Portal:Current events/2008 March 15

March 15, 2008 (Saturday)

Wales achieve the Grand Slam by beating France 29-12 in the final match of Rugby Union's 2008 RBS Six Nations. (BBC News)
Protesting Guatemalan farmers release four Belgian tourists they had taken hostage on Thursday. (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]}
Michael D. Griffin, the current Administrator of NASA, announces the agency will concentrate more on the outer Solar System and less on Mars exploration, due to cuts to its 2009–2012 budget. (BBC News)
A bomb explodes at a restaurant in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing a Turkish woman and injuring 10 other people. (BBC News)
A construction crane falls on a residential building in Manhattan, New York City, killing four people and injuring at least 17. (Reuters) (AFP via Google News) (BBC News)
The Mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin, declares a state of emergency following the previous night's tornado, while northwest Georgia is hit by more tornadoes, causing at least one death. (Reuters via Canada.com)
Tens of thousands of Italians gather in Bari to march against the mafia and remember its many victims. (Reuters) (EuroNews)
Three former police officers are jailed over the killing of Ukrainian investigative journalist Georgiy R. Gongadze in 2000. (BBC News)
A weapons depot near Tirana, Albania is hit by multiple explosions, killing at least 11 people and injuring around 300. (BBC News)
More than 9,000 people around the world protest against Scientology under the banner of Anonymous. (Tampa Tribune) (Village Voice)
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya's proposal to ban the ruling Justice and Development Party is against the "national will". (BBC News)
At the 11th National People's Congress, Hu Jintao is elected to a second term as the President of China, and Xi Jinping is elected Vice-President. (Xinhua via the People's Daily)
2008 unrest in Tibet:
- In reference to ongoing protests in Tibet, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Qiangba Puncog threatens to "deal harshly with these criminals who are carrying out activities to split the nation". (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]}
- Tibet Autonomous Region authorities give protesters until March 17 to surrender. The Central Tibetan Administration government in exile reports 30 confirmed deaths. (BBC News)