December 30, 2003 (Tuesday)
- The European Union is investigating a series of parcel bombs targeting the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and Europol headquarters at The Hague. Investigators state that it is too early to draw any connections between these bombs and the letter bomb sent two days ago to the Bologna home of Romano Prodi, the head of the European Commission. [1]
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announces a ban on the sale of dietary supplement ephedra, citing "an unreasonable risk of illness or injury" from the use of the drug. [2]
- U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recuses himself and his office from the CIA leak scandal, in which the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative, was leaked by Washington insiders. Democratic political leaders had been calling for Ashcroft's recusal. [3]
- The man who was convicted of breaking into mainland China cable television networks and broadcasting footage of the banned Falun Gong, an alleged cult, reportedly dies in prison. Pro-Falun Gong groups and the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy claim he was beaten to death.[4]