March 2004

 

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Events

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Deaths • 08 Abu Abbas • 20 Queen Juliana • 28 Peter Ustinov • 30 Alistair Cooke More March 2004 deaths Ongoing events EU Enlargement Exploration of Mars: Rovers Haiti Rebellion Israeli-Palestinian conflict Occupation of Iraq Same-sex marriage in the U.S. War on Terrorism March election results • 07 Greece (legislative) • 14 Russia (president) • 14 Spain (legislative) • 20 ROC (president) • 20 ROC (referendum) • 21 Malaysia (general) • 21 El Salvador (president) • 28 France (regions) Related pages About this page Year in... Wikipedia Announcements

March 1, 2004

• 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". (BBC)
• The People's Republic of China puts in place new rules for the trading of derivatives 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 and Derivatives Association. (ISDA press release)
• 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. (Democracy Now!) (Reuters) (CNN)
• 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. (BBC) (Guardian) (Independent, UK)
• President of Russia Vladimir Putin names Mikhail Fradkov as his new prime minister. (BBC)
• Marc Dutroux, alleged Belgian child molester and murderer of four girls, goes on trial. (BBC)
• 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. (Washington Times)
• The winners of the BAFTA Games Awards are announced. The controversial and popular Grand Theft Auto: Vice City sweeps the pool, with five awards. (Digit Magazine)
• Several hundred United States, French, and Canadian troops are deployed to Haiti. (Age)
• 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. (Guam Pacific Daily News)

March 2, 2004

• 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. (palestine-info.co.uk) (Jihad Unspun)
  • Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reports 1,850 new housing units in the Jewish settlements Israel built in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2003, up by 35 percent from the previous year. (BBC)
• 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.(NC News & Observer)
  • Scattered problems crop up with electronic voting systems.(AP) (Tri-Valley Herald)
• 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.(Newsday)
  • Multnomah County, Oregon prepares to begin solemnizing same-sex marriages, after its attorney issues a legal opinion deeming such marriages lawful. (SF Chronicle)
• Exploration of Mars: NASA announces that Mars rover Opportunity landed in an area where "liquid water once drenched the surface". (SF Chronicle)
• 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. (CNN)
• 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. (BBC)
• 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. (Washington Times)
• 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. (Washington Times)
• 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. (BBC)
• 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. (BBC)

March 3, 2004

• Abdurahman Khadr, a suspected terrorist, and his family confess on CBC national television that "We are an al-Qaeda family" and that they lived with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.(CBC)
• 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. (MPA) (IN.gr) (IN.gr) (MPA)
• 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. (CNN) (TheStreet)
• 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. (CNN)
• A new government of Serbia, headed by Vojislav Koštunica, is approved by parliament. (BBC)
• 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. (BBC)
  • 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. (Reuters)
• In the trial of Martha Stewart and her broker, Judge Miriam Goldman gives the jury its instructions. (TheStreet)
• New claims of bubble fusion are made, claiming that the results of previous experiments have been replicated under more stringent experimental conditions. (RPI press release) (NY Times)
• In an interview published today, former U.S. and U.N. weapons inspector David Kay says that President George W. Bush and his administration should admit the United States was wrong about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "It's about confronting and coming clean with the American people," he said. (The Guardian)

March 4, 2004

• The guilty verdict for Moroccan al-Qaeda suspect Mounir el Motassadeq's involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks is overturned by the German appeals court, which orders a retrial. (Globe and Mail)
• Three American Muslims accused of using paintball games to train for a jihad (holy war) are found guilty of conspiracy charges. (FOX)
• 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. (CNN)
• A significant copyright ruling by Supreme Court of Canada discusses fair dealing. (text of ruling)
• Chinese authorities release Wang Youcai, a day after Rabiya Kadeer's release (BBC)
• 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. (AP) (Guardian) (BBC) (Scotsman)
  • 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. (Washington Times) 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". (BBC)
• Israeli tanks (around 15 armoured vehicles escorted by several bulldozers) enter the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, exchanging gunfire with resistance and later demolishing a four-storey building, claiming "anti-terrorist operations". (Australian)
• 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. (BBC)

