01|In London, more than 250,000 join a "Countryside March". The procession, London's biggest demonstration for over a decade, is in protest against plans to ban fox-hunting, government decisions over farming subsidies, land rights, and other rural issues.|
01|In Burma, 40 people are arrested as the Burmese military regime uncover plans to bomb government buildings and embassies. Those arrested are believed to be members of the All Burma Student Democratic Front, a prodemocracy group which fled the country after the military crushed a democratic uprising in 1988.|
01|Two new women's athletics world records are set at the European Indoor Athletic Championships held in Valencia, Spain. Anzhela Balakhonova of Ukraine pole vaults 4.45 metres, and Ashia Hansen of the United Kingdom sets an indoor world record with a triple jump of 15.16 metres.|
02|In Pristina, the capital of Kosovo province in southern Serbia, riot police clash with more than 30,000 demonstrators. The Albanian protesters are angry that confrontations with armed police have resulted in the deaths of 16 ethnic Albanians during the last three days. The protestors are dispersed by force, prompting warnings from the international community to the Serbian government to bring a peaceful solution to the problems in the region.|
02|In Germany, Gerhard Schroder is formally nominated by his colleagues as the representative of the Social Democratic Party. He will now challenge Helmut Kohl for the position of chancellor in the general election in September.|
02|In the U.S.A., a computer hacker causes thousands of machines running Microsoft Windows programs to crash. Many computers in government departments and leading universities are affected, including ninety per cent of NASA's field offices. The attack does not cause the loss of any data, but an FBI investigation is launched.|
03|In Lagos, Nigeria, 20 people are arrested during a protest against General Sani Abacha, the country's military ruler. The protest, organized by the United Action for Democracy, is scheduled to counteract a pro-Abacha march taking place in Abuja. Police use tear gas to disperse the demonstration, which was banned by the government.|
03|Ecuador's finance minister, Marco Flores, announces that his government will need to spend in excess of 2 billion U.S. dollars over the next ten years to repair the damage caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.|
03|In Zimbabwe, a nationwide strike against tax increases brings the country to a standstill. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, which organized the strike, claims that ninety per cent of businesses observe it. The protest is expected to continue for a further 24 hours, in spite of condemnation by President Robert Mugabe and threats of violence from government troops.|
03|In New York, President Clinton and more than 1,000 prominent figures attend the seventy-fifth birthday celebration for Time magazine. The guests, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Muhammad Ali, Jodie Foster, and Joe DiMaggio, pay homage to the magazine that was launched by two Yale students and now has a circulation of more than four million per week.|
04|The former prime minister of Cambodia, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, is convicted in his absence of illegally importing arms and sentenced to five years imprisonment. The trial is widely regarded as a sham, as it is conducted by Hun Sen, who ousted Prince Ranariddh from power in July, 1997. Prince Ranariddh refuses to recognise the authority of the court. (See also July 8, 1997.)|
04|Israeli President Ezer Weizman wins a second term in office, defeating Shaul Amor, the preferred candidate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Weizman wins the parliamentary ballot by 63 votes to 49.|
05|In Colombo, Sri Lanka, at least 28 people are killed and more than 250 others injured when a suicide bomber detonates a device concealed in a minibus. The bomb explodes outside a police station, destroying shops and vehicles, and killing 29 civilians, two police officers, and the bomber himself. Blame is attributed to the militant Tamil Tiger group.|
05|American scientists announce that flecks of ice were discovered within craters on the moon by NASA's Lunar Prospector robot space probe during its orbit of the moon in January, 1998. NASA's experts believe there are large quantities of water at each lunar pole, and hope it can be used in the future to refuel spacecraft, and thus allow deeper exploration of the solar system.|
05|In the U.S.A., President Clinton appoints Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins to be the first female commander of an American space mission. The flight is scheduled to launch in December, 1998.|
06|In Kosovo, tension heightens between Serbian police and ethnic Albanians as violence continues in the area. The police claim they killed the Albanian leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in an assault that left at least 20 dead and many more injured. (See also March 2.)|
06|Luo Gan, a member of China's State Council, announces the biggest reorganization of the Chinese government since 1949. The proposed changes include halving the number of civil servants by the end of the year, and reorganizing local government in order to streamline the current bureaucratic system.|
07|In the Salang area of Afghanistan, more than 70 people are feared dead as an avalanche envelopes a village at the foot of the Hindu Kush mountains. Many more are missing, and authorities fear the death toll will rise.|
