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Fifa presidential election: Gianni Infantino succeeds Sepp Blatter –
Gianni Infantino has succeeded fellow Swiss Sepp Blatter as president of world football’s governing body Fifa. The Uefa secretary general polled 115 votes, 27 more than closest rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein (four votes) and Jerome Champagne (0) were third and fourth respectively. Blatter, who had led Fifa since 1998, stood down last year and was later suspended from football for six years for breaching ethics guidelines. Infantino is a 45-year-old lawyer from Brig in the Valais region of Switzerland, less than six miles from Blatter’s home town of Visp. He entered the presidential race when it became clear that Michel Platini, boss of European football’s governing body Uefa, could not stand. “I will work tirelessly to bring football back to Fifa and Fifa back to football,” he said. “This is what we want to do.” [BBC]
Gianni Infantino

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Moro Conflict, Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines
  • Philippine security forces kill as many as 42 ISIL-linked militants, and captures their stronghold in the predominantly Muslim Lanao del Sur province. Three Philippine Army soldiers were also killed during the fighting. (Reuters)
• War in Somalia (2009–present)
  • Al-Shabaab militants storm a Somali Youth League hotel in Mogadishu. At least 14 are reportedly killed.(The Independent) (NY Times)
• Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
  • Seven Libyan National Army soldiers are killed fighting ISIL militants in Benghazi. (Reuters)

Business and economics

• Dow Chemical agrees to pay $835 million to settle a decade-long, price-fixing, class-action dispute. Dow states that the uncertainty about the U.S. Supreme Court makeup following Justice Anton Scalia’sdeath means there is an “increased likelihood for unfavorable outcomes for business involved in class action suits.” The urethane chemicals case, from 2005, was against a number of companies; Dow had been the only defendant not to settle. (Reuters) (Reuters via Winnipeg Sun)

Disasters and accidents

• Air Kasthamandap Flight 9N-AJB, from Nepalgunj headed to the Jumla District, crashes in a field in the Kalikot District mountains in northern Nepal, killing the two pilots and injuring all nine passengers, one seriously. (CNN) (The Kathmandu Post)

Health and medicine

• Because of the risk of Zika virus infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends pregnant women consider not traveling to Brazil for the 2016 Summer Olympics in August, and/or for the 2016 Summer Paralympics the following month. (Reuters) (CDC)

International Relations

• Syrian Civil War peace process
  • The Syrian cessation of hostilities truce is in effect, as of midnight, Saturday, local Syrian time (10:00 p.m. UTC Friday/5:00 p.m. EST Friday). (Reuters)
  • The United Nations Security Council, via resolution 2268, endorses the truce which has been agreed to by nearly 100 rebel factions. The ceasefire does not apply to military actions against terrorist organizations, such as ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in Syria). (RT) (text via U.S. State Dept.)
  • United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura says, assuming the ceasefire holds, he will reconvene formal peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, March 7. (The Daily Telegraph)

Law and crime

• Eleven prison inmates are killed in Papua New Guinea while trying to break out of Buimo jail in Lae as part of a 90 person jail break. (BBC)
• Following yesterday’s Constitutional Court of Turkey ruling that their rights had been violated, two Turkish journalists, jailed on terrorism charges, are released after 92 days in prison. (AFP via GlobalPost)(Journal of Turkish Weekly)
• A gunman from a rural area near Belfair, Washington (U.S.), kills four members of his family, including two children, and, after a multi-hour standoff with police, also kills himself. A 12-year old girl, who was not shot, is alive. (The Seattle Times)
• University of California, Berkeley, alerts 80,000 people of a cyber attack on a system that stores Social Security and bank account numbers. There is no evidence the hacker(s) took any personal information.(Reuters)

Politics and election

• Iranian elections, 2016
  • Voters in Iran go to the polls for a Islamic Consultative Assembly and Assembly of Experts elections. (New York Times)
• Irish general election, 2016
  • Voters in Ireland go to the polls for a general election. Exit polls indicate that the ruling coalition of Fine Gael party led by Enda Kenny and the Labour Party will fall short of re-election with 34% of the vote between them. (BBC), (AAP via News Limited)
• Hashim Thaçi is elected the President of Kosovo by the Parliament amid violent protests. (BBC)

Science and technology

• The United States Air Force unveils the Northrop Grumman B-21 long-range strategic bomber at the Air Force Association’s annual Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. The B-21 is designed to replace the aging fleet of B-1 Lancer and B-52 bombers. (The Washington Post)

Sport

• Officials of FIFA meet in Zurich for the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress to select a new President of FIFA to replace Sepp Blatter. Gianni Infantino is elected with a majority of votes in the second round of voting. (BBC) (Los Angeles Times)

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