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Portal:Current events/October 2003

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 213.253.40.159 (talk) at 12:24, 13 February 2003 ( UN Security Council Resolution 1441, which calls on Iraq to disclose its entire arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and medium and long-range missiles.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

These are entries which cover current events that may have historical significance.

Ongoing events: Space Shuttle Columbia disaster - Israeli-Palestinian conflict - U.S. plan to invade Iraq - War on Terrorism - North Korea nuclear weapons program - Loyalist Feud

See also: Wikipedia:Announcements - About this page - Selected Articles on the Main Page - Recent deaths


  • The 2002 nominees for the Academy Award (Oscar) were announced to the public.
  • France and Belgium broke the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. Germany said it supports this veto. The procedure was put into operation on February 6 by secretary general George Robertson. In response Turkey called upon Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which stipulates that member states must deliberate when asked to do so by another member state if it feels threatened.
  • Muslims celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha today. See also Hajj.
  • Sections of a 'dossier' issued by the UK government, which purported to present the latest British intelligence about Iraq, and which had been cited by Tony Blair and Colin Powell as evidence for the need for war, were criticized as plagiarisms. They had been copied without permission from a number of sources including Jane's Intelligence Review and a 12-year-old doctoral thesis of a Californian student that had been published in the US journal Middle East Review of International Affairs. Some sentences were copied word-for-word, and spelling mistakes had been reproduced from the original articles. Downing Street responded by saying that the government had never claimed exclusive authorship and that the information was accurate.


  • Space Shuttle Columbia disaster: The Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart and disintegrated over Texas as it embarked on its final approach to a landing after its 28th space mission. All seven crew members are lost.
  • A crowded passenger train and a freight train collided head on and burst into flames in northwestern Zimbabwe, killing 40 people and injuring about 60. Flames were still burning 14 hours after the collision.
  • A false rumor that Thai actress Suvanant Kongying had told a reporter that the temple ruins at Angkor really belong to Thailand led to a riot in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, causing the destruction of the Thai Embassy and dozens of Thai-owned businesses, hotels and factories.

Past events:

News pages

External links to news pages that can be used to gather new topics for the above list: