Portal:Current events
Topics in the news
- Shehbaz Sharif (pictured) is elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan after Imran Khan is removed in a no-confidence motion.
- The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution suspending Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
- Protests in Peru against inflation and the policies of President Pedro Castillo result in at least nine deaths and the looting of the Supreme Court's offices.
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russo-Ukrainian War
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine offensive
- Siege of Mariupol
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces that the city of Mariupol has been "completely destroyed", believing the death toll to be "tens of thousands". (Washington Examiner)
- Governor of Donetsk Oblast Pavlo Kyrylenko says that three people have been killed and eight more injured by rocket attacks in the region. (Reuters)
- Siege of Mariupol
- Eastern Ukraine offensive
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Two Israelis of the Breslover group are shot in Nablus after they attempted to enter through an unmanned checkpoint in order to pray at Joseph's Tomb. Fire damage is discovered inside several chambers of the tomb and is attributed to Palestinian rioters who were throwing stones at the tomb two days prior. (The Jerusalem Post) (BBC News)
- Five people are injured when their car is stoned in East Jerusalem. (Times of Israel)
- A Palestinian militant is shot dead after throwing an incendiary device at Israeli security forces in the West Bank. (CTV News)
- The spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres says that the Secretary-General "is appalled by the increasingly high number of casualties, including women and children. He reiterates that children must never be the target of violence or put in harm's way. The Israeli Defense Forces must exercise maximum restraint and the use of lethal force only as a last resort when it is strictly unavoidable in order to protect life. We will continue to work with all sides to de-escalate the situation." (UN.org) (elDiario.es)
- Nigerian bandit conflict
- Authorities say that fifty people have been killed and 70 others have been kidnapped in a series of attacks in Plateau State, Nigeria. (Reuters)
Business and economy
- American credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings declares that Russia has effectively entered selective default on its foreign debt by deciding to use rubles to pay off its bondholders instead of using U.S. dollars as stipulated. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov tells pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia that the government is preparing to sue in order to get the investors to accept their payments. (CNN)
Disasters and accidents
- 2022 Pacific typhoon season
- At least 25 people are killed during floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Megi in the Philippines. (Reuters)
- Trikut cable car accident
- At least three people are killed at the Trikut hills ropeway in Deoghar district, Jharkhand, India. (NDTV)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania
- COVID-19 pandemic in Philadelphia
- Philadelphia reinstates their indoor mask mandate amid an increase in the number of cases in the city, becoming the first major U.S. city to do so. The mandate will take effect on April 18. (ABC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Philadelphia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania
- COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
- COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai
- Shanghai eases their lockdown in several areas of the city despite recording a record 26,000 cases of COVID-19. (Bloomberg.com)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- In Chile, Santiago intendant Claudio Orrego announces that the national capital will ration water for the first time in its history, as the country enters its 13th year of drought. (The Guardian)
Law and crime
- Islamic terrorism in Europe, Terrorism in the United Kingdom
- Murder of David Amess
- Islamic State supporter Ali Harbi Ali is convicted of the murder of British Conservative MP for Southend West David Amess. Ali is also convicted of preparing acts of terrorism. (BBC News)
- Murder of David Amess
- British Conservative MP for Wakefield Imran Ahmad Khan is convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- Over 100 Pakistani lawmakers resign in protest of the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, former Prime Minister of Pakistan. (Reuters)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russo-Ukrainian War
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kyiv offensive
- A mass grave of Ukrainian civilians is discovered near the village of Buzova, Kyiv Oblast. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) (Reuters)
- Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova says that 1,222 bodies have been discovered so far in Kyiv Oblast. (Times of Israel)
- Northeastern Ukraine offensive
- Two people are killed and several others are injured by Russian shelling in the town of Derhachi, Kharkiv Oblast. (Reuters)
- Dnipro International Airport is completely destroyed by Russian missile strikes. Five people are injured. (Reuters)
- Kyiv offensive
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- The Israel Defence Forces perform a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin. Two brothers of dead Palestinian militant Raad Hazem are injured. (The Jerusalem Post)
- An Israel Border Police officer is injured in a stabbing attack at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The attacker is killed. (Reuters)
- A Palestinian woman is killed in a confrontation with the Israel Defence Forces in Husan. (AP)
- A man is killed after reportedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at Israeli forces in Al-Khader, Bethlehem Governorate. (Times of Israel)
International relations
- Spain–Western Sahara relations
- The Polisario Front suspends all relations with Spain. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Two people are killed and ten others hospitalized in a mass shooting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. (USA Today) (KGAN)
Politics and elections
- 2022 French presidential election
- Voters in France go to the polls to elect their next President. (The New York Times)
- Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron wins the first round with 28.1% of the vote and will face Marine Le Pen, who has obtained 23.3% of the vote, in the second round on April 24. (elDiario.es)
Sports
- 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball season
- Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Rōki Sasaki throws a perfect game, the first in 28 years and the 16th in NPB history, tying the existing NPB record by striking out 19 batters, and setting a new record by striking out 13 consecutive batters. (Kyodo News)
- 2022 Masters Tournament
- American professional golfer Scottie Scheffler wins the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. This win is Scheffler's first win at the tournament. (CBS Sports)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russo-Ukrainian War
