A landslide in Colombia's southwestern border department of Putumayo sends mud and debris crashing onto houses killing over 250 people and injuring at least 400 others. In addition, 200 people are missing. (Hindustan Times)(Reuters)
A bus carrying around 50 school children rolls over on a highway south of Sveg in the northern region of Härjedalen, Sweden, killing three people. (Reuters)
Law and crime
An attack occurs at a Sufi shrine near Sargodha, Pakistan, killing more than 20 people. Authorities arrest a main suspect and several others. (BBC)
Voters in Ecuador return to the polls for the second round of a presidential election, which Lenín Moreno of the socialist PAIS Alliance is predicted to narrowly win over the center-right Creating Opportunities's Guillermo Lasso. With 94.18% of the votes counted, Moreno leads with 51.07%. According to the national election commission, it was a transparent and successful election. (SBS News)(TeleSUR)
A mother and two children drown after their car plunges into the flooded Tweed River, raising the death toll to eight people. A ten-year-old girl escapes and alerts authorities. (News.com.au)
Russian authorities arrest more than 100 gay men in Chechnya, including television personalities and religious figures, for "nontraditional sexual orientation." The Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported that three of the arrested men have been killed, while others reportedly were released for family honor killing. Chechen Republic leaderRamzan Kadyrov's spokesperson said this report contains “absolute lies and disinformation” since there are no homosexuals in Chechnya. (The Guardian)(The New York Times)
Media reports indicate that former National Security AdvisorSusan Rice improperly requested the unmasking of some American names, including those of Donald Trump's campaign staff, that had been incidentally collected during national security investigations. A National Security Adviser may request unmasking if specific criteria are met. A Rice associate denies that the unmasking was improper. (Fox News)(Business Insider)(The Blaze)
Bertha, once the world's largest tunnel boring machine, completes its 9,270-foot-long (2,830m) tunnel under Seattle, Washington, after four years of digging and a lengthy delay near the beginning of the project. (Wired)
According to security sources, dozens of people are killed in an overnight attack in Tikrit by suspected ISIL militants. 31 bodies were taken to a hospital, according to a local doctor, while more continued to be found by morning. (Al Jazeera)
Two openly gay candidates are elected to the Anchorage Assembly, becoming the first openly LGBT elected officials in Alaska. Approximately 20 percent of the city's population voted, a notably low turnout. (LGBT Weekly)(Alaska Commons)
Russian authorities discover and deactivate an explosive device in a Saint Petersburg flat, during ongoing raids occurring in response to the bombing. (BBC)
An Israeli soldier is killed during a car ramming attack near Ofra, in the West Bank. Another Israeli soldier was injured. A Palestinian suspected of committing the attack is taken into custody. (Haaretz)
Voters in the Gambia go to the polls for an election, the country's first legislative election since longtime PresidentYahya Jammeh resigned and left the country. (Al Jazeera)
The governor of the State of Alabama, Robert Bentley, wins a court victory halting impeachment proceedings that were set to begin Monday to determine whether he should remain in office after it was discovered that he had a romantic relationship with a staffer. (AP)
Artifacts from Triquet Island, south-west of Hunter Island in British Columbia, are found to date back 14,000 years, marking the discovery of the oldest village in North America. (CTV News)
In Świebodzice, Poland, an old tenement house collapses killing at least six people, including two children, and injuring six. The exploration teams are looking for 4 missing people. (Gazeta.pl)
Two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 5.6 and 6.0 and related to the April 4 magnitude 5.5 earthquake, hits Batangas, and are felt as far as Metro Manila. (Rappler)
The militant Basque separatist group ETA begins handing over its remaining weapons during a ceremony in Bayonne, France, in which the group turned over to authorities an inventory of weapons and their locations. (BBC)
Six people are killed in clashes between protesters and police near Srinagar in the disputed region of Kashmir Valley, during a by-election for a vacant seat in the Indian Lok Sabha. (BBC)
Voters in the breakaway state of South Ossetia go to the polls for an election and a referendum. The referendum will ask voters if the country's official name should be changed to "Republic of South Ossetia–the State of Alania". (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
A suicide bomber attacks a military training camp in Mogadishu, killing at least nine soldiers. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. (Al Jazeera)
People's Republic of China detains Taiwanese political activist Lee Ming-che on suspicion of endangering national security and revokes his wife's travel permit. (Voice of America)
An elementary school teacher and an 8-year-old student were shot and killed by the teacher's estranged husband, who then killed himself, at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California. Another student, a 9-year-old boy who was also behind the teacher, was wounded. (CNN)(NBC News)(Fox News)
