Today in History - April 3
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For Asian History: https://www.asiaobserver.org/category/news/on-this-day-in-asian-history
33CE Apr 3, Christ was crucified (according to astronomers Humphreys and Waddington). The date is highly debated. [see Apr 30, 30CE]
(MC, 4/3/02)
628 Apr 3, In Persia Kavadh sued for peace with the Byzantines. He handed back Armenia, Byzantine Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
(HN, 4/3/99)(AP, 4/3/99)
628 Apr 3, Chosroes II, emperor of Persia (579-628), was murdered by his son.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1043 Apr 3, Edward the Confessor was crowned king of England.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1367 Apr 3, Henry Bolingbroke, aka Henry of Lancaster and later Henry IV, King of England (1399-1413), was born in Lincolnshire.
(MWH, 1994)
1367 Apr 3, John of Gaunt and Edward the Black Prince won the Battle of Najara, in Spain.
(HN, 4/3/99)
1559 Apr 3, Philip II of Spain and Henry II of France signed the peace of Cateau-Cambresis, ending a long series of wars between the Hapsburg and Valois dynasties.
(HN, 4/3/99)(www.comune.cumiana.to.it/storia/history.html)
1569 Apr 3, Giovanni Battista Massarengo, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1593 Apr 3, George Herbert (d.1633), English metaphysical poet (5 Mystical Songs), was born. "The best mirror is an old friend."
(AP, 4/16/98)(MC, 4/3/02)
1603 Apr 3, William Smith, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1649 Apr 3, Joseph-Francois Salomon, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1657 Apr 3, English Lord Protector Cromwell refused the crown.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1679 Apr 3, Edmund Halley met Johannes Hevelius in Danzig.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1680 Apr 3, Shivaji Raje Bhosle (b.1627), warrior king and founder of the Maratha empire of western India, died.
(Econ, 7/12/08, p.73)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivaji)
1682 Apr 3, Esteban Murillo (b.1617), Spanish painter, died. Some of his mid-century work in Seville portrayed the effects of the Plague that killed 50% of the population in 4 months.
(WSJ, 4/9/02, p.D19)(MC, 4/3/02)
1748 Apr 3, Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (b.1694), a Genevan legal and political theorist, died. He popularized a number of ideas propounded by other thinkers. "The ultimate end of man is happiness." His fundamental principle may be described as rational utilitarianism and represents a digest of the thoughts of like-minded theorists.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Burlamaqui)(Econ., 12/12/20, p.84)
1751 Apr 3, Jean-Baptiste Lamoyne, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1764 Apr 3, John Abernethy, surgeon, was born in London.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1764 Apr 3, Austrian arch duke Jozef crowned himself Roman Catholic king.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1776 Apr 3, George Washington received an honorary doctor of law degree from Harvard College.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1783 Apr 3, Washington Irving (d.Nov 28, 1859), essayist, author, historian, biographer, attorney/lawyer, American writer (Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Rip Van Winkle), was born in New York City. "No man is so methodical as a complete idler, and none so scrupulous in measuring out his time as he whose time is worth nothing."
(DTnet, 11/28/97)(HN, 4/3/98)(AP, 9/10/98)
1790 Apr 3, Revenue Marine Service (US Coast Guard) was created.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1796 Apr 3, The 1st elephant was shipped to the US from Bengal, India, by Broadway showman Jacob Croninshield.
(SFC, 11/18/00, p.B3)
1822 Apr 3, Edward Everett Hale, American clergyman and author (Man without a Country), was born.
(HN, 4/3/98)
1823 Apr 3, William Macy "Boss" Tweed, New York City political boss, was born.
(HN, 4/3/98)
1837 Apr 3, John Burroughs (d.1921), American author and naturalist, was born. “Time does not become sacred to us until we have lived it, until it has passed over us and taken with it a part of ourselves."
(HN, 4/3/01)(AP, 5/28/98)
1838 Apr 3, Leon Michel Gambetta, French attorney, premier (1881-82), was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1838 Apr 3, Francesco Antommarchi (57), Napoleon's physician on St Helena, died.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1841 Apr 3, From Nassau, Bahamas, a British magistrate wrote that 193 shipwrecked African slaves from the ship Trouvadore were found naked on the shores of the East Caicos Island. The slaves were then quarantined in a jail and given food and clothing.
(AP, 8/21/04)
1842 Apr 3, Hermann Karl Vogel, German astronomer, was born.
(HN, 4/3/01)
1848 Apr 3, The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was established and began trading grain futures.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Board_of_Trade)(Econ, 9/20/03, p.68)
1854 Apr 3, The SF Mint opened at 608 Commercial St. It issued $4 million in gold coins this year. An Indian princess appeared on gold dollars. The mint used equipment previously employed by SF-based Moffatt & Company.
(SFC, 8/21/01, p.A12)(SSFC, 1/28/03, p.E1)(WSJ, 12/12/03, p.W15)(SFC, 4/2/04, p.F3)(Economist, 9/8/12, p.18)
1854 Apr 3, John Wilson (b.1785), Scottish advocate, literary critic and author, the writer most frequently identified with the pseudonym Christopher North of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, died in Edinburgh. A scene from his play "The City of the Plague" was adapted by Alexander Pushkin as "A Feast in Time of Plague" and become a subject of a number of adaptations.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilson_%28Scottish_writer%29)(Econ., 7/6/20, p.70)
1856 Apr 3, Gunpowder in church exploded killing 4,000 in Rhodes.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1859 Apr 3, Reginald De Koven, composer (Robin Hood), was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1860 Apr 3, The US Pony Express mail system began when one horse and rider carrying a bulging mail pouch began the 10 1/2-day run from San Francisco, Calif., to St. Joseph, Mo. Riders left St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, Ca., at the same time. They averaged 12 mph over 75-100 mile segments between 157 relay stations located 5 to 20 miles apart. The freight company of Russell, Majors and Waddell began the service. The enterprise failed after only 18 months, however, due to mounting financial losses and competition from the ever-expanding telegraph network. Donald C. Biggs (d.2000 at 72), prof. of history at SF State, later authored "The Pony Express: Creation of the Legend."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express)(SFC, 2/15/97, p.D4)(AP, 4/3/97)(SFC, 6/12/00, p.A24)(SFC, 7/22/17, p.C2)
1862 Apr 3, A bill was passed to abolish slavery in Washington, D.C. [see Apr 16]
(HN, 4/3/98)
1865 Apr 3, Union forces captured the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
(HFA, '96, p.28)(AP, 4/3/97)(HN, 4/3/98)
1865 Apr 3, Battle at Namozine Church, Virginia (Appomattox Campaign).
(MC, 4/3/02)
1868 Apr 3, An earthquake estimated at magnitude 7.9 hit the Big Island of Hawaii. 46 people were killed in the resulting tsunami at Keauhou and 31 died in a landslide at Kapapala.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1868_04_03.php)
1868 Apr 3, Franz Adolf Berwald (71), Swedish composer, died.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1874 Apr 3, Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1882 Apr 3, Wood block alarm was invented. When alarm rang it dropped 20 wood blocks.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1882 Apr 3, Outlaw Jesse James (34) was shot in the back and killed at his home in St. Joseph, Mo., by Robert Ford, a cousin and member of his own gang for a $5,000 reward. Jesse and Frank James, the bank robbing James brothers, were born as Woodson and Alexander. In 1995 the body of Jesse James was exhumed for DNA testing. The test proved that it was James, who was killed in 1882. In 2000 Desmond Barry authored the novel “The Chivalry of Crime" based on the story of Jesse James. In 2000 the body of a man, J. Frank Dalton (d.1951), who claimed to be Jesse James was exhumed for DNA analysis.
(AP, 4/3/97)(SFC,12/26/97, p.C22)(SFEC, 4/23/00, BR p.5)(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A4)(HNQ, 6/21/00)(HN, 4/3/02)
1885 Apr 3, Harry St. John Philby, [sheik Abdullah], British explorer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1885 Apr 3, Gottlieb Daimler’s four-stroke, single-cylinder engine, was registered for patent. It was prerequisite for the riding car and simultaneously the world’s first motorcycle.
(https://tinyurl.com/43a4vrwr)
1888 Apr 3, Gertrude Bridget "Ma" Rainey, American singer, "the mother of the blues," was born. [see Apr 26, 1886]
(HN, 4/3/01)
1893 Apr 3, Leslie Howard, [Stainer], actor (Gone With the Wind), was born in London.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1895 Apr 3, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, composer, was born in Firenze (Florence), Italy.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1897 Apr 3, The Vienna Secession was founded by artists Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, and others. Klimt was chosen as its 1st president. Although Otto Wagner is widely recognized as a fundamental member of the Vienna Secession he was not a founding member. The movement rebelled against the sentimental academic painting of the 19th century.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Secession)(WSJ, 10/22/99, p.W14)(WSJ, 7/11/01, p.A15)
1897 Apr 3, Johannes Brahms (63), German composer, conductor (Hungarian Dances), died.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, p.B11)(MC, 4/3/02)
1898 Apr 3, Henry R. Luce (d.1967), magazine publisher, founder of Time, Fortune and Life, was born. “Show me a man who claims he is objective and I’ll show you a man with illusions."
(HN, 4/3/01)(AP, 3/9/98)
1901 Apr 3, Richard D'Oyly Carte, promoter (Gilbert & Sullivan operas), died.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1904 Apr 3, Iron Eyes Cody, actor (Black Gold, Ernest Goes to Camp), was born in Tulsa, OK.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1910 Apr 3, Alaska's Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, was climbed.
(HN, 4/3/98)
1911 Apr 3, The US Supreme Court ruled against Dr. Miles Medical Co., which had sued a distributor for selling at cut rate prices. In 1937 Congress passed the Free Trade Law letting states selectively allow price fixing to protect small retailers.
(http://supreme.justia.com/us/220/373/)(WSJ, 8/18/08, p.A12)
1913 Apr 3, British suffragette Emily Pankhurst was sentenced to 3 years in jail.
(http://suffragettes.nls.uk/media/28977/project_1_4_1.pdf)
1915 Apr 3, Paul Touvier, war criminal, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1916 Apr 3, Herb Caen (d.1997), columnist (SF Chronicle), was born in Sacramento, Calif.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1917 Apr 3, Lenin left Switzerland for Petrograd.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1918 Apr 3, Sixten Ehrling, conductor (Royal Opera of Stockholm), was born in Malmo, Sweden.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1918 Apr 3, French Gen. Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929) was named the supreme commander of the Allied Forces.
{France, WWI}
(www.firstworldwar.com/source/foch_order.htm)
1919 Apr 3, Austria expelled all Habsburgs.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1920 Apr 3, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre were married at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
(HN, 4/3/02)
1922 Apr 3, Stalin was appointed General Secretary of Communist Party.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1924 Apr 3, Marlon Brando, actor (On the Waterfront, The Godfather), was born in Omaha, Neb.
(HN, 4/3/01)(MC, 4/3/02)
1924 Apr 3, Murray Dickie, opera singer, director, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1924 Apr 3, Doris Von Kappelhoff [Doris Day], American singer and actress, was born in Cincinnati, Oh.
(HN, 4/3/01)(MC, 4/3/02)
1925 Apr 3, Tony Benn, British minister of technology (1968), was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Apr 3, Virgil Grissom (d.1967), Lt. Col. USAF, astronaut (Mercury 4, Gemini 3), was born in Mitchell, Ind. He was the Mercury and Gemini astronaut who was killed in a fire while preparing for the first Apollo flight.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204/grissom.html
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Apr 3, 1st performance of Jean Sibelius' 7th Symphony in C.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Apr 3, Robert Goddard launched his 2nd flight of a liquid-fueled rocket.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Apr 3, Italy established corps of force in order to break powerful unions.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1930 Apr 3, The first of two Academy Awards banquets this year was held in Los Angeles at the Fiesta Room of the Ambassador Hotel. The awards were given for films released between 2 August 1928 and 31 July 1929.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.D5)(www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Academy_Awards_USA/1930-1)
1930 Apr 3, Helmut Kohl, German statesman and chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, was born.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)(HN, 4/3/99)
1930 Apr 3, Ras Tafari became Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
(MC, 4/3/02)
1933 Apr 3, The dirigible Akron crashed into the Atlantic off of New Jersey and killed 73 0f the 76 men aboard.
(SFC, 9/20/97, p.A21)
1933 Apr 3, Royal Air Force Lieutenant David McIntyre and the Scottish Marquess of Clydesdale, flying two open-cockpit Westland aircraft, completed the first overflight and aerial photographic survey of Mount Everest. The British Mount Everest team, battled extreme cold and high winds as they photographed the previously unknown crest of the 29,028-foot peak.
(HNPD, 4/3/99)
1934 Apr 3, Jane van Lawick-Goodall, ethologist (studied African chimps, 1974 Walker Prize), was born in London, England. She was a British anthropologist, known for her work with African chimpanzees. In 2000 her autobiography “Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters, The Early Years, 1934-1966," was edited by Dale Peterson.
(HN, 3/4/99)(SFEC, 6/18/00, BR p.6)(SC, 3/4/02)(MC, 4/3/02)
1936 Apr 3, Bruno Hauptmann, convicted for the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, was electrocuted in Trenton, N.J. The execution took 4 shocks and left Hauptman badly burned. He claimed his innocence until he died. In 1976 NBC aired a show titled The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and Anthony Scaduto published "Scapegoat." In 1982 PBS made the documentary Who Killed the Lindbergh Baby and in 1985 Ludovic Kennedy published "The Airman and the Carpenter." In 1996 a docudrama was aired by HBO based on the Kennedy book.
(WSJ, 9/9/96, p.A16)(AP, 4/3/97)(SSFC, 4/3/11, DB p.46)
1941 Apr 3, Walton's overture "Scapino," premiered in Chicago.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1941 Apr 3, Churchill warned Stalin of German invasion.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1941 Apr 3, Andre Michelin (88), French tire manufacturer, died. In 2004 Herbert Lottman authored "The Michelin Men: Driving an Empire," the story of Andre and Edouard Michelin.
(MC, 4/3/02)(WSJ, 2/20/04, p.W5)
1941 Apr 3, Pal Teleki-von Szek (61), PM Hungary (1920-21, 39-41), committed suicide.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1942 Apr 3, Marsha Mason, actress (Blume in Love, Cinderella Liberty), was born in St Louis, Mo.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1942 Apr 3, The Japanese began their all-out assault on the U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan.
(HN, 4/3/99)
1943 Apr 3, In the SF Bay Area 4 men attempted to escape the federal prison on Alcatraz Island. Harold Brest and Fred Hunter were recaptured. James Boardman and Floyd Hamilton drowned after being wounded by rifle fire from gun towers.
(SSFC, 4/8/18, DB p.54)
1944 Apr 3, Tony Orlando, singer (& Dawn-Tie a Yellow Ribbon), was born in NYC.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1944 Apr 3, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that black citizens are eligible to vote in all elections, including primaries. The Smith vs. Allwright decision ruled "white primaries" unconstitutional.
(HN, 4/3/01)(MC, 4/3/02)
1944 Apr 3, British dive bombers attacked the battle cruiser Tirpitz.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1944 Apr 3, On Orthodox Easter the Allied bombing of Nazi occupied Serbia resulted in the deaths of some 4,000 Serbian civilians. An account of the raids, requested by US Gen'l. Carl Spaatz, found that most of the bombs struck at least 600 yards from their targets.
(SFC, 4/1/99, p.A12)
1945 Apr 3, Nazis began evacuation of camp Buchenwald. [see Apr 20]
(MC, 4/3/02)
1946 Apr 3, Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed outside Manila in the Philippines.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1948 Apr 3, Garrick Ohlsson, pianist (Intl Busoni winner 1969), was born in Bronxville, NY.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1948 Apr 3, The 1st US figure skating championships were held.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1948 Apr 3, Congress adopted and President Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which allocated more than $5 billion in aid for 16 European countries. The Marshall Plan was begun to aid the European nations in their economic recovery following WW II. It provided $13.15 billion over 4 years to 17 European nations.
(SFC, 2/5/97, p.A20)(AP, 4/3/97)(SFEC, 5/25/97, p.A10)(HN, 4/3/98)
1949 Apr 3, Israel signed a ceasefire agreement with Transjordan.
(www.wikipedia.org)
1950 Apr 3, Kurt Julian Weill (50), German composer (Dreigroschenoper), died. His best known work is the music for "The Threepenny Opera." His work also included "Der Jasager." He was married to the singer Lotte Lenya. Letters between the two over a period of 26 years have been edited and translated in a book by Lys Symonette and Kim H Kowalke: "Speak Low (When You Speak Love)." His work also included the theater piece "Der Weg der Verheissung" (The Eternal Road). In 2002 Foster Hirsch authored "Kurt Weill on Stage: From Berlin to Broadway."
(SFC, 5/26/96, BR p.6)(WSJ, 5/4/99, p.A20)(SSFC, 3/17/02, p.M3)
1950 Apr 3, Carter G. Woodson (b.1875), black historian, died. Woodson is best known for is the creation of what became "Black History Month," begun in 1926 as "Negro History Week." The idea of learning more about black history caught on in schools all over the country. Many scholars recognize him as the “Father of Black History." His work included “The Negro in Our History" (1922).
(WSJ, 5/19/05, p.D8)(www.biography.com/articles/Carter-G.-Woodson-9536515)
1951 Apr 3, Christopher Fry's "Sleep of Prisoners," premiered in Oxford.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1952 Apr 3, Dutch Queen Juliana spoke to the US Congress.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1953 Apr 3, Walter Annenberg of Philadelphia began a national TV Guide. His father had published Radio Guide and he bought TV Forecast in Chicago and local television guides in New York, Philadelphia and Washington to begin his operation. A picture of the first cover featured Lucy and Desi Arnaz’ baby (I Love Lucy).
(www.tvhistory.tv/tv_guide1.htm)(WSJ, 5/8/98, p.W10)(www.fiftiesweb.com/pop/tv-guide.htm)
1954 Apr 3, Aristides de Sousa Mendes (b.1885), former Portuguese consul general in Bordeaux, France, died in poverty. He is credited with defying his government’s orders and saving 10,000 European Jews and some 20,000 other nationals by issuing transit visas to “undesirables" fleeing the Nazis during WW II.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristides_de_Sousa_Mendes)(SFC, 2/19/09, p.B5)
1955 Apr 3, In Guadalajara, Mexico, a night train plunged into a canyon and some 300 people were killed.
(SFC, 6/4/98, p.A15)(AP, 2/18/04)
1956 Apr 3, "Silk Stockings" closed at Imperial Theater in NYC after 461 performances.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1956 Apr 3, German war criminals Hinrichsen, Ruhl, Siebens and Viebahn were freed.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1957 Apr 3, Samuel Beckett's "Endgame," premiered in London.
(V.D.-H.K.p.369)(MC, 4/3/02)
1958 Apr 3, "Say, Darling" opened at ANTA Theater NYC for 332 performances.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1958 Apr 3, Fidel Castro's rebels attacked Havana.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1959 Apr 3, David Hyde Pierce, actor (Niles Crane-Fraiser), was born in NY.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1959 Apr 3, "Charlie Brown" by The Coasters was banned by the BBC because it contained the word "spitball."
(AP, 4/3/03)
1961 Apr 3, Eddie Murphy, actor (SNL, 48 Hours, Beverly Hill Cop, Raw), was born in Brooklyn, NY.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1961 Apr 3, In San Francisco thousands of people took part in the 39th Easter Sunrise Service on Mount Davidson.
(SSFC, 4/3/11, DB p.46)
1962 Apr 3, Manolis Kalomiris (78), Greek classical composer, died.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manolis_Kalomiris)
1964 Apr 3, Stuart Anderson (1922-2016) founded the Black Angus chain of restaurants with the first one opening in Seattle. The first steak dinners sold for $2.99. The chain was sold in 1972. By 2016 there were some 45 Black Angus Steakhouse, mostly in California.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Angus_Steakhouse)(SFC, 6/10/16, p.E5)
1966 Apr 3, Three-thousand South Vietnamese Army troops led a protest against the Ky regime in Saigon.
(HN, 4/3/98)
1968 Apr 3, Less than 24 hours before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers, "It really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountain top, and I don't mind."
(AP, 4/3/98)
1968 Apr 3, North Vietnam agreed to meet with US representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1971 Apr 3, Manfred Bennington Lee (65), detective writer, died. Brooklyn cousins Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee (b.1905), used Ellery Queen as both a fictional character and a pseudonym.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellery_Queen)
1971 Apr 3, Joseph Valachi (b.1903), US gangster, died at La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution in Texas. A biography heavily influenced by Valachi’s memoirs and by interviews with Valachi was written by journalist Peter Maas and published in 1968 as The Valachi Papers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Valachi)
1972 Apr 3, Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) returned to the US after a twenty-year absence.
(HN, 4/3/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin)
1972 Apr 3, Ferde Grofe (b.1892), US pianist and composer (Grand Canyon Suite), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferde_Grof%C3%A9)
1974 Apr 3, A tape from the SLA announced Patty Hearst’s decision to “stay and fight" with the SLA.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W22,23)
1974 Apr 3, The Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation of the Congress reported that $476,531 in back taxes and interest was owed by President Richard Nixon. Responding to charges of fraud, Nixon requested the committee investigation of his taxes and, upon its report, agreed to pay. The report made no conclusion regarding fraud.
(HNQ, 6/1/98)(www.house.gov/jct/aboutjct_mandate.html)
1974 Apr 3, A series of 148 deadly tornadoes struck wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada; some 330 people were killed in 13 states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Total property damage was estimated at $600 million. In 2007 Mark Levine authored “F5: Devastation, Survival, and the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak of the 20th Century."
(AP, 4/3/99)(WSJ, 9/13/01, p.B11)(SSFC, 9/4/05, p.A7)(WSJ, 6/16/07, p.P10)
1975 Apr 3, Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) was stripped of the world chess title for refusing to defend it.
(www.bobby-fischer.net/)
1975 Apr 3, Mary Ure (b.1933), Scottish actress (Sons & Lovers, Where Eagles Dare), died.
{Scotland, Film Star, Theater}
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ure)
1978 Apr 3, In the 50th Academy Awards "Annie Hall" won as film. Richard Dreyfuss won as best actor (The Goodbye Girl) and Diane Keaton won as best actress (Annie Hall).
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271340/)
1979 Apr 3, Democrat Jane M. Byrne (1934-2014) was elected as the 1st woman mayor of Chicago, defeating Republican Wallace D. Johnson. She continued in office to 1983 when she lost to state Sen. Harold Washington.
(AP, 4/3/97)(SSFC, 11/16/14, p.C8)
1979 Apr 3, In Belgium Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (b.1936) became prime minister for the 1st of 9 times.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfried_Martens)
1981 Apr 3, Juan Terry Trippe (b.1899), American commercial aviation pioneer, entrepreneur and the founder of Pan American World Airways, died in NYC.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Trippe)
1982 Apr 3, Britain dispatched a naval task force to the south Atlantic to reclaim the disputed Falkland Islands from Argentina. The UN Security Council demanded Argentina withdraw from Falkland Islands.
(AP, 4/3/02)
1983 Apr 3, Martin Cooper, Motorola project manager, demonstrated the 1st mobile phone, the DynaTAC 8000x. It was designed by Rudy Krolopp. The 2½ pound cell phone was soon made available for $3,995.
(SFC, 4/12/00, p.D3)(SFC, 4/3/03, p.B1)(NW, 3/17/03, p.14)(SFC, 8/17/11, p.D1)
1984 Apr 3, Coach John Thompson of Georgetown University became the first African-American coach to win an NCAA basketball tournament.
(HN, 4/3/99)
1985 Apr 3, The landmark Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood closed after 56 years in business.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1986 Apr 3, US national debt hit $2,000,000,000,000 (2 trillion).
(http://tinyurl.com/ftr8g)
1986 Apr 3, Peter Pears (b.1910), English tenor (Death in Venice), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pears)
1987 Apr 3, Stock prices rocketed on Wall Street as the Dow Jones industrial average soared 69.89 points, ending the day at a record 2,390.34.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1987 Apr 3, Duchess of Windsor's jewels were auctioned for 31,380,197 pounds ($50 million).
(http://tinyurl.com/l4o9h)
1988 Apr 3, Secretary of State George P. Shultz arrived in Israel to launch a fresh U.S. peace initiative, telling the Israelis that the Palestinians must be included in negotiations.
(AP, 4/3/98)
1989 Apr 3, The University of Michigan Wolverines won the NCAA championship by defeating Seton Hall in overtime, 80-79.
(AP, 4/3/99)
1990 Apr 3, Sarah Vaughan (66), Jazz singer, died in suburban Los Angeles.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1990 Apr 3, A delegation from the rebellious republic of Lithuania met with an adviser to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1991 Apr 3, "Penn & Teller Refrigerator Tour" opened at Eugene O'Neill in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4636)
1991 Apr 3, The UN Security Council (Resolution 687) adopted a Gulf War truce resolution demanding that Iraq abolish weapons of mass destruction, renounce terrorism and pay reparations.
(AP, 4/3/01)(SFC, 9/24/02, p.A12)
1991 Apr 3, English novelist Graham Greene died at age 86. His wife, Vivien Dayrell-Browning, died in 2003 at age 98. Greene had told his wife that he had had 32 other women. His books included “The Quiet American" (1955). In his so-called “Catholic" novels he challenged the idea that God is a cruel, unstinting Rules Keeper. In 2004 Norman Sherry completed “The Life of Graham Greene, Vol. III, 1955-1991."
(AP, 4/3/01)(SFC, 8/25/03, p.B4)(SFC, 10/2/04, p.E2)(WSJ, 10/6/04, p.D14)
1992 Apr 3, President Bush, speaking in Philadelphia, said members of Congress should shorten their annual sessions and retire after 12 years, calling for changes in "a failed status quo"; Democratic leaders accused Bush of "scapegoating."
(AP, 4/3/97)
1993 Apr 3, The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., opened. it replaced the Old Corner House Museum on Main St. that had housed the artist’s nearly 600 works.
1993 Apr 3, President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin opened a weekend summit in Vancouver, B.C., beginning talks after a luncheon with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
(AP, 4/3/98)
1993 Apr 3, Pinky Lee (85), former children's TV show host, died of a heart attack at his California home.
(AP, 4/3/03)
1994 Apr 3, Frank Wells, president of the Walt Disney Co., died in helicopter crash while returning from a ski trip in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.
(www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Frank_Wells)
1994 Apr 3, In his Easter Sunday address, Pope John Paul II expressed hope that the joy of Christianity would overwhelm the din of violence and hate.
(AP, 4/3/99)
1995 Apr 3, UCLA defeated Arkansas, 89-78, to win the NCAA basketball championship.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1995 Apr 3, Former United Way of America President William Aramony was convicted in Alexandria, Va., of 25 counts of fraud for stealing nearly $600,000 dollars from the nation's biggest charity.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1996 Apr 3, Much of North America was treated to a total lunar eclipse.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.62)
1996 Apr 3, FBI agents arrested a suspect thought to be the Unabomber. Theodore John Kaczynski was arrested near Lincoln, Montana on a tip from his brother. His mail bombs had killed 3 and injured 23 over the last 17 years. An original draft of his manifesto “Industrial Society and Its Future" was found some days later.
(WSJ, 4/4/96, A-1)(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-1)(AP, 4/3/97)
1996 Apr 3, A US Air Force jetliner crashed near Dubrovnik, Croatia, and 35 people on board were killed including Ron Brown, Sec. of Commerce. Brown had been leading a delegation of business executives to the former Yugoslavia to explore business opportunities that might help rebuild the war-torn region.
(WSJ, 4/4/96, A-1)(WSJ, 4/5/96, p.A-1)(AP, 4/3/97)
1996 Apr 3, Carl Stokes died of cancer AT 68. He was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967, the first black mayor of a major US city. He had been on medical leave from his post since 1994 as ambassador to the Seychelles.
(WSJ, 4/4/96, A-1)(AP, 4/3/97)
1997 Apr 3, About 2,000 youngsters in California and Georgia lined up for shots to protect them against hepatitis from a contaminated shipment of frozen strawberries.
(AP, 4/3/98)
1997 Apr 3, In Tennessee 6 chained prisoners burned to death when their transport vehicle caught fire.
(WSJ, 4/4/97, p.A1)
1998 Apr 3, Pres. Clinton warned that Japanese officials “have to make a break" with their past policies. Moody’s Investor’s Services changed its outlook on Japan’s government debt to “negative" from “stable."
(SFC, 4/4/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 3, Douglas Fred Groat, a disgruntled spy fired by the CIA, was charged with espionage and extortion. Groat later pleaded guilty to extortion, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
(AP, 4/3/03)
1998 Apr 3, The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 9,000 for the first time, but finished with a 3.23 point drop at 8,983.41.
(AP, 4/3/03)
1998 cApr 3, A 2-day meeting called by the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers was attended by 18 African nations, over a dozen European countries and Japan, Canada and Argentina. They endorsed measures to control the spread of light weapons.
(SFC, 4/6/98, p.A13)
1999 Apr 3, In Louisiana a tornado hit north of Shreveport and 10 people sere reported killed with some 100 injured.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A2)
1999 Apr 3, Pres. Clinton authorized $50 million in emergency funds for Kosovo refugees and urged Americans to make donations.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A11)
1999 Apr 3, A small plane crashed in a snowstorm San Diego County and 4 people on board were killed.
(SFC, 4/5/99, p.A5)
1999 Apr 3, NATO missiles struck downtown Belgrade for the first time, destroying the headquarters of security forces accused of waging a campaign against Kosovo Albanians. NATO bombs struck the Serbian Internal Ministry buildings near the Sava River.
(SFC, 4/3/99, p.A1)(AP, 4/3/00)
1999 Apr 3, Melaim Bellanica, a villager from Velike Krusa, handed to international media a 5-day-old, smuggled video clip of Serb atrocities from his home.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 3, Montenegro announced that over 31,000 Kosovar Albanians had entered the country since NATO assaults began and that it was facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 3, Macedonia, overwhelmed by some 70,000 Kosovar Albanians, declared that it won't accept any more refugees unless they are sent on to other European countries.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 3, Montenegro announced that over 31,000 Kosovar Albanians had entered the country since NATO assaults began and that it was facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 3, It was reported that North Korea would run out of food this month and that some 2 million people would be packed off to the countryside to farm in the 4th year of famine.
(SFC, 4/3/99, p.A3)
1999 Apr 3, Lionel Bart, born as Lionel Beglieter, died at age 68 in London. He wrote and composed the 1960 musical "Oliver" based on the Dickens novel "Oliver Twist."
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.B12)
1999 Apr 3, In Sri Lanka 15 rebels were killed at Janakapurna village and 4 soldiers were killed by a land mine in Tanmakeny village. 5 other rebels were killed in the north.
