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Worldwide current events
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Robert Mueller

A Special Counsel investigation, headed by Robert Mueller (pictured), concludes and reports its findings to the United States Attorney General.
At least 160 people are killed in attacks against Fulani herdsmen in central Mali.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant loses its last territory in Syria following a defeat by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the U.S.-led coalition.
An explosion at a chemical plant in Xiangshui, Jiangsu, China, kills at least 78 people and injures more than 90 others.

March 30, 2019 (Saturday)

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March 29, 2019 (Friday)

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Politics and elections

Brexit negotiations
- UK Prime Minister Theresa May suffers a defeat of 286–344 on her Withdrawal Agreement. European Council President Donald Tusk schedules an emergency summit on April 10, two days before Brexit is scheduled to happen. (CNN)

March 28, 2019 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- At least 11 people are killed following an explosion in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Al Jazeera)
European migrant crisis
- The Maltese Navy seizes control of commercial tanker Elhiblu 1, which was hijacked by migrants off the coast of Libya yesterday. The tanker is now docked in the Maltese capital, Valletta. (BBC)

Business and economy

WOW air, an Icelandic low-cost airline, ceases operations. (Icelandic Transport Authority) (CBC)

Disasters and accidents

At least 32 people have died after a truck struck a crowd gathered at a road accident in western Guatemala. The group had apparently gathered on the road to inspect a person who had been killed in a separate crash when the vehicle ploughed into them. (Sky News)
A fire breaks out in Dhaka, Bangladesh, at a 22-story tower, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 70 others. (BBC)

Law and crime

The Supreme Court of the United States rejects a request by gun rights activists to grant a temporary stay on the Trump administration's ban on bump stock attachments that allow semi-automatic firearms to be fired rapidly. The policy took effect Tuesday after a similar bid to delay implementation was rejected. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Venezuelan state comptroller Elvis Amoroso announces that opposition leader Juan Guaidó is barred from holding public office for 15 years because of irregularities in his financial records. Guaidó, the National Assembly leader, says he will continue his campaign to oust President Nicolás Maduro. (CBS News)

March 27, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Business and economy

Cathay Pacific announces the acquisition of low-cost carrier HK Express for US$628 million (HK$4.93 billion). (BBC) (South China Morning Post)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- The European Union says it is suspending Operation Sophia ship patrols. Instead, the operation will rely on air missions and close coordination with Libya. The EU also announces the mandate for Operation Sophia, which was scheduled to expire March 31, 2019, will be extended for six months. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- More than 100 migrants hijack a merchant vessel that rescued them off Libya's coast, ordering the crew to head towards Malta. Malta's military said the ship would not be allowed into its waters. (BBC)

Law and crime

Aftermath of the Charlottesville car attack
- James Alex Fields, who drove his car into a crowd of protestors at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, killing one person and injuring 28 others, pleads guilty to 29 federal hate crimes. He will be sentenced on July 3, 2019. (NBC)
Aftermath of the kidnapping of Jayme Closs
- Jake Patterson pleads guilty to the kidnapping of teenager Jayme Closs and the murder of her parents last year. (New York Post)
Medicaid expansion
- Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocks Kentucky from implementing Medicaid work requirements and Arkansas from continuing its program, stating the program's approval by the Department of Health and Human Services "... is arbitrary and capricious because it did not address ... how the project would implicate the 'core' objective of Medicaid, the provision of medical coverage to the needy". (NPR)
Former Argentine President Carlos Menem is sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison for the sale of a goverment ground. His government's Minister of Economy Domingo Cavallo was also sentenced to 3 years and 6 months. In addition, both were disqualified from holding public office for life. As Menem is currently a National Senator and has immunity, he will not comply with his sentence yet. (CNN in Spanish)

