bombing campaign in France but continues to demand money from the French government. News agencies report that the government placed notices in ''Libération'' newspaper to contact the terrorists. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3567369.stm (BBC)] * The Georgia General Assembly of US state of Georgia (U.S. state) passes a ban on genital piercings for women, including consenting adults, as part of a bill to ban female genital mutilation as performed by some Muslim populations, among others. The ban does not apply to men. The provision is not included in the version passed by Georgia's Senate. [http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=34411 (AP)] * Novelist and filmmaker Alain Robbe-Grillet is elected to the Académie française. [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/actualites/index.html (Académie française)] * Five planets (Mercury (planet), Venus (planet), Mars (planet), Jupiter (planet), and Saturn (planet)) array across the evening sky in a night show that won't be back for another three decades. [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/planetary_spectacle (AP)] * A prototype of a mechanized five-ton disaster-rescue robot, the T-52 Enryu, is unveiled in Japan. [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/japan_technology_robot (AFP)] ==March 24, 2004== * The World Trade Organization makes a preliminary ruling that United States law prohibiting Internet gambling violate international trade treaty, in response to a complaint by Antigua and Barbuda. The George W. Bush administration vows to appeal, while some members of the United States Congress say they would rather allow a trade war or withdraw from future WTO talks than repeal laws against online gambling. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3568281.stm (BBC)] [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/166397_gambing26.html (Seattle PI)] * Denmark artist Marco Evaristti paints an iceberg in Greenland red, using 780 gallons of paint. [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2004-03-25-painted-iceburg_x.htm (USA Today)] * A bomb is discovered on a TGV railway between Paris and Geneva near Troyes, France. [http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews_detail/0,1227,263451-1-9,00.html (ONE News)] * Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow: The United States Supreme Court of the United States hears oral arguments over the constitutionality of the "under God" clause of the Pledge of Allegiance. [http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=1735404&nav=9TaiLm3L (WTHR)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/24/scotus.pledge/index.html (CNN)] * The United Kingdom List of explorers David Hempleman-Adams sets an altitude record for a flight in a wicker basket balloon. [http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a4DFSRTAakRg&refer=us (Bloomberg)] * Israeli-Palestinian conflict: ** The leader of Hamas states that the group has no plans to attack US targets, retreating from earlier threats by its armed wing. However, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is announced as a new target, instead. [http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9069472%255E2,00.html (News Limited)] ** Sharon states that Israel has a "natural right" to pursue those who would destroy it. [http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=3547 (Jewish Press)] ** Hussam Abdo, a 14-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber fails to detonate his bomb-vest at an Israeli checkpoint outside Nablus. The child was paid $23 and promised sex in heaven as his reward. An armed wing of Fatah takes responsibility for sending the boy. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/408359.html (HaAretz)] ==March 23, 2004== * Unrest in Kosovo: an UNMIK police patrol is attacked on the road Pristina-Podujevo. A UN police officer from Ghana is killed, a local police officer later dies of his wounds, and their translator is also wounded but in stable condition. [http://www.kosovo.net/?q=node/view/12 (Kosovo.net)] * United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell defend their pre-September 11, 2001 attacks actions, saying that even if Osama bin Laden had been killed, the attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon would have still occurred. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen also testify before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/03/23/national1939EST0782.DTL (AP via SFGate)] * Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi is chosen to lead Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the movement's exiled politburo chief Khaled Meshaal is chosen as its overall leader. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3562185.stm (BBC)] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18979-2004Mar23.html (Washington Post)] ==March 22, 2004== * Testimony begins in the state murder trial of convicted Oklahoma City bombing accomplice, Terry Nichols, in McAlester, Oklahoma. [http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040323/ap_on_re_us/nichols_trial_19 (AP)] *ROC presidential election, 2004: Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party submits a bill to the Legislative Yuan to allow an immediate recount, per Lien Chan's demand, but the majority Pan-Blue Coalition dismisses it as unnecessary saying the President could just issue an executive order instead. [http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/3/23/latest/16578Taiwansr&sec=latest (The Star)] [http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=abd6wwTxdVdA&refer=asia (Bloomberg)] * Microsoft is to be fined a record Euro497 million (United States dollar613 million) by the European Commission as punishment for abusing its Microsoft Windows monopoly, according to reports ahead of a key meeting by EU Commissioners on Wednesday. [http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1079419836897 (Financial Times)] * Salvadoran presidential election, 2004: Tony Saca of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) declares victory over a former Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front guerrilla leader, with 60% of the votes. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001885101_wdig22.html (Seattle Times)] [http://www.diariocolatino.com/elecciones/detalles.asp?NewsID=48 (CoLatino)] [http://www.elsalvador.com/especiales/2003/elecciones2004/nota356.htm (El Salvador)] [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/22/1536226 (Democracy Now!)] * Israel assassinates Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual head of Hamas, in the Gaza Strip. It then seals off both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4615931§ion=news (Reuters)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3556099.stm (BBC)] Kofi Annan, and the British, French, and German governments, amongst others, condemn the killing. