Tuesday,  March 14^th 2023 

OpenAI launches GPT-4, the next generation large language model for artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. The new model can respond to images, and has the ability to process up to 25,000 words. (BBC News) 

Russian Su-27 fighter jets “intercepted and hit” a United States Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, with the collision damaging the drone’s propeller and causing the United States to crash the drone into international waters. (The Washington Post) (Reuters) 

Argentina’s annual inflation rate increases to 102.5%, the highest recorded rate since 1991, according to the country’s statistics index. (Reuters) 

Meta Platforms announces plans to cut 10,000 more jobs across its workforce, citing “higher interest rates in the United States, global geopolitical instability and increased regulation” as the reason for the layoffs. (BBC News) 

Protests occur in Pakistan over the possible arrest of PTI chairman and former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. (livemint) 

Lithuania’s Seimas votes to recognize Russian paramilitary force Wagner Group as a terrorist organization, citing the group’s “numerous crimes” in Ukraine, including the killing and torturing of civilians. (RFE/RL) 

Ecuadorian lawmakers unanimously vote to declassify documents in continuing efforts to impeach president Guillermo Lasso for corruption. (Reuters) 

President of Honduras Xiomara Castro announces that Honduras will stop recognizing Taiwan and will start recognizing the People’s Republic of China as the sole Chinese state. (AP) 

Ecuador withdraws its ambassador from Argentina in protest of the latter sheltering Ecuatorian politician María de los Angeles Duarte since 2020, refusing to give information of her whereabouts. Hours later, Argentina also withdraws its ambassador from Ecuador, escalating diplomatic tensions between the two nations. (Infobae) 

Monday,  March 13th, 2023 

New York-based commercial bank Signature Bank is closed down after a bank run on its deposits, and is taken into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. (Reuters) 

Cyclone Freddy kills at least 99 people in Malawi, including 85 people in Blantyre. It is the longest-lived tropical cyclone on record, according to the WMO, having formed on February 4. (The Guardian) 

One person is killed and three others are injured by an apparent gas explosion in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. (BBC News) 

Two people are killed and nine others are injured when a truck strikes a group of pedestrians in Amqui, Quebec, Canada. (CBS News) 

Kerisiano Kalolo becomes the new Head of Government of Tokelau. (RNZ) 

The End

Sunday, March 12th, 2023 

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh becomes the first Asian to win the Best Actress award for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. (AFP via ABS-CBN News) 

At this year’s Oscars, Everything Everywhere All at Once wins seven awards, including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. (Variety) 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman formally announces the establishment of Riyadh Air, a new flag carrier airline of Saudi Arabia. (Reuters) 

Israeli airstrikes at a weapons depot in Masyaf, Hama Governorate, Syria, kill a Syrian soldier and two pro-Iranian militants. (Arab News) 

Saturday, March 11th, 2023 

Li Qiang is elected as Premier of the People’s Republic of China, succeeding Li Keqiang. (BBC News) 

A security guard is killed and eight other people are injured by an explosion in Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province, Afghanistan. (Reuters) 

Sixteen people are killed by Fula gunmen at a police checkpoint in Zangon Kataf, Kaduna State, Nigeria. (AP) 

Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the world’s most successful alpine skier with her 87th World Cup victory. (Reuters) 

The End

Friday,  March 10th, 2023 

 

American commercial bank Silicon Valley Bank is forcibly shut down by regulators for the U.S. state of California, and its assets controlled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, after the bank failed to raise enough capital and a subsequent bank run occurred. With assets totalling US$209 billion, the bank’s closure is the second-largest bank failure in American history. (CNN) (The Independent) 

Petr Pavel is inaugurated as the fourth president of the Czech Republic. (Reuters) 

Angola announces that it will deploy troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following the failure of a ceasefire between government forces and M23 rebels in North Kivu. (BBC News) 

Ten people are killed and nine others are missing after a tractor-trolley falls into a canal in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. (AP) 

The End Tuesday 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/03/08/world/permafrost-virus-risk-climate-scn/index.html

Mexico’s Gulf Cartel surrenders five purported perpetrators of last weekend’s abduction of four U.S. citizens in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and offers an apology to the victims, their families, and society in general. (BBC News) 

Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to resume diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies within the next two months after diplomatic talks in Beijing, China. (Al Jazeera) 

Xi Jinping is re-elected to an unprecedented third term as president. (The Guardian) 

President Alexander Lukashenko signs a bill into law which allows the use of the death penalty on officials and military servicemen convicted of high treason. (CNA) 

The Belgian government announces a ban on gambling advertising, citing an increase in gambling addiction. Beginning in 2028, gambling companies will also no longer be able to sponsor professional sports clubs. (Reuters) 

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is charged with corruption and abuse of power by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over a COVID-19 subsidy programme. (CNA) 

Prince Edward is named as the new Duke of Edinburgh by King Charles III, the title previously held by their father, Prince Philip. (BBC) 

Seven people are killed and at least 25 others are injured in a mass shooting at a Jehovah’s Witnesses centre in Hamburg, Germany. The perpetrator kills himself after the shooting. (DW) 

Thursday, March 9th, 2023 

Russia launches missiles at targets across Ukraine. Buildings and infrastructure are hit in different areas and at least five civilians are killed in Lviv when a rocket hits their home, the region’s governor Maksym Kozytskyy says. (BBC News) 

Georgia’s ruling party announces it will withdraw a controversial bill concerning foreign agents which prompted days of protests across the country. (MSN) 

Mohammad Dawood Muzamil, the Taliban-appointed governor of Balkh Province, is killed by an Islamic State suicide bomber at his office in Mazar-i-Sharif. Four other people are wounded. (Al Arabiya) 

Three people are wounded during a shooting near a bar on Dizengoff Street, in Tel Aviv. The perpetrator is killed by police. (Al Jazeera) 

The French Senate votes 201–115 to raise the legal retirement age in France from 62 to 64 despite mass strikes against the change. (Reuters) 

Three Palestinian fighters are killed by Israeli special units during a shootout in Jenin, West Bank. (Al Jazeera) 

Three people, including Mohammad Dawood Muzamil, the Taliban-appointed governor of Balkh Province, are killed by an explosion at his office. (AFP via Barron’s) 

A drone strike on a Iranian-backed weapons factory by an unknown attacker in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, kills seven people and injures 15 others, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which describes the dead as three Afghan fighters, three Syrian civilians and one unidentified Syrian. (Arab News) 

A court in Iran sentences a 64-year-old Irish-French tourist to six-and-a-half years in prison for spying for “an enemy country”. (BBC News) 

The parliament of Uganda begins debate on a proposed bill that would criminalize people identifying as part of the LGBTQ community with up to 10 years in prison. The bill would also criminalize the “promotion” of homosexuality and “abetting” or “conspiring” to engage in same-sex relations. (Reuters) 

The United States Department of Justice finds “reasonable cause to believe” that the Louisville Metro Police Department violated citizens’ civil rights. The investigation was started after the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. (BBC News) 

English architect David Chipperfield wins the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize. (CNN) 

Cyclone Freddy becomes the longest lasting tropical cyclone on record, breaking the record previously held by Hurricane John (1994) which lasted 31 days.(CNN) 

The End