April 21, 2017 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan
- 2017 Camp Shaheen attack
- Taliban insurgents attack an Afghan military base in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh Province, killing more than 140 soldiers. It is said to be the deadliest attack of its kind (BBC) (AP) (Reuters)
- 2017 Camp Shaheen attack
- Two people are killed in an attack in a Federal Security Service office in the Russian city of Khabarovsk. The gunman is also killed. The US-Israeli SITE Intelligence Group says Amaq News Agency claims the attack for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Russian Federal Security Service says the native 18-year-old perpetrator was a known member of a neo-nazi group. (Reuters) (Siberian Times)
Arts and culture
- Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 91st birthday. (BBC)
Business
- British sports retailer Sports Direct agreed to acquire the American retail chains Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports for $101 million out of bankruptcy. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- At least 20 schoolchildren are killed after their minibus collides with a truck in Mpumalanga, South Africa. (Sky News)
- A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet crashes in the Celebes Sea off the Philippines during an attempted landing on the USS Carl Vinson. The pilot ejected and was recovered safely. (Navy Times)
Law and crime
- Borussia Dortmund team bus bombing
- Germany arrests and charges a suspected perpetrator, 28-year-old Sergej W. The federal prosecutor says the suspect held put options on Borussia Dortmund shares. (BBC)
- Arms trader Jacques Monsieur is to defend himself again at a Brussels court against accusations of arms trafficking to Libya, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Pakistan and Iran between 2006 and 2009. (RTL Info) (Het Nieuwsblad)
Politics and elections
- French presidential election, 2017
- Yesterday's terrorist attack in Paris disrupts campaigning for the elections. (CNN), (The Telegraph)
- The first polls since April 20's attack indicate a slight bump for Marine Le Pen over Jean-Luc Mélenchon and François Fillon, though they still show her losing to Emmanuel Macron in the first and second rounds of the election. (Reuters)
- 2014–17 Venezuelan protests
- Venezuelan authorities report 12 people were killed overnight in the capital Caracas, mostly in the El Valle working class neighborhood where 54 people, including newborn babies, were forced to evacuate a maternity hospital. Others have fled to Colombia. This death toll during the three weeks of anti-government protests is 20. (AP via The Washington Post) (Yahoo! News) (The Telegraph)
- Iranian presidential election, 2017
- The six approved candidates, including the incumbent Hassan Rouhani, begin campaigning. (Reuters)
- Presidency of Donald Trump
- The White House dismisses U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in its continuing transition from the prior presidential administration. The current Deputy Surgeon General, Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, will serve as the acting SG. (USA Today via MSN)
- Pakistan's opposition interrupts Parliament's scheduled session demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resign during the investigation of his finances, per Thursday's Supreme Court ruling. (Reuters)
Science and technology
- A second parchment manuscript of the United States Declaration of Independence is discovered by Harvard University researchers, in a record office in Chichester, United Kingdom. (The Boston Globe)