(SFC, 4/5/99, p.A9)
2000 Apr 3, In Indianapolis Michigan State beat the Florida Gators for the NCAA basketball championship, 89-to-76.
(WSJ, 4/5/00, p.A24)(AP, 4/3/01)
2000 Apr 3, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled that Microsoft violated the Sherman Act by tying its Internet browser to its operating system, and by keeping “an oppressive thumb" on competitors during the race to link Americans to the Internet.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A1)(AP, 4/3/01)
2000 Apr 3, The US granted visas to the immediate family of Elian Gonzalez along with a cousin, doctor, and teacher. 22 other visas were under review.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, US defense chief Cohen said that the US would join an int’l. force in south Lebanon when Israel pulls out.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants at New York Univ. may organize a union.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A3)
2000 Apr 3, The Nasdaq plunged 349 points while the Dow rose 300.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, In Massachusetts the nation’s most comprehensive gun safety laws went into effect.
(SFC, 4/3/00, p.A11)
2000 Apr 3, It was reported that 6 prestigious int’l. universities and cultural institutions planned to sell knowledge and education over the Internet via the Fathom Web site.
(SFC, 4/3/00, p.A5)
2000 Apr 3, In Bosnia NATO troops arrested Momcilo Krajisnik, former speaker of the Bosnian Serb assembly, for war crimes and flew him to the Netherlands to stand trial. In 2006 Momcilo Krajisnik was convicted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague for persecuting and forcibly expelling non-Serbs during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. He was released in 2013 after serving two-thirds of a reduced 20-year sentence.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A10)(SFC, 8/31/13, p.A6)
2000 Apr 3, In Colombia leftist rebels of the national Liberation Army kidnapped 23 motorists in northern Cesar state after calling for a transportation strike.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A12)
2000 Apr 3, Jean Dominique (69), radio journalist, was killed by 2 gunmen as he drove in for a morning newscast in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In 2004 Jonathan Demme debuted his documentary film "The Agronomist," a paean to Dominique. Claudy Gassant rose to fame in Haiti as the investigative judge tasked with finding out who murdered Dominique and a security guard. Gassant was found dead on July 31, 2021, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic where he recently had been living.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A12)(WSJ, 1/29/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/30/04, p.E6)(Miami Herald, 8/1/21)
2000 Apr 3, In Madagascar a cyclone left 2 people dead and nearly flattened the town of Antalaha.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, In Russia 2 cosmonauts were scheduled to lift off for the Mir space station.
(WSJ, 4/3/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A12)
2001 Apr 3, President Bush warned China it risked damaging relations with the United States unless it quickly released the American crew of a damaged Navy spy plane. The plane had made an emergency landing in China after colliding with a Chinese fighter.
(AP, 4/3/02)
2001 Apr 3, The DJIA fell 292 to 9,485. The Nasdaq fell almost 110 to 1,673.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, US agents seized over 7 tons of marijuana from a tractor-trailer at the Tijuana border. It was believed to be the largest seizure along the US-Mexican border and was valued at $12.1 million.
(SFC, 4/5/01, p.A4)
2001 Apr 3, A US fishing boat, the Arctic Rose out of Seattle, sank in the Bering Sea and all 15 aboard were feared dead.
(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, Israel fired rockets at 4 Gaza Strip targets after a 10-year-old boy was injured in a mortar assault on a Jewish settlement.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A10)
2001 Apr 3, In Russia Pres. Putin in his state-of-the-nation address promised a government-wide shakeup to reverse capital flight and sustain new economic growth.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A11)(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, In Russia the NTV leadership was ousted by Gazprom, a large stake holder. Protesting journalists barred access to the Ostankino studios.
(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, Sri Lanka agreed to open peace talks with Tamil rebels following diplomatic initiative by Norway.
(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2002 Apr 3, Cincinnati, Ohio, agreed to restrictions on the use of force and announced plans to establish an independent agency to investigate police brutality complaints.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A4)
2002 Apr 3, Roy Huggins, novelists, TV writer and producer, died at age 87. His shows included “Cheyenne," “The Fugitive" and “The Rockford Files."
(SFC, 4/15/02, p.B5)
2002 Apr 3, The US-financed Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty began broadcasting in the North Caucasus region that included Chechnya. The Kremlin viewed the broadcasts as interference with internal affairs.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A6)
2002 Apr 3, Afghan security officials reported the arrests of hundreds of political opponents who planned a conspiracy and bombing campaign that was linked to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. 140 men were released the next day, while 160 remained under detention.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A8)(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A9)
2002 Apr 3, In Argentina Domingo Cavallo, former economy minister (1991-1996), was arrested for illegal arms sales to Croatia and Ecuador in the 1990s, diverting 6,500 tons of weapons worth over $100 million. He was indicted Apr 10 for “aggravated contraband."
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A7)(SFC, 4/11/02, p.A10)
2002 Apr 3, In Ambon, Indonesia, a car bomb killed 4 people and wounded 43.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A8)
2002 Apr 3, Israeli tanks entered the West Bank cities of Jenin, Salfeet and Nablus. At least 1 Israeli soldier and 12 Palestinians were killed. Gunners from Lebanon’s Hezbollah exchanged artillery and mortar fire with Israeli troops. Scores of Palestinian gunmen were holed up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The Egyptian government announced a cutoff of official contacts with Israel. Syria shifted 20,000 troops in Lebanon toward the Lebanese-Syrian border reportedly in accord with the 1989 Taif agreement.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A1,13)(WSJ, 4/4/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A4)
2002 Apr 3, Pakistan’s Gen. Musharraf visited Afghanistan and presented Hamid Karzai with a $10 million donation.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A8)
2003 Apr 3, Moving with a sense of wartime urgency, the House and Senate separately agreed to give President Bush nearly $80 billion to carry out the battle against Iraq and meet the threat of terrorism.
(AP, 4/3/04)
2003 Apr 3, In the 16th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom US Marines and infantry moved with surprising speed toward Baghdad. Central Command said there was "increasing evidence" that Saddam Hussein's regime had lost control of its fighting forces. US troop casualty totaled: 51 dead, 16 missing and 7 captured. A power blackout in Baghdad coincided with heavy artillery fire. US forces attacked Saddam Int'l. Airport.
(AP, 4/3/03)(SFC, 4/4/03, p.W1)(SSFC, 5/4/03, p.C3)
2003 Apr 3, A car exploded at a US checkpoint in western Iraq, killing three coalition soldiers, a pregnant woman and the car's driver. Atlantic magazine editor Michael Kelly, 46, became the first American journalist to be killed while covering the Iraq war when his Army Humvee came under fire and rolled into a canal.
(AP, 4/4/03)(AP, 4/3/08)
2003 Apr 3, US Sec. of State Colin Powell assured NATO allies and the EU that the Bush administration seeks a partnership with the United Nations for the reconstruction of post-war Iraq.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, The International Monetary Fund warned that the US housing market, after two years of record sales over and strong increases in home prices, could be headed for a fall.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, It was reported that Alzheimer's symptoms were slowed by the drug memantine.
(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 3, Afghan militia soldiers and 2-day blistering airstrikes by US-led coalition planes killed eight suspected Taliban fighters in the southern mountains.
(AP, 4/4/03)
2003 Apr 3, In Chechnya a bus was blown apart by a remote-controlled mine, killing at least six people.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, The Colombia government said it is handing over about 14,000 acres of farmland seized from drug traffickers to poor farmers, marking Pres. Alvaro Uribe's first effort at agrarian reform. Efforts to cancel the property rights of drug traffickers were to be stepped up along with the transfer of some 750,000 acres of their property to peasants.
(AP, 4/3/03)(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 3, Cuban security forces arrested the hijackers of a passenger ferry, rescuing nearly 50 hostages.
(AP, 4/3/04)
2003 Apr 3, French air traffic controllers, postal workers and other public employees brought much of the country to a halt with a one-day strike over government plans to overhaul the pension system.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder said he hoped for a quick victory by US and British forces in Iraq.
(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.A7)
2003 Apr 3, Haiti's government officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion, allowing practitioners to begin performing ceremonies from baptisms to marriages with legal authority.
(AP, 4/10/03)(AP, 2/11/04)
2003 Apr 3, A car exploded at a US checkpoint in western Iraq, killing 3 coalition soldiers, a pregnant woman and the car's driver. Banditry and plundering were reported across the countryside. Atlantic magazine editor Michael Kelly (46), became the first American journalist to be killed while covering the war when his Army Humvee came under fire and rolled into a canal.
(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)(AP, 4/4/03)(AP, 4/3/08)
2003 Apr 3, In northeastern Congo 966 people were killed in attacks by armed militants on villages in Ituri province. UN investigators later discovered some 20 mass graves in the region.
(AP, 4/6/03)
2003 Apr 3, Israeli forces evicted some 1,500-3,000 Palestinian men from their homes in the Tulkarem Refugee Camp and told them to stay out for 3 days. Several Palestinians were killed in Gaza and West Bank raids.
(SFC, 4/4/03, p.A8)(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 3, Ivory Coast's insurgents ended their boycott of a new unity government and urged the international community to help make it work.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, Peru's Congress voted to create a Senate and return to a bicameral legislature, a decade after former Pres. Fujimori shut down the two houses in his so-called self coup.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, Serbia and Montenegro became a member of the Council of Europe.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, In Spain a female doctor described as mentally unbalanced stabbed several people at a Madrid hospital, killing a colleague and a patient and wounding six others.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, Venezuela’s government fired 828 more employees from Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state oil monopoly, for participating in a two-month strike to oust Pres. Chavez. PDVSA lost many of its most experienced and best-qualified employees. Altogether Chavez fired some 18,000 employees of PDVSA this year and many of them soon found work Colombia.
(AP, 4/4/03)(Econ, 8/12/06, p.56)(Econ, 7/19/14, p.31)
2004 Apr 3, Soccer player Freddy Adu (14), became the youngest athlete in a major American professional sport in well over a century as he entered a game between his team, D.C. United, and the San Jose Earthquakes (D.C. United won, 2-1).
(AP, 4/3/05)
2004 Apr 3, The US Postal Service unveiled a new John Wayne commemorative postage stamp for its annual "Legends of Hollywood" issue at a private fund-raiser.
(AP, 4/5/04)
2004 Apr 3, Hundreds of thousands of Germans protested against Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's unpopular drive to trim the welfare state.
(AP, 4/3/04)
2004 Apr 3, A U.S.-led multinational force trying to bring stability to Haiti helped detain Jean Robert, a rebel sympathizer and gang leader accused of terrorizing supporters of Aristide.
(AP, 4/9/04)
2004 Apr 3, In Iraq 2 attacks on Iraqi police south of Baghdad killed four people. Col. Wissam Hussein, the police chief of Mahmudiyah, was shot to death by gunmen dressed as police.
(AP, 4/3/04)(SSFC, 4/4/04, p.A3)
2004 Apr 3, Israeli troops arrested 23 wanted Palestinians early in a large-scale raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. Zohair Arda, a Palestinian gunman, broke into an Israeli settlement early, killing an Israeli man and wounding his 12-year-old daughter in their home. Israeli troops entered the Tulkarem refugee camp overnight and demolished the home of Arda (18), who was shot dead during the attack.
(AP, 4/3/04)(AP, 4/4/04)
2004 Apr 3, Slovaks voted for a new president. Former authoritarian PM Meciar led after the first round of Slovakia's presidential election. Low turnout set up an Apr 17 runoff against a former political ally.
(AP, 4/4/04)(WSJ, 4/5/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 3, In Spain Sarhane Abdelmajid Fakhet (35), a Tunisian national and the alleged ringleader of last month's train bombings in Madrid, was among 5 suspects who blew themselves up as police raided their apartment.
(AP, 4/4/04)(SFC, 4/5/04, p.A3)(WSJ, 4/6/04, p.A1)
2005 Apr 3, Daylight Savings Time (DST) began on this 1st Sunday in April.
(SFC, 4/2/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 3, In Arizona Minuteman anti-immigrant activists began showing up to guard the border against illegal crossings. Grupo Beta, a Mexican government-sponsored organization that tries to discourage people from crossing illegally and aids those stranded in the desert, began patrolling that area along with state police officers.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 3, Residents in China’s Zhejiang province clashed with police officers and workers sent in to quell their protests over pollution from chemical factories. As many as 60 cars were destroyed and some people were reported killed.
(SSFC, 10/2/05, p.C1)(www.christusrex.org/www1/news/nyt-4-14-05b.html)
2005 Apr 3, Iraqi lawmakers elected Sunni Arab Hachem Hassani as parliament speaker and Shiite and Kurdish leaders as his deputies, ending days of deadlock.
(AP, 4/3/05)(WSJ, 4/4/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 3, In eastern Pakistan hundreds of Islamic radicals protesting against the participation of women in a road race hurled stones and bricks at competitors, and clashed with police, leaving at least 18 people injured.
(AP, 4/3/05)
2005 Apr 3, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced plans for a jobs program aimed at militants.
(SFC, 4/12/05, p.A6)(http://tinyurl.com/6ldnx)
2005 Apr 3, In central Saudi Arabia a gun battle began that left 7 suspected al-Qaida militants killed in a shootout with Saudi security forces in ar-Rass.
(AP, 4/4/05)
2005 Apr 3, In southern Thailand 2 near-simultaneous bombs exploded, including one at the airport in Hat Yai city killing one person and wounding a dozen.
(AFP, 4/3/05)
2005 Apr 3, A day after the death of Pope John Paul II, the body of the pontiff lay in state. Millions prayed and wept at services across the globe, as the Vatican prepared for the ritual-filled funeral and conclave that would choose a successor.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, The Pentagon released 2,733 pages of declassified transcripts of Guantanamo Bay detainee hearings.
(SFC, 4/4/06, p.A4)
2006 Apr 3, In Boston a 10-ton construction platform collapsed and fell 13 stories killing 3 people on Boylston St.
(SFC, 4/4/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 3, Denver area transit workers went on strike for the 1st time in 24 years. A tentative contract was reached on April 5.
(SFC, 4/4/06, p.A3)(SFC, 4/6/06, p.A18)
2006 Apr 3, David Wittig, former chairman and CEO of Westar Energy, was sentenced in Kansas to 18 years in prison for defrauding the company. Former VP David Lake was sentenced to 15 years. Both men were ordered to pay fines of $5 million each.
(WSJ, 4/4/06, p.C3)
2006 Apr 3, Florida beat UCLA, 73-57, to win its first NCAA title in men's basketball.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2006 Apr 3, Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins and Joe Dumars were among six people elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2006 Apr 3, Constellation Brands and Vincor Int’l., Canada’s largest wine company announced plans for a $1.3 billion merger.
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.F2)
2006 Apr 3, Australia agreed to sell China uranium for nuclear power stations despite concerns that Beijing could divert the material to atomic weapons.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Czech officials declared a state of emergency in seven flood-hit regions while rivers continued to rise in neighboring European countries, forcing evacuations in some areas. Flooding was also reported in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, The National Bank of Greece paid $2.8 billion for 46% of Finansbank, Turkey’s 3rd largest bank. It planned a public offer for a controlling stake.
(Econ, 4/8/06, p.74)
2006 Apr 3, In western Guatemala 4 young men accused of trying to rob a school were whipped by their parents in a sentence dictated by Mayan elders.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, A suicide truck bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in northeastern Baghdad as worshippers were leaving after evening prayers, killing at least 10 people and wounding 30. A car bombing in Baghdad's eastern Shiite slum of Sadr City killed at least two civilians and wounded six others, including a 9-year-old boy. 4 people were wounded when a car bomb struck the central district of Karradah in Baghdad. Six people, a navy officer, two policemen, two workers at an electrical plant and a boy, were killed by drive-by shooters in a market area of the southern city of Basra.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, PM Bertie Ahern pledged that Ireland will legalize civil partnerships for gay couples, as he opened new offices for the country's main gay rights group.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, In Jordan a bomb exploded at a shop selling Iraqi scrap metal, killing two people and wounding four.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Dozens of Mexican newspapers, frustrated by fruitless police probes of slain and missing journalists, simultaneously published the first in a series of reports on the cases.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Morocco’s state news agency MAP said security forces were holding nine suspected al Qaeda activists. Local newspapers said they were part of a ring that plotted bomb attacks in France, Italy and Morocco.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, The chief of Nepal's communist rebels promised to suspend attacks on the capital ahead of a planned nationwide strike, a first sign of easing tensions in a battle of nerves between the king's government and its opponents.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, In Pakistan a roadside bomb killed five people riding a minibus and security forces shot dead two suspected militants in North Waziristan province.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Negotiations in Vienna on the future of Kosovo appeared to founder as UN mediators struggled to overcome Serb demands for autonomy within the majority Albanian territory.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded not guilty before an international war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, denying he'd helped destabilize West Africa through killings, sexual slavery and sending children into combat.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2006 Apr 3, A senior South African policeman went on a shooting rampage in Johannesburg, killing eight people, including a 2-year-old baby, before being shot dead by colleagues. A pedestrian was killed during a police chase of the suspect.
(AP, 4/4/06)
2006 Apr 3, Jan Egeland, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official in Sudan, said the government barred him from visiting Darfur to prevent him seeing poor conditions there.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Mohammed al-Maghout (72), a Syrian poet and playwright known for his satirical depictions of authoritarian Arab regimes, died of a stroke at his home in Damascus.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, PM Thaksin claimed victory in Thailand's general election that followed weeks of anti-government protests, saying his party won more than half of the popular vote, the threshold he had set for staying in office.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Venezuela seized control of oil fields from France's Total SA and Italy's Eni SPA in a show of force against those resisting President Hugo Chavez's efforts to pry more profits from the industry at a time of high oil prices.
(AP, 4/4/06)
2006 Apr 3, Dao Dinh Binh (61) Vietnam's transport minister resigned and his deputy was arrested in a major corruption scandal in which public officials embezzled millions of dollars in government funds. The reformist newspapers Thanh Nien (Young people) and Tuoi Tre (Youth Daily) had published a joint expose of the transport ministry’s road building unit. In 2009 the government refused to renew the contracts for the papers.
(AFP, 4/4/06)(Econ, 1/17/09, p.43)
2007 Apr 3, President Bush denounced Democrats for going on spring break without approving money for the Iraq war; he also criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2007 Apr 3, An AP investigation said CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaida militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries held at secret prisons in Ethiopia, which is notorious for torture and abuse.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, An ex-con shot and killed his ex-girlfriend at the CNN headquarters complex in Atlanta before being wounded by a security guard. Arthur Mann was later convicted of murdering Clara Riddles and sentenced to life without parole.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2007 Apr 3, After a nine-year title drought, Tennessee's Lady Vols basketball team captured a seventh national title, beating Rutgers 59-46.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2007 Apr 3, Eddie Robinson (b.1919), 56-year head football coach at Grambling College, died in Ruston, La.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Robinson_(football_coach))
2007 Apr 3, UN officials in Afghanistan said avalanches and floods triggered by heavy rains and spring snow melt have killed about 150 people in recent days in the mountains of central Asia. The toll in Afghanistan reached 88 with over 50 killed in Pakistan. In southwest Afghanistan 2 French aid workers and their three Afghan staff went missing between Nimroz and neighboring Farah province.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 3, A state news agency said China's government has ordered newspapers to stamp out the common practice of demanding money from people they cover.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Colombian authorities captured Ever Veloza, a fugitive right-wing warlord accused in massacres and of running a murderous criminal band involved in drug trafficking and extortion. He was arrested in the banana-growing Uraba region on the Caribbean coast. Veloza already faces charges in the April 11, 2001, massacre of 26 peasants in the southwestern town of Naya.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for three Israelis accused of training private armies of Colombian drug cartels and right-wing death squads. Yair Klein, Melnik Ferri and Tzedaka Abraham were being sought on charges of criminal conspiracy and instruction in terrorism.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Official figures said the number of Egyptians inside and outside the country has risen to more than 76 million, meaning an Egyptian baby is born every 23 seconds.
(AFP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, A French train with a 25,000-horsepower engine and special wheels broke the world speed record for conventional rail trains, reaching 357.2 mph as it zipped through the countryside to the applause of spectators. It surpassed the record of 320.2 mph set in 1990 by another French train. It fell short of beating the ultimate record set by Japan's magnetically levitated train, which hit 361 mph in 2003.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Nina Wang (69), Asia's richest woman, died in Hong Kong after reports she had been battling cancer, leaving unanswered questions over her estimated $4.2 billion (2.1 billion pound) fortune. Wang successfully battled her father-in-law for a multi-billion dollar estate left by her late husband Teddy Wang, a property tycoon who vanished in 1990. Wang left her $4 billion fortune to Chan Chun-chuen, a master of feng shui in a will dated Oct. 16, 2006. On Feb 2, 2010, a Hong Kong court deemed the will a forgery.
(Reuters, 4/4/07)(AP, 4/20/07)(Econ, 4/21/07, p.78)(AP, 2/2/10)
2007 Apr 3, Activists said traffickers are selling children in India for amounts that are often lower than the cost of animals and most of them end up working as laborers or commercial sex workers.
(Reuters, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a meeting of Islamic clerics that Muslim nations should ultimately replace coalition forces in Iraq after a period of national reconciliation. Cliff Muntu (21), a student at Indonesia’s Institute of Public Administration (IPDN), died from wounds due to hazing by his seniors. This was the 35th death in the school since 1993.
(AP, 4/3/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Muntu)(Econ, 4/21/07, p.49)
2007 Apr 3, Iran reported that an Iranian diplomat in Iraq seized two months ago by uniformed gunmen has been released.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, In Baghdad a senior foreign ministry official said his government was "intensively" seeking the release of five Iranians detained there by the US. Two US soldiers were killed by small-arms fire, one in eastern Baghdad and another on foot patrol in the southern outskirts of the capital. Iraqi and US troops found a huge stash of weapons in a raid on the home of Sunni legislator Khalaf al-Ilyan. They detained at least a dozen men for questioning. Khalaf al-Ilyan, in Jordan for surgery, later denied the charges and accused the Iraqi government and Iran of trying to discredit him because of his criticism of state policies.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AP, 4/6/07)(AP, 4/9/07)
2007 Apr 3, Japan and Thailand signed a free trade agreement that will cut tariffs on a wide range of traded goods, from seafood to automobiles.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar lost an appeal against a decision by the electoral commission to bar him from this month's presidential election. Two courts issued competing rulings on the disqualification, setting up a legal showdown just weeks before an election meant to solidify civilian rule in the country.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Thousands of flag-waving protesters rallied at Pakistan's Supreme Court to urge President Pervez Musharraf to step down for controversially dismissing the country's top judge.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, In the Philippines Pete Amurin, a local election board official in the city of Puerto Rincesa, capital of Palawan island west of Manila, was shot dead at close range near his office.
(AFP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 3, Qatar's PM Sheik Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani resigned and the country's emir appointed the foreign minister as replacement.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Taiwan Presidential front-runner Ma Ying-jeou pleaded not guilty at his corruption trial in Taipei, saying that his use of a special municipal fund was in keeping with government standards. A helicopter crashed into a radio tower near Kaohsiung and killed 8 crew members.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 3, Thousands of Ukrainian protesters streamed into the capital in the most serious confrontation between the prime minister and the president since the two men faced off during the Orange Revolution.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, In Zimbabwe trucks of riot police drove through Harare and military helicopters flew overhead on the first day of a national strike to protest deepening economic hardships blamed on the government of President Robert Mugabe. The strike received a cool response from workers worried about forfeiting vital wages. A UN study said Zimbabwe was Africa's worst economic performer in 2006.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AFP, 4/3/07)
2008 Apr 3, President Bush won NATO's endorsement for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe over Russian objections. The proposal also advanced with Czech officials announcing an agreement to install a missile tracking site for the system in their country. NATO decided not to put Georgia and Ukraine on track to join the alliance after vehement Russian opposition, but the alliance pledged that the strategically important Black Sea nations will become members one day.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, The whistleblowers who exposed maintenance and inspection problems at Southwest Airlines told Congress their jobs were threatened and their reports of noncompliance were ignored for years by their superiors.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel, driven up by an expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans' growing grocery bill and further squeeze struggling ethanol producers.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, ATA Airlines discontinued all flights and filed for bankruptcy.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, It was reported that Nikolai Shaposhnikov and Lev Titarchuk had discovered a small black hole in the Milky Way with the aid of NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite. They presented the findings earlier this week at an American Astronomical Society conference. It was discovered alongside a normal star in a binary system called XTE J1650-500, named for its coordinates in the constellation Ara. The system was discovered in 2001.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost (44), a hip-hop pioneer, died. His acrobatic performance with the legendary Rock Steady Crew in the 1983 movie "Flashdance" helped set off a worldwide breakdancing craze.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In eastern Kunar province, a truck supplying fuel to NATO troops hit a roadside bomb that killed the Afghan driver.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Chile Yasna Provoste, Chile’s education minister, was impeached following the discovery of $560 million shortfall in the ministry for 2004-2006.
(Econ, 5/17/08, p.48)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasna_Provoste)
2008 Apr 3, Hu Jia, a Buddhist Chinese dissident outspoken on Tibet and other sensitive topics, was jailed for three-and-a-half years, a conviction likely to become a focus of rights campaigns ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
(Reuters, 4/3/08)(WSJ, 4/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 3, Ivan Korade (44), a retired Croatian army general suspected in a grisly quadruple murder, died during a shootout with police that also killed one officer. On April 1 Korade was charged with the March 27 killing of four people in his village of Velika Veternicka: a 16-year-old boy, his 62-year-old grandmother and two men, including a former Korade aide.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Ledra Street, a main shopping street in Cyprus' divided capital that had come to symbolize the island's ethnic partition, reopened for the first time in 44 years, boosting hopes for a renewed drive to reunify Cyprus. Authorities were forced to close it for nearly two hours following a dispute over how to police the street.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, French protesters hurled bottles and stones at riot police who responded with tear gas during a march by high school students in Paris over teacher job cuts.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Iraqi troops killed 7 militants and detained 16 in three separate incidents in the Basra area. A coalition air strike there killed two militants. A parked car bomb targeting a police patrol in western Baghdad killed at least one civilian and wounded 10 other people, including three officers. A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi army patrol elsewhere in the predominantly Sunni Yarmouk neighborhood in the capital, killing one soldier and wounding three others. The office of Muqtada al-Sadr called for a "million-strong" turnout for an anti-American demonstration next week to mark the fifth anniversary of the capture of Baghdad by invading US troops. A US airman was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
(AP, 4/3/08)(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, Alitalia edged closer to bankruptcy protection after Air France-KLM abruptly broke off talks to buy the struggling national airline and Alitalia's chairman of seven months resigned in frustration.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Japanese police arrested Olatunbosun Ugbogu (22), a Nigerian national serving in the US Navy, in the March 19 stabbing death of a taxi driver near an American naval base outside Tokyo. He was handed over to Japanese authorities just before the arrest under a bilateral security pact.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Kenya’s president and opposition leader agreed on a cabinet as part of their power-sharing deal to end violence.
(WSJ, 4/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 3, The UN tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict former Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj of murder, torture and rape of Serbs and non-Albanians during the Kosovo war.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Sri Lanka battles along the northern front lines left 21 rebels and five soldiers dead.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Suriname a twin-engine Antonov-AN28, operated by Surinamese carrier Blue Wing airlines, crashed on approach to an airstrip in the Benzdorp mining region, near the country's border with French Guiana. All 19 aboard were killed. Blue Wing, which has operated since 2002, was barred from landing at European airports in June 2006 after French aviation officials found safety deficiencies during an inspection of planes. The airline was removed from the blacklist in 2007 after a commission said the company had resolved the issues.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Tibet Wang Xiangming, the deputy Communist Party secretary of Lhasa, said 800 had been arrested in local violence, while another 280 had surrendered to take advantage of a police offer of leniency. New violence broke out in a volatile Tibetan region of western China, leaving eight people dead. Chinese police opened fire during a "riot" in a Tibetan populated area of southwest China.
(AP, 4/3/08)(AP, 4/4/08)(AFP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, A group of about 200 Uighur Muslims demonstrated against China before the Olympic torch ceremony near Istanbul's Blue Mosque, one of Turkey's most famous tourist destinations.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Zimbabwe's ruling party geared up for a final battle to keep Robert Mugabe in power, saying it was ready for a presidential election run-off with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
(AFP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, President Hugo Chavez ordered the nationalization of Venezuela's cement industry, saying his government cannot allow businesses to continue exporting raw materials needed to help tackle a domestic housing shortage.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2009 Apr 3, US administration officials said Pres. Obama planned to lift some curbs on travel to Cuba, including a ban on family travel and remittances to Cuba.
(WSJ, 4/4/09, p.A1)
2009 Apr 3, The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released a letter disclosing bonus awards of more than $210 million through next year to more than 7,600 employees.
(SFC, 4/4/09, p.C1)
2009 Apr 3, Hassan Abu-Jihaad, a former US Navy sailor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for giving details of ship movements in 2001 to operators of a Web site in London that openly espoused violent jihad against the US.
(SFC, 4/4/09, p.A6)
2009 Apr 3, The Iowa Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling finding that the state's same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples, making Iowa the third state where gay marriage is legal.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Binghampton, NY, Jiverly Wong (41) barricaded the back door of a community center with his car and then opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class, killing 13 people before apparently committing suicide. Officials the next day said the man, believed to be Vietnamese immigrant, was depressed and angry over losing his job and about his poor English skills.
(AP, 4/3/09)(AP, 4/4/09)(SSFC, 4/5/09, p.A15)
2009 Apr 3, Australia endorsed a UN declaration that recognizes indigenous rights, reversing years of opposition and promising a new era in relations between white Australians and the nation's impoverished Aborigines. Australia was one of four nations that voted against the declaration when it was adopted by the General Assembly in 2007.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, Cambodian and Thai soldiers traded fire with machine guns and rocket launchers along a disputed border, killing as many as four people in an escalation of tensions in a long-standing feud over an 11th century temple.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, NATO began its 2-day 60th anniversary summit in France and Germany.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, In France US Pres. Obama won enthusiastic support for his new Afghan war strategy from French Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy, who pledged more police trainers and civilian aid.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Iraq an American soldier died of noncombat-related causes in Anbar province.
(AP, 4/4/09)
2009 Apr 3, Israeli police interrogated the country's new hard-line foreign minister for the 2nd straight day in an ongoing bribery investigation that could make his tenure short-lived. Avigdor Lieberman was questioned for five hours about an investigation involving suspicions of receiving bribes, money laundering and breach of trust.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, A Malawi judge rejected Madonna's request to adopt a second child from Malawi even though the country's child welfare minister had supported Madonna's application to raise the 3-year-old girl.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, Malaysian PM Najib Razak, in his first act after talking office, freed 13 people being held under a law that allows indefinite detention and lifted a ban on two opposition newspapers.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Mexico Alberto Rayas Rodriguez (37), the chief homicide detective in western Jalisco state, was killed while on his way to a government event when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on his car.
(AP, 4/5/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Nigeria a source close to negotiations said Pfizer has agreed to pay $75 million compensation over a 1996 drug trial that caused the death of 11 children in northern Nigeria. Kano state confirmed the settlement on May 14.
