Timeline 2019 April - June
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2019 Apr 1, The US embassy in Hanoi said the United States has delivered six patrol boats worth $12 million to Vietnam's Coast Guard, amid warming ties between the former foes.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, The United States said that it was halting shipment of F-35 parts of Turkey as well as joint manufacturing work due to Ankara's purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 1, In Arkansas a student (14) in Prescott was taken into custody after bringing a concealed gun to school and shooting another student (14). The victim was in stable condition.
(SFC, 4/2/19, p.A3)
2019 Apr 1, Michigan-based Kellogg Co. said it is selling its iconic Keebler cookie brand and other sweet snacks businesses to Italy-based Ferrero for $1.3 billion. Kellogg said it is also selling its Mother's and Famous Amos cookie brands, as well as its fruit-flavored snack, pie crust and ice cream cone businesses.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, In North Dakota four people were found dead at a property management business in Mandan. Chiropractor Chad Isaak (44) was arrested on April 4 on suspicion of killing the owner of the business and three employees. In 2021 Isaak was sentenced to four life terms in prison.
(SFC, 4/2/19, p.A5)(SFC, 4/6/19, p.A6)(SFC, 12/29/21, p.A5)
2019 Apr 1, Dan Robbins (93), the artist who created the first paint-by-numbers pictures, died in Sylvania, Ohio. Robbins worked for the Palmer Paint Co. in Detroit and sales of his Craft Master kits peaked at 20 million in 1955.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.C4)
2019 Apr 1, Facebook said it has deleted 712 accounts and 390 pages in India and Pakistan for "inauthentic behavior," many of them linked to India's opposition Congress party days before a general election, and others related to Pakistan's military.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, The World Wildlife Foundation sounded the alarm over plastics in the Mediterranean Sea after an 8-meter (over 26-foot) sperm whale was found dead off Sardinia with 22 kg (48.5 pounds) of plastic in its belly.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, In northern Afghanistan the Taliban stormed a checkpoint overnight, killing at least five members of the country's security forces, setting off an hours-long gunbattle. Separately, the Taliban overran an army checkpoint in western Badghis province, killing three soldiers. The Taliban targeted a checkpoint in northern Balkh province, killing at least eight members of the security forces. There were also casualties among the Taliban as a three-hour shootout ensued at the checkpoint.
(AP, 4/1/19)(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 1, Algeria's Pres. Abdelaziz Bouteflika said he will step down before his fourth term ends on April 28.
(SFC, 4/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 1, Algerian prosecutors announced fresh graft probes and a ban on corruption suspects leaving the country, as a government shake-up failed to halt calls for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to quit. Private Ennahar TV said Algeria has seized the passports of 12 businessmen over corruption allegations.
(AFP, 4/1/19)(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, A Brazilian state lawmaker asked the public prosecutors' office to open an investigation into the police's use of sharpshooters to kill alleged criminals in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged New Zealand to provide a "fair, transparent, convenient" investment environment in a meeting in Beijing with the PM Jacinda Ardern, that comes amid a dispute over use of Chinese telecoms equipment.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, China said it would begin regulating all fentanyl-related drugs as a class of controlled substances, in accordance with a December agreement between US Pres. Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping. The sweeping change in the way China regulates drugs that mimic fentanyl takes effect May 1.
(AP, 4/1/19)(Bloomberg, 8/28/19)
2019 Apr 1, French officials said five residents at a retirement home have died and around a dozen others are in a serious condition after a suspected case of mass food poisoning at the privately operated Cheneraie residence in Lherm, a town south of Toulouse.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Israel loosened restrictions on fishermen off the blockaded Gaza Strip by allowing them to travel up to 15 nautical miles into the Mediterranean in one area, the largest distance in years.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Two Israeli researchers said they had discovered a network of hundreds of fake Twitter accounts that promoted PM Benjamin Netanyahu and attacked his political rivals, a week before a national election.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited the Western Wall alongside PM Benjamin Netanyahu, becoming the first head of state to do so with an Israeli premier. Such visits can be seen as granting tacit approval to Israeli sovereignty over the site.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Iranian authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of flood-stricken cities in a western province as rivers burst their banks, dams overflowed and vast areas were cut off from communication.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Japan's government said the era of Japan's next emperor, which begins May 1, will be named "Reiwa," connoting pursuit of harmony, after selecting the phrase from ancient Japanese poetry instead of Chinese classics as PM Shinzo Abe promotes national pride.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, A Malaysian court dropped the murder charge against Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam, the only suspect still in custody for the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. She pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and was expected to be released soon.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Mexico will help to regulate the flow of Central American migrants passing through its territory to the United States, but the root causes behind the phenomenon must be tackled.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Mozambican and international health workers raced to contain the outbreak of cholera in the cyclone-hit city of Beira and surrounding areas, where cases of the disease has jumped to more than 1,000.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, In Nigeria an Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) video, dated April 1 and said to have been filmed in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, was published online by the IS propaganda arm Amaq. It claimed to have executed five Nigerian soldiers but security sources the next day said three of those killed were civilian militia members.
(AFP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 1, Pakistan scrapped terrorism trials before special military courts after the tribunals' mandate expired today, ending a measure that had been in place for over four years to help authorities curb militant attacks.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Philippine officials said they have protested the presence of more than 200 Chinese vessels that were sighted from January to March near the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, called Pag-asa by Filipinos, in the Spratlys, in the disputed South China Sea.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, The Pacific Daily News reported that More than 350 Philippine workers have been approved by the government of Guam to work at projects on the island.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 1, Philippine customs officials opened nicely gift-wrapped boxes of cookies and oatmeal flown in all the way from Poland and found 757 of live tarantulas at a mail exchange center near Manila's international airport. A Filipino man was later arrested when he tried to claim the venomous spiders.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 1, Russian state-owned industrial conglomerate Rostec said it has opened a training center in Venezuela to help the country's pilots fly Russian-made military helicopters.
(Reuters, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 1, Fitch Ratings said Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, posted $224 billion in earnings before tax last year, as the secretive giant opens its accounts for the first time.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Sri Lanka authorities publicly destroyed 770 kg (1,700 pounds) of cocaine in a bid to deter smugglers from using the Indian Ocean island nation as a transit point for drug distribution in the region.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir acknowledged the "legitimate" demands of anti-government protesters, while blaming several deaths on the actions of political groups.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey is giving Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro its continued support and intends to deepen cooperation with Venezuela "in all fields" despite US pressure.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Venezuelans prepared to hold protests over continued shortages of power and water following angry demonstrations as the government of President Nicolas Maduro appeared prepared to begin a rationing program.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Hawaii Master Halbert (44), a Micronesia government official, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Honolulu to conspiring to launder bribe money he accepted from the president of Lyon Associates Inc., a Hawaii civil engineering company.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Chicago Lori Lightfoot (56), a former federal prosecutor, was elected mayor, becoming the city's first black woman and openly gay person to lead the city.
(SFC, 4/3/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 2, The Supreme Court in Comoros confirmed Azali Assoumani as the winner of the disputed presidential election held last week in the volatile Indian Ocean archipelago.
(AFP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Czech police extradited to Austria two suspects who allegedly formed a terror cell with a man detained by Austrian authorities over unsuccessful attacks on trains in Germany.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, Congo DRC's army captured Masudi Alimasi Kokodiko, leader of the widely feared Raia Mutomboki militia, in South Kivu's Shabunda territory. He has been accused of orchestrating mass rapes and other atrocities.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 2, The World Health Organization said Ebola is on the rise in eastern Congo following a series of attacks on health facilities. A total of 73 new cases were reported last week, compared to 57 the week before.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Egypt sentenced more than 70 suspected members of the Muslim Brotherhood group to prison on terror-related charges. Nearly half of the defendants were tried in absentia.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, An Egyptian policeman found guilty of killing a Christian man and his son in a case that outraged the minority Coptic community was sentenced to death. Rabee Khalifa, posted as an armed police guard outside a church, killed construction workers Imad Kamal Sadeq (49) and his son David (21) after an argument last December.
(Reuters, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Egypt Ahmed Abdallah, the governor of Hurghada province, said a ban on disposable plastics, prohibiting everything from single use straws to plastic bags in an effort to fight pollution and protect the environment, will go into effect in June.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, The leaders of Greece and North Macedonia hugged, took selfies and signed a new agreement for air patrols in a display of newly-friendly relations since a nearly three-decade name dispute was settled earlier this year.
(Reuters, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, An Iraqi official said several million Muslims have travelled to the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim in Baghdad in recent days to commemorate the revered Shiite figure's death in 799.
(AFP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Israeli authorities arrested Hassan Yousef, a co-founder of Hamas, at his home in the occupied West Bank. On April 8 he was handed down a six-month detention order without trial.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Israel Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said "there is no doubt" that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Kashmir Pakistan and India traded fire in the disputed Himalayan region, leaving seven people dead.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Mozambique officials said cholera cases have risen above 1,400 as hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses arrived in an attempt to limit the rapid spread of the disease.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, New Zealand lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of new gun restrictions during the first stage of a bill they hope to rush into law by the end of next week.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, In North Macedonia a small private plane with four members of a Bulgarian family on board crashed into a mountain in a central region of the country. There were no survivors.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela visited Hong Kong amid ambitious plans and proposals for Chinese-built bridges and rail lines in pan in Panama.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, The Philippine Supreme Court ordered the release of police documents on thousands of killings of suspects in the president's anti-drug crackdown, in a ruling that human rights groups say could shed light on allegations of extrajudicial killings.
(AP, 4/2/19)(SFC, 4/3/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 2, Senegalese President Macky Sall said he would prioritize the environment, youth employment and women's rights during his second term in office.
(Reuters, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, In eastern Syria US-backed Syrian fighters battled the Islamic State group 10 days after declaring victory over the extremists. The SDF were rooting out groups of militants who were hiding in caves in and near the village of Baghouz. Four Islamic State militants clashed with the US-backed SDF and local security forces before blowing themselves late today in Raqqa.
(AP, 4/2/19)(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, The air hanging over Thailand's far north has become so polluted, PM Prayuth Chan-ocha went to see in person what is being called a severe health crisis.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party appealed the results of local elections in Istanbul where preliminary results give the opposition a razor-thin victory, sounding confident that a recount will alter the outcome of the vote.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Uganda a US woman (35) and a local driver were abducted by four gunmen in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The kidnappers demanded a $500,000 ransom.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, The UN said more than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced "acute hunger" last year because of wars and climate disasters, with Africa the worst-hit region.
(AFP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 3, Former US VP Joe Biden acknowledged that his tendency toward physical displays of affection and encouragement has some women uncomfortable and promised to be "much more mindful" of respecting personal space.
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 3, In Arizona Summerbell Brown (10) was shot and killed in her family's driveway following a road rage incident in Phoenix. Suspect Joshua Gonzalez (20) was soon arrested.
(SSFC, 4/7/19, p.A10)
2019 Apr 3, Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, asked the IRS to provide six years of Pres. Trump's personal tax returns by April 10.
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 3, South Carolina police arrested Brook Graham (53) after DNA evidence submitted to family genealogy sites led them to find and arrest her for the death of a baby abandoned 29 years ago. She was charged with homicide by neglect.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 3, US immigration authorities arrested 280 workers at CVE Technology Group in Allen, Texas. They said the employees were working in the US illegally.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 3, In Albania a few thousand protesters, apparently fewer than a week ago, gathered in front of the parliament building shouting "Rama go!" while their leaders and others made short speeches.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Algeria's Constitutional Council said it had accepted Bouteflika's resignation and informed parliament that his post was officially vacant. The speaker of the upper house of parliament, currently Abdelkader Bensalah (77), acts as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organized.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian Sen. Fraser Anning was censured by his colleagues for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian scientists said the world's southernmost coral reef has been hit by bleaching this summer, as they warned rising sea temperatures from climate change were affecting even the most isolated ecosystems.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Brunei new Islamic criminal laws that took effect, punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death. They have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation's shores.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, China's government said Nur Bekri, the former governor of the restive Xinjiang region, has been formally arrested on accusations of taking bribes following a months long investigation. Bekri most recently headed the National Energy Administration planning agency.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Dubai's Emirates NBD bank revised its acquisition price of Turkey's Denizbank following a slide in the Turkish lira, saying it has now agreed to pay 15.48 billion lira ($2.8 billion).
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The EU launched legal action against Poland that alleges recent justice laws undermine the independence of the country's judges and comes amid concern the rule of law is being increasingly abused around the bloc.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, French carmaker Renault said it had flagged to judicial authorities serious problems with the expenses of Carlos Ghosn after during his time as chairman of the company.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, India's PM Narendra Modi staged a massive rally in Kolkata, stepping up the battle with a local rival who could frustrate his party's return to power.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Iranian media reported that the number of dead from recent flooding has risen to 62, up from 57 the day before.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Rome's Mayor Virginia Raggi pledged an investigation into possible inciting racial hatred against the organizers of a violent protest that rejected housing Roma families in a neighborhood government-run center a day earlier. Raggi blamed both Casa Pound and Forza Nuova for creating a hostile climate in the Torre Maura neighborhood, a low-income area on the eastern edge of the capital. City authorities moved several Roma families out of a public housing project in a Rome suburb after violent protests by neo-fascist groups threatened their safety.
(AP, 4/3/19)(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Italian news agency ANSA reported that another infant boy died overnight near Genoa as the result of a circumcision performed at home.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Kazakhstan's interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made his first foreign visit since being appointed two weeks ago, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Libyan National Army (LNA) media office said forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar have been ordered to move to western Libya to fight militants.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Malaysia's government said that the luxury yacht "Equanimity," allegedly bought with money stolen from a troubled state investment fund, will be sold to casino operator Genting Berhad for $126 million, half its original price. US investigators say the $250 million yacht was bought with funds diverted from the 1MDB fund by fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Mozambique a vaccination campaign was launched in the central city of Beira after a cyclone slammed into the region and unleashed an outbreak of cholera. The disease has already killed two people and infected more than 1,400.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Myanmar six Rohingya Muslims were killed and nine wounded in an aerial attack in the western state of Rakhine. Myanmar's military later said they were affiliated with an armed rebel group. A local laborer said they were bamboo workers.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 3, A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli in the occupied West Bank before being shot dead by a local civilian.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Twelve Western nations urged Romania to scrap two planned emergency decrees altering judicial legislation, in a rare joint intervention that underlined US and EU alarm over the threat to the rule of law in the former communist nation.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Singapore officials found a record 14.2 tons of pangolin scales hidden among packets of frozen beef. Five days later, they found 14 more tons in 474 bags in another container. The scales were linked to four species of pangolins native to Africa.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 3, A South Korean coast guard official said the 5,160-ton P-PIONEER has been prevented from leaving Busan port since October over allegations that it was used to supply diesel to North Korea through two ship-to-ship transfers in September 2017 in international waters in the East China Sea.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Thailand's ruling military junta filed a complaint accusing Thanathorn Juangroongruangki, the leader of the new Future Forward political party, of sedition and aiding criminals. He described the move as politically motivated.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey will not turn back from a major arms deal with Russia despite the US suspension of Ankara from the F-35 fighter-jet program.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Ukrainian PM Volodymyr Groysman said the government has banned state-run gas producer Naftogaz from raising consumer gas prices. The ban was announced as President Petro Poroshenko, a Groysman ally, tries to boost his chances ahead of the second and final round of a presidential election on April 21.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 4, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on NATO allies to adapt to confront a wide variety of emerging threats, including Russia's increased aggression, Chinese strategic competition and uncontrolled migration as NATO foreign ministers marked the 70th anniversary of the transatlantic military alliance.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, US lawmakers voted to end military support for a Saudi-led war in Yemen.
(AFP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 4, The US Supreme Court blocked the execution of man who argued that his religious freedom would be violated if his Buddhist spiritual adviser couldn't accompany him. Texas then banned all clergy from the death chamber.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 4, In Florida a man (72) was killed when the rotor of a helicopter making an emergency landing on a busy highway struck a pickup truck.
(SFC, 4/6/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 4, Chicago said it will sue actor Jussie Smollett over his refusal to pay more than $130,000 to reimburse the city's investigative costs for what officials said was a phony racist and anti-gay attack staged by Smollett.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 4, In Utah the Church of the Latter Day Saints repealed rules unveiled in 2015 that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and made gay marriage a sin worthy of expulsion.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 4, Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) said security forces have arrested six alleged members of the Islamic State militant group in Kabul and accused them of using hundreds of fake accounts on Facebook Inc and other social media to find recruits. The NDS also said 10 suspects have been arrested in Nangarhar over involvement in assassinations and transporting weapons, ammunition and explosives.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, In Afghanistan the Taliban launched a brazen attack under the cover of darkness early today on a government compound in western Badghis province, killing at least 20 soldiers and policemen.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Argentine unions, small firms and activists took to the streets in central Buenos Aires to protest austerity measures under President Mauricio Macri, which they blame for amplifying hardships for workers and sapping economic growth.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Australia's Parliament passed legislation that could imprison social media executives if their platforms stream real violence such as the New Zealand mosque shootings.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Six Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo) signed an EU-backed agreement in Belgrade to abolish roaming charges by 2021 as part of efforts to boost cooperation in the region.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Belgium's PM Charles Michel apologized for the kidnapping, segregation, deportation and forced adoption of thousands of children born to mixed-race couples during Belgium's colonial rule of Burundi, Congo and Rwanda.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 4, Belarus police arrested 15 demonstrators who were trying to prevent the removal of wooden crosses from the Kurapaty woods near the capital of Minsk where tens of thousands of people were executed under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, In Brazil police in Sao Paulo state shot and killed 10 assailants who were preparing to simultaneously blow up automated bank teller machines at two branches early today. The criminal group had arrived in five armored cars and were armed with high-caliber rifles and body armor.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Henn Polluaas of the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE), known for its anti-immigration and euroskeptic stance, was elected speaker of parliament in the 101-seat Riigikogu assembly.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The European parliament approved a text permitting Britons visa-free visits to the EU even in the event of a "no deal" Brexit. Spain claimed victory in an argument with Britain over the status of Gibraltar, after the European Parliament passed a law that referred to the peninsula as a "colony of the British Crown".
(AP, 4/4/19)(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The EU condemned a decision to strip Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido of immunity from prosecution, calling it a "serious violation" of the constitution that undermined the chances of a peaceful solution to the country's crisis.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, India's central bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 6%, moving to prop up economic growth ahead of a national election next week.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, In central India Maoist rebels ambushed and killed four Indian paramilitary soldiers and wounded another two in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh state.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Tokyo prosecutors arrested Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn for a fourth time, on fresh allegations that cut short his brief time outside detention.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar maneuvered for a threatened advance towards Tripoli as UN chief Antonio Guterres warned of the growing risk of violence.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The Philippine government protested the presence of large numbers of Chinese vessels near islands and islets occupied by the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea as illegal and vowed to take "appropriate action".
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Portugal's secretary of state for the environment resigned after it emerged that he had appointed a cousin as his assistant, deepening a controversy over family connections in senior government posts.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Romania's PM Viorica Dancila rejected calls by ambassadors from 12 countries, including the United States and Germany, to refrain from amending laws on fighting crime and corruption by decree.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The Russian Progress freighter blasted off from a launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and docked with the International Space Station after two orbits. It set a record time for a trip to the ISS, docking in three hours and 21 minutes.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Saudi Arabia reopened a consulate in Baghdad for the first time in nearly 30 years, a sign of improving ties between the two neighbors whose relations have been uneasy for years.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member Egypt said they will boycott an Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) annual meeting in Doha April from 6-10 because Qatar "has not responded to the just demands of the four countries and has continued its supportive policy for extremism, terrorism and interference in the affairs of the countries of the region".
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 4, Saudi Arabia arrested at least eight writers and bloggers, including two US citizens, in an apparent crackdown on supporters of detained women activists whose trial has drawn global censure.
(AFP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 4, A Madrid court released a 70-year-old man who admitted to helping his 61-year-old wife end her life, a case that has reignited a debate about assisted suicide in Spain, where it remains illegal.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 4, Sri Lanka received the first intelligence brief from India, more than two weeks before Easter Sunday bombings. It said a suicide terrorist attack was planned against "some important churches," and listed six people likely to be involved. State minister of defense, Ruwan Wijewardene, later said "weakness" within Sri Lanka's security apparatus led to the failure to prevent the Easter bombings.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 4, In Geneva Vilma Nunez, a leading Nicaraguan human rights defender, said that it was impossible to negotiate with President Daniel Ortega, after a deadline passed in talks to resolve the country's deadly political crisis.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Rescue workers said Syrian government shelling killed at least a dozen people in the rebel-held northwest. Damascus said its patience was running out over the implementation of a Russian-Turkish agreement in the area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that government shelling had killed 17 civilians in the past 24 hours in different locations of the northwest, with half of the dead under the age of 18.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko agreed to go head-to-head with comedian Volodymyr Zelensky in a debate at the country's biggest stadium in the race for the presidency.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, A UN official said Mali is in dire need of humanitarian aid, with more than three million people requiring food and basic assistance even as billions of dollars go to security missions.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The Vatican upheld its conviction of Guam's ousted Archbishop Anthony Apuron for sexually abusing minors and added a further penalty on appeal that effectively prevents him from presenting himself as a bishop.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Pope Francis named Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory (71) as the new archbishop of Washington DC, choosing a moderate, and the first African-American, to lead the archdiocese.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The World Health Organization said global life expectancy grew by 5.5 years between 2000 and 2016.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 5, US Vice President Mike Pence stepped up efforts to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from office by imposing new sanctions on its oil shipments, and promising "stronger action" against Cuba for helping to keep the regime afloat.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, In southern California Lenrey Briones (19) was charged with slashing nine people in the face with a knife in a series of random attacks around South Los Angeles, Lynwood and South Gate from March 20 to April 1.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3as74k9)(SSFC, 4/7/19, p.A10)
2019 Apr 5, Roy Browning Jr. (67), the husband of an Iowa health care administrator, stabbed his wife to death, hours before she was set to learn about financial problems he had tried to hide from her. Browning called 911 to report that he found his wife unresponsive on her bedroom floor at their Iowa City home. He was arrested on Oct. 28 on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of JoEllen Browning, his wife of 42 years.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Apr 5, In western Afghanistan the Taliban besieged a government and army compound in remote Badghis province for a second day, killing at least 12 more troops. Roughly 2,000 Taliban fighters were involved in the attack, with about 600 Afghan troops and members of the security forces inside.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, An international climate conference in Albania was disrupted over tensions between Kosovo and Serbia. The conference proceeded, but only with technical experts.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Algeria a vast crowd of protestors flooded the streets of Algiers, the first mass demonstrations since the resignation of ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and a show of strength by those pushing demands for reform. Private Ennahar TV reported that Algeria's spy chief has been fired.
(AFP, 4/5/19) (Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Armenia Lilit Martirosian, a transgender woman, told members of parliament's human rights committee that the group she founded, Right Side, had recorded 283 cases of transgender rights violations. The next day, hundreds of people protested outside the parliament building, demanding fumigation of the podium at which Martirosian spoke. Death threats soon followed.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 5, PM Theresa May asked the EU to delay Britain's departure until June 30 while Brussels suggested that it might be best to postpone the split for up to a year.
(AFP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Britain Arif Naqvi, the chief executive of the collapsed Dubai private equity firm Abraaj Capital Ltd, was arrested on US charges for defrauding investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Managing partner Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was arrested at a New York hotel on April 11.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 5, Jason Kakaire (29) was charged with five counts of attempted murder following a series of stabbings in north London which have heightened public concern about rising knife crime in Britain.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Cuba newsprint shortages forced the Communist daily to run a trimmed-down edition. Amid shortages, the government is being forced to ration basics like flour, cooking oil and chicken, leading to long lines outside stores.
(AFP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 5, European Union authorities said that German automakers BMW, Daimler and VW colluded to limit the development of emissions-cleaning technology in cars.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, President Emmanuel Macron appointed nine researchers to carry out a two-year investigation into the role of the French army in the Rwandan genocide that is still a source of tension between Paris and Kigali 25 years later.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In France G7 foreign ministers ended a 2-day meeting. They adopted joint commitments to better handle the world's top security challenges. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stayed at home citing domestic duties and Washington sent lower-ranking officials instead.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, France said it will airlift 12 tons of humanitarian aid, including 114 pumps, to flood-hit regions in Iran.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Greek authorities said they have arrested and charged a Bulgarian man over the suspected contract killing of John Macris (46), a Greek-Australian, who was fatally shot outside his home in an Athens seaside suburb last year. The suspect's brother was also wanted on suspicion of having helped plan the murder.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Greek police fired tear gas to disperse migrants who had gathered in a field near the country's border with Northern Macedonia in the hope of making their way illegally up through the Balkans toward northern Europe. Migrants in Athens also blocked the city's main train station in demonstrations that authorities said had been triggered by false reports on social media that restrictions on travel to northern Europe had been lifted.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Honduras thousands of people marched through the streets of the Tegucigalpa demanding the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and an investigation of him and his family.
(AFP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, A Japanese court approved the detention of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn through April 14 after his latest arrest over financial misconduct allegations, a move that has raised questions among legal experts.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Japan's space agency said an explosive dropped from its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time to form a crater and pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, A Libyan commander said forces allied to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli have taken 145 troops prisoner from the Eastern forces and that 60 vehicles had been confiscated..
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In southeastern Mexico electric power returned to three states on the Yucatan peninsula late today, including tourist hot spots Cancun and Tulum, after a partial blackout left 1.6 million customers without energy.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Morocco dozens of activists linked to the Hirak protest movement that rocked northern Morocco in 2016 and 2017 had prison sentences of up to 20 years upheld by a court of appeal.
(AFP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said officials will release 360 Indian prisoners detained for fishing illegally in the country's territorial waters in the Arabian sea. The anglers will be freed in four batches starting April 15.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Russia won a dispute about "national security" at the World Trade Organization, in a ruling over a Ukrainian transit dispute because it had invoked national security. The WTO ruling, the first ever on national security, can be appealed.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, A small Russian bank owned by former US congressman Charles Taylor was stripped of its license after allegedly breaking anti-money laundering rules. Taylor, a Republican widely considered a hard-line conservative, was a congressman from North Carolina between 1991 and 2007. Taylor bought CBI in 2003 alongside his business partner Boris Bolshakov, a former KGB agent and Supreme Soviet deputy who is listed as the bank's second-largest shareholder.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Jean-Michel Cousteau of the Ocean Futures Society arrived in Russia's Far East on a mission to inspect 97 belugas and orcas and help create conditions for them to be released. Environmentalists said four animals likely died because of cramped conditions and low temperatures.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, A Serbian court sentenced four former state security members to up to 30 years in prison for the April 11, 1999, killing of Slavko Curuvija, a prominent journalist, who was a critic of then-leader Slobodan Milosevic.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, South Korean firefighters managed to extinguish most of a massive forest fire that ripped through the mountainous northern coast, destroying 135 homes and forcing more than 4,000 to flee the region that hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics. Two deaths were reported.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Marek Falenta, a fugitive businessman convicted in an eavesdropping case that led to the fall of the Polish government, was captured in Spain. He was convicted of organizing the secret recordings of top Polish politicians in 2013 and 2014, creating a scandal that contributed to the defeat in 2015 of a pro-EU government and the election of a populist right-wing party.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 5, Physicians for Human Rights said Sudan's security forces have killed at least 60 people in more than three months of street protests.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Thailand election officials said that 66 winning candidates in last month's elections face possible disqualification because of complaints filed against them.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In southern Thailand two Border Patrol Police officers were killed while praying in a mosque in the latest violence believed linked to a Muslim separatist insurgency.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Turkey's official news agency said prosecutors have launched a terror propaganda investigation into Adnan Selcuk Mizrakl, the newly-elected mayor of Turkey's predominantly Kurdish Diyarbakir province.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Turkey began the relocation of Ataturk International Airport to Istanbul Airport on the Black Sea shores. The move is expected to end tomorrow.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, It was reported that cholera is surging once more in Yemen, with more than 76,000 suspected new cases and 195 deaths in March, double the number in the previous two months.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 6, In southern California CHP Officer Steve Licon was killed by a driver as he was issuing a ticket for speeding. Michael Callahan (36) was arrested on suspicion of murder and drunken driving.
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 6, In Illinois a fire killed a 1-year-old, two 2-year-olds, a man (34) and a woman (69) at the Timberline Mobile Home Park near the village of Goodfield, about 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Chicago. A child (9) was later charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Apr 6, Ernest Hollings (b.1922), former South Carolina Democrat, died at his home in Isle of Palms. Hollings served 38 years in the US Senate and authored two books: "The Case Against Hunger: A Demand for a national Policy" (1970) and "Making Government Work" (2008 with Kirk Victor).
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.C4)
2019 Apr 6, In Afghanistan insurgents killed seven policemen and three civilians in attacks across the country.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Bangladesh Jahan Rafi (18) told her family she was lured to the roof of her rural school in the town of Feni and asked to withdraw sexual harassment charges against her Islamic school's principal by five people clad in burqas. When she refused, she said her hands were tied and she was doused in kerosene and set alight. Rafi told the story to her brother in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and he recorded her testimony on his mobile phone before she died.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 6, Bosnia's capital city made Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson an honorary citizen for a concert he performed while Sarajevo was under siege during the 1992-95 war. This came on Sarajevo Day, which marks the city's 1945 liberation during World War II and the start in 1992 of the Bosnian Serb siege that killed more than 11,000 people, including 1,600 children.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Brazil a ferry collided with a bridge pillar in Belem, Para state. Witnesses saw two cars fall into the Moju river. The accident caused the span's central roadway to plunge into the river, cutting access to one of the country's busiest ports.
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 6, In London hundreds of people rallied outside the Brunei-owned Dorchester hotel in protest at new Islamic sharia laws in the country that punish homosexuality, adultery and rape with the death penalty.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, China's Inner Mongolia region reported a case of human infection with the H7N9 bird flu virus. The same bird flu strain killed almost 300 people in the country during the winter of 2016/2017.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Congolese began engaging Burundian rebels in clashes with two armed groups in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo. Over the next 3 days 36 rebels were reportedly killed as well as three soldiers.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Denmark a 20-year-old man died and at least four people were injured in an outbreak of gunfire north of Copenhagen in what appeared to be a clash late today between criminal gangs. 14 people were arrested after raids in several areas.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 6, Estonian PM Juri Ratas unveiled a detailed plan for a three-party coalition, including the far-right EKRE-party, which could see him hold power despite his party having come second in an inconclusive election.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, In France G7 foreign ministers adopted joint commitments to better handle the world's top security challenges. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stayed at home citing domestic duties and Washington sent lower-ranking officials instead.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 6, Thousands of Berlin residents took to the streets to vent anger over surging rents and demanded the expropriation of more than 200,000 apartments sold off to big private landlords, which they blame for changing the character of the city.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In northern Greece hundreds of protesting migrants clashed with police for a third straight day, with migrants throwing rocks at officers who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Iranian state TV reported that authorities have ordered the evacuation of six more towns in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, which is widely inundated with floods. Authorities have put the number of dead at 70 people.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Iranian state media reported that three staff in the country's defense industries have been killed in an explosion in a submarine under construction in the country's south.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he would start to extend Israeli control over the West Bank if give a fourth consecutive term.
(SSFC, 4/7/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 6, Forces loyal to rival Libyan army commander Khalifa Hifter said they have seized control of the main airport in Tripoli. The airport has not been functional since fighting in 2014 destroyed much of the facility. G7 foreign ministers meeting in France warned eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar to halt his thrust on Tripoli, menacing the internationally recognized government based there, or face possible international action.
(AP, 4/6/19)(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Malaysia and Singapore reached an agreement to end their months-long airspace dispute. Under the deal, Singapore will halt instrument landing system procedures at its Seletar Airport, while Malaysia will open up a restricted area near the countries' border.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, People in the Maldives voted in a crucial parliamentary election that many hope will help President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih overcome a coalition split that has hampered his efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Malta Ivorian Lassana Cisse was killed in a fatal drive-by shooting that injured two other men from Guinea and Gambia. On May 19 Maltese soldiers Lorin Scicluna and Francesco Fenech were charged with murder and attempted murder.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 Apr 6, Philippine officials said an Indonesian hostage held by Muslim militants in southern Sulu province swam his way to freedom but another drowned, and a Malaysian was shot in the back while escaping over the last two days. At least three more hostages were still in the custody of the Abu Sayyaf.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, A coalition of Polish opposition parties launched its campaign for May's European elections by warning that the governing eurosceptic PiS party could drive the country out of the European Union.
(AFP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Spanish police said they have arrested a fugitive they described as a millionaire and the most-wanted man in Poland. Polish authorities issued a European arrest warrant for the man on April 1. He had been convicted of making illegal audio recordings in a Warsaw restaurant during 2013-14, with the aim of using the recordings for monetary gain.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to try to disperse thousands of demonstrators converged on President Omar al-Bashir's residence in Khartoum, in what appeared the largest protest for his ouster yet.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Thailand Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of a popular new political party that ran a strong third in last month's general election, was formally charged with sedition and expressed concern that he is to be tried in a military court. 13 foreign diplomats were present at a Bangkok police station where Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of a popular new political party, acknowledged charges of sedition and other crimes. Thanathorn says the charges are politically motivated.
(AP, 4/6/19)(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 6, Tunisia's Pres. Beji Caid Essebsi (92) said he did not plan to stand for re-election in the November polls, in order to make way for someone younger.
(AFP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Turkey the last commercial passenger flight took off from Istanbul's Ataturk airport and convoys of trucks ferried thousands of tons of equipment across the city to a giant new airport which Turkey plans to make the biggest in the world.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Pope Francis formally named Monsignor Michael Byrnes as Guam's archbishop following the definitive sex abuse verdict against his predecessor.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Venezuela rival political factions took to the streets across the country in a mounting struggle for control of the crisis-wracked nation.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 7, US Pres. Donald Trump announced in a tweet that US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan would be taking over as acting head of the department. This followed the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen amid President Donald Trump's growing frustration and bitterness over the number of Central American families crossing the southern border.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 7, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was named the recipient of the 2019 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 7, In Arizona three people were killed and three firefighters seriously injured when a pickup truck collided with a fire engine at an intersection in Phoenix.
(SFC, 4/9/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 7, In Australia Dutchman Wiebe Wakker completed an epic 95,000 km (59,000 mile) journey by electric car in Sydney in a bid to prove the viability of such vehicles in tackling climate change.
(AFP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Brazil thousands of supporters, many chanting "Free Lula!," protested outside the jail where former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is being held on the anniversary of his incarceration.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Britain's Jewish Labour Movement, which is affiliated to the main opposition Labour Party, passed a motion of no confidence in party leader Jeremy Corbyn over his handling of anti-Semitism complaints.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Cuba more than 400 animal-lovers peacefully marched more than a mile through Havana, shouting slogans and waving signs calling for an end to animal cruelty in their country.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Egypt a police officer and his driver were killed when unknown gunmen opened fire on a patrol in Cairo.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, A majority of Iranian parliamentarians said Iran will take reciprocal action against the United States if Washington designates the elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as terrorists.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Authorities in India's portion of disputed Kashmir began enforcing a ban on the movement of civilian vehicles on a key highway to keep it open exclusively for military and paramilitary convoys two days a week.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Eastern Libyan forces carried out an air strike on the southern part of Tripoli, escalating an operation to take the capital despite calls for a truce from the UN. At least 35 people, including civilians, have been killed on both sides over the last 4 days.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's party declared a sweeping parliamentary election victory that could give him a free hand in efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, UN and government officials said at least 847 people have been killed by Cyclone Idai, the flooding it caused and heavy rains after it hit Mozambique (602), Zimbabwe (259) and Malawi (60).
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, A presidential aide and the police chief said Nigeria has suspended mining in the restive northwestern state of Zamfara, amid concerns that illegal miners were connected to a surge in banditry.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, In northern Nigeria 14 people were killed in Katsina state in clashes between cattle thieves and a civilian militia armed by the government to support the security forces.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Pakistan a vehicle tumbled off a mountainous road into a river, killing seven people.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Dozens of neglected animals were evacuated from a ramshackle Gaza zoo in the fourth and largest such rescue mission in the blockaded Palestinian enclave. Vets and volunteers from Four Paws International transported some 40 animals into Israel from the neglected zoo in the southern town of Rafah.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, The lawyer for Vladimir Barsukov, an imprisoned Russian organized crime figure, says the man has been charged in the 1998 assassination of reformist lawmaker Galina Starovoitova. Barsukov has been behind bars since 2007 and is serving sentences for murder, extortion, fraud and money laundering.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Rwandan President Paul Kagame began a week of solemn ceremonies to commemorate the lives of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus murdered during the Rwandan genocide, a three-month-killing spree that began 25 years ago.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Saudi media reported that four attackers targeted a security checkpoint with guns and explosives in eastern Saudi Arabia as they tried to flee the country, leading to the death of two and the arrest of two others.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Sudanese police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters who rallied outside the army headquarters for a second day urging the military to back them in demanding President Omar al-Bashir resign. Security forces killed at least five protesters over the weekend.
(AFP, 4/7/19)(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Sudan suffered a total power blackout.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Syrian government forces and insurgents exchanged a barrage of rockets in the country's northwest that killed at least 8 people in Idlib province and another 5 after a government-run hospital was hit in Hama province.
(AP, 4/7/19)(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 7, Ugandan authorities said that Kimberley Sue Endecott (35) and her driver, Jean Paul, had been rescued unharmed after being seized by gunmen in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Undisclosed sources later said that a ransom of $30,000 had been paid.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 7, Yemeni medical officials said a big explosion at a warehouse in Sanaa killed at least seven children in nearby schools.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 8, President Donald Trump announced that the US is designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a "foreign terrorist organization," in an effort to increase pressure on the country that could have significant diplomatic implications in the Middle East.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, A US federal judge in San Francisco said he would halt the administration's practice of sending migrants back to Mexico while their cases were being considered.
(SFC, 4/9/19, p.A1)
2019 Apr 8, Cho Yang-ho (70), Korean Air's chairman, died of an illness in Los Angeles. His leadership included scandals such as his daughter's infamous incident of "nut rage". He had been indicted on multiple charges, including embezzlement and tax evasion.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Earth's glaciers are melting much faster than scientists thought. A new study shows they are losing 369 billion tons of snow and ice each year, more than half of that in North America.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Afghanistan a roadside bombing of an American convoy near the Bagram Airfield killed three US soldiers.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Afghanistan at least six coal miners were killed when an explosion in a coal mine caused two separate tunnels to collapse in northern Samangan province.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 8, Algeria's army chief said he expects to see members of the ruling elite prosecuted for corruption and will support a transition toward elections after mass protests ousted the long-serving president.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 8, Australian police arrested 38 animal rights activists after they blocked peak hour traffic in Melbourne in protests to mark the first anniversary of a film, Dominion, about factory farming.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, London introduced one of the world's toughest vehicle emissions standards, placing a tax on older, more polluting cars that drive into the center of the British capital.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Bulgarian border police seized nearly 1,500 kg of cannabis discovered hidden inside a truck at a checkpoint on the Serbian border.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, French PM Edouard Philippe argued that the government must implement bold tax cuts in response to the "yellow vest" protests, as he revealed the results of a major public consultation on the crisis.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, A Greek marine conservation group said the Aegean Sea has seen a "very unusual" spike in dolphin deaths over the past few weeks, adding that the rise could be linked to massive Turkish naval exercises in the area.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Iran's state-run TV said that Washington's decision to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization contradicted international law and was illegal.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, An Israeli court sentenced French citizen Romain Franck to seven years' imprisonment under a plea bargain in which he confessed to using a diplomatic car to help Palestinian gun smugglers.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Italy Euroskeptic populist parties formed a new and expanded right-wing alliance that aims to become the strongest faction in the European Parliament and seeks to radically transform European Union policies on migration, security, family and environment. Italy's hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-migrant League party was joined by representatives of populist parties from Germany, Finland and Denmark.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Japan Nissan's shareholders ousted the automaker's former chairman Carlos Ghosn from its board, seeking to shut the door on an era capped by scandal.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Jordan's parliament amended marriage laws to allow judges in "exceptional" cases to permit minors to wed from the age of 16, up from a previous minimum of 15.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Kosovo's Pres. Hashim Thaci ordered four Serb-dominated communities to hold new municipal elections on May 19. Four mayors from the Serb-dominated northern municipalities in Kosovo resigned in November to protest the Kosovo government's 100% tariff on goods imported from Serbia.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Laos police detained three American volunteers for Vision Beyond Borders, a US-based Christian evangelical organization. The three carried Gospel tracts and MP3 players with Scripture and other Christian material to share with villagers in the northwestern province of Luang Namtha. They were freed and deported into Thailand April 18.
(AP, 4/13/19)(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Libya a warplane attacked Tripoli's only functioning airport as eastern forces advancing on the capital disregarded international appeals for a truce in the latest of a cycle of warfare since Muammar Gaddafi's fall in 2011. At least 41 people, including civilians, had been killed since April 4. This included two doctors who died treating civilians amid fighting between armed groups in Tripoli.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Malaysian police said that 41 Muslim Rohingya men and boys have been detained in the northernmost state of Perlis, the second group to land in the country in just over a month, and that some 200 others are still believed to be at sea.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Nigeria eight people were killed early today in the southeastern state of Rivers when armed men attacked the village of Emohua in the Ogoni region.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 8, Teachers in Poland went on an indefinite nationwide strike to demand higher pay, after days of talks with the government failed to meet the demands of a majority of teachers' unions.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu (89) was officially charged with crimes against humanity by the country's top prosecutor as he finalized an inquiry into the chaotic and bloody anti-Communist revolution of 1989.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks focusing on the situation in Syria, the sale of advanced Russian missiles to Turkey and other economic deals.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Russian officials said they will work towards freeing all orca and beluga whales from a notorious facility in the east of the country, after a visit by US-based marine mammal advocates.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, A Russian court ordered the release from house arrest of renowned film and theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov (49) who is on trial on embezzlement charges.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, A South African court ruled that Michael Chang (63), a Mozambican ex-finance minister held since December on a US arrest warrant, can be extradited to either the United States or his home country. Ultimately the South African government is likely to decide where he goes.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Sudanese security forces attempted to break up an anti-government sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum, setting off clashes in which a soldier was killed while trying to protect protesters. Another man died reportedly elsewhere in Khartoum after being beaten and tortured by security forces. Six people were reported killed in Khartoum during protests over the weekend.
(AP, 4/8/19)(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, The UAE said it and Saudi Arabia, which head an Arab coalition fighting Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen, will provide $200 million in aid to Yemen for use during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The aid is part of a $500 million joint food aid program announced last November.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 9, President Donald Trump said he'll put tariffs on $11 billion worth European Union cheese, wine and other goods to retaliate for what Washington says are improper subsidies to Airbus.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, US federal authorities said they have broken up a $1.2 billion Medicare scam that peddled unneeded orthopedic braces to hundreds of thousands of seniors via foreign call centers.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 9, The International Monetary Fund warned that global economic growth was slowing more than expected and that a sharp downturn could require world leaders to coordinate stimulus measures.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Charles Van Doren (93), the academic who accepted answers to beat competitors on NBS's "Twenty-One" game show in 1956-1957, died in Connecticut. His books included "The Idea of Progress" (1967) and "A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future" (1991).
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.C5)
2019 Apr 9, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto signed legislation restricting military-style assault weapons and banning most uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, defying the state's prohibition on municipal gun regulation.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 9, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that bank plans to raise its minimum wage to $20 an hour from $15 over the next two years.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.D1)
2019 Apr 9, Afghan officials said the Taliban have stormed army checkpoints in southern Kandahar province near the Pakistani border overnight, killing 20 troops.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Algeria thousands of protesters rejected Abdelkader Bensalah, the upper house chairman and parliament's choice as interim president, after the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, demanding immediate steps to remove the old guard and introduce sweeping democratic reforms.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Brussels Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promised his European Union hosts, at the annual EU-China leaders meeting, that Beijing will no longer force foreign companies to share sensitive know-how when operating in China and was ready to address industrial subsidies.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Brazil flash floods caused by overnight torrential rain killed at least three people in Rio de Janeiro.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In eastern Congo DRC a boat sunk on a river. Sixteen survivors were found near the spot and 37 bodies were later recovered near the village of Kata lama. The vessel had capsized with nearly 130 people on board.
(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 9, Four Egyptian policemen and three civilians, including a child, were killed in a suicide bombing in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia violated the rights of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by placing him under house arrest in 2014 and imposing other restrictive measures on him.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Frenchman Serge Dieujuste (44), who received compensation over a 1995 terror attack in Paris, was sent to jail after pretending he was at the scene of the November 2015 assault on the city by Islamic State gunmen. Around 15 people have been found guilty of fraud for trying to claim compensation from the compensation fund set up to help people who suffered physical or psychological injuries in the attacks.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 9, German prosecutors searched over a dozen offices and homes across the country as part of their investigation into a massive tax fraud going back more than a decade. About 170 officers raided 19 premises in four German states.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 9, The Catholic Church in Guam said it does not agree that its parishes and schools should be sold to settle more than 200 clergy sexual abuse claims.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 9, A Japanese F-35A fighter jet with one pilot disappeared from radar during a flight exercise in northern Japan.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Haiti's President Jovenel Moise confirmed Jean-Michel Lapin as the country's new prime minister. Lapin, the former culture and communications minister, was named acting prime minister on March 21, three days after the Chamber of Deputies voted to censure the government of former prime minister Jean-Henry Ceant.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, A Hong Kong court found nine leaders of the 2014 nonviolent "Occupy Central" campaign guilty on public nuisance and other charges.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, It was reported that a group of Hungarian business leaders and politicians close to PM Viktor Orban have founded an international news agency in London whose coverage will focus on central and eastern Europe. The new company, called V4NA, was registered in London by Hungary's ambassador to the UK, Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky, on Dec. 31, 2018. Last month, Arpad Habony, Orban's main spin doctor and eminence grise, acquired a 40 percent stake in V4NA via his London political advisory firm, Danube Business Consulting Ltd. Subsequently, New Wave Media Group, owned by KESMA, a foundation that controls most of Hungary's pro-government media, acquired a 57 percent stake from Szalay-Bobrovniczky.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In India at least seven people including a state legislator for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were killed in two separate attacks, days before India begins a general election.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Israelis voted in a high-stakes election that will decide whether to extend PM Benjamin Netanyahu's long right-wing tenure despite corruption allegations or to replace him with an ex-military chief new to politics. The elections committee banned hidden cameras at polling stations following an Arab party's complaints that it observed PM Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party deploying staffers who attempted to secretly surveil predominantly-Arab polling stations. A final tally showed Netanyahu's conservative Likud party capturing 36 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, edging past Blue and White, which got 35 seats.
(AFP, 4/9/19)(AP, 4/9/19)(Reuters, 4/10/19)(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 9, Kazakhstan's interim president ordered an early presidential election to be held on June 9.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Libya casualties from the battle for Tripoli mounted while Islamic State killed three people in a desert town, illustrating how jihadists may exploit renewed chaos. Medical facilities reported 47 people killed and 181 wounded in recent days as eastern forces seek to take Tripoli from an internationally-recognized government.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In western Myanmar three people were killed and seven civilians abducted in an attack on a police installation late today. Authorities blamed the attack on the Arakan Army rebel group.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 9, Nigerian media reported that 20 people had been massacred in the region of Kajuru, in Kaduna state, in fighting between crop farmers and nomadic herders.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, A Pakistani anti-graft tribunal indicted opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif on charges he misused his authority to benefit his family's factory while he was chief minister in the eastern Punjab province. His son Hamza Shahbaz was also indicted.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Russia's President Vladimir Putin put forward an ambitious program to secure the country's foothold in the Arctic, including efforts to build new ports and other infrastructure facilities and expand an icebreaker fleet.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, A bond sale by energy giant Saudi Aramco that aims to help diversify the Saudi economy attracted record demand of over $100 billion from investors.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez called on all political forces in the country to back a new national cybersecurity fight against "attempts to hack democracy and undermine citizens' trust in the political system".
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Sri Lanka a top secret memo from the chief of national intelligence warned the country's police chief that Zahran Hashmi and associates of the National Towheed Jamaat were planning to carry out a suicide terrorist attack.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A3)
2019 Apr 9, In Sudan several thousand protesters continued for a fourth day a sit-in outside the compound in central Khartoum housing the defense ministry, Bashir's residence and the country's security headquarters. Clashes between security forces and protesters killed at least 11 people including six security forces. Activists said at least 14 people were killed. Sudan's police ordered its forces to avoid intervening against protesters.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)(AFP, 4/9/19)(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Syria Islamic militants, disguised as farmers and wearing suicide belts, attacked a military post belonging to government forces in the country's northwest, setting off clashes that killed three soldiers. In the northeast a suicide bomber was killed after attempting to use a vehicle rigged with explosives to target a patrol convoy for the US-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State group. A bomb attack in Raqqa killed eight people, including four members of the US-backed SDF.
(AP, 4/9/19)(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) said it will demand a new vote in Istanbul, after its bid was rejected for a citywide recount of March 31 election results that appeared to hand the party defeat.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Uganda said some suspects had been arrested in connection with the April 2 kidnap of an American tourist and her tour guide in a national park.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, The UN Security Council told the Central African Republic that it must make progress in reintegrating rebels into the security forces as a condition to review an arms embargo. The UN arms embargo was imposed in 2013 when the country descended into bloodletting.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Zimbabwe updated its death toll from Cyclone Idai to 344 while Mozambique said recorded fatalities stood at 602, taking the combined tally to 946.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Pres. Donald Trump signed two executive orders that will accelerate the approval of energy infrastructure projects, while making it harder for states to scuttle pipelines and other energy projects based on concerns about their environmental impact on water quality.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, In the SF Bay Area federal prosecutors charged Michael Albert Quinn (48), a former insurance claims investigator at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, with fraud after he allegedly embezzled more than $7 million from the health care giant over more than a decade.
(SFC, 4/11/19, p.C1)
2019 Apr 10, Kentucky law enforcement officials said they are helping to pioneer new crime fighting technology, the ANDA Rapid DNA system, that will them to more quickly identify sexual assault offenders and clear those falsely accused.
(SFC, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, In Louisiana Holden Matthews (21), the son of a white sheriff's deputy, was arrested on suspicion of destroying three black churches in and around Opelousas. He faced federal hate crime charges. On Feb. 10, 2020, Matthews pleaded guilty.
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.A10)(SFC, 6/13/19, p.A6)(SFC, 2/11/20, p.A5)
2019 Apr 10, Earl Thomas Conley (b.1941), popular country singer of the 1980s, died in Nashville. His 24 Top 10 country singles in the 1980s included "Holding Her and Loving You" and "Don't Make It Easy for Me".
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.C10)
2019 Apr 10, Astronomers unveiled visual evidence of a massive black hole in the Messier 87 galaxy, 55 million light-years from Earth. The black hole was said to be about 7 billion times more massive that the sun.
(SFC, 4/11/19, p.A8)
2019 Apr 10, In Albania security at the Mother Theresa Airport was under scrutiny after a Hollywood-style robbery on its runway that left gunman Admir Murataj dead while his accomplices fled with millions of euros. Armed men stole cash destined for a bank in Vienna on an Austrian Airlines flight.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Algeria's army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah backed Abdelkader Bensalah, the country's newly appointed interim leader. Salah said the judicial system would pursue corruption cases and resurrect those that had been dropped.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Britain's PM Theresa May said she was asking EU leaders to delay the Brexit deadline to June 30 so she could get approval from parliament for her deal and ensure Britain leaves the European Union in an orderly way.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, British PM Theresa May expressed regret for a massacre by British troops in India in 1919 but stopped short of a full apology. The April 13, 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in which British troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters, remains an enduring scar from British colonial rule in India.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, WikiLeaks said its founder Julian Assange has been the subject of a sophisticated spying operation in the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he has been holed up since 2012.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, In central China a train carrying aluminum ore derailed in Henan province, killing at least four people.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, Egyptian security officials said two separate explosive attacks overnight killed four policemen, a day after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed four policemen and three civilians.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, The European Union agreed to delay Brexit by up to six months to Oct. 31 while PM Theresa May seeks an agreement with Labour that she hopes will help get her three-times rejected exit deal approved by parliament.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, Iranian authorities ordered tens of thousands of residents of the southwestern city of Ahvaz to evacuate immediately as floodwaters entered the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, It was reported that Iraq has offered the US-led coalition to put hundreds of accused foreign jihadists on trial in Baghdad in exchange for millions of dollars. One source said Iraq had proposed a rate of $2 million per suspect per year, calculated based on the estimated operational costs of a detainee in US-run Guantanamo.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Japan partially lifted an evacuation order in one of the two hometowns of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant for the first time since the 2011 disaster. The action allows people to return to about 40 percent of Okuma.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Japan grounded its F-35A fighter jets, built by US-based Lockheed Martin, following the crash of a Japanese F-35 in the Pacific Ocean a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, The battle for Libya's capital intensified as the UN Security Council prepared to meet to discuss the crisis gripping the North African country, where armed rivals are locked in a deadly power struggle.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, New Zealand's Parliament passed sweeping gun laws that outlaw military style weapons. The bill needs only the approval of New Zealand's governor general, a formality, before becoming law on April 12.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, A Peruvian judge ordered the 10-day detention of former President Pedro Pablo Kucyznksi as part of a money laundering probe into his consulting work for the company at the heart of Latin America's biggest graft scandal.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, The Philippine government imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Libya because of fighting between rival militias for control of the North African nation's capital.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, In Sudan protests continued for a 5th day as several thousand protesters danced, sang and chanted slogans calling on President Omar al-Bashir to step down.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, In Thailand a fire broke out at one of Bangkok's biggest mall complexes, killing at least two people and injuring more than a dozen.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Turkey's Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) ordered that individuals sacked by an emergency decree during purges after a 2016 failed coup could not take up their posts despite being elected. Five districts and towns in the Kurdish-majority southeast were affected.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, Amnesty International said Ahmed Mansoor, a prominent activist in the United Arab Emirates, has been on hunger strike for over three weeks to protest his prison conditions and 10-year conviction. Mansoor was the recipient of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, In Yemen the Saudi-led coalition carried out air strikes early today against two Houthi targets in Sanaa. No casualties were reported.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 11, US Pres. Donald Trump and visiting South Korean Pres. Moon Jae-in met and agreed on the importance of nuclear talks with North Korea.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Arizona a man (30) killed his wife and two young daughters at his home in Phoenix and then went to an apartment complex where he killed a man (46) he believed was romantically involved with his wife. Police arrested the suspect as he drove away from the complex where another man and woman were wounded.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 11, In the US heavy snow and strong winds hit Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota and began moving into the Great Lakes region a day after pummeling Colorado.
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 11, Facebook blocked the page of former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in what the firebrand leader is lambasting as part of a "brutal persecution." Correa had been posting information online about an offshore bank account allegedly used by the brother of Ecuador's current president, Lenin Moreno, to stash millions. Facebook prohibits users from sharing private personal information like financial records that may "compromise the identity of people using our platform".
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, It was reported that Chevron Corp will put a focus on human rights in Myanmar under an agreement with an investor group that had urged it to pay more attention to violence in the Asian nation where the US oil company has operations.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Afghanistan a Taliban attack on a security outpost early today set off an hours-long gunbattle that killed seven policemen in central Ghazni province. In northern Samangan province the Taliban arrested 60 truck drivers for failing to pay a tax on trucks passing through Taliban-controlled territory. At least 15 policemen surrendered to the Taliban in the northwestern province of Badghis.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Australia's PM Scott Morrison called a May 18 election that will be fought on issues including climate change, asylum seekers and economic management.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Australia Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush won his defamation case against a Sydney newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behavior toward an actress.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, British PM Theresa May defended her decision to delay Brexit and seek a compromise exit plan with the opposition Labour Party as one angry lawmaker from her own party stood up in parliament on Thursday and asked her to resign.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, British police dragged Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorean embassy after his seven-year asylum was revoked, paving the way for his extradition to the United States for one of the biggest ever leaks of classified information.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In northern Bulgaria protests against the Roma community took place in the city of Gabrovo, sparked by an alleged attack by Roma men on a shopkeeper. Roma, or Gypsies, make up around 5-9% of Bulgaria's population of 7 million and are among the most disadvantaged groups in the country.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, Congo's health ministry reported 1,206 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola, including 764 deaths. Health ministry statistics showed 40 new cases over two days this week. 75% of new Ebola cases have no obvious link to previous patients, meaning that officials have lost track of where the virus is spreading.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, Croatia hosted a summit between China and 16 regional countries — the 8th so far — that focuses on expanding business and other links between China and the region.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Ecuador arrested Ola Bini (36), an ace Swedish programmer who was an early, ardent supporter of WikiLeaks, as he prepared to board a flight to Japan. Prosecutors alleged a plot to blackmail the country's president over his abandonment of Julian Assange.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 11, Egypt said its police forces have killed 11 militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula, after several attacks in the last two days killed eight policemen and three civilians in the restive area.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Ethiopian authorities arrested 59 government officials on suspicion of corruption and economic sabotage.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, The government of Gabon announced a nationwide suspension of classes after high school students protested over plans to cut university grants.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, A German court found a 26-year-old man and his 23-year-old wife guilty of murder for killing his parents and then bricking the bodies behind a wall in Dec. 2017. Both were sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, A team of Greek and Spanish doctors announced the birth of a baby using DNA from three people after a controversial fertility treatment that has provoked intense ethical debate. A similar DNA-switching technique was used in Mexico in 2016 to avoid transmission of a mother's hereditary illness to her child.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In India at least 4 people were killed on the first day of polling in general elections, which are seen as a referendum on PM Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The mammoth vote ends May 19, and counting will he held on May 23.
(AP, 4/11/19)(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, Indonesia's Election Commission said it is sending officials to investigate after videos circulated online of thousands of ballots for next week's polls scattered throughout a warehouse in neighboring Malaysia.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu sought to form a right-wing governing coalition after securing victory in a high-stakes Israeli election despite a strong challenge from a centrist alliance.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, An Israeli spacecraft crashed into the moon just moments before touchdown, failing in an ambitious attempt to make history as the first privately funded lunar landing. It had been hoped that the small robotic spacecraft, built by the nonprofit SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, would match a feat that has been achieved only by US, Russia and China.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Japan a Catholic Bishops' Conference in Tokyo said it has established a committee in each diocese to investigate allegations of sexual abuse against minors by its priests.
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 11, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador named army Gen. Luis Rodríguez Bucio to command the country's newly formed National Guard.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, New Zealand's governor general formally signed into effect sweeping gun laws outlawing military style weapons.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Police in North Macedonia said they have detained five men, including two Chinese citizens and a customs official, on suspicion of smuggling a critically endangered species of eel.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Philippine troops killed 12 Abu Sayyaf militants in clashes as they pressed an offensive in a southern province where the extremists have been blamed for the deadly bombing of a Roman Catholic cathedral.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, A Russian court released Alexei Kordichev from pre-trial detention and put him under house arrest. The former chairman of Vostochny bank, which is co-owned by Baring Vostok, was accused of fraud along with executives from the Baring Vostok private equity fund. Interfax news agency reported that he has admitted his guilt.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, A Russian court released from jail Michael Calvey, a US investor who faces charges of embezzlement, and placed him under house arrest.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, South Korea's Constitutional Court ordered the easing of the country's decades-old ban on most abortions, one of the strictest in the developed world. Abortions have been largely illegal in South Korea since 1953, though convictions for violating the restrictions are rare.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir (75), who ruled in autocratic style for 30 years, was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the armed forces, but protesters took to the streets demanding the military hand over power to civilians. Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, announced a two-year period of military rule to be followed by presidential elections. Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service announced the release of all political prisoners across the country. 13 people were shot dead at rallies and sit-ins across the country.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 11, Syrian Kurds announced a deal with Baghdad for 31,000 displaced Iraqis, mostly women and children, to return from camps in northeastern Syria to Iraq.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party said it would appeal to electoral authorities to annul elections in five districts and towns after some of its successful candidates were blocked from taking office after a March 31 local vote.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the launch of a special court to try corruption cases, part of a flurry of activity to shore up his reform credentials ahead of a presidential election run-off next week.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, The United Nations said the fighting in Libya between Haftar's forces and troops under the internationally-backed Tripoli government had killed at least 56 people and forced 8,000 to flee their homes in the city in the last week.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, A retreat at the Vatican for the leaders of South Sudan entered its second day, a month before the end of the pre-transitional period of a shaky peace deal.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 12, A US federal court settlement was announced that would allow almost 2,700 children living in Central America to safely reunite with their parents who are now living in the US under protected status.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 12, A. Samuel Patten, a Washington political consultant, was sentenced to three years of probation for illegal lobbying and skirting the ban on foreign donations to Pres. Trump's inaugural campaign.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 12, Louisiana's Diocese of Lafayette, where the first widely reported case of clergy sex abuse became public in the 1980s, released a list of 33 priests and four deacons credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor or vulnerable adult.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Boston Mark Riddell (36), a former Florida prep school administrator, admitted to secretly taking the SAT and ACT for students, or correcting their answers, as part of a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 12, In Minnesota Emmanuel Aranda of Minneapolis threw a boy (5) from a 3rd floor balcony at the Mall of America. On May 14 Aranda pleaded guilty to attempted premeditated 1st degree murder. The child survived head trauma and multiple broken bones.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 12, In Texas a transgender woman was beaten after a minor traffic accident and the attack was caught on cell phone video. On April 14 Edward Thomas (29) was arrested and suspicion of aggravated assault.
(SFC, 4/16/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 12, Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia listed on the New York Stock Exchange with shares beginning trading at $14.50 under ticker symbol JMIA. The company was founded in 2012 as Africa Internet Group and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
(http://tinyurl.com/yxuwshh9)(Econ, 8/3/19, p.52)
2019 Apr 12, In Afghanistan the Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive despite talking peace with the United States and ahead of a significant gathering of Afghans meant to discuss resolutions to the protracted war and an eventual withdrawal of American troops from the country.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Albanian prosecutors said they have seized 300,000 euros ($340,000) as well as apartments, a villa and nine vehicles owned by Admir Murataj's family. Murataj was killed April 9 in an exchange of fire with police at Albania's international airport.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Algeria hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied in Algiers for an eighth successive Friday to demand the departure of the ruling elite, as the country prepared for a presidential election in July. Police fired tear gas, water cannons and arrested 108 people.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 12, Argentina reiterated its support for Venezuela's opposition leader by issuing diplomatic credentials to a new delegate and officially announcing its withdrawal from the regional UNASUR bloc, which has been criticized over its lack of action on Venezuela.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who now heads Bosnia's multi-ethnic joint presidency, told a conference discussing war crimes during the Bosnian conflict that the Srebrenica massacre was "something that does not exist".
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Brazil at least two people were killed when two buildings collapsed in the hillside Itanhanga favela west of Rio de Janeiro following a storm that struck the Rio area three days ago. The death toll from the collapsed building soon rose to ten with 14 people listed as missing.
(AFP, 4/12/19)(AFP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Colombia a bombing damaged a section of the Trasandino pipeline. State-run company Ecopetrol soon began investigating crude spillage from the Cano Limon pipeline to determine if it was also caused by an attack.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, Estonia's intelligence agency said a Russian state-controlled television station has been portraying members of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Estonia in "a hostile and ridiculing" way.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, International Criminal Court judges rejected a request by the court's prosecutor to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan and alleged crimes by US forces linked to the conflict.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Thousands of Iranians rallied after prayers against the US's decision to designate the country's powerful Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Israeli troops killed Palestinian teenager Maisara Shalouf (15) during protests along the frontier.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 12, It was reported that Venice's population has declined rapidly from roughly 175,000 after World War Two to about 50,000 today. Remaining residents complain that their city is being overrun by tourists while they have to pick up the bill for cleaning and security. Squatters were taking over unoccupied buildings in Venice in defiance of what they say are high rents forcing families out of the city as tourism takes over.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, A Tokyo court approved the detention of Nissan's former Chairman Carlos Ghosn through April 22, allowing prosecutors to interrogate him daily on fresh allegations of financial misconduct.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Suspected Al-Shabaab jihadis in northeastern Kenya kidnapped a Cuban general practitioner and a surgeon in Mandera and whisked them to Somalia. One of two police officers escorting the doctors to work was shot dead by the attackers, who later demanded $1.5 million (1.35 million euros) for their release.
(AFP, 4/12/19)(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 Apr 12, Eastern Libyan forces bogged down in street battles in a push to seize the capital Tripoli deployed warplanes to hit two government positions as more civilians fled fighting.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is open to a third summit with Pres. Donald Trump, but set the year's end as a deadline for Washington to offer mutually acceptable terms for an agreement to salvage the high-stakes nuclear diplomacy.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, Malaysia's government said it has decided to resume a China-backed rail link project, after the Chinese contractor agreed to cut the construction cost by one-third.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Mexico business and political leaders from the US and Mexico gathered in Merida to promote greater trade at a moment when actions by both governments have rattled investors.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Some 350 migrants broke the locks on a gate at Mexico's border with Guatemala and forced their way into southern Mexico to join a larger group of migrants trying to make their way to the US.
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 12, In southwestern Pakistan a suicide bomb ripped through an outdoor market on the outskirts of Quetta, killing 20 people, half of them ethnic Hazaras, in an attack apparently aimed at minority Shi'ite Muslims. The Islamic State group soon claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, Russia's Pres. Vladimir Putin visited rocket-maker Energomash and said the government will offer more cash to develop new rockets and create more incentives for space industry workers. Putin's visit came on Cosmonauts Day, a holiday marking the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight on April 12, 1961, to become the first human in space.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Spanish police in Madrid arrested retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, Venezuela's longtime spy chief, on a US drug warrant a few weeks after he threw his support behind opponents of President Nicolas Maduro. Prosecutors in New York alleged Carvajal used his high office to coordinate the smuggling of approximately 5,600 kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, The Sudanese army said it will not extradite deposed President Omar al-Bashir but will put him on trial at home. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators thronged the streets surrounding the defense ministry compound in the capital Khartoum voicing anger at the ruling transitional military council.
(AP, 4/12/19)(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Sudan's Defense Minister Gen. Awad ibn Ouf, who was named de facto leader after overthrowing al-Bashir a day earlier, announced he was stepping down as transitional leader. He named Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan as his successor. Three more people, including a soldier, were killed at rallies and sit-ins across the country following the military overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Uzbekistan the elder daughter of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was appointed deputy head of a newly established state agency in charge of communications and media regulation.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, The World Trade Organization upheld South Korea's import ban on Japanese seafood from areas affected by the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 13, It was reported that a 2nd federal judge issued a nationwide injunction this week blocking the Dept. of Homeland Security from terminating Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, which would force tens of thousands of Haitians to return home.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 13, In Texas two children were killed and about a dozen people injured after powerful storms spawned at least one tornado in Lufkin. Over the next 24 hours the storm left at least 8 people dead and 90,000 people without power in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.A12)(SFC, 4/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 13, The twin-fuselage Stratolaunch, designed to launch rockets into space, took off on its first flight from the Mojave Air and space Port in Kern Ct., Ca. It was created by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.A12)
2019 Apr 13, It was reported that a Ukraine-based hacker group has posted online the personal information of hundreds of US federal agents and police officers apparently stolen from websites affiliated with alumni of the FBI's National Academy.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Afghanistan Taliban forces attacked the northern city of Kunduz, a day after the launch of their annual spring offensive. A local health official said more than 70 dead and wounded had been brought into the main city hospital. Attacks in 15 provinces across the country were limited in scope and had largely been contained. Seven members of the security forces were killed in an ambush in the western province of Ghor, leading to an hours-long firefight.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, In southern China the only known female member of one of the world's rarest turtle species died at a zoo in Suzhou city. The animal was one of four Yangtze giant softshell turtles known to be remaining in the world.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 13, In France "Yellow vest" demonstrators clashed with riot police in the city of Toulouse as President Emmanuel Macron prepared a series of policy announcements aimed at quelling 22 consecutive weekends of anti-government protests.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Tens of thousands of Indonesians flocked to presidential campaign rallies ahead of a final debate between President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Prabowo Subianto.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Japan a US Navy serviceman fatally stabbed a Japanese woman and then killed himself in Okinawa.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Malaysia's ruling coalition lost a state constituency in a by-election in a further sign of declining public support for PM Mahathir Mohamad's alliance.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Malta announced a deal to distribute 64 migrants rescued at sea off Libya 10 days ago among four European Union nations: Germany, France, Portugal and Luxembourg. The German-flagged aid ship carrying them, the Alan Kurdi, will still not be allowed to enter its ports and none of the migrants will remain in Malta.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Yvette Williams (89), New Zealand's first female Olympic gold medalist (1952) and holder of the world long jump record, died.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Nigeria twelve people were killed and 16 others badly injured when a fuel tanker exploded in the northern city of Gombe.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Serbia thousands of people gathered in Belgrade for a protest rally against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. Authorities deployed riot police inside the parliament, saying they wanted to prevent the opposition from storming the building.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Somali security forces shot dead a rickshaw driver and his passenger in Mogadishu and killed another four people who were protesting against the shootings.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, South African police intercepted 167 rhino horns believed to be destined for Southeast Asia, in one of the biggest such hauls ever in the country. Two suspects, aged 57 and 61, were arrested.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Sudan Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman said a civilian government would be formed after consultations with the opposition and the transition period would last for a maximum of two years, as protesters kept up pressure for rapid change. The new head of the military council also said he was cancelling a night curfew ordered by his predecessor and ordered the release of all prisoners jailed under emergency laws ordered by ousted President Omar al-Bashir.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Syria's state news reported that an Israeli airstrike on a military position in central Syria early today wounded six soldiers and destroyed several buildings.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Syrian Kurds repatriated 25 women and children from Iraq's Yazidi minority after freeing them during the final push against the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who lives in Saudi Arabia while rival Houthi forces control the capital Sanaa, made a rare visit to his country on Saturday for a meeting of the divided parliament in a loyalist southern province. In Sanaa, Houthi PM Abdelaziz Bin Habtour put forward plans for an election under Houthi auspices for the same parliament.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 14, Pete Buttigieg (37), the gay, liberal mayor of South Bend Indiana, officially launched his presidential bid, joining a crowded field of Democrats vying for their party's nomination in 2020.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Wisconsin a boy (17) was arrested after he fatally shot his grandparents in Grand Chute. The teen said he also planned to cause harm at his Neenah High School.
(SFC, 4/16/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 14, In Australia a drive-by shooting outside a popular Melbourne nightclub early today left one man dead, another critically wounded and two others injured.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, A Banco de Brasil commercial highlighting Brazil's diversity was pulled following a request by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who Bolsonaro reached out directly to the bank's president to demand the advertisement be pulled.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Cyprus the bound body of 38-year-old Mary Rose Tiburcio, from the Philippines, was found down a flooded shaft near a toxic man-made lake. The discovery triggered a homicide investigation that led to the arrest of a Cypriot military captain.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 14, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Gen. Khalifa Haftar to discuss developments in Libya. Haftar, the commander of eastern Libyan forces, is under international pressure to halt an advance on the capital Tripoli.
(Reuters, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Finns voted in a general election where anti-austerity sentiment looked set to propel the opposition Social Democratic Party back to the head of government for the first time in 16 years. The Social Democrats, led by former finance minister and union leader Antti Rinne, took 17.7% of the votes and 40 seats. The Finns Party followed with 17.5% and 39 seats and the National Coalition Party with 17% of the votes and 38 seats. The Center Party of outgoing Prime Minister Juha Sipila was fourth with 13.8% of the vote and the Green Party came in with 11.5%.
(AFP, 4/14/19)(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Germany Stuttgart-based Daimler confirmed it was facing a regulatory probe after a report said authorities have uncovered a previously unknown type of pollution trickery software allegedly installed by the car giant in some of its vehicles.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Iraq began trial proceedings for nearly 900 Iraqi suspected members of the Islamic State group caught fleeing jihadist territory in neighboring Syria.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Nepal a small plane operated by a private airline hit a parked helicopter while preparing to take off in a mountainous area near Mount Everest, killing three people including a co-pilot at Tenzing Hillary Airport at Lukla.
(Reuters, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Pakistan thousands of Sikh pilgrims from across the world concluded their celebration of the Vaisakhi harvest festival amid heightened security in the town of Hasanabdal, outside Islamabad.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Palestinian government ministers were sworn in for a second time after a lawyer noticed that the oath they took the day before had been missing a phrase.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Dmitry Bykov, a Russian poet known for his outspoken prose against Vladimir Putin, fell ill on a flight to Ufa. He had been trailed and targeted by the same poison squad that nearly killed Alexei Navalny. In 2021 an investigation by Bellingcat found what it called a “cluster" of airline and rail trips by members of Russia’ secret service force known as the FSB that coincided with the poet’s movements before he was near-fatally poisoned.
(The Daily Beast, 6/9/21)
2019 Apr 14, Several thousand Sudanese protesters continued a sit-in outside the Defense Ministry as they pressured the military to accelerate a transition towards civilian rule.
(Reuters, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, The Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) identified three employees abducted in Syria more than five years ago and last known to have been held by Islamic State: Louisa Akavi, a nurse from New Zealand, and Syrian drivers Alaa Rajab and Nabil Bakdounes.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 14, The UN health agency said more than 120 people have been killed since a Libyan military commander launched an assault on the capital 10 days ago, igniting clashes with rival militias.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Zimbabwe Pres. Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a published interview that the government will give priority to elderly white farmers when it starts compensating those who lost their properties during the controversial land reforms.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 15, President Donald Trump spoke by phone to Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar and discussed "ongoing counterterrorism efforts and the need to achieve peace and stability in Libya".
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 15, The United States officially designated Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, according to a notice published in the US Federal Register.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Jonathan Wolman (68), editor and publisher of the Detroit News since 2007, died of complications from pancreatic cancer.
(SFC, 4/18/19, p.C2)
2019 Apr 15, The African Union gave Sudan's transitional military council 15 days to hand over power to a "civilian-led political authority" or face suspension from the union's activities.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Climate change protesters brought a bridge in London to a standstill and blocked major roads in the capital, kicking off days of planned civil disobedience events in cities around the world. British police arrested 122 people over the next 24 hours after climate change protesters blocked major bridges and intersections.
(AFP, 4/15/19)(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, Canada expanded sanctions against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro, targeting an additional 43 people close to the disputed leader.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, In Congo DRC a motorized boat capsized on Lake Kivu, killing 13 people. 35 people were rescued but 114 remained missing.
(AFP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 15, A Prague art gallery unveiled a brass bust of the late Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. The bust by Czech sculptress Marie Seborova was unveiled as part of an exhibition marking the anniversary.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 15, Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno told Britain's Guardian newspaper that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange repeatedly violated his asylum conditions and tried to use the Ecuadorian embassy in London as a center for spying. Moreno denied to the Guardian that he had acted as a reprisal for the way in which documents about his family had been leaked.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Estonia's parliament rejected the leader of the center-right Reform Party, Kaja Kallas, as prime minister and President Kersti Kaljulaid was expected instead to tap Center Party head Juri Ratas to lead the Baltic country.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, European Union countries overruled France and gave the green light for Brussels to open trade talks with Washington as soon as possible and defuse trans-Atlantic tensions.
(AFP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, A leaked intelligence report published by investigative website Disclose showed that French arms including tanks and laser-guided missile systems sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are being used in the Yemeni war against civilians. The report was written by France's DRM military intelligence agency.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, In France Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral went up in flames this evening, a blaze that devastated the Parisian landmark. President Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild the gothic masterpiece.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, German prosecutors charged former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn (71) and four others with fraud and other offenses in connection with the company's massive, multi-year effort to cheat on diesel emissions testing.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, India's election commission banned Yogi Adityanath, a member of PM Narendra Modi's ruling party and a Hindu state chief minister, from campaigning for three days after anti-Muslim comments in an election that will end next month.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, In India Jet Airways pilots demonstrated in Mumbai, saying they had not received a salary in four months.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, Iran's supreme leader approved the use of special emergency funds to deal with damage from major flooding that has killed at least 76 people and injured more than 1,000 over the past several weeks.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, began removing fuel from a cooling pool at one of three reactors that melted down in the 2011 disaster, a milestone in what will be a decades-long process to decommission the facility.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, The World Health Organization said that least 147 people have been killed and 614 wounded in the offensive launched on April 4 by Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar to take the capital Tripoli.
(AFP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Malaysia's PM Mahathir Mohamad said a Chinese company building a rail link across the Southeast Asian nation will jointly help to manage and operate the network, part of revised deal that will get the stalled project off the ground at a lower cost and ease strained relations.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, In Malaysia two Vietnamese men, aged 25 and 29, were arrested by a wildlife enforcement team in a national park in eastern Terengganu state. Authorities seized body parts from tigers and bears from the suspected poachers.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, Myanmar police arrested four members of the Peacock Generation "thangyat" troupe after they broadcasted a live show on Facebook during traditional New Year celebrations. Thangyat is a centuries-old tradition of performance that often lampoons ruling powers and social foibles.
(Reuters, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 15, Ties van der Meer of the Dutch Donor Child Foundation said that three more people contacted him over the weekend because they suspect they may also have been conceived using the sperm of Dr. Jan Karbaat (d.2017), who had used his own sperm to father 49 children, without telling their mothers.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, A nationwide strike of Poland's teachers entered its second week with the government saying it has no more funds to meet their pay demands after offering generous benefits to various other groups.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Saudi Aramco said it has reached an agreement to acquire a $1.25 billion stake in South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank that would provide Saudi Arabia's state-run oil company with a dedicated outlet for its crude to South Korea.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Slovakia's PM Peter Pellegrini said his country will boost defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2022, achieving the NATO goal two years faster than planned.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Turkish authorities detained two people on suspicion of spying for the United Arab Emirates. The two reportedly confessed during their interrogation that they had been spying on Arab dissidents based in Turkey on behalf of the UAE. One of the two men arrived in Turkey in October 2018, days after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul.
(AP, 4/19/19)(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 16, President Donald Trump vetoed a Congressional resolution directing him to end support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 16, In the SF Bay Area the governing board of the Cow Palace in Daly City voted not hold gun shows after 2019, when a contract with the exhibitor Crossroads of the West expires.
(SFC, 4/17/19, p.C1)
2019 Apr 16, In Algeria thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Algiers and in cities across the country calling for political change in the eighth week of mass protests. Tayeb Belaiz, the controversial head of the country's constitutional council, quit bowing to weeks of anger from protesters.
(AP, 4/16/19)(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, A Bahraini court sentenced 69 people to life in prison and revoked the citizenship of 138 defendants on terrorism-related charges. All appeared to be Shiite Bahrainis and 60 were tried in absentia in one of the largest mass trials ever held in the country.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In Congo DRC eight government soldiers were killed in North Kivu province by assailants who appeared to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group with origins in Uganda.
(SFC, 4/20/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 16, Egypt's 596-member parliament stacked with supporters of Pres. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi voted on amendments allowing the president to extend his current term by two years and stand for another six-year mandate.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, An Egyptian court sentenced 36 people convicted of joining the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization to five years in prison. They were arrested in Alexandria in 2017 and were also sentenced to five years of probation.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Pledges from French billionaires, businesses and the public sector to help rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral reached nearly 700 million euros (790 million dollars) amid an outpouring of public support for one of Europe's most iconic monuments.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Speaking at the EU Parliament in Strasburg, France, Swedish teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg said time is running out to halt climate change and urged European politicians "to panic".
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Germany officially switched on the biggest offshore wind park in the Baltic Sea, which will supply some 400,000 households with electricity. Last year more than 40% of Germany's electricity was generated using renewable sources.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In Germany pro-euthanasia doctors and patients petitioned the Constitutional Court to overturn 2015 legislation that outlaws commercial assisted suicide. Germany does allow assisted dying - but not when money is involved.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, India's Supreme Court agreed to consider a petition from a Muslim couple to allow women into mosques, seeking to overturn a centuries-old practice that largely bars women from the places of worship.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Indian airline Jet Airways' stock fell sharply after its former chairman reportedly withdrew plans to bid for a controlling stake in the company and news media said its flight operations might be temporarily halted. Naresh Goyal had founded Jet Airways in 1992. Etihad Aviation Group purchased a 24% stake in Jet Airways in 2013.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In central and western India a powerful storm bringing dust, lightning and unseasonal rain has killed at least 47 people in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan states.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 16, Indonesia's Election Supervision Agency said about 320,000 overseas voters in neighboring Malaysia's biggest city should vote again in presidential and legislative elections after finding evidence that postal ballots had been tampered with.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Iran's lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill labeling US forces in the Middle East as terrorist.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In Libya dozens of "yellow vest" protesters rallied in Tripoli to denounce what they said was France's support for military strongman Khalifa Haftar who has launched an offensive on the capital.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In Libya rocket fire on the south Tripoli neighborhoods of Abu Salim and Al-Antisar late today killed six people including three women. At least 189 people have been killed, 816 wounded and more than 18,000 displaced since Haftar ordered his forces on April 4 to march on Tripoli.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 16, North Macedonia's health authorities declared a nationwide measles epidemic in the small Balkan country after more than 960 cases were registered since the beginning of this year.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout in the northwestern city of Peshawar, triggering an 18-hour shootout in which a police officer and all five suspected militants at the site were killed.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Philippine police arrested four women they said were wives of Abu Sayyaf commanders who took care of their financial transactions, helped procure guns and bomb parts and arranged the travels of foreign militants to the country.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Portugal declared an emergency crisis late today, ordering drivers to get back on the road immediately to ensure supplies to essential services. PM Antonio Costa's government ordered striking fuel-tanker drivers to supply essential services such as hospitals and airports, and to provide a minimum amount to fuel stations, but the decree did not seem to be fully heeded.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 16, Qatar called for a blocking of foreign arms supplies to eastern Libyan forces commander Khalifa Haftar, whose push to seize the capital Tripoli is causing rifts around the Gulf and Europe. Recent clashes between rival Libyan militias for control of the capital Tripoli have displaced more than 18,000 people.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, A Moscow court convicted a retired Norwegian border guard on spying charges and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. Frode Berg (63) was detained in Moscow in 2017 following a sting operation by Russia's FSB security service.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Syria and Iran said the United States is waging "economic terrorism" against countries that have different opinions and should pursue its aims through diplomacy instead.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party submitted its promised appeal for the annulment and rerun of Istanbul's municipal elections, over what it said were irregularities that marred the March 31 vote.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Ukrainian media called on comedian Volodymyr Zelensky (41) to answer their questions ahead of a weekend presidential election he is expected to win despite minimum engagement with mainstream outlets.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, The Red Cross confirmed that the first shipment of humanitarian aid from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has arrived in Venezuela.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 17, The Trump administration opened the door for lawsuits against foreign firms operating on properties Cuba seized from Americans after the 1959 revolution.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Marc Lamparello (37) of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey was arrested after entering St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters. A Manhattan judge later found Lamparello mentally unfit for trial. On April 17, 2020, Lamparello died by suicide. He had been released from a secure psychiatric hospital in March because of the spread of the coronavirus.
(AP, 4/18/19)(AP, 4/23/20)
2019 Apr 17, Time magazine released its 100 most influential people issue. The issue is comprised of short tributes to its honorees that are written by fellow global leaders throughout all industries.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, The UN said around a third of all conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan say they have suffered from torture or ill-treatment. The US-backed Afghan government is holding thousands of detainees, many of them captured as part of the ongoing war with the Taliban.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Hundreds of Algerians rallied outside the offices of the country's biggest union, calling for its chief to quit over his ties to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Abdelmadjid Sidi Said has been secretary-general of the powerful General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) since 1997.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Belgium confectioner Godiva, privately owned by Turkish Yildiz Holding AS, opened its first café in Manhattan. The company is rolling out 2,000 cafes over the next six years that will serve a complete menu of items like the croiffle, a croissant and waffle hybrid that's stuffed with fillings like cheese or chocolate and pressed on a waffle iron.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Bosnian police arrested nine Bosnians on suspicion of being part of a gang that smuggled 140 migrants from Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Iran into the EU.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, In Canada celebrated Austrian climber David Lama (28), fellow Austrian Hansjörg Auer (35) and American climber Jess Roskelley went missing in Alberta's Banff National Park. Apparel company The North Face later said the three members of its Global Athlete Team were presumed dead following an avalanche.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 17, Chinese President Xi Jinping offered praise for what he called the achievements of the southwestern city of Chongqing, one of the country's most important cities, hit by two major graft scandals in recent years.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Czech police said that PM Andrej Babis and others should stand trial for alleged fraud involving the handling of a 2 million euro European Union subsidy - charges that could see him jailed for up to 10 years. Babis said the case was part of a political plot against him.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Egyptian authorities scheduled three days of voting in a nationwide referendum starting April 20 on proposed changes to the constitution that could see President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi remain in power until 2030.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Estonia's Center party leader Juri Ratas secured parliament's support to continue as prime minister and form a new government that will bring a far-right party into the cabinet for the first time.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, The European Union and Canada said they are joining forces to protect their companies after the US opened the door for lawsuits against foreign firms operating on properties Cuba seized from Americans.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, In India Mukesh Ambani, who heads Reliance Industries, and Uday Kotak, managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, both endorsed Milind Deora, the Congress candidate for the South Mumbai constituency.
(Reuters, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 17, India's debt-stricken Jet Airways halted all of its operations after failing to secure emergency funding from lenders, leaving it teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Indonesia held elections. Five survey organizations showed Widodo winning 54-56% of the vote, a modest improvement on his 2014 showing, as unofficial results put him in a comfortable lead over firebrand ex-general Prabowo Subianto.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi made his first visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office six months ago, meeting King Salman during the stop on a regional tour that has also seen visits to Cairo and Tehran in recent weeks.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Iraq's parliament voted unanimously to ban the popular but brutal online game Player Unknown's Battlegrounds for "inciting violence" in the war-torn country.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Investigators in Ireland confirmed that 802 children died at a church-run home for unwed mothers in the western town of Tuam between 1925 and 1961 but said some were likely buried elsewhere on the site.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Lebanon's PM Saad Hariri warned that Lebanon is heading toward an economic "catastrophe" unless the government implements strict austerity measures to reduce a ballooning budget deficit and massive national debt.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Malaysia began a public inquiry into the discovery of mass graves and suspected human trafficking camps in the jungles near its border with Thailand, which prompted a regional crisis in 2015, and accusations over obstruction of justice.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, In Myanmar more than 9,500 prisoners were ordered released under a presidential amnesty, but they did not include two Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters reporters.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a new type of "tactical guided weapon".
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 17, Peru's former president Alan Garcia (69) died in a hospital in Lima after shooting himself as police arrived at his house to arrest him in connection with a bribery probe.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Energy shortages in Portugal sharpened as a strike by fuel-tanker drivers entered its third day in the worst industrial unrest of the Socialist government's four-year rule.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, A tour bus crash on Portuguese island of Madeira killed 29 people, all from Germany. Twenty-eight others were injured.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 17, Romania's Senate approved changes to the criminal code that could shut down a number of ongoing high-level graft cases in one of the European Union's most corrupt states.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Two Saudi sisters, Maha al-Subaie (28) and Wafa al-Subaie (25), appealed for help from the former Soviet republic of Georgia after fleeing their country. They said their father and brothers have arrived in Georgia looking for them.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Serbia sought to secure a greater Russian role in European Union-mediated talks with the former province of Kosovo, which could further strain the Balkan country's relations with the West.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, In South Korea a 42-year-old man set his apartment in Jinju on fire and fatally stabbed five neighbors as they attempted to flee.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 17, Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council ordered the central bank to review financial transfers since April 1 and to seize "suspect" funds. The ruling military transferred ousted President Omar al-Bashir to a prison in the country's capital as hundreds of people marched to a sit-in outside the army headquarters in Khartoum, calling for a quick handover of power to a civilian leadership.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Terry Gou, chairman of Apple supplier Foxconn, said he will contest Taiwan's 2020 presidential election, shaking up the political landscape at a time of heightened tension between the self-ruled island and Beijing. The Foxconn chairman ranks among Taiwan's richest people.
(AP, 4/17/19)(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Turkish authorities confirmed the opposition's candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, as the mayor of Istanbul, ending more than two weeks of recounts of the March 31 vote demanded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Ukraine's security service SBU said it had captured a Russian military intelligence hit squad responsible for the attempted murder of a Ukrainian military spy in the run-up to a presidential election on April 21. Two of the group's members were said to be Russian citizens, the other six were Ukrainians.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 18, A redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report was released. President Donald Trump, backed by his attorney general, declared himself fully vindicated in the investigation into Russian election meddling and alleged collusion with his campaign. The two-volume, 448-page report recounts how Trump repeatedly sought to take control of the Russia probe. According to the 448-page report Pres. Donald Trump discouraged witnesses from cooperating with prosecutors and prodded aides to mislead the public on his behalf to hamper the Russia probe he feared would cripple his administration. Mueller reported that Trump was so agitated at the special counsel's appointment on May 17, 2017, that he slumped back in his chair and declared: "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I'm f---ed."
(AP, 4/18/19)(AFP, 4/18/19)(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18,US federal agents raided the apartment of Adrian Hong, a leader of the Free Joseon group. Hong was not arrested. Free Joseon, also known as the Cheollima Civil Defense group, styles itself as a government-in-exile dedicated to toppling the ruling Kim family dynasty in North Korea. The group is blamed for the Feb. 22 raid on the North Korean embassy in Madrid.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)(AP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 18, The United States and Russia said they could not support a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Libya at this time.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, In the southern US strong storm system left three people dead in Mississippi and one person in Alabama.
(SFC, 4/20/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 18, In Maryland Ariana Funes-Diaz (14) was beaten with a bat and stabbed with a machete by teens involved with the MS-13 gang. In May her body was found in a creek in Riverdale and three teens were charged as adults with first-degree murder.
(http://tinyurl.com/y54ak4vv)(SFC, 5/18/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 18, A federal judge in Ohio blocked part of a state law that bans the abortion method of dilation and evacuation in most cases.
(SFC, 4/20/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 18, Google said it will start giving EU smartphone users a choice of browsers and search apps on its Android operating system, in changes designed to comply with an EU antitrust ruling.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Social media giant Facebook banned various far-right British groups including the English Defence League from its network for promoting hate and violence.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Polo Ralph Lauren launched a version of its iconic polo shirt made entirely of recycled plastic bottles and dyed through a process that uses zero water. The Earth Polo went on sale, ahead of Monday's Earth Day, at RalphLauren.com and retail stores around the world.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Pinterest, a digital pin board company, debuted on the NYSE at $19 per share. Shares of Pinterest closed at $24.40. San Jose-based Zoom, a video conferencing company, also went public and shares rose 72% to close at $62.
(SFC, 4/18/19, p.D1)(SFC, 4/19/19, p.D1)
2019 Apr 18, Environmental protesters who have blocked London roads and bridges for more than three days said they plan to take their civil disobedience campaign to Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, at the start of the Easter holiday weekend.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Cambodian police sought to evict 600 villagers from land said to be occupied illegally. Villagers in Sihanoukville said most of them had been living there for two years and received no eviction notice before bulldozers arrived to demolish their homes. The next day eight protesters were arrested and six policemen were hurt when the villagers tried to block a main road.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Egypt a coalition of opposition political parties called on voters to reject proposed constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Estonia's Pres. Kersti Kaljulaid met with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks on trade and global relations, during the first such Russian visit in eight years.
(AFP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In France an appeals court in Paris raised Abdelkader Merah's sentence from 20 years to 30 after finding him guilty of complicity to murder for his involvement in the horrific March, 2012., attack in the Toulouse area that killed seven people.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, Voting in the second phase of India's general election remained largely peaceful amid massive security and a lockdown in parts of the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Sporadic violence flared in the east and the insurgency-wracked state of Jammu and Kashmir.
(AP, 4/18/19)(Reuters, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In southern Libya an armed group attacked a major air base held by eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar after he moved most of his forces north to try to seize the capital Tripoli. The eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces managed to repel the assault on the Tamanhint air base near Sabha. The WHO said the fighting between rival factions for control of Tripoli this month killed 205 people so far.
(Reuters, 4/18/19)(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's office late today said he had accepted the resignation of PM Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and his entire cabinet. A day earlier lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties submitted a motion of no confidence blaming Maiga and his administration for failing to clamp down on unrest.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Northern Ireland a journalist Lyra McKee (29) was shot and soon died during rioting late today in Londonderry. Police said the New IRA (Irish Republican Army) group, which has been responsible for several attacks in recent years, was most likely behind the killing.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, North Korea said that it had test-fired a new type of "tactical guided weapon," its first such test in nearly half a year, and demanded that Washington remove Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from nuclear negotiations.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Pakistan's finance minister Asad Umar said he will step down amid a wave of criticism over the government's handling of a financial crisis that has sent prices soaring.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Pakistan gunmen wearing police and paramilitary uniforms ambushed a bus before dawn and killed 14 people after going through their ID cards and forcing them out on a remote part of a coastal highway in southwestern Baluchistan province. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry later said a group of militants crossed the border from neighboring Iran carried out the deadly attack against Pakistan armed forces. The Baloch Raji Aajoi Saangar (BRAS) umbrella group said it targeted Pakistani navy and Coast Guard officials traveling on buses.
(AP, 4/18/19)(Reuters, 4/20/19)(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Portugal truckers ended their walkout after their employers agreed to start new talks later this month.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Officials said Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sent 95 tons of humanitarian aid to their rival Iran as it reels from deadly floods, after Tehran complained US sanctions were obstructing relief.
(AFP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In South Africa 13 people were killed in the south-eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal during an Easter service after a church wall collapsed on them late today following days of heavy rains and strong winds.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, Protesters in Sudan called for new street demonstrations to pressure the ruling military council to speed up the transition of power to a civilian government as the new rulers announced the arrests of former president Omar al-Bashir's two brothers on corruption charges.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Syria regime shelling killed 10 civilians in the jihadist-controlled Idlib region, in the latest violence to threaten a seven-month-old truce. A monitor said four women and three children were among the civilians killed. IS militants ambushed government forces in the desert of central Homs province late today, setting off clashes that lasted for two days. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 soldiers were killed, including four officers.
(AFP, 4/18/19)(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 18, A magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook eastern Taiwan this afternoon, causing scattered light damage in the capital and along the eastern coast.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Thai authorities raided a floating home in the Andaman Sea belonging to an American man and his Thai partner who sought to be pioneers in the "seasteading" movement, which promotes living in international waters to be free of any nation's laws. Thailand's navy said Chad Elwartowski and Supranee Thepdet endangered national sovereignty.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, A Ukrainian court ruled that the 2016 nationalization of Privatbank owned by tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskyi was illegal, sending shockwaves through the country's financial community. Kolomoyskyi, who now lives in Israel, is an archrival of incumbent President Poroshenko and is believed to have ties to Volomyr Zelenskiy, a comedian who has emerged as the favorite in the current presidential race.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Oxfam warned that war-torn Yemen risks a "massive resurgence" of cholera, with around 195,000 suspected cases of the disease recorded so far this year.
(AFP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Pres. Donald Trump lashed out at people who cooperated with Mueller's team. He said statements in the report made by some were "fabricated & totally untrue." He alleged that "notes" some people said they took after meetings didn't exist but were created for the Mueller investigation.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Former US Marine Christopher Ahn, suspected of involvement in a mysterious dissident group’s February raid on North Korea’s Embassy in Madrid, was arrested in Los Angeles by U.S. authorities.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, In NYC Clare Bronfman (40), heiress to the Seagram liquor fortune, pleaded guilty to her role in self-help group Nxivm, a secretive society of women sex slaves. Keith Raniere (58), the founder of NXIVM, has already been charged with sex trafficking and forced labor conspiracy and now stands alone as a defendant in a case.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, It was reported that the American Media Inc. is selling the National Enquirer and other tabloids to James Cohen, CEO of Hudson Media Inc. AMI Chairman David Pecker, a longtime friend of Donald Trump, has admitted employing catch-and-kill techniques to protect Trump from unfavorable stories.
(SFC, 4/19/19, p.D4)
2019 Apr 19, Hopes for a breakthrough in a push to end Afghanistan's grueling conflict suffered a major setback after a key summit between the Taliban and Afghan officials was indefinitely postponed. The so-called intra-Afghan dialogue, due to take place in Doha this weekend, fell apart at the last minute in a row over the large number of delegates Kabul wanted to send.
(AFP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Algeria hundreds of thousands of demonstrators returned to the streets to press demands for wholesale democratic change well beyond former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's resignation, chanting "we do what we want".
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Film star Emma Thompson joined climate change activists in central London to read poetry praising Earth's bounties, part of a series of protests which have caused transport snarl-ups in the British capital.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Bulgarian customs officials said they have seized 288 kg (635 pounds) of heroin found in an Iranian truck entering Bulgaria from Turkey. The Iranian truck driver and a Turkish citizen suspected of being the recipient of the drugs were detained.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a politburo meeting to discuss the current economic situation.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Chinese courts announced multiple-year prison sentences for more than three dozen military veterans who protested over the lack of benefits, saying the former soldiers had disrupted social order in a bid to further their own interests.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Congo DRC WHO epidemiologist Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung, was shot dead in an assault by armed Mai-Mai militiamen on Butembo University Hospital. The doctor had been deployed to help combat Ebola in the region.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, French police officers called for an urgent meeting with Interior minister Christophe Castaner after two of their colleagues killed themselves this week, taking the number of suicides in police ranks to 28 since the start of the year. 68 French officers took their own lives in 2018.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In France Greenpeace climate activists blocked thousands of employees from entering the headquarters of bank Societe Generale, state-run utility EDF and oil giant Total. Activists also obstructed the entrance to the environment ministry near La Defense business district.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, A Paris court dismissed a 2016 defamation case against six women who accused a former French lawmaker of sexual misconduct and the journalists who reported the allegations. The court ordered Denis Baupin to pay 1,000 euros ($1,120) in damages to each of the 12 people he sued.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Greek police stopped a truck with stolen license plates and found 59 undocumented migrants inside. The migrants told police they had paid 1,500 euros ($1,690) each to a trafficker in Turkey who helped them cross into Greece by boat, before boarding the truck.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, In India Priyanka Chaturvedi, a spokeswoman for India's main opposition Congress party, quit and joined a group allied with PM Narendra Modi's ruling party, complaining that misbehavior toward her by male Congress members was ignored.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Israeli forces bulldozed two apartments belonging to the father of Arafat Erfayieh in the West Bank city of Hebron. Erfaiyeh was arrested and charged in February with the killing of Ori Ansbacher (19).
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Italy serial killer nurse Fausta Bonino was sentenced to life in prison for killing four patients although police suspect she could have been responsible for as many as 10 fatalities.
(AFP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Japan a car driven by an 87-year-old man smashed into pedestrians at a Tokyo intersection, killing a woman and a girl on a bicycle and overturning a garbage truck. Eight other people were injured. The driver was taken to a hospital.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Mexico 13 people, including a child, were killed when a group of unidentified gunmen opened fire on a party in the eastern state of Veracruz.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, Montenegrin military police seized around 50 kg of drugs on board a naval training ship, hours before it was scheduled to take students on a training cruise.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Nicaragua Good Friday religious processions in Managua took on a political tone as people seized a rare opportunity to renew protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, A Peruvian judge ordered former Pres. Pablo Kuczynski be jailed for up to three years as authorities investigate his alleged involvement in the Odebrecht corruption case.
(SFC, 4/20/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 19, In the Philippines several Roman Catholic devotees were nailed to wooden crosses in a gory Good Friday ritual, and others flogged themselves or took part in religious plays to reenact Jesus Christ's suffering.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Russia nine people were hospitalized in critical condition after a fire engulfed the Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNK) petrochemical complex in the Republic of Tatarstan.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Sudan thousands of protesters demanding an end to military rule flocked to the sit-in outside the Defence Ministry in the biggest turnout in Khartoum, since last week when former Pres. Omar al-Bashir was ousted and a military council took over.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Thailand a three-day festival began in Buriram town, the latest showcase for the use of cannabis for pain relief. Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize marijuana for medical purposes last year.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, Four Turkish soldiers and 20 armed assailants were killed in clashes between the military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) near the border with Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, The UN said it had evacuated 163 refugees from war-ravaged Libya to neighboring Niger, but more than 3,000 others were still trapped in detention centers affected by clashes.
(AFP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 20, The US launched a $183 million clean-up at a former Vietnam storage site for Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant used in their bitter war which years later is still blamed for severe birth defects, cancers and disabilities.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, The FBI arrested Larry Hopkins (69), a member of an armed group of US citizens who have been stopping migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in New Mexico. Hopkins had represented himself as the commander of the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP), a volunteer group camped out near Sunland Park since late February. Hopkins was soon indicted on charges of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 20, NYC police found Savannah Rivera (20) nearly decapitated in an apartment in Brooklyn. Another woman was hospitalized in critical condition. Police soon arrested Jerry Brown (34) on charges of murder.
(SFC, 4/22/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 20, In Afghanistan a suicide blast rocked Kabul during a gun battle with security forces, killing at least seven people. Gunmen attacked the communications ministry in the center of Kabul. At least three attackers battled security forces for several hours before the attack was finally suppressed.
(AP, 4/20/19)(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, The DR Congo army fought off an attack by a Mai-Mai rebel group on the Katwa hospital near the city of Butembo, killing one militiaman.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Egyptians voted in a 3-day referendum that aims to cement the rule of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (64), the former coup leader who presents himself as a rock of stability in a turbulent region.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In France clashes broke out between dozens of demonstrators and police in Paris on the 23rd Saturday of yellow-vest protests after authorities warned that rioters could return to the French capital to spark a new wave of violence.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi led a one-day summit between Iraq and its six neighbors: Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Jordan, and Kuwait, in an effort to bridge relations and invest in Iraq.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In Iraq an American service member died in a "non-combat incident" in Ninawa Province.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Kosovo authorities announced they have brought back from Syria 110 Kosovar citizens, mostly women and children, with the assistance of the United States.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In Libya heavy clashes broke out in the southern districts of Tripoli. The UN health agency said at least 15 more people died in fighting over control of Libya's capital in the past two days, bringing the total to 220 dead including civilians.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In central Mali a UN peacekeeper was killed and four others wounded when a mine exploded as their convoy passed close to the Burkina Faso border.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Police in Northern Ireland arrested two teenagers in connection with the April 18 fatal shooting of journalist Lyra McKee during rioting in the city of Londonderry. Both teens were released the next day without being charged.
(AP, 4/20/19)(SFC, 4/22/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 20, The Saudi-led coalition launched an air raid on a cave in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, used by Huthi rebels to stockpile drones.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, South Sudan's opposition called for a six-month extension to implement next steps in a fragile peace deal as a major deadline approaches next month to form a power-sharing government between the president and his longtime rival.
(AP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 20, It was reported that Sudan's military intelligence had searched ousted Pres. Omar al-Bashir's home and found suitcases loaded with more than $351,000 and six million euros, as well as five million Sudanese pounds.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In Syria jihadists linked to a former Al-Qaeda affiliate attacked loyalist checkpoints and positions on the western edges of the northern city of Aleppo, killing 13 pro-Assad fighters. A monitor said Jihadists have killed almost 50 Syrian regime fighters in 48 hours.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, The Thai navy boarded the floating cabin of a fugitive US citizen and his Thai girlfriend, both prominent members of the "seasteading" movement who possibly face the death sentence for setting up their offshore home. Thai authorities said the structure is in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone and therefore a violation of its sovereignty.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 21, The Arab League pledged to pay $100 million a month to the Palestinian Authority to plug the gap left when Israel blocked tax transfers earlier in the year.
(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 21, Two rescuers drowned off the coast of Australia's Victoria state when their boat flipped over during an attempt to help a man who was swept into the ocean from a rock ledge.
(Reuters, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa reinstated the citizenship of 551 people convicted and stripped of their nationality amid a series of mass trials conducted during the island nation's years long crackdown on dissent.
(AP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, In China a fire erupted in a Tesla car in an underground garage in Shanghai. Tesla later said the fire was caused by the failure of a single battery module and investigators found no defects in the car's systems.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Apr 21, Georgian police used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a protest by residents of a mountainous region against the construction of a hydropower plant.
(Reuters, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, An Iraqi court sentenced four people to death by hanging for belonging to the Islamic State militant group and committing terrorist crimes in Iraq and Syria.
(AP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Macedonians vote in a presidential election. The ruling Social Democrat party's favored candidate Stevo Pendarovski garnered 42.85 percent of the votes and the opposition-backed Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova 42.24 percent. Only 41.8 percent of the state's 1.8-million registered voters cast ballots, barely passing the 40-percent threshold that will also be required to make the runoff on May 5 valid.
(Reuters, 4/21/19)(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 21, In central Mali suspected jihadists killed at least 12 soldiers in an attack on a military outpost at Guire.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Pakistani PM Imran Khan began his first official visit to Iran for talks set to focus on strengthening ties and countering terrorism.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced three billion dollars (2.7 billion euros) in financial support for Sudan following the overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, In Saudi Arabia four gunmen were killed and three security officers were wounded in an attack on a security building in Zulfi north of Riyadh. The assault was soon claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group. Saudi authorities arrested 13 "terrorist" suspects the next day.
(AP, 4/21/19)(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 21, In Sri Lanka at least 257 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in bomb blasts that rocked 3 churches and 3 luxury hotels in or near Colombo on Easter Sunday. The bombings were carried out by seven suicide bombers from a militant group named National Thowfeek Jamaath. Two bomb experts were among the suicide attackers. The government declared a curfew with immediate effect. Major social media networks and messaging apps were blocked inside the country to prevent misinformation and rumors. The dead included 39 foreigners from 9 countries. Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen lost three of his four children in the attacks. The number killed was later set at 269.
(AP, 4/21/19)(Reuters, 4/21/19)(AP, 4/22/19)(AFP, 4/22/19)(AP, 5/07/19)(Econ., 8/15/20, p.36)
2019 Apr 21, Sudan's military leader vowed the army was committed to handing power to the people, as a protesters' deadline for unveiling a rival civilian council loomed. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan pledged to respond to demonstrators' demands within a week.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Ukrainians cast ballots in a presidential runoff. Opinion surveys ahead of the election showed President Petro Poroshenko (53) trailing far behind comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy (41). Zelenskiy won 73% of the vote compared to incumbent President Petro Poroshenko's 24%. Zelenskiy, a Russian speaker from central Ukraine, vowed to step up efforts to bring the east back under Kiev's wing, but offered no details on what that entailed.
(AP, 4/21/19)(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 21, It was reported that the price of bread almost doubled for Zimbabweans last week, as the inflation nightmare that marked the rule of long-time authoritarian leader Robert Mugabe returns to haunt his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 22, The Trump administration said that it will no longer exempt any countries from US sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil, stepping up pressure on Iran. The decision means sanctions waivers for five nations, including China and India and US treaty allies Japan, South Korea and Turkey, won't be renewed when they expire on May 2. China, one of Iran's largest customers, slammed the step, calling it more evidence of US "unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction." Iran's commander of the Revolutionary Guards' navy said Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz if Tehran is barred from using it.
(AP, 4/22/19)(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 71 more cases of measles were reported last week, with 68 of them from New York, where most of the cases have been from unvaccinated people in Orthodox Jewish communities.
(SFC, 4/23/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 22, In the SF Bay Area Joel Ortiz (21) of Boston was sentenced to ten years in prison for stealing more than $7.5 million in cryptocurrency from at least 40 victims.
(SFC, 4/23/19, p.C4)
2019 Apr 22, In central Texas a small plane crashed as it approached Kerville Municipal Airport. All six aboard were killed including philanthropist Jeffrey C. Weiss (65), the co-owner and pilot of the Beechcraft BE58.
(SFC, 4/23/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 22, In Afghanistan fighting erupted in two districts of the eastern Afghan border province of Nangarhar, when Islamic State fighters attacked villages under Taliban control.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 22, In Afghanistan an explosion at a coal mine in the northern province of Samangan killed at least seven miners.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Albania police said they have arrested four suspects over the theft of some 5 million euros ($5.6 million) from a passenger plane at the country's only international airport. The cash has not been recovered.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 21, Algerian state TV said five local billionaires, some of them close to former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika who quit over mass protests, have been arrested as part of an anti-graft investigation.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, In Bolivia a bus crashed head-on with another vehicle and plunged down a deep ravine, killing at least 17 people and leaving 15 others injured in the northern town of Yolosa.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Prominent Bosnian Serb businessman Slavisa Krunic, who owns a private security firm, was shot dead late today along with his bodyguard in what local media described as a mafia-style execution that sparked a shootout. One of the attackers was killed and Krunic's driver sustained serious injuries.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 22, London police said the number of environmental campaigners arrested during eight days of direct action topped 1,000, adding that Waterloo Bridge, one of the sites blockaded by the protests, had re-opened to traffic.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand met at the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet to mark the ceremonial reopening of a rail link that will restore train service between the two countries after more than four decades.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Cypriot authorities searched a flooded mineshaft where two dead female bodies have been discovered as well as a nearby lake for further bodies. A suspect in the killings, a 35 year-old Greek Cypriot military officer, remained in custody.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Egyptians voted for a third and final day on constitutional changes that could keep President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in power until 2030.
(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that a new joint security force with Pakistan will be formed to combat militants based along the two countries' shared border.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Iraqi officials said more $64 million dollars in public funds were embezzled by Mosul officials close to the province's sacked governor in the wake of last month's ferry sinking. Governor Nawfel Akoub has since gone on the run. Just six million dollars were recovered by the government.
(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Japanese prosecutors said they have indicted Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn on fresh breach of trust charges that expand their allegations of financial misconduct outside Japan.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita appointed finance minister Boubou Cisse as prime minister, days after the government resigned following pressure to respond to the vigilante massacre of about 160 Fulani herders which shocked the nation.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, In southern Mexico a surprise raid by police and immigration agents detained 367 migrants in Chiapas state. Hundreds of other migrants scrambled away into the brush along the highway to elude authorities.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 22, In northern Myanmar more than 50 people were believed to have died late today in a mudslide at a jade mining site in the Hpakant area of Kachin state.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 22, In Pakistan hundreds of school children were taken to hospitals complaining of nausea and vomiting after being given polio vaccinations. Angry family members responded by storming a local health facility in Peshawar and setting it ablaze.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, In the northern Philippines a magnitude 6.1 earthquake killed at least 11 people and trapped others in a collapsed building that housed a supermarket in Pampanga province. A number of people remained unaccounted for at the collapsed Chuzon supermarket.
(AP, 4/22/19)(SFC, 4/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 22, Qatar opened the first prosthetic hospital and a disability rehab center in the Gaza Strip, overcoming obstacles that delayed the much-needed project.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Saudi Arabia said it had arrested 13 individuals in connection with planning attacks in the kingdom, a day after security forces said they had thwarted an attack north of the capital. Four alleged Islamic State militants were killed in that attack.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Tensions escalated in Sudan after talks broke down between protesters and the country's military rulers, who called for the reopening of roads blocked by sit-ins established during the uprising that drove President Omar al-Bashir from power.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Ugandan police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse supporters of popular musician and lawmaker Bobi Wine after they gathered at a beach resort near Kampala where he was planning to hold a news conference and stage a concert. Police detained Wine after shutting down one of his concerts.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 23, A White House official said Pres. Donald Trump would not comply with a deadline set by House Democrats to release his tax returns to Congress. The Treasury Dept. missed the first deadline and Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin said he needed more time to study the lawfulness of the request.
(SFC, 4/24/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 23, In the SF Bay Area Isaiah Peoples (34) deliberately drove into a crowd of people in Sunnyvale, injuring eight. Police later said he did so because he thought they were Muslim. A lawyer described peoples as a military veteran possibly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 23, In Boston Derrick Semedo (26) of New Hampshire pleaded guilty to smuggling rare lizards from the Philippines to the US in 2016 by hiding them in socks and placing them inside electronic equipment.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, Manuel Franco of West Allis, Wisconsin, stepped forward to claim a $768 million Powerball prize.
(SFC, 4/24/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 23, Thousands of Algerian students marched through the capital calling for the overthrow of the "system" and trials for members of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's inner circle. State media said Issad Rebrab (74), the country's richest man, has been detained in jail on the public prosecutor's orders, a day after his arrest as part of a corruption probe. Forbes magazine has listed Rebrab as Algeria's richest man and the sixth-wealthiest in Africa, with a net worth of $3.38 billion in 2019.
(AP, 4/23/19)(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, African leaders meeting in Cairo agreed to give Sudan's ruling military council three months to implement democratic reforms, amid pressure for a quick handover of power to civilians.
(Reuters, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Egyptian authorities said the amendments to extend the president's rule to 2030 were approved by 88.83% of voters, with turnout of 44.33%. Human Rights Watch said the three-day vote on a set of constitutional amendments, which concluded a day earlier, was "marred by serious flaws," including reports of citizens being forced to vote or bribed with food and money.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, France's top administrative court rejected demands by Syria-based French women to be repatriated back to France, arguing that a judge could not rule on the issue given it involved negotiations with foreign authorities.
(Reuters, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, In India one person was killed as people in the third phase of the country's general election. A man (52) was hacked to death with a cleaver as two groups clashed during voting in Murshidabad constituency in West Bengal state.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill that labels all US military forces as terrorist, a day after Washington ratcheted up pressure on Tehran by announcing that no country would any longer be exempt from US sanctions if it continues to buy Iranian oil.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, The World Health Organization said at least 264 people have been killed and 1,266 wounded since April 4, including civilians, in an offensive by military strongman Khalifa Haftar to seize Libya's capital Tripoli. The UN said fighting in Libya's capital has reached Qasr Ben Ghashir detention center holding some 890 refugees and migrants.
(AFP, 4/23/19)(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, The World Health Organization said Malawi has become the first country to begin immunizing children against malaria, using the only licensed vaccine to protect against the mosquito-spread disease. The vaccine, known as Mosquirix, was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2015.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Myanmar's Supreme Court rejected the final appeal of two Reuters journalists and upheld seven-year prison sentences for their reporting on the military's brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, New Zealand said it will grant permanent residency to all survivors of the mass shooting at two Christchurch mosques in which 50 Muslim worshippers were killed.
(Reuters, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, The Northern Ireland Police Service arrested a woman (57) under the Terrorism Act in the April 18 slaying of journalist Lyra McKee. The New Irish Republican Army admitted responsibility for the McKee's death and offered its sincere apologies to her partner, family and friends.
(AP, 4/23/19)(SFC, 4/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 23, Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte threatened to ship containers of garbage back to Canada and dump some at the country's embassy in Manila if Canadian officials don't take back waste that Filipino officials say was illegally shipped to Manila years ago.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, In the central Philippines a new magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Eastern Samar province, a day after a magnitude 6.1 quake rattled the country's north and left at least 16 people dead.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Teachers from across Poland gathered in Warsaw to demand higher wages in a dispute that is emerging as another political fissure in a deeply divided society.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Saudi Arabia executed 37 of its citizens convicted of terrorism, three years after another mass execution that ultimately led to a break in relations with Iran.
(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, A top Sri Lanka official said the Easter bombings that killed 321 people were carried out by a Islamic fundamentalists in apparent retaliation for the New Zealand mosque massacres last month by a white supremacist. The comments came shortly before IS asserted it was responsible for the bombings in and outside of Colombo.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Sudanese activists held nationwide protests to press the military to hand over power to a civilian authority after the overthrow of Pres. Omar al-Bashir earlier this month.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, In northern Tanzania a landslide triggered by rains killed at least three people at a mine in Arusha and left several people injured.
(Reuters, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Ugandan police placed pop star MP Bobi Wine under "preventive arrest" as the fiery government critic warned his opposition movement would not be cowed into silence.
(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Uganda accepted delivery of the first two Bombardier CRJ900 jet airliners purchased in a bid to relaunch Uganda Airlines, nearly two decades after the East African country's national carrier collapsed.
(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, The UAE city of Sharjah took up the mantle as UNESCO's World Book Capital for 2019 late today, launching a series of cultural programs aimed at both locals and expatriates.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, A UN panel overseeing compensation claims by countries and organizations affected by Iraq's 1990-1991 invasion of Kuwait said it has paid $240 million to the Gulf state's national oil company.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, A UN-commissioned report said the war in Yemen has set back its development by more than 20 years.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 24, President Donald Trump said the US is sending armed soldiers to the southern border after Mexican soldiers recently "pulled guns" on US troops.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Authorities in Illinois dug up the body of Andrew Freund (5) in McHenry County and charged his parents with murder.
(SFC, 4/25/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 24, It was reported that Ford Motor Co. is sinking a half-billion dollars into electric vehicle startup Rivian in a deal that has the companies working together on a new Ford electric vehicle based on Rivian underpinnings. In September Amazon said it will order 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian.
