April 15, 2004
Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa submits a report on the constitutional development to NPC, asking Beijing's permission to reform the way HK's legislature and the top leadership are chosen in 2007 and 2008.
Voting begins in South Korean parliamentary elections.
Three planets are discovered via gravitational microlensing orbiting stars many light years away, including one that is more than three times farther away than the previous record holder.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, reacting to the United States President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon summit, states Palestinian will never give up their struggle for an independent homeland, never abandon the claims of their refugees, nor make more territorial concessions. He states that Jerusalem will be its capital. Sharon, who wants to withdraw Israel from the Gaza Strip, faces opposition to his withdrawal plan.
Three Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq are released unharmed after one week in captivity.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reiterates a call for arms inspectors to return to Iraq.
An audio tape, purportedly made by Osama bin Laden, is broadcast by Al-Arabiya.
A further 2000 pro-democracy demonstrators are arrested in Nepal; all but 22 are later released.