(AFP, 4/3/09)(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 Apr 3, The Philippines said it will take needed steps to be stricken from a list of four nations blacklisted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as uncooperative tax havens.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, Sri Lankan troops captured Anandapuram, a key village from the Tamil Tigers, after heavy fighting that left at least 44 guerrillas dead. Police commandos killed 13 Tiger rebels in the eastern district of Ampara.
(AFP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, The Swiss central bank said UBS has transferred its final installment of toxic assets to a special state aid fund, bringing the total to 38.7 billion dollars.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, A Thai citizen was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of insulting the king and his family by posting edited photos of the monarchy on the Internet.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, The UN appointed Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor for war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to lead a mission to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 4/4/09, p.A2)
2009 Apr 3, In Venezuela 3 of the capital’s former police chiefs were sentenced to 30 years in prison. They were accused without evidence of complicity in the murder of several supporters of Pres. Chavez, who died during a coup attempt in 2002.
(Econ, 4/11/09, p.36)
2009 Apr 3, The global diamond certification body ordered a ban on trade in diamonds from eastern Zimbabwe over concerns about human rights violations.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2010 Apr 3, In Portland, Maine, about two dozen women drew a crowd of onlookers when they shed their shirts and marched downtown to promote what they call equal-opportunity public toplessness.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 3, Apple Inc. began selling its much-anticipated iPad, drawing eager customers intent on being among the first owners of a tablet-style device that the company is hoping to convince more people they actually need. Some 300,000 iPads were sold the first day.
(AP, 4/3/10)(SFC, 4/6/10, p.D1)
2010 Apr 3, In Los Angeles Nerse Arthur Galstyan (28), an Armenian national killed, 4 people in a restaurant following a dispute and escaped the scene.
(SFC, 4/10/10, p.A4)
2010 Apr 3, The upper house of Afghanistan's parliament backed a decree by President Hamid Karzai that limits foreigners' role in elections, giving him a victory in a dispute that has led to a quarrel with the White House.
(Reuters, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd announced the country’s first population minister, citing concerns about sustainability as the number of people is tipped to balloon within decades.
(AFP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, The 230-meter (754-ft) Shen Neng I, a bulk coal carrier, was on its way to China when it ran aground on a shoal off offshore from the Australian city of Rockhampton. Australian government officials said the stranded ship was leaking oil into the sea and is in danger of breaking up and damaging the Great Barrier Reef. The ship was refloated on April 12.
(Reuters, 4/4/10)(AP, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Dagestan 3 militants there opened fire on police in a drive-by shooting, killing one and injuring another.
(AP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Egypt police arrested Ahmed Mahanna, owner of Dawin publishing, and confiscated copies of "ElBaradei and the Dream of a Green Revolution," a book calling for political change and lauding the former head of the UN nuclear agency, Mohammed ElBaradei.
(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 3, Gunmen in Iraqi military uniforms raided a village outside Baghdad and killed at least 24 people in an execution-style attack, apparently targeting a Sunni group that revolted against al-Qaida and helped turn the tide of the Iraq war.
(AP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeatedly criticized Kyrgyzstan for human rights problems, a strong rebuke to the country once regarded as former Soviet Central Asia's "island of democracy."
(AP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Mexico 13 members of a family were traveling in a vehicle in an area where the Defense Department said soldiers were pursing a convoy of gunmen in the northern state of Tamaulipas. 2 boys were killed by soldiers. The army later said the family got caught in crossfire during the confrontation, in which five other members of the family were wounded. In June Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said soldiers apparently altered the crime scene to try to blame the deaths on drug cartel gunmen.
(AP, 6/16/10)
2010 Apr 3, It was reported that some 4.5 million animals in Mongolia had perished over the last 3 months. A dry summer in 2009 followed by low temperatures and a heavy snow cover, a phenomenon called the zud, afflicted 19 of the countries 21 provinces.
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.44)
2010 Apr 3, In Nigeria at least two people were killed when police fired live rounds to disperse a group of protesting youths in a suburb of Lagos.
(AFP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 3, Pakistani troops fought gunbattles and bombed militant hide-outs in a Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, leaving six soldiers and 30 militants dead.
(AP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Somalia at least 13 people were killed in overnight fighting in Mogadishu. Hizbul Islam's Moalim Hashi Mohamed Farah ordered radio stations to stop broadcasting music and said he has invited foreign fighters to the Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 4/3/10)(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 3, In South Africa Eugene Terreblanche (69), the leader of a white supremacist group, was attacked and killed by a 21-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy who worked for him on his farm outside Ventersdorp, about 110 km (68 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, following a dispute over pay. The alleged attackers were arrested and charged with murder.
(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Thailand tens of thousands of protesters swarmed Bangkok's tourist heartland, defying a warning to leave or face arrest.
(AFP, 4/3/10)
2011 Apr 3, In Afghanistan demonstrators battled police in Kandahar city, where an officer was shot dead. Demonstrators also took to the streets of Jalalabad for the first time as Western pleas failed to halt a third day of rage over a Florida pastor's burning of the Quran. A NATO service member was killed in an insurgent attack in the east.
(AP, 4/3/11)(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Afghanistan Lance Cpl. Harry Lew shot himself following hazing by fellow Marines. 3 Marines were later accused of hazing Lew. In 2012 lance Cpl. Jacob Jacoby was sentenced to 30 days in jail and reduction in rank. Two others faced trial.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A6)
2011 Apr 3, Bahraini authorities banned Al-Wasat, the country's main opposition newspaper, in a widening effort to muzzle anti-government media and crackdown on the Shiite opposition in this Sunni-ruled Gulf nation. The Information Ministry agreed to allow the newspaper to resume publishing on April 4 after its editor-in-chief and two other top editors stepped down.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Bangladeshi security officials opened fire and used tear gas to disperse stone-throwing members of a hardline Islamic group protesting a government policy for women's equal right to inheritance, leaving one protester dead and 25 others injured.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Chinese police in Beijing detained outspoken Chinese artist and social critic Ai Weiwei preventing him from taking a flight to Hong Kong. He helped design Beijing's famed "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium but has since irritated the Communist Party government with his activism. On April 7 China confirmed that it has Weiwei, but insisted his case involves "economic crimes" and not human rights.
(AFP, 4/4/11)(SFC, 4/4/11, p.A2)(AP, 4/7/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Colombia Walid Makled, the reputed Venezuelan drug kingpin who Colombia has decided to extradite back home rather than to the US, said in a TV interview that he has videos proving Venezuela's ruling elite is deeply involved in cocaine trafficking.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Egypt gunmen abducted Zeina Effat Sadat (12) the grandniece of the late leader Anwar Sadat, in the upscale Cairo suburb of Heliopolis. They released her nearly 24 hours later for 5 million pounds (about $840,000) in ransom on the desert road from Cairo to the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. Police on April 4 arrested six men for their alleged part in the kidnapping. A briefcase with 2 million pounds (about $340,000) was found on the men.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, The French air accident investigation agency BEA said that a team aboard the expedition ship Alucia using underwater robots "has located pieces of an aircraft ... in the past 24 hours." Air France Flight 447 slammed into the ocean June 1, 2009, after running into an intense high-altitude thunderstorm.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, In India 15 female fetuses were found in jars left on a rubbish dump near a private nursing home in Kishanganj town, Bihar state. Recent census data showed the ratio of girls to boys is at the nation's lowest level since 1947.
(AFP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, Indonesian authorities arrested a Filipino woman, coming from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with more than two pounds (one kg) of heroin at the Adi Sumarmo Airport in Solo. She was allegedly paid $8,000 by an international drug syndicate to carry the heroin.
(AP, 4/7/11)
2011 Apr 3, An Iranian news agency said four officers were killed in an attack on a police station near the Kurdish town of Marivan close to the Iraqi border.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Israel demanded that the United Nations bin a report critical of its deadly 2008-2009 offensive on Gaza after the author, South African judge Richard Goldstone, said he had been wrong to say it had targeted civilians.
(AFP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Workers at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant struggled to stop a radioactive water leak into the Pacific, as the government warned the facility may spread contamination for months. TEPCO workers used a polymer and even newspapers to try to close off pipes through which the water has flowed into a cracked concrete pit, from where it has run into the sea. An earlier attempt to seal the crack with cement failed to stop the leak.
(AFP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Kazakhstan held elections. A heavy turnout looked set to overwhelmingly reaffirm the domination President Nursultan Nazarbayev (70). Provisional figures the next day showed Nazarbayev with 95% of the vote. Opposition politicians had called for a boycott and described the election as a sham.
(AP, 4/3/11)(SFC, 4/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 3, In northern Iraq an American soldier died in a non-combat incident.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, Libyan rebels put their best troops in to battle Muammar Gaddafi's forces for the eastern oil town of Brega while Western warplanes flew overhead and the sound of explosions ripped through the air. At least one person was killed and several wounded when forces loyal to Gaddafi shelled a building in the rebel-held city of Misrata. Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi was reported to have crossed from Libya into neighboring Tunisia and from there flown to Athens.
(AP, 4/3/11)(Reuters, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Mexico municipal police officers on a routine patrol in El Higo, Veracruz state ran into at least 20 gunmen on a dirt road and a firefight erupted. 6 officers, including one woman, died of gunshot wounds in the battle.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, Dutch marines killed 2 pirates and captured 16 others during an operation to free a hijacked Iranian fishing boat of Somalia.
(www.dailybulletin.com/ci_17767176)
2011 Apr 3, Nigeria’s electoral commission postponed the legislative vote to April 9.
(SFC, 4/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 3, Omani authorities said they have released 57 people arrested in crackdowns against pro-reform protesters.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, In eastern Pakistan blasts at a Sufi shrine left at least 44 people dead and some 100 wounded. Police said the blasts in Dera Ghazi Khan were caused by 2 suicide bombers. An unrepentant boy (14) was captured after his explosives failed to detonate. The boy's arm was later amputated as a result of injuries he sustained after he was shot by a guard.
(AFP, 4/3/11)(AP, 4/4/11)(AP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Somalia pro-government forces reportedly captured Dobley town near Kenya from al-Qaida-linked militants after hours of fighting.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Syrian President Bashar Assad appointed Adel Safar (58), a former agriculture minister, to form a new government. This was part of a series of overtures toward reform as the country faced a wave of anti-government protests.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, In southern Yemen thousands of people took to the streets to demand that their president step down. Police attacked the demonstrators with tear gas, batons and bullets. Police killed one anti-government demonstrator in Taez and wounded scores more. 13 people were shot and wounded in Hudaydah, as police clashed with thousands of demonstrators marching on the Red Sea city's main local government building.
(AP, 4/3/11)(AFP, 4/4/11)
2012 Apr 3, American regulators finalized a rule enabling them to expand the designation of “systematically important" institutions to non-banks.
(Econ, 4/14/12, p.84)
2012 Apr 3, US federal prosecutors said WellCare Health Plans Inc. of Tampa, Florida, has agreed to pay $137.5 million to settle 4 lawsuits involving fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims in 9 states.
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.A6)
2012 Apr 3, A US rocket carrying a top-secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office blasted off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Mitt Romney swept Republican primaries in Maryland (47%), Wisconsin (42%) and Washington, DC (70%).
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.A6)
2012 Apr 3, Police at California’s Santa Monica College pepper-sprayed as many as 30 demonstrators after students angry over a plan to offer high-priced courses tried to push their way into a trustees meeting.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, San Francisco’s treasurer ruled that Airbnb, an online home rental service, and other companies like it are responsible for paying the city’s hotel tax.
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.C1)
2012 Apr 3, About a dozen tornadoes rumbled across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, leveling homes and tossing big-rigs around like toy trucks.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, US Internet giant Google started building one of its three planned data centers in Asia to meet fast growing online demand from the region. A ceremony was held to begin work on the $300 million, 15 hectare (37 acre) site in Changhua county, western Taiwan.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Argentina Analia Bouter was informed that her baby was stillborn in a hospital in Resistencia. She fell to her knees in shock after finding her baby alive in a coffin in the morgue nearly 12 hours after the girl had been declared dead. The baby was born 3 months premature and suffered from sepsis and convulsions with signs of neurological damage.
(AP, 4/11/12)(SFC, 4/13/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 3, James Murdoch, under pressure over his role in Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal, stepped down as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting PLC (BSkyB).
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Afghanistan two police officers were killed when their vehicle ran over a roadside bomb in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province. Two NATO service members were reported killed in the east. One died in a roadside bombing, and the other died as a result of a non-battle related injury.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Argentine human rights secretary Eduardo Luis Duhalde (72) died in Buenos Aires. He was a prominent voice in denouncing abuses during the country's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s. His writings included 24 books, and dealt with human rights issues as well as history.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, An Australian court found Google Inc. guilty of breaching trade law by posting misleading or deceptive advertisements in a ruling that holds search engines responsible for their advertisers' content.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, The European Commission prohibited Conviasa, Venezuela’s state airline, from flying into the EU due to safety concerns. Venezuela called the decision unfair.
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 3, In France preliminary charges were filed against 13 people who were picked up in a sweep last week, all members of a banned group, Forsane Alizza, or Knights of Pride. Those charged were reportedly calling for Muslim Sharia law to be implemented in France.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Richard Descoings (53), director of one of France’s top colleges, was found dead in NYC where he was on an official visit. He pioneered efforts to open elitist schools to the underprivileged and bring in foreign students.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, International watchdog Transparency International said petty corruption in the public sector is still costing Greeks millions of euros (dollars) a year, even though the country's financial crisis has led to a reduction in the size of bribes.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Guatemala leading drug trafficker Horst Walther Overdick (44) was arrested and faced extradition to the United States. He helped Mexico's brutal Zetas drug cartel expand into Guatemala.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Guyana said it is launching a national debate on whether to eliminate its death penalty and overhaul laws that discriminate against gays, lesbians and transgender people.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Dozens of Jewish settlers ignored a deadline to evacuate an illegally occupied West Bank house in Hebron, as the government remained silent on whether they would be allowed to stay.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Japan a typhoon-strength storm brought travel chaos to the country, as violent winds and rain left least 4 people dead and tens of thousands stranded.
(AFP, 4/3/12)(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, In northern Mali radical Islamists tightened their grip, ordering women to wear veils in Timbuktu, as the nation's junta began to feel the bite of sanctions following its coup. Three of the four leaders of Al-Qaeda's north Africa branch, known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), were in Timbuktu. Tuareg rebels were seen near the central town of Mopti.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Nigeria a gas leak occurred during the drilling of a new well in Rivers state, forcing Total to shut down the Obite gas plant. A snubbing intervention started on May 9.
(AFP, 5/13/12)
2012 Apr 3, In northern Pakistan at least 14 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in sectarian violence, prompting the government to deploy troops and impose a curfew in the towns of Gilgit and Chilas.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, The Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank agreed to supply Gaza with fuel purchased from Israel for so long as the Hamas-controlled Gaza electricity authority pays for it.
(AFP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Puerto Rico Santeria leader Orlando Robles Ortiz was among dozens of suspects arrested for helping run an organization that allegedly smuggled drugs bound for the US and rigged Puerto Rico's lottery system to launder money.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced that the Syrian government said it has begun implementing a UN envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan that requires it to withdraw its forces from towns and cities within a week.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Russia a blaze at Moscow’s Kachalovsky market killed 17 migrant workers who were unable to escape from the metal shed where they were sleeping. All were citizens of former Soviet nations in Central Asia.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Senegal's new President Macky Sall named ex-banker Abdoul Mbaye (59) as his prime minister and vowed his team would serve the public good.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Sudan’s North Darfur region aerial bombardments and pro-government militia attacked areas around Sortony, forcing thousands of civilians to flee.
(Econ, 4/14/12, p.57)
2012 Apr 3, Syrian opposition groups reported army raid and arrest campaigns across the country as well as clashes with local rebels. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two civilians were killed in clashes in the northern village of Taftanaz, where rebel destroyed one army vehicle and regime forces torched a number of homes. The International Committee of the Red Cross pressed Syria to give aid workers access to civilians endangered by shelling and armed clashes. Assaults and clashes killed across the country killed at least 80 people.
(AP, 4/3/12)(AFP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Thailand censors banned a Thai film based on William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", saying the tale could sow "disunity" in the politically divided kingdom.
(AFP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe received the first part of a report by Togo's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, charged with investigating political violence between 1958 and 2005. Gnassingbe begged for pardon from victims of political violence committed in the country between 1958 and 2005, part of which covered the period his father ruled (1967-2005).
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Yemen said its armed forces have killed 38 suspected members of Al-Qaeda in two days of air raids and shelling of their hideouts in Huroor in the country's south.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2013 Apr 3, The United States said it will soon send a missile defense system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, as the US military adjusts to what US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel described as a "real and clear danger" from Pyongyang.
(Reuters, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, In West Virginia Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum, known for cracking down on the drug trade in the local coal fields, was shot and killed. Suspect Tennis Melvin Maynard (37) was hospitalized for gunshot wounds.
(SFC, 4/4/13, p.A6)
2013 Apr 3, Ruth Jhabvala (85), novelist and screenwriter, died at her home in Manhattan. Her work included 19 novels and short-story collections and two Oscars for her work on the films “A Room With a View" and “Howard’s End." Her novel “Heat and Dust" (1975) won Britain’s Booker Prize (1975).
(SFC, 4/4/13, p.D5)(Econ, 4/13/13, p.94)
2013 Apr 3, In western Afghanistan 55 people, including 9 attackers, were killed in a daylong gunbattle with security forces in Farah province. A NATO airstrike killed 4 policemen and 2 civilians in Ghazni province. An American F-16 fighter jet crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing the US pilot.
(AP, 4/3/13)(AP, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 3, In Argentina at least 57 people were killed by flooding overnight in Buenos Aires province.
(AP, 4/3/13)(AP, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 3, British regulator Ofgem said Utility SSE has been fined 10.5 million pounds for mis-selling, the largest fine the regulator has ever imposed on an energy supplier.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd suffered its second oil spill in a week, but said just four barrels of light crude leaked from tanker cars in a morning derailment in a remote area of northern Ontario. BP’s estimate of the spill was raised the next day to 400 barrels.
(Reuters, 4/3/13)(Reuters, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 3, An Egyptian court ruled against the extradition to Libya of Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam, a former close aide of Moammar Gadhafi. Al-Dam had coordinated relations between Libya and Egypt for decades.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, A Greek court convicted five people on terrorism-related charges rel ated to a militant anarchist group which claimed responsibility for a string of bombings over six years (2003-2009) and fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the US Embassy in Athens but caused no deaths. Nikos Maziotis and his wife Panagiota Roupa, were convicted in absentia.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, George Corvington (88), a prominent Haitian historian, died in Port-au-Prince. His 8-volume, French-language "Port-au-Prince Through the Ages" chronicled the political and social history of Port-au-Prince, from its founding under French colonial rule in 1749 to the departure of President Paul Magloire in 1956.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, In Iraq gunmen shot dead Yousef Sayhoud, a member of an anti-al-Qaida Sunni militia, along with his mother in the suburb of Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Italy's anti-Mafia investigators said they have seized a record €1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) in cash and property from Vito Nicastri (57) for tax fraud. The Sicilian alternative energy entrepreneur was alleged to have close ties to the Mafia.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Malaysia's PM Najib Razak dissolved Parliament to call for general elections that will pit a coalition that has ruled for nearly 57 years against a resurgent opposition whose pledge to form a cleaner government has resonated with millions of citizens.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, In central Nigeria 18 people were killed in a head-on collision between two buses near Gwagwalada, a town outside of Abuja.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, North Korea barred South Korean workers from entering a jointly run factory park just over the heavily armed border in the North.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Palestinian militants launched several rockets into southern Israel, as Israeli aircraft struck targets in the Gaza Strip in the heaviest exchange of fire between the sides since they agreed to an internationally brokered cease-fire in November. Israeli forces shot and killed a teenage Palestinian protester during a clash in the West Bank.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Samoa Air planned to start pricing its first international flights based on the weight of its passengers and their bags. Depending on the flight, each kg (2.2 pounds) would cost 93 cents to $1.06. The new airline was launched last June.
(AP, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 3, Spain's Princess Cristina (47), daughter of King Juan Carlos, was charged in a corruption inquiry amid evidence that she was an accomplice to her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, who has been accused of tax fraud and embezzling 6 million euros in public funds when he headed a charitable foundation.
(Reuters, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, In Syria rebels captured a southern military base on the outskirts of the city of Daraa in the latest advance by opposition fighters near the strategic border area with Jordan.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, a Syrian jet fired a missile that slammed into a house on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Uganda's top military official said African troops in Central African Republic have suspended the hunt for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony because the new government there is not cooperating with the mission.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2014 Apr 3, President Barack Obama signed a decree authorizing punitive sanctions, such as seizure of assets and visa bans, against anyone in South Sudan deemed to be threatening peace efforts, targeting UN peacekeeping forces and violating human rights.
(AFP, 4/11/14)
2014 Apr 3, It was reported that the US government masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter" — a communications network designed to undermine the Cuba’s communist government, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks. The project, dubbed "ZunZuneo," slang for a Cuban hummingbird's tweet, was publicly launched soon after Cuba’s 2009 arrest of US contractor Alan Gross.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It banned the state government from limiting the free practice of religion effective July 1.
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A6)(http://tinyurl.com/lf9kcnu)
2014 Apr 3, Frank Janssen, the father of a North Carolina prosecutor, was kidnapped from his home in Wake Forest. He was held for five days in Atlanta before being rescued by the FBI. Seven people were soon arrested in the case. Janssen’s daughter had prosecuted a high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang.
(SFC, 4/22/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 3, The state of Texas executed Tommy Lynn Sells after the US Supreme Court refused to issue an 11th hour stay to allow lawyers time to investigate the source and quality of the lethal drugs used put their client to death. Mr. Sells was on death row for 13 years following his conviction for killing a 13-year-old Texas girl on New Year’s Eve 1999.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum said it has agreed to pay the US government over $5.1 billion to thousands of sites polluted by toxins and compensate thousands of personal-injury claimants. The case originated with claims against Kerr-McGee, an Oklahoma energy company that went bankrupt and was bought by Anadarko nearly a decade ago.
(SFC, 4/4/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 3, In Australia a large shark killed Christine Armstrong (63) near her terrified husband and friends as they took their daily morning swim off a popular east coast beach near the village of Tathra.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II paid a private call on Pope Francis at the Vatican, making him the fifth pontiff she has met.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Cambodia 118 employees passed out at work at the Shen Zhou and Daqian Textile factories in Phnom Penh.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Chadian officials said they are withdrawing their peacekeepers from the regional mission in Central African Republic.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, The European Parliament voted to stop Internet providers from charging for preferential access to their networks, a step cheered by consumer groups but bemoaned by the telecommunications industry.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, The European Space Agency launched its Sentinel 1A satellite on a Russian Soyuz rocket from French Guiana. It was the first of six satellites for a new system designed to better monitor climate change, environmental disasters and catastrophes like floods, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
(AP, 4/3/14)(SFC, 4/5/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 3, Germany’s Deutsche Post said it is no longer accepting letters bound for Crimea after its Ukrainian counterpart told the Geneva-based Universal Postal Union (UPU) that delivery to the region was no longer guaranteed.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Former Guinea Bissau President Kumba Yala (61) died. He had ruled the West African nation from 2000 to 2003.
(Reuters, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Iraq fighting between government troops and al-Qaida-inspired militants killed 40 gunmen and an army officer near Baghdad, as attacks continued elsewhere in the country ahead of elections this month.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Italian police arrested Nicola Cosentino, a former member of Silvio Berlusconi's government, accusing him of colluding with the mafia to quash competition against his family's petrol distribution business near Naples. Twelve others were also arrested on suspicion of extortion and unfair competitive practices.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Liberia said it was dealing with its first suspected Ebola case thought to be unconnected to the epidemic raging in Guinea and to have originated separately within its borders. The fruit bat, thought to be the host of the highly contagious Ebola virus, is a delicacy in the region straddling Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and experts suspect huntsmen may be the source of the outbreak.
(AFP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Nigerian troops reportedly killed 32 Fulani tribesmen in the Keana local government area central Nasarawa state. Defense officials denied the charge.
(AFP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, Nigeria’s Nollywood was reported to knock out some 2,000 titles a year, making it the third-largest earner in the movie world, after Bollywood and Hollywood. The $250-million industry employed more than a million people.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Pakistan freed at least 16 Taliban prisoners with the approval of PM Nawaz Sharif, in a move designed to invigorate a shaky peace process with the militant group.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Russia’s gas giant Gazprom urged Ukraine to pay its debt, and announced a 70 percent rise in the charge for future supplies.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, In the Solomon Islands the Mataniko River in the capital, Honiara, burst its banks and flooded low-lying settlements alongside the river. The flash floods killed 14 people and left thousands more homeless.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Syria mortar fire killed at least six children in a suburb of Damascus. 22 opposition fighters were killed in the army's bombardment of Mleiha east of Damascus.
(AP, 4/3/14)(AFP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, The number of Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon officially topped 1 million.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Turkey's telecoms authority lifted a two-week-old ban on Twitter, after the constitutional court ruled the block breached freedom of expression.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Ugandan police in Kampala raided the offices of a US-funded project known to offer AIDS services to homosexuals, in what appeared to be the first public action by police to enforce a new law that strengthened criminal penalties against gay sex.
(AP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, Ukraine authorities said that they have detained several members of an elite riot police unit on suspicion of shooting protesters during bloody anti-government clashes in February that left more than 100 dead. The interim government has said former Pres. Yanukovych ordered snipers to be deployed, a charge Yanukovych has denied.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2015 Apr 3, In southern California Kevin Christopher Bollaert (28) of San Diego was sentenced to 18 years in prison for operating a revenge porn website. In February he was found guilty on six counts of extortion and 21 counts of identity theft.
(SFC, 4/4/15, p.A6)
2015 Apr 3, In Kentucky torrential rains swamped portions of the state. A mother and child remained missing after they were swept into a flooded creek in their car.
(SFC, 4/4/15, p.A4)
2015 Apr 3, US power company Duke Energy Corp said it has agreed to a $2.5 million settlement proposed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality relating to the 2014 coal ash spill into the Dan River in North Carolina.
(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Afghanistan a roadside bombing killed 7 people in the Baraki Barak district of Logar province when a vehicle that two families were riding in struck a roadside bomb.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Brazilian police fired tear gas to break up a protest in a Rio de Janeiro slum that erupted after a 10-year-old boy was killed in what officers called a shootout with drug traffickers.
(AFP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Chad 7 civilians were killed in Tchoukou Telia near Lake Chad in an attack blamed on Nigerian Boko Haram rebels.
(AFP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 3, Xue Feng (50), a Chinese-born American geologist was released from prison in China and returned home to Houston after serving more than eight years on charges of procuring state secrets. Xue was detained in November 2007, and sentenced in 2010 on charges of illegally gathering information on China's oil industry.
(AP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In China prosecutors charged former national security chief Zhou Yongkang with corruption and leaking of state secrets, setting the stage for him to become the highest-level politician to stand trial in China in more than three decades.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Czech police said they have seized a record amount of cocaine in a shipment of bananas for a supermarket. More than 100 kg (220 pounds) of cocaine, with a street value of some $40 million, was packed among the bananas.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, The Indonesian government began moving foreign fishermen from an isolated island where slavery in the fishing industry was exposed last, out of concern for their safety.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Iraq’s PM Haider al-Abadi ordered government forces to oppose vandalism in the city of Tikrit, retaken from the Islamic State group this week, and arrest those responsible.
(AFP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his Cabinet are united in "strongly opposing" an emerging framework agreement on curbing Iran's nuclear program and demanded that any final deal contain Iranian recognition of Israel's right to exist.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Four soldiers were killed in Indian Kashmir after their vehicle was buried in an avalanche in the Himalayan region.
(AP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, Kenya offered a $215,000 (200,000 euro) bounty for the capture of alleged Shebab commander Mohamed Mohamud, a former Kenyan teacher believed to now be in Somalia and said to be the mastermind behind the April 2 Garissa attack.
(AFP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Malaysian cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, better known as Zunar, was charged with nine counts of sedition over a series of tweets criticizing the country's judiciary. The charges against Zunar, known for lampooning the ruling coalition, came amid a widening government crackdown on opposition politicians and the media slammed by critics as a move to stifle freedom of expression.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Mali a security guard was killed in a bombing at a home in Bamako.
(AFP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Nigeria gunmen stormed two communities in the southern oil state of Rivers, killing at least 9 people and injuring two others. Militants of the Urhobo minority ethnic group blew up a natural gas pipeline in Delta state.
(AFP, 4/4/15)(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In the Philippines devotees nailed themselves to wooden crosses to mimic the suffering of Jesus Christ. At least 4,000 spectators came to watch the spectacle in San Pedro Cutud village, northern Pampanga province.
(SFC, 4/4/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 3, It was reported that Puerto Rico is slated to receive $3.7 million in federal funds from the US Homeland Security Department to be used for training and equipment to fight terrorism.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Senegal said it will scrap visa requirements for foreign visitors, effective May 1, and slash taxes on air fares as it seeks to revive a tourism sector crippled by high costs and a regional Ebola outbreak.
(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In South Africa a 500-meter (yard) stretch of Mpenjati Beach officially opened as a nudist beach. In October, 2014, the Hibiscus Coast local municipality approved an application by the South African National Naturist Association (SANNA).
(AFP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Syria Islamic State militants battled against armed groups inside the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, and have made new advances inside the camp.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Yemen Houthi forces pulled back from a central Aden district. Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition dropped weapons and medical aid to fighters defending the southern Yemeni city. An air strike on a village near Sanaa killed a family of nine in what appeared to be a hit by the Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi militia. Local militia forces said they killed 10 Houthis during the fighting which pushed the Shi'ite movement out of Crater. They also said Houthis killed two medics and two patients when they opened fire on an ambulance ferrying casualties from Aden peninsula to hospital on the mainland.
(Reuters, 4/3/15)(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party said it has expelled former vice-president Joice Mujuru for allegedly plotting against President Robert Mugabe.
(AFP, 4/3/15)
2016 Apr 3, The United States and its allies conducted two dozen strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, Amtrak Train 89 struck a piece of heavy equipment on the tracks outside Philadelphia, causing the train's lead engine to derail and killing two Amtrak workers.
(CSM, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Texas freshman Haruka Weiser was strangled, sexually assaulted and killed as she walked to her dorm in Austin. Her body was found on April 5.
(http://tinyurl.com/j68je5s)(SFC, 6/11/16, p.A5)
2016 Apr 3, Joseph Medicine Crow (102), last war chief of the Crow tribe, died. He was awarded the US Medal of Freedom in 2009.
(Econ, 4/16/16, p.78)
2016 Apr 3, In Afghanistan at least six police officers were killed in a Taliban ambush on their convoy in northern Balkh province.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry announced a unilateral cease-fire against the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, but rebel forces in the area said that they continued to come under fire from Azerbaijani forces.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In northern Bangladesh an explosion killed two suspected militants in the Sherpur area of Bogra district. The next day a 12-member bomb disposal unit searched the house and recovered 20 grenades, four pistols and 25 bullets.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, Brussels Airport reopened with three "symbolic" flights and strict additional checks for passengers, marking a new high-security era for air travel in Belgium after the March 22 attacks by Islamic State suicide bombers.
