Human Race

Exonerated

Italy’s highest court on March 27 overturned the murder conviction of American Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend. The court declared the two didn’t commit the crime—the strongest exoneration. Authorities arrested Knox and Italian co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito after Knox’s roommate, Meredith Kercher, 21, died in 2007. The decision ended a seven-year saga that saw Knox imprisoned for four years, convicted, acquitted and freed, convicted again, and now fully exonerated.

Died

Lee Kuan Yew, founder of modern Singapore, died March 23 at age 91. Yew led Singapore through a split with Malaysia in 1965, guiding the city-state into becoming one of the most wealthy countries in the world. His authoritarian government at times strictly limited speech and the press, yet Singapore became known for its stability in the region, its public services, and its lure as a Southeast Asian base for Western businesses.

Discharged

Michelle Wilkins, 26, left the hospital on March 26 after surviving what police say was a trap Craigslist ad, where an attacker cut her seven-month fetus from her womb. The baby girl, Aurora, did not survive. The suspect, former nurse’s assistant Dynel Lane, 34, faces eight felony charges, including unlawful termination of pregnancy. She escaped murder charges because Colorado does not recognize unborn children as persons, and coroners couldn’t prove the child lived even briefly outside the womb.

Apologized

Former Louisiana prosecutor A.M. Stroud III penned a vivid apology to Glenn Ford, the man he wrongfully put on death row for 30 years. Ford went free March 11 after decades in jail based on circumstantial evidence with an all-white jury. Stroud told USA Today he was “devastated” and now opposes the death penalty. The state released Ford from prison after a confidential informant gave credible evidence that another person had shot Shreveport jeweler Isadore Rozeman on Nov. 5, 1983.

Resigned

Leaders at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas, said five faculty members have resigned since Feb. 17 over disagreements with the leadership of the school’s president and board of trustees. They said five trustees have also resigned since November.

Apologized

Bob Jones III on March 20 issued an emotional apology to a pro-LGBT group for former Bob Jones University students, calling a 1980 statement endorsing the stoning of homosexuals “antithetical to my theology and my 50 years of preaching a redeeming Christ.” The remark seemed to come from a “stranger,” Jones said, apologizing for the way it reflected on Jesus. The LGBT group, BJUnity, had sent a petition with 2,000 signatures.

Died

Eva Burrows, who brought the Salvation Army back to Eastern Europe following the fall of communism, died March 20 at age 85. She worked for the organization for years before in 1986 becoming the second woman to lead it. Her tenure lasted seven years and coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In her final years, she led Bible studies and worked with homeless youth in Melbourne, Australia. She also advised the International Bible Society.

Threatened

Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told journalists on March 18 he would “probably just execute” journalists who don’t “report the truth,” which he left undefined. A military coup last May put Chan-ocha in power, and he claimed journalists must at least promote reconciliation in disagreement. Since the coup the United States has halted $4.7 million in military aid.

Ended

Starbucks will no longer invite customers to have heart-to-heart discussions about police discrimination during their morning coffee rush. Just one week after CEO Howard Schultz had baristas scrawl “Race Together” on customers’ cups and possibly chat about racial inequality in America, he on March 10 abruptly ended the effort. In a companywide memo, Schultz wrote that the widely mocked initiative was meant to “stimulate conversation, empathy and compassion”—and it’s “far from over.” Parts of the yearlong Race Together program will continue with open forums and special sections in USA Today.

Buried

An Orthodox Jewish family buried seven children in Jerusalem after a March 21 blaze in Brooklyn, N.Y., the state’s deadliest fire since 2007. Authorities believe a hot plate, used to keep food warm during the Sabbath, started the fire. Firefighters arrived after four minutes, but it was too late. The mother and 14-year-old girl were critically injured jumping from the second floor. The father wasn’t home.

Removed

Angelina Jolie, 39, on March 24 had surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes in an attempt to stave off cancer, two years after she underwent a double mastectomy for the same reason. Jolie’s mother died of ovarian cancer, and the actress/director is genetically susceptible to the disease.

By the numbers

6 | The number of years in a Chinese Muslim man’s jail sentence for refusing to shave a beard he began growing in 2010, according to Chinese media. His wife received a two-year sentence for wearing a burqa.

97 | The speed, in miles per hour, of wind gusts that hit Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands on March 31. The gusts reportedly knocked pedestrians off their feet and caused train and flight cancellations.

$46 million | The amount the Baltimore, Md., school district paid to employees last year in accrued leave, bonuses, overtime, stipends, and other similar compensation, according to district data obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The district had a $72 million deficit.