Scientists announce the finding of microfossils up to almost 4.3 billion years old, within rocks from the Hudson Bay shoreline in northern Quebec, Canada, that may represent the oldest-known evidence of life on Earth. (Reuters)
An avalanche near the northern Italian town of Courmayeur, kills at least three people and injures another three, while two others are believed missing. (BBC)
The government of Sweden submits a bill to the Riksdag to reintroduce conscription this summer in response to new global security challenges. (Al Jazeera)
A mass grave is discovered at a former Catholic orphanage in Tuam, Ireland, containing “significant quantities of human remains”, all of them children. It is alleged over 800 children died at this orphanage and most were buried in the 1950s. (The Guardian)
According to provincial officials, at least eight people are killed and another 22 are injured by a roadside bomb in Farah Province. However, according to locals, the attack was actually an airstrike. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
At least 110 people have died of starvation in the drought-hit region of Bay, Somalia, in the past 48 hours, according to Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre. This comes as the United Nations and various non-governmental organizations are warning of potential famine in the country. (The Independent)
Mexico opens legal aide centers in its 50 U.S. consulates to defend its citizens' rights amid the United States "crackdown" on illegal immigration. In a video, Foreign MinisterLuis Videgaray Caso said Mexico supports following the law but notes that current circumstances highlight the need for immigration reform. (Reuters)(AP via The Toledo Blade)
Public Safety MinisterRalph Goodale says Canada will not tighten its border because more migrants, reacting to the United States immigration crackdown, are illegally crossing into Canada from the U.S. Goodale added the issue had not risen to a scale that required hindering the flow of goods and people moving across the world's longest undefended border. (Reuters)
Jordan says the country executed 15 people today, including 10 who were convicted on terrorism charges with others related to incidents that go back as far as 2003. Amnesty International protests the executions which were carried out in "secrecy and without transparency." Jordan restored the death sentence by hanging in 2014. (Reuters)
Israel changes its law regarding marijuana use. Instead of facing criminal charges, first-time offenders who smoke marijuana in public places will only receive a fine. (Haaretz)
According to the government of Myanmar, at least 30 people are killed in an attack on various police, military, and government installations by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in Laukkai. Four police officers were also taken hostage. (Reuters)
North Korea temporarily bans all Malaysian nationals (estimated to be at least 11 people including embassy employees) from leaving the country amid a growing dispute between the two countries over the death of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of Kim Jong-un. Malaysian official Khairy Jamaluddin calls the move "tantamount to taking hostages". (BBC)(Channel News Asia)
A suicide bomber and unidentified gunmen dressed as doctors attack a military hospital in Kabul, killing at least 38 people and wounding dozens more. ISIL claims responsibility for the attack. (The Guardian)
A fire breaks out at an orphanage in San José Pinula, Guatemala after students protesting conditions including alleged sexual and physical abuse set fire to their bedding, killing at least 19 children. (BBC)
German and Egyptian archaeologists uncover a humanoid statue with an approximate height of eight metres, believed to be of Ramesses II, at the former site of Heliopolis in northeast Cairo. (The Daily Telegraph)
Disasters and accidents
A motorway bridge near Ancona, Italy, collapses killing two Italians and injuring two Romanian workers. The Italian highway agency links the collapse with a temporary structure that was designed to support it. (BBC)
An assailant injures seven people, one severely, in an axe attack at the central railway station in Düsseldorf, Germany. Police have arrested one suspect. (CNN)
A landslide at a rubbish dump on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, kills at least 48 people. (BBC)
A bus driver in the Haitian city of Gonaïves ploughs into crowds of people celebrating Rara while speeding away from an earlier accident which left one person dead, killing at least 38 people, including a group of street musicians, and injures 17 others. (Reuters)
The state of Washington, joined by the states of California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon, asks a federal judge to stop, on constitutional grounds, the revised federal immigration/refugee rules from taking effect on Thursday, March 16. The state of Hawaii has filed a separate, similar request. (Reuters)
