PORTAL:CURRENT EVENTS 2018 APRIL 27

April 27, 2018 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2018 Gaza border protests
- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein asks Israel to refrain from using lethal force as protests enter their fifth week. The Israeli Defence Forces open fire again, including use of live ammunition. (Haaretz) (The Washington Post)
- Three Palestinians are killed and over 300 hurt according to the Hamas-run health ministry as thousands protested. The Israeli army says that hundreds of rioters tried to infiltrate Israel, attempted to start fires in a number of ways, and attacked the security fence with explosive devices, grenades, and rocks. (The Times of Israel)
- Protestors give thanks to actress Natalie Portman, who last week drew criticism from Israel after refusing to accept the Genesis Prize from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. (Arutz Sheva)
2018 Nicaraguan protests
- The Nicaraguan Centre for Human Rights says the death toll from ongoing anti-government protests has reached 38. (CNN)

Arts and culture

Business and economy

Conservative media site RedState fires most of its staff and its owner Salem Media Group freezes the site, stating they could "no longer support the entire roster of writers and editors". Staff claim they were fired for their opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump. (The Hill)

Disasters and accidents

Southwest Airlines Flight 1380
- Jet engine manufacturer CFM International calls for heightened checks of its CFM56-7B after a Boeing 737 passenger died in an accident this month. The CFM56-7B is one of the most commonly used engines worldwide. (CNBC)
The death toll from flash floods in the Dead Sea, Israel, reaches fourteen including ten teenage hikers with a lorry driver still missing. Three youth workers connected to the hike are arrested. Two Palestinian children are reported to have also died in the West Bank. (Haaretz) (The Washington Post)
LaMia Flight 2933
- Colombian investigators release their final report on the 2016 disaster, which killed 71 including most of the Associação Chapecoense de Futebol team. The report blames mismanagement leading to fuel exhaustion, noting the aircraft departed without adequate fuel. (The Aviation Herald)
The roof of a partially-constructed building collapses in Lahore, Pakistan. Three are killed and two more injured. (The Nation)
A Botswanan CF-5 fighter jet crashes in Gaborone, killing the pilot. (Xinhua)
Disasters in Indonesia
- 2018 Balikpapan oil spill
  - The Chinese captain of MV Ever Juder is charged in connection with an oil pipeline rupture and fire that killed five. He and 21 of his crew are detained in Balikpapan, Indonesia after the ship's anchor was dropped in a prohibited area. The dragging anchor struck and ruptured the pipe. (Splash)

International relations

2018 inter-Korean summit, Panmunjom Declaration
- South Korean President Moon Jae-in meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Moon and Kim agree to officially end the Korean War and the Korean conflict overall. Kim becomes the first North Korean leader to cross the Korean Demilitarized Zone since the war. (Reuters), (Israel National News), (CNN)
Germany–United States relations
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint press conference at the White House. Merkel states she believes that there can be a bilateral trade deal between the European Union and the United States. (Reuters) (UPI)
China–India relations
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invites Chinese President Xi Jinping to an informal summit next year as he began an ice-breaking visit to China on Friday in which the giant neighbors are seeking to re-set troubled ties. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Environmental policy of the European Union
- The European Union approves a total ban on neonicotinoids,suspected of harming bees, which is expected to come into force by the end of 2018. (The Guardian)
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
- Nikolas Cruz, the accused suspect of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, is due to be in court. The hearing is expected to deal with several procedural issues, possibly including the setting of an initial trial date. (NBC News)
North Korea–United States relations, Crime in North Korea
- Fred and Cindy Warmbier, the parents of detained American student Otto Warmbier, files a lawsuit against North Korea government, stating that Otto was "tortured and murdered", and also claimed that the DPRK "intentionally destroyed" their son's life. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Cyberwarfare
- Europol announces a coalition comprised of seven European nations and the United States this week launched a cyberattack against ISIL propaganda websites, taking a number of them down. (The Huffington Post)
A man with a knife kills seven children and wounds twelve more in Mizhi, Shaanxi, China. (al-Jazeera)
Terrorism in Iraq
- Islamic State releases a video showing the shooting executions of two men, said to be election "advocators" from al-Tarmiyah, Iraq. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Politics of Romania
- Romanian President Klaus Iohannis asks Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă to resign. Iohannis says Dăncilă did not consult him before endorsing a plan to move Romania's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. (al-Jazeera)

Science and technology

2017 Pohang earthquake
- Scientific studies have offered evidence that a geothermal plant may have caused the earthquake in South Korea. (Phys.org)
Astrophysics
- A photograph from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a companion star that survived the explosion of a supernova in galaxy NGC 7424. This brings strong evidence to a theory according to which Type IIb "stripped-envelope" supernovae are due to stellar companions capturing hydrogen from the progenitor star's envelope before its explosion. (UPI)
De-extinction
- Biologists at the University of Melbourne announce plans to clone the extinct thylacine (Tasmanian tiger). (News Corp Australia)
Detached objects
- Astronomers from the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) announce the discovery of ~80-kilometre (50 mi) asteroid 2015 KE₁₇₂, a detached object orbiting 44–222 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. (Minor Planet Center)

Sports

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