Portal:Current events
(Redirected from Portal:Current events/Background articles for ongoing events)
Topics in the news
Lawrence Wong
- In the Singaporean general election, the People's Action Party, led by Lawrence Wong (pictured), retains a supermajority of seats.
- The Australian Labor Party increases its majority in the federal election.
- In Trinidad and Tobago, the United National Congress wins a majority in the general election.
- In Canada, the Liberal Party wins the most seats in the federal election.
May 5, 2025 (Monday)
International relations
- Palestine—Vatican City relations
- The Vatican announces that it will be converting and donating the Popemobile into a mobile health clinic for the Gaza Strip, Palestine, in accordance with one of Pope Francis’ final wishes. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Law and crime
- U.S. president Donald Trump announces the reopening of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco which closed in 1963 and operates as a public museum. (AP News)
May 4, 2025 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Red Sea crisis
- 2025 Houthi attack on Tel Aviv airport
- A hypersonic missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen hits near Ben Gurion International Airport in Central District, Israel, injuring eight people. (Reuters) (The Telegraph)
- 2025 Houthi attack on Tel Aviv airport
- Sudanese Civil War
- The Rapid Support Forces launch drone attacks on Port Sudan's international civilian and military airport. Drones also hit an ammunition depot at Osman Digna Air Base, causing damage but no casualties. (Al Jazeera)
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- U.S. president Donald Trump announces he will introduce 100% tariffs on foreign films. (The Guardian)
Disasters and accidents
- Port of Shahid Rajaee explosion
- The casualty figure from the explosion at the Port of Shahid Rajaee in Hormozgan province, Iran, is revised by the judiciary of Iran to 57 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries. Two people, including a government official, are arrested in connection with the explosion. (Arab News)
- Sinking of the Bayesian
- Marine salvage experts begin operations to recover the superyacht Bayesian which sank in August 2024 killing seven people, including British billionaire tech magnate Mike Lynch and members of his family, while fifteen others were rescued. (CTV News)
- Ten people are killed and 60 others are hospitalized after two passenger boats carrying around seventy people capsize on the Wu River near Qianxi, Guizhou, China. (Barron's) (CTV News) (SCMP)
- At least three people are killed, fifteen others are injured, including children, and several apartments are destroyed in a gas explosion at an apartment block in Moscow, Russia. (UNN) (News.AZ)
- Two people are killed and four others are injured after a car crashes into an entrance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila, Philippines. The driver of the car is in police custody. (AP) (Reuters) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Law and crime
- Two people are arrested after planning to carry out attacks with improvised explosive devices at Lady Gaga's concert with more than two million attendees on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to gain notoriety on social media. The suspects spread hate speech, mainly against children, adolescents and the LGBTQIA+ community. (BBC News)
- Five people, including four Iranian citizens, are arrested for planning to carry out a terrorist attack at a single location in London, United Kingdom. Separately, three other Iranian men are arrested in London on suspicion of a national security offense as part of an unrelated investigation. (CTV News)
- Thirteen gold mine security guards that were abducted in an ambush last month in Pataz province, Peru, are found dead. (CTV News)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Romanian presidential election
- The first round of the Romanian presidential election is held with eleven candidates on the ballot. George Simion leads the first round with 40% of the vote. As no candidate has won over 50% of the vote, a run-off between the first two candidates will be held on May 18. (BBC News)
May 3, 2025 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Four people are injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike that struck an apartment building on Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The mayor of Novorossiysk declares a state of emergency following the strikes. (Ukrainska Pravda) (Al Arabiya)
- The Ukrainian intelligence directorate claims it has shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet using a MAGURA naval drone over the Black Sea. (The Kyiv Independent)
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Gaza war
- Gaza war hostage crisis
- Hamas releases a video allegedly showing Israeli hostage Maxim Hirkin, who was abducted during the Nova music festival massacre in 2023, alive. (Reuters) (Haaretz)
- Gaza war hostage crisis
- South Sudanese Civil War
- At least seven people are killed and 25 others are injured in an airstrike on a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières in Old Fangak, Fangak County, South Sudan. (Al Jazeera English) (CTV News) (BBC News)
Business and economy
- Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett announces that he will step down as CEO by the end of the year at the company's annual shareholder meeting. Greg Abel will take over as CEO, pending board approval. (CNN)
Disasters and accidents
- Six people are killed and about 80 others are injured, including five critically, in a crowd crush during a Hindu temple festival in North Goa district, Goa, India. (Al Jazeera English)
Law and crime
- Corruption in Brazil
- Brazilian social security minister Carlos Lupi resigns after police announce a corruption scandal which alleges he defrauded pensioners of $1.1 billion. Federal police say that the National Social Security Institute made unauthorised deductions from payments made to millions of pensioners over the past decade. (BBC)
- A woman is killed in Thessaloniki, Greece, after a bomb she was carrying explodes in her hands, also damaging several nearby storefronts and vehicles. The bomb was possibly intended to be placed outside a nearby bank. (AP News)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Australian federal election
- The Australian Labor Party under current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese increases its majority in the House of Representatives, winning a second term. (ABC News Australia).