(AP, 4/24/19)(https://tinyurl.com/y5pv4wy3)
2019 Apr 24, The World Health Organization issued its first guidance for how much screen time children under five should get; not very much, and none at all for those under one.
(SFC, 4/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 24, Algeria's private channel Ennahar TV reported that four brothers from the Kouninef family, tycoons close to former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, have been placed in temporary custody by a judge. The four were arrested together with Algeria's wealthiest businessman, Issad Rebrab, on April 22 as part of an anti-graft investigation.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Australia Anthony Robert Harvey (25) pleaded guilty to murdering his three children, wife and mother-in-law in the west coast city of Perth last year.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Brazil thousands of indigenous people decorated with traditional feathers and body paint converged on Brasilia to defend hard-won land rights many fear could be eroded by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Britain said it will allow Huawei Technologies a restricted role in building parts of its 5G network, seeking a middle way in a bitter dispute between the United States and China over the next generation of communications technology. Britain would block Huawei from all core parts of the 5G network and access to non-core parts would be restricted.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Britain's prolific theatre director Peter Brook (94) won Spain's top arts prize, the Princess of Asturias award, as "one of the great renovators of the performing arts".
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, China announced that it has formally arrested former Interpol President Meng Hongwei on suspicion of accepting bribes.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, China's government rejected accusations that it steals technology. A day earlier Xiaoqing Zheng, a former employee of GE's power division, and Zhaoxi Zhang, a businessman in northeastern China, were indicted in the US on charges of industrial spying.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, An Egyptian court sentenced two former monks to death for killing Bishop Epiphanius in a desert monastery north of Cairo last year.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, France held its first "national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide." French PM Edouard Philippe declared France wanted to contribute to having the massacre internationally recognized as a crime against humanity.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 24, A court in Hong Kong handed down prison sentences of up to 16 months to eight leaders of massive 2014 pro-democracy protests on public nuisance offenses.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Michael Wolf (64), an award-winning photographer known for his work depicting megacities, died at his home in Hong Kong.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 24, An Indian state court moved to lift a ban on popular video app TikTok in the country, in a boost for its developer Beijing Bytedance Technology Co., reversing its April 3 decision pushing for the ban. The southern state of Tamil Nadu had ordered the federal government to prohibit TikTok downloads, saying the app was encouraging pornography and could expose children to sexual predators.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Japan's government apologized to tens of thousands of people who were forcibly sterilized (1948-1996) under a now-defunct Eugenics Protection Law which was designed to "prevent the birth of poor-quality descendants," and promised to pay them compensation. The parliament earlier today enacted legislation to provide redress, including 3.2 million yen ($28,600) in compensation for each victim.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, A Kenyan court found British national Jermaine Grant, in custody since 2011, guilty of possessing bomb-making materials. Grant is believed to be part of an al-Shabab-linked cell that planned multiple attacks over Christmas in 2011. Grant's former flatmate Samantha Lewthwaite, whose husband Germaine Lindsay killed 26 people in a suicide bombing on the Piccadilly Line of London Underground in 2005, is still at large and wanted in Kenya on charges of possession of explosives and conspiracy.
(AP, 4/24/19)(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Libyan PM Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the internationally-recognized government in Tripoli, angrily denounced France for supporting rival Khalifa Haftar, underlining the growing diplomatic tensions over the recent fighting there.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Myanmar police raided a 20-acre hemp site and detained US national John Fredric Todoroki, (63) and two Myanmar nationals under an anti-narcotics law. It was unclear whether Myanmar law distinguishes hemp from marijuana. A lawyer said Todoroki had received official permission to establish the hemp plantation.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 24, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in the Russian city of Vladivostok or a summit he is likely to use to seek support from President Vladimir Putin while Pyongyang's nuclear talks with Washington are in limbo.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Pakistan recorded two new polio cases in the country's northwest despite efforts against the crippling disease. Gunmen in Bannu killed a policeman protecting polio workers during a three-day nationwide polio drive.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Abassi Madani (88), founder of Algeria's banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS),died in Qatar where he lived in exile. Madani was imprisoned in 1991 and only called for an end to the violence in 1999, when his group said it was laying down its arms. Madani had been living in Qatar since 2003. He had fled into exile after serving a 12-year prison sentence in Algeria.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order simplifying the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine, prompting an angry response from Kiev. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin denounced the Russian move.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, It was reported that devastating floods in South Africa have left 51 dead and forced more than a thousand people from their homes, according to an updated toll as President Cyril Ramaphosa flew to the deluged region.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Spain former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell was acquitted of money laundering charges after spending nearly two years in prison. Court officials said there was not enough evidence for a guilty verdict on charges related to the sale of television rights for matches involving the Brazilian national soccer team.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Sri Lanka's president asked for the resignations of the defense secretary and national police chief, a dramatic internal shake-up after security forces shrugged off intelligence reports warning of possible attacks before Easter bombings that killed at least 359 people.
(AP, 4/24/19)(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, In northwest Syria a powerful explosion killed 15 people including more than a dozen civilians the town of Jisr al-Shughur in the jihadist-held region of Idlib.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, At least 21 Venezuelans were missing after their boat sank on the way to the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Four of the 25 aboard the boat were rescued by the Trinidad and Tobago coast guard and returned to Venezuela.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 24, Yemeni security officials said police have detained at least 5,000 migrants over the last 10 days who were attempting to cross to Saudi Arabia. The migrants, most of them from African countries, were being held in overcrowded police stations across the southern city of Aden and had reportedly launched a hunger strike.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 25, Former US vice president Joe Biden ended the speculation by jumping into a crowded Democratic field as an immediate frontrunner in the battle to oust President Donald Trump in 2020.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, A US federal judge issued a nationwide injunction temporarily blocking a controversial Trump administration rule that would bar organizations that provide abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning money.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 25, The Office of the US Trade Representative said that Alibaba's on-line marketplace Taobao.com continues sell "high volumes" of pirated goods, according to companies that say they've been victimized. It also said that Alibaba has "ineffective" procedures for removing counterfeit products. The trade office also added Saudi Arabia to its yearly "priority watchlist" of countries that don't adequately protect intellectual property.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, It was reported that international thieves from Chile are suspected of committing hundreds of burglaries across southern California after obtaining visa waivers to enter the US.
(SFC, 4/25/19, p.A8)
2019 Apr 25, In Colorado four people were killed when a semi-truck hauling lumber plowed into vehicles on I-70 near Denver causing a fire. The death toll in the 28-vehicle pileup was not confirmed until the next day due to the devastation caused by the fire. In 2021 truck driver Rogel Lazaro Aguilera Mederos (25) was convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A4)(AP, 10/15/21)
2019 Apr 25, In southern Florida Luis Clarke (38), a part-time youth pastor at Abrazo tu Sueno Church in Pembroke Pines, was arrested and charged with sexual battery of a minor. He had coerced a girl (15) into having sex by threatening to turn her family in to immigration officials.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 25, In northern Louisiana an overnight tornado devastated the town of Ruston and left two people dead.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 25, US federal agents raided the homes and City Hall offices of Baltimore's embattled Mayor Catherine Pugh, amid widening investigations to determine whether she used bulk sales of her obscure self-published children's books to disguise kickbacks.
(SFC, 4/26/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 25, US federal judges ruled that Michigan must redraw dozens of congressional and legislative districts because Republicans unconstitutionally configured them to their political dominance.
(SFC, 4/26/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 25, Amnesty International and the Airwars monitoring group reported that intensive US-led coalition bombardment on the Syrian city of Raqa killed more than 1,600 civilians over four months in 2017.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In western Afghanistan the Taliban ambushed a security convoy, killing nine policemen. In Kabul a would-be attacker died when a bomb he was trying to plant at a private university detonated prematurely. A raid on the Taliban-run jail in Zabul province's Daychopan district late today killed eight insurgents. Among 53 freed captives were four Afghan commandos and four policemen. The rest were civilians.
(AP, 4/25/19)(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, A Bahraini rights group said that sexual abuse and torture have been widespread and systematic in jails in the Gulf island nation during a yearslong crackdown.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, More than 300 activists of the Extinction Rebellion group sowed chaos through London's financial district, gluing themselves to the stock exchange and blocking roads outside the Bank of England and major banks such as Goldman Sachs.
(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, The Norwegian Refugee Council said tens of thousands of people are living in the bush without humanitarian aid in Cameroon after two years of fighting between separatists and government forces that has failed to attract widespread international support.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In central Canada rising waters were prompting further evacuations, with the mayor of the country's capital, Ottawa, declaring a state of emergency and Quebec authorities warning that a hydroelectric dam was at risk of breaking.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, Cyclone Kenneth lashed the East African island nation of Comoros overnight, killing three people, and swept toward flood-battered Mozambique.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In Cyprus Nicos Metaxas (35), a Greek Cypriot army officer, admitted to killing four more people than he had previously admitted to. The suspect also pointed investigators to a military firing range, where they discovered another unidentified body.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, Weather experts warned of drought in Europe over its summer as firefighters tackled forest fires in Germany, Norway and Sweden. In Austria the first signs of drought have already appeared in the east and north, raising fears of another bleak harvest. In the Czech Republic 99 percent of the country has already been hit by drought over the last five weeks.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, French President Emmanuel Macron promised a new round of tax cuts worth 5.0 billion euros ($5.5 billion) as part of a raft of measures in answer to five months of anti-government street protests over the high cost of living.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, In Japan former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn emerged from his Tokyo detention center late today after accepting bail of $4.5 million under strict conditions including restrictions on seeing his wife.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon confirmed the existence of a third cross-border tunnel, out of six the Israeli military said it discovered in the area last year.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, The International Committee of the Red Cross said intensified fighting for control of the Libyan capital is turning residential areas of Tripoli into "battlefields".
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In southern Mexico at least 1,300 mainly Cuban migrants escaped from a detention center in Chiapas after threatening to set fire to the facility to protest against overcrowding. 700 soon returned, but around 600 others were unaccounted for.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, In Mozambique a powerful tropical cyclone began to make landfall, just six weeks after Cyclone Idai devastated the central part of the country and left hundreds dead.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In Nigeria two Royal Dutch Shell oil workers were kidnapped, and their police escorts killed, in the restive Delta region.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, In southwestern Pakistan gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on female polio vaccination workers in the town of Chaman, killing one and wounding the other.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, The head of the Polish Teachers' Union said it will suspend a strike that has closed most Polish schools for nearly three weeks in order to allow end-of-year exams to go forward. He said the strike for higher pay for teachers will end April 27, but it will be resumed in September.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un confirmed during their first summit he is willing to give up his nuclear weapons, but only if he gets an ironclad guarantee of security beforehand.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to restore full relations with Kiev, after a political novice won the Ukraine presidential election.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, A South African official said almost 70 people have been killed in South Africa after torrential rains along the eastern coast.
(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, Sri Lankan authorities drastically revised the number of people killed in the near-simultaneous blasts at churches and luxury hotels in and around Colombo and in the distant seaside town of Batticaloa — from 359 a day earlier to around 250.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council said it will retain "sovereign authority only", while civilians will hold the post of prime minister and head all government ministries.
(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, Tunisian police stormed the offices of the private Nesna television station and cut it off the air over accusations it had breached broadcasting rules, which the channel called an attempt to silence its voice criticizing the government.
(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, Ukraine's parliament approved a controversial law to enhance the status of the Ukrainian language at the expense of Russian. Russia slammed the move as "scandalous." The law was championed by outgoing President Petro Poroshenko.
(AFP, 4/25/19)(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 26, President Donald Trump said that the US did not pay $2 million to North Korea in 2017 to get American college student Otto Warmbier released from detention.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, President Donald Trump expressed confidence that a bilateral trade deal between the US and Japan can be reached quickly despite ongoing differences over tariffs as he opened talks with PM Shinzo Abe at the White House.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Washington DC Maria Butina, the only Russian arrested and convicted in the three-year investigation of Moscow's interference in US politics, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and a judge, Carol Padilla.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In southern California Army veteran Mark Domingo (26) was arrested after visiting a park in Long Beach where authorities said he planned to plant homemade explosive devices in advance of a Nazi rally scheduled for April 28.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 26, Kansas' highest court ruled that the state Constitution protects abortion rights and blocked a first-in-the-nation ban on a common second trimester method for ending pregnancies.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 26, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated the country's new parliament, almost six months since elections were held and following long delays, unresolved disputes and political bickering.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Algerian protesters vowed to keep up the pressure on the regime left behind by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, staging a tenth consecutive weekly mass rally after a string of people close to the toppled president were sacked or arrested over alleged graft.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Brussels thousands of trade union members protested outside EU headquarters to demand better working conditions and protections for employees after next month's EU-wide elections.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Thousands of indigenous Brazilians turned up for a march in Brasilia, protesting ministerial changes implemented by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro that they say are hurting their people.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, London and Dublin announced a fresh attempt to revive Northern Ireland's devolved power-sharing institutions following the killing of a journalist by republican paramilitaries. Northern Ireland, part of the UK, has been without its semi-autonomous government since January 2017 following a breakdown in trust between its main parties.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In eastern Burkina Faso five teachers were shot to death.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 26, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to set high standards for Beijing's sweeping infrastructure-building initiative at the opening ceremony of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing. Fellow leaders praised the effort despite worries it leaves some developing countries with too much debt.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Human Rights Watch called on China and Pakistan to take action to end bride trafficking, warning in an April 26 statement of "increasing evidence that Pakistani women and girls are at risk of sexual slavery in China".
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 Apr 26, A special peace tribunal in Colombia for the first time ordered the arrest of Hernan Velasquez, a former FARC rebel, for failing to contribute to reconciliation efforts mandated by the country's peace deal.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Ecuador an indigenous Amazon tribe won an early court victory in its fight to stop oil extraction in its ancestral territory. A judge in a provincial court determined that the Waorani people have a right to be consulted before any oil drilling takes place.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi said the European Medicines Agency had conditionally approved its anti-cancer drug Libtayo, the first drug of its kind to be authorized for use in the EU. The tumor-reducing drug is aimed at patients with the second most common form of skin cancer, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), whose cancer is advanced, and who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, German energy company RWE says it won't invest in new coal-fired power stations and is scrapping plans for a lignite-fired plant in western Germany. RWE, which operates several of Europe's most-polluting power plants, said in a statement that it will now focus on generating electricity from renewable sources.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Mexico expressed fresh concern to the United States about delays in the movement of goods and people across their border, after becoming Washington's biggest trade partner for the first time earlier this year.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, Mexico imposed a three-year ban on scandal-tainted Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht from participating in federal contracts.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, Cyclone Kenneth ripped off roofs in Mozambique and killed at least three people as the UN warned of "massive flooding" ahead. Over the next 10 days, the storm is expected to dump twice as much rain as Cyclone Idai did last month.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Myanmar began releasing prisoners after the president announced he would pardon nearly 7,000 people in addition to thousands released earlier this month.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Police in Northern Ireland released footage of immediately before and after the April 18 shooting of journalist Lyra McKee showing three men who were involved in the rioting and identified one as the gunman who they believe is in his late teens.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Poland signed an agreement with Italy's Leonardo to buy four AW101 helicopters for its navy in a deal worth 1.65 billion zlotys ($428 million).
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region a US air strike killed three fighters from the Islamic State on the outskirts of Timirshe village.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, In South Korea K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun (32) was arrested on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Sri Lankan police worked to track down 140 people believed linked to Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed 253, as shooting erupted in the east during a raid. Catholic churches in Sri Lanka canceled all Sunday Masses until further notice over concerns that they remain a top target of Islamic State-linked extremists.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Sri Lanka militants linked to Easter suicide bombings opened fire and set off explosives during a raid late today by security forces on a house in the country's east. The gunbattle left 15 dead, including six children. The father and two brothers of the suspected mastermind of the Easter Sunday bombings were among those killed when security forces stormed their safe house on the east coast.
(AP, 4/27/19)(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 26, Thousands of Sudanese protesters performed the weekly Muslim prayers outside army headquarters, a day after a vast crowd of demonstrators flooded Khartoum to demand the military rulers cede power.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Scandinavian airline SAS pilots went on strike as wage talks broke down, grounding around 70 percent of the airline's flights and hitting some 170,000 people over the weekend alone. SAS is part-owned by the Swedish and Danish governments.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, An avalanche in southern Switzerland killed four German skiers near the village of Fieschertal.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 26, In northwestern Syria Russian strikes killed 10 civilians in Idlib province, the hub of territory held by the jihadists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Turkey Istanbul prosecutors ordered the detention of 210 military personnel over suspected links to the network blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed 2016 military coup.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Separatist officials in rebel-held eastern Ukraine said a methane blast at a coal mine has killed at least four people and 13 others are believed to be missing. The death toll soon rose to 17.
(AP, 4/26/19)(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 26, The UN's International Labour Organization said Qatar is set to abolish its controversial exit visa system for all foreign workers by the end of the year.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, A UN spokesperson said more than 7,000 people have left a desperate desert camp for displaced Syrians near the Jordanian border since March. Around 36,000 people remained in the isolated Rukban camp near Al-Tanf base used by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, The UN migration agency said Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, "creating an acute humanitarian situation".
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 27, US Navy Rear Admiral John Ring was removed as commander, Joint Task Force-Guantanamo "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command." 40 "war on terror" detainees were still being held there after 17 years.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 27, Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North announced that he will not serve a second term as president of the National Rifle Association. This followed his failed attempt to force out NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre.
(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 27, In southern California a shooting attack at a synagogue in Poway, north of San Diego, left Lori Gilbert-Kaye (60) dead and three injured. Suspect John Earnest (19) had used an AR-type assault weapon and was soon arrested. Prosecutors in 2020 planned to seek the death penalty. In 2021 Earnest pleaded guilty and faced life in prison without parole.
(AFP, 4/28/19)(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A5)(SFC, 3/7/20, p.A5)(SFC, 7/21/21, p.A6)
2019 Apr 27, Tennessee authorities captured Michael Cummins (25), a suspect in the deaths of five people found slain at two homes in Sumner County. Police soon raise the death toll to seven.
(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A5)(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 27, In Seattle, Wa., a construction crane collapsed from a building on Google's new campus killing four people.
(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 27, In Cameroon jihadists from Nigeria's Boko Haram killed at least four people and badly wounded four others in an attack on Kofia, an island on Lake Chad.
(AFP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 27, China's President Xi Jinping at the end of a 2-day summit hailed deals worth more than $64 billion signed during China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) this week as he sought to reassure skeptics the project will deliver sustainable growth for all involved.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In France "yellow vest" demonstrations took place for the 214th consecutive week to challenge the economic policies of Pres. Emmanuel Macron.
(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A3)
2019 Apr 27, Indonesia's navy intercepted a Vietnamese fishing vessel in waters off Indonesia's Natuna island chain. One of its patrol vessels was rammed by two Vietnamese coast guard ships after intercepting the fishing boat. Indonesia detained 12 Vietnamese fishermen from the boat, which sank in the clash.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Morocco 16 African migrants from various countries were killed in a vehicle crash between the coastal cities of Saidia and Nador. 17 others were injured.
(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 27, Mozambican officials urged those living near two rivers in the country's north to move to higher ground, as Cyclone Kenneth dumped heavy rains and caused some flooding. The death toll from Kenneth rose to five.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, Pakistani health officials suspended a nationwide anti-polio campaign after a health worker and two policemen escorting vaccination teams were killed in separate attacks across the country in less than a week. The decision to halt the campaign came after two new polio cases were reported in the country's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Pakistan a bomb blast near the Afghan border killed three security personnel in North Waziristan.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 27, Peru's government said former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is to spend three years under house arrest while corruption charges are prepared against him for allegedly taking bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 27, Scandinavian airline SAS canceled hundreds of flights scheduled for April 28 as a pilot strike entered its second day, disrupting the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, Sri Lanka's government banned the militant National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ) under new emergency laws.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 27, Sadiq al-Mahdi, former Sudanese prime minister and top opposition leader called for Sudan to join the International Criminal Court which has indicted its ousted president Omar al-Bashir, as protesters and the military met to discuss civilian rule.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Syria attacks by two jihadist groups early today killed at least 22 government troops and militiamen in the northern province of Aleppo. Eight insurgents were also killed. The fighting subsided after Russian aircraft struck jihadist positions in the area. Russia aircraft also carried out strikes in neighboring Hama province, killing five civilians.
(AFP, 4/27/19)(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A3)
2019 Apr 27, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen reaffirmed her opposition to nuclear power before marching with anti-nuclear protesters, reviving an issue that has proven politically divisive in the past.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Tunisia seven women day laborer's being transported to work on a farm in the back of a pickup were among 12 people killed when it collided with a minivan.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido used his latest mass rally to reiterate an appeal to the army to end its support for Nicolas Maduro's regime, and announced massive Mayday protests to oust the embattled president.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Vietnam state-run media said police this week broke up an online gambling ring that had handled more than $1 billion in bets and arrested 22 people, in what is believed to be the largest-ever internet betting operation in the communist country. So far a total of 22 people have been arrested including 12 organizers.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 28, US sanctions came into effect to block Venezuela's economic lifeline of oil exports, in what Washington hopes will be a major blow in its fledgling campaign to topple leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
(AFP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Maryland a gunman fired into a crowd in Baltimore killing one person and wounding seven others before fleeing the scene.
(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 23, Henry Bloch (b.1922), co-founder of the H&R Bloch tax preparation company, died in Kansas City, Mo.
(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.C10)
2019 Apr 28, The people of Benin voted for a new parliament but without a single opposition candidate to choose from. Voters were given the choice to select their 83 members of parliament from two parties both allied to President Patrice Talon. The country's main opposition parties were effectively barred from fielding candidates by tough new eligibility rules and asked their supporters to protest by boycotting the polls.
(AFP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Burkina Faso six people, including a pastor, were killed in an attack on a Christian church in the country's north.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 28, A Cambodian court charged three Chinese nationals with money laundering after the men were allegedly caught carrying more than $3.5 million without proper provenance for the money.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Cypriot investigators hunting for victims of a suspected serial killer retrieved a suitcase containing the decomposing remains of a woman from the bottom of a man-made lake. The retrieved suitcase is one of two that were located in the lake a day earlier.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, announced further flight cancellations for the next week on the third day of a pilots strike as the parties have failed to resume talks on a new collective bargaining agreement.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Hong Kong tens of thousands of people marched on parliament to demand the scrapping of proposed extradition rules that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial - a move which some fear puts the city's core freedoms at risk.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, An Indonesian official said more than 270 election staff have died following the April 17 elections, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Iranian police said that the suspect in the killing of a 46-year-old cleric in the western city of Hamedan had died in a shootout with police. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for a crackdown on illegal weapons.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Israel released two Syrian prisoners in what it described as a "goodwill gesture" following the repatriation of the remains of an Israeli soldier who went missing over 35 years ago.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Spain held national elections. No single party appeared close to winning a majority. Spain faced weeks of coalition talks after PM Pedro Sanchez's Socialists scored big but failed to gain a majority in a snap election that split the right-wing bloc and let ultra-nationalists into parliament.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)(AFP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 28, Sudanese protest leaders held talks with the ruling military council after the military condemned an attack on an Islamist party close to President Omar al-Bashir, who was removed from power and jailed earlier this month.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Tanzanian albinos said they were living in fear of their lives after the remains of an albino were exhumed in what they said was a "bestial" and "barbaric" act.
(AFP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Turkey Zaki Y. M. Hasan, a man held on suspicion of spying for the United Arab Emirates, was found hanging from the bathroom door in his one-person cell in Silivri prison. Hasan and another man were detained on April 15 and had reportedly confessed to spying on Arab nationals.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 28, It was reported that Pope Francis has donated 500,000 dollars to help migrants in Mexico, offering assistance to local projects that provide food, lodging and basic necessities.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, A Zimbabwean organization started exhuming the remains of victims of a government massacre during former president Robert Mugabe's rule, which claimed some 20,000 lives. The remains of Thembi Ngwenya, aged 21 at the time of her death in 1983, were the first to be exhumed as part of a healing process promised by the government.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, President Donald Trump proposed charging asylum seekers a fee to process their applications as he continues to try to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants seeking to cross into the US.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, Stanford biochemist Ron Davis published a description of a biomarker that could be developed as the first simple blood test for chronic disease syndrome.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A1)
2019 Apr 29, John Singleton (51), director of "Boyz N the Hood" (1991) died in Los Angeles after being taken off of life support following a major stroke.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Singleton)(SFC, 4/30/19, p.C3)
2019 Apr 29, In Hawaii a helicopter crash in suburban Honolulu killed three people.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 29, A US federal judge in Oregon blocked a Trump administration attempt to prevent federally funded health care providers from referring pregnant women to abortion clinics.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 29, Linda Garcia of Vancouver, Washington, was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. She rallied local communities to successfully prevent the construction of North America's largest oil terminal.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Nearly 30 hospitals in West Virginia and 10 affiliates in Kentucky signed on to a suit against some of the country's largest opioid companies, saying they flooded Appalachia with powerful painkillers and forced medical centers to deal with the financial repercussions.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 29, Afghanistan's Pres. Ashraf Ghani opened a grand council of more than 3,200 Afghans seeking to agree on a common approach to peace talks with the Taliban. Government forces launched attacks late today in a bid to clear rival militants who have been battling each other for territory in Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border in fighting that has forced thousands of villagers from their homes.
(AP, 4/29/19)(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, Bangladesh security forces killed at least two people suspected of belonging to an Islamist militant group behind a deadly cafe attack in Dhaka in July 2016.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Human Rights Watch said that Bolivia has undermined judicial independence by arbitrarily dismissing nearly 100 judges since 2017 and it asked the Organization of American States to address the issue.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Imperial College in London opened the world's first Center for Psychedelic Research.
(https://tinyurl.com/yyugw2jd)(Econ, 6/8/19, p.56)
2019 Apr 29, Alberto Curamil of Chile was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. The jailed indigenous activist had protested several hydroelectric projects in the country. His efforts were credited with halting two projects and protecting a critical ecosystem surrounding the Cautin River.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Congo's health ministry confirmed 27 cases of Ebola today, the highest number since the outbreak was declared in August.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, Jacqueline Evans of the Cook Islands was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. Her work led to the conservation and sustainable management of all 763,000 square miles (1.98 million square km) of the Cook Islands' ocean territory and creation of 15 marine protected areas.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Thousands of Czechs rallied in Prague and elsewhere to protest the proposed replacement of the justice minister.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 29, A strike among pilots at Scandinavian Airlines, flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, entered its fourth day.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, An Ethiopian official revealed his country has finalized preparations to extradite a double-murder suspect to the US. Yohannes Nesibu (25), an Ethiopia-born US national, is accused of killing two other people, who were also Ethiopia-born individuals, in Virginia in 2016.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Ethiopia dozens of civilians were dead in ethnic clashes in northern Amhara state. The attacks appeared to be retribution for the killing of at least 21 people in separate clashes last weekend between the Gumuz and Amhara ethnic groups in Benishangul Gumuz state.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 Apr 29, The European Union said it is prolonging by a year an embargo on any arms that could be used in security crackdowns in Myanmar as well as sanctions against 14 top military and border officials.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, The French government opened a suicide prevention unit for police officers after a sharp rise in the number taking their own lives since the start of this year.
(AFP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In France diplomats from 130 nations gathered in Paris to validate a grim UN assessment of the state of Nature and lay the groundwork for a rescue plan for life on Earth.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, French authorities seized half a ton of cocaine worth around 40 million euros ($44.9 million) in the northern port of Dunkirk in a container ship carrying bananas that had traveled from the small South American nation of Suriname.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 Apr 29, The fourth phase of India's staggered national election was marred by multiple clashes that injured at least seven people and led to security forces firing warning shots outside one polling station.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Indonesia's disaster agency confirmed 29 deaths and said at least 13 more people were missing in Sumatra island's Bengkulu province following floods sparked by torrential rains.
(AFP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in a video. He was the latest in a series of most-wanted figures to use the medium to communicate with the outside world.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, Alfred Brownell was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for exposing alleged abuse by palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia and helping to prevent it from converting about 20 square miles (about 50 square km) of forest that is home to elephants, pygmy hippopotamuses and chimpanzees. He was forced to flee Liberia in 2016 after the government threatened to arrest him for his activism.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Libya forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter intensified their airstrikes on Tripoli, where heavy fighting and blocked roads have left civilians trapped in their homes.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Bayarjargal Agvaantseren of Mongolia was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. She led the fight to create the 2,800 square miles (7,300 square km) Tost Tosonbumba Nature Reserve.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In northern Mozambique rains grounded aid flights for a second day, hampering efforts to reach survivors of Cyclone Kenneth as the death toll there jumped to 38.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Cambodia for an official visit to strengthen ties between the countries.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Nigeria jihadists, packed into four trucks and flanked by gunmen on motorbikes, swept into Kuda in Adamawa state late today, shooting down villagers as they ran away killing at least 21 people. Nine more bodies were soon found, taking the total massacred to 30.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 Apr 29, Ana Colovic Lesoska of North Macedonia was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. Her seven-year campaign helped stop hydroelectric projects from being built in the country's largest national park and home to the endangered Balkan lynx.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, A Pakistani military spokesman said Pakistan plans to take control of a network of over 30,000 madrasas as part of a drive to "mainstream" the Islamic schools by bringing them under state control.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In the Philippines a fire raged through the top floors of a 21-story residential building in Manila in the middle of a scorching summer, killing an elderly woman and injuring five other people.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Somalia a victim relative said an air strike near the town of Afgoye killed four people. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said it carried out an air strike and that three militants had died in the attack.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Authorities in Sri Lanka banned women from wearing face veils under an emergency law put in place after deadly Easter Sunday attacks by Islamist militants.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Sudan six security personnel were killed in clashes with protesters across the country.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, In northern Syria a US service member died in a non-combat incident.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Tunisia about 5,000 people protested in central Sidi Bouzid city against marginalization and deteriorating conditions, two days after the deaths of 12 female rural workers in a traffic accident.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Turkey police in Ankara detained 17 Iraqis and five Syrians, suspected of links to the Islamic State group, in simultaneous raids as part of a security sweep ahead of Labor Day festivities.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Ugandan pop star and opposition politician known as Bobi Wine was remanded to jail after being charged over his role in a street protest last year against a tax on social media.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 30, Pres. Trump, his family and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an attempt to block congressional subpoenas seeking their banking and financial records.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 30, Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill, which takes effect in 2021, making her state the first to ban single-use food and drink containers made from polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 Apr 30, Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor (33) was convicted of 3rd-degree murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the US and Australia whose death bewildered and angered people in both countries. Three days later city Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council detailed a $20 million settlement to Damond’s family.
(AP, 5/1/19)(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A6)(SFC, 5/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 30, In North Carolina Trystan Andrew Terrell (22) shot and killed two people and wounded four others at the Univ. of North Carolina-Charlotte. Student Riley Howell (21) tackled the gunman saving other students, but losing his own.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A7)(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 30, In Texas a migrant boy (16) from Guatemala died after falling ill at a government shelter in Brownsville. This was the 3rd death of a young person in government custody since December.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 30, Peter Mayhew (74), the actor who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy and two other films, died at his home in Texas.
(SFC, 5/4/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 30, Sterling Van Wagenen (71), a filmmaker who co-founded the Sundance Film festival, pleaded guilty in Utah to sexual abuse of a child.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 30, A report compiled by the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF said severe drought in Angola has plunged 2.3 million people into a food security crisis with thousands of children being treated for malnutrition.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Brazil's Education Minister said he has cut the budget of three federal universities (Brasilia, Bahia and Fluminense) because of their ideological stance and poor performance.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 30, A court in southern China handed down sentences to at least six foreigners involved in an international methamphetamine operation, including a Canadian given the death penalty.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Dubai announced a series of futuristic urban projects, including a 15-km (nine mile) cable car system above the emirate's main road.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, An Egyptian court handed life sentences to Hassan Malik, a leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, as well as his son Hamza and five others after convicting them of terrorism offences.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, German industrial conglomerate Siemens secured contracts worth 700 million euros ($785 million) to build one power plant, upgrade 40 gas turbines and install substations and transformers "across Iraq".
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Ghana rolled out the world's only proven malaria vaccine for infants as part of a landmark campaign against the deadly mosquito-borne disease, one week after Malawi became the first country to do so.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Authorities in Haiti said they have killed the leader of a gang suspected of fatally shooting five people and injuring seven others last week. Jean Sony, the suspected leader of the Savane Pistache gang, died after exchanging gunfire with police in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signed a bill into law declaring all US forces in the Middle East terrorists and calling the US government a sponsor of terrorism.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Japanese Emperor Akihito (85) announced his abdication at a palace ceremony in his final address, as the nation embraced the end of his reign with reminiscence and hope for a new era.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Malaysia destroyed nearly four tons of elephant tusks and ivory products estimated to be worth 13.26 million ringgit ($3.2 million) as part of its fight against the illegal ivory trade. The ivory was confiscated in 15 raids between 2011 and 2017.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Rains pounded parts of northern Mozambique, several days after Cyclone Kenneth struck the southern African nation. The UN said aid workers faced difficulties in reaching thousands of survivors and the death toll rose to 41.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, In Peru prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez told a court that Miguel Atala Herrera, former vice president of state-run PetroPeru, "confessed to having received money from Odebrecht to deliver to former president Garcia", who committed suicide two weeks ago.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 Apr 30, Rwanda said it has detained Callixte Nsabimana, popularly known as Sankara and a spokesman for the National Liberation Front (FLN). The group is responsible for deadly attacks and the government has accused him of being complicit in committing terrorist acts.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, In southern Serbia a bus and a truck collided head-on, leaving five people dead and four others injured near the town of Kursumlija.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Sri Lanka lifted a social media ban that was imposed after the Islamic State-claimed Easter bombings.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Sudan's leading protest group called for a mass rally, as tensions mounted over the makeup of a new joint civilian-military council to run the country.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, In northwestern Syria, the government's air force dropped dozens of barrel bombs in rebel-held parts of Hama and Idlib provinces killing at least one woman and wounding others. Syrian Kurdish militants carried out an attack in a Turkish-controlled region in northern Syria killing a Turkish soldier and wounding three others.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Human Rights Association head Ozturk Turkdogan said that a total of 2,983 people in 90 prisons across Turkey are refusing food in protest of jail conditions for Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, whose family members and lawyers have reportedly been denied visits.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Uganda's press regulator told 13 local media groups to suspend news editors, producers and program directors, accusing them of broadcasting "extremist or anarchic messages".
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 Apr 30, The UN refugee agency said that seeking asylum was a fundamental right and that people lodging applications should not be made to pay a fee, as proposed by the Trump administration.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, The Vatican announced a new editorial leadership team for its women's magazine (Women Church World), following the clamorous exit of its previous editor who alleged a campaign of delegitimization by the Holy See's communications operation.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Venezuelan opposition chief Juan Guaido claimed to have also secured the backing of Venezuelan soldiers, while the country's leftist government said an attempted coup was under way. Guaido released a video recorded at a Caracas air force base in which he says he has the support of "brave soldiers".
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr, US Pres. Donald Trump publicly endorsed Libya's Khalifa Haftar, four days after Erik Prince, founder of the private military company Blackwater, made his pitch to the strongman for his $80 million Libyan operation. Part of the plan was to use a mercenary hit squad to kill Libyan military commanders. This was only made public in 2021.
(NY Times, 2/19/21)
2019 Apr, In Guatemala the “Phoenix" case was made public. An investigation found that businesspeople and others had conspired to launder about $50 million in a huge fraud involving the country’s Social Security Institute. The mastermind of the operation was reported to be businessman Gustavo Adolfo Herrera Castillo, with the help of his son Sergio Alfredo Herrera Acevedo, among others.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Apr, In Pakistan nearly 900 children in the small city of Ratodero were reported bedridden with raging fevers that resisted treatment. The city was the epicenter of an HIV outbreak that overwhelmingly affected children. Health officials initially blamed the outbreak on a single pediatrician, saying he was reusing syringes. Many of the infected children had gone to the same pediatrician, Muzaffar Ghanghro, who served the city’s poorest families and appeared to be at the center of the outbreak.
(NY Times, 10/27/19)
2019 Apr, Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte signed legislation penalizing a range of acts of sexual harassment including catcalling, wolf-whistling and persistent telling of sexual jokes.
(SFC, 7/16/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr, Russian Col. Kirill Cherkalin, a section chief in the economic security department of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, was arrested along with two other senior FSB officers on suspicion of taking bribes. Russian media reported that the suspects were found in possession of 12 billion rubles (about $186 million) in cash. Cherkalin, the former head of the unit, and Andrey Vasilyev and Dmitry Frolov, his associates, were jailed on suspicion they took huge bribes from banks and other commerce they were supposed to supervise. A video purported to show the equivalent of $185.5 million being hauled out of Cherkalin’s residence. The initial charge against him involved a single bribe worth $850,000.
(AP, 5/20/19)(The Daily Beast, 7/10/19)
2019 Apr, In Russia Naama Issachar (26), a US-Israeli woman, was arrested while in transit while travelling from India to Israel. Authorities said more than nine grams of hashish were found in her luggage Issachar. She arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and was soon sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)(AP, 1/22/20)
2019 Apr, Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) took an unprecedented 3-day mission to Saudi Arabia to advocate for the release of 30 jailed journalists in the aftermath of the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. The mission was kept confidential until July 10 because the possibility of pardons had been discussed.
(AP, 7/10/19)
2019 Apr, South Sudan's government signed a contract paying a US-based lobby firm $3.7 million to improve its relationship with the Trump administration and to block a path to justice for victims of the country's five-year civil war.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 May 1, American and Taliban officials resumed talks in Qatar aimed at ending a 17-year war in Afghanistan, while the Afghan government hosted a rare assembly in Kabul to ensure its interests are upheld in any peace deal.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, A US government watchdog agency that monitors the US war effort said in a report to Congress that the US military command in Kabul is no longer producing "district control data," which shows the number of Afghan districts, and the percentage of their population, controlled by the government compared to the Taliban.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, It was reported that SF-based tech billionaire Marc Benioff and his wife are making a $30 million donation to start a new research center at UCSF called the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A1)
2019 May 1, Florida lawmakers passed a bill allowing teachers to carry guns in school with the approval of their local school district. The teachers would be required to undergo police-style training, psychiatric evaluation and drug screening. Gov. Ron DeSantis was expected to sign the measure.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A5)
2019 May 1, An Australian jury convicted Khaled Khayat (51) of plotting to blow up an Etihad Airways airliner on a flight in 2017 from Sydney to the United Arab Emirates with a bomb hidden in a meat grinder.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Benin two French tourists went missing and were feared to have been kidnapped in the Pendjari National Park. An African man, believed to have been their driver, was found fatally shot two days later.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 1, It was reported that tons of garbage are clogging rivers in Bosnia. The country's waste-management problem has grown over the years, reaching alarming proportions in a region where joblessness and poverty are widespread and where corruption routinely stalls implementation of reform laws.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Britain's PM Theresa May fired defense minister Gavin Williamson saying she had seen "compelling evidence" that he was behind media reports that the government had agreed, against the advice of the United States, to let Huawei participate in some aspects of Britain's new 5G wireless communications network. Williamson denied that he leaked details of the report.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 1, In London WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (47) was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for breaching a British court order seven years ago, when he took refuge in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Burkina Faso German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a three-nation tour in West Africa, pledged 46 million euros ($51 million) to help Burkina Faso fight Islamic extremism.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 1, Canada increased loans to farmers after China blocked shipments of canola, its most valuable crop, amid diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and Beijing.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Millions of Cubans took to the streets in protest over new sanctions imposed on the Caribbean island by the Trump administration and US efforts to topple the government of socialist ally Venezuela.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In France tens of thousands of labor union and "yellow vest" protesters were on the streets across the country. Dozens of masked and hooded anarchists clashed with riot police in southern Paris, burning bins, smashing property and hurling projectiles, hijacking a May Day rally that was focused on protesting against President Emmanuel Macron's policies.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In western India Maoist rebels triggered a land mine blast on van carrying police commandos in the insurgents' stronghold in Maharashtra state and killed 15 officers and their driver.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, India began evacuating hundreds of thousands of villagers and shut down operations at two major ports on its east coast ahead of impending Cyclonic Storm Fani expected to make landfall on May 3.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Iran's oil minister hit out against the use of oil sanctions "as a weapon" by the United States and the damage it was doing to OPEC.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Japan Emperor Naruhito inherited the sacred sword and jewel that signaled his succession and pledged in his first public address to follow his father's example by devoting himself to peace and sharing the people's joys and sorrows.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Hundreds of Kazakhs rallied in their two main cities, calling for a boycott of June presidential elections that they dismissed as a cover for an orchestrated handover of power. Police rushed to detain several dozen people.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Kuwait inaugurated one of the world's longest causeways. The 36-km (22-mile) "Jaber" bridge, named after late ruler Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, connects Kuwait City to the northern desert area of Subbiya.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In central Mali a number of Dogons were killed in an ambush, while other members of the same community were killed the following day as they tried to retrieve the bodies. At least 18 civilians were killed in the two related attacks.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 1, In Pakistan dozens of militants sneaked into the country and opened fire on troops in a former Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, triggering a shootout that killed three soldiers in North Waziristan.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Russia's Pres. Vladimir Putin signed into law a measure expanding government control over the internet. The law requires internet providers to install equipment to route Russian internet traffic through servers in the country.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A2)
2019 May 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree fast-tracking Russian citizenship for more Ukrainians, a controversial new move expected to deepen the crisis between the two countries.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Russian riot police and national guardsmen detained more than 100 people during May Day protests, sometimes using extreme force to take into custody anti-government activists.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) canceled 504 flights today as talks with the pilots resumed in Norway.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, The Swiss-based IAAF, the sports world's highest court, ruled that Olympic champion Caster Semenya and other female runners like her with unusually high testosterone must take medication to reduce their levels of the male sex hormone if they want to compete in certain events. South Africa's Olympic athlete Caster Semenya said the decision will not hold her back.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Thailand an announcement in the Royal Gazette said Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya (40) is legally married to King Maha Vajiralongkorn (66), and is now Queen Suthida.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Tunisia raised the minimum wage for industrial and farm workers, as well as pensions for hundreds of thousands of private-sector retirees, by 6.5 percent, a move aimed at defusing discontent about economic hardship.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 1, In Turkey police in Istanbul detained 127 people for attempting to hold illegal demonstrations in various parts of the city to celebrate May Day.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, The UN added Masood Azhar, the leader of a Pakistan-based Islamist group, to its list of global terrorists after China lifted its objections. Pakistan confirmed the move. This came months after Azhar's group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 suicide attack in disputed Kashmir that killed 40 Indian soldiers.
(AFP, 5/1/19)(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, The UN said fighting in northwestern Syria has displaced more than 32,500 people since February, as the regime and its ally Russia have stepped up their bombardment. More than 200 civilians have been killed since February.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Venezuela state security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters opposed to President Nicolás Maduro who have gathered at a middle-class neighborhood in western Caracas.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 2, Pres. Donald Trump moved to protect health care workers who object to procedures like abortion on moral or religious grounds. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera immediately filed suit in federal court to block the new rule.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A10)
2019 May 2, More than 200 of the world's top female hockey players declared they will not compete in North America next season in a dramatic attempt to establish a single, economically viable professional league.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh resigned under pressure amid a flurry of investigations into whether she arranged bulk sales of her self-published children's books to disguise hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, It was reported that NYC is now providing free phone calls from jails, making it the first US city to eliminate fees for inmate calls.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, In New York City Najibullah Zazi (33) was sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to terrorism related charges. He had plotted in 2010 to bomb the city's subways, then switched sides after his arrest and helped the US identify and prosecute terrorists. The sentence effectively matched time he had already served in prison.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, At the Texas border a 10-month old baby was found dead and three others were feared drowned after their raft flipped overnight on the Rio Grande as they tried to cross the border near Del Rio.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, In Houston Alberto Nduli (68) died while trying to stop a driver from repossessing his SUV. Oscar Lee Harrison Jr., the tow truck driver, was at the scene after he dropped of the SUV and returned.
(SFC, 5/6/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, Beyond Meat, a purveyor of vegan burgers and sausages, began trading on the NASDAQ in an IPO at $25 per share and closed at 65.75.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.D1)
2019 May 2, An Afghan grand council agreed on several recommendations for peace talks with the Taliban, after four days of meetings in Kabul meant to hammer out a common strategy for future negotiations.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Benin hundreds of protesters manning burning barricades defied police and soldiers, after violence broke out following controversial parliamentary polls held without a single opposition candidate.
(AFP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Scientists reported that a fossilized chunk of jawbone found by a monk in a Chinese cave nearly 40 years ago has been revealed as coming from the Denisovans, a mysterious relative of the Neanderthals. The right half of a jawbone with teeth is at least 160,000 years old.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Cypriot justice minister Ionas Nicolaou resigned as criticism of police mounted for mistakes that may have led a serial killer claim more victims.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A2)
2019 May 2, The Czech Republic's central bank raised its key interest rate for the third time since June - by a quarter point to 2.00%, the highest level in more than 10 years.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, A Czech bus transporting prisoners caught fire after colliding with two trucks, one of them carrying two military tanks. A prison guard died in the crash.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, France and Germany unveiled details of a plan to create a leading electric battery industry in Europe, from the extraction of raw materials to recycling.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, A city in southern Germany became the first in the country to declare a "climate emergency," following similar moves in Canada, Britain and Switzerland. Aldermen in Konstanz voted unanimously to back a resolution promoting measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and transport.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 2, Hungary's PM Viktor Orban hosted hard-line Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and the two main opponents to immigration in Europe toured razor-wire fences at the Hungarian border.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In India hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated along the eastern coast as authorities braced for Cyclone Fani moving through the Bay of Bengal.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Indonesia a Polish tourist was sentenced to five years in prison for treason after meeting with Papuan independence supporters. Jakub Skrzypski denied any wrongdoing and said he was the victim of a show trial. Papuan student Simon Magal, who met Skrzypski and communicated with him on Facebook, was sentenced by the same court to four years in prison.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Libya forces allied with Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter (Haftar) detained Alahrar TV journalists Mohamed al-Qarg and Mohamed al-Shibani as they covered fighting in Tripoli. They were both released on May 24.
(AP, 5/3/19)(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 2, Myanmar security forces shot dead at least six people in the troubled western state of Rakhine, after soldiers and police detained hundreds of people at a school.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Poland some ten thousand young Jews from around the world joined Holocaust survivors and politicians for an annual Holocaust remembrance march between the two parts of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp that focuses on fighting anti-Semitism and hatred.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Former Puerto Rico Gov. Rafael Hernández Colón (82), who oversaw one of the US territory's most prosperous periods, died at his home in Puerto Rico. Hernández served as governor from 1973 to 1977 and again from 1985 to 1993.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, A ship with 300 passengers left St. Lucia late today after spending two days under quarantine. Authorities there said the ship's doctor requested 100 vaccines after a female crew member was diagnosed with measles. The 440-foot Freewinds ship is reportedly owned by the Church of Scientology.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 2, South Sudan's rival parties began two days of talks in Addis Ababa in a bid to salvage a peace deal, with just days left before a unity government is meant to be formed.
(AFP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Tens of thousands of Sudanese protesters took part in a mass rally to step up pressure on the military to hand power to civilians following last month's overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Syrian and Russian forces intensified air strikes and shelling in rebel-held northwestern Syria overnight, the heaviest assault since the area was declared a demilitarized zone under a Russian-Turkish deal.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Tunisia fuel distribution workers began a three-day strike to demand higher wages, leading to long queues and empty pumps at petrol stations across the North African nation.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, A Turkish citizen who was wounded during deadly attacks at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch on March 15 died while undergoing surgery raising the death toll from the shooting to 51.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Ugandan pop star and lawmaker Bobi Wine, who is seeking to challenge veteran leader Yoweri Museveni for the presidency, was freed on bail after spending two days in jail on charges of staging unlawful protests.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, The UN's migration agency said at least eight Africa migrants have died in makeshift camps in war-hit Yemen of complications related to acute watery diarrhea at the Ibn Khaldoon Hospital in Lahj.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on the armed forces to oppose "any coup plotter" after a failed military uprising by forces supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido.
(AFP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 3, US Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters was sworn in as the top military officer of the 29-nation NATO alliance.
(SFC, 5/4/19, p.A1)
2019 May 3, In Illinois at least one person was killed in an explosion and fire at the AB Specialty Silicones in Waukegan. A 2nd victim died the next day and a 3rd was found the next day. One person remained missing.
(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A7)(SFC, 5/6/19, p.A5)
2019 May 3, In Ohio a federal court ruled that the state’s congressional map is unconstitutional and ordered a new one to be drawn for the 2020 elections.
(SFC, 5/4/19, p.A6)
2019 May 3, Texas girl Maleah Davis (4) was reported missing. Investigators found her remains on May 31 near a freeway outside of Hope, Arkansas. Derion Vence, a man arrested in connection with her disappearance, had told a community activist he had disposed of her body there.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3pshbmv)(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A4)
2019 May 3, An Afghan grand council convened by President Ashraf Ghani ended with a resounding call for peace with the Taliban and a promise from the president to free 175 Taliban prisoners ahead of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month that starts next week.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In Algeria tens of thousands of protesters rallied peacefully in Algiers after Friday prayers, chanting "We will not shut up!" and demanding the departure of Algeria's ruling elite a month after the downfall of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In Australia the Victoria state Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher ordered Islamic State group sympathizer and firebrand preacher Robert "Musa" Cerantonio to serve at least five years and three months in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Cerantonio and five other men had plotted in 2016 to take a 7-meter (23-foot) half-cabin fiberglass power boat off the northeast Queensland coast to encourage others to overthrow the government in the southern Philippines and install Sharia Law.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Troops in Benin maintained a tight clamp on protests after two days of deadly violence sparked by elections in which not a single opposition candidate took part.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, It was reported that police killings in the state of Rio de Janeiro have hit a record high, rising by 18% in the first three months of this year in a spike partly attributed to a zero tolerance for criminals campaign by state leaders.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Britain's two main parties suffered a drubbing in English local elections as voters vented their frustration with the prolonged Brexit deadlock.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Canada vowed to defend its businesses operating in Cuba after US President Donald Trump lifted a ban on American citizens filing lawsuits against investors working on the island nation.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, More than 1,000 people have now died of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as aid workers warned that the highly contagious virus combined with insecurity in the restive region was creating a "deeply worrying situation".
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades fired the small island nation's police chief, saying botched missing person investigations might have allowed a self-confessed serial killer to claim more victims.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In the Czech Rep. cybersecurity officials from dozens of countries drew up a blueprint to counter threats and ensure the safety of next generation mobile networks that their nations are set to start deploying.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, German prosecutors said police have shut down one of the world's largest illegal online markets in the so-called darkweb and arrested the three men allegedly running it. German police had on April 23 and 24 arrested the three German suspects aged 22 to 31 in the states of Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. The illicit "Wall Street Market" site enabled trade in cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamines as well as stolen data, fake documents and malicious software.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Cyclone Fani tore through India's eastern coast as a grade 5 storm, lashing beaches with rain and winds gusting up to 205 km (127 miles) per hour and affecting weather as far away as Mount Everest as it approached the former imperial capital of Kolkata. At least three people died Cyclone Fani slammed into eastern India. Media reports put the death toll at up to six.
(AP, 5/3/19)(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Two Israeli soldiers were wounded by Gaza gunfire near the border. A retaliatory Israeli air strike killed two militants from the Islamist Hamas group that governs Gaza. Two other Palestinians protesting near the frontier were also killed by Israeli forces.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 3, In Italy Norveo Fedeli (74) was found dead inside his clothing store in Viterbo. Police the next day arrested American Michael Aaron Pang (22) and alleged that he killed the storekeeper by striking him with a stool.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 3, Malawi's high court sentenced to death a man who murdered a young albino, an unprecedented penalty in a country which has seen a surge in attacks and killings of people with albinism.
(AFP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 3, Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese woman who was tried in the 2017 killing of the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader was released from a Malaysian prison and flew back to Hanoi.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Singapore police said that $26 million in 1MDB-related funds was in the process of being returned to Malaysia, the latest tranche in $176 million in cash and properties seized by the city-state relating to the scandal. Sources said US authorities will this month return $200 million stolen from Malaysia's state fund 1MDB, including money from a stake in a luxury New York hotel and from a Hollywood movie producer.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In Spain the town council of Barcelona voted to modify its zoo's bylaws to include a rule by which any of its breeding programs will be stopped unless there is a plan to eventually release the offspring into nature. The goal is to convert the zoo, which was built inside a park in the city center in 1892, into a center focused on education and research, and a refuge for animals that can no longer survive in liberty.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 3, In Syria at least a dozen air raids overnight on the southern edge of Idlib province killed six civilians. Government warplanes dropped over 68 indiscriminate barrel bombs on several villages, including a dozen in Kfar Nabudah alone.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Tunisia ordered the army to transport fuel to petrol stations on the second day of a strike by fuel distribution workers that has caused empty pumps and long queues across the country.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In northwestern Turkey at least two women and five children drowned after a boat carrying migrants sank off the Aegean coastal town of Ayvalik.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, The UN human rights office said Hungary is deliberately depriving rejected asylum seekers of food as they await deportation, in violation of international law.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, The UN's top food agencies said about 10 million people in North Korea are facing "severe food shortages" after the East Asian nation had one of the worst harvests in a decade.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, The World Bank said will extend more than half-a-billion dollars in grants for cyclone-ravaged southern African countries as he concluded a visit to Mozambique. A total of up to $545 million will be disbursed to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, the three countries hit by Cyclone Idai in March.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, A Venezuelan court issued a warrant for the arrest of opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, saying he violated an order that required him to remain under house arrest and restricted his ability to speak publicly. Lopez was evading arrest in a Spanish diplomatic residence. A Spanish government spokeswoman said Madrid had no intention of turning him over to Venezuelan authorities.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 4, US President Donald Trump says he still believes a nuclear deal with North Korea will happen, after the country fired several unidentified short-range projectiles into the sea off its eastern coast.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, A helicopter carrying two people crashed into Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. Rescue workers searched for survivors.
(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A6)
2019 May 4, SpaceX launched a load of supplies to the ISS. A recycled Dragon capsule carried 5,500 pounds of goods.
(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A6)
2019 May 4, In Afghanistan Taliban insurgents killed seven Afghan policemen after storming security checkpoints overnight in western Badghis province. The Afghan defense ministry also said that 43 militants from the Islamic state group, including foreign fighters, were killed in two separate coalition airstrikes during the night in coordination with Afghan forces.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, In Bosnia thousands of Muslims flocked to the town of Foca for the reopening of a historic mosque leveled at the beginning of the Bosnian war. The 16th century Aladza Mosque was one of the most prominent masterpieces of classical Ottoman architecture in the Balkans before its destruction in the 1992-95 war by Bosnian Serb forces.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Authorities in Curacao boarded the Freewinds ship that arrived in the Dutch Caribbean island under quarantine, to start vaccinating people to prevent a measles outbreak.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, In France demonstrators marched for a 25th straight weekend. Several dozen rallied at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport to denounce privatization plans.
(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A4)
2019 May 4, In France a Norwegian student filed a complaint for alleged rape in a fire hall in the Plaisance district of southern Paris. French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the woman told police she had consensual sex with one firefighter but then was raped by several others. Six firefighters faced charges in a following investigation.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 4, Tropical cyclone Fani, the strongest to hit India in five years, killed at least 12 people in eastern Odisha state before swinging north-eastwards into Bangladesh where five more people died and more than a million were moved to safety.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Indonesian authorities resumed their tough stance against illegal fishing in the country's waters by sinking 51 foreign ships. The seized ships were sunk at five ports across the archipelago.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Iranian state news reported that a court has sentenced Hossein Fereydoun, President Hassan Rouhani’s brother, to an unspecified jail term, in a corruption case the president’s supporters allege is politically motivated.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Israel said around 150 rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave by late this afternoon and that its air defenses intercepted dozens of them. Retaliatory airstrikes killed six Palestinians including a pregnant mother and her baby.
(AFP, 5/4/19)(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A5)
2019 May 4, Interstellar Technology Inc., a Japanese aerospace startup funded by a former internet maverick, successfully launched a small rocket into space, making it the first commercially developed Japanese rocket to reach orbit.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, The Japanese government said the nation's child population has declined for the 38th year in a row and is now at a record low.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, In Libya Islamic State militants killed at least nine soldiers in an attack on a training camp for the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) in the southwestern desert. A military source said Islamic State militants and Chadian opposition fighters were responsible for the attack.
(AP, 5/4/19)(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Syrian government forces and their Russian allies pounded the rebel-held northwest with fresh air strikes. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported more than 115 strikes against rebel-held areas. It said six civilians were killed raising to 67 the number of civilians and insurgents killed since April 30 when the government began its new campaign.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn (66) completed Buddhist and Brahmin rituals to symbolically transform him into a living god as the Southeast Asian nation crowned its first monarch in nearly seven decades.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the opposition's local election victory in Istanbul to be declared invalid and the vote re-run, increasing the pressure on the country's electoral authorities.
(AFP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Four Turkish soldiers were killed and two others wounded in two separate cross-border attacks by Kurdish militants.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Seven Venezuelan military officers were killed when their helicopter crashed while heading to a state where Pres. Nicolás Maduro appeared alongside troops.
(AP, 5/04/19)
2019 May 5, President Donald Trump announced a surprise threat to raise import taxes. Trump said he would raise import taxes on $200 billion in Chinese products to 25% from 10% as of May 10. Trump also threatened to slap tariffs on another $325 billion in Chinese imports, covering everything China ships annually to the United States.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 5, US national security adviser John Bolton said the Trump administration is deploying a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to troubling "indications and warnings" from Iran and to show the United States will retaliate with "unrelenting force" to any attack.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, In Afghanistan Taliban insurgents stormed a police headquarters in the capital of northern Baghlan province, killing at least three people. Coalition forces carried out airstrikes against Taliban-run heroin labs in Farah province. 15 laborers were reported killed. A provincial police chief's spokesman said those killed in Bakwa district were all members of the Taliban.
(AP, 5/05/19)(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 5, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah extended a moratorium on the death penalty to incoming legislation prohibiting gay sex, seeking to temper a global backlash led by celebrities such as George Clooney and Elton John.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Indian officials said hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless after a cyclone packing winds of about 200 km per hour slammed into eastern India. At least 33 people were killed after cyclone Fani struck the state of Odisha.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the military to continue "massive strikes" against Gaza's ruling Hamas group and Islamic Jihad. Rockets from Gaza killed three people in an Israeli city while five Palestinian militants died in surging cross-border fighting that included a return by Israel to singling out enemy commanders for attack. Hamas commander Hamed Ahmed Abed Khudri was killed in an air strike on his car.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Israeli tanks and warplanes had hit 350 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, killing 21 Palestinians, including 12 civilians. An Israeli military spokesman said the Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad had fired around 690 rockets toward Israel, killing four Israeli civilians.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 5, In Lebanon hundreds of foreign domestic workers demonstrated in Beirut to demand the scrapping of a sponsorship system that they complain leaves them open to abuse from employers.
(AFP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, A executive jet flying 13 people from Las Vegas crashed in northern Mexico near Ocampo. No survivors were seen during an air search.
(SFC, 5/7/19, p.A2)
2019 May 5, North Macedonia held a competitive runoff election to choose a new president, a vote seen as a test of the center-left government's pro-West policies despite the largely ceremonial duties of the country's head of state.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, North Korean state media showed leader Kim Jong Un observing live-fire drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a new short-range ballistic missile, a day after South Korea expressed concern that the launches were a violation of an inter-Korean agreement to cease all hostile acts.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Panama held presidential elections. Social democrat Laurentino Cortizo (66), a veteran politician and former agriculture minister, won the presidential election.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)(AFP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 5, A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane caught fire during an emergency landing in Moscow. 41 people were killed.
(Reuters, 5/06/19)
2019 May 5, In South Sudan a bush fire fanned by gusty winds has gutted four villages in the Western Bahr el Ghazal region, killing 33 people. The death toll was likely to rise.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 5, A Sudanese protester died a day after being shot during clashes with security forces at a sit-in in the western Darfur region.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, In Syria warplanes struck a hospital in northwestern Idlib province, knocking it out of service, as government forces continued to bombard the rebel-held region following insurgent attacks last week. Russian Air Force repeatedly bombed four hospitals in Syria in order to crush the last pockets of resistance to President Bashar Assad.
(AP, 5/05/19)(NY Times, 10/14/19)
2019 May 5, Human Rights Watch said Alia Abdul Noor, a woman with terminal cancer who was serving a 10-year prison sentence in the United Arab Emirates, has died in jail, two months after the United Nations called for her release on medical grounds.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Pope Francis arrived in Bulgaria and urged government leaders directly to "not close your eyes, your hearts or your hands, in accordance with your best tradition, to those who knock at your door".
(Reuters, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Many Muslims around the world began fasting to mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, In Afghanistan the Taliban stormed an army checkpoint overnight in western Farah province, killing 20 soldiers and abducting two. Insurgents struck security checkpoints in northeastern Takhar province's Khwaja Bahaudin district late today, killing eight members of the security forces — three soldiers and five policemen.
(AP, 5/06/19)(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 6, In Brazil at least eight people died when police raided a drug-scarred Rio de Janeiro neighborhood.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 6, Meghan, the wife of Britain’s Prince Harry, gave birth in the early hours to a baby boy, Archie, the first mixed race child to be born into a senior position in British royalty in recent history.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 6, Indian voters cast ballots in the crucial fifth phase of the country’s marathon elections.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, In India a panel of judges dismissed a sexual harassment complaint against chief justice Ranjan Gogoi. Protesters soon responded carrying placards demanding a new and impartial investigation.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 6, Officials said Cyclone Fani, that tore through parts of South Asia, has killed at least 34 people in India and 15 in neighboring Bangladesh and smashed thousands of thatched-roof huts.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, The Israeli military lifted protective restrictions on residents in southern Israel, while Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group reported a cease-fire deal had been reached to end the deadliest fighting between the two sides since a 2014 war.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Malaysia's attorney general said former Goldman Sachs executive Roger Ng has been temporarily extradited to the US to face criminal charges linked to the alleged multibillion-dollar ransacking of state investment fund 1MDB.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, In Niger a tanker truck explosion near the international airport in Niamey killed 55 people. The death toll soon rose to 76.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 6, In Russia a blast at the Azot chemical plant in the region of Perm killed three people. Russian fertilizer producer Uralchem owns the plant.
(Reuters, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Seven Russian tourists on a hiking holiday in Siberia were feared dead after an avalanche on a ridge in the Altai region. Two people survived.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 6, Spanish courts overruled a decision by Spain's Electoral Board and determined that Carles Puigdemont and two other Catalan separatists, who had fled abroad to escape arrest, must be allowed to run in this month's European Parliament elections.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, In Sri Lanka two people were arrested and an overnight curfew lifted after mobs attacked Muslim-owned shops and some vehicles in Negombo, where a suicide bombing targeted a Catholic church last month.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Syrian pro-government media said troops have captured al-Bani village and a strategic hill from insurgents in Hama province. Intense fighting killed 20 people.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Turkey’s High Election Board ruled for a fresh Istanbul mayoral contest on June 23, scrapping the March 31 vote, which was lost by Erdogan's party candidate, in a move that drew opposition accusations of dictatorship. Former Turkish PM Binali Yildirim will again be the ruling AK Party's candidate.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 6, The United Nations' first comprehensive report on biodiversity said nature is in more trouble now than at any other time in human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants and animals.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Pope Francis said the plight of suffering immigrants and refugees was "the cross of humanity," taking up their case for the second consecutive day during a visit to Bulgaria that has put him at odds with the government.
(Reuters, 5/06/19)
2019 May 7, A US appeals court ruled that the Trump administration may continue sending asylum seekers to wait out their cases in Mexico while the government appeals a lower court ruling that found the policy violated US immigration law.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, The US lifted sanctions on Gen. Manuel Figuera, a top Venezuelan general who broke ranks with President Nicolás Maduro, trying to help the opposition regain momentum in the face of a government crackdown following last week's failed uprising.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 7, US government inspectors reviewing a border station in El Paso, Texas, reported poor conditions for migrants, including overcrowding and a lack of sanitary conditions.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 May 7, In Colorado Kendrick Castillo, three days away from graduation, was killed in a shooting at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) School in Highlands Ranch. One of the two suspected shooters was soon identified as Devon Erickson (18). The other suspect was Alec McKinney (16), who had wanted to transition to male from female and had been bullied over gender identity. The two suspects opened fire in two separate classrooms and were arrested within minutes at the public charter school south of Denver. In 2020 McKinney pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and 16 other counts.
(AP, 5/08/19)(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A10)(SSFC, 2/9/20, p.A6)
2019 May 7, The New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights reported that Ethiopian garment factory workers are now, on average, the lowest paid in any major garment-producing company worldwide. The head of Ethiopia's Investment Commission questioned the report's monthly pay figure of $26 per month: "That is a basic salary but in Ethiopia the factories also provide a workplace meal and other services".
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, In eastern Afghanistan the Taliban targeted the police in Laghman province, killing four police officers, including a district police chief.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, The Arctic Council, under pressure from the US, issued a joint statement that excluded any mention of climate change.
(SFC, 5/8/19, p.A2)
2019 May 7, Brazil’s pro-gun Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, whose tough-on-crime rhetoric helped get him elected last year, signed a controversial order allowing Brazilians to own firearms if they meet certain criteria. Truckers, lawyers and politicians are among millions of Brazilians now eligible to carry loaded weapons in public.
(AFP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 7, In Brazil the head of the human rights commission of Rio de Janeiro's legislative assembly blamed state Gov. Wilson Witzel for a surge in police killings, which totaled a record 434 for the first three months of this year.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A2)
2019 May 7, In Congo DRC three suspects in the killing of UN investigators Michael Sharp of America and Zaida Catalan, a Swede, in March 2017, escaped from prison overnight. Evariste Ilunga, Kanowa Tshiaba and Mbayi Amoxi Tshikangu were on trial accused of participating in the killings.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, The Cuban government announced that it has cancelled this year's edition of a parade widely seen as a sign of progress on gay rights.
(SFC, 5/8/19, p.A2)
2019 May 7, In France Jean Vanier (90), a Canadian religious figure whose charity work helped improve conditions for the developmentally disabled in multiple countries over the past half-century, died in Paris. A visit to a psychiatric hospital prompted him to found L'Arche in 1964 as an alternative living environment where those with developmental disabilities could be full-fledged participants in the community instead of patients. It was later reported that Vanier had sexual relations with at least six women that were "manipulative," "coercive" or "non-consensual".
(AP, 5/07/19)(Econ., 2/29/20, p.41)
2019 May 7, In Guatemala gunfire during a prison riot left at least seven inmates dead at the Pavon Rehabilitation Model Farm in Fraijanes.
(SFC, 5/8/19, p.A2)
2019 May 7, Hungary deported two families of Afghan asylum-seekers, including three children and their pregnant mother, to Serbia late today. The deportation of a third Afghan family was put on hold the net say after the Hungarian Helsinki Committee secured an interim ruling in their favor at the European Court of Human Rights.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 7, Israeli police said two Israelis have been arrested on suspicion of setting up a "dark" Internet site that was used to buy weapons, drugs and stolen credit cards.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Employees at the Central Bank of Lebanon suspended their open-ended strike for three days, saying they hope their wages and benefits will not be cut.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Malaysia's attorney general said that the US will return $196 million recovered from seized assets linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund, part of which has already been repatriated.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Myanmar pardoned and released Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from prison. They had been arrested in December 2017 while working on a story about security forces involved in killing Rohingya and were accused of illegally possessing official documents.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Qatar said it is sending $480 million to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after a cease-fire deal ended the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants since a 2014 war.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, In northwestern Syria nine civilians were reported killed after midnight by bombardment and reported helicopters dropping barrel bombs. The Al-Watan daily said the army had captured the villages of al-Janabara and Tel Othman.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Thailand's Election Commission officially endorsed the results from the country's March 24 general election, declaring that the Pheu Thai Party associated with fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra topped the field by winning 136 constituencies. The commission said the rival military-backed Palang Pracharath Party trailed it with 97 seats.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Pope Francis made the first-ever papal visit to North Macedonia. Francis urged the Balkans to embrace its patchwork of faiths and ethnicities during his visit and held an open-air mass in the capital Skopje, the proud birthplace of Mother Teresa.
(AFP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Venezuela’s top court opened a criminal investigation against six opposition lawmakers for allegedly "betraying the homeland" and "instigating an insurrection," among other charges.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 7, The International Organization for Migration (IOM) called for the release of more than 3,000 migrants, mainly Ethiopians, who it said remain held in inhumane conditions in two detention centers in southern Yemen.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 8, The White House invoked executive privilege, reserving the right to block the full release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia probe, escalating President Donald Trump's battle with Congress.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, American educator Salman Khan and his Khan Academy online platform that offers free classes worldwide won Spain's Princess of Asturias award for international cooperation.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, The Rhodium Group research firm said that Chinese direct investment in the United States dropped 83% last year, pushed down by growing mistrust between the world's two biggest economies.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration said that it would ban the agricultural use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide used by farmers on crops from apples to walnuts. Last month the state classified it as a "toxic air contaminant".
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.a1)
2019 May 8, In southern California Girard Saenz (57), a longtime companion of Los Angeles real estate mogul Cynthia Beck, was arrested after authorities seized more than 1,000 guns from a home in Holmby Hills.
(SFC, 5/10/19, p.A7)
2019 May 8, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing for more armed teachers in state classrooms.
(SFC, 5/10/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In Michigan a boy (9) was charged with murder in the fatal shooting with a rifle of his mother in Fawn River Township.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In NYC six family members, including four children were killed when a fire ravaged a Harlem apartment.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In Oregon tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job to demand more money for schools.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In Utah the Salt Lake Tribune announced plans to become a nonprofit in an effort to ensure long-term stability.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In Afghanistan an assault on the Kabul office of Counterpart International, a group that promotes gender equity, killed at least nine people. The Taliban attacked a police outpost in northern Balkh province, killing five policemen.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, Human Rights Watch reported a new wave of gay men being detained and tortured in the Russian republic of Chechnya.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, It was reported that China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation has been awarded a contract to recover natural gas from Iraq's Halfaya oil field to fuel power stations in the country's underserved Maysan province.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, China-based Tencent Holdings Ltd shut down its test version of global blockbuster "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" in China and shifted users to a similar, more patriotic video game which, unlike PUBG, has regulatory approval to generate revenue.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In eastern Congo DRC heavy fighting between the army and local militiamen killed at least nine people in the Ebola-stricken city of Butembo.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, The European Union's police agency said it has helped police in Spain break up an international gang suspected of offering modern money laundering services to other criminal organizations.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced steps that stop short of violating its 2015 deal with world powers for now, but threatening more action if countries did not shield it from US sanctions. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran's decision to scale back some curbs to its nuclear program was legal and reversible.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, The Iraqi judiciary announced that it has tried and sentenced more than 500 foreigners since the start of 2018 for joining the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In Iraq gunmen shot dead five members of a family in an attack on their house late today near the northern city of Mosul.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weaponry.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte dismissed Armando Siri, a junior minister involved in a graft scandal. Siri was put under investigation last month for allegedly accepting a bribe from a wind farm entrepreneur who has been linked to the Sicilian Mafia.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In western Japan a car slammed into a group of 16 mostly kindergarten children who were strolling on a sidewalk in the lakeside city of Otsu, leaving two dead.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Japanese telecoms company Softbank Corp. said that it will spend 456.5 billion yen ($4 billion) to increase its stake in Yahoo Japan to nearly 45%.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In Mexico gunmen killed a union official accompanying protesting street vendors in Cuernavaca. A 2nd man as also killed.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A2)
2019 May 8, New Zealand's Reserve Bank cut the nation's benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to an all-time low of 1.5%. The bank said lower immigration rates had slowed the housing market and led to lower household spending.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In eastern Pakistan a suicide bomber attacked security forces guarding a famous Sufi shrine in Lahore, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20 others. Hizbul Ahrar, an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Pakistani officials said Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row, has left for Canada to be reunited with her daughters.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Paraguay declared a state of emergency in a southern province as torrential rains continued to swell rivers and cause floods.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A2)
2019 May 8, In Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, a US air strike killed 13 Islamic State fighters, days after another strike killed three.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 8, Singapore passed a law criminalizing publication of fake news and allowing the government to block and order the removal of such content. The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill passed by a vote of 72-9.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, South Africa held parliamentary and provincial elections amid frustration with a lack of progress 25 years after Nelson Mandela’s ANC swept to power at the end of white minority rule in 1994.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Syrian troops pushed their way into a northwestern rebel-held enclave, clashing with insurgents and widening an offensive that until now had mainly involved aerial bombings and shelling.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Tanzanian opposition activist Mdude Nyagali was found late today beaten and unconscious at a village in the country's southern highlands five days after unidentified people abducted him, stoking new fears of an opposition crackdown.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, Thailand's Election Commission allocated the 150 party list seats in the 500-member House of Representatives under a formula related to the proportion of each party's nationwide popular vote total. Twenty-six parties were granted seats, 14 of them one apiece.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, UN-linked aid groups began suspending activities in parts of violence-plagued northwest Syria, where stepped up bombardment by the regime and Russia is jeopardizing the safety of humanitarian workers.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 8, Venezuelan intelligence agents detained opposition leader Juan Guaido's congressional deputy, using a tow truck to drag his vehicle away with him inside, prompting the US government to warn of "consequences" if he was not released.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, US Pres. Donald Trump urged Iran's leadership to sit down and talk with him about giving up Tehran's nuclear program and said he could not rule out a military confrontation given the heightened tensions between the two countries.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, The United States announced a highly unusual seizure of a huge North Korean cargo ship involved in banned coal transports.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, Former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was freed from a US jail after two months in custody. She is expected to appear before a different grand jury, on Thursday, May 16.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, US federal prosecutors in Virginia arrested Daniel Everette Hale (31), a former US intelligence analyst, for providing classified information to a reporter under the Espionage Act and with theft of government property.
(SFC, 5/10/19, p.A5)
2019 May 9, US and Chinese negotiators resumed trade talks just hours before the United States was set to raise tariffs on Chinese imports in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the world's two biggest economies.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, The US called on North Korea to "dismantle all political prison camps" and release all political prisoners, who it said numbered between 80,000 and 120,000.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In NYC German con artist Anna Sorokin, a 28-year-old who was born in Russia, was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for swindling banks, hotels and wealthy New Yorkers. She had used a fake identity as a German heiress named Anna Delvey to scam victims out of more than $200,000.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, In Argentina civil servant Marcelo Yadon (58) was shot five times at close range as he walked in a square in front of the National Congress this morning with his childhood friend and lawmaker Hector Olivares )61). Two men were arrested the next day on suspicion of murder. Press reports later claimed the motive was related to a relationship between Yadon, who was married with children, and the 24-year-old daughter of one of the shooters.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, In Australia three Sunni Muslim men were convicted of engaging in a terror act by burning down a Shiite mosque in the city of Melbourne on Dec. 11, 2016.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Australia's central bank took responsibility for typos on 46 million bank notes after a radio station posted an image of the microscopic error on social media. The word “responsibility" appears three times on the note and the third "i'' is omitted every time.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, The BBC fired Danny Baker, a broadcaster with BBC Radio 5 Live, who tweeted an image of a chimpanzee dressed in clothes below the caption "Royal Baby leaves hospital".
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Ambani's Reliance Brands announced late today that it had bought the 259-year-old British toy store Hamleys from the Hong Kong-listed Chinese fashion conglomerate C. Banner International Holdings for $88 million. India-based Ambani is currently engaged in fierce competition with Amazon and Walmart in an ongoing race to dominate India's retail market.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, China vowed to defend its own interests and retaliate if President Donald Trump goes ahead with more tariff hikes in a dispute over trade and technology.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, EU leaders, minus Britain, meeting in Sibiu, Romania, committed to stick together "through thick and thin" to remain a key player in the world despite myriad problems facing the bloc.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, French unions held strikes and protests against 120,000 job cuts and other deep changes to France's huge public sector by Pres. Emmanuel Macron's government.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, A French human rights group sought to block the loading of weapons onto a Saudi Arabian vessel that is due to dock in northern France later in the day, arguing the cargo contravened an international arms treaty.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In Iraq gunmen attacked a grain silo in the northern town of Shirqat, killing a guard and setting fire to a vehicle. A suicide bombing killed 8 people at the Jamila marketplace in Baghdad's sprawling Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City. The Islamic State soon claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, In southern Libya three people were killed in a suspected hit-and-run attack by Islamic State militants on the town of Ghadwa.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, A Montenegro court sentenced 13 people, including two Russian secret service operatives, to up to 15 years in prison after they were convicted of plotting to overthrow the Balkan country's government on Oct. 16, 2016, and prevent it from joining NATO. The two Russians, identified as Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, were tried in absentia.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In Northern Ireland four males, aged 15, 18, 38 and 51, were arrested under terrorism laws in connection with the killing of journalist Lyra McKee in Londonderry last month.
(AFP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, North Korea fired two suspected short-range missiles toward the sea, its second weapons launch in five days and a possible warning that nuclear disarmament talks with Washington could be in danger.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In Pakistan three soldiers and two coalminers were killed in attacks in the town of Hernai in volatile southwestern Baluchistan province.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the 74th annual military Victory Day parade in Red Square that the country will continue to strengthen its armed forces.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Russia’s government agency for aerial protection of forests said wildfires are blazing on about 58,000 hectares (145,000 acres) throughout the eastern reaches.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Syrian government troops captured the northwestern village of Qalaat al-Madiq, known for its medieval fortress, and two smaller nearby villages as they moved deeper toward Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Taiwan broke ground on a shipyard to produce submarines to counter China's growing military threat.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Pope Francis issued a new church law about reporting clergy sex abuse and cover-up, outlining investigation procedures when the accused is a bishop or religious superior.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In Yemen grain silos outside the port of Hodeida, vital to UN plans to feed millions of needy, were hit by gunfire just days after aid staff gained access. The silos, controlled by troops of a Saudi-led coalition, are close to front line with Huthi rebels who control the port and much of the city of Hodeida.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, President Donald Trump said trade talks between China and the US are continuing in a "very congenial manner." Trump more than doubled tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. Beijing said it would retaliate but that talks would continue.
(AP, 5/10/19)(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, The Pentagon said it was diverting another $1.5 billion for new barriers to stop illegal immigrants on the US-Mexico border, following the authorization of $1 billion in March.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Louisiana Ronald Greene (49) was dragged on his stomach by leg shackles following a violent arrest and high-speed pursuit. Video later showed troops choking and beating Greene, who soon died under police custody near Monroe. Trooper Chris Hollingsworth died in a car crash in Sept., 2020, after learning he had been fired for his role in the incident. In 2021 Master Trooper Cory York was suspended without pay. Body camera footage was released two years after Greene's death.
(https://tinyurl.com/y9pnpge4)(SFC, 3/1/21, p.A6)(USA Today, 5/27/21)
2019 May 10, In Brazil a few thousand people gathered in the center of Rio de Janeiro to protest against stiff budget cuts imposed by the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to the public education sector.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, A Brazilian supreme court judge said that President Jair Bolsonaro and his Justice Ministry had five days to respond to opposition assertions that a recently passed gun decree was unconstitutional.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Brazil Alfredo Sirkis, head of a government-backed climate forum, was fired. He said the firing was probably related to the forum's initiative to organize 12 Brazilian states to create a council on climate change that would act independently from the federal government.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Simon Armitage was named the UK's new Poet Laureate, succeeding Carol Ann Duffy in the 10-year post.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In northern Burkina Faso French special forces freed two French hostages, an American and a South Korean in an overnight military raid in which two French soldiers died. French tourists, identified as Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas, had disappeared while on holiday in the remote Pendjari National Park in Benin on May 1.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Chinese prosecutors filed formal charges against former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, accusing him of abuse of power and taking bribes, in the next legal step before he faces a court.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, In Colombia four people died and 29 were injured, including 17 children, following an explosion at a factory where gunpowder is handled in Bogota.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Communist-run Cuba said it would control more the sales of certain foodstuff and hygiene products, including adding some back to the ration card, due to shortages that it blamed partly on the tightening of the US trade embargo.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Greek far-left extremist Dimitris Koufodinas (61), serving 11 life terms for a string of murders, vowed to continue "until the end" a hunger strike if his bid to get a new leave from prison isn't granted. Koufodinas is the chief hit man for the November 17 group that killed 23 people from 1975-2000.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, It was reported that case of African swine fever has been detected in a Hong Kong slaughterhouse, prompting the culling of all 6,000 pigs at the facility. The incurable virus was found in a single pig imported from a farm in Guangdong province in mainland China.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Islamic State (IS) claimed for the first time that it has established a "province" in India, after a clash between militants and security forces in the contested Kashmir region killed a militant with alleged ties to the group. An Indian police statement said that a militant called Ishfaq Ahmad Sofi was killed in an encounter in Shopian.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Indonesia hundreds of supporters of an opposition presidential candidate marched to protest against what they called election fraud, as the government warned that efforts to cast doubt on the outcome could amount to treason.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Tehran will not negotiate with the United States and denied any US attack was likely, a day after US President Donald Trump urged talks and said he could not rule out a military confrontation.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Israel lifted a ban on Palestinian fishing boats operating off Gaza, ending a measure imposed during a deadly flare-up of violence earlier this month. The new limits imposed by Israel were 12 nautical miles in the southern half of Gaza, and six nautical miles in the north.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Dozens of Lebanese military and security veterans protested for the second time in two weeks against proposed cuts to their pensions and benefits, as the government discussed a budget bill that aims to cut public spending and usher in austerity measures.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Mexicans with missing children led marches in 16 cities, on the local celebration of Mother's Day, to protest the government's failure to find their sons and daughters or bring their cases to justice. More than 40,000 persons were said to be missing in Mexico.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, In Nigeria hundreds of protesters marched through Abuja demanding an end to police impunity, after police officers were accused of carrying out a string of sexual assaults.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, In Nigeria a regional militia allied with government forces freed almost 900 children it had used in the war against Islamist Boko Haram insurgents.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, In Nigeria the Islamic State (IS) killed 11 government soldiers in an attack on the northeastern town of Gajiganna.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, The Norwegian Refugee Council estimated that a record 41 million people have been displaced within their countries, with many forced to flee conflict, violence and internal tensions in several African countries and Syria.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Portugal's parliament rejected proposed retroactive pay hikes for teachers, quelling the prospects of a political crisis following last week's threat by the government to resign if the measure was approved.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, It was reported that Portugal's attorney general is charging two former secretaries of state and 14 other former senior officials with accepting improper benefits after they allegedly received free trips from an energy company to attend an international soccer tournament.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, A Saudi vessel that had been due to load arms in France left the country's Le Havre port without its cargo of weapons and sailed towards Santander in Spain.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, South Africa’s ANC led the parliamentary race with 57% of the vote. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) was at 21% and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) had garnered 10%.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Syrian rebel groups launched a counteroffensive to retake territory lost to government forces this week in their stronghold in the country's northwest. Air strikes and shelling in the northwest killed 10 civilians.
(AP, 5/10/19)(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Thailand student activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, also known as Pai Dao Din, who was arrested in Dec. 2016 for sharing a BBC article about Thailand's king on Facebook, was released under a royal pardon. He had been due to complete his sentence on June 19.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Human Rights Watch said three Thai activists facing charges of insulting the monarchy have disappeared after reportedly being arrested in Vietnam. Chucheep Chiwasut, who broadcasts political commentary to Thailand from exile, and fellow activists Siam Theerawut and Kritsana Thapthai were reportedly turned over to Thai authorities by Vietnam on May 8.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Tunisian fishermen rescued 16 people and brought them to shore in Zarzis. Around 60 migrants, most of them from Bangladesh, died after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea after it left Libya for Italy.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Turkey columnist Yavuz Selim Demirag, critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and its nationalist allies, was beaten up by about five or six people with baseball bats after appearing on a TV show.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, United Nations environmental officials said almost every country in the world has agreed on a legally binding framework for reducing polluting plastic waste, with the United States a notable exception.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Venezuela announced it was re-opening its land border with Brazil after Maduro ordered it shut in February. Maritime links with the Caribbean island of Aruba were also reopened. The border with Colombia and links with other parts of the former Dutch Antilles remained closed.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Yemeni officials said fighting continues in the country's southern Dhale province between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and pro-government forces.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 11, In Hawaii CO2 levels at the Mauna Loa Observatory reached 415 parts per million, more than twice the level during the ice ages. Scientists said the current concentration has not been seen in 3 million years, a time when Antarctica was covered in forests.
(SSFC, 5/19/19, p.A16)W
2019 May 11, In Afghanistan unidentified gunmen in Kabul shot and killed Mena Mangal, a female journalist and adviser to the country's parliament.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, In Albania thousands of supporters of the center-right opposition protested in Tirana, calling for the left-wing government to resign and for an early parliamentary election.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, Chinese media reported that police have seized more than 210,000 hard drives produced by a counterfeit ring that sold them as brand-name items from the likes of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM. The Xinhua news agency said police arrested 56 suspects at two factories and four offices in the cities of Nanjing, Beijing, Chongqing and Guangzhou, where the hard drives were made and sold, and that the action against the counterfeiters was carried out late last year.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, Animal rights groups cheered the release of 37 spotted seal pups rescued from traffickers into the wild in northern China in a small victory for efforts to save the country's endangered species.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, Cuban police broke up an unauthorized pro-LGBT rights march in Havana, held as an alternative to the government-sanctioned Gay Rights parade that authorities canceled earlier in the week.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, In France "Yellow vest" protesters gathered in Paris and other cities for the 26th straight week of rallies against President Emmanuel Macron, with scattered incidents of violence but overall a marked decline in the size of the crowds.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, In Germany the bodies of a man and two women were found with crossbow bolts in them in a hotel room in Passau, Bavaria. On May 13 two more dead women were found in the town of Wittingen. The bodies had been dead for several days, no crossbows or arrows were found, and there were no signs of a struggle. Media later reported that Torsten W. (53) appeared to have controlled the four women like a harsh sect leader who used physical force and psychological manipulation.
(AP, 5/12/19)(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 11, Hong Kong's legislative assembly descended into chaos as lawmakers for and against controversial amendments to the territory's extradition law clashed over access to the chamber.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, Mexican state prosecutors said investigators over the last week have found thirty-five bodies buried around the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the country's second city. Four suspects were reported arrested.
(Reuters, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, Mexican authorities declared emergencies in 11 municipalities in the southern state of Oaxaca due to raging forest fires, as high temperatures and dry conditions plague much of the country.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, In Pakistan an assault on the Pearl Continental hotel in the southwestern coastal town of Gwadar left nine people dead, including four gunmen killed by security forces.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, Several thousand nationalists rallied in Warsaw against a US law on the restitution of Jewish properties seized during the Holocaust, an issue which has surfaced ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, Saudi Arabia's security forces killed eight alleged terrorists in a shootout in the predominantly Shiite eastern region of Qatif.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, The African National Congress retained control of South Africa's parliament but its share of the vote fell, a rebuke from voters fed up with corruption scandals and racial inequalities that remain entrenched a generation after the party took power. With all votes counted the ruling party secured 57.51% of the votes in the May 1 general election.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)(SFC, 5/12/19, p.A4)
2019 May 11, Yemen's Houthi rebels began a long-delayed withdrawal of their forces from the key port city of Hodeida, following the terms of a cease-fire.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 12, In Afghanistan unidentified gunmen killed Abdul Ghafour Mahmoud, a deputy intelligence director for northern Baghlan province. In the north the Taliban targeted security checkpoints in Sari Pul province late today, killing at least seven members of the country's security forces. The insurgents also abducted two members of the force and left five wounded.
(AP, 5/12/19)(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, The ruling coalition of Argentine President Mauricio Macri suffered a heavy defeat in elections held in Cordoba province, the country's second most populous district.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, Argentine legislator Héctor Olivares died three days after being seriously wounded in a gun attack that killed a provincial official near the country's congressional building in Buenos Aires.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, Albania's center-right opposition decided to continue protests calling for the resignation of the government and for an early parliamentary election.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, In northern Burkina Faso gunmen killed a priest and five parishioners during mass Sunday in an attack on a Catholic church in Dablo.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, Indians voted in the next-to-last round of a six-week-long national election marked by a highly acrimonious campaign that has seen PM Narendra Modi blame opposition party chief Rahul Gandhi's family for the country's ills.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, Israel reopened its crossings with the blockaded Gaza Strip after closing them during a deadly escalation earlier this month, as a fragile truce held.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, In Kashmir thousands of people took to the streets to protest the alleged rape of a 3-year-old girl by a neighbor who lured her to a school bathroom. The girl was hospitalized in critical condition on May 8, but her condition has stabilized. The suspect's family produced a school-issued birth certificate giving his age as 13. Protesters said the suspect is not less than 20 and he worked in a motor repair workshop.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, Lithuanians voted for a new president in a close race dominated by concerns over poverty and income inequality in the Baltic state that boasts some of the eurozone's strongest growth. Ingrida Simonyte (44) won the round with 31.4 percent, only a 2,647-vote advantage over Gitanas Nauseda (54) who had 31.2 percent. PM Saulius Skvernelis (48) had 21 percent.
(AFP, 5/12/19)(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, Voters in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia cast ballots for their local Congress, with separatists hoping to win a majority. Under a 1998 agreement, there can be two further votes on independence before 2022 in the archipelago located more than 1,000 km (600 miles) northeast of Brisbane, Australia.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, In North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski was sworn in as the new president, promising he will serve all citizens in a deeply divided society and will lobby European Union leaders to approve the start of his country's accession talks in June.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, It was reported that Sri Lankan authorities have arrested Mohamed Aliyar (60), a Saudi-educated scholar, for what they claim are links with Zahran Hashim, the suspected ringleader of the Easter Sunday bombings. Two Muslim community sources said his hardline views were partly shaped by ultra-conservative Salafi-Wahhabi texts that he picked up at the Center for Islamic Guidance's library around 2-3 years ago.
(Reuters, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, In northwestern Syria Insurgents fired rockets into the government-held Christian town of Suqailabiyah, killing six people, including five children who were playing near a monastery.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, It was reported that nearly 128,000 people in Syria have never emerged from prison over the last eight years and are presumed to be either dead or still in custody under the Assad regime.
(SFC, 6/8/19, p.A6)
2019 May 12, The UAE said that four commercial vessels were sabotaged near Fujairah emirate, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs lying just outside the Strait of Hormuz, but did not describe the nature of the attack or say who was behind it. Two Saudi oil tankers were targeted in the attack.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, Venezuelan Gen. Ramon Rangel called on the country's armed forces to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro, who has relied on the backing of the military to hold on to power despite an economic collapse. Rangel fled to Colombia last month.
(Reuters, 5/12/19)
2019 May 13, US police launched a bid to evict Americans who have been occupying the Venezuelan embassy in Washington for weeks in protest against opposition leader Juan Guaido. Three people left and the estimated four who remained inside were given notice that they "have to leave the building".
(AFP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 13, Alabama Public Television chose not to air the PBS children's show "Arthur" because it showed Arthur attending the wedding of his teacher with a same-sex partner.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A4)
2019 May 13, In Alaska at least four people were killed when two sightseeing planes carrying cruise ship tourists collided in midair near Ketchikan. Two people remained missing.
(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A6)
2019 May 13, A jury in Oakland, Ca., ordered Bayer-owned Monsanto to pay more than $2 billion in damages to a Livermore couple that sued on grounds the product caused their cancer in a third major legal blow to the chemical giant and its weedkiller Roundup. The couple had used Roundup on their property for more than 30 years. The punitive damages were later cut to $69 mil.
(AFP, 5/14/19)(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A1)(SFC, 8/10/21, p.C1)
2019 May 13, US actress Felicity Huffman (56) pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge for her role in in a brazen test-fixing and bribery scheme to inflate her daughters SAT score.
(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A6)
2019 May 13, Doris Day (b.1922), American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist, died in Carmel Valley Village, Ca. Her 39 feature films included “Romance on the High Seas (1948), “Calamity Jane" (1953), “The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), “Pillow Talk" (1959) and “The Thrill of It All" (1963).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Day)
2019 May 13, A Texas police officer shot and killed Pamela Turner (44) at an apartment complex in the Houston area community of Baytown. Police say she grabbed his Taser and used it on him following an attempted arrest on outstanding warrants.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.A4)
2019 May 13, Arab activist Iyad el-Baghdadi, living in Norway, said he's been given protection by two different Norwegian entities after the CIA informed officials of an unspecified threat against him, which he said is likely linked to his research on Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, A group of islanders off Australia's north coast filed a human rights complaint to the United Nations against the Australian government over inaction on climate change, which they say is threatening their homes. Torres Strait Islanders are part of Australia's indigenous population.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, The wife of Meng Hongwei, the former Interpol president jailed in China, said France has granted her refugee status.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, In eastern Congo DRC police and soldiers repelled an overnight attack on an Ebola treatment center in Katwa, killing one Mai-Mai assailant. Two patients also died after the nursing staff fled the facility.
(AFP, 5/13/19)(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A2)
2019 May 13, In Egypt a civilian church guard shot and killed a priest in Cairo. Officials said the quarrel broke out in St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church in the Shubra el-Kheima district when the priest refused to give money to the guard to help him pay for his daughter's wedding. The guard was arrested after the shooting.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, European Union anti-trust regulators said they are fining AB Inbev, the world's biggest brewer, more than 200 million euros ($225 million) for abusing its dominant position in the Belgian beer market.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Guatemala's top court said that it had barred the daughter of former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt from taking part in presidential elections in June.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 13, Iran said it had sentenced an Iranian woman to 10 years prison for spying for Britain, as tension rises between Tehran and some Western countries over its nuclear and missile programs.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, A fishing boat that was illegally carrying eight Syrian refugees to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus capsized off the northern Lebanese town of Chekka. Lebanon's navy detained three of the Syrians when they returned to the coast and five others remained still missing.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Malaysian police said they detained four men last week who were planning to assassinate 'high-profile targets" and bomb places of worship and entertainment centers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, In Malaysia a teenager (16) reportedly jumped to her death in eastern Sarawak state after asking her Instagram followers to vote on whether she should kill herself.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 13, The Nigerian army said it rescued 54 women and children over the weekend held captive in Borno State by the extremist group Boko Haram.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Filipinos voted in midterm elections highlighted by a showdown between Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's allies who aim to dominate the Senate and opposition candidates fighting for checks and balances under a leader they regard as a looming dictator.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, In Sri Lanka a Muslim man was hacked to death in violence in which members of the country's largely Buddhist majority ethnic Sinhalese attacked Muslim-owned shops and homes in several towns. The government imposed curfew across its northwest province. This was the third time it has taken such a step since last month's Easter attacks that killed more than 250 people.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)(AP, 5/13/19)(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 13, Sudanese police and Rapid Support Forces used tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters in Khartoum North and removed barriers they had set up on a main street leading to the heart of the capital.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Sweden reopened an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and said it will seek his extradition from Britain, potentially delaying efforts by the United States to bring him to its courts to face trial over a huge release of secret documents.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, The pro-government Syrian Central Military Media said government forces have captured the villages of Hawash and Jabrieh and Hawash hill on the southern edges of Idlib. Opposition activists reported government airstrikes and shelling of different areas in Idlib.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, A Turkish court handed down 53 life sentences without parole to Yusuf Nazik (34), a man who authorities said planned a 2013 bomb attack near the Syrian border that killed dozens of people in the town of Reyhanli, near the border with Syria. Two other suspects were sentenced for aiding a terror group.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Amnesty International said in a report that Vietnam has stepped up its imprisonment of political activists, intensifying a crackdown that has seen the number of prisoners of conscience increase by almost a third since last year.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Yemen's warring parties started fresh U.N.-sponsored talks in Jordan, two days after Houthi forces began withdrawing from the ports of Hodeidah, breaking a six month stalemate.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 14, US officials listed $300 billion more of Chinese goods for possible tariff hikes while Beijing vowed to "fight to the finish" in an escalating trade battle.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, The US National Labor Relations Board issued a memorandum concluding that Uber drivers are contractors, not employees.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.D1)
2019 May 14, The Alabama senate voted 25-6 to pass the most restrictive abortion bill in the US, which places a near-total ban on the termination of pregnancy -- even in cases of rape and incest -- and could punish doctors who perform the procedure with life in prison. Governor Ivey has not yet said whether she will sign the bill.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 14, San Francisco became the first city in the country to ban city use of facial recognition surveillance technology.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.C8)
2019 May 14, In the SF Bay Area a whale washed up near Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica. This was the 10th whale found dead in the region over the last two months.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.C1)
2019 May 14, In southern California Tim Conway (85), former co-star on the Carol Burnett variety show, died in Los Angeles. Conway appeared in a number of films including "The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975), and was the voice for Barnacle Boy in "Spongebob Squarepants".
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.A5)
2019 May 14, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (53) announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.A4)
2019 May 14, In NYC an 1890 Claude Monet painting from his celebrated "Meules" (Haystacks) series fetched $110.7 million in a Sotheby’s auction, a record for the French Impressionist master.
(AFP, 5/15/19)(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A6)
2019 May 14, Bangladesh police clashed with suspected people smugglers sending Rohingya Muslim refugees to Malaysia, killing two of the traffickers.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 14, In parts of Bosnia homes and roads flooded after rivers broke their banks following heavy rains, triggering concerns of a repeat of floods five years ago when dozens died. One boy (6) was reported missing.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Rumen Porozhanov resigned, the latest high-level official to step down in scandals involving purchases of luxury properties and the building of guest houses with EU aid for private use.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Hong Kong legislators clashed over a proposed extradition law that would allow people to be sent to China for trial, after ugly brawls in the legislature over the weekend.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi, days after India decided to follow US restrictions on buying Iranian oil. Zarif held discussions with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on issues of mutual interest, including the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, In Israel hackers succeeded in flashing a fake rocket attack warning during a webcast of a Eurovision song contest semi-final. Israel's public broadcaster blamed the incident on Islamist group Hamas.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 14, Mali urged the European Union to step up support for Africa's Sahel countries amid a series of extremist attacks, as France mourned two officers killed during a hostage rescue mission in the region.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, In Niger 28 soldiers were killed after an ambush by jihadists not far from the volatile border with Mali. Jihadists linked to the Islamic State soon claimed responsibility.
(AP, 5/16/19)(Reuters, 5/16/19)(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A2)
2019 May 14, North Korea accused the United States of betraying the spirit of a summit agreement last June between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, called the US seizure of a North Korean cargo ship involved in banned coal exports a "robbery," and demanded that the vessel be returned immediately.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, In Papua New Guinea a magnitude 7.5 quake struck late today at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 14, Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki vowed tougher punishments for those who sexually abuse minors after a new film spurred the country into grappling with the problem of abuse by priests. The documentary "Tell No One" has triggered soul searching in the deeply Catholic country since it was released May 11 on YouTube.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Saudi Arabia said armed drones had struck two oil pumping stations in the kingdom in what it called a "cowardly" act of terrorism two days after Saudi oil tankers were sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Houthi-run Masirah TV earlier said the group had launched drone attacks on "vital" Saudi installations in response to "continued aggression and blockade" on Yemen.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Officials data showed that South Africa's unemployment rate has risen by half a percentage point to 27.6 percent.
(AFP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Spain's Supreme Court ruled that five Catalan separatist leaders can leave prison to be sworn-in as lawmakers on May 21, but said it would not halt the trial over their role in Catalonia's independence bid in 2017.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Sri Lankan police arrested 23 people in connection with a spate of attacks on Muslim-owned homes and shops in apparent reprisal for the Easter bombings by Islamist militants that killed more than 250 people.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, In Sudan security agents loyal to ousted President Omar al-Bashir attacked protester sit-ins overnight, setting off clashes that killed six people, including an army officer, and heightened tensions as the opposition held talks with the military.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, A UN fact-finding mission said the world must cut off financial and other support for Myanmar's armed forces, repeating a call for top generals to be prosecuted for abuses against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 15, Pres. Donald Trump granted a full pardon to Conrad Black, a former newspaper published who had written a flattering 2018 political biography of Trump: "Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other." Black was convicted of fraud in 2007 and served 3½ years in prison.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A5)
2019 May 15, The US ordered all non-emergency staff to leave its embassy in Baghdad and consulate in Arbil, as tensions mounted between the United States and Iraq's neighbor Iran, prompting Kremlin concern.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, The Trump administration issued an executive order apparently aimed at banning Huawei equipment from US networks and said it was subjecting the Chinese company to strict export controls.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 15, Alabama's governor signed a bill making the performance of an abortion a felony in nearly all cases.
(SFC, 5/18/19, p.A4)
2019 May 15, California’s Berkeley-based Kitkit School and London's onebillion educational nonprofit were declared co-winners of the $10 million XPRIZE For Global Learning, funded by Elon Musk. The goal was to develop open-sourced software, put it on tablets donated by Google and have thousands of children in 170 remote villages in Tanzania test it.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 15, California-based PG&E acknowledged that its power equipment caused the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County that left 85 people dead. An 86th victim of the fire died on August 5.
(SFC, 5/16/19, p.A1)(SFC, 8/8/19, p.C1)
2019 May 15, In San Francisco Benedict Ching (73) failed to show up for work. Days later police found his severed head and other body parts in a refrigerator at his home at 161 Del Monte. Daughter Stephanie Ching (35) and husband Douglas Lomas were soon extradited from China and charged with murder and conspiracy. In 2020 Stephanie Ching pleaded guilty to being an accesory after the fact. Lomas pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to six years in prison.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.C1)(SFC, 10/21/20, p.B2)
2019 May 15, Lionel Rubalcava of San Jose, Ca., walked out of Pleasant Valley State Prison in Fresno after spending 17 years behind bars for a shooting in 2002. His life sentence for attempted murder had been overturned due to wrongful conviction.
(SSFC, 5/19/19, p.C11)
2019 May 15, In NYC Christie's auctioned a 1986 stainless steel sculpture of "Rabbit" by Jeff Koons for over $91 million. This became the most expensive work ever sold at auction by a living artist.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A5)
2019 May 15, Facebook announced it would tighten access to its livestreaming feature as New Zealand's premier Jacinda Ardern and French leader Emmanuel Macron prepared to launch the global "Christchurch Call" initiative to tackle the spread of extremism online.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Retired American Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn won Spain's Princess of Asturias award for sports. Her achievements included a women's record of 82 World Cup wins and three Olympic medals. She was forced to retire in February at age 34 after suffering multiple injuries.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Austrian lawmakers approved plans to ban girls in elementary schools from wearing headscarves, a move that would add to existing restrictions on veils.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 15, In northeast Congo DRC at least 19 people were killed when gunmen attacked a fish market in the village of Tara near Lake Albert.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 15, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi opened a suspension bridge over the Nile touted as the world's widest, one of a series of military-led, mega-projects designed to improve infrastructure and provide jobs. The bridge crosses the Nile's Warraq Island, which has an estimated 100,000 residents.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, In France world leaders and tech bosses met in Paris to find ways to stop terrorist use of social media to spread deadly ideas.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Greek lawmakers approved tax breaks and bonuses for pensioners in the crisis-hit nation days before elections, rowing back some austerity mandated by international bailouts.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Α Greek court acquitted nine Turkish citizens of terrorism-related offences, citing a lack of evidence. Greek police had arrested the eight men and one woman in dawn raids in central Athens, days before a state visit by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Greece in December 2017.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Takafumi Horie, founder of Japan's Interstellar Technology Inc., said his company plans to provide low-cost rocket services and compete with American rivals such as SpaceX.
(SFC, 5/16/19, p.A2)
2019 May 15, Nepalese Sherpa climber Kami Rita scaled Mount Everest for a 23rd time, breaking his own record for the most successful ascents of the world's highest peak.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, North Korea said it is suffering its worst drought in nearly four decades amid reports of severe food shortages.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Sudan's ruling generals and opposition leaders said they have made significant progress in negotiations and have agreed on the length of the country's transition period.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking in Fiji, said that he's traveling to three South Pacific island nations to see the effects of climate change firsthand.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, In Yemen Houthi fighters and pro-government forces battled in the port city of Hodeidah, breaching a ceasefire and potentially complicating a troop withdrawal agreement intended to pave the way for wider peace talks.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 16, The United States imposed sanctions on five Russians over abuses including the killing of a prominent opposition leader, days after top-level talks seemed to ease tensions between the two powers.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, The US State Department cleared $313.9 million in possible sales of air defense missiles to South Korea, as tensions re-emerged on the Korean peninsula.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 16, The Trump administration cancelled nearly $1 billion in federal funds for California's high-speed rail project.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A1)
2019 May 16, Alabama executed Michael Brandon Samra (41) for his role in a quadruple killing that followed a dispute over a pickup truck.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A5)
2019 May 16, Members of Florida's congressional delegation said it was unacceptable that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security will not publicly identify the two counties where Russian hackers gained access to voter databases before the 2016 election.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, In Chicago Lori Lightfoot was sworn in as city mayor, becoming the first black woman and the first openly gay person to hold that post in the city's history.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A8)
2019 May 16, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (58) said he will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, despite a panning by US media and polls which suggest he faces a tough fight. He became the 23rd prospective Democratic challenger to President Donald Trump.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Architect I.M. Pei (b.1917) who died at the age of 102 at his home in New York City. His work included the giant glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris, complete in 1989, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei)(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, Tennessee executed Don Johnson (68) for killing his wife in 1984.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A5)
2019 May 16, Facebook said it banned the Archimedes Group, an Israeli company that ran an influence campaign aimed at disrupting elections in various countries. FB purged 65 Israeli accounts, 161 pages, dozens of groups and four Instagram accounts engaged in spreading disinformation.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A2)
2019 May 16, In Afghanistan a US air strike killed at least eight policemen in Helmand province. Another 11 policemen were wounded in a firefight with Taliban insurgents during the same security operation.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, Bob Hawke )89), Australia's longest-serving Labor Party prime minister, died. He won four terms as prime minister, serving from 1983 to 1991 before being ousted by his own center-left party when the economy soured. His charisma and powers of persuasion earned him near-folk hero status among many Australians.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, A former head of Britain's MI6 foreign spy service said China's Huawei poses such a grave security risk to the United Kingdom that the government must not allow it to have even a limited role in building 5G networks.
(Reuters, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, China vowed to "resolutely safeguard" Chinese companies after Washington labeled telecom equipment giant Huawei a security risk and imposed export curbs on U.S. technology sales to the company.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, China formally arrested two Canadian citizens it is believed to be holding to pressure Canada into releasing a Chinese telecoms executive. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor had been arrested for allegedly stealing state secrets.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In China a building that was being refurbished collapsed in downtown Shanghai. Seven people were killed. 14 were pulled from the rubble alive by rescuers.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, The crash of the Diamond DA62 at Dubai International Airport saw the aircraft roll upside-down in air and smash into a park near the airport at high speed, killing the three Britons and one South African on board. Investigations later said it had followed other larger aircraft landing there too closely as air traffic controllers offered inconsistent warnings about the hazard.
(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 May 16, Egypt said five soldiers and dozens of militants were killed in recent clashes in the country's restive northern Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Egyptian media announced that President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has pardoned 560 prisoners, including prominent journalist Abdel Halim Qandil and several women.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, In France ETA kingpin Josu Ternera (69), aka Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea, described by Spain as the Basque separatist group's most wanted fugitive, was arrested after more than 16 years in hiding from court orders served in both countries.
(Reuters, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In northern Germany activists occupied a building site to protest against the ongoing Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Prominent Hong Kong student leader Joshua Wong (22) was sent back to prison after he lost an attempt to quash a jail sentence over his leadership of huge democracy protests five years ago.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Indian troops and separatist militants clashed in Indian-controlled Kashmir and five people were killed including civilian Rayees Ahmad Dar (32). Three JeM militants, including a Pakistani commander, and an Indian soldier were killed in the gun battle in Dalipora, a village in south Kashmir, which began in the early hours.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In Indian-controlled Kashmir a Muslim man was shot and killed and another injured by Hindu vigilantes over allegations of smuggling cows.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In Iraq four people were killed in overnight unrest that erupted as a mall burned down during a demonstration in Najaf.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In the Ivory Coast inter-community violence began in the small town of Beoumi. Three days of violence left 10 people died and another 83 wounded.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 16, Animal activists urged Kenya to ban the slaughter of donkeys for use in Chinese medicine, a practice which has soared in recent years and decimated African populations of the animal.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In Nepal two Indian climbers died overnight near the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga and a Chilean mountaineer was missing on the world's third highest mountain.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In Nicaragua Eddy Montes Praslin, a naturalized US citizen who had served in the Navy, was shot dead in prison. Montes had returned to Nicaragua where he fought for a change in government. Officials said Montes died after he and others tried to snatch a gun from a guard while the International Red Cross was visiting the prison. 17 others were wounded in the disturbance.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 16, Norwegian media reported that representatives of Venezuela's regime and the opposition are holding "peace negotiations" in Oslo this week.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, A Pakistani court upheld death sentences for three Muslims but acquitted two others in the 2014 mob killing of a Christian couple accused of blasphemy in the eastern city of Lahore.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, The Philippines recalled its ambassador and consuls in Canada over Ottawa's failure to comply with a deadline to take back truckloads of garbage that Filipino officials say were illegally shipped to the Philippines years ago.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Russian police detained several dozen people in the early hours at a rally protesting plans to build a cathedral in a popular park in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister accused Iran of ordering an attack on Saudi oil pumping stations that Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia has claimed responsibility for.
(Reuters, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen carried out several air strikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa after the Iranian-aligned movement claimed responsibility for drone attacks on Saudi oil installations. The Houthi health ministry said six civilians, including four children, had been killed and 52 wounded, including two Russian women working in the health sector.
(Reuters, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Sudan’s ruling military council suspended negotiations for three days with opposition representatives over a peaceful transfer of power to civilian rule. Sudanese protesters vowed to press on with a sit-in despite being targeted in fresh violence.
(AP, 5/16/19)(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Thailand's Election Commission recommended that Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of major political party opposed to military rule, be barred from taking his seat in the soon-to-be-convened parliament because he is accused of violating electoral rules.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, A small boat carrying escaping migrants from Venezuela sank in coastal waters on its way to Trinidad and Tobago. At least 20 people aboard were missing.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A2)
2019 May 17, President Donald Trump announced a deal to lift US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico that had created friction between the neighbors and blocked a new North American free trade agreement.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, US border officials said hundreds of detainees from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in Texas and elsewhere are being flown to San Diego for processing beginning today.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, Former CIA officer Kevin Mallory (62) was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges that he spied for China and allegations he sought to expose human assets who were once his responsibility. A jury in Virginia convicted Mallory last year under the Espionage Act for providing classified information to Chinese handlers in exchange for $25,000.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, The US slapped sanctions on a Mexican judge and a former state governor, accusing them of taking bribes from drug traffickers, and saying that government corruption had allowed local drug gangs to grow and operate with impunity.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, The US embassy in Indonesia advised US citizens to avoid areas where large demonstrations may occur in Jakarta, and in other cities including Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, American author Herman Wouk (b.1915) died at his home in Palm Springs, Ca. His many acclaimed books included "The Caine Mutiny" (1951), a winner of the 1952 Pulitzer Prize.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A6)
2019 May 17, Missouri's Republican governor, Mike Parson, signed a bill into law that prohibits women from seeking an abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy, days after Alabama enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the United States.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 17, Hewlett Packard Enterprise said that it would buy the suprercomputer pioneer Cray for about $1.4 billion.
(SFC, 5/18/19, p.D1)
2019 May 17, In Brazil atrophying growth forecasts and waning confidence in President Jair Bolsonaro sent local stocks and currency to their lowest level of the year this week, as analysts warned of further falls.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, Authorities in Brazil raised to $73 million a fine that mining giant Vale will face if it does not present within 72 hours a technical report on the risks and possible impact of the rupture of a dam in Minas Gerais.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 17, Talks between Britain's Conservative government and the opposition Labour Party seeking a compromise over Brexit broke down without agreement, plunging the country back into a morass of uncertainty over its departure from the EU.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, A judge in Britain sentenced Jack Renshaw, an alleged member of a banned British neo-Nazi group, to life in prison for planning to murder UK lawmaker Rosie Cooper and threatening to slay a police officer.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Former British doctor Alan Tutin (71) was sentenced to 10 years in prison for groping female patients including a 12-year-old child between 1980 and 2004.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, In Colombia Jesus Santrich (52), aka Seuxis Paucias Hernandez, a former left-wing guerrilla leader wanted by the US for drug trafficking, was arrested on his release from prison on an arrest warrant related to the drug-trafficking investigation. He was suspected of participating in the trafficking of 10 tons of cocaine to the US between June 2017 and April 2018, crucially after the peace accord was signed in December 2016.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, Amnesty International said that Egyptian prosecutors ordered this week Haitham Mohammdeen and Mustafa Maher to remain in custody for 15 days over charges of "aiding a terrorist group," a reference to the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, A court in El Salvador sentenced seven gang members to up to 30 years for the notorious "black widows" killings, in which women were forced to marry men who were then killed to collect on life insurance policies.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, The Council of Europe adopted a declaration that allows Russia to start voting again at the continent's main human rights body following a spat related to its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, The European Union said it is prolonging sanctions against the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad for a year due to its continued crackdown against civilians in the war-ravaged country.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, The EU said it will directly penalize computer hackers after governments agreed a new mechanism to target individuals anywhere in the world, freezing their assets in the bloc and banning them from entry.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Germany said it would pay compensation of up to 10,000 euros ($11,000) each to victims of the former Nazi pedophile sect "Colonia Dignidad" in Chile. The sect was founded in 1961 by Paul Schaefer, a former Wehrmacht soldier, lay preacher and convicted pedophile, who abused, drugged and indoctrinated residents and kept them as virtual slaves. Schaefer was arrested in Argentina in 2005 and then jailed in Chile for child sexual and other abuses. Schaefer (88) died behind bars in 2010. Victims said compensation offered by Germany was not enough to make up for decades of slavery and abuse.
(AFP, 5/17/19)(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, In Germany two Afghan teenagers were convicted over a dispute with a German man (22), who then died of a heart attack in September 2019. The Dessau-Rosslau state court gave the younger man 17 months and the elder 20 months.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Hungary's PM Viktor Orban confirmed his country's plans to buy medium-range air defense missiles from the United States.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Indonesian police said that they have arrested dozens of Islamic-State linked terror suspects, including some who planned to detonate bombs at political demonstrations when election results are announced next week.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Japan and China agreed to boost their relations ahead of a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Japan in June, his first since coming to power in 2013.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, North Korea sent a letter asking United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to deal with the "illegal" seizure of one of its cargo ships by the United States.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, A South Korea appeals court extended the jail term imposed on cult leader Pastor Lee Jaerock (75) for raping female followers, sentencing him to 16 years behind bars. He was convicted last year of raping eight women more than 40 times.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, South Korea decided to allow its businesspeople to visit their factories at an industrial park in North Korea that was shut down by Seoul's previous conservative government in 2016 following a North Korean nuclear test.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, South Korea said that it would provide $8 million in humanitarian aid to North Korea's malnourished children and pregnant women.
(SFC, 5/18/19, p.A2)
2019 May 17, Some 70 aid groups called for an immediate end to the fighting in northwestern Syria. They said that the violence has displaced an estimated 180,000 people in the last two weeks alone.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags, despite deep divisions over marriage equality.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, A Turkish court sentenced fourteen people to life in jail without parole for involvement in twin bombings in Istanbul that killed dozens on December 10, 2016.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Ukraine's ruling parliamentary coalition collapsed in what represents a setback for the president-elect's plans to hold early elections.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Brazilian Bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira (60), reportedly suspected of extorting priests and covering up sexual abuse.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 18, Carolyn Powers, the president of the board or trustees for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles announced a $10 million donation during an annual benefit dinner. This will allow admission to the museum to be free.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A6)
2019 May 18, Boeing acknowledged it had to correct flaws in its 737 MAX flight simulator software used to train pilots, after two deadly crashes involving the aircraft that killed 346 people.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 18, In Afghanistan a bomb blast in the western province of Herat killed at least two people, including a child.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, Former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner (66) made the surprise announcement that she will seek the vice presidency as running mate to former cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez (60).
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, Australia held general elections. The ruling conservative coalition appeared on its way to a surprise win, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power. Former PM Tony Abbott, infamous for once calling the science behind climate change "crap", became the first big scalp in the country's elections, losing his seat of Warringah in Sydney's northern suburbs. PM Scott Morrison’s Liberal-led conservative coalition won or led in 76 seats, the number needed to form a majority government.
