Portal:Current events/2019 May 13

• Gulf of Oman incident, Iran–United States relations, United Arab Emirates - Iran relations
  • The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) issues a new alert to all ships passing Fujairah, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on the Gulf of Oman over "acts of sabotage" amid heightened regional tensions between the United States and Iran. (Associated Press)

• Four people are killed when two sightseeing planes, with a total of 14 Royal Princess ship tourists, collide near Ketchikan, Alaska. Multiple people were rescued though two others are missing. (CBS News) (The New York Times)

• Iran–United Kingdom relations
  • An Iranian woman is sentenced to 10 years in prison for suspected spying for the United Kingdom. A judiciary spokesman alleged that she was recruited by the British Council's Iran desk. (Reuters)
• China–United States trade war, China–United States relations
  • China announces its intent to increase tariffs from 10% to 25% on $60 billion worth of imports from the United States effective June 1, 2019. (CNBC)
• 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, United States–Venezuela relations
  • Venezuelan National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó formally requests help from the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) for "strategic and operational planning" against the government of Nicolás Maduro. (The Guardian)

• Prosecutors in Sweden reopen the rape allegation investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Swedish prosecutors mention their intent to seek extradition of Assange from the United Kingdom after he has served his 50-week prison sentence for skipping bail. (BBC News) (The New York Times) (Associated Press)
• A 36-year-old man is arrested just outside Casa Rosada in Argentina, armed with a handgun, after requesting to hold an interview with President Mauricio Macri. (Perfil)
• 2019 college admissions bribery scandal
  • Actress Felicity Huffman pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud and admits to paying $15,000 for a proctor to change her daughter's SAT answers. (NBC News)
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
  • Trump's U.S. Attorney General William Barr appoints Republican U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the origins of the Crossfire Hurricane and Special Counsel investigations, and any criminality that may have occurred. (CBS News) (CNN)
• The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rules in Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, that a state cannot be sued in another state's court, overturning a 40-year-old precedent. The 5-4 decision overrules the Nevada v. Hall stare decisis set in 1979 which allowed private suits from one state to be brought in another state's court. (PBS) (SCOTUS Blog)

• 2019 Philippine general election
  • Voters in the Philippines go to the polls to elect new members of the Senate of the Philippines and House of Representatives of the Philippines, as well as various other local positions. (The New York Times)
• 2019 Guatemalan general election
  • The Constitutional Court determines that Zury Ríos has a constitutional impediment to be a presidential candidate and leaves her out of the electoral contest. Her constitutional impediment is for being the daughter of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. (Prensa Libre)

• American undersea explorer Victor Vescovo sets a new world record for the deepest ever sea dive at 10,972 metres (35,997 ft) in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. Several unusual things are discovered at the bottom, including four new species of prawn-like crustaceans, a new species of snailfish, strange brightly coloured rocky outcrops and a plastic bag. (BBC News)