Portal:Current events/September 2015

Armed conflicts and attacks

Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL
- The United Nations confirms the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has completely destroyed the Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria, after earlier reports that the structure was mostly intact. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)
War in Somalia (2009–present)
- Al-Shabaab claims to have killed scores of African Union troops in a successful attack that captured a compound in Janaale, south of Mogadishu. (Al-Jazeera), (AP)
War in North-West Pakistan
- Six suspected militants are killed in a United States drone attack in the tribal area of North Waziristan. (IANS via Yahoo! News India)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis releases a letter granting priests the ability to grant absolution to women who have received an abortion. (Washington Post)
Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia
- Wikipedia concludes a large-scale operation blocking hundreds of users centered on networks of for-pay edits violating the encyclopedia's guidelines. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Ars Technica)

Disaster and accidents

A chemical plant owned by the Shandong Binyuan Chemical Company explodes in the Chinese city of Dongying in the coastal Shandong province, killing at least one person with the extent of other injuries unknown. (AP via Asian Correspondent) (Voice of America) (Shanghaiist)
The death toll from a Legionnaires' disease outbreak at a Quincy, Illinois veterans home rises to at least seven with more than the current number of 32 sickened expected since the incubation period for illness can be up to two weeks. (Reuters)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Authorities in Hungary close the Budapest Keleti railway station to prevent hundreds of migrants from boarding trains to other European capitals. (ITV)
- Thousands of refugees arrive in Germany's München Hauptbahnhof from Budapest. Police and firefighters on the scene provide them with food, water and medical aid even as more continue to arrive. (thelocal)
- More than 11,000 Icelanders offer to open their homes to Syrian refugees to help with the European crisis.(The Independent) (Time)
Eurostar services between Paris and London are delayed by hundreds of migrants trying to board the trains at Calais. (Reuters)

Law and crime

In Lake County, Illinois, a manhunt is initiated as authorities seek three suspects who killed a police officer from the Fox Lake Police Department, Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewicz. (Chicago Tribune)
3000 indigenous Lumad evacuate over the murders of an indigenous Lumad family and the rape of an indigenous Manobo girl allegedly by soldiers and militiamen of the Philippine Army. (The Philippine Star), (Rappler)

Politics and elections

Guatemala's Congress unanimously votes to strip President Otto Pérez of immunity from prosecution for his alleged role in a graft scandal that has engulfed his government. Nationwide elections are scheduled for Sunday, September 6th; Pérez is not eligible because of constitutional term limits. (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
New Zealand flag debate
- Four alternatives to the current New Zealand flag are chosen for a Spring referendum (20 November – 11 December 2015) in which New Zealanders will determine their favorite of the new designs. (TV New Zealand) (New Zealand Government)
A law affecting online personal computer data storage comes into force in Russia. (RT)
Faroese general election, 2015
- The center-left opposition, led by Aksel V. Johannesen, wins the elections on the Faroe Islands; the new government is expected to pass legislation allowing same-sex unions. (The Local)

Science and technology

University of California, San Francisco, scientists announce the discovery of an altered protein (prion) that is the direct cause of a rare, incurable, Parkinson’s-like brain disorder, multiple system atrophy. (San Francisco Chronicle), (Medical Daily)

September 2, 2015 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraq War (2014–present)
- Masked men in military uniforms kidnap 16 Turkish workers in Baghdad. (AP)
Syrian Civil War
- A car bomb kills at least seven people in the Latakia Governorate. (AFP via Daily Star)

Business and economy

150 million workers go on strike in India to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi's labour market reforms. (Voice of America)

Disasters and accidents

French police arrest an arsonist for a fire in an apartment in the 18th arrondissement of Paris which killed eight people.(BBC)

International relations

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
- Upcoming congressional votes
  - President Barack Obama has sufficient support in the United States Senate to uphold a veto of the proposed congressional vote of disapproval of the nuclear deal with Iran. (AP)

Law and crime

Eight people have been killed and over 30 injured in riots in the Indian state of Manipur since the passage of three controversial land bills on Monday. (IBN Live)
Crime in El Salvador
- There have been 907 deaths last month in El Salvador as a result of gang violence, a death rate not seen since the Salvadoran Civil War of the 1980s. (BBC)
The Dutch Public Prosecution Service releases a statement that former Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Els Borst who was murdered on 8 February 2014, died from forty-one stab wounds on her head, neck and hands. (NOS)
A French probe into the death of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 closes without bringing any new information. (Wires via France 24)
A judge orders that President of Guatemala Otto Pérez Molina be detained for his alleged role in a corruption scandal. (AP)

Science and technology

A new study estimates that there are three trillion trees on Earth, with 15 billion lost each year to mainly human causes. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Russian rocket Soyuz TMA-18M launches a crew of three to the ISS. (Space.com)

Sports

2022 Commonwealth Games
- South Africa will become the first African nation to host the Commonwealth Games as Durban is granted the rights to host the games in 2022. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Delegates elect Vitaly Mutko to be the President of Russian Football Union. (TASS)

September 3, 2015 (Thursday)

Disasters and accidents

European migrant crisis/Syrian Civil War
- Bodies of Syrian refugees are found on a beach in Turkey, including a 3-year-old boy, pictures of whose body spread virally and prompt grave international concern. (Al Jazeera)
An overloaded wooden boat with Sumatra-bound migrants sinks off the coast of Malaysia killing at least 15 people, 13 of which are women. Nearby fisherman rescue 19 people with more than 40 missing. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency states that the boat was taking migrant workers home to Tanjung Balai in Indonesia's Sumatra province for the Hari Raya Haji celebration. (Reuters) (The NY Daily News) (Malaysian Star)
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370:
- French prosecutors state that they believe "with certainty" that a piece of debris that had washed ashore on Reunion Island came from the missing plane. (BBC)

International relations

2015 China's V-Day Parade
- A military parade is held in Beijing featuring 12,000 members of the People's Liberation Army, 500 vehicles and 200 People's Liberation Army Air Force air craft. Women of the Chinese military are allowed to participate in this particular parade for the first time. (RT)

Law and crime

The President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina, resigns after being charged in a corruption scandal; Vice President Alejandro Maldonado is sworn in as interim head of state. (The New York Times) (BBC News)
2015 Bangkok bombing
- Another suspect in the bombing is arrested in Narathiwat Province in southern Thailand and flown to Bangkok. (Bangkok Post)
Miller v. Davis
- Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk, is jailed for contempt of court for continuing to refuse, on grounds of religious freedom, to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples per U.S. District Judge David Bunning's August 12, 2015, order. The deputy clerks are ordered to issue these licenses. (Reuters), (New York Times)
Harriman, Tennessee police arrest 41-year-old actress Jennifer Ann Lien, who played "Kes" on the Star Trek: Voyager television series. She is accused of exposing herself to children and is charged with two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure involving children under age 13. (AP via FOX), (Huffington Post)

Sports

National Football League
- In arbitration, U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman overturns the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's four-game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The judge rules that Brady had been given no notice that ball deflation would result in a suspension. The NFL announces that they will appeal the ruling. (AP) (ESPN)

September 4, 2015 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraq War (2014–present)
- Iraqi security forces raid the offices of Kata'ib Hezbollah in Baghdad, accusing them of being involved in the abduction of 18 Turkish workers. (Reuters via Economic Times)
Sinai insurgency
- Two roadside bombs detonate in the Sinai Peninsula injuring six international peacekeepers, who were there to support the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. (AP via CBS)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- An explosion at an arms depot in Yemen kills 45 Emirati soldiers who were part of the Saudi led coalition. (Yahoo)
- Five Bahraini soldiers are killed on the Saudi-Yemeni border while taking part in a military operation against Yemen-based Houthi militants. (Reuters)
Clashes in and around Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe kill at least 17 people. Government representatives blame the attacks against security forces on former Deputy Defense Minister Aduhalim Nazarzoda, who fought against government forces in the Tajikistan Civil War. (BBC)
Russia's role in the Syrian Civil War
- Russian President Vladimir Putin confirms that Russia is providing military aid in Syrian Civil War in support of the Bashar al-Assad regime and is providing heavy weapons, aircraft, tanks, serious training and logistical support to the Syrian Army. (Telegraph)

Arts and Culture

The world's shortest man ever recorded, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, dies from pneumonia in an American Samoan hospital at age 75. Dangi lived with his family in Dang District, Nepal. His height, listed in the Guinness World Records, is 54.6 centimeters / 21.5 inches. (Kathmandu Post) (Daily Pakistan)
U.S. Military Academy officials confirm that during West Point's annual pillow fight on August 20, 2015, some cadets swung pillowcases packed with hard objects leaving 30 cadets injured, including 24 with concussions. (New York Times)

Business and economics

General Mills sells subsidiary Green Giant to B&G Foods Inc. for $765 million. (Star Tribune via The Ledger)
BlackBerry Limited announces it will purchase Good Technology, a provider of mobile software, as part of its broader shift to a services role within the internet of things. (Reuters)
Fiat Chrysler U.S. recalls 7,810 SUVs to prevent hacking. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Atlantic hurricane season
- Tropical Storm Fred's predicted track will turn northeast toward the Azores islands off the coast of Portugal as a Tropical Depression. (Weather.com)
2015 Pacific hurricane season
- Tropical Storm Ignacio, currently headed north-northwest away from Hawaii, is anticipated to turn northeast on Sunday, heading for the Alaskan panhandle and northwestern British Columbia. (AccuWeather), (SurfLine.com)
Forty one people are injured when a British tourist bus and four trucks are involved in a collision between Sempach and Sursee in Switzerland. (Reuters via News24)

