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2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October -
November - December
A timeline of events in the news for July, 2003.
- Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi'ite Muslim and chief spokesman
for the Islamic Dawa Party, which was banned during Saddam's
rule, is picked to be the first of nine men who will serve one-month stints leading postwar Iraq. He will hold the presidency in
August.
- A Canadian concert, Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, attended by 450,000 people, takes place to show
that SARS is no longer in Toronto and to raise
money for health care and hospitality workers affected by the outbreak.
- The United Nations Security
Council appoints Harri Holkeri to head the temporary civilian
administration UNMIK in Kosovo.
- Ambassador Ole Wøhlers Olsen, the Muslim Danish coordinator for the U.S.-led provisional authority
in southern Iraq resigns unexpectingly, to be replaced by Sir Hilary Synnott, currently the British High Commissioner to Pakistan. Ambassador Olsen, who has been critical of the lack of support for his reconstruction efforts, declared
the British and Danish foreign services have chosen to replace him now instead of in October, as earlier planned, stating that he
himself had been prepared to continue his work in Basra. [4] (http://www.berlingske.dk/forside/artikel:aid=343592:fid=100100020)
- Comedian Bob Hope dies in his sleep [5] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/3103751.stm)
- A group of approximately 50 rogue soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines seizes a portion of a shopping mall and
the adjacent hotel in Makati City, Metro Manila in the Philippines demanding President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's resignation. They claim to
have surrounded the occupied zones with explosives and have temporarily held several people in the hotel, including Australian Ambassador Ruth Pierce. The group is said by some officials to be connected to ousted President Joseph Estrada and oppositionist Senator Gregorio Honasan, who staged
several coup attempts in the late 1980s. [6] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3099797.stm) [7] (http://ruby.inq7.net/specialfeatures/coup/whats/?offset=0)
- The BBC reports that an extensive investigation of Loch Ness by a BBC team, using 600 separate sonar beams, found no trace of any "sea monster" in the loch. Loch
Ness is a popular tourist attraction because of the rumors surrounding an alleged monster or plesiosaur populating the lake (see Loch Ness
Monster). The BBC team stated that it is now conclusively proven that "Nessie" does not exist. [8] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3096839.stm)
- 2003 Tour de France: Lance Armstrong wins his 5th consecutive Tour
de France.
- The United States' provisional authority in Iraq releases photos of what are presumably the dead bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein in an attempt to show the Iraqi
people proof that the two were actually killed in a U.S. military operation.[10] (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/07/24/sprj.irq.sons/index.html)
- California lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante announces that governor Gray Davis will
face a recall election on October 7. This will be the second gubernatorial recall
election in the United States history (the first occurred 82 years
beforehand).[11] (http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/7091491p-8039220c.html)
- Italian officials have decided to attempt a restoration of Michelangelo's David using distilled water. [12] (http://www.cbc.ca/artsCanada/stories/davidbath240703)
- Colin McMillan, President Bush's nominee for the post of United States Secretary of the Navy, dies of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound
to the head.
- John Manley, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, drops out of
the race to succeed Jean Chrétien as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister after conceding he cannot catch front-runner
Paul Martin, Jr.. [14] (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/07/22/manley_quits030722)
- One of the top floors of the Eiffel Tower catches fire. No-one is
injured. [15]
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20030722/ap_on_re_eu/france_eiffel_tower&e=1&ncid=)
- Fighting continues and the death toll rises in Liberia as rebels move into
Monrovia to depose President Charles Taylor.
- U.S.-led occupation of Iraq: In Iraq, "four key figures" in the former Iraqi regime die in a large operation by US troops. The dead included
Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay. [16] (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/07/22/sprj.irq.main/index.html)[17] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3087121.stm) [18] (http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters07-22-124129.asp?reg=MIDEAST)
- A severe storm strikes Memphis, Tennessee, leaving several dead and as many as 300,000 without power, including extremely
severe damage to the power grid in some areas. [19] (http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/07/24/severe.storms.ap/index.html) [20] (http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_2137266,00.html)
- Geographers announce that, with respect to its relative size, Kansas is flatter than a pancake. [21]
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=6&u=/nm/20030722/od_nm/odd_kansas_dc)
- npr.org (http://www.npr.org)'s All Things Considered program aired a humorous article on the Wiki phenomenon (http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.jhtml?prgDate=07/21/2003&prgId=2), and on
Wikipedia.org.
