SARS and the Iraqi war conquer world headlines

A year of natural disasters, terrorist attacks and surprises made the last 12 months one of sadness and exhiliration

JANUARY

5 • Two suicide bombs kill at least 23 people in Tel Aviv.

20 • Libya wins chairmanship of UN Human Rights Commission.

23 • McDonald's reports its first quarterly loss ever ($345 million US), and says it plans to close 719 restaurants.

26 • Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl.

27 • UN inspectors say in report to Security Council they have found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

29 • AOL Time Warner posts loss of nearly $100 billion US, the largest ever in American corporate history.

FEBRUARY

1 • Space shuttle Columbia disintegrates upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere over Texas; crew of five men and two women killed.

2 • Vaclav Havel steps down after more than a decade as president of Czech Republic.

5 • U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presents spy photos and taped radio intercepts at UN Security Council as evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

12 • International Atomic Energy Agency declares North Korea in violation of its international obligations.

15 • Millions of people around the world march in peace rallies to protest impending war on Iraq.

17 • At least 21 die in stampede at Chicago nightclub.

18 • Israeli tanks roll into Gaza City killing 11 Palestinians. Fire in subway car in Daegu, South Korea, kills an estimated 190 people.

19 • An Iranian military plane crashes in southeastern Iran, killing over 300.

20 • Nightclub erupts in flames during pyrotechnics display at a rock concert in West Warwick, R. I., killing at least 99.

24 • Earthquake kills at least 265 people in western China.


MARCH

11 • Libya accepts responsibility for 1988 Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that killed 270 people, and agrees to pay compensation to families of victims.

12 • Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic is assassinated by gunmen in Belgrade. Elizabeth Smart, a teenager who was abducted from her bedroom nine months ago, is found just kilometres from her home in Salt Lake City.

17 • President Bush gives Saddam Hussein a 48-hour ultimatum to get out of Iraq with his two sons or face war.

18 • Palestinian parliament creates new position of prime minister, with Mahmoud Abbas named to the post.

20 • U.S.-led war in Iraq begins with strikes at targets in Baghdad aimed at killing senior Iraqi leaders; American, British and Australian forces roll into Iraq from Kuwait.

23 • Chicago wins best picture Oscar, Adrien Brody named best actor and Nicole Kidman best actress.

30 • Women's world hockey championship in China cancelled over fears of SARS that has claimed 50 lives around the world.

APRIL

4 • U.S. says its forces have secured Baghdad's international airport.

9 • U.S. tanks and troops pour into the heart of Baghdad, topple statue of Saddam Hussein.

10 • British Airways and Air France announce they will end their Concorde service because of falling passenger demand.

30 • U.S. President George W. Bush unveils "road map" for peace in the Middle East, urging Palestinians and Israelis to end violence. The plan envisions a Palestinian state by 2005.

MAY

1 • At least 167 people including more than 40 students are killed in earthquake in southeastern Turkey. U.S. President George W. Bush declares major hostilities in Iraq over.

12 • Suicide bombs kill at least 34 at housing compounds in Saudi capital of Riyadh.

19 • Five suicide bombings in 48 hours kill 17 people, crushing hopes for peace talks between Israel and Palestinian Authority. British adventurer Pen Hadrow, 41, becomes first person to trek across Canada to the North Pole.

21 • Earthquake kills over 2,200 people in Algeria. More than 190 countries, including Canada, adopt treaty aimed at diminishing the use of tobacco.

22 • UN Security Council votes 14-0 to lift 13 years of sanctions against Iraq. The resolution authorizes U.S. and Britain to administer Iraq and control its oil until a legitimate government is recognized in the country.


JUNE

2 • The Queen marks 50th anniversary of her coronation at Westminster Abbey.

4 • International court for Sierra Leone indicts Liberian President Charles Taylor on war crimes charges. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas launch peace plan, offering pledges in hopes of ending decades of bloodshed. Martha Stewart is indicted on nine criminal charges including obstruction of justice, fraud and conspiracy stemming from alleged illegal stock trades.

9 • New Jersey Devils win Stanley Cup, defeating Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

11 • A Palestinian suicide bomber dressed as an Orthodox Jew blows himself up on bus in Jerusalem, killing 16 people.

15 • San Antonio Spurs win NBA championship.

19 • The U.S. air force decides not to court-martial two pilots who mistakenly bombed Canadian troops in Afghanistan in April 2000, killing four.