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3556753.stm (BBC)] [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114826,00.html (FOX)] * The former chief counter-terrorism aide to United States George W. Bush, Richard Clarke, claims that Bush diverted attention towards Iraq, ignoring the main threat of Al-Qaida. Clarke was the administration's senior counter-terrorism official when September 11, 2001 attacks took place. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1175070,00.html (Guardian)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4615469 (Reuters)] [http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1079419814589 (FT)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3559087.stm (BBC)] * The United Kingdom shuts its embassy in Algiers, Algeria, amid general security fears. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3555877.stm (BBC)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/03/21/algeria.embassy/index.html (CNN)] * Mijailo Mijailovic is sentenced to life imprisonment for the equivalent of First-degree murder, found guilty of assassination of Sweden's Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, September 10, 2003. *Same-sex marriage in the United States: Benton County, Oregon commissioners, after receiving a letter from state attorney general Hardy Myers, reverse their earlier vote to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples this Wednesday. But, stating they will observe the principal of equal treatment under the law, the commissioners decide that the county will stop issuing ''any'' marriage licenses until the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled on the constitutionality of the law. [http://www.oregonlive.com/special/gaymarriage/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1080046579104020.xml (Oregonian)] [http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/03/23/a1.bentonlicense.0323.html (Register-Guard)] ==March 21, 2004== * Jimmy Carter, former US president and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner, vehemently condemns George W. Bush and Tony Blair for waging an unnecessary war "based upon lies and misinterpretations" in order to oust Saddam Hussein. He claims that Blair had allowed his better judgement to be swayed by Bush's desire to finish a war that his George H. W. Bush had started. [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=503722 (Independent)] * Malaysian general election, 2004: Secular ruling coalition Barisan Nasional wins a two-thirds majority and wrests back the state of Terengganu from Islamist party PAS. A recount is pending for the closely contested state of Kelantan. [http://www2.malaysiakini.com/splash/index.php (Malaysiakini)] * The Malaysian Grand Prix of the 2004 Formula One championship, in Malaysia, is won by Michael Schumacher. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3554407.stm (BBC)] * Measurements taken at Mauna Loa Observatory show carbon dioxide readings of 379 parts per million, up by 3 ppm in one year; average increase for the past decade has been 1.8 ppm. The reason for this accelerated buildup in a greenhouse gas requires further analysis. [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2004-03-21-co2-buildup_x.htm (AP)] *Al-Qaeda claims to have purchased "smart briefcase bombs" with nuclear capabilities on the black market. [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=6&u=/ap/20040321/ap_on_re_au_an/al_qaida_nuclear (AP)] *Salvadoran presidential election, 2004: Voting takes place to elect a new president of El Salvador. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3554255.stm (BBC)] *ROC presidential election, 2004: Taiwan's High Court has ordered all ballot boxes to be sealed, in order to preserve evidence. However, a recount of votes was not ordered. Various protests are held throughout the island. [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040321/ap_on_re_as/taiwan_election&cid=516&ncid=716 (AP)] *Malaysian general election, 2004: Voting gets underway all over Malaysia to decide the new holders of seats in Parliament of Malaysia and various state assemblies. ==March 20, 2004 == *ROC presidential election, 2004: Chen Shui-bian is declared the winner over Lien Chan by fewer than 30,000 votes of nearly 13,000,000 cast (0.25%). Lien calls the result unfair and demands it be voided. A ROC referendum, 2004 is invalidated by low turnout. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3551843.stm (BBC)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/20/taiwan.elections/index.html (CNN)] * Former Juliana of the Netherlands dies aged 94. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3552417.stm (BBC)] [http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/juliana/www/index.php?Lang=EN (Royal Household)] * On the first anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, millions join protests in cities across the world to demonstrate against the war and the continued U.S.-led_occupation_of_Iraq. In London two Greenpeace protesters evade newly-tightened security and scale Big Ben to unfurl a banner calling for the truth to be told by the UK government. [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/22/1536212 (Democracy Now!)] [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0320-12.htm (Reuters)] [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0320-09.htm (AFP)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3550411.stm (BBC)] [http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/20/iraq.main/index.html (CNN)] * The BBC announces that actor Christopher Eccleston is to play Doctor Who when the show makes its eagerly-awaited return to television in 2005. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3552087.stm (BBC)] * Stephen Harper is 2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership race of the Conservative Party of Canada, winning 56% of the possible points on the first ballot. [http://www.canada.com/national/features/conservativeconvention2004/index.html (Global TV)] [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/20/canada/conservatives_040320 (CBC)] [http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040320.wcons0320/BNStory/Front/ (Globe and Mail)] *A Methodist church jury in Bothell, Washington acquits a lesbian minister of violation of church rules. [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040321/ap_on_re_us/gay_pastor&cid=519&ncid=716 (AP)] ==March 19, 2004 == * ICANN announces that a Toronto, Canada organization, the International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR), has applied to sponsor the .xxx top-level domain. IFFOR claims that a special domain would help control the spread of pornography to children. However, in February the Internet Engineering Task Force released Request for Comments RFC 3675, ".sex Considered Dangerous", detailing technical and administrative concerns with such proposals. [http://thewhir.com/marketwatch/ica032304.cfm (Web Host Industry Review)] [http://www.spinics.net/lists/ietf-ann/msg13799.html (IETF announcement)] [http://www.icann.org/tlds/stld-apps-19mar04/xxx.htm (.xxx application)] *Pakistani soldiers seal off an area of Waziristan where they suspect that the senior Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is hiding. The Pakistanis have suffered many casualties.