March 5, 2004

• The U.S. Republican National Committee sends a letter to hundreds of television stations, warning the stations about airing anti-Bush advertisements sponsored by MoveOn.org. The letter warns that the ads may be financed with money raised in violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. (CNN)
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidates patent claim to Web browser technology central to a case by Eolas against Microsoft. (CNet)
• The United States Department of Labor releases a report showing that job growth all but stalled in February. (PBS)
• Libya admits to having stockpiled 23 metric tons of mustard gas in its declaration to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. (AP) (OPCW press release)
• SCO v. IBM: U.S. District Judge Brooke Wells orders the two involved companies to produce, within 45 days, lines of code and documentation supporting their cases. (USA Today)
• U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is hospitalized for gallstone pancreatitis. (Drudge) (CNN)
• The National People's Congress convenes in Beijing. Premier Wen Jiabao makes his first state address, saying that "solving the problems of agriculture, villages and farmers is one of the most crucial parts of our entire work". (BBC)
• Civilian Russian engineers may have secretly aided Saddam Hussein's long-range ballistic missile program, providing technical assistance for prohibited Iraqi weapons projects. (IHT)
• Last minute disagreement delays signing of Iraq's interim constitution. (Radio Free Europe) (USA Today)
• The 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. (Pravda) (BBC)
• 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." (ABC) (Scotsman)
• Same-sex marriage in the United States: The Wisconsin State Assembly approves state constitution amendment (voted 68-27) to ban same-sex marriages or civil unions, to counter efforts elsewhere to legalize such partnerships. The Kansas House passes, by 88 votes to 36, a proposed amendment. (Pittsburg KS Morning Sun) (USA Today)
• Police hold 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 denies any connection. (Haaretz) (Jerusalem Post)
• Martha Stewart is found guilty 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 considered unlikely that she would be sentenced to that maximum. Sentencing is set for June 17. (SF Chronicle)
• Nunavut general election, 2004: the new legislature returns Paul Okalik to office as premier of Nunavut, the largest territory of Canada. (CBC)
• Key Tokyo stock indexes (Nikkei 225 and Topix) hit 21-month highs.
• The trial of former Finnish Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäki ends. She has been accused of leaking secret foreign ministry documents referring to her predecessor Paavo Lipponen's meetings with George W. Bush. (BBC)

March 6, 2004

• Tens of thousands demonstrate in Caracas, Venezuela, against what they see as the government's fraud committed by the National Electoral Council 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. (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. (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. (BBC)
• Teenagers released from Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray recall the place fondly. (Guardian)
• Turkish politicians claim that there is political consensus within Turkey to join the European Union, despite the EU's demands for changes before that can occur. (IHT)
• Up to 80,000 people march through the Turkish 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. (BBC)
• Canadian federal election: Former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps loses the Liberal 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. (Toronto Star)
• The scientists of the Russian polar research station near the North Pole are evacuated from their shifting and cracking ice floe by two Russian helicopters via Norway's Spitsbergen island. (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. (NYT)
• Greek legislative election, 2004: New Democracy, led by Kostas Karamanlis, wins over the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, led by George Papandreou.(BBC) (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 presidential election on March 14. Later reports state that the explosion was due to a gas leak. (BBC)
• The White House reports that all of Libya's remaining nuclear weapons-related equipment has been sent to the United States. (BBC)
• Palestinian sources say that 14 people died after an Israeli raid into the refugee camps of al-Bureij and Nusseirat. Israeli sources say it was a "pinpoint" operation against the "terrorist infrastructure". (BBC)
• The 2004 Formula One championship gets under way with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Michael Schumacher wins. (BBC)
• In Sweden some 15,500 skiers compete in the 80th installment of Vasaloppet, the oldest and longest cross-country ski race in the world. Norwegian Anders Aukland wins. (Sports Illustrated) (Vasaloppet press release)
• In Austria there are elections in the states of Salzburg and Carinthia. 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. (Scotsman)
• The headquarters of the US-led coalition in Baghdad come under rocket attack from Iraqi guerillas, the day before the new Iraqi temporary constitution is due to be signed. (BBC)

