Portal:Current events/2016 March 5

• Taliban insurgency
  • The Afghan Taliban releases a statement rejecting peace talks with the government of Afghanistan until foreign forces stop attacking their positions and withdraw from the country. Direct peace talks between the government and the Taliban were expected to take place in Islamabad, Pakistan next week. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• Aden unrest (2015–2019)
  • Gunmen shoot dead the police chief of Aden's Tawahi district and one of his aides. (Reuters)

• China announces plans to build a railway linking the Tibetan capital Lhasa with Chengdu. (Channel NewsAsia)

• More than 60 people are hospitalized after an engine explodes on a crowded Bangkok, Thailand, commuter boat. Police suspect a liquefied natural gas leak caused the blast. The boat operator has been ordered to use diesel fuel only on its 25-boat fleet. (AP) (International Business Times)

• North Korea–Philippines relations
  • The Philippines impounds a North Korean cargo ship in line with new UN sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and missile launch. Presidential spokesman, Manolo Quezon, said the 6,830-tonne cargo ship would not be allowed to leave the Port of Subic, Luzon, where it has been docked for three days, and that its crew would be deported. (The Straits Times)

• Media freedom in Turkey
  • Turkish police fire tear gas at protesters outside the Istanbul headquarters of the Zaman newspaper which has been taken over by the Turkish government. (BBC)
• Gunmen dressed in police uniforms kill at least ten people in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. (Reuters)

• Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016, Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016
  • Voters in the states of Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Maine, and Kentucky, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico participate in a party caucus or vote in a primary election. (Presidential Primary Schedule)
  • Ted Cruz wins the Republican Party caucus in Kansas and Maine. (CBS News) (The Guardian)
  • Donald Trump wins the Louisiana primary and Kentucky caucus. (ABC News) (New York Times)
  • Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic Party contests in Kansas and Nebraska while Hillary Clinton wins in Louisiana. (CNN) (Washington Post) (NOLA) (CNN)
• Slovak parliamentary election, 2016
  • Voters in Slovakia choose representatives for all 150 National Council seats. While anti-migrant Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party is expected to lose its parliamentary majority, it should be in position to lead a coalition government. (Reuters via Firstpost) (New Europe) (Bloomberg)
• Samoan general election, 2016
  • Results from yesterday's election indicate that the ruling Human Rights Protection Party will retain power in a landslide. (ABC News Australia)
• Anti-corruption campaign in China:
  • The former party chief of Liaoning and Jilin provinces, Wang Min, is placed under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. (SCMP)