October 17, 2003 (Friday)
- Carlos Mesa is sworn in as the President of Bolivia, after former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was forced to resign as protests and strikes escalated in the Bolivian Gas War.
- Occupation of Iraq: Four US troops and at least two police officers are killed in an ambush in Karbala and another incident in Iraq.[1]
- China's economy grows at 9% in the latest period, on course to become the largest economy in the world by 2050.[2]
- A 197 ft (60 m) spire is inserted on Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, unseating Malaysia's Petronas Towers as the world's tallest building.[3]
- ^ "BBC NEWS - Middle East - US combat deaths pass 100". Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ "BBC NEWS - Business - China's growth races ahead". Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ [1] [dead link]