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Worldwide current events
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Topics in the news

Soyuz MS-10 launch

Shortly after launch (pictured) from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Soyuz MS-10 suffers a booster failure; both crew members survive an emergency landing.
Hurricane Michael makes landfall in Florida, United States, as a Category 4 storm, killing 11 people after causing at least 15 deaths in Central America.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases a report on actions urgently needed to confine global warming to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F).

October 12, 2018 (Friday)

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Arts and culture

Wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
- Princess Eugenie marries Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in the second British royal wedding in 2018. (Today)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Atlantic hurricane season
- With the report of five people killed in Virginia, the death toll in the U.S. from Hurricane Michael rises to 14. (BBC) (CNN)
Over 40 people are killed in mudslide near Uganda's Mount Elgon. (BBC News)

International Relations

Turkey–United States relations
- A court in Turkey orders the release of American evangelical Christian pastor Andrew Brunson. (Reuters)

October 11, 2018 (Thursday)

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Disasters and accidents

At least 36 people are killed after a river bursts its bank in Bududa, Uganda. Many more are injured and dozens are displaced. (BBC)
2018 European floods
- Heavy floods affect France and Italy: in the French city of Sainte Maxime, two people drown after their vehicle is swept away by floodwater. In the Italian city of Cagliari, a woman is found dead inside her car, while another man is missing. A bridge also collapses and roads are damaged. (BBC)
2018 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Michael is downgraded to a tropical storm, but tornadoes are spotted in Georgia and Florida. (Business Insider)
Eight children die and three are injured when the wall of a house collapses in Sukkur's suburban area, Pakistan. (Dawn News) (Samaa TV)
A mudslide in the central Colombian town of Marquetalia results in at least twelve deaths. (AP via ABC America)
The collapse of a shopping mall under construction in the Mexican city of Monterrey results in at least seven deaths and nine people missing. 15 others are injured. (AP via ABC News America)
Three people died and two are injured after a minibus crashed with a lorry in Thatcham, England. (BBC)

International relations

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople plans to recognize the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a move welcomed by Ukrainian leaders and denounced as "catastrophic" by the Russian Orthodox Church. (RFE/RL)

Law and crime

Keiko Fujimori, leader of the opposition in the Congress of Peru and daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, is arrested on charges related to illicit campaign finance received from the Odebrecht corporation. (BBC News)

Science and technology

Soyuz MS-10, carrying a cosmonaut and an astronaut to the International Space Station, is forced to make an emergency landing in Kazakhstan after a failure with its Soyuz-FG rocket. (Reuters)
Discoveries of exoplanets
- Kepler 159d, a exoplanet with the same size as Saturn, is discovered by University of Western Ontario student Chris Fox and professor Paul Wiegert. (Phys.org) (CBC CA)

Sports

United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Indiana Pacers head coach Nate McMillan, and Villanova men's basketball head coach Jay Wright are expected to be assistants for the United States basketball team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. (Los Angeles Times) (NBC Olympics)

October 10, 2018 (Wednesday)

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Disasters and accidents

At least 51 people are killed when a bus traveling from the Kenyan capital Nairobi to Kisumu veers off the road and overturns. (BBC)
Three people were killed and houses were damaged after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off East Java, Indonesia. (The Straits Time)
At least five people died and 30 were injured when a passenger train derailed in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Cyprus Mail)
Four people are killed and 20 others are injured when an apartment building collapses in Manama, Bahrain. (Gulf Business)
2018 Haiti earthquake
- The death toll of a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck Haiti rises to 17. (Otago Daily Times)
2018 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Michael strengthens to a "potentially catastrophic" Category 4 hurricane and makes landfall on the Florida Panhandle. (NPR) (Fortune)
- A man in Greensboro, Florida is killed by a tree that crashed through his home, becoming the first reported death from the storm in the United States. Later, a child is killed by a falling tree in Seminole County, Georgia. (BBC)
- The storm causes power outages to 550,000 customers in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and 375,000 people in 22 counties have been ordered to evacuate. (The Weather Channel)
- Heavy rain and strong winds from Michael are expected in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia on Thursday. (Washington Post)

