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Hillsborough memorial

The National Museum of Natural History, in New Delhi, India, and its entire collection, are destroyed by fire.
In the UK, following a second inquest, the jury reaches a verdict of unlawful killing in respect of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster (memorial pictured) in 1989.
Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Jemima Sumgong win the men's and women's London Marathon, respectively.
Scientists announce the discovery of an extensive reef system near the Amazon River, covering an estimated 3,600 square miles (9,300 km²).

Ongoing events
Recent deaths:

April 29, 2016 (Friday)

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Disasters and accidents

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits off the coast of the Vanuatu island of Malakula, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) to issue a tsunami warning for the coasts of New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, which was later cancelled. (ABC News) (9 News Australia)

Law and crime

Australia commemorates the one-year anniversary of the execution of the ringleaders the Bali Nine. (ABC News)
North Korea sentences South Korea born American businessman Kim Dong Chul to ten years imprisonment for alleged spying. (Reuters via Trust)

Politics and elections

Iranian legislative election, 2016
- Iran goes to the polls for second round elections in constituencies where no candidate achieved 25 per cent of the vote in February's elections. (Reuters via Trust)

April 28, 2016 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Moro conflict
- Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines agree on joint naval patrols after an increase of kidnappings by the Abu Sayyaf militants. (Jakarta Post)
Syrian Civil War
- A wave of airstrikes on Aleppo, Syria, kill at least 61 people, including children. (FOX News) (CNN)
  - Médecins Sans Frontières claims that victims of a strike on a hospital include 14 patients and doctors. (Washington Post)
- According to sources from the Turkish military, they returned fire into Syria, killing 11 ISIL militants, after its artillery near the border town of Karkamış was hit by mortars. (Reuters)
The American Armenian community, led by socialite Kim Kardashian, responds with outrage after the The Wall Street Journal publishes an ad denying the Armenian Genocide. (Newsweek)

Business and economy

The Japanese government announces that it will start testing mileage figures of Mitsubishi Motors vehicles following recent revelations that testing data had been manipulated over a 25-year period. (Reuters)
Comcast's NBCUniversal acquires Dreamworks Animation for $3.8 billion. (CNN)
American billionaire Carl Icahn, in an interview on the cable network CNBC says he has closed his position in Apple. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

Belgium is to provide iodine pills to all its citizens, around 11 million people, to protect against radioactivity in the event of a nuclear accident at either of Belgium's ageing nuclear power plants, the Tihange Nuclear Power Station and Doel Nuclear Power Station, according to Health Minister Maggie De Block. Germany has recently called for the Belgian government to close the nuclear power plants over safety fears. (AFP via Yahoo News!)

International relations

Refugee rights, Australia–Papua New Guinea relations
- Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says Australia and Papua New Guinea will hold emergency talks next week about asylum seekers Australia has been holding on PNG's Los Negros Island in Manus Province. Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ruled this detention is illegal, and ordered the PNG and Australian governments to immediately take steps to end it. An Iranian refugee detainee remains in critical condition after setting himself on fire yesterday to protest Australia's treatment of refugees while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was visiting the island. (BBC) (Radio New Zealand)
Syrian peace process
- United Nations envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura appeals to the United States and Russia to intervene to help revive the failing Syrian peace talks. He stressed fighting needs to decrease for the talks to work, and that won't happen "without some sort of political solution on the horizon." (AP)
North Korea–South Korea relations
- Xi Jinping, the President of the People's Republic of China, assures that China will prevent war breaking out between North Korea and South Korea. (Time)
- North Korea tries and fails to launch the medium range BM25 Musudan missile. (AFP via Malay Mail)
France–Russia relations, International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis
- France's National Assembly votes to adopt a non-binding resolution to lift European Union sanctions against Russia, applied after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy's Republicans, as well as center-right and far-left groups voted in favor of lifting the sanctions, while the ruling Socialist Party and The Greens voted against the resolution. (Reuters)
War in Donbass
- The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe warns that the situation in Eastern Ukraine is worsening. Chief monitor for Ukraine Ertuğrul Apakan says that "during the past weeks, the OSCE has registered the highest number of cease-fire violations in months" and warned that artillery and mortars banned under Minsk II "are being used again in increased numbers." (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
South Sudan–United States relations, South Sudanese Civil War
- U.S. Special Envoy to South Sudan Donald E. Booth said that the United States would consider imposing sanctions or an arms embargo on South Sudan's leaders if they fail to form and cooperate in a proposed unity government to end the country's civil war. (Al Jazeera)
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a French-sponsored international conference to continue peace negotiations that have stalled since 2014 in settling the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, saying that direct talks were the only way to resolve the decades-long conflict. France wants to immediately recognize a Palestinian state without discussion over its borders or security issues. (The Guardian) (The Times of Israel)
Libyan Civil War
- In response to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord's plea, the United Nations Security Council blacklists the tanker shipping crude oil by the unrecognized rival House of Representatives government in eastern Libya. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

Mary Jane Veloso commemorates the first anniversary of her being spared from the death penalty in Indonesia for allegedly smuggling controlled substances. A trial to determine her innocence is ongoing. (The Guardian)
LGBT rights in Colombia
- Colombia becomes the fourth state in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. (BBC)

