An attack by a suicide bomber in a café attached to a hotel in Dhusamareb, Somalia, causes an indeterminate number of fatalities, including according to witnesses two MPs, Yusuf Mire Seerar and Abdiweli Sheik Mohamud. (Shabelle Media Network)
Norwegian world swimming champion and Olympic medalist Alexander Dale Oen dies at age 26 after suffering a cardiac arrest during a training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona. (BBC)
At least 20 people are killed in Cairo as unidentified attackers unleash rocks, clubs, firebombs and shotguns on a protest near the Egyptian Ministry of Defence. Police and the military intervene after six hours. (BBC)
The New York-based Human Rights Watch accuses Syrian forces of continuing their killing sprees in opposition areas even after peace talks began. (Al Jazeera)
Imprisoned journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega is awarded the PEN America's "Freedom to Write" annual prize for publishing articles critical of Ethiopia's human rights record. (BBC)
The News Corporation board expresses its "full confidence" in Rupert Murdoch following a UK government media committee's conclusion yesterday that Murdoch is "not a fit person" to run a major international business. (BBC)
Coroner Fiona Wilcox states that Secret Intelligence Service officer Gareth Williams was "on the balance of probabilities" unlawfully killed and that it is unlikely he found his way all by himself into the padlocked red sports bag in which his body was found in the bath at his home. (BBC)
A man, believed by the media (but not confirmed) to be J. T. Ready, a Neo-Nazi, and a member of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, is among five individuals in Gilbert, Arizona, found dead with gunshot wounds. It is unclear what role he may have played in the apparent shootings, and what precise type they were, but he is believed to have shot the others and then himself in a possible murder-suicide. (MSNBC)
Farhan Jeemis Abdulle, a Somali journalist and well-known local reporter for Radio Daljir is shot and killed by an unidentified gunman in Galkayo while walking to his home district of Garsor. Puntland authorities arrived on scene to investigate the killing but no arrests have been made. Abdulle is the fifth journalist to be murdered in Somalia this year, and the second in Galkayo. (Shabelle Media Network)
A 70-year-old widow, who is a mother of three and grandmother of five, makes her solemn vows as a Poor Clare contemplative nun in the town of Canals in Spain. (Catholic News Agency)
Disasters
At least 15 are killed and 21 are injured when a bus plunges into a ravine in a mountainous region of northern Pakistan. (AFP via The Telegraph)
Law and crime
Four dismembered bodies, including two of journalists, are found in the Mexican state of Veracruz. (CNN)
At least one person is killed and at least 373 others are wounded when armed forces fire water cannon, tear gas and rocks on demonstrators near Egypt's defence ministry in Cairo. (Al Jazeera)
Official figures indicate that at least 144 people were injured at an Armenian government campaign event in Yerevan's central square after an explosion during a political rally. (BBC)(Al Jazeera)
23 bodies—14 of them decapitated and 9 of them hanged from a bridge—are found in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo; those killed were reportedly members of the Gulf Cartel who were killed by Los Zetas, a rival cartel. (Yahoo! News)
A new study published in The Lancet finds that up to 90 per cent of school-leavers in Asia's major cities are suffering from myopia, or short-sightedness and that 10 to 20 per cent have high myopia, which can lead to blindness. (Al Jazeera)
The UK government is to launch a consultation process on introducing measures requiring internet users to opt in if they wish to view adult content. (BBC)
At least 14 people are killed at a fire at a drug rehabilitation centre in Lima. (BBC)(Al Jazeera)
At least 13 people are killed and dozens of others are declared missing as a result of a Nepalflash flood after a mountain river burst its banks. (BBC)
The Cambodian government closes an investigation into the shooting of anti-logging activist Chhut Vuthy and a military policeman after the arrest of a security guard. (Straits Times)
In Spanish soccer, Lionel Messi scores all the goals, including a Spanish league-record 50th goal, to take his season tally to an unprecedented 72 in the 4-0 defeat of rivals Espanyol. (AP via The Guardian)
Off the coast in the north of Peru hundreds of dolphins and more than 1,000 birds, mostly pelicans, die under unexplained circumstances. (BBC)(New York Times)
The CIA announces it had foiled a plot by Fahd al-Quso, a Yemeni affiliate of al-Qaida, to have a suicide bomber, using an improved version of the underwear bomb used by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in 2009, to blow up an American-bound airliner; no lives were ever at risk. (MSNBC)
Thaer Halahla, a Palestinian national on hunger strike for 71 days after being jailed by Israeli authorities, is transferred to a civilian hospital. (BBC)
The New York Court of Appeals, in The People v. James Kent, rules that merely viewing child pornography (or having a cache of it, as on a cell phone), despite its offensiveness, is not in itself illegal in the state, so long as one is not aware of the cache or did not download the images onto a drive in order to view them; state legislators have stated they will work to close those loopholes through formulation of legislation. Distribution, production, and purposeful possession would still be illegal.(Huffington Post)