- 2025 South Korean presidential election
- Former Labor Minister Kim Moon Soo wins the presidential nomination of South Korea's main conservative party, People Power. (AP News)
- 2025 Singaporean general election
- Singaporeans vote to elect 92 out of 97 members of the Parliament of Singapore across 32 of the 33 constituencies in the general election. (CNA) (The Straits Times)
- The People’s Action Party wins the election, receiving 65.57% of the vote. (CNN)
- Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé is sworn-in as President of the Council of Ministers. Following constitutional reform that introduced a parliamentary system, this new post becomes the highest office in the government's executive branch. (BBC)
- Over 20,000 Hefazat-e-Islam protesters rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to denounce proposed legislation that would provide equal rights for Muslim women such as inheritance law, a ban on polygamy, and recognition of sex workers as laborers, which they allege oppose Sharia law. (AP) (DW)
Sports
- 2025 Kentucky Derby
- In thoroughbred racing, Sovereignty ridden by Junior Alvarado wins the 151st Kentucky Derby in a upset over Journalism ridden by Umberto Rispoli. (Courier Journal)
May 2, 2025 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war
- Gaza Freedom Flotilla incident
- A Gaza-bound activist humanitarian aid ship, part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, catches fire and issues an SOS after what its organizers alleged was an Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta in international waters. (CNN)
- Gaza Freedom Flotilla incident
- Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war
Arts and culture
- Rust is released theatrically in the United States, three and a half years after a fatal on-set shooting accident occurred involving members of the cast and crew, including cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, director Joel Souza, and lead actor Alec Baldwin. (The New York Times)
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- China–United States trade war
- The Trump administration terminates the de minimis tariff exemption for some imports shipped directly to consumers. Online shops such as Shein and Temu adjust prices, while Temu also announces a shipping pause to the United States. (The New York Times) (BBC)
- China–United States trade war
Disasters and accidents
- Seven people, including six Italian and Chinese nationals, are killed and at least sixteen others are injured, some severely, when a truck and a van collide and catch fire on U.S. Route 20 near Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, United States. (NBC News) (CBS News)
Health and environment
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 216 children have died this flu season in the United States, making it the deadliest since the 2009 swine flu pandemic. (CNN)
Law and crime
- Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration
- The United States Department of Defense designates a second area on the Mexico–United States border, attached to the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, as a military zone to enforce immigration laws. (AP News)
- Gang war in Haiti, Haiti–United States relations
- The United States Department of State designates the Viv Ansanm coalition and the Gran Grif gang as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. (NBC News)
Politics and elections
- Freedom of the press in the United States
- US President Donald Trump signs an executive order calling for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop directly funding NPR and PBS, and for government agencies to stop indirectly funding these public broadcasters. (CNN)
- The German Constitution protection office designates the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a right-wing extremist organization. The AfD came second in the 2025 German federal election after winning 20.8% of the vote for a record 152 seats in the Bundestag. (BBC News)
May 1, 2025 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war
- Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war
- 2025 massacres of Syrian Druze, Southern Syria clashes
- The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reports that nine field executions were conducted against members of the Syrian Druze community amid an outbreak of sectarian clashes. Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri characterizes the killings as part of a "genocidal campaign". (Arab News) (SOHR)
- Israeli Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif appeals to Israel to intervene against ongoing massacres. (The Jerusalem Post)
- 2025 massacres of Syrian Druze, Southern Syria clashes
- Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Odesa strikes
