Portal:Current events

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • The Governor of Smolensk, Russia, says a Ukrainian drone attack set fire to a fuel depot. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Protests occur in Tenerife, Spain, against mass tourism to the Canary Islands which is allegedly increasing house prices for locals. (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2024 Iran–Israel conflict
  • 2024 Israeli strikes on Iran
    • Missiles are launched by the Israel Defense Forces towards Isfahan, Iran. Locations in Iraq and Syria are also attacked by Israel. (Al Jazeera) (Times of Israel) (The Washington Post)
  • The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade tells its citizens to leave Israel, citing a high threat of military reprisals and terrorist attacks. (Times of Israel)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
    • Russian missile strikes kill seven civilians in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, including five in Synelnykove and two in Dnipro, with several others critically injured. (BBC News)
  • A Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-22M3 aircraft is shot down in Russian airspace over Stavropol Krai after launching missiles at targets in Ukraine. (BBC News)
• An Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces command post at the Kalsu military base was hit by an explosion resulting from an air strike, killing one fighter and wounding six others. Security sources say it is not known who was responsible, and Israel and the United States both deny involvement. (Reuters)(CNN)

Business and economy

• American car manufacturer Tesla, Inc. recalls thousands of Cybertrucks due to "safety concerns" involving the truck's accelerator pedals. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• Self-immolation of Maxwell Azzarello
  • A man fatally sets himself on fire near the New York City courthouse where former President Donald Trump is currently on trial. (The New York Times)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Indian general election
  • Indians begin voting to elect members to the 18th Lok Sabha. With 968 million people eligible to vote, this election is expected to be the world's largest election. Voting will continue until June in a total of seven phases. (AP)

International relations

• The United States agrees to withdraw American troops from Niger. (The Washington Post)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Germany arrests two German-Russian nationals for an alleged military sabotage plot on behalf of Russia to undermine military support for Ukraine. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• A Kenya Air Force Bell UH-1H Huey II crashes in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya, killing ten people, including Chief of Defence Forces Francis Omondi Ogolla. President William Ruto declares three days of national mourning. (BBC News)

International relations

• Palestine and the United Nations, Enlargement of the United Nations
  • The United States vetoes a UN Security Council resolution supporting the State of Palestine joining the United Nations. The vote was 12 in favor, the United States opposed and two abstentions, from the United Kingdom and Switzerland. France, Japan, Ecuador and South Korea supported the resolution. (AP)

Sports

• In ice hockey, the National Hockey League board approves the relocation of the hockey assets of the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City, Utah. The currently unnamed expansion team will play their home games at the Delta Center, while the Coyotes franchise will be deactivated pending the construction of a new arena in the Phoenix metropolitan area. (Sportsnet) (AP)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • April 2024 Chernihiv missile strike
    • At least 18 people are killed and 60 others are injured in a Russian missile strike which damaged an eight-storey building in a densely populated area of Chernihiv. (BBC News) (Reuters)
• War in Sudan
  • Taqaddum leader and former Prime Minister of Sudan Abdalla Hamdok meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, France. (Dabanga Sudan)

Business and economy

• Vietnam announces a $24 billion rescue for the Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, which is currently involved in a fraud case. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Persian Gulf floods
  • The United Arab Emirates records its heaviest rainfall in 75 years, with significant flooding reported in Dubai. At least 20 people are killed by flooding in Oman and Ras Al Khaimah. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
• Hundreds of people are evacuated after the Ruang volcano erupts in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Reuters)

International relations

• Sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis
  • The Biden administration announces that it will reimpose oil sanctions on Venezuela. (The Washington Post)

Law and crime

• Switzerland's Federal Assembly votes to ban public displays of the Nazi swastika. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Croatian parliamentary election
  • Voters in Croatia elect the members of the Sabor. The ruling Croatian Democratic Union and its coalition win the most seats, but fail to obtain a majority. (Reuters)
• 2024 Solomon Islands general election
  • Voters in Solomon Islands elect a new National Parliament. (The Guardian)
• Impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas
  • The United States Senate votes to dismiss both impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, by a vote of 51–48 on the first article and 51–49 on the second. (Reuters) (CNN)

Science and technology

• Scientists announce that they have identified fossil remains of the Ichthyotitan, the largest marine reptile currently known, in the Westbury Formation in England. (NOS)

Sports

• In basketball, the NBA announces that it has banned Jontay Porter, a two-way player under contract to the Toronto Raptors and their G League affiliate Raptors 905, for multiple major violations of the league's gambling policy. (NBA) (ESPN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Israel–Hamas war
    • Israel–Hezbollah conflict
      • The Israeli military assassinates Ismail Yusuf Baz, the commander of Hezbollah's coastal sector in Lebanon, in an airstrike. (Israel Defense Forces) (Middle East Monitor)
  • Killing of Benjamin Achimeir
    • A mob of Israeli settlers in Aqraba kills two Palestinians in revenge for the killing of Israeli teenager Benjamin Achimeir amid escalating ethnoreligious violence in the West Bank. (The Guardian)
• 2024 Wakeley church stabbing
  • Australian police say that the stabbing attack at an Assyrian church in Sydney was an Islamic terrorist act. (Reuters)
• Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
  • Indian security forces kill at least 29 Maoist insurgents in a major counterinsurgency operation in Kanker district, Chhattisgarh. A large quantity of weapons are also seized. (NDTV)
• Peacekeeping operations in Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Russian peacekeepers begin withdrawing from Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving the region under the full control of Azerbaijan. (Caliber.az)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs a new army draft law. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• 2023–2024 video game industry layoffs
  • American video game company Take-Two Interactive lays off 5% of its workforce. (Reuters)
• Argentina and Denmark sign a 2.1 billion kroner (US$300 million) deal for the sale of 24 Royal Danish Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons to Argentina. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Persian Gulf floods
  • Heavy rains and flash floods affect parts of the Persian Gulf, killing at least 18 people in Oman and causing travel disruptions in the United Arab Emirates. (Al Jazeera)
• A fire occurs in Copenhagen's 17th-century Stock Exchange Building, leading to the collapse of the building's iconic Dragespir spire. Important Danish artworks including From Copenhagen Stock Exchange are safely removed from the building. (Reuters) (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

• Impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas
  • The U.S. House of Representatives sends impeachment articles for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate. (Reuters)
• Police in Brussels, Belgium, shut down the right-wing National Conservatism Conference which was expected to be hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. (Politico)

Science and technology

• European Space Agency scientists announce the discovery of Gaia BH3, the second-largest known black hole in the Milky Way. (NOS) (ESA)

Sports

• World Athletics announces that they will investigate the results of Sunday's Beijing half marathon to determine if Chinese marathon record holder He Jie won because of match fixing. (NOS) (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Iran–Israel proxy conflict
  • 2024 Iran–Israel conflict
    • 2024 Iranian strikes in Israel, Iran–Japan relations
      • Japan increases its four-stage danger ranking level for most of Iran, including Tehran, to Level 3, which urges Japanese citizens to avoid all travel to Iran. (The Japan News)
• War in Sudan
  • Battle of El Fasher
    • At least nine civilians are killed and sixty others are injured in a renewed offensive by the Rapid Support Forces on the city of El Fasher. (Sudan War Monitor)
  • Humanitarian impact of the war in Sudan
    • Donors pledge more than 2 billion euros for humanitarian aid in Sudan. (Reuters)
  • Siege of El Obeid
    • Five civilians are killed and ten others are injured in crossfire between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in the city of El Obeid. (Sudan War Monitor)
  • The Rapid Support Forces capture Mellit, North Darfur. (Sudan War Monitor)
  • The Joint Darfur Force declares war on the Rapid Support Forces and allies with the Sudanese Armed Forces. (Sudan War Monitor)
  • Clashes occur in Al-Madina Arab, Gezira State, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. (Radio Tamazuj)

Business and economy

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces that more than 10% of the company's global workforce will be laid off. (CNBC) (Reuters)
• Lockheed Martin wins a $17 billion defense contract from the U.S. government to develop anti-ballistic missiles. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• Fifty-eight people have been killed in Tanzania and 13 people have been killed in Kenya in the past two weeks by flooding caused by torrential rains, with more than 125,000 people in coastal areas of East Africa affected by the flooding. Tanzania announces plans to construct fourteen dams in an attempt to reduce the damage from future floods. (AP)
• Lightning and heavy rains have killed at least 49 people across Pakistan in the past three days, mainly farmers in the eastern Punjab province. (AP)
• The death toll from landslides caused by torrential rain in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, increases to 20, after the last missing people are found dead. (AP)
• A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. No damage or casualties are reported. (ABC News)

International relations

• Sudan–United Kingdom relations, War in Sudan
  • The United Kingdom sanctions Alkhaleej Bank and Al-Fakher Advanced Works, two companies financing the Rapid Support Forces, and Red Rock Mining, which finances the Sudanese Armed Forces. (Radio Tamazuj)

Law and crime

• 2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations
  • Former Australian political staffer Bruce Lehrmann loses his defamation case against Network 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for broadcasting an interview with Lehrmann's former coworker Brittany Higgins in which she claimed that Lehrmann raped her. (The Guardian)
• 2024 Wakeley church stabbing
  • Four people are injured, including bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, in a mass stabbing at a church in Sydney, Australia. The perpetrator is arrested. A mob clashes with police outside the church while trying to attack the detained suspect. (Sky News Australia)

Politics and elections

• Israel–Hamas war protests
  • Tax Day protests
    • Pro-Palestinian protests in the United States stop traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge and disrupt traffic to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. (The Washington Post)
• Lee Hsien Loong announces that he will resign as Prime Minister of Singapore on May 15 and will be succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong. (CNA)
• Thousands of people protest against a controversial foreign agent law in Tbilisi, Georgia. Georgia's Interior Ministry reports at least 14 people have been detained. Georgian Dream parliamentary leader Mamuka Mdinaradze is punched during a debate in parliament by a member of the opposition. (DW)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Dibaya Lubwe landslide
  • At least 15 people are killed and 60 more are missing during a landslide in Idiofa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP)
• Heavy floods in Afghanistan have killed at least 33 people and injured 27 others in three days. About 600 houses were either damaged or destroyed, and around 200 livestock died. The floods also damaged around 800 hectares of agricultural land, and more than 85 kilometers (53 miles) of roads. (AP)

International relations

• Cyprus suspends Syrian asylum applications as there are increasing numbers of refugees. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Three people are injured, one critically, in a shooting at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. The perpetrator targeted his wife, who was not injured. (CNA)

Sports

• 2023–24 Bundesliga
  • In association football, Bayer 04 Leverkusen win their first Bundesliga title. (ABC News)
• 2024 Masters Tournament
  • American professional golfer Scottie Scheffler wins the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. This win is Scheffler's second win at the tournament. (CNN)