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2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October -
November - December
A timeline of events in the news for October, 2003.
- Security: A plastic toy gun, used as part of a Halloween costume,
sparks a two-hour-long terrorism scare at the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. [4]
- Economics: The U.S. Commerce Department reports that U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 7.2% in the third quarter, the fastest growth
rate since 1984. [5]
- Russia: Vladimir Putin
removes his Chief of Staff as the political battle with the "oligarchs", and
between hard-liners and liberals, continues. [6] [7] Russian judicial authorities
have seized control of Yukos, the giant oil company. [8]
- Occupation of Iraq: Officials postpone awarding two
contracts to repair Iraq's oil refineries and pipelines (primarily because of sabotage and dilapidated conditions). [9] An investigation has been
started on the high price that the US is paying to Kellogg, Brown and Root for oil imported from Kuwait. nl:[10] . A US research organization, the Center for Public Integrity, says that firms awarded
contracts in Iraq have tended to be big donors (in the past) to the United States Republican Party. [11]
The UN announces that it is withdrawing its remaining international staff from Baghdad, perhaps temporarily. [12]
- Malaysia: After 22 years in power, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad retires. He is succeeded by Dato' Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi [13]
- Israel: Israel is to train pigs to do guard
work in Israeli settlements. The pigs have a better sense of smell than dogs and can be trained to walk towards perceived threats
(e.g. explosives). [14]
- Medicine: The US
FDA approves Risperdal Consta (Risperidone long-acting injection) for the treatment of schizophrenia. Although already approved in several other countries, it is the first long-acting,
atypical antipsychotic medication to be approved by the FDA.
- Republic of Ireland: The Garda Siochána, the Irish police force, opens a criminal investigation following a hoax telephone call on 27 October from a woman
claiming that she had abandoned her newborn baby in a derelict flat in Dublin. Hundreds of Gardaí had mounted a round the clock search of thousands of derelict sites
in the working class suburb of Ballymun to find the child, as fears grew for its safety amid plummeting temperatures. Police
later concluded that no such child existed and that the series of phone calls made to them and to childcare charities had been a
deliberate hoax.
- United Kingdom: British Conservative Party leader Iain
Duncan Smith loses a vote of confidence in his
parliamentary party by 90 votes to 75 and, in accordance with party rules, resigns from the leadership. A new leadership election
is called. Shadow Deputy Prime Minister David Davis, previously tipped as a
future leader, surprises Westminster by announcing that he will not seek the leadership and endorses former Home Secretary Michael
Howard, who is now seen as the frontrunner to assume the leadership. Other leading politicians endorse Howard, once famously
described by a colleague as having "something of the night about him."
[15]
[16]
- Occupation of Iraq: The International Red Cross announces that it is to scale back its commitments to Iraq. [17] Two more GIs are killed, bringing the total
killed since May 1 to 115. [18]
- Mining: After six days trapped underground, eleven of the last thirteen remaining
Russian coal miners have been rescued by underground rescuers from the
mine where they were trapped underground. One more miner was found dead, and another is still missing. 33 miners had already been
rescued on Sunday.
- Earth's magnetic field: The Earth's magnetosphere is hit by the recent solar flare causing a brief but intense geomagnetic
storm, provoking unusual displays of northern lights. [19]
- Economics: The United States Federal Reserve leaves its key interest rate
unchanged at today's meeting, saying that rates will be kept low for a considerable period. [20]
- Solar system: The sun emits another
coronal mass ejection directly toward the Earth, the 3rd largest solar flare on record.
The effects are projected to affect Earth on the 29th. [21] [22]
- California: Wildfires are
largest in state history; 1,500 homes are destroyed, 16 people killed and 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) burned. Evacuations are
ordered from parts of cities in Los Angeles and San Diego counties. [23] The conflagration also
spreads across the border into the Mexican state of Baja California, where two deaths are reported.
- United Kingdom: The Conservative Party's 1922 Committee
announces that leader Iain Duncan Smith will face an immediate
vote of confidence in his leadership on the following day,
after at least 25 backbenchers formally request it. [24]
- Japan - politics: The campaign for
Japan general election, 2003 starts,
lasting until a voting date, Nov 9. [25]
- Mining : 49 miners are trapped in a
Russian mine as water began seeping into the mine, disabling electrical systems
[42] .
