Marathon Monday,  April 21st, 2025 

In long-distance running, Kenyan road runner John Korir wins the men’s competition at the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:04:45 which, along with his brother Wesley Korir‘s win in 2012, makes them the first and only set of brothers to win the event. Fellow Kenyan athlete Sharon Lokedi wins the women’s competition with a time of 2:17:22 and sets the new course record, surpassing Buzunesh Deba‘s record in 2014.  (CBS News) 

Following Pope Francis’s death, cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Camerlengo, becomes the acting head of Vatican City until the next papal conclave in May. (NPR) 

The Camerlengo announces that Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has died at the age of 88 years old early on Easter Monday. (Euronews)  

The perpetrator of the racially motivated shooting that killed 23 people and injured 22 others at a Walmart building in El Paso, Texas, United States, in 2019, 26-year-old Patrick Wood Crusius, pleads guilty to state charges and is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole to avoid the death penalty. (USA Today) 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announces that the Trump administration is ready to abandon diplomatic efforts and “move on” if it is not possible to end the war in “a matter of days”. (CNN) 

U.S. federal authorities charge a student at Boston’s University of Massachusetts with unlawful possession of a destructive device and malicious damage by fire after the student is arrested for setting fire to two Tesla Cybertrucks and damaging charging stations in Kansas City. (The Independent) 

U.S. authorities arrest a man in Colorado Springs for his “Declaration of War” threatening Elon Musk, Tesla owners, and members of Donald Trump’s cabinet. The declaration, sent to various media outlets, detailed specific attack methods and aimed at Musk’s elimination. (CBS News) 

At least 178 people are arrested in Pakistan after over 10 group attacks on KFC restaurants occur during protests against United States support for Israel in the Gaza war, with one employee shot dead. (Al Jazeera)

At least one person, the perpetrator, is killed and six others are injured, in an arson attack when a man sets fire to an apartment building with a flamethrower in Bongcheon-dong, Seoul, South Korea. (Yonhap) 

The rebel Houthis group claims that twelve people are killed and thirty others are injured in airstrikes on a market and a residential zone in Farwa District, Sanaa, Yemen. (Le Monde) 

The South Sudan People’s Defence Forces capture the town of Nasir in Upper Nile State from the Nuer White Army. (Reuters) 

Sunday, April 20th, 2025 

The death toll from drownings during the week across Australia increases to seven after a fisherman was killed after being swept off rocks near Sydney. Three people remain missing and one other was injured. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) 

The death toll of the capsized Hong Hai 16 off Occidental Mindoro, Philippines, rises to nine. Two others are still missing. (Manila Bulletin) 

Hugo Calderano of Brazil wins the Table Tennis World Cup over Lin Shidong by 4–1 sets, becoming the first athlete from the Americas to win the competition. (CNN Brazil) 

Three people are killed and ten others are injured, including one critically and four firefighters, in a large house fire in Jamaica Estates, Queens, New York, United States. (WABC-TV)

Saturday, April 19th, 2025 

The death toll from clashes between cattle herders and farmers earlier this week in Benue State, central Nigeria, rises to 56. (Barron’s) 

Four people are killed when a Cessna 180 Skywagon aircraft clips powerlines and crashes into a field southwest of Coles County Memorial Airport in Trilla, Illinois, United States. (WCIA) 

The death toll of the capsized Hong Hai 16 sand barge four days ago off Occidental Mindoro, Philippines, rises to seven. Four others are still missing. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) 

Two people are killed and three others are rescued after two vehicles are swept off a road during flooding in southeast Moore, Oklahoma, United States. (KWTV-DT) 

Four executives at a company building the State Audit Office skyscraper in Bangkok, Thailand, are arrested on suspicion of breaching the Foreign Business Act. (CTV News) 

A tavern owner is killed and four others are injured in a mass shooting during a live music performance at a tavern in Marble Hall, Limpopo, South Africa. No arrests were made. (SABC) 

Seven people are killed when a passenger jeepney on a family tour crashes into a roadside canal in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines. (Xinhua)

Three people, including a lay minister, are killed and seventeen others are injured when a car driven by an Indian national driving under the influence hits a tricycle and crashes into a procession in Bacolod, Philippines. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) 

