Four U.S.civiliancontractors are killed in a grenade attack by Iraqi guerrillas in Fallujah, Iraq. A violent mob pulls charred bodies from the burning vehicles and hang two bodies from a bridge over the Euphrates. In a separate incident, five U.S soldiers are killed in a large roadside bomb attack 12 miles (20 km) northwest of Fallujah. (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/03/31/iraq.main/index.html)(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3587931.stm)
The Korea Train Express high-speed rail line opens, connecting Seoul to Busan and Mokpo. (CNN) (http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/03/30/bt.korea.train.ap/)
The Guardian newspaper quotes British security service sources as believing that yesterday's raids may have stopped a major terrorist bombing. The sources state that MI5 and MI6 worked with police during the investigation leading to the raids. (Guardian) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1182570,00.html)
The International Court of Justice rules that the USA violated the rights of 51 Mexican citizens on murder and orders a review of their cases. (AP) (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040331/D81LEJBG0.html)(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3584539.stm)
The controversial Higher Education Bill, which will introduce variable tuition fees in England and Wales, passes its third reading in the House of Commons by 316 votes to 288, despite many MPs still vocally opposed. The Bill's second reading in January was passed with a majority of only 5 votes. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3587263.stm)(Guardian) (http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/tuitionfees/story/0,12757,1182944,00.html)(Reuters) (http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=486155§ion=news)
A Canadian court rules that the Canadian Recording Industry Association did not prove that the downloading of music from the Internet is a copyright violation. The ruling is in line with a decision from the Copyright Board of Canada that downloading music is legal. (Toronto Star) (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1080732966812&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154) (Bell Globemedia) (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040401/MUSIC0111/TPNational/Canada)
A suicide bomber sets off a small explosion inside the Bolivian Congress. The bomber – a miner, protesting unpaid pensions – and the chief congressional security guard are killed; several bystanders are wounded. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3584447.stm)(USA Today) (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-03-30-bolivia-blast_x.htm)
Police in Uzbekistan raid a militant's hideout south of the capital, Tashkent. Fighting has caused 23 deaths in the area. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4701844§ion=news)
The Philippines prevents a "Madrid-level attack" after arresting four members of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group. (SFGate) (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2004/03/30/international1147EST0595.DTL)
Eight men are arrested after a series of raids in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000. Half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertiliser was found during the raids. (Guardian) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1181017,00.html)
ROC presidential election, 2004: The Pan-Blue Coalition drops its demand for another round of voting by members of the military and the police who were put on a heightened state of alert on election day. Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu sign letters promising not to contest the Pan-Blue petition for a recount.(Miami Herald) (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/8308379.htm)(Bloomberg) (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=an8jQ.GItx0s&refer=asia)
An explosion occurs close to the main bazaar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, killing two and injuring around twenty; preliminary reports point to two female suicide bombers. Also in the capital, three police officers are shot dead; and, in the city of Bukhara, another explosion at a suspected terrorist bomb factory claims ten fatalities. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4685593)(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3577803.stm)
The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country to ban tobacco smoking in all enclosed workplaces (including bars and restaurants); infringers risk a €3,000 (US$3,600) fine. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3577001.stm)
NATO welcomes seven new members, as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia formally became members by depositing their instruments of accession with the United States' government, though the countries will join officially next month at a NATO meeting. All but Slovenia were formerly members of the Warsaw Pact. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3578837.stm)(NATO) (http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2004/03-march/e0329a.htm)
Spain is reported to be considering doubling her number of troops stationed in Afghanistan. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3579411.stm)(CNN) (http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/29/spain.troops.ap/)
Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, leader of Hamas, states that God has declared war on the United States. (NYTimes) (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/international/middleeast/28CND-HAMA.html)(abs-cbnNEWS) (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=WORLD&oid=47988)(Reuters) (http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=484422§ion=news)(INDOlink) (http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=032904022618)
Cambridge University wins a controversial victory in the 150th Boat Race by 6 lengths, with a total time of 18:47 minutes. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/boat_race_2004/3572649.stm)
The Arab Leaguesummit is postponed. The meeting was put off indefinitely because of differences of opinion regarding ways to encourage reform in the region, including democratization. (VOA) (http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=0F845116-0EF2-4C11-90F1A12AF8FC4A45)(BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3575691.stm)
