Cubana de AviaciónAN-24 airplane on a flight from the Isle of Youth in
Cuba to
Havana with 46 passengers on board is hijacked and directed towards the United States. After refueling in Havana the plane flew to
Key West, under escort by two US jet fighters. The plane landed safely in Key West.[2]
Square and
Enix, two Japanese video game companies, announce their merger into
Square Enix. Because of the timing, many people thought this was a mutually planned hoax.
Alex McLeish, manager of
Scottishfootball club
Rangers announced the signing of seventeen-year-old
Turkish player Yardis Alpolfo in a £5 million deal. The name is in fact an
anagram of "April Fool's Day" but many news sources, including
Reuters, reported the story.[3]
Iraqi military forces light oil wells on fire while retreating in the face of overwhelming US military might. This was considered an act of
environmental terrorism.
The Senate of Belgium approves a change in the nation's
war crimes law so that it will no longer apply to citizens of nations with sufficient human rights laws. The House of Representatives had already approved the change. The law had been used in the past to charge such people as
George H. W. Bush,
Colin Powell and
Ariel Sharon with war crimes, and had interfered with Belgium's international relations.[8]
British forces step up their presence in the southern
Iraq city of
Basra. According to embedded journalists, the citizens of Basra braved gunfire to dance in the streets and cheer for the British troops.
UPI's Chief International Correspondent Martin Walker claimed that he had witnessed at least one Basra citizen kiss a British tank.[9]
In a
friendly fire incident, U.S. warplanes struck a convoy of allied
Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces during a battle in northern
Afghanistan. At least 18 people are killed and more than 45 wounded, including senior Kurdish commanders.
In
Oakland, California, police fired
rubber bullets and
beanbags at anti-war protesters and dockworkers outside the Port, injuring at least a dozen demonstrators and six longshoremen standing nearby. Most of the 500 demonstrators were dispersed peacefully, but a crowd of
demonstrators was blocking traffic on private property near the port and fail to disperse after police warnings. Oakland Police Chief said demonstrators also threw objects and bolts at them, and said the use of weapons was necessary to disperse the crowd. He indicated non-lethal projectiles were used to respond to direct illegal action. The longshoremen were caught in the crossfire. A dockworker spokesman reported Police gave two minutes to disperse, then did not move to arrest people, instead they opened fire. Demonstrators also claim though the rubber bullets were supposed to be shot at the ground, the Police took direct aim at them. Oakland police said 31 people were arrested at the port.
Embedded
NPR journalists relay reports from a top official with the first Marine Division that U.S. forces near
Baghdad have discovered 20 medium range
BM-21missiles armed with
warheads containing deadly
sarin and
mustard gas that are "ready to fire.",[12][13]
More than a dozen Coalition soldiers, a
Knight Ridder reporter, a
CNN cameraman and two Iraqi
prisoners of war are sent for chemical weapons decontamination after exhibiting
symptoms of possible exposure to
tabun and
sarin nerve agents and
lewisite blistering agents while searching an Iraqi
agriculturalwarehouse and a nearby military compound on the
Euphrates river between the cities of
Kerbala and
Hilla. U.S. soldiers found eleven 25–
gallon barrels and three 55-gallon chemical drums, hundreds of gas masks and chemical suits, along with large numbers of
mortar and
artillery rounds. Initial tests of the chemicals were positive, then a second test was done which came back negative. A third test, conducted by a mobile testing unit provided by Germany confirmed the existence of sarin. Some reports indicate that the chemicals found at the agricultural warehouse may turn out to be
pesticides. Further tests are planned in the United States. U.S. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld said later in a Pentagon briefing that "almost all first reports we get, turn out to be wrong. We don't do first reports and we don't speculate.",[14][15]
The
Iraqi ambassador to the
Arab League,
Mohsen Khalil, announces that "Iraq has now already achieved victory – apart from some technicalities."[19]
Deaths of three journalists in Baghdad: Two American
air to surface missiles hit the
Qatarsatellite station
Al Jazeera's office in
Baghdad and kill a reporter and wound a cameraman. U.S. Officials said that the offices were not targeted, but were right next to the Iraqi Ministry of Information building which was a target. The nearby office of
Arab satellite channel
Abu Dhabi is also hit by
air strikes. Al Jazeera accuses the U.S. of attacking Arab media to hide facts. On the same day a U.S.
tank fires into the 15th floor of the
Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, where almost all remaining foreign journalists are based, and kills two cameramen and wounds three. In the Abu Dhabi case the station airs the picture of Iraqi fire from beneath of the camera. In the hotel case, however, other journalists on the scene deny any fire from or around the hotel.,[20][21][22]
At the International Science Festival at
Edinburgh's Royal Museum, the
stuffed remains of
Dolly the sheep are for the first time displayed.[24]
Baghdad falls to coalition forces. American infantrymen seize deserted
Ba'ath Party ministries and pull down a huge iron statue of
Saddam Hussein at the
Firdos Square in front of the
Palestine Hotel, as a symbolic ending his autocratic rule of
Iraq. Baghdad citizens then dragged the severed head of the statue through the streets of the city. Dozens of people there cheer U.S. soldiers, according to BBC. Much looting of cars and buildings is seen in Baghdad and other cities as the government and police lost control.[25][26][27][28][29]
The fate of
Saddam Hussein remains unknown after a U.S.
B-1B bomber dropped four 2,000-pound bunker-busting bombs on a building where Hussein was thought to be meeting with his sons and senior aides on April 7. The bombs blew a 60-foot-deep crater in a residential neighborhood that is not under coalition control, refueling speculation about the
possible death of Saddam Hussein. British intelligence officials said that they believed Saddam left the targeted building just minutes before it was destroyed, and that he probably survived the attack.[30][31][32][33]
United States
Green Berets and
Kurdish fighters enter the city of
Kirkuk in
Iraq with little resistance. Turkey and U.S., in separate statements, say they will not allow the Kurds to occupy the city.,[36][37]
British Airways and
Air France simultaneously announce that they will retire the supersonic
Concorde aircraft. Passenger numbers had never recovered following a crash that killed 113 in 2000.[38] In response, Sir
Richard Branson offers to buy British Airways' Concordes for £1 for the use of his
Virgin Atlantic Airlines. BA dismisses the offer as a stunt and indicates that the planes will go to air museums.[39]
A fire destroys a
boarding school for the deaf in
Makhachkala, Russia, killing 28 children, aged eight to 14. About 100 other children suffer burns and smoke inhalation, 39 of which are in serious condition.[40]
The northern
Iraqi city of
Mosul falls to coalition forces as the Iraqi army's fifth Corps offers a letter of surrender. The only remaining major city left to fall is
Saddam Hussein's hometown of
Tikrit, where some expect the remaining regime loyalists to make their final stand.[41]
Europe's largest
civil engineering project, and the world's largest single
metro expansion project, is officially opened in
Madrid. MetroSur, a 40-kilometre loop of the
Madrid Metro in the southern suburbs of the city, took under three years to complete.
Cuba executes three men charged with
terrorism for
hijacking a passenger
ferry on April 2. Another four men receive life sentences.[42]
The
Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the
Vatican, in the presence of
Pope John Paul II, promulgates a decree declaring that Emperor-King
Karl of Austria-Hungary (
r: 1916–1918) possessed "heroic virtues". This decree marks a significant step towards canonisation in the Roman Catholic Church for the last Austrian emperor and king of Hungary.
The bodies of a headless woman and a newborn
fetus with the
umbilical cord still attached washed up separately on the shore of
San Francisco Bay near
Richmond, California.
DNA testing determined the body is that of
Laci Peterson, who had been missing from her home in
Modesto since December 24, 2002.
10 Iraqis are reported killed and 16 injured in the city of
Mosul. Marines insist they were fired at, survivors say demonstrators only threw stones.[55]
A
Bush administration official announces that the United States, People's Republic of China, and
North Korea will meet in
Beijing from April 23 to April 24 to discuss North Korea's suspected
nuclear weapons program. The United States had refused bilateral discussions with North Korea since October 2002, insisting on multinational talks. The United States will be represented by Assistant Secretary of State
James Kelly.[56]
Australian Prime Minister
John Howard announces that Australian forces in
Operation Falconer will completely pull out by June.
The
Bechtel Corporation is awarded a $680 million contract for the rebuilding of parts of
Iraq's electricity system, water supplies and other key infrastructures.