Politics and elections

The new government of Kyrgyzstan is sworn in with Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov taking the oath of office. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone is suspended by the Labour Party for claiming that Adolf Hitler was a Zionist. (The Daily Telegraph)
The Parliament of Finland holds a debate on whether or not to abandon the Euro as its currency following a petition that garnered enough signatures to force the issue into parliament. This comes as Finland as dealing with a weakening economy but the petition is unlikely to lead to the country leaving the Eurozone. (Reuters)
Elections in Equatorial Guinea
- Africa's longest serving leader Teodoro Obiang, the President of Equatorial Guinea is declared the winner of the recent election with 93.7 per cent of the vote. His government has been heavily criticised by human rights group. (AP via Tulsa World)

Science and technology

India launches IRNSS-1G, the seventh and final series of satellite for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC) (Business Standard)

Sport

2016 NFL draft
- In American football, the National Football League starts its draft for the 2016 NFL season with the Los Angeles Rams choosing Jared Goff with the first pick. (USA Today)

April 27, 2016 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Moro conflict
- Philippine president Benigno Aquino III says that the Abu Sayyaf militants plan to kidnap his sister actress Kris Aquino and boxer Manny Pacquiao. (CBS)
2016 Bursa bombing
- A suicide bomber blows herself up in the Turkish city of Bursa, injuring at least seven people. (AP via The Washington Post)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli forces kill two Palestinian assailants at a checkpoint in the West Bank. (Reuters)
2016 Cape Verde army mutiny
- Cape Verdean police capture a suspect in the murder of 11 soldiers. (AFP)
2016 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes
- According to officials from the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, one of their soldiers was killed overnight by Azerbaijani troops. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
War in Donbass
- Representatives of the Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic in Eastern Ukraine say at least five civilians are killed by artillery fire at a checkpoint in the town of Olenivka, with another 10 injured. Kiev denies the accusation. A local border-guard spokesman says there was an explosion at the checkpoint but he saw no artillery fired from either side, suggesting the blast could have been a bomb. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
War in Afghanistan
- The U.S. military warns that the Kabul Attack Network, comprised of fighters from various jihadist groups such as the Taliban and Haqqani networks, is planning attacks on people in the Parwan, Khost, Kabul, and Logar Provinces, Afghanistan, and asks for information from the Afghan public. (The Long War Journal)

Arts and culture

Archaeologists in Taiwan discover 48 sets of remains unearthed in graves in Taichung. The most striking discovery among them is the 4,800-year-old skeleton of a mother looking down at a child cradled in her arms. (The Guardian)
The German cities of Augsburg and Cologne are testing a scheme of traffic lights embedded in the ground to reduce cell phone-texting pedestrian accidents with vehicles that happen when so-called "smombies" step out into the street against the signal. (The Christian Science Monitor) (Autoblog)

Business and economy

Philippine presidential election, 2016
- The Philippine peso sinks to become the "worst performing currency in Asia" as a result of a volatile and unpredictable presidential election. (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

Heavy rain pelts earthquake-hit Ecuador causing floods, mostly in the town of Alluriquin in the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Province, killing at least four people and injuring several more. About 300 people have been affected by the floods after a local river burst its banks, engulfing the town with water. (Al Jazeera)

Health and medicine

In the United Kingdom, the Royal College of Physicians reports e-cigarettes are "much safer" than tobacco smoking, and should be widely promoted as an option for smoking cessation. (BBC) (Daily Mail)

International relations

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill states that the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre will be closed following the ruling of the Supreme Court and that he will ask the Australian Government to make alternative arrangements for the asylum seekers detained there. (ABC News)
Libyan Civil War
- The unrecognized House of Representatives, one of the rival governments based in eastern Libya, ships its first cargo of crude oil in defiance of the U.N.-backed authorities in the capital Tripoli in a move that could deepen divisions within the country. The Tripoli-based government asked the United Nations Security Council yesterday to blacklist the tanker. (The Guardian)
European migrant crisis
- The government of Austria passes a new law that restricts the right of asylum in the country and allows claimants to be rejected directly at the border, a move criticized by rights groups. Officials say they are also considering building a fence at the main border crossing with Italy at the Brenner Pass. (BBC)
Taliban insurgency
- The Taliban's Qatar office confirms its leaders are in Pakistan to talk about Afghan refugees and the release of prisoners. The representative did not say if the delegation will discuss the peace process. (The Nation PK) (Pakistan Today)
United Nations Security Council members are considering a draft resolution that would restore the UN mission in Western Sahara to full functionality. Last month, Morocco expelled 75 UN staffers. (AFP via GlobalPost)
Iraqi Civil War
- Senior Kurdish and Shi'ite Muslim leaders agree to withdraw from Tuz Khurmato, Iraq, where recent violence has killed more than 10 people. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Two days before the one-year anniversary of the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the Bali Nine, member Michael Czugaj is discovered to be in possession of drugs in prison. (SBS)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- Belgian prosecutors hand over Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks, to French authorities. (Washington Post)
Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert is sentenced to 15 months in prison for breaking banking laws in order to make payments to cover sexual misconduct from past decades. (Wall Street Journal)
Iraqi authorities ban Qatar-based satellite television network Al Jazeera from broadcasting in the country and closes its offices in Baghdad, accusing it of violating government guidelines issued in 2014 to regulate media “during the war on terror". (Reuters)
Censorship in Iran
- Iran sentences four reformist newspaper journalists to long prison terms for so-called national security crimes. Analysts say this case indicates that President Hassan Rouhani's calls for press freedoms will likey face an unsympathetic hearing from Iran's conservative judiciary. (UPI)