Friday,  April 18th, 2025 

The Houthis say that American airstrikes targeted the Ras Isa port in Yemen, killing 74 people and wounding 171 others. This marks the single-deadliest known attack under President Donald Trump’s new campaign targeting the Houthis. (AP) 

One man is killed in Karachi, Pakistan, after a mob of radical Islamists belonging to Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan attack the Ahmadiyya community after Friday prayer. (DW) 

The death toll of the fire and capsizing of the wooden boat HB Kongolo on the Congo River in Democratic Republic of the Congo three days ago rises to 148. Hundreds of others remain missing. (Reuters) 

At least three people are killed when a small plane crashes into the Platte River in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. (KLKN) 

The death toll of the capsized Hong Hai 16 sand barge three days ago off Occidental Mindoro, Philippines, rises to six. Five others are still missing. (GMA) 

The End

Wednesday, April 16th, 2025

Luxury Ants

https://apnews.com/article/garden-ants-kenya-smugglers-belgians-vietnamese-624f12ae80e0d66a87f03966079efbc1

Spanish Civil Guard arrest two Russian citizens in Manacor, Mallorca, for alleged breeding and sales of exotic cats, and recover a caracal, two servals, and sixteen felid hybrids. (DW) 

China and Vietnam sign 45 agreements, including deals on rail links and supply chains, during President Xi Jinping‘s state visit to Vietnam as part of his broader tour across Southeast Asia in response to tariffs imposed by the United States. Vietnam also approves jet purchases from China, with China’s Comac signing a deal with Vietjet. (Reuters) 

China orders its airlines to stop taking deliveries of jets from American aviation company Boeing and to suspend purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from U.S. companies. (NDTV) 

4chan is hacked and goes offline, with the website’s source code and the usernames, IP addresses, and email addresses of its staff leaked by far-right imageboard Soyjak.party. (Dailydot) (Cybernews) (MSN) 

A doctor is arrested in Germany for killing fifteen patients between 2021 and 2024 in Berlin. He is also accused of trying to cover up the evidence by starting fires in their homes. (AP) 

The leader of the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, announces the establishment of the Government of Peace and Unity, a rival government to the country’s armed forces. (BBC News) 

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom rules that legal gender is based upon biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. (BBC) 

Authorities recover the remains of a Filipino crew member from the sand barge that capsized off Occidental Mindoro, Philippines, yesterday, bringing the total death toll to two. Nine others are reportedly still missing. (GMA News) 

Tuesday,  April 15th, 2025 

At least 3,747 people are hospitalized with breathing difficulties and airports are closed after a dust storm in Iraq. (France 24) 

Four Russian journalists linked to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are convicted of extremism and sentenced to five years and six months imprisonment in a penal colony. (CNN) 

Ukrainian military leader Volodymyr Artyukh is fired from his position as Sumy Oblast Governor following condemnation for organizing a military ceremony in the densely populated Sumy city center, which was later targeted by a Russian airstrike. (The Kyiv Independent) 

A Chinese crew member is killed when Chinese sand barge vessel M/V Hong Hai 16 capsizes off Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. A search and rescue operation is launched by the Philippine Coast Guard for missing crew members, which includes seven Filipinos and three Chinese. (The Philippine Star) 

The European Commission approves the use of Lecanemab, a monoclonal antibody medication that targets amyloid beta peptides, to treat the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease via intravenous therapy. This is the first drug to be approved to treat the disease in Europe, and was approved by the Federal Drug Administration in the United States in 2023. (DW) 

The European Union and its member states pledge €522 million (US$590 million) and the United Kingdom pledges £120 million (US$141 million) in humanitarian aid to Sudan to deliver food and supplies to over 650,000 internally displaced Sudanese people affected by the fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces. The two groups also call for an immediate ceasefire to end the war. (DW) (AP) 

France expels twelve Algerian diplomatic officials from the country after Algeria expelled twelve French officials yesterday over the arrest of an Algerian consular official in a kidnapping case. France also recalls its ambassador from Algiers. (AP) 

According to a report by the International Maritime Bureau, piracy has risen by almost 35% in 2025 with 45 cases in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2024, particularly in the Singapore Strait between Singapore and Indonesia. (DW) (Seatrade Maritime News) 

A court in Lima, Peru, sentences former president Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia to 15 years in prison for laundering funds from Brazilian company Odebrecht to finance his 2006 and 2011 presidential campaigns.  (BBC News) 

