March 18, 2012 (2012-03-18) (Sunday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Three people are killed in a shooting incident in the city of Don Benito, Spain. (RTVE)
- Canadians riot with firefighters and police in London, Ontario. (BBC)
- Pakistani villagers find 13 bodies with bullet wounds in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas near Afghanistan as security forces step up an offensive. (Reuters)
- British journalists Gareth Montgomery-Johnson and Nicholas Davies-Jones, detained last month in Libya after being accused of entering the country illegally, have been released the country's Interior Ministry confirms. (BBC)
- Detachment 88 of the Indonesian National Police kills five people suspected of planning terrorist operations on the island of Bali. (AAP and Sydney Morning Herald)
Law and crime
- Two gunmen shoot dead an American working at a language school in the Yemeni city of Taez for spreading Christianity. (AFP via Al-Jazeera)
- Two hospital nurses are arrested in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo in connection with the suspicious death of dozens of patients over several years at two hospitals. (MSNBC)
- A Superleague Greece match between Athens football clubs Olympiacos and Panathinaikos is abandoned after fans set fire to parts of the Athens Olympic Stadium. (ESPN)
- A tourist in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland is beaten, robbed, and stripped by a group of African-Americans. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- Voters in Guinea-Bissau go to the polls for a presidential election following the death of President Malam Bacai Sanhá in January. (BBC)
- Joachim Gauck is elected President of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Federal Assembly. (Reuters)
- Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012
- Voters in the US territory of Puerto Rico go to the polls for the Republican primary with Mitt Romney winning all of the delegates. (Fox News) (AFP via The Australian) (AP via Boston Globe)
- Authorities in Cuba detain dissident Berta Soler and dozens of her supporters ahead of a visit by Pope Benedict XVI. (AP via Washington Post)
- The King of Tonga George Tupou V dies in Hong Kong at the age of 63. He is succeeded by his younger brother, ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho. (New Zealand Herald)
- Dinesh Trivedi resigns as India's Minister for Railways following a negative response to fare increases. (Reuters via CNBC)
Sport
- Association football:
- Ali Daei, Iran's football legend and the world's all-time leading goalscorer, is rushed to hospital following a serious car accident. (GOAL)
- Fabrice Muamba is "critically ill" in the intensive-care unit of a London hospital after going into cardiac arrest on live television in the 41st minute of the FA Cup quarter-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane last night. Bolton's Premier League game at Aston Villa on Tuesday night is postponed. (BBC)
- A consultant cardiologist from Hammersmith Hospital tells ITN it is "very much in doubt" that Fabrice could resume his professional career. (CNN)
- Howard Webb is removed from his fourth official duties at Molineux after advice from a psychologist. (Daily Mail)
- Portuguese footballer Filipe Morais is "heavily concussed" in hospital after being involved in a car crash. (BBC)
- Kilmarnock win the Scottish League Cup for the first time in the club's history defeating the favourites Celtic 1-0. (AFP via Google)
- Celtic are linked to a move to The Football League. (ESPN)
- In motor sports, British driver Jenson Button of McLaren wins the 2012 Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 2012 Formula One season. (Reuters via Yahoo 7)