Portal:Current events/2015 November 4
November 4, 2015 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Kogalymavia Flight 9268
- Flights between the United Kingdom and the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh are suspended due to concerns of the British government that the crash was caused by an "explosive device". (ITV)
- CNN reports that intelligence sources suggest that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or an affiliate organisation planted explosives on the plane. (CNN)
- Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh International Airport chief Abdel-Wahab Ali is replaced; he is now an assistant to Adel Mahgoub, chairman of the country's air transport service. (AP)
- Kunduz hospital airstrike, Afghanistan War
- The United States Department of Defense says that last month's airstrikes in Kunduz hit three locations, mistakenly including the Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) (MSF) hospital where at least 30 were killed. Afghan commanders, whose forces were actively engaged with the Taliban, requested the attacks. The Washington Post reports a warehouse and a mansion in two densely populated residential areas were "pulverized" without loss of civilian lives. According to residents, earlier their neighborhoods had been conflict zones, but no militants were there the time of the attacks. "Together, the three attacks raise questions about the quality and reliability of the intelligence that Afghan security forces are providing to their American partners, as well as U.S. decisions to act on that intelligence," writes the Post. (Washington Post)
- Médecins Sans Frontières held memorials around the globe Tuesday, the one month anniversary of the bombing, to reaffirm their request for an independent investigation. U.S. officials resist an independent probe, pledging that the three investigations underway, by the Pentagon, NATO, and Afghan officials, will be thorough and transparent. Thomas Nierle, head of MSF Switzerland, told AFP that he had little hope the inquiries would ultimately see any wrongdoers punished. (The Hill) (DW Akademie) (AFP via Yahoo News)
Business and economics
- Keystone XL Pipeline
- The United States State Department formally denies Calgary-based TransCanada Corporation's request, made Monday, to pause the review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. Reuters states this is expected to lead to the project's rejection by the Obama administration. (Reuters) (AP via Chicago Tribune)
- Whole Foods, the Texas-based food retailer, announces that it will buy back $1 billion of its shares, and increases its dividend. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Ash from Indonesia's Mount Rinjani volcano closes Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport, the country's third busiest. Nearly 700 flights are cancelled. Officials will re-evaluate the situation tomorrow. Mount Rinjani started spewing ash last weekend. (Reuters) (International Business Times)
- 2015 Juba plane crash
- A cargo plane crashes shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan. 41 people have reportedly died. The five Armenian crew members were killed. (Reuters Africa) (RT) (Al Jazeera English) (AFP via Rappler) (Daily Mail)
- 2015 Lahore factory disaster
- A building collapses in the Pakistani city of Lahore resulting in at least 18 deaths, at least 75 injured and around 150 people still trapped. (AFP via France24) (Al Jazeera English) (BBC Online)
International relations
- Cross-Strait relations, Ma–Xi Meeting
- The presidents of China and Taiwan are scheduled to meet in Singapore on November 7th, the first such meeting since the Chinese Communist Revolution. (New York Times) (BBC)
- An Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Malaysia fails to agree on a joint communique following disagreement between China and other nations over the South China Sea. (AP)
- South Korea and China agree to establish an emergency navy and military hotline. (UPI)
- Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations, Malaysia–United States relations
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and his counterpart from Malaysia, Hishammuddin Hussein, will visit the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) as it cruises in the South China Sea, this in the wake of China’s dismay over a U.S. Navy ship's sailing in the vicinity of artificial islands constructed by China in the Spratly Islands. (Stars and Stripes)
- European migrant crisis
- European Union president Donald Tusk and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén, in a joint news conference, announce Sweden will ask to transfer some migrants to other European countries under an EU relocation plan. Sweden has taken the highest number of asylum-seekers per capita in the 28-member bloc. (AP) (The Local)
Law and crime
- University of California, Merced stabbing attack
- Police, at the University of California, Merced campus, shoot and kill a male student who went on a terrorist stabbing rampage that wounded four people. The University closed its campus, except for housing, and cancelled classes for Wednesday and Thursday. The school reported all of the wounded are expected to recover. (KGO) (UC Merced) (Los Angeles Times) (AP via Houston Chronicle)
- Police have the gunman in custody and San Diego International Airport flights resume. The airport closed after police encountered a man with a gun shooting in a Bankers Hill apartment complex, east of the approach path to the airport. Also known as Lindbergh Field, the airport is frequently cited as one of the scariest because of its downtown location. (AP update) (Reuters) (Airfare Watchdog)
- The Mexican Supreme Court, in a 4–1 decision, rules that people have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use. The decision challenges the country’s current substance abuse laws. Fox News Latino and The New York Times point out the ruling only covers the plaintiffs in one case, a group that wants to form a "Pot Club." A precedent will be established if the court approves five similar petitions. (Fox News Latino) (Reuters)
- James Tran of Sacramento County is arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide in the October 8 stabbing of Airman Spencer Stone near a bar in Sacramento California. Stone had helped foil the 2015 Thalys train attack but officials believe it was just a drunken bar fight. (MSN)
Politics and elections
- Colectiv nightclub fire
- Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his government resigns after tens of thousands took to the streets to protest over the Colectiv nightclub fire that killed 32 people. Mircea Dușa has been proposed to be installed as Acting Prime Minister. (Euronews) (BBC News) (The Guardian)
- Canadian government
- Justin Trudeau is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Canada along with his ministry. (Toronto Star)
- Trudeau announces an ethnically diverse cabinet which for the first time is equally balanced between men and women (15 each). (The Guardian)
- Belizean general election, 2015
- Voters in Belize go to the polls with the United Democratic Party led by Dean Barrow hoping for a third consecutive term. (Voice of America)