Category 5 Hurricane Dorian, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), makes landfall on
Elbow Cay in the northern
Bahamas Abaco islands. The storm is heading west at 7 mph toward
Grand Bahama and the
southeast American coast. Storm surges from Dorian, which ties as the second strongest Atlantic hurricane on record, are predicted to be as high as 23 feet (7 meters) in places.
(BBC News)(Reuters)(National Hurricane Center)
Six Afghan army soldiers were killed and three police officers wounded after Taliban militants ambushed their patrol in the country's eastern Ghazni province.
(Xinhua)
Gunmen open fire on a vehicle carrying
Colombian mayoral candidate Karina García, killing her, her mother, a candidate for the municipal council, and three activists.
(Reuters)
A court in
Russia orders the seizure of the 41.6% share of equity in
Vostochny Bank controlled by
private equity firm
Baring Vostok. The seizure, requested by Vostochny itself, is the latest move in continuing litigation over alleged embezzlement by Baring Vostok executives.
(Reuters)(RAPSI)
Former
British MPNigel Waterson's son, 26-year-old Stephen Waterson, admits to having killed 3-year-old Alfie Lamb in 2018 by crushing him to death in the footwell of a vehicle.
(Metro)
Italian police seize a migrant rescue boat after it spent over a week stranded at sea unable to find a port to accept it; over 100 migrants begin to disembark in
Sicily.
(euronews)
A ship carrying 635 mostly
Afghan migrants from the crowded refugee camp on the
Greek island of
Lesbos arrives in the mainland port city of
Thessaloniki. A second ship carrying 800 more is expected to arrive tomorrow. They are to be housed in
Nea Kavala [
el], where a camp already houses 1,000 migrants.
(Boston 25 News)
Former Guatemalan presidential candidate
Sandra Torres is arrested for possible charges of illegal financing in her election campaign in 2015. She was given preventive detention at the Mariscal Zavala Military Center.
(BBC News)
Walmart announces it will stop selling ammunition for
handguns and some
assault weapons in all of its American stores in response to a shooting that killed 22 and injured 24 at one of its
El Paso, Texas stores last month. It and
Kroger also ask customers not to bring guns into the stores.
(Reuters)
A wave of xenophobic attacks on migrants and foreign owned businesses in
South Africa, particularly targeting
Nigerian citizens, continues into its sixth day.
(Yahoo! News)
The House of Commons votes to allow an attempt to stop a no-deal Brexit. All 21 Conservative MPs who voted with the opposition have their
party whip removed and now sit as independents.
(BBC News)
Michigan becomes the first state in the United States to ban the sale of flavored
electronic cigarettes, which the state government says are marketed towards children.
(MLive.com)
Disasters and accidents
New Zealand police confirm that a bus carrying 27
Chinese tourists crashed in bad weather near
Rotorua and left at least five dead and six injured.
(Sky News)
Google agrees to pay a record
US$170 million penalty to settle accusations that
YouTube broke the law when it knowingly tracked and sold advertisements to children, the
Federal Trade Commission says.
(CNN)
A
US federal judge rules in favour of 23 citizens who sued after being placed on a terrorism watchlist, saying the list violates their
constitutional rights.
(CNN)
Mexican authorities are preparing the launch of a
$1 billion per year oil
hedging program, and
options trading consistent with such a giant trade.
(Reuters)
A
United States Department of State spokesperson confirms as accurate a story reported yesterday by the Financial Times, saying that Akhilesh Kumar, the captain of a tanker carrying
Iranian oil that was captured in
Gibraltar in July and since then released, was offered millions of dollars by U.S. official
Brian Hook to change its course, so that it could be impounded on U.S. charges of "terrorism".
(Hindustan Times)
A jury finds Max Harris, the creative director of the Ghost Ship warehouse in
Oakland, California, not guilty on
involuntary manslaughter charges in relation to a fire at the location in 2016, which killed 36 people. The jury fails to reach a verdict on similar charges for its leaseholder, Derick Almena, due to a
hung jury.
(CNN)
Amazon is criticized for the trailer and synopses of its new season of Jack Ryan, which are interpreted to promote a US-led invasion of
Venezuela.
(Yahoo!)
NiueanMPTerry Coe says there is "growing concern" over the absence of
PremierToke Talagi, who is reportedly undergoing medical treatment in
New Zealand and has not been seen in public since July and, prior to that, early April. Coe says Niue's citizens are concerned that the state affairs are seemingly being conducted from New Zealand, and the island nation's acting premier has held power for an unusually long period of time due to Talagi's absence.
(Radio New Zealand)
Venezuelan political parties waive the multi-party agreement to rotate leadership of the National Assembly annually in favor of allowing
Juan Guaidó to continue in the position for another term.
(Reuters)
Venezuelan president
Nicolás Maduro has the Venezuelan military deploy air defense missiles to its border with
Colombia after declaring an "orange alert" signifying potential or likely incoming threat.
(Al Masdar News)
Law and crime
The Venezuelan de facto Attorney General
Tarek William Saab announces a charge of
high treason against acting president
Juan Guaidó. This comes as part of an investigation where the Maduro government alleges Guaidó does not support the Venezuelan claim to the
Guayana Esequiba region, despite Guaidó having been a vocal supporter of the claim since he entered politics in 2007.
(South China Morning Post)(Yahoo!)
Juan Guaidó appoints
Leopoldo Lopez to form a
shadow cabinet in preparation for taking control of the Venezuelan government. Lopez is currently in refuge in the Spanish embassy of Venezuelan capital
Caracas after being freed from house arrest by dissident military during the 30 April uprising, which may have removed a bar placed on him from engaging in political activity.
(VOA)
Imports of U.S. goods into China decreased by 22% in August, while exports of Chinese goods into the U.S. fell 16% over the same year-to-year period, according to customs data.
(NBC News)
A
pilots'
strike over a pay dispute causes
British Airways to cancel "the vast majority" of its 850 daily flights on Monday and Tuesday. It is the first pilots' strike action at the company since the 1970s.
(Bloomberg via Gulf News)
Roskomnadzor, the state communications watchdog, states
Google and
Facebook published political advertising the day before and during the election, even though it requested them to
ban such publication "in line with Russian law". The watchdog labels the tech giants' actions as "interference in Russia’s sovereign affairs".
(Reuters)
Neo-NaziNational Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) politician
Stefan Jagsch is elected as the mayor of Altenstadt-Waldsiedlung in
Altenstadt, Hesse, after running unopposed, prompting condemnations from Germany's political leaders, including
SPD General Secretary
Lars Klingbeil. Norbert Szilasko, a member of the council who voted Jagsch into office says, "We voted for him due to the fact we have nobody else".
(The Telegraph)
Three suspects appear in court in
Apia,
Samoa, where two of them enter not-guilty pleas and the other a guilty plea on charges of conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister of Samoa. The defendant who pleaded guilty is due to be sentenced on September 30.
(RNZ)
150,000 Venezuelan troops begin exercises along the Colombian border.
Nicolás Maduro's Venezuelan government says it is to intercept an attack from the other country, despite no indications there will be one.
(Reuters)
China publishes a list of 16 U.S. goods that will be temporarily exempted from its retaliatory import tariffs.
