NASA astronauts perform the third of three ISS spacewalks completing the cabling reroutings needed in preparation for the 2017 arrival of the first commercial spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts. (AP)
A coalition of Iraqi Armed Forces and militia numbering around 30,000 launches an offensive against Islamic State positions in Tikrit. Troops seize control of the district of al-Tin and al-Abeid. (BBC)
Target Corporation, a major U.S. retail chain, announces cuts that will mean the loss of thousands of jobs, part of a revival plan adopted by CEO Brian Cornell. (Target press release)
China detains Jing Chunhua, a senior official from Hebei province of China, for investigation by the Communist Party's anti-graft agency for violating party discipline and breaking the law. Jing is the second provincial-ranked official from Hebei province to undergo investigation since the wider anti-corruption campaign began in 2013. (CRI)
An archaeological expedition claims to have found the legendary White City in northeastern Honduras, with artifacts that range in dates from the 11th to 14th century. (National Geographic)
South of Sicily, Italy's Coast Guard saves 941 trafficked migrants aboard five motorized dinghies and two larger vessels near southern Italian ports. Authorities cannot account for ten people. (AP)
Turkish Airlines Flight TK726, landing in dense fog in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, skids off a slippery runway, however, there are no serious injuries. (ABC News)
A toxic chemical fire forces the closure of the Port of Vancouver (Canada's largest and North America's fourth largest port). Authorities later manage to contain the fire, and identify the chemical as trichloroisocyanuric acid. (CBC)
Science and technology
Scientists report the finding of a 2.8-million-year-old jawbone (the "Ledi jaw") forming a potential link between the 3.2-million-year-old hominin (human-like primate) Lucy (Australopithecus) found in the same area, and the 2.35-million-year-old remains of Homo habilis found at nearby Hadar. If assigned to the genus Homo, the new remains represent the oldest known human, some 400,000 years older than previously found. (BBC)
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his team of researchers find the Musashi, one of Japan's biggest and most famous battleships which was sunk by American forces in 1944, on the floor of the Sibuyan Sea. (CNN)
A knife-wielding assailant injures the American ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, in the South Korean capital city of Seoul. Authorities report that the injuries on his face and wrist are not life-threatening. (Yonhap News)(BBC)
Dublin-based generic drugmaker, specialty drug supplier, and medical imaging agent producer Mallinckrodt Plc increases its presence in U.S. hospitals by buying privately held Ikaria Inc, a maker of a respiratory drug and its delivery system, for $2.3 billion from a group of investors led by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC. The deal includes INOmax, which is the only approved product to treat hypoxic respiratory failure in infants through nitric oxide. (Reuters)
Energy-rich Kazakhstan suspends Russian fuel and gas imports to protect its domestic market from a surplus due to a weakened ruble which has sent ripples of economic uncertainty through Central Asia. (The Times of Central Asia)
Liberia's last known ebola patient is discharged from a treatment center in Monrovia. The country now needs 42 days without a subsequent diagnosed infection to be declared disease free. (The New York Times)
A Phoenix, Arizona jury deadlocks in a second trial allowing convicted murderer American Jodi Arias to be spared the death penalty. She will be sent to prison for life for killing her lover in 2008. (AP)
A mob storms the central jail in Dimapur, India, and kills Farid Khan, an undocumented migrant from Bangladesh in custody as a rape suspect. The mob ransacks and destroys over 20 shops and torches ten vehicles including a police jeep. (The Hindu)
Canadian special forces member Sgt. Andrew Doiron is shot and killed by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Iraq in a friendly fire incident, the first Canadian death in Operation Impact. (Ottawa Citizen)
At least two knife-wielding attackers injure nine people at a train station in southern China; the police fatally shoot one of the suspects. (AP)
The U.S. Justice Department charges two Vietnamese citizens (Quoc Nguyen and Giang Hoang Vu) and a Canadian (David-Manuel Santos Da Silva) with running a massive cyberfraud ring that stole one billion email addresses, then sent spam offering knockoff software products of Adobe Systems Inc with the hacking having occurred between February 2009 and June 2012. The victim breaches include a massive 2011 attack on email marketing firm Epsilon, a unit of Alliance Data Systems Corp. Although the other two are in custody, Nguyen remains at large. The charge against Da Silva is conspiracy to commit money laundering. (Reuters)
A road accident along the highway between Ismaïlia and Cairo in Egypt, east of Cairo, involving a bus that collided with a microbus kills fifteen people. (AP)
Writing in the FIFA Weekly magazine, FIFA president Sepp Blatter calls Iran to end its "intolerable" ban on women attending soccer matches, describing the situation as one that "cannot continue." (CNN)
Health
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the country's first biosimilar drug, Zarxio (Europe: 2009, as Zarzio), made by Novartis. Biosimilars are a relatively new class of drugs designed to pave the way for less expensive versions of the complex biologics drug class, and they are not synthesized from chemicals like other drugs, but are made from living cells. Some well known biologics include Remicade and Enbrel for autoimmune diseases, and Herceptin and Avastin for cancer. Zarxio, used to prevent infection in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, is a close copy of Neupogen, made by Amgen. (The New York Times)
