Portal:Current events
Topics in the news
- A tornado outbreak in Mississippi and Alabama, United States, leaves at least 25 people dead.
- The World Baseball Classic concludes with Japan defeating the United States for the championship (MVP Shohei Ohtani pictured).
- An earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan kills at least 30 people and injures more than 380 others.
- 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.
March 28, 2023
(Tuesday)
March 27, 2023
(Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian missile strike on Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast, kills at least two civilians and injures 29 others. (The Wall Street Journal)
- The head of the Blagodarnensky District in Stavropol Krai, Russia, announces the death of Dmitry Lissitzky, commander of a battalion of the 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment who gained infamy in the 2014 Battle of Ilovaisk. Ukraine says he was killed in battle while pro-Russian sources say he committed suicide. (Novaya Gazeta Europe)
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Afghanistan conflict
- Six people are killed and several others injured when a suicide bomber detonates himself near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
- At least 16 people are killed by a landslide at a village in Alausí, Chimborazo Province, Ecuador. (BBC News)
International relations
- Enlargement of NATO
- The National Assembly of Hungary votes 182–6 to approve Finland's accession to NATO, leaving Turkey as the last remaining NATO member to approve Finland's membership of the military alliance. (France 24)
- Foreign relations of Taiwan
- Cross-Strait relations
- Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou becomes the first Taiwanese leader to visit mainland China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, when he met with China's Taiwan Affairs Office deputy chair Chen Yuanfeng in Shanghai. Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party criticized this visit as "endorsing" China's position on Taiwan. (Al Jazeera)
- Honduran President Xiomara Castro orders Taiwanese diplomats to vacate the country's embassy in Tegucigalpa within 30 days, a day after establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. (Reuters)
- Cross-Strait relations
Law and crime
- 2023 Covenant School shooting
- A woman kills six people at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, before being killed by police. (CNN)
- Burkina Faso suspends France 24 broadcasts after the news agency aired an interview with the leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb earlier this month. The Burkinabé government accused France 24 of being a "mouthpiece for terrorists" and "hate speech", which the agency denied as "unfounded". (Reuters)
- One person is killed and five others are injured during a mass stabbing at a school in São Paulo, Brazil. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Israeli anti-judicial reform protests
- Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces a pause on his government’s controversial judicial reform bill until April 30, the opening of the Knesset’s summer session. (USA Today)
- 2023 Scottish National Party leadership election
- Health and Social Care Secretary Humza Yousaf is elected as the new leader of the separatist Scottish National Party, defeating Finance Secretary Kate Forbes with 52.1% of the vote. (BBC News)
- The Iraqi Parliament passes 206–13 a series of amendments that lowered the number of electoral districts in each governorate to one ahead of local elections in November. Various voting blocs and independent members claim that theh are designed to make it more difficult for the opposition to get elected to the legislature, and they boycotted the vote. (Al Jazeera)
Science and technology
- Censorship of TikTok, Censorship of Twitter
- France bans the use of Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and other apps on government employees’ phones due to concerns relating to insufficient data security measures. (AP News)
March 26, 2023
(Sunday)
Disasters and accidents
- Mediterranean Sea migrant smuggling
- At least 29 sub-Saharan Africans are killed when two boats sink off the coast of Tunisia. (France 24)
- Tornado outbreak of March 24–26, 2023
- U.S. President Joe Biden approves an emergency declaration for the state of Mississippi following a storm that killed at least 26 people and caused significant damage, granting federal aid to affected areas of the state. Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe, and Sharkey counties will be the main recipients. (Reuters)
- Two people are killed and another is missing after a fire breaks out on an oil tanker ship near West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. (Reuters)
Health and environment
- A pipeline leak causes an oil spill at Poole Harbour in Dorset, England, in which more than 200 barrels of reservoir fluids, including oil, leak into a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The RSPB reported sightings of oiled birds. (BBC News)
International relations
- China–Honduras relations
- Honduras switches its formal diplomatic recognition of "China" from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Cuban parliamentary election
- Citizens in Cuba head to the polls to elect the members of the National Assembly. (Bloomberg via Yahoo! News)
- 2023 Turkmen parliamentary election
- Citizens in Turkmenistan head to the polls to elect the 125 members of the Assembly. (MenaFN)
- 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after Gallant called on the government to pause discussions on a controversial judicial reform bill. (MSN)
March 25, 2023
(Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Yemeni Civil War
- Three Yemeni soldiers are killed and several others are injured by a Houthi drone attack on a convoy carrying government officials, including Yemen's defense minister. (Xinhua)
Disasters and accidents
- Pokhran missile incident
- Three surface-to-air missiles are misfired by the Indian Army during an exercise in the Pokhran ranges in the western Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, India. There are no reports of damage or casualties. (Dawn)
- Tornado outbreak of March 24–25, 2023
