Portal:Current events/2018 May 11
May 11, 2018 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2018 Gaza border protests
- The Israel Defense Forces again open fire with tear gas and live ammunition on Palestinian protesters, following 6 weeks of protests. One person is killed and 146 others wounded, with some protesters throwing stones and burning tyres. (The Independent)
- Three Israelis are arrested after filming themselves attempting to fly a kite carrying an incendiary device into the Gaza Strip, in reference to the same tactic used by protestors in Gaza. The kite crashes on Israeli territory where it starts a small fire. (Haaretz)
- Egypt announces that the Rafah Crossing into Gaza will be opened for four days starting next Saturday. Egypt usually opens the border for humanitarian reasons every two or three months for two or three days at a time. (Wafa.ps)
Disasters and accidents
- The owner of Cheeki Rafiki, a yacht that capsized in the Atlantic in 2014 with the loss of four lives, is given a suspended sentence in England for the accident. He was earlier convicted of operating the vessel unsafely but acquitted of manslaughter. (BBC)
- Mount Merapi in Java, Indonesia, erupts. Authorities order evacuations and the closure of Adisucipto Airport in Yogyakarta. (Newshub)
- A fire destroys almost all of the approximately 710 commercial premises of an important market in Lima, Peru. The fire is exacerbated by flammable products stored in many of the stores. One person was injured and also there were allegations of looting. (La República) (Radio Capital)
Health and environment
- James Harrison, an 81-year-old Australian whose blood was used in the development of a treatment for Rh disease that has been credited with saving the lives of over 2 million infants in his country alone, donates blood plasma for the final time, after having regularly donated for over 60 years. (CNN)
Law and crime
- Terrorism in Russia
- Russian authorities say that they foiled a plot by Siberian terrorists to attack a Victory Day march attended by President Vladimir Putin and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Twenty suspects are detained. (The Times of Israel)
- Foreign fighters in the Syrian and Iraqi Civil Wars
- Conservative MP Candice Bergen calls for action on Abu Huzaifa al-Kanadi, a man living in Toronto who claimed to have shot a Sunni prisoner in the head for the Islamic State in Syria. (The Star)
- Osmington shooting
- Three adults and four children are found shot dead at a property in Margaret River, Western Australia. Police suspect murder-suicide. (The Guardian)
Politics and elections
- The Supreme Court of the Philippines votes 8–6 to grant the quo warranto petition by the Solicitor General against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, removing her from office for violating requirements on the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. (Rappler)
- Polish MPs vote to vote to cut their pay by 20% after opposition lawmakers boycott the vote. (Deutsche Welle)
Science and technology
- 2018 in spaceflight
- SpaceX launches Bangabandhu-1, Bangladesh's first geostationary communications satellite, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States. (Business Insider)
- Scientists at MetService record a wave measuring 23.8 metres (78 ft) high in the Southern Ocean near Campbell Island, New Zealand, making it the largest wave ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. (BBC) (Fox News)