07|In Rome, Erich Priebke is sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in Italy's worst massacre during World War II. Priebke, a former Nazi, is found guilty of helping murder 335 men and boys in 1944 at the Ardeatine Caves, near Rome.|
07|In the United Kingdom, a book entitled "De Naturis Rerum" is returned to Stafford Public Library, 135 years late. The book, originally borrowed in 1863, was discovered in the University of Chicago library. It is exempted from the 4,000-pound-sterling fine it has accrued over the years.|
08|International Women's Day is celebrated across the world and is marked by a variety of demonstrations, exhibitions, and other organized events. In Spain, more than 4,000 women march through Madrid in protest against domestic violence. In Warsaw, debate becomes heated between feminists, anti-abortionists, and monarchists, and eggs and potatoes are hurled as missiles.|
08|In the U.S.A., a Vietnam veteran, armed with a rifle and suspected of carrying explosives, breaks into a federal building in Waco, Texas. Jason Leigh demands large sums of money to abandon his siege of the Veterans Administration building. He claims his actions are in response to government delays in paying disability benefits to him and many other veterans. He later surrenders peacefully.|
09|In Boston, U.S.A., British nanny Louise Woodward appears in court for a double appeal hearing. Her defence team argue for her to be cleared of her manslaughter conviction, and the prosecution team argue that the initial, second-degree murder conviction should be reinstated. The verdict is expected within the next 120 days. (See also October 30, November 10.)|
09|At a school in Saitama prefecture, near Tokyo, Japan, a 13-year-old schoolboy stabs to death Makoto Kato, one of his classmates. Kato had reportedly been bullying the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, for months. The murder is the latest in a series of violent attacks by teenage children in Japan, prompting fears about the vast increase in youth crime in the country.|
09|The El Nino weather phenomenon is blamed for massive flooding throughout southern states in the U.S.A. which kills at least seven people. Hailstones with a diameter of up to 13 centimetres are recorded in Louisiana, and tornadoes devastate large areas of Florida.|
10|General Augusto Pinochet, former military dictator of Chile, steps down as commander of the Chilean army in a ceremony in Santiago. After the ceremony, police armed with tear gas and water cannon disperse anti-Pinochet demonstrations, as hundreds take to the streets to protest at the honours given Pinochet, despite his human rights abuses while in power. Pinochet becomes a senator-for-life.|
10|Lloyd Bridges, Hollywood actor and father of actors Beau and Jeff Bridges, dies at his home in Los Angeles, U.S.A., at the age of 85. Bridges is remembered for his wide range of work on television and in film, despite being blacklisted during the McCarthy era.|
10|In Freetown, Sierra Leone, thousands line the streets to welcome President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah back from ten months in exile. Kabbah, cheered on by the crowd, pledges to reconstruct his country's economy and infrastructure, which was destroyed by the military junta who ousted him from power. Kabbah had been living in neighbouring Guinea since the coup in May, 1997. (See also February 13, 11, 10.)|
11|In Paris, the remains of actor Yves Montand are exhumed on the orders of a French court. His teeth and bones are to be used to gain DNA samples in order to settle a paternity suit brought by Aurore Drossart, 22, who claims to be Montand's daughter. This is the first time a body has been exhumed in order to settle a paternity suit.|
11|In Israel, Palestinian rioters throw petrol bombs and stones at Israeli troops during clashes in Hebron, in Dura, and in Ramallah, north of Jerusalem. The riots follow the fatal shooting of three Palestinian workers at an army checkpoint on March 10, and result in more than 40 injuries. More than 10,000 people attend the funerals of the three victims later in the day.|
11| In Tokyo, police raid the Bank of Japan and arrest a senior official, Yasuyuki Yoshizawa, who is suspected of bribery. The raid is part of a wide-reaching investigation into bribery and corruption in the Japanese financial sector.|
12|In Mauritius, the thirtieth anniversary of the country's independence is celebrated.|
12|In Israel, Mordechai Vanunu is freed from solitary confinement and allowed to mix with other prisoners for the first time in 12 years. Vanunu was jailed for treason in 1986 following his revelation of Israel's secret nuclear program to a British newspaper. He is released from the longest spell of isolation enforced in recent Western history, following an international campaign for his freedom.|
12|In Denmark, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen wins another term in office as prime minister. His Social Democrat party wins the election by a majority of only one parliamentary seat, with the extreme right making strong gains.|
13|In Seoul, South Korea, President Kim Dae Jung releases more than 5.5 million prisoners, in the biggest amnesty since the founding of the country. The amnesty, designed to create national harmony and aid South Korea's financial crisis, sees the release of 74 political prisoners and the pardon of many more convicted of lesser offences such as driving under the influence of alcohol. President Dae Jung is criticized by the human rights group Amnesty International for failing to release all political prisoners.|
