Current events of 29 March 2007 (2007-03-29) (Thursday) edit history watch

The United Nations Security Council expresses "grave concern" over the capture of 15 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines by Iran and calls for expedient release of the captives. (AP via CBS) U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates supports closing the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and moving dangerous inmates elsewhere. (BBC) Powerful tornadoes hit several U.S. states, killing a couple in Oklahoma, a woman in Colorado and a man in Texas. (BBC) War in Iraq: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia describes U.S. presence in Iraq as an "illegal occupation." (BBC) At least 104 Iraqis die as a result of suicide bombings in markets in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad and in the town of Khalis. (AP via Detroit Free Press) The U.S. Senate passes a bill 51-47, joining the U.S. House of Representatives, that calls for the U.S. to withdraw all troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008 while continuing to fund the war through 2009 and allowing upwards of 80,000 troops to remain. (Reuters) The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passes a US$2.9 trillion budget blueprint which results in a surplus after five years but relies heavily on the expiration of the Bush tax cuts to do so. The U.S. Senate passed a similar budget blueprint last week with negotiations to ensue. (AP via San Francisco Examiner) Insurgency in Somalia: Helicopters bomb an insurgent stronghold in Mogadishu hours after six people die in a gun battle. (Boston Globe) Beef from the United States goes on sale in Japan as a ban imposed due to mad cow disease in the U.S. is lifted. (AP via The Houston Chronicle) Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy intercepts 10 Tamil Tiger boats sinking three of them with 16 people estimated to be dead. (AP via IHT)