Wednesday, March 19th, 2025 

Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon 2 capsule after nine months on the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts were originally supposed to be aboard the ISS for only eight days but were prevented from returning due to technical problems with their Boeing Starliner Calypso capsule. (BBC News) 

German automaker Audi announces it will cut 7,500 jobs in the country due to slowing electric vehicle demand. (DW) 

Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is also the main opposition figure against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is arrested by Turkish Police along with more than 100 other people for alleged corruption and aiding terrorism. (Reuters)  

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claims that Russia is attempting to discredit U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace negotiations after Russian Armed Forces launched drone attacks on Kyiv overnight after talks of between the U.S. and Russia. (BBC News) 

The Russian Ministry of Defense says Ukraine violated the energy infrastructure ceasefire reached by presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin by launching a drone attack on an oil depot in Krasnodar Krai. (The Moscow Times) 

A curfew is imposed in parts of Nagpur in Maharashtra, India, after Hindu groups demanded the removal of the tomb of Aurangzeb, a 17th-century Mughal emperor, sparking violence. (BBC News) 

The Israeli military conducts multiple airstrikes on Rafah and Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, killing at least ten Palestinians. (Al Jazeera)  

The United Nations reports that a UN official is killed and five others is wounded in the attacks by Israel. (AP) 

The Italian Coast Guard retrieves the body of six migrants, rescues 10 people, while 40 others remain missing after a dinghy carrying 56 people capsizes off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy, after departing from Sfax, Tunisia. (DW)  

Bangladesh Police arrest Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi, the leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a Rohingya insurgent group, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, accusing him of leading and carrying out attacks against the Tatmadaw since 2016 along with charges of illegal entry, murder, and sabotage. (DW)  

Tuesday,  March 18th, 2025 

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agree to an immediate energy infrastructure ceasefire in Ukraine during a phone call, with additional negotiations to begin immediately on a permanent settlement of the conflict. Putin stated that the end of all foreign military and intelligence support to Ukraine would be one condition of such a settlement. (ABC News) 

The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to launch an offensive on Belgorod Oblast with five assaults before being stopped by Russian forces, characterizing the alleged attacks as an attempt to discredit U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace negotiations. (The Kyiv Independent) 

The Israeli military conducts airstrikes and artillery shelling across several regions of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 404 Palestinians and wounding 560 more. The shellings represent the largest attack of the Gaza war since the beginning of a ceasefire which came into effect on 19 January. (AP)

At least ten people are killed and 20 others are injured in an assassination attempt by Al-Shabaab militants targeting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud near Villa Somalia on the road to Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Idil News) 

The Peruvian government declares a state of emergency in the capital city Lima and deploys military personnel to make patrols to combat increased violent crime rates. (AP) 

The Hungarian parliament votes 136–27 to ban LGBTQ events in the country, including the annual Budapest Pride event. (DW) 

 St. Patrick’s Day 2025 

Rwanda expels the Belgian ambassador, after Belgium accused Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels in their campaign in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Belgium expels the Rwandan ambassador in return. The two countries sever diplomatic relations with one another, with Rwanda accusing Belgium of sustaining neocolonialism. (BBC News) 

The U.S. launches airstrikes on targets in Al Hudaydah and the Al Jawf Governorate. Tens of thousands of people attend a rally against the U.S. attacks on Yemen in the capital city Sanaa. (Euronews)

At least ten people are killed and 20 others are injured in an assassination attempt by Al-Shabaab militants targeting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud near Villa Somalia on the road to Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Idil News) 

Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas vows for the European Union to lift sanctions against Syria to restore diplomatic ties between them, acknowledging the present massacres of Alawite civilians as showing Syria’s need for stability. Germany pledges €300 million in aid towards stabilizing Syria and its humanitarian situation. (Politico)

Two massacres of Alawite Syrians kill fifty-seven people. The number of civilians reportedly killed in coastal Syria primarily by sectarian executions from Syrian government-associated forces since March 6 increases to 1,557. (SOHR) 

According to Syria’s state media, clashes occur at the Lebanon–Syria border, after the Syrian transitional government accused Hezbollah militants of kidnapping three soldiers into Lebanon and subsequently killing them. (AP) 

The European Union pledges €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) to Syria for aid, while the United Kingdom pledges an additional £160 million (€190.3 million). (DW) 

The M23 rebels announce they will withdraw from peace talks that was due to occur with the Congolese government tomorrow due to sanctions imposed on the group by the European Union earlier today. (DW) 

A drone strike in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, injures one person and causes a fire at an energy facility, according to Astrakhan Oblast governor Igor Babushkin. (Reuters) 

Twelve people, including popular Honduran musician Aurelio Martinez, are killed and five others are rescued when an Aerolínea Lanhsa Jetstream 41 crashes into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff from Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport in Roatán, Bay Islands Department, Honduras. (CBS News) 

Three people are killed when a Extra EA-400 plane crashes shortly after takeoff from Samedan Airport near La Punt Chamues-ch, Grisons, Switzerland. (The Times Of India) 

Seven migrant bodies are recovered after a boat capsizes off the coast of Cyprus. (Reuters) 

A tourist dies on the stairs of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, causing a temporary closure of the monument. (O Globo) 

The Peruvian government declares a state of emergency in the capital city Lima and deploys military personnel to make patrols to combat increased violent crime rates. (AP) 

The Hungarian parliament votes 136–27 to ban LGBTQ events in the country, including the annual Budapest Pride event. (DW) 

A court in Georgia sentences former president Mikheil Saakashvili to four and a half years in prison for illegally entering the country in 2021. (BBC News) 

The End