The New Taipei City district court sentences Cheng Chieh to death for the May 2014 knife attack on a Taipei Metro train that left four dead and 22 passengers injured. (AP)
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John O. Brennan announces plans for a major restructuring and reorganization, including a focus on digital espionage (through the creation of the CIA Directorate of Digital Innovation). The plan will end some longstanding divisions, and create ten new centers that team analysts with operators, fostering collaboration and focus on a range of new security issues and threats, and replacing geographic division offices with hybrid mission centers modeled on the CIA Counterterrorism Center. (The Washington Post via MSN)
Customs officers at the Shahjalal International Airport catch Son Young Nam, a North Korean diplomat trying to smuggle an estimated $1.4 million worth of gold into Bangladesh. Bangladesh authorities release him but will still seek to press charges. (Reuters)
Madison Police Department officers fatally shoot an unarmed 19-year-old black teenager who was suspected of a recent battery. A struggle ensued between the suspect and an officer, and the teen was fatally shot. (Reuters via MSN)
In Iraq, ISIL destroys the ancient city of Hatra following the destruction of Nimrud. (BBC)
Law and crime
The US Secret Service locks down the White House after a loud noise (later revealed to be a burned-out souvenir truck) is heard on the South Lawn, moments before U.S. President Barack Obama and his family were due to take off by helicopter. He and his family were not yet on the South Lawn when the noise was heard. (Reuters via MSN)(Reuters)
American writer and producer Sam Simon, co-creator of the longest running animated sitcom, The Simpsons, dies at the age of 59 after a 3-year battle with terminal colorectal cancer. (BBC)
A court in Moscow charges two men of Chechen origin, Zaur Dadayev and Ansor Gubashev, who were among five arrested March 7, with the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. The others also arrested, Gubashev's younger brother Shahid Gubashev and two others named only as Bakhayev and Eskerkhanov, are still only suspects. (AFP via MSN)
A sixth suspect in Nemtsov's murder, Beslan Shavanov, 30, who had been holed up in a building in Chechnya's capital, Grozny, blows himself up. (CNN)
American film director Randall Miller pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespassing and will spend two years in county jail and another eight on probation in regards to the February 20, 2014, death of camera assistant Sarah Jones by a freight train on a bridge over the Altamaha River in Wayne County, Georgia (six other crew members were also injured), during filming of a biopic about singer Gregg Allman called Midnight Rider. (BBC)
Explorers of a stalactite cave in Israel's Galilee region uncover a small collection of 2,300-year-old silver coins and jewelry believed to have been hidden from the time of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. The discovery could be the first of its kind to be found from that period in this area. (Reuters via MSN)
A passenger train collides with a lorry on a level crossing at Dien Sanh, Vietnam leaving one person dead and several others injured. (Tuổi Trẻ News)
Law and crime
A large number of Class A drugs became legal in Republic of Ireland after a legislative mistake overruled the 1977 Misuse of drugs act. this prompted some emergency legislation being rushed through but effectivly a single day where the use of drugs became legal. (Irish Post)
The Kremlin's Rights Council states that they believe that Zaur Dadayev, a former Chechen police officer, who confessed to being part of the murder of Boris Nemtsov did so after being tortured. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
At least 15 armed assailants ambush two vans on a highway in Burgundy, France carrying millions of euros worth of jewels. It was the latest in a string of big jewel heists in France. (AP)
The United Steelworkers union and Royal Dutch Shell negotiate a contract, pending union ratification, to end of a six-week strike that began February 1 that has affected twelve U.S. refineries. Previously, the strike had been cited as a reason for recent oil price increases. (AP)
In New York City, U.S. district court judge Thomas Griesa expands the force of his existing remedial rulings in the ongoing litigation over the Argentine debt restructuring, blocking planned bond payments by Citigroup. The Citigroup processing of payments would violate a requirement that Argentina treat bondholders equally. (Reuters)
Among the over 2,000 delegates from 112 different countries, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, delivers a speech during the investment summit held in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. (AP via ABC News)
The Aung Takon passenger ferry sinks off the coast of Myanmar with 21 dead and 26 people missing. (Straits Times)
A Serbian military Russian-made MI-17 transport helicopter crashes near Belgrade's international airport in foggy weather while evacuating a sick 5-day-old baby with life-threatening respiratory problems from the south of the country, killing all seven people on board. (AP)
TeslaCrypt, a malicious computer virus, targets older games (including World of Warcraft) stopping their users from playing their favorite titles unless they pay a ransom. (BBC)
The government of the island nation of Vanuatu declares a state of emergency for Shefa Province containing the capital Port Vila as authorities struggle to assess the full impact of the category 5 storm. Once assessments of the damage have been done in other provinces, authorities are likely to widen the declared area in a state of emergency. (The Guardian)(ABC via Weatherzone)
The race also features a top-5 finish for 2004 champion Kurt Busch in his first race after being suspended for three races on domestic abuse charges. Earlier in the week, a federal court declined to charge Busch with abuse of his ex-girlfriend occurring last September, leading to his reinstatement. (ESPN)
