Portal:Current events/December 2003

Occupation of Iraq:
- The firefight in which more than 50 Iraqis are reported killed is now thought to have been an attempted currency heist. [1]
- One GI is killed Monday in fighting west of Baghdad. [2]
World AIDS Day:
- US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson warns that the world is losing the war against AIDS. Thompson said, "We need America, the European Union and everybody. Nobody is going to be spared unless we all come together in the fight against this disease." [3]
- UK Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn announces that the UK's funding for UNAids will rise to GBP £6 million in 2004; this figure compares to the UK's projected Iraq War-related costs of approximately GBP £3 billion. [4]
- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan reportedly tells the BBC that the world is losing the war against AIDS because governments remain indifferent to the threat. [5]
- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao marks World AIDS Day by visiting AIDS victims in a Beijing hospital. [6]
The UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda hands down a life sentence to Juvenal Kajelijeli, a former mayor of Mukingo, for his role in the 1994 genocide in which more than 500,000 Rwandans were killed. [7]
King Harald V of Norway is announced to be suffering from cancer of the bladder; he will be operated on next Monday, December 8. During the King's illness and two to three month convalescence, Crown Prince Haakon will be acting regent. [8]
President Chen Shui-bian says that the hundreds of missiles the People's Republic of China has aimed at Taiwan justifies holding a referendum on independence. The referendum bill recently passed by the Legislative Yuan only allows votes on sovereignty if the country is attacked by a foreign power. [9]
Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Phil Condit resigns, a week after the aviation giant fires its Chief Financial Officer in an ethics scandal. The move comes as the company faces scrutiny by the Defense Department for a government plan to acquire Boeing 767 planes for use as refueling tankers and answers questions about the ousters of two executives for ethical misconduct during the period it was being negotiated. Former McDonnell Douglas CEO Harry Stonecipher will succeed Condit as CEO, while former Hewlett-Packard chairman and CEO Lewis Platt takes over as chairman. [10]
In Flandreau, South Dakota, jury selection begins in the manslaughter trial of former South Dakota Governor and current US Congressman Bill Janklow. [11]
The cross country cycling organization "LOCO" was founded in Shreveport / Bossier City.
The Xbox Music Mixer was released.

December 2, 2003 (Tuesday)

Venezuelan opposition leaders claim to have gathered enough petition signatures to force a referendum to recall President Hugo Chávez; in response, the government alleges the four-day signature drive was tainted by "massive fraud". [12] [13]
The second trial of DeCSS releaser Jon Johansen begins. [14]
The US dollar continues to decline, hitting a new low of 1.2 against the euro; the dollar is suffering from deteriorating support against the background of a large current account deficit and fears of growing protectionism. [15]
Andrei Illarionov, economic advisor to President Vladimir Putin, indicates Russia will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol in its current form, a decision that would kill the accord. Some observers speculate that this is purely domestic posturing for forthcoming elections. [16]
Mark Latham is elected to succeed Simon Crean as the new leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party, defeating former leader Kim Beazley by 47 votes to 45. In 2004 Latham will face Liberal Prime Minister John Howard at a general election. [17]
The Israeli government has called on U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell not to meet with former ministers of Israel and the Palestinian Authority who have drawn up the unofficial Geneva plan. [18]
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wins the annual "Foot in Mouth Prize" awarded by the UK's Plain English Campaign for the most nonsensical remark made by a public figure. Among the runners-up are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris Patten. [19]
Hospitals around Paris struggle to cope with an outbreak of influenza and gastro-enteritis. [20]
The European Union threatens retaliatory sanctions unless the United States lifts its threat of restrictions on imports of steel; the US measures have been declared illegal by the WTO. [21]
Pirate copies of a pre-alpha version of Microsoft's Windows "Longhorn" operating system go on sale in Malaysia more than a year ahead of its expected release date. [22]
GIMPS has confirmed that 2^20996011-1 is prime. At 6320430 decimal digits, it is easily the largest known prime number. 2^20996011-1 is the 40th known Mersenne prime and the 6th Mersenne prime discovered by GIMPS. [23]
The Pentagon announces that U.S.-born illegal combatant and Taliban fighter Yaser Esam Hamdi will be allowed access to a lawyer after having been denied such counsel for two years. [24]

December 3, 2003 (Wednesday)

Deng Pufang, Sérgio Vieira de Mello, the Plaza de Mayo Grandmothers and others are announced as the winners of the UN human rights prizes, which are awarded every 5 years. [25] [26]
Up to 50 employees of Australia's national postal service have been caught sending pornographic emails, including some involving children in sex acts, according to an investigation published by the Sydney-based Daily Telegraph. Two have been sacked, at least four have resigned, and dozens have been suspended pending further investigations. [27]
In Kassel, Germany, the trial of Armin Meiwes begins. He is charged with killing and eating Bernd-Jürgen Brandes who was one of 200 people who replied to an Internet advertisement for "a well-built male prepared to be slaughtered and then consumed". The whole episode was videotaped. The case is legally difficult as cannibalism is not explicitly prohibited by the German penal code, and the defence argues that as the victim was willing, no murder took place. [28]
The Russian government backtracks on statements made the previous day on the Kyoto Protocol, saying it is still considering ratification. [29]
Two media figures are sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for fueling the 1994 Rwanda genocide; a third receives a 35-year prison term. [30] [31]
Politics of Canada: Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal, Canada's first Indo-Canadian cabinet minister, announces he is leaving politics. Dhaliwal intends to quit his ministerial post when incoming Prime Minister Paul Martin swears in a new cabinet on December 12, and has indicated he will not seek re-election in the anticipated 2004 election. [32]
In Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, police fire tear gas at hundreds of protesters who want France to withdraw its 3,800 peacekeepers so that the Christian and animist government of President Laurent Gbagbo in the south can march against Muslim rebel-held areas in the north. [33][34]
The Parliament of New Zealand voted 68-52 to pass the Smokefree Environments Amendment Bill, introducing a progressive ban on smoking in all workplaces including offices, clubs, pubs, restaurants, airports, schools etc.