Sleeping Girl, a picture by American pop artistRoy Lichtenstein, sells at auction for US$44.9 million, setting a new record for a Lichtenstein artwork. (BBC)
Figure Writing Reflected in a Mirror, a painting by Francis Bacon, sells at auction for US$44.9 million in New York. (RTÉ)
More than 30,000 police officers from across the UK protest against police reforms, budget cuts and pay cuts in the biggest demonstration by police officers ever held in England and Wales. (The Guardian)
Chinese tour companies suspend tourist flights to the Philippines amid rising tensions between the two countries over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. (BBC)
Syrian uprising: the death toll of the May 10 Damascusdouble bombing reaches 55, with as many as 370 reportedly injured. Syrian authorities claim that over 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) of explosives were used in the attacks. (Daily Mail)
An American study reveals that North Koreans have an increasing level of informal access to foreign media, despite the intense censorship efforts of the North Korean government. (BBC)
A panel of American health experts recommends formal approval of the Truvada anti-HIV drug for prescription to non-infected men who have sex with multiple male partners, a decision opposed by some health workers and groups active among those with HIV. (BBC)
American researchers report that preventable infections are the leading cause of child mortality worldwide. Of the 7.6 million children who died before their fifth birthday in 2010, over 60% died of infections such as pneumonia. (BBC)
Four NATO soldiers die in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan – two in a gun attack by insurgents, one in a roadside bombing, and one of non-combat injuries. (CNN)
Two Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are reportedly close to death, having refused to eat for 74 days. A further 1,600 prisoners have been on hunger strike since 17 April. Leaders of the strikers wait for a response from the Israeli Prison Service to calls for negotiation on issues such as the allowing of family visits for prisoners from Gaza and the ending of the use of extended solitary confinement. (Daily Telegraph)(Ha'aretz)
The discovery of a missing piece of the Mayan calendar appears to render the 2012 phenomenon obsolete, by proving that the Maya did not believe 2012 to be the end of the world. (WBRC)
Following American drone strikes against suspected militants in southern Yemen, at least 15 other militants are killed in a Yemeni Army offensive. (Al Jazeera)
Syrian uprising: At least 30 people die in a battle between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters in the town of Rastan. Reportedly, 23 of the dead are government soldiers. (Daily Telegraph)
Business and economy
An Air India pilots' strike enters its seventh day, with the airline cancelling 13 international flights. (NDTV)(BBC)
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes the Peruvian–Chilean border, causing power cuts but no serious immediate damage. No casualties have been reported. (AFP via Google)
Entertainment manager Louis Walsh seeks access to documents which allegedly show that Murdoch's tabloid The Sun paid €700 to a man who made, in a high profile case, what turned out to be a false sexual assault accusation against Walsh. The senior counsel for Walsh tells Ireland's High Court: "The Sun directed the operation to take out Louis Walsh as a public person." (Irish Independent)
Politics and elections
A fourth successive attempt by major Greek political parties to form a coalition government ends in failure. Another attempt is scheduled for May 15; if a coalition cannot be agreed, emergency elections must be held in June. (BBC)
Tens of thousands of people line the streets of Manchester in celebration of Manchester City's victory in the Premier League season finale – the team's first Premier League win since 1968. (BBC)
Syrian uprising: At least 20 civilians are killed in the Syrian province of Idlib after security forces open fire on a funeral procession. (BBC)
At least 44 people are killed amid a Yemeni government offensive to retake Zinjibar and Jaar from Islamist militants. Among the casualties are three soldiers and at least 11 civilians. (Trust.org via AP)
The combined economy of the 17 eurozone nations narrowly avoids a recession, largely due to relatively high economic growth in Germany. However, overall growth in the eurozone was zero in the first quarter of 2012. (The Daily Telegraph)
Crisis-wracked Greece is forced to hold new general elections, after efforts by major political parties to form a coalition government end in failure. (The Guardian)
American scientists develop a device which uses genetically-engineered viruses to generate electricity. The invention could allow the development of ubiquitous piezoelectric micro-generators which gather energy from everyday vibrations such as closing doors. (BBC)
Sport
Botswana's senior football players end a training strike, despite not having received their bonus entitlements from this year's Africa Cup of Nations. (BBC)
Cambodian police and soldiers clash with villagers after attempting to evict them from their land, where a Russian plantation project is to be headquartered. A teenage girl has reportedly been killed. (AP via The Jakarta Post)
