Portal:Current events
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Topics in the news
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Mario Vargas Llosa
- Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa (pictured) dies at the age of 89.
- A nightclub roof collapse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, kills 231 people.
- In basketball, the UConn Huskies win the NCAA Division I women's championship and the Florida Gators win the men's championship.
- In the National Hockey League, Alexander Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's record for most goals scored.
- In horse racing, Nick Rockett, ridden by Patrick Mullins, wins the Grand National.
April 16, 2025 (Wednesday)
Disasters and accidents
- Authorities recover the remains of a Filipino crew member from a ship that capsized off Occidental Mindoro, Philippines, on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to two. Nine others are reported still missing. (GMA News)
Law and crime
- A doctor is arrested in Germany for killing 15 patients between 2021 and 2024 in Berlin. He is also accused of trying to cover up the evidence by starting fires in their homes. (AP)
Politics and elections
- Sudanese civil war (2023–present)
- The leader of the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, announces the establishment of the Government of Peace and Unity, a rival government to the country's armed forces. (BBC News)
- Transgender rights in the United Kingdom
- The UK Supreme Court rules that legal gender is based upon biological sex. (BBC)
Science and technology
- The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database, the international system for tracking cybersecurity vulnerabilities, will not be updated after US government funding for MITRE ends. (Reuters) (KrebsOnSecurity.com)
April 15, 2025 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2025 Sumy airstrike
- Ukrainian military leader Volodymyr Artyukh is fired from his position as Sumy Oblast Governor following condemnation for organizing a military ceremony in the densely populated Sumy city center, which was later targeted by a Russian airstrike. (The Kyiv Independent)
- 2025 Sumy airstrike
- Sudanese civil war, Foreign aid to Sudan
- Humanitarian impact of the Sudanese civil war
- The European Union and its member states pledge €522 million (US$590 million) and the United Kingdom pledges £120 million (US$141 million) in humanitarian aid to Sudan to deliver food and supplies to over 650,000 internally displaced Sudanese people affected by the fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces. The two groups also call for an immediate ceasefire to end the war. (DW) (AP)
- Humanitarian impact of the Sudanese civil war
- Insurgency in Balochistan
- At least three Balochistan Police officers are killed and 16 others are injured when a roadside bomb hits a bus carrying police personnel in Mastung District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (DW)
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
- At least 3,747 people are hospitalized with breathing difficulties and airports are closed after a dust storm in Iraq. (France 24)
- A Chinese crew member is killed when Chinese sand carrier vessel M/V Hong Hai 16 capsizes off Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. A search and rescue operation is launched by the Coast Guard for missing crew members including seven Filipinos and three Chinese. (Philstar)
Health and environment
- The European Commission approves the use of Lecanemab, a monoclonal antibody medication that targets amyloid beta peptides, to treat the early stages of Alzheimer's disease via intravenous therapy. This is the first drug to be approved to treat the disease in Europe, and was approved by the Federal Drug Administration in the United States in 2023. (DW)
International relations
- Algeria–France relations
- France expels twelve Algerian diplomatic officials from the country after Algeria expelled twelve French officials yesterday over the arrest of an Algerian consular official in a kidnapping case. France also recalls its ambassador from Algiers. (AP) (Bloomberg)
- Israel–Maldives relations, Visa policy of the Maldives
- The Parliament of the Maldives votes in favor of an amendment to the Immigration Act, banning entry into the Maldives for those traveling on Israeli passports. (The Edition)
Law and crime
- Media freedom in Russia
- Four Russian journalists linked to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are convicted of extremism and sentenced to five years and six months imprisonment in a penal colony. (CNN) (AP)
- Piracy in the 21st century
- According to a report by the International Maritime Bureau, piracy has risen by almost 35% in 2025 with 45 cases in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2024, particularly in the Singapore Strait between Singapore and Indonesia. (DW) (Seatrade Maritime News)
- A court in Lima, Peru, sentences former president Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia to 15 years in prison for laundering funds from Brazilian company Odebrecht to finance his 2006 and 2011 presidential campaigns. (AP) (BBC News)
- At least four students are injured in a school mass shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School in Dallas, Texas, United States. (BNO News)
- Four people are injured in a vehicle-ramming attack after a terrorist drives a sedan onto a pedestrian walkway on the Toronto Metropolitan University campus near Yonge Street and Gerrard Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (CBC News)
Science and technology
- 4chan is hacked and goes offline, with the website's source code and the usernames, IP addresses, and email addresses of its staff leaked by far-right imageboard Soyjak.party. (Dailydot) (Cybernews) (MSN)
