Portal:Current events/2016 April 4

Current events of April 4, 2016 (2016-04-04) (Monday)

Armed conflicts Boko Haram insurgency Nigeria's army says it has arrested Khalid al-Barnawi, a leader of the Boko Haram splinter group Ansaru. (Reuters) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present) More than 20 people have been killed in attacks targeting Shiite militias and government forces. (Reuters) Business and economy Alaska Airlines announces plans to acquire Virgin America for $4 billion. (Street Insider) Tax inversion The U.S. Treasury Department announces new regulations to curb tax-avoiding corporate inversions, i.e., where U.S. companies slash their tax bills by claiming a new tax home overseas, though their core operations and management remain in the United States. The pending $160 billion merger of Pfizer Inc. and Allergan, Plc could be cancelled because of these new rules. (CNN Money) (Reuters) Disasters and accidents 2016 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa flood At least 63 people are killed and over 30 are injured as flash floods ravage Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and other parts of northwest Pakistan. (Al Jazeera) Five people are killed when a tourist helicopter crashes in the American town of Sevierville, Tennessee. (Fox News) Health and medicine Mexico City authorities declare a pollution alert after smog rose to 1.5 times acceptable limits the day before implementation of the City's new, temporary air quality program that will keep one-fifth of the city's cars at home every weekday. (AP) International relations China–Vietnam relations Vietnam seizes a Chinese fishing vessel for intruding in its waters and tows the vessel to the port of Hai Phong. (AP) European migrant crisis Greece starts deporting migrants to Turkey. (BBC) Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia–Azerbaijan relations Armenia will recognize the independence of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from Azerbaijan if military actions there continue, according to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Azerbaijan has resorted to an "unprecedented provocation along the entire perimeter of the contact line" with Nagorno-Karabakh, Sargsyan told a meeting with ambassadors from member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, referring to the latest flare-up of the conflict. (Reuters) North Korea and weapons of mass destruction, North Korea–United States relations North Korea threatens a genocide against the United States of America. (News.com.au) Law and crime South Korea announces plans to reduce the amount of immigrants entering the country illegally. (Yonhap) The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules the one person, one vote requirement may be satisfied by drawing election districts based on the total population of a place, turning down a legal effort to reinterpret the rule that it be based only on the number of people eligible to vote. (The Washington Post) (The Atlantic) The Supreme Court decided two cases where businesses appealed the previous rulings, finding for the plaintiffs in both. The Court upheld a more than $150 million class action judgment on Walmart's treatment of workers in Pennsylvania, and upheld a $203 million judgment against Wells Fargo over allegations the bank imposed excessive overdraft fees. (Reuters via CNBC) Politics and elections Panama Papers Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson refuses to resign after leaked "Panama Papers" tax documents showed he and his wife used an offshore firm to allegedly hide million-dollar investments. "I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter," Gunnlaugsson told Icelandic television Channel 2. (AFP via Times Live) The President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev signs a presidential decree officially recognizing March 17, March 24, and April 7 as public holidays for Kyrgyzstan. The dates are meant to commemorate the days of Kyrgyzstan's massive anti-government revolts. On March 17, 2002, during anti-government protests in the Aksy District, police killed four protesters, while March 24 and April 7 commemorate the Tulip Revolution of 2006 and the Second Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010, respectively. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Republic of the Congo presidential election, 2016 Fighting erupts between unknown assailants and police in the southern part of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, after a disputed Presidential election that brought Denis Sassou Nguesso back to power for a third term. The reason for the clashes is not immediately clear but they have taken place in districts where support for the opposition is strong. The government blames the violence on the Ninjas, a militant group active during the Second Republic of the Congo Civil War. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) Mehbooba Mufti, leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, becomes Jammu and Kashmir's first female Chief Minister. (The Guardian) United Nations Secretary-General selection, 2016 Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark is running for Secretary-General of the United Nations, to succeed Ban Ki-moon whose second term expires at the end of this year. Clark, who is the first non-European and fourth woman among the eight announced candidates, was prime minister for nine years (1999–2008) and has been Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme since April 2009. The United Nations Trusteeship Council will begin preliminary meetings with candidates next week in New York City. (The Guardian) (AP via The Washington Post) Sport Basketball 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game In American college basketball, the Villanova Wildcats defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels 77–74. (NBC Sports) The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announces its 2016 induction class, consisting of 10 individuals who will formally enter the Hall on September 9. Zelmo Beaty, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, Cumberland Posey, Sheryl Swoopes, and Yao Ming will be inducted as players, Tom Izzo and John McLendon as coaches, Jerry Reinsdorf as a contributor, and Darell Garretson as a referee. (Hall of Fame press release)