(AFP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Cambodia a driver trying to ease his car onto a river ferry stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, plunging the vehicle into the water and killing 7 passengers.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Croatia 280,000 euros ($320,000) and two kg (4.4 pounds) of gold were all snatched from the headquarters of the Croatian police.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, Iran's Revolutionary Guard detained Zaghari-Ratcliffe (37), a British-Iranian mother and employee of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency, at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport and later transferred her to a prison in the country's Kerman province. She faced charges of trying to cause the "soft toppling" of the government.
(AP, 6/15/16)
2016 Apr 3, In northern Iraq militant Jasim Khadijah, a former Iraqi officer not considered a high-value target, was reported killed by a drone strike overnight. He was believed responsible for an attack on US troops in northern Iraq last month that left a Marine dead.
(Reuters, 4/3/16)(Reuters, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, The Israeli defense body that handles civilian issues with the Palestinians expanded the fishing zone. The new easing of restrictions allowed fishermen in Gaza to now sail farther from the coastal territory.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, A Japanese submarine made a port call in the Philippines, the first in 15 years, in a show of growing military cooperation amid tension triggered by China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
(Reuters, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, Liberian health officials said a second case of Ebola has been confirmed months after the country had been declared free from transmissions. The son (5) of a woman who died March 31 from Ebola was taken to a treatment center in Monrovia.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, Police in the Maldives used pepper spray to break up a protest by journalists and activists accusing the government of stifling press freedom, arresting 11 of the demonstrators.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In northwestern Pakistan flash floods triggered by overnight torrential rains killed at least 36 people in several areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quietly established a constitutional court. The nine-member body, which will have supremacy over all lower courts, was created without fanfare by presidential decree.
(Reuters, 4/11/16)
2016 Apr 3, A year-long worldwide media investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents, leaked from Panama-based from legal firm Mossack Fonseca with offices in 35 countries, exposed a tangle of offshore financial dealings by the elite, from Russia’s Pres. Putin's aides to relatives of Chinese President Xi Jinping, sports celebrities and screen stars. The files had been anonymously passed to Suddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper and emerged in an investigation published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The “Panama papers" unveiled the offshore holdings of 140 politicians and officials, including twelve current and former presidents, monarchs and prime ministers.
(AFP, 4/4/16)(Reuters, 4/4/16)(Econ, 4/9/16, p.14, 59)
2016 Apr 3, Thousands of Poles protested a possible tightening of the country's abortion law, already one of the most restrictive in Europe.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In southwestern Saudi Arabia two vans collided, killing 15 people, including six children in the Wadi bin Hashbal region of Asir province.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, Syrian troops seized the key Islamic State group bastion of Al-Qaryatain.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Syria several Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front members including its spokesman were killed in US-led coalition air strikes. Abu Firas al-Suri (aka Radwan Nammous), his son and at least 20 jihadists of Al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa and other fighters from Uzbekistan were killed in strikes on positions in Idlib province.
(AFP, 4/4/16)(Reuters, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 3, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State has killed 15 of its members in the largest execution of the militant group's security services so far in Syria. The killings followed the arrest a day earlier of 35 members in Raqqa. The members were killed in connection with the assassination of senior Islamic State figure Abu Hija al-Tunisi, who died in an air strike on March 30.
(Reuters, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In central Thailand a train smashed into a double-decker bus carrying Thai tourists at an unguarded railway crossing in Nakhon Pathom province. Local media reported that three people were killed and more than two dozen injured.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2017 Apr 3, Pres. Donald Trump donated $78,333.32, his presidential salary to date, to the National Park Service. Trump had promised to forego his presidential salary, but by law must be paid.
(SFC, 4/4/17, p.A4)
2017 Apr 3, Pres. Donald Trump signed into law legislation HJ69, undoing Obama-era rules that restricted the hunting of bear in Alaska. This soon led to an increase in orphan bear cubs in the state.
(SFC, 8/12/17, p.A9)
2017 Apr 3, President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Iraq with the top US military officer to meet Iraqi leaders and review the fight against the Islamic State group.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, In St, Louis, Mo., three people were killed when an explosion launched a boiler through the roof of the Loy-Lange Box Company. A fourth person died of his wounds on April 5.
(SFC, 4/4/17, p.A4)(SFC, 4/7/17, p.A7)
2017 Apr 3, In Texas William Kenny (64) shot and killed Deputy Clinton Greenwood, a Houston area constable, outside a courthouse. Kenny shot and killed himself the next day outside a Houston hospital.
(SFC, 4/11/17, p.A4)
2017 Apr 3, Australia’s PM Malcom Turnbull and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed an aid agreement at the Australian Parliament House worth 320 million Australian dollars ($240 million) over four years. Hundreds of protesters demanded a better deal for the Hazara ethnic minority.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Bahrain's King Hamad approved a constitutional amendment granting military courts the right to try civilians, raising concerns among rights groups for activists in the Gulf kingdom.
(AFP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Bahrain's highest court overturned a nine-year-prison sentence imposed last year on Ali Salman, the leader of Bahrain's banned main opposition party, and restored his original sentence of four years in jail.
(Reuters, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Dubai media reported that local police have arrested African hackers who targeted five senior White House officials in a blackmail email scam. Those arrested were between 24 and 26 years of age and had a list of "5 million bank accounts," as well as hacking software and millions of dollars in assets.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, A German court handed lengthy prison sentences to four Islamic extremists over plots to bomb a train station in December 2012 and kill a far-right politician in March 2013.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Italy-based Menarini-Silicon Biosystems, Inc. announced it has completed the agreement to purchase all the assets and relevant business related to the CELLSEARCH® Circulating Tumor Cell System from Janssen Diagnostics, LLC. The acquisition includes the CELLSEARCH® Circulating Tumor Cell Test — the first and only clinically validated blood test cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for detecting and enumerating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to help manage patients with metastatic breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.
(http://tinyurl.com/yckqtdel)
2017 Apr 3, Polish prosecutors said they would press charges against two Russian air traffic controllers of deliberately contributing to a 2010 plane crash that killed Poland's president and 95 other people.
(Reuters, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, In Russia an explosion ripped through a subway train in St. Petersburg, killing 14 people and injuring 50 others. The blast came as Russian President Vladimir Putin was visiting the city, his hometown. Within two hours authorities found and deactivated another bomb at a separate busy St. Petersburg subway station, Vosstaniya Square by the Moscow railway station. Kyrgyz officials soon identified the suspected suicide bomber as Akbarzhon Jalilov (Akbarjon Djalilov), born in the city of Osh in 1995. One of the injured people died on April 21, raising the death toll to 15. On May 11 suspects Bakhram Ergashev, Ibragimzhon Ermatov and Makhamadyusuf Mirzaalimov were charged with involvement in a "terrorist act" and with having illegally used explosives. Seven other suspects awaited charges.
(AP, 4/3/17)(Reuters, 4/4/17)(AFP, 4/21/17)(AFP, 5/11/17)
2017 Apr 3, In Rwanda inmates protesting living conditions at Gasabo prison in Kigali hurled stones over the prison's walls, damaging nearby houses and disrupting traffic. Rioting began on Mar 31 when the prison, which houses at least 5,000 inmates, caught fire, according to residents living near the prison.
(Reuters, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Singapore said it would repatriate Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel Abdul Malik (46), the chief cleric of a Muslim mosque, for offensive remarks targeting Christians and Jews, a decision that aimed to "repudiate divisive speech". During prayers on Jan. 6, the cleric made use of the phrase, "Grant us help against the Jews and the Christians."
(Reuters, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Slovakia's Pres. Andrej Kiska signed a constitutional amendment that makes it possible for lawmakers to annul pardons granted by former PM Vladimir Meciar that barred an investigation into the kidnapping of the son of late Pres. Michal Kovac.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Syrian government forces intensified their bombardment of opposition-held areas around Damascus and the central city of Hama, as they pushed to erase battlefield advances made by insurgents in March.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, In southern Thailand gunmen with grenade launchers and other heavy weapons attacked a police checkpoint, injuring six officers, in what appeared to be the latest violence by Muslim separatists who have been fighting for more than a decade.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Venezuelan authorities said they've arrested six officials for taking bribes to issue identification documents to Syrians.
(AP, 4/4/17)
2018 Apr 3, The Trump administration escalated its aggressive actions on trade by proposing 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports to protest .
(AP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 3, President Donald Trump said he wants American troops to "get out" of Syria, even as top US officials stressed the need to stay for the long term.
(AP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 3, Pres. Donald Trump said that he planned to order the military to guard parts of the southern border until he can build a wall and tighten immigration restrictions.
(SFC, 4/4/18, p.A4)
2018 Apr 3, The United States said it has placed a Pakistani political group called the Milli Muslim League (MML), controlled by Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, saying it was merely an alias for a militant group blamed for a bloody 2008 attack in India.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, It was reported that Timothy J. Cislo, a former US Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector, pleaded guilty in Guam last week to three counts of honest services wire fraud. Cislo was accused of issuing certificates to Hansen Helicopters Inc. without inspecting the helicopters in exchange for an airplane for his personal use.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In the SF Bay Area a woman identified as Nasim Najafi Aghdam (39) of Riverside County shot and wounded three people at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno before fatally shooting herself. She was a prolific YouTube user and had complained of that several of her accounts had been heavily censored by the company.
(SFC, 4/4/18, p.A1)
2018 Apr 3, In southern California four US Marines were killed when theur helicopter crashed in a remote desert outside of El Centro.
(SFC, 4/5/18, p.A6)
2018 Apr 3, Facebook said that it had found and removed more than 270 accounts and pages controlled by Russia's Internet Research Agency, the troll agency that became notorious for posting fraudulent and divisive material on the service ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
(SFC, 4/4/18, p.A4)
2018 Apr 3, Bosnia's top court scrapped court fines issued to rape victims and other survivors of the Bosnian 1990s war after they had reparation claims rejected.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Britain said it will ban the sale of ivory, no matter how old, to help protect the world's elephant population.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, The British defence laboratory at Porton Down analyzing the nerve agent revealed that it could not say whether the substance came from Russia.
(AP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 3, Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe that they should work towards a new chapter in ties, during the African leader's first state visit to China since he seized power last year.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, A Chinese official said restricting the Vatican's control over the appointment of bishops in China does not infringe on religious freedom, amid historic negotiations between Beijing and the Holy See aimed at healing divisions.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, The Cyprus government deposited 2.5 billion euros ($3.1 billion) into the island-nation's troubled Cooperative Bank in an attempt to dispel any uncertainty over its future.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Egypt a bus crashed into a truck leaving seven people dead and 11 others injured on a desert road connecting the capital Cairo and the city of Suez.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, French rail workers launched the first in a series of nationwide strikes, threatening disruption over several months in the sternest challenge yet to President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to modernize Europe's second biggest economy.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, The Essen food bank in western Germany reversed a three-month old decision to prevent more foreigners from accessing its services, a move that drew criticism from aid groups and politicians.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, India withdrew rules to control "fake news" less than 24 hours after announcing them, following an outcry that the regulations could be used by the government to curb press freedom.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Indonesian police said a group of people have been arrested after a video emerged of them skinning and cooking four sun bears that they had slaughtered. The sun bear population is in decline in Indonesia because of rapid deforestation, which has led to habitat loss.
(AFP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he was cancelling an agreement with the UN refugee agency to relocate thousands of African migrants, bowing to right-wing pressure to scrap the deal. The fact that thousands of migrants would be allowed to stay raised an outcry from right-wing politicians and on social media from Netanyahu's nationalist voter base.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Libya a court of appeals in Tripoli acquitted Saadi Kadhafi, a son of former Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, of murdering a football coach in 2005. Kadhafi is also being tried, among others, for alleged involvement in the deadly crackdown on the revolt that toppled his father's regime in 2011. The case has repeatedly been postponed.
(AFP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 3, Malaysian authorities intercepted a boat carrying 56 people believed to be Muslim Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar, and brought the vessel and its passengers to shore.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Amnesty Int'l. reported that 65 people had been killed in Mali by improvised explosives used by armed groups since the start of the year, raising concerns about the government's ability to conduct presidential elections planned on July 29.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, A Palestinian man (25) was killed east of Bureij where he was throwing stones toward Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, The Philippine Supreme Court ordered police to hand over full records of thousands of deadly encounters in the country's war on drugs, thwarting a government bid to keep operational details of the bloody crackdown secret.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Russia regional lawmakers, despite protests, voted to cancel direct elections in Yekaterinburg, the country's fourth-largest city, in a blow to opposition Mayor Yevgeny Roizman as the Kremlin intensifies a crackdown on dissent. The new mayor will be elected by city lawmakers.
(AFP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, South Africa's drought-stricken Cape Town pushed back its estimate for "Day Zero," when taps in the city run dry and people start queuing for water, to 2019 from August of this year, and data show dam levels rising elsewhere in the country.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Sweden-based Spotify made its NYSE market debut in a "direct listing" that allows investors to sell shares directly, but does not raise money for the company.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Switzerland the United Nations raised more than $2 billion to help civilians in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates drew praise for offering hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Yemen, where their air campaign against Houthi rebels has killed thousands of civilians and their crippling blockade has hindered aid delivery.
(AFP, 4/3/18)(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, A new group of Syrian rebels and their family members left their stronghold in Douma, heading to the rebel-held north as part of an agreement with the Syrian government and its Russian backers. A rebel group in eastern Qalamoun, a besieged area northeast of Damascus, said they have been told they must accept state rule or leave.
(AP, 4/3/18)(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Turkey Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remotely gave the go-ahead for the construction of the $20 billion Russian-built Akkuyu nuclear plant on the Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2019 Apr 3, Former US VP Joe Biden acknowledged that his tendency toward physical displays of affection and encouragement has some women uncomfortable and promised to be "much more mindful" of respecting personal space.
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 3, In Arizona Summerbell Brown (10) was shot and killed in her family's driveway following a road rage incident in Phoenix. Suspect Joshua Gonzalez (20) was soon arrested.
(SSFC, 4/7/19, p.A10)
2019 Apr 3, Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, asked the IRS to provide six years of Pres. Trump's personal tax returns by April 10.
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 3, South Carolina police arrested Brook Graham (53) after DNA evidence submitted to family genealogy sites led them to find and arrest her for the death of a baby abandoned 29 years ago. She was charged with homicide by neglect.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 3, US immigration authorities arrested 280 workers at CVE Technology Group in Allen, Texas. They said the employees were working in the US illegally.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 3, In Albania a few thousand protesters, apparently fewer than a week ago, gathered in front of the parliament building shouting "Rama go!" while their leaders and others made short speeches.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Algeria's Constitutional Council said it had accepted Bouteflika's resignation and informed parliament that his post was officially vacant. The speaker of the upper house of parliament, currently Abdelkader Bensalah (77), acts as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organized.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian Sen. Fraser Anning was censured by his colleagues for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian scientists said the world's southernmost coral reef has been hit by bleaching this summer, as they warned rising sea temperatures from climate change were affecting even the most isolated ecosystems.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Brunei new Islamic criminal laws that took effect, punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death. They have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation's shores.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, China's government said Nur Bekri, the former governor of the restive Xinjiang region, has been formally arrested on accusations of taking bribes following a months long investigation. Bekri most recently headed the National Energy Administration planning agency.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Dubai's Emirates NBD bank revised its acquisition price of Turkey's Denizbank following a slide in the Turkish lira, saying it has now agreed to pay 15.48 billion lira ($2.8 billion).
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The EU launched legal action against Poland that alleges recent justice laws undermine the independence of the country's judges and comes amid concern the rule of law is being increasingly abused around the bloc.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, French carmaker Renault said it had flagged to judicial authorities serious problems with the expenses of Carlos Ghosn after during his time as chairman of the company.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, India's PM Narendra Modi staged a massive rally in Kolkata, stepping up the battle with a local rival who could frustrate his party's return to power.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Iranian media reported that the number of dead from recent flooding has risen to 62, up from 57 the day before.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Rome's Mayor Virginia Raggi pledged an investigation into possible inciting racial hatred against the organizers of a violent protest that rejected housing Roma families in a neighborhood government-run center a day earlier. Raggi blamed both Casa Pound and Forza Nuova for creating a hostile climate in the Torre Maura neighborhood, a low-income area on the eastern edge of the capital. City authorities moved several Roma families out of a public housing project in a Rome suburb after violent protests by neo-fascist groups threatened their safety.
(AP, 4/3/19)(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Italian news agency ANSA reported that another infant boy died overnight near Genoa as the result of a circumcision performed at home.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Kazakhstan's interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made his first foreign visit since being appointed two weeks ago, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Libyan National Army (LNA) media office said forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar have been ordered to move to western Libya to fight militants.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Malaysia's government said that the luxury yacht "Equanimity," allegedly bought with money stolen from a troubled state investment fund, will be sold to casino operator Genting Berhad for $126 million, half its original price. US investigators say the $250 million yacht was bought with funds diverted from the 1MDB fund by fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Mozambique a vaccination campaign was launched in the central city of Beira after a cyclone slammed into the region and unleashed an outbreak of cholera. The disease has already killed two people and infected more than 1,400.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Myanmar six Rohingya Muslims were killed and nine wounded in an aerial attack in the western state of Rakhine. Myanmar's military later said they were affiliated with an armed rebel group. A local laborer said they were bamboo workers.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 3, A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli in the occupied West Bank before being shot dead by a local civilian.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Twelve Western nations urged Romania to scrap two planned emergency decrees altering judicial legislation, in a rare joint intervention that underlined US and EU alarm over the threat to the rule of law in the former communist nation.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Singapore officials found a record 14.2 tons of pangolin scales hidden among packets of frozen beef. Five days later, they found 14 more tons in 474 bags in another container. The scales were linked to four species of pangolins native to Africa.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 3, A South Korean coast guard official said the 5,160-ton P-PIONEER has been prevented from leaving Busan port since October over allegations that it was used to supply diesel to North Korea through two ship-to-ship transfers in September 2017 in international waters in the East China Sea.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Thailand's ruling military junta filed a complaint accusing Thanathorn Juangroongruangki, the leader of the new Future Forward political party, of sedition and aiding criminals. He described the move as politically motivated.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey will not turn back from a major arms deal with Russia despite the US suspension of Ankara from the F-35 fighter-jet program.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Ukrainian PM Volodymyr Groysman said the government has banned state-run gas producer Naftogaz from raising consumer gas prices. The ban was announced as President Petro Poroshenko, a Groysman ally, tries to boost his chances ahead of the second and final round of a presidential election on April 21.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2020 Apr 3, President Donald Trump fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who informed Congress about the whistleblower complaint regarding Trump's communications with Ukraine that eventually led to his impeachment.
(The Week, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, said Americans should cover their face if they have to go in public, but they should still stay isolated as much as possible The announcement marked a reversal for health officials, who’d previously said that those without symptoms didn’t need to wear face coverings.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)(Bloomberg, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, The US Food and Drug Administration announced an "expanded access" program for convalescent plasma, coordinated by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, aimed at making it easier for hospitals across the country to collect and use plasma. Convalescent plasma was successfully used during the 1918 flu pandemic. In one trial in China, levels of the virus in five seriously ill COVID-19 patients were undetectable after plasma transfusions.
(Reuters, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, The US Postal Service announced a new series of stamps in honor of San Francisco sculptor and arts education advocate Ruth Asawa (1926-2013).
(SFC, 4/8/20, p.E1)
2020 Apr 3, California issued 24 hydraulic fracturing permits to Aera Energy for wells in Kern County following a review by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
(SFC, 4/6/20, p.A4)
2020 Apr 3, California to date had 11,187 cases of coronavirus with 246 deaths. Nationwide there were 245,658, with 6,069 deaths. In the SF Bay Area the confirmed cases of coronavirus as of this morning rose to 2,968 with 78 deaths.
(sfist.com, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In Florida passengers aboard the cruise ship Zaandam were freed following the removal of 14 critically ill people who were taken to local hospitals. All the passengers were instructed to wear masks when traveling and to immediately go into 14 days of self-quarantine to prevent any possible spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.A5)
2020 Apr 3, The Coast Guard suspended its search for Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and her 8-year-old son Gideon after the two were reported missing in the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis, Maryland, a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the US economy lost 701,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate rose from 3.5 percent to 4.4 percent amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
(The Week, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, New York reported 562 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the state's total death toll to 2,935.
(The Week, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, Utah's Zion National Park was closed to the public to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/6/20, p.A4)
2020 Apr 3, 3M Corp. said it has secured China's approval to export to the US 10 million N-95 respirators manufactured by the company in China.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Canada recorded almost 12,000 cases of the new coronavirus and the death toll jumped by almost 20%. Cases rose to 11,747 and deaths climbed to 152.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, China reported 64 new asymptomatic cases, 26 of which were imported. The nation reported 19 new virus cases in total, and four deaths, all of which were in Hubei.
(Bloomberg, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, It was reported that the coronavirus pandemic has brought a reversal of fortune for Cuban medical diplomacy, as doctors have flown off on new missions to battle COVID-19 in at least 14 countries including Italy and the tiny principality of Andorra on the Spanish-French border, burnishing the island’s international image in the middle of a global crisis. Cuba has recorded 212 cases of the virus.
(AP, 4/3/20)(Economist, 4/4/20, p.26)
2020 Apr 3, In the Czech Republic a district in Prague went ahead with a plan to remove the statue of Soviet Marshall Ivan Stepanovic Konev, who led forces that liberated Prague in 1945. Konev had also played a role in crushing the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising in Hungary and in preparing the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 3, In France the coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of 5,307. Almost 60,000 people there been diagnosed with the illness, including almost 6,400 on life-support machines. Police ramped up checks at train stations and motorways to stop people breaking a national lockdown ahead of school holidays this weekend.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Gabon’s President Ali Bongo announced a social and economic plan to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, including emergency financing to respond to the “urgent cash needs" facing companies.
(Bloomberg, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, Guatemala said a man deported from the US has tested positive for the coronavirus. Guatemala has 49 confirmed cases and one death.
(SSFC, 4/5/20, p.A7)
2020 Apr 3, Iran state TV reported the coronavirus has killed another 134 people, pushing the country's death toll to nearly 3,300 amid more than 53,000 confirmed cases.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Israeli police arrested Fadi al-Hidmi, the Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs early today, for allegedly violating an Israeli ban on Palestinian political activities in east Jerusalem. Palestinian officials said al-Hidmi was working to assist residents as part of their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Israel has reported more than 7,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 36 deaths. Officials said Israel is working with foreign governments and Orthodox Christian leaders in the Holy Land to make sure that the April 18 Holy Fire ceremony is not extinguished by the coronavirus outbreak.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Kuwait said it will ramp up oil output in April until it reaches about 3.15 million barrels per day. The increase in output will come from the Neutral Zone, an area Kuwait shares on the border with Saudi Arabia.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Libya recorded its first death from the novel coronavirus. The UN-recognized, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which controls the west of the country, has officially recorded 10 cases of the virus. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the health system in Libya was already on the verge of collapse.
(AFP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In Mexico a shootout between rival gangs in the northern state of Chihuahua killed 19 people. Groups aligned with the Sinaloa cartel have been fighting with those aligned with the Juarez cartel.
(SFC, 4/6/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 3, Dutch brewer Heineken said that it will suspend production and distribution from its seven plants in Mexico, in response to the government's decision to halt non-essential economic activity to contain the new coronavirus.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In Pakistan mosques were allowed to remain open for Muslims to gather for weekly prayers, even as the coronavirus pandemic spread and much of the country had shut down. Pakistan has reported 2,450 confirmed cases and 36 deaths. PM Imran Khan said he would not consider possible easing of restrictions on movement before April 14.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Peruvian lawmakers approved a law late today that allows citizens to withdraw up to 25% of their holdings in private pension funds to provide an extra source of liquidity during a nationwide shutdown to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, Poland’s government called for extending President Andrzej Duda’s term by two years to avoid having to hold a May 10 election during the coronavirus crisis. Opposition parties immediately rejected the proposal, rendering it dead on arrival because their support would be needed to change the constitution.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supports cutting oil production by about 10 million barrels a day to shore up falling prices.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Russian officials reported 4,149 cases of coronavirus in the country, four times more than a week ago.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong said the government would no longer discourage the use of face masks, and would distribute reusable ones to every household to help stem the coronavirus pandemic.
(Econ, 4/11/20, p.27)
2020 Apr 3, Slovenia said it will introduce a mandatory 14-day quarantine for most people entering the country from April 4 in an attempt to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The country has confirmed 934 coronavirus cases, with 20 deaths.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In the Solomon Islands the MV Taimareho ferry lost dozens of passengers while crossing Iron Bottom Bay in rough seas caused by Cyclone Harold.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 3, South Africa has reported only five confirmed deaths from the coronavirus. About 1,400 people have tested positive for Covid-19 as South Africans mark their first week under one of the strictest lockdowns introduced anywhere in the world.
(BBC, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, It was reported that Tunisia has deployed a police robot to patrol areas of Tunis, to ensure that people are observing a coronavirus lockdown. The country has reported 436 cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths.
(BBC, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In Turkey singer Helin Bolek (28), a member of the Grup Yorum folk music group, died on the 288th day of a hunger strike at a home in Istanbul. The group has been prohibited from performing in Turkey since 2016.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 3, Ukraine's government imposed a series of new restrictions designed to prevent the coronavirus outbreak spreading widely but said it hoped to soften the measures again in late April. Ukraine reported 138 new cases of the coronavirus over the past day, taking the total number of infected people to 942 with 23 deaths.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Venezuela said it was formulating a “special fuel supply plan" to restore stockpiles of oil in the “shortest possible time," allowing the nation to combat the coronavirus. In recent days, gas lines have popped up across Caracas, which is typically immune from days' long waits common in the rest of the country. Most stations had closed as supplies ran out.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Zimbabwe's police began using water cannon to disinfect markets and bus ranks, turning instruments associated with repression into weapons against the new coronavirus. The country has recorded one death from nine cases of the COVID-19 disease.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2021 Apr 3, Supporters of Donald Trump who thought they were sending a single donation were charged over and over by his campaign operation. A Times investigation found that the charges were part of an intentional scheme to boost revenue to Mr. Trump’s struggling presidential campaign.
(NY Times, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Business Insider reported that phone numbers and personal information of half a million Facebook users may have been stolen and posted online. The breach reportedly took place in 2019 because of a software vulnerability.
(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A12)
2021 Apr 3, As of March 13, the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which walloped Britain and is wreaking havoc on Europe, accounted for about 27 percent of new cases in the US, up from just 1 percent in early February.
(NY Times, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, California to date had 3,652,911 cases of coronavirus and 59,210 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 423,630 cases and 5,950 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,668,826 with the death toll at 554,779.
(sfist.com, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, An Asian woman was stabbed to death in a “random" attack whilst walking her dogs in California, but detectives are not investigating it as a hate crime. Ke Chieh Meng (64) was found in the La Sierra neighborhood of the city of Riverside, outside Los Angeles. She was taken to hospital and treated for wounds to her stomach, but died of her injuries. Police arrested a 23-year-old transient woman on suspicion of murder.
(AP, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 3, It was reported that Amazon.com Inc has apologized to US Representative Mark Pocan, admitting to scoring an "own goal" in its initial denial of his suggestion that its drivers were sometimes forced to urinate in bottles during their delivery rounds.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Argentina's Pres. Alberto Fernandez tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms. He had received doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine on Jan. 21 and Feb. 11.
(SFC, 4/5/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 3, Australia said it will continue its inoculation program with AstraZeneca PLC, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Australian fashion icon Carla Zampatti (78), known for elegant designs and efforts to empower women over more than half a century, died after a fall in Sydney.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Canada's Ontario province entered a 4-week shutdown because of a 3rd surge of coronavirus infections fueled by more contagious virus variants.
(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A9)
2021 Apr 3, Mainland China reported 21 new COVID-19 cases, down from 26 cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, In Dubai videos and photographs depicting over a dozen naked women, lined up on a balcony while being filmed in Dubai’s upscale Marina neighborhood in broad daylight, splashed across social media. Police soon arrested a group of people on charges of public debauchery. Police in Dubai soon arrested 11 Ukrainian women and a Russian man for their involvement in the nude photo shoot.
(AP, 4/4/21)(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 3, The Suez Canal Authority announced that all 422 ships stranded by the previously grounded Ever Given have passed through the canal, ending the backlog caused by the container ship getting stuck horizontally in March.
(BBC, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan resumed talks on a giant dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile River’s main tributary.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said Eritrean forces have started withdrawing from Ethiopia's Tigray region.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 3, France reported that 5,273 people were in intensive care units (ICU) for COVID-19, a rise of 19 from the previous day, as the country entered its third national lockdown to help combat the pandemic. French hospitals have brought in extra staff for the Easter holiday weekend to cope with growing numbers of virus patients, while travelers converged on train stations and highways to flee big cities before new nationwide restrictions take hold.
(AP, 4/3/21)(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, At least 22 members of Indian security forces were killed by Maoist fighters in the tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh state during an anti-insurgency operation. The death toll was the heaviest for Indian security forces battling the far-left guerrillas since 2017.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 3, Prince Hamzah, the half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah II, said he has been placed under house arrest and accused the country's “ruling system" of incompetence and corruption, exposing a rare rift within the ruling monarchy of a close Western ally.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, The death toll in Myanmar continued to mount as security forces opened fired on anti-coup protesters amid the military's months-long crackdown on dissent. Security forces killed at least two people and injured seven others as they opened fire on protesters in Monywa.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, The Philippines reported 12,576 new coronavirus infections, putting further strain on the healthcare system. President Rodrigo Duterte extended a strict lockdown in the capital region and adjacent provinces by at least one week to try to contain a renewed surge in infections.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, It was reported that the Russian government has approved extending an agreement on cooperation in space with the United States until December 2030.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, In Somalia simultaneous large explosions were heard in and around two army bases, with the military confirming at least nine of its people killed but asserting “heavy losses" among the attackers. The al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Syria's government said primary schools around Syria will close down indefinitely next week amid a severe increase of coronavirus cases in the war-torn country, while universities will suspend classes for only two weeks and high schools will remain open.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, In Thailand at least three people were killed when a 3-story house collapsed in Bangkok following a fire. An unknown number of people were still trapped under the rubble.
(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 3, Ukraine said it has approved China's Sinovac vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic, after the country recorded a record rise in new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
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For Asian History: https://www.asiaobserver.org/category/news/on-this-day-in-asian-history
33CE Apr 3, Christ was crucified (according to astronomers Humphreys and Waddington). The date is highly debated. [see Apr 30, 30CE]
(MC, 4/3/02)
628 Apr 3, In Persia Kavadh sued for peace with the Byzantines. He handed back Armenia, Byzantine Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
(HN, 4/3/99)(AP, 4/3/99)
628 Apr 3, Chosroes II, emperor of Persia (579-628), was murdered by his son.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1043 Apr 3, Edward the Confessor was crowned king of England.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1367 Apr 3, Henry Bolingbroke, aka Henry of Lancaster and later Henry IV, King of England (1399-1413), was born in Lincolnshire.
