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March 2003 was the third month of that common year. The month, which began on a Saturday, ended on a Monday after 31 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from March 2003.

  • Iraq disarmament crisis: The Turkish speaker of Parliament voids the vote accepting U.S. troops involved in the planned invasion of Iraq into Turkey on constitutional grounds. Due to 19 abstentions, 264 votes for and 250 against accepting 62,000 U.S. military personnel do not constitute the necessary majority under the Turkish constitution. [1]
  • Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack and of other al-Qaeda attacks, is reported to have been arrested in Pakistan and turned over to US authorities for questioning.
  • Under U.N. supervision, Iraq begins destroying four of its Al Samoud missiles.
  • The United Arab Emirates calls for Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to step down to avoid war. The sentiment is later echoed by Kuwait and Bahrain.
  • Four North Korean fighter jets intercept a United States reconnaissance plane over international waters in the Sea of Japan
  • Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq destroys six more Al-Samoud 2 missiles, bringing the total destroyed to 10 out of an estimated 100 missiles ordered eliminated by the U.N. The U.S. continues to dismiss Iraq's actions as "part of its game of deception." Iraq indicates that it may halt destruction of the missiles if the U.S. indicates it will go to war anyway.
  • The British newspaper Observer publishes what it claims to be a leaked memo [2] from a high-ranking NSA official dated January 31, 2003. In it are orders to spy on the domestic and official communications of the United Nations Security Council members other than the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The memo names "... members Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria and Guinea, ..." as candidates for special attention. [3]
  • French president Jacques Chirac starts a three-day visit to the former French colony Algeria. It is the first visit of a French president to Algeria at the highest ceremonial level.
  • Under intense American pressure, Turkey indicates that its Parliament will consider a second vote on whether to allow U.S. troops to use Turkish bases for a military attack on Iraq.
  • Iraq disarmament crisis: The White House press secretary, paraphrasing the President, stated "If the United Nations fails to act, that means the United Nations will not be the international body that disarms Saddam Hussein. Another international body will disarm Saddam Hussein." [19]
  • Iraq disarmament crisis: * Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, stated "If the US and others were to go outside the [Security] Council and take military action it would not be in conformity with the [UN] Charter".
  • French president Jacques Chirac declares that France will veto a UN resolution sponsored by Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The resolution would authorise use of force against Iraq unless that country proves its disarmament by March 17.
  • North Korea test-fires a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan. This is North Korea's second recent such launch. [20]
  • Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said to a crowd in London: "We do not want this war, we do not want this violence, and we are ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.
  • Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov announced that Russia would veto a UN resolution by the US and the UK authorising the use of force against Iraq. [21]
  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan is elected to the Turkish parliament and is expected to become prime minister shortly. Erdogan supports deployment of US troops in Turkey and is expected to call for a new vote on the issue as one of his first official acts. [22]
  • Deutsche Telekom discloses an annual loss of 24.6 billion euros.
  • U.S. diplomat John Brown, who joined the State Department in 1981, resigned. He said that the Bush administration's Iraq policy was fomenting a massive rise in anti-US sentiment around the world and he could not support it.
  • U.S. begins military strikes in Iraq, which many consider the beginning of the Iraq War.
  • Jørn Siljeholm, a weapons inspector recently in Iraq, accused the U.S. of lying about evidence for weapons of mass destruction. English, Norwegian
  • Telephone tapping of EU headquarters uncovered. According to EU officials the taps targeted six EU states including Austria, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The taps appear to have been installed when the building was constructed in 1994. [40]
  • A group of doctors in Hong Kong claims to have identified the agent causing severe acute respiratory syndrome as belonging to the paramyxoviridae family of viruses. [41]
  • European Union Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner, David Byrne, said "cases like SARS demonstrate only too clearly that contagious diseases require a high level of preparedness across borders. Imagine if it had been an influenza pandemic which, in the past, had a devastating impact on humans. In order to meet the contemporary public health threat of communicable diseases, we must strengthen coordination and surveillance at Community level. The most effective way to do so is by setting up a European Union Centre for Disease Control."
  • Paul Twomey is chosen for being the next president of ICANN. [42]
  • Dwight Watson, who had driven a tractor into the Constitution Gardens pond on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., surrendered to federal authorities. The 48 hour standoff severely disrupted the business and traffic of downtown D.C., as a large section of streets were blocked due to Watson's claim that he had explosives. [43]
  • Estimates of between 125,000 and 250,000 people march for peace in New York City. The march was organized by the group United for Peace and Justice.
  • Two Russian fighter jets tracked a U.S. U-2 spy plane flying near the Russian border. The U-2 was partaking in reconnaissance over Georgia and Azerbaijan.
  • SARS: Ontario declares a public health emergency. Anyone who was at Scarborough Grace Hospital in the past 10 days is to be isolated at home. [49]
March 2003
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
Deaths

