Portal:Current events/2012 March 17

March 17, 2012 (Saturday)

Armed conflict and attacks

Syria:
- At least two bombings are reported of government facilities in the Syrian capital Damascus with several police and civilians reported dead. (Ninemsn) (BBC) (CNN)
- Saudi Arabia is sending weapons to rebels in Syria, according to a top Arab diplomat. (Times of India)
A Tibetan monk sets himself on fire in southwest China, in the latest in a series of similar incidents where nearly 30 monks have now self-immolated. (Times of India) (Straits Times)

Arts and culture

Pope Benedict XVI launches an internal investigation into leaks of confidential documents alleging corruption, financial mismanagement and power struggles among senior church officials. (AP)
Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, the leader of Egypt's Coptic Christian community, dies of cancer at the age of 88. (BBC)

Disasters

Severe Tropical Cyclone Lua is upgraded to a Category 4 cyclone as it hits the town of Pardoo on the northwest coast of Western Australia. (The Australian)

International relations

Burma signs an agreement with the International Labour Organization to end forced labour by 2015. (Bangkok Post)
China expresses concern at North Korea's intention to launch a satellite next month to mark the centenary of founder Kim Il-sung's birth. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

Mauritania's state information agency announces that Abdullah Senussi, Muammar Gaddafi's former intelligence chief, has been arrested at the airport in Nouakchott upon arrival from Morocco. (AP) (CNN)
Belarus executes Vladislav Kovalev, one of the men convicted of the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing. (Russia Today)
London's Metropolitan Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the British Houses of Parliament on Friday evening. (BBC)
Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk, convicted of accessory to the murder of 27,900 Jews during The Holocaust, dies at the age of 91. (BBC)
Venezuelan police shoot dead the daughter of a Chilean diplomat at a police checkpoint at the city of Maracaibo after the vehicle she was travelling in refused to stop - 11 police officers are under investigation. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)

Politics and elections

Chinese leaders urge officials and residents in Chongqing to support the change of leadership in the city, after former chief Bo Xilai was removed. (Taipei Times)
Leaders of the African Union meet in Benin to discuss a resolution of the leadership crisis after deadlocked elections in January. (IOL)
Voters in East Timor go to the polls for a presidential election with incumbent President Jose Ramos-Horta standing against 11 other candidates. (AFP via France 24)^{[permanent dead link]}
Julian Assange announces plans to run for the Senate of Australia despite being under house arrest in the United Kingdom. (News Limited)
Personal documents released from the papers of Margaret Thatcher show the former British Prime Minister held a private meeting with Rupert Murdoch at Chequers weeks before his purchase of Times Newspapers in 1981. (BBC)

Sport

Association football:
- Fabrice Muamba collapses on live television in the 41st minute of the FA Cup quarter-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers. The match is abandoned, and Muamba is rushed to a London hospital in critical condition after being resuscitated for several minutes on the pitch. (The Guardian) (BBC) (Sky)
- Andrea Pirlo of Italian side Juventus dedicates his team's Serie A win to Muamba. (IBN)
Wales win against France in rugby union's Six Nations Championship, achieving the Grand Slam for the 11th time.