At least three Balochistan Police officers are killed and 16 others are injured when a roadside bomb hits a bus carrying police personnel in Mastung District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (DW) 

Four people are injured in a vehicle-ramming attack after a person drives a sedan onto a pedestrian walkway on the Toronto Metropolitan University campus near Yonge Street and Gerrard Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (CBC News) 

At least four students are injured in a school mass shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School in Dallas, Texas, United States. (BNO News) 

The Parliament of the Maldives votes in favor of an amendment to the Immigration Act, banning the entry into Maldives for those traveling on Israeli passports. (The Edition) 

Monday,  April 14th, 2025 

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Julian, California, United States. The earthquake, felt throughout Southern California and Baja California, caused several rockslides on California State Route 76 and the demolition of an office façade in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico due to risk of collapse caused by earthquake. (The San Diego Union-Tribune) (La Jornada) 

President Donald Trump suggests deporting United States citizens to the controversial Terrorism Confinement Center prison in El Salvador, despite the unconstitutionality of the proposal. (NBC News) 

According to official data, the population of Japanese citizens dropped to a record low of 120.3 million by October 2024, following a 14-year trend of record lows and the largest drop since records began in 1950. (DW) (Government of Japan) 

Blue Origin NS-31 A Blue Origin New Shepard launch vehicle makes a brief sub-orbital spaceflight, carrying six female space tourists, marking the first all-female spacecraft since 1963’s Vostok 6 which had Valentina Tereshkova as the pilot and the spacecraft’s solo passenger. (NPR)

President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto tours the Middle East to seek support from the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, and Jordan for his proposed plan to temporarily evacuate 1,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Indonesia. (Indonesia Business Post) 

The European Union announces a €1.6 billion (US$1.8 billion) three-year financial support package for Palestinians aiming to “stabilize” Gaza and the West Bank. (DW) 

The United Kingdom sends £752 million ($990 million) to Ukraine for the purchase of surface-to-air missiles, artillery and spare parts for fighter aircraft, as part of an international loan programme funded primarily through seized Russian financial assets. (Reuters) 

At least 51 people are killed in escalating clashes between rival herders in Plateau State, Nigeria, while another 2,000 people are displaced, according to Amnesty International. (Reuters) 

The Hellenic Coast Guard finds two bodies and 39 survivors when a boat carrying migrants capsizes off the coast of Farmakonisi in the Dodecanese islands of Greece. (Greek City Times) 

A court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, along with the Anti-Corruption Commission, issues an arrest warrant for Tulip Siddiq, a United Kingdom MP who is the niece of ousted former leader Sheikh Hasina, for corruption allegations. Siddiq has rebuked the arrest warrant and called it a “smear campaign” against her. (DW) (BBC News) 

The Hungarian government passes several constitutional changes that affect LGBTQ rights, including a provisional law that says people can only be male or female and codifying a law that bans LGBTQ events, including Budapest Pride. (DW) 

President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto tours the Middle East to seek support from the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan for his proposed plan to temporarily evacuate 1,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Indonesia. (Indonesia Business Post) 

The End

Sunday, April 13th, 2025 

American spree killer Mikal Mahdi, who killed three people, including an off-duty police officer, in July 2004, is executed by firing squad at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina. (NBC News) 

An American teen follower of the Order of Nine Angles previously charged with killing his parents is also accused of plotting to assassinate U.S. president Donald Trump. (NBC News) 

Three prison officers sustain life-threatening injuries in a mass stabbing and burn attack when Hashem Abedi, the brother of Islamic terrorist Salman Abedi, the perpetrator of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, attacks prison officers at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham, England, with hot cooking oil and shivs. (BBC News) 

During Palm Sunday, two Russian Iskander-M ballistic missiles carrying cluster munitions strike the centre of Sumy, Ukraine, killing at least 34 people and wounding 117 others. (BBC News) 

Israel destroys part of the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City, the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital, which is managed by the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem. No direct casualties are reported, but one child has died due to interrupted medical care. (BBC News) (PCHR Gaza) 

Eight people are killed and a dozen others are injured after a roadside bomb suspected to be planted by Islamic extremists hits a bus on the Damboa-Maiduguri highway in Borno State, Nigeria. (Associated Press) 

