April 17, 2004 (Saturday)
- His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama begins a visit to Canada. (Toronto Star)
- Burma's National League for Democracy reopens its Rangoon headquarters nearly a year after the government closed it down. (VOA)
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, leader of Hamas, is killed by an Israeli missile attack. (CNN) (BBC)
- An Israeli border policeman is killed in a suicide bombing attack at the Erez Crossing in northern Gaza. Hamas and Fatah claim responsibility. (INN)
- Socialist Party leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is sworn in as Spain's prime minister. (CNN)
- 15th Annual Thunder Over Louisville is held in Louisville, Kentucky.