Portal:Current events/2015 March 20

March 20, 2015 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
- Islamic State releases a video showing the execution of three Kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq with threats to execute dozens more. (Reuters)
- An Islamic state attack on a Kurdish Nowruz festival (New Year's Day) kills 45 people. (AAP via SBS)
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)