Portal:Current events/October 2003
Every day, news articles appear that mention new, unfamiliar, but (now) important people, places, things, and concepts. Wikipedia can and should become a resource for background information on the topics behind these current events. For more information on contributing to this page, see current events article development.
Ongoing events and developing stories
- Nobel prize awards
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict - War on Terrorism - U.S. plan to invade Iraq
- stock market downturn of 2002 - accounting scandals - South American economic crisis of 2002 - debate over US steel tariffs
- Earth Summit 2002 - more . . .
These are entries which cover current events, that is, events that are ongoing and may have historical significance. These entries should be edited with an eye to historicity, while including timely information in a way not possible with paper encyclopedias.
Current events
- U.S. plan to invade Iraq: The U.S. Senate voted to give war powers to President George W. Bush as part of the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iraq.
- At the same time, Jimmy Carter is honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.
- A sniper in the Maryland/Virginia/Washington, DC area claimed his ninth victim, six of whom have died. A Tarot Death card left behind at the scene of one of the random murders is one of the few clues other than ballistic testing.
- The European Commission of the European Union has announced that ten countries - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - have met its criteria for entry, opening the way for an expansion of the EU from 15 member states to 25. The European Parliament has still to consider each candidate individually and the final decision will require the approval of the current member states.
- Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is making various ceremonial appearances in Canada in her role as the Queen of Canada.
- Stock market downturn of 2002: Nasdaq falls 1.8% to 1119.40, the Dow Jones index falls 1.4% to 7422.84, and the S&P falls 1.91% to 785.28, levels not reached since August 1996, mid-1997, and spring of 1997 respectively.
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli troops raid Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, killing 13 (10 from a helicopter missile) and wounding as many as 100, after Palestinians fire a rocket at a Jewish settlement in the area. Later Palestinians kidnap and kill Rajeh Abu Lehiya, chief of the Palestinian riot police, and two others die in gunfire during a police-Hamas supporters conflict.
- Astronomy: Announcement of the discovery of Quaoar a planetoid object circling the Sun
- The Limburg, a French oil tanker, explodes off the coast of Yemen, in a possible terrorist attack.
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: In the West Bank village of Akraba, Jewish settlers fire upon Palestinians picking olives, shooting dead 24-year-old Hani Yusuf and wounding another. Israelis soldiers shoot dead Samir Nursi, an Islamic Jihad gunman, in a gun battle in the Jenin refugee camp.
- recent celebrity deaths: Prince Claus of the Netherlands died aged 76.
- Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei was canonized by Pope John Paul II
- Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris stabbed in the abdomen at city hall during the Nuits Blanches event.
- Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) withdraws from his campaign for reelection following ethics scandals.
- NOAA and NASA researchers announce the ozone hole over Antarctica has grown markedly smaller since last year and has broken into two, due to warmer temperatures.
- Accounting scandals: New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has filed civil fraud lawsuits against ex-WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers, Qwest Communications executives Philip Anschutz and Joseph Naccio, Metromedia Fiber Networks chairman Stephen Garofalo, and ex-McLeod USA CEO Clark McLeod.
- 2002 stock market downturn: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi fired financial regulator Hakuo Yanagisawa in favor of economy minister Heizo Takenaka.
- Hundreds of thousands of people marched in London, England to protest the U.S. plan to invade Iraq. About a hundred thousand also protested in Rome, Italy.
- Several thousand people marched in Denver, Colorado to protest the U.S. plan to invade Iraq when President Bush visited the city.
- Sports: The best golfers in Europe and the United States begin competition for the 2002 Ryder cup at The Belfry in England.
- The annual G7 meeting begins the weekend of the 2002 IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, D.C.. 649 protesters from the alternative globalization movement are arrested.
- East Timor becomes the 191st member of the United Nations.
- India: The federal government has moved thousands of troops into the state of Gujurat after 32 people were killed in an attack on a Hindu temple. According to the government, the move is aimed at preventing further communal violence in the aftermath of the attack.
- Technology: Motorola has announced a single-chip satellite navigation receiver, opening the possibility of the addition of location-specific functions to low cost ubiquitous computing devices. The chip combines RF processing, analog signal processing, digital signal processing and a CPU on a single chip.
- Ivory Coast: Ivory Coast rebel soldiers, still attempting to overthrow the government, have invested a compound containing over 100 American citizens and other foreigners. 200 United States Marines have entered the country to rescue the foreigners.
- Belgium is the second European country (after the Netherlands) to legalise euthanasia.
- Stock market downturn of 2002: Global indices sink heavily today, with the Nasdaq falling 3 percent to a 6-year low of 1,184.94. The yield of the U.S. Treasury's 10-year bond sank to a 40-year low of 3.70 percent, with the 2-year bond yield falling to a record low of 1.89 percent. Meanwhile, concern of the U.S. plan to invade Iraq pushed oil prices to over $30 a barrel, not seen since February 2001.
- Spratly Islands: The Governor of the Philippine state of Palawan has sent Philippine soldiers to take possession of the uninhabited oil-rich Spratly Islands, which are claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
- A new Bundestag (German parliament) is chosen. In a very tight election, Gerhard Schröder defeats Edmund Stoiber to remain Prime Minister. The German Green Party does very well.
