March 20, 2015 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
- Yemeni crisis
- Islamic State claims responsibility for suicide bombings in Shiite mosques in Sanaa that kill 142 people. (AFP via Hindustan Times)
- An ambush on Mexican police in Ocotlan, Jalisco state kills ten with none of the gunmen apprehended. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2014–15 Australian region cyclone season
- Severe Tropical Cyclone Nathan makes landfall on Cape York Peninsula in far North Queensland as a category 4 (Australian system). (ABC Australia)
- The Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derails near Bachhrawan Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh northern India resulting in at least 30 deaths and 150 people being injured. (AP via Yahoo! News) (Zee News)
- A Uruguayan Air Force Beechcraft King Air crashes shortly after take-off from Laguna del Sauce airport, killing ten people. (AP via News24)
Health
- Biogen Idec Inc. reports that a drug in a phase II clinical research trial has achieved the first experimental demonstration of a statistically significant reduction in amyloid plaque as well as a slowing of clinical impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The antibody drug, aducanumab, blocked beta amyloid formation, a protein that forms toxic brain-destroying plaques, and significantly slowed cognitive decline. (Reuters)
Law and Crime
- To resolve claims they were misled about the company's subprime mortgage exposure, a U.S. District Court Judge, Laura Swain approves a settlement between shareholders and American multinational insurer AIG, providing for a payout of $970.5 million. (Reuters).
Politics and elections
- Maurizio Lupi resigns as Italy's Minister for Infrastructure following the arrest of a key aide in a corruption probe. (AP via ABC News)
Science and technology
- A solar eclipse, a vernal (for those living in the northern hemisphere) and autumnal (for those in the southern hemisphere) equinox, and a Supermoon will all occur today. (The Independent)
- The United States Food and Drug Administration approves genetically modified potatoes and apples. (Mercury News)