(AP, 5/18/19)(AFP, 5/18/19)(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, Austria's vice chancellor and longtime far-right leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, said he was stepping down over "catastrophic" video footage of him that threatened to bring down the right-wing coalition government. The FPO leader was shown in the footage a day earlier of as-yet unknown origin meeting a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in 2017, shortly before the election that brought him to power.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, Bahrain warned its citizens against travel to Iraq and Iran and asked those already there to return "immediately" for their safety.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In France actress Eva Longoria said restrictive abortion laws passed in Alabama and Missouri are a threat to women, with stars set to protest against the bans on the Cannes red carpet.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In Honduras five foreigners including the pilot died when their private plane crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Roatán island, a tourist destination on the country’s Atlantic coast.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, Iran's top diplomat dismissed the possibility of war erupting in the region, saying Tehran did not want a conflict and that no country had the "illusion it can confront Iran".
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In Israel singer Duncan Laurence (25) brought the Netherlands victory with a doleful piano ballad, "Arcade," its first win in the Eurovision song contest since the 1970s. His victory means the Netherlands will host next year's edition.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, In Libya Islamic State militants killed at least three troops in an attack on a checkpoint in the desert town of Zallah.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In Mali a Nigerian peacekeeper was killed in an attack on the United Nations' stabilization mission in Timbuktu.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, It was reported that drought in southern Morocco has turned parts arid and that herders' determination to roam freely has brought them into dispute with crop farmers in the region of Souss.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, It was reported that Nigeria has experienced 685 kidnappings countrywide in the first quarter of the year -- an average of seven per day. Half of the kidnappings took place in the northwestern state of Zamfara.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In Poland thousands marched in Warsaw to celebrate the nation's European Union membership ahead of key European Parliament elections.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, Saudi Arabia called for urgent meetings of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to discuss escalating tensions in the region. Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) began "enhanced security patrols" in the international waters of the Arabian Gulf area.
(AFP, 5/19/19)(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, Syria's transport ministry says Iraqi Airways flights to Damascus expected for the first time since the war erupted in 2011 have been postponed indefinitely. The delay was relayed by the Iraqi embassy.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was vital "to save the Pacific to save the world" as he wrapped up his brief South Pacific tour in Vanuatu.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, Yemeni security officials said forces loyal to the internationally recognized government have recaptured a key district in the southern Dhale province.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 19, After eight epic years, 47 Emmys, two dead dragons and lots of sex, "Game of Thrones" said an emotional goodbye to devotees worldwide of one of the most popular shows in television history.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 19, Alabama police Officer William Buechner was killed and two others were wounded after responding to a call of domestic violence in Auburn. Grady Wayne Wilkes (29) was arrested the next day and charged with capital murder.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A6)
2019 May 19, In San Francisco some 40,000 people participated in the annual Bay to Breakers footrace.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.C1)
2019 May 19, In Atlanta, Georgia, Robert Smith, a billionaire technology investor, pledged to eliminate student debt for the entire 2019 class at Morehouse College.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A4)
2019 May 19, In Bethlehem, Pa., Martin Tower, the former world headquarters of Bethlehem Steel, was imploded to make way for a $200 million development project.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A6)
2019 May 19, Afghanistan's parliament descended into chaos when lawmakers brawled over the appointment of a new speaker, an inauspicious start to the assembly which was sitting for the first time since chaotic elections last year.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Austria's president called for the country to hold a snap general election in September, seen as the quickest timetable possible, after the resignation of Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache brought down the ruling coalition.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, In northern Brazil seven gunmen attacked a bar in Para state killing eleven people in Belem.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A2)
2019 May 19, China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Liu Shiyu, the former head of its top securities regulator, has been put under investigation by the country's anti-corruption watchdog on suspicion of violating laws.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, In Egypt a bomb blast hit a tourist bus near the famed Giza pyramids, wounding at least 17 people, including South Africans, in the latest blow to the country's tourism industry. Security forces soon killed 12 suspected Islamist militants in Cairo, following an explosion targeting a tourist bus.
(AFP, 5/19/19)(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 19, In Europe tens of thousands of demonstrators opposed to right-wing populism and nationalism took to the streets in a number of cities before May 23-26 elections to the European Parliament. In Germany organizers reported 20,000 protesters in Berlin; police estimated 10,000 in Munich, 14,000 in Frankfurt, and 10,000 in Hamburg.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Voting in India's mammoth national election ended with the seventh and final phase of a grueling poll that lasted more than five weeks. Exit polls predicted a victory for PM Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party and its allies. Violent clashes broke out in the eastern state of West Bengal.
(AP, 5/19/19)(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, An Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group said a roadside bomb has hit a bus carrying its fighters in the eastern town of Balad Ruz, killing 7 people and wounding 26.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, In Mali at least seven people were killed late today after an attack in Koury, near the country's troubled border with Burkina Faso.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 19, In Nepal rescuers recovered the bodies of Biplab Baidya and Kuntal Kanrar, two Indian climbers who died on the world's third-tallest peak this past week, and flew them to Kathmandu.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Russia said Syrian government forces have unilaterally ceased fire in the northern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold. Opposition activists reported continued shelling and airstrikes.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Saudi Arabia called for emergency regional talks to discuss mounting Gulf tensions, saying that it does not want war with Iran but is ready to defend itself.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Saudi Arabia announced that it has deposited $250 million in Sudan's central bank as part of a support package for the country following the overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Sudan's ruling military council met with protesters to discuss the country's political transition after talks were halted for three days while roads were cleared outside the main sit-in in the capital, Khartoum.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Swiss voters agreed by a nearly two-to-one margin to adopt tighter gun controls in line with changes to EU rules, heading off a clash with Brussels.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, In Tajikistan three prison guards and 29 inmates were killed in a prison riot. The government blamed the riot on Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Washington, DC, a US federal judge ruled against Pres. Donald Trump in a financial records dispute with Congress. The judge ruled that Trump cannot block a House subpoena of financial records.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A6)
2019 May 20, The US government issued a 90-day grace period on its order to bar US firms from selling to Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 20, The US Supreme Court rejected a bid to avoid deportation by a Christian Iraqi immigrant who argued he would be tortured if sent back to his home country for a drug conviction after more than three decades in the US. Amir Shabo (51) was detained in 2017 during a sweep targeting hundreds of Iraqi immigrants who had prior criminal convictions. He convicted of cocaine possession in 1992 and served five years in prison.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In San Francisco the Civil Service Commission approved a 12% raise for city supervisors. The $15,016 pay hike brings member salaries to $140,148.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.C1)
2019 May 20, In San Francisco the dismembered body of Benedict Ching (73) was found inside a home on the 100 block of Del Monte in the Outer Mission neighborhood. Stephanie Ching and Douglas Lomas, suspects in the murder, were believed to have fled to China.
(SFC, 5/24/19, p.C4)
2019 May 20, Dressbarn, a retailer of women's clothing, announced plans to shut seven stores in the SF Bay Area as it winds down national operations.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.D1)
2019 May 20, In Texas Yabar Ayan Portes-Arevalo (23) was sentenced to 21 months in prison for trying to smuggle immigrants and endangering their lives. Last December three people were found in a plastic wrapped dresser that was nailed shut in a pickup that he was driving.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A4)
2019 May 20, In Texas Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez (16) of Guatemala died at a border patrol station in Weslaco. This was the fifth death of a migrant child apprehended by border agents since December.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A6)
2019 May 20, Scientists, on the occasion of World Metrology Day, adopted new hyper-accurate definitions for units of weight, electricity and temperature derived from the universal laws of Nature. The kilogram will now be defined in terms of the Planck constant -- the ratio of a frequency of light, on the one hand, to the quantum energy of that frequency, on the other. Today also saw new definitions adopted for the ampere -- the rate of electrical current flow; the kelvin -- the base unit of temperature; and the mole -- the unit measuring the amount of a given substance.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Armenian premier Nikol Pashinyan announced sweeping judiciary reforms as protesters blockaded court buildings in Yerevan, heeding his call for a demonstration against judges he accuses of political bias.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Argentine officers fired shots that led to the deaths of three teenagers and a young man in a car chase. Authorities soon removed 13 officers from the force and detained seven of them pending an investigation. The case caused a public uproar that prompted hundreds to stage a march "against the trigger-happy" in Buenos Aires.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 20, In Australia figures from the Electoral Commission showed that with around 84% of votes counted, the conservative coalition of PM Scott Morrison was on target to win 78 seats — an increase of five after going into the election as a minority government.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In southwestern Central African Republic the body of Sister Ines Nieves Sancho (77) was found early today in the village of Nola. The French-Spanish nun had taught impoverished women and worked with the poor for decades.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 20, In southern China at least three people were killed and four others buried in the collapse of a building in the city of Baise in Guangxi province.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Congolese opposition leader Moise Katumbi returned home from three years in exile.
(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Denmark Syrian asylum seeker Moyed Al Zoebi (32) received a 12-year prison sentence for planning to explode one or more bombs in Copenhagen and stabbing random people with kitchen knives. His accomplice, Dieab Khadigah, was sentenced in Germany in July 2017 to a prison term of six-and-a-half years.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Ethiopian state media reported that more than 200 people paid an eye-watering $173,000 (150,000 euros) to attend a dinner thrown by PM Abiy Ahmed, to raise funds to beautify the capital Addis Ababa.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In France doctors began to turn off the life support systems for Vincent Lambert (42) in a hugely controversial case. He had suffered severe brain damage from a traffic accident in 2008. Lambert's wife and five siblings believed the most humane course was to let him die. Hours after doctors stopped feeding Lambert, a Paris court ordered a freeze on previous rulings while the UN committee considers the case, a process that could take years. Feeding resumed the next day. On June 28 the Court of Cassation gave doctors permission to restart procedures to stop feeding and hydrating.
(AP, 5/20/19)(AP, 5/21/19)(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A2)
2019 May 20, Heavy rainfall in Germany caused widespread flooding, particularly in the south, leaving one person dead.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 20, In Georgia the State Security Service said that eight current players and three former players were arrested in relation to matches in the country's two top divisions.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, An Indonesian court sentenced Frenchman Felix Dorfin (35) to death for smuggling 3 kg (6.6 pounds) of drugs to the tourist island of Lombok, even though prosecutors had only sought a 20-year sentence.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, The Jammu-Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society released a detailed report saying India is using torture as a "matter of policy" and "instrument of control" in Kashmir, where rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Lebanese security forces have opened heavy water cannons on anti-austerity protests in Beirut, as the government faces a looming fiscal crisis.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, A Maldives court set aside the conviction and 15-year prison term given the former vice president on allegations he conspired to assassinate former President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Pakistan the body of a girl (10), who disappeared after leaving home a week ago, was discovered in a nearby forest. Islamabad police chief Mohammad Abbas was suspended for failing to act promptly in the case.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 20, In Poland the two founders of a notorious pyramid scheme were found guilty of fraud for cheating thousands of people out of their savings, worth $219 million, in one of the nation's biggest financial scandals.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Poland a mother (29) gave birth to sextuplets in the 29th week of her pregnancy.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A2)
2019 May 20, In Russia a senior editor and 10 journalists at the daily newspaper Kommersant said they were resigning to protest against the firing of two colleagues over an article about a possible reshuffle of Pres. Vladimir Putin's close allies.
(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, South Korea vowed to move quickly on plans to provide $8 million worth of medical and nutritional aid for North Korean children through UN agencies while it also considers sending broader food aid to the country, which says it is suffering its worst drought in decades.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, The Swedish prosecutor heading an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange filed a request with a local court for him to be detained in absentia.
(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Syria overnight air strikes by regime ally Russia killed 10 civilians including five children in a northwestern jihadist bastion, hours after Moscow announced a ceasefire there.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Turkey 91 of the suspects were detained as authorities issued warrants for 249 people as part of an investigation into alleged cheating during exams to recruit staff to the country's foreign ministry between 2010 and 2013.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, The UN Food and Agricultural Organization warned that plunging populations of bees worldwide threaten the future of agriculture and food security.
(http://tinyurl.com/y32c5qtc)(SSFC, 5/26/19, p.A16)
2019 May 21, Alabama's House of Representatives voted 66-18 to approve a bill that would see doctors face 20-year prison sentences if they fail to treat babies "born alive" after an attempted abortion. Democrats said called it an attempt to demonize abortion providers and argued that there was no record of such instances in the state.
(SFC, 5/23/19, p.A6)
2019 May 21, California sued the federal government over funds for its high-speed rail accusing the Trump administration of trying to undermine the troubled project as punishment for state opposition to the president's proposed border wall.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A1)
2019 May 21, Augustin Huneeus Jr. (53), a San Francisco wine magnate, pleaded guilty to paying $50,000 for a test proctor to correct his daughter's SAT scores and agreeing to bribe a Univ. of Southern California athletics department official to secure his daughter's spot on a water polo team even though she was not a top athlete.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.C1)
2019 May 21, In Missouri two deaths were reported following a string of more than 30 tornadoes that damaged homes in Oklahoma before storms moved to the northeast.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A6)
2019 May 21, Tennessee's embattled house speaker announced plans to retire following a 45-24 vote of no confidence by his Republican caucus amid a scandal over explicit text messages.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A4)
2019 May 21, In Texas Sierra County, population 11,116, was one of two Republican-controlled New Mexico counties to pass resolutions opposing the relocation of migrants to their communities.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)
2019 May 21, The Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center published a report titled "Walls Have Ears, An Analysis of Classified Syrian Security Sector Documents" based on a sample of 5,000 documents purportedly found in abandoned Syrian government offices during the country's civil war. The report presents some of the most damning evidence of state involvement — at the highest level — in the bloody crackdown on protesters, dissidents, and even foreign journalists in Syria.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Burger King said it will launch in Sweden a version of its Impossible Whopper. The plant-based burgers have attracted attention in the US for resembling meat far more closely than traditional veggie burgers with sales to start May 22.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) quit Austria's coalition government after the president sided with conservative chancellor Sebastian Kurz and sacked the hardline FPO interior minister.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, In Austria the bodies of a 45-year-old mother and her daughters, both aged 18, were found in municipal housing in the Austrian capital's Floridsdorf district. Police later suggested that the three starved to death and that they died at the end of March or the beginning of April.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 21, Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's British restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy protection, partly due to increased competition and escalating rents in local commercial districts.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Egypt said it will raise electricity prices for households and businesses by an average of 15 percent, the latest in a series of austerity measures aimed at boosting the economy.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Egypt said its police forces have killed 16 militants in raids in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Teams of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, or Frontex, began joining Albania's police to patrol its land and sea borders for migrants and crime for the first time.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, German authorities handed over to Israel some 5,000 documents kept by a confidant of Franz Kafka, a trove whose plight could have been plucked from one of the author's surreal stories.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, The International Tracing Service in Germany said it has uploaded more than 13 million documents from Nazi concentration camps, including prisoner cards and death notices, to help Holocaust researchers and others investigate the fate of victims. The ITS also announced it was changing its name to "Arolsen Archives - International Center on Nazi Persecution."
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, An Indian lawmaker in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh was reported killed in an ambush by suspected rebels. Legislative Assembly member Tirong Aboh of the National People's Party and 10 relatives and party workers were attacked with automatic weapons as they traveled to Aboh's constituency.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Indonesia’s Election Commission said Pres. Joko Widodo won 55.5% of the vote in the April 17 election to 45.5% for his challenger, ultra-nationalist former Gen. Prabowo Subianto. Supporters of the opposition gathered in Jakarta to protest the result.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, In Indonesia clashes began late today when supporters of former Gen. Prabowo Subianto tried to force their way into the downtown offices of the election supervisory agency and have continued unabated.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 21, Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi said delegations will be sent to Washington and Tehran to help "halt tension" amid fears of a confrontation between the United States and Iran in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Israel announced that it had eased fishing restrictions off the blockaded Gaza Strip after a ceasefire with Hamas ended a deadly escalation earlier this month. The move restores the fishing zone to the limits set in April ahead of Israel's general election.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, In Italy an overnight fire killed two people living in apartments above the ground-floor police station in Mirandola, north of Bologna. Carabinieri police arrested a North African in connection with the arson fire.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Italy's struggling airline Alitalia canceled over 300 flights because of a 24-hour strike called to protest deteriorating conditions in the sector, including the government's failure to relaunch the carrier.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Kenya author Binyavanga Wainaina (48), one of Africa's best-known authors and gay rights activists, died in Nairobi.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 21, Malawians voted in presidential and parliamentary elections seen as a tough test for President Peter Mutharika (78) who is running against the deputy president and a former pastor who heads the opposition.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, In Nepal nine people in two families were found slain overnight by masked assailants in their homes in the remote Miklajung mountain village.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Sherpa mountaineer extended his record for successful climbs of Mount Everest with his 24th ascent of the world's highest peak. Kami Rita reached the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak, which was his second time on the summit in a week.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, New Zealand police filed a terrorism charge against the man accused of killing 51 people at two Christchurch mosques. Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant (28) was already facing murder and attempted murder charges from the March 15 shootings.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Portuguese police arrested 17 members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club on suspicion of organized crime activity.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Russia's top security chief raised alarm about Islamic extremists massing on Afghanistan's northern border.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, The Serbian parliament adopted amendments to the criminal code which raise sentences for some serious crimes to life imprisonment. The amendments, dubbed Tijana's law, introduced life without parole for the rape and murder of a minor, pregnant or a disabled person, instead of previous jail terms of 30 and 40 years.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Sudan's main protest group called for a general strike, saying two late-night negotiation sessions with the army had failed to reach a deal on how to lead the country after the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Ukraine’s new Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskiy formally ordered the parliament to dissolve, saying that it lacks public trust. He has called for electing the new parliament entirely on party lists, arguing the current election system foments corruption.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 21, The United Nations human rights office called on US authorities to ensure that women have access to safe abortions, saying bans lead to risky underground abortions that can endanger a woman's life.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, The Vatican's financial watchdog said that after nearly 10 years of reforms, the Holy See has a "fully functioning" system of financial regulation and intelligence that is increasingly integrated into the global financial system.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Yemen’s Houthis, who claimed responsibility for last week's armed drone strikes on oil assets in Saudi Arabia, said that one of their drones hit an arms depot at the kingdom's Najran airport near the Yemeni border, causing a fire.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 22, Donald Trump erupted in fury at unrelenting probes into his links to Russia, as the top Democrat in Congress accused the president of a "cover-up" that could be an impeachable offense.
(AFP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, A US federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm unlawfully squeezed out cellphone chip rivals and charged excessive royalties to manufacturers such as Apple in a decision that undercuts a key part of its business. Qualcomm said it would appeal.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 22, In Boston frozen food tycoon Peter Jan Sartorio (54) of Menlo Park, Ca., pleaded guilty to bribing a proctor with $15,000 to correct his daughter's ACT college admission scores. Sartorio was the first parent to decide to plead guilty in the college scandal.
(SFC, 5/23/19, p.C5)
2019 May 22, New York state lawmakers gave final passage to legislation that would allow Pres. Donald Trump's state tax returns to be released to congressional committees.
(SFC, 5/23/19, p.A6)
2019 May 22, In Afghanistan a confrontation between government forces and Taliban fighters in eastern Ghazni province left two members of the security forces and two civilian passers-by dead.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Austria's Pres. Alexander Van der Bellen swore in new, technocratic ministers to replace politicians from the far-right Freedom Party who left the government following a scandal surrounding its leader.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Botswana announced on it would overturn the hunting ban introduced in 2014 to reverse a decline in the population of elephants and other wildlife. Lawmakers from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) have been lobbying to overturn the ban, saying wild animal numbers have become unmanageable in some areas.
(AFP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 22, British Steel was ordered into liquidation as it struggles with industry-wide troubles and Brexit, threatening 5,000 workers and another 20,000 jobs in the supply chain.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, British and Japanese mobile phone companies said that they're putting on hold plans to sell new devices from Huawei, in the latest fallout from US tech restrictions aimed at the Chinese company.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Bulgaria and Greece launched the construction of a pipeline to transport Azeri gas to Bulgaria to ease its almost total dependence on Russian gas supplies. Prime Ministers Boyko Borissov and Alexis Tsipras, oversaw the formal start to construction of the 182-km (114 miles) link.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Canada said that by the end of June it will remove truckloads of garbage which Filipino officials say were illegally shipped to the Philippines years ago. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the government has awarded a contract to French shipping giant Bollore Logistics Canada that calls for the return of 69 containers filled with household waste and electronic garbage.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 22, China said it is cutting taxes on its fledgling software and integrated circuit industries to spur development in the face of US export controls that threaten to handicap Chinese tech companies.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, It was reported that shady middle-men are openly advertising on Chinese social media to smuggle blood samples of pregnant women to Hong Kong to skirt the mainland's ban on gender testing.
(AFP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, An Egyptian court referred the case of six alleged Muslim Brotherhood members convicted of terrorism to the Grand Mufti, Egypt's top religious authority, for a non-binding opinion on their execution. The six were found guilty of killing three people, including a policeman, among other charges. The case includes a total of 70 defendants.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Europol said that more than 450 police and customs officers in Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland and Lithuania carried out raids last week that led to the arrest in Spain of the suspected ringleader, a 48-year-old Lithuanian.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In France Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter held meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron amid growing international concern about his weeks-long offensive to take Libya's capital, Tripoli.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Germany deported an 18-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker who was recently convicted over a string of assaults that prompted a public outcry. the teenager was flown to Kabul together with 23 countrymen whose asylum bids had also been rejected.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Police in western Germany raided 49 homes and businesses linked to an Iraqi gang suspected of involvement in human trafficking, drug dealing, illegal arms trade and forging identity papers. Authorities targeted the premises of 34 suspects belonging to the Al-Salam-313 gang.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche (66) handed off leadership to successor Ola Kallenius (49) after 13 years at the helm warning that the company will need to cut costs to invest in new technologies that are transforming the industry.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In Indonesia riots by supporters of losing rival Gen. Prabowo Subianto in last month's presidential election left seven people dead. Police arrested at least 20 people accused of provoking riots in Jakarta following the official results.
(AP, 5/22/19)(Reuters, 5/22/19)(SFC, 5/24/19, p.A2)
2019 May 22, Indonesia said it will partially block social media to prevent the spread of hoaxes after violence in the capital, Jakarta, following the announcement of official election results.
(Reuters, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In Italy a double-deck bus carrying 60 tourists from eastern Europe overturned on a Tuscan highway, killing one passenger and injuring more than dozen others on the Siena-Florence highway.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, It was reported that a smartphone app developed by Japanese police is being widely downloaded by women trying to protect themselves from gropers on packed rush-hour trains. The "Digi Police" app was originally issued by Tokyo police three years ago, but a function to scare off molesters was only added a few months ago.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, It was reported that Michael Rotich, the coach of Kenya's Olympic track team in 2016, has been banned for 10 years for corruption after he asked for $12,000 to give athletes advance notice to help them beat doping tests.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, North Korea labeled Joe Biden a "fool of low IQ" and an "imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being" after the US presidential hopeful called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a tyrant during a recent speech.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Palestinian officials inaugurated their first solar panel plant as part of a plan to reduce their dependence on Israeli power sources. The plant opening in the West Bank city of Jericho is one of four planned plants. One has been donated from China.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In the Philippines official results showed that Pres. Duterte’s allies won a majority of the 12 Senate seats at stake in the May 13 midterm elections. The opposition's shutout heralds a stronger grip on power by a leader accused of massive human rights violations.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, A spokesman said that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has moved to have truckloads of garbage that Filipino officials say were illegally shipped to the Philippines years ago be forcibly shipped back to Canada.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, The Kremlin condemned as unacceptable an alleged US ultimatum to Turkey designed to force it to cancel a deal to buy Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and purchase US Patriot missile systems instead.
(Reuters, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In Somalia a suicide car bomb by Islamic extremists killed at least six people in Mogadishu. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Syrian government troops repelled three big attacks by militants in Idlib province. Nusra Front militants based in Idlib also launched a missile attack on Russia's Hmeymim air base, but the Russian Ministry of Defense said that their missiles were either shot down or did not reach their target.
(Reuters, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Syrian government air strikes killed 15 civilians, 12 of them in a market in the jihadist-held Idlib province town of Maarat al-Numan, as fierce fighting raged for the jihadist-held northwest. Opposition fighters recaptured Kfar Nabuda village in an overnight counteroffensive on the edge of their northwestern stronghold.
(AFP, 5/22/19)(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, An appeals court in Thailand upheld a 10 million baht ($313,000) judgment against British activist Andy Hall, who was sued by a fruit canning company whose workers complained of alleged labor abuses. The case was one of several stemming from a 2013 report Hall researched for Finnish consumer organization Finnwatch that included allegations by migrant workers from Myanmar at Natural Fruit's canning operation that the company abused them and broke labor regulations.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Ukraine’s parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy told lawmakers that Pres. Zelenskiy's decree to call snap elections runs against the law. Parliament also declined to even discuss Zelenskiy's amendments aimed at making elections more transparent.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 23, US President Donald Trump ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's review of the events that prompted an investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump gave AG William Barr full authority to publicly disclose information about the origins of the investigation the president has repeatedly dismissed as a "hoax."
(Reuters, 5/24/19)(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 23, In a case with significant First Amendment implications, the US filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of violating the Espionage Act by publishing secret documents containing the names of confidential military and diplomatic sources.
(AP, 5/24/19)(SFC, 5/24/19, p.A10)
2019 May 23, John Walker Lindh (38), the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, was released early a federal prison in Indiana after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence. He was sent to live in Virginia and still faced three years of probation.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)(SFC, 5/24/19, p.C1)
2019 May 23, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, late today carrying the first 60 satellites of its "Starlink" constellation, which is intended to provide internet from space in an array that could one day contain over 12,000 orbiting transponders.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 23, International police group Interpol said that nine people had been arrested in Thailand, Australia and the US and 50 children had been rescued after investigators took down an online pedophilia ring.
(AFP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, In Australia Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush was awarded an Australian record of 2.9 million Australian dollars ($2 million) damages by a Sydney judge in defamation case against a newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behavior toward actress Eryn Jean Norvill.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to make homophobia and transphobia crimes like racism. Six judges ruled that homophobia should be framed within the racism law (1989) until the country's congress approves legislation specifically dealing with LGBT discrimination. The five remaining judges were set to vote in a court session on June 5.
(http://tinyurl.com/y42y8sb3)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A2)
2019 May 23, Britain and the Netherlands kicked off four days of phased voting for the 28 members states of the European Parliament.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 23, British author Judith Kerr (95), who enchanted generations of children with simply illustrated tales such as "The Tiger Who Came to Tea" (1968) and "Mog the Forgetful Cat" (1970), died.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)(Econ, 6/8/19, p.82)
2019 May 23, China held the door open to resuming talks in the tariff war with Washington, but lashed out at limits on access to key technologies that it said might hurt global supply chains.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, An Egyptian court ordered the release of Al-Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein, detained since 2016 on allegations of spreading false news and defaming Egypt's reputation.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Egyptian former diplomat Masoum Marzouk, arrested in August 2018, was released from jail. He had called for a referendum on Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 23, Egypt’s Illicit Gains Authority decided to lift freezes former interior minister Habib al-Adly's assets and those of aides who were key players in the graft that dominated Egypt under long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 23, The European Parliament predicted that nationalist, populist and anti-migrant groups will make significant gains in the May 23-26 EU elections but said it thinks mainstream parties will keep control over the assembly.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 23, German prosecutors fined auto parts and technology company Bosch 90 million euros ($100 million) over its role in the diesel emissions scandal that erupted at Volkswagen in 2015.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, In India vote-counting trends showed PM Narendra Modi's ruling party winning 285 seats against just 53 for Congress. PM Modi (68) and his party declared victory.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed Zakir Musa, a top militant commander linked to al-Qaida, after police and soldiers launched a counterinsurgency operation in the southern Tral area.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 23, Indonesian police said seven people have died in the last two days in election violence in Jakarta, as calm returned to the city and the losing presidential candidate prepared to challenge the result in court.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, In Iraq a car bomb exploded in the western village of Karabila killing two people. Until two years ago the area was controlled by the Islamic State.
(SFC, 5/24/19, p.A2)
2019 May 23, Israel reduced the offshore fishing limits it imposes for vessels operating out of Gaza after Palestinians floated balloons fitted with incendiaries over the border.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, In Israel wildfires fed by tinder dry conditions destroyed around 40 homes.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 23, Malaysian police raided the Kuala Lumpur office of audit firm Deloitte as part of a widening probe into a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Pakistan's military successfully test-fired a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The surface-to-surface Shaheen-II missile, which has a range of 1,500 km, or 932 miles, ended in the Arabian Sea.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, A court in Russia ruled that Dennis Christensen, a Danish Jehovah's Witness, must stay in prison for the next six years. He had been found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Serbia reported that two migrants have died, and two others left in serious condition after hiding in a truck tank in a bid to reach Western Europe. The men were discovered two days earlier in northern Serbia when the truck driver opened the tank for washing and saw them lying unconscious.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Sri Lankan newspaper Divaina, known for its nationalist stance, published a front page article alleging a Muslim doctor had secretly sterilized 4,000 Sinhala Buddhist women after caesarean deliveries.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 May 23, A Thai court blocked the leader of a new anti-junta political party from taking his seat in Parliament while it determines whether he violated election rules. Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, was accused of breaking electoral law by holding shares in a media company.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, The UN named David Gressly as pointman to coordinate the global response to the devastating Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as it ramps up efforts to contain the outbreak.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Syrian government aircraft bombed several towns in the northwest killing five civilians as troops and militia battled jihadists on the ground. In neighboring Hama province, Syrian troops battled for a third straight day to repel a jihadist counterattack around the town of Kafr Nabuda, leaving 15 combatants dead, 11 of them jihadists.
(AFP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 24, Pres. Donald Trump said the United States is deploying 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East to counter "credible threats" from Iran.
(AFP, 5/25/19)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A4)
2019 May 24, US Pres. Donald Trump, declaring a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, swept aside objections from Congress to complete the sale of $8.1 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, citing a threat from Iran, infuriating lawmakers who fear the weapons could kill civilians in Yemen. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had pushed the sales to Saudi Arabia of munitions, mostly made by Raytheon, despite a two-year bipartisan congressional hold on the proposed transfer of the arms, comprising 22 packages. Mr. Pompeo did that by declaring an “emergency" over Iran’s activities in the region. In August, 2020, the US State Dept. of the Inspector General concluded that Pompeo had the legal authority to declare an emergency and bypass Congress under the Arms Export Control Act.
(AFP, 5/24/19)(Reuters, 5/25/19)(SFC, 8/12/20, p.A6)
2019 May 24, Intelligence professionals warned that President Donald Trump's decision to give his loyal attorney general carte blanche to disclose still-secret material from the Russia investigation will let William Barr cherry-pick intelligence to paint a misleading picture about what started the probe.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 24, US District Judge Hayward Gilliam of Oakland, Ca., dealt a blow to President Donald Trump's signature wall project, issuing a temporary injunction against using Defense Department funds to pay for barriers on the border with Mexico.
(AFP, 5/25/19)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A1)
2019 May 24, US regulators approved the most expensive medicine ever, for a rare inherited condition called spinal muscular atrophy that destroys a baby's muscle control and kills nearly all of those with the most common type of the disease within a couple of years. The one-time gene therapy developed by Novartis, Zolgensma, will cost $2.125 million.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Connecticut Jennifer Dulos (50) of New Canaan went missing after dropping her children off at school. Police later arrested Fotis Dulos, her estranged husband, and Michelle Troconis, his girlfriend, on charges of evidence tampering and hindering prosecution. Both have pleaded not guilty, and both were free on $500,000 bond. Police later detailed Fotis Dulos driving to multiple locations, with Troconis, to dump trash bags containing bloody clothes.
(AP, 7/23/19)(ABC News, 9/5/19)
2019 May 24, Biographer Edmond Morris (78) died in Danbury, Conn. His books included "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" (1979), "Theodore Rex" (2001), "Colonel Roosevelt" (2010) and "Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan" (1999).
(SFC, 5/28/19, p.C3)
2019 May 24, Floodwaters from the Missouri River topped a levee at Jefferson City and shut down some streets around the state Capitol.
(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A5)
2019 May 24, Murray Gell-Mann (89), Nobel Prize winning physicist (1969), died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He authored "The Quark and the Jaguar" (1994) to present his ideas to a general audience.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.C3)
2019 May 24, Facebook said it increased the amount of content it restricted access to in Vietnam by over 500% in the last half of 2018, as the Southeast Asian country ramped up its crackdown on online dissent.
(Reuters , 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Afghanistan a bomb exploded during weekly prayers at a mosque in an eastern part of Kabul, killing three people including senior preacher Samiullah Raihan. At least 20 men who had gathered for worship were wounded.
(Reuters, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Argentina hundreds of people staged a march in Buenos Aires against "trigger-happy" police.
(SSFC, 5/26/19, p.A4)
2019 May 24, Britain’s PM Theresa May (62) announced her resignation in an emotional address, ending a dramatic three-year tenure of near-constant crisis over Brexit and increasing the likelihood of Britain crashing out of the EU later this year. May said she would step down as head of the Conservative Party on June 7. Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, the favorite to replace May, was first out of the blocks, saying Britain should be prepared to leave the EU without a deal.
(AFP, 5/24/19)(Reuters, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, Cambodia's Supreme Court upheld a life prison term given to Oeut Ang, a man convicted of murdering prominent government critic Kem Ley in July 2016.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, Chinese state media accused the US of seeking to "colonize global business" with moves against Huawei and other Chinese technology companies.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In France 13 people suffered mostly minor injuries after a suspect deposited a paper bag containing an explosive device that went off in the city of Lyon. Days later police arrested four suspects following a blast in Lyon. A suspect identified as Mohamed Hichem M. was arrested on May 27. On May 31 a prosecutor said the suspect had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
(AP, 5/25/19)(AP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A4)
2019 May 24, In India at least 19 students were killed in a fire that broke out in a four-story building in the western city of Surat. A youth died in hospital the next day, increasing the toll to 20. Police soon charged three owners of the tuition center at the Takshashila Arcade with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and attempted culpable homicide.
(AP, 5/24/19)(AP, 5/25/19)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A2)
2019 May 24, Irish voters cast ballots as part of phased EU-wide elections after a campaign dominated by concerns over neighboring Britain's messy bid to leave the bloc.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Kenya a three-judge panel of the High Court upheld sections of the country's penal code that criminalize same-sex relations.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, A Mexican navy helicopter with five crew on board crashed while helping to fight a forest fire in the north-central state of Queretaro. Authorities later confirmed that six people died in the crash.
(AFP, 5/25/19)(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 24, In Nepal a traffic jam of climbers in the Everest "death zone" was blamed for two of four new deaths reported today, heightening concerns that the drive for profits is trumping safety on the world's highest peak.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, North Korea said that nuclear negotiations with the United States will never resume unless the Trump administration moves away from what Pyongyang described as unilateral demands for disarmament.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, Oman said it was trying to reduce spiraling tensions between the Unites States and Iran, as the Pentagon confirmed it was considering deploying more troops to the region.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Pakistan a bombing at a Sunni mosque in the city of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province, killed two people, including the prayer leader. 28 worshippers were wounded.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, It was reported that Paraguay’s indigenous Isla Jovai Teju community has gone digital to map the its ancestral land with a smartphone app and GPS. Their lands have been encroached on over the years by widespread deforestation and vast surrounding plantations of soybeans and maize.
(Reuters, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, A Russian court extended the arrest for Paul Whelan, a former US Marine charged with espionage, for three more months. Whelan had complained in court about abuse in custody.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, South Korea said it's discussing security issues regarding its 5G, or fifth generation, cellphone networks with the United States following a report the Trump administration is demanding that Seoul join a "war" against Huawei.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Taiwan hundreds of same-sex couples rushed to get married, the first day a landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage took effect.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In western Venezuela at least 29 prisoners were killed and 19 police wounded in clashes at a jail in the town of Acarigua, Portuguesa state. Police special forces (FAES) had tried to stop a "massive prison break".
(AFP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, President Donald Trump needled Japan over the US-Japan trade imbalance as he kicked off a state visit to the country that's been tailor-made to his whims and ego.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In Florida a driver struck and killed three soccer teammates who were waiting for their bus in North Miami.
(SSFC, 5/26/19, p.A10)
2019 May 25, In Hawaii a man (65) from California was killed by a shark while swimming in the Ka'anpali Beach park area on Maui. The victim was missing his left leg from the knee down.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A4)
2019 May 25, In Chicago a woman (84) died and 12 people were injured in a crash late today involving two police cruisers and other vehicles. Ten police officers were among those injured.
(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A4)
2019 May 25, In Michigan three people were killed and two people left wounded at a Detroit home. Police later said the victims were targeted by suspect Devon Robinson (18) because they were gay or transgender.
(SFC, 6/8/19, p.A5)
2019 May 25, In Oklahoma a tornado touched down in El Reno and tore through the Skyview Estates mobile home park leaving two people dead.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A4)
2019 May 25, In Virginia ten people were shot, one fatally, when gun violence erupted late today at a party in Chesapeake.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A4)
2019 May 25, Afghan officials said heavy flooding has killed at least 24 people and injured 11 others in the past 48 hours as a new wave of heavy rains swept parts of the country.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In Bolivia organizers of the Lord Jesus of the Great Power Festival, which fuses Andean and Catholic cultures, chose Steffany Arriaza Cabezas as the queen to head the June 21 annual event which will mobilize 74,000 dancers and more than 4,000 musicians in the Bolivian city of La Paz.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 25, British climber Robin Haynes Fisher (44), too weak to descend from Mount Everest, died. He was the eighth climber to die on the world’s tallest mountain and the 18th in Nepal's Himalayas during the current climbing season.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In western Congo DRC at least 30 people were killed and 200 left missing after a boat sank late today on Mai-Ndombe. Many of those aboard were teachers who had traveled to collect salaries due to poor roads.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A2)
2019 May 25, In France South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's raucous social satire "Parasite," about a poor family of hustlers who find jobs with a wealthy family, won the Cannes Film Festival's top award, the Palme d'Or.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Germany's government commissioner on anti-Semitism warned Jews about the potential dangers of wearing the traditional kippah cap in the face of rising anti-Jewish attacks.
(AFP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In India Rahul Gandhi announced his resignation as leader of India's Congress Party after losing a second general election to PM Narendra Modi.
(Reuters, 7/2/19)
2019 May 25, In Indonesia Mount Agung volcano erupted overnight on the holiday island of Bali, causing some flight cancellations to and from Australia as an ash cloud rose into the sky.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Iran denounced a US move to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East as "a threat to international peace".
(AFP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Pakistani police said six people have been arrested for allegedly collecting funds for two outlawed militant organizations.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Trade unionist-turned-businessman Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in as South Africa's president, vowing to create jobs and tackle deep-rooted corruption that has strangled economic growth.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In Sri Lanka Dr. Segu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi was arrested. Police said he was accused of acquiring properties with money of a suspicious origin.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 May 25, Senior opposition officials and rebel sources said Turkey has equipped an array of mainstream Syrian rebels it backs with fresh supplies of weaponry to help them try to repel a major Russian-backed assault.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Taiwan said it is changing the name of its de-facto embassy in the US amid the strongest relations between the sides in decades. The foreign ministry tweeted that the Coordination Council for North American Affairs was being renamed the Taiwan Council for US Affairs.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, A UN maritime tribunal ruled that Russia must immediately release three Ukrainian naval vessels captured by Russia in November and also free the 24 sailors it detained.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 26, President Donald Trump presented a special US-made trophy to the winner of a sumo tournament as he got a taste of one of Japan's most treasured cultural institutions.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, President Donald Trump downplayed recent North Korean missile tests, tweeting from Tokyo that they're not a concern for him in comments sure to unnerve Japanese leaders.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In western Afghanistan a roadside bombing claimed by the Taliban killed 10 Afghan soldiers in Farah province while in the north insurgent attacks on security checkpoints killed four policemen in Sari Pul province.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Algeria’s national radio said a midnight deadline to register for a July 4 controversial presidential election has passed without a single candidate putting themselves forward.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In Austria 10 larger-than-life portraits of Holocaust survivors, which are on show on a central Vienna street, were slashed across the faces. Earlier, three pictures were cut and four were defaced with swastikas and anti-Semitic slurs. The next day President Alexander Van der Bellen, who had opened the exhibit "Lest We Forget," condemned the attack.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 26, In Bangladesh a bomb planted in police van exploded late today in Dhaka's Malibagh area laving three people injured, including a police officer.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Belgium held national elections, with observers anticipating a surge by the Flemish far right and a good showing from the Greens after a wave of climate protests. A Flemish separatist surge in national elections will make forming a new federal government a tortuous task as the country's French-speaking region moved further to the left.
(AFP, 5/26/19)(Reuters, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, In northern Brazil clashes began today between inmates at a jail near Manaus, Amazonas state. At least 55 inmates were left dead.
(AFP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party romped to victory in the European Parliament election, with both PM Theresa May's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party losing support across the country.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, The turnout for this year's pivotal EU election was nearing 51% for 27 nations, according to preliminary figures. The figure excluded Britain. Green parties in Germany, France, Britain and elsewhere celebrated big gains in elections for the 751-seat European Parliament amid growing voter concerns over climate change, expressed in large-scale student protests over recent months.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, The far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen finished top in European elections in France. Her National Rally (RN) received 23.31 percent of the vote, with Macron's centrist alliance trailing with 22.41 percent.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, In Hong Kong more than 2,000 people marched to mark 30 years since a pro-democracy protest in Beijing's Tiananmen Square ended in bloodshed.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, India's Pres. Ram Nath Kovind appointed Narendra Modi as the prime minister, soon after newly elected lawmakers led by Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party chose him as their leader following a thunderous victory in national elections. Modi’s BJP party won 303 seats in the 542-member lower house of Parliament.
(AP, 5/26/19)(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, In India Surendra Singh was shot dead overnight in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh state. He was an aide to Smriti Irani, a former television actress and dogged minister in PM Narendra Modi's cabinet.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Eight climbers failed to return after climbing on Nanda Devi East peak, India's second highest mountain. Officials later said they are all presumed dead. On June 23, paramilitary soldiers found the bodies of seven of the eight climbers at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters (16,400 feet).
(AFP, 6/1/19)(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 May 26, In Iraq a Baghdad court sentenced to death three French citizens, members of the Islamic State group.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Irish election officials said voters have overwhelmingly endorsed a plan to liberalize the country's constitution to make it easier for couples to divorce. Just over 82% of voters endorsed removing a requirement that couples be separated for four of the previous five years before they can divorce.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Israel said it has eased fishing restrictions off the blockaded Gaza Strip with the aim of preventing a deterioration in humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva agreed to pay the US state of Oklahoma $85 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of fueling the state's opioid epidemic.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Voters in a small town south of Milan voted against the right-wing League candidate to elect Gianmarco Negri (40), Italy's first transgender mayor.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 26, It was reported that Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar has ruled out a ceasefire in the battle for Tripoli and accused the UN of seeking to partition Libya, according to an interview published by French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda, a prominent economist, and Ingrida Simonyte, a former finance minister, vied to succeed popular Pres. Dalia Grybauskaite. Nauseda (55), a center-right independent and political novice, won the presidential runoff in a race marked by low populist sentiment and concerns over inequality in the Baltic eurozone state. Nauseda scored 65.86 percent of the vote ahead of 32.86 percent for Simonyte.
(AP, 5/26/19)(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, In Nepal series of explosions killed four people and wounded seven more in Kathmandu.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, In northwestern Pakistan a minority Pashtun group attacked a security post near the Afghan border, wounding five soldiers. Three attackers were reported killed and 10 wounded. Militants attacked an army post in North Waziristan late today where ethnic tensions have recently flared up with minority Pashtuns. A shootout killed one soldier and wounded five others.
(AP, 5/26/19)(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Papua New Guinea PM Peter O'Neill announced his resignation after seven years on the job. He handed over his leadership to a former prime minister and current member of parliament, Sir Julius Chan.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In northern Peru an earthquake with a magnitude as high as 8.0 stuck in the early hours. At least one person was killed.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, Poland's ruling Law and Justice party has emerged as the big winner in the country's European Parliament election, taking over 45% of the votes.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Romanians voted overwhelmingly in support of anti-corruption initiatives in a referendum called by President Klaus Iohannis.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 25, Spain voted in local, regional and European elections seen as a "second round" for acting PM Pedro Sanchez as he seeks to form a new government and gain influence in the EU.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Syrian government forces regained control of Kfar Nabudah, a northwestern village, just days after losing it to militants. Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 766 people, including 226 civilians have been killing since April 30.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Former Thailand PM Prem Tinsulanonda (98) died in Bangkok. He as an army commander, prime minister (1980-1988) and adviser (1998-2019) to the royal palace and was one of Thailand's most influential political figures over four decades.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Several Kurdish lawmakers and thousands of prison inmates in Turkey ended their hunger strike after a call from jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, 200 days after the protest was launched.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement reportedly launched a drone strike on military hangars in Saudi Arabia's Jizan airport near the Yemeni border.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In Zimbabwe at least nine miners died following blasts in a shaft north of the capital Harare where they were illegally digging for gold.
(AFP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, President Donald Trump said he is not "personally" bothered by recent short-range North Korean missile tests and doesn't believe they violated UN Security Council resolutions, breaking with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is hosting the president on a four-day state visit full of pageantry and pomp.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In Ohio at least eight tornadoes spun across the state leaving tens of thousands without power or water. One person was killed and more than 140 injured. This marked the 12th straight day that at least eight tornadoes were reported to the National Weather Service.
(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A10)
2019 May 27, In Afghanistan 18 policemen and pro-government militiamen were killed and seven were wounded in hours-long gunbattle with insurgents near Feroz Koh, Ghor province. In eastern Logar province insurgents overran an army checkpoint in the district of Baraki Barak, killing five soldiers. The Taliban captured four other soldiers.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz lost a no-confidence vote in parliament over a corruption scandal that brought down his coalition government. This made him Austria’s shortest-serving chancellor, as well as the first in post-war Austrian history to be removed in this fashion.
(AFP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 27, China began five-day Confucian culture immersion courses for religious leaders in the sage's hometown as part of a campaign to extend government control over faith communities through a process of sinicization.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Greek markets reacted positively to PM Alexis Tsipras' call for snap general elections following a resounding defeat of his left-wing Syriza party in European and local elections.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Indonesian police said they have arrested six people suspected of plotting to assassinate four state officials during a wave of civil unrest in Jakarta last week.
(Reuters, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, A Baghdad court sentenced another former French fighter with the Islamic State group to death, the fourth Frenchman to get the capital punishment so far in Iraq, and postponed the verdict for a fifth man after he testified to being tortured in detention. Seven French citizens accused of supporting the Islamic State were given the death sentence this week in seven trials over four days.
(AP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A4)
2019 May 27, Italy’s Deputy PM Matteo Salvini said Victory for Italy's League in European elections gives the far-right party a mandate to push through tax cuts and fight for changes to the EU's budgetary rules.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In France workers at a northern factory that makes a quarter of the world's Nutella began striking for more pay. The Villers-Ecalles factory is privately-owned Italian confectionery giant Ferrero.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 May 27, Fiat Chrysler proposed to merge with France's Renault to create the world's third-biggest automaker and combine their investments in the race to make new electric and autonomous vehicles. Renault welcomed the idea.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In Kuwait eight people were killed early today and one person was in critical condition after a car accident in an area just outside Kuwait City.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In Libya heavy clashes neared the center of Tripoli as forces loyal to Khalifa Hifter battled to seize power.
(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 27, Madagascar held parliamentary elections in what was being seen as the latest round of a bitter feud between President Andry Rajoelina and his longstanding rival Marc Ravalomanana.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Malaysia's last surviving male Sumatran rhino died, leaving behind only one female in the country and pushing the critically-endangered species closer to extinction.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Mexican authorities froze the bank accounts of Emilio Lozoya, the former head of Mexico's state-owned oil company. Lozoya has been mentioned, but not charged, in corruption scandals involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Nasdaq Nordic, which owns most stock exchanges in the Nordic-Baltic region, withdrew its offer to acquire Norway's main exchange, saying " under the current circumstances the minimum acceptance condition for completion" cannot be satisfied. This paved the way for rival Netherlands-based Euronext to proceed with its buyout.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, North Korea called US National Security Adviser John Bolton a "war monger" and "human defect" after he described its recent tests of short-range missiles as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Pakistani police arrested a veterinarian from the country's tiny minority Hindu community on charges of desecrating Islam's holy book in southern Sindh province.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Pakistani troops exchanged fire with protesters when they assaulted a security post in the northwest. The ethnic minority Pashtun protesters were complaining about the mistreatment of a woman by soldiers.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Paraguay’s weather bureau said heavy flooding has displaced 70,000 families and is threatening to further inundate the capital Asuncion in the coming weeks.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, A Romanian court upheld a 3½ year jail sentence for the powerful head of the ruling Social Democrats, Liviu Dragnea, meaning he now has 24 hours to report to police to begin his sentence.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Russia rebuffed a call by an international maritime tribunal for it to release 24 Ukrainian sailors, saying the court had no jurisdiction over the strait where Russian security forces captured them on Nov. 25, 2018.
(Reuters, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In Syria Sam Goodwin (30) was apprehended by regime troops in Qamishli. The Christian travel blogger was trying to travel to every country in the world and only had 10 of 193 left. Mr. Goodwin was released back to his family in July after nearly two months in detention.
(The Telegraph, 7/26/19)
2019 May 27, Syrian government air raids killed at least nine people after hitting a crowded residential area in Ariha, Idlib province.
(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 27, In Tunisia Nabil Karoui (50), the controversial founder of a major private television channel, said he will run for the presidency in November polls.
(AFP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Turkey's military launched an operation with commandos, backed by artillery and air strikes, against Kurdish militants in a mountainous area of northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, In Ukraine dozens of inmates in a prison rioted, set a fire and took guards and nurses hostage in an hours-long standoff in Odessa that left four guards injured.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 28, The United States walked out of a Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to protest against Venezuela assuming the rotating presidency of the UN-sponsored forum, as it did a year ago when Syria took the chair.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In eastern Kansas a tornado injured at least 15 people, three of them seriously, in Douglas and Leavenworth Counties.
(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A10)
2019 May 28, Vincent Ramos (41) of Richmond in the Vancouver area of Canada was sentenced to nine years in prison in federal court in San Diego. He had sold encrypted Blackberry smartphones to criminals worldwide that enabled them to sell drugs and even plan murders while avoiding the prying eyes of law enforcement. Ramos also was told to forfeit $80 million in earnings.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 28, In Vienna, Austria, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg called on world leaders to acknowledge the seriousness of global warming and that not enough is being done to curb it.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Cambodia's Appeal Court acquitted six union leaders, all of whom had been given suspend jail terms of between eight months and four and a half years for leading anti-government protests in 2013 and 2014.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 28, Egyptian authorities rearrested Al-Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein who was ordered released last week after more than two years in detention on accusations of spreading false news.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 28, The European Union named Spanish-Uruguayan former banker and diplomat Enrique Iglesias as its point man to help end the crisis in Venezuela, part of an intensification of diplomatic efforts to seek new elections.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, It was reported that Hungary is preparing legislation to strip the Hungarian Academy of Sciences of its research network, giving the government more control over scientific activity.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Indonesia’s police said four top officials, including two Cabinet ministers and the national spy chief, were targeted for assassination as part of a plot possibly linked to last week's election riots. Details of the plot were obtained from interrogations of six arrested individuals.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In Iran Mitra Najafi (35), the second wife of Mohammad Ali Najafi (67), a former reformist mayor of Tehran and a Rouhani confidant, was found dead in her bathtub on the seventh floor of a residential high-rise in northern Tehran. Ali Najafi soon turned himself over to police and confessed to shooting his wife.
(AP, 5/28/19)(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A2)
2019 May 28, An Iraqi court sentenced two high-profile French members of the Islamic State group to death, bringing the total number of French former jihadis condemned to death this week to six.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Iraq's self-governing Kurdish region elected a new president in a parliamentary vote boycotted by a key opposition party. Former prime minister Nechirvan Barzani will follow his uncle Masoud Barzani in office.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In Japan knife-wielding man slashed at a group of schoolgirls at a bus stop in Kawasaki city, killing one girl (11) and an adult (39). 16 other girls and a woman were injured. The attacker died later of a self-inflicted wound.
(AP, 5/28/19)(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A3)
2019 May 28, Kosovo police said five police officers and six civilians were injured during an operation against organized crime and corruption in the Serb-dominated north that primarily targeted other police officers. 19 police officers and a number of other people were arrested during the operation that involved special police forces.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In Malawi Peter Mutharika was sworn in as president for a second term after a contentious election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-rigging.
(AFP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Malaysia’s Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said his country will send back some 3,000 metric tons (3,300 tons) of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia in a move to avoid becoming a dumping ground for rich nations.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, The International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank suggested that Mali's government should consider "dialogue" with jihadists waging an insurgency in the west African state. It said all avenues should be explored to save civilians from further harm.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Mexican authorities raided the home of Emilio Lozoya, a close aide of former President Enrique Pena Nieto, and secured the arrest of Alonso Ancira in Mallorca, one of the country's best-known businessmen, in a drive to get justice for scandals that tainted the last government.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 28, In the Netherlands around 80 flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol were canceled as a 24-hr nationwide public transport strike made it hard for passengers and staff to get to Europe's third largest airport.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, It was reported that Russia's space sector is at the heart of a staggering embezzlement scheme that has dampened ambitions of recovering its Soviet-era greatness. In mid-May Alexander Bastrykin, the powerful head of Russia's Investigative Committee, said billions (of rubles) are being stolen there.
(AFP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Kosovo of provocation after its police detained what Moscow said were 13 Serbians in Serb-populated municipalities in Kosovo's north.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Spanish police said several soccer players and club executives in Spain have been arrested for suspected match-fixing.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In Sri Lanka hardline Buddhist monk accused of inciting violence against minority Muslims said he planned to denounce Islamist militants. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, head of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or "Buddhist Power Force", was pardoned by President Maithripala Sirisena last week after serving nine months of a six-year sentence for contempt of court.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Sudan's alliance of opposition and protest groups held the first day of a strike as tensions mounted with the country's military rulers over the transition to democracy. Talks between the ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) alliance were at a standstill.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, New satellite photos obtained showed significant damage to Syrian villages and surrounding farmland as a result of a government offensive on the last rebel stronghold in the country.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Ukraine Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree that gave citizenship back to Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia.
(SFC, 5/29/19, p.A2)
2019 May 28, The United Nations refugee agency said violence in northwest Nigeria has forced around 20,000 refugees to flee to neighboring Niger since April.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, The UN human rights office reported that North Koreans are forced to pay bribes to officials to survive in their isolated country where corruption is "endemic" and repression rife, Pyongyang dismissed the report as politically motivated.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 29, Robert Mueller said his two-year Russia investigation had not exonerated Donald Trump, but that he had lacked the power to charge a sitting president -- passing the baton to Congress where a growing chorus is clamoring for impeachment.
(AFP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 29, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke unveiled a sweeping immigration plan to seek a pathway to US citizenship for 11 million people in the country illegally, deploy thousands of immigration lawyers to the southern border to help with asylum cases and earmark $5 billion to bolster the rule of law in Central America.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, It was reported that at least 42 people were shot in Chicago, five fatally, over the Memorial Day weekend.
(SFC, 5/29/19, p.A5)
2019 May 29, It was reported that San Francisco-based Zynga, an online gamemaker, has agreed to sell its Showplace Square building at 650 Townsend St. to real estate investor Beacon Capital Partners for about $600 million. Zynga had purchased the building in 2012 for $228 million. The gamemaker will lease back about a quarter of the 670,000-square-foot property.
(SFC, 5/29/19, p.D1)
2019 May 29, In Texas some 1,036 migrants crossed the US-Mexico border in El Paso in about five minutes early today. This was the largest group crossing ever encountered the Border Patrol.
(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A6)
2019 May 29, It was reported that Sports Illustrated magazine, owned by Meredith Corp., has been sold to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million. Meredith will continue running the print and website of the magazine for two years.
(SFC, 5/29/19, p.D4)
2019 May 29, A nationwide strike in Argentina protesting austerity measures under President Mauricio Macri brought the country's airports to a standstill and halted work at key grains ports, the latest sign of tension in the recession-hit nation.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Australian teenager Will Connolly )17), who cracked an egg on the head of Sen. Fraser Anning for his remarks about the New Zealand mosque massacre, donated almost $70,000 to people affected by the killings.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, In Bangladesh four people accused of poaching threatened Bengal tigers were shot dead by police during a gunfight in a mangrove forest.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Hundreds of Bosnians protested outside the country's top judicial body after a secretly recorded video emerged of its head, Milan Tegeltija, appearing to take bribes through a middleman, himself a police officer.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, China’s State media suggested that China's rare earth resources could be used as leverage against the United States in the countries' ongoing trade dispute.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, The China Int'l. Commercial Court held its first public hearing. Its mission statement was ensconced in three words: "Fairness, Professionalism, Convenience."
(Econ, 6/8/19, p.42)
2019 May 29, Huawei's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said that Huawei filed a motion asking a court in Plano, Texas, for a summary judgment on whether a US military spending provision that bars the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment is constitutional.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Prominent Egyptian militant, Hisham el-Ashmawi, wanted for scores of terror attacks in his country was handed over by Libyan forces loyal to a commander pushing to take the capital of Tripoli and flown back to Egypt.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, In Hungary a sightseeing boat carrying at least 32 South Korean tourists sank in a matter of seconds on the Danube river after colliding with a larger cruise ship during an evening downpour. Seven people were confirmed dead and seven were rescued, all of them South Koreans. Hungarian police soon detained the captain of the cruise ship.
(AP, 5/30/19)(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A2)(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 29, In Iran Cleric Mohammad Khorsand, a prayer leader in the city of Kazeroon, was killed while on his way home from a religious ceremony. Police soon arrested suspect Hamid Darakhshandeh.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Iraqi authorities handed over 188 Turkish children of suspected Islamic State members to Turkey at Baghdad airport, where they boarded a plane and prepared to fly home.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, A Baghdad court sentenced a Frenchman to death for joining the Islamic State group, bringing to seven the number of French jihadists on death row in Iraq.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Israel announced it had tightened restrictions on Palestinian fishing off the blockaded Gaza Strip after more balloons fitted with firebombs were floated from the enclave into its territory.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Japan announced 132.6 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in aid to Bangladesh for economic development, a high-speed railway and other projects.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, A Japanese man (45) was arrested in Kitakyushu for using a stun gun to discipline his three children.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, In Japan Veteran Chinese dissident Wang Dan urged Western nations to restore the link between human rights and trade with China in a speech just days ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on student pro-democracy protests centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Latvian lawmakers elected former dissident Egils Levits (63), a judge with the European Court of Justice, as the Baltic nation's new president.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Myanmar police said a court has issued an arrest warrant for Buddhist monk Wirathu, known for incendiary comments about the country's Muslim minority and for criticism of the government.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Dutch judges banned biker club Hells Angels and ordered all its chapters to close in the Netherlands as authorities pursue a clampdown on so-called outlaw motorcycle gangs.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (76) was sworn in for a second term in office, vowing once more to tackle crippling security threats and root out corruption in Africa's key economy.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Pakistan said it arrested six men accused of raising funds for an outlawed Pakistan-based group that claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian troops in Kashmir earlier this year.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, A Pakistani parliamentarian and civil rights leader accused authorities of lying about a violent clash between Pashtun activists and security forces over the weekend as tensions soar between the military and rights group.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Papua New Guinea (PNG) PM Peter O'Neill quit after losing the confidence of parliament during weeks of political turmoil in the South Pacific nation, but government supporters in parliament hoped to be able to retain power.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, In Sweden electric scooters began to legally glide down the streets of Helsingborg. The following day a rider collided with a cat and died. The Swedish Transport Authority immediately called for a ban on the devices.
(Econ, 6/8/19, p.63)
2019 May 29, Syrian activists and rescuers say government warplanes and artillery have pounded the last rebel stronghold in the country, killing at least 14 people by midday.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Turkish warplanes and attack helicopters struck targets in the mountains of northern Iraq. Two Turkish soldiers died from wounds sustained in a bomb blast. The military "neutralized" four militants in the latest action, bringing the total to 19 on the 3rd day of “Operation Claw".
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 29, A Ukrainian Soviet-designed military helicopter Mi-8 crashed late today in western Ukraine, killing all four crew members.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 29, Al Arabiya TV reported that the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has started an operation against Houthi targets in the Yemeni province of Dalea.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 30, US Pres. Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs starting at 5% and increasing incrementally if Mexico does not convince him that it's doing more against illegal immigration.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 30, In Alabama Christopher Lee Price (46) was executed for the 1991 killing of Bill Lynn, a Church of Christ minister in Fayette County.
(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A4)
2019 May 30, In San Francisco Rain Daugherty (44), a suspended city police officer, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to a pair of bank robberies in the city.
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.C1)
2019 May 30, Louisiana’s Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a ban on abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy. The new law will outlaw abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected.
(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A4)
2019 May 30, Leon Redbone (b.1949), Cyprus-born American guitar playing singer, died in Pennsylvania. His albums included “On the Track" (1975), “Double Time" (1977) and “Up a Lazy River" (1992).
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.C1)
2019 May 30, Border officials in Texas arrested group of 116 Africans after they waded through the Rio Grande to enter the United States.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 30, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber targeting a military academy in Kabul killed at least six people and wounded six others.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, An African free-trade zone came into force, a step toward creating what the African Union (AU) hopes will be a continent-wide market of 1.2 billion people worth $2.5 trillion. Fifty-two of the AU's 55 member states have signed the agreement to establish the free trade area since March 2018, with the notable exception of Nigeria, the largest economy on the continent.
(AFP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Colombia's Supreme Court ordered the "immediate release" of Jesus Santrich (52), a former rebel leader accused of drug trafficking, and shot down revisions to the country's peace accord in a double blow for President Ivan Duque.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Congolese forces killed 26 rebels from a group thought to be linked to Islamic State while repelling an attack in east Congo's Ebola zone.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Hungary unexpectedly announced the indefinite suspension of a new administrative court system, backtracking on a reform that had raised concerns over judicial independence.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, In India Narendra Modi was sworn in for a 2nd term as prime minister.
(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A2)
2019 May 30, In Iran hackers took down the website belonging to the country's non-governmental Social Security Organization. The website was down for an unspecified amount of time, but was soon restored.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 30, Israel embarked on an unprecedented snap election campaign — the second this year — after PM Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition and instead dissolved parliament.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Speaking at a conference in Tokyo Malaysia’s PM Mahathir Mohamad said his country will continue using Huawei products "as much as possible," bucking a global trend prompted by security concerns and a US ban on the Chinese firm.
(AFP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, In Mongolia thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of Ulaanbaatar to demand the leadership step down over allegations of corruption and failure to revive a struggling economy.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Pakistani lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, who escaped a deadly clash between the military and activists over the weekend, was arrested after surrendering to authorities. The military accused him and another member of parliament of being involved in an assault on a security post in the volatile North Waziristan region. The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which was co-founded by Dawar and campaigns for civil rights for ethnic minority Pashtun people, said troops killed 13 civilians.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Former Papua New Guinea Finance Minister James Marape was sworn in as the country's new prime minister, following the resignation of Peter O'Neill last weekend.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, It was reported that Marek Lisinski, the founder and head of “Have No Fear," a Polish organization dedicated to helping victims of pedophile priests, has resigned after allegations surfaced that he extorted money from a victim and demanded money from the producers of a documentary about clerical abuse.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, In Russia the Taliban and other Afghan factions wrapped another round of talks in Moscow to discuss peace settlement. There was no breakthrough in their bid to end 18 years of war and that further talks would be needed.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Sudan's protesters threatened to launch a civil disobedience campaign to pressure the ruling military to hand power to a civilian transitional government after their two-day strike failed to produce tangible results.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, In Syria government warplanes bombed the last rebel stronghold in the country again, levelling a building and killing five people inside it, including three members of a single family in Maaret al-Numan, Idlib province.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Ukrainian lawmakers refused to accept the Cabinet's resignation in another snub to the nation's newly sworn-in Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 31, President Donald Trump escalated his abrupt tariff threats against Mexico, triggering alarm about the likely economic fallout, spooking global markets and raising the prospect of US trade wars on multiple fronts.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Connecticut Sujitno Sajuti, a former Fulbright scholar who has been fighting deportation to his native Indonesia, left the sanctuary of a Meriden church after 598 days. US Sen. Richard Blumenthal said federal authorities have determined that Sajuti was once a victim of a violent crime and therefore qualified for a U visa that will allow him to stay in the United States.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Florida Anthony Gignac (48) was sentenced to 18 years in prison for stealing at least $8 million while impersonating a Saudi prince.
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A11)
2019 May 31, A US court ruled that abortion services can continue in Missouri for now, granting a temporary restraining order to keep open the sole clinic that performs the procedure, acting just hours before the St. Louis Planned Parenthood facility’s license was set to expire.
(AFP, 6/1/19)(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A5)
2019 May 31, It was reported that Oregon is glutted with so much legal marijuana that if growers were to stop today, it could take more than six years by one estimate to smoke or eat it all.
(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A5)
2019 May 31, A municipal employee sprayed gunfire "indiscriminately" in a government building complex in the US state of Virginia, killing 12 people and wounding four in the latest mass shooting to rock the country. The shooter was killed after an extended gun battle with responding officers.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Afghanistan a car bomb targeting a US convoy exploded early today in an eastern Kabul neighborhood leaving four Afghans killed and three wounded. It was the second suicide attack in as many days to rattle the Afghan capital.
(AP, 5/31/19)(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A2)
2019 May 31, The Brazilian government reported a case of atypical mad cow disease in an animal in Mato Grosso state. The case was considered "atypical" as the animal contracted the BSE protein spontaneously, rather than through the feed supply.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, China warned Canada that it needs to be aware of the consequences of aiding the US in an extradition case involving Chinese tech giant Huawei that is believed to have sparked the detentions of two Canadians in China.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, China said that it was drawing up a list of "unreliable" foreign companies, organizations and individuals for targeting in what could signal retaliation for US sanctions on its tech powerhouse Huawei.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, It was reported that the European Commission has determined that Czech PM Andrej Babis is in conflict of interest because of his business empire placed in trust funds, and the country may lose some EU funding as a result.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In France Ian Bailey (62), a British man on trial in Paris in absentia over the 1996 killing of a French woman in Ireland, was handed a 25-year prison sentence by judges, who issued a new arrest warrant in a bid to put him in jail.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Haiti a panel of judges accused President Jovenel Moise of being at the center of an "embezzlement scheme" that siphoned off Venezuelan aid money meant for fixing roads.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Honduras masked protesters set fire to the gate of the US embassy during massive demonstrations against public sector reforms in the country.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, Hong Kong confirmed its second case of African swine fever, in a further sign that the virus is continuing to spread beyond mainland China, with the government ordering a cull of 4,700 animals.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, Indonesian police paraded an American, two Spaniards and two Russians at a news conference in Bali’s capital, Denpasar. They had been arrested days earlier for selling cocaine and marijuana on Bali.
(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A2)
2019 May 31, Iranians in the capital Tehran set fire to effigies of US President Donald Trump, while in Baghdad, Iran-backed militiamen marched over a large Israeli flag as part of rallies marking Quds, or Jerusalem Day. The annual protests come as the Trump administration tries to market its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Israeli police shot and killed Abdullah Ghaith, a 16-year-old Palestinian, near the West Bank separation barrier. In Jerusalem's Old City, an alleged Palestinian attacker was killed after stabbing and injuring two Israelis, according to Israeli police.
(AP, 5/31/19)(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A2)
2019 May 31, Italy's culture ministry said it will revoke the lease on a state-owned monastery where a right-wing Roman Catholic institute close to former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon had planned to train political activists.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, The Kosovo government said that Mikhail Krasnoshchenkov, a Russian national working for the UN mission would not be allowed back into the country after his expulsion.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Malawi's opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera rejected the result of last week's presidential election, saying he had launched a court battle to have the vote annulled on the grounds of fraud.
(AFP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Mexico won't respond to US President Donald Trump's threat of coercive tariffs with desperation, but instead will push for dialogue.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Pakistani health officials say 681 people have tested positive for HIV in Ratodero, of whom 537 are children, since April 25. Officials suspected the outbreak is linked to reused syringes and needles and improperly screened blood transfusions.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, The Philippines shipped 69 containers of what its officials called illegally transported garbage back to Canada.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In the southern Philippines Ewold Horn, a long-held Dutch hostage, was fatally shot by his militant captors when he tried to escape during a gunbattle. He had made a dash to freedom during a fierce firefight between the Abu Sayyaf militants and army troops in Sulu province's mountainous Patikul town. At least six militants were killed and 12 others were wounded.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Saudi Arabia opened an emergency meeting of Arab leaders in Mecca with a call for the int’l. community to use all means to confront Iran.
(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A4)
2019 May 31, South Korea said that it is scrambling to prevent the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever on its pig industry after North Korea confirmed an outbreak at a farm near its border with China.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, A South Korean newspaper reported that North Korea executed a senior envoy involved in nuclear negotiations with the US as well as four other high-level officials [see July 16].
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In Switzerland a three-hour standoff in Zurich ended early today after a 60-year-old Swiss man apparently killed two female hostages (34 and 38) and himself in a flat south west of Zurich.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In Thailand three Thai men were found guilty of murdering British expat Alan Hogg and his wife Nhot Suddaen last September, and were sentenced to death.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Pope Francis began a three-day pilgrimage to Romania that in many ways is completing the 1999 trip by St. John Paul II that marked the first-ever papal visit to a majority Orthodox country.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In Ukraine two patrol officers were drinking together in a yard in the city of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky, 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Kiev. While shooting at metal cans they hit a boy, Kyrylo Tlyavov (5), who died on June 3. The two officers were soon arrested.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 May 31, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido renewed calls for President Nicolas Maduro to resign while campaigning in the birthplace of former leader Hugo Chavez, following inconclusive talks in Norway to end the country's crisis.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May, President Donald Trump directed John Bolton, his national security adviser, to help with his pressure campaign to extract damaging information on Democrats from Ukrainian officials. Bolton later wrote in a book that this occurred during an Oval Office conversation that included the acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney; the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani; and the White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, who later led the president’s impeachment defense.
(NY Times, 1/31/20)
2019 May, Rugby star Israel Folau, a devout Christian, was fired after a Rugby Australia tribunal found him guilty of "high-level" misconduct for posting on social media that "hell awaits" gay people and others he considers sinners. On June 24 a crowdfunding campaign for his legal fees was shut down.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 May, European scientists successfully transferred a test tube rhino embryo back into a southern white female rhino whose eggs were fertilized in vitro at the Cherzow Zoo in Poland.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A2)
2019 May, Libyan security forces arrested two men accused of working for a Russian troll farm seeking to influence elections in the oil exporter and other African countries.
(Bloomberg, 7/5/19)
2019 May, A court in Mexico City granted two injunctions ordering the government to allow plaintiffs to "possess, transport and use cocaine," but plaintiffs have to limit their intake to 500 milligrams a day, and cannot buy or sell the drug. The ruling will only be enforced if it is upheld by the higher court.
(Insider, 8/21/19)
2019 May, In the Netherlands around 18,000 building projects, worth billions of euros, risked being shelved after the country's highest court ruled that the way Dutch builders and farmers dealt with nitrogen emissions breached European law.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 May, Pakistani police swept through posh neighborhoods in the Punjab provincial capital of Lahore and in the national capital, Islamabad. They arrested Chinese nationals and their Pakistani partners involved in two marriage-broker networks that sought out Pakistani girls for Chinese grooms.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 May, The FBI arrested the executive director of Puerto Rico's Senate Office of Government Affairs and two legislative advisers. They were accused of creating an alleged billing scheme for professional services never rendered.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 May, A report by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) on the global over-exploitation of this resource accused "sand mafias" of destroying Morocco's beaches and over-urbanizing its coastline.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 May, UNAIDS chief, Michel Sidibe, left his post early after allegations that he improperly handled sexual assault claims against one of his deputies.
(AP, 8/14/19)
2019 May, Zambia went to court to, in effect, grab Konkola Copper Mines, mostly owned by Vedanta, an Indian company.
(Econ., 5/2/20, p.35)
2019 Jun 1, In Iowa a flood barrier along the swollen Mississippi River failed flooding four to six blocks of downtown Burlington.
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A14)
2019 Jun 1, In El Salvador Nayib Bukele (37), the former mayor of San Salvador, was sworn in as president.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 1, In Germany Walter Luebcke (65), a politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, was shot dead with a gunshot wound to the head. He was in charge of the Kassel area regional administration. Stephan Ernst (45), a suspected right-wing radical, was arrested two weeks later after police found his DNA at the scene. In 2020 Ernst was charged with murder and a 2nd man was charged as an accessory.
(AP, 6/3/19)(Reuters, 6/18/19)(SFC, 4/30/20, p.A2)
2019 Jun 1, Former Indonesian first lady Kristiani Herrawati Yudhoyono (66) died of leukemia in a Singapore hospital.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 1, Tokyo police arrested Hideaki Kumazawa (76), a former top Japanese government official, on suspicion of stabbing to death his 44-year-old son Eiichiro.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 1, Kenya's central bank set a Sept. 30 deadline for everyone to convert their old 1,000 shillings note, worth about $10, into new ones after it became the banknote of choice for criminals of all types in the East Africa region.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Jun 1, In Lithuania 25 babies took to the red carpet in a crawling race in Vilnius as their parents, grandparents and onlookers cheered the spectacle. This was the 20th annual event staged by a local radio station to mark International Children's Day, celebrated today in this Baltic nation.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 1, A Pakistani soldier was reported killed by a gun and bomb attack during a patrol in the Boya area of North Waziristan district.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 1, Pope Francis braved a rain-soaked, twisting drive through the mountains of Transylvania to visit Sumuleu Ciuc shrine, Romania's most famous shrine. He urged Romanian and ethnic Hungarian faithful to work together for their future.
(AP, 6/1/19)(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 1, In central Russia at least two people were reported missing after blasts at the TNT explosives plant Kristall in the town of Dzerzhinsk. 79 people were injured.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 1, A Saudi-hosted Islamic summit threw its support behind Palestinians ahead of a US-led peace plan suspected to be skewed in favor of Israel, as Muslim states rallied around Saudi Arabia over tensions with Iran. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, was the third and final Iran-focused summit in the holy city of Mecca this week. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was notably absent from the summit of the 57-member OIC. The Mecca summit refused all illegal Israeli measures aimed at changing facts in occupied Palestinian territories including Jerusalem, and undermining the two-state solution.
(AFP, 6/1/19)(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 1, In northern Syria two explosions in Raqqa killed ten people.
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 2, In Afghanistan four bombings killed at least two people and wounded 27.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 2, Thousands of Israeli religious nationalists paraded through the streets of Jerusalem and into the main entrance of the Old city's Muslim Quarter to mark Jerusalem Day, celebrating the regions capture in 1967.
(SFC, 6/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 2, Pope Francis apologized to the Roma ethnic minority for their history of discrimination in Europe and paid homage to Romanian Catholics persecuted during communist rule as he wrapped up his third and final day in the country.
(SFC, 6/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 2, In northwestern Syria at least 19 people were killed in a car bomb near a bustling market and mosque in Azaz, a rebel-held city in Aleppo province.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, US Pres. Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived in London their two-day state visit. Trump opened his state visit drawing a smile from Queen Elizabeth II and stepping up a long-running feud with London's anti-Trump mayor before his plane had touched down on English soil.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, US FDA researchers reported that food testing for a class of non-stick industrial compounds (PFAS) found substantial levels in some grocery store meats and seafood and off-the-shelf chocolate cake.
(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 3, Twenty-two journalists killed in 2018 had their names added to a Washington memorial as media rights defenders warned of growing threats to freedom of the press around the world.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 3, Naasón Joaquín García (50), the leader of La Luz del Mundo, and a follower of the church, Susana Medina Oaxaca (24), were arrested after landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Two days later California officials announced that Garcia has been charged with human trafficking and child rape. The Mexico-based church has branches in the US claiming more than 1 million followers. The fundamentalist Christian church, whose name translates to The Light of the World, was founded in 1926 by García's grandfather.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Mississippi a head-on crash between a box truck and a passenger van killed eight people.
(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 3, A New Jersey appellate court upheld a ruling that denies pension benefits to former judge Stephen Thompson (72), who served a federal prison term for having sex with a boy in Russia and bringing back a tape of the act.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 3, It was reported that people with a DNA mutation that reduces their chance of HIV infection may die sooner, according to a study that suggests tinkering with a gene to try to fix one problem may cause others.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Afghanistan a bomb attached into a bus carrying Afghan government workers killed at least five people and wounded 10 others in Kabul.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, Austria swore in its first female chancellor at the head of an interim government that will serve until after an election expected in September. Brigitte Bierlein (69), previously the head of Austria's top court, will lead a Cabinet of non-partisan experts.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, British Airways resumed flights to Pakistan, over a decade after they were suspended in the wake of a truck bombing of a hotel in the capital, which killed dozens.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, It was reported that British petrochemicals maker Ineos is investing $2 billion to build three plants in Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, A Canadian government report said the deaths of more than a thousand aboriginal women and girls in recent decades was a national genocide.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, China warned students and academics about risks involved in studying in the United States, pointing to limits on the duration of visas and visa refusals, amid a bitter trade war and other tension between the two countries.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, The Pacific Daily News reported that although abortions are legal on Guam, no doctors there have offered the procedure since the last abortion provider retired last year. Guam law allows abortions within 13 weeks by licensed providers.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 3, Indian air force pilots spotted five bodies in the Himalayas near the border with China and Nepal while searching for eight climbers who went missing in an avalanche while attempting to chart a new route on India's second-highest mountain.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, An Indian air force aircraft with 13 people on board went missing in remote northeastern mountains bordering China.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, India issued heat wave warnings for some places in western Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh state following similar extreme weather a day earlier.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, A Iraqi court sentenced to death two more French nationals for joining the Islamic State group, leaving all 11 Frenchmen transferred from Syria facing the gallows and potentially opening the door for other cases.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Lebanon a lone gunman, identified as former IS member Abdul-Rahman Mabsout, began a late night shooting spree, killing four security personnel before blowing himself up in an apartment in a residential building in Tripoli.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 3, Russia's communications regulator said that Tinder was included on a list of online services operating in Russia that are required to provide user data on demand to Russian authorities, including the FSB security agency.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, Saudi Arabia's special forces captured Abu Osama Al-Muhajir, the leader of the Islamic State group's branch, in Yemen during a raid on a house that was under surveillance. Also captured were the group's chief financial operator in Yemen and other suspects who were not named.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 3, In central Serbia torrential rains over the past 24 hours have caused floods that have covered roads and washed into homes, disrupting traffic and damaging bridges.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Sri Lanka eight Muslim government officials quit their portfolios in solidarity with the industry minister accused by the opposition of supporting Islamist militants who killed more than 250 people on Easter Sunday.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, Sudan's military rulers forcefully broke up a weeks-long sit-in outside Khartoum's army headquarters leaving at least 30 dead and dozens wounded, protesters said, as gunfire rang out and black smoke shrouded the city. The Traditional Military Council turned off the internet and phone networks and Abdel-Fattah Burhan, its leader, said the junta would form an interim government and hold elections in nine months. Dozens of women were raped by security forces over the course of a few hours. Fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and other troops tore apart a sit-in camp in Khartoum where protesters had been demanding for weeks that the military give up power. At least 87 people were killed, with activists putting the number at more than 120.
(AFP, 6/3/19)(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A3)(Econ, 6/8/19, p.43)(AP, 6/3/20)
2019 Jun 3, A Swedish court said it considered Julian Assange a suspect in a 2010 rape case but rejected a request to detain him, dashing the prosecutor's hopes of having him swiftly extradited from Britain.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Syria bombardments by the ruling regime killed six civilians in the northwest, hours after US President Donald Trump urged Damascus and its allies to "stop bombing the hell" out of the jihadist-held region. Government forces captured the village of Qassaibyeh under the cover of Russian and Syrian airstrikes.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, Some 800 Syrian women and children left al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province to return to their homes in Raqqa. Kurdish authorities handed over to a Norwegian envoy five children of IS members who were killed in Syria. The five orphans are expected to be taken back home.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a "high risk" of atrocities in Mali in a report that calls for beefing up the UN peacekeeping presence in the strife-torn center of the country.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, A UN said people in all major cities across the western Balkans face alarming levels of air pollution that are reducing their life expectancies because the underdeveloped, politically fragile region is still heavily reliant on burning coal to generate power. The report was prepared cooperation with the WHO and air quality management institutions in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, UN officials said international donors have pledged $1.2 billion to help Mozambique recover from the devastation caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth, but $3.2 billion is needed overall.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 4, The Trump administration imposed major new travel restrictions on visits to Cuba by US citizens, including a ban on many forms of educational and recreational travel. Commercial airline flights appear to be unaffected and travel for university groups, academic research, journalism and professional meetings will continue to be allowed.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, US and Philippine officials discussed a new 3-year program to thwart efforts by Muslim extremists to recruit and mobilize followers in the country's south after a bloody siege by jihadists aligned with the Islamic State group.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, The US Federal Reserve signaled it was ready to cut interest rates to support the US economy against risks from trade conflicts.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, US authorities arrested and deported Abdelhaleem Ashqar to Israel after misleading him about his need to report to an immigration office to process paperwork. A judge's order forced immigration authorities to reverse his deportation and bring him back from Israel before he ever got off the plane. Ashqar recently served 11 years in prison for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating his relationship to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 4, US citizen Mikhy Farrera-Brochez, who leaked the names of more than 14,000 HIV-positive people in Singapore, was found guilty by a US court of illegally transferring personal data and threatening the Singapore government. He faced up to two years in prison on each of the two counts of sending threatening communications, and up to five years for possessing and transferring identity information.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 4, A US scientist said Mount Everest and its surrounding peaks are increasingly polluted and warmer, and nearby glaciers are melting at an alarming rate that is likely to make it more dangerous for future climbers.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, It was reported that at least 50 people were shot in Chicago last weekend with at least ten killed.
(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 4, Arkansas state Sen. Collins-Smith (57), a well-to-do businesswoman, was found dead at her Pocahontas home. Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell (49), her friend and employee, was soon now charged with capital murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.
(ABC News, 12/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, In South Carolina a jury found Timothy Jones Jr. (37) guilty of the 2014 deaths of his five young children. On June 13 Jones was sentenced to death.
(http://tinyurl.com/y2c3m98h)(SFC, 5/7/19, p.A4)(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 4, In Australia a man who was out on parole was arrested after fatally shooting four men and wounding a woman in an hour-long downtown rampage in the northern city of Darwin.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Thousands took to the streets of central London to protest the visit of Donald Trump, with the infamous blimp of the US president once again flying outside the Houses of Parliament.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Rights groups sounded a warning over the escalating crisis in western Cameroon, where separatists and government forces are locked in deadly combat.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, China imposed an information lockdown on the 30th anniversary of its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, China issued a travel warning for the US, saying Chinese visitors have been interrogated, interviewed and subjected to other forms of what it called harassment by US law enforcement agencies.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, It was reported that deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has surpassed 2,000 cases and is picking up speed.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Cypriot authorities recovered the remains of a body stuffed in a suitcase at the bottom of a lake believed to be the sixth victim of a suspected serial killer. The suitcase is thought to contain the body of missing Filipina Maricar Valdez.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In the Czech Rep. an estimated 120,000 protesters took to Prague's streets this evening to demand the resignation of PM Andrej Babis, one of the biggest protests since the end of communism in 1989.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno blocked the extradition to the United States of a New York man charged with trying to defraud Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg. Paul Ceglia spent nearly 3-1/2 years as a fugitive before being arrested in Ecuador last year. Ceglia, who is in jail, has requested asylum in Ecuador.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 4, A French government report said France's weapons sales to Saudi Arabia rose 50 pct. in 2018 despite the government calling for an end to the "dirty war" in Yemen.
(Reuters, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Ghana two Canadian women, charity volunteers aged 19 and 20, were kidnapped this evening in Kumasi, some 200 km (125 miles) northwest of Accra.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 4, Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong gathered to mark 30 years since China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Hungarian rescuers said the death toll from the Danube River tour boat that collided with a large cruise ship grew to 10 after they recovered another body.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In India hospitals across the desert state of Rajasthan reported a surge in heatstroke cases as fierce temperatures kept up for a fourth day across northern India.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Iraq a roadside bomb has exploded near an army patrol north of Baghdad, killing four security personnel and wounding four others in Tarmiya.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Mexico three synthetic drug labs producing an estimated $160 million worth of methamphetamine were dismantled in northwestern Sinaloa state.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, The Islamic State group claimed it was involved in an insurgent clash late today in Mozambique for the first time. An expert expressed doubt and police dismissed the claim outright.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, Muslim Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, as well as Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, announced the first day of Eid, whereas Egypt, Syria, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and others said the Shawwal crescent moon was not visible across the country and won't start till tomorrow.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Pakistan's PM Imran Khan said the powerful military has agreed in a rare move to cut its hefty budget for a year to help ease the South Asian country's "critical financial situation".
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, Russia's leading internet company, Yandex, said it's committed to data privacy as it responds to reports that the national intelligence agency is pressuring it into handing over encryption keys.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, South Africa's government announced that the economy dropped by the most in a decade in the first quarter of this year, hurting newly elected President Cyril Ramaphosa's efforts at growth and reforms.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Spain's Supreme Court temporarily halted the government's plan to move the remains of Gen. Francisco Franco to a discreet tomb next week, because judges have yet to rule on appeals by the dictator's descendants.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Scandinavian Airlines said it will stop selling duty-free goods on planes to reduce weight and save fuel as part of a wider range of measures to cut emissions.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Sudan's protest movement called for fresh rallies and rejected the military rulers' election plan after more than 35 people were killed in what demonstrators called a "bloody massacre" by security forces. At least 40 bodies were pulled from the Nile River in Khartoum bringing the death toll since the violent dispersal of a sit-in outside the military's headquarters to 100.
(AP, 6/4/19)(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Uganda five people died and dozens were missing after heavy rains triggered a series of landslides in eastern Uganda's mountainous Bududa district.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, The UN's World Food Program said fighters have set fire to thousands of acres of wheat and other crops in northwest Syria in a campaign that has turned food supplies in a "weapon of war" and forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee.
(Reuters, 6/4/19)
\2019 Jun 4, A prominent Venezuelan news website said it was ordered by the country's Supreme Court to pay some five million dollars in damages and interest to Diosdado Cabello, head of the all-powerful National Assembly. Cabello had taken the La Patilla site to court for putting up an article from the Spanish daily ABC -- published three years previously -- that accused him of having links to drug trafficking.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, President Donald Trump arrived in Ireland on his first visit to the country as president. Some protesters have set up a "peace camp" outside Shannon Airport for the duration of the president's visit.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, The Trump administration announced new restrictions in funding of research involving human fetal tissue.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 5, US senators across the political spectrum moved to block President Donald Trump's plan to sell $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies as lawmakers' frustration with the kingdom soars.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Ohio authorities said Dr. William Husel has been charged with murder in 25 patient deaths. He was already accused of ordering painkiller overdoses for dozens of hospital patients. The Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System soon fired Husel and reached nearly $4.5 million in settlements over the patient deaths.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.A6)(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 5, YouTube announced plans to remove thousands of videos and channels that advocate neo-Nazism, white supremacy and other bigoted ideologies in an attempt to clean up extremism and hate speech on its service.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 5, Freedom House, a human rights watchdog, said press freedom is declining around the world, with democratic governments joining authoritarian regimes in seeking to suppress independent journalism.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Australia's Federal Police raided the offices of the national public broadcaster in connection to a 2017 story based on leaked military documents that indicated the country's military forces were being investigated for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Bosnian police arrested 20 people early today after migrants rioted at a reception center in the northwestern town of Velika Kladusa.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Prosecutors in Bosnia-Herzegovina said a mass grave has been found on Mt. Igman. Victims were believed to be from the village of Donji Hadzici, missing since the summer of 1992.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 5, In Britain US President Donald Trump and Queen Elizabeth II joined 300 veterans in paying tribute to their fallen comrades at a poignant ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, China launched a rocket from a mobile platform at sea for the first time, sending a five commercial satellites and two others containing experimental technology into space.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, China imposed a $23.6 million fine on US auto giant Ford's joint venture with Changan Automobile for "price fixing" in the latest incident of Beijing targeting an American company amid a festering trade war.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, The head of Colombia's army, Gen. Nicacio Martínez, was promoted amid an outcry over an order he issued that has stirred fears of a return to serious human rights violations.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Czech PM Andrej Babis stepped up criticism of a European Commission audit into his possible conflicts of interest, calling the auditors incompetent and demanding a meeting with the head of the commission executive.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, In Egypt Islamic militants attacked a checkpoint in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 10 police in el-Arish.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, The European Commission formally put Italy on notice about its deteriorating deficit and snowballing debt, re-opening a political battle with populist-led Rome.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Israel cut the fishing zone it allows off Gaza, in the third such response in a fortnight to Palestinian incendiary balloons. The fishing limit for Gaza fishermen was reduced from a maximum of 15 nautical miles to 10.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 5, Japanese authorities said they have arrested seven Chinese men over the weekend on suspicion of smuggling what is believed to be a record amount of stimulants.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Japan's health minister said in response to a petition seeking a ban on requiring women to wear high heels at work that such dress code expectations are "necessary and appropriate" in the workplace.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Kurdish authorities in northern Syria said they have transferred eight US women and children who were captured with the Islamic State group back to America.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Hundreds more Central American migrants crossed into Mexico from Guatemala, and a group of about 1,000 started walking en mass to the north.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Officials in Nepal said a government expedition to Mount Everest has removed 11,000 kg (24,200 pounds) of garbage and four dead bodies from the world's highest mountain.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, It was reported that North Korea will temporarily suspend the latest edition of its famous mass games, which involve thousands of performers working in precise synchronization, after the premiere drew strong criticism from leader Kim Jong Un.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, In Russia Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin sat down for talks at the Kremlin in a visit affirming the increasingly close relationship between the two former Cold War communist rivals.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Huawei signed a deal with Russian telecoms firm MTS to develop 5G technology in Russia. The deal was agreed as China's President Xi Jinping began a three-day visit to Russia.
(https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48537643)
2019 Jun 5, Russian rights activists and US diplomats said Paul Whelan, a former US Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying, is being illegally isolated in a Moscow pre-trial detention center and prevented from communicating with visitors.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, South Korea said that North Korea has so far ignored its calls for joint efforts to stem the spread of highly contagious African swine fever following an outbreak near North Korea's border with China.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Sudan's army ruler said he was open to negotiations even as gunfire crackled across the capital after a crackdown that doctors close to protesters said left at least 60 people dead. Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North said its deputy chief, Yasir Arman, was detained today after being taken from the house where he was staying in Khartoum since May 26.
(AFP, 6/5/19)(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, In Switzerland one person was killed and six others injured in an accident at the mountain resort of Engelberg Titlis during maintenance work on an out-of-service ski lift.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Thailand's Parliament convened for a vote that is expected to keep Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister five years after he seized power in a military coup.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 6, US Pres. Donald Trump signed a $19.1 billion disaster aid bill aimed at helping communities across the country bounce back from hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and fires.
(SFC, 6/7/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 6, The US Treasury Department tightened its pressure on Venezuela's state-owned oil company by making clear that exports of diluents by international shippers could be subject to US sanctions.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, It was reported that the US federal government has stopped paying for English-language courses and legal services at facilities that hold immigrant children around the country. Budget cuts were imposed as record numbers of unaccompanied children were arriving at the border.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 6, US federal regulators voted to give phone companies the right to block unwanted calls without getting customers' permission first.
(SFC, 6/7/19, p.D3)
2019 Jun 6, New York's police chief apologized for the first time for a crackdown on the city's gay community during the notorious 1969 Stonewall riots, winning praise from LGBTQ activists ahead of the 50th anniversary of violence considered to have given rise to the Gay Pride movement.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Mac Rebennack (b.1940), aka Dr. John, pianist, singer and songwriter who embodied the New Orleans sound for generations, died of a heart attack. He recorded more than 30 albums and in 1994 authored an autobiography with Jack Rummel titled "Under Hoodoo Moon".
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._John)(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.C10)
2019 Jun 6, The African Union (AU) suspended Sudan, demanding a "civilian-led transitional authority" to resolve an entrenched and bloody crisis.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Brazil's Supreme Court approved an 8.6 billion dollar deal allowing state oil company Petrobras to sell its TAG pipeline network in a big win for the firm and the ruling party.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, A court in Chad handed 20-year jail terms to 11 men accused of taking part in an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea in December 2017.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, Egyptian security forces killed 14 militants suspected in an attack on a police checkpoint in northern Sinai where at least eight policemen died.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In northern France President Donald Trump told the US's rattled allies that the bonds between them were "unbreakable" as they marked the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, A German court handed a life sentence to Niels Hoegel (42), a nurse believed to be the most prolific serial killer in the country's post-war history, for the "unfathomable" crime of murdering 85 patients in his care.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal said the government cannot deny spousal employment benefits to same-sex couples, in a ruling hailed as a major step forward for same-sex equality in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, India's central bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75% with immediate effect to fortify the economy as consumer spending and corporate investment falter.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In India at least 24 people were killed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh overnight as raging winds flattened homes, trees and electricity poles.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, Italy-based Fiat Chrysler's withdrew a merger offer with French carmaker Renault on fundamental differences over when Renault's long-time alliance partner, Nissan, would be brought in.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In Israel thousands took part in Jerusalem's Gay Pride parade, waving rainbow flags and calling for tolerance in the Holy City with security tight.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Mexico's foreign minister said Mexico will deploy its national guard to its southern border with Guatemala as part of the country's bid to stem Central American migration that has drawn US President Donald Trump's ire.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Russia detained investigative journalist Ivan Golunov (36) on drugs charges that supporters the next day condemned as trumped-up and suggested were punishment for his reporting. In his investigations, Golunov zeroed in on everything from Russia's shady funeral industry to corruption within Moscow city hall.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, Sudan's pro-democracy leaders vowed to press their campaign of civil disobedience until the ruling military council is ousted and killers of protesters are brought to justice. A Sudan Health Ministry official said 61 people have been killed across the country since the military launched a deadly crackdown on protesters earlier this week, disputing the death toll of 108 announced earlier by protesters.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Taiwan confirmed it has asked to purchase more than 100 tanks from the US, along with air defense and anti-tank missile systems in a major potential arms sale that drew immediate protest from China.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, A Thai court sentenced former PM Thaksin Shinawatra in absentia to two years in prison over his handling of a state lottery program he initiated while in office more than a decade ago.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In the UAE a bus from Oman smashed into a warning sign coming off a major highway in Dubai, killing 17 people late today, including at least 12 Indians. In 2021 an appeals court reduced the Omani bus driver's seven-year sentence followed by deportation to just one year without deportation.
(AP, 6/7/19)(AP, 2/25/21)
2019 Jun 6, A UN envoy on the Israel-Palestinian conflict said the cash-strapped Palestinian government has pledged to suspend a secret increase in ministerial salaries after reports of the raise sparked anger.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In Vietnam a southern provincial court sentenced environmental activist Nguyen Ngoc Anh (39) to six years in prison for "producing, disseminating or spreading information and documents aimed at undermining" the country.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 7, President Donald Trump put on hold his plan to begin imposing tariffs on Mexico, saying the US ally will take "strong measures" to reduce the flow of Central American migrants into the United States.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, The United States placed sanctions on Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group for indirectly supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a step it said aimed to dry up revenues to the elite Iranian military force but that analysts called largely symbolic.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, It was reported that the United States has decided to stop accepting any more Turkish pilots who had planned to train in the United States on F-35 fighter jets.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, NASA announced that it will open the International Space Station to private astronauts with the first visit as early as next year.
(SFC, 6/8/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 7, Wells Fargo confirmed that it has agreed to pay at least $385 million to settle a California lawsuit alleging it signed up thousands of auto loan customers without their consent, resulting in many seeing their vehicles repossessed.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A12)
2019 Jun 7, In southern Michigan a pickup truck rear-ended an Amish horse-drawn carriage killing tow children and injuring three others. The driver of the pickup was intoxicated and held in jail.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A12)
2019 Jun 7, In Michigan a homeless man was taken into custody in Detroit two days after the body of a woman was found in a vacant home. The bodies of two other women have been found in separate empty dwellings this year and police believed the deaths are related.
(SFC, 6/10/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 7, Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor (33), who shot and killed an unarmed woman who had called 911, said he "knew in an instant that I was wrong" and apologized to her family, just moments before a judge brushed off a defense request for leniency and ordered him to prison for 12½ years.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, In North Carolina four people and two dogs from Florida died when their private plane crashed about 40 miles east of Raleigh.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A12)
2019 Jun 7, The Catholic Church in Texas said it is reviewing allegations that a top monsignor continued to hear the confessions of Laura Pontikes, a married woman, after luring her into a sexual relationship, a potentially serious crime under church law.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, US media reported that more than a dozen car manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen have officially asked Pres. Donald Trump not to relax emission limits, to avoid a fragmentation of the car market.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Afghanistan Taliban militants killed at least 14 members of a pro-government militia in an attack on checkpoints in western Ghor province.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 7, In Algeria hundreds of demonstrators packed the center of Algiers calling on the interim president to quit a day after he called for dialogue aimed at fixing a new date for elections as soon as possible.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Australian officials said they have seized the nation's largest haul of methamphetamine at the Melbourne waterfront, nearly 1.6 metric tons (1.8 tons) of the illegal drug hidden in stereo speakers shipped from Bangkok.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Bhutan's lower house of Parliament voted overwhelmingly to repeal provisions that said "unnatural sex" is illegal. The bill still needs to be passed by the upper chamber before being sent for royal assent.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 7, British PM Theresa May stepped down as leader of her Conservative Party, formally triggering the race for a successor who will try where she failed to deliver Brexit.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Regulators announced that Britain will from next year force the country's banks to slash overdraft charges, helping millions of consumers, in particular the more vulnerable.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, A Bulgarian prosecutor said a boy (16) was arrested after police found explosive devices, an Islamic state flag and other items in the boy's home that could have been used in a mass attack.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 7, A senior human rights official said prospects for talks between authorities and separatist movements to end escalating violence in Cameroon's English-speaking region are slim.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, People in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan competed in annual dragon boat races, a tradition with roots dating back more than 2,000 years.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Cyprus renegotiated a contract with a consortium made up of Shell, Texas-Based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek that paves the way for the exploitation of an offshore field that is estimated to hold 4.1 trillion cubic feet of gas. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is determined to protect Turkish Cypriots' rights to gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed visited Sudan for talks with the ruling military as well as the country's protest leaders. Sudanese security forces arrested two prominent rebels and an opposition leader after they held meetings with Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed.
(AP, 6/7/19)(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, Three rescuers from the French lifeboat service died when their vessel capsized in rough seas caused by storm Miguel pummeling the country's Atlantic.
(AFP, 6/7/19)(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, Iran rejected French calls for wider international talks over its nuclear and military ambitions, saying it would only discuss it existing 2015 atomic pact with world powers.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, It was reported that fires in northern Iraq have destroyed 5,183 hectares (more than 12,800 acres) of farmland. The IS claimed responsibility for at least some of the fires.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Kashmir four militants were killed in an overnight gunbattle with government forces, including two counterinsurgency police officers who defected to fight with rebels in the disputed region.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Thousands of Liberians took to the streets of Monrovia to protest against the corruption and economic decline that many blame on their once hugely popular president, former football star George Weah.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, A Dutch court outlawed the No Surrender motorcycle gang in another victory for prosecutors in their fight against what they consider to be violent groups.
(SFC, 6/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 7, In Nigeria's Federal High Court in Abuja said African Independent Television (AIT) and RayPower FM radio should be allowed to operate until a ruling on their legal challenge to the ban. Broadcasting resumed the next day.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Nigeria gunmen in oil-rich Rivers state kidnapped two Lebanese workers helping to build a road.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 7, In northwestern Pakistan four soldiers were killed and another four were wounded by a roadside bomb blast in the Khar Qamar tribal area.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, Papua New Guinea PM James Marape installed a reformer as petroleum minister, handing him a mandate to overhaul the sector.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Russia's Pres. Vladimir Putin called for rethinking the role of the US dollar in global trade and slammed US pressure against Chinese tech giant Huawei. China's Xi Jinping and Putin hit back at US global economic dominance as they took the stage together at Russia's showcase business forum.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Spain extradited 94 Taiwanese to China to face telephone and online fraud charges, drawing protest from Taiwan's government.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Syria fierce clashes between Russia-backed government forces and jihadists have left 44 government loyalists and 39 jihadists and Islamist fighters dead in the northwest in the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, A member of Venezuela's opposition said that a mediation effort by Norway is stalling over Nicolás Maduro's refusal to accept presidential elections to resolve the nation's political crisis. The UN said the number of Venezuelans who have left their country in recent years has surpassed 4 million.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, The UN refugee agency said heavy rains have triggered severe flooding in southwestern Libya since late May, killing four people and forcing more than 2,500 to flee their homes.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a partial opening of the country's border with Colombia, which his government closed in February as opposition leaders prepared an ultimately failed effort to bring aid into the country.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Yemen gunmen from a security force backed by the United Arab Emirates stormed a mosque in the southern Dhale province, killing at least five people.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In California the Sand Fire began in Yolo County. By June 12 it had scorched 2,512 acres and was 90% contained.
(SFC, 6/10/19, p.C1)(SFC, 6/13/19, p.C3)
2019 Jun 8, Supporters of Albanian opposition parties rallied to ask PM Edi Rama to quit and pave the way to fresh polls, dispersing after throwing firecrackers and flares to police who responded with water jets and tear gas.
(Reuters, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 8, The Austrian capital of Vienna bid farewell to the iconic Life Ball AIDS charity fundraiser due to a lack of funding. Launched by former make-up artist Gery Keszler, among others, the ball has raised around 30 million euros ($34 million) for anti-AIDS causes within Austria and abroad since its first edition in 1993.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Egyptian security forces killed four suspected jihadists in restive North Sinai allegedly involved in a deadly attack on a police checkpoint.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Hong Kong police announced they have arrested four men in connection with two apparent gasoline bomb attacks on law enforcement a day earlier.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Indian PM Narendra Modi arrived in the Maldives on his first official overseas trip since being elected to a second term.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, India's annual monsoon, which delivers about 70 percent of the country's rainfall, officially arrived on the coast of southern Kerala state, a week later than usual.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Tehran's police chief said 547 restaurants and cafes in Tehran have been shut down over the last ten days for not observing "Islamic principles". Tehran's guidance court, which deals with "cultural crimes and social and moral corruption", called on Tehran citizens to report cases of "immoral behavior" by texting a designated phone number.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In Italy thousands of people took to the streets in Venice calling for a ban on large cruise ships in the city following last week's collision between a massive vessel and a tourist boat.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In Japan financial leaders of the Group of 20 gathered to brainstorm ways to adapt global finance to an age of trade turmoil and digital disruptions. G20 finance officials agreed there was an urgent need to find a global system to tax internet giants like Google and Facebook but clashed on the best way to do it.
(AP, 6/8/19)(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Moldova's parliament approved a new government based on an unprecedented alliance between pro-Russian and pro-European forces.
(AFP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 8, Nicaragua's Congress approved a sweeping amnesty law that will offer protection to police and others who took part in a violent clampdown on anti-government protesters over the past year.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, The Philippine government attacked UN human rights experts for "unpardonable intrusions", after a call for an international investigation into killings linked to President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In Poland tens of thousands of people joined a pride march in Warsaw as gay rights continue to become a major issue in Poland's election campaign.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In Syria Abdelbasset Sarout (27), once a well-known goalkeeper from the city of Homs, died after getting injured battling government forces in the northwest.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Turkey's Defence Ministry said a total of 43 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had been "neutralized" as part of an operation Ankara launched in northern Iraq 13 days ago. Separately, the Interior Ministry said two PKK members, one of whom was on Turkey's wanted list, were "neutralized" in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province, as well as five others in the eastern Tunceli province.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Several thousand Venezuelans, desperate for food and medicine, packed a border crossing to Colombia, hours after Pres. Nicolas Maduro partially reopened it.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Colorado Bushwick Bill (52), the diminutive, one-eyed rapper (aka Robert Shaw) who with the Geto Boys helped put the South's stamp on rap with hits like "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" and "Six Feet Deep," died of pancreatic cancer.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In NYC "Hadestown," the soulful musical by Anais Mitchell based on an ancient Greek myth, triumphed over much more traditionally commercial fare in the annual Tony awards.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 9, In NYC Puerto Rican pride was on full display along Fifth Avenue, as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade stepped off for its 62nd annual event.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Texas Kiersten Symone Smith (29) was killed when a crane fell on her apartment in Dallas.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 9, Boris Johnson, the leading candidate to succeed Theresa May as Britain's prime minister, said he would withhold an already agreed 39-billion-pound ($49.6 billion) Brexit payment until the European Union gives Britain better withdrawal terms.
(Reuters, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In northern Burkina Faso unidentified assailants killed 19 people and wounded 13 in an attack on and around the town of Arbinda.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 9, Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz (43) was shot in the Dominican Republic. Dominican doctors removed Ortiz's gallbladder and part of his intestine and he was flown to Boston the next day to recover. Two people were soon arrested in relation to the shooting.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Haiti thousands of protesters denouncing corruption blocked roads and paralyzed much of Port-au-Prince as demanded the removal of Pres. Jovenel Moise.
(SFC, 6/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 9, Hong Kong witnessed the largest protest since its 1997 handover to China as huge crowds massed against plans to allow extraditions to the mainland, a proposal that has plunged the city's pro-Beijing leaders into a crisis.
(AFP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, Iran said Europe was in no position to criticize Tehran for its military capabilities and it called on European leaders to normalize trade ties with the Islamic Republic despite US sanctions, or face consequences.
(Reuters, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Japan finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 major economies wrapped up a meeting with a pledge to use all the policies they can to protect global growth from disruptions due to trade and other tensions. G20 policymakers also tackled economic issues relating to ageing and shrinking birthrates.
(AP, 6/9/19)(AFP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, Police in Kazakhstan arrested hundreds of opposition protesters at polls to elect the country's first new president in 30 years following the departure of historic leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. Hand-picked successor Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took 70.8 percent of the presidential vote. The elections saw hundreds of arrests after the biggest protests in Kazakhstan in at least three years, as demonstrators urged a boycott of what they said was a fixed election.
(AFP, 6/9/19)(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 9, In central Mali 95 people inhabited in a village by the Dogon community were reportedly killed by gunmen in a late night attack. Days later authorities revised the death toll to 35.
(AFP, 6/10/19)(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 9, Moldova plunged deeper into crisis as a new, acting president dissolved parliament and called elections after months of wrangling between pro-Russia and pro-European lawmakers failed to form a workable government. The Constitutional Court suspended president Dodon and appointed Pavel Filip, who backs closer integration with the European Union, as interim leader.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, An anchored Filipino fishing boat sank in the disputed South China Sea after being hit by a suspected Chinese vessel which then abandoned the 22 Filipino crewmen. The 22 Filipino crewmen of the sunken F/B Gimver 1 were rescued by a Vietnamese vessel. On June 13 Beijing described the incident as an ordinary maritime accident.
(AP, 6/12/19)(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Sri Lanka Indian PM Narendra Modi paid homage to the more than 250 people killed in the Easter suicide bombings, and agreed with Sri Lanka's leaders to step up cooperation to combat terrorism.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Sudan shops were closed and streets were empty across the country, the first day of a general strike called for by protest leaders demanding the resignation of the ruling military council.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 10, The Intercept website reported that Rashid al-Malik, a United Arab Emirates businessman linked to a probe of illegal donations to Donald Trump's political campaign, was paid by his country's intelligence agency in 2017 to spy on the US president's administration.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, The SF Bay Area experienced record heat has the temperature in San Francisco reached a record high of 97 and a record 98 degrees in Oakland.
(SFC, 5/14/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 10, In southern California Charles Merritt (62) was convicted of killing Joseph McStay, wife Melinda McStay and their two children in 2010 and burying their bodies in Victorville.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 10, In NYC a helicopter crashed on the roof of a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper killing the pilot.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 10, In Afghanistan 17 civilians and 17 members of the security forces — seven soldiers, seven policemen and three intelligence agents — were freed during the operation in northern Baghlan province.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Albanian President Ilir Meta called off local elections set for June 30, but the government accused him of breaking the law and declared he should be thrown out of office.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Britain said it had concluded a trade deal with South Korea to maintain links after Brexit.
(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, China announced regulations to curb the smuggling of human organs and tighten oversight on the use of human genetic materials in research months after a Chinese scientist caused a global outcry by claiming that he gene-edited babies.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 10, Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo declared an epidemic of measles which may have killed 1,500 people, according to statistical analysis.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, Twelve orphaned children of French jihadists were flown home from camps in Syria, along with two Dutch orphans who were handed over to the Netherlands.
(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Gabon named Lee White, a British former Wildlife Conservation Society officer, as the country's forests minister. The last one was fired over a scandal in which hundreds of containers of illegally logged kevazingo wood went missing.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, India's top court ordered the release of journalist Prashant Kanojia (26), arrested for a social media post about a Hindu nationalist state chief minister, in a case that highlighted growing concerns over free speech and media freedom.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, In India a bomb killed two people in West Bengal, taking the death toll in post-election violence to 15.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, In India Girish Karnad (81), a top playwright, actor and director and a rights activist, died in Bangalore after a prolonged illness.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Iranian state television reported that Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident held for years in Iran after his conviction on disputed spying charges, will be released in the coming hours.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Iranian activist Alireza Shirmohammadali (21) was stabbed to death by two other prisoners. He had been in jail since July and sentenced to eight years in prison over insulting the country's Islamic identity and government.
(http://tinyurl.com/yydt5ccy)(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 10, The prime minister of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Nechirvan Barzani, was sworn in as its president, filling the most powerful regional office, vacant since 2017 when his uncle quit after a failed independence bid.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Israel's Supreme Court ruled against the Greek Orthodox Church in a long-running legal battle over the sale of three properties in predominantly Palestinian parts of Jerusalem's Old City to a Jewish settler group.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 10, In Kashmir a court sentenced three Hindu men, including a police officer, to life imprisonment for kidnapping, raping and murdering an 8-year-old Muslim girl in 2018, in a case that has exacerbated tensions in the disputed region.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Mexico said it will discuss a "safe third country" agreement with the United States -- in which migrants entering Mexican territory must apply for asylum there rather than the US -- if the flow of undocumented immigrants continues.
(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Two rival Moldovan governments held simultaneous cabinet meetings and accused each other of trying to usurp power, deepening a crisis brought on by an inconclusive parliamentary election in February.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, In Nepal Peter John Dalglish (62), a former high-profile UN humanitarian worker from Canada, was found guilty by a court of sexually abusing two boys and is due to be sentenced next month. On July 9 he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
(AFP, 6/11/19)(SFC, 7/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 10, Nicaragua's government released 50 prisoners and said it was "preparing for the release" of others amid a broader move to set free people the opposition considers political prisoners under an agreement meant to ease the country's political standoff.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, Pakistan's anti-graft body arrested former President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto, in a multi-million dollar money laundering case that has shaken the country.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, The Palestinian foreign minister said that comments by the US ambassador to Israel were intended to help Israel annex parts of the occupied West Bank, underscoring the Palestinians' distrust of the Trump administration.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Palestinian paramedic Mohammed al-Judeili (36) succumbed to wounds inflicted by Israeli fire at a border protest a month before.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Russian authorities faced unprecedented pushback against the arrest last week of Ivan Golunov, an investigative reporter on drugs charges, with independent as well as pro-Kremlin figures urging his release.
(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Russian authorities said police have uncovered around $3 million worth of stolen diamonds, and over $2.5 million in cash, at the homes of a criminal ring operating inside state-controlled diamond producer Alrosa.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Rwanda said it would re-open its busiest border post with Uganda to cargo trucks for 12 days, more than three months after it was closed amid tensions between the two neighbors triggered by security and economic disagreements.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Lee Hee-ho (b.1921), a South Korean feminist activist who fought for democracy against dictatorships alongside her husband and future President Kim Dae-jung, died.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, In Sudan a nationwide civil disobedience campaign by protesters entered a second day. Sudan deported to South Sudan three members of a rebel movement detained last week in the wake of a deadly raid on a protest sit-in.
(AFP, 6/10/19)(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, The head of the UN atomic watchdog urged world powers to continue dialogue with Iran to keep it in the landmark 2015 deal aimed at preventing the country from building nuclear weapons, and to help defuse mounting tensions in the region.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, The Vatican issued an official document rejecting the idea that people can choose or change their genders and insisting on the sexual complementarity of men and women to make babies.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 10, Vietnam's government said it is taking more steps to prevent Chinese companies from using illegal "Made in Vietnam" labels to avoid high tariffs that have been imposed by the United States on Chinese goods.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 11, A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said the world's oceans will likely lose about one-sixth of their fish and other marine life by 2100 if climate change continues on its current path.
(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 11, In southern Afghanistan at least six people were killed after a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle in Kandahar province.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Afghanistan an ancient tower dating back 2,000 years in the historic city of Ghazni collapsed, raising concerns about the vulnerability of the country's cultural heritage and the government's ability to protect them.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 11, Botswana decriminalized homosexuality, with the High Court overturning a colonial-era law that punished gay sex by up to seven years in prison.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, British police arrested Pakistani politician Altaf Hussain in London as part of an investigation into speeches he gave as founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party that ruled the megacity of Karachi for decades.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In France a man on an electric scooter died early today after being hit late yesterday by a van in Paris in the first deadly collision with a vehicle since they appeared on the streets of the French capital a year ago.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Three French jihadists and their nine children returned to France after being expelled by Turkey.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Greece two children, four women and a man drowned when a boat carrying them overturned off the island of Lesbos.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Hungary rescue crews raised the sunken Hableany (Mermaid) tour boat out of the Danube River, shortly after four more bodies were recovered from the vessel involved in a collision with a river cruise ship nearly two weeks ago. Nineteen South Koreans and a Hungarian crewman have been confirmed dead, with eight people still listed as missing.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In India four people, ages 69-81, returning from a Hindu pilgrimage died while traveling in a non-air-conditioned coach on a train during a summer heat wave.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 11, The Indian air force spotted the wreckage of an AN-32 transport plane nine days after it went missing near the border with China. On June 13 authorities said there were no survivors.
(AP, 6/11/19)(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 11, Indonesian police aired video testimony from three suspects who alleged a retired soldier backing the political opposition had offered them money and, in one case, a family vacation to join a plot to kill government officials.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In northern Iraq the Kurdish parliament named Masoud's eldest son Masrour Barzani (50) as the region's new premier after seven years as its top security official. He succeeds his cousin Nechirvan (52), sworn in as president the previous day.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Israeli and Palestinian forces have engaged in a rare shootout in the West Bank, which erupted overnight in the city of Nablus.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Italy's populist government approved stiff fines for migrant rescue boats that defy orders to stay out of Italian waters.
(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 11, Nizar Zakka, Lebanese businessman and US resident imprisoned in Iran on spying charges since 2015, landed at Beirut's Rafik Hariri airport aboard a private jet, accompanied by the chief of Lebanon's General Security Directorate, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Abbas, who traveled to Tehran to bring him home.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Mexico Norma Sarabia, a correspondent for the newspaper Tabasco Today, was gunned down by two armed men riding a motorbike outside her home in Tabasco state.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 11, A New Zealand court stopped Kyung Yup Kim, accused of killing a woman in Shanghai a decade ago, from being extradited to China, at least for now, due to concerns he could be tortured. He is accused of killing a woman, Pei Yun Chen (20), in Shanghai in 2009.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, New Zealand said it had selected Lockheed Martin Corp's C-130J Super Hercules as the preferred replacement for five aging C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, a choice in line with its closest allies.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Nicaraguan authorities released journalists Miguel Mora y Lucía Pineda Ubau who were jailed during a crackdown on protests against President Daniel Ortega.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, It was reported that a Polish court has ordered church authorities to hand over to prosecutors classified files regarding a pedophilia case, in a rare example of a clash between the state and the powerful Catholic Church in deeply devout Poland.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Russia three people were missing and two injured after a blast on an oil tanker caused a fire while it was pumping oil in the southern port of Makhachkala.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, The Pacific nation of Samoa said it has banned the Elton John biopic "Rocketman" because of its depictions of homosexuality.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Human Rights Watch said children studying in Senegal's Koranic schools face "alarming rates" of abuse, including rape, neglect and imprisonment.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, The South Korea-based human rights group Transitional Justice Working Group said it has identified hundreds of spots where witnesses claim North Korea carried out public executions and extrajudicial state killings as part of an arbitrary and aggressive use of the death penalty that is meant to intimidate its citizens.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, A South Sudanese court sentenced prominent economist Peter Biar Ajak to two years in prison for disturbing the peace because he gave interviews to foreign media after he was arrested on treason charges that were subsequently dropped.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Spain's Socialists agreed to cooperate on forming a government with far-left party Podemos, stopping short of announcing a coalition as they explore a combination of options for securing a majority in parliament.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Sudan shops and businesses remained shut and residents stayed indoors in Khartoum as a nationwide civil disobedience campaign aimed at pressuring the military rulers entered a third day.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Amnesty International said Sudanese security forces have continued to commit "war crimes and other serious human rights violations" in the Darfur region.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, The World Food Program said in a statement that due to the latest wave of violence that broke out in Syria on April 30, the UN organization and its partners at times have had to "temporarily interrupt distributions in the southern parts of Idlib due to the conflict".