April 14, 2025 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Gaza Strip evacuations
- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto tours the Middle East to seek support from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates for his proposed plan to temporarily evacuate 1,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Indonesia. (Indonesia Business Post)
- International aid to Palestinians
- The European Union announces a €1.6 billion (US$1.8 billion) three-year financial support package for Palestinians aiming to "stabilize" Gaza and the West Bank. (DW)
- Gaza Strip evacuations
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- United Kingdom and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The United Kingdom sends £752 million ($990 million) to Ukraine for the purchase of surface-to-air missiles, artillery and spare parts for fighter aircraft, as part of an international loan programme funded primarily through seized Russian financial assets. (Reuters)
- United Kingdom and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria
- At least 51 people are killed in escalating clashes between rival herders in Plateau State, Nigeria, while another 2,000 people are displaced, according to Amnesty International. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Mediterranean Sea migrant smuggling
- The Hellenic Coast Guard finds two bodies and 39 survivors when a boat carrying migrants capsizes off the coast of Farmakonisi in the Dodecanese islands of Greece. (AP) (Greek City Times)
- A 5.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Julian, California, United States. The earthquake, felt throughout Southern California and Baja California, caused several rockslides on California State Route 76 and the demolition of an office façade in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico due to risk of collapse caused by earthquake. (The San Diego Union-Tribune) (La Jornada)
Health and environment
- Aging of Japan
- According to official data, the population of Japanese citizens dropped to a record low of 120.3 million by October 2024, following a 14-year trend of record lows and the largest drop since records began in 1950. (DW) (Government of Japan)
International relations
- China–Vietnam relations
- China and Vietnam sign 45 agreements, including deals on rail links and supply chains, during Chinese leader Xi Jinping's state visit to Vietnam as part of his broader tour across Southeast Asia in response to tariffs imposed by the United States. Vietnam also approves jet purchases from China, with China's Comac signing a deal with Vietjet. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Democratic backsliding in the United States, El Salvador–United States relations
- U.S. President Donald Trump suggests deporting United States citizens to the controversial Terrorism Confinement Center prison in El Salvador, despite the unconstitutionality of the proposal. (NBC News)
- July Revolution
- A court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, along with the Anti-Corruption Commission, issues an arrest warrant for Tulip Siddiq, a United Kingdom MP who is the niece of ousted former leader Sheikh Hasina, for corruption allegations. Siddiq has rebuked the arrest warrant and called it a "smear campaign" against her. (DW) (BBC News)
- LGBTQ rights in Hungary
- The Hungarian government passes several constitutional changes that affect LGBTQ rights, including a provisional law that says people can only be male or female and codifying a law that bans LGBTQ events, including Budapest Pride. (DW)
- The Spanish Civil Guard arrests two Russian citizens in Manacor, Mallorca, for alleged breeding and sale of exotic cats, and recover a caracal, two servals, and sixteen felid hybrids. (DW)
Science and technology
- Blue Origin NS-31
- A Blue Origin New Shepard launch vehicle makes a brief sub-orbital spaceflight, carrying six female space tourists, marking the first all-female spacecraft since 1963's Vostok 6 which had Valentina Tereshkova as the pilot and the spacecraft's sole passenger. (NPR) (USA Today)
April 13, 2025 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2025 Sumy airstrike
- During Palm Sunday, two Russian Iskander-M ballistic missiles carrying cluster munitions strike the centre of Sumy, Ukraine, killing at least 35 people and wounding 117 others. (ABC News) (BBC News)
- The Russian Defence Ministry says the strike targeted a military gathering in the city. Artem Semenikhin, the mayor of Konotop, Sumy, says regional Governor Volodymyr Artyukh planned an awards ceremony for the 117th Territorial Defense Brigade in Sumy on the same day. (AP) (Kyiv Independent)
- 2025 Sumy airstrike
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Gaza war
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Israel destroys part of the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City, the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, which is managed by the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem. No direct casualties are reported, but one child is killed due to interrupted medical care. (BBC News) (PCHR Gaza)
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Boko Haram insurgency
- Eight people are killed and a dozen others are injured after a roadside bomb suspected to be planted by Islamic extremists hits a bus on the Damboa-Maiduguri highway in Borno State, Nigeria. (AP)
Disasters and accidents
- Five people are killed and twelve others are injured in a fire at a hostel in Pszów, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. (TVN24)
- Six people are injured, including two critically, and twenty-four homes are damaged after a two-story house exploded in Austin, Texas, United States. (Austin American-Statesman)
Law and crime
- Pennsylvania Governor's Residence fire
