Portal:Current events/2004 March 3

March 3, 2004 (Wednesday)

Abdurahman Khadr, a suspected terrorist, and his family confess on CBC national television that "We are an al-Qaeda family" and that they lived with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.(CBC)
Serious controversy in Greece over a flyer with propaganda against George Papandreou, just some days before the elections of Sunday, March 7, 2004. The opposition party New Democracy (ND) is accused by Anna Diamantopoulou (member of the currently ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement – PASOK) that printed and mailed the controversial flyer to members of the Greek Eastern Christian Church's clergy. The flyer is describing George Papandreou as an Atheist who is against the Church and the national and religious symbols. (MPA) (IN.gr) (IN.gr) (MPA)
At the Walt Disney Company's Annual General Meeting, about 43% of Walt Disney stockholders, including several prominent pension funds, vote to oppose the re-election of Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner. The board of directors replaces him as Chairman with George J. Mitchell. (CNN) (TheStreet)
Researchers at Harvard University announce that they will give scientists free access to 17 human embryonic stem cell lines created without U.S. federal funding. This move is expected to boost stem cell research in the face of federal funding restrictions announced in 2001 by the Bush administration. (CNN)
A new government of Serbia, headed by Vojislav Koštunica, is approved by parliament. (BBC)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Israeli aircraft destroy a car in the Gaza strip with missile fire, killing three people acknowledged by Palestinian officials as members of the militant group Hamas. (BBC)
- A group of Israelis join a court challenge against the Israeli West Bank barrier out of concern it could turn their good Palestinian neighbors into deadly enemies. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
In the trial of Martha Stewart and her broker, Judge Miriam Goldman gives the jury its instructions. (TheStreet)
New claims of bubble fusion are made, claiming that the results of previous experiments have been replicated under more stringent experimental conditions. (RPI press release) (NY Times)
In an interview published today, former U.S. and U.N. weapons inspector David Kay says that President George W. Bush and his administration should admit the United States was wrong about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "It's about confronting and coming clean with the American people," he said. (The Guardian)