Ongoing events: 2003 invasion of Iraq - Iraq disarmament crisis - SARS - Israeli-Palestinian conflict - Space Shuttle Columbia disaster - War on Terrorism - North Korea nuclear weapons program - Afghanistan timeline
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- Iraq's ambassador to the U.N. Muhammad Ali al-Douri tells reporters that "the game is over." [1]
- US undersecretary of state, John Bolton, warns Iran, Syria, and North Korea that they should "draw the appropriate lesson from Iraq". [2]
- At the International Science Festival at Edinburgh's Royal Museum, the stuffed remains of Dolly the sheep are for the first time displayed. [3]
- Control of Baghdad is said to be on the verge of collapse as looting of government offices breaks out and Saddam Hussein's fighting forces melt away in large portions of the city. Many citizens cheer Coalition forces and dance in the streets. Some citizens in the city begin to destroy statues and portraits of Saddam Hussein. [4]
- 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 created 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 Hussein left the targeted building just minutes before it was destroyed, and that he probably survived the attack. [5] [6] [7] [8]
- Hong Kong health officials say that spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome may mean it's going to be around for a while. WHO officials are cautiously optimistic that it can be contained. [9], [10]
- The Iraqi ambassador to the Arab League, Mohsen Khalil, announces that "Iraq has now already achieved victory - apart from some technicalities." [11]
- 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 spokeman reported Police gave two minutes to disperse, then didnot 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.
- U.S. Secretary of State Powell says that war in Iraq is "drawing to a close". [12]
- United States troops push into the centre of Baghdad and enter at least one abandoned Presidential Palace. (see Invasion of Baghdad).
- Embedded NPR journalists relay reports from a top official with the 1st Marine Division that U.S. forces near Baghdad have discovered 20 medium range BM-21 missiles armed with warheads containing deadly sarin and mustard gas that are "ready to fire." [13], [14]
- 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 agricultural warehouse 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 werehouse 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." [15], [16]
- British forces step up their presence in the southern 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. [17]
- 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.
- 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 Bush, Colin Powell and Ariel Sharon with war crimes, and had interfered with Belgium's international relations. [18]
- Video footage of Saddam Hussein is shown on Iraqi TV, and mentions the shooting down of an Apache helicopter, reducing speculation on the possible death of Saddam Hussein.
- The Iraqi government promises to re-take Baghdad airport from United States forces, claiming the counter-attack would involve "some kind of martyrdom operation".
- Akamai Technologies unilaterally revokes the contract to host the website of Al Jazeera. The satellite TV station entered into the contract to prevent server downs from overload and DoS attacks it has experienced. [19], [20]
- ArabNews reports that United States forces have captured the Saddam International Airport in Baghdad. [21]
- Jean-Pierre Serre is announced as the winner of the first Abel Prize.
- Dr. Julie Gerberding, a director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, states her concern that SARS threatens to become a global pandemic. [22]
- U.S. Brigadier General Vincent Brooks claims the Baghdad division of the Iraqi Republican Guard was "destroyed". Iraq information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf responded that this was another American "lie". [23]
- The Iraqi Information Ministry bans Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite television from Baghdad. [24]
- Prisoner of war United States Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch is rescued by U.S. forces from Nasiriya, Iraq.
- Cubana de Aviacion AN-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. [25]
- The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments for Grutter v. Bollinger, (regarding the University of Michigan Law Schools' affirmative action admissions policy), and Gratz and Hamacher v. Bollinger, (examining the university's undergraduate admissions policy.)
- Hong Kong movie and Cantopop star Leslie Cheung commits suicide at the age of 46.
- In Japan, The Postal Services Agency becomes Japan Post, a public corporation. [26]
- In Japan, Hyosuke Kujiraoka, a former vice speaker of the House of Representatives, dies in Adachi Ward, Tokyo. He was 87.
- Air Canada, the main airline company of Canada asks for bankruptcy protection.
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