(Reuters)
China announces that it will allow the import of
soybean meal from
Argentina, to ensure livestock feed under the impact of the trade war with the U.S. Apart from Argentina, China has been increasing imports of soybeans and soymeal from other channels, such as allowing soybean meal, rapeseed
meal and sunflower meal from Russia since September 6.
(Global Times)
The
Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency lists approximately 2,500 people as missing after
Hurricane Dorian devastated the islands last week.
(BBC News)
Scientists from Denmark and the United Kingdom report they have identified genetic information from a 1.7-million-year-old Stephanorhinus tooth enamel from
Dmanisi,
Georgia, making it the oldest genetic data ever recorded.
(Cosmos)
Scientists report, in the journal Gondwana Research, the discovery of an eighth— still hidden—continent (Greater Adria) from the break-up of supercontinent
Pangaea which slid underneath what is now Southern Europe about 120 million years ago.
(National Geographic)(Business Insider)
Iran's
judiciary issues a warrant to arrest actress
Saba Kamali after she posted a text in her
Instagram sympathizing with
Sahar Khodayari, which was reported to be found "insulting" to the third Shiite Imam, Hussain ibn Ali.
(Radio Farda)
The
U.S. Treasury imposes sanctions on the
Lazarus Group and two of its affiliates, accusing them of being responsible for several recent cyberattacks under direction from North Korea's
RGB intelligence agency.
(Washington Post)
Three employees of infrastructure firm
Atlantia are arrested by
Italian police on suspicion of offences connected to falsification of safety documentations for motorway bridges. The probe follows the disaster which killed 43 in August 2018.
(Reuters)
According to
Al Jazeera, Saudi Aramco's exports and oil production are disrupted by 5 million barrels of oil a day, half of the entire Saudi Arabian oil exports.
(Al Jazeera)(Al Jazeera)
A charity ship, carrying 82 migrants rescued off the coast of
Libya, is offered docking at the
Italian island of
Lampedusa. The migrants can be brought ashore after "several E.U. countries" agreed to take them in,
Italian Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte said on Thursday.
(Reuters)
After accusations by U.S. and Saudi officials,
Iran denies involvement in the attack and says it's "ready for war" against both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom blamed Iran for backing the
Houthis.
(Reuters)
An anonymous senior
Iraqi intelligence officer says the drones that attacked Saudi Arabia were launched from
Popular Mobilization Forces bases in southern Iraq. The drones on that flight path reportedly would have crossed
Kuwait's airspace to carry out the strikes. Kuwait's government says it is investigating the sighting of a drone, reportedly flying low and hovering over
Kuwait City on the day of the attacks.
(Middle East Eye)
An unnamed
United States official says evidence suggests the drones approached Saudi Arabia from the northwest from
Iraq or
Iran, contrary to the
Houthi militants' claim that the drones were launched from
Yemeni territory. Three experts cited by
CNN say the official's evidence is not conclusive.
(Reuters)(CNN)
Donald Trump says the
U.S. military is "locked and loaded" after the attacks on its ally Saudi Arabia, but is awaiting confirmation from
Riyadh on who launched the strikes before taking action.
(CNBC)
Donald Trump authorizes the use of the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve to "keep the markets well-supplied", following severe disruption to crude oil output in Saudi Arabia.
(The Hill)
U.S. company
Purdue Pharma files for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Agreeing to contribute more than US$3 billion from the sale of a daughter company, the owners propose to settle thousands of lawsuits related to the risk of addiction to their narcotic painkiller
Oxycontin.
(The Guardian)
A Transpacifico airplane crashes shortly after departing an airport in
Popayán,
Colombia for a domestic flight. Seven of the nine occupants are killed. The remaining two on board are injured, as is a child on the ground.
(Al Jazeera)
Iran says the accusations about the Saudi Arabian oil facilities attacks are unacceptable and baseless.
(Al Arabiya English)
Iraq says the
United States has told them that the information the U.S. has "confirms the Iraqi government's statement that its territory was not used to carry out this attack".
(Reuters)
UK Prime MinisterBoris Johnson abruptly pulls out of a press conference in
Luxembourg to avoid an anti-
Brexit protest organised and attended by British citizens living in Luxembourg. Luxembourg Prime Minister
Xavier Bettel attends the press conference, where, during a short speech followed by questions from journalists, he contradicts Johnson's prior public statements and exposes that the UK government has not submitted any concrete proposals for amendments to the UK's
Withdrawal Agreement from the
European Union, or delivered any alternative to the "
Irish backstop" which Johnson wishes to replace. Bettel warns that Johnson "holds the future of all UK citizens in his hands" and that he shouldn't "hold the future hostage for party political gain".
(BBC News)
An Italian soldier in
Milan was stabbed in the neck and in the back with a pair of scissors by a man. He was arrested after the stabbing, which was described as a terrorist attack linked to Islamic extremism. The soldier survived the attack.
(TGCOM24)
Italian champion speedboat designer and racer
Fabio Buzzi and two other racers are killed when their boat, attempting to set a new
Monte Carlo-to-
Venice record in the Assonautica Italiana race, crashes into a sunken, flood-barrier dam near the finish line. A fourth racer is in hospital with serious injuries.
(BBC News)(Il Globo)
An anonymous U.S. official says the United States is certain that the attack was launched from
Iranian territory and that it involved
cruise missiles.
(The Daily Star)
The
UK Supreme Court begins considering the lawfulness of
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson's
prorogation of
Parliament. It is jointly considering two appeals. One is against a ruling by the
High Court under
English law that the issue is solely a matter for the Prime Minister and one the courts do not have jurisdiction over. The other is against a ruling by the
Court of Session under
Scots law declaring the suspension unlawful and a nullity, and requiring Johnson to recall Parliament.
(BBC News)
The Venezuelan secret service releases
National Assembly Vice President
Edgar Zambrano. The
Nicolás Maduro government says his release comes after a partial compromise with members of
Juan Guaidó's opposition government to live peacefully; Guaidó says the Maduro government has been forced to release him under international human rights pressure.
(BBC News)
Following the attack, which was
livestreamed on
Facebook, the
social network teams up with the
Metropolitan Police of
London. Facebook is providing
bodycams to the force's firearms officers to help train its
artificial intelligence systems, enabling it to automatically detect and remove live first-person footage of violent incidents. The company says it previously had insufficient footage for its software to suitably match fresh footage with, and has been criticised for its role in the shooting.
Instagram say they will also participate.
(The Guardian)
South Korea officially removes Japan from its "whitelist" of countries with fast-track trade status.
(Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
At least 27 people, a majority of them children, are killed in a fire caused by an electrical problem at a boarding school in a suburb near the
Liberian capital of
Monrovia.
(BBC News)
Prosecutiors in the case of the latest attempt to kill Samoan Prime Minister
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi announce that
Eletise Leafa Vitale, convicted of the assassination of one of Malielegoai's cabinet members in another failed attempt at killing him in 1999, will testify in the trial against the conspirators of this year's plot.
(RNZ)
The
NGOHuman Rights Watch publishes details of what it deems to be arbitrary executions and arrests in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government alleges that most of those listed in the report were armed criminals, but admits to have placed several hundred security agents under investigation for abuses of power and extrajudicial actions.
(Human Rights Watch)
Dutchlawyer Derk Wiersum has been shot to death near his home. At the time of his death he was the lawyer of
state witness Nabil Bakkali in the
Marengo-proces against the Mocro Maffia led by Ridouan Taghi.