Politics and elections

Brexit negotiations
- The UK parliament holds "indicative votes" on eight options regarding Brexit in an attempt to find an approach which can command a majority. None of the options are passed at this stage; however, a further round of voting is planned for Monday. (CBC) (The Guardian) (The Guardian)
- UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces that she will resign before the next phase of Brexit negotiations, if her deal were to be passed. (The Guardian)
2019 Guatemalan general election
- The Supreme Electoral Tribunal dismisses six nullity proceedings against the presidential candidacy of Thelma Aldana. However, it accepts two processes and requests the Supreme Court of Justice, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Comptroller General of Accounts to present a report on their legal situation. It was also reported that after resolving these processes this week, it will proceed to issue the credential that grants immunity to the candidate. (Prensa Libre)
- The Supreme Electoral Tribunal acts legally before the Constitutional Court to appeal the permission granted to the presidential candidate Zury Ríos to participate in the elections despite having constitutional impediment. (Prensa Libre)
- Director of the Registry of Citizens of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal Leopoldo Guerra denounces pressures and threats by far-right groups not to register Thelma Aldana as a presidential candidate and request precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. (Prensa Libre)

March 26, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Iran–Israel proxy conflict, Gaza–Israel conflict, Iran and state-sponsored terrorism
- Acording to Israel Today, a senior Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that Iran's rulers ordered the rocket attack on Mishmeret in central Israel on March 25, 2019, which injured seven Israelis. The rocket attack was carried out by Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, which is heavily financed by Iran. The Hamas official said that Hamas's goal was to hurt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chances of getting reelected in the April 9 elections. (The Jerusalem Post) (Israel National News)
Yemeni Civil War
- An airstrike carried out in north-west Yemen kills seven and injures eight others at a hospital. The airstrike occurred early when patients and staff members were arriving. (BBC) (The Washington Post)

Arts and culture

The all-female board of Women Church World, a monthly supplement in the L'Osservatore Romano (the Vatican City daily newspaper), resign citing a campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men". (BBC)

Business and economy

U.S.-owned company Uber buys Dubai-based ride-sharing company Careem for $3.1 billion in order to further solidify its Middle Eastern presence. (CNBC) (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

2019 Jayapura flood and landslide
- The death toll of the floods and landslide in Jayapura, Indonesia, rise to 113. At least 94 others are still missing. (CNN)
2019 Iran floods
- The death toll from a flash flood in Iran rises to 21. (CBS News)

Health and environment

Health officials in Rockland County, New York, declare a state of emergency due to an ongoing measles outbreak. The county is prohibiting unvaccinated children under the age of 18 from public areas for 30 days. (Ars Technica)

International relations

The Lima Group condemns the presence of Russian military planes in Venezuela as a "provocation threatening peace and security in the region." (France24)

Law and crime

Foreign relations of North Korea
- The Spanish Audiencia Nacional reveals that an attack on the North Korean embassy in Madrid on February 22 was led by a Mexican citizen residing in the United States who later offered the FBI data stolen during the incident. (Associated Press) (Euro news) (New York Times)
Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market
- The European Parliament approves two revisions to the controversial Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. One resolution includes new requirements aimed at making companies pay licensing fees to publications such as newspapers whose work gets aggregated by online services. The second revision makes online platforms such as Google, Facebook and YouTube liable for the content posted on their services, meaning that all content providers must get permission from rights holders before uploading copyrighted material of any kind. (The Guardian)
All charges against American actor Jussie Smollett for allegedly filing a false police report are dropped. (CNN)
Purdue Pharma reaches a $270 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. state of Oklahoma that claimed the pharmaceutical company's opioids contributed to the deaths of thousands of people as part of the opioid epidemic. (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

2019 Algerian protests
- Algeria's Chief of Staff of the People's National Army Ahmed Gaid Salah, the highest-ranked military official in the country, gives a televised address, calling on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign or be declared "unfit to serve" by the People's National Assembly. (BBC)
Green New Deal
- The United States Senate blocks the Green New Deal, a progressive climate change resolution aiming to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. It has faced criticism from conservatives, as well as some Democrats, who have found the language in the resolution too broad and unspecific. (The Hill)
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies before a House appropriations subcommittee about this year's DoED budget request. The committee heavily criticized Secretary DeVos for the proposed budget cuts to Special Olympics. (Yahoo! News)