Five people are killed and twelve others are injured in a fire at a hostel in the Polish town of Pszów. (TVN24) 

Six people are injured, including two critically, and twenty-four homes are damaged after a two-story house exploded in Austin, Texas, United States. (Austin American-Statesman) 

The Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence is targeted in an arson attack. Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated safely and the fire was extinguished. A suspect was later arrested and charged with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person. (NBC News) (CTV News) 

Gabon’s military leader Brice Oligui Nguema wins the presidential election with more than 90% of the vote. (BBC News) 

Incumbent president Daniel Noboa wins reelection for a full term in a rematch against Luisa González. (CNN) 

Saturday, April 12th, 2025 

U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration exempts smartphones and computers from all “reciprocal” tariffs, including the base 10% on all countries and the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller states that a separate 20% tariff on Chinese imports remains in effect for the products. (BBC News) 

Iran and the United States, represented by foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and special envoy Steve Witkoff, hold their first round of indirect talks in Muscat, Oman, and agree to continue the negotiations. (The Jerusalem Post) 

A Ukrainian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon is shot down by a S-400 missile during combat operations against Russian forces, with the pilot killed in action. (Defense Mirror) 

The Israel Defense Forces announces the completion of the Morag Corridor, completely cutting off the city of Rafah from the rest of the Gaza Strip and effectively turning it into an Israeli security zone. (Al Jazeera) 

At least 100 people, including 20 children, are killed in Rapid Support Forces attacks on Al-Fashir and two nearby displacement camps in North Darfur, Sudan, according to the United Nations. (Hindustan Times) 

The British government passes emergency legislation to control some management decisions at British Steel in order to prevent the closure of the Jingye Group-owned Scunthorpe Steelworks. (BBC News) 

A Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft en route from Westchester County Airport to Columbia County Airport crashes into a field in Copake, New York, United States, killing all six occupants onboard. (NBC News) 

Friday,  April 11th, 2025 

U.S. president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his third visit to Russia in the lasts months, reportedly to discuss a “Ukrainian settlement” and a future meeting between Donald Trump and Putin. (CBS News) 

Recovery operations conclude at the site of the collapsed Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with 221 fatalities reported. (Diario Libre) (Boston Globe) 

Indonesia indicates that it is ready to temporarily accept the “first wave” of around 1,000 Palestinian evacuees from the Gaza Strip until conditions improve. (Haaretz) (Tempo) 

A bomb explodes outside the offices of Greece’s main railway company Hellenic Train in Athens, Greece. No casualties were reported. (CTV News) 

China increases its tariffs on U.S. imports from 84% to 125% in response to U.S. duties on Chinese goods of 145%. (Reuters) 

China states that it will not respond to any further U.S. tariff increases, as U.S. goods have already been priced out of the Chinese market by existing tariffs, but may still impose other economic measures. (CNBC) 

Three people are killed when a Mooney M20 crashes in the Cherokee National Forest near Reliance, Tennessee, United States. The Federal Aviation Authority and National Transportation Safety Board are currently investigating the crash. (WRCB) 

An agreement is signed by top security officials from Panama and the U.S. allowing U.S. military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities. (France24) 

The U.S. president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss settlement options for the Russo-Ukrainian war and a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Putin. (CBS News) 

The U.S. terminates the temporary protected status of Afghan and Cameroonian nationals. (BBC) 

Twenty-six-year-old Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves is sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment for her part in a people smuggling operation that killed 16 and injured two Cuban undocumented migrants in a shipwreck in South Florida, United States, on November 16, 2024. (CTV News) 

China states that it will not respond to any further U.S. tariff increases, as U.S. goods have already been priced out of the Chinese market by existing tariffs, but may still impose other economic measures. (CNBC) 

The Italian government sends 40 asylum seekers to an internment camp in Albania after their asylum applications were rejected, preparing them to be deported. Migrants can be held for a maximum of 18 months under Italian law. (DW) 

China increases its tariffs on U.S. imports from 84% to 125% in response to U.S. duties on Chinese goods of 145%. (Reuters) 

A Cessna 310 crashes into Interstate 95 near Boca Raton Airport in Boca Raton, Florida, United States, killing all three occupants of the plane and injuring one other on the ground. (Boca News Now) 

The End