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Worldwide current events · Sports events

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Germanwings Flight 9525 (aircraft pictured) crashes in the French Alps with 150 people on board.
Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, dies at the age of 91.
President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi declares Aden to be the temporary capital of Yemen, amid the aftermath of a coup d'état.
A solar eclipse is visible across much of Europe, with totality over the Faroe Islands and Svalbard.
Suicide bombings at two mosques in Sana'a, Yemen, kill 142 people, including 13 children.
The ruling party Likud, led by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wins a plurality in the Israeli Knesset.
Gunmen kill 21 people during an attack at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis.

Recent deaths: Malcolm Fraser

March 24, 2015 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- Gunmen kill at least thirteen people in an attack on three passing vehicles including a bus in Wardak province's Sayad Abad district. (Al Jazeera America)

Disasters and accidents

Germanwings Flight 9525
- A Germanwings flight carrying 144 passengers and six crew crashes en route from Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf, Germany, in a mountainous region of the Alps near Digne-les-Bains in Southern France. All on board are feared dead. (RT), (Reuters)

March 23, 2015 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)
- Multiple bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kill at least nineteen people and wound another 36. (AP)

Business and economy

China's biggest state-owned chemical company ChemChina acquires a 26% stake in Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli with an additional offer to buy the remaining outstanding shares. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

A bus crashes into traffic near Huarmey in northern Peru, leaving at least 37 people dead and dozens injured. (AFP via ABC news)

International relations

The National Assembly of Armenia approves a declaration recognizing the Greek and Assyrian genocides by Ottoman Turkey between 1915 and 1923. (Armenpress)

Law and crime

The South Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge, Katlehong, finds former doubles tennis champion Bob Hewitt guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault of three former students that he coached in South Africa. (News 24)
Former NFL player Darren Sharper pleads guilty in a Maricopa County, Arizona courtroom to raping two women after spiking their drinks at a Tempe apartment in November 2013, and the court sentences him to nine years in prison. Sharper has also been indicted on charges of sexually assaulting women in the U.S. states of California, Louisiana, and Nevada. (Reuters)
The U.S. Supreme Court affirms Wisconsin's law requiring voters to present photo identification to cast a ballot. (Reuters)
The U.S. state of Utah reinstates the use of execution by firing squad for situations where lethal injection is not possible. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Lee Kuan Yew, a founding father of Singapore as well as its first prime minister, dies at the age of 91 after a prolonged illness. (BBC)
United States presidential election, 2016
- Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announces his intention to run for president. (NBC News)

March 22, 2015 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni crisis
- The United Nations Security Council meets to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Yemen as the United States removes all remaining personnel. (Fox News)
- Shia Houthis rebels capture the strategically important city of Ta'izz. (BBC)
War in North-West Pakistan
- The Pakistan Army claims to have killed 80 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan fighters in fighting in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent days while the Taliban claims to have killed at least six soldiers. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Syrian Civil War
- A Syrian Armed Forces helicopter crashes in Jabal al-Zawiya in the Idlib Governorate resulting in the death of one crew member and the capture of four. (BBC)

Arts and culture

The remains of King Richard III of England, that were discovered in a car park in Leicester in 2012, arrive at Leicester Cathedral ahead of a burial on March 26. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

A campsite tent fire on Ganghwa Island in the South Korean city of Incheon kills five people and seriously injures two others. (Yonhap)
2014–15 Australian region cyclone season
- Cyclone Nathan makes landfall near Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory as a high end Category 2 cyclone. (AAP via SBS)
Japan allocates 820 billion yen ($6.8 billion) for creating a nearly 400-kilometer (250-mile) chain of cement seawalls, at places nearly five stories high, against future tsunami disasters such as the one that struck the country's northeastern coast four years ago. (AP)
A Venezuelan bus plunges into a lake in Aragua state, southwest of the capital Caracas, killing at least eleven people with 36 others injured. (BBC)

Politics and elections

French departmental elections, 2015
- Voters in France go to the polls for the first round of voting in local government elections. Exit polls show the conservative UMP in first place, Marine Le Pen's National Front in second, with President François Hollande's French Socialist Party in third. (RTE), (BBC)
Israeli legislative election, 2015
- The President of Israel Reuven Rivlin opens discussions over the formation of a new government, with Benjamin Netanyahu expected to return as Prime Minister. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

