Portal:Current events/2026 March 24

March 24, 2026 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Middle Eastern crisis
- 2026 Iran war
  - 2025–2026 Iran–United States negotiations
    - The New York Times reports that the United States has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war. (CNBC)
    - Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif says that Pakistan is ready and willing to host Iran–U.S. talks to reach a comprehensive deal to end the war. (AFP via SCMP) (Saudi Gazette)
  - 2026 Iranian strikes on Israel
    - Shrapnel from an Iranian ballistic missile wounds three people, including a two-month-old baby, in a Bedouin community in the Negev, Israel. (The Jerusalem Post)
  - Iraq in the 2026 Iran war
    - Fifteen fighters from Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), including a commander, are killed in an American airstrike on a PMF base in the Al Anbar Governorate. (AFP via BSS)
- Hezbollah–Israel conflict
  - 2026 Lebanon war
    - Hezbollah rocket fire kills a woman and injures two others in northern Israel. (The Jerusalem Post)
    - Israeli defense minister Israel Katz states that the military will control a "security zone" up to the Litani River in southern Lebanon until "the threat of Hezbollah" is removed, while also suggesting that Israel will remain in control of the area after the conflict is resolved. (The Times of Israel) (The New York Times)
    - The Lebanese government reports that the death toll from Israeli attacks on the country since March 2 has risen to 1,039. (AA)
Russo-Ukrainian war
- Zaporizhzhia strikes, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
  - Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine kill at least three people, including two in Poltava and one in Zaporizhzhia, and injures several others. The attacks also damage residential buildings and infrastructure in the areas. (AFP via BSS)
- Lviv strikes
  - A Russian Shahed drone strikes and severely damages the Bernardine Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Lviv, western Ukraine. (AFP via Philippine Daily Inqurier)
Sudanese civil war
- Darfur campaign
  - The death toll from the March 20 drone strike on the Al Deain Teaching Hospital in East Darfur, Sudan, rises to 70. (Reuters)
- 2026 Blue Nile campaign
  - A coalition of Rapid Support Forces and Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North rebels capture the town of Kurmuk in the Blue Nile region near the Ethopian border. (AFP via Arab News)
War in the Sahel
- Suspected Islamic State insurgents kill nine Nigerian troops, one police officer and a civilian during attacks in Kebbi State, Nigeria. (AP)

Arts and culture

Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war
- Two concerts by Colombian singer Shakira in Doha, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, scheduled to be held in April are postponed due to safety concerns amidst the Iran war. The Abu Dhabi concert has been rescheduled for November. (USA Today)
The trailer for the upcoming superhero film Spider-Man: Brand New Day released on March 17 reaches 1 billion views on YouTube, becoming the first movie trailer to do so. (People.com)

Business and economy

Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war
- 2026 Philippine energy crisis
  - Philippine president Bongbong Marcos declares a state of national energy emergency in response to risks to the fuel supply linked to the Iran war. (Reuters)
- QatarEnergy ‌declares force majeure on some of ⁠its long-term LNG supply contracts for its customers worldwide. (Al Jazeera)
2022–2026 video game industry layoffs
- American video game company Epic Games announces that it will lay off more than 1,000 employees along with more than $500 million in savings from cuts to contracting and marketing amid a sharp decline in the number of people playing its flagship video game Fortnite. (Reuters)
Australia–European Union relations
- Australia and the European Union sign a free trade agreement after eight years of negotiations. (AP)
BMW Brilliance recalls nearly 180,000 vehicles in China due to a defect in the air conditioning wiring that may cause a short circuit and increase the risk of fire. (AFP via The Straits Times)

Disasters and accidents

2026 Kenya floods
- At least 84 people are killed in flash floods across Kenya, including in Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, and Tana River counties. (The Star)
At least nine people are killed, 266 others are rescued and 45 are reported missing in a shipwreck off Obock, Djibouti. (Reuters)

International relations

Iran–Lebanon relations
- 2026 Lebanon war
  - The Lebanese foreign ministry declares the Iranian ambassador a persona non grata and gives him until March 29 to leave the country, due to Iran's financial and military support of Shia paramilitary group Hezbollah. (Al Jazeera)
  - The Lebanese foreign ministry says that the decision to expel Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani as Iranian ambassador doesn't affect diplomatic relations between the two countries. (Arab News)
2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
- The Iranian foreign ministry states that vessels it classifies as non-hostile may pass through the Strait of Hormuz if they comply with its safety and security requirements, while excluding vessels linked to countries it accuses of involvement in the Iran war. (AFP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Law and crime

2026 Lázaro Cárdenas school shooting
- Two people are killed in a school shooting in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, Mexico. A 15-year-old suspect is arrested. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2026 Danish general election
- Danes, Faroe Islanders, and Greenlanders vote to elect 179 seats of the Folketing. Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen seeks a third term in office during the aftermath of the Greenland crisis. (AP) (Reuters)
- Frederiksen's left-wing bloc wins the most seats but fails to secure a majority. (AFP via Le Monde)

Science and technology

AI boom
- American technology company OpenAI says it will shut down its Sora app. (NBC News)
- The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI's US$1 billion investment deal to allow Disney's intellectual properties to be used with Sora is also cancelled in midst of the shutdown. (Deadline) (NBC News) (The Verge)
Artemis program
- NASA states that it plans to pause the Lunar Gateway project and redirect efforts toward developing infrastructure for sustained operations on the Moon's surface, including a future moonbase. (AFP via The Witness)