- New Zealand is still picking up the pieces after at least 50 people were killed, and another 50 were injured, in Friday’s terror attack, the worst in the country’s history. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spent the weekend visiting grieving family members and the Muslim community. The attacks, on two mosques in Christchurch, have also prompted a debate over gun laws. The Police Association has called for a ban on semi-automatic weapons, and the Prime Minister has pledged, “our gun laws will change.”
- Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport says there are “clear similarities” between last week’s Ethiopian Airlines crash and the Lion Air crash last October. Dagmawit Moges made these remarks after Flight 302’s black boxes were found. Both planes were Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, which several governments have since grounded, pending investigation.
- Slovaks went to the polls on Saturday in the first round of presidential elections. Political newcomer Zuzana Čaputová, of the liberal Progressive Slovakia party, topped the vote, with 40.5%. She’ll face European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič, backed by the ruling socialist Direction party, who received 18.6%. Round two is March 30.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to reshuffle his cabinet, again, following the resignation of Jane Philpott as President of the Treasury Board. Monday’s shakeup will be the third in as many months, and comes on the heels of the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
- Left-wingers cheered, and rightists were left seething, as the High Court of Justice voted to bar Michael Ben Ari, of the far-right Jewish Power party, from running for the Knesset next month. The court also allowed Arab party Ra-am Balad to run, and a pair of other candidates. Sunday’s ruling represents the first time the court has disallowed an individual, rather than an entire party, from contesting an Israeli election.
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International Roundup: Ardern, Ethiopia, Israel, Trudeau, EU
