Portal:Current events/2017 March 30

Current events of March 30, 2017 (2017-03-30) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War
  • According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the total number of refugees from Syria reaches over five million. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• Turkish constitutional referendum, 2017
  • Several people are wounded in clashes outside the Turkish consulate in Brussels. (Daily Star)

Disasters and accidents

• Cyclone Debbie
  • Authorities of New South Wales issue a State Emergency Service for the towns of Murwillumbah and Lismore, and at least 12 flood rescues are underway as former Cyclone Debbie moves south from north Queensland. (Weatherzone), (9 News)
  • Authorities shut down the city of Brisbane and South East Queensland as remnants of Cyclone Debbie move south. (Brisbane Times)
• A private Twin Squirrel helicopter crashes in the Rhinog mountains of North Wales, killing all five people aboard. (BBC)
• Interstate 85 bridge collapse
  • A fire results in the collapse of a bridge on Interstate 85 in Atlanta, Georgia, during rush hour, stranding motorists and resulting in a state of emergency. Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed calls the situation a "transportation crisis" that could close the affected stretch of highway for days or weeks. A 2015 report stated that he highway carried nearly a quarter-million vehicles a day. (NBC News)

International relations

• Russian president Vladimir Putin attends the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia. He says there that he is ready to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland. (Reuters)
• United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he thinks the longer term status of president Bashar al-Assad is to be "decided by the Syrian people". This appears as a policy shift, since under president Barack Obama’s administration, the United States made the departure of Assad a key policy aim. (The Times of Israel)

Law and crime

• Italian police arrest 34 people of a drug gang who reportedly planned to steal Enzo Ferrari's corpse, and hold it for ransom. (NBC)
• 2016 South Korean political scandal
  • Authorities arrest Impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye on charges of bribery, abuse of authority, coercion, and leaking government secrets. (BBC)
• North Carolina House Bill 2
  • The state legislature of North Carolina repeals the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, more commonly known as the "transgender bathroom bill." In its place, the legislature enacts a ban on cities in North Carolina from enacting "civil rights" protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people through 2020. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2017 Venezuelan self-coup d'état
  • In a ruling, Venezuela's Supreme Court says it "guarantees congressional functions will be exercised by" itself, authorizing president Nicolás Maduro to create oil joint ventures without the previously mandated congressional approval. Opposition leaders call it a "coup", while Peru recalls its ambassador. (Reuters)
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
  • Michael T. Flynn is willing to testify under the condition of immunity in the ongoing congressional probe on Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (CNN)
  • A Congressional witness states that Russia hired 1,000 people to create anti-Clinton 'fake news' in key U.S. states during the election. (The Independent)
  • During a Senate hearing, United States Senator Marco Rubio states that there have been post-election hack attempts against the U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rubio himself. (CNN)

Science and technology

• Scientific Reports publishes Carthage College research that Daspletosaurus horneri, from the same Tyrannosauridae family as the Tyrannosaurus rex, had a sensitive nose. The research describes that a foramina sprouted from the trigeminal nerve at the snout and jaws possibly enabling the behavioral functions of exploration, courtship, nesting, foreplay, and parental investment. (The Guardian)
• SpaceX successfully places the SES-10 telecommunications satellite on a geostationary transfer orbit. The event is notable because of the implied economic cost savings of reusing, for the first time, a used Falcon 9 first stage which had previously been recovered. That first stage had previously launched a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station and landed on an autonomous drone ship during the CRS-8 mission. (The New York Times)