Digest year-ender for international stories for month of April, 2019

Apr 1: Kathmandu: A freak storm battered several places in Southern Nepal on Sunday, killing 31 people and injuring 600 others as high speed winds tore down houses, flipped vehicles and toppled trees and electricity poles.

Apr 2: Washington: India shooting down of one of its own satellites was a "terrible thing" as it created about 400 pieces of orbital debris, the chief of NASA has said, warning that the risk of debris colliding with the International Space Station has risen by 44 per cent since the Indian anti-satellite weapon test.

Apr 3: Washington: The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopters to India at an estimated cost of USD 2.6 billion, the State Department has announced, boosting the Indian Navy's anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare operations as China expands its presence in the Indian Ocean.

Apr 4: Dubai: The UAE Thursday announced it will honour Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the prestigious Zayed Medal for playing a "pivotal role" in giving a "big boost" to the bilateral strategic ties.

Apr 5: Washington: David Malpass, a top US Treasury official in Trump administration, was Friday unanimously selected as the new president of the World Bank.

Apr 6: Washington: The arrest of Indians trying to sneak into America has dropped by a whopping 56 per cent due to the construction of a concrete wall along the US-Mexico border in California, a top official has told President Donald Trump.

Apr 7: Washington: India charges America over 100 per cent tariffs on a large number of products while the US imposes nothing on the similar or same items, President Donald Trump has said, urging his administration to work on the "stupid trade".

Apr 8: Washington: The US on Monday designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organisation, an unprecedented declaration against a foreign government that may prompt retaliation and make it harder for American diplomats and military officers to work with allies in the region.

Apr 9: Islamabad: Pakistan cabinet on Tuesday approved the construction of a railway station at the Sikh holy city of Nankana Sahib in Punjab and decided to name it after the faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev.

Apr 10: London: Theresa May on Wednesday described the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar as a "shameful scar" on British Indian history but stopped short of a formal apology sought by a cross-section of Parliament in previous debates.

Apr 11: London: A UK court on Thursday found Julian Assange guilty on the charge of breaching his bail conditions after the Wikileaks co-founder was arrested by Scotland Yard officers from his Ecuador Embassy hideout in London as the South American country withdrew the asylum granted to him.

Apr 13: Khartoum, Apr 13 (AFP) Sudan's second new military leader in as many days vowed Saturday to 'uproot' deposed president Omar al-Bashir's regime and release protesters, in a bid to placate demonstrators demanding civilian rule.

Apr 14: Tripoli: Fighting near Tripoli has killed 121 people since strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive earlier this month to take the Libyan capital, the World Health Organisation said Sunday.

Apr 15: Paris: A colossal fire swept through the famed Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on Monday, causing a spire to collapse and threatening to destroy the entire masterpiece and its precious artworks.

Apr 17: Jerusalem: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday formally handed Benjamin Netanyahu his letter of appointment to start building a coalition government following last week's general election.

Apr 18: Washington: Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 US presidential polls, according to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe which did not find any evidence that members of the Trump campaign "conspired or coordinated" with Moscow, Attorney General William Barr said on Thursday.

Apr 19: Washington: US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed unfavorable testimony in the Mueller report on Russian election interference as "fabricated" and labelled the document "crazy."