Portal:Current events/2004 February 23
February 23, 2004 (Monday)
- United States Secretary of Education Rod Paige calls the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union, a "terrorist organization." He later apologizes, calling his comments "an inappropriate choice of words to describe the obstructionist scare tactics the NEA's Washington lobbyists have employed against No Child Left Behind's historic education reforms." (CNSNews)
- The Iranian parliament starts processing the resignation of more than 120 members, starting with Fatemeh Haghighatjou who is among the few female members.
- The United States Army cancels the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program with US$8 billion already invested in the project and an additional US$450–680 million in contract cancellation fees to pay. The reconnaissance helicopter project is being phased out in favor of unmanned aerial vehicles. (Forbes) (Reuters) Archived 2004-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
- Palestinian representatives put their case to the International Court of Justice against the Israeli West Bank barrier. (BBC)
- A fire kills six people at the Dhawan Space Centre, the launch facility of the Indian Space Research Organisation. (CNN)
- 2003 in film: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King becomes the second film in history to gross more than $1 billion in worldwide box office receipts.(CNN) (BCC)