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Worldwide current events
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Topics in the news

Judd Trump

Judd Trump (pictured) wins the World Snooker Championship, defeating John Higgins in the final.
The United Nations reports that, due to human activity, the Earth's biodiversity has suffered a catastrophic decline unprecedented in human history.
At least 29 people are killed in clashes at the Gaza–Israel border.
Aeroflot Flight 1492 crash-lands and bursts into flames at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, killing 41 of the 78 people on board.

May 11, 2019 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- Houthi forces begin to withdraw from several Yemeni ports, including Al Hudaydah, As-Salif and Ras Isa. The withdrawal is part of a UN-brokered ceasefire deal that aims to end the blockade of Yemen. (Deutsche Welle)

Health and environment

Efforts begin in Solomon Islands to refloat a ship after an oil spill amid what the government calls a "very difficult operation" and a "disaster." (Radio New Zealand)

May 10, 2019 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
- Four hostages, who were being held in northern Burkina Faso, are rescued by French forces, with two French commandos killed during the rescue operation. Those freed include two Frenchmen who had been kidnapped in Benin on May 1 and a pair of women, one an American and the other a South Korean. (BBC)
Boko Haram insurgency
- About 900 children are released from the Civilian Joint Task Force, a militia formed in Nigeria to counter Boko Haram. (CNN)
Insurgency in Balochistan
- Suspected Baloch nationalist gunmen storm a coal mine in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least five people. (Al Jazeera)
War in Afghanistan
- One day after peace talks between the Taliban and the United States ended with no resolution, Taliban militants attack government outposts in northwestern Afghanistan, killing at least twelve Afghan soldiers. (NY Times)

International relations

China–United States trade war‎, China–United States relations
- The United States increases tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of imports from China after no deal materialized prior to the midnight deadline. (CNBC) (The Wall Street Journal) (BBC)

Politics and elections

Tax returns of Donald Trump
- The United States House Committee on Ways and Means subpoenas United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Commissioner of Internal Revenue Charles Rettig to provide President Donald Trump's federal tax returns for the last six years. (The New York Times)

May 9, 2019 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

North Korean missile tests
- The South Korean military claims that North Korean military has launched an "unidentified projectile" into the sea, marking the second time North Korea has conducted a weapons test in a single week. (CNBC)
North Korea–United States relations
- For the first time the United States seizes a North Korean merchant ship loaded with coal in the East China Sea sailing toward Indonesia. The ship is suspected of violating sanctions. (ABC News) (CNN) (NBC News)
International military intervention against ISIL
- A blast hits Baghdad's northeastern Sadr City district. ISIL claims responsibility. No verified report on casualties is presently available. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The Reserve Bank of Australia confirms it issued approximately 46 million new Australian $50 notes in late 2018 with a typo in the background fine print: "responsibility" is misspelled as "responsibilty", the third "i" is missing. The mistake appears three times on the note and is extremely small requiring magnification to see. Part of the rollout of Australia's redesigned currency, the A$50 notes feature the first female member of the Australian parliament, social reformer Edith Cowan. (BBC) (The Age)

Disasters and accidents

European migrant crisis
- The United Nations states that at least 65 people are dead after a boat sinks off the coast of Tunisia while carrying migrants from Libya to Europe. (Reuters/ABC News Australia)

Law and crime

Argentine congressman Héctor Enrique Olivares [es] of the UCR party is shot by two assailants and is in critical condition. One of his advisers dies as a result of the gunshots. (Infobae), (Buenos Aires Times)
Operation Car Wash
- Former Brazilian President Michel Temer surrenders to the federal police in response to Wednesday's arrest warrant regarding an investigation into an alleged corruption scheme involving an Eletrobras nuclear power plant. Temer's lawyer's appeal will be heard on Tuesday. (Reuters) (France 24)

Politics and elections

2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- SEBIN agents detain Juan Guaidó's deputy Edgar Zambrano, the Vice President of the opposition-held National Assembly, and are reported to have taken him to El Helicoide prison. He is the most high profile opposition politician arrested since the presidential crisis began in January. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle)
- Colleague Richard Blanco of the Brave Peoples’ Alliance party seeks refuge in Argentina's embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, following Zambrano's arrest. (Reuters)
The United States House of Representatives votes to overturn Donald Trump’s move on the Affordable Care Act. (The Hill)
Montenegrin coup plot
- Russian officials are sentenced for a 2016 coup attempt in Montenegro. (The Guardian)