- The Pennsylvania Governor's Residence is targeted in an arson attack. Governor Josh Shapiro and his family are evacuated and the fire was extinguished. A suspect was later arrested and charged with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person. (NBC News) (CTV News)
- Security incidents involving Donald Trump
- An American teen follower of the Order of Nine Angles previously charged with killing his parents is also accused of plotting to assassinate U.S. president Donald Trump. (NBC News)
- At least 46 people are injured and treated at the scene and one person is hospitalized when a tear gas canister leaks at Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany. The perpetrator behind the leak is unidentified. (DW)
- Two people are killed and nine others are injured in a mass shooting at a park in Conway, Arkansas, United States. (AP)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Gabonese presidential election
- Gabonese military leader Brice Oligui Nguema wins the presidential election with more than 90% of the vote as an independent politician. (BBC News)
- 2025 Ecuadorian general election
- Incumbent Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa wins re-election for a full term in a rematch against Citizen Revolution Movement candidate and former assemblywoman Luisa González. (CNN)
April 12, 2025 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Sudanese Civil War
- Siege of El Fasher
- Zamzam and Abu Shouk refugee camp massacres
- At least 100 people, including 20 children, are killed in Rapid Support Forces attacks on Al-Fashir and two nearby displacement camps in North Darfur, Sudan, according to the United Nations. (Hindustan Times)
- Zamzam and Abu Shouk refugee camp massacres
- Siege of El Fasher
- Gaza war
- Rafah offensive
- The Israel Defense Forces announces the completion of the Morag Corridor, completely cutting off the city of Rafah from the rest of the Gaza Strip and effectively turning it into an Israeli security zone. (Al Jazeera)
- Rafah offensive
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Ukrainian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon is shot down by a S-400 missile during combat operations against Russian forces, with the pilot killed in action. (Ukrinform) (Defense Mirror)
- Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
- Eight Pakistani citizens are killed in a mass shooting by Baloch Nationalist Army gunmen in Mehrestan, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. (Al Jazeera)
- Three prison officers sustain life-threatening injuries in a mass stabbing and burn attack when Hashem Abedi, the brother of Islamic terrorist Salman Abedi, the perpetrator of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, attacks prison officers at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham, England, with hot cooking oil and shivs. (BBC News)
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- China–United States trade war
- U.S. president Donald Trump's administration exempts smartphones and computers from all "reciprocal" tariffs, including the base 10% on all countries and the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller states that a separate 20% tariff on Chinese imports remains in effect for the products. (BBC News)
- China–United States trade war
- Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025
- The British government passes emergency legislation to control some management decisions at British Steel in order to prevent the closure of the Jingye Group-owned Scunthorpe Steelworks. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Copake plane crash
- A Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft en route from Westchester County Airport to Columbia County Airport crashes into a field in Copake, New York, United States, killing all six occupants onboard. (NBC News)
International relations
- Iran–United States relations
- Iran and the United States, represented by foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and special envoy Steve Witkoff, hold their first round of indirect talks in Muscat, Oman, and agree to continue the negotiations. (The Jerusalem Post)
April 11, 2025 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Gaza Strip evacuations
- Indonesia indicates that it is ready to temporarily accept the "first wave" of around 1,000 Palestinian evacuees from the Gaza Strip until conditions improve. (Haaretz) (Tempo)
- Gaza Strip evacuations
- Terrorism in Greece
- A bomb explodes outside the offices of Greece's main railway company Hellenic Train in Athens, Greece. No casualties were reported. (CTV News)
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- China–United States trade war
- China increases its tariffs on U.S. imports from 84% to 125% in response to U.S. duties on Chinese goods of 145%. (Reuters)
- China states that it will not respond to any further U.S. tariff increases, as U.S. goods have already been priced out of the Chinese market by existing tariffs, but may still impose other economic measures. (CNBC)
- China–United States trade war
Disasters and accidents
- A Cessna 310 crashes into Interstate 95 near Boca Raton Airport in Boca Raton, Florida, United States, killing all three occupants of the plane and injuring one other on the ground. (NBC News) (Boca News Now)
- Three people are killed when a Mooney M20 crashes in the Cherokee National Forest near Reliance, Tennessee, United States. The Federal Aviation Authority and National Transportation Safety Board are currently investigating the crash. (WRCB)
International relations
- Panama–United States relations
- An agreement is signed by top security officials from Panama and the U.S. allowing U.S. military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities. (France24)
- Russia–United States relations