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. In the same game, Trevor Linden passed Stan Smyl in career point scoring for the Vancouver Canucks. (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." (BBC)
• United States marines 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.(NYT)
• Iraq's governing council unanimously approves the country's new constitution. (AP)
• On International Women's Day, Afghan President Hamid Karzai encourages men to allow their female relatives to vote in the upcoming election, but also suggests that they control those votes. (Toronto Star)
• On a visit to Ottawa, Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan addressed a dinner, saying that Canada is a pillar of the United Nations. (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. (BBC)

March 9, 2004

• March 9, 2004 attack of Istanbul restaurant in Turkey by two Islamic suicide bombers killing one, injuring five. (Reuters) (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. (Houston Business Journal)
• New Hubble Space Telescope images show deepest view of the universe yet. (NYT)
• Opposition members of South Korea's parliament undertake the first steps in impeachment proceedings against President Roh Moo-hyun. (Reuters)
• John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to death by a Virginia judge for his role in the Beltway sniper attacks. (Bloomberg) (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 Welsh National Assembly's Environment Minister announces he is still opposed to approving the crop. (New Scientist) (BBC) (BBC) (BBC) (Evening Standard)
• Pakistan announces a successful first flight test of its Hatf VI / Shaheen II long-range nuclear-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). (BBC) (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.(Reuters) (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. (AP) (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. (NYT) (Dow Jones) (Reuters) (Financial Times) (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. (CBC)

March 10, 2004

• ROC presidential election, 2004: Wei Chueh, one of four Buddhist masters in Taiwan, controversially endorses Lien Chan. (BBC)
• National Hockey League 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. (TSN)
• Girls Gone Wild videos of minors exposing their breasts are not child pornography, according to a Florida court. (FOX) (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 and biological weapons. (CNN)
• Kodak sues Sony over alleged violations of Kodak's patents on digital camera technology. (USA Today)
• U.S. presidential election: The Bush reelection campaign charges that an anti-Bush ad campaign funded with "soft money" from billionaire George Soros funding violates campaign finance 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. (CNN)
• Canadian federal election: Monia Mazigh, the wife of former Syrian deportee Maher Arar, announces her run for candidacy with the NDP in the riding of Ottawa South. (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.(CNN)
• Tracy McGrady of the Orlando Magic scores 62 points against the Washington Wizards, setting the record for most points scored in one game for the Orlando Magic franchise.

March 11, 2004

• The Spirit rover takes first picture of Earth ever made from the surface of another planet. (Space.com)
• March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks: 10 bombs on Madrid commuter trains kill at least 190 people and wound more than 1247, the largest toll in any bombing in Europe (the 1988 Lockerbie bombing killed more but wounded fewer). (Washington Post) (BBC) (La Vanguardia) (CincoDías) (El Semanal) (Renfe) (Le Monde) (CBC) (Reuters) (CNN) Purported al-Qaida statement: (Al-Jazeera)
• Four British 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 vie for the rights to their stories, with offers in the range of £300,000. Compensation lawsuits from the returned five are expected against the US and UK governments. (Guardian) (BBC) (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. (FOX/AP) (365Gay) (Washington Times)
• A Maryland woman and former Democratic congressional aide, Susan Lindauer, is arrested on charges of conspiracy against the United States, acting as an Iraqi spy before and during last year's invasion. (CNN) (Smoking Gun)
• An Australian Senate report on poverty is immediately dismissed by Prime Minister 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. (Age) (West Australian) (Australian) (Channelnewsasia)
• SCO v. IBM: BayStar Capital, an investment company, confirms tie between Microsoft and SCO. (Business Week) (CNet) (Newsforge) (Groklaw)
• Pop 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. (E! Online)

March 12, 2004

• Same-sex marriage in the United States: Oregon's attorney general issues his opinion on same-sex marriage within 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 state's constitution. The Wisconsin State Senate approves state constitution amendment to ban same-sex marriages or civil unions, to counter efforts elsewhere to legalize such partnerships. (Oregon Attorney General's opinion — PDF) (Wisconsin State Journal)
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