(BBC News)
A German magazine reports that the
chief financial officer of automobile manufacturer
BMW, Nicolas Peter, plans to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs at that company, mostly at the
Munich headquarters, before 2022.
(Reuters)
UK-based travel agent
Thomas Cook is reported to be attempting to sell assets as it seeks to prevent its collapse. The group employs 20,000 people and, were it to collapse, approximately 150,000 British customers currently abroad could require repatriation assistance from the
Civil Aviation Authority in the largest peacetime operation of its kind.
(Sky News)
An
F-16fighter jet of the
Belgian Air Component strikes a house before crashing into a field near
Pluvigner, north-west
France. Both pilots eject and escape with minor injuries, but one gets his parachute entangled in high-voltage power lines, requiring two hours to rescue.
(BBC News)
France and
Italy call for a new system to redistribute immigrants to the
European Union amid an ongoing increase in the numbers arriving, complaining of unfair demands being placed upon nations where immigrants make landfall.
(BBC News)
The only prosecution concerning the 2011
nuclear catastrophe ends with the acquittal of three former
Tepco executives. The decision means nobody has been held criminally responsible for the
meltdown.
Greenpeace says the verdict is not very surprising, since the case was "hugely political".
(Al Jazeera)
The
UK Supreme Court finishes hearing arguments on the lawfulness of
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson's
prorogation of
Parliament. The court states it expects to rule next week. It is jointly considering appeals against two rulings. One, made by the
High Court in
London under
English law, ruled prorogation was an entirely political decision over which courts had no jurisdiction. The other, made by the
Court of Session in
Edinburgh under
Scots law, ruled Johnson acted unlawfully and the prorogation was a nullity that must be reversed.
(BBC News)
Police in
South Korea link convicted murderer Lee Chun-jae to the serial rapes and murders, which occurred between 1986 and 1991 and left ten dead. The investigations inspired the movie Memories of Murder and saw 21,000 people investigated. Lee, who is serving life for the 1994 rape and murder of his sister in law, cannot be prosecuted despite a
DNA link to three victims because the
statute of limitations has expired.
(BBC News)
U.S. PresidentDonald Trump demands that European allies, in particular
Germany and
France, take back captured
ISIL fighters, or else, he says, "we're going to let them go at your border". Trump also made the same threat in August.
(AFP via MSN News)
The head of the Iranian Central Bank says the "re-boycotting" of the already-blacklisted institution shows the U.S.' failure to find new ways to pressure Iran.
(Reuters)
Law and crime
A woman who previously accused late United States financier
Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager says she was "
trafficked" to
Prince Andrew of the
United Kingdom and was abused by him at a house in
London. She calls him "an abuser" and "a participant". Prince Andrew denies the allegations.
(BBC News)
Millions of young people take to the streets and numerous businesses worldwide go on strike days before the
UN Climate Summit, demanding that further action be taken to confront
climate change.
(Reuters)(NBC News)
Twitter suspends a network of 4,258 accounts using fake names being operated from the
United Arab Emirates that were spreading
fake news and propaganda, mostly about
Qatar and the war in
Yemen. Twitter also suspends the account of
Saud al-Qahtani for violating the company's "platform manipulation" policies.
(Al Jazeera)
Saudi Foreign Minister
Adel al-Jubeir says the international community must take a firm stand on
Tehran and that if confirmed
Iran is behind the attacks against the oil facilities,
Saudi Arabia will "take the necessary steps" to "respond appropriately".
(Reuters)
As the number of refugees from the
crisis in Venezuela is projected to surpass the 6 million figure in 2020, matching that of the
Syrian Civil War now,
Brookings Institution calculates that aid for Venezuelan emigration is yet only 1.5% that for Syrian emigrants after five years of crisis.
(Bloomberg)
Global warming protesters glue themselves to a road near the
Port of Dover in
England, blocking it. Police arrest ten people, believed to be members of
Extinction Rebellion. Further scheduled protests take place in a dedicated area set up by police.
(BBC News)
International relations
Iran's
Revolutionary Guards leader,
Hossein Salami, warns that "any country that attacks the Islamic Republic will have their mainland turned into the main battlefield". He further added that "any attack will not stop until the full destruction of the aggressor".
(Al Arabiya English)
At least 22 people are killed and 15 others injured after a bus rams into a hill en route from
Skardu to
Rawalpindi,
Pakistan, following a brake failure.
(Sky News)
Two minibuses collide head-on near
Limpopo,
South Africa. All eleven on board the vehicles die.
(ENCA)
Argentina accuses Venezuela of committing "crimes against humanity", "torture and murder" after receiving reports from Venezuelan refugees in the country. The Argentine Government will file a formal accusation against Venezuela before the
International Court of Justice.
(Clarín)
Sudanese Prime Minister
Abdalla Hamdok launches an investigation into the deaths of dozens of protestors during a July crackdown orchestrated under the regime of now-ousted President
Omar al-Bashir.
(France 24)
Afghan officials say a government strike Sunday night on a militant facility in
Musa Qala District,
Helmand Province, killed 35 or more civilians at a wedding party nearby. The Afghan
Defence Ministry says the operation targeted a training facility for suicide bombers and it killed 22 members of the
Taliban. The Taliban say 18 members of the Afghan forces were killed.
(Reuters)
Business and economy
In a rare joint press release, European
car makers warn that a
no-deal Brexit, introducing administrative hassle and tariffs, would have a "seismic" impact on
frictionless trading conditions and that it would deal a "severe" blow to the industry's
just-in-time manufacturing supply chains, also potentially affecting "consumer choice and affordability on both sides of
the Channel".
(AFP via The Guardian)
Boeing announces each relative of victims of two air disasters will be paid
US$144,500 by the aircraft manufacturer, and will not have to waive their right to litigate to receive the money.
(Reuters)
Iran says a
UK-flagged ship seized several months ago is free to depart.
MVStena Impero, an oil tanker, was captured in response to the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in
Gibraltar over allegations it was carrying fuel to
Syria.
(The Independent)
Law and crime
After "seriously considering feedback from different parties who feel objections on some substantial content",
Indonesian PresidentJoko Widodo postpones the vote on a new criminal code, intended to replace the century-old
Dutch colonial-era penal code. The proposed code would criminalise
extramarital sex, insults to the president and "obscene acts".
(CNN)
A group of alleged
ISIL sympathisers go on trial in
France, including two women accused of an attempted
car bombing at
Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2016. Defendants also include a man being
tried in absentia whom the
United States claims to have killed via drone strike in 2017; the court ruled no evidence had been provided to confirm his death.
(France 24)
The
World Anti-Doping Agency launches a probe into "inconsistencies" with laboratory results from
Russia, promising "the most stringent sanctions" if violations are found. Russia was previously banned from the
2018 Winter Olympics following a similar probe.
(France 24)
Violent protests in
Papua,
Indonesia, kill at least 30 people. Most casualties are in
Wamena, with deaths also reported in
Jayapura. Victims reportedly receive stab and arrow wounds, and others die in fires as protestors torch government buildings.
(The Telegraph)
A tanker truck carrying fuel overturns after swerving to avoid a motorcycle in
Bamako,
Mali. A subsequent explosion kills six and seriously injures 46 more. Dozens of vehicles burn.
