Portal:Current events/2003 February 18

February 18, 2003 (Tuesday)

An arson attack on an underground train in the Daegu, South Korea, claims lives of 192 and 148 injured and dozens missing. Witnesses reportedly saw a man throwing a milk carton filled with a flammable substance into a train.
The World Health Organization confirms that a new outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Republic of the Congo killed 64.^[1]
Canadian finance minister John Manley brings down a budget, the last and one of those with the most expenditures in the career of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. It uses money from the federal surplus to replace a portion of the amount the Liberals cut from a variety of programs during their mandate, partially funds the implementation of the Romanow Report on health care, and increases military spending.
Hours before the first ships transporting heavy United States military equipment to Turkey were supposed to reach port, the Turkish government announces that it will withhold approval to dock unless the United States increases a reciprocal $6 billion foreign aid grant to $10 billion. The Bush administration indicated that no substantial changes will be made to the proposed aid package.^[2]