Modeling suggests the presence of a volatile-rich magma ocean on the exoplanet L 67-67 d, a planet orbiting a red dwarf star 35 light-years away from Earth. (University of Oxford) (Nature)
Wednesday, March 18th, 2026
Israel assassinates Iranian intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib in an overnight airstrike in Tehran. (AP)
Six people are killed and dozens injured in an Israeli airstrike on a building in Beirut, Lebanon. (Al Jazeera)
A police report in New York formally reveals English street artist Banksy‘s identity as 51-year-old Robin Gunningham from Bristol, England. (ABC News) (The Telegraph)
Over 60 Boko Haram and Islamic State – West Africa Province insurgents are killed in an operation by the Nigerian Army in Abadam, Borno State, Nigeria. (The Punch)
Seven people are killed and three others are critically injured in an explosion and fire at a residential building in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. (NDTV)
One person is killed when a cable car cabin crashes down a snowy mountainside in Engelberg, Obwalden, Switzerland. (CNN)
Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez appoints General Gustavo González López as Minister of Defense, replacing General Vladimir Padrino López who has served since 2014. (Reuters)
Tuesday, March 17th, 2026
An Iranian Khorramshahr missile strikes Ramat Gan in central Israel, killing two people. (The Times of Israel)
U.S. National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent resigns in protest of the war with Iran, saying that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation”. (Reuters)
An oil tanker near Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, is struck by an unknown projectile. (Forbes)
A Pakistan-bound oil tanker with its Automatic Identification System activated, the Karachi, gets safe passage and crosses Hormuz following negotiations between the Pakistani and Iranian governments. According to Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Pakistan agreed to pay the oil shipment, purchased from Abu Dhabi, in Chinese yuan instead of in US dollars. (AAJ News)
Israeli forces assassinate both Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani in two separate airstrikes in Tehran. Iran later confirms their deaths. (Al Jazeera)
The Wall Street Journal reports that Russia is actively sharing military intelligence with Iran, including satellite images of United States military bases and locations of potential targets, as well as improved drone technology. (Reuters)
Three Lebanese soldiers are killed and four more are injured during Israeli airstrikes in the Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon. (L’Orient Today)
Three people, including a child, are killed and 14 more are injured in an Israeli airstrike in Al-Mawasi, Gaza. (The Times of Israel)
The Ecuadorian government deploys 75,000 soldiers and police officers to four provinces to enforce a nightly curfew. Officials say 253 people have already been detained for breaking curfew, which lasts from 11 pm to 5 am local time. (AP)
Colombian president Gustavo Petro accuses the Ecuadorian military of being the perpetrator of an airstrike two days ago inside Colombia, killing 27 people, and orders the deployment of its troops to the border in response. (Al Jazeera)
At least 18 people are killed and several others are injured in an attack by armed bandits in a village in Jibia, Katsina State, Nigeria. (Channels TV) (The Punch)
Patriarch Ilia II, head of the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1977, dies at the age of 93. (Reuters)
The United Arab Emirates’ offshore Shah gas field suspends operations following a drone attack. (Forbes)
Five people are killed following a fire at the Dos Bocas Refinery in Paraíso, Tabasco, Mexico. (AFP via New Zealand Herald)
Argentine foreign minister Pablo Quirno announces the country’s formal withdrawal from the World Health Organization. (La Nación in Spanish)
A court in Brussels, Belgium, orders former diplomat Étienne Davignon to stand trial on charges of participation in war crimes in connection with the 1961 killing of former Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba. Davignon is the only surviving individual among those accused by Lumumba’s family of involvement in the case. (AFP via The Caledonian-Record)
A Vatican appeals court orders a retrial of Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was convicted of embezzlement in 2023, citing procedural errors in the original proceedings. The court maintains his previously imposed prison sentence pending the outcome of the new trial. (AFP via GMA News)
The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador votes 59–1 to approve a constitutional amendment to permit courts to issue sentences of life imprisonment to individuals convicted of murder, rape, or terrorism where the limit was previously 60 years. (Reuters)
One person is killed and another is injured in a shooting at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States. (CBS News)
Provisional results announced by interior minister Raymond Mboulou reported that incumbent president of Congo-Brazzaville Denis Sassou Nguesso will be re-elected with 94.82% of the vote. (AP)
In association football, the Confederation of African Football formally overturns the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final in which Senegal won 1–0 over hosts Morocco due to a controversial walk-off by Senagalese players during extra-time. Morocco are awarded the title with a 3–0 win, their second title win. (BBC Sport)
In baseball, Venezuela defeats the United States 3–2 in the championship game to win their first World Baseball Classic. (Yahoo! Sports)
Monday, March 16th, 2026
Several NATO allies of the United States, including Germany, Italy, and Spain, rule out sending warships to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following a request from U.S. president Donald Trump. (Reuters)
Australia rules out sending warships to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. (Nine News Australia)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that Iran is not seeking a ceasefire but also called for the war to end. (Iran International)
Iran launches drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates, killing a Palestinian man in Abu Dhabi and forcing the temporary closure of Dubai International Airport. The port of Fujairah, in the Emirate of Fujairah, already attacked two days ago, is also hit. (The Telegraph) (BBC)
The Israeli Air Force strikes and completely destroys the Iranian Space Research Center in central Tehran, stating that it was being used for potential space warfare activities against Israeli satellites. (Iran Wire)
Kata’ib Hezbollah senior commander Abu Ali al-Askari is killed in an airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq. (Jerusalem Post)
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad is reportedly attacked by two suicide drones, causing a powerful explosion. (Ynet)
The Royal Tulip Al Rasheed Hotel in the Green Zone in Baghdad is struck by a drone. (Al Jazeera)
At least seven people, including four children, are injured by Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel. (The Times of Israel) (The Jerusalem Post)
The Israeli military’s 91st Division launches a ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, expanding a buffer zone along the border. (Israel Hayom) (The Times of Israel)
At least four members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are killed and three others are injured in an airstrike on a checkpoint at the entrance to Al-Qa’im, Al Anbar Governorate. A PMF official attributes the strike to the United States. (AFP via LBCI)
The European Union imposes sanctions against nine Russian individuals over their role in the mass murder of civilians committed during Russia’s occupation of Bucha during the initial 2022 invasion of Ukraine. (Kyiv Post)
Kenyan prime cabinet secretary Musalia Mudavadi says that the government has identified two prisoners of war from Kenya that have been detained by authorities in Ukraine after being involved in Russia’s special military operations. (The Star Kenya)
Afghanistan claims Pakistani jets bombed a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, killing over 400 people. Pakistan denies the claim, saying it attacked military installations. AFP and BBC journalists confirm at least 30 dead as a result of the bombing. (BBC News)
At least 23 people are killed and 108 others are injured in suspected suicide bombings at three locations, including the Monday Market and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. No group has claimed responsibility. (AP)
Cuba announces that citizens living abroad will be permitted to invest in and own businesses in the country as the government seeks to expand commercial activity amid an economic crisis. (AFP via Indo Premier)
Sri Lanka introduces a four-day workweek for the public and education sectors to preserve fuel as the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis continues to restrict fuel shipments to the region. (The Guardian)
Cuba reports a nationwide power outage following a total electrical grid collapse. (AP)
Eleven people are killed and ten others are injured in a massive fire at the Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, India. (Hindustan Times)
A roof collapses at a shop in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan, killing eight people and injuring more than 50 others. (AP)
At least four people are killed and four others are injured in a building collapse in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP via CTV News)
United States federal judge Brian E. Murphy blocks the implementation of changes to vaccine policy introduced by health and human services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including revisions to the childhood immunization schedule and recommendations issued by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Murphy rules that the measures likely violate required procedures and halts their enforcement pending further legal proceedings. (AFP via France 24)
The European Union imposes sanctions against 16 Iranian individuals and three entities for their role in suppressing protests earlier this year. (Shafaq)
Kuwaiti authorities arrest 16 people, including two Lebanese nationals, on suspicion of links to Hezbollah and involvement in a planned sabotage operation, with weapons, drones, and communication equipment seized during the operation. (Middle East Eye)
Nepalese activist and Rastriya Swatantra Party member Bhumika Shrestha is confirmed by the Nepalese Election Commission, becoming the first transgender lawmaker elected in Nepal. (AFP via Dawn)
India holds its first phase of elections for 37 seats of the Rajya Sabha. (CNBC TV18)
In association football, the Premier League fines Chelsea F.C. £10.75 million and gives them a two-year suspended transfer ban for making secret payments worth £47 million to unregistered agents and third-parties between 2011 and 2018. (BBC Sport)
The End
artificial stupid 