Portal:Current events/April 2023

Business and economy

• In India, a new income tax law comes into effect. It is a significant change on the old 1961 statute, and contains a controversial "angel tax" provision seeking to capture some of the income entering the country from foreign investors funding India's start-ups. (Bloomberg Tax)

Disasters and accidents

• Tornado outbreak of March 31 – April 1, 2023
  • The toll from yesterday's tornado outbreak rises to 32 people dead and at least 90 injuries, especially in the states of Arkansas and Illinois. (CNN)
• Two people are killed and another is injured after a hot air balloon catches fire near Teotihuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico. (AP)

International relations

• Russia assumes the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council as part of the standard monthly rotation among the council's 15 members. (BBC News)

Science and technology

• Professor Alan Jamieson of the University of Western Australia's Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre announces that his team has captured footage of a snailfish species, Pseudoliparis belyaevi, swimming at 8,336 metres (27,349 ft) in the Izu–Ogasawara Trench off Japan's southern coast. This is the lowest depth recorded for any fish, and closest to the estimated maximum depth possible for fish to survive. (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2022–2023 Western Russia attacks
    • 2023 Saint Petersburg bombing
      • Russian pro-government war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky is killed by a bombing at a café in Saint Petersburg owned by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. Sixteen others are injured. (TASS)
  • Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Russian forces shell Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, killing six civilians and injuring eight others, according to the Ukrainian government. (Reuters)
• Kivu conflict
  • South Sudanese troops arrive in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, becoming the fourth country to join a coalition of peacekeeping missions to fight insurgencies. (Xinhua)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 21 people are dead and others are missing after a landslide in the locality of Bolowa (Bulwa village/Masisi Territory), North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. (Al Jazeera)
• Fifteen people are killed after two Gold pits are flooded in Cibitoke Province, Burundi. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Andorran parliamentary election
  • Andorrans head to the polls to elect the 28 members of the parliament. (elPeriódico)
• 2023 Bulgarian parliamentary election
  • Bulgarians head to the polls to elect the 240 members of the parliament. Exit polls show former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's party GERB narrowly defeating former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov's party We Continue the Change by 0.2%. (DW)
• 2023 Finnish parliamentary election
  • Finns head to the polls to elect the 200 members of the parliament. Centre-right National Coalition Party wins the most votes at 20.7%, while the ruling Social Democratic Party places third with 19.9%. (Euronews 1) (Euronews 2)
• 2023 Montenegrin presidential election
  • Former economic minister Jakov Milatović defeats incumbent Milo Đukanović to become the new President of Montenegro, with 60.1% of the vote. (Reuters)
• 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries
  • Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announces his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election during an interview with ABC News. (ABC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Battle of Bakhmut
    • Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, claims "legal control" of Bakhmut, although Ukraine denies this, stating that its troops continue to remain in the city's western districts. (CNBC)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • A Lions' Den militant and a Fatah member are killed during a raid by Israeli soldiers in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank. Two other Palestinians are arrested and dozens more are hospitalized due to tear gas. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

• 2021–2023 inflation surge
  • Brent crude oil prices increase by $4.30 to $84.19 per barrel after OPEC announces an unexpected reduction in the output of oil exports by about 1.16 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil prices increase by $4.17 to $79.84 per barrel in response to the announcement. (Al Jazeera)
• Acquisition of WWE by Endeavor
  • Endeavor Group Holdings, owners of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), announce that they will acquire World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in a deal estimated to be worth US$9.3 billion. The two entities will be merged and spun off, with Endeavor controlling 51% of the combined company, and WWE shareholders controlling the remaining 49%. (CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Papua New Guinea earthquake
  • A 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, killing eight people, injuring several others, and causing damage. (Papua New Guinea Today)
• A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes Kamchatka Krai, Russia, with damage reported in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The Mutnovskaya Power Station is also temporarily shut down. (KAM24)
• Four people are injured in a fire at a hospital in Berlin, Germany. One person has been arrested on suspicion of arson. (AP)
• Six people are killed and 64 others are missing after a boat capsizes in the Lake Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)

International relations

• Armenia–Russia relations
  • Russia announces a ban on Armenian dairy imports amid a continued worsening of relations between the two countries. (Eurasianet)

Science and technology

• Artemis 2
  • NASA announces the four members of Artemis 2, the first crewed mission of the Artemis program which will send astronauts to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17: Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, and Victor J. Glover. (The New York Times)
• The National Hurricane Center releases a report announcing that Hurricane Ian, which made landfall last year in most of southwest Florida, has been reanalyzed and recategorized as a Category 5 hurricane. (The Washington Post)

Sports

• 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
  • In basketball, the UConn Huskies rout the San Diego State Aztecs 76–59 to win the championship, making it the fifth national championship for the Huskies. (ESPN)
• 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup
  • Peru is removed as a host for the FIFA U-17 World Cup after failing to meet the requirements for staging the tournament. (AP)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • Israel's role in the Syrian civil war
    • The Israeli Air Force launches airstrikes near Damascus, killing two civilians, according to Syrian state media. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that an "unknown number" of Iran-backed militants were also killed in the strikes, which targeted a counter-battery radar in As-Suwayda Governorate, and a glass factory in al-Kiswah, Rif Dimashq Governorate. (France 24)
• War against the Islamic State
  • United States Central Command says that U.S. forces killed senior Islamic State leader Khalid 'Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, who was allegedly planning attacks in Europe during Easter, in an overnight raid in rebel-held northwest Syria. The U.S. also says that there were no civilian casualties in the raid. (Reuters)
• Islamic State–Taliban conflict
  • Six Islamic State members are killed during a raid by the Taliban in Balkh Province, Afghanistan. (Al Arabiya)

Business and economy

• Satellite launch service provider Virgin Orbit files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after failing to secure long-term funding. The California-based company announces that it will layoff 85% of its workforce. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Voorschoten train crash
  • One person is killed and 50 others are injured, nineteen of them hospitalized, when a train derails in Voorschoten, South Holland, Netherlands. (BBC News)
• Seven people are killed and eleven others are injured in an avalanche in Nathu La, Sikkim, India. (AP)

International relations

• Enlargement of NATO
  • Finland–NATO relations
    • Finland officially joins NATO, becoming the 31st member of the military alliance and expanding NATO's border with Russia by 1,300 kilometres (810 mi). (Time) (BBC News)
• China–India relations
  • Sino-Indian border dispute
    • The Ministry of Civil Affairs of China standardizes the names of 11 places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in a renewed attempt to assert Chinese territorial claim over the state. (Times of India)