Starting this spring, the state of New York will offer free four-year public college tuition for residents whose families make less than $100,000, the first state in the country to do so. (NBC News)
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz issues an apology for the removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight on April 9, which has since gone viral. United Airlines stock drops more than 4%, a loss of £800 million to the company's value. (BBC)
A suicide bomber kills at least five people and injures ten more near government offices in Kabul. ISIL claims responsibility for the attack. (Al Jazeera)
One student is murdered and another injured in Mardan, Pakistan over alleged blasphemy. The student who died, Mashal Khan, was known on social media for his secular and liberal views. (BBC)
A British student is stabbed and killed during an attack on a light-rail train in Jerusalem, Israel. Two other passengers are injured. A Palestinian man with a history of mental problems and other issues is taken into custody by Israeli authorities. Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon linked the attack to terrorism. (Haaretz)
A car bomb strikes a convoy of buses near Aleppo which were carrying evacuees from the pro-government towns of Al-Fu'ah and Kafriya. Over 100 people are killed. (BBC)(AP via Yahoo! News)
The death toll according to a Nangarhar official source now stands at 94 militants, including 4 commanders. Former president Hamid Karzai says the strike was in violation of national sovereignty. (TOLOnews)
Flash flooding caused by torrential rain leaves at least 17 people dead and 20 others missing in northwestern Iran, according to state television. (Al Jazeera)
In a move likely to cause concern in India, China and Nepal commenced last Sunday the first ever combined military exercises, focusing on counter-terror operations. (South China Morning Post)
A Brazilian federal judge orders Petrobras to suspend the sale to Norway's Statoil of its stake in an offshore prospect, in response to the National Federation of Oil Workers petition there should have been an open bidding process for this transaction. (Reuters)
Libyan fisherman discover the bodies of 28 migrants in a broken-down boat off the coast of Sabratha. (Reuters)
Law and crime
The Supreme Court of the United States refuses to vacate a stay of execution issued by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Arkansas's highest court has also put on hold the execution of another inmate, Bruce Ward. The state had planned to execute eight inmates in eleven days. That schedule, as well as the use of the drug midazolam, sparked a broad range of legal challenges and humanitarian concerns about the executions. Today's planned execution of Don W. Davis would have been the state's first since 2005. (CNN)(The New York Times)
Steve Stephens, the suspected "Facebook killer" accused of killing 74-year-old Robert Godwin, kills himself after a brief pursuit with the Pennsylvania State Police. (CNN)
French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl announces that police have foiled an "imminent and violent" attack in Marseille, arresting two suspects and confiscating weapons and bomb material. (The Guardian)
Three people die in a shooting spree in downtown Fresno, California. The suspected gunman, who was already wanted for another murder four days earlier, and who expressed hatred of whites and the government, is arrested. (Los Angeles Times)
As expected, during a visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring U.S. federal agencies to take measures aimed at protecting U.S. workers, boost protections for some U.S. products, and examine the H-1B visa program which affords foreign workers opportunities for employment in U.S. specialty fields. (CNN)
Citing a drop in demand, the Dubai-based, United Arab Emirates-owned airline Emirates Air announces a cut in flights to five of its 12 U.S. destinations. The airline’s Dubai hub, third-busiest in the world, is a major stop for travelers in countries affected by President Donald Trump’s travel ban, and is also one of several Middle East airports affected by a U.S. ban on tablets, laptops, and similar devices in the passenger cabin. (Los Angeles Times)
Nigerian spy chief Ayo Oke has been suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari after anti-corruption agents uncovered more than $43 million in cash at his flat in Lagos. (BBC)
The closely-watched CEVIPOF poll shows Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen clinging to a narrow lead heading into the first stage of the election, with Le Pen recently becoming embroiled in a spat with the European Commission after refusing to appear on TF1 while there remained a Flag of Europe in the background. (Reuters)
Alternative for Germany chairwoman Frauke Petry announces that she will not lead the party in the September federal election, citing other party leaders' insistence on remaining a "fundamental opposition party", unwilling to join a coalition. (Reuters)
A Forsa Institute poll shows the lowest level of support for the Greens in nearly 15 years, weakening the chances of a left-leaning coalition taking power from the CDU/CSU. (Reuters)
Australia adds stricter requirements to its citizenship application process, including harder tests on English language skills and the requirement that a migrant be able to demonstrate "Australian values". (BBC)
