March 14, 2011 (Monday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Arab Spring
- Rebels in Libya say they have recaptured the town of Brega from government forces. (BBC)
- Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi capture the town of Zuwara one of the last remaining rebel towns in western Libya. (West Australian via Yahoo News)
- Air strikes take place in the Libyan town of Ajdabiya. (Reuters)
- Forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council–including 1,000 Saudi troops–arrive in Bahrain amid continuing protests. (ABC News Australia) (CNN) (Daily India)
- The United States warns Gulf states to respect the rights of the Bahraini people. (NineMSN)
- Police break up a pro-reform protest in Morocco, resulting in several injuries. (Reuters)
- The Indian Navy captures 61 pirates on a Mozambiquan fishing vessel in the Arabian Sea. (AP via Fox News)
- A U.S. missile strike kills three Pakistani militants operating close to the Afghanistan border. (AP)
- A suicide bomber kills at least eight members of the Iraqi Army in Diyala Province. (Reuters via The Guardian)
- The Obama administration holds the first of five meetings that eventually lead to Operation Neptune Spear, which caused the Death of Osama bin Laden. (Washington Post)
Arts and culture
- US comedian Gilbert Gottfried is fired from doing voiceover work as the AFLAC duck for making a number of tasteless posts on the Japanese earthquake on the Twitter social network. (AP via Yahoo News)
- Rock and roll musicians including Dr. John, Darlene Love, Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper and Tom Waits are inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Business and economy
- The hacker group Anonymous releases e-mails obtained from the Bank of America. (Reuters)
- The Tokyo Stock Exchange falls more than five per cent in opening trade in the first day of trading since the 2011 Sendai earthquake. (The Australian)
- China adopts a new 5-year plan which aims to boost spending on public services, decrease economic inequality, and increase employment and wages. (Xinhua)
- The French carmaker Renault apologises to three executives accused of industrial espionage after no credible evidence was found to substantiate the claims. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters
- 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
- The Tokyo Electric Power Company announces rolling blackouts caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan. (Japan Today)
- A new tsunami warning is issued and then cancelled. (WA Today) (AAP via News Limited)
- The Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan says that the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant remains in a state of alarm. (BBC)
- Another explosion occurs in the Number 3 unit of Fukushima I resulting in three workers being injured and 7 workers missing. (BBC) (CNN) (Washington Post) (Associated Press)
- Two thousand bodies are found on the shores of two beaches in Miyagi Prefecture. (Kyodo News)
- Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, states that the Fukushima crisis is unlikely to turn into another Chernobyl disaster. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says the country needs to carry out political reforms in order to support achievements made in its economic restructuring, contradicting statements by other Politburo members. (BBC) (India Economic Times) (Al Jazeera)
- Tear gas is used to control a riot by asylum seekers at the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre on Christmas Island off the coast of Australia. (ABC News Australia)
- Five Somali pirates are sentenced to life in a United States prison plus 80 years for an attack on the United States Navy frigate USS Nicholas. (Hampton Roads Pilot)
Politics
- The 14th Dalai Lama formally submits his resignation as Tibet's political leader to the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. (UPI)