13|In Italy, a government minister is stripped of his ministerial powers by the cabinet, as allegations of his links with the Mafia emerge. The action is taken against Angelo Giorgianni, a junior interior minister, after he refuses calls from Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini to resign.|
14|Sonia Gandhi, widow of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, takes over as president of the Indian Congress Party. She replaces Sitaram Kesri, who resigns following heavy defeats in the recent Indian elections. (See also February 22, 14.)|
14|An earthquake in southeastern Iran kills 2 people and injures more than 15 others. The quake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, badly damages the provincial capital of Kerman.|
14|In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the human rights group AZADHO (Association for the Defence of Human Rights) alleges that President Laurent Kabila's troops have executed civilians in the town of Butembo. The government rejects the group's allegations as false, but seizes more than 1,000 copies of the groups 1997 report on human rights abuses in the Central African country.|
15|In India, after an indecisive general election result, Atal Behari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is invited to form the next government by President Kocheril Narayanan. He is asked to head a coalition government on condition that he provides proof that such a government will be stable, with a workable majority. Vajpayee is expected to be sworn in on March 19.|
15|In California, U.S.A., Dr Benjamin Spock dies in his home at the age of 94. Dr Spock's book "Baby and Child Care", which has sold more than 50 million copies, revolutionized parenting and childcare attitudes when it was published in 1946. In spite of earning more than 15 million U.S. dollars from the sales of his book, Dr Spock dies penniless, having spent much of his fortune on legal battles and donations to antiwar and civil rights groups.|
15|In Kuwait, the entire cabinet resigns as a protest against the presentation of a no-confidence vote in the Information Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah. The motion against the information minister was brought after he allowed books that are banned in Kuwait because they are considered un-Islamic to be displayed at an exhibition. The prime minister is expected to reshuffle the cabinet in order to bring Sheikh Saud back in another ministry.|
15|In the Maze prison outside Belfast, Northern Ireland, a man being held on suspicion of the murders of a Catholic and a Protestant is himself murdered. David Keys was charged, along with three other men, of shooting dead the two men in a killing that outraged Northern Irish people of both religious denominations. His murder inside the prison, which houses many of Northern Ireland's most dangerous terrorists, raises many questions over its security. (See also December 27.)|
16|At least 12 people are feared dead when their boat, carrying illegal immigrants from north Africa to Spain, sinks in the Straits of Gibraltar. Seventeen other people are rescued.|
16|In Geneva, peace talks between north and south Korea open after a five-hour delay caused by a dispute over seating. The negotiations, involving the U.S.A. and China, as well as North and South Korea, are expected to last for at least three days. (See also December 9.)|
16|In Brazil, indigenous tribal leaders appeal for help from their government as the worst Amazonian forest fire for at least 30 years continues to spread. The fire is fuelled by high winds and a long period of drought. It has destroyed large areas of the state of Roraima, and is threatening the jungle reservation of the Yanomami, the largest indigenous group to retain a primitive way of life.|
17|In China, Zhu Rongji is appointed prime minister after securing 98 per cent of votes from the National People's Congress in a one-candidate contest. Many Chinese people believe Rongji will lead them into a new era of democracy, and hope he will stabilise China's economy in a time of crisis across much of Asia.|
17|In Zambia, President Frederick Chiluba lifts the state of emergency that was imposed following a failed coup attempt in October 1997.|
18|In New York, the auction of many items once belonging to John F. Kennedy opens after some controversy. The auctioneers were previously forced to return many articles to the former U.S. president's children, the National Archives, and government security officials. The sale is expected to last for two days.|
18|In Israel, an 18-year-old man is arrested in connection with the infiltration of American and Israeli computer systems. The man, known only as "Analyser", is believed to be responsible, along with two American teenagers, for hacking into the Pentagon's computer systems, university research networks, and NASA systems. (See also March 2.)|
18|It is announced in Brooklyn, New York City, that the week ending March 15 was the first week in living memory without a recorded murder in the borough. It is hoped that this is a sign of the changing nature of Brooklyn.|
19|In Pretoria, South Africa, President Nelson Mandela becomes the first head of state to appear in court to defend his political actions. Mandela is subpoenaed to defend his decision to order an enquiry into corruption and racism in the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU).|