March 21, 2015 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni crisis
- The United States military evacuates the remaining 100 Special Operations forces members in the country due to the deteriorating security situation. (CNN)

Arts and culture

Hindu New Year
- Both the Vikram Samwat (Year 2072) and the Shaka Samvat or Indian national calendar (Year 1933) occur today in the Hindu New Year (Ugadi) according to Indian calendars.^{[citation needed]}

Disasters and accidents

2014–15 Australian region cyclone season
- Residents living on the east coast of the Northern Territory prepare for the second tropical cyclone to hit the area in a month as Tropical Cyclone Nathan is likely to make landfall tomorrow morning. (ABC News Australia)
A fire in Brooklyn, New York kills seven children and leaves two others critically injured. (The New York Times) (AP)
At least 35 killed in a bus that plunged off an overpass into a canal near Giza, Egypt. (NEWS.CO.AU)

March 20, 2015 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
- Islamic State releases a video showing the execution of three Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq with threats to execute dozens more. (Reuters)
- An Islamic state attack on a Kurdish Nowruz festival (New Year's Day) kills 45 people. (AAP via SBS)
Yemeni crisis
- Islamic State claims responsibility for suicide bombings in Shiite mosques in Sanaa that kill 142 people. (AFP via Hindustan Times)
An ambush on Mexican police in Ocotlan, Jalisco state kills ten with none of the gunmen apprehended. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2014–15 Australian region cyclone season
- Severe Tropical Cyclone Nathan makes landfall on Cape York Peninsula in far North Queensland as a category 4 (Australian system). (ABC Australia)
The Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derails near Bachhrawan Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh northern India resulting in at least 30 deaths and 150 people being injured. (AP via Yahoo News), (Zee News)
A Uruguayan Air Force Beechcraft King Air crashes shortly after take-off from Laguna del Sauce airport, killing ten people. (AP via News24)

Health

Biogen Idec Inc. reports that a drug in a phase II clinical research trial has achieved the first experimental demonstration of a statistically significant reduction in amyloid plaque as well as a slowing of clinical impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The antibody drug, aducanumab, blocked beta amyloid formation, a protein that forms toxic brain-destroying plaques, and significantly slowed cognitive decline. (Reuters)

Law and Crime

To resolve claims they were misled about the company's subprime mortgage exposure, a U.S. District Court Judge, Laura Swain approves a settlement between shareholders and American multinational insurer AIG, providing for a payout of $970.5 million. (Reuters).

Politics and elections

Maurizio Lupi resigns as Italy's Minister for Infrastructure following the arrest of a key aide in a corruption probe. (AP via ABC News)

Science and technology

A solar eclipse, a vernal (for those living in the northern hemisphere) and autumnal (for those in the southern hemisphere) equinox, and a Supermoon will all occur today. (The Independent)
The United States Food and Drug Administration approves genetically modified potatoes and apples. (Mercury News)

March 19, 2015 (Thursday)

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Disasters and accidents

2014–15 Australian region cyclone season
- Authorities in the Australian state of Queensland prepare for the impact of Severe Tropical Cyclone Nathan which is forecast to make landfall near Cooktown early tomorrow morning. (AAP via Wa Today)
Cyclone Pam
- Authorities in Vanuatu report that it faces imminent shortages of food and water in the wake of Cyclone Pam. (ABC News)
A huge boulder falls upon tourists awaiting to board a ship at the scenic Diecai Hill of China's Guilin region killing seven of them. (AFP via South China Morning Post)

International relations

The Euro zone tells Greece that it must stay with its reform package or risk being forced out of the euro zone by cash-flow problems. (Reuters)
Moldovan authorities ban two Russian journalists, Dmitry Kiselev and Andrei Kondrashov, from the country for five years because they had planned to travel to Moldova to present a documentary sympathetic to Russia annexing the Crimea. (AP via ABC)

Law and crime

A stabbing attack from March 17, leaves three dead and three wounded in New Bern, North Carolina, both the 18-year-old attacker and victims were refugees from Myanmar (Burma). (AP via MSN)

