Portal:Current events/March 2004
Time: 06:15 UTC |
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024
- Libya admits to having stockpiled 44,000 pounds of mustard gas in its declaration to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. [1]
- SCO v. IBM: U.S. District Judge Brooke Wells orders companies to produce, within 45 days, lines of code and documentation supporting their cases. [2]
- U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is hospitalized for gallstone pancreatitis. [3] [4]
- The National People's Congress convenes in Beijing. Premier Wen Jiabao makes his first state address and said "Solving the problems of agriculture, villages and farmers is one of the most crucial parts of our entire work."[5]
- Guilty verdict overturned in case of al-Qaeda suspect, Moroccan Mounir el Motassadeq. German appeals court ordered a retrial. [6]
- Russian engineers (though not working for the Russian government) may have secretly aided Saddam Hussein's long-range ballistic missile program, providing technical assistance for prohibited Iraqi weapons projects. [7]
- Last minute disagreement delays signing of Iraq's interim constitution. [8] [9]
- Russian polar station will be evacuated. Russia launches rescue operation to evacuate 12 of its scientists stranded on a research station (which partially sank) near the North Pole. [10] [11]
- Tony Blair defends the war in Iraq, stating that "global threat we face in Britain and round the world is real and existential and it is the task of leadership to expose it and fight it, whatever the political cost." [12] [13]
- Wisconsin Assembly approves state constitution amendement (voted 68-27) to ban homosexual marriages or civil unions to counter efforts elsewhere to legalize the partnerships. Kansas House (voted 88-36) passes a proposed amendment. [14] [15]
- Police are holding a Haifa man, Eliran Golan, (and his 54-year-old father) in custody on suspicion of involvement in making and planting bombs over the last three years. Haifa Magistrate court extends for five days the remand of Yivgeny Grossman. Grossman denied any connection. [16] [17]
- Martha Stewart is found gulity by a jury on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements regarding alleged insider trading in December 2001. She faces up to 20 years in prison, though it is unlikely she will serve the maximum. Sentencing was set for June 17. [18]
- Three American Muslims accused of using paintball games to train for holy war are found guilty of conspiracy charges. [19]
- Horst Köhler resigns as the head of the IMF in order to accept the nomination for Presidency of Germany.
- Michael Dell, head of Dell Computers announces that he will step down as CEO of the computer manufacturer. However, he will still retain his position as chairman of the board. Dell president and COO, Kevin Rollins will assume the role of CEO. [20]
- A significant copyright ruling by Supreme Court of Canada discusses fair dealing. [21]
- Chinese authorities release Wang Youcai, a day after Rabiya Kadeer's release [22]
- U.S. presidential election, 2004:
- Controversy erupts over the US Republican Party's use of imagery from the September 11, 2001 attacks in campaign advertising, with some supporting the President, like Republican ex-New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and some victims' families objecting strongly. [23] [24] [25] [26]
- US Democratic Party labels the Bush campaign an "attack machine" which they vow to thwart at every turn. "Fund raising and the race to define your opponent before he defines you that's what it's all about," said one Democratic strategist yesterday. [27] The White House defends the use of images from the 2001 terror attacks in adverts for President Bush's re-election campaign. Karen Hughes states, "It's a reminder of our shared experience as a nation ... not just some distant tragedy from the past. It really defined our future". [28]
- Israeli tanks (around 15 armoured vehicles escorted by several bulldozers) entered into the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. They exchanged gunfire with resistance and later demolished a four-storey building claiming "anti-terrorist operations". [29]
- The Prime Minister of Malaysia dissolves the national parliament and all state assemblies except Sarawak's, paving the way for the general election to be held within 60 days as dictated by the constitution. [30]
- Serious controversy in Greece over a flyer with propaganda against George Papandreou, just some days before the elections of Sunday, March 7, 2004. The opposition party New Democracy (ND) is accused by Anna Diamantopoulou (member of the currently ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement - PASOK) that printed and mailed the controversial flyer to members of the Greek Eastern Christian Church's clergy. The flyer is describing George Papandreou as an Atheist who is against the Church and the national and religious symbols. [31], [32] [33], [34] [35]
- At the Walt Disney Company's Annual General Meeting, about 43% of Walt Disney stockholders, including several prominent pension funds, vote to oppose the re-election of Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner. The board of directors replaces him as Chairman with George J. Mitchell. [36][37]
- Researchers at Harvard University announce that they will give scientists free access to 17 human embryonic stem cell lines created without U.S. federal funding. This move is expected to boost stem cell research in the face of federal funding restrictions announced in 2001 by the Bush administration. [38]
- A new government of Serbia, headed by Vojislav Kostunica, is approved by parliament. [39]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Israeli aircraft destroy a car in the Gaza strip with missile fire, killing three people acknowledged by Palestinian officials as members of the militant group Hamas. [40]
- A group of Israelis join a court challenge against the Israeli West Bank barrier out of concern it could turn their good Palestinian neighbors into deadly enemies. [41]
- The judge in the the trial of Martha Stewart and her broker gives the jury its instructions, and to begin deliberations. Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum tells the jurors that there is "no magic formula by which you should evaluate testimony," -- they must rely upon their common sense and good judgment. [42]