Law and crime

Two British VICE News journalists, Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, arrested on 28 August in Diyarbakir Province in southeastern Turkey on terror charges, are released while their colleague, translator Mohammed Ismael Rasool, remains in custody. (Turkish Weekly), (Time)
US Open (tennis) drone arrest. (BBC)
A Latvian man charged by U.S. over the Gozi computer virus (a proxy Trojan horse) pleads guilty. (Reuters)

September 5, 2015 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Afghanistan War
- Gunmen kill 13 minority Hazara men but spare the life of one woman among a traveling party in usually tranquil Balkh Province. No group claims responsibility. (AFP via Times of Oman)
Syrian Civil War
- At least 20 Syrian rebels and 27 ISIS fighters are killed in a battle in Mare', Syria, in northern Aleppo Governorate near the Turkish border. (AFP via Lebanon Daily Star) (Reuters)
The death toll in Tajikistan clashes rises to 22 dead. (BBC)
War in Somalia (2009–present)
- al Shabaab militants seize two towns in southern Somalia. (Reuters)
Thai police seek a 10th suspect in deadly Bangkok bombing. (AP)

International Relations

European migrant crisis
- Following Austria's and Germany's decision to waive their asylum system rules, approximately 6,500 migrants – mostly from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan – arrive in Vienna. They traveled from Hungary by bus, train or on foot. The migrants were given the opportunity to register in Austria or move on to Germany. (The Star - Malaysia) (USA Today) (Washington Post) (Budapest Business Journal)
- The first group, 450 of an expected 10,000 migrants, arrive in Munich, Germany, after traveling through Hungary and Austria. (BBC)

Law and crime

Cross-Strait relations
- Former vice president Annette Lu of Taiwan files charges of treason against former vice president Lien Chan, accusing him of breaching national security when he attended the 2015 China Victory Day Parade. (Taipei Times)

September 6, 2015 (Sunday)

Disasters and accidents

At least 10 people die and 8 are missing from a South Korean fishing charter that capsized Saturday night off the country's southern coast. Coast Guard officers said three people survived by clinging to the wreckage for 10 hours. (Sydney Morning Herald) (AFP via New Delhi Television)
The death toll from the September 1 chemical factory blast in China rises to 13. (AP)
A Spain car rally race crash leaves six dead after a car veers off a straight section into spectators. (BBC)

International Relations

European migrant crisis
- Pope Francis asks Catholic faithful in Europe to host refugee families fleeing death from war and hunger, and announces the Vatican's two churches will welcome two families of refugees. (CNN) (NBC4 New York)

Law and crime

In Tampa, Florida, former University of South Florida football player Elkino Watson is killed and Desmon Watson, another former player, is injured after an early morning stabbing after an argument broke out outside a nightclub in Ybor City. (WFLA)
In North Carolina, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announces an unprecedented 11 people have been shot, 5 fatally, over the Labor Day weekend, including a boy shot at a birthday party. (Charlotte Observer)
In the second police officer shooting in the city in three days, a man ambushed a marked police SUV stopped at a traffic light in Las Vegas by walking up and firing multiple rounds, striking one officer in the hand. The shooter was arrested. (Fox News)
Crystal Cortes of Dallas, Texas is charged with capital murder of dentist Kendra Hatcher on September 2. Her borrowed Jeep Cherokee was seen entering a parking garage on video. She told police she conspired with an unidentified man who paid her to drive him to the garage with the intention of robbery. (WFAA)

Politics and elections

Guatemalan general election, 2015
- Voters in Guatemala go to the polls for a general election. The presidential election appears headed for a runoff. (AP)
Thailand's National Reform Council (NRC) rejects a controversial new constitution, 135 to 105, with 7 abstentions. This result dissolves the NRC, continues military rule for at least 7 months, and delays the scheduled January 2016 referendum to early 2017 or later. (AsiaOne) (BBC)

September 7, 2015 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- Turkish jets strike PKK militant positions across south-east Turkey and northern Iraq and deploy special forces to the Iraqi border following a deadly PKK attack which left at least 16 Turkish soldiers dead. (Reuters)

Business and economy

The patent office in India rejects Pfizer's petition for a patent on an arthritis drug, tofacitinib, re-affirming their rejection of the same drug in 2011. The drug is a chemical reformulation of the active compound in the medicine and thus the Indian Patent Office says that the company would have to establish that the compound for which it is seeking a patent is therapeutically more effective than the active compound. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Five people are killed as a small plane crashes in western Colorado. (USA Today)

International relations

European refugee crisis
- The President of France François Hollande agrees to take 24,000 refugees out of the estimated 100,000 per month expected to arrive. (AP via ABC News)
- Hundreds of people, tired of waiting for promised transportation, broke out from Hungary's first migrant holding center near the Serbian border, past police overwhelmed by their numbers, to start the march north toward Budapest. The asylum seekers / migrants, now accompanied by groups of police, advanced along the edge of the main highway to the capital. (AP via Global News)
The United Kingdom House of Commons passes a bill to conduct a planned referendum on the United Kingdom's continued membership in the European Union. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Law and Crime

Just before the Brooklyn, New York West Indian J'ouvert Labor Day Carnival, lawyer Carey Gabay is shot in the head and critically wounded, caught in crossfire between feuding gangs. Two others are wounded in shootings and one man is stabbed to death. (ABC News), (Breitbart)
In Cass County, Missouri, a family of four is fired upon after they passed a slower vehicle, which then pulls up alongside and opens fire, hitting the father and a 2-year-old girl. Police believe the motive may have been road rage after flashing headlights. (KCTV5)

Politics and elections

Trinidad and Tobago general election, 2015
- Voters in Trinidad and Tobago go to the polls for a House of Representatives election with the People's National Movement led by Keith Rowley returning to power. (Reuters), (Miami Herald)
During U.S. Labor Day holiday activities in Boston, President Barack Obama announces a new executive order requiring federal government contractors to offer workers seven days of paid sick leave per year. On July 1st, Massachusetts became the third state, Connecticut and California being the others, with similar requirements. (Washington Post) (Huffington Post)
In an education scandal in Egypt, a top student, Mariam Malak, says she's a victim of corruption and fraud with the school or the examination board purposefully swapping her final exam papers with another pupil, while she is thus assigned "Zero"-grade for each of the seven subjects. 40,000 online rally for her via a Facebook support page while another top student reporting the same complaint. (BBC)
Hungary's Defense Minister Csaba Hende resigns amid the refugee crisis. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán immediately replaced Hende with a member of his Fidesz party, István Simicskó. (UPI)

Science and technology

A bolide or meteor fireball explodes over the Thai city of Bangkok. (The Telegraph)

September 8, 2015 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- Turkey bombs PKK sites in northern Iraq after a bombing yesterday in Hakkâri Province that killed at least 16 soldiers. (BBC)
- A PKK bombing attack on a minibus in the eastern Iğdır Province near the Armenian border kills 14 Turkish police officers. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron confirms that two ISIS militants, UK citizens, Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin, were killed in Syria when a British drone attack hit their car on August 21, 2015. Both Khan and Amin had appeared in an ISIS recruitment video last year. They are alleged to have been plotting a terrorist attack on the UK. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- The Syrian government calls off airstrikes against rebel fighters due to a sandstorm affecting large parts of the Middle East. (AP)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- The UN announces that it has grave concerns for around 96,000 children in Al Hudaydah, Yemen, who are starving due to the nearby fighting. (Al Jazeera English Online)
- A Saudi-led air raid on Yemen's Al Hudaydah port reportedly kills 20 Indian nationals involved in oil smuggling. (Times of India)

Arts and culture

New Zealand temporarily bans the sale or lending of the book Into the River by Ted Dawe, pending a review which could see the book restricted long-term. This is the first time in 22 years that a book has been restricted to this extent in New Zealand. (The Guardian) (Radio New Zealand Online)

Business and economy

German airline Lufthansa cancels 84 long-haul flights as pilots go on strike over a proposed restructure plan. (Bloomberg)
Jeff Smisek resigns as CEO of United Airlines due to allegations that he tried to improperly influence officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

A massive sandstorm hits Lebanon and Syria as well as Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The Lebanese Health Ministry said the storm caused the deaths of two women, and sent hundreds to hospitals with breathing difficulties. Particularly hard hit were the 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many in flimsy tents in informal campsites. (Middle East Eye) (AP via CTV News) (Al Jazeera English Online)
The VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam is fully evacuated after parts of the hospital were flooded because of a burst in a major water-pipeline. (DutchNews)
British Airways Flight 2276, a Boeing 777 aircraft, suffers an uncontained engine failure and fire on take-off from McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Fourteen of the 172 on board are injured and taken to a nearby hospital. (BBC), (NBC News)

