Portal:Current events/2018 April 13: Difference between revisions

April 13, 2018 (2018-04-13) (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 US 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 Colombian rebels on 26 March, have been murdered. Lenin Moreno, the President, orders military operations on Colombian border to catch the murderers, offering a reward of 100,000 dollars. (The Guardian)

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 twenty. (Reuters)
• Actor Will Ferrell is injured in a car accident when a car collides with his SUV. He is then released from the hospital shortly with no serious injuries. (Buzzfeed) (NBC)
• Vanuatu plans another evacuation from Ambae Island due to volcanic activity from Manaro Voui. (RNZ)

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 pass a new law 230–109 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)

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)

Month

April 2018

Previous day

April 12

Next day

April 14