Portal:Current events
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Daniel Noboa
- Daniel Noboa (pictured) is re-elected president of Ecuador.
- Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa dies at the age of 89.
- A nightclub roof collapse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, kills 231 people.
- In basketball, the UConn Huskies win the NCAA Division I women's championship and the Florida Gators win the men's championship.
- In the National Hockey League, Alexander Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's record for most goals scored.
April 18, 2025 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia–United States relations
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announces that the U.S. administration is ready to abandon diplomatic efforts, if it is not possible to end the Russo-Ukrainian War in the matter of days. (CNN)
- Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia–United States relations
April 17, 2025 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2025 Tropic Air hijacking incident
- A hijacker is killed and three others are injured when a U.S. citizen hijacks a Tropic Air Cessna 208 Caravan and attacks passengers with a knife before being fatally shot by a passenger with a firearm at Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City, Belize. (ABC News) (Airways)
- Gaza war
- Rafah offensive
- The Israel Defense Forces begins the expansion of the recently-established Morag Corridor buffer zone to include the southern Gaza city of Rafah, intending to connect it with the Philadelphi Corridor. Witnesses report the Israeli demolition of structures in Rafah. (Al Jazeera) (RBC Ukraine)
- At least 37 people, including children, are killed in a series of Israeli strikes against displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza's civil defence agency. (BBC News)
- Rafah offensive
- Red Sea crisis
- March–April 2025 United States attacks in Yemen
- The United States Navy launches a wave of missile strikes across Houthi-controlled Yemen, killing at least one person in Sanaa. (AP)
- March–April 2025 United States attacks in Yemen
- Somali Civil War
- 2025 Shabelle offensive, American military intervention in Somalia
- U.S. airstrikes kill twelve al-Shabaab insurgents in central Somalia, while a separate airstrike destroys an unflagged vessel suspected of carrying weapons for the militant group off the Somali coast. (Reuters) (Middle East Monitor)
- 2025 Shabelle offensive, American military intervention in Somalia
Disasters and accidents
- Kočani nightclub fire
- The death toll from the fire at a nightclub in Kočani, North Macedonia, in March increases to 62 as a burn victim dies in the hospital. (Sloboden Pečat)
- Four people are killed and one is injured after the collapse of an aerial tramway on the Monte Faito in Campania, Italy. (Il Messaggero)
- The death toll of the capsized Hong Hai 16 disaster two days ago off Occidental Mindoro, Philippines, rises to four. Seven others are still missing. (Philippine News Agency)
Law and crime
- 2025 Florida State University shooting
- At least two people are killed and six others are hospitalized in a mass shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. The suspect is arrested by local police. (AP) (The New York Times) (NBC News)
- Illegal drug trade in Turkey
- Turkish police detain 525 suspected drug dealers in Ankara, in what is the biggest narcotics opperation in the country's history, involving thousands of officers, sniffer dogs, drones, and helicopters, according to the interior ministry. (AP) (Türkiye Today)
- The Government of Myanmar pardons and releases 4,893 prisoners, including thirteen foreigners who will be deported from the country, and 22 political prisoners, ahead of the country's New Year. (DW) (Radio Free Asia)
Politics and elections
- Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia
- U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador to push for his release, after being denied a meeting hours earlier by the government. (Politico)
April 16, 2025 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kherson strikes
- Russian artillery and glide bombs target Kherson, Ukraine, killing one person and injuring nine others. A sports facility, a supermarket, and residential buildings were among those hit. (AP)
- Dnipro strikes
- A large-scale drone attack on Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, kills two people and injures 16 others. (Reuters)
- Kherson strikes
- Somali Civil War
- 2025 Shabelle offensive
- Al-Shabaab militants capture the Adan Yabal District in Middle Shabelle, Somalia, as the group continues to advance towards the capital Mogadishu. (Reuters)
- 2025 Shabelle offensive
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- California Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta file a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration over the tariffs, making California the first U.S. state to do so. The lawsuit also targets the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, the law used by Trump to impose tariffs against Canada, China, and Mexico. (Politico)
Disasters and accidents
- Authorities recover the remains of a Filipino crew member from the sand barge Hong Hai 16 that capsized off Occidental Mindoro, Philippines, yesterday, bringing the total death toll to two. Nine others are reportedly still missing. (GMA News)
- The HB Kongolo traveling from Matankumu to Bolomba, carrying around 400 people, catches fire and capsizes on the Congo River near Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 50 people and leaving hundreds more missing. (AP)