May 8, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Lahore bombing
- A blast near the 11th-century Data Darbar Sufi shrine in Lahore, Pakistan, kills at least eleven people, half of them police officers. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
Nine people were killed after the Taliban launches an attack on the Kabul offices of international non-governmental organization Counterpart International. (Al Jazeera)
Syrian Civil War, Northwestern Syria offensive (April 2019–present)
- Syrian government forces capture the town of Kafr Nabudah in an ongoing offensive, marking the first major territorial change between government and rebel forces since the start of the demilitarization agreement last year. (Miami Herald)

Arts and culture

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, name their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. (CBS News)

International relations

Nuclear program of Iran
- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sends letters to the P5+1 leaders of the United Kingdom, China, Russia, Germany, France and the European Union announcing the country's partial withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement. Furthermore, Iran announces that it will stop exporting uranium and heavy water from its nuclear program. (Miami Herald) (CBS News)
Cross-Strait relations
- Taiwan passes a law under which spies from China would be subject to life imprisonment or even the death penalty. (Mainichi)
Brazil–United States relations
- President Donald Trump notifies the United States Congress that he will designate Brazil as a Major non-NATO ally in light of recent commitments to increase defense cooperation between both countries. (White House)

Law and crime

Asia Bibi blasphemy case
- Asia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row, has left Pakistan for Canada to be reunited with her daughters. (ABC News)
Girard Damien Saenz, 57, is arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of unlawful transportation, and of selling an assault weapon, during an ATF raid on a Bel Air mansion owned by Cynthia Beck, mother of Gordon P. Getty's three youngest children. Authorities seize more than 1,000 weapons from the premises during the raid. He is released the following day on $50,000 bail. (Los Angeles Times) (Fox News) (Variety)

Politics and elections

2019 South African general election
- Voters in South Africa go to the polls to elect new members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. (The New York Times)
Aftermath of the Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)
- The United States House Committee on the Judiciary votes to hold United States Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with a subpoena ordering him to provide them with the full, unredacted version of the Mueller Report last week. The full House will vote on the measure in the near future. (The New York Times)
- Donald Trump Jr., son of U.S. President Donald Trump, is subpoenaed to testify before the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about his Russian contacts in June 2016. (The New York Times)

May 7, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Second Libyan Civil War, 2019 Western Libya offensive
- The Libyan National Army shoots down a pro-GNA Mirage F1 fighter jet over Tripoli, capturing its pilot, claimed to be Portuguese, though the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs couldn't confirm his identity. Pictures released by the LNA's media office show the wounded pilot flanked by LNA officials. (The Independent) (The Telegraph)

Health and environment

Multiple environmentalists groups file a lawsuit to stop the US Forest Service from opening up large tracts of the Tongass National Forest to logging, allegedly without a proper study of the environmental impact. (Reuters)

International relations

Iraq–United States relations
- United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who originally expected to be in Berlin today, makes an emergency trip to Iraq amid escalating tensions with Iran. Earlier this week, the U.S. deployed a bomber task force and the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region. In today's meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and President Barham Salih, Pompeo reaffirmed the longstanding U.S. policy to ensure nobody interferes in their country. (BBC) (CNN)

Law and crime

Myanmar President Win Myint pardons two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who had been imprisoned at Insein Prison for more than 500 days after being charged with possession of classified documents under the Official Secrets Act. The pair were arrested in December 2017 as they were investigating the Inn Din massacre. (Reuters)
List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump
- Michael Behenna, an American soldier convicted of killing an Iraqi prisoner in 2008, is pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump and invited to dinner. (NPR)
STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting
- At least one person is killed and eight people are injured in a school shooting in Douglas County, Colorado. Two suspects are in custody. (KKTV) (ABC News via MSN.com)
At least seven people are killed and another 20 injured in a shooting at Pavón Prison near Guatemala City. The injured have been taken to hospital. Security forces have regained control of the facility. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2019 Danish general election
- Danish prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen calls general elections for Grundlovsdag on 5 June, only a little more than a week after Danish elections for the European Parliament. (The Local)
2019 Istanbul mayoral election
- The European Union and leading member states such as Belgium, France and Germany, criticize the Turkish government's decision to re-run Istanbul's mayoral election, which was won by underdog Ekrem İmamoğlu of the opposition multi-party Nation Alliance. (BBC) (Reuters)