Law and crime

• Legal affairs of Donald Trump
  • Indictment of Donald Trump
    • Former U.S. President Donald Trump pleads not guilty to falsifying business records and to making a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels at a Manhattan court. (CBS News) (The Independent)
    • Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg formally announces the indictment of Trump. (Bronx Daily)
• A court in the United Kingdom rules that the High Court of Justice has no jurisdiction over a lawsuit presented by a creditor against Cuba and Cuba's Central Bank over unpaid loans from the 1980s. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Peruvian political crisis
  • Peruvian protests
    • The Congress of Peru votes against the petition of impeachment of President Dina Boluarte over the alleged killings of protesters during the ongoing protests, amid a worsening volatility in the country's politics. (Reuters)
• 2023 Chicago mayoral election
  • Brandon Johnson wins a runoff election for mayor of Chicago. (Politico)

Science and technology

• The United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fines TikTok £12.7m for "failing to protect the privacy of children" on the online video platform. It is one of the largest fines ever issued by the ICO. (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • 2023 Al-Aqsa clashes
    • Israeli police storm Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in response to rioting, injuring seven Palestinians and resulting in clashes in the West Bank and in Gaza, where nine rockets were launched. (Arab News)

Disasters and accidents

• Tornadoes of 2023
  • At least five people are killed and many others are injured when a tornado strikes Glen Allen and Marble Hill, Missouri, United States. (ABC News) (The New York Times)
• Five people are killed when a helicopter crashes near Hạ Long Bay, Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. (Vietnam Plus)
• An international human development agency says that 13 Jiye/Jie people have died from conditions related to famine in Kapoeta, South Sudan, while hundreds of others are on the verge of starvation. (AP)

International relations

• Foreign visits by Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes an official visit to Poland. During his meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Zelenskyy receives the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest order. (Reuters) (European Pravda)
• Taiwan–United States relations
  • President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen meets with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, despite Chinese diplomatic pressure in response to the meeting. (AP)

Law and crime

• Blumenau school attack
  • Four children are killed and four others are injured in a hatchet attack at a kindergarten in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil. (BBC News)

Science and technology

• Discoveries of exoplanets
  • Scientists discover bursts of radiation in radio wavelengths on the exoplanet YZ Ceti b, which is part of the YZ Ceti system. The studies are published in the Nature Astronomy journal. (The Jerusalem Post)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations
    • Deputy leader Andrii Sybiha says that Ukraine is willing to hold talks on the future of Crimea if a Ukrainian counter-offensive reaches the Crimean administrative border. (The Guardian)
• 2023 Israel–Lebanon shellings
  • At least 34 rockets are fired, four of which landed, from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel, injuring three people. Israel later fires artillery toward two Lebanese villages and the Gaza Strip, wounding a Palestinian child. (MENAFN)
• Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
  • Kourakou and Tondobi attacks
    • At least 44 people are killed by jihadists in two villages in Séno Province, Sahel Region, Burkina Faso. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Canada ice storm
  • Two people are killed and over a million people are without power after an ice storm strikes Ontario and Quebec, Canada. (Reuters)
• 2023 Miyakojima helicopter crash
  • The Japanese Coast Guard reports the crashing of a Black Hawk military helicopter carrying ten crew members near Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• The Gambia confirms a case of bird flu. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• The International Court of Justice rules that the case of territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over Guayana Esequiba can proceed. Guyanese president Irfaan Ali welcomes the decision and commits Guyana to solve the dispute peacefully. Venezuela had earlier rejected the ruling, alleging that the case cannot be heard without the involvement of the United Kingdom, Guyana's former colonial power. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Tennessee House of Representatives expulsions
  • Two Democratic lawmakers are expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives for participating in pro-gun control protests following the Covenant School shooting. (The Washington Post)

Sports

• 2023 Women's Finalissima
  • In association football, England defeat Brazil 4–2 on penalties. (UEFA)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • 2023 Tel Aviv car-ramming
    • An Italian tourist is killed and six Britons and Italians are injured in a vehicle-ramming attack in Tel Aviv, Israel. The perpetrator is shot dead by police. (BBC News)
  • Murders of Lucy, Maia and Rina Dee
    • Three British Israelis are killed in a drive-by shooting near the Hamra settlement in the West Bank. (AP)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Battle of Bakhmut
    • The UK defence ministry says that Russian forces have captured the Bakhmutka river west banks, endangering Ukrainian supply lines. (Reuters)
• Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
  • Twenty people are killed after Islamic State members storm a village in Musandaba, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (WION)
• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • Pakistan arrests the founder of the Baloch Nationalist Army in the country's southwest. (AP via The Washington Post)

Law and crime

• Murder of Luca Attanasio
  • A court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sentences six men to life in prison for the assassination of Italian envoy Luca Attanasio in February 2021. (Reuters)
• After being arrested in Russia, American journalist Evan Gershkovich is charged with espionage. (Tagesschau)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • 2023 Khyber blast
    • Two soldiers are killed after their vehicle hits a roadside bomb in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. In a separate incident, a police officer is killed and two more injured during a grenade attack in Swabi. The Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for both attacks. (Associated Press)

Disasters and accidents

• At least ten people are killed in Migori, Kenya, when a truck loses control and crashes into pedestrians. (Pulse)

International relations

• Chad expels German ambassador Gordon Kricke after he criticises the government delaying the 2024 election. (Deutschlandfunk) (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• 2023 Pentagon document leaks
  • Two sets of classified documents of the United States relating to the Russo-Ukrainian War are leaked online. The leaks also include intelligence that the United States holds on other nations, including North Korea, China, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. (CNN)
  • The documents are compiled from multiple sources, including the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the State Department. (CNN)
• Police in Iran announce the installment of cameras in public places to identify and penalize women who do not observe dressing codes for hijabs, while also urging citizens to confront women who are not sufficiently covered. (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line incidents during the Syrian civil war
    • Israel launches retaliatory airstrikes on Syrian territory after several rockets were launched toward the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. (The Guardian)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • A Russian missile strike on Zaporizhzhia destroys a residential building and damages dozens of other buildings, killing two civilians and injuring another. Russian attacks are also reported in other settlements, including Orikhiv and Huliaipole. (Reuters) (Anadolu Agency)
• Syrian civil war
  • Eight people are killed by a land mine planted by Islamic State in Deir ez-Zor, Syria. (Reuters)
• Five people are killed after a convoy is ambushed in Agadez Region, Niger. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Marseille building collapse
  • Six people are killed, two are missing and five more injured after a gas explosion causes two buildings to collapse in Marseille, France. (BBC News)
• Six people are killed and another is injured by an avalanche near Mount Blanc, in the French Alps. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Estonian parliamentary election
  • Three parties (Reform, E200 and Social Democrats), led by Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, agree to a new government coalition, five weeks after the parliamentary elections in Estonia. (AP)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • 2023 Kandahari Bazar bombing
    • Four people are killed and 15 others are injured when a motorcycle bomb targeting a police vehicle explodes in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • A 15-year-old Palestinian boy is killed by Israeli soldiers in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

• 2023 Rutgers University strike
  • The staff of Rutgers University vote to go on the first strike by academics in the school's 257-year history, affecting over 67,000 students in the U.S. state of New Jersey. (NPR)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 10 people are killed and 25 others are injured in a bus crash in the Department of Lima, Peru. (Xinhua)

