Portal:Current events/2003 October 9
October 9, 2003 (Thursday)
- Time magazine reports that Yassir Arafat, whose health has led to confused reporting over the past days, with him variously reported as having had flu and having had a heart attack, in actuality has stomach cancer.[1]
- Pakistan successfully test fires a medium-range, nuclear-capable missile, the second such test in less than a week, the Pakistan army states. The Hatf-4 missile, also known as the Shaheen 1, was fired off, according to the army. The missile has a range of 435 miles, meaning it can hit most major targets in India. The test followed a similar launching on Friday of the short-range Hatf-2 Ghaznavi after which Pakistan said it was in the middle of a series of such tests. Pakistani army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said India had been told of each of the launches beforehand and he states the tests should not affect the international relations between the two neighbors.[2]
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered dispatches of Israeli troop reinforcements to the Palestinian Areas, West Bank and Gaza Strip, and weighed a call-up of reserves, citing new warnings about planned attacks by Palestinian militants. The Israeli military also extended a two-week lockdown on Palestinians' travel within the West Bank and Gaza in what it states as a bid to prevent further attacks.[3] Meanwhile, prime minister Ahmed Qurei is reported to have declined to form a government and told President Yasser Arafat he wants to quit his post.[4]
- Occupation of Iraq: Twin attacks in Baghdad killed a Spanish diplomat (by gunshot) and, in the other, at least ten people following an attack on a police station in Baghdad's main Shi'ite neighbourhood, exactly half a year since Coalition troops occupied the Iraqi city.[5][6]
- ^ "Arafat's Illness". TIME.com. 9 October 2003. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ [1] Archived January 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [2] Archived January 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [3] [dead link]
- ^ [4] Archived March 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Breaking News, Top News & Latest News Headlines - Reuters.com". Archived from the original on 1 November 2003. Retrieved 22 December 2015.