Politics and elections

An Iranian asylum seeker self-immolates himself in Nauru to protest Australia's treatment of refugees. The protest coincides with a visit by representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to the island. Instead of admitting refugees into the country, Australia has been sending them to Nauru or Papua New Guinea. (Radio New Zealand)
The government of North Korea announces its ruling Workers' Party of Korea will hold a party congress on May 6, the first in nearly 40 years. (BBC)
United States presidential election, 2016, Ted Cruz presidential campaign, 2016
- Texas Senator Ted Cruz names former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina as his vice-presidential running mate. (CNN)
Bradford West MP Naz Shah is suspended from the opposition Labour Party over comments she made on Facebook about Israel. (BBC)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office confirms German Federal Intelligence Service President Gerhard Schindler will be replaced by Bruno Kahl. Schindler has been widely criticized following the disclosure his agency spied for the U.S. National Security Agency. (BBC)

April 26, 2016 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- A Syrian Government airstrike near Aleppo kills at least five members of the Syrian Civil Defense rescue organisation. Dozens of people have been killed in Aleppo over the past few days from government airstrikes and opposition bombardment. (Reuters)
Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- Ansar-al Islam, the Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, claims responsibility for yesterday's murder of USAID employee and LGBT activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend, actor Tanay Majumder. (AP)

Arts and culture

Ukraine commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. (AP)

Business and economy

Collins-class submarine replacement project
- The Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull announces that French company DCNS has been awarded a $50 billion contract to build a new fleet of submarines for the Royal Australian Navy with the subs to be built in Adelaide. (ABC News Australia)
Mitsubishi Motors admits that it has used fuel economy measuring methods that have not complied with Japanese government regulations for 25 years. (Reuters)
British doctors go on strike for the first time in the history of the National Health Service. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

A massive fire severely damages the National Museum of Natural History in the Indian capital New Delhi. (AP via Washington Post)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, North Korea appears to be preparing a test-launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile. This comes after what the United States described as the "fiery, catastrophic" failure of the first attempt a few days prior. (Reuters)
Chile–Germany relations
- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier apologizes that, for decades, German diplomats failed to act on abuses at Colonia Dignidad, the secretive German enclave in Chile whose story is told in the movie Colonia. (AP)
Romania–United States relations
- The United States deploys F-22 Raptor fighter jets to Romania's RoAF 86th Air Base, near the Black Sea, in a show of strength and cooperation against Russia. "The United States and Romania enjoy a very strong partnership," said Hans G. Klemm, the United States Ambassador to Romania. (Voice of America)

Law and crime

The Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea rules that Australia's detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island breaches the right to personal liberty under the constitution. (ABC News Australia)
An inquest into the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 when 96 fans of Liverpool FC were killed finds the fans were illegally killed. (The Guardian)
After facing mounting pressure since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Supreme Court of Crimea officially brands the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People an extremist organization and bans it. In 2015 the exiled leader of the Mejlis Mustafa Dzhemilev was involved in blowing up the electric power line to Crimea leaving over a million people without electricity. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
2016 Cape Verde army mutiny
- Eight soldiers and three civilians are killed at a military barracks in Cape Verde. The government says it suspects a missing disgruntled soldier is responsible for the incident. (AP via Fox News) (Reuters)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016
- Voters in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island head to the polls to vote in Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. (Decision Desk HQ Dem) (Decision Desk HQ GOP)
- Donald Trump is forecast to win the Republican Party primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island and Connecticut based on exit polls and results. (Washington Post), (CNN)
- Hillary Clinton is forecast to win the Democratic Party primary in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware while Bernie Sanders wins Rhode Island. With her victory, Clinton came close to securing the number of delegates she needs to win the nomination. (NBC News), (CNN), (The Hill), (AP)
Tens of thousands of people, mostly Shi'ites, take to the streets of Baghdad, Iraq in a protest calling for Parliament to vote on a cabinet reshuffle. The protest was called for by powerful Shi'te Muslim critic Muqtada al-Sadr. The proposed cabinet reshuffle is aimed at fighting corruption in the midst of divisions between lawmakers that have hampered the work of the government. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
South Sudanese Civil War
- Rebel leader Riek Machar arrives in the capital Juba and is immediately sworn is as Vice President upon arrival. It is hoped that this appointment will put an end to the civil war that has plagued the country since late 2013. (Al Jazeera)
European migrant crisis
- Clashes break out between migrants and riot police at the Mòria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after a policeman reportedly hit a minor. The violence occurred as a Greek migration minister was visiting the center. Several refugees/migrants are reported injured. (BBC) (The Telegraph)
Yemeni Civil War
- Following heavy pressure from world powers, Yemen's warring factions agree on an agenda for U.N.-backed peace negotiations to continue. (Reuters)
After many delays, Venezuela's electoral council releases petition sheets to the opposition alliance that wants to initiate a recall referendum against President Nicolás Maduro. Within three days, the petitioners need to collect about 200,000 signatures (1 percent of registered voters) before proceeding to the next step, the collection of 20 million signatures to get the referendum on the ballot. (AP) (Bloomberg)
Slovak parliamentary election, 2016
- Slovakia's newly-formed coalition government gains a vote of confidence as the legislature approves its program manifesto, 79-61. The ruling Direction – Social Democracy party, which did not win an absolute majority in March, has joined with the three other parties—Slovak National Party, Most–Híd, and Network—to total 85 of the National Council's 150 seats. (AP) (Reuters via StreetInsider.co)
Spanish general election, 2016
- Spain's King Felipe VI announces an unprecedented, repeat parliamentary election for June 26, 2016, since none of the country's political parties has been able to form a government. The prior election, which was held on December 20, 2015, resulted in a hung parliament. Previously, Spain had been ruled via a two-party system. (AP)
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who previously gave most of the country's 2.8 million state employees Fridays off through May, announces public workers will also have Wednesdays and Thursdays off for at least two weeks as an energy-saving measure. Full salaries will still be paid despite the two-day week. (Reuters)

