Timeline 2015 October - December
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2015 Oct 1, The Pentagon launched talks with the Russian military to discuss ways to avoid mishaps in Syria between planes from the US-led coalition and Moscow.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Oregon Chris Harper Mercer (26), armed with multiple guns, walked into a morning writing class at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg and opened fire. 9 people were killed and seven others wounded. Mercer killed himself in a shootout with police.
(AP, 10/2/15)(SSFC, 10/4/15, p.A16)
2015 Oct 1, In Virginia Alfredo Prieto (49), a twice-condemned serial killer, was executed by lethal injection with drugs received from Texas.
(SFC, 10/2/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 1, Experian said in its statement that on September 15 it "discovered an unauthorized party accessed T-Mobile data housed in an Experian server." T-Mobile's chief executive expressed outrage over a breach at a credit monitoring service that exposed private data from 15 million customers of the mobile carrier.
(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, The El Faro cargo ship sank with 33 people aboard while traveling from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico in the face of Hurricane Joaquin. On Oct 5 the Coast Guard said the US cargo ship had sunk and one body was found.
(AP, 10/2/15)(SFC, 10/3/15, p.A2)(AP, 10/5/15)(SFC, 2/7/17, p.A5)
2015 Oct 1, Afghan troops recaptured the center of the strategic northern city of Kunduz amid fierce clashes with Taliban militants, three days after losing the provincial capital in a humbling defeat for Kabul and its US allies. 150 Taliban were reported killed and 90 wounded in the overnight offensive. The insurgents looted banks and seized military equipment during their three-day occupation.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, Bulgaria said it has told the European Commission that it will ban growing crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) under a rule that allows European Union countries to opt out of GMO cultivation.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, German police said some 200 Syrian and Afghan refugees clashed in a crowded refugee center in Hamburg overnight, leaving four people injured in the third such riot this week.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Guatemala a massive landslide killed at least 253 people with 374 remained missing in Santa Catarina Pinula.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(Reuters, 10/4/15)(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 1, India, the world's third-largest carbon polluter, filed its climate action plan to the Germany-based UN climate secretariat.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Iran said its death toll from the Saudi hajj disaster has nearly doubled to 464 pilgrims killed.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Iraq and Syria the US-led coalition conducted 28 air strikes on Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said it will acquire Mexican company Representaciones e Investigaciones Medicas (Rimsa) for $2.3 billion to strengthen its presence in the second-largest market in Latin America.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In the West Bank a drive-by shooting by suspected Palestinian gunmen killed a Jewish settler couple driving home with their children near the Palestinian village of Beit Furik.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Italy said it has told the European Commission that it will ban growing crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) under a rule that allows European Union countries to opt out of GMO cultivation.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, The foreign minister and the people of the Marshall Islands were honored for taking legal action against the nuclear powers for failing to honor disarmament obligations. Tony de Brum and the people of the Pacific island group shared the honorary portion of the 2015 Right Livelihood Award, sometimes referred to as the "alternative Nobel." This year's 3-million-kronor ($358,500) cash award was shared by Canada's Sheila Watt-Cloutier, for her supports to Inuit causes; Uganda's Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, for her struggle for sexual minorities' rights; and Italian surgeon Gino Strada, for providing medical assistance to victims of war.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In southeastern Niger an alleged Boko Haram attack on a village killed two of the country's soldiers.
(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, In northeastern Nigeria 4 suicide bombers killed at least 10 people in Maiduguri late today. The army blamed Islamic extremists for the attack and for trying to poison water sources. In a separate incident five people were killed earlier in the day by suspected Boko Haram militants in Kirchinga.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Pakistan's military said its air force has carried out "precise" airstrikes targeting the Taliban in the North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border, killing 25 militants.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In the southern Philippines a powerful bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle taxi exploded and hit the passing convoy of a vice mayor, killing 4 people and wounding at least six others in Basilan province.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, The Polish government was reported to have organized the nation's first shopping receipt lottery aimed at boosting budget income from sales taxes. Deputy Finance Minister Izabela Leszczyna said the lottery is intended to encourage shoppers to ask for receipts from sellers, leading to less evasion on sales tax.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, Russia launched its Progress M-29M cargo spacecraft from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, to the Int’l. Space Station.
(SFC, 10/2/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 1, In Saudi Arabia hundreds of people were still unaccounted, a week after a hajj stampede killed at least 769 people. A tally of death tolls from 23 countries, mostly from official sources, put the number at more than 940.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In South Africa King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo of Nelson Mandela's Thembu ethnic group was sentenced to 12 years in jail for torching homes, beating people and kidnapping a family in a supposed attempt to discipline them. The Supreme Court of Appeal was ruling on an appeal by Dalindyebo against his 2009 conviction and sentencing to a 15-year jail term.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, Sri Lanka said it would heed a UN resolution urging it to establish a credible judicial process, including foreign judges and prosecutors, to investigate alleged war crimes during its conflict with Tamil rebels that ended in 2009.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Switzerland American adventurer Johnny Strange (23) died in a wing-suit crash in the Alps.
(SFC, 10/3/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 1, Two Lebanese sources said hundreds of Iranian troops had reached Syria in the past 10 days with weapons to mount a major ground offensive. Russian jets struck targets near the cities of Hama and Homs in western Syria on the second day of their surprise air campaign. The area where it struck is held by a rival insurgent alliance, which unlike Islamic State is supported by US allies including Arab states and Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Turkey prominent anti-government journalist Ahmet Hakan was attacked early today outside his home in Istanbul, raising fears over the security of media figures who taken a critical line against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Police reportedly detained all four suspects after a hot pursuit.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Turkey 12 people were killed in Ankara when a bus ploughed into commuters waiting at a bus stop.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, The UN refugee agency said it expects 700,000 migrants and refugees to reach Europe via the Mediterranean this year and projected at least the same amount again in 2016.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, Loyalist Yemeni troops and Gulf Arab forces seized the Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden from Houthi fighters.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 2, A report released by the Alaska Department of Labor showed that about 7,500 more people moved out of the state than arrived in fiscal year 2014.
(AP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, Oklahoma’s highest criminal court agreed to halt all executions after the state’s prison system received the wrong drug for a lethal injection this week.
(SFC, 10/3/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 2, In eastern Afghanistan a US Air Force C-130J military transport plane crashed overnight at Jalalabad air field, killing 6 American airmen and 5 civilians on the aircraft.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Australia an Iran-born teenager (15) of Iraqi-Kurdish background shot a New South Wales police finance worker with a handgun at close range as the man left work in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The teen then fired at responding officers, who shot and killed him. Farhad Jabar (15) was shot dead by police moments after he killed Curtis Cheng (58) with a .38 Smith & Wesson as the accountant walked from the New South Wales state police headquarters in central Sydney after work. In 2018 Talal Alameddine (25), the man who provided the revolver used to kill the state police employee, was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
(AP, 10/2/15)(AP, 5/18/18)
2015 Oct 2, Hurricane Joaquin ripped off roofs, uprooted trees and unleashed heavy flooding as the Category 4 storm hurled torrents of rain across the eastern and central Bahamas.
(AP, 10/2/15)(SFC, 10/3/15, p.A2)(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 2, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced a major government reshuffle, axing eight ministries in a cost-cutting measure that analysts say also aims to protect the embattled leader from impeachment threats.
(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos congratulated his armed forces for killing cocaine warlord Victor Navarro (36), aka Megateo, for whom the US had been offering a $5 million bounty. Megateo had been first reported killed in August.
(AP, 10/2/15)(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, The head of Egypt's Cairo University said a recent decision to ban female staff from wearing the full face veil aims to put an end to student complaints of "poor communication" in class.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In eastern Indonesia a passenger plane carrying 10 people was reported missing on a domestic flight. The DHC-6 Twin Otter plane lost contact 11 minutes after taking off in good weather from Masamba in South Sulawesi province. On October 5 wreckage of the plane was reported found.
(AP, 10/2/15)(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 2, The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine met in Paris to consolidate a fragile peace in Ukraine. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said monitors have spotted a Russian mobile TOS-1 'Buratino' weapons system in rebel-held Ukraine this week.
(AFP, 10/2/15)(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Iran's state TV is reported that Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total will be the first foreign companies to be allowed to operate gasoline stations inside Iran.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Iraq and Syria the US-led coalition targeted Islamic State insurgents in 27 air strikes.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Ireland Brian Friel (86), Tony Award-winning playwright, died. He created "Dancing at Lughnasa" (1990) and more than 30 other plays.
(AP, 10/2/15)(Econ, 10/17/15, p.98)
2015 Oct 2, In Mexico masked protesters clashed with riot police in Mexico City after thousands of people marched to commemorate the 47th anniversary of a student massacre.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Nigeria multiple bombs detonated in two satellite towns of Abuja, killing at least 18 people.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, Nigeria's former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was arrested in London. She was minister from 2010 until May 2015 under former president Goodluck Jonathan The National Crime Agency (NCA) said its International Corruption Unit had arrested five people across London on suspicion of bribery and corruption offences.
(AP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, Pakistan took its long-running dispute with neighboring India to the UN as the country's UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi presented three dossiers to Sec.-Gen. Ban Ki-moon's office alleging Indian involvement in fomenting unrest in Pakistan.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Portugal’s Justice Ministry approved the first three of more than 200 applications it has received so far granting citizenship rights to the descendants of Jews it persecuted five centuries ago.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 2, Russia bombed Syria for a third day, mainly hitting areas held by rival insurgent groups rather than the Islamic State fighters it said it was targeting. The US-led coalition called on the Russians to halt strikes on targets other than Islamic State. Russia said it had bombed the Islamic State stronghold of Raqa for the first time.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Spain granted citizenship to 4,302 people whose Jewish ancestors fled after being told in 1492 to convert to Catholicism or go into exile ahead of the Spanish Inquisition.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Spain's National Court said it has convicted and sentenced 11 members of a recruitment network that sent militants to carry out attacks for al-Qaida-linked groups fighting in Syria. The cell's leaders, Karim Abdesalam Mohamed and Ismail Abdelaftif were sentenced to 12 years while the rest each received 10-year sentences.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Syria Islamic State attacked government-held areas in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor and an air base south of the city.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Turkish security forces killed more than 10 suspected Kurdish militants amid intensifying clashes in the country's southeast, while 44 people were arrested in Istanbul on suspicion of links with the rebels. Suspected militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) abducted two Turkish soldiers on a highway between the Tunceli and Erzincan provinces.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, The UN backed a Saudi-led resolution to support Yemen in setting up a national inquiry into human rights violations.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 3, California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation intended to reduce racial profiling by police officers.
(SSFC, 10/4/15, p.A14)
2015 Oct 3, In San Francisco Audrey Carey (23), a Canadian backpacker, was found dead in Golden Gate Park. She had suffered trauma to her body and was fatally shot. On Feb 6, 2017, Morrison Lampley (24) and Lila Alligood (19) pleaded guilty to Carey’s murder and the Oct 5 murder of Steven Carter (67), a hiker in Marin County. Lampley was sentenced to 100 years in prison and Alligood to 50 years.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.D2)(SFC, 2/7/17, p.C1)
2015 Oct 3, In Afghanistan a US airstrike hit a hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres in the city of Kunduz, killing at least 22 people in what the US military called possible "collateral damage" in the battle to oust Taliban insurgents. On Oct 25 Doctors Without Borders raised the death toll to 30. On Nov 23 Gen. John Campbell called the airstrike a tragic mistake and said several service members have been suspended from duty following an internal investigation. On March 22, 2016, US Army Gen. John Nicholson, the new commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, apologized to the people of Kunduz for the deadly attack that killed 42 people.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AP, 10/4/15)(AFP, 10/2515)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 3, In Bangladesh Kunio Hoshi (65), a Japanese citizen born in Bangladesh, was attacked by unidentified assailants in Kownia in Rangpur district. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. Police detained four people in connection with the shooting. On Dec 7 Masud Rana, believed to be a member of Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, confessed that he fatally shot the Japanese agriculture researcher. On August 8, 2016 a court issued warrants for the arrest of four more suspected members of a banned group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AP, 12/8/15)(Reuters, 8/7/16)
2015 Oct 3, Dennis Healey (b.1917), British Labour Party politician, died in East Sussex. He served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Healey)
2015 Oct 3, In Burundi at least a dozen civilians were killed in clashes between police and anti-government protesters in Bujumbura.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 3, In Egypt 2 were shot dead in the bastion of the Islamic State group in the Sinai Peninsula.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 3, In Iraq suicide car bomb attacks targeting two mainly Shi'ite Muslim districts of Baghdad killed at least 18 people.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, In Iraq and Syria the United States and its allies carried out 16 air strikes against Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 3, Mali's government said it exchanged 30 separatist rebels last week for the release of 16 soldiers, a move that shows progress after violence in August threatened to disrupt a peace accord.
(AP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, Ten Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in the West Bank during a raid by troops hunting the murderers of a Jewish settler couple. A senior Hamas official called on Palestinians to take up arms to "defend" the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem after a rise in Jewish visitors to the flashpoint site.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, Russian jets hit Islamic State targets and other rebel groups in Syria, on a fourth day of air strikes by Moscow in support of President Bashar al-Assad which have dramatically escalated foreign intervention in Syria. Russia said its air strikes have sown "panic", forcing some 600 "militants" to abandon their positions and head to Europe.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, In South Africa hundreds of people demonstrated in Johannesburg in defense of rhinos, elephants and lions against poaching and to demand authorities take more radical action.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, South Sudanese rebels said government troops had attacked their positions over the last three days, casting further doubt on a fragile peace agreement in the world's youngest country. A military official said 52 soldiers and rebels have been killed over the last week in fighting in the contested state of Unity.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, Spanish police said eight garges in Madrid were uinder investigation for charging custormers up to $225 to remove diesel particulate filters. The shops allegedly provided custormers with mechanical and software services to to cheat emissions checks.
(SSFC, 10/4/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 3, In Ukraine warring sides began withdrawing tanks and smaller weapons from a buffer zone in the war-torn east.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, Citizens of the United Arab Emirates went to polls to fill the elected seats on a government advisory body. Despite a broadening of the franchise some citizens were still denied the vote.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, The Vatican dismissed a gay priest from his Holy See job on the eve of a major Church meeting for a highly public coming out that challenged the Roman Catholic teaching that homosexual acts are a sin. Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, a Polish theologian, had worked at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal arm, since 2003.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 4, In South Carolina floodwaters swamped Columbia after a rainstorm dumped over a foot of rain overnight. By October 7 the number of weather-related deaths in the Carolinas rose to at least 17.
(SFC, 10/5/15, p.A7)(SFC, 10/7/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 4, In Britain tens of thousands of anti-austerity protesters rallied as PM David Cameron's governing Conservative Party opened its annual conference in Manchester.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, In China Typhoon Mujigae made landfall near Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. It left a trail of destruction and flooding and prompting authorities to issue their highest "red alert" emergency response. At least 9 people were killed.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched a new foundation to consolidate a range of existing charitable and human development initiatives that aims to support more than $270 million in projects annually.
(AP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, The European Commission said nineteen EU member states have requested opt-outs for all or part of their territory from cultivation of a Monsanto genetically-modified crop, which is authorized to be grown in the European Union.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, French authorities said violent storms and flooding along the chic French Riviera overnight have killed at least 16 people and left another five missing.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, In Guatemala Juan Carlos Monzon Rojas, the alleged leader of a customs corruption scandal that has rocked the government, turned himself into authorities.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, The US-led coalition targeted Islamic State with 13 airstrikes in Iraq and eight in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed 2 Israelis and wounded a child. The Palestinian Red Crescent said clashes with Israeli security forces and Jewish settlers have left 77 Palestinians wounded from both live rounds and rubber bullets over the past 24 hours. Israeli troops shot dead an 18-year-old Palestinian during clashes in Tulkarem in the West Bank.
(AFP, 10/4/15)(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, Kyrgyzstan went to the polls for a hotly-contested parliamentary vote.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Malaysian authorities ordered most of the country's schools shut for two days because of possible health risks posed by the thick haze from Indonesian forest fires.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Morocco and Spain arrested 10 people suspected of recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Thousands of Myanmar's nationalist monks and their supporters prayed, clapped and held speeches at a large rally in Yangon, in a show of growing clout of radical Buddhists ahead of a Nov. 8 election.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, In Niger suspected Boko Haram militants killed 3 civilians and a soldier in a double suicide attack in the southeastern region of Diffa.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, The Pakistani Taliban released a video showing the hanging of Bashir Ahmad Khan, a military intelligence officer, in retaliation for recent executions of militants by Pakistan.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Portugal voted in an election seen as a test of four years of austerity. PM Pedro Passos Coelho’s center-right coalition won the election but lost its parliamentary majority.
(AFP, 10/4/15)(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, In western Syria air strikes by suspected Russian jets hit targets around the town of Talbiseh. One resident said at least 5 bodies had been recovered from the western part of the town. Russian planes also struck in Homs and Hama provinces.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Syrian activists said that Islamic State militants have destroyed the Arch of Triumph, a nearly 2,000-year-old arch in the ancient city of Palmyra.
(AP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq and eastern Turkey overnight, in a new air operation against the militant group.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Pope Francis reaffirmed Catholic opposition to gay marriage as he opened a three-week gathering of bishops.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Yemeni security officials said fierce battles were ongoing between pro-government fighters clashing with Shiite Houthi rebels and allied military units along Yemen's Red Sea coast. Medical officials in nearby Taiz said at least 14 dead bodies from Houthi forces arrived from the front lines.
(AP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 5, Pres. Obama declared new marine sanctuaries off of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan and the tidal waters of Maryland.
(SFC, 10/6/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 5, The Justice Department and five US states finalized a settlement of more than $20 billion arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An agreement was first announced in July.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill giving the state’s terminally ill people the right to be prescribed a lethal dose of drugs.
(SFC, 10/6/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 5, In Marin County, Ca., Steve Carter (67), tantric massage therapist, was shot and killed while hiking in the Loma Alta Open Space Preserve northwest of Fairfax. On October 7 police in Portland, Oregon, arrested Morrison Haze Lampley (23), Sean Michael Angold (24) and Lila Scott Allgood (18) after they tracked the victim’s car using GPS technology. The trio were later linked to the death of Canadian backpacker Audrey Carey (23), whose body was found on Oct 3 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
(SFC, 10/8/15, p.A6)(SFC, 10/15/15, p.D2)
2015 Oct 5, Grace Lee Boggs (100), long-time human rights activist, died in Detroit, Michigan. Her books included “Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century" (1974), co-written with her husband, and her memoir “Living for Change" (1998).
(SFC, 10/7/15, p.D8)
2015 Oct 5, The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced that it has granted a charter under the New York Banking Law to Gemini Trust Company, LLC (“Gemini") – a Bitcoin exchange based in New York City and founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
(http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press/pr1510051.htm)
2015 Oct 5, Twelve Pacific rim countries sealed the deal on creating the world's largest free trade area (TPP), delivering President Barack Obama a major policy triumph. The Trans-Pacific Partnership included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Bangladesh Baptist pastor Luke Sarker had his throat slashed in the town of Iswardi. On Oct 12 police said they had arrested five members of the outlawed Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) group for the attempted murder.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 5, Belarusian independent media outlets accused the government of blocking their websites less than a week before presidential elections.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, Britain’s Chancellor George Osborne set out ambitious plans to devolve power to local councils and upgrade the country’s infrastructure.
(Econ, 10/10/15, p.57)
2015 Oct 5, Chile said that it is protecting more than 200,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean near Easter Island from commercial fishing and oil and gas exploration.
(SFC, 10/6/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 5, In Congo DRC 5 civilians were reportedly killed in a UN helicopter attack against rebel fighters. The MONUSCO raids were targeted at the Nduma Defense of Congo group, blamed for setting villages on fire in the region in recent days.
(AFP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Congo DRC poachers killed 3 rangers and one military colonel who were part of a 10-man patrol that tracked the satellite collar of a killed elephant to the poacher’s camp in Garamba National Park. The anti-poaching patrol was outnumbered and forced to disperse.
(SFC, 10/10/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 5, Air France executives fled an angry mob after having their shirts ripped off by striking workers. Seven people were hurt, including a security guard who was knocked unconscious. The company has proposed job cuts, believed to involve 300 pilots, 900 air hostesses and stewards, and 1,700 ground staff.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 5, Ghana's judicial service said seven high court judges have been suspended following corruption allegations by a journalist. An undercover journalist had aired footage and recordings of judges taking bribes or demanding sex to sway their rulings. As many as 34 judges were implicated.
(AP, 10/6/15)(Econ 7/1/17, p.39)
2015 Oct 5, Indian PM Narendra Modi said Germany will provide India more than 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion) for developing a clean energy corridor and solar projects following talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Iraq and Syria the United States and its allies carried out 24 air strikes on Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Kashmir 4 Indian army soldiers and three suspected rebels were killed in separate clashes in the disputed Himalayan region.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, The Red Crescent said the bodies of 85 migrants have been found washed up on the coast of Libya, a major departure point for the sea crossing to Europe.
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, Irish-born William Campbell (85) and Japan's Satoshi Omura (80) won half of the Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering avermectin, a derivative of which has been used to treat hundreds of millions of people with river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis. China's Tu Youyou (84) was awarded the other half of the prize for discovering artemisinin, a drug that has slashed malaria deaths.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, Poland's PM Ewa Kopacz said she does not consider nuclear energy a priority and is instead focused on strengthening the coal mining industry.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Portugal Sabrina De Sousa, a former CIA operative convicted of the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric as part of the extraordinary renditions program, was detained and awaited a decision on whether she will be turned over to Italy to serve a six-year sentence. De Sousa was among 26 Americans, mostly CIA agents, convicted in absentia over the of kidnapping of Milan cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar, in broad daylight from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 5, In an online statement dozens of Islamist Saudi Arabian clerics called on Arab and Muslim countries to "give all moral, material, political and military" support to what they term a jihad, or holy war, against Syria's government and its Iranian and Russian backers.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Sweden Henning Mankell (67), internationally renowned crime writer, died in Goteborg. His books about the gloomy, soul-searching police inspector Kurt Wallander enticed readers around the world. His work included some 50 novels and numerous plays.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, More than 40 Syrian insurgent groups vowed to attack Russian forces in retaliation for Moscow's air campaign in a show of unity among the usually fragmented rebels against what they called the "occupiers" of Syria.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Tanzania a group of around 20 miners were in a pit when a shaft they were working on collapsed. 14 escaped as the shaft collapsed leaving six trapped. One man died over the 41 days. Five men were rescued on Nov 15.
(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Oct 5, UNESCO's director-general condemned the destruction of the Arch of Triumph in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra by Islamic State jihadists, saying "extremists are terrified by history and culture".
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 6, US authorities charged John Ashe, a former president of the UN General Assembly, billionaire Macau real estate developer Ng Lap Seng (68) and four others, for engaging in a wide-ranging corruption scheme. John Ashe, the UN ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda, was the UN president in 2013.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, California Gov. Jerry Brown singed SB358, a bill known as the Fair Pay Act. It closed loopholes in existing antidiscrimination statutes and barred employers from paying women less than men when they do substantially similar work.
(SFC, 10/7/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 6, Kevin Corcoran (1949), Disney child actor, died in Burbank. He played Moochie in the “Spin and Marty" seriels on the “Mickey Mouse Club" and Arliss Coates in the move “Old Yeller" (1957).
(SFC, 10/9/15, p.D2)
2015 Oct 6, Whitman McGowan (64), SF poet, died of brain cancer.
(SSFC, 10/11/15, p.C9)
2015 Oct 6, In Kentucky Spc. Kevin J. Rodriguez was shot and killed during a blank-firing training exercise at Fort Campbell.
(SFC, 7/21/16, p.A6)
2015 Oct 6, Texas executed convicted killer Juan Martin Garcia (35) for the 1998 shooting and robbery of Hugo Solano, a Christian missionary who had just moved with his family from Mexico. The robbery netted $8.
(SFC, 10/7/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 6, The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Japanese researcher Takaaki Kajita and Canadian Arthur McDonald for discovering that tiny particles called neutrinos change identities as they whiz through the universe, proving that they have mass.
(AP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, A strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, linked to Costco chicken salads, began sickening 19 people in seven US states. It was believed to be more life-threatening than a later E. coli outbreak at northwestern Chipotle restaurants.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A10)
2015 Oct 6, In Afghanistan acting Kunduz Gov. Hamdullah Danishi said Taliban fighters on motorbikes have carried out hit-and-run attacks on Afghan forces trying to clear Kunduz city of insurgents. In Kabul at least 3 Taliban fighters were killed and seven policemen wounded in a 10-hour gun battle that began a day earlier.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country did not need a Russian military base.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Chad Boko Haram Islamists attacked government soldiers, killing 11 and wounding 13. The army said 37 Boko Haram fighters died in the fighting.
(AP, 10/6/15) (SFC, 10/8/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 6, Human Rights Watch said top security and ruling party officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo appear to have "hired thugs" to attack peaceful demonstrators last month in Kinshasa.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Europe's top court ruled that data stored on US servers is potentially unsafe because of government spying, a blow to companies such as Facebook that might need to change the way they handle private data from the region. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) struck down the “safe-harbor" privacy pact between the European Union and America. It was originally signed in 2000 to bridge cultural and political differences regarding online privacy.
(AP, 10/6/15)(Econ, 10/10/15, p.61)
2015 Oct 6, The European Union's 28 finance ministers agreed to share details of tax deals their countries reach with big multinational companies. The rule would be enacted across the 28 member states by the start of 2017.
(AP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Arpad Goncz (93), Hungary's first democratically-elected president (1990-2000 and widely-respected former dissident, died.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Iraq and Syria the United States and its allies staged 23 air strikes on Islamic State forces in the latest daily round of attacks on the militant group.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 6, Israel demolished the houses of two Palestinians involved in attacks last year, reverting to a controversial measure it claims is a deterrent.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Myanmar’s army began clashing with the Shan State Army-North, one of the ethnic armed groups that did not sign an Oct 15 ceasefire deal. 37 clashes took place b October 19 with 7 SSA-N members killed. The army suffered an unspecified number of casualties.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Myanmar Bao Zhuoxuan (16), also known as Bao Mengmeng, and two men helping him were taken away by local police from a guest house in a border town. The son of a rights lawyer detained in China's sweeping crackdown on civil society disappeared after trying to escape to the United States. Zhuoxuan was later reported to be under 24-hour police surveillance at his grandparents' house in Inner Mongolia.
(AP, 10/10/15)(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 6, Nigeria reported the arrest of Atlantic Energy chairman Olajide Omokore on corruption and money laundering charges, as part of a widening graft investigation in Africa's biggest petroleum producer that has also netted former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, The Philippine Coast Guard spotted a body, debris and an oil slick in the high seas about 400 km west of Laoag. The yacht Europa carrying two Britons, an American, a Canadian and a Filipino disappeared while sailing in waters that were lashed by a storm last week.
(AP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Russian strikes in Syria targeted the main weapons depots of Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, US-trained rebel group, in western Aleppo province and completely destroyed them.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 6, A Spanish judge withdrew the passport of former International Monetary Fund head Rodrigo Rato, who is under investigation for tax evasion, money laundering and concealing assets.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian strikes at Palmyra killed 15 Islamic State fighters and destroyed 20 vehicles and three weapons depots. Another 4 Islamic State fighters were reported killed near Raqqa. The Observatory said Russian jets carried out at least 34 air strikes in the last 24 hours. Russia’s defense ministry dismissed reports that its planes had launched air strikes against Palmyra.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than 114,000 people have fled war-torn Yemen, and the figure could reach at least 200,000 by the end of 2016.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Yemen unidentified assailants fired missiles at an Aden hotel housing Yemeni officials and at a Gulf military base in Aden. An unknown number of people were killed or injured in the attack. The Islamic State in Yemen claimed coordinated suicide bombings targeting the Yemeni government and the Arab military coalition in the southern city of Aden that killed 15 Arab and Yemeni troops.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Yemen an evening suicide bombing outside a mosque in the insurgent-held capital of Sanaa killed 7 people.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, The US Treasury Dept. announced that former Honduras VP Jaime Rosenthal, his son Yani and nephew Yankel had been designated under the Kingpin Act. US prosecutors accused them of laundering money for Central American drug traffickers.
(SFC, 1/4/16, p.A2)
2015 Oct 7, In Australia four people were arrested over the terror-linked murder of a police employee after coordinated raids by more than 200 officers on properties across Sydney.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Belgian trade unions mobilized about 100,000 workers for the second time in a year to protest the free-market regulations and austerity measures that the center-right government has been pushing through during its first year in office.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, A British court jailed former Bishop Peter Ball (83) for 32 months after he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting teenagers in a case that has prompted accusations of a cover-up. Eighteen victims said they had been targeted by Ball at his home in Litlington, East Sussex.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, A Chinese Navy destroyer, a Chinese frigate and a Chinese supply vessel sailed into Poland's navy port of Gdynia on the first such visit ever.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Czech police said they have seized an unusually large amount of powerful illegal explosives and further dangerous substances and arrested four people who allegedly wanted to sell them on the black market.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Estonia a small, anti-immigrant opposition party called for a referendum to make sure the tiny Baltic country doesn't increase the number of refugees (550) it has agreed to take in.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Indian-controlled Kashmir suspected rebels gunned down police sub-inspector Mohammed Altaf, known for his successful counterinsurgency operations.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 7, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned any further negotiations with America.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.45)
2015 Oct 7, Iraqi officials said government forces have retaken several areas north and west of Ramadi as efforts to close in on the Anbar provincial capital seized by jihadists in May intensified.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Kurds said Islamic State fighters fired mortar rounds containing mustard agent at peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq during clashes in August.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Mexican authorities in Toluca arrested drug capo Jesus Areli Navarrete Castelan wanted by the United States on cocaine trafficking allegations.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In northeastern Nigeria at least 40 people were killed in two separate suicide bomb attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants in Damaturu, Yobe state and in Gubio town, Borno state. An overnight attack at a military camp in Yobe state was repulsed with at least 100 insurgents reported killed.
(AFP, 10/7/15)(SFC, 10/8/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 7, Palestinian woman Dania Irsheid (17) stabbed an Israeli near the contested Ibrahimi mosque in Jerusalem. She was shot and killed by security forces. PM Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit to Germany because of the precarious security situation.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)(Econ 6/10/17, p.61)(Econ 6/10/17, p.61)
2015 Oct 7, Russia and Syria carried out what appeared to be the first major coordinated assaults on Syrian insurgents. Moscow said its warships fired 26 missiles at them from the Caspian Sea, a sign of its new military reach. In Hama province at least 13 regime forces were killed in clashes that also killed 11 rebel fighters.
(AP, 10/7/15) (Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Somalia Islamic extremist rebels killed two men including the president's nephew in a drive-by shooting in Mogadishu.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Sweden's Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich of the United States and Aziz Sancar, a Turkish-American, won the 2015 Nobel Chemistry Prize for work on how cells repair damaged DNA.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Tanzania Yang Feng Clan (66), a Chinese woman, was charged in Dar es Salaam alongside two Tanzanians with smuggling 1.9 tons of ivory between Jan. 1, 2000 and May 22, 2014.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 7, Turkish officials said police have seized material allegedly used by Islamic State militants to produce coins for the group and arrested six foreign nationals in Gaziantep city.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 7, Yemen's Houthi group and the party of the former president have accepted a peace plan brokered by the United Nations in talks in Oman, paving the way for resuming negotiations to end months of conflict in the country.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Yemen a suspected Saudi-led air strike killed at least 28 people at a wedding in the rebel-held town of Sanban, Dhamar province. Abdullah al-Sanabani (15), a child prodigy who once dreamed of leading a Yemeni space program, faced the loss of his leg and fingers following the air strike which left him badly burned.
(AFP, 10/8/15)(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 7, A Zimbabwean wildlife official said five people are in police custody and being questioned over the killing of 11 elephants poisoned by cyanide at Hwange National Park in the west of the country.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 8, The California Coastal Commission approved a $100 million expansion of the tanks at Sea World in San Diego used to hold killer whales, but it banned breeding of the captive orcas that would live in them.
(SFC, 10/10/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 8, SF Bay Area researchers released promising results that showed the drug ocrelizumab to be effective in reducing symptoms for progressive multiple sclerosis.
(SFC, 10/9/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 8, In Louisiana at least 3 people were killed and two were seriously injured in an explosion at a natural gas plant in Gibson.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 8, Paul Prudhomme (75), king of Cajun cooking, died in New Orleans.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.86)
2015 Oct 8, In Missouri a series of church fires began in the St. Louis area. Over the next two weeks six area churches were set on fire.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.A11)
2015 Oct 8, Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich (b.1948) won the Nobel Prize in literature for works that chronicled the great tragedies of the Soviet Union and those that followed in the wake of its 1991 collapse. Her work included "Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War" (1989), “Enchanted with Death" (1993) and "Voices from Chernobyl: Chronicle of the Future" (1997).
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, Burkina Faso authorities arrested Achille Tapsoba, the deputy of deposed leader Blaise Compaore's party, as part of a probe into a failed bid to overthrow the interim government.
(AFP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, Colombia's Supreme Court ordered a Roman Catholic diocese to pay $220,000 to the families of two children molested by a priest. It would be the first time the church has paid a financial penalty in Colombia for abuse committed by one of its priests. Father Luis Enrique Duque was serving time for abusing two boys aged 7 and 8 in 2007 in a town northwest of Bogota.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In the Czech Rep. a Prague court convicted Qatari royal family member Hamad bin Abdallah bin Thani Al Thani of sexually abusing minors and sentenced him to 11 months and eight days in prison. Czech authorities reopened the trial in 2009 after Qatar failed to prosecute him and issued an international arrest warrant for him in 2011.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, European Union governments agreed to step up deportations of illegal immigrants and discussed creating a border guard force among measures to cope with a surge in refugees from Syria's civil war.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In France trash piled up on Paris streets because of a garbage collectors' strike. Workers occupied a city building amid frustration over spending cuts across the French economy.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In Iraq 27 people were killed when mortars landed in the provincial capital of Baquba.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In Iraq protesters hurled stones and scuffled with riot police in the second largest city in the Kurdish north, in the most intense show of discontent since an economic crisis hit the region. The economic crisis began in early 2014 when Baghdad slashed funds to the region, and has been exacerbated by the conflict with Islamic State and a drop in oil prices that has pushed the region to the verge of bankruptcy.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, Israeli Arab Raed Jaradat stabbed four Israelis with a screwdriver before a soldier shot and killed him amid fresh violence that prompted PM Netanyahu to bar Cabinet ministers and lawmakers from the Al-Aqsa mosque, a sensitive Jerusalem holy site at the heart of the latest tensions. Altogether seven Israelis were stabbed in four separate incidents across the country.
(AP, 10/8/15)(Reuters, 10/9/15)(Econ 6/10/17, p.61)
2015 Oct 8, In Italy Ignazio Marino (60) stepped down as mayor of Rome over a scandal centered on 20,000 euros ($22,600) of restaurant bills settled with a city hall credit card over the course of his 28 months in office.
(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 8, In Kosovo opposition lawmakers disrupted Parliament's session, using tear gas and whistles to protest the government's recent EU-sponsored deal with Serbia giving the country's Serb-majority areas greater powers.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In Pakistan paramilitary troops in Karachi arrested a prominent politician, fueling jitters about a showdown between the powerful Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party and the military-run Rangers.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In the Philippines Elizabeth Ramsey (84), a popular Filipino singer, comedian and actress who entertained crowds with racy gags and a raspy voice, died.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 8, Syrian troops and allied militia backed by a fresh wave of Russian air strikes and cruise missiles fired from warships attacked rebel forces as the government extended a major offensive to recapture territory in the west of the country. Insurgents shot down a helicopter in Hama province. Iranian Gen. Hossein Hamedani of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed late today near Aleppo.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 8, Turkey appealed to its NATO allies to shore up missile defenses in the country aimed at shooting down Syrian rockets, as Germany said again that it will withdraw its Patriot batteries and the United States was set to do the same.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In southeastern Turkey a child was killed and three others wounded in the town of Silvan after munitions they found and were playing with on the street exploded.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 9, A US judge approved a deal between conservationists and Montana officials to restrict road-building and logging in roughly 22,000 acres (8,900 hectares) of state forest lands that make up core habitat for federally protected grizzlies.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Arizona an overnight confrontation between two groups of students escalated into gunfire when Steven Jones (18), a freshman at Northern Arizona University, killed one person and wounded three others.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Texas a student was killed and another person was wounded during a shooting outside a Texas Southern University student-housing complex. Police detained two men for questioning.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, It was reported that some 30 people in America are victims each day of gun violence and that an additional 60 people per day kill themselves with guns.
(SFC, 10/9/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 9, In Afghanistan 3 civilians were killed and four wounded after they were caught in the crossfire of a Taliban attack on troops south of Kabul.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Geoffrey Howe (88), former British Treasury chief (1979-1983) and a prominent figure in Margaret Thatcher's government, died at his home in Warwickshire. He helped bring about her downfall after they parted ways over policy toward Europe.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, Yeonmi Park (22), a North Korean defector who was trafficked and raped at the age of 13 after fleeing to China, promoted her new book: “In Order To Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom" to the Women in the World summit in London.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Burkina Faso 3 police officers were killed after some 50 armed men attacked a police station in Samoroguan, near the border with Mali.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Burundi unknown gunmen killed Pascal Nshirimana, the son-in-law of prominent human rights activist Pierre Clave Mbonimpa, who openly opposed President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid for a third term in office.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Canada the Carbon Engineering company, with global plans to pull carbon from thin air to make fuel while tackling climate change, opened a pilot plant in Squamish, British Columbia.
(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In eastern China a gas explosion in a coal mine killed 2 miners and left eight others trapped in Shangrao county, Jiangxi province.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Congo DRC a new airline was launched in a bid to revolutionize air transport within the vast country where flights are currently operated only by the UN and small carriers blacklisted by the EU.
(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, France launched a new air strike overnight in Syria against an Islamic State training camp and said further strikes will follow.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Guinea pre-election violence killed at least 3 people and injured some 50. At least 33 people were injured in the fighting between Cellou Dalein Diallo's Union for the Democratic Forces of Guinea party and President Alpha Conde's Rally of the Guinean People-Rainbow Party supporters.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Hong Kong more than a thousand students and staff staged a rally at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the second demonstration in a week to protest against what they say is interference by Beijing in academic freedom.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, India said it had lodged a protest with authorities in Riyadh after Kasthuri Munirathinam (55), a maid from Tamil Nadu, allegedly had her hand chopped off by her Saudi employer for complaining about her work conditions.
(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Israeli troops shot dead 5 Palestinians in protests in Gaza. In southern Israel a Jewish man stabbed and wounded four Arabs in Dimona in an apparent reprisal attack for Palestinian violence. Hours later, a 14-year-old Jewish boy was stabbed and wounded by a Palestinian in the Old City of Jerusalem. A woman believed to be Palestinian tried to stab a guard at a bus station in north Israel, and a Palestinian stabbed a policeman near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. The policeman's attacker was shot dead.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Malaysia's central bank said a debt-laden state investment fund violated foreign exchange rules and must repatriate $1.83 billion it used abroad.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In central Mali suspected members of the Macina Liberation Movement attacked Douna-Pene village, killing local official Timote Kodio in front of his family.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Syria Islamic State fighters seized villages close to the city of Aleppo from rival insurgents. The Russian defense ministry said air strikes on rebel positions in the north had killed 300 anti-Assad insurgents in nearly 70 sorties over the last day.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping build democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring, an example of peaceful transition in a region otherwise struggling with violence and upheaval.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, The UN Security Council authorized European naval operations to seize and dispose of vessels operated by human traffickers in the high seas off Libya.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Yemeni security officials said pro-government forces have driven Shiite rebels from the strategic seaside town of Dhubab after three days of heavy clashes that killed nearly 100 fighters. Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition raided positions of the Iran-backed Shiite insurgents in the west of Marib province.
(AP, 10/9/15)(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Australia hundreds of protesters faced off with left-wing opponents in a standoff over plans to build a mosque in the rural town of Bendigo, Victoria state.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Chad 37 people were killed in a triple bombing targeting a market and refugee camp in the village of Baga Sola. Security sources blamed Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 10, China vowed to continue building in disputed reefs of the South China Sea.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In eastern China a liquefied gas container exploded in a restaurant, causing a fire and killing 17 people in Wuhu city, Anhui province.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Tens of thousands of supporters of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso took to the streets of the capital Brazzaville to back his controversial bid to change the constitution in order to remain in power.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Egypt signed a deal with France to buy two Mistral warships originally ordered by Russia as French PM Manuel Valls began an Arab tour.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Germany hundreds of thousands of people marched in Berlin in protest against a planned free trade deal between Europe and the United States that they say is anti-democratic and will lower food safety, labor and environmental standards.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Iran conducted a medium-range ballistic missle test that was capable of delivering a nuclear weapon. The US soon accused Iran of violating a UN Security Council resolution adopted on June 9, 2010.
(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 10, In Iraq a series of attacks around Baghdad killed 8 people and wounded nearly two dozen.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Iraq thousands of people took to the streets of several towns in the Kurdistan region, urging its long-time president Massud Barzani to step down.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Ireland 9 people, including an infant, died in a fire at a Dublin mobile home camp for native Gypsies.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Israeli security forces shot dead 2 Palestinians aged 12 and 15 in protests along Gaza's border fence. The Palestinian Prisoner Club said Israeli security forces have arrested approximately 400 Palestinians since the October 1 outbreak of violence in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem. A Palestinian teen stabbed two Jews before being shot dead by police by the Damascus Gate in east Jerusalem. Hours later Palestinian Kafr A (19) stabbed two police officers at the same location before being shot dead by security forces.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, A Nigerian Air Force fighter jet on a bombing mission against Boko Haram crashed in a windstorm in the country's northeast, killing the pilot.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 10, North Korea marked the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party with a massive military parade overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, who said his country was ready to fight any war waged by the United States.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Russia said it had stepped up its bombing campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria, while local observers said several of the air strikes had hit areas in western Syria where the hardline group has little presence.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In South Korea Iranian director Hadi Mohaghegh's "Immortal" and "Walnut Tree" from Kazakhstan's Yerlan Nurmukhambetov were named the winners of the New Currents award for first- and second-time filmmakers at the 20th Busan International Film Festival.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Spanish police said they have broken up a human trafficking ring and arrested 89 Chinese and Pakistani citizens who were alleged members.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir formally reopened talks with rebel and opposition groups but only one significant opposition party showed up, and he urged them to halt a boycott on dialogue in return for a ceasefire.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Turkey as many as 128 people were killed when two suspected suicide bombers hit a rally of pro-Kurdish and leftist activists outside Ankara's main train station, in the deadliest attack of its kind on Turkish soil. On Oct 16 authorities raised the toll to 102. Hours after the bombing, the PKK ordered its fighters to halt operations in Turkey unless they faced attack. Turkey targeted the Islamic State in investigations of the bombing.
(AP, 10/11/15)(Reuters, 10/11/15)(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Yemen Al-Qaeda claimed to have killed 4 men suspected of practicing witchcraft and sorcery in an area controlled by the jihadists.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 11, In New York state two teenage brothers were beaten by family and Word of Life church members in New Hartford to get them to confess their sins. Lucas Leonard (19) died of his injuries and Christorpher (17) was hospitalized. The borther’s parents were later charged with manslaughter.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 11, In Tennessee off-duty Memphis police officer Terence Olridge (31) died after being shot multiple times while responding to a call about a shooting at a home in the suburb of Cordova. A male suspect was taken in custody.
(SFC, 10/12/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 11, Mobile Internet sites faced a new threat as millions download ad-blockers to their phones and tablets, removing pesky adverts but potentially wiping out billions of dollars in advertising revenue.
(AFP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, In Afghanistan an explosion targeted a NATO military convoy in Kabul, wounding three civilians.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Belarus held presidential elections. Authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko faced no serious competition and was expected easily to win a fifth term. Lukashenko won 83.5 percent of the vote.
(AP, 10/11/15)(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, In northern Cameroon twin blasts by female suicide bombers killed at least 9 people in Kangaleri village.
(AFP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Guineans flocked to the polls to choose their president, shrugging off deadly pre-election violence. Incumbent President Alpha Conde was tipped to win a second term. Guinea's main opposition party alleged widespread fraud in the country's presidential vote. On Oct 17 the electoral commission said President Alpha Conde won re-election with around 58 percent of votes cast.
(AFP, 10/11/15)(AP, 10/12/15)(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 11, India said that the Maldives leader has committed to an "India first" policy in talks with its external affairs minister.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, In western Indonesia a helicopter carrying five people went missing shortly after takeoff from Samosir island in Toba Lake. On Oct 13 a survivor was found floating on plants in Toba Lake and told rescuers the four other people on board also survived by jumping before the craft hit the water.
(AP, 10/12/15)(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 11, Iran said Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian (39), who has been detained in Iran for more than a year, has been convicted on charges including espionage. The ruling was eligible for appeal within 20 days.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, Iran state media reported the successful test fire of a new guided long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile. It was the first such a test since Iran and world powers reach a historical nuclear deal.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Iraqi air forces reportedly bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh commanders. Several senior figures from Islamic State were killed in the air strike. A coalition led by the United States conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)(Reuters, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, An Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire killed a pregnant woman and her toddler. Palestinian Ahmed Sharake (13) was killed during clashes in Ramallah.
(AFP, 10/11/15)(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, Thousands of Lebanese rallied at the presidential palace outside Beirut in a show of support for Christian politician Michel Aoun, pressing their demand for him to fill the presidency vacant for over a year.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Libya's rival parliament and government rejected a UN-proposed peace deal installing a national unity government.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, Nepal's parliament elected Communist party leader Khadga Prasad Oli (63) as the new prime minister, thrusting him into the center of daunting challenges.
(AP, 10/11/15)(SFC, 10/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 11, Pakistanis began voting in a closely contested by-election seen as a referendum on PM Nawaz Sharif's rule.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed al-Nahyan to discuss security in the Middle East and the conflict in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Russian police arrested several terror suspects some of whom were said to have been trained by the Islamic State. A device with eleven pounds of explosives was found in a Moscow apartment.
(SFC, 10/13/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 11, Russian war planes pounded Syrian rebels unaffiliated with Islamic State, helping Moscow's ally Bashar al-Assad reclaim territory and dealing a fresh setback to the strategy of Washington and its allies. A senior Hezbollah commander was killed in the battle while fighting on the Syrian government's behalf.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, South Africa said it plans to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC). The government faced criticism for ignoring a court order to arrest Sudan's president earlier this year.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, In Thailand an angry crowd hurled homemade fire bombs and torched vehicles at a police station overnight on the resort island of Phuket to protest the deaths of two young men who died in a motorcycle crash while being chased by police.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Thousands of people took to the streets of Ankara to denounce the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after it said 95 people were killed in twin suspected suicide bombings on a peace rally a day earlier. Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), one of the groups that called the peace rally, issued a statement claiming the actual toll was far higher at 128, giving the names of 120 victims. 2 Turkish soldiers were reported killed during clashes with PKK militants in the Senkaya district of Erzurum province. The Turkish army said it killed at least 49 Kurdish rebels in a series of air strikes on the group's bases in northern Iraq as well as southeastern Diyarbakir province.
(AFP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Kansas City, Mo., 2 firefighters were killed after a wall from a burning building collapsed on them. In 2018 nail salon manager Thu Hong Nguyen (46) was convicted of 2nd murder and 2nd degree arson. She was portrayed as someone who had a habit of burning businesses for insurance money.
(SFC, 10/14/15, p.A12)(SFC, 7/24/18, p.A5)
2015 Oct 12, Dell and investment firm Silver Lake confirmed that they would acquire EMC Corp. for about $67 billion.
(SFC, 10/13/15, p.D1)
2015 Oct 12, In Afghanistan fighting intensified around the city of Ghazni, as Taliban militants threatened to seize a second provincial capital after briefly occupying Kunduz in the north last month. Toorpakai Olfat, local UN staffer, was shot and killed by two gunmen on a motorbike as she was on her way to work in Kandahar.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, An Albanian court acquitted Ardian Fullani, a former governor of the country's central bank, of charges of abuse of office over the theft of millions of dollars from bank reserves.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Princeton Prof. Angus Deaton (69), a British-born economist, won the 2015 economics Nobel Prize for his work on consumption, poverty and welfare that has helped governments to improve policy through tools such as household surveys and tax changes.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)(SFC, 10/13/15, p.A2)(Econ, 10/17/15, p.80)
2015 Oct 12, In China Jiang Jiemin, who earlier led the country's biggest petroleum company, and a deputy party chief in populous Sichuan province were convicted of corruption and sentenced to 16 and 13 years in prison, respectively.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Chinese authorities announced the arrests of 16 suspected members of a smuggling ring and the seizure of hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of ivory along with rhino horns and bear paws.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, The EU demanded the "immediate" halt of Russian air strikes against moderate Syrian rebel groups and warned a lasting peace was impossible under Moscow-backed President Bashar al-Assad.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Finland Iraqi asylum seekers rallied in central Helsinki and signed a petition against plans to negotiate a deal with Baghdad that could lead to their deportation, arguing that their country should not be considered safe.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, In France police arrested several Air France workers at their homes as investigators tracked down protesters who hounded executives from a meeting about mass job cuts last week and tore the clothes of two fleeing managers.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Israel a Palestinian identified as Mustafa al-Khatib (18) attacked a policeman with a knife at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City and was shot dead by security forces. A female attacker stabbed an Israeli policeman near the force's headquarters in Jerusalem and was shot and wounded by the victim.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Palestinian Ahmed Manasra (12) wounded two Israelis in a knife attack in an Israeli settlement north of Jerusalem along with his 15-year-old cousin. The cousin was shot and killed by an Israeli passerby, while Manasra was wounded. In 2016 Manasra was sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2017 Manasra’s sentence was reduced to nine and a half years.
(http://tinyurl.com/zoxnztb)(Reuters, 11/7/16)(AP, 8/10/17)
2015 Oct 12, A Kurdish militia that has been fighting Islamic State in Syria with help from US-led air strikes has joined forces with Arab groups in an alliance announced on that may be a prelude to an attack on the jihadists' base of operations in Raqqa.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, In the Philippines gunmen killed a town mayor and wounded his vice mayor and at least three other companions in an ambush while they were traveling in a van in a far-flung southern region.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Russia’s Gazprom resumed gas supplies to Ukraine after receiving prepayment of $234 million from Kiev, assuaging European fears about a new energy crisis ahead of the winter heating season.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Syrian army and allied forces supported by Russian warplanes made further advances as they pressed an offensive against insurgents, in the fiercest clashes for nearly a week. Two Iranian senior Revolutionary Guards officers were killed fighting Islamic State. Pro-government forces including the Lebanese group Hezbollah captured the southern part of Kafr Nabuda. At least 25 government fighters were killed.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)(Reuters, 10/13/15)(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Turkey hundreds of people marched through Istanbul and Ankara to condemn the slaughter by suicide bombers at a weekend peace rally.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 13, Hillary Clinton emerged unscathed from the Democratic Party's first presidential debate, giving her renewed momentum as she gears for a showdown with Republicans over the 2012 Benghazi attack.
(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, The United States and its allies carried out 18 air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, The American Civil Liberties Union sued two former Air Force psychologists who designed a CIA program that used harsh interrogation techniques to elicit intelligence from suspected terrorists, saying the pair endorsed and taught torture tactics under the guise of science. 10 months earlier the release of a damning Senate report said that the interrogation techniques had inflicted pain on al-Qaida prisoners far beyond the legal limits and did not yield lifesaving intelligence.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Florida a Pipe Cherokee 180 crashed into the Mar-Mak Colony Club killing the pilot and one person on the ground in Palm Beach County.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 13, Barbara Byrd-Bennett (66), the former head of Chicago Public Schools, pleaded guilty to her role in a scheme to steer $23 million in no-bid contracts to education firms for $2.3 million in bribes and kickbacks.
(SFC, 10/14/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 13, In Pennsylvania Army veteran James Vernon (75) fended off a knife attack by Dustin Brown (19), a mentally ill man, at the Morton Public Library in Pittsburgh. Vernon suffered two slashed arteries and a damaged tendon in a finger. In 2017 he was one of 18 people honored with a Carnegie medal for heroism.
(SFC, 9/20/17 p.A6)
2015 Oct 13, In Wisconsin a Milwaukee state court jury ordered Badger Guns to pay $5.73 million after the store was found liable for negligence in the 2009 shooting of two local police officers.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A14)
2015 Oct 13, Planned Parenthood decided that to stop accepting compensation for tis fetal tissue program in an effort to deflect antiabortion activists’ allegations of profits.
(SFC, 10/14/15, p.D1)
2015 Oct 13, Playboy Enterprises announced that it would stop publishing full nudity pictures as of March 2016.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.29)
2015 Oct 13, The Afghan Taliban said they were pulling back in the northern city of Kunduz in order to protect civilians, but fighting continued elsewhere in the country with government troops battling to reopen the main highway south of the capital Kabul.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Argentina Diana Sacayan (40), a prominent transgender activist, was found tied up and stabbed to death in Buenos Aires. This was the third violent transgender death in the country in the past month.
(www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-34538052)
2015 Oct 13, In central Bosnia 4 miners were killed and two injured early today when a platform holding up the roof caved in on them in a mine.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, The British government pulled out of 5.9 million-pound ($9 million) deal to sell prison expertise to Saudi Arabia that had drawn opposition from rights groups and senior politicians.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, British-based brewer SABMiller accepted in principle an improved takeover bid worth 69 billion pounds ($106 billion) from Anheuser Busch InBev to create a company that would control nearly a third of the global market and threaten to dominate the US by bringing together Budweiser and Miller Genuine Draft. The new company is expected to be based in Belgium.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Burundi 9 civilians, including a staff member of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), were shot to death reportedly at close range. 2 police officers also died during exchanges of heavy gunfire in Bujumbura.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 13, A Chinese court sentenced Wang Yongchun, a former senior executive of China National Petroleum Corp., to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of corruption. A court in central China jailed Guo Yongxiang, a former senior provincial official, for 20 years after finding him guilty of corruption.
(AP, 10/13/15)(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, European lawmakers rejected a proposal that would have allowed countries to restrict or ban the use of imported GM crops that have secured EU approval.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, France and Saudi Arabia announced signed deals worth 10 billion euros, the latest example of the deepening alliance between the two nations.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Germany said it has extended controls along its borders until the end of October as refugees continue to stream in.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, German auto giant Volkswagen announced it would slash one billion euros off its annual investment budget and push ahead with its drive to develop electric cars in the wake of the diesel pollution scandal.
(AFP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Iran's conservative-dominated parliament passed a bill approving its nuclear deal with world powers, signaling victory for the government over hardline opponents.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Authorities in the French Caribbean island of Martinique said they have seized 1,180 pounds (535 kg) of cocaine destined for Europe. Martinique authorities have seized more than 8 tons (7 metric tons) of drugs so far this year.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, The Italian Senate approved sweeping constitutional reform that would turn the Senate into a 100-member house of regional and municipal representatives with the power to question, but not veto, legislation. It will be put to a referendum in 2016.
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.58)
2015 Oct 13, Italian finance police arrested Mario Mantovani, a high-ranking politician in the Lombardy regional government, for corruption just before he was due to attend a conference promoting legality in the public administration.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Jamaican author Marlon James won the Man Booker Prize for "A Brief History of Seven Killings", a re-telling of the attempted assassination of musician Bob Marley.
(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, The Dutch Safety Board concluded that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile in its final report on the crash in July 2014 that killed all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, In northeastern Nigeria three bombs exploded within minutes in Maiduguri killing at least 7 people.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 13, Amnesty Int’l. opened an office in Nigeria promising to investigate allegations of abuses from oil pollution and forced evictions to charges of military killings of civilians in the fight against Boko Haram extremists.
(SFC, 10/14/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 13, Pakistani police arrested three police officers after a woman set herself on fire a day earlier and accused them on her deathbed of gang raping her near Multan. Also in Multan a man (42) died after setting himself on fire to protest the demolition of his home.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Pakistani authorities hanged 9 convicts, including four brothers. The executions brought the nationwide total to 255 since December, when Pakistan lifted the moratorium on the death penalty.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Palestinian men armed with knives and a gun killed at least 3 people and wounded several others in a string of attacks in Jerusalem and near Tel Aviv on a "Day of Rage" declared by Palestinian groups.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Russia said its air force hit 86 "terrorist" targets in Syria in the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, South African coal mineworkers ended a 10-day strike after reaching a pay agreement with employers.
(AFP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Insurgents in Syria deployed more men and weapons, including significant quantities of anti-tank missiles, to resist ground attacks by the Syrian army and its allies, backed by Russian air strikes.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Turkish security forces killed ten Kurdish militants during ground and air operations in southeastern Turkey, days after the insurgents called a unilateral ceasefire.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, A Ukrainian soldier was killed and two were injured in eastern Ukraine in violation of a month-long ceasefire between government and rebel forces.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Yemen airstrikes from a Saudi-led coalition targeting Shiite rebels killed 8 rebel fighters in a renewed attempt to cut their supply lines to Taiz.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 14, US President Barack Obama informed Congress that he will deploy up to 300 military personnel to Cameroon for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations against militant Boko Haram insurgents.
(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, The United States and its allies conducted 25 air strikes on Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 14, Texas executed Licho Escamilla (33) for the 2001 fatal shooting of Dallas police officer Christopher Kevin James. This was the state’s 12 execution this year and the 24th in the US.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 14, Afghan police said Taliban insurgents overran two checkpoints in southern Helmand province and killed 29 border police officers.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, Benin's long-ruling former president Mathieu Kerekou (b.1933) died, leading to a week of national mourning for the Marxist who seized power in a 1972 coup but later set off a new wave of African democracy.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 14, Bulgaria denied access to its airspace to a Russian plane carrying humanitarian aid for Syria, as Moscow failed to file an application on time.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 14, Researchers reported that 47 fossilized human teeth found in China’s Hunan province dated back to at least 80,000 years. Earlier fossils from southern Asia were only about 45,000 years old.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 14, Ethiopia called for $556 million in int’l. assistance to help feed 8.2 million people after erratic rains devastated crop yields.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 14, The EU parliament lifted immunity for Bela Kovacs, a member of Hungary's far-right Jobbik party. Hungarian prosecutors suspected him of spying on EU institutions for Russia. Covert contacts between Kovacs and Russian intelligence officers were first detected in 2010.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Oct 14, In India villagers fled after an attack on a truck loaded with five cows and 10 bulls in Sarahan, a village in Himachal Pradesh state. Five occupants of the truck hid in the forest until police found them and took them to the hospital, where one of them died. The survivors were arrested for alleged animal cruelty.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 14, In Indonesia 2 endangered Sumatran elephants were found dead in Aceh province and were believed to have been poisoned a few days earlier.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 14, In Iran a senior council of clerics and officials approved implementing the landmark nuclear deal with world powers, sealing the final required step in the process despite hard-liners' efforts to derail it.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, Israel started setting up roadblocks in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and deploying soldiers across the country to combat a wave of Palestinian knife attacks. A "terrorist" attempted to stab a security guard at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City but was shot before harming anyone.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, Maldives Pres. Abdulla Yameen fired his defense minister with immediate effect, the latest move in a defense shake-up following an explosion targeting the leader.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In central Pakistan a suicide bomber blew himself up at the election office of a ruling party lawmaker, killing 7 people and wounding nine others in Taunsa city.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, Peru’s defense minister announced an investigation into possible drug-related military corruption following a report that the armed forces were turning a blind eye to daily drug flights to Bolivia.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 14, Puerto Rican authorities said they've charged 38 people in a scheme that let people pay bribes to get licenses or evade fines. The charges covered acts that began more than a year ago at seven DMV centers across the island.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In South Africa several thousand demonstrators marched through Johannesburg to protest against government corruption as public anger builds over the weakening economy.
(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In Sweden Cambodian activist Phymean Noun was awarded the $50,000 World's Children's Prize for helping children who live in garbage dumps in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. Another $50,000 was evenly split between the winners of the World's Children's Honorary Award: Javier Stauring of the Catholic Archdiocese in Los Angeles who works with jailed children, and India's Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi who fights against child slavery and for children's right to education.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In Syria Islamic State militants battled rival insurgent groups north of the city of Aleppo, where officials say the Syrian army is preparing an offensive of its own backed by Iranian soldiers and Russian jets. Russia said its jets hit 40 Islamic State targets in new strikes in Syria over the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In southern Yemen thousands called for secession at a demonstration in Aden.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.47)
2015 Oct 14, Zimbabwe officials said rangers in Hwange National Park have discovered the carcasses of 26 elephants at two locations, dead of cyanide poisoning along with 14 other elephants who were found last week.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 15, President Barack Obama said he will slow the pace of withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan, prolonging the 14-year US engagement there and effectively handing off the task of pulling out to his successor.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, US authorities reported that Malaysia authorities have arrested Ardit Ferizi, a Kosovo citizen, for providing sensitive information on more than a thousand US service members to the Islamic State group.
(http://tinyurl.com/pe3kygq)
2015 Oct 15, A coalition led by the United States conducted three air strikes against Islamic State in Syria and bombarded the militant group with 21 strikes in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 15, US federal agents ended a crackdown on synthetic drug manufacturers. Several hundred people were reported arrested in more than 20 states over the last fifteen months.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A12)
2015 Oct 15, In southern California a storm produced mud flows that impacted nearly eight miles of Highway 58 in Kern County. Some motorists were stranded overnight as nearly 200 vehicles became trapped.
(SSFC, 10/18/15, p.A10)
2015 Oct 15, Fan Hui, a professional with the Chinese Go Association, lost to Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo in the final game of the five game match. The startling performance of AlphaGo wasn’t revealed until a paper detailing the feat was published in the science journal Nature, on January 27, 2016. AlphaGo, developed by British AI research company DeepMind, was acquired by Google in 2014.
(http://tinyurl.com/gvs8krj)(Econ, 1/30/15, p.72)
2015 Oct 15, In China the Hurun Report said the number of mainland Chinese billionaires has risen this year by 242 to 596, surpassing the 537 billionaires of the United States.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 15, China announced a one-year ban on the import of ivory hunting trophies from Africa.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.44)
2015 Oct 15, Croatia legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes for patients with illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis or AIDS.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Cyprus decried an undersea pipeline carrying fresh water from Turkey to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, saying it aims to further cement Ankara's grip on the ethnically-divided island.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, The Egyptian pound weakened by 10 piasters to 7.93 per dollar after the central bank reduced its price in an auction by the same amount to 7.83 per dollar.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay were elected to the UN Security Council during an uncontested vote for the non-permanent seats.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, The European Court of Human Rights ruled Switzerland had violated Turkish politician Dogu Perincek's right to freedom of speech by convicting him for denying that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 amounted to genocide.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, German auto giant Volkswagen said it will recall a total of 8.5 million diesel vehicles Europe-wide that are equipped with sophisticated software enabling their engines to cheat pollution tests.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Seven migrants, 4 of them children, drowned near the Greek island of Lesbos after their boat collided with a Greek rescue vessel.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Hong Kong police charged seven officers with assaulting activist Ken Tsang, whose videotaped beating stirred outrage among city residents at the height of pro-democracy protests last year.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, The Hungarian government announced that it has completed its construction of a fence alongside its southern border with Croatia, to stem the massive daily influx of migrants. The government said it would decide on a date to completely seal the border in the coming days.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Iraqi forces battled the Islamic State jihadist group on separate fronts, ramping up operations to retake Baiji and Ramadi.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Torrential rain and storms battered southern and central Italy for a second day, leading to the deaths of at least four people and reviving a controversy over environmental neglect in the country.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Kosovo opposition lawmakers angry at recent deals with Serbia and Montenegro set off tear gas canisters in Parliament, forcing the suspension of the session.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Macedonian police arrested seven people suspected of providing logistical support to an armed group that clashed with police last May, leaving 18 people dead and 37 wounded.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Moldova’s parliament lifted the immunity of former PM Vlad Filat (2009-2013). Filat was then detained in parliament over the theft of $1 billion from the banking system, a crime that has led thousands to camp out in the capital in protest.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 15, Myanmar’s government signed a cease-fire agreement with eight armed ethnic groups. The two largest groups, the Kachin and Wa, with tens of thousands of soldiers, did not sign the agreement.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 15, Poland signed a landmark $636 million deal to build the first EU gas pipeline to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, reducing their uneasy reliance on Russian supplies. Construction is set to begin next year on the GIPL (Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania) pipeline.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Scottish prosecutors said that Scottish and US investigators have identified two Libyan suspects believed to have been involved in the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing which killed 270 people.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, In South Sudan a consortium of civic and aid groups said violence against civilians is continuing despite a peace agreement. They said at least 1,000 civilians have been killed between April and September and that 1,300 women and girls were abducted in Unity state.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 15, In Spain thousands waving Catalan independence flags rallied in support of regional acting President Artur Mas who was being questioned at a Barcelona court for holding a symbolic referendum on secession.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Sri Lanka's government pledged to quickly process hundreds of ethnic Tamils who have been detained without charges for years on suspicion of links to former Tamil Tiger rebels.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Syrian troops and their allies, backed by Russian jets, attacked rebel-held towns north of the city of Homs, targeting a long-held and strategic enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. A resident of Teir Malla said at least 25 people were killed including, Rawad al Aksah, a commander of insurgent group Liwaa al-Tawhid.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, In Syria Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al-Charekh, a Saudi better known as Sanafi al-Nasr, was killed in a US airstrike near the northern town of Dana, along with another Saudi and a Moroccan member of al-Qaida's local affiliate, known as the Nusra Front.
(AP, 10/17/15)(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 15, Turkey demanded that the European Union start easing restrictions next year on Turks traveling to the European Union if it wants full cooperation to stem the flow of Syrian refugees.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he is raising the country's minimum wage by 30%, effective Nov 1, to help workers being clobbered by inflation economists say is likely the highest in the world.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, The US Interior Department announced it is canceling future oil lease sales and will not extend current leases in Arctic waters off Alaska's northern coast.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 16, A US jury ordered Apple Inc to pay the University of Wisconsin-Madison's patent licensing arm more than $234 million in damages for incorporating its microchip technology into some of the company's iPhones and iPads without permission. Apple had faced up to $862 million in damages after a US jury found the iPhone maker used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm without permission.
(http://tinyurl.com/otut73f)
2015 Oct 16, California regulators closed 33 more oil company wells that had injected wastewater into potentially drinkable aquifers protected by federal law.