International relations

North and South Korea are to hold reunions for families divided by the Korean War from October 20 to October 26. (AP via Washington Times)
European migrant crisis
- Sigmar Gabriel, the Vice Chancellor of Germany, says that Germany "can take 500,000 asylum seekers a year" while calling on other nations to take their fair share. " (BBC)

Law and crime

During protests over a lack of mining jobs in South Africa's Limpopo province, demonstrators destroy 21 buses, a police station, and a municipal office as well as blocking roads from Lephalale to Marapong. (ENCA)
Death of Freddie Gray
- The U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland, agrees to a $6.4 million settlement with relatives over the death of Freddie Gray. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Miller v. Davis
- Kim Davis, the county clerk of Rowan County in the U.S. state of Kentucky, is released from jail on contempt of court charges but she may not interfere with her deputy clerks issuing marriage certificates to same sex couples. (Yahoo! politics)
Matrimonial nullity trial reforms of Pope Francis
- Pope Francis announces canon law reforms making it easier for people to obtain declarations of nullity (marriage annulments) (BBC)

Politics and elections

Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, is reelected (unopposed) President of the Liberal Democratic Party. (AP via The New York Times)

Sport

In football, Wayne Rooney becomes the highest goalscorer for the England national football team with a goal against Switzerland in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match. (ITV)
The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia was abandoned due to crowd trouble just before full time. ^{[citation needed]}

September 9, 2015 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Islamic Front rebels seize Abu al-Duhur military airport while taking control of Syria's northwestern Idlib province. (BBC), (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald), (Al Jazeera English Online)
- Russian forces reportedly begin combat operations in Syria in support of the Bashar al-Assad government. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Egypt deploys around 800 troops to Yemen to join the Saudi-led war effort against the Houthis. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch (63 years and seven months), surpassing the record set by Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother. (BBC), (The Huffington Post UK), (Al Jazeera English Online)

Business and economy

A German court issues an injunction ordering a halt to a Lufthansa airline pilots' strike. Earlier, Germany's biggest airline announced it had canceled 1,000 flights while about 500 would still operate. (CNBC), (AP via US News & World Report)

International relations

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War
- Australia announces that it will accept an additional 12,000 Syrian migrants, mostly from persecuted minorities. (ABC News), (Al Jazeera English Online)
Egypt–Israel relations
- Israel reopens its embassy in Cairo, Egypt, after closing it in 2011 after violent protests. (AP via ABC News), (Al Jazeera English Online), (CNN International)

Law and crime

Human Rights Watch and the Philippine Commission on Human Rights condemn the murders of an indigenous Lumad family and the rape of an indigenous Manobo girl by soldiers and militiamen of the Philippine Army under the guise of fighting a communist rebellion. (The Philippine Star), (Rappler), (Human Rights Watch)

September 10, 2015 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- ISIL attacks a government held air base near the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor with dozens of government loyalists and ISIL militants killed. (Reuters)
Operation Martyr Yalçın
- At least 30 people have been killed in the southeastern Turkish city of Cizre following clashes between Turkish security forces and pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) supporters. Locals say Cizre has been "under siege" since the military imposed a curfew. (BBC)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Air strikes target Houthi political leaders and military bases in Sana'a, Yemen. (Al Jazeera English Online)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- In Japan, tens of thousands are forced to evacuate due to flooding and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Etau. So far, one person is reported as missing. (Radio NZ Online), (AP via U.S. News & World Report), (Al Jazeera English Online), (BBC)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Denmark reopens rail services to Germany after closing rail lines and a motorway in order to stem the flow of migrants on their way to Sweden. (ITV)
- President of the United States Barack Obama directs his administration to accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next fiscal year from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (Washington Post)
Russia–United States relations
- The United States expresses concern about alleged escalations of Russian military activities in Syria. (Al Jazeera English Online)
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
- The United States Senate fails to pass a resolution blocking approval of the nuclear agreement with Iran, meaning it will be formally adopted on October 19. (New York Times)

Law and crime

An indigenous Lumad child dies in an evacuation center while the Philippine Senate investigates the alleged September 1 murders of an indigenous Lumad family and the alleged rape of an indigenous Manobo girl by soldiers and militiamen of the Philippine Army. (Rappler), (Mindanao News), (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Azerbaijan jails journalist Khadija Ismayilova after a trial that many believe is politically-motivated. (Al Jazeera English Online)
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López is convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for allegedly inciting violence at anti-government rallies. (AP)
A U.S. federal jury awards nearly $17.5 million to five former migrant workers at a South Florida farm in their case of sexual harassment and abuse in their work. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Peter Robinson, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, steps aside after the Democratic Unionist Party fails to get enough support to adjourn the assembly. (BBC)

Science and technology

Homo naledi
- Elife publishes a discovery by scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand announcing a new species of hominid (Homo naledi) in the Rising Star Cave in South Africa. Although the remains have yet to be properly dated, they could be three million years old. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)

September 11, 2015 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Cross-Strait relations
- The People's Liberation Army of China holds three days of live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait, while Taiwan holds exercises simulating Chinese submarines attacking Kinmen and being repelled by Taiwanese amphibious forces. (The Guardian) (AP via Yahoo)
Boko Haram insurgency
- An improvised explosive device in a Yola, Nigeria displacement camp kills 7 people. (AP)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- The Turkish Air Force strikes 64 PKK targets in northern Iraq reportedly killing up to 60 PKK militants. (Daily Sabah)
2015 Burundian unrest
- Burundi's army chief General Prime Niyongabo survives an assassination attempt after armed men attacked his motorcade on a busy road in the capital, Bujumbura. Six people are killed in the attack. (BBC), (The New York Times)

Arts and culture

Britney Spears announces a two-year extension in performing Britney: Piece of Me on the Las Vegas Strip. (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- At least three people die, 27 are injured, and 26 people are missing, the majority of them in and around Jōsō city in Ibaraki Prefecture, as a result of floods and landslides in Japan after heavy rainfall caused by Tropical Storm Etau. (Reuters) (The Independent-UK)
Incidents during the Hajj
- Mecca crane collapse
  - Strong winds cause a construction crane collapse at the Masjid al-Haram mosque killing 107 people and injuring 283 others. Most of the people killed were on the annual Islamic hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. (RT), (USA Today), (AFP via ABC News Australia), (Daily Mail)

International relations

The UN General Assembly votes in favor of flying the flags of non-member observer states outside the headquarters in New York City. Palestine will raise their flag on September 30, while Vatican City has made no plans yet. (CNN)
United States–Cuban Thaw
- Cuba announces it will release more than 3,500 prisoners in a goodwill gesture ahead of next week's visit by Pope Francis. (BBC)
European migrant crisis
- Foreign ministers from Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia meet with officials from the European Union and Germany to discuss differences over migrant quotas. (BBC)

Law and crime

Defense lawyers say the United States continues to block the release of 116 pages of the lawyers' notes detailing the torture that Guantanimo Bay prisoner Abu Zubaydah says he experienced in CIA custody. Zubaydah has yet to be charged with any crime despite being held since 2002. (Reuters via Al Jazeera English Online) (Newsweek)
Mark Karpelès, the CEO of defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, is charged with embezzlement in Japan. Karpeles asserts his own innocence. (AFP via France 24)
2006 Mumbai train bombings
- A Mumbai, India court convicts twelve men with one man acquitted for their roles in the bombing which killed 209 people and injured 714. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)
The Phoenix, Arizona area has had 11 confirmed shootings on and around Interstate 10 in less than two weeks. No life-threatening injuries have been reported, though a 13-year-old girl was cut by flying glass from a shattered window. Arizona Department of Public Safety confirm that a man is being questioned. (ABC 15) (NBC News), (FOX10 Phoenix)
2014 Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center fire
- U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman sentences a Federal Aviation Administration contractor, Brian Howard, to 12 years in prison for willfully destroying a Chicago-area air navigation facility using a September 26, 2014, fire which caused $100 million in damage. (AP)
The California State Legislature approves legislation allowing for assisted suicide. (The New York Times)

Politics and elections

Singaporean general election, 2015
- Singapore's elections conclude with more than 2.46 million voters casting ballots. The governing People's Action Party (PAP), wins 83 out of 89 seats. (Sydney Morning Herald), (AP via US News and World Report), (IANS via Daijiworld), (CNBC)
Republican Party presidential debates, 2016
- CNN announces the September 16, prime time presidential debate panel. Carly Fiorina, who had sufficient poll support following the first debate, will join the top 10 leaders, such as Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Ben Carson. The remaining four candidates, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki and Lindsey Graham, will appear earlier that evening. Because he did not get sufficient poll numbers, Jim Gilmore is now excluded. (CNN), (Boston Herald)
- Former Governor of Texas Rick Perry suspends his campaign for the presidential race. (ABC Go), (National Journal)

