The
Iranian government announces an emergency in southwestern provinces threatened by flooding and worked to evacuate dozens of villages as forecasters predicted more of the
heavy rains that have killed at least 45 people last week.
(Reuters)
The death toll from thunderstorms in southern
Nepal rises to 30. Several houses are ruptured, trees uprooted and vehicles overturned in
Bara district and
Parsa district.
(BBC News)
Thirty firefighters die in southwestern
China after a forest fire trapped them due to a sudden shift in winds.
(The New York Times)(BBC)
China announces that it will add
fentanyl to a list of regulated narcotic drugs on May 1, 2019, in an effort to curtail its manufacturing.
(BBC News)(CNN)(Time)
The
Supreme Electoral Tribunal accepts the nullity recourses against the candidacy of
Thelma Aldana and temporarily leaves her out of the general elections. However, an appeal will be filed before the Supreme Court of Justice and ultimately, the
Constitutional Court. All three top candidates face serious legal challenges that may prevent them from running.
(Prensa Libre)(Fox News)(Al Jazeera)
Algerian PresidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika announces that he will resign by April 28, following intense pressure from the military and the ruling party to step down amid anti-government protests, bringing an end to his 20-year rule.
(Reuters)
Google starts deleting consumer accounts from its social network
Google+ due to low user engagement and the discovery of
security vulnerabilities which potentially exposed user data to developers.
(The Verge)
Russia opens a helicopter training facility in
Venezuela. Under the plans, Russian state-owned
Rostec will train Venezuelan pilots to operate
Mi-35M gunships and transport helicopters. The move comes after the White House warned Moscow against sending troops or military equipment to the country.
(Reuters)
Peruvian authorities investigate the death of British
De La Salle Brother Paul McAuley, age 71. According to the report he is burned to death in a home he founded for indigenous students in
Iquitos, in the northeastern Amazonian region.
(AP)
UK Prime MinisterTheresa May gives a speech after seven hours of continuous meetings, saying that a further extension to the withdrawal from the European Union is needed, and asking for talks with
Jeremy Corbyn.
(BBC News)
In an effort led by
U.S. Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, Senate
Republicans vote 51-48 to approve new Senate rules to limit the in-session debate time for most of President
Donald Trump's appointed political nominees to two hours instead of the previously required 30 hours. Senate Republicans invoke the so-called "
nuclear option" to approve the new rules, a procedure that allows the Senate to amend rules with a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than the two-thirds
supermajority normally required to do so.
(Axios)
An indicative vote on holding more indicative votes for Brexit possibilities in the
House of Commons achieves a vote of 310 Aye and 310 No, becoming the first British parliamentary vote to result in a draw in the 21st century;
SpeakerJohn Bercow breaks the tie by voting No.
(BBC News)
The
Australian Parliament passes a law which makes it illegal for Internet platforms and service providers to host videos of "abhorrent violent conduct" without "expeditiously" removing them.
(The Guardian)
WikiLeaks says that a high-level source within the government of
Ecuador has informed them that
Julian Assange will be expelled within "hours to days" and that Ecuador's government already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest. On April 2, 2019,
Ecuadorian PresidentLenín Moreno accused WikiLeaks of leaking the
INA Papers, a set of documents published in February 2019 which uncover the operations of
INA Investment Corp, an offshore
tax haven created by the brother of President Moreno and allegedly reveal government corruption.
(WikiLeaks)(Al Jazeera)
A 29-year-old man is charged with five counts of attempted murder after stabbing five people in "random attacks", including four people in a 10-hour period on March 30, in
Edmonton, London.
(BBC News)
An inquest finds that Jennifer and Sarah Hart intentionally killed themselves. In 2018, a vehicle with the couple and their six adopted children drove off a cliff in
California, killing all of them.
(MSN.com)
Science and technology
A small 5-200 kilometer
planetesimal, with a similar mineral composition to Earth, is found orbiting in the
debris disk of a white dwarf star. This discovery is among the first of its kind and expected to provide insight into the future of our own planetary system.
