March 15, 2012 (Thursday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Ethiopian forces launch attacks on three militant camps inside Eritrea. (BBC)
- 2011-2012 Syrian uprising:
- Turkish intelligence reports claim that approximately 20,000 Syrian soldiers have deserted from the government forces in less than a month. (Bloomberg)
- Turkey threatens to launch a military incursion into northern Syria to protect fleeing refugees. (The Telegraph)
- The United Nations will send experts on a government-led humanitarian mission. (Al Jazeera)
- Thousands of Syrians take part in a pro-government rally in the capital Damascus. (The New York Times)
- Two French soldiers are killed and one injured in a drive-by shooting in southern France. (CBC)
- 2012 insurgency in northern Mali: 195,000 people flee their homes amid violence in northern Mali between government troops and Tuareg rebels. (IOL)
Disasters
- The death toll from the sinking of a ferry in Bangladesh on Tuesday rises to 116 with more people missing. (AP via Yahoo News)
- Five Norwegian soldiers are presumed dead in an aircraft accident in northern Sweden. (The Local)
- One New Zealand tourist is dead and another missing after a family of six is swept away in a flash flood of the Vaisigano River in the Samoan capital Apia. (New Zealand Herald)
- Government documents reveal then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher was told a senior Merseyside police officer blamed "drunken Liverpool fans" for causing the Hillsborough disaster. Police have since been found to blame. (BBC)
International relations
- A Ugandan LGBT rights group files a lawsuit against U.S. minister Scott Lively in connection with his alleged involvement in a campaign to persecute gay people in Uganda. (BBC)
- A free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea comes into effect. (Yonhap)
- The Government of Papua New Guinea reacts angrily after the new Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Bob Carr threatens the imposition of sanctions if elections are delayed. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Law and crime
- Morocco is to amend a law allowing rapists to marry their victims. (Reuters)
- Former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich arrives at a US federal prison in Colorado to begin a 14 year sentence on corruption charges. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- The Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key announces a cut of 2000 positions in the public service. (TV New Zealand)
- Bo Xilai is replaced as the Communist Party boss in the city of Chongqing by 3rd Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang as a result of an ideological dispute. (Wall Street Journal)
- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says the Dalai Lama is responsible for ongoing self-immolations by Tibetan monks. (Times of India)
- The Welsh political party Plaid Cymru elects Leanne Wood as its new leader. (BBC)
- Chilean police use water cannon and tear gas to break up a march by thousands of students in the capital Santiago. (AP via Atlanta Journal Constitution)
- More than 100 students are arrested at a protest in the Canadian city of Montreal, Quebec. (Vancouver Sun)
- The President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez returns home after three weeks in Cuba for cancer surgery. (AP via Washington Post)
Sport
- In association football, Esteghlal wins the Hazfi Cup, beating Shahin Bushehr in the final. (PressTV)