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine is still ready to continue peace negotiations with Russia. (RTÉ)
- Eastern Ukraine offensive
- Four people in Vuhledar and one person in Novomykhailivka, Marinka Raion, are killed by Russian shelling. Two people are injured. (Times of Israel)
- Ukrainian Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk announces that President Zelenskyy has ordered a third prisoner exchange with Russia, with 12 Ukrainian soldiers and 14 civilians returning to Ukraine. (RFerl)
- 2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- 2022 Tel Aviv shooting
- Israeli soldiers raid the refugee camp in Jenin where the perpetrator of the Tel Aviv shooting lived. A Palestinian Islamic Jihad member is killed and 13 other people are injured. (Times of Israel) (Al Jazeera)
- In retaliation for the Israeli raid, a group of around 100 Palestinian rioters vandalize Joseph's Tomb in Nablus. The gravestone and some other objects are damaged in the attack. (The Jerusalem Post) (Ynet)
- 2022 Tel Aviv shooting
- Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line incidents during the Syrian civil war
- The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency says that Israeli airstrikes have hit the northwestern city of Masyaf. No casualties have been reported. (Times of Israel)
Business and economy
- International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Economic impact of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- S&P Global Ratings lowers its rating of Russian obligations to "SD" (selective default), saying that Russia is very unlikely to pay out external debt coupons in US dollars and will instead pay them out in rubles, which is in breach of the bond terms. However, S&P expects that Russia will still meet its other payment obligations. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Earthquakes in 2022
- A magnitude 5.2 earthquake hits the town of Pütürge in eastern Turkey. No casualties or serious damage are reported. (AP)
- European migrant crisis
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hajj
- The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announces that Saudi Arabia will lift their COVID-19 restrictions on the hajj and will allow 1 million people to participate in the event for the first time since 2019. (Al Arabiya)
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hajj
- COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan
- Azerbaijani Healthcare Minister Teymur Musayev announces that Azerbaijan will develop their own domestic vaccines to combat COVID-19. (AzerNews)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tests positive for COVID-19. (CNN)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
International relations
- Foreign relations of Ukraine
- EU High Representative Josep Borrell announces that the European Union and Italy will resume their diplomatic operations in Kyiv after temporarily relocating to Lviv. (The Hill)
- Law of "confrontation with human-rights violations and USA adventuresome and terrorist measures in the region"
- Iran sanctions 15 Americans with ties to the Trump administration. (IRNA)
Politics and elections
- Libyan peace process
- Libyan Army officials in Eastern Libya announce their refusal to take part in the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, urging warlord Khalifa Haftar to cut off oil exports and transport to the Western half of the country. (Reuters)
- 2022 Pakistani political crises
- Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government are ousted in a no-confidence vote put forward by the country's political opposition. (AP)
Sports
- 2022 Grand National
- Noble Yeats, ridden by jockey Sam Waley-Cohen, wins the 2022 Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse in Merseyside, England. Noble Yeats was a surpise victor at 50–1, beating the favourite Any Second Now. (The Telegraph)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russia-Ukraine War
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine offensive
- Kramatorsk railway station attack
- A pair of Russian missiles strike a railway station in Kramatorsk, killing at least 50 people and injuring at least 87 others. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
- Kramatorsk railway station attack
- Eastern Ukraine offensive
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
- At least 12 soldiers and four paramilitary fighters are killed and 21 others are injured during an attack on an army base in Namissiguima, Burkina Faso. (U.S. News & World Report)
Business and economy
- The Food and Agriculture Organisation's food price index increases by 13% in March to an all-time record of 159.3 points amid fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The price of vegetable oils increases by 23% and the price of cereals increases by 17%. (Reuters)
Disasters and incidents
- A major car-collision left 11 people injured in Austin, Texas, U.S, 9 of which went to the hospital with 2 facing life threatening injuries. (The Sun)
International relations
- Government and intergovernmental reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Japan–Russia relations
- Japan expels eight Russian diplomats. (Jerusalem Post)
- Japan–Russia relations
Law and crime
- Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot
- Two defendants in the case of an apparent plot seeking to kidnap Governor of Michigan, United States, Gretchen Whitmer due to her COVID-19 policies in October 2020 are acquitted by the jury of the charges of conspiring to kidnap. The trial of the other two defendants ends in a hung jury. (NPR)
- The Russian Ministry of Justice revokes the registration of 15 foreign organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. No reason is given, but the revocations come days after HRW reported on war crimes committed by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)
Science and technology
- HD1, the farthest known galaxy, is discovered 13.5 billion light-years away from Earth. (Astronomy.com) (The Harvard Gazette) (Forbes)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russo-Ukrainian War
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The governor of Luhansk Oblast, Serhiy Haidai, reports that all hospitals in the province have been completely destroyed by Russian forces. Russia denies the claim, accusing Ukraine of destroying their own hospitals. (CNN)
- Mayor Borys Filatov requests that all women, children, and elderly leave the city of Dnipro in preparation for a possible Russian attack. (The Guardian)
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- 2022 Tel Aviv shooting
- Three people are killed and 11 more are injured during a mass shooting at a bar in Tel Aviv, Israel. The attacker is killed during a shootout in nearby Jaffa. (BBC News)
- 2022 Tel Aviv shooting
Business and economy
- Economic impact of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus
- The United States House of Representatives votes 420–3 to pass legislation to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine. Following this, the Senate also votes 100–0 to pass the legislation, sending it to President Joe Biden for approval. (San Francisco Chronicle) (Fox Business)
