April 12, 2003

Looting and lawlessness plague Baghdad. Hospitals looted, humanitarian aid hindered by unsafe conditions. [1], [2], [3]
Prince Laurent of Belgium marries British-born 'commoner' Claire Coombs at the St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. [4]
Poet Linda Gregerson receives the $100,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for her collection Waterborne. The award is presented annually by the Claremont Graduate University for a "mid-career poet". Joanie Mackowski receives the $10,000 Kate Tufts Discovery Award.
Canadian scientists announce that they have decoded the genetic code for the virus which is thought to cause Severe acute respiratory syndrome. The code is published on their website: http://www.bcgsc.ca/bioinfo/SARS/ . (News item: [5])