Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie blasted ongoing Israeli extra-judicial executions of Palestinianactivists, which claimed two more lives on Sunday, and blamed Israel for the weekend of violence, whilst accusing his Israeli counterpart’s government of trying "to kill any possibility for (achieving a) mutual cease-fire". (BBC)
Palau National Congress' debate about whether to propose several constitutional amendments to Palau voters or ask them to consider more changes at a Constitutional Convention ended without an accord. (Guam Pacific Daily News)
The Palestinian Authority's prisoners' affairs ministry states in its monthly statistical report that the number of Palestinian prisoners has risen to around 7,500. Of those 336 are children, 75 female and 943 in need of medical treatment. Of the 166 prisoners who died, 41% died as a result of medical negligence, while 18% died as a result of torture. (palestine-info.co.uk)(Jihad Unspun)
Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reports 1,850 new housing units in the Jewish settlements Israel built in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2003, up by 35 percent from the previous year. (BBC)
Jason West, mayor of New Paltz, New York is charged with 19 criminal counts of solemnizing marriages without a license. If convicted, he faces up to a $500 fine and a year in jail on each count.(Newsday)
Multnomah County, Oregon prepares to begin solemnizing same-sex marriages, after its attorney issues a legal opinion deeming such marriages lawful. (SF Chronicle)
Multiple explosions hit Shiite shrines in Baghdad and Karbala on the Shia festival of Ashura. Over 180 people are reported killed. A three-day long period of national mourning is announced. (BBC)
The U.S. declares its 2,000-man force to have leadership over all foreign military forces in Haiti. President Bush chose not to wait for the UN Security Council but, instead, to intervene immediately to "restore order" in the western hemisphere's poorest country. (Washington Times)
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)
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)
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)
Horst Köhler resigns as the head of the IMF in order to accept the nomination for Presidency of Germany.
Michael Dell, head of Dell Computers announces that he will step down as CEO of the computer manufacturer. However, he will still retain his position as chairman of the board. Dell president and COO, Kevin Rollins will assume the role of CEO. (CNN)
US Democratic Party labels the Bush campaign an "attack machine" which they vow to thwart at every turn. "Fund raising and the race to define your opponent before he defines you that's what it's all about," said one Democratic strategist yesterday. (Washington Times) The White House defends the use of images from the 2001 terror attacks in adverts for President Bush's re-election campaign. Karen Hughes states, "It's a reminder of our shared experience as a nation ... not just some distant tragedy from the past. It really defined our future". (BBC)
Israeli tanks (around 15 armoured vehicles escorted by several bulldozers) enter the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, exchanging gunfire with resistance and later demolishing a four-storey building, claiming "anti-terrorist operations". (Australian)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
An explosion rocks a Moscow apartment block. Initial reports from police suggest that the explosion was caused by a bomb, in spite of increased security in the run-up to the presidential election on March 14. Later reports state that the explosion was due to a gas leak. (BBC)
Palestinian sources say that 14 people died after an Israeli raid into the refugee camps of al-Bureij and Nusseirat. Israeli sources say it was a "pinpoint" operation against the "terrorist infrastructure". (BBC)
In Austria there are elections in the states of Salzburg and Carinthia. In Salzburg, the SPÖ earns a majority for the first time. In Carinthia, the election is an unexpected success for Jörg Haider (FPÖ).
The headquarters of the US-led coalition in Baghdad come under rocket attack from Iraqi guerillas, the day before the new Iraqi temporary constitution is due to be signed. (BBC)
United Statesmarines shoot and kill a Haitian gunman in front of Port-au-Prince's presidential palace after the man fired rounds at the marines and protesters. Supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had shot and killed several anti-Aristide demonstrators.(NYT)
Iraq's governing council unanimously approves the country's new constitution. (AP)
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)
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)