- Jong-Wook Lee becomes the new Director-General of the World Health Organization.
- SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit: SCO Group announces that it intends to sell binary-only licences to use the free Linux operating system which will remove the threat of litigation from licence-holders. Linux
advocates react by stating that SCO has no basis for this action, and that doing this may cause SCO to forfeit their rights under
the GNU GPL to use or distribute Linux or Linux-derived code in any form. SCO
press release (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030721/lam075_1.html) CNet
story (http://news.com.com/1601-2-1027557.html)
- In Puerto Rico, 25 people are seriously injured after a roof collapse in
a Vega Alta, Puerto Rico mall.[22] (http://vocero.com/noticia.asp?n=30873&d=7/22/2003) (in Spanish)
- The US Governing Council of
Iraq announces that it has failed to select a new Iraqi President. [25] (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-07-19-iraq-council_x.htm)
- Doctors in Vienna transplant a
human tongue at Vienna General Hospital. [26] (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/07/21/transplant_tongue030721)
- Seán Ó Muireagáin, a Northern Irish journalist, arrested by Israel and held for five days without legal representation in a case of mistaken identity, is
released and leaves Israel. The affair causes considerable embarrassment to the Israeli and British secret services, the former having arrested Ó Mureagáin on the advice of the latter, who claimed
incorrectly that he was a Real IRA man with the same name. In the confused
aftermath, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman suggests that Ó Muireagáin may have been guilty, while Prime Minister Sharon's spokesman states categorically that he was innocent and the entire affair
an error. He claims that Ó Muireagáin is a former convicted Provisional
IRA terrorist.
- A coup d'état takes place in São Tomé and Príncipe; the prime minister Maria das Neves is
arrested. [30] (http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030716.wsaotome0716/BNStory/International/)
- Following the 500,000-people protest on July 1, the government of Hong Kong
is hit by two resignations of high-ranking officials in one day. One is the Financial Secretary Antony Leung and the other is the Security Secretary Regina
Ip who was in charge of the controversial Article 23. [31] (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=ak0n4Kcq8NgM&refer=asia)
- Noor Fatima, a two-and-a-half-year-old Pakistani girl was successfully operated
on in an Indian hospital today to plug holes in her heart, making her father term it,
"the resumption of a new era of friendship betweIen India and Pakistan".
- Phil Fontaine is elected Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Canada.
- An 86-year-old man accidentally hits the accelerator instead of the brake at a farmer's market in Santa
Monica, California, driving his car through a closed-off street and killing at least 10 people (including a 3-year-old girl
and a 7-month-old boy) and injuring over 50 others. One of the dead is the daughter-in-law of actor Dennis Weaver.
- An Australian research team led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council published a medical study which concluded that frequent masturbation by males may help prevent the development of prostate cancer.
- A national governing council meets for the first time in Baghdad, as US troops launch a new assault on anti-coalition elements. [33] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3062037.stm)
- Yahoo! announces that it will buy Internet search listing service Overture Services for $1.63 billion in cash and stock.
- The United Kingdom media, following tip-offs from the Israeli and British Intelligence Services, state that a Real IRA terrorist Seán Ó Muireagáin, has been captured in Israel. The arrest his triumphed as an example of the successful
relationship between both country's intelligence services, and comes after a meeting between prime ministers Tony Blair and Ariel Sharon in
Downing Street.
- Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-born
Canadian journalist, dies of injuries received from a beating while in Iranian custody.
She had been arrested on June 23 while taking photographs outside an Iranian prison. Her death sparks a furor between Canada and
Iran over the disposition of her body and the punishment of her killers, and among international free speech groups concerned
with freedom of the press in Iran.