19|In India, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is sworn in as prime minister at a ceremony in New Delhi. Atal Behari Vajpayee heads a coalition government made up of many differing political groups, with the BJP holding a very small minority.|
20|In Calais, France, more than 500 ferry workers and dockers go on strike in protest against the proposed ending of duty-free shopping within the European Union from July 1999. The strikers blockade the ferry port, effectively shutting it down for the day. They also block the motorway entrance to the Channel Tunnel for four hours, forcing the cancellation of passenger and freight services.|
20|In Germany, more than 30,000 police officers are deployed to oversee the journey of a train carrying nuclear waste from southern Germany to Ahaus, in the north. Protesters chain themselves to the tracks in an attempt to block the route of the train, and are dispersed by police armed with water cannon, batons, and tear gas.|
20|Tornadoes strike Florida and northeast Georgia, U.S.A., killing at least 11 people and injuring more than 80 others. (See also March 9, February 23.)|
21|In Nigeria, Pope John Paul II is greeted by thousands of wellwishers as he arrives at Abuja airport for a three-day visit. He is expected to plead for clemency for more than 60 political prisoners detained by the military leader General Sani Abacha, and will give a mass for the beatification of Father Cyprian Tansi, who died in 1964 and is likely to become the first Nigerian saint.|
21|The four-nation talks between North and South Korea, China, and the U.S.A. break up in disarray, with no solution or deal having been brokered. (See also March 16, December 9.)|
22|Venezuelan, Argentinian, and Brazilian firefighters begin to tackle the fires blazing in the northern Amazonian rainforest in Brazil, after the Brazilian government had refused earlier offers of help. The fire teams dump water on the forest from helicopters and it is hoped that they can extinguish all flames within 20 days. (See also March 16.)|
22|King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia issues an amnesty for his son, Prince Ranariddh, pardoning him of two criminal convictions which carried 35-year jail terms and a 50-million-U.S.-dollar fine. The pardon means that Prince Ranariddh may now contest a general election, proposed for July, for the position of prime minister. (See also March 4.)|
22|In the Serbian province of Kosovo, ethnic Albanians vote in favour of a separate government, in defiance of Serbian orders. It is estimated that one million Albanians turn out to vote, in spite of a heavily armed Serbian police presence. They elect Ibrahim Rugova, a nonviolent Albanian activist, as their unofficial president. (See also March 6, March 2.)|
23|In Accra, Ghana, President Bill Clinton of the United States arrives for the start of an 11-day tour of six African states. He is greeted by President Jerry Rawlings and more than 250,000 wellwishers. Clinton pledges American assistance in the battle for democracy throughout Africa.|
23|In Russia, President Boris Yeltsin dismisses Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and all 33 members of his cabinet. The move is greeted with surprise from the international community, and prompts fears that it may result in political instability for the country. The former fuel and energy minister, Sergei Kiriyenko, is appointed as acting prime minister.|
23|It is announced in the United Kingdom that the Channel Tunnel fire of 1996 was the result of arson. The investigating judge rules out the possibility that the fire, which caused 200-million-pounds-sterling worth of damage, was an accident.|
24|In the town of Jonesboro, in Arkansas, U.S.A., two schoolboys, aged 11 and 13, shoot dead four of their classmates and a teacher and injure more than 10 others. After forcing the school's evacuation by setting off a fire alarm, the boys shoot at the pupils and their teachers as they assemble in the playground. The boys are heavily armed with rifles and pistols, and seem to aim specifically at female students. Police apprehend the boys as they run away from the school. |
24|In eastern India, a cyclone kills at least 125 people and leaves many more missing as it travels through the states of West Bengal and Orissa. The cyclone, which brought torrential rain and winds reaching 180 kilometres per hour, also destroys hundreds of homes.|
24|In Harare, Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe orders riot police to forcibly disperse a peaceful demonstration using baton charges and tear gas. The 400 female protesters are former supporters of Mugabe's nationalist guerrillas who helped free the country from white-minority rule. They are campaigning for equal rights to pensions.|
25|The discovery of the fossilized remains of a baby dinosaur is announced by Italian palaeontologists Marco Signore and Cristiano Dal Sasso. The fossil, named Scipionyx Samniticus, is more than 113 million years old, and is believed to be first that shows the internal organs of a dinosaur. It was discovered in the Benevento region of southern Italy.|
25|In Bonn, Germany, the six-member international contact group on the former Yugoslavia set a deadline for President Milosevic to negotiate peace in the Serbian province of Kosovo. The population of Kosovo is predominantly Albanian. The foreign ministers of the U.S.A., United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, and Italy set a four-week limit, before which President Milosevic must enter into "unconditional dialogue" with Albanian leaders in the province.|
