March 17, 2016 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Iraqi Civil War, Syrian Civil War
- The United States Secretary of State John Kerry says ISIL has committed genocide against Christians, Yazidis and Shias in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq. (BBC)
- The Islamic State reports commander Hassan Aboud has died of wounds sustained about two weeks ago in a battle near Aleppo, Syria. He was injured when a vehicle he was in struck a roadside bomb near Khanaser. (The New York Times)
- Papua conflict
- Three construction workers are shot dead in Jayapura, Papua, by a supposed armed group, according to Indonesian police. (Radio New Zealand)
Arts and culture
- Radar scans at the tomb of Tutankhamun, Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, reveal two chambers adjoining the tomb, raising prospect of finding the resting place of Queen Nefertiti. (The Guardian)
- The Vatican is replacing Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S., with French-born Archbishop Christophe Pierre, currently the Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico. Viganò, who is 75, the statutory retirement age, in 2015 arranged the unexpected meeting between Pope Francis and controversial Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who refused to follow her state's law on same-sex marriage. (New York Daily News via ChristianNews.net)
Business and economics
- Tribune Publishing, an American company whose Southern California media holdings include the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune, wins an auction for bankrupt newspapers, Orange County Register, published in Santa Ana, and The Press-Enterprise, headquartered in Riverside, for $56 million, subject to judicial approval. A federal bankruptcy court hearing is scheduled for Monday. The U.S. Justice Department has warned that a Tribune purchase could violate antitrust laws. (AP via U.S. News & World Report) (Los Angeles Times)
Disasters and accidents
- At least 16 Palestinian pilgrims are killed when the bus they were traveling to Saudi Arabia on overturns in southern Jordan. (Voice of America)
International relations
- The People's Republic of China expresses its opposition to unilateral sanctions against North Korea in the wake of the imposition of new sanctions by the United States on the country in response to its recent nuclear and rocket tests. (Reuters)
- Syrian Civil War
- Kurdish parties in northern Syria declare the establishment of a federal system in areas they control. Turkey and the United States had warned this risks further destabilizing the already war-ravaged country. The move was criticized by the government of Syria. (BBC) (The Washington Post)
- Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- Admiral John Richardson says the United States has seen Chinese activity around Scarborough Shoal, which China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago, in the northern part of the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea. An international court ruling on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims is expected within a month. (Reuters)
Law and Crime
- Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia announce that they will soon deliver their verdict against radical Serb leader Vojislav Šešelj, suspected of crimes against humanity committed during the Breakup of Yugoslavia, despite him being sent back to Serbia for medical reasons. Šešelj has vowed not to return to court. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Politics and elections
- 2015–16 protests in Brazil
- Clashes erupt outside the presidential palace in Brazil's capital Brasília between anti-Workers' Party protesters and supporters of ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, where he was due to be sworn in as President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff. Hundreds of anti-government protesters calling for Rousseff's impeachment and Lula's arrest also blocked the central Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, Brazil's largest city and economic hub. (Reuters)
- A Brazilian federal judge blocks the appointment of Lula as chief of staff, arguing that the appointment would derail a federal judicial investigation against him. The government said it would appeal against the decision. (BBC)
- Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
- The hacker group Anonymous follows through on its threat and releases candidate Donald Trump's personal information (unverified) including his Social Security number, his phone numbers, his agent and his legal representatives. (AOL) (USA Today) (Daily Mirror)
- A group of about 40 rabbis is planning to boycott Trump’s speech Monday at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) because of the candidate's behavior and rhetoric on the campaign trail. Organizers of the push to boycott the speech said they are worried that Trump could gain legitimacy through the event. An AIPAC spokesperson declined to comment. (The Washington Post)
- 2016 United States presidential election, Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016
- Bernie Sanders concedes the Missouri primary to Hillary Clinton, who led by 1,531 votes, 0.2 percent of those counted. Sanders says he will not ask for a recount, an option he had because the result is under the state's requirement, 0.5 percent — one-half of one percent. The Republican contest is too close to call as Donald Trump leads Ted Cruz by a similar 0.2 percent. (AP via MSN.com)