Portal:Current events/2017 March 18
March 18, 2017 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- Around 1,500–2,000 people leave al-Waer district of Homs today for their preferred destination of either Northern Homs Governorate, Idlib Governorate or Turkish Army positions in Northern Aleppo Governorate. Up to 15,000 to 20,000 people including armed militants, their families and supporters will leave the besieged district in the coming weeks with the rest of the population reconciling and receiving aid. (BBC) (Al Masdar News)
- Battle of Mosul
- Thousands of Iraqis flee western Mosul as the battle between Iraqi and allied forces and ISIL militants escalates in the densely populated Old City. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
- Chuck Berry, pioneering rock music singer and guitarist, dies in the U.S. state of Missouri at the age of 90. Berry was one of the first inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (BBC)
International relations
- Estonia–United Kingdom relations
- Eight hundred British Army troops arrive in Estonia as part of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence to deter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. (The Guardian)
Law and crime
- March 2017 Île-de-France attacks
- French security forces shoot suspect Ziyed Ben Belgacem dead in Paris' Orly Airport after he put the pellet gun to her head and took away an assault rifle from one of three soldiers from "Sentinelle" operation patrolling the airport. Belgacem had earlier shot a police officer with a pellet gun. Later, he had threatened a bar and then carjacked another vehicle to the airport. (BBC)