Portal:Current events/2004 March 5

March 5, 2004 (Friday)

The U.S. Republican National Committee sends a letter to hundreds of television stations, warning the stations about airing anti-Bush advertisements sponsored by MoveOn.org. The letter warns that the ads may be financed with money raised in violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. (CNN)
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidates patent claim to Web browser technology central to a case by Eolas against Microsoft. (CNet)
The United States Department of Labor releases a report showing that job growth all but stalled in February. (PBS)
Libya admits to having stockpiled 23 metric tons of mustard gas in its declaration to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. (AP) (OPCW press release)
SCO v. IBM: U.S. District Judge Brooke Wells orders the two involved companies to produce, within 45 days, lines of code and documentation supporting their cases. (USA Today)
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is hospitalized for gallstone pancreatitis. (Drudge) (CNN)
The National People's Congress convenes in Beijing. Premier Wen Jiabao makes his first state address, saying that "solving the problems of agriculture, villages and farmers is one of the most crucial parts of our entire work". (BBC)
Civilian Russian engineers may have secretly aided Saddam Hussein's long-range ballistic missile program, providing technical assistance for prohibited Iraqi weapons projects. (IHT)
Last minute disagreement delays signing of Iraq's interim constitution. (Radio Free Europe) (USA Today)
The Russian polar station will be evacuated. Russia launches rescue operation to evacuate 12 of its scientists stranded on a research station (which partially sank) near the North Pole. (Pravda) (BBC)
Tony Blair defends the war in Iraq, stating that "global threat we face in Britain and round the world is real and existential and it is the task of leadership to expose it and fight it, whatever the political cost." (ABC) (Scotsman)
Same-sex marriage in the United States: The Wisconsin State Assembly approves state constitution amendment (voted 68-27) to ban same-sex marriages or civil unions, to counter efforts elsewhere to legalize such partnerships. The Kansas House passes, by 88 votes to 36, a proposed amendment. (Pittsburg KS Morning Sun) (USA Today)
Police hold a Haifa man, Eliran Golan, and his 54-year-old father in custody on suspicion of involvement in making and planting bombs over the last three years. Haifa Magistrate court extends for five days the remand of Yivgeny Grossman. Grossman denies any connection. (Haaretz) (Jerusalem Post)
Martha Stewart is found guilty by a jury on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements regarding alleged insider trading in December 2001. She faces up to 20 years in prison, though it is considered unlikely that she would be sentenced to that maximum. Sentencing is set for June 17. (SF Chronicle)
Nunavut general election, 2004: the new legislature returns Paul Okalik to office as premier of Nunavut, the largest territory of Canada. (CBC)
Key Tokyo stock indexes (Nikkei 225 and Topix) hit 21-month highs.
The trial of former Finnish Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäki ends. She has been accused of leaking secret foreign ministry documents referring to her predecessor Paavo Lipponen's meetings with George W. Bush. (BBC)
The Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators set a National Hockey League single-game record with 419 combined penalty minutes, due to a brawl involving all six players (including the goalies) on both teams. The Flyers also set a team record for most team penalty minutes in a game with 213.