Portal:Current events/2014 March 20

• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021):
  • 2014 Kabul Serena Hotel attack: Four suspected Taliban members attack the luxurious Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people, including four foreigners. (Yahoo! News)
  • Suicide bombers attack a police station in the city of Jalalabad resulting in at least 11 deaths and 22 people being injured. (Reuters)
• A suicide bomber attacks a cafe in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 12 people and injuring another 38. (AP via Fox News)
• Syrian Civil War:
  • Syrian troops capture the 1,000-year-old Krak des Chevaliers crusader castle from rebels after laying siege to the fortress since January. (Reuters)

• European Union member states and European Parliament negotiators reach a deal on a new regulatory system for banks. (AFP via Google News)

• The Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, advises the Parliament that two objects possibly related to the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have been located in the southern Indian Ocean. (Sky News) (Reuters)
• A passenger train collides with a minibus near the Turkish city of Mersin resulting in at least nine deaths. (BBC News)

• United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid orders an investigation into the breach by the CIA into the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's computer systems. (Reuters)

• 2014 Crimean crisis
  • The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, announces the possibility of further sanctions from the European Union against Russia for the invasion and annexation of Crimea. (BBC News)
  • The President of the United States, Barack Obama, announces further sanctions against Russia in response to the annexation of Crimea. (Reuters)

• Kotoōshū Katsunori, the first Bulgarian sumo wrestler to win the makuuchi (top division) championship in history, announces his retirement. (The Japan Times)