- An overnight Russian drone attack on Odesa, Ukraine, kills two people and injures 15 others. High-rise apartments, residential homes, a supermarket and a school were among those targeted, according to Governor of Odesa Oblast Oleh Kiper. (Reuters)
- Odesa strikes
Business and economy
- Ukraine–United States relations
- The United States and Ukraine sign the Ukraine–United States Mineral Resources Agreement to share profits from the future sales of Ukraine's mineral and energy reserves. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- At least ten people are killed while 37 others are injured in a multiple-vehicle collision at a toll plaza of the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway in Tarlac City, Philippines. (GMA Integrated News) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- The bodies of three South African police officers who had been missing for six days are found in the Hennops River. (BBC News)
Health and environment
- 2025 Southwest United States measles outbreak
- North America's three largest measles outbreaks continue to expand, with over 2,500 confirmed cases. There have been three fatalities in the United States and one in Mexico. The outbreaks began in Ontario, Canada, then surged in Texas and New Mexico, and have quickly escalated in Chihuahua, Mexico. (AP News)
- The world's oldest person, Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, dies at the age of 116 years and 326 days. The new oldest living person is British supercentenarian Ethel Caterham, who is the last person born in the 1900s decade, the last living subject of King Edward VII, and the oldest British person ever. (BBC News) (The Telegraph)
International relations
- North Korea–Russia relations
- North Korea and Russia announce the construction of their first road link, a bridge over the Tumen River. The bridge will be a kilometer long, and will enhance cross-border travel, tourism, and the circulation of commodities. (AP News)
Law and crime
- 2024 South Korean martial law
- The prosecutors of South Korea indict former president Yoon Suk-yeol of abuse of authority after he declared martial law in December 2024. (DW)
- Epic Games v. Apple
- A U.S. district judge finds that Apple willfully violated an injunction in a case brought by Epic Games. The injunction was supposed to block Apple from anti-competitive conduct and pricing, opening the App Store up to outside payment options. (BBC News)
- United States government group chat leaks
- In the wake of the Signalgate scandal, Mike Waltz and Alex Nelson Wong resign as U.S. National Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor respectively, marking the first resignations during the second Trump administration. U.S. President Donald Trump later nominates Waltz as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. (CBS News)
- M23 campaign (2022–present)
- Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo request the Senate to lift the immunity of former President Joseph Kabila to face trial on charges of supporting a rebel uprising. The Justice Minister alleged that there is was evidence implicating him in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and massacres of peaceful civilians and military personnel. (BBC News)
- Kenyan parliament member Charles Ong'ondo is shot to death in Nairobi by unknown gunmen on a motorcycle in an apparent assassination. (BBC News)
- The Supreme Court of Korea overturns the acquittal judgement of Democratic Party presidential candidate and former leader Lee Jae-myung over violation of election law. The court orders the case to be sent back to Seoul High Court. (NBC News)
- United States District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. rules that US President Donald Trump cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants, deeming the previous use of this power as having been improperly invoked. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2025 South Korean presidential election
- Acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo resigns, indicating a possible run in the upcoming presidential election. (Yonhap)
- Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, the next person in the presidential line of succession, resigns a few hours later. (Yonhap)
- 2025 United Kingdom local elections
- The United Kingdom holds local elections, as well as a parliamentary by-election in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency. (BBC News)
Sports
- The Football Association bans transgender women from women's football in England starting 1 June after amending its eligibility criteria. (BBC Sport)
April 30, 2025 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Red Sea crisis
- US–UK airstrikes on Yemen
- The Royal Air Force launches airstrikes on buildings they claimed were used by the Houthis to manufacture drones south of Sanaa, Yemen. (CTV News)