December 4, 2003 (Thursday)

Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller is injured in a helicopter crash outside Warsaw. [35]
Facing the threat of a trade war, U.S. President George W. Bush lifts 20-month-old tariffs on foreign steel. Within minutes of the announcement, the European Union announces that it is lifting its threat of sanctions on $2.2 billion of U.S. products that would have taken effect in mid-December based on a ruling from the World Trade Organization that the tariffs were in violation of global trade rules. [36]
Hourly productivity of U.S. employees increased in the 3rd quarter of 2003 at an annual rate of 9.2%, the highest since the Reagan years (Q2 of 1983). [37]
Interpol issues a red notice for the arrest of former President of Liberia Charles Taylor. [38] [39]
Australia's population was expected to hit 20 Million on this day.

December 5, 2003 (Friday)

Suicide bombers blow up a morning rush-hour commuter train in Russia's Northern Caucasus, on the border with Chechnya; at least 40 people are killed. [40] [41]
As part of a spending bill passed by the United States Congress this week, the University of California will have to compete for the management contract of all three of its national laboratories: Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, and Los Alamos. Previously, it was expected that only Los Alamos would be up for bidding. [42]
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is opened in Abuja, Nigeria, by Queen Elizabeth II. The future of Zimbabwe's membership is threatening to dominate the gathering. The debate has been marked by bitter personal polemics between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whom Mugabe accuses of leading an "Anglo-Saxon conspiracy" against Zimbabwe. Mugabe himself is barred from entering the European Union. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth last year on charges that Mugabe had rigged his re-election in 2002. [43][44]
Members of the Canadian Alliance vote 96% to 4% in favour of forming a union with the Progressive Conservative Party, called the Conservative Party of Canada. The Progressive Conservatives will vote tomorrow. [45] [46]
SCO v. IBM: in the opening discovery stages of the SCO v. IBM conflict, a judge grants IBM's two motions to compel against SCO, and defers consideration of SCO's motions until later.
The 22nd SEA Games open in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This is the first time Vietnam has hosted the regional athletic event and the first time East Timor has sent a delegation. Indonesia and Vietnam are expected to top the medal tallies. [47] [48]
The draw for the qualifying stages of the 2006 Football World Cup is made. England, Wales and Northern Ireland are drawn together in group 6 of the Europe (UEFA) section, making the group three-quarters of a home nations championship - Scotland missed out by being drawn (amongst others) against Italy and Norway.

December 6, 2003 (Saturday)

Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett stands aside after allegedly assaulting Liberal Jeannie Ferris on the floor of Parliament. [49]
Occupation of Iraq:
- George W. Bush asks James Baker to oversee the reconstruction of Iraq's USD $125 billion foreign debt. [50]
- US soldiers in and returning from Iraq are affected by "Baghdad Boil" (Leishmaniasis) that can cause disfiguring skin lesions. [51]
- Japan mourns the two Japanese diplomats killed in Iraq. [52]
The USA admits that at least nine children have been mistakenly killed in a bombing attack near Ghazni, Afghanistan. [53][54]
Delegates representing the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada vote 90% to 10% in favour of forming a union with the Canadian Alliance. The Alliance approved the measure even more overwhelmingly yesterday, with 96% support. The new party is to style itself the Conservative Party of Canada. [55]
The first major winter storm strikes the North East United States. [56]
Experts say that the US flu season will be worse than average, but they are not yet ready to say how bad it will be. [57] The USA is running out of the injectable version of the vaccine and is encouraging people to use the nasal spray. [58]
Zimbabwe fails to find supporters at the Commonwealth Prime Minister's Conference in Nigeria. [59]
George Clinton, founder of P-Funk, is arrested for cocaine possession in Tallahassee, Florida. [60]

December 7, 2003 (Sunday)

Former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Alemán receives a 20-year prison sentence for money laundering, embezzlement, electoral crime, etc. [61] [62]
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe announces that he is withdrawing his country from the Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth had earlier decided to maintain Zimbabwe's suspension until human rights and democratic reforms had taken place. [63]
President Putin's United Russia Party wins a resounding victory in the 2003 Russian election, with 37% of the vote. Second place and 12.5% of the vote goes to the Communist Party, with Zhirinovsky's LDPR nationalists close behind with 11.5%. However, electoral monitors say the democratic process was "overwhelmingly distorted" in the government's favour. [64] [65]
Afghan villagers have disputed United States claims that a bombing by the US that killed nine children had killed the intended target, Taliban militant, Mullah Wazir. They say Wazir had left the village ten days earlier. [66] [67]
Currency analysts remain negative on the US dollar. [68]
One US soldier is killed and two are injured Sunday in Mosul when a convoy is attacked. [69]

December 8, 2003 (Monday)

