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Worldwide current events
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Topics in the news

Total solar eclipse, viewed from Balikpapan

An explosion in Ankara, Turkey, kills 37 people and injures at least 125 others.
At least 18 people are killed in shootings at a beach resort in Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast.
Google DeepMind's AlphaGo computer program wins a series against Lee Sedol, one of the world's best Go players.
A total solar eclipse occurs, with totality (pictured) visible from Indonesia and the North Pacific.
In the Slovak parliamentary election, Direction – Social Democracy remains the largest political party but loses its majority in the National Council.

Ongoing events:
- Zika virus outbreak
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:

March 15, 2016 (Tuesday)

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Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016
- Voters in the U.S. states of Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina head to the polls for Republican and Democratic Party primaries that the media have dubbed "Super Tuesday 2". (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Nigerien general election, 2016
- The government will release opposition candidate Hama Amadou from prison due to health issues. Mr Amadou is facing off against incumbent President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou in the second round of voting on Sunday. (Reuters)

March 14, 2016 (Monday)

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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)

March 13, 2016 (Sunday)

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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 brackets for the South and West regions are leaked several minutes before being officially announced. (ESPN, overall field) (ESPN, bracket leak)

March 12, 2016 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- 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)

March 11, 2016 (Friday)

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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

United States presidential election, 2016
- 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 presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
  - 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)

March 10, 2016 (Thursday)

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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 (2015–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 a 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)

March 9, 2016 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–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)
War in Somalia (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)

More March 2016 events...

Ongoing events
Health Zika virus outbreak Flint water crisis Political War in Afghanistan Boko Haram insurgency 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 WTA Tour edit sidebar

Recent deaths
March 14: Peter Maxwell Davies 14: Suranimala Rajapaksha 14: Davy Walsh (death announced on this day) 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: 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 February 29: Louise Rennison 28: Didier Bellens 28: Delmer Berg 28: Frank Kelly 28: George Kennedy 28: Jack Lindquist 27: Lee Khoon Choy 27: Claude Parent 27: Francisco Kraus Trujillo 26: Andy Bathgate 26: Don Getty 26: Loh I-Cheng 25: Tony Burton 25: Jim Clark 25: John Chilton 25: Bhavarlal Jain 25: Alfred E. Mann 24: Lennie Baker 24: George C. Nichopoulos 24: Yordan Sokolov 24: Timber Country 22: Yolande Fox 22: Sonny James 22: Cara McCollum 22: Peter Mondavi 22: Douglas Slocombe 22: Yochanan Sofer 21: Eric Brown 21: Peter Marlow 20: Nando Yosu 19: Humbert Allen Astredo 19: Umberto Eco 19: Freddie Goodwin 19: Harper Lee 19: Charlie Tuna 19: Samuel Willenberg 18: Rosario Ferré 18: Abdul Rashid Khan 18: Tony Phillips 17: Andy Ganteaume 17: Mohamed Hassanein Heikal 17: Elias P. Demetracopoulos 17: Andrzej Żuławski 16: Boutros Boutros-Ghali 15: George Gaynes 15: Constance Glube 15: Fighton Simukonda 15: Vanity edit sidebar

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 Moro conflict 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 edit sidebar

Elections and Referendums
Recent February 14: Central African Republic, President (2nd round) 18: Uganda, President, Parliament 21: Bolivia, Constitutional referendum 21: Comoros, President 21: Niger, President (1st round), National Assembly 25: Jamaica, House of Representatives 26: Iran, Islamic Consultative Assembly, Assembly of Experts 26: Ireland, Dáil Éireann 28: Switzerland, Referendums March 4: Samoa, Fono 5: Slovakia, National Council 6: Benin, President (1st round) Upcoming March 3–24: New Zealand, Flag referendum 20: Republic of the Congo, President 20: Kazakhstan, Majilis 20: Laos, National Assembly 20: Niger, President (2nd round) 20: Senegal, Constitutional referendum April 6: Netherlands, EU referendum edit sidebar

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 Ongoing China: Yao Mugen, Guo Youming, Zhu Zuoli Germany: Beate Zschäpe Iran: Babak Zanjani 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 States: Dean Skelos International ICTY: Radovan Karadžić, Ratko Mladić PCA: China Upcoming China: Wu Changshun, Ling Jihua Estonia: Edgar Savisaar Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Spain: Lionel Messi 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 edit sidebar