(MWH, 1994)
1367 Apr 3, John of Gaunt and Edward the Black Prince won the Battle of Najara, in Spain.
(HN, 4/3/99)
1559 Apr 3, Philip II of Spain and Henry II of France signed the peace of Cateau-Cambresis, ending a long series of wars between the Hapsburg and Valois dynasties.
(HN, 4/3/99)(www.comune.cumiana.to.it/storia/history.html)
1569 Apr 3, Giovanni Battista Massarengo, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1593 Apr 3, George Herbert (d.1633), English metaphysical poet (5 Mystical Songs), was born. "The best mirror is an old friend."
(AP, 4/16/98)(MC, 4/3/02)
1603 Apr 3, William Smith, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1649 Apr 3, Joseph-Francois Salomon, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1657 Apr 3, English Lord Protector Cromwell refused the crown.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1679 Apr 3, Edmund Halley met Johannes Hevelius in Danzig.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1680 Apr 3, Shivaji Raje Bhosle (b.1627), warrior king and founder of the Maratha empire of western India, died.
(Econ, 7/12/08, p.73)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivaji)
1682 Apr 3, Esteban Murillo (b.1617), Spanish painter, died. Some of his mid-century work in Seville portrayed the effects of the Plague that killed 50% of the population in 4 months.
(WSJ, 4/9/02, p.D19)(MC, 4/3/02)
1748 Apr 3, Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (b.1694), a Genevan legal and political theorist, died. He popularized a number of ideas propounded by other thinkers. "The ultimate end of man is happiness." His fundamental principle may be described as rational utilitarianism and represents a digest of the thoughts of like-minded theorists.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Burlamaqui)(Econ., 12/12/20, p.84)
1751 Apr 3, Jean-Baptiste Lamoyne, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1764 Apr 3, John Abernethy, surgeon, was born in London.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1764 Apr 3, Austrian arch duke Jozef crowned himself Roman Catholic king.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1776 Apr 3, George Washington received an honorary doctor of law degree from Harvard College.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1783 Apr 3, Washington Irving (d.Nov 28, 1859), essayist, author, historian, biographer, attorney/lawyer, American writer (Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Rip Van Winkle), was born in New York City. "No man is so methodical as a complete idler, and none so scrupulous in measuring out his time as he whose time is worth nothing."
(DTnet, 11/28/97)(HN, 4/3/98)(AP, 9/10/98)
1790 Apr 3, Revenue Marine Service (US Coast Guard) was created.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1796 Apr 3, The 1st elephant was shipped to the US from Bengal, India, by Broadway showman Jacob Croninshield.
(SFC, 11/18/00, p.B3)
1822 Apr 3, Edward Everett Hale, American clergyman and author (Man without a Country), was born.
(HN, 4/3/98)
1823 Apr 3, William Macy "Boss" Tweed, New York City political boss, was born.
(HN, 4/3/98)
1837 Apr 3, John Burroughs (d.1921), American author and naturalist, was born. “Time does not become sacred to us until we have lived it, until it has passed over us and taken with it a part of ourselves."
(HN, 4/3/01)(AP, 5/28/98)
1838 Apr 3, Leon Michel Gambetta, French attorney, premier (1881-82), was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1838 Apr 3, Francesco Antommarchi (57), Napoleon's physician on St Helena, died.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1841 Apr 3, From Nassau, Bahamas, a British magistrate wrote that 193 shipwrecked African slaves from the ship Trouvadore were found naked on the shores of the East Caicos Island. The slaves were then quarantined in a jail and given food and clothing.
(AP, 8/21/04)
1842 Apr 3, Hermann Karl Vogel, German astronomer, was born.
(HN, 4/3/01)
1848 Apr 3, The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was established and began trading grain futures.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Board_of_Trade)(Econ, 9/20/03, p.68)
1854 Apr 3, The SF Mint opened at 608 Commercial St. It issued $4 million in gold coins this year. An Indian princess appeared on gold dollars. The mint used equipment previously employed by SF-based Moffatt & Company.
(SFC, 8/21/01, p.A12)(SSFC, 1/28/03, p.E1)(WSJ, 12/12/03, p.W15)(SFC, 4/2/04, p.F3)(Economist, 9/8/12, p.18)
1854 Apr 3, John Wilson (b.1785), Scottish advocate, literary critic and author, the writer most frequently identified with the pseudonym Christopher North of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, died in Edinburgh. A scene from his play "The City of the Plague" was adapted by Alexander Pushkin as "A Feast in Time of Plague" and become a subject of a number of adaptations.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilson_%28Scottish_writer%29)(Econ., 7/6/20, p.70)
1856 Apr 3, Gunpowder in church exploded killing 4,000 in Rhodes.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1859 Apr 3, Reginald De Koven, composer (Robin Hood), was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1860 Apr 3, The US Pony Express mail system began when one horse and rider carrying a bulging mail pouch began the 10 1/2-day run from San Francisco, Calif., to St. Joseph, Mo. Riders left St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, Ca., at the same time. They averaged 12 mph over 75-100 mile segments between 157 relay stations located 5 to 20 miles apart. The freight company of Russell, Majors and Waddell began the service. The enterprise failed after only 18 months, however, due to mounting financial losses and competition from the ever-expanding telegraph network. Donald C. Biggs (d.2000 at 72), prof. of history at SF State, later authored "The Pony Express: Creation of the Legend."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express)(SFC, 2/15/97, p.D4)(AP, 4/3/97)(SFC, 6/12/00, p.A24)(SFC, 7/22/17, p.C2)
1862 Apr 3, A bill was passed to abolish slavery in Washington, D.C. [see Apr 16]
(HN, 4/3/98)
1865 Apr 3, Union forces captured the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
(HFA, '96, p.28)(AP, 4/3/97)(HN, 4/3/98)
1865 Apr 3, Battle at Namozine Church, Virginia (Appomattox Campaign).
(MC, 4/3/02)
1868 Apr 3, An earthquake estimated at magnitude 7.9 hit the Big Island of Hawaii. 46 people were killed in the resulting tsunami at Keauhou and 31 died in a landslide at Kapapala.
(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1868_04_03.php)
1868 Apr 3, Franz Adolf Berwald (71), Swedish composer, died.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1874 Apr 3, Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes, composer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1882 Apr 3, Wood block alarm was invented. When alarm rang it dropped 20 wood blocks.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1882 Apr 3, Outlaw Jesse James (34) was shot in the back and killed at his home in St. Joseph, Mo., by Robert Ford, a cousin and member of his own gang for a $5,000 reward. Jesse and Frank James, the bank robbing James brothers, were born as Woodson and Alexander. In 1995 the body of Jesse James was exhumed for DNA testing. The test proved that it was James, who was killed in 1882. In 2000 Desmond Barry authored the novel “The Chivalry of Crime" based on the story of Jesse James. In 2000 the body of a man, J. Frank Dalton (d.1951), who claimed to be Jesse James was exhumed for DNA analysis.
(AP, 4/3/97)(SFC,12/26/97, p.C22)(SFEC, 4/23/00, BR p.5)(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A4)(HNQ, 6/21/00)(HN, 4/3/02)
1885 Apr 3, Harry St. John Philby, [sheik Abdullah], British explorer, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1885 Apr 3, Gottlieb Daimler’s four-stroke, single-cylinder engine, was registered for patent. It was prerequisite for the riding car and simultaneously the world’s first motorcycle.
(https://tinyurl.com/43a4vrwr)
1888 Apr 3, Gertrude Bridget "Ma" Rainey, American singer, "the mother of the blues," was born. [see Apr 26, 1886]
(HN, 4/3/01)
1893 Apr 3, Leslie Howard, [Stainer], actor (Gone With the Wind), was born in London.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1895 Apr 3, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, composer, was born in Firenze (Florence), Italy.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1897 Apr 3, The Vienna Secession was founded by artists Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, and others. Klimt was chosen as its 1st president. Although Otto Wagner is widely recognized as a fundamental member of the Vienna Secession he was not a founding member. The movement rebelled against the sentimental academic painting of the 19th century.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Secession)(WSJ, 10/22/99, p.W14)(WSJ, 7/11/01, p.A15)
1897 Apr 3, Johannes Brahms (63), German composer, conductor (Hungarian Dances), died.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, p.B11)(MC, 4/3/02)
1898 Apr 3, Henry R. Luce (d.1967), magazine publisher, founder of Time, Fortune and Life, was born. “Show me a man who claims he is objective and I’ll show you a man with illusions."
(HN, 4/3/01)(AP, 3/9/98)
1901 Apr 3, Richard D'Oyly Carte, promoter (Gilbert & Sullivan operas), died.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1904 Apr 3, Iron Eyes Cody, actor (Black Gold, Ernest Goes to Camp), was born in Tulsa, OK.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1910 Apr 3, Alaska's Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, was climbed.
(HN, 4/3/98)
1911 Apr 3, The US Supreme Court ruled against Dr. Miles Medical Co., which had sued a distributor for selling at cut rate prices. In 1937 Congress passed the Free Trade Law letting states selectively allow price fixing to protect small retailers.
(http://supreme.justia.com/us/220/373/)(WSJ, 8/18/08, p.A12)
1913 Apr 3, British suffragette Emily Pankhurst was sentenced to 3 years in jail.
(http://suffragettes.nls.uk/media/28977/project_1_4_1.pdf)
1915 Apr 3, Paul Touvier, war criminal, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1916 Apr 3, Herb Caen (d.1997), columnist (SF Chronicle), was born in Sacramento, Calif.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1917 Apr 3, Lenin left Switzerland for Petrograd.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1918 Apr 3, Sixten Ehrling, conductor (Royal Opera of Stockholm), was born in Malmo, Sweden.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1918 Apr 3, French Gen. Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929) was named the supreme commander of the Allied Forces.
{France, WWI}
(www.firstworldwar.com/source/foch_order.htm)
1919 Apr 3, Austria expelled all Habsburgs.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1920 Apr 3, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre were married at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
(HN, 4/3/02)
1922 Apr 3, Stalin was appointed General Secretary of Communist Party.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1924 Apr 3, Marlon Brando, actor (On the Waterfront, The Godfather), was born in Omaha, Neb.
(HN, 4/3/01)(MC, 4/3/02)
1924 Apr 3, Murray Dickie, opera singer, director, was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1924 Apr 3, Doris Von Kappelhoff [Doris Day], American singer and actress, was born in Cincinnati, Oh.
(HN, 4/3/01)(MC, 4/3/02)
1925 Apr 3, Tony Benn, British minister of technology (1968), was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Apr 3, Virgil Grissom (d.1967), Lt. Col. USAF, astronaut (Mercury 4, Gemini 3), was born in Mitchell, Ind. He was the Mercury and Gemini astronaut who was killed in a fire while preparing for the first Apollo flight.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204/grissom.html
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Apr 3, 1st performance of Jean Sibelius' 7th Symphony in C.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Apr 3, Robert Goddard launched his 2nd flight of a liquid-fueled rocket.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Apr 3, Italy established corps of force in order to break powerful unions.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1930 Apr 3, The first of two Academy Awards banquets this year was held in Los Angeles at the Fiesta Room of the Ambassador Hotel. The awards were given for films released between 2 August 1928 and 31 July 1929.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.D5)(www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Academy_Awards_USA/1930-1)
1930 Apr 3, Helmut Kohl, German statesman and chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, was born.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)(HN, 4/3/99)
1930 Apr 3, Ras Tafari became Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
(MC, 4/3/02)
1933 Apr 3, The dirigible Akron crashed into the Atlantic off of New Jersey and killed 73 0f the 76 men aboard.
(SFC, 9/20/97, p.A21)
1933 Apr 3, Royal Air Force Lieutenant David McIntyre and the Scottish Marquess of Clydesdale, flying two open-cockpit Westland aircraft, completed the first overflight and aerial photographic survey of Mount Everest. The British Mount Everest team, battled extreme cold and high winds as they photographed the previously unknown crest of the 29,028-foot peak.
(HNPD, 4/3/99)
1934 Apr 3, Jane van Lawick-Goodall, ethologist (studied African chimps, 1974 Walker Prize), was born in London, England. She was a British anthropologist, known for her work with African chimpanzees. In 2000 her autobiography “Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters, The Early Years, 1934-1966," was edited by Dale Peterson.
(HN, 3/4/99)(SFEC, 6/18/00, BR p.6)(SC, 3/4/02)(MC, 4/3/02)
1936 Apr 3, Bruno Hauptmann, convicted for the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, was electrocuted in Trenton, N.J. The execution took 4 shocks and left Hauptman badly burned. He claimed his innocence until he died. In 1976 NBC aired a show titled The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and Anthony Scaduto published "Scapegoat." In 1982 PBS made the documentary Who Killed the Lindbergh Baby and in 1985 Ludovic Kennedy published "The Airman and the Carpenter." In 1996 a docudrama was aired by HBO based on the Kennedy book.
(WSJ, 9/9/96, p.A16)(AP, 4/3/97)(SSFC, 4/3/11, DB p.46)
1941 Apr 3, Walton's overture "Scapino," premiered in Chicago.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1941 Apr 3, Churchill warned Stalin of German invasion.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1941 Apr 3, Andre Michelin (88), French tire manufacturer, died. In 2004 Herbert Lottman authored "The Michelin Men: Driving an Empire," the story of Andre and Edouard Michelin.
(MC, 4/3/02)(WSJ, 2/20/04, p.W5)
1941 Apr 3, Pal Teleki-von Szek (61), PM Hungary (1920-21, 39-41), committed suicide.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1942 Apr 3, Marsha Mason, actress (Blume in Love, Cinderella Liberty), was born in St Louis, Mo.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1942 Apr 3, The Japanese began their all-out assault on the U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan.
(HN, 4/3/99)
1943 Apr 3, In the SF Bay Area 4 men attempted to escape the federal prison on Alcatraz Island. Harold Brest and Fred Hunter were recaptured. James Boardman and Floyd Hamilton drowned after being wounded by rifle fire from gun towers.
(SSFC, 4/8/18, DB p.54)
1944 Apr 3, Tony Orlando, singer (& Dawn-Tie a Yellow Ribbon), was born in NYC.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1944 Apr 3, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that black citizens are eligible to vote in all elections, including primaries. The Smith vs. Allwright decision ruled "white primaries" unconstitutional.
(HN, 4/3/01)(MC, 4/3/02)
1944 Apr 3, British dive bombers attacked the battle cruiser Tirpitz.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1944 Apr 3, On Orthodox Easter the Allied bombing of Nazi occupied Serbia resulted in the deaths of some 4,000 Serbian civilians. An account of the raids, requested by US Gen'l. Carl Spaatz, found that most of the bombs struck at least 600 yards from their targets.
(SFC, 4/1/99, p.A12)
1945 Apr 3, Nazis began evacuation of camp Buchenwald. [see Apr 20]
(MC, 4/3/02)
1946 Apr 3, Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed outside Manila in the Philippines.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1948 Apr 3, Garrick Ohlsson, pianist (Intl Busoni winner 1969), was born in Bronxville, NY.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1948 Apr 3, The 1st US figure skating championships were held.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1948 Apr 3, Congress adopted and President Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which allocated more than $5 billion in aid for 16 European countries. The Marshall Plan was begun to aid the European nations in their economic recovery following WW II. It provided $13.15 billion over 4 years to 17 European nations.
(SFC, 2/5/97, p.A20)(AP, 4/3/97)(SFEC, 5/25/97, p.A10)(HN, 4/3/98)
1949 Apr 3, Israel signed a ceasefire agreement with Transjordan.
(www.wikipedia.org)
1950 Apr 3, Kurt Julian Weill (50), German composer (Dreigroschenoper), died. His best known work is the music for "The Threepenny Opera." His work also included "Der Jasager." He was married to the singer Lotte Lenya. Letters between the two over a period of 26 years have been edited and translated in a book by Lys Symonette and Kim H Kowalke: "Speak Low (When You Speak Love)." His work also included the theater piece "Der Weg der Verheissung" (The Eternal Road). In 2002 Foster Hirsch authored "Kurt Weill on Stage: From Berlin to Broadway."
(SFC, 5/26/96, BR p.6)(WSJ, 5/4/99, p.A20)(SSFC, 3/17/02, p.M3)
1950 Apr 3, Carter G. Woodson (b.1875), black historian, died. Woodson is best known for is the creation of what became "Black History Month," begun in 1926 as "Negro History Week." The idea of learning more about black history caught on in schools all over the country. Many scholars recognize him as the “Father of Black History." His work included “The Negro in Our History" (1922).
(WSJ, 5/19/05, p.D8)(www.biography.com/articles/Carter-G.-Woodson-9536515)
1951 Apr 3, Christopher Fry's "Sleep of Prisoners," premiered in Oxford.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1952 Apr 3, Dutch Queen Juliana spoke to the US Congress.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1953 Apr 3, Walter Annenberg of Philadelphia began a national TV Guide. His father had published Radio Guide and he bought TV Forecast in Chicago and local television guides in New York, Philadelphia and Washington to begin his operation. A picture of the first cover featured Lucy and Desi Arnaz’ baby (I Love Lucy).
(www.tvhistory.tv/tv_guide1.htm)(WSJ, 5/8/98, p.W10)(www.fiftiesweb.com/pop/tv-guide.htm)
1954 Apr 3, Aristides de Sousa Mendes (b.1885), former Portuguese consul general in Bordeaux, France, died in poverty. He is credited with defying his government’s orders and saving 10,000 European Jews and some 20,000 other nationals by issuing transit visas to “undesirables" fleeing the Nazis during WW II.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristides_de_Sousa_Mendes)(SFC, 2/19/09, p.B5)
1955 Apr 3, In Guadalajara, Mexico, a night train plunged into a canyon and some 300 people were killed.
(SFC, 6/4/98, p.A15)(AP, 2/18/04)
1956 Apr 3, "Silk Stockings" closed at Imperial Theater in NYC after 461 performances.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1956 Apr 3, German war criminals Hinrichsen, Ruhl, Siebens and Viebahn were freed.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1957 Apr 3, Samuel Beckett's "Endgame," premiered in London.
(V.D.-H.K.p.369)(MC, 4/3/02)
1958 Apr 3, "Say, Darling" opened at ANTA Theater NYC for 332 performances.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1958 Apr 3, Fidel Castro's rebels attacked Havana.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1959 Apr 3, David Hyde Pierce, actor (Niles Crane-Fraiser), was born in NY.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1959 Apr 3, "Charlie Brown" by The Coasters was banned by the BBC because it contained the word "spitball."
(AP, 4/3/03)
1961 Apr 3, Eddie Murphy, actor (SNL, 48 Hours, Beverly Hill Cop, Raw), was born in Brooklyn, NY.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1961 Apr 3, In San Francisco thousands of people took part in the 39th Easter Sunrise Service on Mount Davidson.
(SSFC, 4/3/11, DB p.46)
1962 Apr 3, Manolis Kalomiris (78), Greek classical composer, died.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manolis_Kalomiris)
1964 Apr 3, Stuart Anderson (1922-2016) founded the Black Angus chain of restaurants with the first one opening in Seattle. The first steak dinners sold for $2.99. The chain was sold in 1972. By 2016 there were some 45 Black Angus Steakhouse, mostly in California.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Angus_Steakhouse)(SFC, 6/10/16, p.E5)
1966 Apr 3, Three-thousand South Vietnamese Army troops led a protest against the Ky regime in Saigon.
(HN, 4/3/98)
1968 Apr 3, Less than 24 hours before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers, "It really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountain top, and I don't mind."
(AP, 4/3/98)
1968 Apr 3, North Vietnam agreed to meet with US representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1971 Apr 3, Manfred Bennington Lee (65), detective writer, died. Brooklyn cousins Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee (b.1905), used Ellery Queen as both a fictional character and a pseudonym.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellery_Queen)
1971 Apr 3, Joseph Valachi (b.1903), US gangster, died at La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution in Texas. A biography heavily influenced by Valachi’s memoirs and by interviews with Valachi was written by journalist Peter Maas and published in 1968 as The Valachi Papers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Valachi)
1972 Apr 3, Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) returned to the US after a twenty-year absence.
(HN, 4/3/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin)
1972 Apr 3, Ferde Grofe (b.1892), US pianist and composer (Grand Canyon Suite), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferde_Grof%C3%A9)
1974 Apr 3, A tape from the SLA announced Patty Hearst’s decision to “stay and fight" with the SLA.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W22,23)
1974 Apr 3, The Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation of the Congress reported that $476,531 in back taxes and interest was owed by President Richard Nixon. Responding to charges of fraud, Nixon requested the committee investigation of his taxes and, upon its report, agreed to pay. The report made no conclusion regarding fraud.
(HNQ, 6/1/98)(www.house.gov/jct/aboutjct_mandate.html)
1974 Apr 3, A series of 148 deadly tornadoes struck wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada; some 330 people were killed in 13 states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Total property damage was estimated at $600 million. In 2007 Mark Levine authored “F5: Devastation, Survival, and the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak of the 20th Century."
(AP, 4/3/99)(WSJ, 9/13/01, p.B11)(SSFC, 9/4/05, p.A7)(WSJ, 6/16/07, p.P10)
1975 Apr 3, Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) was stripped of the world chess title for refusing to defend it.
(www.bobby-fischer.net/)
1975 Apr 3, Mary Ure (b.1933), Scottish actress (Sons & Lovers, Where Eagles Dare), died.
{Scotland, Film Star, Theater}
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ure)
1978 Apr 3, In the 50th Academy Awards "Annie Hall" won as film. Richard Dreyfuss won as best actor (The Goodbye Girl) and Diane Keaton won as best actress (Annie Hall).
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271340/)
1979 Apr 3, Democrat Jane M. Byrne (1934-2014) was elected as the 1st woman mayor of Chicago, defeating Republican Wallace D. Johnson. She continued in office to 1983 when she lost to state Sen. Harold Washington.
(AP, 4/3/97)(SSFC, 11/16/14, p.C8)
1979 Apr 3, In Belgium Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens (b.1936) became prime minister for the 1st of 9 times.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfried_Martens)
1981 Apr 3, Juan Terry Trippe (b.1899), American commercial aviation pioneer, entrepreneur and the founder of Pan American World Airways, died in NYC.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Trippe)
1982 Apr 3, Britain dispatched a naval task force to the south Atlantic to reclaim the disputed Falkland Islands from Argentina. The UN Security Council demanded Argentina withdraw from Falkland Islands.
(AP, 4/3/02)
1983 Apr 3, Martin Cooper, Motorola project manager, demonstrated the 1st mobile phone, the DynaTAC 8000x. It was designed by Rudy Krolopp. The 2½ pound cell phone was soon made available for $3,995.
(SFC, 4/12/00, p.D3)(SFC, 4/3/03, p.B1)(NW, 3/17/03, p.14)(SFC, 8/17/11, p.D1)
1984 Apr 3, Coach John Thompson of Georgetown University became the first African-American coach to win an NCAA basketball tournament.
(HN, 4/3/99)
1985 Apr 3, The landmark Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood closed after 56 years in business.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1986 Apr 3, US national debt hit $2,000,000,000,000 (2 trillion).
(http://tinyurl.com/ftr8g)
1986 Apr 3, Peter Pears (b.1910), English tenor (Death in Venice), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pears)
1987 Apr 3, Stock prices rocketed on Wall Street as the Dow Jones industrial average soared 69.89 points, ending the day at a record 2,390.34.
(AP, 4/3/97)
1987 Apr 3, Duchess of Windsor's jewels were auctioned for 31,380,197 pounds ($50 million).
(http://tinyurl.com/l4o9h)
1988 Apr 3, Secretary of State George P. Shultz arrived in Israel to launch a fresh U.S. peace initiative, telling the Israelis that the Palestinians must be included in negotiations.
(AP, 4/3/98)
1989 Apr 3, The University of Michigan Wolverines won the NCAA championship by defeating Seton Hall in overtime, 80-79.
(AP, 4/3/99)
1990 Apr 3, Sarah Vaughan (66), Jazz singer, died in suburban Los Angeles.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1990 Apr 3, A delegation from the rebellious republic of Lithuania met with an adviser to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1991 Apr 3, "Penn & Teller Refrigerator Tour" opened at Eugene O'Neill in NYC.
(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4636)
1991 Apr 3, The UN Security Council (Resolution 687) adopted a Gulf War truce resolution demanding that Iraq abolish weapons of mass destruction, renounce terrorism and pay reparations.
(AP, 4/3/01)(SFC, 9/24/02, p.A12)
1991 Apr 3, English novelist Graham Greene died at age 86. His wife, Vivien Dayrell-Browning, died in 2003 at age 98. Greene had told his wife that he had had 32 other women. His books included “The Quiet American" (1955). In his so-called “Catholic" novels he challenged the idea that God is a cruel, unstinting Rules Keeper. In 2004 Norman Sherry completed “The Life of Graham Greene, Vol. III, 1955-1991."
(AP, 4/3/01)(SFC, 8/25/03, p.B4)(SFC, 10/2/04, p.E2)(WSJ, 10/6/04, p.D14)
1992 Apr 3, President Bush, speaking in Philadelphia, said members of Congress should shorten their annual sessions and retire after 12 years, calling for changes in "a failed status quo"; Democratic leaders accused Bush of "scapegoating."
(AP, 4/3/97)
1993 Apr 3, The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., opened. it replaced the Old Corner House Museum on Main St. that had housed the artist’s nearly 600 works.
1993 Apr 3, President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin opened a weekend summit in Vancouver, B.C., beginning talks after a luncheon with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
(AP, 4/3/98)
1993 Apr 3, Pinky Lee (85), former children's TV show host, died of a heart attack at his California home.
(AP, 4/3/03)
1994 Apr 3, Frank Wells, president of the Walt Disney Co., died in helicopter crash while returning from a ski trip in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.
(www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Frank_Wells)
1994 Apr 3, In his Easter Sunday address, Pope John Paul II expressed hope that the joy of Christianity would overwhelm the din of violence and hate.
(AP, 4/3/99)
1995 Apr 3, UCLA defeated Arkansas, 89-78, to win the NCAA basketball championship.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1995 Apr 3, Former United Way of America President William Aramony was convicted in Alexandria, Va., of 25 counts of fraud for stealing nearly $600,000 dollars from the nation's biggest charity.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1996 Apr 3, Much of North America was treated to a total lunar eclipse.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.62)
1996 Apr 3, FBI agents arrested a suspect thought to be the Unabomber. Theodore John Kaczynski was arrested near Lincoln, Montana on a tip from his brother. His mail bombs had killed 3 and injured 23 over the last 17 years. An original draft of his manifesto “Industrial Society and Its Future" was found some days later.
(WSJ, 4/4/96, A-1)(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-1)(AP, 4/3/97)
1996 Apr 3, A US Air Force jetliner crashed near Dubrovnik, Croatia, and 35 people on board were killed including Ron Brown, Sec. of Commerce. Brown had been leading a delegation of business executives to the former Yugoslavia to explore business opportunities that might help rebuild the war-torn region.
(WSJ, 4/4/96, A-1)(WSJ, 4/5/96, p.A-1)(AP, 4/3/97)
1996 Apr 3, Carl Stokes died of cancer AT 68. He was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967, the first black mayor of a major US city. He had been on medical leave from his post since 1994 as ambassador to the Seychelles.
(WSJ, 4/4/96, A-1)(AP, 4/3/97)
1997 Apr 3, About 2,000 youngsters in California and Georgia lined up for shots to protect them against hepatitis from a contaminated shipment of frozen strawberries.
(AP, 4/3/98)
1997 Apr 3, In Tennessee 6 chained prisoners burned to death when their transport vehicle caught fire.
(WSJ, 4/4/97, p.A1)
1998 Apr 3, Pres. Clinton warned that Japanese officials “have to make a break" with their past policies. Moody’s Investor’s Services changed its outlook on Japan’s government debt to “negative" from “stable."
(SFC, 4/4/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 3, Douglas Fred Groat, a disgruntled spy fired by the CIA, was charged with espionage and extortion. Groat later pleaded guilty to extortion, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
(AP, 4/3/03)
1998 Apr 3, The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 9,000 for the first time, but finished with a 3.23 point drop at 8,983.41.
(AP, 4/3/03)
1998 cApr 3, A 2-day meeting called by the Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers was attended by 18 African nations, over a dozen European countries and Japan, Canada and Argentina. They endorsed measures to control the spread of light weapons.
(SFC, 4/6/98, p.A13)
1999 Apr 3, In Louisiana a tornado hit north of Shreveport and 10 people sere reported killed with some 100 injured.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A2)
1999 Apr 3, Pres. Clinton authorized $50 million in emergency funds for Kosovo refugees and urged Americans to make donations.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A11)
1999 Apr 3, A small plane crashed in a snowstorm San Diego County and 4 people on board were killed.
(SFC, 4/5/99, p.A5)
1999 Apr 3, NATO missiles struck downtown Belgrade for the first time, destroying the headquarters of security forces accused of waging a campaign against Kosovo Albanians. NATO bombs struck the Serbian Internal Ministry buildings near the Sava River.
(SFC, 4/3/99, p.A1)(AP, 4/3/00)
1999 Apr 3, Melaim Bellanica, a villager from Velike Krusa, handed to international media a 5-day-old, smuggled video clip of Serb atrocities from his home.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 3, Montenegro announced that over 31,000 Kosovar Albanians had entered the country since NATO assaults began and that it was facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 3, Macedonia, overwhelmed by some 70,000 Kosovar Albanians, declared that it won't accept any more refugees unless they are sent on to other European countries.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 3, Montenegro announced that over 31,000 Kosovar Albanians had entered the country since NATO assaults began and that it was facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 3, It was reported that North Korea would run out of food this month and that some 2 million people would be packed off to the countryside to farm in the 4th year of famine.
(SFC, 4/3/99, p.A3)
1999 Apr 3, Lionel Bart, born as Lionel Beglieter, died at age 68 in London. He wrote and composed the 1960 musical "Oliver" based on the Dickens novel "Oliver Twist."
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.B12)
1999 Apr 3, In Sri Lanka 15 rebels were killed at Janakapurna village and 4 soldiers were killed by a land mine in Tanmakeny village. 5 other rebels were killed in the north.
(SFC, 4/5/99, p.A9)
2000 Apr 3, In Indianapolis Michigan State beat the Florida Gators for the NCAA basketball championship, 89-to-76.
(WSJ, 4/5/00, p.A24)(AP, 4/3/01)
2000 Apr 3, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled that Microsoft violated the Sherman Act by tying its Internet browser to its operating system, and by keeping “an oppressive thumb" on competitors during the race to link Americans to the Internet.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A1)(AP, 4/3/01)
2000 Apr 3, The US granted visas to the immediate family of Elian Gonzalez along with a cousin, doctor, and teacher. 22 other visas were under review.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, US defense chief Cohen said that the US would join an int’l. force in south Lebanon when Israel pulls out.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants at New York Univ. may organize a union.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A3)
2000 Apr 3, The Nasdaq plunged 349 points while the Dow rose 300.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, In Massachusetts the nation’s most comprehensive gun safety laws went into effect.
