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Digest year-ender for international stories for month of April, 2019

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Press Trust of India New Delhi

Apr 1: Kathmandu: A freak storm battered several places in Southern Nepal on Sunday, killing 31 people and injuring 600 others as high speed winds tore down houses, flipped vehicles and toppled trees and electricity poles.

Apr 2: Washington: India shooting down of one of its own satellites was a "terrible thing" as it created about 400 pieces of orbital debris, the chief of NASA has said, warning that the risk of debris colliding with the International Space Station has risen by 44 per cent since the Indian anti-satellite weapon test.

Apr 3: Washington: The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopters to India at an estimated cost of USD 2.6 billion, the State Department has announced, boosting the Indian Navy's anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare operations as China expands its presence in the Indian Ocean.

 

Apr 4: Dubai: The UAE Thursday announced it will honour Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the prestigious Zayed Medal for playing a "pivotal role" in giving a "big boost" to the bilateral strategic ties.

Apr 5: Washington: David Malpass, a top US Treasury official in Trump administration, was Friday unanimously selected as the new president of the World Bank.

Apr 6: Washington: The arrest of Indians trying to sneak into America has dropped by a whopping 56 per cent due to the construction of a concrete wall along the US-Mexico border in California, a top official has told President Donald Trump.

Apr 7: Washington: India charges America over 100 per cent tariffs on a large number of products while the US imposes nothing on the similar or same items, President Donald Trump has said, urging his administration to work on the "stupid trade".

Apr 8: Washington: The US on Monday designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organisation, an unprecedented declaration against a foreign government that may prompt retaliation and make it harder for American diplomats and military officers to work with allies in the region.

Apr 9: Islamabad: Pakistan cabinet on Tuesday approved the construction of a railway station at the Sikh holy city of Nankana Sahib in Punjab and decided to name it after the faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev.

Apr 10: London: Theresa May on Wednesday described the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar as a "shameful scar" on British Indian history but stopped short of a formal apology sought by a cross-section of Parliament in previous debates.

Apr 11: London: A UK court on Thursday found Julian Assange guilty on the charge of breaching his bail conditions after the Wikileaks co-founder was arrested by Scotland Yard officers from his Ecuador Embassy hideout in London as the South American country withdrew the asylum granted to him.

Apr 13: Khartoum, Apr 13 (AFP) Sudan's second new military leader in as many days vowed Saturday to 'uproot' deposed president Omar al-Bashir's regime and release protesters, in a bid to placate demonstrators demanding civilian rule.

Apr 14: Tripoli: Fighting near Tripoli has killed 121 people since strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive earlier this month to take the Libyan capital, the World Health Organisation said Sunday.

Apr 15: Paris: A colossal fire swept through the famed Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on Monday, causing a spire to collapse and threatening to destroy the entire masterpiece and its precious artworks.

Apr 17: Jerusalem: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday formally handed Benjamin Netanyahu his letter of appointment to start building a coalition government following last week's general election.

Apr 18: Washington: Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 US presidential polls, according to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe which did not find any evidence that members of the Trump campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Moscow, Attorney General William Barr said on Thursday.

Apr 19: Washington: US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed unfavorable testimony in the Mueller report on Russian election interference as "fabricated" and labelled the document "crazy."

Apr 21: Colombo: A string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing 215 people, including three Indians, and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE.

Apr 22: Washington: In a move that could have implications on India's energy security, US President Donald Trump on Monday decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, further squeezing Tehran's top export commodity.

Apr 23: Durban: The death toll from floods and mudslides that crushed homes in the South African port of Durban on Tuesday has risen to 33, with reports of children missing and scores of people displaced, authorities said.

Apr 25: Tokyo: Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn emerged from his Tokyo detention centre in the late hours of Thursday after accepting bail of USD 4.5 million under strict conditions including restrictions on seeing his wife.

Apr 27: Beijing: China's high-profile 2nd Belt and Road Forum ended Saturday with the signing of deals worth USD 64 billion and affirming respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity towards Beijing's trillion-dollar BRI projects, a key demand of India.

Apr 28: Beijing: China and Pakistan firmed up their cooperation under the USD 60 billion CPEC by signing a host of agreements on Sunday, including upgradation of a Karachi-Peshawar railway line, launching of second phase of the Free Trade Agreement and establishment of a dry port.

Apr 29: Karachi: Pakistan on Monday released 55 Indian fishermen and five civilians as a "goodwill gesture" amidst tension between the two countries after the Pulwama terror attack, according to a media report.

Apr 30: Caracas: Venezuela's self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido claimed Tuesday that troops had joined his campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro, whose government vowed to put down what it called an attempted coup by the US-backed opposition leader.

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First Published: Dec 31 2019 | 3:45 PM IST

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