September 12, 2015 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War (2015), Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen, Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- A drone strike kills four suspected Al-Qaeda militants in northern Yemen. (Reuters via Trust)
- Medics claim that at least 16 other people have been killed in Saudi led airstrikes. (Reuters)
- Houthi militants backed by allied Yemeni troops seize control of four Saudi military bases in Saudi Arabia's southern 'Asir Region according to Yemeni state TV. (Press TV)
Sino-Indian border dispute
- Chinese and Indian troops face-off in the Burtse region of northern Ladakh after Indian troops crossed the mutually-agreed patrolling line to dismantle a disputed watchtower the Chinese were building close to line. (Economic Times)
Sinai insurgency
- The Egyptian Armed Forces claim that an offensive against ISIS militants in northern Sinai over the past week has killed at least 164 insurgents with the loss of eight troops. (AFP via Sky News)
Arab-Israeli conflict
- Violent clashes erupt between new Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem with 13 Palestinians and four Israeli police injured. (Haaretz)

Arts and culture

Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas wins a Golden Lion award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival for Desde allá (From Afar). (AP)

Disasters and accidents

An Indian Railways train derailment near Gulbarga in Karnataka state kills at least two people with several others injured. (AP via Star Tribune)
Tropical Storm Etau (2015)
- Japan resumes a search for 16 missing persons after torrential rain and floods with thousands still hoping to return home. (Reuters)
Petlawad explosion
- A series of explosions involving propane triggering nearby illegally stored mining detonators in the Indian town of Petlawad in the state of Madhya Pradesh kills at least 104 people with over 150 missing. (News 18), (ABC News Australia), (AP via US News)
2015 California wildfires
- The Butte Fire has destroyed 60 homes in the rural counties of Amador and Calaveras and threatens 6000 residents. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)

Politics and elections

The outcome of the election for the next leader of the United Kingdom Labour Party is announced with Jeremy Corbyn winning the contest ahead of Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall while Tom Watson is elected as the new deputy leader. (The Telegraph), (Evening Standard)

Sport

2015 US Open (tennis)
- In tennis, Italian Flavia Pennetta defeats fellow countrywoman Roberta Vinci in two sets to win the 2015 US Open women's singles title. During the awards ceremony, Pennetta announces her retirement from tennis. (AP) (BBC) (US Open)
Major League Baseball
- David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox hits two home runs in the Sox' 10–4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, making him the 27th player in MLB history with 500 career homers. (ESPN)
In boxing, Floyd Mayweather, in what is expected to be the final fight of his career, defeats Andre Berto by unanimous decision to extend his record to 49–0. (ESPN)

September 13, 2015 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- A PKK car bombing on a checkpoint kills two Turkish police officers and injures five others in south-eastern Turkey. Also, Turkish security forces impose a curfew in the region's largest city, Diyarbakır. (Reuters)
Egyptian security forces open fire on a Mexican tourist convoy in the Western Desert while pursuing militants with at least twelve people killed and 10 injured. (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- The death toll from flooding in Japan caused by Tropical Storm Etau rises to seven. (Straits Times), (Asia One)
- Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency (消防庁) advises 2.8 million people to evacuate due to heavy flooding in the eastern region of the country. (CNN)
An explosion in the Pakistan city of Multan kills at least eleven people and injures 79. (AFP via ABC News Australia), (Pakistan Tribune)
An Islamic school in the Nigerian town of Bukuru collapses with at least four students killed and 40 injured. (Reuters)
Thirty-four refugees, including four babies and 11 children, drown in the Aegean Sea when their wooden boat sinks off the Greek island of Farmakonissi, close to Turkey's coast. (Xinhua News Agency), (Sydney Morning Herald)
The Valley wildfire claims at least one life in Lake County, California with thousands of people forced to evacuate. (ABC News Bay Area)
Four inmates are killed and four more injured during violence that lasted a couple of minutes at a privately-operated prison in Cushing, Oklahoma (U.S.). (N.Y. Daily News), (The New York Times)

International relations

Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- The government in exile says that it will no longer attend United Nations brokered talks with the rebel Houthis. (Trust)
Arab-Israeli conflict
- Israeli police engage Palestinian protesters with tear gas and stun grenades near Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque in response to reports of planned incidents ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Protesters throw fireworks and small explosive devices from inside the Mosque. (AP via Washington Post), (BBC)
- The Jordanian government condemns Israel for assaults on Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City. (Jerusalem Post)
European migrant crisis
- Germany reintroduces emergency controls on its border with Austria. (Washington Post)

Science and technology

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka's return from the ISS on Saturday sets a new record for time in space, breaking the one fellow countryman Sergei Krikalev set in 2005. Padalka totaled 879 days in space (2.41 years) over five flights. (NPR)

Health and medicine

Doctors at Salamanca University Hospital in Salamanca, Spain implant a 3-D printing-produced artificial titanium sternum (breastbone), and a portion of the ribs (as opposed to the current standard, a non-customized, flat piece of titanium, which can loosen over time) in a patient who had numerous cancerous tumors in that area, the first use of 3D printing technology to take the place of these specific body parts. (Quartz, via MSN)

Sport

2015 US Open (tennis)
- In tennis, Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeats Roger Federer of Switzerland 3 sets to 1 in the final of the men's singles. (International Business Times), (The Guardian)
In golf, Lydia Ko wins the final LPGA major of the year, The Evian Championship, by six shots after a final-round 63. The New Zealander becomes the youngest person of either sex to win a professional major championship, at age 7008580305600000000♠18 years, 142 days. (BBC Sport)

September 14, 2015 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Yemeni Civil War (2015)
- Five Saudi troops are killed following clashes with Houthi militants in the southern Najran region near the border with Yemen. (AFP via Yahoo!)
- Emirati troops advance on the Houthi controlled Yemeni capital, Sana'a after securing control of Marib, the capital of Marib province. (AP via Yahoo!)
- Ten people are killed, seven from the same family, in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a government building in a southern suburb of Sana'a, the Yemen capital. (Reuters)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Taliban insurgents storm a prison in the central Afghan province of Ghazni killing at least four prison officers and freeing about 350 prisoners. The deputy provincial governor of the Ghazni province says the attackers were well-organised and wearing military uniforms. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War, Russia's role in the Syrian Civil War
- United States Department of Defense says that Russia has deployed armoured vehicles and troops to Syria in what has been described as the "first clear sign of offensive weapons arriving in Syria" and "the largest deployment of Russian forces outside the former Soviet Union since the collapse of the USSR". (Fox News)

Business and economy

Brazil announces a $17 billion austerity package after Standard and Poors further downgrades its credit rating. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
A University of Notre Dame study finds significant correlation between substantial executive stock options and future product recalls. CEOs with abundant stock options get a huge payoff when the company performs well but endure minute consequences when it doesn’t. (Fortune)

Disasters and accidents

Kyushu island's Mount Aso, Japan's largest active volcano, erupts. Numerous flights serving Kumamoto Airport are canceled. (Reuters via Trust), (CNN)
2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Tropical Storm Vamco makes landfall south of Da Nang, Viet Nam, causing flooding in the region. (Accu Weather)
At least seven people are dead and six missing after a flash flood in the American town of Hildale, Utah. (KUTV)

International relations

Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
- Takeshi Onaga, the governor of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, revokes approval for work on the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. (AFP via Straits Times)
European migrant crisis
- Germany reopens train services from Austria after reintroducing border controls. (Deutsche Welle)
- Slovakia announces renewed border controls with Hungary. (AP via The New York Times)
Colombia accuses Venezuela of violating its airspace for the second time in two days. (AFP via France 24)

Law and crime

Shannon Lamb, a professor at Delta State University who was suspected of two murders in the U.S. state of Mississippi—the woman he was living with in Gautier and a fellow professor at the Delta State campus in Cleveland—dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while being pursued by police. (Fox News)
Miller v. Davis
- In the U.S., Rowan County, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, involved in the litigation over same-sex marriage, states she will not block her deputies from issuing marriage licenses, but will not authorize them personally (her name will not appear on them, and they will state that they were given under a federal judicial order). (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Malcolm Turnbull launches a challenge for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia against incumbent Prime Minister Tony Abbott and wins 54–44. (ABC News Australia), (ABC News)
Guatemalan general election, 2015
- Manuel Baldizon drops out of the presidential race leaving Jimmy Morales and Sandra Torres in the runoff. (ABC Go)

Health and medicine

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issues a recommendation stating that, in consultation with their doctor and pharmacist, and provided the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and the very rare risk of certain hemorrhagic strokes do not outweigh the benefits in individual cases, that people aged 50 to 70 (especially those aged 50-60 and with a 10 percent risk or higher of cardiovascular disease, or CVD; mindful that the risk of bleeding, which can be dangerous, goes up as one ages) should take low-dose aspirin, for a period of at least 10 years, for preventive benefits against CVD and heart attack, as well as colorectal cancer. The evidence is inconclusive for those not at very high risk who are over 70, and below 40, and there is only weak evidence for prevention of lung cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. (U.S. Preventive Services), (NY Times Blogs)

September 15, 2015 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency, 2015 West African offensive
- The Nigerian Army rescues dozens of women and children in Borno State. (AP via ABC News)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Houthi militants backed by Yemeni troops reportedly seize control of al-Rabu’ah, a town in Saudi Arabia's southwestern Asir region near the Yemeni border, forcing Saudi forces to pull out of the area. (Press TV)