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Thailand's junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha was officially proclaimed prime minister after the king endorsed Parliament's vote for him to serve another term.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Thai construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta was sentenced to an additional one year in prison for bribing a park ranger in relation to a high-profile case of poaching endangered animals in a wildlife sanctuary last year.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Thai officials discovered 65 ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees who were shipwrecked and stranded in southern Thailand.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 12, US Pres. Donald Trump pledged to Polish President Andrzej Duda that he would deploy 1,000 US troops to Poland, a step sought by Warsaw to deter potential aggression from Russia.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 12, US Pres. Donald Trump said that if a foreign power offered dirt on his 2020 opponent, he'd be open to accepting it and that he'd have no obligation to call in the FBI.
(SFC, 6/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 12, In Arizona Gurupreet Kaur (6), a girl from India, was found dead of heat stroke in the desert after her mother left her with other migrants to go in search of water as temperatures reached a high of 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius).
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 12, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Sheriff Vicki Hennessy announced a plan to make all calls from county jails free for inmates and eliminate markups on items sold in jail stores. The initiative will make SF the first county in the nation to eliminate revenue streams from incarcerated people and their families.
(SFC, 6/13/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 12, Actress Sylvia Miles (94) died in Manhattan. Her films included "Murder Inc." (1960), "Parrish" (1961), "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), "The Last Movie" (1971), "Heat" (1972), "Farewell My Lovely" (1975), "The Sentinel" (1977), "Wall Street" (1987), "Crossing Delancey" (1988) "Spike of Bensonhurst" (1988) and "Superstsar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol" (1990).
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.C10)
2019 Jun 12, Craig Stephen Hicks (50) of North Carolina, charged with killing three much-admired Muslim university students, pleaded guilty, four years after the slayings. In February 2015, Hicks burst into a condo in Chapel Hill owned by Deah Barakat (23) and fatally shot Barakat, his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha (21), and her sister Razan Abu-Salha (19).
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Tennessee police shot Brandon Webber (21), a suspect with felony warrants, several times in his family's front yard. Marshals reportedly saw the man get into a vehicle and then proceed to ram police vehicles several times before exiting with a weapon. 25 officers suffered mostly minor injuries in the Frayser community in north Memphis as an angry crowd faced off after Webber was fatally shot.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 12, It was announced that the Immortals Gaming Company has acquired Infinite Esports in what is believed to be the competitive video gaming industry's first $100 million deal.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 12, Algeria's supreme court ordered the detention of former PM Ahmed Ouyahia for alleged involvement in corruption, including "awarding illegal privileges and dissipation of public funds".
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Argentina a court sentenced former government minister Jose Lopez (58) to six years in prison after he was caught by police trying to hide bags stuffed with $9 million in cash at a Buenos Aires convent.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Chinese authorities said 49 people have died and 14 others remain missing since heavy rainfall hit southern China in early June. Nationwide, 83 people have died or gone missing since the start of this year's flood season.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Ecuador's highest court approved same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling in the traditionally Catholic and conservative South American country.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, El Salvador's police force vowed that it would do more to fight organized crime in the violent Central American country, which tens of thousands have fled, amid increased pressure from the United States to stop migration north.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, French PM Edouard Philippe said the government would create incentives for workers to stay on the job longer than the current minimum legal retirement age of 62.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Ghanaian security forces freed two young Canadian women who had been kidnapped at a golf club in the city of Kumasi last week.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Hong Kong students and civil rights activists vowed to keep protesting a proposed extradition bill following a day of sit-ins, tear gas and clashes with police. The bill has become a lightning rod for concerns over greater Chinese control and erosion of civil liberties in the former British colony.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In India thousands of supporters of PM Narendra Modi clashed with police as they marched in Kolkata to protest against weeks of political violence that has claimed at least 12 lives.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Indian authorities raided the home of Mohammed Azarudeen in Tamil Nadu state. Police later said Azarudeen was friends on Facebook with Zahran Hashim, the alleged leader of the suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter that killed more than 250 people. Azarudeen was arrested for spreading Islamic State group ideology on social media to recruit young people to participate in a terrorist attack in southern India.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 12, In northern India two policemen were suspended for beating a TV journalist and damaging his equipment after he reported on unlicensed vendors at a railroad station. It was the third incident involving journalists in Uttar Pradesh state in the past week.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Amnesty International said the Indian government is widely misusing a law allowing for detention without trial in the Indian part of the contested Kashmir region, and fuelling animosity with it.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Indian health officials said at least 31 children have died in northern Bihar state in the last 10 days from a deadly brain disease believed linked to a toxic substance found in lychee fruit.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe held talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran during a rare diplomatic mission aimed at defusing tensions between the Islamic republic and Tokyo's ally Washington.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Kazakhstan's new Pres. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev promised during his inauguration to continue the course set by his predecessor, who led the Central Asian country since it gained independence in 1991.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Scores of Kenyans protested against a project to build a coal power station near the Lamu archipelago, a popular tourist spot that includes a UNESCO World Heritage site and boasts vibrant marine life. Plans for the country’s first coal plan were unveiled in 2013. Later this month an environmental tribunal suspended the project’s license pending a more comprehensive impact assessment.
(AFP, 6/12/19)(Econ, 7/27/19, p.40)
2019 Jun 12, Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that the planned sale of the former presidential airplane, and other aircraft from the prior government, would help fund a new migration control deal struck last week with the United States.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said deployment of National Guard forces to its southern border was due to start today and will advance quickly under a migration control deal signed last week with the United States.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Mexico journalist Miranda Cogco was kidnapped in the port city of Boca del Rio, Vera Cruz state. Late the same day he was rescued by security forces. Three apparent captors escaped on foot.
(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A3)
2019 Jun 12, In New Zealand the body of a British hiker (49) who went missing nearly two weeks ago on a mountain range was found. Darren Myers appeared to have died from a fall near a waterfall in the Tararua Range.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Nigeria there was an attack on an army base in northeastern Borno state in the town of Kareto. The Islamic State later said its fighters had killed 20 soldiers.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 12, A Panamanian court ordered former President Ricardo Martinelli (67) to be transferred from jail to house arrest following his completion of a one-year term.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In the Philippines about 300 protesters burned a mock Chinese flag and yelled anti-China slogans in a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Manila's Makati financial district. The mostly left-wing activists timed their protest for Philippine Independence Day.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Russian police detained more than 400 people, including opposition politician Alexei Navalny, at a protest in Moscow calling for punishment for police officers involved in the alleged framing of a journalist. Police had abruptly dropped drug charges a day earlier against investigative journalist Ivan Golunov.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, It was reported that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is under investigation by the country's anti-corruption watchdog over a 500,000 rand ($35,000) donation to his campaign fund from a company facing extensive graft allegations.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Sudan protest organizers called off their general strike and civil disobedience campaign. The decision reflected a growing desire for the protest leaders and the military to resume their negotiations and avoid a further escalation, after a week of violence.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, A Swedish appeals court overturned a seven-year sentence handed down to an Uzbek man by a lower court for plotting to carry out a bombing in the name of Islamic State in 2018. The Svea Appeals Court freed David Idrisson (46) who has lived in Sweden since 2008, over the charge of preparing an attack, it upheld his conviction for financing terrorism.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Syria's state-run news agency said that Israel has attacked a military position in southern Syria, causing material damage.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Uganda's health minister said a five-year-old boy in Uganda has died of Ebola, as his grandmother and younger brother also tested positive for the virus after joining the child on a visit to neighboring DR Congo.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Authorities in Vietnam seized 3.5 tons of elephant ivory and 4 tons of pangolin scales in one of the country's biggest wildlife trafficking cases.
(AP, 6/14/19)(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 12, A Yemeni rebel missile attack on an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia wounded 26 civilians, drawing promises of "stern action" from the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 13, President Donald Trump announced the surprise departure of his spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, after a combative tenure that saw her all-but kill off traditional White House briefings to journalists.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 13, US-based Bloomberg news agency says Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to five-year jail terms for two of its Istanbul-based reporters over their report on last year's currency crisis. Bloomberg said that Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalinkilic have been accused of trying to undermine Turkey's economic stability over a story they wrote in August 2018.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 13, In Oakland, Ca., the upstart Toronto Raptors squad dethroned defending champions Golden State, defeating the Warriors 114-110 to win the NBA Finals and capture the first crown by a club from outside the United States.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 13, In southern California Margaret Hunter, the wife of US Rep. Duncan Hunter, pleaded guilty to a single corruption count and agreed to testify against her husband on charges that the couple had spent more than $200,000 in campaign funds on personal trips and expenses.
(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 13, In California Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Shauna Bishop (44) was arrested after she turned herself in for allegedly having sex with a boy (16).
(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 13, The Michigan attorney general's office dismissed all pending criminal cases tied to the Flint water crisis, ending the current prosecutions of eight current and former officials accused of neglecting their duties and allowing residents to drink tainted water.
(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 13, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber on foot targeted a police vehicle in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing at least nine people, including civilians.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, In Algeria former PM Abdelmalek Sellal was jailed in an anti-corruption sweep — the second former head of government in two days to be sent to prison while his case is investigated.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to criminalize homophobia, an important step for sexual minorities in one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people in the world.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Brexit hardliner Boris Johnson topped the ballot by a landslide in a first-round vote for a leader to replace British PM Theresa May as the deadline for leaving the EU looms.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, In Chile three Bolivian men went missing late today after a small landslide blocked the entrance to the mine, trapping the miners nearly 70 meters (230 feet) beneath the surface. On June 15 authorities found alive one of the miners trapped beneath the rubble at a small copper mine, while another was found dead. A 3rd remained missing.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 13, France's Marine Le Pen unveiled a new far-right group, the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, in the European Parliament, uniting eurosceptics from across the continent who aim to devolve power from Brussels back to capitals.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Germany's top administrative court ruled that the slaughtering of male chicks may continue in the poultry industry until a method is found to determine the sex of an embryo in the egg.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Hong Kong's legislature suspended meetings as leaders considered their next steps following violent clashes between police and protesters opposed to a bill that would allow suspects to be tried in mainland Chinese courts.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, said that it was hit by a powerful cyberattack from China as a major protest unfolded a day earlier in Hong Kong.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Cyclone Vayu battered an Indian fishing hub with heavy wind, waves and rain and was forecast to bring dangerous weather conditions even as it veered away from the subcontinent's western coast.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Israeli aircraft attacked a Hamas target in Gaza. Israel's military said it was responding to a rocket fired from Gaza overnight that was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, In northeastern Nigeria Boko Haram jihadists launched a pre-dawn attack a military base near in Kareto village, killing several troops and stealing weapons.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 13, Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel, striking a building, but causing no injuries.
(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 13, Two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz were damaged in suspected attacks. The MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker owned by Norway-based Frontline, and Kokuka Courageous, managed by a Singapore company were attacked in the Gulf of Oman.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired two police generals involved in a discredited criminal case against a journalist, an episode that sparked a mass protest in Moscow the previous day.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Russian lawmakers said that a new US military deployment to Poland announced by President Donald Trump would force Moscow to take retaliatory steps, with one saying it would make Poland a target in the event of a conflict.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, The Slovak capital Bratislava won the right to host a new European Union agency to oversee the labor market that is due to start operating this autumn.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Sri Lanka's attorney-general ordered police to speed up investigations into several high-profile criminal cases, including the 2006 massacre of 17 French charity workers that remains unresolved.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Turkey warned Syria that it would respond if attacks in Syria's northwestern Idlib province continue, after a Turkish observation post in the region was attacked by mortar shells, which Turkey's Defense Ministry said were fired from areas under Syrian government control.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, A Ugandan health ministry official said a 50-year-old woman who tested positive for Ebola in Uganda has died, the second fatality since the virus spread from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, The UN said it had confirmed the killing of 17 people and the burning of more than 100 houses in Deleij village in Sudan's central Darfur region earlier this week. Opposition medics said "Janjaweed militias" fired live ammunition at civilians on June 10 at a market in Deleij, killing 11 people and wounding 20 others.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, UN counterterrorism chief Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov began a 3-day visit to Xinjiang despite protests from the US and a rights group that the trip would be inappropriate in light of the human rights conditions in China's far west region.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 13, Pope Francis told his ambassadors around the world, some of whom have been involved in sexual and financial scandals, to live humble, exemplary lives and be closer to the poor than to the elite.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Venezuela's central bank began introducing new bolivar bills of 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 to make payments and transactions more efficient. The 50,000 bill is about the equivalent of $10, more than country's monthly minimum wage.
(SFC, 6/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 13, In Yemen planes from the Saudi-led military coalition bombed areas around the capital Sanaa.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 14, President Donald Trump publicly accused Iran of responsibility for recent attacks on oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The US military released a video it said showed Iran's Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers targeted near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, suggesting Tehran wanted to hide evidence of its alleged involvement.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Pres. Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to evaluate the need for some 1000 of its advisory committees created under the Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The order seeks to cap the total number of committees at 350.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 14, Pres. Donald Trump confirmed that the deal struck in return for not imposing threatened tariffs on Mexico included a plan to establish a "safe third country" agreement.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, In Alabama David Abston, the sheriff of Pickens County, was arrested and agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of scamming a food bank and his own small town church to pocket thousands. Abston had written checks totaling some $80,000 over four years to purchase cut-rate food meant for the poor and wrongly used it to feed prisoners.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 14, In southern California Kenneth French (32), a mentally ill man off his medication, was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer in a Costco store in Corona. The officer was reportedly holding his son (1½) when French knocked him to the ground.
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 14, In Chicago an infant boy, who was cut from a woman's womb with a butcher knife, died at a hospital where he had been in grave condition since the April attack that killed his mother (19). Clarissa Figueroa (46) claimed she had given birth to the baby when she took him to the hospital on April 23. Figueroa and her daughter were charged with murder.
(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 14, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill ordering all law enforcement agencies in the state to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Under the bill local officials could be removed from office if they adopt "sanctuary" policies that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation.
(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 14, New Hampshire's highest court ruled that a Christian Science church in Australia cannot sue trusts created following the 1910 death of Christian Science movement founder Mary Baker Eddy.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, NY state Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a measure into law that greatly expanded rent protections.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A9)
2019 Jun 14, Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield was named the first female leader of the US Naval War College in Rhode Island.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A12)
2019 Jun 14, Brazil kicked off a general strike that is likely to paralyze major cities across Latin America's largest country. The strike is primarily against the pension reform the Bolsonaro administration is currently pushing for in Congress.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, A Brazilian judge absolved Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, the man who stabbed then-presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in his torso last year, citing his mental illness and ordering him held indefinitely in a prison mental facility.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Britain banned ads featuring "harmful gender stereotypes" which are likely to cause offence under new rules that could have a major impact on the industry.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, EU finance ministers agreed on the broad outlines of a eurozone budget early today, a key reform pushed by Paris that was scaled back amid deep resistance from the Netherlands.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, EU officials said that "Russian sources" stepped up a long-running disinformation campaign against the European Union in a bid to undermine the bloc's elections last month.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, The EU sealed a deal to end a long-running row with Washington over US beef imports, with hopes that the agreement can ease transatlantic trade tensions.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 14, Europol issued a report, "Women in Islamic State Propaganda," saying "female jihadis are as ideologically motivated as their male counterparts and their sense of empowerment lies in contributing to the building of an Islamic state".
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, France and Italy forged a military shipbuilding alliance, as state-controlled Naval Group and Fincantieri signed off on a 50-50 joint venture that will bid for Franco-Italian warship projects and sell to the world market.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, A German court fined two gynecologists for offering information publicly on how they carry out abortion services, despite the recent easing of a Nazi-era law banning practitioners from advertising of pregnancy terminations.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, In Guam a Catholic group protested the governor's plan to recruit abortion providers to the US territory where no doctors are currently willing to terminate pregnancies.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 14, In India nearly 30,000 doctors went on a one-day strike, most in West Bengal, New Delhi and the western state of Maharashtra. The protests were launched in response to an attack at the NRS Medical College in Kolkata on June 10 that left three junior doctors seriously injured after a dispute with a family whose relative had died.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, In Israel the largest gay pride parade in the Middle East drew hundreds of thousands of revelers and demonstrators from all over to the streets of Tel Aviv.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, The Israeli military struck several militant sites in the Gaza Strip after a Palestinian rocket hit a building in southern Israel a day earlier.
(AP, 6/14/19)(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 14, Mexico published the document that Donald Trump earlier flaunted as a secret deal to curb migration, but denied it had capitulated to the US president's demands for a so-called "safe third country" agreement.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Moldova's Democratic Party announced it would leave government after days of refusing to cede power to a new coalition backed by the US, EU and Russia, halting a crisis in the eastern European nation.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc (57) escaped Moldova by a private jet, a few hours after US Ambassador Dereck J. Hogan visited the office of his Democratic Party. He was the richest man in Europe's poorest country before fleeing to the US. The revolt against Plahotniuc started four years ago, when nearly $1 billion disappeared from three Moldovan banks, causing an economic and banking crisis. Plahotniuc’s ally Ilan Shor and at least three more members of his Democratic Party have also hopped on their jets and escaped Moldova.
(The Daily Beast, 8/21/19)
2019 Jun 14, In northwest Nigeria an armed gang killed at least 34 people in attacks on villages late today in Zamfara state.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 14, Pakistani anti-corruption authorities ordered Faryal Talpur, sister of former President Asif Ali Zardari and one of the leaders of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, to be confined to her residence as they continued an anti-graft crackdown that critics say is aimed at stifling dissent.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Saudi forces intercepted five drones launched by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels, in a second assault on an airport in the kingdom's southwest in two days.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, In Somalia a militia executed nine civilians from a clan with suspected links to the Islamist Al-Shabaab after suspected Shabaab gunmen killed" a policeman. The revenge attack just outside Galkayo targeted the Rahanweyn clan, several of whose members are suspected of being Shabaab fighters.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 14, Somali Islamist insurgents kidnapped three Kenyan police reservists in Wajir district in northeast Kenya.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 14, In South Korea Yang Hyun Suk, the founder of one of the most successful K-Pop music agencies, stepped down amid accusations that he tried to cover up alleged drug use by one of the company's artists.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, South Sudan and the UN warned that almost 7 million people, or more than 60% of the population, faced a critical lack of food. Their report stopped short of declaring a famine.
(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 14, Spain's Supreme Court blocked Catalan separatist Oriol Junqueras from leaving jail to collect his credentials for the European Parliament, to which he was elected on May 26.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Sri Lanka police said five key suspects in Easter Sunday bomb attacks on Sri Lankan churches and hotels have been extradited from the Middle East.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Sudan's ruling military acknowledged that security forces committed violations when they moved in to disperse protesters at a sit-in camp outside military headquarters in Khartoum last week.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Women across Switzerland held a strike to highlight their wealthy nation's poor record on female rights, recreating the passion of the first such walkout in 1991.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, The highest UN court rejected a request by the United Arab Emirates for interim measures to be imposed on Qatar in a racial discrimination dispute. Judges at the International Court of Justice rejected by a 15-1 majority a UAE application to compel Qatar to unblock a website that enables family reunifications and to prevent state-run media from aggravating the dispute. They also rejected a request for Doha to drop a similar case at a UN anti-discrimination committee.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, The World Health Organization emergency committee met on whether to declare a raging Ebola epidemic an international threat, after an outbreak that began in Democratic Republic of Congo crossed into Uganda. The committee expressed deep concern but declined to declare a global emergency.
(AFP, 6/14/19)(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 14, At the Vatican church officials said Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Carlos Eugenio Irarrázabal, the auxiliary bishop of the Chilean capital city, just 24 days after he appointed him to the post. Irarrázabal had become embroiled in controversy after he recently said there were no women at the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples so "we have to respect that." He also said that perhaps women "like to be in the back room".
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 15, US President Donald Trump accused The New York Times of "a virtual act of treason," after it reported the US is stepping up digital incursions into Russia's electric power grid.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Charles Reich (91), law professor and author of "The Greening of America" (1970), died in San Francisco.
(SFC, 7/6/19, p.C4)
2019 Jun 15, In the SF Bay Area Christian Madrigal (20) died several days after being taken into custody, for being under the influence. His family later claimed that law enforcement officers with the city of Fremont and Alameda County ignored their son's mental health needs and beat him as he suffered from a mental health crisis.
(SFC, 9/10/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 15, In Texas Stephen Bratton (43), a former Southern Baptist pastor, posted a $50,000 bond. He was accused of child sex abuse.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 15, In Brazil leaked personal messages published by a news website showed the judge who led the corruption trial that jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advised prosecutors to influence public opinion against the leftist leader.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, The British government said it has ordered a review of hospital food after five patients died in a listeria outbreak linked to sandwiches and salads.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A3)
2019 Jun 15, Richard Ratcliffe said his wife, British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (40), has begun another hunger strike in protest at her detention in a Tehran prison on sedition charges. Ratcliffe said he would hold a vigil outside Iran's London embassy, and would fast in support of his wife. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ended her hunger strike after 15 days.
(AP, 6/15/19)(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 15, Security forces in Central African Republic beat and detained two journalists working for French news wire Agence France-Presse (AFP) covering a banned opposition protest in the capital Bangui.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 15, Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam suspended a hugely divisive bill that would allow extraditions to China, in a major climbdown following unprecedented unrest, but protesters vowed to press ahead with a mass June 16 rally.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Indonesia returned five containers of rubbish to the United States and said it will not become a "dumping ground".
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, A Iraqi government source said the United States has granted Iraq another 90-day waiver to continue with vital energy imports from neighboring Iran despite re-imposed sanctions.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Italian film and opera legend Franco Zeffirelli (b.1923) died at his home in Rome. His work included about 20 feature films. He also directed more than 30 plays and operas.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Kenya a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle patrolling near the border with Somalia, killing several of the 11 officers inside.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his country must help Central Americans fleeing poverty and violence, even as it increases security and revisions to deter migrants from passing through Mexico on route to the US.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Mexico 785 migrants were found inside the double trailers of four semis in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. More than 150 of them were children.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Peru riot police began guarding the northern border to ensure that only Venezuelan migrants who hold a passport and humanitarian visa can enter the country.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Slovak government critic Zuzana Caputova (45), an environmental lawyer and anti-corruption activist, was sworn in as the EU member's first female president.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Somalia a car bomb near the parliament in Mogadishu killed nine people. A 2nd car bomb near a checkpoint to the airport killed two more people.
(AFP, 6/15/19)(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 15, Madrid's city hall swung to the right after conservative candidate Jose Luis Martinez Almeida was elected mayor with the support of newly-emerged far-right party Vox, in a move that has caused concern in Spain.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Switzerland a woman drowned in Lake Geneva when her sightseeing boat sank as a violent storm battered parts of the country.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 15, In northwestern Syria at least 10 civilians were killed in airstrikes and shelling of rebel-held villages and towns in Idlib province. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the fighting alone left 26 troops and pro-government gunmen dead as well as eight militants.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Thailand Francesco Galdelli (58) and Vanja Goffi (45) were arrested at a house on the outskirts Pattaya after an operation between Thai and Italian authorities. Francesco confessed to claiming to be George Clooney and opening a clothes business to trick people into sending money. The couple is also wanted in Italy for multiple scams including selling fake Rolex watches online.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 15, Turkey criticized southern European Union nations for urging the EU to consider action against Turkey over its bid to drill for gas in waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a new drone attack against Saudi Arabia. The next day the kingdom said it shot down one Houthi drone.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that a US federal appeals court has ruled against a Trump administration policy blocking young immigrant women in federal custody from accessing abortions.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 16, Indiana police Officer Ryan O'Neill, responding to a report of a person breaking into cars in South Bend, confronted Eric Logan (54) and fatally shot him after he refused to drop a knife. O'Neill resigned the following month due to stress and media attention. In 2020 a special prosecutor said the shooting was justified.
(SFC, 7/17/19, p.A5)(SFC, 3/7/20, p.A5)
2019 Jun 16, In Pennsylvania a shooting at a graduation party in Philadelphia left Isiaka Meite (24) dead and five other people wounded, including three teenagers. The shooter remained at large.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that at least 279 dolphins have stranded across much of the US Gulf Coast since Feb. 1. About 98% of them died.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 16, Argentina and Uruguay were working frantically to return power, after a massive power failure left large swaths of the South American countries in the dark.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Bangladeshi authorities arrested a senior policeman accused of sharing on social media the recording of an official complaint of sexual harassment made by a teenage girl who was later allegedly burned to death. Madrasa student Jahan was allegedly burned to death in April after she refused to withdraw an allegation of sexual harassment against the institution's principal. Moazzem Hossain had been in hiding since late May, when the Cyber Tribunal court warrant was issued against him over sharing the complaint by Nusrat Jahan.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Brazil Anderson do Carmo (42), an evangelical pastor and the husband of a prominent federal lawmaker, was shot 30 times, many of the bullets hitting him in his pelvic region, around dawn in the garage of his house in Niteroi, in the greater Rio de Janeiro area. Two days later, one of the 51 children he had adopted with Flordelis dos Santos Souza, a lawmaker from Rio state, confessed to carrying out the hit. The adopted son said he had acted on the orders of one of dos Santos Souza's four biological children. In 2020 Flordelis was accused of masterminding the murder of her husband in a plot involving several of the couple's 55 children, all but four of whom were adopted.
(AFP, 6/21/19)(The Telegraph, 8/25/20)
2019 Jun 16, Cameroon's government said that separatists in its restive English-speaking region had detonated an improvised explosive device that killed four police and wounded six.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Canada the Quebec provincial legislature approved a controversial immigration bill that will replace a first-come, first-served standard for accepting migrants with one tied to an applicants' skills.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Canada the government of Quebec province passed a bill barring schoolteachers, police officers, judges and other public officials from wearing religious symbols in the workplace.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A3)
2019 Jun 16, In France some 2,000 teenagers began trialing a new national service, a pet project of President Emmanuel Macron.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Guatemalans went to the polls to elect a new president after a tumultuous campaign that saw two leading candidates barred from taking part and the top electoral crimes prosecutor forced to flee the country, fearing for his life. Businesswoman and former first lady Sandra Torres (63) took 24% of the vote from the election, followed by four-time presidential candidate Alejandro Giammattei with 14%. An August runoff will determine the next leader.
(AFP, 6/16/19)(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, Hong Kong citizens marched for hours in a massive protest that drew a late-in-the-day apology from the city's top leader for her handling of legislation that has stoked fears of expanding control from Beijing in this former British colony.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that nearly 43% of the new members of India's lower house of Parliament, that convenes on June 17 for the first time since the election, won despite facing criminal charges. More than a quarter of those relate to rape, murder or attempted murder, according to a report by the civic group Association of Democratic Reforms.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, An Israeli court convicted Sara Netanyahu (60), the wife of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, of fraudulently using state funds for meals, under a plea bargain which dropped more severe charges. She was fined 10,000 shekels ($2,800) and ordered to reimburse the state a further 45,000 shekels.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Japan the Group of 20 major economies said they agreed a deal to reduce plastic waste that is choking the seas. G20 member countries committed to reducing plastic waste but gave little detail on how that would be done.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Japan's Foreign Ministry lodged a protest with Beijing after a Chinese maritime research ship was seen dropping a wire-like object into the water off the northwestern coast of Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, In northern Mali allied French and Malian forces killed 20 militants in an operation in the district of Akabar where the Islamic State operates.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Two Malian gendarmes were killed by a mine explosion outside a military base and a soldier died in an ambush in the north of the country.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, Two members of Mozambique's border police were shot dead in an incident involving South African soldiers and the two countries launched a joint investigation into what happened.
(Reuters, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, In New Zealand two light aircraft collided mid-air on their final approach at a regional aerodrome killing both pilots.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In northeastern Nigeria 30 people were killed late today in a triple suicide bombing outside a hall in Konduga in an attack bearing the hallmarks of the Boko Haram jihadist group.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that Pakistani investigators are trying to unravel trafficking networks that convince impoverished Pakistanis to marry off their daughters to Chinese men for cash, and they say evidence is growing that many of the women and girls are sold into prostitution once in China.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that locusts are devouring crops across the Italian island of Sardinia in the worst such invasion in 70 years.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A18)
2019 Jun 16, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman joined the US in accusing its bitter rival Iran of being behind the attacks on two oil tankers traveling near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route for Arabian energy exports to Asia.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Syria fires engulfing vital wheat fields across the northeast have killed at least 10 people over the last 24 hours. Kurdish authorities claimed the blazes in Hasakeh province were set deliberately.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Syrian insurgents fired rockets late today into residential parts of the government-held northern province of Aleppo, striking a wedding party and killing at least 12 civilians and wounding 15.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, President Donald Trump threatened to remove millions of people living in the United States illegally late today, ahead of formally announcing his reelection bid.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Lenny Pozner, the Connecticut father of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, won a defamation lawsuit against authors James Fetzer and Mike Palacek, who had written "Nobody Died at Sandy Hook".
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 17, New Jersey sentenced William "Billy" Gangemi to two years' probation for his role in a conspiracy to smuggle wildlife in the scheme that involved hiding rare turtles in candy wrappers or socks and shipping them overseas. South Carolina ringleader Steven Verren Baker, Matt Kail and Joseph Logan Brooks previously were each sentenced to prison in the scheme.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, New York State passed a law allowing undocumented migrants to obtain their driving license, a controversial move by the Democratic stronghold intended to thwart the Trump administration's restrictive immigration policy.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Gloria Vanderbilt (b.1924), heiress, artist and mother of newsman Anderson Cooper, died in New York. She was the great-great-granddaughter of financier Cornelius Vanderbilt (d.1877).
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 17, In Texas Brian Isaack Clyde (22) opened fire on a federal courthouse in Dallas before he was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire with federal officers.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 17, An Algerian court ordered the detention of Mourad Eulmi, head of family-owned firm SOVAC that is a partner of Germany's Volkswagen AG, on suspicion of corruption.
(Reuters, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, In Algeria Ali Haddad, a key backer of former leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika and one of the country's top businessmen, was jailed for six months for holding two passports.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Britain and China began selling shares in each others' companies under a landmark deal, as London looks to remain a leading financial center post-Brexit.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, British-founded Sotheby's said the French-Israeli telecoms and media mogul Patrick Drahi is acquiring the auction house, one of the world's biggest art brokers, in a $3.7 billion deal.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, In China a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit near Yibin, Sichuan province. The death toll soon rose to 13 dead and 199 injured, as rescuers pulled bodies and survivors from wrecked buildings.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Huawei's founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said that the Chinese telecom giant's revenue will be $30 billion less than forecast over the next two years, as he compared the company to a "badly damaged plane" as a result of US government actions against it.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Democratic Republic of Congo's army sent a battalion of troops to oust illegal miners from land worked by a majority-owned Chinese company.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Egypt's first democratically elected president, Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi (67), collapsed and died inside a Cairo courtroom.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, France, Germany and Spain unveiled a next-generation combat jet for European air forces, an ambitious project aimed at bringing together the continent's disparate military forces while offering an alternative to American planes. The stealth jet is part of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, A boat carrying migrants to Greece sank off the Turkish coast, leaving at least 12 migrants dead.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Tens of thousands of Indian doctors went on strike calling for more protection against violence by patients and their families, as parliament met for the first time since national elections.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Two Indian soldiers were killed late today after a car bombing targeted an armored vehicle in disputed Kashmir.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, In Indonesia an overloaded boat carrying people home to celebrate the end of Ramadan with their families capsized off the main island of Java, killing at least 17 and leaving four others missing.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Iran said it will surpass from June 27 its uranium stockpile limit set under the nuclear deal with world powers, turning up the pressure after the US walked away from the landmark pact last year.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Iran said it had exposed a large cyber espionage network it alleged was run by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and that several US spies had been arrested in different countries as the result of this action.
(Reuters, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Iraqi authorities said they have removed nearly 30 km of concrete blast walls across Baghdad in the last six months, mostly around the capital's high-security Green Zone.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Demonstrators in Hong Kong gathered outside the office of the city's leader, demanding that Carrie Lam step down in the crisis over a highly unpopular extradition bill.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Leading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong walked free from prison and vowed to join historic anti-government protests rocking the finance hub, as activists kept up pressure on the city's embattled pro-Beijing leader.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Mexico's government highlighted the weekend "rescue" of nearly 800 migrants packed into semi-trailers, calling the operation a message that authorities are getting serious about combatting human trafficking.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, In Nigeria assailants late today arrived on nine armored trucks and stormed into the military base outside the town of Gajiram, 80 km (50 miles), north of Maiduguri, Borno state.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, In Pakistan an avalanche stranded a group of four Italian and three Pakistani climbers on a mountain in the country's north. the next day a Pakistani army helicopter rescued four Italian and two Pakistani climbers. A Pakistani member of the team was killed.
(AP, 6/17/19)(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, It was reported that the Pacific nation of Palau has amended plans to create a huge marine reserve so Japanese fishing boats still have partial access to its waters.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, A Qatari official said the Gulf state is set to distribute more than $10 million in aid to thousands of cash-strapped Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, A Russian court released a local newspaper editor and former lawmaker who had been facing extortion charges, following an outcry from supporters and international organizations. Igor Rudnikov (53), founder and editor of the weekly Novye Kolesa (New Wheels) in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, had been in detention since November 2017, accused of extorting $50,000 from a senior investigator.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Sudan's protest leaders called for nighttime demonstrations and marches in Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country, amid a tense standoff with the ruling military over who should lead the transition after the ouster of the autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, The UN reported that the world's population of 7.76 billion will reach 9.7 billion in 2050.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 17, A Vatican document said the Church should consider ordaining older married men as priests in remote areas of the Amazon, a historic shift which some say could pave the way for their use in other areas where clergy are scarce.
(Reuters, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Venezuela received a second shipment of Red Cross humanitarian aid, including 24 tons of medical supplies and generators provided by Panama, intended for hospitals to help address the country's acute health crisis.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, US President Donald Trump said he had a positive phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and the two leaders will hold an "extended meeting" next week at the Group of 20 summit in Japan. Donald Trump brought up the political prospects of both Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden. In that call, Trump also told Xi he would remain quiet on Hong Kong protests as trade talks progressed.
(AFP, 6/18/19)(CNN, 10/4/19)
2019 Jun 18, President Donald Trump launched his 2020 reelection campaign in Orlando much the same way he rode to power in 2016 -- with a raucous, nationalist rally stirring fear of illegal immigration and vowing to fight for blue collar workers.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, The United States announced a $250 million military aid package for war-torn Ukraine to strengthen the former Soviet republic's naval and land capabilities.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, The US said it is sending 1,000 more troops to the Middle East as tensions in the Persian Gulf mounted over Iran's announcement it will not comply with the international agreement that keeps it from making nuclear weapons.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Members of US Coast Guard Cutter Munro jumped onto a moving submarine that was smuggling 17,000 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $232 million. The bust was part of a larger mission that included 14 other drug-smuggling interceptions along the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, that netted an estimated 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana, worth a combined estimate of $569 million. 55 alleged smugglers were captured during the mission.
(http://tinyurl.com/yxrc2qvn)(SFC, 7/13/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 18, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom formally apologized for the state's role in the "systemic slaughter" of Native Americans.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.C6)
2019 Jun 18, California-based PG&E said it has agreed to pay $1 billion to more than a dozen local government agencies affected by recent devastating wildfires including last year's Camp Fire.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 18, In San Diego Manuel Reynoso Garcia of Mexico (63), arrested last year in what prosecutors called the biggest international money laundering investigation ever in the city, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. Reynoso Garcia was the last of eight defendants to plead guilty in the case.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 18, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve legislation that would suspend the sale of e-cigarettes in the city, amid concerns over underage use of the nicotine products.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 18, In San Francisco groundbreaking ceremonies were held in front of the Eagle Bar, the future location of Eagle Plaza, a pedestrian zone in front of the bar dedicated to leather and the LGBTQ culture.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 18, Kansas City, Mo., voters chose Quinton Lucas (34) as new city mayor. He and his family were often homeless during his childhood in the city.
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 18, US authorities seized about 33,000 pounds of cocaine, valued at more than $1 billion, at the packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. Federal authorities soon raised the amount of cocaine seized to 35,000 pounds.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A5)(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 18, Facebook unveiled plans for a new global cryptocurrency called Libra, pledging to bring a stable virtual money that lives on smartphones and brings the "unbanked" billions into the financial system.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Google announced that it would put $ 1 billion toward housing in the SF Bay Area.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 18, Algeria's military chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah said that those who oppose the army were "enemies of Algeria", as the country's protest movement demands an overhaul of the entire regime.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Brazil's Senate rejected a decree by President Jair Bolsonaro that loosened the country's strict gun laws, dealing a blow to the far-right leader who had lobbied for lawmakers to approve the measure. The decree now goes to the lower house. For the decree to be killed, both the Senate and the lower house must reject it.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 18, In England far-right university student Michal Szewczuk (19), who called Prince Harry a race traitor and created an image of him with a pistol to his head, was jailed for four years and three months. The Poland-born teen was sentenced at the London's Old Bailey court alongside 18-year-old Oskar Dunn-Koczorowski, who admitted two counts of encouraging terrorism after the pair engaged in the same online chatrooms.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Chilean police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in clashes early today with miners striking at the giant Chuquicamata copper mine, as the workers tried to block access to a site operated by state-owned giant, Codelco.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Xinhua state news agency reported that China said it will halt imports from Canadian company Frigo Royal after food safety issues were detected in one batch of pork, a move likely to fuel speculation that China is retaliating against Canada for arresting a Chinese tech executive.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele ruled out negotiations with criminal gangs and vowed to go after their finances in a bid to reduce violence. Bukele also promised to comply with reparations ordered by an international court for relatives of the victims of the El Mozote massacre, one of the bloodiest chapters of the country's 1980-1992 civil war.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 18, The EU's highest court (ECJ) ruled that a planned German highway toll for cars discriminates against foreign drivers and breaches European Union law, forcing Berlin to rethink how to charge road users.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Employees at Radio France turned off their microphones over plans to shed nearly 300 jobs as part of a cost-cutting effort, with many of the daily programs replaced by music.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Berlin's government moved to freeze rents for five years from 2020 in their latest bid to halt runaway gentrification. Only social housing and private property that has not been let out would be exempt.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras demanded that the European Union issue a reprimand to Turkey for its "illegal" gas exploration in Cyprus, after Ankara defied calls for it to cease drilling in the region.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam signaled the end of a controversial extradition bill that she promoted and then postponed after some of the most violent protests since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Indian authorities said more than 100 children have died in an encephalitis outbreak in the eastern state of Bihar.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Iran said it has dismantled a new espionage network linked to the US Central Intelligence Agency and arrested a number of spies. Iranian state television gave details of a 2013 operation to dismantle another CIA network.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, The Japanese coast guard said than 300 North Korean boats have been forced out of Japan's exclusive economic zone near Yamatotai since May.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, New Zealand sentenced Philip Arps (44) to 21 months in prison for distributing videos of the March 15 massacre at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Filipino kidnap-for-ransom gangs raided two fishing boats and abducted 10 crew members in Malaysian waters off Borneo island.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Exiled Rwandan opposition leader Paul Rusesabagina claimed that President Paul Kagame's government had used torture to coerce a terrorism confession from rebel chief Callixte Nsabimana.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, South Korea said two of four North Korean fishermen, who were rescued June 15 off a boat drifting in South Korean waters, will remain in the country after expressing their desire to defect. The two other fishermen were sent back to North Korea through an inter-Korean village.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, In Syria clashes between pro-government forces and jihadist-led groups that control the northwest killed at least 45 combatants.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, A Syrian agriculture ministry official said the government will distribute free chickens and feed to farmers to support rural areas ravaged by years of conflict.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, State-run Anadolu news agency said Turkey has ordered the arrest of 128 military personnel over suspected links to the network accused by Ankara of orchestrating an attempted coup in 2016.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, The UN and local authorities said hundreds of thousands of people have fled inter-ethnic violence in northeastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two weeks. Local officials last week said at least 50 people had been killed in a matter of days in Ituri province, while other sources put the death toll from the inter-ethnic violence at over 70.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, It was reported that inflation in Zimbabwe was running at 75% and that a passport now takes a year to be issued.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A3)
2019 Jun 19, The Trump campaign raised some $24.8 million in less than 24 hours after the kick-off of his re-election campaign in Orlando.
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 19, In California police Officer Tara O'Sullivan (26) was shot and killed as she helped a woman gather her belongings at a home in Sacramento. Adel Sambrano Ramos (45), the alleged killer, was arrested early the next day after an eight hour standoff.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 19, A jury in Brooklyn convicted Keith Raniere (58), head of the Albany-area NXIVM, on all counts of sex-trafficking and coercing women into sex. Raniere was arrested at a Mexican hideout in 2018.
{NYC, USA, Sex}
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 19, In Australia new laws went into effect in the state of Victoria making voluntary euthanasia legal under closely specified circumstances.
(AFP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In southern Bangladesh clashes erupted between local and Chinese construction workers at a Chinese-funded power station near the port of Payra in which a Chinese worker was killed.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In London student Tendai Muswere (26) was convicted of manufacturing a firearm using a 3D printer, in what police said they believed was the first such successful prosecution in Britain.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Congo DRC army spokesman said the military has deployed hundreds of soldiers to protect a major copper and cobalt mine owned by China Molybdenum Co Ltd from illegal miners. About 60% of the world's cobalt is found in CongoDRC.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)(Econ., 10/17/20, p.40)
2019 Jun 19, The Madrid-based Cuban Prisoners Defenders released a 259-page report that named 35 activists, independent journalists and artists whom Cuban authorities had forced to leave the country over the past two years, telling them never to return.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Dominican officials said former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was shot in the back on June 9 by a gunman who mistook him for the real target, another man who was seated at the same table at an outdoor cafe. Officials said the attempted murder was ordered from the US by Victor Hugo Gomez, an associate of Mexico's Gulf Cartel.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Dacian Ciolos (49), a former Romanian prime minister (2015-2016), was elected the first leader of Renew Europe, the new centrist force that includes French President Emmanuel Macron's La Republique en Marche party, inside the European Parliament.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Paris court ordered the conditional release of Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea Bengoetxea (68), alias Josu Ternera, a former Basque separatist leader who was arrested in France last month after 16 years on the run. Ternera headed ETA from 1977 to 1992.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In France Electro star Philippe Zdar (52), one half of the cult French house duo Cassius, died late today after falling from a window in Paris -- two days before the release of his latest album.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Transport Ministry spokesman said Germany has canceled its contracts with the companies charged with setting up a highway toll system for cars.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Members of a Honduran riot police that have dealt with weeks of protests stood down in Tegucigalpa, allowing adversaries of President Juan Orlando Hernandez to block streets and cause traffic chaos in the city. Members of the National Directorate of Special Forces (DNFE) said if they did not receive better benefits, they would not carry out anti-riot operations.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Hong Kong student group demanded that the city completely scrap a politically charged extradition bill and agree to investigate police tactics against protesters before a June 20 deadline or face further street demonstrations.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Indian authorities said that 114 children have died in an encephalitis outbreak this month in eastern Bihar, one of the country's poorest states. There have been more than 500 cases of encephalitis registered since the outbreak began June 1.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, It was reported that millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In Iraq a Katyusha rocket fell on an Iraqi drilling company in the Burjesiya area near Basra, wounding three people. Officials said US assets in Iraq have been hit by shelling six times in as many days.
(AFP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Kuwait's ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, arrived on a state visit to Iraq and was expected to discuss escalating regional tensions after attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter, whose forces are fighting to take the country's capital of Tripoli from militias allied with a UN-backed government based there, dismissed an initiative by its prime minister for negotiations to end the crisis. Hifter said his fighters would press on with the weeks-long offensive.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 19, Malian authorities said a pair of attacks on ethnic Dogon villages have left at least 30 people dead.
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.20)
2019 Jun 19, Mexico's Senate ratified the new North American trade agreement (USMCA), making the country the first to give it final approval despite recent tension with the US.
(AFP, 6/19/19)(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 19, In Nepal thousands of people gathered in Kathmandu to protest proposed legislation that would allow the government to nationalize centuries-old community and religious trusts responsible for organizing festivals and ceremonies.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Dutch-led int'l. team charged three Russians (Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov) and one Ukrainian (Leonid Kharchenko) with murder over the 2014 shooting down of flight MH17 above rebel-held eastern Ukraine in which 298 people were killed.
(AFP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Human Rights Watch called on governments in the Americas and Europe to impose sanctions on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and at least five high-level security officials for a crackdown on protests that began in April 2018.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In Serbia dozens of primary school students rallied for a second day on in downtown Belgrade, demanding the resignation of the education minister after authorities postponed a mathematics exam that was leaked on social media. Local media reported that a printing press employee photographed the test and shared it with other parents on Facebook.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In Singapore one of two runways at the main airport closed for short periods over the last 24 hours because of "confirmed sightings of unauthorized drone flying.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, South Korea said it plans to send 50,000 tons of rice to North Korea through the World Food Program, in its second aid package announced in past weeks as it seeks to help with North Korean food shortages and improve bilateral relations.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Sudan's military council urged opposition leaders to resume negotiations on the transition of power, without preconditions. Protest organizers continued their night-time demonstrations demanding civilian rule.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vowed to try to ensure the Egyptian government is tried in international courts for the death of former president Mohamed Mursi, who suffered a fatal heart attack in a Cairo court earlier this week.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Two UN human rights experts said Cambodian authorities have questioned, summoned or detained more than 140 members of the former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in an escalating suppression of dissent.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, An independent UN report into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said there is "credible evidence" to warrant further investigation into the possible role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and suggested sanctions on his personal assets.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, The UN refugee agency said a record 71 million people have been displaced worldwide by war, persecution and other violence.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet arrived in Venezuela as part of a visit to review the country's ongoing economic and political crisis.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Yemeni rebel strike targeted a desalination plant in the southwestern Saudi province of Jizan. No casualties or damages were reported.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 19, The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a database tracking violence, said Yemen's civil war, which began in 2014, has killed at least 91,600 people so far.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 20, US military cyber forces launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems as President Donald Trump backed away from plans for a more conventional military strike in response to Iran's downing of a US surveillance drone. The attack degraded Tehran's ability to covertly target shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf.
(AP, 6/23/19)(SFC, 8/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 20, The US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 to uphold the display of a 40-foot cross at a busy Maryland intersection, ruling that the symbol can be seen as a war memorial honoring local soldiers and not an unconstitutional promotion of a favored religion.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 20, Retired US Army colonel Joseph Baptiste (64) was convicted by a federal jury of conspiring to bribe Haitian government officials. Roger Richard Boncy (74), a dual US and Haitian citizen living in Spain, was also convicted.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, Potent thunderstorms left more than 200,000 people with power in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 20, Univ. of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck (23) was reported missing. On June 28 Ayoola Ajayi (31) was arrested by a Salt Lake City SWAT team after burned evidence was found at his home. Lueck's body was found on July 3 in a canyon 80 miles from Salt Lake City. On July 10 Ajayi was charged with murder and kidnapping.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A6)(SFC, 7/6/19, p.A6)(SFC, 7/11/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 20, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro said if Congress does not substantially reform Brazil's political system, he will consider running again in 2022.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, A British court ruled that Britain broke the law by allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia that might have been used in Yemen's war, after activists said there was a clear risk the weapons could be operated in violation of human rights legislation. Britain temporarily suspended approving new Saudi arms export licenses that might contribute to the Gulf kingdom's four-year bombing campaign in neighboring Yemen. International Trade Minister Liam Fox said he disagreed with the judgment and would seek permission to appeal.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Britain's foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, won the right to take on Boris Johnson in the final race to become the next prime minister.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 20, Asian nations scrambled to contain the spread of highly contagious African swine fever, with Vietnam culling 2.5 million pigs and China reporting more than a million dead in an unprecedentedly huge epidemic some fear is out of control.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, China warned that threats and tariffs will not resolve trade tensions between the two biggest economies and blasted Republican Sen. Marco Rubio for his criticism of technology giant Huawei over patents.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, A Chinese court said former Interpol President Meng Hongwei confessed to accepting more than $2 million in bribes and expressed regret for his crime.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping began a 2-day visit to North Korea, the first by a Chinese president in 14 years. Kim Jong Un said that his country is waiting for a desired response in stalled nuclear talks with the United States.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, It was reported that Marxist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries in Colombia are recruiting Venezuelan migrants to strengthen their ranks.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, An Ecuador court ordered the release of Ola Bini, a Swedish national with ties to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was accused of computer hacking. His April 11 detention was deemed "arbitrary".
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, An advocate general for the EU's top court said Poland's new rules that lower the retirement age for judges, introduced in 2017, break European Union law.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Georgia rallies broke out in Tbilisi after a Russian lawmaker addressed parliament from the speaker's seat. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at crowds, leaving at least 160 demonstrators and 80 officers injured. 305 people were arrested.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, German federal police office, on a European arrest warrant issued by the Belgian authorities, picked up a suspect (39) overnight in connection with the 2015 Paris attacks.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Honduras three people were killed in Tegucigalpa in violent protests against President Juan Orlando Hernandez. Riot police ended a three-day work stoppage but warned the government they will not crack down on thousands who continue to protest in the streets demanding President Juan Orlando Hernández resign.
(AFP, 6/21/19)(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, A deadline imposed by activist groups for Hong Kong's government to scrap highly unpopular extradition bills and accept other demands passed without an official response.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Hungary four human traffickers involved in the gruesome deaths of 71 migrants in a truck abandoned on an Austrian highway in 2015 were jailed for life, in a case that sparked international revulsion. Hungary took over the proceedings from Vienna after it emerged that the migrants had suffocated on Hungarian soil.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, India's government created a new ministry to respond to a growing water crisis, with more than 60% of the country's 1.3 billion people dependent on farming and favorable monsoon rains. The new Ministry of Water Power will tackle water conservation and management.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, An Indian court sentenced former police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who alleged PM Narendra Modi's complicity in killings of Muslims in 2002, to life in prison over the 1990 death of a person in custody.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In northern India a bus plunged down a 1,600-foot gorge killing at least 44 people in Himachal Pradesh state.
(http://tinyurl.com/yytbqrfc)
2019 Jun 20, Iran shot down a US spy drone near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with the two sides at odds whether it was in Iranian or international airspace, in the latest incident stoking tensions between the arch-foes.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Italy's far-right interior minister marked World Refugee Day by insisting migrants rescued by a charity vessel are banned from entering Italian territorial waters.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Laos reported its first cases of African swine fever (ASF), confirming outbreaks in the southern province of Saravane.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Malawi police fired tear gas at some protesters as thousands demonstrated in major cities over last month's disputed elections.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 20, Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad rejected the implication that Russia may have been involved in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, after international prosecutors charged with murder four men in the July 17, 2014, missile attack that killed all 298 people aboard.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Malaysia authorities arrested four Indians and seized more than 14 kg of drugs and 5,255 turtles from their luggage at the Kuala Lumpur airport. The red-ear slider baby turtles were kept in small baskets from the luggage of two Indian nationals who flew in from Guangzhou, China.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 20, Mexican researchers said they have confirmed the existence of 1,606 secret graves containing some 2,489 bodies from 2006 to 2017.
(http://tinyurl.com/y2upbpsw)(SFC, 6/22/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 20, Mexico announced a program for millions of new trees to be planted in El Salvador in a program funded by the Mexican government that aims to help impoverished communities that often create fertile ground for fleeing migrants.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Russians took their fears over falling incomes and a creaking healthcare system to President Vladimir Putin during a glossy annual phone-in that comes following a decline in his ratings.
(AFP, 6/20/19).
2019 Jun 20, State TV said Russia has started releasing a group of captive killer whales whose detention in Russia's Far East has caused an international outcry. Russian Deputy PM Alexei Gordeyev said the whales would be taken back to where they were caught and released within four months.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Russia former US Marine Paul Whelan, held on suspicion of spying, called on US Pres. Donald Trump and the leaders of Britain, Canada and Ireland to help him as he appeared in court at an appeal hearing that extended custody to Aug. 29.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his first state-of-the-nation address since the ruling ANC party won elections in May.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, South Sudanese lawmakers stormed out of a budget presentation by the finance minister, with one citing frustrations over non-payment of salaries to civil servants and soldiers.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Syria 16 people were killed including at least two ambulance workers, several other civilians and children, in government airstrikes in the last rebel stronghold in Idlib province. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes between regime forces and jihadist-led fighters killed 130 combatants since June 18.
(AP, 6/20/19)(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, A strike by flight attendants at EVA Air, Taiwan's second-largest airline, left thousands of passengers scrambling for alternative transport.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, Turkey launched a second drillship that will drill for gas off neighboring Cyprus' east coast despite European Union warnings to refrain from such illegal actions or face sanctions.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, A Turkish court has sentenced 128 people accused of being among the ringleaders to life terms in prison for their roles in the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 21, President Donald Trump said the US was "cocked and loaded" to retaliate against Iran for downing an unmanned American surveillance drone, but he canceled the strikes 10 minutes before they were to be launched after being told 150 people could die.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The US Commerce Department blacklisted five Chinese tech entities in a new move against Beijing's supercomputing industry likely to raise tensions ahead of a meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping next week.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The Trump administration and Canada's government imposed sanctions on some Nicaraguan officials, tying them to a tough crackdown on street demonstrations that began in the Central American country in April 2018.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, A US State Department report said some senior officials from India's PM Narendra Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last year had made "inflammatory speeches" against religious minorities.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 21, US lawmakers called for swift change after reports this week of more than 250 infants, children and teens being held inside a windowless Border Patrol station, struggling to care for each other with inadequate food, water and sanitation.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The US Supreme Court said prosecutors must prove that people charged with violating federal gun laws knew they were not allowed to have a weapon.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In southern California Toby MacFarlane, a former insurance executive, pleaded guilty to participating in a college admissions bribery scheme. He had paid $450,000 to get his children admitted the Univ. of Southern California. He was the 14th parent to plead guilty in the scandal.
(SFC, 6/22/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 21, In southern California a shooting and explosion killed four people at a mobile home park in Santa Maria.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 21, In Hawaii a plane carrying sky divers crashed late today on Oahu's North Shore, killing 11 people.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Indiana Akram Musleh of Brownsburg (21), arrested on June 21, 2016, was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for trying to join the Islamic State group. He was also sentenced to 11 years and eight months of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In New Hampshire seven members of the Marine JarHeads motorcycle club were killed when a pickup collided with ten riders in Randolph. On June 21 Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, the driver of the pickup, was arrested.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)(SFC, 6/25/19, p.A5))
2019 Jun 21, Marlene Mizzi (55), a former supervisor at Kennedy Airport, admitted that she took bribes to allow Qatar and other countries to park their planes overnight during the United Nations General Assembly.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Major airlines from around the world began rerouting their flights to avoid areas around the Strait of Hormuz following Iran's shooting down of a US military surveillance drone there.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Algeria huge numbers protested in Algiers, keeping up their push for a political overhaul despite a spate of arrests ahead of the latest weekly rally. State radio said businessman Hassan Larbaoui has been detained in an anti-corruption investigation launched after protests ended the rule of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
(AFP, 6/21/19)(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said he has the authority to demarcate land held by indigenous communities.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, British police said they had arrested 44 people as part of an investigation into historical child sex abuse in northern England. Police said 36 men and three women had been detained over the last two weeks over the inquiry which is centered on allegations from four women that they were abused as children, predominantly in the towns of Dewsbury and Batley between 1995 and 2002.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Lawmakers in jihadist-hit Burkina Faso adopted a controversial new law providing for jail terms of up to 10 years for divulging details of military operations.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The World Food Program said about 40 percent of the population of the perennially unstable Central African Republic faces acute food insecurity.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Seven Chadian soldiers and a local guard were killed in a Boko Haram jihadist ambush in Lake Chad, the latest in a surge of attacks in the region.
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 21, China's Ministry of Public Security said police have rescued 1,130 abducted foreign women in the second half of last year in coordinated operations with five Southeast Asian countries.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, China said it has banned direct and indirect imports of pigs, wild boars and related products from Laos due to the first African swine fever outbreaks reported by the Southeast Asian nation on June 20.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, A judge in the Dominican Republic ordered a former Senate president, an ex-public works minister and four other people to stand trial in a bribery scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Amnesty International demanded that Egypt not execute Karim Hemada, arrested at age 17 ahead of an anticipated death sentence. He was arrested in 2016 and accused of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, possessing weapons, assaulting policemen and vandalizing properties.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele ordered mobile telephone service providers to disable their signals in prison facilities. The country's mobile telephone providers have 72 hours to comply with the order.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Germany tens of thousands of climate activists noisily rallied to demand action against global warming, now one of the hottest issues on the European political agenda.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Der Spiegel reported that the companies that were set to operate the German motorway vignette scheme scuppered by a European Court ruling earlier this week plan to demand 300 million euros ($339.21 million) compensation from Berlin.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Hong Kong more than 1,000 protesters blocked police headquarters into the night, while others took over major streets as the tumult over the city's future showed no signs of abating.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, India's PM Naredra Modi practiced various yoga asanas alongside an estimated 40,000 people in Jharkhand state on the 5th Int'l. Yoga Day. In 2014 Modi successfully lobbied the UN to designate June 21 as Int'l. Yoga Day.
(SFC, 6/22/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 21, In southern India pumping stations began lifting Godavari River water toward parched land in Telangana state in what is said to be the world's largest such irrigation project.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Indonesia at least 30 people including children were killed in a fire that swept through a house that doubled as a match factory in North Sumatra province. Police the next day arrested the owner and two managers of an unregulated factory in North Sumatra that was engulfed by the fire.
(AP, 6/21/19)(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Iraq a bomb blast killed seven people at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in eastern Baghdad and wounded more than 20.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Japan Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shareholders approved the ouster of Carlos Ghosn, who was pivotal in the Japanese automaker's three-way partnership with Nissan and Renault until he was arrested on financial misconduct charges last year.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Hundreds of Jordanian Islamists marched in Amman to denounce Washington's peace plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and demand their government boycott a conference in Bahrain next week that will examine the project.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Malawi's President Peter Mutharika promised that the economy will grow 5% in 2019, in a state of the nation address boycotted by the opposition who again clashed with police in more protests against a recent vote.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Thousands of Malians demonstrated in Bamako to demand an end to a series of massacres in the center of the country.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz defended the continued detention of blogger Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir, who has served jail time for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Mkheitir was sentenced to death in December 2014 for blasphemy. An appeal court on November 2017 downgraded the sentence to a two-year jail term.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Mexico two police officers and two suspected gunmen were killed in a series of confrontations in the western state of Jalisco.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The Islamic State fighters reportedly killed 15 Nigerian soldiers in fighting at Garno, a town in northeastern Borno state near Lake Chad. West African (MNJTF) troops reportedly killed 42 suspected Islamic State fighters in the battle, the heaviest death toll suffered by the insurgents in the last six months.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 21, North Korean state media said that China's Pres. Xi Jinping and leader Kim Jong Un held broad discussions over the political situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula and reached a shared understanding on the issues they discussed. Xi Jinping left North Korea on his Air China Boeing 747.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Former Philippine foreign minister Albert del Rosario was denied entry to Hong Kong, in what critics called retaliation for his attacks on Beijing's contested claims over the South China Sea.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning Russian airlines from flying to pro-Western Georgia from July 8 late today in response to anti-government rallies in the ex-Soviet neighbor.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 21, Prominent Russian human rights advocate Oyub Titiev (61), jailed on charges his supporters say were trumped up, walked free, but said he would not return to his work in Chechnya because he felt the risk to his staff there would be too great.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In South Africa cleaners found an abandoned fetus blocking the toilet of a domestic FlySafair plane, prompting the offloading of passengers and a police investigation.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Spain's Supreme Court found five men who called themselves "The Pack" guilty of gang rape, overturning previous convictions of the lesser offence of sexual abuse in a case that shook the country. Each defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The five had raped the drunk woman, then aged 18, at the entrance to an apartment building in Pamplona in July 2016.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Taiwan Terry Gou (68), chairman of Foxconn, the world's largest contract assembler of consumer electronics for companies such as Apple, said he was stepping down amid speculation he could be planning a presidential run next year.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The UN's International Labor Organization (ILO) overseeing international labor standards adopted a new treaty against violence and harassment in the workplace, fueled by the women's #MeToo movement.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on Venezuela to release jailed dissidents and said the crisis-wracked country faced a "serious" humanitarian situation.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Uzbekistan media reported that Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev has sacked Prosecutor General Otabek Murodov after he was targeted in a corruption probe.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Yemeni security officials said gunmen attacked a military checkpoint in the eastern province of Hadramawt, killing three soldiers and wounding four in Coton.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 22, The Trump administration unveiled a $50 billion Palestinian investment and infrastructure proposal intended to be the economic engine to power its much-anticipated but still unreleased "deal of the century" Middle East peace plan. It made no mention of Palestinian political aspirations.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Pres. Donald Trump announced that he would delay immigration raids "at the request of Democrats" for two weeks in hopes of a bipartisan solution to recently arrived illegal immigrants.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 22, In southern California a man suspected of killing his wife with a machete and wounding three other people in Panorama City was arrested.
(SFC, 6/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 22, In Maine a new Navy destroyer was christened bearing the name of Hawaii's late Sen. Daniel Inouye. The guided missile destroyer will be home ported at Pearl Harbor.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 22, Dozens of Afghan political leaders attended a peace conference in Pakistan to pave the way for further Afghan-to-Afghan dialogue.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Benin's former president Thomas Boni Yayi left effective house arrest in the country for health reasons and soon arrived in Togo. Protests first erupted in Benin after April 28 parliamentary elections. Several people have died in clashes with police who resorted to gunfire.
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 22, In Cambodia a seven-story building under construction in the coastal city of Sihanoukville collapsed on workers housed inside early today, killing seven workers and injuring 23. Four Chinese nationals involved in the construction were detained.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, In Chile striking workers employed by the world's top copper producer were set to continue their walkout after voting down a management offer of better wages and compensation.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, The official People's Daily reported that China will need to spend 3 trillion yuan ($440 billion) over three years to improve village sanitation and clean up its heavily polluted rural environment.
(Reuters, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Ethiopia's army chief and a top local leader were shot dead during an attempt to overthrow a regional government in the northern Amhara region, underscoring political instability as PM Abiy Ahmed tries to reform the nation. Dozens of people were later reported killed in the fighting.
(AFP, 6/23/19)(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 22, In France three people died and another was seriously injured in a fire that broke out early today in a building in central Paris.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, In western Germany hundreds of environmental activists broke through a police cordon to enter the open-pit Garzweiler mine, one of the country's biggest lignite coal mines.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 22, Guinea-Bissau Pres. Jose Mario Vaz appointed Aristide Gomes as prime minister, ending a political deadlock that dragged on since legislative elections in May.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Protesters in Hong Kong ended their overnight siege of police headquarters peacefully, disappointed that their demands for the territory's leader to formally withdraw a contentious extradition bill and police to apologize for heavy handed tactics have gone unmet.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, In India Tabrez Ansari (24), a Muslim man suspected of stealing a motorcycle, died four days after he was beaten by a Hindu mob for some 12 hours and forced to chant prayers to Hindu gods in Jharkhand state. Videos of the attack had circulated widely.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 22, Cybersecurity firms said Iran has increased its offensive cyberattacks against the US government and critical infrastructure as tensions have grown between the two nations.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, State media reported that Iran summoned the United Arab Emirates' top envoy to Tehran to protest the neighboring Arab nation's decision to allow the US to use a base there to launch a drone that Iran says entered its airspace. The US said its RQ-4A Global Hawk was shot down June 20 over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz, not inside Iranian airspace.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Malaysia said the perpetrators of violence against Myanmar's Rohingya minority must "be brought to justice", in sharp comments delivered at a normally tame (ASEAN) regional summit.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Mauritanians voted for a new president as the incumbent leader warned that only his chosen successor can maintain stability in the West African country, while the opposition said it saw "worrying signs" of election irregularities. Mohamed Ould Ghazouani (62), a former general, won an absolute majority in the first round.
(AFP, 6/22/19)(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 22, Russia's travel industry and ordinary Russians hit out at a decision by the Kremlin to suspend flights to Georgia as a politically motivated move that has little to do with safety concerns.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Sudanese protest leaders accepted the creation of a civilian-majority governing body for a political transition in Sudan as proposed by an Ethiopian envoy.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Syrian regime air strikes on the anti-government stronghold in Idlib province killed five civilians including three children.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 23, The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump had sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, days before the US president leaves for a trip to Japan and South Korea.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, The economic component of the Trump administration's long-awaited Mideast peace plan drew chilly responses from regional allies, two days before it was to be discussed at a conference in the Gulf. Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that the country will not be "tempted" by money into giving up Palestinian rights.
(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, It was reported that fentanyl, a synthetic painkiller, appears now to be embedded in the streets of San Francisco, surpassing prescription drugs and heroin as the leading cause of opioid overdose deaths in the city.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 23, In San Jose, Ca., Chi Dinh Ta (66) shot four family members to death before killing himself in a standoff with police early the next day.
(SFC, 6/25/19, p.C1)(SFC, 6/29/19, p.C2)
2019 Jun 23, In Massachusetts the new $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor casino opened in Everett, becoming the state's 3rd casino.
(SFC, 6/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 23, In Texas the bodies of a migrant woman and three children were found near the Rio Grande outside McAllen, Texas. They were believed to have died of dehydration and heat exposure.
(SFC, 6/25/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 23, Cambodian PM Hun Sen said that he was heading to the seaside resort town of Sihanoukville, where a seven-story building under construction collapsed, killing at least 19 workers and injuring 24.
(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, Qu Dongyu (55) became the first Chinese national to be elected to head the UN's Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, In the Czech Rep. hundreds of thousands of people rallied to urge PM Andrej Babis to resign.
(SFC, 6/24/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 23, In India at least 14 people died and 50 others were wounded when the tent collapsed during a Hindu ceremony in Barmer, Rajasthan state.
(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, In eastern India a medical official said at least 129 children have now died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the town of Muzaffarpur, Bihar state, since an outbreak earlier this month.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, It was reported that Mexico's immigration centers are becoming increasingly squalid and overcrowded as authorities step up the detention of migrants headed for the United States, with inmates languishing for weeks amid medical neglect.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, A Sudanese court ordered telecoms operator Zain Sudan to restore internet services, after they were severed nearly three weeks ago when security forces dispersed protesters camping in central Khartoum.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, Sweden detained a fugitive Chinese official at the request of the United States and expects it to make a formal request for his extradition. Qiao Jianjun was released from Swedish custody on June 19, an indication Sweden's supreme court will turn down an earlier Chinese request for his extradition. The United States indicted Qiao in 2015 in his absence on charges of money laundering and immigration fraud.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 23, Syrian regime air strikes killed five civilians including two children in the village of Josef, Idlib province, a northwestern bastion of the opposition.
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, Southeast Asian leaders meeting in Thailand pressed their call for self-restraint in the disputed South China Sea and renewed their alarm over the US-China trade war. ASEAN leaders agreed to work together on the region's economy and security to strengthen their position to face growing US-China tensions, as they wrapped up their summit in Bangkok.
(AP, 6/23/19)(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, In Turkey a 2nd mayoral election was held in Istanbul. Turkey's election board ruled as the vote count begins in the repeated election for Istanbul's mayor to count as valid ballots with inconsistent stamps. Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu's win in a repeat vote for mayor broke the lock Pres. Erdogan's Islamist-rooted party long held on Istanbul's top public office.
(AFP, 6/23/19)(AP, 6/23/19)(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 23, In Ukraine troops in military uniform joined more than 8,000 people marching in Kiev's Gay Pride parade amid tight security, the biggest ever annual celebration of diversity in ex-Soviet Ukraine.
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, A Yemeni rebel attack on the Abha airport civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia killed a Syrian national and wounded 21 other civilians.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, US Pres. Donald Trump enacted new sanctions against Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, The US government removed most children from a remote Border Patrol station in Texas near the border with Mexico following reports that more than 300 children were detained there and caring for each other with inadequate food, water and sanitation. Only about 30 children remained at the station outside El Paso.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, The US Supreme Court struck down a 1986 law that added five years or more to sentences for possessing a gun during any federal "crime of violence." The court said the law is so broad and nonspecific that it fails to define the crimes it covers.
(SFC, 6/25/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 24, The US Supreme Court struck down a section of federal law that prevented businesses from registering trademarks seen as scandalous or immoral, handing a victory to California fashion brand FUCT.
(SFC, 6/25/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 24, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke pledged to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and help create a federal health care fund to cover the costs of caring for those who serve in future wars by taxing those who don't.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, It was reported that federal agents have broken up a theft ring involving 21 people responsible for stealing $3.9 million worth of used cooking oil from restaurants in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia over the last five years.
(SFC, 6/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 24, Authorities in Texas reported seven migrant deaths, including those of a woman, two babies and a toddler, showing the danger of extreme summer heat as Central American families surge across the US-Mexico border.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (24) of Greece was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the 2018-19 regular season.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, American logistics giant FedEx sued the US government, saying Washington's restrictions on exports and imports due to growing trade disputes and sanctions created an "impossible burden" for delivery firms.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Bangladesh a passenger train carrying at least 2,000 people derailed as it was crossing a bridge killing five people and injuring more than 100.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Abul Bajandar (28), a Bangladeshi known as the "Tree Man" because of bark-like growths on his body, said he wanted his hands amputated to relieve him of unbearable pain. Bajandar suffers from a rare condition called epidermodysplasia verruciformis. Fewer than half a dozen people around the world are believed to have the syndrome.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Britain's Lloyds Banking Group said it has frozen 8,000 customer accounts under a wider crackdown on money-laundering. LBG took action late last year after a change to money-laundering rules in Jersey, home to the lender's international division.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Cambodia rescuers found two survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed two days earlier while under construction in Sihanoukville, killing 28 workers and injuring 26.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, China said it will not allow discussion of Hong Kong at the G20 summit this week even as US President Donald Trump plans to raise the city's mass protests during his meeting with President Xi Jinping.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Congo DRC's health ministry said more than 1,500 people have died in a nearly 10-month-old outbreak of Ebola.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Cyprus Greek Cypriot army captain Nikos Metaxas (35), who murdered five women and two girls, was handed seven life sentences.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Ethiopia Asamnew Tsige, the army brigadier general accused of leading the June 22 failed coup, was killed in a firefight with security forces.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6cle2t5)(SFC, 6/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 24, The European Union's highest court ruled that Poland's lowering of the retirement age for its supreme court judges was against EU law, in a blow to the Polish eurosceptic government.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, German automaker Daimler AG said its Mercedes-Benz luxury brand plans to assemble cars in Egypt in cooperation with a local partner.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, The head of Georgia's ruling party announced sweeping electoral reforms in a bid to appease protesters after days of demonstrations gripped the capital Tbilisi.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Honduran military police opened fire on protesting students at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, wounding at least five. Hundreds of students were demanding the resignation of Pres. Juan Orlando Hernandez. Three people were killed in protests last week.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, More than 100 people blocked a Hong Kong government building in protest against proposed legislation allowing extraditions to mainland China that they want scrapped.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, India's Supreme Court directed state and national authorities to file reports to the court on an encephalitis outbreak in the eastern state of Bihar this month in which 152 children have died.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck remote eastern Indonesia. There were no reports of casualties or any major damage.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Iran said US cyber attacks on its military had failed, as Washington sought to rally support in the Middle East and Europe for a hardline stance that has brought it to the verge of conflict with its long-time foe.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Iraqi special forces said they have conducted a 2-day operation near the northern city of Kirkuk in which they killed 14 members of the Islamic State group.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Japan a Nigerian man died in an immigration detention center, bringing to an end a hunger strike an activist group said was intended to protest against his being held for more than three years. This was the 15th death since 2006 in a system widely criticized over medical standards, the monitoring of detainees and how guards respond to a medical emergency.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 24, Police in Kashmir arrested Ghulam Jeelani Qadri (62), a journalist and the publisher of the Urdu-language newspaper Daily Afaaq, in a raid just before midnight at his home in the region's main city of Srinagar on an arrest warrant issued in 1993. The case dated from 1990, when Qadri was one of nine journalists to publish a statement by a militant group fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Kazakhstan a fire engulfed a sprawling ammunition depot near the town of Arys causing powerful explosions that injured at least 46 people and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Malaysia ordered 475 schools and kindergartens to close until June 27, after dozens of people were hospitalized with symptoms suggesting they breathed toxic fumes, possibly from industrial waste, the second such incident this year.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, Mauritanian police raided the headquarters of two opposition parties late today, closing one of them amid high tension followed a disputed outcome to presidential elections. The operation came after police clashed with opposition supporters angered over the declared victory of ruling party candidate Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Nigeria Islamist insurgents struck the village of Ngamngam in Borno state late today. By the next morning at least 20 civilians were killed.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 24, Pakistan thanked Qatar for the $3 billion investment announced hours earlier by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, Palestinians vowed to reject a US-led peace initiative to be presented in Bahrain that dangles the prospect of $50 billion as an Israeli envoy bluntly told them they should "surrender." Hundreds protested against the US economic peace proposal, a day ahead of an American-led conference in Bahrain.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Russia served notice to ex-Soviet Georgia it faces painful consequences if anti-Russian protests are not brought under control, saying it was tightening controls on wine imports that bring Georgia millions of dollars in revenue each year.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Russia Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Mohamed Zaki, said that Moscow is ready to continue helping strengthen Egypt's defense capability.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, The Solomon Islands, one of Taiwan's remaining allies in the Pacific, said it will send a delegation to study Chinese aid in neighboring countries as it considers a potential diplomatic switch to Beijing.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, The Swiss attorney general's office (OAG) announced it was returning 130 million Swiss francs ($133 million) to Uzbekistan which it seized during an investigation involving a relative of the daughter of former president Islam Karimov.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Turkey 16 leading civil society leaders appeared in court, accused of seeking to overthrow the government during the "Gezi Park" protests of 2013, in a trial dubbed an absurd sham by critics. The group includes renowned businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, whose detention since November 2017 has made him a symbol of what his supporters say is a crackdown on civil society.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Vietnam sentenced US citizen Michael Nguyen to 12 years in Vietnamese prison for "attempting to overthrow the state." Nguyen was detained in July last year while travelling in the country with two activists. Tran Long Phi and Huynh Duc Thanh Binh were jailed for eight years and ten years respectively for the same charge.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 25, The Trump administration convened an international conference in Bahrain to promote its ambitious but harshly criticized $50 billion economic support plan for the Palestinians. Participants did not include official Israeli or Palestinian delegations, and many countries' delegations were not headed by Cabinet ministers.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The US envoy to NATO said the United States will stop Turkish forces flying and developing its F-35 stealth jets if Ankara goes ahead with the purchase of a Russian air defense system. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vowed anew to press on with the S-400 purchase despite allies' concerns.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Melania Trump announced that Stephanie Grisham, her longtime spokeswoman and confidante, will succeed Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 25, The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation that bans the sale of e-cigarettes bought online from being delivered to city addresses in an effort to curb teen vaping.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 25, Kenneth Behring (b.1928), billionaire philanthropist, died. He was the developer of the Blackhawk gated golf communities in Contra Costa County, Ca. He and a partner purchased the Seattle Seahawks in 1988 and sold the team in 1997 to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for $200 million. Behring published a memoir called Road to Purpose: One Man's Journey Bringing Hope to Millions (2004) and Finding Purpose Along the Way (2013). In 2000 Behring founded the Wheelchair Foundation to provide free wheelchairs for people with physical disabilities in developing nations unable to afford one.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Behring)(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 25, In Morgan Hill, Ca., a man killed two people at a Ford dealership before apparently turning his gun on himself. Suspect Steven Leet (60) had been fired earlier in the day.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.C5)(SFC, 6/27/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 25, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation legalizing small amounts of marijuana. Possession would remain a crime until Jan.1.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 25, John Sanders, the acting head of the US Customs and Border Protection agency, announced his resignation amid a public outcry over alarming detention conditions of migrant children in Texas.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Apple said it has acquired Mountain View self-driving startup Drive.ai, which said it planned to close its business and lay off 90 workers in a permanent closure.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 25, SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral. It carried a payload of 24 military and scientific research satellites.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 25, A Christian group crowdfunded more than Aus$l.0 million ($700,000) in a single day for former Australian rugby star Israel Folau's legal battle to appeal against his sacking over homophobic comments.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Austria's Supreme Court upheld a decision granting a US request to extradite Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash, paving the way for him to face trial in the United States over bribery allegations.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Bangladesh police killed three people suspected of trying to smuggle 15 Rohingya Muslim refugees to Malaysia in a clash near the South Asian nation's main refugee camp, the second such incident in as many months.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, British royal accounts showed that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's new home in Windsor cost £2.4 million ($3.05 million, 2.7 million euros) of taxpayers' money to renovate, prompting criticism from anti-monarchy campaigners.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Ken Follett, Lee Child, Kate Mosse and Jojo Moyes, four heavyweights of British literature, said they are launching a "Friendship Tour" of Europe to represent the 48 percent who voted against Brexit. The tour in November will visit Milan, Madrid, Berlin and Paris.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, A Cambodian court charged seven people, including five Chinese nationals, with involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy after 28 people died in a collapsed building on the weekend.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Canadian aerospace company Bombardier announced the sale of its regional jet program to Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. for $550 million.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The vice-governor of China's Xinjiang region responded to international condemnation of state-run detention camps by saying they were vocational centers which had helped "save" people from extremist influences.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, China asked Canada to suspend all meat exports after discovering false veterinary health certificates attached to a batch of pork, while Canadian federal police launched a criminal probe.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 25, A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the Costa Rica-Panama border around midnight. Seismologists said the disaster was "potentially widespread".
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 25, Denmark's Social Democrat leader announced she will form a minority government after reaching an agreement with three left and center-left parties after weeks of negotiations.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The Council of Europe voted 118-62 to readmit Russia early today, five years after suspension over Crimea. The decision was supported by France and Germany as a way of keeping communication open at a time of East-West tension.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Egyptian police arrested at least eight people, including a former lawmaker and key secular activists in the country's 2011 uprising, for their alleged ties to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, In Egypt seven police officers and four militants were killed in a clash in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 25, A French court found the state had failed to take sufficient steps to limit air pollution around Paris, following a complaint by a mother and daughter that their health had been harmed. However, the court rejected the pair's demand for 160,000 euros ($182,000) in damages, saying it could not find a direct link between their health problems and the state's failings.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The Georgian parliament elected Archil Talakvadze, a ruling Georgia Dream Party candidate, as its new speaker following the resignation of his predecessor after violent protests outside the building.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, An Indonesian military spokesman said that any use of child soldiers by Papuan independence fighters would be a violation of human rights that implicates both the rebels and state institutions.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Iran warned that new US sanctions targeting its supreme leader and other top officials meant "closing the doors of diplomacy" between Tehran and Washington amid heightened tensions. Iran said it will further free itself from the 2015 nuclear deal in defiance of new American sanctions.
(AP, 6/25/19)(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Israel cut off fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip in response to the launch of incendiary balloons, resulting in new power cuts in the impoverished territory.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, In Japan scandal-battered Nissan won its shareholders' approval for a new system of committees to oversee governance and for keeping Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa on its board.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, In Kazakhstan NASA astronaut Anne McClain, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, and Canadian Space Agency record-holder David Saint-Jacques emerged from the space craft to applause from support crews, after touching down near the Kazakh city of Dzhezkazgan.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The third place candidate in Mauritania's presidential election filed an appeal late today contesting the victory of ruling party candidate Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 25, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the country's new militarized National Guard police force could have committed "excesses" by detaining migrant women close to the US border, and that they had not been instructed to do so.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Palestinians burned effigies of President Trump and marched a donkey pasted over with images of Gulf royals in the West Bank, as the US prepared to open its conference in Bahrain.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Papua New Guinea's PM James Marape demanded that Australia end or completely rework a controversial multi-million dollar contract to manage refugees stuck in tropical island camps.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Spanish authorities caught Brazilian Sgt. Manoel Silva Rodrigues carrying 86 pounds of cocaine on a presidential plane carrying Pres. Jair Bolsonaro to the G20 summit in Japan.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 25, Ukraine expressed anger at its Western partners after lawmakers at the Council of Europe agreed to allow Russian representatives back following a five year absence prompted by Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The UN Security Council has approved a resolution establishing a political mission in Haiti starting on Oct. 16 to advise the government on promoting political stability and rule of law in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Hatice Cengiz, the Turkish fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, took her campaign for justice in his killing to the United Nations' top human rights body and urged the UN to take "the next step" following a key investigator's finding that Saudi Arabia bears responsibility.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communications (MOIC) chaired a meeting with top advertisers, requesting them to stop paying to post ads on YouTube channels featuring "bad or toxic" content.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 26, A court in Los Angeles heard new allegations made by 10 men and women that military and police forces led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's former defense secretary and now a presidential hopeful, repeatedly tortured and raped political opponents, in some cases branding them with hot metal rods and lashing them with electrical cables. Rajapaksa was from 2005 to 2015 in command of security forces.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 26, In Oregon 11 Republican state senators entered their 7th day of a walkout to deny supermajority Democrats the needed quorum to vote on a cap-and-trade bill to reduce greenhouse gases. Rural voters worried that the bill would be the end of for logging and trucking in the state.
(SFC, 6/27/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 26, In Afghanistan two US service members died of gunshot wounds sustained during combat while on a joint patrol with Afghan forces.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Scientists from Argentina and Brazil said the fossil remains of Vespersaurus paranaensis, a desert-based carnivorous dinosaur that used claws to capture small prey 90 million years ago, has been unearthed in Cruzeiro do Oeste municipality of southern Brazil's Parana state.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Australia's three largest media organizations joined forces to demand legal reforms that would prevent journalists from risking imprisonment for doing their jobs.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, In Bahrain international financial chiefs and global investors said the Trump administration's $50 billion economic support plan for the Palestinians cannot succeed without addressing the political elements of a Middle East deal.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Danish police said they have arrested 31 people as part of an international investigation into an organized criminal network with roots in Albania, suspected of smuggling drugs and weapons.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Ethiopian security forces rounded up 56 members of an ethnic Ethiopian party believed to have links to a coup bid in northern Amhara state and the murder of the army chief in attacks which have highlighted the political crisis in the nation.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 26, Thousands of people joined Hong Kong's latest protest rally against legislation they fear would erode the city's freedoms, capping a daylong appeal to world leaders ahead of a G-20 summit this week that brings together the heads of China, the United States and other major nations.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, In Japan French President Emmanuel Macron said he and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe have agreed to bolster naval defense ties in the Indo-Pacific region and shared concerns about growing tensions in the Middle East.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh "handpicked" women whom he would rape or sexually coerce, offering cash, gifts and other privileges in exchange.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, German police cautioned a man riding naked on a moped while topless sunbathers sparked a row in Munich, as temperatures were to soar to record highs in several European countries.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, A German humanitarian group says its ship Sea-Watch 3 carrying 42 migrants rescued at sea two weeks ago has entered Italian waters under emergency provisions, calling the situation on board desperate.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Dutch national railway company NS said that it will pay reparations to Jews, Roma and Sinti whom it transported to camps in the Netherlands during WWII, from where they were sent to Nazi concentration camps.
(SFC, 6/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 26, Dutch police said they had seized 2.5 tons of methamphetamine last week, in what they said was the largest haul of the drug to date in Europe, with a street value estimated in the "hundreds of millions of euros".
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Oman said that it will open an embassy in the Palestinian territories in support of the Palestinian people, in a first for a Gulf Arab state.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, The top leaders of Pakistan's major opposition political parties met in Islamabad to discuss how to oust the government of PM Imran Khan over his alleged failure in handling the country's economic crisis. Pakistan's currency dropped to an all-time low of 160 rupees to the dollar.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, In Pakistan a police constable was killed and 5 people injured, following a gun battle with Taliban militants at a police housing and training complex in southwestern Baluchistan province.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Thousands of Palestinians rallied outside a UN compound in the Gaza Strip to protest the White House-led Mideast peace conference in Bahrain.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Papua New Guinea's volatile Ulawun volcano, designated one of the world's most hazardous, erupted sending residents fleeing. Villagers living at the base of the volcano had already been evacuated.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with visiting Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who promised to help with possible fuel shortages in case of supply disruptions caused by tensions in the Middle East. South Korea and Saudi Arabia signed an $8.3 billion economic co-operation pact during Salman's first visit to Seoul.
(AP, 6/26/19)(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Sri Lanka's Pres. Maithripala Sirisena said that he has ordered the executions of four drug offenders who will be hanged in prison soon, amid alarm over drug-related crimes in this Indian Ocean island nation. Two petitions were filed in the Court of Appeal on June 28 seeking an order quashing any move by Sirisena to resume executions.
(AP, 6/26/19)(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 26, A leading Sudanese opposition figure said the African Union and Ethiopia have joined forces in renewed efforts to mediate the crisis in Sudan and bring the ruling generals and protest leaders back to the negotiating table.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, The opposition Syrian Civil Defense says two of its members were killed and four were wounded when an airstrike struck their ambulance in northwestern Syria.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, A Thai court said it will allow 32 pro-military lawmakers to keep their seats while it decides whether they violated election rules by holding shares in media companies.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, The UN refugee agency said a photo of Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria, who drowned on the US-Mexico border, symbolizes the failure to deal with their desperation.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, The UN Security Council approved a resolution establishing a political mission in Haiti starting Oct. 16 that will officially replace all UN peacekeeping activities in the country.
(SFC, 6/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 27, President Donald Trump arrived in Japan for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies. He was due to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 29 as the G-20 meetings conclude. Trump kicked off meetings with international leaders with a working dinner with Australian PM Scott Morrison.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell demanded that House Democrats drop their insistence for changes in a $4.6 billion border aid package that the Senate passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and instead give final congressional approval to the legislation.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, The US Supreme Court ruled blocked the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census over doubts about the Trump administration's rationale.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 27, The US Supreme Court ruled that federal courts have no role to play in the dispute over the practice of gerrymandering.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 27, Bilal al-Rayanni (28), a Yemeni national, was arrested in Arkansas. On Aug 8 he was charged with supporting al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula between October and December of 2014 while he was in Yemen. Al-Rayanni lived in Arkansas before and after he traveled to Yemen in 2014.
(AP, 8/9/19)
2019 Jun 27, A federal jury in San Francisco found April Myres (55) guilty of mail and wire fraud in a 2016 case. She was accused of having a romantic relationship with a jail inmate and lying about a department issued firearm.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 27, Three Southern California women, Sparkle Shorale Nelson (32), Shykeena Monique Johnson (31) and Jerrika Johnson (37) were arrested on suspicion of stealing more than $1 million in federal student financial aid through Fullerton College.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6f5sgjw)(SFC, 7/1/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 27, In Florida frontrunner Joe Biden faced repeated criticism on multiple fronts from his Democratic rivals for the 2020 presidential nomination, including calls to leave the battle to oust Donald Trump to a younger generation.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, North Carolina authorities said Areli Aguirre Avilez (30), the man accused of murdering his ex-wife, Maria Calderon, and her two children, is a Mexican citizen who's in the United States illegally. The children were found shot inside their burned home, while Calderon was presumed dead.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In North Carolina a single-engine plane crashed into a home late today killing the pilot and one person inside the house in Hope Mills.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 27, Greenpeace warned about overfishing endangered sharks in the North Atlantic, often by Spanish and Portuguese boats.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 27, In Afghanistan the Taliban's shadow governor for eastern Logar province and two deputies were killed in an airstrike by Afghan forces. In eastern Ghazni province the Taliban attacked Afghan security checkpoints, killing four police officers.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 27, Bangladesh police said a total of 535 people have been killed since 2010 after being hit by trains while wearing headphones on tracks in and around Dhaka.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Belgium Frenchman Marc Bertoldi (48) was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a spectacular $50 million diamond heist at Brussels airport on Feb. 18, 2013.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Belize authorities said a local guide, who was leading a Virginia doctor on a fishing trip when they were both fatally shot, might have been the target of gang hit in the country. Authorities found Gary Swank (53), a cardiologist at Virginia Tech's Carilion Clinic, and Mario Graniel (53) in a lagoon near the town of San Pedro earlier this week.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Britain's new target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 became law, making it the first among the major G7 countries to set such a goal.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Canada's flagship airline Air Canada announced that it has reached a deal to buy tour operator Transat for Can$520 million (US$396 million) in cash or Can$13 per share.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, China's Pres. Xi Jinping arrived in Osaka to attend the G20 summit that PM Shinzo Abe will chair over the next two days.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, The Organization of American States (OAS) began two days of meetings in Medellin, Colombia. Latin American leaders planned to seek to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and further isolate the embattled leader.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Congo DRC at least 36 artisanal miners were killed by a landslide at the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession, a copper and cobalt mine run by Glencore. The death toll soon rose to 43.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 27, Ethiopia's government said security forces have arrested more than 250 people in a sweeping crackdown following a failed suspected coup attempt and the assassination of five high-ranking officials.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 27, The European Union called on Italy to help find a swift resolution for the migrants aboard the charity ship Sea-Watch, which entered Italian waters in defiance of a ban from Rome.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Europeans braced for the expected peak of a sweltering heatwave that has sent temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), with schools in France closing and wildfires in Spain spinning out of control.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Germany two of three men charged with hundreds of counts of child sexual abuse over decades at a German campsite pleaded guilty as their trial opened.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, German federal prosecutors said police have made two more arrests related to the killing of a pro-migrant politician, allegedly by a far-right sympathizer.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Hong Kong protesters opposed to legislation they fear would reduce judicial independence rallied outside the Justice Department, as the territory's leader remained out of public view for a second week.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, A Hungarian court refused to extradite former Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski, who fled abroad last year after being sentenced to two years in prison on corruption-related charges. Gruevski was released from custody on the court's order.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Indonesia's constitutional court rejected a bid to overturn President Joko Widodo's election victory and dismissed his defeated challenger's claims of widespread voter fraud as groundless.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Israel clashes erupted in east Jerusalem after Israeli police shot and killed Mohammed Obeid (20) during demonstrations against police violence.
(SFC, 7/1/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 27, Lawmakers in Kyrgyzstan voted to lift the immunity of former president Almazbek Atambayev (62), paving the way for a prosecution that could provoke a political crisis in the fragile Central Asian state.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Lebanon hundreds of veterans burned tires and blocked highways to protest a pension tax and benefit cuts in a 2019 budget intended to slash the country's deficit.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Libya's UN-backed government took back a strategic town near Tripoli from commander Khalifa Hifter, whose forces have been fighting for the past three months to capture the country's capital.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Mauritania's government spokesman stepped down after defending a three-day communications blackout imposed during three days of post-election unrest. Fixed internet in the country was restored the next day. The mobile phone network that was disconnected June 23 remained down.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 27, The Dutch intelligence agency (AIVD) warned of the escalating threat of state-backed cyber espionage, saying the Netherlands was particularly vulnerable as a hub for international business, telecoms and human rights groups.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Pakistan called for stronger trade relations with Afghanistan and more cooperation on regional security as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani visited Islamabad, pledging renewed effort to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Russia said six beluga and two killer whales, captured to perform in aquariums and held in cramped pens, have been released into the wild.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, The Serbian government decided to grant citizenship to Thailand's former PM Yingluck Shinawatra, citing a legal provision that "a foreign citizen can also be granted Serbian citizenship if that is in line with the country's interests".
(Reuters, 8/8/19)
2019 Jun 27, Sudan's security forces fired tear gas to disperse dozens of students demonstrating against the ruling military council at a financial academy in the heart of Khartoum.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Syria a bomb exploded in a car in Damascus, wounding the wife and son of a pro-government political analyst.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Tunisia double suicide attacks shook Tunis, even as the country was plunged into uncertainty with the hospitalization of President Beji Caid Essebsi who was said to be in "critical condition".
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Authorities in Vanuatu arrested six Chinese nationals following Chinese complaints they were operating an internet scam from the Pacific island.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 27, A court in Vietnam jailed Tran Cong Khai (56), a man who formerly worked as a lawyer, to eight years in prison on a charge of attempting to overthrow the state, just days after a US citizen got 12 years on a similar charge.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 28, The US special envoy for Iran said the United States will sanction any country that imports Iranian oil and there are no exemptions in place.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, A US federal judge prohibited President Donald Trump from tapping $2.5 billion in military funding to build high-priority segments of his prized border wall in California, Arizona and New Mexico.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, The United States imposed sanctions on Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra (29), the son of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for serving in his father's "illegitimate regime".
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, The US Treasury Dept. approved nearly $10 million in funds to complete a $15 million purchase of land west of Mount Shasta, Ca. The purchase secured access to a 17-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 28, The Trump administration revoked an Obama-era rule designed to terminate federal funding to for-profit college programs that consistently left graduates with high student debt. Education Sec. Betsy DeVos said department rules should be designed to support all students and treat all schools fairly.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A17)
2019 Jun 28, Jeffrey Bizzack (59) became the 51st person charged in the sweeping college admissions bribery scheme. He agreed to plead guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge to get his son into the Univ. of Southern California as a fake volleyball recruit.
(http://tinyurl.com/y2bmlasr)(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 28, Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis, a Republican, signed into law a bill that in effect denies more than a million ex-convicts the right to vote in the 2020 presidential election. Human rights groups sued Florida over the law.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Hawaii two US marshals led former Honolulu prosecutor Katherine Kealoha (48) out of a courtroom after a US judge ordered her detained. A day earlier a jury found Kealoha and her husband, former police chief Louis Kealoha (58) guilty of conspiracy and also determined they obstructed justice. The Kealohas faced another trial on bank fraud and identity theft charges involving allegations that she bilked relatives and children whose trusts she controlled.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Indiana a federal judge blocked a new state law that would ban a second-trimester abortion procedure.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 28, In Minnesota a medical helicopter crashed early today at Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport killing a nurse and pilot.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 28, In NYC thousands of people converged on the Stonewall Inn for the 50th anniversary of the rebellion that catalyzed a movement for LGBTQ liberation, marking the milestone with celebrity performances, speeches and personal reflections.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Virginia James Fields Jr. (22), the white supremacist who killed Heather Heyer with his car in 2017 in Charlottesville, was sentenced to life in prison.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 28, It was reported that Apple will manufacture a new version of its Mac Pro computer in China.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.D3)
2019 Jun 28, On Wall Street the IPO of RealReal, an online seller of 2nd hand luxury goods, closed at $29.80, up 44% from its $20 opening on Nasdaq.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 28, In northern Afghanistan a bomb blast inside a mosque wounded at least 11 people in Aybak, Samangan province.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Vienna, Austria, senior officials from Iran and the remaining signatories to its 2015 nuclear deal met with the future of the accord under threat as Tehran was poised to surpass a uranium stockpile threshold.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Colombia members of the Organization of American States (OAS) ended two days of meetings without a clear plan for increasing pressure on embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, despite a majority vote to recognize a representative from the country's opposition. Specialists affiliated with the OAS said Venezuelans fleeing their nation's crisis should be granted refugee status.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 28, Authorities in Ethiopia arrested Christian Tadele, the spokesman of the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA), a political party which promotes the interests of the Amhara ethnic group.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, The EU signed a historic trade agreement with the four-nation South American bloc known as Mercosur. The agreement creates a market of 780 million people with the EU.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In France a video showed at least two officers spraying protesters at close range with cans of teargas during a protest in Paris by the "Extinction Rebellion" group over the government's environment policies.
(AFP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 28, The temperature in France surpassed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time on record as Europe sweltered in an early summer heatwave. Temperatures in the southern Gard region hit an all-time high of 45.9 degrees Celsius (114.62°F), hotter than in California's Death Valley, sparking scores of fires that burned 550 hectares of land and destroyed several homes and vehicles. At least two deaths linked to the heatwave were reported in Spain.
(AFP, 6/28/19)(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 28, Frenchman Jean-Claude Romand (65), who killed his parents, wife and children after pretending to be a successful doctor for two decades in a case that inspired a book and films, was released after 26 years in jail and immediately moved into a monastery.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Authorities in Germany said they have shut down Chemical Revolution, the country's largest online wholesaler of illegal drugs, and arrested 11 people as part of an international investigation into a drugs ring they said spanned five European countries and sold narcotics worldwide.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Hungarian police said a South Korean woman recovered from the Danube River has been identified as the 26th fatality of the May 29 crash between a tour boat and a cruise ship.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, It was reported that India's government has cut off advertisements to at least three major newspaper groups in a move that executives and an opposition leader said was likely retaliation for unfavorable reports.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In eastern India Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh state killed three paramilitary soldiers patrolling on motorbikes and a young girl who was riding in a passing bus.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Indonesia a Russian-made Mi-17 military helicopter carrying 12 people went missing in the country's troubled easternmost province of Papua. The missing bodies were found in February 2020.
(AP, 6/28/19)(SFC, 2/15/20, p.A2)
2019 Jun 28, Iran said it had formally lodged a complaint to the UN Security Council against the United States over a drone violating its airspace.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Israel said it has restored fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip's sole power plant and expanded the permitted fishing zone off the enclave's coast, easing some recent restrictions on the blockaded territory.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Japan a two-day G20 summit opened in Osaka. World leaders grappled with profound tensions over trade, globalization and the collapsing nuclear deal with Iran.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, A Japanese court ordered the government to pay 370 million yen ($3.4 million) in damages to the relatives of former leprosy patients over a segregation policy that severed family ties and caused long-lasting prejudice. The court ruled that the government failed to stop the segregation until 1996, decades after leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, became curable in the late 1940s.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Lesotho several thousand farmers marched to parliament to protest against regulations forcing them to sell their wool and mohair to a Chinese broker.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Spokesman Ahmed Mismari said eastern Libyan forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar will ban any commercial flights from Libya to Turkey and Turkish ships from docking in the country. Mismari also said his forces had lost 43 soldiers in the battle over the town of Gharyan which the Tripoli forces took on June 26.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, The New York Times reported that forces loyal to Libya's unity government had discovered four Javelin missiles at a base used by men under the command of Khalifa Haftar, who has waged a months-long offensive to take Tripoli. The newspaper said that markings on the US-made missiles indicated they had been sold to the United Arab Emirates in 2008.
(AFP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jun 28, A Norwegian man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the sexual abuse, including rape, of several hundred underage boys in what was described as the largest such case in the country's history.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Panama inaugurated a visitors' center to improve access to the colonial-era San Lorenzo Fort. Due to neglect it came to be placed on a UNESCO list of sites at risk. The fort was built in the late 16th century to defend the mouth of the Chagres River.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In the southern Philippines two suspected Muslim militant suicide bombers attacked a military base killing three soldiers and two civilians in the Sulu archipelago, home to the Abu Sayyaf militant group. Nine others were wounded. Norman Lasuca (23), was later identified as one of the bombers. The other suicide attacker remained unidentified.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)(AP, 6/28/19)(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A4)(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jun 28, Qatar said the US has deployed F-22 stealth fighters in the country for the first time adding to a buildup of US forces in the Gulf amid tensions with Iran.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, Firefighters in northeastern Spain spent a 3rd day battling a wildfire as temperatures in the area reached 106 degrees F.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 28, In northwestern Syria nearly 100 combatants were killed in clashes between fighters loyal to Syria's government, rebels and jihadists. Bombing by the regime fighting in northern Hama province killed 51 government loyalists and allied militiamen, and 45 among the rebels and jihadists.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Thai activist Sirawith Seritiwat, who opposes the military's role in politics, was assaulted and left unconscious in the second attack on him this month.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Turkey hundreds gathered at Istanbul's main court to support Canan Kaftancioglu, an opposition politician, who faces 17 years in prison for a series of tweets criticizing the government. She played a key role in the victory of the newly elected Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu this week.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, The UN Security Council voted to beef up the mandate of the more than 16,000 peacekeeping mission in Mali to help tackle escalating violence.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 28, A new UN report said more than 7,500 children have been killed or wounded in Yemen in the past 5½ years.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 28, Western diplomatic sources said the United Arab Emirates, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, is scaling back its military presence there as worsening US-Iran tensions threaten security closer to home.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, The Vatican asked China's communist government to stop intimidating Catholic clergy who want to remain unequivocally loyal to the pope and refuse to sign ambiguous official registration forms. The Vatican instructed Catholic clergy in China to profess loyalty to Catholic doctrine when signing a document, required by a new Chinese law, which obliges them to accept the principle of a state-sanctioned Catholic church that doesn't recognize supreme papal authority to appoint bishops.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Yemen airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels hit a house in the southwestern province of Taiz, killing at least seven people from one family.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, US Pres. Donald Trump arrived in Seoul ahead of a trip to the Demilitarized Zone the following day and a possible third meeting with the North's Kim Jong Un.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, US officials said an El Salvadoran man (43) who crossed into the US with his daughter collapsed at a border station in McAllen, Texas, and soon died at a hospital.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, Gary Duncan (b.1946), co-lead guitarist for the Quicksilver Messenger Service band, died ten days after suffering a fall at his home in Woodland, Ca.
(SFC, 7/5/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 29, In northern Afghanistan Taliban militants killed at least 26 members of a pro-government militia in Baghlan province. In the south Taliban insurgents killed eight election officials late today in a bomb attack in Kandahar province. The Taliban also attacked the police security cordon protecting Farah city, Farah province, killing four security officers. The Taliban also attacked army checkpoints in the Bala Buluk district of Farah province killing five and wounding seven others.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, In London four people were murdered in a bloody 28-hour period, including a heavily pregnant woman who was stabbed to death.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, Tons of Canadian garbage left in the Philippines for years arrived back home, putting an end to a festering diplomatic row that highlighted how Asian nations have grown tired of being the world's trash dump. The trash will be incinerated at a waste-to-energy facility.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an order for a prisoner amnesty, to mark the 70th anniversary on October 1 of the founding of the People's Republic of China, though many exceptions will apply. Nine categories of prisoner will be pardoned, including convicts who fought against the Japanese in World War Two.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In southern France hundreds of firefighters battled to contain wildfires as a stifling heatwave brought record-breaking temperatures to parts of Europe, killing at least three people in Italy.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In northern India customs officials in Punjab seized narcotics worth $390 million that were smuggled from neighboring Pakistan, in the country's largest seizure of illegal drugs.
(AP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 29, In western India a 4.5-meter (15-foot) high wall collapsed on a cluster of tin-roofed huts housing migrant workers and their families following heavy rains, killing at least 16 people in Pune, Maharashtra state.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Indonesian police arrested Para Wijayanto, a man believed to be the leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network, who has eluded capture since 2003. Counter-terrorism police also arrested at least four other suspects linked to Wijayanto, a student of Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.
(AP, 7/1/19)(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 29, The Italian government said a still-life painting (Vase of Flowers) by the Dutch master Jan van Huysum, which was looted by retreating Nazi troops in World War Two, will be returned to Florence. It was originally put on display in Florence in 1824 after it was bought by Grande Duke Leopoldo II for his art collection.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Italy Sea-Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete (31) was arrested for docking at Lampedusa without permission, despite threats of jail time, with a shipload of desperate migrants.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin announced new initiatives to further expand economic ties and tourist exchanges between the two nations, but have made no visible progress on a decades-long territorial dispute.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Japan President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping agreed to a cease-fire in their nations' yearlong trade war. Trump told the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at a G20 summit in Japan that building concentration camps to “re-educate" Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province was the right thing to do. This was made public by John Bolton in 2020 as he promoted a new book.
(AP, 6/29/19)(The Independent, 6/18/20)
2019 Jun 29, A brawl between Kazakh workers and their Arab colleagues in one of the country's largest oil fields left 30 people injured. The brawl was reportedly triggered after a Lebanese contractor posted a photo on WhatsApp featuring a Kazakh female colleague that many in the former Soviet nation saw as insulting. The injured engineers and workers included Lebanese, Jordanians and Palestinians.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Libya strongman Khalifa Haftar threatened to attack Turkish interests in Libya after suffering a serious setback in his push to take the capital Tripoli, accusing Ankara of backing his rivals.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Twenty mercenaries, deployed by Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince, bailed out of Libya by boat on an arduous 40-hour journey across the Mediterranean until they reached safety in Malta.
(NY Times, 2/19/21)
2019 Jun 29, Mexican immigration officials returned 81 migrants to Haiti after attending to "technical" considerations.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Mexico tens of thousands of people paraded through the streets of Mexico City to celebrate the capital's growing role as a beacon of tolerance for migrants fleeing persecution for their gender and sexuality.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, In central Mexico unidentified gunmen shot dead Israeli electronic music DJ Ronen Dahan (45), also known as Perplex, during an attack at a dance club in San Luis Potosi. Three other people were wounded and one later died of his injuries in a hospital.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, North Macedonia held its first Gay Pride march, in a test of the Balkan country's record on respecting minority rights as it seeks to join the EU.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Pakistan the bullet riddled body of Aftab Aurangzeb (19) was found late today at a river bank in his home town of Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistani police soon arrested Aurangzeb Akbar for murdering his transgender son.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Qatar a fresh round of talks between the US and the Taliban began in Doha, just days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington is hoping for an Afghan peace agreement before Sept. 1.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Saudi Arabia intercepted two Yemeni rebel drones. The first drone targeted the province of Jizan and the second was aimed at a residential area in Asir province.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Spain was hit by more wildfires as temperatures remained sky-high in the Europe-wide heatwave.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Swiss police in Geneva fired water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades at Cameroonian protesters outside UN headquarters as the crowd surged towards a luxury hotel hosting Cameroon's Pres. Paul Biya.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Venezuela's government deported 59 Colombian citizens who had been "arbitrarily" detained there almost three years ago.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Venezuela Corvette Capt. Rafael Acosta died early today hours after his wife and lawyer said he had appeared in court in a wheelchair with signs of torture. Authorities late today confirmed the death. Opposition leaders and family members said he was tortured in custody after his detention on June 21 over alleged involvement in a coup plot against Pres. Nicolas Maduro.
(AP, 6/30/19)(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, US Pres. Donald Trump met with North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea becoming the first American president to set foot in North Korea. Trump announced that he and Kim had agreed to resume stalled talks on denuclearization in the coming weeks.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, US ambassador to Israel David Friedman and White House adviser Jason Greenblatt were among US officials attending an event organized by the City of David Foundation in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. They helped open what organizers say is an ancient pilgrimage road, now underground in a tunnel, leading to the second Jewish temple some 2,000 years ago. Palestinians and anti-occupation activists saw it as another attempt by Israel to cement its control over mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem.
(AFP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, The United States carried out a strike against al Qaeda in northwest Syria, calling the area a "safe haven" for the group to plot attacks overseas.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, Two people were killed as a result of an incident at Royal Dutch Shell's Auger Tension Leg Platform in the deep-water US Gulf of Mexico. The accident occurred morning during a routine and mandatory test of a lifeboat launch and retrieval capabilities at the platform.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Texas a small plane crashed into a hangar on takeoff at Addison Municipal airport near Dallas. All ten people aboard were killed.
(SFC, 7/1/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 30, Voting in Albanian mayoral elections, that opposition parties are boycotting, began calmly after Western countries warned against violence.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Argentine cartoonist Guillermo Mordillo (86), who inspired much laughter and reflection with his illustrations of round-nosed and plumpish characters, died on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jun 30, A judicial source said a Bahraini appeals court has overturned a decision to strip the citizenship of 92 Shiites jailed for plotting to form an Iran-linked "terror" group.
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Brazil thousands protested in support of Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who is battling claims he conspired with prosecutors on his anti-corruption drive to keep former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from another presidential run.
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, China promised to allow more foreign ownership of gas pipelines, call centers and some other businesses in the latest of a series of market-opening measures.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Police in Congo DRC dispersed hundreds of anti-government marchers in Kinshasa and a protester was shot dead in the eastern city of Goma after President Felix Tshisekedi, the son of opposition icon Etienne Tshisekedi, warned against "confusing democracy with anarchy".
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Hong Kong more than 50,000 people rallied in support of the police as the semi-autonomous territory braced for another day of protests on the anniversary of the former British colony's return to China. One woman (29) fell to her death from a shopping mall leaving a message that she wished for the protesters' success. Three apparent suicides were linked to the current protests.
(AP, 6/30/19)(SSFC, 7/7/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 30, Indian PM Narendra Modi pushed for greater grassroots water conservation efforts amid concerns weak monsoon rains would push millions of drought-hit people to the edge and hammer agricultural production.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Israeli police clashed overnight with residents of a Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem, leaving at least 15 Palestinians and two officers wounded.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Israel demonstrations erupted after Solomon Teka (18), an Ethiopian-Israeli, was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer in a Haifa suburb.
(AP, 7/3/19)
2019 Jun 30, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe praised Saudi Arabia's efforts to reduce its dependence on oil and promised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Japan will help the kingdom with a sweeping reform plan.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Lebanon two aides of government minister Saleh al-Gharib were killed in a shooting in the Aley region.
(Reuters, 7/2/19)
2019 Jun 30, It was reported that hundreds of African migrants were held for months in western Libya in a hangar filled with maggot-covered garbage and sewage in Zintan. They shared a couple of buckets of water between them and barely survived on one meal a day. More than 20 died from disease and hunger.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In central Mali at least 23 people are dead and 300 missing after an attack on a village of Fulani herders, where communal violence has surged in recent month.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, In western Mexico drifts of hail from a freak storm partially buried tractor-trailers and cars in Guadalajara, bringing families out on to the streets to play in ice piled high despite the summer heat.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, Pakistani counterterrorism forces raided a Taliban hideout, triggering a shootout that killed three insurgents in the eastern city of Gujrat.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, It was reported that two recent volcanic eruptions in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have forced 15,000 villagers in the country's northeast to flee their homes.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Sudan tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country calling for civilian rule nearly three months after the army forced out long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir. At least 11 people were killed in clashes with security forces as demonstrators demanded a transition to civilian rule.
(AP, 6/30/19)(AP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, It was reported that some 60,000 people considered "deviant" by the Swiss authorities were locked up over the course of the 20th century. The practice peaked in Switzerland in the 1930s but was still legal as late as 1981.
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Activists in Istanbul said Turkish authorities have banned a pride march for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights for the fifth year.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Uruguay's conservative opposition posted a big win in presidential primaries, firing a warning at the ruling coalition ahead of national elections in October as the South American nation grapples to revive economic growth.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Vietnam and the European Union signed a free trade agreement in Hanoi, opening opportunities to further boost trade between the euro bloc and one of Southeast Asia's biggest manufacturing nations.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun, In Utah investigations began to focus on white supremacist gangs including Soldiers of Aryan Culture, Silent Aryan Warriors and Nobel Elect Thugs, all with roots in the Utah prison system.
(SFC, 10/19/20, p.A4)
2019 Jun, In Japan Ishikawa Yumi submitted a petition to the government with 18,800 signatures calling for a ban on employers requiring women to wear high heel shoes.
(Econ, 4/11/20, p.28)
2019 Jun, In Tanzania Tundu Lissu, who survived an assassination attempt in September 2017 when he was shot 16 times by unknown gunmen, was dismissed from parliament over absenteeism and ethical issues. Lissu was initially treated for his wounds in Kenya but since January 2018 has been recuperating in Belgium.
(Reuters, 9/3/19)
Go to July 2019: http://www.timelines.ws/21stcent/2019_3.HTML
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End of file
Return to home
2019 Apr 1, The US embassy in Hanoi said the United States has delivered six patrol boats worth $12 million to Vietnam's Coast Guard, amid warming ties between the former foes.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, The United States said that it was halting shipment of F-35 parts of Turkey as well as joint manufacturing work due to Ankara's purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 1, In Arkansas a student (14) in Prescott was taken into custody after bringing a concealed gun to school and shooting another student (14). The victim was in stable condition.
(SFC, 4/2/19, p.A3)
2019 Apr 1, Michigan-based Kellogg Co. said it is selling its iconic Keebler cookie brand and other sweet snacks businesses to Italy-based Ferrero for $1.3 billion. Kellogg said it is also selling its Mother's and Famous Amos cookie brands, as well as its fruit-flavored snack, pie crust and ice cream cone businesses.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, In North Dakota four people were found dead at a property management business in Mandan. Chiropractor Chad Isaak (44) was arrested on April 4 on suspicion of killing the owner of the business and three employees. In 2021 Isaak was sentenced to four life terms in prison.
(SFC, 4/2/19, p.A5)(SFC, 4/6/19, p.A6)(SFC, 12/29/21, p.A5)
2019 Apr 1, Dan Robbins (93), the artist who created the first paint-by-numbers pictures, died in Sylvania, Ohio. Robbins worked for the Palmer Paint Co. in Detroit and sales of his Craft Master kits peaked at 20 million in 1955.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.C4)
2019 Apr 1, Facebook said it has deleted 712 accounts and 390 pages in India and Pakistan for "inauthentic behavior," many of them linked to India's opposition Congress party days before a general election, and others related to Pakistan's military.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, The World Wildlife Foundation sounded the alarm over plastics in the Mediterranean Sea after an 8-meter (over 26-foot) sperm whale was found dead off Sardinia with 22 kg (48.5 pounds) of plastic in its belly.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, In northern Afghanistan the Taliban stormed a checkpoint overnight, killing at least five members of the country's security forces, setting off an hours-long gunbattle. Separately, the Taliban overran an army checkpoint in western Badghis province, killing three soldiers. The Taliban targeted a checkpoint in northern Balkh province, killing at least eight members of the security forces. There were also casualties among the Taliban as a three-hour shootout ensued at the checkpoint.
(AP, 4/1/19)(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 1, Algeria's Pres. Abdelaziz Bouteflika said he will step down before his fourth term ends on April 28.
(SFC, 4/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 1, Algerian prosecutors announced fresh graft probes and a ban on corruption suspects leaving the country, as a government shake-up failed to halt calls for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to quit. Private Ennahar TV said Algeria has seized the passports of 12 businessmen over corruption allegations.
(AFP, 4/1/19)(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, A Brazilian state lawmaker asked the public prosecutors' office to open an investigation into the police's use of sharpshooters to kill alleged criminals in Rio de Janeiro.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged New Zealand to provide a "fair, transparent, convenient" investment environment in a meeting in Beijing with the PM Jacinda Ardern, that comes amid a dispute over use of Chinese telecoms equipment.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, China said it would begin regulating all fentanyl-related drugs as a class of controlled substances, in accordance with a December agreement between US Pres. Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping. The sweeping change in the way China regulates drugs that mimic fentanyl takes effect May 1.
(AP, 4/1/19)(Bloomberg, 8/28/19)
2019 Apr 1, French officials said five residents at a retirement home have died and around a dozen others are in a serious condition after a suspected case of mass food poisoning at the privately operated Cheneraie residence in Lherm, a town south of Toulouse.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Israel loosened restrictions on fishermen off the blockaded Gaza Strip by allowing them to travel up to 15 nautical miles into the Mediterranean in one area, the largest distance in years.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Two Israeli researchers said they had discovered a network of hundreds of fake Twitter accounts that promoted PM Benjamin Netanyahu and attacked his political rivals, a week before a national election.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited the Western Wall alongside PM Benjamin Netanyahu, becoming the first head of state to do so with an Israeli premier. Such visits can be seen as granting tacit approval to Israeli sovereignty over the site.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Iranian authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of flood-stricken cities in a western province as rivers burst their banks, dams overflowed and vast areas were cut off from communication.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Japan's government said the era of Japan's next emperor, which begins May 1, will be named "Reiwa," connoting pursuit of harmony, after selecting the phrase from ancient Japanese poetry instead of Chinese classics as PM Shinzo Abe promotes national pride.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, A Malaysian court dropped the murder charge against Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam, the only suspect still in custody for the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. She pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and was expected to be released soon.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Mexico will help to regulate the flow of Central American migrants passing through its territory to the United States, but the root causes behind the phenomenon must be tackled.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Mozambican and international health workers raced to contain the outbreak of cholera in the cyclone-hit city of Beira and surrounding areas, where cases of the disease has jumped to more than 1,000.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, In Nigeria an Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) video, dated April 1 and said to have been filmed in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, was published online by the IS propaganda arm Amaq. It claimed to have executed five Nigerian soldiers but security sources the next day said three of those killed were civilian militia members.