The European Commission refuse to approve a controversial genetically modified sweet corn, thus de facto refusing to lift the moratorium on GMOs. See also Trade war over genetically modified food.
The United States Congress passes the Can Spam Act of 2003. [70]
King Harald V of Norway successfully undergoes a 5½-hour cancer operation in which his bladder is removed and a new one constructed, at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo. [71]
German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries unveils a draft bill aimed at policing company accounts following the Enron and WorldCom scandals in the USA. [72]
South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow is convicted of a series of criminal charges including second-degree manslaughter, which can carry a prison term of up to 10 years. He says he will resign his congressional seat. [73]
The new Conservative Party of Canada, resulting from the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, is officially registered with Elections Canada. The party's first interim leader is John Lynch-Staunton, with a leadership race scheduled for March 2004. [74]
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, four men are killed and a woman critically injured during a massacre in a discotheque. It is the largest massacre in Puerto Rico since 1988. [75] (in Spanish)
British musician Ozzy Osbourne is seriously injured in an ATV accident. [76]
750,000 people crowd the streets of London to see the victory parade of the England rugby team following their victory in the Rugby Union World Cup. [77]
Rubén González, the successful Cuban pianist, dies at home in Havana, at the age of 84. [78]
Greek electronic game ban: The Greek government in an attempt to fight illegal gambling passes an old decision (1107414/1491/T. & E. F.) regarding the 3037/2002 law.

December 9, 2003 (Tuesday)

A suicide bombing in central Moscow at 11 a.m. local time (0800 UTC) kills six people and wounds 13 others. The police reports that one of the dead bombers has been identified as a woman. [79]
Doctors at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are worried that the 2003-2004 influenza season will be the worst in years. Early signs indicate that a particularly virulent strain of the flu virus that is not well-covered by this year's vaccine is hitting hard in some states. Young children and the elderly have been urged to receive the vaccine, doses of which are running low. [80]
Former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey is appointed to the 9/11 Commission to replace Max Cleland, who is stepping down to become president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
Al Gore endorses Howard Dean's candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2004 U.S. presidential election. [81]
The M6 Toll road, the United Kingdom's first toll motorway, partially opens in the West Midlands. It is due to open fully on December 13. [82]
Occupation of Iraq:
- Some 60 U.S. soldiers and a handful of Iraqis are injured in Tal Afar, west of Mosul, when a pre-dawn car bomb explodes at an entrance to an army base. [83] [84]
- A U.S. Kiowa helicopter makes a controlled landing after being struck by an RPG near Fallujah; the two-man crew is uninjured. [85]
- An early-morning car bomb kills three people at a Sunni mosque in a predominantly Shi'ite district of Baghdad. [86]
- Japan cabinet approves troops to Iraq. [87]
Political status of Taiwan: Standing next to visiting Premier Wen Jiabao, George W. Bush reiterates U.S. support for the one China policy and states that he opposes holding a referendum on Taiwan. [88] [89]
Democrat Gavin Newsom defeats Green Party challenger Matt Gonzalez in run-off election for San Francisco mayor, succeeding term-limit blocked Willie Brown. [90]
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez resigns, effective Friday at noon. [91]
Shanghai announces plans to ban bicycles from main roads in the city centre [92]

December 10, 2003 (Wednesday)

Western leaders are criticised at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. [93]
2004 Taiwan Presidential Election: President Chen Shui-bian is officially nominated by his Democratic Progressive Party and picks Vice President Annette Lu as his running mate. [94]
Campaign finance reform, passed as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, is upheld by a slim majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. [95], [96]
Canada's BC Ferry system experiences a total shutdown due to job action by its union, after an 80-day cooling-off period, imposed by the provincial government, was not rescinded. [97]
The Barron Report into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings in 1974 concludes that the Ulster Volunteer Force was responsible for the largest terrorist attack in the history of the Irish Troubles, which killed 33 people. It also concludes that some members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British military intelligence may have been involved in the attacks. The report strongly criticises the Irish National Coalition government (1973-77) for its handling of the crisis and criticises the United Kingdom for failures to offer assistance and information to track down the murderers. [98]
Shirin Ebadi of Iran receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. In her acceptance speech she delivers heavy criticism against the War on Terrorism as an excuse for human rights violations. She also repeats her argument that discrimination against women in Muslim countries has no foundation in religion, but rather in culture. [99] [100]
Occupation of Iraq:
- The Iraq Interim Governing Council announces the creation of a war crimes tribunal, to prosecute crimes against humanity committed under the Ba'ath Party régime (14 July 1968 to 1 May 2003). [101] [102]
- The European Commission announces it will investigate whether exclusion of Iraq war opponents from industrial contracts to rebuild the country constitutes a violation of WTO rules by the U.S. [103] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemns the "divisive" exclusion. [104]
- The People's Republic of China urges Japan not to send Japan Self-Defense Forces to Iraq.[105]
Following electoral success in the Northwest Territories general election, 2003 Joe Handley is unopposed for election as premier of the Northwest Territories by the legislature. Two prospective opponents had chosen not to run against him. [106]
Scott Brison becomes the fourth caucus member of the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to leave the new Conservative Party of Canada, crossing the floor to the Liberals. [107]
Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, issues a proclamation officially acknowledging the deportation of the Acadians, 248 years after it took place. The proclamation is delivered by Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, who is of Acadian descent. [108]

December 11, 2003 (Thursday)