Positive Events

Kaleb's Birthday

Disasters and accidents

2015 Southeast Asian haze
- The Indonesian province of Riau declares a state of emergency due to high levels of smoke haze from forest fires in Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra that have led thousands of people to flee the capital Pekanbaru. (AFP via Straits Times)
- The 24 hour Pollutant Standards Index in Singapore remains in the unhealthy range due to smoke haze. (Channel News Asia)
Two students die and three others are injured after a school bus is struck by another vehicle and swerves off an Interstate 610 overpass in Houston, Texas. (Houston Chronicle), (Reuters)
The death toll from yesterday's flash floods in the American towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, rises to 12 with one person still missing. (AP via ABC News), (NBC News)
A floatplane crashes during takeoff near Iliamna in southwest Alaska, killing three people and injuring the other seven on board. (AP via Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)
Seven mountain climbers die in an avalanche in the French Alps near the town of Pelvoux. (Accuweather)

Health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration orders R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company to stop further U.S. sale and distribution of four cigarette products because they may be more dangerous than similar older cigarettes. (Reuters)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Hungary declares a state of emergency in two of its southeastern counties as tougher laws come into effect aimed at preventing asylum-seekers and other migrants from entering the country. (BBC), (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Politics and elections

Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill, September 2015
- Malcolm Turnbull is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Australia following his election to the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia. (ABC News Australia)
The Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia appoints a special prosecutor into a wiretapping scandal. (AP via ABC News)

September 16, 2015 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Turkey–PKK conflict
- PKK attacks kill five Turkish police officers in the southeastern Mardin and Hakkâri provinces. The Turkish Army claims to have killed nine militants. (Daily Sabah), (Reuters via Daily Star)
2015 Burkinabé coup d'état
- Soldiers detain the interim president and prime minister of Burkina Faso, as well as a number of cabinet ministers, sparking fear of a coup d'etat. A joint statement by the United Nations, the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States states that the presidential guard should immediately release the leaders of the interim government. (Al-Jazeera), (Reuters)

Business and economy

Hewlett-Packard, which has struggled for years in a declining PC market, will cut up to 33,300 jobs over the next three years, mostly in its enterprise business. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

One person is dead and fourteen missing after floods hit Huaping County in China's Yunnan province. (Xinhua)
Tropical cyclone effects in Europe
- The remnants of former Tropical Storm Henri combines with another storm in western Europe to cause heavy rains and possible floods in the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal. (AccuWeather)
The death toll rises to 16 from this week's flash flood along the Utah – Arizona border in the United States. (Christian Science Monitor)
An earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale occurs in the Pacific Ocean near Chile sparking a tsunami warning. At least five people die. (AP via ABC News America), (USGS), (CNN)

Health

A cholera outbreak kills at least 16 people in three camps for displaced people fleeing Boko Haram in Nigeria. (France 24)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Dozens of migrants reach the border of Serbia and Croatia which has become the new route for migrants denied entry to Hungary. (BBC)
- Hungarian riot police and migrants clash at the now-closed border crossing near Horgos. (BBC)

Law and crime

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denies Kim Davis' request to have same-sex marriage licenses delayed, but does not toss out her appeal entirely. (AP via MSN)
New York City Police and US federal agents arrest members of an international crime syndicate that have been selling cheap, but toxic, synthetic marijuana. In New York alone, 2,300 people have ended up in emergency rooms in the last two months. The seizure includes two warehouses full of synthetic drugs in the Bronx, one of the largest raids ever. (CBS News)

Sports

The International Olympic Committee announces the bidding cities for the 2024 Summer Olympics: Budapest, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Paris, and Rome. (CNN)

September 17, 2015 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraq War (2014–present)
- At least 21 people are killed in multiple attacks in Baghdad with more than 70 others injured. (BBC), (Headlines & Global News)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Houthi militants parade captured Saudi soldiers on pro-Houthi Al Masirah TV. (AFP via Yahoo)
- Arab Coalition warplanes bomb Yemen's capital Sana'a targeting a high-profile Houthi leader's house. At least nine civilians are killed in the attack. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that the government has used barrel bombs resulting in the deaths of 21 people in the rebel held town of Bosra in the Daraa Governorate. (AFP via France 24)

Business and economy

The United States Federal Reserve decides to leave interest rates at a record low. (Reuters)
U.S. car maker General Motors pays $900 million fine to settle a criminal lawsuit over problems with the ignition system in its small cars. (AP via Yahoo! Autos)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Illapel earthquake
- Thousands of people in the Chilean town of Illapel sleep outside following yesterday's 8.3 magnitude earthquake as the death toll rises to 11. (CBS News), (Reuters)
- Waves of up to 4.5 meters are recorded at Coquimbo, Chile. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center, etc., issue tsunami advisories for Pacific Ocean coastlines. (The Guardian), (Westside Today)
Nearly 180 people are killed in South Sudan after an oil tanker truck veers off the road and explodes. (RT), (The Independent), (Voice of America)
2015 California wildfires
- The death toll rises to five in the Butte and Valley Fires. Most bodies have been found in mandatory evacuation areas. The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office says the majority of missing persons have been located at shelters or evacuation centers. (Sacramento Bee), (Reuters)
American Airlines halts flights for 90 minutes at its major hubs in Chicago, Dallas, and Miami because of a computer glitch. The incident produces a cascading effect of delays throughout all US airlines. (UPI)

Health

2015 Dengue fever outbreaks
- Fourteen people have died of dengue fever in the Indian city of Delhi. (NDTV)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Seven thousand migrants arrive in Croatia with the President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović placing the army on standby. (WA Today)
- The European Parliament approves (372–124 with 54 abstentions) a European Commission plan to relocate 120,000 asylum seekers around the EU. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), (EuroNews)
Cuba–United States relations
- Along with 15 other international envoys, Cuban diplomat Jose Ramon Cabañas Rodriguez presents his credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama, becoming the island's first ambassador to the United States since 1961. The Obama Administration has yet to name an ambassador to Cuba. (Havana Times), (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Politics and elections

2015 Burkinabé coup d'état
- The provisional government of Burkina Faso is overthrown in a military coup. (The Daily Telegraph), (BBC)
- Coup leaders announce on national television and radio that General Gilbert Diendéré is now the head of state of a new transitional body, the "National Council for Democracy". (AP via Huffington Post), (Al Jazeera America)
- At least three people were killed and more than 60 injured after members of the presidential guard acted to disperse crowds protesting the takeover. (Irish Times)
Fist-fights erupt between legislators in the National Diet of Japan over a security bill that would allow Japan Self-Defense Forces to fight abroad. Japan had previously sent only a small amount of troops to Iraq. (AFP via StraitsTimes), (BBC)
Brazil's Supreme Court issues a decision that bans corporate money in elections. This ruling comes as a major investigation is underway in the country on a campaign financing bribery and corruption scandal. (Singapore Today Online), (AP via Fox News)

September 18, 2015 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel deploys an extra 800 Israeli police officers as Palestinians call for a "day of rage" protests in Jerusalem over entry restrictions to Al-Aqsa mosque. A police vehicle in Jerusalem was attacked with assault rifle fire. (Jerusalem Post), (Al Jazeera America)
2015 Camp Badaber attack
- Two security personnel, 17 worshippers in a mosque, and 13 militants are killed following a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attack on a Pakistan Air Force base on the outskirts of Peshawar. (The Express Tribune), (Reuters via SBS)
Syrian Civil War
- Russia moves its first tactical fighter jets to Syria, according to American sources. (CNN)
- The United States Secretary of State John Kerry agrees to begin military to military talks with Russia concerning Russia's military activities in Syria. (The New York Times)
- At least 26 people are killed following Syrian Arab Air Force air-raids on the Islamic State-held central Syrian city of Palmyra according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Shells fired by Yemeni forces across the border from Yemen kill at least three people and wound 28 others in the Jizan region. (Daily Star)

Business and economy

European communications company Altice announces plans to buy US cable television company Cablevision for $17.7 billion. (NPR via KVCR)
Volkswagen emissions violations
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency orders Volkswagen to fix nearly 500,000 VW and Audi diesel cars from model years 2009-2015 that include software that circumvents EPA emissions standards. The company's illegal use of so-called "defeat devices" threaten public health, in some cases releasing 40 times the pollution standard of nitrogen oxide emissions. The company faces possible U.S. fines of up to $37,500 per vehicle for the violations which could total more than $18 billion. (AP via Fox News), (EPA)
In India, about 2.3 million people respond to the state of Uttar Pradesh's announcement of 368 low-level government jobs openings that pay 16,000 rupees ($240) a month. At least 255 of the applicants had a doctorate and over 200,000 had master's degrees. (AP)

Health

A national alert is issued in the United Kingdom about a strain of gonorrhea that is highly drug resistant after 15 cases are reported in northern England. (AAP via SBS)
Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
- Ebola virus cases in the United States
  - United States authorities announce mandatory Ebola screening will end for travelers from Liberia to five U.S. airports, effective September 21, 2015. Screening of travelers from Sierra Leone and Guinea will continue. (USA Today)

