Portal:Current events/2016 May 2

Current events of May 2, 2016 (2016-05-02) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
  • Three bombings in and around Baghdad kill at least 14, including Shiite pilgrims, and injure more than 30. (Reuters via Trust) (Washington Post) (Reuters)
• War in Somalia, War on Terror
  • The first of seventy British military personnel arrive in Somalia to help combat the threat of Islamist militants. The remaining troops will join the United Nations peacekeepers and AMISOM soldiers in countering Al-Shabaab later on this year. This deployment is part of a greater effort by the United Kingdom to target terrorism. (The Guardian)
• Syrian Civil War
  • Syrian Army troops surround the central prison in Hama after inmates revolted, seizing several guards. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says inmates were protesting against a planned transfer of prisoners from Hama to Sednaya Prison near Damascus. (Reuters)
  • American-led intervention in Syria, Military intervention against ISIL
    • Artillery shelling and drone attacks by the U.S.-led coalition strike Islamic State positions in Syria, according to Turkish authorities, killing 63 militants and destroying multiple rocket launcher and gun positions. (AP)

Business and economy

• The Philippines stock market suffers the biggest drop since February amid uncertainty about the upcoming elections. (Bloomberg)
• Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Steven Wright claims he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of the Bitcoin currency. There are about 15.5 million bitcoins in circulation. However, questions have been raised as to authenticity of his assertion. (The Economist) (BBC) (The Economist²) (AP via The Charlotte Observer)
• Puerto Rican government-debt crisis
  • Puerto Rico defaults on a $422 million debt payment. The Governor of Puerto Rico Alejandro García Padilla calls the situation a "humanitarian crisis". This is the third time Puerto Rico has defaulted on bond payments. (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

• The bodies of mountaineer Alex Lowe and photographer David Bridges are found on the Himalayan mountain Shishapangma after being buried in an avalanche in 1999. (The Guardian)

International relations

• Moldova–United States relations
  • About 200 U.S. troops arrive in Moldova from Romania for planned military exercises with the Moldovan military which will last until May 20. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• Russia–United States relations
  • United States Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John M. Richardson says Russian jets in the Baltics buzzing a U.S. military ship and planes are escalating tension between the two nations. Richardson added he doesn't think the Russians are trying to provoke an incident but these actions increase the chance of a "tactical miscalculation." (AP via CBS News)
• European migrant crisis, EU-Turkey relations
  • On Wednesday, the European Union will propose relaxing visa requirements for Turks as a reward for having reduced the flood of refugees and migrants into Europe. (Reuters) (BBC)

Law and crime

• Papua conflict
  • Police in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua arrest scores of protesters as planned demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the incorporation of the region with Indonesia were to take place today. (Radio New Zealand)

• Honduran authorities arrest four men in the March 3 home invasion killing of Goldman Environmental Prize-winning environmental activist Berta Cáceres. One of the suspects was an active duty army officer while the others worked for Desarrollos Energeticos SA, whose hydroelectric project Cáceres had opposed since 2006. The four also face charges on the attempted murder of Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro Soto, who was injured in the attack. (AP) (The Guardian)
• A United Nations arbitration court rules India must allow an Italian marine, facing charges of murdering two fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012, to return home pending the Permanent Court of Arbitration's decision over jurisdiction. The suspect, who will remain under the authority of the Supreme Court of India, has been staying in the Italian embassy in New Delhi; his co-defendant returned to Italy with health problems in 2014. (Reuters) (The Times of India) (Firstpost)

Politics and elections

• Philippine presidential election, 2016
  • The Catholic Church in the Philippines urges voters to reject Rodrigo Duterte. (Manila Standard)
• A Somali asylum seeker sets herself alight in Nauru to protest her detention on the island by Australia, one week after an Iranian asylum seeker did the same thing. (BBC)
• President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro orders clocks in the country to move forward by a half hour from UTC−04:30 to UTC−04:00 in order to save electricity as Venezuela faces an increasing electricity shortage. While gaining a half hour of sunlight, this means Venezuelans will now lose a half hour of sleep. (The Guardian)
• Spanish general election, 2016
  • Spanish politicians fail to meet a deadline to form a government after last year's election so Felipe VI of Spain must dissolve the parliament and call a new election for June 26. (AP via ABC News America)

Science and technology

• Discoveries of exoplanets
  • Researchers report in the journal Nature the discovery of three potentially habitable, Earth-like exoplanets orbiting TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. (CNN) (The Atlantic) (Nature)

Sport

• 2015–16 Premier League
  • Following a 2-2 draw between Chelsea F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C. at Stamford Bridge, Leicester City F.C. are confirmed as champions of the Premier League for the first time in their history. Leicester City were 5000-1 outsiders at the beginning of the season. (Sky Sports), (BBC)
• 2016 World Snooker Championship
  • Mark Selby wins the 2016 World Snooker Championship. (BBC)