Portal:Current events/March 2016

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March 2016 was the third month of that leap year. The month, which began on a Tuesday, ended on a Thursday after 31 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from March 2016.

Current events of March 1, 2016 (2016-03-01) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks War in Donbass Three soldiers are killed and two others are injured after a Ukrainian military truck was blown up in the eastern part of Luhansk Oblast. (Ukraine Today) Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017), American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present) The United States Army's elite Delta Force captures their first suspected ISIL operative during a raid in northern Iraq. The detainee is being interrogated by the U.S. and is expected to be turned over to Iraqi officials in the coming days. (CNN) Israeli–Palestinian conflict Faulty readings from a GPS system apparently resulted in two Israeli soldiers driving into the Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces sent in on a rescue mission, engaged armed Palestinians. One 22-year-old Palestinian man was killed with 10 others wounded, one seriously, in the ensuing gun battle. At least 10 Israeli soldiers were wounded. (The Washington Post) (The Daily Telegraph) Disasters and accidents At least 18 people are killed and 16 others injured in a multi-vehicle accident involving a bus near Nahdah in northwestern Oman. Six of the dead were from Oman, four from Saudi Arabia, two from Pakistan, and one from Yemen. Five others are unidentified. (AP via ABC News) The Peruvian Army is deployed on the country's northern and southern coasts to help cope with El Niño-related floods that have killed at least two people and left thousands homeless. (Euronews) Residents from more than 50 homes in Ripley, New York, are evacuated following the derailment of a 34-car Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials in the southwestern part of the state. Ethanol leaked from the two of the 16 derailed cars. A third car carrying propane crashed but did not leak. (Reuters) (AP via Fox News) Health Zika virus outbreak (2015–present) The first Zika virus case is confirmed in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. (WMUR) International relations 2016 North Korean nuclear test The United Nations Security Council vote on the United States-China draft resolution on North Korea is rescheduled to 10:00 a.m. EST Wednesday. Russia requests more time to review the text. (Reuters) Libyan Crisis (2011–present) The United Kingdom is to send troops to Tunisia to help the Tunisian Army prevent ISIL militants from moving into the country from Libya. (Reuters) European migrant crisis United Nations refugee agency spokesperson Adrian Edwards warns that Europe is on the verge, "... of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis, ..." if the rapid build-up of migrants continues at the northern borders of an already over-stretched Greece. There are at least 24,000 there now, including 8,500 at Idomeni, the site of yesterday's incident. (Business Standard) (Kathimerini) South China Sea disputes Filipino fishermen say China has deployed up to five ships around the disputed Quirino Atoll, also known as Jackson Atoll, in the South China Sea, preventing them from accessing traditional fishing grounds. (Reuters via Channel News Asia) Law and crime A grand jury in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania reports that hundreds of children were sexually abused by about 50 priests in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese over four decades. (Reuters) Ukraine bans government officials from publicly criticizing the work of state institutions and their colleagues, after damaging disclosures last month that highlighted slow progress in fighting corruption. (Reuters) Transgender and schools, LGBT rights in South Dakota In the United States, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoes House Bill 1008 that would have required transgender students to use bathrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities based on their gender at birth in state public schools. The bill would have been law at midnight if the governor had not acted. (Chicago Sun-Times) (NPR) The primary sponsor of the legislation asks fellow lawmakers not to override the governor’s veto. (The Washington Post) In California, two current and one former San Franciscan sheriff deputies, are charged with organizing an inmate "fight club" on the seventh floor of the city's Hall of Justice jail. (Los Angeles Times) (AP via Fox News) Politics and elections 2016 United States presidential election Voters in the U.S. states of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and the overseas territory of American Samoa go to the polls to vote on Super Tuesday. (CNN) (BBC) The results show Hillary Clinton winning the Democratic Party races in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, American Samoa. Massachusetts and Virginia while Bernie Sanders has won Vermont, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Colorado. (Oregon Live), (New York Post), (New York Times), (New York Times) Voting returns show that Donald Trump wins the Republican Party races in Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Virginia, Vermont, Arkansas and Tennessee while Ted Cruz wins Texas, Alaska and Oklahoma and Marco Rubio wins Minnesota. (New York Times) (The Washington Post), (Vox), (Alaska) Corruption in South Africa President Jacob Zuma survives a no-confidence vote in the South African Parliament in response to corruption allegations against him. (BBC) Irish general election, 2016 Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who rejected suggestions he should resign, says he will "fully and inclusively" engage with other parties, groups and Independents, including Fianna Fáil, as he forms the country's government. Sinn Féin says it is not interested in forming a coalition government with Kenny's Fine Gael party. (Irish Independent) (Irish Examiner) Science and technology ISS year long mission U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko return to Earth after 340 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). (BBC) The Association for Computing Machinery awards the 2015 A.M. Turing Award to Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman for the invention of public-key cryptography and digital signatures which revolutionized computer security. (TechNewsWorld) Sport Cuba–United States relations MLB announces the Tampa Bay Rays professional baseball team will play an exhibition game with the Cuban National Team on March 22, 2016, in Havana. United States President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to visit the island nation then, is expected to attend. (ESPN) (Tampa Bay Times) Current events of March 2, 2016 (2016-03-02) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks One Chinese national is killed and three others injured in a possible militant attack on a Chinese-invested company in Laos, the official Xinhua News Agency reports. (Reuters) Israeli–Palestinian conflict Two Palestinian teenagers, from the nearby village of Qaryout, got into a Jewish settlement and stabbed an Israeli settler at his home in the Eli settlement near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. They were stopped and killed by the army. The injured settler was taken to a hospital. (Reuters)(AFP via i24news) Spillover of the Syrian Civil War Jordan says an overnight raid on an ISIL cell in the city of Irbid has left seven militants and one security officer dead, with five others injured. Those killed were planning to blow up civilian and military targets in the country, according to the General Intelligence Directorate (GID). (BBC) War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Nine people are killed in an attack on the Indian consulate In Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (NDTV) Libyan Crisis (2011–present) The Tunisian Army kills five suspected ISIL militants near the town of Ben Gardane after they infiltrated across the border from neighboring Libya. (Reuters) Business and economy Mining company Samarco agrees to pay $4.4bn reais (£804m) in compensation to victims of the Bento Rodrigues dam disaster in Brazil. (BBC) Disasters and accidents Iraqi engineers warn that the Mosul Dam could collapse at anytime, resulting in a catastrophic flash flood that could kill up to one million people along the Tigris, with the major Iraqi cities of Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra and Baghdad all at risk. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad has urged American citizens to leave the area. (The Guardian) 2016 Sumatra earthquake The Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia (BMKG) and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issue tsunami warnings, after an undersea 7.9 magnitude earthquake strikes southwest of Sumatra, in the Indian Ocean. (RT) (BOM) International relations South China Sea disputes Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario says Chinese coast guard ships that were sighted two weeks ago near the disputed Jackson Atoll in the northeast Dangerous Ground are no longer there today. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said ships were dispatched to the area in late 2015 to salvage a fishing vessel that posed a risk to navigation. Chinese ships, “... persuaded fishing boats to leave the waters in an effort to ensure safety conditions for normal navigation," Hong said. In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei also lay claim to the Spratly Islands waters. (AP via The Washington Post) European migrant crisis The European Union launches a new aid program worth an initial 700 million euros (US$760 million) to address the growing refugee crisis in Greece. EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides says the so-called Emergency Assistance Instrument will be used to help migrants trapped in Greece and, if needed, in other countries on the migration route front lines. Approval by a majority of EU members is required. The next EU meeting is scheduled for Monday. (The New York Times) (Reuters) (Kathimerini) The Gulf Cooperation Council formally designates Lebanon's Hezbollah militia a terrorist organization. The GCC member states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. (The Washington Post) The United Nations Security Council adopts the toughest sanctions on North Korea in twenty years due to continued efforts to develop a nuclear weapons program. (Fox News) Politics and elections Spanish general election, 2015 The conservative People's Party (PP) and the left-wing Podemos party, which together hold 192 seats in Spain’s 350-seat parliament following December's election, confirm they will vote against Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez’s candidacy to form a new government. (AP via The Washington Post) Current events of March 3, 2016 (2016-03-03) (Thursday) Armed conflicts and attacks DHKP/C insurgency in Turkey Istanbul police, after a standoff, shoot and kill two women from the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army-Front suspected of ambushing a riot police station in the Bayrampaşa neighborhood on the city’s European side. Two policemen were injured. (The Washington Post) Disasters and accidents A nationwide power outage hits Syria. The Syrian government says shortly before the power outage, militants had hit part of a power-generating station with rockets in the city of Hama, though it hasn't said whether this damage was linked to the nationwide outage. Also, it isn't clear how many people are affected by the power outage as many cities outside of the government's control already weren't being served by the government-run power grid. (CNN) At least 31 people are killed in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, when a bus, with a blown front tire, switches lanes and slams into an oncoming public transport minibus. (AP ia Fox News) International relations North Korea and weapons of mass destruction South Korea claims that North Korea has launched several short range missiles into the Sea of Japan. (Yonhap) (AFP via Yahoo! News) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un orders nuclear weapons to be ready for use at any time. (Sky News) Taliban insurgency Sartaj Aziz, a top foreign affairs adviser for Pakistan, publicly admits for the first time that the Afghan Taliban's leadership is living in the country and that Islamabad has "considerable influence" over them. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Russian military intervention in Ukraine (2014–present) The United States extends sanctions against Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine. (ABC News) Jordan–United States relations The United States delivers eight UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to Jordan to help the Jordanian Armed Forces defend the country from the threat of ISIL. (Reuters) Law and crime Honduran indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres is assassinated in her home in La Esperanza in Intibucá Department. (Telesur) A riot at a prison in Guyana's capital Georgetown leaves at least 16 people dead. The riot began when inmates angered by a search that led to the confiscation of mobile phones set fires in one part of the prison. (Reuters) Politics and elections New Zealand flag debate Voting begins for the second stage of New Zealand's flag referendum with the current flag going up against the design chosen on the first stage of the referendum. Voting will end on March 23 with polling showing the current flag is favoured to win. (BBC) (CNN) 2014–16 Venezuelan protests Violence breaks out in the Venezuelan city of San Cristóbal between students and police after a supreme court ruling curtailed the power of the opposition-controlled National Assembly to review government appointments of Supreme Court justices. (BBC) Republican Party presidential debates, 2016 The eleventh Republican Party presidential debate of the election cycle takes place at the Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit, Michigan, airing live on Fox News Channel. The debate features four Republican candidates, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich. Ben Carson was also invited to the debate but he said that he would not be attending. An estimated 16.9 million viewers watched the debate, 5.5 million of them adults aged 25-54, making it the most watched debate since December 2015. (Fox News) (CBS Local) (Hollywood Reporter) Science and technology Astronomers use the Hubble Space Telescope to discover GN-z11, the remotest galaxy yet discovered. (ABC News) Current events of March 4, 2016 (2016-03-04) (Friday) Armed conflicts and attacks Libyan Civil War (2014–present) A Libyan spokesperson says two Italian hostages are freed by local fighters from Islamic State custody in Sabratha, Libya. He also confirms that two other Italian hostages were recently killed during local forces clashes with IS militants. (AP via ABC News) Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) Gunmen storm a retirement home in Yemen, run by a charity established by Mother Teresa, killing 16 people, including four Catholic nuns. (NY Times) Dissident Irish Republican campaign (1998–present) A bomb explodes under a vehicle in Belfast injuring a prison officer; Dissident republicans have claimed responsibility. (Belfast Telegraph) PKK rebellion (2015–present) Two Turkish police officers are killed and at least 14 others including several civilians are injured by a car bomb attack on a police station in the town of Nusaybin, near the Syria–Turkey border. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are blamed for the attack. (BBC) Syrian Civil War The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Syrian rebels have seized control of the al-Tanf border crossing on the Iraq–Syria border from ISIL militants. The rebel fighters who took the crossing reportedly entered Syria through Jordan. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Electricity is gradually being restored across Syria from a nationwide blackout that began early Thursday afternoon. Syria's Electricity Ministry says the electrical grid is expected to return to normal capacity by midnight. There is no immediate word on the cause. (WireUpdate.com) Five people, including an 18-month-old baby, are missing from an Indonesian ferryboat traveling from Bali to East Java that sank in the Bali Strait; 76 people have been rescued. (Jakarta Globe) International relations South China Sea disputes The U.S. Navy dispatches a carrier strike group containing the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS John C. Stennis to the South China Sea. (Washington Post) Japan–United States relations, Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe agrees to suspend work to expand the U.S. military base on Okinawa Island. Abe says his government will follow the court recommendation and settle several lawsuits over landfill work carried out to prepare for new runways. (Bloomberg) France–Germany relations Germany wants France to shut down the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant near its border as soon as possible following media reports the April 9, 2014, incident was more serious than reported. (AP via ABC News) (Deutsche Welle) European migrant crisis The European Commission proposes an end-of-year target date for lifting internal border checks and restoring the 26-nation, passport-free Schengen Area. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) Law and crime Brazilian police raid the home of ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in relation to the Petrobras scandal. Lula is brought in for questioning. (BBC) Media freedom in Turkey A Turkish court places the influential Zaman newspaper under state control. Zaman is closely linked to the Gülen movement of influential U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, a former ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (BBC) The United States Supreme Court, with only Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting, blocks implementation of a Louisiana law that could have forced all but one of the state's abortion clinics to close, and restores an earlier judicial ban on enforcing the 2014 law. Last week, a federal appeals court said the law could be enforced. (Los Angeles Times) (AFP via GlobalPost) Politics and elections 2016 Samoan general election Voters in Samoa go to the polls for a general election. (Radio New Zealand) 2016 Serbian parliamentary election Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, at the request of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, dissolves Serbia's parliament and calls for early elections to take place on April 24. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) 2016 United States presidential election, 2016 Republican Party presidential candidates Ben Carson suspends his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. The expected announcement was made during a speech at the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). (NBC News) 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The British Chambers of Commerce suspends Director-General John Longworth for announcing his personal views on Brexit. The BCC, whose members are split on this issue, will not campaign for either side. (BBC) Current events of March 5, 2016 (2016-03-05) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks Taliban insurgency The Afghan Taliban releases a statement rejecting peace talks with the government of Afghanistan until foreign forces stop attacking their positions and withdraw from the country. Direct peace talks between the government and the Taliban were expected to take place in Islamabad, Pakistan next week. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Aden unrest (2015–present) Gunmen shoot dead the police chief of Aden's Tawahi district and one of his aides. (Reuters) Business and economy China announces plans to build a railway linking the Tibetan capital Lhasa with Chengdu. (Channel News Asia) Disasters and accidents More than 60 people are hospitalized after an engine explodes on a crowded Bangkok, Thailand, commuter boat. Police suspect a liquefied natural gas leak caused the blast. The boat operator has been ordered to use diesel fuel only on its 25-boat fleet. (AP) (International Business Times) International relations North Korea–Philippines relations The Philippines impounds a North Korean cargo ship in line with new UN sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and missile launch. Presidential spokesman, Manolo Quezon, said the 6,830-tonne cargo ship would not be allowed to leave the Port of Subic, Luzon, where it has been docked for three days, and that its crew would be deported. (The Straits Times) Law and crime Media freedom in Turkey Turkish police fire tear gas at protesters outside the Istanbul headquarters of the Zaman newspaper which has been taken over by the Turkish government. (BBC) Gunmen dressed in police uniforms kill at least ten people in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. (Reuters) Politics and elections Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016, Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016 Voters in the states of Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Maine, and Kentucky, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico participate in a party caucus or vote in a primary election. (Presidential Primary Schedule) Ted Cruz wins the Republican Party caucus in Kansas and Maine. (CBS News), (The Guardian) Donald Trump wins the Louisiana primary and Kentucky caucus. (ABC News), (New York Times) Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic Party contests in Kansas and Nebraska while Hillary Clinton wins in Louisiana. (CNN), (Washington Post), (NOLA), (CNN) Slovak parliamentary election, 2016 Voters in Slovakia choose representatives for all 150 National Council seats. While anti-migrant Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party is expected to lose its parliamentary majority, it should be in position to lead a coalition government. (Reuters via Firstpost) (New Europe), (Bloomberg) Samoan general election, 2016 Results from yesterday's election indicate that the ruling Human Rights Protection Party will retain power in a landslide. (ABC News Australia) Anti-corruption campaign in China: The former party chief of Liaoning and Jilin provinces, Wang Min, is placed under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. (SCMP) Current events of March 6, 2016 (2016-03-06) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) A suicide bomber kills at least 60 people and wounds 70 others after ramming his explosives-laden truck into a security checkpoint at one of the entrances to the Iraqi city of Hillah, south of Baghdad. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the attack. (Reuters) (FOX News) (AP via Yahoo! News) Syrian Civil War Battle of Aleppo (2012–present) At least nine civilians are killed and dozens are injured after rockets and mortars hit the mainly Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsood in the city of Aleppo. The neighborhood is controlled by the People's Protection Units (YPG). (Reuters) Arts and culture Former First Lady of the U.S. Nancy Reagan dies at age 94. (NBC News) Disasters and accidents Twelve coal miners are killed following a gas leak in a mine near the Chinese city of Baishan in Jilin province. (AAP via SBS) European migrant crisis At least 25 migrants, including 10 children, drown after their wooden boat capsizes in the Aegean Sea near the seaside town of Didim, Turkey. The Turkish Coast Guard was able to rescue 15 people. (International Business Times) (AFP via Yahoo7 News) International relations North Korea and weapons of mass destruction North Korea threatens a pre-emptive nuclear strike against South Korea and the United States in response to the two nations' annual joint military exercise which Pyongyang considers is a pretext for an invasion. (The Washington Times) Law and crime Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani is sentenced to death for corruption. Zanjani was arrested in December 2013 after accusations that he withheld billions in oil revenue channelled through his companies. He denies the allegations. (BBC) Egyptian interior minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar accuses Hamas and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the June 2015 assassination of Attorney General Hisham Barakat. (Latin American Herald Tribune) (Debkafile) Politics and elections Beninese presidential election, 2016 Voters in Benin go to the polls for the first round of voting in a presidential election with 33 candidates vying to replace current President Thomas Yayi Boni. (Bloomberg) Thousands of people gather in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to protest against their government's negotiations with Russian state-owned oil company Gazprom. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) 2016 United States presidential election Marco Rubio wins the Puerto Rican Republican Party primary. (BBC) Bernie Sanders wins the Maine Democratic caucuses. (AP) Slovak parliamentary election, 2016 Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party won 28.3 percent of the vote, but with just 49 seats, lost its majority in the 150-member parliament. The Freedom and Solidarity party won 21 seats (12.1%), and the Ordinary People party took 19 seats (11.0%). (AP via Daily Sabah) The right scored first-time seats. The Slovak National Party won 15 seats; and, the Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia won 14 seats, nearly three times more than predicted. (The Washington Post) (Irish Independent) Analysts indicate Fico may find it very difficult to form a new government. Political analyst Samuel Abrahám says coalition-building “could take weeks, even months. ... Fico's rhetoric strengthened the right in Slovakia." (Daily Times) (Reuters via Azerbaijan State News Agency ) Current events of March 7, 2016 (2016-03-07) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002-present) At least 50 people are killed, including 33 militants, seven civilians and ten soldiers, in armed clashes between the Tunisian Army and Islamist militants in the town of Ben Gardane, near the border with Libya. (Reuters) (Al-Jazeera) (AFP via Daily Mail) War in North-West Pakistan A Taliban suicide bomber hits a court complex in the town of Shabqadar killing at least 13 people and injuring 36. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Pakistani Taliban faction, says the attack is retaliation for Mumtaz Qadri's execution last week. (Voice of America) (UPI) Somali Civil War (2009–present) According to the Pentagon, more than 150 al-Shabaab fighters are reportedly killed Saturday by U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft strikes targeting a training camp near the central Somali town of Buloburde. (FOX News) (The New York Times) The Royal Australian Navy seizes a large cache of weapons from a fishing vessel near Oman's coast, that was bound for Somalia. The Australian Navy, which patrols waters around the Indian Ocean as part of an international maritime force, said it has seized nearly 2,000 AK-47 rifles, 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 mortar tubes from the stateless vessel. 20 tonnes of weaponry in total. (Reuters) Syrian Civil War A Syrian Arab Air Force or Russian airstrike reportedly kills a dozen people at a market selling diesel fuel in the rebel-held Idlib Governorate. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the death toll is likely to rise. (Reuters) Business and economics Germany's BASF SE, the largest chemical producer in the world, is pursuing a counterbid for DuPont that could short circuit the Delaware-based company's announced merger with fellow American firm, Dow Chemical Company. (Bloomberg) (Fortune) Apple Inc. must pay the $450 million July 2014 settlement in a price fixing case since the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear its appeal of the June 2015 Court of Appeals ruling that it played a "central role" in a conspiracy with publishers to eliminate retail price competition and raise e-book prices. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (AppleInsider) Disasters and accidents In the United States, an Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) San Francisco Bay Area commuter train bound for Stockton, California, derails and falls into a creek, injuring 14 people, four in serious condition. The crash shuts down service along the ACE system through Tuesday. (Los Angeles Times) (CNN) International relations South Korea–United States relations South Korea and the United States start a joint military exercise as North Korea repeats threats of "indiscriminate" nuclear strikes. (AFP via Rappler) Israeli–Palestinian conflict Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo calls on Muslim leaders at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit meeting in Jakarta to unite and be part of the solution on Palestine, noting the entire world is concerned about its deteriorating situation. Jokowi also criticizes what he calls Israel's "unilateral and illegal policies." (The Jakarta Post) (AP via Appeal-Democrat) European migrant crisis Today's European Union summit with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in Brussels, Belgium, will discuss ways to stanch the flow of European-bound migrants. (CNN) (Voice of America) (Summit website) The EU plans to boost aid to Greece and declare the route north through the Balkans closed. Presently, about 13,000 people are stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border. (BBC) (Kathimerini) The leaders plan to give Turkey €3bn to take back thousands who don't qualify for asylum. (Kathimerini) (Business Day) Amnesty International takes on the EU for using Turkey as a buffer to police Europe’s borders. Deputy Director Gauri van Gulik says Europe has an absolute duty to protect refugees and must fast-track significant, unconditional resettlement. (AP via The Washington Post) Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) opens a humanitarian camp for migrants in the Grande-Synthe suburb of Dunkerque, France. (AP via ABC News) Enlargement of the European Union The Turkish deputy ambassador to Britain says Turkey should be allowed to join the European Union in order to help solve the Syrian refugee crisis. (The Independent) Israel-United States relations Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancels a trip to the United States for an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference that was to include a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. (Reuters) (Haaretz) (The New York Times) Israeli reports indicate Mr. Netanyahu cancelled because he had not been offered a meeting with Mr. Obama. The White House, which states it had not been directly informed of this change of plans, insists Mr. Netanyahu had turned down a chance to meet with the president. (The New York Times) Law and crime A gunman, who killed one man, injured two others, and was holding three people hostage, is found dead when an armed tactical response police team storms a building in the Ingleburn industrial area in suburban Sydney, Australia. All hostages were unharmed. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Stuff.co.nz) (Sky News via KLFM) Venezuelan security forces search for 30 gold miners reportedly killed last week in the state of Bolívar in the country's southeast. Survivor reports state the miners were shot last Friday in a fight for control of a gold deposit by criminals who then hid the bodies. Bolívar Governor Francisco Rangel Gómez denies any such massacre occurred. (EFE via Fox New Latino) (Reuters via The Times of India) Pitcairn sexual assault trial of 2004 Former mayor of the Pitcairn Islands Mike Warren is found guilty of downloading more than 1000 images and videos of child abuse and child pornography while working in child protection and is sentenced to 20 months in prison. (The Guardian) American sportscaster Erin Andrews is awarded $55 million damages after a stranger, in 2008, secretly recorded her in the nude through a hotel door peephole, and posted the video on the Internet. (New York Daily News) Politics and elections 2016 United States presidential election Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announces he will not run for president in 2016 because of the impact his candidacy might have on the outcome in November. (CBS News) Science and technology Research, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Geoscience, confirms that Mercury's darker than expected crusty exterior is from carbon, likely the remains of the planet's ancient surface crust of graphite, rather than carbon dust from comet impacts as previously postulated. (Christian Science Monitor) (The Washington Post) (Nature Geoscience) Sport Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova tests positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open tennis championship. She has taken the drug since 2006 on prescription for health issues. World Anti-Doping Agency President Craig Reedie says an athlete found guilty of using meldonium would normally face a one-year suspension. (BBC) (AP via The Times-Picayune) Nike suspends ties with Sharapova after the positive test is revealed. (Reuters) (Fox Sports) American football quarterback Peyton Manning retires after eighteen seasons in the National Football League with two Super Bowl championships, five MVP awards, and single-season and career league records for most passing yards and touchdown passes. (NFL) Current events of March 8, 2016 (2016-03-08) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Spillover of the Syrian Civil War Mortar shells fired from Syria kill at least one person and injure another in the Turkish border town of Kilis. (Reuters) Israeli–Palestinian conflict Three terror attacks are reported that result in the deaths of four Palestinians and an American tourist with 12 Israelis wounded, including two Israeli policemen, as United States Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Israel for a two-day visit that includes meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.One of the attacks occurred less than a kilometer from where Joe Biden was at the time. (AP via WWTV) (AP via ABC News) (CNN) The deceased American is Taylor Force, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer from Lubbock, Texas, who was in the first year of an MBA program at Vanderbilt University. Force was part of a 33-person Vanderbilt group that was in Israel to study global entrepreneurship. (CNN) (Houston Chronicle) Spillover of the Libyan Civil War Tunisia's army and security forces kill another five suspected terrorists in an operation near the Libyan border. (AFP via Yahoo! News) Military intervention against ISIL The United States military says ISIL's so-called minister-of-war, Abu Omar al-Shishani, né Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili, appears to have been killed in a U.S. air strike near the town of Al-Shaddadi in Syria. (Reuters via msn.com) Arts and culture International Women's Day is celebrated. The International Women’s Day theme for 2016 is "Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality". (The Washington Post) Health and medicine Zika virus outbreak (2015–present) The World Health Organization cautions pregnant women against traveling to areas where there is ongoing transmission of Zika virus, echoing earlier alerts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other health agencies in areas where virus infection has been prevalent. Director General Margaret Chan says evidence strongly suggests sexual transmission is more common than previously assumed. (The Washington Post) International relations Export restrictions placed by the commerce department of the United States against China's state-owned ZTE for alleged violations of U.S.-imposed export controls on Iran takes effect. (Reuters), (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) European migrant crisis, Enlargement of the European Union The European Union and Turkey agree on broad principles for a plan to ease the migration crisis which includes returning thousands of migrants to Turkey. For this, the EU will swiftly ease visa requirements for Turks and speed up Ankara's EU accession talks. A final agreement is to be ready for next week's two-day EU summit in Brussels, Belgium. (Voice of America) (BBC) (March 17-18, 2016, EU agenda) The United Nations and human rights groups warn the tentative EU deal with Turkey that would return irregular migrants in exchange for political and financial rewards could be illegal. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says it's unclear whether migrants, set to be returned, would be afforded the refugee protection as stated in international law. Amnesty International's Gauri van Gulik says this is outsourcing Europe's refugee responsibility. "The EU is treating Turkey as the only solution it has to the refugee crisis," van Gulik added.(Reuters) (Los Angeles Times) North Korea–South Korea relations South Korea imposes direct sanctions against North Korea that blacklists dozens of Northern companies and people for the first time, and bans ships that have visited North Korean ports in the previous 180 days from its waters. (The Washington Post) (AP via USA Today) Israel–Palestine relations A Pew Research Center survey of Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis, via face-to-face interviews from October 2014 through May 2015, finds deep divisions in Israeli society – not only between Israeli Jews and the country’s Arab citizen minority, but also among the religious subgroups that make up Israeli Jewry. An overwhelming majority (98%) of Israeli Jews agree all Jews should have the right to move to Israel and receive immediate citizenship. Close to half (48 percent) support the expulsion or transfer of Arabs from Israel, yet most secular Jews disagree (58%) with this, as do 54 percent of those in the center politically (more so from the left). Meanwhile, Israeli Arabs, currently about one-in-five of the country's adults, generally do not think Israel can be a Jewish state and a democracy at the same time. Fewer Arabs (down 24 points) think a peaceful, two-state solution is possible, from 74% in 2013 to 50% now. Both groups are skeptical of the peace process: Israeli Arabs question the sincerity of the Israeli government in seeking a peace agreement, while Israeli Jews are equally skeptical about the sincerity of Palestinian leaders. (Pew is a non-partisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C.) (Pew Research Center) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin says the Pew study brings up troubling challenges that need to be dealt with immediately. The finding that 48 percent of Jewish Israelis believe Arabs should be transferred out of Israel is particularly troubling to Rivlin. MK Yousef Jabareen, chair of the Knesset Lobby for Jewish-Arab Coexistence, said, "The transfer of citizens, for whatever reason, is a crime against humanity, and I am frightened to see that half of those polled support such a step." Human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International Israel and the Anne Lindh Foundation's Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel, denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the results of the study. (The Jerusalem Post) Australia–United States relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea The U.S. military is in discussions with Australian officials about the possibility of basing long-range bombers, whose striking distance would include the South China Sea, in Australia. (Reuters) Law and crime Media freedom in Turkey An Istanbul court places the Cihan News Agency under state control. The seizure of the Fethullah Gülen-linked news agency comes just days after the Turkish government seized control of the opposition Zaman newspaper. (Reuters) Acting on requests from neighboring Italy, Swiss authorities arrest 15 people sought as suspected members of the 'Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, a Mafia-type organization centered in Calabria, Italy. (AP) Politics and elections Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016, Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016 Voters in the U.S. states of Mississippi, Michigan, Hawaii and Idaho vote in primary elections and caucuses. (Presidential Election News) Hillary Clinton wins the Mississippi Democratic primary. (New York Times) Bernie Sanders wins the Michigan Democratic primary. (NBC News), (Washington Post) Donald Trump wins both the Michigan and Mississippi Republican primaries and the Hawaii caucus. (The Independent) Ted Cruz wins the Idaho Republican primary. (CNN), (Washington Post) The United States Federal Communications Commission announces an expansion of the federal Lifeline program, which currently offers monthly subsidies for phone and basic cell service, to include broadband Internet service, pending approval at the Commissioners' March 31 meeting. (The Hill) (Reuters) (Multichannel News) Philippine presidential election, 2016 The Supreme Court of the Philippines, in a 9-6 ruling, reverses the Commission on Elections order that had disqualified Senator Grace Poe from running in the May 9, 2016, presidential election. The petitioners plan to file a motion for reconsideration. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) Science and technology U.S. carrier Alaska Airlines reschedules Flight 870 from Anchorage, Alaska, to Honolulu, Hawaii, to depart at 2:00 p.m. local time (23:00 UTC) so passengers can view 2016's only total solar eclipse for 1 minute and 59 seconds, 695 miles north of Honolulu at 37,000 feet. (KING-TV) (Alaska Airlines) (The Verge) (NASA TV stream) Boston College (U.S.) researchers, in findings published in the eLife scientific journal, have uncovered the global spread of an ancient group of retroviruses that affected about 28 of 50 modern mammals' ancestors back as far as 30 million years ago. (Headlines & Global News) (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Current events of March 9, 2016 (2016-03-09) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Taliban militants attack government offices in the southern Helmand Province of Afghanistan, with at least 10 killed, including seven of the attackers. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Somali Civil War (2009–present) U.S. special forces, landing in two helicopters, stage an overnight raid on the al-Shabaab-controlled town of Awdhegele in Somalia's Lower Shebelle region. Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheik Abduasiz Abu Musab, confirmed the raid saying "The helicopters landed outside town and the ground forces entered, there was heavy fighting and they were forced to flee"."They were masked and spoke foreign languages which our fighters could not understand," Abu Musab told Reuters. "We do not know who they were but we foiled them." (AFP via Yahoo! News) (Reuters) North Caucasus clashes A group of nine human rights activists and journalists, heading to Grozny, Chechnya, in a small bus, are attacked on the Kavkaz federal highway near the Ordzhonikidzovskaya settlement at the Ingushetia border. About 20 masked men assaulted the group, confiscated some mobile phones, and set their vehicle on fire. Two of the journalists, the NGO lawyer, and the bus driver were hospitalized. A Committee to Prevent Torture representative said this is the first press tour that was not organized by the Chechen government. (AP via WSOC-TV) (AFP via Yahoo! News)(Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union) Business and economics The man who served as Japan's deputy chief trade negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade deal, says that there is no room for the sort of renegotiation of a particular provision suggested by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents At least 30 people are killed after a five-story building still under construction collapses in Lagos, Nigeria. (Reuters) In Seattle, Washington, a Seattle Fire Department crew, responding to reports of a natural gas leak in the Greenwood neighborhood, are caught in an explosion that injures nine firefighters. The explosion blew out windows in businesses and storefronts in the surrounding blocks, destroying three businesses and heavily damaging a fourth. (The Washington Post) (KING-TV) (Seattle Fire Department) Health The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends physicians ask about basic needs to screen for poverty-related health risk factors, participate in programs that help children develop resilience, assist families in identifying and maximizing protective factors, and advocate for safety net programs that assist children. (The Washington Post) (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) (2 Minute Medicine) Newark, New Jersey's 30 public schools shut off all water fountains after elevated levels of lead were found in nearly half of the schools during the state Department of Environmental Protection testing. The agency confirmed lead has not been found in the 280,000 residents' city water supply. (Reuters) International relations North Korea and weapons of mass destruction North Korea's state media reports Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, in comments released today, states the country has miniaturized nuclear warheads to be mounted on ballistic missiles, and has ordered improvements in the power and precision of its arsenal. (Reuters) European migrant crisis Macedonia says it will no longer let any migrants through its southern border with Greece, effectively blocking the Balkan route for migrants. The decision came after Slovenia barred access to migrants transiting the country. There are around 13,000 migrants now stranded at the Macedonia-Greece border. (BBC) Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen A Saudi-led coalition spokesman announces they have exchanged prisoners with their Houthi opponents and "welcome a pause in the combat on the border." Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the lull was important to deliver aid and medical supplies to people in northern regions of Yemen. Yesterday, a Houthi delegation was in Saudi Arabia for talks to end the war. Al-Jubeir and his Yemeni counterpart noted formal negotiations to end the fighting can only take place under the auspices of the United Nations. (Reuters) (Asharq Al-Awsat) Law and crime Shahbaz Taseer, the son of Pakistani Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer who was murdered in 2011 for criticizing the country's blasphemy laws, is reunited with his family four-and-a-half years after his kidnapping. Tuesday, Shahbaz was rescued by Pakistani secret service and counter-terrorism operatives in Kuchlak, Balochistan Province. He had been abducted in Lahore in August 2011, seven months after his father's murder by bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri. Qadri was executed on February 29, 2016. His death was claimed as the reason for the deadly Taliban suicide bombing in Shabqadar two days ago. (Reuters) (GEO TV Lahore) (The Express Tribune) Niqāb in Egypt The Parliament of Egypt drafts a law which will ban women from wearing full-face veils such as the niqāb and burqa in public places and government institutions. The move comes after Cairo University recently banned nurses and doctors from wearing veils in medical schools and in teaching hospitals, arguing the ban would “protect patients’ rights and interests”. (The Independent) At least eight people have been shot and five killed in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania near the American city of Pittsburgh. '(Yahoo! 7 News), (Fox News) Politics and elections Peruvian general election, 2016 Peru's electoral court bans two leading candidates - Julio Guzman and César Acuña Peralta - from participating in next month's election due to breaches of electoral law. (BBC) Former President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is charged with money laundering. (BBC) Science and technology Solar eclipse of March 9, 2016 A total solar eclipse occurs in Indonesia, and later, east of the international date line, in the northern Pacific Ocean. A partial eclipse occurs in northern Australia, South-East Asia, and the Pacific. (ABC News) Google's DeepMind AlphaGo artificial intelligence program defeats South Korean grand master Lee Se-dol in the ancient game of Go. (The New York Times via Melbourne Age) Current events of March 10, 2016 (2016-03-10) (Thursday) Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon Clashes between the Lebanese Army and jihadist militants near the village of Ras Baalbek in northeast Lebanon, close to the Syrian border, leaves one soldier and eight militants dead. (AFP via Daily Mail) War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Dozens of militants are killed in fighting between rival Taliban factions in Afghanistan's western Herat Province. (The Guardian) Disasters and accidents Two days of heavy rain in the American state of Louisiana has caused at least three deaths and caused more than a thousand people to evacuate their homes. (Fox News) International relations United States–Venezuela relations Venezuela recalls its chargé d'affaires from its embassy in Washington, D.C. after U.S. President Barack Obama renewed a decree imposing sanctions on several top Venezuelan officials. (Reuters) North Korea–South Korea relations North Korea fires two missiles into the Sea of Japan and announces its intention to liquidate all remaining South Korean assets on its territory. (AFP via Yahoo! News) Law and crime Former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin was found by an American investigation to have died of blunt force injuries in Washington, D.C. in November last year. (Reuters) A jury in a U.S. federal court in Scranton, Pennsylvania says that Cabot Oil must pay plaintiffs $4.2 million in damages that resulted from Cabot's fracking operations in the northeast part of that state. (Reuters) Politics and elections Three candidates are put forward to become President of Myanmar: Htin Kyaw and Sai Nyunt Lwin from the National League for Democracy and Khin Aung Myint from the military. (ABC News Australia) The Irish Dáil Éireann (parliament) fails to elect a new taoiseach (Prime Minister) with incumbent Enda Kenny carrying on as a caretaker. (BBC) Current events of March 11, 2016 (2016-03-11) (Friday) Armed conflicts and attacks Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) The Algerian Army kills three suspected Islamist militants near the eastern city of El Oued and seizes a large quantity of weapons, including six anti-aircraft missiles. (Reuters) Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) More than 50 people have died in fighting in the Yemeni city of Taiz. (Al-Arabiya) Business and economics American veterans’ nonprofit charity The Wounded Warrior Project board of directors removes chief executive officer Steven Nardizzi and chief operation officer Al Giordano after an independent investigation confirms earlier news reports about lavish spending on employee perks, high overhead, and other perceived malfeasance. (The New York Times) Bangladesh Bank money laundering case Bangladeshi bank officials say unknown hackers installed malware in the bank's computer systems in last month's attempt to steal nearly $1 billion from the central bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (Reuters via Business Insider) General Motors acquires Cruise Automation, a three-year old software company that's been testing self-driving cars on the streets of San Francisco. (AP via Business Insider) Disasters and accidents Japan’s emperor and prime minister attend a memorial service marking the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in which 15,894 people died and caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Many people remain displaced and recovery efforts are ongoing. (The New York Times) 2016 São Paulo flood and mudslide At least 15 people are killed by flooding and mudslides in and around São Paulo, Brazil, following heavy rain. (Reuters via Channel News Asia) International relations North Korea and weapons of mass destruction Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea, orders the country to conduct more tests of nuclear weapons to improve its capacity. (Reuters via Daily Mail) South Sudanese Civil War A new United Nations report on South Sudan describes one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world, in particular by Government forces, including use of rape as a widespread weapon of war and recommends the U.N. Security Council consider imposing a comprehensive arms embargo on South Sudan and referring the matter to the International Criminal Court. (Newsweek) (AP via The Washington Post) The Arab League declares the Lebanon-based Shiite group Hezbollah a terrorist organization. (Reuters) The delegation from Saudi Arabia departed from the meeting of the Arab League, offended by remarks of the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, an indication of increasing tension among Arab states. (Reuters) Syrian peace process The High Negotiations Committee, Syria's main opposition group, will attend Monday's U.N.-brokered peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, a day shy of the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict, and two-plus weeks into the ceasefire agreement. Although fighting continues, a significant drop in violence has been seen during the truce. The first round of Geneva talks collapsed on Feb. 3 during a government offensive against rebels in Aleppo. (CBS News) (Reuters) (Deutsche Welle) UN envoy Staffan de Mistura says new elections should be held 18 months from the start of talks, i.e. in September 2017. (AFP via Firstpost) Politics and elections 2016 United States presidential election 2016 Donald Trump Chicago rally protest Donald Trump postpones a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago due to security issues amid fights between protestors and supporters. Five people are arrested, and two officers injured, according to Chicago police. (AFP vis ABC News Australia) (CNN) (NBC News) Rival Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Marco Rubio state Mr. Trump bears some responsibility for the disturbance. (Los Angeles Times) Thirty-two people are arrested, all but one charged with general peace disturbance, at an earlier Trump event at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri. (Chicago Tribune) A Donald Trump supporter is charged with assault after social media videos show him sucker punching a protester at Wednesday's campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. (The Washington Post) (The Christian Science Monitor) Marco Rubio OK's supporters voting for John Kasich in Ohio since the state's former governor, "... is the only one who can beat Donald Trump in Ohio." (The Washington Post) (Politico) Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign endorsements Retired American neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate Ben Carson formally endorses Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago landmark estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Fox News) Science and technology A report by a team of Japanese scientists, published in the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal Science, has identified bacteria -- isolated from outside a bottle recycling facility -- that can break down and metabolize plastic. The microbe appears to have evolved a pair of enzymes it uses to break down polyethylene terephthalate or PET, the most common thermoplastic polymer resin in consumer products. (LiveScience via CBS News) (The Washington Post) (Science) Astronaut Scott Kelly announces his retirement from NASA effective April 1. Kelly holds the record for the American who has spent the most time in space. (NASA) A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine states climate science progress makes it possible to accurately detect global warming's fingerprints on certain extreme weather events. There is "high confidence" in studies looking for climate change connections between extreme hot and cold temperatures, while efforts trying to attribute droughts and extreme rainfall has medium confidence. (AP via Business Insider) (USA Today via WLTX) (National Academies) Sport Newcastle United F.C. (NUFC) appoint Rafael Benítez as manager on a three-year deal after sacking Steve McClaren. (The Telegraph) Current events of March 12, 2016 (2016-03-12) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) Use of chemical weapons in the Iraqi Civil War The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fire mortars containing an unidentified chemical agent killing one and injuring 600 in Taza Khurmatu, Iraq. (FOX News) (NASDAQ) Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Two Indian Border Security Force soldiers are killed and four injured in a conflict in the state of Chhattisgarh. (PTI via Hindustan Times) Israeli–Palestinian conflict A 10-year-old Palestinian boy and his 6-year-old sister in Gaza are killed by fragments from a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft targeting four Hamas training camps after four missiles landed in open areas in southern Israel late yesterday. (LA Times) (Reuters) Turkey–PKK conflict (2015–present) Turkish Air Force airstrikes reportedly kill at least 67 PKK militants in northern Iraq. (World Bulletin) (VOA News) Syrian Civil War Jaysh al-Nasr rebels say they have shot down a fighter jet over the Hama Governorate in western Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the shoot down, saying a rebel group had brought down the jet by firing two heat-seeking missiles. A pro-government source acknowledged that a MiG-21 warplane went down over Kafr Nabudah, but said it was due to “technical difficulties”, denying it had been shot down. (Reuters via Yahoo! News) (The Guardian) Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) Aden unrest Airstrikes on the Al-Qaeda-held Al-Mansoura district in the port city of Aden, kill at least 17 militants and injure 20 civilians, according to local medics and a Yemeni security official. (Reuters) Business and economics Reuters reports, on the basis of unnamed sources "familiar with the matter," that Energy Transfer Equity, a private equity concern, is in talks to sell Sunoco, a deal which would be valued at more than $2 billion. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents An avalanche kills six skiers in the Italian Alps. (Reuters) A magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes off Atka Island, southwest Alaska. There are no reports of a tsunami. (BNO News) A tugboat crash on the Hudson River north of New York City results in one death and two people missing. (AP) Politics and elections Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016, Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016 Voters in Guam, Washington, D.C. and Wyoming head to the polls to vote in Republican Party caucuses, while Democratic Party members vote in the Northern Mariana Islands caucus. (CNN) Ted Cruz wins the most delegates in Wyoming, while Marco Rubio wins in Washington D.C. (New York Post), (The Guardian) Hillary Clinton wins the Northern Mariana Islands caucus. (NBC News, New York Times via Breaking News) Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016 A protestor attempts to storm the stage as Donald Trump was talking at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, causing Secret Service agents to jump on the stage and form a wall around the presidential candidate amid the chaos. The suspect was identified as Thomas Dimassimo, 32, and was charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic, according to Chief Mike Etter of the Dayton Police Department. Dimassimo is a Black Lives Matter activist. (NBC News) Polish Constitutional Court crisis, 2015. Thousands of people take to the streets of Warsaw and other cities in Poland in protest against the government after it refused to publish the Constitutional Court's ruling that the government cannot change how the court works. (BBC) The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party sets a deadline of 30 days to determine the status of its alliance with Dilma Rousseff’s administration, including the option to leave the coalition. (Bloomberg) Science and technology AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol Google artificial intelligence company DeepMind's AlphaGo program takes an unbeatable three to zero lead in a five-game Go match against grand master Lee Sedol. (Wired) Current events of March 13, 2016 (2016-03-13) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks March 2016 Ankara bombing An explosion occurs in central Ankara, Turkey, with at least 34 people killed and 125 wounded. (The Independent) (The Telegraph) Turkey–PKK conflict (2015–present) Turkey declares a curfew in the town of Yüksekova on the border with Iran as Turkish forces prepare an offensive against the PKK. (AP) 2016 Grand-Bassam shootings Gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam. At least 15 people are reportedly killed. Witnesses claim the attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is [the] greatest") during the gunfire. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claim responsibility for the attack. (CNN) (The Telegraph) (Daily Nation) Syrian Civil War Second Battle of Maarat al-Nu'man The al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, assaults the Free Syrian Army's 13th Division in Maarrat al-Nu'man, killing seven FSA fighters with 40 captured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Nusra seized anti-tank missiles, armored vehicles, a tank, and other arms from the U.S.-backed division. (AP via ABC News) Disasters and accidents Five people are dead after a building collapses in the Indian city of Meerut caused by heavy rain. (India Today) Heavy rain in Pakistan has led to fifteen deaths in two days including at least eight deaths in a coal mine collapse in the Orakzai Tribal Area. (AP via Fox News) Six people have been killed in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma, with two Mississippi fishermen missing, in this week's flooding in the America's Deep South. More than 24 inches of rain has fallen in some of the hardest-hit areas with more rain today that is expected to lead to additional flooding later this week. (Fox News) (UPI) A Pacific Northwest windstorm strikes Western Washington, killing at least one person, leaving 300,000 residents without power, and closing several bridges. (KING-TV) A six-seat Cessna 206 crashes into a market in the Beni Department of northeastern Bolivia, killing all four aboard the plane and injuring three others. (Another report states seven were killed with 15 injured). The plane was flying from Santa Ana del Yacuma to departmental capital Trinidad. (AP via ABC News) (Reuters via Hindustan Times) International relations Malaysia bans the recruitment of foreign workers after protests over plans to recruit 1.5 million people from Bangladesh. (Economic Times) China–Pakistan relations China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) will be deployed in Pakistan to protect the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor that connects the Chinese-operated Gwadar Port in Balochistan, Pakistan to China's Xinjiang region. Neighboring India has voiced concern about the planned move. (NDTV) United States officials say North Korea has apparently lost contact with one of its submarines. The U.S. was watching the sub off North Korea's eastern coast when it vanished earlier this week. Officials are unsure whether the missing vessel is adrift or has sunk. (STV) (The Guardian) Israel–Palestine relations The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Israel prevented Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi from entering the West Bank to meet with Palestinian officials. The Israeli spokesman would not comment. Israel and Indonesia do not have formal diplomatic relations. (AP via The Washington Post) (AFP via Business Standard) Law and crime Israeli–Palestinian conflict Israeli Defence Forces arrest 15 Palestinian suspects overnight. (Jerusalem Post) Authorities in Belarus detain prominent businessman Yury Chyzh, once a close adviser to Alexander Lukashenko and included in the EU's sanctions list, on suspicion of large-scale tax evasion. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Politics and elections Elections in Germany Regional elections take place in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt with the governing Christian Democratic Union performing poorly, the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany winning in Rhineland-Palatinate, and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany performing well in all three states. (BBC), (AP via International Business Times) Hundreds of thousands in Brazil's major cities, some estimates say more than 3 million people, protest the weak economy and political corruption, and call for President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (Bloomberg Business) Sports 2016 Six Nations Championship Scotland's win over France gives England the title. (The Guardian) 2015–16 Ligue 1 Paris Saint-Germain win the title with eight games to spare, after a 9–0 win at Troyes. (BBC Sport) 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The field of 68 teams for the NCAA Tournament is announced. Kansas is the top overall seed, with North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia rounding out the #1 seeds. In a minor controversy, the entire bracket is leaked during the selection show, several minutes before the South and West Regions are officially announced. (ESPN, overall field) (ESPN, bracket leak) Current events of March 14, 2016 (2016-03-14) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks March 2016 Ankara bombing Turkey’s Interior Minister Efkan Ala says the results of the investigation into yesterday's bombing in Ankara will be made public later today. Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu says 125 people were transported to a hospital, with 19 in critical condition. Two Kurdish militants have been blamed for the bombing. (BBC) (News.com.au) (Fox News) Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015–present) Three Palestinians are shot and killed by Israeli Defence Forces after attempting to run over Israeli soldiers. Multiple guns were found in their car. (AP via The New Zealand Herald) Mexican Drug War At least nine suspected cartel members are killed in gunfights with government forces during an anti-cartel operation in the city of Reynosa, Mexico. (Appeal Democrat) Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen A United Arab Emirates Air Force fighter jet crashes in a mountainous area near the southern Yemeni city of Aden, killing both pilots. (BBC) Syrian Civil War, Russian military intervention Russian President Vladimir Putin orders Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu to start the withdrawal of Russian Armed Forces from Syria, saying during a meeting with Shoygu, "I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished. That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow.” (RT) (BBC) Disasters and accidents Flood warnings are put in place and roads are closed after a heavy rain continues to fall in the northern parts of the Australian state of Queensland. (AAP via NineMSN) Siam Commercial Bank reports eight people were killed and seven others injured in the basement of its Bangkok, Thailand, headquarters during an upgrade of the building's fire safety system Sunday evening. It appears that workers mistakenly activated a system that released pyrogen, a chemical that deprives a fire of oxygen. (AP) (BBC) An Amtrak passenger train derails west of Dodge City in the American state of Kansas. (CBS News) International relations North Korea and weapons of mass destruction North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un says his country will soon conduct a nuclear warhead test and test launch ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, according to North Korea's state media. (Reuters) Law and crime Status of press freedom worldwide Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the government is very concerned about Saturday's arrest and detention of two Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalists who attempted to interview Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. The pair, who are in Malaysia to investigate allegations of corruption and bribery involving the prime minister, were detained by Malaysian police for six hours, and told not to leave the country. (AP via The Washington Post) (Reuters) (The Sydney Morning Herald) Science and technology The joint European Space Agency and Russian Federal Space Agency ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (BBC) Sport The National Football League's top health and safety official acknowledges a link between American football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. (ESPN) 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season The field of 64 teams for the NCAA Tournament is announced. Unbeaten Connecticut is the top overall seed, with Baylor, Notre Dame, and South Carolina rounding out the #1 seeds.(ESPN) Current events of March 15, 2016 (2016-03-15) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks American-led intervention in Syria A senior Iraqi intelligence official, who is also a Syrian activist leader, says Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant commander Omar al-Shishani (Omar the Chechen, real name Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili) died of wounds suffered in a March 4 U.S. airstrike near the Syrian town of Al-Shaddadah. The U.S. State Department offered up to $5 million for information on his whereabouts. Amaq news agency, which supports ISIL, says Shishani is neither dead nor hurt. (New York Times) (Chicago Tribune) (Reuters via Swiss Broadcasting Corporation) 2016 Brussels police raids Belgian security forces hunt gunmen linked to the November 2015 Paris attacks following a raid on a house in Brussels which left four officers wounded and one suspect dead after an exchange of gunfire. Roads have been blocked off in the Belgian capital's southern suburb of Forest as one or more gunmen remain at large. (The Independent) (Irish Times) Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Airstrikes reportedly kill at least 41 people and wound 75 others in Yemen's northern Hajjah Governorate. (Reuters) Arts and culture Pope Francis announces that Mother Teresa will be canonized on September 4. (The Guardian) Business and economy Brookfield Asset Management Inc and Qube Holdings join forces to make a A$ 9.1 billion bid for Australian freight logistics company Asciano Limited. (Bloomberg) Linn Energy, an oil-and-gas producer with about $10 billion in debt, says a bankruptcy filing may be unavoidable. The company was founded in 2003 and had its initial public offering in 2006. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents 2016 Ecuadorian Air Force Arava crash An Ecuadorian Air Force IAI Arava 201 crashes near Shell Mera in a mountainous part of eastern Ecuador during military exercises, killing all of the 22 soldiers on board. (BNO News) (Aviation Safety Network) The entire Washington D.C. Metro system will shut down for 29 hours beginning at midnight Wednesday for an emergency investigation after an electric cable caught fire on Monday. (The Washington Post) (NBC4 Washington) A fire severely damages the 16th century Wythenshawe Hall, near Manchester, England. (BBC) A deadly fire breaks out at a rehabilitation center for addicts in Sterlitamak, Bashkortostan, a Republic of Russia, killing 12 people. An investigation was immediately launched. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Health and medicine The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues final recommendations urging doctors to try something besides an opioid when first treating pain, and if an opioid drug, such as hydrocodone or oxycodone, is the best choice, start with the lowest possible dose. (The Washington Post) (NBC News) International relations Burundian unrest (2015–present) The European Union suspends direct financial aid to Burundi after concluding that the Burundian authorities had not done enough to find a political solution to the ongoing conflict occurring in the country. (The Guardian) Argentina–China relations Argentina's coastguard says it has sunk a Chinese fishing trawler that was operating illegally within its territorial waters. The coastguard says it rescued four of the trawler's crew while others who abandoned ship were picked up by another Chinese vessel shadowing the pursuit. (Reuters via Yahoo! News) The parliament of the Netherlands passes a resolution calling on the government to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, citing ongoing "violations of humanitarian law" in Yemen. (Middle East Eye) Law and crime Shooting of Michael Brown, Ferguson unrest The Ferguson, Missouri, city council, after last month voting to change the terms of the agreement, reverses course and unanimously (6-0) agrees to accept a U.S. Justice Department overhaul of its troubled police force and municipal courts. This avoided a likely expensive legal battle with the federal government which had filed suit against the city following last month's vote. (CNN) Politics and elections 2016 United States presidential election Voters in the U.S. states of Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands head to the polls for Republican and Democratic Party primaries that the media has dubbed "Super Tuesday 2". (AFP via Yahoo! News) Donald Trump wins primaries in Illinois, North Carolina, Missouri and Florida while John Kasich wins in Ohio. (NY Daily News) (Decision Desk HQ) (CNN), (USA Today) (NBC News) Donald Trump wins the Northern Mariana Islands caucus. (Politico) Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic primaries in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina. (Fox News), (Washington Post) (NBC News) (NBC News Live Blog) Marco Rubio suspends his presidential campaign following a disappointing defeat in his home state of Florida. (The New York Times) North Carolina's controversial voter ID law is in effect for the first time. Voters without these new ID credentials, including voters with a “reasonable impediment” to obtaining an ID, can cast a provisional ballot. Citizens (2,567) faced this problem during early voting, including U.S. Senator Richard Burr who, because his driver's license was stolen, was without ID. In addition, votes for congressional candidates for House seats don't count because the state's congressional district map was redrawn after the ballots were printed. The actual congressional primary is scheduled for June 7. (WRAL)(The Nation via Moyers & Company) (NPR) (Charlotte Observer) (The New York Times) Nigerien general election, 2016 The government will release opposition candidate Hama Amadou from prison due to health issues. Amadou is facing off against incumbent President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou in the second round of voting on Sunday. (Reuters) The Myanmar Assembly of the Union, or parliament, selects Htin Kyaw as the new President. Kyaw, a confidant of Aung San Suu Kyi, will be the first civilian president in decades. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, is constitutionally barred from the office. (Indian Express) (ABC News Australia) The Obama administration announces it is cancelling plans to permit drilling for oil and gas off the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast. A new plan involves 10 potential lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska. (USA Today) (The Island Free Press) Science and technology Andrew Wiles wins the 2016 Abel Prize for his solution to Fermat's last theorem. (Nature) Scientists, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences scientific journal, report that so-called fairy circles are caused by the plants themselves, which have self-organized. Michael Cramer and Nichole Barger suggested this in 2013. (The Washington Post) (PNAS) (The Atlantic) Current events of March 16, 2016 (2016-03-16) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks War in North-West Pakistan 2016 Peshawar bus bombing A bomb detonates in a bus carrying government employees in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 15 and injuring at least 54. (AP via CBS) Boko Haram insurgency 2016 Maiduguri suicide bombings Two female suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 22 and injuring 18. (AP via New York Times) (Newsweek) Disasters and accidents The Washington Metro, a commuter rail system which transports nearly 1 million passengers across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area per day, shuts down to allow for an emergency inspection of 600 electrical cables, following two fires occurring over the past 14 months. Officials say the system is scheduled to resume service by the following morning, though individual Metro lines or stations could remain closed indefinitely if problems are identified. (The Washington Post) (The Washington Times) (CBS News) Health and medicine Zika virus outbreak Cuban officials announce they have detected the first case of the Zika virus transmitted inside the country: a 21-year-old Havana woman who had not traveled abroad. Cuba has reported a handful of travel-associated Zika cases, all believed imported from Venezuela. (Medical Xpress) (Outbreak News Today) International relations North Korea–United States relations North Korea sentences American Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old from Cincinnati, Ohio, studying at the University of Virginia, to 15 years hard labor for removing a political poster from a hotel. (The Guardian) (The Washington Post) President Barack Obama orders new sanctions against North Korea in response to 'illicit' nuclear, missile tests. (AP) Syrian Civil War, Syrian peace process The delegation of the government of Syria rules out starting any direct talks with the opposition delegation as U.N. sponsored peace talks enter a third day in Geneva. (BBC) Kurdish officials say they plan to declare a federal region in northern Syria after being excluded from peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the 5-year-old conflict. The move will combine three Kurdish-led autonomous areas into a federal system in what is set to alarm neighboring Turkey. (USA Today) Turkey–United Kingdom relations Turkey deports British academic Chris Stephenson, a computer science lecturer at Bilgi University in Istanbul, who is charged with making terrorism propaganda. The UK Foreign Office said it was providing assistance; there has been no comment from Turkish officials. (AP) Law and crime The travel ban for former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is lifted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Musharraf is currently facing treason charges in Pakistan. (Reuters) PKK rebellion (2015–present) Authorities in Turkey arrest three academics on charges of "terrorist propaganda" after they called for an end to security operations in the country's Kurdish-majority southeast. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Attacks on humanitarian workers The U.S. military disciplines more than a dozen personnel for mistakes that led to the bombing of a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital that killed 42 people in Afghanistan last October. No criminal charges are pending. The partially redacted investigation report is expected to be made public shortly. (AP) Politics and elections Republican Party presidential debates and forums, 2016 Donald Trump announces he will skip the Fox News GOP presidential debate between the three remaining candidates on March 21, saying he thinks "we had enough of debates." (Newsmax) Ohio Governor John Kasich says he will also skip the debate if Donald Trump follows through on his vow not to attend. (The Hill) Fox News cancels the Republican debate scheduled for Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Utah Republican Party has received more than 50,000 ticket requests. Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox is upset Trump, "...is snubbing the state of Utah." According to Deseret News, Trump is in fourth place in Utah polls. (The Salt Lake Tribune) (Deseret News) 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries: Senior GOP rules committee member Curly Haugland says that "We (RCN committee members) choose the nominee, not the voters". (Washington Post) 2016 United States presidential election In the Missouri Primary, media outlets have held off calling yesterday's races due to the extremely close results. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton lead in their party's vote, but by just two-tenths of 1 percent ahead of Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, respectively. Missouri law states a recount may be requested if the margin is less than half a percentage point. Either Cruz or Sanders or both can request a recount. These results are unofficial, until they’re certified by the Missouri Secretary of State, which reportedly could take up to four weeks. Trump leads by about 1,700 votes and Clinton's edge is about 1,500. The state also needs to count the remaining absentee and provisional ballots; the deadline for overseas ballots is noon Friday. (The Hill) (CNN) Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates President Barack Obama nominates Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court of the United States. (BBC) (CNN) Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva takes Cabinet post as chief of staff to Brazil's current president, Dilma Rousseff, thereby gaining legal shield. Only the Brazilian Supreme Court can try presidential Cabinet members for crimes. (New York Times) (UPI) Protests erupt outside the presidential palace in Brasília, and on São Paulo's main Avenue Paulista. on news of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's appointment as President Rousseff's chief of staff. Federal Judge Sérgio Moro says taped conversations between the two show Lula and Rousseff, apparently, trying to influence the investigation. (Reuters) Science and technology Scientists release a small flock of pigeons, dubbed "The Pigeon Air Patrol", carrying tiny backpacks to monitor London's air quality during a period of moderate to high pollution. The backpacks contain sensors used to measure nitrogen dioxide and ozone levels. (Engadget) (The Guardian) Sport The PGA of America announces it is discontinuing the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, a special postseason event among the year's winners of the four major championships of regular men's golf. This year, it was set to be held at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, California. The 2015 event was cancelled after the PGA decided to move the exhibition contest from the same Trump Club, and they couldn't find a replacement course golf course with suitable dates. (AP) (PGA) (ESPN) Current events of March 17, 2016 (2016-03-17) (Thursday) Armed conflicts and attacks Iraqi Civil War, Syrian Civil War The United States Secretary of State John Kerry says ISIL has committed genocide against Christians, Yazidis and Shias in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq. (BBC) The Islamic State reports commander Hassan Aboud has died of wounds sustained about two weeks ago in a battle near Aleppo, Syria. He was injured when a vehicle he was in struck a roadside bomb near Khanaser. (The New York Times) Papua conflict Three construction workers are shot dead in Jayapura, Papua, by a supposed armed group, according to Indonesian police. (Radio New Zealand) Arts and culture Radar scans at the tomb of Tutankhamun, Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, reveal two chambers adjoining the tomb, raising prospect of finding the resting place of Queen Nefertiti. (The Guardian) The Vatican is replacing Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S., with French-born Archbishop Christophe Pierre, currently the Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico. Viganò, who is 75, the statutory retirement age, in 2015 arranged the unexpected meeting between Pope Francis and controversial Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who refused to follow her state's law on same-sex marriage. (New York Daily News via ChristianNews.net) Business and economics Tribune Publishing, an American company whose Southern California media holdings include the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune, wins an auction for bankrupt newspapers, Orange County Register, published in Santa Ana, and The Press-Enterprise, headquartered in Riverside, for $56 million, subject to judicial approval. A federal bankruptcy court hearing is scheduled for Monday. The U.S. Justice Department has warned that a Tribune purchase could violate antitrust laws. (AP via U.S. News & World Report) (Los Angeles Times) Disasters and accidents At least 16 Palestinian pilgrims are killed when the bus they were traveling to Saudi Arabia on overturns in southern Jordan. (Voice of America) International relations The People's Republic of China expresses its opposition to unilateral sanctions against North Korea in the wake of the imposition of new sanctions by the United States on the country in response to its recent nuclear and rocket tests. (Reuters) Syrian Civil War Kurdish parties in northern Syria declare the establishment of a federal system in areas they control. Turkey and the United States had warned this risks further destabilizing the already war-ravaged country. The move was criticized by the government of Syria. (BBC) (The Washington Post) Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Admiral John Richardson says the United States has seen Chinese activity around Scarborough Shoal, which China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago, in the northern part of the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea. An international court ruling on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims is expected within a month. (Reuters) Law and Crime Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia announce that they will soon deliver their verdict against radical Serb leader Vojislav Šešelj, suspected of crimes against humanity committed during the Breakup of Yugoslavia, despite him being sent back to Serbia for medical reasons. Šešelj has vowed not to return to court. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Politics and elections 2015–16 protests in Brazil Clashes erupt outside the presidential palace in Brazil's capital Brasília between anti-Workers' Party protesters and supporters of ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, where he was due to be sworn in as President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff. Hundreds of anti-government protesters calling for Rousseff's impeachment and Lula's arrest also blocked the central Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, Brazil's largest city and economic hub. (Reuters) A Brazilian federal judge blocks the appointment of Lula as chief of staff, arguing that the appointment would derail a federal judicial investigation against him. The government said it would appeal against the decision. (BBC) Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016 The hacker group Anonymous follows through on its threat and releases candidate Donald Trump's personal information (unverified) including his Social Security number, his phone numbers, his agent and his legal representatives. (AOL) (USA Today) (Daily Mirror) A group of about 40 rabbis is planning to boycott Trump’s speech Monday at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) because of the candidate's behavior and rhetoric on the campaign trail. Organizers of the push to boycott the speech said they are worried that Trump could gain legitimacy through the event. An AIPAC spokesperson declined to comment. (The Washington Post) 2016 United States presidential election, Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016 Bernie Sanders concedes the Missouri primary to Hillary Clinton, who led by 1,531 votes, 0.2 percent of those counted. Sanders says he will not ask for a recount, an option he had because the result is under the state's requirement, 0.5 percent — one-half of one percent. The Republican contest is too close to call as Donald Trump leads Ted Cruz by a similar 0.2 percent. (AP via MSN.com) Current events of March 18, 2016 (2016-03-18) (Friday) Armed conflicts and attacks Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) Boko Haram and al-Qaeda kill four security force personnel in two separate attacks in Niger. (BBC) International relations North Korea and weapons of mass destruction The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff and a U.S. defense official report that North Korea fired two ballistic missiles from the South Pyongan Province. One flew 800 kilometers (497 miles) into the Sea of Japan. The other disappeared at an altitude of about 17 kilometers (10.5 miles). (Sky News) (CNN) European migrant crisis European Union leaders offer Turkey a detailed package of cash and incentives to agree that all migrants attempting to cross the Aegean Sea by raft or boat would be sent back to Turkey which, in effect, becomes the region's migrant holding center. A number of stumbling blocks remain, such as raising the amount of aid from 3 billion euros to at least 6 billion euros; reducing the "72 arduous conditions" the Turks must meet to implement visa-free travel for Turkish citizens; Europe agrees to accelerate talks with Ankara on its EU bid; etc. Human Rights Watch protests the proposed fast-track collective expulsions that fail to take individual circumstances into account and breach peoples' right to seek asylum. (The Washington Post) (Journal of Turkish Weekly) European Union and Turkish officials agree on how to handle the flood of refugees. The deal, to return irregular migrants to Turkey, includes acceleration of the country's long-stalled bid for membership in the union; billions of euros in extra aid, 3 billion euros now, another 3 billion by 2018; and, visa-free travel for Turks once the country satisfies the EU criteria. Europe will be taking in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) strongly condemns the deal as "ugly and illegal." The agreement is set to go into effect Sunday, March 20, 2016. (CNN) (Middle East Eye) (Reuters) Health and medicine Swiss research, published in the medical journal The Lancet, found that paracetamol -- sold as Tylenol and as a generic, acetaminophen, in the United States -- was not effective at reducing pain or improving movement in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. The analysis examined 74 randomly-selected trials published between 1980 and 2015 with 58,556 patients who had osteoarthritis. The study did find the prescription drug diclofenac, sold in the U.S. as Cataflam or Voltaren, is the most effective NSAID available. McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the makers of Tylenol, disagree with the study's conclusions. (CBS News) (The Lancet) 2016 United States Elizabethkingia outbreak A rare bacterial infection from bacterium Elizabethkingia anophelis may have contributed to the deaths of 17 people since November 2015. (Patch) (Star Tribune) Law and crime Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch far-right political party Party for Freedom, goes on trial again for making anti-Islam remarks. He is being accused of inciting hatred against the Moroccan-Dutch minority. (The Guardian) 2016 Brussels police raids Salah Abdeslam, the alleged suspect and primary perpetrator of the November 2015 Paris attacks is shot and arrested by Belgian authorities in a Brussels raid. (The Guardian) Censorship in China Jia Jia, a columnist for China's Tencent media company is reported missing after not being heard from since Tuesday, when he was on his way to Hong Kong. He was last heard from when he tried to warn a friend about publishing an anonymous letter calling for China's paramount leader Xi Jinping's resignation. (BBC) Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016 The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, United States Secret Service and New York City Police Department are investigating a letter containing a suspicious white powder and a threatening note which was sent to the home of Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, in New York City. The handwritten note within the letter said: "If your father does not drop out of the race, the next envelope won't be a fake." It was signed "X". (ABC News) Bollea v. Gawker A Florida jury awards Hulk Hogan $115m after the gossip news website Gawker published a sex tape of the retired professional wrestler. Mr Hogan's legal team argued that the New York City-based website violated his privacy and that the video wasn't newsworthy. (BBC) Apple says it will bring two key personnel to a hearing next week, subjecting them to government cross-examination regarding the issues raised by its locked iPhone: its Chief Privacy Engineer and its Global Law Enforcement Officer. (Reuters) Politics and elections Former President Pervez Musharraf travels to Dubai for medical treatment of his back and leg, before moving on to either the U.S. or U.K. for additional treatment, spokesperson Aasia Ishaque said. Musharraf, 72, will return to Pakistan to face all pending legal cases. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government implemented the Supreme Court ruling, and lifted the 2013 ban that barred Musharraf from international trips. (Bloomberg) Iain Duncan Smith resigns his position as the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in opposition to cuts in disability benefit proposed by George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. (BBC) 2015–16 protests in Brazil, Operation Car Wash Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes rules Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should be stripped of a ministerial role in President Dilma Rousseff's Cabinet so he can be investigated in connection with the state oil company Petrobras's alleged kickback scheme. Earlier today, injunctions suspending Lula's appointment as chief of staff were overturned at Attorney General José Eduardo Cardozo's request for a Supreme Court ruling on the motions. (The Globe and Mail) (Toronto Star) Brazil's lower house of Congress, which yesterday overwhelmingly approved (433-1) a 65-member investigatory, presidential impeachment committee, was in session today -- unusual since lawmakers are generally away from the capital on Fridays. The charge alleges President Rousseff broke budget rules to boost public spending in the run-up to her re-election in 2014. The president has 10 lower house sessions to present her defense. Friday's session means that clock has started and she now has nine sessions. (Reuters) (Reuters via Swiss Broadcasting Corporation) Supporters of the governing Workers’ Party took to the streets, in a sense answering the massive anti-government gatherings since Sunday, in all of Brazil’s 26 states. Organizations from both sides of the protests have called for people opposed to the Workers’ Party to stay home Friday to avoid a repeat of Thursday's clashes. (The Washington Post) (Fox News Latino) Current events of March 19, 2016 (2016-03-19) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks March 2016 Istanbul bombing An explosion occurs in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, kills five people, including two dual citizenship Israeli-Americans and one Iranian citizen, and injures several dozen others. (Sputnik International), (Al Jazeera), (Hürriyet Daily News) (AP via MuskokaRegion.com) Syrian Civil War, Palmyra offensive (March 2016) Airstrikes by Syrian or Russian warplanes on ISIL's de facto capital Al-Raqqah in northern Syria, leaves at least 39 people dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Airstrikes on the city of Palmyra and nearby villages are said to have killed at least 18 ISIL militants, as the Syrian Army advance on the city. (Reuters) American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present) A United States Department of Defense official says a U.S. soldier was killed in the town of Makhmur, Erbil Governorate, by a rocket fired by ISIL. "It was a lucky strike by ISIS," according to the official. (Fox News) Sinai insurgency At least 13 Egyptian policemen are killed after a security checkpoint in the city of Arish, North Sinai Governorate, came under attack by militants. Ambulances were reportedly subjected to heavy gunfire as they attempted to reach the wounded. The Islamic State's Sinai branch claimed responsibility for the attack. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Flydubai Flight 981 Flydubai Boeing 737-800 Flight FZ981, en route from Dubai for about four hours, crashes during landing in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, killing all 62 on board. It appears the jet crashed in poor visibility, some 50–100 meters left of the runway, during the second approach. Rostov-on-Don Airport will remain closed until at least 9:00 am Moscow time. (RT) (Airways News) (Reuters) Nine Cuban migrants die and 18 others are rescued by the Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico, 130 miles west of Marco Island, Florida. The group had been sailing for 22 days in a 30-foot long "rustic" boat. The survivors were severely dehydrated and in poor condition. Those who had died were buried at sea. The cruise ship is taking the migrants to its next stop, the Mexican island of Cozumel. (AP via Portland Press Herald) International relations Former United Nations official and head of the UN mission for the Ebola outbreak Anthony Banbury accuses the UN of “colossal mismanagement,” saying it had failed to uphold the principles for which it was established. He cited the organization's “Orwellian admonitions and Carrollian logic” of the UN bureaucracy and minimal accountability regarding the widespread rape and sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers. (The Guardian) Politics and elections 2015–16 protests in Brazil A survey conducted by Datafolha shows a majority of Brazilians now favor the impeachment or resignation of President Dilma Rousseff. The poll showed 68 percent of respondents favor Rousseff's impeachment by Congress, while 65 percent think the president should resign. The president's approval ratings have been hammered by Brazil's worst recession in decades and its biggest ever corruption probe. (Reuters) Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016 Two dozen protesters park their cars in the middle of Shea Boulevard, and block the main road to the Phoenix suburb of Fountain Hills, Arizona, where Donald Trump's campaign rally with former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio was held. For hours, traffic was backed up for miles. The road was eventually cleared. Three protesters were arrested and two cars were towed from the boulevard. (AP) (CNN) (KPHO-TV) Sports Russian speed skaters Pavel Kulizhnikov, Semion Elistratov and Ekaterina Konstantinova test positive for Meldonium and are provisionally suspended by the International Skating Union. Kulizhnikov faces a potential lifetime ban while Elistratov and Konstantinova face up to four years. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) 2016 Six Nations Championship In rugby union, England, which had already clinched the championship, defeat France 31–21 to claim their 13th Grand Slam. (The Guardian) (BBC) Current events of March 20, 2016 (2016-03-20) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks March 2016 Istanbul bombing Turkish authorities name a Turkish man with alleged ties to the Islamic State responsible for this weekend's suicide bombing in Istanbul. (The Washington Post) Arts and culture The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah Dallin H. Oaks dedicates the Provo City Center Temple, the 150th LDS temple and the second temple converted from an LDS tabernacle. (The Salt Lake Tribune) Business and economics The United States-based Sherwin-Williams Company agrees to acquire rival U.S. paint company Valspar Corporation in an all-cash deal valued at about $9.3 billion (8.2 billion euros). (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Erasmus bus crash Thirteen are killed and 34 others injured after a bus carrying Erasmus exchange students returning from the renowned Falles fireworks festival in Valencia, crashes near Freginals, Spain. The regional government of Catalonia said in a statement that, "... according to the latest data, the ill-fated bus had students from Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Italy, Peru, Bulgaria, Poland, Ireland, Japan, Ukraine, Holland, Belgium, France, Palestine, Turkey, (and) Greece." (The Independent) (Euronews) (AP via Bloomberg) A 6.6 magnitude earthquake strikes off the eastern coast of Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East. Shaking was felt throughout large parts of the peninsula, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. (BNO News) An Indonesian military helicopter crash shortly after takeoff from Poso kills 13 passengers. Their mission was to try to capture Indonesia's most wanted militant, Abu Wardah Santoso, leader of the Islamic State affiliate East Indonesia Mujahidin network. (AP) International relations United States–Cuban Thaw U.S. President Barack Obama and the First Family begin their three-day visit to Havana, Cuba, to mark the end of 54 years of tensions in Cuba–United States relations. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. (Havana Times) (Jamaica Observer) Before the President's arrival, Cuban authorities arrest more than 50 Ladies in White human rights activists. The group marches after every Sunday Mass at a church in the Miramar suburb of Havana, and usually get arrested and detained for hours or days. They had hoped President Obama's visit would change that routine. (USA Today) (Havana Times) Law and crime A retired Pennsylvania state trooper's attempted robbery of a fare collection vehicle at the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Fort Littleton toll plaza, 65 miles west of the capital Harrisburg, results in three deaths -- a toll collector, a security guard, and himself. (AP via ABC News) Politics and elections Beninese presidential election, 2016 Voting for the second round of Benin's election begins with current President Thomas Boni Yayi stepping down after completing two terms. (Townhall via Reuters) Cape Verdean parliamentary election, 2016 Voters in Cape Verde go to the polls for an election. (BBC) Kazakhstani legislative election, 2016 Voting is underway in today's parliamentary election in the former Soviet republic. President Nursultan Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party is expected to win easily, and retain control of the 107-seat Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament. The recent crackdown on political activists and media dims chances this election will be the first judged free and fair by Western observers. (AP via Sioux City Journal) (Townhall.com) Laotian parliamentary election, 2016 An election is held in Laos, with voter turnout expected to be low. The only legal party in Laos is the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. (Vida Latina) Nigerien general election, 2016 A run-off election begins in Niger with current President Mahamadou Issoufou highly favored to win as his main opponent Hama Amadou, who was earlier jailed, was flown out of the country for medical reasons. (Reuters) Philippine presidential election, 2016 The second leg of the presidential debates was held in Cebu City. AP via The Japan Times Republic of the Congo presidential election, 2016 Voters in the Republic of the Congo go to the polls with current President Denis Sassou Nguesso expected to extend his 32-year rule. Telephone, internet and SMS services have been shut down in what has been called a "media blackout." (Al Jazeera) Senegalese constitutional referendum, 2016 A referendum is underway in Senegal where voters will vote on whether or not to reduce presidential term limits from seven to five years. Senegal's referendum also calls for a strengthened National Assembly, better representation for Senegalese abroad, greater rights for the opposition and participation of independent candidates in elections among the 15 changes. (The Daily Star) Tanzanian general election, 2015 A rerun of Zanzibar's presidential election takes place amid an opposition boycott. The election originally occurred at the same time as Tanzania's general election in 2015 but was annulled because of supposed fraud. (Daily Nation) Current events of March 21, 2016 (2016-03-21) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks A man detonates a grenade inside a bakery in Belgrade, Serbia, killing himself. No other casualties were reported. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Gunmen attack a European Union military training operation housed in a converted hotel in the Mali capital, Bamako. There are no casualties among the mission personnel. One suspect is killed and two are arrested. No group has claimed responsibility. (Reuters) Business and economics The competition regulators of the European Union have halted their investigation into a prospective acquisition of Baker Hughes by Halliburton, effectively freezing any such combination between two giant providers of oilfield services. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Erasmus bus crash A Catalan official says the 13 exchange students killed in Sunday's accident were 19-to-25-year-old women, seven from Italy, two Germans, an Austrian, a woman from France, a Romanian and an Uzbek. Twenty-four people are being treated in hospital with one student in critical condition, and six people, including the driver, in serious condition. Reports from officials indicate the driver lost control of the coach and crashed to the other side before running into an oncoming car. The bus driver, who passed alcohol and drug tests, is being investigated for possible negligent homicide as police seek to determine the cause of the crash. (AP via the Washington Post) (AFP via Yahoo! News) International relations North Korea and weapons of mass destruction A South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff official reports North Korea launched five short-range missiles from the eastern city of Hamhung into the Sea of Japan. (AFP via msn.com) United States–Cuban Thaw At a 55-minute joint press conference, following their two-hour closed-door meeting, United States President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro agreed this “new day” of openness between the two countries benefits the entire hemisphere as well. Each acknowledged more needs to be done. Obama said he spoke frankly about human rights, free expression, and democracy; Castro said the U.S. needs to remove the military base at Guantanamo Bay, and completely end the U.S. embargo. Obama's experience gave him an advantage when journalists delved into sensitive areas. (The Washington Post) (The New York Times) Law and crime Tea tape scandal New Zealand Prime Minister John Key settles a defamation case with freelance cameraman Bradley Ambrose, acknowledging comments he made about the man caused him professional and personal harm. (AP) The International Criminal Court finds ex-Vice President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of war crimes. Bemba is accused of not taking steps to stop his militia from committing mass murder, rape and pillage in neighbouring Central African Republic. (The Guardian) The United States Supreme Court, in a 6-2 ruling, essentially upholds the state of Colorado's legalization of marijuana, turning down complaints by the neighboring states of Nebraska and Oklahoma that, by federal and their state law, Colorado's statutes allow "illegal marijuana" to pour into their states. Last year, the justices asked the federal government to weigh in; in December, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. urged the court to turn away the lawsuit. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. (San Francisco Chronicle (NBC News) (USA Today) Politics and elections Myanmar's new parliament, in its first legislative act, votes (611-3) to eliminate 15 government ministries. President-elect Htin Kyaw says by eliminating the ministers' salaries, the nation will save $4 million over five years. No civil servants will lose their jobs. (AP) Science and technology Two possibly-twin near-Earth objects, 252P/LINEAR and P/2016 BA14, will safely pass by Earth at relatively close distances today and Tuesday. (Christian Science Monitor) (Science Alert) (NASA) (Virtual Telescope Project) Current events of March 22, 2016 (2016-03-22) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks 2016 Brussels bombings Three explosions in the Brussels Airport and Maalbeek metro station kill at least 34 people and wound at least 170 more, according to Belgian media. Belgian federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw cautions it is too soon to know exactly how many people died in the bombings. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility. (BBC) (CNN) (CNN²) (The New York Times) Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Airstrikes near the Yemeni port city of Al Mukalla, Hadhramaut Governorate, reportedly kill at least 30 Al-Qaeda militants. (Reuters) Business and economics German tax authorities are investigating Citigroup over its use of a "dividend stripping" strategy, which allowed both the buyer and seller of a stock to claim the tax credits. (Reuters) 2016 Brussels bombings In light of the Belgian attacks, Warner Bros. cancels the red carpet but will hold the European premiere of the highly-publicized film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, at London's Leicester Square tonight. (The Daily Telegraph) International relations Colombian conflict U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry holds a meeting with leaders of FARC in a sign of encouragement in ending Colombia's half-century old conflict. (The Guardian) Finland–Russia relations Finland and Russia agree to impose temporary restrictions at two Arctic border crossing points on the Finnish–Russian border following an increased flow of asylum seekers from Russia to Finland. Under a deal clinched by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Moscow, crossings at two popular entry points, Salla and Raja-Jooseppi, will be reserved only for Finnish, Russian and Belarusian citizens and their family members for a period of 180 days. (Reuters) Russia–United States relations, Syrian peace process, War in Donbass U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry leaves for Moscow for talks on Syria and Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday. Kerry is also expected to discuss the case of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who today was sentenced to 22 years in prison in the city of Donetsk. (AP via ABC News) (The Moscow Times) (BBC) Law and crime A court in southern Russia finds Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko guilty of being complicit in the killing of two Russian journalists, killing civilians and illegal border crossing and is sentenced to 22 years in prison and a fine of 30,000 rubles. Savchenko denies all the charges and the Ukrainian government said that they would continue to press for her release. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) FBI–Apple encryption dispute A federal judge postpones Tuesday's hearing at the government's request. The FBI says a third party demonstrated a way to access Syed Rizwan Farook's iPhone. Melanie Newman, U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman, says officials are cautiously optimistic a test of this method will allow access to the phone without compromising the data. (NPR) (ABC News) The United States Supreme Court, in a 6-2 ruling written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, upholds the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' $5.8 million class action judgment against Tyson Foods Incorporated filed by workers at an Iowa pork-processing facility who contended they were underpaid. (Reuters) Politics and elections 2016 United States presidential election Voters in the U.S. states of Arizona, Idaho, Utah and the overseas territory of American Samoa head to the polls for Republican and Democratic Party primaries and caucuses. (International Business Times) Donald Trump wins the Arizona primary. (Decision Desk HQ) Toronto city councillor and former mayor Rob Ford dies after an 18-month battle with liposarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. It was first diagnosed in the midst of his 2014 bid to be re-elected mayor. He was 46. (Toronto Star)(BlogTO) 2015–16 protests in Brazil Brazil President Dilma Rousseff says she will not resign under any circumstances because she hadn't committed a crime, and equated a bid to impeach her to a coup d'état against democratic rule. A congressional impeachment committee has started hearings. Rousseff could be suspended if the Chamber of Deputies approves the motion to impeach. The president urged the Supreme Court to remain impartial in this political crisis. (Reuters) (Yahoo7) Sport Indian Wells (California) CEO and tennis tournament director Raymond Moore resigns following reactions of outrage, including by top-ranked Serena Williams and retired legend Martina Navratilova, to his comment that top-level women's players rode "on the coattails of the men" and were "very, very lucky" to have equal prize money. This is the event's second controversy involving female players. Serena and her sister Venus boycotted the tournament (also known as the BNP Paribas Open) until 2015 following verbal abuse directed toward the sisters in the 2001 open. (Reuters) (AFP via The Economic Times) (Time) Current events of March 23, 2016 (2016-03-23) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks 2016 Brussels bombings Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says two brothers of Belgian nationality, Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, were responsible for yesterday's suicide bombings. Khalid bombed the subway station while Ibrahim bombed the airport, he added. A third suspect, who died at the airport, is identified as Najim Laachraoui, says De Standaard. A fourth suspect seen in the airport photo, who left a massive bomb at the airport that did not detonate, is unidentified and still at large. (UPI) (Los Angeles Times) (De Standaard) Van Leeuw says 31 people died and 271 are injured in the bombings. (UPI) Referring to the Brussels bombings, Poland abandons a pledge to shelter Syrian migrants under a European Union relocation agreement. (Reuters) Yemeni Civil War (2015–present), War on Terror At least 50 militants are reportedly killed in a U.S. air strike on an Al-Qaeda training camp in southern Yemen. (Reuters) Business and economics The U.S. Labor Department releases a long-awaited rule, the so-called persuader rule that was first proposed in 2011. The regulation requires companies to disclose when they seek advice about countering union campaigns. The final rule will apply to contracts beginning on July 1, 2016. Several business groups, such as the National Retail Federation, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, object because the rule limits employers' free speech rights to counter union organizing, it could interfere with attorney-client privilege, etc. Court challenges are expected. (Reuters) (The Hill) Disasters and accidents 2015–16 North American winter Late March 2016 North American blizzard A powerful blizzard sweeping Denver, Colorado, forces authorities to close Denver International Airport, Interstate 70, Interstate 25 and leaves more than 100,000 people without power. The Colorado Army National Guard has been deployed to help rescue those stranded by the storm. (The Denver Post) Denver International Airport reopens at 7 pm (Mountain Daylight Time). Over 1,300 flights were canceled. Just a few flights are expected to arrive or depart through the night. The National Weather Service estimates that parts of Denver received 19.5 inches of snow as of 3:59 pm (MDT). (The Denver Post) (The Denver Post²) International relations European migrant crisis Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, announce they are withdrawing from the so-called hotspots on the Greek islands because of the new EU-Turkey deal. UNHCR's Melissa Fleming says, "Under the new provisions, these sites (hotspots) have now become detention facilities." MSF's Marie Elisabeth Ingres says, “We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalized (sic) for a mass expulsion operation, and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants.” (Vox Media) (New Europe) Law and crime Passengers are evacuated from the south domestic terminal at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the U.S. state of Georgia after a suspicious package is found. The package is declared safe by a bomb squad. (AP via News24) The Supreme Court of the United States, which currently has just eight justices, today heard the case brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh (Zubik v. Burwell, which includes similar ones by other religious organizations) that challenges the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provision that employer-paid health insurance plans provide women with access to contraceptives at no additional out-of-pocket cost, and challenges the federal government accommodation offered in 2014 that would have a third-party provide the coverage with costs paid by the federal government. The plaintiffs state that both are unconstitutional because they violate the free exercise of religion. The decision is expected in June. If the result is a split decision (4-4), there would be no national precedent and each case's final decision would be the one made in court before the case was forwarded to the Supreme Court. In the group of cases presented today, all but one appeals court upheld the government mandate. (Reuters) (USA Today) (NPR) Politics and elections Nigerien general election, 2016 Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou wins re-election in a second round of voting, receiving 92 percent of the vote in an election that was boycotted by the opposition. (Al Jazeera) Senegalese constitutional referendum, 2016 Voters in Senegal approve a series of constitutional reforms, which include a reduction of presidential terms from seven to five years, with 63 percent of the vote. (BBC) 2016 United States presidential election Tuesday, March 22 primaries/caucuses Front runners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump each won the Democratic and Republican primary in Arizona, respectively. (BBC) Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz each won their party's votes in Idaho and Utah (BBC) The early results for Tuesday's GOP caucus in American Samoa -- nine uncommitted. The Democratic caucus was held on March 1, 2016, with Hillary Clinton getting eight delegates and Bernie Sanders three. (caffeinatedthoughts.com) (The Green Papers) Current events of March 24, 2016 (2016-03-24) (Thursday) Business and economics Starboard Value LP, an activist hedge fund, begins a proxy contest to oust the entire board of directors of internet pioneer Yahoo. (Reuters) Lebanese daily newspaper As-Safir ("The Ambassador" in Arabic) is to cease print and online operations after over 40 years, citing falling revenues and Lebanon's political environment and sectarian problems as reasons for its closure. The newspaper has close ties to Hezbollah. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Australian infrastructure and transport minister Darren Chester says in a statement that debris recovered this month in Mozambique was highly likely to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. (Reuters) Law and crime England international footballer Adam Johnson is sentenced to six years in prison for child grooming and child sexual activity. (BBC) Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia find former President of the Republika Srpska Radovan Karadžić guilty of committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Bosnia during the Bosnian War and is sentenced to 40 years in prison. Karadžić is found to be "criminally responsible" for the Srebrenica massacre. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) (The Guardian) In Toronto, Jian Ghomeshi is acquitted on all charges of sexual assault and choking. The judge found the claimants had "lied, had been manipulative and hid pertinent information" from the court and this created reasonable doubt. Protests against due process emerged immediately afterwards. (National Post) In New York, an appeals court upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit trying to keep Ted Cruz off the ballot in the U.S. Presidential contest on the ground of his Canadian birth. (Reuters) Politics and elections Myanmar general election, 2015 Myanmar's parliament approves Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and 17 other nominees to positions in the incoming government's cabinet. Which ministry each will head was not announced. (Bloomberg) Amnesty International urges Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party make release of political prisoners, and rescinding laws that made incarceration possible, a top priority when they take office next Friday, April 1, 2016. Amnesty International adds it knows of almost 100 political prisoners still behind bars, with hundreds of others in detention. AI's Jasmine Heiss says, "The incoming government must take bold steps to show that human rights abuses are a problem of the past.” (AP via The Washington Post) (USA Tday) (Amnesty International) New Zealand flag debate New Zealanders vote to retain the current flag over the proposed design in the nation's flag referendum. More than 2 million people vote in the referendum. (NZ Herald) (Radio New Zealand) (The Guardian) Republic of the Congo presidential election, 2016 Current President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso is reelected with 60 percent of the vote amid tight security and a communications blackout. Opposition leaders say that they will not accept the outcome. (Al Jazeera) Sport Dutch iconic professional footballer and manager Johan Cruyff dies from lung cancer at the age of 68. (CNN) Six Russian athletes are to be stripped of the medals they won at World and European championships in 2010 and 2011 and the 2012 Summer Olympics following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The athletes affected are Sergei Balukin, Valeriy Borchin, Vladimir Kanaikin, Olga Kaniskina, Yulia Zaripova and Sergey Kirdyapkin. The ruling means Kirdyapkin is set to lose his gold medal won at the 2012 Olympics. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Current events of March 25, 2016 (2016-03-25) (Friday) Armed conflicts and attacks Aftermath of the 2016 Brussels bombings Six suspects are arrested in the Brussels Schaerbeek district. (BBC) (CNN) Belgian officials confirm 24-year-old suicide bomber Najim Laachraoui, who also used the pseudonym Soufiane Kayawas, was suspected of being the bomb-maker who supplied suicide vests for the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks. (NBC News) Boko Haram insurgency The Nigerian Army claims to have rescued more than 800 hostages from Boko Haram while performing a "clearance operation" in the Northeastern part of Nigeria with fighting killing 22 insurgents. (Al Jazeera) Military intervention against ISIL The Pentagon announces the death of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant finance minister and deputy leader, Abu Ala al-Afri. (CNN) Syrian Civil War Palmyra offensive (March 2016) The Syrian Army and allies make major advances near Palmyra against ISIL as the group start pulling out its equipment from the town. (BBC) (NYTimes) Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) Iskandariya suicide bombing At least 30 people are killed in a suicide attack on a football stadium south of Baghdad, Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for attack. (FOX News) Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) 2016 Aden car bombing At least 22 people are killed following three suicide bombings in the Yemeni port city of Aden. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the bombings. (BBC) War in Donbass The body of Ukrainian lawyer Yurij Grabovsky, who defended two ex-Russian soldiers charged in Eastern Ukraine with terrorism and waging an aggressive war against the country, is found on the grounds of a former farming collective in Zhashkiv, Ukraine. Grabovsky went missing from Kiev on March 9. Information from one of two men being held in this case led police to the remains. (Reuters) (Jurist) Disasters and accidents Callaway train crash The evacuation order for the 200-person town of Callaway, Minnesota, which was emptied after a Canadian Pacific train crashed with a propane truck, is lifted. None of the train cars were carrying hazardous materials. (Valley News Live) (KMSP-TV) Twelve Portuguese nationals, who were residents of Fribourg, Switzerland, are killed in a head-on collision between their minibus and a truck, on a highway 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Paris, France. The only survivor from the bus is the driver; the two Italian occupants of the truck are slightly injured. (Post-Bulletin) An air ambulance helicopter crashes in Iran's southern Fars Province, killing everyone on board. The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) put the death toll at 10. (Reuters) International relations Japan–Russia relations, NATO–Russia relations Russia announces it will deploy state-of-the art missile defense systems to the far eastern Kuril Islands where they and Japan have rival territorial claims dating to the end of the Second World War. Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu also says that Russia will form new defence units in the country's Western Military District in response to NATO's recent deployment of forces to member states near its border. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Law and crime A United States federal district judge rules unconstitutional a provision in an Alabama state law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. A Florida law enacted today contains a comparable provision to Alabama's. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments a few weeks ago on the constitutionality of similar abortion restrictions in Texas. (Reuters) (Alabama Media Group) (AP via Bristol Herald Courier) Science and technology Netflix acknowledges it's been slowing its video transmission on wireless mobile carriers around the world, including Verizon and AT&T, for five years to "protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps." Last week, these carriers were accused of this. The company told The Wall Street Journal that T-Mobile or Sprint users weren't affected because, "historically those two companies have had more consumer-friendly policies." In May, Netflix plans to shift some of that control to viewers themselves. (C|net) (PC Magazine) Media and Entertainment Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ' released on this day. Current events of March 26, 2016 (2016-03-26) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian Civil War Palmyra offensive (March 2016) Syrian troops advance into Palmyra on multiple fronts with the help of Russian airstrikes and take several neighbourhoods, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. However they were unable to encircle the city. (BBC) Arts and culture British rock band The Rolling Stones performs in Havana, Cuba, playing an open-air free concert in the country, in what has been called a "historic moment." Western music used to be banned in Cuba as being "ideologically divergent." (The Guardian) Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert De Niro announces the film, Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, will not be screened at the 2016 Festival as previously announced. “Grace [Hightower] and I have a child with autism and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined," Mr. De Niro said. "... (our) Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community ... do not believe (this film) contributes to or furthers the discussion (about autism) I hoped for," the actor/producer said. (USA Today) Business and economics British newspaper The Independent publishes its last print edition. (Sky News) Reuters reports, based on an unnamed "person familiar with the situation," that Microsoft executives are lining up financing for a possible acquisition of troubled dotcom pioneer Yahoo. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents All four on board are killed when a medical services helicopter, transporting a patient from a car accident, crashes in a wooded area in Coffee County, Alabama. The helicopter pilot, a nurse, a medic, and the patient were killed. (Reuters) Health and medicine Zika virus outbreak Chile confirms its first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus. The case involves a 46-year-old woman whose partner was infected while in Haiti. (Reuters) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises women exposed to Zika, which means traveling to South American (or other) countries where the disease is rampant, have protected sex for at least two months before attempting to get pregnant. Men exposed should not have unprotected sex for at least six months. (UPI) Flint water crisis The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency extends the federal disaster declaration for Flint, Michigan, so water deliveries can continue through mid-August. (UPI) A study, published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, finds high school athletes who focus on a single sport may be at increased risk for knee and hip injuries. (UPI) International relations U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford makes a proposal to President Barack Obama to increase the number of American troops in Iraq, so as to help the Iraqi Army with advisors closer to the front lines and to recapture Mosul, which fell to ISIL in June 2014. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Politics and elections 2016 United States presidential election, Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016 Voters in the U.S. states of Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington gather for Democratic Party caucuses. (Washington Times) Senator Bernie Sanders is the projected winner in Alaska, Washington and Hawaii. (U.S. News & World Report) Current events of March 27, 2016 (2016-03-27) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian Civil War Palmyra offensive (March 2016) The Syrian Army takes full control of Palmyra after heavy fighting with ISIL forces, according to a Syrian military source. (Sky News) 2016 Lahore suicide bombing A suicide bomber from a Pakistani Taliban faction kills at least 60 people and injures 300 others at a park in Lahore, Pakistan, and the group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it intentionally targeted Christians celebrating on Easter Sunday. An official says the explosion took place close to Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park's children's rides. (CNN) (Reuters) (Al Jazeera) (AP) Arts and culture Thousands of people in Dublin, Ireland, attend the Irish government's commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule. (The Guardian) Disasters and accidents At least 12 Algerian Army soldiers are killed in a military helicopter crash near the town of Reggane, in Algeria's southern Adrar Province. (Reuters) Law and crime Israel's Supreme Court blocks the government's plan, signed last December by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the U.S. Noble Energy and the Israeli Delek Group companies, to develop Israel's offshore gas deposits. The court found the so-called "stability clause," that would prevent Israel from making significant regulatory changes for the next 10 years, undemocratically restricts the Knesset's power. The government has one year to come up with an alternative arrangement or the plan will be canceled. (AP) (Ynetnews) (Reuters) Politics and elections Myanmar general election, 2015 Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's military chief, pledges to work with the new civilian government that takes over the Southeast Asian country next week, after 54 years of direct or indirect rule by the military. (AP) 2014–16 Venezuelan protests According to a new poll, two-thirds of Venezuelans think President Nicolás Maduro should end his presidency this year or be removed via a recall referendum amid a worsening economic crisis. In the event of a referendum, 52.1 percent of Venezuelans would vote to remove him from office, up from 44.5 percent in January, according to the poll. (Reuters) 2015–16 protests in Moldova Thousands of people rally in the streets of Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, demanding reunification with Romania. The rally is meant to mark the 98th anniversary since the former Romanian province of Bessarabia was unified with the Kingdom of Romania on March 27, 1918. The protesters say unification with Romania is the way for corruption-ridden Moldova to move forward and join the European Union. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Aftermath of the 2016 Brussels bombings Police in Brussels, Belgium, forcibly break up an apparent far-right demonstration with water cannons after they joined a crowd of people paying tribute to the victims of the bombings. The demonstrators claim to have marched against terrorism but police intervened when the demonstrators confronted Muslim women and made Nazi salutes. (Euronews) (BBC) Current events of March 28, 2016 (2016-03-28) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Taliban fighters fire explosives at Afghanistan's Parliament while it is in session. Members of Parliament said no one was wounded while a Taliban spokesperson claims it caused heavy casualties. (Al Jazeera) Somali Civil War (2009–present) At least 115 Al-Shabaab militants are killed and a further 110 are captured following heavy fighting with pro-government forces in the Galmudug region of Somalia, according to the regional government. There has been no independent confirmation of this claim. (BBC) Aftermath of the Brussels bombings Belgian prosecutors release Faycal C., a man charged in connection with last week's deadly Brussels bombings. The prosecutor's office says the evidence which led to his arrest has not been backed up by the ongoing investigation. (Reuters) 2016 Lahore suicide bombing Pakistan officials tell Reuters its forces will launch a paramilitary crackdown on Islamist militants in Punjab. Sunday's attack was Taliban-affiliated Jamaat-ul-Ahrar's fifth bombing since December. (Reuters) Business and economics In response to the $13.6 billion cash-and-stock offer by the Marriott International to purchase Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Anbang Insurance Group raises its bidding offer to $14 billion. (AP) (Reuters) (UPI) (The Washington Post) Disasters and accidents 2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season The United Kingdom's Met Office warns of major travel disruption due to heavy rain, flooding and "damaging" high winds as Storm Katie moves in from the Atlantic Ocean bringing winds of up to 75mph. (Sky News) The Alaska village of Nelson Lagoon is coated in volcanic ash after an especially vigorous and ongoing eruption of Mount Pavlof. (Alaska Dispatch News) Alaska Airlines cancels 41 flights to and from six cities across the state, Barrow, Bethel, Fairbanks, Kotzebue, Nome, and Prudhoe Bay, due to Pavlof's "massive ash cloud." The carrier announces flights will remain grounded pending Tuesday's assessment of flying conditions. (KTUU-TV) International Relations Senkaku Islands dispute, China–Japan relations As part of its wider military build up along the Japanese archipelagos in the East China Sea, Japan activates a new radar station on the island of Yonaguni that is close to the disputed Senkaku Islands. (Reuters) Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen A Saudi coalition says it's traded 109 Yemeni prisoners for nine captive Saudis. (AP) Law and crime A three-year-old girl is decapitated in an apparently random killing by a man with a cleaver in Taipei, Taiwan. The man was arrested shortly afterwards. (The Guardian) The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. is on lockdown following reports of shots fired at the Capitol Visitor Center. The White House, in what appears to be an unrelated incident, was briefly locked down this afternoon. (CNN) Police lift the lockdown. An armed man was shot by police, is in police custody, and is undergoing surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. A female bystander suffers what appears to be a minor injury. (The Washington Post) FBI–Apple encryption dispute Federal prosecutors announce the case against Apple Inc., concerning encrypted data on an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, has been dropped since the FBI has found a means to access the data without compromising any information on the phone. (Los Angeles Times) (Los Angeles Times²) A U.S. federal district court, in a case filed by retailer Wal-Mart Stores. Inc., strikes down a Puerto Rican tax increase for on-island companies, with more than $2.75 billion in revenues that buy goods from off-island "related parties," because the levy clearly discriminates against interstate commerce. (Reuters) The United States Secret Service says only law enforcement officers will be allowed to have guns inside the Republican National Convention to be held in the Cleveland, Ohio, arena on July 18–21, 2016; responding to an online petition demanding Quicken Loans Arena revoke its ban on open carrying of firearms. (USA Today) The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal file a federal lawsuit against a new North Carolina law that bars transgender people from choosing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity, arguing the measure is discriminatory and threatens individuals' personal safety. (Reuters) Ferguson unrest A Missouri court strikes down parts of a law, meant to address concerns raised after the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, that limit cities' ability to profit from traffic tickets and court fines. The judge wrote the law unconstitutionally targeted St. Louis-area municipalities with caps on revenues from traffic fines that were lower than other cities in the state. (AP) Politics and elections Thousands of protestors rally in front of the Parliament of Pakistan in Islamabad in support of Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of reformist Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011 who was subsequently executed last February. The Pakistan Army was called in to control the situation. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) Governor Nathan Deal, of the American state of Georgia, vetoes a religious liberties bill that would have protected people whose religious beliefs don't include same-sex marriage. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) (The Washington Post) (ESPN) New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signs an order banning all non-essential travel to North Carolina, i.e., travel not necessary for the enforcement of New York state law, public health, and/or safety, following the state's passage of a law blocking local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances. (CBS News) Current events of March 29, 2016 (2016-03-29) (Tuesday) Armed attacks and conflicts 2016 Brussels bombings Belgium officials lower the official death toll from 35 to 32, with nearly 100 still hospitalized. (UPI) Brussels Zaventem International Airport CEO Arnaud Feist says the airport will reopen at less than a quarter capacity Wednesday, as ongoing tests determine which flights can resume. It could take months for the airport to return to full capacity, Feist added. (UPI) Business and economics The U.S. Supreme Court's even split among the current eight justices turns down a group of California teachers' challenge to agency fees public-sector unions representing government employees charge employees for collective bargaining costs, whether or not they choose to join the union. Twenty-four other states and the District of Columbia have a similar provision. The ninth circuit federal appellate court ruling in the union's favor stands. Employees challenging the law may bring the appeal again, once the vacancy on the nation's highest court is filled. (Boston Herald) The U.S. National Labor Relations Board files an official complaint against a California warehouse after finding evidence it violated workers' rights to organize. The allegations of wrongdoing submitted by a worker group against California Cartage Company, LLC, which serves Amazon.com, Inc., Lowe's Companies. Inc., New Balance, and Sears Holdings Corp., will be heard by an NLRB administrative law judge in June 2016. None of the retailers were named in the NLRB complaint. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Alaska Airlines cancels additional flights, due to the ongoing eruption of Mount Pavlof on the Alaska Peninsula. (Alaska Dispatch News) 2016 Aero Teknic MU-2 crash Seven people die in a plane crash on the Magdalen Islands in the Canadian province of Quebec. Former minister Jean Lapierre was one of the people on board the plane. (CBC), (CTV News) A United States Air Force F-16 crashes during takeoff from Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by coalition forces, according to a U.S. military statement. (Reuters) Health and medicine Terminix, in the U.S. District Court in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, admits it "knowingly" applied fumigants including methyl bromide, which the EPA banned for residential use in 1984, at a resort in St. John that seriously sickened a family of four, and agrees to pay $10 million in fines and restitution. (NBC News) (NBC News²) New research, published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, finds women who have endometriosis, the abnormal growth of uterine tissue outside the uterus, may face a 60 percent higher risk of developing heart disease than women without the disorder. The potential risk was especially high for women 40 or younger. At least 10 percent of women of reproductive age suffer from endometriosis (endo) says Dr. Stacey Missmer of Brigham and Women's Hospital, who co-authored the study. (UPI) (NBC News) International relations Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute A United Nations commission rules in favour of Argentina to expand its maritime territory in the South Atlantic Ocean by 35% to include the Falkland Islands and beyond despite Argentina and the United Kingdom still having an unresolved dispute over the islands. (The Guardian) Turkey–United States relations The United States State Department and the Pentagon order families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel to leave posts in southern Turkey due to "increased threats from terrorist groups" in the country. This order comes two days before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's arrival in the U.S. for security meetings. (AP via New York Post) Iran and weapons of mass destruction Reuters reports the United States and its European allies have notified the UN that Iran's launching of nuclear-capable missiles violated United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 which endorsed the Iran deal, i.e., the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), last year. (Reuters) Law and crime The Indonesian foreign ministry says 10 Indonesian nationals are being held hostage after their tug boat and coal barge was hijacked in Philippine waters. Islamist militant group, Abu Sayyaf is demanding a ransom. (AP) EgyptAir Flight 181 A hijacked EgyptAir flight lands in Cyprus. All hostages have been released, and the hijacker has no evident ties to any terrorist organizations. (The Guardian) Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager for U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, is charged with battery for allegedly grabbing former Breitbart News journalist Michelle Fields on March 8. (New York Times) (The Palm Beach Post) Transgender rights in the United States Dozens of chief executive officers of major U.S. technology, biotech, and financial companies urge North Carolina to repeal a new state law forcing transgender people to use rest-rooms and changing-rooms according to the gender on their birth-certificate.(AP via WBT) North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) says he will not defend the new state law in court. This year, Cooper is the state Democratic Party's candidate for governor. Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger says the attorney general should resign if he will not defend the law. (AP) The NC Values Coalition, which worked to get Charlotte's nondiscrimination ordinance overturned by the state legislature, says hundreds of North Carolina businesses support the new state law, though fear retaliation if they make that support public. The coalition did list 17 businesses willing to be identified as supporting the new law. (AP) Obamacare constitutional challenges, Zubik v. Burwell In a move designed to head off a 4–4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court directs lawyers for the Obama administration, and for the religious groups who challenge it, to submit written briefs on a possible remedy to the case: whether coverage could be provided through the group's insurance companies without any actual notice to the government. A 4–4 decision would not set a national precedent, and would let stand the preceding decision in each case. In these seven cases, the appeals court in six upheld the government mandate. (NBC News) Samuel Moreno Rojas, the former mayor of the Colombian capital Bogota, is jailed for 18 years for taking bribes to award ambulance contracts. (AP via Town Hall) El Salvador declares a state of emergency in seven prisons and transfers 299 prisoners in a crackdown on gang violence. (The Guardian) Politics and elections 2015–16 protests in Brazil A legal request has been filed to impeach Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff for obstructing justice and fiscal accounting tricks, the second impeachment request against her. In response to the request, Minister of Tourism Henrique Eduardo Alves turned in a resignation letter while the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party is expected to hold a party vote on whether or not to leave Rousseff's coalition government. (Al Jazeera) The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, the country's largest party, decides unanimously to leave President Rousseff's governing coalition. While Rousseff will remain in office, it's likely she could be impeached in a matter of months, which would make Vice President Michel Temer president. (Reuters) Chief of staff Jaques Wagner says President Rousseff will announce a new governing coalition before the end of the week. The President has an opportunity to form a new coalition for her remaining two years and nine months in office, Wagner added. (Reuters²) 2015 Tanzanian general election The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a United States foreign aid agency, pulls $472m of funding for a Tanzanian electricity project after concluding that the election held in Zanzibar "was neither inclusive nor representative". Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, held a rerun of its election that was boycotted by the opposition after it was previously annulled because of supposed fraud. (BBC) In the United States, the Tennessee state Senate will vote on a bill, which narrowly passed the House last year, to declare the Holy Bible the official book of Tennessee. Governor Bill Haslam (R) was among those who opposed the bill in 2015. (AP) (Chattanooga Times Free Press) 2016 United States presidential election, 2016 Republican Party presidential candidates Candidate Donald Trump says he will no longer honor his pledge to support the eventual Republican Party pick for president because, "I have been treated very unfairly." (AP) (Fox News) At the CNN Town Hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich also back away from earlier pledges to support the eventual Republican nominee. (CNN) (UPI) 2014–16 Venezuelan protests Two police officers are killed and four others are wounded in the western Venezuelan city of San Cristóbal after they were run over by a bus driven by young men protesting a hike in public transport fares, according to government officials and Reuters witnesses. (Reuters) Science and technology U.S. Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly says, during a speech at the American Action Forum, that Netflix's admission last week that it has been intentionally slowing its video streaming transmission on some wireless mobile carriers for five years "deeply disturbing" which might warrant an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and/or Congress. (UPI) Current events of March 30, 2016 (2016-03-30) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Libyan Civil War (2014–present) Blasts and gunfire are reported in Tripoli. (Reuters) Naxalite–Maoist insurgency At least seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel are killed in an IED attack on their vehicle in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district. Naxalite insurgents are suspected to have been behind the attack. (International Business Times) Business and economy Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn agrees to buy 60% of the Japanese Sharp Corporation for 389 billion yen ($3.5 billion). (Bloomberg) Disasters and accidents Thailand and neighbouring countries suffer from the worst drought in decades as an El Niño-induced water shortage reduces reservoirs to critical levels. (Al Jazeera) At least nine people are injured in severe storms that spawned multiple tornado touchdowns in northeastern Oklahoma and sections of the Southwestern United States. One patient is in critical condition; the others suffered serious injuries, according to the Emergency Medical Services Authority. Parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas are also impacted. A flash flood watch has been issued through Thursday evening. Two (2) to 4 inches of rain is expected, with perhaps 6 inches in some locations. (AP) Health and medicine A new study by researchers at McGill University and the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that each additional month a woman has paid maternity leave is associated with decreased infant mortality by more than 10 percent. Researchers noted that paid maternity leave reduces stress because of the guarantee of income and job security, increases the chances for breastfeeding and other infant care, and allows a mother to seek more medical attention for herself. (UPI) (PLOS Medicine) The United States Food and Drug Administration announces it has relaxed its official requirements regarding the use of the abortion drug Mifeprex (RU-486). The current guidelines were based on 1990s medical evidence. Changes include reducing the number of physician visits required by abortion-seeking women, reducing drug dosage, and allowing women to take the drug for three weeks longer -- now a total of 70 days. (UPI) Air pollution in Mexico City Mexico City, facing the capital's worst air-quality crisis in over a decade, issues a temporary order that all cars remain idle one day a week. Today, authorities report a pollution index of 108 (bad) after low readings during Holy Week. Vehicles will also be forced from the roads one Saturday a month. The measure will begin next Tuesday, April 5, and run until Thursday, June 30, 2016. Starting July 1, improved technology will be in place at smog-check centers where all vehicles must be tested every six months. (AP via Fox News) International relations The Wallenberg family files an application to formally declare Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (born in 1912) to be dead. Wallenberg saved the lives of thousands of Jews in World War II only to disappear at the hands of the Soviet forces. (Times of Israel) Russia–Ukraine relations The Ukrainian parliament votes to ban all Russian films released after January 1, 2014, saying the move is aimed at improving “national security"; more than 430 Russian films and TV series fall under the new measures. Last month, the State Committee in Television and Radio-broadcasting in Ukraine removed 15 Russian TV channels from being broadcast in Ukraine. (RT) U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, at the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., will announce a three-way deal with the United States and Euratom, the European Union nuclear agency, to turn nuclear waste into medical isotopes to help fight cancer. (Bloomberg) Law and crime A Bangladesh Court issues an arrest warrant, the second one so far, for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and 27 opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party members over political violence, mostly petrol-bomb attacks, that occurred during anti-government protests last year that killed at least 120 people. (Al Jazeera) EgyptAir Flight 181 A Larnaca, Cyprus, court orders that 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, who was arrested by Cypriot police yesterday, remain in local police custody for eight days to assist Cyprus's own investigation. Mustafa faces charges of hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping, and threats to commit violence. It's unclear if Mustafa had any explosives; the bomb belt he wore was fake, and officials are waiting for testing results on unidentified liquids found among his possessions. (AP via The Daily Courier) Egypt General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek formally requests Mustafa's extradition from Cyprus. (Reuters) Politics and elections 2016 United States presidential election: The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which organizes some 16,500 border patrol agents, endorses Donald Trump for President of the United States, NBPC's first-ever endorsement in a presidential election. (CNN) Myanmar general election, 2015 In Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, Htin Kyaw is sworn in by House Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than as the first civilian president in 54 years. Htin Kyaw, a close aide to Aung San Suu Kyi, takes power from former general Thein Sein. (Daily Mail) The government of Pakistan warns that it will push to clear the Islamist protests occurring in Islamabad. Protests have broken out in the capital and other cities ever since Mumtaz Qadri was executed last February for his role in killing Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011 because he opposed Pakistan's blasphemy laws. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Libyan Civil War (2014–present) The United Nations-backed Libyan Presidential Council arrives in Tripoli despite warnings by hardliners opposed to any unity government that they will attempt to keep them out of the city. (The Guardian) The opposition controlled National Assembly of Venezuela passes an amnesty bill that could potentially free over 70 opposition leaders and activists jailed during protests last year, including prominent leader Leopoldo López. (BBC) Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro vows to veto this amnesty bill. The opposition can override the veto since it holds a supermajority in the National Assembly. Maduro can also send the bill to the Supreme Tribunal to determine its constitutionality. (UPI) The opposition plans to generate a recall referendum that would ask voters if President Maduro should be removed from office. The Constitution states a recall referendum can be held once the president has served half of his six-year term (Maduro became President on April 19, 2013) and at least 20 percent of registered voters sign the petition. (UPI²) Sports Two Russian cyclists, former world champion Anastasia Chulkova and Pavel Yakushevskiy, test positive for meldonium. (AP) Three-time Kentucky Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel announces his retirement. (Louisville Courier-Journal) Current events of March 31, 2016 (2016-03-31) (Thursday) Armed conflicts and attacks Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015–present) Israeli security forces arrest 16 Palestinian suspects on the West Bank. (Jerusalem Post) War in Somalia A suicide bomber in Somalia’s Puntland region detonates while hugging Saeed Ali, the treasurer of Galkayo, killing him and several police officers guarding him. Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. (International Business Times) (Reuters) PKK rebellion, Turkey–ISIL conflict A car bomb, targeting an armored vehicle transporting police personnel, explodes close to a bus terminal in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır, Turkey, killing at least seven police officers and wounding 27 more people, including 13 officers, according to a joint statement by Turkish officials and the police. The attack comes one day before Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's scheduled visit to the city. There has been no claim of responsibility. CNN points out both Kurdish rebels and ISIL militants have claimed similar recent incidents. (Al Jazeera) (CNN) (AP) (Arab News) Syrian Civil War The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports a drone attack, “most likely operated by the US-led coalition,” kills Abu al-Hija, a high-ranking Tunisian ISIL commander, near the Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital Raqqa. (Al Arabiya) Business and economics The U.S. Federal Trade Commission files an anti-trust suit against Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and several other drug companies for using pay-for-delay settlements to block consumers’ access to lower-cost generic versions of pain medications, Opana ER and Lidoderm. (StreetInsider.com) A consortium led by China's Anbang Insurance Group announces it will walk away from its $14 billion takeover bid for Starwood Hotels. This restores Marriott International as the highest bidder ($13.6 billion). (CNBC) (Bloomberg) Disasters and accidents 2016 Kolkata overpass collapse At least 21 people are killed, 70 injured and up to 150 people are feared trapped after a half-built overpass collapses in the Indian city of Kolkata. (Indian Express) (NBC News) International relations 2016 Nuclear Security Summit More than 50 heads of state as well as representatives from international organizations attend the annual Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., with the notable exception of Russia, which declined to attend. The main agenda of the two-day gathering is the discussion of North Korea and the threat it poses with its nuclear weapons and the possibility of ISIS extremists getting a nuclear weapon. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Law and crime Yugoslav Wars Former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and nationalist politician, Vojislav Šešelj, is acquitted of all nine charges of committing atrocities in Bosnia and Croatia during the early 1990s by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. (The Guardian) A U.S. official announces that The Pentagon plans to transfer about a dozen inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to at least two countries that have agreed to take them, in the latest move in Barack Obama’s final push to close the facility. The official declined to name the countries ready to take them in. (The Guardian) Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 A Malaysian court dismisses Malaysia Airlines's bid to throw out a lawsuit filed by relatives of three people who went missing on Flight 370. The company argued that the disappearance of MH370 on March 8, 2014, occurred before the company came into existence as Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) on September 1, 2015, and therefore has no liability to relatives. The court ruled MAB's liability would be determined in a trial. (UPI) (Malay Mail) A 37-year-old Virginia State Police trooper taking part in a police training mission is killed by a gunman inside the Greyhound bus station in Richmond, Virginia. Two officers standing nearby return fire and fatally strike the suspect. Two civilian women are injured. (WTVR) (NBC News) Politics and elections Vietnam elects Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân chairwoman of the National Assembly. Ngân, who won 95.5 percent of the votes, is the first woman to lead Vietnam's legislature. In January, she was re-elected to the powerful Politburo at the Communist Party Congress. (AP) The Constitutional Court of South Africa delivered a unanimous judgement that President Jacob Zuma and the National Assembly failed to uphold the country's constitution by ignoring the findings of the Public Protector regarding public expenditure on Zuma's private homestead. (Daily Maverick) 2016 United States presidential election, Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016 Pennsylvania's Supreme Court upholds the previous court ruling that dismissed the case against Ted Cruz which challenged his eligibility to appear on the state's GOP primary ballot, and serve as president. (ABC News) Japan's Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida forcibly reject, as has the White House, candidate Donald Trump's suggestion that the U.S. military be withdrawn from Japan and South Korea with nuclear weapons replacing them. A small minority in South Korea, such as the think tank Sejong Institute, agree with Trump on this issue, but this is not mainstream policy. (CNN) (Vox Media) Another Trump statement, "South Korea is a money machine but they pay us peanuts," is greeted with "howls of inaccuracy" from the South Korean Foreign Ministry and the White House. U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert says "Seoul pays for 55% of all non-personnel costs." (CNN) Venezuela's National Assembly, responding to last month's Central Bank of Venezuela report that the country experienced a 180.9 percent inflation increase in 2015, passes legislation, The Law of Bonds for Food and Medicine for Retirees and Pensioners, that could make it easier for pensioners and retirees to pay for food and medicine. The approved bill has been forwarded for President Nicolás Maduro's signature. (UPI) Italy's Minister of Economic Development, Federica Guidi, resigns amid allegations that she passed along confidential information to her boyfriend that helped his business interests. (AP via Fox News) Brazil protests Brazil's Supreme Court voted 8-2 to take over the corruption investigation of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Silva alleges Judge Sérgio Moro unfairly targets him. The court also overruled Moro's decision to release the recording of Silva's call with President Dilma Rousseff, since it is the only court that can authorize a wiretap on presidential conversations. The full court is still to rule on the injunction that prevents Silva from taking office as the President's Chief of Staff. (AP via ABC news) (Reuters) Today, thousands of demonstrators gathered in more than 20 states in support of Silva and Rousseff. (Reuters²) (AP via ABC news) Brazil sports minister George Hilton resigns and will be replaced on an interim basis by Ricardo Leyser, a senior official in the ministry. Leyser, 45, has worked in the sports ministry since 2003, and has been heavily involved with the Olympic Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, August 5-21, 2016. (The Rio Times) (insidethegames) Science and technology Astronomers' study reveals the surface of exoplanet 55 Cancri e has a 2500°C liquid face, constantly facing its star 55 Cancri, while the other side is relatively colder and solid. (Discovery via ABC News) Sport Five U.S. women’s national soccer team players file federal wage discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). In the filing, the players cite 2015 USSF figures which show they were paid nearly four times less than men’s players despite generating nearly $20 million more revenue. A U.S. Soccer statement says, "... we are disappointed about this action." (The Washington Post) (ESPN)

March 2016 S M T W T F S       1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10     11     12     13     14     15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     27     28     29     30     31        Ongoing events Health Zika virus outbreak Flint water crisis Law FBI–Apple encryption dispute Political War in Afghanistan Boko Haram insurgency Brazil protests Burundian unrest Iraqi Civil War Military intervention against ISIL American-led Iranian Israeli–Palestinian conflict Lebanese political deadlock Moldova protests Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Armenian–Azeri border conflict Nepal blockade PKK rebellion Yemeni Civil War Saudi Arabian-led intervention Second Libyan Civil War Sinai insurgency South China Sea disputes Syrian Civil War American-led intervention Russian military intervention Venezuelan protests War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine More details on ongoing conflicts below Sports 2015–16 UEFA Champions League 2015–16 La Liga season 2015–16 NBA season 2015–16 NHL season 2015–16 Premier League season 2016 ATP World Tour 2016 ICC World Twenty20 2016 WTA Tour 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament  Recent deaths March 31: Ronnie Corbett 31: Zaha Hadid 31: Imre Kertész 30: Shirley Hufstedler 30: John King 29: Patty Duke 29: Nil Hilevich 29: Jean Lapierre 29: Steven Sample 27: Mother Angelica 27: Vic Peters 26: Jim Harrison 25: Abu Ala al-Afri 25: Shannon Bolin 25: Lester Thurow 24: Johan Cruyff 24: Garry Shandling 23: Phife Dawg 22: Rob Ford 21: Andrew Grove 21: Joseph Mercieca 21: Ricardo Larraín 20: Anker Jørgensen 19: Roger Agnelli 18: Guido Westerwelle 17: Paul Daniels 16: Sylvia Anderson 16: Better Loosen Up (death announced on this day) 16: Alexander Esenin-Volpin 16: Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan 16: Cliff Michelmore 16: Frank Sinatra, Jr. 15: Asa Briggs 15: Richard Burke 15: Tamara Grigsby 15: Seru Rabeni 14: Peter Maxwell Davies 14: Suranimala Rajapaksha 14: Davy Walsh (death announced on this day) 13: Adrienne Corri 13: Hilary Putnam 13: Martin Olav Sabo 13: József Verebes 12: Annastasia Batikis 12: Felix Ibru 12: Lloyd Shapley 11: Ben Bagdikian 11: Iolanda Balaș 11: Rómulo Macció 10: Ken Adam 10: Ernestine Anderson 10: Anita Brookner 10: Keith Emerson 10: Gogi Grant 10: Mohammed Irfan 10: Gary Jeter 10: Jovito Salonga 9: Jon English 9: John Gutfreund 9: Richard Horton 9: Ralph S. Larsen 9: Clyde Lovellette 8: Ross Hannaford 8: George Martin 7: Adrian Hardiman 7: Steve Kraly 7: Michael White 7: Quentin Young 6: Elizabeth Garrett 6: Kalabhavan Mani 6: Francis Pasion 6: Nancy Reagan 6: Harold H. Saunders 5: Hassan al-Turabi 5: Antoni Asunción 5: Paul Couch 5: Nikolaus Harnoncourt 5: Robert Redbird 5: Ray Tomlinson 5: Panayiotis Tetsis 5: Al Wistert 4: John Brooks 4: Bud Collins 4: Pat Conroy 4: Joey Feek 4: P. A. Sangma 4: Abbas Vaez-Tabasi 4: Zhou Xiaoyan 3: Ralph Baruch 3: Berta Cáceres 3: Martin Crowe 3: Thanat Khoman 3: Sarah Tait 2: Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern 2: Aubrey McClendon 2: James Barrett McNulty 1: Jim Kimsey 1: Tony Warren 1: Martha Wright  Ongoing conflicts Africa Algeria, Tunisia and Niger Maghreb insurgency Central African Republic Civil war Democratic Republic of the Congo Kivu conflict ADF insurgency Katanga insurgency Ituri conflict Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Libya Civil war Mali Northern Mali conflict Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger Boko Haram insurgency Somalia Civil war South Sudan South Sudanese Civil War Sudan War in Darfur South Kordofan conflict Americas Colombian conflict Internal conflict in Peru Mexican War on Drugs Asia Afghanistan War China Xinjiang conflict India Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Insurgency in Northeast India India and Pakistan Kashmir conflict Pakistan War in North-West Pakistan Balochistan conflict Philippines CPP-NPA-NDF rebellion Moro conflict Cross border attacks in Sabah Southeast Asia Internal conflict in Burma Papua conflict South Thailand insurgency Europe European Migrant Crisis Georgia Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Georgian–Ossetian conflict Chechen–Russian conflict North Caucasus insurgency War in Ingushetia Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Ukraine War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine Middle East Arab–Israeli conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli–Lebanese conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Egypt Sinai insurgency Iran Iran–PJAK conflict Iraqi civil war American-led intervention in Iraq Iranian intervention in Iraq Syrian Civil War American-led intervention in Syria Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon Turkey Turkey–PKK conflict Turkey–ISIL conflict Yemeni crisis Houthi rebellion Al-Qaeda insurgency South Yemen insurgency  Elections and Referendums Recent February 28: Switzerland, Referendums March 4: Samoa, Fono 5: Slovakia, National Council 6: Benin, President (1st round) 9: Kiribati, President 20: Benin, President (2nd round) 20: Cape Verde, National Assembly 20: Republic of the Congo, President 20: Kazakhstan, Majilis 20: Niger, President (2nd round) 20: Senegal, Constitutional referendum Upcoming April 6: Netherlands, EU referendum 8: Djibouti, President (1st round) 10: Chad, President (1st round) 10: Comoros, President (2nd round) 10: Peru, President, Congress 13: South Korea, National Assembly 13: Syria, People's Council 17: Italy, Oil drilling referendum 24: Austria, President 24: Serbia, National Assembly  Trials Recently concluded Australia: Brett Peter Cowan, Craig Thomson, Robert Hughes Brazil: Mensalão scandal Canada: Luka Magnotta China: Ji Jianye, Li Chuncheng, Jiang Jiemin, Liao Shaohua, Ni Fake, Chen Baihuai, Zhou Yongkang, Gu Junshan Croatia: Ivo Sanader Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, Peter Greste, Mohamed Morsi Germany: Bernie Ecclestone, Uli Hoeness, Christian Wulff Iran: Mohammad Reza Rahimi Israel: Hussam Qawasmeh Jordan: Abu Qatada Philippines: Joseph Scott Pemberton Romania: Liviu Dragnea, Dan Diaconescu Russia: Leonid Khabarov, Eston Kohver, Vladimir Kvachkov South Africa: Shrien Dewani, Oscar Pistorius Turkey: Kenan Evren, Tahsin Şahinkaya United Kingdom: Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, Kweku Adoboli, Tony McCluskie, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, Chris Huhne, Nicola Edgington, Vicky Pryce, Derek Rose, Mick Philpott, Mairead Philpott, Paul Mosley, Stuart Hazell, Mark Bridger, Andrew Lancel, Dale Cregan, Ray Wilkins, Liam Adams, R v Grillo and Grillo, Ian Watkins, William Roache, Dave Lee Travis, Nicholas Jacobs, Nigel Evans, Max Clifford, Stuart Hall, Dappy, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Rolf Harris, Tulisa Contostavlos, Chris Denning, Ray Teret, Gary Glitter, Fred Talbot, Adam Johnson United States: Abu Hamza al-Masri, Michael Grimm, Jesse Jackson Jr., Bob McDonnell, Vilma Bautista, Jared Lee Loughner, Lauryn Hill, Kermit Gosnell, George Zimmerman, Chelsea Manning, Ariel Castro, Whitey Bulger, Robert Bales, Nidal Malik Hasan, Jodi Arias, Anas al-Libi, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, James Eagan Holmes, Sheldon Silver International ECCC: Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan ICC: Germain Katanga ICTY: Momčilo Perišić, Mladen Markač, Ante Gotovina, Zdravko Tolimir, Radovan Karadžić Ongoing China: Yao Mugen, Guo Youming, Zhu Zuoli Germany: Beate Zschäpe Iran: Babak Zanjani Netherlands: Geert Wilders Philippines: Andal Ampatuan Jr., Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Janet Lim-Napoles, Jovito Palparan Romania: Darius Vâlcov, Dan Șova, Elena Udrea, Radu Mazăre, Gheorghe Nichita, Marian Vanghelie, Cătălin Voicu, Relu Fenechiu, Gheorghe Ștefan, Gabriel Sandu, Dorin Cocoş, Dumitru Nicolae Russia: Alexei Navalny South Korea: MV Sewol crew members United Kingdom: Rolf Harris United States: Dean Skelos International ICTY: Ratko Mladić PCA: China Upcoming China: Wu Changshun, Ling Jihua Estonia: Edgar Savisaar Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Spain: Lionel Messi United Kingdom: Max Clifford United States: Paul Anthony Ciancia, Javaris Crittenton, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Dylan Quick, Aaron Hernandez, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Rick Perry International ICC: Laurent Gbagbo