International relations

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe moves to enact legislation allowing the Japan Self-Defense Forces to serve overseas. Yesterday, fist-fights erupted in the parliament over this legislation. (Reuters)
European migrant crisis
- Croatia closes seven out of eight border crossings with Serbia. Zoran Milanović, the Prime Minister, says that his country "will move migrants on". (BBC), (BBC)
Cuba–United States relations
- The United States departments of Commerce and Treasury announce removal of a series of restrictions on Americans traveling to and doing business with Cuba effective September 21, 2015. The U.S. economic embargo, itself, remains in place until Congress acts. (USA Today), (Reuters)
A Venezuelan Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKK crashes near the Colombian border after an illicit aircraft, probably linked to illicit drugs, enters Venezuelan airspace. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Law and Crime

Baby Doe, a toddler who was found washed ashore Deer Island in Massachusetts in a trash bag, is identified as Bella Bond. (CNN)
Phoenix freeway shootings
- Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey states that 21-year-old Leslie Allen Merritt Jr. is ballistically linked to four incidents and arrested in Glendale, Arizona after a SWAT raid. Merritt was previously charged twice in 2013, the first for failing to stop at the scene of a damaged vehicle, and the second for assault and criminal damage. Police state that he is known to hold anti-government and anti-police views. He is charged with four counts each of aggravated assault, criminal damage, disorderly conduct, discharging a firearm within city limits, carrying out a drive-by shooting, and intentional acts of terrorism; and his bail is set at $1 million. (ABC15), (KOB), (HEAVY), (ABC News), (Q13FOX), (AZ Central), (CNN), (Yahoo News), (NBC News)

Politics and elections

The President of the United States nominates Eric Fanning as the first openly LGBT Secretary of the Army. (Washington Post)

Sports

In football, Jérôme Valcke steps aside as Secretary General of FIFA while his alleged involvement in a ticketing scandal is investigated. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
In rugby union, the opening ceremony of the 2015 Rugby World Cup is held at Twickenham. (The Guardian)

September 19, 2015 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Islamist rebels execute 56 Syrian Army personnel following the capture of the Abu al-Duhur airbase in the Idlib Governorate according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Telegraph), (The News Hub)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- At least 55 are killed when Turkish warplanes hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camps in northern Iraq, according to Turkey's security sources. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- A Saudi-led military coalition bombards government buildings and residential neighborhoods in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, killing about 30 people, including civilians. Rescuers continue searching for other possible victims buried under the rubble. (AP via Orange County Register), (Xinhuanet)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis departs from Rome to begin his Apostolic Visit to Cuba. Francis will then visit the US. In the US, he will address a joint session of Congress (the first by an incumbent Pope), meet with President Obama, canonize Junipero Serra, tour a prison and the World Trade Center site, hold Masses in New York, Washington, and Philadelphia, and preside over the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. (Vatican), (USCCB), (The New York Times)
Univision's Sábado Gigante, the world's longest running variety show in television history, ends after 53 years on air. (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

Heavy rain triggers flash floods killing 10 people in Tehran and southern Iran, with eight others missing. (AP via CP24)
European migrant crisis
- Italy rescues thousands of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya. (Al-Jazeera)
- A five-year-old Syrian girl dies and several other refugees are missing after their boat sinks in the Aegean Sea near the Greek island of Lesbos. The Greek Coast Guard says it rescued 11 people from the boat carrying 26 people. (AFP via Asian Age), (Reuters)

Health

2015 Dengue fever outbreaks
- Authorities in the Dominican Republic issue an alert as the number of deaths (57 this year) and cases of dengue fever continue to rise. (AP via ABC News)
- The Delhi government defers elective surgery to free up 1000 hospital beds to treat a dengue fever outbreak. (Times of India)

International relations

Japanese Self-Defense Forces
- Japan's upper chamber of Parliament approves controversial legislation, which the lower chamber passed in July, that expands the role of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces overseas. (CNN), (Mainichi Daily News)
European migrant crisis, Croatia–Hungary relations
- Hungarian security forces confiscate a Croatian train carrying 1000 migrants and disarm 40 Croatian police officers accompanying the migrants. Hungarian authorities repatriate the officers. (Sky News)
- Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović says Croatia will 'force' Hungary to accept migrants by sending them to the Hungarian border. Hungary responded angrily calling Milanović "pathetic" and accused Croatia of human smuggling. (BBC)
- Croatia allows some asylum seekers to move on past its borders into Hungary and Slovenia. (Washington Post)
Egypt’s new Cabinet is sworn in before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a week after the previous administration resigned following a corruption scandal, and a month before parliamentary elections. The 33-member body has 16 new ministers, including two women. Sherif Ismail, petroleum minister in the last cabinet, is the new prime minister. (Egyptian Streets), (Reuters)

Law and crime

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation launches an investigation of money laundering associated with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad sovereign wealth fund. (Wall Street Journal)

Sports

2015 Rugby World Cup
- In what media called "the greatest shock in rugby history", Japan defeat two-time World Cup champion South Africa 34–32 in Brighton. (ESPN (UK))
- In another result viewed as a surprise, Georgia defeat Tonga 17–10 in Gloucester. In the match, Georgia's 18-year-old Vasil Lobzhanidze becomes the youngest player ever to appear in a Rugby World Cup match. (PA via ESPN (UK))

September 20, 2015 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- At least 14 people are killed as rebels shell a neighborhood in western Aleppo. (AP via ABC News)
Yemeni Civil War
- Houthi rebels release six foreign hostages; three Americans, two Saudis, and a Briton. (BBC)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Triple explosions kill at least 80 people and injure 150 in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

67th Primetime Emmy Awards
- The Emmy Awards are held in Los Angeles, California with Game of Thrones winning the Emmy for best drama series. (ABC News Australia)
After having arrived in Havana, Cuba the day before, Pope Francis, in the third trip by an incumbent Pope to Cuba, presides over a Papal Mass in Havana's Plaza de la Revolución, and pleads for Colombia and the FARC rebels to make a final peace, also noting the better relations between the U.S., which he will visit next, and Cuba. He holds a meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro, and meets for a talk and exchange of gifts with former Cuban President Fidel Castro. (ABC), (USA Today), (WSJ), (The New York Times)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions violations
- Volkswagen halts sales of its 4-cylinder diesel vehicles in the United States following a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency citation that their cars violated U.S. emissions standards. (Auto Guide), (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

European migrant crisis
- Some 26 migrants are feared missing after a dinghy carrying them sinks off the coast of the Greek island of Lesbos. The Greek Coast Guard rescued 20 people who were spotted in the water by Frontex, EU's border agency. (RTE), (AP via WSB-TV2)
- At least 13 migrants died when a ferry and their inflatable dinghy collided off the northwestern Turkish port of Canakkale. Twenty people were rescued while another 13 are still missing. (BBC), (i24 News)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that the United States will accept 85,000 refugees from the world in 2016, up from this year's 70,000 refugees, and will increase to 100,000 refugees in 2017. (Washington Post)
- Austrian officials report 11,000 migrants crossed into the country from Hungary on Saturday, and another 7,000 are expected today. Seven trains are scheduled to transport 3,500 of these travelers to Germany. (CBS News)

Law and crime

Apple's iOS App Store suffers its first major cyber attack. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Greek legislative election, September 2015
- Voters in Greece go to the polls for the third time this year with Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) again winning a plurality in the Hellenic Parliament. (The Guardian), (The Globe and Mail via Worldwide Herald)
- Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, whose resignation last month as prime minister mandated this snap election, says a coalition government will again be formed with the right-wing populist Independent Greeks (ANEL) party. (Sputnik Media), (The Telegraph)
Constitution of Nepal
- A new constitution comes into effect in Nepal establishing it as a modern secular state. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

September 21, 2015 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Russia's role in the Syrian Civil War
- Government forces target al-Shaar neighborhood in eastern Aleppo city with surface-to-surface missiles, hitting a crowded public market, killing more than 30 civilians and dozens wounded. (Ara News)
- U.S. officials say Russia has begun flying drones on surveillance missions over Syria in what would be Russia's first military air operations in the country since the recent military build-up at a Syrian airbase in Latakia. (Reuters)
War in Somalia (2009–present)
- A car bomb in Somalia kills at least six people at the gates of the presidential palace in Mogadishu. (BBC)
Iraq War (2014–present)
- An Islamic State car bomb kills at least 12 people in Baghdad. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- A Saudi-led military coalition bombardment in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, kills at least 50 people. (Reuters)
Moro conflict
- Gunmen abduct a Norwegian resort manager, two Canadians, and a Filipino from a resort in the southern Philippines. (AP)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis, on the second day of his journey in Cuba, leaves Havana for Holguin. He says a Mass at Revolution Plaza, blesses Holguin from the Loma de la Cruz area, arrives in Santiago de Cuba, flies to Santiago de Cuba, meets with the Cuban Bishops at Saint Basil the Great Seminary, and says a prayer with them at the Minor Basilica of the Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre (Shrine of Our Lady of del Cobre). (CNN)

Business and economy

French regulator Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) rejects Google, Inc.'s appeal of their order that the company remove 'Right to be forgotten (RTBF)' search results worldwide. Failure to comply could subject Google to sanctions, from €300,000 (US$460,000) to 5 percent of global operating costs. The Guardian, (PC World)
Apple Inc announces that it will speed up work on an electric car to be ready by 2019. (Wall Street Journal), (VentureBeat)
Many Skype users are unable to access the service. The Microsoft-owned company acknowledges the problem. (Reuters), (Skype)