Law and crime

• 2023 Pentagon document leaks
  • U.S. officials confirm that top secret U.S. government documents relating to the war in Ukraine have been leaked on social media, revealing details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities. The Pentagon refers the leak to the Department of Justice, which has opened a criminal investigation into the leak. (Reuters)
• 2023 Louisville shooting
  • Five people are killed and eight others are injured in a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The perpetrator, who livestreamed the attack on Instagram, is also killed. (The New York Times)
• A people's court in Linshu County, Shandong, China, sentences prominent human rights and democracy activists Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi to 14 and 12 years in prison, respectively, for subverting state power. (The Guardian) (South China Morning Post)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests
  • Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reverses his decision to dismiss defense minister Yoav Gallant, after the latter had spoken out against the government's controversial judicial reform proposal. (Spiegel)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Myanmar civil war
  • Pazigyi massacre
    • At least 100 people are killed in an airstrike by the military junta in the village of Pazigyi, Kanbalu Township, Sagaing, in the third major attack against civilians since the junta's offensive in Sagaing began in February. It is the junta's deadliest attack since seizing power in 2021. (The New York Times)
• Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis
  • Fighting occurs near the Armenian village of Tegh, resulting in the deaths of four Armenian and three Azerbaijani soldiers. (Associated Press)
• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • Four police personnel and a terrorist are killed in an exchange of fire during a police operation in Kuchlak, Balochistan, Pakistan. (GNN)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • A Palestinian National Security Forces member and another Palestinian man are killed by Israeli soldiers in Elon Moreh, West Bank. (Al Jazeera)
• Republican insurgency in Afghanistan
  • The Taliban say that the 313 Central Corps carried out an operation in Parwan Province, killing eight rebels, including a commander, of the National Resistance Front. (Arab News)

Arts and culture

• Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that Jews will be prohibited from visiting the Temple Mount for the remainder of Ramadan, following raids by Israeli forces on the al-Aqsa Mosque last week. National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir condemns the decision. (Al-Monitor)

Disasters and accidents

• Richmond, Indiana facility fire
  • A massive fire at a recycling plant in Richmond, Indiana, sends plumes of toxic smoke into the air and forces the evacuation of about 2,000 people in a half-mile radius of the fire. (CNN)
• The Shiveluch volcano in the Russian Far East erupts, sending ash up to 20 kilometres (12 mi) into the air. (DW)
• Hundreds of residents of Gangneung, South Korea, are forced to evacuate and a person is killed as more than 2,300 firefighters combat a spreading wildfire. (AP)

Health and environment

• The World Health Organization reports the first death from H3N8 in a 56-year-old woman in Guangdong Province, China, who died March 16. The virus has been circulating since 2002, when it first appeared in North American waterfowl. (The Guardian)

International relations

• Germany expels the ambassador of Chad, Mariam Ali Moussa, in a tit-for-tat decision following the expulsion of the German ambassador from Chad last week. (Reuters)
• Sweden announces the indefinite closure of its embassy in Pakistan. (The Pakistan Daily)

Law and crime

• President of Malawi Lazarus Chakwera pardons 200 prisoners, including a former minister convicted of corruption. (NyasaTimes)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Indonesian general election, PRIMA v. KPU
  • The Jakarta High Court overturns a lower court's order to delay Indonesia's national elections for two years. (Reuters)

Sports

• 2022–23 NHL season
  • In ice hockey, the Boston Bruins break the NHL record for the most points scored in a single season with 133, surpassing the 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens. This comes two days after winning their 63rd game, surpassing the 2018–19 Tampa Bay Lightning and 1995–96 Detroit Red Wings for the most wins in a regular season. (CBS Sports) (ESPN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Mali war
  • The village of Tidermène is captured by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. (Defense Post)

Business and economy

• NPR announces that it will no longer use Twitter after the social media site labeled it and the BBC as "government-funded media". Shortly thereafter, Twitter CEO Elon Musk announces that the labelling of the BBC will be changed to "publicly-funded media". (BBC News) (CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

• Twenty-five people are killed and others are missing after a boat carrying migrants sinks off the coast of Tunisia. (Al Jazeera)

International relations

• Saudi Arabia–Syria relations
  • Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad meets with Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the first such visit between the two countries since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 in order to discuss the security situation in Syria and the return of Syrian refugees. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Drug liberalization
  • The Federal Ministers Karl Lauterbach and Cem Özdemir present key points on the partial legalisation of cannabis in Germany. (Taz)
• Bathinda military station firing
  • Four soldiers are killed in a mass shooting at a military base in Bathinda, Punjab, India. Authorities say that the shooting is not terror-related. (Al Jazeera)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • The European Council agrees to donate a billion euros worth of ammunition to Ukraine through an EU financing instrument. (Tagesschau)
    • The German government approves a request by Poland for the export of former GDR MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. (Tagesschau)
  • Battle of Bakhmut
    • In the battle of Bakhmut, Russian forces are able to reach the centre of the city, according to Ukrainian and Russian sources. (Spiegel)
• Myanmar civil war
  • Four people are killed and 12 others are injured by a series of car bombings during a Thingyan festival in Lashio, Shan State, Myanmar. (WION)
• The Sudanese government warns of a possible conflict after the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group mobilizes in several Sudanese cities. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• 2022–23 Australian region cyclone season
  • Cyclone Ilsa
    • Cyclone Ilsa makes landfall between De Grey and Pardoo Roadhouse in Western Australia, Australia, as a category five cyclone. (ABC News Australia)
• One person is killed and 34 others are injured after a tour bus crashes in Chungju, South Korea. (AP)
• Two people are killed after heavy rain causes flash flooding across Iran. (AP)

International relations

• Japan–North Korea relations
  • 2021–2023 North Korean missile tests
    • North Korea launches a ballistic missile towards northern Japan, prompting evacuation orders in Hokkaido, before the missile falls into the sea. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• 2023 Pentagon document leaks
  • The U.S. FBI arrests 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira for allegedly leaking government documents to a Discord gaming group. (NBC News)
• The Ugandan military kills notorious criminal Tom Lopusi, who led a massive jailbreak in Moroto District in September 2020. (Xinhua)
• A 38-year-old tech consultant from Emeryville, California, United States, is arrested for killing Cash App founder Bob Lee earlier this month. (BBC News)
• The Court of Appeal of the Republic of Moldova sentences the pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor to 15 years in prison in absentia. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• The parliament of Malawi approves a new defence act, expanding its Defence Force with the creation of a fourth service. (Nyasa Times)
• The government of Bolivia calls on the armed forces to tighten border controls in order to prevent the smuggling of state-subsidized fuel. (Reuters)