UK Home Secretary David Blunkett prepares to publish a white paper on Israeli State Attorney Edna Arbel recommends that Prime MinisterAriel Sharon be indicted for taking bribes. (AP) (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040328/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_sharon_10)
The French regional elections result in massive losses for the governing conservative parties and victories for socialist-green alliances in at least 20 of 22 regions. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3575779.stm)(Spiegel) (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,292926,00.html)(Yahoo France) (http://fr.news.yahoo.com/elections2004/regionales/resultats.html)
The skeletal remains of Cecilia Zhang are found in a Toronto ravine after her high-publicity kidnapping. (Toronto Star) (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article-Type1&call-pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1080477804939)
ROC presidential election, 2004: 500,000 Pan-Blue protesters take to the streets in Taipei to demand a recount. (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=484110§ion=news)
NASA succeeds in a second attempt to fly its X_43A experimental airplane from the Hyper-X project, attaining speeds in excess of Mach 7, the fastest ever air-breathing hypersonic flight. (CNN) (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/27/hypersonic.jet.flight.ap/index.html)
In Brussels, European Union Leaders express a sense of unity in the aftermath of the constitution. (IHT) (http://www.iht.com/articles/512188.html)
A powerful cyclone hits the coast of southern Brazil. Brazilian and U.S. meteorologists disagree over whether Cyclone Catarina is a hurricane, the first ever recorded in the South Atlantic. (AP) (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040328/D81J2KKG0.html)
The first South AtlanticBrazil. (Miami Herald) (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/8286042.htm)
Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, says that Islam is authoritarian, inflexible and under-achieving; and that Muslim countries have contributed little of major significance to the world's culture for centuries, at the same time stating that most Muslims are peaceloving people who should not be demonized. He, however, denounces moderates for not unequivocally denouncing the "evil" of suicide bombers. Critics said his critique of Islamic culture amounted to an "attack". (Daily Telegraph) (http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/03/26/narch26.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/03/26/ixnewstop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=5165)
ROC presidential election, 2004: The controversial victory of Chen Shui-bian is confirmed by the state electoral commission, with a margin of only 29,518 votes – 0.2% of the total – separating the candidates. Pan-Blue protestors storm and hurl eggs at the Central Electoral Commission building. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3570531.stm)
The terrorist group AZF suspends its bombing campaign in France but continues to demand money from the government. News agencies report that the government placed notices in Libération newspaper to contact the terrorists. (BBC) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3567369.stm)
The House of Representatives of US state of Georgia passes a ban on genital piercings for women, including consenting adults, as part of a bill to ban female genital mutilation as performed by some Muslim populations, among others. The ban does not apply to men. The provision is not included in the version passed by Georgia's Senate. (AP) (http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=34411)
Novelist and filmmaker Alain Robbe-Grillet is elected to the Académie française. (Académie française) (http://www.academie-francaise.fr/actualites/index.html)
Five planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) array across the evening sky in a night show that won't be back for another three decades. (AP) (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/planetary_spectacle)
A prototype of a mechanized five-ton disaster-rescue robot, the T-52 Enryu, is unveiled in Japan. (AFP) (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/japan_technology_robot)
A bomb is discovered on a TGVrailway between Paris and Geneva near Troyes, France. (ONE News) (http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews-detail/0,1227,263451_1_9,00.html)
The leader of Hamas states that the group has no plans to attack US targets, retreating from earlier threats by its armed wing. However, IsraeliPrime MinisterIsrael has a "natural right" to pursue those who would destroy it. (Jewish Press) (http://www.thejewishpress.com/news-article.asp?article=3547)
Hussam Abdo, a 14-year-old Palestiniansuicide bomber fails to detonate his bomb-vest at an Israeli checkpoint outside Nablus. The child was paid $23 and promised sex in heaven as his reward. An armed wing of Fatah takes responsibility for sending the boy. (HaAretz) (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/408359.html)
Unrest in Kosovo: an police patrol is attacked on the road Pristina_Podujevo. A UN police officer from Ghana is killed, a local police officer later dies of his wounds, and their translator is also wounded but in stable condition. (Kosovo.net) (http://www.kosovo.net/?q=node/view/12)
The 11 March2004Madrid attacks (also known as 11/3, 3/11, M-11 and 11-M) were a series of coordinated terroristbombings against the commuter train system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March2004, which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800.
The 11 March2004 attacks consisted of a series of ten explosions that occurred at the height of the Madrid rush hour aboard four commuter trains (CercanÃas in Spain).
By 23 March, 191 people were confirmed dead (177 at the scene, 13 while under medical care), of whom 12 were yet to be identified; and more than 1,800 were wounded (about 100 remained hospitalised.) Initial reports of 202 deaths were later revised down due to the misidentification of body parts.
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