Portal:Current events
Topics in the news
- The World Baseball Classic concludes with Japan defeating the United States for the championship (MVP Shohei Ohtani pictured).
- Swiss bank UBS announces its intention to acquire its competitor Credit Suisse in a government-brokered deal.
- The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for the abduction of children from Ukraine.
- At the Academy Awards, Everything Everywhere All at Once wins seven awards, including Best Picture.
March 23, 2023
(Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Mohammed Abbkr, 28, is charged with attempting to murder two elderly men in the United Kingdom, setting them on fire on 27 February and 20 March while leaving mosques in London and Birmingham. (Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
- Premiership of Narendra Modi
- Indian politician Rahul Gandhi is sentenced to two years in prison for defamation for asking in a 2019 speech: "Why do all these thieves have Modi as their surname? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi." (BBC)
March 22, 2023
(Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Zaporizhzhia residential building airstrikes
- A Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the city of Zaporizhzhia kills a civilian and injures 25 others. (AP)
- A Russian drone strike in Rzhyshchiv kills at least nine civilians. (Reuters)
- Zaporizhzhia residential building airstrikes
- Attacks on civilians in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Yemeni Civil War
- Ten Yemeni soldiers are killed by Houthi Islamists in Harib District, Marib Governorate, despite a truce reached between the government and the rebels on Monday. (AFP via France 24)
Politics and elections
- 2023 vote of no confidence in the government of Pedro Sánchez
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government survives a second vote of no confidence presented by far-right party Vox with independent Ramón Tamames as its candidate. (El Periódico)
Science and technology
- Argentine mathematician Luis Caffarelli wins this year’s Abel Prize "for his seminal contributions to regularity theory for nonlinear partial differential equations including free-boundary problems and the Monge–Ampère equation". He becomes the first Latin American to win this prize. (The Guardian)
March 21, 2023
(Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia–United Kingdom relations
- The United Kingdom confirms that it will provide Ukraine with depleted uranium armour-piercing shells, alongside its Challenger 2 main battle tanks, saying that there is a "low risk" of radiation contamination. Russian president Vladimir Putin says Russia would be "forced to react" to the British move. (BBC News) (BBC News)
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia–United Kingdom relations
- Somali Civil War
- The Somali National Army and pro-government militants kill 30 al-Shabaab jihadists and injure many others while defending a military base in the south of the country. (Xinhua)
- 2018–2023 Haitian crisis
- The United Nations reports that 187 people have been killed in a wave of violence in Haiti in the past eleven days during clashes between gangs. Since the beginning of the year, 531 people have been murdered in the country. (AP) (France24)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Badakhshan earthquake
- An earthquake strikes Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province, killing at least 19 people and injuring over 300. Nine deaths are in neighboring Pakistan. (BBC News)
Health and environment
- Tanzania reports that five people have died from an outbreak of Marburg virus. The Health Ministry added that three others are being treated and that 161 people are being tracked by authorities, although the ministry stated that this is not of serious concern for the country. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
Law and crime
- LGBT rights in Uganda
- The parliament of Uganda approves a bill with harsher provisions against homosexual relationships. The bill includes the charges of "aggravated homosexuality" and "attempted homosexuality" with sentences of up to 10 years in prison. (AP)
March 20, 2023
(Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- The European Union approves a €2 billion plan to supply 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine. (The Washington Post) (Kyiv Post)
- Southern Ukraine campaign
- Ukraine's Ministry of Defence says that a Russian shipment of Kalibr cruise missiles was blown up as it was being transported by rail in Dzhankoi, Crimea. At least one person is reportedly injured. (Reuters)
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
Arts and culture
- Scientists discover ruins of a pearling town near Umm Al Quwain, United Arab Emirates. The town is considered to be the oldest ever found in the country, dating back to the 6th century. (Khaleej Times)
International relations
- China–Russia relations
- 2023 visit by Xi Jinping to Russia
- Chinese president Xi Jinping visits Russia in his first international trip since being re-elected, meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow. (Reuters)
- 2023 visit by Xi Jinping to Russia
