Portal:Current events/2014 May 15

Current events of May 15, 2014 (2014-05-15) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War:
  • A car bomb explodes near the Turkish border, killing at least 29 people and wounding dozens of others. (CNN)
• Two Palestinians are reportedly killed by Israeli soldiers at demostrations near a prison where Palestinian militants are held, the Palestinians were throwing stones and waving flags. (Reuters) (The Times of Israel)
• 2013–14 Thai political crisis:
  • Two people are killed and 21 wounded in an attack on an anti-government protest in Bangkok. (AFP via NDTV)
• 2014 Ürümqi attack:
  • A group named Turkestan Islamic Party claims the responsibility for the attack on Ürümqi Railway Station in China. (Biharprabha News)

Arts and culture

• National September 11 Memorial & Museum:
  • President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama along with former President Bill Clinton and former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visit and dedicate the memorial with the victims on Ground Zero. The museum is expected to open on May 21st. (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

• Soma mine disaster:
  • Several trade unions in Turkey hold a one-day strike in response to the disaster. (BBC)
  • Several demonstrations, some of them violent, take place in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Antalya and Diyarbakir in response to the disaster, with police responding to many of the protests with force. (BBC)
  • The official death toll for the disaster rises to 282, with up to 150 miners still missing. (BBC)
• An oil pipe in Los Angeles broke, spilling an estimated 10,000 gallons of oil in the streets. (BBC)
• A ferry sinks on the Meghna River in Bangladesh's Munshiganj District resulting in at least 12 deaths and hundreds missing. (AAP via SBS Australia)

Law and crime

• Sinking of the MV Sewol:
  • Fifteen crew members of the MV Sewol are charged over the sinking of the MV Sewol off the coast of South Korea with four people including the captain charged with homicide. (AP via New Zealand Herald)
• Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is charged with two counts of murder in relation to a drive-by shooting in Boston's South End district in July 2012. (New York Daily News)
• An eight month pregnant Christian woman, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, is sentenced to death by hanging for apostacy in Sudan in a case that has drawn widespread international condemnation.(NBCNews)