(Reuters)
Tens of thousands of students rally against graft laws and new criminal codes across
Indonesia. Some of the protesters violently clash with the riot police, leading to the injury of more than 300 people.
(Deutsche Welle)(Al Jazeera)
Science and technology
Microsoft issues an emergency patch for its
Internet Explorer browser to close a vulnerability that allowed cybercriminals to install
malware via boobytrapped websites.
(BBC News)
Northern Irish bus manufacturer
Wrightbus collapses into administration after buyout talks fail, with 1,200 jobs lost. Local politicians urge action from
UK Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, who commissioned the so-called "
Boris Bus" from the company when he was
Mayor of London and previously promised to "do everything we can to ensure the future of" Wrightbus.
(Sky News)
An advisory board to the
Dutchgovernment recommends reducing speed limits on roads and using public money to purchase outdated cattle farms as part of a raft of measures to tackle
global warming-linked nitrogen emissions in the country.
(Associated Press)
The
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) becomes the first jurisdiction in
Australia to legalize the recreational use of
cannabis. From January 31, 2020, adults within ACT will be allowed to have 50 grams of the drug and can grow up to four cannabis plants at home.
(BBC News)
Millionaire
Italian yacht businessman Giulio Lolli is convicted of
terrorism in
Libya and sentenced to
life imprisonment by a court in
Tripoli. Lolli is wanted for fraud in Italy, and his Italian lawyer says the Libyan legal case appears to be based on Lolli using a yacht to evacuate fighters from Tripoli.
(The Times)
A jury in
New York convicts Dilkhayot Kasimov, a citizen of
Uzbekistan, of terrorism offences for attempting to raise funds to assist a friend in travelling to join
ISIL. Five others pleaded guilty in 2015.
(Associated Press)
Authorities raid the
German bank
Deutsche Bank as part of a
money laundering probe into
€200 billion of suspicious payments identified into the accounts of
Danske Bank's branch in
Estonia. Danske Bank's Estonian boss from 2007 to 2015 is found dead near
Tallinn at his home in circumstances police describe as neither suspicious nor accidental.
(City A.M.)
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes the
Maluku Islands in eastern
Indonesia. 30 people are killed and 156 others injured.
(Rappler)
Around 100 people are evacuated from Breivika port in
Tromsø,
Norway, after
Russian trawler
FVBukhta Naezdnik catches fire and develops a heavy list. The burning ship has a tank of
ammonia and 200,000 litres of
diesel oil on board. The ship is purposely capsized to reduce the risk of the ammonia tank exploding.
(BreakingNews.ie)(The Independent)
Japan and South Korea fail to make progress toward resolution, but agree to continue dialogue.
(The Japan Times)(Bloomberg)
Law and crime
The Major Criminal Court in
Bahrain sentences four people to jail terms for setting up a terror group with the aim of launching attacks on police, and related crimes. Two are fugitives
tried in absentia(Gulf News)
A student dies after allegedly being shot during a violent clash between the protesters and police force in front of the provincial parliament building in
Kendari,
Indonesia.
(The Jakarta Post)
Portugal announces it has set aside 150 million
euros to lend to the companies that have been hurt by the collapse of tour guide company
Thomas Cook.
(Reuters)
Diplomats of several Western-aligned countries walk out of the
UN General Assembly as
Venezuelan Vice-President
Delcy Rodríguez begins a speech.
(Fox News)
A resolution is adopted by the
United Nations Human Rights Council with 19 votes in favour, 7 against and 21 abstentions, accusing
Venezuela's
Nicolás Maduro government of thousands of
extrajudicial murders,
forced disappearances, and
torture, after being proposed by the
Lima Group and backed by many European countries. The UN resolves to send an investigative mission to the country. Maduro says the motion was "produced by the
United States to run a hate campaign". Another Venezuelan representative calls the
UN a "small group" that they "will not cooperate with".
(BBC News)
Police in
Kaduna,
Nigeria, raid an Islamic learning centre, and free around 500 men and male children held captive there. The freed detainees allege torture,
slavery, and sexual abuse, and some display evidence of injury and
malnutrition. Two children self-identify as being from
Burkina Faso, with the remaining captives thought by police to be mostly Nigerian. Eight suspects are arrested.
(BBC News)
Houthi rebels claim that they have captured "thousands" of enemy troops near the Saudi town of
Najran following a major, deadly attack near the two countries' border. Saudi officials have not confirmed the claim.
(BBC News)(Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
Flooding in the
Indian state of
Uttar Pradesh kills at least 93 people and displaces thousands of others. Another 29 people were killed in
Bihar.
(BBC News).
An oil tanker ship explodes in
Ulsan,
South Korea, with flames subsequently spreading to an adjacent second tanker. At least ten people are injured.
(CBC)
A coach with a flat tyre swerves into oncoming traffic and strikes a lorry head-on in
Jiangsu,
China. The collision kills at least 36 and injures another 36.
(The Guardian)
SyrianForeign MinisterWalid al-Moualem demands the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. and Turkish troops from his country and warns that Syrian government forces have the right to take countermeasures if they refuse.
(Reuters)
Voters in
Afghanistan head to the polls to elect a new
president. The process is overshadowed by "insurgent" attacks, which led to dozens of civilian casualties.
(DW)
The
Richmond Football Club defeats the
Greater Western Sydney Giants in the
2019 AFL Grand Final by 114 points to 25, marking the club's twelfth premiership and second in three years. The match, attended by 100,014 spectators, is the lowest single-match score by the Giants in their history, and the most lopsided Grand Final result in Richmond's history (89 points).
(The Age)
A fire at
an overcrowded refugee camp on the
Greek island of
Lesbos kills an
Afghan woman living in a
shipping container. A local official claims "aggressive" residents at the camp prevented firefighters from accessing the blaze, and that thrown stones and other missiles injured first responders and damaged their vehicles.
(The Guardian)
Islamist militants launch two attacks against foreign forces in
Somalia. A
U.S. military base in
Baledogle,
Lower Shabelle, is stormed by attackers using two
car bombs and guns, and an
Italian peacekeeping convoy is targeted by additional bombs in
Mogadishu. United States and Italian authorities both state no injuries occurred, although the
suicide bombing against the Italian convoy destroyed a military vehicle and heavily damaged nearby buildings.
Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for both attacks.
(Newsweek)
Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni and her husband Rifaat al-Amin are each jailed for a year by a
Rabat court for
premarital sex and unlawful
abortion, with doctor Mohammed Jamal Belkeziz receiving two years for carrying an abortion out. Her lawyer claims the evidence was fabricated to dissuade Raissouni and others from criticising the
government. Observers including
Amnesty International criticise the verdicts.
(The Guardian)
Scientists say the largest
iceberg in 50 years has broken away from
Antarctica's
Amery Ice Shelf. The 1,636 sq km iceberg, known as D28, will continue to be monitored as it could pose a risk to shipping.
(BBC News)
A near-record snowstorm drops large amounts of snow in some parts of
Alberta, from September 27-30. 95 cm fell in
Waterton, 50-60 cm fell in
Lethbridge, and over 27-32 cm fell in
Calgary. Impacts were relatively mild, with power outages, and businesses closing.