(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 16, Hawaii Gov. David Ige declared a state of emergency to accelerate efforts to provide housing and other services to the homeless.
(CSM, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 16, Irwin Schiff (87), America’s loudest tax protester, died. Schiff had stopped paying his federal income taxes from 1974 on the chief ground that it was unconstitutional. His books included the New York Times bestseller “How Anyone Can Stop Paying Income Taxes" (1982).
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.86)
2015 Oct 16, China hosted Southeast Asian defense ministers in an effort to burnish its reputation in a region wary of its territorial ambitions.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Officials from China and a domestic consortium signed an agreement to build the first high-speed rail line in Indonesia. The deal was estimated at $5.5 billion.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, The UN said a measles outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo's copper-mining southeast has killed 428 people and infected about 30,000 since the start of the year.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In France executives of ten of the world's largest oil and gas companies decided not to take a common position on the price of carbon because of differences among the groups' members.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, German newsweekly Der Spiegel reported that Germany's winning bid for the 2006 World Cup was aided by bribes paid to FIFA executive committee members.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Four migrants, the oldest of them a young woman of 16, drowned and three other people were missing after their rubber boat capsized off the Aegean island of Kalymnos late today.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 16, The World Health Organization says there were two new cases of Ebola in Guinea this week, ending two consecutive weeks in West Africa when no cases of the devastating disease were reported.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Hungary said it will close down its border with Croatia, where it has built a razor-wire fence, to the free flow of migrants at midnight. Croatia said it has a plan to manage the flow of migrants agreed with Slovenia that it will start implementing when Hungary seals off the Hungarian-Croatian border.
(AP, 10/16/15)(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In India a cooking gas cylinder blast killed at least 8 people in a small hotel in Mumbai.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In India a two-and-a-half-year-old girl was abducted from a religious event in west Delhi by two men and raped before being dumped in a park near her home. In a separate incident on the other side of the city, a five-year-old was lured to a neighbor's house and raped by three men. Police the next day arrested three men for raping the 5-year-old. On Oct 18 police arrested two teenagers for allegedly raping the toddler in New Delhi.
(AFP, 10/17/15)(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 16, Iraqi forces defused booby traps and hunted down holdout jihadists in the strategic Baiji area as part of their biggest advance against the Islamic State group in months.
(AFP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Italian police reported finding more than 20 tons of hashish with an estimated street value of 200 million euros ($230 million) hidden in the hull of a cargo ship. They spent more than 18 days searching before finally finding the drugs. The ship's captain and nine crew members, all Syrian, were arrested.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired rockets and mortars at what it said were Islamic State fighters near the Syrian border, killing 5 of them.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Tripoli's government named the two new Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie bombing investigation as Abdullah al-Senussi, the former spy chief of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, and a second man, Mohammed Abu Ejaila.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Mexican soldiers detained Angel Eduardo Prado Rodriguez, alias "Ciclon 7," before dawn without a shot fired in the northern border city of Matamoros.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Mexican authorities said fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman eluded an operation to recapture him in recent days, injuring his leg and face. Recent raids have reportedly occurred in Durango and Sinaloa states.
(AFP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In Nigeria 4 women suicide bombers blew themselves up when challenged by soldiers as they tried to enter Maiduguri, killing at least 18 people and themselves. The attack came just hours after two bombs exploded near a mosque, killing at least 30 people.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Palestinians set fire to a Jewish shrine in the occupied West Bank, believed to house the tomb of Joseph. An attacker disguised as a journalist stabbed an Israeli soldier. Violence also broke out in the Gaza Strip when Palestinians approached the border fence with Israel. Two Palestinians died after being shot by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)(AFP, 10/16/15)(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 16, The Russian parliament voted to sanction an arrest in absentia of Ilya Ponomarev, the sole lawmaker who voted against the annexation of Crimea last year. Ponomarev, who is currently in the United States, is suspected of embezzlement related to his work for a state-funded technological foundation. He said the motion is a politically motivated attempt to kick him out of parliament.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In Saudi Arabia a suspect with an automatic weapon opened fire at a Shiite meeting hall in Qatif city, Eastern Province, killing 5 people and wounding nine more. A group calling itself Islamic State-Bahrain Province said one of its "soldiers", Shughaa al-Dosari, attacked a Shiite infidel temple with an automatic weapon.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 16, Switzerland's attorney general said authorities have charged four Iraqi men with planning attacks and helping Islamic State smuggle followers into Europe. Three of the men have been in custody since their arrest in early 2014.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In Syria Denis Cuspert, also known by his artist name Deso Dogg, was killed in a US air strike. He used to rap in Berlin and was one of the most famous Western fighters for the IS extremist group.
(AFP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 16, Turkey shot down a drone in an incident highlighting the dangers of multiple air combat operations over Syria. Russian warplanes hit areas in support of the Syrian army's offensive south of Aleppo, around 35 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked World Food Day with a visit to the Milan Expo World's Fair, which is focused on food security and nutrition.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, UN experts said the Islamic State group is paying supporters up to $10,000 for each person that they recruit to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq.
(AFP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, A court in central Vietnam sentenced seven people to up to life in prison for defrauding families of Vietnam War soldiers by moving unidentified war dead into fake graves and claiming to have found their kin.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In Yemen an Emirati officer was killed in a drive-by shooting in the southern port city of Aden, the sixth assassination of pro-government troop leaders and officials in recent weeks. Shiite Houthi rebels drove pro-government troops out of southern Bayda province following two months of heavy fighting.
(AP, 10/17/15)(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 17, The US-led coalition conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and five in Syria, according to the task force organizing the military operation.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 17, In Florida a shooting at the ZombieCon gathering in Fort Myers left one person dead and five others injured.
(SFC, 10/19/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 17, Addyi, the first drug to boost sexual desire in women, became available from Sprout Pharmaceuticals.
(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 17, In Argentina a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the northwest, leaving at least one person dead and damaging homes in the Salta region.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Australia announced plans to legalize the growing of cannabis for medicinal purposes, saying those suffering debilitating illnesses deserved access to the most effective treatments.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In the Democratic Republic of Congo leaders of the Twa and Luba ethnic groups signed an agreement intended to end a conflict which has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 17, Hungary said it will temporarily reinstate border controls on its frontier with Slovenia, after his government sealed off its border with Croatia overnight to stem the flow of migrants. Migrants streaming across the Balkans reached Slovenia, diverted overnight by the closure of Hungary’s border with Croatia.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In southern India at least 15 people headed for a wedding were killed when a mini-bus they were riding collided with another bus as they were traveling to Malakonda town in Andhra Pradesh state.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Indonesian officials said 182 ethnic Rohingya have fled their encampment in Aceh province. Officials suspected they may have been persuaded by human traffickers to flee.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Iran reported that 2 people were killed in a shooting attack on Shiite worshippers marking Ashura, in the town of Dezful in Khuzestan province.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Iraqi forces pressed their biggest offensive in months to resume their long-stalled northward advance and disrupt jihadist lines.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Nigeria said Brig. Gen. Enitan Ransome Kuti has been dismissed from the army and jailed for losing a major battle in which Boko Haram Islamic extremists killed hundreds of civilians at the Jan. 2 battle for Baga.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Four Palestinians were shot dead and a fifth was wounded in attacks on Israelis in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 17, Portugal’s former Socialist PM Jose Socrates left home as a free man for the first time in 10 months after a court lifted a house arrest.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In Romania three journalists were detained on suspicion of extorting money from public figures in exchange for not writing negative articles about them.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Russia said its air force has made 36 sorties, hitting 49 Islamic State targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, It was reported that hundreds of South Korean scholars have declared they are boycotting the writing of state-issued history textbooks out of concern that that they will teach distorted views on the country's recent past.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Spanish police said they have arrested 81 persons on suspicion of sexually abusing minors and sharing child pornography on the Internet.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In northern Spain thousands took to the streets of San Sebastian to call for the release of Arnaldo Otegi (57), the jailed head of the Basque independence Sortu party.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah and Iranian fighters made advances in their offensive to retake territory around the northern city of Aleppo from insurgents and jihadist fighters.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Taiwan's ruling party on named chairman Eric Chu to run for the island's top spot in coming national elections, replacing an existing pick in a move aimed at avoiding a trouncing by an opposition it fears could derail warming ties with China.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Turkey said 3 soldiers and 28 Kurdish militants have been killed in air strikes and clashes over the past two days in the predominantly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, The Turkish coastguard said 12 migrants thought to be from Syria and Afghanistan, including four children and a baby, drowned off the coast of Turkey as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In Turkey a British woman working for a London-based media charity who was heading to Iraq was found dead at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. Jackie Sutton (50) was reportedly found hanged in the toilets. There were no signs of foul play.
(AFP, 10/19/15)(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 17, The Ukrainian excursion boat Ivolga capsized in the Black Sea, killing 14 people. It was carrying twice as many passengers as allowed and was knocked over by a big wave.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 17, Venezuela announced that its state-owned oil company will buy a 25 percent stake in West Indies Oil Co. and that it will establish a regional bank with the Antigua and Barbuda government to fund a new resort.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 18, President Barack Obama ordered the US government to take steps towards lifting sanctions on Iran, in accordance with the historic nuclear deal struck between six world powers and Tehran.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, A US-led coalition conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and also targeted the militant group in Syria with a single strike near Manbij.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 18, Eddie Murphy was honored as the winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
(SFC, 10/19/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 18, In California the Mariscos San Juan No. 3 restaurant in downtown San Jose closed following reports of an outbreak of bacterial illness due to shigella. By Oct 23 some 141 people were reported sickened from the extremely contagious pathogen.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D2)(SFC, 10/24/15, p.C2)
2015 Oct 18, In Florida black drummer Corey Jones was shot and killed near his broken down vehicle by police Officer Nouman Raja on I-95 in Palm Beach Gardens. Raja was fired on Nov 11 and charged with attempted murder and manslaughter on June 1, 2016. On March 8, 2019, Raja was found guilty of manslaughter and attempted murder. On Aprtil 25, 2019, Raja was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.A10)(SFC, 11/13/15, p.A7)(SFC, 6/2/16, p.A6)(SFC, 3/8/19, p.A9)(SFC, 4/26/19, p.A5)
2015 Oct 18, In northwestern Afghanistan the Taliban captured the Ghormach district of Faryab province. The insurgents detained the district police chief, who was wounded, along with 13 other police.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 18, Egyptians trickled in to polling stations to elect a new parliament that will tighten President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's grip on power after he crushed all opposition since ousting his Islamist predecessor.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, France's finance minister said police made the country's biggest drug seizure in two years when they found 7.1 tons of hashish in Paris' chic 16th arrondisement.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, The Greek coastguard said 5 people, including a baby and two children, drowned early today and one was missing in two separate incidents of migrants trying to reach Greece from nearby Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, Guyana's government said it is implementing a ban on polystyrene foam products that it says pose a threat to health and the environment effective Jan 1.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In Indonesia 7 hikers died after being caught in a forest fire on Java island. The fire was believed to be caused by a bonfire started by hikers.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 18, The Iraqi judiciary said it had issued an arrest warrant against Trade Minister Malas Abdulkarim al-Kasnazani and his brother on corruption charges.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, Israel rejected a proposal to send international observers to a flashpoint holy site in a bid to calm unrest. At least four Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv, temporarily banned Arab laborers from working in their schools as they struggle to calm public fears fueled by the worst surge of Palestinian street attacks in years. An attacker, who police said was a Bedouin citizen of Israel, entered the heavily guarded station armed with a pistol and shot dead a soldier before snatching his rifle and opening fire on the crowd, wounding nine people. Police shot the assailant dead. Eritrean migrant Mila Abtum died after he was shot by a security guard and kicked by an angry Israeli crowd that mistook him for a gunman.
(AFP, 10/18/15)(Reuters, 10/18/15)(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 18, The Italian navy said 8 bodies have been recovered from a rubber boat carrying migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In the Philippines Typhoon Koppu, aka Typhoon Lando, blew ashore into northeastern Aurora province early today. It forced more than 65,000 villagers from their homes and left at least 54 dead.
(AP, 10/19/15)(AP, 10/21/15)(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.D16)
2015 Oct 18, Buses packed with migrants backed up on Serbia’s border with Croatia, their passage to western Europe slowed by a new diversion through Slovenia, which vowed to limit the influx.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In Syria warplanes believed to be Russian targeted mourners in al-Ghanto village who were burying people killed a day earlier, killing four civilians.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, Swiss voters finished casting ballots to elect their parliament. The anti-immigration Swiss People's Party collected 29.4% of the vote. The Social Democrats were a distant second, virtually unchanged at 18.8%. The pro-business Free Democrats increased by 1.3 percentage points to 16.4%. Turnout was 48.4%.
(AP, 10/18/15)(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 18, Tibetans around the world voted in the first round of elections to choose a new government-in-exile.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, Turkish police arrested around 50 foreign nationals in Istanbul early today in a sweep targeting jihadists of the Islamic State group suspected of involvement in last weekend's Ankara suicide bombings.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In Turkey 2 soldiers were killed when rebels set off a remote-controlled mine targeting an army vehicle in the eastern province of Tunceli. Security officials said 4 government soldiers and about 20 Kurdish rebels have been killed in several days of clashes in the mountainous Daglica region.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, The parents of French saint Therese of Lisieux -- dubbed "The Little Flower" -- were raised to sainthood, in a move Pope Francis hopes will underscore the importance of the family. Louis (d.1894) and Zelie Martin (d.1887) had nine children, four of whom died at a young age, while the other five all became nuns.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 19, US-led forces conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, eight of them near the contested Sinjar area, and two air strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, A US federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Congressional action prohibits federal drug enforcers from shutting medical marijuana dispensaries that comply with state law.
(SFC, 10/20/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 19, Djordje Ristanic, a Bosnian Serb civilian official during the 1992-95 war, was indicted of war crimes against hundreds of Bosnian Muslims and Croats.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, British citizen Stephen Port (40) was charged in London with drugging and murdering four young men he met on gay websites. The deaths took place between June 2014 and last month.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Canada held elections. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau rode a late surge to a stunning majority election victory. The Liberals seized a Parliamentary majority, a turn in political fortunes that smashed the record for the number of seats gained from one election to the next.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, Chinese President Xi Jinping began a four-day state visit to Britain as part of a push to increase trade ties between the two countries.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Croatia opened its border with Serbia for migrants and thousands rushed across. Some 5,000 migrants reached Slovenia from Croatia, with another 1,200 on their way by train.
(AP, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Egyptians largely stayed away from parliamentary elections for a second day, highlighting growing disillusionment since the army seized power in 2013.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, A general strike and curfew shut Indian-controlled Kashmir following the death of a Muslim teenager attacked by a Hindu mob over rumors of cows being slaughtered. Zahid Rasool and another truck driver had been set ablaze by a mob after their vehicle stopped in the Hindu-dominated Udhampur neighborhood. Rasool died a day earlier from burns suffered in the attack.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Lawyers said Ireland has agreed to pay the Romanian Gypsy parents of a blond boy 60,000 euros ($68,000) in compensation after conceding that police in 2013 employed prejudicial racial profiling when seizing the child.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, In Lebanon 8 people were killed and many wounded when the army targeted militant positions along the eastern border with war-torn Syria.
(AFP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, NATO held a launch ceremony for its biggest military exercise in 13 years, mobilizing 36,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from more than 30 countries to test the alliance's ability to respond to new security threats. Trapani, Sicily, will serve as the center for the exercise that begins Oct 21 and runs through early November.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Gunmen kidnapped two Lithuanian and two Ukrainian sailors off southern Nigeria. The ship, flagged in the Comoro Islands, was attacked near Port Harcourt.
(http://tinyurl.com/oo7rmo9)
2015 Oct 19, Oslo, Norway, officials said cars will be banned from the city center by 2019 to help reduce pollution.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, In South Africa chanting protesters, including medical students with stethoscopes around their necks, demonstrated against planned increases in tuition fees at a number of top universities.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, In South Africa footage from closed circuit television showed police firing at the man from close range as he lay on the ground in Krugersdorp, a town west of Johannesburg. On Nov 2 four police officers were arrested on murder charges.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 19, Syrian government forces advanced under the cover of Russian airstrikes toward an air base besieged by the Islamic State group in the north. Rebels battling the Syrian army and its allies near Aleppo said they had received new supplies of US-made anti-tank missiles from states opposed to President Bashar al-Assad since the start of a major government offensive last week. The commander of the Nour al Din al-Zinki Brigades was killed in fighting south of Aleppo.
(AP, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, In Syria Russian jets hit an Islamic State training camp and command post of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front as they bombed 49 targets in the latest wave of strikes. Russian air strikes in Latakia province killed rebel commander Basil Zamo and 4 other fighters from First Coastal Division, a group armed by Pres. Bashar al-Assad's foreign enemies. A further 15 civilians were killed in the air strike in Jabal Akrad. At least 3 Russians fighting alongside Syrian government forces were killed and several more wounded when a shell hit their position in Latakia province.
(AFP, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, Turkey’s PM Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed that one of the suicide bombers in the Oct 10 attack in Ankara had been officially identified through DNA testing.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 19, Yemen said it has accepted an invitation from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to for talks with Shiite rebels at the end of this month to discuss the implementation of a UN resolution that calls for the end of the fighting.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 20, The United States imposed sanctions on Torek Agha, a Taliban leader and fundraiser, who it said helped plan military attacks in Afghanistan, authorize the assassination of Afghan government leaders and raise millions of dollars for the Taliban.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, The US and Russia signed an agreement designed to minimize the risk of collisions and other dangers as both countries carry out air strikes in Syria.
(SFC, 10/21/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 20, A coalition led by the United States conducted 14 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 20, In New Mexico Lilly Garcia (4) was shot and killed in a road-rage incident on an Albuquerque freeway. Suspect Tony Torrez (32) was arrested the next day.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 20, In NYC Tyrone Howard (30) stole a bike and fatally shot Guyana-born Officer Randolph Holder (33) in the head after a chase. Police said Howard has been arrested 28 times since age 13 and had a history of violence.
(AP, 10/22/15)(SFC, 10/28/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 20, Cory Wells (b.1941), a founding member of the vocal trio behind the rock group Three Dog Night, died in Dunkirk, NY. Some two dozen top hits by the group included “Joy to the World" (1971).
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D8)
2015 Oct 20, Afghan officials said First VP Abdul Rashid Dostum has been tapped to lead a mission to retake the Ghormach district in Faryab province, captured over the weekend by the Taliban.
(SFC, 10/21/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 20, Azerbaijan police arrested seven former national security officials on suspicion of exceeding their authority and illegal interference in businesses, days after Azeri President Ilham Aliyev fired his national security minister.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Manufacturer Tata Steel announced 1,200 job cuts in the UK, underscoring the damage caused by cheap Chinese imports.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, China sold its first sovereign bond in London, worth over $3 billion.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.53)
2015 Oct 20, Authorities in the Republic of Congo banned demonstrations in the country after the opposition called a protest over the president's bid to extend his three-decade stay in power. At least 3 people were shot dead during anti-government protests in Brazzaville. A 4th person was killed a day earlier in in Pointe-Noire.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 20, In India Uber taxi driver Shiv Kumar Yadav was convicted of raping a young female passenger in the capital last Dec 5. Uber was banned from operating in New Delhi in the aftermath of the attack.
(AFP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Iraqi government troops, teamed up with paramilitary forces, drove Islamic State militants out of Beiji, a key oil refinery town north of Baghdad. About a dozen Iraqis were reported killed and 30 wounded in the fight over the last 72 hours.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Israeli fire killed Palestinian Ahmed al-Serhi (27) during clashes on the Gaza Strip border. An Israeli soldier and a civilian were injured after a Palestinian attempted to ram his car into a group of pedestrians in the West Bank, then exited with a knife and was shot dead.
(AFP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, The Democratic Unionist Party, the major Protestant party in Northern Ireland's unity government, announced it will resume its power-sharing positions following publication of an expert report into the Irish Republican Army that found the outlawed group still exists in the shadows but is broadly committed to peace.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Korean families, separated by the Korean War, began to reunite at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A4)(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 20, In Lesotho the wife of a Danish man, who was caught in South Africa last month with 21 pieces of female genitalia in his freezer, was killed outside her home in the Maseru. The wife was allegedly one of his victims.
(AFP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 20, In southern Mexico flooding from two days of heavy rains prompted the governor of Quintana Roo state to declare an emergency in seven municipalities on the Yucatan Peninsula.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, In Romania policeman Bogdan Gigina died after driving his motorbike into a hole while easing a route in Bucharest for Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 20, Russia's defense ministry said its planes had flown 55 sorties and struck 60 Islamist militant targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Amnesty International said a terrorism tribunal in Saudi Arabia, which was elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2013, has sentenced two political activists to decade-long prison terms for establishing the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA).
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Slovenia deployed the army to guard its border as thousands of migrants streamed into the tiny country from the south, and said it may resort to "physical barriers" like neighboring Hungary if the number of arrivals continued to grow. At least 12,100 migrants were currently in Serbia. At least 2,500 migrants were stranded in no man's land between Croatia and Serbia overnight in cold temperatures.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, In South Africa disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius spent his first day out of jail at his uncle's home in Pretoria where he will serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest for killing his girlfriend.
(AFP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, In southern Sweden arsonists attacked asylum seekers' housing in the small town of Munkedal, the latest in a wave of attacks as migrant numbers, and tensions, rise. Since the start of the year, 15 arson attacks throughout the country have targeted refugee reception centers and apartments, reducing some to cinders.
(AFP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, In Syria 13 people including medical staff were reportedly killed in Russian air strikes against a field hospital in the northwestern province of Idlib that was run by the Syrian-American Medical Society. Russia later called the reports fake.
(AFP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 20, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew to Moscow to thank Russia's Vladimir Putin personally for his military support, in a surprise visit that underlined how Russia has become a major player in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, VP Joe Biden said he would not seek the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential campaign.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 21, The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State targeted the militant group with 22 air strikes in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 21, It was reported that Ohio is delaying executions until at least 2017 while prison officials try to secure supplies of hard-to-obtain lethal injection drugs.
(SFC, 10/21/15, p.A9)
2015 Oct 21, US Marine Corps pilot Maj. Taj Sareen was killed when his F/A-18 Hornet crashed on farmland after taking off from a US Air Force (USAF) base in eastern England.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 21, Ferrari, an Italy-based car company owned by Fiat Chrysler, went public with a 10% stake on the NYSE and closed up almost 6% at $55.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.C5)(Econ, 10/17/15, p.69)
2015 Oct 21, Western Digital, a maker of hard drives, said it is buying SanDisk, a flash-memory chip maker, in a cash and stock deal valued at about $19 billion.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.C3)
2015 Oct 21, YouTube announced a monthly subscription service, starting at $10, for YouTube Red, allowing users to play videos without ads, offline and in the background while using other apps.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.C1)
2015 Oct 21, The Bahraini Court of Appeals confirmed the conviction of political activist Zainab al-Khawaja (32) and reduced her sentence from three to one year in prison for ripping up a photo of the king in court in 2014. Her family told Amnesty Int’l. that she intended to keep her infant son with her in prison if forced to serve her sentence.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Brazil's opposition filed a new impeachment petition against President Dilma Rousseff, accusing her of illegal accounting practices.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, China’s Communist Party Central Committee officially banned golf for its 88 million Communist Party members. Also banned was excessive eating and drinking and having improper sexual relations.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.A3)(Econ, 10/31/15, p.44)
2015 Oct 21, PM David Cameron said Britain and China have signed deals worth around 40 billion pounds ($62 billion), during a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Britain sanctioned a $9.3 billion investment by a Chinese state power company in a nuclear power plant being built at Hinkley Point by EDF, a French company.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)(Econ, 10/24/15, p.53)
2015 Oct 21, British police arrested Shao Jiang (47), a survivor of the Tiananmen Square crackdown and raided his home, after he stepped out in front of Chinese President Xi Jinping's motorcade.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 21, In Cameroon 8 villagers in the village of Doulo were killed and nine injured in a raid by Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram that was followed by a gun battle between militants and security forces.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 21, More than 100 migrants crowded into two boats landed at a British airbase on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, bringing the crisis that has rocked much of Europe to British sovereign soil.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, In eastern China an explosion at a chemical factory killed 9 people and injured two others.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, The European Union demanded that Starbucks and Fiat repay up to 30 million euros ($34 million) each in back taxes.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Refugees from Asian wars crossed into Slovenia from Croatia as border closures elsewhere forced them to find new routes to rich European countries and concern grew over the plight of those stranded in wet, freezing weather.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Guam authorities arrested Lourdes Fernandez Blas (44), a Department of Revenue and Taxation employee, suspected of taking bribes while on the job. Two other suspects in the case, Kupwo Kelep Kerwin (30) and Ringko Sammurai (39), were also arrested and all three were released.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 21, Police in northern India arrested four men over allegations that they burnt alive two low-caste children. An officials said the incident was a family feud and not related to caste violence.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved the country’s nuclear deal with world powers but said Tehran should not give up core elements of its atomic program until allegations of past military dimensions had been settled.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, An Israeli female soldier (19) was wounded in a stabbing near a West Bank settlement while the attacker was shot dead. Hours later five Israeli soldiers were run over by a Palestinian driver in the West Bank. A Jewish Israeli man (28) was shot and killed in a scuffle with Israeli soldiers who suspected he was a Palestinian attacker. Two alleged Palestinian attackers attempted to board a bus carrying children west of Jerusalem, and stabbed an Israeli before being shot.
(AFP, 10/21/15)(AP, 10/22/15)(AFP, 10/22/15)(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 21, Japanese Buddhist monk Kogen Kamahori (41) finished a grueling nine-day ritual without eating, drinking, or sleeping as he chanted sutras 100,000 times at Mount Hieizan.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp. said it is recalling 6.5 million vehicles worldwide for a defective power window switch that can overheat, melt and lead to fires.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Mexican police announced the capture of six people believed responsible for the July 11 prison break by Joaquin Guzman.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 21, Mexican authorities discovered an elaborate, rail equipped drug tunnel that ran from Tijuana to well into San Diego. They seized about ten tons of marijuana.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D4)
2015 Oct 21, In northern Syria a new administration was formed for a majority Sunni-Arab town controlled by Syrian Kurds, expanding the ethnic group's semi-autonomous administration. A local leadership council including representatives of Tel Abyad's Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen and Armenian communities declared it part of the system of autonomous self-government established by the Kurds.
(AP, 10/21/15)(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Two Niger soldiers were killed in a suicide attack by a group of suspected Boko Haram militants in the southeastern region of Diffa.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, In the Philippines 2 Chinese diplomats were killed and the consul-general was wounded by a Chinese attacker armed with a pistol during a birthday celebration at a restaurant.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Russia said its jets have hit 83 targets in Syria over the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, In Singapore Pastor Kong Hee of the City Harvest Church was convicted along with five other church officials on charges related to the misuse of $36 million to promote the career of Kong’s wife, Ho Yeow, a singer also known as Sun Ho.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 21, South African riot police fired stun grenades at hundreds of protesting students who stormed the parliament precinct in Cape Town to try to disrupt the reading of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene's interim budget.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Swiss-based Credit Suisse said it plans to cut at least 3,400 jobs over three years in Britain and Switzerland and raise billions in a new share offering after its net profit fell 24 percent in the third quarter.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, in Tanzania attackers overnight tried to hack the genitals off a man with albinism. Presidential and parliamentary polls due Oct 25 have been marked by fears of a spike in albino murders, with rights groups warning that some politicians may also be seeking lucky charms or "witchcraft" potions.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 21, The UN's cultural body approved a resolution from a group of Arab states criticizing Israel for failing to protect heritage sites and rebuild regions destroyed by war.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, In Yemen at least 22 civilians were killed and several others wounded as rockets allegedly fired by rebels crashed into the city of Taez.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 22, Pres. Obama met with Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif at the White House to talk of strengthening ties and possible financial assistance to Islamabad.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 22, The United States and its allies carried out 16 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 22, US safety regulators said 8 people have died and 98 people have been injured by exploding air bag inflators made by Takata Corp. About 23.4 million Takata driver and passenger air bag inflators have been recalled on 19.2 million US vehicles sold by 12 auto and truck makers.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, The US FCC capped cost on phone calls from prison inmates to go into effect in early 2016.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.A10)
2015 Oct 22, The Watts Bar plant in Tennessee became the first new nuclear facility to be licensed in America in 20 years.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.58)
2015 Oct 22, Taliban fighters fled to the banks of the Amu River, one of the longest in Central Asia, deserting motorbikes and using fishing boats to reach the island on the border between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan after fleeing army troops led by the Afghan VP General Abdul Rashid Dostum.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 22, Egyptian authorities arrested businessman Hassan Malik, a senior leader and financier of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. More than 200 lawyers were reported to be behind bars for defending the government's Islamist opponents.
(AP, 10/23/15)(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, French Pres. Francois Hollande arrived in Athens for a two-day visit, as Greece seeks help from European rescue lenders for relief on its massive bailout debts.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, Amnesty International said security forces in Guinea have shot two unarmed people in the back and beat another person to death in the lead up to elections this month.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, In northern Iraq the US military freed a number of Kurdish captives in a rescue mission in the vicinity of Hawija. US Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler (39) was killed in the operation. In 2020 Sgt. Maj. Thomas “Patrick" Payne was awarded the Medal of Honor for his role in rescuing dozens of hostages.
(AP, 10/22/15)(AP, 10/23/15)(AP, 9/11/20)
2015 Oct 22, Masayoshi Son (58), the Japanese founder and CEO of SoftBank, proposed that the artifical intelligence will exceed the human kind by about 2055 in an event call the Singularity.
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.64)
2015 Oct 22, In Kyrgyzstan shooting broke out on the outskirts of Bishkek between police and a man believed to be one of the Islamist militants who escaped from a local prison this month. police believed Altynbek Itibayev, who has been convicted for murder and faces more charges, including those of terrorism, had barricaded himself inside a small building with another unidentified men.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, In southwest Pakistan a powerful bomb at a Shiite mosque killed 10 people and wounded several others in the district of Sibi.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, The Russian defense ministry said its planes had flown 53 sorties and struck 72 militant targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, Slovenia's Constitutional Court gave the go-ahead for a referendum that could overturn a law allowing same-sex marriages.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, It was reported that more than 12,000 migrants have crossed into Slovenia in the last 24 hours and thousands more were expected.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, In South Sudan government troops killed about 50 people by stuffing them into a shipping container in baking heat in Unity state. This was only made public on Jan 31, 2016. On March 11, 2016, Amnesty International said the deliberate suffocating of over 60 men and boys stuffed into a baking hot shipping container in South Sudan is a war crime.
(AFP, 2/1/16)(AFP, 3/11/16)
2015 Oct 22, A Spanish helicopter ditched about 280 nautical miles (520 km / 320 miles) from its destination on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, having set off from Mauritania. All three crew members were missing.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 22, In Sweden a teacher and student died and another teacher and student were badly injured in an attack by a knife-wielding masked man in the town of Trollhattan. Attacker Anton Lundin Pettersson (21) died after being shot by police, who later confirmed racial motivations. Wounded teacher Nazir Amso (42) died on Dec 3.
(AP, 10/22/15)(AFP, 10/23/15)(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Oct 22, In Sweden a teacher and student died and another teacher and student were badly injured in an attack by a knife-wielding masked man in the town of Trollhattan. The attacker died after being shot by police.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, Southern Thailand was hit by the most severe haze ever from forest fires in Indonesia, forcing all schools in a province to close and disrupting flights in a popular tourist area.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein accused the Czech Republic of committing systematic human rights violations by detaining refugees for up to 90 days and strip-searching them for money to pay for their own detention.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, In Vanuatu 14 members of parliament were sent to prison on charges of graft. Earlier this month Marcellino Pipite, the speaker of parliament, had pardoned himself and 13 others while acting as head of state as Pres. Baldwin Lonsdale traveled abroad. Londsdale rescinded the pardons on his return.
(SFC, 12/11/15, p.37)
2015 Oct 22, In Yemen forces loyal to Pres. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi killed at least 20 Houthi militia fighters in heavy clashes in Taiz.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was awarded China's alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize for what the prize committee called his inspired national leadership and service to pan-Africanism. Mugabe received only 36 of 76 votes, but was awarded the prize following a meeting of the committee's 13-member review board.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 23, The United States, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia met in Vienna to explore a political solution to the Syrian civil war despite the basic US-Russian disagreement over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fate.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, The United States and its allies carried out 21 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, US FDA authorities said they have confiscated shipments of the lethal-injection chemical sodium thiopental that Arizona and Texas tried to bring in from abroad, saying such imports are illegal.
(SFC, 10/24/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 23, TalkTalk, a British telephone and broadband provider, said it has been hit by a "significant and sustained" cyber-attack and that the personal data of millions of Britons could be at risk after.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In northern Cameroon Boko Haram Islamists seized control of Kerawa, a town in on the border with Nigeria. An unspecified number of civilians were killed in the assault.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Quebec province officials said eight Canadian police officers, suspected of sexually assaulting and beating aboriginal women, have been put on leave or transferred to administrative duty.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping has ended his state visit to Britain after being greeted by hundreds of enthusiastic and well-organized well-wishers in the northwest England city of Manchester.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, China cut interest rates to support stuttering growth and announced that it was setting banks free in theory to offer depositors whatever interest they like.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.69)
2015 Oct 23, Croatia and Serbia agreed to increase the flow of asylum-seekers over their border after thousands were forced to spend a muddy night out in the open in near-freezing temperatures.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In France at least 43 people on a bus carrying elderly day-trippers were killed early today when the bus hit a truck head-on and caught fire near Puisseguin in the Gironde region.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Germany defended a decision to allow the export of tanks and artillery to Qatar, saying it was confident the arms would not be used in a war in Yemen between government supporters and the Iran-allied Houthis.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, German authorities arrested an Iranian man on suspicion he was spying for Tehran. Maysam P. (31) was accused of spying since December 2013 for Iran on the opposition group known as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, or MEK.
(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 23, India accused Pakistan of a cease-fire violation in Kashmir in which one Indian civilian was killed and another was wounded.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In Indonesia a law that makes gay sex punishable by public caning took effect in conservative Aceh province.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Japan and Turkmenistan signed deals worth over $18 billion on a package of projects in the energy-rich central Asian nation, which has become an important supplier of natural gas to China.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In Mexico Hurricane Patricia, a Category 5 storm, crashed into western Mexico with rain and winds of up to 165 mph (266 kph). The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm and then a depression as it moved northeast in Zacatecas the following morning.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, Niger was ordered to pay compensation to the family of former president Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, who was killed by members of the presidential guard in a 1999 coup. Five judges sitting at the ECOWAS Court of Justice said Niamey should pay a total of 435 million CFA francs (663,000 euros, $750,000) to Mainassara's widow, five children and 11 brothers and sisters.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In northeastern Nigeria 42 people were killed and 11 wounded in bomb attacks at mosques in Maiduguri, Borno state, and in Yola, Adamawa state.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, In southern Pakistan a suicide bomber targeted a Shiite religious procession, killing at least 18 people and wounding 40 others in Jacobabad, Sindh province.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, A Peruvian prosecutor said Lt. Wilmer Eduardo Delgado Ruiz (35), arrested for allegedly letting small planes ferry cocaine unhindered from the world's No. 1 coca-producing valley, was getting bribes of $10,000 a planeload that he apparently shared with his superiors.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Philippine aviation authorities said haze from Indonesian forest fires has spread to the southern and central Philippines, disrupting air traffic and prompting warnings for residents to wear face masks.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Portugal's parliament elected Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues as Socialist speaker of the house. Leftist parties used their majority in the new parliament to block the incoming center-right government's candidate.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In South Africa thousands of university students protesting planned tuition hikes flocked to the country's main government complex, with some setting fires and throwing stones as police responded with stun grenades, tear gas and a water cannon. Pres. Zuma met with student leaders and university managers. His office later announced that there would be no fee increase for university students in 2016.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian air strikes in Syria have killed at least 446 people, more than a third of them civilians, since they began end-September.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In Thailand police Major Prakrom Warunprapa, charged under a controversial royal defamation law, died in custody after "hanging" himself in his cell. He was accused of embezzling money by falsely claiming links to the monarchy.
(AFP, 10/24/15)(Econ, 11/14/15, p.42)
2015 Oct 23, In Ukraine pro-Russian insurgents in eastern separatist Donetsk region said they have banned Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and UN agencies.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, Yemeni security officials said heavy fighting between pro-government forces and the Shiite Houthi rebels besieging the western city of Taiz killed 71 people in the past two days.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 24, The United States and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase support to Syria's moderate opposition while seeking a political resolution of the four-year conflict as Secretary of State John Kerry met with King Salman.
(Reuters, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 24, The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria carried out 22 air strikes.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 24, In Connecticut Mozaffar Khazaee (61), a former Pratt & Whitney engineer, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine for trying to send hundreds of sensitive US military documents to Iran as he tried to get teaching jobs at state-run universities there.
(AP, 10/2515)(http://tinyurl.com/negbfpy)
2015 Oct 24, Maureen O’Hara (b.1920), Irish-born film star, died at her home in Boise, Idaho. Her many films included “How Green Was My Valley" (1941), “Miracle on 34th Street “ (1947), “The Quiet Man" (1952) and “The Parent Trap" (1961).
(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.D13)
2015 Oct 24, In Oklahoma 4 people were killed and dozens more injured after Adacia Avery Chambers (25), suspected of driving under the influence, crashed into a crowd attending an Oklahoma State University homecoming parade in Stillwater.
(AP, 10/2515)(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 24, Afghan security forces retook control of the Ghormach district in the northwestern province of Faryab after it was overrun by the Taliban several days ago.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Bangladesh unidentified attackers hurled home-made bombs as thousands of Shiite Muslims gathered for a religious procession in Dhaka before dawn injuring more than 100 other people. 2 people were killed. Authorities immediately arrested two suspects and recovered two unexploded bombs.
(AP, 10/24/15)(Econ, 11/7/15, p.36)
2015 Oct 24, In Egypt gunmen in North Sinai shot dead Mostafa Abdel Rahman, a candidate for ultraconservative Salafist Al-Nur party which is seen as pro-government. A first lieutenant and two soldiers were killed in an explosion which targeted a police armored vehicle in the northern Sinai city of el-Arish.
(AFP, 10/24/15)(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, French pilots Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos arrived in France after escaping from the Dominican Republic, where they were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for bringing drugs into the country by private plane. They denied the charges. Two other Frenchmen who were also convicted in connection with the same case remained in the Dominican Republic.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 24, It was reported that Greece this week averaged 9,600 migrants arriving per day.
(SFC, 10/24/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 24, Indonesian officials said warships have been put on standby to evacuate people affected by acrid haze from forest fires which has killed at least 10 and caused respiratory illnesses in half a million.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Iraq huge crowds of black-clad Shiite faithful massed in Karbala, crying and beating their chests to commemorate Ashura, the 7th century killing of the prophet's grandson.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Jordan US Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met In Amman, and voiced hope they might find a way to ease the Israel-Palestinian tensions but offered no details. Kerry will also met King Abdullah of Jordan, who is custodian of the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, Hundreds of S. Koreans crossed the border to North Korea for the last set of reunions this year. In the first round of reunions earlier in the week, about 390 South Koreans traveled to the resort to meet with 180 North Korean relatives.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Lebanon tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters marched through the Shi'ite southern suburbs of Beirut chanting "Death to the Saud family" as their leader railed against Sunni-led Saudi Arabia in a sign of deepening hostility towards the US-allied kingdom.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Libya the bodies of 27 people, thought to be migrants, were discovered on beaches at Zliten. Another 13 were found along the shores of Tripoli and the nearby town of Khoms.
(AP, 10/2515)(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 24, Maldives VP Ahmed Adeeb was arrested in connection with the Sep 28 explosion aboard the president's boat that authorities have called an assassination attempt. Adeeb will be charged with high treason. Three soldiers, including a former member of Adeeb's security detail and a member of the army's bomb squad, were also arrested in connection with the blast. Authorities also arrested a Sri Lankan man believed to be a sniper who was targeting President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 10/24/15)(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Oct 24, A Nigerian court nullified the election of the governor of the oil-rich Rivers state on the grounds of irregularities and ordered a fresh vote within 90 days. Governor Nyesom Wike, of former president Goodluck Jonathan's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had been declared winner of the election.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In northeastern Nigeria 4 women suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing one other person and wounding 10, when civilian guards prevented them from entering the city of Maiduguri.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, A Palestinian was shot dead after he tried to stab an Israeli security guard at the Jalameh border crossing.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, The Russian defense ministry said its planes had flown 934 sorties and destroyed 819 militant targets in Syria since the start of its operation there on Sept. 30.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, Slovenian officials staggered to cope and tempers flared at an overcrowded refugee center as thousands more asylum-seekers poured into the tiny Alpine nation. Slovenian police estimated some 13,000 people had entered the country in the last 24 hours.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, Humanitarian organizations monitoring civilian casualties in South Sudan said 80 civilians, including 57 children, were killed in just one county in war-torn Unity state between October 4 and 22.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes battled Islamic State group fighters in a bid to restore a key supply line to Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 28 IS fighters and 21 troops and militia have been killed in the battle for the road that leads to the government-held sector of Aleppo.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Syria Vadim Kostenko (19) a Russian soldier, reportedly hanged himself at a base on the Syrian coast because of problems in his personal life. At his funeral his father said there were no signs on the body to support the official account.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 24, Venezuela media reported that Franklin Nieves, the state prosecutor who helped lead charges against opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, has fled the country and accused the socialist government of pressing him to use false evidence to unfairly condemn Lopez.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 25, A US-led coalition conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic state in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 25, Florida called an early end to the state’s black bear hunt saying 298 bears were taken nearing the set limit.
(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 25, Argentina held presidential elections. Mauricio Macri dealt a major blow to the ruling Front for Victory in the first round, winning 34.3 percent of the vote, slightly less than Daniel Scioli of the ruling party at 36.9 percent.
(AP, 10/2515)(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 25, Former British PM Tony Blair acknowledged the 2003 invasion of Iraq played a part in the rise of the Islamic State militant group, and apologized for some mistakes in planning the war.
(Reuters, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, In Canada 5 Britons were killed when a Canadian whale-watching boat carrying 27 passengers sank off the coast of British Columbia. An Australian man remained missing and the rest were rescued.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 25, China said it will provide Nepal with 1.3 million liters (340,000 gallons) of gasoline to help it cope with severe fuel shortages as a result of restricted supplies from neighboring India.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Colombians went to the polls to elect provincial governors and hundreds of local officials who will have a crucial role in implementing any peace agreement reached with leftist FARC rebels.
(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, The Republic of Congo voted on whether to amend the constitution to enable one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, to seek a third term, extending his 31-year grip on power. More than 92 percent of voters supported the change and turnout stood at 72 percent.
(AFP, 10/2515)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 25, Central and eastern European leaders met in Brussels to draw up a common approach to dealing with the thousands of migrants streaming into the EU every day from the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan. The leaders committed to bolster the borders of Greece as it struggles to cope with the wave of refugees from Syria and beyond who cross over through Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/2515)(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 25, It was reported that carbon nanotubes have been found in the lung fluid of asthmatic children living in Paris. The nanomaterial has only recently been used to manufacture items such as bicycle parts, sporting goods and wind turbines.
(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.D16)
2015 Oct 25, At least three migrants, two children and a woman, drowned when their boat sank off the Greek island of Lesbos.
(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Guatemala held runoff elections. Comedian Jimmy Morales faced former first lady Sandra Torres, a businesswoman and longtime political operative. Morales (46) won after officials results showed him winning about 68% of the vote.
(AP, 10/2515)(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 25, Haitians began voting for a new president with a choice of 54 candidates. Jude Celestin, of the Lapeh party, garnered 25 percent of the vote, according to results. He will face ruling party candidate Jovenel Moise, the frontrunner at 32 percent, in a December 27 runoff.
(AFP, 10/2515)(AFP, 11/6/15)
2015 Oct 25, Indonesian police on Bali arrested Rajendra Nikalje, one of India's most wanted gangsters, sought in more than two dozen murder cases. On Nov 5 he was deported to India after being on Interpol's most-wanted list for two decades.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Oct 25, In Indonesia 17 people were killed in a fire that raced through a karaoke bar early today on Sulawesi island. 71 others were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Ivory Coast voters headed to the polls as the West African nation held its first presidential election since a disputed vote five years ago triggered violence in which more than 3,000 people died. Alassane Ouattara won a landslide victory.
(AP, 10/2515)(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 25, Kenya's military says it has destroyed a base in Somalia operated by the Islamic extremist rebels of al-Shabab and killed 15 of its fighters in a dawn attack.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, In Pakistan gunfire and shelling by Indian border guards killed three civilians near Sialkot, a city in the eastern Punjab province. Another 14 people were wounded. India said Pakistan fired first.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 25, A Palestinian woman was shot dead while trying to knife Israeli border police and two Israelis were wounded in attempted stabbings as PM Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to install more security cameras at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a bid to defuse tensions.
(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Poland held parliamentary elections. The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party under party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski won 235 seats in the 460-seat lower house and a majority in the Senate, sweeping the economically liberal pro-EU center-right Civic Platform from office. No party left of center won a seat. Beata Szydlo will serve as prime minister.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(AP, 10/27/15)(SFC, 10/29/15, p.A2)(Econ, 10/31/15, p.51)
2015 Oct 25, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis demanded that the prime minister and interior minister address public anger over the on-duty death of a police motorcyclist on Oct 20. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Bucharest calling for the resignation of Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Direct flights between Russia and Ukraine stopped as a result of continuing tensions over Russia's annexation of Crimea and backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Tanzania and Zanzibar held general elections. Ruling party candidate, Works Minister John Magufuli (55), battled former PM Edward Lowassa (62), who defected to the opposition earlier this year after being rejected as the ruling party's candidate. On Oct 29 the National Electoral Commission said John Magufuli won the presidential elections with over 58 percent of votes, but the opposition said the vote was rigged and also claimed victory.
(AP, 10/2515)(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 25, In western Thailand 8 people were killed and over 20 injured when a bus carrying workers back from a holiday weekend crashed in Kanchanaburi province.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Turkish military shot at Kurdish forces deployed in the town of Tal Abyad, Syria, using mostly machine guns. There were no casualties in the shooting and the Kurdish forces didn't return fire.
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 25, Ukrainians voted in local elections that were seen as a test of the strength of President Petro Poroshenko's government and of the oligarchs accustomed to running regions of the country. The Mariupol vote was pushed back to next month "due to the improper preparation of election ballots.
(AP, 10/2515)(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Pope Francis closed a contentious bishops' meeting on family issues calling for a more open-hearted, compassionate Church rooted in people's lives and not a programmatic, arid one that fears changes and challenges.
(Reuters, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, In Yemen about 30 Islamic militants stormed a supermarket in Aden, firing into the air and taking hostages.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 26, Pres. Barack Obama and John Boehner, the outgoing Speaker of the House, struck a deal to suspend the debt ceiling.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.25)
2015 Oct 26, The Mississippi state flag was taken down from the Univ. of Mississippi after student leaders, faculty and staff called for its removal because of its prominent Confederate emblem.
(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 26, In Afghanistan 2 security guards working for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission were killed in the eastern city of Jalalabad when a roadside bomb blew up as their vehicle passed.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, A major earthquake struck the remote Afghan northeast, killing at least 135 people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan and sending shock waves as far as New Delhi. The death toll from the 7.5 magnitude quake soon reached 390 with 272 killed in Pakistan and 121 in Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(AP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 26, The Belgian branch of the controversial Church of Scientology went on trial facing a possible ban for fraud and extortion, charges it claims are meant to blacken its reputation.
(AFP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, Peter Farquhar (69), British novelist and former teacher of English, died in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire. His death was recorded as accidental as the result of acute alcohol intoxication. In 2018 Benjamin Field, his brother Tom Field, and magician friend Martyn Smith, were arrested by police on suspicion of murdering Farquhar and attempting to murder his neighbor Ann Moore-Martin (83).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Farquhar)
2015 Oct 26, In Burundi gunmen hurled grenades and battled with police in a series of deadly clashes, the latest violence since the controversial re-election of President Pierre Nkurunziza. Police killed a "madman" who tried to attack officers with a machete in Bujumbura. Over the next 24 hours more than a dozen people were killed in clashes between security forces and citizens.
(AFP, 10/27/15)(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 26, In Colombia a rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) ambush on poll workers killed 12 members of the security forces in the Andean highlands. Two soldiers remained missing.
(AP, 10/27/15)(SFC, 10/28/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 26, Croatian police said that more than 13,000 migrants arrived from Serbia in the past 24 hours, while Slovenian police reported nearly 10,000 arrivals from Croatia in the same period.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, In Iraq a suicide bomber killed 7 people, including 2 police, in an attack on a Shi'ite Muslim procession in a northern Baghdad neighborhood.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, In Jordan two containers filled with fireworks exploded at a customs storage area in Amman, killing 5 people and wounding 10, several critically.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, Lebanese authorities detained Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four others at Beirut international airport after finding two tons of drugs aboard a private jet bound for the Gulf kingdom. On Nov 2 the Saudi prince and nine others were charged with drug trafficking.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 26, In northern Mali UN peacekeepers began lifting a security zone they imposed around the town of Kidal because fears of an attack have diminished after rival clans signed a peace deal earlier this month.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Mali’s military said 3 civilians died when their vehicle hit a landmine, and that two UN peacekeepers who went to the rescue were wounded when a second mine exploded at Tessalit in the region of Kidal.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, It was reported that Burger King has opened its first store in sparsely populated Mongolia, joining companies from Pizza Hut to Porsche in anticipating an economic boom from the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, MTN Nigeria said it has been fined $5.2 billion for failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered cellphone subscribers. The $5.2 billion is at least two average years' profit for MTN Nigeria, by far the MTN Group's most lucrative subsidiary.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, Palestinian teenager Saed al-Atrash (19) tried to stab an Israeli soldier in the southern West Bank city of Hebron and was shot dead.
(AFP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, The Russian defense ministry said its planes had flown 164 sorties and struck 285 Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra militant targets in Syria in the last three days.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, In Saudi Arabia a blast struck the mosque belonging to the Ismaili Shiite minority in Najran after sunset, killing one person and wounding several others. The bomber was identified that next day as Saudi citizen Saad Saeed Saad al-Harthy (34).
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Rebels in South Sudan seized UN barges they suspected were transporting weapons for government troops. 28 UN peacekeepers were freed on Oct 29, but 12 contractors were kept hostage. On Nov 1 the UN sent helicopters to pick up the South Sudanese workers, and recovered the barge, but not the 55,000 liters of fuel it was carrying.
(AP, 10/29/15)(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A4)(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 26, Spain’s PM Mariano Rajoy signed a decree formally dissolving parliament and calling for general elections on Dec 20.
(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 26, In Syria the Islamic State group killed 3 of its captives in the ancient city of Palmyra by tying them to Roman-era columns at the site, then blowing the structures up with explosives.
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Two Turkish policemen and 7 Islamic State suspects were killed in a shootout in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. About 15 suspected militants were detained and the government labeled the raid as an important blow to an IS cell.
(AFP, 10/2615)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Ukraine's pro-Russian insurgents said they had expelled two ceasefire monitors from the separatist Lugansk region last week. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) denied the report. One soldier was killed when government positions came under fire from the direction of the Donetsk airport.
(AFP, 10/2615)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Pope Francis called for a fresh start for Roma and Sinti communities, telling traveler families from around the world they could break free of prejudice by not falling into crime. The Sinti are a traditionally itinerant ethnic group that has been present in Italy for centuries.
(AFP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, The World Health Organization said hot dogs, bacon, cold cuts and other processed meats raise the risk of colon, stomach and other cancers, and red meat probably contributes to the disease, throwing its considerable authority behind what many doctors have been warning for years.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, In Yemen a suspected al Qaeda suicide bomber killed two militiamen at a checkpoint in the southern city of Aden.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, Yemeni residents reported that a coalition air strike killed Haradh hospital director Yasser Wathab and two people he was traveling with in a car in the northwestern province of Hajja. Several shells fired from Houthi-held north Yemen over the border into the Saudi city of Najran killed 2 foreign residents and wounded a Saudi citizen. A hospital in north Yemen run by medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was bombed in a Saudi-led air strike, wrecking the facility and lightly wounding two staff members.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, In Zanzibar Maalim Seif Hamad of the Civic United Front party announced he had won the Zanzibar presidential election, saying he had ousted his rival, Ali Mohamed Shein of Tanzania's ruling party. Although part of Tanzania, Zanzibar is run by a semi-autonomous government with its own president.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 27, The United States defied China by sending a warship close to artificial islands the rising Asian power is building in disputed waters, prompting Beijing furiously to denounce what it called a threat to its sovereignty.
(AFP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, The United States and its allies carried out 14 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 27, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to acquire Rite Aid Corp. for $9.42 billion in cash. Including debt the deal was valued at $17.2 billion.
(SFC, 10/28/15, p.C4)
2015 Oct 27, The Taliban encouraged aid groups to help victims of the massive earthquake in northern Afghanistan and Pakistan as rescuers struggled to form a clear picture of the damage caused by the disaster as the death toll passed 300.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Congolese opposition leaders called for "civil disobedience" to pressure the government into withdrawing a planned constitutional amendment enabling President Denis Sassou Nguesso to extend his three-decade rule.
(AFP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Egyptians voted in run-off elections for more than 200 parliamentary seats in which no clear winner emerged in the first round of polls, with candidates loyal to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi widely expected to dominate.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, In Indonesia 12 miners were buried under a landslide while digging illegally at a state-run gold mine on the main island of Java.
(AP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 27, American-Israeli educator Richard Lakin (76), wounded in a Palestinian stabbing and shooting attack on a Jerusalem bus on Oct 13, died of his injuries. His death raised to 11 the number of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Kosovo took a step towards possible European Union membership, signing a trade and political pact with Brussels less than a decade after unilaterally declaring independence from Serbia.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, In Libya a helicopter with 23 people on board crashed near Tripoli but the cause was unclear.
(AFP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, The Maldives adopted new anti-terror legislation. Opposition politicians claimed one purpose of it was to intimidate government critics.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.40)
2015 Oct 27, Nigerian troops freed 338 people, almost all of them women and children, held by Boko Haram Islamists near the group's Sambisa forest stronghold. Troops killed 30 suspected jihadists and seized a cache of arms and ammunition in the area.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 27, Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC started auctioning annual crude grades on live television and vowed to cut contract holders by a third as part of a drive to boost transparency at an institution hit by corruption.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, approved a new law overseeing the sponsorship system, which currently only allows workers to leave the country with the approval of their employer, as well as rules that allow workers to switch jobs. Rights groups the next day dismissed as a "sham" the long-awaited reforms.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 27, In Spain Catalan separatists launched their so-called roadmap for independence, offering a declaration in the regional parliament to split from Spain, which PM Mariano Rajoy has vowed to block.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, The Syrian presidency said political initiatives could not work in Syria before terrorism had been wiped out, sticking by its long-held position on how to end the war after its Russian allies called for new elections.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Turkish authorities took over the management of 22 companies including newspapers and TV stations linked to a US-based cleric and arch-enemy of President Tayyip Erdogan, intensifying a crackdown days ahead of an election. Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people protesting against the government's move to seize control of Koza-Ipek Holding.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, The UN said more than 700,000 refugees and migrants have reached Europe's Mediterranean shores so far this year, amid the continent's worst migration crisis since World War II.
(AFP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, In Vietnam a court in Hanoi sentenced six executives of a state-owned railway corporation to up to 12 years in prison after convicting them of corruption involving a Japan-funded railway project.
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 28, Former House speaker Dennis Hastert (73), once second in line to the US presidency, pleaded guilty to making illegal bank transactions, allegedly for hush-money payouts.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, In Afghanistan Taliban insurgents overran the district capital of Darqand in Takhar province, one of the northern provinces hit by a powerful earthquake this week.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, African Union investigators discovered mass graves in South Sudan and found evidence of horrific crimes, including forced cannibalism, according to a long-awaited report. Investigators found that the conflict began on Dec. 15, 2013, as a skirmish broke out between Dinka and Nuer soldiers of the presidential guard following political tension between Kiir and Machar, who had been fired as Kiir's deputy the previous July.
(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Australia’s Troy Resources Limited said it plans to open a large gold mine in upcoming weeks at the mine in the Puruni region in western Guyana.
(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Austria said it would build a fence along its border with fellow EU state Slovenia to "control" the migrant influx, in what would be the first barrier between two members of the passport-free Schengen zone.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos offered to declare a bilateral ceasefire with the FARC guerrillas from January 1, which would mark a major breakthrough in peace talks.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the rising number of Afghan asylum seekers was "unacceptable", as he urged young citizens of the south Asian nation to stay at home and rebuild their homeland.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, At least 29 people died and 274 people were rescued when a wooden boat they were on literally fell apart in rough seas off the Greek island of Lesbos.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 28, An Indonesian minister said the death toll from acrid haze blanketing parts of the country has climbed to 19.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Iran said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and three of his deputies will attend multilateral talks on Oct 29 in Vienna aimed at resolving the conflict in Syria. Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, the European Union and France also said they would attend the talks.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, The United States and its allies conducted 13 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 28, An Italian court rejected Tunisia's extradition request for Abdelmajid Touil, a Moroccan arrested on suspicion of involvement in a deadly museum attack, because he risks the death penalty.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Nepal's parliament elected communist lawmaker Bidhya Bhandari as the country's first female president.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, In southeastern Niger suspected Boko Haram militants killed at least 14 people in an overnight attack on the village of Ala in the Diffa region.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, The Pakistani documentary film “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness", directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, was released. Its worldwide premiere was on HBO on March 7, 2016. It was about honor killings in Pakistan and won an Oscar.
(http://tinyurl.com/hujbky5)(Econ, 7/23/16, p.32)
2015 Oct 28, The tiny Pacific island nation of Palau created a vast marine sanctuary the size of Spain, banning fishing across the bulk of its waters to preserve the ocean for future generations.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, A Palestinian in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron attempted to stab an Israeli soldier and was shot dead.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Russia said its air force flew 71 sorties over Syria in the last two days, carrying out 118 strikes on militant targets.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, South African police fired stun grenades and arrested one student in clashes at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand, as country-wide protests for free tertiary education entered a third week.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Tanzania's opposition presidential candidate Edward Lowassa called for a recount of the Oct 25 election for the presidency, citing voting irregularities in the East African nation's tightest elections in more than five decades. Earlier, the vote in Tanzania's semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago was annulled after the election commission there cited gross violations.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, In Turkey Istanbul police used tear gas in a dawn raid on the headquarters of Koza-Ipek Holding, a major media company linked to a government critic, enforcing a court order to seize the business just days before Turkey holds a national election. Riot police firing tear gas and water cannon stormed two opposition-linked television stations and forced them off air.
(AP, 10/28/15)(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, In Yemen warplanes from a Saudi-led alliance bombed the Iran-allied Houthi movement throughout Yemen and dropped weapons for its allies battling the group in the southwestern city of Taiz. Militants bombed a local college in the southern city of Aden, following previous threats against the school.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 29, The United States and its allies conducted 11 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and one in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, The US Pentagon said Ahmed Abdel Aziz (45) has been sent back to his native Mauritania after 13 years in custody at Guantanamo. He was never charged with a crime.
(AP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Central African Republic 4 people were killed by mobs in Bangui. 3 Muslims were attacked as they left the city's only Muslim enclave, PK5, to enter the Christian sixth district. Witnesses said 2 of them were killed immediately and their bodies chopped into small pieces. A third man escaped but was then stoned to death by a crowd. A Christian was killed later in the morning as he entered PK5.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, China’s Communist Party said it will ease family planning restrictions to allow all couples to have two children after decades of a strict one-child policy, a move aimed at alleviating demographic strains on the economy.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, The EU said it will suspended most sanctions against Belarus for four months as of Oct 31, citing "improving relations" after authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko released all remaining political prisoners.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, German police said they have searched the homes of 13 people as part of an international swoop on users of the mobile phone malware DroidJack, which allows cybercriminals to assume control of Android smartphones without users being aware.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Berlin police arrested a 32-year-old man suspected of abducting a 4-year-old migrant boy after a child's body was found in his car. Mohamed Januzi of Bosnia disappeared on Oct. 1 while waiting outside the offices of the government program for social care with his mother and two siblings. Police the next day said Silvio S. had confessed during questioning to killing both Mohamed Januzi, and six-year-old Elias from Potsdam, who went missing in July. On July 26, 2016, Silvio S. was jailed for life.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)(AP, 10/30/15)(Reuters, 7/26/16)
2015 Oct 29, Authorities on the Greek island of Lesbos searched for 38 people believed still missing after the sinking of a wooden boat carrying migrants. Greece rescued 144 refugees and recovered the bodies of 22, including 4 infants and 9 children, after their boats sank in two separate incidents in the Aegean sea.
(AP, 10/29/15)(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Iraq a barrage of rockets hit Camp Liberty, a former US military base near Baghdad housing an opposition Iranian refugee group (MEK). 3 Iraqi soldiers were killed and at least 20 Iranian exiles.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 29, Israeli security forces shot dead 2 Palestinian assailants in Hebron in the occupied West Bank following knife attacks on Israeli soldiers.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Lebanese customs officials discovered 230 kg of Captagon amphetamine pills hidden inside tables prepared for export to the Gulf state of Qatar from Beirut international airport.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Moldova's parliament backed a motion of no-confidence in the ruling pro-European coalition, increasing political turmoil following the fraudulent disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system. The vote signaled an end to the short-lived government of PM Valeriu Strelet.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Prominent Moroccan academic and rights activist Maati Monjib announced he had ended a three-week hunger strike after the judiciary lifted a travel ban against him.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Four African migrants drowned and up to 35 were missing after their boat sank in the Mediterranean in the early hours around 40 miles (65 km) north of the Moroccan coast.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Myanmar police arrested Kyaw Ko Ko (34), the leader of a student movement crushed in March, after he spent more than six months in hiding, amid increasing signs of a crackdown on dissent ahead of a Nov. 8 election.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, At The Hague an int’l. tribunal ruled that it can take on a case between China and the Philippines over disputed territory in the South China Sea.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 29, In Russia 5 people were killed in a night-time blast of household gas in an apartment block in the Khabarovsk region of the country's Far East.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi (31), who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam, was awarded the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been 595 deaths in Syria from Russian air strikes since September 30. Russian warplanes renewed strikes, including in the central province of Homs and the northwestern province of Idlib.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Turkish media said 12 people have died and dozens have been hospitalized over the last three days after being poisoned by bootleg alcohol. Istanbul police detained 15 people in connection with the production and sale of the illegally produced raki.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In southern Turkey Syrian activists Ibrahim Abdelqader, aka Ibrahim Abdul-Qadir (22), and Fares Hamadi (20), journalists for the "Raqqa is being slaughtered silently" collective, were murdered by Islamic State operatives in Sanliurfa.
(AP, 10/30/15)(AP, 12/17/15)(AP, 8/14/17)
2015 Oct 29, Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian insurgents exchanged 20 prisoners in a goodwill gesture designed to get peace talks aimed at ending the 18-month crisis back on track.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Ukraine a series of blasts ripped through the military complex in government-controlled Svatove, a town around 100 km (62 miles) from the front line with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Luhansk region. 2 civilians were killed and the incident was being investigated as a "terrorist act."
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, US sources said President Barack Obama plans to deploy a small number of special operations forces to Syria to advise moderate rebels, a step he has long resisted to avoid getting dragged into another war in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, Paul Ryan (45) of Wisconsin was sworn in as the 54th speaker of the US House of Representatives.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 30, In southern California Dr. Hsiu-Ying Tseng (45) was convicted of murder for killing 3 patients who overdosed on painkillers.
(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 30, In Oakland, Ca., city Councilwoman Desley Brooks struck and knocked down ex-Black Panther leader Elaine Brown at a restaurant in Jack London Square. Brown underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff and sued the city. In 2018 Oakland settled her suit for $2.2 million.
(SFC, 7/12/18, p.D1)
2015 Oct 30, In Kentucky fugitive Floyd Ray Cook (62) was killed near Burksville after being confronted by state troopers and a federal marshal following a nearly weeklong manhunt. Cook was accused of shooting and wounding a Tennessee police officer.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 30, In New Hampshire Owen Labrie (20) of Vermont was sentenced to a year in jail for sexually assaulting a freshman girl (15) as part of an upperclassman tradition at St. Paul’s School in Concord to rack up sexual conquests.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 30, In New Mexico Albuquerque police Officer Daniel Webster (47) died from wounds suffered on Oct 21 after Davon Lymon opened fire and fled as he was being handcuffed during a traffic stop.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 30, In Texas storms and suspected tornadoes left at least 2 people dead and flooded I-35 between San Antonio and Austin.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 30, Chevron Corp. said it will layoff 6,000 to 7,000 employees worldwide because of the sustained slump in world oil prices.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.D1)
2015 Oct 30, Coast Guard leaders from the US, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden signed an agreement setting up the Arctic Coast Guard Forum dedicated to stewardship of Arctic waters.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 30, A Chinese court ordered ConocoPhillips to pay 1.68 million yuan ($265,000) to 21 fishermen who said their livelihoods suffered from oil spills in northern China in 2011.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, The European Parliament narrowly adopted a nonbinding measure urging the 28 EU members to recognize Edward Snowden as a whistleblower and int’l. human rights defender.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 30, In waters off Greece at least 27 people, more than half of them children, died trying to reach Europe.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 30, Indian folk singer S. Kovan was arrested on charges including sedition for writing songs criticizing J. Jayalalitha, the chief minister of southern Tamil Nadu state, and her government of profiting from state-run liquor shops at the expense of the poor.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Oct 30, Iran signaled it backed a six-month transition period in Syria followed by elections to decide Bashar al-Assad's fate, a proposal floated at peace talks as a concession but which the president's foes rejected as a trick to keep him in power. Multilateral talks in Vienna failed, as expected, to reach a consensus on the future of President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 30, Israel press reported that the government has retroactively legalized some 800 homes in four settlements in the occupied West Bank. The decision was taken two weeks ago.
(AFP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, In northern Italy two pilots of helicopter maker AgustaWestland were killed in an accident during a prototype test flight.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, A Palestinian (23) stabbed and lightly wounded an American tourist in Jerusalem. The assailant was shot and severely wounded. In Hebron hundreds of youths lobbed stones, firebombs and burning tires at Israeli soldiers who hit back with tear gas and rubber bullets. In Ramallah a Palestinian hurled a Molotov cocktail at border guards and was shot and wounded.