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The body
of the Hamas militant killed in the attack on an Israeli military camp (that killed 3 Israeli soldiers) returns to his family in
their refugee camp.
[43]
- 2003 invasion of Iraq: The US Senate Committee on
Intelligence finalizes its report on pre-war intelligence and is highly critical e.g. of George Tenet and the quality of US intelligence about Iraq's weapons.
[44]
- Space weather: Earth is expected to be hit by a solar ion storm, potentially disrupting satellite communications and posing a threat to electric power transmission grids. Canada,
the northern US northern Europe are expected to be
treated to an exceptional display of aurora borealis. [45] [46]
- Aircraft: The final flights of Concorde, from New York, Edinburgh, and a loop around the Bay of Biscay, touch down at Heathrow International Airport around 1600 BST,
marking the end of 27 years of commercial supersonic flight. [47]
- Same-sex marriage: Three same-sex couples in Spain, including a Madrid city councilman, apply for
marriage licenses. They state that if the registry judge does not grant them the licenses, they will appeal to Spain's
constitutional court, and as far as the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. They describe their actions as inspired by
the recent rulings on same-sex marriage in
Canada. [48]
- Computing: Mac OS X v. 10.3
(Panther) is released.
- Canada: Dalton McGuinty
is sworn in as the 24th premier of Ontario. [49]
- Occupation of Iraq: There is every sign that the
international conference in Madrid at which pledges to re-build Iraq are hoped for will disappoint and e.g. Paul Bremer seeks to lower expectations. [50]
[51]
- United States Supreme Court: Before a
conservative legal organization, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
ridicules the recent Supreme Court decision overturning anti-sodomy laws in Texas, saying
that the Court had "held to be a constitutional right what had been a criminal offense at the time of the founding and for nearly
200 years thereafter." According to news reports, Scalia adopted a mocking tone to read from the court's ruling. [52]
[76]
- United Kingdom: A new biography, reported in The Sunday Times, claims that the prosecution of Oscar Wilde for sodomy was ordered by the
then Liberal government, in a deal with the Marquess of
Queensbury, the father of Lord Alfred Douglas, to prevent
his exposure of a homosexual relationship between another of his sons, Viscount Drumlanrig, and British Prime Minister Lord
Rosebery. According to reports, future prime minister Herbert
Asquith played a key role in negotiating the deal, which led to the imprisonment of the Irish writer.
- United Kingdom: Frank Bruno leaves hospital in the UK where he has been undergoing treatment for depression. [85]
- United Kingdom: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is rushed to
hospital with heart problems. An irregular heart-beat is diagnosed.
Blair is given a cardioversion in hospital, where he stays for 4 or 5
hours before going back to Number 10 Downing
Street, and is ordered by his doctors to take 24 hours complete rest. [86]
- Roman Catholicism: Pope John Paul II beatifies Mother Teresa.
Hundreds of thousands attend the ceremony in St. Peter's Square. Mother Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity, is now one step from sainthood. [87]
- International relations: South Korea and the United
States are reported to be discussing the possible withdrawal of thousands of US troops. [88]
- North Korea crisis: The
United States says it is willing to give North Korea security assurances in exchange for a nuclear
standdown. U.S. President Bush rules out a non-aggression treaty
demanded by Pyongyang.
[89]
- Afghanistan: Bomb
blows up a pickup truck on a dirt road in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, killing four people, and two Afghan
soldiers are killed in a separate land mine explosion in the country's south. The
explosions come two days after the Taliban allegedly distributed pamphlets
warning against working with the post-Taliban government of President Hamid Karzai. [90]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian gunmen attack an Israeli army
foot patrol near a West Bank village, kills three soldiers and wounds a fourth,
rescue services and security sources state. Gunfire attacks near the Palestinian village of Ein Yabrud, east of the town of Ramallah, not far from the Israeli settlement of Ofra. [91]
- Occupation of Iraq: A Fallujah roadside attack on a military convoy leaves an American
armored car and munitions truck burning wrecks. No one was reported killed. Iraqis nearby were reportedly cheering. Emerging series of threats. [92]
- Asia - International relations: Leaders of Pacific-rim nations gather in Bangkok ahead of the 11th
Asian Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) conference. [93]
[94]
[95] President George W. Bush arrives in Thailand ahead of an APEC summit of 21 Asia-Pacific government leaders which is likely to be dominated by discussions of the war on terrorism and trade friction between rich and poor nations (trade and currency).