(SFC, 4/3/00, p.A11)
2000 Apr 3, It was reported that 6 prestigious int’l. universities and cultural institutions planned to sell knowledge and education over the Internet via the Fathom Web site.
(SFC, 4/3/00, p.A5)
2000 Apr 3, In Bosnia NATO troops arrested Momcilo Krajisnik, former speaker of the Bosnian Serb assembly, for war crimes and flew him to the Netherlands to stand trial. In 2006 Momcilo Krajisnik was convicted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague for persecuting and forcibly expelling non-Serbs during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. He was released in 2013 after serving two-thirds of a reduced 20-year sentence.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A10)(SFC, 8/31/13, p.A6)
2000 Apr 3, In Colombia leftist rebels of the national Liberation Army kidnapped 23 motorists in northern Cesar state after calling for a transportation strike.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A12)
2000 Apr 3, Jean Dominique (69), radio journalist, was killed by 2 gunmen as he drove in for a morning newscast in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In 2004 Jonathan Demme debuted his documentary film "The Agronomist," a paean to Dominique. Claudy Gassant rose to fame in Haiti as the investigative judge tasked with finding out who murdered Dominique and a security guard. Gassant was found dead on July 31, 2021, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic where he recently had been living.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A12)(WSJ, 1/29/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/30/04, p.E6)(Miami Herald, 8/1/21)
2000 Apr 3, In Madagascar a cyclone left 2 people dead and nearly flattened the town of Antalaha.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, In Russia 2 cosmonauts were scheduled to lift off for the Mir space station.
(WSJ, 4/3/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 3, Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq.
(SFC, 4/4/00, p.A12)
2001 Apr 3, President Bush warned China it risked damaging relations with the United States unless it quickly released the American crew of a damaged Navy spy plane. The plane had made an emergency landing in China after colliding with a Chinese fighter.
(AP, 4/3/02)
2001 Apr 3, The DJIA fell 292 to 9,485. The Nasdaq fell almost 110 to 1,673.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, US agents seized over 7 tons of marijuana from a tractor-trailer at the Tijuana border. It was believed to be the largest seizure along the US-Mexican border and was valued at $12.1 million.
(SFC, 4/5/01, p.A4)
2001 Apr 3, A US fishing boat, the Arctic Rose out of Seattle, sank in the Bering Sea and all 15 aboard were feared dead.
(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, Israel fired rockets at 4 Gaza Strip targets after a 10-year-old boy was injured in a mortar assault on a Jewish settlement.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A10)
2001 Apr 3, In Russia Pres. Putin in his state-of-the-nation address promised a government-wide shakeup to reverse capital flight and sustain new economic growth.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A11)(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, In Russia the NTV leadership was ousted by Gazprom, a large stake holder. Protesting journalists barred access to the Ostankino studios.
(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, Sri Lanka agreed to open peace talks with Tamil rebels following diplomatic initiative by Norway.
(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2002 Apr 3, Cincinnati, Ohio, agreed to restrictions on the use of force and announced plans to establish an independent agency to investigate police brutality complaints.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A4)
2002 Apr 3, Roy Huggins, novelists, TV writer and producer, died at age 87. His shows included “Cheyenne," “The Fugitive" and “The Rockford Files."
(SFC, 4/15/02, p.B5)
2002 Apr 3, The US-financed Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty began broadcasting in the North Caucasus region that included Chechnya. The Kremlin viewed the broadcasts as interference with internal affairs.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A6)
2002 Apr 3, Afghan security officials reported the arrests of hundreds of political opponents who planned a conspiracy and bombing campaign that was linked to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. 140 men were released the next day, while 160 remained under detention.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A8)(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A9)
2002 Apr 3, In Argentina Domingo Cavallo, former economy minister (1991-1996), was arrested for illegal arms sales to Croatia and Ecuador in the 1990s, diverting 6,500 tons of weapons worth over $100 million. He was indicted Apr 10 for “aggravated contraband."
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A7)(SFC, 4/11/02, p.A10)
2002 Apr 3, In Ambon, Indonesia, a car bomb killed 4 people and wounded 43.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A8)
2002 Apr 3, Israeli tanks entered the West Bank cities of Jenin, Salfeet and Nablus. At least 1 Israeli soldier and 12 Palestinians were killed. Gunners from Lebanon’s Hezbollah exchanged artillery and mortar fire with Israeli troops. Scores of Palestinian gunmen were holed up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The Egyptian government announced a cutoff of official contacts with Israel. Syria shifted 20,000 troops in Lebanon toward the Lebanese-Syrian border reportedly in accord with the 1989 Taif agreement.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A1,13)(WSJ, 4/4/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A4)
2002 Apr 3, Pakistan’s Gen. Musharraf visited Afghanistan and presented Hamid Karzai with a $10 million donation.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A8)
2003 Apr 3, Moving with a sense of wartime urgency, the House and Senate separately agreed to give President Bush nearly $80 billion to carry out the battle against Iraq and meet the threat of terrorism.
(AP, 4/3/04)
2003 Apr 3, In the 16th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom US Marines and infantry moved with surprising speed toward Baghdad. Central Command said there was "increasing evidence" that Saddam Hussein's regime had lost control of its fighting forces. US troop casualty totaled: 51 dead, 16 missing and 7 captured. A power blackout in Baghdad coincided with heavy artillery fire. US forces attacked Saddam Int'l. Airport.
(AP, 4/3/03)(SFC, 4/4/03, p.W1)(SSFC, 5/4/03, p.C3)
2003 Apr 3, A car exploded at a US checkpoint in western Iraq, killing three coalition soldiers, a pregnant woman and the car's driver. Atlantic magazine editor Michael Kelly, 46, became the first American journalist to be killed while covering the Iraq war when his Army Humvee came under fire and rolled into a canal.
(AP, 4/4/03)(AP, 4/3/08)
2003 Apr 3, US Sec. of State Colin Powell assured NATO allies and the EU that the Bush administration seeks a partnership with the United Nations for the reconstruction of post-war Iraq.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, The International Monetary Fund warned that the US housing market, after two years of record sales over and strong increases in home prices, could be headed for a fall.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, It was reported that Alzheimer's symptoms were slowed by the drug memantine.
(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 3, Afghan militia soldiers and 2-day blistering airstrikes by US-led coalition planes killed eight suspected Taliban fighters in the southern mountains.
(AP, 4/4/03)
2003 Apr 3, In Chechnya a bus was blown apart by a remote-controlled mine, killing at least six people.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, The Colombia government said it is handing over about 14,000 acres of farmland seized from drug traffickers to poor farmers, marking Pres. Alvaro Uribe's first effort at agrarian reform. Efforts to cancel the property rights of drug traffickers were to be stepped up along with the transfer of some 750,000 acres of their property to peasants.
(AP, 4/3/03)(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 3, Cuban security forces arrested the hijackers of a passenger ferry, rescuing nearly 50 hostages.
(AP, 4/3/04)
2003 Apr 3, French air traffic controllers, postal workers and other public employees brought much of the country to a halt with a one-day strike over government plans to overhaul the pension system.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder said he hoped for a quick victory by US and British forces in Iraq.
(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.A7)
2003 Apr 3, Haiti's government officially sanctioned voodoo as a religion, allowing practitioners to begin performing ceremonies from baptisms to marriages with legal authority.
(AP, 4/10/03)(AP, 2/11/04)
2003 Apr 3, A car exploded at a US checkpoint in western Iraq, killing 3 coalition soldiers, a pregnant woman and the car's driver. Banditry and plundering were reported across the countryside. Atlantic magazine editor Michael Kelly (46), became the first American journalist to be killed while covering the war when his Army Humvee came under fire and rolled into a canal.
(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)(AP, 4/4/03)(AP, 4/3/08)
2003 Apr 3, In northeastern Congo 966 people were killed in attacks by armed militants on villages in Ituri province. UN investigators later discovered some 20 mass graves in the region.
(AP, 4/6/03)
2003 Apr 3, Israeli forces evicted some 1,500-3,000 Palestinian men from their homes in the Tulkarem Refugee Camp and told them to stay out for 3 days. Several Palestinians were killed in Gaza and West Bank raids.
(SFC, 4/4/03, p.A8)(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 3, Ivory Coast's insurgents ended their boycott of a new unity government and urged the international community to help make it work.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, Peru's Congress voted to create a Senate and return to a bicameral legislature, a decade after former Pres. Fujimori shut down the two houses in his so-called self coup.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, Serbia and Montenegro became a member of the Council of Europe.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, In Spain a female doctor described as mentally unbalanced stabbed several people at a Madrid hospital, killing a colleague and a patient and wounding six others.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 3, Venezuela’s government fired 828 more employees from Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state oil monopoly, for participating in a two-month strike to oust Pres. Chavez. PDVSA lost many of its most experienced and best-qualified employees. Altogether Chavez fired some 18,000 employees of PDVSA this year and many of them soon found work Colombia.
(AP, 4/4/03)(Econ, 8/12/06, p.56)(Econ, 7/19/14, p.31)
2004 Apr 3, Soccer player Freddy Adu (14), became the youngest athlete in a major American professional sport in well over a century as he entered a game between his team, D.C. United, and the San Jose Earthquakes (D.C. United won, 2-1).
(AP, 4/3/05)
2004 Apr 3, The US Postal Service unveiled a new John Wayne commemorative postage stamp for its annual "Legends of Hollywood" issue at a private fund-raiser.
(AP, 4/5/04)
2004 Apr 3, Hundreds of thousands of Germans protested against Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's unpopular drive to trim the welfare state.
(AP, 4/3/04)
2004 Apr 3, A U.S.-led multinational force trying to bring stability to Haiti helped detain Jean Robert, a rebel sympathizer and gang leader accused of terrorizing supporters of Aristide.
(AP, 4/9/04)
2004 Apr 3, In Iraq 2 attacks on Iraqi police south of Baghdad killed four people. Col. Wissam Hussein, the police chief of Mahmudiyah, was shot to death by gunmen dressed as police.
(AP, 4/3/04)(SSFC, 4/4/04, p.A3)
2004 Apr 3, Israeli troops arrested 23 wanted Palestinians early in a large-scale raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. Zohair Arda, a Palestinian gunman, broke into an Israeli settlement early, killing an Israeli man and wounding his 12-year-old daughter in their home. Israeli troops entered the Tulkarem refugee camp overnight and demolished the home of Arda (18), who was shot dead during the attack.
(AP, 4/3/04)(AP, 4/4/04)
2004 Apr 3, Slovaks voted for a new president. Former authoritarian PM Meciar led after the first round of Slovakia's presidential election. Low turnout set up an Apr 17 runoff against a former political ally.
(AP, 4/4/04)(WSJ, 4/5/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 3, In Spain Sarhane Abdelmajid Fakhet (35), a Tunisian national and the alleged ringleader of last month's train bombings in Madrid, was among 5 suspects who blew themselves up as police raided their apartment.
(AP, 4/4/04)(SFC, 4/5/04, p.A3)(WSJ, 4/6/04, p.A1)
2005 Apr 3, Daylight Savings Time (DST) began on this 1st Sunday in April.
(SFC, 4/2/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 3, In Arizona Minuteman anti-immigrant activists began showing up to guard the border against illegal crossings. Grupo Beta, a Mexican government-sponsored organization that tries to discourage people from crossing illegally and aids those stranded in the desert, began patrolling that area along with state police officers.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 3, Residents in China’s Zhejiang province clashed with police officers and workers sent in to quell their protests over pollution from chemical factories. As many as 60 cars were destroyed and some people were reported killed.
(SSFC, 10/2/05, p.C1)(www.christusrex.org/www1/news/nyt-4-14-05b.html)
2005 Apr 3, Iraqi lawmakers elected Sunni Arab Hachem Hassani as parliament speaker and Shiite and Kurdish leaders as his deputies, ending days of deadlock.
(AP, 4/3/05)(WSJ, 4/4/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 3, In eastern Pakistan hundreds of Islamic radicals protesting against the participation of women in a road race hurled stones and bricks at competitors, and clashed with police, leaving at least 18 people injured.
(AP, 4/3/05)
2005 Apr 3, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced plans for a jobs program aimed at militants.
(SFC, 4/12/05, p.A6)(http://tinyurl.com/6ldnx)
2005 Apr 3, In central Saudi Arabia a gun battle began that left 7 suspected al-Qaida militants killed in a shootout with Saudi security forces in ar-Rass.
(AP, 4/4/05)
2005 Apr 3, In southern Thailand 2 near-simultaneous bombs exploded, including one at the airport in Hat Yai city killing one person and wounding a dozen.
(AFP, 4/3/05)
2005 Apr 3, A day after the death of Pope John Paul II, the body of the pontiff lay in state. Millions prayed and wept at services across the globe, as the Vatican prepared for the ritual-filled funeral and conclave that would choose a successor.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, The Pentagon released 2,733 pages of declassified transcripts of Guantanamo Bay detainee hearings.
(SFC, 4/4/06, p.A4)
2006 Apr 3, In Boston a 10-ton construction platform collapsed and fell 13 stories killing 3 people on Boylston St.
(SFC, 4/4/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 3, Denver area transit workers went on strike for the 1st time in 24 years. A tentative contract was reached on April 5.
(SFC, 4/4/06, p.A3)(SFC, 4/6/06, p.A18)
2006 Apr 3, David Wittig, former chairman and CEO of Westar Energy, was sentenced in Kansas to 18 years in prison for defrauding the company. Former VP David Lake was sentenced to 15 years. Both men were ordered to pay fines of $5 million each.
(WSJ, 4/4/06, p.C3)
2006 Apr 3, Florida beat UCLA, 73-57, to win its first NCAA title in men's basketball.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2006 Apr 3, Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins and Joe Dumars were among six people elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2006 Apr 3, Constellation Brands and Vincor Int’l., Canada’s largest wine company announced plans for a $1.3 billion merger.
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.F2)
2006 Apr 3, Australia agreed to sell China uranium for nuclear power stations despite concerns that Beijing could divert the material to atomic weapons.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Czech officials declared a state of emergency in seven flood-hit regions while rivers continued to rise in neighboring European countries, forcing evacuations in some areas. Flooding was also reported in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, The National Bank of Greece paid $2.8 billion for 46% of Finansbank, Turkey’s 3rd largest bank. It planned a public offer for a controlling stake.
(Econ, 4/8/06, p.74)
2006 Apr 3, In western Guatemala 4 young men accused of trying to rob a school were whipped by their parents in a sentence dictated by Mayan elders.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, A suicide truck bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in northeastern Baghdad as worshippers were leaving after evening prayers, killing at least 10 people and wounding 30. A car bombing in Baghdad's eastern Shiite slum of Sadr City killed at least two civilians and wounded six others, including a 9-year-old boy. 4 people were wounded when a car bomb struck the central district of Karradah in Baghdad. Six people, a navy officer, two policemen, two workers at an electrical plant and a boy, were killed by drive-by shooters in a market area of the southern city of Basra.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, PM Bertie Ahern pledged that Ireland will legalize civil partnerships for gay couples, as he opened new offices for the country's main gay rights group.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, In Jordan a bomb exploded at a shop selling Iraqi scrap metal, killing two people and wounding four.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Dozens of Mexican newspapers, frustrated by fruitless police probes of slain and missing journalists, simultaneously published the first in a series of reports on the cases.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Morocco’s state news agency MAP said security forces were holding nine suspected al Qaeda activists. Local newspapers said they were part of a ring that plotted bomb attacks in France, Italy and Morocco.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, The chief of Nepal's communist rebels promised to suspend attacks on the capital ahead of a planned nationwide strike, a first sign of easing tensions in a battle of nerves between the king's government and its opponents.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, In Pakistan a roadside bomb killed five people riding a minibus and security forces shot dead two suspected militants in North Waziristan province.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Negotiations in Vienna on the future of Kosovo appeared to founder as UN mediators struggled to overcome Serb demands for autonomy within the majority Albanian territory.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded not guilty before an international war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, denying he'd helped destabilize West Africa through killings, sexual slavery and sending children into combat.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2006 Apr 3, A senior South African policeman went on a shooting rampage in Johannesburg, killing eight people, including a 2-year-old baby, before being shot dead by colleagues. A pedestrian was killed during a police chase of the suspect.
(AP, 4/4/06)
2006 Apr 3, Jan Egeland, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official in Sudan, said the government barred him from visiting Darfur to prevent him seeing poor conditions there.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Mohammed al-Maghout (72), a Syrian poet and playwright known for his satirical depictions of authoritarian Arab regimes, died of a stroke at his home in Damascus.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, PM Thaksin claimed victory in Thailand's general election that followed weeks of anti-government protests, saying his party won more than half of the popular vote, the threshold he had set for staying in office.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 3, Venezuela seized control of oil fields from France's Total SA and Italy's Eni SPA in a show of force against those resisting President Hugo Chavez's efforts to pry more profits from the industry at a time of high oil prices.
(AP, 4/4/06)
2006 Apr 3, Dao Dinh Binh (61) Vietnam's transport minister resigned and his deputy was arrested in a major corruption scandal in which public officials embezzled millions of dollars in government funds. The reformist newspapers Thanh Nien (Young people) and Tuoi Tre (Youth Daily) had published a joint expose of the transport ministry’s road building unit. In 2009 the government refused to renew the contracts for the papers.
(AFP, 4/4/06)(Econ, 1/17/09, p.43)
2007 Apr 3, President Bush denounced Democrats for going on spring break without approving money for the Iraq war; he also criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2007 Apr 3, An AP investigation said CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaida militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries held at secret prisons in Ethiopia, which is notorious for torture and abuse.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, An ex-con shot and killed his ex-girlfriend at the CNN headquarters complex in Atlanta before being wounded by a security guard. Arthur Mann was later convicted of murdering Clara Riddles and sentenced to life without parole.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2007 Apr 3, After a nine-year title drought, Tennessee's Lady Vols basketball team captured a seventh national title, beating Rutgers 59-46.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2007 Apr 3, Eddie Robinson (b.1919), 56-year head football coach at Grambling College, died in Ruston, La.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Robinson_(football_coach))
2007 Apr 3, UN officials in Afghanistan said avalanches and floods triggered by heavy rains and spring snow melt have killed about 150 people in recent days in the mountains of central Asia. The toll in Afghanistan reached 88 with over 50 killed in Pakistan. In southwest Afghanistan 2 French aid workers and their three Afghan staff went missing between Nimroz and neighboring Farah province.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 3, A state news agency said China's government has ordered newspapers to stamp out the common practice of demanding money from people they cover.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Colombian authorities captured Ever Veloza, a fugitive right-wing warlord accused in massacres and of running a murderous criminal band involved in drug trafficking and extortion. He was arrested in the banana-growing Uraba region on the Caribbean coast. Veloza already faces charges in the April 11, 2001, massacre of 26 peasants in the southwestern town of Naya.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for three Israelis accused of training private armies of Colombian drug cartels and right-wing death squads. Yair Klein, Melnik Ferri and Tzedaka Abraham were being sought on charges of criminal conspiracy and instruction in terrorism.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Official figures said the number of Egyptians inside and outside the country has risen to more than 76 million, meaning an Egyptian baby is born every 23 seconds.
(AFP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, A French train with a 25,000-horsepower engine and special wheels broke the world speed record for conventional rail trains, reaching 357.2 mph as it zipped through the countryside to the applause of spectators. It surpassed the record of 320.2 mph set in 1990 by another French train. It fell short of beating the ultimate record set by Japan's magnetically levitated train, which hit 361 mph in 2003.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Nina Wang (69), Asia's richest woman, died in Hong Kong after reports she had been battling cancer, leaving unanswered questions over her estimated $4.2 billion (2.1 billion pound) fortune. Wang successfully battled her father-in-law for a multi-billion dollar estate left by her late husband Teddy Wang, a property tycoon who vanished in 1990. Wang left her $4 billion fortune to Chan Chun-chuen, a master of feng shui in a will dated Oct. 16, 2006. On Feb 2, 2010, a Hong Kong court deemed the will a forgery.
(Reuters, 4/4/07)(AP, 4/20/07)(Econ, 4/21/07, p.78)(AP, 2/2/10)
2007 Apr 3, Activists said traffickers are selling children in India for amounts that are often lower than the cost of animals and most of them end up working as laborers or commercial sex workers.
(Reuters, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a meeting of Islamic clerics that Muslim nations should ultimately replace coalition forces in Iraq after a period of national reconciliation. Cliff Muntu (21), a student at Indonesia’s Institute of Public Administration (IPDN), died from wounds due to hazing by his seniors. This was the 35th death in the school since 1993.
(AP, 4/3/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Muntu)(Econ, 4/21/07, p.49)
2007 Apr 3, Iran reported that an Iranian diplomat in Iraq seized two months ago by uniformed gunmen has been released.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, In Baghdad a senior foreign ministry official said his government was "intensively" seeking the release of five Iranians detained there by the US. Two US soldiers were killed by small-arms fire, one in eastern Baghdad and another on foot patrol in the southern outskirts of the capital. Iraqi and US troops found a huge stash of weapons in a raid on the home of Sunni legislator Khalaf al-Ilyan. They detained at least a dozen men for questioning. Khalaf al-Ilyan, in Jordan for surgery, later denied the charges and accused the Iraqi government and Iran of trying to discredit him because of his criticism of state policies.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AP, 4/6/07)(AP, 4/9/07)
2007 Apr 3, Japan and Thailand signed a free trade agreement that will cut tariffs on a wide range of traded goods, from seafood to automobiles.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar lost an appeal against a decision by the electoral commission to bar him from this month's presidential election. Two courts issued competing rulings on the disqualification, setting up a legal showdown just weeks before an election meant to solidify civilian rule in the country.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Thousands of flag-waving protesters rallied at Pakistan's Supreme Court to urge President Pervez Musharraf to step down for controversially dismissing the country's top judge.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, In the Philippines Pete Amurin, a local election board official in the city of Puerto Rincesa, capital of Palawan island west of Manila, was shot dead at close range near his office.
(AFP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 3, Qatar's PM Sheik Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani resigned and the country's emir appointed the foreign minister as replacement.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, Taiwan Presidential front-runner Ma Ying-jeou pleaded not guilty at his corruption trial in Taipei, saying that his use of a special municipal fund was in keeping with government standards. A helicopter crashed into a radio tower near Kaohsiung and killed 8 crew members.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 3, Thousands of Ukrainian protesters streamed into the capital in the most serious confrontation between the prime minister and the president since the two men faced off during the Orange Revolution.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 3, In Zimbabwe trucks of riot police drove through Harare and military helicopters flew overhead on the first day of a national strike to protest deepening economic hardships blamed on the government of President Robert Mugabe. The strike received a cool response from workers worried about forfeiting vital wages. A UN study said Zimbabwe was Africa's worst economic performer in 2006.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AFP, 4/3/07)
2008 Apr 3, President Bush won NATO's endorsement for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe over Russian objections. The proposal also advanced with Czech officials announcing an agreement to install a missile tracking site for the system in their country. NATO decided not to put Georgia and Ukraine on track to join the alliance after vehement Russian opposition, but the alliance pledged that the strategically important Black Sea nations will become members one day.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, The whistleblowers who exposed maintenance and inspection problems at Southwest Airlines told Congress their jobs were threatened and their reports of noncompliance were ignored for years by their superiors.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel, driven up by an expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans' growing grocery bill and further squeeze struggling ethanol producers.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, ATA Airlines discontinued all flights and filed for bankruptcy.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, It was reported that Nikolai Shaposhnikov and Lev Titarchuk had discovered a small black hole in the Milky Way with the aid of NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite. They presented the findings earlier this week at an American Astronomical Society conference. It was discovered alongside a normal star in a binary system called XTE J1650-500, named for its coordinates in the constellation Ara. The system was discovered in 2001.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost (44), a hip-hop pioneer, died. His acrobatic performance with the legendary Rock Steady Crew in the 1983 movie "Flashdance" helped set off a worldwide breakdancing craze.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In eastern Kunar province, a truck supplying fuel to NATO troops hit a roadside bomb that killed the Afghan driver.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Chile Yasna Provoste, Chile’s education minister, was impeached following the discovery of $560 million shortfall in the ministry for 2004-2006.
(Econ, 5/17/08, p.48)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasna_Provoste)
2008 Apr 3, Hu Jia, a Buddhist Chinese dissident outspoken on Tibet and other sensitive topics, was jailed for three-and-a-half years, a conviction likely to become a focus of rights campaigns ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
(Reuters, 4/3/08)(WSJ, 4/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 3, Ivan Korade (44), a retired Croatian army general suspected in a grisly quadruple murder, died during a shootout with police that also killed one officer. On April 1 Korade was charged with the March 27 killing of four people in his village of Velika Veternicka: a 16-year-old boy, his 62-year-old grandmother and two men, including a former Korade aide.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Ledra Street, a main shopping street in Cyprus' divided capital that had come to symbolize the island's ethnic partition, reopened for the first time in 44 years, boosting hopes for a renewed drive to reunify Cyprus. Authorities were forced to close it for nearly two hours following a dispute over how to police the street.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, French protesters hurled bottles and stones at riot police who responded with tear gas during a march by high school students in Paris over teacher job cuts.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Iraqi troops killed 7 militants and detained 16 in three separate incidents in the Basra area. A coalition air strike there killed two militants. A parked car bomb targeting a police patrol in western Baghdad killed at least one civilian and wounded 10 other people, including three officers. A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi army patrol elsewhere in the predominantly Sunni Yarmouk neighborhood in the capital, killing one soldier and wounding three others. The office of Muqtada al-Sadr called for a "million-strong" turnout for an anti-American demonstration next week to mark the fifth anniversary of the capture of Baghdad by invading US troops. A US airman was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
(AP, 4/3/08)(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, Alitalia edged closer to bankruptcy protection after Air France-KLM abruptly broke off talks to buy the struggling national airline and Alitalia's chairman of seven months resigned in frustration.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Japanese police arrested Olatunbosun Ugbogu (22), a Nigerian national serving in the US Navy, in the March 19 stabbing death of a taxi driver near an American naval base outside Tokyo. He was handed over to Japanese authorities just before the arrest under a bilateral security pact.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Kenya’s president and opposition leader agreed on a cabinet as part of their power-sharing deal to end violence.
(WSJ, 4/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 3, The UN tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict former Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj of murder, torture and rape of Serbs and non-Albanians during the Kosovo war.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Sri Lanka battles along the northern front lines left 21 rebels and five soldiers dead.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Suriname a twin-engine Antonov-AN28, operated by Surinamese carrier Blue Wing airlines, crashed on approach to an airstrip in the Benzdorp mining region, near the country's border with French Guiana. All 19 aboard were killed. Blue Wing, which has operated since 2002, was barred from landing at European airports in June 2006 after French aviation officials found safety deficiencies during an inspection of planes. The airline was removed from the blacklist in 2007 after a commission said the company had resolved the issues.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Tibet Wang Xiangming, the deputy Communist Party secretary of Lhasa, said 800 had been arrested in local violence, while another 280 had surrendered to take advantage of a police offer of leniency. New violence broke out in a volatile Tibetan region of western China, leaving eight people dead. Chinese police opened fire during a "riot" in a Tibetan populated area of southwest China.
(AP, 4/3/08)(AP, 4/4/08)(AFP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, A group of about 200 Uighur Muslims demonstrated against China before the Olympic torch ceremony near Istanbul's Blue Mosque, one of Turkey's most famous tourist destinations.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, Zimbabwe's ruling party geared up for a final battle to keep Robert Mugabe in power, saying it was ready for a presidential election run-off with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
(AFP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 3, President Hugo Chavez ordered the nationalization of Venezuela's cement industry, saying his government cannot allow businesses to continue exporting raw materials needed to help tackle a domestic housing shortage.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2009 Apr 3, US administration officials said Pres. Obama planned to lift some curbs on travel to Cuba, including a ban on family travel and remittances to Cuba.
(WSJ, 4/4/09, p.A1)
2009 Apr 3, The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released a letter disclosing bonus awards of more than $210 million through next year to more than 7,600 employees.
(SFC, 4/4/09, p.C1)
2009 Apr 3, Hassan Abu-Jihaad, a former US Navy sailor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for giving details of ship movements in 2001 to operators of a Web site in London that openly espoused violent jihad against the US.
(SFC, 4/4/09, p.A6)
2009 Apr 3, The Iowa Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling finding that the state's same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples, making Iowa the third state where gay marriage is legal.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Binghampton, NY, Jiverly Wong (41) barricaded the back door of a community center with his car and then opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class, killing 13 people before apparently committing suicide. Officials the next day said the man, believed to be Vietnamese immigrant, was depressed and angry over losing his job and about his poor English skills.
(AP, 4/3/09)(AP, 4/4/09)(SSFC, 4/5/09, p.A15)
2009 Apr 3, Australia endorsed a UN declaration that recognizes indigenous rights, reversing years of opposition and promising a new era in relations between white Australians and the nation's impoverished Aborigines. Australia was one of four nations that voted against the declaration when it was adopted by the General Assembly in 2007.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, Cambodian and Thai soldiers traded fire with machine guns and rocket launchers along a disputed border, killing as many as four people in an escalation of tensions in a long-standing feud over an 11th century temple.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, NATO began its 2-day 60th anniversary summit in France and Germany.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, In France US Pres. Obama won enthusiastic support for his new Afghan war strategy from French Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy, who pledged more police trainers and civilian aid.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Iraq an American soldier died of noncombat-related causes in Anbar province.
(AP, 4/4/09)
2009 Apr 3, Israeli police interrogated the country's new hard-line foreign minister for the 2nd straight day in an ongoing bribery investigation that could make his tenure short-lived. Avigdor Lieberman was questioned for five hours about an investigation involving suspicions of receiving bribes, money laundering and breach of trust.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, A Malawi judge rejected Madonna's request to adopt a second child from Malawi even though the country's child welfare minister had supported Madonna's application to raise the 3-year-old girl.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, Malaysian PM Najib Razak, in his first act after talking office, freed 13 people being held under a law that allows indefinite detention and lifted a ban on two opposition newspapers.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Mexico Alberto Rayas Rodriguez (37), the chief homicide detective in western Jalisco state, was killed while on his way to a government event when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on his car.
(AP, 4/5/09)
2009 Apr 3, In Nigeria a source close to negotiations said Pfizer has agreed to pay $75 million compensation over a 1996 drug trial that caused the death of 11 children in northern Nigeria. Kano state confirmed the settlement on May 14.
(AFP, 4/3/09)(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 Apr 3, The Philippines said it will take needed steps to be stricken from a list of four nations blacklisted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as uncooperative tax havens.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, Sri Lankan troops captured Anandapuram, a key village from the Tamil Tigers, after heavy fighting that left at least 44 guerrillas dead. Police commandos killed 13 Tiger rebels in the eastern district of Ampara.