(AFP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, Puerto Rico's Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he has signed an executive order banning the use of plastic bags across the US territory effective as of mid-2016.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, In Syria at least 47 people were killed and about 100 wounded when government forces fired missiles into a marketplace at Douma, a town 10 miles from Damascus.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 31, The US pledged nearly $100 million in fresh aid to support the Syrian opposition as Western and Arab officials gathered in Bahrain for the Manama Dialogue security conference.
(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 31, The US-led coalition conducted nine air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and 16 in Iraq. Air strikes by Turkish and US aircraft in Syria killed more than 50 Islamic State militants and wounded around 30.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Colorado police shot down a gunman in Colorado Springs after he shot and killed 23 people.
(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 31, Texas authorities said at least six people have died in storms that lashed parts of the state with heavy rains.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Bangladesh Faysal Arefin Deepan, a publisher of slain online critic of religious militancy Avijit Roy, was hacked to death in Dhaka hours after similar attacks on two secular writers and another publisher in the majority-Muslim country.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)(Econ, 11/7/15, p.36)
2015 Oct 31, Egypt's prosecution referred to trial the editor-in-chief for Egypt's top literary magazine and writer Ahmed Naji for publishing sexually explicit material and allegedly violating public morals.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Oct 31, Israeli security forces shot and killed a Palestinian (18) who ran at them with a knife in the occupied West Bank.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, It was reported that Nigeria's army has begun posting a photographic collage of 100 wanted Boko Haram militants that features the shadowy leader whom they claim to have killed on at least three occasions.
(AP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Pakistan 11 people were killed when rival political parties fired on each other in local elections in the Khairpur district of the southern province of Sindh, which held the polls along with the central Punjab province.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In the southern Philippines 15 people, including 6 children, died in a fire at a market in Zamboanga city.
(AP, 10/31/15)(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 31, In Romania an overnight fire in a Bucharest nightclub killed at least 27 people and injured 184 during a rock concert that featured fireworks used indoors. 146 people remained in hospital from the Colectiv Club fire. By Mar 14, 2016, the death toll rose to 64 as another victim died from their burns. A suicide victim more than 18 months later raised the death toll to 65. In 2021 the Romanian movie “Collective," nominated for two Oscars, follows a team of investigative journalists searching for the truth in the wake of the fire.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)(Reuters, 11/3/15)(AP, 3/14/16)(AP, 4/16/21)
2015 Oct 31, A Russian airliner carrying 224 passengers and crew crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula after losing radar contact and plummeting from its cruising altitude, killing all aboard. The Airbus A321 was operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia under the brand name Metrojet. Egyptian security sources said early investigations suggested the plane crashed due to a technical fault. A militant group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for the downing of the plane.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to discuss trade issues, a day before their three-way summit with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe that aims to repair relations strained by historical and territorial matters.
(AP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Taiwan tens of thousands marched in Taipei in Asia's biggest gay pride parade, with many hoping presidential elections next year bring to power a pro-gay government that will legalize same-sex marriage.
(AFP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Yemen overnight clashes left 19 rebels and 14 Popular Resistance fighters dead in several southern provinces as Saudi-led coalition aircraft targeted the Iran-backed insurgents.
(AFP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Zanzibar two small blasts rocked streets but caused no casualties, in the latest unrest following the annulment of polls on the semi-autonomous Tanzanian archipelago.
(AFP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct, The US Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $55 billion contract to develop and build some 100 Long Range Strike Bombers (LRS-B).
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.22)
2015 Oct, “City Score" was launched in Boston. It combines 24 different metrics into a single number to indicate the city’s overall health.
(Econ, 3/26/15, SR p.11)
2015 Oct, In Argentina the provincial police chief of Santa Fe was sentenced to six years in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking.
(Econ, 9/17/16, p.35)
2015 Oct, In Cambodia two opposition lawmakers from the Cambodia National Rescue Party were beaten after being confronted by a pro-government mob, which was demanding the resignation of the party's deputy leader Kem Sonkha.
(AP, 5/27/16)
2015 Oct, Chileans discovered that for ten years they had paid over the odds for toilet paper because of a cartel linking CMPC and a smaller rival now owned by SCA, a Swedish company.
(Econ, 12/5/15, p.37)
2015 Oct, Li Xin, formerly a website editor for a Chinese media group, fled to India, where he told The Associated Press that he could no longer bear working as a secret informant for the Chinese government. He later traveled to Thailand and went missing on Jan 11, 2016.
(AP, 1/22/16)
2015 Oct, Trikala, a rural town in northern Greece, began testing a driverless bus in real traffic conditions for the first time, part of a European project to revolutionize mass transport and wean its cities off oil dependency over the next 30 years.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct, In Guyana Dominic Bernard of Britain went missing. His body was found in January, 2016, in a shallow grave in a farming village in southeastern Guyana. Five suspects were later charged in relation to the murder.
(AP, 1/16/16)
2015 Oct, Hong Kong Gui Minhai, the owner of the Mighty Current publishing house, reportedly surrendered to mainland authorities. Friends suspected he was abducted for political reasons by Chinese agents from his apartment in Pattaya, Thailand, and smuggled into China. Minhai later said in detention that he had surrendered 10 years after he fled China after killing a woman while driving drunk. Three other members of the the shop had disappeared while visiting the Chinese mainland.
(AP, 1/17/16)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.35)
2015 Oct, Iceland repaid its debt to the IMF, which had given it a big bailout in 2008.
(Econ, 4/9/15, p.53)
2015 Oct, The IOC suspended the Kuwaiti Olympic body on grounds of government interference in sports. On June 23, 2016, Kuwait said it will sue the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland for $1 billion.
(AP, 6/23/16)
2015 Oct, In South Africa twelve men attacked two couples strolling in a Johannesburg park. 2 men were bound and thrown into a lake where they drowned. One woman was raped and the other escaped. On Nov 9 one man (24, suspected to be part of the group of attackers, appeared in court.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Oct, Five Syrian media activists were captured by the Islamic State group. They were later believed to have been killed in December over their coverage of events in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, half of which is held by IS. On June 26, 2016, a graphic video emerged showing their killing.
(AP, 6/26/16)
2015 Oct, Syrian security services executed Bassel Khartabil (aka Bassel Safadi), a Palestinian-Syrian software pioneer, after torturing him in prison. In 2017 his widow Noura Ghazi Safadi wrote on Facebook that she received confirmation of his execution.
(AP, 8/2/17)
2015 Oct, Turkmenistan Pres. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (58) published his poem “Forward, only forward, my dear country Turkmenistan. In November a choir of 4,166 people inside a giant yurt broke a world record by singing the hymn.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Oct, The UN’s World Food Program was reported to be spending $1.1 million a day to feed the hungry of South Sudan.
(Econ, 10/10/15, p.50)
2015 Nov 1, The US-led coalition conducted 10 air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on Sunday and 17 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 1, Fred Thompson (b.1942), former Republican US senator from Tennessee (1994-2003), died in Nashville. He had appeared in at least 20 motion pictures with a notable role in television’s “Law and Order" (2002-2007).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Thompson)(SFC, 11/2/15, p.A9)
2015 Nov 1, A joint communique by the US and five Central Asian countries declared support for Afghanistan and its development as an independent and peaceful state.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Azerbaijan voted in parliamentary polls expected to cement President Ilham Aliyev's grip on power and boycotted by the mainstream opposition as a sham. Aliyev's Yeni (New) Azerbaijan party took 71 seats in the country's 125-seat parliament. Not a single election held in Azerbaijan since Aliyev came to power in 2003 has been recognized as free and fair by international observers.
(AFP, 11/1/15)(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 1, In Chad at least 3 soldiers were killed and 14 others wounded in a series of attacks blamed on Boko Haram Islamic militants. 14 militants were reported killed.
(AP, 11/1/15)(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea pledged to work toward greater economic integration at their first joint meeting in over three years. China and Japan agreed to restart mutual visits of their foreign ministers and hold bilateral high-level economic dialogue early next year in a meeting between Premier Li Keqiang and PM Shinzo Abe in Seoul, South Korea.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, In eastern Congo DRC fourteen humanitarian workers were kidnapped in the Rutshuru region in North Kivu province.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 1, Greek authorities said 11 more people have drown on the dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece after a boat carrying nearly 30 refugees sank in heavy seas near the eastern island of Samos. The bodies of two men, one woman and a young boy, believed to be from refugee smuggling boats, were found early today washed up on beaches in the Skala area of northern Lesbos.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, New Delhi, India, introduced a toll for all trucks and commercial vehicles in an attempt to improve air quality in the world's most polluted capital ahead of Diwali celebrations.
(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Iraq’s health ministry said it is carrying out a major vaccination campaign to combat a cholera outbreak that has infected more than 2,200 people.
(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Israeli soldiers shot dead a knife-wielding Palestinian who tried to stab them in the West Bank city of Hebron.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, In Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed a huge rally on the outskirts of Yangon, offering a message of reconciliation with political opponents if her party sweeps the upcoming general election.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Nigerian troops drove Boko Haram extremists out of an abandoned northeastern primary school in a shootout that killed 4 militants.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 1, In Pakistan a bombing in Baluchistan province early today targeted a train bound for Rawalpindi, where the military is headquartered. 3 passengers were killed and seven others wounded.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Qatar officially opened the country's biggest workers' accommodation camp, with enough space to house almost 70,000 laborers.
(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, In Somalia security forces Mogadishu fought for several hours before clearing a hotel of Islamist al Shabaab gunmen who had stormed the building after two bombs ripped into it. At least 13 people were killed.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Islamic State fighters seized the Syrian town of Maheen in Homs province from government forces, expanding their presence in Syria's west despite a Russian-backed bombing campaign against them. At least 50 fighters on the government side were killed or wounded.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Turkey held parliamentary elections. The AKP won 49% of the vote, consolidating support from the right to claw back a parliamentary majority that will bolster Pres. Tayyip Erdogan's grip on power.
(AFP, 11/1/15)(Reuters, 11/2/15)(Econ, 11/7/15, p.48)
2015 Nov 1, In Yemen Cyclone Chapala killed one person, injured nine and seriously damaged or destroyed at least 20 homes on the remote island of Socotra. 3 more people were killed the next day as the cyclone headed for the mainland.
(AP, 11/1/15)(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, The United States and its allies conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and seven in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Chicago Tyshawn Lee (9) was found shot dead in an alley in a South Side neighborhood. On Nov 27 gang member Corey Morgan (27) was charged with first degree murder. In 2016 Dwight Boone-Doty (22) was charged with first-degree murder for helping lure the boy into an alley with a juice box and then shooting him in the head.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A4)(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A4)(SFC, 3/9/16, p.A6)
2015 Nov 2, Albanian students at the Univ. of Tirana threw eggs at a car carrying PM Edi Rama, to protest against recent legislation that they say favors private over state-run universities.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull announced that Queen Elizabeth II had agreed to an Australian Cabinet recommendation to remove knights and dames from the Order of Australia.
(SFC, 11/3/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 2, In Bangladesh angry publishers burnt books and closed their businesses, in the third day of protests over the latest gruesome attacks on secular writers and publishers by suspected hardline Islamists.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, British actor and writer Colin Welland (81) died. He famously told Hollywood "the British are coming" when he won an Academy Award for "Chariots of Fire" in 1981.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza gave civilians five days to surrender any illegal weapons or face tough action by the police. 2 more bodies were discovered in Bujumbura. 9 people have been killed in gunfights with security forces since Oct 31.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, TransCanada asked the United States to suspend its review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in a move that might delay a decision until the US presidential election.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, China and France agreed to push for long-term monitoring of a UN accord to combat climate change due in Paris next month by reviewing cuts in greenhouse gas emissions every five years.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) charged in a damning report that Turkey's election was marred by a media crackdown, violence and other security concerns.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, A young French fisherman was among eight people arrested on suspicion of helping migrants cross the Channel to Britain in a high-speed inflatable boat. The fisherman had been smuggling migrants to Britain "for several months" on an inflatable Zodiac boat that could carry some 20 people at a time.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 2, Greece's islands were left without ferry links after the country's umbrella seamen's union launched a strike.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, Iran said it has begun shutting down uranium enrichment centrifuges under the terms of a deal struck with six world powers in July on limiting its nuclear program.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Iraq's parliament voted unanimously to bar the government from passing important reforms without its approval in an effort to curb PM Haider al-Abadi amid discontent over his leadership style.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Israel's lawmakers voted to impose a minimum three-year jail sentence on stone throwers. Judges would only be able to issue suspended sentences to stone throwers in exceptional circumstances.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Kashmir 2 Indian army soldiers were reported killed by Pakistani firing along the heavily militarized de facto border dividing Kashmir between the two countries.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Kosovo's Parliament voted overwhelmingly to ratify a stabilization and association agreement with the EU, considered a milestone for its economic growth. The opposition boycotted the voting.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Kyrgyzstan four parties jointly holding a majority in parliament agreed to establish a coalition and back incumbent PM Temir Sariyev, a move widely expected after the parties' success in the elections last month.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Lebanon 2 soldiers and six other people including two men wanted in connection with organized crime were killed in a shootout at a nightclub north of Beirut.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Nepalese police shot at ethnic protesters who attacked a police station with gasoline bomb and stones on the southern border, killing Ashish Kumar Ram, an Indian man who was among the attackers.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Northern Ireland's assembly voted in favor of same-sex marriage for the first time -- by just one vote -- but the ruling Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) sank the motion with a constitutional veto.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Pakistan banned all TV and radio coverage of Islamic militant groups, including the one suspected of carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and ordered broadcast outlets to stop running advertisements for the groups' charities.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, A Palestinian teen (19) from Hebron stabbed and wounded three Israelis near Tel Aviv before being arrested. Two of the victims were in severe condition. A Palestinian stabbed and wounded a 70-year-old man in northern Israel before being shot by officers.
(AP, 11/2/15)(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Puerto Rican Rep. Carlos Vargas Ferrer (44) hit a newspaper vendor after he lost control of his car early today, then crashed into a light pole in the San Juan suburb of Rio Piedras. The legislator soon died of his injuries.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Romanian prosecutors opened a criminal manslaughter investigation against the three owners of the Bucharest nightclub.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, Russia said its air force flew 131 sorties and hit 237 targets in Syria in the last two days.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, A Russian military court in the North Caucasus city of Rostov-on-Don jailed Gadzhi Magomedov for 17 years for allegedly fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria. Pres. Putin has said that up to 7,000 people from Russia and its former Soviet neighbors may be fighting for IS and that he does not want to see them returning to their native countries en masse.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Russian state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport said it is preparing a contract to supply Iran with S-300 missile systems.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Saudi Arabia’s local media reported that the government will raise the price of water for non-residential consumers, a sign the government is cutting back an expensive system of subsidies as low oil prices strain its finances.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Police in Sicily arrested 22 suspected mobsters after businesses, tired of paying the Mafia "protection" money, rebelled and contacted authorities.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, The Swiss government said the terrorism threat has increased this year, and police and intelligence services are now handling about 70 cases involving "jihadi-motivated terrorism."
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Turkish airstrikes hit shelters, underground bunkers and weapon emplacements belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in six locations in northern Iraq, including the Qandil mountains where the rebel leadership is based.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, The Vatican upheld the arrests of Spanish Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Italian laywoman Francesca Chaouqui. Both had served on a financial reform commission set up by Pope Francis as part of the probe into yet another leak of confidential information and documents.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Zimbabwe Sunday Mail editor Mabasa Sasa, investigations editor Brian Chitemba and reporter Tinashe Farawo were arrested after allegedly implicating an unnamed top police officer and other officials in recent fatal cyanide poisonings of more than 60 elephants by poachers.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 25 air strikes in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 3, US auto safety regulators fined Japan’s Takata Corp. $70 million for concealing evidence for years that its air bags are prone to explode. The defect was linked to 8 deaths and over 100 injuries worldwide.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.C2)
2015 Nov 3, The California Dept. of Public Health judged local Dungeness crab and rock crab, from Oregon to the southern border of Santa Barbara County, to be too toxic to eat just days before the Nov 7 start of the recreational crab season. On Nov 5 the state’s Fish and Game Commission voted to suspend the recreational Dungeness and rock crab fishing season due to a potentially deadly neurotoxin.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A1)(SFC, 11/6/15, p.A1)
2015 Nov 3, In San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee was easily re-elected for a 2nd full term. Voters also approved Prop A for a $310 million fund for affordable housing and Prop D for a high-rise district near AT&T Park.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A9, 10)
2015 Nov 3, In Kentucky Republican businessman Matt Bevin defeated Democrat Jack Conway to win the race for state governor.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 3, In Louisiana police officers serving a warrant in Marksville shot and wounded Chris Few and killed his son, Jeremy Mardis (6). Officers Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenshouse Jr. were arrested on Nov 6 and indicted on Dec 10.
(SFC, 11/7/15, p.A10)(SFC, 12/11/15, p.A10)
2015 Nov 3, It was reported that Chipotle has closed down 43 of its restaurants in Oregon and Washington states after at least 37 people were reported sickened in an outbreak of E. coli. This was the third food-borne illness at the chain this year.
(SFC, 11/3/15, p.D4)(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 3, Activision Blizzard, a video game company, acquired King Digital Entertainment for $5.9 billion in cash and stock.
(Econ, 11/7/15, p.61)
2015 Nov 3, In Bangladesh about 1,000 authors and teachers marched through the streets of Dhaka, asserting their right to free speech days after a suspected Islamist group attacked writers and publishers critical of religious militancy.
(Reuters, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, A British judge ordered a huge financial payout for Palestinian-born Janan Harb (68), who claims she was the "secret wife" of the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Harb had told the court she secretly married the king in 1968 when he was still a prince.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Banking group Standard Chartered said it is slashing 15,000 jobs worldwide and plans to raise $5.1 billion from shareholders through a rights issue as part of a major restructuring to shore up its financial position.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, President Xi Jinping said that China needs at least 6.5 percent economic growth in coming years to become "moderately prosperous." Premier Li Keqiang told visiting French President Francois Hollande that China has used up too much energy and too many resources in its quest for growth, adding it has a "duty to humanity" to clean itself up.
(AP, 11/3/15)(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Experts said that some fish species are close to extinction in the South China Sea due to over-fishing fueled by a growing appetite for seafood.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Volkswagen said it had understated carbon dioxide emissions for 800,000 cars, widening its scandal over cheating on US engine tests.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 3, Iranian media reported that authorities have arrested three pro-reform journalists, one of whom has been critical recently of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They included Issa Saharkhiz, Ehsan Mazandarani and Afarine Chitsaz.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Iran's semi-official news agency Fars said Col. Mostafa Ezzatollah Soleimani, an officer with the elite Revolutionary Guard force, had died in fighting in Syria's contested province of Aleppo.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, In Iraq Ahmad Chalabi (71), a prominent Iraqi politician, died in Baghdad of a heart attack. He became a Pentagon favorite when he helped convince the Bush administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2003 by pushing false allegations of weapons of mass destruction and links to al-Qaida.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, The Israeli military raided the Palestinian Al Hurria radio station in the West Bank and confiscated equipment it said was being used to broadcast calls to attack Israelis.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, In northwest Nepal a bus packed with passengers riding both inside and on its roof veered off a mountain road, killing 30 people and injuring 35 others.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, South African-based MTN Group said that the Nigerian Communications Commission is extending its operating license to 2021 at a cost of $94.2 million even as the company faces a multibillion-dollar fine there. Last week, the commission fined MTN $5.2 billion for failing to disconnect millions of unregistered cellphone subscribers.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, In northeastern Spain a river swelled by torrential downpours overflowed its banks inundating a nursing home and killing 4 elderly residents.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Syrian journalist Batoul Mokhles al-Warar was killed in a suburb of Damascus, amid clashes and shelling between government troops and rebel fighters.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it has confirmed 185 civilians killed in Russian airstrikes in the past month. It also reported and 131 IS fighters as well as 279 rebels not connected to IS killed in the Russian airstrikes. Air strikes by Russian warplanes on the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa killed 42 people, including 27 civilians.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A3)(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish police detained 44 suspects including high-ranking bureaucrats and police officers as part of a probe into supporters of a US-based cleric accused of plotting to bring down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish authorities arrested two editors of a political weekly on charges of inciting an armed uprising against the government for suggesting on the magazine's front page that the aftermath of Turkey's election would mark the start of a civil war.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish security forces backed by helicopters imposed a curfew in parts of a town in the largely Kurdish southeast, where three people were killed in clashes.
(Reuters, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Yemeni security officials said fighting between Shiite rebels and their opponents has killed over 33 people in the past 24 hours in Taiz.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, In Yemen Chapala was downgraded to a Category 1 cyclone as it hit the southeastern coastline. Heavy flooding was reported in parts of Mukalla.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 4, In central California student Faisal Mohammad (18) stabbed four people with a hunting knife at UC Merced before he was shot to death by campus police. The FBI later said he was inspired by the Islamic State Group but had acted alone.
(SFC, 11/5/15, p.A9)(SFC, 11/6/15, p.D9)(SFC, 3/18/16, p.D4)
2015 Nov 4, Melissa Mathison, screen writer and former wife (1983-2004) of Harrison Ford, died. Her work included the scripts for “the Black Stallion" (1979) and “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" (1982).
(SFC, 11/6/15, p.D7)
2015 Nov 4, It was reported that researchers from Beijing and California have found that mealworms are able to naturally biodegrade Styrofoam that would have otherwise sit in a landfill for more than a million years.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Afghanistan's president ordered a probe into the fatal stoning a week earlier of a young woman in a Taliban-controlled area after she was accused of adultery. The woman, identified as Rokhsana and believed to be aged between 19 and 21, had been forced to marry and was accused of adultery after she tried eloping with another man. The man she was eloping with was let off with a lashing.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Bahrain’s interior ministry said it had arrested 47 members of a group it said had ties to "terror elements in Iran" and was also plotting attacks.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Bangladesh an attack on a checkpoint near Dhaka left one police officer dead and another wounded. The Islamic State soonclaimed responsibility.
(SFC, 11/6/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 4, the Bosnian and Serbian governments held their first joint session since their conflict started 25 years during the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The two governments signed cooperation agreements on finding missing persons, telecommunications, protection of cultural heritage and sustainable development but announced this is just a beginning of a process of strengthening their relations.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Canada Justin Trudeau (43) was sworn in as the country’s 23rd prime minister in front of a packed crowd.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Egypt a suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives at the main gate of a police club in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 3 police and wounding 10 others in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Finland said it has suspended its decision-making process for Afghani asylum claims due to an ongoing assessment of the security situation in the country. It said it would also review EU practices and the possibility of returning people to Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, France said it will lift a ban on gay men giving blood, but only if they abstain from sex in the months beforehand, an exclusion denounced as discriminatory by rights groups.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Indian police said authorities have detained key separatist leaders and hundreds of their supporters to prevent them from holding a protest rally during a visit by PM Narendra Modi to Kashmir this weekend.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Indonesia thousands of tourists were stranded on three islands after ash from Mount Rinjani on Lombok Island forced the closure of airports and blanketed villages and farmlands.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, The Maldives declared a state of emergency for 30 days citing a threat to national security.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that growing, possessing and smoking marijuana for recreation is legal under the right to freedom.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Pakistan a factory building collapsed as a new floor was being added in an industrial area on the outskirts of Lahore, killing at least 37 workers and injuring dozens. 103 people were rescued from the rubble.
(AP, 11/4/15)(Reuters, 11/5/15)(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 4, A Palestinian driver ran over and injured an Israeli border policeman near the West Bank city of Hebron and was then killed by Israeli forces.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Romanian PM Victor Ponta announced the resignation of his government following huge protests in the wake of a nightclub fire that killed more than 30 people. The outgoing government approved an emergency ordinance to raise wages for staff in the state education sector by 15 percent from December.
(AP, 11/4/15)(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, A South Korean government commission said that the remains of nearly 2,750 people, believed to be Koreans who were forced to work in Japan in the WWII era, have been found.
(SFC, 11/5/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 4, In South Sudan a Russian-built Antonov-12 B turbo prop cargo plane with passengers on board crashed after taking off from the airport in Juba, killing at least 37 people. Officials said the plane belonged to freight and logistics firm Allied Services Ltd. and was not authorized to carry passengers.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 4, Syria's army recaptured the only road into the government-held side of Aleppo city from Islamic State group fighters. Rebels shot down a government MiG warplane with anti-aircraft fire in Hama province, forcing its pilot to eject. The pilot died after his parachute failed. Warplanes believed to be Russian carried out several air strikes on areas of the northwest that were included in a local ceasefire agreed by warring sides in September.
(AFP, 11/4/15)(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Tunisia 30 lawmakers from the ruling party suspended their membership and threatened to resign in protest over what they called attempts by President Beji Caid Essebsi's son to control the party.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a new constitution that would give him greater powers, heightening opposition fears over authoritarian rule.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Turkey 2 soldiers and 15 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were killed fighting near the village of Daglica by the Iraqi border. A 20-year-old man was shot dead in the town of Silvan, where authorities ordered a round-the-clock curfew in three neighborhoods for a second successive day
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 5, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 14 air strikes, and also hit the militant group with nine air strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 5, In Arkansas a charter bus ran off Interstate 40 and collided with a bridge, resulting in six dead and others injured. The bus was ferrying migrant farmworkers from Michigan to Texas as it ran off a highway and hit an overpass.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 5, The San Francisco Planning Commission approved plans for a $1 billion, 18,000 seat arena for the Golden State Warriors in the Mission Bay neighborhood.
(SFC, 11/6/15, p.A9)
2015 Nov 5, In Oklahoma some 1,000 barrels of crude oil spilled from a rural pipeline owned by magellan Midstream Partners.
(SFC, 11/7/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 5, In Washington DC controversial Russian media mogul Mikhail Lesin (57), who helped found the RT English-language television network, was found dead at the Dupont Circle Hotel. Lesin had amassed a fortune operating one of Russia's first advertising agencies and spent years as Vladimir Putin's media czar.
(AFP, 11/7/15)(SFC, 3/13/19, p.A7)
2015 Nov 5, Bahrain media reported that five citizens have been convicted of conspiring with Iran to carry out attacks inside Bahrain, sentenced to life imprisonment and stripped of their citizenship.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In southeastern Brazil a mudslide erupted from a reservoir of waste at the partly Australian-owned Samarco iron ore and minerals mine, ripping the roofs off houses in Bento Rodrigues, Minas Gerais state. 122 homes were buried in mud. At least 12 people were killed. Losses to municipalities were later estimated at 1.2 billion reais ($308 million), not considering the environmental problems.
(AFP, 11/6/15)(Reuters, 11/9/15)(SFC, 11/24/15, p.A2)(Reuters, 2/4/16)
2015 Nov 5, In Burundi some residents fled their neighborhood in Bujumbura after they found four bodies on the streets, part of a wave of killings associated with President Pierre Nkurunziza's re-election for a third term.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Egypt opened three tombs in the ancient city of Luxor to the public for the first time, hoping to spur interest in tourism despite the shadow of last weekend's airline crash in the Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, France announced it would deploy an aircraft carrier to boost its fight against the Islamic State group, which has seized control of large parts of Iraq and Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Greek ferries started operating again after the seamen's union called off rolling 48-hour strikes.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Kurdish militants scrapped a month-old ceasefire in Turkey, a day after President Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "liquidate" them.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In Lebanon 5 people were killed in a suicide attack in Arsal, a town along the border with Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Lithuanian police arrested Rimantas Bekintis (57) suspected of killing three elderly women and a social worker in a three-day stabbing spree in the rural village of Kraziai.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Maldives' Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach VP Ahmed Adeeb and said he will be charged with terrorism for plotting to kill the president.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, NATO's secretary-general sounded the alarm over the build-up of Russian military forces from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and called on the US-led alliance to come up with a response.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Niger said its air force has bombed a Boko Haram base in the country's southeast and arrested more than 20 militants, in its biggest counter-attack in eight months.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli at a junction in the occupied West Bank and was shot.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Russia sent a plane to rebel-controlled Yemen carrying what Moscow said was more than 20 tons of humanitarian aid for the conflict-torn country.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Syrian rebels, including jihadists, seized the last government-held town on the main highway between second city Aleppo and the city of Hama. Air strikes on the town on Albu Kamal on the Syrian border with Iraq killed 49 people, at least 31 of them civilians.
(AFP, 11/5/15)(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 5, Tanzania's new president John Magufuli was sworn in, promising to unite the country after a contested vote, create more jobs and drive up economic growth.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Thailand's junta launched a crackdown on organized crime, its latest effort to clean up the country and improve the image of the military government as it struggles to get a sluggish economy on track.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Thai authorities said police have cracked down on a sex ring that lured underage girls to work as prostitutes whose services were sold to high-ranking military officers, Buddhist monks and a variety of other officials.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Turkey, said it was planning to soon launch a military campaign against IS. Turkey shares an 800-km (500-mile) border with northern Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In southeastern Turkey 18 people were killed in clashes with the military, lifting this week's death toll to almost 40 in the mainly Kurdish area and dampening prospects for a ceasefire.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In Hanoi Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong agreed to limit their differences and maintain peace and stability, as the two Communist neighbors attempt to repair ties strained over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 6, President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, declaring it would have undercut US efforts to clinch a global climate change deal at the center of his environmental legacy.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, US and coalition warplanes carried out 20 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 6, The US military deployed six F-15C fighter jets to Turkey's southern Incirlik air base to help defend Turkish airspace against potential intruders.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Kentucky police Officer Daniel Ellis (33) died two days after he was ambushed and shot while searching an apartment for a robbery suspect. The attempted murder charge against Raleigh Sizemore Jr. (34) was upgraded to murder.
(SFC, 11/7/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 6, British drugmaker AstraZeneca said it had agreed to buy US group ZS Pharma, a specialist in treating high potassium levels linked to kidney disease.
(AFP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Bulgaria a man (28) stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death on the steps of a secondary school in Sliven, then wounded a teacher and another man before shooting and critically wounding himself.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Cambodia's defense minister said China has provided Cambodia with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, as the two countries agreed on new military aid to boost close ties.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Chinese state television reported that China and Vietnam have agreed to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea and not take any acts that "complicate" the issue.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, President Juan Manuel Santos apologized for Colombia's actions during a 1985 army raid on the Supreme Court in which nearly 100 people were killed after the building was taken hostage by guerrillas.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 6, Cuban leader Raul Castro received a warm welcome in Mexico as President Enrique Pena Nieto sought to end a diplomatic chill and boost business opportunities on the island.
(AFP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Germany's parliament voted to criminalize commercial euthanasia after rejecting draft laws that would have made assisted suicide fully legal in the country. German lawmakers passed a bill allowing assisted suicide for "altruistic motives" but banning the practice in cases where it is being conducted on a "business" basis.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Germany's flagship airline, Lufthansa, canceled 290 flights as cabin crew workers went on strike at Frankfurt and Duesseldorf airports.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Greenpeace said its registration to operate in India has been canceled. Tamil Nadu state, where it was registered, canceled the permit without giving the group a hearing. India began cracking down on foreign-funded charities last year after a government intelligence bureau report said economic growth was hurt when the groups rallied communities against polluting industries. On Nov 20 Greenpeace said a hold has been put on the ban to operate.
(AP, 11/6/15)(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Iraq three blasts in different parts of Baghdad killed at least 6 people and wounded 18.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a female Palestinian motorist (73) who the military said tried to run them over in the occupied West Bank. A knife-wielding assailant wounded an Israeli civilian. The attacker fled the scene and was being searched for. Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian Salame Abu Jamaa (23) during a protest east of Khan Yunis. Back to back shootings in Hebron wounded three Israelis.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)(SFC, 11/7/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 6, Toyota said it is investing $1 billion in a research company it's setting up in Silicon Valley to develop artificial intelligence and robotics, underlining the Japanese automaker's determination to lead in futuristic cars that drive themselves and apply the technology to other areas of daily life.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Mexican officials said authorities are investigating local security officials who put at least 105 unidentified victims of violent crime in a mass grave in central Mexico.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said all flights to Egypt will be suspended until proper security is in place there.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Senegal charged five people suspected of links to Nigerian militant group Boko Haram. The five were arrested last month in the suburbs of Dakar and the central town of Kaolak.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 6, Serbian police said they have arrested several drug and arms traffickers, as well as a fugitive suspect in this year's clashes between police and armed groups in Macedonia.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, A Saudi woman and a child were killed in the border region of Najran by a shell fired from Yemen.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, a Minnesota man and lawful permanent resident of the US but not an American citizen, surrendered to Somalia's federal government. He had joined al-Shabab in Somalia more than seven years ago.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Togo violence broke out in Mango, some 600 km (370 miles) north of Lome, when law enforcement officers tried to disperse an unauthorized march by a group that opposed plans to rehabilitate several protected areas.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 6, Turkish Airlines canceled flights to Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt on Friday and Saturday nights over security concerns.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, The Green Climate Fund (GCF), a multi-billion dollar fund set up by the United Nations to help poor countries tackle climate change, approved its first eight projects, a key step before a global climate summit starts on Nov 30.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, The UN warned that over 90,000 people in war-torn southern Somalia have been hit by weeks of severe flooding, almost half of them forced from their homes.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 6, In southern Yemen at least 19 people were killed in Saudi-led coalition air strikes and clashes between pro-government forces and rebels.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, The United States and its allies conducted 31 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 7, Donald Trump spent 90 minutes in the "SNL" spotlight followed weeks of growing anticipation, increasingly sharp criticism and mounting calls for him to be dropped from the show. Until this evening, just eight politicians had served as guest hosts in the NBC sketch comedy series' 40 years.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 7, A British official said Britain hopes to return all of its stranded tourists from Sharm al-Sheikh within 10 days.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, A magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck north-central Chile, causing buildings to sway in the capital of Santiago, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, China and Taiwan must not let proponents of Taiwan's independence split them, China's President Xi Jinping told Taiwan's president at the first meeting between leaders of the two sides since China's civil war ended in 1949. Hundreds of angry protesters massed outside Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou's office, condemning his warm exchange with China's leader in a summit in Singapore that has fueled fears the democratic island will be swallowed up by its giant rival.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, Estonia's flagship airline announced its bankruptcy after the European Union ruled it would have to pay back 85 million euros plus interest of state aid pumped into the struggling business to keep it flying. Authorities in Tallinn moved to absorb the shock by immediately setting up a new carrier to take over key routes.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 7, Cabin crew at Lufthansa staged a second day of strikes, forcing the German airline to cancel some 520 short- and medium-haul flights.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, The office of Guyana's president said it is developing a code of conduct for public officials that would bar them from excessive gambling and sexually harassing people and require them to report all gifts in excess of a $50.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Iraq bombs in and around Baghdad killed at least 9 people.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Israel Yitzhak Navon (94), who served as Israel's fifth president (1978-1983), died. He quit politics in 1992 and became a successful author and playwright.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said it will send 44 planes to repatriate its nationals from two Egyptian Red Sea resorts. Around 80,000 Russians were stranded in Egypt.
(AFP, 11/7/15)(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Spain thousands of people from all over the country converged on Madrid to march against domestic violence.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, The Islamic State group released 37 Syrian Christians, most of them women, who were among more than 200 people kidnapped in February. The Britain-based Observatory said at least 23 civilians, were killed in suspected Russian air strikes on rebel-held Douma, outside Damascus.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Thailand prominent fortuneteller Suriyan Sujaritpalawong, accused of insulting the monarchy, died of a blood infection at a military prison where he had been detained since mid-October. He became the second person in connection with the high-profile case to die behind bars.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Togo clashes between police and protesters over the past two days left five people dead.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, Turkmenistan media said President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ordered the start of construction on a pipeline carrying gas from the former Soviet state to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In western Venezuela a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck about 27 km (17 miles) from the city of Merida, knocking out power in some areas, damaging some buildings and triggering rockfalls that killed one man.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, The World Anti-Doping Agency said Russia had sabotaged the 2012 London Olympic Games by running a state-sponsored doping program.
(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A25)
2015 Nov 7, The World Health Organization said that Ebola-ravaged Sierra Leone had beaten an 18-month outbreak that killed almost 4,000 citizens and plunged the economy into severe recession.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 8, Afghan police said Islamic State militants have killed 7 people, including 3 women, in Zabul province. They had been abducted on Oct 1 from Rasani village in neighboring Ghazni province. The victims were members of the Hazara ethnic group.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Courts in Bangladesh sentenced six people to death for torturing and killing two young boys earlier this year. Samiul Islam Rajon (13) died in July after he was brutally beaten. Rakib Hawlader (12) died in August after his former employer at a car repair shop used a nozzle to pump air into his rectum and filled his body with air in retaliation for quitting his job.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Hundreds of Bulgarian policemen, firemen and prison guards protested against plans to slash their social benefits despite the center-right government's pledge to withdraw the proposed cuts.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Burundi gunmen at least 9 people were killed in an attack at a bar in Bujumbura hours before police launched house-to-house searches for weapons. Families were fleeing their homes in the capital, over fears the government will unleash a fresh wave of bloodletting as part of a crackdown to stamp out resistance to the president.
(AFP, 11/8/15)(SFC, 11/9/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 8, In Chad a twin suicide bombing by women attackers in the flashpoint area of Lake Chad killed at least 3 people and wounded 14 others.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In China air quality reached extremely hazardous levels in Shenyang as northern China began to burn coal to heat homes for winter.
(SFC, 11/9/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 8, Croatians voted in a general election with conservatives aspiring to return to power. The conservative opposition won the Balkan country's first parliamentary election since joining the European Union in 2013.
(AFP, 11/8/15)(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Egypt Ashraf Ali Hassanein Gharabli, a top commander of a local Islamic State affiliate, died in a firefight that erupted when police tried to arrest him in the El-Marg district of Cairo.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 8, In France more than 60 environment and energy ministers tasked with inking a global pact in December to rein in climate change, met in Paris seeking to narrow political rifts.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Indonesia an earthquake measuring 6.1 magnitude struck 107 km south of Sibolga, Sumatra.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Iran announced the appointment of its first woman ambassador since the 1979 Islamic revolution, naming foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham to head its embassy in Malaysia.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Libya two Serbian embassy employees were abducted.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Mexico unidentified assailants opened fire on an amateur soccer match on the outskirts of the Mexican Pacific Coast resort of Acapulco, killing 3 people.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 8, Myanmar held its first free nationwide election in 25 years. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was expected to win the largest share of votes cast by an electorate of about 30 million. The NLD won enough seats in Parliament to allow it to form Myanmar's first truly civilian government in more than half a century.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)(Reuters, 11/9/15)(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Nepal more than 70% of domestic flights were canceled due to fuel shortages as members of the Madhesi ethnic community continued to block the southern border with India in protest of the country’s new Constitution.
(SFC, 11/10/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 8, A Palestinian driver was shot dead after ramming his car into a bus stop near the Jewish settlement of Tapuach in the West Bank, injuring four people. A Palestinian woman stabbed a security guard near a West Bank settlement and was shot by the victim.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In northwestern Syria suspected Russian air strikes killed at least 11 civilians in two towns in Idlib province. At least 10 people were killed in government air strikes on a town held by the Islamic State group in Aleppo province. Another 4 people, including a child, were killed in rebel fire on the government-held area of Aleppo city.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Pope Francis told followers in St. Peter's Square that the theft of documents describing financial malfeasance inside the Holy See was a "crime" but pledged to continue reforms of its administration.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Yemeni medical sources and residents said more than 50 people were killed in the past two days in fighting pitting an Arab coalition against Houthi fighters backed by troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Yemen another cyclone made landfall on Socotra island. At least two people were killed and dozens injured.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 9, Pres. Obama met with Israeli PM Netanyahu at the White House. They reaffirmed their commitment to seeking Middle East peace.
(SFC, 11/10/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 9, The US Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a Texas judge’s injunction blocking the Obama administration’s immigration initiative until legal challenges to the program are resolved.
(SFC, 11/10/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 9, Carol Doda (b.1937), San Francisco’s world famous topless dancer, died.
(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A1)
2015 Nov 9, Timothy R. Johnson (53) of Georgia filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging arrest without probable cause and malicious persecution. In 2013 he was exonerated of the 1984 killing of Taressa Stanley for which he served 29 years in prison.
(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 9, The president of the Univ. of Missouri system and the head of its flagship campus resigned under student complaints that the 4-college system was unresponsive to racial slurs and other slights.
(SFC, 11/10/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 9, In NYC a Chinese collector snapped up Modigliani's "Nu Couche" or "Reclining Nude", painted in 1917-18, for $170.4 million, setting a new world record price at auction for the Italian artist in a bumper Christie's sale.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, Afghan officials said rival groups of Taliban militants have clashed in the southern province of Zabul, killing as many as 80 people in recent days.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs (85), whose works combined a love of color and texture with clear lines, mysticism and religious themes, died.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Chilean civil registry workers resumed work after a 39-day nationwide strike.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Congo DRC around 15 youth members of UNAFEC were arrested in Lubumbashi, including leader Kabulo Shimbe Zasou. The National Union of Federations of Congo was one of several parties expelled from the ruling coalition after voicing concern that President Joseph Kabila is seeking to cling to power beyond the end of his mandate in 2016.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, In France President Francois Hollande met with with Bolivian President Evo Morales, who approved buying a radar system from France that will be used to fight drug trafficking. Thales Air Systems will provide the equipment.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, French philosopher Andre Glucksmann (78) died. He bridged the intellectual worlds of Jean-Paul Sartre and Michel Foucault and was a towering fighter against totalitarianism.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Germany some 113,000 Lufthansa passengers were facing domestic and international cancellations due to all-day walkouts at three airports staged by a cabin crew union protesting cost cuts.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Jordan 2 Americans, one South African and 3 Jordanians were killed in a shooting incident at a police training center near Amman. The shooter was also killed.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Myanmar's ruling party conceded defeat in the general election as the opposition led by democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi appeared on course for a landslide victory that could ensure it forms the next government.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Russia announced that it has agreed to push on with a deal to deliver S-300 missile systems to Iran after Moscow halted an earlier agreement due to UN sanctions slapped on Tehran.
(AFP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air force flew 137 sorties and hit 448 targets in Syria in the last three days.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Pyotr Pavlensky, one of Russia's most radical political performance artists, was detained after setting fire to the main entrance to the headquarters of the FSB security service.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Sifiso Dabengwa, the CEO of South Africa-based MTN Group, Africa's biggest telecommunications company, resigned because of a $5.2 billion fine meted out to MTN Group's Nigerian subsidiary.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, Spanish police said they have seized more than 3,600 kg (4 tons) of hashish piled inside four luxury SUVs discovered in a warehouse in the southwestern Mediterranean coastal city of La Linea de la Concepcion.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Spain Catalonia's regional assembly voted in favor of a resolution to split from Spain.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Sri Lanka's law and order minister resigned after being accused of defending a private security company that is under investigation for allegedly running armories on ships.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Syria pro-government gunmen captured the village of Sheikh Ahmad in Aleppo province. The troops advanced under the cover of Russian and Syrian airstrikes.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In eastern Syria the French army bombed an oil supply center near Deir Ezzor held by the Islamic State group, targeting part of an oil distribution station and secondly a gas separation plant.
(AFP, 11/9/15)(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Turkey a taxi driver was killed and five other people, including a police officer, were wounded when security forces clashed with Kurdish militants in the southeastern town of Silvan.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Turkish media reported that anti-terrorist police have detained 38 foreigners, including women and children, who were reportedly seeking to join the Islamic State group in Syria. The suspects included nationals from Iraq, Iran, Indonesia and several central Asian nations.
(AFP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, The United Arab Emirates Air Force announced a $1.27-billion deal with Swedish defense giant Saab to purchase two surveillance planes and upgrade two others.
(AFP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Members of the UN cultural agency narrowly rejected Kosovo's bid for membership, in a victory for Serbia and Russia and a blow to Kosovo's mission for global recognition as a state.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 10, The United States and its allies conducted 11 strikes against Islamic State in Syria and 17 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 10, Federal and state officials said they will allow solar, wind and other renewable energy development on 400,000 acres of public lands in the California desert, while setting aside 5 million acres for conservation.
(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A1)
2015 Nov 10, Avowed white supremacist Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. was sentenced to death for the April 13, 2014, fatal shootings of 3 people at Jewish sites in Kansas.
(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A8)
2015 Nov 10, In Ohio a small jet crashed into a home and then an apartment building in Akron’s Ellet neighborhood killing all 9 people onboard.
(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A9)
2015 Nov 10, A Texas grand jury returned sweeping indictments for all 106 cases brought before them on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity following the deadly shootout between biker gangs outside a Waco Twin Peaks restaurant in May.
(CSM, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 10, Legendary New Orleans musician and composer Allen Toussaint (b.1938) died after suffering a heart attack following a concert in Spain. He penned such classics as "Working in a Coal Mine" (1966) and "Lady Marmalade" (1974).
(AP, 11/10/15)(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A14)(SFC, 9/22/21, p.C4)
2015 Nov 10, In Brazil 2 executives of the country’s second-biggest private bank were killed in a jet crash in Goias state. The unnamed pilot and co-pilot were also killed.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 10, British police arrested a former soldier for the Bloody Sunday killings in Londonderry in 1972, part of a probe aimed at healing the wounds of Northern Ireland's three decades of unrest.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Congo DRC police fired tear gas at hundreds of people armed with sticks and shovels protesting the arrest of several youth leaders in Lubumbashi.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Twenty Iraqis at a Czech detention center for migrants began a hunger strike amid fears of being sent back home. By Nov 12 the number had grown to 60.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 10, The EU accused Ankara of backsliding on rule of law, rights and the media and urged it to react swiftly, in a sensitive report on Turkey's candidacy for the bloc that Brussels had delayed until after elections.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In France riot police and migrants camped near the port of Calais clashed in overnight violence that aid workers said reflects the growing frustration of refugees' inability to smuggle themselves aboard trucks and trains bound for England.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In Germany Helmut Schmidt (96), former West German chancellor (1974-1982), died at his home in Hamburg. He had guided West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions, stood firm against a wave of homegrown terrorism and became a respected elder statesman.
(AP, 11/10/15)(Econ, 11/14/15, p.94)
2015 Nov 10, Iran state media reported that the dismantling of centrifuges in two uranium enrichment plants has stopped, days after conservative lawmakers complained to President Hassan Rouhani that the process was too rushed.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In Iraq attacks in different parts of Baghdad killed at least 10 civilians.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Israeli security guards shot dead a Palestinian who ran towards them with a knife near Jerusalem's Old City, shortly after two Palestinian boys, aged 12-13, stabbed a guard on a tram nearby. One boy was seriously wounded. Police said the other was taken into custody.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Italy arrested 41 people after uncovering a criminal ring that charged people thousands of euros for illegal entry to the country to work in circuses.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Kurdish rebels detonated a bomb on a road in southeast Turkey, wounding six soldiers riding inside an armored military vehicle. 3 policemen were killed when PKK militants detonated an improvised explosive device on a road near the town of Silopi, in Sirnak province.
(AP, 11/10/15)(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 10, Dutch electronics giant Philips announced the inking of a multi-million-euro contract with Canada's Mackenzie Health to install and run a raft of state-of-the-art hospital equipment over the next 18 years.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In Nigeria police in Port Harcourt fired shots and teargas to disperse hundreds of pro-Biafra supporters as they marched for the release of a key activist.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In Portugal antiausterity lawmakers forced the center-right government to resign by rejecting its policy proposals at the start of what was supposed to be a second consecutive term in office.
(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 10, In Romania former EU agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos was appointed as the new prime minister, following the resignation last week of Victor Ponta after mass anti-government protests sparked by a deadly nightclub fire.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, President Vladimir Putin said Russia will counter NATO's US-led missile defense program by deploying new strike weapons capable of piercing the shield.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Russia rejected explosive accusations of doping and corruption and promised a rapid response to avoid suspension from the 2016 Olympics due to the scandal that threatens to spread far beyond the borders of Russia and athletics.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Slovenia outlined plans to build "obstacles", potentially including fences, on its border with Croatia, as it braced for a new spike in migrants bound for northern Europe this week.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Syrian army troops reached the northern Kweires air base in Aleppo province, breaking a nearly two-year siege by insurgents on the facility. At least 100 soldiers and fighters were killed in just over 24 hours of fierce fighting as pro-government forces reached the Kweires airbase. At least 22 people were killed in mortar fire on the coastal city of Latakia. One person was killed and five wounded in a mortar attack on residential areas of Damascus. Another 4 people, including a child, were killed in government rocket fire on Douma.
(AFP, 11/10/15)(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 10, In the first major commercial deal at the Dubai Airshow Airbus and Vietnamese air carrier Vietjet announced a deal for 30 new aircraft easily worth over $3 billion at list prices.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 11, The United States announced rewards worth a total $27 million for information on six top commanders in the Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Chipotle began reopening restaurants in Oregon and Washington states following a recent E. coli outbreak.
(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 11, In Afghanistan about 10,000 people marched in Kabul to demand justice for the Hazara Shite minority and calling on the government to do more to ensure the nation's security or step down.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Afghanistan Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was reportedly lured into a trap and killed by members of the main Taliban group in the Khak-e-Afghan district of southeastern Zabul province.
(AP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Bangladesh a baby girl was born with two heads. Initial tests showed she only has one set of vital organs.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 11, The world's top brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev clinched a gigantic $121-billion deal for its nearest rival SABMiller, in the third biggest takeover in global corporate history. The combined company will be headquartered in Belgium.
(AFP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Chinese Internet users spent billions of dollars in the planet's biggest online shopping splurge, as "Singles’ Day" hit new heights, despite slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.
(AFP, 11/11/15)(Econ, 11/12/16, p.61)
2015 Nov 11, The Mekong-Lancang Cooperation forum (China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) was created by China to promote sustainable development and boost the quality of life for the millions of people living in the Mekong subregion. The forum was seen as a rival to the Mekong River Commission, which has existed for more than 60 years but excludes China and Myanmar.
(http://tinyurl.com/y88vgs57)(AP, 1/10/18)
2015 Nov 11, Danish brewer Carlsberg says it will slash 2,000 jobs, or about 15 percent of its white-collar work force, after posting a 4.5 billion kronor ($650 million) loss in the third quarter.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, The European Union backed the labelling of products from Israeli settlements, sparking fresh tensions with a furious Israel, which said the move could harm the peace process with the Palestinians.
(AFP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, German public radio station rbb-Inforadio reported that the country's foreign intelligence agency spied on the FBI and U.S. arms companies, adding to a growing list of targets among friendly nations the agency allegedly eavesdropped on. The station claimed that the BND also spied on the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the WHO, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and even a German diplomat who headed an EU observer mission to Georgia from 2008 to 2011.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Mexico gun battle between Mexican soldiers and gunmen in the border city of Reynosa resulted in the deaths of four bystanders, after a military vehicle took a spray of gunfire and crashed into a taco stand.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 11, Myanmar President Thein Sein congratulated democratic champion Aung San Suu Kyi, as her party appeared to have trounced the ruling camp in the first free election in 25 years and inched towards an absolute majority in parliament.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Dozens of Palestinians were wounded in West Bank clashes with Israeli soldiers on the anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Poland thousands of flag-waving nationalists marched through Warsaw with an anti-migrant message as they mark Independence Day, a holiday marred by violence in recent years.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Qatar reported its first casualty in the conflict in Yemen saying that one of its soldiers was killed fighting with a Saudi-led coalition against Shiite rebels there.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air force flew 85 sorties and hit 277 terrorist targets in Syria in the last two days.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Serbia's PM Aleksandar Vucic said his country is donating 5 million euros ($5.4 million) to rejuvenate the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Slovenia started erecting a razor wire fence along parts of its border with Croatia amid heavy security.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, South African anti-riot police fired stun grenades to disperse scores of striking parliamentary workers demanding higher pay outside the assembly building in Cape Town.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Spain's government filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court, aimed at blocking an independence drive by the Catalan regional assembly and preserving Spanish national unity. The Constitutional Court halted a push by Catalan lawmakers to set a road map toward independence by 2017.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 11, In Switzerland the 12.03-carat “Blue Moon" diamond was auctioned in Geneva for a record $48.5 million.
(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 11, Syrian opposition figures and Gulf commentators dismissed a Russian draft proposal for a process to solve the Syrian crisis, saying Moscow's aim was to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and marginalize dissenting voices.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Turkey a soldier was killed in a clash with Kurdish militants in the town of Silvan, in Diyarbakir province. PKK rebels detonated a car bomb on a road in the town of Dargecit, Mardin province, as an armored police vehicle was passing by. The explosion killed a road-sweeper and wounded a police officer.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, A wooden boat carrying dozens of migrants sank off the Turkish coast, killing 14 people including 7 children.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Ukraine said a soldier has been killed and five others wounded in separatist attacks in eastern Ukraine and that a rise in violence is threatening the region's delicate truce.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, A UN conference agreed to dedicate part of the radio spectrum to a global flight tracking system, to avoid a repeat of the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in March last year.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 12, A US attack in the Syrian town of Raqqa reportedly killed Mohammed Emwazi, aka British Islamic State leader "Jihadi John." The air strike resulted from a combined effort between Britain and the United States.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 12, In San Francisco police deputies from Alameda County beat Stanislav Petrov (29) with batons in a Mission district alley following a chase from Castro Valley where Petrov rammed two patrol cruisers in a stolen car. Petrov suffered broken bones and serious head injuries. Deputies Paul Wieber and Luis Santamaria were allowed to alter their original reports after they and their attorneys viewed surveillance video of the beating. Auto theft suspect Petrov was arrested on April 1 as police raided a SF house in Visitacion Valley, where a man was shot dead earlier in the day. On August 1, 2016, Petrov filed a federal lawsuit alleging violation of his civil rights. On Dec 16 Alameda Deputies Wieber and Santamaria were fired. On April 28, 2017, Petrov settled his suit for $5.5 million.
(SFC, 3/31/16, p.A1)(SFC, 4/2/16, p.C1)(SFC, 8/2/16, p.C1)(SFC, 12/17/16, p.C1)
2015 Nov 12, In NYC two nephews of Venezuela's first lady appeared in court charged with conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the US. They were arrested in Haiti on Nov 10 by local police, handed over to US agents and flown the same day to New York.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, In NYC mobster Vincent Asaro (80) threw his hands into the air and shouted "Free," grinning as he walked out of a courthouse following his surprising acquittal on charges he helped plan the legendary 1978 Lufthansa heist retold in the hit Mafia film "Goodfellas."
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 12, Austrian police said 12 members of a human trafficking gang, many of whose victims were from Afghanistan and Syria, have been arrested and international warrants issued for another five.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, The Brazilian government said its environmental protection agency has fined Volkswagen $13 million over the automaker's emissions cheating scheme.
(AP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Colombia's justice minister said the country plans to legalize the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Colombian courts had already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. The new rules will allow for commercial production.
(AP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Police announced a swoop on a European jihadist network that was allegedly planning to kidnap diplomats and carry out attacks to try to spring its leader out of detention in Norway. Seventeen arrest warrants were issued and 13 people were detained in Britain, Italy and Norway.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer in humans. It nevertheless proposed limits on the amount of residue of the weedkiller widely used by farmers deemed safe to consume.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Finland became the first country in the world to give a construction license for a permanent underground nuclear waste repository. It approved Posiva Oy's plan to construct a spent nuclear fuel encapsulation plant and disposal facility at the island of Olkiluoto. Up to 6,500 tons of uranium may be deposited in the facility.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, German police found the bodies of 8 babies in an apartment in Wallenfels, Bavaria. A woman (45) was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of four of her newborn babies. On July 20, 2016, the Coburg state court sentenced the woman, whose name was not released, to 14 years in prison.
(AFP, 11/13/15)(AP, 7/20/16)
2015 Nov 12, In Greece over 20,000 people demonstrated against fresh spending cuts in Athens, with a brief flare-up of violence marking the first general strike against the leftist government of Alexis Tsipras who came to power on an anti-austerity ticket.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Haitians angered by a series of rapes and robberies in Port-au-Prince burned alive a man early today they suspected of criminal connections in an upscale suburb of the capital.
(AFP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 12, Israeli undercover forces raided a hospital in the West Bank, shooting dead a Palestinian during an attempt to detain another man suspected of carrying out a stabbing. The raid was carried out to detain Azzam al-Shalalda (27) who was suspected of stabbing an Israeli settler two weeks ago in the West Bank.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Kenya's Journalists for Justice said Kenyan forces fighting militants in Somalia are taking cuts from charcoal and sugar smuggling, earning themselves about $50 million a year and boosting an illegal trade that helps fund the Islamists.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Kurdish peshmerga forces started clearing parts of the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar and have established positions along an Islamic State supply route between its two main strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, In Lebanon a twin suicide attack struck a Shiite suburb in southern Beirut, killing at least 43 people and wounded over 240. The Islamic State claimed this as its first attack in the country.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)(Econ, 12/5/15, p.49)
2015 Nov 12, The Islamic State released a Russian-language video threatening attacks in Russia "very soon".
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Sweden reinstated border controls in a bid to gain control over the massive influx of migrants arriving in the country, without blocking the steady flow of asylum seekers.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Ukraine's parliament finally banned discrimination against gays in the workplace during a heated session on legislation that could open the door to visa-free travel to much of the EU in 2016.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, In southern Yemen Saudi-led coalition air strikes and attacks by pro-government forces killed at least 24 rebels, where the insurgents have been pushing to regain lost ground.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 13, The United States said it had designated Turkey’s prisoner Maghomed Maghomedzakirovich Abdurakhmanov (41) a terrorist, triggering sanctions and penalties. Turkish authorities had recently sentenced him to prison for belonging to a terrorist organization.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, The US Treasury Department said it has blacklisted North Korea's ambassador to Myanmar for alleged involvement in illegal weapons trade.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 20 air strikes, and also hit the militant group with seven air strikes in Syria.
(AP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 13, The US Postal Service reported a $5.1 billion loss for the just-completed 2015 fiscal cycle, a slight improvement over last year.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, US presidential candidate Ben Carson recommended praying for rival Donald Trump after the real-estate mogul and television personality, in a 95-minute rant in Iowa, likened him to a child molester.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 13, Michigan woman Lois Janish of Flint (75) was sentenced to at least nine years in prison for the 1998 death of her granddaughter, whose remains have never been found. Coral Hall (14) disappeared in 1998 after using a pay phone near a Flint tavern.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A new lung cancer pill from AstraZeneca , designed for patients whose disease has worsened after treatment with other therapies, won early US approval, in a boost for the British drugmaker.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, Austria announced it would erect a 3.7-km (2.3-mile) metal fence along its border with Slovenia, in a new blow to the EU's cherished open-border Schengen accord.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A British judge sentenced Nathan Matthews to at least 33 years in prison for murdering and dismembering Becky Watts (16), his teenage stepsister. His girlfriend, Shauna Hoare, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for her role in the killing.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A Cambodian court issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Sam Rainsy in connection with an old defamation case as tension rises between Sam Rainsy and PM Hun Sen.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Central African Republic an officials said at least 22 people were killed in a string of raids on villages this week.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In China a torrent of mud and rocks unleashed by heavy rains buried nearly 30 homes in a village in Zhejiang province. 4 people were confirmed dead soon after the landslide. The death toll from a landslide soon rose to 21 people with 16 others still missing.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 13, Colombia said it plans to legalize medical marijuana in a further shift in drug policy after suspending aerial fumigation of illicit crops. Current law allows possession of up to 20 grams of marijuana or 20 marijuana plants for personal use.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 13, In France eight gunmen and bombers attacked restaurants, the Bataclan theater and a sports stadium in Paris, killing 129 people in what a shaken President Francois Hollande called an unprecedented terrorist attack. Seven gunmen, all of whom were wearing suicide vests packed with explosives, died in the multiple assaults. The first to be identified was named as Ismael Omar Mostefai, a 29-year-old who lived in the city of Chartres, southwest of Paris. Two others were later named as Samy Amimour (28) and Brahim Abdeslam. The death toll rose to 130 on Nov 20 as one of the wounded succumbed to injuries. Foued Mohamed-Aggad (23) was later identified as one of three Islamist gunmen who killed 90 people at the Bataclan. French jihadist Fabian Clain later voiced a recording claiming the attacks.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)(Reuters 11/15/15)(AP, 11/20/15)(Reuters, 12/9/15)(Econ, 11/21/15, p.21)(Reuters, 2/21/19)
2015 Nov 13, The International Criminal Court at The Hague cut a 12-year prison term imposed on Congolese militia leader Germain Katanga for a brutal attack on a village, saying he would be freed in January after he had voiced regret for his actions.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, An Indian man threw acid at a 23-year-old Bulgarian woman after she reportedly spurned his marriage offer in Varanasi.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, An Indonesian court late sentenced Hong Kong drug lord Wong Chi-ping to death for smuggling 860 kg (1,900 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine into Indonesia earlier this year.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, Iraq's military said its forces had advanced on three fronts to begin clearing Islamic State militants from the western city of Ramadi. A suicide bomber struck a Baghdad memorial service for a Shiite militia fighter killed in battle against the Islamic State group, killing 26 people.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Iraq Kurdish peshmerga forces backed by US air strikes seized the Iraqi town of Sinjar from Islamic State.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Libya a US air strike targeted Abu Nabil al-Anbari, aka Wisam al Zubaidi, a leadr of the local Islamic State affiliate. Pentagon officials believe that Anbari was killed in the strike.
(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 13, Mali's army arrested Alaye Bocari, a leading financial backer of an Islamist militant group responsible for an expansion of deadly attacks in the country.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 13, Norway said its police, who had been authorized to carry firearms for the past year due to a heightened threat of Islamist attacks, will be unarmed again now that the threat level has been lowered.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A Palestinian gunman killed an Israel father and his son near the Jewish settlement of Otneil in the southern West Bank. In Hebron Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian involved in stone-throwing clashes. A 2nd Palestinian was killed in clashes near Ramallah.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)(SFC, 11/14/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 13, Poland’s Pres. Andrzej Duda officially designated Beata Szydlo from the right-wing Law and Justice Party as the new prime minister.
(SFC, 11/14/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 13, Russia said it has banned incoming flights by Egypt's state-owned airline effective as of Nov 14.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, Russia said its air force flew 107 sorties and hit 289 terrorist targets in Syria on November 11-12.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In South Africa student protesters won the right to be taught in English at Stellenbosch University, the intellectual home of Afrikaners during apartheid.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In South Korea eight men took the government to court after spending years as slaves on salt farms on rural islands off the southwest coast. Some were enslaved for as many as twenty years.
(SFC, 11/14/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 13, In Suriname Romano Meriba (31), a foster son of President Desi Bouterse, was arrested for his alleged ties to a gang involved in a botched armed robbery that resulted in two people being killed and five wounded.
(AP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Tunisia Islamist militants beheaded a teenager in the central province of Sidi Bouzid and sent his head to his family after accusing him of spying for the military.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 13, Turkish officials said 14 people have been killed in clashes between Kurdish rebels and security forces days before a G-20 summit in Turkey.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A Ukrainian helicopter crashed in eastern Slovakia, killing 6 people.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Yemen A bomb exploded during midday prayers at a mosque frequented by Houthi supporters in the northwestern Mahwit region, killing several worshippers and wounding others in Shibam.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 14, In Indiana Lonny Jordan Hatland (20), a reserve officer with the Muncie Police Department, was arrested for sexually and physically assaulting a juvenile girl and coercing her into having sex with other men.
(AP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 14, In Baltimore, Ma., the number of homicides for the year reached 305.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.30)
2015 Nov 14, In Afghanistan Helmand Governor Mirza Khan Rahimi said at least 65 Afghan soldiers have defected to the Taliban, taking their weapons and equipment with them and 88 have been killed in days of heavy fighting in the southern province.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, In Afghanistan a drone strike in Nangarhar province killed 12 Taliban. The dead included 3 Afghans and 9 foreigners. When Afghan officials refer to foreigners they usually mean Pakistanis.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 14, Costa Rica said it was giving temporary visas to a group of about 1,000 stranded, penniless Cubans, telling them they had one week to cross the country and continue their journey toward the United States.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 14, In France a high-speed train derailed into the Marne au Rhin canal during a test run near Strasbourg. At least 11 people were killed and 5 were missing.
(AFP, 11/15/15)(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 14, The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in Paris that killed 127 people.
(AP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, Israeli troops razed the West Bank homes of four Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis, pressing ahead with a controversial policy of punitive demolitions after weeks of deadly unrest. In Hebron 19 Palestinians were hospitalized after being shot in clashes with Israeli security forces.
(AFP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, In South Korea tens of thousands marched in central Seoul with diverse grievances against the government. Police detained at least 50 people.
(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 14, In Spain some 10,000 personnel of the Civl Guard marched in Madrid demanding better employment conditions and workers’ rights.
(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 14, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that French policy had contributed to the "spread of terrorism" that culminated in attacks claimed by the Islamic State group which killed 128 people in Paris.
(AFP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, Syria's al Qaeda offshoot, the Nusra Front, said it had captured three Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, Turkish security forces killed 4 suspected IS militants near the Syrian border in the southeastern province of Gaziantep.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 15, The US Pentagon said five men who have been held for more than 13 years at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been released and sent to the United Arab Emirates. Their release brings the Guantanamo prison population to 107.
(AP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, P.F. Sloan (b.1945), singer and songwriter, died at his home in Los Angeles. His songs included “Eve of Destruction" (1965).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._F._Sloan)
2015 Nov 15, In Oakland, Ca., police officers shot dead Richard Perkins Jr. (39) as he carried a toy gun. Surveillance video later showed that Perkins had complied with police commands and never raised the pistol. On August 1, 2016, Perkins’ family filed a federal suit against the city of Oakland.
(SFC, 8/2/16, p.C2)
2015 Nov 15, Author Stephen Birmingham (b.1929) died at his home in New York. He authored some 30 books, almost all of which were about the super-wealthy including “Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York" (1967).
(SFC, 11/25/15, p.D10)
2015 Nov 15, In Texas 2 bodies were found at a campsite in Anderson County near the home of suspect William Hudson (33). 4 more bodies were found a day later in a pond on Hudson’s property.
(SFC, 11/16/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 15, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of foreign forces just outside Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, killing one civilian and wounding 12 others.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, A Bahrain court ordered 12 Shiites to life in prison and stripped them of their citizenship on charges of forming a terrorist group and targeting police with explosive devices for incidents that took place in 2013 and 2014.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Seven people were detained in Belgium in connection with the Nov 13 deadly attacks in Paris as the city entered three days of mourning for the 129 people killed in the worst violence in France in decades.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Brazil ice vendor Fabiano Machado da Silva (33) was killed by a crowd of ten people in the Ipanema neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 15, Cynthia Payne (82), British brothel-keeper, died.
