April 20, 2015 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- Nine people have been killed in a bomb attack on a convoy carrying food supplies to a United Nations compound in Garowe in the Somali region of Puntland. (Reuters)
- Sinai insurgency
- A roadside bomb hits an armoured vehicle near the border town of Rafah in the northern Sinai Peninsula killing three people. (AP via ABC News America)
- Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- An airstrike on an alleged Scud missile base in Sana'a causes a huge explosion. (Reuters via Daily Star)
- The United States sends aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and cruiser USS Normandy to block an Iranian convoy heading towards Yemen. (Fox News)
Arts and culture
- 2015 Pulitzer Prize
- The Pulitzer Prize awards are presented, with the The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina winning the prestigious gold medal for public service for a series on domestic violence in the US state of South Carolina. (New York Times)
- Anthony Doerr's World War II novel All the Light We Cannot See wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. (CNN)
- Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
Disasters and accidents
- A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake occurs off the east coast of Taiwan. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
- At least three people are dead after a boat carrying dozens of migrants runs aground on the Greek island of Rhodes. (The Independent)
- Two people are missing in the Hunter Region of New South Wales as an Australian east coast low causes widespread flooding, gale force winds and the loss of power to 140,000 properties. (ABC News Australia)
Health
- Blue Bell Creameries recalls all of its products in the United States due to a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak. (CNN)
Law and crime
- A 13-year-old boy uses a home-made crossbow to kill a teacher and wound four other people at his school in the city of Barcelona. (BBC)
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, April 2015
- Police officers in the city of Baltimore, Maryland are placed on leave while an investigation is held into the death of Freddie Gray. (Baltimore Sun)
Sports
- 2015 Boston Marathon
- Runners in the American city of Boston take part in the annual Boston Marathon for the 119th time. Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia wins the men's race while Caroline Rotich of Kenya wins the women's race. (CBS) (New York Times) (Boston Marathon)