Portal:Current events/2022 March 17

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
      • British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announces that the UK is deploying a Sky Sabre air defence system to Poland, and 100 troops to operate it as part of NATO's response to Russian military aggression. (Sky News)
    • Panama's maritime authority states that Russia has attacked three Panamanian-flagged civil vessels in the Black Sea since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, causing one of the ships to sink. No deaths have been reported. (Reuters)
    • According to Ukrainian intelligence information, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pledges to supply Russia with 40,000 mercenaries. (The Jerusalem Post)

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus
    • Steam announces that they will stop payments to Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. (PCMag)
  • The U.S. House of Representatives votes 424–8 to suspend trade relations with Russia and Belarus following the invasion. (NBC News)
• P&O sacking of 800 staff
  • DP World-owned shipping company P&O Ferries fires all 800 crew members across its entire fleet of ferries and replaces them with cheaper agency workers who were bussed in by the company in advance. Many crew members refuse to leave their ships after being made redundant and are forcibly removed. (BBC News)
• Amazon agrees to purchase American film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for US$8.5 billion. (Variety)

Disasters and accidents

• An Emirati-flagged ship sinks off the Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf due to winds exceeding 70 km/h. (IRIBNEWS)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • COVID-19 vaccination in India
        • India begins to administering its COVID-19 vaccination rollout for children aged 12 to 14 years using its homegrown Corbevax COVID-19 vaccine. (Nikkei Asia)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
      • South Korea reports a record 621,328 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. (Yonhap)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    • Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
      • Canada announces that they will end their COVID-19 testing requirements for vaccinated travelers on April 1. (The Buffalo News)
    • COVID-19 vaccination in Canada
      • Health Canada approves the usage of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 6 and 11 years. (CP24)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 drug development
    • The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approves the use of antibody-based treatment to preventing infections in adults with poor immune response Evushield developed by AstraZeneca. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin orders the Federal Security Service to arrest Rosgvardiya Deputy Chief General Roman Gavrilov. (Euroweekly News)
• Pardon of Alberto Fujimori
  • The Constitutional Court of Peru restores a humanitarian pardon for former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder and corruption, previously reversed by the Supreme Court three years before. (The Guardian)
• The Bulgarian Interior Ministry says that former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has been detained by police amid a probe into corruption and the alleged misuse of European Union funds. Former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov is also arrested as part of the operation. (Reuters)