(Econ, 11/28/15, p.82)
2015 Nov 15, In Egypt 15 Sudanese migrants, about to illegally enter Israel from the Sinai Peninsula, were killed as they were caught up in the crossfire of a gun battle between Egyptian security forces and Bedouin smugglers.
(AP, 11/15/15)(SFC, 11/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 15, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that authorities have arrested administrators of more than 20 groups on the messaging app Telegram for spreading "immoral content", the latest detentions in a clampdown on freedom of expression.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Iranian police warned that women who fail to wear the veil when driving will have their cars impounded for a week and are likely to be fined.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Israel’s Shin Bet security service said a Palestinian suspect has been arrested in the Nov 13 drive-by shooting that killed 2 Israelis.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Israel approved the entry of some 9,000 Ethiopians known as Falash Mura who claim Jewish lineage, ending decades of debate on whether to allow their immigration despite uncertainty over their right to settle in the Jewish state.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, Kurdish forces said they uncovered two mass graves outside Sinjar, a northern Iraqi town near the Syrian border that was ruled by the Islamic State group for more than a year before the extremists were driven out last week. The first grave uncovered contained 78 elderly women's bodies. The second grave contained between 50 and 60 bodies of men, women and children.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Lebanon’s interior minister said nine people, mostly Syrians, have been arrested over last week's Beirut bombings that killed 44 people, an attack whose original target was a hospital.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Mexico said it has extradited top drug trafficker Cesar Gastelum Serrano (47) to the United States, where he is accused of running a network that smuggles tons of cocaine into the US via Central America.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Nicaragua said thousands of Cubans forced their way into its territory from Costa Rica, accusing its southern neighbor of "deliberately and irresponsibly" flooding it with US-bound migrants.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Romania 3 handball players from the CSU Targoviste men's team died and 11 were injured when the bus they were traveling in was hit by a truck.
(AP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Syria coalition strikes destroyed 116 fuel trucks used by the jihadist group near Albu Kamal, an IS-held town in Deir Ezzor province on the border with Iraq. French raids hit the IS stronghold of Raqa. A coalition strike destroyed 116 jihadists' oil trucks. 11 pro-government forces were killed and 45 were wounded when rebels, including Islamists, attacked them in Aleppo city. Warplanes believed to be Russian carried out 40 air strikes, including on the ancient city of Palmyra.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Syria Abu Ali al-Baridi, the leader of Al-Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade, a militant Syrian faction that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed along with two other leaders in a suicide attack by rival jihadists of al-Nusra.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Five Tanzanian gold miners were rescued after spending 41 days trapped deep underground eating cockroaches and frogs to survive. One of the miners died during the incarceration underground following the Oct 5 collapse.
(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Tunisia at least 3 Islamist militants and a Tunisian soldier were killed in clashes in the central Kasserine province, near the Algerian border.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Turkey a suicide bomber opened fire on police and then blew himself up during their raid on a suspect Islamic State militant hideout near the border with Syria, injuring five police officers.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Speaking at a G20 leaders summit in Turkey US President Barack Obama vowed to step up efforts to eliminate Islamic State in Syria and prevent it from carrying out attacks like those in Paris, while European leaders urged Russia to focus its military efforts on the radical Islamists. Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for UN-sponsored peace talks and a ceasefire to resolve years of war in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 16, US officials said the State Department has approved the sale of thousands of smart bombs worth a total of $1.29 billion to Saudi Arabia to help replenish supplies used in its battle against insurgents in Yemen and air strikes against Islamic State in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, Indiana Gov. Michael Pence suspended the resettlement of Syrian refugees three days after the terror attacks in Paris. As many as 30 other Republican governors and one Democrat soon made similar moves. On Feb 29, 2016, a federal judge ruled the Gov. Pence’s order to cut federal funds for the resettlement of Syrian refugees in his state was unconstitutional. On March 8 Indiana filed an appeal.
(Econ, 3/19/15, p.30)
2015 Nov 16, In Minnesota Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man, died after he was shot by Minneapolis police a day earlier. Community activists said he was unarmed, handcuffed and shot in the head. The officers were later identified as Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze. On March 30, 2016, it was announced that the police officers would not be charged.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A8)(YahooNews, 11/18/15)(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A8)(CSM, 3/31/16)
2015 Nov 16, Marriott Int’l. Inc. agreed to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. in a $12.2 billion deal creating the world’s largest lodging company.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.D1)
2015 Nov 16, In Burundi three grenades exploded in different parts of the capital following a night of violence in which 5 people, including a policeman, were killed. 60 injured people were treated after suffering injuries in grenade explosions.
(AP, 11/16/15)(AP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 16, In Cambodia opposition leader Sam Rainsy was stripped of his lawmaker status and parliamentary immunity, paving the way for his arrest in connection with a defamation case. Rainsy was on a visit to South Korea.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 16, Egypt said its security forces have shot dead 24 militants belonging to the country's Islamic State affiliate in central Sinai, 70 km from the crash site of a Russian passenger plane the group claimed it brought down.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, French police raided homes of suspected Islamist militants across the country overnight arresting 23 people. Investigators identified Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national living in Syria, as the possible mastermind behind the Nov 13 attacks in Paris.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 16, Islamic State warned in a new video that countries taking part in air strikes against Syria would suffer the same fate as France, and threatened to attack in Washington.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, Israeli forces shot dead 2 Palestinians, ages 21 and 28, when heavy clashes erupted during an operation to destroy the West Bank home of Muhammad Abu Shaheen, a Palestinian who the army says fatally shot an Israeli motorist this summer.
(AFP, 11/16/15)(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 16, In Somalia at least 7 people were killed and 12 others wounded when a gunfight broke out between rival security forces as they waited for cards for food aid just outside Mogadishu.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, Yemeni loyalists and Saudi-led coalition forces launched an offensive to retake the key battleground province of Taez from Iran-backed rebels. Saudi-led airstrikes and clashes killed some 40 Shiite rebels and their allies over the past 24 hours. 25 pro-Hadi fighters were killed in an ambush laid for them by Houthi and Saleh forces at the Bab al-Mandeb. 20 Houthi fighters were killed in fighting and coalition air strikes. A family of 8 were killed in an air strike on Taiz.
(AFP, 11/16/15)(AP, 11/16/15)(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 16, Zimbabwe media said the government has passed new regulations ordering some 300,000 beneficiaries of President Robert Mugabe's controversial land reforms to pay annual rent and levies.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 17, President Barack Obama announced that the US will hand over two ships to the Philippine Navy to boost its maritime security capabilities, in a bid to show the US and its allies won't be cowed by China in disputed waters far off its coast.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State conducted 16 air strikes in Iraq and 13 in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, House Speaker Paul Ryan called for a pause in Syrian refugees coming to the US in the wake of the Paris attacks and said the House will vote on the issue this week.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, More than 100 flights were canceled at Denver International Airport early as a powerful storm system dropped snow over the Rocky Mountains.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, It was reported that Charles F. Feeney (84), the billionaire founder of Atlantic Philanthropies, has donated $177 million to UCSF to create program to address Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A1)
2015 Nov 17, UCSF said entrepreneur Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster, has donated $10 million to create research center to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes in five years.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.C1)
2015 Nov 17, Pennsylvania-based Education Management Corp. agreed to pay $96 million to settle claims it illegally paid recruiters based on the number of students they enrolled. Five states had participated in four lawsuits.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A12)
2015 Nov 17, In Washington state 3 people were killed and about 360,000 homes and businesses in the Seattle-area were without power as a storm packing powerful winds downed trees and triggered mudslides.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A8)
2015 Nov 17, Bosnian authorities arrested a police commissioner, a lawyer and a third Muslim Bosnian suspected of having committed crimes against Bosnian Serb civilians during the 1992-95 war.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Finance minister George Osborne said British spies are building elite cyber offensive forces to strike at Islamic State fighters, hackers and hostile powers.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, A British couple was found guilty of keeping a Nigerian immigrant enslaved for more than two decades, forcing him to work for no pay and threatening him with deportation if he tried to escape. Emanuel Edet (61) and Antan Edet (58) held their victim captive from the time he was brought to Britain when he was 14 years old.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, Chinese state media said police have arrested 98 people connected to online gambling networks that handled $78 billion in bets. Police in the southern provinces of Hunan and Guangdong have shut down 12 "gambling dens" since July, but only now announced the arrests.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Egypt said it would take into account Russia's conclusion that a bomb brought down a passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula on Oct 31, but its investigation had so far found no evidence of criminal action.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, France made an unprecedented demand that its EU allies support its military action against the Islamic State group. EU nations unanimously backed the French request. French police named two of the Nov 13 French attackers as Ismael Omar Mostefai, 29, from Chartres, southwest of Paris, and Samy Amimour, 28, from the Paris suburb of Drancy.
(AP, 11/17/15)(Reuters, 11/17/15)(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, France and Russia staged air strikes on Islamic State targets in northern Syria, punishing the group for the Nov 13 attacks in Paris and against a Russian airliner on Oct 31 that together killed 353 people.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, German police arrested two more people in connection with the Nov 13 Paris attacks, bringing to seven the total number of arrests linked to the deadly events.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Greece struck a deal with European creditors on economic measures it needs to make to get its next batch of bailout money.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, A plastic boat carrying migrants capsized in the eastern Aegean Sea near the Greek island of Kos, killing at least 9 people including 4 children.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, In Greece a magnitude 6.5 earthquake off the western coast killed 2 elderly women.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, An Indian army colonel was killed by suspected militants who fired automatic rifles from the forest in the Indian portion of Kashmir.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Ireland celebrated its first gay marriages, six months after voters overwhelmingly chose to legalize the practice.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Israel banned the radical northern wing of the Islamic Movement, with the government accusing it of inciting violence. The Islamic Movement was founded in the early 1970s, with the goal of "establishing an Arab Islamic state in Palestine.
(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Japan sued its southern region of Okinawa over local resistance to a new US military base.
(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Kosovo's opposition used tear gas and pepper spray inside parliament and pelted police with rocks and pink paint outside the building in another attempt to force the government to renounce recent deals with Serbia and Montenegro.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the arrest of Sambo Dasuki, the country's former national security adviser, accusing him of stealing around $2 billion received for phantom arms contracts.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, In Nigeria a blast struck a market in the northeastern city of Yola, killing 32 people and wounding 80 others.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, In southwestern Pakistan a train carrying 280 passengers derailed in a remote area, killing the train driver and 11 passengers and injuring at least 57 people.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The Philippine military verified reports that a Malaysian kidnap victim was beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines after a large ransom demand was not paid. The militants killed Bernard Then Ted Fen, who was abducted last May, in the jungles off Indanan town in Sulu province.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The Philippines and Vietnam signed an agreement to elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership as leaders from 21 countries and self-governing territories gathered in Manila for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The head of Russia's FSB security service said a homemade explosive device brought down a Russian passenger plane over Egypt last month. President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian navy in the Mediterranean to establish contact with its French counterparts and work together.
(AP, 11/17/15)(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, A Saudi appeals court sentenced Palestinian artist Ashraf Fayadh to execution for apostasy related to a book of poetry and alleged illicit relations with women in a case that dated back to 2013. In 2016 his sentence reduced to prison time and lashes instead.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A9)(AP, 2/3/16)
2015 Nov 17, Severe weather along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast claimed three lives, including an 11-year-old child who drowned.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, In Syria Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front said it had downed two Russian reconnaissance drones over a military airport it controls in the northwest.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, Turkish security forces killed one suspected Islamic State (IS) militant seeking to cross into Turkey from Syria and arrested 21 others.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, The UN refugee agency criticized Thailand for deporting two refugees who were about to be resettled in a third country. The US branch of Amnesty International issued a statement on Nov 16 identifying them as Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping, and said they were most likely sent to China on Nov 13.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Yemen's exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi returned to the southern port city of Aden to rally forces loyal to him in the country's civil war and oversee a campaign to retake the city of Taiz.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 18, US President Barack Obama demanded China end artificial island building in the hotly contested South China Sea, upping the pressure on Beijing at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) gathering in Manila.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The US and Cuba signed an agreement to join forces and protect the vast array of fish and corals they share.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 18, The National Book Award for Fiction was awarded to Adam Johnson for his story collection “Fortune Smiles." Ta-Nehisi Coates won the nonfiction award for “Between the World and Me," an open letter to his son (15) about race in America.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A8)
2015 Nov 18, Musician Willie Nelson was honored as the new recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular song.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 18, The National Institutes of Health quietly ended the federal government’s long history of using chimpanzees for biomedical research.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 18, In southern California police Officer Ricardo Galvez (29) was shot and killed during an alleged botched robbery in Downey. On Nov 20 Abel Diaz (16) was charged with murder. Two other arrested men awaited charges.
(SFC, 11/21/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 18, Charles Cawley (b.1940), credit-card billionaire, died in Maine. He founded MBNA Corporation in 1982 in the basement of an empty Delaware A&P store. MBNA went public in 1991.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cawley)(Econ, 12/12/15, p.86)
2015 Nov 18, Texas executed Raphael Holiday (36) for setting a fire that killed his 18-month-old daughter and two half sister 15 years ago. This made him the 13th convicted killer put to death by the state this year.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 18, Albania police said they have destroyed a large drug network in Tirana arrresting 30 people, while five people remained at large.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 18, Australian authorities said at least 4 people have died in bushfires raging out of control in parts of Western Australia.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Bangladesh's Supreme Court upheld death sentences given to opposition leaders Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid of Jamaat-e-Islami. Both were convicted in 2013 of war crimes during the country's 1971 independence war against Pakistan.
(AP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, In Bosnia a man armed with an automatic rifle killed the 2 soldiers in a betting shop and then shot at a public bus. The suspect then fled to his home nearby and blew himself up even before police had encircled the house.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 18, In France a woman suicide bomber, Hasna Aitboulahcen (26), blew herself up and another militant died when police raided an apartment in the Paris suburb of St. Denis seeking suspects in last week's attacks in Paris. Seven people were arrested in the operation in which nearly 5,000 bullets were fired. Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a cousin of Aitboulahcen and the suspected Islamic State mastermind of the Paris attacks, was identified the next day as the 2nd dead militant. On Nov 20 authorities said a 3rd body had been found at the site.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)(Reuters 11/19/15)(AP, 11/20/15)(SSFC, 11/22/15, p.A25)
2015 Nov 18, Germany said it will send 130 more soldiers to Afghanistan in support for Afghan forces struggling to tackle an Islamist insurgency.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, In Greece police fired tear gas at dozens of farmers in Athens who pelted them with oranges and tried to storm parliament during a protest against planned tax increases.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, An international coalition led by the United States conducted 19 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, targeting the militant group near Kirkuk, Kisik, Mosul, Ramadi and Sinjar. The coalition targeted Islamic State in Syria with eight strikes, including four that hit tactical units and destroyed buildings near Al Hasaka. One strike near Ar Raqqa hit a storage facility.
(Reuters, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 18, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the arrest of Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Advisor, accusing him of stealing funds through phantom arms contracts and hampering the fight against the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 18, In Nigeria two suicide bombers killed at least 15 people in the northern city of Kano.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 18, Russia set up a taskforce to wipe out the "infection" of doping in track and field as the country faces being banned from next year's Olympic competition.
(AP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The Russian government said it has decided to introduce a ban on food imports from Ukraine starting from January 1 because Kiev joined Western sanctions over Moscow.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Two members of the Saudi security forces were killed in a restive eastern province after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle. On Jan 1, 2016, authorities said Mufeed bin Ahmed Hasan Omran has been arrested for his alleged involvement in this and other attacks.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)(AFP, 1/1/16)
2015 Nov 18, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense said thunderstorms and flooding along the Red Sea coast have claimed the lives of 12 people over the past two days.
(AP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Spanish sea rescue services said around 20 African migrants were missing at sea after their boat sunk in the Atlantic Ocean around 20 miles off the coast of Western Sahara. 22 men were rescued.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said French and Russian bombardments on Raqqa have killed at least 33 Islamic State militants over the past three days.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The Islamic State said in its magazine that it had killed a Chinese and a Norwegian captive, showing what appeared to be pictures of the dead men with a banner reading "executed."
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Physicians for Human Rights said Syrian government attacks on hospitals in Aleppo have devastated the frontline city's health care, with roughly 95 percent of doctors having fled, been detained or killed.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Turkey's foreign minister said Ankara "has plans" for a joint operation with the United States to end the presence of Islamic State militants along any part of its border with Syria.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The UN nuclear watchdog said Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium has increased in the past three months even though Tehran is supposed to reduce it significantly under a deal with major powers.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 19, The US House of Representatives voted to ban Syrian and Iraqi refugees from entering the United States until tougher screening measures are in place.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 19, The US Food and Drug Administration approved genetically modified salmon, the first such altered animal allowed for human consumption in the United States.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Square, a San Francisco-based payment processing firm, went public in an IPO at $9 per share. Shares closed at $13.07 per share.
(SFC, 11/20/15, p.C1)
2015 Nov 19, A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck northern Oklahoma.
(Reuters, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, China cut interest rates on loans by small lenders that finance the country's entrepreneurs in a new move to shore up lackluster economic growth.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Chinese scientists warned of the "epidemic potential" of deadly and fast-spreading bacteria resistant to last-line antibiotics. Prof. Jian-Hua Liu and colleagues found a gene, called MCR-1, that makes bacteria resistant to a class of antibiotics, known as polymyxins, used to fight superbugs. Although currently confined to China, they said the MCR-1 bacteria were likely to spread worldwide.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Belgian police arrested nine people in Brussels during raids connected to last week's deadly Paris attacks.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia shut their borders to those not coming from war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq, leaving thousands of others seeking a better life in Europe stranded at border crossings.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, In Estonia thirty-three countries attended NATO's largest ever cyberdrill, focusing on malware in tablets and how infected devices may compromise data privacy for staff of the world's biggest military alliance.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, France's lower house of parliament extended a state of emergency imposed after attacks in Paris for three months and toughened a series of security measures which date back to 1955.
(Reuters, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, An international coalition led by the United States targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 20 air strikes. There were no strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 19, In Italy 17 masterpieces were stolen from the Castelvecchio Museum. Pasquale Silvestri Riccardi, a guard at the museum, was later convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to ten years and eight months in prison. In May, 2016, Ukrainian border guards recovered the paintings during an attempt to smuggle them into Moldova. They were returned to the museum on Dec 21, 2016.
(http://tinyurl.com/jylpt62)(SFC, 12/23/16, p.E4)
2015 Nov 19, In Israel a knife-wielding Palestinian man fatally stabbed 2 Israeli men in a southern Tel Aviv office building before being apprehended. 3 people, including one Israeli, one Palestinian and an American, were killed and six wounded in a shooting and vehicle attack in the West Bank.
(AP, 11/19/15)(SFC, 11/20/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 19, In Liberia a new case of Ebola emerged. Three members of a family had contracted the disease in a setback for the country declared free of the disease on September 3.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)(SFC, 11/21/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 19, In Nigeria Boko Haram attackers drove off with an army T-72 tank and
dozens of new camouflage uniforms. 107 soldiers were missing in the attack.
(http://tinyurl.com/p32bwn5)(SFC, 12/1/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 19, Russia signed two agreements to finance and build Egypt's first nuclear power plant, in a ceremony attended by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Russian's military blasted targets across Syria with long-range strategic bombers for a third day.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, South Sudan's parliament changed the constitution to boost presidential powers amid fears violence is spreading to new areas in the country, with seven killed on the highway to Uganda.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Syrian warplanes carried out airstrikes on a suburb of Damascus after talks for a two-week truce between the government and rebels collapsed.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 20, Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard was released from prison, culminating an extraordinary espionage case that complicated American-Israeli relations for 30 years and became a periodic bargaining chip between two allies.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In California regulations banning the commercial and recreational trapping of bobcat went into effect.
(SFC, 11/21/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 20, Officials said that an outbreak of E. coli linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill in Washington and Oregon has now spread to six states including California, New York, Minnesota and Ohio.
(SFC, 11/21/15, p.D1)
2015 Nov 20, British police issued an "unreserved apology" to seven women deceived into sexual relationships with officers on undercover assignments.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Cambodian officials said about 370 workers fainted at factories in the past two days, possibly because of pesticide spraying on nearby rice fields.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Police in China said they have cracked the country's biggest-ever underground banking network, which handled illegal foreign exchange transactions worth 410 billion yuan ($64 billion).
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Chinese authorities announced that police have killed 28 members of a "terrorist group" in the mainly Muslim Xinjiang region.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In China a fire broke out late today at a mine operated by state giant Longmay Mining Holding Group in Heilongjiang province's Jixi city. At least 21 people died at the mine operated by northeast China's biggest state-owned coal company.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 20, EU interior and justice ministers in Brussels pledged solidarity with France in the wake of the Paris attacks a week ago and agreed a series of new measures on surveillance, border checks and gun control.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, The Bavarian Interior Ministry said more than 900,000 migrants have been registered in Germany since the beginning of the year.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In Haiti one person was shot dead and another was wounded by a machete blow to the head during post-election skirmishes that erupted in Port-au-Prince.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In Iraq bomb attacks on a Shiite mosque and elsewhere in southern Baghdad killed at least 15 people as a top religious official urged unity among Iraqis in the fight against the Islamic State group.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Italian police arrested six members of Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia as part of an inquiry that uncovered a threat of violence against Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Malaysia deployed extraordinary security measures around Kuala Lumpur as leaders from 18 countries arrived for the East Asian and ASEAN weekend summits.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In Mali a least two Islamist gunmen stormed the Raddison Blu luxury hotel in Bamako and took 170 people hostage in the former French colony. 19 people were killed including 6 Russians, 3 Chinese, one Israeli, one American, one Belgian and one Malian soldier. The 2 gunmen were killed. The al-Mourabitoun Islamic extremist group took credit for the attack. On Nov 26 two Malians were arrested for complicity in the attack.
(AFP, 11/20/15)(Reuters 11/21/15)(SFC, 11/21/15, p.A6)(SFC, 1/14/16, p.A2)
2015 Nov 20, In Pakistan gunmen on motorcycles opened fire in Karachi, killing 4 members of the security forces who were deployed outside a mosque.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Portugal's Parliament approved laws allowing same-sex couples to legally adopt children and permitting lesbians to obtain medically assisted fertilization.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Russian and Syrian warplanes carried out more than 70 strikes in eastern Deir Ezzor province, killing at least 36 people including 10 children. Dozens of oil tankers were destroyed. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that more than 600 rebels had been eliminated as a result of a cruise missile strike a target in Syrian Deir ez-Zour province.
(AFP, 11/20/15)(Reuters, 11/20/15)(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 20, A Singapore court sentenced Kong Hee, the founder and senior pastor of City Harvest Church, to eight years in jail for misappropriating more than $35 million in donations to support his wife's singing career. Other sentences for five church leaders ranged from 21 months to six years.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 1,300 people, around two-thirds of them combatants, have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria since Moscow's aerial campaign began on September 30.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Turkish media reported that authorities have seized close to the Syrian border a record haul of almost 11 million pills of the synthetic stimulant drug captagon which is believed to play a crucial part in Syria's civil war. It has been repeatedly dubbed as the drug fueling Syria's civil war since its production provides income for the warring factions and also keeps fighters awake and energized over long periods.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Turkish army warplanes carried out a new wave of air strikes on northern Iraq hitting 23 suspected targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 20, The UN Security Council unanimously approved a French-sponsored resolution calling on all nations to redouble and coordinate action to prevent further attacks by Islamic State terrorists and other extremist groups.
(SFC, 11/21/15, p.S2)
2015 Nov 20, A new study was released that estimated poverty in Venezuela has hit an all-time high of some 73 percent of households. It was prepared by researchers at three Venezuelan universities on the basis of surveys with 6,000 people.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, The World Trade Organization ruled in favor of Mexico in a trade dispute with the US, saying Washington's requirement for "dolphin-safe" tuna labels is unfair to Mexican fishermen.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In Yemen Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the army in the eastern region of Hadramawt that a security source said killed at least 19 soldiers and 35 militants.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 21, The United States and its allies conducted 16 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and nine in Syria. The US military destroyed 283 tanker trucks used by the militants to transport oil from producing fields in eastern Syria to smuggling points.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 21, Louisiana voters elected Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards as governor.
(SSFC, 11/22/15, p.A12)
2015 Nov 21, A heavy fall snowstorm hit the Midwestern United States, blanketing states from South Dakota to Wisconsin with as much as 16 inches (40 cm) of snow. The storm affected air travel, with 514 US flights canceled by morning, with Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway International airports the hardest hit.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, In Afghanistan up to 20 ethnic Hazaras were abducted in the volatile southern province of Zabul.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Belgium put the capital Brussels on maximum security alert, shutting the metro and warning people to avoid crowds because of a "serious and imminent" threat of coordinated, multiple attacks by militants.
(Reuters, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, In the Far North region of Cameroon a suicide attack by suspected members of Nigerian Islamist militants group Boko Haram killed at least 10 people over the border from Nigeria. 4 teenage, female suicide bombers blew themselves up near Fotokol killing 5 civilians including a traditional chief.
(Reuters, 11/21/15)(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Migrants who have been blocked at the Greek-Macedonian border for three days, protested against being prevented from entering Macedonia after new restrictions were imposed.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, In Iraq four separate attacks in Baghdad killed 8 people and wounded 20.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, The Israeli military said it shut down the El-Khalil radio station in Hebron overnight and confiscated equipment used to broadcast calls to attack Israelis.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, In Mexico a burnt-out van was found in Sinaloa state with two unidentified bodies believed to be Australian surfers Dean Lucas (33) and Adam Coleman (33), last seen a day earlier. On Dec 4 authorities reported the arrest of three alleged highway robbers in connection with the suspected murders. Two other suspects were on the run.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Nov 21, In northern Myanmar a landslide near a jade mine killed at least 120 people, most of them villagers digging for green stones in a mountain of displaced earth in the Kachin state community of Hpakant.
(AP, 11/22/15)(AP, 11/23/15)(SFC, 11/24/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 21, In New Zealand 4 British and 2 Australian tourists, along with their pilot, were killed when their helicopter crashed into Fox Glacier during bad weather on the west coast of the South Island.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, In southern Somalia a suspected drone late today targeted a base belonging to al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab insurgents, killing at least 5 fighters.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, Syrian journalist Wasim al-Nuqari (38) was killed while covering the army's operations against Islamic State militants in the country's central region.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Syrian rebels backed by Turkey and the United States seized two villages from Islamic State (IS) jihadists close to the Turkish border after fierce fighting.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, A Turkish official said a Belgian man of Moroccan origin has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Islamic State's Nov 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Ahmet Dahmani (26) was arrested at a luxury hotel in the southern coastal city of Antalya after traveling from Amsterdam on Nov 14.
(Reuters, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant targets, part of an air and ground offensive against the group in southeast Turkey, where some areas have been under curfew for as long as ten days.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, An explosion in Ukraine's Kherson region bordering Crimea cut the two working power lines to the peninsula.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, A Vatican judge indicted five people, including two journalists and a high-ranking Vatican monsignor, in a scandal involving leaked documents that informed two books alleging financial malfeasance in the Roman Catholic church bureaucracy.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 22, More than 130 flights were cancelled in and out of Chicago’s O’hare Int’l. Airport as a deep freeze set in across the Midwest.
(SFC, 11/23/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 22, In Louisiana 17 people were wounded at the Bunny Friend Playground in New Orleans when gunfire broke out between two groups of gunmen as hundreds of people gathered for a block party and the filming of a music video.
(SFC, 11/24/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 22, Argentina held a run-off election. The center-right opposition coalition Cambiemos (Let’s Change), led by candidate Mauricio Macri (56), the favored candidate of big businesses and foreign investors, beat leftist rival Daniel Scioli by less than three percentage points, ending years of rule by the populist Peronist movement.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.33)(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AFP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 22, A Bahraini court jailed for 10 years freelance photographer Sayed al-Mousawi, and revoked his citizenship after convicting him of "terrorism." He was convicted of having given mobile phone SIM cards to "terrorist" demonstrators and taking photos of protests. Mousawi was arrested "without a warrant" on February 10 last year in the Shiite town of Diraz.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 22, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid (Mojaheed), secretary general of the main Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, were hanged at 12:55 a.m. at Dhaka Central Jail. Unknown assailants opened fire on a Bangladesh television channel's vehicle and wounded a journalist.
(AP, 11/22/15)(Reuters, 11/22/15)(Econ, 11/28/15, p.35)
2015 Nov 22, Brussels, Belgian, was locked down for a second day with police and troops patrolling deserted streets as authorities reviewed whether to extend a security alert meant to prevent a repeat of the bloody Paris attacks.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Burundi police said at least 5 people were killed in overnight clashes. Residents reported a battle at the president's office in the capital Bujumbura which has been plagued by violence since a disputed presidential election.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Crimea declared a state of emergency after its main electricity lines from Ukraine were blown up, leaving the Russian-annexed peninsula in darkness after the second such attack in as many days.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Egyptians voted across 13 of the country's 27 provinces in the second phase of elections meant to restore parliament after a more than three-year gap, but which critics say have been undermined by widespread repression.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Hong Kong voted in district-level elections that will mark the first real test of public sentiment since pro-democracy protests crippled parts of the Chinese-controlled city last year.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Iran state news said a court has sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian (39) to a prison term.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, An Israeli woman (20) was stabbed to death and 3 Palestinian attackers were killed in a series of incidents in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A Palestinian driving a taxi attempted to ram into civilians in the West Bank and charged at them with a knife before being shot dead.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In southern Nepal police opened fire on ethnic protesters blocking the nation's main highway, killing 2 in overnight violence that threatened to escalate political tensions.
(AP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Russian law enforcement officers raided a hideout in the North Caucasus of armed militants allied with the Islamic State group, killing all 11 of them in an exchange of fire on the outskirts of Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic.
(AP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In Malaysia ASEAN nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) established a formal community that attempts to create freer movement of trade and capital in an area of 625 million people with a combined economic output of $2.6 trillion.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In northwestern Pakistan unidentified gunmen killed TV journalist Hafeez Ur Rehman (42) on the outskirts of Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in the second such murder this month.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, UNICEF's representative said some two million Sudanese children under five suffer from malnutrition every year.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In Syria a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Tel Abyad, a Kurdish-held town along the Turkish border, killing at least 3 and wounded 20 others.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In Taiwan a service helicopter crashed outside of Taipei, killing both people on board.
(AP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In Yemen pro-government forces pressed their advance to recapture the southwestern province of Taez but were slowed by landmines planted by Shiite rebels.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 23, The US said it would impose sanctions on four current and former Burundi government officials, including the minister of public security and the leader of a failed coup, because of violence in Burundi.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 23, A US-led coalition targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with 26 air strikes against the militant group.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 23, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called for calm ahead of the release of a "hideous" video showing officer Jason Van Dyke fire 16 bullets into Laquan McDonald (17). Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged the next day with first degree murder.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 23, A panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled 2-1 that a Wisconsin law requiring that abortion providers have admitting privileges at a local hospital, is unconstitutional.
(CSM, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 23, Douglass C. North (b.1920), Nobel Prize winner in economics (1993), died in Benzonia, Michigan. He helped found a branch of inquiry called cliometrics, named after the muse of history, after he and others conculded that traditional market-oriented economics did not fully recognize that markets are embedded in institutions and the cultural phenomena behind them.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.D6)
2015 Nov 23, In Minnesota five people were wounded, though none gravely, when gunmen opened fire at the Minneapolis protest over the Nov 15 fatal police shooting of Jamar Clark. Two suspects were arrested the next day.
(AFP, 11/24/15)(SFC, 11/25/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 23, Pfizer and Allergan said they will join in a $160 billion deal to create the world's largest drugmaker the biggest health care deal ever. US-based Pfizer will reorganize in Ireland with a lower corporate tax rate.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Argentina's President-Elect, Mauricio Macri, said he would seek Venezuela's suspension from South America's Mercosur trade bloc because of accusations of rights abuses committed by Pres. Maduro's socialist government.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Belgium soldiers patrolled the streets of Brussels and police detained five more people on the third day of a security lockdown.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Egypt's PM Sherif Ismail granted government workers a half-day off in a bid to boost the low voter turnout on the final day of the second stage of parliamentary elections.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Egyptian security officials said 6 Sudanese migrants were killed and 17 wounded during a gun battle between security forces and smugglers as they tried to illegally enter Israel from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In northern Greece Moroccans, Iranians and Pakistanis on the border with Macedonia blocked rail traffic and demanded passage to western Europe, stranded by a policy of filtering migrants in the Balkans that has raised human rights concerns.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta declared corruption a national security threat and he presented a raft of measures to fight the endemic graft.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Iran President Vladimir Putin met with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Following their meeting a Kremlin official said Russia and Iran jointly oppose "external attempts" to bring regime change in Syria. President Vladimir Putin eased an export ban on nuclear equipment and technology to Iran.
(AFP, 11/23/15)(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Iran's ambassador to Russia said that Moscow had started the procedure of supplying Tehran with S-300 anti-missile rocket system.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Liberia a teenager (15) died in the first such death since the country was officially declared free of the virus in September. His parents had also tested positive for the virus and were under observation in the capital Monrovia.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Mexico an overnight highway traffic accident due west of Mexico City killed 20 people and injured at least 15 others.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, A Palestinian stabbed and killed an Israeli at a petrol station in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Jerusalem two Palestinian girls attacked and slightly wounded an elderly man with scissors before a policeman shot them both, killing one.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Qatar rival tribes from southern Libya, who have battled for control of oil fields, signed a peace agreement. Representatives of the Tebu and Tuareg agreed to a ceasefire and to withdraw armed forces from the flashpoint town of Ubari.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Russia said its warplanes had hit 472 targets in war-torn Syria in the past two days, including tanker trucks and oil infrastructure in territory controlled by the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, A Russian court ordered the Church of Scientology in Moscow to be dissolved. A church representative said the decision would be appealed.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In South Korea a US military helicopter crashed during a routine training mission, killing both pilots on board.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured areas from the Islamic State group in the central province of Homs, in the latest push since the aerial campaign began nearly two months ago. A US official said recent attacks with chlorine and mustard gas on the battlefield in Syria show that the use chemical weapons in the civil war is becoming routine.
(AP, 11/23/15)(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Ukraine ordered a halt to all delivery of goods to Crimea. PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk described the halt as temporary, but added that he had ordered the Cabinet to prepare a draft of a "concrete" halt of goods and services from Ukraine to Crimea.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Pro-Ukrainian activists prevented repairs to sabotaged power lines leading to Crimea, keeping the Russian-annexed peninsula starved of electricity for a second day and tensions between Moscow and Kiev high.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 24, President Barack Obama recognized 17 people with the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
(AP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Kentucky’s outgoing Gov. Steve Beshear signed an executive order to restore the right to vote and hold public office to thousands of nonviolent felons who’ve seved out their sentences.
(SFC, 11/25/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 24, In NYC Abid Naseer (29) a Pakistani former school cricket captain, was jailed for 40 years over an Al-Qaeda plot to bomb a British shopping center in 2009. He was extradited to the United States from Britain in 2013 for helping al-Qaida target attacks on the New York subway.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, A rocket from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin private space company landed upright following a test flight in West Texas.
(SFC, 11/25/15, p.C1)
2015 Nov 24, In Afghanistan Taliban insurgents captured 16 people in Faryab province after their helicopter made an emergency landing in territory under the militants' control. 3 people were killed in a shootout followed.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)(AP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, In Algeria a fire sparked by an electrical fault killed 18 African migrants, including children, and injured 50 others at a camp housing over 650 migrants in Ouargla.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Brazil's environmental assets exchange BVRio launched an app that promises to help foreign traders and buyers of Brazilian timber make sure the product hasn't been illegally logged.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Canada's New Liberal government announced its plan to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees.
(AP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that the world's largest animal cloning factory is under construction in in the northern port of Tianjin, with plans to churn out dogs, horses and up to a million beef cattle a year.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Power cuts in Crimea affected nearly 940,000 people as tensions raged between Kiev and Moscow over the annexed peninsula and Russia threatened to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, In Egypt an elaborate militant attack, involving a suicide car bombing and claimed by Islamic State group, targeted a hotel in El-Arish, killing 4 policemen, 2 judges and a civilian in the restive north of the Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 11/24/15)(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, President Francois Hollande of France arrived in Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama on how to confront the threat posed by the Islamic State group in the wake of the Paris attacks.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, A Japanese rocket lifted off and successfully put the national space program's first commercial satellite into orbit.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta fired five government ministers embroiled in corruption scandals in a cabinet reshuffle late today amid growing criticism of runaway graft.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, A female Pakistani air force pilot was killed when her trainer jet crashed near the central town of Mianwali.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, The Philippines asked global judges to recognize its right to exploit waters in the South China Sea.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, A Scottish court handed oil major Royal Dutch Shell a 22,500 pound ($33,919) fine by for a spill of more than 200 tons of oil into the central North Sea in August 2011.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Int’l. experts meeting in Singapore said more than half the world's primates, including apes, lemurs and monkeys, are facing extinction.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Syrian fighters destroyed a Russian helicopter with a missile, shortly after they forced it to make an emergency landing in a nearby government-held area in Latakia province.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, A Tanzanian court charged four Chinese nationals for smuggling rhino horns.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, In Tunisia a suicide bomber attacked a presidential guard bus killing at least 12 people. Pres. Beji Caid Essebsi declared a 30-day state of emergency and imposed on overnight curfew in the capital. A day later the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(AP, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/25/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 24, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu unveiled a new cabinet stacked with loyal allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including his son-in-law who was named energy minister.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, saying it had repeatedly violated its air space, one of the most serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a NATO member country and Russia for half a century. The pilot was shot dead by rebels as he parachuted to the ground.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale dissolved parliament and called a snap election after a corruption scandal destabilized the government.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, Vietnam’s National Assembly passed a law recognizing the rights of transgenders effective in 2017 as part of a revised civil code.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 25, The United States and its allies staged 27 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, A new nuclear treaty with the United States governing South Korea's commercial nuclear activities during the next 20 years went into effect. The treaty, which replaces a previous accord reached in 1972, opens the possibility of South Korea gaining the ability to enrich uranium to produce non-weapons-grade nuclear fuel depending on future negotiations with the United States.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Australian officials said at least 2 people have been killed and several others injured by huge wildfires that also destroyed homes near the southern city of Adelaide and continue to burn out of control.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Bangladesh police commandos killed Al Bani, the suspected military chief of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a banned Islamist group, in a shootout in Dhaka.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, In Belgium schools and much of the Brussels metro system reopened as the capital started to return to normal after four days of lockdown.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Brazilian police arrested Senator Delcidio do Amaral, a senior ruling party senator and a billionaire investment banker, in the intensifying probe of a huge corruption network centered on state oil giant Petrobras.
(AFP, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 25, Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh advocated banning female genital mutilation, giving hope to human rights activists who are urging Gambia to adopt a law against the practice.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, Germany said it will send up to 650 soldiers to Mali to provide some relief to France in its global fight against the Islamic State jihadists.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Indian media and a rights group accused the Assam Rifles paramilitary force of attempting to curtail press freedom by asking newspapers in the insurgency-hit northeastern state of Nagaland to stop publishing statements from a banned rebel group.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, In the Indian portion of Kashmir 3 heavily armed rebels stormed an army camp and were killed in a fierce gunbattle with soldiers. A civilian was also killed.
(AP, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 25, Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the United States is using "money and sexual attractions" to try to infiltrate the Islamic Republic.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Pope Francis arrived in Kenya and was received at Nairobi's airport by President Uhuru Kenyatta on the first leg of a six-day pilgrimage that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic. Francis urged all Kenyans to work for peace and forgiveness in order to heal ethnic, religious and economic divisions.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, In southeastern Niger 18 people were killed and 100 homes torched in an attack in the dead of night by Nigeria's Boko Haram fighters in the village of Wogom.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, A year's worth of rain deluged parts of Qatar as seasonal storms moving through Saudi Arabia flooded streets in a city northwest of the capital, Riyadh.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, A Palestinian stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli soldier and was shot dead by troops in the Israeli-occupied West Bank at a road junction near a cluster of Palestinian villages and Jewish settlements.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Romania's Parliament approved a law that restricts what banks can reclaim from people who default on their mortgage payments. Lawmakers passed a law allowing banks to seize the property the loan was taken for, but not to seize other assets or claim further payment.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Russia accepted its "full suspension" from world athletics over widespread doping without requesting a hearing from the International Association of Athletics Federations.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, Russia sent an advanced missile system to Syria to protect its jets operating there and pledged its air force would keep flying missions near Turkish air space, sounding a defiant note after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, The surviving crew member of a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey said the plane received no warnings from the Turkish Air Force and did not fly over Turkish air space. Navigator Konstantin Murakhtin was rescued by Russian and Syrian special forces after ejecting from the plane. The US said data showed the Russian aircraft had transited Turkish airspace.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 25, Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom said it would stop shipping fuel supplies to Ukraine because Kiev had failed to make the required pre-payments on time.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Russian forces launched a heavy bombardment against insurgent-held areas in Syria's Latakia province, near where a Russian warplane had been shot down by Turkey the day before. Air strikes hit a crossing on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey's southern province of Kilis. The strikes reportedly hit a garage for commercial trailers, killing 3 people.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Ukraine decided to stop buying gas from Russia and closed its airspace to its giant eastern neighbor's airlines. The Ukrainian military said another soldier was killed in a new bout of clashes across the shattered war zone in the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Venezuelan opposition election candidate Luis Manuel Diaz was shot dead while campaigning. The shooter was believed to be a member of an "armed gang" linked to the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Azerbaijan said 2 policemen and 4 alleged members of the Movement for Muslim Unity have been killed in a shootout during a raid in the village of Nardaran.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In northern Bangladesh at least five assailants opened fire on devotees during evening prayers at a Shiite mosque, leaving one person dead and three others wounded in Haripur village.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Britain's financial regulator fined Barclays bank £72 million ($109 million, 102 million euros) for failing to carry out proper checks on a vast so-called "elephant" deal for ultra-wealthy clients.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In southwest Burkina Faso 22 people drowned after the minibus they were travelling in veered off a road.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Anastasia Lin, Canada's outspoken Miss World contestant, said she was barred from entering China to take part in this year's pageant and accused Beijing of overreach in extending its campaign of censorship even to beauty contests.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, China said that it planned to establish a military facility in Djibouti to resupply navy ships serving in the area.
(SFC, 11/27/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 26, In China Gao Yu (71), a journalist imprisoned on a state secrets conviction, was released for medical reasons after pleading guilty during a closed-door appeal hearing.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, El Salvador's Roman Catholic Church announced it has suspended a well-known priest, saying he acknowledged sexually abusing a young girl. Monsignor Jesus Delgado (77) was the vicar general of the Archdiocese of San Salvador and was considered a close associate of assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Ten European governments signed a letter to the European Commission calling for a summit-level debate on the Nord Stream II project, Russia's plans to extend its gas link to Germany.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, French President Francois Hollande arrived in Moscow for talks on Syria with Russia's Vladimir Putin. They agreed to tighten cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State group, although they remained at odds over their approach toward Syrian President Bashar Assad.
(AFP, 11/26/15)(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Germany confirmed that it will deploy Tornado reconnaissance jets to support France in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Voters on the disputed British colony of Gibraltar re-elected Fabian Picardo's left-leaning coalition in parliamentary elections.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Hundreds of Algerians, Moroccans, and Pakistanis tried to storm the border between Greece and Macedonia, tearing down part of the barbed wire fence at the crossing and demanding to be allowed to carry on into northern Europe.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Sixteen migrants from India, Nepal and Bangladesh and their Indonesian skipper were found stranded in Indonesia's part of Timor Island. The next day Indonesia said Australian officials had destroyed a boat carrying asylum seekers and then pushed them back to sea in another vessel.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Iraq said its forces have cut Islamic State's last supply line into the western city of Ramadi by seizing a key bridge.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Italian police said they have seized almost 800 shotguns bound for Belgium from Turkey from a truck that arrived in the northeastern port of Trieste.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In Kenya Pope Francis held his first open-air mass in Africa with huge crowds hailing heavy rains as "God's blessing" as they sang and danced in Nairobi.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In Lebanon AL-Manar, a Hezbollah TV station, said a joint operation by the Lebanese militant group and Syrian security agents killed Abdul-Salam Hendawi, also known as Abu Abdo, an Islamic State figure suspected of involvement in Beirut's deadly bombing earlier this month.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Moldovan police said they have detained a total of 13 suspected members of a paramilitary group allegedly planning to attack the capital and a northern city with a majority Russian population, with the aim of creating a new separatist republic similar to the one in eastern Ukraine.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, North and South Korean officials met for talks at the border truce village of Panmunjom after the two sides signed an agreement in which Pyongyang expressed regret over landmine blasts near the border that wounded two South Korean soldiers.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Three Palestinians were shot and killed in separate clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank as Israel announced plans to strengthen a fence near the flashpoint city of Hebron in an effort to contain a two-month spate of violence.
(AP, 11/26/15)(SFC, 11/27/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 26, Philippine marines killed 8 suspected sympathizers of the Islamic State group in a clash in the southern Philippines, seizing bomb-making equipment, assault rifles and black flags in Sultan Kudarat province.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Russia threatened economic retaliation against Turkey and said it was still awaiting a reasonable explanation for the shooting down of its warplane, but Turkey dismissed the threats as "emotional" and "unfitting".
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Russia vowed to work "very actively" with track and field's governing body to eradicate the doping culture that led to its blanket ban from international competition.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In Russia 10 people on board a Mi-8 helicopter, including employees of Russia's state oil company Rosneft, died when the aircraft crashed in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, A South African court opened the way to allowing local trade in rhino horns, alarming some conservationists who warned the ruling leaves rhinos even more vulnerable to poachers who are slaughtering them in record numbers.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, On the South Sudan border with Sudan a 4-year-old girl and an Ethiopian peacekeeper were killed and three others wounded in an attack in the contested Abyei area.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Syrian residents said that Russian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Saraqeb, Idlib province, along the Turkish border a day after hitting a truck depot near a crossing between the two countries.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Ugandan lawmakers passed a bill that would give authorities sweeping powers to regulate civil society, which rights groups say will "strangle" criticism of the government, just before Pope Francis arrived on a visit.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, It was reported that the United Arab Emirates has secretly dispatched hundreds of Colombian mercenaries to the conflict in Yemen. 450 Latin American troops also included Panamanian, Salvadoran and Chilean soldiers.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A8)
2015 Nov 27, In Colorado Robert Lewis Dear (57) entered a family planning clinic in Colorado Springs and opened fire, killing 3 people, including a police officer, and wounding nine others.
(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Louisiana Johnny Max Mount shot and killed an employee at a Waffle House restaurant in Biloxi after she asked him not to smoke. Mount was quickly arrested and charged with first degree murder.
(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 27, A Belgian judge charged a sixth suspect, arrested a day earlier, with terrorism offences in connection with the Nov 13 Paris attacks.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Brazil announced plans to sue Samarco's co-owners, BHP and Brazilian miner Vale, for damages for 20 billion reais ($5.2 billion) over the Nov 5 bursting of a dam in Bento Rodrigues.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 27, Queen Elizabeth openeed 24th biennial Commonwealth Summit in Malta. Leaders of 53 countries -- around a quarter of the world's countries and a third of its population, gathered to discuss global issues.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Bulgaria's parliament ratified an agreement with NATO ally Poland for the repair of its ageing Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, part of a push by the Balkan country to reduce its reliance on Russia.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Burundi attackers shot at a lawmaker from the ruling party as he drove to parliament, killing one police officer and wounding others.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 27, A court in southern China sentenced Yang Maodong to six years in prison in what his lawyer described as an unfair trial with an extra criminal charge added at the last minute. The leading activist had organized rallies for media freedom.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Japan said it is investigating nearly a dozen suspicious boats recently found drifting off the country's coastline, some with decaying bodies aboard. At least 11 cases involving wooden boats, some badly damaged, with 20 bodies on board have been reported during October and November. Korean writing was visible on the boats as well as clothes left inside the vessels.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Mexico the bodies of 8 slain men were found dumped in the Oaxaca town of Cosolapa. All the men were from the city of Cordoba, about 30 miles away.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Nepal tens of thousands of students held hands, waved banners and chanted slogans in Kathmandu to protest against a border blockade that has caused severe shortages of fuel and an increase in food prices.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Nicaragua's military said all clandestine airfields used by cartels to run drugs to the United States have been destroyed and steps taken to make sure they would not reopen.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Nigeria a suicide bomber blew himself up among crowds at a Shia Muslim procession outside the north city of Kano, killing at least 21 people.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Two Palestinians rammed vehicles into Israeli soldiers in separate attacks in the occupied West Bank and were then shot dead.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Pirates attacked the Cyprus-registered Szafir, a Polish-owned cargo vessel, off the Nigerian coast and kidnapped its captain and four crew. The five Polish seamen were reported freed on Dec 8.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Nov 27, Russia said it would suspend its visa-free regime for Turkish nationals from January 1 as it retaliates against Ankara for the downing of a Russian warplane.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Slovakia's economy minister said his country will join forces with other Central and Eastern members of the European Union to protest a recent deal to expand a pipeline that delivers natural gas directly from Russia to Germany.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, A Swiss court convicted in absentia Herve Falciani, a former French employee with international bank HSBC, for economic espionage and sentenced him to five years in prison. France does not extradite its own citizens and Falciani appears unlikely to serve the sentence.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Syria suspected Russian warplanes carried out several air strikes on the town of Azaz near the Turkish border, killing an estimated 5 people including a child. A series of airstrike on Raqqa killed at least 8 people including 5 children.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 27, Turkish media said the government has "temporarily" suspended air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria after the downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border sparked a major row with Moscow.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Turkey hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Istanbul office of an opposition newspaper, accusing the government of silencing critics and attempting to cover-up a scandal after two journalists were jailed on terror and espionage charges for their reports on alleged Turkish arms smuggling to Syria.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, At least six children drowned in two separate incidents when their boats sank off Turkey while trying to make the risky crossing to Greece.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Ukraine said Russia has begun to restrict coal supplies, days after the Kremlin threatened to punish Kiev for a power blackout of Russian-annexed Crimea. Ukraine depends on coal to fulfil around 44 percent of its power needs.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Pope Francis landed in Uganda on the second leg of a landmark trip to Africa, with choirs and dancers waiting to greet him.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Vietnam’s National Assembly passed a revised Penal Code. Death sentences imposed on corrupt Vietnamese officials will now be commuted to life in prison if they pay back at least 75 percent of the illegal money they made.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Human Rights Watch alleged that at least 10 air strikes carried out by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen broke the laws of war and killed civilians.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 28, The United States and its allies conducted 19 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and three in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, Actress Marjorie Lord (b.1918), the TV wife (1957-1964) of Danny Thomas, died at her home in Beverly Hills.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Lord)(SFC, 12/16/15, p.D5)
2015 Nov 28, In Afghanistan a senior member of the election commission survived an assassination attempt when a suicide bomber targeted his vehicle in Kabul, killing one of his employees and wounding two others.
(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Burundi Colonel Serges Kabanyura was wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on his way to Bujumbura.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, In northern Cameroon 2 female suicide bombers detonated their explosives, killing at least 5 people and injuring 12 others in the town of Dabanga.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, China’s state news said police have busted an online gun selling operation, seizing 1,180 guns and more than 6 million bullets. Gun possession by ordinary people is illegal in China.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In China air pollution in Beijing reached hazardous levels as smog engulfed large parts of China despite efforts to clean up the foul air.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In eastern China a gas leak at a steel parts factory killed 5 people and left seven others hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning in Shandong province. 5 more people died the next day.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, Congolese police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered in the eastern city of Goma to pay tribute to victims of recurrent attacks nearby.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Egypt a drive-by shooting killed 4 police near a famed historic site on the outskirts of Cairo.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Egypt said there is a 90 percent chance that hidden chambers will be found within King Tutankhamun's tomb, based on the preliminary results of a new exploration of the 3,300-year-old mausoleum.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Duesseldorf, Germany, Britain's Tyson Fury (27) was crowned the new world heavyweight champion after a unanimous points win over Wladimir Klitschko (39), who suffered his first defeat in eleven years.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, Iran unveiled a new model of oil contracts aimed at attracting foreign investment once sanctions are lifted under a landmark nuclear deal reached earlier this year.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Jordan US Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said, after visiting a camp for Syrian refugees, that the displaced should be absorbed by Middle Eastern countries, with the international community sending aid and "encouragement" to the host nations.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Kosovo some 35 thousand opposition supporters held a protest against the deals with Serbia and Montenegro — a peaceful one in contrast to recent disruption of parliament.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Macedonian police fired tear gas and stun grenades at desperate migrants stranded for days at the Greek border and who are demanding passage to western Europe, as soldiers began erecting a metal fence to keep them out.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Police in the Maldives dispersed opposition protesters for a second straight day, using tear gas and pepper spray and arresting more than a dozen demonstrators demanding the release of a former president and other jailed political leaders.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Mali mortars lit up the dawn sky when they were fired on a United Nations base in the northern city of Kidal early today, killing at least 3 people.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Malta heads of government from the Commonwealth family, which represents around a third of the world's population, pledged to demand an "ambitious" and legally-binding outcome from the world climate change summit in Paris, which officially starts on Nov 30.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Niger Boko Haram activists raided a border village, killing 4 people and torching some 50 homes.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 28, The Philippines took delivery of two Korean-made fighter jets — the country's first supersonic combat aircraft in a decade.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Syrian state reported that the Syrian army has captured territory from Islamic State east of Aleppo including several kilometers of highway linking the city with the jihadists' de facto capital of Raqqa. One person was killed and 30 wounded in rocket and mortar attacks on two neighborhoods of Damascus.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed "sadness" over Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane that has severely strained relations. Erdogan said the climate change summit in Paris next week could be a chance to repair relations with Moscow.
(AFP, 11/28/15)(Reuters, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In southeastern Turkey police killed Tahir Elci (49), a prominent Kurdish lawyer, during a shootout between police and militants. The pro-Kurdish HDP Party called it a "planned assassination" and urged people to take to the streets in protest. Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse around 2,000 people marching in Istanbul's Taksim Square after Elci was shot dead in Diyarbakir. Shortly before Elci's killing, two police officers were shot dead after they stopped a "suspicious vehicle" in a nearby street. In 2020 three police officers went on trial for the killing of Elci.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)(Reuters, 11/30/15)(AP, 10/21/20)
2015 Nov 28, In Uganda Pope Francis honored Uganda's 19th century Christian martyrs and encouraged its 21st century Christian youths during a day that saw nearly a half-million Ugandans turn out to see him.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, On the southern coast of Yemen warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition hit two small boats allegedly carrying weapons to Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 29, The United States and its allies conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, Collection of telecommunication metadata by the National Security Agency (NSA) ended today following a halt ordered by Congress last June. The program had begun in secret in 2001 under Pres. George W. Bush.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Freedom_Act)(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 29, Burkina Faso held presidential and legislative elections. Preliminary results released on Dec 1 gave Roch March Christian Kabore (58) an outright win.
(AP, 11/29/15)(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Burundi gunmen in Bujumbura shot dead army Major Salvator Katihabwa and wounded the husband of the senate's deputy speaker.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, Cameroon reportedly ended a 3-day operation against Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists, killing around 100 fighters and freeing 900 hostages.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Nov 29, The Central African Republic welcomed Pope Francis as he brought a message of peace to the divided country, visiting people displaced by months of bloody sectarian violence and calling for unity. Interim president Catherine Samba-Panza asked for "forgiveness" from Pope Francis for two years of "evil" sectarian violence.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd warned Japan against resuming "research" whaling in the Antarctic and called on the Australian government to intervene.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, French riot police fired tear gas at climate change protesters at the Place de la Republique in central Paris, near where climate change activists had earlier formed a human chain.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Tens of thousands of people from Sydney to London joined one of the biggest days of climate change activism, telling world leaders gathering for a summit in Paris there is "No Planet B" in the fight against global warming. More than 2,000 events were being held in cities including London, Sao Paulo and New York, making it perhaps the biggest day of climate action in history.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Germany clashes broke out between hundreds of asylum seekers at a shelter in Berlin, in the second mass brawl to erupt over the weekend in the crowded migrant accommodations.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Guatemala gunfire broke out at the Canada Rehabilitation Farm, a prison designed to hold 600 inmates, but which housed 3,092. The death toll in the brawl rose to 16, including 3 inmates who were decapitated.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, In India hundreds of gay rights activists danced to drum beats and held colorful balloons as they marched in a parade in New Delhi, celebrating what they call the diversity of gender and sexuality.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Moldova thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in Chisinau and other towns demanding better governance and an end to widespread corruption.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Nigeria Boko Haram destroyed a military base as soldiers fled. Self-defense fighters prevented the insurgents from retaking Gulak town. Extremists kidnapped dozens of girls and set ablaze hundreds of buildings in Bam, Borno state.
(AP, 11/30/15)(SFC, 12/1/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 29, A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli police officer in Jerusalem before being shot dead by security forces.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee announced that security forces had killed the three militants in Dagestan after they refused to surrender.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Hundreds of Saudi women began campaigning for public office, in a first for women in the conservative Muslim kingdom's slow reform process even as two activists were disqualified.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Three Saudi border soldiers were killed after exchanging fire with "enemy elements" trying to cross the border from Yemen to attack two watch towers.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, In northeastern Spain a snorkeler found eight apparently human skulls, and other bones, in shallow waters just off Els Palangrers beach.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 29, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens in the insurgent held town of Ariha. Ariha Today, a Facebook page that covers events in the town, said the airstrikes killed 40 people and wounding more than 70.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu struck a deal with EU leaders to prevent migrants from traveling to Europe in return for 3 billion euros (dollars) in cash, a deal on visas and renewed talks on joining the 28-nation bloc.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, Turkey recovered the body of Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov from northern Syria and presented it to Russian diplomats, five days after shooting down his warplane in an incident that wrecked relations between the two countries.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Yemeni loyalists supported by a Saudi-led coalition battled to oust Iran-backed rebels from a southern province where they have made gains in recent weeks, with at least 16 reported dead.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 30, A coalition led by the United States conducted 12 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, and hit the militant group with a single strike in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 30, US District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans ordered Anadarko Petroleum Corp to pay a $159.5 million civil fine reflecting its stake in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 30, In New York former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (71) was convicted on charges that he traded favors for $4 million in kickbacks.
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A9)
2015 Nov 30, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency after storms over the weekend caused floods, coated roads with ice and left about 60,000 customers without power.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, American activist Lori Berenson (46) was finally heading home to New York, two decades after being found guilty of aiding leftist rebels in Peru. Her 20-year sentence lapsed on Nov 29.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Argentina’s Pres. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner signed a decree boosting government spending by 133 billion pesos ($13.7 billion).
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.37)
2015 Nov 30, Cameroonian troops crossed into Nigeria and killed about 150 people near the Banki border post according to refugees who walked for days to Adamawa’s Fufore transit center. Cameroon’s government denied the charges.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 30, Canada-based BlackBerry said it is exiting Pakistan rather than hand over its customers' private messages, after the government demanded access to encrypted data sent through company servers.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In the Central African Republic Pope Francis said Christians and Muslims were "brothers" and urged them to reject hatred and violence as he visited a mosque in Bangui, which has been ravaged by sectarian conflict.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, China and Taiwan said they have swapped three high-level convicted spies in a sign of goodwill linked to the first meeting ever between their presidents. China first sent back the two Taiwanese men, Chu Kung-hsun and Hsu Chang-kuo on Oct 13. Taiwan followed with the release of Li Zhihao.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Beijing suffered its worst air pollution of the year, with monitoring sites throughout the city reporting extremely hazardous levels of pollutants.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In eastern Congo DRC at least 13 people, including a UN peacekeeper, were killed in an overnight attack by rebels in North Kivu province. The attack was blamed on Ugandan rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In eastern Congo DRC more than 20 people were missing after a government-operated speed boat capsized on Lake Kivu.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, World leaders arrived in Paris for UN climate change talks. Over the next two weeks, negotiators will hammer out the strongest international climate pact yet.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Marcus Klingberg (b.1918), the man considered the Soviet Union's most successful spy in Israel before being unmasked more than 30 years ago, died in Paris.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 30, PM Haider al-Abadi said that Iraq has sufficient forces to fight the Islamic State group, after American senators called for more US troops to be deployed to the country. A suicide bomber targeted Shiite Muslims taking part in an annual pilgrimage in Baghdad, killing 9 people and wounding another 21.
(AFP, 11/30/15)(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In southeastern Niger militants from the Islamist group Boko Haram killed 8 people in an attack on a village in the Diffa region.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 30, In Northern Ireland the Belfast High Court found that the country’s restrictive abortion legislation is in breach of human rights law.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Russia said it will restrict imports of Turkish fruit and vegetables as part of a package of new sanctions following the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey last week. Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said his country would not apologize to Russia for shooting down the warplane and said he hoped Russia would reconsider sanctions.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Officials say that more than 35,000 people were without electricity in Sweden after a storm battered southern Scandinavia, damaging buildings, toppling trees, canceling trains and closing bridge links between Denmark and Sweden.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In northern Syria 15 militants, 8 DFS fighters and 20 civilians were reported killed over the last 24 hours near the border area near Azaz.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Thai soldiers and police detained two top leaders of the anti-government Red Shirt movement as they prepared to visit a park celebrating past Thai kings that is at the center of a corruption scandal linked to the army.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In Thailand Andre Cabau (39), a French drug trafficker, was arrested in Bangkok. He was part of a notorious international network that authorities say copied tactics from Hollywood's "Fast and Furious" films.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Turkish authorities rounded up some 1,300 migrants that they said were planning to sail to Greece from hideouts near secluded Aegean beaches and forests.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, The World Bank launched a $500 million market-based scheme designed to help developing countries pay for emission reductions and combat climate change.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Dozens of Yemeni Houthi fighters were reportedly killed during an assault on the border with Saudi Arabia.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov, In Botswana a 3-billion-year-old diamond the size of a tennis ball was unearthed at a mine owned by Canada’s Lucara Diamond Corp. The Lesedi la Rona diamond was set to be auctioned in London on June 29, 2016. Bidding failed to make a $70 million reserve.
(SFC, 5/5/16, p.A2)(Econ, 7/2/16, p.56)
2015 Nov, In China a mother entrusted her daughter to Bao Yuming, a high-ranking director at two large companies. He started raping her a month later, when she was just 14 years old. In 2016 the girl began reporting sexual abuse to police, but they did not pursue her claims. In 2020 the central government probed the handling of the case.
(https://tinyurl.com/yd2t5rkw)(Econ, 4/25/20, p.35)
2015 Nov, The Egyptian military destroyed 20 underground tunnels this month along the border with the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Nov, In Ethiopia demonstrations began mainly by members of the Oromo ethnic group against a government plan to expand the limits of Addis Ababa. The Oromo accounted for about a third of the country’s 97 million people.
(Econ, 3/26/15, p.58)
2015 Nov, In France exiled Rep. of Congo General Ferdinand Mbaou was shot in the back as he was leaving his home in Bessancourt north of Paris. In 2018 two former French secret service agents were accused of plotting to assassinate the senior opposition figure.
(AFP, 10/5/18)
2015 Nov, Abu Saleh, the Islamic State finance chief in Iraq, was killed late this month along with two associates in a coalition air strike. The two others were identified as Abu Mariam, an enforcer and senior leader in the IS group's extortion networks, and Abu Waqman al-Tunis, who coordinated the group's transfer of people, weapons and information.
(AFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Nov, Russian authorities declared the Soros Fund an "undesirable agent" and forced it to stop working in Russia.
(AP, 1/14/16)
2015 Nov, The number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria was estimated at 30 to 100 thousand. Pentagon sources said coalition airstrikes have killed 20,000 IS fighters over the last 14 months. Coalition airstrikes against the IS this month alone numbered more than 3,000.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.23)(Econ, 12/12/15, p.47)
2015 Dec 1, The United States and its allies staged 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 1, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the United States is deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to help Iraq put additional pressure on Islamic State and be positioned to conduct unilateral operations into Syria.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, US General Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that approximately 43 percent of the revenue stream that ISIL derives from oil has been affected over the past 30 days.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla chan announced the birth of a baby daughter and plans to give away 99% of the Facebook shares, currently worth $45 billion, during their lifetimes.
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A1)
2015 Dec 1, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy following the public outcry over the handling of the Oct 20, 2014, shooting of Laquan McDonald (17).
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 1, In northern Afghanistan an explosion struck a group of children who were playing on the outskirts of Puli Khumri, Baghlan province, killing 3 boys and wounding 12 children, four of them critically.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, The Bank of China appealed a decision by a New York court to fine it $50,000 a day for withholding information about counterfeiters' bank accounts in China.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 1, Beijing grappled with severe air pollution for a 5th straight day and ordered hundreds of factories to shut and allowed children to skip school as choking smog reached over 25 times safe levels.
(AFP, 12/1/15)(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A7)
2015 Dec 1, In eastern Congo DRC fierce fighting between UN peacekeepers and Ugandan rebels raged, after a weekend attack by the mostly Muslim group left 24 people dead.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, The Cuban government announced that it is re-imposing a hated travel permit requirement on many doctors, requiring them to get permission to leave the country in an attempt to counter a brain drain that it blames on the United States.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, President Francois Hollande said France will give African countries two billion euros ($2.1 billion) over the next four years to develop renewable energy and replace climate-harming fossil fuels.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, The German cabinet approved a mandate offering military assistance to back the international fight against the Islamic State jihadist group following the Paris attacks.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, An Indonesian report said a faulty component and the crew's inadequate response caused an AirAsia A320 to crash into the Java Sea last Dec 28, killing all 162 people on board.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Iraq gunmen shot and killed prominent Sunni councilman Moahmmed Khalil al-Jubouri and his wife in the northern city of Kirkuk.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 1, Japan's whaling fleet set out for the Antarctic to resume a hunt for the mammals after a year-long hiatus.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Police in Kenya tear-gassed demonstrators as some 200 people marched against to the Supreme Court and parliament to protest government corruption. 26 people were arrested.
