Portal:Current events/2019 April 17

April 17, 2019 (Wednesday)

edithistorywatch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russian military intervention in Ukraine
- The Security Service of Ukraine claims to have 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 21 April. (Daily Express)

Arts and culture

French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announces an architectural competition to redesign and rebuild the spire of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral after it was destroyed by fire. (ABC News) (MassLive)

Business and economy

Singapore's non-oil exports slumped in March, according to numbers released by Enterprise Singapore. This was the biggest year-on-year monthly drop since October 2016. The slump in the export of electronics was especially marked. (The Strait Times)

Disasters and accidents

2019 Madeira bus crash
- At least 29 people, all German tourists, are killed in a bus crash in Caniço, Madeira Islands. (BBC)

Law and crime

Operation Car Wash § Peru
- Former Peruvian President Alan García dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The incident happened moments after judicial authorities had served him with an arrest warrant on corruption charges. (CNN) (Infobae)
Schools in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area are closed as the FBI searched for an 18-year-old Miami Beach Senior High School student described as "infatuated" with the Columbine High School massacre. She traveled to Colorado and purchased a shotgun and ammunition upon arriving, and was deemed a "credible threat" to area schools. She was later confirmed dead. (CNN) (NBC News) (The New York Times)
Moroccan authorities arrest a jihadist preparing to commit a terrorist attack in Seville, Spain, during the Holy Week processions. (El País)
Aftermath of the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état
- Former President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir is transferred from house arrest to a maximum security prison, reports say. His whereabouts had been unknown since the coup against him earlier this month. Al-Bashir has been wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2009 for war crimes in Darfur. (BBC)
2019 Guatemalan general election
- Presidential candidate Mario Estrada [es] is captured in the United States because of his alleged connections with the international drug trafficking Sinaloa Cartel. The United States Department of Justice says in a statement that Estrada had requested the murder of political rivals to win the presidency in exchange for granting control of airports and ports in the country to these groups. The presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 16. (Prensa Libre)
A man carrying lighters, canisters filled with gasoline and lighter fluid is arrested at New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral. (The Hill)

Politics and elections

2019 Indonesian general election
- Voters in Indonesia go to the polls to elect members of the parliament, the President and Vice President. (The Guardian)

Science and technology

Yale University researchers led by professor Nenad Sestan announce, through the Nature journal, that they successfully partly revived the brains of deceased pigs, four hours after death occurred. However, there were no signals from the brains that would indicate awareness or consciousness. (NPR)