- The U.S. president's special envoy Steve Witkoff meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss settlement options for the Russo-Ukrainian war and a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Putin. (CBS News)
- Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration
- The U.S. terminates the temporary protected status of Afghan and Cameroonian nationals. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Illegal immigration to the United States
- Twenty-six-year-old Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves is sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment for her part in a people smuggling operation that killed 16 and injured two Cuban undocumented migrants in a shipwreck in South Florida, United States, on November 16, 2024. (CTV News)
- Immigration to Italy
- The Italian government sends 40 asylum seekers to an internment camp in Albania after their asylum applications were rejected, preparing them to be deported. Migrants can be held for a maximum of 18 months under Italian law. (DW)
- Capital punishment in the United States
- American spree killer Mikal Mahdi, who killed three people, including an off-duty police officer, in July 2004, is executed by firing squad at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina. (NBC News)
April 10, 2025 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war
- Western Syria clashes
- 2025 massacres of Syrian Alawites
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports a marked re-escalation of extrajudicial killings of civilians in Alawite-dominated coastal Syrian regions, with sixteen civilians executed in 72 hours. Several civilian homes in Tartus Governorate are seized by government-affiliated forces. (SOHR) (SOHR 2)
- 2025 massacres of Syrian Alawites
- Western Syria clashes
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- War crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A video leaked by Ukrainian officials and verified by the Associated Press shows Russian soldiers summarily executing four Ukrainian prisoners of war last month in Piatykhatky, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. (AP)
- War crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Papua conflict
- Seventeen people are killed by West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) militants in Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia. The TPNPB alleges that they attacked Indonesian Army soldiers disguised as gold miners, while the Indonesian government rejects the claim. (AP)
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- China–United States trade war
- The White House clarifies the tariff rate on China, stating that a 145% tariff on all imports to the United States is in effect. The 20% addition came from China's alleged role in supplying synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, to the United States. (The New York Times)
- The European Union announces a 90-day pause on counter measures against the U.S. tariffs on European goods. (BBC News)
- China–United States trade war
- Land reform in Zimbabwe
- Zimbabwe begins issuing the first financial compensation payments to White Zimbabwean farmers whose farms were seized by Robert Mugabe's government between 2000 and 2002. A total of 740 farmers will be compensated as per the 2020 agreement with the Commercial Farmers' Union. (BBC News)
- The United Kingdom's Cabinet Office announces it will cut around 2,100 jobs from its department, about a third of its total workforce, as part of wider government spending cuts. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Hudson River helicopter crash
- A Bell 206 sightseeing helicopter crashes into the Hudson River off Lower Manhattan, New York, United States, killing Siemens Spain CEO Agustín Escobar, his family of four, and the pilot. (AP) (ABC News)
- Jet Set nightclub roof collapse
- The number of deaths caused by the roof collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, rises to 221, as rescue operations reach the end. (CTV News)
Health and environment
- Hungary's Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Gergely Gulyás suggests a biological attack could be the source of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the country. (Reuters)
International relations
- Russia–United States relations
- A Russian-American citizen arrested in Yekaterinburg in early 2024 and a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 are released in a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States. (BBC News)
- South Korea–Syria relations
- South Korea formally establishes diplomatic relations with Syria. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- 2025 Turkish protests
- The government of Turkey releases 127 people on bail, most of which are university students, after they were arrested for taking part in protests calling for the release of Istanbul mayor and opposition figure Ekrem İmamoğlu. (AP)
- Turkish police detain two journalists, one from BirGün and one from Cumhuriyet, and raid their offices, accusing them of making threats and blackmail after they reported on the arrest of İmamoğlu. Reporters Without Borders condemn the arrests as an infringement on freedom of information. (DW)
Politics and elections
- Presidency of Javier Milei
- Argentines organize a 24-hour nationwide general strike against the Javier Milei administration for the third time. According to the government, this constitutes an "attack against the republic". (The Straits Times) (Yahoo News)
- The German governing coalition announces it will abolish the expedited 3-year naturalization path for "integrated" immigrants who are spouses of German citizens or have completed the Integrationskurs. The path requiring 5 years of continuous residency will remain. (DW)
- Brigitte Haas is sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Liechtenstein. (Vaterland)
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