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 eight civilians and injures 21 others. (The New York Times)
• Yemeni civil war
  • A major prisoner swap of nearly 900 prisoners begins between rival factions in Yemen. (AFP via France 24)
• Mali War
  • The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara encircles the strategic town of Ménaka in Ménaka Region, Mali. (The Africa Report)
• Ituri conflict
  • At least 42 people are killed by suspected CODECO militants during a raid at a village in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Associated Press)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Tunisia migrant boat disasters
  • The death toll from a boat that sank off the coast of Tunisia increases to 33 after eight more bodies are found. (Reuters)
• One person is killed and 70 others are injured after a bridge collapses in Udhampur District, Jammu and Kashmir, India. (AP)
• At least four people are killed and thirteen others are injured after a fire breaks out in a shelter in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• Ghana becomes the first country to approve Oxford's malaria vaccine R21/Matrix-M. (Pharmaceutical Technology)

Law and crime

• LGBT rights in Tanzania, Capital punishment in Tanzania
  • Tanzanian members of parliament call on the government to tighten laws against homosexual sex with the death penalty. (The Citizen)
• Cannabis in Quebec
  • The Supreme Court of Canada upholds Quebec's provincial ban on homegrown cannabis despite a 2018 federal ruling which allowed small quantities of cannabis to be grown at home. (Reuters)
• Twelve people are killed after riots break out in a prison in Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• The United Kingdom's Department for Transport approves Ford Motor Company's hands-free driving vehicles on 2,300 miles (3,700 km) of motorways in England, Scotland and Wales. The UK becomes the first European country to approve hands-free driving technology on public roads. (BBC News)
• Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) to search for life in the Jovian system, with an expected arrival date of 2031. (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2019–2026 Sudanese transition to democracy
  • 2023 Sudan clashes
    • Battle of Khartoum
      • Fighting occurs across Sudan three days after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) mobilized. The RSF claims to have captured Khartoum International Airport and the presidential palace in Khartoum. At least 56 civilians are killed and 595 others are injured, with several military personnel and rebel forces also being killed. Several Egyptian troops are also taken prisoner by the RSF. (BBC News) (Al Jazeera) (Al Jazeera 2)
      • Chad closes its border with Sudan as heavy fighting continues between the Sudanese military and rebel forces. (Anadolu Agency)
      • Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Libya and Qatar suspend all planes from inside and outside of Sudan due to the ongoing conflicts and closure of several airports; airlines also fear attacks on their planes mainly in Khartoum. (Menafn) (Al Arabiya) (Libya Observer)
• Papua conflict
  • Rebels of the West Papua National Liberation Army kill nine Indonesian military personnel as the group accuses Jakarta of refusing to hold negotiations. (Reuters)
• Saikazaki bombing
  • Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida is evacuated during a speech in Saikazaki, Wakayama, Kansai, Japan, after an "explosion-like sound" is heard. A suspect, believed to have thrown a smoke bomb, is arrested. (CNN)
• Mexican drug war
  • At least seven people are killed and another is injured during a mass shooting in La Palma resort in Cortazar, Guanajuato, Mexico. (Xinhua)
• Encounter killing
  • Former Indian Parliament member Atique Ahmed, and his brother Ashraf Ahmed, are assassinated on live television while giving an interview to reporters in Allahabad, while in the custody of police, Uttar Pradesh, India. In response to the murders, the Uttar Pradesh government bars gatherings of more than four people across the entire state. His son had already been killed in an encounter a month earlier. The government shuts down the Internet access in the Allahabad district. (CNN) (Reuters) (BBC News) (Al Jazeera) (Hindustan Times) (The Indian Express) (The Economic Times)

Business and economy

• 2023 Rutgers University strike
  • The strike ends as an agreement is reached between faculty and the administration, returning 9,000 staff to work. (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Dubai apartment fire
  • Sixteen people are killed and nine others are injured by a fire in a residential building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Al Jazeera)
• Twelve people are killed and 28 others are injured when a bus falls into a gorge in Raigad, Maharashtra, India. (Daily Excelsior)

Health and environment

• Germany shuts down its last three nuclear plants, after the deadline to phase out nuclear energy was delayed by three months due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (DW)
• Equatorial Guinea confirms six more cases of Marburg virus, bringing the total number of cases in the country to fifteen. (Reuters)

International relations

• Hungary–Ukraine relations, Poland–Ukraine relations
  • Poland and Hungary ban imports of grain and other food from Ukraine "to protect the local agricultural sector", due to Ukrainian supplies lowering the price of food. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2023 French pension reform unrest
  • President Emmanuel Macron signs the pension reform bill into law as protests intensify in the country. (The Guardian)
• LGBT rights in the Cook Islands
  • The Parliament of the Cook Islands decriminalizes gay sexual practices between men. (RNZ)
• 2023 Dadeville shooting
  • Four people are killed and 28 others are injured by a mass shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, United States. (AL.com)

Science and technology

• SpaceX launches Earth observation satellite TAIFA-1, Kenya's first operational satellite, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. The satellite will collect environmental data, including data on floods, droughts and wildfires. (Reuters)
• Twitter begins limiting the number of automated messages being able to be sent by the National Weather Service, including emergency alerts, before walking back the changes. (CNN)

Sports

• 2023 Grand National
  • Corach Rambler, ridden by Irish jockey Derek Fox, wins the 175th Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse. The start of the race was delayed due to animal rights activists storming the track, with at least 118 people being arrested. (BBC Sport) (ITV News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan clashes
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • The Sudanese military is said to have retaken control of the presidential palace and other key government installations in Khartoum. The military says Khartoum International Airport remains under the control of Rapid Support Forces, but that it was holding back from launching airstrikes to avoid destroying the airport. (Reuters)
• Syrian civil war
  • 2023 Hama attack
    • Thirty-six people are killed when Islamic State gunmen ambush a group of truffle hunters in Hama Governorate. Five shepherds are also killed near Deir ez-Zor. (France 24)
• Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
  • Thirty-four VDP and six soldiers are killed during an ambush in the village of Aorema, Ouahigouya, Nord, Burkina Faso. Thirty-three other people are injured. (Al Jazeera)
• Nigerian bandit conflict
  • At least 33 people are killed when armed bandits storm a village in Runji, Kaduna. (AP)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Ukraine and Russia conduct a prisoner swap for soldiers who fought in Bakhmut, with 130 Ukrainian soldiers returning and an unknown amount of Russian soldiers returning. (PBS)

International relations

• China–Russia relations
  • Chinese Minister of Defense Li Shangfu meets President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, as part of his four-day visit to Russia. (CBS News)

Politics and elections

• 2021–2023 inflation surge
  • Thousands of people protest against rising inflation at Wenceslas Square in Prague, Czech Republic, demanding the government's resignation. (VOA)

