Portal:Current events/2015 May 4

May 4, 2015 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Curtis Culwell Center attack
- One of the two attackers, Elton Simpson, had linked himself to ISIL on Twitter before his attack on the exhibition of drawings of the prophet Mohammed at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. He had been a member of a since-closed Phoenix mosque; he and his partner, 34-year-old Nadir Hamid Soofi, who had gone to college in Utah, had been known to and were investigated by law enforcement, but nevertheless, officers did not know that they were planning an imminent attack of this type, and they were not thought to be an imminent threat, despite having admired the late Anwar al-Awlaki, and swearing loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, prominent figures in al-Qaeda in Iraq and in ISIL, respectively. (CNN)

Arts and culture

Disasters and accidents

Italy reports that ten people have died and 5,800 people have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea as people smugglers attempt to take advantage of calmer waters. (Reuters)

Health

An analysis of drinking water from three homes in Bradford County, Pennsylvania revealed traces of a compound commonly found in Marcellus Shale drilling fluids. The paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) addresses the potential risks to underground drinking water from the drilling technique fracking. (New York Times)

Politics and elections

Sport