Spamming: Virginia indicts two men (one arrested) on felony charges for violating state laws on bulk e-mail solicitations. [109] [110]
Electronic voting comes under scrutiny at a conference in Maryland. [111] [112]
According to Pentagon investigations, Halliburton overcharged the US Army for fuel in Iraq. Dick Cheney was chairman of Halliburton prior to becoming Vice President of the United States. [113] [114]
In Israel, an explosion at a money exchange office in a shopping district near the city center of Tel Aviv at 1230 local time (1030 UTC) kills three and injures at least eighteen people. Police say the cause of the explosion was probably criminal rather than terrorist. [115]
A general strike in Quebec interrupts road and port traffic as well as non-essential surgeries and day-care service in Montreal, Quebec City, and Trois-Rivières. The strike was called in opposition to the Charest government's policies. [116]
US Economy: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 10,000 for the first time since May 24, 2002. [117] [118]
The Inuit Circumpolar Conference says it hopes to petition the inter-American human rights system to rule that Inuit basic rights are being violated by global warming. They claim that the greenhouse effect, exacerbated by the failure of Russia and the USA to sign the Kyoto Protocol, will lead to the destruction of their way of life. [119] [120]

December 12, 2003 (Friday)

A plot by militants linked to Al Qaeda to blow up the United Kingdom embassy in Yemen is foiled. [121]
Germany announces plans to commemorate gay victims of the Nazi Holocaust, with a monument to be erected in central Berlin. [122]
Queen Elizabeth II has a benign non-cancerous growth removed from her face. Buckingham Palace confirms the removed growths will be subject to further tests but denies there are any cancer fears surrounding the 77-year-old sovereign. She also underwent a knee operation. [123]
Canada's BC Ferry system returns to normal operations after the company and its union agree to commit to binding arbitration. [124]
A European Union defence policy is agreed upon by Britain, France and Germany at the beginning of an EU summit in Brussels where the member countries will discuss a forthcoming constitution for the EU. Defence policy: [125]; EU constitution: [126].
Paul Martin, Jr. is appointed Canada's 21st Prime Minister, and takes his oath of office along with his cabinet. Notable Ministers include Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan in Domestic Security, Ralph Goodale in Finance, Pierre Pettigrew in Health and Intergovernmental Affairs, Lucienne Robillard in Industry, Irwin Cotler in Justice, Bill Graham in Foreign Affairs and David Pratt in Defence. [127]
Keiko (whale) from Warner Brothers movie's Free Willy dies at age 27, at Norway's bay
In Haiti the biggest anti-government demonstrations in a decade take place, calling for the removal of President Aristide; after nightfall, squadrons of armed Aristide supporters take to the streets in response. [128] [129]
Mick Jagger is knighted. [130]
According to a poll published in the Israeli daily Maariv, half of Israelis distrust their Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. [131]
Spanish filmmaker's Belén Funes and Marçal Cebrian felt in love.
In the central province Bie, Angola, a land mine explodes and kills 6 Angolan staff of the international humanitarian organization, CARE. [132]
The documentary Anatomy of t.A.T.u., aired on STS, reveals that the two women of the Russian band t.A.T.u. are not lesbians, among other revelations.
Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, was captured in Tikrit by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division

December 13, 2003 (Saturday)

Saddam Hussein is captured and arrested by U.S. forces in Tikrit, Iraq.
Spain has announced an agreement with Morocco to proceed with plans to build a rail tunnel beneath the Strait of Gibraltar, linking Europe and Africa. Assuming the project is technically and financially feasible, digging would start in 2008. [133], [134]
At the EU summit, EU Commissioner Chris Patten describes the United States' method of awarding contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq as politically maladroit. [135]
The European Union fails to reach agreement on a new constitution. [136]
Operatic singer (tenor) Luciano Pavarotti marries his partner and producer Nicoletta Mantovani at a ceremony in Northern Italy. [137][138]
California legislators approve Arnold Schwarzenegger's $15 billion bond issue.[139]
Chad's government signs a cease-fire with the rebel Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) in Burkina Faso. [140][141]
Wanderley Carlos Stringhini, retired partner of Ernst Young, dies at age 51, of suicide. During his life, he was partly responsible for the founding of Ernst Young offices in Curitiba, Blumenau, and Porto Alegre.

December 14, 2003 (Sunday)

Occupation of Iraq:
- Iraq's Civil Administrator L. Paul Bremer announces that Saddam Hussein was captured by US forces. Saddam was found approximately 15 km south of his home town of Tikrit at 2030 local time on December 13. Hussein was captured without resistance in a so-called "spider-hole" at a farmhouse in the town of ad-Dawr. He is in Coalition custody at an undisclosed location. At a press conference, Bremer presents video of Saddam in custody with a full beard, which is later shown removed. Bremer says that Saddam is in good health and is being "co-operative and talkative". He says that Saddam will "face justice" before an Iraqi court and under Iraqi law. [142] [143] [144] [145]
- In an address to his nation, US president George W. Bush comments on the capture of Saddam, "Now the former dictator of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions." [146]
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomes the capture of Saddam, urging the Iraqi people "to reach out and to reconcile." Other world leaders offer similar sentiments: Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says that the arrest "will contribute to the strengthening of security in Iraq and to the process of political regulation in the country," while UN Secretary General Kofi Annan comments that Saddam's capture provides a chance "to give fresh impetus to the search for peace and stability in Iraq". [147] [148]
- A car bomb explodes at a police station in Khaldiyah, 60 km west of Baghdad, killing at least 17 and wounding 30. [149]
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf narrowly escapes a bombing. "The president's motorcade passed a minute before the blast", according to officials. [150]
In an interview with The Washington Post newspaper, a 78-year-old African-American Los Angeles woman claims to be the illegitimate daughter of the late U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond. [151]
The famous Italian opera house La Fenice in Venice reopens after being destroyed by fire in 1996. It was rebuilt at the cost of €90mn.[152]
Jason White, quarterback of the University of Oklahoma Sooners, wins the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best player in college football. [153]