The U.S. Senate confirmed two of the President's nominees to the Federal Reserve, bringing board membership up to the statutory complement of seven. This is the first time all seven seats have been filled in six years. (Reuters)
Masked gunmen kidnap and kill Marcos Antonio Avila Garcia, a journalist who often wrote about organized crime. His corpse was found inside a plastic bag in the Mexican city of Empalme. (Associated Press)
Three roadside bombs explode at an outdoor pet market in Baghdad, Iraq, killing five people. (CNN)
At least 20 people are killed in an explosion in a road tunnel being constructed in central China. (BBC)
At least two people are killed and 17 others are injured when a rally car plows through a crowd of spectators in the Var region of southern France. (BBC)(Al Jazeera)
International relations
Three protesters are arrested in a police raid ahead of this weekend's 60-nation NATO summit in the U.S. city of Chicago. (Al Jazeera)
Retired American psychiatrist Robert Spitzer apologises for his "fatally flawed" study, published in 2001, which falsely lent credence to the myth that gay people could be "cured". (The Guardian)
Dharun Ravi, the U.S. student who secretly filmed the sexual activities of his gay room-mate Tyler Clementi, who later committed suicide when the film was exposed, is sentenced to 30 days in prison by a New Jersey judge. Ravi avoids the maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment. (BBC)(Al Jazeera)
The Acting President of Mali, Dioncounda Traoré, is taken to hospital after an angry encounter with demonstrators who object to a deal for the 70-year-old to remain in office for a year. (BBC)
A military court in Lebanon releases anti-Syrian government activist Shadi al-Moulawi after his arrest sparked violent clashes that killed eight people. (Al Jazeera)
The trial begins in Mauritius of two hotel workers accused of murdering Irish woman Michaela McAreavey while she honeymooned on the island in 2011. (RTÉ)
Politics and elections
The Burmese government appeals for "understanding" after rare protests in Mandalay and Yangon over power shortages. (BBC)(VOA)
A car bomb exploded in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, injuring 10 police officers during the Mexican Drug War. The attack was believed to have been carried out by Los Zetas, one of Mexico's most powerful drug trafficking organizations. (CNN)
Dozens of women and children are killed in a massacre by the Syrian army in the town of Houla, Homs province, Syria during the ongoing Syrian uprising. (AFP)
The anime-oriented action animation TV block, Toonami, makes its return on Adult Swim after being canceled for four years following its 11 year run on Cartoon Network.
Reports are coming in that Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is to consider ending his 110-day hunger strike against the regime. (BBC)
Following the UN Committee Against Torture's condemnation of the Irish government's failure to acknowledge and assist former detainees of the country's Catholic-run Magdalene asylums, the Justice for Magdalenes campaign group announces its discovery that women were transferred from State-funded mother and baby homes to Magdalene laundries, where they were held against their will and without their children. (RTÉ)
The gallery which exhibited Brett Murray's controversial painting The Spear agrees to take down an image of the artwork from its website as thousands of people march in protest through the streets of Johannesburg. (Al Jazeera)
Four of Wall Street's market makers involved in Facebook's botched IPO are expecting losses from technical glitches to be around US$115 million. (Reuters)
Italian prime minister Mario Monti suggests that professional football in Italy should be suspended immediately after the latest match-fixing row to hit the country. (BBC)
It is announced that a UK concert by the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, Venezuela's premier youth orchestra, is to be live-streamed online on 23 and 26 June, after live tickets sold out eight months in advance. (The Guardian)
A gunman opens fire in the U.S. city of Seattle, killing three people and injuring two more before shooting himself. A fourth person is killed in a separate incident in the city before the suspected gunman in both incidents kills himself. (AP via Washington Post)(King 5)(Seattle Times)
Doctors in the United Kingdom agree to stage a day of industrial action on 21 June, the first such action by the British medical profession since 1975. The strike will lead to cancellations of routine medical appointments, but will not affect emergency care. (BBC)
Following the successful sequencing of the tomatogenome, scientists state that tastier and more pesticide-resistant tomato varieties can be engineered for commercial use within five years. (BBC)
Scientists report that supervolcanoes can develop much faster than previously suspected – erupting within just a few hundred years of their formation, instead of tens of thousands of years. (BBC)
A German engineer taken hostage by gunmen in Kano, Nigeria, in January is killed by his captors during a failed rescue operation by Nigerian forces. (BBC)
A nationwide strike against rising petrol prices closes shops and disrupts public transport in India, with the government facing widespread criticism over its economic management. (Al Jazeera)
After four days of negotiations with student leaders, the Quebec government pulls out of talks meant to end a mass student protest against tuition fees. Demonstrations have been ongoing since February 13, with more than 150,000 students on strike. (CBC)