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 1, Kenya's sports ministry said it will require all government payments to athletes be made via an electronic system in a bid to stop theft by sports officials.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Al Qaeda's Syrian wing freed 16 Lebanese soldiers and policemen in exchange for the release of jailed Islamists including the ex-wife of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Bashir Yuguda, the former minister of state for finance, has been arrested along with some other people in connection with a $2 billion arms deal that is currently being investigated.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Pakistan gunmen killed 2 soldiers in the southern city of Karachi.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Two Palestinians attempted to stab an Israeli soldier and a pedestrian in separate attacks near Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but both attackers were shot dead.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In the Philippines three members of the second division of the Commission on Election (Comelec) said Senator Grace Poe could not run for president in elections in May because she fails to meet the 10-year residency requirement. Poe's camp said it would appeal against the decision to Comelec before elevating it to the Supreme Court.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, A Philippine court convicted US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton of killing Filipino Jennifer Laude last year after he discovered in a hotel that she was a transgender woman. He was sentenced to 6-12 years in jail and credited with time already spent in detention.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Singapore Tan Seet Eng, aka Dan Tan, was re-arrested, a week after his release from jail was ordered by a Court of Appeal. He was suspected of running a global soccer match-fixing syndicate and said to be a danger to public safety. Tan was previously jailed in October 2013 after Italian prosecutors accused him of coordinating a global crime syndicate that made millions of dollars betting on rigged Italian matches and other games around the world.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 1, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Syrian official said a deal has been reached for thousands of insurgents to leave the last opposition-held neighborhood in the city of Homs. Implementation of the deal will begin early next week.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, NATO allies sought to strengthen Turkey's defenses along its Syrian border after the United States withdrew its missile defense battery for modernization.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Turkey 6 children died in a fire that broke out at a school teaching the Quran in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Zimbabwe China’s President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of 10 economic agreements, including on expanding the southern African nation's largest thermal power plant.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
3,
2015 Dec 2, A coalition led by the United States bombarded Islamic State in Syria with 14 air strikes, and also hit the militant group in Iraq with 18 strikes.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 2, In southern California Syed Rizwan Farook (28) and Tashfeen Malik (27) who had a 6-month-old daughter together, were killed in a shootout with police. They had just killed 14 people and wounding 17 at the Inland Regional Center, a social services agency in the city of San Bernardino where Farook worked as an inspector. The attack appeared to have been planned. After two days the FBI became involved saying Farook had "some kind" of contact with people from the Nusra Front and the radical Shabab group in Somalia. In 2020 Farook's mother, Rafia Shareed, pleaded guilty to destroying a map her son may have used to plan the massacre.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)(Reuters, 12/5/15)(SFC, 3/17/20, p.A4)
2015 Dec 2, In San Francisco Mario Woods (26) was shot dead by police in the Bayview district. Investigators said he was armed with a knife and was suspected in an earlier stabbing. At least five officers fired at him 20 times. Part of the shooting was captured on video. On May 24 District Attorney George Gascon announced that he would not charge the officers involved.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A1)(SFC, 5/26/18, p.A1)
2015 Dec 2, In Tennessee 2 Army pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed near Fort Campbell.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 2, Texas sued the US government in an effort to block six Syrian refugees from resettling in Dallas this week. On Dec 4 Texas stopped trying to block Syrian refugees from resettling in the state.
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A8)(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 2, John Rassias (b.1925), former Dartmouth professor of language, died at his home in Norwich, Vt. His language teaching method was adopted by the Peace Corps and formalized after he began teaching at Dartmouth in 1965, as the Dartmouth Intensive Language Model.
(SFC, 12/7/15, p.C3)
2015 Dec 2, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was injured in a firefight following an argument at a meeting of militant commanders in Pakistan. 4 people were reported killed in the firefight.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Brazil Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress, triggered an impeachment process against Pres. Dilma Rousseff on grounds that she illegally manipulated government accounts. Cunha was one of 34 sitting congressmen under investigation in the bribery scandal centered on Petrobras.
(AFP, 12/3/15)(Econ, 12/5/15, p.36)
2015 Dec 2, Britain voted to extend airstrikes to Syria.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Burundi at least 7 people were killed over the last 24 hours in gun battles and grenade blasts with bodies found dumped on the streets.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with South Africa's President Jacob Zuma that were expected to focus on boosting investment and trade worth around $20 billion dollars a year.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, China’s cabinet announced that the country will reduce emissions of major pollutants in the power sector by 60 percent by 2020.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, The EU and Vietnam signed a free trade deal that removes nearly all tariffs between Europe and one of the world's last communist states.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Afghanistan's visiting President Ashraf Ghani agreed to work jointly for stability in the South Asian country and to reduce illegal migration.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi said his country does not need foreign ground troops to defeat the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Israel indicted former senior politician Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (79) on charges that include taking bribes and money laundering.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Israel demolished the home of a Palestinian who killed two officers and wounded several others in an attack last year.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Kuwaiti MPs called on the government to refer 24 ex-oil officials to the public prosecutor over a scrapped deal with US firm Dow Chemical that resulted in a $2.2 billion fine.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Libya rocket fire killed Colonel Ali al-Themen and wounded five other soldiers of the armed forces loyal to the internationally recognized government in the coastal city of Benghazi.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Macedonian police fired tear gas at hundreds of mostly Pakistani migrants who tried to storm into the Balkan country from Greece demanding passage to wealthier northern Europe.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, NATO invited Montenegro to become the 29th member of the US-led military alliance, defying Russia's warnings it would have to respond to what it branded a threat to its security. Russia said it will end joint projects with Montenegro if the ex-Communist country joins NATO.
(AFP, 12/2/15)(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Pakistan hanged four convicted militants who were sentenced to death over a Taliban attack on an army-run school last year that killed more than 150 people.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Russia's defense ministry said it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Slovakia filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice against a European Union decision to redistribute 120,000 asylum seekers among member countries.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Spain's Constitutional Court revoked a resolution by Catalonia's parliament that declared the start of a secession process in the wealthy northeastern region.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Syria rebel shelling of Damascus reportedly killed two women and wounded 26 people, including 16 students.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, The Islamic State posted footage online of Magomed Khasiev (23) in an orange jump suit kneeling beside a lake in Syria and confessing in Russian to spying on Islamic State militants. Another Russian speaker, this one in camouflage fatigues, then uses a hunting knife to hack off the kneeling man's head.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 2, A Venezuelan military helicopter landed in Guyana amid a border dispute between the two nations. Venezuela has long claimed 40 percent of Guyana's territory.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 2, In southern Yemen Al-Qaeda fighters drove pro-government forces out of the town of Jaar, in fighting that killed 15 people.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 3, An Arkansas judge struck down a portion of the state’s law that keeps secret details about drugs used in executions.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 3, In Minnesota Scott Weiland (b.1967) former frontman for rock bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, was found dead on his tour bus while on tour with his band the Wildabouts. A medical examiner later said he died of a toxic mix of drugs that included cocaine.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A16)(SFC, 12/19/15, p.E2)
2015 Dec 3, In West Virginia Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was convicted on a misdemeanor conspiracy charge in connection with the April 5, 2010, mine disaster that killed 29 men.
(SFC, 12/5/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 3, In southern Afghanistan a US-Afghan military operation backed by helicopter gunships freed more than 40 soldiers and police held captive in a Taliban prison in Nawzad district of Helmand province.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 3, Australia's parliament passed legislation to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are convicted of terrorism offences or found to have fought with banned groups overseas, despite concerns about deporting jihadists.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's party appealed to the Supreme Court to block impeachment proceedings against her.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Britain joined the US-led air strikes against Islamic State in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, A Cambodian court sentenced Yem Chrin, an unlicensed medical practitioner, to 25 years in prison Thursday after finding him responsible for infecting more than 100 villagers with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, by reusing unsanitized syringes.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of Russia's Chechnya region, said that whoever was responsible for the beheading of a Russian man from Chechnya, purportedly shown on an Islamic State video, will be killed.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In China Cai Rongsheng, former admissions officer at Renmin University in Beijing, admitted to taking $3.6 million in bribes at a trial in Nanjing.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Ecuador's Congress voted overwhelmingly to lift presidential term limits from 2021, triggering violent demonstrations that saw police attacked with spears, clubs and home-made rockets.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, EU member Denmark voted in a referendum on adopting the union's justice rules, with the Paris terror attacks and immigration both major issues in the campaign. 53 percent of Danish voters decided to continue a decades-old opt-out from justice affairs in the European Union.
(AFP, 12/3/15)(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 3, Egypt's top court ordered a retrial of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and thirty-six co-defendants, overturning a death sentence for Islamist protest violence.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Egypt opened its border with the Gaza Strip for the first time in months, drawing thousands of Palestinians who crowded the Rafah border crossing in hopes of leaving the coastal territory.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Greece public and private sector workers walked off the job in the second 24-hour general strike in a month against new austerity measures.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Hungary said it had filed a legal challenge to the European Union's plan to distribute 160,000 asylum-seekers among member states under a quota system.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In southern India the heaviest rainfall in more than 100 years has devastated swathes of Tamil Nadu state, with thousands forced to leave their submerged homes and schools, offices and a regional airport shut for a second day.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Indonesia two rain-triggered landslides left 5 villagers dead and 15 others missing on Sumatra Island.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Iraq millions of Shiite Muslims, beating their heads and chests in mourning, packed the city of Karbala for the culmination of Arbaeen, one of the world's largest religious events.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Israeli authorities said they had arrested a number of alleged Jewish extremists over the July 31 firebombing of a Palestinian home that killed a toddler and his parents in an attack that drew international condemnation.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Malaysia's Parliament approved a security law that gives sweeping security powers to a council led by the prime minister, in a move slammed by rights groups and critics as a step toward a dictatorship.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Mexico Antonio Oseguera Cervantes (57), the brother of the head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, was detained while driving in the town of Tlajomulco de Zuniga, western Jalisco state. He managed the group's finances.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 3, Mongolia’s lawmakers approved a new criminal code eliminating executions effective September 2016. The last execution in Mongolia was in 2008 and the death penalty remained classified as a state secret. The move made Mongolia the 105th country to abolish the death penalty in law.
(http://tinyurl.com/zdfketo)
2015 Dec 3, Pakistan refused to allow about 30 "unverified deportees" from Greece to get off a plane at Islamabad. 19 others whom Pakistan deemed legitimate deportees were allowed to disembark.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, A Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli policeman near Jerusalem's Old City before being shot dead.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Puerto Rico the FBI arrested 10 government officials and businessmen charged with bribery and extortion.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Qatar signed the first contracts on a mega-accommodation project which will eventually see almost 180,000 migrant workers housed in seven specially built "cities". All seven sites could be in operation within two years.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters work on Turkish Stream, a pipeline intended to pump Russian gas into southeastern Europe via Turkey while bypassing Ukraine, had been suspended.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, The foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia met in Belgrade in the first high-level bilateral talks since the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish jets sparked an unprecedented crisis.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Saudi Arabia lent its backing to a power-sharing plan that would make Suleiman Franjieh, a family friend of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, president of Lebanon.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Saudi local media said female divorcees and widows in Saudi Arabia are set to get their own ID cards allowing them to act independently from men.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Citizens of Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago, began voting in presidential elections.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In South Africa Oscar Pistorius was convicted of murder by an appeals court that described the once-glittering story of the double-amputee Olympian and Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend he killed in his home in 2013, as a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Spain a trial of 35 members of Basque separatist parties including Batasuna, the banned political wing of the armed ETA group, got under way after being repeatedly postponed. The defendants stand accused of carrying out political activities to back ETA, blamed for the deaths of 829 people in a four-decade campaign for an independent Basque homeland.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Spain acting Catalon President Artur Mas said Catalonia's government will continue its drive for independence.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, The Swiss justice ministry (FOJ) arrested two more top FIFA officials on a request from the US justice department. South American Football Confederation president Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay and Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, head of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean, were arrested at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, It was reported that three Tanzanian universities are offering a new course on female genital mutilation (FGM) to train health care professionals how to deal with victims of the harmful practice that is still widespread although illegal.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Turkey said it has agreed with Azerbaijan to accelerate the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), with an aim to have the gas projected completed before the planned 2018.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, A Turkish court sentenced three men to life in prison over the Feb 11 murder and attempted rape of female student Ozgecan Aslan (20.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 4, The Spike Lee musical film “Chi-Raq" was released. It was about gang violence on Chicago’s South Side. It was a contemporary take on Lysistrata, the 411BC Greek comedy by Aristophanes.
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.32)
2015 Dec 4, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 12 strikes in Iraq and 11 in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, The US Center for Disease Control said that seven additional people in three more states have been sickened in an E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle.
(SFC, 12/5/15, p.D4)
2015 Dec 4, In Oakland, Ca., Jack Lewis (16) was killed when a tree limb that he was climbing broke and hit him on the head near Lake Merritt. In 2018 the Oakland City Council approved a $1.75 million payment to his family.
(SFC, 10/4/18, p.C5)
2015 Dec 4, In Connecticut Amador Medina (32) was arrested in Hartford on a charge of being a fugitive from justice from Worcester, Massachusetts, where authorities allege he stole the remains two months ago from a family mausoleum that dates to 1903. Medina told police he was a Santeria priest and wanted the human bones for religious and healing ceremonies.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Tennessee skilled-trades workers at the Volkswagen's lone US plant voted to be represented by the United Auto Workers, marking the union's first victory at a foreign-owned automaker in the South.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, American actor Robert Loggia (b.1930) died at his home in Los Angeles. His films included “Scarface" (1983), “Prizzi’s Honor" (9185) “Lost Highway" (1997) and “Big" (1988).
(SFC, 12/5/15, p.A11)
2015 Dec 4, In Afghanistan a mortar attack by government troops killed at least 8 civilians and wounded two others near a mosque in a district south of Kabul.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Azerbaijan 29 workers were missing after a platform in Azerbaijan’s Guneshli oil field, operated by state energy company SOCAR, caught fire in the Caspian Sea. 33 people were rescued. 6 bodies were soon recovered and 23 remained missing.
(AFP, 12/5/15)(AP, 12/6/15)(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 4, British bombers made their second round of strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria late today, again hitting oil fields.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, Aravindan Balakrishnan (75), a cult leader who led a secretive Maoist commune in London, was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting his female followers and imprisoning his own daughter for 30 years.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Burundi police shot dead 3 attackers and arrested three others when they foiled an attempt to ambush and assassinate a top police officer in the capital.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Canada said posted its 14th consecutive monthly trade deficit in October, as exports to its key trading partner the United States fell.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, It was reported that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has signed a decree that removes marijuana from the country's list of hard drugs.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking at a summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in South Africa, told African leaders his country would pump $60 billion into development projects, cancel some debt and boost agriculture under a three-year plan that will extend Beijing's influence in the continent.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Costa Rica said it has asked Belize to accept nearly 3,000 Cuban migrants who have been stuck at the Costa Rican border with Nicaragua for weeks.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Egypt a Molotov cocktail hurled at a Cairo restaurant killed 16 people and wounded two. The attacker was said to be a fired employee.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, The European Union agreed on a system to share airline passenger information, paving the way for closer scrutiny of extremists.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Georgia stripped former leader and reformer Mikheil Saakashvili of his citizenship as he had acquired a Ukrainian passport to serve as governor of the strategic Odessa region.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Germany's lower house of parliament approved government plans to join the military campaign against Islamic State in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Guatemalan prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Brayan Jimenez, president of the country's football federation, who is accused in a widening bribery investigation into FIFA.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, In southern India rains eased in the flood-hit city of Chennai, raising hopes that rescue efforts could pick up, after the death of 18 patients at a private hospital added to the official toll of 280 confirmed killed in the disaster. The death toll from the flooding was later raised to some 450.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)(Econ, 12/12/15, p.40)
2015 Dec 4, Veteran Israeli dove Yossi Sarid (75), who championed the cause of a Palestinian state over a political career spanning three decades, died in Tel Aviv.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Nigeria at least 3 people were killed and six others injured in suicide attacks in northeastern Borno state blamed on Boko Haram Islamists.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Two Palestinians stabbed an Israeli soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight, moderately wounding him before they were shot dead by soldiers. A Palestinian driver ran over and injured two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank before being shot dead.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Peru the former head of the Peruvian football federation, Manuel Burga, was arrested in the growing FIFA bribery probe.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, Philippine security forces arrested Kadaffy Muktadil, a suspect in the kidnappings of two Malaysian hostages last May. Malaysian Bernard Then Ted Fen was beheaded last month. Thien Nyuk Fun was freed on Nov 8.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Russian prosecutors declared the US-Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law (USRF) an "undesirable" organization, the fourth entity to be banned under a controversial law targeting foreign groups accused of political meddling in the country.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, South African authorities issued a warrant of arrest for Oscar Pistorius (29), a day after the Paralympic champion was convicted on appeal of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, South Africa-based MTN announced that its fine by Nigeria's communications agency had been reduced to 674 billion naira ($3.4 billion). Spokesman Tony Ojobo said there was a typo and the actual amount is 780 billion naira ($3.9 billion).
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Syria at least 35 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in a series of regime raids on a rebel stronghold east of Damascus.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, The New York Times decried limits on media freedom in Thailand after its local printer refused to publish articles about the Southeast Asian country for a third time.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Turkish media said authorities have rounded up in the past four days nearly 3,000 migrants planning to cross the Aegean Sea to EU member Greece.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Turkish media said more than 100 Turkish soldiers have been deployed to an area near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is under Islamic State control, to replace a unit providing training to Iraqi troops.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 5, The United States and its allies conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and 12 in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 5, The New York Times published an editorial on its front page for the first time since 1920, using the rare, prominent placement to urge gun control following the latest mass shooting in the United States.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, The Afghan Taliban released an audio message it said was from leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, vehemently rejecting reports of his death in a firefight with his own commanders as "enemy propaganda".
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, A ship carrying 25 tons of radioactive waste arrived back in Australia, met by activists who warned against the vast nation becoming a nuclear dumping ground. Australia sent spent nuclear fuel to France for reprocessing in the 1990s and early 2000s over four shipments, and it has now been returned for long-term storage.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In northern Bangladesh unidentified attackers hurled three homemade bombs on the premises of a Hindu temple during a drama performance early today, injuring 10 people outside the Kantajir temple during an annual fair in Dinajpur district.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In Britain Storm Desmond whipped across the country. A 90-year-old man died near a north London Underground station after he was apparently blown against the side of a moving bus.
(AFP, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 5, Muhaydin Mire (29) slashed a man (56) at the east London Leytonstone metro station, reportedly screaming "this is for Syria", in what police described as a terrorist incident. On June 8 a British court convicted Mire, a mentally ill taxi driver, of attempted murder.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)(AFP, 12/7/15)(AP, 6/8/16)
2015 Dec 5, In Chad four female suicide bombers attacked the Chadian island of Koulfoua on Lake Chad. State TV said the provisional death toll was 19 dead, including the four kamikazes, and 130 injured.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Chinese media reported that Zhang Yun (56), head of the country’s 4th largest state bank, has resigned citing personal reasons amid reports of his involvement in a corruption investigation.
(SSFC, 12/6/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 5, In France negotiators from 195 nations delivered a blueprint for a pact to save mankind from disastrous global warming. Negotiators agreed to a draft accord that still leaves hundreds of points of dispute for ministers to resolve next week.
(AFP, 12/5/15)(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Guyana's Government Information Agency said British petroleum giant Tullow Oil PLC will be awarded an exploration license near an offshore basin where Exxon Mobil found large quantities of oil and gas in May.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Iraqi President Fouad Massoum called the deployment of several hundred Turkish troops inside Iraq near the northern city of Mosul "a violation of international norms and law".
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In northern Lebanon suspected Islamist militant Mohammed Hamzeh killed himself, his wife and his mother, when he blew himself up during an army raid on his home in Deir Ammar.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Lawmakers from Libya's two rival parliaments signed a declaration of principles aimed at ending the North African country's civil conflict.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 5, Malaysia's police said that they have arrested five people, including a European employed as a teacher, on suspicion of links with militant groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. The arrests were made between Nov. 17 and Dec 1.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Nigeria's intelligence agency said it has arrested nine alleged Boko Haram extremists plotting attacks on Abuja, the capital, over the festive season. All nine were detained in the past month and had infiltrated the capital in central Nigeria from the country's northeast.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, The main islands of the Seychelles voted in a presidential election with incumbent James Michel facing his first serious challenge after two terms in office. No candidate got more than 50 percent of the votes cast. A run-off was scheduled to be held in two weeks between incumbent President James Michel, Leader of the ruling Lepep party, and Wavel Ramkalawan, leader of the Seychelles National Party.
(AFP, 12/5/15)(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 5, Slovakia's leftist PM Robert Fico (51) promised to protect voters from international terrorism and unveiled a billion euro welfare plan as he launched campaign for a third term in office.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Thousands of South Koreans, many wearing masks, marched in Seoul against conservative President Park Geun-hye, who had compared masked protesters to terrorists after clashes with police broke out at a rally last month.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Syrian Turkmen rebel fighters seized three villages from the Islamic State group near the Turkish border in clashes over the last 24 hours that killed 13 from the ethnic minority.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In Turkey 3 members of the security forces were killed in clashes with militants the mainly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi met with a UN envoy in Aden to agree on peace talks with Shiite Houthi rebels set to begin in mid-December.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In Yemen masked gunmen killed prominent Judge Mohsen Alwan, who was known for sentencing al-Qaida militants to prison in the southern port city of Aden.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 6, Holly Woodlawn (69), a transgender Puerto Rican woman featured in two Andy Warhol films, died in Los Angeles County. She was the woman described by Lou Reed in his song “Walk on the Wild Side" (1972).
(SFC, 12/8/15, p.C3)
2015 Dec 6, In Florida an unmanned Atlas V rocket lifted off carrying the Orbital ATK capsule to supply astronauts at the int’l. space station.
(SFC, 12/7/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 6, The Texas Legislature adopted legislation allowing guns to be carried on university campuses. It was the 8th US state to do so.
(http://tinyurl.com/q5q9njz)(Econ, 11/7/15, p.26)
2015 Dec 6, Armenia held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes that would give more powers to the prime minister and parliament at the expense of the president, who would become largely a figurehead. Armenians voted to curb presidential powers in the disputed referendum.
(AP, 12/6/15)(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 6, Authorities in Burkina Faso said they have charged General Gilbert Diendere, who led a failed coup in September, with complicity in the 1987 assassination of President Thomas Sankara.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, In Cambodia 6 people died after eating the barbequed carcass of a dog that had died for unknown reasons. 4 others died on Dec 8 after drinking rice wine.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 6, In western China some 100 masked men attacked a government office, smashing vehicles and equipment and leaving 13 people injured in a regional dispute over farmland. The attack was part of a disagreement between residents of Gansu province and the vast Inner Mongolia region it borders to the north.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 6, France's far-right National Front was tipped for historic gains as regional polls were held under a state of emergency just three weeks after Islamic extremists killed 130 people in Paris. Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front chalked up scores that reached 40 percent of the vote in several regions.
(AFP, 12/6/15)(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 6, The top security officials from India and Pakistan held talks in Thailand's capital, signaling a resumption of the rival countries' on-again, off-again peace dialogue.
(AP, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, In Indonesia a commuter train slammed into a passenger minibus at a railroad crossing in Jakarta, killing at least 18 people and seriously injuring six others.
(AP, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, The Israeli Ofer military court near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank sentenced Khalida Jarrar, a senior member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a well-known political figure, to 15 months in jail. She had been arrested in April on a series of charges, including encouraging attacks against Israel and violating a travel ban.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 6, Israel's state-owned electric utility said Egyptian natural gas companies will pay it compensation of $1.76 billion plus interest for halting gas supplies in 2012.
(AP, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, In Saudi Arabia Israa al-Ghomgham and her husband were arrested in a night raid on their home. She was accused of encouraging demonstrations for greater rights for the Shiite Muslim minority in Eastern province.
(SFC, 8/23/18, p.A4)
2015 Dec 6, At least 32 Islamic State fighters were killed and 40 more wounded in Syria's Raqqa province, in a series of air strikes believed to be carried out by a US-led coalition targeting the jihadists.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, Venezuelans voted in tense elections that could see the opposition seize legislative power from the socialist government and risk sparking violence in the oil-rich, cash-poor nation. The opposition Democratic Unity coalition won 112 of 167 of the National Assembly seats. The ruling Socialists and its allies got 55 seats.
(AFP, 12/6/15)(Reuters, 12/7/15)(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 6, In Yemen General Jaafar Mohammed Saad, the governor of Aden, was killed by a car bomb in the port city. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack that also killed at least 6 members of Saad's entourage.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 7, The United States said it has agreed with Singapore on a first deployment of the US P8 Poseidon spy plane in Singapore this month, in a fresh response to China over its pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, US Vice President Joe Biden assured Ukraine of continuing US support and announced the release of an additional $190 million in US aid to help support reforms.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, US presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," immigrants and visitors alike, because of what he describes as hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, Two Afghan men failed to report to maintenance training with the 81st Fighter Squadron while training with the US military at a base in south Georgia.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 7, The County of Hawaii said 119 residents and 17 visitors have been confirmed with dengue fever.
(SFC, 12/8/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 7, Lawyers hired by the Turkish government filed a civil suit against cleric Fethullah Gulen, a political enemy of President Tayyip Erdogan, in a US court alleging human rights abuses. Gulen has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 7, Thermo Fisher Scientific, a US based life sciences company, opened a new aseptic processing laboratory at its Molecular Biology Center of Excellence in Vilnius, Lithuanian capital. The new laboratory will produce Dynabeads, the magnetic beads. Coated with antibodies the magnetic beads stimulate lymphocytes, enabling the patient's cells to fight cancer and prevent metastasis. The company expects the new technology will replace conventional treatment methods to treat cancer.
(Xinhua, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, In eastern Afghanistan a suicide car bombing wounded nine people, including six policemen in the Surkh Rud district in Nangarhar province.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, In Brazil impeachment proceedings against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff faced their first major hurdle with the formation of a special congressional committee that will analyze the accusations against her.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Beijing issued its first-ever red alert for smog, urging schools to close and invoking restrictions on factories and traffic that will keep half of the city's vehicles off the roads.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Interpol agents arrested a Rwandan with a $5 million bounty on his head who is among the most wanted for the 1994 genocide. Ladislas Ntaganzwa was arrested in the eastern Congo city of Goma. Between about 14 and 18 April 1994 he is accused of substantially participating in the planning, preparation and execution of the massacre of over 20,000 Tutsis at Cyahinda Parish.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 7, Germany said the number of people registered as asylum-seekers this year hit 965,000 by the end of November.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, The German firm JAB Holding Co. announced a $13.9 billion acquisition of Keurig Green Mountain as part of its quest to dominate the global coffee industry. JAB Holding is the investment arm of the Reimann family, heirs to consumer goods company Joh. A. Benckisser GmbH.
(SFC, 12/8/15, p.D3)
2015 Dec 7, In eastern India a speeding train rammed into an SUV at an unmanned railroad crossing, killing all 13 people in the vehicle in Jharkhand state.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, Latvian PM Laimdota Straujuma said that she was resigning her post after political squabbles within her center-right ruling coalition and dissatisfaction about her leadership.
(Reuters, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a video showing three men purportedly confessing to spying for the Mauritanian and French military and then one being taken out of a pick-up truck in the desert and shot in the head. The 22-minute video shows the men saying they had been spying in northern Mali since at least 2006.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, A Palestinian man stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli in the West Bank city of Hebron and was then shot dead by security forces. Genadi Kaufman (41) died of his wounds on Dec 30.
(Reuters, 12/7/15)(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 7, The Kremlin said is not interested in the allegations made in a recent documentary because they do not concern the prosecutor general, but his sons. Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and his team released an investigation and a documentary online last week, detailing what they described as shady deals involving sons of the prosecutor general and other senior prosecutors.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, In Russia five people were lightly injured when a grenade exploded at a bus stop in central Moscow. The hand grenade went off on Pokrovka Street, an area dotted with bars and restaurants.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, In Somalia Abdimalik Jones, an American who had been fighting with al-Shabab, left the rebels and was arrested by Somalia's security forces in the southern port of Barawe. Jones claimed he fled al-Shabab because of rifts within the group.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, Syria's government accused the US-led coalition of launching airstrikes a day earlier on an army camp in Der el-Zour that killed 3 soldiers and wounded 13, which if confirmed would mark the first time US-led forces have struck troops loyal to President Bashar Assad. A US military official said the strike was from a Russian warplane.
(AP, 12/7/15)(SFC, 12/8/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 7, Syrian authorities released 35 opposition detainees in Homs, ahead of a deal that will lead to the departure of thousands of opposition fighters.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Eastern Tajikistan was struck by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake. State television said one person was killed ten were injured.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Thailand's military government blocked an anti-corruption protest, detaining about three dozen students and other activists who were headed to a park honoring past kings that was allegedly built with money from shady dealings involving several senior officers.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Turkey said it would not withdraw hundreds of soldiers who arrived last week at a base in northern Iraq, despite being ordered by Baghdad to pull them out within 48 hours.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, The UN appealed for a record $20.1 billion (18.6 billion euros) to provide aid to a surging number of people hit by conflicts and disasters around the globe.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 8, The United States and its allies staged 26 air strikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 8, John Trudell (b.1946), American Indian activist and poet, died at his home in Santa Clara County, Ca. In 1969 he was the spokesman for the American Indians who had occupied Alcatraz.
(SFC, 12/10/15, p.D8)
2015 Dec 8, In Kansas Floyd Bledsoe (39) was freed after serving more than 15 years of a life sentence for the 1999 shooting death of his sister-in-law after his brother confessed in suicide notes that he was the actual killer.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A10)
2015 Dec 8, Boston College said the number of students complaining of gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at Chipotle has climbed to 80. Chipotle said it thinks the illnesses are an isolated case of norovirus.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A10)
2015 Dec 8, In southern Afghanistan Taliban militants stormed the airport complex in Kandahar city, triggering gunfights and explosions as a regional conference kicked off in Pakistan with hopes of reviving peace talks with the insurgents. More than 50 people were reported killed and dozens more wounded in renewed and ongoing fighting between rival Taliban factions in Shindand district near the western city of Herat.
(AFP, 12/8/15)(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Six Afghan children drowned after a rubber dinghy carrying migrants to Greece sank off Turkey's Aegean coast.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, In Albania several thousand opposition supporters scuffled with police during a protest in central Tirana against government economic reforms that they say have increased poverty.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Bosnian police arrested retiree Sakib Mahmuljin (63), a wartime Muslim army commander, on charges of failing to prevent crimes committed by foreign Islamic fighters against captive Bosnian Serb soldiers during a 1992-1995 war.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Britain's National Crime Agency warned the average age of suspected cyber criminals has become younger, with investigations in the past year showing that suspects' average age dropped to just 17 compared to 24 in the previous year.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, London-based Anglo American said it will shed 85,000 employees, 63 percent of its workforce, in a radical restructuring meant to cope with tumbling commodity prices.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Former British spy chief Richard Barrett said Syria has become the pre-eminent global incubator for a new generation of militants after Islamist groups more than doubled their recruitment of foreign fighters to as much as 31,000 over the past 18 months.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced an inquiry into why nearly 1,200 indigenous women have been murdered or gone missing over decades.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Central African Republic's exiled former president Francois Bozize, who is wanted for helping foment deadly unrest, was barred from running for election late this month.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, In Chile Douglas Tompkins (72), the co-founder of The North Face and Esprit clothing companies, died from severe hypothermia in a kayaking accident. He had bought up large swaths of land in South America's Patagonia region to keep them pristine.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 8, In China Half of Beijing's private cars were ordered off the streets and many construction sites and schools closed after authorities in Beijing responded to scathing public criticism with their first-ever red alert for pollution.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Air France said it will resume flights to Tehran for the first time in more than seven years, as part of resuming European trade with Iran following a hard-fought deal to curb its nuclear activities.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Mahmoud Doaei, the managing editor of the moderate Ettelaat daily, Iran's oldest newspaper, was indicted for defying a national reporting ban on comments and pictures of the country's reformist former president Mohammad Khatami.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Iraqi security forces recaptured a large part of the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian protester while they were carrying out an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, A boat carrying African migrants sank apparently due to bad weather as they tried to cross to the Canary Islands. Moroccan authorities recovered the bodies of 11 African migrants.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 8, Poland's constitutional crisis deepened, with the president indicating that he will stick by appointments to the Constitutional Tribunal that were declared illegal last week by that same court, the nation's highest arbiter of the law.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Russia said that recent air strikes against targets in Syria included the new Kalibre cruise missile from its Rostov-on-Don submarine in the Mediterranean Sea.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 8, World Chess Federation (FIDE) president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (53), a Russian citizen, said he would seek $50 billion from the United States over his addition to a blacklist for alleged ties to the Syrian regime. Ilyumzhinov has dismissed the charge, repeatedly telling local media he has no economic interests in Syria or Iraq.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, The Slovak Parliament amended the constitution to give authorities more powers to deal with terror suspects following the attacks in Paris.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Syria said it will export more than 700,000 tons of citrus fruits to Russia to "fill the gap" left by Moscow's ban on Turkish agricultural products.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, The administration in Ukraine's Kherson region said that Ukraine has restored electricity to the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, The United Nations called on Jordan to allow in 12,000 Syrian refugees stranded at the border in deteriorating humanitarian conditions and offered to help reinforce security at registration points.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Pope Francis launched an extraordinary Catholic Jubilee year of mercy by opening a "Holy Door" in the walls of St Peter's, embracing a 700-year-old tradition as he urged his Church to reach out to the modern world.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 9, US President Barack Obama welcomed Israel's Pres. Reuven Rivlin to the White House, with both sides eager to prevent a deeper crisis between Israel and the Palestinians.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, The United States announced plans to double grant funding it provides to help developing countries adapt to climate change to around $860 million a year.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, The United States and its allies conducted 23 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 9, Torrential rains pummeled parts of the Pacific Northwest leaving 2 women dead in Oregon.
(SFC, 12/10/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 9, In Afghanistan 38 civilians and 12 members of Afghan security forces were killed in fighting at the airport in Kandahar as operations ended. 11 Taliban were also reported killed. Officials said the district of Khanishin in Helmand province has fallen to the insurgents. 14 policemen were killed and 11 others wounded.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 9, Armenia said it has arrested Garik Marutyan (38), a former senior army officer, on suspicion of spying for Azerbaijan and selling state secrets.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Former Australian PM Tony Abbott defended his comments suggesting that Western culture is superior to that of Islam, and called for US-led assistance in defeating the Islamic State group.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Azerbaijani tanks shelled positions in the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region for the first time in more than 20 years killing one rebel soldier.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Azerbaijan released Leyla Yunus, head of the Baku-based Institute for Peace and Democracy. She had been held in detention since July 2014.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Brazil's Supreme Court suspended impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff until it can rule on the constitutional validity of the opposition bid to impeach her.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Bulgaria's Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov resigned after parliament watered down changes to the constitution in a vote which he said would prevent genuine reforms to the country's graft-prone and inefficient judiciary.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, In Burundi at least 7 people were killed in Bujumbura during a night of violence in flashpoint districts where months of protests took place against President Pierre Nkurunziza.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, China’s government said it will pay bonuses from Jan. 1 to companies meeting coal efficiency standards. Beijing residents stayed indoors, schools were closed and limits on cars, factories and construction sites kept pollution from spiking even higher.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Luzolo Bambi, a counselor to President Joseph Kabila on graft and money laundering, said Congo DRC loses up to $15 billion a year due to fraud, an amount close to twice the central African country's budget.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Anger peaked in Kinshasa's slums as DR Congo's poor grappled with little more than bare hands against torrential rains and flooding that have left 31 people dead and 20,000 families homeless in less than three weeks.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, French hosts of 195-nation climate rescue talks released a crucial new blueprint, reporting important progress but some sticking points two days ahead of the deadline for a UN deal.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, A wooden smuggling boat carrying about 50 people sank in the eastern Aegean Sea. Greek authorities said at least 12 people drowned, including six children, and 12 others were missing.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, India and Pakistan announced that they were resuming the dialogue on outstanding issues, ending a two-year-long stalemate. A regional conference held in Pakistan ended with calls for the resumption of Afghan peace negotiations and an agreement by Islamabad and New Delhi to relaunch bilateral talks that broke down in August over tensions in Kashmir.
(AP, 12/9/15)(SSFC, 12/13/15, p.A25)
2015 Dec 9, Millions of Indonesians voted in nationwide elections for regional leaders in the sprawling archipelago.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Iran’s Fars news reported that a booby trap exploded in Nikshahr, near the border with Pakistan, killing 3 policemen and wounded an unspecified number of others.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, It was reported that Jamaican activist Maurice Tomlinson has filed a claim in the country;s Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of 1864 laws that ban sex between men.
(SFC, 12/10/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 9, Japan's space agency said its "Akatsuki" probe had successfully entered into orbit around Venus after an initial attempt at reaching the second planet from the sun failed five years ago.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Kenya and Britain signed a deal to allow British troops to continue military training in the East African nation for five more years, ending half a decade of protracted negotiations which tested their relations.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Myanmar inaugurated a new stock exchange with plans for six companies to start trading in March.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, A Palestinian was shot dead by security forces after wounding an Israeli soldier and a civilian when he stabbed them in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Russia said its air force flew 82 sorties against 204 targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, South Africa’s Pres. Jacob Zuma fired respected finance minister Nhlanhla Nene. He was replaced by David van Rooyen.
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.49)
2015 Dec 9, Switzerland's main anti-immigration party secured a second seat in the federal government in a boost for isolationist forces as the country seeks to redraft treaties with the European Union to include curbs on immigration.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Syrian rebels began evacuating the last opposition-held district in Homs, paving the way for President Bashar al-Assad's regime to take full control of the country's third-largest city.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Representatives from Syria's fragmented opposition began an unprecedented meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia, seeking a united front for potential talks with President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Tajikistan's lower house of parliament approved a bill that strengthens President Imomali Rakhmon's grip on power by awarding him the title of "Leader of the Nation" with lifetime immunity from prosecution.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Turkey said its fighter jets carried out a new barrage of air strikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq overnight.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, The UN said more than 170,000 people have fled war-torn Yemen for the Horn of Africa and the Gulf, as they appealed for $94 million in aid.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 10, The United States and its allies staged 25 air strikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that Fiat Chrysler will pay a $70 million fine to the US government for its mishandling of 23 recalls involving 11 million vehicles.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Nevada’s Gov. Brian Sandoval announced plans to offer $335 million in state tax incentives and infrastructure upgrades to an upstart, Chinese investor-backed electric carmaker that wants to build $1 billion production plant in a Las Vegas suburb.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Afghanistan a woman detonated her explosives' vest at a checkpoint in eastern Nangarhar province, killing her 3 children and an officer who stopped their suspicious-looking car.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, Argentine President Mauricio Macri was sworn in, inheriting myriad economic problems from the often-divisive outgoing President Cristina Fernandez. Inflation was about 30% and the budget deficit was 5.4% of GDP.
(AP, 12/10/15)(Econ, 11/28/15, p.31)(Econ, 3/18/17, p.32)
2015 Dec 10, Azerbaijan said 3 of its troops have been killed in the past ten days as the conflict in its separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh escalates.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The Bosnian Serb regional government said it has stopped all cooperation with the state court, prosecution office and police because they ordered or carried out the arrest of five Serb war crimes suspects and raided a local police station in the Serb republic.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Four tobacco giants launched a High Court legal challenge against a British law banning the use of logos or branding on packets of tobacco products from May 2016.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The first Canadian government plane carrying Syrian refugees arrived in Toronto late today where they were greeted by PM Justin Trudeau.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has agreed to loan China $430 million to support government efforts to reduce coal use and tackle the choking smog that regularly envelops the capital and other major cities.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Costa Rica the body of Sondra Lynn was discovered on a bed in a San Jose hotel. She had organized volunteer medical missions in Central America and was found stabbed to death. The Vida Volunteer organization identified her as Sondra Lynn Elizondo and gave her age as 46.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, EU lawmakers backed plans to track airline passenger names as part of efforts to prevent a repeat of the Paris attacks.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The European Commission launched an "infringement case" against Hungary over its asylum legislation, a move Budapest dismissed as an act of revenge for its rejection of mandatory migrant quotas.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The European Commission said it has decided to take Poland to court over its failure to address its poor air quality.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Finnish police said they have arrested two Iraqi brothers believed to have been members of the Islamic State group in Iraq and suspected of fatally shooting "11 unarmed and defenseless prisoners" in June 2014.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, German authorities said five South Koreans have been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a relative in an exorcism ritual attempting to "expel a demon" at a Frankfurt hotel. On Feb 20, 2017, the five South Koreans were convicted. The main defendant was sentenced to six years in prison. Four others were given suspended sentences of between 18 months and two years.
(AP, 12/10/15)(AP, 2/20/17)
2015 Dec 10, Gabon, home to half of Africa's endangered forest elephants, said it has impounded more than 200 kg (440 lbs.) of ivory in what may be its largest seizure ever.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Honduras midfielder Arnold Peralta was shot to death in the city of La Ceiba. Peralta (26) was attacked by several men as he got into his car at a shopping center in his birth city.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, Iran’s Health Minister Hassan Hashemi said an outbreak of H1N1 swine flu has claimed 42 lives since mid-November.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Iraqi security forces have made advances on two fronts in the city of Ramadi, clearing Islamic State militants from a key military command base and a sprawling neighborhood on its western edge.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, A Dutch court convicted six men of belonging to a network recruiting young Muslims to join the Islamic State jihadist group, handing them jail terms of up to six years.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, An Israeli parliamentary committee said that $400,000 of gold was exported to North Korea after a 2006 UN ban.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to claim his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, a step up from the less powerful atomic bomb, but outside experts were skeptical.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Saudi Arabia opponents of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad agreed to bring together political and armed factions in a single body in preparation for possible peace talks with his government. Ahrar al-Sham pulled out of opposition talks. The group had insisted the priority should be overthrowing the regime, preserving Syria's unity and rejecting sectarianism.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, South Korean police detained Han Sang-gyun, the president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, for his alleged involvement in organizing antigovernment protests that turned violent last month. Sang-gyun had been holed up in a Buddhist temple for a month.
(SFC, 12/11/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 10, Preliminary results said the ruling party in the eastern Caribbean islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has won a narrow election victory that gives it a fourth term in office. The Unity Labor Party led by Ralph Gonsalves obtained a one-seat majority in the House of Assembly.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, In northern Syria the Islamic State staged attacks in the predominantly Kurdish province of Hassakeh targeting offices of the main Kurdish militia known as YPG. At least 26 people were reported killed.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Tajikistan a Dushanbe district court sentenced a man and a woman, recruited by the militant group Islamic State, to 10 and eight-and-a-half years in prison respectively for planning to assassinate President Imomali Rakhmon.
(Reuters, 5/6/16)
2015 Dec 10, A Turkish news agency said authorities have begun constructing a wall along a 82-km (50-mile) stretch of Turkey's border with Syria that is under the control of the Islamic State group on the Syrian side.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The Vatican said Catholics should not try to convert Jews and should work with them to fight anti-Semitism.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Venezuela's outgoing congress promoted a judge who drew international criticism by handing down a long prison term to opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Lawmakers from the ruling socialist party named Judge Susana Barreiros as head public defender.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, The US and Cuba announced they have struck a deal to re-established direct mail service, which was cut in 1963.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 11, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 12 strikes in Iraq and five in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, In California a Sky Life air ambulance crashed near McFarland, Kern County, killing all 4 people aboard.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 11, Several big-name Silicon Valley figures said they have pledged $1 billion to support a non-profit firm that would focus on the "positive human impact" of artificial intelligence. Backers of the OpenAI research group include Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk, Y Combinator's Sam Altman, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, DuPont and Dow Chemical said they have agreed to merge. On Dec 29 DuPont CEO Ed Breen sent a letter to employees saying that some 1,700 Delaware jobs would be eliminated at the beginning of the new year.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.D1)(SFC, 12/30/15, p.C1)
2015 Dec 11, It was reported that Pep Boys agreed to be acquired by Bridgestone for $863 million in cash after the tires and auto service company sweetened its offer following a bid from Carl Icahn's investment firm.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, In Afghanistan three Taliban insurgents staged a car bomb attack on a guest house near the Spanish embassy in Kabul. 7 people were killed in addition to the 3 attackers.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A2)(AFP, 12/13/15)(SSFC, 12/13/15, p.A7)
2015 Dec 11, Jaguar Land Rover signed a deal with the Slovak government to build a new plant for the luxury car maker in Slovakia.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, In Burundi gunmen stormed three military installations before dawn. At least 15 people were killed as gunfire and explosions rocked the capital. 87 people were reported killed in the violence.
(AP, 12/11/15)(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, Cameroon said a suicide bomber has killed 7 people and wounded 27 in its Far North region.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said it's buying Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, as part of a plan to create a global platform for news about China.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, China’s business magazine Caixin reported that police have arrested a former chief of one of the country’s top investment banks. Xue Rongnian, who headed Ping An Securities from 2008 to 2011, was arrested on suspicion of insider trading in connection to two cement businesses.
(AGFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, China’s Fosun Group said Chairman Guo Guangchang (48), one of the country’s richest men, was assisting relevent judicial organs with an investigation. His disappearance a day earlier had forced suspension of trading in company shares.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 11, In Ethiopia at least 17 people were injured when a grenade was thrown into the main Anwar Mosque in Addis Ababa after Friday prayers.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, In France an armed man robbed the famed Parisian jeweler Chopard, making off with gems worth around 1 million euros ($1.1 million). The robbery took place across the street from the Elysee palace.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, France detected a case of the highly pathogenic H5N9 bird flu in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques region, taking to five the number of regions affected by the outbreak in the country's southwest.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh declared the formerly secular country an Islamic republic in a move he said was designed to distance the West African state further from its colonial past.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, Indian officials investigating the death of a 30-year-old pregnant woman working at a brick kiln in Telangana state said they had uncovered an organized racket where hundreds of people were being trafficked and forced to work in inhumane conditions.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, The Israeli army killed Issa Hroug (55), a Palestinian who it said tried to ram his car into soldiers near Hebron. Palestinian Oday Ersheid (22) was shot dead by Israeli forces during a violent demonstration in the flashpoint West Bank city. Army gunfire in the Gaza Strip killed a Palestinian (38) and wounded five as Palestinians massed at the fenced-off border with Israel.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 11, A three-person crew from the International Space Station landed safely in the snowy steppes of Kazakhstan.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, In Kazakhstan former PM Serik Akhmetov (2012-2014) was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the first time a former official of such stature will serve jail time in the country. Akhmetov (57) was found guilty on four corruption-related charges including embezzlement and abuse of power, in a huge case involving more than 20 defendants.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, The Mexican government granted the first permits allowing the cultivation and possession of marijuana for personal use.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Romanian prosecutors detained Prince Paul in a case of alleged real estate fraud involving a top aide to a former prime minister and a newspaper editor. Prosecutors also ordered businessman Remus Truica, the former head of Cabinet of ex-Premier Adrian Nastase, be put under house arrest.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia has provided air cover, weapons and supplies to a leading Western-backed opposition group in Syria and called for closer coordination with the US-allied coalition.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Russian investigators charged ex-oil tycoon and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky with organizing the 1998 murder of a mayor in Siberia. Khodorkovsky, who now lives in London, has claimed that the new probe into the mayor's murder was ordered personally by President Vladimir Putin.
(AFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Russia officially launched its own rating agency as it seeks to counterbalance the influence of Western agencies which have taken a pessimistic line on the country's crisis-hit economy.
(AFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, South Africa expelled a North Korean diplomat. He was arrested in neighboring Mozambique in May on charges related to rhino horn smuggling.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 11, Spanish police said they have seized 40 pallets made out of 1.4 tons of compressed cocaine that was made to look like wood that arrived on a shipping container from Colombia. Authorities arrested 12 people in Spain, Dubai and Britain as part of the operation, including two Colombian experts in using chemicals to process cocaine into different formats.
(AFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Swiss authorities arrested two people of Syrian origin on suspicion of transporting "explosives and toxic gases" as part of a probe into a terror threat.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, President Tayyip Erdogan declared he would not bow to Iraqi demands he withdraw Turkish troops from a camp close to the Islamic State-held city of Mosul. Baghdad said it would ask the UN Security Council to order them to leave.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Turkey issued arrest warrants for US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and 66 others, pressing President Tayyip Erdogan's campaign to root out the influence of the former ally he accuses of trying to topple him.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Turkey's state-run news agency said the country's communications authority has imposed a 150,000 Turkish Lira (US$51,000) fine on Twitter for failing to remove content it said praised terror and incited violence.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 12, The Golden State Warriors lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 108-95 ending a 24-game winning streak for the Warriors.
(SSFC, 12/13/15, p.B1)
2015 Dec 12, In western Argentina at least 2 people were killed when a helicopter being used by film crew with the American television channel MTV crashed into a lake.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Burundi residents awoke to find at least 39 dead bodies scattered in the streets of Bujumbura, a day after coordinated armed assaults on three military installations. 87 people were killed in an escalation of the violence surrounding the disputed third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
(AFP, 12/12/15)(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, China’s state media reported that the government will loosen some restrictions on the free movement of workers within the country, long stymied by registration papers that limit access to critical social services.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Egypt a Cairo court convicted two officers for the torture and murder of a detained lawyer in an eastern Cairo slum. National security officers Omar Mahmoud and Mohamed el-Anwar were sentenced in absentia to five years in prison each for beating lawyer Karim Hamdi to death last February.
(http://tinyurl.com/zrpejuw)(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius presented a landmark global climate accord. The 31-page draft text creates a system for ensuring countries make good on voluntary domestic efforts to curb emissions, and provides billions more dollars to help poor nations cope with the transition to a greener economy.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Germany riots started this evening started after hundreds of leftwing activists demonstrated against a rally by far-right protesters in Leipzig earlier in the day. 69 officers have been injured and some 50 police cars were damaged.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Germany Ivory Coast footballer Steve Gohouri (34) went missing. His body found in the Rhine river on New Year's Eve in the city of Krefeld. Gohouri was playing this season for German fourth-tier side TSV Steinbach.
(AP, 1/2/16)
2015 Dec 12, India and Japan signed agreements in New Delhi that could pave the way for Tokyo to supply New Delhi with military aircraft and high-speed trains, as PM Shinzo Abe promised to fully support India's efforts to become an economic powerhouse.
(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Thousands of Iraqis protested against Ankara's deployment of troops to a base near the northern city of Mosul.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Iraq at least 6 border guards were killed when a suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into an outpost near the border with Saudi Arabia in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Mozambique said the United States will grant it $1.2 billion in aid to fund projects in healthcare, food production and education under a five-year agreement signed this week.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In northern Nigeria soldiers besieging the home of Ibraheem Zakzaky, the leader of a Shiite movement accused of trying to assassinate Nigeria's army chief, shot and killed at least 20 people in Zaria.
(AP, 12/13/15)(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 12, The first high-level talks between North and South Korea since an August agreement to end an armed confrontation across their border ended in Kaesong inconclusively.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 12, In Poland tens of thousands, angered by an ongoing constitutional conflict, marched in Warsaw. They argued that President Andrzej Duda is breaking the constitution with the steps he is taking concerning the appointment of new judges to the Constitutional Tribunal, the top law arbiter.
(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Russian police detained dozens of opposition activists who tried to hold a demonstration in central Moscow on Constitution Day.
(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Russia a fire swept through a home for people with mental illnesses, killing 23 patients and injuring another 23, many of whom were on medication or otherwise unable to walk in Alferovka, a village in the Voronezh region.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, Saudi women voted for the first time, in a tentative step towards easing sex discrimination in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom. Women were also allowed for the first time to stand as candidates in the polls for municipal councils, the country's only elected public chambers. Saudi Arabians voted 17 women into public office in municipal elections.
(AFP, 12/12/15)(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, Spanish police arrested Hector Albeidis Arboleda Buitrago, a suspected former combatant in the Colombian rebel force FARC, who they say carried out more than 500 forced abortions on female guerrillas.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Syria a powerful car bomb exploded near a hospital in the central city of Homs, killing 16 people and wounding dozens. Most residents belong to the same Alawite sect as Pres. Assad.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Yemeni officials said a seven-day ceasefire will start Dec 14, the day before planned UN-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland. In southern Yemen 9 rebels and 4 pro-government fighters were killed in clashes late today.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)(AFP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, The United States and its allies conducted 16 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Fresno, Ca., 5 people died after a fire broke out in an abandoned home.
(SFC, 12/114/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 13, In Redding, Ca., two children were found dead at a storage locker. On Dec 21 Salinas couple Tami Huntsman (39) and Gonzalo Curiel (17), the custodians of the children, were charged with murder, child abuse, torture and conspiracy.
(SFC, 12/23/15, p.D5)
2015 Dec 13, In San Francisco Olga Diaz Clark (60) identified her ex-friend Rickey Roberts as the man who beat her in her Mission District apartment shortly before she fell into a coma. She died three days later died at San Francisco General Hospital. On June 20, 2018, Roberts (60) was convicted of second-degree murder. On August 23 Roberts was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.
(SFC, 6/21/18, p.A7)(SFC, 8/27/18, p.C1)(SFC, 8/27/18, p.C1)
2015 Dec 13, Afghan forces battled to hold Marjah district center in Helmand province that Taliban insurgents have cut off as part of a months-long campaign in which they have taken three districts and threatened the regional capital.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Brazil dozens of cities staged protests asking Congress to impeach President Dilma Rousseff.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Bulgaria shut its busy border crossing with Turkey as 14 customs officials were detained in an anti-corruption raid.
(AFP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In the Central African Republic 5 people were killed as heavy weapons fire and clashes in the Muslim-majority PK-5 district of Bangui. Violence prevented many from voting in a constitutional referendum seen as a test of whether national elections can take place later this month. Final results showed 93% of the citizens voting yes. Turnout was about 38%. The referendum creates a senate, allows freedom of worship and prohibits religious fundamentalism.
(AFP, 12/13/15)(AP, 12/13/15)(AFP, 12/14/15)(AP, 12/22/15)(SFC, 12/23/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 13, Ecuador said it has signed a pact with Sweden that would allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be questioned by Swedish authorities at Ecuador's embassy in London where he has been holed up for more than three years since facing sexual assault charges.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Amnesty International said Egypt must immediately release Mazen Mohamed Abdallah (14), who says he was sexually abused in detention by police using a wooden stick and bring his alleged torturers to justice.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, French voters flocked to runoff polls in regional elections as the far-right National Front (FN) looked for a historic win in regional elections. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front did not win any region.
(AFP, 12/13/15)(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 13, Israeli military forces shot a Palestinian girl (16) after she allegedly attempted to stab a pedestrian in the West Bank city of Hebron. The woman was in critical condition.
(AP, 12/13/15)(AFP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Western powers called for a ceasefire in Libya to pave the way for an agreement to form a national unity government.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In northern Nigeria Zeenah Ibrahim, the wife of Shiite movement leader Ibraheem Zakzaky, was shot and killed hours after she called The Associated Press to report that soldiers were besieging her home in Zaria. On Aug 1, 2016, a commission of inquiry said that 348 people were killed in Zaria in three days of clashes, December 12-14, between Nigerian troops and Zakzaky’s Iranian-inspired Islamic Movement.
(AP, 12/14/15)(AFP, 1/15/16)(SFC, 8/2/16, p.A2)
2015 Dec 13, In Pakistan a bomb blast killed 24 people at a crowded bazaar in a predominantly Shiite area of the northwestern Kurram tribal region. Sectarian jihadist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the blast at the Eidgah used-clothes market in Parachinar city.
(AFP, 12/13/15)(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Poland tens of thousands of people marched through Warsaw to express support for the ruling conservatives, as the country remained locked in a constitutional crisis over the appointment of judges who could help the government pass its legislative program.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Russia warned Turkey to stop staging what it called provocations against its forces in or near Syria after one of its warships fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean to avoid a collision.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Spanish police said they have arrested two alleged gun-runners in Barcelona on suspicion they formed part of a gang involved in selling high-powered weapons to Mexican drug cartels. The suspects, a 40-year-old Iranian and a 44-year-old Swiss national, were arrested in November.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Syria rebels entrenched in an eastern suburb of Damascus fired volleys of mortar shells into Damascus. 6 civilians died in rebel fire on government-held areas in and near Damascus. At least 45 civilians were killed in four Eastern Ghouta towns in air strikes and rocket fire by pro-regime forces,
(AP, 12/13/15)(Reuters, 12/13/15)(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Thailand Thanet Anantawong was arrested for sharing an infographic on Facebook detailing alleged graft in an army-built park. Plainclothes security officers took him by force from a hospital while he awaited an operation. Anantawong was granted bail on Dec 18.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Yemen saudi coalition warplanes early struck a rebel military convoy between the strategic Taez province and Lahj, killing 7 people. 12 rebels were killed when loyalist artillery hit two rebel vehicles near the city of Damt. Medical and military sources said at least 44 people have been killed in Saudi-led coalition air raids and fighting between Yemeni loyalists and rebels ahead of a possible ceasefire.
(AFP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 14, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens" premiered in Los Angeles. It opened in US theaters on Dec 17. Box office revenues crossed the billion-dollar mark in 12 days.
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.25)(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A5)
2015 Dec 14, In Michigan the mayor of Flint declared a state of emergency, acknowledging that switches in the city's water sourcing have caused high lead levels in drinking water. In October, the city switched back to the Detroit system, but lead levels were still "well above" the acceptable federal level in many homes.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 14, Lillian Vernon (b.1927), founder of the Lillian Vernon catalog business, died in New York. In 1987 Lillian Vernon was the first company owned by a woman to be listed on the American Stock Exchange.
(SFC, 12/16/15, p.D8)
2015 Dec 14, In Afghanistan 8 family members, including 5 children aged from two months to five years, were found in the eastern province of Nangahar, each shot once in the head, apparently by three unknown men who had been guests of the family.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 14, In northern Argentina 43 police officers died and several more were injured when their bus drove off a bridge, plunging into a dry riverbed.
(AFP, 12/14/15)(SFC, 12/14/15, p.A3)
2015 Dec 14, Cameroon security forces armed with guns and arrows killed two young women wearing explosive vests in the northern town of Kolofata, the second raid there in days by suspected Boko Haram militants from neighboring Nigeria.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In the Central African Republic Maouloud Moussa, a spokesman and chief lieutenant for rebel leader Noureddine Adam, proclaimed the Republic of Logone in the town of Kaga-Bandoro. Adam, one of the main leaders of the Seleka rebel coalition, used intimidation in areas under his control to block voting on a crucial Dec 13 constitutional referendum. On Dec 22 Noureddine Adam dropped his opposition to the holding of pivotal elections.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 14, In the Central African Republic Maouloud Moussa, a spokesman and chief lieutenant for rebel leader Noureddine Adam, proclaimed the Republic of Logone in the town of Kaga-Bandoro. Adam, one of the main leaders of the Seleka rebel coalition, used intimidation in areas under his control to block voting on a crucial Dec 13 constitutional referendum.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 14, The Colombian government and leftist FARC rebels said they have reached a deal on reparations for war victims and could be near a pact on the terms of confinement for ex-combatants who would be tried in special tribunals once a definitive peace agreement is reached.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Ales Vesely (80), a Czech artist known for his monumental sculptures, was found dead in his Prague apartment.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 14, The Paris Club of creditor nations, led by France, announced a deal under which creditors will cancel $8.5 billion in overdue interest payments in exchange for a promise by Cuba to pay off $2.6 billion of the original debt over the next 18 years.
(SFC, 12/114/15, p.A3)
2015 Dec 14, In Iraq gunmen in Kirkuk shot dead a senior employee of the state-run North Oil Company (NOC), the third company official to be killed in the past four months.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman was awarded this year's Genesis Prize, the "Jewish Nobel," for his accomplishments as a musician, teacher and advocate for the disabled, organizers of the $1 million prize.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Israel detained Mohammad Abu Sakha (23), a Palestinian circus performer and teacher. Three months later he was still detained without trial.
(AFP, 3/5/16)
2015 Dec 14, In Italy police in Rome said they had seized 3,500 fake Vatican parchments that were being sold to unsuspecting pilgrims taking part in Pope Francis' Holy Year celebrations.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Kosovo’s opposition lawmakers released tear gas in parliament as they once again tried to pressure the government into renouncing deals with Serbia and Montenegro.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Libyan news agencies said the Islamic State jihadist group has executed a woman for "witchcraft" and a man accused of spying in its Libyan stronghold.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Mexican authorities said illegal taps drilled into government pipelines by fuel thieves have risen 55% this year reaching almost 500 per month.
(SFC, 12/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 14, Nigerian prosecutors charged former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki (60) with corruption. He pleaded innocent to embezzling $2.1 billion meant to purchase arms to fight Boko Haram, and said some of the money was diverted on the order of former Pres. Goodluck Jonathan to try to get himself re-elected.
(AFP, 12/14/15)(AP, 12/14/15)(SFC, 12/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 14, Palestinian Abed Almohsin (21) drove a car into Israelis at a Jerusalem bus stop injuring eight people before being shot dead.
(AFP, 12/14/15)(SFC, 12/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 14, Romanian lawmakers voted to ban all advertising of prescription drugs and radio and television advertising of over-the-counter medicines in a bid to stop what they say is harmful self-diagnosis.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing Russia’s Constitutional Court to decide whether or not to implement rulings of international human rights courts.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 14, South Africa's third finance minister in less than a week reassured the country that the economy will be steadied, which saw the currency stabilize.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Spanish police wrapped up an operation in which they seized 3,000 kg (3.3 tons) of cocaine and arrested 11 people, including Spaniards, Britons and Dutch citizens.
(AP, 1/5/16)
2015 Dec 14, A Swedish court sentenced two men to life in prison on terrorism charges over their role in two "cruel and brutal" murders in Syria in 2013. Hassan al-Mandlawi (320 and Al-Amin Sultan (30) both Swedish nationals, were convicted after graphic videos showed them taking part in the killing of two men in the northern city of Aleppo.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Syrian troops recaptured Marj al-Sultan and its airport east of Damascus, more than three years after they were overrun by rebel groups.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In southeastern Turkey 2 protesters were killed in clashes with police in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir amid growing tensions over a days-long curfew.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In Tunisia a lawyer said a court last week sentenced six students to three years in jail each on charges of homosexuality in a judgment condemned by rights activists.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Turkey said it withdrew some of its soldiers from a camp in Iraq, days after Iraq had demanded that Turkish troops immediately leave its territory.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In Yemen fierce fighting was underway between forces loyal to the internationally recognized government and the country's Shiite rebels just hours before an agreed-on truce was supposed to start at midnight. Saudi Col. Abdullah Mohammed al-Sahyan and Emirati officer Sultan Mohammed Ali al-Ketbi were killed in Taiz.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 15, The United States and its allies staged a fresh round of air strikes against Islamic State, with six in Syria and 11 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Arizona a medical helicopter crashed outside Phoenix killing 2 crew members and seriously injuring a third.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 15, In Colorado a storm dropped up to two feet snow in the mountains before hitting the plains prompting airlines to cancel 425 flights at the Denver airport.
(SFC, 12/16/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 15, In New Jersey three men were charged in a computer hacking and spamming scheme that federal prosecutors said compromised the personal information of 60 million people and netted more than $2 million in profits.
(SFC, 12/16/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 15, A task force led by northern Ohio's US Marshal arrested manslaughter convict Ramon Flores (64) in, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He’s been on the run since 1975.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 15, Brazil's federal police carried out sweeping raids in the homes and offices of top political figures ensnared in a massive corruption investigation.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, British police arrested a man (21) on hacking-related charges linked to the November hacking of children’s technology maker VTech, which compromised the personal information of some 6.4 million children worldwide.
(SFC, 12/16/15, p.C2)
2015 Dec 15, In China smog in Shanghai hit its highest level since January, prompting schools to ban outdoor activities and authorities to limit work at construction sites and factories as polluted air spreads around the country.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Ethiopia's government said 5 people had died in weeks of protests sparked by land grab fears in the country's Oromia region, dismissing opposition reports of dozens dead and scores arrested.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, The EU unveiled plans for a new border and coast guard agency that can intervene even without the host country's consent, saying it had to restore security threatened by the migration crisis.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, French police arrested two men and a woman in connection with deadly Islamist militant attacks on Paris last month and in January.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, The French air force used its first cruise missiles against Islamic State group targets. The jets targeted buildings in the Al-Qaim area of western Iraq.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Thomas Fabius, the son of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, was taken into custody as part of a probe into forgery, fraud and money laundering.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, France's competition regulator fined 20 package delivery companies, including the French operations of FedEx and DHL, a total of 672 million euros ($740 million) for colluding on price increases over a period of six years.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, German Islamist preacher Sven Lau (35) was arrested for recruiting fighters for a militant group in Syria and purchasing and delivering military equipment.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Iran’s the health ministry said an outbreak of swine flu has claimed 57 lives since mid-November. Hundreds of people have been diagnosed with the virus.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Ivory Coast’s national action plan against child labor (PFTE) said that 23 people had been brought to trial as part of a bid to cut the number of children exploited in the cocoa sector by a third by 2017. Some 4,000 child victims of "slavery and exploitation" were removed from cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast from 2012 to 2014.
(AFP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, Japan-based SoftBank said SB Energy, a three way joint venture of Japan's SoftBank Group, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn Technology Co Ltd, has won an order to develop a solar plant in India, marking SoftBank's first foray into renewable energy there.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Kazakhstan Tim Peake (43), the first British astronaut to travel to the International Space Station, blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome with Russian space veteran Yury Malenchenko and Tim Kopra of NASA for a six-month mission.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Mexican prosecutors said they have caught the leaders of a drug gang that stole at least 41,400 gallons (157,000 liters) of fuel from government pipelines. Two men and a woman arrested last week in Reynosa with 53 small bags of heroin.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in the Gobi desert signed a new financing package worth $4.4 billion. Rio Tinto controlled the mine. Mongolia’s government held a 34% stake.
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.53)
2015 Dec 15, Nigerian police opened fire on unarmed Shiite Muslim protesters in the northern city of Kaduna, leaving 3 dead. Activists accused soldiers of having killed hundreds of Shiites in "a massacre" in a nearby town in recent days.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Philippine troops clashed with Islamist militants on Basilan Island and 15 rebels and 3 soldiers were killed as security forces step up an offensive against rebels who beheaded a Malaysian captive.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, Typhoon Melor left wide areas without power as it crossed over the central Philippines. The category 3 typhoon died out on Dec 17 leaving at least 41 people dead.