A ten-year-old boy from Florida with autism is arrested at school, and spends the night in a juvenile facility. Unknown to the family, the boy had an outstanding warrant for his arrest after kicking and scratching one of his educators. The Autism Society of America is looking into legal options. (The Washington Post)
ISIL supporter, Terrence J. McNeil, of Akron, Ohio, pleads guilty to five counts of soliciting to commit criminal violence and communicating interstate threats in calls to kill U.S. military personnel. He is scheduled to be sentenced in August and faces up to 20 years in prison. (The Washington Post)
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, positions himself as an "anti-establishment" candidate as he vows to end the "rigged" system. (BBC)
Venezuelan authorities report 12 people were killed overnight in the capital Caracas, mostly in the El Valle working class neighborhood where 54 people, including newborn babies, were forced to evacuate a maternity hospital. Others have fled to Colombia. This death toll during the three weeks of anti-government protests is 20. (AP via The Washington Post)(Yahoo! News)(The Telegraph)
American Airlines announces it is investigating a viral video of an incident on a San Francisco to Dallas flight which shows a male flight attendant upsetting a female passenger, who he had allegedly forcefully taken a baby buggy from, and threatening to fight a male passenger. The American Airlines employee has been suspended. (The Washington Post)(Reuters)
French voters are protected from a barrage of last minute campaign pushes, including those via tweets and/or other social media, by rules that prohibit such communications for 44 hours during elections, from Friday midnight until Sunday 8:00 p.m. CEST. (AP)
Dressed in white, the Venezuela opposition march, in silence, to the headquarters of the country's Catholic archdiocese to honor the more than a dozen people killed in three weeks of protests. For the first time, protesters were able to cross from the east to the western side of Caracas without being confronted by state security. (AP via U.S. News & World Report)(AFP via The Straits Times)
The United Kingdom, on Friday, did not derive energy from any coal-fired source, the first continuous 24-hour, coal-free period for the UK since use of the fossil fuel began. Coal accounted for just 9 percent of the electricity generated last year. (Sky News)
Arkansas becomes the first U.S. state since Texas in 2000 to hold two executions on the same day as executes convicted murderers Jack Jones, Jr. and Marcel Williams. (BBC)(AP via Yahoo! News)
The Communist Party of Britain announces it will not field any candidates in the upcoming general election for the first time since its formation in 1920, and endorses Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying victory for Mr Corbyn at the general election in June would be “the first step towards a formation of left-led government at Westminster”. (The Independent)
Turkish air strikes kill 18 KurdishYPG fighters and media officials in northeastern Syria. Also five Peshmerga fighters are killed during a Turkish attack on Sinjar in Iraq. Turkey also claims to have destroyed "terror hubs". Iraq denounces the strike as a violation of its sovereignty. (Reuters)(Hurriet Daily News)
David Hittner, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas, rules ExxonMobil Corporation should pay a $19.95 million penalty for pollution from its Baytown, Texas, refining and chemical plant complex for 16,386 days of violations and 10 million pounds (4.5 Gg) of pollutants that were released in violation of operating permits between 2005 and 2013. (Reuters)
Results, published in The Lancet medical journal, of the WOMAN (World Maternal Antifibrinolytic) international study that began in 2010, finds use of a cheap and widely available drug, tranexamic acid (Lysteda in the U.S. and Australia), could save the lives of thousands of women who die in childbirth from excessive bleeding. The medication is already in use for blood loss from major trauma, surgery, tooth removal, nose bleeds, and heavy menstruation. (The New York Times)(The Guardian)(The Lancet)
A Russian Navy spy ship sinks off the coast of Turkey after colliding with a Togo-flagged freighter. All 78 crew aboard the ship were safely evacuated, according to Turkish officials. (BBC)
A South Korean adviser says it is "impossible" for South Korea to purchase the THAAD missile complex since control of its operation would remain with the United States. The remarks come after United States president Donald Trump suggested that South Korea pay for the $1 billion system. (Reuters)
Kenneth Williams is executed at the Cummins Unit, Arkansas, by injection of midazolam, marking the state's fourth execution within eight days before the drug passes its expiration date. (NBC News)
Sergeant Alexander Blackman, also known as Marine A, a Royal Marine who shot dead a wounded Taliban insurgent in 2011 during Operation Herrick, is released from HM Prison Erlestoke after serving more than three years of a seven-year sentence. (BBC)
Richard Vallières, convicted of stealing 3,000 tonnes of maple syrup from a Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers warehouse in 2012, is sentenced to eight years in prison and fined $9.4 million, adjustable to fourteen years on non-payment of the fine. (CBC)
Saeed Karimian, the founder and director of GEM TV, a Persian language network based in Dubai, is shot dead in Istanbul, Turkey, along with his Kuwaiti business partner. Karimian had previously been tried in absentia by a Tehran court and sentenced to six years in prison for spreading propaganda against Iran. (BBC)
