Portal:Current events/2017 March 22

March 22, 2017 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2017 Westminster attack
- An attacker carries out a vehicle-ramming attack outside the Houses of Parliament in London, before stabbing a police officer and subsequently being shot by security forces. Including the attacker, there are at least four people dead. (BBC) (Sky News) (Fox News)
Syrian Civil War
- Raqqa campaign (2016–2017)
  - A U.S.-led coalition airstrike on a school west of Raqqa, kills at least 33 people. (The Guardian)
- Syrian rebels, led by Tahrir al-Sham, launch an offensive in the Hama Governorate, capturing the towns of Suran, Khitab and Al-Majdal. (Reuters)
Boko Haram insurgency
- 2017 Maiduguri attack
  - Multiple suicide blasts occur at a refugee camp near Maiduguri, Nigeria, leaving eight people dead and wounding 18 others. (Al Jazeera) (All Africa)
An Israeli Army tank kills a Palestinian teenager and wounds two others near the Gaza border. (The Jerusalem Post)
March 2017 Israel–Syria incident
- The Israeli Air Force resumes bombing against suspected Hezbollah-related targets in Syria, with a fourth round of bombings occurring near military sites near Damascus. (The Financial Times)

Arts and culture

Near the town of Ramle, Israeli archeologists uncover hundreds of gin and whiskey bottles dating back to the First World War at the site of a former British Army barracks. (The Guardian)
Eurovision Song Contest 2017, Russia–Ukraine relations
- The Security Service of Ukraine bans Yuliya Samoylova, Russia's entrant in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, from entering the country. This follows allegations that she had toured in Crimea following its annexation by Russia. (The Washington Post)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- According to South Korean and United States officials, a missile test in North Korea ends in failure, with the missile exploding seconds after launch. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

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)

Sports

2017 World Baseball Classic
- In the final, the United States defeats Puerto Rico 8–0 to claim its first title in the event. Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, who threw six hitless innings in the final for Team USA, is named tournament MVP. (AP via ESPN)