(Astronomy.com)
South Korea's
Hyundai Motor reaches an agreement with
Tencent to partner on research and development of self-driving cars. Hyundai plans to roll such cars out commercially by 2030.
(Reuters)
One person is killed when his car is hit by more than eighty shots by the Brazilian army after his car was mistaken for another one, in which were supposed to be criminals, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(G1)
Nationwide protests against animal cruelty take place in
Australia. In the city of
Melbourne, protesters blocked a major intersection for four hours before it was dispatched by police; several people were arrested.
(News.com.au)
American actress
Felicity Huffman and 13 other defendants involved in a conspiracy regarding admission to prestigious colleges have agreed to plead guilty in the matter, prosecutors say. The 14 individuals are among 50 people accused of engaging in schemes that involved cheating on college entrance exams and paying $25 million in bribes to secure their children admission to well-known colleges.
(WKZO)
U.S. district judge
Richard Seeborg halts the
Trump administration’s policy of sending some asylum seekers to
Mexico while their cases are pending in the United States. The national injunction will take effect Friday.
(Reuters)
LIGO and
Virgo detect a gravitational wave from a galaxy 6 billion light-years away in the direction of
Cassiopeia, with further details being released on April 10.
(New Scientist)
Heavy gunfire is reported in the
Sudanese capital
Khartoum as
Rapid Support Forces loyal to
PresidentOmar al-Bashir attempted to break-up an anti-government protest outside the military's headquarters, killing at least 14 people, including five Sudanese soldiers who defected to the opposition.
(Sky News)
16 people are indicted on new charges in the nationwide college admissions cheating scandal, one day after it was announced that 13 of the defendants charged in the case would plead guilty for conspiracy.
(The Boston Globe)(The New York Times)
The
International Monetary Fund denies Venezuela access to its money as there is no majority of member states recognizing either Maduro or Guaidó, describing the situation as "political chaos" and asking for debate between its members on the nation.
(Bloomberg)
Science and technology
Katie Bouman and scientists at the
Event Horizon Telescope project release the first ever photograph of the event horizon of a
black hole, that of the supermassive black hole at the center of
Messier 87 galaxy, taken using a network of eight radio telescopes around the world.
(CNN)
WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange is arrested in
London after
Ecuador withdraws
asylum. He is later found guilty of breaching bail in 2012 by a British court, however he faces likely
extradition to the United States over allegations he conspired with former US military analyst
Chelsea Manning to acquire classified U.S. government files.
(The Guardian)
Police in Louisiana arrest Holden Matthews, a suspect in arson at three historically
African-American churches in the past weeks which the
NAACP flagged as hate crimes. Matthews is the son of a local deputy sheriff. He has ties to
black metal music and commented on memes about musician
Varg Vikernes, a neo-Nazi who boasted about burning churches in Norway and was imprisoned for arson and murder, but researchers are unsure if they prove hate was his motive.
(CBS)(Rolling Stone)(Daily Beast)
SpaceX's
Falcon Heavy launches successfully from
Kennedy Space Center carrying
Arabsat-6A to orbit. All three boosters landed successfully, marking the first time that all three boosters of a Falcon Heavy landed without failure.
(CNN)
One person is killed and another injured in a shooting in a church in the
British Columbia city of
Salmon Arm. The suspected shooter was wrestled to the ground by churchgoers, police say.
(CBC)
A fire breaks out at the
Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in
Paris, resulting in the collapse of its roof and
spire and considerable damage to the building's interior.
(AJC)(BBC)
Four people are killed in a string of shootings in
Penticton,
British Columbia, in what police are calling targeted killings. A man later turned himself in and was taken into custody.
(CBC News)
Five people are killed and 13 others injured in an arson and stabbing attack in an apartment complex in
Jinju,
South Korea. The attacker tells the police he was angry because of back pay.