Disasters and accidents

The toll of homes destroyed by Northern California wildfires reaches 1,600. (AP)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Hungary's parliament passes a law allowing the Hungarian military to help handle the migrant crisis at its borders with Serbia and Croatia, including the right to use non-lethal force such as rubber bullets, pyrotechnical devices, tear gas grenades or net guns. (Reuters)
- The United States White House announces the U.S. will give $419 million more in humanitarian aid to assist Syrian refugees and the countries that are hosting them. (The Washington Post)

Law and crime

In Auckland, New Zealand, an extradition hearing for Kim Dotcom, former owner of a file sharing website, for alleged copyright infringement, racketeering, and money laundering begins, seeking to bring him to the U.S. (BBC)
At least eight people are killed and 45 wounded in shootings over the weekend across Chicago. (Fox Chicago)
A Denver, Colorado federal jury convicts Harold Henthorn of murder in the death of his wife Toni Henthorn, who fell off a cliff as they hiked in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park to celebrate their wedding anniversary. His previous wife had also died in suspicious circumstances. (AP)
Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell is sentenced to 28 years for Salmonella typhimurium-tainted peanut butter, the most severe punishment ever handed out to a producer in a foodborne illness case. In late 2008 and early 2009, nine people died and at least 714 people in 46 states, half of them children, fell ill. Parnell and his brother were convicted in September 2014 of 71 criminal counts. His brother Michael Parnell is sentenced to 20 years, and the plant's former quality control manager Mary Wilkerson is sentenced to five years. (LA Times), (USA Today)

Politics and elections

Political parties in Northern Ireland hold talks to save a power-sharing agreement following claims that Irish nationalist militants were involved in the murder of a former operative. (Reuters)
United States presidential election, 2016
- Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker quits his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. (The New York Times)
2015 Burkinabe coup d'état
- The coup leader General Gilbert Diendéré says that he is ready to hand over power to transitional authorities as the army marches on the capital Ouagadougou. (BBC)

September 22, 2015 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2015 Burkinabé coup d'état
- The army of Burkina Faso arrives in Ouagadougou to seek the surrender of the Presidential Guard that staged the coup. (BBC)
- The coup leaders free President Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida after the army entered the capital, Ouagadougou. Negotiations seeking a peaceful resolution between the chief of the army and the leader of presidential guard continue. (DW Akademie)
Moro conflict
- Filipino troops stage raids to attempt to free six overseas-born hostages held by Abu Sayyaf militants. (AP)
Syrian Civil War, Russia's role in the Syrian Civil War
- IHS Jane's reports satellite photos, taken in mid-September, show Russian forces developing two additional military facilities near Syria's Mediterranean coast. (Reuters)
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the type of Russian aircraft in Syria is consistent with that needed to protect their own forces. However, it is still not clear what Russia's long-term intentions are. (Voice of America), (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis' visit to the United States
- Pope Francis arrives in the U.S. from his last stop in Cuba, Santiago de Cuba, at Joint Base Andrews (formerly, Andrews Air Force Base), near Washington D.C., to start his first tour of the United States. He is received by U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha Obama, Marian Lois Robinson, U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden, his wife, U.S. Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden, two Biden granddaughters, the Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, military and base leaders, and Washington's Cardinal Donald Wuerl. He will be received tomorrow morning in a second arrival ceremony, at the White House, and will meet with the President there. (The Guardian)
U.S. District Judge of California George H. King rules that Warner/Chappell Music does not hold the copyright to the song Happy Birthday to You. (Hollywood Reporter), (NBC News)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions violations
- Volkswagen says that 11 million vehicles could have suspect emission control software and it has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.2 billion US dollars) for possible fines, repairs, and litigation. (NBC News)
Xi Jinping begins his first visit to the United States as President of the People's Republic of China, meeting with technology company leaders and representatives in Seattle, Washington. (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Southeast Asian haze
- The haze from Indonesian forest fires worsens leaving Singapore and parts of Indonesia and Malaysia covered in smog. (Bloomberg via Business Times)
2015 California wildfires
- The President of the United States Barack Obama signs a disaster declaration for the Valley Fire which has claimed three lives in Lake County, California. (KCRA)

International relations

The President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro and the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos agree to gradually reopen their common border which had been closed following a Venezuelan crackdown on smuggling. (BBC)
European migrant crisis
- European Union ministers meet in Brussels and reach agreement on a plan to distribute asylum seekers. (The New York Times), (AP via Fox News)
Two Cabinet ministers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey’s interim government resign over the increased violence in Kurdish areas of the country. Their exit leaves no opposition figures in the government. (Reuters), (Al Arabiya)

Law and crime

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal
- The United States Justice Department launches an investigation of money laundering associated with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad sovereign wealth fund, as well as the purchase of luxury properties in New York involving shell companies linked to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's step-son Riza Aziz and businessman Jho Low. (Economic Times-India)
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announces a new anti-drug plan involving the substitution of legal crops for coca plantations. In July, the National Narcotics Council suspended the United States-backed aerial spraying of the crop after the World Health Organization reclassified glyphosate, the herbicide used, as a probable carcinogen. (AP via ABC News), (EFE via Fox News Latino), (COHA)
Angola joins the Chemical Weapons Convention becoming the 192nd state to join the convention aimed at eliminating the use of chemical weapons in armed conflict. (US State Department)

Sports

American Major League Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, manager, and coach Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra, who played almost his entire 19-year baseball career (1946–65) for the New York Yankees, dies at the age of 90. (NBC News)

September 23, 2015 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Colombian conflict (1964–present)
- The President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of FARC Timoleón Jiménez will announce a deal on justice for crimes committed in the fifty-year-long conflict. (BBC)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis' visit to the United States
- Pope Francis makes his first ever visit to the U.S. and becomes the third Pope to visit the White House. He was received in an official welcome ceremony by President and Mrs. Obama and is scheduled to meet with a bishops' conference of the United States and hold mass and canonize Junípero Serra at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, near the Catholic University of America. (AP via MSN), (The New York Times), (Washington Post), (CNN)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions violations
- Martin Winterkorn resigns as the CEO of Volkswagen as a result of an emissions cheating scandal. (BBC)

Law and crime

Egypt pardons al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who have been recently sentenced to three years in prison. (BBC)
European migrant crisis
- Slovakia mounts a legal challenge to mandatory quotas decided in a European Union ministerial summit yesterday. (BBC)

September 24, 2015 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- At least 29 people are killed in a bombing of a mosque in the Yemeni capital Sana'a during prayers for Eid al-Adha. (CNN)
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- The government of Armenia claims that Azerbaijani forces shelled Tavush Province resulting in three deaths. (AFP via France 24)
Arab–Israeli conflict
- Israel's security cabinet issues a three-year temporary order that sets a four-year minimum sentence for adult stone- and firebomb-throwers. In addition, new rules of engagement allow police to open fire when the life of a third party is under threat. (NBC News), (Haaretz), (Newsweek)
2015 Burkinabé coup d'état
- The coup is reversed. Interim President Michel Kafando and interim Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida are reinstalled, and government soldiers are returned to their stations. Coup leader Gen. Gilbert Diendéré apologizes for the coup and the week-long unrest that killed at least 10 people. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suggests that elections, originally scheduled for Oct. 11, be held Nov. 22, and that candidate eligibility rules be more inclusive. (AP via Washington Post), (Reuters), (Big News Network)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis' visit to the United States
- Pope Francis becomes the first Pope ever to address a Joint Session of the United States Congress. Afterwards, he greets onlookers at the National Mall. He addresses many issues: abortion and the sanctity of life, the importance of the family and of marriage, climate change, immigration and the refugee crises caused by global unrest, proper business conduct, and worldwide abolition of capital punishment. (AP via MSN), (CNN), (Washington Post), (Time), (Vatican)

Business and economy

Caterpillar may cut 10,000 additional jobs through 2018. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Hajj stampede
- At least 719 people are dead and 863 people injured in a stampede near Mecca during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. (BBC), (The New York Times), (Washington Post)
At least four people are killed and 12 critically injured after a charter bus, a Ride the Ducks tour vehicle, and two smaller vehicles crash on the Aurora Bridge in the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington. (King 5)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Ten thousand migrants enter Hungary, mostly from Croatia, despite efforts by the Hungarian government and military to stop them. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- Croatia and Serbia restrict cross-border traffic. (Reuters/AFP via ABC News Australia)
War in Donbass
- Luhansk People's Republic officials in Donetsk tell U.N. agencies and several other international NGOs to leave the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. Despite the Minsk Protocol and Minsk II peace agreements low intensity fighting and shelling have continued non-stop in the region for over a year. (AP via ABC News)

September 25, 2015 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2015 Burkinabé coup d'état
- Burkina Faso's cabinet dissolves the elite presidential guard behind last week's coup d'état, creates a commission to investigate these events, and dismisses the minister in charge of security. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- New Syrian Forces trade American supplied equipment to the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in return for safe passage. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