(AFP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, The Swiss central bank said UBS has transferred its final installment of toxic assets to a special state aid fund, bringing the total to 38.7 billion dollars.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, A Thai citizen was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of insulting the king and his family by posting edited photos of the monarchy on the Internet.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 3, The UN appointed Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor for war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to lead a mission to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 4/4/09, p.A2)
2009 Apr 3, In Venezuela 3 of the capital’s former police chiefs were sentenced to 30 years in prison. They were accused without evidence of complicity in the murder of several supporters of Pres. Chavez, who died during a coup attempt in 2002.
(Econ, 4/11/09, p.36)
2009 Apr 3, The global diamond certification body ordered a ban on trade in diamonds from eastern Zimbabwe over concerns about human rights violations.
(AP, 4/3/09)
2010 Apr 3, In Portland, Maine, about two dozen women drew a crowd of onlookers when they shed their shirts and marched downtown to promote what they call equal-opportunity public toplessness.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 3, Apple Inc. began selling its much-anticipated iPad, drawing eager customers intent on being among the first owners of a tablet-style device that the company is hoping to convince more people they actually need. Some 300,000 iPads were sold the first day.
(AP, 4/3/10)(SFC, 4/6/10, p.D1)
2010 Apr 3, In Los Angeles Nerse Arthur Galstyan (28), an Armenian national killed, 4 people in a restaurant following a dispute and escaped the scene.
(SFC, 4/10/10, p.A4)
2010 Apr 3, The upper house of Afghanistan's parliament backed a decree by President Hamid Karzai that limits foreigners' role in elections, giving him a victory in a dispute that has led to a quarrel with the White House.
(Reuters, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, Australia’s PM Kevin Rudd announced the country’s first population minister, citing concerns about sustainability as the number of people is tipped to balloon within decades.
(AFP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, The 230-meter (754-ft) Shen Neng I, a bulk coal carrier, was on its way to China when it ran aground on a shoal off offshore from the Australian city of Rockhampton. Australian government officials said the stranded ship was leaking oil into the sea and is in danger of breaking up and damaging the Great Barrier Reef. The ship was refloated on April 12.
(Reuters, 4/4/10)(AP, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Dagestan 3 militants there opened fire on police in a drive-by shooting, killing one and injuring another.
(AP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Egypt police arrested Ahmed Mahanna, owner of Dawin publishing, and confiscated copies of "ElBaradei and the Dream of a Green Revolution," a book calling for political change and lauding the former head of the UN nuclear agency, Mohammed ElBaradei.
(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 3, Gunmen in Iraqi military uniforms raided a village outside Baghdad and killed at least 24 people in an execution-style attack, apparently targeting a Sunni group that revolted against al-Qaida and helped turn the tide of the Iraq war.
(AP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeatedly criticized Kyrgyzstan for human rights problems, a strong rebuke to the country once regarded as former Soviet Central Asia's "island of democracy."
(AP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Mexico 13 members of a family were traveling in a vehicle in an area where the Defense Department said soldiers were pursing a convoy of gunmen in the northern state of Tamaulipas. 2 boys were killed by soldiers. The army later said the family got caught in crossfire during the confrontation, in which five other members of the family were wounded. In June Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said soldiers apparently altered the crime scene to try to blame the deaths on drug cartel gunmen.
(AP, 6/16/10)
2010 Apr 3, It was reported that some 4.5 million animals in Mongolia had perished over the last 3 months. A dry summer in 2009 followed by low temperatures and a heavy snow cover, a phenomenon called the zud, afflicted 19 of the countries 21 provinces.
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.44)
2010 Apr 3, In Nigeria at least two people were killed when police fired live rounds to disperse a group of protesting youths in a suburb of Lagos.
(AFP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 3, Pakistani troops fought gunbattles and bombed militant hide-outs in a Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, leaving six soldiers and 30 militants dead.
(AP, 4/3/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Somalia at least 13 people were killed in overnight fighting in Mogadishu. Hizbul Islam's Moalim Hashi Mohamed Farah ordered radio stations to stop broadcasting music and said he has invited foreign fighters to the Horn of Africa nation.
(AP, 4/3/10)(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 3, In South Africa Eugene Terreblanche (69), the leader of a white supremacist group, was attacked and killed by a 21-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy who worked for him on his farm outside Ventersdorp, about 110 km (68 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, following a dispute over pay. The alleged attackers were arrested and charged with murder.
(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Apr 3, In Thailand tens of thousands of protesters swarmed Bangkok's tourist heartland, defying a warning to leave or face arrest.
(AFP, 4/3/10)
2011 Apr 3, In Afghanistan demonstrators battled police in Kandahar city, where an officer was shot dead. Demonstrators also took to the streets of Jalalabad for the first time as Western pleas failed to halt a third day of rage over a Florida pastor's burning of the Quran. A NATO service member was killed in an insurgent attack in the east.
(AP, 4/3/11)(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Afghanistan Lance Cpl. Harry Lew shot himself following hazing by fellow Marines. 3 Marines were later accused of hazing Lew. In 2012 lance Cpl. Jacob Jacoby was sentenced to 30 days in jail and reduction in rank. Two others faced trial.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A6)
2011 Apr 3, Bahraini authorities banned Al-Wasat, the country's main opposition newspaper, in a widening effort to muzzle anti-government media and crackdown on the Shiite opposition in this Sunni-ruled Gulf nation. The Information Ministry agreed to allow the newspaper to resume publishing on April 4 after its editor-in-chief and two other top editors stepped down.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Bangladeshi security officials opened fire and used tear gas to disperse stone-throwing members of a hardline Islamic group protesting a government policy for women's equal right to inheritance, leaving one protester dead and 25 others injured.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Chinese police in Beijing detained outspoken Chinese artist and social critic Ai Weiwei preventing him from taking a flight to Hong Kong. He helped design Beijing's famed "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium but has since irritated the Communist Party government with his activism. On April 7 China confirmed that it has Weiwei, but insisted his case involves "economic crimes" and not human rights.
(AFP, 4/4/11)(SFC, 4/4/11, p.A2)(AP, 4/7/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Colombia Walid Makled, the reputed Venezuelan drug kingpin who Colombia has decided to extradite back home rather than to the US, said in a TV interview that he has videos proving Venezuela's ruling elite is deeply involved in cocaine trafficking.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Egypt gunmen abducted Zeina Effat Sadat (12) the grandniece of the late leader Anwar Sadat, in the upscale Cairo suburb of Heliopolis. They released her nearly 24 hours later for 5 million pounds (about $840,000) in ransom on the desert road from Cairo to the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. Police on April 4 arrested six men for their alleged part in the kidnapping. A briefcase with 2 million pounds (about $340,000) was found on the men.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, The French air accident investigation agency BEA said that a team aboard the expedition ship Alucia using underwater robots "has located pieces of an aircraft ... in the past 24 hours." Air France Flight 447 slammed into the ocean June 1, 2009, after running into an intense high-altitude thunderstorm.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, In India 15 female fetuses were found in jars left on a rubbish dump near a private nursing home in Kishanganj town, Bihar state. Recent census data showed the ratio of girls to boys is at the nation's lowest level since 1947.
(AFP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, Indonesian authorities arrested a Filipino woman, coming from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with more than two pounds (one kg) of heroin at the Adi Sumarmo Airport in Solo. She was allegedly paid $8,000 by an international drug syndicate to carry the heroin.
(AP, 4/7/11)
2011 Apr 3, An Iranian news agency said four officers were killed in an attack on a police station near the Kurdish town of Marivan close to the Iraqi border.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Israel demanded that the United Nations bin a report critical of its deadly 2008-2009 offensive on Gaza after the author, South African judge Richard Goldstone, said he had been wrong to say it had targeted civilians.
(AFP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Workers at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant struggled to stop a radioactive water leak into the Pacific, as the government warned the facility may spread contamination for months. TEPCO workers used a polymer and even newspapers to try to close off pipes through which the water has flowed into a cracked concrete pit, from where it has run into the sea. An earlier attempt to seal the crack with cement failed to stop the leak.
(AFP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Kazakhstan held elections. A heavy turnout looked set to overwhelmingly reaffirm the domination President Nursultan Nazarbayev (70). Provisional figures the next day showed Nazarbayev with 95% of the vote. Opposition politicians had called for a boycott and described the election as a sham.
(AP, 4/3/11)(SFC, 4/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 3, In northern Iraq an American soldier died in a non-combat incident.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, Libyan rebels put their best troops in to battle Muammar Gaddafi's forces for the eastern oil town of Brega while Western warplanes flew overhead and the sound of explosions ripped through the air. At least one person was killed and several wounded when forces loyal to Gaddafi shelled a building in the rebel-held city of Misrata. Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi was reported to have crossed from Libya into neighboring Tunisia and from there flown to Athens.
(AP, 4/3/11)(Reuters, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Mexico municipal police officers on a routine patrol in El Higo, Veracruz state ran into at least 20 gunmen on a dirt road and a firefight erupted. 6 officers, including one woman, died of gunshot wounds in the battle.
(AP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 3, Dutch marines killed 2 pirates and captured 16 others during an operation to free a hijacked Iranian fishing boat of Somalia.
(www.dailybulletin.com/ci_17767176)
2011 Apr 3, Nigeria’s electoral commission postponed the legislative vote to April 9.
(SFC, 4/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 3, Omani authorities said they have released 57 people arrested in crackdowns against pro-reform protesters.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, In eastern Pakistan blasts at a Sufi shrine left at least 44 people dead and some 100 wounded. Police said the blasts in Dera Ghazi Khan were caused by 2 suicide bombers. An unrepentant boy (14) was captured after his explosives failed to detonate. The boy's arm was later amputated as a result of injuries he sustained after he was shot by a guard.
(AFP, 4/3/11)(AP, 4/4/11)(AP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 3, In Somalia pro-government forces reportedly captured Dobley town near Kenya from al-Qaida-linked militants after hours of fighting.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, Syrian President Bashar Assad appointed Adel Safar (58), a former agriculture minister, to form a new government. This was part of a series of overtures toward reform as the country faced a wave of anti-government protests.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 3, In southern Yemen thousands of people took to the streets to demand that their president step down. Police attacked the demonstrators with tear gas, batons and bullets. Police killed one anti-government demonstrator in Taez and wounded scores more. 13 people were shot and wounded in Hudaydah, as police clashed with thousands of demonstrators marching on the Red Sea city's main local government building.
(AP, 4/3/11)(AFP, 4/4/11)
2012 Apr 3, American regulators finalized a rule enabling them to expand the designation of “systematically important" institutions to non-banks.
(Econ, 4/14/12, p.84)
2012 Apr 3, US federal prosecutors said WellCare Health Plans Inc. of Tampa, Florida, has agreed to pay $137.5 million to settle 4 lawsuits involving fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims in 9 states.
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.A6)
2012 Apr 3, A US rocket carrying a top-secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office blasted off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Mitt Romney swept Republican primaries in Maryland (47%), Wisconsin (42%) and Washington, DC (70%).
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.A6)
2012 Apr 3, Police at California’s Santa Monica College pepper-sprayed as many as 30 demonstrators after students angry over a plan to offer high-priced courses tried to push their way into a trustees meeting.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, San Francisco’s treasurer ruled that Airbnb, an online home rental service, and other companies like it are responsible for paying the city’s hotel tax.
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.C1)
2012 Apr 3, About a dozen tornadoes rumbled across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, leveling homes and tossing big-rigs around like toy trucks.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, US Internet giant Google started building one of its three planned data centers in Asia to meet fast growing online demand from the region. A ceremony was held to begin work on the $300 million, 15 hectare (37 acre) site in Changhua county, western Taiwan.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Argentina Analia Bouter was informed that her baby was stillborn in a hospital in Resistencia. She fell to her knees in shock after finding her baby alive in a coffin in the morgue nearly 12 hours after the girl had been declared dead. The baby was born 3 months premature and suffered from sepsis and convulsions with signs of neurological damage.
(AP, 4/11/12)(SFC, 4/13/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 3, James Murdoch, under pressure over his role in Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal, stepped down as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting PLC (BSkyB).
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Afghanistan two police officers were killed when their vehicle ran over a roadside bomb in Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province. Two NATO service members were reported killed in the east. One died in a roadside bombing, and the other died as a result of a non-battle related injury.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Argentine human rights secretary Eduardo Luis Duhalde (72) died in Buenos Aires. He was a prominent voice in denouncing abuses during the country's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s. His writings included 24 books, and dealt with human rights issues as well as history.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, An Australian court found Google Inc. guilty of breaching trade law by posting misleading or deceptive advertisements in a ruling that holds search engines responsible for their advertisers' content.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, The European Commission prohibited Conviasa, Venezuela’s state airline, from flying into the EU due to safety concerns. Venezuela called the decision unfair.
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 3, In France preliminary charges were filed against 13 people who were picked up in a sweep last week, all members of a banned group, Forsane Alizza, or Knights of Pride. Those charged were reportedly calling for Muslim Sharia law to be implemented in France.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Richard Descoings (53), director of one of France’s top colleges, was found dead in NYC where he was on an official visit. He pioneered efforts to open elitist schools to the underprivileged and bring in foreign students.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, International watchdog Transparency International said petty corruption in the public sector is still costing Greeks millions of euros (dollars) a year, even though the country's financial crisis has led to a reduction in the size of bribes.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Guatemala leading drug trafficker Horst Walther Overdick (44) was arrested and faced extradition to the United States. He helped Mexico's brutal Zetas drug cartel expand into Guatemala.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Guyana said it is launching a national debate on whether to eliminate its death penalty and overhaul laws that discriminate against gays, lesbians and transgender people.
(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Dozens of Jewish settlers ignored a deadline to evacuate an illegally occupied West Bank house in Hebron, as the government remained silent on whether they would be allowed to stay.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Japan a typhoon-strength storm brought travel chaos to the country, as violent winds and rain left least 4 people dead and tens of thousands stranded.
(AFP, 4/3/12)(AP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, In northern Mali radical Islamists tightened their grip, ordering women to wear veils in Timbuktu, as the nation's junta began to feel the bite of sanctions following its coup. Three of the four leaders of Al-Qaeda's north Africa branch, known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), were in Timbuktu. Tuareg rebels were seen near the central town of Mopti.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Nigeria a gas leak occurred during the drilling of a new well in Rivers state, forcing Total to shut down the Obite gas plant. A snubbing intervention started on May 9.
(AFP, 5/13/12)
2012 Apr 3, In northern Pakistan at least 14 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in sectarian violence, prompting the government to deploy troops and impose a curfew in the towns of Gilgit and Chilas.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, The Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank agreed to supply Gaza with fuel purchased from Israel for so long as the Hamas-controlled Gaza electricity authority pays for it.
(AFP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Puerto Rico Santeria leader Orlando Robles Ortiz was among dozens of suspects arrested for helping run an organization that allegedly smuggled drugs bound for the US and rigged Puerto Rico's lottery system to launder money.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced that the Syrian government said it has begun implementing a UN envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan that requires it to withdraw its forces from towns and cities within a week.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Russia a blaze at Moscow’s Kachalovsky market killed 17 migrant workers who were unable to escape from the metal shed where they were sleeping. All were citizens of former Soviet nations in Central Asia.
(AP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Senegal's new President Macky Sall named ex-banker Abdoul Mbaye (59) as his prime minister and vowed his team would serve the public good.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, In Sudan’s North Darfur region aerial bombardments and pro-government militia attacked areas around Sortony, forcing thousands of civilians to flee.
(Econ, 4/14/12, p.57)
2012 Apr 3, Syrian opposition groups reported army raid and arrest campaigns across the country as well as clashes with local rebels. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two civilians were killed in clashes in the northern village of Taftanaz, where rebel destroyed one army vehicle and regime forces torched a number of homes. The International Committee of the Red Cross pressed Syria to give aid workers access to civilians endangered by shelling and armed clashes. Assaults and clashes killed across the country killed at least 80 people.
(AP, 4/3/12)(AFP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Thailand censors banned a Thai film based on William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", saying the tale could sow "disunity" in the politically divided kingdom.
(AFP, 4/4/12)
2012 Apr 3, Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe received the first part of a report by Togo's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, charged with investigating political violence between 1958 and 2005. Gnassingbe begged for pardon from victims of political violence committed in the country between 1958 and 2005, part of which covered the period his father ruled (1967-2005).
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 3, Yemen said its armed forces have killed 38 suspected members of Al-Qaeda in two days of air raids and shelling of their hideouts in Huroor in the country's south.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2013 Apr 3, The United States said it will soon send a missile defense system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, as the US military adjusts to what US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel described as a "real and clear danger" from Pyongyang.
(Reuters, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, In West Virginia Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum, known for cracking down on the drug trade in the local coal fields, was shot and killed. Suspect Tennis Melvin Maynard (37) was hospitalized for gunshot wounds.
(SFC, 4/4/13, p.A6)
2013 Apr 3, Ruth Jhabvala (85), novelist and screenwriter, died at her home in Manhattan. Her work included 19 novels and short-story collections and two Oscars for her work on the films “A Room With a View" and “Howard’s End." Her novel “Heat and Dust" (1975) won Britain’s Booker Prize (1975).
(SFC, 4/4/13, p.D5)(Econ, 4/13/13, p.94)
2013 Apr 3, In western Afghanistan 55 people, including 9 attackers, were killed in a daylong gunbattle with security forces in Farah province. A NATO airstrike killed 4 policemen and 2 civilians in Ghazni province. An American F-16 fighter jet crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing the US pilot.
(AP, 4/3/13)(AP, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 3, In Argentina at least 57 people were killed by flooding overnight in Buenos Aires province.
(AP, 4/3/13)(AP, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 3, British regulator Ofgem said Utility SSE has been fined 10.5 million pounds for mis-selling, the largest fine the regulator has ever imposed on an energy supplier.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd suffered its second oil spill in a week, but said just four barrels of light crude leaked from tanker cars in a morning derailment in a remote area of northern Ontario. BP’s estimate of the spill was raised the next day to 400 barrels.
(Reuters, 4/3/13)(Reuters, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 3, An Egyptian court ruled against the extradition to Libya of Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam, a former close aide of Moammar Gadhafi. Al-Dam had coordinated relations between Libya and Egypt for decades.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, A Greek court convicted five people on terrorism-related charges rel ated to a militant anarchist group which claimed responsibility for a string of bombings over six years (2003-2009) and fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the US Embassy in Athens but caused no deaths. Nikos Maziotis and his wife Panagiota Roupa, were convicted in absentia.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, George Corvington (88), a prominent Haitian historian, died in Port-au-Prince. His 8-volume, French-language "Port-au-Prince Through the Ages" chronicled the political and social history of Port-au-Prince, from its founding under French colonial rule in 1749 to the departure of President Paul Magloire in 1956.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, In Iraq gunmen shot dead Yousef Sayhoud, a member of an anti-al-Qaida Sunni militia, along with his mother in the suburb of Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Italy's anti-Mafia investigators said they have seized a record €1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) in cash and property from Vito Nicastri (57) for tax fraud. The Sicilian alternative energy entrepreneur was alleged to have close ties to the Mafia.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Malaysia's PM Najib Razak dissolved Parliament to call for general elections that will pit a coalition that has ruled for nearly 57 years against a resurgent opposition whose pledge to form a cleaner government has resonated with millions of citizens.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, In central Nigeria 18 people were killed in a head-on collision between two buses near Gwagwalada, a town outside of Abuja.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, North Korea barred South Korean workers from entering a jointly run factory park just over the heavily armed border in the North.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Palestinian militants launched several rockets into southern Israel, as Israeli aircraft struck targets in the Gaza Strip in the heaviest exchange of fire between the sides since they agreed to an internationally brokered cease-fire in November. Israeli forces shot and killed a teenage Palestinian protester during a clash in the West Bank.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Samoa Air planned to start pricing its first international flights based on the weight of its passengers and their bags. Depending on the flight, each kg (2.2 pounds) would cost 93 cents to $1.06. The new airline was launched last June.
(AP, 4/4/13)
2013 Apr 3, Spain's Princess Cristina (47), daughter of King Juan Carlos, was charged in a corruption inquiry amid evidence that she was an accomplice to her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, who has been accused of tax fraud and embezzling 6 million euros in public funds when he headed a charitable foundation.
(Reuters, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, In Syria rebels captured a southern military base on the outskirts of the city of Daraa in the latest advance by opposition fighters near the strategic border area with Jordan.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, a Syrian jet fired a missile that slammed into a house on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2013 Apr 3, Uganda's top military official said African troops in Central African Republic have suspended the hunt for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony because the new government there is not cooperating with the mission.
(AP, 4/3/13)
2014 Apr 3, President Barack Obama signed a decree authorizing punitive sanctions, such as seizure of assets and visa bans, against anyone in South Sudan deemed to be threatening peace efforts, targeting UN peacekeeping forces and violating human rights.
(AFP, 4/11/14)
2014 Apr 3, It was reported that the US government masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter" — a communications network designed to undermine the Cuba’s communist government, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks. The project, dubbed "ZunZuneo," slang for a Cuban hummingbird's tweet, was publicly launched soon after Cuba’s 2009 arrest of US contractor Alan Gross.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It banned the state government from limiting the free practice of religion effective July 1.
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A6)(http://tinyurl.com/lf9kcnu)
2014 Apr 3, Frank Janssen, the father of a North Carolina prosecutor, was kidnapped from his home in Wake Forest. He was held for five days in Atlanta before being rescued by the FBI. Seven people were soon arrested in the case. Janssen’s daughter had prosecuted a high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang.
(SFC, 4/22/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 3, The state of Texas executed Tommy Lynn Sells after the US Supreme Court refused to issue an 11th hour stay to allow lawyers time to investigate the source and quality of the lethal drugs used put their client to death. Mr. Sells was on death row for 13 years following his conviction for killing a 13-year-old Texas girl on New Year’s Eve 1999.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum said it has agreed to pay the US government over $5.1 billion to thousands of sites polluted by toxins and compensate thousands of personal-injury claimants. The case originated with claims against Kerr-McGee, an Oklahoma energy company that went bankrupt and was bought by Anadarko nearly a decade ago.
(SFC, 4/4/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 3, In Australia a large shark killed Christine Armstrong (63) near her terrified husband and friends as they took their daily morning swim off a popular east coast beach near the village of Tathra.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II paid a private call on Pope Francis at the Vatican, making him the fifth pontiff she has met.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Cambodia 118 employees passed out at work at the Shen Zhou and Daqian Textile factories in Phnom Penh.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Chadian officials said they are withdrawing their peacekeepers from the regional mission in Central African Republic.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, The European Parliament voted to stop Internet providers from charging for preferential access to their networks, a step cheered by consumer groups but bemoaned by the telecommunications industry.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, The European Space Agency launched its Sentinel 1A satellite on a Russian Soyuz rocket from French Guiana. It was the first of six satellites for a new system designed to better monitor climate change, environmental disasters and catastrophes like floods, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
(AP, 4/3/14)(SFC, 4/5/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 3, Germany’s Deutsche Post said it is no longer accepting letters bound for Crimea after its Ukrainian counterpart told the Geneva-based Universal Postal Union (UPU) that delivery to the region was no longer guaranteed.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Former Guinea Bissau President Kumba Yala (61) died. He had ruled the West African nation from 2000 to 2003.
(Reuters, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Iraq fighting between government troops and al-Qaida-inspired militants killed 40 gunmen and an army officer near Baghdad, as attacks continued elsewhere in the country ahead of elections this month.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Italian police arrested Nicola Cosentino, a former member of Silvio Berlusconi's government, accusing him of colluding with the mafia to quash competition against his family's petrol distribution business near Naples. Twelve others were also arrested on suspicion of extortion and unfair competitive practices.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Liberia said it was dealing with its first suspected Ebola case thought to be unconnected to the epidemic raging in Guinea and to have originated separately within its borders. The fruit bat, thought to be the host of the highly contagious Ebola virus, is a delicacy in the region straddling Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and experts suspect huntsmen may be the source of the outbreak.
(AFP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Nigerian troops reportedly killed 32 Fulani tribesmen in the Keana local government area central Nasarawa state. Defense officials denied the charge.
(AFP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, Nigeria’s Nollywood was reported to knock out some 2,000 titles a year, making it the third-largest earner in the movie world, after Bollywood and Hollywood. The $250-million industry employed more than a million people.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Pakistan freed at least 16 Taliban prisoners with the approval of PM Nawaz Sharif, in a move designed to invigorate a shaky peace process with the militant group.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Russia’s gas giant Gazprom urged Ukraine to pay its debt, and announced a 70 percent rise in the charge for future supplies.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, In the Solomon Islands the Mataniko River in the capital, Honiara, burst its banks and flooded low-lying settlements alongside the river. The flash floods killed 14 people and left thousands more homeless.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 3, In Syria mortar fire killed at least six children in a suburb of Damascus. 22 opposition fighters were killed in the army's bombardment of Mleiha east of Damascus.
(AP, 4/3/14)(AFP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, The number of Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon officially topped 1 million.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Turkey's telecoms authority lifted a two-week-old ban on Twitter, after the constitutional court ruled the block breached freedom of expression.
(Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014 Apr 3, Ugandan police in Kampala raided the offices of a US-funded project known to offer AIDS services to homosexuals, in what appeared to be the first public action by police to enforce a new law that strengthened criminal penalties against gay sex.
(AP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, Ukraine authorities said that they have detained several members of an elite riot police unit on suspicion of shooting protesters during bloody anti-government clashes in February that left more than 100 dead. The interim government has said former Pres. Yanukovych ordered snipers to be deployed, a charge Yanukovych has denied.
(AP, 4/3/14)
2015 Apr 3, In southern California Kevin Christopher Bollaert (28) of San Diego was sentenced to 18 years in prison for operating a revenge porn website. In February he was found guilty on six counts of extortion and 21 counts of identity theft.
(SFC, 4/4/15, p.A6)
2015 Apr 3, In Kentucky torrential rains swamped portions of the state. A mother and child remained missing after they were swept into a flooded creek in their car.
(SFC, 4/4/15, p.A4)
2015 Apr 3, US power company Duke Energy Corp said it has agreed to a $2.5 million settlement proposed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality relating to the 2014 coal ash spill into the Dan River in North Carolina.
(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Afghanistan a roadside bombing killed 7 people in the Baraki Barak district of Logar province when a vehicle that two families were riding in struck a roadside bomb.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Brazilian police fired tear gas to break up a protest in a Rio de Janeiro slum that erupted after a 10-year-old boy was killed in what officers called a shootout with drug traffickers.
(AFP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Chad 7 civilians were killed in Tchoukou Telia near Lake Chad in an attack blamed on Nigerian Boko Haram rebels.
(AFP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 3, Xue Feng (50), a Chinese-born American geologist was released from prison in China and returned home to Houston after serving more than eight years on charges of procuring state secrets. Xue was detained in November 2007, and sentenced in 2010 on charges of illegally gathering information on China's oil industry.
(AP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In China prosecutors charged former national security chief Zhou Yongkang with corruption and leaking of state secrets, setting the stage for him to become the highest-level politician to stand trial in China in more than three decades.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Czech police said they have seized a record amount of cocaine in a shipment of bananas for a supermarket. More than 100 kg (220 pounds) of cocaine, with a street value of some $40 million, was packed among the bananas.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, The Indonesian government began moving foreign fishermen from an isolated island where slavery in the fishing industry was exposed last, out of concern for their safety.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Iraq’s PM Haider al-Abadi ordered government forces to oppose vandalism in the city of Tikrit, retaken from the Islamic State group this week, and arrest those responsible.
(AFP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his Cabinet are united in "strongly opposing" an emerging framework agreement on curbing Iran's nuclear program and demanded that any final deal contain Iranian recognition of Israel's right to exist.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Four soldiers were killed in Indian Kashmir after their vehicle was buried in an avalanche in the Himalayan region.
(AP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, Kenya offered a $215,000 (200,000 euro) bounty for the capture of alleged Shebab commander Mohamed Mohamud, a former Kenyan teacher believed to now be in Somalia and said to be the mastermind behind the April 2 Garissa attack.
(AFP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Malaysian cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, better known as Zunar, was charged with nine counts of sedition over a series of tweets criticizing the country's judiciary. The charges against Zunar, known for lampooning the ruling coalition, came amid a widening government crackdown on opposition politicians and the media slammed by critics as a move to stifle freedom of expression.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Mali a security guard was killed in a bombing at a home in Bamako.
(AFP, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Nigeria gunmen stormed two communities in the southern oil state of Rivers, killing at least 9 people and injuring two others. Militants of the Urhobo minority ethnic group blew up a natural gas pipeline in Delta state.
(AFP, 4/4/15)(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In the Philippines devotees nailed themselves to wooden crosses to mimic the suffering of Jesus Christ. At least 4,000 spectators came to watch the spectacle in San Pedro Cutud village, northern Pampanga province.
(SFC, 4/4/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 3, It was reported that Puerto Rico is slated to receive $3.7 million in federal funds from the US Homeland Security Department to be used for training and equipment to fight terrorism.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, Senegal said it will scrap visa requirements for foreign visitors, effective May 1, and slash taxes on air fares as it seeks to revive a tourism sector crippled by high costs and a regional Ebola outbreak.
(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, In South Africa a 500-meter (yard) stretch of Mpenjati Beach officially opened as a nudist beach. In October, 2014, the Hibiscus Coast local municipality approved an application by the South African National Naturist Association (SANNA).
(AFP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Syria Islamic State militants battled against armed groups inside the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, and have made new advances inside the camp.
(AP, 4/3/15)
2015 Apr 3, In Yemen Houthi forces pulled back from a central Aden district. Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition dropped weapons and medical aid to fighters defending the southern Yemeni city. An air strike on a village near Sanaa killed a family of nine in what appeared to be a hit by the Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi militia. Local militia forces said they killed 10 Houthis during the fighting which pushed the Shi'ite movement out of Crater. They also said Houthis killed two medics and two patients when they opened fire on an ambulance ferrying casualties from Aden peninsula to hospital on the mainland.
(Reuters, 4/3/15)(Reuters, 4/4/15)
2015 Apr 3, Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party said it has expelled former vice-president Joice Mujuru for allegedly plotting against President Robert Mugabe.
(AFP, 4/3/15)
2016 Apr 3, The United States and its allies conducted two dozen strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, Amtrak Train 89 struck a piece of heavy equipment on the tracks outside Philadelphia, causing the train's lead engine to derail and killing two Amtrak workers.
(CSM, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Texas freshman Haruka Weiser was strangled, sexually assaulted and killed as she walked to her dorm in Austin. Her body was found on April 5.
(http://tinyurl.com/j68je5s)(SFC, 6/11/16, p.A5)
2016 Apr 3, Joseph Medicine Crow (102), last war chief of the Crow tribe, died. He was awarded the US Medal of Freedom in 2009.
(Econ, 4/16/16, p.78)
2016 Apr 3, In Afghanistan at least six police officers were killed in a Taliban ambush on their convoy in northern Balkh province.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry announced a unilateral cease-fire against the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, but rebel forces in the area said that they continued to come under fire from Azerbaijani forces.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In northern Bangladesh an explosion killed two suspected militants in the Sherpur area of Bogra district. The next day a 12-member bomb disposal unit searched the house and recovered 20 grenades, four pistols and 25 bullets.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, Brussels Airport reopened with three "symbolic" flights and strict additional checks for passengers, marking a new high-security era for air travel in Belgium after the March 22 attacks by Islamic State suicide bombers.