(The Globe and Mail)
Category 5 Hurricane Dorian, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), makes landfall on
Elbow Cay in the northern
Bahamas Abaco islands. The storm is heading west at 7 mph toward
Grand Bahama and the
southeast American coast. Storm surges from Dorian, which ties as the second strongest Atlantic hurricane on record, are predicted to be as high as 23 feet (7 meters) in places.
(BBC News)(Reuters)(National Hurricane Center)
Six Afghan army soldiers were killed and three police officers wounded after Taliban militants ambushed their patrol in the country's eastern Ghazni province.
(Xinhua)
Gunmen open fire on a vehicle carrying
Colombian mayoral candidate Karina García, killing her, her mother, a candidate for the municipal council, and three activists.
(Reuters)
A court in
Russia orders the seizure of the 41.6% share of equity in
Vostochny Bank controlled by
private equity firm
Baring Vostok. The seizure, requested by Vostochny itself, is the latest move in continuing litigation over alleged embezzlement by Baring Vostok executives.
(Reuters)(RAPSI)
Former
British MPNigel Waterson's son, 26-year-old Stephen Waterson, admits to having killed 3-year-old Alfie Lamb in 2018 by crushing him to death in the footwell of a vehicle.
(Metro)
Italian police seize a migrant rescue boat after it spent over a week stranded at sea unable to find a port to accept it; over 100 migrants begin to disembark in
Sicily.
(euronews)
A ship carrying 635 mostly
Afghan migrants from the crowded refugee camp on the
Greek island of
Lesbos arrives in the mainland port city of
Thessaloniki. A second ship carrying 800 more is expected to arrive tomorrow. They are to be housed in
Nea Kavala [
el], where a camp already houses 1,000 migrants.
(Boston 25 News)
Former Guatemalan presidential candidate
Sandra Torres is arrested for possible charges of illegal financing in her election campaign in 2015. She was given preventive detention at the Mariscal Zavala Military Center.
(BBC News)
Walmart announces it will stop selling ammunition for
handguns and some
assault weapons in all of its American stores in response to a shooting that killed 22 and injured 24 at one of its
El Paso, Texas stores last month. It and
Kroger also ask customers not to bring guns into the stores.
(Reuters)
A wave of xenophobic attacks on migrants and foreign owned businesses in
South Africa, particularly targeting
Nigerian citizens, continues into its sixth day.
(Yahoo! News)
The House of Commons votes to allow an attempt to stop a no-deal Brexit. All 21 Conservative MPs who voted with the opposition have their
party whip removed and now sit as independents.
(BBC News)
Michigan becomes the first state in the United States to ban the sale of flavored
electronic cigarettes, which the state government says are marketed towards children.
(MLive.com)
Disasters and accidents
New Zealand police confirm that a bus carrying 27
Chinese tourists crashed in bad weather near
Rotorua and left at least five dead and six injured.
(Sky News)
Google agrees to pay a record
US$170 million penalty to settle accusations that
YouTube broke the law when it knowingly tracked and sold advertisements to children, the
Federal Trade Commission says.
(CNN)
A
US federal judge rules in favour of 23 citizens who sued after being placed on a terrorism watchlist, saying the list violates their
constitutional rights.
(CNN)
Mexican authorities are preparing the launch of a
$1 billion per year oil
hedging program, and
options trading consistent with such a giant trade.
(Reuters)
A
United States Department of State spokesperson confirms as accurate a story reported yesterday by the Financial Times, saying that Akhilesh Kumar, the captain of a tanker carrying
Iranian oil that was captured in
Gibraltar in July and since then released, was offered millions of dollars by U.S. official
Brian Hook to change its course, so that it could be impounded on U.S. charges of "terrorism".
(Hindustan Times)
A jury finds Max Harris, the creative director of the Ghost Ship warehouse in
Oakland, California, not guilty on
involuntary manslaughter charges in relation to a fire at the location in 2016, which killed 36 people. The jury fails to reach a verdict on similar charges for its leaseholder, Derick Almena, due to a
hung jury.
(CNN)
Amazon is criticized for the trailer and synopses of its new season of Jack Ryan, which are interpreted to promote a US-led invasion of
Venezuela.
(Yahoo!)
NiueanMPTerry Coe says there is "growing concern" over the absence of
PremierToke Talagi, who is reportedly undergoing medical treatment in
New Zealand and has not been seen in public since July and, prior to that, early April. Coe says Niue's citizens are concerned that the state affairs are seemingly being conducted from New Zealand, and the island nation's acting premier has held power for an unusually long period of time due to Talagi's absence.
(Radio New Zealand)
Venezuelan political parties waive the multi-party agreement to rotate leadership of the National Assembly annually in favor of allowing
Juan Guaidó to continue in the position for another term.
(Reuters)
Venezuelan president
Nicolás Maduro has the Venezuelan military deploy air defense missiles to its border with
Colombia after declaring an "orange alert" signifying potential or likely incoming threat.
(Al Masdar News)
Law and crime
The Venezuelan de facto Attorney General
Tarek William Saab announces a charge of
high treason against acting president
Juan Guaidó. This comes as part of an investigation where the Maduro government alleges Guaidó does not support the Venezuelan claim to the
Guayana Esequiba region, despite Guaidó having been a vocal supporter of the claim since he entered politics in 2007.
(South China Morning Post)(Yahoo!)
Juan Guaidó appoints
Leopoldo Lopez to form a
shadow cabinet in preparation for taking control of the Venezuelan government. Lopez is currently in refuge in the Spanish embassy of Venezuelan capital
Caracas after being freed from house arrest by dissident military during the 30 April uprising, which may have removed a bar placed on him from engaging in political activity.
(VOA)
Imports of U.S. goods into China decreased by 22% in August, while exports of Chinese goods into the U.S. fell 16% over the same year-to-year period, according to customs data.
(NBC News)
A
pilots'
strike over a pay dispute causes
British Airways to cancel "the vast majority" of its 850 daily flights on Monday and Tuesday. It is the first pilots' strike action at the company since the 1970s.
(Bloomberg via Gulf News)
Roskomnadzor, the state communications watchdog, states
Google and
Facebook published political advertising the day before and during the election, even though it requested them to
ban such publication "in line with Russian law". The watchdog labels the tech giants' actions as "interference in Russia’s sovereign affairs".
(Reuters)
Neo-NaziNational Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) politician
Stefan Jagsch is elected as the mayor of Altenstadt-Waldsiedlung in
Altenstadt, Hesse, after running unopposed, prompting condemnations from Germany's political leaders, including
SPD General Secretary
Lars Klingbeil. Norbert Szilasko, a member of the council who voted Jagsch into office says, "We voted for him due to the fact we have nobody else".
(The Telegraph)
Three suspects appear in court in
Apia,
Samoa, where two of them enter not-guilty pleas and the other a guilty plea on charges of conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister of Samoa. The defendant who pleaded guilty is due to be sentenced on September 30.
(RNZ)
150,000 Venezuelan troops begin exercises along the Colombian border.
Nicolás Maduro's Venezuelan government says it is to intercept an attack from the other country, despite no indications there will be one.
(Reuters)
China publishes a list of 16 U.S. goods that will be temporarily exempted from its retaliatory import tariffs.