December 15, 2003 (Monday)

Wesley Clark concludes his first day of closed-door testimony against Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. [154]
US Secretary of State Colin Powell successfully undergoes two hours of prostate cancer surgery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. [155]
Capture of Saddam Hussein:
- US President George W. Bush promises a "fair trial" for Saddam, refusing demands to hand him over to an international court. [156]
- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says, about Saddam, "... as secretary-general ... I am not going to now turn around and support a death penalty". [157]
The results of parliamentary elections in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are announced: pro-European Union parties won a narrow victory over the ruling nationalist coalition, with the opposition Republican Turkish Party becoming the largest party. However, the republic's complicated electoral system means that the two sides will each have 25 seats in the 50-seat assembly. [158]
Safeway, a British grocery store chain, is the subject of a £3bn ($5.2bn USD) takeover bid from rival supermarket chain Morrisons. [159]
Two toddlers are badly burnt when a car crashes into a Sydney child care centre.
Liberian Crisis: the United Nations announces the suspension of its disarmament campaign for a month. [160]

December 16, 2003 (Tuesday)

Space Adventures, a space tourist company, announces that two American customers have paid to board a Soyuz spacecraft on its journey to the International Space Station and back in 2004 and 2005. [161]
Capture of Saddam Hussein:
- Congressman Jim McDermott suggests that George W. Bush timed the capture of Saddam Hussein for political gain. [162]
- The Israeli military reveals it developed a secret plan to assassinate Saddam Hussein in retaliation for Scud missile attacks on that country during the Gulf War. The plan was called off after five commandos were accidentally killed while training for the mission. [163]
- Saddam Hussein's daughter, Raghad Saddam Hussein, tells the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television network, Saddam "should not be tried by the Iraqi governing council which was put in place by occupiers ... we want an international, fair and legal trial". [164]
Occupation of Iraq:
- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, speaking in a UN Security Council debate, urges member states to define a clearer role for the UN in Iraq. [165]
Prosecutors in Santa Barbara, California, announce that they will file charges against the singer Michael Jackson on December 18 or 19. [166]
A major expansion of British airports is announced by the UK government, with Stansted, Heathrow and Birmingham set to gain extra runways. [167]
An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that the morning-after pill (for emergency contraception) be made available without a prescription. [168]
Somalia: 31 people die in the course of fighting between rival militias.[169]

December 17, 2003 (Wednesday)

Linux kernel 2.6.0 is released by Linus Torvalds.
Capture of Saddam Hussein:
- Mowaffaq al-Rubaie says that Saddam Hussein will be tried in Iraq by an Iraqi court. Mowaffaq, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, denies reports that the prisoner has been taken out of Baghdad. [170]
- United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld confirms that Saddam Hussein will not be treated as a prisoner of war subject to the Geneva Conventions. [171]
Stephen Kenny, the first civilian lawyer to visit any of the former Afghan war suspects in Guantanamo Bay, describes it as a physical and moral black hole. He says prisoners are not treated equally and that there is a pecking order with Americans being treated best. (In fact there are no Americans being held at Guantanamo Bay.) [172] [173]
Occupation of Iraq: A fuel tanker explodes in downtown Baghdad, killing 10 and wounding 15. Initially believed to be caused by a bomb, officials later conclude that a traffic accident was responsible. [174]
Terrorism:
- The head of the Greek terrorist group Revolutionary Organization 17 November and their chief hitman are jailed for life, along with four other members of the organisation. [175]
- Thomas Kean, chairman of the independent commission investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks, says that the attacks could have been prevented and that public officials were to blame for not anticipating and pre-empting the threat. The commission's report is due in May, 2004. [176] [177]
Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr are convicted for their roles in the August 2002 murders of 10-year-old Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in the English village of Soham. [178]
Taiwan reports the first confirmed SARS case in 5 months, a medical researcher who had studied the virus. [179]
The United States National Weather Service warns of "excessive heat" after the Earth reportedly breaks out of its orbit and begins falling into the sun. Fortunately, it turns out to be a mistakenly published test message. [180]
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the final part of Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, goes on broad public release in the United States and much of Europe. Industry pundits predicted that it could have become the second film, after Titanic, to earn over US$1 billion at the box office. [181]
Republic of Congo: A gunbattle breaks out in Brazzaville.[182]
Health: The UK government says that a case of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease may have occurred through blood transfusion. [183]
Former Governor of Illinois George H. Ryan is indicted on corruption charges for receiving payoffs, gifts and vacations in return for government contracts and leases while he served as the Governor and Secretary of State of Illinois. [184]
Governor of Connecticut John G. Rowland announces that he will not resign, despite allegations of corruption involving the receipt of free modifications to a vacation cottage, and the indictments of several of his top aides. [185]
Islam in France: the hidjab issue: President of France Jacques Chirac announces that he will support a ban on the wearing of Muslim headscarves, Jewish yarmulkes and large Christian crosses in schools and government offices. If passed, the law will come into effect in September 2004. Muslim clerics counter that the ban is an attack on their religion. [186] [187]
Space exploration:
- Space tourism magnates celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight by demonstrating SpaceShipOne, a privately-funded passenger-ferrying suborbital space plane, flying at supersonic speeds to an altitude of 68,000 feet. [188]
- Space Adventures announces the availability of two more tickets to fly to the International Space Station at a cost of US$20 million each. [189] [190]