April 25, 2016 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present)
- Two Turkish soldiers are killed and four are wounded in an attack by Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey. (Daily Mail)
- The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) warns Turkey it is preparing to intensify its fight. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War
- At least eight people are reportedly killed as a car bomb explodes at a checkpoint south of Damascus. (Xinhua)
American-led intervention in Syria
- The President of the United States Barack Obama announces that the U.S. will send an additional 250 troops to fight ISIL in Syria. (The Guardian)
Burundian unrest (2015–present)
- A senior Burundian Army general, Athanase Kararuza, an ethnic Tutsi and security advisor to Burundi Vice-President Gaston Sindimwo, is shot dead by heavily armed men in the capital Bujumbura. (AFP via Daily Mail)
- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announces that the International Criminal Court will conduct a preliminary examination of the violence in Burundi over the past year that has killed hundreds, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee abroad. (The Washington Post)
Mexican Drug War
- Mexican police come under attack in a two-hour gunfight in the city of Acapulco, killing one gunman. At the same time, a separate group of gunmen attacked a federal police base in the city. (BBC)
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- Yemeni and Saudi-led coalition forces recapture the port city of Al Mukalla from al-Qaeda militants. (BBC)
Moro conflict
- Abu Sayyaf militants, who threatened to kill three foreigners kidnapped in September, 2015, from a "high-end" Philippine resort, unless they were paid 900 million pesos (17 mil Euros) by midnight today (15:00 UTC), have beheaded one of the hostages, Canadian John Ridsdel. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III had ordered an all-out effort to rescue the hostages, including a Philippine woman, kidnapped by the Daesh-linked group. (Straits Times) (Journal of Turkish Weekly) (Reuters via EuroNews), (BBC)
Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- Xulhaz Mannan, a Bangladeshi employee of a U.S. charity (USAID), who is also an editor for the country's only LGBT magazine, and a friend are hacked to death in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by suspected Islamist militants. Guards at the building were also injured. (NBC News with Reuters) (Al Jazeera)

Business and economics

British department store chain British Home Stores (BHS) collapses into administration after a last-minute rescue deal fails. The collapse of the retailer, which employs 11,000 people, is the biggest failure on the UK's high street since the collapse of Woolworths Group in 2008. (The Guardian)
Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers announces a broad-based economic reform plan, known as Vision 2030, which will help the oil-reliant state to diversify its economy over the next 14 years. (Al Jazeera)
In the United States, Gannett Company, Inc., announces that two weeks ago it made an unsolicited, $815 million takeover bid for the Tribune Publishing Company, whose holdings include a number of major newspapers, such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. Gannett, the publisher of the national American daily USA Today as well as 107 daily newspapers, made the offer public since Tribune had not yet responded. Last month, Tribune Publishing's winning bid for the Orange County Register was blocked by the U.S. Justice Department because of an antitrust challenge. (Reuters) (Chicago Tribune) (Orange County Register)
Goldman Sachs, the American multinational investment banking firm, launches an FDIC-insured, Internet-based savings bank. The Wall Street institution, whose investment banking account minimums are in the millions, sets a minimum deposit of $1 dollar for GSBank.com. (TechCrunch) (GS Bank website)

Disasters and accidents

A Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16 fighter jet, taking part in a mock attack on Tarva on April 12, mistakenly opened fire on a control tower with three officers inside, who survived unharmed, according to the Norwegian military. (The Guardian)
At least 23 people have died and dozens of others have become sick in Karor Lal Esan, central Pakistan, after eating sweets suspected of being contaminated with pesticides. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
At least two people are killed and seven are injured following an explosion on a bus in Yerevan, Armenia. The cause of the blast is being investigated. (RT)
Hillsborough disaster
- The jury in the second inquest for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster reach their verdicts. These will be given at 11:00 BST tomorrow.(BBC)

International relations

The People's Republic of China urges North Korea to abide by a United Nations Security Council resolution that bans the North from conducting ballistic missile tests, two days after Pyongyang claimed it conducted a test from a submarine. (Yonhap)
Belarus–United States relations
- The top U.S. diplomat in Belarus Scott Rauland and Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makey said that their countries are ready to discuss the possible return of their ambassadors. Makey told reporters in Minsk that "there is readiness from both sides for a full normalization of our relations." Belarus recalled its ambassador from Washington in 2008 after the United States imposed sanctions against Belarusian oil giant Belneftekhim following tensions between Minsk and the West. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
2016 Ecuador earthquake
- The United Nations World Food Programme announces it is stepping up assistance to Ecuador’s most vulnerable areas following an earthquake that killed over 650 people. (Euronews)
Afghanistan–Pakistan relations, Taliban insurgency
- Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani says Pakistan must take military action against Taliban, operating from Pakistan, who are waging an increasingly deadly insurgency across his country. Otherwise, "... we will be forced to turn to the UN Security Council and start serious diplomatic efforts.” (The New York Times) (Penske Media Corporation)
European migrant crisis
- Turkey says it has deported more than 3,300 foreigners suspected of links to jihadi groups, and barred another 41,000 foreigners from entering the country. (AP)

