Portal:Current events/2007 March 21
March 21, 2007 (Wednesday)
- Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom, delivers the 2007 budget. The main rates of corporation tax and income tax will both be reduced by 2% from April 2008, but other taxes are increased. (BBC)
- Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and the broker of the Dayton Peace Accords Richard Holbrooke warns that if the United Nations votes against independence for Kosovo in April the region may erupt into violence. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
- An Israeli Special committee decides the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbullah is to be named the Second Lebanon War. (Ynetnews)
- Two British sailors die and a third is injured as a result of an accident on the nuclear submarine HMS Tireless in the Arctic Ocean. (AFP via News Limited) (Wikinews)
- United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announces that the Bush administration will cut its security package to the government of the Palestinian National Authority by nearly half in order to ensure that Hamas does not receive funding. (AP via IHT)
- Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warns that Iran will pursue nuclear development outside regulations if the United Nations Security Council imposes sanctions. (AP via CNN)
- A labour strike in Israel led by union Histadrut shuts down all government offices and transportation. (BBC)
- War in Somalia (2006–2009): At least seven people die in heavy fighting in Mogadishu as Somalian and Ethiopian troops enter an insurgent stronghold. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
- Sri Lankan Civil War: Eleven people die in fighting between the Sri Lanka Army and the Tamil Tigers in the Batticaloa district. (BBC)
- President of Russia Vladimir Putin declares a national day of mourning after three separate disasters kill at least 173 people in three days: the Ulyanovskaya Mine disaster, the crash of UT Air Flight 471 and a fire in a retirement home. (Bloomberg)