Portal:Current events/2016 March 11

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 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)