Template:In the news
- Israeli nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu is arrested, again, on suspicion of leaking classified information.
- Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat dies in a French military hospital after a short illness. A funeral is to be held in Cairo and the burial will take place in Ramallah. Rawhi Fattuh takes over from Arafat as interim president of the PA.
- U.S. President George W. Bush announces he will nominate Alberto R. Gonzales, his first term's White House Counsel, to succeed John Ashcroft as the U.S. Attorney General. Gonzales would be the first Hispanic to hold the position if the nomination is confirmed by the Senate.