Health and environment
- The United Kingdom suspends the import of cheese and meat products from the European Union to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. (BBC News)
International relations
- Brazil–Peru relations, Operation Car Wash
- Following her sentencing to 15 years in prison, former First Lady of Peru Nadine Heredia and her son Samin flee to Brazil's capital Brasília after the country grants their right of asylum. (AP)
Law and crime
- Democratic backsliding in Slovakia, 2025 Slovak protests
- The Slovak government passes a law requiring non-governmental organizations to disclose their funding sources and the names of major donors. Opposition groups criticize the law as it could restrict civil society institutions. (DW) (Politico)
- Israeli–Lebanese conflict
- The Lebanese military detains a group of people, including several Palestinians, for firing rockets towards Israel in two separate attacks. Hezbollah denies their involvement in the rocket attacks. (AP)
- Transgender rights in the United Kingdom, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers
- The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom rules that legal gender is based upon biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. (BBC News)
- A German palliative care doctor is charged for allegedly killing fifteen patients between 2021 and 2024 in Berlin. He is being investigated in an additional 75 suspected cases and also accused of trying to cover up the evidence by starting fires in their homes. (AP) (Tagesschau)
Politics and elections
- Sudanese civil war
- The leader of the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, announces the establishment of the Government of Peace and Unity, a rival government to the country's armed forces. (BBC News)
Science and technology
- A research team at the University of Cambridge announces that the James Webb Space Telescope has detected dimethyl sulfide, a chemical thought to be produced in nature only by living organisms, on exoplanet K2-18b, a sub-Neptune planet around 124 light-years (38 pc) away from Earth. (BBC News)
- A colossal squid is filmed in the Southern Atlantic Ocean for the first time since the species was discovered in 1925. The 30 cm (12 in)-long juvenile was filmed by a team of scientists led by the University of Essex near the South Sandwich Islands at a depth of 600 m (2,000 ft). (BBC News)
Sports
- Women's World Chess Championship 2025
- Chinese grandmaster Ju Wenjun wins her fifth consecutive Women's World Chess Championship title after defeating fellow Chinese grandmaster Tan Zhongyi with a score of 6.5–2.5. Ju becomes the first Chinese player to win the championship five times. (CNN)
April 15, 2025 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2025 Sumy airstrike
- Ukrainian military leader Volodymyr Artyukh is fired from his position as Sumy Oblast Governor following condemnation for organizing a military ceremony in the densely populated Sumy city center, which was later targeted by a Russian airstrike. (The Kyiv Independent)
- 2025 Sumy airstrike
- Sudanese civil war, Foreign aid to Sudan
- Humanitarian impact of the Sudanese civil war
- The European Union and its member states pledge €522 million (US$590 million) and the United Kingdom pledges £120 million (US$141 million) in humanitarian aid to Sudan to deliver food and supplies to over 650,000 internally displaced Sudanese people affected by the fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces. The two groups also call for an immediate ceasefire to end the war. (DW) (AP)
- Humanitarian impact of the Sudanese civil war
- Insurgency in Balochistan
- At least three Balochistan Police officers are killed and 16 others are injured when a roadside bomb hits a bus carrying police personnel in Mastung District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (DW)
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
- At least 3,747 people are hospitalized with breathing difficulties and airports are closed after a dust storm in Iraq. (France 24)
- A Chinese crew member is killed when Chinese sand barge vessel M/V Hong Hai 16 capsizes off Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. A search and rescue operation is launched by the Philippine Coast Guard for missing crew members, which includes seven Filipinos and three Chinese. (The Philippine Star)
Health and environment
- The European Commission approves the use of Lecanemab, a monoclonal antibody medication that targets amyloid beta peptides, to treat the early stages of Alzheimer's disease via intravenous therapy. This is the first drug to be approved to treat the disease in Europe, and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in 2023. (DW)
International relations
- Algeria–France relations
- France expels twelve Algerian diplomatic officials from the country after Algeria expelled twelve French officials yesterday over the arrest of an Algerian consular official in a kidnapping case. France also recalls its ambassador from Algiers. (AP) (Bloomberg)
- Israel–Maldives relations, Visa policy of the Maldives
- The Parliament of the Maldives votes in favor of an amendment to the Immigration Act, banning entry into the Maldives for those traveling on Israeli passports. (The Edition)
Law and crime
- Media freedom in Russia
- Four Russian journalists linked to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are convicted of extremism and sentenced to five years and six months imprisonment in a penal colony. (CNN) (AP)
- Piracy in the 21st century
