Thursday, April 4th, 2024 

Gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier says that if armed groups under his command are included in talks for a future transitional government, then they would consider ceasing hostilities. (BBC) 

Researchers at the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument in Arizona, United States, release the largest 3D map of the universe featuring more than six million galaxies. Using this map, researchers are able to measure the acceleration of the expansion rate of the universe with unprecedented accuracy, detecting hints that the rate of expansion has been increasing over time. (The Guardian) (Berkeley Lab) 

Shipping lanes and airspace in the Great Belt strait in Denmark are closed for several hours after a missile launcher malfunctions on the frigate Niels Juel. (NOS) (CNN) 

U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Ukraine will eventually become a NATO member. (Reuters) 

Russian-installed officials say that Ukrainian shelling has killed two civilians and injured nine others in Donetsk. Separately, four people are killed in drone attacks in Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast. (Reuters) 

A man stabs the Governor of Murmansk Oblast Andrey Chibis at a meeting in Apatity, Murmansk Oblast, Russia. The attacker is arrested by police. (Reuters) 

99 Cents Only Stores announces an orderly wind-down, closing all of its 371 stores in the United States beginning April 5. (Newsweek) 

Eleven security forces, including five Revolutionary Guards, are killed in Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran, during an attack against the Revolutionary Guards’ headquarters by members of Jaish ul-Adl. Sixteen militants are killed in the ensuing shootout. (Reuters) 

Former Al-Nusra Front emir Abu Maria al-Qahtani is assassinated in a suicide bombing in Sarmada, Idlib Governorate, Syria. The Islamic State are accused of being behind the attack, which also injured several others at his house. (Reuters) 

Scientists from the Federation University Australia report that thousands of Adélie penguins have been found dead in Antarctica amid an increase in bird flu cases among wild bird populations. (Reuters) 

Bird flu spreads to cattle herds in at least six U.S. states, while a dairy farm worker is infected in Texas, becoming the second person to ever become infected with the virus in the United States. (Bloomberg) 

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, is arrested and charged with corruption one day after resigning from office. (VOA) 

Myriam Spiteri Debono is sworn in as President of Malta, succeeding George Vella and becoming the third woman to hold the office. (Times of Malta) 

Russia launches multiple Shahed drone strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine, killing at least five people, including three rescue workers, and injuring five others. (Reuters) 

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024 

The National Defense Ministry of Taiwan says more than 30 Chinese PLA Air Force warplanes have entered Taiwanese airspace, and at least nine PLA Navy warships have been detected around Taiwan. The ROC Armed Forces has been deployed in response to the violation. (Times Now News) 

The Philippines says it will respond to any Chinese attempts to interfere with its resupply of troops in the South China Sea. (Reuters) 

Canada deploys 70 members of its armed forces to Jamaica to train peacekeepers for a future intervention in Haiti. (CBC) 

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake is felt off the coast of Taiwan, prompting tsunami warnings for Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. A large section of the uninhabited Guishan Island collapses into the ocean. Nine people are killed in Taiwan, four of whom by rockfalls. Over 930 others are injured. (AP) (Al Jazeera) 

Uganda’s Constitutional Court upholds the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, which prescribes the death penalty for certain homosexual acts. (South China Morning Post) 

Tuesday,  April 2nd, 2024 

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says that it has decided on a response to the Israeli attack on its diplomatic facilities in Damascus, Syria, which killed several high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. (The Guardian) 

Ukraine launches airstrikes more than 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) inside Russia, targeting an oil refinery and the dormitory of a factory producing Iranian-designed Shahed drones in Yelabuga, Tatarstan. Several people are injured. (The Guardian) 

Eighteen people, including five children, are injured in a Russian missile strike in Dnipro, Ukraine. (Reuters) 

Armed youths belonging to the Murle people attack a village in Greater Pibor Administrative Area, South Sudan, killing 12 people and injuring 10 others, with 15 children reported missing. Most of the victims were elderly residents. (Reuters) 

Twenty-nine people are killed and eight others are injured in a fire at a nightclub under renovation in Istanbul, Turkey. (Reuters) 

A student is killed and two others are injured in a shooting at a school in Vantaa, Uusimaa, Finland. A 12-year-old student is detained. (AP) (Yle) 

A mayoral candidate is assassinated in Celaya, Guanajuato, ahead of Mexico’s upcoming general election. (CNN) 

