May 2, 2019 (Thursday)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- Evacuation of approximately 800,000 people is underway as Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani heads toward the Indian state of Odisha (formerly Orissa) and is expected to make landfall Friday with wind speeds in excess of 200 km/h (127 mph). (BBC News)
Health and environment
- 2019 measles outbreak
- The Freewinds cruise ship is quarantined in Saint Lucia over concerns of a measles epidemic after it is reported that one of the passengers has the disease. The cruise ship is reportedly owned by the Church of Scientology, a religious organization that opposes vaccinations against diseases such as measles. (CNN)
Law and crime
- Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor is found guilty of racketeering in an opioid-related bribery scheme. (BBC News)
- Myanmar security forces fire into a crowd of 275 Rakhine people detained during a search for Arakan Army members, killing six and wounding eight. The military claim that they were forced to shoot after some of the detainees attempted to seize their weapons, despite warning shots and verbal warnings. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- U.S. Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado announces he is running for the Democratic Party's nomination to be President of the United States in the 2020 presidential election. (The New York Times)
- Catherine Pugh, Mayor of Baltimore, resigns under investigation for alleged financial improprieties. Baltimore City Council president Jack Young has been serving as acting mayor since April 2. (Baltimore Sun via MSN.com) (NPR)
Science and technology
- Facebook and Instagram ban political figures Alex Jones, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Paul Nehlen, David Duke and Laura Loomer, from their platforms and remove their pages for allegedly engaging in "violence and hate". (CNN) (NBC News) (JTA)