Portal:Current events/2013 April 1

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • A suicide attacker blows up a tanker lorry at the police headquarters in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, killing at least nine people. Three people are killed in a separate shooting in Baghdad. (CNN)
• Syrian civil war:
  • Lebanese gunmen kidnap eight Syrians from the Alawites minority and demand a hostage exchange. (The Jerusalem Post)

• Eli Reimer, aged sixteen, becomes the first teenager with Down syndrome to climb to Mount Everest's Base Camp. (Fox News)
• Numerous high-profile websites participate in April Fools' Day jokes. (PC World)
• Production of the American reality TV show Buckwild is suspended after cast member Shain Gandee and two other people are found dead. (Fox News)

• India's Supreme Court rejects a plea by Novartis to patent an updated version of its cancer drug, Glivec (Imatinib), amid concerns that a patent could threaten access to cheap generic versions of drugs in poorer countries. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Washington Post) (The New York Times)
• Apple Inc. publishes a letter, signed by CEO Tim Cook, to Chinese customers, to address the growing controversy over the company's warranty policies in the country. (CNN)
• Privately owned newspapers go on sale in Myanmar for the first time since 1964. (BBC) (Reuters) (GlobalPost)

• At least six people are killed in a explosion at a coal mine near Baishan, China. (AP)

• 2013 Korean crisis: The annual session of North Korea's Parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, takes place in Pyongyang, following repeated threats of violence by the leader Kim Jong-Un against South Korea and the United States. Choi Bu-Il is appointed Minister of Internal Security. (AFP via Channel NewsAsia)
• Japan accuses three Chinese surveillance ships of entering the territorial waters of Tokyo-controlled Senkaku Islands. (AFP via Channel NewsAsia)

• Scotland's eight regional police forces are merged to create the nationwide Police Service of Scotland. (The Guardian)
• Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler decides, after speaking with survivors and relatives of the deceased, to pursue the death penalty against James Holmes, the perpetrator of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting; the case is given to a new judge. (NBC News)
• Pirates drown 16 fishermen in southern Bangladesh in order to steal their boats. (BBC)

• Major changes to welfare payments in the United Kingdom introduced by the Welfare Reform Act 2012 begin to go into effect. (Channel 4 News)
• Health experts warn that the National Health Service in England is "not ready for" major changes passed in 2012 that go into effect today. (MSN News)
• President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir orders the release of all political prisoners. (Reuters)

• Japanese researchers unveil the smelling screen, a digital display screen capable of emitting pinpointed smells. (Daily Mail)

• Chelsea F.C. advances to the semi-finals of the 2012–13 FA Cup defeating Manchester United 1–0 with Demba Ba's winning goal. (BBC) (ESPN)
• In chess, Magnus Carlsen wins FIDE Candidates Tournament in London ahead of Vladimir Kramnik to become the challenger for the world crown. (ChessVibes) (Chess News)
• Police in India's Punjab claim Olympic medal winning boxer Vijender Singh consumed heroin procured from drug smugglers, after he refuses to give blood samples. (BBC)
• The 2013 Major League Baseball season gets underway with the first full day of competition. (Missoulian)
• A report alleges that Ed T. Rush, head of men's basketball officiating for the Pac-12 Conference, offered $5,000 or a trip to Cancún to any referee who would call a technical foul against or eject Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller during the 2013 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. (CBS Sports)