Save the Children announces that U.S. forces continue to prevent their
airplane from landing in
Arbil, Iraq to deliver medical supplies and emergency feeding kits. U.S. officials contend that the area is not yet safe, while the
United Nations has already declared Arbil a "safe and secure" area.[59]
United States forces announce that a "disease control" plant in
Baghdad has been raided by unknown persons, and strains of
cholera,
black fever,
HIV,
polio and
hepatitis may have been lost.[61]
DNA testing proved that the bodies found on the shores of
San Francisco Bay were those of the missing
Laci Peterson and her unborn son. Peterson's husband,
Scott, was arrested in
La Jolla, California, and returned to their home town of
Modesto, California, for trial.
United States Army troops found over $656 million dollars in
United States and
Iraqi currency in sealed metal boxes in several bricked up cottages on the grounds of the homes of members of the
Iraqi elite in
Baghdad. Preliminary indications were that the money was real uncirculated bills, and not
counterfeit.
A bench clearing brawl happens in a
baseball game between the
Arizona Diamondbacks and the
St. Louis Cardinals. Tino Martinez was hit by a 1–0 pitch from Miguel Batista, and took first base. He was then forced out at second base during the next batter's at-bat. When heading back to the dugout, Martinez charged Batista from behind. Batista turned and threw the ball at him, and players from both teams joined the altercation. The Diamondbacks ultimately won the game, 1–0, and the
MLB suspends Martinez for four games, and Batista for ten.
British pop group
S Club announce that they are splitting up after four years. The announcement was made in the
London Arena by the six remaining members of the group.
A U.S. commanding officer in
Baghdad announces that five U.S. soldiers are under investigation for the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from caches of money found in
Iraq.[64]
The British and
Irish governments publicly ask three questions of the
IRA. Depending on clarification offered, the Northern Ireland Executive may be reinstated or the Assembly elections postponed.
New Jersey re-ratifies the
14th Amendment, having ratified and subsequently rescinded support for the amendment in the late 19th century.[65]
In the
Red Lion Area Junior High School cafeteria (
Red Lion, Pennsylvania),
eighth-grader James Sheets, carrying multiple weapons, fatally shoots the principal, Eugene Segro, and then fatally shoots himself. Two years earlier, the same school district was the site of a machete attack that injured another principal, two teachers and 11 pupils.
The Canadian federal fisheries minister, Robert Thibault, announces the complete closure of the Atlantic
cod fishery, in order to prevent the commercial extinction of cod.[69]
Unknown assailants fire incendiary devices on an ammunition dump in suburban
Baghdad, triggering hours of explosions. American sources put the casualties at six dead and four wounded;
Iraqi sources state 25 wounded. U.S Army 3rd Infantry Division the 11th Engineer Battalion Charlie Co. ASP(Ammo Security Point)89 tons of confiscated munitions exploded after an enemy attack.[71]
Winnie Mandela is sentenced to four years in prison (five years, less one-year suspended) for theft and fraud.[72]
Hiker and mountain climber
Aron Ralston is stuck for five days in
Blue John Canyon after an 800-pound rock falls on his right arm, pinning it to the canyon wall.
Argentinians go to the polls to elect a president for the first time since the December 2001 economic collapse provoked street riots that unseated four presidents in two weeks.
Carlos Menem beats fellow
PeronistNéstor Kirchner in the first round of voting, but the closeness of the vote necessitates a runoff vote scheduled for May 18. Other candidates included former economy minister
Ricardo López Murphy, former caretaker president
Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, and lawmaker
Elisa Carrio.
At
Falluja, 50 km from Baghdad, American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne opened fire on a group of protesters, killing between six and 17 and leaving others injured. The incident occurred during a demonstration outside a local school were American forces were stationed. The day before two soldiers were wounded in Ramadi when a hand grenade was thrown from a crowd. Different versions of the incident exist. two days later on April 30, 2003, another shooting incident occurred in which three people died. After the incidents relations with the populus of Falluja soured, and tensions would continue to build until the November 2004 Battle of Falluja.
Apple Computer revealed a new online music store, entitled the
iTunes Music Store, for its
iTunes and
iPod products. Each song can be downloaded for 99 cents and there is no subscription fee.
Leaders of member countries of
ASEAN and the
Premier of the People's Republic of China held an emergency summit in
Bangkok,
Thailand in order to address the
SARS problem. Among the decisions made were the setting-up of a ministerial-level task force and uniform pre-departure health screening in airports.