(Reuters)
China announces that it will allow the import of
soybean meal from
Argentina, to ensure livestock feed under the impact of the trade war with the U.S. Apart from Argentina, China has been increasing imports of soybeans and soymeal from other channels, such as allowing soybean meal, rapeseed
meal and sunflower meal from Russia since September 6.
(Global Times)
The
Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency lists approximately 2,500 people as missing after
Hurricane Dorian devastated the islands last week.
(BBC News)
Scientists from Denmark and the United Kingdom report they have identified genetic information from a 1.7-million-year-old Stephanorhinus tooth enamel from
Dmanisi,
Georgia, making it the oldest genetic data ever recorded.
(Cosmos)
Scientists report, in the journal Gondwana Research, the discovery of an eighth— still hidden—continent (Greater Adria) from the break-up of supercontinent
Pangaea which slid underneath what is now Southern Europe about 120 million years ago.
(National Geographic)(Business Insider)
Iran's
judiciary issues a warrant to arrest actress
Saba Kamali after she posted a text in her
Instagram sympathizing with
Sahar Khodayari, which was reported to be found "insulting" to the third Shiite Imam, Hussain ibn Ali.
(Radio Farda)
The
U.S. Treasury imposes sanctions on the
Lazarus Group and two of its affiliates, accusing them of being responsible for several recent cyberattacks under direction from North Korea's
RGB intelligence agency.
(Washington Post)
Three employees of infrastructure firm
Atlantia are arrested by
Italian police on suspicion of offences connected to falsification of safety documentations for motorway bridges. The probe follows the disaster which killed 43 in August 2018.
(Reuters)
According to
Al Jazeera, Saudi Aramco's exports and oil production are disrupted by 5 million barrels of oil a day, half of the entire Saudi Arabian oil exports.
(Al Jazeera)(Al Jazeera)
A charity ship, carrying 82 migrants rescued off the coast of
Libya, is offered docking at the
Italian island of
Lampedusa. The migrants can be brought ashore after "several E.U. countries" agreed to take them in,
Italian Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte said on Thursday.
(Reuters)
After accusations by U.S. and Saudi officials,
Iran denies involvement in the attack and says it's "ready for war" against both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom blamed Iran for backing the
Houthis.
(Reuters)
An anonymous senior
Iraqi intelligence officer says the drones that attacked Saudi Arabia were launched from
Popular Mobilization Forces bases in southern Iraq. The drones on that flight path reportedly would have crossed
Kuwait's airspace to carry out the strikes. Kuwait's government says it is investigating the sighting of a drone, reportedly flying low and hovering over
Kuwait City on the day of the attacks.
(Middle East Eye)
An unnamed
United States official says evidence suggests the drones approached Saudi Arabia from the northwest from
Iraq or
Iran, contrary to the
Houthi militants' claim that the drones were launched from
Yemeni territory. Three experts cited by
CNN say the official's evidence is not conclusive.
(Reuters)(CNN)
Donald Trump says the
U.S. military is "locked and loaded" after the attacks on its ally Saudi Arabia, but is awaiting confirmation from
Riyadh on who launched the strikes before taking action.
(CNBC)
Donald Trump authorizes the use of the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve to "keep the markets well-supplied", following severe disruption to crude oil output in Saudi Arabia.
(The Hill)
U.S. company
Purdue Pharma files for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Agreeing to contribute more than US$3 billion from the sale of a daughter company, the owners propose to settle thousands of lawsuits related to the risk of addiction to their narcotic painkiller
Oxycontin.
(The Guardian)
A Transpacifico airplane crashes shortly after departing an airport in
Popayán,
Colombia for a domestic flight. Seven of the nine occupants are killed. The remaining two on board are injured, as is a child on the ground.
(Al Jazeera)
Iran says the accusations about the Saudi Arabian oil facilities attacks are unacceptable and baseless.
(Al Arabiya English)
Iraq says the
United States has told them that the information the U.S. has "confirms the Iraqi government's statement that its territory was not used to carry out this attack".
(Reuters)
UK Prime MinisterBoris Johnson abruptly pulls out of a press conference in
Luxembourg to avoid an anti-
Brexit protest organised and attended by British citizens living in Luxembourg. Luxembourg Prime Minister
Xavier Bettel attends the press conference, where, during a short speech followed by questions from journalists, he contradicts Johnson's prior public statements and exposes that the UK government has not submitted any concrete proposals for amendments to the UK's
Withdrawal Agreement from the
European Union, or delivered any alternative to the "
Irish backstop" which Johnson wishes to replace. Bettel warns that Johnson "holds the future of all UK citizens in his hands" and that he shouldn't "hold the future hostage for party political gain".
(BBC News)
An Italian soldier in
Milan was stabbed in the neck and in the back with a pair of scissors by a man. He was arrested after the stabbing, which was described as a terrorist attack linked to Islamic extremism. The soldier survived the attack.
(TGCOM24)
Italian champion speedboat designer and racer
Fabio Buzzi and two other racers are killed when their boat, attempting to set a new
Monte Carlo-to-
Venice record in the Assonautica Italiana race, crashes into a sunken, flood-barrier dam near the finish line. A fourth racer is in hospital with serious injuries.
(BBC News)(Il Globo)
An anonymous U.S. official says the United States is certain that the attack was launched from
Iranian territory and that it involved
cruise missiles.
(The Daily Star)
The
UK Supreme Court begins considering the lawfulness of
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson's
prorogation of
Parliament. It is jointly considering two appeals. One is against a ruling by the
High Court under
English law that the issue is solely a matter for the Prime Minister and one the courts do not have jurisdiction over. The other is against a ruling by the
Court of Session under
Scots law declaring the suspension unlawful and a nullity, and requiring Johnson to recall Parliament.
(BBC News)
The Venezuelan secret service releases
National Assembly Vice President
Edgar Zambrano. The
Nicolás Maduro government says his release comes after a partial compromise with members of
Juan Guaidó's opposition government to live peacefully; Guaidó says the Maduro government has been forced to release him under international human rights pressure.
(BBC News)
Following the attack, which was
livestreamed on
Facebook, the
social network teams up with the
Metropolitan Police of
London. Facebook is providing
bodycams to the force's firearms officers to help train its
artificial intelligence systems, enabling it to automatically detect and remove live first-person footage of violent incidents. The company says it previously had insufficient footage for its software to suitably match fresh footage with, and has been criticised for its role in the shooting.
Instagram say they will also participate.
(The Guardian)
South Korea officially removes Japan from its "whitelist" of countries with fast-track trade status.
(Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
At least 27 people, a majority of them children, are killed in a fire caused by an electrical problem at a boarding school in a suburb near the
Liberian capital of
Monrovia.
(BBC News)
Prosecutiors in the case of the latest attempt to kill Samoan Prime Minister
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi announce that
Eletise Leafa Vitale, convicted of the assassination of one of Malielegoai's cabinet members in another failed attempt at killing him in 1999, will testify in the trial against the conspirators of this year's plot.
(RNZ)
The
NGOHuman Rights Watch publishes details of what it deems to be arbitrary executions and arrests in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government alleges that most of those listed in the report were armed criminals, but admits to have placed several hundred security agents under investigation for abuses of power and extrajudicial actions.
(Human Rights Watch)
Dutchlawyer Derk Wiersum has been shot to death near his home. At the time of his death he was the lawyer of
state witness Nabil Bakkali in the
Marengo-proces against the Mocro Maffia led by Ridouan Taghi.