Law and crime

Shooting of Tamir Rice
- The U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio, agrees to pay $6 million to settle a wrongful death civil rights lawsuit brought by the family of Tamir Rice. Rice was a 12-year-old boy who was walking outside a recreation center holding an air pellet gun when he was shot and killed by a Cleveland Police officer on November 22, 2014. Prosecutor Tim McGinty reported in December 2015 that an Ohio grand jury decided not to indict the police officers. (NPR) (CNN)
Constitution of Venezuela
- Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal rules that opposition's proposed amendment to change the President's term of office from six to four years can not be applied retroactively, thereby ending this attempt to cut short President Nicolás Maduro's time in office. (BBC) (AP)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016
- The presidential campaigns of Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Governor of Ohio John Kasich announce they will now coordinate strategies to stop fellow Republican Donald Trump from becoming the party's nominee. Cruz's campaign will cut campaigning in Oregon and New Mexico to help Kasich, while the Kasich campaign will give Cruz a "clear path" in Indiana. (BBC)
United States presidential election in Arizona, 2016
- A Maricopa County, Arizona, judge rejects Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich's request to throw out a court challenge prompted by major polling problems during the March primary. (KPNX) (KPNX²)

Sports

2015–16 Serie A
- Juventus win Italy's association football championship for the fifth consecutive time. (BBC)
In American football, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals rules that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady must serve a four-game suspension imposed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in the Deflategate scandal. The suspension had been stayed due to a lower court ruling. (ESPN)
In basketball, the Golden State Warriors, the top seed in the ongoing NBA playoffs, announce that the NBA's reigning MVP, Stephen Curry, will miss at least two weeks with a sprained MCL. (ESPN)

April 24, 2016 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War
- At least 14 people have been killed in suicide bombing attacks in Baghdad. (Daily Times)
Yemeni Civil War
- Saudi-led air strikes kill at least ten al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in southern Yemen. (Reuters)
- Yemeni and United Arab Emirates troops capture the seaport of Mukalla from al Qaeda. The Saudi Arabia led coalition claims to have killed more than 800 militants(Reuters), (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- Rockets fired by ISIL from northern Syria hit a poor neighborhood and a mosque in the Turkish city of Kilis, killing one person and injuring 26 others. Turkish security forces responded by returning fire into Syria. (Euronews) (Reuters)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- North Korea reportedly deploys 300 new multiple launch rocket systems along the Korean Demilitarized Zone. (Yonhap)
Syrian Civil War
- U.S. President Barack Obama rules out deploying U.S. ground troops in Syria and says military efforts alone cannot solve the country's problems. He also said he did not think that ISIL would be defeated in his last nine months of office. (BBC)
- U.S. officials report President Obama will announce plans to send as many as 250 more U.S. troops to Syria to help fight ISIL militants. The troops are likely to include special operations forces and medical or intelligence support personnel, an official added. The decision is scheduled to be announced around noon tomorrow in Hanover, Germany, during the President's farewell tour of Europe. (CBS News) (Reuters)
North Korea-United States relations
- President Barack Obama says the United States isn't taking North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong's proposal to halt nuclear activity seriously. Pyongyang would "have to do better than that," he added. (AP)

Law and crime

Ebru Umar, a Dutch journalist of Turkish descent, is arrested in Kuşadası, Turkey, for tweets deemed critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This comes as a political storm erupted this week over reports that the Turkish consulate asked Turkish organizations in the Netherlands to forward emails and social media posts which insult Erdoğan or Turkey. (The Guardian)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Following an appeal, 12-year-old Dima al-Wawi is freed from an Israeli prison. She is believed to be the youngest female Palestinian ever imprisoned. Israeli civil law, which does not allow anyone under 14 to go to jail, did not affect her imprisonment. Palestinian residents in the occupied territories are subject to military law that can sentence suspects as young as 12 to prison. (AP via ABC News)