[http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/19/pakistan.alqaeda/index.html (CNN)] * The U.S. military drops all charges of alleged mishandling of classified information against Muslim Army chaplain Yousef Yee at Guantanamo Bay.[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114716,00.html (FOX)] *Same-sex marriage in Canada: The Quebec Court of Appeal upholds a Quebec superior court ruling that same-sex marriages are valid under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/19/gaymarriage040319 (CBC)] It joins Ontario and British Columbia in permitting same-sex marriage. The couple which brought the suit is scheduled to be wed on April 10, after a required 20-day waiting period. *ROC presidential election, 2004 and ROC referendum, 2004: **The People's Republic of China announces joint military exercises with France close to Taiwan, to coincide with the elections.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3512088.stm (BBC)] **President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian and Vice-President Annette Lu are shot while campaigning in Tainan. A bullet hits Lu in the knee, before striking Chen in the stomach. The pair were travelling in the presidential motorcade. Both have left hospital after treatment. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6817-2004Mar19.html (Wash. Post)] [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/76194/1/.html (ChannelNewsAsia)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3548893.stm (BBC)] *Äänekoski bus disaster: At least 24 young people are killed and 15 injured, several of them seriously, in a collision on a icy road between a coach and a lorry carrying rolls of paper on Highway 4 near Äänekoski in Central Finland. The accident happened at around 2 a.m. local time (UTC +2). [http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20040318IE8 (Helsingin Sanomat)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3549379.stm (BBC)] *The newspaper ''USA Today'' admits that a former reporter, Jack Kelley, invented or distorted important parts of at least eight major stories. He was, for example, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 on the basis of an eyewitness account of a suicide bombing that, the publication now acknowledges, could not have happened as described. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/2004-03-18-2004-03-18_kelleymain_x.htm (USA Today)] ==March 18, 2004== *Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf reports that his soldiers have surrounded a cadre of Al-Qaida men located in Waziristan, Pakistan that was protecting Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command for the organization. *Howard Dean announces plans to form Democracy for America, a political organization intended to help progressive candidates holding similar views. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/18/dean.advocacy.ap/index.html (CNN)] *Indian government officials warn that rebels from northeast India based in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan are planning major attacks to disrupt upcoming national elections. [http://in.news.yahoo.com/040318/137/2c2fd.html (Reuters)] *Unrest in Kosovo: NATO announces that it will reinforce its KFOR, following ethnic unrest there that has killed at least 31 people over the past two days. More Serbian Orthodox Churches have been set ablaze by Albanians and violence has continued in and around Kosovo Serb enclaves. Russia and Serbia-Montenegro call for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. UNMIK officials attempt to restore order in the province and blame the unrest on nationalist extremists on both sides. More demonstrations have taken place across Serbia, so far without the violence seen the previous day. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3832-2004Mar18.html (Washington Post)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3525168.stm (BBC)] [http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?order=priority (B92)] * Near-Earth asteroid 2004 FH is making the closest approach of an asteroid ever recorded. At 22:08 UTC it will pass 43,000 km above Earth's surface. [http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news142.html (NASA-JPL)] *Cleanup work at Love Canal has been completed, federal officials said. The EPA says it should be taken off the Superfund list. Environmental activist Lois Gibbs said the Bush administration was seeking to deflect criticism from a March 11 Senate vote against reauthorizing an expired user fee on corporations to fund environmental cleanup. [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/18/nyregion/18LOVE.html?ex=1080190800&en=851eb845fc5a4ab3&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE (NYT)] * Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice Antonin Scalia refuses to recuse himself from a case - involving his friend Dick Cheney - considering whether the White House must release information about private meetings of Cheney's energy task force stating that duck hunting and fishing trip "was not an intimate setting" and that the energy case was never discussed. [http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/18mar20041000/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/03pdf/03-475.pdf (SC)] * The United States House of Representatives votes unanimously to double the reward for Osama bin Laden's capture to US$50 million. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/18/osama.reward.ap/index.html (CNN)] ==March 17, 2004== *ROC presidential election, 2004: Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tseh endorses Chen Shui-bian for the second time. [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Taiwan%20Elections (Seattle PI)] * Unrest in Kosovo: After two Albanians children are found drowned in the Ibar river in Kosovo and Metohia, with a third still missing, riots erupt in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica and later spread to the entire province. Mitrovica Serbs are blamed by Albanian media for forcing the children into the river, but this is later denied by UNMIK officials. At least 22 people are killed by the end of the day with hundreds injured in clashes between Serbs and Albanians; Kosovo Serb enclaves elsewhere in the province experience attacks by Kosovo Albanians as well as offices of UN officials which were abandoned. In reaction to the violence in Kosovo, demonstrators in Serbia march in Belgrade and set ablaze mosques in Belgrade and Nish. [http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=27520&order=priority&style=headlines (B92)] [http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=27483&order=priority&style=headlines (B92)] [http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=4798093 (SwissInfo)] [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/17/international/europe/17CND-KOSO.html?hp (NYT)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3521068.stm (BBC)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/17/kosovo.clash.ap/index.html (CNN)] [http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=27517&order=priority&style=headlines (B92)] [http://www.rts.co.yu/jedna_vest.asp?source=komentar&IDNews=71242 (RTS, in Serbian)] * 2003 invasion of Iraq: A car bomb flattens the Mount Lebanon Hotel in central Baghdad at 20:10 (UTC), killing at least 17 people and injuring 45 more. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3522424.stm (BBC)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/17/iraq.main/index.html (CNN)] [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/18/157209 (Democracy Now!)] * Utah bans execution by firing squad. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3519310.stm (BBC)] * Ohio highway sniper attacks: Suspect Charles A. McCoy Jr. is arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4536074/ (MSNBC)] ==March 16, 2004== * Rwandan President Paul Kagame accuses France of direct involvement in the 1994 History of Rwanda. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3515512.stm (BBC)] * March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks: Spain police identify six Moroccans suspected to have carried out the Madrid attacks. Five of the suspects are still at large but one is in custody. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3515138.stm (BBC)] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63338-2004Mar16.html (Washington Post)] * George W. Bush calls on his 2003 invasion of Iraq allies to stick with the United States. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4581464§ion=news (Reuters)] * An Arkhangelsk_Explosion_of_2004 in Arkhangelsk, Russia, kills 32. [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C8C83D4C-2BFE-4274-87D3-5F8A0C4843BB.htm (Al-Jazeera)] * The Federal Reserve votes to keep interest rates unchanged, primarily since new hiring has continued to lag in the United States. [http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/03/16/rtr1300749.html (Forbes)] ==March 15, 2004== * Four United States Baptist missionary working on a water purification project are killed in a drive-by shooting in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/16/iraq.main/index.html (CNN)] * The city of Aliso Viejo, California, nearly bans Styrofoam cups when they learn they are produced from a substance known as Water#Dihydrogen_monoxide (water), a substance that could "threaten human health and safety." [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4534017/ (MSNBC)] * Pavlo Lazarenko, former prime minister of Ukraine, stands trial in a U.S. federal court in San Francisco for money laundering. [http://www.ktvu.com/news/2923065/detail.html (AP)] * Same-sex marriage in the United States: Commissioners of Multnomah County, Oregon dismiss state attorney general Hardy Myers' non-binding opinion that same-sex marriages are illegal and vow to continue issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001879597_weboregaymarriage15.html (Seattle Times)] * Newly Spanish legislative election, 2004 Spain Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announces his government's opposition to the invasion and continued occupation of Iraq and his intention to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq by June 30, unless they are part of a U.N. force. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3512144.stm (BBC)] * Astronomers announce the discovery of 90377 Sedna, a Pluto (planet)-like planetoid which is the most distant individual object known to orbit the Sun. [http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/sedna/ (Caltech)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3511678.stm (BBC)] [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8968352%255E29098,00.html (The Australian)] * Iran will reallow the entry of UN nuclear inspectors after March 27, says IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3511900.stm (BBC)] [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040315/wl_afp/iran_nuclear_iaea_us_040315234028 (AFP)] * Haiti recalls its ambassador of neighbouring Caribbean state Jamaica, where ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is said to be making a personal visit. Haiti also threatens to boycott a 2-day Caricom meeting. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040316/D81B5DV80.html (AP)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3511676.stm (BBC)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12167698.htm (Reuters)] * In the aftermath of nomination day for the Malaysian general election, 2004, Barisan Nasional wins 4 more seats in various state assemblies and another parliamentary seat, uncontested. [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/75656/1/.html (ChannelNewsAsia)] [http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/3/16/latest/16442Barisanba&sec=latest (Toronto Star)] * Exiled Syrian Kurds storm the Syrian consulate in Geneva and other Kurds protest in Turkey and Germany at weekend violence in northeast Syria. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3513960.stm (BBC)] ==March 14, 2004== * The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) wins the Spanish legislative election, 2004. The outgoing government's support for the US-led invasion of Iraq was cited as a major factor leading to the Socialists' 43% plurality. [http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2004/03/espana/14m/resultados/congreso/globales/ (El Mundo)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3511280.stm (BBC)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/14/spain.blasts.election/index.html (CNN)] [http://www.elec_gen04.mir.es/congreso/CGF_TOP.htm (Ministry of Home Affairs)] * Two suicide bombers kill 10 people in Ashdod, Israel. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3510708.stm (BBC)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/14/mideast/ (CNN)] * March 11, 2004 Madrid_attacks: Spain police receives a videotape where a man identifying himself as an al-Qaeda spokesman says the organisation claims responsibility for the attack, according to an announcement from the country's interior minister. The authenticity of the video has not been verified. The al-Qaeda claim overshadows voting in the Spanish legislative election, 2004. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3509426.stm (BBC)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3509744.stm (BBC)] [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1079265664422&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154 (Toronto Star)] * 2003 invasion of Iraq: Six United States soldiers are killed over the weekend in three separate Iraqi resistance roadside bomb attacks, two in Baghdad and one in Tikrit. This occurs amidst the largest U.S. troop rotation since World War II. * The National People's Congress of People's Republic of China changes the Constitution of the People's Republic of China to protect private property, in order to stop state officials from requisitioning property and private possessions. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3509850.stm (BBC)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4562226 (Reuters)] [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CA8019B2-3495-447D-B4CB-DAF250E74761.htm (Al Jazeera)] * Voting takes place in the Russian Russian presidential election, 2004. Incumbent Vladimir Putin wins by a large majority. The election is widely criticised by external observers who said Russian state television was very biased towards Putin during the campaign. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3509412.stm (BBC)] [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=475555§ion=news (Reuters)] * Pope John Paul II becomes the third-List of 10 longest-reigning Popes in history, the other two being Saint Peter and Pope Pius IX. [http://www.freep.com/news/religion/pope13_20040313.htm (Detroit Free Press)] * Several Kurds storm the Syrian embassy in Brussels protesting about violence and deaths in north-east Syria over the weekend. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3508710.stm (BBC)] ==March 13, 2004== * ROC presidential election, 2004: 2 million people march in 24 rallies across Taiwan in support of Lien Chan's bid for the presidency. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4560910 (Reuters)] * The death toll in the March_11,_2004_Madrid_attacks rises to 200; investigators continue search for perpetrators, with suspicions against ETA complemented by the apprehension of five foreign citizens connected to terror attacks in Morocco. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3509212.stm (BBC)] [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20040313/ap_on_re_eu/spain_bombings_9 (AP)] * United States forces launch new offensive aimed at the Taliban and Al-Qaida and the capture of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar in Afghanistan. [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20040313/ap_on_re_as/afghan_mountain_storm (AP)] * Fifteen teams that qualified for the DARPA Grand Challenge start on a 150–200 mile robotic race to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a United States dollar1 million prize. All of the teams break down within seven miles of the start line; none collect the prize. [http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/36231.html (The Register)] [http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/36234.html (The Register)] * Nine people, eight of whom are children, are found dead in Fresno, California, USA. A man apparently related to the victims is arrested. The police speculate that the deaths may have been part of a ritual. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/03/15/fresno.killings/index.html (CNN)] [http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040313025809990001 (AOL news)] * Malaysian general election, 2004: Nomination day. Barisan Nasional takes 15 Parliamentary seats uncontested and 7 state assembly seats. The Islamic Party of Malaysia captures one parliamentary seat in the state of Johor. ==March 12, 2004== * Same-sex marriage in the United States: Oregon's attorney general#United States issues his opinion on Same-sex marriage in the United States#Oregon. He concludes that current state law prohibits issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but that the Oregon Supreme Court is likely to conclude those statutes violate the Oregon Constitution. The Wisconsin State Senate approves state constitution amendment to ban homosexuality same-sex marriage or civil unions, to counter efforts elsewhere to legalize such Personal relationships. [http://www.doj.state.or.us/pdfs/AG_samesexopinion.pdf (Oregon Attorney General's opinion — PDF)] [http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=wsj:2004:03:12:352556:FRONT (Wisconsin State Journal)] *A Utah woman is charged with murder when her child is stillborn, after allegedly refusing a Caesarean section. [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=475091§ion=news (Reuters)] [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/03/12/national1711EST0684.DTL (SF Chronicle)] [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1079133608534&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037 (Toronto Star)] * March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks: Millions of people pack rainswept streets across Spain in protest against the recent Madrid bombings. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4558577§ion=news (Reuters)] * The parliament of South Korea votes to impeachment President of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun, saying he "breached election rules" by calling for support for the Uri Party. Prime Minister of South Korea Goh Kun will run the country until the Constitutional Court rules on the issue. Roh's supporters dismiss the move as a power play to influence the upcoming April elections. Thousands protest in support of Roh. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4552698 (Reuters)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3504026.stm (BBC)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3506622.stm (BBC)] * Guantanamo Bay: Recently-released Britain Camp X-Ray inmate Jamal al-Harith is interviewed by the Daily Mirror, alleging physical assaults and psychological torture. [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=14042696_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-MY%2DHELL%2DIN%2DCAMP%2DX%2DRAY-name_page.html (Daily Mirror)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3504034.stm (BBC)] * Iraqi resistance kill 2 U.S soldiers in a roadside bomb attack near the Sunni Triangle town of Habbaniyah. [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040312/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_us_soldiers_killed&cid=540&ncid=1473 (AP)] * Iraqi police are responsible for killing 2 U.S. civilians, local investigators state. [http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040311-121611-2365r (UPI)] * The U.S. government announces its intention to stockpile as many as 25 million doses of an experimental anthrax vaccine. [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/8170707.htm (AP)] * ROC presidential election, 2004: An ad comparing Chen Shui-bian to Adolf Hitler is withdrawn after protests by Jewish leaders.[http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/taiwan.hitler.reut/index.html (CNN)] ==March 11, 2004== * The Mars Exploration Rover Mission takes first picture of Earth ever made from the surface of another planet. [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_earth_040311.html (Space.com)] * March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks: 10 bombs on Madrid commuter trains kill at least 180 people and wound more than 1400, the largest toll in any bombing in Europe (the 1988 Lockerbie bombing killed more but wounded fewer). [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48577-2004Mar11.html (Washington Post)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3500452.stm (BBC)] [http://www.lavanguardia.es/web/20040311/51152856332.html (La Vanguardia)] [http://www.cincodias.com/solotexto/articulo.html?xref=20040311cdscdspor_1&anchor=cdscdspor&type=Tes&d_date=20040311 (CincoDías)] [http://www.elsemanaldigital.com/articulos.asp?idarticulo=13735 (El Semanal)] [http://comunicacion.renfe.es/renfe/front/jsp/index.jsp?idsite=9837933386810 (Renfe)] [http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-356247,0.html (Le Monde)] [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/11/world/madrid_blasts040311 (CBC)] [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=4546463§ion=news (Reuters)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/11/spain.blasts/index.html (CNN)] Purported al-Qaida statement: [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2CDD53D6-7AF7-40C7-AF88-32A16072F81B.htm (Al-Jazeera)] * Four United Kingdom prisoners who had been arrested on their return from Guantanamo Bay are released without charge. A fifth was not arrested on arrival. A further four remain in the Cuban camp. British newspapers chequebook journalism, with offers in the range of £300,000. Compensation lawsuits from the returned five are expected against the US and UK governments. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1166826,00.html (Guardian)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3500156.stm (BBC)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3500202.stm (BBC)] * Same-sex marriage in the United States: The California Supreme Court issues an interim stay ordering San Francisco officials to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The court said it would hear oral arguments regarding the controversy in May or June. The state says it did not register any of the thousands of recent gay marriages. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113995,00.html (FOX/AP)] [http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/03/031104calRuling.htm (365Gay)] [http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040312-120646-7708r.htm (Washington Times)] * United Nations inspectors find nuclear weapon-grade uranium in Iran. Iran objects to UN and United States policy, considering it "unrealistic." [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FC12Ak02.html (Asia Times)] [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/03/1c97352e-b9d0-4c20-889b-705feb2f6d04.html (Radio Free Europe)] [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/international/middleeast/11NUKE.html (NYT)] * A Maryland woman and former U.S. Democratic Partyic congressional aide, Susan Lindauer, is arrested on charges of conspiracy against the United States, acting as an Iraq Espionage before and during last year's 2003 invasion of Iraq. [http://edition.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/11/iraq.spy.case.ap/index.html (CNN)] [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0311041lind1.html (Smoking Gun)] * An Australian Senate report on poverty is immediately dismissed by Prime Minister of Australia John Howard. The report shows between 2 and 3.5 million Australians, or up to 19 per cent of the population, are living in poverty. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/11/1078594504330.html (Age)] [http://www.thewest.com.au/20040312/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto121382.html (West Australian)] [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8942044%255E2702,00.html (Australian)] [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific_business/view/74916/1/.html (Channelnewsasia)] * SCO v. IBM: BayStar Capital, an investment company, confirms tie between Microsoft and The SCO Group. [http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2004/tc20040311_8915_tc119.htm (Business Week)] [http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-5172426.html?tag=nefd_lede (CNet)] [http://trends.newsforge.com/trends/04/03/11/0819219.shtml (Newsforge)] [http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040311174247728 (Groklaw)] * Pop music singer George Michael announces that he will stop selling his music. Instead, he plans to distribute it freely over the Internet and pass on any donations to charity. [http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13687,00.html (E! Online)] ==March 10, 2004== *ROC presidential election, 2004: Wei Chueh, one of four Buddhist masters in Taiwan, controversially endorses Lien Chan. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3500442.stm (BBC)] *National Hockey League ice hockey player Todd Bertuzzi is suspended for the remainder of the season and for the entire Stanley Cup playoffs for his hit on Steve Moore, which left him with two broken vertebrae in his neck. The Vancouver police department is also looking into the incident. [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=75890 (TSN)] *''Girls Gone Wild'' Video cassette recorder of Minor (law)s exposing their breasts are not child pornography, according to a Florida court. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113808,00.html (FOX)] [http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0001_BC_GirlsGoneWild&&news&newsflash-financial (AP)] *U.S. officials tell of their plans to impose sanctions against Syria under the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act. The Bush administration accuses Syria of sponsoring terrorism and developing chemical weapons and biological weapons. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/10/us.syria/index.html (CNN)] *Kodak sues Sony over alleged violations of Kodak's patents on digital camera technology. [http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/techcorporatenews/2004-03-09-kodak-sony_x.htm (USA Today)] *U.S. presidential election, 2004: The George W. Bush reelection campaign charges that an anti-Bush ad campaign funded with "soft money" from billionaire George Soros funding violates campaign finance reform laws. The Bush camp plans to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission regarding a planned anti-Bush advertising campaign by The Media Fund. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/10/fec.ads/index.html (CNN)] *Canadian federal election, 2004: Monia Mazigh, the wife of former Syrian deportee Maher Arar, announces her run for candidacy with the New Democratic Party in the riding of Ottawa, Ontario South. [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040310/NDP10/TPNational/Canada (Globe and Mail)] *Lee Boyd Malvo is sentenced to life in prison without parole by a Virginia judge for his role in the Beltway Sniper Attacks.[http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/10/sniper.malvo/ (CNN)] ==March 9, 2004== *March 9, 2004 attack of Istanbul restaurant in Turkey by two Islamic suicide bombers killing one, injuring five. [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=472735§ion=news (Reuters)] [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/74815/1/.html (ChannelNewsAsia)] *California electricity crisis: Federal prosecutors plan to indict a Reliant Energy subsidiary for its alleged role in the energy shortage of 2000 and 2001. These would be the first criminal proceedings related to the crisis. [http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2004/03/08/daily20.html (Houston Business Journal)] *New Hubble Space Telescope images show deepest view of the universe yet. [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/09/science/space/09CND-HUBB.html?ex=1079499600&en=cfad33ff91ec4f91&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE (NYT)] *Opposition members of South Korea's parliament undertake the first steps in impeachment proceedings against President Roh Moo-hyun. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4525637 (Reuters)] *John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to death by a Virginia judge for his role in the Beltway sniper attacks. [http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=acSBZxA88Xew&refer=us (Bloomberg)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/09/sniper/ (CNN)] *A genetically modified crop, Bayer's Chardon LL maize, is approved for growing in England for animal feed from 2005 until October 2006. The Scottish Executive also approves the move, but asks Scottish farmers to hold off. MPs and farmers protest in anger as the science is questioned. The National Assembly for Wales's Environment Minister announces he is still opposed to approving the crop. [http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994754 (New Scientist)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3546347.stm (BBC)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3545825.stm (BBC)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3545447.stm (BBC)] [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/9539377?source=Evening%20Standard (Evening Standard)] *Pakistan announces a successful first flight test of its Shaheen II long-range nuclear weapon-capable ballistic missile. The missile has a range of 2,000 km (1,250 mi) and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3545775.stm (BBC)] [http://us.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/09/pakistan.missile/index.html (CNN)] * Five of the nine Britons held by American authorities at Guantanamo Bay under suspicion of having links to terrorist organisations are returned to Britain. They are to be questioned by British anti-terrorism police on arrival.[http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4528477§ion=news (Reuters)] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/09/gitmo.uk/ (CNN)] *The FBI arrests William Cottrell, a Caltech student and alleged member of the Earth Liberation Front, in connection with last summer's spate of arson attacks at a car dealerships which destroyed or damaged over one hundred vehicles, including many Hummer H2 luxury SUVs. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/03/09/state2055EST0194.DTL (AP)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09477516.htm (Reuters)] * In the United States, EchoStar's DISH Network stops carrying channels owned by Viacom (CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, and others) in a dispute over the pricing of those channels. Both companies have used text crawls and other information to influence viewers to call the opposing company to negotiate price. [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/09/business/media/09CND-DISH.html (NYT)] [http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20040309-000863-1425 (Dow Jones)] [http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=4530636 (Reuters)] [http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1078381640063 (Financial Times)] [http://www.fool.com/News/Take/2004/take040309.htm (Motley Fool)] *Belinda Stronach, candidate for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, is nominated as the Conservative candidate for the next federal election in the riding of Newmarket-Aurora, Ontario. [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/10/canada/stronach_nomination040310 (CBC)] ==March 8, 2004== *Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks ice hockey team hits rookie Steve Moore of the Colorado Avalanche in the middle of a game, fracturing vertebrae in Moore's neck and probably ending his career. [http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f6f5fccd-7afb-44fe-982d-57a9e27b9739 (National Post)] * Dr. Jiang Yanyong, who exposed the SARS coverup in the People's Republic of China, sends a letter to the National People's Congress calling the forceful suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 a "mistake." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3542049.stm (BBC)] * United States United States Marine Corpss shoot and kill a Haitian gunman in front of Port-au-Prince's presidential palace after the man fired rounds at the marines and protesters. Supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had shot and killed several anti-Aristide demonstrators.