- The Diana, Princess
of Wales Memorial Fund announces that on legal advice it has frozen its funds as it faces a demand for £15 million ($25
million) damages for alleged malicious prosecution from the Franklin Mint in the US. The Mint had won a courtcase over its right to manufacture a Diana, Princess of Wales lookalike doll. Hundreds of
charities are expected face financial difficulties as a result of the freeze. Arc Charity Chief Executive James Churchill says "I
hope that the Franklin Mint Corporation is aware of the damage that their action is causing to groups of vulnerable young people
all over the world."
- Former International Development Secretary Clare Short urges that British
Prime Minister Tony Blair voluntarily leave the premiership. Blair, dining with
Bill Clinton in London's Guildhall, makes no comment.
- Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell claims the second most senior
Church of England cleric, Archbishop Hope of York, is gay. The Archbishop had previously described his sexuality as a "grey area". The
claim follows the row over a nomination of a openly homosexual canon to a bishopric in England and his withdrawal after attacks from conservative groups within the Anglican communion.
- NASA reports the discovery of PSR
B1620-26c (unofficially dubbed Methuselah), the oldest extrasolar planet yet discovered. The planet, which is estimated to be 12.7 billion years old, is
orbiting the pulsar PSR B1620-26 in the core of the ancient globular star
cluster M4, located 5,600 light-years away in the summer constellation Scorpius. [36] (http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/2003/19/)
- The ferry MV Nasrin-1 capsizes
and sinks near Chandpore in Bangladesh. The whereabouts of most of the approximately 700 passengers is unknown.
[37] (http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1384867,00.html)
- The U.S. government announces that two more officials of the defeated Iraqi government on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis were taken
into custody on Tuesday. Mizban Khadr al-Hadi was a high-ranking member of Iraq's Baath Party Regional Command and Revolutionary Command Council, and Mahmud Dhiyab al-Ahmad
was a former Interior Minister.
- Nike announces an agreement to purchase Converse; for $305M.
- A worker at a Lockheed Martin aircraft parts factory in Meridian,
Mississippi shoots 13 co-workers, killing five, before committing suicide.
Investigators are unsure of the motive.[38] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29480-2003Jul8.html)
- Ladan and Laleh Bijani die during their
unsuccessful separation operation in Singapore. [39] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3055016.stm)
- During a visit to the former slave-trading station on Goree Island, off the coast of Dakar,
Senegal, U.S. President George W.
Bush calls slavery "one of the greatest crimes of history", but stops short of an official apology. [40] (http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3054883)
- Same-sex marriage in Canada: A British Columbia court rules that same-sex couples may get married in that province,
effective immediately. BC becomes the second Canadian province, and second political
division in the Western Hemisphere, to legalize same-sex marriage. This decision is similar to the Ontario decision on June 10, 2003. [41] (http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/07/08/130210-cp.html)
- A Sudan Airways Boeing
737 jetliner crashes in Port Sudan,
killing 116 passengers. A toddler of two or three years is the sole survivor. [42] (http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3052818), [43] (http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap07-10-122117.asp?reg=AFRICA)
-
- Roger Federer makes history, becoming the first Swiss male ever to win the Wimbledon final, defeating Mark Philippoussis, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
- Martina Navratilova equals her idol, Billie Jean King's record of 20 Wimbledon titles after winning the mixed
doubles final with Leander Paes against Andy Ram Anastassia Rodionova, 6-3
6-3. [48] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/wimbledon_2003/3049972.stm)
- Todd Woodbridge also equals a record, winning with Jonas Bjorkman his 8th men's doubles
title by beating Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. [49] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/wimbledon_2003/3048206.stm)
- Kim Clijsters and Ai
Sugiyama win the women's doubles final, and so their first Wimbledon title, 6-4, 6-4, against first seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual
and Paola Suarez, as they did in this year's French Open final. [50] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/wimbledon_2003/3049862.stm)
- At least 16 people are killed and 40 injured by two female suicide
bombers in an attack at Krylya, a popular
music festival, at the Tushino
airfield near Moscow. The Russian authorities blame an on-going terrorism campaign
by
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