The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Beijing - Faced with the return of SARS, China on Monday ordered wild animals slaughtered by the thousands in the disease's suspected region of origin, a striking response that elicited calls for caution from international doctors concerned about safety and destroying medical evidence. The decision to kill up to 10,000 civet cats and related specialty-food creatures in the wildlife markets of the southern province of Guangdong - animals suspected of being SARS carriers - came as the first case of SARS in China this season was confirmed after more than two weeks of intricate tests. Basra, Iraq - British forces are likely to remain in Iraq for several more years, a top British official said Monday, a day after Prime Minister Tony Blair made a surprise visit to troops headquartered in Basra. Pasadena, California - NASA on Monday released a sweeping, 3-D panorama of the surface of Mars snapped by the newly landed rover Spirit, as scientists awaited the first detailed colour images of the robot's surroundings. Scientists marvelled at the crisp black-and-white photograph and picked the likely first target the six-wheeled rover would visit: a dust-filled depression that tired members of the mission quickly dubbed "Sleepy Hollow." "It's a hole in the ground, it's a window in the interior of Mars," said Steve Squyres, the mission's main scientist.