- Middle East: New audio tapes, allegedly from Osama Bin Laden, air on the Al
Jazeera network. [96]
- occupation of Iraq: Spain's government, one of the staunchest supporters of the attack on Iraq, has pledged $300 million over several
years toward Iraqi reconstruction. [97]
- Oil: Zimbabwe's state oil corporation is
reported to have run out of fuel, aggravating the continuing acute fuel crisis. [98]
- Natural disaster : Officials declare a state of emergency
due to severe flooding in Squamish,
British Columbia. Parts of the town are evacuated. [99]
- Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, visiting
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, is whisked out of Kabul owing to reports of a rocket
attack. The reports turn out to be unfounded. [100]
- Kosovo: First death of forced starvation in Europe for the last 50 years. Zhivorad Velikinac (age
65) from Urosevac died in hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica after not eating for more than a month - he was disabled and not able to get out of
his apartment on his own, his Albanian neighbours were threatened not to bring
him food anymore, and other Serbs were too afraid to visit him.
- Baseball: The New
York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3, to win the
American League Championship
Series and move on the World Series. They will play the Florida Marlins, who defeated the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 3, to win the National League Championship Series.
- Occupation of Iraq: The UN Security Council unanimously approves a new US resolution on Iraq. Russia, Germany and
France back the resolution but will not provide troops or money. [107] [108] . A survey indicates poor morale amongst the US
troops serving in Iraq. [109]
- East Asia: President Bush re-affirms his intention to pressure China and
Japan into fair policies re their exchange rates. [110] . China's trade surplus is shrinking as imports
surge. [111] At the same time India is wrestling with the
implications of the sustained appreciation of the rupee against the dollar. [112]
- Roman Catholicism: Tens of thousands of Catholics attend
Mass celebrating the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II in Rome. The Pope will beatify Mother Teresa on Sunday, October
19, and install 30 new Cardinals on Tuesday,
October 21. [113]
- Genetically Modified Foods: In a surprise
move, Monsanto announce their intention to quit the European cereal business.
Citing lack of success, the company has decided to cut costs. [114]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: European
Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten has questioned Israel's commitment to a two-states resolution to the conflict with the Palestinians. [115]
- Space exploration: The People's Republic of China's first astronaut,
Yang Liwei returns to earth safely aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft, Shenzhou 5. During the 21-hour trip, he circled the planet 14 times. [116]
- Apple launches its iTunes Music Store, an online download music
store, for the Microsoft Windows platform. The iTunes software
can be downloaded from apple.com for free.
- 2003 occupation of Iraq: US concessions to
proposals from Russia, the People's Republic of China and Pakistan ensure
their support for a UN Security Council resolution to provide
greater international legitimacy to the occupation force and the Iraq Interim Governing Council. The resolution draft, legitimizing US military and political
control over Iraq's political future, was already supported by Britain, Spain, Cameroon, Bulgaria, Angola, Mexico,
Chile and Guinea. Russia agrees to act as a
mediator to achieve support for the compromise also from Germany and France.[117] [118]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Four
people die in a bomb attack on a convoy of US diplomatic vehicles in the Gaza
Strip. Palestinian Authority head Yasser Arafat calls the bombing
"dirty and shameful" in an exclusive interview on BBC News. Secretary of State Colin Powell urges Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei in a telephone call
"to take action to put an end to violence and terrorism," according to a Palestinian official. [119]
[120]
- Space exploration: China launches its first astronaut, Yang Liwei into orbit aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft, Shenzhou 5. The
21-hour trip is planned to circle the planet 14 times.[121] [122]
- 2003 occupation of Iraq: Japan offers $1.5
billion aid to Iraq in what could be the first tranche of a total of $5 billion. [123]
- United States Supreme Court :
Supreme Court agreed to hear a case stemming from a lawsuit by an atheist over whether his nine-year-old daughter's tax-supported
school should be permitted to hold a compulsory form of the recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance. An earlier court decision decreed that tax-supported schools may not
require students to participate in the pledge. Plaintiffs in the suit charge claim that the patriotic oath as it is recited in most classrooms is an
unconstitutional blending of church and state. The court is
expected to settle whether the phrase "under God" will remain in the pledge when the
court hears the case sometime next year. [124]
- Literature: The Irish-based Australian novelist D.B.C. Pierre (real name Peter Finlay) wins the 2003 Booker prize with his first novel, Vernon
God Little, a satire on a Texas high-school massacre. [125]
- Religion: Anglican leaders from
around the world meet in Lambeth Palace in an attempt to avoid a
schism on the issue of homosexuality in the clergy. The Church of
Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, Robin Eames says that the Anglican Communion is moving towards a "consensus situation" on the
issue of homosexuality and the clergy at its meeting in Lambeth Palace. [126] [127]
- International relations - Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The US vetoes a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel's controversial West Bank wall. [128] .