International relations

The Turkish newspaper Sabah names the 15-member Saudi Arabian intelligence team allegedly involved in the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Reuters)
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announces in a public broadcast that the United States President Donald Trump has sent an order to assassinate him. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

Capital punishment in Bangladesh, Terrorism in Bangladesh
- A Dhaka court sentences 19 people to death, including two former ministers, and sentences Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman to life imprisonment over a 2004 attack on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)

October 9, 2018 (Tuesday)

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Arts and culture

American Music Awards of 2018
- American singer Taylor Swift wins four trophies, including Artist of the Year, and holds 23 American Music Awards, beating Whitney Houston. (BBC News) (Sky News)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Michael strengthens to a category 2 storm with 110 mph winds as it continues to ascend through the Florida Panhandle. (Washington Post) (Tampa Bay Times)
A sinkhole in Dazhou, China, kills four people. (NY Post)
2018 European floods
- At least 12 people die in flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca, including nationals of at least 3 countries. A five-year-old child is missing. (BBC), (El País)
Pipeline accidents in Canada
- In British Columbia, communities are forced to evacuate after a pipeline operated by Enbridge explodes near Prince George. (Digital Journal) (Toronto Star)

Law and crime

Former Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti is sentenced to 15 years and 6 months in prison for fraud in a system to clean the polluted Lake Amatitlán. Baldetti still has four pending lawsuits and extradition to the United States. (The Guardian)

International relations

Foreign relations of the Holy See, Foreign relations of North Korea
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invites Pope Francis to Pyongyang, and said he would be "warmly welcomed" to North Korea. (New York Times) (UPI)

Politics and elections

Nikki Haley announces her resignation as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, effective at the end of the year. (NBC News)

October 8, 2018 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Libyan Civil War (2014–present); Terrorism in Egypt
- A Libyan National Army operation in Derna results in the capturing of Hesham Ashmawy, one of Egypt's most wanted militants. (BBC)

Business and economy

Google announces that it is shutting down its Google+ network for consumers after seven years due to "very low usage" and a software error, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, that potentially exposed the data of 500,000 users. Google+ will fully shut down in August 2019. (Sky News)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Haiti earthquake
- The death toll of a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck Haiti rises to 15. At least 333 others are injured. (The Punch)
2018 Atlantic hurricane season
- A hurricane watch is issued for the Florida Panhandle as Hurricane Michael begins moving toward the Yucatan Channel. (Upi)
- Tropical Storm Michael becomes Hurricane Michael and is upgraded to a category 1 storm. (NBC News)

Law and crime

Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
- Investigative website Bellingcat identifies the second suspect involved in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal as Alexander Mishkin, a doctor who works for the Main Intelligence Directorate. (The Guardian)
Death of Fernando Albán, Caracas drone attack
- The Justice First politician Fernando Albán, who was arrested on Friday related to an alleged assassination attempt in August, dies whilst in custody of the Venezuelan intelligence service. The state reports his death as suicide, which is disputed by all other reports. (The Guardian)

Science and technology

Moons of Jupiter, Colonization of Europa
- New research suggests Europa, a moon of Jupiter, may be covered in tall, jagged ice spikes, presenting a problem for any potential landing on its surface. (The Verge) (Washington Post)

Sports

2018 NFL season
- New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees becomes the NFL’s career leader in passing yardage, surpassing Peyton Manning. (Fox News) (The Washington Post)
2018 Major League Baseball season
- Boston Red Sox player Brock Holt becomes the first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle during a postseason game. (ESPN) (Bleacher Report)