(BBC News)
A German magazine reports that the
chief financial officer of automobile manufacturer
BMW, Nicolas Peter, plans to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs at that company, mostly at the
Munich headquarters, before 2022.
(Reuters)
UK-based travel agent
Thomas Cook is reported to be attempting to sell assets as it seeks to prevent its collapse. The group employs 20,000 people and, were it to collapse, approximately 150,000 British customers currently abroad could require repatriation assistance from the
Civil Aviation Authority in the largest peacetime operation of its kind.
(Sky News)
An
F-16fighter jet of the
Belgian Air Component strikes a house before crashing into a field near
Pluvigner, north-west
France. Both pilots eject and escape with minor injuries, but one gets his parachute entangled in high-voltage power lines, requiring two hours to rescue.
(BBC News)
France and
Italy call for a new system to redistribute immigrants to the
European Union amid an ongoing increase in the numbers arriving, complaining of unfair demands being placed upon nations where immigrants make landfall.
(BBC News)
The only prosecution concerning the 2011
nuclear catastrophe ends with the acquittal of three former
Tepco executives. The decision means nobody has been held criminally responsible for the
meltdown.
Greenpeace says the verdict is not very surprising, since the case was "hugely political".
(Al Jazeera)
The
UK Supreme Court finishes hearing arguments on the lawfulness of
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson's
prorogation of
Parliament. The court states it expects to rule next week. It is jointly considering appeals against two rulings. One, made by the
High Court in
London under
English law, ruled prorogation was an entirely political decision over which courts had no jurisdiction. The other, made by the
Court of Session in
Edinburgh under
Scots law, ruled Johnson acted unlawfully and the prorogation was a nullity that must be reversed.
(BBC News)
Police in
South Korea link convicted murderer Lee Chun-jae to the serial rapes and murders, which occurred between 1986 and 1991 and left ten dead. The investigations inspired the movie Memories of Murder and saw 21,000 people investigated. Lee, who is serving life for the 1994 rape and murder of his sister in law, cannot be prosecuted despite a
DNA link to three victims because the
statute of limitations has expired.
(BBC News)
U.S. PresidentDonald Trump demands that European allies, in particular
Germany and
France, take back captured
ISIL fighters, or else, he says, "we're going to let them go at your border". Trump also made the same threat in August.
(AFP via MSN News)
The head of the Iranian Central Bank says the "re-boycotting" of the already-blacklisted institution shows the U.S.' failure to find new ways to pressure Iran.
(Reuters)
Law and crime
A woman who previously accused late United States financier
Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager says she was "
trafficked" to
Prince Andrew of the
United Kingdom and was abused by him at a house in
London. She calls him "an abuser" and "a participant". Prince Andrew denies the allegations.
(BBC News)
Millions of young people take to the streets and numerous businesses worldwide go on strike days before the
UN Climate Summit, demanding that further action be taken to confront
climate change.
(Reuters)(NBC News)
Twitter suspends a network of 4,258 accounts using fake names being operated from the
United Arab Emirates that were spreading
fake news and propaganda, mostly about
Qatar and the war in
Yemen. Twitter also suspends the account of
Saud al-Qahtani for violating the company's "platform manipulation" policies.
(Al Jazeera)
Saudi Foreign Minister
Adel al-Jubeir says the international community must take a firm stand on
Tehran and that if confirmed
Iran is behind the attacks against the oil facilities,
Saudi Arabia will "take the necessary steps" to "respond appropriately".
(Reuters)
As the number of refugees from the
crisis in Venezuela is projected to surpass the 6 million figure in 2020, matching that of the
Syrian Civil War now,
Brookings Institution calculates that aid for Venezuelan emigration is yet only 1.5% that for Syrian emigrants after five years of crisis.
(Bloomberg)
Global warming protesters glue themselves to a road near the
Port of Dover in
England, blocking it. Police arrest ten people, believed to be members of
Extinction Rebellion. Further scheduled protests take place in a dedicated area set up by police.
(BBC News)
International relations
Iran's
Revolutionary Guards leader,
Hossein Salami, warns that "any country that attacks the Islamic Republic will have their mainland turned into the main battlefield". He further added that "any attack will not stop until the full destruction of the aggressor".
(Al Arabiya English)
At least 22 people are killed and 15 others injured after a bus rams into a hill en route from
Skardu to
Rawalpindi,
Pakistan, following a brake failure.
(Sky News)
Two minibuses collide head-on near
Limpopo,
South Africa. All eleven on board the vehicles die.
(ENCA)
Argentina accuses Venezuela of committing "crimes against humanity", "torture and murder" after receiving reports from Venezuelan refugees in the country. The Argentine Government will file a formal accusation against Venezuela before the
International Court of Justice.
(Clarín)
Sudanese Prime Minister
Abdalla Hamdok launches an investigation into the deaths of dozens of protestors during a July crackdown orchestrated under the regime of now-ousted President
Omar al-Bashir.
(France 24)
Afghan officials say a government strike Sunday night on a militant facility in
Musa Qala District,
Helmand Province, killed 35 or more civilians at a wedding party nearby. The Afghan
Defence Ministry says the operation targeted a training facility for suicide bombers and it killed 22 members of the
Taliban. The Taliban say 18 members of the Afghan forces were killed.
(Reuters)
Business and economy
In a rare joint press release, European
car makers warn that a
no-deal Brexit, introducing administrative hassle and tariffs, would have a "seismic" impact on
frictionless trading conditions and that it would deal a "severe" blow to the industry's
just-in-time manufacturing supply chains, also potentially affecting "consumer choice and affordability on both sides of
the Channel".
(AFP via The Guardian)
Boeing announces each relative of victims of two air disasters will be paid
US$144,500 by the aircraft manufacturer, and will not have to waive their right to litigate to receive the money.
(Reuters)
Iran says a
UK-flagged ship seized several months ago is free to depart.
MVStena Impero, an oil tanker, was captured in response to the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in
Gibraltar over allegations it was carrying fuel to
Syria.
(The Independent)
Law and crime
After "seriously considering feedback from different parties who feel objections on some substantial content",
Indonesian PresidentJoko Widodo postpones the vote on a new criminal code, intended to replace the century-old
Dutch colonial-era penal code. The proposed code would criminalise
extramarital sex, insults to the president and "obscene acts".
(CNN)
A group of alleged
ISIL sympathisers go on trial in
France, including two women accused of an attempted
car bombing at
Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2016. Defendants also include a man being
tried in absentia whom the
United States claims to have killed via drone strike in 2017; the court ruled no evidence had been provided to confirm his death.
(France 24)
The
World Anti-Doping Agency launches a probe into "inconsistencies" with laboratory results from
Russia, promising "the most stringent sanctions" if violations are found. Russia was previously banned from the
2018 Winter Olympics following a similar probe.
(France 24)
Violent protests in
Papua,
Indonesia, kill at least 30 people. Most casualties are in
Wamena, with deaths also reported in
Jayapura. Victims reportedly receive stab and arrow wounds, and others die in fires as protestors torch government buildings.
(The Telegraph)
A tanker truck carrying fuel overturns after swerving to avoid a motorcycle in
Bamako,
Mali. A subsequent explosion kills six and seriously injures 46 more. Dozens of vehicles burn.
