Portal:Current events/2020 April 19

April 19, 2020 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2020 Nova Scotia attacks
- A killing spree occurs in the small coastal town of Portapique, near Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada. At least 17 people are dead, including the perpetrator and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, making it the deadliest rampage in Canadian history. (CBC News) (Associated Press)
Second Libyan Civil War, 2019–20 Western Libya offensive, Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War
- Turkish-backed GNA forces advance on the key town of Tarhuna in the Murqub District, capturing dozens of Khalifa Haftar loyalists and several vehicles after overrunning a Libyan National Army military camp. (Al Jazeera)
April 2020 Katsina attacks
- Gunmen raid multiple villages in Nigeria's Katsina State, killing at least 47 people, according to police. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
- Warsaw commemorates the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, but memorial observances were moved to the internet due to the COVID-19 crisis. (SFGate)
On Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis speaks at Santo Spirito in Sassia and warns about being struck by a worse virus of forgetting the poor and of “selfish indifference.” (Crux) (NC Register) (America)

Health and environment

International relations

Iran–United States relations
- The Iranian Revolutionary Guards announces it has increased patrols of the Persian Gulf following a confrontation between its Navy and the U.S.'s on Wednesday, and warns that "any error in calculation on [a foreign vessel's] part will receive a decisive response". (Reuters)
China–Vietnam relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns China's decision yesterday to establish administrative districts in the disputed Paracel and Spratly Islands, saying it violates Vietnam's sovereignty. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Censorship in Turkey
- Turkey blocks access to the websites of Saudi Press Agency and Emirates News Agency in response to Saudi Arabia blocking access to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency a few days ago. (Al Jazeera)
Corruption in Israel, COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
- Over 2,000 Israelis protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of endangering democracy in the country and using the coronavirus crisis to escape prosecution on corruption charges. (ABC News)
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
- Unrest breaks out in Paris, Berlin, and in Vladikavkaz as people oppose lockdowns. (The Guardian) (Sky News)

Politics and elections

2020 Malian parliamentary election
- Malians head to the polls in a second round of voting to elect a new National Assembly. The election has been mired in controversy over fears of the coronavirus spreading at polling stations, threats of Islamist violence, and the kidnapping of opposition politician Soumaïla Cissé. (Voice of America)
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Presumptive nominee Joe Biden wins the mail-in Wyoming caucuses. (CBS News)