May 1, 2012 (Tuesday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Syrian uprising: The United Nations says both government and opposition forces have violated the ceasefire. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising: Police break up protests in the capital Manama. (Reuters)
- An attack by a suicide bomber in a café attached to a hotel in Dhusamareb, Somalia, causes an indeterminate number of fatalities, including according to witnesses two MPs, Yusuf Mire Seerar and Abdiweli Sheik Mohamud. (Shabelle Media Network)
- 2012 Mali counter-coup attempt: Heavy fighting takes place in the Malian capital Bamako between coup supporters and opponents. (Al Jazeera)
- 2012 South Sudan–Sudan border conflict: Tensions rise between the two nations as South Sudan accuses Sudan of attacking locations in its territory. (Reuters)
- Up to 20 people are arrested amid the investigation about last month's massacre at Železarsko lake in the Republic of Macedonia. (B92)
Business and economy
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches a four-year high due to strong manufacturing figures and company earnings. (CNN)
- Tens of thousands of people march in Asia, Europe and North America, protesting against job cuts, inequality, and austerity measures. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) (The Guardian) (Christian Science Monitor) (MSNBC) (ABC News)
- April car sales in Japan rise by 92% year-over-year, a gain partially realized due to low sales in the wake of last year's earthquake and tsunami. (Kuwait News Agency)
International relations
- U.S. President Barack Obama visits Afghanistan on an unannounced visit coinciding with the first anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's assassination by the U.S. Special Forces in Pakistan, signing an agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai outlining a continuing U.S. role in Afghanistan after 2014. (BBC)
- Five European presidents and the President of the European Commission cancel visits to Ukraine over the treatment of the former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Egypt security services foil an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Cairo. (AFP via Google News)
- Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang visits Moscow. China and Russia sign trade deals worth $15 billion. (Asia Times)
Law and crime
- News International phone hacking scandal: The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee publishes its report into phone hacking at the News of the World. The committee concludes that Rupert Murdoch "is not a fit person" to run a major international company and exhibited "wilful blindness" to phone-hacking and other practices going on in his media empire. The report also accuses three News Corporation executives of giving misleading evidence. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- A New York judge rules that Nafissatou Diallo's civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault by Dominique Strauss-Kahn can proceed to trial. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- Tomás Borge, the last surviving founding member of Nicaragua's socialist political party Sandinista National Liberation Front, dies. (BBC)
- A parliamentary committee begins work on Turkey's first fully civilian constitution. (BBC)
- Former opposition leader and foreign minister Tzipi Livni quits the Israeli parliament. (Shanghai Daily)
Sport
- Norwegian world swimming champion and Olympic medalist Alexander Dale Oen dies at age 26 after suffering a cardiac arrest during a training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona. (BBC)
- Kenya rugby captain Aberdeen Shikoyi is paid tribute to in death after being injured in a match against Uganda. (BBC)
- The sale for Guggenheim Partners to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers is finalized for US$2.1 billion, the most ever for a professional sports franchise. ESPN/AP