(The Korea Times)
Eight families file a lawsuit against
Washington Hebrew Congregation for allowing what they say was a lack of action over an assistant teacher who stands accused of sexually abusing several children in the day care program.
(USA Today)(CNN)
The
Security Service of Ukraine claims to have captured a Russian military intelligence hit squad responsible for the attempted murder of a Ukrainian military spy in the run-up to a presidential election on 21 April.
(Daily Express)
Singapore's non-oil exports slumped in March, according to numbers released by
Enterprise Singapore. This was the biggest year-on-year monthly drop since October 2016. The slump in the export of electronics was especially marked.
(The Straits Times)
Former
Peruvian PresidentAlan García dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The incident happened moments after judicial authorities had served him with an arrest warrant on corruption charges.
(CNN)(Infobae)
Presidential candidate
Mario Estrada [
es] is captured in the
United States because of his alleged connections with the international drug trafficking
Sinaloa Cartel. The
United States Department of Justice says in a statement that Estrada had requested the murder of political rivals to win the presidency in exchange for granting control of airports and ports in the country to these groups. The presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 16.
(Prensa Libre)
Yale University researchers led by professor
Nenad Sestan announce, through the Nature journal, that they successfully partly revived the brains of deceased
pigs, four hours after death occurred. However, there were no signals from the brains that would indicate awareness or consciousness.
(NPR)
14 people are killed in a gun attack on a bus in
Pakistan.
(CNN)
Disasters and accidents
At least 13 people are killed and 29 others are injured when a wall collapses in
Empangeni,
South Africa, at the start of an Easter service at a Pentecostal church.
(BBC News)
The
Royal Thai Navy is planning to remove a house that was allegedly constructed illegally 12 mi (19.31 km) off the Thai coastline to promote
seasteading. The owners had planned to start a community of at least 20 houses in the area. Thai authorities have filed a complaint, which if prosecuted could carry a death sentence for "threatening the sovereignty of a state, and erosion of a state's independence".
(Time via MSN)
House Judiciary Chairman
Jerry Nadler issues a subpoena to the
Justice Department for, by May 1, the full, unredacted version of the
Mueller report, and for the underlying grand jury evidence and testimony. Attorney General
William Barr's offer to allow committee members a chance to view a less-redacted version of the report does not meet the committee's needs and was not accepted.
(Politico)
A series of explosions at churches and hotels in four cities in
Sri Lanka, including the nation's commercial capital and largest city
Colombo, kills at least 359 people and wounds around 500 others.
ISIL has since claimed responsibility for the attacks.
(BBC News)
U.S. Secretary of StateMike Pompeo has stated that several United States citizens were killed in the attacks and Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry officials have stated that at least five of the victims were of British nationality.
(CNN)
Pope Francis speaks words of solidarity to the Christian community of Sri Lanka, lamenting that the attacks have wrought grief and sorrow.
(Vatican News)
Four attackers are killed in a failed attack on a police station in
Zulfi,
Saudi Arabia. The attackers had machine guns, bombs, and petrol bombs.
(Al Jazeera)
According to
PHIVOLCS, the
epicenter of the earthquake is located 18 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of
Castillejos,
Zambales. PHIVOLCS originally records the earthquake, which is tectonic in origin, at magnitude 5.7, but later upgrades it to 6.1.
(GMA News)
The
United States demands that all countries cease purchasing oil from
Iran by May 1 or face sanctions, in a move aimed at reducing Iran's income.
(Reuters)
According to
PHIVOLCS, the
epicenter of the earthquake is located 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) northwest of
San Julian,
Eastern Samar. PHIVOLCS originally records the earthquake, which is tectonic in origin, at magnitude 6.2, but later upgrades it to 6.5.
(The Philippine Star)
In the United States,
Chanel Lewis is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2016
murder of Karina Vetrano while she was running in
Queens, New York City. The judge had earlier declined the defense's motion of a re-trial due to what they alleged to be police and juror misconduct.
(ABC)
Eight pedestrians in
Sunnyvale, California, are injured when a car is intentionally driven into them. The driver is arrested after crashing into a tree. The
FBI is assisting in the investigation.