Monday,  April 1st, 2024 

An Israeli airstrike targeting the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, kills eight members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including Iranian brigadier general Mohammad Reza Zahedi. (Reuters) 

The Israeli government says that it will ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting in its territory. (BBC News) 

Seven volunteers from the World Central Kitchen, including six British, Polish, Australian and Palestinian nationals and a dual American-Canadian citizen, are killed in an Israeli airstrike south of Deir el-Balah. (Al Jazeera) 

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq launches three drones at Eilat, Southern Israel, damaging a building. No injuries are reported. (The Times of Israel) 

Authorities in Amur Oblast, Russia, end the rescue operations for 13 workers who were trapped in a deep gold mine since March 18, and declare the workers dead. (ABC News) 

The town of Montmorillon in Nouvelle-Aquitaine is hit by severe flooding following heavy rains. (Sky News) 

Ekrem İmamoğlu is re-elected as mayor of Istanbul. (The New York Times) 

An ongoing severe drought in southern Africa causes around 20 million people to experience hunger. (AP) (The Independent) 

North Korea fires a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan near South Korean territory. (AP) 

The End

Easter, March 31st, 2024 

Harvard University removes the binding of human skin from the 19th-century book Des destinées de l’âme by Arsène Houssaye, which has been kept in its library since 1934. (BBC News) 

Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a decree for a larger than normal spring conscription campaign surpassing the previous ones, calling up 150,000 citizens for statutory military service. (CNBC) 

Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a decree for a larger than normal spring conscription campaign surpassing the previous ones, calling up 150,000 citizens for statutory military service.  (Reuters) 

The Telegraph reports Russia has captured approximately 195 square miles (510 km²) and is taking around 1,000 casualties per day since the start of the Second Russian winter campaign in October 2023. (The Telegraph) 

The New York Times reports that private records for millions of AT&T customers have been affected by a data breach and leaked onto the dark web. (The New York Times) 

In Guayaquil, eight people are killed and at least ten others are injured by armed gangs. (NOS) 

Canada deploys 70 members of its armed forces to Jamaica to train peacekeepers for a future intervention in Haiti. (CBC) 

Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen Area, opening up travel by air and sea without border checks, with Austria vetoing free travel by land over fears of non-EU citizens getting easier access to the union. (France 24) 

Extreme drought in southern Africa leaves some 20 million facing hunger. (The Independent)

Saturday, March 30th, 2024 

Three UN observers and a translator are injured by a shell in southern Lebanon. (Reuters) 

At least seven people are killed and 30 others are injured in a car blast in Azaz, Syria, near the Turkish border. (Reuters) 

Japanese officials search a Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory after five deaths possibly linked to its dietary supplements. (Reuters) 

Over 150 people are evacuated after a man holds four people hostage in a nightclub in Ede, Gelderland, Netherlands, for six hours and threatens to blow himself up. Police arrest the man at the scene. (BBC News) 

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte says that she will not resign following accusations of illicit enrichment after her residence was raided by police. (Reuters) 

Friday,  March 29th, 2024 

North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui says that North Korea will not hold any talks with Japan on any issue, including the issue of Japanese abductees in North Korea. This follows an announcement by Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in which he stated his desire to meet with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un “without any preconditions”. (Reuters) 

Russia vetoes the continued monitoring of United Nations sanctions on the North Korean nuclear weapons program. (AP) 

Polish President Andrzej Duda signs a law suspending the country’s participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. (TVP World) 

Pouria Zeraati, an Iranian dissident journalist working for IITV, is injured in a stabbing in London. He is currently hospitalized in stable condition. (BBC News) 

An Israeli airstrike targeting Aleppo International Airport in Syria kills 38 Syrian soldiers, seven Hezbollah fighters and seven Iran-backed militiamen. The incident marks the deadliest Israeli attack on Syria since 2021. (SOHR) 

The End

Thursday, March 28th, 2024 

A federal court in the United States sentences Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison for stealing $8 billion in a cryptocurrency fraud. (Reuters) 

The Kachin Independence Army captures the town of Lweje and its nearby border crossings in Kachin State, Myanmar, after junta forces abandoned their posts and fled across the border into China. (Irrawaddy) 

Slovakia’s Slovenské elektrárne shuts down operations at its Vojany Power Station, the last coal-fired power plant in the country. (Euronews) 

Cyclone Gamane makes landfall in Madagascar, killing at least eleven people and causing widespread flooding, according to local officials. (AP) 