Sports

Mixed martial artist Conor McGregor announces his retirement from the sport on Twitter. The New York Times reports that McGregor was arrested in January for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Ireland. According to the New York Times, he was released and is under investigation by authorities. (MMA Fighting) (New York Post)

March 25, 2019 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Gaza–Israel conflict
- Seven people are moderately injured after a rocket attack destroys a home in Mishmeret, Israel. The Israel Defense Forces claim that Hamas is responsible for any attack from Gaza. (BBC)
- As a result, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cuts his four-day trip to the United States short after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. (Reuters) (The Washington Post)
- In retaliation Israeli Air Force jets strike multiple targets in the Gaza Strip, including the office of senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, and Hamas' military intelligence headquarters in Gaza City. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

2019 Iran floods
- Flash flooding in the southern provinces of Iran kills at least 19 people and injures more than 100. The majority of the deaths occurred in the city of Shiraz. (BBC)

Health and environment

Bayer and Johnson & Johnson announce that they have reached a $775 million agreement to settle approximately 25,000 outstanding litigation cases, which claim that their drug Xarelto caused severe and sometimes fatal bleeding episodes. Bayer and Johnson & Johnson had successfully defended the safety of the drug in all six prior cases that went to trial. (The New York Times)

International relations

United States recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel, Israel–United States relations, Syria–United States relations
- U.S. President Donald Trump signs a proclamation formally recognising the disputed Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory. (Al Jazeera)
- Syria's Foreign Affairs Ministry condemns Trump's move as a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Syria". (Xinhuanet)
Greek–Turkish relations
- Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras says Turkish fighter jets threatened his helicopter, in Greek airspace, heading to the Aegean island of Agathonisi, near Turkey's coastline, for Greek Independence Day which celebrates the country's 1821 uprising against the Ottoman Empire. Turkish security forces rejected the accusation, insisting the jets were carrying out a routine mission. (BBC)

Law and crime

A judge rules that former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr has completed his prison sentence. (CBC) (Vancouver Courier)
Attorney Michael Avenatti is arrested and charged with extortion, embezzlement and bank fraud. (CNBC)

March 24, 2019 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- A United States airstrike in Afghanistan early Saturday kills 10 children and 3 adults. The family was displaced because of the conflict according to early findings by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The 2019 Global Teacher Prize and its $1 million (£760,000) purse is awarded to Brother Peter Tabichi, a Franciscan science teacher from rural Kenya. Tabichi gives away 80 percent of his salary to support poorer pupils at the Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Pwani Village, Nakuru. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Stoneman Douglas High School massacre aftermath
- More than 60 school, county, city, child services and law enforcement officials, as well as mental health specialists, teachers and parents, hold an emergency meeting after the suicide of a second Stoneman Douglas survivor. Florida's emergency chief is requesting the state Legislature provide more mental health resources for the community. Coral Springs, Florida, police reported that, Saturday night, a current sophomore killed himself. Last week, Sydney Aiello, a 19-year-old graduate who had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, took her own life. (The Guardian) (Miami Herald)

International relations

Russia–Venezuela relations
- Two Russian military planes, an Ilyushin Il-62 and an Antonov An-124, land at Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas, Venezuela, carrying senior Defence Ministry official Vasily Tonkoshkurov [ru], a large amount of equipment and about 100 troops. Russia, which three months earlier held joint military exercises on Venezuelan soil, condemned other countries for backing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó against embattled President Nicolás Maduro. (Reuters) (BBC)
Status of Jerusalem
- In Washington, D.C., the leaders of Romania and Honduras announce they will recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, following the lead of the United States. (Fox News)