Portal:Current events/2013 March 31

March 31, 2013 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Terrorism in Pakistan:
- A bomb kills two people and injures six others, including Adnan Wazir, a former Member of Parliament of the Awami National Party, in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AFP via Channel NewsAsia)
Northern Mali conflict:
- Rebel Islamist fighters attempt to infiltrate Timbuktu, but are repelled by French and Malian forces. (The New York Times)
Nigerian Sharia conflict:
- The Nigerian Army kills 14 suspected Boko Haram members in a raid on a building, with the death of one soldier and the capture of a potential suicide bomber in a car full of explosives in the northern city of Kano. (BBC)

Business and economy

Two Chinese provinces pass restrictions on house sales designed to dampen a booming housing market. (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

Five members of the South African military are killed when their helicopter crashes while patrolling the Kruger National Park for rhino poachers. (BBC)
Five children die in a house fire in the town of Saint-Quentin in northern France. (BBC)
2013 Mayflower oil spill: An Exxon Mobil crude oil pipeline ruptures near the town of Mayflower in the U.S. state of Arkansas, spilling thousands of barrels from the tar sands. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
Three people are killed and more than 25 people are injured in a 100-vehicle pileup near the Virginia-North Carolina border. (AP via USA Today)
Widespread flooding in Port Louis, Mauritius, leads to at least 11 deaths. (BBC) (The Scotsman)
Two people die in China from H7N9 avian influenza infection – a sub-type that had not previously been transmitted to humans. (AFP via Channel NewsAsia)

International relations

President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai meets with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, to discuss plans for the Taliban to open an office in Doha in order to help solve the conflict in Afghanistan. (Al Jazeera)
2013 Korean crisis: North Korea vows to retain and improve its nuclear arsenal, and to additionally develop a civilian nuclear power program. (Sky News)

Law and crime

A suspect is being sought in connection with the slayings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, whose bodies were found at their home in Kaufman County, Texas, United States. (CNN)
Three people are shot and killed and two others are wounded during a gang-related shooting at a party in Merced, California, United States. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)

Religion

Christians across the globe celebrate Easter, Christianity's most sacred holiday. (The Washington Post)

Science and technology

IBM Roadrunner, once the world's fastest supercomputer, is decommissioned. (CNET)
The Met Office confirms Sunday as the coldest Easter Day on record for the United Kingdom. The lowest temperature of –12.5°C is recorded in Braemar in the Scottish Highlands. (BBC)

Sport