(AFP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 1, Pakistan scrapped terrorism trials before special military courts after the tribunals' mandate expired today, ending a measure that had been in place for over four years to help authorities curb militant attacks.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Philippine officials said they have protested the presence of more than 200 Chinese vessels that were sighted from January to March near the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, called Pag-asa by Filipinos, in the Spratlys, in the disputed South China Sea.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, The Pacific Daily News reported that More than 350 Philippine workers have been approved by the government of Guam to work at projects on the island.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 1, Philippine customs officials opened nicely gift-wrapped boxes of cookies and oatmeal flown in all the way from Poland and found 757 of live tarantulas at a mail exchange center near Manila's international airport. A Filipino man was later arrested when he tried to claim the venomous spiders.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 1, Russian state-owned industrial conglomerate Rostec said it has opened a training center in Venezuela to help the country's pilots fly Russian-made military helicopters.
(Reuters, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 1, Fitch Ratings said Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, posted $224 billion in earnings before tax last year, as the secretive giant opens its accounts for the first time.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Sri Lanka authorities publicly destroyed 770 kg (1,700 pounds) of cocaine in a bid to deter smugglers from using the Indian Ocean island nation as a transit point for drug distribution in the region.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir acknowledged the "legitimate" demands of anti-government protesters, while blaming several deaths on the actions of political groups.
(AFP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey is giving Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro its continued support and intends to deepen cooperation with Venezuela "in all fields" despite US pressure.
(AP, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 1, Venezuelans prepared to hold protests over continued shortages of power and water following angry demonstrations as the government of President Nicolas Maduro appeared prepared to begin a rationing program.
(Reuters, 4/1/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Hawaii Master Halbert (44), a Micronesia government official, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Honolulu to conspiring to launder bribe money he accepted from the president of Lyon Associates Inc., a Hawaii civil engineering company.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Chicago Lori Lightfoot (56), a former federal prosecutor, was elected mayor, becoming the city's first black woman and openly gay person to lead the city.
(SFC, 4/3/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 2, The Supreme Court in Comoros confirmed Azali Assoumani as the winner of the disputed presidential election held last week in the volatile Indian Ocean archipelago.
(AFP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Czech police extradited to Austria two suspects who allegedly formed a terror cell with a man detained by Austrian authorities over unsuccessful attacks on trains in Germany.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, Congo DRC's army captured Masudi Alimasi Kokodiko, leader of the widely feared Raia Mutomboki militia, in South Kivu's Shabunda territory. He has been accused of orchestrating mass rapes and other atrocities.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 2, The World Health Organization said Ebola is on the rise in eastern Congo following a series of attacks on health facilities. A total of 73 new cases were reported last week, compared to 57 the week before.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Egypt sentenced more than 70 suspected members of the Muslim Brotherhood group to prison on terror-related charges. Nearly half of the defendants were tried in absentia.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, An Egyptian policeman found guilty of killing a Christian man and his son in a case that outraged the minority Coptic community was sentenced to death. Rabee Khalifa, posted as an armed police guard outside a church, killed construction workers Imad Kamal Sadeq (49) and his son David (21) after an argument last December.
(Reuters, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Egypt Ahmed Abdallah, the governor of Hurghada province, said a ban on disposable plastics, prohibiting everything from single use straws to plastic bags in an effort to fight pollution and protect the environment, will go into effect in June.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, The leaders of Greece and North Macedonia hugged, took selfies and signed a new agreement for air patrols in a display of newly-friendly relations since a nearly three-decade name dispute was settled earlier this year.
(Reuters, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, An Iraqi official said several million Muslims have travelled to the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim in Baghdad in recent days to commemorate the revered Shiite figure's death in 799.
(AFP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Israeli authorities arrested Hassan Yousef, a co-founder of Hamas, at his home in the occupied West Bank. On April 8 he was handed down a six-month detention order without trial.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Israel Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said "there is no doubt" that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Kashmir Pakistan and India traded fire in the disputed Himalayan region, leaving seven people dead.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Mozambique officials said cholera cases have risen above 1,400 as hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses arrived in an attempt to limit the rapid spread of the disease.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, New Zealand lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of new gun restrictions during the first stage of a bill they hope to rush into law by the end of next week.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, In North Macedonia a small private plane with four members of a Bulgarian family on board crashed into a mountain in a central region of the country. There were no survivors.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela visited Hong Kong amid ambitious plans and proposals for Chinese-built bridges and rail lines in pan in Panama.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, The Philippine Supreme Court ordered the release of police documents on thousands of killings of suspects in the president's anti-drug crackdown, in a ruling that human rights groups say could shed light on allegations of extrajudicial killings.
(AP, 4/2/19)(SFC, 4/3/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 2, Senegalese President Macky Sall said he would prioritize the environment, youth employment and women's rights during his second term in office.
(Reuters, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, In eastern Syria US-backed Syrian fighters battled the Islamic State group 10 days after declaring victory over the extremists. The SDF were rooting out groups of militants who were hiding in caves in and near the village of Baghouz. Four Islamic State militants clashed with the US-backed SDF and local security forces before blowing themselves late today in Raqqa.
(AP, 4/2/19)(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, The air hanging over Thailand's far north has become so polluted, PM Prayuth Chan-ocha went to see in person what is being called a severe health crisis.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party appealed the results of local elections in Istanbul where preliminary results give the opposition a razor-thin victory, sounding confident that a recount will alter the outcome of the vote.
(AP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 2, In Uganda a US woman (35) and a local driver were abducted by four gunmen in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The kidnappers demanded a $500,000 ransom.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 2, The UN said more than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced "acute hunger" last year because of wars and climate disasters, with Africa the worst-hit region.
(AFP, 4/2/19)
2019 Apr 3, Former US VP Joe Biden acknowledged that his tendency toward physical displays of affection and encouragement has some women uncomfortable and promised to be "much more mindful" of respecting personal space.
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 3, In Arizona Summerbell Brown (10) was shot and killed in her family's driveway following a road rage incident in Phoenix. Suspect Joshua Gonzalez (20) was soon arrested.
(SSFC, 4/7/19, p.A10)
2019 Apr 3, Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, asked the IRS to provide six years of Pres. Trump's personal tax returns by April 10.
(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 3, South Carolina police arrested Brook Graham (53) after DNA evidence submitted to family genealogy sites led them to find and arrest her for the death of a baby abandoned 29 years ago. She was charged with homicide by neglect.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 3, US immigration authorities arrested 280 workers at CVE Technology Group in Allen, Texas. They said the employees were working in the US illegally.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 3, In Albania a few thousand protesters, apparently fewer than a week ago, gathered in front of the parliament building shouting "Rama go!" while their leaders and others made short speeches.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Algeria's Constitutional Council said it had accepted Bouteflika's resignation and informed parliament that his post was officially vacant. The speaker of the upper house of parliament, currently Abdelkader Bensalah (77), acts as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organized.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian Sen. Fraser Anning was censured by his colleagues for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Australian scientists said the world's southernmost coral reef has been hit by bleaching this summer, as they warned rising sea temperatures from climate change were affecting even the most isolated ecosystems.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Brunei new Islamic criminal laws that took effect, punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death. They have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation's shores.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, China's government said Nur Bekri, the former governor of the restive Xinjiang region, has been formally arrested on accusations of taking bribes following a months long investigation. Bekri most recently headed the National Energy Administration planning agency.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Dubai's Emirates NBD bank revised its acquisition price of Turkey's Denizbank following a slide in the Turkish lira, saying it has now agreed to pay 15.48 billion lira ($2.8 billion).
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The EU launched legal action against Poland that alleges recent justice laws undermine the independence of the country's judges and comes amid concern the rule of law is being increasingly abused around the bloc.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, French carmaker Renault said it had flagged to judicial authorities serious problems with the expenses of Carlos Ghosn after during his time as chairman of the company.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, India's PM Narendra Modi staged a massive rally in Kolkata, stepping up the battle with a local rival who could frustrate his party's return to power.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Iranian media reported that the number of dead from recent flooding has risen to 62, up from 57 the day before.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Rome's Mayor Virginia Raggi pledged an investigation into possible inciting racial hatred against the organizers of a violent protest that rejected housing Roma families in a neighborhood government-run center a day earlier. Raggi blamed both Casa Pound and Forza Nuova for creating a hostile climate in the Torre Maura neighborhood, a low-income area on the eastern edge of the capital. City authorities moved several Roma families out of a public housing project in a Rome suburb after violent protests by neo-fascist groups threatened their safety.
(AP, 4/3/19)(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Italian news agency ANSA reported that another infant boy died overnight near Genoa as the result of a circumcision performed at home.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Kazakhstan's interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made his first foreign visit since being appointed two weeks ago, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Libyan National Army (LNA) media office said forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar have been ordered to move to western Libya to fight militants.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Malaysia's government said that the luxury yacht "Equanimity," allegedly bought with money stolen from a troubled state investment fund, will be sold to casino operator Genting Berhad for $126 million, half its original price. US investigators say the $250 million yacht was bought with funds diverted from the 1MDB fund by fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Mozambique a vaccination campaign was launched in the central city of Beira after a cyclone slammed into the region and unleashed an outbreak of cholera. The disease has already killed two people and infected more than 1,400.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, In Myanmar six Rohingya Muslims were killed and nine wounded in an aerial attack in the western state of Rakhine. Myanmar's military later said they were affiliated with an armed rebel group. A local laborer said they were bamboo workers.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 3, A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli in the occupied West Bank before being shot dead by a local civilian.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Twelve Western nations urged Romania to scrap two planned emergency decrees altering judicial legislation, in a rare joint intervention that underlined US and EU alarm over the threat to the rule of law in the former communist nation.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Singapore officials found a record 14.2 tons of pangolin scales hidden among packets of frozen beef. Five days later, they found 14 more tons in 474 bags in another container. The scales were linked to four species of pangolins native to Africa.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 3, A South Korean coast guard official said the 5,160-ton P-PIONEER has been prevented from leaving Busan port since October over allegations that it was used to supply diesel to North Korea through two ship-to-ship transfers in September 2017 in international waters in the East China Sea.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Thailand's ruling military junta filed a complaint accusing Thanathorn Juangroongruangki, the leader of the new Future Forward political party, of sedition and aiding criminals. He described the move as politically motivated.
(AP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey will not turn back from a major arms deal with Russia despite the US suspension of Ankara from the F-35 fighter-jet program.
(AFP, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 3, The Ukrainian PM Volodymyr Groysman said the government has banned state-run gas producer Naftogaz from raising consumer gas prices. The ban was announced as President Petro Poroshenko, a Groysman ally, tries to boost his chances ahead of the second and final round of a presidential election on April 21.
(Reuters, 4/3/19)
2019 Apr 4, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on NATO allies to adapt to confront a wide variety of emerging threats, including Russia's increased aggression, Chinese strategic competition and uncontrolled migration as NATO foreign ministers marked the 70th anniversary of the transatlantic military alliance.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, US lawmakers voted to end military support for a Saudi-led war in Yemen.
(AFP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 4, The US Supreme Court blocked the execution of man who argued that his religious freedom would be violated if his Buddhist spiritual adviser couldn't accompany him. Texas then banned all clergy from the death chamber.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 4, In Florida a man (72) was killed when the rotor of a helicopter making an emergency landing on a busy highway struck a pickup truck.
(SFC, 4/6/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 4, Chicago said it will sue actor Jussie Smollett over his refusal to pay more than $130,000 to reimburse the city's investigative costs for what officials said was a phony racist and anti-gay attack staged by Smollett.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 4, In Utah the Church of the Latter Day Saints repealed rules unveiled in 2015 that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and made gay marriage a sin worthy of expulsion.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 4, Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) said security forces have arrested six alleged members of the Islamic State militant group in Kabul and accused them of using hundreds of fake accounts on Facebook Inc and other social media to find recruits. The NDS also said 10 suspects have been arrested in Nangarhar over involvement in assassinations and transporting weapons, ammunition and explosives.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, In Afghanistan the Taliban launched a brazen attack under the cover of darkness early today on a government compound in western Badghis province, killing at least 20 soldiers and policemen.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Argentine unions, small firms and activists took to the streets in central Buenos Aires to protest austerity measures under President Mauricio Macri, which they blame for amplifying hardships for workers and sapping economic growth.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Australia's Parliament passed legislation that could imprison social media executives if their platforms stream real violence such as the New Zealand mosque shootings.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Six Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo) signed an EU-backed agreement in Belgrade to abolish roaming charges by 2021 as part of efforts to boost cooperation in the region.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Belgium's PM Charles Michel apologized for the kidnapping, segregation, deportation and forced adoption of thousands of children born to mixed-race couples during Belgium's colonial rule of Burundi, Congo and Rwanda.
(SFC, 4/5/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 4, Belarus police arrested 15 demonstrators who were trying to prevent the removal of wooden crosses from the Kurapaty woods near the capital of Minsk where tens of thousands of people were executed under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, In Brazil police in Sao Paulo state shot and killed 10 assailants who were preparing to simultaneously blow up automated bank teller machines at two branches early today. The criminal group had arrived in five armored cars and were armed with high-caliber rifles and body armor.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Henn Polluaas of the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE), known for its anti-immigration and euroskeptic stance, was elected speaker of parliament in the 101-seat Riigikogu assembly.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The European parliament approved a text permitting Britons visa-free visits to the EU even in the event of a "no deal" Brexit. Spain claimed victory in an argument with Britain over the status of Gibraltar, after the European Parliament passed a law that referred to the peninsula as a "colony of the British Crown".
(AP, 4/4/19)(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The EU condemned a decision to strip Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido of immunity from prosecution, calling it a "serious violation" of the constitution that undermined the chances of a peaceful solution to the country's crisis.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, India's central bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 6%, moving to prop up economic growth ahead of a national election next week.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, In central India Maoist rebels ambushed and killed four Indian paramilitary soldiers and wounded another two in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh state.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Tokyo prosecutors arrested Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn for a fourth time, on fresh allegations that cut short his brief time outside detention.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar maneuvered for a threatened advance towards Tripoli as UN chief Antonio Guterres warned of the growing risk of violence.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The Philippine government protested the presence of large numbers of Chinese vessels near islands and islets occupied by the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea as illegal and vowed to take "appropriate action".
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Portugal's secretary of state for the environment resigned after it emerged that he had appointed a cousin as his assistant, deepening a controversy over family connections in senior government posts.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Romania's PM Viorica Dancila rejected calls by ambassadors from 12 countries, including the United States and Germany, to refrain from amending laws on fighting crime and corruption by decree.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The Russian Progress freighter blasted off from a launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and docked with the International Space Station after two orbits. It set a record time for a trip to the ISS, docking in three hours and 21 minutes.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Saudi Arabia reopened a consulate in Baghdad for the first time in nearly 30 years, a sign of improving ties between the two neighbors whose relations have been uneasy for years.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member Egypt said they will boycott an Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) annual meeting in Doha April from 6-10 because Qatar "has not responded to the just demands of the four countries and has continued its supportive policy for extremism, terrorism and interference in the affairs of the countries of the region".
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 4, Saudi Arabia arrested at least eight writers and bloggers, including two US citizens, in an apparent crackdown on supporters of detained women activists whose trial has drawn global censure.
(AFP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 4, A Madrid court released a 70-year-old man who admitted to helping his 61-year-old wife end her life, a case that has reignited a debate about assisted suicide in Spain, where it remains illegal.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 4, Sri Lanka received the first intelligence brief from India, more than two weeks before Easter Sunday bombings. It said a suicide terrorist attack was planned against "some important churches," and listed six people likely to be involved. State minister of defense, Ruwan Wijewardene, later said "weakness" within Sri Lanka's security apparatus led to the failure to prevent the Easter bombings.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 4, In Geneva Vilma Nunez, a leading Nicaraguan human rights defender, said that it was impossible to negotiate with President Daniel Ortega, after a deadline passed in talks to resolve the country's deadly political crisis.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Rescue workers said Syrian government shelling killed at least a dozen people in the rebel-held northwest. Damascus said its patience was running out over the implementation of a Russian-Turkish agreement in the area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that government shelling had killed 17 civilians in the past 24 hours in different locations of the northwest, with half of the dead under the age of 18.
(Reuters, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko agreed to go head-to-head with comedian Volodymyr Zelensky in a debate at the country's biggest stadium in the race for the presidency.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, A UN official said Mali is in dire need of humanitarian aid, with more than three million people requiring food and basic assistance even as billions of dollars go to security missions.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The Vatican upheld its conviction of Guam's ousted Archbishop Anthony Apuron for sexually abusing minors and added a further penalty on appeal that effectively prevents him from presenting himself as a bishop.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, Pope Francis named Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory (71) as the new archbishop of Washington DC, choosing a moderate, and the first African-American, to lead the archdiocese.
(AP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 4, The World Health Organization said global life expectancy grew by 5.5 years between 2000 and 2016.
(AFP, 4/4/19)
2019 Apr 5, US Vice President Mike Pence stepped up efforts to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from office by imposing new sanctions on its oil shipments, and promising "stronger action" against Cuba for helping to keep the regime afloat.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, In southern California Lenrey Briones (19) was charged with slashing nine people in the face with a knife in a series of random attacks around South Los Angeles, Lynwood and South Gate from March 20 to April 1.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3as74k9)(SSFC, 4/7/19, p.A10)
2019 Apr 5, Roy Browning Jr. (67), the husband of an Iowa health care administrator, stabbed his wife to death, hours before she was set to learn about financial problems he had tried to hide from her. Browning called 911 to report that he found his wife unresponsive on her bedroom floor at their Iowa City home. He was arrested on Oct. 28 on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of JoEllen Browning, his wife of 42 years.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Apr 5, In western Afghanistan the Taliban besieged a government and army compound in remote Badghis province for a second day, killing at least 12 more troops. Roughly 2,000 Taliban fighters were involved in the attack, with about 600 Afghan troops and members of the security forces inside.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, An international climate conference in Albania was disrupted over tensions between Kosovo and Serbia. The conference proceeded, but only with technical experts.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Algeria a vast crowd of protestors flooded the streets of Algiers, the first mass demonstrations since the resignation of ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and a show of strength by those pushing demands for reform. Private Ennahar TV reported that Algeria's spy chief has been fired.
(AFP, 4/5/19) (Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Armenia Lilit Martirosian, a transgender woman, told members of parliament's human rights committee that the group she founded, Right Side, had recorded 283 cases of transgender rights violations. The next day, hundreds of people protested outside the parliament building, demanding fumigation of the podium at which Martirosian spoke. Death threats soon followed.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 5, PM Theresa May asked the EU to delay Britain's departure until June 30 while Brussels suggested that it might be best to postpone the split for up to a year.
(AFP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Britain Arif Naqvi, the chief executive of the collapsed Dubai private equity firm Abraaj Capital Ltd, was arrested on US charges for defrauding investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Managing partner Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was arrested at a New York hotel on April 11.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 5, Jason Kakaire (29) was charged with five counts of attempted murder following a series of stabbings in north London which have heightened public concern about rising knife crime in Britain.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Cuba newsprint shortages forced the Communist daily to run a trimmed-down edition. Amid shortages, the government is being forced to ration basics like flour, cooking oil and chicken, leading to long lines outside stores.
(AFP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 5, European Union authorities said that German automakers BMW, Daimler and VW colluded to limit the development of emissions-cleaning technology in cars.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, President Emmanuel Macron appointed nine researchers to carry out a two-year investigation into the role of the French army in the Rwandan genocide that is still a source of tension between Paris and Kigali 25 years later.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In France G7 foreign ministers ended a 2-day meeting. They adopted joint commitments to better handle the world's top security challenges. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stayed at home citing domestic duties and Washington sent lower-ranking officials instead.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, France said it will airlift 12 tons of humanitarian aid, including 114 pumps, to flood-hit regions in Iran.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Greek authorities said they have arrested and charged a Bulgarian man over the suspected contract killing of John Macris (46), a Greek-Australian, who was fatally shot outside his home in an Athens seaside suburb last year. The suspect's brother was also wanted on suspicion of having helped plan the murder.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Greek police fired tear gas to disperse migrants who had gathered in a field near the country's border with Northern Macedonia in the hope of making their way illegally up through the Balkans toward northern Europe. Migrants in Athens also blocked the city's main train station in demonstrations that authorities said had been triggered by false reports on social media that restrictions on travel to northern Europe had been lifted.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Honduras thousands of people marched through the streets of the Tegucigalpa demanding the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and an investigation of him and his family.
(AFP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, A Japanese court approved the detention of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn through April 14 after his latest arrest over financial misconduct allegations, a move that has raised questions among legal experts.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Japan's space agency said an explosive dropped from its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time to form a crater and pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, A Libyan commander said forces allied to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli have taken 145 troops prisoner from the Eastern forces and that 60 vehicles had been confiscated..
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In southeastern Mexico electric power returned to three states on the Yucatan peninsula late today, including tourist hot spots Cancun and Tulum, after a partial blackout left 1.6 million customers without energy.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, In Morocco dozens of activists linked to the Hirak protest movement that rocked northern Morocco in 2016 and 2017 had prison sentences of up to 20 years upheld by a court of appeal.
(AFP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said officials will release 360 Indian prisoners detained for fishing illegally in the country's territorial waters in the Arabian sea. The anglers will be freed in four batches starting April 15.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Russia won a dispute about "national security" at the World Trade Organization, in a ruling over a Ukrainian transit dispute because it had invoked national security. The WTO ruling, the first ever on national security, can be appealed.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, A small Russian bank owned by former US congressman Charles Taylor was stripped of its license after allegedly breaking anti-money laundering rules. Taylor, a Republican widely considered a hard-line conservative, was a congressman from North Carolina between 1991 and 2007. Taylor bought CBI in 2003 alongside his business partner Boris Bolshakov, a former KGB agent and Supreme Soviet deputy who is listed as the bank's second-largest shareholder.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Jean-Michel Cousteau of the Ocean Futures Society arrived in Russia's Far East on a mission to inspect 97 belugas and orcas and help create conditions for them to be released. Environmentalists said four animals likely died because of cramped conditions and low temperatures.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, A Serbian court sentenced four former state security members to up to 30 years in prison for the April 11, 1999, killing of Slavko Curuvija, a prominent journalist, who was a critic of then-leader Slobodan Milosevic.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, South Korean firefighters managed to extinguish most of a massive forest fire that ripped through the mountainous northern coast, destroying 135 homes and forcing more than 4,000 to flee the region that hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics. Two deaths were reported.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Marek Falenta, a fugitive businessman convicted in an eavesdropping case that led to the fall of the Polish government, was captured in Spain. He was convicted of organizing the secret recordings of top Polish politicians in 2013 and 2014, creating a scandal that contributed to the defeat in 2015 of a pro-EU government and the election of a populist right-wing party.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 5, Physicians for Human Rights said Sudan's security forces have killed at least 60 people in more than three months of street protests.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Thailand election officials said that 66 winning candidates in last month's elections face possible disqualification because of complaints filed against them.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, In southern Thailand two Border Patrol Police officers were killed while praying in a mosque in the latest violence believed linked to a Muslim separatist insurgency.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Turkey's official news agency said prosecutors have launched a terror propaganda investigation into Adnan Selcuk Mizrakl, the newly-elected mayor of Turkey's predominantly Kurdish Diyarbakir province.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, Turkey began the relocation of Ataturk International Airport to Istanbul Airport on the Black Sea shores. The move is expected to end tomorrow.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 5, It was reported that cholera is surging once more in Yemen, with more than 76,000 suspected new cases and 195 deaths in March, double the number in the previous two months.
(AP, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 6, In southern California CHP Officer Steve Licon was killed by a driver as he was issuing a ticket for speeding. Michael Callahan (36) was arrested on suspicion of murder and drunken driving.
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 6, In Illinois a fire killed a 1-year-old, two 2-year-olds, a man (34) and a woman (69) at the Timberline Mobile Home Park near the village of Goodfield, about 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Chicago. A child (9) was later charged with five counts of first-degree murder.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Apr 6, Ernest Hollings (b.1922), former South Carolina Democrat, died at his home in Isle of Palms. Hollings served 38 years in the US Senate and authored two books: "The Case Against Hunger: A Demand for a national Policy" (1970) and "Making Government Work" (2008 with Kirk Victor).
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.C4)
2019 Apr 6, In Afghanistan insurgents killed seven policemen and three civilians in attacks across the country.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Bangladesh Jahan Rafi (18) told her family she was lured to the roof of her rural school in the town of Feni and asked to withdraw sexual harassment charges against her Islamic school's principal by five people clad in burqas. When she refused, she said her hands were tied and she was doused in kerosene and set alight. Rafi told the story to her brother in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and he recorded her testimony on his mobile phone before she died.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 6, Bosnia's capital city made Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson an honorary citizen for a concert he performed while Sarajevo was under siege during the 1992-95 war. This came on Sarajevo Day, which marks the city's 1945 liberation during World War II and the start in 1992 of the Bosnian Serb siege that killed more than 11,000 people, including 1,600 children.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Brazil a ferry collided with a bridge pillar in Belem, Para state. Witnesses saw two cars fall into the Moju river. The accident caused the span's central roadway to plunge into the river, cutting access to one of the country's busiest ports.
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 6, In London hundreds of people rallied outside the Brunei-owned Dorchester hotel in protest at new Islamic sharia laws in the country that punish homosexuality, adultery and rape with the death penalty.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, China's Inner Mongolia region reported a case of human infection with the H7N9 bird flu virus. The same bird flu strain killed almost 300 people in the country during the winter of 2016/2017.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Congolese began engaging Burundian rebels in clashes with two armed groups in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo. Over the next 3 days 36 rebels were reportedly killed as well as three soldiers.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Denmark a 20-year-old man died and at least four people were injured in an outbreak of gunfire north of Copenhagen in what appeared to be a clash late today between criminal gangs. 14 people were arrested after raids in several areas.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 6, Estonian PM Juri Ratas unveiled a detailed plan for a three-party coalition, including the far-right EKRE-party, which could see him hold power despite his party having come second in an inconclusive election.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 5, In France G7 foreign ministers adopted joint commitments to better handle the world's top security challenges. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stayed at home citing domestic duties and Washington sent lower-ranking officials instead.
(Reuters, 4/5/19)
2019 Apr 6, Thousands of Berlin residents took to the streets to vent anger over surging rents and demanded the expropriation of more than 200,000 apartments sold off to big private landlords, which they blame for changing the character of the city.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In northern Greece hundreds of protesting migrants clashed with police for a third straight day, with migrants throwing rocks at officers who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Iranian state TV reported that authorities have ordered the evacuation of six more towns in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, which is widely inundated with floods. Authorities have put the number of dead at 70 people.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Iranian state media reported that three staff in the country's defense industries have been killed in an explosion in a submarine under construction in the country's south.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he would start to extend Israeli control over the West Bank if give a fourth consecutive term.
(SSFC, 4/7/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 6, Forces loyal to rival Libyan army commander Khalifa Hifter said they have seized control of the main airport in Tripoli. The airport has not been functional since fighting in 2014 destroyed much of the facility. G7 foreign ministers meeting in France warned eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar to halt his thrust on Tripoli, menacing the internationally recognized government based there, or face possible international action.
(AP, 4/6/19)(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Malaysia and Singapore reached an agreement to end their months-long airspace dispute. Under the deal, Singapore will halt instrument landing system procedures at its Seletar Airport, while Malaysia will open up a restricted area near the countries' border.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, People in the Maldives voted in a crucial parliamentary election that many hope will help President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih overcome a coalition split that has hampered his efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Malta Ivorian Lassana Cisse was killed in a fatal drive-by shooting that injured two other men from Guinea and Gambia. On May 19 Maltese soldiers Lorin Scicluna and Francesco Fenech were charged with murder and attempted murder.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 Apr 6, Philippine officials said an Indonesian hostage held by Muslim militants in southern Sulu province swam his way to freedom but another drowned, and a Malaysian was shot in the back while escaping over the last two days. At least three more hostages were still in the custody of the Abu Sayyaf.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, A coalition of Polish opposition parties launched its campaign for May's European elections by warning that the governing eurosceptic PiS party could drive the country out of the European Union.
(AFP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Spanish police said they have arrested a fugitive they described as a millionaire and the most-wanted man in Poland. Polish authorities issued a European arrest warrant for the man on April 1. He had been convicted of making illegal audio recordings in a Warsaw restaurant during 2013-14, with the aim of using the recordings for monetary gain.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to try to disperse thousands of demonstrators converged on President Omar al-Bashir's residence in Khartoum, in what appeared the largest protest for his ouster yet.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Thailand Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of a popular new political party that ran a strong third in last month's general election, was formally charged with sedition and expressed concern that he is to be tried in a military court. 13 foreign diplomats were present at a Bangkok police station where Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of a popular new political party, acknowledged charges of sedition and other crimes. Thanathorn says the charges are politically motivated.
(AP, 4/6/19)(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 6, Tunisia's Pres. Beji Caid Essebsi (92) said he did not plan to stand for re-election in the November polls, in order to make way for someone younger.
(AFP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Turkey the last commercial passenger flight took off from Istanbul's Ataturk airport and convoys of trucks ferried thousands of tons of equipment across the city to a giant new airport which Turkey plans to make the biggest in the world.
(Reuters, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, Pope Francis formally named Monsignor Michael Byrnes as Guam's archbishop following the definitive sex abuse verdict against his predecessor.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 6, In Venezuela rival political factions took to the streets across the country in a mounting struggle for control of the crisis-wracked nation.
(AP, 4/6/19)
2019 Apr 7, US Pres. Donald Trump announced in a tweet that US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan would be taking over as acting head of the department. This followed the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen amid President Donald Trump's growing frustration and bitterness over the number of Central American families crossing the southern border.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 7, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was named the recipient of the 2019 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.
(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 7, In Arizona three people were killed and three firefighters seriously injured when a pickup truck collided with a fire engine at an intersection in Phoenix.
(SFC, 4/9/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 7, In Australia Dutchman Wiebe Wakker completed an epic 95,000 km (59,000 mile) journey by electric car in Sydney in a bid to prove the viability of such vehicles in tackling climate change.
(AFP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Brazil thousands of supporters, many chanting "Free Lula!," protested outside the jail where former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is being held on the anniversary of his incarceration.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Britain's Jewish Labour Movement, which is affiliated to the main opposition Labour Party, passed a motion of no confidence in party leader Jeremy Corbyn over his handling of anti-Semitism complaints.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Cuba more than 400 animal-lovers peacefully marched more than a mile through Havana, shouting slogans and waving signs calling for an end to animal cruelty in their country.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Egypt a police officer and his driver were killed when unknown gunmen opened fire on a patrol in Cairo.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, A majority of Iranian parliamentarians said Iran will take reciprocal action against the United States if Washington designates the elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as terrorists.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Authorities in India's portion of disputed Kashmir began enforcing a ban on the movement of civilian vehicles on a key highway to keep it open exclusively for military and paramilitary convoys two days a week.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Eastern Libyan forces carried out an air strike on the southern part of Tripoli, escalating an operation to take the capital despite calls for a truce from the UN. At least 35 people, including civilians, have been killed on both sides over the last 4 days.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's party declared a sweeping parliamentary election victory that could give him a free hand in efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, UN and government officials said at least 847 people have been killed by Cyclone Idai, the flooding it caused and heavy rains after it hit Mozambique (602), Zimbabwe (259) and Malawi (60).
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, A presidential aide and the police chief said Nigeria has suspended mining in the restive northwestern state of Zamfara, amid concerns that illegal miners were connected to a surge in banditry.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, In northern Nigeria 14 people were killed in Katsina state in clashes between cattle thieves and a civilian militia armed by the government to support the security forces.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 7, In Pakistan a vehicle tumbled off a mountainous road into a river, killing seven people.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Dozens of neglected animals were evacuated from a ramshackle Gaza zoo in the fourth and largest such rescue mission in the blockaded Palestinian enclave. Vets and volunteers from Four Paws International transported some 40 animals into Israel from the neglected zoo in the southern town of Rafah.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, The lawyer for Vladimir Barsukov, an imprisoned Russian organized crime figure, says the man has been charged in the 1998 assassination of reformist lawmaker Galina Starovoitova. Barsukov has been behind bars since 2007 and is serving sentences for murder, extortion, fraud and money laundering.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Rwandan President Paul Kagame began a week of solemn ceremonies to commemorate the lives of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus murdered during the Rwandan genocide, a three-month-killing spree that began 25 years ago.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Saudi media reported that four attackers targeted a security checkpoint with guns and explosives in eastern Saudi Arabia as they tried to flee the country, leading to the death of two and the arrest of two others.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Sudanese police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters who rallied outside the army headquarters for a second day urging the military to back them in demanding President Omar al-Bashir resign. Security forces killed at least five protesters over the weekend.
(AFP, 4/7/19)(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Sudan suffered a total power blackout.
(Reuters, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 7, Syrian government forces and insurgents exchanged a barrage of rockets in the country's northwest that killed at least 8 people in Idlib province and another 5 after a government-run hospital was hit in Hama province.
(AP, 4/7/19)(SFC, 4/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 7, Ugandan authorities said that Kimberley Sue Endecott (35) and her driver, Jean Paul, had been rescued unharmed after being seized by gunmen in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Undisclosed sources later said that a ransom of $30,000 had been paid.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 7, Yemeni medical officials said a big explosion at a warehouse in Sanaa killed at least seven children in nearby schools.
(AP, 4/7/19)
2019 Apr 8, President Donald Trump announced that the US is designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a "foreign terrorist organization," in an effort to increase pressure on the country that could have significant diplomatic implications in the Middle East.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, A US federal judge in San Francisco said he would halt the administration's practice of sending migrants back to Mexico while their cases were being considered.
(SFC, 4/9/19, p.A1)
2019 Apr 8, Cho Yang-ho (70), Korean Air's chairman, died of an illness in Los Angeles. His leadership included scandals such as his daughter's infamous incident of "nut rage". He had been indicted on multiple charges, including embezzlement and tax evasion.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Earth's glaciers are melting much faster than scientists thought. A new study shows they are losing 369 billion tons of snow and ice each year, more than half of that in North America.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Afghanistan a roadside bombing of an American convoy near the Bagram Airfield killed three US soldiers.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Afghanistan at least six coal miners were killed when an explosion in a coal mine caused two separate tunnels to collapse in northern Samangan province.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 8, Algeria's army chief said he expects to see members of the ruling elite prosecuted for corruption and will support a transition toward elections after mass protests ousted the long-serving president.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 8, Australian police arrested 38 animal rights activists after they blocked peak hour traffic in Melbourne in protests to mark the first anniversary of a film, Dominion, about factory farming.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, London introduced one of the world's toughest vehicle emissions standards, placing a tax on older, more polluting cars that drive into the center of the British capital.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Bulgarian border police seized nearly 1,500 kg of cannabis discovered hidden inside a truck at a checkpoint on the Serbian border.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, French PM Edouard Philippe argued that the government must implement bold tax cuts in response to the "yellow vest" protests, as he revealed the results of a major public consultation on the crisis.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, A Greek marine conservation group said the Aegean Sea has seen a "very unusual" spike in dolphin deaths over the past few weeks, adding that the rise could be linked to massive Turkish naval exercises in the area.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Iran's state-run TV said that Washington's decision to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization contradicted international law and was illegal.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, An Israeli court sentenced French citizen Romain Franck to seven years' imprisonment under a plea bargain in which he confessed to using a diplomatic car to help Palestinian gun smugglers.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Italy Euroskeptic populist parties formed a new and expanded right-wing alliance that aims to become the strongest faction in the European Parliament and seeks to radically transform European Union policies on migration, security, family and environment. Italy's hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-migrant League party was joined by representatives of populist parties from Germany, Finland and Denmark.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Japan Nissan's shareholders ousted the automaker's former chairman Carlos Ghosn from its board, seeking to shut the door on an era capped by scandal.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Jordan's parliament amended marriage laws to allow judges in "exceptional" cases to permit minors to wed from the age of 16, up from a previous minimum of 15.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Kosovo's Pres. Hashim Thaci ordered four Serb-dominated communities to hold new municipal elections on May 19. Four mayors from the Serb-dominated northern municipalities in Kosovo resigned in November to protest the Kosovo government's 100% tariff on goods imported from Serbia.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Laos police detained three American volunteers for Vision Beyond Borders, a US-based Christian evangelical organization. The three carried Gospel tracts and MP3 players with Scripture and other Christian material to share with villagers in the northwestern province of Luang Namtha. They were freed and deported into Thailand April 18.
(AP, 4/13/19)(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Libya a warplane attacked Tripoli's only functioning airport as eastern forces advancing on the capital disregarded international appeals for a truce in the latest of a cycle of warfare since Muammar Gaddafi's fall in 2011. At least 41 people, including civilians, had been killed since April 4. This included two doctors who died treating civilians amid fighting between armed groups in Tripoli.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Malaysian police said that 41 Muslim Rohingya men and boys have been detained in the northernmost state of Perlis, the second group to land in the country in just over a month, and that some 200 others are still believed to be at sea.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, In Nigeria eight people were killed early today in the southeastern state of Rivers when armed men attacked the village of Emohua in the Ogoni region.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 8, Teachers in Poland went on an indefinite nationwide strike to demand higher pay, after days of talks with the government failed to meet the demands of a majority of teachers' unions.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu (89) was officially charged with crimes against humanity by the country's top prosecutor as he finalized an inquiry into the chaotic and bloody anti-Communist revolution of 1989.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks focusing on the situation in Syria, the sale of advanced Russian missiles to Turkey and other economic deals.
(AP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Russian officials said they will work towards freeing all orca and beluga whales from a notorious facility in the east of the country, after a visit by US-based marine mammal advocates.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, A Russian court ordered the release from house arrest of renowned film and theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov (49) who is on trial on embezzlement charges.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, A South African court ruled that Michael Chang (63), a Mozambican ex-finance minister held since December on a US arrest warrant, can be extradited to either the United States or his home country. Ultimately the South African government is likely to decide where he goes.
(AFP, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, Sudanese security forces attempted to break up an anti-government sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum, setting off clashes in which a soldier was killed while trying to protect protesters. Another man died reportedly elsewhere in Khartoum after being beaten and tortured by security forces. Six people were reported killed in Khartoum during protests over the weekend.
(AP, 4/8/19)(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 8, The UAE said it and Saudi Arabia, which head an Arab coalition fighting Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen, will provide $200 million in aid to Yemen for use during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The aid is part of a $500 million joint food aid program announced last November.
(Reuters, 4/8/19)
2019 Apr 9, President Donald Trump said he'll put tariffs on $11 billion worth European Union cheese, wine and other goods to retaliate for what Washington says are improper subsidies to Airbus.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, US federal authorities said they have broken up a $1.2 billion Medicare scam that peddled unneeded orthopedic braces to hundreds of thousands of seniors via foreign call centers.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 9, The International Monetary Fund warned that global economic growth was slowing more than expected and that a sharp downturn could require world leaders to coordinate stimulus measures.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Charles Van Doren (93), the academic who accepted answers to beat competitors on NBS's "Twenty-One" game show in 1956-1957, died in Connecticut. His books included "The Idea of Progress" (1967) and "A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future" (1991).
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.C5)
2019 Apr 9, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto signed legislation restricting military-style assault weapons and banning most uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, defying the state's prohibition on municipal gun regulation.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 9, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that bank plans to raise its minimum wage to $20 an hour from $15 over the next two years.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.D1)
2019 Apr 9, Afghan officials said the Taliban have stormed army checkpoints in southern Kandahar province near the Pakistani border overnight, killing 20 troops.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Algeria thousands of protesters rejected Abdelkader Bensalah, the upper house chairman and parliament's choice as interim president, after the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, demanding immediate steps to remove the old guard and introduce sweeping democratic reforms.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Brussels Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promised his European Union hosts, at the annual EU-China leaders meeting, that Beijing will no longer force foreign companies to share sensitive know-how when operating in China and was ready to address industrial subsidies.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Brazil flash floods caused by overnight torrential rain killed at least three people in Rio de Janeiro.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In eastern Congo DRC a boat sunk on a river. Sixteen survivors were found near the spot and 37 bodies were later recovered near the village of Kata lama. The vessel had capsized with nearly 130 people on board.
(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 9, Four Egyptian policemen and three civilians, including a child, were killed in a suicide bombing in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia violated the rights of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by placing him under house arrest in 2014 and imposing other restrictive measures on him.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Frenchman Serge Dieujuste (44), who received compensation over a 1995 terror attack in Paris, was sent to jail after pretending he was at the scene of the November 2015 assault on the city by Islamic State gunmen. Around 15 people have been found guilty of fraud for trying to claim compensation from the compensation fund set up to help people who suffered physical or psychological injuries in the attacks.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 9, German prosecutors searched over a dozen offices and homes across the country as part of their investigation into a massive tax fraud going back more than a decade. About 170 officers raided 19 premises in four German states.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 9, The Catholic Church in Guam said it does not agree that its parishes and schools should be sold to settle more than 200 clergy sexual abuse claims.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 9, A Japanese F-35A fighter jet with one pilot disappeared from radar during a flight exercise in northern Japan.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Haiti's President Jovenel Moise confirmed Jean-Michel Lapin as the country's new prime minister. Lapin, the former culture and communications minister, was named acting prime minister on March 21, three days after the Chamber of Deputies voted to censure the government of former prime minister Jean-Henry Ceant.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, A Hong Kong court found nine leaders of the 2014 nonviolent "Occupy Central" campaign guilty on public nuisance and other charges.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, It was reported that a group of Hungarian business leaders and politicians close to PM Viktor Orban have founded an international news agency in London whose coverage will focus on central and eastern Europe. The new company, called V4NA, was registered in London by Hungary's ambassador to the UK, Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky, on Dec. 31, 2018. Last month, Arpad Habony, Orban's main spin doctor and eminence grise, acquired a 40 percent stake in V4NA via his London political advisory firm, Danube Business Consulting Ltd. Subsequently, New Wave Media Group, owned by KESMA, a foundation that controls most of Hungary's pro-government media, acquired a 57 percent stake from Szalay-Bobrovniczky.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In India at least seven people including a state legislator for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were killed in two separate attacks, days before India begins a general election.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Israelis voted in a high-stakes election that will decide whether to extend PM Benjamin Netanyahu's long right-wing tenure despite corruption allegations or to replace him with an ex-military chief new to politics. The elections committee banned hidden cameras at polling stations following an Arab party's complaints that it observed PM Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party deploying staffers who attempted to secretly surveil predominantly-Arab polling stations. A final tally showed Netanyahu's conservative Likud party capturing 36 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, edging past Blue and White, which got 35 seats.
(AFP, 4/9/19)(AP, 4/9/19)(Reuters, 4/10/19)(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 9, Kazakhstan's interim president ordered an early presidential election to be held on June 9.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Libya casualties from the battle for Tripoli mounted while Islamic State killed three people in a desert town, illustrating how jihadists may exploit renewed chaos. Medical facilities reported 47 people killed and 181 wounded in recent days as eastern forces seek to take Tripoli from an internationally-recognized government.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In western Myanmar three people were killed and seven civilians abducted in an attack on a police installation late today. Authorities blamed the attack on the Arakan Army rebel group.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 9, Nigerian media reported that 20 people had been massacred in the region of Kajuru, in Kaduna state, in fighting between crop farmers and nomadic herders.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, A Pakistani anti-graft tribunal indicted opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif on charges he misused his authority to benefit his family's factory while he was chief minister in the eastern Punjab province. His son Hamza Shahbaz was also indicted.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Russia's President Vladimir Putin put forward an ambitious program to secure the country's foothold in the Arctic, including efforts to build new ports and other infrastructure facilities and expand an icebreaker fleet.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, A bond sale by energy giant Saudi Aramco that aims to help diversify the Saudi economy attracted record demand of over $100 billion from investors.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez called on all political forces in the country to back a new national cybersecurity fight against "attempts to hack democracy and undermine citizens' trust in the political system".
(AP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Sri Lanka a top secret memo from the chief of national intelligence warned the country's police chief that Zahran Hashmi and associates of the National Towheed Jamaat were planning to carry out a suicide terrorist attack.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A3)
2019 Apr 9, In Sudan several thousand protesters continued for a fourth day a sit-in outside the compound in central Khartoum housing the defense ministry, Bashir's residence and the country's security headquarters. Clashes between security forces and protesters killed at least 11 people including six security forces. Activists said at least 14 people were killed. Sudan's police ordered its forces to avoid intervening against protesters.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)(AFP, 4/9/19)(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Syria Islamic militants, disguised as farmers and wearing suicide belts, attacked a military post belonging to government forces in the country's northwest, setting off clashes that killed three soldiers. In the northeast a suicide bomber was killed after attempting to use a vehicle rigged with explosives to target a patrol convoy for the US-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State group. A bomb attack in Raqqa killed eight people, including four members of the US-backed SDF.
(AP, 4/9/19)(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, In Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) said it will demand a new vote in Istanbul, after its bid was rejected for a citywide recount of March 31 election results that appeared to hand the party defeat.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Uganda said some suspects had been arrested in connection with the April 2 kidnap of an American tourist and her tour guide in a national park.
(Reuters, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, The UN Security Council told the Central African Republic that it must make progress in reintegrating rebels into the security forces as a condition to review an arms embargo. The UN arms embargo was imposed in 2013 when the country descended into bloodletting.
(AFP, 4/9/19)
2019 Apr 9, Zimbabwe updated its death toll from Cyclone Idai to 344 while Mozambique said recorded fatalities stood at 602, taking the combined tally to 946.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Pres. Donald Trump signed two executive orders that will accelerate the approval of energy infrastructure projects, while making it harder for states to scuttle pipelines and other energy projects based on concerns about their environmental impact on water quality.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, In the SF Bay Area federal prosecutors charged Michael Albert Quinn (48), a former insurance claims investigator at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, with fraud after he allegedly embezzled more than $7 million from the health care giant over more than a decade.
(SFC, 4/11/19, p.C1)
2019 Apr 10, Kentucky law enforcement officials said they are helping to pioneer new crime fighting technology, the ANDA Rapid DNA system, that will them to more quickly identify sexual assault offenders and clear those falsely accused.
(SFC, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, In Louisiana Holden Matthews (21), the son of a white sheriff's deputy, was arrested on suspicion of destroying three black churches in and around Opelousas. He faced federal hate crime charges. On Feb. 10, 2020, Matthews pleaded guilty.
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.A10)(SFC, 6/13/19, p.A6)(SFC, 2/11/20, p.A5)
2019 Apr 10, Earl Thomas Conley (b.1941), popular country singer of the 1980s, died in Nashville. His 24 Top 10 country singles in the 1980s included "Holding Her and Loving You" and "Don't Make It Easy for Me".
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.C10)
2019 Apr 10, Astronomers unveiled visual evidence of a massive black hole in the Messier 87 galaxy, 55 million light-years from Earth. The black hole was said to be about 7 billion times more massive that the sun.
(SFC, 4/11/19, p.A8)
2019 Apr 10, In Albania security at the Mother Theresa Airport was under scrutiny after a Hollywood-style robbery on its runway that left gunman Admir Murataj dead while his accomplices fled with millions of euros. Armed men stole cash destined for a bank in Vienna on an Austrian Airlines flight.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Algeria's army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah backed Abdelkader Bensalah, the country's newly appointed interim leader. Salah said the judicial system would pursue corruption cases and resurrect those that had been dropped.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Britain's PM Theresa May said she was asking EU leaders to delay the Brexit deadline to June 30 so she could get approval from parliament for her deal and ensure Britain leaves the European Union in an orderly way.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, British PM Theresa May expressed regret for a massacre by British troops in India in 1919 but stopped short of a full apology. The April 13, 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in which British troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters, remains an enduring scar from British colonial rule in India.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, WikiLeaks said its founder Julian Assange has been the subject of a sophisticated spying operation in the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he has been holed up since 2012.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, In central China a train carrying aluminum ore derailed in Henan province, killing at least four people.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, Egyptian security officials said two separate explosive attacks overnight killed four policemen, a day after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed four policemen and three civilians.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, The European Union agreed to delay Brexit by up to six months to Oct. 31 while PM Theresa May seeks an agreement with Labour that she hopes will help get her three-times rejected exit deal approved by parliament.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, Iranian authorities ordered tens of thousands of residents of the southwestern city of Ahvaz to evacuate immediately as floodwaters entered the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, It was reported that Iraq has offered the US-led coalition to put hundreds of accused foreign jihadists on trial in Baghdad in exchange for millions of dollars. One source said Iraq had proposed a rate of $2 million per suspect per year, calculated based on the estimated operational costs of a detainee in US-run Guantanamo.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Japan partially lifted an evacuation order in one of the two hometowns of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant for the first time since the 2011 disaster. The action allows people to return to about 40 percent of Okuma.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Japan grounded its F-35A fighter jets, built by US-based Lockheed Martin, following the crash of a Japanese F-35 in the Pacific Ocean a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, The battle for Libya's capital intensified as the UN Security Council prepared to meet to discuss the crisis gripping the North African country, where armed rivals are locked in a deadly power struggle.
(AFP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, New Zealand's Parliament passed sweeping gun laws that outlaw military style weapons. The bill needs only the approval of New Zealand's governor general, a formality, before becoming law on April 12.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, A Peruvian judge ordered the 10-day detention of former President Pedro Pablo Kucyznksi as part of a money laundering probe into his consulting work for the company at the heart of Latin America's biggest graft scandal.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, The Philippine government imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Libya because of fighting between rival militias for control of the North African nation's capital.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, In Sudan protests continued for a 5th day as several thousand protesters danced, sang and chanted slogans calling on President Omar al-Bashir to step down.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, In Thailand a fire broke out at one of Bangkok's biggest mall complexes, killing at least two people and injuring more than a dozen.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, Turkey's Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) ordered that individuals sacked by an emergency decree during purges after a 2016 failed coup could not take up their posts despite being elected. Five districts and towns in the Kurdish-majority southeast were affected.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 10, Amnesty International said Ahmed Mansoor, a prominent activist in the United Arab Emirates, has been on hunger strike for over three weeks to protest his prison conditions and 10-year conviction. Mansoor was the recipient of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015.
(AP, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 10, In Yemen the Saudi-led coalition carried out air strikes early today against two Houthi targets in Sanaa. No casualties were reported.
(Reuters, 4/10/19)
2019 Apr 11, US Pres. Donald Trump and visiting South Korean Pres. Moon Jae-in met and agreed on the importance of nuclear talks with North Korea.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Arizona a man (30) killed his wife and two young daughters at his home in Phoenix and then went to an apartment complex where he killed a man (46) he believed was romantically involved with his wife. Police arrested the suspect as he drove away from the complex where another man and woman were wounded.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 11, In the US heavy snow and strong winds hit Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota and began moving into the Great Lakes region a day after pummeling Colorado.
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 11, Facebook blocked the page of former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in what the firebrand leader is lambasting as part of a "brutal persecution." Correa had been posting information online about an offshore bank account allegedly used by the brother of Ecuador's current president, Lenin Moreno, to stash millions. Facebook prohibits users from sharing private personal information like financial records that may "compromise the identity of people using our platform".
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, It was reported that Chevron Corp will put a focus on human rights in Myanmar under an agreement with an investor group that had urged it to pay more attention to violence in the Asian nation where the US oil company has operations.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Afghanistan a Taliban attack on a security outpost early today set off an hours-long gunbattle that killed seven policemen in central Ghazni province. In northern Samangan province the Taliban arrested 60 truck drivers for failing to pay a tax on trucks passing through Taliban-controlled territory. At least 15 policemen surrendered to the Taliban in the northwestern province of Badghis.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Australia's PM Scott Morrison called a May 18 election that will be fought on issues including climate change, asylum seekers and economic management.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Australia Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush won his defamation case against a Sydney newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behavior toward an actress.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, British PM Theresa May defended her decision to delay Brexit and seek a compromise exit plan with the opposition Labour Party as one angry lawmaker from her own party stood up in parliament on Thursday and asked her to resign.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, British police dragged Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorean embassy after his seven-year asylum was revoked, paving the way for his extradition to the United States for one of the biggest ever leaks of classified information.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In northern Bulgaria protests against the Roma community took place in the city of Gabrovo, sparked by an alleged attack by Roma men on a shopkeeper. Roma, or Gypsies, make up around 5-9% of Bulgaria's population of 7 million and are among the most disadvantaged groups in the country.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, Congo's health ministry reported 1,206 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola, including 764 deaths. Health ministry statistics showed 40 new cases over two days this week. 75% of new Ebola cases have no obvious link to previous patients, meaning that officials have lost track of where the virus is spreading.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, Croatia hosted a summit between China and 16 regional countries — the 8th so far — that focuses on expanding business and other links between China and the region.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Ecuador arrested Ola Bini (36), an ace Swedish programmer who was an early, ardent supporter of WikiLeaks, as he prepared to board a flight to Japan. Prosecutors alleged a plot to blackmail the country's president over his abandonment of Julian Assange.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 11, Egypt said its police forces have killed 11 militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula, after several attacks in the last two days killed eight policemen and three civilians in the restive area.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Ethiopian authorities arrested 59 government officials on suspicion of corruption and economic sabotage.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, The government of Gabon announced a nationwide suspension of classes after high school students protested over plans to cut university grants.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, A German court found a 26-year-old man and his 23-year-old wife guilty of murder for killing his parents and then bricking the bodies behind a wall in Dec. 2017. Both were sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, A team of Greek and Spanish doctors announced the birth of a baby using DNA from three people after a controversial fertility treatment that has provoked intense ethical debate. A similar DNA-switching technique was used in Mexico in 2016 to avoid transmission of a mother's hereditary illness to her child.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, In India at least 4 people were killed on the first day of polling in general elections, which are seen as a referendum on PM Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The mammoth vote ends May 19, and counting will he held on May 23.
(AP, 4/11/19)(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, Indonesia's Election Commission said it is sending officials to investigate after videos circulated online of thousands of ballots for next week's polls scattered throughout a warehouse in neighboring Malaysia.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu sought to form a right-wing governing coalition after securing victory in a high-stakes Israeli election despite a strong challenge from a centrist alliance.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, An Israeli spacecraft crashed into the moon just moments before touchdown, failing in an ambitious attempt to make history as the first privately funded lunar landing. It had been hoped that the small robotic spacecraft, built by the nonprofit SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, would match a feat that has been achieved only by US, Russia and China.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, In Japan a Catholic Bishops' Conference in Tokyo said it has established a committee in each diocese to investigate allegations of sexual abuse against minors by its priests.
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 11, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador named army Gen. Luis Rodríguez Bucio to command the country's newly formed National Guard.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, New Zealand's governor general formally signed into effect sweeping gun laws outlawing military style weapons.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Police in North Macedonia said they have detained five men, including two Chinese citizens and a customs official, on suspicion of smuggling a critically endangered species of eel.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Philippine troops killed 12 Abu Sayyaf militants in clashes as they pressed an offensive in a southern province where the extremists have been blamed for the deadly bombing of a Roman Catholic cathedral.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 11, A Russian court released Alexei Kordichev from pre-trial detention and put him under house arrest. The former chairman of Vostochny bank, which is co-owned by Baring Vostok, was accused of fraud along with executives from the Baring Vostok private equity fund. Interfax news agency reported that he has admitted his guilt.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, A Russian court released from jail Michael Calvey, a US investor who faces charges of embezzlement, and placed him under house arrest.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, South Korea's Constitutional Court ordered the easing of the country's decades-old ban on most abortions, one of the strictest in the developed world. Abortions have been largely illegal in South Korea since 1953, though convictions for violating the restrictions are rare.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir (75), who ruled in autocratic style for 30 years, was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the armed forces, but protesters took to the streets demanding the military hand over power to civilians. Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, announced a two-year period of military rule to be followed by presidential elections. Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service announced the release of all political prisoners across the country. 13 people were shot dead at rallies and sit-ins across the country.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 11, Syrian Kurds announced a deal with Baghdad for 31,000 displaced Iraqis, mostly women and children, to return from camps in northeastern Syria to Iraq.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party said it would appeal to electoral authorities to annul elections in five districts and towns after some of its successful candidates were blocked from taking office after a March 31 local vote.
(AFP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the launch of a special court to try corruption cases, part of a flurry of activity to shore up his reform credentials ahead of a presidential election run-off next week.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, The United Nations said the fighting in Libya between Haftar's forces and troops under the internationally-backed Tripoli government had killed at least 56 people and forced 8,000 to flee their homes in the city in the last week.
(Reuters, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 11, A retreat at the Vatican for the leaders of South Sudan entered its second day, a month before the end of the pre-transitional period of a shaky peace deal.
(AP, 4/11/19)
2019 Apr 12, A US federal court settlement was announced that would allow almost 2,700 children living in Central America to safely reunite with their parents who are now living in the US under protected status.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 12, A. Samuel Patten, a Washington political consultant, was sentenced to three years of probation for illegal lobbying and skirting the ban on foreign donations to Pres. Trump's inaugural campaign.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 12, Louisiana's Diocese of Lafayette, where the first widely reported case of clergy sex abuse became public in the 1980s, released a list of 33 priests and four deacons credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor or vulnerable adult.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Boston Mark Riddell (36), a former Florida prep school administrator, admitted to secretly taking the SAT and ACT for students, or correcting their answers, as part of a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 12, In Minnesota Emmanuel Aranda of Minneapolis threw a boy (5) from a 3rd floor balcony at the Mall of America. On May 14 Aranda pleaded guilty to attempted premeditated 1st degree murder. The child survived head trauma and multiple broken bones.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 12, In Texas a transgender woman was beaten after a minor traffic accident and the attack was caught on cell phone video. On April 14 Edward Thomas (29) was arrested and suspicion of aggravated assault.
(SFC, 4/16/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 12, Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia listed on the New York Stock Exchange with shares beginning trading at $14.50 under ticker symbol JMIA. The company was founded in 2012 as Africa Internet Group and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
(http://tinyurl.com/yxuwshh9)(Econ, 8/3/19, p.52)
2019 Apr 12, In Afghanistan the Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive despite talking peace with the United States and ahead of a significant gathering of Afghans meant to discuss resolutions to the protracted war and an eventual withdrawal of American troops from the country.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Albanian prosecutors said they have seized 300,000 euros ($340,000) as well as apartments, a villa and nine vehicles owned by Admir Murataj's family. Murataj was killed April 9 in an exchange of fire with police at Albania's international airport.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Algeria hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied in Algiers for an eighth successive Friday to demand the departure of the ruling elite, as the country prepared for a presidential election in July. Police fired tear gas, water cannons and arrested 108 people.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 12, Argentina reiterated its support for Venezuela's opposition leader by issuing diplomatic credentials to a new delegate and officially announcing its withdrawal from the regional UNASUR bloc, which has been criticized over its lack of action on Venezuela.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who now heads Bosnia's multi-ethnic joint presidency, told a conference discussing war crimes during the Bosnian conflict that the Srebrenica massacre was "something that does not exist".
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Brazil at least two people were killed when two buildings collapsed in the hillside Itanhanga favela west of Rio de Janeiro following a storm that struck the Rio area three days ago. The death toll from the collapsed building soon rose to ten with 14 people listed as missing.
(AFP, 4/12/19)(AFP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Colombia a bombing damaged a section of the Trasandino pipeline. State-run company Ecopetrol soon began investigating crude spillage from the Cano Limon pipeline to determine if it was also caused by an attack.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, Estonia's intelligence agency said a Russian state-controlled television station has been portraying members of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Estonia in "a hostile and ridiculing" way.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, International Criminal Court judges rejected a request by the court's prosecutor to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan and alleged crimes by US forces linked to the conflict.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Thousands of Iranians rallied after prayers against the US's decision to designate the country's powerful Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Israeli troops killed Palestinian teenager Maisara Shalouf (15) during protests along the frontier.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 12, It was reported that Venice's population has declined rapidly from roughly 175,000 after World War Two to about 50,000 today. Remaining residents complain that their city is being overrun by tourists while they have to pick up the bill for cleaning and security. Squatters were taking over unoccupied buildings in Venice in defiance of what they say are high rents forcing families out of the city as tourism takes over.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, A Tokyo court approved the detention of Nissan's former Chairman Carlos Ghosn through April 22, allowing prosecutors to interrogate him daily on fresh allegations of financial misconduct.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Suspected Al-Shabaab jihadis in northeastern Kenya kidnapped a Cuban general practitioner and a surgeon in Mandera and whisked them to Somalia. One of two police officers escorting the doctors to work was shot dead by the attackers, who later demanded $1.5 million (1.35 million euros) for their release.
(AFP, 4/12/19)(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 Apr 12, Eastern Libyan forces bogged down in street battles in a push to seize the capital Tripoli deployed warplanes to hit two government positions as more civilians fled fighting.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is open to a third summit with Pres. Donald Trump, but set the year's end as a deadline for Washington to offer mutually acceptable terms for an agreement to salvage the high-stakes nuclear diplomacy.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, Malaysia's government said it has decided to resume a China-backed rail link project, after the Chinese contractor agreed to cut the construction cost by one-third.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Mexico business and political leaders from the US and Mexico gathered in Merida to promote greater trade at a moment when actions by both governments have rattled investors.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Some 350 migrants broke the locks on a gate at Mexico's border with Guatemala and forced their way into southern Mexico to join a larger group of migrants trying to make their way to the US.
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 12, In southwestern Pakistan a suicide bomb ripped through an outdoor market on the outskirts of Quetta, killing 20 people, half of them ethnic Hazaras, in an attack apparently aimed at minority Shi'ite Muslims. The Islamic State group soon claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, Russia's Pres. Vladimir Putin visited rocket-maker Energomash and said the government will offer more cash to develop new rockets and create more incentives for space industry workers. Putin's visit came on Cosmonauts Day, a holiday marking the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight on April 12, 1961, to become the first human in space.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Spanish police in Madrid arrested retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, Venezuela's longtime spy chief, on a US drug warrant a few weeks after he threw his support behind opponents of President Nicolas Maduro. Prosecutors in New York alleged Carvajal used his high office to coordinate the smuggling of approximately 5,600 kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, The Sudanese army said it will not extradite deposed President Omar al-Bashir but will put him on trial at home. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators thronged the streets surrounding the defense ministry compound in the capital Khartoum voicing anger at the ruling transitional military council.
(AP, 4/12/19)(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, Sudan's Defense Minister Gen. Awad ibn Ouf, who was named de facto leader after overthrowing al-Bashir a day earlier, announced he was stepping down as transitional leader. He named Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan as his successor. Three more people, including a soldier, were killed at rallies and sit-ins across the country following the military overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 12, In Uzbekistan the elder daughter of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was appointed deputy head of a newly established state agency in charge of communications and media regulation.
(Reuters, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 12, The World Trade Organization upheld South Korea's import ban on Japanese seafood from areas affected by the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
(AP, 4/12/19)
2019 Apr 13, It was reported that a 2nd federal judge issued a nationwide injunction this week blocking the Dept. of Homeland Security from terminating Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, which would force tens of thousands of Haitians to return home.
(SFC, 4/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 13, In Texas two children were killed and about a dozen people injured after powerful storms spawned at least one tornado in Lufkin. Over the next 24 hours the storm left at least 8 people dead and 90,000 people without power in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.A12)(SFC, 4/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 13, The twin-fuselage Stratolaunch, designed to launch rockets into space, took off on its first flight from the Mojave Air and space Port in Kern Ct., Ca. It was created by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
(SSFC, 4/14/19, p.A12)
2019 Apr 13, It was reported that a Ukraine-based hacker group has posted online the personal information of hundreds of US federal agents and police officers apparently stolen from websites affiliated with alumni of the FBI's National Academy.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Afghanistan Taliban forces attacked the northern city of Kunduz, a day after the launch of their annual spring offensive. A local health official said more than 70 dead and wounded had been brought into the main city hospital. Attacks in 15 provinces across the country were limited in scope and had largely been contained. Seven members of the security forces were killed in an ambush in the western province of Ghor, leading to an hours-long firefight.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, In southern China the only known female member of one of the world's rarest turtle species died at a zoo in Suzhou city. The animal was one of four Yangtze giant softshell turtles known to be remaining in the world.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 13, In France "Yellow vest" demonstrators clashed with riot police in the city of Toulouse as President Emmanuel Macron prepared a series of policy announcements aimed at quelling 22 consecutive weekends of anti-government protests.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Tens of thousands of Indonesians flocked to presidential campaign rallies ahead of a final debate between President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Prabowo Subianto.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Japan a US Navy serviceman fatally stabbed a Japanese woman and then killed himself in Okinawa.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Malaysia's ruling coalition lost a state constituency in a by-election in a further sign of declining public support for PM Mahathir Mohamad's alliance.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Malta announced a deal to distribute 64 migrants rescued at sea off Libya 10 days ago among four European Union nations: Germany, France, Portugal and Luxembourg. The German-flagged aid ship carrying them, the Alan Kurdi, will still not be allowed to enter its ports and none of the migrants will remain in Malta.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Yvette Williams (89), New Zealand's first female Olympic gold medalist (1952) and holder of the world long jump record, died.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Nigeria twelve people were killed and 16 others badly injured when a fuel tanker exploded in the northern city of Gombe.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Serbia thousands of people gathered in Belgrade for a protest rally against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. Authorities deployed riot police inside the parliament, saying they wanted to prevent the opposition from storming the building.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Somali security forces shot dead a rickshaw driver and his passenger in Mogadishu and killed another four people who were protesting against the shootings.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, South African police intercepted 167 rhino horns believed to be destined for Southeast Asia, in one of the biggest such hauls ever in the country. Two suspects, aged 57 and 61, were arrested.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 13, In Sudan Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman said a civilian government would be formed after consultations with the opposition and the transition period would last for a maximum of two years, as protesters kept up pressure for rapid change. The new head of the military council also said he was cancelling a night curfew ordered by his predecessor and ordered the release of all prisoners jailed under emergency laws ordered by ousted President Omar al-Bashir.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Syria's state news reported that an Israeli airstrike on a military position in central Syria early today wounded six soldiers and destroyed several buildings.
(AP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Syrian Kurds repatriated 25 women and children from Iraq's Yazidi minority after freeing them during the final push against the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 13, Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who lives in Saudi Arabia while rival Houthi forces control the capital Sanaa, made a rare visit to his country on Saturday for a meeting of the divided parliament in a loyalist southern province. In Sanaa, Houthi PM Abdelaziz Bin Habtour put forward plans for an election under Houthi auspices for the same parliament.
(Reuters, 4/13/19)
2019 Apr 14, Pete Buttigieg (37), the gay, liberal mayor of South Bend Indiana, officially launched his presidential bid, joining a crowded field of Democrats vying for their party's nomination in 2020.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Wisconsin a boy (17) was arrested after he fatally shot his grandparents in Grand Chute. The teen said he also planned to cause harm at his Neenah High School.
(SFC, 4/16/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 14, In Australia a drive-by shooting outside a popular Melbourne nightclub early today left one man dead, another critically wounded and two others injured.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, A Banco de Brasil commercial highlighting Brazil's diversity was pulled following a request by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who Bolsonaro reached out directly to the bank's president to demand the advertisement be pulled.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Cyprus the bound body of 38-year-old Mary Rose Tiburcio, from the Philippines, was found down a flooded shaft near a toxic man-made lake. The discovery triggered a homicide investigation that led to the arrest of a Cypriot military captain.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 14, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Gen. Khalifa Haftar to discuss developments in Libya. Haftar, the commander of eastern Libyan forces, is under international pressure to halt an advance on the capital Tripoli.
(Reuters, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Finns voted in a general election where anti-austerity sentiment looked set to propel the opposition Social Democratic Party back to the head of government for the first time in 16 years. The Social Democrats, led by former finance minister and union leader Antti Rinne, took 17.7% of the votes and 40 seats. The Finns Party followed with 17.5% and 39 seats and the National Coalition Party with 17% of the votes and 38 seats. The Center Party of outgoing Prime Minister Juha Sipila was fourth with 13.8% of the vote and the Green Party came in with 11.5%.
(AFP, 4/14/19)(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Germany Stuttgart-based Daimler confirmed it was facing a regulatory probe after a report said authorities have uncovered a previously unknown type of pollution trickery software allegedly installed by the car giant in some of its vehicles.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Iraq began trial proceedings for nearly 900 Iraqi suspected members of the Islamic State group caught fleeing jihadist territory in neighboring Syria.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Nepal a small plane operated by a private airline hit a parked helicopter while preparing to take off in a mountainous area near Mount Everest, killing three people including a co-pilot at Tenzing Hillary Airport at Lukla.
(Reuters, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, In Pakistan thousands of Sikh pilgrims from across the world concluded their celebration of the Vaisakhi harvest festival amid heightened security in the town of Hasanabdal, outside Islamabad.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Palestinian government ministers were sworn in for a second time after a lawyer noticed that the oath they took the day before had been missing a phrase.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Dmitry Bykov, a Russian poet known for his outspoken prose against Vladimir Putin, fell ill on a flight to Ufa. He had been trailed and targeted by the same poison squad that nearly killed Alexei Navalny. In 2021 an investigation by Bellingcat found what it called a “cluster" of airline and rail trips by members of Russia’ secret service force known as the FSB that coincided with the poet’s movements before he was near-fatally poisoned.
(The Daily Beast, 6/9/21)
2019 Apr 14, Several thousand Sudanese protesters continued a sit-in outside the Defense Ministry as they pressured the military to accelerate a transition towards civilian rule.
(Reuters, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, The Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) identified three employees abducted in Syria more than five years ago and last known to have been held by Islamic State: Louisa Akavi, a nurse from New Zealand, and Syrian drivers Alaa Rajab and Nabil Bakdounes.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 14, The UN health agency said more than 120 people have been killed since a Libyan military commander launched an assault on the capital 10 days ago, igniting clashes with rival militias.
(AP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 14, Zimbabwe Pres. Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a published interview that the government will give priority to elderly white farmers when it starts compensating those who lost their properties during the controversial land reforms.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 15, President Donald Trump spoke by phone to Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar and discussed "ongoing counterterrorism efforts and the need to achieve peace and stability in Libya".
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 15, The United States officially designated Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, according to a notice published in the US Federal Register.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Jonathan Wolman (68), editor and publisher of the Detroit News since 2007, died of complications from pancreatic cancer.
(SFC, 4/18/19, p.C2)
2019 Apr 15, The African Union gave Sudan's transitional military council 15 days to hand over power to a "civilian-led political authority" or face suspension from the union's activities.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Climate change protesters brought a bridge in London to a standstill and blocked major roads in the capital, kicking off days of planned civil disobedience events in cities around the world. British police arrested 122 people over the next 24 hours after climate change protesters blocked major bridges and intersections.
(AFP, 4/15/19)(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, Canada expanded sanctions against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro, targeting an additional 43 people close to the disputed leader.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, In Congo DRC a motorized boat capsized on Lake Kivu, killing 13 people. 35 people were rescued but 114 remained missing.
(AFP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 15, A Prague art gallery unveiled a brass bust of the late Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. The bust by Czech sculptress Marie Seborova was unveiled as part of an exhibition marking the anniversary.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 15, Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno told Britain's Guardian newspaper that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange repeatedly violated his asylum conditions and tried to use the Ecuadorian embassy in London as a center for spying. Moreno denied to the Guardian that he had acted as a reprisal for the way in which documents about his family had been leaked.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Estonia's parliament rejected the leader of the center-right Reform Party, Kaja Kallas, as prime minister and President Kersti Kaljulaid was expected instead to tap Center Party head Juri Ratas to lead the Baltic country.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, European Union countries overruled France and gave the green light for Brussels to open trade talks with Washington as soon as possible and defuse trans-Atlantic tensions.
(AFP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, A leaked intelligence report published by investigative website Disclose showed that French arms including tanks and laser-guided missile systems sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are being used in the Yemeni war against civilians. The report was written by France's DRM military intelligence agency.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, In France Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral went up in flames this evening, a blaze that devastated the Parisian landmark. President Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild the gothic masterpiece.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, German prosecutors charged former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn (71) and four others with fraud and other offenses in connection with the company's massive, multi-year effort to cheat on diesel emissions testing.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, India's election commission banned Yogi Adityanath, a member of PM Narendra Modi's ruling party and a Hindu state chief minister, from campaigning for three days after anti-Muslim comments in an election that will end next month.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, In India Jet Airways pilots demonstrated in Mumbai, saying they had not received a salary in four months.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, Iran's supreme leader approved the use of special emergency funds to deal with damage from major flooding that has killed at least 76 people and injured more than 1,000 over the past several weeks.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, began removing fuel from a cooling pool at one of three reactors that melted down in the 2011 disaster, a milestone in what will be a decades-long process to decommission the facility.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, The World Health Organization said that least 147 people have been killed and 614 wounded in the offensive launched on April 4 by Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar to take the capital Tripoli.
(AFP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Malaysia's PM Mahathir Mohamad said a Chinese company building a rail link across the Southeast Asian nation will jointly help to manage and operate the network, part of revised deal that will get the stalled project off the ground at a lower cost and ease strained relations.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, In Malaysia two Vietnamese men, aged 25 and 29, were arrested by a wildlife enforcement team in a national park in eastern Terengganu state. Authorities seized body parts from tigers and bears from the suspected poachers.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 15, Myanmar police arrested four members of the Peacock Generation "thangyat" troupe after they broadcasted a live show on Facebook during traditional New Year celebrations. Thangyat is a centuries-old tradition of performance that often lampoons ruling powers and social foibles.
(Reuters, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 15, Ties van der Meer of the Dutch Donor Child Foundation said that three more people contacted him over the weekend because they suspect they may also have been conceived using the sperm of Dr. Jan Karbaat (d.2017), who had used his own sperm to father 49 children, without telling their mothers.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, A nationwide strike of Poland's teachers entered its second week with the government saying it has no more funds to meet their pay demands after offering generous benefits to various other groups.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Saudi Aramco said it has reached an agreement to acquire a $1.25 billion stake in South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank that would provide Saudi Arabia's state-run oil company with a dedicated outlet for its crude to South Korea.
(AP, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Slovakia's PM Peter Pellegrini said his country will boost defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2022, achieving the NATO goal two years faster than planned.
(Reuters, 4/15/19)
2019 Apr 15, Turkish authorities detained two people on suspicion of spying for the United Arab Emirates. The two reportedly confessed during their interrogation that they had been spying on Arab dissidents based in Turkey on behalf of the UAE. One of the two men arrived in Turkey in October 2018, days after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul.
(AP, 4/19/19)(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 16, President Donald Trump vetoed a Congressional resolution directing him to end support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 16, In the SF Bay Area the governing board of the Cow Palace in Daly City voted not hold gun shows after 2019, when a contract with the exhibitor Crossroads of the West expires.
(SFC, 4/17/19, p.C1)
2019 Apr 16, In Algeria thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Algiers and in cities across the country calling for political change in the eighth week of mass protests. Tayeb Belaiz, the controversial head of the country's constitutional council, quit bowing to weeks of anger from protesters.
(AP, 4/16/19)(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, A Bahraini court sentenced 69 people to life in prison and revoked the citizenship of 138 defendants on terrorism-related charges. All appeared to be Shiite Bahrainis and 60 were tried in absentia in one of the largest mass trials ever held in the country.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In Congo DRC eight government soldiers were killed in North Kivu province by assailants who appeared to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group with origins in Uganda.
(SFC, 4/20/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 16, Egypt's 596-member parliament stacked with supporters of Pres. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi voted on amendments allowing the president to extend his current term by two years and stand for another six-year mandate.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, An Egyptian court sentenced 36 people convicted of joining the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization to five years in prison. They were arrested in Alexandria in 2017 and were also sentenced to five years of probation.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Pledges from French billionaires, businesses and the public sector to help rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral reached nearly 700 million euros (790 million dollars) amid an outpouring of public support for one of Europe's most iconic monuments.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Speaking at the EU Parliament in Strasburg, France, Swedish teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg said time is running out to halt climate change and urged European politicians "to panic".
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Germany officially switched on the biggest offshore wind park in the Baltic Sea, which will supply some 400,000 households with electricity. Last year more than 40% of Germany's electricity was generated using renewable sources.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In Germany pro-euthanasia doctors and patients petitioned the Constitutional Court to overturn 2015 legislation that outlaws commercial assisted suicide. Germany does allow assisted dying - but not when money is involved.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, India's Supreme Court agreed to consider a petition from a Muslim couple to allow women into mosques, seeking to overturn a centuries-old practice that largely bars women from the places of worship.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Indian airline Jet Airways' stock fell sharply after its former chairman reportedly withdrew plans to bid for a controlling stake in the company and news media said its flight operations might be temporarily halted. Naresh Goyal had founded Jet Airways in 1992. Etihad Aviation Group purchased a 24% stake in Jet Airways in 2013.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In central and western India a powerful storm bringing dust, lightning and unseasonal rain has killed at least 47 people in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan states.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 16, Indonesia's Election Supervision Agency said about 320,000 overseas voters in neighboring Malaysia's biggest city should vote again in presidential and legislative elections after finding evidence that postal ballots had been tampered with.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Iran's lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill labeling US forces in the Middle East as terrorist.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In Libya dozens of "yellow vest" protesters rallied in Tripoli to denounce what they said was France's support for military strongman Khalifa Haftar who has launched an offensive on the capital.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, In Libya rocket fire on the south Tripoli neighborhoods of Abu Salim and Al-Antisar late today killed six people including three women. At least 189 people have been killed, 816 wounded and more than 18,000 displaced since Haftar ordered his forces on April 4 to march on Tripoli.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 16, North Macedonia's health authorities declared a nationwide measles epidemic in the small Balkan country after more than 960 cases were registered since the beginning of this year.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout in the northwestern city of Peshawar, triggering an 18-hour shootout in which a police officer and all five suspected militants at the site were killed.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Philippine police arrested four women they said were wives of Abu Sayyaf commanders who took care of their financial transactions, helped procure guns and bomb parts and arranged the travels of foreign militants to the country.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Portugal declared an emergency crisis late today, ordering drivers to get back on the road immediately to ensure supplies to essential services. PM Antonio Costa's government ordered striking fuel-tanker drivers to supply essential services such as hospitals and airports, and to provide a minimum amount to fuel stations, but the decree did not seem to be fully heeded.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 16, Qatar called for a blocking of foreign arms supplies to eastern Libyan forces commander Khalifa Haftar, whose push to seize the capital Tripoli is causing rifts around the Gulf and Europe. Recent clashes between rival Libyan militias for control of the capital Tripoli have displaced more than 18,000 people.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, A Moscow court convicted a retired Norwegian border guard on spying charges and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. Frode Berg (63) was detained in Moscow in 2017 following a sting operation by Russia's FSB security service.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Syria and Iran said the United States is waging "economic terrorism" against countries that have different opinions and should pursue its aims through diplomacy instead.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party submitted its promised appeal for the annulment and rerun of Istanbul's municipal elections, over what it said were irregularities that marred the March 31 vote.
(Reuters, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, Ukrainian media called on comedian Volodymyr Zelensky (41) to answer their questions ahead of a weekend presidential election he is expected to win despite minimum engagement with mainstream outlets.
(AFP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 16, The Red Cross confirmed that the first shipment of humanitarian aid from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has arrived in Venezuela.
(AP, 4/16/19)
2019 Apr 17, The Trump administration opened the door for lawsuits against foreign firms operating on properties Cuba seized from Americans after the 1959 revolution.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Marc Lamparello (37) of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey was arrested after entering St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters. A Manhattan judge later found Lamparello mentally unfit for trial. On April 17, 2020, Lamparello died by suicide. He had been released from a secure psychiatric hospital in March because of the spread of the coronavirus.
(AP, 4/18/19)(AP, 4/23/20)
2019 Apr 17, Time magazine released its 100 most influential people issue. The issue is comprised of short tributes to its honorees that are written by fellow global leaders throughout all industries.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, The UN said around a third of all conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan say they have suffered from torture or ill-treatment. The US-backed Afghan government is holding thousands of detainees, many of them captured as part of the ongoing war with the Taliban.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Hundreds of Algerians rallied outside the offices of the country's biggest union, calling for its chief to quit over his ties to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Abdelmadjid Sidi Said has been secretary-general of the powerful General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) since 1997.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Belgium confectioner Godiva, privately owned by Turkish Yildiz Holding AS, opened its first café in Manhattan. The company is rolling out 2,000 cafes over the next six years that will serve a complete menu of items like the croiffle, a croissant and waffle hybrid that's stuffed with fillings like cheese or chocolate and pressed on a waffle iron.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Bosnian police arrested nine Bosnians on suspicion of being part of a gang that smuggled 140 migrants from Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Iran into the EU.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, In Canada celebrated Austrian climber David Lama (28), fellow Austrian Hansjörg Auer (35) and American climber Jess Roskelley went missing in Alberta's Banff National Park. Apparel company The North Face later said the three members of its Global Athlete Team were presumed dead following an avalanche.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 17, Chinese President Xi Jinping offered praise for what he called the achievements of the southwestern city of Chongqing, one of the country's most important cities, hit by two major graft scandals in recent years.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Czech police said that PM Andrej Babis and others should stand trial for alleged fraud involving the handling of a 2 million euro European Union subsidy - charges that could see him jailed for up to 10 years. Babis said the case was part of a political plot against him.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Egyptian authorities scheduled three days of voting in a nationwide referendum starting April 20 on proposed changes to the constitution that could see President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi remain in power until 2030.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Estonia's Center party leader Juri Ratas secured parliament's support to continue as prime minister and form a new government that will bring a far-right party into the cabinet for the first time.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, The European Union and Canada said they are joining forces to protect their companies after the US opened the door for lawsuits against foreign firms operating on properties Cuba seized from Americans.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, In India Mukesh Ambani, who heads Reliance Industries, and Uday Kotak, managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, both endorsed Milind Deora, the Congress candidate for the South Mumbai constituency.
(Reuters, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 17, India's debt-stricken Jet Airways halted all of its operations after failing to secure emergency funding from lenders, leaving it teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Indonesia held elections. Five survey organizations showed Widodo winning 54-56% of the vote, a modest improvement on his 2014 showing, as unofficial results put him in a comfortable lead over firebrand ex-general Prabowo Subianto.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi made his first visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office six months ago, meeting King Salman during the stop on a regional tour that has also seen visits to Cairo and Tehran in recent weeks.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Iraq's parliament voted unanimously to ban the popular but brutal online game Player Unknown's Battlegrounds for "inciting violence" in the war-torn country.
(AFP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Investigators in Ireland confirmed that 802 children died at a church-run home for unwed mothers in the western town of Tuam between 1925 and 1961 but said some were likely buried elsewhere on the site.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Lebanon's PM Saad Hariri warned that Lebanon is heading toward an economic "catastrophe" unless the government implements strict austerity measures to reduce a ballooning budget deficit and massive national debt.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Malaysia began a public inquiry into the discovery of mass graves and suspected human trafficking camps in the jungles near its border with Thailand, which prompted a regional crisis in 2015, and accusations over obstruction of justice.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, In Myanmar more than 9,500 prisoners were ordered released under a presidential amnesty, but they did not include two Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters reporters.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a new type of "tactical guided weapon".
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 17, Peru's former president Alan Garcia (69) died in a hospital in Lima after shooting himself as police arrived at his house to arrest him in connection with a bribery probe.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Energy shortages in Portugal sharpened as a strike by fuel-tanker drivers entered its third day in the worst industrial unrest of the Socialist government's four-year rule.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, A tour bus crash on Portuguese island of Madeira killed 29 people, all from Germany. Twenty-eight others were injured.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 17, Romania's Senate approved changes to the criminal code that could shut down a number of ongoing high-level graft cases in one of the European Union's most corrupt states.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Two Saudi sisters, Maha al-Subaie (28) and Wafa al-Subaie (25), appealed for help from the former Soviet republic of Georgia after fleeing their country. They said their father and brothers have arrived in Georgia looking for them.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Serbia sought to secure a greater Russian role in European Union-mediated talks with the former province of Kosovo, which could further strain the Balkan country's relations with the West.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, In South Korea a 42-year-old man set his apartment in Jinju on fire and fatally stabbed five neighbors as they attempted to flee.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 17, Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council ordered the central bank to review financial transfers since April 1 and to seize "suspect" funds. The ruling military transferred ousted President Omar al-Bashir to a prison in the country's capital as hundreds of people marched to a sit-in outside the army headquarters in Khartoum, calling for a quick handover of power to a civilian leadership.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Terry Gou, chairman of Apple supplier Foxconn, said he will contest Taiwan's 2020 presidential election, shaking up the political landscape at a time of heightened tension between the self-ruled island and Beijing. The Foxconn chairman ranks among Taiwan's richest people.
(AP, 4/17/19)(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Turkish authorities confirmed the opposition's candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, as the mayor of Istanbul, ending more than two weeks of recounts of the March 31 vote demanded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party.
(AP, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 17, Ukraine's security service SBU said it had captured a Russian military intelligence hit squad responsible for the attempted murder of a Ukrainian military spy in the run-up to a presidential election on April 21. Two of the group's members were said to be Russian citizens, the other six were Ukrainians.
(Reuters, 4/17/19)
2019 Apr 18, A redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report was released. President Donald Trump, backed by his attorney general, declared himself fully vindicated in the investigation into Russian election meddling and alleged collusion with his campaign. The two-volume, 448-page report recounts how Trump repeatedly sought to take control of the Russia probe. According to the 448-page report Pres. Donald Trump discouraged witnesses from cooperating with prosecutors and prodded aides to mislead the public on his behalf to hamper the Russia probe he feared would cripple his administration. Mueller reported that Trump was so agitated at the special counsel's appointment on May 17, 2017, that he slumped back in his chair and declared: "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I'm f---ed."
(AP, 4/18/19)(AFP, 4/18/19)(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18,US federal agents raided the apartment of Adrian Hong, a leader of the Free Joseon group. Hong was not arrested. Free Joseon, also known as the Cheollima Civil Defense group, styles itself as a government-in-exile dedicated to toppling the ruling Kim family dynasty in North Korea. The group is blamed for the Feb. 22 raid on the North Korean embassy in Madrid.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)(AP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 18, The United States and Russia said they could not support a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Libya at this time.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, In the southern US strong storm system left three people dead in Mississippi and one person in Alabama.
(SFC, 4/20/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 18, In Maryland Ariana Funes-Diaz (14) was beaten with a bat and stabbed with a machete by teens involved with the MS-13 gang. In May her body was found in a creek in Riverdale and three teens were charged as adults with first-degree murder.
(http://tinyurl.com/y54ak4vv)(SFC, 5/18/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 18, A federal judge in Ohio blocked part of a state law that bans the abortion method of dilation and evacuation in most cases.
(SFC, 4/20/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 18, Google said it will start giving EU smartphone users a choice of browsers and search apps on its Android operating system, in changes designed to comply with an EU antitrust ruling.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Social media giant Facebook banned various far-right British groups including the English Defence League from its network for promoting hate and violence.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Polo Ralph Lauren launched a version of its iconic polo shirt made entirely of recycled plastic bottles and dyed through a process that uses zero water. The Earth Polo went on sale, ahead of Monday's Earth Day, at RalphLauren.com and retail stores around the world.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Pinterest, a digital pin board company, debuted on the NYSE at $19 per share. Shares of Pinterest closed at $24.40. San Jose-based Zoom, a video conferencing company, also went public and shares rose 72% to close at $62.
(SFC, 4/18/19, p.D1)(SFC, 4/19/19, p.D1)
2019 Apr 18, Environmental protesters who have blocked London roads and bridges for more than three days said they plan to take their civil disobedience campaign to Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, at the start of the Easter holiday weekend.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Cambodian police sought to evict 600 villagers from land said to be occupied illegally. Villagers in Sihanoukville said most of them had been living there for two years and received no eviction notice before bulldozers arrived to demolish their homes. The next day eight protesters were arrested and six policemen were hurt when the villagers tried to block a main road.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Egypt a coalition of opposition political parties called on voters to reject proposed constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Estonia's Pres. Kersti Kaljulaid met with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks on trade and global relations, during the first such Russian visit in eight years.
(AFP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In France an appeals court in Paris raised Abdelkader Merah's sentence from 20 years to 30 after finding him guilty of complicity to murder for his involvement in the horrific March, 2012., attack in the Toulouse area that killed seven people.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, Voting in the second phase of India's general election remained largely peaceful amid massive security and a lockdown in parts of the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Sporadic violence flared in the east and the insurgency-wracked state of Jammu and Kashmir.
(AP, 4/18/19)(Reuters, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In southern Libya an armed group attacked a major air base held by eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar after he moved most of his forces north to try to seize the capital Tripoli. The eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces managed to repel the assault on the Tamanhint air base near Sabha. The WHO said the fighting between rival factions for control of Tripoli this month killed 205 people so far.
(Reuters, 4/18/19)(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's office late today said he had accepted the resignation of PM Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and his entire cabinet. A day earlier lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties submitted a motion of no confidence blaming Maiga and his administration for failing to clamp down on unrest.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Northern Ireland a journalist Lyra McKee (29) was shot and soon died during rioting late today in Londonderry. Police said the New IRA (Irish Republican Army) group, which has been responsible for several attacks in recent years, was most likely behind the killing.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, North Korea said that it had test-fired a new type of "tactical guided weapon," its first such test in nearly half a year, and demanded that Washington remove Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from nuclear negotiations.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Pakistan's finance minister Asad Umar said he will step down amid a wave of criticism over the government's handling of a financial crisis that has sent prices soaring.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Pakistan gunmen wearing police and paramilitary uniforms ambushed a bus before dawn and killed 14 people after going through their ID cards and forcing them out on a remote part of a coastal highway in southwestern Baluchistan province. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry later said a group of militants crossed the border from neighboring Iran carried out the deadly attack against Pakistan armed forces. The Baloch Raji Aajoi Saangar (BRAS) umbrella group said it targeted Pakistani navy and Coast Guard officials traveling on buses.
(AP, 4/18/19)(Reuters, 4/20/19)(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Portugal truckers ended their walkout after their employers agreed to start new talks later this month.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Officials said Saudi Arabia and the UAE have sent 95 tons of humanitarian aid to their rival Iran as it reels from deadly floods, after Tehran complained US sanctions were obstructing relief.
(AFP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In South Africa 13 people were killed in the south-eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal during an Easter service after a church wall collapsed on them late today following days of heavy rains and strong winds.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 18, Protesters in Sudan called for new street demonstrations to pressure the ruling military council to speed up the transition of power to a civilian government as the new rulers announced the arrests of former president Omar al-Bashir's two brothers on corruption charges.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, In Syria regime shelling killed 10 civilians in the jihadist-controlled Idlib region, in the latest violence to threaten a seven-month-old truce. A monitor said four women and three children were among the civilians killed. IS militants ambushed government forces in the desert of central Homs province late today, setting off clashes that lasted for two days. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 soldiers were killed, including four officers.
(AFP, 4/18/19)(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 18, A magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook eastern Taiwan this afternoon, causing scattered light damage in the capital and along the eastern coast.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Thai authorities raided a floating home in the Andaman Sea belonging to an American man and his Thai partner who sought to be pioneers in the "seasteading" movement, which promotes living in international waters to be free of any nation's laws. Thailand's navy said Chad Elwartowski and Supranee Thepdet endangered national sovereignty.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, A Ukrainian court ruled that the 2016 nationalization of Privatbank owned by tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskyi was illegal, sending shockwaves through the country's financial community. Kolomoyskyi, who now lives in Israel, is an archrival of incumbent President Poroshenko and is believed to have ties to Volomyr Zelenskiy, a comedian who has emerged as the favorite in the current presidential race.
(AP, 4/18/19)
2019 Apr 18, Oxfam warned that war-torn Yemen risks a "massive resurgence" of cholera, with around 195,000 suspected cases of the disease recorded so far this year.
(AFP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Pres. Donald Trump lashed out at people who cooperated with Mueller's team. He said statements in the report made by some were "fabricated & totally untrue." He alleged that "notes" some people said they took after meetings didn't exist but were created for the Mueller investigation.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Former US Marine Christopher Ahn, suspected of involvement in a mysterious dissident group’s February raid on North Korea’s Embassy in Madrid, was arrested in Los Angeles by U.S. authorities.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, In NYC Clare Bronfman (40), heiress to the Seagram liquor fortune, pleaded guilty to her role in self-help group Nxivm, a secretive society of women sex slaves. Keith Raniere (58), the founder of NXIVM, has already been charged with sex trafficking and forced labor conspiracy and now stands alone as a defendant in a case.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, It was reported that the American Media Inc. is selling the National Enquirer and other tabloids to James Cohen, CEO of Hudson Media Inc. AMI Chairman David Pecker, a longtime friend of Donald Trump, has admitted employing catch-and-kill techniques to protect Trump from unfavorable stories.
(SFC, 4/19/19, p.D4)
2019 Apr 19, Hopes for a breakthrough in a push to end Afghanistan's grueling conflict suffered a major setback after a key summit between the Taliban and Afghan officials was indefinitely postponed. The so-called intra-Afghan dialogue, due to take place in Doha this weekend, fell apart at the last minute in a row over the large number of delegates Kabul wanted to send.
(AFP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Algeria hundreds of thousands of demonstrators returned to the streets to press demands for wholesale democratic change well beyond former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's resignation, chanting "we do what we want".
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Film star Emma Thompson joined climate change activists in central London to read poetry praising Earth's bounties, part of a series of protests which have caused transport snarl-ups in the British capital.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Bulgarian customs officials said they have seized 288 kg (635 pounds) of heroin found in an Iranian truck entering Bulgaria from Turkey. The Iranian truck driver and a Turkish citizen suspected of being the recipient of the drugs were detained.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a politburo meeting to discuss the current economic situation.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Chinese courts announced multiple-year prison sentences for more than three dozen military veterans who protested over the lack of benefits, saying the former soldiers had disrupted social order in a bid to further their own interests.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Congo DRC WHO epidemiologist Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung, was shot dead in an assault by armed Mai-Mai militiamen on Butembo University Hospital. The doctor had been deployed to help combat Ebola in the region.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, French police officers called for an urgent meeting with Interior minister Christophe Castaner after two of their colleagues killed themselves this week, taking the number of suicides in police ranks to 28 since the start of the year. 68 French officers took their own lives in 2018.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In France Greenpeace climate activists blocked thousands of employees from entering the headquarters of bank Societe Generale, state-run utility EDF and oil giant Total. Activists also obstructed the entrance to the environment ministry near La Defense business district.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, A Paris court dismissed a 2016 defamation case against six women who accused a former French lawmaker of sexual misconduct and the journalists who reported the allegations. The court ordered Denis Baupin to pay 1,000 euros ($1,120) in damages to each of the 12 people he sued.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Greek police stopped a truck with stolen license plates and found 59 undocumented migrants inside. The migrants told police they had paid 1,500 euros ($1,690) each to a trafficker in Turkey who helped them cross into Greece by boat, before boarding the truck.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, In India Priyanka Chaturvedi, a spokeswoman for India's main opposition Congress party, quit and joined a group allied with PM Narendra Modi's ruling party, complaining that misbehavior toward her by male Congress members was ignored.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, Israeli forces bulldozed two apartments belonging to the father of Arafat Erfayieh in the West Bank city of Hebron. Erfaiyeh was arrested and charged in February with the killing of Ori Ansbacher (19).
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Italy serial killer nurse Fausta Bonino was sentenced to life in prison for killing four patients although police suspect she could have been responsible for as many as 10 fatalities.
(AFP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Japan a car driven by an 87-year-old man smashed into pedestrians at a Tokyo intersection, killing a woman and a girl on a bicycle and overturning a garbage truck. Eight other people were injured. The driver was taken to a hospital.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Mexico 13 people, including a child, were killed when a group of unidentified gunmen opened fire on a party in the eastern state of Veracruz.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, Montenegrin military police seized around 50 kg of drugs on board a naval training ship, hours before it was scheduled to take students on a training cruise.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Nicaragua Good Friday religious processions in Managua took on a political tone as people seized a rare opportunity to renew protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, A Peruvian judge ordered former Pres. Pablo Kuczynski be jailed for up to three years as authorities investigate his alleged involvement in the Odebrecht corruption case.
(SFC, 4/20/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 19, In the Philippines several Roman Catholic devotees were nailed to wooden crosses in a gory Good Friday ritual, and others flogged themselves or took part in religious plays to reenact Jesus Christ's suffering.
(AP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Russia nine people were hospitalized in critical condition after a fire engulfed the Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNK) petrochemical complex in the Republic of Tatarstan.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Sudan thousands of protesters demanding an end to military rule flocked to the sit-in outside the Defence Ministry in the biggest turnout in Khartoum, since last week when former Pres. Omar al-Bashir was ousted and a military council took over.
(Reuters, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 19, In Thailand a three-day festival began in Buriram town, the latest showcase for the use of cannabis for pain relief. Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize marijuana for medical purposes last year.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, Four Turkish soldiers and 20 armed assailants were killed in clashes between the military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) near the border with Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 19, The UN said it had evacuated 163 refugees from war-ravaged Libya to neighboring Niger, but more than 3,000 others were still trapped in detention centers affected by clashes.
(AFP, 4/19/19)
2019 Apr 20, The US launched a $183 million clean-up at a former Vietnam storage site for Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant used in their bitter war which years later is still blamed for severe birth defects, cancers and disabilities.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, The FBI arrested Larry Hopkins (69), a member of an armed group of US citizens who have been stopping migrants illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in New Mexico. Hopkins had represented himself as the commander of the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP), a volunteer group camped out near Sunland Park since late February. Hopkins was soon indicted on charges of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 20, NYC police found Savannah Rivera (20) nearly decapitated in an apartment in Brooklyn. Another woman was hospitalized in critical condition. Police soon arrested Jerry Brown (34) on charges of murder.
(SFC, 4/22/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 20, In Afghanistan a suicide blast rocked Kabul during a gun battle with security forces, killing at least seven people. Gunmen attacked the communications ministry in the center of Kabul. At least three attackers battled security forces for several hours before the attack was finally suppressed.
(AP, 4/20/19)(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, The DR Congo army fought off an attack by a Mai-Mai rebel group on the Katwa hospital near the city of Butembo, killing one militiaman.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Egyptians voted in a 3-day referendum that aims to cement the rule of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (64), the former coup leader who presents himself as a rock of stability in a turbulent region.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In France clashes broke out between dozens of demonstrators and police in Paris on the 23rd Saturday of yellow-vest protests after authorities warned that rioters could return to the French capital to spark a new wave of violence.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi led a one-day summit between Iraq and its six neighbors: Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Jordan, and Kuwait, in an effort to bridge relations and invest in Iraq.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In Iraq an American service member died in a "non-combat incident" in Ninawa Province.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Kosovo authorities announced they have brought back from Syria 110 Kosovar citizens, mostly women and children, with the assistance of the United States.
(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In Libya heavy clashes broke out in the southern districts of Tripoli. The UN health agency said at least 15 more people died in fighting over control of Libya's capital in the past two days, bringing the total to 220 dead including civilians.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)(AP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In central Mali a UN peacekeeper was killed and four others wounded when a mine exploded as their convoy passed close to the Burkina Faso border.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, Police in Northern Ireland arrested two teenagers in connection with the April 18 fatal shooting of journalist Lyra McKee during rioting in the city of Londonderry. Both teens were released the next day without being charged.
(AP, 4/20/19)(SFC, 4/22/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 20, The Saudi-led coalition launched an air raid on a cave in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, used by Huthi rebels to stockpile drones.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, South Sudan's opposition called for a six-month extension to implement next steps in a fragile peace deal as a major deadline approaches next month to form a power-sharing government between the president and his longtime rival.
(AP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 20, It was reported that Sudan's military intelligence had searched ousted Pres. Omar al-Bashir's home and found suitcases loaded with more than $351,000 and six million euros, as well as five million Sudanese pounds.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, In Syria jihadists linked to a former Al-Qaeda affiliate attacked loyalist checkpoints and positions on the western edges of the northern city of Aleppo, killing 13 pro-Assad fighters. A monitor said Jihadists have killed almost 50 Syrian regime fighters in 48 hours.
(AFP, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 20, The Thai navy boarded the floating cabin of a fugitive US citizen and his Thai girlfriend, both prominent members of the "seasteading" movement who possibly face the death sentence for setting up their offshore home. Thai authorities said the structure is in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone and therefore a violation of its sovereignty.
(Reuters, 4/20/19)
2019 Apr 21, The Arab League pledged to pay $100 million a month to the Palestinian Authority to plug the gap left when Israel blocked tax transfers earlier in the year.
(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 21, Two rescuers drowned off the coast of Australia's Victoria state when their boat flipped over during an attempt to help a man who was swept into the ocean from a rock ledge.
(Reuters, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa reinstated the citizenship of 551 people convicted and stripped of their nationality amid a series of mass trials conducted during the island nation's years long crackdown on dissent.
(AP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, In China a fire erupted in a Tesla car in an underground garage in Shanghai. Tesla later said the fire was caused by the failure of a single battery module and investigators found no defects in the car's systems.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Apr 21, Georgian police used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a protest by residents of a mountainous region against the construction of a hydropower plant.
(Reuters, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, An Iraqi court sentenced four people to death by hanging for belonging to the Islamic State militant group and committing terrorist crimes in Iraq and Syria.
(AP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Macedonians vote in a presidential election. The ruling Social Democrat party's favored candidate Stevo Pendarovski garnered 42.85 percent of the votes and the opposition-backed Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova 42.24 percent. Only 41.8 percent of the state's 1.8-million registered voters cast ballots, barely passing the 40-percent threshold that will also be required to make the runoff on May 5 valid.
(Reuters, 4/21/19)(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 21, In central Mali suspected jihadists killed at least 12 soldiers in an attack on a military outpost at Guire.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Pakistani PM Imran Khan began his first official visit to Iran for talks set to focus on strengthening ties and countering terrorism.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced three billion dollars (2.7 billion euros) in financial support for Sudan following the overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, In Saudi Arabia four gunmen were killed and three security officers were wounded in an attack on a security building in Zulfi north of Riyadh. The assault was soon claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group. Saudi authorities arrested 13 "terrorist" suspects the next day.
(AP, 4/21/19)(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 21, In Sri Lanka at least 257 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in bomb blasts that rocked 3 churches and 3 luxury hotels in or near Colombo on Easter Sunday. The bombings were carried out by seven suicide bombers from a militant group named National Thowfeek Jamaath. Two bomb experts were among the suicide attackers. The government declared a curfew with immediate effect. Major social media networks and messaging apps were blocked inside the country to prevent misinformation and rumors. The dead included 39 foreigners from 9 countries. Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen lost three of his four children in the attacks. The number killed was later set at 269.
(AP, 4/21/19)(Reuters, 4/21/19)(AP, 4/22/19)(AFP, 4/22/19)(AP, 5/07/19)(Econ., 8/15/20, p.36)
2019 Apr 21, Sudan's military leader vowed the army was committed to handing power to the people, as a protesters' deadline for unveiling a rival civilian council loomed. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan pledged to respond to demonstrators' demands within a week.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 21, Ukrainians cast ballots in a presidential runoff. Opinion surveys ahead of the election showed President Petro Poroshenko (53) trailing far behind comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy (41). Zelenskiy won 73% of the vote compared to incumbent President Petro Poroshenko's 24%. Zelenskiy, a Russian speaker from central Ukraine, vowed to step up efforts to bring the east back under Kiev's wing, but offered no details on what that entailed.
(AP, 4/21/19)(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 21, It was reported that the price of bread almost doubled for Zimbabweans last week, as the inflation nightmare that marked the rule of long-time authoritarian leader Robert Mugabe returns to haunt his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa.
(AFP, 4/21/19)
2019 Apr 22, The Trump administration said that it will no longer exempt any countries from US sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil, stepping up pressure on Iran. The decision means sanctions waivers for five nations, including China and India and US treaty allies Japan, South Korea and Turkey, won't be renewed when they expire on May 2. China, one of Iran's largest customers, slammed the step, calling it more evidence of US "unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction." Iran's commander of the Revolutionary Guards' navy said Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz if Tehran is barred from using it.
(AP, 4/22/19)(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 71 more cases of measles were reported last week, with 68 of them from New York, where most of the cases have been from unvaccinated people in Orthodox Jewish communities.
(SFC, 4/23/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 22, In the SF Bay Area Joel Ortiz (21) of Boston was sentenced to ten years in prison for stealing more than $7.5 million in cryptocurrency from at least 40 victims.
(SFC, 4/23/19, p.C4)
2019 Apr 22, In central Texas a small plane crashed as it approached Kerville Municipal Airport. All six aboard were killed including philanthropist Jeffrey C. Weiss (65), the co-owner and pilot of the Beechcraft BE58.
(SFC, 4/23/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 22, In Afghanistan fighting erupted in two districts of the eastern Afghan border province of Nangarhar, when Islamic State fighters attacked villages under Taliban control.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 22, In Afghanistan an explosion at a coal mine in the northern province of Samangan killed at least seven miners.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Albania police said they have arrested four suspects over the theft of some 5 million euros ($5.6 million) from a passenger plane at the country's only international airport. The cash has not been recovered.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 21, Algerian state TV said five local billionaires, some of them close to former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika who quit over mass protests, have been arrested as part of an anti-graft investigation.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, In Bolivia a bus crashed head-on with another vehicle and plunged down a deep ravine, killing at least 17 people and leaving 15 others injured in the northern town of Yolosa.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Prominent Bosnian Serb businessman Slavisa Krunic, who owns a private security firm, was shot dead late today along with his bodyguard in what local media described as a mafia-style execution that sparked a shootout. One of the attackers was killed and Krunic's driver sustained serious injuries.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 22, London police said the number of environmental campaigners arrested during eight days of direct action topped 1,000, adding that Waterloo Bridge, one of the sites blockaded by the protests, had re-opened to traffic.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand met at the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet to mark the ceremonial reopening of a rail link that will restore train service between the two countries after more than four decades.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Cypriot authorities searched a flooded mineshaft where two dead female bodies have been discovered as well as a nearby lake for further bodies. A suspect in the killings, a 35 year-old Greek Cypriot military officer, remained in custody.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Egyptians voted for a third and final day on constitutional changes that could keep President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in power until 2030.
(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that a new joint security force with Pakistan will be formed to combat militants based along the two countries' shared border.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Iraqi officials said more $64 million dollars in public funds were embezzled by Mosul officials close to the province's sacked governor in the wake of last month's ferry sinking. Governor Nawfel Akoub has since gone on the run. Just six million dollars were recovered by the government.
(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Japanese prosecutors said they have indicted Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn on fresh breach of trust charges that expand their allegations of financial misconduct outside Japan.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita appointed finance minister Boubou Cisse as prime minister, days after the government resigned following pressure to respond to the vigilante massacre of about 160 Fulani herders which shocked the nation.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, In southern Mexico a surprise raid by police and immigration agents detained 367 migrants in Chiapas state. Hundreds of other migrants scrambled away into the brush along the highway to elude authorities.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 22, In northern Myanmar more than 50 people were believed to have died late today in a mudslide at a jade mining site in the Hpakant area of Kachin state.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 22, In Pakistan hundreds of school children were taken to hospitals complaining of nausea and vomiting after being given polio vaccinations. Angry family members responded by storming a local health facility in Peshawar and setting it ablaze.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, In the northern Philippines a magnitude 6.1 earthquake killed at least 11 people and trapped others in a collapsed building that housed a supermarket in Pampanga province. A number of people remained unaccounted for at the collapsed Chuzon supermarket.
(AP, 4/22/19)(SFC, 4/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 22, Qatar opened the first prosthetic hospital and a disability rehab center in the Gaza Strip, overcoming obstacles that delayed the much-needed project.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Saudi Arabia said it had arrested 13 individuals in connection with planning attacks in the kingdom, a day after security forces said they had thwarted an attack north of the capital. Four alleged Islamic State militants were killed in that attack.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Tensions escalated in Sudan after talks broke down between protesters and the country's military rulers, who called for the reopening of roads blocked by sit-ins established during the uprising that drove President Omar al-Bashir from power.
(AP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 22, Ugandan police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse supporters of popular musician and lawmaker Bobi Wine after they gathered at a beach resort near Kampala where he was planning to hold a news conference and stage a concert. Police detained Wine after shutting down one of his concerts.
(Reuters, 4/22/19)(AFP, 4/22/19)
2019 Apr 23, A White House official said Pres. Donald Trump would not comply with a deadline set by House Democrats to release his tax returns to Congress. The Treasury Dept. missed the first deadline and Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin said he needed more time to study the lawfulness of the request.
(SFC, 4/24/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 23, In the SF Bay Area Isaiah Peoples (34) deliberately drove into a crowd of people in Sunnyvale, injuring eight. Police later said he did so because he thought they were Muslim. A lawyer described peoples as a military veteran possibly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 23, In Boston Derrick Semedo (26) of New Hampshire pleaded guilty to smuggling rare lizards from the Philippines to the US in 2016 by hiding them in socks and placing them inside electronic equipment.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, Manuel Franco of West Allis, Wisconsin, stepped forward to claim a $768 million Powerball prize.
(SFC, 4/24/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 23, Thousands of Algerian students marched through the capital calling for the overthrow of the "system" and trials for members of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's inner circle. State media said Issad Rebrab (74), the country's richest man, has been detained in jail on the public prosecutor's orders, a day after his arrest as part of a corruption probe. Forbes magazine has listed Rebrab as Algeria's richest man and the sixth-wealthiest in Africa, with a net worth of $3.38 billion in 2019.
(AP, 4/23/19)(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, African leaders meeting in Cairo agreed to give Sudan's ruling military council three months to implement democratic reforms, amid pressure for a quick handover of power to civilians.
(Reuters, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Egyptian authorities said the amendments to extend the president's rule to 2030 were approved by 88.83% of voters, with turnout of 44.33%. Human Rights Watch said the three-day vote on a set of constitutional amendments, which concluded a day earlier, was "marred by serious flaws," including reports of citizens being forced to vote or bribed with food and money.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, France's top administrative court rejected demands by Syria-based French women to be repatriated back to France, arguing that a judge could not rule on the issue given it involved negotiations with foreign authorities.
(Reuters, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, In India one person was killed as people in the third phase of the country's general election. A man (52) was hacked to death with a cleaver as two groups clashed during voting in Murshidabad constituency in West Bengal state.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill that labels all US military forces as terrorist, a day after Washington ratcheted up pressure on Tehran by announcing that no country would any longer be exempt from US sanctions if it continues to buy Iranian oil.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, The World Health Organization said at least 264 people have been killed and 1,266 wounded since April 4, including civilians, in an offensive by military strongman Khalifa Haftar to seize Libya's capital Tripoli. The UN said fighting in Libya's capital has reached Qasr Ben Ghashir detention center holding some 890 refugees and migrants.
(AFP, 4/23/19)(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, The World Health Organization said Malawi has become the first country to begin immunizing children against malaria, using the only licensed vaccine to protect against the mosquito-spread disease. The vaccine, known as Mosquirix, was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2015.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Myanmar's Supreme Court rejected the final appeal of two Reuters journalists and upheld seven-year prison sentences for their reporting on the military's brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, New Zealand said it will grant permanent residency to all survivors of the mass shooting at two Christchurch mosques in which 50 Muslim worshippers were killed.
(Reuters, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, The Northern Ireland Police Service arrested a woman (57) under the Terrorism Act in the April 18 slaying of journalist Lyra McKee. The New Irish Republican Army admitted responsibility for the McKee's death and offered its sincere apologies to her partner, family and friends.
(AP, 4/23/19)(SFC, 4/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 23, Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte threatened to ship containers of garbage back to Canada and dump some at the country's embassy in Manila if Canadian officials don't take back waste that Filipino officials say was illegally shipped to Manila years ago.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, In the central Philippines a new magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Eastern Samar province, a day after a magnitude 6.1 quake rattled the country's north and left at least 16 people dead.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Teachers from across Poland gathered in Warsaw to demand higher wages in a dispute that is emerging as another political fissure in a deeply divided society.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Saudi Arabia executed 37 of its citizens convicted of terrorism, three years after another mass execution that ultimately led to a break in relations with Iran.
(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, A top Sri Lanka official said the Easter bombings that killed 321 people were carried out by a Islamic fundamentalists in apparent retaliation for the New Zealand mosque massacres last month by a white supremacist. The comments came shortly before IS asserted it was responsible for the bombings in and outside of Colombo.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Sudanese activists held nationwide protests to press the military to hand over power to a civilian authority after the overthrow of Pres. Omar al-Bashir earlier this month.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, In northern Tanzania a landslide triggered by rains killed at least three people at a mine in Arusha and left several people injured.
(Reuters, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Ugandan police placed pop star MP Bobi Wine under "preventive arrest" as the fiery government critic warned his opposition movement would not be cowed into silence.
(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, Uganda accepted delivery of the first two Bombardier CRJ900 jet airliners purchased in a bid to relaunch Uganda Airlines, nearly two decades after the East African country's national carrier collapsed.
(AFP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, The UAE city of Sharjah took up the mantle as UNESCO's World Book Capital for 2019 late today, launching a series of cultural programs aimed at both locals and expatriates.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 23, A UN panel overseeing compensation claims by countries and organizations affected by Iraq's 1990-1991 invasion of Kuwait said it has paid $240 million to the Gulf state's national oil company.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 23, A UN-commissioned report said the war in Yemen has set back its development by more than 20 years.
(AP, 4/23/19)
2019 Apr 24, President Donald Trump said the US is sending armed soldiers to the southern border after Mexican soldiers recently "pulled guns" on US troops.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Authorities in Illinois dug up the body of Andrew Freund (5) in McHenry County and charged his parents with murder.
(SFC, 4/25/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 24, It was reported that Ford Motor Co. is sinking a half-billion dollars into electric vehicle startup Rivian in a deal that has the companies working together on a new Ford electric vehicle based on Rivian underpinnings. In September Amazon said it will order 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian.
(AP, 4/24/19)(https://tinyurl.com/y5pv4wy3)
2019 Apr 24, The World Health Organization issued its first guidance for how much screen time children under five should get; not very much, and none at all for those under one.
(SFC, 4/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 24, Algeria's private channel Ennahar TV reported that four brothers from the Kouninef family, tycoons close to former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, have been placed in temporary custody by a judge. The four were arrested together with Algeria's wealthiest businessman, Issad Rebrab, on April 22 as part of an anti-graft investigation.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Australia Anthony Robert Harvey (25) pleaded guilty to murdering his three children, wife and mother-in-law in the west coast city of Perth last year.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Brazil thousands of indigenous people decorated with traditional feathers and body paint converged on Brasilia to defend hard-won land rights many fear could be eroded by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Britain said it will allow Huawei Technologies a restricted role in building parts of its 5G network, seeking a middle way in a bitter dispute between the United States and China over the next generation of communications technology. Britain would block Huawei from all core parts of the 5G network and access to non-core parts would be restricted.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Britain's prolific theatre director Peter Brook (94) won Spain's top arts prize, the Princess of Asturias award, as "one of the great renovators of the performing arts".
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, China announced that it has formally arrested former Interpol President Meng Hongwei on suspicion of accepting bribes.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, China's government rejected accusations that it steals technology. A day earlier Xiaoqing Zheng, a former employee of GE's power division, and Zhaoxi Zhang, a businessman in northeastern China, were indicted in the US on charges of industrial spying.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, An Egyptian court sentenced two former monks to death for killing Bishop Epiphanius in a desert monastery north of Cairo last year.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, France held its first "national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide." French PM Edouard Philippe declared France wanted to contribute to having the massacre internationally recognized as a crime against humanity.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 24, A court in Hong Kong handed down prison sentences of up to 16 months to eight leaders of massive 2014 pro-democracy protests on public nuisance offenses.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Michael Wolf (64), an award-winning photographer known for his work depicting megacities, died at his home in Hong Kong.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 24, An Indian state court moved to lift a ban on popular video app TikTok in the country, in a boost for its developer Beijing Bytedance Technology Co., reversing its April 3 decision pushing for the ban. The southern state of Tamil Nadu had ordered the federal government to prohibit TikTok downloads, saying the app was encouraging pornography and could expose children to sexual predators.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Japan's government apologized to tens of thousands of people who were forcibly sterilized (1948-1996) under a now-defunct Eugenics Protection Law which was designed to "prevent the birth of poor-quality descendants," and promised to pay them compensation. The parliament earlier today enacted legislation to provide redress, including 3.2 million yen ($28,600) in compensation for each victim.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, A Kenyan court found British national Jermaine Grant, in custody since 2011, guilty of possessing bomb-making materials. Grant is believed to be part of an al-Shabab-linked cell that planned multiple attacks over Christmas in 2011. Grant's former flatmate Samantha Lewthwaite, whose husband Germaine Lindsay killed 26 people in a suicide bombing on the Piccadilly Line of London Underground in 2005, is still at large and wanted in Kenya on charges of possession of explosives and conspiracy.