Science and technology

• Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant
  • After 18 years under construction, the Olkiluoto 3 reactor in Finland, Europe's most powerful nuclear power plant unit at 1.6 GW, begins delivering regular electrical output. (Reuters) (Bloomberg)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan clashes
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • European Union ambassador Aidan O'Hara is assaulted at his home in Khartoum. EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Josep Borrell calls the assault a "gross violation of the Vienna Convention". (BBC News)
  • Sudan closes its airspace, cancelling all flights in and out of the country. Kenya likewise suspends all flights to and from Sudan. (Flight Global) (Kenyans.co.ke)
  • China, Malaysia, and the United States urge their citizens in Sudan to hide, find shelter, or evacuate the country. (SCMP) (FMT) (CBS News)
  • De facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declares the Rapid Support Forces to be a rebel group, and orders the group dissolved. (Al Jazeera)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
    • Slovakia transfers 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to the Slovak Defence Ministry. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• Recycling in Australia
  • Further sites of illicit soft plastic storage are found in Sydney after the collapse of commercial plastic recycler REDcycle. After taking $20 million from Coles and Woolworths to recycle soft plastics at 2,000 locations, the company instead stored 12,000 tonnes of plastics at more than 44 locations across Australia. (9 News) (The Guardian)
• The provincial health ministry of Santa Fe, Argentina, asks the public to "not underestimate" the current situation of dengue fever after the province surpasses 10,000 cases and reports its third death from the disease amid a national outbreak. (La Capital) (Infobae)

International relations

• Slovakia–Ukraine relations
  • Slovakia bans the import of food from Ukraine, following similar decisions made by Poland and Hungary last week. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

• Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing pardons 3,015 prisoners on the occasion of the Buddhist New Year. (AFP via France 24)
• Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza is convicted in a Moscow court on charges of treason and violating Russia's war censorship laws, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. (AP)
• The Evide data breach is made public. Ransomware results in data being stolen from a company in Northern Ireland which provides computer services to charities, including a charity that supports adult survivors of child abuse. (The Journal)

Sports

• 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup
  • Argentina is confirmed as the host of the FIFA U-20 World Cup by FIFA, following the suspension of the tournament in Indonesia, which refused to host the Israeli team. (Reuters)
• 2023 World Snooker Championship
  • A World Snooker Championship match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry is abandoned, while another match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi is delayed after Just Stop Oil activists storm The Crucible in Sheffield. Two people are later arrested by South Yorkshire Police. (BBC Sport)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan clashes
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • A U.S. embassy convoy is attacked in Khartoum, amid U.S. efforts to mediate a ceasefire. (AP)
    • India tells its citizens to find shelter or stay indoors. (Dev Discourse)
    • Canada closes its embassy in Sudan and advises its citizens against travelling to the country. (Global News)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts
    • Russian president Vladimir Putin makes a rare visit to Russian-occupied Kherson and Luhansk oblasts and meets with military commanders in charge of military operations. (Reuters)
  • Former People's Deputy of Ukraine Oleh Barna is killed in combat. (UNIAN)
• Six Fulani herders are killed by Kodo armed men during an attack on two villages in Logone Oriental, Chad. Fourteen attackers are killed by soldiers in the ensuing gunfight, while two others are killed in the initial clashes with the Fulanis. (Barron's)

Business and economy

• Netflix ends its DVD rental service after 25 years, citing the reduced demand for physical rentals. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Beijing hospital fire
  • Twenty-nine people are killed in a fire at a hospital in Beijing, China. (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera)
• 2023 Torkham landslide
  • Two people are killed and dozens of others are feared missing after a landslide occurs in the Khyber Pass in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Reuters)
• 2023 New York City parking garage collapse
  • One person is killed and five others are injured by the partial collapse of a parking garage in Manhattan, New York City, United States. Nearby buildings of Pace University are evacuated due to the instability of the garage's remaining structure. (WCBS-TV)

International relations

• Brazil–Ukraine relations
  • The Ukrainian government invites Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to visit Ukraine and criticizes Lula for his approach to the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes Lula's position on peace efforts. (Reuters)
• Mexico–United States relations
  • Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accuses the United States Department of Defense of spying and says that he will classify information from the Mexican Armed Forces. (Reuters)
• Palestine–Saudi Arabia relations
  • Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chairman Ismail Haniyeh meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss the increase in violence in the West Bank, the detainment of Hamas-affiliated Palestinians in Saudi Arabia, and about improving relations between Hamas and Saudi Arabia. This is the first meeting between Hamas and the Saudi royal family since 2015. (Al Jazeera)
• Accession of Kosovo to the European Union
  • The European Parliament votes to grant visa-free travel for Kosovo citizens to any country that is part of the Schengen Area. The policy will be in effect no later than January 2024. (RFE/RL)

Law and crime

• Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network
  • Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems reach a US$787.5 million settlement in the defamation lawsuit, which was initially filed against the network in March 2021 for spreading false claims about the company regarding the 2020 United States presidential election. (Forbes)
• At least four people are severely injured in a stabbing attack at a gym in Duisburg, Germany. (Evening Standard)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan clashes
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • Germany announces the suspension of its attempt to rescue 150 German citizens from Khartoum. (The New York Times) (Reuters)
  • 2023 Sudanese refugee crisis
    • Thousands of Sudanese civilians cross the closed border with Chad as refugees and are detained, according to Chadian Defence Minister Daoud Yaya Brahim. Brahim also states that the Chad National Army detained and disarmed a contingent of 320 Sudanese troops who crossed the border. (TRT World) (Reuters)
  • Evacuation of foreign nationals during the 2023 Sudan conflict
    • The United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan urge their citizens to seek shelter, hide, or evacuate due to ongoing fighting. (Sky News) (The Print India)
    • Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno says that Japan will send a Self-Defense Forces aircraft to evacuate 60 Japanese nationals from Sudan. (Asahi Shimbun)
  • Satellite imagery reveals that at least one Egyptian Air Force MiG-29 was destroyed at an airbase in Merowe, with at least two others heavily damaged. (The Drive)
• Mali War
  • Four people are killed and several others are reported missing after jihadists ambush a Malian government delegation near Nara, Koulikoro Region, Mali. (Barron's)

Business and economy

• 2023 Canadian federal worker strike
  • Over 155,000 Canadian federal workers go on strike after the Public Service Alliance of Canada failed to reach an agreement with the government over pay raises and remote work. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• Sanaa crowd crush
  • At least 90 people are killed and 322 others are injured in a crowd crush in Sanaa, Yemen during a charity event. (Egypt Independent)

Health and environment

• List of heat waves
  • A heatwave in Asia leads to deaths and school closures in India, and record-breaking temperatures in other countries. Luang Prabang, Laos, recorded a temperature of 42.7 °C (108.9 °F), while Tak, Thailand, recorded a temperature of 44.6 °C (112.3 °F). (The Guardian)
• A report by the United Nations Population Fund estimates that India will surpass China as the most populous country in the world by the middle of this year. (NBC News)