[http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/08/international/americas/08CND-HAIT.html?hp (NYT)] * Iraq's governing council unanimously approves the country's new Law_of_Administering_the_Iraqi_State_for_the_Transitional_Period. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040308/D81688680.html (AP)] * On International Women's Day, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai encourages men to allow their female relatives to vote in the upcoming election, but also suggests that they control those votes. [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1078744310270&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037 (Toronto Star)] * On a visit to Ottawa, Ontario, Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan addressed a dinner, saying that Canada is a pillar of the United Nations. [http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=5ffeae93-585e-4819-80dc-224a992d6780 (National Post)] * The United Kingdom's House of Lords votes to send the Constitutional Reform Bill, which will abolish the office of Lord Chancellor, create a new Supreme Court, and create a Judicial Appointments Commission, to a select committee for scrutiny, defeating the government. Government MPs claim this is a "wrecking" move, and threaten to use the Parliament Act to force the measure through. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3545959.stm (BBC)] ==March 7, 2004== *The New York City medical examiner reveals that a body pulled from the East River is that of actor/writer Spalding Gray, missing since January. [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/09/arts/09GRAY.html?ex=1079413200&en=9da7fe5385030286&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE (NYT)] *Greek legislative election, 2004: New Democracy, led by Costas Karamanlis, wins over the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, led by George Papandreou.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3540163.stm (BBC)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3540163.stm (BBC)] * An explosion rocks a Moscow apartment block. Initial reports from police suggest that the explosion was caused by a bomb, in spite of increased security in the run-up to the Russian_presidential_election,_2004 on March 14. Later reports state that the explosion was due to a natural gas leak. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3540077.stm (BBC)] * The White House reports that all of Libya's remaining weapons of mass destruction has been sent to the United States. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3539799.stm (BBC)] * Palestinian Authority sources say that 14 people died after an Israel raid into the refugee camps of al-Bureij and Nusseirat. Israeli sources say it was a "pinpoint" operation against the "terrorist infrastructure". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3540179.stm (BBC)] * The 2004 Formula One championship gets under way with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Michael Schumacher wins. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3539193.stm (BBC)] * In Sweden some 15,500 skiers compete in the 80th installment of Vasaloppet, the oldest and longest cross-country skiing in the world. Norway Anders Aukland wins. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/more/03/07/bc.eu.spt.ski.cross.vasaloppet.ap/index.html (Sports Illustrated)] [http://www.vasaloppet.se/wps/VasaCMS/generated/resources.Nyheter/nyheter/en/Pressreleaser/332.html (Vasaloppet press release)] * In Austria there are elections in the states of Salzburg (state) and Carinthia (state). In Salzburg, the SPÖ earns a majority for the first time. In Carinthia, the election is an unexpected success for Jörg Haider (FPÖ). * It is announced that Peter Maxwell Davies is to be the United Kingdom's next Master of the Queen's Music. [http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=267762004 (Scotsman)] * The headquarters of the US-led coalition in Baghdad come under rocket attack from Iraqi resistance, the day before the new Iraqi temporary constitution is due to be signed. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3541321.stm (BBC)] ==March 6, 2004== * Tens of thousands demonstrate in Caracas, Venezuela, against what they see as the government's fraud committed by the Consejo Nacional Electoral related to the realization of a presidential referendum in mid-2004. * The United States puts forth a UN Security Council resolution seeking to freeze the assets of Charles Taylor, the exiled former president of Liberia. The U.S. also announces that it is pledging $35 million to help rebuild Liberia's armed forces and that it supports the cancellation of Liberia's international debt, providing that economic reforms are implemented. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3538553.stm (BBC)] * Singer David Crosby is arrested in New York City after marijuana and a handgun were found in a suitcase Crosby accidentally left behind at his hotel. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/06/david.crosby.arrested/ (CNN)] * Palestinians are killed and wounded in attack on the main crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claim responsibility. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3538607.stm (BBC)] * Teenagers released from Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray recall the place fondly. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1163435,00.html (Guardian)] * Turkey politics claim that there is political consensus within Turkey to join the European Union, despite the EU's demands for changes before that can occur. [http://www.iht.com/articles/509118.html (IHT)] * Up to 80,000 people march through the Turkey capital Ankara against plans to reform the country's civil service. The marchers fear that the reforms could lead to the civil service becoming politicised or losing its secular status. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3539881.stm (BBC)] * Canadian federal election, 2004: Former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps loses the Liberal Party of Canada constituency nomination to current Transport Minister Tony Valeri by 311 votes. She will likely appeal; there is some speculation that if the loss remains, she will either run as an independent or for the New Democratic Party of Canada. [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1078614610252&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154 (Toronto Star)] * The scientists of the Russia polar research station near the North Pole are evacuated from their shifting and cracking ice floe by two Russian helicopte