Weather
The U.S. city of Boston sets an all time snow record, with 108.6 inches of snow for the season. (USA Today)
Italian police arrest four people while 51 others are under investigation for corruption associated with public works including a stretch of the high-speed rail line near Florence. (Daily Mail)
According to the U.S. Secret Service, a white substance mailed in an envelope to the White House and received March 16, 2015, at the White House Mail Screening Facility, tests a "presumptive positive" for cyanide. (Reuters via MSN)
American health insurer Premera Blue Cross announces that it was the victim of a cyberattack that exposed bank account numbers and other personal data of 11 million customers on May 5, 2014. (Reuters)
Following a congressional and possible criminal investigation surrounding the redecoration of his office and the use of donors' private aircraft at taxpayers' expense, U.S. Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL) resigns effective March 31, 2015. (Peoria Journal Star)
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)
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)
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)
Islamic State releases a video showing the execution of three Kurdishpeshmerga fighters in northern Iraq with threats to execute dozens more. (Reuters)
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 mortgageexposure, 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).
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)
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)
Japanallocates 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 thirty-six others injured. (BBC)
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)
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)
Arts and culture
A BBC investigation finds that Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson assaulted a producer with reports that he will be sacked from the television program. (The Telegraph)
The Opportunity rover completes a Martian marathon, the first time any vehicle has traveled more than 26.2 miles on the surface of another world. (CNN)
Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi flees Yemen in a boat after Houthi rebels besiege the government's temporary capital of Aden in the southern part of the country. (AP)
Tornadoes hit the American city of Tulsa and the surrounding region of eastern Oklahoma leaving one person dead and several others injured. (News on 6)(BBC)
After the recent March 17 DOS attack on Chinese website GreatFire (See March 19), a massive distributed denial-of-service attack from China occurs against GitHub, a leading online coding platform, with the Github-hosted GreatFire contents being the main target. (The Verge)
Investigators, searching one of the two residences of the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, find a torn doctor's note granting Lubitz medical leave—deeming him unfit for work—for a period including the day of the crash. (CNN)
In imitation of current U.S. policy, Lufthansa, together with other German airlines announce plans to mandate that two people (either two pilots or a pilot and a flight attendant) must be inside the cockpit at all times. (CNN)
According to an interview with Germany's Bild newspaper, the former girlfriend of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was told by him that "One day I'm going to do something that will change the whole system, and everyone will know my name and remember." (BBC)
A mourning religious service is held at Digne-les-Bains in the French Alps near the site of the downed passenger jet. (Guardian)
Law and crime
The Congolese bar owner whom Amanda Knox falsely accused of killing Meredith Kercher criticises a lack of justice in the surprise decision by Italy to quash her conviction yesterday, citing diplomatic pressure coupled with Knox's wealth and status as American, as opposed to his being African. (Guardian)
Voters in Nigeria go to the polls for a general election. Gunmen kill at least 15 voters including an opposition house of assembly candidate for Dukku in Gombe. (CNN)(Reuters via MSN)
Air Canada Flight 624 skids off the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, after arriving from Toronto shortly past midnight. All 133 passengers and 5 crews on board survive, with 23 treated for minor injuries. (BBC)
Nigeria extends voting in its general election for a second day due to delays and malfunctioning equipment. So far, Boko Haram attacks have killed 43 people. (Bloomberg)
Saudi-led airstrikes hit a refugee camp near a military installation in the northern Harad District killing 21 people. Houthi militants make gains in Hadi's last bastion, Aden. (Reuters)
Business and economy
Creditors offer Puerto Rico's highly leveraged power authority $2 billion in new financing, including $1.2 billion for a new natural gas operation, in exchange for assurances that it will repay its debt. (Reuters)
In Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, base perimeter guards shoot and kill one person and injure another person as two men attempt to crash the entrance gate with their vehicle. The incident also injures a guard. The base is the headquarters for the National Security Agency. (BBC)
Landslides in India's Jammu and Kashmir state kill at least six people and leave sixteen others missing. (BBC)
Large parts of Turkey experience a power outage affecting public services and infrastructure including air traffic control, trams, and subways in Istanbul. As much as 65% of the country is without power. (CNN)
Germanwings' owner Lufthansa officially acknowledges that it knew there were mental health issues with Andreas Lubitz before the crash. (The New York Times)
German newspaper Bild and French news magazine Paris Match say they have a passenger's cell phone video showing the plane's last moments before the crash. (BBC)