- North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- North Korea conducts drills simulating a nuclear counterattack in response to joint amphibious landing exercises by the United States and South Korea. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- War crimes in Afghanistan
- Brereton Report
- A 41-year-old Australian former soldier is arrested and charged with the murder of an Afghan man while he was deployed in Afghanistan, becoming the first Australian military member to be charged following the release of the report. (CNN)
- Brereton Report
- XXXTentacion murder trial
- Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams are found guilty of first-degree murder for the 2018 shooting of rapper XXXTentacion. (The New York Times)
- More than 100 Sikh separatists are arrested during a three-day hunt by police in Punjab, India. The group's leader Amritpal Singh is still wanted. (Al Jazeera)
- South Africa prepares for a "nationwide shutdown" as the military is deployed ahead of protests by the Economic Freedom Fighters. (The Independent)
- The British government bans far-right Danish activist Rasmus Paludan from entering the United Kingdom over a threat to burn a Quran in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. (BBC News)
- Explosive devices disguised as USB flash drives are sent to least five news organizations in Ecuador; one journalist at Ecuavisa in Guayaquil suffers minor injuries. (The Guardian)
March 19, 2023
(Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Central African Republic Civil War
- Nine Chinese nationals are killed and two others are injured when suspected rebels storm the Chinese-run Chimbolo gold mine in Ouaka, Central African Republic. (AP)
Business and economy
- Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS
- UBS Group AG, supported by the Swiss government, reaches a deal to merge with Credit Suisse as the latter faces imminent insolvency. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- At least 19 people are killed and 25 others are injured when their bus falls into a ditch in Madaripur District, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. (WION)
Politics and elections
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian president Vladimir Putin visits Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, in Russian-occupied Ukraine, for the first time since the invasion began. (AP)
- 2023 Montenegrin presidential election
- Incumbent president Milo Đukanović wins the first round and will face Jakov Milatović in the runoff on 2 April. (Reuters)
- 2023 Kazakh legislative election
March 18, 2023
(Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian forces shell Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, with cluster munitions, killing at least two civilians and injuring five others. (Ukrinform)
- Attacks on civilians in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Guayas earthquake
- A 6.8 earthquake strikes the Ecuadorian province of Guayas, damaging buildings, killing at least 18 people, including two in neighboring Peru, and injuring over 400. (The Guardian)
Law and crime
- Shah Cheragh attack
- A court in Iran sentences two men to death over the October 2022 mass shooting at the Shah Cheragh mosque in Shiraz, which killed 15 people. (Al Arabiya)
March 17, 2023
(Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- Slovakia announces that it will donate its MiG-29 fighter jets, and supply part of its Kub air-defense system to Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- Islamic State–Taliban conflict
- The Taliban kill several Islamic State – Khorasan Province insurgents and seize weapons and ammunitions during raids at hideouts in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province. (Xinhua)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Turkish floods
- Fourteen people are killed and at least 12 others are injured by a roof collapse at a cold storage warehouse in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, India. (Metro)
- Ten people are killed and three others are injured by a house fire in Kohistan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)
International relations
- Enlargement of NATO
- Finland–Turkey relations
- Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces that Turkey will begin the process of ratifying Finland's membership of NATO without Sweden, which Turkey accuses of supporting the PKK. (Yle)
- Finland–Hungary relations
- Hungary announces that a vote on Finland's membership application will take place on March 27. Fidesz parlimentary group leader Máté Kocsis says that Sweden's application will be considered at a later date. (AFP via Barron's)
- Finland–Turkey relations
Law and crime
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- ICC arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova
- The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, presidential commissioner for children's rights, for alleged war crimes involving the abduction and forced adoption of children from Ukraine. (AP)
- ICC arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova
Science and technology
- Censorship of TikTok, Internet censorship in New Zealand
- New Zealand bans the use of Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok on all government devices. (The Guardian)
Discover Wikipedia using portals