25|In Borneo, all schools in Brunei are shut down for two weeks as the country is blanketed by smog from the forest fires burning on the island. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah prays with thousands of others for rain, as the air pollution in the country reaches dangerous levels.|
26|In Oregon, U.S.A., a woman in her eighties becomes the first person to die under the controversial doctor-assisted suicide law in Oregon. The woman, who had terminal breast cancer, swallows a fatal dose of sleeping pills. The law came into force in November, 1997.|
26|A fire at a boarding school north of Mombasa, Kenya, kills at least 24 girls and leaves 29 others injured. The fire is ignited shortly before midnight by an electrical fault, and quickly spreads throughout the Bombolulu Girls Secondary School.|
26|Riots at the Semenyih detention camp, north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, result in the deaths of four people, and leave 38 more injured. Police enter the camp, which holds illegal immigrants fleeing economic crisis in Indonesia, in order to remove inmates for forcible repatriation. Fighting erupts, resulting in the deaths of three Indonesians and a policeman.|
27|In Devon, United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II makes her first official visit to a pub. She visits the 400-year-old Bridge Inn public house in Topsham as part of her tour of the southwest of England, and is presented with a crate of special 101 ale, brewed to commemorate the pub's 101 consecutive years of management by the Cheffers-Heard family.|
27|Ferdinand Porsche, the man who helped design the Volkswagen Beetle car for Adolf Hitler and who created the Porsche sports car empire, dies at his home in Austria, aged 88.|
27|In Auckland, New Zealand, an emergency cable, implemented to bring to an end the city's five-week electricity shortage, short-circuits and cuts off the power supply once more. The cable lasts only hours before being closed down but is restored by the end of the day. Auckland has been affected by a power shortage since February, 1998.|
28|In London, more than 15,000 people march through the city's streets in the biggest pro-cannabis demonstration for thirty years. The protest is organized by the Independent on Sunday newspaper and receives support from many prominent celebrities. Many people believe the drug cannabis (marijuana) is less dangerous than such legalized substances as tobacco and alcohol. Others feel cannabis should be legalized because of the medicinal benefits it could apply to sufferers of diseases such as multiple sclerosis.|
28|Hundreds of thousands of antifascist protesters march in demonstrations across France. The protests are triggered by a series of political alliances forged between the National Front and centre-right parties, in order to block left-wing presidents taking power in the regional councils.|
29|In Piura, Peru, a jet plane carrying 50 civilians crashes, killing 28 people. The Peruvian military plane, carrying civilians from Tumbes to Piura because landslides and floods had blocked land routes, crashes into a shantytown north of the city. Seven passengers are still missing, but it is believed that nobody on the ground was killed.|
29|An Israeli archaeologist announces the discovery of the world's oldest synagogue. Professor Ehud Netzer believes the remains of a synagogue he located near Jericho, Israel, date from between 75 and 50 BC. The synagogue is part of the complex of a Hasmonean palace, discovered by Netzer 25 years ago.|
29|In Postignano, Italy, an earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale destroys the inner wall of a church, revealing behind it a fifteenth century fresco. The fresco was uncovered after the tenth quake in the country in six months.|
30|In Romania, Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea resigns his posts as head of government and as mayor of Bucharest. Ciorbea had been under pressure from his coalition government who were unhappy with his economic policies.|
30|In Cambodia, Prince Norodom Ranariddh returns to Phnom Penh after nine months in exile. He is welcomed home by more than 1,000 wellwishers, and will now begin to rebuild his Funcinpec party in time for a general election in July. (See also March 4, 1998 and July 8, 1997.)|
30|In Florida, U.S.A., Judy Buenoano becomes the first woman to be put to death in the state since 1848. Buenoano, nicknamed the "Black Widow", is killed in Florida's electric chair for the murders of her husband, son, and another man.|
31|The United Nations Security Council imposes an arms embargo on Yugoslavia, in response to President Slobodan Milosevic's continued hostility to autonomy for the Serbian province of Kosovo. The UN hopes its action will pressure Milosevic into holding talks with Albanian leaders in Kosovo, and that he will ultimately grant the province autonomy. (See also March 25.)|
31|In Wellington, New Zealand, the government agrees to a bill detailing settlement for a Maori tribe after six years of fruitless negotiations. The bill gives the Ngai Tahu tribe financial compensation, as well as a land settlement of 2,300 acres. (See also November 21, 1997.)|
31|In Haryana, India, a law forbidding the consumption of alcohol is repealed after two years of prohibition in the state.|
