Portal:Current events/2024 May 3

May 3, 2024 (2024-05-03) (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive
    • The mining town of Rubaya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, is seized by the March 23 Movement. (AP)
  • Twelve people are killed and more than 20 others are injured during explosions caused by bombs at two camps for displaced people in Lac Vert and Mugunga, in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Two people are killed and two others are injured by Russian shelling in the city of Kurakhove in the Donetsk oblast. (The Moscow Times)
  • British Foreign Secretary David Cameron promises £3 billion of annual military aid to Ukraine for "as long as it takes." (Reuters)
• Israel–Hamas war
  • The United States tells Qatar to evict Hamas if the latter obstructs an Israeli hostage deal. (The Washington Post)

Arts and culture

• US President Joe Biden gives Presidential Medals of Freedom to 19 people. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission gives ExxonMobil approval in the acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources for $60 billion. (CNBC)
• Panama bans First Quantum Minerals from extracting copper following the closure of its Cobre Panamá mine last year. (Reuters) (The Globe and Mail)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Brazil floods
  • The death toll from the heavy rains in southern Brazil increases to 39 people, with more than 70 others missing. (Reuters)
• A bus plunges into a ravine in Diamer District, Pakistan, killing 15 people and seriously injuring more than 20 others. (AP)
• Thirteen people are killed and 2,000 homes are flooded during heavy rains in Haiti, mainly in the city of Cap-Haitien. Rains occurs also in Puerto Rico, where planes are landed in San Juan to reroute. (AP)
• Mexican authorities locate the bodies of three tourists, one American and two Australians, in Baja California, where they were reported missing in April. Three people have been arrested and are being questioned in relation to the case. (Reuters) (BBC News)

Law and crime

• Canada–India diplomatic row
  • Three Indian men are arrested in Canada and charged with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. The Canadian government is investigating whether the men had ties to the Indian government. (Reuters) (Toronto Star)
• Capital punishment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • A military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sentences eight soldiers to death for cowardice and other crimes. (AP)
• U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar is indicted for accepting nearly $600,000 worth of bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled company and a Mexican bank. (AP)
• The International Criminal Court warns against outside interference, saying that efforts to undermine the court's work must "cease immediately". (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

• Israel–Hamas war protests
  • 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
    • 2024 Sciences Po pro-Palestinian occupation protest
      • French police evacuate Sciences Po University in Paris and close the university in response to pro-Palestine protests and building occupations by students. (Reuters) (Le Monde)

Science and technology

• Chinese space program
  • The China National Space Administration launches the Chang'e 6 spacecraft from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on a two-month mission to collect lunar rock and soil samples from the far side of the moon. (Reuters) (AP)

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