Off the northern coast of Somalia, Somali pirates hijack the Aris 13, a United Arab Emirates-owned oil tanker, kidnapping eight Sri Lankan crew members. This is the first hijacking of a large commercial vessel in five years. (AP via The Independent)
Disasters and accidents
A blaze at a fireworks warehouse near Netanya, central Israel, kills two people and injures five others. (Reuters)
The destruction from snow fall kills six people and leaves over 100,000 others without electricity, with some areas in the Northeastern United States receiving over 4 feet (1.2 m) of snow. (The Weather Channel)
Law and crime
Europol reports a total of more than 10,000 assault rifles and 400 shelling weapons were seized in northern Spain during an anti-trafficking operation in January. (News Front)
Israeli authorities shoot into a car that was on a ramming attack at a bus shelter at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank where 13 Palestinians and 3 Israelis have been killed since October 2015. A 16-year-old Palestinian, Fatima Jibrin Taqatqa, had lost control of her car and the teenager now remains in critical condition. (Jewish Press)(Fars)
A second explosion occurs in the Rabwah area of Damascus. (Al Masdar News)
Suspected Russian warplanes carry out airstrikes on the city of Idlib at dawn, killing 21 people including at least 14 children. (The New Indian Express)
A U.S. federal judge in Hawaii, finding the revised federal immigration/refugee executive order violates the U.S. Constitution's religious establishment clause, grants the state of Hawaii's motion for a nationwide temporary restraining order on these rules that were set to become effective at midnight. President Donald Trump vows to appeal this ruling. Two other federal courts held hearings on similar requests filed by the states of Maryland and Washington; neither of these judges issued a ruling. (Reuters)(Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
The Israeli Air Forcelaunches several airstrikes on targets inside Syria, and for the first time, publicly claims responsibility. Syrian air defenses responded by launching missiles at the aircraft, and thereupon Israeli Arrow 3 missiles were launched in response to the counter-offensive. Israel stated that it was targeting suspected weapons shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon, adding that the Israeli military will keep intervening until they believe such shipments have ceased. According to the Syrian Army, four Israeli jets entered its airspace and struck targets near Palmyra. (CNN)(AP)
Around 1,500–2,000 people leave al-Waer district of Homs today for their preferred destination of either Northern Homs Governorate, Idlib Governorate or Turkish Army positions in Northern Aleppo Governorate. Up to 15,000 to 20,000 people including armed militants, their families and supporters will leave the besieged district in the coming weeks with the rest of the population reconciling and receiving aid. (BBC)(Al Masdar News)
French security forces shoot suspect Ziyed Ben Belgacem dead in Paris' Orly Airport after he put the pellet gun to her head and took away an assault rifle from one of three soldiers from "Sentinelle" operation patrolling the airport. Belgacem had earlier shot a police officer with a pellet gun. Later, he had threatened a bar and then carjacked another vehicle to the airport. (BBC)
Racing 92 and Stade Français, two Frenchrugby clubs, announce that they are calling off their proposed merger following widespread opposition to the project. (BBC)
Citing security concerns because of recent terrorist activity, the American and British governments impose a ban affecting inbound-passengers flying from much of the Middle East and North Africa. The ban includes airplane cabin passenger-accessible items such as laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices which are larger than a smartphone. Larger such electronic devices will still be allowed on board in checked baggage which is thus more closely screened and passenger-inaccessible. (CNN)(BBC)
In a 6–2 decision (NLRB v. SW General, Inc), the U.S. Supreme Court puts new restrictions on presidential powers, limiting a president's authority to staff certain top government posts in a case involving an appointment to the National Labor Relations Board saying that under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a person cannot serve as the acting head of a federal agency once the president nominates him or her to permanently serve in the role if it is a position that requires U.S. Senate confirmation. The court upholds a lower court's ruling that then-President Barack Obama exceeded his legal authority with his temporary appointment of an NLRB general counsel in 2011. The ruling will give President Donald Trump and future presidents less flexibility in filling jobs that require Senate confirmation. (Reuters)
Former Congolese Vice President and warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba, sentenced last year by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to 18 years in prison for war crimes, is given an additional 12 months and fined 300,000 euros for bribing witnesses during an earlier ICC trial. The court also handed jail terms and fines for alleged interference in his trial to members of his legal team. (The Guardian)
A series of shootings in Rothschild, Wisconsin, leave at least four people dead, including a police officer. (WTOP)
A jury acquits the former head of the now-closed Massachusetts pharmacy, New England Compounding Center, Barry Cadden, on 25 counts of second-degree murder but convicts him of racketeering and other crimes in a meningitis outbreak that was traced to fungus-contaminated drugs and killed 64 people across the country. Cadden disregarded sanitary conditions to boost production and make more money. (Boston.com)
Authorities arrest at least eight people in connection with yesterday's attack. (Fox News)
London's Metropolitan Police Service announces that the attacker is British-born Khalid Masood, previously questioned by British authorities for connections to terrorism. (Reuters)
A man drives into a crowd of pedestrians in Antwerp, Belgium, injuring several people. Police arrest the man, who is believed to be North African born and living in France. (The New York Times)
The South Korean government raises the wreckage of the MV Sewol from the sea near the South Korean island of Donggeochado. The ferry sank in April 2014, killing 304 people. (BBC)
On Friday night a man begins to shoot in a Lille Metro station in Lille, France. Three people are injured, including being shot in the leg and neck. The gunman is not thought to be a terrorist, and is still on the run. (The Independent)
Disasters and accidents
Proactiva notes the finding of five corpses the Libyan coast; these were floating near two capsized boats which could each hold more than 100 people. (BBC)
The Gambia's justice minister Abubacarr Tambadou states that the country will establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission "within the next six months" to investigate allegations of abuse dating from the time of former PresidentYahya Jammeh. According to Tambadou, public hearings are scheduled to get underway by year's end. (BBC)
The replacement plan for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is withdrawn after Republican leaders fail to gain enough support. The failure of the Trump administration to repeal the act means it will remain law in the United States. (BBC)
In response to several Israeli airstrikes against suspected Hezbollah-related targets inside Syria, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has threatened wider war with the State of Israel, stating its intention to fire Scud missiles, and specifically target the Israeli city of Haifa. Israel responded by stating that any such actions by the Assad regime, or attacks on its aircraft, will cause Israel to "annihilate" Syrian air defense systems. (The Times of Israel)
A vehicle mounts the pavement and runs into pedestrians in Islington, London, injuring 4. The teenage perpetrators are found carrying offensive weapons, but are not assumed to be terrorists. (BBC)
The Coordination of Azawad Movements, a coalition of Tuareg groups, announce that they will boycott a peace conference scheduled next week on implementing a 2015 peace agreement saying it was "not sufficiently inclusive". (Al Jazeera)
The Big Maple Leaf, a solid gold 1 million dollar Canadian coin weighing 100 kilograms (220 lb), is stolen from the Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany. (CBC)
The deadline for the Government formation in Northern Ireland has expired following the refusal of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin to enter a power sharing agreement with each other, with both parties blaming each other for the impasse. (BBC)
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 the highway carried nearly a quarter-million vehicles a day. (NBC News)
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)
Officials state that repairs will take months following a fire that collapsed a bridge on Interstate 85 in Atlanta, Georgia. Police arrest three individuals in connection with the disaster, charging two with criminal trespass and one with first degree criminal damage. (WSB TV)
International relations
At a NATO meeting, German foreign ministerSigmar Gabriel rejects as "quite unrealistic" the belief that Germany would spend 2% of GDP on the military. He says other spending such as development aid should be taken into account. (BBC)
Some individuals set the Congress of Paraguay on fire. The attack occurs during a protest against a bill that would let the president seek re-election. (BBC)
Women's basketball Mississippi State defeats four-time defending national champion Connecticut 66–64, ending the Huskies' NCAA-record winning streak at 111 games. (AP via ESPN)