October 7, 2018 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- Afghan officials say that the Taliban destroyed highway bridges in Maidan Wardak Province, cutting off road traffic between the capital Kabul and the provinces of Ghazni, Zabul and Kandahar. Electricity was cut off in four provinces, and fighting was reported in Ghazni Province. At least ten Afghan police officers were killed. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in two weeks. (AP via Tampa Times) (Reuters via The National)
2018 Barkan Industrial Park shooting
- A 23-year-old Palestinian opens fire and kills two Israelis, seriously wounding a third inside the Barkan Industrial Park on the West Bank. The gunman, who had worked at the factory where the shooting took place, fled the scene and remains at large. (The Washington Post) (Reuters) (Ynet News)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami
- The Indonesia's disaster agency confirms the deaths of 1,944 people in the double earthquake and tsunami. 5,000 people are still missing and presumed dead. (ABS-CBN News)
Hurricane Michael
- Six people in Honduras, four in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador died after heavy floods triggered by Hurricane Michael affected Central America. Several others are injured and at least one is missing. (BBC)

Law and crime

Police announce that investigative journalist Viktoria Marinova was found murdered yesterday in a park in Ruse, Bulgaria. Marinova's latest work was on "GPgate", a scandal involving alleged corruption and abuse of European Union subsidies in Bulgaria. (Thuner Tagblatt) (RFE/RL)
The Communist Party of China announces that Interpol president Meng Hongwei is suspected of violating the law and is "under the supervision" of a party anticorruption watchdog. Hours later, Interpol announces that it has received his resignation. (The New York Times) (Twitter)
2018 attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants in Gujarat
- A total of 342 people have been arrested for attacking Hindi-speaking migrants in the Indian state of Gujarat. The new wave of violence was prompted by the arrest of a non-Gujarati for the alleged rape of a 14-month-old baby a week prior. (First Post)

Politics and elections

Cameroonian presidential election, 2018
- Voters in Cameroon head to the polls. Incumbent President Paul Biya seeks a seventh term to his 36-year rule. (Reuters)
Brazilian general election, 2018
- Brazilians elect a new president (first round), state governors and parliaments. (RTÉ) (Al Jazeera)
- Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro falls short of a majority in the first round with 46% of the vote and will face Fernando Haddad, who received 29%, in a runoff vote set for October 28. (The Guardian)
Romanian constitutional referendum, 2018
- A referendum on changing the constitutional definition of a family is invalidated, as voter turnout announced by the Central Electoral Bureau is 20.41%, 10% under the validation threshold. (Digi 24)
São Toméan legislative election, 2018
- The ruling Independent Democratic Action (ADI) under Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada loses its absolute majority in the National Assembly. (Africanews)

October 6, 2018 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Defense Minister of Israel Avigdor Lieberman says that Israel will reduce the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip from 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi) to 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) as a reaction to the weekly Gaza border protests. Three Palestinians were killed in yesterday's protest, in which over 20,000 protestors took part. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

At an auction in London, the painting Girl with Balloon by Banksy self-destructs through a built-in shredder hidden in the frame after selling for US$1.4 million. (NBC)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami
- The death toll of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Sulawesi, Indonesia, rises to 1,649. More than 265 are missing. (The New York Times)
At least 50 people are killed and 100 others are injured after an oil tank truck collides with a vehicle on the Kinshasa—Matadi highway in Kisantu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (NDTV)
At least 22 people are killed and 14 injured after a minibus falls into a gorge on the Srinagar Jammu National Highway in India's Jammu and Kashmir state. (Tribune of India)
2018 Haiti earthquake
- A magnitude 5.9 earthquake kills at least 12 people in northern Haiti. At least 162 others are injured. (Miami Herald)
2018 Schoharie, New York limousine crash
- Twenty people are killed in Schoharie County, New York, when a stretch limousine fails to stop at an intersection, veers into a parking lot and strikes an empty vehicle, which in turn hits two pedestrians. All 17 passengers in the limousine are killed, along with the driver and the two pedestrians. (BBC)