(AP, 4/24/19)(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Libyan PM Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the internationally-recognized government in Tripoli, angrily denounced France for supporting rival Khalifa Haftar, underlining the growing diplomatic tensions over the recent fighting there.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Myanmar police raided a 20-acre hemp site and detained US national John Fredric Todoroki, (63) and two Myanmar nationals under an anti-narcotics law. It was unclear whether Myanmar law distinguishes hemp from marijuana. A lawyer said Todoroki had received official permission to establish the hemp plantation.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 24, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in the Russian city of Vladivostok or a summit he is likely to use to seek support from President Vladimir Putin while Pyongyang's nuclear talks with Washington are in limbo.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Pakistan recorded two new polio cases in the country's northwest despite efforts against the crippling disease. Gunmen in Bannu killed a policeman protecting polio workers during a three-day nationwide polio drive.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Abassi Madani (88), founder of Algeria's banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS),died in Qatar where he lived in exile. Madani was imprisoned in 1991 and only called for an end to the violence in 1999, when his group said it was laying down its arms. Madani had been living in Qatar since 2003. He had fled into exile after serving a 12-year prison sentence in Algeria.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order simplifying the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine, prompting an angry response from Kiev. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin denounced the Russian move.
(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, It was reported that devastating floods in South Africa have left 51 dead and forced more than a thousand people from their homes, according to an updated toll as President Cyril Ramaphosa flew to the deluged region.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, In Spain former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell was acquitted of money laundering charges after spending nearly two years in prison. Court officials said there was not enough evidence for a guilty verdict on charges related to the sale of television rights for matches involving the Brazilian national soccer team.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, Sri Lanka's president asked for the resignations of the defense secretary and national police chief, a dramatic internal shake-up after security forces shrugged off intelligence reports warning of possible attacks before Easter bombings that killed at least 359 people.
(AP, 4/24/19)(Reuters, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, In northwest Syria a powerful explosion killed 15 people including more than a dozen civilians the town of Jisr al-Shughur in the jihadist-held region of Idlib.
(AFP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 24, At least 21 Venezuelans were missing after their boat sank on the way to the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Four of the 25 aboard the boat were rescued by the Trinidad and Tobago coast guard and returned to Venezuela.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 24, Yemeni security officials said police have detained at least 5,000 migrants over the last 10 days who were attempting to cross to Saudi Arabia. The migrants, most of them from African countries, were being held in overcrowded police stations across the southern city of Aden and had reportedly launched a hunger strike.
(AP, 4/24/19)
2019 Apr 25, Former US vice president Joe Biden ended the speculation by jumping into a crowded Democratic field as an immediate frontrunner in the battle to oust President Donald Trump in 2020.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, A US federal judge issued a nationwide injunction temporarily blocking a controversial Trump administration rule that would bar organizations that provide abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning money.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 25, The Office of the US Trade Representative said that Alibaba's on-line marketplace Taobao.com continues sell "high volumes" of pirated goods, according to companies that say they've been victimized. It also said that Alibaba has "ineffective" procedures for removing counterfeit products. The trade office also added Saudi Arabia to its yearly "priority watchlist" of countries that don't adequately protect intellectual property.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, It was reported that international thieves from Chile are suspected of committing hundreds of burglaries across southern California after obtaining visa waivers to enter the US.
(SFC, 4/25/19, p.A8)
2019 Apr 25, In Colorado four people were killed when a semi-truck hauling lumber plowed into vehicles on I-70 near Denver causing a fire. The death toll in the 28-vehicle pileup was not confirmed until the next day due to the devastation caused by the fire. In 2021 truck driver Rogel Lazaro Aguilera Mederos (25) was convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A4)(AP, 10/15/21)
2019 Apr 25, In southern Florida Luis Clarke (38), a part-time youth pastor at Abrazo tu Sueno Church in Pembroke Pines, was arrested and charged with sexual battery of a minor. He had coerced a girl (15) into having sex by threatening to turn her family in to immigration officials.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 25, In northern Louisiana an overnight tornado devastated the town of Ruston and left two people dead.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 25, US federal agents raided the homes and City Hall offices of Baltimore's embattled Mayor Catherine Pugh, amid widening investigations to determine whether she used bulk sales of her obscure self-published children's books to disguise kickbacks.
(SFC, 4/26/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 25, US federal judges ruled that Michigan must redraw dozens of congressional and legislative districts because Republicans unconstitutionally configured them to their political dominance.
(SFC, 4/26/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 25, Amnesty International and the Airwars monitoring group reported that intensive US-led coalition bombardment on the Syrian city of Raqa killed more than 1,600 civilians over four months in 2017.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In western Afghanistan the Taliban ambushed a security convoy, killing nine policemen. In Kabul a would-be attacker died when a bomb he was trying to plant at a private university detonated prematurely. A raid on the Taliban-run jail in Zabul province's Daychopan district late today killed eight insurgents. Among 53 freed captives were four Afghan commandos and four policemen. The rest were civilians.
(AP, 4/25/19)(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, A Bahraini rights group said that sexual abuse and torture have been widespread and systematic in jails in the Gulf island nation during a yearslong crackdown.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, More than 300 activists of the Extinction Rebellion group sowed chaos through London's financial district, gluing themselves to the stock exchange and blocking roads outside the Bank of England and major banks such as Goldman Sachs.
(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, The Norwegian Refugee Council said tens of thousands of people are living in the bush without humanitarian aid in Cameroon after two years of fighting between separatists and government forces that has failed to attract widespread international support.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In central Canada rising waters were prompting further evacuations, with the mayor of the country's capital, Ottawa, declaring a state of emergency and Quebec authorities warning that a hydroelectric dam was at risk of breaking.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, Cyclone Kenneth lashed the East African island nation of Comoros overnight, killing three people, and swept toward flood-battered Mozambique.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In Cyprus Nicos Metaxas (35), a Greek Cypriot army officer, admitted to killing four more people than he had previously admitted to. The suspect also pointed investigators to a military firing range, where they discovered another unidentified body.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, Weather experts warned of drought in Europe over its summer as firefighters tackled forest fires in Germany, Norway and Sweden. In Austria the first signs of drought have already appeared in the east and north, raising fears of another bleak harvest. In the Czech Republic 99 percent of the country has already been hit by drought over the last five weeks.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, French President Emmanuel Macron promised a new round of tax cuts worth 5.0 billion euros ($5.5 billion) as part of a raft of measures in answer to five months of anti-government street protests over the high cost of living.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, In Japan former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn emerged from his Tokyo detention center late today after accepting bail of $4.5 million under strict conditions including restrictions on seeing his wife.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon confirmed the existence of a third cross-border tunnel, out of six the Israeli military said it discovered in the area last year.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, The International Committee of the Red Cross said intensified fighting for control of the Libyan capital is turning residential areas of Tripoli into "battlefields".
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In southern Mexico at least 1,300 mainly Cuban migrants escaped from a detention center in Chiapas after threatening to set fire to the facility to protest against overcrowding. 700 soon returned, but around 600 others were unaccounted for.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, In Mozambique a powerful tropical cyclone began to make landfall, just six weeks after Cyclone Idai devastated the central part of the country and left hundreds dead.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, In Nigeria two Royal Dutch Shell oil workers were kidnapped, and their police escorts killed, in the restive Delta region.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, In southwestern Pakistan gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on female polio vaccination workers in the town of Chaman, killing one and wounding the other.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, The head of the Polish Teachers' Union said it will suspend a strike that has closed most Polish schools for nearly three weeks in order to allow end-of-year exams to go forward. He said the strike for higher pay for teachers will end April 27, but it will be resumed in September.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un confirmed during their first summit he is willing to give up his nuclear weapons, but only if he gets an ironclad guarantee of security beforehand.
(AP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to restore full relations with Kiev, after a political novice won the Ukraine presidential election.
(AFP, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, A South African official said almost 70 people have been killed in South Africa after torrential rains along the eastern coast.
(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, Sri Lankan authorities drastically revised the number of people killed in the near-simultaneous blasts at churches and luxury hotels in and around Colombo and in the distant seaside town of Batticaloa — from 359 a day earlier to around 250.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 25, Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council said it will retain "sovereign authority only", while civilians will hold the post of prime minister and head all government ministries.
(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, Tunisian police stormed the offices of the private Nesna television station and cut it off the air over accusations it had breached broadcasting rules, which the channel called an attempt to silence its voice criticizing the government.
(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 25, Ukraine's parliament approved a controversial law to enhance the status of the Ukrainian language at the expense of Russian. Russia slammed the move as "scandalous." The law was championed by outgoing President Petro Poroshenko.
(AFP, 4/25/19)(Reuters, 4/25/19)
2019 Apr 26, President Donald Trump said that the US did not pay $2 million to North Korea in 2017 to get American college student Otto Warmbier released from detention.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, President Donald Trump expressed confidence that a bilateral trade deal between the US and Japan can be reached quickly despite ongoing differences over tariffs as he opened talks with PM Shinzo Abe at the White House.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Washington DC Maria Butina, the only Russian arrested and convicted in the three-year investigation of Moscow's interference in US politics, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and a judge, Carol Padilla.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In southern California Army veteran Mark Domingo (26) was arrested after visiting a park in Long Beach where authorities said he planned to plant homemade explosive devices in advance of a Nazi rally scheduled for April 28.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 26, Kansas' highest court ruled that the state Constitution protects abortion rights and blocked a first-in-the-nation ban on a common second trimester method for ending pregnancies.
(SFC, 4/27/19, p.A4)
2019 Apr 26, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated the country's new parliament, almost six months since elections were held and following long delays, unresolved disputes and political bickering.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Algerian protesters vowed to keep up the pressure on the regime left behind by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, staging a tenth consecutive weekly mass rally after a string of people close to the toppled president were sacked or arrested over alleged graft.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Brussels thousands of trade union members protested outside EU headquarters to demand better working conditions and protections for employees after next month's EU-wide elections.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Thousands of indigenous Brazilians turned up for a march in Brasilia, protesting ministerial changes implemented by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro that they say are hurting their people.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, London and Dublin announced a fresh attempt to revive Northern Ireland's devolved power-sharing institutions following the killing of a journalist by republican paramilitaries. Northern Ireland, part of the UK, has been without its semi-autonomous government since January 2017 following a breakdown in trust between its main parties.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In eastern Burkina Faso five teachers were shot to death.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 26, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to set high standards for Beijing's sweeping infrastructure-building initiative at the opening ceremony of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing. Fellow leaders praised the effort despite worries it leaves some developing countries with too much debt.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Human Rights Watch called on China and Pakistan to take action to end bride trafficking, warning in an April 26 statement of "increasing evidence that Pakistani women and girls are at risk of sexual slavery in China".
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 Apr 26, A special peace tribunal in Colombia for the first time ordered the arrest of Hernan Velasquez, a former FARC rebel, for failing to contribute to reconciliation efforts mandated by the country's peace deal.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Ecuador an indigenous Amazon tribe won an early court victory in its fight to stop oil extraction in its ancestral territory. A judge in a provincial court determined that the Waorani people have a right to be consulted before any oil drilling takes place.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi said the European Medicines Agency had conditionally approved its anti-cancer drug Libtayo, the first drug of its kind to be authorized for use in the EU. The tumor-reducing drug is aimed at patients with the second most common form of skin cancer, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), whose cancer is advanced, and who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, German energy company RWE says it won't invest in new coal-fired power stations and is scrapping plans for a lignite-fired plant in western Germany. RWE, which operates several of Europe's most-polluting power plants, said in a statement that it will now focus on generating electricity from renewable sources.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Mexico expressed fresh concern to the United States about delays in the movement of goods and people across their border, after becoming Washington's biggest trade partner for the first time earlier this year.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, Mexico imposed a three-year ban on scandal-tainted Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht from participating in federal contracts.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, Cyclone Kenneth ripped off roofs in Mozambique and killed at least three people as the UN warned of "massive flooding" ahead. Over the next 10 days, the storm is expected to dump twice as much rain as Cyclone Idai did last month.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Myanmar began releasing prisoners after the president announced he would pardon nearly 7,000 people in addition to thousands released earlier this month.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Police in Northern Ireland released footage of immediately before and after the April 18 shooting of journalist Lyra McKee showing three men who were involved in the rioting and identified one as the gunman who they believe is in his late teens.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Poland signed an agreement with Italy's Leonardo to buy four AW101 helicopters for its navy in a deal worth 1.65 billion zlotys ($428 million).
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region a US air strike killed three fighters from the Islamic State on the outskirts of Timirshe village.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, In South Korea K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun (32) was arrested on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Sri Lankan police worked to track down 140 people believed linked to Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed 253, as shooting erupted in the east during a raid. Catholic churches in Sri Lanka canceled all Sunday Masses until further notice over concerns that they remain a top target of Islamic State-linked extremists.
(Reuters, 4/26/19)(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Sri Lanka militants linked to Easter suicide bombings opened fire and set off explosives during a raid late today by security forces on a house in the country's east. The gunbattle left 15 dead, including six children. The father and two brothers of the suspected mastermind of the Easter Sunday bombings were among those killed when security forces stormed their safe house on the east coast.
(AP, 4/27/19)(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 26, Thousands of Sudanese protesters performed the weekly Muslim prayers outside army headquarters, a day after a vast crowd of demonstrators flooded Khartoum to demand the military rulers cede power.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Scandinavian airline SAS pilots went on strike as wage talks broke down, grounding around 70 percent of the airline's flights and hitting some 170,000 people over the weekend alone. SAS is part-owned by the Swedish and Danish governments.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, An avalanche in southern Switzerland killed four German skiers near the village of Fieschertal.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 26, In northwestern Syria Russian strikes killed 10 civilians in Idlib province, the hub of territory held by the jihadists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 26, In Turkey Istanbul prosecutors ordered the detention of 210 military personnel over suspected links to the network blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed 2016 military coup.
(AP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, Separatist officials in rebel-held eastern Ukraine said a methane blast at a coal mine has killed at least four people and 13 others are believed to be missing. The death toll soon rose to 17.
(AP, 4/26/19)(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 26, The UN's International Labour Organization said Qatar is set to abolish its controversial exit visa system for all foreign workers by the end of the year.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, A UN spokesperson said more than 7,000 people have left a desperate desert camp for displaced Syrians near the Jordanian border since March. Around 36,000 people remained in the isolated Rukban camp near Al-Tanf base used by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 26, The UN migration agency said Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, "creating an acute humanitarian situation".
(Reuters, 4/26/19)
2019 Apr 27, US Navy Rear Admiral John Ring was removed as commander, Joint Task Force-Guantanamo "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command." 40 "war on terror" detainees were still being held there after 17 years.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 27, Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North announced that he will not serve a second term as president of the National Rifle Association. This followed his failed attempt to force out NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre.
(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 27, In southern California a shooting attack at a synagogue in Poway, north of San Diego, left Lori Gilbert-Kaye (60) dead and three injured. Suspect John Earnest (19) had used an AR-type assault weapon and was soon arrested. Prosecutors in 2020 planned to seek the death penalty. In 2021 Earnest pleaded guilty and faced life in prison without parole.
(AFP, 4/28/19)(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A5)(SFC, 3/7/20, p.A5)(SFC, 7/21/21, p.A6)
2019 Apr 27, Tennessee authorities captured Michael Cummins (25), a suspect in the deaths of five people found slain at two homes in Sumner County. Police soon raise the death toll to seven.
(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A5)(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 27, In Seattle, Wa., a construction crane collapsed from a building on Google's new campus killing four people.
(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 27, In Cameroon jihadists from Nigeria's Boko Haram killed at least four people and badly wounded four others in an attack on Kofia, an island on Lake Chad.
(AFP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 27, China's President Xi Jinping at the end of a 2-day summit hailed deals worth more than $64 billion signed during China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) this week as he sought to reassure skeptics the project will deliver sustainable growth for all involved.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In France "yellow vest" demonstrations took place for the 214th consecutive week to challenge the economic policies of Pres. Emmanuel Macron.
(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A3)
2019 Apr 27, Indonesia's navy intercepted a Vietnamese fishing vessel in waters off Indonesia's Natuna island chain. One of its patrol vessels was rammed by two Vietnamese coast guard ships after intercepting the fishing boat. Indonesia detained 12 Vietnamese fishermen from the boat, which sank in the clash.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Morocco 16 African migrants from various countries were killed in a vehicle crash between the coastal cities of Saidia and Nador. 17 others were injured.
(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 27, Mozambican officials urged those living near two rivers in the country's north to move to higher ground, as Cyclone Kenneth dumped heavy rains and caused some flooding. The death toll from Kenneth rose to five.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, Pakistani health officials suspended a nationwide anti-polio campaign after a health worker and two policemen escorting vaccination teams were killed in separate attacks across the country in less than a week. The decision to halt the campaign came after two new polio cases were reported in the country's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Pakistan a bomb blast near the Afghan border killed three security personnel in North Waziristan.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 27, Peru's government said former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is to spend three years under house arrest while corruption charges are prepared against him for allegedly taking bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 27, Scandinavian airline SAS canceled hundreds of flights scheduled for April 28 as a pilot strike entered its second day, disrupting the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers.
(Reuters, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, Sri Lanka's government banned the militant National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ) under new emergency laws.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 27, Sadiq al-Mahdi, former Sudanese prime minister and top opposition leader called for Sudan to join the International Criminal Court which has indicted its ousted president Omar al-Bashir, as protesters and the military met to discuss civilian rule.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Syria attacks by two jihadist groups early today killed at least 22 government troops and militiamen in the northern province of Aleppo. Eight insurgents were also killed. The fighting subsided after Russian aircraft struck jihadist positions in the area. Russia aircraft also carried out strikes in neighboring Hama province, killing five civilians.
(AFP, 4/27/19)(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.A3)
2019 Apr 27, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen reaffirmed her opposition to nuclear power before marching with anti-nuclear protesters, reviving an issue that has proven politically divisive in the past.
(AP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Tunisia seven women day laborer's being transported to work on a farm in the back of a pickup were among 12 people killed when it collided with a minivan.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido used his latest mass rally to reiterate an appeal to the army to end its support for Nicolas Maduro's regime, and announced massive Mayday protests to oust the embattled president.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 27, In Vietnam state-run media said police this week broke up an online gambling ring that had handled more than $1 billion in bets and arrested 22 people, in what is believed to be the largest-ever internet betting operation in the communist country. So far a total of 22 people have been arrested including 12 organizers.
(AFP, 4/27/19)
2019 Apr 28, US sanctions came into effect to block Venezuela's economic lifeline of oil exports, in what Washington hopes will be a major blow in its fledgling campaign to topple leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
(AFP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Maryland a gunman fired into a crowd in Baltimore killing one person and wounding seven others before fleeing the scene.
(SFC, 4/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 23, Henry Bloch (b.1922), co-founder of the H&R Bloch tax preparation company, died in Kansas City, Mo.
(SSFC, 4/28/19, p.C10)
2019 Apr 28, The people of Benin voted for a new parliament but without a single opposition candidate to choose from. Voters were given the choice to select their 83 members of parliament from two parties both allied to President Patrice Talon. The country's main opposition parties were effectively barred from fielding candidates by tough new eligibility rules and asked their supporters to protest by boycotting the polls.
(AFP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Burkina Faso six people, including a pastor, were killed in an attack on a Christian church in the country's north.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 28, A Cambodian court charged three Chinese nationals with money laundering after the men were allegedly caught carrying more than $3.5 million without proper provenance for the money.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Cypriot investigators hunting for victims of a suspected serial killer retrieved a suitcase containing the decomposing remains of a woman from the bottom of a man-made lake. The retrieved suitcase is one of two that were located in the lake a day earlier.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, announced further flight cancellations for the next week on the third day of a pilots strike as the parties have failed to resume talks on a new collective bargaining agreement.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Hong Kong tens of thousands of people marched on parliament to demand the scrapping of proposed extradition rules that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial - a move which some fear puts the city's core freedoms at risk.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, An Indonesian official said more than 270 election staff have died following the April 17 elections, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Iranian police said that the suspect in the killing of a 46-year-old cleric in the western city of Hamedan had died in a shootout with police. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for a crackdown on illegal weapons.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Israel released two Syrian prisoners in what it described as a "goodwill gesture" following the repatriation of the remains of an Israeli soldier who went missing over 35 years ago.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Spain held national elections. No single party appeared close to winning a majority. Spain faced weeks of coalition talks after PM Pedro Sanchez's Socialists scored big but failed to gain a majority in a snap election that split the right-wing bloc and let ultra-nationalists into parliament.
(Reuters, 4/28/19)(AFP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 28, Sudanese protest leaders held talks with the ruling military council after the military condemned an attack on an Islamist party close to President Omar al-Bashir, who was removed from power and jailed earlier this month.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, Tanzanian albinos said they were living in fear of their lives after the remains of an albino were exhumed in what they said was a "bestial" and "barbaric" act.
(AFP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, In Turkey Zaki Y. M. Hasan, a man held on suspicion of spying for the United Arab Emirates, was found hanging from the bathroom door in his one-person cell in Silivri prison. Hasan and another man were detained on April 15 and had reportedly confessed to spying on Arab nationals.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 28, It was reported that Pope Francis has donated 500,000 dollars to help migrants in Mexico, offering assistance to local projects that provide food, lodging and basic necessities.
(AP, 4/28/19)
2019 Apr 28, A Zimbabwean organization started exhuming the remains of victims of a government massacre during former president Robert Mugabe's rule, which claimed some 20,000 lives. The remains of Thembi Ngwenya, aged 21 at the time of her death in 1983, were the first to be exhumed as part of a healing process promised by the government.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, President Donald Trump proposed charging asylum seekers a fee to process their applications as he continues to try to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants seeking to cross into the US.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, Stanford biochemist Ron Davis published a description of a biomarker that could be developed as the first simple blood test for chronic disease syndrome.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A1)
2019 Apr 29, John Singleton (51), director of "Boyz N the Hood" (1991) died in Los Angeles after being taken off of life support following a major stroke.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Singleton)(SFC, 4/30/19, p.C3)
2019 Apr 29, In Hawaii a helicopter crash in suburban Honolulu killed three people.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 29, A US federal judge in Oregon blocked a Trump administration attempt to prevent federally funded health care providers from referring pregnant women to abortion clinics.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A5)
2019 Apr 29, Linda Garcia of Vancouver, Washington, was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. She rallied local communities to successfully prevent the construction of North America's largest oil terminal.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Nearly 30 hospitals in West Virginia and 10 affiliates in Kentucky signed on to a suit against some of the country's largest opioid companies, saying they flooded Appalachia with powerful painkillers and forced medical centers to deal with the financial repercussions.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 29, Afghanistan's Pres. Ashraf Ghani opened a grand council of more than 3,200 Afghans seeking to agree on a common approach to peace talks with the Taliban. Government forces launched attacks late today in a bid to clear rival militants who have been battling each other for territory in Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border in fighting that has forced thousands of villagers from their homes.
(AP, 4/29/19)(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, Bangladesh security forces killed at least two people suspected of belonging to an Islamist militant group behind a deadly cafe attack in Dhaka in July 2016.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Human Rights Watch said that Bolivia has undermined judicial independence by arbitrarily dismissing nearly 100 judges since 2017 and it asked the Organization of American States to address the issue.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Imperial College in London opened the world's first Center for Psychedelic Research.
(https://tinyurl.com/yyugw2jd)(Econ, 6/8/19, p.56)
2019 Apr 29, Alberto Curamil of Chile was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. The jailed indigenous activist had protested several hydroelectric projects in the country. His efforts were credited with halting two projects and protecting a critical ecosystem surrounding the Cautin River.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Congo's health ministry confirmed 27 cases of Ebola today, the highest number since the outbreak was declared in August.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, Jacqueline Evans of the Cook Islands was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. Her work led to the conservation and sustainable management of all 763,000 square miles (1.98 million square km) of the Cook Islands' ocean territory and creation of 15 marine protected areas.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Thousands of Czechs rallied in Prague and elsewhere to protest the proposed replacement of the justice minister.
(SFC, 4/30/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 29, A strike among pilots at Scandinavian Airlines, flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, entered its fourth day.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, An Ethiopian official revealed his country has finalized preparations to extradite a double-murder suspect to the US. Yohannes Nesibu (25), an Ethiopia-born US national, is accused of killing two other people, who were also Ethiopia-born individuals, in Virginia in 2016.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Ethiopia dozens of civilians were dead in ethnic clashes in northern Amhara state. The attacks appeared to be retribution for the killing of at least 21 people in separate clashes last weekend between the Gumuz and Amhara ethnic groups in Benishangul Gumuz state.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 Apr 29, The European Union said it is prolonging by a year an embargo on any arms that could be used in security crackdowns in Myanmar as well as sanctions against 14 top military and border officials.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, The French government opened a suicide prevention unit for police officers after a sharp rise in the number taking their own lives since the start of this year.
(AFP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In France diplomats from 130 nations gathered in Paris to validate a grim UN assessment of the state of Nature and lay the groundwork for a rescue plan for life on Earth.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, French authorities seized half a ton of cocaine worth around 40 million euros ($44.9 million) in the northern port of Dunkirk in a container ship carrying bananas that had traveled from the small South American nation of Suriname.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 Apr 29, The fourth phase of India's staggered national election was marred by multiple clashes that injured at least seven people and led to security forces firing warning shots outside one polling station.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Indonesia's disaster agency confirmed 29 deaths and said at least 13 more people were missing in Sumatra island's Bengkulu province following floods sparked by torrential rains.
(AFP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in a video. He was the latest in a series of most-wanted figures to use the medium to communicate with the outside world.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, Alfred Brownell was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for exposing alleged abuse by palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia and helping to prevent it from converting about 20 square miles (about 50 square km) of forest that is home to elephants, pygmy hippopotamuses and chimpanzees. He was forced to flee Liberia in 2016 after the government threatened to arrest him for his activism.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Libya forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter intensified their airstrikes on Tripoli, where heavy fighting and blocked roads have left civilians trapped in their homes.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Bayarjargal Agvaantseren of Mongolia was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. She led the fight to create the 2,800 square miles (7,300 square km) Tost Tosonbumba Nature Reserve.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In northern Mozambique rains grounded aid flights for a second day, hampering efforts to reach survivors of Cyclone Kenneth as the death toll there jumped to 38.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Cambodia for an official visit to strengthen ties between the countries.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Nigeria jihadists, packed into four trucks and flanked by gunmen on motorbikes, swept into Kuda in Adamawa state late today, shooting down villagers as they ran away killing at least 21 people. Nine more bodies were soon found, taking the total massacred to 30.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 Apr 29, Ana Colovic Lesoska of North Macedonia was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. Her seven-year campaign helped stop hydroelectric projects from being built in the country's largest national park and home to the endangered Balkan lynx.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, A Pakistani military spokesman said Pakistan plans to take control of a network of over 30,000 madrasas as part of a drive to "mainstream" the Islamic schools by bringing them under state control.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In the Philippines a fire raged through the top floors of a 21-story residential building in Manila in the middle of a scorching summer, killing an elderly woman and injuring five other people.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Somalia a victim relative said an air strike near the town of Afgoye killed four people. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said it carried out an air strike and that three militants had died in the attack.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Authorities in Sri Lanka banned women from wearing face veils under an emergency law put in place after deadly Easter Sunday attacks by Islamist militants.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Sudan six security personnel were killed in clashes with protesters across the country.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 29, In northern Syria a US service member died in a non-combat incident.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Tunisia about 5,000 people protested in central Sidi Bouzid city against marginalization and deteriorating conditions, two days after the deaths of 12 female rural workers in a traffic accident.
(Reuters, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, In Turkey police in Ankara detained 17 Iraqis and five Syrians, suspected of links to the Islamic State group, in simultaneous raids as part of a security sweep ahead of Labor Day festivities.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 29, Ugandan pop star and opposition politician known as Bobi Wine was remanded to jail after being charged over his role in a street protest last year against a tax on social media.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 Apr 30, Pres. Trump, his family and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an attempt to block congressional subpoenas seeking their banking and financial records.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 30, Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill, which takes effect in 2021, making her state the first to ban single-use food and drink containers made from polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 Apr 30, Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor (33) was convicted of 3rd-degree murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual citizen of the US and Australia whose death bewildered and angered people in both countries. Three days later city Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council detailed a $20 million settlement to Damond’s family.
(AP, 5/1/19)(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A6)(SFC, 5/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 30, In North Carolina Trystan Andrew Terrell (22) shot and killed two people and wounded four others at the Univ. of North Carolina-Charlotte. Student Riley Howell (21) tackled the gunman saving other students, but losing his own.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A7)(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 30, In Texas a migrant boy (16) from Guatemala died after falling ill at a government shelter in Brownsville. This was the 3rd death of a young person in government custody since December.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 30, Peter Mayhew (74), the actor who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy and two other films, died at his home in Texas.
(SFC, 5/4/19, p.A7)
2019 Apr 30, Sterling Van Wagenen (71), a filmmaker who co-founded the Sundance Film festival, pleaded guilty in Utah to sexual abuse of a child.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A6)
2019 Apr 30, A report compiled by the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF said severe drought in Angola has plunged 2.3 million people into a food security crisis with thousands of children being treated for malnutrition.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Brazil's Education Minister said he has cut the budget of three federal universities (Brasilia, Bahia and Fluminense) because of their ideological stance and poor performance.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr 30, A court in southern China handed down sentences to at least six foreigners involved in an international methamphetamine operation, including a Canadian given the death penalty.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Dubai announced a series of futuristic urban projects, including a 15-km (nine mile) cable car system above the emirate's main road.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, An Egyptian court handed life sentences to Hassan Malik, a leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, as well as his son Hamza and five others after convicting them of terrorism offences.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, German industrial conglomerate Siemens secured contracts worth 700 million euros ($785 million) to build one power plant, upgrade 40 gas turbines and install substations and transformers "across Iraq".
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Ghana rolled out the world's only proven malaria vaccine for infants as part of a landmark campaign against the deadly mosquito-borne disease, one week after Malawi became the first country to do so.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Authorities in Haiti said they have killed the leader of a gang suspected of fatally shooting five people and injuring seven others last week. Jean Sony, the suspected leader of the Savane Pistache gang, died after exchanging gunfire with police in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signed a bill into law declaring all US forces in the Middle East terrorists and calling the US government a sponsor of terrorism.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Japanese Emperor Akihito (85) announced his abdication at a palace ceremony in his final address, as the nation embraced the end of his reign with reminiscence and hope for a new era.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Malaysia destroyed nearly four tons of elephant tusks and ivory products estimated to be worth 13.26 million ringgit ($3.2 million) as part of its fight against the illegal ivory trade. The ivory was confiscated in 15 raids between 2011 and 2017.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Rains pounded parts of northern Mozambique, several days after Cyclone Kenneth struck the southern African nation. The UN said aid workers faced difficulties in reaching thousands of survivors and the death toll rose to 41.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, In Peru prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez told a court that Miguel Atala Herrera, former vice president of state-run PetroPeru, "confessed to having received money from Odebrecht to deliver to former president Garcia", who committed suicide two weeks ago.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 Apr 30, Rwanda said it has detained Callixte Nsabimana, popularly known as Sankara and a spokesman for the National Liberation Front (FLN). The group is responsible for deadly attacks and the government has accused him of being complicit in committing terrorist acts.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, In southern Serbia a bus and a truck collided head-on, leaving five people dead and four others injured near the town of Kursumlija.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Sri Lanka lifted a social media ban that was imposed after the Islamic State-claimed Easter bombings.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Sudan's leading protest group called for a mass rally, as tensions mounted over the makeup of a new joint civilian-military council to run the country.
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, In northwestern Syria, the government's air force dropped dozens of barrel bombs in rebel-held parts of Hama and Idlib provinces killing at least one woman and wounding others. Syrian Kurdish militants carried out an attack in a Turkish-controlled region in northern Syria killing a Turkish soldier and wounding three others.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Human Rights Association head Ozturk Turkdogan said that a total of 2,983 people in 90 prisons across Turkey are refusing food in protest of jail conditions for Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, whose family members and lawyers have reportedly been denied visits.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Uganda's press regulator told 13 local media groups to suspend news editors, producers and program directors, accusing them of broadcasting "extremist or anarchic messages".
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 Apr 30, The UN refugee agency said that seeking asylum was a fundamental right and that people lodging applications should not be made to pay a fee, as proposed by the Trump administration.
(Reuters, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, The Vatican announced a new editorial leadership team for its women's magazine (Women Church World), following the clamorous exit of its previous editor who alleged a campaign of delegitimization by the Holy See's communications operation.
(AP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr 30, Venezuelan opposition chief Juan Guaido claimed to have also secured the backing of Venezuelan soldiers, while the country's leftist government said an attempted coup was under way. Guaido released a video recorded at a Caracas air force base in which he says he has the support of "brave soldiers".
(AFP, 4/30/19)
2019 Apr, US Pres. Donald Trump publicly endorsed Libya's Khalifa Haftar, four days after Erik Prince, founder of the private military company Blackwater, made his pitch to the strongman for his $80 million Libyan operation. Part of the plan was to use a mercenary hit squad to kill Libyan military commanders. This was only made public in 2021.
(NY Times, 2/19/21)
2019 Apr, In Guatemala the “Phoenix" case was made public. An investigation found that businesspeople and others had conspired to launder about $50 million in a huge fraud involving the country’s Social Security Institute. The mastermind of the operation was reported to be businessman Gustavo Adolfo Herrera Castillo, with the help of his son Sergio Alfredo Herrera Acevedo, among others.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Apr, In Pakistan nearly 900 children in the small city of Ratodero were reported bedridden with raging fevers that resisted treatment. The city was the epicenter of an HIV outbreak that overwhelmingly affected children. Health officials initially blamed the outbreak on a single pediatrician, saying he was reusing syringes. Many of the infected children had gone to the same pediatrician, Muzaffar Ghanghro, who served the city’s poorest families and appeared to be at the center of the outbreak.
(NY Times, 10/27/19)
2019 Apr, Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte signed legislation penalizing a range of acts of sexual harassment including catcalling, wolf-whistling and persistent telling of sexual jokes.
(SFC, 7/16/19, p.A2)
2019 Apr, Russian Col. Kirill Cherkalin, a section chief in the economic security department of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, was arrested along with two other senior FSB officers on suspicion of taking bribes. Russian media reported that the suspects were found in possession of 12 billion rubles (about $186 million) in cash. Cherkalin, the former head of the unit, and Andrey Vasilyev and Dmitry Frolov, his associates, were jailed on suspicion they took huge bribes from banks and other commerce they were supposed to supervise. A video purported to show the equivalent of $185.5 million being hauled out of Cherkalin’s residence. The initial charge against him involved a single bribe worth $850,000.
(AP, 5/20/19)(The Daily Beast, 7/10/19)
2019 Apr, In Russia Naama Issachar (26), a US-Israeli woman, was arrested while in transit while travelling from India to Israel. Authorities said more than nine grams of hashish were found in her luggage Issachar. She arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and was soon sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)(AP, 1/22/20)
2019 Apr, Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) took an unprecedented 3-day mission to Saudi Arabia to advocate for the release of 30 jailed journalists in the aftermath of the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. The mission was kept confidential until July 10 because the possibility of pardons had been discussed.
(AP, 7/10/19)
2019 Apr, South Sudan's government signed a contract paying a US-based lobby firm $3.7 million to improve its relationship with the Trump administration and to block a path to justice for victims of the country's five-year civil war.
(AP, 4/29/19)
2019 May 1, American and Taliban officials resumed talks in Qatar aimed at ending a 17-year war in Afghanistan, while the Afghan government hosted a rare assembly in Kabul to ensure its interests are upheld in any peace deal.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, A US government watchdog agency that monitors the US war effort said in a report to Congress that the US military command in Kabul is no longer producing "district control data," which shows the number of Afghan districts, and the percentage of their population, controlled by the government compared to the Taliban.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, It was reported that SF-based tech billionaire Marc Benioff and his wife are making a $30 million donation to start a new research center at UCSF called the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.
(SFC, 5/1/19, p.A1)
2019 May 1, Florida lawmakers passed a bill allowing teachers to carry guns in school with the approval of their local school district. The teachers would be required to undergo police-style training, psychiatric evaluation and drug screening. Gov. Ron DeSantis was expected to sign the measure.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A5)
2019 May 1, An Australian jury convicted Khaled Khayat (51) of plotting to blow up an Etihad Airways airliner on a flight in 2017 from Sydney to the United Arab Emirates with a bomb hidden in a meat grinder.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Benin two French tourists went missing and were feared to have been kidnapped in the Pendjari National Park. An African man, believed to have been their driver, was found fatally shot two days later.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 1, It was reported that tons of garbage are clogging rivers in Bosnia. The country's waste-management problem has grown over the years, reaching alarming proportions in a region where joblessness and poverty are widespread and where corruption routinely stalls implementation of reform laws.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Britain's PM Theresa May fired defense minister Gavin Williamson saying she had seen "compelling evidence" that he was behind media reports that the government had agreed, against the advice of the United States, to let Huawei participate in some aspects of Britain's new 5G wireless communications network. Williamson denied that he leaked details of the report.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 1, In London WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (47) was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for breaching a British court order seven years ago, when he took refuge in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Burkina Faso German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a three-nation tour in West Africa, pledged 46 million euros ($51 million) to help Burkina Faso fight Islamic extremism.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 1, Canada increased loans to farmers after China blocked shipments of canola, its most valuable crop, amid diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and Beijing.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Millions of Cubans took to the streets in protest over new sanctions imposed on the Caribbean island by the Trump administration and US efforts to topple the government of socialist ally Venezuela.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In France tens of thousands of labor union and "yellow vest" protesters were on the streets across the country. Dozens of masked and hooded anarchists clashed with riot police in southern Paris, burning bins, smashing property and hurling projectiles, hijacking a May Day rally that was focused on protesting against President Emmanuel Macron's policies.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In western India Maoist rebels triggered a land mine blast on van carrying police commandos in the insurgents' stronghold in Maharashtra state and killed 15 officers and their driver.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, India began evacuating hundreds of thousands of villagers and shut down operations at two major ports on its east coast ahead of impending Cyclonic Storm Fani expected to make landfall on May 3.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Iran's oil minister hit out against the use of oil sanctions "as a weapon" by the United States and the damage it was doing to OPEC.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Japan Emperor Naruhito inherited the sacred sword and jewel that signaled his succession and pledged in his first public address to follow his father's example by devoting himself to peace and sharing the people's joys and sorrows.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Hundreds of Kazakhs rallied in their two main cities, calling for a boycott of June presidential elections that they dismissed as a cover for an orchestrated handover of power. Police rushed to detain several dozen people.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Kuwait inaugurated one of the world's longest causeways. The 36-km (22-mile) "Jaber" bridge, named after late ruler Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, connects Kuwait City to the northern desert area of Subbiya.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In central Mali a number of Dogons were killed in an ambush, while other members of the same community were killed the following day as they tried to retrieve the bodies. At least 18 civilians were killed in the two related attacks.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 1, In Pakistan dozens of militants sneaked into the country and opened fire on troops in a former Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, triggering a shootout that killed three soldiers in North Waziristan.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Russia's Pres. Vladimir Putin signed into law a measure expanding government control over the internet. The law requires internet providers to install equipment to route Russian internet traffic through servers in the country.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A2)
2019 May 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree fast-tracking Russian citizenship for more Ukrainians, a controversial new move expected to deepen the crisis between the two countries.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Russian riot police and national guardsmen detained more than 100 people during May Day protests, sometimes using extreme force to take into custody anti-government activists.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) canceled 504 flights today as talks with the pilots resumed in Norway.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, The Swiss-based IAAF, the sports world's highest court, ruled that Olympic champion Caster Semenya and other female runners like her with unusually high testosterone must take medication to reduce their levels of the male sex hormone if they want to compete in certain events. South Africa's Olympic athlete Caster Semenya said the decision will not hold her back.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Thailand an announcement in the Royal Gazette said Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya (40) is legally married to King Maha Vajiralongkorn (66), and is now Queen Suthida.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, Tunisia raised the minimum wage for industrial and farm workers, as well as pensions for hundreds of thousands of private-sector retirees, by 6.5 percent, a move aimed at defusing discontent about economic hardship.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 1, In Turkey police in Istanbul detained 127 people for attempting to hold illegal demonstrations in various parts of the city to celebrate May Day.
(Reuters, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, The UN added Masood Azhar, the leader of a Pakistan-based Islamist group, to its list of global terrorists after China lifted its objections. Pakistan confirmed the move. This came months after Azhar's group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 suicide attack in disputed Kashmir that killed 40 Indian soldiers.
(AFP, 5/1/19)(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, The UN said fighting in northwestern Syria has displaced more than 32,500 people since February, as the regime and its ally Russia have stepped up their bombardment. More than 200 civilians have been killed since February.
(AFP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 1, In Venezuela state security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters opposed to President Nicolás Maduro who have gathered at a middle-class neighborhood in western Caracas.
(AP, 5/1/19)
2019 May 2, Pres. Donald Trump moved to protect health care workers who object to procedures like abortion on moral or religious grounds. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera immediately filed suit in federal court to block the new rule.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A10)
2019 May 2, More than 200 of the world's top female hockey players declared they will not compete in North America next season in a dramatic attempt to establish a single, economically viable professional league.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh resigned under pressure amid a flurry of investigations into whether she arranged bulk sales of her self-published children's books to disguise hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, It was reported that NYC is now providing free phone calls from jails, making it the first US city to eliminate fees for inmate calls.
(SFC, 5/2/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, In New York City Najibullah Zazi (33) was sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to terrorism related charges. He had plotted in 2010 to bomb the city's subways, then switched sides after his arrest and helped the US identify and prosecute terrorists. The sentence effectively matched time he had already served in prison.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, At the Texas border a 10-month old baby was found dead and three others were feared drowned after their raft flipped overnight on the Rio Grande as they tried to cross the border near Del Rio.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, In Houston Alberto Nduli (68) died while trying to stop a driver from repossessing his SUV. Oscar Lee Harrison Jr., the tow truck driver, was at the scene after he dropped of the SUV and returned.
(SFC, 5/6/19, p.A5)
2019 May 2, Beyond Meat, a purveyor of vegan burgers and sausages, began trading on the NASDAQ in an IPO at $25 per share and closed at 65.75.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.D1)
2019 May 2, An Afghan grand council agreed on several recommendations for peace talks with the Taliban, after four days of meetings in Kabul meant to hammer out a common strategy for future negotiations.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Benin hundreds of protesters manning burning barricades defied police and soldiers, after violence broke out following controversial parliamentary polls held without a single opposition candidate.
(AFP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Scientists reported that a fossilized chunk of jawbone found by a monk in a Chinese cave nearly 40 years ago has been revealed as coming from the Denisovans, a mysterious relative of the Neanderthals. The right half of a jawbone with teeth is at least 160,000 years old.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Cypriot justice minister Ionas Nicolaou resigned as criticism of police mounted for mistakes that may have led a serial killer claim more victims.
(SFC, 5/3/19, p.A2)
2019 May 2, The Czech Republic's central bank raised its key interest rate for the third time since June - by a quarter point to 2.00%, the highest level in more than 10 years.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, A Czech bus transporting prisoners caught fire after colliding with two trucks, one of them carrying two military tanks. A prison guard died in the crash.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, France and Germany unveiled details of a plan to create a leading electric battery industry in Europe, from the extraction of raw materials to recycling.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, A city in southern Germany became the first in the country to declare a "climate emergency," following similar moves in Canada, Britain and Switzerland. Aldermen in Konstanz voted unanimously to back a resolution promoting measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and transport.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 2, Hungary's PM Viktor Orban hosted hard-line Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and the two main opponents to immigration in Europe toured razor-wire fences at the Hungarian border.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In India hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated along the eastern coast as authorities braced for Cyclone Fani moving through the Bay of Bengal.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Indonesia a Polish tourist was sentenced to five years in prison for treason after meeting with Papuan independence supporters. Jakub Skrzypski denied any wrongdoing and said he was the victim of a show trial. Papuan student Simon Magal, who met Skrzypski and communicated with him on Facebook, was sentenced by the same court to four years in prison.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Libya forces allied with Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter (Haftar) detained Alahrar TV journalists Mohamed al-Qarg and Mohamed al-Shibani as they covered fighting in Tripoli. They were both released on May 24.
(AP, 5/3/19)(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 2, Myanmar security forces shot dead at least six people in the troubled western state of Rakhine, after soldiers and police detained hundreds of people at a school.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Poland some ten thousand young Jews from around the world joined Holocaust survivors and politicians for an annual Holocaust remembrance march between the two parts of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp that focuses on fighting anti-Semitism and hatred.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Former Puerto Rico Gov. Rafael Hernández Colón (82), who oversaw one of the US territory's most prosperous periods, died at his home in Puerto Rico. Hernández served as governor from 1973 to 1977 and again from 1985 to 1993.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, A ship with 300 passengers left St. Lucia late today after spending two days under quarantine. Authorities there said the ship's doctor requested 100 vaccines after a female crew member was diagnosed with measles. The 440-foot Freewinds ship is reportedly owned by the Church of Scientology.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 2, South Sudan's rival parties began two days of talks in Addis Ababa in a bid to salvage a peace deal, with just days left before a unity government is meant to be formed.
(AFP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Tens of thousands of Sudanese protesters took part in a mass rally to step up pressure on the military to hand power to civilians following last month's overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Syrian and Russian forces intensified air strikes and shelling in rebel-held northwestern Syria overnight, the heaviest assault since the area was declared a demilitarized zone under a Russian-Turkish deal.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, In Tunisia fuel distribution workers began a three-day strike to demand higher wages, leading to long queues and empty pumps at petrol stations across the North African nation.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, A Turkish citizen who was wounded during deadly attacks at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch on March 15 died while undergoing surgery raising the death toll from the shooting to 51.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Ugandan pop star and lawmaker Bobi Wine, who is seeking to challenge veteran leader Yoweri Museveni for the presidency, was freed on bail after spending two days in jail on charges of staging unlawful protests.
(Reuters, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, The UN's migration agency said at least eight Africa migrants have died in makeshift camps in war-hit Yemen of complications related to acute watery diarrhea at the Ibn Khaldoon Hospital in Lahj.
(AP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 2, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on the armed forces to oppose "any coup plotter" after a failed military uprising by forces supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido.
(AFP, 5/2/19)
2019 May 3, US Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters was sworn in as the top military officer of the 29-nation NATO alliance.
(SFC, 5/4/19, p.A1)
2019 May 3, In Illinois at least one person was killed in an explosion and fire at the AB Specialty Silicones in Waukegan. A 2nd victim died the next day and a 3rd was found the next day. One person remained missing.
(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A7)(SFC, 5/6/19, p.A5)
2019 May 3, In Ohio a federal court ruled that the state’s congressional map is unconstitutional and ordered a new one to be drawn for the 2020 elections.
(SFC, 5/4/19, p.A6)
2019 May 3, Texas girl Maleah Davis (4) was reported missing. Investigators found her remains on May 31 near a freeway outside of Hope, Arkansas. Derion Vence, a man arrested in connection with her disappearance, had told a community activist he had disposed of her body there.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3pshbmv)(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A4)
2019 May 3, An Afghan grand council convened by President Ashraf Ghani ended with a resounding call for peace with the Taliban and a promise from the president to free 175 Taliban prisoners ahead of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month that starts next week.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In Algeria tens of thousands of protesters rallied peacefully in Algiers after Friday prayers, chanting "We will not shut up!" and demanding the departure of Algeria's ruling elite a month after the downfall of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In Australia the Victoria state Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher ordered Islamic State group sympathizer and firebrand preacher Robert "Musa" Cerantonio to serve at least five years and three months in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Cerantonio and five other men had plotted in 2016 to take a 7-meter (23-foot) half-cabin fiberglass power boat off the northeast Queensland coast to encourage others to overthrow the government in the southern Philippines and install Sharia Law.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Troops in Benin maintained a tight clamp on protests after two days of deadly violence sparked by elections in which not a single opposition candidate took part.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, It was reported that police killings in the state of Rio de Janeiro have hit a record high, rising by 18% in the first three months of this year in a spike partly attributed to a zero tolerance for criminals campaign by state leaders.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Britain's two main parties suffered a drubbing in English local elections as voters vented their frustration with the prolonged Brexit deadlock.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Canada vowed to defend its businesses operating in Cuba after US President Donald Trump lifted a ban on American citizens filing lawsuits against investors working on the island nation.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, More than 1,000 people have now died of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as aid workers warned that the highly contagious virus combined with insecurity in the restive region was creating a "deeply worrying situation".
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades fired the small island nation's police chief, saying botched missing person investigations might have allowed a self-confessed serial killer to claim more victims.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In the Czech Rep. cybersecurity officials from dozens of countries drew up a blueprint to counter threats and ensure the safety of next generation mobile networks that their nations are set to start deploying.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, German prosecutors said police have shut down one of the world's largest illegal online markets in the so-called darkweb and arrested the three men allegedly running it. German police had on April 23 and 24 arrested the three German suspects aged 22 to 31 in the states of Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. The illicit "Wall Street Market" site enabled trade in cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamines as well as stolen data, fake documents and malicious software.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Cyclone Fani tore through India's eastern coast as a grade 5 storm, lashing beaches with rain and winds gusting up to 205 km (127 miles) per hour and affecting weather as far away as Mount Everest as it approached the former imperial capital of Kolkata. At least three people died Cyclone Fani slammed into eastern India. Media reports put the death toll at up to six.
(AP, 5/3/19)(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Two Israeli soldiers were wounded by Gaza gunfire near the border. A retaliatory Israeli air strike killed two militants from the Islamist Hamas group that governs Gaza. Two other Palestinians protesting near the frontier were also killed by Israeli forces.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 3, In Italy Norveo Fedeli (74) was found dead inside his clothing store in Viterbo. Police the next day arrested American Michael Aaron Pang (22) and alleged that he killed the storekeeper by striking him with a stool.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 3, Malawi's high court sentenced to death a man who murdered a young albino, an unprecedented penalty in a country which has seen a surge in attacks and killings of people with albinism.
(AFP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 3, Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese woman who was tried in the 2017 killing of the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader was released from a Malaysian prison and flew back to Hanoi.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Singapore police said that $26 million in 1MDB-related funds was in the process of being returned to Malaysia, the latest tranche in $176 million in cash and properties seized by the city-state relating to the scandal. Sources said US authorities will this month return $200 million stolen from Malaysia's state fund 1MDB, including money from a stake in a luxury New York hotel and from a Hollywood movie producer.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In Spain the town council of Barcelona voted to modify its zoo's bylaws to include a rule by which any of its breeding programs will be stopped unless there is a plan to eventually release the offspring into nature. The goal is to convert the zoo, which was built inside a park in the city center in 1892, into a center focused on education and research, and a refuge for animals that can no longer survive in liberty.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 3, In Syria at least a dozen air raids overnight on the southern edge of Idlib province killed six civilians. Government warplanes dropped over 68 indiscriminate barrel bombs on several villages, including a dozen in Kfar Nabudah alone.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, Tunisia ordered the army to transport fuel to petrol stations on the second day of a strike by fuel distribution workers that has caused empty pumps and long queues across the country.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, In northwestern Turkey at least two women and five children drowned after a boat carrying migrants sank off the Aegean coastal town of Ayvalik.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, The UN human rights office said Hungary is deliberately depriving rejected asylum seekers of food as they await deportation, in violation of international law.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, The UN's top food agencies said about 10 million people in North Korea are facing "severe food shortages" after the East Asian nation had one of the worst harvests in a decade.
(AP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, The World Bank said will extend more than half-a-billion dollars in grants for cyclone-ravaged southern African countries as he concluded a visit to Mozambique. A total of up to $545 million will be disbursed to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, the three countries hit by Cyclone Idai in March.
(AFP, 5/3/19)
2019 May 3, A Venezuelan court issued a warrant for the arrest of opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, saying he violated an order that required him to remain under house arrest and restricted his ability to speak publicly. Lopez was evading arrest in a Spanish diplomatic residence. A Spanish government spokeswoman said Madrid had no intention of turning him over to Venezuelan authorities.
(Reuters, 5/3/19)
2019 May 4, US President Donald Trump says he still believes a nuclear deal with North Korea will happen, after the country fired several unidentified short-range projectiles into the sea off its eastern coast.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, A helicopter carrying two people crashed into Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. Rescue workers searched for survivors.
(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A6)
2019 May 4, SpaceX launched a load of supplies to the ISS. A recycled Dragon capsule carried 5,500 pounds of goods.
(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A6)
2019 May 4, In Afghanistan Taliban insurgents killed seven Afghan policemen after storming security checkpoints overnight in western Badghis province. The Afghan defense ministry also said that 43 militants from the Islamic state group, including foreign fighters, were killed in two separate coalition airstrikes during the night in coordination with Afghan forces.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, In Bosnia thousands of Muslims flocked to the town of Foca for the reopening of a historic mosque leveled at the beginning of the Bosnian war. The 16th century Aladza Mosque was one of the most prominent masterpieces of classical Ottoman architecture in the Balkans before its destruction in the 1992-95 war by Bosnian Serb forces.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Authorities in Curacao boarded the Freewinds ship that arrived in the Dutch Caribbean island under quarantine, to start vaccinating people to prevent a measles outbreak.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, In France demonstrators marched for a 25th straight weekend. Several dozen rallied at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport to denounce privatization plans.
(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A4)
2019 May 4, In France a Norwegian student filed a complaint for alleged rape in a fire hall in the Plaisance district of southern Paris. French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the woman told police she had consensual sex with one firefighter but then was raped by several others. Six firefighters faced charges in a following investigation.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 4, Tropical cyclone Fani, the strongest to hit India in five years, killed at least 12 people in eastern Odisha state before swinging north-eastwards into Bangladesh where five more people died and more than a million were moved to safety.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Indonesian authorities resumed their tough stance against illegal fishing in the country's waters by sinking 51 foreign ships. The seized ships were sunk at five ports across the archipelago.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Iranian state news reported that a court has sentenced Hossein Fereydoun, President Hassan Rouhani’s brother, to an unspecified jail term, in a corruption case the president’s supporters allege is politically motivated.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Israel said around 150 rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave by late this afternoon and that its air defenses intercepted dozens of them. Retaliatory airstrikes killed six Palestinians including a pregnant mother and her baby.
(AFP, 5/4/19)(SSFC, 5/5/19, p.A5)
2019 May 4, Interstellar Technology Inc., a Japanese aerospace startup funded by a former internet maverick, successfully launched a small rocket into space, making it the first commercially developed Japanese rocket to reach orbit.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, The Japanese government said the nation's child population has declined for the 38th year in a row and is now at a record low.
(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, In Libya Islamic State militants killed at least nine soldiers in an attack on a training camp for the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) in the southwestern desert. A military source said Islamic State militants and Chadian opposition fighters were responsible for the attack.
(AP, 5/4/19)(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Syrian government forces and their Russian allies pounded the rebel-held northwest with fresh air strikes. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported more than 115 strikes against rebel-held areas. It said six civilians were killed raising to 67 the number of civilians and insurgents killed since April 30 when the government began its new campaign.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)(AP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn (66) completed Buddhist and Brahmin rituals to symbolically transform him into a living god as the Southeast Asian nation crowned its first monarch in nearly seven decades.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the opposition's local election victory in Istanbul to be declared invalid and the vote re-run, increasing the pressure on the country's electoral authorities.
(AFP, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Four Turkish soldiers were killed and two others wounded in two separate cross-border attacks by Kurdish militants.
(Reuters, 5/4/19)
2019 May 4, Seven Venezuelan military officers were killed when their helicopter crashed while heading to a state where Pres. Nicolás Maduro appeared alongside troops.
(AP, 5/04/19)
2019 May 5, President Donald Trump announced a surprise threat to raise import taxes. Trump said he would raise import taxes on $200 billion in Chinese products to 25% from 10% as of May 10. Trump also threatened to slap tariffs on another $325 billion in Chinese imports, covering everything China ships annually to the United States.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 5, US national security adviser John Bolton said the Trump administration is deploying a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to troubling "indications and warnings" from Iran and to show the United States will retaliate with "unrelenting force" to any attack.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, In Afghanistan Taliban insurgents stormed a police headquarters in the capital of northern Baghlan province, killing at least three people. Coalition forces carried out airstrikes against Taliban-run heroin labs in Farah province. 15 laborers were reported killed. A provincial police chief's spokesman said those killed in Bakwa district were all members of the Taliban.
(AP, 5/05/19)(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 5, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah extended a moratorium on the death penalty to incoming legislation prohibiting gay sex, seeking to temper a global backlash led by celebrities such as George Clooney and Elton John.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Indian officials said hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless after a cyclone packing winds of about 200 km per hour slammed into eastern India. At least 33 people were killed after cyclone Fani struck the state of Odisha.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the military to continue "massive strikes" against Gaza's ruling Hamas group and Islamic Jihad. Rockets from Gaza killed three people in an Israeli city while five Palestinian militants died in surging cross-border fighting that included a return by Israel to singling out enemy commanders for attack. Hamas commander Hamed Ahmed Abed Khudri was killed in an air strike on his car.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Israeli tanks and warplanes had hit 350 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, killing 21 Palestinians, including 12 civilians. An Israeli military spokesman said the Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad had fired around 690 rockets toward Israel, killing four Israeli civilians.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 5, In Lebanon hundreds of foreign domestic workers demonstrated in Beirut to demand the scrapping of a sponsorship system that they complain leaves them open to abuse from employers.
(AFP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, A executive jet flying 13 people from Las Vegas crashed in northern Mexico near Ocampo. No survivors were seen during an air search.
(SFC, 5/7/19, p.A2)
2019 May 5, North Macedonia held a competitive runoff election to choose a new president, a vote seen as a test of the center-left government's pro-West policies despite the largely ceremonial duties of the country's head of state.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, North Korean state media showed leader Kim Jong Un observing live-fire drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a new short-range ballistic missile, a day after South Korea expressed concern that the launches were a violation of an inter-Korean agreement to cease all hostile acts.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Panama held presidential elections. Social democrat Laurentino Cortizo (66), a veteran politician and former agriculture minister, won the presidential election.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)(AFP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 5, A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane caught fire during an emergency landing in Moscow. 41 people were killed.
(Reuters, 5/06/19)
2019 May 5, In South Sudan a bush fire fanned by gusty winds has gutted four villages in the Western Bahr el Ghazal region, killing 33 people. The death toll was likely to rise.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 5, A Sudanese protester died a day after being shot during clashes with security forces at a sit-in in the western Darfur region.
(AP, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, In Syria warplanes struck a hospital in northwestern Idlib province, knocking it out of service, as government forces continued to bombard the rebel-held region following insurgent attacks last week. Russian Air Force repeatedly bombed four hospitals in Syria in order to crush the last pockets of resistance to President Bashar Assad.
(AP, 5/05/19)(NY Times, 10/14/19)
2019 May 5, Human Rights Watch said Alia Abdul Noor, a woman with terminal cancer who was serving a 10-year prison sentence in the United Arab Emirates, has died in jail, two months after the United Nations called for her release on medical grounds.
(Reuters, 5/05/19)
2019 May 5, Pope Francis arrived in Bulgaria and urged government leaders directly to "not close your eyes, your hearts or your hands, in accordance with your best tradition, to those who knock at your door".
(Reuters, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Many Muslims around the world began fasting to mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, In Afghanistan the Taliban stormed an army checkpoint overnight in western Farah province, killing 20 soldiers and abducting two. Insurgents struck security checkpoints in northeastern Takhar province's Khwaja Bahaudin district late today, killing eight members of the security forces — three soldiers and five policemen.
(AP, 5/06/19)(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 6, In Brazil at least eight people died when police raided a drug-scarred Rio de Janeiro neighborhood.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 6, Meghan, the wife of Britain’s Prince Harry, gave birth in the early hours to a baby boy, Archie, the first mixed race child to be born into a senior position in British royalty in recent history.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 6, Indian voters cast ballots in the crucial fifth phase of the country’s marathon elections.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, In India a panel of judges dismissed a sexual harassment complaint against chief justice Ranjan Gogoi. Protesters soon responded carrying placards demanding a new and impartial investigation.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 6, Officials said Cyclone Fani, that tore through parts of South Asia, has killed at least 34 people in India and 15 in neighboring Bangladesh and smashed thousands of thatched-roof huts.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, The Israeli military lifted protective restrictions on residents in southern Israel, while Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group reported a cease-fire deal had been reached to end the deadliest fighting between the two sides since a 2014 war.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Malaysia's attorney general said former Goldman Sachs executive Roger Ng has been temporarily extradited to the US to face criminal charges linked to the alleged multibillion-dollar ransacking of state investment fund 1MDB.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, In Niger a tanker truck explosion near the international airport in Niamey killed 55 people. The death toll soon rose to 76.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 6, In Russia a blast at the Azot chemical plant in the region of Perm killed three people. Russian fertilizer producer Uralchem owns the plant.
(Reuters, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Seven Russian tourists on a hiking holiday in Siberia were feared dead after an avalanche on a ridge in the Altai region. Two people survived.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 6, Spanish courts overruled a decision by Spain's Electoral Board and determined that Carles Puigdemont and two other Catalan separatists, who had fled abroad to escape arrest, must be allowed to run in this month's European Parliament elections.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, In Sri Lanka two people were arrested and an overnight curfew lifted after mobs attacked Muslim-owned shops and some vehicles in Negombo, where a suicide bombing targeted a Catholic church last month.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Syrian pro-government media said troops have captured al-Bani village and a strategic hill from insurgents in Hama province. Intense fighting killed 20 people.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Turkey’s High Election Board ruled for a fresh Istanbul mayoral contest on June 23, scrapping the March 31 vote, which was lost by Erdogan's party candidate, in a move that drew opposition accusations of dictatorship. Former Turkish PM Binali Yildirim will again be the ruling AK Party's candidate.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 6, The United Nations' first comprehensive report on biodiversity said nature is in more trouble now than at any other time in human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants and animals.
(AP, 5/06/19)
2019 May 6, Pope Francis said the plight of suffering immigrants and refugees was "the cross of humanity," taking up their case for the second consecutive day during a visit to Bulgaria that has put him at odds with the government.
(Reuters, 5/06/19)
2019 May 7, A US appeals court ruled that the Trump administration may continue sending asylum seekers to wait out their cases in Mexico while the government appeals a lower court ruling that found the policy violated US immigration law.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, The US lifted sanctions on Gen. Manuel Figuera, a top Venezuelan general who broke ranks with President Nicolás Maduro, trying to help the opposition regain momentum in the face of a government crackdown following last week's failed uprising.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 7, US government inspectors reviewing a border station in El Paso, Texas, reported poor conditions for migrants, including overcrowding and a lack of sanitary conditions.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 May 7, In Colorado Kendrick Castillo, three days away from graduation, was killed in a shooting at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) School in Highlands Ranch. One of the two suspected shooters was soon identified as Devon Erickson (18). The other suspect was Alec McKinney (16), who had wanted to transition to male from female and had been bullied over gender identity. The two suspects opened fire in two separate classrooms and were arrested within minutes at the public charter school south of Denver. In 2020 McKinney pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and 16 other counts.
(AP, 5/08/19)(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A10)(SSFC, 2/9/20, p.A6)
2019 May 7, The New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights reported that Ethiopian garment factory workers are now, on average, the lowest paid in any major garment-producing company worldwide. The head of Ethiopia's Investment Commission questioned the report's monthly pay figure of $26 per month: "That is a basic salary but in Ethiopia the factories also provide a workplace meal and other services".
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, In eastern Afghanistan the Taliban targeted the police in Laghman province, killing four police officers, including a district police chief.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, The Arctic Council, under pressure from the US, issued a joint statement that excluded any mention of climate change.
(SFC, 5/8/19, p.A2)
2019 May 7, Brazil’s pro-gun Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, whose tough-on-crime rhetoric helped get him elected last year, signed a controversial order allowing Brazilians to own firearms if they meet certain criteria. Truckers, lawyers and politicians are among millions of Brazilians now eligible to carry loaded weapons in public.
(AFP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 7, In Brazil the head of the human rights commission of Rio de Janeiro's legislative assembly blamed state Gov. Wilson Witzel for a surge in police killings, which totaled a record 434 for the first three months of this year.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A2)
2019 May 7, In Congo DRC three suspects in the killing of UN investigators Michael Sharp of America and Zaida Catalan, a Swede, in March 2017, escaped from prison overnight. Evariste Ilunga, Kanowa Tshiaba and Mbayi Amoxi Tshikangu were on trial accused of participating in the killings.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, The Cuban government announced that it has cancelled this year's edition of a parade widely seen as a sign of progress on gay rights.
(SFC, 5/8/19, p.A2)
2019 May 7, In France Jean Vanier (90), a Canadian religious figure whose charity work helped improve conditions for the developmentally disabled in multiple countries over the past half-century, died in Paris. A visit to a psychiatric hospital prompted him to found L'Arche in 1964 as an alternative living environment where those with developmental disabilities could be full-fledged participants in the community instead of patients. It was later reported that Vanier had sexual relations with at least six women that were "manipulative," "coercive" or "non-consensual".
(AP, 5/07/19)(Econ., 2/29/20, p.41)
2019 May 7, In Guatemala gunfire during a prison riot left at least seven inmates dead at the Pavon Rehabilitation Model Farm in Fraijanes.
(SFC, 5/8/19, p.A2)
2019 May 7, Hungary deported two families of Afghan asylum-seekers, including three children and their pregnant mother, to Serbia late today. The deportation of a third Afghan family was put on hold the net say after the Hungarian Helsinki Committee secured an interim ruling in their favor at the European Court of Human Rights.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 7, Israeli police said two Israelis have been arrested on suspicion of setting up a "dark" Internet site that was used to buy weapons, drugs and stolen credit cards.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Employees at the Central Bank of Lebanon suspended their open-ended strike for three days, saying they hope their wages and benefits will not be cut.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Malaysia's attorney general said that the US will return $196 million recovered from seized assets linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund, part of which has already been repatriated.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Myanmar pardoned and released Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from prison. They had been arrested in December 2017 while working on a story about security forces involved in killing Rohingya and were accused of illegally possessing official documents.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Qatar said it is sending $480 million to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after a cease-fire deal ended the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants since a 2014 war.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, In northwestern Syria nine civilians were reported killed after midnight by bombardment and reported helicopters dropping barrel bombs. The Al-Watan daily said the army had captured the villages of al-Janabara and Tel Othman.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Thailand's Election Commission officially endorsed the results from the country's March 24 general election, declaring that the Pheu Thai Party associated with fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra topped the field by winning 136 constituencies. The commission said the rival military-backed Palang Pracharath Party trailed it with 97 seats.
(AP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Pope Francis made the first-ever papal visit to North Macedonia. Francis urged the Balkans to embrace its patchwork of faiths and ethnicities during his visit and held an open-air mass in the capital Skopje, the proud birthplace of Mother Teresa.
(AFP, 5/07/19)
2019 May 7, Venezuela’s top court opened a criminal investigation against six opposition lawmakers for allegedly "betraying the homeland" and "instigating an insurrection," among other charges.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 7, The International Organization for Migration (IOM) called for the release of more than 3,000 migrants, mainly Ethiopians, who it said remain held in inhumane conditions in two detention centers in southern Yemen.
(Reuters, 5/07/19)
2019 May 8, The White House invoked executive privilege, reserving the right to block the full release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia probe, escalating President Donald Trump's battle with Congress.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, American educator Salman Khan and his Khan Academy online platform that offers free classes worldwide won Spain's Princess of Asturias award for international cooperation.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, The Rhodium Group research firm said that Chinese direct investment in the United States dropped 83% last year, pushed down by growing mistrust between the world's two biggest economies.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration said that it would ban the agricultural use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide used by farmers on crops from apples to walnuts. Last month the state classified it as a "toxic air contaminant".
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.a1)
2019 May 8, In southern California Girard Saenz (57), a longtime companion of Los Angeles real estate mogul Cynthia Beck, was arrested after authorities seized more than 1,000 guns from a home in Holmby Hills.
(SFC, 5/10/19, p.A7)
2019 May 8, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing for more armed teachers in state classrooms.
(SFC, 5/10/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In Michigan a boy (9) was charged with murder in the fatal shooting with a rifle of his mother in Fawn River Township.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In NYC six family members, including four children were killed when a fire ravaged a Harlem apartment.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In Oregon tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job to demand more money for schools.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In Utah the Salt Lake Tribune announced plans to become a nonprofit in an effort to ensure long-term stability.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A6)
2019 May 8, In Afghanistan an assault on the Kabul office of Counterpart International, a group that promotes gender equity, killed at least nine people. The Taliban attacked a police outpost in northern Balkh province, killing five policemen.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, Human Rights Watch reported a new wave of gay men being detained and tortured in the Russian republic of Chechnya.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, It was reported that China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation has been awarded a contract to recover natural gas from Iraq's Halfaya oil field to fuel power stations in the country's underserved Maysan province.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, China-based Tencent Holdings Ltd shut down its test version of global blockbuster "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" in China and shifted users to a similar, more patriotic video game which, unlike PUBG, has regulatory approval to generate revenue.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In eastern Congo DRC heavy fighting between the army and local militiamen killed at least nine people in the Ebola-stricken city of Butembo.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, The European Union's police agency said it has helped police in Spain break up an international gang suspected of offering modern money laundering services to other criminal organizations.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced steps that stop short of violating its 2015 deal with world powers for now, but threatening more action if countries did not shield it from US sanctions. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran's decision to scale back some curbs to its nuclear program was legal and reversible.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, The Iraqi judiciary announced that it has tried and sentenced more than 500 foreigners since the start of 2018 for joining the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In Iraq gunmen shot dead five members of a family in an attack on their house late today near the northern city of Mosul.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weaponry.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte dismissed Armando Siri, a junior minister involved in a graft scandal. Siri was put under investigation last month for allegedly accepting a bribe from a wind farm entrepreneur who has been linked to the Sicilian Mafia.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In western Japan a car slammed into a group of 16 mostly kindergarten children who were strolling on a sidewalk in the lakeside city of Otsu, leaving two dead.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Japanese telecoms company Softbank Corp. said that it will spend 456.5 billion yen ($4 billion) to increase its stake in Yahoo Japan to nearly 45%.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In Mexico gunmen killed a union official accompanying protesting street vendors in Cuernavaca. A 2nd man as also killed.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A2)
2019 May 8, New Zealand's Reserve Bank cut the nation's benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to an all-time low of 1.5%. The bank said lower immigration rates had slowed the housing market and led to lower household spending.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, In eastern Pakistan a suicide bomber attacked security forces guarding a famous Sufi shrine in Lahore, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20 others. Hizbul Ahrar, an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Pakistani officials said Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row, has left for Canada to be reunited with her daughters.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Paraguay declared a state of emergency in a southern province as torrential rains continued to swell rivers and cause floods.
(SFC, 5/9/19, p.A2)
2019 May 8, In Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, a US air strike killed 13 Islamic State fighters, days after another strike killed three.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 8, Singapore passed a law criminalizing publication of fake news and allowing the government to block and order the removal of such content. The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill passed by a vote of 72-9.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, South Africa held parliamentary and provincial elections amid frustration with a lack of progress 25 years after Nelson Mandela’s ANC swept to power at the end of white minority rule in 1994.
(Reuters, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Syrian troops pushed their way into a northwestern rebel-held enclave, clashing with insurgents and widening an offensive that until now had mainly involved aerial bombings and shelling.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, Tanzanian opposition activist Mdude Nyagali was found late today beaten and unconscious at a village in the country's southern highlands five days after unidentified people abducted him, stoking new fears of an opposition crackdown.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 8, Thailand's Election Commission allocated the 150 party list seats in the 500-member House of Representatives under a formula related to the proportion of each party's nationwide popular vote total. Twenty-six parties were granted seats, 14 of them one apiece.
(AP, 5/08/19)
2019 May 8, UN-linked aid groups began suspending activities in parts of violence-plagued northwest Syria, where stepped up bombardment by the regime and Russia is jeopardizing the safety of humanitarian workers.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 8, Venezuelan intelligence agents detained opposition leader Juan Guaido's congressional deputy, using a tow truck to drag his vehicle away with him inside, prompting the US government to warn of "consequences" if he was not released.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, US Pres. Donald Trump urged Iran's leadership to sit down and talk with him about giving up Tehran's nuclear program and said he could not rule out a military confrontation given the heightened tensions between the two countries.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, The United States announced a highly unusual seizure of a huge North Korean cargo ship involved in banned coal transports.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, Former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was freed from a US jail after two months in custody. She is expected to appear before a different grand jury, on Thursday, May 16.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, US federal prosecutors in Virginia arrested Daniel Everette Hale (31), a former US intelligence analyst, for providing classified information to a reporter under the Espionage Act and with theft of government property.
(SFC, 5/10/19, p.A5)
2019 May 9, US and Chinese negotiators resumed trade talks just hours before the United States was set to raise tariffs on Chinese imports in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the world's two biggest economies.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, The US called on North Korea to "dismantle all political prison camps" and release all political prisoners, who it said numbered between 80,000 and 120,000.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In NYC German con artist Anna Sorokin, a 28-year-old who was born in Russia, was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for swindling banks, hotels and wealthy New Yorkers. She had used a fake identity as a German heiress named Anna Delvey to scam victims out of more than $200,000.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, In Argentina civil servant Marcelo Yadon (58) was shot five times at close range as he walked in a square in front of the National Congress this morning with his childhood friend and lawmaker Hector Olivares )61). Two men were arrested the next day on suspicion of murder. Press reports later claimed the motive was related to a relationship between Yadon, who was married with children, and the 24-year-old daughter of one of the shooters.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, In Australia three Sunni Muslim men were convicted of engaging in a terror act by burning down a Shiite mosque in the city of Melbourne on Dec. 11, 2016.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Australia's central bank took responsibility for typos on 46 million bank notes after a radio station posted an image of the microscopic error on social media. The word “responsibility" appears three times on the note and the third "i'' is omitted every time.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, The BBC fired Danny Baker, a broadcaster with BBC Radio 5 Live, who tweeted an image of a chimpanzee dressed in clothes below the caption "Royal Baby leaves hospital".
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Ambani's Reliance Brands announced late today that it had bought the 259-year-old British toy store Hamleys from the Hong Kong-listed Chinese fashion conglomerate C. Banner International Holdings for $88 million. India-based Ambani is currently engaged in fierce competition with Amazon and Walmart in an ongoing race to dominate India's retail market.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, China vowed to defend its own interests and retaliate if President Donald Trump goes ahead with more tariff hikes in a dispute over trade and technology.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, EU leaders, minus Britain, meeting in Sibiu, Romania, committed to stick together "through thick and thin" to remain a key player in the world despite myriad problems facing the bloc.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, French unions held strikes and protests against 120,000 job cuts and other deep changes to France's huge public sector by Pres. Emmanuel Macron's government.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, A French human rights group sought to block the loading of weapons onto a Saudi Arabian vessel that is due to dock in northern France later in the day, arguing the cargo contravened an international arms treaty.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In Iraq gunmen attacked a grain silo in the northern town of Shirqat, killing a guard and setting fire to a vehicle. A suicide bombing killed 8 people at the Jamila marketplace in Baghdad's sprawling Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City. The Islamic State soon claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 5/09/19)(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, In southern Libya three people were killed in a suspected hit-and-run attack by Islamic State militants on the town of Ghadwa.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, A Montenegro court sentenced 13 people, including two Russian secret service operatives, to up to 15 years in prison after they were convicted of plotting to overthrow the Balkan country's government on Oct. 16, 2016, and prevent it from joining NATO. The two Russians, identified as Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, were tried in absentia.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In Northern Ireland four males, aged 15, 18, 38 and 51, were arrested under terrorism laws in connection with the killing of journalist Lyra McKee in Londonderry last month.
(AFP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, North Korea fired two suspected short-range missiles toward the sea, its second weapons launch in five days and a possible warning that nuclear disarmament talks with Washington could be in danger.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In Pakistan three soldiers and two coalminers were killed in attacks in the town of Hernai in volatile southwestern Baluchistan province.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the 74th annual military Victory Day parade in Red Square that the country will continue to strengthen its armed forces.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Russia’s government agency for aerial protection of forests said wildfires are blazing on about 58,000 hectares (145,000 acres) throughout the eastern reaches.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Syrian government troops captured the northwestern village of Qalaat al-Madiq, known for its medieval fortress, and two smaller nearby villages as they moved deeper toward Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Taiwan broke ground on a shipyard to produce submarines to counter China's growing military threat.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, Pope Francis issued a new church law about reporting clergy sex abuse and cover-up, outlining investigation procedures when the accused is a bishop or religious superior.
(AP, 5/09/19)
2019 May 9, In Yemen grain silos outside the port of Hodeida, vital to UN plans to feed millions of needy, were hit by gunfire just days after aid staff gained access. The silos, controlled by troops of a Saudi-led coalition, are close to front line with Huthi rebels who control the port and much of the city of Hodeida.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, President Donald Trump said trade talks between China and the US are continuing in a "very congenial manner." Trump more than doubled tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. Beijing said it would retaliate but that talks would continue.
(AP, 5/10/19)(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, The Pentagon said it was diverting another $1.5 billion for new barriers to stop illegal immigrants on the US-Mexico border, following the authorization of $1 billion in March.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Louisiana Ronald Greene (49) was dragged on his stomach by leg shackles following a violent arrest and high-speed pursuit. Video later showed troops choking and beating Greene, who soon died under police custody near Monroe. Trooper Chris Hollingsworth died in a car crash in Sept., 2020, after learning he had been fired for his role in the incident. In 2021 Master Trooper Cory York was suspended without pay. Body camera footage was released two years after Greene's death.
(https://tinyurl.com/y9pnpge4)(SFC, 3/1/21, p.A6)(USA Today, 5/27/21)
2019 May 10, In Brazil a few thousand people gathered in the center of Rio de Janeiro to protest against stiff budget cuts imposed by the administration of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to the public education sector.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, A Brazilian supreme court judge said that President Jair Bolsonaro and his Justice Ministry had five days to respond to opposition assertions that a recently passed gun decree was unconstitutional.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Brazil Alfredo Sirkis, head of a government-backed climate forum, was fired. He said the firing was probably related to the forum's initiative to organize 12 Brazilian states to create a council on climate change that would act independently from the federal government.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Simon Armitage was named the UK's new Poet Laureate, succeeding Carol Ann Duffy in the 10-year post.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In northern Burkina Faso French special forces freed two French hostages, an American and a South Korean in an overnight military raid in which two French soldiers died. French tourists, identified as Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas, had disappeared while on holiday in the remote Pendjari National Park in Benin on May 1.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Chinese prosecutors filed formal charges against former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, accusing him of abuse of power and taking bribes, in the next legal step before he faces a court.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, In Colombia four people died and 29 were injured, including 17 children, following an explosion at a factory where gunpowder is handled in Bogota.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Communist-run Cuba said it would control more the sales of certain foodstuff and hygiene products, including adding some back to the ration card, due to shortages that it blamed partly on the tightening of the US trade embargo.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Greek far-left extremist Dimitris Koufodinas (61), serving 11 life terms for a string of murders, vowed to continue "until the end" a hunger strike if his bid to get a new leave from prison isn't granted. Koufodinas is the chief hit man for the November 17 group that killed 23 people from 1975-2000.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, It was reported that case of African swine fever has been detected in a Hong Kong slaughterhouse, prompting the culling of all 6,000 pigs at the facility. The incurable virus was found in a single pig imported from a farm in Guangdong province in mainland China.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Islamic State (IS) claimed for the first time that it has established a "province" in India, after a clash between militants and security forces in the contested Kashmir region killed a militant with alleged ties to the group. An Indian police statement said that a militant called Ishfaq Ahmad Sofi was killed in an encounter in Shopian.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Indonesia hundreds of supporters of an opposition presidential candidate marched to protest against what they called election fraud, as the government warned that efforts to cast doubt on the outcome could amount to treason.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Tehran will not negotiate with the United States and denied any US attack was likely, a day after US President Donald Trump urged talks and said he could not rule out a military confrontation.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Israel lifted a ban on Palestinian fishing boats operating off Gaza, ending a measure imposed during a deadly flare-up of violence earlier this month. The new limits imposed by Israel were 12 nautical miles in the southern half of Gaza, and six nautical miles in the north.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Dozens of Lebanese military and security veterans protested for the second time in two weeks against proposed cuts to their pensions and benefits, as the government discussed a budget bill that aims to cut public spending and usher in austerity measures.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Mexicans with missing children led marches in 16 cities, on the local celebration of Mother's Day, to protest the government's failure to find their sons and daughters or bring their cases to justice. More than 40,000 persons were said to be missing in Mexico.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, In Nigeria hundreds of protesters marched through Abuja demanding an end to police impunity, after police officers were accused of carrying out a string of sexual assaults.
(AFP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, In Nigeria a regional militia allied with government forces freed almost 900 children it had used in the war against Islamist Boko Haram insurgents.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, In Nigeria the Islamic State (IS) killed 11 government soldiers in an attack on the northeastern town of Gajiganna.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, The Norwegian Refugee Council estimated that a record 41 million people have been displaced within their countries, with many forced to flee conflict, violence and internal tensions in several African countries and Syria.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Portugal's parliament rejected proposed retroactive pay hikes for teachers, quelling the prospects of a political crisis following last week's threat by the government to resign if the measure was approved.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, It was reported that Portugal's attorney general is charging two former secretaries of state and 14 other former senior officials with accepting improper benefits after they allegedly received free trips from an energy company to attend an international soccer tournament.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, A Saudi vessel that had been due to load arms in France left the country's Le Havre port without its cargo of weapons and sailed towards Santander in Spain.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, South Africa’s ANC led the parliamentary race with 57% of the vote. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) was at 21% and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) had garnered 10%.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Syrian rebel groups launched a counteroffensive to retake territory lost to government forces this week in their stronghold in the country's northwest. Air strikes and shelling in the northwest killed 10 civilians.
(AP, 5/10/19)(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Thailand student activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, also known as Pai Dao Din, who was arrested in Dec. 2016 for sharing a BBC article about Thailand's king on Facebook, was released under a royal pardon. He had been due to complete his sentence on June 19.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Human Rights Watch said three Thai activists facing charges of insulting the monarchy have disappeared after reportedly being arrested in Vietnam. Chucheep Chiwasut, who broadcasts political commentary to Thailand from exile, and fellow activists Siam Theerawut and Kritsana Thapthai were reportedly turned over to Thai authorities by Vietnam on May 8.
(Reuters, 5/10/19)
2019 May 10, Tunisian fishermen rescued 16 people and brought them to shore in Zarzis. Around 60 migrants, most of them from Bangladesh, died after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea after it left Libya for Italy.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, In Turkey columnist Yavuz Selim Demirag, critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and its nationalist allies, was beaten up by about five or six people with baseball bats after appearing on a TV show.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, United Nations environmental officials said almost every country in the world has agreed on a legally binding framework for reducing polluting plastic waste, with the United States a notable exception.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Venezuela announced it was re-opening its land border with Brazil after Maduro ordered it shut in February. Maritime links with the Caribbean island of Aruba were also reopened. The border with Colombia and links with other parts of the former Dutch Antilles remained closed.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 10, Yemeni officials said fighting continues in the country's southern Dhale province between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and pro-government forces.
(AP, 5/10/19)
2019 May 11, In Hawaii CO2 levels at the Mauna Loa Observatory reached 415 parts per million, more than twice the level during the ice ages. Scientists said the current concentration has not been seen in 3 million years, a time when Antarctica was covered in forests.
(SSFC, 5/19/19, p.A16)W
2019 May 11, In Afghanistan unidentified gunmen in Kabul shot and killed Mena Mangal, a female journalist and adviser to the country's parliament.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, In Albania thousands of supporters of the center-right opposition protested in Tirana, calling for the left-wing government to resign and for an early parliamentary election.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, Chinese media reported that police have seized more than 210,000 hard drives produced by a counterfeit ring that sold them as brand-name items from the likes of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM. The Xinhua news agency said police arrested 56 suspects at two factories and four offices in the cities of Nanjing, Beijing, Chongqing and Guangzhou, where the hard drives were made and sold, and that the action against the counterfeiters was carried out late last year.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, Animal rights groups cheered the release of 37 spotted seal pups rescued from traffickers into the wild in northern China in a small victory for efforts to save the country's endangered species.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, Cuban police broke up an unauthorized pro-LGBT rights march in Havana, held as an alternative to the government-sanctioned Gay Rights parade that authorities canceled earlier in the week.
(AFP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, In France "Yellow vest" protesters gathered in Paris and other cities for the 26th straight week of rallies against President Emmanuel Macron, with scattered incidents of violence but overall a marked decline in the size of the crowds.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, In Germany the bodies of a man and two women were found with crossbow bolts in them in a hotel room in Passau, Bavaria. On May 13 two more dead women were found in the town of Wittingen. The bodies had been dead for several days, no crossbows or arrows were found, and there were no signs of a struggle. Media later reported that Torsten W. (53) appeared to have controlled the four women like a harsh sect leader who used physical force and psychological manipulation.
(AP, 5/12/19)(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 11, Hong Kong's legislative assembly descended into chaos as lawmakers for and against controversial amendments to the territory's extradition law clashed over access to the chamber.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, Mexican state prosecutors said investigators over the last week have found thirty-five bodies buried around the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the country's second city. Four suspects were reported arrested.
(Reuters, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, Mexican authorities declared emergencies in 11 municipalities in the southern state of Oaxaca due to raging forest fires, as high temperatures and dry conditions plague much of the country.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, In Pakistan an assault on the Pearl Continental hotel in the southwestern coastal town of Gwadar left nine people dead, including four gunmen killed by security forces.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, Several thousand nationalists rallied in Warsaw against a US law on the restitution of Jewish properties seized during the Holocaust, an issue which has surfaced ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 11, Saudi Arabia's security forces killed eight alleged terrorists in a shootout in the predominantly Shiite eastern region of Qatif.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 11, The African National Congress retained control of South Africa's parliament but its share of the vote fell, a rebuke from voters fed up with corruption scandals and racial inequalities that remain entrenched a generation after the party took power. With all votes counted the ruling party secured 57.51% of the votes in the May 1 general election.
(Reuters, 5/11/19)(SFC, 5/12/19, p.A4)
2019 May 11, Yemen's Houthi rebels began a long-delayed withdrawal of their forces from the key port city of Hodeida, following the terms of a cease-fire.
(AP, 5/11/19)
2019 May 12, In Afghanistan unidentified gunmen killed Abdul Ghafour Mahmoud, a deputy intelligence director for northern Baghlan province. In the north the Taliban targeted security checkpoints in Sari Pul province late today, killing at least seven members of the country's security forces. The insurgents also abducted two members of the force and left five wounded.
(AP, 5/12/19)(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, The ruling coalition of Argentine President Mauricio Macri suffered a heavy defeat in elections held in Cordoba province, the country's second most populous district.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, Argentine legislator Héctor Olivares died three days after being seriously wounded in a gun attack that killed a provincial official near the country's congressional building in Buenos Aires.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, Albania's center-right opposition decided to continue protests calling for the resignation of the government and for an early parliamentary election.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, In northern Burkina Faso gunmen killed a priest and five parishioners during mass Sunday in an attack on a Catholic church in Dablo.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, Indians voted in the next-to-last round of a six-week-long national election marked by a highly acrimonious campaign that has seen PM Narendra Modi blame opposition party chief Rahul Gandhi's family for the country's ills.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, Israel reopened its crossings with the blockaded Gaza Strip after closing them during a deadly escalation earlier this month, as a fragile truce held.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, In Kashmir thousands of people took to the streets to protest the alleged rape of a 3-year-old girl by a neighbor who lured her to a school bathroom. The girl was hospitalized in critical condition on May 8, but her condition has stabilized. The suspect's family produced a school-issued birth certificate giving his age as 13. Protesters said the suspect is not less than 20 and he worked in a motor repair workshop.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, Lithuanians voted for a new president in a close race dominated by concerns over poverty and income inequality in the Baltic state that boasts some of the eurozone's strongest growth. Ingrida Simonyte (44) won the round with 31.4 percent, only a 2,647-vote advantage over Gitanas Nauseda (54) who had 31.2 percent. PM Saulius Skvernelis (48) had 21 percent.
(AFP, 5/12/19)(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, Voters in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia cast ballots for their local Congress, with separatists hoping to win a majority. Under a 1998 agreement, there can be two further votes on independence before 2022 in the archipelago located more than 1,000 km (600 miles) northeast of Brisbane, Australia.
(AFP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, In North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski was sworn in as the new president, promising he will serve all citizens in a deeply divided society and will lobby European Union leaders to approve the start of his country's accession talks in June.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, It was reported that Sri Lankan authorities have arrested Mohamed Aliyar (60), a Saudi-educated scholar, for what they claim are links with Zahran Hashim, the suspected ringleader of the Easter Sunday bombings. Two Muslim community sources said his hardline views were partly shaped by ultra-conservative Salafi-Wahhabi texts that he picked up at the Center for Islamic Guidance's library around 2-3 years ago.
(Reuters, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, In northwestern Syria Insurgents fired rockets into the government-held Christian town of Suqailabiyah, killing six people, including five children who were playing near a monastery.
(AP, 5/12/19)
2019 May 12, It was reported that nearly 128,000 people in Syria have never emerged from prison over the last eight years and are presumed to be either dead or still in custody under the Assad regime.
(SFC, 6/8/19, p.A6)
2019 May 12, The UAE said that four commercial vessels were sabotaged near Fujairah emirate, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs lying just outside the Strait of Hormuz, but did not describe the nature of the attack or say who was behind it. Two Saudi oil tankers were targeted in the attack.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 12, Venezuelan Gen. Ramon Rangel called on the country's armed forces to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro, who has relied on the backing of the military to hold on to power despite an economic collapse. Rangel fled to Colombia last month.
(Reuters, 5/12/19)
2019 May 13, US police launched a bid to evict Americans who have been occupying the Venezuelan embassy in Washington for weeks in protest against opposition leader Juan Guaido. Three people left and the estimated four who remained inside were given notice that they "have to leave the building".
(AFP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 13, Alabama Public Television chose not to air the PBS children's show "Arthur" because it showed Arthur attending the wedding of his teacher with a same-sex partner.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A4)
2019 May 13, In Alaska at least four people were killed when two sightseeing planes carrying cruise ship tourists collided in midair near Ketchikan. Two people remained missing.
(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A6)
2019 May 13, A jury in Oakland, Ca., ordered Bayer-owned Monsanto to pay more than $2 billion in damages to a Livermore couple that sued on grounds the product caused their cancer in a third major legal blow to the chemical giant and its weedkiller Roundup. The couple had used Roundup on their property for more than 30 years. The punitive damages were later cut to $69 mil.
(AFP, 5/14/19)(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A1)(SFC, 8/10/21, p.C1)
2019 May 13, US actress Felicity Huffman (56) pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge for her role in in a brazen test-fixing and bribery scheme to inflate her daughters SAT score.
(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A6)
2019 May 13, Doris Day (b.1922), American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist, died in Carmel Valley Village, Ca. Her 39 feature films included “Romance on the High Seas (1948), “Calamity Jane" (1953), “The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), “Pillow Talk" (1959) and “The Thrill of It All" (1963).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Day)
2019 May 13, A Texas police officer shot and killed Pamela Turner (44) at an apartment complex in the Houston area community of Baytown. Police say she grabbed his Taser and used it on him following an attempted arrest on outstanding warrants.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.A4)
2019 May 13, Arab activist Iyad el-Baghdadi, living in Norway, said he's been given protection by two different Norwegian entities after the CIA informed officials of an unspecified threat against him, which he said is likely linked to his research on Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, A group of islanders off Australia's north coast filed a human rights complaint to the United Nations against the Australian government over inaction on climate change, which they say is threatening their homes. Torres Strait Islanders are part of Australia's indigenous population.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, The wife of Meng Hongwei, the former Interpol president jailed in China, said France has granted her refugee status.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, In eastern Congo DRC police and soldiers repelled an overnight attack on an Ebola treatment center in Katwa, killing one Mai-Mai assailant. Two patients also died after the nursing staff fled the facility.
(AFP, 5/13/19)(SFC, 5/14/19, p.A2)
2019 May 13, In Egypt a civilian church guard shot and killed a priest in Cairo. Officials said the quarrel broke out in St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church in the Shubra el-Kheima district when the priest refused to give money to the guard to help him pay for his daughter's wedding. The guard was arrested after the shooting.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, European Union anti-trust regulators said they are fining AB Inbev, the world's biggest brewer, more than 200 million euros ($225 million) for abusing its dominant position in the Belgian beer market.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Guatemala's top court said that it had barred the daughter of former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt from taking part in presidential elections in June.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 13, Iran said it had sentenced an Iranian woman to 10 years prison for spying for Britain, as tension rises between Tehran and some Western countries over its nuclear and missile programs.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, A fishing boat that was illegally carrying eight Syrian refugees to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus capsized off the northern Lebanese town of Chekka. Lebanon's navy detained three of the Syrians when they returned to the coast and five others remained still missing.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Malaysian police said they detained four men last week who were planning to assassinate 'high-profile targets" and bomb places of worship and entertainment centers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, In Malaysia a teenager (16) reportedly jumped to her death in eastern Sarawak state after asking her Instagram followers to vote on whether she should kill herself.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 13, The Nigerian army said it rescued 54 women and children over the weekend held captive in Borno State by the extremist group Boko Haram.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Filipinos voted in midterm elections highlighted by a showdown between Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's allies who aim to dominate the Senate and opposition candidates fighting for checks and balances under a leader they regard as a looming dictator.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, In Sri Lanka a Muslim man was hacked to death in violence in which members of the country's largely Buddhist majority ethnic Sinhalese attacked Muslim-owned shops and homes in several towns. The government imposed curfew across its northwest province. This was the third time it has taken such a step since last month's Easter attacks that killed more than 250 people.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)(AP, 5/13/19)(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 13, Sudanese police and Rapid Support Forces used tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters in Khartoum North and removed barriers they had set up on a main street leading to the heart of the capital.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Sweden reopened an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and said it will seek his extradition from Britain, potentially delaying efforts by the United States to bring him to its courts to face trial over a huge release of secret documents.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, The pro-government Syrian Central Military Media said government forces have captured the villages of Hawash and Jabrieh and Hawash hill on the southern edges of Idlib. Opposition activists reported government airstrikes and shelling of different areas in Idlib.
(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, A Turkish court handed down 53 life sentences without parole to Yusuf Nazik (34), a man who authorities said planned a 2013 bomb attack near the Syrian border that killed dozens of people in the town of Reyhanli, near the border with Syria. Two other suspects were sentenced for aiding a terror group.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)(AP, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Amnesty International said in a report that Vietnam has stepped up its imprisonment of political activists, intensifying a crackdown that has seen the number of prisoners of conscience increase by almost a third since last year.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 13, Yemen's warring parties started fresh U.N.-sponsored talks in Jordan, two days after Houthi forces began withdrawing from the ports of Hodeidah, breaking a six month stalemate.
(Reuters, 5/13/19)
2019 May 14, US officials listed $300 billion more of Chinese goods for possible tariff hikes while Beijing vowed to "fight to the finish" in an escalating trade battle.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, The US National Labor Relations Board issued a memorandum concluding that Uber drivers are contractors, not employees.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.D1)
2019 May 14, The Alabama senate voted 25-6 to pass the most restrictive abortion bill in the US, which places a near-total ban on the termination of pregnancy -- even in cases of rape and incest -- and could punish doctors who perform the procedure with life in prison. Governor Ivey has not yet said whether she will sign the bill.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 14, San Francisco became the first city in the country to ban city use of facial recognition surveillance technology.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.C8)
2019 May 14, In the SF Bay Area a whale washed up near Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica. This was the 10th whale found dead in the region over the last two months.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.C1)
2019 May 14, In southern California Tim Conway (85), former co-star on the Carol Burnett variety show, died in Los Angeles. Conway appeared in a number of films including "The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975), and was the voice for Barnacle Boy in "Spongebob Squarepants".
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.A5)
2019 May 14, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (53) announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
(SFC, 5/15/19, p.A4)
2019 May 14, In NYC an 1890 Claude Monet painting from his celebrated "Meules" (Haystacks) series fetched $110.7 million in a Sotheby’s auction, a record for the French Impressionist master.
(AFP, 5/15/19)(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A6)
2019 May 14, Bangladesh police clashed with suspected people smugglers sending Rohingya Muslim refugees to Malaysia, killing two of the traffickers.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 14, In parts of Bosnia homes and roads flooded after rivers broke their banks following heavy rains, triggering concerns of a repeat of floods five years ago when dozens died. One boy (6) was reported missing.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Rumen Porozhanov resigned, the latest high-level official to step down in scandals involving purchases of luxury properties and the building of guest houses with EU aid for private use.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Hong Kong legislators clashed over a proposed extradition law that would allow people to be sent to China for trial, after ugly brawls in the legislature over the weekend.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi, days after India decided to follow US restrictions on buying Iranian oil. Zarif held discussions with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on issues of mutual interest, including the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, In Israel hackers succeeded in flashing a fake rocket attack warning during a webcast of a Eurovision song contest semi-final. Israel's public broadcaster blamed the incident on Islamist group Hamas.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 14, Mali urged the European Union to step up support for Africa's Sahel countries amid a series of extremist attacks, as France mourned two officers killed during a hostage rescue mission in the region.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, In Niger 28 soldiers were killed after an ambush by jihadists not far from the volatile border with Mali. Jihadists linked to the Islamic State soon claimed responsibility.
(AP, 5/16/19)(Reuters, 5/16/19)(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A2)
2019 May 14, North Korea accused the United States of betraying the spirit of a summit agreement last June between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, called the US seizure of a North Korean cargo ship involved in banned coal exports a "robbery," and demanded that the vessel be returned immediately.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, In Papua New Guinea a magnitude 7.5 quake struck late today at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 14, Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki vowed tougher punishments for those who sexually abuse minors after a new film spurred the country into grappling with the problem of abuse by priests. The documentary "Tell No One" has triggered soul searching in the deeply Catholic country since it was released May 11 on YouTube.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Saudi Arabia said armed drones had struck two oil pumping stations in the kingdom in what it called a "cowardly" act of terrorism two days after Saudi oil tankers were sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Houthi-run Masirah TV earlier said the group had launched drone attacks on "vital" Saudi installations in response to "continued aggression and blockade" on Yemen.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Officials data showed that South Africa's unemployment rate has risen by half a percentage point to 27.6 percent.
(AFP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Spain's Supreme Court ruled that five Catalan separatist leaders can leave prison to be sworn-in as lawmakers on May 21, but said it would not halt the trial over their role in Catalonia's independence bid in 2017.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, Sri Lankan police arrested 23 people in connection with a spate of attacks on Muslim-owned homes and shops in apparent reprisal for the Easter bombings by Islamist militants that killed more than 250 people.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, In Sudan security agents loyal to ousted President Omar al-Bashir attacked protester sit-ins overnight, setting off clashes that killed six people, including an army officer, and heightened tensions as the opposition held talks with the military.
(AP, 5/14/19)
2019 May 14, A UN fact-finding mission said the world must cut off financial and other support for Myanmar's armed forces, repeating a call for top generals to be prosecuted for abuses against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
(Reuters, 5/14/19)
2019 May 15, Pres. Donald Trump granted a full pardon to Conrad Black, a former newspaper published who had written a flattering 2018 political biography of Trump: "Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other." Black was convicted of fraud in 2007 and served 3½ years in prison.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A5)
2019 May 15, The US ordered all non-emergency staff to leave its embassy in Baghdad and consulate in Arbil, as tensions mounted between the United States and Iraq's neighbor Iran, prompting Kremlin concern.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, The Trump administration issued an executive order apparently aimed at banning Huawei equipment from US networks and said it was subjecting the Chinese company to strict export controls.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 15, Alabama's governor signed a bill making the performance of an abortion a felony in nearly all cases.
(SFC, 5/18/19, p.A4)
2019 May 15, California’s Berkeley-based Kitkit School and London's onebillion educational nonprofit were declared co-winners of the $10 million XPRIZE For Global Learning, funded by Elon Musk. The goal was to develop open-sourced software, put it on tablets donated by Google and have thousands of children in 170 remote villages in Tanzania test it.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 15, California-based PG&E acknowledged that its power equipment caused the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County that left 85 people dead. An 86th victim of the fire died on August 5.
(SFC, 5/16/19, p.A1)(SFC, 8/8/19, p.C1)
2019 May 15, In San Francisco Benedict Ching (73) failed to show up for work. Days later police found his severed head and other body parts in a refrigerator at his home at 161 Del Monte. Daughter Stephanie Ching (35) and husband Douglas Lomas were soon extradited from China and charged with murder and conspiracy. In 2020 Stephanie Ching pleaded guilty to being an accesory after the fact. Lomas pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to six years in prison.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.C1)(SFC, 10/21/20, p.B2)
2019 May 15, Lionel Rubalcava of San Jose, Ca., walked out of Pleasant Valley State Prison in Fresno after spending 17 years behind bars for a shooting in 2002. His life sentence for attempted murder had been overturned due to wrongful conviction.
(SSFC, 5/19/19, p.C11)
2019 May 15, In NYC Christie's auctioned a 1986 stainless steel sculpture of "Rabbit" by Jeff Koons for over $91 million. This became the most expensive work ever sold at auction by a living artist.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A5)
2019 May 15, Facebook announced it would tighten access to its livestreaming feature as New Zealand's premier Jacinda Ardern and French leader Emmanuel Macron prepared to launch the global "Christchurch Call" initiative to tackle the spread of extremism online.
(AFP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Retired American Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn won Spain's Princess of Asturias award for sports. Her achievements included a women's record of 82 World Cup wins and three Olympic medals. She was forced to retire in February at age 34 after suffering multiple injuries.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Austrian lawmakers approved plans to ban girls in elementary schools from wearing headscarves, a move that would add to existing restrictions on veils.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 15, In northeast Congo DRC at least 19 people were killed when gunmen attacked a fish market in the village of Tara near Lake Albert.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 15, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi opened a suspension bridge over the Nile touted as the world's widest, one of a series of military-led, mega-projects designed to improve infrastructure and provide jobs. The bridge crosses the Nile's Warraq Island, which has an estimated 100,000 residents.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, In France world leaders and tech bosses met in Paris to find ways to stop terrorist use of social media to spread deadly ideas.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Greek lawmakers approved tax breaks and bonuses for pensioners in the crisis-hit nation days before elections, rowing back some austerity mandated by international bailouts.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Α Greek court acquitted nine Turkish citizens of terrorism-related offences, citing a lack of evidence. Greek police had arrested the eight men and one woman in dawn raids in central Athens, days before a state visit by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Greece in December 2017.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Takafumi Horie, founder of Japan's Interstellar Technology Inc., said his company plans to provide low-cost rocket services and compete with American rivals such as SpaceX.
(SFC, 5/16/19, p.A2)
2019 May 15, Nepalese Sherpa climber Kami Rita scaled Mount Everest for a 23rd time, breaking his own record for the most successful ascents of the world's highest peak.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, North Korea said it is suffering its worst drought in nearly four decades amid reports of severe food shortages.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, Sudan's ruling generals and opposition leaders said they have made significant progress in negotiations and have agreed on the length of the country's transition period.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking in Fiji, said that he's traveling to three South Pacific island nations to see the effects of climate change firsthand.
(AP, 5/15/19)
2019 May 15, In Yemen Houthi fighters and pro-government forces battled in the port city of Hodeidah, breaching a ceasefire and potentially complicating a troop withdrawal agreement intended to pave the way for wider peace talks.
(Reuters, 5/15/19)
2019 May 16, The United States imposed sanctions on five Russians over abuses including the killing of a prominent opposition leader, days after top-level talks seemed to ease tensions between the two powers.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, The US State Department cleared $313.9 million in possible sales of air defense missiles to South Korea, as tensions re-emerged on the Korean peninsula.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 16, The Trump administration cancelled nearly $1 billion in federal funds for California's high-speed rail project.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A1)
2019 May 16, Alabama executed Michael Brandon Samra (41) for his role in a quadruple killing that followed a dispute over a pickup truck.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A5)
2019 May 16, Members of Florida's congressional delegation said it was unacceptable that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security will not publicly identify the two counties where Russian hackers gained access to voter databases before the 2016 election.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, In Chicago Lori Lightfoot was sworn in as city mayor, becoming the first black woman and the first openly gay person to hold that post in the city's history.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A8)
2019 May 16, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (58) said he will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, despite a panning by US media and polls which suggest he faces a tough fight. He became the 23rd prospective Democratic challenger to President Donald Trump.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Architect I.M. Pei (b.1917) who died at the age of 102 at his home in New York City. His work included the giant glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris, complete in 1989, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei)(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, Tennessee executed Don Johnson (68) for killing his wife in 1984.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A5)
2019 May 16, Facebook said it banned the Archimedes Group, an Israeli company that ran an influence campaign aimed at disrupting elections in various countries. FB purged 65 Israeli accounts, 161 pages, dozens of groups and four Instagram accounts engaged in spreading disinformation.
(SFC, 5/17/19, p.A2)
2019 May 16, In Afghanistan a US air strike killed at least eight policemen in Helmand province. Another 11 policemen were wounded in a firefight with Taliban insurgents during the same security operation.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, Bob Hawke )89), Australia's longest-serving Labor Party prime minister, died. He won four terms as prime minister, serving from 1983 to 1991 before being ousted by his own center-left party when the economy soured. His charisma and powers of persuasion earned him near-folk hero status among many Australians.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, A former head of Britain's MI6 foreign spy service said China's Huawei poses such a grave security risk to the United Kingdom that the government must not allow it to have even a limited role in building 5G networks.
(Reuters, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, China vowed to "resolutely safeguard" Chinese companies after Washington labeled telecom equipment giant Huawei a security risk and imposed export curbs on U.S. technology sales to the company.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, China formally arrested two Canadian citizens it is believed to be holding to pressure Canada into releasing a Chinese telecoms executive. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor had been arrested for allegedly stealing state secrets.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In China a building that was being refurbished collapsed in downtown Shanghai. Seven people were killed. 14 were pulled from the rubble alive by rescuers.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, The crash of the Diamond DA62 at Dubai International Airport saw the aircraft roll upside-down in air and smash into a park near the airport at high speed, killing the three Britons and one South African on board. Investigations later said it had followed other larger aircraft landing there too closely as air traffic controllers offered inconsistent warnings about the hazard.
(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 May 16, Egypt said five soldiers and dozens of militants were killed in recent clashes in the country's restive northern Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Egyptian media announced that President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has pardoned 560 prisoners, including prominent journalist Abdel Halim Qandil and several women.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 16, In France ETA kingpin Josu Ternera (69), aka Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea, described by Spain as the Basque separatist group's most wanted fugitive, was arrested after more than 16 years in hiding from court orders served in both countries.
(Reuters, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In northern Germany activists occupied a building site to protest against the ongoing Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Prominent Hong Kong student leader Joshua Wong (22) was sent back to prison after he lost an attempt to quash a jail sentence over his leadership of huge democracy protests five years ago.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Indian troops and separatist militants clashed in Indian-controlled Kashmir and five people were killed including civilian Rayees Ahmad Dar (32). Three JeM militants, including a Pakistani commander, and an Indian soldier were killed in the gun battle in Dalipora, a village in south Kashmir, which began in the early hours.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In Indian-controlled Kashmir a Muslim man was shot and killed and another injured by Hindu vigilantes over allegations of smuggling cows.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In Iraq four people were killed in overnight unrest that erupted as a mall burned down during a demonstration in Najaf.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In the Ivory Coast inter-community violence began in the small town of Beoumi. Three days of violence left 10 people died and another 83 wounded.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 16, Animal activists urged Kenya to ban the slaughter of donkeys for use in Chinese medicine, a practice which has soared in recent years and decimated African populations of the animal.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In Nepal two Indian climbers died overnight near the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga and a Chilean mountaineer was missing on the world's third highest mountain.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, In Nicaragua Eddy Montes Praslin, a naturalized US citizen who had served in the Navy, was shot dead in prison. Montes had returned to Nicaragua where he fought for a change in government. Officials said Montes died after he and others tried to snatch a gun from a guard while the International Red Cross was visiting the prison. 17 others were wounded in the disturbance.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 16, Norwegian media reported that representatives of Venezuela's regime and the opposition are holding "peace negotiations" in Oslo this week.
(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, A Pakistani court upheld death sentences for three Muslims but acquitted two others in the 2014 mob killing of a Christian couple accused of blasphemy in the eastern city of Lahore.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, The Philippines recalled its ambassador and consuls in Canada over Ottawa's failure to comply with a deadline to take back truckloads of garbage that Filipino officials say were illegally shipped to the Philippines years ago.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Russian police detained several dozen people in the early hours at a rally protesting plans to build a cathedral in a popular park in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister accused Iran of ordering an attack on Saudi oil pumping stations that Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia has claimed responsibility for.
(Reuters, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen carried out several air strikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa after the Iranian-aligned movement claimed responsibility for drone attacks on Saudi oil installations. The Houthi health ministry said six civilians, including four children, had been killed and 52 wounded, including two Russian women working in the health sector.
(Reuters, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Sudan’s ruling military council suspended negotiations for three days with opposition representatives over a peaceful transfer of power to civilian rule. Sudanese protesters vowed to press on with a sit-in despite being targeted in fresh violence.
(AP, 5/16/19)(AFP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, Thailand's Election Commission recommended that Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of major political party opposed to military rule, be barred from taking his seat in the soon-to-be-convened parliament because he is accused of violating electoral rules.
(AP, 5/16/19)
2019 May 16, A small boat carrying escaping migrants from Venezuela sank in coastal waters on its way to Trinidad and Tobago. At least 20 people aboard were missing.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A2)
2019 May 17, President Donald Trump announced a deal to lift US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico that had created friction between the neighbors and blocked a new North American free trade agreement.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, US border officials said hundreds of detainees from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in Texas and elsewhere are being flown to San Diego for processing beginning today.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, Former CIA officer Kevin Mallory (62) was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges that he spied for China and allegations he sought to expose human assets who were once his responsibility. A jury in Virginia convicted Mallory last year under the Espionage Act for providing classified information to Chinese handlers in exchange for $25,000.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, The US slapped sanctions on a Mexican judge and a former state governor, accusing them of taking bribes from drug traffickers, and saying that government corruption had allowed local drug gangs to grow and operate with impunity.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, The US embassy in Indonesia advised US citizens to avoid areas where large demonstrations may occur in Jakarta, and in other cities including Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, American author Herman Wouk (b.1915) died at his home in Palm Springs, Ca. His many acclaimed books included "The Caine Mutiny" (1951), a winner of the 1952 Pulitzer Prize.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A6)
2019 May 17, Missouri's Republican governor, Mike Parson, signed a bill into law that prohibits women from seeking an abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy, days after Alabama enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the United States.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 17, Hewlett Packard Enterprise said that it would buy the suprercomputer pioneer Cray for about $1.4 billion.
(SFC, 5/18/19, p.D1)
2019 May 17, In Brazil atrophying growth forecasts and waning confidence in President Jair Bolsonaro sent local stocks and currency to their lowest level of the year this week, as analysts warned of further falls.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, Authorities in Brazil raised to $73 million a fine that mining giant Vale will face if it does not present within 72 hours a technical report on the risks and possible impact of the rupture of a dam in Minas Gerais.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 17, Talks between Britain's Conservative government and the opposition Labour Party seeking a compromise over Brexit broke down without agreement, plunging the country back into a morass of uncertainty over its departure from the EU.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, A judge in Britain sentenced Jack Renshaw, an alleged member of a banned British neo-Nazi group, to life in prison for planning to murder UK lawmaker Rosie Cooper and threatening to slay a police officer.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Former British doctor Alan Tutin (71) was sentenced to 10 years in prison for groping female patients including a 12-year-old child between 1980 and 2004.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, In Colombia Jesus Santrich (52), aka Seuxis Paucias Hernandez, a former left-wing guerrilla leader wanted by the US for drug trafficking, was arrested on his release from prison on an arrest warrant related to the drug-trafficking investigation. He was suspected of participating in the trafficking of 10 tons of cocaine to the US between June 2017 and April 2018, crucially after the peace accord was signed in December 2016.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, Amnesty International said that Egyptian prosecutors ordered this week Haitham Mohammdeen and Mustafa Maher to remain in custody for 15 days over charges of "aiding a terrorist group," a reference to the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, A court in El Salvador sentenced seven gang members to up to 30 years for the notorious "black widows" killings, in which women were forced to marry men who were then killed to collect on life insurance policies.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, The Council of Europe adopted a declaration that allows Russia to start voting again at the continent's main human rights body following a spat related to its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, The European Union said it is prolonging sanctions against the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad for a year due to its continued crackdown against civilians in the war-ravaged country.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, The EU said it will directly penalize computer hackers after governments agreed a new mechanism to target individuals anywhere in the world, freezing their assets in the bloc and banning them from entry.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Germany said it would pay compensation of up to 10,000 euros ($11,000) each to victims of the former Nazi pedophile sect "Colonia Dignidad" in Chile. The sect was founded in 1961 by Paul Schaefer, a former Wehrmacht soldier, lay preacher and convicted pedophile, who abused, drugged and indoctrinated residents and kept them as virtual slaves. Schaefer was arrested in Argentina in 2005 and then jailed in Chile for child sexual and other abuses. Schaefer (88) died behind bars in 2010. Victims said compensation offered by Germany was not enough to make up for decades of slavery and abuse.
(AFP, 5/17/19)(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, In Germany two Afghan teenagers were convicted over a dispute with a German man (22), who then died of a heart attack in September 2019. The Dessau-Rosslau state court gave the younger man 17 months and the elder 20 months.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Hungary's PM Viktor Orban confirmed his country's plans to buy medium-range air defense missiles from the United States.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Indonesian police said that they have arrested dozens of Islamic-State linked terror suspects, including some who planned to detonate bombs at political demonstrations when election results are announced next week.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Japan and China agreed to boost their relations ahead of a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Japan in June, his first since coming to power in 2013.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, North Korea sent a letter asking United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to deal with the "illegal" seizure of one of its cargo ships by the United States.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 17, A South Korea appeals court extended the jail term imposed on cult leader Pastor Lee Jaerock (75) for raping female followers, sentencing him to 16 years behind bars. He was convicted last year of raping eight women more than 40 times.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, South Korea decided to allow its businesspeople to visit their factories at an industrial park in North Korea that was shut down by Seoul's previous conservative government in 2016 following a North Korean nuclear test.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, South Korea said that it would provide $8 million in humanitarian aid to North Korea's malnourished children and pregnant women.
(SFC, 5/18/19, p.A2)
2019 May 17, Some 70 aid groups called for an immediate end to the fighting in northwestern Syria. They said that the violence has displaced an estimated 180,000 people in the last two weeks alone.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags, despite deep divisions over marriage equality.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, A Turkish court sentenced fourteen people to life in jail without parole for involvement in twin bombings in Istanbul that killed dozens on December 10, 2016.
(Reuters, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Ukraine's ruling parliamentary coalition collapsed in what represents a setback for the president-elect's plans to hold early elections.
(AP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 17, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Brazilian Bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira (60), reportedly suspected of extorting priests and covering up sexual abuse.
(AFP, 5/17/19)
2019 May 18, Carolyn Powers, the president of the board or trustees for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles announced a $10 million donation during an annual benefit dinner. This will allow admission to the museum to be free.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A6)
2019 May 18, Boeing acknowledged it had to correct flaws in its 737 MAX flight simulator software used to train pilots, after two deadly crashes involving the aircraft that killed 346 people.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 18, In Afghanistan a bomb blast in the western province of Herat killed at least two people, including a child.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, Former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner (66) made the surprise announcement that she will seek the vice presidency as running mate to former cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez (60).
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, Australia held general elections. The ruling conservative coalition appeared on its way to a surprise win, defying opinion polls that had tipped the center-left opposition party to oust it from power. Former PM Tony Abbott, infamous for once calling the science behind climate change "crap", became the first big scalp in the country's elections, losing his seat of Warringah in Sydney's northern suburbs. PM Scott Morrison’s Liberal-led conservative coalition won or led in 76 seats, the number needed to form a majority government.