Business and economy

The People's Republic of China will launch a cap and trade policy creating a carbon market in 2017. (The Guardian)
Ukraine selectively bans certain Russian airlines such as Aeroflot and Transaero from flying to and through Ukraine. (Ukraine Today)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Hajj stampede
- King Salman of Saudi Arabia orders an investigation into the stampede near Mecca which has claimed over 700 lives and caused 800 injuries. (AFP/BBC via ABC News Australia)
2015 Southeast Asian haze
- Singapore closes its primary and secondary schools as smoke from the Indonesian fires raises air pollution to hazardous levels. (CNN)
Thirty-nine people are injured after an earthquake in the waters off the coast of the Indonesian province of West Papua. (New York Daily News)
A tornado, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, strikes Johns Island, South Carolina with no deaths or injuries, but 75 homes are damaged, 10 heavily. (AP, via MSN)

Health

The BBC reports that Nigeria will be removed from the list of countries where polio is endemic. (BBC)

Law and crime

2015 FIFA corruption case
- The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland opens criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA Sepp Blatter. (CNN)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Croatia reopens its border with Serbia. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Hakubun Shimomura resigns as Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology due to the design for the stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics being abandoned. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
John Boehner schedules his resignation from the position of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and from Congress for the end of October. (The New York Times), (Washington Post)

September 26, 2015 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Two Saudi border guards, including a district commander, are killed following clashes with Yemeni forces near the border with Yemen. (Reuters)
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- At least four Armenian soldiers are killed following an Azeri attack near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Yesterday, Azerbaijan shelled several ethnic Armenian villages, leaving three civilians dead. (Reuters)
- Armenia's Defense Ministry declares that it will "use artillery and missiles" to repel attacks by Azerbaijan following the deaths of four soldiers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, raising fears of all-out war between the rival countries. (Fox News)
A prominent Libyan Zuwarah militia leader and migrant smuggler, Salah Al-Maskhout, is reportedly killed in Tripoli by Italian special forces. The EU recently approved military action against people smuggling networks operating out of Libya. (Malta Today)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- Fighting in the south-eastern Şırnak Province kills thirty-four PKK militants, four civilians, and two Turkish soldiers. Also, the Turkish military conducts airstrikes on PKK camps in Iraq's northern Dohuk Governorate. (Al Jazeera)
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- Iraq says that Iran, Russia and Syria are assisting it in its fight with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (Reuters)

Businesses and economy

Volkswagen emissions violations
- Porsche announces Oliver Blume to become the next CEO soon. (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific hurricane season
- Tropical Storm Niala forms off the coast of the Hawaiian islands with the likelihood of heavy rain on the island of Hawaii (Big Island) over the weekend. (Accuweather)
A fire severely damages the Baitul Futuh Mosque, London, United Kingdom. (BBC News Online)
2015 Hajj stampede
- The death toll from the stampede near Mecca rises to 769, with 934 injuries. (ITV)

International relations

Russia-Estonia relations
- Russia and Estonia exchange two convicted spies. (BBC)

Law and crime

Ahmad al-Faqi is transferred to the International Criminal Court to face trial for the war crime of directing the destruction of cultural sites in Timbuktu, Mali when the city was under the control of Islamist groups in 2012. (BBC News)
A man goes on a shooting spree in Banning, California, U.S., killing two and wounding three others. A 35-year-old suspect is taken into custody. The shooting is suspected by authorities to be random. (Reuters via Yahoo News)

Politics and elections

Bolivia's Plurinational Legislative Assembly passes legislation that would amend the constitution removing term limits for the President if passed in a referendum next year. (Reuters via Daily Mail)

September 27, 2015 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Air-strikes by Saudi helicopter gunships on the Yemeni village of Bani Zela in Yemen's Red Sea border area with Saudi Arabia kill at least 25 people. (Euronews)
Central African Republic Civil War (2012-present)
- Clashes between Christians and Muslims in the capital Bangui leave at least 21 people dead and over 100 injured. (The Telegraph)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Militants reportedly allied to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launch coordinated attacks on government positions in the eastern Nangarhar Province close to the border with Pakistan. Two police officers are reportedly killed. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL
- Opération Chammal
  - France says it has carried out its first air-strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant within Syria, destroying a training camp in the east of the country. Previously, France had only carried out air-strikes in Iraq with consent of the Iraqi government. (Reuters)
Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- Ten people are dead in Benghazi as a result of fighting between Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Libyan government forces over the weekend. (Al-Arabiya)

Disasters and accidents

European migration crisis
- A boat carrying Syrian migrants sinks in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece with seventeen people on board. (Today's Zaman)

Law and crime

The government of Australia refuses entry to American singer Chris Brown because of his 2009 conviction for domestic violence against his then girlfriend Rihanna. (ABC News Australia)

International relations

Guyana–Venezuela relations
- Guyana's President David Granger accuses Venezuela of massing troops, armored vehicles, and rockets along its disputed border. (VICE News)

Politics and elections

Catalonian parliamentary election, 2015
- Voters in the Spanish province of Catalonia go to the polls for regional elections with nationalist parties to gain a majority which they claim will allow them to declare independence. (BBC), (AFP via ABC News Australia), (Euronews)

Science and technology

September 2015 lunar eclipse
- The night of September 28 sees a lunar eclipse (sometimes described as a "blood moon") with asupermoon. (The Telegraph)

Sports

In athletics, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya wins the men's race in the Berlin Marathon while his compatriot Gladys Cherono wins the women's race. (Reuters via Yahoo! Australia), (Reuters via Daily Nail)

September 28, 2015 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- The Taliban seize control of the provincial capital of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. Locals say militants have raised their flag above the city's main square. (Sky News), (The News Hub)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- An Arab coalition air-strike on a wedding party in Wahijah, a village near the Red Sea port city of Mocha in southern Yemen, reportedly leaves as many as 131 people dead, making it the deadliest coalition attack on Yemeni civilians in the conflict so far. The UN general secretary condemns the attack. (BBC), (USA TODAY)
- Government forces backed by the Arab coalition capture Marib Dam, one of the Houthi militant’s remaining strongholds in Marib Governorate, opening the path to a key highway leading to Sana'a. (The National)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- ISIL claims responsibility for the killing of an Italian man in Dhaka. If verified, it would be Islamic State's first attack in Bangladesh. (AP)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis' visit to the United States
- Pope Francis returns to Rome after finishing his trip to Cuba and the United States. (CNN)

Business and economy

Royal Dutch Shell halts its drilling program for oil and gas off the coast of Alaska citing high costs and a challenging regulatory environment. (Bloomberg)
Sahaviriya Steel Industries closes the Teesside Steelworks in the Redcar and Cleveland borough in northern England, resulting in the loss of 1,700 jobs. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Taiwan prepares for the impact of Typhoon Dujuan tonight, with thousands of people evacuated from outlying islands ahead of this. (AFP via France 24)

Politics and elections

Pro-Serbian opposition from the Democratic Front holds a mass protest rally in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, demanding the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović. (The News Hub)
Catalonian parliamentary election, 2015
- Separatists won a clear majority of seats in Catalonia's parliament (72 out of 135) in this weekend's election that saw a record turnout of 78 percent. The winners will seek to unilaterally declare independence within 18 months. Spain's constitution does not allow any region to break away. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy vows to fight the separatist plan. (BBC), (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Science and technology

NASA states that it has found the best evidence yet of the existence of liquid water on Mars. The water is not pure but highly poisonous, containing various dissolved salts that on Earth only an extremophile microbe might survive within. (News Limited via Daily Telegraph), (NASA), (CNBC)
The Indian Space Research Organization successfully launches its first dedicated-astronomical research satellite, Astrosat. (Times of India)

Sports

The Government of Nepal bans inexperienced mountaineers, as well as people with disabilities, from attempting to climb Mount Everest. (The Guardian)

September 29, 2015 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
- At least four people are killed in a bombing attack on Baghdad. (Euronews)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- Battle of Kunduz
  - Afghan National Security Forces start efforts to recapture the city of Kunduz. (CNN), (The News Hub)
  - The U.S. Air Force launches air-strikes on Taliban forces within Kunduz. (The Washington Post)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- 2015 PKK rebellion
  - Two police officers are gunned down by suspected PKK militants on the streets of Adana, southern Turkey. (Middle East Eye)
Gaza–Israel conflict
- At least one rocket is intercepted over Ashdod by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, and is believed to have come from the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz)
2015 Burkinabé coup d'état
- After a tense standoff, Burkina Faso's military crushed the elite presidential guard and seized the coup's abandoned headquarters. The former head of the guard, Gen. Gilbert Diendéré, had called on his men to lay down their weapons to avoid a bloodbath. Diendéré told Agence France-Presse (AFP) he feared “many deaths and injuries” in the operation. It is unclear whether there are casualties. (The New York Times) (BBC) (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Dujuan hits mainland China in Fujian province after hitting Taiwan, where it caused two deaths and injured 300. (AP via ABC News)

International relations

Amnesty International designates Cuban graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado Machado as a prisoner of conscience. (Reuters)

Law and crime

All 500 of the prisoners escape from the Ngaraba jail in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. (Reuters), (The Guardian)

Science and technology

Researchers discover a biofluorescent hawksbill sea turtle, glowing bright red and green, near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. This is the first time scientists have found biofluorescence in a reptile in the wild. The hawksbill sea turtle is an endangered species. (Live Science) (CNN)

September 30, 2015 (Wednesday)