Bereaved relatives emerged weeping from a hospital mortuary in Kenya on March 26 after recovering the remains of loved ones whose doomsday cult leader induced them to starve themselves, according to the authorities.

The bodies of more than 400 followers of the Good News International Church have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest in southeastern Kenya since April 2023 in one of the world's worst cult-related tragedies of recent decades.

The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on March 25 demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and the release of all hostages after the United States abstained from the vote.

The remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution, which was proposed by the 10 elected members of the body. There was a round of applause in the council chamber after the vote.

Italy on March 24 marked the 80th anniversary of one of the most horrific World War II massacres in German-occupied Italy with solemn commemorations and a performance of a symphony honoring the dead.

There, on March 24, 1944, 335 people were shot to death as a reprisal for an attack by partisans that killed 33 Nazi soldiers on a street in Rome.

Hong Kong’s new national security law came into force on March 23, putting into immediate effect tough penalties of up to life imprisonment for crimes including treason and insurrection. The law—commonly referred to as Article 23—targets five categories of national security crimes, and was swiftly passed by Hong Kong’s opposition-free legislature on March 26.

The US, the EU, Japan, and Britain have been among the law’s strongest critics, with the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, saying it would “further damage the rights and freedoms” of those in the city.

Indian police detained dozens of opposition protesters on March 26 to stop them from marching to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence to demand the release of their leader and top elected official of New Delhi arrested last week in a bribery case.

Nearly 300 supporters of Arvind Kejriwal gathered at India’s Parliament House to begin their march. Policemen, some in riot gear, surrounded the protesters, and detained some.

Central Buenos Aires was paralyzed for hours as massive crowds gathered for one of the largest March 24 "Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice" protests in recent years, AFP journalists saw.

The normally festive, family friendly event was also joined by major trade unions, as anger rises over libertarian Milei's austerity measures put in place to fight against the country's spiraling inflation.

Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on March 22 named Corina Yoris as her successor to take on President Nicolas Maduro in the country's presidential election in July, following the arrest of two of Machado's close aides.

With Venezuela's opposition under pressure to pick a candidate to register their candidacy with the National Electoral Council before the March 25 deadline, the decision to pick historian Yoris, 80, all but marks the end of Machado's presidential aspirations.

Venezuela attorney general Tarek Saab said on March 20 that two people close to opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado had been arrested, prompting Machado to call the charges leveled at her team "completely false."

The arrests are set to complicate an already-confused scenario ahead of the July presidential contest. Machado won the opposition's October nominating contest by a landslide, but is barred from registering her candidacy.

At least 65 migrants' bodies have been discovered in a mass grave in southwest Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on social media platform X on March 22. IOM said in a statement the circumstances of the migrants' death and nationalities was unknown "but it is believed that they died in the process of being smuggled through the desert."

Libya has turned into a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the Mediterranean following the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

The United Nations chief has expressed “alarm” at reports that the Myanmar military is bombing civilian areas. Antonio Guterres called for calm late on March 25 following reports that continuing air attacks on villages in the restive country’s Rakhine state have killed dozens.

Clashes have rocked the western state since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since the military’s 2021 coup. Residents told AFP more than 20 people have been killed.