March 18, 2015 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Bardo National Museum attack
- Gunmen attack Tunisia's Bardo National Museum, adjacent to the parliament building, killing 23 people, including 18 foreign tourists. (AP via MSN)(The Telegraph)

Disasters and accidents

2014–15 Australian region cyclone season
- Cyclone Nathan intensifies to a category 2 tropical cyclone (Australian scale) and is expected to make landfall near the Queensland town of Cooktown on March 19. (WA Today)

International relations

The United States Department of Defense authorizes the U.S. Army to destroy a large U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons. (AP via MSN)

Health

Kraft Foods Group Inc. recalls more than 6.5 million 7.25-ounce (0.2-kilogram) boxes of its macaroni and cheese after customers reported finding small pieces of metal inside. The recalled products were shipped nationwide in the U.S. as well as to some countries in South America and the Caribbean. (Bloomberg via MSN)
A study in the medical journal The Lancet states that babies who are breastfed were more likely to have higher IQs, spend more time in school, and end up in higher-paying jobs. (Quartz via MSN) (The Lancet)

Law and crime

A suspected gang-related shooting in a restaurant at Hisingen, an island near the Swedish city of Gothenburg, kills at least two people with several more injured. (Reuters), (BBC)

More March 2015 events...

Ongoing events
Economic Financial crisis in Russia Political Syrian and Iraqi civil wars Military intervention against ISIL Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger Sports 2015 Cricket World Cup 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament More details on ongoing conflicts below edit sidebar

Recent deaths
March 2015 23: Alan Seymour 23: Geoff Tunbridge 23: Lee Kuan Yew 22: Arkady Arkanov 22: Viktor V. Yanukovych 21: Chuck Bednarik 21: Lisa Colagrossi 21: Milen Dobrev 21: Hans Erni 21: Jackie Trent 21: Alberta Watson 20: Perro Aguayo Jr. 20: A. James Clark 20: Ellen Conford 20: Malcolm Fraser 20: Robert Kastenmeier 20: A. J. Pero 20: Gerald Lee Warren 19: Michael Brown 19: Gus Douglass 19: Providencia Paredes 19: Danny Schechter 18: H. Allen Jerkens 17: Bob Appleyard 17: Alan Richardson 17: Shaw Taylor 16: Bruce Crump 16: Buddy Elias 16: Andy Fraser 16: Jack Haley 16: Miguel Donoso Pareja 15: Collins Chabane 15: Mike Porcaro 15: Xu Caihou 14: Valentin Rasputin 13: Daevid Allen 13: Irwin Hasen 13: Gretchen Kafoury 13: Meyera Oberndorf 13: Ray Ritchie 13: Al Rosen 12: Willie Barrow 12: Michael Graves 12: Terry Pratchett 11: Samuel Charters 11: Richard Glatzer 11: Jimmy Greenspoon 11: Dell Williams 10: Windell Middlebrooks 10: Claude Sitton 10: Stuart Wagstaff 9: Florence Arthaud 9: David B. Frohnmayer 9: Gene Gene the Dancing Machine 9: James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead 9: Camille Muffat 9: Frei Otto 9: Alexis Vastine 8: Sam Simon 8: Lew Soloff 7: Izola Curry 7: Derek Day 7: Brian Sutton-Smith 7: Ross Turnbull 6: Ram Sundar Das 5: Edward Egan 4: Terry Fearnley 4: Jam Sebastian 3: M. Stanton Evans 3: John Mockler 2: Bettina Graziani 2: Dave Mackay 2: Mal Peet 1: Deedee Corradini 1: Jeff McKnight 1: Minnie Miñoso 1: Daniel von Bargen 1: Chris Welp February 2015 28: Alex Johnson 28: Yaşar Kemal 28: Anthony Mason 28: Thomas J. Stanley 27: Richard Bakalyan 27: Malcolm Boyd 27: Boris Nemtsov 27: Leonard Nimoy 26: Anthony R. Cucci 26: Monroe H. Freedman 26: Nadia Hilou 26: Avijit Roy 25: Eugenie Clark 25: Terry Gill 24: Rakhat Aliyev 24: Gérard Ducarouge 24: Donald Keough 24: Dori J. Maynard edit sidebar

