Portal:Current events/2022 March 10

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Eastern Ukraine offensive
      • Siege of Mariupol
        • Russian forces resume shelling the port city of Mariupol after yesterday's airstrike on a children's hospital which killed three people. A humanitarian aid convoy trying to reach the city is also forced to turn back due to heavy fighting. (BBC News)
• Aftermath of 2021 Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan clashes
  • An armed incident occurs between border guards at the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border, killing one Tajik border guard. Following the incident, officials from the Batken Region in Kyrgyzstan and the Sughd Region in Tajikistan hold talks. (Trend) (RFE/RL)

Business and economy

• 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus
    • Video game companies Nintendo and Sony Interactive Entertainment suspend all product sales in Russia. Sony's online PlayStation Store will also no longer be available in Russia. (CNBC)
    • U.S. bank Goldman Sachs announces that it is closing its operations in Russia, becoming the first major Wall Street bank to leave the country following the invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)
  • 2022 Russian financial crisis
    • Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that the Russian economy is experiencing a "shock" following an "absolutely unprecedented" economic war being waged against the country. Peskov also says that "the economic war that has started against our country has never taken place before. So it is very hard to forecast anything". (Reuters)
    • The International Monetary Fund no longer considers Russian default "improbable", and the World Bank also considers Russia's and Belarus's default likely. (Reuters) (Reuters 2)
    • The Central Bank of Russia limits withdrawals of US dollars, euros, British pounds and Japanese yen for Russian firms to the equivalent of $5,000, with the withdrawal of larger sums only possible with the Central Bank's permission. The withdrawn funds may only be used for covering overseas work trips. (Reuters)
  • International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin admits that the sanctions have created problems for Russia. However, he also called the sanctions illegitimate and warned the West that Russia will emerge stronger and solve the problems. (Reuters) (Sky News)
  • The Ukrainian parliament begins to debate a new law which would allow the forced seizure of all assets belonging to Russians citizens as well as Ukrainians deemed by the courts or the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to be Russian collaborators. Last week, a bill was approved that allowed forced seizure of assets owned by the Russian government and Russian companies. (Ekonomichna Pravda)
  • Russia's Ministry of Transport prepares a draft regulation which would allow airlines to not have to honour the request of the lessor to return leased aircraft unless a special government commission orders them to do so and would also allow companies to pay the lessor in rubles. The law comes amid EU sanctions which forces all lease contracts for Russian aircraft to be voided by late March and also forbids E.U. companies from insuring Russian aircraft. (Interfax Russia)
  • Russia introduces retaliatory sanctions against most foreign countries, with the exception of members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. The export of more than 200 items, mostly of technical and agricultural appliances, will also be banned until the end of the year. (Interfax Russia)
  • The Russian government abolishes penalties for theft of patents if they are held by natural or legal persons from countries considered by the Russian government as "unfriendly". The decriminalisation of the piracy of software from "unfriendly" countries is also being considered. (Euractiv) (The Register)
  • Facebook and Instagram starts to allow users in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and the Caucasus to promote violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the war in Ukraine, which is normally restricted, according to internal emails. A Meta spokesperson states that "As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as 'death to the Russian invaders.'" However, calls for violence against Russian prisoners of war and "credible calls for violence against Russian civilians" will remain prohibited. Death threats against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will also be permitted. Meta's spokesperson adds that they are, "for the time being, making a narrow exception for praise of the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard," which was previously forbidden. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• Around 250 people are evacuated after Mount Merapi on Java, Indonesia erupts overnight. (The Washington Post)
• 2022 Zagreb Tu-141 crash
  • A Tupolev Tu-141 reconnaissance drone crashes on the outskirts of Zagreb, Croatia, triggering a loud blast and forming a large crater, but causing no injuries. The unmanned aircraft flew through Hungarian airspace before crashing in Croatia and is likely to have severely malfunctioned. The aircraft, which travelled 560km, went undetected by both countries' air defences. (The Guardian) (ABC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Niue
    • Niue reports its first COVID-19 case since the pandemic began in a person who traveled from New Zealand and who had tested negative prior to departing. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland
      • Scotland reports a record 14,387 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. (The Herald)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in North Dakota
      • Governor Doug Burgum announces that North Dakota will shift its COVID-19 approach from a pandemic to an endemic phase. The state health department will also end their COVID-19 updates. (AP) (KVRR-TV)
    • Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • The Transportation Security Administration and the Biden administration will extend the federal mask mandate for public transportation until April 18. (CNN)
    • History of COVID-19 vaccine development
      • Moderna begins a study and a phase 2 trial of a hybrid vaccine aimed at combating the Omicron variant with their current COVID-19 vaccine. (MarketWatch) (BNN Bloomberg)

International relations

• Russia–Ukraine relations
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hold talks in Ankara, Turkey. These are the highest level talks between the two nations since the invasion. No ceasefire is reached, but the possibility of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin was discussed. (Reuters)
  • Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov says that Ukraine is willing to accept Russia’s surrender “with understanding”. (Ukrinform)
• Qatar–United States relations, Colombia–United States relations
  • U.S. President Joe Biden designates Qatar as a Major non-NATO ally and announces his intention to designate Colombia with the same status. (The Jerusalem Post)
• Russia in the Council of Europe
  • Russia announces that it will withdraw from the Council of Europe. (The Moscow Times) (TASS)

Law and crime

• Judiciary of Poland, Polish constitutional crisis
  • The Constitutional Tribunal, the highest court in Poland, declares that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) may not control the validity of the appointment of any judges in Poland. The Tribunal also wrote in its opinion that Poland is not obliged to implement four ECHR court rulings which found that the parties were denied a right to fair trial, as the relevant provision violates the Constitution of Poland when applied to control the judges' appointment. (Rzeczpospolita) (Euronews)
• The Israeli Knesset votes 45–15 to bar Palestinian spouses of Israelis from obtaining citizenship if they came from the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, and blocks family reunification of Israelis and their spouses if they came from "enemy countries" such as Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. This replaces a similar emergency order that was in place from 2003 to last year, when it failed to receive enough votes to be annually renewed. (Reuters)
• The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia condemns the arrest of the chairman of the Oromo Liberation Front, Dawud Ibsa Ayana, as illegal. The National Electoral Board also said it would investigate the reported arrest of opposition politicians from several other regions including Benishangul Gumuz, South Ethiopia, South West Ethiopia, Sidama, Oromia, and Addis Ababa. (AfricaNews)

Politics and elections

• 2022 Hungarian presidential election
  • Fidesz's Katalin Novák is elected the first female president of Hungary by the National Assembly. (Bloomberg)
• 2022 South Korean presidential election
  • Conservative opposition leader Yoon Suk-yeol is confirmed as the winner of yesterday's presidential election with 48.59% of the vote. He will take office as President of South Korea on May 10. (BBC News)
• 2024 United States presidential election
  • Former Montana Secretary of State and State Senator Corey Stapleton announces that he will form a "test the waters" political action committee in preparation to seek the nomination for the Republican Party for the upcoming 2024 election. (Great Falls Tribune)

Sports

• Reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War
    • The British government sanctions Russian oligarch and Chelsea F.C. owner Roman Abramovich, freezing all his assets in the United Kingdom. The sanctions mean that Premier League club Chelsea will not be able to sell any more tickets for games, its merchandise store will be closed, and it will be unable to buy or sell players on the transfer market until the club is sold. (BBC News)
• 2022 Major League Baseball season
  • 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout
    • Major League Baseball reaches a labor collective bargaining agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association to end the lockout and salvage a 162-game season. Opening day will begin on April 7 and training camp will begin tomorrow. (ESPN)