December 18, 2003 (Thursday)

NASA announces that the new name for the "Space Infrared Telescope Facility" will be the Spitzer Space Telescope (after the late Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr.). This coincides with the release of the telescope's first images, which show the glowing stars of the Elephant's Trunk nebula, the dusty arms of the Messier 81 spiral galaxy, a disc of planet-forming debris, and organic material 3.25 billion light years away. [191] [192] [193]
Legal status of suspected terrorists:
- A committee of the UK Parliament recommends that the power to hold terrorist suspects without trial be repealed. [194]
- A United States federal appeals court rules that José Padilla, accused by the U.S. Government of taking part in a terrorist "dirty bomb" plot with possible links to al-Qaida, cannot be designated an illegal combatant and must be released from military custody within 30 days. [195] [196] The Bush administration announces that it will seek a stay of the Padilla decision. [197]
- A United States federal appeals court rules that the "illegal combatants" being held at Camp X-Ray in Cuba should have access to lawyers and to US courts. [198]
- It is alleged that, in cases where their treatment of a detainee may never come under public scrutiny, The Pentagon and CIA are using a number of controversial techniques to extract information. [199]
Capture of Saddam Hussein: a Jordanian news source claims that Saddam Hussein was drugged and betrayed by his personal bodyguard, General Mohammed Ibrahim Omar al-Muslit, a member of his own family. [200]
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rules to disqualify Spanish athlete Johann Mühlegg and Russian athlete Olga Danilova from all the cross-country skiing races they participated in during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and thus withdraw their medals, due to doping by darbepoetin. [201]
Prosecutors in California charge singer Michael Jackson with seven counts of child molestation and schedule hearings for January 16, 2004. [202]
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warns the Palestinian Authority that Israel will take unilateral steps to separate from the Palestinians unless there is progress on the road map peace plan and sets a deadline of "a few months" for Palestinian compliance. The speech is strongly criticised by the United States, the Israeli left, the Jewish settler movement and the Palestinians. [203]
Red Hat, in its third quarter, buys Sistina Software. Red Hat expects that it will close the deal by early January for $31 million dollars. [204]
Sudanese authorities close the Khartoum office of the Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera and detain its bureau chief for questioning. [205]

December 19, 2003 (Friday)

Italian dairy company Parmalat declared a 3.96 billion euro hole in its accounts when the amount held by Cayman Islands-based unit, Bonlat Financing Corporation, was declared false by Bank of America. [206]
Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi acknowledges that his country was pursuing a development program for weapons of mass destruction but now agrees to its dismantling. [207]
A revised plan is unveiled for the new Freedom Tower which will be erected on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. At a symbolic height of 1,776 feet (541 m) (1776 is significant as the year of the United States Declaration of Independence) the projected edifice will be among the tallest buildings in the world. [208] [209]
Occupation of Iraq:
- U.S.-appointed civil administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer reveals that he survived an attack on his convoy on December 6. [210]
- Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi orders the deployment of Japanese forces for non-combat duties in Southern Iraq; polls show that most Japanese voters are opposed to the mission. [211]
Flights from Vancouver International Airport bound for the U.S. are delayed following the discovery of an envelope containing suspicious white powder and a threatening note at one of the terminals. [212]
SARS quarantine orders are lifted on up to 75 people in Singapore but concerns remain that the deadly virus could yet make a comeback across Asia. [213]
Australia sends AU$1.2m to Nauru so that the Pacific island-state can pay its public servants before Christmas in a move that Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says illustrates the need for long-term solutions to the island's deep-seated problems. [214]
In a major blow to the recording industry's efforts to stamp out online file sharing, a United States federal appeals court invalidates subpoenas issued against Verizon to identify individual P2P users. [215]
The British spacecraft Beagle 2 successfully separates from the ESA's Mars Express orbiter and is now less than 10 days away from its scheduled landing on the surface of Mars; it will attempt to parachute onto the surface on Christmas morning. [216] [217] [218]
Police seal off the printing plant and offices of Zimbabwe's last remaining independent daily newspaper, Daily News. [219]
Same-sex marriage in Canada: an Ontario court rules that Canadians whose same-sex partners died after 1985 are entitled to survivors' benefits. It is believed to be the first class-action lawsuit awarding compensation to gays and lesbians anywhere in the world. [220]
The University of Delaware's Blue Hens shut out Colgate University to win the NCAA Division I-AA football national championship. [221]

December 20, 2003 (Saturday)