- The Russian ruble goes above the pre-war level after falling as low as 150 rubles per US dollar in early March. (Bloomberg)
- 2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus
Disasters and accidents
- Eight people are killed and three more injured during an explosion at a bar in a military camp in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The causes of the blast are unknown. (Reuters)
- Around two million people in Puerto Rico are left without electricity after a fire occurs at one of the island's largest power plants. (The Washington Post)
- A DHL Boeing 757-200 cargo plane breaks into two parts after making an emergency landing at the Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, Costa Rica. No one is injured. (Reuters)
- At least 11 people are killed and a dozen injured in a landslide in Abriaquí muncipality, Colombia. (CNN)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus
- COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan
- Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Kazakhstan will lift their COVID-19 travel restrictions at the country's borders with Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan. (Astana Times)
- Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tests positive for COVID-19. (The New York Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
International relations
- 2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations
- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says that Minsk should be included in negotiations aimed at ending the war. (The Moscow Times)
- International reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly votes to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, with 93 votes in favor, 24 against and 58 abstentions. Russia is the second country to be suspended from the council, after Libya in 2011 during the final year of Muammar Gaddafi's rule. (CNN)
Law and crime
- War crimes in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Former German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and former Interior Minister Gerhart Baum file a complaint with German federal prosecutors accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin, all 32 members of the Security Council of Russia, and members of the Russian Armed Forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine. (ABC News)
- An unknown assailant throws acetone and red paint at Russian Nobel Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov as he traveled on a Moscow–Samara train, injuring him. A motive for the attack is unknown, but it is suspected to be a possible reaction to Muratov's opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2022 Peruvian protests
- The government of Pedro Castillo announces that they have deployed the Peruvian Army to highways amid protests against inflation in the country. (Reuters)
- Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed for the Supreme Court of the United States, following a 53–47 vote by the Senate. Jackson is the first black woman to be confirmed for this position and will replace justice Stephen Breyer after he retires in the court's summer session. (The New York Times)
- President of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns from office, dismisses vice president Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and transfers both office's powers to the newly formed eight member Presidential Leadership Council chaired by Rashad al-Alimi.(BBC)
Science and technology
- It is announced that over 5,000 new species of previously undiscovered RNA viruses were found in ocean-living organisms and proposed to group them into five new phyla, according to a paper published in Science. (The Independent)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russo-Ukrainian War
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine offensive
- Battle of Sievierodonetsk
- Russian forces shell Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, setting ten high-rise buildings on fire. (The Guardian)
- Four civilians are reported to have been killed by the Russian military in Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast. (Reuters)
- Battle of Sievierodonetsk
- 2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations
- Russia says it will end their invasion if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agrees to conditions set during negotiations, specifically a legal guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO by changing the Ukrainian constitution to include such a provision. Russia also says it suspended operations in Kyiv as a "goodwill gesture" in order to promote peace talks. (Hindustan Times)
- Eastern Ukraine offensive
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Afghanistan conflict
- A hand grenade is thrown into the Pul-e Khishti Mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least one and injuring five people. (La Prensa Latina) (Deutsche Welle)
- Iraqi conflict
- Three missiles land near an oil refinery in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. Two American security personnel are injured. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Four Europeans go missing after a diving trip off the coast of Mersing, in the Johor state of Malaysia. Authorities say that a searching operation is ongoing and one person has since been rescued. (The Guardian) (ABC News)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
- U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo test positive for COVID-19 after attending the Gridiron Club's annual dinner in Washington, D.C.. Several other attendees also tested positive. (NBC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
Law and crime
- A man dies after ramming his vehicle into the fence of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, Romania and setting himself on fire. (Gazeta de Cluj) (Reuters)
- Former President of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaoré is found guilty of complicity in the murder of the country's first president, Thomas Sankara, and is sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment. Compaoré has been in exile in Ivory Coast ever since resigning to the presidency following the 2014 Burkina Faso uprising. (The Guardian)
- Poland arrests two Belarusian citizens on charges of spying for Minsk. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2019–2022 Sudanese protests
- A protester is shot dead as security forces confront anti-coup demonstrations in the state of Khartoum, Sudan. (Reuters)
- The governing coalition of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett loses its majority in the Knesset after coalition whip Idit Silman of the Yamina party defects to the opposition Likud party, raising the possibility of new elections in Israel for the fifth time in four years. (Axios)
Sports
- 2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus
- It is announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be banned from participating in the 2022 Boston Marathon due to the invasion. (Boston.com)