(AP, 12/15/15)(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 15, Polish geology experts said they have found no traces of a train at a site allegedly hiding a World War II Nazi train.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Romania thousands of angry shepherds engaged in a tense standoff with riot police outside the parliament building in protest at a law that restricts the number of sheepdogs they can use and bans them from grazing sheep during the winter. The law was introduced by supporters of hunting, a popular pastime among Romania's elite.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Romanian lawmakers approved a ban on smoking in public places, one of the last countries in the European Union to do so.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the military coalition. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the new "anti-terrorism" military coalition of 34 Muslim countries would share intelligence and deploy troops if necessary. The coalition did not include Iran, or Syria and Iraq.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, A spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority said the country's High Commissioner to Australia has been charged with corruption. Sibusiso Ndebele appeared in a Durban court and was released on $655 bail.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, In northern Syria airstrikes on a fuel market in a rebel-held village killed and wounded dozens and destroyed several tanker trucks. Warplanes also struck a market in Maskaneh killing at least 18 people.
(AP, 12/15/15)(SFC, 12/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 15, In Thailand Chayapa Shokpornbudsri (49) was found guilty of defaming the monarchy on Facebook at a hearing held without her lawyer's presence. She was handed a 19-year sentence which was cut to 9½ years after she pleaded guilty.
(AFP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Turkey 8 Kurdish militants were killed in Cizre after they shot at the soldiers during an operation. A roadside bomb ripped through an armored vehicle and killed 3 policemen in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, The UN nuclear watchdog's 35-nation board decided to close its investigation into whether Iran once had a nuclear weapons program.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, The UN Yugoslav war crimes court quashed the acquittals of two top figures from the late Slobodan Milosevic's regime, ordering them to be retried on charges of running Serbian death squads in the 1990s. Judge Fausto Pocar said former intelligence chief Jovica Stanisic and his deputy Franko Simatovic must be retried on all counts of the indictment.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Yemen a ceasefire took effect as warring sides began UN-brokered peace talks in Switzerland. Rebel artillery and tanks killed 7 civilians in residential districts of Taez. The World Health Organization outlined plans to take advantage of a ceasefire to distribute medical supplies across the crisis-hit country.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 16, The Obama administration announced the approval of a $1.83 billion arms deal with Taiwan.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, The US central bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Fed officials voted unanimously to raise the key federal funds rate — the interest banks charge each other overnight — to a range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, up from near-zero for the first time since December 2008.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 16, The United States and its allies conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Baltimore a judge declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the trial of Officer William Porter, the first of six defendants in the Freddie Gray case.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A14)
2015 Dec 16, New York announced a major overhaul in the way solitary confinement is administered in the state’s prisons as part of a far-reaching legal settlement.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A15)
2015 Dec 16, In Oklahoma a man began firing randomly from a pickup truck and killed 2 people on I-40. A suspect was arrested the next day following a 25-mile chase.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A9)
2015 Dec 16, Total Trib Media said it is closing the Valley Independent in Monessen and the Daily News in McKeesport, western Pennsylvania on Dec 31, putting 87 employees out of work.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 16, Austria said two people were arrested over the weekend at a refugee center in Salzburg on suspicion of being connected to last month's Paris attacks.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Fitch became the 2nd of three big credit-rating agencies to downgrade Brazil’s debt to junk states. Standard & Poor’s soon followed Fitch. On Dec 18 finance minister Joaquim Levy resigned in despair after a year on the job.
(Econ, 1/2/16, p.7,14)
2015 Dec 16, British lawmakers voted in favor of the use of fracking to extract shale gas under national parks, weakening a decision against fracking in national parks made earlier this year and giving shale gas explorers access to more resources.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Cambodia garment workers in eastern Svay Rieng province went on strike to boost their monthly wages to $148.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 16, As many as 69 Canadian special forces took part in a 17-hour counteroffensive east of Mosul. Two CF-18 fighter jets, along with US, British and French warplanes, launched airstrikes.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 16, In France the wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi accepted the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize on his behalf, urging Arab countries to abandon theocratic diktats and embrace free speech.
(AFP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Germany introduced a new police unit that officials said will be better armed, outfitted and trained to deal with terrorism.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, India's top court ordered a temporary ban on the sale of large diesel cars in New Delhi to combat toxic smog in the city, prompting concern in the auto sector as some carmakers say they may reconsider investment plans in the country.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In India a maintenance technician was accidentally sucked into an aircraft engine at an airport in Mumbai.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 16, The World Bank said it has approved a $1.5 billion loan for a state-led sanitation program in India, where millions of people have no access to toilets.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, The embattled speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives resigned over his involvement in one of the biggest political scandals in years. Setya Novanto allegedly sought kickbacks from a giant US-owned gold and copper mine in exchange for helping it extend its operating contract.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Indonesia deported 49 Taiwanese and one Chinese citizen who were members of a cross-border telephone and Internet fraud ring.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In southern Iraq gunmen kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters, the second high-profile abduction of foreigners in the country in three months.
(AFP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, PM Matteo Renzi said Italy will deploy 450 troops near the front line with Islamic State militants in Iraq to protect workers carrying out repairs to the Mosul hydro-electric dam, the country's biggest.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, A team of sanctions monitors said Iran violated a UN Security Council resolution on October 10 by test-firing a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Japan's Supreme Court ruled that requiring married couples to have the same surname is constitutional, dealing a blow to a longtime effort for gender equality in choosing names.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Jordan said it plans to deport about 800 Sudanese men, women and children to Sudan, after troops tore down a makeshift tent camp for the displaced in a pre-dawn raid.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Kenya al-Shabab militants attacked a convoy on the Mpeketoni-Lamu road burning vehicles and driving another police vehicle to Somalia. 2 people were shot dead, including a police officer, in the coastal Lamu County.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 16, Nepal's parliament approved new laws to allow the government to spend billions of dollars pledged by foreign donors on reconstruction for hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes during a devastating earthquake earlier this year.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Dutch police fired warning shots and arrested 14 demonstrators when a protest by hundreds of people against the opening of a refugee center turned violent, leaving several injured.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 16, North Korea's Supreme Court sentenced Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to life in prison with hard labor for what it called crimes against the state.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to suspend Russia's free trade zone with Ukraine from Jan. 1, making good on Moscow's threats to Kiev which seeks closer ties with the European Union.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Russia said its air force made 59 sorties in Syria in the past 24 hours and hit 212 Islamic State targets in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Khaseke and Raqqa.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Sweden said it would send a transport plane and logistical support to Mali and other parts of Africa to free up French forces stationed there and let them join the fight against Islamic State.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Syrian government forces captured the strategic Noba Mountain, inching closer to a rebel-held stronghold in the coastal province of Latakia.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Turkey's ambassador to Qatar said Turkey will establish a military base in Qatar as part of a defense agreement aimed at helping them confront common enemies.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Turkish security forces stepped up operations targeting Kurdish militants in southeastern towns, as pro-government media detailed plans for a 10,000-strong force to restore state control in the region.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Ukraine accused Russia of looting two of its oil rigs after Crimea-based oil and gas firm Chornomornaftogaz moved the equipment off the coast of the annexed peninsula into Russian waters.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Yemen clashes were underway along several front lines, claiming at least 42 lives and undermining a day-old cease-fire and peace talks between the internationally recognized government and Shiite rebels taking place in Switzerland. Saudi-led air strikes hit positions of the Iran-allied Houthi group in two conflict zones. Warring parties agreed to exchange hundreds of prisoners in a move aimed at supporting UN-sponsored peace talks.
(AP, 12/16/15)(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 17, The United States and Cuba said they have agreed to restore scheduled commercial airline service between the two countries, the first anniversary of the Cold War foes' announcement they would normalize relations. The deal would allow as many as 110 regular flights a day.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 17, The United States and its allies conducted 22 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 17, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter acknowledged making a "mistake" when he used his personal email for government business in the early part of his tenure.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, In Los Angeles the FBI arrested Enrique Marquez (24) on charges of conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook to commit terrorist attacks in 2011 and 2012. Marquez was also charged with illegally purchasing two assault rifles used by Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, to kill 14 people on Dec 2. On Feb 16, 2017, Marquez pleaded guilty and faced up to 25 years in prison.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A9)(SFC, 2/17/17, p.A5)
2015 Dec 17, In Louisiana the New Orleans City Council voted to remove prominent Confederate monuments along some of its busiest streets.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 17, In Syracuse, NY, Stephen Howells (40) and girlfriend Nicole Vaisey (26) were sentenced to 580 years in prison for sexually abusing six children.
(SFC, 12/31/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 17, In Albania anti-government protesters pelted police with tomatoes, eggs, and smoke flares during a rally near parliament. The opposition has launched a protest campaign against Socialist PM Edi Rama's government, accusing it of corruption and ineffective leadership.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Argentina's currency sharply devalued against the US dollar as the new administration lifted deeply unpopular limits on the buying of foreign currencies.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Austria’s Univ. of Salzburg said it has posthumously stripped 1973 Nobel Prize-winning scientist Konrad Lorenz of his honorary doctorate due to his fervent embrace of Nazism.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the release of billionaire financier André Esteves, who has been in jail since Nov. 25 on suspicion he sought to obstruct a corruption investigation.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The popular WhatsApp smartphone messaging application came back to life in Brazil as a court threw out a two-day suspension that had infuriated millions of users. A judge had suspended it because the Facebook-owned service failed to disclose information requested by prosecutors as part of a criminal investigation.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, British Judges upheld a ruling that Britain's Mirror Group Newspapers must pay record damages to phone-hacking victims, saying the papers' staff engaged in "disgraceful conduct."
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Britain cut more renewable energy subsidies, putting jobs at risk and drawing criticism for losing credibility in tackling climate change.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, A Quebec court upheld Canada's first assisted dying law, ruling against doctors who argued it conflicts with federal criminal law an could see doctors jailed for helping someone die.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 17, China’s environment ministry said police have detained 10 company officials for fabricating pollution data, as the government steps up inspections of businesses amid growing public discontent over pollution.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, China's biggest airline said it is buying more than a hundred Boeing 737 jets in a deal worth about $10 billion that comes just months after the US plane maker announced plans to build a Chinese finishing plant for the aircraft type.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The Danish cargo ship Thorco Cloud collided with the chemical tanker Stolt Commitment and sank off western Indonesia. Six Filipino crewmen were missing.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, A legal source said International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde has been ordered to stand trial over her handling of a massive state payout to French tycoon Bernard Tapie during her time as finance minister.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, In Hong Kong the film “Ten Years" was released. Its five vignettes portrayed how China has explicitly or overtly taken control of Hong Kong, where autonomy had been guaranteed for 50 years in 1997.
(Econ, 3/5/15, p.42)
2015 Dec 17, Indian defense ministry sources said the Defense Acquisition Council has cleared the purchase of five S-400 air defense systems from Russia.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu signed a major natural gas deal with a consortium, that includes US firm Noble Energy, aimed at tapping large deposits in the Mediterranean, but a court challenge was expected over the contentious agreement.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Israel's most famous model Bar Refaeli (30) was arrested and questioned for allegedly evading taxes on millions of dollars of income from abroad by lying about her residency.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian in the West Bank after he charged at them with a knife.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, In Mali a gunman killed 3 people outside a Christian radio station in the city of Timbuktu. Radio host Joel Dicko, a local contractor with the UN and a student were killed. Authorities later arrested two people in connection with the shooting.
(AFP, 12/18/15)(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 17, Montenegro police detained Svetozar Marovic (60), who served as president of Serbia-Montenegro before Montenegro split from the union in 2006, on suspicion of abuse of power and embezzlement of millions of euros.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, In the Moroccan coastal town of Skhirat delegates from Libya's warring factions signed a UN-brokered agreement to form the Government of National Accord (GNA), a deal that Western powers hope will bring stability and help fight a growing Islamic State presence.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)(Econ, 4/9/15, p.47)
2015 Dec 17, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou said several arrests had been made in the army ranks and of a former chief of staff because of a coup attempt.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 17, In Nigeria insurgents killed 14 people, some of whom were decapitated, when they raided Kamuya village.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 17, Rwandans abroad voted in a referendum to amend the constitution allowing President Paul Kagame to rule until 2034, a day ahead of the main vote inside the country.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Residents in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles voted on the second day of three days of polls. Incumbent president James Michel (71) faced the first serious challenge to his decade-long rule. President James Michel won a third term in power by the narrowest of margins of just 193 votes.
(AFP, 12/17/15)(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 17, National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the electric vehicle company born out of the ashes of Swedish automaker Saab, said it has inked a $12 billion deal with Chinese leasing firm Panda New Energy Co.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The Syrian opposition hosted by Saudi Arabia elected former PM Riad Hijab as a coordinator of a body that is expected to lead future peace talks.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Tanzania sentenced four Chinese men to 20 years in jail each after they were convicted of smuggling rhino horns.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 17, Turkey said its security forces have killed 25 Kurdish militants this week as they battle suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the two flashpoint towns of Cizre and Silopi.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Finance ministers from the 15 UN Security Council nations adopted a plan aimed at disrupting outside revenue that the Islamic State extremist group gets from oil and antiquities sales, ransom payments and other criminal activities.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The UN Security Council's Central African Republic (CAR) sanctions committee added Haroun Gaye and Eugene Barret Ngaikosset to a UN blacklist for attempting to undermine the transitional government. They are now subject to an international travel ban and assets freeze.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 17, Participants at Yemeni peace talks hosted by the United Nations in Switzerland agreed on the full resumption of humanitarian aid to the city of Taiz.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 18, The United States and its allies staged 20 strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, including one near the Iraqi city of Fallujah that is being investigated as a possible friendly fire incident. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said an Iraqi officer was killed and nine injured by a coalition air strike near Amariyat al-Fallujah.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)(SFC, 12/19/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 18, The US Congress authorized the payment of $4.4 million to Americans held hostage by Iran from Nov. 4, 1979, to Jan. 20, 1981, – or $10,000 for each day of captivity – to the surviving members of that ordeal and their families. As of 2021 full payment had not been made.
(https://tinyurl.com/ywrxc46u) (USA Today, 8/14/21)
2015 Dec 18, The US Congress passed a bill barring citizens from 38 mainly European countries from traveling to the United States without a visa if they have previously visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan since 2011.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, The US Senate approved a bill that would phase out the use of plastic microbeads starting in 2017. The House approved the bill a week earlier.
(SFC, 12/19/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 18, In NYC some 20 foreign ministers gathered for the latest conference on Syria's civil war. The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives.
(AP, 12/18/15)(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, The United States government announced $88 million to help feed hungry people in drought-stricken areas of Ethiopia, bringing the total amount of humanitarian aid to the country in 2015 to more than $435 million.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, In NYC some 20 foreign ministers gathered for the latest conference on Syria's civil war, hopeful about arranging a cease-fire and launching peace negotiations in the new year.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Martin Shkreli (32), the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, resigned from Turing after being arrested on unrelated charges of securities fraud at a hedge fund. On Dec 21 biotech firm KaloBios announced that Shkreli had been terminated as its CEO.
(SFC, 12/19/15, p.D1)(SFC, 12/22/15, p.D1)
2015 Dec 18, Afghan forces drove Taliban militants out of the center of a district in the southern province of Helmand, as they fought back against insurgents who have threatened a series of districts over recent months.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, The African Union said it will send a 5,000 strong force to stop violence in troubled Burundi, giving Bujumbura a four-day deadline to agree but warning it would send troops anyway.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, In Bangladesh at least six naval personnel were seriously wounded in explosions at the end of prayers at a mosque inside a naval base in Chittagong. Two people were arrested and police said they had confessed to being members of banned militant group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A judge in Brazil's state of Minas Gerais froze the Brazilian assets of mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale SA after determining their joint venture Samarco was unable to pay for damage caused by the bursting of a dam at its mine last month.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, Britain's Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, the country’s last deep coal mine, closed.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, China's capital Beijing issued its second smog red alert of the month on Friday, triggering vehicle restrictions and forcing schools to close.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Costa Rica partially pulled out of SICA, a regional body promoting Central American cooperation, after neighboring nations refused to help handle a growing Cuban migrant crisis. Costa Rica said it will suspend visas to Cuban migrants trying to head north to the US after yet another failure to broker a deal with neighbors.
(AFP, 12/19/15)(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, Cuban President Raul Castro urged the US government to halt radio and television broadcasts aimed at the island and other programs that Cuba considers harmful.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, EU leaders in Brussels pledged an uncompromising fight against terrorism and called for wide-ranging countermeasures including beefed-up immigration controls and a crackdown on illicit weapons trafficking.
(SFC, 12/19/15, p.A5)
2015 Dec 18, French livery drivers protested a drop in their rates, again striking out against what they say an unfair decision by Uber and other companies to drive down their earnings.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, In Haiti several government buildings were set ablaze in scattered sections of the country and one demonstrator was killed in violent protests ignited by the release of final legislative election results.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, Japan executed two people by hanging, including one who was convicted in a jury trial for the first time under a new system that began six years ago.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Mali officials said a gunman killed 3 people outside a Christian radio station in the city of Timbuktu overnight.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A Mexican environmentalist said studies have found that illegal loggers clear-cut at least 24 acres (10 hectares) in the monarch butterflies' wintering grounds in central Mexico this year.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, NATO and US officials certified an anti-missile defense site in southern Romania that is scheduled to become operational next year.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A Dutch appeals court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell may be held liable for oil spills at its subsidiary in Nigeria, potentially opening the way for other compensation claims against multinationals in the Niger Delta and elsewhere.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Pakistan's army said it has killed 23 suspected militants in early morning strikes in Shawal valley in North Waziristan and in the Khyber tribal region.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Two Palestinian drivers tried but failed to run down Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank, with one attacker shot dead and the other wounded. Troops later shot dead Nashat Asfour (33) in clashes at Sinjil village northeast of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Rwandans voted in a referendum to decide if President Paul Kagame should be allowed to extend his time in power. More than 98% from 21 out of 30 districts, representing 70% of registered voters, voted to lift term limits for Kagame.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Turkish security forces pressed on with a relentless operation to root out Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels from two urban centers in the troubled southeast that has left at least 55 militants dead and angered Kurdish representatives.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A Turkish government official said authorities at Istanbul's main airport have detained two people suspected of attempting to smuggle 148 blank European passports concealed in pizza-making equipment.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Ukraine PM Arseny Yatseniuk said the government has imposed a moratorium on the repayment of a $3 billion Eurobond held entirely by Russia, after Moscow refused to accept the terms of a restructuring of the debt.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Yemeni troops loyal to Pres. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi gained control of Al-Hazm, capital of the northwestern al-Jawf province. Peace talks in Switzerland were halted after the country's Shiite Houthi rebel delegation suspended all meetings.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 19, In California 5 people died when their single-engine plane crashed south of Bakersfield.
(SFC, 12/21/15, p.C2)
2015 Dec 19, In Connecticut German conductor Kurt Masur (b.1927) died. He is credited with helping prevent violence after the collapse of communism in East Germany and later reinvigorated the New York Philharmonic during an 11-year stint as music director.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, An off-duty Baltimore policeman shot and killed a man he says appeared to be holding him at gunpoint in the suburbs of Linthicum Heights. Detectives surveyed the crime scene and realized the would-be robber was wielding a toy gun.
(CSM, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 19, The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Switzerland to discuss their long-running dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Canada Dennis Oland (47), the son of a wealthy Canadian brewer, was found guilty of murdering his father following a long and sensational trial in the eastern province of New Brunswick. Richard Oland (69), part of the family that owns Moosehead Breweries, was found dead in a pool of blood in his office on July 7, 2011.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 19, Ten of Chile's airports remained closed as striking workers tied to the civil aviation authority and officials failed to reach an agreement.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Beijing was enveloped in eye-watering, throat-irritating smog as the second red alert of the month went into effect.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In China Spain's Mireia Lalaguna Royo (23) was named the winner of the Miss World 2015 competition in the southern island resort of Sanya.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Human Rights Watch said at least 75 people have been killed during weeks of protests in Ethiopia, which have seen soldiers and police firing on demonstrators protesting a government plan to incorporate some rural areas into the capital city, Addis Ababa.
(AFP, 12/19/15)(SFC, 12/24/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 19, In France an attack plot targeting representatives of state forces was foiled and two men were arrested in the region of Orleans, southwest of Paris.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Iran residents of Tehran were warned to stay at home as a thick smog of pollution hung in the air.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, An Israeli air strike killed Samir Qantar, a Hezbollah militant leader, in Damascus. Kantar, a Lebanese who was convicted of carrying out one of the most notorious attacks in Israeli history, had spent nearly three decades in an Israeli prison.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Japan about 20 anti-Christmas protesters calling themselves "Losers with Women" marched through Tokyo's streets, bashing the upcoming holiday as a capitalist ploy that also discriminates against singletons.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Libyan medical sources said at least 14 people have been killed and 25 wounded during clashes between armed groups loyal to official government and Islamist groups. The fighting had erupted Dec 17 and was ongoing in the eastern town of Ajdabiya.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Niger said nine military officers involved in allegedly planning an attempted coup have been arrested and will face a military tribunal.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Nigeria said its military has commuted the death sentences handed to 66 soldiers for mutiny over claims they refused to fight Boko Haram Islamists. Instead, each soldier will serve a 10-year prison term.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Nigeria Boko Haram gunmen launched a dawn raid on Buratai, Borno state, the hometown of the army chief, triggering a fierce gunbattle with troops.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Norway a man was killed when an avalanche hit the town of Longyearbyen, the biggest settlement on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The avalanche engulfed about 10 houses in the town, which has some 2,000 inhabitants.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, A Palestinian man (20) stabbed three Israelis in the central city of Raanana, seriously wounding one of them, before being shot and then arrested by Israeli security forces.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In the Philippines heavy rains pummeled the entire country, flooding more areas as the government declared a "state of national calamity".
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Poland thousands of people took part in demonstrations across the country to protest moves by the new right-wing government to neutralize the Constitutional Tribunal as a check on its power.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Polish police seized a record amount of cocaine worth around $27 million that arrived via Belgium in a shipment of bananas from Colombia.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Saudi Arabia shelling from Yemen killed a Saudi citizen and two Indian workers.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Somalia a gun attack on a government official in Mogadishu was followed shortly afterwards by a car bombing that left at least 4 people killed and nine wounded.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Karin Soder (87), Sweden’s first female foreign minister (1976-1978) and party leader (1985-1987), died in Stockholm.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkey said 69 Kurdish insurgents and two Turkish soldiers have been killed in four days of fighting across the southeast as security forces ramp up operations against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkey said it would "continue" to pull its troops out of northern Iraq after US President Barack Obama urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to do so in order to de-escalate tensions with Baghdad over the deployment.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkish media reported that 18 people drowned overnight when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea as it was heading for the Greek island of Kalymnos.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Yemeni negotiators in Switzerland taking part in UN-sponsored peace talks agreed to form a committee to oversee a fragile ceasefire after fresh fighting imperiled their efforts to end Yemen's civil war. Yemeni security officials said clashes in Hajjah Province near the Saudi border between rebel-allied units and pro-government Yemeni forces have killed more than 75 over the past three days.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 20, The United States and its allies conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 20, In Nevada Lakeisha Holloway, with a toddler in her car, swerved multiple times onto a busy sidewalk on the Las Vegas Strip, leaving one dead and 30 injured.
(AFP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 20, In Nevada Colombian contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was already wearing this year's Miss Universe crown when host Steve Harvey returned to announce on live television that he had mistakenly read from a cue card, and that Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, the contestant from the Philippines, was actually this year's winner.
(AP, 12/21/15)(SFC, 12/22/15, p.E6)
2015 Dec 20, In Afghanistan the deputy governor of Helmand said the province could fall to the Taliban after months of heavy fighting, with 90 members of the security forces killed over the past two days.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Burundi's government said it would not agree to the deployment of African Union peacekeepers, warning that they would be seen as an invasion force.
(AFP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Cameroonian troops killed at least 70 residents while chasing Islamic insurgents in the Gwoza area of Borno state in northeastern Nigeria.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 20, In southern China a landslide swept through an industrial park and triggered a gas explosion in the city of Shenzhen. 33 buildings were buried in a sea of mud. 76 people were left missing. Migrant worker Tian Zeming was pulled out alive on Dec 23 after he was buried for more than 60 hours. On Jan 9 charges were brought against 16 people who owned or helped operated the landfill. On Jan 18 state media said a dozen government officials were charged in the tragedy that left at least 69 dead and eight people missing. In July, 2016, 53 people were detained for the tragedy that left 73 people dead.
(AFP, 12/20/15)(AP, 12/21/15)(AP, 12/22/15)(AP, 12/23/15)(SFC, 1/19/16, p.A3)(Reuters, 7/15/16)
2015 Dec 20, Rescuers pulled out 39 survivors and three dead from the Marina Baru 2B passenger boat that sank in central Indonesia. By Dec 24 the death toll stood at 63 as more bodies were recovered leaving 15 still missing.
(AP, 12/20/15)(Reuters, 12/22/15)(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 20, Iranian authorities closed all schools and kindergartens in the capital for two days beginning today, saying air pollution had reached dangerous levels.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Iraqi military planes dropped leaflets on Ramadi, asking residents to leave within 72 hours the western city which is under the control of Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Three rockets fired from Lebanon landed in Israel. No injuries or damage were reported.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, French forces in Mali killed about 10 extremists over the last 24 hours and recovered arms and explosives after heavy fighting in the country's north.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 20, Police in southern Nepal opened fire on ethnic Madhesi protesters who were attempting to attack a police station, killing one. Ethnic Madhesis have been protesting for months against a new constitution, which they say unfairly divides the country into seven states with borders that cut through their ancestral homeland.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, In Nigeria 3 young suicide bombers set off explosions that killed six others and injured at least 24 people in Benisheikh, northeastern Borno state. A military spokesman said troops have killed 12 Boko Haram fighters and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from the hardline Islamist group whose six-year insurgency has claimed thousands of lives.
(AP, 12/21/15)(AFP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 20, A Palestinian woman tried to stab Israeli soldiers in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron before she was shot and arrested.
(AFP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, A Philippine army commander said troops killed 26 Abu Sayyaf gunmen and possibly a Malaysian militant in a weeklong counterterrorism offensive on Basilan Island that ended today with the capture of a major jungle training camp where bombs and bomb-making components were found.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Slovenians held a referendum on whether to allow same-sex marriage and become the first former communist nation in Europe to do so. More than 60 percent of the voters opposed the measure in a referendum marked by low turnout.
(AP, 12/20/15)(AFP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Spain held general elections. Neither outgoing PM Mariano Rajoy's PP conservatives nor left-wing parties won a clear mandate to govern. Two newcomers - leftist anti-austerity Podemos ("We can") and liberal Ciudadanos ("Citizens") - entered the mainstream for the first time in the parliamentary vote. The country faced weeks of uncertainty that cast doubt on the durability of its flagship economic reforms and unnerved financial markets
(AP, 12/20/15)(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 20, Spanish firefighters battled around 100 wildfires in the northwestern Asturias region, as flames fed by strong winds forced the closure of roads and a rail line.
(AFP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, The Syrian army with the backing of Russian air power said it had seized the rebel held town of Khan Touman in southern Aleppo. In northwest Syria air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes killed 58 people in the center of the rebel-held city of Idlib. At least 10 people were wounded in an explosion that hit a military bus in the Mazzeh residential district of western Damascus.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)(AFP, 12/20/15)(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 20, In northern Thailand 12 Malaysian tourists and a Thai guide were killed after their bus crashed in the Doi Saket district, near the city of Chiang Mai.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, In southeastern Turkey armed clashes persisted, where an operation by Turkish forces intensified on the sixth day of a campaign that security sources said had resulted in the death of 110 Kurdish militants. Turkish police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred protesters in Istanbul's main Taksim square demonstrating against security operations and curfews in the southeast.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Yemeni peace talks concluded in Switzerland without an agreement to end nine months of civil war and foreign intervention. Rival factions will resume negotiations on Jan 14.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 21, The Obama administration announced a move to make it harder for American big-game hunters to bring a lion head or hide into the country.
(SFC, 12/22/15, p.A7)
2015 Dec 21, At Cape Canaveral, Florida, SpaceX successfully landed its powerful Falcon 9 rocket for the first time, a major milestone in the drive to cut costs and waste by making rockets as reusable as airplanes.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber attacked a joint NATO-Afghan patrol near Bagram air base killing 6 NATO service members, all Americans.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, Austria's Vice Chancellor said that Austria could not accept much more than the roughly 100,000 asylum seekers it expects to receive this year.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Azerbaijan let its currency float freely, leading to its sharp depreciation as global oil prices hit new lows. Following the move, the manat fell by 32 percent.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Burkina Faso said it has issued an international warrant for ousted leader Blaise Compaore, who is living in exile in the Ivory Coast, for his suspected role in the 1987 killing of his former comrade, ex-president Thomas Sankara.
(AFP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Cambodian police made dozens of arrests and used water cannon to break up a strike by garment workers protesting over low pay.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, China's top prosecutor said prosecutors in eastern Shandong province filed a lawsuit last week against a county-level environmental protection department, accusing it of "failing to fulfil its regulatory duties" in its supervision of a local sewage firm. This marked the first time prosecutors had sued a government department in a public interest case.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, China’s government said it ordered 2,100 factories to suspend or reduce production as part of its "red alert" measures to deal with smog in Beijing.
(AFP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, The Central Bank of Cyprus revoked the operating license for the local branch of Tanzania's FBME Bank Ltd. In July the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCen, concluded that FBME was used by customers involved in money laundering, fraud and terrorist financing.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, In Djibouti at least 7 civilians were killed and scores of people wounded in clashes when police broke up a traditional religious ceremony in Buldhoqo district. The opposition Union for National Salvation (USN) party claimed 19 people died.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, The EU extended sanctions against Russia for six months for fueling the separatist war in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea.
(SFC, 12/22/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 21, Japan’s scandal-plagued manufacturer Toshiba Corp. said it is cutting 6,800 jobs after projecting a net loss of 550 billion yen ($4.5 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2016.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, The unmanned Progress cargo spacecraft blasted off from Russia's space launch complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on a journey to the International Space Station.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, In Kenya witnesses said 2 people died in the attacks in northern Mandera County when gunmen believed to be Somalia's al-Shabab rebels shot at a bus and truck headed for Mandera town.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Two migrants trying to reach Europe by boat drowned off Libya, another 10 were missing and more than 100 were rescued by the Libyan coastguard.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, Mali's government announced a state of emergency that will last for 10 days through the holidays.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, Panama’s Supreme Court ordered the detention of Pres. Ricardo Martinelli for allegedly intercepting communications of at least 150 people during his 2009-2014 administration. Martinelli said he would stay outside the country while fighting the charges.
(SFC, 12/23/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 21, In Poland a chemist was convicted of a bomb plot against parliament and other government buildings, and he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Brunon Kwiecien, an agricultural university teacher in Krakow, was arrested in 2012 in a much publicized case in which prosecutors said a "terrorist" attack was foiled.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Saudi Arabia intercepted multiple missiles fired before dawn by Houthi rebels from Yemen towards its southern border region.
(AFP, 12/21/15)(SFC, 12/22/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 21, In Saudi Arabia journalist Zuhair Kutbi was found guilty of inciting public opinion, fomenting sedition, defaming state institutions and harming the government’s prestige. He was sentenced to four years in prison with two years suspended.
(SFC, 12/23/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 21, Sweden's state-owned railway operator SJ said it would halt its passenger services to and from Denmark because it was unable to carry out the identity checks demanded by the government to stem an influx of refugees.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Thailand's government said it is not ignoring the slavery and forced labor in its lucrative shrimp industry.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Ugandan police arrested 20 supporters and security guards at the headquarters of an opposition candidate vying to end the nearly 30-year rule of President Yoweri Museveni in elections next February.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 22, Clarence Moses-El (60), who spent 28 years in prison after being convicted of a rape he says he didn’t commit, was released from the Denver County Jail on bond after a judge threw out the guilty verdict in the case.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Afghanistan British military advisers were deployed to the Helmand region. Military planes dropped supplies to besieged Afghan forces in Sangin after Taliban insurgents captured large swathes of the opium-growing southern district.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Belgium police detained a 9th man, identified as Abdoullah C. (30), in connection with the Nov 13 attacks in Paris.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A3)
2015 Dec 22, Burundi's government rejected a proposed African Union peacekeeping mission already dubbed an "invasion force" by parliament.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, An Egyptian military court sentenced Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to 10 years in prison over deadly clashes following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Greece's parliament approved a resolution calling on the government to recognize the state of Palestine.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, India passed legislation lowering the age at which someone can be tried for rape and other crimes to 16, spurred into action by an uproar over the release of a minor convicted in a 2012 fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a Delhi bus.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, India’s media reported that Alam Khan, the son of an murder victim, has confessed to stabbing his father's killer to death and chopping his body into 12 pieces, one for every year since his father was slain.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, A small Indian paramilitary plane crashed just outside New Delhi's main airport, killing all 10 people on board.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry's investigations director said the government has punished 23 companies for causing forest fires that spread thick, smoky haze around Southeast Asia.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Iraq's armed forces stormed the center of Ramadi, in a drive to dislodge Islamic State militants from their remaining stronghold in a city they captured in May.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, The Italian coastguard more than 650 people have been plucked to safety in the Mediterranean and one body recovered.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Malawi’s justice minister said the government it will not arrest or prosecute gay citizens while lawmakers review existing anti-gay laws.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Nepal a group of ethnic protesters rejected a proposal from the government to end months of conflict that has resulted in shortages of fuel and other supplies and the deaths of 50 people. The group said the proposal does not address their concerns and that the government was not serious about their demands.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in a phone call to coordinate their two countries' actions to fight terrorism in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, An appeals court in Saudi Arabia commuted a sentence of death by stoning for a Sri Lankan maid convicted of adultery. The sentence was commuted to three years in prison.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Spain the Madrid city council announced it would rename 30 streets that pay tribute to heroes of Francisco Franco's brutal dictatorship.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Syria Islamic State group jihadists killed 9 students when they shelled a school in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Tanzanian authorities said they have seized tusks from about 45 elephants and arrested two suspects at their home in Dar es Salaam.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 22, Tunisia extended for another two months a state of emergency imposed after a deadly November bus bombing claimed by the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Turkish tanks pounded Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in Cizre. The army said it has killed 127 Kurdish militants in a week.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Turkish police killed two female "terrorists" in a pre-dawn raid on a cell of suspected militants in Istanbul.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Eleven migrants bound for EU member Greece, including 3 children, drowned off the Turkish coast.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Uruguayan authorities said flooding caused by heavy rains has killed at least two people and forced nearly 1,000 from their homes.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Yemeni officials said a Saudi-led coalition has launched more than a dozen airstrikes against anti-government rebels in Taiz province, killing at least 20.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Yemen unidentified gunmen shot dead resistance leader Jalal al-Awbali in the Dar Saad district of northern Aden.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 22, Most of Zambia was plunged into darkness following a problem in the network. Power was restored around midnight after an about five-hour outage.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The US Department of Justice announced that Puerto Rico will spend $77 million to upgrade its water infrastructure in a settlement with the federal government. Storm water systems in San Juan were currently releasing, daily, an estimated 6 million gallons of untreated sewage into waterways in and around San Juan in violation of the Clean Water Act.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The United States and its allies conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and six in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, A storm system packed high winds and triggered more than 20 tornadoes in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. At least 15 people were killed including at least 8 people in Mississippi, 6 in Tennessee and one in Arkansas.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 23, The Afghan defense minister said the military has rushed reinforcements to a southern district threatened for days with takeover by the Taliban.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Argentina's new government fired the country's chief media regulator, saying the head of the AFSCA television and radio watchdog commission was openly acting against the country's new center-right President Mauricio Macri.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Bosnia Sarajevo authorities said they are closing down schools because of high pollution mixed with fog, and volunteers have begun distributing face masks to those who still decided to get out of the house despite warnings to reduce movement.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Brazil gunmen opened fire in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown killing two boys ages 11 and 17.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, Burundi's rebels came together for the first time as a force aimed at ousting President Pierre Nkurunziza, after months of bloodshed in the troubled central African country. The rebels have called themselves the Republican Forces of Burundi, or "Forebu" from its name in French, Les Forces Republicaines du Burundi.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Chad 3 militants were killed when they detonated suicide bombs after being found out by a group of local people as they sought to embark from an island to a lakeside market in Bol. A fourth set off his bomb but survived.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Chile both houses of Congress approved a law granting free university education to many of the South American country's students.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Croatia's conservatives and a small pro-reform party reached an agreement to form a new government.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, It was reported that the European Commission has more than doubled its assistance to Papua New Guinea as El Niño-related drought and frost have triggered severe food and water shortages.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, German investigators in North Rhine-Westphalia state arrested a 40-year-old Italian man, who wasn't identified, in Gelsenkirchen as he left his hiding place. Investigators later said he was a member of the Sacra Corona Unita group, based in southeastern Italy, and will soon be extradited to Italy.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 23, Organizers said Pope Francis will accept next year's Charlemagne prize, a prominent annual German award for promoting European values.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili (33) said he is resigning. President Giorgi Margvelashvili now has seven days to name a candidate for the prime minister's post, who then must be approved by parliament.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Greece's parliament approved a bill granting same-sex couples the right to a civil union, becoming one of the last European countries to give them legal recognition after years of opposition from the influential Orthodox church.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Greek police said least 13 people including seven children, drowned when their overloaded boat capsized overnight in the Aegean.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Guinea's PM Mohamed Said Fofana stepped down in order to make way for a new administration after President Alpha Conde (77) was sworn in for a controversial second five-year term.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Indonesian police in Bekasi, West Java, arrested two suspected militants, including Arif Hidayatullah, a member of China’s ethnic Uighur minority who was allegedly preparing to be a suicide bomber.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 23, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a new US law putting visa restrictions on Iranians and those who had visited Iran would, if implemented, breach a nuclear deal Tehran struck with world powers earlier this year.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Iraq a wave of attacks across the country killed at least 15 civilians as government forces pressed on with their offensive to dislodge Islamic State militants from a major city west of Baghdad.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Israeli security forces shot dead 2 Palestinians who had gone on a stabbing spree along a popular walkway in Jerusalem. One Israeli was stabbed and killed and a 2nd Israeli died after apparently being mistakenly shot by police.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)(SFC, 7/5/16, p.A2)
2015 Dec 23, In Mali a pro-government armed group accused the French military of killing four of its fighters during a weekend clash with an Al-Qaeda-linked movement in the country's restive north.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Niger suspected Boko Haram militants killed 5 people in an overnight raid in the third suspected attack by the group in less than 24 hours.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Human Rights Watch said Nigerian soldiers fired on unarmed Islamic Shiite children with no provocation in Dec 12-14 raids in Zaria that killed hundreds of the minority group.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The World Bank approved a $500 million loan to help the Philippines deal with natural disasters. It can access the new credit line following "a state of calamity" declared by the president.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin welcomed Indian PM Narendra Modi. Their planned talks were expected to focus on defense, nuclear and space cooperation.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air force has carried out 302 sorties in Syria between Dec. 18 and 23, hitting 1,093 Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Investigators said Russia has issued an international arrest warrant for Mikhail Khodorkovsky on suspicion of ordering a contract killing, prompting the former oil tycoon to declare the Kremlin had gone mad.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Saudi King Salman said he has ordered economic reforms to diversify sources of income and reduce high dependence on oil following a sharp drop in crude prices.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The government of Somalia issued a ban on Christmas and New Year's celebrations in the Muslim country, saying the festivities have nothing to do with Islam.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy suffered a setback in his bid to stay in office as the Socialists refused to back his attempt to form a new government following an inconclusive general election.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Spain a helicopter battling a fire crashed, killing the pilot in a forest in a rural area in the northwestern region of Asturias.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Syria clashes and suicide attacks by the Islamic State group killed at least 26 pro-government fighters in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 12/23/15)(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Turkey a female cleaner was killed and another wounded after an explosion near a plane at Istanbul's second international airport. A mortar attack was the cause of a deadly incident at Sabiha Gokcen airport.
(AFP, 12/23/15)(AFP, 1/7/16)
2015 Dec 23, Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian rebels accused each other of violating a holiday ceasefire, just hours after it came into force.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 24, The United States and its allies conducted 31 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Afghanistan senior army commander General Abdul Wodud said a joint Afghan and NATO operation backed by air support had driven the Taliban back from central areas, killing 60 Taliban fighters and wounding 40. The interior ministry said security forces had killed a senior Taliban commander it identified as Mullah Nasir.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In northern Afghanistan at least 24 people were killed when a passenger bus plunged into a ravine after a head-on collision with a truck in Samangan province.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, Argentina authorities said that 10,000 people were evacuated in Entre Rios province after rains swelled the Uruguay River to its highest level in nearly a century. Flooding caused by heavy rains also has led to the evacuation of an estimated 100,000 people in Paraguay and more than 4,000 in Uruguay.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, The Churches of England and Scotland said they have reached an historic agreement to work more closely together.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, China’s state media reported that more than 100 million people have been warned to stay indoors after at least 10 Chinese cities issued red alerts for smog.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In China Shen Hao, the former chairman of the company that publishes one of the country’s most prominent business newspapers, was sentenced to prison for coercing companies into paying to avoid negative coverage. Former chief financial officer, Le Bing, was convicted of embezzlement and given a suspended two-year sentence.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In central Congo DRC an air cargo plane overshot the runway in Mbuji-Mayi, hitting homes and killing at least 7 people on the ground.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Egypt a roadside bomb struck a police vehicle near a town in the Sinai Peninsula, killing a policeman and wounding two others.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Egyptian border guards reportedly opened fire killing a mentally disabled Gazan who tried to get across the border between Egypt and the coastal strip. Hasan Izhaq was harmless and naked and trying to cross the coastal border.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 24, In India Delhi's firebrand Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called on residents to cooperate with his ambitious plans to clean up the toxic air of the world's most polluted city.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Iraq US-led coalition warplanes pounded positions held by Islamic State in the western city of Ramadi.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Israel 3 Palestinian attackers were shot dead as they carried out stabbings and a car ramming and another killed in clashes with soldiers.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Japan's Cabinet approved a record-high military spending plan, endorsing proposals to purchase pricey US surveillance drones and F-35 fighter jets as Tokyo steps up cooperation with Washington amid China's increasingly assertive activity in regional seas.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Kenya's police chief said about 200 Islamic extremist fighters have split from Somalia's al-Shabab rebels, who are allied to al-Qaida, and have instead pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In northeastern Mali 6 former fighters were killed in the Kidal region in an attack claimed by an Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Nigeria blast at a gas plant engulfed the southeastern industrial city of Nnewi. 9 people were killed and three others remained in critical condition.
(AFP, 12/25/15)(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 24, In the southern Philippines guerillas from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) captured nine farmers and shot them dead on Mindanao. The BIFF also launched an attack on a village in Pigcawayan town, some 900 km (560 miles) south of Manila, that left a district official dead. Six guerillas were killed and eight wounded in fighting that lasted 3 days.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Saudi Arabia a fire tore through the intensive care unit and the maternity ward of a hospital in the southwestern port city of Jazan before dawn, killing at least 24 people and injuring 123.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir made a Christmas Eve decree dissolving the nation's 10 states and creating 28 new ones. Critics said it threatens the peace deal signed in August to end the country's two-year civil war.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, Syria's regime said it was ready to take part in new talks in Geneva aimed at ending the war but appeared to make its participation conditional on which opposition groups will attend.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Syria air raids by government warplanes killed 20 civilians, including 7 children, in an area southeast of Damascus. A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups advanced toward a dam in northern Syria held by Islamic State fighters, in an assault aimed at capturing the militants' stronghold of Raqqa.
(AFP, 12/24/15)(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Syria French national Charaffe al Mouadan (26) was killed in a US-led coalition air strike. He had "direct" ties to the alleged mastermind of the Nov 13 Paris attacks.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 24, Turkey said another 19 people, including 6 children, drowned in the waters of the Aegean off the coast of the Turkish city of Izmir after their boat capsized.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Turkish Internet servers suffered a powerful cyberattack, slowing banking services and fanning fears that it could be a politically motivated attack from abroad.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, The United States hit Islamic State group targets in Iraq and Syria with 17 airstrikes on Christmas Day.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Gun violence today in the US killed 27 people and left 63 injured. The US averaged 36 fatalities each day this year.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 25, A tornado struck Birmingham, Alabama, damaging houses, uprooting trees and injuring at least three people in the state's largest city.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Afghanistan and Pakistan a 6.3 earthquake jolted the Hindu Kush just before midnight. At least 12 people were injured in eastern Nangarhar province. A pregnant woman was killed when a boulder fell on her house in Peshawar.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Algeria Abu al-Hassan Rachid al-Bulaydi, head of the Sharia Committee, was killed in an ambush by government soldiers.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Australia more than 100 homes burned down along parts of Victoria state's picturesque Great Ocean Road in bushfires and the situation continued to remain dangerous.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Bangladesh's state-run Atomic Energy Commission signed a deal with Russia to set up two nuclear power plants, each with 1,200 megawatt capacity.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northwest Bangladesh a bomb attack on a mosque during prayers killed one person and wounded at least a dozen. The mosque was run by the minority Ahmmadiya Muslim community in Rajshahi.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Bolivia 12 people were killed and nine more injured as a result of a crash between a bus and a truck.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Brazil police in Rio de Janeiro tortured five young people, aged between 13 and 23, on Christmas night, allegedly burning them and sexually molesting them after demanding extortion money.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 25, In China Wan Qingliang, a former top official for the prosperous city of Guangzhou, wept in court as he confessed to taking $ 17 million in bribes.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In China’s eastern province of Shandong a gypsum mine owned by Yurong Commercial and Trade Ltd. Co. caved in. All 29 workers were accounted for. One person was killed and 17 remained trapped at two sites and could not be immediately rescued. On Dec 27 the owner of the mine drowned after jumping into a well in an apparent suicide. On Jan 29 four miners were rescued after spending 36 days trapped underground.
(AP, 12/26/15)(AP, 12/27/15)(AP, 1/30/16)
2015 Dec 25, Colombia's top security official said authorities have captured eight members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and rescued a minor who also belonged to the guerrilla group.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Corsica a crowd vandalized a Muslim prayer room a day after an ambush injured two firefighters responding to an emergency in a housing project.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Georgia's president nominated vice premier Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the new head of government after the surprise resignation of Irakli Garibashvili.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Indian PM Narendra Modi made a surprise "goodwill" visit to Pakistan to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif, both reaffirming to resume high-level peace talks.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Israeli border police shot dead a Palestinian woman who tried to ram them with her car in the West Bank.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Japan local authorities on Okinawa sued the central government in an attempt to stop the relocation of a US air base.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Malawi media said that the government has suspended 63 civil servants who allegedly stole millions of dollars of US funds sent for fighting HIV and AIDS.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Mexican forces clashed with suspected organized-crime figures in the hometown of fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, killing two and netting 4.5 tons of marijuana in Badiraguato, Sinaloa state.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Moroccan and Spanish news agencies said over 200 migrants tried swim to Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta and although 180 made it, two drowned, 12 were injured and others were intercepted.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northern Myanmar dozens of people were missing and feared dead after a landslide struck a remote jade mining region in Kachin sate, the second such incident in a month.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northeastern Nigeria at least 14 people were killed and several others injured by Boko Haram gunmen in an attack on Kimba village, Borno state.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Russia’s environment ministry said the country is warming more than twice as fast as the average for the rest of the world, sounding an alarm on the rise in floods and wildfires nationwide.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Rebel sources in Syria said Zahran Aloush (44), the head of Jaysh al Islam, one of the most powerful insurgent groups in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, was killed in a Russian aerial raid that targeted his group's headquarters. Abu Hammam al Buwaidani was soon chosen as the group’s new leader.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Syria Islamic State militants released 25 more Assyrian Christian hostages they had held captive for 10 months.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northern Syria fierce clashes between regime loyalists and rebels including Al-Qaeda fighters left more than 70 dead.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Turkey a three-month-old baby and her grandfather were killed when they became caught in the crossfire between security forces and Kurdish rebels in Cizre.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Yemen assailants shot dead Commander Jarallah Salhi, a senior intelligence officer, in Marib city east of the capital Sanaa.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 26, The United States and its allies conducted 28 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and five in Syria. Abdul Qader Hakim, who facilitated the militants' external operations and had links to the Nov 13 Paris attack network, was killed in Mosul by a US-led coalition air strike.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 26, Chicago police shot and killed 3 people, including a mother of five who they said was shot "accidentally" when officers responded to a domestic disturbance.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, In Texas at least 11 people were killed in the Dallas area from a storm system packing torrential rains and unleashing a string of tornadoes that toppled homes, cut power lines and snarled transport for people returning from the Christmas holidays.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, Britain's Meteorological Office issued two of its most severe weather warnings after days of torrential rain in northern England caused rivers to burst their banks and flood several villages.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, In Burundi thousands of supporters of the president protested against the African Union's plan to deploy 5,000 peacekeepers to quell the country's escalating unrest.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, Guinea's President Alpha Conde appointed mining executive Mamady Youla as the West African country's new prime minister.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, Israeli policemen shot and killed a Palestinian as he tried to stab them in Jerusalem. A Palestinian motorist rammed his car into a checkpoint and lightly wounded a soldier stationed there. Troops on the scene opened fire at the attacker and seriously wounded him.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, Japanese authorities said that for the first time, an armed Chinese coast guard vessel entered its territorial waters off islands claimed by both countries.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, A Kenyan police official said an Islamic extremist died in the north when a roadside bomb he was planting exploded in Mandera.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, Serbian police arrested 80 people including a former minister on graft charges, stepping up an anti-corruption drive days after opening talks on joining the European Union.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, Syrian government forces booby trapped a cluster of farm buildings in the southern Daraa province and detonated the explosives as several Islamic rebel factions gathered at the venue, killing 17 militants.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups, backed by US coalition planes, captured Tishreen Dam from Islamic State.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)(AFP, 1/2/16)
2015 Dec 26, Yemeni officials said overnight fighting between Shiite rebels and pro-government in southwestern Taiz province has killed 31 people, including 8 civilians. Yemeni loyalists killed at least 20 Iran-backed rebels in a pushback against insurgents seeking to retake positions to the northeast of the capital they control.
(AP, 12/26/15)(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 27, The United States and its allies conducted 37 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, Ellsworth Kelley (b.1923), American abstract painter, sculptor and printmaker, died in Spencertown, NY.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellsworth_Kelly)
2015 Dec 27, Meadowlark Lemon (83), “clown prince" of the Harlem Globetrotters, died in Scottsdale, Arizona.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.C2)
2015 Dec 27, An Afghan official said the local Islamic State affiliate and a rival militia controlled by a prominent lawmaker have killed 8 fighters from both sides, captured a day earlier, in a brutal killing spree in the eastern border province of Nangarhar.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In western Australia a train was carrying around 200,000 liters (53,000 gallons) of the sulfuric acid when it derailed near the small town of Julia Creek in Queensland state.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, Burkina Faso said authorities have arrested around 20 soldiers for plotting to free from prison a prominent general who has been charged with staging a coup.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, Rival Burundi factions traveled to Uganda ahead of talks aimed at ending months of violence, as the African Union pushed the government to accept a peacekeeping force.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, China officially ended its one child policy with the signing into law of a bill allowing all married couples to have a second child as it attempts to cope with an ageing population and shrinking workforce.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, China's rubber-stamp national legislature approved the country's first anti-terrorism law, amid concerns that its requirements that tech companies share information with the government could hurt business interests and further infringe upon human rights.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, China’s ruling Communist Party announced that Chang Xiaobing, chair of China Telecom, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of corruption.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, China's legislature approved the country’s first national anti-domestic violence law. It will take effect in March.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, In China Xu Yuan'an, head of the City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau for Shenzhen's Guangming New District, where a Dec 20 huge landslide left scores of people missing, killed himself.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, An Egyptian military spokesman says that security forces chased two militants as they fled on a motorcycle, killing one and injuring another in the provincial capital of el-Arish. In another incident military forces pursued a third militant near Mount Halal, leading to his death amid a gunfight.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Egypt an explosion in Cairo's twin city of Giza killed 3 people, including a senior judge, and injured 11 believed to be the result of a gas leak.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, France banned demonstrations in part of the Corsican capital Ajaccio following two days of anti-Arab protests and sectarian tensions.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Indonesia a group of about 15 gunmen attacked a police station in Sinak town, Papua province, killing 3 officers and wounding two others.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, Iran postponed two premier league football matches, as air pollution more than twice the acceptable level persisted in Tehran.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, Iraqi forces took control of the government complex in central Ramadi, the last Islamic State stronghold in the western city.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, Israeli ministers endorsed contentious draft legislation to toughen rules on rights groups receiving funds from abroad. Left-wing NGOs called the move a witch-hunt.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians who stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In northeastern Kenya gunmen killed 2 policemen and wounded two others in Mandera County.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In northeastern Nigeria an attack blamed on Boko Haram killed 21 people in Maiduguri, Borno state.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Turkey 3 soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the town of Cizre in the Kurdish majority southeast.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Turkey Naji Jerf, a Syrian journalist and filmmaker who documented atrocities by the Islamic State, was killed in Gaziantep. On Jan 10 state media reported the arrest of three people in relation to the killing.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)(AFP, 1/10/16)
2015 Dec 27, Ukraine said at least 3 people were killed over the last 24 hours as government forces and pro-Russian separatists clashed in the first violation of a holiday truce.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 28, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 31 air strikes in their latest daily operations against the militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 28, Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister (70), the hell-raising frontman of pioneering British heavy metal band Motorhead, died of cancer in Los Angeles, bringing to an end the story of a band dubbed the loudest in the world.
(AFP, 12/29/15)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.78)
2015 Dec 28, In Afghanistan two gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a female polio vaccination campaigner and seriously wounded her granddaughter. A suicide car bomb attack killed at least one civilian near the Kabul international airport.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Burundi's government and opposition kicked off peace talks in Uganda.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In northern Cameroon two female suicide bombers blew themselves up while trying to carry out attacks for Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, China fined seven foreign shipping companies that carry vehicles for automakers a total of $65 million on price-fixing charges in its latest effort to end anti-competitive behavior in the auto industry.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In eastern Cuba 13 people were killed and 34 more injured when two trucks retrofitted as passenger buses collided in Santiago de Cuba province.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 28, France opened police and legal archives from the collaborationist Vichy regime from WWII.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 28, In France DNA traces helped police identify and arrest a Frenchman (40) suspected of 33 rapes or attempted rapes in a suburban Paris forest from 1995 to 2001.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 28, Gambian lawmakers passed a bill criminalizing female circumcision and introducing prison terms of up to three years for anyone flouting the ban.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 28, Greek police in Thessaloniki said they have arrested Simon Dutton (39), a man wanted in Britain on suspicion of running a large cocaine trafficking ring.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Iran media reported that a swine flu outbreak has killed 112 people since mid-November and the country's first medical worker has died of the virus.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Milan, Italy, began a 3-day ban for six hours per day in a bid to alleviate persistent smog.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 28, In western Mexico the bullet-ridden bodies of 4 people including the co-founder of a violent drug cartel were found early today on a highway. The prosecutors' office later confirmed in a statement that one of the victims was Carlos Rosales Mendoza (53) alias "El Tisico." Rosales was considered one of the founders and leaders of La Familia Michoacana cartel and the Knights Templar.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Authorities in Mexico detained a wealthy Texas teenager sought in the United States after he disappeared while serving probation for killing four people in a high-profile drunk-driving case. Ethan Couch (18) and his mother Tonya were arrested in the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta. On April 13, 2016, Couch (19) was sentenced to 180 days in jail for each of the four deaths in the June 2013 crash. In 2018 Couch was released after serving nearly two years.
(AFP, 12/29/15)(SFC, 4/14/16, p.A10)(SFC, 4/3/18, p.A5)
2015 Dec 28, A Myanmar court jailed a woman for six months for a Facebook post "ridiculing" the country's army chief and the color of a new uniform.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In Nigeria Boko Haram Islamic extremists struck Maiduguri for the first time in months with rocket-propelled grenades and multiple suicide bombers. At least 50 people were killed and the death toll could go higher. Another twin suicide bombing killed at least 30 people in Madagali, a town 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Maiduguri.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Poland's President Andrzej Duda approved controversial legislation that regulates the Constitutional Tribunal. This required the tribunal to approve all verdicts by a two-thirds margin.
(AP, 12/28/15)(Econ, 1/2/16, p.41)
2015 Dec 28, A Puerto Rico policeman fatally shot two high-ranking officers and a policewoman following an argument at the station where they worked in Ponce. On Dec 20, 2016, Guarionex Candelario was sentenced to more than 200 years in prison for the fatal killing of Lt. Luz Soto, Cmdr. Frank Roman and policewoman Rosario Hernandez.
(AP, 12/28/15)(AP, 12/20/16)
2015 Dec 28, South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement to resolve the issue of "comfort women", as those who were forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels were euphemistically known.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In Syria at least 32 people were killed and 90 wounded in two bomb explosions in Homs. It was the second major attack in the city since a ceasefire deal took effect earlier this month. Homs-based activist Bebars Al-Talawy later said Abu Bilal al-Homsi most likely carried out one of the bombings.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)(AP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 28, In Syria buses and ambulances carrying around 450 fighters and civilians evacuated from two besieged areas crossed into Turkey and Lebanon.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, A Turkish court remanded in custody a 17-year-old construction worker on charges of "insulting" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Facebook.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 29, The United States and its allies staged 28 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 29, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said a total of 110 journalists were killed around the world this year, noting that while many died in war zones the majority were killed in supposedly peaceful countries.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Bahrain said two of its soldiers attached to a coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen have been killed in Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Bahrain handed down sentences ranging from five years to life in prison to 29 people found guilty of attempting to murder policemen in a bomb attack last year. The sentences were linked to a bomb blast in a Shiite village on December 19 last year that authorities said left three policemen slightly wounded.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Burkina Faso Roch Marc Christian Kabore (58) was sworn in as president, completing a transition from the 2014 overthrow of longtime ruler Blaise Compaore.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In northern China Wei Pengyuan, a low-ranking energy official accused of hiding more than $30 million in cash at home in one of the country's most sensational corruption cases, admitted his guilt during a court appearance.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Dagestan one person was killed and 11 injured in a shooting near the UNESCO heritage citadel site in Derbent, which claims to be Russia's oldest city and celebrated its 2,000th anniversary this year.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 29, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan signed an agreement finalizing the two firms tasked with carrying out studies on the potential impact of Ethiopia's $4.8 billion Grand Renaissance Dam on the flow of the Nile.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)(Econ, 1/16/16, p.49)
2015 Dec 29, Egyptian judicial officials said a court has reduced the jail term for Islam al-Behairy, a controversial Muslim scholar convicted of insulting Islam on his television show from five years to one.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In England and Wales a law became effective that said coercive or controlling behavior can now be prosecuted as a crime punishable by a fine and up to five years in prison.
(SFC, 12/30/15, p.A5)
2015 Dec 29, A German court sentenced former Rwandan mayor Onesphore Rwabukombe (58) to life in prison, convicting him after a second trial of participating in genocide for helping organize the killing of some 400 members of the Tutsi minority in 1994.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Georgian lawmakers approved former foreign minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the new head of government after the surprise resignation of Irakli Garibashvili.
(SFC, 12/31/15, p.A3)
2015 Dec 29, In Haiti 2 UN police officers from Rwanda were fatally shot at their residence in Cap Haitien.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 29, Israel's top court upheld a bribery conviction against former premier Ehud Olmert, which will make him the country's first ex-prime minister to serve jail time. The Supreme Court reduced his sentence to 18 months in prison, and acquitted him of one of the charges.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In northwestern Pakistan a suicide bomber attacked a government office, killing at least 26 people and wounding 45 in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A Pakistani Taliban faction claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)(SFC, 12/30/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 29, Russian investigators filed an indictment against four men accused of involvement in the Feb 27 murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, a brazen killing which sent shockwaves among the opposition earlier this year.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Saudi Arabia Filipino murder convict Joselito Lidasan Zapanta was publicly beheaded after failing to meet the demand of the Sudanese victim's family for payment of $1 million to save him from the death penalty.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In southern Thailand suspected Muslim insurgents attacked police and a government office, killing one official as they seized hostages in Narathiwat province.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the leader of the main Kurdish party Selahattin Demirtas (42) of "treason" over his call for autonomy for the country's Kurdish minority.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Turkey a former soccer referee won a court case against Turkey's football federation which he has accused of outing him as a homosexual and stripping him of his license to referee games because of his sexual orientation. The court ordered the federation to pay Halil Ibrahim Dincdag 23,000 lira (US$8,000) in compensation.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Uganda police said at least 13 people drowned in Lake Victoria, when sudden waves swamped them as they celebrated the Christmas holiday.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, The UN's health agency declared Guinea's Ebola outbreak over two years after it emerged.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 30, The US-led coalition carried out 24 strikes against Islamic State militants, in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 30, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said at least 13 people have died since the weekend, when days of downpours from a massive winter storm system triggered the state's worst flooding in two decades.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, In London a husband Mohammed Rehman (25) and his ex-wife (Sana Ahmed Khan (24), convicted of planning a major attack to mark the 10th anniversary of the London suicide bombings, were both sentenced to life in prison. The couple were accused of planning their attack for around May 28.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Thousands in Central African Republic's capital voted in national elections with hope that a new president will lead to greater stability after years of violence. Anicet-Georges Dologuele won 23.74 percent of votes cast followed by Faustin-Archange Touadera with 19.05 percent.
(AP, 12/30/15)(Reuters, 1/25/16)
2015 Dec 30, Chinese rescuers in Shandong province using infrared cameras to peer into darkness at a wrecked mine found eight surviving miners who were trapped for five days after a collapse so violent it registered as a seismic event. Nine others remained missing.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, A China-Taiwan hotline went into service connecting the heads of the two Cabinet-level agencies responsible for their relations.
(SFC, 12/31/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 30, In Egypt a program that had been giving free basic Internet services to over three million Egyptians was shut down. Facebook said it hoped to "resolve this situation soon" so the program, which it had launched with Etisalat Egypt some two months ago, could be restored.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Guyana's parliament approved anti-terrorism legislation that includes the death penalty for certain offenses and would allow rendition of suspects to other countries.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 30, In Hong Kong Lee Bo (65), chief editor of a publisher which produces books critical of the Chinese government, went missing. He was a colleague of the four others who had also disappeared last autumn. Bo returned to Hong Kong on March 24, 2016, but did not provide thorough information about his undocumented departure.
(AFP, 1/1/16)(AP, 3/24/16)
2015 Dec 30, India asked authorities in and around its capital to crack down immediately on overloaded trucks, illegally parked cars and vehicles emitting visible smoke in the world's most polluted city.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Italian prosecutors said Apple has agreed to pay Italy about $350 million in taxes for years 2008-2013.
(SFC, 12/31/15, p.A5)
2015 Dec 30, An Italian parliament-mandated health survey confirmed higher-than-normal incidents of death and cancer among residents in and around Naples, thanks to decades of toxic waste dumping by the local Camorra mob.
(AP, 1/2/16)
2015 Dec 30, Palestinian police said Islamist group Hamas has banned public New Year's Eve parties in the Gaza Strip because they offend the territory's "values and religious traditions".
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Philippine troops clashed with about 100 Abu Sayyaf gunmen suspected of plotting attacks on New Year's Eve, leaving 8 militants and one soldier dead.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, A Russian court sentenced blogger Vadim Tyumenstev (35), from the Siberian region of Tomsk, to five years in jail for what it said was his extremist activity on the Internet after he urged people to attend a protest against high transport fares and criticized Russian intervention in Ukraine.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Russia said its air force made 121 sorties and hit 424 targets in Syria during December 28-29.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Rwanda's high court said Pastor Jean Uwinkindi (64), accused of leading and coordinating attacks on minority Tutsis during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, A Spanish judge named Jordi Pujol (80), former longtime leader of Spain's powerful northeastern Catalonia region, as a suspect in a money-laundering probe.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Syrian authorities arrested Ahmad al-Asrawi and Munir al-Bitar, prominent members of the country's domestic opposition, as they traveled to Riyadh to meet other regime opponents.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, In northeastern Syria two restaurants were bombed in a predominantly Kurdish city of Qamishli. The attack killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 30.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 30, Syrian troops fought their way into a rebel-held town in the southern province of Deraa in an assault which rebels said was supported by the heaviest Russian aerial bombing campaign so far in the south.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Venezuela’s Supreme Court barred four recently elected lawmakers from taking their seats in the National Assembly. No legal justification was provided.
(SFC, 1/1/16, p.A4)
2015 Dec 31, The United States and its allies conducted 24 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Arizona retired California police officer Frank Pascua (52) was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Gila River Casino in Phoenix. Suspect John Campos Sr. (47) was arrested the next day.
(SSFC, 1/3/16, p.A8)
2015 Dec 31, The largest container ship to visit the US passed under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco before arriving at the Port of Oakland. The nearly quarter-mile-long megaship named the Benjamin Franklin can hold up to 18,000 20-foot shipping containers.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Natalie Cole (b.1950), Grammy-winning daughter of Nat King Cole, died in Los Angeles of complications from health issues.
(SFC, 1/2/16, p.A7)
2015 Dec 31, Wayne Rogers, TV actor who played Trapper John on MASH (1972-1975), died in Los Angeles from complications of pneumonia.
(SFC, 1/2/16, p.A7)
2015 Dec 31, Midwest floodwaters began receding. Three days of torrential rain, that had begun on Dec 26 across a wide swath of Missouri and Illinois, left 25 people dead.
(SFC, 1/1/16, p.A7)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.25)
2015 Dec 31, General Electric announced that it had won a contract worth nearly $1 billion from the Saudi Electricity Company to build and supply a power plant in northern Saudi Arabia.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, A court in Bangladesh sentenced two people to death and six others to prison for killing atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013, the first verdicts since suspected Islamist militants began targeting secular activists.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed the so-called LDO law overruling more than 50 amendments made by lawmakers in the nation's budget guidelines law for this year, including reductions to her flagship social program and a ban on state foreign financing for some projects.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, Ursula Gauthier, the China correspondent for France's L'Obs news magazine, left Beijing. She was obliged to leave for criticizing government policy in violence-wracked Xinjiang. She had questioned official comparisons between global Islamist violence and unrest in the homeland of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority.
(AFP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila pardoned nine members of the Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK) separatist group as he pursues a policy of national dialogue ahead of elections later this year.
(AFP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Egypt a couple and their 3 children, including a five-year-old girl, were killed when shelling hit their house in Rafah, North Sinai. It was unclear who fired the projectile.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, In Egypt a small ferry boat sank late today in the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh. At least 15 people were killed and two remained missing.
(AP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In southern Ethiopia a hand grenade attack killed two students and injured six at Dilla University in the SNNPR region.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Germany dozens of apparently coordinated sexual assaults took place against women on New Year's Eve in the western city of Cologne. "Arab-looking men" were blamed. The port city of Hamburg also reported around 10 similar attacks against women on New Year's Eve. By Jan 19 the number of complaints had risen to over 800.