The Holy See announces plans to beatify the last Austro-Hungarian emperor Karl. Karl, who was overthrown in 1918 and died in exile in 1922, is expected to be beatified, a step to sainthood, in the next year. Karl's widow, Zita of Bourbon-Parma died in 1989. His son, former Crown Prince Otto von Habsburg was until recently a German MEP. [222] [223]
CCTV footage at Hampton Court Palace near London, once home of King Henry VIII of England, is released, and claimed to show a "ghost". The footage, taken in October 2003, shows a man in 16th century clothes closing a firedoor that had blown open. The palace markets itself as one of Britain's most haunted locations. [224] [225]
Celebrations marking the Bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase culminate in New Orleans, Louisiana. [226]
Irish charity fundraiser John O'Shea attacks Manchester United football manager Sir Alex Ferguson as "greedy" for demanding £90,000 to attend a cancer charity function in Ireland in 1999. According to O'Shea, a sports celebrity demanding 'appearance money' from a charity is unheard of in his experience. Ferguson's appearance fee amounted to half the money raised. The fundraisers, until now unaware that Ferguson had taken half the proceeds, denounce his behaviour and say if they had known about it at the time they would have cancelled the event.
Former Argentinian president Carlos Menem is charged with tax fraud for failing to declare a Swiss bank account containing $600,000. If convicted he could be debarred from public office. [227]
The World Court says it will hear legal arguments about Israel's construction of a controversial barrier in the West Bank to separate Israeli and Palestinian areas. The hearings will begin on 23 February 2004. [228]
Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar pays a surprise visit to Spanish troops in Iraq. [229]
Massive landslides in the Philippines caused by heavy rain result in the deaths of up to 90 people. [230]
A Malaysian opposition website is shut down by its British web-hosting company amid claims of "political censorship" from the opposition. [231]
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai tells his supporters to "fight fear" as they campaign against President Robert Mugabe. His comments follow the decision of Zimbabwe's police to occupy the offices of Zimbabwe's only privately owned newspaper in defiance of a court order that the newspaper could resume publication. [232]
Eleven people, mainly young people from Germany, die in a bus crash in Belgium. [233]
In Comoros, leaders signed an agreement clearing the way for legislative elections in April. [234]

December 21, 2003 (Sunday)

"The American Soldier" is named as TIME magazine's "Person of the Year". The periodical's editors chose the anonymous soldier to represent the 1.4 million men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces. [235] [236] [237] [238] [239] [240] [241]
Citing increased "chatter" regarding potential terrorist attacks over the holiday period, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raises its terrorism alert level from "elevated" (yellow) to "high" (orange). [242]
A senior French police source claims Diana, Princess of Wales was pregnant when she was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997. A Clarence House spokesperson for The Prince of Wales refuses to comment on the issue. Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Diana's partner Dodi Al-Fayed had long insisted that Diana was pregnant with Dodi's baby and that she was murdered to stop her from giving birth. [243] [244]
Quoting an unnamed senior British military intelligence officer, a report in the Sunday Express (Britain) claims that before Saddam Hussein was captured by US troops, he had already been discovered by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Kurdish forces had been alerted to his location by a member of the al-Jabour tribe whose daughter had been raped by Saddam's son Uday Hussein. [245]
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark presented 4,000 petition signatures to qualify for South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary ballot today. He's the second of the nine candidates for the Democratic nomination to file for the February 3 ballot. Campaign workers for Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts gave the state Democratic Party a check for $2,500 last week to qualify.

December 22, 2003 (Monday)

After getting FCC approval on December 19, News Corporation Ltd. completed a US$7.6 billion cash and stock deal to buy control of Hughes Electronics and its DirecTV satellite television division from General Motors. [246]
The People's Republic of China plans to peg its currency, the yuan, to a basket of ten currencies instead of only the U.S. dollar, according to its state press. [247]
Parmalat is likely to declare "controlled administration" as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the government would intervene and "above all save the industrial part of the company and jobs". [248]
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher is assaulted by Palestinians during prayer at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Mr. Maher was taken to an Israeli hospital for observation as a result of the incident after being treated at the scene by the Magen David Adom. After several hours care in the hospital, he was escorted to his airplane by an Israeli cardiologist and paramedic. [249] [250]
A list of people who have declined a British honour was leaked to The Sunday Times. The list includes David Bowie, David Hockney, Aldous Huxley, Nigella Lawson, and Harold Pinter. [251], [252], [253]
The Gulf Cooperation Council announces that they will revise school textbooks and remove from them material describing followers of other religions as infidels and enemies of Islam. [254]
SCO v. IBM:
- SCO claims in a press release to be sending DMCA notification letters alleging copyright infringement [255][256]
- Linus Torvalds says, in a post to the Linux kernel mailing list, "... I think we can totally _demolish_ the SCO claim that these 65 files were somehow "copied". They clearly are not." [257]
- Novell has also registered their claim to the copyright of original UNIX source code, effectively challenging SCO's registration of the same code [258] [259]
An earthquake strikes near San Simeon, California, at 19:15 UTC (11:15 PST). The quake registers a 6.5 magnitude on the Richter magnitude scale, and causes two deaths from the collapse of a building in the town of Paso Robles. [260],[261]
The Philippines declares a calamity in a southern province after floods killed up to 209 people. [262]
Drive-By Truckers' bassist, Earl Hicks, leaves the band and is replaced by Shonna Tucker.
Brett Favre played one of the most memorable games of his career, leading the Green Bay Packers to a win over the Oakland Raiders, 41-7, the day after the death of his father, Irvin.