(Reuters)
Tens of thousands of students rally against graft laws and new criminal codes across
Indonesia. Some of the protesters violently clash with the riot police, leading to the injury of more than 300 people.
(Deutsche Welle)(Al Jazeera)
Science and technology
Microsoft issues an emergency patch for its
Internet Explorer browser to close a vulnerability that allowed cybercriminals to install
malware via boobytrapped websites.
(BBC News)
Northern Irish bus manufacturer
Wrightbus collapses into administration after buyout talks fail, with 1,200 jobs lost. Local politicians urge action from
UK Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, who commissioned the so-called "
Boris Bus" from the company when he was
Mayor of London and previously promised to "do everything we can to ensure the future of" Wrightbus.
(Sky News)
An advisory board to the
Dutchgovernment recommends reducing speed limits on roads and using public money to purchase outdated cattle farms as part of a raft of measures to tackle
global warming-linked nitrogen emissions in the country.
(Associated Press)
The
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) becomes the first jurisdiction in
Australia to legalize the recreational use of
cannabis. From January 31, 2020, adults within ACT will be allowed to have 50 grams of the drug and can grow up to four cannabis plants at home.
(BBC News)
Millionaire
Italian yacht businessman Giulio Lolli is convicted of
terrorism in
Libya and sentenced to
life imprisonment by a court in
Tripoli. Lolli is wanted for fraud in Italy, and his Italian lawyer says the Libyan legal case appears to be based on Lolli using a yacht to evacuate fighters from Tripoli.
(The Times)
A jury in
New York convicts Dilkhayot Kasimov, a citizen of
Uzbekistan, of terrorism offences for attempting to raise funds to assist a friend in travelling to join
ISIL. Five others pleaded guilty in 2015.
(Associated Press)
Authorities raid the
German bank
Deutsche Bank as part of a
money laundering probe into
€200 billion of suspicious payments identified into the accounts of
Danske Bank's branch in
Estonia. Danske Bank's Estonian boss from 2007 to 2015 is found dead near
Tallinn at his home in circumstances police describe as neither suspicious nor accidental.
(City A.M.)
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes the
Maluku Islands in eastern
Indonesia. 30 people are killed and 156 others injured.
(Rappler)
Around 100 people are evacuated from Breivika port in
Tromsø,
Norway, after
Russian trawler
FVBukhta Naezdnik catches fire and develops a heavy list. The burning ship has a tank of
ammonia and 200,000 litres of
diesel oil on board. The ship is purposely capsized to reduce the risk of the ammonia tank exploding.
(BreakingNews.ie)(The Independent)
Japan and South Korea fail to make progress toward resolution, but agree to continue dialogue.
(The Japan Times)(Bloomberg)
Law and crime
The Major Criminal Court in
Bahrain sentences four people to jail terms for setting up a terror group with the aim of launching attacks on police, and related crimes. Two are fugitives
tried in absentia(Gulf News)
A student dies after allegedly being shot during a violent clash between the protesters and police force in front of the provincial parliament building in
Kendari,
Indonesia.
(The Jakarta Post)
Portugal announces it has set aside 150 million
euros to lend to the companies that have been hurt by the collapse of tour guide company
Thomas Cook.
(Reuters)
Diplomats of several Western-aligned countries walk out of the
UN General Assembly as
Venezuelan Vice-President
Delcy Rodríguez begins a speech.
(Fox News)
A resolution is adopted by the
United Nations Human Rights Council with 19 votes in favour, 7 against and 21 abstentions, accusing
Venezuela's
Nicolás Maduro government of thousands of
extrajudicial murders,
forced disappearances, and
torture, after being proposed by the
Lima Group and backed by many European countries. The UN resolves to send an investigative mission to the country. Maduro says the motion was "produced by the
United States to run a hate campaign". Another Venezuelan representative calls the
UN a "small group" that they "will not cooperate with".
(BBC News)
Police in
Kaduna,
Nigeria, raid an Islamic learning centre, and free around 500 men and male children held captive there. The freed detainees allege torture,
slavery, and sexual abuse, and some display evidence of injury and
malnutrition. Two children self-identify as being from
Burkina Faso, with the remaining captives thought by police to be mostly Nigerian. Eight suspects are arrested.
(BBC News)
Houthi rebels claim that they have captured "thousands" of enemy troops near the Saudi town of
Najran following a major, deadly attack near the two countries' border. Saudi officials have not confirmed the claim.
(BBC News)(Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
Flooding in the
Indian state of
Uttar Pradesh kills at least 93 people and displaces thousands of others. Another 29 people were killed in
Bihar.
(BBC News).
An oil tanker ship explodes in
Ulsan,
South Korea, with flames subsequently spreading to an adjacent second tanker. At least ten people are injured.
(CBC)
A coach with a flat tyre swerves into oncoming traffic and strikes a lorry head-on in
Jiangsu,
China. The collision kills at least 36 and injures another 36.
(The Guardian)
SyrianForeign MinisterWalid al-Moualem demands the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. and Turkish troops from his country and warns that Syrian government forces have the right to take countermeasures if they refuse.
(Reuters)
Voters in
Afghanistan head to the polls to elect a new
president. The process is overshadowed by "insurgent" attacks, which led to dozens of civilian casualties.
(DW)
The
Richmond Football Club defeats the
Greater Western Sydney Giants in the
2019 AFL Grand Final by 114 points to 25, marking the club's twelfth premiership and second in three years. The match, attended by 100,014 spectators, is the lowest single-match score by the Giants in their history, and the most lopsided Grand Final result in Richmond's history (89 points).
(The Age)
A fire at
an overcrowded refugee camp on the
Greek island of
Lesbos kills an
Afghan woman living in a
shipping container. A local official claims "aggressive" residents at the camp prevented firefighters from accessing the blaze, and that thrown stones and other missiles injured first responders and damaged their vehicles.
(The Guardian)
Islamist militants launch two attacks against foreign forces in
Somalia. A
U.S. military base in
Baledogle,
Lower Shabelle, is stormed by attackers using two
car bombs and guns, and an
Italian peacekeeping convoy is targeted by additional bombs in
Mogadishu. United States and Italian authorities both state no injuries occurred, although the
suicide bombing against the Italian convoy destroyed a military vehicle and heavily damaged nearby buildings.
Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for both attacks.
(Newsweek)
Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni and her husband Rifaat al-Amin are each jailed for a year by a
Rabat court for
premarital sex and unlawful
abortion, with doctor Mohammed Jamal Belkeziz receiving two years for carrying an abortion out. Her lawyer claims the evidence was fabricated to dissuade Raissouni and others from criticising the
government. Observers including
Amnesty International criticise the verdicts.
(The Guardian)
Scientists say the largest
iceberg in 50 years has broken away from
Antarctica's
Amery Ice Shelf. The 1,636 sq km iceberg, known as D28, will continue to be monitored as it could pose a risk to shipping.
(BBC News)
A near-record snowstorm drops large amounts of snow in some parts of
Alberta, from September 27-30. 95 cm fell in
Waterton, 50-60 cm fell in
Lethbridge, and over 27-32 cm fell in
Calgary. Impacts were relatively mild, with power outages, and businesses closing.
(The Globe and Mail)