International relations

• Bulgaria–Ukraine relations
  • Bulgaria temporarily bans the import of grain from Ukraine, except for those in transit, following similar decisions made by Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Crime in Costa Rica
  • President Rodrigo Chaves orders a series of measures to fight increasing crime in Costa Rica, including the deployment of more police, tougher juvenile laws, extradition of foreign criminals, and restrictions on the sale of ammunition. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Brazilian Congress attack
  • Secretary of Institutional Security of Brazil Marco Edson Gonçalves Dias resigns over his presence at the presidential palace during the attack. He is replaced by Ricardo Cappelli. (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan conflict
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • Amid fighting, a food shortage is reported in Khartoum. (BBC News)
    • An American citizen is killed in Khartoum, becoming the second confirmed foreign death. (CBS News)
  • Evacuation of foreign nationals during the 2023 Sudan conflict
    • The United States sends additional troops and equipment to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti in preparation for a possible evacuation of Americans from Sudan. (ABC News)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2023 Belgorod friendly fire incident
    • Russian authorities report an explosion in Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, saying that it left a 20-metre (66 ft) crater in the city center. It resulted from an accidental discharge of ammunition from a Russian airplane. (Barron's via AFP) (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Five Indian soldiers are killed in a suspected militant attack in Rajouri district, Jammu and Kashmir. (Al Jazeera)
• Iran–United States relations
  • An Iranian Navy commander claims on state television that the Iranian Navy forced a U.S. submarine to surface as it transited the Strait of Hormuz and that the submarine violated Iranian territorial waters. The U.S. denies the Iranian claims. (Radiofarda)

Business and economy

• American media site BuzzFeed reports that it will shut down BuzzFeed News as part of its site-wide layoffs. (NBC News)

Law and crime

• Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo loses his request for an emergency stay in the United States, as a deadline for his extradition to Peru nears, where he faces numerous charges. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai Aleksandr Uss resigns after being offered a position in the federal government. Russian President Vladimir Putin invites Deputy Finance Minister Mikhail Kotyukov to assume the post of acting governor. (TASS)

Science and technology

• Solar eclipse of April 20, 2023
  • A hybrid solar eclipse occurs across the South Pacific in Australia, East Timor, and Indonesia. (The New York Times) (People)
• SpaceX Starship orbital test flight
  • SpaceX launches the first test flight of Starship, the largest and most powerful launch vehicle to ever fly, from Starbase in South Texas. The vehicle successfully launched but lost control and the flight was explosively terminated four minutes after liftoff. (The New York Times) (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan conflict
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • Indonesia evacuates 43 of its citizens to its embassy in Khartoum after an Indonesian citizen is injured by a bullet. (Jakarta Globe)
    • The Belgian head of the EU humanitarian mission to Sudan, Wim Fransen, is shot in Khartoum. (The Telegraph)
  • Evacuation of foreign nationals during the 2023 Sudan conflict
    • Many countries, including South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, announce plans to evacuate all of their citizens or nationals from Sudan. (CNN)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Latvia–Ukraine relations
    • Latvian Defence Minister Ināra Mūrniece announces that Latvia will send all of its FIM-92 Stinger missile systems to Ukraine, following a meeting with NATO allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. (Yahoo! News)
• Nigerian bandit conflict
  • Seven people are killed after an attack in Imo State, Nigeria. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Anglican realignment
  • Leaders of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, a communion of conservative Anglican churches representing approximately 85% of the global Anglican population, reject the leadership of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as the head of global Anglicanism over his stance on same-sex marriage. (ChurchTimes)
• Wreckage of the Imperial Japanese Navy ship SS Montevideo Maru, sunk during World War II, is found after 81 years in the South China Sea, off the coast of Luzon Island. The ship, which was carrying over 1,000 prisoners of war, including 850 Australian POWs, represented the largest loss of life for the Australian armed forces during the Second World War. (CNN)

Business and economy

• Twitter drops the "state-affiliated" and "government-funded" labels used for the accounts of media organizations. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• Eight people are killed and 128 others are injured after a rare and large tornado strikes two villages near Naypitaw, Myanmar. (AP)

Law and crime

• A court in Macau sentences Levo Chan Weng-lin, the former chair of the city's second largest casino VIP room operator, to 14 years in prison for illegal gambling and criminal association. (SCMP)
• 1980 Paris synagogue bombing
  • A court in Paris, France, sentences Lebanese Canadian lecturer and professor Hassan Diab to life in prison over the bombing of a Parisian synagogue in 1980. Diab was tried in absentia and he remains in Canada under the request of arrest and extradition from French authorities. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

• UK Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab resigns from both positions following investigations into claims of him bullying staff members. Oliver Dowden and Alex Chalk are selected to replace him as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary respectively. (Al Jazeera)

Armed attacks and conflicts

• Mali War
  • At least nine civilians are killed and 60 others are injured in a triple suicide bombing outside the airport in Sévaré, Mopti Region, Mali. (Reuters)
  • A Malian Air Force attack helicopter crashes into a residential area of Bamako while returning from operations against jihadists near the Mauritanian border. Three people on board are killed and six on ground injured. (MENA FN) (AA France)
• 2023 Sudan conflict
  • Evacuation of foreign nationals during the 2023 Sudan conflict
    • France and Saudi Arabia announce that they will evacuate their citizens from Sudan, joining the United States and the United Kingdom in doing so. (The Washington Post) (Gulf News)

Disasters and accidents

• Two people are killed and twelve others are injured in a fire in a restaurant in Madrid, Spain. (Reuters)

International relations

• Japan–North Korea relations
  • Japan places its Self-Defense Forces on high alert as defence minister Yasukazu Hamada says that Japan could potentially shoot down the North Korean reconnaissance satellite that is expected to be launched by Pyongyang if it falls in Japanese territory. (Reuters)
• Germany–Russia relations
  • Russia announces the expulsion of several German diplomatic personnel in a tit-for-tat decision following the expulsion of Russian personnel from Germany. (RFE/RL)

Armed attacks and conflicts

• 2023 Sudan conflict
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines announces the suspension of all flights to Sudan to ensure the safety of its citizens and raises alerts to level 3 after a Filipino is hit by a stray bullet in Khartoum. (RPN Radio) (ABS-CBN) (GMA Network)
  • Syria suspends all of its flights to Sudan, following the deaths of 11 Syrians in the country. (NPA Syria) (New Arab)
  • Evacuation of foreign nationals during the 2023 Sudan conflict
    • Operation Raus aus Khartum
      • Many countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Canada, evacuate their nationals and some civilians from Khartoum, or announce plans to do so. (BBC News)
  • Canada and the United States suspend all diplomatic operations in Sudan due to the ongoing conflict. (Barron's) (Washington Times)
  • Sudan reports a large internet outage across the entire country during the night. (Al Jazeera)
  • 2023 Sudanese refugee crisis
    • Thousands of Sudanese refugees are reported to have entered South Sudan and Egypt. (Reuters) (DW)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Southern Ukraine campaign
    • According to the Institute for the Study of War and various Russian military bloggers, the Ukrainian military have taken up positions on the east bank of the Dnieper river north of the town of Oleshky. (Novaya Gazeta Europe)
• Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
  • Armenia says that an Azerbaijani sniper killed an Armenian soldier. The government of Azerbaijan denies the claim, stating that its own soldiers came under fire in Nagorno-Karabakh. (AP via Al Arabiya)
  • Azerbaijan sets up a checkpoint at the Lachin corridor connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement which guarantees free and safe passage to the region. (DW)

