Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Djibouti’s government announced longtime President Ismail Omar Guelleh has overwhelmingly won a fifth term, based on early results
- AMERICAS: U.S President Joe Biden has ordered a study on reforming the Supreme Court, creating a bipartisan commission that will spend the next six months examining the politically incendiary issues of expanding the court instituting term limits for justices, among other topics.
- ASIA: Authorities in Western Australia were asking residents of its Mid-West coast to find safe shelter or leave on Saturday as cyclone Seroja barreled towards a coastal region that is usually too far south to fall in the path of cyclones.
- EUROPE: Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov, who was found dead in 2018, was strangled in his home in southwest London by an unidentified person, a British coroner has ruled.
- MIDDLE EAST: The first round of talks between top diplomats to try to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) concluded in Vienna and will be resumed next week, with participants sounding cautious optimism about the progress made so far.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: YouTube has removed a video featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over allegations it contains misinformation about COVID-19 and mask-wearing.
Top Story
- United Kingdom: The nation reacts to the death of Prince Philip at the age of ninety-nine.
- The duke will not have a state funeral, and there will be no lying-in-state, in line with his wishes, the government announced.
- Gun salutes will be fired across Britain to mark Prince Philip’s death as tributes flooded in for a man who was the companion of Queen Elizabeth during her 69-year reign.
- U.S President Joe Biden has paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, and sent condolences to Queen Elizabeth II, saying ‘He was a heck of a guy,’
- The royal families of Denmark, Monaco, the Netherlands, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates sent messages to the queen; other world leaders, including Australia’s Scott Morrison, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, India’s Narendra Modi, and Canada’s Justin Trudeau, also expressed their sadness.
- Reporting: BBC, Reuters, The Guardian, AP,
Africa
- Ethiopia: The nation recorded 1,851 additional COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 225,516. (Xinhua)
- Djibouti: The government announced longtime President Ismail Omar Guelleh has overwhelmingly won a fifth term, based on early results. (AP)
Americas
- St Vincent and the Grenadines: La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent erupted after decades of inactivity, sending ash and smoke blasting into the sky, and forcing thousands from surrounding villages to evacuate. (Reuters)
- United States: Four sheriff’s officers and a nurse were charged in the 2019 wrongful death of a jail inmate in western Michigan who suffered a series of seizures. (AP)
- United States: President Joe Biden has ordered a study on reforming the Supreme Court, creating a bipartisan commission that will spend the next six months examining the politically incendiary issues of expanding the court and instituting term limits justices, among other topics. (AP)
Asia
- Australia: Authorities in Western Australia were asking residents of its Mid-West coast to find safe shelter or leave as cyclone Seroja barreled towards a coastal region that is usually too far south to fall in the path of cyclones. (Reuters)
- India: Five people were killed in fighting in the state of West Bengal, including four shot dead by paramilitary troops “in self-defense.” (AFP)
- South Korea: Daily new COVID-19 cases stayed in the high 600s for the second straight day, with health authorities warning that the country may be at the start of the fourth wave of infections. (YNA)
- Thailand: The nation recorded 789 additional COVID-19 cases and one new death, as the country deals with a fresh wave of infections after tackling earlier outbreaks. (Reuters)
Europe
- Region: Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov, who was found dead in 2018, was strangled in his home in southwest London by an unidentified person, a British coroner has ruled. (Reuters)
- Germany: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Germany increased by 24,097 to 2,980,413, information from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed. (Reuters)
- Germany: “Germany. Only normal.” This is the slogan with which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) uses its election campaign for parliament later this year. (DPA)
- Greece: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis demanded the “swift resolution” of a probe into a crime journalist’s murder already condemned by leading EU officials, political parties, and media unions. (AFP)
Middle East
- Iran: The first round of talks between top diplomats to try to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) concluded in Vienna and will be resumed next week, with participants sounding cautious optimism about the progress made so far. (DPA)
- Iran: The nation announced it had built advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium more quickly, in a new breach of its undertakings under the troubled 2015 nuclear deal. (AFP)
- Saudi Arabia: The kingdom executed three soldiers it accused of committing “high treason,” without elaborating on which enemy the kingdom believed the men aided. (AP)
Tech & Communications
- Social Media: YouTube has removed a video featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over allegations it contains misinformation about COVID-19 and mask-wearing. (WaPo)
World
- Cyclones:
- Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 09APR21)
- Confirmed cases: 134,719,328
- Total recovered cases: 76,537,874
- Deaths:2,915,972
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- Ebola Virus Disease: Guinea (as of 28MAR21)
- Confirmed cases: 18
- Deaths: 9
- Sourcing: WHO
- Ebola Virus Disease: DR Congo (as of 28MAR21)
- Confirmed cases: 12
- Deaths: 6
- Sourcing: WHO
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 09APR21)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (11APR21)
- Benin: Presidential elections.
- Chad: Presidential elections.
- Ecuador: Presidential elections runoff.
- Kyrgyzstan: Municipal elections in 418 local councils and referendum on a new constitution.
- Peru: Parliamentary and presidential elections.
- United States: Japanese Culture Day at Library of Congress.
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