A bus carrying Christian pilgrims from Botswana crashes in Limpopo, South Africa, killing 45 people. (Reuters) 

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 crashes into the Black Sea off Sevastopol, Crimea. The pilot is reported to have safely ejected. (Reuters) 

The International Court of Justice, in a unanimous decision, orders Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip unimpeded, warning that famine is already occurring. (Reuters) (The Guardian) 

The Czech information service reveals that Russia paid hundreds of thousands of euros through its “Voice of Europe” website to European politicians in order to influence European elections. (Parool) 

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 

Four people are killed and seven others are injured during a stabbing spree in Rockford, Illinois, United States. (AP) 

The Thai House of Representatives approves a bill to legalize same-sex marriage by a vote of 400–10, with five abstentions. (AP via MSN News) 

A Special Investigative committee of the Seimas releases its findings, accusing President Gitanas Nausėda of receiving illegal support from the head of the State Security Department and for recruiting members of the Belarusian and Russian security services for his election campaign. Nauseda rejects the findings, accusing them of being politically motivated. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Belarusian Service) 

Myriam Spiteri Debono is unanimously elected by the Maltese Parliament as the next President of Malta. (Times of Malta) 

The End Sunday 

The End Thursday 

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 

One person is killed, and sixteen others, including four children, are injured by Russian guided bomb strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Reuters) 

Vol. 4 – 1972

If there is anything unique about the human animal it is that it has the ability to grow knowledge at an accelerating rate while being chronically incapable of learning from experience. Science and technology are cumulative, whereas ethics and politics deal with recurring dilemmas. Whatever they are called, torture and slavery are universal evils; but these evils cannot be consigned to the past like redundant theories in science. They return under different names: torture as enhanced interrogation techniques, slavery as human trafficking. Any reduction in universal evils is an advance in civilization. But, unlike scientific knowledge, the restraints of civilized life cannot be stored on a computer disc. They are habits of behavior, which once broken are hard to mend. Civilization is natural for humans, but so is barbarism.

– John Gray

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 

The UN Security Council passes a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by Hamas, with the United States abstaining. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancels a planned visit to the U.S. in response to the abstention. (Reuters) 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces while campaigning that his Vice Presidential pick will be attorney Nicole Shanahan. (NBC News) 

At least five people are killed and 20 more injured after a double-decker FlixBus overturns and falls in the roadside near Leipzig, Germany. (NOS) 

A court in Tunisia sentences four people to death and two others to life in prison for the 2013 murder of politician Chokri Belaid. (Al Jazeera) 

Tuesday,  March 26th, 2024 

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, collapses after the container ship Dali strikes a bridge column, causing multiple vehicles to fall into the water below. (CBS News) 

President Joe Biden says that the federal government will pay for the full cost of rebuilding the bridge. (WMAR-TV) 

The US Supreme Court announces that it will hear oral arguments on whether to restrict access to mifepristone, a commonly-used abortion pill. (BBC News) 

The United Kingdom’s High Court of Justice grants WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a stay of extradition to the United States, and demands that the US not consider the death penalty against Assange if he is sent to the US to face espionage charges. (AP) 

The Israeli Air Force bombs Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, killing an Iranian Quds Force officer and 15 other militants. (AP) 

A suicide bomber attacks a bus in Shangla District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, killing five Chinese workers and their Pakistani driver. (AP) 

Israeli warplanes launch airstrikes against Hezbollah targets near the towns of Ras Baalbek and Hermel in Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon, killing at least three Hezbollah members. (Reuters) 

Former Kyrgyzstan deputy Raimbek Matraimov is detained in Baku, Azerbaijan, and is extradited to Kyrgyzstan. (AKIPress) 

Two Chinese nationals are arrested by the Indian Police near the India–Nepal border after they were intercepted entering the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh illegally. (India Today) 

Monday,  March 25th, 2024 

An investigation by Humo magazine and the website Apache [nl] reveals that Belgian Vlaams Belang politician Filip Dewinter worked as a “senior political advisor” for China for several years. (NOS) 

Seven Chadian soldiers conducting a patrol near Lake Chad are killed in an IED bombing. Chadian president Mahamat Déby accuses jihadist group Boko Haram of being behind the attack. (AP) 

Seventeen people are killed and another is injured when a passenger van collides with a dump truck and catches fire in Antipas, Cotabato, Philippines. (AFP via Barron’s) 

Puerto Rico declares an epidemic of dengue fever following an increase in cases. (AP) 

The End