Business and economy

• American retailer Bed Bath & Beyond files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (NPR)

Disasters and accidents

• Three people are killed and one person is injured when a train collides with a car near Neustadt am Rübenberge, Lower Saxony, Germany. (AP)

Law and crime

• Khalistan movement
  • Indian police arrest Sikh separatist Amritpal Singh for his role in an assault on a police station in February. (Al Jazeera)
• Odebrecht scandal
  • Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo is extradited from the United States and is taken to prison on charges related to money laundering. (Reuters)
• Malindi cult
  • Forty-seven members of the Good News International Church are found dead from suspected starvation in Malindi, Kilifi County, Kenya. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2022–2023 North Kosovo crisis
  • 2023 Kosovan local elections
    • In North Kosovo, heads of four municipalities are elected amid a boycott by Serbian parties and a record low turnout of 3.5%. All four elected mayors are ethnic Albanians, although there is a dominant Serb population in the municipalities. (RFE/RL)

Science and technology

• The United Kingdom launches its UK Emergency Alert System, sending a test emergency population warning to all 4G and 5G mobile phones for the first time. Many people do not receive the alert, particularly users of the Three mobile network. The Cabinet Office acknowledges that the emergency alert did not reach some people, saying that it is "reviewing the test". (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan conflict
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • Switzerland suspends all diplomatic operations at its embassy in Khartoum. (Reuters)
  • Evacuation of foreign nationals during the 2023 Sudan conflict
    • Brazil, South Africa, Niger and Mexico evacuate more than 100 citizens from Sudan. (Radio Mozambique) (Universo Online) (El País) (ABC News)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2022–2023 Crimea attacks
    • Russian forces in Crimea repel a drone attack on Sevastopol, according to governor Mikhail Razvozhaev, in the first attack on the peninsula since February. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

• Fox News and host Tucker Carlson part ways. Less than an hour later, CNN fires host Don Lemon. (Politico)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Kabal explosions
  • Seventeen people are killed and more than 50 others are injured after explosive material in the basement of a police station in Kabal Tehsil, Swat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, catches fire, causing explosions. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Five people are injured when a 39-year-old Palestinian terrorist rams his car into a crowd of people on a street in Jerusalem. He is later killed by an armed citizen. (Reuters)
• Thirteen suspected gang members are lynched and set on fire by residents in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• 2023 British Virgin Islands general election
  • Citizens of the British Virgin Islands head to the polls to elect the 13 members of the House of Assembly. (Jamaica Observer)
• Iranian workers in major industries continue their strike for a third day. (Iran International)

Science and technology

• Solar Cycle 25
  • A geomagnetic storm hits Earth, causing auroras as far south as Alabama and southern England. The storm registers at a G4. (San Francisco Chronicle) (New York Times) (Fox News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan conflict
  • Evacuation of foreign nationals during the 2023 Sudan conflict
    • The United Kingdom begins a large-scale evacuation of British citizens from Sudan. (The Guardian)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • A Russian S-300-type missile strike in Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, kills at least one civilian and injures 10 others. (RFE/RL)

International relations

• Foreign relations of Taiwan
  • Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei pays an official visit to Taiwan to reaffirm support for Taiwan as one of the 13 countries which recognize Taiwan in the One-China policy dispute. China condemns Giammattei's visit. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2024 United States presidential election
  • Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign
    • Incumbent President Joe Biden formally announces his re-election campaign. (CNN)

Science and technology

• Hakuto-R Mission 1, an uncrewed lunar lander built by Japanese aerospace company ispace, is presumed lost after the company lost contact with the spacecraft during descent to the lunar surface. Onboard was the Emirates Lunar Mission rover Rashid, along with a transformable robot, SORA-Q, built by Tomy and JAXA. (CNN) (The New York Times)
• Philippine President Bongbong Marcos approves a 90-day extension of mandatory registration of SIM cards, whose deadline is originally scheduled for the following day. (The Philippine Star)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Battle of Donbas
    • Russia uses its T-14 Armata main battle tanks in combat against Ukrainian forces for the first time. (Reuters)
  • China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Chinese leader Xi Jinping calls Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with both countries announcing the dispatch of representatives to establish a diplomatic presence after the call. (NPR)
• Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
  • 2023 Dantewada bombing
    • Ten policemen and a civilian driver are killed when a bomb planted by suspected Maoist militants explodes in Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh, India. (Reuters)
• Iranian ayatollah and Assembly of Experts member Abbas-Ali Soleimani is assassinated in a shooting at a bank in Babolsar, Mazandaran province. The perpetrator, a security guard at the bank, has been arrested by police. (BBC News)
• Six Iranian demonstrators are injured in clashes in Fanuj, Sistan and Baluchistan province, after a teenager was killed when his motorcycle collided with a police car. (RFE/RL)

Business and economy

• Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft
  • The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority blocks Microsoft's $68.7bn (£55bn) acquisition of Activision Blizzard, saying that the deal will leave video gamers with less choice and will reduce innovation. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• 2022–2023 mpox outbreak
  • Pakistan reports their first case of mpox. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Capital punishment in Singapore
  • Singapore executes Tangaraju Suppiah for plotting to smuggle 1 kilogram of cannabis into the country. His execution, the country's first this year, drew significant pleas for clemency, including from the United Nations. (BBC News)
• Salvadoran gang crackdown
  • El Salvador opens a trial against former president Mauricio Funes for initiating a truce with street gangs during his presidency. Funes, who is currently living in Nicaragua, will not attend the trial. (AP)
• A Brazilian judge orders a temporary shutdown of social media app Telegram over its failure to provide information on Neo-Nazi chat groups to the Federal Police of Brazil. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis
  • By a vote of 217–215, the United States House of Representatives passes a bill that would raise the United States debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for spending restrictions. (AP)
• English Channel migrant crossings
  • The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Illegal Migration Bill by a vote of 289–230 despite opposition from some members of the ruling Conservative Party. (BBC News)
• Zooey Zephyr, the first openly transgender member of the Montana House of Representatives, is censured by the Republican-led chamber on a party-line vote following her protest of anti-transgender legislation. Zephyr will be barred from debate until the May legislative session. (KXLH-TV)

