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Worldwide current events
Sports events

Topics in the news

Stephen Hawking

British physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking (pictured) dies at the age of 76.
At least 49 people are killed after US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 crashes en route from Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Kathmandu, Nepal.
The Winter Paralympics open in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The wreck of USS Lexington is discovered in the Coral Sea.
A coalition of centre-right parties wins a plurality in the Italian general election.

March 14, 2018 (Wednesday)

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Sports

2018 NFL season
- The 2018 NFL league year and free agency period begins. (Yahoo Sports)

March 13, 2018 (Tuesday)

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Disasters and accidents

The Argentine Navy rescues four United States Antarctic Program scientists and a contractor stranded on Joinville Island in Antarctica after their icebreaker RV Laurence M. Gould encountered thick sea-ice. (BBC)
A bus plunges into a ravine in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia, killing at least 38 people, mostly students. (Channel News Asia)

International relations

Japan–North Korea relations
- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe says that Japan is considering a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. (AFP)

Law and crime

Transport in Iraq
- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi lifts a ban on international air travel to the Kurdistan Region. (France24)

Politics and elections

Cabinet of Donald Trump
- U.S. President Donald Trump fires Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, moving to replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Trump selects CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel to replace Pompeo as director. (The Washington Post)

March 12, 2018 (Monday)

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Business and economy

Acquisitions by Apple
- Apple Inc. buys digital magazine subscription app Texture for an undisclosed sum. (CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211
- An aircraft operated by Bangladeshi airline US-Bangla Airlines crashes at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal, killing 49 of the 71 people on board. (BBC)

International relations

Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, Russia–United Kingdom relations
- British Prime Minister Theresa May says she believes it is "highly likely" that the Russian government was behind an attempt to murder Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a Novichok agent. (Deutsche Welle)

Law and crime

Austin package explosions
- Police in Austin, Texas announce that three package bombs in recent days that have killed two people and injured one more appear to be connected. The packages were left off at three separate locations and were not placed there by any delivery service, police say. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
- Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee announce the end of their Russia investigation, against the objections of Democratic members. According to the investigation's preliminary findings, the 2016 Trump campaign did not collude with the Russian government, and, contrary to the U.S. intelligence community's previous conclusions, Russia did not have a preference for Donald Trump as a presidential candidate. (NBC News)

Sports

2017–18 Superleague Greece
- The Superleague Greece season is suspended indefinitely by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports after PAOK FC owner Ivan Savvidis invaded the pitch with several bodyguards during a match against AEK Athens F.C. while armed with a gun, after his side had a late goal ruled out for offside. (BBC)
College basketball in the United States
- The field for the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament is announced. Connecticut, the only remaining unbeaten Division I team of either sex, is the top overall seed, with Notre Dame, Louisville, and Mississippi State as the other #1 seeds. (AP via ESPN)

March 11, 2018 (Sunday)

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Disasters and accidents

2017–18 South Pacific cyclone season
- Cyclone Hola makes landfall in New Zealand. (Newshub)
2018 New York City helicopter crash
- A helicopter crash in Manhattan's East River kills five people. (ABC News)
2018 Bombardier Challenger 604 crash
- A private plane from Sharjah to Istanbul crashes in the Zagros Mountains in Iran, killing Turkish socialite Mina Başaran along with, according to Iranian state media, ten other people on board. (The National UAE), (BBC)

Law and crime

Visa policy of the United Kingdom
- Far-right activist and journalist Lauren Southern is detained at Calais and prevented from entering the United Kingdom, with the reason given by the UK Home Office that her presence 'was not conducive to the public good'. (London Evening Standard), (Fox News)

Politics and elections

2018 National People's Congress
- China's National People's Congress approves the removal of presidential term limits, in a move that allows current president Xi Jinping to remain president for life. (BBC)
Chilean general election, 2017
- Sebastian Piñera takes office for the second time as President of Chile. (SBS)
2018 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka
- The suspension of Facebook remains in place until the riots end. (The Sunday Times)

Sports

Basketball
- The field for the NCAA Division I Men's Tournament is announced. The top overall seed is Virginia, with Villanova, Kansas, and Xavier as the other #1 seeds. (ESPN)

March 10, 2018 (Saturday)

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Business and economy

Economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Congolese President Joseph Kabila signs a law that increases taxes on mining and government royalties on international mining companies working in DR Congo, including on the mining of cobalt, despite the opposition from foreign companies. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

East-Central Africa Division of Seventh-day Adventists
- Lightning strikes a Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nyaruguru District, Rwanda, killing 16 people and injuring dozens. (BBC)

Health and environment

Environmental issues in Chile
- Outgoing Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signs a new law which creates nine marine reserves. The new legislation will increase the area of sea under state protection from 4.3% to 42.4%. (BBC)

International relations

2017–18 North Korea crisis
- North Korea–United States relations
  - Jeju Island emerges as a possible location for U.S.–North Korea summit talks in May. (The Hankyoreh)
- North Korea–Sweden relations
  - North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong-ho will visit Sweden and meet with Deputy Prime Minister Margot Wallström. (Reuters via The Japan Times)

Law and crime

Aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
- The NRA is suing Florida after it passed a gun control law which would raise the minimum age for purchasing guns from 18 to 21. (CNN) (BBC)
- The U.S. Department of Justice submits a regulation to ban bump stocks, a modification to semi-automatic guns that allows the user to fire at a faster rate. (Reuters)
Visa policy of the United Kingdom, Censorship in the United Kingdom
- Identitarian leaders Martin Sellner and Brittany Pettibone are detained in the United Kingdom for wanting to hold a speech at Speaker's Corner in London and wanting to interview English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson. (London Evening Standard)(New Jersey Herald)

March 9, 2018 (Friday)

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Arts and culture

Media of the United Kingdom
- British music journalism magazine New Musical Express (NME) issues its final print edition after 66 years, becoming a purely digital medium. (Evening Standard)

International relations

2017–18 North Korea crisis
- 2018 North Korea–United States summit
  - White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says that the White House needs to see "concrete and verifiable steps" toward the denuclearization of North Korea before meeting with Kim Jong-un. (Business Insider)
- Australia–North Korea relations, Australia–United States relations
  - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urges U.S. President Donald Trump to be cautious in North Korea talks. Turnbull also said that Australia must retain sanctions on North Korea. (Canberra Times)
- France–North Korea relations, France–United States relations
  - French President Emmanuel Macron says that Trump should hold tough talks with North Korea. (First Post)

Law and crime

Yountville hostage crisis
- An Afghan War veteran and recently expelled resident takes an executive director and two psychologists into a room at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, California. Seven hours later, California Highway Patrol officers find all of them shot dead. (The New York Times)
Crime in New York
- A Brooklyn federal court sentences Martin Shkreli to seven years in prison for securities fraud in his hedge fund and pharmaceutical companies. (CNBC)
Federal pardons in the United States
- U.S. President Donald Trump pardons Kristian Saucier, who had served a one-year sentence for unauthorized possession and retention of national defense information. (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

Politics of Mauritius
- Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is to resign over a financial scandal, where she was accused of using a charity bank card to make personal purchases worth tens of thousands of dollars. (Reuters) (BBC)

Science and technology