- According to a report by the International Maritime Bureau, piracy has risen by almost 35% in 2025 with 45 cases in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2024, particularly in the Singapore Strait between Singapore and Indonesia. (DW) (Seatrade Maritime News)
- Aftermath of the Operation Car Wash
- A court in Lima, Peru, sentences former president Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia to 15 years in prison for laundering funds from Brazilian company Odebrecht to finance his 2006 and 2011 presidential campaigns. (AP) (BBC News)
- At least four students are injured in a school mass shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School in Dallas, Texas, United States. (BNO News)
- Four people are injured in a vehicle-ramming attack after a person drives a sedan onto a pedestrian walkway on the Toronto Metropolitan University campus near Yonge Street and Gerrard Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (CBC News)
Science and technology
- 4chan is hacked and goes offline, with the website's source code and the usernames, IP addresses, and email addresses of its staff leaked by imageboard Soyjak.party. (Dailydot) (Cybernews) (MSN)
April 14, 2025 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Gaza Strip evacuations
- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto tours the Middle East to seek support from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates for his proposed plan to temporarily evacuate 1,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Indonesia. (Indonesia Business Post)
- International aid to Palestinians
- The European Union announces a €1.6 billion (US$1.8 billion) three-year financial support package for Palestinians aiming to "stabilize" Gaza and the West Bank. (DW)
- Gaza Strip evacuations
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- United Kingdom and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The United Kingdom sends £752 million ($990 million) to Ukraine for the purchase of surface-to-air missiles, artillery and spare parts for fighter aircraft, as part of an international loan programme funded primarily through seized Russian financial assets. (Reuters)
- United Kingdom and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria
- At least 51 people are killed in escalating clashes between rival herders in Plateau State, Nigeria, while another 2,000 people are displaced, according to Amnesty International. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Mediterranean Sea migrant smuggling
- The Hellenic Coast Guard finds two bodies and 39 survivors when a boat carrying migrants capsizes off the coast of Farmakonisi in the Dodecanese islands of Greece. (AP) (Greek City Times)
- A 5.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Julian, California, United States. The earthquake, felt throughout Southern California and Baja California, caused several rockslides on California State Route 76 and the demolition of an office façade in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico due to risk of collapse caused by earthquake. (The San Diego Union-Tribune) (La Jornada)
Health and environment
- Aging of Japan
- According to official data, the population of Japanese citizens dropped to a record low of 120.3 million by October 2024, following a 14-year trend of record lows and the largest drop since records began in 1950. (DW) (Government of Japan)
International relations
- China–Vietnam relations
- China and Vietnam sign 45 agreements, including deals on rail links and supply chains, during Chinese leader Xi Jinping's state visit to Vietnam as part of his broader tour across Southeast Asia in response to tariffs imposed by the United States. Vietnam also approves jet purchases from China, with China's Comac signing a deal with Vietjet. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Democratic backsliding in the United States, El Salvador–United States relations
- U.S. President Donald Trump suggests deporting United States citizens to the controversial Terrorism Confinement Center prison in El Salvador, despite the unconstitutionality of the proposal. (NBC News)
- July Revolution
- A court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, along with the Anti-Corruption Commission, issues an arrest warrant for Tulip Siddiq, a United Kingdom MP who is the niece of ousted former leader Sheikh Hasina, for corruption allegations. Siddiq has rebuked the arrest warrant and called it a "smear campaign" against her. (DW) (BBC News)
- LGBTQ rights in Hungary
- The Hungarian government passes several constitutional changes that affect LGBTQ rights, including a provisional law that says people can only be male or female and codifying a law that bans LGBTQ events, including Budapest Pride. (DW)
- The Spanish Civil Guard arrests two Russian citizens in Manacor, Mallorca, for alleged breeding and sale of exotic cats, and recover a caracal, two servals, and sixteen felid hybrids. (DW)
Science and technology
- Blue Origin NS-31
- A Blue Origin New Shepard launch vehicle makes a brief sub-orbital spaceflight, carrying six female space tourists, marking the first all-female spacecraft since 1963's Vostok 6 which had Valentina Tereshkova as the pilot and the spacecraft's sole passenger. (NPR) (USA Today)
April 13, 2025 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2025 Sumy airstrike
- During Palm Sunday, two Russian Iskander-M ballistic missiles carrying cluster munitions strike the centre of Sumy, Ukraine, killing at least 35 people and wounding 117 others. (ABC News) (BBC News)
- The Russian Defence Ministry says the strike targeted a military gathering in the city. Artem Semenikhin, the mayor of Konotop, Sumy, says regional Governor Volodymyr Artyukh planned an awards ceremony for the 117th Territorial Defense Brigade in Sumy on the same day. (AP) (The Kyiv Independent)
