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Barack Obama eats $6 dinner in Vietnam with chef Anthony Bourdain –
Barack Obama didn’t want to miss out Monday night in Hanoi, so he hit the town with renowned chef-turned-television host Anthony Bourdain. The pair dined together at Huong Lien, a bún chả restaurant that serves the grilled pork and noodle dish thought to originate in Vietnam’s capital city. The US reporters in the White House press pool that was accompanying Obama in the presidential motorcade were not allowed to follow the pair inside the restaurant, which was crowded with local patrons. But social media lit up with photos from those who were present for the surprise visit, which was not listed on the president’s public schedule. [The Independent]
Anthony Bourdain tweet

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • Reuters reports nearly 150 people are killed and at least 200 wounded in a series of car bomb and suicide attacks in the Syrian cities of Jableh and Tartus in government-controlled territory that hostsRussian military bases. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group claims responsibility. (Al Jazeera) (USA Today) (Reuters)
• Yemeni civil war (2015–present)
  • At least 41 army recruits are killed and 60 others injured in a suicide car bomb attack in Aden, Yemen. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group claims responsibility. (Reuters)
  • At least 13 suspected Al-Qaeda militants and two soldiers are killed in a raid in Aden, Yemen. (VOA News) (National Yemen)
• Iraqi civil war (2014–present)
  • The Iraqi government begins Operation Breaking Terrorism, aimed at retaking the city of Fallujah, which has been under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group since early 2014. (Al Jazeera)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Three policemen are killed in Srinagar, India. Hizbul Mujahideen claims responsibility. (News 18) (The New York Times)
• War in Afghanistan
  • The Taliban leadership council reportedly meets to determine a successor to Mullah Akhtar Mansour, killed this weekend during an American drone strike in Pakistan. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Germany‘s Bayer AG makes an unsolicited bid valued at $62 billion cash to takeover American company Monsanto to create the world’s largest agricultural chemical company. (Bloomberg) (The Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

• An overnight fire at Pitakiatwittaya Christian elementary school’s dormitory in the northern Chiang Rai Province in Thailand kills 18 girls between the ages of 5 and 12. The other 20 girls sleeping in the dorm are rescued, though five are injured. (CNN) (Facebook)
• Cyclone Roanu
  • Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre reports 92 people are confirmed dead with 109 people still missing from landslides and floods resulting from Roanu. More than 500,000 have been driven from their homes. (EconomyNext)
  • Bangladesh reports at least 26 deaths caused by drowning or homes collapsing with 500,000 evacuated during the storm. Maheshkhali Island officials are monitoring a badly damaged 17-mile stretch of mud embankment in danger of collapsing, allowing seawater to flood the communities. (The Weather Channel) (The Navhind Times)
• At least five people are killed after a Cessna 182 light-aircraft crashes near Port Allen Airport on Hawaii‘s Kauai island. (CBS News)

Health and medicine

• 2015–16 Zika virus epidemic
  • Health officials are concerned about the spread of the Zika virus in Haiti, which suffered the worst epidemic of cholera in recent history following the deadly 2010 Haiti earthquake. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there are 2,214 suspected cases as of April 23. But new research indicates the virus has been present since 2014. The actual infection rate remains unknown since the poor, densely populated nation lacks routine data systems that can track and document disease outbreaks. (AP)

International relations

• United States–Vietnam relations
  • United States President Barack Obama ends the American arms embargo with Vietnam during his visit in the country. (Washington Post) (USA Today)
• World Humanitarian Summit
  • The first-ever United Nations humanitarian summit opens in Istanbul, Turkey, to address the 125-million people crisis, the worst since World War II. (AP via Deseret News) (Reuters)
• Pope Francis meets with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb in the Vatican. (Al Jazeera) (ABC News) (US News)

Law and crime

• Death of Freddie Gray
  • Judge Barry Williams finds Baltimore, Maryland, Police Officer Edward Nero not guilty of all charges. Nero was accused of second-degree intentional assault, two counts of misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment. Community leaders and elected officials appeal for calm. (CNN)
  • The Baltimore Police Department says Nero remains on administrative duty while an internal investigation continues. (AP via Daily Mail)
  • Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says the city is prepared to respond to any disturbance after today’s acquittal. (AP via Salon)
• Threatening robocalls lead to mass evacuation of students in the United States and United Kingdom. None of the threats were found to be credible but disrupted General Certificate of Secondary Educationtests in the UK. (NBC News)
• Democratic Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe is being investigated by federal prosecutors over campaign contributions, including a foreign contribution from a Chinese businessman, and what they consider to be “suspicious personal finances”, as part of a public integrity probe that has lasted for more than a year, according to officials. The United States Department of Justice would not confirm or deny the investigation. (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

• Tajikistani constitutional referendum, 2016
  • The Tajikistani constitutional referendum results in the removal of term limits of incumbent President Emomali Rahmon. (TASS), (ABC News)
• Binali Yıldırım is appointed Prime Minister of Turkey after the resignation of Ahmet Davutoğlu amid disagreements with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (ABC New), (BBC), (VOA)
• Austrian presidential election, 2016
  • Independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, a member of The Greens, is elected President of Austria in a tight contest that was decided by mail-in votes. (CNN) (USA Today)
• Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines presumptive president-elect, says he will allow the immediate burial of former kleptocratic dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Heroes’ Cemetery in metropolitan Manila. (AP)
• Cypriot legislative election, 2016
  • The Democratic Rally wins the legislative election. (Daily Sabah) (TASS) (EU Observer)

Science

• ISRO successfully launched India‘s Reusable Launch Vehicle demonstrator mission (RLV-TD).(NASA Spaceflight)

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