- Politics of Germany, Bundestag, Bundeskanzler
- Political parties: SPD, CDU/CSU, Die Grünen, FDP, PDS
- People: Guido Westerwelle
- recent celebrity deaths: Science fiction author Robert L. Forward dies.
- U.S. plan to invade Iraq: White House and Pentagon officials announce that Gen. Tommy Franks presented detailed war plans to President Bush in early September.
- An attempted coup by disaffected former soldiers of the Ivory Coast was put down, with the death of the alleged coup leader, General Robert Guei, a former military dictator of the country. Guei was killed when his car refused to stop at a roadblock in downtown Abidjan. Rebels continue in control of the cities of Bouake and Korhogo.
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: After a suicide bomber kills 5 and wounds more than 60 on a bus next to Tel Aviv's Great Synagogue, Israeli troops, tanks, and bulldozers destroy buildings in Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters.
- U.S. plan to invade Iraq: The Bush administration pressures Congress to pass a resolution giving Bush authority to use "all means he determines to be appropriate, including force" to oust Saddam Hussein and disarm Iraq.
- Extreme weather, recent celebrity deaths: About one-third of the Maili glacier breaks off from the Cacausus Mountains and buries Karmadon, Russia under up to 500 feet of ice and debris, killing 95, including the young Russian movie star Sergei Bodrov Jr.
- After three days of negotiations in Sattahip, Thailand, the Tamil Tigers agreed to drop their demand for independence from Sri Lanka, and accepted autonomy in the north and northwest of the country.
- Archaeologists use a remote-controlled robot to access a hitherto sealed chamber within the Great Pyramid of Giza: the robot drilled a hole in a long-sealed door and poked a fiber-optic camera through. Unfortunately, all that was revealed was another closed door.
- Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon is released from jail due to health reasons.
- Recent celebrity deaths: Athlete Bob Hayes dies.
- U.S. plan to invade Iraq: Colin Powell meets with the U.N. Security Council to push for stronger resolutions against Iraq. In a surprise reversal, Iraq tells the UN it will allow weapons inspectors "immediately and without condition."
- Cryptography: A worrying theoretical cryptanalytic attack on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) has been announced in a paper by Nicolas Courtois and Josef Pieprzyk entitled "Cryptanalysis of Block Ciphers with Overdefined Systems of Equations". This appears to show a surprising potential theoretical weakness in the AES algorithm.
- Tim Montgomery of the United States broke the world record in the 100 meter dash at the IAAF Grand Prix Final, running 9.78 seconds to beat the former record of 9.79 set by Maurice Greene of the United States in 1999.
- In both San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, hundreds of anti-war protesters marched and spoke out against the U.S. plan to invade Iraq.
- U.S. plan to invade Iraq: In a speech before the U.N. General Assembly, George W. Bush asserts that Iraq has defied various U.N. resolutions and is "a threat to the authority of the United Nations and a threat to peace". He says that the US will work with the Security Council to draft the necessary resolutions for military action.
- The first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack is marked by many services and memorials.
- Ramzi Binalshibh, a key al Qaeda member who supposedly helped to plan the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack was captured in Pakistan
- Johnny Unitas dies.
- Switzerland becomes a full member of the UN.
- Large deposits of methane hydrate are found off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
- Martin Strel is swimming to his final destination of the Gulf of Mexico.
- 2002 US Open: Pete Sampras defeats Andre Agassi in four sets to win his record 14th major.
- 2002 US Open: Serena Williams defeats Venus Williams.
- September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack/Memorials and Services: The US Congress convenes for a one-day joint session in Federal Hall in New York City, the original capital of the United States.
- An assassination attempt was made on President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan in Kandahar. A gunman wearing the uniform of the new Afghan Army opened fire, wounding the Governor of Kandahar and an American Special Operations officer. The gunman and one of the President's bodyguards were killed.
- Argentina defeated the United States, 87-80, at the World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the first loss ever in international play for a United States team containing National Basketball Association players.
- The Oakland Athletics baseball team won their 20th consecutive game, an American League record.
- Stock market downturn of 2002: The Nikkei stock average falls 3.2 percent to 9,217.04, an 18-year low.
- 2002 US Open: Lindsey Davenport defeated Yelena Bovina to advance to the semi-finals against the winner of Serena Williams vs. Daniela Hantuchova; Monica Seles defeated Martina Hingis to advance to the quarter-finals against Venus Williams.
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Arab League disavowed the final statement made by the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-up, claiming that they adhere to a policy of supporting Israel's right to exist within pre-1967 borders, and restating that the conflict in the Middle East is between Palestinians and Israelis, not all Jews. No comment on the September 11, 2001 claims was available.
- Current events/August 2002
- Current events/July 2002
- Current events/June 2002
- Current events/May 2002
- Topics removed from current events
- Background articles for ongoing events
News pages
External links to news pages that can be used to gather new topics for the above list:
- News Search Engines: http://www.HavenWorks.com/news/search
- Google News
- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/
- http://news.bbc.co.uk - Coverage split in to science/health etc... for UK and international news
- http://www.cnn.com.
- News Sources
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
- The Globe and Mail