Politics and elections

Austrian presidential election, 2016
- Austrians vote in the first round of electing the next president. Preliminary estimates indicate FPÖ's Norbert Hofer won the first round with 36 percent of the vote. Greens' Alexander Van der Bellen, who is supported by the Green Party, garnered 20%, and another independent, Irmgard Griss, took 18.5 percent. President Heinz Fischer was not eligible to be re-elected. Candidates representing the two leading parties, that have ruled for the past 70 years, were eliminated. Hofer and Van der Bellen will compete in the runoff election on May 22, 2016. (Bloomberg) (Election website) (Deutsche Welle), (Euro News)
Equatorial Guinean presidential election, 2016
- Equatorial Guinean voters go to the polls with incumbent Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo expected to win as the opposition boycotts the election. (Voice of America) (Al Jazeera)
Japanese House of Representatives by-elections, 2016: By-elections were held for two seats controlled by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. (Japan Times)
- Hokkaido 5th district by-election, 2016: LDP candidate Yoshiaki Wada staved off the competition from independent candidate Maki Ikeda. Despite the LDP's winning margin decreasing from 14% (in 2014) to 2%, this win is seen as a boost for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the upcoming upper house election.
- Kyoto 3rd district by-election, 2016: The newly formed Democratic Party wrested back the seat from the LDP after their candidate and former MP for the district Kenta Izumi won by a landslide.
Philippine presidential election, 2016.
- The final leg of the Philippine presidential debate series is held in Dagupan. (The Manila Bulletin)
Serbian parliamentary election, 2016
- Serbians elect a new parliament under the backdrop of its accession to the European Union. Preliminary results indicate the incumbent, pro-EU populists sweeping the election. (Bloomberg) (AP via The Washington Post)
2015–16 protests in Moldova
- Protests continue in Moldova as thousands of anti-government protesters demonstrate in the capital Chișinău despite concessions given to the protesters last month by the government. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Around 1,000 people stage a rare public protest in the Kazakh city of Atyrau, rallying against the government's decision to sell land in auctions amid a heavy police presence, though they did not forcibly disperse the rally. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

April 23, 2016 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan
- The Pakistani Taliban claims the killing of a Sikh lawmaker, Soran Singh. (The New York Times)
Syrian Civil War
- ISIL claims to have shot down a Syrian Arab Air Force MiG-23, southeast of Damascus, and captured its pilot. Amaq News Agency, which supports ISIL, gave the pilot’s name as Azzam Eid, from Hama. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it was not clear whether the plane had been shot down or crashed because of mechanical failure. (Daily Mail) (Times of Israel)
- Syrian government airstrikes kill 25 people, mostly civilians, in attacks on rebel-held areas near the capital Damascus. (NY Times)
Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
- Yemeni government forces along with Popular Resistance militia kill dozens of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in clashes in southern Yemen. A drone strike kills two others further north, near Ma'rib. (Reuters)
Iraqi Civil War
- Two separate car bombs kill at least 12 people in Iraq's capital, Baghdad. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the blast at the security checkpoint in a northern district that killed nine and injured 28 others. Three people are killed and 11 injured at the second bombing in southern Baghdad that targeted an army convoy; no group has claimed responsibility. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The continuing influence of English dramatist William Shakespeare is celebrated on the 400th anniversary of his death in Stratford-upon-Avon. (Time)
Spain commemorates the 400th anniversary of the death of its most famous author Miguel de Cervantes. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 South Pacific cyclone season
- Samoan authorities prepared for Severe Tropical Cyclone Amos which is forecast to make landfall later tonight. (Weather Zone)
A Russian oil tanker catches fire in the Caspian Sea, killing at least one crew member. A total of 10 crew members were evacuated from the ship, which was in the territorial waters of Turkmenistan when the fire broke out. It was unclear what caused the blaze. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
2016 Ecuador earthquake
- The death toll from the earthquake passes 650 with over 50 people missing. It is now the deadliest earthquake in South America this century. (AP via ABC News)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- North Korea is reported to have launched a submarine-launched ballistic missile for the first time. (Reuters)
Russia–United States relations
- President of Russia Vladimir Putin accuses the United States of reneging on a 16-year-old deal that called for reducing Russia's and the United States' stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium. He accused Washington of trying to preserve its ability to turn some of its plutonium stockpile back into a form usable for nuclear weapons. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Syrian peace process
- Reuters reports the Friday afternoon truce between Kurdish Asayish forces and pro-Syrian government forces, declared following a three-day outbreak of violence that killed at least 26 people, is holding. (Reuters)
European migrant crisis
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans meet with Syrian refugees at a camp in the southeastern Turkish town of Nizip prior to talks with a delegation led by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu stresses the importance of implementation of European Union visa liberalization for Turkish citizens in assuring the success of Europe's migrant readmission agreement with his country. Tusk announces that the EU will spend 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) this summer on projects to improve the lives of Syrian migrants. (Hürriyet Daily News) (Reuters) (Journal of Turkish Weekly)
North Korea-United States relations
- Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong says North Korea is ready to halt nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea. (AP via Time)

Law and crime

Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh
- Professor Rezaul Karim Siddique is killed in the Bangladeshi city of Rajshahi in an ISIL attack. (Hindustan Times) (AFP via Yahoo!)
Böhmermann affair
- During a rally in support of German comedian Jan Böhmermann, outside the Turkish embassy in Berlin, Bruno Kramm, head of the Berlin branch of Germany's Pirate Party, is arrested for “insulting a representative of a foreign state” by quoting a line from the comic’s satirical poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (RT)
Panama Papers
- Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif bows to opposition demands that he ask Pakistan's chief justice to set up an independent commission to investigate offshore accounts linked to his family. Sharif said he would accept the commission's findings and even resign if called upon. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
- European Union finance ministers approve a series of measures to tackle tax-evading methods that were exposed by the Panama Papers. (The Guardian)
United States Federal agents are combing three states for 32 cases of commercial grade explosives, about 500 pounds of 2½ to 5 inch aerial shells, stolen from a CSX train traveling from Chicago, Illinois, through Ohio that arrived in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday. (CBS News) (Detroit Free Press)

