Portal:Current events/2018 April 29

• 2018 Gaza border protests
  • The Israel Defense Forces arrest a suspected Hamas member caught tampering with equipment at the Karni Crossing on the Israeli-Gazan border. (Haaretz)
  • An Israeli military officer states IDF snipers are targeting the legs of protestors and deaths are largely the unintentional result of protestors bending over, missing shots, and the subsequent rounds ricocheting from intended targets. (Haaretz)
  • A Palestinian youth is shot and injured at the border near al-Awdeh after approaching the border fence. (W.A.F.A.)
  • In response to a Yesh Din petition to the Israeli High Court calling for a ban on the use of live rounds to prevent protestors breaching the border fence, the Israeli government says its rules of engagement meet local and international law, that intelligence used to justify decisions will be submitted to the court, and that the protests are considered part of the ongoing conflict with Hamas. (Ynetnews)
  • Amnesty International makes a fresh call for an arms embargo against Israel, claiming "malicious tactics" and "murderous" attacks on Gazan civilians justify one. (The Jerusalem Post)
• Syrian Civil War, American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  • The Syrian Army, along with what is believed to be Iranian-backed militias, took control villages east of the Euphrates river near the city of Deir ez-Zor that were under the control by Kurdish-led forces in a rare clash with the Syrian Democratic Forces. The territory was later recaptured by U.S.-backed forces in a counter-attack spearheaded by the YPG with help from U.S.-led coalition jets that took off from American bases in northern Syria. The U.S. military says in a statement that the "coalition used established deconfliction channels to de-escalate the situation". (Reuters)
  • Syrian state media, Syrian Arab News Agency, reports missile strikes have targeted military sites in the Hama Governorate and Aleppo Governorate. It is unclear who carried out the strikes. (Xinhuanet)

• T-Mobile US and Sprint agree to merge in a deal valued at US$146 billion. The merger is subject to approval from regulators. (USA Today)

• A truck collides with a bus in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, India, killing at least seven people with at least 25 more injured. (Xinhua)
• A fire in a circuit board factory in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, kills seven people including five firefighters. It is the city's third major industrial fire this year. (The New Indian Express)

• 2017–18 North Korea crisis
  • South Korean officials say that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stated during his summit meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would close the country's Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site in May. (SCMP)
  • South Korea stated that Kim is willing to give up his nuclear weapons if the United States vows not to attack. (ABC News)
• Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
  • The leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany and France agree on their support for the Iran nuclear deal as the best way to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons. (The Hill)
  • United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States will quit the agreement if its "flaws" can't be fixed. (Bloomberg)
  • A member of Iran's Expediency Council calls on the European Union, Russia and China to support the deal and guarantee economic and banking relations with Iran. He warns that Iran would likely exit the deal if it doesn't benefit Iran. (Tehran Times)

• In Newport, Wales McCauley Cox drove his car into a crowd outside a nightclub and intentionally hit and injured 4 people before he fled the scene. He claimed he was trying to stop a fight but was found guilty and sentenced for causing grievous bodily harm with intent, causing serious injury through dangerous driving and causing actual bodily harm. Teens Benjamin Thomas and Callum Banton pleaded guilty to affray for their part in starting the brawl which preceded the attack. (South Wales Argus)
• A bomb explodes outside the Arun III Hydroelectric Power Plant in Tumlingtar, Nepal. No group claimed credit for the attack. The plant was codeveloped with India and is due to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi within weeks. (The New Indian Express)
• The Central Criminal Court in Baghdad, Iraq, sentences nineteen Russian women, six Azerbaijani women, and four Tajikistani women to life in prison for membership to ISIL. (The Sunday Times)
• The Israel Defense Forces detain one of two Lebanese shepherds who they say crossed the United Nations-patrolled border between the two nations. Lebanon calls the detention an "abduction". The IDF says the female shepherd, detained in the disputed Shebaa region, was quickly repatriated. (The Jerusalem Post)
• A police operation in nine commercial premises of the district of La Victoria, in Lima, Peru, managed to seize two tons of pharmaceutical and natural products with an expired shelf life, without sanitary registration, and allegedly falsified. The police officers in charge of this raid on informed that now they will continue to find the whereabouts of all the people involved in the commercialization of this merchandise. (Perú 21)

• Amber Rudd resigns as the United Kingdom's Home Secretary amid controversy over the threatened deportation of Windrush generation immigrants. (BBC)

• Brazil surfer Rodrigo Koxa breaks the record for the largest wave ever surfed. The wave occurred off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal and measured 24.4 meters (80 feet). (BBC)