(AP, 5/18/19)(AFP, 5/18/19)(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, Austria's vice chancellor and longtime far-right leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, said he was stepping down over "catastrophic" video footage of him that threatened to bring down the right-wing coalition government. The FPO leader was shown in the footage a day earlier of as-yet unknown origin meeting a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in 2017, shortly before the election that brought him to power.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, Bahrain warned its citizens against travel to Iraq and Iran and asked those already there to return "immediately" for their safety.
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In France actress Eva Longoria said restrictive abortion laws passed in Alabama and Missouri are a threat to women, with stars set to protest against the bans on the Cannes red carpet.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In Honduras five foreigners including the pilot died when their private plane crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Roatán island, a tourist destination on the country’s Atlantic coast.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, Iran's top diplomat dismissed the possibility of war erupting in the region, saying Tehran did not want a conflict and that no country had the "illusion it can confront Iran".
(Reuters, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In Israel singer Duncan Laurence (25) brought the Netherlands victory with a doleful piano ballad, "Arcade," its first win in the Eurovision song contest since the 1970s. His victory means the Netherlands will host next year's edition.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, In Libya Islamic State militants killed at least three troops in an attack on a checkpoint in the desert town of Zallah.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In Mali a Nigerian peacekeeper was killed in an attack on the United Nations' stabilization mission in Timbuktu.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, It was reported that drought in southern Morocco has turned parts arid and that herders' determination to roam freely has brought them into dispute with crop farmers in the region of Souss.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, It was reported that Nigeria has experienced 685 kidnappings countrywide in the first quarter of the year -- an average of seven per day. Half of the kidnappings took place in the northwestern state of Zamfara.
(AFP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, In Poland thousands marched in Warsaw to celebrate the nation's European Union membership ahead of key European Parliament elections.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, Saudi Arabia called for urgent meetings of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to discuss escalating tensions in the region. Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) began "enhanced security patrols" in the international waters of the Arabian Gulf area.
(AFP, 5/19/19)(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 18, Syria's transport ministry says Iraqi Airways flights to Damascus expected for the first time since the war erupted in 2011 have been postponed indefinitely. The delay was relayed by the Iraqi embassy.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was vital "to save the Pacific to save the world" as he wrapped up his brief South Pacific tour in Vanuatu.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 18, Yemeni security officials said forces loyal to the internationally recognized government have recaptured a key district in the southern Dhale province.
(AP, 5/18/19)
2019 May 19, After eight epic years, 47 Emmys, two dead dragons and lots of sex, "Game of Thrones" said an emotional goodbye to devotees worldwide of one of the most popular shows in television history.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 19, Alabama police Officer William Buechner was killed and two others were wounded after responding to a call of domestic violence in Auburn. Grady Wayne Wilkes (29) was arrested the next day and charged with capital murder.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A6)
2019 May 19, In San Francisco some 40,000 people participated in the annual Bay to Breakers footrace.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.C1)
2019 May 19, In Atlanta, Georgia, Robert Smith, a billionaire technology investor, pledged to eliminate student debt for the entire 2019 class at Morehouse College.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A4)
2019 May 19, In Bethlehem, Pa., Martin Tower, the former world headquarters of Bethlehem Steel, was imploded to make way for a $200 million development project.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A6)
2019 May 19, Afghanistan's parliament descended into chaos when lawmakers brawled over the appointment of a new speaker, an inauspicious start to the assembly which was sitting for the first time since chaotic elections last year.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Austria's president called for the country to hold a snap general election in September, seen as the quickest timetable possible, after the resignation of Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache brought down the ruling coalition.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, In northern Brazil seven gunmen attacked a bar in Para state killing eleven people in Belem.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A2)
2019 May 19, China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Liu Shiyu, the former head of its top securities regulator, has been put under investigation by the country's anti-corruption watchdog on suspicion of violating laws.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, In Egypt a bomb blast hit a tourist bus near the famed Giza pyramids, wounding at least 17 people, including South Africans, in the latest blow to the country's tourism industry. Security forces soon killed 12 suspected Islamist militants in Cairo, following an explosion targeting a tourist bus.
(AFP, 5/19/19)(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 19, In Europe tens of thousands of demonstrators opposed to right-wing populism and nationalism took to the streets in a number of cities before May 23-26 elections to the European Parliament. In Germany organizers reported 20,000 protesters in Berlin; police estimated 10,000 in Munich, 14,000 in Frankfurt, and 10,000 in Hamburg.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Voting in India's mammoth national election ended with the seventh and final phase of a grueling poll that lasted more than five weeks. Exit polls predicted a victory for PM Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party and its allies. Violent clashes broke out in the eastern state of West Bengal.
(AP, 5/19/19)(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, An Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group said a roadside bomb has hit a bus carrying its fighters in the eastern town of Balad Ruz, killing 7 people and wounding 26.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, In Mali at least seven people were killed late today after an attack in Koury, near the country's troubled border with Burkina Faso.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 19, In Nepal rescuers recovered the bodies of Biplab Baidya and Kuntal Kanrar, two Indian climbers who died on the world's third-tallest peak this past week, and flew them to Kathmandu.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Russia said Syrian government forces have unilaterally ceased fire in the northern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold. Opposition activists reported continued shelling and airstrikes.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Saudi Arabia called for emergency regional talks to discuss mounting Gulf tensions, saying that it does not want war with Iran but is ready to defend itself.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Saudi Arabia announced that it has deposited $250 million in Sudan's central bank as part of a support package for the country following the overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
(AFP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Sudan's ruling military council met with protesters to discuss the country's political transition after talks were halted for three days while roads were cleared outside the main sit-in in the capital, Khartoum.
(AP, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, Swiss voters agreed by a nearly two-to-one margin to adopt tighter gun controls in line with changes to EU rules, heading off a clash with Brussels.
(Reuters, 5/19/19)
2019 May 19, In Tajikistan three prison guards and 29 inmates were killed in a prison riot. The government blamed the riot on Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Washington, DC, a US federal judge ruled against Pres. Donald Trump in a financial records dispute with Congress. The judge ruled that Trump cannot block a House subpoena of financial records.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A6)
2019 May 20, The US government issued a 90-day grace period on its order to bar US firms from selling to Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 20, The US Supreme Court rejected a bid to avoid deportation by a Christian Iraqi immigrant who argued he would be tortured if sent back to his home country for a drug conviction after more than three decades in the US. Amir Shabo (51) was detained in 2017 during a sweep targeting hundreds of Iraqi immigrants who had prior criminal convictions. He convicted of cocaine possession in 1992 and served five years in prison.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In San Francisco the Civil Service Commission approved a 12% raise for city supervisors. The $15,016 pay hike brings member salaries to $140,148.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.C1)
2019 May 20, In San Francisco the dismembered body of Benedict Ching (73) was found inside a home on the 100 block of Del Monte in the Outer Mission neighborhood. Stephanie Ching and Douglas Lomas, suspects in the murder, were believed to have fled to China.
(SFC, 5/24/19, p.C4)
2019 May 20, Dressbarn, a retailer of women's clothing, announced plans to shut seven stores in the SF Bay Area as it winds down national operations.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.D1)
2019 May 20, In Texas Yabar Ayan Portes-Arevalo (23) was sentenced to 21 months in prison for trying to smuggle immigrants and endangering their lives. Last December three people were found in a plastic wrapped dresser that was nailed shut in a pickup that he was driving.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A4)
2019 May 20, In Texas Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez (16) of Guatemala died at a border patrol station in Weslaco. This was the fifth death of a migrant child apprehended by border agents since December.
(SFC, 5/21/19, p.A6)
2019 May 20, Scientists, on the occasion of World Metrology Day, adopted new hyper-accurate definitions for units of weight, electricity and temperature derived from the universal laws of Nature. The kilogram will now be defined in terms of the Planck constant -- the ratio of a frequency of light, on the one hand, to the quantum energy of that frequency, on the other. Today also saw new definitions adopted for the ampere -- the rate of electrical current flow; the kelvin -- the base unit of temperature; and the mole -- the unit measuring the amount of a given substance.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Armenian premier Nikol Pashinyan announced sweeping judiciary reforms as protesters blockaded court buildings in Yerevan, heeding his call for a demonstration against judges he accuses of political bias.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Argentine officers fired shots that led to the deaths of three teenagers and a young man in a car chase. Authorities soon removed 13 officers from the force and detained seven of them pending an investigation. The case caused a public uproar that prompted hundreds to stage a march "against the trigger-happy" in Buenos Aires.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 20, In Australia figures from the Electoral Commission showed that with around 84% of votes counted, the conservative coalition of PM Scott Morrison was on target to win 78 seats — an increase of five after going into the election as a minority government.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In southwestern Central African Republic the body of Sister Ines Nieves Sancho (77) was found early today in the village of Nola. The French-Spanish nun had taught impoverished women and worked with the poor for decades.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 20, In southern China at least three people were killed and four others buried in the collapse of a building in the city of Baise in Guangxi province.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Congolese opposition leader Moise Katumbi returned home from three years in exile.
(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Denmark Syrian asylum seeker Moyed Al Zoebi (32) received a 12-year prison sentence for planning to explode one or more bombs in Copenhagen and stabbing random people with kitchen knives. His accomplice, Dieab Khadigah, was sentenced in Germany in July 2017 to a prison term of six-and-a-half years.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Ethiopian state media reported that more than 200 people paid an eye-watering $173,000 (150,000 euros) to attend a dinner thrown by PM Abiy Ahmed, to raise funds to beautify the capital Addis Ababa.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In France doctors began to turn off the life support systems for Vincent Lambert (42) in a hugely controversial case. He had suffered severe brain damage from a traffic accident in 2008. Lambert's wife and five siblings believed the most humane course was to let him die. Hours after doctors stopped feeding Lambert, a Paris court ordered a freeze on previous rulings while the UN committee considers the case, a process that could take years. Feeding resumed the next day. On June 28 the Court of Cassation gave doctors permission to restart procedures to stop feeding and hydrating.
(AP, 5/20/19)(AP, 5/21/19)(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A2)
2019 May 20, Heavy rainfall in Germany caused widespread flooding, particularly in the south, leaving one person dead.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 20, In Georgia the State Security Service said that eight current players and three former players were arrested in relation to matches in the country's two top divisions.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, An Indonesian court sentenced Frenchman Felix Dorfin (35) to death for smuggling 3 kg (6.6 pounds) of drugs to the tourist island of Lombok, even though prosecutors had only sought a 20-year sentence.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, The Jammu-Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society released a detailed report saying India is using torture as a "matter of policy" and "instrument of control" in Kashmir, where rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, Lebanese security forces have opened heavy water cannons on anti-austerity protests in Beirut, as the government faces a looming fiscal crisis.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, A Maldives court set aside the conviction and 15-year prison term given the former vice president on allegations he conspired to assassinate former President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Pakistan the body of a girl (10), who disappeared after leaving home a week ago, was discovered in a nearby forest. Islamabad police chief Mohammad Abbas was suspended for failing to act promptly in the case.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 20, In Poland the two founders of a notorious pyramid scheme were found guilty of fraud for cheating thousands of people out of their savings, worth $219 million, in one of the nation's biggest financial scandals.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Poland a mother (29) gave birth to sextuplets in the 29th week of her pregnancy.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A2)
2019 May 20, In Russia a senior editor and 10 journalists at the daily newspaper Kommersant said they were resigning to protest against the firing of two colleagues over an article about a possible reshuffle of Pres. Vladimir Putin's close allies.
(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, South Korea vowed to move quickly on plans to provide $8 million worth of medical and nutritional aid for North Korean children through UN agencies while it also considers sending broader food aid to the country, which says it is suffering its worst drought in decades.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, The Swedish prosecutor heading an investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange filed a request with a local court for him to be detained in absentia.
(Reuters, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Syria overnight air strikes by regime ally Russia killed 10 civilians including five children in a northwestern jihadist bastion, hours after Moscow announced a ceasefire there.
(AFP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, In Turkey 91 of the suspects were detained as authorities issued warrants for 249 people as part of an investigation into alleged cheating during exams to recruit staff to the country's foreign ministry between 2010 and 2013.
(AP, 5/20/19)
2019 May 20, The UN Food and Agricultural Organization warned that plunging populations of bees worldwide threaten the future of agriculture and food security.
(http://tinyurl.com/y32c5qtc)(SSFC, 5/26/19, p.A16)
2019 May 21, Alabama's House of Representatives voted 66-18 to approve a bill that would see doctors face 20-year prison sentences if they fail to treat babies "born alive" after an attempted abortion. Democrats said called it an attempt to demonize abortion providers and argued that there was no record of such instances in the state.
(SFC, 5/23/19, p.A6)
2019 May 21, California sued the federal government over funds for its high-speed rail accusing the Trump administration of trying to undermine the troubled project as punishment for state opposition to the president's proposed border wall.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A1)
2019 May 21, Augustin Huneeus Jr. (53), a San Francisco wine magnate, pleaded guilty to paying $50,000 for a test proctor to correct his daughter's SAT scores and agreeing to bribe a Univ. of Southern California athletics department official to secure his daughter's spot on a water polo team even though she was not a top athlete.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.C1)
2019 May 21, In Missouri two deaths were reported following a string of more than 30 tornadoes that damaged homes in Oklahoma before storms moved to the northeast.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A6)
2019 May 21, Tennessee's embattled house speaker announced plans to retire following a 45-24 vote of no confidence by his Republican caucus amid a scandal over explicit text messages.
(SFC, 5/22/19, p.A4)
2019 May 21, In Texas Sierra County, population 11,116, was one of two Republican-controlled New Mexico counties to pass resolutions opposing the relocation of migrants to their communities.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)
2019 May 21, The Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center published a report titled "Walls Have Ears, An Analysis of Classified Syrian Security Sector Documents" based on a sample of 5,000 documents purportedly found in abandoned Syrian government offices during the country's civil war. The report presents some of the most damning evidence of state involvement — at the highest level — in the bloody crackdown on protesters, dissidents, and even foreign journalists in Syria.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Burger King said it will launch in Sweden a version of its Impossible Whopper. The plant-based burgers have attracted attention in the US for resembling meat far more closely than traditional veggie burgers with sales to start May 22.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) quit Austria's coalition government after the president sided with conservative chancellor Sebastian Kurz and sacked the hardline FPO interior minister.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, In Austria the bodies of a 45-year-old mother and her daughters, both aged 18, were found in municipal housing in the Austrian capital's Floridsdorf district. Police later suggested that the three starved to death and that they died at the end of March or the beginning of April.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 21, Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's British restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy protection, partly due to increased competition and escalating rents in local commercial districts.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Egypt said it will raise electricity prices for households and businesses by an average of 15 percent, the latest in a series of austerity measures aimed at boosting the economy.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Egypt said its police forces have killed 16 militants in raids in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Teams of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, or Frontex, began joining Albania's police to patrol its land and sea borders for migrants and crime for the first time.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, German authorities handed over to Israel some 5,000 documents kept by a confidant of Franz Kafka, a trove whose plight could have been plucked from one of the author's surreal stories.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, The International Tracing Service in Germany said it has uploaded more than 13 million documents from Nazi concentration camps, including prisoner cards and death notices, to help Holocaust researchers and others investigate the fate of victims. The ITS also announced it was changing its name to "Arolsen Archives - International Center on Nazi Persecution."
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, An Indian lawmaker in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh was reported killed in an ambush by suspected rebels. Legislative Assembly member Tirong Aboh of the National People's Party and 10 relatives and party workers were attacked with automatic weapons as they traveled to Aboh's constituency.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Indonesia’s Election Commission said Pres. Joko Widodo won 55.5% of the vote in the April 17 election to 45.5% for his challenger, ultra-nationalist former Gen. Prabowo Subianto. Supporters of the opposition gathered in Jakarta to protest the result.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, In Indonesia clashes began late today when supporters of former Gen. Prabowo Subianto tried to force their way into the downtown offices of the election supervisory agency and have continued unabated.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 21, Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi said delegations will be sent to Washington and Tehran to help "halt tension" amid fears of a confrontation between the United States and Iran in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Israel announced that it had eased fishing restrictions off the blockaded Gaza Strip after a ceasefire with Hamas ended a deadly escalation earlier this month. The move restores the fishing zone to the limits set in April ahead of Israel's general election.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, In Italy an overnight fire killed two people living in apartments above the ground-floor police station in Mirandola, north of Bologna. Carabinieri police arrested a North African in connection with the arson fire.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Italy's struggling airline Alitalia canceled over 300 flights because of a 24-hour strike called to protest deteriorating conditions in the sector, including the government's failure to relaunch the carrier.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Kenya author Binyavanga Wainaina (48), one of Africa's best-known authors and gay rights activists, died in Nairobi.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 21, Malawians voted in presidential and parliamentary elections seen as a tough test for President Peter Mutharika (78) who is running against the deputy president and a former pastor who heads the opposition.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, In Nepal nine people in two families were found slain overnight by masked assailants in their homes in the remote Miklajung mountain village.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Sherpa mountaineer extended his record for successful climbs of Mount Everest with his 24th ascent of the world's highest peak. Kami Rita reached the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak, which was his second time on the summit in a week.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, New Zealand police filed a terrorism charge against the man accused of killing 51 people at two Christchurch mosques. Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant (28) was already facing murder and attempted murder charges from the March 15 shootings.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Portuguese police arrested 17 members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club on suspicion of organized crime activity.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Russia's top security chief raised alarm about Islamic extremists massing on Afghanistan's northern border.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, The Serbian parliament adopted amendments to the criminal code which raise sentences for some serious crimes to life imprisonment. The amendments, dubbed Tijana's law, introduced life without parole for the rape and murder of a minor, pregnant or a disabled person, instead of previous jail terms of 30 and 40 years.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Sudan's main protest group called for a general strike, saying two late-night negotiation sessions with the army had failed to reach a deal on how to lead the country after the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Ukraine’s new Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskiy formally ordered the parliament to dissolve, saying that it lacks public trust. He has called for electing the new parliament entirely on party lists, arguing the current election system foments corruption.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 21, The United Nations human rights office called on US authorities to ensure that women have access to safe abortions, saying bans lead to risky underground abortions that can endanger a woman's life.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, The Vatican's financial watchdog said that after nearly 10 years of reforms, the Holy See has a "fully functioning" system of financial regulation and intelligence that is increasingly integrated into the global financial system.
(AP, 5/21/19)
2019 May 21, Yemen’s Houthis, who claimed responsibility for last week's armed drone strikes on oil assets in Saudi Arabia, said that one of their drones hit an arms depot at the kingdom's Najran airport near the Yemeni border, causing a fire.
(Reuters, 5/21/19)
2019 May 22, Donald Trump erupted in fury at unrelenting probes into his links to Russia, as the top Democrat in Congress accused the president of a "cover-up" that could be an impeachable offense.
(AFP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, A US federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm unlawfully squeezed out cellphone chip rivals and charged excessive royalties to manufacturers such as Apple in a decision that undercuts a key part of its business. Qualcomm said it would appeal.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 22, In Boston frozen food tycoon Peter Jan Sartorio (54) of Menlo Park, Ca., pleaded guilty to bribing a proctor with $15,000 to correct his daughter's ACT college admission scores. Sartorio was the first parent to decide to plead guilty in the college scandal.
(SFC, 5/23/19, p.C5)
2019 May 22, New York state lawmakers gave final passage to legislation that would allow Pres. Donald Trump's state tax returns to be released to congressional committees.
(SFC, 5/23/19, p.A6)
2019 May 22, In Afghanistan a confrontation between government forces and Taliban fighters in eastern Ghazni province left two members of the security forces and two civilian passers-by dead.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Austria's Pres. Alexander Van der Bellen swore in new, technocratic ministers to replace politicians from the far-right Freedom Party who left the government following a scandal surrounding its leader.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Botswana announced on it would overturn the hunting ban introduced in 2014 to reverse a decline in the population of elephants and other wildlife. Lawmakers from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) have been lobbying to overturn the ban, saying wild animal numbers have become unmanageable in some areas.
(AFP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 22, British Steel was ordered into liquidation as it struggles with industry-wide troubles and Brexit, threatening 5,000 workers and another 20,000 jobs in the supply chain.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, British and Japanese mobile phone companies said that they're putting on hold plans to sell new devices from Huawei, in the latest fallout from US tech restrictions aimed at the Chinese company.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Bulgaria and Greece launched the construction of a pipeline to transport Azeri gas to Bulgaria to ease its almost total dependence on Russian gas supplies. Prime Ministers Boyko Borissov and Alexis Tsipras, oversaw the formal start to construction of the 182-km (114 miles) link.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Canada said that by the end of June it will remove truckloads of garbage which Filipino officials say were illegally shipped to the Philippines years ago. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the government has awarded a contract to French shipping giant Bollore Logistics Canada that calls for the return of 69 containers filled with household waste and electronic garbage.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 22, China said it is cutting taxes on its fledgling software and integrated circuit industries to spur development in the face of US export controls that threaten to handicap Chinese tech companies.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, It was reported that shady middle-men are openly advertising on Chinese social media to smuggle blood samples of pregnant women to Hong Kong to skirt the mainland's ban on gender testing.
(AFP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, An Egyptian court referred the case of six alleged Muslim Brotherhood members convicted of terrorism to the Grand Mufti, Egypt's top religious authority, for a non-binding opinion on their execution. The six were found guilty of killing three people, including a policeman, among other charges. The case includes a total of 70 defendants.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Europol said that more than 450 police and customs officers in Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland and Lithuania carried out raids last week that led to the arrest in Spain of the suspected ringleader, a 48-year-old Lithuanian.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In France Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter held meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron amid growing international concern about his weeks-long offensive to take Libya's capital, Tripoli.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Germany deported an 18-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker who was recently convicted over a string of assaults that prompted a public outcry. the teenager was flown to Kabul together with 23 countrymen whose asylum bids had also been rejected.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Police in western Germany raided 49 homes and businesses linked to an Iraqi gang suspected of involvement in human trafficking, drug dealing, illegal arms trade and forging identity papers. Authorities targeted the premises of 34 suspects belonging to the Al-Salam-313 gang.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche (66) handed off leadership to successor Ola Kallenius (49) after 13 years at the helm warning that the company will need to cut costs to invest in new technologies that are transforming the industry.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In Indonesia riots by supporters of losing rival Gen. Prabowo Subianto in last month's presidential election left seven people dead. Police arrested at least 20 people accused of provoking riots in Jakarta following the official results.
(AP, 5/22/19)(Reuters, 5/22/19)(SFC, 5/24/19, p.A2)
2019 May 22, Indonesia said it will partially block social media to prevent the spread of hoaxes after violence in the capital, Jakarta, following the announcement of official election results.
(Reuters, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In Italy a double-deck bus carrying 60 tourists from eastern Europe overturned on a Tuscan highway, killing one passenger and injuring more than dozen others on the Siena-Florence highway.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, It was reported that a smartphone app developed by Japanese police is being widely downloaded by women trying to protect themselves from gropers on packed rush-hour trains. The "Digi Police" app was originally issued by Tokyo police three years ago, but a function to scare off molesters was only added a few months ago.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, It was reported that Michael Rotich, the coach of Kenya's Olympic track team in 2016, has been banned for 10 years for corruption after he asked for $12,000 to give athletes advance notice to help them beat doping tests.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, North Korea labeled Joe Biden a "fool of low IQ" and an "imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being" after the US presidential hopeful called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a tyrant during a recent speech.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Palestinian officials inaugurated their first solar panel plant as part of a plan to reduce their dependence on Israeli power sources. The plant opening in the West Bank city of Jericho is one of four planned plants. One has been donated from China.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In the Philippines official results showed that Pres. Duterte’s allies won a majority of the 12 Senate seats at stake in the May 13 midterm elections. The opposition's shutout heralds a stronger grip on power by a leader accused of massive human rights violations.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, A spokesman said that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has moved to have truckloads of garbage that Filipino officials say were illegally shipped to the Philippines years ago be forcibly shipped back to Canada.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, The Kremlin condemned as unacceptable an alleged US ultimatum to Turkey designed to force it to cancel a deal to buy Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and purchase US Patriot missile systems instead.
(Reuters, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, In Somalia a suicide car bomb by Islamic extremists killed at least six people in Mogadishu. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Syrian government troops repelled three big attacks by militants in Idlib province. Nusra Front militants based in Idlib also launched a missile attack on Russia's Hmeymim air base, but the Russian Ministry of Defense said that their missiles were either shot down or did not reach their target.
(Reuters, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Syrian government air strikes killed 15 civilians, 12 of them in a market in the jihadist-held Idlib province town of Maarat al-Numan, as fierce fighting raged for the jihadist-held northwest. Opposition fighters recaptured Kfar Nabuda village in an overnight counteroffensive on the edge of their northwestern stronghold.
(AFP, 5/22/19)(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, An appeals court in Thailand upheld a 10 million baht ($313,000) judgment against British activist Andy Hall, who was sued by a fruit canning company whose workers complained of alleged labor abuses. The case was one of several stemming from a 2013 report Hall researched for Finnish consumer organization Finnwatch that included allegations by migrant workers from Myanmar at Natural Fruit's canning operation that the company abused them and broke labor regulations.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 22, Ukraine’s parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy told lawmakers that Pres. Zelenskiy's decree to call snap elections runs against the law. Parliament also declined to even discuss Zelenskiy's amendments aimed at making elections more transparent.
(AP, 5/22/19)
2019 May 23, US President Donald Trump ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Attorney General William Barr's review of the events that prompted an investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump gave AG William Barr full authority to publicly disclose information about the origins of the investigation the president has repeatedly dismissed as a "hoax."
(Reuters, 5/24/19)(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 23, In a case with significant First Amendment implications, the US filed 17 new charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of violating the Espionage Act by publishing secret documents containing the names of confidential military and diplomatic sources.
(AP, 5/24/19)(SFC, 5/24/19, p.A10)
2019 May 23, John Walker Lindh (38), the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, was released early a federal prison in Indiana after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence. He was sent to live in Virginia and still faced three years of probation.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)(SFC, 5/24/19, p.C1)
2019 May 23, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, late today carrying the first 60 satellites of its "Starlink" constellation, which is intended to provide internet from space in an array that could one day contain over 12,000 orbiting transponders.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 23, International police group Interpol said that nine people had been arrested in Thailand, Australia and the US and 50 children had been rescued after investigators took down an online pedophilia ring.
(AFP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, In Australia Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush was awarded an Australian record of 2.9 million Australian dollars ($2 million) damages by a Sydney judge in defamation case against a newspaper publisher and journalist over reports he had been accused of inappropriate behavior toward actress Eryn Jean Norvill.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to make homophobia and transphobia crimes like racism. Six judges ruled that homophobia should be framed within the racism law (1989) until the country's congress approves legislation specifically dealing with LGBT discrimination. The five remaining judges were set to vote in a court session on June 5.
(http://tinyurl.com/y42y8sb3)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A2)
2019 May 23, Britain and the Netherlands kicked off four days of phased voting for the 28 members states of the European Parliament.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 23, British author Judith Kerr (95), who enchanted generations of children with simply illustrated tales such as "The Tiger Who Came to Tea" (1968) and "Mog the Forgetful Cat" (1970), died.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)(Econ, 6/8/19, p.82)
2019 May 23, China held the door open to resuming talks in the tariff war with Washington, but lashed out at limits on access to key technologies that it said might hurt global supply chains.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, An Egyptian court ordered the release of Al-Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein, detained since 2016 on allegations of spreading false news and defaming Egypt's reputation.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Egyptian former diplomat Masoum Marzouk, arrested in August 2018, was released from jail. He had called for a referendum on Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 23, Egypt’s Illicit Gains Authority decided to lift freezes former interior minister Habib al-Adly's assets and those of aides who were key players in the graft that dominated Egypt under long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 23, The European Parliament predicted that nationalist, populist and anti-migrant groups will make significant gains in the May 23-26 EU elections but said it thinks mainstream parties will keep control over the assembly.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 23, German prosecutors fined auto parts and technology company Bosch 90 million euros ($100 million) over its role in the diesel emissions scandal that erupted at Volkswagen in 2015.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, In India vote-counting trends showed PM Narendra Modi's ruling party winning 285 seats against just 53 for Congress. PM Modi (68) and his party declared victory.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed Zakir Musa, a top militant commander linked to al-Qaida, after police and soldiers launched a counterinsurgency operation in the southern Tral area.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 23, Indonesian police said seven people have died in the last two days in election violence in Jakarta, as calm returned to the city and the losing presidential candidate prepared to challenge the result in court.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, In Iraq a car bomb exploded in the western village of Karabila killing two people. Until two years ago the area was controlled by the Islamic State.
(SFC, 5/24/19, p.A2)
2019 May 23, Israel reduced the offshore fishing limits it imposes for vessels operating out of Gaza after Palestinians floated balloons fitted with incendiaries over the border.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, In Israel wildfires fed by tinder dry conditions destroyed around 40 homes.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 23, Malaysian police raided the Kuala Lumpur office of audit firm Deloitte as part of a widening probe into a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Pakistan's military successfully test-fired a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The surface-to-surface Shaheen-II missile, which has a range of 1,500 km, or 932 miles, ended in the Arabian Sea.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, A court in Russia ruled that Dennis Christensen, a Danish Jehovah's Witness, must stay in prison for the next six years. He had been found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Serbia reported that two migrants have died, and two others left in serious condition after hiding in a truck tank in a bid to reach Western Europe. The men were discovered two days earlier in northern Serbia when the truck driver opened the tank for washing and saw them lying unconscious.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Sri Lankan newspaper Divaina, known for its nationalist stance, published a front page article alleging a Muslim doctor had secretly sterilized 4,000 Sinhala Buddhist women after caesarean deliveries.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 May 23, A Thai court blocked the leader of a new anti-junta political party from taking his seat in Parliament while it determines whether he violated election rules. Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, was accused of breaking electoral law by holding shares in a media company.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, The UN named David Gressly as pointman to coordinate the global response to the devastating Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as it ramps up efforts to contain the outbreak.
(AP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 23, Syrian government aircraft bombed several towns in the northwest killing five civilians as troops and militia battled jihadists on the ground. In neighboring Hama province, Syrian troops battled for a third straight day to repel a jihadist counterattack around the town of Kafr Nabuda, leaving 15 combatants dead, 11 of them jihadists.
(AFP, 5/23/19)
2019 May 24, Pres. Donald Trump said the United States is deploying 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East to counter "credible threats" from Iran.
(AFP, 5/25/19)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A4)
2019 May 24, US Pres. Donald Trump, declaring a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, swept aside objections from Congress to complete the sale of $8.1 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, citing a threat from Iran, infuriating lawmakers who fear the weapons could kill civilians in Yemen. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had pushed the sales to Saudi Arabia of munitions, mostly made by Raytheon, despite a two-year bipartisan congressional hold on the proposed transfer of the arms, comprising 22 packages. Mr. Pompeo did that by declaring an “emergency" over Iran’s activities in the region. In August, 2020, the US State Dept. of the Inspector General concluded that Pompeo had the legal authority to declare an emergency and bypass Congress under the Arms Export Control Act.
(AFP, 5/24/19)(Reuters, 5/25/19)(SFC, 8/12/20, p.A6)
2019 May 24, Intelligence professionals warned that President Donald Trump's decision to give his loyal attorney general carte blanche to disclose still-secret material from the Russia investigation will let William Barr cherry-pick intelligence to paint a misleading picture about what started the probe.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 24, US District Judge Hayward Gilliam of Oakland, Ca., dealt a blow to President Donald Trump's signature wall project, issuing a temporary injunction against using Defense Department funds to pay for barriers on the border with Mexico.
(AFP, 5/25/19)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A1)
2019 May 24, US regulators approved the most expensive medicine ever, for a rare inherited condition called spinal muscular atrophy that destroys a baby's muscle control and kills nearly all of those with the most common type of the disease within a couple of years. The one-time gene therapy developed by Novartis, Zolgensma, will cost $2.125 million.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Connecticut Jennifer Dulos (50) of New Canaan went missing after dropping her children off at school. Police later arrested Fotis Dulos, her estranged husband, and Michelle Troconis, his girlfriend, on charges of evidence tampering and hindering prosecution. Both have pleaded not guilty, and both were free on $500,000 bond. Police later detailed Fotis Dulos driving to multiple locations, with Troconis, to dump trash bags containing bloody clothes.
(AP, 7/23/19)(ABC News, 9/5/19)
2019 May 24, Biographer Edmond Morris (78) died in Danbury, Conn. His books included "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" (1979), "Theodore Rex" (2001), "Colonel Roosevelt" (2010) and "Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan" (1999).
(SFC, 5/28/19, p.C3)
2019 May 24, Floodwaters from the Missouri River topped a levee at Jefferson City and shut down some streets around the state Capitol.
(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A5)
2019 May 24, Murray Gell-Mann (89), Nobel Prize winning physicist (1969), died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He authored "The Quark and the Jaguar" (1994) to present his ideas to a general audience.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.C3)
2019 May 24, Facebook said it increased the amount of content it restricted access to in Vietnam by over 500% in the last half of 2018, as the Southeast Asian country ramped up its crackdown on online dissent.
(Reuters , 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Afghanistan a bomb exploded during weekly prayers at a mosque in an eastern part of Kabul, killing three people including senior preacher Samiullah Raihan. At least 20 men who had gathered for worship were wounded.
(Reuters, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Argentina hundreds of people staged a march in Buenos Aires against "trigger-happy" police.
(SSFC, 5/26/19, p.A4)
2019 May 24, Britain’s PM Theresa May (62) announced her resignation in an emotional address, ending a dramatic three-year tenure of near-constant crisis over Brexit and increasing the likelihood of Britain crashing out of the EU later this year. May said she would step down as head of the Conservative Party on June 7. Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, the favorite to replace May, was first out of the blocks, saying Britain should be prepared to leave the EU without a deal.
(AFP, 5/24/19)(Reuters, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, Cambodia's Supreme Court upheld a life prison term given to Oeut Ang, a man convicted of murdering prominent government critic Kem Ley in July 2016.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, Chinese state media accused the US of seeking to "colonize global business" with moves against Huawei and other Chinese technology companies.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In France 13 people suffered mostly minor injuries after a suspect deposited a paper bag containing an explosive device that went off in the city of Lyon. Days later police arrested four suspects following a blast in Lyon. A suspect identified as Mohamed Hichem M. was arrested on May 27. On May 31 a prosecutor said the suspect had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
(AP, 5/25/19)(AP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A4)
2019 May 24, In India at least 19 students were killed in a fire that broke out in a four-story building in the western city of Surat. A youth died in hospital the next day, increasing the toll to 20. Police soon charged three owners of the tuition center at the Takshashila Arcade with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and attempted culpable homicide.
(AP, 5/24/19)(AP, 5/25/19)(SFC, 5/25/19, p.A2)
2019 May 24, Irish voters cast ballots as part of phased EU-wide elections after a campaign dominated by concerns over neighboring Britain's messy bid to leave the bloc.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Kenya a three-judge panel of the High Court upheld sections of the country's penal code that criminalize same-sex relations.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, A Mexican navy helicopter with five crew on board crashed while helping to fight a forest fire in the north-central state of Queretaro. Authorities later confirmed that six people died in the crash.
(AFP, 5/25/19)(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 24, In Nepal a traffic jam of climbers in the Everest "death zone" was blamed for two of four new deaths reported today, heightening concerns that the drive for profits is trumping safety on the world's highest peak.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, North Korea said that nuclear negotiations with the United States will never resume unless the Trump administration moves away from what Pyongyang described as unilateral demands for disarmament.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, Oman said it was trying to reduce spiraling tensions between the Unites States and Iran, as the Pentagon confirmed it was considering deploying more troops to the region.
(AFP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Pakistan a bombing at a Sunni mosque in the city of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province, killed two people, including the prayer leader. 28 worshippers were wounded.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, It was reported that Paraguay’s indigenous Isla Jovai Teju community has gone digital to map the its ancestral land with a smartphone app and GPS. Their lands have been encroached on over the years by widespread deforestation and vast surrounding plantations of soybeans and maize.
(Reuters, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, A Russian court extended the arrest for Paul Whelan, a former US Marine charged with espionage, for three more months. Whelan had complained in court about abuse in custody.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, South Korea said it's discussing security issues regarding its 5G, or fifth generation, cellphone networks with the United States following a report the Trump administration is demanding that Seoul join a "war" against Huawei.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In Taiwan hundreds of same-sex couples rushed to get married, the first day a landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage took effect.
(AP, 5/24/19)
2019 May 24, In western Venezuela at least 29 prisoners were killed and 19 police wounded in clashes at a jail in the town of Acarigua, Portuguesa state. Police special forces (FAES) had tried to stop a "massive prison break".
(AFP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, President Donald Trump needled Japan over the US-Japan trade imbalance as he kicked off a state visit to the country that's been tailor-made to his whims and ego.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In Florida a driver struck and killed three soccer teammates who were waiting for their bus in North Miami.
(SSFC, 5/26/19, p.A10)
2019 May 25, In Hawaii a man (65) from California was killed by a shark while swimming in the Ka'anpali Beach park area on Maui. The victim was missing his left leg from the knee down.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A4)
2019 May 25, In Chicago a woman (84) died and 12 people were injured in a crash late today involving two police cruisers and other vehicles. Ten police officers were among those injured.
(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A4)
2019 May 25, In Michigan three people were killed and two people left wounded at a Detroit home. Police later said the victims were targeted by suspect Devon Robinson (18) because they were gay or transgender.
(SFC, 6/8/19, p.A5)
2019 May 25, In Oklahoma a tornado touched down in El Reno and tore through the Skyview Estates mobile home park leaving two people dead.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A4)
2019 May 25, In Virginia ten people were shot, one fatally, when gun violence erupted late today at a party in Chesapeake.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A4)
2019 May 25, Afghan officials said heavy flooding has killed at least 24 people and injured 11 others in the past 48 hours as a new wave of heavy rains swept parts of the country.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In Bolivia organizers of the Lord Jesus of the Great Power Festival, which fuses Andean and Catholic cultures, chose Steffany Arriaza Cabezas as the queen to head the June 21 annual event which will mobilize 74,000 dancers and more than 4,000 musicians in the Bolivian city of La Paz.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 25, British climber Robin Haynes Fisher (44), too weak to descend from Mount Everest, died. He was the eighth climber to die on the world’s tallest mountain and the 18th in Nepal's Himalayas during the current climbing season.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In western Congo DRC at least 30 people were killed and 200 left missing after a boat sank late today on Mai-Ndombe. Many of those aboard were teachers who had traveled to collect salaries due to poor roads.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A2)
2019 May 25, In France South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's raucous social satire "Parasite," about a poor family of hustlers who find jobs with a wealthy family, won the Cannes Film Festival's top award, the Palme d'Or.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Germany's government commissioner on anti-Semitism warned Jews about the potential dangers of wearing the traditional kippah cap in the face of rising anti-Jewish attacks.
(AFP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In India Rahul Gandhi announced his resignation as leader of India's Congress Party after losing a second general election to PM Narendra Modi.
(Reuters, 7/2/19)
2019 May 25, In Indonesia Mount Agung volcano erupted overnight on the holiday island of Bali, causing some flight cancellations to and from Australia as an ash cloud rose into the sky.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Iran denounced a US move to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East as "a threat to international peace".
(AFP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Pakistani police said six people have been arrested for allegedly collecting funds for two outlawed militant organizations.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Trade unionist-turned-businessman Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in as South Africa's president, vowing to create jobs and tackle deep-rooted corruption that has strangled economic growth.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, In Sri Lanka Dr. Segu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi was arrested. Police said he was accused of acquiring properties with money of a suspicious origin.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 May 25, Senior opposition officials and rebel sources said Turkey has equipped an array of mainstream Syrian rebels it backs with fresh supplies of weaponry to help them try to repel a major Russian-backed assault.
(Reuters, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, Taiwan said it is changing the name of its de-facto embassy in the US amid the strongest relations between the sides in decades. The foreign ministry tweeted that the Coordination Council for North American Affairs was being renamed the Taiwan Council for US Affairs.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 25, A UN maritime tribunal ruled that Russia must immediately release three Ukrainian naval vessels captured by Russia in November and also free the 24 sailors it detained.
(AP, 5/25/19)
2019 May 26, President Donald Trump presented a special US-made trophy to the winner of a sumo tournament as he got a taste of one of Japan's most treasured cultural institutions.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, President Donald Trump downplayed recent North Korean missile tests, tweeting from Tokyo that they're not a concern for him in comments sure to unnerve Japanese leaders.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In western Afghanistan a roadside bombing claimed by the Taliban killed 10 Afghan soldiers in Farah province while in the north insurgent attacks on security checkpoints killed four policemen in Sari Pul province.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Algeria’s national radio said a midnight deadline to register for a July 4 controversial presidential election has passed without a single candidate putting themselves forward.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In Austria 10 larger-than-life portraits of Holocaust survivors, which are on show on a central Vienna street, were slashed across the faces. Earlier, three pictures were cut and four were defaced with swastikas and anti-Semitic slurs. The next day President Alexander Van der Bellen, who had opened the exhibit "Lest We Forget," condemned the attack.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 26, In Bangladesh a bomb planted in police van exploded late today in Dhaka's Malibagh area laving three people injured, including a police officer.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Belgium held national elections, with observers anticipating a surge by the Flemish far right and a good showing from the Greens after a wave of climate protests. A Flemish separatist surge in national elections will make forming a new federal government a tortuous task as the country's French-speaking region moved further to the left.
(AFP, 5/26/19)(Reuters, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, In northern Brazil clashes began today between inmates at a jail near Manaus, Amazonas state. At least 55 inmates were left dead.
(AFP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party romped to victory in the European Parliament election, with both PM Theresa May's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party losing support across the country.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, The turnout for this year's pivotal EU election was nearing 51% for 27 nations, according to preliminary figures. The figure excluded Britain. Green parties in Germany, France, Britain and elsewhere celebrated big gains in elections for the 751-seat European Parliament amid growing voter concerns over climate change, expressed in large-scale student protests over recent months.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, The far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen finished top in European elections in France. Her National Rally (RN) received 23.31 percent of the vote, with Macron's centrist alliance trailing with 22.41 percent.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, In Hong Kong more than 2,000 people marched to mark 30 years since a pro-democracy protest in Beijing's Tiananmen Square ended in bloodshed.
(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, India's Pres. Ram Nath Kovind appointed Narendra Modi as the prime minister, soon after newly elected lawmakers led by Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party chose him as their leader following a thunderous victory in national elections. Modi’s BJP party won 303 seats in the 542-member lower house of Parliament.
(AP, 5/26/19)(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, In India Surendra Singh was shot dead overnight in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh state. He was an aide to Smriti Irani, a former television actress and dogged minister in PM Narendra Modi's cabinet.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Eight climbers failed to return after climbing on Nanda Devi East peak, India's second highest mountain. Officials later said they are all presumed dead. On June 23, paramilitary soldiers found the bodies of seven of the eight climbers at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters (16,400 feet).
(AFP, 6/1/19)(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 May 26, In Iraq a Baghdad court sentenced to death three French citizens, members of the Islamic State group.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Irish election officials said voters have overwhelmingly endorsed a plan to liberalize the country's constitution to make it easier for couples to divorce. Just over 82% of voters endorsed removing a requirement that couples be separated for four of the previous five years before they can divorce.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Israel said it has eased fishing restrictions off the blockaded Gaza Strip with the aim of preventing a deterioration in humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva agreed to pay the US state of Oklahoma $85 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of fueling the state's opioid epidemic.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Voters in a small town south of Milan voted against the right-wing League candidate to elect Gianmarco Negri (40), Italy's first transgender mayor.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 26, It was reported that Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar has ruled out a ceasefire in the battle for Tripoli and accused the UN of seeking to partition Libya, according to an interview published by French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda, a prominent economist, and Ingrida Simonyte, a former finance minister, vied to succeed popular Pres. Dalia Grybauskaite. Nauseda (55), a center-right independent and political novice, won the presidential runoff in a race marked by low populist sentiment and concerns over inequality in the Baltic eurozone state. Nauseda scored 65.86 percent of the vote ahead of 32.86 percent for Simonyte.
(AP, 5/26/19)(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, In Nepal series of explosions killed four people and wounded seven more in Kathmandu.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, In northwestern Pakistan a minority Pashtun group attacked a security post near the Afghan border, wounding five soldiers. Three attackers were reported killed and 10 wounded. Militants attacked an army post in North Waziristan late today where ethnic tensions have recently flared up with minority Pashtuns. A shootout killed one soldier and wounded five others.
(AP, 5/26/19)(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Papua New Guinea PM Peter O'Neill announced his resignation after seven years on the job. He handed over his leadership to a former prime minister and current member of parliament, Sir Julius Chan.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In northern Peru an earthquake with a magnitude as high as 8.0 stuck in the early hours. At least one person was killed.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)(SFC, 5/27/19, p.A2)
2019 May 26, Poland's ruling Law and Justice party has emerged as the big winner in the country's European Parliament election, taking over 45% of the votes.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 26, Romanians voted overwhelmingly in support of anti-corruption initiatives in a referendum called by President Klaus Iohannis.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 25, Spain voted in local, regional and European elections seen as a "second round" for acting PM Pedro Sanchez as he seeks to form a new government and gain influence in the EU.
(AFP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Syrian government forces regained control of Kfar Nabudah, a northwestern village, just days after losing it to militants. Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 766 people, including 226 civilians have been killing since April 30.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Former Thailand PM Prem Tinsulanonda (98) died in Bangkok. He as an army commander, prime minister (1980-1988) and adviser (1998-2019) to the royal palace and was one of Thailand's most influential political figures over four decades.
(AP, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Several Kurdish lawmakers and thousands of prison inmates in Turkey ended their hunger strike after a call from jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, 200 days after the protest was launched.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement reportedly launched a drone strike on military hangars in Saudi Arabia's Jizan airport near the Yemeni border.
(Reuters, 5/26/19)
2019 May 26, In Zimbabwe at least nine miners died following blasts in a shaft north of the capital Harare where they were illegally digging for gold.
(AFP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, President Donald Trump said he is not "personally" bothered by recent short-range North Korean missile tests and doesn't believe they violated UN Security Council resolutions, breaking with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is hosting the president on a four-day state visit full of pageantry and pomp.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In Ohio at least eight tornadoes spun across the state leaving tens of thousands without power or water. One person was killed and more than 140 injured. This marked the 12th straight day that at least eight tornadoes were reported to the National Weather Service.
(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A10)
2019 May 27, In Afghanistan 18 policemen and pro-government militiamen were killed and seven were wounded in hours-long gunbattle with insurgents near Feroz Koh, Ghor province. In eastern Logar province insurgents overran an army checkpoint in the district of Baraki Barak, killing five soldiers. The Taliban captured four other soldiers.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz lost a no-confidence vote in parliament over a corruption scandal that brought down his coalition government. This made him Austria’s shortest-serving chancellor, as well as the first in post-war Austrian history to be removed in this fashion.
(AFP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 27, China began five-day Confucian culture immersion courses for religious leaders in the sage's hometown as part of a campaign to extend government control over faith communities through a process of sinicization.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Greek markets reacted positively to PM Alexis Tsipras' call for snap general elections following a resounding defeat of his left-wing Syriza party in European and local elections.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Indonesian police said they have arrested six people suspected of plotting to assassinate four state officials during a wave of civil unrest in Jakarta last week.
(Reuters, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, A Baghdad court sentenced another former French fighter with the Islamic State group to death, the fourth Frenchman to get the capital punishment so far in Iraq, and postponed the verdict for a fifth man after he testified to being tortured in detention. Seven French citizens accused of supporting the Islamic State were given the death sentence this week in seven trials over four days.
(AP, 5/27/19)(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A4)
2019 May 27, Italy’s Deputy PM Matteo Salvini said Victory for Italy's League in European elections gives the far-right party a mandate to push through tax cuts and fight for changes to the EU's budgetary rules.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In France workers at a northern factory that makes a quarter of the world's Nutella began striking for more pay. The Villers-Ecalles factory is privately-owned Italian confectionery giant Ferrero.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 May 27, Fiat Chrysler proposed to merge with France's Renault to create the world's third-biggest automaker and combine their investments in the race to make new electric and autonomous vehicles. Renault welcomed the idea.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In Kuwait eight people were killed early today and one person was in critical condition after a car accident in an area just outside Kuwait City.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In Libya heavy clashes neared the center of Tripoli as forces loyal to Khalifa Hifter battled to seize power.
(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 27, Madagascar held parliamentary elections in what was being seen as the latest round of a bitter feud between President Andry Rajoelina and his longstanding rival Marc Ravalomanana.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Malaysia's last surviving male Sumatran rhino died, leaving behind only one female in the country and pushing the critically-endangered species closer to extinction.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Mexican authorities froze the bank accounts of Emilio Lozoya, the former head of Mexico's state-owned oil company. Lozoya has been mentioned, but not charged, in corruption scandals involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Nasdaq Nordic, which owns most stock exchanges in the Nordic-Baltic region, withdrew its offer to acquire Norway's main exchange, saying " under the current circumstances the minimum acceptance condition for completion" cannot be satisfied. This paved the way for rival Netherlands-based Euronext to proceed with its buyout.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, North Korea called US National Security Adviser John Bolton a "war monger" and "human defect" after he described its recent tests of short-range missiles as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Pakistani police arrested a veterinarian from the country's tiny minority Hindu community on charges of desecrating Islam's holy book in southern Sindh province.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Pakistani troops exchanged fire with protesters when they assaulted a security post in the northwest. The ethnic minority Pashtun protesters were complaining about the mistreatment of a woman by soldiers.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Paraguay’s weather bureau said heavy flooding has displaced 70,000 families and is threatening to further inundate the capital Asuncion in the coming weeks.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, A Romanian court upheld a 3½ year jail sentence for the powerful head of the ruling Social Democrats, Liviu Dragnea, meaning he now has 24 hours to report to police to begin his sentence.
(AFP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, Russia rebuffed a call by an international maritime tribunal for it to release 24 Ukrainian sailors, saying the court had no jurisdiction over the strait where Russian security forces captured them on Nov. 25, 2018.
(Reuters, 5/27/19)
2019 May 27, In Syria Sam Goodwin (30) was apprehended by regime troops in Qamishli. The Christian travel blogger was trying to travel to every country in the world and only had 10 of 193 left. Mr. Goodwin was released back to his family in July after nearly two months in detention.
(The Telegraph, 7/26/19)
2019 May 27, Syrian government air raids killed at least nine people after hitting a crowded residential area in Ariha, Idlib province.
(SFC, 5/28/19, p.A2)
2019 May 27, In Tunisia Nabil Karoui (50), the controversial founder of a major private television channel, said he will run for the presidency in November polls.
(AFP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, Turkey's military launched an operation with commandos, backed by artillery and air strikes, against Kurdish militants in a mountainous area of northern Iraq.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 27, In Ukraine dozens of inmates in a prison rioted, set a fire and took guards and nurses hostage in an hours-long standoff in Odessa that left four guards injured.
(AP, 5/27/19)
2019 May 28, The United States walked out of a Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to protest against Venezuela assuming the rotating presidency of the UN-sponsored forum, as it did a year ago when Syria took the chair.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In eastern Kansas a tornado injured at least 15 people, three of them seriously, in Douglas and Leavenworth Counties.
(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A10)
2019 May 28, Vincent Ramos (41) of Richmond in the Vancouver area of Canada was sentenced to nine years in prison in federal court in San Diego. He had sold encrypted Blackberry smartphones to criminals worldwide that enabled them to sell drugs and even plan murders while avoiding the prying eyes of law enforcement. Ramos also was told to forfeit $80 million in earnings.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 28, In Vienna, Austria, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg called on world leaders to acknowledge the seriousness of global warming and that not enough is being done to curb it.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Cambodia's Appeal Court acquitted six union leaders, all of whom had been given suspend jail terms of between eight months and four and a half years for leading anti-government protests in 2013 and 2014.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 28, Egyptian authorities rearrested Al-Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein who was ordered released last week after more than two years in detention on accusations of spreading false news.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 28, The European Union named Spanish-Uruguayan former banker and diplomat Enrique Iglesias as its point man to help end the crisis in Venezuela, part of an intensification of diplomatic efforts to seek new elections.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, It was reported that Hungary is preparing legislation to strip the Hungarian Academy of Sciences of its research network, giving the government more control over scientific activity.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Indonesia’s police said four top officials, including two Cabinet ministers and the national spy chief, were targeted for assassination as part of a plot possibly linked to last week's election riots. Details of the plot were obtained from interrogations of six arrested individuals.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In Iran Mitra Najafi (35), the second wife of Mohammad Ali Najafi (67), a former reformist mayor of Tehran and a Rouhani confidant, was found dead in her bathtub on the seventh floor of a residential high-rise in northern Tehran. Ali Najafi soon turned himself over to police and confessed to shooting his wife.
(AP, 5/28/19)(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A2)
2019 May 28, An Iraqi court sentenced two high-profile French members of the Islamic State group to death, bringing the total number of French former jihadis condemned to death this week to six.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Iraq's self-governing Kurdish region elected a new president in a parliamentary vote boycotted by a key opposition party. Former prime minister Nechirvan Barzani will follow his uncle Masoud Barzani in office.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In Japan knife-wielding man slashed at a group of schoolgirls at a bus stop in Kawasaki city, killing one girl (11) and an adult (39). 16 other girls and a woman were injured. The attacker died later of a self-inflicted wound.
(AP, 5/28/19)(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A3)
2019 May 28, Kosovo police said five police officers and six civilians were injured during an operation against organized crime and corruption in the Serb-dominated north that primarily targeted other police officers. 19 police officers and a number of other people were arrested during the operation that involved special police forces.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In Malawi Peter Mutharika was sworn in as president for a second term after a contentious election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-rigging.
(AFP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Malaysia’s Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said his country will send back some 3,000 metric tons (3,300 tons) of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia in a move to avoid becoming a dumping ground for rich nations.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, The International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank suggested that Mali's government should consider "dialogue" with jihadists waging an insurgency in the west African state. It said all avenues should be explored to save civilians from further harm.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Mexican authorities raided the home of Emilio Lozoya, a close aide of former President Enrique Pena Nieto, and secured the arrest of Alonso Ancira in Mallorca, one of the country's best-known businessmen, in a drive to get justice for scandals that tainted the last government.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 28, In the Netherlands around 80 flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol were canceled as a 24-hr nationwide public transport strike made it hard for passengers and staff to get to Europe's third largest airport.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, It was reported that Russia's space sector is at the heart of a staggering embezzlement scheme that has dampened ambitions of recovering its Soviet-era greatness. In mid-May Alexander Bastrykin, the powerful head of Russia's Investigative Committee, said billions (of rubles) are being stolen there.
(AFP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Kosovo of provocation after its police detained what Moscow said were 13 Serbians in Serb-populated municipalities in Kosovo's north.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Spanish police said several soccer players and club executives in Spain have been arrested for suspected match-fixing.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, In Sri Lanka hardline Buddhist monk accused of inciting violence against minority Muslims said he planned to denounce Islamist militants. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, head of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or "Buddhist Power Force", was pardoned by President Maithripala Sirisena last week after serving nine months of a six-year sentence for contempt of court.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Sudan's alliance of opposition and protest groups held the first day of a strike as tensions mounted with the country's military rulers over the transition to democracy. Talks between the ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF) alliance were at a standstill.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, New satellite photos obtained showed significant damage to Syrian villages and surrounding farmland as a result of a government offensive on the last rebel stronghold in the country.
(AP, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, Ukraine Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree that gave citizenship back to Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia.
(SFC, 5/29/19, p.A2)
2019 May 28, The United Nations refugee agency said violence in northwest Nigeria has forced around 20,000 refugees to flee to neighboring Niger since April.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 28, The UN human rights office reported that North Koreans are forced to pay bribes to officials to survive in their isolated country where corruption is "endemic" and repression rife, Pyongyang dismissed the report as politically motivated.
(Reuters, 5/28/19)
2019 May 29, Robert Mueller said his two-year Russia investigation had not exonerated Donald Trump, but that he had lacked the power to charge a sitting president -- passing the baton to Congress where a growing chorus is clamoring for impeachment.
(AFP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 29, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke unveiled a sweeping immigration plan to seek a pathway to US citizenship for 11 million people in the country illegally, deploy thousands of immigration lawyers to the southern border to help with asylum cases and earmark $5 billion to bolster the rule of law in Central America.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, It was reported that at least 42 people were shot in Chicago, five fatally, over the Memorial Day weekend.
(SFC, 5/29/19, p.A5)
2019 May 29, It was reported that San Francisco-based Zynga, an online gamemaker, has agreed to sell its Showplace Square building at 650 Townsend St. to real estate investor Beacon Capital Partners for about $600 million. Zynga had purchased the building in 2012 for $228 million. The gamemaker will lease back about a quarter of the 670,000-square-foot property.
(SFC, 5/29/19, p.D1)
2019 May 29, In Texas some 1,036 migrants crossed the US-Mexico border in El Paso in about five minutes early today. This was the largest group crossing ever encountered the Border Patrol.
(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A6)
2019 May 29, It was reported that Sports Illustrated magazine, owned by Meredith Corp., has been sold to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million. Meredith will continue running the print and website of the magazine for two years.
(SFC, 5/29/19, p.D4)
2019 May 29, A nationwide strike in Argentina protesting austerity measures under President Mauricio Macri brought the country's airports to a standstill and halted work at key grains ports, the latest sign of tension in the recession-hit nation.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Australian teenager Will Connolly )17), who cracked an egg on the head of Sen. Fraser Anning for his remarks about the New Zealand mosque massacre, donated almost $70,000 to people affected by the killings.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, In Bangladesh four people accused of poaching threatened Bengal tigers were shot dead by police during a gunfight in a mangrove forest.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Hundreds of Bosnians protested outside the country's top judicial body after a secretly recorded video emerged of its head, Milan Tegeltija, appearing to take bribes through a middleman, himself a police officer.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, China’s State media suggested that China's rare earth resources could be used as leverage against the United States in the countries' ongoing trade dispute.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, The China Int'l. Commercial Court held its first public hearing. Its mission statement was ensconced in three words: "Fairness, Professionalism, Convenience."
(Econ, 6/8/19, p.42)
2019 May 29, Huawei's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said that Huawei filed a motion asking a court in Plano, Texas, for a summary judgment on whether a US military spending provision that bars the government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment is constitutional.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Prominent Egyptian militant, Hisham el-Ashmawi, wanted for scores of terror attacks in his country was handed over by Libyan forces loyal to a commander pushing to take the capital of Tripoli and flown back to Egypt.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, In Hungary a sightseeing boat carrying at least 32 South Korean tourists sank in a matter of seconds on the Danube river after colliding with a larger cruise ship during an evening downpour. Seven people were confirmed dead and seven were rescued, all of them South Koreans. Hungarian police soon detained the captain of the cruise ship.
(AP, 5/30/19)(SFC, 5/30/19, p.A2)(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 29, In Iran Cleric Mohammad Khorsand, a prayer leader in the city of Kazeroon, was killed while on his way home from a religious ceremony. Police soon arrested suspect Hamid Darakhshandeh.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Iraqi authorities handed over 188 Turkish children of suspected Islamic State members to Turkey at Baghdad airport, where they boarded a plane and prepared to fly home.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, A Baghdad court sentenced a Frenchman to death for joining the Islamic State group, bringing to seven the number of French jihadists on death row in Iraq.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Israel announced it had tightened restrictions on Palestinian fishing off the blockaded Gaza Strip after more balloons fitted with firebombs were floated from the enclave into its territory.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Japan announced 132.6 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in aid to Bangladesh for economic development, a high-speed railway and other projects.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, A Japanese man (45) was arrested in Kitakyushu for using a stun gun to discipline his three children.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, In Japan Veteran Chinese dissident Wang Dan urged Western nations to restore the link between human rights and trade with China in a speech just days ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on student pro-democracy protests centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Latvian lawmakers elected former dissident Egils Levits (63), a judge with the European Court of Justice, as the Baltic nation's new president.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Myanmar police said a court has issued an arrest warrant for Buddhist monk Wirathu, known for incendiary comments about the country's Muslim minority and for criticism of the government.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Dutch judges banned biker club Hells Angels and ordered all its chapters to close in the Netherlands as authorities pursue a clampdown on so-called outlaw motorcycle gangs.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (76) was sworn in for a second term in office, vowing once more to tackle crippling security threats and root out corruption in Africa's key economy.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Pakistan said it arrested six men accused of raising funds for an outlawed Pakistan-based group that claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian troops in Kashmir earlier this year.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, A Pakistani parliamentarian and civil rights leader accused authorities of lying about a violent clash between Pashtun activists and security forces over the weekend as tensions soar between the military and rights group.
(AFP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Papua New Guinea (PNG) PM Peter O'Neill quit after losing the confidence of parliament during weeks of political turmoil in the South Pacific nation, but government supporters in parliament hoped to be able to retain power.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, In Sweden electric scooters began to legally glide down the streets of Helsingborg. The following day a rider collided with a cat and died. The Swedish Transport Authority immediately called for a ban on the devices.
(Econ, 6/8/19, p.63)
2019 May 29, Syrian activists and rescuers say government warplanes and artillery have pounded the last rebel stronghold in the country, killing at least 14 people by midday.
(AP, 5/29/19)
2019 May 29, Turkish warplanes and attack helicopters struck targets in the mountains of northern Iraq. Two Turkish soldiers died from wounds sustained in a bomb blast. The military "neutralized" four militants in the latest action, bringing the total to 19 on the 3rd day of “Operation Claw".
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 29, A Ukrainian Soviet-designed military helicopter Mi-8 crashed late today in western Ukraine, killing all four crew members.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 29, Al Arabiya TV reported that the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has started an operation against Houthi targets in the Yemeni province of Dalea.
(Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019 May 30, US Pres. Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs starting at 5% and increasing incrementally if Mexico does not convince him that it's doing more against illegal immigration.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 30, In Alabama Christopher Lee Price (46) was executed for the 1991 killing of Bill Lynn, a Church of Christ minister in Fayette County.
(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A4)
2019 May 30, In San Francisco Rain Daugherty (44), a suspended city police officer, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to a pair of bank robberies in the city.
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.C1)
2019 May 30, Louisiana’s Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a ban on abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy. The new law will outlaw abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected.
(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A4)
2019 May 30, Leon Redbone (b.1949), Cyprus-born American guitar playing singer, died in Pennsylvania. His albums included “On the Track" (1975), “Double Time" (1977) and “Up a Lazy River" (1992).
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.C1)
2019 May 30, Border officials in Texas arrested group of 116 Africans after they waded through the Rio Grande to enter the United States.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 30, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber targeting a military academy in Kabul killed at least six people and wounded six others.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, An African free-trade zone came into force, a step toward creating what the African Union (AU) hopes will be a continent-wide market of 1.2 billion people worth $2.5 trillion. Fifty-two of the AU's 55 member states have signed the agreement to establish the free trade area since March 2018, with the notable exception of Nigeria, the largest economy on the continent.
(AFP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Colombia's Supreme Court ordered the "immediate release" of Jesus Santrich (52), a former rebel leader accused of drug trafficking, and shot down revisions to the country's peace accord in a double blow for President Ivan Duque.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Congolese forces killed 26 rebels from a group thought to be linked to Islamic State while repelling an attack in east Congo's Ebola zone.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Hungary unexpectedly announced the indefinite suspension of a new administrative court system, backtracking on a reform that had raised concerns over judicial independence.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, In India Narendra Modi was sworn in for a 2nd term as prime minister.
(SFC, 5/31/19, p.A2)
2019 May 30, In Iran hackers took down the website belonging to the country's non-governmental Social Security Organization. The website was down for an unspecified amount of time, but was soon restored.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 30, Israel embarked on an unprecedented snap election campaign — the second this year — after PM Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition and instead dissolved parliament.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Speaking at a conference in Tokyo Malaysia’s PM Mahathir Mohamad said his country will continue using Huawei products "as much as possible," bucking a global trend prompted by security concerns and a US ban on the Chinese firm.
(AFP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, In Mongolia thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of Ulaanbaatar to demand the leadership step down over allegations of corruption and failure to revive a struggling economy.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Pakistani lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, who escaped a deadly clash between the military and activists over the weekend, was arrested after surrendering to authorities. The military accused him and another member of parliament of being involved in an assault on a security post in the volatile North Waziristan region. The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which was co-founded by Dawar and campaigns for civil rights for ethnic minority Pashtun people, said troops killed 13 civilians.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Former Papua New Guinea Finance Minister James Marape was sworn in as the country's new prime minister, following the resignation of Peter O'Neill last weekend.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, It was reported that Marek Lisinski, the founder and head of “Have No Fear," a Polish organization dedicated to helping victims of pedophile priests, has resigned after allegations surfaced that he extorted money from a victim and demanded money from the producers of a documentary about clerical abuse.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, In Russia the Taliban and other Afghan factions wrapped another round of talks in Moscow to discuss peace settlement. There was no breakthrough in their bid to end 18 years of war and that further talks would be needed.
(Reuters, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Sudan's protesters threatened to launch a civil disobedience campaign to pressure the ruling military to hand power to a civilian transitional government after their two-day strike failed to produce tangible results.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, In Syria government warplanes bombed the last rebel stronghold in the country again, levelling a building and killing five people inside it, including three members of a single family in Maaret al-Numan, Idlib province.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 30, Ukrainian lawmakers refused to accept the Cabinet's resignation in another snub to the nation's newly sworn-in Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
(AP, 5/30/19)
2019 May 31, President Donald Trump escalated his abrupt tariff threats against Mexico, triggering alarm about the likely economic fallout, spooking global markets and raising the prospect of US trade wars on multiple fronts.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Connecticut Sujitno Sajuti, a former Fulbright scholar who has been fighting deportation to his native Indonesia, left the sanctuary of a Meriden church after 598 days. US Sen. Richard Blumenthal said federal authorities have determined that Sajuti was once a victim of a violent crime and therefore qualified for a U visa that will allow him to stay in the United States.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Florida Anthony Gignac (48) was sentenced to 18 years in prison for stealing at least $8 million while impersonating a Saudi prince.
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A11)
2019 May 31, A US court ruled that abortion services can continue in Missouri for now, granting a temporary restraining order to keep open the sole clinic that performs the procedure, acting just hours before the St. Louis Planned Parenthood facility’s license was set to expire.
(AFP, 6/1/19)(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A5)
2019 May 31, It was reported that Oregon is glutted with so much legal marijuana that if growers were to stop today, it could take more than six years by one estimate to smoke or eat it all.
(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A5)
2019 May 31, A municipal employee sprayed gunfire "indiscriminately" in a government building complex in the US state of Virginia, killing 12 people and wounding four in the latest mass shooting to rock the country. The shooter was killed after an extended gun battle with responding officers.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Afghanistan a car bomb targeting a US convoy exploded early today in an eastern Kabul neighborhood leaving four Afghans killed and three wounded. It was the second suicide attack in as many days to rattle the Afghan capital.
(AP, 5/31/19)(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A2)
2019 May 31, The Brazilian government reported a case of atypical mad cow disease in an animal in Mato Grosso state. The case was considered "atypical" as the animal contracted the BSE protein spontaneously, rather than through the feed supply.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, China warned Canada that it needs to be aware of the consequences of aiding the US in an extradition case involving Chinese tech giant Huawei that is believed to have sparked the detentions of two Canadians in China.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, China said that it was drawing up a list of "unreliable" foreign companies, organizations and individuals for targeting in what could signal retaliation for US sanctions on its tech powerhouse Huawei.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, It was reported that the European Commission has determined that Czech PM Andrej Babis is in conflict of interest because of his business empire placed in trust funds, and the country may lose some EU funding as a result.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In France Ian Bailey (62), a British man on trial in Paris in absentia over the 1996 killing of a French woman in Ireland, was handed a 25-year prison sentence by judges, who issued a new arrest warrant in a bid to put him in jail.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Haiti a panel of judges accused President Jovenel Moise of being at the center of an "embezzlement scheme" that siphoned off Venezuelan aid money meant for fixing roads.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, In Honduras masked protesters set fire to the gate of the US embassy during massive demonstrations against public sector reforms in the country.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, Hong Kong confirmed its second case of African swine fever, in a further sign that the virus is continuing to spread beyond mainland China, with the government ordering a cull of 4,700 animals.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, Indonesian police paraded an American, two Spaniards and two Russians at a news conference in Bali’s capital, Denpasar. They had been arrested days earlier for selling cocaine and marijuana on Bali.
(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A2)
2019 May 31, Iranians in the capital Tehran set fire to effigies of US President Donald Trump, while in Baghdad, Iran-backed militiamen marched over a large Israeli flag as part of rallies marking Quds, or Jerusalem Day. The annual protests come as the Trump administration tries to market its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Israeli police shot and killed Abdullah Ghaith, a 16-year-old Palestinian, near the West Bank separation barrier. In Jerusalem's Old City, an alleged Palestinian attacker was killed after stabbing and injuring two Israelis, according to Israeli police.
(AP, 5/31/19)(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A2)
2019 May 31, Italy's culture ministry said it will revoke the lease on a state-owned monastery where a right-wing Roman Catholic institute close to former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon had planned to train political activists.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 May 31, The Kosovo government said that Mikhail Krasnoshchenkov, a Russian national working for the UN mission would not be allowed back into the country after his expulsion.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Malawi's opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera rejected the result of last week's presidential election, saying he had launched a court battle to have the vote annulled on the grounds of fraud.
(AFP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Mexico won't respond to US President Donald Trump's threat of coercive tariffs with desperation, but instead will push for dialogue.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Pakistani health officials say 681 people have tested positive for HIV in Ratodero, of whom 537 are children, since April 25. Officials suspected the outbreak is linked to reused syringes and needles and improperly screened blood transfusions.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, The Philippines shipped 69 containers of what its officials called illegally transported garbage back to Canada.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In the southern Philippines Ewold Horn, a long-held Dutch hostage, was fatally shot by his militant captors when he tried to escape during a gunbattle. He had made a dash to freedom during a fierce firefight between the Abu Sayyaf militants and army troops in Sulu province's mountainous Patikul town. At least six militants were killed and 12 others were wounded.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Saudi Arabia opened an emergency meeting of Arab leaders in Mecca with a call for the int’l. community to use all means to confront Iran.
(SFC, 6/1/19, p.A4)
2019 May 31, South Korea said that it is scrambling to prevent the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever on its pig industry after North Korea confirmed an outbreak at a farm near its border with China.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, A South Korean newspaper reported that North Korea executed a senior envoy involved in nuclear negotiations with the US as well as four other high-level officials [see July 16].
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In Switzerland a three-hour standoff in Zurich ended early today after a 60-year-old Swiss man apparently killed two female hostages (34 and 38) and himself in a flat south west of Zurich.
(Reuters, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In Thailand three Thai men were found guilty of murdering British expat Alan Hogg and his wife Nhot Suddaen last September, and were sentenced to death.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, Pope Francis began a three-day pilgrimage to Romania that in many ways is completing the 1999 trip by St. John Paul II that marked the first-ever papal visit to a majority Orthodox country.
(AP, 5/31/19)
2019 May 31, In Ukraine two patrol officers were drinking together in a yard in the city of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky, 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Kiev. While shooting at metal cans they hit a boy, Kyrylo Tlyavov (5), who died on June 3. The two officers were soon arrested.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 May 31, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido renewed calls for President Nicolas Maduro to resign while campaigning in the birthplace of former leader Hugo Chavez, following inconclusive talks in Norway to end the country's crisis.
(AFP, 6/1/19)
2019 May, President Donald Trump directed John Bolton, his national security adviser, to help with his pressure campaign to extract damaging information on Democrats from Ukrainian officials. Bolton later wrote in a book that this occurred during an Oval Office conversation that included the acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney; the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani; and the White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, who later led the president’s impeachment defense.
(NY Times, 1/31/20)
2019 May, Rugby star Israel Folau, a devout Christian, was fired after a Rugby Australia tribunal found him guilty of "high-level" misconduct for posting on social media that "hell awaits" gay people and others he considers sinners. On June 24 a crowdfunding campaign for his legal fees was shut down.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 May, European scientists successfully transferred a test tube rhino embryo back into a southern white female rhino whose eggs were fertilized in vitro at the Cherzow Zoo in Poland.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A2)
2019 May, Libyan security forces arrested two men accused of working for a Russian troll farm seeking to influence elections in the oil exporter and other African countries.
(Bloomberg, 7/5/19)
2019 May, A court in Mexico City granted two injunctions ordering the government to allow plaintiffs to "possess, transport and use cocaine," but plaintiffs have to limit their intake to 500 milligrams a day, and cannot buy or sell the drug. The ruling will only be enforced if it is upheld by the higher court.
(Insider, 8/21/19)
2019 May, In the Netherlands around 18,000 building projects, worth billions of euros, risked being shelved after the country's highest court ruled that the way Dutch builders and farmers dealt with nitrogen emissions breached European law.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 May, Pakistani police swept through posh neighborhoods in the Punjab provincial capital of Lahore and in the national capital, Islamabad. They arrested Chinese nationals and their Pakistani partners involved in two marriage-broker networks that sought out Pakistani girls for Chinese grooms.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 May, The FBI arrested the executive director of Puerto Rico's Senate Office of Government Affairs and two legislative advisers. They were accused of creating an alleged billing scheme for professional services never rendered.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 May, A report by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) on the global over-exploitation of this resource accused "sand mafias" of destroying Morocco's beaches and over-urbanizing its coastline.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 May, UNAIDS chief, Michel Sidibe, left his post early after allegations that he improperly handled sexual assault claims against one of his deputies.
(AP, 8/14/19)
2019 May, Zambia went to court to, in effect, grab Konkola Copper Mines, mostly owned by Vedanta, an Indian company.
(Econ., 5/2/20, p.35)
2019 Jun 1, In Iowa a flood barrier along the swollen Mississippi River failed flooding four to six blocks of downtown Burlington.
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A14)
2019 Jun 1, In El Salvador Nayib Bukele (37), the former mayor of San Salvador, was sworn in as president.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 1, In Germany Walter Luebcke (65), a politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, was shot dead with a gunshot wound to the head. He was in charge of the Kassel area regional administration. Stephan Ernst (45), a suspected right-wing radical, was arrested two weeks later after police found his DNA at the scene. In 2020 Ernst was charged with murder and a 2nd man was charged as an accessory.
(AP, 6/3/19)(Reuters, 6/18/19)(SFC, 4/30/20, p.A2)
2019 Jun 1, Former Indonesian first lady Kristiani Herrawati Yudhoyono (66) died of leukemia in a Singapore hospital.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 1, Tokyo police arrested Hideaki Kumazawa (76), a former top Japanese government official, on suspicion of stabbing to death his 44-year-old son Eiichiro.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 1, Kenya's central bank set a Sept. 30 deadline for everyone to convert their old 1,000 shillings note, worth about $10, into new ones after it became the banknote of choice for criminals of all types in the East Africa region.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Jun 1, In Lithuania 25 babies took to the red carpet in a crawling race in Vilnius as their parents, grandparents and onlookers cheered the spectacle. This was the 20th annual event staged by a local radio station to mark International Children's Day, celebrated today in this Baltic nation.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 1, A Pakistani soldier was reported killed by a gun and bomb attack during a patrol in the Boya area of North Waziristan district.
(AP, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 1, Pope Francis braved a rain-soaked, twisting drive through the mountains of Transylvania to visit Sumuleu Ciuc shrine, Romania's most famous shrine. He urged Romanian and ethnic Hungarian faithful to work together for their future.
(AP, 6/1/19)(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 1, In central Russia at least two people were reported missing after blasts at the TNT explosives plant Kristall in the town of Dzerzhinsk. 79 people were injured.
(Reuters, 6/1/19)(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 1, A Saudi-hosted Islamic summit threw its support behind Palestinians ahead of a US-led peace plan suspected to be skewed in favor of Israel, as Muslim states rallied around Saudi Arabia over tensions with Iran. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, was the third and final Iran-focused summit in the holy city of Mecca this week. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was notably absent from the summit of the 57-member OIC. The Mecca summit refused all illegal Israeli measures aimed at changing facts in occupied Palestinian territories including Jerusalem, and undermining the two-state solution.
(AFP, 6/1/19)(Reuters, 6/1/19)
2019 Jun 1, In northern Syria two explosions in Raqqa killed ten people.
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 2, In Afghanistan four bombings killed at least two people and wounded 27.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 2, Thousands of Israeli religious nationalists paraded through the streets of Jerusalem and into the main entrance of the Old city's Muslim Quarter to mark Jerusalem Day, celebrating the regions capture in 1967.
(SFC, 6/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 2, Pope Francis apologized to the Roma ethnic minority for their history of discrimination in Europe and paid homage to Romanian Catholics persecuted during communist rule as he wrapped up his third and final day in the country.
(SFC, 6/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 2, In northwestern Syria at least 19 people were killed in a car bomb near a bustling market and mosque in Azaz, a rebel-held city in Aleppo province.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, US Pres. Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived in London their two-day state visit. Trump opened his state visit drawing a smile from Queen Elizabeth II and stepping up a long-running feud with London's anti-Trump mayor before his plane had touched down on English soil.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, US FDA researchers reported that food testing for a class of non-stick industrial compounds (PFAS) found substantial levels in some grocery store meats and seafood and off-the-shelf chocolate cake.
(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 3, Twenty-two journalists killed in 2018 had their names added to a Washington memorial as media rights defenders warned of growing threats to freedom of the press around the world.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 3, Naasón Joaquín García (50), the leader of La Luz del Mundo, and a follower of the church, Susana Medina Oaxaca (24), were arrested after landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Two days later California officials announced that Garcia has been charged with human trafficking and child rape. The Mexico-based church has branches in the US claiming more than 1 million followers. The fundamentalist Christian church, whose name translates to The Light of the World, was founded in 1926 by García's grandfather.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Mississippi a head-on crash between a box truck and a passenger van killed eight people.
(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 3, A New Jersey appellate court upheld a ruling that denies pension benefits to former judge Stephen Thompson (72), who served a federal prison term for having sex with a boy in Russia and bringing back a tape of the act.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 3, It was reported that people with a DNA mutation that reduces their chance of HIV infection may die sooner, according to a study that suggests tinkering with a gene to try to fix one problem may cause others.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Afghanistan a bomb attached into a bus carrying Afghan government workers killed at least five people and wounded 10 others in Kabul.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, Austria swore in its first female chancellor at the head of an interim government that will serve until after an election expected in September. Brigitte Bierlein (69), previously the head of Austria's top court, will lead a Cabinet of non-partisan experts.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, British Airways resumed flights to Pakistan, over a decade after they were suspended in the wake of a truck bombing of a hotel in the capital, which killed dozens.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, It was reported that British petrochemicals maker Ineos is investing $2 billion to build three plants in Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, A Canadian government report said the deaths of more than a thousand aboriginal women and girls in recent decades was a national genocide.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, China warned students and academics about risks involved in studying in the United States, pointing to limits on the duration of visas and visa refusals, amid a bitter trade war and other tension between the two countries.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, The Pacific Daily News reported that although abortions are legal on Guam, no doctors there have offered the procedure since the last abortion provider retired last year. Guam law allows abortions within 13 weeks by licensed providers.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 3, Indian air force pilots spotted five bodies in the Himalayas near the border with China and Nepal while searching for eight climbers who went missing in an avalanche while attempting to chart a new route on India's second-highest mountain.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, An Indian air force aircraft with 13 people on board went missing in remote northeastern mountains bordering China.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, India issued heat wave warnings for some places in western Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh state following similar extreme weather a day earlier.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, A Iraqi court sentenced to death two more French nationals for joining the Islamic State group, leaving all 11 Frenchmen transferred from Syria facing the gallows and potentially opening the door for other cases.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Lebanon a lone gunman, identified as former IS member Abdul-Rahman Mabsout, began a late night shooting spree, killing four security personnel before blowing himself up in an apartment in a residential building in Tripoli.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 3, Russia's communications regulator said that Tinder was included on a list of online services operating in Russia that are required to provide user data on demand to Russian authorities, including the FSB security agency.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, Saudi Arabia's special forces captured Abu Osama Al-Muhajir, the leader of the Islamic State group's branch, in Yemen during a raid on a house that was under surveillance. Also captured were the group's chief financial operator in Yemen and other suspects who were not named.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 3, In central Serbia torrential rains over the past 24 hours have caused floods that have covered roads and washed into homes, disrupting traffic and damaging bridges.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Sri Lanka eight Muslim government officials quit their portfolios in solidarity with the industry minister accused by the opposition of supporting Islamist militants who killed more than 250 people on Easter Sunday.
(Reuters, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, Sudan's military rulers forcefully broke up a weeks-long sit-in outside Khartoum's army headquarters leaving at least 30 dead and dozens wounded, protesters said, as gunfire rang out and black smoke shrouded the city. The Traditional Military Council turned off the internet and phone networks and Abdel-Fattah Burhan, its leader, said the junta would form an interim government and hold elections in nine months. Dozens of women were raped by security forces over the course of a few hours. Fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and other troops tore apart a sit-in camp in Khartoum where protesters had been demanding for weeks that the military give up power. At least 87 people were killed, with activists putting the number at more than 120.
(AFP, 6/3/19)(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A3)(Econ, 6/8/19, p.43)(AP, 6/3/20)
2019 Jun 3, A Swedish court said it considered Julian Assange a suspect in a 2010 rape case but rejected a request to detain him, dashing the prosecutor's hopes of having him swiftly extradited from Britain.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, In Syria bombardments by the ruling regime killed six civilians in the northwest, hours after US President Donald Trump urged Damascus and its allies to "stop bombing the hell" out of the jihadist-held region. Government forces captured the village of Qassaibyeh under the cover of Russian and Syrian airstrikes.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, Some 800 Syrian women and children left al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province to return to their homes in Raqqa. Kurdish authorities handed over to a Norwegian envoy five children of IS members who were killed in Syria. The five orphans are expected to be taken back home.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a "high risk" of atrocities in Mali in a report that calls for beefing up the UN peacekeeping presence in the strife-torn center of the country.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, A UN said people in all major cities across the western Balkans face alarming levels of air pollution that are reducing their life expectancies because the underdeveloped, politically fragile region is still heavily reliant on burning coal to generate power. The report was prepared cooperation with the WHO and air quality management institutions in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
(AP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 3, UN officials said international donors have pledged $1.2 billion to help Mozambique recover from the devastation caused by cyclones Idai and Kenneth, but $3.2 billion is needed overall.
(AFP, 6/3/19)
2019 Jun 4, The Trump administration imposed major new travel restrictions on visits to Cuba by US citizens, including a ban on many forms of educational and recreational travel. Commercial airline flights appear to be unaffected and travel for university groups, academic research, journalism and professional meetings will continue to be allowed.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, US and Philippine officials discussed a new 3-year program to thwart efforts by Muslim extremists to recruit and mobilize followers in the country's south after a bloody siege by jihadists aligned with the Islamic State group.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, The US Federal Reserve signaled it was ready to cut interest rates to support the US economy against risks from trade conflicts.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, US authorities arrested and deported Abdelhaleem Ashqar to Israel after misleading him about his need to report to an immigration office to process paperwork. A judge's order forced immigration authorities to reverse his deportation and bring him back from Israel before he ever got off the plane. Ashqar recently served 11 years in prison for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating his relationship to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 4, US citizen Mikhy Farrera-Brochez, who leaked the names of more than 14,000 HIV-positive people in Singapore, was found guilty by a US court of illegally transferring personal data and threatening the Singapore government. He faced up to two years in prison on each of the two counts of sending threatening communications, and up to five years for possessing and transferring identity information.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 4, A US scientist said Mount Everest and its surrounding peaks are increasingly polluted and warmer, and nearby glaciers are melting at an alarming rate that is likely to make it more dangerous for future climbers.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, It was reported that at least 50 people were shot in Chicago last weekend with at least ten killed.
(SFC, 6/4/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 4, Arkansas state Sen. Collins-Smith (57), a well-to-do businesswoman, was found dead at her Pocahontas home. Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell (49), her friend and employee, was soon now charged with capital murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.
(ABC News, 12/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, In South Carolina a jury found Timothy Jones Jr. (37) guilty of the 2014 deaths of his five young children. On June 13 Jones was sentenced to death.
(http://tinyurl.com/y2c3m98h)(SFC, 5/7/19, p.A4)(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 4, In Australia a man who was out on parole was arrested after fatally shooting four men and wounding a woman in an hour-long downtown rampage in the northern city of Darwin.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Thousands took to the streets of central London to protest the visit of Donald Trump, with the infamous blimp of the US president once again flying outside the Houses of Parliament.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Rights groups sounded a warning over the escalating crisis in western Cameroon, where separatists and government forces are locked in deadly combat.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, China imposed an information lockdown on the 30th anniversary of its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, China issued a travel warning for the US, saying Chinese visitors have been interrogated, interviewed and subjected to other forms of what it called harassment by US law enforcement agencies.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, It was reported that deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has surpassed 2,000 cases and is picking up speed.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Cypriot authorities recovered the remains of a body stuffed in a suitcase at the bottom of a lake believed to be the sixth victim of a suspected serial killer. The suitcase is thought to contain the body of missing Filipina Maricar Valdez.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In the Czech Rep. an estimated 120,000 protesters took to Prague's streets this evening to demand the resignation of PM Andrej Babis, one of the biggest protests since the end of communism in 1989.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno blocked the extradition to the United States of a New York man charged with trying to defraud Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg. Paul Ceglia spent nearly 3-1/2 years as a fugitive before being arrested in Ecuador last year. Ceglia, who is in jail, has requested asylum in Ecuador.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 4, A French government report said France's weapons sales to Saudi Arabia rose 50 pct. in 2018 despite the government calling for an end to the "dirty war" in Yemen.
(Reuters, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Ghana two Canadian women, charity volunteers aged 19 and 20, were kidnapped this evening in Kumasi, some 200 km (125 miles) northwest of Accra.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 4, Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong gathered to mark 30 years since China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Hungarian rescuers said the death toll from the Danube River tour boat that collided with a large cruise ship grew to 10 after they recovered another body.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In India hospitals across the desert state of Rajasthan reported a surge in heatstroke cases as fierce temperatures kept up for a fourth day across northern India.
(AFP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Iraq a roadside bomb has exploded near an army patrol north of Baghdad, killing four security personnel and wounding four others in Tarmiya.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Mexico three synthetic drug labs producing an estimated $160 million worth of methamphetamine were dismantled in northwestern Sinaloa state.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, The Islamic State group claimed it was involved in an insurgent clash late today in Mozambique for the first time. An expert expressed doubt and police dismissed the claim outright.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, Muslim Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, as well as Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, announced the first day of Eid, whereas Egypt, Syria, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and others said the Shawwal crescent moon was not visible across the country and won't start till tomorrow.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Pakistan's PM Imran Khan said the powerful military has agreed in a rare move to cut its hefty budget for a year to help ease the South Asian country's "critical financial situation".
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, Russia's leading internet company, Yandex, said it's committed to data privacy as it responds to reports that the national intelligence agency is pressuring it into handing over encryption keys.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, South Africa's government announced that the economy dropped by the most in a decade in the first quarter of this year, hurting newly elected President Cyril Ramaphosa's efforts at growth and reforms.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Spain's Supreme Court temporarily halted the government's plan to move the remains of Gen. Francisco Franco to a discreet tomb next week, because judges have yet to rule on appeals by the dictator's descendants.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Scandinavian Airlines said it will stop selling duty-free goods on planes to reduce weight and save fuel as part of a wider range of measures to cut emissions.
(AP, 6/4/19)
2019 Jun 4, Sudan's protest movement called for fresh rallies and rejected the military rulers' election plan after more than 35 people were killed in what demonstrators called a "bloody massacre" by security forces. At least 40 bodies were pulled from the Nile River in Khartoum bringing the death toll since the violent dispersal of a sit-in outside the military's headquarters to 100.
(AP, 6/4/19)(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, In Uganda five people died and dozens were missing after heavy rains triggered a series of landslides in eastern Uganda's mountainous Bududa district.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 4, The UN's World Food Program said fighters have set fire to thousands of acres of wheat and other crops in northwest Syria in a campaign that has turned food supplies in a "weapon of war" and forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee.
(Reuters, 6/4/19)
\2019 Jun 4, A prominent Venezuelan news website said it was ordered by the country's Supreme Court to pay some five million dollars in damages and interest to Diosdado Cabello, head of the all-powerful National Assembly. Cabello had taken the La Patilla site to court for putting up an article from the Spanish daily ABC -- published three years previously -- that accused him of having links to drug trafficking.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, President Donald Trump arrived in Ireland on his first visit to the country as president. Some protesters have set up a "peace camp" outside Shannon Airport for the duration of the president's visit.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, The Trump administration announced new restrictions in funding of research involving human fetal tissue.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 5, US senators across the political spectrum moved to block President Donald Trump's plan to sell $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies as lawmakers' frustration with the kingdom soars.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Ohio authorities said Dr. William Husel has been charged with murder in 25 patient deaths. He was already accused of ordering painkiller overdoses for dozens of hospital patients. The Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System soon fired Husel and reached nearly $4.5 million in settlements over the patient deaths.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.A6)(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 5, YouTube announced plans to remove thousands of videos and channels that advocate neo-Nazism, white supremacy and other bigoted ideologies in an attempt to clean up extremism and hate speech on its service.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 5, Freedom House, a human rights watchdog, said press freedom is declining around the world, with democratic governments joining authoritarian regimes in seeking to suppress independent journalism.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Australia's Federal Police raided the offices of the national public broadcaster in connection to a 2017 story based on leaked military documents that indicated the country's military forces were being investigated for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Bosnian police arrested 20 people early today after migrants rioted at a reception center in the northwestern town of Velika Kladusa.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Prosecutors in Bosnia-Herzegovina said a mass grave has been found on Mt. Igman. Victims were believed to be from the village of Donji Hadzici, missing since the summer of 1992.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 5, In Britain US President Donald Trump and Queen Elizabeth II joined 300 veterans in paying tribute to their fallen comrades at a poignant ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, China launched a rocket from a mobile platform at sea for the first time, sending a five commercial satellites and two others containing experimental technology into space.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, China imposed a $23.6 million fine on US auto giant Ford's joint venture with Changan Automobile for "price fixing" in the latest incident of Beijing targeting an American company amid a festering trade war.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, The head of Colombia's army, Gen. Nicacio Martínez, was promoted amid an outcry over an order he issued that has stirred fears of a return to serious human rights violations.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Czech PM Andrej Babis stepped up criticism of a European Commission audit into his possible conflicts of interest, calling the auditors incompetent and demanding a meeting with the head of the commission executive.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, In Egypt Islamic militants attacked a checkpoint in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 10 police in el-Arish.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, The European Commission formally put Italy on notice about its deteriorating deficit and snowballing debt, re-opening a political battle with populist-led Rome.
(AFP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Israel cut the fishing zone it allows off Gaza, in the third such response in a fortnight to Palestinian incendiary balloons. The fishing limit for Gaza fishermen was reduced from a maximum of 15 nautical miles to 10.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 5, Japanese authorities said they have arrested seven Chinese men over the weekend on suspicion of smuggling what is believed to be a record amount of stimulants.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Japan's health minister said in response to a petition seeking a ban on requiring women to wear high heels at work that such dress code expectations are "necessary and appropriate" in the workplace.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Kurdish authorities in northern Syria said they have transferred eight US women and children who were captured with the Islamic State group back to America.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Hundreds more Central American migrants crossed into Mexico from Guatemala, and a group of about 1,000 started walking en mass to the north.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Officials in Nepal said a government expedition to Mount Everest has removed 11,000 kg (24,200 pounds) of garbage and four dead bodies from the world's highest mountain.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, It was reported that North Korea will temporarily suspend the latest edition of its famous mass games, which involve thousands of performers working in precise synchronization, after the premiere drew strong criticism from leader Kim Jong Un.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, In Russia Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin sat down for talks at the Kremlin in a visit affirming the increasingly close relationship between the two former Cold War communist rivals.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Huawei signed a deal with Russian telecoms firm MTS to develop 5G technology in Russia. The deal was agreed as China's President Xi Jinping began a three-day visit to Russia.
(https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48537643)
2019 Jun 5, Russian rights activists and US diplomats said Paul Whelan, a former US Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying, is being illegally isolated in a Moscow pre-trial detention center and prevented from communicating with visitors.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, South Korea said that North Korea has so far ignored its calls for joint efforts to stem the spread of highly contagious African swine fever following an outbreak near North Korea's border with China.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Sudan's army ruler said he was open to negotiations even as gunfire crackled across the capital after a crackdown that doctors close to protesters said left at least 60 people dead. Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North said its deputy chief, Yasir Arman, was detained today after being taken from the house where he was staying in Khartoum since May 26.
(AFP, 6/5/19)(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, In Switzerland one person was killed and six others injured in an accident at the mountain resort of Engelberg Titlis during maintenance work on an out-of-service ski lift.
(Reuters, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 5, Thailand's Parliament convened for a vote that is expected to keep Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister five years after he seized power in a military coup.
(AP, 6/5/19)
2019 Jun 6, US Pres. Donald Trump signed a $19.1 billion disaster aid bill aimed at helping communities across the country bounce back from hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and fires.
(SFC, 6/7/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 6, The US Treasury Department tightened its pressure on Venezuela's state-owned oil company by making clear that exports of diluents by international shippers could be subject to US sanctions.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, It was reported that the US federal government has stopped paying for English-language courses and legal services at facilities that hold immigrant children around the country. Budget cuts were imposed as record numbers of unaccompanied children were arriving at the border.
(SFC,6/6/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 6, US federal regulators voted to give phone companies the right to block unwanted calls without getting customers' permission first.
(SFC, 6/7/19, p.D3)
2019 Jun 6, New York's police chief apologized for the first time for a crackdown on the city's gay community during the notorious 1969 Stonewall riots, winning praise from LGBTQ activists ahead of the 50th anniversary of violence considered to have given rise to the Gay Pride movement.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Mac Rebennack (b.1940), aka Dr. John, pianist, singer and songwriter who embodied the New Orleans sound for generations, died of a heart attack. He recorded more than 30 albums and in 1994 authored an autobiography with Jack Rummel titled "Under Hoodoo Moon".
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._John)(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.C10)
2019 Jun 6, The African Union (AU) suspended Sudan, demanding a "civilian-led transitional authority" to resolve an entrenched and bloody crisis.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Brazil's Supreme Court approved an 8.6 billion dollar deal allowing state oil company Petrobras to sell its TAG pipeline network in a big win for the firm and the ruling party.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, A court in Chad handed 20-year jail terms to 11 men accused of taking part in an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea in December 2017.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, Egyptian security forces killed 14 militants suspected in an attack on a police checkpoint in northern Sinai where at least eight policemen died.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In northern France President Donald Trump told the US's rattled allies that the bonds between them were "unbreakable" as they marked the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, A German court handed a life sentence to Niels Hoegel (42), a nurse believed to be the most prolific serial killer in the country's post-war history, for the "unfathomable" crime of murdering 85 patients in his care.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal said the government cannot deny spousal employment benefits to same-sex couples, in a ruling hailed as a major step forward for same-sex equality in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, India's central bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75% with immediate effect to fortify the economy as consumer spending and corporate investment falter.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In India at least 24 people were killed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh overnight as raging winds flattened homes, trees and electricity poles.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, Italy-based Fiat Chrysler's withdrew a merger offer with French carmaker Renault on fundamental differences over when Renault's long-time alliance partner, Nissan, would be brought in.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In Israel thousands took part in Jerusalem's Gay Pride parade, waving rainbow flags and calling for tolerance in the Holy City with security tight.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Mexico's foreign minister said Mexico will deploy its national guard to its southern border with Guatemala as part of the country's bid to stem Central American migration that has drawn US President Donald Trump's ire.
(Reuters, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Russia detained investigative journalist Ivan Golunov (36) on drugs charges that supporters the next day condemned as trumped-up and suggested were punishment for his reporting. In his investigations, Golunov zeroed in on everything from Russia's shady funeral industry to corruption within Moscow city hall.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 6, Sudan's pro-democracy leaders vowed to press their campaign of civil disobedience until the ruling military council is ousted and killers of protesters are brought to justice. A Sudan Health Ministry official said 61 people have been killed across the country since the military launched a deadly crackdown on protesters earlier this week, disputing the death toll of 108 announced earlier by protesters.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, Taiwan confirmed it has asked to purchase more than 100 tanks from the US, along with air defense and anti-tank missile systems in a major potential arms sale that drew immediate protest from China.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, A Thai court sentenced former PM Thaksin Shinawatra in absentia to two years in prison over his handling of a state lottery program he initiated while in office more than a decade ago.
(AP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In the UAE a bus from Oman smashed into a warning sign coming off a major highway in Dubai, killing 17 people late today, including at least 12 Indians. In 2021 an appeals court reduced the Omani bus driver's seven-year sentence followed by deportation to just one year without deportation.
(AP, 6/7/19)(AP, 2/25/21)
2019 Jun 6, A UN envoy on the Israel-Palestinian conflict said the cash-strapped Palestinian government has pledged to suspend a secret increase in ministerial salaries after reports of the raise sparked anger.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 6, In Vietnam a southern provincial court sentenced environmental activist Nguyen Ngoc Anh (39) to six years in prison for "producing, disseminating or spreading information and documents aimed at undermining" the country.
(AFP, 6/6/19)
2019 Jun 7, President Donald Trump put on hold his plan to begin imposing tariffs on Mexico, saying the US ally will take "strong measures" to reduce the flow of Central American migrants into the United States.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, The United States placed sanctions on Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group for indirectly supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a step it said aimed to dry up revenues to the elite Iranian military force but that analysts called largely symbolic.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, It was reported that the United States has decided to stop accepting any more Turkish pilots who had planned to train in the United States on F-35 fighter jets.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, NASA announced that it will open the International Space Station to private astronauts with the first visit as early as next year.
(SFC, 6/8/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 7, Wells Fargo confirmed that it has agreed to pay at least $385 million to settle a California lawsuit alleging it signed up thousands of auto loan customers without their consent, resulting in many seeing their vehicles repossessed.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A12)
2019 Jun 7, In southern Michigan a pickup truck rear-ended an Amish horse-drawn carriage killing tow children and injuring three others. The driver of the pickup was intoxicated and held in jail.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A12)
2019 Jun 7, In Michigan a homeless man was taken into custody in Detroit two days after the body of a woman was found in a vacant home. The bodies of two other women have been found in separate empty dwellings this year and police believed the deaths are related.
(SFC, 6/10/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 7, Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor (33), who shot and killed an unarmed woman who had called 911, said he "knew in an instant that I was wrong" and apologized to her family, just moments before a judge brushed off a defense request for leniency and ordered him to prison for 12½ years.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, In North Carolina four people and two dogs from Florida died when their private plane crashed about 40 miles east of Raleigh.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A12)
2019 Jun 7, The Catholic Church in Texas said it is reviewing allegations that a top monsignor continued to hear the confessions of Laura Pontikes, a married woman, after luring her into a sexual relationship, a potentially serious crime under church law.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, US media reported that more than a dozen car manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen have officially asked Pres. Donald Trump not to relax emission limits, to avoid a fragmentation of the car market.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Afghanistan Taliban militants killed at least 14 members of a pro-government militia in an attack on checkpoints in western Ghor province.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 7, In Algeria hundreds of demonstrators packed the center of Algiers calling on the interim president to quit a day after he called for dialogue aimed at fixing a new date for elections as soon as possible.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Australian officials said they have seized the nation's largest haul of methamphetamine at the Melbourne waterfront, nearly 1.6 metric tons (1.8 tons) of the illegal drug hidden in stereo speakers shipped from Bangkok.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Bhutan's lower house of Parliament voted overwhelmingly to repeal provisions that said "unnatural sex" is illegal. The bill still needs to be passed by the upper chamber before being sent for royal assent.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 7, British PM Theresa May stepped down as leader of her Conservative Party, formally triggering the race for a successor who will try where she failed to deliver Brexit.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Regulators announced that Britain will from next year force the country's banks to slash overdraft charges, helping millions of consumers, in particular the more vulnerable.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, A Bulgarian prosecutor said a boy (16) was arrested after police found explosive devices, an Islamic state flag and other items in the boy's home that could have been used in a mass attack.
(SSFC, 6/9/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 7, A senior human rights official said prospects for talks between authorities and separatist movements to end escalating violence in Cameroon's English-speaking region are slim.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, People in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan competed in annual dragon boat races, a tradition with roots dating back more than 2,000 years.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Cyprus renegotiated a contract with a consortium made up of Shell, Texas-Based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek that paves the way for the exploitation of an offshore field that is estimated to hold 4.1 trillion cubic feet of gas. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is determined to protect Turkish Cypriots' rights to gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed visited Sudan for talks with the ruling military as well as the country's protest leaders. Sudanese security forces arrested two prominent rebels and an opposition leader after they held meetings with Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed.
(AP, 6/7/19)(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, Three rescuers from the French lifeboat service died when their vessel capsized in rough seas caused by storm Miguel pummeling the country's Atlantic.
(AFP, 6/7/19)(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, Iran rejected French calls for wider international talks over its nuclear and military ambitions, saying it would only discuss it existing 2015 atomic pact with world powers.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, It was reported that fires in northern Iraq have destroyed 5,183 hectares (more than 12,800 acres) of farmland. The IS claimed responsibility for at least some of the fires.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Kashmir four militants were killed in an overnight gunbattle with government forces, including two counterinsurgency police officers who defected to fight with rebels in the disputed region.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Thousands of Liberians took to the streets of Monrovia to protest against the corruption and economic decline that many blame on their once hugely popular president, former football star George Weah.
(Reuters, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, A Dutch court outlawed the No Surrender motorcycle gang in another victory for prosecutors in their fight against what they consider to be violent groups.
(SFC, 6/8/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 7, In Nigeria's Federal High Court in Abuja said African Independent Television (AIT) and RayPower FM radio should be allowed to operate until a ruling on their legal challenge to the ban. Broadcasting resumed the next day.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Nigeria gunmen in oil-rich Rivers state kidnapped two Lebanese workers helping to build a road.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 7, In northwestern Pakistan four soldiers were killed and another four were wounded by a roadside bomb blast in the Khar Qamar tribal area.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, Papua New Guinea PM James Marape installed a reformer as petroleum minister, handing him a mandate to overhaul the sector.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Russia's Pres. Vladimir Putin called for rethinking the role of the US dollar in global trade and slammed US pressure against Chinese tech giant Huawei. China's Xi Jinping and Putin hit back at US global economic dominance as they took the stage together at Russia's showcase business forum.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Spain extradited 94 Taiwanese to China to face telephone and online fraud charges, drawing protest from Taiwan's government.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Syria fierce clashes between Russia-backed government forces and jihadists have left 44 government loyalists and 39 jihadists and Islamist fighters dead in the northwest in the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, A member of Venezuela's opposition said that a mediation effort by Norway is stalling over Nicolás Maduro's refusal to accept presidential elections to resolve the nation's political crisis. The UN said the number of Venezuelans who have left their country in recent years has surpassed 4 million.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, The UN refugee agency said heavy rains have triggered severe flooding in southwestern Libya since late May, killing four people and forcing more than 2,500 to flee their homes.
(AP, 6/7/19)
2019 Jun 7, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a partial opening of the country's border with Colombia, which his government closed in February as opposition leaders prepared an ultimately failed effort to bring aid into the country.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 7, In Yemen gunmen from a security force backed by the United Arab Emirates stormed a mosque in the southern Dhale province, killing at least five people.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In California the Sand Fire began in Yolo County. By June 12 it had scorched 2,512 acres and was 90% contained.
(SFC, 6/10/19, p.C1)(SFC, 6/13/19, p.C3)
2019 Jun 8, Supporters of Albanian opposition parties rallied to ask PM Edi Rama to quit and pave the way to fresh polls, dispersing after throwing firecrackers and flares to police who responded with water jets and tear gas.
(Reuters, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 8, The Austrian capital of Vienna bid farewell to the iconic Life Ball AIDS charity fundraiser due to a lack of funding. Launched by former make-up artist Gery Keszler, among others, the ball has raised around 30 million euros ($34 million) for anti-AIDS causes within Austria and abroad since its first edition in 1993.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Egyptian security forces killed four suspected jihadists in restive North Sinai allegedly involved in a deadly attack on a police checkpoint.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Hong Kong police announced they have arrested four men in connection with two apparent gasoline bomb attacks on law enforcement a day earlier.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Indian PM Narendra Modi arrived in the Maldives on his first official overseas trip since being elected to a second term.
(AP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, India's annual monsoon, which delivers about 70 percent of the country's rainfall, officially arrived on the coast of southern Kerala state, a week later than usual.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Tehran's police chief said 547 restaurants and cafes in Tehran have been shut down over the last ten days for not observing "Islamic principles". Tehran's guidance court, which deals with "cultural crimes and social and moral corruption", called on Tehran citizens to report cases of "immoral behavior" by texting a designated phone number.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In Italy thousands of people took to the streets in Venice calling for a ban on large cruise ships in the city following last week's collision between a massive vessel and a tourist boat.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In Japan financial leaders of the Group of 20 gathered to brainstorm ways to adapt global finance to an age of trade turmoil and digital disruptions. G20 finance officials agreed there was an urgent need to find a global system to tax internet giants like Google and Facebook but clashed on the best way to do it.
(AP, 6/8/19)(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Moldova's parliament approved a new government based on an unprecedented alliance between pro-Russian and pro-European forces.
(AFP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 8, Nicaragua's Congress approved a sweeping amnesty law that will offer protection to police and others who took part in a violent clampdown on anti-government protesters over the past year.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, The Philippine government attacked UN human rights experts for "unpardonable intrusions", after a call for an international investigation into killings linked to President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In Poland tens of thousands of people joined a pride march in Warsaw as gay rights continue to become a major issue in Poland's election campaign.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, In Syria Abdelbasset Sarout (27), once a well-known goalkeeper from the city of Homs, died after getting injured battling government forces in the northwest.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Turkey's Defence Ministry said a total of 43 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had been "neutralized" as part of an operation Ankara launched in northern Iraq 13 days ago. Separately, the Interior Ministry said two PKK members, one of whom was on Turkey's wanted list, were "neutralized" in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province, as well as five others in the eastern Tunceli province.
(Reuters, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 8, Several thousand Venezuelans, desperate for food and medicine, packed a border crossing to Colombia, hours after Pres. Nicolas Maduro partially reopened it.
(AFP, 6/8/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Colorado Bushwick Bill (52), the diminutive, one-eyed rapper (aka Robert Shaw) who with the Geto Boys helped put the South's stamp on rap with hits like "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" and "Six Feet Deep," died of pancreatic cancer.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In NYC "Hadestown," the soulful musical by Anais Mitchell based on an ancient Greek myth, triumphed over much more traditionally commercial fare in the annual Tony awards.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 9, In NYC Puerto Rican pride was on full display along Fifth Avenue, as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade stepped off for its 62nd annual event.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Texas Kiersten Symone Smith (29) was killed when a crane fell on her apartment in Dallas.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 9, Boris Johnson, the leading candidate to succeed Theresa May as Britain's prime minister, said he would withhold an already agreed 39-billion-pound ($49.6 billion) Brexit payment until the European Union gives Britain better withdrawal terms.
(Reuters, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In northern Burkina Faso unidentified assailants killed 19 people and wounded 13 in an attack on and around the town of Arbinda.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 9, Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz (43) was shot in the Dominican Republic. Dominican doctors removed Ortiz's gallbladder and part of his intestine and he was flown to Boston the next day to recover. Two people were soon arrested in relation to the shooting.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Haiti thousands of protesters denouncing corruption blocked roads and paralyzed much of Port-au-Prince as demanded the removal of Pres. Jovenel Moise.
(SFC, 6/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 9, Hong Kong witnessed the largest protest since its 1997 handover to China as huge crowds massed against plans to allow extraditions to the mainland, a proposal that has plunged the city's pro-Beijing leaders into a crisis.
(AFP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, Iran said Europe was in no position to criticize Tehran for its military capabilities and it called on European leaders to normalize trade ties with the Islamic Republic despite US sanctions, or face consequences.
(Reuters, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Japan finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 major economies wrapped up a meeting with a pledge to use all the policies they can to protect global growth from disruptions due to trade and other tensions. G20 policymakers also tackled economic issues relating to ageing and shrinking birthrates.
(AP, 6/9/19)(AFP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, Police in Kazakhstan arrested hundreds of opposition protesters at polls to elect the country's first new president in 30 years following the departure of historic leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. Hand-picked successor Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took 70.8 percent of the presidential vote. The elections saw hundreds of arrests after the biggest protests in Kazakhstan in at least three years, as demonstrators urged a boycott of what they said was a fixed election.
(AFP, 6/9/19)(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 9, In central Mali 95 people inhabited in a village by the Dogon community were reportedly killed by gunmen in a late night attack. Days later authorities revised the death toll to 35.
(AFP, 6/10/19)(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 9, Moldova plunged deeper into crisis as a new, acting president dissolved parliament and called elections after months of wrangling between pro-Russia and pro-European lawmakers failed to form a workable government. The Constitutional Court suspended president Dodon and appointed Pavel Filip, who backs closer integration with the European Union, as interim leader.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, An anchored Filipino fishing boat sank in the disputed South China Sea after being hit by a suspected Chinese vessel which then abandoned the 22 Filipino crewmen. The 22 Filipino crewmen of the sunken F/B Gimver 1 were rescued by a Vietnamese vessel. On June 13 Beijing described the incident as an ordinary maritime accident.
(AP, 6/12/19)(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Sri Lanka Indian PM Narendra Modi paid homage to the more than 250 people killed in the Easter suicide bombings, and agreed with Sri Lanka's leaders to step up cooperation to combat terrorism.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 9, In Sudan shops were closed and streets were empty across the country, the first day of a general strike called for by protest leaders demanding the resignation of the ruling military council.
(AP, 6/9/19)
2019 Jun 10, The Intercept website reported that Rashid al-Malik, a United Arab Emirates businessman linked to a probe of illegal donations to Donald Trump's political campaign, was paid by his country's intelligence agency in 2017 to spy on the US president's administration.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, The SF Bay Area experienced record heat has the temperature in San Francisco reached a record high of 97 and a record 98 degrees in Oakland.
(SFC, 5/14/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 10, In southern California Charles Merritt (62) was convicted of killing Joseph McStay, wife Melinda McStay and their two children in 2010 and burying their bodies in Victorville.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 10, In NYC a helicopter crashed on the roof of a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper killing the pilot.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 10, In Afghanistan 17 civilians and 17 members of the security forces — seven soldiers, seven policemen and three intelligence agents — were freed during the operation in northern Baghlan province.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Albanian President Ilir Meta called off local elections set for June 30, but the government accused him of breaking the law and declared he should be thrown out of office.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Britain said it had concluded a trade deal with South Korea to maintain links after Brexit.
(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, China announced regulations to curb the smuggling of human organs and tighten oversight on the use of human genetic materials in research months after a Chinese scientist caused a global outcry by claiming that he gene-edited babies.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 10, Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo declared an epidemic of measles which may have killed 1,500 people, according to statistical analysis.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, Twelve orphaned children of French jihadists were flown home from camps in Syria, along with two Dutch orphans who were handed over to the Netherlands.
(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Gabon named Lee White, a British former Wildlife Conservation Society officer, as the country's forests minister. The last one was fired over a scandal in which hundreds of containers of illegally logged kevazingo wood went missing.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, India's top court ordered the release of journalist Prashant Kanojia (26), arrested for a social media post about a Hindu nationalist state chief minister, in a case that highlighted growing concerns over free speech and media freedom.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, In India a bomb killed two people in West Bengal, taking the death toll in post-election violence to 15.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, In India Girish Karnad (81), a top playwright, actor and director and a rights activist, died in Bangalore after a prolonged illness.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Iranian state television reported that Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident held for years in Iran after his conviction on disputed spying charges, will be released in the coming hours.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Iranian activist Alireza Shirmohammadali (21) was stabbed to death by two other prisoners. He had been in jail since July and sentenced to eight years in prison over insulting the country's Islamic identity and government.
(http://tinyurl.com/yydt5ccy)(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 10, The prime minister of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Nechirvan Barzani, was sworn in as its president, filling the most powerful regional office, vacant since 2017 when his uncle quit after a failed independence bid.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Israel's Supreme Court ruled against the Greek Orthodox Church in a long-running legal battle over the sale of three properties in predominantly Palestinian parts of Jerusalem's Old City to a Jewish settler group.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 10, In Kashmir a court sentenced three Hindu men, including a police officer, to life imprisonment for kidnapping, raping and murdering an 8-year-old Muslim girl in 2018, in a case that has exacerbated tensions in the disputed region.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Mexico said it will discuss a "safe third country" agreement with the United States -- in which migrants entering Mexican territory must apply for asylum there rather than the US -- if the flow of undocumented immigrants continues.
(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Two rival Moldovan governments held simultaneous cabinet meetings and accused each other of trying to usurp power, deepening a crisis brought on by an inconclusive parliamentary election in February.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, In Nepal Peter John Dalglish (62), a former high-profile UN humanitarian worker from Canada, was found guilty by a court of sexually abusing two boys and is due to be sentenced next month. On July 9 he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
(AFP, 6/11/19)(SFC, 7/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 10, Nicaragua's government released 50 prisoners and said it was "preparing for the release" of others amid a broader move to set free people the opposition considers political prisoners under an agreement meant to ease the country's political standoff.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, Pakistan's anti-graft body arrested former President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto, in a multi-million dollar money laundering case that has shaken the country.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, The Palestinian foreign minister said that comments by the US ambassador to Israel were intended to help Israel annex parts of the occupied West Bank, underscoring the Palestinians' distrust of the Trump administration.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Palestinian paramedic Mohammed al-Judeili (36) succumbed to wounds inflicted by Israeli fire at a border protest a month before.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Russian authorities faced unprecedented pushback against the arrest last week of Ivan Golunov, an investigative reporter on drugs charges, with independent as well as pro-Kremlin figures urging his release.
(AFP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Russian authorities said police have uncovered around $3 million worth of stolen diamonds, and over $2.5 million in cash, at the homes of a criminal ring operating inside state-controlled diamond producer Alrosa.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Rwanda said it would re-open its busiest border post with Uganda to cargo trucks for 12 days, more than three months after it was closed amid tensions between the two neighbors triggered by security and economic disagreements.
(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, Lee Hee-ho (b.1921), a South Korean feminist activist who fought for democracy against dictatorships alongside her husband and future President Kim Dae-jung, died.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 10, In Sudan a nationwide civil disobedience campaign by protesters entered a second day. Sudan deported to South Sudan three members of a rebel movement detained last week in the wake of a deadly raid on a protest sit-in.
(AFP, 6/10/19)(Reuters, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, The head of the UN atomic watchdog urged world powers to continue dialogue with Iran to keep it in the landmark 2015 deal aimed at preventing the country from building nuclear weapons, and to help defuse mounting tensions in the region.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 10, The Vatican issued an official document rejecting the idea that people can choose or change their genders and insisting on the sexual complementarity of men and women to make babies.
(SFC, 6/11/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 10, Vietnam's government said it is taking more steps to prevent Chinese companies from using illegal "Made in Vietnam" labels to avoid high tariffs that have been imposed by the United States on Chinese goods.
(AP, 6/10/19)
2019 Jun 11, A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said the world's oceans will likely lose about one-sixth of their fish and other marine life by 2100 if climate change continues on its current path.
(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 11, In southern Afghanistan at least six people were killed after a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle in Kandahar province.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Afghanistan an ancient tower dating back 2,000 years in the historic city of Ghazni collapsed, raising concerns about the vulnerability of the country's cultural heritage and the government's ability to protect them.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 11, Botswana decriminalized homosexuality, with the High Court overturning a colonial-era law that punished gay sex by up to seven years in prison.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, British police arrested Pakistani politician Altaf Hussain in London as part of an investigation into speeches he gave as founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party that ruled the megacity of Karachi for decades.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In France a man on an electric scooter died early today after being hit late yesterday by a van in Paris in the first deadly collision with a vehicle since they appeared on the streets of the French capital a year ago.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Three French jihadists and their nine children returned to France after being expelled by Turkey.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Greece two children, four women and a man drowned when a boat carrying them overturned off the island of Lesbos.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Hungary rescue crews raised the sunken Hableany (Mermaid) tour boat out of the Danube River, shortly after four more bodies were recovered from the vessel involved in a collision with a river cruise ship nearly two weeks ago. Nineteen South Koreans and a Hungarian crewman have been confirmed dead, with eight people still listed as missing.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In India four people, ages 69-81, returning from a Hindu pilgrimage died while traveling in a non-air-conditioned coach on a train during a summer heat wave.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 11, The Indian air force spotted the wreckage of an AN-32 transport plane nine days after it went missing near the border with China. On June 13 authorities said there were no survivors.