- New claims of bubble fusion are made, claiming that the results of previous experiments have been replicated under more stringent experimental conditions. [43]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- The Palestinian Authority's prisoners' affairs ministry states in its monthly statistical report that the number of Palestinian prisoners has risen to around 7,500. Of those 336 are children, 75 female and 943 in need of medical treatment. Of the 166 prisoners who died, 41% died as a result of medical negligence, while 18% died as a result of torture. [44] [45]
- Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reports 1,850 new housing units in the illegal Jewish settlements Israel built in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2003, up by 35 percent from the previous year. [46] [47]
- U.S. Democratic Presidential Nomination:
- John Kerry wins the Super Tuesday primaries in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island and caucus in Minnesota, effectively clinching the nomination. Howard Dean wins in his home state of Vermont even though he is no longer actively campaigning. John Edwards is reported to be withdrawing from the race three hours before polls close in California and just as the caucuses begin in Minnesota.[48]
- Scattered problems crop up with electronic voting systems.[49] [50]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States:
- Jason West, mayor of New Paltz, New York is charged with 19 criminal counts of solemnizing marriages without a license. If convicted, he faces up to a $500 fine and a year in jail on each count.[51]
- Multnomah County, Oregon prepares to begin solemnizing same-sex marriages, after its attorney issues a legal opinion deeming such marriages lawful. [52]
- Exploration of Mars: NASA announces that Mars rover Opportunity landed in an area where "liquid water once drenched the surface". [53]
- Bernard Ebbers, ex-CEO of Worldcom, is indicted on three counts of conspiracy for his alleged role in that company's $11 billion accounting scandal in 2002. Worldcom's CFO Scott Sullivan pleads guilty and is expected to cooperate with prosecutors against Ebbers. [54]
- Multiple explosions hit Shiite shrines in Baghdad and Karbala on the Shia festival of Ashura. Over 180 people are reported killed. A three-day long period of national mourning is announced. [55]
- Iraq gets a Bill of Rights, including guarantees of freedom of religion and press, in the form of the Law of Administering the Iraqi State for the Transitional Period. [56]
- The U.S. declares its 2,000-man force to have leadership over all foreign military forces in Haiti. President Bush chose not to wait for the UN Security Council but, instead, to intervene immediately to "restore order" in the western hemisphere's poorest country. [57]
- The European Union imposes additional 5% tariffs on a wide range of goods imported from the United States, such as honey, paper, and nuclear reactors. The tariffs were sanctioned by the World Trade Organization in 2002 as punitive measures after a ruling declaring that United States tax law unfairly favors U.S.-based companies. [58]
- The European Space Agency's Rosetta space probe is successfully launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on a mission to investigate the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. [59]
- Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie blasted ongoing Israeli extra-judicial executions of Palestinian activists, which claimed two more lives on Sunday, and blamed Israel for the weekend of violence, whilst accusing his Israeli counterpart’s government of trying "to kill any possibility for (achieving a) mutual cease-fire". [60] [61]
- The People's Republic of China puts in place new rules for the trading of derivative securities by financial institutions, part of a broader process by which China has in recent years sought to integrate its own economy with finance capitalism around the world. The China Banking Regulatory Commission receives praise from the New York-based International Swaps & Derivatives Association. [62]
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide claims that his resignation as President of Haiti was forced and that he was kidnapped by American forces and forced to leave the country against his will. United States Vice President Dick Cheney rejects the accusation. [63] [64]
- The UK Conservative Party withdraws from the Butler Inquiry into intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, claiming the way its terms of reference have been interpreted is too narrow. The Liberal Democrats claim that this was obvious from the beginning. [65] [66] [67]
- President of Russia Vladimir Putin names Mikhail Fradkov as his new prime minister. [68]
- Marc Dutroux, alleged Belgian child molester and murderer of four girls, goes on trial. [69]
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: President of the United States George W. Bush urges passage of a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman, as the only way to stop "municipal and judicial activists" from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. "If we are to prevent the meaning of marriage from being changed forever, our nation must enact a constitutional amendment." John Kerry denounces the amendment as "toying" or "tampering" with the Constitution of the United States for partisan advantage. [70]
- The winners of the BAFTA Games Awards are announced. The controversial and popular Grand Theft Auto: Vice City sweeps the pool, with five awards. [71]
- Several hundred United States, French and Canadian troops are deployed to Haiti. [72]
- Palau National Congress' debate about whether to propose several constitutional amendments to Palau voters or ask them to consider more changes at a Constitutional Convention ended without an accord. [73]
Past events by month
2004: January February
2003: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2002: January February March April May June July August September October November December
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