(AFP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Cambodia a driver trying to ease his car onto a river ferry stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, plunging the vehicle into the water and killing 7 passengers.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Croatia 280,000 euros ($320,000) and two kg (4.4 pounds) of gold were all snatched from the headquarters of the Croatian police.
(AP, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, Iran's Revolutionary Guard detained Zaghari-Ratcliffe (37), a British-Iranian mother and employee of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency, at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport and later transferred her to a prison in the country's Kerman province. She faced charges of trying to cause the "soft toppling" of the government.
(AP, 6/15/16)
2016 Apr 3, In northern Iraq militant Jasim Khadijah, a former Iraqi officer not considered a high-value target, was reported killed by a drone strike overnight. He was believed responsible for an attack on US troops in northern Iraq last month that left a Marine dead.
(Reuters, 4/3/16)(Reuters, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 3, The Israeli defense body that handles civilian issues with the Palestinians expanded the fishing zone. The new easing of restrictions allowed fishermen in Gaza to now sail farther from the coastal territory.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, A Japanese submarine made a port call in the Philippines, the first in 15 years, in a show of growing military cooperation amid tension triggered by China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
(Reuters, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, Liberian health officials said a second case of Ebola has been confirmed months after the country had been declared free from transmissions. The son (5) of a woman who died March 31 from Ebola was taken to a treatment center in Monrovia.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, Police in the Maldives used pepper spray to break up a protest by journalists and activists accusing the government of stifling press freedom, arresting 11 of the demonstrators.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In northwestern Pakistan flash floods triggered by overnight torrential rains killed at least 36 people in several areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quietly established a constitutional court. The nine-member body, which will have supremacy over all lower courts, was created without fanfare by presidential decree.
(Reuters, 4/11/16)
2016 Apr 3, A year-long worldwide media investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents, leaked from Panama-based from legal firm Mossack Fonseca with offices in 35 countries, exposed a tangle of offshore financial dealings by the elite, from Russia’s Pres. Putin's aides to relatives of Chinese President Xi Jinping, sports celebrities and screen stars. The files had been anonymously passed to Suddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper and emerged in an investigation published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The “Panama papers" unveiled the offshore holdings of 140 politicians and officials, including twelve current and former presidents, monarchs and prime ministers.
(AFP, 4/4/16)(Reuters, 4/4/16)(Econ, 4/9/16, p.14, 59)
2016 Apr 3, Thousands of Poles protested a possible tightening of the country's abortion law, already one of the most restrictive in Europe.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In southwestern Saudi Arabia two vans collided, killing 15 people, including six children in the Wadi bin Hashbal region of Asir province.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, Syrian troops seized the key Islamic State group bastion of Al-Qaryatain.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In Syria several Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front members including its spokesman were killed in US-led coalition air strikes. Abu Firas al-Suri (aka Radwan Nammous), his son and at least 20 jihadists of Al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa and other fighters from Uzbekistan were killed in strikes on positions in Idlib province.
(AFP, 4/4/16)(Reuters, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 3, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State has killed 15 of its members in the largest execution of the militant group's security services so far in Syria. The killings followed the arrest a day earlier of 35 members in Raqqa. The members were killed in connection with the assassination of senior Islamic State figure Abu Hija al-Tunisi, who died in an air strike on March 30.
(Reuters, 4/3/16)
2016 Apr 3, In central Thailand a train smashed into a double-decker bus carrying Thai tourists at an unguarded railway crossing in Nakhon Pathom province. Local media reported that three people were killed and more than two dozen injured.
(AP, 4/3/16)
2017 Apr 3, Pres. Donald Trump donated $78,333.32, his presidential salary to date, to the National Park Service. Trump had promised to forego his presidential salary, but by law must be paid.
(SFC, 4/4/17, p.A4)
2017 Apr 3, Pres. Donald Trump signed into law legislation HJ69, undoing Obama-era rules that restricted the hunting of bear in Alaska. This soon led to an increase in orphan bear cubs in the state.
(SFC, 8/12/17, p.A9)
2017 Apr 3, President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Iraq with the top US military officer to meet Iraqi leaders and review the fight against the Islamic State group.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, In St, Louis, Mo., three people were killed when an explosion launched a boiler through the roof of the Loy-Lange Box Company. A fourth person died of his wounds on April 5.
(SFC, 4/4/17, p.A4)(SFC, 4/7/17, p.A7)
2017 Apr 3, In Texas William Kenny (64) shot and killed Deputy Clinton Greenwood, a Houston area constable, outside a courthouse. Kenny shot and killed himself the next day outside a Houston hospital.
(SFC, 4/11/17, p.A4)
2017 Apr 3, Australia’s PM Malcom Turnbull and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed an aid agreement at the Australian Parliament House worth 320 million Australian dollars ($240 million) over four years. Hundreds of protesters demanded a better deal for the Hazara ethnic minority.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Bahrain's King Hamad approved a constitutional amendment granting military courts the right to try civilians, raising concerns among rights groups for activists in the Gulf kingdom.
(AFP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Bahrain's highest court overturned a nine-year-prison sentence imposed last year on Ali Salman, the leader of Bahrain's banned main opposition party, and restored his original sentence of four years in jail.
(Reuters, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Dubai media reported that local police have arrested African hackers who targeted five senior White House officials in a blackmail email scam. Those arrested were between 24 and 26 years of age and had a list of "5 million bank accounts," as well as hacking software and millions of dollars in assets.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, A German court handed lengthy prison sentences to four Islamic extremists over plots to bomb a train station in December 2012 and kill a far-right politician in March 2013.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Italy-based Menarini-Silicon Biosystems, Inc. announced it has completed the agreement to purchase all the assets and relevant business related to the CELLSEARCH® Circulating Tumor Cell System from Janssen Diagnostics, LLC. The acquisition includes the CELLSEARCH® Circulating Tumor Cell Test — the first and only clinically validated blood test cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for detecting and enumerating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to help manage patients with metastatic breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.
(http://tinyurl.com/yckqtdel)
2017 Apr 3, Polish prosecutors said they would press charges against two Russian air traffic controllers of deliberately contributing to a 2010 plane crash that killed Poland's president and 95 other people.
(Reuters, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, In Russia an explosion ripped through a subway train in St. Petersburg, killing 14 people and injuring 50 others. The blast came as Russian President Vladimir Putin was visiting the city, his hometown. Within two hours authorities found and deactivated another bomb at a separate busy St. Petersburg subway station, Vosstaniya Square by the Moscow railway station. Kyrgyz officials soon identified the suspected suicide bomber as Akbarzhon Jalilov (Akbarjon Djalilov), born in the city of Osh in 1995. One of the injured people died on April 21, raising the death toll to 15. On May 11 suspects Bakhram Ergashev, Ibragimzhon Ermatov and Makhamadyusuf Mirzaalimov were charged with involvement in a "terrorist act" and with having illegally used explosives. Seven other suspects awaited charges.
(AP, 4/3/17)(Reuters, 4/4/17)(AFP, 4/21/17)(AFP, 5/11/17)
2017 Apr 3, In Rwanda inmates protesting living conditions at Gasabo prison in Kigali hurled stones over the prison's walls, damaging nearby houses and disrupting traffic. Rioting began on Mar 31 when the prison, which houses at least 5,000 inmates, caught fire, according to residents living near the prison.
(Reuters, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Singapore said it would repatriate Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel Abdul Malik (46), the chief cleric of a Muslim mosque, for offensive remarks targeting Christians and Jews, a decision that aimed to "repudiate divisive speech". During prayers on Jan. 6, the cleric made use of the phrase, "Grant us help against the Jews and the Christians."
(Reuters, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Slovakia's Pres. Andrej Kiska signed a constitutional amendment that makes it possible for lawmakers to annul pardons granted by former PM Vladimir Meciar that barred an investigation into the kidnapping of the son of late Pres. Michal Kovac.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Syrian government forces intensified their bombardment of opposition-held areas around Damascus and the central city of Hama, as they pushed to erase battlefield advances made by insurgents in March.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, In southern Thailand gunmen with grenade launchers and other heavy weapons attacked a police checkpoint, injuring six officers, in what appeared to be the latest violence by Muslim separatists who have been fighting for more than a decade.
(AP, 4/3/17)
2017 Apr 3, Venezuelan authorities said they've arrested six officials for taking bribes to issue identification documents to Syrians.
(AP, 4/4/17)
2018 Apr 3, The Trump administration escalated its aggressive actions on trade by proposing 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese imports to protest .
(AP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 3, President Donald Trump said he wants American troops to "get out" of Syria, even as top US officials stressed the need to stay for the long term.
(AP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 3, Pres. Donald Trump said that he planned to order the military to guard parts of the southern border until he can build a wall and tighten immigration restrictions.
(SFC, 4/4/18, p.A4)
2018 Apr 3, The United States said it has placed a Pakistani political group called the Milli Muslim League (MML), controlled by Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, saying it was merely an alias for a militant group blamed for a bloody 2008 attack in India.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, It was reported that Timothy J. Cislo, a former US Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector, pleaded guilty in Guam last week to three counts of honest services wire fraud. Cislo was accused of issuing certificates to Hansen Helicopters Inc. without inspecting the helicopters in exchange for an airplane for his personal use.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In the SF Bay Area a woman identified as Nasim Najafi Aghdam (39) of Riverside County shot and wounded three people at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno before fatally shooting herself. She was a prolific YouTube user and had complained of that several of her accounts had been heavily censored by the company.
(SFC, 4/4/18, p.A1)
2018 Apr 3, In southern California four US Marines were killed when theur helicopter crashed in a remote desert outside of El Centro.
(SFC, 4/5/18, p.A6)
2018 Apr 3, Facebook said that it had found and removed more than 270 accounts and pages controlled by Russia's Internet Research Agency, the troll agency that became notorious for posting fraudulent and divisive material on the service ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
(SFC, 4/4/18, p.A4)
2018 Apr 3, Bosnia's top court scrapped court fines issued to rape victims and other survivors of the Bosnian 1990s war after they had reparation claims rejected.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Britain said it will ban the sale of ivory, no matter how old, to help protect the world's elephant population.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, The British defence laboratory at Porton Down analyzing the nerve agent revealed that it could not say whether the substance came from Russia.
(AP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 3, Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe that they should work towards a new chapter in ties, during the African leader's first state visit to China since he seized power last year.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, A Chinese official said restricting the Vatican's control over the appointment of bishops in China does not infringe on religious freedom, amid historic negotiations between Beijing and the Holy See aimed at healing divisions.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, The Cyprus government deposited 2.5 billion euros ($3.1 billion) into the island-nation's troubled Cooperative Bank in an attempt to dispel any uncertainty over its future.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Egypt a bus crashed into a truck leaving seven people dead and 11 others injured on a desert road connecting the capital Cairo and the city of Suez.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, French rail workers launched the first in a series of nationwide strikes, threatening disruption over several months in the sternest challenge yet to President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to modernize Europe's second biggest economy.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, The Essen food bank in western Germany reversed a three-month old decision to prevent more foreigners from accessing its services, a move that drew criticism from aid groups and politicians.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, India withdrew rules to control "fake news" less than 24 hours after announcing them, following an outcry that the regulations could be used by the government to curb press freedom.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Indonesian police said a group of people have been arrested after a video emerged of them skinning and cooking four sun bears that they had slaughtered. The sun bear population is in decline in Indonesia because of rapid deforestation, which has led to habitat loss.
(AFP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he was cancelling an agreement with the UN refugee agency to relocate thousands of African migrants, bowing to right-wing pressure to scrap the deal. The fact that thousands of migrants would be allowed to stay raised an outcry from right-wing politicians and on social media from Netanyahu's nationalist voter base.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Libya a court of appeals in Tripoli acquitted Saadi Kadhafi, a son of former Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, of murdering a football coach in 2005. Kadhafi is also being tried, among others, for alleged involvement in the deadly crackdown on the revolt that toppled his father's regime in 2011. The case has repeatedly been postponed.
(AFP, 4/4/18)
2018 Apr 3, Malaysian authorities intercepted a boat carrying 56 people believed to be Muslim Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar, and brought the vessel and its passengers to shore.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Amnesty Int'l. reported that 65 people had been killed in Mali by improvised explosives used by armed groups since the start of the year, raising concerns about the government's ability to conduct presidential elections planned on July 29.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, A Palestinian man (25) was killed east of Bureij where he was throwing stones toward Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, The Philippine Supreme Court ordered police to hand over full records of thousands of deadly encounters in the country's war on drugs, thwarting a government bid to keep operational details of the bloody crackdown secret.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Russia regional lawmakers, despite protests, voted to cancel direct elections in Yekaterinburg, the country's fourth-largest city, in a blow to opposition Mayor Yevgeny Roizman as the Kremlin intensifies a crackdown on dissent. The new mayor will be elected by city lawmakers.
(AFP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, South Africa's drought-stricken Cape Town pushed back its estimate for "Day Zero," when taps in the city run dry and people start queuing for water, to 2019 from August of this year, and data show dam levels rising elsewhere in the country.
(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, Sweden-based Spotify made its NYSE market debut in a "direct listing" that allows investors to sell shares directly, but does not raise money for the company.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Switzerland the United Nations raised more than $2 billion to help civilians in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates drew praise for offering hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Yemen, where their air campaign against Houthi rebels has killed thousands of civilians and their crippling blockade has hindered aid delivery.
(AFP, 4/3/18)(AP, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, A new group of Syrian rebels and their family members left their stronghold in Douma, heading to the rebel-held north as part of an agreement with the Syrian government and its Russian backers. A rebel group in eastern Qalamoun, a besieged area northeast of Damascus, said they have been told they must accept state rule or leave.
(AP, 4/3/18)(Reuters, 4/3/18)
2018 Apr 3, In Turkey Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remotely gave the go-ahead for the construction of the $20 billion Russian-built Akkuyu nuclear plant on the Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu.
(AP, 4/3/18)
2019 Apr 3, Former US VP Joe Biden acknowledged that his tendency toward physical displays of affection and encouragement has some women uncomfortable and promised to be "much more mindful" of respecting personal space.
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 3, In Arizona Summerbell Brown (10) was shot and killed in her family's driveway following a road rage incident in Phoenix. Suspect Joshua Gonzalez (20) was soon arrested.
(SSFC, 4/7/19, p.A10)
2019 Apr 3, Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, asked the IRS to provide six years of Pres. Trump's personal tax returns by April 10.
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 3, South Carolina police arrested Brook Graham (53) after DNA evidence submitted to family genealogy sites led them to find and arrest her for the death of a baby abandoned 29 years ago. She was charged with homicide by neglect.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 3, US immigration authorities arrested 280 workers at CVE Technology Group in Allen, Texas. They said the employees were working in the US illegally.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 3, In Albania a few thousand protesters, apparently fewer than a week ago, gathered in front of the parliament building shouting "Rama go!" while their leaders and others made short speeches.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Algeria's Constitutional Council said it had accepted Bouteflika's resignation and informed parliament that his post was officially vacant. The speaker of the upper house of parliament, currently Abdelkader Bensalah (77), acts as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organized.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian Sen. Fraser Anning was censured by his colleagues for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian scientists said the world's southernmost coral reef has been hit by bleaching this summer, as they warned rising sea temperatures from climate change were affecting even the most isolated ecosystems.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Brunei new Islamic criminal laws that took effect, punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death. They have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation's shores.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, China's government said Nur Bekri, the former governor of the restive Xinjiang region, has been formally arrested on accusations of taking bribes following a months long investigation. Bekri most recently headed the National Energy Administration planning agency.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Dubai's Emirates NBD bank revised its acquisition price of Turkey's Denizbank following a slide in the Turkish lira, saying it has now agreed to pay 15.48 billion lira ($2.8 billion).
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The EU launched legal action against Poland that alleges recent justice laws undermine the independence of the country's judges and comes amid concern the rule of law is being increasingly abused around the bloc.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, French carmaker Renault said it had flagged to judicial authorities serious problems with the expenses of Carlos Ghosn after during his time as chairman of the company.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, India's PM Narendra Modi staged a massive rally in Kolkata, stepping up the battle with a local rival who could frustrate his party's return to power.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Iranian media reported that the number of dead from recent flooding has risen to 62, up from 57 the day before.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Rome's Mayor Virginia Raggi pledged an investigation into possible inciting racial hatred against the organizers of a violent protest that rejected housing Roma families in a neighborhood government-run center a day earlier. Raggi blamed both Casa Pound and Forza Nuova for creating a hostile climate in the Torre Maura neighborhood, a low-income area on the eastern edge of the capital. City authorities moved several Roma families out of a public housing project in a Rome suburb after violent protests by neo-fascist groups threatened their safety.
(AP, 4/3/19)(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Italian news agency ANSA reported that another infant boy died overnight near Genoa as the result of a circumcision performed at home.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Kazakhstan's interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made his first foreign visit since being appointed two weeks ago, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Libyan National Army (LNA) media office said forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar have been ordered to move to western Libya to fight militants.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Malaysia's government said that the luxury yacht "Equanimity," allegedly bought with money stolen from a troubled state investment fund, will be sold to casino operator Genting Berhad for $126 million, half its original price. US investigators say the $250 million yacht was bought with funds diverted from the 1MDB fund by fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Mozambique a vaccination campaign was launched in the central city of Beira after a cyclone slammed into the region and unleashed an outbreak of cholera. The disease has already killed two people and infected more than 1,400.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Myanmar six Rohingya Muslims were killed and nine wounded in an aerial attack in the western state of Rakhine. Myanmar's military later said they were affiliated with an armed rebel group. A local laborer said they were bamboo workers.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 3, A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli in the occupied West Bank before being shot dead by a local civilian.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Twelve Western nations urged Romania to scrap two planned emergency decrees altering judicial legislation, in a rare joint intervention that underlined US and EU alarm over the threat to the rule of law in the former communist nation.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Singapore officials found a record 14.2 tons of pangolin scales hidden among packets of frozen beef. Five days later, they found 14 more tons in 474 bags in another container. The scales were linked to four species of pangolins native to Africa.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 3, A South Korean coast guard official said the 5,160-ton P-PIONEER has been prevented from leaving Busan port since October over allegations that it was used to supply diesel to North Korea through two ship-to-ship transfers in September 2017 in international waters in the East China Sea.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Thailand's ruling military junta filed a complaint accusing Thanathorn Juangroongruangki, the leader of the new Future Forward political party, of sedition and aiding criminals. He described the move as politically motivated.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey will not turn back from a major arms deal with Russia despite the US suspension of Ankara from the F-35 fighter-jet program.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Ukrainian PM Volodymyr Groysman said the government has banned state-run gas producer Naftogaz from raising consumer gas prices. The ban was announced as President Petro Poroshenko, a Groysman ally, tries to boost his chances ahead of the second and final round of a presidential election on April 21.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2020 Apr 3, President Donald Trump fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who informed Congress about the whistleblower complaint regarding Trump's communications with Ukraine that eventually led to his impeachment.
(The Week, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, said Americans should cover their face if they have to go in public, but they should still stay isolated as much as possible The announcement marked a reversal for health officials, who’d previously said that those without symptoms didn’t need to wear face coverings.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)(Bloomberg, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, The US Food and Drug Administration announced an "expanded access" program for convalescent plasma, coordinated by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, aimed at making it easier for hospitals across the country to collect and use plasma. Convalescent plasma was successfully used during the 1918 flu pandemic. In one trial in China, levels of the virus in five seriously ill COVID-19 patients were undetectable after plasma transfusions.
(Reuters, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, The US Postal Service announced a new series of stamps in honor of San Francisco sculptor and arts education advocate Ruth Asawa (1926-2013).
(SFC, 4/8/20, p.E1)
2020 Apr 3, California issued 24 hydraulic fracturing permits to Aera Energy for wells in Kern County following a review by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
(SFC, 4/6/20, p.A4)
2020 Apr 3, California to date had 11,187 cases of coronavirus with 246 deaths. Nationwide there were 245,658, with 6,069 deaths. In the SF Bay Area the confirmed cases of coronavirus as of this morning rose to 2,968 with 78 deaths.
(sfist.com, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In Florida passengers aboard the cruise ship Zaandam were freed following the removal of 14 critically ill people who were taken to local hospitals. All the passengers were instructed to wear masks when traveling and to immediately go into 14 days of self-quarantine to prevent any possible spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.A5)
2020 Apr 3, The Coast Guard suspended its search for Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and her 8-year-old son Gideon after the two were reported missing in the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis, Maryland, a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the US economy lost 701,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate rose from 3.5 percent to 4.4 percent amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
(The Week, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, New York reported 562 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the state's total death toll to 2,935.
(The Week, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, Utah's Zion National Park was closed to the public to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/6/20, p.A4)
2020 Apr 3, 3M Corp. said it has secured China's approval to export to the US 10 million N-95 respirators manufactured by the company in China.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Canada recorded almost 12,000 cases of the new coronavirus and the death toll jumped by almost 20%. Cases rose to 11,747 and deaths climbed to 152.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, China reported 64 new asymptomatic cases, 26 of which were imported. The nation reported 19 new virus cases in total, and four deaths, all of which were in Hubei.
(Bloomberg, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, It was reported that the coronavirus pandemic has brought a reversal of fortune for Cuban medical diplomacy, as doctors have flown off on new missions to battle COVID-19 in at least 14 countries including Italy and the tiny principality of Andorra on the Spanish-French border, burnishing the island’s international image in the middle of a global crisis. Cuba has recorded 212 cases of the virus.
(AP, 4/3/20)(Economist, 4/4/20, p.26)
2020 Apr 3, In the Czech Republic a district in Prague went ahead with a plan to remove the statue of Soviet Marshall Ivan Stepanovic Konev, who led forces that liberated Prague in 1945. Konev had also played a role in crushing the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising in Hungary and in preparing the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 3, In France the coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of 5,307. Almost 60,000 people there been diagnosed with the illness, including almost 6,400 on life-support machines. Police ramped up checks at train stations and motorways to stop people breaking a national lockdown ahead of school holidays this weekend.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Gabon’s President Ali Bongo announced a social and economic plan to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, including emergency financing to respond to the “urgent cash needs" facing companies.
(Bloomberg, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, Guatemala said a man deported from the US has tested positive for the coronavirus. Guatemala has 49 confirmed cases and one death.
(SSFC, 4/5/20, p.A7)
2020 Apr 3, Iran state TV reported the coronavirus has killed another 134 people, pushing the country's death toll to nearly 3,300 amid more than 53,000 confirmed cases.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Israeli police arrested Fadi al-Hidmi, the Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs early today, for allegedly violating an Israeli ban on Palestinian political activities in east Jerusalem. Palestinian officials said al-Hidmi was working to assist residents as part of their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Israel has reported more than 7,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 36 deaths. Officials said Israel is working with foreign governments and Orthodox Christian leaders in the Holy Land to make sure that the April 18 Holy Fire ceremony is not extinguished by the coronavirus outbreak.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Kuwait said it will ramp up oil output in April until it reaches about 3.15 million barrels per day. The increase in output will come from the Neutral Zone, an area Kuwait shares on the border with Saudi Arabia.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Libya recorded its first death from the novel coronavirus. The UN-recognized, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which controls the west of the country, has officially recorded 10 cases of the virus. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the health system in Libya was already on the verge of collapse.
(AFP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In Mexico a shootout between rival gangs in the northern state of Chihuahua killed 19 people. Groups aligned with the Sinaloa cartel have been fighting with those aligned with the Juarez cartel.
(SFC, 4/6/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 3, Dutch brewer Heineken said that it will suspend production and distribution from its seven plants in Mexico, in response to the government's decision to halt non-essential economic activity to contain the new coronavirus.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In Pakistan mosques were allowed to remain open for Muslims to gather for weekly prayers, even as the coronavirus pandemic spread and much of the country had shut down. Pakistan has reported 2,450 confirmed cases and 36 deaths. PM Imran Khan said he would not consider possible easing of restrictions on movement before April 14.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Peruvian lawmakers approved a law late today that allows citizens to withdraw up to 25% of their holdings in private pension funds to provide an extra source of liquidity during a nationwide shutdown to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 4/4/20)
2020 Apr 3, Poland’s government called for extending President Andrzej Duda’s term by two years to avoid having to hold a May 10 election during the coronavirus crisis. Opposition parties immediately rejected the proposal, rendering it dead on arrival because their support would be needed to change the constitution.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supports cutting oil production by about 10 million barrels a day to shore up falling prices.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Russian officials reported 4,149 cases of coronavirus in the country, four times more than a week ago.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong said the government would no longer discourage the use of face masks, and would distribute reusable ones to every household to help stem the coronavirus pandemic.
(Econ, 4/11/20, p.27)
2020 Apr 3, Slovenia said it will introduce a mandatory 14-day quarantine for most people entering the country from April 4 in an attempt to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The country has confirmed 934 coronavirus cases, with 20 deaths.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In the Solomon Islands the MV Taimareho ferry lost dozens of passengers while crossing Iron Bottom Bay in rough seas caused by Cyclone Harold.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 3, South Africa has reported only five confirmed deaths from the coronavirus. About 1,400 people have tested positive for Covid-19 as South Africans mark their first week under one of the strictest lockdowns introduced anywhere in the world.
(BBC, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, It was reported that Tunisia has deployed a police robot to patrol areas of Tunis, to ensure that people are observing a coronavirus lockdown. The country has reported 436 cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths.
(BBC, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, In Turkey singer Helin Bolek (28), a member of the Grup Yorum folk music group, died on the 288th day of a hunger strike at a home in Istanbul. The group has been prohibited from performing in Turkey since 2016.
(SFC, 4/4/20, p.A2)
2020 Apr 3, Ukraine's government imposed a series of new restrictions designed to prevent the coronavirus outbreak spreading widely but said it hoped to soften the measures again in late April. Ukraine reported 138 new cases of the coronavirus over the past day, taking the total number of infected people to 942 with 23 deaths.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Venezuela said it was formulating a “special fuel supply plan" to restore stockpiles of oil in the “shortest possible time," allowing the nation to combat the coronavirus. In recent days, gas lines have popped up across Caracas, which is typically immune from days' long waits common in the rest of the country. Most stations had closed as supplies ran out.
(AP, 4/3/20)
2020 Apr 3, Zimbabwe's police began using water cannon to disinfect markets and bus ranks, turning instruments associated with repression into weapons against the new coronavirus. The country has recorded one death from nine cases of the COVID-19 disease.
(Reuters, 4/3/20)
2021 Apr 3, Supporters of Donald Trump who thought they were sending a single donation were charged over and over by his campaign operation. A Times investigation found that the charges were part of an intentional scheme to boost revenue to Mr. Trump’s struggling presidential campaign.
(NY Times, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Business Insider reported that phone numbers and personal information of half a million Facebook users may have been stolen and posted online. The breach reportedly took place in 2019 because of a software vulnerability.
(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A12)
2021 Apr 3, As of March 13, the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which walloped Britain and is wreaking havoc on Europe, accounted for about 27 percent of new cases in the US, up from just 1 percent in early February.
(NY Times, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, California to date had 3,652,911 cases of coronavirus and 59,210 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 423,630 cases and 5,950 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,668,826 with the death toll at 554,779.
(sfist.com, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, An Asian woman was stabbed to death in a “random" attack whilst walking her dogs in California, but detectives are not investigating it as a hate crime. Ke Chieh Meng (64) was found in the La Sierra neighborhood of the city of Riverside, outside Los Angeles. She was taken to hospital and treated for wounds to her stomach, but died of her injuries. Police arrested a 23-year-old transient woman on suspicion of murder.
(AP, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 3, It was reported that Amazon.com Inc has apologized to US Representative Mark Pocan, admitting to scoring an "own goal" in its initial denial of his suggestion that its drivers were sometimes forced to urinate in bottles during their delivery rounds.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Argentina's Pres. Alberto Fernandez tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms. He had received doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine on Jan. 21 and Feb. 11.
(SFC, 4/5/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 3, Australia said it will continue its inoculation program with AstraZeneca PLC, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Australian fashion icon Carla Zampatti (78), known for elegant designs and efforts to empower women over more than half a century, died after a fall in Sydney.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Canada's Ontario province entered a 4-week shutdown because of a 3rd surge of coronavirus infections fueled by more contagious virus variants.
(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A9)
2021 Apr 3, Mainland China reported 21 new COVID-19 cases, down from 26 cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, In Dubai videos and photographs depicting over a dozen naked women, lined up on a balcony while being filmed in Dubai’s upscale Marina neighborhood in broad daylight, splashed across social media. Police soon arrested a group of people on charges of public debauchery. Police in Dubai soon arrested 11 Ukrainian women and a Russian man for their involvement in the nude photo shoot.
(AP, 4/4/21)(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 3, The Suez Canal Authority announced that all 422 ships stranded by the previously grounded Ever Given have passed through the canal, ending the backlog caused by the container ship getting stuck horizontally in March.
(BBC, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan resumed talks on a giant dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile River’s main tributary.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said Eritrean forces have started withdrawing from Ethiopia's Tigray region.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 3, France reported that 5,273 people were in intensive care units (ICU) for COVID-19, a rise of 19 from the previous day, as the country entered its third national lockdown to help combat the pandemic. French hospitals have brought in extra staff for the Easter holiday weekend to cope with growing numbers of virus patients, while travelers converged on train stations and highways to flee big cities before new nationwide restrictions take hold.
(AP, 4/3/21)(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, At least 22 members of Indian security forces were killed by Maoist fighters in the tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh state during an anti-insurgency operation. The death toll was the heaviest for Indian security forces battling the far-left guerrillas since 2017.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 3, Prince Hamzah, the half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah II, said he has been placed under house arrest and accused the country's “ruling system" of incompetence and corruption, exposing a rare rift within the ruling monarchy of a close Western ally.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, The death toll in Myanmar continued to mount as security forces opened fired on anti-coup protesters amid the military's months-long crackdown on dissent. Security forces killed at least two people and injured seven others as they opened fire on protesters in Monywa.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, The Philippines reported 12,576 new coronavirus infections, putting further strain on the healthcare system. President Rodrigo Duterte extended a strict lockdown in the capital region and adjacent provinces by at least one week to try to contain a renewed surge in infections.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, It was reported that the Russian government has approved extending an agreement on cooperation in space with the United States until December 2030.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, In Somalia simultaneous large explosions were heard in and around two army bases, with the military confirming at least nine of its people killed but asserting “heavy losses" among the attackers. The al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Syria's government said primary schools around Syria will close down indefinitely next week amid a severe increase of coronavirus cases in the war-torn country, while universities will suspend classes for only two weeks and high schools will remain open.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, In Thailand at least three people were killed when a 3-story house collapsed in Bangkok following a fire. An unknown number of people were still trapped under the rubble.
(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 3, Ukraine said it has approved China's Sinovac vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic, after the country recorded a record rise in new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
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