March 12, 2016 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
- Use of chemical weapons in the Iraqi Civil War
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fire mortars containing an unidentified chemical agent killing one and injuring 600 in Taza Khurmatu, Iraq. (FOX News) (NASDAQ)
- Use of chemical weapons in the Iraqi Civil War
- Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
- Two Indian Border Security Force soldiers are killed and four injured in a conflict in the state of Chhattisgarh. (PTI via Hindustan Times)
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- A 10-year-old Palestinian boy and his 6-year-old sister in Gaza are killed by fragments from a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft targeting four Hamas training camps after four missiles landed in open areas in southern Israel late yesterday. (LA Times) (Reuters)
- Turkey–PKK conflict (2015–present)
- Turkish Air Force airstrikes reportedly kill at least 67 PKK militants in northern Iraq. (World Bulletin) (VOA News)
- Syrian Civil War
- Jaysh al-Nasr rebels say they have shot down a fighter jet over the Hama Governorate in western Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the shoot down, saying a rebel group had brought down the jet by firing two heat-seeking missiles. A pro-government source acknowledged that a MiG-21 warplane went down over Kafr Nabudah, but said it was due to “technical difficulties”, denying it had been shot down. (Reuters via Yahoo! News) (The Guardian)
- Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- Aden unrest
- Airstrikes on the Al-Qaeda-held Al-Mansoura district in the port city of Aden, kill at least 17 militants and injure 20 civilians, according to local medics and a Yemeni security official. (Reuters)
- Aden unrest
Arts and culture
- For the first time the Pope Francis’ monthly prayer intentions are featured on video. The videos are filmed in collaboration with the Jesuit-run global prayer network Apostleship of Prayer and the Vatican Television Center. (Catholic News Agency)
Business and economics
- Reuters reports, on the basis of unnamed sources "familiar with the matter," that Energy Transfer Equity, a private equity concern, is in talks to sell Sunoco, a deal which would be valued at more than $2 billion. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- An avalanche kills six skiers in the Italian Alps. (Reuters)
- A magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes off Atka Island, southwest Alaska. There are no reports of a tsunami. (BNO News)
- A tugboat crash on the Hudson River north of New York City results in one death and two people missing. (AP)
Politics and elections
- Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016, Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016
- Voters in Guam, Washington, D.C. and Wyoming head to the polls to vote in Republican Party caucuses, while Democratic Party members vote in the Northern Mariana Islands caucus. (CNN)
- Ted Cruz wins the most delegates in Wyoming, while Marco Rubio wins in Washington D.C. (New York Post) (The Guardian)
- Hillary Clinton wins the Northern Mariana Islands caucus. (NBC News, New York Times via Breaking News)
- Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
- A protestor attempts to storm the stage as Donald Trump was talking at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, causing Secret Service agents to jump on the stage and form a wall around the presidential candidate amid the chaos. The suspect was identified as Thomas Dimassimo, 32, and was charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic, according to Chief Mike Etter of the Dayton Police Department. Dimassimo is a Black Lives Matter activist. (NBC News)
- Polish Constitutional Court crisis, 2015.
- Thousands of people take to the streets of Warsaw and other cities in Poland in protest against the government after it refused to publish the Constitutional Court's ruling that the government cannot change how the court works. (BBC)
- The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party sets a deadline of 30 days to determine the status of its alliance with Dilma Rousseff’s administration, including the option to leave the coalition. (Bloomberg)
Science and technology