Politics and elections

Philippine presidential election, 2016
- Human rights activists, lawyers, labor rights groups and other advocates endorse Leni Robredo for vice president. (Rappler)
South Sudanese Civil War
- Rebel leader Riek Machar misses an international deadline to return to the capital Juba to take the post of Vice President. Machar was offered the position by President Salva Kiir Mayardit in the hopes of putting an end to the civil war but has repeatedly delayed his return. (Al Jazeera)
Thousands of people protest in the German city of Hanover against the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal. They say the deal would drive down wages, and weaken environmental protection and labour rights. (BBC)
Darfurian status referendum, 2016
- According to the Sudanese electoral commission, more than 97% of voters in Darfur choose to remain as five states rather than form a single region. However, The vote was held amid ongoing insecurity and many of Sudan's 2.5 million displaced people were not registered to vote, with the U.S. State Department warning that the referendum could not be considered credible "under current rules and conditions". (BBC)
Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso names former opposition leader Clément Mouamba as prime minister. (Reuters)

Science and Technology

Solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse 2 lands in Mountain View, California after a 62-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii. (NBC News) (BBC)

More April 2016 events...

Ongoing events
Business 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist Panama Papers Health Flint water crisis Zika virus outbreak Political War in Afghanistan Boko Haram insurgency Brazil protests Burundian unrest Iraqi Civil War Military intervention against ISIL American-led Iranian Israeli–Palestinian conflict Lebanese political deadlock Macedonia protests Moldova protests Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Armenian–Azeri border conflict Nepal blockade PKK rebellion Yemeni Civil War Saudi Arabian-led intervention Second Libyan Civil War Sinai insurgency South China Sea disputes Syrian Civil War American-led intervention Russian military intervention Venezuelan protests War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine More details on ongoing conflicts below Sports 2015–16 La Liga season 2016 NBA Playoffs 2016 NHL Playoffs 2015–16 Premier League season 2015–16 UEFA Champions League 2016 ATP World Tour 2016 Major League Baseball season 2016 WTA Tour edit sidebar

Recent deaths
April 29: Renato Corona 28: Conrad Burns 28: Jenny Diski 27: Willie Williams 26: Winston Hill 26: Lucy Kibaki 26: Ozzie Silna 26: Harry Wu 25: Mei Baojiu 24: Zafar Ishaq Ansari 24: Ron Brace 24: Martin Gray 24: Inge King 24: Tommy Kono 24: Benjamin Manglona 24: Billy Paul 24: Papa Wemba 24: George Alexis Weymouth 23: Bill Sevesi 23: Madeleine Sherwood 23: Banharn Silpa-archa 22: Ariffin Mohammed 22: Dene Smuts 21: Lonnie Mack 21: Ferenc Paragi 21: Prince 20: Chyna 20: Velda González 20: Guy Hamilton 20: Leonie Kramer 20: Attila Özdemiroğlu 20: Qi Benyu 20: Giannis Voglis 20: Dwayne Washington 20: Victoria Wood 19: Ken Aldred (death announced on this date) 19: Patricio Aylwin 19: Estelle Balet 19: Ronit Elkabetz 19: Walter Kohn 19: Mehrdad Oladi 19: Milt Pappas 18: Brian Asawa 18: William Campbell 17: Bruce Mansfield 17: Doris Roberts 16: Ron Bonham 16: Miloud Chaabi 16: Rod Daniel 16: William M. Gray 16: Charlie Hodge 16: Maurice Kenny 15: Frederick Mayer 15: A. A. Raiba 15: Richard Smith 14: Fred Hayman 14: David J. C. MacKay 14: Malick Sidibé 13: Manouchehr Sotodeh 13: Srinivas Aravamudan 13: Kurtis Haiu 13: Mariano Mores 13: Rex Patterson 13: Gareth Thomas 13: Ray Thornton 13: Nera White 12: Hector A. Cafferata, Jr. 12: Paul Carey 12: Gianroberto Casaleggio 12: David Gest 12: Balls Mahoney 12: Arnold Wesker 11: Ruth Gilbert 11: Ed Snider 10: Howard Marks 9: Arthur Anderson 9: Duane Clarridge 9: Tony Conrad 9: Will Smith 8: Wei Chueh 8: David Dore 8: Charles Hirsch 7: Freda Briggs 7: Frank E. Denholm 7: Vladimir Kagan 7: Blackjack Mulligan 6: Merle Haggard 6: Robert MacCrate 6: Ogden Mills Phipps 6: Murray Wier 5: Zyta Gilowska 5: Roman Gribbs 5: Mick Sullivan 4: Carlo Mastrangelo 4: Mike Sandlock 5: Barbara Turner 3: Abu Firas al-Suri 3: Erik Bauersfeld 3: Joe Medicine Crow 3: Bob Ellis 3: Lars Gustafsson 3: Cesare Maldini 2: Gato Barbieri 2: Amber Rayne 1: Tom Coughlin 1: Artur Górski 1: Denise Robertson March 31: Béla Biszku 31: Ronnie Corbett 31: Hans-Dietrich Genscher 31: Zaha Hadid 31: Imre Kertész 31: Douglas Wilmer 30: Shirley Hufstedler 30: John King 30: Andy "Thunderclap" Newman edit sidebar

