Milan Dinić

This plugin automatically disables WordPress Events and News widget from the dashboard. By removing, you also prevent all external requests widgets makes so that it can work.
It is a very lightweight, it has no settings, just activate it and it works immediately.
And it’s on <a href="https://github.com/dimadin/disable-wordpress-events-and-news-dashboard-widget" rel="nofollow ugc">GitHub</a>.

Disable WordPress Events and News Dashboard Widget

Disable WordPress Events and News widget from the dashboard.

webdeveric

This plugin provides a dashboard widget that lists recently edited content for quick access.
Options (per user settings):
<ul>
<li>Number of items to show</li>
<li>Excerpt length – number of words (0 = hide)</li>
<li>Show only your edits</li>
<li>What post types to show</li>
<li>What post statuses to show</li>
</ul>

Recently Edited Content Widget

This plugin provides a dashboard widget that lists recently edited content for quick access.

Disable WordPress Events and News Dashboard Widget vs Recently Edited Content Widget