Sports

• 2023 NBA playoffs
  • In basketball, the eight seed Miami Heat defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, who held the best record of the season at 58–24, in five games. The loss was widely described as one of the greatest upsets in NBA history. (ESPN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • One person is killed and 23 others are injured by a Russian Kalibr missile strike in Mykolaiv. (Euronews)
• Ethiopian civil conflict
  • Assassination of Girma Yeshitila
    • Girma Yeshitilla, the leader of the Amhara Prosperity Party, the ruling party in Ethiopia, is shot dead by unknown gunmen in North Shewa, Amhara Region. (Borkena)
• Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
  • An attack on a Burkinabé military base in Burkina Faso's Est region by jihadists kills 33 Burkinabé soldiers. During the attack, the soldiers say they killed 40 of the jihadists before government reinforcements arrived. (Al Jazeera)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Three people are killed by a suicide bomber in Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Reuters)
• The Iranian Navy seizes a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in international waters of the Gulf of Oman, according to the United States Navy. (AP)
• One person is injured after multiple bombings in Weare, New Hampshire, United States. The perpetrator is still at large. (WBTS-TV)

Arts and culture

• The Spanish Parliament votes to ban the decades-old tradition of "bullfighting with costumed dwarfs" in line with "EU Directives concerning discrimination against people with disabilities". This decision is welcomed by disability organizations. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

• The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, officially re-opens the Warsaw Radom Airport in Radom, which has been under renovation since May 2019. It is estimated that the airport in its current form will initially be able to serve around 1 million passengers per year, and in the future around three million passengers per year. (Polish News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Karachi Express train fire
  • At least seven people are killed by a fire on a train car in Khairpur District, Sindh, Pakistan. (AP)
• 2023 Alaska mid-air collision
  • Three United States Army personnel are killed and another is injured when two AH-64 Apache helicopters collide over Healy, Alaska, near Fort Wainwright, in the United States. (Reuters)

• Eleven people are killed and one person is missing when a boat capsizes in the waters off Indonesia's western province of Riau. (Daily Finland)(Reuters)
• At least 23 houses are severely damaged by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake in Bajura District, Nepal. (ReportersNepal)

International relations

• In a resolution drafted by the UAE and Japan, the UN Security Council unanimously condemns the Taliban administration's ban on Afghan women working, including for the United Nations in Afghanistan, and calls on Taliban leaders to lift the ban immediately. (France 24)

Law and crime

• Human rights in Russia
  • The Moscow City Court orders the closure of the SOVA Center, which monitored nationalist and racist movements in Russia. (The Moscow Times)

Politics and elections

• Women in the military
  • The Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia begins the recruitment of women for the military, allowing both genders to join for the first time. (Al Arabiya)

Sports

• 2023 NFL Draft
  • In American football, the NFL Draft is held with the Carolina Panthers taking Bryce Young as the first overall pick. (ESPN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2022–2023 Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
    • At least 25 civilians are killed and many others are injured in a new wave of Russian cruise missile strikes across Ukraine. The capital Kyiv is hit for the first time in 51 days. (BBC News) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• A fire at a power station in Grenada causes a power outage for the entire island of Carriacou. (Caribbean Loop News)

International relations

• Defence ministers of member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet in New Delhi, India, to discuss regional security challenges and related issues. (Firstpost)

Law and crime

• 2023 Cleveland, Texas shooting
  • Five Hondurans are killed in a mass shooting in a house in Cleveland, Texas, United States. (Reuters)
• Argentine President Alberto Fernández orders the payment of a compensation of $861,860 dollars for the abduction and torture of an Uruguayan couple in 1976 after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned Argentina for the first time over its failure to investigate and compensate crimes that occurred during its last military dictatorship. (Memo.com.ar)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan conflict
  • Battle of Khartoum
    • Warplanes bomb Khartoum and heavy anti-aircraft artillery is heard in the city as the conflict enters its third week, with the United Nations warning that Sudan is "collapsing". (AFP via Manila Bulletin)
    • A Turkish evacuation plane is fired at in Khartoum, allegedly by the Rapid Support Forces. No injuries or deaths have been confirmed. (BBC News)
  • The former Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok, calls the conflict in his country a "nightmare", stating that it could become worse than those in Syria and Libya. (BBC News)
• Syrian civil war
  • Israel's role in the Syrian civil war
    • The Israeli Air Force launches airstrikes against targets near the Syrian city of Homs in a pre-dawn raid. Syrian state media reports that three civilians were injured in the attacks. (Times of Israel)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • A huge fire engulfs a fuel depot in the port of Sevastopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea, in what governor Mikhail Razvozhaev says was a drone attack. (Al Jazeera)
• Laotian human rights activist Anousa Luangsuphom is shot at a coffeehouse in the capital Vientiane. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Nayarit bus crash
  • At least 18 people are killed and 33 others are injured after a bus plunges into a ravine in Nayarit, Mexico. (Reuters)
• Thirty-four people are injured in a roof collapse near the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, United States. (BNO News)

Health and environment

• Senegal confirms a case of the Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Niuean general election
  • Citizens of Niue head to the polls to elect the 20 members of the Assembly. (RNZ)

Sports

• The final day of the 2023 NFL Draft is held in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, with Toledo defensive tackle Desjuan Johnson selected as "Mr. Irrelevant". (CBS Sports)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Sudan conflict
  • Evacuation of foreign nationals during the 2023 Sudan conflict
    • Iran evacuates 65 nationals from Sudan with Saudi Arabian assistance. (Arab News) (Tasnim News)
• War against the Islamic State
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces that the Turkish National Intelligence Organization has tracked down and killed the Caliph of the Islamic State Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi in Syria. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Ludhiana gas leak disaster
  • Eleven people are killed and nine others are injured in a gas leak in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2023 Setúbal shooting
  • A man in Setúbal, Portugal, shoots and kills three men during a dispute at a pigeon race, before killing himself. (AP)
• 2023 Bodmin mass stabbing
  • A mass stabbing outside a nightclub in Bodmin, Cornwall, United Kingdom, leaves one person dead and seven others injured. A suspect has been arrested and charged with murder by Devon and Cornwall Police. (The Telegraph)
• Major Alireza Shahraki, chief of the Iranian Law Enforcement Command, Organization Criminal Investigation Department of Saravan County, Sistan and Baluchistan, Iran is killed in an armed attack. (Tehran Times)

Politics and elections

• 2023 French Polynesian legislative election
  • Citizens of French Polynesia head to the polls to elect the 57 members of the Assembly. (Paudal)
• 2023 Paraguayan general election
  • Paraguayans head to the polls to elect the next president. (AFP via France 24)

Sports

• 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs
  • The Boston Bruins, who had previously set new NHL records for wins and points in a single season, are upset in the first round of the playoffs by the Florida Panthers, losing game 7 in overtime after having led the series 3 games to 1. (ESPN)
• 2023 World Chess Championship
  • Ding Liren defeats Ian Nepomniachtchi in tiebreak games, becoming the 17th World Chess Champion. (Reuters)