Ongoing conflicts
Africa Algeria, Tunisia and Niger Maghreb insurgency Central African Republic Civil war Democratic Republic of Congo Kivu conflict ADF insurgency Katanga insurgency Ituri conflict Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Libya Civil war Mali Northern Mali conflict Nigeria and Cameroon Boko Haram 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 Communist insurgency Moro insurgency Southeast Asia Internal conflict in Burma Papua conflict South Thailand insurgency Europe 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 Yemeni crisis Houthi rebellion Al-Qaeda insurgency South Yemen insurgency edit sidebar

Elections
Recent: February–March 22: Comoros, Assembly of the Union (2nd round) 28: Lesotho, National Assembly 1: Andorra, General Council 1: El Salvador, Legislative Assembly 1: Estonia, Parliament 1: Tajikistan, Assembly of Representatives 3: Micronesia, Congress 5: Pakistan, Senate 8: Switzerland, Referendum 11: Lebanon, President (20th round) 17: Israel, Knesset 19: Tuvalu, Parliament Upcoming: March 21: Egypt, House of Representatives 28: Nigeria, President, House of Representatives, Senate 29: Uzbekistan, President 2: Lebanon, President (21st round) 2: Sudan, President, National Assembly 15: Togo, President 19: Finland, Parliament edit sidebar

Trials
Recently concluded Australia: Brett Peter Cowan, Craig Thomson, Robert Hughes Brazil: Mensalão scandal Canada: Michael Thomas Rafferty, Luka Magnotta China: Liu Tienan, Li Daqiu, Bo Xilai Croatia: Ivo Sanader Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, Peter Greste Germany: Bernie Ecclestone, Uli Hoeness, Christian Wulff, Breno Borges Iran: Mohammad Reza Rahimi Israel: Hussam Qawasmeh Italy: Silvio Berlusconi Jordan: Abu Qatada Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim Russia: Leonid Khabarov, Vladimir Kvachkov, Pussy Riot South Africa: Shrien Dewani, Oscar Pistorius, Chris Mahlangu Turkey: Kenan Evren, Tahsin Şahinkaya United Kingdom: Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, Ali Dizaei, Antoni Imiela, Brian Regan, Donna Air, Ched Evans, Clayton McDonald, Titus Bramble, Dan Penteado, John Terry, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed, Asil Nadir, Justin Lee Collins, Kweku Adoboli, Tony McCluskie, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, Chris Huhne, Nicola Edgington, Vicky Pryce, Derek Rose, Mick Philpott, Mairead Philpott, Paul Mosley, Kevin Liverpool, Junior Bradshaw, Aggro Santos, Stuart Hazell, Mark Bridger, Andrew Lancel, Dale Cregan, Ray Wilkins, Michael Le Vell, 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 United States: Abu Hamza al-Masri, Michael Grimm, Bob McDonnell, Vilma Bautista, George Huguely, Allen Stanford, Roger Clemens, Jerry Sandusky, Jared Lee Loughner, Lauryn Hill, Kermit Gosnell, George Zimmerman, Chelsea Manning, Ariel Castro, Whitey Bulger, Robert Bales, Nidal Malik Hasan, Crystal Mangum International ECCC: Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan ICC: Germain Katanga, Thomas Lubanga ICTY: Momčilo Perišić, Mladen Markač, Ante Gotovina SCFSL: Charles Taylor Ongoing China: Ji Jianye, Ni Fake Egypt: Mohamed Morsi France: Dominique Strauss-Kahn Germany: Beate Zschäpe Iran: Babak Zanjani Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr., Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Janet Lim-Napoles, Jovito Palparan, Joseph Scott Pemberton Russia: Alexei Navalny South Korea: MV Sewol crew members United Kingdom: Eddy Shah, Koo Stark United States: Jodi Arias International ICTY: Radovan Karadžić, Ratko Mladic Upcoming Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Spain: Lionel Messi United Kingdom: Dane Bowers, Andy Coulson United States: Paul Anthony Ciancia, Javaris Crittenton, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Dylan Quick, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, James Eagan Holmes, Aaron Hernandez, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Anas al-Libi, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Rick Perry International ICC: Laurent Gbagbo edit sidebar

Events by month

2015: January; February; March

2014: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

2013: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

2012: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

2011: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

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