Portal:Current events/2018 March 14

• British physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking dies aged 76 at his home in Cambridge. (The Guardian) (The New York Times) (BBC)

• Economy of the United Kingdom
  • Toys "R" Us announce that they will close down all of their stores in the United Kingdom after rescue talks fail, resulting in the loss of about 3,000 jobs. (The Guardian)
• Economy of the United States
  • Shortly after the announcement of the closure of Toys "R" Us stores in the UK, the company announced that they will close down all 800 stores in the United States, resulting in the loss of about 33,000 jobs. (The Washington Post)
  • Ford issues a recall of 1.4 million vehicles, including some models of the Ford Fusion and the Lincoln MKZ, citing an issue where the steering wheel could come loose. (CNN)
• Panama Papers
  • Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca announces that it is shutting down due to the economic and reputational damage inflicted by its role in the global tax evasion scandal. (The Guardian)

• Two U.S. Navy aviators – a pilot and a weapons officer – are killed after they eject from their FA-18 fighter jet, which crashes into the sea off Key West, Florida. (Navy Times) (CNN)

• Foreign relations of the Philippines
  • Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announces the withdrawal of the Philippines from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over "outrageous attacks" by United Nations officials. (Reuters)
• Australia–South Africa relations, South African farm attacks, Racism in South Africa
  • Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says white South African farmers could receive fast-track visas on "humanitarian grounds" amid calls to transfer land ownership from white to black farmers, and fears over the number of racially-motivated farm killings. (BBC)
• Russia–United Kingdom relations, Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
  • The United Kingdom expels 23 Russian diplomats and cuts off all top-level ties with Russia as punishment for a reported attack with the Novichok military-grade nerve agent, an attack which Prime Minister Theresa May described as an "unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom". (The Guardian) (NPR) (Reuters)

• 2018 United States gun violence protests
  • Students throughout the United States participate in a walkout protest against gun violence. (ABC News)
• Crime in Brazil, Politics of Brazil
  • Brazilian politician and outspoken police critic Marielle Franco is killed along with her driver in a drive-by shooting in Rio de Janeiro. (BBC)
• Telford child sex abuse ring
  • After an 18-month Sunday Mirror investigation, Theresa May has called for an inquiry "as quickly as possible" on reported Asian grooming gangs in Telford whereby up to 1,000 girls were lured from their families to be drugged, beaten, raped and even murdered. (The Mirror)

• Politics of Germany
  • Angela Merkel is elected and sworn in for a new term as Chancellor of Germany. Olaf Scholz and Heiko Maas assume the positions of Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs respectively. (The Guardian)
• Politics of Slovenia
  • Miro Cerar announces his resignation as Prime Minister of Slovenia, due to the Supreme Court of Slovenia's annulment of the referendum that approved building a railway between Koper and Divača, a project which he calls "strategic". (Associated Press)
• Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district special election, 2018
  • Democrat Conor Lamb declares victory in the special election of Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district. The final vote could still be determined by a recount if at least three voters in each precinct petition for one. (The New York Times) (Fox News)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • U.S. President Donald Trump appoints conservative commentator Larry Kudlow as National Economic Council director, replacing outgoing Gary Cohn. (BBC)
• Internet censorship
  • Facebook blocks Britain First, a far-right group that has been deregistered as a political party in the United Kingdom, because leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen have repeatedly violated its community standards. (The New York Times) (BBC) (NBC News)