(AFP, 1/4/16)(SFC, 1/20/16, p.A2)
2015 Dec 31, In Guatemala a fight at an overcrowded prison in Puerto Barrios, killed at least 8 prisoners and wounded 20.
(AP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, Officials said Israel's Education Ministry has ruled against the inclusion of a novel about a romance between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man in the Hebrew high school curriculum because it feared it could raise tensions among pupils. The plot of Dorit Rabinyan's novel "Borderlife" takes place in New York.
(Reuters, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian who rammed them with his car in the occupied West Bank, as a wave of violence approached its fourth month.
(Reuters, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara announced in his New Year's address that he had reduced the sentences of 3,100 prisoners held over bloody post-election unrest.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Rights campaigners said a Mauritanian court has remanded in custody two men accused of keeping women and children as slaves, during a crackdown on the deeply rooted practice.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, The Russian finance ministry said it will file a lawsuit against Ukraine after Kiev failed to repay a $3 billion Eurobond and $75 million of interest due today.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In southwestern Saudi Arabia 3 civilians including two children were killed in cross-border missile attacks from Yemen on a residential area.
(AFP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Sweden at least 15 young women were reportedly groped by groups of men on New Year's Eve in the city of Kalmar.
(AP, 1/8/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Turkey hundreds of flights were cancelled from Istanbul's two main airports after the city was hit by a picturesque but troublesome snowfall.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Electricity from Ukraine to the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula was cut again after the collapse of a power pylon.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, In Yemen a drive-by shooting killed top pro-government militia leader Ahmed al-Idrisi and five of his companions in the southern city of Aden, just hours after he reluctantly handed over control of the city's strategic port to government troops.
(AP, 12/31/15)(AP, 1/3/16)
2015 Dec, In Louisiana an indictment was announced against a gang in Abbeville called the Gremlins. By this time most of the 17 supposed gang members were in custody.
(Econ, 3/25/17, p.25)
2015 Dec, In Nevada the family of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson acquired control of the Las Vegas Review Journal, the state’s largest newspaper. Adelson was a major benefactor of the Republican Party.
(SFC, 12/30/15, p.C3)
2015 Dec, In Texas three former officials at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) pleaded guilty under seal to conspiracy to commit money laundering. They were charged with violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
(Reuters, 3/23/16)
2015 Dec, In Afghanistan a new, nearly $100 million Afghan National Assembly building was inaugurated.
(Reuters, 5/30/16)
2015 Dec, Brazil declared a national public health emergency due to the mosquito-born Zika virus.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.73)`
2015 Dec, Ecuador, bowing to pressure from the Cuban government, imposed a visa requirement on Cubans, in effect closing off the most popular route to the United States.
(Econ, 1/16/16, p.38)
2015 Dec, Egypt cancelled the results of student council elections in the country’s universities after pro-revolution candidates won across the board.
(Econ, 1/9/16, p.39)
2015 Dec, In Kosovo Slobodan Gavric (b.1968), a Serbian man, was arrested after police found 12.2 kilos of explosives in his car in an area where the United States and other Western embassies are located. On June 29, 2016, a court sentenced Gavric to 13 years in jail on charges of preparing a terrorist attack.
(Reuters, 6/29/16)
2015 Dec, In Libya a girl and two boys ranging from five to 12 years old, were kidnapped by armed men on their way to school in the coastal town of Surman. In 2018 their bodies were found south of the town. Preliminary findings suggested the children were killed months after their abduction.
(AP, 4/8/18)
2015 Dec, Madagascar held senatorial elections. On Jan 9 preliminary results said President Hery Rajaonarimampianina's HVM party won more than 60 percent of the vote in each of the country's seven provinces.
(AFP, 1/10/16)
2015 Dec, Sibur, a Russian petrochemical firm co-owned by Gennady Timchenko, sold 10% of its shares to Sinopec, China’s largest state-owned oil refinery, for $1.3 billion. In 2016 Sibur sold another 10% to China’s state-backed Silk Road Fund.
(Econ 7/29/17, p.36)
2015 Dec, Sudan's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) suspended the independent Al-Tayar newspaper after it published a series of editorials criticizing the government over subsidy cuts on fuel and electricity. On May 2 the country's Constitutional Court ordered that the ban on the daily be lifted.
(AFP, 5/2/16)
2015 Dec, Sudan arrested Czech Christian aid worker Petr Jasek. In January 2017 he sentenced to 24 years in jail on charges of spying and inciting hatred. In February President Omar al-Bashir ordered Jasek (53) be released.
(AFP, 2/26/17)
2015 David Abraham authored “The Elements of Power: Gadgets, Guns and the Struggle for a Sustainable Future in the Rare Metal Age."
(Econ, 1/16/16, p.90)
2015 George Akerlof and Robert Shiller authored “Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception."
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.82)
2015 Ayaan Hirsi Ali authored “Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now."
(Econ., 4/18/15, p.74)
2015 Anthony Atkinson authored “Inequality: What Can Be Done."
(Econ, 6/6/15, p.74)
2015 David Bainbridge authored “Curvology: The Origins and Power of Female Body Shape."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.75)
2015 Michael Barber authored “How to Run a Government So that Citizens Benefit and Taxpayers Don’t Go Crazy."
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.87)
2015 Elmira Bayrasli authored “From the Other Side of the World: Extraordinary Entrepreneurs, Unlikely Places."
(Econ, 10/10/15, p.88)
2015 Mary Beard authored “SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome."
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.85)
2015 Daniel Bell authored “The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy."
(http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10418.html)(Econ, 9/5/15, p.50)
2015 Ben Bernanke authored “The Courage to Act: A Memoir of a Crisis and its Aftermath."
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.88)
2015 Thor Bjorgolfsson, Iceland’s first billionaire, authored “Billions to Bust: How I Made, Lost And Rebuilt a Fortune, And What I learned on the Way."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.78)
2015 Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov authored “The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia’s Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries.
(Econ, 9/12/15, p.78)
2015 Ian Bostridge authored “Schubert’s Winter Journey: An Anatomy of an Obsession." Shcubert’s “Winterreise" cycle of 24 songs was written in 1827-1828 set to a collection poems by Wilhelm Muller.
(Econ, 1/17/15, p.80)
2015 H.W. Brands authored “Reagan: The Life."
(SSFC, 5/24/15, p.N3)
2015 Steven Brill authored “America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix our Broken Healthcare System."
(Econ, 1/17/15, p.79)
2015 David Brooks, NY Times columnist, authored “The Road to Character."
(Econ, 5/23/15, p.73)
2015 Edward Brooke-Hitching authored “Fox Tossing and Other Forgotten and Dangerous Sports, Pastimes, and Games.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.78)
2015 Bill Browder authored “Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man’s Fight for Justice." Browder’s lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in 2009 in a Russian prison, had pieced together how corrupt officials had taken over Browder’s assets and treated themselves to a $230 million tax refund paid out in a single day.
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.73)
2015 Jason Burke authored “The New threat From Islamic Militancy."
(Econ, 8/29/15, p.69)
2015 Bryan Burrough authored “Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence.
(SSFC, 4/12/15, p.N1)
2015 Liz Carlisle authored “Lentil Underground: Renegade Farmers and the Future of Food in America."
(SSFC, 1/25/15, p.N1)
2015 Nicholas Carlson authored “Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!"
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.79)
2015 Michael Casey and Paul Vigna authored “The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money Are Challenging the Global Economic Order."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.77)
2015 Alexa Clay and Kyra Maya Phillips authored “The Misfit Economy: Lessons in Creativity from Pirates, Hackers, Gangsters and Other Informal Entrepreneurs."
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.74)
2015 Blake Clayton authored “Market Madness: A Century of Oil Panics, Crises and Crashes."
(Econ, 11/26/16, SR p.5)
2015 Marc Clifford authored “The Greening of Asia: The Business Case for Solving Asia’s Environmental Emergency."
(Econ., 4/25/15, p.77)
2015 Matthew Cobb authored “Life’s Greatest Secret: The Story of the Race to Crack the Genetic Code."
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.71)
2015 Gordon Corera authored “Intercept: The Secret History of Computers and Spies."
(Econ, 7/18/15, p.70)
2015 David Crystal authored “Making a Point" a history of punctuation.
(Econ, 3/12/15, p.80)
2015 Lawrence A. Cunningham authored “Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.78)
2015 In China Wang Daqi (30) authored “Burden of Wealth" in which he profiled several of his monied peers.
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.36)
2015 Christine Desan authored “Making Money: Coin, Currency and the Coming of Capitalism."
(Econ, 2/14/15, p.74)
2015 Alex de Waal authored “The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power."
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.86)
2015 Pedro Domingos authored “The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World."
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.86)
2015 Don Doyle authored “The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War."
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.73)
2015 Lanny Ebenstein authored “Chicagonomics: The Evolution of Chicago Free Market Economics."
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.80)
2015 Kathryn Edin and Luke Schaefer authored “$2.00 a day: Living on Almost Nothing in America."
(Econ, 8/20/16, p.22)
2015 Joseph Ellis authored “The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution: 1783-1789."
(Econ, 5/9/15, p.79)
2015 Mark Essig authored “Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig."
(Econ, 5/2/15, p.75)
2015 Lillian Faderman authored “The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle."
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.81)
2015 Jonathan Fenby authored “The History of Modern France: From the Revolution to the Present Day."
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.68)
2015 Niall Ferguson authored “Kissinger: The Idealist, 1923-1968." This was the first volume of Ferguson’s two-part Kissinger biography.
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.85)
2015 Ronald Fierstein authored “A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak patent War."
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.86)
2015 Jean-Pierre Filiu authored “From Deep State to Islamic State: The Arab Counter-Revolution and its Jihadi Legacy."
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.70)
2015 Paul Fischer authored “A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power."
(SSFC, 3/8/15, p.N3)
2015 Eric Foner authored “Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad."
(SSFC, 2/8/15, p.N5)
2015 Gavin Francis, a Scottish doctor, authored “Adventures in Human Being".
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.80)
2015 Barney Frank authored his memoir “Frank: A Life in Politics From the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage."
(SSFC, 3/15/15, p.N5)
2015 Peter Frankopan authored “The Silk Roads: A New History of the World."
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.70)
2015 Dan Gardner and Philip Tetlock authored “Superforcasting: The Art and Science of Prediction."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.83)
2015 Gilbert Gaul authored “Billion Dollar Ball: A Journey Through the Big-Money Culture of College Football."
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.82)
2015 Robert Gildea authored “Fighters in the Shadows: A New History of the French Resistance."
(Econ, 8/29/15, p.67)
2015 Paul Ginsborg authored “Family Politics: Domestic Life, Devastation and Survival 1900-1950."
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.75)
2015 Ted Gioia authored “Love songs: The Hidden History."
(Econ., 2/14/15, p.76)
2015 Charles Glass authored “Syria Burning: ISIS and the Death of the Arab Spring."
(Econ, 7/11/15, p.73)
2015 Leon Goldsmith authored “Cycle of Fear: Syria’s Alawites in War and Peace."
(Econ, 7/11/15, p.74)
2015 Philip Glass authored “Words Without Music."
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.88)
2015 Misha Glenny authored “Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio."
(Econ, 9/12/15, p.78)
2015 Marc Goodman authored “Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It."
(SSFC, 3/8/15, p.N1)
2015 Robert Goodwin authored “Spain: The Center of the World 1519-1682."
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.67)
2015 Robert Grenier, former CIA station chief in Pakistan, authored “88 Days to Kandahar."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.76)
2015 Chen Guangcheng authored “The Barefoot Lawyer: A Blind Man’s Fight for Justice and Freedom in China."
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.83)
2015 Blaine Harden authored “The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant who Created North Korea and the Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom." (see South Korea Sep 21, 1953).
(Econ, 5/16/15, p.78)
2015 Journalists Hassan Hassan and Michael Weiss authored "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror." The authors spoke to dozens of fighters and members of the group to understand its allure and how it justifies its brutal tactics.
(AFP, 2/5/15)
2015 Daisy Hay authored “Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli: A Strange Romance."
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.87)
2015 Sudhir Hazareesingh authored “How the French Think: An Affectionate Portrait of an Intellectual People.
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.79)
2015 Zackeray Hearn authored “The Emergence of Modern Shiism: Islamic Reform in Iraq and Iran."
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.69)
2015 Sarah Helm authored “Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women."
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.84)
2015 Revecca Hercig authored “Plucked: A History of Hair Removal."
(Econ, 2/7/15, p.79)
2015 Catherine Hickley authored “The Munich Art Horde: Hitler’s Dealer and His Secret Legacy."
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.81)
2015 Cesar Hidalgo authored “Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies." His aim was to lay out a universal theory of information.
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.66)
2015 Dilip Hiro authored “The Longest August: The Unflinching Rivalry Between India and Pakistan."
(Econ., 2/21/15, p.81)
2015 Bruce Hoffman authored “Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947.
(Econ., 3/21/15, p.74)
2015 Henry Holt authored “Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel."
(Econ, 7/18/15, p.72)
2015 British journalist Alistaire Horne authored “Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century."
{USA, Books}
(Econ, 11/7/15, p.79)
2015 Roel Janssen authored “The Art of Audit: Eight Remarkable Government Auditors on Stage."
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.73)
2015 Morten Jerven authored “Why Economists Get It Wrong."
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.67)
2015 Josh Karp authored “Orson Welles’ Last Movie: The Making of the Other Side of the Wind."
(SSFC, 5/10/15, p.N3)
2015 Pamela Katz authored “The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women, and Germany on the Brink."
(SSFC, 2/15/15, p.N7)
2015 John Kay authored “Other People’s Money."
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.69)
2015 Andrew Keen authored “"The Internet is Not the Answer."
(SSFC, 1/25/15, p.N3)(Econ, 1/17/15, p.81)
2015 Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins authored “Baptists in America".
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.80)
2015 Nick Lane authored “The Vital Question: Why Is Life the Way It Is?"
(Econ, 5/2/15, p.75)
2015 Thomas Laqueur authored “The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains."
(Econ, 11/28,15, p.76)
2015 Erika Lee authored “The Making of Asian America: A History."
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.88)
2015 The novel “Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee (89) was published. The original manuscript had preceded her classic “To Kill a Mockingbird" (1960).
(Econ, 7/18/15, p.71)
2015 John Leigh authored “Touché: The Duel in Literature".
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.81)
2015 Jill Leovy authored “Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America."
(SSFC, 1/25/15, p.N1)(Econ., 3/7/15, p.86)
2015 Steve LeVine authored “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.76)
2015 Dominic Lieven authored “Towards the Flame: War and the End of Tsarist Russia."
(Econ, 5/16/15, p.76)
2015 Bobby Lo authored “Russia and the New World Disorder."
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.73)
2015 David Lough authored “No More Champagne: Churchill and His Money."
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.77)
2015 George Makari authored “Soul Machine: The Invention of the Modern Mind."
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.117)
2015 Noel Malcolm authored “Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Late Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World."
(Econ, 5/23/15, p.73)
2015 David Maraniss authored “Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story."
(Econ, 10/10/15, p.84)
2015 William J. Maxwell authored “F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature."
(SSFC, 2/8/15, p.N4)
2015 William McCants authored “"The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.86)
2015 Sean McFate authored “The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.75)
2015 Lisa McGirr authored “The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State."
(Econ, 1/30/15, p.77)
2015 Sean McMeekin authored “The Ottoman Endgame: War Revoloution and the Making of the Modern Middle East."
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.80)
2015 Ted Merwin authored “Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish
Deli."
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.79)
2015 Charles Moore authored “Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Volume Two: Everything She Wants."
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.86)
2015 Taggart Murphy authored “Japan and the Shackles of the Past."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.74)
2015 Donald Murray authored Herring Tales: How the Silver Darlings Shaped Human Taste and History.
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.83)
2015 Willie Nelson with David Ritz authored “It’s a Long Story: My Life."
(SSFC, 5/24/15, p.N4)
2015 Joseph Nye authored “Is the American Century Over?"
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.86)
2015 Francis O’Gorman authored “Worrying: A Literary and Cultural History."
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.72)
2015 David Peterson, the language-smith of Game of Thrones," authored “The Art of Language Invention."
(Econ, 8/5/17, p.65)
2015 John Plender authored “Capitalism: Money, Morals and Markets."
(Econ, 8/15/15, p.75)
2015 Serhii Plokhy authored “The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine."
(Econ, 1/2/16, p.64)
2015 Sam Quinones authored “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic."
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.72)
2015 Eric Rauchway authored “The Money Makers: How Roosevelt, and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism and Secured a Prosperous Peace."
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.78)
2015 Robin Renwick, former British ambassador to South Africa, authored “The End of Apartheid: Diary of a Revolution."
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.85)
2015 J.J. Robinson authored “The Maldives: Islamic Republic, Tropical Autocracy."
(Econ, 11/28/,15, p.76)
2015 Richard Rhodes authored “Hell and Good Company: The Spanish Civil War and the World It Made."
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.74)
2015 Eugene Rogan authored “The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East."
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.85)
2015 Sharon Rotbart authored “"White City, Black City: Architecture and War in Tel Aviv and Jaffa."
(Econ, 2/7/15, p.78)
2015 Simon Carnell and Erica Segre translated Carlo Rovelli’s work “Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" from Italian to English.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.79)
2015 Jonathan Sacks authored “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence."
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.82)
2015 Pedro Salinas authored "Half Monks, Half Soldiers." Here he blew the whistle on the twisted practices of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, himself once a victim of leader Luis Fernando Figari's psychological abuse.
(AP, 2/25/17)
2015 Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli authored “Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader."
(Econ., 4/4/15, p.77)
2015 Bruce Schneier authored “Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World."
(Econ., 4/4/15, p.80)
2015 Delphine Schrank authored “The Rebel of Rangoon: A Tale of Defiance and Deliverance in Burma."
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.72)
2015 John Seabrook authored “The Song Machine," a history of the past 20 years of pop music.
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.81)
2015 Brian Seibert authored “What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.80)
2015 Steve Silberman authored “Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity."
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.68)
2015 Adam Sisman authored authored “John le Carre: The Biography." John le Carre’s real name is David Cornwell (b.1931).
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.77)
2015 Andrew Small authored “The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics."
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.74)
2015 Mike Smith authored “Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria’s Unholy War."
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.85)
2015 Timothy Snyder authored “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning."
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.80)
2015 Susan Southard authored “Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War."
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.74)
2015 Nicholas Stargardt authored “The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939-1945."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.86)
2015 Gloria Steinem authored “My Life on the Road."
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.77)
2015 Paul Strohm authored “The Poet’s Tale: Chaucer and the Year that Made the Canterbury Tales."
(Econ, 2/7/15, p.79)
2015 Dana Thomas authored “Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano."
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.88)
2015 Levi Tillemann authored “The Great Race: The Global Quest for the Car of the Future."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.76)
2015 Adair Turner authored “Between Debt and the Devil: Money, Credit, and Fixing Global Finance."
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.84)
2015 Ashlee Vance authored “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future."
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.72)
2015 Thomas de Waal authored “Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide."
(Econ., 4/18/15, p.75)
2015 Edmund de Waal authored his personal history of porcelain: “The White Road: A Pilgrimage of Sorts."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.84)
2015 Q. Edward Wang, a China-born American historian, authored "Chopsticks: A Cultural and Culinary History."
(Econ, 4/25/20, p.34)
2015 Leif Wenar authored “Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence and the Rules that Run the World."
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.80)
2015 Jay Winik authored “1944: FDR and the Year that Changed History."
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.81)
2015 David Wooton authored “The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution."
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.78)
2015 Xue Xinran (b.1958), British-Chinese journalist, authored “Buy Me the Sky: The Remarkable Truth of China’s One-Child Generation." It was translated to English by Esther Tyldesley and David Dobson.
(Econ, 6/6/15, p.75)
2015 Andrew Zimbalist authored “Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.74)
2015 Mikhail Zygar authored “All the Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin." It became available in English in 2016.
(Econ, 9/17/16, p.79)
2015 The phrase Fourth Industrial Revolution was first introduced by Klaus Schwab, the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, in a 2015 article in Foreign Affairs. "Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution" was the theme of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2016 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. On October 10, 2016, the Forum announced the opening of its Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco. This was also subject and title of Schwab's 2016 book. Schwab includes in this fourth era technologies that combine hardware, software, and biology (cyber-physical systems), and emphasizes advances in communication and connectivity. Schwab expects this era to be marked by breakthroughs in emerging technologies in fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the internet of things, the industrial internet of things, decentralized consensus, fifth-generation wireless technologies (5G), 3D printing and fully autonomous vehicles.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3ky6csv)
2015 The US government said deadly combinations of opioids resulted in 33,091 fatal opioid overdoses this year. Gun deaths accounted for 36,132 deaths and car crashes for 35,092. The number of US deaths from all drugs was above 50,000.
(http://tinyurl.com/pa2zgw2)(SFC, 5/5/17, p.A16)(Econ 5/13/17, p.24)
2015 In the United States 49 people were sentenced to death this year, the lowest total in modern records.
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.33)
2015 The US federal government owned 60% of the land in Alaska. The state owned 28%.
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.36)
2015 The FDA approved genetically modified AquAdvantage Salmon, a Massachusetts-based company, as “safe and effective." In 2018, the federal agency greenlit AquaBounty’s sprawling Indiana facility. In 2021 the inaugural harvest of genetically modified salmon began after the pandemic delayed the sale of the first such altered animal to be cleared for human consumption in the US.
(AP, 5/27/21)
2015 America's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a rule increasing the amount that firms could raise in "mini" initial public offerings to $50 million.
(Econ., 9/12/20, p.61)
2015 The American Psychological Association imposed a ban on US military psychologists from treating prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba.
(SFC, 8/9/18, p.A1)
2015 Chicago-based HERE, a digital map-making firm, was purchased by German carmakers: BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen, for $3.1 billion. In late 2016 a Chinese and Singaporean consortium took a 10% stake.
(SFC, 11/11/17, p.68)
2015 Maine dropped its review process for car licenses. In 2021 legislation went into effect banning profanities on car licenses in the state. An estimated 400 plates were subject to recall.
(SFC, 10/18/21, p.A7)
2015 New York-based muralist Matthew Willey began his project of hand-painting 50,000 individual bees on buildings around the world. By 2021 he rendered more than 5,500 of the insects in 30 murals and installations.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2015 In New York state General Electric completed removal of 2.75 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated river sediment north of Albany.
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.A4)
2015 Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, part of a Paris-based global conglomerate, conducted tests in the summer of 2015 and reported a PFOA level of 18,000 ppt in groundwater under its plant, 500 yards from the main water wells in Hoosick Falls, NY. The EPA has a non-enforceable guidance level of 400 parts per trillion. In 1999 the company had become the fifth owner of the plastics factory.
(AP, 1/26/16)
2015 The population of West Virginia was about 1.9 million.
(SFC, 6/22/15, p.33)
2015 Drive.ai was founded by engineers from Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In 2017 it received a $15 million investment from Grab, a Singapore-based ride-hailing service.
(SFC, 9/28/17, p.C1)
2015 Everipedia was started as a more modern and inclusive alternative to Wikipedia by Theodor Forselius and Sam Kazemian, Everipedia. By 2018 it was building the world's first encyclopedia on the blockchain, incentivizing content creators by allowing them to become stakeholders in the encyclopedia network themselves. With over 3 million unique monthly users and over 6 million wiki articles, everipedia.org surpassed English Wikipedia by content, currently making it the world's largest English Encyclopedia.
(http://news.sys-con.com/node/4207113)
2015 Expedia, an online travel website, bought HomeAway, an Airbnb rival, for $3.9 billion.
(Econ 5/27/17, p.58)
2015 The game Pie Face by Hasbro was released and became a big hit.
(SFC, 12/23/17, p.D4)
2015 Intel bought Altera, a maker of field-programmable gate arrays, for $16.7 billion.
(Econ, 2/25/17, p.54)
2015 The star KIC 8462852, aka Tabby’s Star, was detected by the Kepler space telescope. It was nearly 1,500 light-years away and was noted for emitting strange pulses of light.
(SFC, 11/25/16, p.A10)
2015 In the US there were an estimated 35,200 traffic deaths this year, making it the deadliest driving year since 2008.
(SFC, 7/2/16, p.A6)
2015 Black people in America, numbering 13% of the country’s population, represented 52% of Americans slain this year.
(Econ 7/1/17, p.23)
2015 Life expectancy for Americans born this year was 78 years and 9½ months.
(SFC, 12/9/16, p.A7)
2015 Muslims reportedly represented less than 1% of America’s population, yet accounted for 10% of America’s doctors.
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.29)(http://tinyurl.com/la9nyph)
2015 In Afghanistan at least 3,545 noncombatants died and another 7,457 were injured by fighting this year in a 4-percent increase over 2014.
(Reuters, 2/14/16)
2015 An estimated 395,000 Africans died of malaria this year, compared to 764,000 deaths in 2000 according to the World Health Organization.
(Econ, 3/12/15, p.23)
2015 Some 185 environmental activists were murdered worldwide this year, an increase of 59% from the year before according to a 2017 report by Global Witness.
(Econ, 2/11/17, p.28)
2015 In Argentina the government of Pres. Cristina Fernandez Kirchner signed a $1 billion agreement to buy Chinese fighter jets and ocean-going patrol vessels. Pres. Kirchner also approved a deal giving the Chinese the right to build a satellite tracking station in Argentina.
(Econ, 11/19/16, p.28)
2015 Azerbaijan devalued its currency two times this year after its central bank burned through some $10 billion of foreign currency reserves in an effort to defend the manat.
(Econ, 5/21/16, p.45)
2015 The US lifted restrictions on arms sales to Bahrain, in place since 2011.
(Econ, 6/25/16, p.41)
2015 The documentary film “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll," was directed by John Pirozzi.
(SFC, 5/8/15, p.E5)
2015 It was estimated that some 3,000 tons of rocket debris were in orbit around Earth.
(Econ., 4/25/15, p.75)
2015 Britain mandated that coal-fired power be phased out in England, Scotland and Wales within a decade.
(Econ., 12/5/20, p.26)
2015 Britain gained 333,000 people through immigration this year — a near-historic high that fanned the debate about newcomers ahead of a June 2016 vote on whether the country should remain in the European Union.
(AP, 5/26/16)
2015 Britain’s National Health Insurance (NHS) employed one in 18 workers.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.54)
2015 The population of Burundi was over 10 million.
(Econ., 5/2/15, p.42)
2015 In the Central African Rep. Alfred Yekatom became the target of US sanctions for suspected attacks against Muslims, civilian deaths, and for using 153 child fighters.
(AFP, 11/17/18)
2015 The 3R ("return, reclamation, reconciliation") emerged in western Central African Rep. late this year, led by a man known as Sidiki who claims to be protecting the Peul community -- the French term for the Fulani.
(AFP, 1/22/19)
2015 Chile’s population was about 18 million.
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.68)
2015 The Hugo Award for the best science-fiction novel went to “The Three-Body Problem" (2008) by Liu Cixin of China. A film adaptation of the same name was scheduled for release in July, 2016.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three-Body_Problem)
2015 Six Rooms (6.cn), a Chinese live-streaming internet service co-founded by Liu Yan, was sold for close to $400 million to a Chinese entertainment conglomerate. Live-streaming emerged in China following the financial crisis of 2007-08.
(Econ, 2/11/17, SR p.10)
2015 The Chinese firm Pinduoduo, an agriculture-focused technology platform, was founded. It connects farmers and distributors with consumers directly through its interactive shopping experience. In 2017 the company ended its online direct sales model of acquiring fresh produce and other perishables from suppliers to sell to consumers, and transitioned to purely providing online marketplace services to third-party merchants across more categories.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinduoduo)(Econ., 1/2/21, p.4)
2015 China's leader Xi Jinping launched a plan for "experimental reform" of the umbrella organization to which all unions must belong, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).
(Econ., 1/30/21, p.32)
2015 In China some 20,000 workers at the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone worked to complete a 2nd terminal and runway. Officials expected the planned aerotropolis to have five runways by 2030 serving some 70 million passengers annually.
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.47)
2015 China banned the drug flakka late this year and its use plummeted in the US.
(AP, 3/26/20)
2015 Vanke, one of China’s biggest property firms, had revenues this year of over $30 billion. In 1988 Vanke CEO Wang Shi decided to donate his shares in the company to charity.
(Econ, 7/9/16, p.54)
2015 Shenzhen-based Chipscreen Biosciences received Chinese approval for a cancer drug called Epidaza.
(Econ, 3/18/17, p.68)
2015 In China a startup called Ofo launched the first bike-sharing service that allowed users use bicycles and leave them anywhere and to pay using a smart-phone.
(Econ, 4/22/17, p.38)
2015 Wind power in China tripled since 2010 to 3% of the electricity generation. Coal still accounted for near two-thirds of the country’s electricity.
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.39)
2015 Shanghai, China, produced the most household rubbish in the country with 22,000 tons per day.
(Econ., 4/25/15, p.42)
2015 China’s contribution to the UN this year reached $140 million, about the same as Britain or France.
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.45)
2015 HNA Group, a sprawling Chinese conglomerate, acquired Avalon, an Irish aircraft leasing business, for $7.6 billion.
(Econ., 2/6/21, p.52)
2015 By the end of this year China’s total debt reached about 240% of GDP.
(Econ, 3/5/15, p.71)
2015 Costa Rica slapped a ban on the import of Hass avocados from nine countries including Mexico, the top producer. This was supposedly a precautionary step against sunblotch, an infection that can hop from one species to another.
(Econ, 9/10/16, p.28)
2015 Financier Low Taek Jho obtained Cyprus nationality under the country’s investment for passport scheme after buying a mansion for 5 million euros ($5.6 million) in the resort town of Agia Napa. He immediately left the island after purchasing the property and getting the passport. This was reported in 2019. Low has been painted by prosecutors as the mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, which saw more than $4.5 billion allegedly misappropriated from the Malaysian investment fund.
(Bloomberg, 11/4/19)
2015 The Czech Rep. accepted 520 Muslim refugees this year.
(Econ, 1/30/16, p.43)
2015 Egypt destroyed thousands of homes in Rafah this year to stop the smuggling of weapons and fighters from Gaza.
(Econ, 4/8/17, p.41)
2015 Egypt ranked 112th on the World Bank’s ease-of-doing-business index. In order to start a business investors needed permits from 78 different agencies.
(Econ, 5/16/15, p.43)
2015 In El Salvador the number of homicides reached an estimated 6,650 this year, from 3,912 the year before. The killing of police officers nearly doubled to more than 60.
(Reuters, 1/21/16)(SFC, 4/14/16, p.A3)
2015 Equatorial Guinea’s GDP shrank by an estimated 10.2%.
(Econ, 3/12/15, p.47)
2015 The population of Ethiopia was about 100 million.
(Econ, 12/12/15, p. 23)
2015 A study funded by the European Commission found that palm oil and soybean oil had the highest indirect greenhouse gas emissions because of the deforestation and the drainage of peatlands associated with their cultivation.
(Reuters, 6/14/18)
2015 German writer Christine Eichel authored “Deutschland, Lutherland: Why the Reformation Still Impresses Us Today."
(Econ, 1/7/17, p.45)
2015 In Germany Niels Hoegel was found guilty of two murders, two attempted murders and one count of serious bodily harm at a clinic in the northern town of Delmenhorst. In 2016 prosecutors said Hoegel, who was convicted of killing patients with overdoses of heart medication, had at least 43 victims. In 2017 investigators said he may have killed over 100 patients.
(AP, 11/25/16)(SFC, 11/10/17, p.A5)
2015 Germany’s car makers employed one in seven workers nationwide.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.59)
2015 Germany accepted some 1.1 million refugees this year.
(Econ, 2/13/15, p.51)
2015 Scientists counted 65 Chinese White dolphins (sousa chinensis) around Lantau Island in Hong Kong. This was a drop from 188 surveyed in 2003.
(Econ 5/27/17, p.40)
2015 Hong Kong’s population was about 7.3 million.
(Econ, 6/27/15, p.37)
2015 In India fake pesticide caused brought infestations of whitefly to the cotton crop in the Punjab.
(Econ, 11/28/15, p.36)
2015 Indonesia's parliament passed a law barring the relatives of incumbants from running for regent, mayor or governor. The law, deemed unconstitutional by the courts, was overturned.
(Econ., 12/5/20, p.42)
2015 Indonesia’s top clerical council passed a fatwa condemning homosexuality.
(Econ, 8/13/16, p.28)
2015 Tuberculosis claimed the lives of an estimated 1.8 million people around the world this year, 60% of whom lived in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa.
(AFP, 3/23/17)
2015 Iran’s population was almost 80 million.
(Econ, 11/28/15, p.44)
2015 Israel’s GDP per person stood at $35,700. For the West Bank it was $3,700. For Gaza it was $1,700.
(Econ 5/20/17, SR p.9)
2015 Jamaica suffered 1,207 murders this year, almost ten times the rate in the US.
(Econ, 2/20/15, p.30)
2015 Reporters without Borders ranked Japan in 61st place this year, a fall of 50 places in five years.
(Econ, 5/16/15, p.37)
2015 A record 19.7 million people visited Japan this year, up from 13.4 million in 2014. Travelers from China topped the list.
(SSFC, 1/24/16, p.A4)
2015 In Jordan incoming Syrian refugees now made up a fifth of the population.
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.40)
2015 In Liberia George Werner was made education minister. He soon removed 1,892 dead or retired teachers from the government’s payroll. In September, 2016, he launched Partnership Schools for Liberia, a pilot program based on charter schools in America and academies in England.
(Econ, 2/25/17, p.42)
2015 Mauritania ordered preachers at Friday prayers to publicize a fatwa by the country’s leading clerics declaring that slavery has no foundation in sharia law.
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.51)
2015 The population of Mauritania was about 3.5 million.
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.57)
2015 Morocco earned €4.8 billion from car exports this year.
(Econ, 6/4/16, p.66)
2015 The UN estimated that opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has nearly tripled over the past six years, making it the world’s second-largest producer of heroin and the region’s leading supplier of methamphetamine.
(SSFC, 6/7/15, p.A17)
2015 In the Netherlands the flow of refugees rose to a record 59,100 this year.
(SFC, 1/9/16, p.A2)
2015 The population of New Zealand was about 4.5 million.
(Econ, 5/23/15, p.56)
2015 The World Bank estimated Nigeria’s population to be about 182 million based on census figures from 2006.
(Econ, 4/29/17, p.36)
2015 The World Economic Forum (WEF) rated Nigeria 124th out of 140 countries on the quality of its institutions; 133rd for its infrastructure and last out of 140 on its primary education.
(Econ, 4/16/15, SR p.11)
2015 Northern Ireland’s public sector employed nearly one in three of its workers. This compared to less than one in five for Britain as a whole.
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.50)
2015 The population of the Palau archipelago numbered about 21,000.
(SSFC, 3/1/15, p.L4)
2015 Peru’s spy agency purchased commercial spyware from Verint Systems, an Israeli-American company, and engaged in a $22 million program capable of snooping on thousands of citizens at a time. This took place despite the March 30 congressional sacking of PM Ana Jara over alleged spying against lawmakers, reporters, business leaders and other citizens.
(SFC, 8/3/16, p.A4)
2015 The chief of Peru’s forest inspection service was dismissed and forced by death threats to flee to the US. He was behind the impoundment of a freighter in Houston that contained 1,770 metric tons of illegally harvested Amazon rain-forest wood.
(SFC, 4/20/17, p.A4)
2015 Transparency Int’l.‘s corruption index ranked the Philippines in 95th position up from 134th in 2010.
(Econ, 5/14/16, p.16)
2015 In Poland Mateusz Kijowski founded the Committee for the Defense of Democracy to fight judicial changes he and supporters saw as anti-democratic. He stepped down after the allegations of financial wrongdoing came to light in 2017. In 2018 he was accused of illegally appropriating 121,000 zlotys ($35,000) from the organization. Kijowski, a computer specialist, said that the money he took was for computer work rendered to the organization.
(AP, 3/6/18)
2015 Puerto Rico’s population numbered about 3.5 million. Another 5 million lived on the US mainland.
(Econ, 7/11/15, p.34)
2015 In Russia the total number of registered HIV cases exceeded one million this year, with authorities struggling to contain an epidemic that experts say could be curbed by increased funding and more awareness campaigns.
(AFP, 5/28/16)
2015 Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia bought the Serene yacht for approximately 500 million euros while vacationing in the south of France. The ship was built for Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler for $330 million In the summer of 2014.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serene_(yacht))
2015 The population of Saudi Arabia was about 30 million.
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.39)
2015 In Scotland a package of changes, contained in a Land Reform Bill, defined land as a finite resource that must be protected in law for the common good and in the public interest. The third stage of a detailed, 10 part Bill passed in March, 2016, paved the way for a new Land Register to ensure greater transparency of land ownership and improvements to community rights to roam common land. Centuries-old traditions had led to 430 people owning half of Scotland's privately held land.
(Reuters, 4/8/16)
2015 In South Africa Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini received $4.8 million this year for the upkeep of his household, which included seven palaces, six wives and at least 28 children. King Goodwill and nine other traditional kings and one queen received a yearly public stipend of about $110,000.
(Econ., 5/2/15, p.42)
2015 The population of South Africa was about 54 million.
(Econ., 4/25/15, p.44)
2015 In South Africa 1,175 rhinos were killed by poachers this year, a slight decrease on 2014, but another year of carnage fueled by Asian-led demand for their horn.
(AFP, 1/21/16)
2015 South Korea’s Supreme Court conferred official status to a migrant workers’ union.
(Econ, 4/15/17, p.34)
2015 The population of Swaziland numbered about 1.3 million.
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.49)
2015 In Sweden some 163,000 asylum seekers arrived this year.
(Econ 5/20/17, p.47)
2015 A Tajikistan court banned the moderate Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, the main challenger to Pres. Emomali Rahmon, branding it a terrorist group. Party leader Muhiddin Kabiri fled abroad.
(Econ., 10/10/20, p.34)
2015 A study guessed that the value of Thailand’s Crown Property Bureau, a firm that manages the royal family’s properties and investments, was worth about $44 billion.
(Econ, 7/23/16, p.30)
2015 Turkish businessman Akin Ipek, who built a multi-billion-dollar fortune in Turkey based on gold mining, left the country after relations between the government and followers of US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen soured.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2015 A UN estimate in 2016 put AIDS-related deaths for 2015 at 1.1 million, down from a peak of 2 million in 2005.
(Econ, 6/4/16, p.76)
2015 Land mines and other explosive remnants killed 6,461 people this year according to a 2016 report by Geneva-based Int’l. Campaign to Ban Landmines.
(SFC, 11/22/16, p.A2)
2015 The population of Vanuatu was about 281,000 spread over 65 islands.
(Econ, 11/7/15, p.37)
2015 Pope Francis allowed priests of the schismatic Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1969, to validly hear confessions.
(SFC, 4/5/17, p.A2)
2015 In Zimbabwe at least 50 rhinos were poached this year, up from 20 a year earlier.
(SFC, 1/13/16, p.A2)
2015-2020 About 300,000 Burundians fled their country following violence that broke out after Pres. Pierre Nkurunziz said he would stand for an unconstitutional 3rd term.
(Econ., 12/5/20, p.49)
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Return to home
2015 Oct 1, The Pentagon launched talks with the Russian military to discuss ways to avoid mishaps in Syria between planes from the US-led coalition and Moscow.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Oregon Chris Harper Mercer (26), armed with multiple guns, walked into a morning writing class at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg and opened fire. 9 people were killed and seven others wounded. Mercer killed himself in a shootout with police.
(AP, 10/2/15)(SSFC, 10/4/15, p.A16)
2015 Oct 1, In Virginia Alfredo Prieto (49), a twice-condemned serial killer, was executed by lethal injection with drugs received from Texas.
(SFC, 10/2/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 1, Experian said in its statement that on September 15 it "discovered an unauthorized party accessed T-Mobile data housed in an Experian server." T-Mobile's chief executive expressed outrage over a breach at a credit monitoring service that exposed private data from 15 million customers of the mobile carrier.
(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, The El Faro cargo ship sank with 33 people aboard while traveling from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico in the face of Hurricane Joaquin. On Oct 5 the Coast Guard said the US cargo ship had sunk and one body was found.
(AP, 10/2/15)(SFC, 10/3/15, p.A2)(AP, 10/5/15)(SFC, 2/7/17, p.A5)
2015 Oct 1, Afghan troops recaptured the center of the strategic northern city of Kunduz amid fierce clashes with Taliban militants, three days after losing the provincial capital in a humbling defeat for Kabul and its US allies. 150 Taliban were reported killed and 90 wounded in the overnight offensive. The insurgents looted banks and seized military equipment during their three-day occupation.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, Bulgaria said it has told the European Commission that it will ban growing crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) under a rule that allows European Union countries to opt out of GMO cultivation.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, German police said some 200 Syrian and Afghan refugees clashed in a crowded refugee center in Hamburg overnight, leaving four people injured in the third such riot this week.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Guatemala a massive landslide killed at least 253 people with 374 remained missing in Santa Catarina Pinula.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(Reuters, 10/4/15)(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 1, India, the world's third-largest carbon polluter, filed its climate action plan to the Germany-based UN climate secretariat.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Iran said its death toll from the Saudi hajj disaster has nearly doubled to 464 pilgrims killed.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Iraq and Syria the US-led coalition conducted 28 air strikes on Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said it will acquire Mexican company Representaciones e Investigaciones Medicas (Rimsa) for $2.3 billion to strengthen its presence in the second-largest market in Latin America.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In the West Bank a drive-by shooting by suspected Palestinian gunmen killed a Jewish settler couple driving home with their children near the Palestinian village of Beit Furik.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Italy said it has told the European Commission that it will ban growing crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) under a rule that allows European Union countries to opt out of GMO cultivation.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, The foreign minister and the people of the Marshall Islands were honored for taking legal action against the nuclear powers for failing to honor disarmament obligations. Tony de Brum and the people of the Pacific island group shared the honorary portion of the 2015 Right Livelihood Award, sometimes referred to as the "alternative Nobel." This year's 3-million-kronor ($358,500) cash award was shared by Canada's Sheila Watt-Cloutier, for her supports to Inuit causes; Uganda's Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, for her struggle for sexual minorities' rights; and Italian surgeon Gino Strada, for providing medical assistance to victims of war.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In southeastern Niger an alleged Boko Haram attack on a village killed two of the country's soldiers.
(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, In northeastern Nigeria 4 suicide bombers killed at least 10 people in Maiduguri late today. The army blamed Islamic extremists for the attack and for trying to poison water sources. In a separate incident five people were killed earlier in the day by suspected Boko Haram militants in Kirchinga.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 1, Pakistan's military said its air force has carried out "precise" airstrikes targeting the Taliban in the North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border, killing 25 militants.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In the southern Philippines a powerful bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle taxi exploded and hit the passing convoy of a vice mayor, killing 4 people and wounding at least six others in Basilan province.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, The Polish government was reported to have organized the nation's first shopping receipt lottery aimed at boosting budget income from sales taxes. Deputy Finance Minister Izabela Leszczyna said the lottery is intended to encourage shoppers to ask for receipts from sellers, leading to less evasion on sales tax.
(AP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, Russia launched its Progress M-29M cargo spacecraft from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, to the Int’l. Space Station.
(SFC, 10/2/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 1, In Saudi Arabia hundreds of people were still unaccounted, a week after a hajj stampede killed at least 769 people. A tally of death tolls from 23 countries, mostly from official sources, put the number at more than 940.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In South Africa King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo of Nelson Mandela's Thembu ethnic group was sentenced to 12 years in jail for torching homes, beating people and kidnapping a family in a supposed attempt to discipline them. The Supreme Court of Appeal was ruling on an appeal by Dalindyebo against his 2009 conviction and sentencing to a 15-year jail term.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, Sri Lanka said it would heed a UN resolution urging it to establish a credible judicial process, including foreign judges and prosecutors, to investigate alleged war crimes during its conflict with Tamil rebels that ended in 2009.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Switzerland American adventurer Johnny Strange (23) died in a wing-suit crash in the Alps.
(SFC, 10/3/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 1, Two Lebanese sources said hundreds of Iranian troops had reached Syria in the past 10 days with weapons to mount a major ground offensive. Russian jets struck targets near the cities of Hama and Homs in western Syria on the second day of their surprise air campaign. The area where it struck is held by a rival insurgent alliance, which unlike Islamic State is supported by US allies including Arab states and Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Turkey prominent anti-government journalist Ahmet Hakan was attacked early today outside his home in Istanbul, raising fears over the security of media figures who taken a critical line against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Police reportedly detained all four suspects after a hot pursuit.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, In Turkey 12 people were killed in Ankara when a bus ploughed into commuters waiting at a bus stop.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, The UN refugee agency said it expects 700,000 migrants and refugees to reach Europe via the Mediterranean this year and projected at least the same amount again in 2016.
(AFP, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 1, Loyalist Yemeni troops and Gulf Arab forces seized the Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden from Houthi fighters.
(Reuters, 10/1/15)
2015 Oct 2, A report released by the Alaska Department of Labor showed that about 7,500 more people moved out of the state than arrived in fiscal year 2014.
(AP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, Oklahoma’s highest criminal court agreed to halt all executions after the state’s prison system received the wrong drug for a lethal injection this week.
(SFC, 10/3/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 2, In eastern Afghanistan a US Air Force C-130J military transport plane crashed overnight at Jalalabad air field, killing 6 American airmen and 5 civilians on the aircraft.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Australia an Iran-born teenager (15) of Iraqi-Kurdish background shot a New South Wales police finance worker with a handgun at close range as the man left work in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The teen then fired at responding officers, who shot and killed him. Farhad Jabar (15) was shot dead by police moments after he killed Curtis Cheng (58) with a .38 Smith & Wesson as the accountant walked from the New South Wales state police headquarters in central Sydney after work. In 2018 Talal Alameddine (25), the man who provided the revolver used to kill the state police employee, was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
(AP, 10/2/15)(AP, 5/18/18)
2015 Oct 2, Hurricane Joaquin ripped off roofs, uprooted trees and unleashed heavy flooding as the Category 4 storm hurled torrents of rain across the eastern and central Bahamas.
(AP, 10/2/15)(SFC, 10/3/15, p.A2)(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 2, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced a major government reshuffle, axing eight ministries in a cost-cutting measure that analysts say also aims to protect the embattled leader from impeachment threats.
(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos congratulated his armed forces for killing cocaine warlord Victor Navarro (36), aka Megateo, for whom the US had been offering a $5 million bounty. Megateo had been first reported killed in August.
(AP, 10/2/15)(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, The head of Egypt's Cairo University said a recent decision to ban female staff from wearing the full face veil aims to put an end to student complaints of "poor communication" in class.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In eastern Indonesia a passenger plane carrying 10 people was reported missing on a domestic flight. The DHC-6 Twin Otter plane lost contact 11 minutes after taking off in good weather from Masamba in South Sulawesi province. On October 5 wreckage of the plane was reported found.
(AP, 10/2/15)(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 2, The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine met in Paris to consolidate a fragile peace in Ukraine. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said monitors have spotted a Russian mobile TOS-1 'Buratino' weapons system in rebel-held Ukraine this week.
(AFP, 10/2/15)(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Iran's state TV is reported that Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total will be the first foreign companies to be allowed to operate gasoline stations inside Iran.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Iraq and Syria the US-led coalition targeted Islamic State insurgents in 27 air strikes.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Ireland Brian Friel (86), Tony Award-winning playwright, died. He created "Dancing at Lughnasa" (1990) and more than 30 other plays.
(AP, 10/2/15)(Econ, 10/17/15, p.98)
2015 Oct 2, In Mexico masked protesters clashed with riot police in Mexico City after thousands of people marched to commemorate the 47th anniversary of a student massacre.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Nigeria multiple bombs detonated in two satellite towns of Abuja, killing at least 18 people.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, Nigeria's former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was arrested in London. She was minister from 2010 until May 2015 under former president Goodluck Jonathan The National Crime Agency (NCA) said its International Corruption Unit had arrested five people across London on suspicion of bribery and corruption offences.
(AP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, Pakistan took its long-running dispute with neighboring India to the UN as the country's UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi presented three dossiers to Sec.-Gen. Ban Ki-moon's office alleging Indian involvement in fomenting unrest in Pakistan.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Portugal’s Justice Ministry approved the first three of more than 200 applications it has received so far granting citizenship rights to the descendants of Jews it persecuted five centuries ago.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 2, Russia bombed Syria for a third day, mainly hitting areas held by rival insurgent groups rather than the Islamic State fighters it said it was targeting. The US-led coalition called on the Russians to halt strikes on targets other than Islamic State. Russia said it had bombed the Islamic State stronghold of Raqa for the first time.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)(AFP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Spain granted citizenship to 4,302 people whose Jewish ancestors fled after being told in 1492 to convert to Catholicism or go into exile ahead of the Spanish Inquisition.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Spain's National Court said it has convicted and sentenced 11 members of a recruitment network that sent militants to carry out attacks for al-Qaida-linked groups fighting in Syria. The cell's leaders, Karim Abdesalam Mohamed and Ismail Abdelaftif were sentenced to 12 years while the rest each received 10-year sentences.
(AP, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, In Syria Islamic State attacked government-held areas in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor and an air base south of the city.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 2, Turkish security forces killed more than 10 suspected Kurdish militants amid intensifying clashes in the country's southeast, while 44 people were arrested in Istanbul on suspicion of links with the rebels. Suspected militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) abducted two Turkish soldiers on a highway between the Tunceli and Erzincan provinces.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 2, The UN backed a Saudi-led resolution to support Yemen in setting up a national inquiry into human rights violations.
(Reuters, 10/2/15)
2015 Oct 3, California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation intended to reduce racial profiling by police officers.
(SSFC, 10/4/15, p.A14)
2015 Oct 3, In San Francisco Audrey Carey (23), a Canadian backpacker, was found dead in Golden Gate Park. She had suffered trauma to her body and was fatally shot. On Feb 6, 2017, Morrison Lampley (24) and Lila Alligood (19) pleaded guilty to Carey’s murder and the Oct 5 murder of Steven Carter (67), a hiker in Marin County. Lampley was sentenced to 100 years in prison and Alligood to 50 years.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.D2)(SFC, 2/7/17, p.C1)
2015 Oct 3, In Afghanistan a US airstrike hit a hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres in the city of Kunduz, killing at least 22 people in what the US military called possible "collateral damage" in the battle to oust Taliban insurgents. On Oct 25 Doctors Without Borders raised the death toll to 30. On Nov 23 Gen. John Campbell called the airstrike a tragic mistake and said several service members have been suspended from duty following an internal investigation. On March 22, 2016, US Army Gen. John Nicholson, the new commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, apologized to the people of Kunduz for the deadly attack that killed 42 people.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AP, 10/4/15)(AFP, 10/2515)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 3, In Bangladesh Kunio Hoshi (65), a Japanese citizen born in Bangladesh, was attacked by unidentified assailants in Kownia in Rangpur district. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. Police detained four people in connection with the shooting. On Dec 7 Masud Rana, believed to be a member of Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, confessed that he fatally shot the Japanese agriculture researcher. On August 8, 2016 a court issued warrants for the arrest of four more suspected members of a banned group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AP, 12/8/15)(Reuters, 8/7/16)
2015 Oct 3, Dennis Healey (b.1917), British Labour Party politician, died in East Sussex. He served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Healey)
2015 Oct 3, In Burundi at least a dozen civilians were killed in clashes between police and anti-government protesters in Bujumbura.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 3, In Egypt 2 were shot dead in the bastion of the Islamic State group in the Sinai Peninsula.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 3, In Iraq suicide car bomb attacks targeting two mainly Shi'ite Muslim districts of Baghdad killed at least 18 people.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, In Iraq and Syria the United States and its allies carried out 16 air strikes against Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 3, Mali's government said it exchanged 30 separatist rebels last week for the release of 16 soldiers, a move that shows progress after violence in August threatened to disrupt a peace accord.
(AP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, Ten Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in the West Bank during a raid by troops hunting the murderers of a Jewish settler couple. A senior Hamas official called on Palestinians to take up arms to "defend" the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem after a rise in Jewish visitors to the flashpoint site.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, Russian jets hit Islamic State targets and other rebel groups in Syria, on a fourth day of air strikes by Moscow in support of President Bashar al-Assad which have dramatically escalated foreign intervention in Syria. Russia said its air strikes have sown "panic", forcing some 600 "militants" to abandon their positions and head to Europe.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, In South Africa hundreds of people demonstrated in Johannesburg in defense of rhinos, elephants and lions against poaching and to demand authorities take more radical action.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, South Sudanese rebels said government troops had attacked their positions over the last three days, casting further doubt on a fragile peace agreement in the world's youngest country. A military official said 52 soldiers and rebels have been killed over the last week in fighting in the contested state of Unity.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)(AP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, Spanish police said eight garges in Madrid were uinder investigation for charging custormers up to $225 to remove diesel particulate filters. The shops allegedly provided custormers with mechanical and software services to to cheat emissions checks.
(SSFC, 10/4/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 3, In Ukraine warring sides began withdrawing tanks and smaller weapons from a buffer zone in the war-torn east.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, Citizens of the United Arab Emirates went to polls to fill the elected seats on a government advisory body. Despite a broadening of the franchise some citizens were still denied the vote.
(AFP, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 3, The Vatican dismissed a gay priest from his Holy See job on the eve of a major Church meeting for a highly public coming out that challenged the Roman Catholic teaching that homosexual acts are a sin. Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, a Polish theologian, had worked at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal arm, since 2003.
(Reuters, 10/3/15)
2015 Oct 4, In South Carolina floodwaters swamped Columbia after a rainstorm dumped over a foot of rain overnight. By October 7 the number of weather-related deaths in the Carolinas rose to at least 17.
(SFC, 10/5/15, p.A7)(SFC, 10/7/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 4, In Britain tens of thousands of anti-austerity protesters rallied as PM David Cameron's governing Conservative Party opened its annual conference in Manchester.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, In China Typhoon Mujigae made landfall near Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. It left a trail of destruction and flooding and prompting authorities to issue their highest "red alert" emergency response. At least 9 people were killed.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched a new foundation to consolidate a range of existing charitable and human development initiatives that aims to support more than $270 million in projects annually.
(AP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, The European Commission said nineteen EU member states have requested opt-outs for all or part of their territory from cultivation of a Monsanto genetically-modified crop, which is authorized to be grown in the European Union.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, French authorities said violent storms and flooding along the chic French Riviera overnight have killed at least 16 people and left another five missing.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, In Guatemala Juan Carlos Monzon Rojas, the alleged leader of a customs corruption scandal that has rocked the government, turned himself into authorities.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, The US-led coalition targeted Islamic State with 13 airstrikes in Iraq and eight in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed 2 Israelis and wounded a child. The Palestinian Red Crescent said clashes with Israeli security forces and Jewish settlers have left 77 Palestinians wounded from both live rounds and rubber bullets over the past 24 hours. Israeli troops shot dead an 18-year-old Palestinian during clashes in Tulkarem in the West Bank.
(AFP, 10/4/15)(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, Kyrgyzstan went to the polls for a hotly-contested parliamentary vote.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Malaysian authorities ordered most of the country's schools shut for two days because of possible health risks posed by the thick haze from Indonesian forest fires.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Morocco and Spain arrested 10 people suspected of recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Thousands of Myanmar's nationalist monks and their supporters prayed, clapped and held speeches at a large rally in Yangon, in a show of growing clout of radical Buddhists ahead of a Nov. 8 election.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, In Niger suspected Boko Haram militants killed 3 civilians and a soldier in a double suicide attack in the southeastern region of Diffa.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, The Pakistani Taliban released a video showing the hanging of Bashir Ahmad Khan, a military intelligence officer, in retaliation for recent executions of militants by Pakistan.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Portugal voted in an election seen as a test of four years of austerity. PM Pedro Passos Coelho’s center-right coalition won the election but lost its parliamentary majority.
(AFP, 10/4/15)(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 4, In western Syria air strikes by suspected Russian jets hit targets around the town of Talbiseh. One resident said at least 5 bodies had been recovered from the western part of the town. Russian planes also struck in Homs and Hama provinces.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Syrian activists said that Islamic State militants have destroyed the Arch of Triumph, a nearly 2,000-year-old arch in the ancient city of Palmyra.
(AP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq and eastern Turkey overnight, in a new air operation against the militant group.
(AFP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Pope Francis reaffirmed Catholic opposition to gay marriage as he opened a three-week gathering of bishops.
(Reuters, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 4, Yemeni security officials said fierce battles were ongoing between pro-government fighters clashing with Shiite Houthi rebels and allied military units along Yemen's Red Sea coast. Medical officials in nearby Taiz said at least 14 dead bodies from Houthi forces arrived from the front lines.
(AP, 10/4/15)
2015 Oct 5, Pres. Obama declared new marine sanctuaries off of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan and the tidal waters of Maryland.
(SFC, 10/6/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 5, The Justice Department and five US states finalized a settlement of more than $20 billion arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An agreement was first announced in July.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill giving the state’s terminally ill people the right to be prescribed a lethal dose of drugs.
(SFC, 10/6/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 5, In Marin County, Ca., Steve Carter (67), tantric massage therapist, was shot and killed while hiking in the Loma Alta Open Space Preserve northwest of Fairfax. On October 7 police in Portland, Oregon, arrested Morrison Haze Lampley (23), Sean Michael Angold (24) and Lila Scott Allgood (18) after they tracked the victim’s car using GPS technology. The trio were later linked to the death of Canadian backpacker Audrey Carey (23), whose body was found on Oct 3 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
(SFC, 10/8/15, p.A6)(SFC, 10/15/15, p.D2)
2015 Oct 5, Grace Lee Boggs (100), long-time human rights activist, died in Detroit, Michigan. Her books included “Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century" (1974), co-written with her husband, and her memoir “Living for Change" (1998).
(SFC, 10/7/15, p.D8)
2015 Oct 5, The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced that it has granted a charter under the New York Banking Law to Gemini Trust Company, LLC (“Gemini") – a Bitcoin exchange based in New York City and founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
(http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press/pr1510051.htm)
2015 Oct 5, Twelve Pacific rim countries sealed the deal on creating the world's largest free trade area (TPP), delivering President Barack Obama a major policy triumph. The Trans-Pacific Partnership included Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Bangladesh Baptist pastor Luke Sarker had his throat slashed in the town of Iswardi. On Oct 12 police said they had arrested five members of the outlawed Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) group for the attempted murder.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 5, Belarusian independent media outlets accused the government of blocking their websites less than a week before presidential elections.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, Britain’s Chancellor George Osborne set out ambitious plans to devolve power to local councils and upgrade the country’s infrastructure.
(Econ, 10/10/15, p.57)
2015 Oct 5, Chile said that it is protecting more than 200,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean near Easter Island from commercial fishing and oil and gas exploration.
(SFC, 10/6/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 5, In Congo DRC 5 civilians were reportedly killed in a UN helicopter attack against rebel fighters. The MONUSCO raids were targeted at the Nduma Defense of Congo group, blamed for setting villages on fire in the region in recent days.
(AFP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Congo DRC poachers killed 3 rangers and one military colonel who were part of a 10-man patrol that tracked the satellite collar of a killed elephant to the poacher’s camp in Garamba National Park. The anti-poaching patrol was outnumbered and forced to disperse.
(SFC, 10/10/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 5, Air France executives fled an angry mob after having their shirts ripped off by striking workers. Seven people were hurt, including a security guard who was knocked unconscious. The company has proposed job cuts, believed to involve 300 pilots, 900 air hostesses and stewards, and 1,700 ground staff.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 5, Ghana's judicial service said seven high court judges have been suspended following corruption allegations by a journalist. An undercover journalist had aired footage and recordings of judges taking bribes or demanding sex to sway their rulings. As many as 34 judges were implicated.
(AP, 10/6/15)(Econ 7/1/17, p.39)
2015 Oct 5, Indian PM Narendra Modi said Germany will provide India more than 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion) for developing a clean energy corridor and solar projects following talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Iraq and Syria the United States and its allies carried out 24 air strikes on Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Kashmir 4 Indian army soldiers and three suspected rebels were killed in separate clashes in the disputed Himalayan region.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, The Red Crescent said the bodies of 85 migrants have been found washed up on the coast of Libya, a major departure point for the sea crossing to Europe.
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, Irish-born William Campbell (85) and Japan's Satoshi Omura (80) won half of the Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering avermectin, a derivative of which has been used to treat hundreds of millions of people with river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis. China's Tu Youyou (84) was awarded the other half of the prize for discovering artemisinin, a drug that has slashed malaria deaths.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, Poland's PM Ewa Kopacz said she does not consider nuclear energy a priority and is instead focused on strengthening the coal mining industry.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Portugal Sabrina De Sousa, a former CIA operative convicted of the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric as part of the extraordinary renditions program, was detained and awaited a decision on whether she will be turned over to Italy to serve a six-year sentence. De Sousa was among 26 Americans, mostly CIA agents, convicted in absentia over the of kidnapping of Milan cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar, in broad daylight from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 5, In an online statement dozens of Islamist Saudi Arabian clerics called on Arab and Muslim countries to "give all moral, material, political and military" support to what they term a jihad, or holy war, against Syria's government and its Iranian and Russian backers.
(Reuters, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Sweden Henning Mankell (67), internationally renowned crime writer, died in Goteborg. His books about the gloomy, soul-searching police inspector Kurt Wallander enticed readers around the world. His work included some 50 novels and numerous plays.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, More than 40 Syrian insurgent groups vowed to attack Russian forces in retaliation for Moscow's air campaign in a show of unity among the usually fragmented rebels against what they called the "occupiers" of Syria.
(AP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 5, In Tanzania a group of around 20 miners were in a pit when a shaft they were working on collapsed. 14 escaped as the shaft collapsed leaving six trapped. One man died over the 41 days. Five men were rescued on Nov 15.
(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Oct 5, UNESCO's director-general condemned the destruction of the Arch of Triumph in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra by Islamic State jihadists, saying "extremists are terrified by history and culture".
(AFP, 10/5/15)
2015 Oct 6, US authorities charged John Ashe, a former president of the UN General Assembly, billionaire Macau real estate developer Ng Lap Seng (68) and four others, for engaging in a wide-ranging corruption scheme. John Ashe, the UN ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda, was the UN president in 2013.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, California Gov. Jerry Brown singed SB358, a bill known as the Fair Pay Act. It closed loopholes in existing antidiscrimination statutes and barred employers from paying women less than men when they do substantially similar work.
(SFC, 10/7/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 6, Kevin Corcoran (1949), Disney child actor, died in Burbank. He played Moochie in the “Spin and Marty" seriels on the “Mickey Mouse Club" and Arliss Coates in the move “Old Yeller" (1957).
(SFC, 10/9/15, p.D2)
2015 Oct 6, Whitman McGowan (64), SF poet, died of brain cancer.
(SSFC, 10/11/15, p.C9)
2015 Oct 6, In Kentucky Spc. Kevin J. Rodriguez was shot and killed during a blank-firing training exercise at Fort Campbell.
(SFC, 7/21/16, p.A6)
2015 Oct 6, Texas executed convicted killer Juan Martin Garcia (35) for the 1998 shooting and robbery of Hugo Solano, a Christian missionary who had just moved with his family from Mexico. The robbery netted $8.
(SFC, 10/7/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 6, The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Japanese researcher Takaaki Kajita and Canadian Arthur McDonald for discovering that tiny particles called neutrinos change identities as they whiz through the universe, proving that they have mass.
(AP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, A strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, linked to Costco chicken salads, began sickening 19 people in seven US states. It was believed to be more life-threatening than a later E. coli outbreak at northwestern Chipotle restaurants.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A10)
2015 Oct 6, In Afghanistan acting Kunduz Gov. Hamdullah Danishi said Taliban fighters on motorbikes have carried out hit-and-run attacks on Afghan forces trying to clear Kunduz city of insurgents. In Kabul at least 3 Taliban fighters were killed and seven policemen wounded in a 10-hour gun battle that began a day earlier.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country did not need a Russian military base.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Chad Boko Haram Islamists attacked government soldiers, killing 11 and wounding 13. The army said 37 Boko Haram fighters died in the fighting.
(AP, 10/6/15) (SFC, 10/8/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 6, Human Rights Watch said top security and ruling party officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo appear to have "hired thugs" to attack peaceful demonstrators last month in Kinshasa.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Europe's top court ruled that data stored on US servers is potentially unsafe because of government spying, a blow to companies such as Facebook that might need to change the way they handle private data from the region. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) struck down the “safe-harbor" privacy pact between the European Union and America. It was originally signed in 2000 to bridge cultural and political differences regarding online privacy.
(AP, 10/6/15)(Econ, 10/10/15, p.61)
2015 Oct 6, The European Union's 28 finance ministers agreed to share details of tax deals their countries reach with big multinational companies. The rule would be enacted across the 28 member states by the start of 2017.
(AP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Arpad Goncz (93), Hungary's first democratically-elected president (1990-2000 and widely-respected former dissident, died.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Iraq and Syria the United States and its allies staged 23 air strikes on Islamic State forces in the latest daily round of attacks on the militant group.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 6, Israel demolished the houses of two Palestinians involved in attacks last year, reverting to a controversial measure it claims is a deterrent.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Myanmar’s army began clashing with the Shan State Army-North, one of the ethnic armed groups that did not sign an Oct 15 ceasefire deal. 37 clashes took place b October 19 with 7 SSA-N members killed. The army suffered an unspecified number of casualties.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Myanmar Bao Zhuoxuan (16), also known as Bao Mengmeng, and two men helping him were taken away by local police from a guest house in a border town. The son of a rights lawyer detained in China's sweeping crackdown on civil society disappeared after trying to escape to the United States. Zhuoxuan was later reported to be under 24-hour police surveillance at his grandparents' house in Inner Mongolia.
(AP, 10/10/15)(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 6, Nigeria reported the arrest of Atlantic Energy chairman Olajide Omokore on corruption and money laundering charges, as part of a widening graft investigation in Africa's biggest petroleum producer that has also netted former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, The Philippine Coast Guard spotted a body, debris and an oil slick in the high seas about 400 km west of Laoag. The yacht Europa carrying two Britons, an American, a Canadian and a Filipino disappeared while sailing in waters that were lashed by a storm last week.