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Ongoing events

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Ongoing armed conflicts

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Elections

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Ongoing trials

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References

  1. ^ [1][ dead link]
  2. ^ "US plan to bug Security Council: the text | World news | The Guardian". Observer.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  3. ^ Martin Bright, Ed Vulliamy in New York and Peter Beaumont. "Revealed: US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war | World news | The Guardian". Observer.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  4. ^ [2][ dead link]
  5. ^ "The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion". Timesonline.co.uk. 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  6. ^ "Muslim cleric: 9 years for urging murder". UPI.com. 2003-03-07. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  7. ^ "[astro-ph/0302506] Phantom Energy and Cosmic Doomsday". Arxiv.org. 2003-02-25. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.071301. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  8. ^ "Moscow expects no surprises from Washington, Igor Ivanov says". English pravda.ru. 2002-06-13. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  9. ^ "Africa | US sanctions target Mugabe". BBC News. 2003-03-08. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  10. ^ [3][ dead link]
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  13. ^ [4][ dead link]
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  19. ^ "Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer". Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  20. ^ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm Archived 2000-11-10 at the Wayback Machine? storyID=3200105&thesection=news&thesubsection=world
  21. ^ "News24, South Africa's premier news source, provides breaking news on national, world, Africa, sport, entertainment, technology & more". News24. Retrieved 24 October 2015.[ permanent dead link]
  22. ^ Jonny Dymond in Istanbul. "Turkey's leader finally gets into parliament | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  23. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-04-18. Retrieved 2017-09-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)
  24. ^ http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/08/26/117689.html
  25. ^ David Ensor CNN Washington Bureau. "Fake Iraq documents 'embarrassing' for U.S. - Mar. 14, 2003". CNN.com. Retrieved 2015-10-24. {{ cite news}}: |author= has generic name ( help)
  26. ^ http://www.who.int/csr/don/2003_03_15/en Archived 2011-07-02 at the Wayback Machine/
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  28. ^ "Breaking News, Top News & Latest News Headlines". Reuters.com. 2009-02-09. Archived from the original on 2005-03-10. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
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  31. ^ "Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines". Story.news.yahoo.com. 2011-04-20. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  32. ^ "UK | Politics | Attorney General's Iraq response". BBC News. 2003-03-17. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  33. ^ "UK | Politics | Cook quits over Iraq crisis". BBC News. 2003-03-17. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  34. ^ Matthew Tempest, political correspondent. "Cook resigns from cabinet over Iraq | Politics | The Guardian". Politics.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  35. ^ 15.32 EST. "Attack on Iraq imminent | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-24.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link)
  36. ^ 11 mins ago (2011-04-20). "Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines". Story.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2015-10-24.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link)
  37. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2003-04-04. Retrieved 2017-09-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)
  38. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-financial-sec-merrill.html[ permanent dead link]
  39. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-03-18. Retrieved 2017-09-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)
  40. ^ Diaz, Lizbeth (2009-02-09). "Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com". Asia.reuters.com. Archived from the original on 2005-03-08. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  41. ^ "Health | HK doctors 'identify killer disease'". BBC News. 2003-03-19. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  42. ^ "Announces Dr. Paul Twomey as New President/CEO | Twomey is first non-US citizen to head". ICANN. 2003-03-19. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  43. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2004-02-10. Retrieved 2017-09-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)
  44. ^ David, Dr (2003-03-20). "Science/Nature | Columbia's data recorder found". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  45. ^ "Shuttle's data recorder found intact - Mar. 20, 2003". CNN.com. 2003-03-20. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
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  47. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-24. Retrieved 2017-09-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)
  48. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-03-19. Retrieved 2017-09-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)
  49. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-03-06. Retrieved 2017-09-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)
  50. ^ Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles. "Bush's defence adviser quits in row over conflict of interest | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  51. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-04-30. Retrieved 2019-08-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)
  52. ^ "Health | Airport virus checks urged". BBC News. 2003-03-27. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  53. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/28/turkey.hijack/
  54. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-11-02. Retrieved 2017-09-13.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)