(NBC News)
Police evacuate 148 homes in
Sokndal,
Norway.
Wildfires have burned through about 7.5 square kilometers (2.9 sq. miles) of land in the area. A spokesperson for the
European Union Forest Fire Information System says wildfires in northern Europe "are way above the average" for this time of year.
(BBC News)
A judge in
Miami orders the arrest of Guatemalan presidential candidate
Roberto Arzú. Arzú is the second presidential candidate who has had legal problems with the
United States.
(Prensa Libre)
John William King is executed by lethal injection by the state of
Texas, 21 years after the murder of James Byrd Jr., for which he was sentenced.
(Reuters)
Asia Press reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the execution by firing squad of four foreign ministry officials following the failure of his February
Hanoi summit with
U.S. PresidentDonald Trump, after accusing them of "selling information to the U.S." before the summit.
(Yahoo! News)
The
parliament of
Ukraine passes a language law in a vote of 278 to 38 that will secure the use of
Ukrainian as the country's only official language.
(RFE/RL)
A Texas semi truck driver with no criminal record is arrested and faces 4 counts of vehicular homicide after he told police his brakes were failing on I-70 as it descended from the mountains in Colorado and caused a 28 vehicle crash.
(CBS Denver)
Russia announces it will fast-track citizenship applications from people living in conflict areas in eastern
Ukraine. The
European Union calls the move an attack on Ukraine's sovereignty that would undermine any peace agreement.
(Reuters)
A federal district court in
Washington State issues a
preliminary injunction against enforcement of an initiative by the
Donald Trump administration ("gag order") that would have restricted doctor-patient communications about
abortion in family planning clinics that receive U.S. taxpayer funding.
(Reuters)
The official video for
Taylor Swift's "
Me!", which premiered Thursday night, breaks
Vevo's record for the biggest debut of all time, with at least 56.9 million views in 24 hours.
(The Hollywood Reporter)
Six people are killed when terrorists storm a church in the
Soum Province,
Burkina Faso. The victims are the pastor, two of his sons and three other worshippers.
(BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
272 election workers in
Indonesia die, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses, caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand. 1,878 other staff fall ill.
(BBC News)
Four family members, three women and one man, were found shot to death in an apartment in
West Chester Township, Ohio. The suspect remains at large.
(NBC News)
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants assault several
Syrian Army positions in the northern
Aleppo Governorate, killing 17 soldiers and wounding 30 others. HTS say the attacks were in response to recent Syrian government and
Russian airstrikes on rebel-held areas.
(Al Jazeera)
The death toll in cyclone-hit northern
Mozambique has risen to 38, as aid workers struggle to reach the worst-affected areas. Seven people were also killed by the cyclone in
Comoros.
(BBC News)(ReliefWeb)
Floods sparked by torrential rains have killed 31 people in
Indonesia while 13 others are missing.
(Bangkok Post)
North Carolina authorities have ordered evacuations covering a half-mile radius because of air quality, possibly including harmful
sulfuric acid, from a massive fire at a metal recycling plant in
Mooresboro. Officials say the blaze has been extinguished, as of 7:15 a.m.
(BBC News)
Indonesian President
Joko Widodo has decided to relocate the nation's capital from
Jakarta, on the northwest coast of
Java island. The new location and timing are not yet known. Jakarta, home to over 10 million people, is sinking at one of the fastest rates in the world; almost half of its area is below sea level.
(BBC News)(NPR)
An armored car runs over supporters of Guaidó, escalating violence. At least 71 injured people, including two with gunshot wounds, were taken to Salud Chacao Medical Center in
Caracas, according to the president of the center.
(New York Daily News)(Associated Press)(Reuters)(CNN)
Reuters reports that an uneasy peace returned by the afternoon. There do not appear to be any immediate attempts by the opposition to take power through force, and there are no reports of defections from the
armed forces leadership.
(Reuters)