Portal:Current events/2018 April 4

April 4, 2018 (2018-04-04) (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Shin Bet and the Israeli Defence Forces announce the arrests of eleven suspected members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group off the Gazan coast suspected of planning an attack on the Israeli Navy. (Israel National News) (The Times of Israel)
• 2018 Land Day incidents
  • The death toll from last week's clashes at the Israeli-Gazan border rises to 19. (Haaretz)
  • Protests enter a second week, with Hamas organisers directing participants to stay well back from the border fence to prevent further violence. (Haaretz)
  • The Palestinian Authority asks the United Nations to investigate. (The Jerusalem Post)
  • Israeli human rights group B’Tselem launches a campaign calling on soldiers to refuse orders at the border. (972)
  • Ahmed Aboul Gheit, head of the Arab League, asks the International Criminal Court for an investigation. (The Times of Israel)
• Terrorism in the United Kingdom
  • Police questioning two men suspected of plotting terror attacks in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire are granted an extension until April 10 to detain the suspects. (BBC)
• Terrorism in Pakistan
  • The parents of Ayşe Deniz Karacagil, killed in Raqqa, Iraq after she joined the Kurdistan Workers' Party, are acquitted of a terrorism propaganda charge for attending her funeral. (Hurriyet Daily News)
• Terrorism in Egypt
  • The Sohag Criminal Court in Egypt sentences 35 alleged Muslim Brotherhood members to life imprisonment and imposes prison terms on 155 more. Seperately, a military court sentences four more to life imprisonment, imposes prison terms on two others, and acquits 13. (The Star Tribune)
• Terrorism in Turkey
  • Police across the nation arrest a total of 29 alleged coup participants on suspicion of terrorism. (Anadolu Agency)
• Authorities in Ukraine announce the arrest of a suspected terrorist in connection with a 2017 Kiev attack that killed two and wounded three including MP Ihor Mosiychuk. (Interfax)
• Malian alleged Islamic extremist war criminal Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud makes an initial appearence before the International Criminal Court accused of demolishing shrines in Timbuktu, rape, torture, and sexual enslavement. (ENCA)
• Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
  • Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, calls for an investigation into comments by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Johnson is facing criticisms he overstated the strength of evidence against Russia, an accusation he calls "lamentable". (The Guardian) (BBC)
  • The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons rejects a Russian request for a joint investigation. (BBC)

Business and economy

• High-speed rail in Europe
  • The first ever direct train from London to Amsterdam departs from St Pancras railway station. The new Eurostar service takes an estimated three hours and 41 minutes. (The Independent)
• Jet Airways of India orders 75 Boeing 737 Max jets. (Flight Global)
• Bahrain says a recently-discovered offshore oilfield in its territorial waters contains 80 billion barrels of petroleum. (OilPrice.com)

Disasters and accidents

• A fire at the Perseus shopping centre in western Moscow kills at least one person and injures at least six others. (The Independent)
• A fire in a building housing the Portuguese, Tunisian, Argentinian and Belgian embassies in Stockholm, Sweden injures 14 people. A man is arrested on suspicion of arson. (The Local)
• The port city of Balikpapan, Borneo, Indonesia declares a state of emergency in response to an ongoing oil spill fire off the coast. The spill and fire killed four fishermen and is releasing toxic fumes. The slick currently extends to around seven square miles and marine fauna including protected species are being affected. (The Guardian)

International relations

• Ukraine and Turkey sign an agreement improving aviation co-operation. (Anadolu Agency)
• China threatens tariffs of 25% on the import of 106 U.S. products, including soybeans and Boeing aircraft in reaction to a previous U.S. threat of tariffs worth up to $50 billion. (Deutsche Welle)
• Syrian Civil War
  • The leaders of Iran, Turkey and Russia meet in Ankara. They declare their commitment to achieving a "lasting ceasefire" in Syria. (Ahval)
• The Viacrucis del Migrante caravan of mostly Central American migrants is stopped by Mexican authorities. (Reuters)
• Illegal immigration to the United States
  • U.S. President Donald Trump signs an order sending the National Guard to patrol the Mexico–United States border in reponse to Congress's failure to pass tightened border security measures. (CBS News)
• At a summit in Baku, India and Azerbaijan discuss cooperation in areas including counterterrorism, agriculture, infrastuctural development, women's rights, and trade. (ANI News)
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
  • Lawyers representing United States President Donald Trump are told by FBI special counsel Robert Mueller the President is considered to be more than a witness but is not under criminal investigation. (CNN)
• United States–Venezuela relations
  • United States Senator Dick Durbin visits Venezuela to negotiate the release Joshua Holt, who has been detained for two years awaiting trial on a weapons charge. The US has been critical of his prosecution. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Law and crime

• Police arrest five suspects over a firebombing of a bus in Limpopo, South Africa that killed six people. (Eyewitness News)
• The Conseil National des Barreaux, which represents French lawyers, calls for nationwide action to protest proposed legal reforms by Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet. (The Law Gazette)
• Police arrest a 78-year-old man in London on suspicion of murder after he allegedly killed a burglar during a fight in his home. (The Telegraph) (BBC)
• Gender identity, LGBT rights in the United States
  • Voters in Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, reject a proposed amendment to the city charter which would have restricted public restroom use by the gender appearing on the users birth certificate. (Out Magazine) (Anchorage Daily News)
• Pascal Blasio makes an initial court appearance charged with causing an explosion likely to endanger life in connection to a 2017 blast that injured 31 in New Ferry, England. (BBC)
• Facebook and Cambridge Analytica data breach
  • Facebook increases its estimate of the number of affected users to 87 million. (BBC)

Politics and elections

• Italian general election, 2018
  • Ahead of formal talks on the formation of a coalition government 5Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio states he is willing to enter government with the Democratic Party and League but not with ex-President Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party. (Politco)
• Egyptian presidential election, 2018, Censorship in Egypt
  • Egyptian news site Masr al-Arabia says its offices were raided and a journalist arrested in response to them republishing a New York Times article alleging irregularities in the nation's recent Presidential election. (The Guardian)

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