- A deadly tornado outbreak hits Mississippi, United States, killing at least 26 people, devastating several rural towns, and prompting Governor Tate Reeves to declare a state of emergency, while President Joe Biden promises federal assistance. (BBC News)
- Three people are killed by heavy snow and rainfall in Afghanistan. (AP)
- One person is killed and three others are injured in a train crash at Galați railway station in Romania. (Digi24)
International relations
- Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- 2022–2023 blockade of the Republic of Artsakh
- The Ministry of Defence in Russia accuses Azerbaijan of violating the 2020 ceasefire agreement after a unit of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces crosses the Line of Contact in Shushi Province, Artsakh, and seizes control of dirt roads near the Lachin corridor. (France 24)
- 2022–2023 blockade of the Republic of Artsakh
- Russia and weapons of mass destruction, Belarus–Russia relations
- Russian President Vladimir Putin announces that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by July. The nuclear missiles will be operated by Russian forces. It will be the first time that Russian nuclear weapons have been deployed abroad since 1996. (BBC News) (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, says that more than 5,000 prisoners have been pardoned following the completion of their contracts in Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Corruption in Venezuela
- Twenty-one Venezuelan government officials and businessmen are arrested in an anti-corruption probe targeting state oil company PDVSA and cryptocurrency regulator Sunacrip. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2023 New South Wales state election
- Labor is declared the winner after Chris Minns wins at least 47 seats. Premier Dominic Perrottet concedes defeat and resigns as Liberal leader. (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
Science and technology
- Asteroid 2023 DZ2 makes a close pass between the Earth and the Moon. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- The einstein problem is solved by a single shape that tiles a plane without repeating. (Science News) (New Scientist)
March 24, 2023
(Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war
- 2023 Syria clashes
- A rocket attack targets a U.S. military base in Syria in retaliation for retaliatory airstrikes from the United States hours earlier. No damages or casualties are reported. (Al Arabiya)
- Fifteen people are killed and 40 others are kidnapped in Hama Governorate during an ambush on truffle hunters by Islamic State members. (UCA News)
- 2023 Syria clashes
Disasters and accidents
- Tornado outbreak of March 24, 2023
- At least 23 people are killed after a series of violent tornadoes impact the U.S. state of Mississippi. (BBC News)
- 2023 Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion
- Seven people are killed and many others are injured after an explosion at a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. (The Guardian)
- Illegal immigration to the United States
- Twelve people are injured and 30 houses were damaged by a tornado in Fazilka district, Punjab, India. (Devdiscourse)
Law and crime
- Assassination of Jovenel Moïse
- A dual Haitian-Chilean citizen pleads guilty to three murder-related charges in a court in the United States over his role in the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse. (Reuters)
- 2019 Samoa assassination plot
- Two men are found guilty of conspiring to kill the former Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi after a trial before the country's Supreme Court. (RNZ)
March 23, 2023
(Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war
- 2023 Syria clashes
- A United States contractor is killed and five others are injured when a drone hits a U.S. base near Al-Hasakah in northern Syria. The United States responds with airstrikes on Iranian-linked targets, killing eleven people. (Al Jazeera)
- 2023 Syria clashes
- Armed conflict for control of the favelas in Greater Rio de Janeiro
- A police raid in a favela in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, results in the deaths of 13 people and the capture of two Comando Vermelho gang leaders from the northern states of Pará and Sergipe. (Barron's)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Tunisia migrant boat disaster
- Five people are killed when migrant boats sink off the coast of Sfax, Tunisia. (Reuters)
Health and environment
- Equatorial Guinea confirms eight new cases of the Marburg virus, bringing the total cases to nine in the country. (AP)
Law and crime
- 2023 French pension reform strikes
- Riots occur across France a day after President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech on pension reform. The entrance to City Hall in Bordeaux is set on fire. (Le Monde)
- Freedom of expression in India
- Former Indian National Congress president Rahul Gandhi is sentenced to two years in prison for defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a campaign rally in April 2019. (BBC News)
- A 28-year-old Muslim man is charged by West Midlands Police with attempted murder for immolating two elderly Muslim men outside of mosques in London and Birmingham, United Kingdom, on 27 February and 20 March. (Al Jazeera)
Science and technology
- The world's first rocket made by extensive 3D printing, Terran 1, makes its first launch but fails to reach orbit. (NYT)
Sports
- World Athletics bans trans women who have gone through male puberty from competing in female events. (BBC Sport)
March 22, 2023
(Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the 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 and injures 29 others. (Yahoo)
- Zaporizhzhia residential building airstrikes
- Attacks on civilians in the 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)
- Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
- Ten volunteers and four Burkina Faso Armed Forces soldiers are killed during an ambush in Centre-Nord Region, Burkina Faso. Twenty attackers are killed. (France24)
Disasters and accidents
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)
- American engineer Robert Metcalfe wins this year's Turing Award for the invention of Ethernet. (Reuters)
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