(AP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, Russian strikes in Syria targeted the main weapons depots of Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, US-trained rebel group, in western Aleppo province and completely destroyed them.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 6, A Spanish judge withdrew the passport of former International Monetary Fund head Rodrigo Rato, who is under investigation for tax evasion, money laundering and concealing assets.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian strikes at Palmyra killed 15 Islamic State fighters and destroyed 20 vehicles and three weapons depots. Another 4 Islamic State fighters were reported killed near Raqqa. The Observatory said Russian jets carried out at least 34 air strikes in the last 24 hours. Russia’s defense ministry dismissed reports that its planes had launched air strikes against Palmyra.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than 114,000 people have fled war-torn Yemen, and the figure could reach at least 200,000 by the end of 2016.
(AFP, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Yemen unidentified assailants fired missiles at an Aden hotel housing Yemeni officials and at a Gulf military base in Aden. An unknown number of people were killed or injured in the attack. The Islamic State in Yemen claimed coordinated suicide bombings targeting the Yemeni government and the Arab military coalition in the southern city of Aden that killed 15 Arab and Yemeni troops.
(Reuters, 10/6/15)
2015 Oct 6, In Yemen an evening suicide bombing outside a mosque in the insurgent-held capital of Sanaa killed 7 people.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, The US Treasury Dept. announced that former Honduras VP Jaime Rosenthal, his son Yani and nephew Yankel had been designated under the Kingpin Act. US prosecutors accused them of laundering money for Central American drug traffickers.
(SFC, 1/4/16, p.A2)
2015 Oct 7, In Australia four people were arrested over the terror-linked murder of a police employee after coordinated raids by more than 200 officers on properties across Sydney.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Belgian trade unions mobilized about 100,000 workers for the second time in a year to protest the free-market regulations and austerity measures that the center-right government has been pushing through during its first year in office.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, A British court jailed former Bishop Peter Ball (83) for 32 months after he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting teenagers in a case that has prompted accusations of a cover-up. Eighteen victims said they had been targeted by Ball at his home in Litlington, East Sussex.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, A Chinese Navy destroyer, a Chinese frigate and a Chinese supply vessel sailed into Poland's navy port of Gdynia on the first such visit ever.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Czech police said they have seized an unusually large amount of powerful illegal explosives and further dangerous substances and arrested four people who allegedly wanted to sell them on the black market.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Estonia a small, anti-immigrant opposition party called for a referendum to make sure the tiny Baltic country doesn't increase the number of refugees (550) it has agreed to take in.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Indian-controlled Kashmir suspected rebels gunned down police sub-inspector Mohammed Altaf, known for his successful counterinsurgency operations.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 7, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned any further negotiations with America.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.45)
2015 Oct 7, Iraqi officials said government forces have retaken several areas north and west of Ramadi as efforts to close in on the Anbar provincial capital seized by jihadists in May intensified.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Kurds said Islamic State fighters fired mortar rounds containing mustard agent at peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq during clashes in August.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Mexican authorities in Toluca arrested drug capo Jesus Areli Navarrete Castelan wanted by the United States on cocaine trafficking allegations.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In northeastern Nigeria at least 40 people were killed in two separate suicide bomb attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants in Damaturu, Yobe state and in Gubio town, Borno state. An overnight attack at a military camp in Yobe state was repulsed with at least 100 insurgents reported killed.
(AFP, 10/7/15)(SFC, 10/8/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 7, Palestinian woman Dania Irsheid (17) stabbed an Israeli near the contested Ibrahimi mosque in Jerusalem. She was shot and killed by security forces. PM Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit to Germany because of the precarious security situation.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)(Econ 6/10/17, p.61)(Econ 6/10/17, p.61)
2015 Oct 7, Russia and Syria carried out what appeared to be the first major coordinated assaults on Syrian insurgents. Moscow said its warships fired 26 missiles at them from the Caspian Sea, a sign of its new military reach. In Hama province at least 13 regime forces were killed in clashes that also killed 11 rebel fighters.
(AP, 10/7/15) (Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Somalia Islamic extremist rebels killed two men including the president's nephew in a drive-by shooting in Mogadishu.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, Sweden's Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich of the United States and Aziz Sancar, a Turkish-American, won the 2015 Nobel Chemistry Prize for work on how cells repair damaged DNA.
(AFP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Tanzania Yang Feng Clan (66), a Chinese woman, was charged in Dar es Salaam alongside two Tanzanians with smuggling 1.9 tons of ivory between Jan. 1, 2000 and May 22, 2014.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 7, Turkish officials said police have seized material allegedly used by Islamic State militants to produce coins for the group and arrested six foreign nationals in Gaziantep city.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 7, Yemen's Houthi group and the party of the former president have accepted a peace plan brokered by the United Nations in talks in Oman, paving the way for resuming negotiations to end months of conflict in the country.
(Reuters, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 7, In Yemen a suspected Saudi-led air strike killed at least 28 people at a wedding in the rebel-held town of Sanban, Dhamar province. Abdullah al-Sanabani (15), a child prodigy who once dreamed of leading a Yemeni space program, faced the loss of his leg and fingers following the air strike which left him badly burned.
(AFP, 10/8/15)(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 7, A Zimbabwean wildlife official said five people are in police custody and being questioned over the killing of 11 elephants poisoned by cyanide at Hwange National Park in the west of the country.
(AP, 10/7/15)
2015 Oct 8, The California Coastal Commission approved a $100 million expansion of the tanks at Sea World in San Diego used to hold killer whales, but it banned breeding of the captive orcas that would live in them.
(SFC, 10/10/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 8, SF Bay Area researchers released promising results that showed the drug ocrelizumab to be effective in reducing symptoms for progressive multiple sclerosis.
(SFC, 10/9/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 8, In Louisiana at least 3 people were killed and two were seriously injured in an explosion at a natural gas plant in Gibson.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 8, Paul Prudhomme (75), king of Cajun cooking, died in New Orleans.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.86)
2015 Oct 8, In Missouri a series of church fires began in the St. Louis area. Over the next two weeks six area churches were set on fire.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.A11)
2015 Oct 8, Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich (b.1948) won the Nobel Prize in literature for works that chronicled the great tragedies of the Soviet Union and those that followed in the wake of its 1991 collapse. Her work included "Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War" (1989), “Enchanted with Death" (1993) and "Voices from Chernobyl: Chronicle of the Future" (1997).
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, Burkina Faso authorities arrested Achille Tapsoba, the deputy of deposed leader Blaise Compaore's party, as part of a probe into a failed bid to overthrow the interim government.
(AFP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, Colombia's Supreme Court ordered a Roman Catholic diocese to pay $220,000 to the families of two children molested by a priest. It would be the first time the church has paid a financial penalty in Colombia for abuse committed by one of its priests. Father Luis Enrique Duque was serving time for abusing two boys aged 7 and 8 in 2007 in a town northwest of Bogota.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In the Czech Rep. a Prague court convicted Qatari royal family member Hamad bin Abdallah bin Thani Al Thani of sexually abusing minors and sentenced him to 11 months and eight days in prison. Czech authorities reopened the trial in 2009 after Qatar failed to prosecute him and issued an international arrest warrant for him in 2011.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, European Union governments agreed to step up deportations of illegal immigrants and discussed creating a border guard force among measures to cope with a surge in refugees from Syria's civil war.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In France trash piled up on Paris streets because of a garbage collectors' strike. Workers occupied a city building amid frustration over spending cuts across the French economy.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In Iraq 27 people were killed when mortars landed in the provincial capital of Baquba.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In Iraq protesters hurled stones and scuffled with riot police in the second largest city in the Kurdish north, in the most intense show of discontent since an economic crisis hit the region. The economic crisis began in early 2014 when Baghdad slashed funds to the region, and has been exacerbated by the conflict with Islamic State and a drop in oil prices that has pushed the region to the verge of bankruptcy.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, Israeli Arab Raed Jaradat stabbed four Israelis with a screwdriver before a soldier shot and killed him amid fresh violence that prompted PM Netanyahu to bar Cabinet ministers and lawmakers from the Al-Aqsa mosque, a sensitive Jerusalem holy site at the heart of the latest tensions. Altogether seven Israelis were stabbed in four separate incidents across the country.
(AP, 10/8/15)(Reuters, 10/9/15)(Econ 6/10/17, p.61)
2015 Oct 8, In Italy Ignazio Marino (60) stepped down as mayor of Rome over a scandal centered on 20,000 euros ($22,600) of restaurant bills settled with a city hall credit card over the course of his 28 months in office.
(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 8, In Kosovo opposition lawmakers disrupted Parliament's session, using tear gas and whistles to protest the government's recent EU-sponsored deal with Serbia giving the country's Serb-majority areas greater powers.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In Pakistan paramilitary troops in Karachi arrested a prominent politician, fueling jitters about a showdown between the powerful Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party and the military-run Rangers.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In the Philippines Elizabeth Ramsey (84), a popular Filipino singer, comedian and actress who entertained crowds with racy gags and a raspy voice, died.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 8, Syrian troops and allied militia backed by a fresh wave of Russian air strikes and cruise missiles fired from warships attacked rebel forces as the government extended a major offensive to recapture territory in the west of the country. Insurgents shot down a helicopter in Hama province. Iranian Gen. Hossein Hamedani of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed late today near Aleppo.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 8, Turkey appealed to its NATO allies to shore up missile defenses in the country aimed at shooting down Syrian rockets, as Germany said again that it will withdraw its Patriot batteries and the United States was set to do the same.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 8, In southeastern Turkey a child was killed and three others wounded in the town of Silvan after munitions they found and were playing with on the street exploded.
(Reuters, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct 9, A US judge approved a deal between conservationists and Montana officials to restrict road-building and logging in roughly 22,000 acres (8,900 hectares) of state forest lands that make up core habitat for federally protected grizzlies.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Arizona an overnight confrontation between two groups of students escalated into gunfire when Steven Jones (18), a freshman at Northern Arizona University, killed one person and wounded three others.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Texas a student was killed and another person was wounded during a shooting outside a Texas Southern University student-housing complex. Police detained two men for questioning.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, It was reported that some 30 people in America are victims each day of gun violence and that an additional 60 people per day kill themselves with guns.
(SFC, 10/9/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 9, In Afghanistan 3 civilians were killed and four wounded after they were caught in the crossfire of a Taliban attack on troops south of Kabul.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Geoffrey Howe (88), former British Treasury chief (1979-1983) and a prominent figure in Margaret Thatcher's government, died at his home in Warwickshire. He helped bring about her downfall after they parted ways over policy toward Europe.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, Yeonmi Park (22), a North Korean defector who was trafficked and raped at the age of 13 after fleeing to China, promoted her new book: “In Order To Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom" to the Women in the World summit in London.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Burkina Faso 3 police officers were killed after some 50 armed men attacked a police station in Samoroguan, near the border with Mali.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Burundi unknown gunmen killed Pascal Nshirimana, the son-in-law of prominent human rights activist Pierre Clave Mbonimpa, who openly opposed President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid for a third term in office.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Canada the Carbon Engineering company, with global plans to pull carbon from thin air to make fuel while tackling climate change, opened a pilot plant in Squamish, British Columbia.
(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In eastern China a gas explosion in a coal mine killed 2 miners and left eight others trapped in Shangrao county, Jiangxi province.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Congo DRC a new airline was launched in a bid to revolutionize air transport within the vast country where flights are currently operated only by the UN and small carriers blacklisted by the EU.
(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, France launched a new air strike overnight in Syria against an Islamic State training camp and said further strikes will follow.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Guinea pre-election violence killed at least 3 people and injured some 50. At least 33 people were injured in the fighting between Cellou Dalein Diallo's Union for the Democratic Forces of Guinea party and President Alpha Conde's Rally of the Guinean People-Rainbow Party supporters.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Hong Kong more than a thousand students and staff staged a rally at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the second demonstration in a week to protest against what they say is interference by Beijing in academic freedom.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, India said it had lodged a protest with authorities in Riyadh after Kasthuri Munirathinam (55), a maid from Tamil Nadu, allegedly had her hand chopped off by her Saudi employer for complaining about her work conditions.
(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Israeli troops shot dead 5 Palestinians in protests in Gaza. In southern Israel a Jewish man stabbed and wounded four Arabs in Dimona in an apparent reprisal attack for Palestinian violence. Hours later, a 14-year-old Jewish boy was stabbed and wounded by a Palestinian in the Old City of Jerusalem. A woman believed to be Palestinian tried to stab a guard at a bus station in north Israel, and a Palestinian stabbed a policeman near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. The policeman's attacker was shot dead.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Malaysia's central bank said a debt-laden state investment fund violated foreign exchange rules and must repatriate $1.83 billion it used abroad.
(AP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, In central Mali suspected members of the Macina Liberation Movement attacked Douna-Pene village, killing local official Timote Kodio in front of his family.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 9, In Syria Islamic State fighters seized villages close to the city of Aleppo from rival insurgents. The Russian defense ministry said air strikes on rebel positions in the north had killed 300 anti-Assad insurgents in nearly 70 sorties over the last day.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping build democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring, an example of peaceful transition in a region otherwise struggling with violence and upheaval.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, The UN Security Council authorized European naval operations to seize and dispose of vessels operated by human traffickers in the high seas off Libya.
(Reuters, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 9, Yemeni security officials said pro-government forces have driven Shiite rebels from the strategic seaside town of Dhubab after three days of heavy clashes that killed nearly 100 fighters. Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition raided positions of the Iran-backed Shiite insurgents in the west of Marib province.
(AP, 10/9/15)(AFP, 10/9/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Australia hundreds of protesters faced off with left-wing opponents in a standoff over plans to build a mosque in the rural town of Bendigo, Victoria state.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Chad 37 people were killed in a triple bombing targeting a market and refugee camp in the village of Baga Sola. Security sources blamed Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 10, China vowed to continue building in disputed reefs of the South China Sea.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In eastern China a liquefied gas container exploded in a restaurant, causing a fire and killing 17 people in Wuhu city, Anhui province.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Tens of thousands of supporters of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso took to the streets of the capital Brazzaville to back his controversial bid to change the constitution in order to remain in power.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Egypt signed a deal with France to buy two Mistral warships originally ordered by Russia as French PM Manuel Valls began an Arab tour.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Germany hundreds of thousands of people marched in Berlin in protest against a planned free trade deal between Europe and the United States that they say is anti-democratic and will lower food safety, labor and environmental standards.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Iran conducted a medium-range ballistic missle test that was capable of delivering a nuclear weapon. The US soon accused Iran of violating a UN Security Council resolution adopted on June 9, 2010.
(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 10, In Iraq a series of attacks around Baghdad killed 8 people and wounded nearly two dozen.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Iraq thousands of people took to the streets of several towns in the Kurdistan region, urging its long-time president Massud Barzani to step down.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Ireland 9 people, including an infant, died in a fire at a Dublin mobile home camp for native Gypsies.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Israeli security forces shot dead 2 Palestinians aged 12 and 15 in protests along Gaza's border fence. The Palestinian Prisoner Club said Israeli security forces have arrested approximately 400 Palestinians since the October 1 outbreak of violence in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem. A Palestinian teen stabbed two Jews before being shot dead by police by the Damascus Gate in east Jerusalem. Hours later Palestinian Kafr A (19) stabbed two police officers at the same location before being shot dead by security forces.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, A Nigerian Air Force fighter jet on a bombing mission against Boko Haram crashed in a windstorm in the country's northeast, killing the pilot.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 10, North Korea marked the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party with a massive military parade overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, who said his country was ready to fight any war waged by the United States.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Russia said it had stepped up its bombing campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria, while local observers said several of the air strikes had hit areas in western Syria where the hardline group has little presence.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In South Korea Iranian director Hadi Mohaghegh's "Immortal" and "Walnut Tree" from Kazakhstan's Yerlan Nurmukhambetov were named the winners of the New Currents award for first- and second-time filmmakers at the 20th Busan International Film Festival.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Spanish police said they have broken up a human trafficking ring and arrested 89 Chinese and Pakistani citizens who were alleged members.
(AP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir formally reopened talks with rebel and opposition groups but only one significant opposition party showed up, and he urged them to halt a boycott on dialogue in return for a ceasefire.
(Reuters, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Turkey as many as 128 people were killed when two suspected suicide bombers hit a rally of pro-Kurdish and leftist activists outside Ankara's main train station, in the deadliest attack of its kind on Turkish soil. On Oct 16 authorities raised the toll to 102. Hours after the bombing, the PKK ordered its fighters to halt operations in Turkey unless they faced attack. Turkey targeted the Islamic State in investigations of the bombing.
(AP, 10/11/15)(Reuters, 10/11/15)(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 10, In Yemen Al-Qaeda claimed to have killed 4 men suspected of practicing witchcraft and sorcery in an area controlled by the jihadists.
(AFP, 10/10/15)
2015 Oct 11, In New York state two teenage brothers were beaten by family and Word of Life church members in New Hartford to get them to confess their sins. Lucas Leonard (19) died of his injuries and Christorpher (17) was hospitalized. The borther’s parents were later charged with manslaughter.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 11, In Tennessee off-duty Memphis police officer Terence Olridge (31) died after being shot multiple times while responding to a call about a shooting at a home in the suburb of Cordova. A male suspect was taken in custody.
(SFC, 10/12/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 11, Mobile Internet sites faced a new threat as millions download ad-blockers to their phones and tablets, removing pesky adverts but potentially wiping out billions of dollars in advertising revenue.
(AFP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, In Afghanistan an explosion targeted a NATO military convoy in Kabul, wounding three civilians.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Belarus held presidential elections. Authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko faced no serious competition and was expected easily to win a fifth term. Lukashenko won 83.5 percent of the vote.
(AP, 10/11/15)(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, In northern Cameroon twin blasts by female suicide bombers killed at least 9 people in Kangaleri village.
(AFP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Guineans flocked to the polls to choose their president, shrugging off deadly pre-election violence. Incumbent President Alpha Conde was tipped to win a second term. Guinea's main opposition party alleged widespread fraud in the country's presidential vote. On Oct 17 the electoral commission said President Alpha Conde won re-election with around 58 percent of votes cast.
(AFP, 10/11/15)(AP, 10/12/15)(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 11, India said that the Maldives leader has committed to an "India first" policy in talks with its external affairs minister.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, In western Indonesia a helicopter carrying five people went missing shortly after takeoff from Samosir island in Toba Lake. On Oct 13 a survivor was found floating on plants in Toba Lake and told rescuers the four other people on board also survived by jumping before the craft hit the water.
(AP, 10/12/15)(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 11, Iran said Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian (39), who has been detained in Iran for more than a year, has been convicted on charges including espionage. The ruling was eligible for appeal within 20 days.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, Iran state media reported the successful test fire of a new guided long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile. It was the first such a test since Iran and world powers reach a historical nuclear deal.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Iraqi air forces reportedly bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh commanders. Several senior figures from Islamic State were killed in the air strike. A coalition led by the United States conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)(Reuters, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, An Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire killed a pregnant woman and her toddler. Palestinian Ahmed Sharake (13) was killed during clashes in Ramallah.
(AFP, 10/11/15)(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, Thousands of Lebanese rallied at the presidential palace outside Beirut in a show of support for Christian politician Michel Aoun, pressing their demand for him to fill the presidency vacant for over a year.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Libya's rival parliament and government rejected a UN-proposed peace deal installing a national unity government.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 11, Nepal's parliament elected Communist party leader Khadga Prasad Oli (63) as the new prime minister, thrusting him into the center of daunting challenges.
(AP, 10/11/15)(SFC, 10/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 11, Pakistanis began voting in a closely contested by-election seen as a referendum on PM Nawaz Sharif's rule.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed al-Nahyan to discuss security in the Middle East and the conflict in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Russian police arrested several terror suspects some of whom were said to have been trained by the Islamic State. A device with eleven pounds of explosives was found in a Moscow apartment.
(SFC, 10/13/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 11, Russian war planes pounded Syrian rebels unaffiliated with Islamic State, helping Moscow's ally Bashar al-Assad reclaim territory and dealing a fresh setback to the strategy of Washington and its allies. A senior Hezbollah commander was killed in the battle while fighting on the Syrian government's behalf.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, South Africa said it plans to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC). The government faced criticism for ignoring a court order to arrest Sudan's president earlier this year.
(Reuters, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, In Thailand an angry crowd hurled homemade fire bombs and torched vehicles at a police station overnight on the resort island of Phuket to protest the deaths of two young men who died in a motorcycle crash while being chased by police.
(AP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 11, Thousands of people took to the streets of Ankara to denounce the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after it said 95 people were killed in twin suspected suicide bombings on a peace rally a day earlier. Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), one of the groups that called the peace rally, issued a statement claiming the actual toll was far higher at 128, giving the names of 120 victims. 2 Turkish soldiers were reported killed during clashes with PKK militants in the Senkaya district of Erzurum province. The Turkish army said it killed at least 49 Kurdish rebels in a series of air strikes on the group's bases in northern Iraq as well as southeastern Diyarbakir province.
(AFP, 10/11/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Kansas City, Mo., 2 firefighters were killed after a wall from a burning building collapsed on them. In 2018 nail salon manager Thu Hong Nguyen (46) was convicted of 2nd murder and 2nd degree arson. She was portrayed as someone who had a habit of burning businesses for insurance money.
(SFC, 10/14/15, p.A12)(SFC, 7/24/18, p.A5)
2015 Oct 12, Dell and investment firm Silver Lake confirmed that they would acquire EMC Corp. for about $67 billion.
(SFC, 10/13/15, p.D1)
2015 Oct 12, In Afghanistan fighting intensified around the city of Ghazni, as Taliban militants threatened to seize a second provincial capital after briefly occupying Kunduz in the north last month. Toorpakai Olfat, local UN staffer, was shot and killed by two gunmen on a motorbike as she was on her way to work in Kandahar.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, An Albanian court acquitted Ardian Fullani, a former governor of the country's central bank, of charges of abuse of office over the theft of millions of dollars from bank reserves.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Princeton Prof. Angus Deaton (69), a British-born economist, won the 2015 economics Nobel Prize for his work on consumption, poverty and welfare that has helped governments to improve policy through tools such as household surveys and tax changes.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)(SFC, 10/13/15, p.A2)(Econ, 10/17/15, p.80)
2015 Oct 12, In China Jiang Jiemin, who earlier led the country's biggest petroleum company, and a deputy party chief in populous Sichuan province were convicted of corruption and sentenced to 16 and 13 years in prison, respectively.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Chinese authorities announced the arrests of 16 suspected members of a smuggling ring and the seizure of hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of ivory along with rhino horns and bear paws.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, The EU demanded the "immediate" halt of Russian air strikes against moderate Syrian rebel groups and warned a lasting peace was impossible under Moscow-backed President Bashar al-Assad.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Finland Iraqi asylum seekers rallied in central Helsinki and signed a petition against plans to negotiate a deal with Baghdad that could lead to their deportation, arguing that their country should not be considered safe.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, In France police arrested several Air France workers at their homes as investigators tracked down protesters who hounded executives from a meeting about mass job cuts last week and tore the clothes of two fleeing managers.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Israel a Palestinian identified as Mustafa al-Khatib (18) attacked a policeman with a knife at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City and was shot dead by security forces. A female attacker stabbed an Israeli policeman near the force's headquarters in Jerusalem and was shot and wounded by the victim.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Palestinian Ahmed Manasra (12) wounded two Israelis in a knife attack in an Israeli settlement north of Jerusalem along with his 15-year-old cousin. The cousin was shot and killed by an Israeli passerby, while Manasra was wounded. In 2016 Manasra was sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2017 Manasra’s sentence was reduced to nine and a half years.
(http://tinyurl.com/zoxnztb)(Reuters, 11/7/16)(AP, 8/10/17)
2015 Oct 12, A Kurdish militia that has been fighting Islamic State in Syria with help from US-led air strikes has joined forces with Arab groups in an alliance announced on that may be a prelude to an attack on the jihadists' base of operations in Raqqa.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, In the Philippines gunmen killed a town mayor and wounded his vice mayor and at least three other companions in an ambush while they were traveling in a van in a far-flung southern region.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Russia’s Gazprom resumed gas supplies to Ukraine after receiving prepayment of $234 million from Kiev, assuaging European fears about a new energy crisis ahead of the winter heating season.
(AFP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 12, Syrian army and allied forces supported by Russian warplanes made further advances as they pressed an offensive against insurgents, in the fiercest clashes for nearly a week. Two Iranian senior Revolutionary Guards officers were killed fighting Islamic State. Pro-government forces including the Lebanese group Hezbollah captured the southern part of Kafr Nabuda. At least 25 government fighters were killed.
(Reuters, 10/12/15)(Reuters, 10/13/15)(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 12, In Turkey hundreds of people marched through Istanbul and Ankara to condemn the slaughter by suicide bombers at a weekend peace rally.
(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 13, Hillary Clinton emerged unscathed from the Democratic Party's first presidential debate, giving her renewed momentum as she gears for a showdown with Republicans over the 2012 Benghazi attack.
(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, The United States and its allies carried out 18 air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, The American Civil Liberties Union sued two former Air Force psychologists who designed a CIA program that used harsh interrogation techniques to elicit intelligence from suspected terrorists, saying the pair endorsed and taught torture tactics under the guise of science. 10 months earlier the release of a damning Senate report said that the interrogation techniques had inflicted pain on al-Qaida prisoners far beyond the legal limits and did not yield lifesaving intelligence.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Florida a Pipe Cherokee 180 crashed into the Mar-Mak Colony Club killing the pilot and one person on the ground in Palm Beach County.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 13, Barbara Byrd-Bennett (66), the former head of Chicago Public Schools, pleaded guilty to her role in a scheme to steer $23 million in no-bid contracts to education firms for $2.3 million in bribes and kickbacks.
(SFC, 10/14/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 13, In Pennsylvania Army veteran James Vernon (75) fended off a knife attack by Dustin Brown (19), a mentally ill man, at the Morton Public Library in Pittsburgh. Vernon suffered two slashed arteries and a damaged tendon in a finger. In 2017 he was one of 18 people honored with a Carnegie medal for heroism.
(SFC, 9/20/17 p.A6)
2015 Oct 13, In Wisconsin a Milwaukee state court jury ordered Badger Guns to pay $5.73 million after the store was found liable for negligence in the 2009 shooting of two local police officers.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A14)
2015 Oct 13, Planned Parenthood decided that to stop accepting compensation for tis fetal tissue program in an effort to deflect antiabortion activists’ allegations of profits.
(SFC, 10/14/15, p.D1)
2015 Oct 13, Playboy Enterprises announced that it would stop publishing full nudity pictures as of March 2016.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.29)
2015 Oct 13, The Afghan Taliban said they were pulling back in the northern city of Kunduz in order to protect civilians, but fighting continued elsewhere in the country with government troops battling to reopen the main highway south of the capital Kabul.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Argentina Diana Sacayan (40), a prominent transgender activist, was found tied up and stabbed to death in Buenos Aires. This was the third violent transgender death in the country in the past month.
(www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-34538052)
2015 Oct 13, In central Bosnia 4 miners were killed and two injured early today when a platform holding up the roof caved in on them in a mine.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, The British government pulled out of 5.9 million-pound ($9 million) deal to sell prison expertise to Saudi Arabia that had drawn opposition from rights groups and senior politicians.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, British-based brewer SABMiller accepted in principle an improved takeover bid worth 69 billion pounds ($106 billion) from Anheuser Busch InBev to create a company that would control nearly a third of the global market and threaten to dominate the US by bringing together Budweiser and Miller Genuine Draft. The new company is expected to be based in Belgium.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Burundi 9 civilians, including a staff member of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), were shot to death reportedly at close range. 2 police officers also died during exchanges of heavy gunfire in Bujumbura.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 13, A Chinese court sentenced Wang Yongchun, a former senior executive of China National Petroleum Corp., to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of corruption. A court in central China jailed Guo Yongxiang, a former senior provincial official, for 20 years after finding him guilty of corruption.
(AP, 10/13/15)(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, European lawmakers rejected a proposal that would have allowed countries to restrict or ban the use of imported GM crops that have secured EU approval.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, France and Saudi Arabia announced signed deals worth 10 billion euros, the latest example of the deepening alliance between the two nations.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Germany said it has extended controls along its borders until the end of October as refugees continue to stream in.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, German auto giant Volkswagen announced it would slash one billion euros off its annual investment budget and push ahead with its drive to develop electric cars in the wake of the diesel pollution scandal.
(AFP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Iran's conservative-dominated parliament passed a bill approving its nuclear deal with world powers, signaling victory for the government over hardline opponents.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Authorities in the French Caribbean island of Martinique said they have seized 1,180 pounds (535 kg) of cocaine destined for Europe. Martinique authorities have seized more than 8 tons (7 metric tons) of drugs so far this year.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, The Italian Senate approved sweeping constitutional reform that would turn the Senate into a 100-member house of regional and municipal representatives with the power to question, but not veto, legislation. It will be put to a referendum in 2016.
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.58)
2015 Oct 13, Italian finance police arrested Mario Mantovani, a high-ranking politician in the Lombardy regional government, for corruption just before he was due to attend a conference promoting legality in the public administration.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Jamaican author Marlon James won the Man Booker Prize for "A Brief History of Seven Killings", a re-telling of the attempted assassination of musician Bob Marley.
(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, The Dutch Safety Board concluded that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile in its final report on the crash in July 2014 that killed all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, In northeastern Nigeria three bombs exploded within minutes in Maiduguri killing at least 7 people.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 13, Amnesty Int’l. opened an office in Nigeria promising to investigate allegations of abuses from oil pollution and forced evictions to charges of military killings of civilians in the fight against Boko Haram extremists.
(SFC, 10/14/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 13, Pakistani police arrested three police officers after a woman set herself on fire a day earlier and accused them on her deathbed of gang raping her near Multan. Also in Multan a man (42) died after setting himself on fire to protest the demolition of his home.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Pakistani authorities hanged 9 convicts, including four brothers. The executions brought the nationwide total to 255 since December, when Pakistan lifted the moratorium on the death penalty.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Palestinian men armed with knives and a gun killed at least 3 people and wounded several others in a string of attacks in Jerusalem and near Tel Aviv on a "Day of Rage" declared by Palestinian groups.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Russia said its air force hit 86 "terrorist" targets in Syria in the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, South African coal mineworkers ended a 10-day strike after reaching a pay agreement with employers.
(AFP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Insurgents in Syria deployed more men and weapons, including significant quantities of anti-tank missiles, to resist ground attacks by the Syrian army and its allies, backed by Russian air strikes.
(Reuters, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 13, Turkish security forces killed ten Kurdish militants during ground and air operations in southeastern Turkey, days after the insurgents called a unilateral ceasefire.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, A Ukrainian soldier was killed and two were injured in eastern Ukraine in violation of a month-long ceasefire between government and rebel forces.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Yemen airstrikes from a Saudi-led coalition targeting Shiite rebels killed 8 rebel fighters in a renewed attempt to cut their supply lines to Taiz.
(AP, 10/13/15)
2015 Oct 14, US President Barack Obama informed Congress that he will deploy up to 300 military personnel to Cameroon for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations against militant Boko Haram insurgents.
(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, The United States and its allies conducted 25 air strikes on Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 14, Texas executed Licho Escamilla (33) for the 2001 fatal shooting of Dallas police officer Christopher Kevin James. This was the state’s 12 execution this year and the 24th in the US.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 14, Afghan police said Taliban insurgents overran two checkpoints in southern Helmand province and killed 29 border police officers.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, Benin's long-ruling former president Mathieu Kerekou (b.1933) died, leading to a week of national mourning for the Marxist who seized power in a 1972 coup but later set off a new wave of African democracy.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 14, Bulgaria denied access to its airspace to a Russian plane carrying humanitarian aid for Syria, as Moscow failed to file an application on time.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 14, Researchers reported that 47 fossilized human teeth found in China’s Hunan province dated back to at least 80,000 years. Earlier fossils from southern Asia were only about 45,000 years old.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 14, Ethiopia called for $556 million in int’l. assistance to help feed 8.2 million people after erratic rains devastated crop yields.
(SFC, 10/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 14, The EU parliament lifted immunity for Bela Kovacs, a member of Hungary's far-right Jobbik party. Hungarian prosecutors suspected him of spying on EU institutions for Russia. Covert contacts between Kovacs and Russian intelligence officers were first detected in 2010.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Oct 14, In India villagers fled after an attack on a truck loaded with five cows and 10 bulls in Sarahan, a village in Himachal Pradesh state. Five occupants of the truck hid in the forest until police found them and took them to the hospital, where one of them died. The survivors were arrested for alleged animal cruelty.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 14, In Indonesia 2 endangered Sumatran elephants were found dead in Aceh province and were believed to have been poisoned a few days earlier.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 14, In Iran a senior council of clerics and officials approved implementing the landmark nuclear deal with world powers, sealing the final required step in the process despite hard-liners' efforts to derail it.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, Israel started setting up roadblocks in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and deploying soldiers across the country to combat a wave of Palestinian knife attacks. A "terrorist" attempted to stab a security guard at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City but was shot before harming anyone.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, Maldives Pres. Abdulla Yameen fired his defense minister with immediate effect, the latest move in a defense shake-up following an explosion targeting the leader.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In central Pakistan a suicide bomber blew himself up at the election office of a ruling party lawmaker, killing 7 people and wounding nine others in Taunsa city.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, Peru’s defense minister announced an investigation into possible drug-related military corruption following a report that the armed forces were turning a blind eye to daily drug flights to Bolivia.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 14, Puerto Rican authorities said they've charged 38 people in a scheme that let people pay bribes to get licenses or evade fines. The charges covered acts that began more than a year ago at seven DMV centers across the island.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In South Africa several thousand demonstrators marched through Johannesburg to protest against government corruption as public anger builds over the weakening economy.
(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In Sweden Cambodian activist Phymean Noun was awarded the $50,000 World's Children's Prize for helping children who live in garbage dumps in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. Another $50,000 was evenly split between the winners of the World's Children's Honorary Award: Javier Stauring of the Catholic Archdiocese in Los Angeles who works with jailed children, and India's Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi who fights against child slavery and for children's right to education.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In Syria Islamic State militants battled rival insurgent groups north of the city of Aleppo, where officials say the Syrian army is preparing an offensive of its own backed by Iranian soldiers and Russian jets. Russia said its jets hit 40 Islamic State targets in new strikes in Syria over the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/14/15)(AFP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 14, In southern Yemen thousands called for secession at a demonstration in Aden.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.47)
2015 Oct 14, Zimbabwe officials said rangers in Hwange National Park have discovered the carcasses of 26 elephants at two locations, dead of cyanide poisoning along with 14 other elephants who were found last week.
(AP, 10/14/15)
2015 Oct 15, President Barack Obama said he will slow the pace of withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan, prolonging the 14-year US engagement there and effectively handing off the task of pulling out to his successor.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, US authorities reported that Malaysia authorities have arrested Ardit Ferizi, a Kosovo citizen, for providing sensitive information on more than a thousand US service members to the Islamic State group.
(http://tinyurl.com/pe3kygq)
2015 Oct 15, A coalition led by the United States conducted three air strikes against Islamic State in Syria and bombarded the militant group with 21 strikes in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 15, US federal agents ended a crackdown on synthetic drug manufacturers. Several hundred people were reported arrested in more than 20 states over the last fifteen months.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A12)
2015 Oct 15, In southern California a storm produced mud flows that impacted nearly eight miles of Highway 58 in Kern County. Some motorists were stranded overnight as nearly 200 vehicles became trapped.
(SSFC, 10/18/15, p.A10)
2015 Oct 15, Fan Hui, a professional with the Chinese Go Association, lost to Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo in the final game of the five game match. The startling performance of AlphaGo wasn’t revealed until a paper detailing the feat was published in the science journal Nature, on January 27, 2016. AlphaGo, developed by British AI research company DeepMind, was acquired by Google in 2014.
(http://tinyurl.com/gvs8krj)(Econ, 1/30/15, p.72)
2015 Oct 15, In China the Hurun Report said the number of mainland Chinese billionaires has risen this year by 242 to 596, surpassing the 537 billionaires of the United States.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 15, China announced a one-year ban on the import of ivory hunting trophies from Africa.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.44)
2015 Oct 15, Croatia legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes for patients with illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis or AIDS.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Cyprus decried an undersea pipeline carrying fresh water from Turkey to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, saying it aims to further cement Ankara's grip on the ethnically-divided island.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, The Egyptian pound weakened by 10 piasters to 7.93 per dollar after the central bank reduced its price in an auction by the same amount to 7.83 per dollar.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay were elected to the UN Security Council during an uncontested vote for the non-permanent seats.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, The European Court of Human Rights ruled Switzerland had violated Turkish politician Dogu Perincek's right to freedom of speech by convicting him for denying that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 amounted to genocide.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, German auto giant Volkswagen said it will recall a total of 8.5 million diesel vehicles Europe-wide that are equipped with sophisticated software enabling their engines to cheat pollution tests.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Seven migrants, 4 of them children, drowned near the Greek island of Lesbos after their boat collided with a Greek rescue vessel.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Hong Kong police charged seven officers with assaulting activist Ken Tsang, whose videotaped beating stirred outrage among city residents at the height of pro-democracy protests last year.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, The Hungarian government announced that it has completed its construction of a fence alongside its southern border with Croatia, to stem the massive daily influx of migrants. The government said it would decide on a date to completely seal the border in the coming days.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Iraqi forces battled the Islamic State jihadist group on separate fronts, ramping up operations to retake Baiji and Ramadi.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Torrential rain and storms battered southern and central Italy for a second day, leading to the deaths of at least four people and reviving a controversy over environmental neglect in the country.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Kosovo opposition lawmakers angry at recent deals with Serbia and Montenegro set off tear gas canisters in Parliament, forcing the suspension of the session.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Macedonian police arrested seven people suspected of providing logistical support to an armed group that clashed with police last May, leaving 18 people dead and 37 wounded.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Moldova’s parliament lifted the immunity of former PM Vlad Filat (2009-2013). Filat was then detained in parliament over the theft of $1 billion from the banking system, a crime that has led thousands to camp out in the capital in protest.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 15, Myanmar’s government signed a cease-fire agreement with eight armed ethnic groups. The two largest groups, the Kachin and Wa, with tens of thousands of soldiers, did not sign the agreement.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 15, Poland signed a landmark $636 million deal to build the first EU gas pipeline to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, reducing their uneasy reliance on Russian supplies. Construction is set to begin next year on the GIPL (Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania) pipeline.
(AFP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Scottish prosecutors said that Scottish and US investigators have identified two Libyan suspects believed to have been involved in the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing which killed 270 people.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, In South Sudan a consortium of civic and aid groups said violence against civilians is continuing despite a peace agreement. They said at least 1,000 civilians have been killed between April and September and that 1,300 women and girls were abducted in Unity state.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 15, In Spain thousands waving Catalan independence flags rallied in support of regional acting President Artur Mas who was being questioned at a Barcelona court for holding a symbolic referendum on secession.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Sri Lanka's government pledged to quickly process hundreds of ethnic Tamils who have been detained without charges for years on suspicion of links to former Tamil Tiger rebels.
(AP, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Syrian troops and their allies, backed by Russian jets, attacked rebel-held towns north of the city of Homs, targeting a long-held and strategic enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. A resident of Teir Malla said at least 25 people were killed including, Rawad al Aksah, a commander of insurgent group Liwaa al-Tawhid.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, In Syria Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al-Charekh, a Saudi better known as Sanafi al-Nasr, was killed in a US airstrike near the northern town of Dana, along with another Saudi and a Moroccan member of al-Qaida's local affiliate, known as the Nusra Front.
(AP, 10/17/15)(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 15, Turkey demanded that the European Union start easing restrictions next year on Turks traveling to the European Union if it wants full cooperation to stem the flow of Syrian refugees.
(Reuters, 10/15/15)
2015 Oct 15, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he is raising the country's minimum wage by 30%, effective Nov 1, to help workers being clobbered by inflation economists say is likely the highest in the world.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, The US Interior Department announced it is canceling future oil lease sales and will not extend current leases in Arctic waters off Alaska's northern coast.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 16, A US jury ordered Apple Inc to pay the University of Wisconsin-Madison's patent licensing arm more than $234 million in damages for incorporating its microchip technology into some of the company's iPhones and iPads without permission. Apple had faced up to $862 million in damages after a US jury found the iPhone maker used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm without permission.
(http://tinyurl.com/otut73f)
2015 Oct 16, California regulators closed 33 more oil company wells that had injected wastewater into potentially drinkable aquifers protected by federal law.
(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 16, Hawaii Gov. David Ige declared a state of emergency to accelerate efforts to provide housing and other services to the homeless.
(CSM, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 16, Irwin Schiff (87), America’s loudest tax protester, died. Schiff had stopped paying his federal income taxes from 1974 on the chief ground that it was unconstitutional. His books included the New York Times bestseller “How Anyone Can Stop Paying Income Taxes" (1982).
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.86)
2015 Oct 16, China hosted Southeast Asian defense ministers in an effort to burnish its reputation in a region wary of its territorial ambitions.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Officials from China and a domestic consortium signed an agreement to build the first high-speed rail line in Indonesia. The deal was estimated at $5.5 billion.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, The UN said a measles outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo's copper-mining southeast has killed 428 people and infected about 30,000 since the start of the year.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In France executives of ten of the world's largest oil and gas companies decided not to take a common position on the price of carbon because of differences among the groups' members.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, German newsweekly Der Spiegel reported that Germany's winning bid for the 2006 World Cup was aided by bribes paid to FIFA executive committee members.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Four migrants, the oldest of them a young woman of 16, drowned and three other people were missing after their rubber boat capsized off the Aegean island of Kalymnos late today.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 16, The World Health Organization says there were two new cases of Ebola in Guinea this week, ending two consecutive weeks in West Africa when no cases of the devastating disease were reported.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Hungary said it will close down its border with Croatia, where it has built a razor-wire fence, to the free flow of migrants at midnight. Croatia said it has a plan to manage the flow of migrants agreed with Slovenia that it will start implementing when Hungary seals off the Hungarian-Croatian border.
(AP, 10/16/15)(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In India a cooking gas cylinder blast killed at least 8 people in a small hotel in Mumbai.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In India a two-and-a-half-year-old girl was abducted from a religious event in west Delhi by two men and raped before being dumped in a park near her home. In a separate incident on the other side of the city, a five-year-old was lured to a neighbor's house and raped by three men. Police the next day arrested three men for raping the 5-year-old. On Oct 18 police arrested two teenagers for allegedly raping the toddler in New Delhi.
(AFP, 10/17/15)(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 16, Iraqi forces defused booby traps and hunted down holdout jihadists in the strategic Baiji area as part of their biggest advance against the Islamic State group in months.
(AFP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Italian police reported finding more than 20 tons of hashish with an estimated street value of 200 million euros ($230 million) hidden in the hull of a cargo ship. They spent more than 18 days searching before finally finding the drugs. The ship's captain and nine crew members, all Syrian, were arrested.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired rockets and mortars at what it said were Islamic State fighters near the Syrian border, killing 5 of them.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Tripoli's government named the two new Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie bombing investigation as Abdullah al-Senussi, the former spy chief of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, and a second man, Mohammed Abu Ejaila.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Mexican soldiers detained Angel Eduardo Prado Rodriguez, alias "Ciclon 7," before dawn without a shot fired in the northern border city of Matamoros.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Mexican authorities said fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman eluded an operation to recapture him in recent days, injuring his leg and face. Recent raids have reportedly occurred in Durango and Sinaloa states.
(AFP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In Nigeria 4 women suicide bombers blew themselves up when challenged by soldiers as they tried to enter Maiduguri, killing at least 18 people and themselves. The attack came just hours after two bombs exploded near a mosque, killing at least 30 people.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, Palestinians set fire to a Jewish shrine in the occupied West Bank, believed to house the tomb of Joseph. An attacker disguised as a journalist stabbed an Israeli soldier. Violence also broke out in the Gaza Strip when Palestinians approached the border fence with Israel. Two Palestinians died after being shot by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)(AFP, 10/16/15)(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 16, The Russian parliament voted to sanction an arrest in absentia of Ilya Ponomarev, the sole lawmaker who voted against the annexation of Crimea last year. Ponomarev, who is currently in the United States, is suspected of embezzlement related to his work for a state-funded technological foundation. He said the motion is a politically motivated attempt to kick him out of parliament.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In Saudi Arabia a suspect with an automatic weapon opened fire at a Shiite meeting hall in Qatif city, Eastern Province, killing 5 people and wounding nine more. A group calling itself Islamic State-Bahrain Province said one of its "soldiers", Shughaa al-Dosari, attacked a Shiite infidel temple with an automatic weapon.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 16, Switzerland's attorney general said authorities have charged four Iraqi men with planning attacks and helping Islamic State smuggle followers into Europe. Three of the men have been in custody since their arrest in early 2014.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In Syria Denis Cuspert, also known by his artist name Deso Dogg, was killed in a US air strike. He used to rap in Berlin and was one of the most famous Western fighters for the IS extremist group.
(AFP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 16, Turkey shot down a drone in an incident highlighting the dangers of multiple air combat operations over Syria. Russian warplanes hit areas in support of the Syrian army's offensive south of Aleppo, around 35 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border.
(Reuters, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked World Food Day with a visit to the Milan Expo World's Fair, which is focused on food security and nutrition.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, UN experts said the Islamic State group is paying supporters up to $10,000 for each person that they recruit to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq.
(AFP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, A court in central Vietnam sentenced seven people to up to life in prison for defrauding families of Vietnam War soldiers by moving unidentified war dead into fake graves and claiming to have found their kin.
(AP, 10/16/15)
2015 Oct 16, In Yemen an Emirati officer was killed in a drive-by shooting in the southern port city of Aden, the sixth assassination of pro-government troop leaders and officials in recent weeks. Shiite Houthi rebels drove pro-government troops out of southern Bayda province following two months of heavy fighting.
(AP, 10/17/15)(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 17, The US-led coalition conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and five in Syria, according to the task force organizing the military operation.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 17, In Florida a shooting at the ZombieCon gathering in Fort Myers left one person dead and five others injured.
(SFC, 10/19/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 17, Addyi, the first drug to boost sexual desire in women, became available from Sprout Pharmaceuticals.
(SFC, 10/17/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 17, In Argentina a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the northwest, leaving at least one person dead and damaging homes in the Salta region.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Australia announced plans to legalize the growing of cannabis for medicinal purposes, saying those suffering debilitating illnesses deserved access to the most effective treatments.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In the Democratic Republic of Congo leaders of the Twa and Luba ethnic groups signed an agreement intended to end a conflict which has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 17, Hungary said it will temporarily reinstate border controls on its frontier with Slovenia, after his government sealed off its border with Croatia overnight to stem the flow of migrants. Migrants streaming across the Balkans reached Slovenia, diverted overnight by the closure of Hungary’s border with Croatia.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In southern India at least 15 people headed for a wedding were killed when a mini-bus they were riding collided with another bus as they were traveling to Malakonda town in Andhra Pradesh state.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Indonesian officials said 182 ethnic Rohingya have fled their encampment in Aceh province. Officials suspected they may have been persuaded by human traffickers to flee.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Iran reported that 2 people were killed in a shooting attack on Shiite worshippers marking Ashura, in the town of Dezful in Khuzestan province.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Iraqi forces pressed their biggest offensive in months to resume their long-stalled northward advance and disrupt jihadist lines.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Nigeria said Brig. Gen. Enitan Ransome Kuti has been dismissed from the army and jailed for losing a major battle in which Boko Haram Islamic extremists killed hundreds of civilians at the Jan. 2 battle for Baga.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Four Palestinians were shot dead and a fifth was wounded in attacks on Israelis in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 17, Portugal’s former Socialist PM Jose Socrates left home as a free man for the first time in 10 months after a court lifted a house arrest.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In Romania three journalists were detained on suspicion of extorting money from public figures in exchange for not writing negative articles about them.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Russia said its air force has made 36 sorties, hitting 49 Islamic State targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, It was reported that hundreds of South Korean scholars have declared they are boycotting the writing of state-issued history textbooks out of concern that that they will teach distorted views on the country's recent past.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Spanish police said they have arrested 81 persons on suspicion of sexually abusing minors and sharing child pornography on the Internet.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In northern Spain thousands took to the streets of San Sebastian to call for the release of Arnaldo Otegi (57), the jailed head of the Basque independence Sortu party.
(AFP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah and Iranian fighters made advances in their offensive to retake territory around the northern city of Aleppo from insurgents and jihadist fighters.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Taiwan's ruling party on named chairman Eric Chu to run for the island's top spot in coming national elections, replacing an existing pick in a move aimed at avoiding a trouncing by an opposition it fears could derail warming ties with China.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, Turkey said 3 soldiers and 28 Kurdish militants have been killed in air strikes and clashes over the past two days in the predominantly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, The Turkish coastguard said 12 migrants thought to be from Syria and Afghanistan, including four children and a baby, drowned off the coast of Turkey as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.
(Reuters, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 17, In Turkey a British woman working for a London-based media charity who was heading to Iraq was found dead at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. Jackie Sutton (50) was reportedly found hanged in the toilets. There were no signs of foul play.
(AFP, 10/19/15)(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 17, The Ukrainian excursion boat Ivolga capsized in the Black Sea, killing 14 people. It was carrying twice as many passengers as allowed and was knocked over by a big wave.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 17, Venezuela announced that its state-owned oil company will buy a 25 percent stake in West Indies Oil Co. and that it will establish a regional bank with the Antigua and Barbuda government to fund a new resort.
(AP, 10/17/15)
2015 Oct 18, President Barack Obama ordered the US government to take steps towards lifting sanctions on Iran, in accordance with the historic nuclear deal struck between six world powers and Tehran.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, A US-led coalition conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and also targeted the militant group in Syria with a single strike near Manbij.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 18, Eddie Murphy was honored as the winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
(SFC, 10/19/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 18, In California the Mariscos San Juan No. 3 restaurant in downtown San Jose closed following reports of an outbreak of bacterial illness due to shigella. By Oct 23 some 141 people were reported sickened from the extremely contagious pathogen.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D2)(SFC, 10/24/15, p.C2)
2015 Oct 18, In Florida black drummer Corey Jones was shot and killed near his broken down vehicle by police Officer Nouman Raja on I-95 in Palm Beach Gardens. Raja was fired on Nov 11 and charged with attempted murder and manslaughter on June 1, 2016. On March 8, 2019, Raja was found guilty of manslaughter and attempted murder. On Aprtil 25, 2019, Raja was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.A10)(SFC, 11/13/15, p.A7)(SFC, 6/2/16, p.A6)(SFC, 3/8/19, p.A9)(SFC, 4/26/19, p.A5)
2015 Oct 18, In northwestern Afghanistan the Taliban captured the Ghormach district of Faryab province. The insurgents detained the district police chief, who was wounded, along with 13 other police.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 18, Egyptians trickled in to polling stations to elect a new parliament that will tighten President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's grip on power after he crushed all opposition since ousting his Islamist predecessor.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, France's finance minister said police made the country's biggest drug seizure in two years when they found 7.1 tons of hashish in Paris' chic 16th arrondisement.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, The Greek coastguard said 5 people, including a baby and two children, drowned early today and one was missing in two separate incidents of migrants trying to reach Greece from nearby Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, Guyana's government said it is implementing a ban on polystyrene foam products that it says pose a threat to health and the environment effective Jan 1.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In Indonesia 7 hikers died after being caught in a forest fire on Java island. The fire was believed to be caused by a bonfire started by hikers.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 18, The Iraqi judiciary said it had issued an arrest warrant against Trade Minister Malas Abdulkarim al-Kasnazani and his brother on corruption charges.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, Israel rejected a proposal to send international observers to a flashpoint holy site in a bid to calm unrest. At least four Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv, temporarily banned Arab laborers from working in their schools as they struggle to calm public fears fueled by the worst surge of Palestinian street attacks in years. An attacker, who police said was a Bedouin citizen of Israel, entered the heavily guarded station armed with a pistol and shot dead a soldier before snatching his rifle and opening fire on the crowd, wounding nine people. Police shot the assailant dead. Eritrean migrant Mila Abtum died after he was shot by a security guard and kicked by an angry Israeli crowd that mistook him for a gunman.
(AFP, 10/18/15)(Reuters, 10/18/15)(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 18, The Italian navy said 8 bodies have been recovered from a rubber boat carrying migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In the Philippines Typhoon Koppu, aka Typhoon Lando, blew ashore into northeastern Aurora province early today. It forced more than 65,000 villagers from their homes and left at least 54 dead.
(AP, 10/19/15)(AP, 10/21/15)(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.D16)
2015 Oct 18, Buses packed with migrants backed up on Serbia’s border with Croatia, their passage to western Europe slowed by a new diversion through Slovenia, which vowed to limit the influx.
(Reuters, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In Syria warplanes believed to be Russian targeted mourners in al-Ghanto village who were burying people killed a day earlier, killing four civilians.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, Swiss voters finished casting ballots to elect their parliament. The anti-immigration Swiss People's Party collected 29.4% of the vote. The Social Democrats were a distant second, virtually unchanged at 18.8%. The pro-business Free Democrats increased by 1.3 percentage points to 16.4%. Turnout was 48.4%.
(AP, 10/18/15)(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 18, Tibetans around the world voted in the first round of elections to choose a new government-in-exile.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, Turkish police arrested around 50 foreign nationals in Istanbul early today in a sweep targeting jihadists of the Islamic State group suspected of involvement in last weekend's Ankara suicide bombings.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, In Turkey 2 soldiers were killed when rebels set off a remote-controlled mine targeting an army vehicle in the eastern province of Tunceli. Security officials said 4 government soldiers and about 20 Kurdish rebels have been killed in several days of clashes in the mountainous Daglica region.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 18, The parents of French saint Therese of Lisieux -- dubbed "The Little Flower" -- were raised to sainthood, in a move Pope Francis hopes will underscore the importance of the family. Louis (d.1894) and Zelie Martin (d.1887) had nine children, four of whom died at a young age, while the other five all became nuns.
(AP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 19, US-led forces conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, eight of them near the contested Sinjar area, and two air strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, A US federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Congressional action prohibits federal drug enforcers from shutting medical marijuana dispensaries that comply with state law.
(SFC, 10/20/15, p.A1)
2015 Oct 19, Djordje Ristanic, a Bosnian Serb civilian official during the 1992-95 war, was indicted of war crimes against hundreds of Bosnian Muslims and Croats.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, British citizen Stephen Port (40) was charged in London with drugging and murdering four young men he met on gay websites. The deaths took place between June 2014 and last month.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Canada held elections. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau rode a late surge to a stunning majority election victory. The Liberals seized a Parliamentary majority, a turn in political fortunes that smashed the record for the number of seats gained from one election to the next.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, Chinese President Xi Jinping began a four-day state visit to Britain as part of a push to increase trade ties between the two countries.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Croatia opened its border with Serbia for migrants and thousands rushed across. Some 5,000 migrants reached Slovenia from Croatia, with another 1,200 on their way by train.
(AP, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Egyptians largely stayed away from parliamentary elections for a second day, highlighting growing disillusionment since the army seized power in 2013.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, A general strike and curfew shut Indian-controlled Kashmir following the death of a Muslim teenager attacked by a Hindu mob over rumors of cows being slaughtered. Zahid Rasool and another truck driver had been set ablaze by a mob after their vehicle stopped in the Hindu-dominated Udhampur neighborhood. Rasool died a day earlier from burns suffered in the attack.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Lawyers said Ireland has agreed to pay the Romanian Gypsy parents of a blond boy 60,000 euros ($68,000) in compensation after conceding that police in 2013 employed prejudicial racial profiling when seizing the child.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, In Lebanon 8 people were killed and many wounded when the army targeted militant positions along the eastern border with war-torn Syria.
(AFP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, NATO held a launch ceremony for its biggest military exercise in 13 years, mobilizing 36,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from more than 30 countries to test the alliance's ability to respond to new security threats. Trapani, Sicily, will serve as the center for the exercise that begins Oct 21 and runs through early November.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, Gunmen kidnapped two Lithuanian and two Ukrainian sailors off southern Nigeria. The ship, flagged in the Comoro Islands, was attacked near Port Harcourt.
(http://tinyurl.com/oo7rmo9)
2015 Oct 19, Oslo, Norway, officials said cars will be banned from the city center by 2019 to help reduce pollution.
(Reuters, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, In South Africa chanting protesters, including medical students with stethoscopes around their necks, demonstrated against planned increases in tuition fees at a number of top universities.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 19, In South Africa footage from closed circuit television showed police firing at the man from close range as he lay on the ground in Krugersdorp, a town west of Johannesburg. On Nov 2 four police officers were arrested on murder charges.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 19, Syrian government forces advanced under the cover of Russian airstrikes toward an air base besieged by the Islamic State group in the north. Rebels battling the Syrian army and its allies near Aleppo said they had received new supplies of US-made anti-tank missiles from states opposed to President Bashar al-Assad since the start of a major government offensive last week. The commander of the Nour al Din al-Zinki Brigades was killed in fighting south of Aleppo.
(AP, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, In Syria Russian jets hit an Islamic State training camp and command post of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front as they bombed 49 targets in the latest wave of strikes. Russian air strikes in Latakia province killed rebel commander Basil Zamo and 4 other fighters from First Coastal Division, a group armed by Pres. Bashar al-Assad's foreign enemies. A further 15 civilians were killed in the air strike in Jabal Akrad. At least 3 Russians fighting alongside Syrian government forces were killed and several more wounded when a shell hit their position in Latakia province.
(AFP, 10/19/15)(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 19, Turkey’s PM Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed that one of the suicide bombers in the Oct 10 attack in Ankara had been officially identified through DNA testing.
(AFP, 10/18/15)
2015 Oct 19, Yemen said it has accepted an invitation from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to for talks with Shiite rebels at the end of this month to discuss the implementation of a UN resolution that calls for the end of the fighting.
(AP, 10/19/15)
2015 Oct 20, The United States imposed sanctions on Torek Agha, a Taliban leader and fundraiser, who it said helped plan military attacks in Afghanistan, authorize the assassination of Afghan government leaders and raise millions of dollars for the Taliban.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, The US and Russia signed an agreement designed to minimize the risk of collisions and other dangers as both countries carry out air strikes in Syria.
(SFC, 10/21/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 20, A coalition led by the United States conducted 14 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 20, In New Mexico Lilly Garcia (4) was shot and killed in a road-rage incident on an Albuquerque freeway. Suspect Tony Torrez (32) was arrested the next day.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 20, In NYC Tyrone Howard (30) stole a bike and fatally shot Guyana-born Officer Randolph Holder (33) in the head after a chase. Police said Howard has been arrested 28 times since age 13 and had a history of violence.
(AP, 10/22/15)(SFC, 10/28/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 20, Cory Wells (b.1941), a founding member of the vocal trio behind the rock group Three Dog Night, died in Dunkirk, NY. Some two dozen top hits by the group included “Joy to the World" (1971).
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D8)
2015 Oct 20, Afghan officials said First VP Abdul Rashid Dostum has been tapped to lead a mission to retake the Ghormach district in Faryab province, captured over the weekend by the Taliban.
(SFC, 10/21/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 20, Azerbaijan police arrested seven former national security officials on suspicion of exceeding their authority and illegal interference in businesses, days after Azeri President Ilham Aliyev fired his national security minister.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Manufacturer Tata Steel announced 1,200 job cuts in the UK, underscoring the damage caused by cheap Chinese imports.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, China sold its first sovereign bond in London, worth over $3 billion.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.53)
2015 Oct 20, Authorities in the Republic of Congo banned demonstrations in the country after the opposition called a protest over the president's bid to extend his three-decade stay in power. At least 3 people were shot dead during anti-government protests in Brazzaville. A 4th person was killed a day earlier in in Pointe-Noire.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 20, In India Uber taxi driver Shiv Kumar Yadav was convicted of raping a young female passenger in the capital last Dec 5. Uber was banned from operating in New Delhi in the aftermath of the attack.
(AFP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Iraqi government troops, teamed up with paramilitary forces, drove Islamic State militants out of Beiji, a key oil refinery town north of Baghdad. About a dozen Iraqis were reported killed and 30 wounded in the fight over the last 72 hours.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Israeli fire killed Palestinian Ahmed al-Serhi (27) during clashes on the Gaza Strip border. An Israeli soldier and a civilian were injured after a Palestinian attempted to ram his car into a group of pedestrians in the West Bank, then exited with a knife and was shot dead.
(AFP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, The Democratic Unionist Party, the major Protestant party in Northern Ireland's unity government, announced it will resume its power-sharing positions following publication of an expert report into the Irish Republican Army that found the outlawed group still exists in the shadows but is broadly committed to peace.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Korean families, separated by the Korean War, began to reunite at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A4)(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 20, In Lesotho the wife of a Danish man, who was caught in South Africa last month with 21 pieces of female genitalia in his freezer, was killed outside her home in the Maseru. The wife was allegedly one of his victims.
(AFP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 20, In southern Mexico flooding from two days of heavy rains prompted the governor of Quintana Roo state to declare an emergency in seven municipalities on the Yucatan Peninsula.
(AP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, In Romania policeman Bogdan Gigina died after driving his motorbike into a hole while easing a route in Bucharest for Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 20, Russia's defense ministry said its planes had flown 55 sorties and struck 60 Islamist militant targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Amnesty International said a terrorism tribunal in Saudi Arabia, which was elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2013, has sentenced two political activists to decade-long prison terms for establishing the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA).
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, Slovenia deployed the army to guard its border as thousands of migrants streamed into the tiny country from the south, and said it may resort to "physical barriers" like neighboring Hungary if the number of arrivals continued to grow. At least 12,100 migrants were currently in Serbia. At least 2,500 migrants were stranded in no man's land between Croatia and Serbia overnight in cold temperatures.
(Reuters, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, In South Africa disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius spent his first day out of jail at his uncle's home in Pretoria where he will serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest for killing his girlfriend.
(AFP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, In southern Sweden arsonists attacked asylum seekers' housing in the small town of Munkedal, the latest in a wave of attacks as migrant numbers, and tensions, rise. Since the start of the year, 15 arson attacks throughout the country have targeted refugee reception centers and apartments, reducing some to cinders.
(AFP, 10/20/15)
2015 Oct 20, In Syria 13 people including medical staff were reportedly killed in Russian air strikes against a field hospital in the northwestern province of Idlib that was run by the Syrian-American Medical Society. Russia later called the reports fake.
(AFP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 20, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew to Moscow to thank Russia's Vladimir Putin personally for his military support, in a surprise visit that underlined how Russia has become a major player in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, VP Joe Biden said he would not seek the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential campaign.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A7)
2015 Oct 21, The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State targeted the militant group with 22 air strikes in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 21, It was reported that Ohio is delaying executions until at least 2017 while prison officials try to secure supplies of hard-to-obtain lethal injection drugs.
(SFC, 10/21/15, p.A9)
2015 Oct 21, US Marine Corps pilot Maj. Taj Sareen was killed when his F/A-18 Hornet crashed on farmland after taking off from a US Air Force (USAF) base in eastern England.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 21, Ferrari, an Italy-based car company owned by Fiat Chrysler, went public with a 10% stake on the NYSE and closed up almost 6% at $55.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.C5)(Econ, 10/17/15, p.69)
2015 Oct 21, Western Digital, a maker of hard drives, said it is buying SanDisk, a flash-memory chip maker, in a cash and stock deal valued at about $19 billion.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.C3)
2015 Oct 21, YouTube announced a monthly subscription service, starting at $10, for YouTube Red, allowing users to play videos without ads, offline and in the background while using other apps.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.C1)
2015 Oct 21, The Bahraini Court of Appeals confirmed the conviction of political activist Zainab al-Khawaja (32) and reduced her sentence from three to one year in prison for ripping up a photo of the king in court in 2014. Her family told Amnesty Int’l. that she intended to keep her infant son with her in prison if forced to serve her sentence.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Brazil's opposition filed a new impeachment petition against President Dilma Rousseff, accusing her of illegal accounting practices.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, China’s Communist Party Central Committee officially banned golf for its 88 million Communist Party members. Also banned was excessive eating and drinking and having improper sexual relations.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.A3)(Econ, 10/31/15, p.44)
2015 Oct 21, PM David Cameron said Britain and China have signed deals worth around 40 billion pounds ($62 billion), during a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Britain sanctioned a $9.3 billion investment by a Chinese state power company in a nuclear power plant being built at Hinkley Point by EDF, a French company.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)(Econ, 10/24/15, p.53)
2015 Oct 21, British police arrested Shao Jiang (47), a survivor of the Tiananmen Square crackdown and raided his home, after he stepped out in front of Chinese President Xi Jinping's motorcade.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 21, In Cameroon 8 villagers in the village of Doulo were killed and nine injured in a raid by Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram that was followed by a gun battle between militants and security forces.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 21, More than 100 migrants crowded into two boats landed at a British airbase on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, bringing the crisis that has rocked much of Europe to British sovereign soil.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, In eastern China an explosion at a chemical factory killed 9 people and injured two others.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, The European Union demanded that Starbucks and Fiat repay up to 30 million euros ($34 million) each in back taxes.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Refugees from Asian wars crossed into Slovenia from Croatia as border closures elsewhere forced them to find new routes to rich European countries and concern grew over the plight of those stranded in wet, freezing weather.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Guam authorities arrested Lourdes Fernandez Blas (44), a Department of Revenue and Taxation employee, suspected of taking bribes while on the job. Two other suspects in the case, Kupwo Kelep Kerwin (30) and Ringko Sammurai (39), were also arrested and all three were released.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 21, Police in northern India arrested four men over allegations that they burnt alive two low-caste children. An officials said the incident was a family feud and not related to caste violence.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved the country’s nuclear deal with world powers but said Tehran should not give up core elements of its atomic program until allegations of past military dimensions had been settled.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, An Israeli female soldier (19) was wounded in a stabbing near a West Bank settlement while the attacker was shot dead. Hours later five Israeli soldiers were run over by a Palestinian driver in the West Bank. A Jewish Israeli man (28) was shot and killed in a scuffle with Israeli soldiers who suspected he was a Palestinian attacker. Two alleged Palestinian attackers attempted to board a bus carrying children west of Jerusalem, and stabbed an Israeli before being shot.
(AFP, 10/21/15)(AP, 10/22/15)(AFP, 10/22/15)(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 21, Japanese Buddhist monk Kogen Kamahori (41) finished a grueling nine-day ritual without eating, drinking, or sleeping as he chanted sutras 100,000 times at Mount Hieizan.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp. said it is recalling 6.5 million vehicles worldwide for a defective power window switch that can overheat, melt and lead to fires.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Mexican police announced the capture of six people believed responsible for the July 11 prison break by Joaquin Guzman.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 21, