March 13, 2015 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- A Myanmar air raid aimed at rebels on its border with China drops bombs on the Chinese city of Lincang killing four people. (AP via The New York Times)
Business and economy
- Egypt Economic Development Conference
- Among the over 2,000 delegates from 112 different countries, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, delivers a speech during the investment summit held in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. (AP via ABC News)
- Politicians in Cyprus demand the resignation of the governor of the central bank there, Chrystalla Georghadji, raising concerns about a conflict of interest. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Cyclone Pam
- Cyclone Pam causes severe damage in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu with unconfirmed reports of over 40 deaths. (ABC News Australia)
- One South Korean Ministry of Public Safety and Security official dies and three are missing after a helicopter crash off the island of Gageodo. (Yonhap News)
- Chile declares a state of emergency and preliminary evacuation of 16,000 as a forest fire threatens the city of Valparaiso. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- The Aung Takon passenger ferry sinks off the coast of Myanmar with 21 dead and 26 people missing. (Straits Times)
- A Serbian military Russian-made MI-17 transport helicopter crashes near Belgrade's international airport in foggy weather while evacuating a sick 5-day-old baby with life-threatening respiratory problems from the south of the country, killing all seven people on board. (AP)
Health
- In regard to an operation that took place on December 11, 2014, today, a Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital surgical team from Cape Town, South Africa, reports the world's first successful penis transplant, an operation requiring reconnection of tiny blood vessels and nerves. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny lodges a request to interrogate Julian Assange in his London refuge at the Ecuadorian consulate, saying that the reason for her change of mind is that the statute of limitations on several of the crimes of which Assange is suspected runs out in August 2015. (The Guardian)
- TeslaCrypt, a malicious computer virus, targets older games (including World of Warcraft) stopping their users from playing their favorite titles unless they pay a ransom. (BBC)
Science and technology
- NASA reports that scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have found a salty ocean lurking beneath the surface of Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede. (Scientific American)