- US–UK airstrikes on Yemen
- Puntland–Somaliland dispute
- Las Anod conflict, Puntland–Somaliland prisoner exchange
- Puntland releases fifteen prisoners of war in exchange for Somaliland releasing eleven combatants captured during the conflict in the contested Sool region. This is the second prisoner exchange of prisoners captured during the conflict in Las Anod. (Hiiraan Online) (Horn Observer)
- Las Anod conflict, Puntland–Somaliland prisoner exchange
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- North Korean involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- South Korean intelligence claims North Korean troops have suffered around 4,700 casualties, including about 600 fatalities among 15,000 soldiers. Their combat capability has also significantly improved, with increasing proficiency in new weapons such as drones. (CBC News)
- North Korean involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Colombian conflict
- The Colombian government says fifteen police officers and twelve soldiers have been killed over the past two weeks in targeted attacks by the Gulf Clan cartel and other armed groups. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Israel fires
- Wildfires rage out of control in at least 100 different locations throughout Israel and the West Bank, prompting the Israeli government to declare a state of emergency and forcing evacuations near Jerusalem. At least 40 people are reportedly injured due to the fires. (CNN)
Law and crime
- Belarus–United States relations
- An American citizen detained in Belarus after being accused of being part of a US-backed coup to oust Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is released from the country. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirms the release. (KCRA)
International relations
- Foreign relations of Taiwan, Somaliland–Taiwan relations
- Amid strengthening ties between Taiwan and Somaliland, the Somali government bans Taiwanese passport holders from Somalia, citing UN Resolution 2758 and the One China policy. Taiwan lodges a protest with Somalia and claims China instigated the ban. (BBC News) (Reuters)
- New Zealand–Philippines relations
April 29, 2025 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Kashmir conflict
- 2025 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
- Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says that India intends to launch a military strike on Pakistan within the next 24 to 36 hours. (Reuters)
- 2025 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
- Rif Dimashq clashes (April 2025–present)
- Gunmen reported to be aligned with the Syrian government engage in fatal clashes with armed Druze combatants in the Druze-majority city of Jaramana in southern Syria. At least 13 people are killed, and 12 others are injured. (Al Jazeera) (CTV News)
- Boko Haram insurgency
- At least 26 people are killed when a truck hits a roadside bomb in Borno State, Nigeria. (Al Jazeera)
- A 38-year-old man suspected of seriously injuring two women on Saturday in a shooting and crossbow attack on the Otley Run pub crawl in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, succumbs to a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the hospital. It is confirmed that the perpetrator's motive was misogyny. (BBC News)
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Liaoning Liaoyang Hotel Fire
- Three people are killed and over 400000 lose power due to severe storms in Western Pennsylvania, United States. (CBS)
- Three people are killed and two others are injured when scaffolding collapses at a developing liquefied natural gas plant in Port Arthur, Texas, United States. (Times Now)
- Fifteen people are killed, including two children, and thirteen others are injured in a fire at a hotel in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. (Business Standard) (The Telegraph)
- Eighteen Russians are injured in a bus crash in Side, Turkey. (Telegrafi)
Law and crime
- Jalisco extermination camp
- Alejandro Gertz Manero, Attorney General of Mexico, concluded that the Izaguirre Ranch was used by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a recruitment camp between 2021 and 2024, but found no evidence that it served as an extermination site. (AP)
- Three people are killed in a shooting at a hair salon in Uppsala, Sweden, with the perpetrator still at large. (BBC News)
- Three people are killed and two others are seriously injured in a mass shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Minnesota Public Radio)
Politics and elections
- President of Russia Vladimir Putin signs a decree restoring the "Stalingrad" name to the Volgograd Airport. (Reuters)
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