29 • Israel begins a troop pullback in Gaza and three leading Palestinian militant groups declare a three-month suspension of attacks on Israelis in breakthroughs for a U.S.-backed peace plan.

JULY

8 • Iranian conjoined twins, 29, die after doctors in Singapore separate them.
9 • Bangladeshi ferry capsizes south of Dhaka; at least 600 people are missing and feared drowned.

11 • Iranian-born Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi dies in Iran after being detained and reportedly beaten for taking pictures in Tehran prison.

13 • The first interim government of 25 prominent Iraqis takes office in Iraq.

22 • Uday and Qusay Hussein, sons of the ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, are killed by U.S. troops after a raid on a villa in Mosul.

27 • Lance Armstrong wins his fifth consecutive Tour de France.


AUGUST

11 • Liberian President Charles Taylor surrenders power to his vice-president before heading into exile to Nigeria.

14 • Biggest blackout in North American history hits most of Ontario and the eastern seaboard, including New York, Cleveland and Detroit, leaving 50 million people in the dark.

18 • French health minister resigns after heat wave death toll reaches 10,000.

19 • Truck bomb outside hotel housing UN headquarters in Baghdad kills at least 23 people. Suicide bombing on a bus kills 21 people in Jerusalem.

27 • Mars passes closer to Earth - 55.76 million kilometres - than at any time in last 60,000 years.

29 • Car bomb kills more than 125 people, including leading Iraqi Shia leader, at shrine in Najaf.


SEPTEMBER

1 • Netherlands becomes first country to make marijuana available as a prescription drug, allowing pharmacies to sell it to chronically ill patients.

6 • Mahmoud Abbas resigns as prime minister of Palestinian Authority, throwing the peace process in crisis.

12 • UN lifts sanctions on Libya imposed some 15 years ago after the bombing of Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.


OCTOBER

2 • South African John Maxwell Coetzee wins Nobel Prize for literature.

7 • Arnold Schwarzenegger wins election to replace California Gov. Gray Davis.

10 • Iranian writer and lawyer Shirin Ebadi wins 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her focus on human rights.

14 • D.B.C. Pierre wins Booker Prize for his first novel, Vernon God Little.

15 • China launches its first manned spacecraft; it lands safely after orbiting Earth 14 times.

16 • Security Council authorizes multinational occupying force under U.S. command for Iraq and urges UN members to contribute troops and funds for reconstruction.

17 • Carlos Mesa Gisbert takes over as new president of Bolivia after his predecessor Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned following weeks of bloody street protests.

19 • Pope John Paul beatifies Mother Teresa, calling her an icon of charity.

20 • Kirk Jones, 40, of Canton, Mich., survives plunge over Niagara Falls wearing only his clothes.

25 • Florida Marlins win the World Series with a victory in the sixth game over the New York Yankees.

27 • Suicide bombers strike at Red Cross headquarters and police stations in Baghdad, killing at least 34 people.


NOVEMBER

2 • Iraqi insurgents down U.S. helicopter, killing 16 American soldiers. Gene Robinson is consecrated as bishop of New Hampshire, the Anglican Communion's first openly homosexual bishop.

5 • Gary Ridgway of Auburn, Wash., known as the Green River Killer, pleads guilty to 48 murders.

9 • At least 18 people, mostly Arab expatriates, including a Canadian landed immigrant, are killed in suicide bombing at residential compound in Riyadh.

12 • Truck bomb kills at least 18 Italians at headquarters of Italian police station in southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.


17 • Movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in as governor of California.

20 • Two suicide bombings, at the British consulate and a London-based bank, kill 27 people in Istanbul. Pop star Michael Jackson is charged with child molestation in California.
23 • Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze resigns after mass protests over corruption and poverty.

24 • Jury sentences John Allen Muhammad to death in connection with Washington sniper spree.

27 • President George W. Bush makes a secret, surprise trip to Iraq to serve troops turkey on U.S. Thanksgiving.

30 • U.S. troops in Iraq repulse massive attack by insurgents, killing 46 people.

DECEMBER

7 • Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe pulls his country out of the Commonwealth after the 54-member group continues the country's suspension for human rights abuses and defiance of democracy.

13 • U.S. soldiers capture Saddam Hussein after finding him hiding in an underground hole north of Baghdad.

26 • An earthquake in Iran's historic town of Bam causes more than 25,000 deaths.

28 • A terrorist attack at the Kabul airport causes the death of six people.

Publication Date: 2004-01-11
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3532