Portal:Current events/2018 April 13

April 13, 2018 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War
- The United Nations Security Council meets amid concerns of military strikes in Syria by the United States and its allies following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria last weekend, with the United States ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, accusing Russia of lies and covering for the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which she said had used chemical weapons at least 50 times in the past seven years of warfare, and the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, blaming the United States, France and the UK for escalating tensions. (The Washington Post)
- The British government issues a statement saying it is "highly likely" the Assad regime used chemical weapons on its own people, and that since such an action could not go unchallenged, Britain would work with United States and France to coordinate an international response, without specifying what measures the United Kingdom would take. (CNN)
2018 Gaza border protests
- Protests enter a third week, with thousands taking part. (The Washington Post)
- The Israeli Defence Forces claim an improvised explosive device was set off near the Gazan border with possible Palestinian casualties and other protestors attempted unsuccessfully to fly a kite carrying a firebomb over the border fence. (The Jerusalem Post)
- Israel opens fire again, with the Gaza Health Ministry claiming one Palestinian was killed and 233 injured as protesters torched tyres and Israeli flags. (Haaretz)
- The International Federation of Journalists, Norwegian Refugee Council, and Committee to Protect Journalists criticise Israeli authorities for shooting dead Yaser Murtaja during his coverage of the protests last week. The IFJ calls Murtaja's death murder and its general secretary accuses Israel of "fabricating lies" to support the killing. (The Jeruslalem Post)
Police say a bombing took place in Barawe, Lower Shabelle, Somalia, at a football stadium yesterday, the first time a stadium in the country has been targeted, killed up to five spectators. (Reuters)
Armed bandits storm a mining site in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara, killing 26 people, including 16 illegal gold miners. (CNN)
The Government of Ecuador says that the three Ecuadorian journalists kidnapped by rebel members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on 26 March have been murdered. President Lenín Moreno orders military operations on the Colombian border to catch the murderers, offering a reward of US$100,000. (The Guardian)
Poisoning of Yulia and Sergei Skripal
- Sir Mark Sedwill, national security advisor to the United Kingdom, says Russian intelligence targeted Yulia Skripal's email account. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Shipwrecks in 2018
- The fire aboard Korean ship FV Dong Won 701 in the Port of Timaru, New Zealand, enters its fifth day. Fire and Emergency New Zealand rejects a proposal to tow the vessel out to sea as too dangerous. Firefighters commence efforts to seal the ship to suffocate ongoing fires. (Stuff)
A bus overturns near the village of Vakarel, Bulgaria, killing six people and injuring 20. (Reuters)
Vanuatu plans another evacuation from Ambae Island due to volcanic activity from Manaro Voui. (RNZ)
Summit Air Flight 409
- The Nepalese Accident Investigation Commission concludes its investigation, finding the plane stalled after the flight crew lost situational awareness and began a rapid ascent to avoid terrain whilst still configured for landing. (The Aviation Herald)
Russian authorities say a Kamov Ka-29 belonging to the Baltic Fleet crashed late yesterday whilst attempting to land on a ship, killing two people. (RadioFreeEurope / Radio Liberty)

Health and environment

The International Maritime Organisation announces agreements to reduce shipping emissions by 50% of 2008 levels by 2050, and to ban heavy fuel oil from the Arctic. (CBC) (Reuters)

Law and crime

Terrorism in France
- French judges clear the Tarnac Nine, accused of performing an anarchist terror sabotage in a controversial trial, of wrongdoing and describe the existence of a terror group as a "fiction". Defence lawyers had accused ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy's government of misusing counterterror law. (The Guardian)
Terrorism in Germany
- Three Syrian nationals are arrested in Saarland suspected of terror links. Two are suspected of fighting with the Islamic State in Syria. (Deutsche Welle)
Right-wing terrorism in the United Kingdom
- An unidentified civilian is jailed for three and a half years for terror offences connected to banned neo-Nazi group National Action. Acquitted Finnish national Mikko Vehvilainen, a serving soldier in the British Army, is jailed alongside him for a weapons offence, receiving 12 months. (BBC) (BBC) (The Birmingham Mail)
LGBT rights in Portugal
- The Parliament of Portugal passed a new law, by a 109 vote margin, making it easier for people to change their legal gender. Portuguese citizens from the age of 16 will now be able to change their gender and name in documents without the need of a medical report. (BBC)
Presidency of Donald Trump
- U.S. President Donald Trump pardons former Vice-President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was convicted of lying about leaks to the media. (BBC)
2016 Ludwigshafen bombing plot
- An Islamic State member is sentenced in Vienna to nine years in prison, among others for instigating a 12-year-old boy to commit a Christmas market bombing in Ludwigshafen, Germany. (Deutsche Welle)
An improvised explosive device goes off prematurely in Wardaka, Baghlan, Afghanistan, killing nine insurgents and injuring five more. (Tolo News)
Terrorism in Iraq
- Islamic State claim responsibility for bomb attacks on al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Asdeira, Salahuddin, Iraq that killed at least ten. (Iraqi News)
- The Iraqi Interior Ministry announces the arrest of six alleged Islamic State fighters including one woman in Mosul. (Iraqi News)
- An al-Hashd al-Shaabi statement claims the group launched missiles over the Syrian border at Islamic State militants preparing to launch an international assault, killing and injuring dozens of militants. (Iraqi News)

Politics and elections

Brexit negotiations
- Thousands of pro-European Union supporters of Open Britain, the European Movement and Britain for Europe demonstrate across the United Kingdom calling for a referendum on the final terms of the UK's planned exit from the European Union. (The Belfast Telegraph)
2017–18 United States political sexual scandals
- Elliott Broidy resigns as deputy financial chairman of the U.S. Republican National Committee following reports that he negotiated a $1.6 million payoff with a Playboy Playmate over claims he had impregnated her. (Politico)
Heads of state and government from across the Americas meet in Lima, Peru, for the Eighth Summit of the Americas. (Al Jazeera)
The U.S. government releases a report by Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz that accuses former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe of improperly authorizing a media disclosure and "lack of candor" concerning this disclosure. (The Hill)

Science and technology

Experimental satellite RemoveDEBRIS arrives at the International Space Station ahead of a planned mission removing orbital debris. (GetSurrey)