- New York City: A collision between the Staten Island Ferry "Andrew J. Barberi" and a pier at the
St. George ferry terminal on Staten Island has left
at least ten people dead. [129]
- The Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party
of Canada strike a deal to merge. The deal creating the Conservative Party of Canada must be ratified by each party's membership before December 12.
[130]
- Azerbaijan: Presidential elections. [131]
- Baseball: National League Championship Series: The Florida Marlins defeat the Chicago Cubs 4 games to 3
to advance to the 2003 World Series. [132]
- Religion: RTÉ's Prime Time
current affairs programme reports that Cahal Cardinal Daly, then Bishop of Down and Conor, refused to accept allegations passed on to him by
students of improper sexual conduct by Monsignor Micheal Ledwith, then head of Maynooth
College, Ireland's major seminary. According to the programme Daly became
aggressive, telling students "go back and say your prayers". The TV programme confirms that Daly, and his predecessor, Tómas Cardinal Ó
Fiaich, were centrally involved in efforts to silence critics of Ledwith, including forcing the resignation of one dean of
students who informed them of allegations that Ledwith was making sexual advances against student priests. Ledwith subsequently
left the college after paying damages to an under-age teenager to whom he
allegedly made sexual advances. Ledwith, once an internationally famous Catholic
theologian tipped to become Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, is now associated with an American New Age cult. Having been tracked down by the programme, Ledwith refuses to comment 'for legal reasons'.
- Liberia: The Inauguration of a new government takes place. The rebels are
expected to disarm.
- Sniper - Terrorism: Trial of
John Allen Muhammad, who is suspected of being the Washington
DC serial sniper, begins. He pleads not guilty.[133]
- Weapons: The BBC reports that dissident
IRA groups are supplying the weapons that have led to a
recent surge in UK gun crime. [134]
- Instant Messaging: Microsoft chatrooms are closing down today. Free unmoderated
chatrooms outside the US are being closed in what Microsoft claim is an attempt to safeguard children. [135]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israel
orders the expulsion of 15 Palestinian detainees from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. [136]
- British Politics: Conservative Party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, is being investigated by Parliamentary Standards
Commissioner Sir Philip Mawer over allegations that he paid a secretarial salary to his wife without her doing sufficient work to
warrant the payments. [137]
- Law - A British HIV carrier is found guilty of
causing grievous bodily harm after infecting two lovers. [138]
- 2003 occupation of Iraq: New draft resolution
being circulated at UN aims at getting international aid. The resolution sets a deadline for
initial steps, if only for a transitional step, toward restoring Iraqi sovereignty, giving the Iraqi Governing Council until December 15 to
develop a timetable for writing a constitution and holding elections. The Bush
administration proposes that the United Nations recognize the Iraqi Governing Council as a unit that "will embody the
sovereignty" of Iraq until the country returns to self-rule. [139]
[140]
- Mass media: Rush
Limbaugh's drug addiction revealed by housekeeper. Newsweek reports Limbaugh’s exposure as a pain-pill addict began when Wilma Cline
(who had worked at Limbaugh from 1997 to July 2001) showed up at the Palm Beach County state attorney's office late last year eager to sic the cops on
her former boss. Cline had delivered enough pills to Limbaugh "to kill an elephant", she stated to the National Enquirer. [141]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli incursion leaves 1,240 Palestinians
homeless, UN agency finds. The Israeli demolition of refugee shelters in Rafah camp on the southern Gaza Strip last week
has left 1,240 people homeless, United Nations relief workers state.
[142]
- Ireland: The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair,
have begun talks in Downing Street on a possible restoration of
devolved government in Northern Ireland.[143]
- 2003 occupation of Iraq: Three more US soldiers
have been killed in separate incidents. [144]
- Medicine-The conjoined twins do well after their first night apart. They are in
drug-induced comas, and will be for several more days, to aid their recovery. [145]
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