March 3, 2005 (Thursday)
- In Belgium, Naïma Amzil, a Muslim woman leaves her job after her employer is targeted with a seventh death threat, sent by a group named New Free Flanders (Dutch: Nieuw Vrij Vlaanderen). She is targeted because she is Muslim and wears a headscarf at work. (BBC) (Middle East Online)[permanent dead link]
- Four officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are shot dead while investigating a man suspected of stealing a pickup truck, west of Edmonton, Alberta. This is the largest single death toll for RCMP officers since the Northwest Rebellion. (CBC)
- Five men who had been sentenced to death for the rape of Mukhtar Mai, who was raped as punishment for another rape falsely attributed to her brother, are acquitted on appeal. A Pakistani tribal council allegedly ordered the rape of Mukhtar Mai in February 2002. (BBC)
- The People's Republic of China issues a report condemning the human rights record of the United States, three days after the United States issued a report condemning China's human rights record. (BBC) (People's Daily)
- In Indonesia, Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is found guilty of conspiracy for his involvement in the 2002 Bali bombing, but was found not guilty of all charges surrounding the 2003 bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta. He received a two and a half year jail sentence. (BBC)(Jakarta Post) (Reuters) Archived 2005-03-08 at the Wayback Machine
- In China, a dynamite explosion in a home of a miner kills 20 people, most of them schoolchildren (Xinhua) (Reuters)[permanent dead link] (BBC)
- In Japan, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, millionaire and chairman of Kokudo Corporation, is indicted in insider trading and false financial reports (Daily Yomiuri)[permanent dead link] (Asahi Shimbun) (Reuters)
- Steve Fossett's GlobalFlyer touches down at Salina, Kansas, completing his nonstop around-the-world flight. Fossett had overcome earlier fuel problems to become the first person to achieve the flight solo. (CNN)
- After 5 months in prison, Martha Stewart is released from Camp Cupcake at 12:30 EDT. (CNN)
- In South Africa, police look for the three killers of Thulani Zulu, a Zulu prince and an ANC official. Thulani Zulu was killed in a drive-by shooting. IFP also condemns the act (SABC (IOL) (News24) (BBC)
- Zimbabwe intends to release 62 mercenaries connected to failed coup attempt in the Equatorial Guinea last year. Most of the suspected mercenaries are South African. (Reuters SA) (IAfrica) (BBC)
- FBI sends a special agent to Azerbaijan to help in the investigation of murder Elmar Huseynov. editor in chief of Monitor magazine. The magazine has often criticized the government of the country. (Baku Today) (IJNet) (BBC) (CASCFEN)[permanent dead link]
- World Trade Organization upheld a ruling that orders US to stop subsidies to its cotton farmers. (Bloomberg) (New York Times) (BBC)
- Mexico allocates equivalent to US$ 2.7 million to compensate relatives of more than 300 women killed in Ciudad Juárez since 1993. (UN News Centre) (KLTV) (BBC)
- In Angers, France, 66 people go into trial for sexual child abuse and child prostitution of 45 victims of various ages. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-12 at the Wayback Machine (Guardian) (BBC)
- In Naples, Italy, police has arrested at least 42 people during a large operation against Camorra. (AGI) (News.Com.Au) (BBC)
- Scientists at Florida State University conclude that Homo floresiensis is a separate species from Homo sapiens and belongs in the Homo genus through computer mapping of its brain. (Reuters) Archived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine, (CBC)
- At 18:17Z, a 3500-tonne freighter, M/V Karen Danielsen, crashes into the Western bridge of the Great Belt Bridge of Denmark, 800 m from Funen. All traffic across the bridge stopped, effectively separating Denmark in two. (News24)