< Portal:Current events

Portal:Current events/2018 April 4

April 4, 2018 (2018-04-04) (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
  • A fire at the Perseus shopping centre in western Moscow kills at least one person and injures at least six others. (The Independent)
  • 2018 Balikpapan oil spill
    • The port city of Balikpapan, Borneo, Indonesia declares a state of emergency in response to an ongoing oil spill fire off the coast. The spill and fire killed four fishermen and is releasing toxic fumes. The slick currently extends to around seven square miles and marine fauna including protected species are being affected. (The Guardian)
  • A fire in a building housing the Portuguese, Tunisian, Argentinian and Belgian embassies in Stockholm, Sweden injures 14 people. A man is arrested on suspicion of arson. (The Local)
  • A U.S. Air Force F-16 crashes at the Nevada Test and Training Range near Las Vegas. (The Telegraph)
Health and environment
  • Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announces the six-month closure of the island of Boracay in the Philippines, starting April 26. (Rappler)
International relations
  • Syrian Civil War
    • The leaders of Iran, Turkey and Russia meet in Ankara. They declare their commitment to achieving a "lasting ceasefire" in Syria. (Ahval)
  • Illegal immigration to the United States
    • U.S. President Donald Trump signs an order sending the National Guard to patrol the Mexico–United States border in response to Congress's failure to pass tightened border security measures. (CBS)
    • The Viacrucis del Migrante caravan of mostly Central American migrants is stopped by Mexican authorities. (Reuters)
  • Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
    • Lawyers representing U.S. President Donald Trump are told by FBI special counsel Robert Mueller the President is considered to be more than a witness but is not under criminal investigation. (CNN)
  • United States–Venezuela relations
    • United States Senator Dick Durbin visits Venezuela to negotiate the release of Joshua Holt, who has been detained for two years awaiting trial on a weapons charge. The United States has been critical of his prosecution. (The Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Ukraine and Turkey sign an agreement improving aviation co-operation. (Anadolu Agency)
  • China threatens tariffs of 25% on the import of 106 U.S. products, including soybeans and Boeing aircraft in reaction to a previous U.S. threat of tariffs worth up to $50 billion. (Deutsche Welle)
  • At a summit in Baku, India and Azerbaijan discuss cooperation in areas including counterterrorism, agriculture, infrastuctural development, women's rights, and trade. (ANI)
  • The European Commission reveals it has received notice from France that the nation intends to extend passport checks, normally not carried out at Schengen Area borders, for six months beyond the present April 30 expiry date. (telesur)
Law and crime
  • Police arrest five suspects over a firebombing of a bus in Limpopo, South Africa that killed six people. (Eyewitness News)
  • LGBT rights in the United States
    • Voters in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, reject a proposed amendment to the city charter which would have restricted public restroom use to the gender appearing on the user's birth certificate. (Out) (Anchorage Daily News)
  • Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
    • Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, calls for an investigation into comments by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Johnson is facing criticisms he overstated the strength of evidence against Russia, an accusation he calls "lamentable" and accuses Corbyn of sympathizing with Russia. (The Guardian) (BBC)
    • The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons rejects a Russian request for a joint investigation. (BBC)
  • Facebook and Cambridge Analytica data breach
    • Facebook increases its estimate of the number of affected users to 87 million. (BBC)
  • The Conseil National des Barreaux, which represents French lawyers, calls for nationwide action to protest proposed legal reforms by Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet. (The Law Gazette)
  • Police arrest a 78-year-old man in London on suspicion of murder after he allegedly killed a burglar during a fight in his home. (The Telegraph) (BBC)
  • Pascal Blasio makes an initial court appearance charged with causing an explosion likely to endanger life in connection to a 2017 blast that injured 31 in New Ferry, England. (BBC)
  • Search and rescue operations continue for three children missing after an SUV crashed off a cliff and into the sea in California, killing five. The Mendocino County Sheriff says the crash was deliberate and a crime. (CNN)
  • Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
    • At a meeting of the OPCW, 17 of the 41 countries abstain from a vote on not allowing Russia to participate in the inquiry. 15 countries vote in favour and six against. Three countries were not present at the meeting. (Reuters)
  • Christian extremist terrorism in the United States
    • Lawyers representing two of the three defendants in a Kansas case alleging a Christian extremist plot to bomb a mosque tell jurors the FBI manipulated and encouraged the actions of the accused. (KCUR)
  • Former President of Bolivia, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is found responsible of the death of 60 demonstrators during protests in October 2003. (BBC)
Politics and elections
Science and technology
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