Ongoing conflicts
Africa Algeria, Tunisia and Niger Maghreb insurgency Central African Republic Civil war Democratic Republic of the Congo Kivu conflict ADF insurgency Katanga insurgency Ituri conflict Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Libya Civil war Mali Northern Mali conflict Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger Boko Haram insurgency Somalia Civil war South Sudan South Sudanese Civil War Sudan War in Darfur South Kordofan conflict Americas Colombian conflict Internal conflict in Peru Mexican War on Drugs Asia Afghanistan Afghanistan War China Xinjiang conflict India Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Insurgency in Northeast India India and Pakistan Kashmir conflict Pakistan War in North-West Pakistan Balochistan conflict Philippines CPP-NPA-NDF rebellion Moro conflict Moro conflict in Sabah Southeast Asia Internal conflict in Burma Papua conflict South Thailand insurgency Europe European Migrant Crisis Georgia Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Georgian–Ossetian conflict Chechen–Russian conflict North Caucasus insurgency Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Ukraine War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine Middle East Arab–Israeli conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli–Lebanese conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Egypt Sinai insurgency Iran Iran–PJAK conflict Iraqi civil war American-led intervention in Iraq Iranian intervention in Iraq Syrian Civil War American-led intervention in Syria Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon Turkey Turkey–PKK conflict Turkey–ISIL conflict Yemeni crisis Houthi rebellion Al-Qaeda insurgency South Yemen insurgency edit sidebar

Elections and Referendums
Recent April 6: Netherlands, EU referendum 8: Djibouti, President (1st round) 10: Chad, President (1st round) 10: Comoros, President (2nd round) 10: Peru, President, Congress 11: Sudan, Darfur status referendum 13: South Korea, National Assembly 13: Syria, People's Council 17: Italy, Oil drilling referendum 24: Austria, President (1st round) 24: Equatorial Guinea, President 24: Serbia, National Assembly Upcoming May 9: Philippines, President, Senate, House of Representatives 15: Dominican Republic, President, Senate, Chamber of Deputies 22: Cyprus, House of Representatives 22: Tajikistan, Constitutional referendum 22: Vietnam, National Assembly edit sidebar

Trials
Recently concluded Australia: Brett Peter Cowan, Craig Thomson, Robert Hughes Brazil: Mensalão scandal Canada: Luka Magnotta China: Ji Jianye, Li Chuncheng, Jiang Jiemin, Liao Shaohua, Ni Fake, Chen Baihuai, Zhou Yongkang, Gu Junshan Croatia: Ivo Sanader Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, Peter Greste, Mohamed Morsi Germany: Bernie Ecclestone, Uli Hoeness, Christian Wulff Iran: Mohammad Reza Rahimi Israel: Hussam Qawasmeh Jordan: Abu Qatada Philippines: Joseph Scott Pemberton Romania: Liviu Dragnea, Dan Diaconescu Russia: Leonid Khabarov, Eston Kohver, Vladimir Kvachkov South Africa: Shrien Dewani, Oscar Pistorius Turkey: Kenan Evren, Tahsin Şahinkaya United Kingdom: Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, Kweku Adoboli, Tony McCluskie, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, Chris Huhne, Nicola Edgington, Vicky Pryce, Derek Rose, Mick Philpott, Mairead Philpott, Paul Mosley, Stuart Hazell, Mark Bridger, Andrew Lancel, Dale Cregan, Ray Wilkins, Liam Adams, R v Grillo and Grillo, Ian Watkins, William Roache, Dave Lee Travis, Nicholas Jacobs, Nigel Evans, Max Clifford, Stuart Hall, Dappy, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Rolf Harris, Tulisa Contostavlos, Chris Denning, Ray Teret, Gary Glitter, Fred Talbot, Adam Johnson United States: Abu Hamza al-Masri, Michael Grimm, Jesse Jackson Jr., Bob McDonnell, Vilma Bautista, Jared Lee Loughner, Lauryn Hill, Kermit Gosnell, George Zimmerman, Chelsea Manning, Ariel Castro, Whitey Bulger, Robert Bales, Nidal Malik Hasan, Jodi Arias, Anas al-Libi, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, James Eagan Holmes, Sheldon Silver International ECCC: Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan ICC: Germain Katanga ICTY: Momčilo Perišić, Mladen Markač, Ante Gotovina, Zdravko Tolimir, Radovan Karadžić Ongoing China: Yao Mugen, Guo Youming, Zhu Zuoli Germany: Beate Zschäpe Iran: Babak Zanjani Netherlands: Geert Wilders Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr., Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Janet Lim-Napoles, Jovito Palparan Romania: Darius Vâlcov, Dan Șova, Elena Udrea, Radu Mazăre, Gheorghe Nichita, Marian Vanghelie, Cătălin Voicu, Relu Fenechiu, Gheorghe Ștefan, Gabriel Sandu, Dorin Cocoş, Dumitru Nicolae Russia: Alexei Navalny South Korea: MV Sewol crew members United Kingdom: Rolf Harris United States: Dean Skelos International ICTY: Ratko Mladić PCA: China Upcoming China: Wu Changshun, Ling Jihua Estonia: Edgar Savisaar Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Spain: Lionel Messi United Kingdom: Max Clifford United States: Paul Anthony Ciancia, Javaris Crittenton, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Dylan Quick, Aaron Hernandez, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Rick Perry International ICC: Laurent Gbagbo edit sidebar