December 23, 2003 (Tuesday)

The Supreme Court of Canada announces (in a 6-3 decision) that the criminalization of marijuana was not unconstitutional. [263]
The United States Department of Agriculture confirms the first case of BSE (mad cow disease) in the United States, detected at a small slaughter house. The USDA has found no evidence that the infected materials made it into the food supply. Specimens have been sent to the United Kingdom for further analysis. Authorities quarantined a ranch near Yakima where the animal was raised. [264] [265]
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declares a state of emergency in San Luis Obispo County, following an earthquake in that county on the previous day. [266]
Beltway sniper attacks: A Virginia jury recommends a life sentence without possibility of parole for Lee Boyd Malvo, who was earlier convicted of capital murder, among other charges, in connection with the shootings. Malvo had faced the possibility of execution.[267]

December 24, 2003 (Wednesday)

An explosion occurs at Baghdad's Sheraton Ishtar hotel, probably caused by a rocket-propelled grenade. [268]
Following the detection of BSE in a Mabton, Washington cow, several countries (including Japan, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) announce a ban on the importation of U.S. beef. [269] [270]
Three Air France flights from Paris to Los Angeles are canceled due to security concerns expressed by the U.S. embassy in France. [271]
Bolivian President Carlos Mesa declares a state of emergency because of flooding in central Bolivia, which killed at least 19 people and collapsed a bridge crucial to Bolivian exports. [272]

December 25, 2003 (Thursday)

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf survives a suicide bomber attack on his motorcade, the second attempt to assassinate him in two weeks. [273]
Following Beagle 2's expected landing, US probe Mars Odyssey (already in Martian orbit) listens for the lander's distinctive musical callsign. A further scan for the lander is conducted using the Jodrell Bank radio telescope. No signal is detected. [274][275]
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
- An Israeli helicopter gunship attacks a car in Gaza City, killing Islamic Jihad commander Mekled Hameid and two fellow militants, together with two bystanders. [276]
- A suicide-bomber strikes a bus stop Tel Aviv, killing four civilians and himself. [277]
- Israel announces closure of the West Bank and Gaza. [278]
A UK lab confirms the presence of BSE in samples taken from a cow in Washington [279]. Mexico joins the list of countries which have banned imports of US beef.
Reports emerge of a major leak of natural gas in a gas field near the south-western Chinese city of Chongqing. Over 100 people are believed dead and up to 40,000 people have been evacuated from the area surrounding the leak. [280]
A Boeing 727 of United Transit Airlines originating in the Guinean capital, Conakry, stopping in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and bound for Beirut, clips a building during takeoff and crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off Benin. Over 100 people die, most of them Lebanese. [281]

December 26, 2003 (Friday)

A powerful earthquake occurs near the southern Iranian city of Bam at 0156 GMT (5.26am local time). The USGS estimates its magnitude as 6.7 on the Richter scale. The BBC reports that "70% of the modern city of Bam" is destroyed. Iranian government officials estimate the death toll at over 20,000 with a further 50,000 injured. Bam Citadel the largest adobe structure of the world is destroyed. The area of the citadel is about 180,000 square meters and the construction date of parts of it goes back for about 2500 years. [282][283][284]
The death toll in the Chinese gas-leak rises to 191. [285]
Fearing the state's BSE outbreak may extend beyond a single farm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture quarantines a second cattle farm in Washington state. [286]

December 27, 2003 (Saturday)

The estimate of the number of dead in the Bam earthquake increases to 40,000, according to the provincial governor. Iran has refused earthquake aid from Israel.[287]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announces that it believes the BSE infected cow detected in Washington state was imported from Canada in 2001. The location of the other 73 cows imported with it is unknown. [288]
Romano Prodi, the President of the European Commission, survives a letter bomb attack. [289] [290]
British scientists are continuing their efforts to make contact with the Mars probe Beagle 2, which was designed to perform advanced studies of the Martian soil in an effort to find microbial life. [291]

December 28, 2003 (Sunday)

Serbian parliamentary election, 2003: Serbia holds a parliamentary election. The Serbian Radical Party wins 81 seats in the 250-seat parliament. [292]
Guatemala election, 2003. Óscar Berger wins the second round of the presidential election with a 54% share of the vote.
Shane Filan marries Gillian Walsh in Ballintubber Abbey, Ireland.

December 29, 2003 (Monday)

Papal Nuncio to Burundi, Irish-born Archbishop Michael Courtney, is killed in an ambush. [293]
The United States Department of Homeland Security announces that it will require armed security personnel on all airline flights, whether US or foreign carriers, when the department has intelligence that there is a threat to a flight. [294]
Cuban officials are investigating who is responsible for altering a photograph of Fidel Castro on the front page of the official government newspaper, Granma, to make him look like Adolf Hitler. [295]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation issues a memo instructing police to be alert of people carrying almanacs, stating that information in these reference works could be used to aid in the planning of terrorist attacks. [296]

December 30, 2003 (Tuesday)

The European Union is investigating a series of parcel bombs targeting the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and Europol headquarters at The Hague. Investigators state that it is too early to draw any connections between these bombs and the letter bomb sent two days ago to the Bologna home of Romano Prodi, the head of the European Commission. [297]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announces a ban on the sale of dietary supplement ephedra, citing "an unreasonable risk of illness or injury" from the use of the drug. [298]
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recuses himself and his office from the CIA leak scandal, in which the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative, was leaked by Washington insiders. Democratic political leaders had been calling for Ashcroft's recusal. [299]
The man who was convicted of breaking into mainland China cable television networks and broadcasting footage of the banned Falun Gong, an alleged cult, reportedly dies in prison. Pro-Falun Gong groups and the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy claim he was beaten to death.[300]

December 31, 2003 (Wednesday)