- 2025 Sumy airstrike
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Gaza war
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Israel destroys part of the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City, the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, which is managed by the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem. No direct casualties are reported, but one child is killed due to interrupted medical care. (BBC News) (PCHR Gaza)
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Boko Haram insurgency
- Eight people are killed and a dozen others are injured after a roadside bomb suspected to be planted by Islamic extremists hits a bus on the Damboa-Maiduguri highway in Borno State, Nigeria. (AP)
Arts and culture
- Expo 2025
- The opening ceremony for the 2025 World Expo is held in Osaka, Japan, which includes pavilions for 160 countries. (‘’Japan Times’’)
Disasters and accidents
- Five people are killed and twelve others are injured in a fire at a hostel in Pszów, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. (TVN24)
- Six people are injured, including two critically, and twenty-four homes are damaged after a two-story house explodes in Austin, Texas, United States. (Austin American-Statesman)
Law and crime
- Pennsylvania Governor's Residence fire
- The Pennsylvania Governor's Residence is targeted in an arson attack. Governor Josh Shapiro and his family are evacuated and the fire was extinguished. A suspect was later arrested and charged with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person. (NBC News) (CTV News)
- Security incidents involving Donald Trump
- An American teen follower of the Order of Nine Angles previously charged with killing his parents is also accused of plotting to assassinate U.S. president Donald Trump. (NBC News)
- At least 46 people are injured and treated at the scene and one person is hospitalized when a tear gas canister leaks at Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany. The perpetrator behind the leak is unidentified. (DW)
- Two people are killed and nine others are injured in a mass shooting at a park in Conway, Arkansas, United States. (AP)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Gabonese presidential election
- Gabonese military leader Brice Oligui Nguema wins the presidential election with more than 90% of the vote as an independent politician. (BBC News)
- 2025 Ecuadorian general election
- Incumbent Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa wins re-election for a full term in a rematch against Citizen Revolution Movement candidate and former assemblywoman Luisa González. (CNN)
April 12, 2025 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Sudanese Civil War
- Siege of El Fasher
- Zamzam and Abu Shouk refugee camp massacres
- At least 100 people, including 20 children, are killed in Rapid Support Forces attacks on Al-Fashir and two nearby displacement camps in North Darfur, Sudan, according to the United Nations. (Hindustan Times)
- Zamzam and Abu Shouk refugee camp massacres
- Siege of El Fasher
- Gaza war
- Rafah offensive
- The Israel Defense Forces announces the completion of the Morag Corridor, completely cutting off the city of Rafah from the rest of the Gaza Strip and effectively turning it into an Israeli security zone. (Al Jazeera)
- Rafah offensive
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Ukrainian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon is shot down by a S-400 missile during combat operations against Russian forces, with the pilot killed in action. (Ukrinform) (Defense Mirror)
- Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
- Eight Pakistani citizens are killed in a mass shooting by Baloch Nationalist Army gunmen in Mehrestan, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. (Al Jazeera)
- Three prison officers sustain life-threatening injuries in a mass stabbing and burn attack when Hashem Abedi, the brother of Islamic terrorist Salman Abedi, the perpetrator of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, attacks prison officers at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham, England, with hot cooking oil and shivs. (BBC News)
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- China–United States trade war
- U.S. president Donald Trump's administration exempts smartphones and computers from all "reciprocal" tariffs, including the base 10% on all countries and the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller states that a separate 20% tariff on Chinese imports remains in effect for the products. (BBC News)
- China–United States trade war
- Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025
- The British government passes emergency legislation to control some management decisions at British Steel in order to prevent the closure of the Jingye Group-owned Scunthorpe Steelworks. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Copake plane crash
- A Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft en route from Westchester County Airport to Columbia County Airport crashes into a field in Copake, New York, United States, killing all six occupants onboard. (NBC News)
International relations
- Iran–United States relations
- Iran and the United States, represented by foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and special envoy Steve Witkoff, hold their first round of indirect talks in Muscat, Oman, and agree to continue the negotiations. (The Jerusalem Post)
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