May 6, 2019 (Monday)

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Armed conflict and attacks

Syrian Civil War, 2019 Idlib offensive
- The Syrian Arab Army launches a ground offensive against HTS and NFL-held areas in northern Hama and southern Idlib, after six days of intensive airstrikes on the region. (Fars) (Reuters) (ABC News)

Arts and culture

The first child of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is born; the boy is seventh in line to the British throne. (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

A fuel tanker lorry overturns and explodes near the airport in Niamey, Niger, killing at least 58 people. (BBC)

Health and environment

The United Nations Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services reports that, due to human activity, the Earth's biodiversity has suffered a catastrophic decline that is unprecedented in human history. (NPR) (Reuters)

International relations

China–United States trade war‎, China–United States relations
- Chinese stocks are down, falling more than 5 percent as of midday, following U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to raise tariffs against Chinese-made goods on Sunday. The current negotiations for a new deal between the two countries, originally planned for Wednesday, are now in question. U.S. stock futures fell sharply as well. (BBC) (The New York Times) (Bloomberg)

Politics and elections

2019 Turkish local elections, 2019 Istanbul mayoral election
- After a narrow victory of Turkey's main opposition party CHP against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP in Istanbul's mayoral election last month, Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council annulled the results and ordered a rerun of the election for the mayor of Istanbul. (The New York Times)

2019 Guatemalan general election
- The Attorney General and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) present a new case of corruption involving the current Economy Minister Acisclo Valladares Urruela, the presidential candidate Estuardo Galdámez of the ruling party National Convergence Front and seven deputies. They also request the revocation of the immunity of these politicians to proceed with their arrest. Galdámez is the sixth presidential candidate who has a process for possible acts of corruption. (elPeriódico de Guatemala)

Sports

U.S. President Donald Trump awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian awards in the United States, to Tiger Woods for his accomplishments in professional golf and charitable work. (CBS Sports) (Golf Channel)

May 5, 2019 (Sunday)

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Armed conflict and attacks

Gaza–Israel clashes (May 2019), Iran–Israel proxy conflict
- Hamas and other militant groups in the Gaza Strip fire hundreds of rockets at Israel, killing two Israeli civilians in Ashkelon and one in Ashdod. Retaliatory Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 23 Palestinians, including a senior Hamas commander. (CNN) (Haartez)
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- Taliban insurgents kill 13 and injure 55 people in an attack on a police headquarters in Puli Khumri, Afghanistan, using guns and suicide vests. The Taliban's high command recently rejected a ceasefire offer from the Afghan government. (BBC)
The United States deploys a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to respond to threats from Iran. A U.S. official told CNN, "... the threats were against both U.S. maritime and land-based forces in the region." (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

Aeroflot Flight 1492
- At least 41 passengers are killed after Sukhoi Superjet 100 (flight SU1492), which suffered an inflight fire, is engulfed by fire after an emergency crash landing at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia. A five-person crew and 73 passengers were on board. (Aviation 24) (BBC)
Seven Venezuelan military officers are killed in a helicopter crash. (AP)

International relations

2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, United States–Venezuela relations
- The President of the National Assembly of Venezuela Juan Guaidó tells the BBC he is considering formally requesting the United States to launch a military intervention to topple President Nicolás Maduro. Guaidó led a failed uprising against Maduro last month. (BBC)

Law and crime

LGBT rights in Brunei
- Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announces, via a television broadcast, that he has extended the moratorium on capital punishment for gay sex convictions. No executions have been carried out in Brunei since 1957. There has been overwhelming international backlash against a number of the changes affected by the stricter interpretation of Islamic law published on 3 April 2019. The Sultan also said Brunei will ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture. (BBC) (CNN)

Politics and elections