Portal:Current events/2015 May 31

Current events of May 31, 2015 (2015-05-31) (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks Sinai insurgency Egyptian security officials report that militants have blown up a natural gas pipeline leading to Israel outside El-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai. That pipeline was attacked at least 20 times in the last 5 years. (AP via KFox) Libyan Civil War (2014–present) A suicide bomber strikes a checkpoint near the city of Misrata causing several deaths. (Reuters via LBC) Boko Haram A bomb explodes at a market place in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri killing at least four people. (Channel STV) Disasters and accidents 2015 Indian heat wave The death toll from the heat wave reaches 2,100 with intense heat to continue until Monday. (NHK) April 2015 Nepal earthquake Thousands of schools open in Nepal after the devastating earthquake of April 2015 which destroyed more than 25,000 classrooms and killed more than 8,000 people. (BBC) International relations Russia announces that it will join the People's Republic of China in naval drills in the South China Sea in May 2016. (RT) Russian Su-24 attack aircraft intercept the US destroyer Ross in the Black Sea at the edge of Russian territorial waters. (Reuters) John Kerry, the United States Secretary of State, is taken to hospital in Switzerland with a broken leg following a cycling accident in the nearby French town of Scionzier. Kerry had been in Geneva negotiating with the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. (BBC), (NBC News) Qatar agrees to temporarily extend travel bans on five senior Taliban leaders released last year from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for releasing American sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. (AP via Yahoo! News) Law and crime One man is dead and two are detained after an incident at Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel which is currently hosting a high-level international dialogue over the South China Sea. (Straits-Times) Politics and elections Key sections of the Patriot Act expire at midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) due to failure of the United States Senate to agree to an extension. It is highly likely that USA Freedom Act will be passed soon, but the bulk collection of domestic telephone data by the National Security Agency is expected to end. (Time), (USA Today) The East African Community calls on Burundi to postpone its presidential election due to unrest sparked by the decision by President Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third term. (AP) Sport 2015 Giro d'Italia In cycling, Alberto Contador of Spain wins his second Giro d'Italia. (BBC)