March 9, 2004

• March 9, 2004 attack of Istanbul restaurant in Turkey by two Islamic suicide bombers killing one, injuring five. (Reuters) (ChannelNewsAsia)
• California electricity crisis: Federal prosecutors plan to indict a Reliant Energy subsidiary for its alleged role in the energy shortage of 2000 and 2001. These would be the first criminal proceedings related to the crisis. (Houston Business Journal)
• New Hubble Space Telescope images show deepest view of the universe yet. (NYT)
• Opposition members of South Korea's parliament undertake the first steps in impeachment proceedings against President Roh Moo-hyun. (Reuters)
• John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to death by a Virginia judge for his role in the Beltway sniper attacks. (Bloomberg) (CNN)
• A genetically modified crop, Bayer's Chardon LL maize, is approved for growing in England for animal feed from 2005 until October 2006. The Scottish Executive also approves the move, but asks Scottish farmers to hold off. MPs and farmers protest in anger as the science is questioned. The Welsh National Assembly's Environment Minister announces he is still opposed to approving the crop. (New Scientist) (BBC) (BBC) (BBC) (Evening Standard)
• Pakistan announces a successful first flight test of its Hatf VI / Shaheen II long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile. The missile has a range of 2,000 km (1,250 mi) and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). (BBC) (CNN)
• Five of the nine Britons held by American authorities at Guantanamo Bay under suspicion of having links to terrorist organisations are returned to Britain. They are to be questioned by British anti-terrorism police on arrival.(Reuters) (CNN)
• The FBI arrests William Cottrell, a Caltech student and alleged member of the Earth Liberation Front, in connection with last summer's spate of arson attacks at a car dealerships which destroyed or damaged over one hundred vehicles, including many Hummer H2 luxury SUVs. (AP) (Reuters)
• In the United States, EchoStar's Dish Network stops carrying channels owned by Viacom (CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, and others) in a dispute over the pricing of those channels. Both companies have used text crawls and other information to influence viewers to call the opposing company to negotiate price. (NYT) (Dow Jones) (Reuters) (Financial Times) (Motley Fool)
• Belinda Stronach, candidate for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, is nominated as the Conservative candidate for the next federal election in the riding of Newmarket-Aurora, Ontario. (CBC)