March 2001 News and Events

Updated July 10, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

World

• Suicide Bomber Kills Three Israelis (March 4): Attack in Netanya, town north of Tel Aviv, follows slaying by Israelis of six Palestinians. Tension builds in area.
• Israel Restores Parliamentary System (March 7): Legislature votes overwhelmingly to abandon direct election of prime minister and have legislators make choice.
• Bomb Kills Six in Kuwait (March 12): Five Americans die when the U.S. Navy, in a training drill, drops a 500-pound missile and hits observation post filled with military personnel. A New Zealander also dies.
• Russia to Resume Arms Sales to Iran (March 12): President Putin agrees to provide conventional weapons after five-year interval.
• Albanian Rebels Fight in Macedonia (March 15): Battle police in Tetovo. Some civilian casualties.
• OPEC to Cut Oil Output (March 17): Members of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agree to trim production by 4 percent to stem falling prices.
• Russia Convicts Six in Bombing (March 19): Islamic extremists sentenced for 1999 blast in Dagestan region that killed 68 and sparked popular support for war in Chechnya.
• Bush Meets with Israeli Prime Minister (March 20): Discussion with Ariel Sharon appears to indicate desire to shun peace talks while violence continues.
• Russian Diplomats Expelled from U.S. (March 21): Move follows arrest of FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who allegedly spied for Moscow for 15 years.
• British Livestock Epidemic Spreads (March 23): Foot-and-mouth disease reaches crisis levels and government intensifies efforts to eradicate it.
• Bush Abandons Global-Warming Treaty (March 30): International session in Montreal breaks up after Bush balks at Kyoto Protocol, which calls on industrialized nations to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases. (March 31): European leaders angered by Bush's decision to abandon international treaty.

Nation

• Census Bureau Rejects Tally Revision (March 1): Urges commerce secretary not to adjust 2000 population figures to make up for persons not counted.
• Pentagon Reveals a New Weapon (March 1): Military officials say device uses electronic magnetic waves to disperse crowds without injury.
• Aides Say Clinton Rejected Pardon Advice (March 1): Three senior advisers tell House panel that president overruled them and granted a pardon to Marc Rich on last day in office.
• Cheney Hospitalized (March 5): Doctors clear an obstructed artery. Second angioplasty in four months.
• Congress Repeals Clinton Work Rules (March 6): Senate votes, 56–44, to rescind new regulations designed to reduce injuries, especially those from repetitive stress. (March 7): House by narrow margin, 223–206, also votes for repeal.
• Increase in U.S. Hispanic Population (March 7): Census Bureau reports Hispanic population grew by more than 60 percent over last decade.
• Bush Bars Talks with North Korea (March 7): Tells South Korean president Kim Dae Jung that he will not discuss missile negotiations any time soon, shelving Clinton effort toward normal relations.
• Senate Toughens Bankruptcy Rules (March 15): Votes, 83–15, to make debt reduction more difficult.
• Rule on Arsenic in Water to End (March 20): EPA plans to rescind Clinton administration order to reduce arsenic level in drinking water.
• ABA Role on Judgeships to End (March 22): White House tells bar association it will no longer seek its evaluation of nominees for federal bench.
• Senate Blocks Campaign Finance Reform Foes (March 27): Defeats, 60–40, proposal that would have limited but not banned unregulated donations to parties.

Business/Science/Society

• Ruling Expands Reach of Cable Companies (March 2): Appeals court strikes down federal regulations that prevent big organizations from expanding and broadcasting more of their own shows.
• Crash of Guard Plane Kills 21 (March 3): C-23 Sherpa plunges to ground in heavy rain in Georgia.
• Student Kills Two Others in California (March 5): Charles Andrew Williams, 15, also wounds 13 others at high school in Santee. Incident called worst episode of school violence since Columbine in 1999.
• U.S. Bans Meat from Europe (March 13): Blocks imports of animals and animal products after foot-and-mouth disease spreads from Britain to France.
• Four Blasts Kill 108 in China (March 16): Coordinated explosions shake Shijiazhuang. Dozens reported injured. Investigation focuses on a resident of one of bombed buildings who is also wanted for murder.
• Federal Reserve Acts to Bolster Markets (March 20): Lowers interest rates half a percentage point to stimulate economy after sharp plunges in stock market and Nasdaq technology index.
• Rolling Blackouts in California (March 20): Hundreds of thousands lose power as industry managers move to counter energy production crisis.
• Study Links Estrogen to Cancer (March 21): Researchers find that risk of ovarian cancer is greater among those who took hormone for ten or more years.
• Defects Result in Cloning Animals (March 24): Scientists report mounting evidence of random genetic errors that threaten similar efforts to duplicate humans.
• Fire Kills 58 Youths in Kenya (March 26): Sleeping students perish in dormitory blaze.
• Suspect in Anti-Abortion Killing Seized (March 29): French police arrest James Charles Kopp, activist charged in 1998 sniper shooting in Amherst, N.Y.
• Stem Cells Thought to Yield Benefits (March 30): Scientists see use in repairing damaged heart tissue.