(AP, 6/11/19)(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 11, Indonesian police aired video testimony from three suspects who alleged a retired soldier backing the political opposition had offered them money and, in one case, a family vacation to join a plot to kill government officials.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In northern Iraq the Kurdish parliament named Masoud's eldest son Masrour Barzani (50) as the region's new premier after seven years as its top security official. He succeeds his cousin Nechirvan (52), sworn in as president the previous day.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Israeli and Palestinian forces have engaged in a rare shootout in the West Bank, which erupted overnight in the city of Nablus.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Italy's populist government approved stiff fines for migrant rescue boats that defy orders to stay out of Italian waters.
(SFC, 6/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 11, Nizar Zakka, Lebanese businessman and US resident imprisoned in Iran on spying charges since 2015, landed at Beirut's Rafik Hariri airport aboard a private jet, accompanied by the chief of Lebanon's General Security Directorate, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Abbas, who traveled to Tehran to bring him home.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Mexico Norma Sarabia, a correspondent for the newspaper Tabasco Today, was gunned down by two armed men riding a motorbike outside her home in Tabasco state.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 11, A New Zealand court stopped Kyung Yup Kim, accused of killing a woman in Shanghai a decade ago, from being extradited to China, at least for now, due to concerns he could be tortured. He is accused of killing a woman, Pei Yun Chen (20), in Shanghai in 2009.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, New Zealand said it had selected Lockheed Martin Corp's C-130J Super Hercules as the preferred replacement for five aging C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, a choice in line with its closest allies.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Nicaraguan authorities released journalists Miguel Mora y Lucía Pineda Ubau who were jailed during a crackdown on protests against President Daniel Ortega.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, It was reported that a Polish court has ordered church authorities to hand over to prosecutors classified files regarding a pedophilia case, in a rare example of a clash between the state and the powerful Catholic Church in deeply devout Poland.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Russia three people were missing and two injured after a blast on an oil tanker caused a fire while it was pumping oil in the southern port of Makhachkala.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, The Pacific nation of Samoa said it has banned the Elton John biopic "Rocketman" because of its depictions of homosexuality.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Human Rights Watch said children studying in Senegal's Koranic schools face "alarming rates" of abuse, including rape, neglect and imprisonment.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, The South Korea-based human rights group Transitional Justice Working Group said it has identified hundreds of spots where witnesses claim North Korea carried out public executions and extrajudicial state killings as part of an arbitrary and aggressive use of the death penalty that is meant to intimidate its citizens.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, A South Sudanese court sentenced prominent economist Peter Biar Ajak to two years in prison for disturbing the peace because he gave interviews to foreign media after he was arrested on treason charges that were subsequently dropped.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Spain's Socialists agreed to cooperate on forming a government with far-left party Podemos, stopping short of announcing a coalition as they explore a combination of options for securing a majority in parliament.
(Reuters, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, In Sudan shops and businesses remained shut and residents stayed indoors in Khartoum as a nationwide civil disobedience campaign aimed at pressuring the military rulers entered a third day.
(AFP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Amnesty International said Sudanese security forces have continued to commit "war crimes and other serious human rights violations" in the Darfur region.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, The World Food Program said in a statement that due to the latest wave of violence that broke out in Syria on April 30, the UN organization and its partners at times have had to "temporarily interrupt distributions in the southern parts of Idlib due to the conflict".
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Thailand's junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha was officially proclaimed prime minister after the king endorsed Parliament's vote for him to serve another term.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Thai construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta was sentenced to an additional one year in prison for bribing a park ranger in relation to a high-profile case of poaching endangered animals in a wildlife sanctuary last year.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 11, Thai officials discovered 65 ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees who were shipwrecked and stranded in southern Thailand.
(AP, 6/11/19)
2019 Jun 12, US Pres. Donald Trump pledged to Polish President Andrzej Duda that he would deploy 1,000 US troops to Poland, a step sought by Warsaw to deter potential aggression from Russia.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 12, US Pres. Donald Trump said that if a foreign power offered dirt on his 2020 opponent, he'd be open to accepting it and that he'd have no obligation to call in the FBI.
(SFC, 6/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 12, In Arizona Gurupreet Kaur (6), a girl from India, was found dead of heat stroke in the desert after her mother left her with other migrants to go in search of water as temperatures reached a high of 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius).
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 12, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Sheriff Vicki Hennessy announced a plan to make all calls from county jails free for inmates and eliminate markups on items sold in jail stores. The initiative will make SF the first county in the nation to eliminate revenue streams from incarcerated people and their families.
(SFC, 6/13/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 12, Actress Sylvia Miles (94) died in Manhattan. Her films included "Murder Inc." (1960), "Parrish" (1961), "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), "The Last Movie" (1971), "Heat" (1972), "Farewell My Lovely" (1975), "The Sentinel" (1977), "Wall Street" (1987), "Crossing Delancey" (1988) "Spike of Bensonhurst" (1988) and "Superstsar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol" (1990).
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.C10)
2019 Jun 12, Craig Stephen Hicks (50) of North Carolina, charged with killing three much-admired Muslim university students, pleaded guilty, four years after the slayings. In February 2015, Hicks burst into a condo in Chapel Hill owned by Deah Barakat (23) and fatally shot Barakat, his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha (21), and her sister Razan Abu-Salha (19).
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Tennessee police shot Brandon Webber (21), a suspect with felony warrants, several times in his family's front yard. Marshals reportedly saw the man get into a vehicle and then proceed to ram police vehicles several times before exiting with a weapon. 25 officers suffered mostly minor injuries in the Frayser community in north Memphis as an angry crowd faced off after Webber was fatally shot.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 12, It was announced that the Immortals Gaming Company has acquired Infinite Esports in what is believed to be the competitive video gaming industry's first $100 million deal.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 12, Algeria's supreme court ordered the detention of former PM Ahmed Ouyahia for alleged involvement in corruption, including "awarding illegal privileges and dissipation of public funds".
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Argentina a court sentenced former government minister Jose Lopez (58) to six years in prison after he was caught by police trying to hide bags stuffed with $9 million in cash at a Buenos Aires convent.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Chinese authorities said 49 people have died and 14 others remain missing since heavy rainfall hit southern China in early June. Nationwide, 83 people have died or gone missing since the start of this year's flood season.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Ecuador's highest court approved same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling in the traditionally Catholic and conservative South American country.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, El Salvador's police force vowed that it would do more to fight organized crime in the violent Central American country, which tens of thousands have fled, amid increased pressure from the United States to stop migration north.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, French PM Edouard Philippe said the government would create incentives for workers to stay on the job longer than the current minimum legal retirement age of 62.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Ghanaian security forces freed two young Canadian women who had been kidnapped at a golf club in the city of Kumasi last week.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Hong Kong students and civil rights activists vowed to keep protesting a proposed extradition bill following a day of sit-ins, tear gas and clashes with police. The bill has become a lightning rod for concerns over greater Chinese control and erosion of civil liberties in the former British colony.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In India thousands of supporters of PM Narendra Modi clashed with police as they marched in Kolkata to protest against weeks of political violence that has claimed at least 12 lives.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Indian authorities raided the home of Mohammed Azarudeen in Tamil Nadu state. Police later said Azarudeen was friends on Facebook with Zahran Hashim, the alleged leader of the suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter that killed more than 250 people. Azarudeen was arrested for spreading Islamic State group ideology on social media to recruit young people to participate in a terrorist attack in southern India.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 12, In northern India two policemen were suspended for beating a TV journalist and damaging his equipment after he reported on unlicensed vendors at a railroad station. It was the third incident involving journalists in Uttar Pradesh state in the past week.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Amnesty International said the Indian government is widely misusing a law allowing for detention without trial in the Indian part of the contested Kashmir region, and fuelling animosity with it.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Indian health officials said at least 31 children have died in northern Bihar state in the last 10 days from a deadly brain disease believed linked to a toxic substance found in lychee fruit.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe held talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran during a rare diplomatic mission aimed at defusing tensions between the Islamic republic and Tokyo's ally Washington.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Kazakhstan's new Pres. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev promised during his inauguration to continue the course set by his predecessor, who led the Central Asian country since it gained independence in 1991.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Scores of Kenyans protested against a project to build a coal power station near the Lamu archipelago, a popular tourist spot that includes a UNESCO World Heritage site and boasts vibrant marine life. Plans for the country’s first coal plan were unveiled in 2013. Later this month an environmental tribunal suspended the project’s license pending a more comprehensive impact assessment.
(AFP, 6/12/19)(Econ, 7/27/19, p.40)
2019 Jun 12, Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that the planned sale of the former presidential airplane, and other aircraft from the prior government, would help fund a new migration control deal struck last week with the United States.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said deployment of National Guard forces to its southern border was due to start today and will advance quickly under a migration control deal signed last week with the United States.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Mexico journalist Miranda Cogco was kidnapped in the port city of Boca del Rio, Vera Cruz state. Late the same day he was rescued by security forces. Three apparent captors escaped on foot.
(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A3)
2019 Jun 12, In New Zealand the body of a British hiker (49) who went missing nearly two weeks ago on a mountain range was found. Darren Myers appeared to have died from a fall near a waterfall in the Tararua Range.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Nigeria there was an attack on an army base in northeastern Borno state in the town of Kareto. The Islamic State later said its fighters had killed 20 soldiers.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 12, A Panamanian court ordered former President Ricardo Martinelli (67) to be transferred from jail to house arrest following his completion of a one-year term.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In the Philippines about 300 protesters burned a mock Chinese flag and yelled anti-China slogans in a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Manila's Makati financial district. The mostly left-wing activists timed their protest for Philippine Independence Day.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Russian police detained more than 400 people, including opposition politician Alexei Navalny, at a protest in Moscow calling for punishment for police officers involved in the alleged framing of a journalist. Police had abruptly dropped drug charges a day earlier against investigative journalist Ivan Golunov.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, It was reported that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is under investigation by the country's anti-corruption watchdog over a 500,000 rand ($35,000) donation to his campaign fund from a company facing extensive graft allegations.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, In Sudan protest organizers called off their general strike and civil disobedience campaign. The decision reflected a growing desire for the protest leaders and the military to resume their negotiations and avoid a further escalation, after a week of violence.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, A Swedish appeals court overturned a seven-year sentence handed down to an Uzbek man by a lower court for plotting to carry out a bombing in the name of Islamic State in 2018. The Svea Appeals Court freed David Idrisson (46) who has lived in Sweden since 2008, over the charge of preparing an attack, it upheld his conviction for financing terrorism.
(Reuters, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Syria's state-run news agency said that Israel has attacked a military position in southern Syria, causing material damage.
(AP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Uganda's health minister said a five-year-old boy in Uganda has died of Ebola, as his grandmother and younger brother also tested positive for the virus after joining the child on a visit to neighboring DR Congo.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 12, Authorities in Vietnam seized 3.5 tons of elephant ivory and 4 tons of pangolin scales in one of the country's biggest wildlife trafficking cases.
(AP, 6/14/19)(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 12, A Yemeni rebel missile attack on an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia wounded 26 civilians, drawing promises of "stern action" from the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels.
(AFP, 6/12/19)
2019 Jun 13, President Donald Trump announced the surprise departure of his spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, after a combative tenure that saw her all-but kill off traditional White House briefings to journalists.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 13, US-based Bloomberg news agency says Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to five-year jail terms for two of its Istanbul-based reporters over their report on last year's currency crisis. Bloomberg said that Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalinkilic have been accused of trying to undermine Turkey's economic stability over a story they wrote in August 2018.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 13, In Oakland, Ca., the upstart Toronto Raptors squad dethroned defending champions Golden State, defeating the Warriors 114-110 to win the NBA Finals and capture the first crown by a club from outside the United States.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 13, In southern California Margaret Hunter, the wife of US Rep. Duncan Hunter, pleaded guilty to a single corruption count and agreed to testify against her husband on charges that the couple had spent more than $200,000 in campaign funds on personal trips and expenses.
(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 13, In California Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Shauna Bishop (44) was arrested after she turned herself in for allegedly having sex with a boy (16).
(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 13, The Michigan attorney general's office dismissed all pending criminal cases tied to the Flint water crisis, ending the current prosecutions of eight current and former officials accused of neglecting their duties and allowing residents to drink tainted water.
(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 13, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber on foot targeted a police vehicle in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing at least nine people, including civilians.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, In Algeria former PM Abdelmalek Sellal was jailed in an anti-corruption sweep — the second former head of government in two days to be sent to prison while his case is investigated.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Brazil's Supreme Court voted to criminalize homophobia, an important step for sexual minorities in one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people in the world.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Brexit hardliner Boris Johnson topped the ballot by a landslide in a first-round vote for a leader to replace British PM Theresa May as the deadline for leaving the EU looms.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, In Chile three Bolivian men went missing late today after a small landslide blocked the entrance to the mine, trapping the miners nearly 70 meters (230 feet) beneath the surface. On June 15 authorities found alive one of the miners trapped beneath the rubble at a small copper mine, while another was found dead. A 3rd remained missing.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 13, France's Marine Le Pen unveiled a new far-right group, the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, in the European Parliament, uniting eurosceptics from across the continent who aim to devolve power from Brussels back to capitals.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Germany's top administrative court ruled that the slaughtering of male chicks may continue in the poultry industry until a method is found to determine the sex of an embryo in the egg.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Hong Kong's legislature suspended meetings as leaders considered their next steps following violent clashes between police and protesters opposed to a bill that would allow suspects to be tried in mainland Chinese courts.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, said that it was hit by a powerful cyberattack from China as a major protest unfolded a day earlier in Hong Kong.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Cyclone Vayu battered an Indian fishing hub with heavy wind, waves and rain and was forecast to bring dangerous weather conditions even as it veered away from the subcontinent's western coast.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Israeli aircraft attacked a Hamas target in Gaza. Israel's military said it was responding to a rocket fired from Gaza overnight that was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, In northeastern Nigeria Boko Haram jihadists launched a pre-dawn attack a military base near in Kareto village, killing several troops and stealing weapons.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 13, Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel, striking a building, but causing no injuries.
(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 13, Two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz were damaged in suspected attacks. The MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker owned by Norway-based Frontline, and Kokuka Courageous, managed by a Singapore company were attacked in the Gulf of Oman.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired two police generals involved in a discredited criminal case against a journalist, an episode that sparked a mass protest in Moscow the previous day.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Russian lawmakers said that a new US military deployment to Poland announced by President Donald Trump would force Moscow to take retaliatory steps, with one saying it would make Poland a target in the event of a conflict.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, The Slovak capital Bratislava won the right to host a new European Union agency to oversee the labor market that is due to start operating this autumn.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Sri Lanka's attorney-general ordered police to speed up investigations into several high-profile criminal cases, including the 2006 massacre of 17 French charity workers that remains unresolved.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Turkey warned Syria that it would respond if attacks in Syria's northwestern Idlib province continue, after a Turkish observation post in the region was attacked by mortar shells, which Turkey's Defense Ministry said were fired from areas under Syrian government control.
(AP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, A Ugandan health ministry official said a 50-year-old woman who tested positive for Ebola in Uganda has died, the second fatality since the virus spread from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
(AFP, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, The UN said it had confirmed the killing of 17 people and the burning of more than 100 houses in Deleij village in Sudan's central Darfur region earlier this week. Opposition medics said "Janjaweed militias" fired live ammunition at civilians on June 10 at a market in Deleij, killing 11 people and wounding 20 others.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, UN counterterrorism chief Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov began a 3-day visit to Xinjiang despite protests from the US and a rights group that the trip would be inappropriate in light of the human rights conditions in China's far west region.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 13, Pope Francis told his ambassadors around the world, some of whom have been involved in sexual and financial scandals, to live humble, exemplary lives and be closer to the poor than to the elite.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 13, Venezuela's central bank began introducing new bolivar bills of 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 to make payments and transactions more efficient. The 50,000 bill is about the equivalent of $10, more than country's monthly minimum wage.
(SFC, 6/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 13, In Yemen planes from the Saudi-led military coalition bombed areas around the capital Sanaa.
(Reuters, 6/13/19)
2019 Jun 14, President Donald Trump publicly accused Iran of responsibility for recent attacks on oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The US military released a video it said showed Iran's Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers targeted near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, suggesting Tehran wanted to hide evidence of its alleged involvement.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Pres. Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to evaluate the need for some 1000 of its advisory committees created under the Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The order seeks to cap the total number of committees at 350.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 14, Pres. Donald Trump confirmed that the deal struck in return for not imposing threatened tariffs on Mexico included a plan to establish a "safe third country" agreement.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, In Alabama David Abston, the sheriff of Pickens County, was arrested and agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of scamming a food bank and his own small town church to pocket thousands. Abston had written checks totaling some $80,000 over four years to purchase cut-rate food meant for the poor and wrongly used it to feed prisoners.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 14, In southern California Kenneth French (32), a mentally ill man off his medication, was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer in a Costco store in Corona. The officer was reportedly holding his son (1½) when French knocked him to the ground.
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 14, In Chicago an infant boy, who was cut from a woman's womb with a butcher knife, died at a hospital where he had been in grave condition since the April attack that killed his mother (19). Clarissa Figueroa (46) claimed she had given birth to the baby when she took him to the hospital on April 23. Figueroa and her daughter were charged with murder.
(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 14, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill ordering all law enforcement agencies in the state to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Under the bill local officials could be removed from office if they adopt "sanctuary" policies that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation.
(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 14, New Hampshire's highest court ruled that a Christian Science church in Australia cannot sue trusts created following the 1910 death of Christian Science movement founder Mary Baker Eddy.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, NY state Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a measure into law that greatly expanded rent protections.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A9)
2019 Jun 14, Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield was named the first female leader of the US Naval War College in Rhode Island.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A12)
2019 Jun 14, Brazil kicked off a general strike that is likely to paralyze major cities across Latin America's largest country. The strike is primarily against the pension reform the Bolsonaro administration is currently pushing for in Congress.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, A Brazilian judge absolved Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, the man who stabbed then-presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in his torso last year, citing his mental illness and ordering him held indefinitely in a prison mental facility.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Britain banned ads featuring "harmful gender stereotypes" which are likely to cause offence under new rules that could have a major impact on the industry.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, EU finance ministers agreed on the broad outlines of a eurozone budget early today, a key reform pushed by Paris that was scaled back amid deep resistance from the Netherlands.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, EU officials said that "Russian sources" stepped up a long-running disinformation campaign against the European Union in a bid to undermine the bloc's elections last month.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, The EU sealed a deal to end a long-running row with Washington over US beef imports, with hopes that the agreement can ease transatlantic trade tensions.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 14, Europol issued a report, "Women in Islamic State Propaganda," saying "female jihadis are as ideologically motivated as their male counterparts and their sense of empowerment lies in contributing to the building of an Islamic state".
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, France and Italy forged a military shipbuilding alliance, as state-controlled Naval Group and Fincantieri signed off on a 50-50 joint venture that will bid for Franco-Italian warship projects and sell to the world market.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, A German court fined two gynecologists for offering information publicly on how they carry out abortion services, despite the recent easing of a Nazi-era law banning practitioners from advertising of pregnancy terminations.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, In Guam a Catholic group protested the governor's plan to recruit abortion providers to the US territory where no doctors are currently willing to terminate pregnancies.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 14, In India nearly 30,000 doctors went on a one-day strike, most in West Bengal, New Delhi and the western state of Maharashtra. The protests were launched in response to an attack at the NRS Medical College in Kolkata on June 10 that left three junior doctors seriously injured after a dispute with a family whose relative had died.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, In Israel the largest gay pride parade in the Middle East drew hundreds of thousands of revelers and demonstrators from all over to the streets of Tel Aviv.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, The Israeli military struck several militant sites in the Gaza Strip after a Palestinian rocket hit a building in southern Israel a day earlier.
(AP, 6/14/19)(SFC, 6/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 14, Mexico published the document that Donald Trump earlier flaunted as a secret deal to curb migration, but denied it had capitulated to the US president's demands for a so-called "safe third country" agreement.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Moldova's Democratic Party announced it would leave government after days of refusing to cede power to a new coalition backed by the US, EU and Russia, halting a crisis in the eastern European nation.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc (57) escaped Moldova by a private jet, a few hours after US Ambassador Dereck J. Hogan visited the office of his Democratic Party. He was the richest man in Europe's poorest country before fleeing to the US. The revolt against Plahotniuc started four years ago, when nearly $1 billion disappeared from three Moldovan banks, causing an economic and banking crisis. Plahotniuc’s ally Ilan Shor and at least three more members of his Democratic Party have also hopped on their jets and escaped Moldova.
(The Daily Beast, 8/21/19)
2019 Jun 14, In northwest Nigeria an armed gang killed at least 34 people in attacks on villages late today in Zamfara state.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 14, Pakistani anti-corruption authorities ordered Faryal Talpur, sister of former President Asif Ali Zardari and one of the leaders of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, to be confined to her residence as they continued an anti-graft crackdown that critics say is aimed at stifling dissent.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Saudi forces intercepted five drones launched by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels, in a second assault on an airport in the kingdom's southwest in two days.
(AFP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, In Somalia a militia executed nine civilians from a clan with suspected links to the Islamist Al-Shabaab after suspected Shabaab gunmen killed" a policeman. The revenge attack just outside Galkayo targeted the Rahanweyn clan, several of whose members are suspected of being Shabaab fighters.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 14, Somali Islamist insurgents kidnapped three Kenyan police reservists in Wajir district in northeast Kenya.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 14, In South Korea Yang Hyun Suk, the founder of one of the most successful K-Pop music agencies, stepped down amid accusations that he tried to cover up alleged drug use by one of the company's artists.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, South Sudan and the UN warned that almost 7 million people, or more than 60% of the population, faced a critical lack of food. Their report stopped short of declaring a famine.
(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 14, Spain's Supreme Court blocked Catalan separatist Oriol Junqueras from leaving jail to collect his credentials for the European Parliament, to which he was elected on May 26.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Sri Lanka police said five key suspects in Easter Sunday bomb attacks on Sri Lankan churches and hotels have been extradited from the Middle East.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Sudan's ruling military acknowledged that security forces committed violations when they moved in to disperse protesters at a sit-in camp outside military headquarters in Khartoum last week.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, Women across Switzerland held a strike to highlight their wealthy nation's poor record on female rights, recreating the passion of the first such walkout in 1991.
(Reuters, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, The highest UN court rejected a request by the United Arab Emirates for interim measures to be imposed on Qatar in a racial discrimination dispute. Judges at the International Court of Justice rejected by a 15-1 majority a UAE application to compel Qatar to unblock a website that enables family reunifications and to prevent state-run media from aggravating the dispute. They also rejected a request for Doha to drop a similar case at a UN anti-discrimination committee.
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 14, The World Health Organization emergency committee met on whether to declare a raging Ebola epidemic an international threat, after an outbreak that began in Democratic Republic of Congo crossed into Uganda. The committee expressed deep concern but declined to declare a global emergency.
(AFP, 6/14/19)(SFC, 6/15/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 14, At the Vatican church officials said Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Carlos Eugenio Irarrázabal, the auxiliary bishop of the Chilean capital city, just 24 days after he appointed him to the post. Irarrázabal had become embroiled in controversy after he recently said there were no women at the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples so "we have to respect that." He also said that perhaps women "like to be in the back room".
(AP, 6/14/19)
2019 Jun 15, US President Donald Trump accused The New York Times of "a virtual act of treason," after it reported the US is stepping up digital incursions into Russia's electric power grid.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Charles Reich (91), law professor and author of "The Greening of America" (1970), died in San Francisco.
(SFC, 7/6/19, p.C4)
2019 Jun 15, In the SF Bay Area Christian Madrigal (20) died several days after being taken into custody, for being under the influence. His family later claimed that law enforcement officers with the city of Fremont and Alameda County ignored their son's mental health needs and beat him as he suffered from a mental health crisis.
(SFC, 9/10/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 15, In Texas Stephen Bratton (43), a former Southern Baptist pastor, posted a $50,000 bond. He was accused of child sex abuse.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 15, In Brazil leaked personal messages published by a news website showed the judge who led the corruption trial that jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advised prosecutors to influence public opinion against the leftist leader.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, The British government said it has ordered a review of hospital food after five patients died in a listeria outbreak linked to sandwiches and salads.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A3)
2019 Jun 15, Richard Ratcliffe said his wife, British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (40), has begun another hunger strike in protest at her detention in a Tehran prison on sedition charges. Ratcliffe said he would hold a vigil outside Iran's London embassy, and would fast in support of his wife. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ended her hunger strike after 15 days.
(AP, 6/15/19)(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 15, Security forces in Central African Republic beat and detained two journalists working for French news wire Agence France-Presse (AFP) covering a banned opposition protest in the capital Bangui.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 15, Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam suspended a hugely divisive bill that would allow extraditions to China, in a major climbdown following unprecedented unrest, but protesters vowed to press ahead with a mass June 16 rally.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Indonesia returned five containers of rubbish to the United States and said it will not become a "dumping ground".
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, A Iraqi government source said the United States has granted Iraq another 90-day waiver to continue with vital energy imports from neighboring Iran despite re-imposed sanctions.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Italian film and opera legend Franco Zeffirelli (b.1923) died at his home in Rome. His work included about 20 feature films. He also directed more than 30 plays and operas.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Kenya a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle patrolling near the border with Somalia, killing several of the 11 officers inside.
(Reuters, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his country must help Central Americans fleeing poverty and violence, even as it increases security and revisions to deter migrants from passing through Mexico on route to the US.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Mexico 785 migrants were found inside the double trailers of four semis in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. More than 150 of them were children.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Peru riot police began guarding the northern border to ensure that only Venezuelan migrants who hold a passport and humanitarian visa can enter the country.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Slovak government critic Zuzana Caputova (45), an environmental lawyer and anti-corruption activist, was sworn in as the EU member's first female president.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Somalia a car bomb near the parliament in Mogadishu killed nine people. A 2nd car bomb near a checkpoint to the airport killed two more people.
(AFP, 6/15/19)(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 15, Madrid's city hall swung to the right after conservative candidate Jose Luis Martinez Almeida was elected mayor with the support of newly-emerged far-right party Vox, in a move that has caused concern in Spain.
(AFP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Switzerland a woman drowned in Lake Geneva when her sightseeing boat sank as a violent storm battered parts of the country.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 15, In northwestern Syria at least 10 civilians were killed in airstrikes and shelling of rebel-held villages and towns in Idlib province. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the fighting alone left 26 troops and pro-government gunmen dead as well as eight militants.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, In Thailand Francesco Galdelli (58) and Vanja Goffi (45) were arrested at a house on the outskirts Pattaya after an operation between Thai and Italian authorities. Francesco confessed to claiming to be George Clooney and opening a clothes business to trick people into sending money. The couple is also wanted in Italy for multiple scams including selling fake Rolex watches online.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 15, Turkey criticized southern European Union nations for urging the EU to consider action against Turkey over its bid to drill for gas in waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 15, Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a new drone attack against Saudi Arabia. The next day the kingdom said it shot down one Houthi drone.
(AP, 6/15/19)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that a US federal appeals court has ruled against a Trump administration policy blocking young immigrant women in federal custody from accessing abortions.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 16, Indiana police Officer Ryan O'Neill, responding to a report of a person breaking into cars in South Bend, confronted Eric Logan (54) and fatally shot him after he refused to drop a knife. O'Neill resigned the following month due to stress and media attention. In 2020 a special prosecutor said the shooting was justified.
(SFC, 7/17/19, p.A5)(SFC, 3/7/20, p.A5)
2019 Jun 16, In Pennsylvania a shooting at a graduation party in Philadelphia left Isiaka Meite (24) dead and five other people wounded, including three teenagers. The shooter remained at large.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that at least 279 dolphins have stranded across much of the US Gulf Coast since Feb. 1. About 98% of them died.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 16, Argentina and Uruguay were working frantically to return power, after a massive power failure left large swaths of the South American countries in the dark.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Bangladeshi authorities arrested a senior policeman accused of sharing on social media the recording of an official complaint of sexual harassment made by a teenage girl who was later allegedly burned to death. Madrasa student Jahan was allegedly burned to death in April after she refused to withdraw an allegation of sexual harassment against the institution's principal. Moazzem Hossain had been in hiding since late May, when the Cyber Tribunal court warrant was issued against him over sharing the complaint by Nusrat Jahan.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Brazil Anderson do Carmo (42), an evangelical pastor and the husband of a prominent federal lawmaker, was shot 30 times, many of the bullets hitting him in his pelvic region, around dawn in the garage of his house in Niteroi, in the greater Rio de Janeiro area. Two days later, one of the 51 children he had adopted with Flordelis dos Santos Souza, a lawmaker from Rio state, confessed to carrying out the hit. The adopted son said he had acted on the orders of one of dos Santos Souza's four biological children. In 2020 Flordelis was accused of masterminding the murder of her husband in a plot involving several of the couple's 55 children, all but four of whom were adopted.
(AFP, 6/21/19)(The Telegraph, 8/25/20)
2019 Jun 16, Cameroon's government said that separatists in its restive English-speaking region had detonated an improvised explosive device that killed four police and wounded six.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Canada the Quebec provincial legislature approved a controversial immigration bill that will replace a first-come, first-served standard for accepting migrants with one tied to an applicants' skills.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Canada the government of Quebec province passed a bill barring schoolteachers, police officers, judges and other public officials from wearing religious symbols in the workplace.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A3)
2019 Jun 16, In France some 2,000 teenagers began trialing a new national service, a pet project of President Emmanuel Macron.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Guatemalans went to the polls to elect a new president after a tumultuous campaign that saw two leading candidates barred from taking part and the top electoral crimes prosecutor forced to flee the country, fearing for his life. Businesswoman and former first lady Sandra Torres (63) took 24% of the vote from the election, followed by four-time presidential candidate Alejandro Giammattei with 14%. An August runoff will determine the next leader.
(AFP, 6/16/19)(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, Hong Kong citizens marched for hours in a massive protest that drew a late-in-the-day apology from the city's top leader for her handling of legislation that has stoked fears of expanding control from Beijing in this former British colony.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that nearly 43% of the new members of India's lower house of Parliament, that convenes on June 17 for the first time since the election, won despite facing criminal charges. More than a quarter of those relate to rape, murder or attempted murder, according to a report by the civic group Association of Democratic Reforms.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, An Israeli court convicted Sara Netanyahu (60), the wife of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, of fraudulently using state funds for meals, under a plea bargain which dropped more severe charges. She was fined 10,000 shekels ($2,800) and ordered to reimburse the state a further 45,000 shekels.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Japan the Group of 20 major economies said they agreed a deal to reduce plastic waste that is choking the seas. G20 member countries committed to reducing plastic waste but gave little detail on how that would be done.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Japan's Foreign Ministry lodged a protest with Beijing after a Chinese maritime research ship was seen dropping a wire-like object into the water off the northwestern coast of Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, In northern Mali allied French and Malian forces killed 20 militants in an operation in the district of Akabar where the Islamic State operates.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Two Malian gendarmes were killed by a mine explosion outside a military base and a soldier died in an ambush in the north of the country.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, Two members of Mozambique's border police were shot dead in an incident involving South African soldiers and the two countries launched a joint investigation into what happened.
(Reuters, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, In New Zealand two light aircraft collided mid-air on their final approach at a regional aerodrome killing both pilots.
(Reuters, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In northeastern Nigeria 30 people were killed late today in a triple suicide bombing outside a hall in Konduga in an attack bearing the hallmarks of the Boko Haram jihadist group.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that Pakistani investigators are trying to unravel trafficking networks that convince impoverished Pakistanis to marry off their daughters to Chinese men for cash, and they say evidence is growing that many of the women and girls are sold into prostitution once in China.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, It was reported that locusts are devouring crops across the Italian island of Sardinia in the worst such invasion in 70 years.
(SSFC, 6/16/19, p.A18)
2019 Jun 16, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman joined the US in accusing its bitter rival Iran of being behind the attacks on two oil tankers traveling near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route for Arabian energy exports to Asia.
(AP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, In Syria fires engulfing vital wheat fields across the northeast have killed at least 10 people over the last 24 hours. Kurdish authorities claimed the blazes in Hasakeh province were set deliberately.
(AFP, 6/16/19)
2019 Jun 16, Syrian insurgents fired rockets late today into residential parts of the government-held northern province of Aleppo, striking a wedding party and killing at least 12 civilians and wounding 15.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, President Donald Trump threatened to remove millions of people living in the United States illegally late today, ahead of formally announcing his reelection bid.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Lenny Pozner, the Connecticut father of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, won a defamation lawsuit against authors James Fetzer and Mike Palacek, who had written "Nobody Died at Sandy Hook".
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 17, New Jersey sentenced William "Billy" Gangemi to two years' probation for his role in a conspiracy to smuggle wildlife in the scheme that involved hiding rare turtles in candy wrappers or socks and shipping them overseas. South Carolina ringleader Steven Verren Baker, Matt Kail and Joseph Logan Brooks previously were each sentenced to prison in the scheme.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, New York State passed a law allowing undocumented migrants to obtain their driving license, a controversial move by the Democratic stronghold intended to thwart the Trump administration's restrictive immigration policy.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Gloria Vanderbilt (b.1924), heiress, artist and mother of newsman Anderson Cooper, died in New York. She was the great-great-granddaughter of financier Cornelius Vanderbilt (d.1877).
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 17, In Texas Brian Isaack Clyde (22) opened fire on a federal courthouse in Dallas before he was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire with federal officers.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 17, An Algerian court ordered the detention of Mourad Eulmi, head of family-owned firm SOVAC that is a partner of Germany's Volkswagen AG, on suspicion of corruption.
(Reuters, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, In Algeria Ali Haddad, a key backer of former leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika and one of the country's top businessmen, was jailed for six months for holding two passports.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Britain and China began selling shares in each others' companies under a landmark deal, as London looks to remain a leading financial center post-Brexit.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, British-founded Sotheby's said the French-Israeli telecoms and media mogul Patrick Drahi is acquiring the auction house, one of the world's biggest art brokers, in a $3.7 billion deal.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, In China a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit near Yibin, Sichuan province. The death toll soon rose to 13 dead and 199 injured, as rescuers pulled bodies and survivors from wrecked buildings.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Huawei's founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said that the Chinese telecom giant's revenue will be $30 billion less than forecast over the next two years, as he compared the company to a "badly damaged plane" as a result of US government actions against it.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Democratic Republic of Congo's army sent a battalion of troops to oust illegal miners from land worked by a majority-owned Chinese company.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Egypt's first democratically elected president, Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi (67), collapsed and died inside a Cairo courtroom.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, France, Germany and Spain unveiled a next-generation combat jet for European air forces, an ambitious project aimed at bringing together the continent's disparate military forces while offering an alternative to American planes. The stealth jet is part of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, A boat carrying migrants to Greece sank off the Turkish coast, leaving at least 12 migrants dead.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Tens of thousands of Indian doctors went on strike calling for more protection against violence by patients and their families, as parliament met for the first time since national elections.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Two Indian soldiers were killed late today after a car bombing targeted an armored vehicle in disputed Kashmir.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, In Indonesia an overloaded boat carrying people home to celebrate the end of Ramadan with their families capsized off the main island of Java, killing at least 17 and leaving four others missing.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, Iran said it will surpass from June 27 its uranium stockpile limit set under the nuclear deal with world powers, turning up the pressure after the US walked away from the landmark pact last year.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Iran said it had exposed a large cyber espionage network it alleged was run by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and that several US spies had been arrested in different countries as the result of this action.
(Reuters, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Iraqi authorities said they have removed nearly 30 km of concrete blast walls across Baghdad in the last six months, mostly around the capital's high-security Green Zone.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Demonstrators in Hong Kong gathered outside the office of the city's leader, demanding that Carrie Lam step down in the crisis over a highly unpopular extradition bill.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Leading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong walked free from prison and vowed to join historic anti-government protests rocking the finance hub, as activists kept up pressure on the city's embattled pro-Beijing leader.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Mexico's government highlighted the weekend "rescue" of nearly 800 migrants packed into semi-trailers, calling the operation a message that authorities are getting serious about combatting human trafficking.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, In Nigeria assailants late today arrived on nine armored trucks and stormed into the military base outside the town of Gajiram, 80 km (50 miles), north of Maiduguri, Borno state.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, In Pakistan an avalanche stranded a group of four Italian and three Pakistani climbers on a mountain in the country's north. the next day a Pakistani army helicopter rescued four Italian and two Pakistani climbers. A Pakistani member of the team was killed.
(AP, 6/17/19)(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 17, It was reported that the Pacific nation of Palau has amended plans to create a huge marine reserve so Japanese fishing boats still have partial access to its waters.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, A Qatari official said the Gulf state is set to distribute more than $10 million in aid to thousands of cash-strapped Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, A Russian court released a local newspaper editor and former lawmaker who had been facing extortion charges, following an outcry from supporters and international organizations. Igor Rudnikov (53), founder and editor of the weekly Novye Kolesa (New Wheels) in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, had been in detention since November 2017, accused of extorting $50,000 from a senior investigator.
(AFP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Sudan's protest leaders called for nighttime demonstrations and marches in Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country, amid a tense standoff with the ruling military over who should lead the transition after the ouster of the autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
(AP, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, The UN reported that the world's population of 7.76 billion will reach 9.7 billion in 2050.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 17, A Vatican document said the Church should consider ordaining older married men as priests in remote areas of the Amazon, a historic shift which some say could pave the way for their use in other areas where clergy are scarce.
(Reuters, 6/17/19)
2019 Jun 17, Venezuela received a second shipment of Red Cross humanitarian aid, including 24 tons of medical supplies and generators provided by Panama, intended for hospitals to help address the country's acute health crisis.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, US President Donald Trump said he had a positive phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and the two leaders will hold an "extended meeting" next week at the Group of 20 summit in Japan. Donald Trump brought up the political prospects of both Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden. In that call, Trump also told Xi he would remain quiet on Hong Kong protests as trade talks progressed.
(AFP, 6/18/19)(CNN, 10/4/19)
2019 Jun 18, President Donald Trump launched his 2020 reelection campaign in Orlando much the same way he rode to power in 2016 -- with a raucous, nationalist rally stirring fear of illegal immigration and vowing to fight for blue collar workers.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, The United States announced a $250 million military aid package for war-torn Ukraine to strengthen the former Soviet republic's naval and land capabilities.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, The US said it is sending 1,000 more troops to the Middle East as tensions in the Persian Gulf mounted over Iran's announcement it will not comply with the international agreement that keeps it from making nuclear weapons.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Members of US Coast Guard Cutter Munro jumped onto a moving submarine that was smuggling 17,000 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $232 million. The bust was part of a larger mission that included 14 other drug-smuggling interceptions along the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, that netted an estimated 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana, worth a combined estimate of $569 million. 55 alleged smugglers were captured during the mission.
(http://tinyurl.com/yxrc2qvn)(SFC, 7/13/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 18, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom formally apologized for the state's role in the "systemic slaughter" of Native Americans.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.C6)
2019 Jun 18, California-based PG&E said it has agreed to pay $1 billion to more than a dozen local government agencies affected by recent devastating wildfires including last year's Camp Fire.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 18, In San Diego Manuel Reynoso Garcia of Mexico (63), arrested last year in what prosecutors called the biggest international money laundering investigation ever in the city, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. Reynoso Garcia was the last of eight defendants to plead guilty in the case.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 18, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve legislation that would suspend the sale of e-cigarettes in the city, amid concerns over underage use of the nicotine products.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 18, In San Francisco groundbreaking ceremonies were held in front of the Eagle Bar, the future location of Eagle Plaza, a pedestrian zone in front of the bar dedicated to leather and the LGBTQ culture.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 18, Kansas City, Mo., voters chose Quinton Lucas (34) as new city mayor. He and his family were often homeless during his childhood in the city.
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 18, US authorities seized about 33,000 pounds of cocaine, valued at more than $1 billion, at the packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. Federal authorities soon raised the amount of cocaine seized to 35,000 pounds.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A5)(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 18, Facebook unveiled plans for a new global cryptocurrency called Libra, pledging to bring a stable virtual money that lives on smartphones and brings the "unbanked" billions into the financial system.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Google announced that it would put $ 1 billion toward housing in the SF Bay Area.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 18, Algeria's military chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah said that those who oppose the army were "enemies of Algeria", as the country's protest movement demands an overhaul of the entire regime.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Brazil's Senate rejected a decree by President Jair Bolsonaro that loosened the country's strict gun laws, dealing a blow to the far-right leader who had lobbied for lawmakers to approve the measure. The decree now goes to the lower house. For the decree to be killed, both the Senate and the lower house must reject it.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 18, In England far-right university student Michal Szewczuk (19), who called Prince Harry a race traitor and created an image of him with a pistol to his head, was jailed for four years and three months. The Poland-born teen was sentenced at the London's Old Bailey court alongside 18-year-old Oskar Dunn-Koczorowski, who admitted two counts of encouraging terrorism after the pair engaged in the same online chatrooms.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Chilean police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in clashes early today with miners striking at the giant Chuquicamata copper mine, as the workers tried to block access to a site operated by state-owned giant, Codelco.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Xinhua state news agency reported that China said it will halt imports from Canadian company Frigo Royal after food safety issues were detected in one batch of pork, a move likely to fuel speculation that China is retaliating against Canada for arresting a Chinese tech executive.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele ruled out negotiations with criminal gangs and vowed to go after their finances in a bid to reduce violence. Bukele also promised to comply with reparations ordered by an international court for relatives of the victims of the El Mozote massacre, one of the bloodiest chapters of the country's 1980-1992 civil war.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 18, The EU's highest court (ECJ) ruled that a planned German highway toll for cars discriminates against foreign drivers and breaches European Union law, forcing Berlin to rethink how to charge road users.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Employees at Radio France turned off their microphones over plans to shed nearly 300 jobs as part of a cost-cutting effort, with many of the daily programs replaced by music.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Berlin's government moved to freeze rents for five years from 2020 in their latest bid to halt runaway gentrification. Only social housing and private property that has not been let out would be exempt.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras demanded that the European Union issue a reprimand to Turkey for its "illegal" gas exploration in Cyprus, after Ankara defied calls for it to cease drilling in the region.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam signaled the end of a controversial extradition bill that she promoted and then postponed after some of the most violent protests since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Indian authorities said more than 100 children have died in an encephalitis outbreak in the eastern state of Bihar.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Iran said it has dismantled a new espionage network linked to the US Central Intelligence Agency and arrested a number of spies. Iranian state television gave details of a 2013 operation to dismantle another CIA network.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, The Japanese coast guard said than 300 North Korean boats have been forced out of Japan's exclusive economic zone near Yamatotai since May.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, New Zealand sentenced Philip Arps (44) to 21 months in prison for distributing videos of the March 15 massacre at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Filipino kidnap-for-ransom gangs raided two fishing boats and abducted 10 crew members in Malaysian waters off Borneo island.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, Exiled Rwandan opposition leader Paul Rusesabagina claimed that President Paul Kagame's government had used torture to coerce a terrorism confession from rebel chief Callixte Nsabimana.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, South Korea said two of four North Korean fishermen, who were rescued June 15 off a boat drifting in South Korean waters, will remain in the country after expressing their desire to defect. The two other fishermen were sent back to North Korea through an inter-Korean village.
(AP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, In Syria clashes between pro-government forces and jihadist-led groups that control the northwest killed at least 45 combatants.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, A Syrian agriculture ministry official said the government will distribute free chickens and feed to farmers to support rural areas ravaged by years of conflict.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, State-run Anadolu news agency said Turkey has ordered the arrest of 128 military personnel over suspected links to the network accused by Ankara of orchestrating an attempted coup in 2016.
(Reuters, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, The UN and local authorities said hundreds of thousands of people have fled inter-ethnic violence in northeastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two weeks. Local officials last week said at least 50 people had been killed in a matter of days in Ituri province, while other sources put the death toll from the inter-ethnic violence at over 70.
(AFP, 6/18/19)
2019 Jun 18, It was reported that inflation in Zimbabwe was running at 75% and that a passport now takes a year to be issued.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A3)
2019 Jun 19, The Trump campaign raised some $24.8 million in less than 24 hours after the kick-off of his re-election campaign in Orlando.
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 19, In California police Officer Tara O'Sullivan (26) was shot and killed as she helped a woman gather her belongings at a home in Sacramento. Adel Sambrano Ramos (45), the alleged killer, was arrested early the next day after an eight hour standoff.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 19, A jury in Brooklyn convicted Keith Raniere (58), head of the Albany-area NXIVM, on all counts of sex-trafficking and coercing women into sex. Raniere was arrested at a Mexican hideout in 2018.
{NYC, USA, Sex}
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 19, In Australia new laws went into effect in the state of Victoria making voluntary euthanasia legal under closely specified circumstances.
(AFP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In southern Bangladesh clashes erupted between local and Chinese construction workers at a Chinese-funded power station near the port of Payra in which a Chinese worker was killed.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In London student Tendai Muswere (26) was convicted of manufacturing a firearm using a 3D printer, in what police said they believed was the first such successful prosecution in Britain.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Congo DRC army spokesman said the military has deployed hundreds of soldiers to protect a major copper and cobalt mine owned by China Molybdenum Co Ltd from illegal miners. About 60% of the world's cobalt is found in CongoDRC.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)(Econ., 10/17/20, p.40)
2019 Jun 19, The Madrid-based Cuban Prisoners Defenders released a 259-page report that named 35 activists, independent journalists and artists whom Cuban authorities had forced to leave the country over the past two years, telling them never to return.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Dominican officials said former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was shot in the back on June 9 by a gunman who mistook him for the real target, another man who was seated at the same table at an outdoor cafe. Officials said the attempted murder was ordered from the US by Victor Hugo Gomez, an associate of Mexico's Gulf Cartel.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Dacian Ciolos (49), a former Romanian prime minister (2015-2016), was elected the first leader of Renew Europe, the new centrist force that includes French President Emmanuel Macron's La Republique en Marche party, inside the European Parliament.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Paris court ordered the conditional release of Jose Antonio Urrutikoetxea Bengoetxea (68), alias Josu Ternera, a former Basque separatist leader who was arrested in France last month after 16 years on the run. Ternera headed ETA from 1977 to 1992.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In France Electro star Philippe Zdar (52), one half of the cult French house duo Cassius, died late today after falling from a window in Paris -- two days before the release of his latest album.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Transport Ministry spokesman said Germany has canceled its contracts with the companies charged with setting up a highway toll system for cars.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Members of a Honduran riot police that have dealt with weeks of protests stood down in Tegucigalpa, allowing adversaries of President Juan Orlando Hernandez to block streets and cause traffic chaos in the city. Members of the National Directorate of Special Forces (DNFE) said if they did not receive better benefits, they would not carry out anti-riot operations.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Hong Kong student group demanded that the city completely scrap a politically charged extradition bill and agree to investigate police tactics against protesters before a June 20 deadline or face further street demonstrations.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Indian authorities said that 114 children have died in an encephalitis outbreak this month in eastern Bihar, one of the country's poorest states. There have been more than 500 cases of encephalitis registered since the outbreak began June 1.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, It was reported that millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In Iraq a Katyusha rocket fell on an Iraqi drilling company in the Burjesiya area near Basra, wounding three people. Officials said US assets in Iraq have been hit by shelling six times in as many days.
(AFP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Kuwait's ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, arrived on a state visit to Iraq and was expected to discuss escalating regional tensions after attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter, whose forces are fighting to take the country's capital of Tripoli from militias allied with a UN-backed government based there, dismissed an initiative by its prime minister for negotiations to end the crisis. Hifter said his fighters would press on with the weeks-long offensive.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 19, Malian authorities said a pair of attacks on ethnic Dogon villages have left at least 30 people dead.
(SFC, 6/20/19, p.20)
2019 Jun 19, Mexico's Senate ratified the new North American trade agreement (USMCA), making the country the first to give it final approval despite recent tension with the US.
(AFP, 6/19/19)(SFC, 6/20/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 19, In Nepal thousands of people gathered in Kathmandu to protest proposed legislation that would allow the government to nationalize centuries-old community and religious trusts responsible for organizing festivals and ceremonies.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Dutch-led int'l. team charged three Russians (Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov) and one Ukrainian (Leonid Kharchenko) with murder over the 2014 shooting down of flight MH17 above rebel-held eastern Ukraine in which 298 people were killed.
(AFP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Human Rights Watch called on governments in the Americas and Europe to impose sanctions on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and at least five high-level security officials for a crackdown on protests that began in April 2018.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In Serbia dozens of primary school students rallied for a second day on in downtown Belgrade, demanding the resignation of the education minister after authorities postponed a mathematics exam that was leaked on social media. Local media reported that a printing press employee photographed the test and shared it with other parents on Facebook.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, In Singapore one of two runways at the main airport closed for short periods over the last 24 hours because of "confirmed sightings of unauthorized drone flying.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, South Korea said it plans to send 50,000 tons of rice to North Korea through the World Food Program, in its second aid package announced in past weeks as it seeks to help with North Korean food shortages and improve bilateral relations.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Sudan's military council urged opposition leaders to resume negotiations on the transition of power, without preconditions. Protest organizers continued their night-time demonstrations demanding civilian rule.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vowed to try to ensure the Egyptian government is tried in international courts for the death of former president Mohamed Mursi, who suffered a fatal heart attack in a Cairo court earlier this week.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, Two UN human rights experts said Cambodian authorities have questioned, summoned or detained more than 140 members of the former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in an escalating suppression of dissent.
(Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, An independent UN report into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said there is "credible evidence" to warrant further investigation into the possible role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and suggested sanctions on his personal assets.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, The UN refugee agency said a record 71 million people have been displaced worldwide by war, persecution and other violence.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 19, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet arrived in Venezuela as part of a visit to review the country's ongoing economic and political crisis.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 19, A Yemeni rebel strike targeted a desalination plant in the southwestern Saudi province of Jizan. No casualties or damages were reported.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 19, The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a database tracking violence, said Yemen's civil war, which began in 2014, has killed at least 91,600 people so far.
(AP, 6/19/19)
2019 Jun 20, US military cyber forces launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems as President Donald Trump backed away from plans for a more conventional military strike in response to Iran's downing of a US surveillance drone. The attack degraded Tehran's ability to covertly target shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf.
(AP, 6/23/19)(SFC, 8/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 20, The US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 to uphold the display of a 40-foot cross at a busy Maryland intersection, ruling that the symbol can be seen as a war memorial honoring local soldiers and not an unconstitutional promotion of a favored religion.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 20, Retired US Army colonel Joseph Baptiste (64) was convicted by a federal jury of conspiring to bribe Haitian government officials. Roger Richard Boncy (74), a dual US and Haitian citizen living in Spain, was also convicted.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, Potent thunderstorms left more than 200,000 people with power in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 20, Univ. of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck (23) was reported missing. On June 28 Ayoola Ajayi (31) was arrested by a Salt Lake City SWAT team after burned evidence was found at his home. Lueck's body was found on July 3 in a canyon 80 miles from Salt Lake City. On July 10 Ajayi was charged with murder and kidnapping.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A6)(SFC, 7/6/19, p.A6)(SFC, 7/11/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 20, Brazil's Pres. Jair Bolsonaro said if Congress does not substantially reform Brazil's political system, he will consider running again in 2022.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, A British court ruled that Britain broke the law by allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia that might have been used in Yemen's war, after activists said there was a clear risk the weapons could be operated in violation of human rights legislation. Britain temporarily suspended approving new Saudi arms export licenses that might contribute to the Gulf kingdom's four-year bombing campaign in neighboring Yemen. International Trade Minister Liam Fox said he disagreed with the judgment and would seek permission to appeal.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Britain's foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, won the right to take on Boris Johnson in the final race to become the next prime minister.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 20, Asian nations scrambled to contain the spread of highly contagious African swine fever, with Vietnam culling 2.5 million pigs and China reporting more than a million dead in an unprecedentedly huge epidemic some fear is out of control.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, China warned that threats and tariffs will not resolve trade tensions between the two biggest economies and blasted Republican Sen. Marco Rubio for his criticism of technology giant Huawei over patents.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, A Chinese court said former Interpol President Meng Hongwei confessed to accepting more than $2 million in bribes and expressed regret for his crime.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping began a 2-day visit to North Korea, the first by a Chinese president in 14 years. Kim Jong Un said that his country is waiting for a desired response in stalled nuclear talks with the United States.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, It was reported that Marxist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries in Colombia are recruiting Venezuelan migrants to strengthen their ranks.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, An Ecuador court ordered the release of Ola Bini, a Swedish national with ties to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was accused of computer hacking. His April 11 detention was deemed "arbitrary".
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, An advocate general for the EU's top court said Poland's new rules that lower the retirement age for judges, introduced in 2017, break European Union law.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Georgia rallies broke out in Tbilisi after a Russian lawmaker addressed parliament from the speaker's seat. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at crowds, leaving at least 160 demonstrators and 80 officers injured. 305 people were arrested.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, German federal police office, on a European arrest warrant issued by the Belgian authorities, picked up a suspect (39) overnight in connection with the 2015 Paris attacks.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Honduras three people were killed in Tegucigalpa in violent protests against President Juan Orlando Hernandez. Riot police ended a three-day work stoppage but warned the government they will not crack down on thousands who continue to protest in the streets demanding President Juan Orlando Hernández resign.
(AFP, 6/21/19)(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, A deadline imposed by activist groups for Hong Kong's government to scrap highly unpopular extradition bills and accept other demands passed without an official response.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Hungary four human traffickers involved in the gruesome deaths of 71 migrants in a truck abandoned on an Austrian highway in 2015 were jailed for life, in a case that sparked international revulsion. Hungary took over the proceedings from Vienna after it emerged that the migrants had suffocated on Hungarian soil.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, India's government created a new ministry to respond to a growing water crisis, with more than 60% of the country's 1.3 billion people dependent on farming and favorable monsoon rains. The new Ministry of Water Power will tackle water conservation and management.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, An Indian court sentenced former police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who alleged PM Narendra Modi's complicity in killings of Muslims in 2002, to life in prison over the 1990 death of a person in custody.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In northern India a bus plunged down a 1,600-foot gorge killing at least 44 people in Himachal Pradesh state.
(http://tinyurl.com/yytbqrfc)
2019 Jun 20, Iran shot down a US spy drone near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with the two sides at odds whether it was in Iranian or international airspace, in the latest incident stoking tensions between the arch-foes.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Italy's far-right interior minister marked World Refugee Day by insisting migrants rescued by a charity vessel are banned from entering Italian territorial waters.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Laos reported its first cases of African swine fever (ASF), confirming outbreaks in the southern province of Saravane.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Malawi police fired tear gas at some protesters as thousands demonstrated in major cities over last month's disputed elections.
(SFC, 6/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 20, Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad rejected the implication that Russia may have been involved in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, after international prosecutors charged with murder four men in the July 17, 2014, missile attack that killed all 298 people aboard.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Malaysia authorities arrested four Indians and seized more than 14 kg of drugs and 5,255 turtles from their luggage at the Kuala Lumpur airport. The red-ear slider baby turtles were kept in small baskets from the luggage of two Indian nationals who flew in from Guangzhou, China.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 20, Mexican researchers said they have confirmed the existence of 1,606 secret graves containing some 2,489 bodies from 2006 to 2017.
(http://tinyurl.com/y2upbpsw)(SFC, 6/22/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 20, Mexico announced a program for millions of new trees to be planted in El Salvador in a program funded by the Mexican government that aims to help impoverished communities that often create fertile ground for fleeing migrants.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, Russians took their fears over falling incomes and a creaking healthcare system to President Vladimir Putin during a glossy annual phone-in that comes following a decline in his ratings.
(AFP, 6/20/19).
2019 Jun 20, State TV said Russia has started releasing a group of captive killer whales whose detention in Russia's Far East has caused an international outcry. Russian Deputy PM Alexei Gordeyev said the whales would be taken back to where they were caught and released within four months.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Russia former US Marine Paul Whelan, held on suspicion of spying, called on US Pres. Donald Trump and the leaders of Britain, Canada and Ireland to help him as he appeared in court at an appeal hearing that extended custody to Aug. 29.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his first state-of-the-nation address since the ruling ANC party won elections in May.
(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, South Sudanese lawmakers stormed out of a budget presentation by the finance minister, with one citing frustrations over non-payment of salaries to civil servants and soldiers.
(Reuters, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, In Syria 16 people were killed including at least two ambulance workers, several other civilians and children, in government airstrikes in the last rebel stronghold in Idlib province. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes between regime forces and jihadist-led fighters killed 130 combatants since June 18.
(AP, 6/20/19)(AFP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, A strike by flight attendants at EVA Air, Taiwan's second-largest airline, left thousands of passengers scrambling for alternative transport.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 20, Turkey launched a second drillship that will drill for gas off neighboring Cyprus' east coast despite European Union warnings to refrain from such illegal actions or face sanctions.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 20, A Turkish court has sentenced 128 people accused of being among the ringleaders to life terms in prison for their roles in the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
(AP, 6/20/19)
2019 Jun 21, President Donald Trump said the US was "cocked and loaded" to retaliate against Iran for downing an unmanned American surveillance drone, but he canceled the strikes 10 minutes before they were to be launched after being told 150 people could die.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The US Commerce Department blacklisted five Chinese tech entities in a new move against Beijing's supercomputing industry likely to raise tensions ahead of a meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping next week.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The Trump administration and Canada's government imposed sanctions on some Nicaraguan officials, tying them to a tough crackdown on street demonstrations that began in the Central American country in April 2018.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, A US State Department report said some senior officials from India's PM Narendra Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last year had made "inflammatory speeches" against religious minorities.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 21, US lawmakers called for swift change after reports this week of more than 250 infants, children and teens being held inside a windowless Border Patrol station, struggling to care for each other with inadequate food, water and sanitation.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The US Supreme Court said prosecutors must prove that people charged with violating federal gun laws knew they were not allowed to have a weapon.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In southern California Toby MacFarlane, a former insurance executive, pleaded guilty to participating in a college admissions bribery scheme. He had paid $450,000 to get his children admitted the Univ. of Southern California. He was the 14th parent to plead guilty in the scandal.
(SFC, 6/22/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 21, In southern California a shooting and explosion killed four people at a mobile home park in Santa Maria.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 21, In Hawaii a plane carrying sky divers crashed late today on Oahu's North Shore, killing 11 people.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Indiana Akram Musleh of Brownsburg (21), arrested on June 21, 2016, was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for trying to join the Islamic State group. He was also sentenced to 11 years and eight months of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In New Hampshire seven members of the Marine JarHeads motorcycle club were killed when a pickup collided with ten riders in Randolph. On June 21 Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, the driver of the pickup, was arrested.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)(SFC, 6/25/19, p.A5))
2019 Jun 21, Marlene Mizzi (55), a former supervisor at Kennedy Airport, admitted that she took bribes to allow Qatar and other countries to park their planes overnight during the United Nations General Assembly.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Major airlines from around the world began rerouting their flights to avoid areas around the Strait of Hormuz following Iran's shooting down of a US military surveillance drone there.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Algeria huge numbers protested in Algiers, keeping up their push for a political overhaul despite a spate of arrests ahead of the latest weekly rally. State radio said businessman Hassan Larbaoui has been detained in an anti-corruption investigation launched after protests ended the rule of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
(AFP, 6/21/19)(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said he has the authority to demarcate land held by indigenous communities.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, British police said they had arrested 44 people as part of an investigation into historical child sex abuse in northern England. Police said 36 men and three women had been detained over the last two weeks over the inquiry which is centered on allegations from four women that they were abused as children, predominantly in the towns of Dewsbury and Batley between 1995 and 2002.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Lawmakers in jihadist-hit Burkina Faso adopted a controversial new law providing for jail terms of up to 10 years for divulging details of military operations.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The World Food Program said about 40 percent of the population of the perennially unstable Central African Republic faces acute food insecurity.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Seven Chadian soldiers and a local guard were killed in a Boko Haram jihadist ambush in Lake Chad, the latest in a surge of attacks in the region.
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 21, China's Ministry of Public Security said police have rescued 1,130 abducted foreign women in the second half of last year in coordinated operations with five Southeast Asian countries.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, China said it has banned direct and indirect imports of pigs, wild boars and related products from Laos due to the first African swine fever outbreaks reported by the Southeast Asian nation on June 20.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, A judge in the Dominican Republic ordered a former Senate president, an ex-public works minister and four other people to stand trial in a bribery scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Amnesty International demanded that Egypt not execute Karim Hemada, arrested at age 17 ahead of an anticipated death sentence. He was arrested in 2016 and accused of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, possessing weapons, assaulting policemen and vandalizing properties.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele ordered mobile telephone service providers to disable their signals in prison facilities. The country's mobile telephone providers have 72 hours to comply with the order.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Germany tens of thousands of climate activists noisily rallied to demand action against global warming, now one of the hottest issues on the European political agenda.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Der Spiegel reported that the companies that were set to operate the German motorway vignette scheme scuppered by a European Court ruling earlier this week plan to demand 300 million euros ($339.21 million) compensation from Berlin.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Hong Kong more than 1,000 protesters blocked police headquarters into the night, while others took over major streets as the tumult over the city's future showed no signs of abating.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, India's PM Naredra Modi practiced various yoga asanas alongside an estimated 40,000 people in Jharkhand state on the 5th Int'l. Yoga Day. In 2014 Modi successfully lobbied the UN to designate June 21 as Int'l. Yoga Day.
(SFC, 6/22/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 21, In southern India pumping stations began lifting Godavari River water toward parched land in Telangana state in what is said to be the world's largest such irrigation project.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Indonesia at least 30 people including children were killed in a fire that swept through a house that doubled as a match factory in North Sumatra province. Police the next day arrested the owner and two managers of an unregulated factory in North Sumatra that was engulfed by the fire.
(AP, 6/21/19)(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Iraq a bomb blast killed seven people at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in eastern Baghdad and wounded more than 20.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Japan Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shareholders approved the ouster of Carlos Ghosn, who was pivotal in the Japanese automaker's three-way partnership with Nissan and Renault until he was arrested on financial misconduct charges last year.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Hundreds of Jordanian Islamists marched in Amman to denounce Washington's peace plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and demand their government boycott a conference in Bahrain next week that will examine the project.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Malawi's President Peter Mutharika promised that the economy will grow 5% in 2019, in a state of the nation address boycotted by the opposition who again clashed with police in more protests against a recent vote.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Thousands of Malians demonstrated in Bamako to demand an end to a series of massacres in the center of the country.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz defended the continued detention of blogger Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir, who has served jail time for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Mkheitir was sentenced to death in December 2014 for blasphemy. An appeal court on November 2017 downgraded the sentence to a two-year jail term.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Mexico two police officers and two suspected gunmen were killed in a series of confrontations in the western state of Jalisco.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The Islamic State fighters reportedly killed 15 Nigerian soldiers in fighting at Garno, a town in northeastern Borno state near Lake Chad. West African (MNJTF) troops reportedly killed 42 suspected Islamic State fighters in the battle, the heaviest death toll suffered by the insurgents in the last six months.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 21, North Korean state media said that China's Pres. Xi Jinping and leader Kim Jong Un held broad discussions over the political situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula and reached a shared understanding on the issues they discussed. Xi Jinping left North Korea on his Air China Boeing 747.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Former Philippine foreign minister Albert del Rosario was denied entry to Hong Kong, in what critics called retaliation for his attacks on Beijing's contested claims over the South China Sea.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning Russian airlines from flying to pro-Western Georgia from July 8 late today in response to anti-government rallies in the ex-Soviet neighbor.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 21, Prominent Russian human rights advocate Oyub Titiev (61), jailed on charges his supporters say were trumped up, walked free, but said he would not return to his work in Chechnya because he felt the risk to his staff there would be too great.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In South Africa cleaners found an abandoned fetus blocking the toilet of a domestic FlySafair plane, prompting the offloading of passengers and a police investigation.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Spain's Supreme Court found five men who called themselves "The Pack" guilty of gang rape, overturning previous convictions of the lesser offence of sexual abuse in a case that shook the country. Each defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The five had raped the drunk woman, then aged 18, at the entrance to an apartment building in Pamplona in July 2016.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, In Taiwan Terry Gou (68), chairman of Foxconn, the world's largest contract assembler of consumer electronics for companies such as Apple, said he was stepping down amid speculation he could be planning a presidential run next year.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, The UN's International Labor Organization (ILO) overseeing international labor standards adopted a new treaty against violence and harassment in the workplace, fueled by the women's #MeToo movement.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on Venezuela to release jailed dissidents and said the crisis-wracked country faced a "serious" humanitarian situation.
(AFP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Uzbekistan media reported that Pres. Shavkat Mirziyoyev has sacked Prosecutor General Otabek Murodov after he was targeted in a corruption probe.
(Reuters, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 21, Yemeni security officials said gunmen attacked a military checkpoint in the eastern province of Hadramawt, killing three soldiers and wounding four in Coton.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 22, The Trump administration unveiled a $50 billion Palestinian investment and infrastructure proposal intended to be the economic engine to power its much-anticipated but still unreleased "deal of the century" Middle East peace plan. It made no mention of Palestinian political aspirations.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Pres. Donald Trump announced that he would delay immigration raids "at the request of Democrats" for two weeks in hopes of a bipartisan solution to recently arrived illegal immigrants.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 22, In southern California a man suspected of killing his wife with a machete and wounding three other people in Panorama City was arrested.
(SFC, 6/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 22, In Maine a new Navy destroyer was christened bearing the name of Hawaii's late Sen. Daniel Inouye. The guided missile destroyer will be home ported at Pearl Harbor.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 22, Dozens of Afghan political leaders attended a peace conference in Pakistan to pave the way for further Afghan-to-Afghan dialogue.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Benin's former president Thomas Boni Yayi left effective house arrest in the country for health reasons and soon arrived in Togo. Protests first erupted in Benin after April 28 parliamentary elections. Several people have died in clashes with police who resorted to gunfire.
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 22, In Cambodia a seven-story building under construction in the coastal city of Sihanoukville collapsed on workers housed inside early today, killing seven workers and injuring 23. Four Chinese nationals involved in the construction were detained.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, In Chile striking workers employed by the world's top copper producer were set to continue their walkout after voting down a management offer of better wages and compensation.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, The official People's Daily reported that China will need to spend 3 trillion yuan ($440 billion) over three years to improve village sanitation and clean up its heavily polluted rural environment.
(Reuters, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Ethiopia's army chief and a top local leader were shot dead during an attempt to overthrow a regional government in the northern Amhara region, underscoring political instability as PM Abiy Ahmed tries to reform the nation. Dozens of people were later reported killed in the fighting.
(AFP, 6/23/19)(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 22, In France three people died and another was seriously injured in a fire that broke out early today in a building in central Paris.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, In western Germany hundreds of environmental activists broke through a police cordon to enter the open-pit Garzweiler mine, one of the country's biggest lignite coal mines.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 22, Guinea-Bissau Pres. Jose Mario Vaz appointed Aristide Gomes as prime minister, ending a political deadlock that dragged on since legislative elections in May.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Protesters in Hong Kong ended their overnight siege of police headquarters peacefully, disappointed that their demands for the territory's leader to formally withdraw a contentious extradition bill and police to apologize for heavy handed tactics have gone unmet.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, In India Tabrez Ansari (24), a Muslim man suspected of stealing a motorcycle, died four days after he was beaten by a Hindu mob for some 12 hours and forced to chant prayers to Hindu gods in Jharkhand state. Videos of the attack had circulated widely.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 22, Cybersecurity firms said Iran has increased its offensive cyberattacks against the US government and critical infrastructure as tensions have grown between the two nations.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, State media reported that Iran summoned the United Arab Emirates' top envoy to Tehran to protest the neighboring Arab nation's decision to allow the US to use a base there to launch a drone that Iran says entered its airspace. The US said its RQ-4A Global Hawk was shot down June 20 over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz, not inside Iranian airspace.
(AP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Malaysia said the perpetrators of violence against Myanmar's Rohingya minority must "be brought to justice", in sharp comments delivered at a normally tame (ASEAN) regional summit.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Mauritanians voted for a new president as the incumbent leader warned that only his chosen successor can maintain stability in the West African country, while the opposition said it saw "worrying signs" of election irregularities. Mohamed Ould Ghazouani (62), a former general, won an absolute majority in the first round.
(AFP, 6/22/19)(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 22, Russia's travel industry and ordinary Russians hit out at a decision by the Kremlin to suspend flights to Georgia as a politically motivated move that has little to do with safety concerns.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Sudanese protest leaders accepted the creation of a civilian-majority governing body for a political transition in Sudan as proposed by an Ethiopian envoy.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 22, Syrian regime air strikes on the anti-government stronghold in Idlib province killed five civilians including three children.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Jun 23, The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump had sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, days before the US president leaves for a trip to Japan and South Korea.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, The economic component of the Trump administration's long-awaited Mideast peace plan drew chilly responses from regional allies, two days before it was to be discussed at a conference in the Gulf. Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that the country will not be "tempted" by money into giving up Palestinian rights.
(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, It was reported that fentanyl, a synthetic painkiller, appears now to be embedded in the streets of San Francisco, surpassing prescription drugs and heroin as the leading cause of opioid overdose deaths in the city.
(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 23, In San Jose, Ca., Chi Dinh Ta (66) shot four family members to death before killing himself in a standoff with police early the next day.
(SFC, 6/25/19, p.C1)(SFC, 6/29/19, p.C2)
2019 Jun 23, In Massachusetts the new $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor casino opened in Everett, becoming the state's 3rd casino.
(SFC, 6/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 23, In Texas the bodies of a migrant woman and three children were found near the Rio Grande outside McAllen, Texas. They were believed to have died of dehydration and heat exposure.
(SFC, 6/25/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 23, Cambodian PM Hun Sen said that he was heading to the seaside resort town of Sihanoukville, where a seven-story building under construction collapsed, killing at least 19 workers and injuring 24.
(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, Qu Dongyu (55) became the first Chinese national to be elected to head the UN's Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, In the Czech Rep. hundreds of thousands of people rallied to urge PM Andrej Babis to resign.
(SFC, 6/24/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 23, In India at least 14 people died and 50 others were wounded when the tent collapsed during a Hindu ceremony in Barmer, Rajasthan state.
(AP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, In eastern India a medical official said at least 129 children have now died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the town of Muzaffarpur, Bihar state, since an outbreak earlier this month.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, It was reported that Mexico's immigration centers are becoming increasingly squalid and overcrowded as authorities step up the detention of migrants headed for the United States, with inmates languishing for weeks amid medical neglect.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, A Sudanese court ordered telecoms operator Zain Sudan to restore internet services, after they were severed nearly three weeks ago when security forces dispersed protesters camping in central Khartoum.
(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, Sweden detained a fugitive Chinese official at the request of the United States and expects it to make a formal request for his extradition. Qiao Jianjun was released from Swedish custody on June 19, an indication Sweden's supreme court will turn down an earlier Chinese request for his extradition. The United States indicted Qiao in 2015 in his absence on charges of money laundering and immigration fraud.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 23, Syrian regime air strikes killed five civilians including two children in the village of Josef, Idlib province, a northwestern bastion of the opposition.
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, Southeast Asian leaders meeting in Thailand pressed their call for self-restraint in the disputed South China Sea and renewed their alarm over the US-China trade war. ASEAN leaders agreed to work together on the region's economy and security to strengthen their position to face growing US-China tensions, as they wrapped up their summit in Bangkok.
(AP, 6/23/19)(Reuters, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, In Turkey a 2nd mayoral election was held in Istanbul. Turkey's election board ruled as the vote count begins in the repeated election for Istanbul's mayor to count as valid ballots with inconsistent stamps. Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu's win in a repeat vote for mayor broke the lock Pres. Erdogan's Islamist-rooted party long held on Istanbul's top public office.
(AFP, 6/23/19)(AP, 6/23/19)(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 23, In Ukraine troops in military uniform joined more than 8,000 people marching in Kiev's Gay Pride parade amid tight security, the biggest ever annual celebration of diversity in ex-Soviet Ukraine.
(AFP, 6/23/19)
2019 Jun 23, A Yemeni rebel attack on the Abha airport civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia killed a Syrian national and wounded 21 other civilians.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, US Pres. Donald Trump enacted new sanctions against Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, The US government removed most children from a remote Border Patrol station in Texas near the border with Mexico following reports that more than 300 children were detained there and caring for each other with inadequate food, water and sanitation. Only about 30 children remained at the station outside El Paso.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, The US Supreme Court struck down a 1986 law that added five years or more to sentences for possessing a gun during any federal "crime of violence." The court said the law is so broad and nonspecific that it fails to define the crimes it covers.
(SFC, 6/25/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 24, The US Supreme Court struck down a section of federal law that prevented businesses from registering trademarks seen as scandalous or immoral, handing a victory to California fashion brand FUCT.
(SFC, 6/25/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 24, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke pledged to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and help create a federal health care fund to cover the costs of caring for those who serve in future wars by taxing those who don't.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, It was reported that federal agents have broken up a theft ring involving 21 people responsible for stealing $3.9 million worth of used cooking oil from restaurants in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia over the last five years.
(SFC, 6/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 24, Authorities in Texas reported seven migrant deaths, including those of a woman, two babies and a toddler, showing the danger of extreme summer heat as Central American families surge across the US-Mexico border.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (24) of Greece was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the 2018-19 regular season.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, American logistics giant FedEx sued the US government, saying Washington's restrictions on exports and imports due to growing trade disputes and sanctions created an "impossible burden" for delivery firms.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Bangladesh a passenger train carrying at least 2,000 people derailed as it was crossing a bridge killing five people and injuring more than 100.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Abul Bajandar (28), a Bangladeshi known as the "Tree Man" because of bark-like growths on his body, said he wanted his hands amputated to relieve him of unbearable pain. Bajandar suffers from a rare condition called epidermodysplasia verruciformis. Fewer than half a dozen people around the world are believed to have the syndrome.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Britain's Lloyds Banking Group said it has frozen 8,000 customer accounts under a wider crackdown on money-laundering. LBG took action late last year after a change to money-laundering rules in Jersey, home to the lender's international division.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Cambodia rescuers found two survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed two days earlier while under construction in Sihanoukville, killing 28 workers and injuring 26.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, China said it will not allow discussion of Hong Kong at the G20 summit this week even as US President Donald Trump plans to raise the city's mass protests during his meeting with President Xi Jinping.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Congo DRC's health ministry said more than 1,500 people have died in a nearly 10-month-old outbreak of Ebola.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Cyprus Greek Cypriot army captain Nikos Metaxas (35), who murdered five women and two girls, was handed seven life sentences.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Ethiopia Asamnew Tsige, the army brigadier general accused of leading the June 22 failed coup, was killed in a firefight with security forces.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6cle2t5)(SFC, 6/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 24, The European Union's highest court ruled that Poland's lowering of the retirement age for its supreme court judges was against EU law, in a blow to the Polish eurosceptic government.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, German automaker Daimler AG said its Mercedes-Benz luxury brand plans to assemble cars in Egypt in cooperation with a local partner.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, The head of Georgia's ruling party announced sweeping electoral reforms in a bid to appease protesters after days of demonstrations gripped the capital Tbilisi.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Honduran military police opened fire on protesting students at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, wounding at least five. Hundreds of students were demanding the resignation of Pres. Juan Orlando Hernandez. Three people were killed in protests last week.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, More than 100 people blocked a Hong Kong government building in protest against proposed legislation allowing extraditions to mainland China that they want scrapped.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, India's Supreme Court directed state and national authorities to file reports to the court on an encephalitis outbreak in the eastern state of Bihar this month in which 152 children have died.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck remote eastern Indonesia. There were no reports of casualties or any major damage.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Iran said US cyber attacks on its military had failed, as Washington sought to rally support in the Middle East and Europe for a hardline stance that has brought it to the verge of conflict with its long-time foe.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Iraqi special forces said they have conducted a 2-day operation near the northern city of Kirkuk in which they killed 14 members of the Islamic State group.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Japan a Nigerian man died in an immigration detention center, bringing to an end a hunger strike an activist group said was intended to protest against his being held for more than three years. This was the 15th death since 2006 in a system widely criticized over medical standards, the monitoring of detainees and how guards respond to a medical emergency.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 24, Police in Kashmir arrested Ghulam Jeelani Qadri (62), a journalist and the publisher of the Urdu-language newspaper Daily Afaaq, in a raid just before midnight at his home in the region's main city of Srinagar on an arrest warrant issued in 1993. The case dated from 1990, when Qadri was one of nine journalists to publish a statement by a militant group fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Kazakhstan a fire engulfed a sprawling ammunition depot near the town of Arys causing powerful explosions that injured at least 46 people and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Malaysia ordered 475 schools and kindergartens to close until June 27, after dozens of people were hospitalized with symptoms suggesting they breathed toxic fumes, possibly from industrial waste, the second such incident this year.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, Mauritanian police raided the headquarters of two opposition parties late today, closing one of them amid high tension followed a disputed outcome to presidential elections. The operation came after police clashed with opposition supporters angered over the declared victory of ruling party candidate Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Nigeria Islamist insurgents struck the village of Ngamngam in Borno state late today. By the next morning at least 20 civilians were killed.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 24, Pakistan thanked Qatar for the $3 billion investment announced hours earlier by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 24, Palestinians vowed to reject a US-led peace initiative to be presented in Bahrain that dangles the prospect of $50 billion as an Israeli envoy bluntly told them they should "surrender." Hundreds protested against the US economic peace proposal, a day ahead of an American-led conference in Bahrain.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Russia served notice to ex-Soviet Georgia it faces painful consequences if anti-Russian protests are not brought under control, saying it was tightening controls on wine imports that bring Georgia millions of dollars in revenue each year.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Russia Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Mohamed Zaki, said that Moscow is ready to continue helping strengthen Egypt's defense capability.
(AP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, The Solomon Islands, one of Taiwan's remaining allies in the Pacific, said it will send a delegation to study Chinese aid in neighboring countries as it considers a potential diplomatic switch to Beijing.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, The Swiss attorney general's office (OAG) announced it was returning 130 million Swiss francs ($133 million) to Uzbekistan which it seized during an investigation involving a relative of the daughter of former president Islam Karimov.
(Reuters, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, In Turkey 16 leading civil society leaders appeared in court, accused of seeking to overthrow the government during the "Gezi Park" protests of 2013, in a trial dubbed an absurd sham by critics. The group includes renowned businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, whose detention since November 2017 has made him a symbol of what his supporters say is a crackdown on civil society.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 24, Vietnam sentenced US citizen Michael Nguyen to 12 years in Vietnamese prison for "attempting to overthrow the state." Nguyen was detained in July last year while travelling in the country with two activists. Tran Long Phi and Huynh Duc Thanh Binh were jailed for eight years and ten years respectively for the same charge.
(AFP, 6/24/19)
2019 Jun 25, The Trump administration convened an international conference in Bahrain to promote its ambitious but harshly criticized $50 billion economic support plan for the Palestinians. Participants did not include official Israeli or Palestinian delegations, and many countries' delegations were not headed by Cabinet ministers.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The US envoy to NATO said the United States will stop Turkish forces flying and developing its F-35 stealth jets if Ankara goes ahead with the purchase of a Russian air defense system. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vowed anew to press on with the S-400 purchase despite allies' concerns.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Melania Trump announced that Stephanie Grisham, her longtime spokeswoman and confidante, will succeed Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 25, The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation that bans the sale of e-cigarettes bought online from being delivered to city addresses in an effort to curb teen vaping.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A1)
2019 Jun 25, Kenneth Behring (b.1928), billionaire philanthropist, died. He was the developer of the Blackhawk gated golf communities in Contra Costa County, Ca. He and a partner purchased the Seattle Seahawks in 1988 and sold the team in 1997 to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for $200 million. Behring published a memoir called Road to Purpose: One Man's Journey Bringing Hope to Millions (2004) and Finding Purpose Along the Way (2013). In 2000 Behring founded the Wheelchair Foundation to provide free wheelchairs for people with physical disabilities in developing nations unable to afford one.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Behring)(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 25, In Morgan Hill, Ca., a man killed two people at a Ford dealership before apparently turning his gun on himself. Suspect Steven Leet (60) had been fired earlier in the day.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.C5)(SFC, 6/27/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 25, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation legalizing small amounts of marijuana. Possession would remain a crime until Jan.1.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 25, John Sanders, the acting head of the US Customs and Border Protection agency, announced his resignation amid a public outcry over alarming detention conditions of migrant children in Texas.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Apple said it has acquired Mountain View self-driving startup Drive.ai, which said it planned to close its business and lay off 90 workers in a permanent closure.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 25, SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral. It carried a payload of 24 military and scientific research satellites.
(SFC, 6/26/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 25, A Christian group crowdfunded more than Aus$l.0 million ($700,000) in a single day for former Australian rugby star Israel Folau's legal battle to appeal against his sacking over homophobic comments.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Austria's Supreme Court upheld a decision granting a US request to extradite Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash, paving the way for him to face trial in the United States over bribery allegations.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Bangladesh police killed three people suspected of trying to smuggle 15 Rohingya Muslim refugees to Malaysia in a clash near the South Asian nation's main refugee camp, the second such incident in as many months.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, British royal accounts showed that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's new home in Windsor cost £2.4 million ($3.05 million, 2.7 million euros) of taxpayers' money to renovate, prompting criticism from anti-monarchy campaigners.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Ken Follett, Lee Child, Kate Mosse and Jojo Moyes, four heavyweights of British literature, said they are launching a "Friendship Tour" of Europe to represent the 48 percent who voted against Brexit. The tour in November will visit Milan, Madrid, Berlin and Paris.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, A Cambodian court charged seven people, including five Chinese nationals, with involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy after 28 people died in a collapsed building on the weekend.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Canadian aerospace company Bombardier announced the sale of its regional jet program to Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. for $550 million.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The vice-governor of China's Xinjiang region responded to international condemnation of state-run detention camps by saying they were vocational centers which had helped "save" people from extremist influences.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, China asked Canada to suspend all meat exports after discovering false veterinary health certificates attached to a batch of pork, while Canadian federal police launched a criminal probe.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 25, A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the Costa Rica-Panama border around midnight. Seismologists said the disaster was "potentially widespread".
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 25, Denmark's Social Democrat leader announced she will form a minority government after reaching an agreement with three left and center-left parties after weeks of negotiations.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The Council of Europe voted 118-62 to readmit Russia early today, five years after suspension over Crimea. The decision was supported by France and Germany as a way of keeping communication open at a time of East-West tension.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Egyptian police arrested at least eight people, including a former lawmaker and key secular activists in the country's 2011 uprising, for their alleged ties to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, In Egypt seven police officers and four militants were killed in a clash in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 25, A French court found the state had failed to take sufficient steps to limit air pollution around Paris, following a complaint by a mother and daughter that their health had been harmed. However, the court rejected the pair's demand for 160,000 euros ($182,000) in damages, saying it could not find a direct link between their health problems and the state's failings.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The Georgian parliament elected Archil Talakvadze, a ruling Georgia Dream Party candidate, as its new speaker following the resignation of his predecessor after violent protests outside the building.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, An Indonesian military spokesman said that any use of child soldiers by Papuan independence fighters would be a violation of human rights that implicates both the rebels and state institutions.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Iran warned that new US sanctions targeting its supreme leader and other top officials meant "closing the doors of diplomacy" between Tehran and Washington amid heightened tensions. Iran said it will further free itself from the 2015 nuclear deal in defiance of new American sanctions.
(AP, 6/25/19)(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Israel cut off fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip in response to the launch of incendiary balloons, resulting in new power cuts in the impoverished territory.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, In Japan scandal-battered Nissan won its shareholders' approval for a new system of committees to oversee governance and for keeping Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa on its board.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, In Kazakhstan NASA astronaut Anne McClain, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, and Canadian Space Agency record-holder David Saint-Jacques emerged from the space craft to applause from support crews, after touching down near the Kazakh city of Dzhezkazgan.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The third place candidate in Mauritania's presidential election filed an appeal late today contesting the victory of ruling party candidate Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 25, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the country's new militarized National Guard police force could have committed "excesses" by detaining migrant women close to the US border, and that they had not been instructed to do so.
(Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Palestinians burned effigies of President Trump and marched a donkey pasted over with images of Gulf royals in the West Bank, as the US prepared to open its conference in Bahrain.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Papua New Guinea's PM James Marape demanded that Australia end or completely rework a controversial multi-million dollar contract to manage refugees stuck in tropical island camps.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Spanish authorities caught Brazilian Sgt. Manoel Silva Rodrigues carrying 86 pounds of cocaine on a presidential plane carrying Pres. Jair Bolsonaro to the G20 summit in Japan.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 25, Ukraine expressed anger at its Western partners after lawmakers at the Council of Europe agreed to allow Russian representatives back following a five year absence prompted by Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, The UN Security Council has approved a resolution establishing a political mission in Haiti starting on Oct. 16 to advise the government on promoting political stability and rule of law in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Hatice Cengiz, the Turkish fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, took her campaign for justice in his killing to the United Nations' top human rights body and urged the UN to take "the next step" following a key investigator's finding that Saudi Arabia bears responsibility.
(AP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 25, Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communications (MOIC) chaired a meeting with top advertisers, requesting them to stop paying to post ads on YouTube channels featuring "bad or toxic" content.
(AFP, 6/25/19)
2019 Jun 26, A court in Los Angeles heard new allegations made by 10 men and women that military and police forces led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's former defense secretary and now a presidential hopeful, repeatedly tortured and raped political opponents, in some cases branding them with hot metal rods and lashing them with electrical cables. Rajapaksa was from 2005 to 2015 in command of security forces.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 26, In Oregon 11 Republican state senators entered their 7th day of a walkout to deny supermajority Democrats the needed quorum to vote on a cap-and-trade bill to reduce greenhouse gases. Rural voters worried that the bill would be the end of for logging and trucking in the state.
(SFC, 6/27/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 26, In Afghanistan two US service members died of gunshot wounds sustained during combat while on a joint patrol with Afghan forces.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Scientists from Argentina and Brazil said the fossil remains of Vespersaurus paranaensis, a desert-based carnivorous dinosaur that used claws to capture small prey 90 million years ago, has been unearthed in Cruzeiro do Oeste municipality of southern Brazil's Parana state.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Australia's three largest media organizations joined forces to demand legal reforms that would prevent journalists from risking imprisonment for doing their jobs.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, In Bahrain international financial chiefs and global investors said the Trump administration's $50 billion economic support plan for the Palestinians cannot succeed without addressing the political elements of a Middle East deal.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Danish police said they have arrested 31 people as part of an international investigation into an organized criminal network with roots in Albania, suspected of smuggling drugs and weapons.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Ethiopian security forces rounded up 56 members of an ethnic Ethiopian party believed to have links to a coup bid in northern Amhara state and the murder of the army chief in attacks which have highlighted the political crisis in the nation.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 26, Thousands of people joined Hong Kong's latest protest rally against legislation they fear would erode the city's freedoms, capping a daylong appeal to world leaders ahead of a G-20 summit this week that brings together the heads of China, the United States and other major nations.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, In Japan French President Emmanuel Macron said he and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe have agreed to bolster naval defense ties in the Indo-Pacific region and shared concerns about growing tensions in the Middle East.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh "handpicked" women whom he would rape or sexually coerce, offering cash, gifts and other privileges in exchange.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, German police cautioned a man riding naked on a moped while topless sunbathers sparked a row in Munich, as temperatures were to soar to record highs in several European countries.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, A German humanitarian group says its ship Sea-Watch 3 carrying 42 migrants rescued at sea two weeks ago has entered Italian waters under emergency provisions, calling the situation on board desperate.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Dutch national railway company NS said that it will pay reparations to Jews, Roma and Sinti whom it transported to camps in the Netherlands during WWII, from where they were sent to Nazi concentration camps.
(SFC, 6/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 26, Dutch police said they had seized 2.5 tons of methamphetamine last week, in what they said was the largest haul of the drug to date in Europe, with a street value estimated in the "hundreds of millions of euros".
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Oman said that it will open an embassy in the Palestinian territories in support of the Palestinian people, in a first for a Gulf Arab state.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, The top leaders of Pakistan's major opposition political parties met in Islamabad to discuss how to oust the government of PM Imran Khan over his alleged failure in handling the country's economic crisis. Pakistan's currency dropped to an all-time low of 160 rupees to the dollar.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, In Pakistan a police constable was killed and 5 people injured, following a gun battle with Taliban militants at a police housing and training complex in southwestern Baluchistan province.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Thousands of Palestinians rallied outside a UN compound in the Gaza Strip to protest the White House-led Mideast peace conference in Bahrain.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Papua New Guinea's volatile Ulawun volcano, designated one of the world's most hazardous, erupted sending residents fleeing. Villagers living at the base of the volcano had already been evacuated.
(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with visiting Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who promised to help with possible fuel shortages in case of supply disruptions caused by tensions in the Middle East. South Korea and Saudi Arabia signed an $8.3 billion economic co-operation pact during Salman's first visit to Seoul.
(AP, 6/26/19)(AFP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, Sri Lanka's Pres. Maithripala Sirisena said that he has ordered the executions of four drug offenders who will be hanged in prison soon, amid alarm over drug-related crimes in this Indian Ocean island nation. Two petitions were filed in the Court of Appeal on June 28 seeking an order quashing any move by Sirisena to resume executions.
(AP, 6/26/19)(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 26, A leading Sudanese opposition figure said the African Union and Ethiopia have joined forces in renewed efforts to mediate the crisis in Sudan and bring the ruling generals and protest leaders back to the negotiating table.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, The opposition Syrian Civil Defense says two of its members were killed and four were wounded when an airstrike struck their ambulance in northwestern Syria.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, A Thai court said it will allow 32 pro-military lawmakers to keep their seats while it decides whether they violated election rules by holding shares in media companies.
(AP, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, The UN refugee agency said a photo of Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria, who drowned on the US-Mexico border, symbolizes the failure to deal with their desperation.
(Reuters, 6/26/19)
2019 Jun 26, The UN Security Council approved a resolution establishing a political mission in Haiti starting Oct. 16 that will officially replace all UN peacekeeping activities in the country.
(SFC, 6/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 27, President Donald Trump arrived in Japan for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies. He was due to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 29 as the G-20 meetings conclude. Trump kicked off meetings with international leaders with a working dinner with Australian PM Scott Morrison.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell demanded that House Democrats drop their insistence for changes in a $4.6 billion border aid package that the Senate passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and instead give final congressional approval to the legislation.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, The US Supreme Court ruled blocked the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census over doubts about the Trump administration's rationale.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 27, The US Supreme Court ruled that federal courts have no role to play in the dispute over the practice of gerrymandering.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A10)
2019 Jun 27, Bilal al-Rayanni (28), a Yemeni national, was arrested in Arkansas. On Aug 8 he was charged with supporting al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula between October and December of 2014 while he was in Yemen. Al-Rayanni lived in Arkansas before and after he traveled to Yemen in 2014.
(AP, 8/9/19)
2019 Jun 27, A federal jury in San Francisco found April Myres (55) guilty of mail and wire fraud in a 2016 case. She was accused of having a romantic relationship with a jail inmate and lying about a department issued firearm.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 27, Three Southern California women, Sparkle Shorale Nelson (32), Shykeena Monique Johnson (31) and Jerrika Johnson (37) were arrested on suspicion of stealing more than $1 million in federal student financial aid through Fullerton College.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6f5sgjw)(SFC, 7/1/19, p.A6)
2019 Jun 27, In Florida frontrunner Joe Biden faced repeated criticism on multiple fronts from his Democratic rivals for the 2020 presidential nomination, including calls to leave the battle to oust Donald Trump to a younger generation.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, North Carolina authorities said Areli Aguirre Avilez (30), the man accused of murdering his ex-wife, Maria Calderon, and her two children, is a Mexican citizen who's in the United States illegally. The children were found shot inside their burned home, while Calderon was presumed dead.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In North Carolina a single-engine plane crashed into a home late today killing the pilot and one person inside the house in Hope Mills.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 27, Greenpeace warned about overfishing endangered sharks in the North Atlantic, often by Spanish and Portuguese boats.
(SFC, 6/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 27, In Afghanistan the Taliban's shadow governor for eastern Logar province and two deputies were killed in an airstrike by Afghan forces. In eastern Ghazni province the Taliban attacked Afghan security checkpoints, killing four police officers.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 27, Bangladesh police said a total of 535 people have been killed since 2010 after being hit by trains while wearing headphones on tracks in and around Dhaka.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Belgium Frenchman Marc Bertoldi (48) was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a spectacular $50 million diamond heist at Brussels airport on Feb. 18, 2013.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Belize authorities said a local guide, who was leading a Virginia doctor on a fishing trip when they were both fatally shot, might have been the target of gang hit in the country. Authorities found Gary Swank (53), a cardiologist at Virginia Tech's Carilion Clinic, and Mario Graniel (53) in a lagoon near the town of San Pedro earlier this week.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Britain's new target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 became law, making it the first among the major G7 countries to set such a goal.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Canada's flagship airline Air Canada announced that it has reached a deal to buy tour operator Transat for Can$520 million (US$396 million) in cash or Can$13 per share.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, China's Pres. Xi Jinping arrived in Osaka to attend the G20 summit that PM Shinzo Abe will chair over the next two days.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, The Organization of American States (OAS) began two days of meetings in Medellin, Colombia. Latin American leaders planned to seek to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and further isolate the embattled leader.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Congo DRC at least 36 artisanal miners were killed by a landslide at the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession, a copper and cobalt mine run by Glencore. The death toll soon rose to 43.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 27, Ethiopia's government said security forces have arrested more than 250 people in a sweeping crackdown following a failed suspected coup attempt and the assassination of five high-ranking officials.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 27, The European Union called on Italy to help find a swift resolution for the migrants aboard the charity ship Sea-Watch, which entered Italian waters in defiance of a ban from Rome.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Europeans braced for the expected peak of a sweltering heatwave that has sent temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), with schools in France closing and wildfires in Spain spinning out of control.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Germany two of three men charged with hundreds of counts of child sexual abuse over decades at a German campsite pleaded guilty as their trial opened.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, German federal prosecutors said police have made two more arrests related to the killing of a pro-migrant politician, allegedly by a far-right sympathizer.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Hong Kong protesters opposed to legislation they fear would reduce judicial independence rallied outside the Justice Department, as the territory's leader remained out of public view for a second week.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, A Hungarian court refused to extradite former Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski, who fled abroad last year after being sentenced to two years in prison on corruption-related charges. Gruevski was released from custody on the court's order.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Indonesia's constitutional court rejected a bid to overturn President Joko Widodo's election victory and dismissed his defeated challenger's claims of widespread voter fraud as groundless.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Israel clashes erupted in east Jerusalem after Israeli police shot and killed Mohammed Obeid (20) during demonstrations against police violence.
(SFC, 7/1/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 27, Lawmakers in Kyrgyzstan voted to lift the immunity of former president Almazbek Atambayev (62), paving the way for a prosecution that could provoke a political crisis in the fragile Central Asian state.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Lebanon hundreds of veterans burned tires and blocked highways to protest a pension tax and benefit cuts in a 2019 budget intended to slash the country's deficit.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Libya's UN-backed government took back a strategic town near Tripoli from commander Khalifa Hifter, whose forces have been fighting for the past three months to capture the country's capital.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Mauritania's government spokesman stepped down after defending a three-day communications blackout imposed during three days of post-election unrest. Fixed internet in the country was restored the next day. The mobile phone network that was disconnected June 23 remained down.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 27, The Dutch intelligence agency (AIVD) warned of the escalating threat of state-backed cyber espionage, saying the Netherlands was particularly vulnerable as a hub for international business, telecoms and human rights groups.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Pakistan called for stronger trade relations with Afghanistan and more cooperation on regional security as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani visited Islamabad, pledging renewed effort to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Russia said six beluga and two killer whales, captured to perform in aquariums and held in cramped pens, have been released into the wild.
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, The Serbian government decided to grant citizenship to Thailand's former PM Yingluck Shinawatra, citing a legal provision that "a foreign citizen can also be granted Serbian citizenship if that is in line with the country's interests".
(Reuters, 8/8/19)
2019 Jun 27, Sudan's security forces fired tear gas to disperse dozens of students demonstrating against the ruling military council at a financial academy in the heart of Khartoum.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Syria a bomb exploded in a car in Damascus, wounding the wife and son of a pro-government political analyst.
(AP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, In Tunisia double suicide attacks shook Tunis, even as the country was plunged into uncertainty with the hospitalization of President Beji Caid Essebsi who was said to be in "critical condition".
(AFP, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 27, Authorities in Vanuatu arrested six Chinese nationals following Chinese complaints they were operating an internet scam from the Pacific island.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 27, A court in Vietnam jailed Tran Cong Khai (56), a man who formerly worked as a lawyer, to eight years in prison on a charge of attempting to overthrow the state, just days after a US citizen got 12 years on a similar charge.
(Reuters, 6/27/19)
2019 Jun 28, The US special envoy for Iran said the United States will sanction any country that imports Iranian oil and there are no exemptions in place.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, A US federal judge prohibited President Donald Trump from tapping $2.5 billion in military funding to build high-priority segments of his prized border wall in California, Arizona and New Mexico.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, The United States imposed sanctions on Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra (29), the son of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for serving in his father's "illegitimate regime".
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, The US Treasury Dept. approved nearly $10 million in funds to complete a $15 million purchase of land west of Mount Shasta, Ca. The purchase secured access to a 17-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 28, The Trump administration revoked an Obama-era rule designed to terminate federal funding to for-profit college programs that consistently left graduates with high student debt. Education Sec. Betsy DeVos said department rules should be designed to support all students and treat all schools fairly.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A17)
2019 Jun 28, Jeffrey Bizzack (59) became the 51st person charged in the sweeping college admissions bribery scheme. He agreed to plead guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge to get his son into the Univ. of Southern California as a fake volleyball recruit.
(http://tinyurl.com/y2bmlasr)(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 28, Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis, a Republican, signed into law a bill that in effect denies more than a million ex-convicts the right to vote in the 2020 presidential election. Human rights groups sued Florida over the law.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Hawaii two US marshals led former Honolulu prosecutor Katherine Kealoha (48) out of a courtroom after a US judge ordered her detained. A day earlier a jury found Kealoha and her husband, former police chief Louis Kealoha (58) guilty of conspiracy and also determined they obstructed justice. The Kealohas faced another trial on bank fraud and identity theft charges involving allegations that she bilked relatives and children whose trusts she controlled.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Indiana a federal judge blocked a new state law that would ban a second-trimester abortion procedure.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A8)
2019 Jun 28, In Minnesota a medical helicopter crashed early today at Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport killing a nurse and pilot.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 28, In NYC thousands of people converged on the Stonewall Inn for the 50th anniversary of the rebellion that catalyzed a movement for LGBTQ liberation, marking the milestone with celebrity performances, speeches and personal reflections.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Virginia James Fields Jr. (22), the white supremacist who killed Heather Heyer with his car in 2017 in Charlottesville, was sentenced to life in prison.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 28, It was reported that Apple will manufacture a new version of its Mac Pro computer in China.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.D3)
2019 Jun 28, On Wall Street the IPO of RealReal, an online seller of 2nd hand luxury goods, closed at $29.80, up 44% from its $20 opening on Nasdaq.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.D1)
2019 Jun 28, In northern Afghanistan a bomb blast inside a mosque wounded at least 11 people in Aybak, Samangan province.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Vienna, Austria, senior officials from Iran and the remaining signatories to its 2015 nuclear deal met with the future of the accord under threat as Tehran was poised to surpass a uranium stockpile threshold.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Colombia members of the Organization of American States (OAS) ended two days of meetings without a clear plan for increasing pressure on embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, despite a majority vote to recognize a representative from the country's opposition. Specialists affiliated with the OAS said Venezuelans fleeing their nation's crisis should be granted refugee status.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 28, Authorities in Ethiopia arrested Christian Tadele, the spokesman of the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA), a political party which promotes the interests of the Amhara ethnic group.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, The EU signed a historic trade agreement with the four-nation South American bloc known as Mercosur. The agreement creates a market of 780 million people with the EU.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In France a video showed at least two officers spraying protesters at close range with cans of teargas during a protest in Paris by the "Extinction Rebellion" group over the government's environment policies.
(AFP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 28, The temperature in France surpassed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time on record as Europe sweltered in an early summer heatwave. Temperatures in the southern Gard region hit an all-time high of 45.9 degrees Celsius (114.62°F), hotter than in California's Death Valley, sparking scores of fires that burned 550 hectares of land and destroyed several homes and vehicles. At least two deaths linked to the heatwave were reported in Spain.
(AFP, 6/28/19)(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 28, Frenchman Jean-Claude Romand (65), who killed his parents, wife and children after pretending to be a successful doctor for two decades in a case that inspired a book and films, was released after 26 years in jail and immediately moved into a monastery.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Authorities in Germany said they have shut down Chemical Revolution, the country's largest online wholesaler of illegal drugs, and arrested 11 people as part of an international investigation into a drugs ring they said spanned five European countries and sold narcotics worldwide.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Hungarian police said a South Korean woman recovered from the Danube River has been identified as the 26th fatality of the May 29 crash between a tour boat and a cruise ship.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, It was reported that India's government has cut off advertisements to at least three major newspaper groups in a move that executives and an opposition leader said was likely retaliation for unfavorable reports.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In eastern India Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh state killed three paramilitary soldiers patrolling on motorbikes and a young girl who was riding in a passing bus.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Indonesia a Russian-made Mi-17 military helicopter carrying 12 people went missing in the country's troubled easternmost province of Papua. The missing bodies were found in February 2020.
(AP, 6/28/19)(SFC, 2/15/20, p.A2)
2019 Jun 28, Iran said it had formally lodged a complaint to the UN Security Council against the United States over a drone violating its airspace.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Israel said it has restored fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip's sole power plant and expanded the permitted fishing zone off the enclave's coast, easing some recent restrictions on the blockaded territory.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Japan a two-day G20 summit opened in Osaka. World leaders grappled with profound tensions over trade, globalization and the collapsing nuclear deal with Iran.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, A Japanese court ordered the government to pay 370 million yen ($3.4 million) in damages to the relatives of former leprosy patients over a segregation policy that severed family ties and caused long-lasting prejudice. The court ruled that the government failed to stop the segregation until 1996, decades after leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, became curable in the late 1940s.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Lesotho several thousand farmers marched to parliament to protest against regulations forcing them to sell their wool and mohair to a Chinese broker.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Spokesman Ahmed Mismari said eastern Libyan forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar will ban any commercial flights from Libya to Turkey and Turkish ships from docking in the country. Mismari also said his forces had lost 43 soldiers in the battle over the town of Gharyan which the Tripoli forces took on June 26.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, The New York Times reported that forces loyal to Libya's unity government had discovered four Javelin missiles at a base used by men under the command of Khalifa Haftar, who has waged a months-long offensive to take Tripoli. The newspaper said that markings on the US-made missiles indicated they had been sold to the United Arab Emirates in 2008.
(AFP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jun 28, A Norwegian man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the sexual abuse, including rape, of several hundred underage boys in what was described as the largest such case in the country's history.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Panama inaugurated a visitors' center to improve access to the colonial-era San Lorenzo Fort. Due to neglect it came to be placed on a UNESCO list of sites at risk. The fort was built in the late 16th century to defend the mouth of the Chagres River.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, In the southern Philippines two suspected Muslim militant suicide bombers attacked a military base killing three soldiers and two civilians in the Sulu archipelago, home to the Abu Sayyaf militant group. Nine others were wounded. Norman Lasuca (23), was later identified as one of the bombers. The other suicide attacker remained unidentified.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)(AP, 6/28/19)(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A4)(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jun 28, Qatar said the US has deployed F-22 stealth fighters in the country for the first time adding to a buildup of US forces in the Gulf amid tensions with Iran.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 28, Firefighters in northeastern Spain spent a 3rd day battling a wildfire as temperatures in the area reached 106 degrees F.
(SFC, 6/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Jun 28, In northwestern Syria nearly 100 combatants were killed in clashes between fighters loyal to Syria's government, rebels and jihadists. Bombing by the regime fighting in northern Hama province killed 51 government loyalists and allied militiamen, and 45 among the rebels and jihadists.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, Thai activist Sirawith Seritiwat, who opposes the military's role in politics, was assaulted and left unconscious in the second attack on him this month.
(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Turkey hundreds gathered at Istanbul's main court to support Canan Kaftancioglu, an opposition politician, who faces 17 years in prison for a series of tweets criticizing the government. She played a key role in the victory of the newly elected Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu this week.
(AFP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, The UN Security Council voted to beef up the mandate of the more than 16,000 peacekeeping mission in Mali to help tackle escalating violence.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 28, A new UN report said more than 7,500 children have been killed or wounded in Yemen in the past 5½ years.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 28, Western diplomatic sources said the United Arab Emirates, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, is scaling back its military presence there as worsening US-Iran tensions threaten security closer to home.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, The Vatican asked China's communist government to stop intimidating Catholic clergy who want to remain unequivocally loyal to the pope and refuse to sign ambiguous official registration forms. The Vatican instructed Catholic clergy in China to profess loyalty to Catholic doctrine when signing a document, required by a new Chinese law, which obliges them to accept the principle of a state-sanctioned Catholic church that doesn't recognize supreme papal authority to appoint bishops.
(Reuters, 6/28/19)(AP, 6/28/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Yemen airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels hit a house in the southwestern province of Taiz, killing at least seven people from one family.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, US Pres. Donald Trump arrived in Seoul ahead of a trip to the Demilitarized Zone the following day and a possible third meeting with the North's Kim Jong Un.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, US officials said an El Salvadoran man (43) who crossed into the US with his daughter collapsed at a border station in McAllen, Texas, and soon died at a hospital.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, Gary Duncan (b.1946), co-lead guitarist for the Quicksilver Messenger Service band, died ten days after suffering a fall at his home in Woodland, Ca.
(SFC, 7/5/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 29, In northern Afghanistan Taliban militants killed at least 26 members of a pro-government militia in Baghlan province. In the south Taliban insurgents killed eight election officials late today in a bomb attack in Kandahar province. The Taliban also attacked the police security cordon protecting Farah city, Farah province, killing four security officers. The Taliban also attacked army checkpoints in the Bala Buluk district of Farah province killing five and wounding seven others.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, In London four people were murdered in a bloody 28-hour period, including a heavily pregnant woman who was stabbed to death.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, Tons of Canadian garbage left in the Philippines for years arrived back home, putting an end to a festering diplomatic row that highlighted how Asian nations have grown tired of being the world's trash dump. The trash will be incinerated at a waste-to-energy facility.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an order for a prisoner amnesty, to mark the 70th anniversary on October 1 of the founding of the People's Republic of China, though many exceptions will apply. Nine categories of prisoner will be pardoned, including convicts who fought against the Japanese in World War Two.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In southern France hundreds of firefighters battled to contain wildfires as a stifling heatwave brought record-breaking temperatures to parts of Europe, killing at least three people in Italy.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In northern India customs officials in Punjab seized narcotics worth $390 million that were smuggled from neighboring Pakistan, in the country's largest seizure of illegal drugs.
(AP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 29, In western India a 4.5-meter (15-foot) high wall collapsed on a cluster of tin-roofed huts housing migrant workers and their families following heavy rains, killing at least 16 people in Pune, Maharashtra state.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Indonesian police arrested Para Wijayanto, a man believed to be the leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network, who has eluded capture since 2003. Counter-terrorism police also arrested at least four other suspects linked to Wijayanto, a student of Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.
(AP, 7/1/19)(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 29, The Italian government said a still-life painting (Vase of Flowers) by the Dutch master Jan van Huysum, which was looted by retreating Nazi troops in World War Two, will be returned to Florence. It was originally put on display in Florence in 1824 after it was bought by Grande Duke Leopoldo II for his art collection.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Italy Sea-Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete (31) was arrested for docking at Lampedusa without permission, despite threats of jail time, with a shipload of desperate migrants.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin announced new initiatives to further expand economic ties and tourist exchanges between the two nations, but have made no visible progress on a decades-long territorial dispute.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Japan President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping agreed to a cease-fire in their nations' yearlong trade war. Trump told the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at a G20 summit in Japan that building concentration camps to “re-educate" Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province was the right thing to do. This was made public by John Bolton in 2020 as he promoted a new book.
(AP, 6/29/19)(The Independent, 6/18/20)
2019 Jun 29, A brawl between Kazakh workers and their Arab colleagues in one of the country's largest oil fields left 30 people injured. The brawl was reportedly triggered after a Lebanese contractor posted a photo on WhatsApp featuring a Kazakh female colleague that many in the former Soviet nation saw as insulting. The injured engineers and workers included Lebanese, Jordanians and Palestinians.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Libya strongman Khalifa Haftar threatened to attack Turkish interests in Libya after suffering a serious setback in his push to take the capital Tripoli, accusing Ankara of backing his rivals.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Twenty mercenaries, deployed by Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince, bailed out of Libya by boat on an arduous 40-hour journey across the Mediterranean until they reached safety in Malta.
(NY Times, 2/19/21)
2019 Jun 29, Mexican immigration officials returned 81 migrants to Haiti after attending to "technical" considerations.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Mexico tens of thousands of people paraded through the streets of Mexico City to celebrate the capital's growing role as a beacon of tolerance for migrants fleeing persecution for their gender and sexuality.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, In central Mexico unidentified gunmen shot dead Israeli electronic music DJ Ronen Dahan (45), also known as Perplex, during an attack at a dance club in San Luis Potosi. Three other people were wounded and one later died of his injuries in a hospital.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, North Macedonia held its first Gay Pride march, in a test of the Balkan country's record on respecting minority rights as it seeks to join the EU.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Pakistan the bullet riddled body of Aftab Aurangzeb (19) was found late today at a river bank in his home town of Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistani police soon arrested Aurangzeb Akbar for murdering his transgender son.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Qatar a fresh round of talks between the US and the Taliban began in Doha, just days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington is hoping for an Afghan peace agreement before Sept. 1.
(AP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Saudi Arabia intercepted two Yemeni rebel drones. The first drone targeted the province of Jizan and the second was aimed at a residential area in Asir province.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Spain was hit by more wildfires as temperatures remained sky-high in the Europe-wide heatwave.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Swiss police in Geneva fired water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades at Cameroonian protesters outside UN headquarters as the crowd surged towards a luxury hotel hosting Cameroon's Pres. Paul Biya.
(AFP, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, Venezuela's government deported 59 Colombian citizens who had been "arbitrarily" detained there almost three years ago.
(Reuters, 6/29/19)
2019 Jun 29, In Venezuela Corvette Capt. Rafael Acosta died early today hours after his wife and lawyer said he had appeared in court in a wheelchair with signs of torture. Authorities late today confirmed the death. Opposition leaders and family members said he was tortured in custody after his detention on June 21 over alleged involvement in a coup plot against Pres. Nicolas Maduro.
(AP, 6/30/19)(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, US Pres. Donald Trump met with North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea becoming the first American president to set foot in North Korea. Trump announced that he and Kim had agreed to resume stalled talks on denuclearization in the coming weeks.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, US ambassador to Israel David Friedman and White House adviser Jason Greenblatt were among US officials attending an event organized by the City of David Foundation in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. They helped open what organizers say is an ancient pilgrimage road, now underground in a tunnel, leading to the second Jewish temple some 2,000 years ago. Palestinians and anti-occupation activists saw it as another attempt by Israel to cement its control over mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem.
(AFP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, The United States carried out a strike against al Qaeda in northwest Syria, calling the area a "safe haven" for the group to plot attacks overseas.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, Two people were killed as a result of an incident at Royal Dutch Shell's Auger Tension Leg Platform in the deep-water US Gulf of Mexico. The accident occurred morning during a routine and mandatory test of a lifeboat launch and retrieval capabilities at the platform.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Texas a small plane crashed into a hangar on takeoff at Addison Municipal airport near Dallas. All ten people aboard were killed.
(SFC, 7/1/19, p.A7)
2019 Jun 30, Voting in Albanian mayoral elections, that opposition parties are boycotting, began calmly after Western countries warned against violence.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Argentine cartoonist Guillermo Mordillo (86), who inspired much laughter and reflection with his illustrations of round-nosed and plumpish characters, died on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
(AP, 7/2/19)
2019 Jun 30, A judicial source said a Bahraini appeals court has overturned a decision to strip the citizenship of 92 Shiites jailed for plotting to form an Iran-linked "terror" group.
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Brazil thousands protested in support of Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who is battling claims he conspired with prosecutors on his anti-corruption drive to keep former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from another presidential run.
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, China promised to allow more foreign ownership of gas pipelines, call centers and some other businesses in the latest of a series of market-opening measures.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Police in Congo DRC dispersed hundreds of anti-government marchers in Kinshasa and a protester was shot dead in the eastern city of Goma after President Felix Tshisekedi, the son of opposition icon Etienne Tshisekedi, warned against "confusing democracy with anarchy".
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Hong Kong more than 50,000 people rallied in support of the police as the semi-autonomous territory braced for another day of protests on the anniversary of the former British colony's return to China. One woman (29) fell to her death from a shopping mall leaving a message that she wished for the protesters' success. Three apparent suicides were linked to the current protests.
(AP, 6/30/19)(SSFC, 7/7/19, p.A4)
2019 Jun 30, Indian PM Narendra Modi pushed for greater grassroots water conservation efforts amid concerns weak monsoon rains would push millions of drought-hit people to the edge and hammer agricultural production.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Israeli police clashed overnight with residents of a Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem, leaving at least 15 Palestinians and two officers wounded.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Israel demonstrations erupted after Solomon Teka (18), an Ethiopian-Israeli, was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer in a Haifa suburb.
(AP, 7/3/19)
2019 Jun 30, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe praised Saudi Arabia's efforts to reduce its dependence on oil and promised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Japan will help the kingdom with a sweeping reform plan.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Lebanon two aides of government minister Saleh al-Gharib were killed in a shooting in the Aley region.
(Reuters, 7/2/19)
2019 Jun 30, It was reported that hundreds of African migrants were held for months in western Libya in a hangar filled with maggot-covered garbage and sewage in Zintan. They shared a couple of buckets of water between them and barely survived on one meal a day. More than 20 died from disease and hunger.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In central Mali at least 23 people are dead and 300 missing after an attack on a village of Fulani herders, where communal violence has surged in recent month.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, In western Mexico drifts of hail from a freak storm partially buried tractor-trailers and cars in Guadalajara, bringing families out on to the streets to play in ice piled high despite the summer heat.
(Reuters, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, Pakistani counterterrorism forces raided a Taliban hideout, triggering a shootout that killed three insurgents in the eastern city of Gujrat.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, It was reported that two recent volcanic eruptions in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have forced 15,000 villagers in the country's northeast to flee their homes.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, In Sudan tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country calling for civilian rule nearly three months after the army forced out long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir. At least 11 people were killed in clashes with security forces as demonstrators demanded a transition to civilian rule.
(AP, 6/30/19)(AP, 7/1/19)
2019 Jun 30, It was reported that some 60,000 people considered "deviant" by the Swiss authorities were locked up over the course of the 20th century. The practice peaked in Switzerland in the 1930s but was still legal as late as 1981.
(AFP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Activists in Istanbul said Turkish authorities have banned a pride march for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights for the fifth year.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Uruguay's conservative opposition posted a big win in presidential primaries, firing a warning at the ruling coalition ahead of national elections in October as the South American nation grapples to revive economic growth.
(Reuters, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun 30, Vietnam and the European Union signed a free trade agreement in Hanoi, opening opportunities to further boost trade between the euro bloc and one of Southeast Asia's biggest manufacturing nations.
(AP, 6/30/19)
2019 Jun, In Utah investigations began to focus on white supremacist gangs including Soldiers of Aryan Culture, Silent Aryan Warriors and Nobel Elect Thugs, all with roots in the Utah prison system.
(SFC, 10/19/20, p.A4)
2019 Jun, In Japan Ishikawa Yumi submitted a petition to the government with 18,800 signatures calling for a ban on employers requiring women to wear high heel shoes.
(Econ, 4/11/20, p.28)
2019 Jun, In Tanzania Tundu Lissu, who survived an assassination attempt in September 2017 when he was shot 16 times by unknown gunmen, was dismissed from parliament over absenteeism and ethical issues. Lissu was initially treated for his wounds in Kenya but since January 2018 has been recuperating in Belgium.
(Reuters, 9/3/19)
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