March 21, 2011 (Monday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- The King of Bahrain Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa claims that the 2011 Bahraini protests were a foreign plot defeated by the intervention of forces from neighbors Saudi Arabia and the UAE of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf's Peninsula Shield Force. (Reuters)
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
- The Tripoli compound of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is targeted for more bombing raids in the third night of the international intervention in Libya. (Sky News)
- Rebel forces go on the offensive following Western-led airstrikes with clashes near Ajdabiya and in Misrata. (Los Angeles Times)
- The Government of Libya releases four New York Times journalists captured six days ago while covering fighting in Ajdabiya. (The New York Times)
- A top Yemeni commander and at least 18 other officers defect to the Opposition as the 2011 Yemeni protests continue. (AP via The Washington Post) (Al Jazeera)
- Thousands of people march in the southern Syrian city of Deraa calling for more political freedoms. (BBC) (Times LIVE South Africa)
- 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis: Thousands of supporters of incumbent Côte d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo gather to enlist in the army. (BBC)
- Israel Defense Forces launch air strikes on the Gaza Strip after militants fire mortars and rockets at Israel resulting in 19 Palestineans being injured. (MSNBC)
Business and economy
- The World Bank predicts that the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami will cause a temporary slowdown in the Japanese economy before reconstruction has a positive economic impact. (Reuters via The Guardian)
- The U.S. Supreme Court declines to take an appeal from an appellate court ruling that ordered the disclosure of information about the Federal Reserve's emergency lending to banks during the 2008 financial crisis. The Supreme Court's refusal means the ruling of the court below stands. (Reuters)
- Microsoft sues Barnes & Noble and manufacturers Foxconn and Inventec over their Nook e-readers, claiming that they infringe patents. (Seattle PI)
- Three Argentina airports including Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires ground hundreds of flights due to problems in communications in air traffic control. (AP via AP3)
Disasters
- Efforts continue to cool the reactors at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant following recent accidents with signs that the treatment efforts are working. (Kyodo News) (Bloomberg)
- The death toll for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami reaches 8,450, with 12,931 people missing. (BBC)
- 2011 Pointe-Noire Trans Air Congo An-12 crash
- At least twenty-three people die after a cargo plane crashes into Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo. (ANP/AFP via Radio Netherlands)
International relations
- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev criticises Vladimir Putin's stance on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 concerning the situation in Libya as "unacceptable". Putin had said the resolution resembled a "medieval call for crusades". (BBC) (RIA Novosti)
- The United States and Chile sign a nuclear accord. (BBC)
Law and crime
- The perjury trial of U.S. baseball star Barry Bonds begins in federal court in San Francisco, California. (The New York Times)
Politics and elections
- The House of Commons votes in favour of the United Kingdom's involvement in military action in Libya. (BBC)
- Barrister Malcolm McCusker will become the new Governor of Western Australia on July 1, 2011. (Perth Now)
- A Canadian House of Commons committee tables a report recommending that the Conservative government of Stephen Harper be found in contempt of parliament. (The Toronto Star) (CBC)
- The President of Guatemala Álvaro Colom and his wife Sandra Torres file for divorce so that she can stand in the presidential election. (BBC)
Science
- Surgeons at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, perform the first full face transplant in the United States. (The Boston Globe)