Wednesday, March 29th, 2023 

The Scottish Parliament votes to elect Scottish National Party leader Humza Yousaf as First Minister of Scotland, becoming the first non-white and first Muslim to hold the position since it was created in 1999. (STV) 

The Iraqi Parliament passes 206–12 a series of amendments reducing the electoral districts in each governorate to one, ahead of local elections in November. Voting blocs and independent members who boycotted the vote claim the amendments make it more difficult for the opposition to get elected. (Al Jazeera) 

President Bashar al-Assad reshuffles the government’s cabinet amidst rising prices and shortages of food, due to the harsh economic situation of the country, worsened by February’s earthquake. (AP via The Washington Post) 

Fazil Mustafa, an opposition member of Azerbaijan’s National Assembly, is shot multiple times outside his home in Baku by unknown assailants in an assassination attempt. Mustafa’s condition is described as satisfactory, and his life is not reported to be in danger. (News.az) 

Myanmar’s ruling military junta dissolves the National League for Democracy, the political party of former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. (NHK) 

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka announces that the Media Industry Development Authority will repeal a controversial 2010 law which strictly controlled media. (RNZ) 

Adnan Syed’s murder conviction is reinstated by Maryland’s appeal court, less than six months after Baltimore prosecutors presented new evidence in the 1999 fatal strangulation of Hae Min Lee. (Reuters) 

Tuesday,  March 28^th 2023 

Scientists discover lunar water samples in tiny glass beads from the Moon in studies published by the Nature Geoscience journal. (ABC News) 

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, meeting 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) 

Central and South American detainees at a migrant center in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, deliberately set fire to their mattresses, killing 38 people and injuring 28 others. (AP) 

Two people are killed during a stabbing attack at a Isma’ilism Shia religious centre in Lisbon, Portugal. The perpetrator is shot in the leg and arrested. (BBC News) 

Philippines president Bongbong Marcos announces that the country will cut ties with the International Criminal Court due to the ICC’s refusal to suspend its investigation on alleged crimes committed by the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte during the war on drugs in the country. (Bloomberg) 

Monday,  March 27th, 2023 

A train transporting hazardous materials derails near Wyndmere, North Dakota, United States, with 31 out of 70 train cars damaged. (KARE-TV) 

Honduran President Xiomara Castro orders Taiwanese diplomats to vacate the country’s embassy in Tegucigalpa within 30 days, one day after the country established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. (Reuters) 

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 in the military alliance. (France 24) 

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 a series of amendments reducing the electoral districts in each governorate to one, ahead of local elections in November. Voting blocs and independent members who boycotted the vote claim the amendments make it more difficult for the opposition to get elected. (Al Jazeera) 

The world’s first rocket made by extensive 3D printing, Terran 1, makes its first launch but fails to reach orbit. (NYT) 

The einstein problem is solved by a single shape that tiles a plane without repeating. (Science News) (New Scientist) 

Asteroid 2023 DZ2 makes a close pass between the Earth and the Moon. (BBC) 

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) 

The head of the Blagodarnensky District in Stavropol Krai, Russia announces the death of Dmitry Lissitzky, commander of the 247th Guards Air Assault Regiment who gained infamy in the 2014 Battle of Ilovaisk. Ukraine claims he was killed in battle while pro-Russian sources claim he committed suicide. (Novaya Gazeta Europe) 

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) 

A Russian missile strike on Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast kills at least two civilians and injures 29 others. (The Wall Street Journal) 

Six people are killed and several others injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Al Jazeera) 

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) 

Israeli 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) 

At least seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed in a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. (CNN) 

World Athletics bans trans women who have gone through male puberty from competing in female events. (BBC Sport) 

The End