From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
March 2008 was the third month of the current leap year. It began on a Saturday and ended after 31 days on a Monday.
[edit] International holidays
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- The discovery of the Rings of the Saturnian moon Rhea, the first known rings around a moon, is announced. (NASA)
- The United States Senate passes legislation providing for more rigorous inspection of toys and other playthings imported into the United States. (AP via USA Today)
- At least eight people, including four children, are killed and dozens wounded in a shooting attack on the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem. (AP via WTVJ)
- At least 54 people die and 130 are injured as two bombs explode in Baghdad, Iraq. (BBC News)
- Viktor Bout, one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers, is arrested at a hotel in Thailand. (The New York Times)
- Paul Burrell, Princess Diana's butler, refuses to be questioned about whether he lied to the inquest into her death in 1997. (Reuters)
- A bomb causes minor damage to the door of a U.S. military recruiting center in Times Square, New York City. (Reuters)
- Philippine authorities arrest three people accused of plotting terrorist attacks on foreign embassies in Manila. (BBC News)
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- The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces a major expansion of efforts to fight smog in cities and towns throughout the United States. (AP via Google News)
- The total amount of digital information is estimated at 281 exabytes in 2007, exceeding available data storage for the first time. (Ars Technica) (IDC via EMC)
- Crude oil futures contracts end trading at a new closing high of $109.92 a barrel after earlier topping $110 a barrel for the first time. (MarketWatch)
- Israeli commandos kill four militants on the West Bank including three members of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. (Reuters)
- Sweden’s largest lake, the Vänern, which is also the third largest lake in Europe, will be lowered by 15 centimeters, in order to avoid flooding. (Expressen)
- Southwest Airlines grounds 41 jets after the FAA discovers the airline failed to inspect its Boeing 737s for structural flaws during 2006 and 2007. (Reuters)
- The last French veteran of World War I, Lazare Ponticelli, an Italian immigrant who lied about his age to join the French Foreign Legion and fight in the trenches, dies at 110. (BBC News)
- French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner and his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt pronounce their support for Serbian membership of the European Union. (Reuters)
- Chinese police fire tear gas to disperse protesters during the second day of demonstrations by Buddhist monks in Lhasa, Tibet demanding the region's independence. (AFP)
- Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer resigns effective March 17 amid a prostitution ring scandal. He will be replaced by David Paterson, the first African American and legally blind person to hold this position. (Yahoo! Finance)
- A gunman opens fire at a bank in McComb, Mississippi, killing two people, before forcing his wife into a car and driving away, later killing her and committing suicide. (WAPT)
- A man under investigation for the sexual abuse of children at an orphanage in Sofia, Bulgaria, opens fire on teenage witnesses, killing one and wounding two others before committing suicide. (MSNBC)
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- Darfur Conflict: Chad's President Idriss Déby and Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir meet in Senegal to sign the Dakar Agreement, the sixth peace agreement in five years. (BBC News)
- The Canadian House of Commons extends the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan until 2011. (CBC)
- The body of Mar Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul who was kidnapped in Iraq on February 29, is found in a shallow grave close to the city. (Reuters)
- The price of gold reaches $1000 per troy ounce for the first time. (BBC News)
- Serbian President Boris Tadić disbands parliament and calls an early general election for May 11. (BBC News)
- Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008: Geraldine Ferraro resigns from the Clinton campaign after making comments that "if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." (The New York Times)
- The U.S. dollar, after repeatedly testing 100 yen in Asian dealings and early European action, breaks through to touch 99.75, its lowest level since November 1995. (Reuters)
- Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart experience some of their warmest weather of record for this season as result of an Australian autumn heatwave. (The Age)
- Leaders of the European Union meet in Brussels, Belgium with climate change and energy security dominating the agenda. (BBC News)
- Turkish prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya asks the Constitutional Court of Turkey to ban the ruling Justice and Development Party for anti-secular activities. (BBC News)
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