Portal:Current events/2018 May 7

May 7, 2018 (2018-05-07) (Monday)

Imran Khan Become a new presendent of Pakistan on 13 August 2018

• Swear ceremony
  • Imran Khan Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Swear as a presendent of Pakistan on 13 August 2018 in National Assembly of Pakistan.

The 2018 Pakistani general election took place on Wednesday 25 July, after the completion of a five-year term by the outgoing government. At the national level, elections were held on 270 constituencies and each of the 270 constituencies elected one Member of the National Assembly (MNA) to the National Assembly of Pakistan. At the provincial level, elections were held in each of four province to elect Members of the Provincial Assemblies (MPA) in their respective provincial assemblies.

As a result of the election, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) became the single largest party at the national level both in terms of popular vote and in terms of seats. At the provincial level, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) remained the largest party in Punjab, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Sindh and the newly-formed Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) became the largest party in Balochistan.

Opinion polling had consistently shown leads for the PML-N over PTI. From a 11-point lead, the PML-N's lead began to diminish in the final weeks of the campaign. In a result, the PTI made a net gain with 31.87% of the vote (its highest share of the vote since its foundation), whilst PML-N made a net loss with 24.40%. In the lead up to the elections, there had been allegations by some international journalists about pre-poll rigging being conducted by the judiciary, the military and the intelligence agencies to sway the election results in favour of the PTI and against the PML (N).

According to the official results, PTI led by Imran Khan won the most seats in a hung parliament. His opposition, mainly PML-N, alleged large-scale vote rigging and administrative malpractices. The allegations were "categorically denied" by the Election Commission of Pakistan.The European Union Election Observation Mission said, in its preliminary report, that no rigging has been found during the election day in general, however, "lack of equality of opportunity" in the pre-election campaign, particularly due to corruption cases against the outgoing PML-N has been criticised. The European Union assessed the conduct of polling on election day as "transparent".

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
  • Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition destroy the Presidential Palace in Sana'a, Yemen, with at least six killed and 30 injuries reported, coalition officials claim they had targeted high-ranking Houthi officials. (Yahoo! News)
• Hamas has offered Israel a longterm ceasefire including prisoner exchanges, in return for reductions to the Gaza blockade, and infrastructural improvement. (The Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Arts and culture

• List of highest-grossing films
  • American superhero film Avengers: Infinity War becomes the fastest film to make US$1 billion worldwide, in just eleven days. (BGR)
• Large sections of the old Tappan Zee Bridge are to be sunk and used as material to build an artificial reef off the coast of Long Island. (MNN)

Business and economy

• Latvian bank ABLV sues the European Central Bank in the Court of Justice of the European Union, saying the ECB triggered ABLV's collapse. The bank failed following allegations by the United States that ABLV was laundering money on behalf of North Korea. (Reuters)
• The United States Department of Defense says it has resumed accepting deliveries of F-35 Lightning II fighter jets from manufacturer Lockheed Martin after resolving a dispute over a production error which was leading to corrosion. (Reuters)
• Oliver North is announced to be the next president of the National Rifle Association. (NRA)
• Legal status of cryptocurrency
  • In a landmark bankruptcy case the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal in Moscow rules cryptocurrencies are property and demands access to a party's Bitcoin reserves. (Bitcoinist)

Disasters and accidents

• 2018 lower Puna eruption
  • About 35 structures in Leilani Estates are destroyed during the Kīlauea eruption in Hawaii. (KFOR-TV)
• A collision of two trains near Aichach in Germany leaves two people dead and at least 14 injured. (DW)

International relations

• United States–Venezuela relations
  • The United States imposes sanctions on three Venezuelans and 20 drug entities for trafficking activity. (Yahoo! News)
  • United States Vice President Mike Pence calls on Venezuela to suspend its presidential election later this month citing corruption concerns. This follows a similar announcement made by the European Union. (Bloomberg)
• Israel–Paraguay relations
  • Paraguay announces that it will move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by the end of May. Paraguay is the third country to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem after the United States and Guatemala. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Terrorism in Egypt
  • Egyptian chief prosecutor Nabil Sadek refers 555 ISIL suspects suspected of 63 terror attacks to a military court, while the Giza Criminal Court in Cairo sentences nine terrorists to life imprisonment and two others to five years imprisonment each. (The Times of Israel)
• Terrorism in Israel
  • The Knesset approves by 55 votes to 14 a bill designed to confiscate payments made by the Palestinian Authority to terrorists in Israel. (Arutz Sheva)
• Murder of Kim Wall
  • Danish inventor Peter Madsen appeals his life sentence for murdering Swedish journalist Kim Wall onboard his homemade submarine. He has not appealed his conviction. (BBC)
• Indiana accused serial killer Shawn Grate is convicted of two murders. He has previously confessed to, but not been charged with, two more murders and entered guilty pleas to crimes including rape. (10tv)
• An Indonesian court rejects a bid by Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir to overturn its ban in the country. The group was outlawed by presidential decree in 2017 on national security grounds. (The Guardian)
• Finland says compensation payouts for wrongful convictions and imprisonments have quadrupled in ten years, with three million euros paid in 2017 versus 720,000 euros in 2007. (YLE)

Politics and elections

• Politics of Japan
  • Centrist opposition party Democratic Party merges with centre-right Party of Hope, forming the Democratic Party for the People. Members of both parties that disapproved of the merger choose to either join the Constitutional Democratic Party, become independents or remain in the Party of Hope. (The Asahi Shimbun)
• Fourth inauguration of Vladimir Putin
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin is inaugurated at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow for a fourth term as President of Russia following his victory in March's presidential election. (BBC)
• Lebanese general election, 2018
  • In official results, Hezbollah and allied parties win a slight majority of seats in Parliament. (Reuters)
• 2017–18 United States political sexual scandals, Weinstein effect
  • Attorney General of New York Eric Schneiderman, whose office sued The Weinstein Company for sexual harassment and discrimination, resigns amid allegations of violence towards four women during his tenure as Attorney General. (NBC News)
• Italian President Sergio Mattarella says either fresh elections must be held or a neutral caretaker government installed following the collapse of a third round of talks aiming to form a coalition after March's general election failed to produce a clear winner. (BBC)

Science and technology

• Discoveries of exoplanets
  • Scientists discover that WASP-96b has an atmosphere that is free of clouds. (Phys.org)

Sports

• 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs
  • The Washington Capitals advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 20 years with a 2–1 win over arch rival Pittsburgh Penguins, winning the series 4–2. (Sporting News)

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May 2018

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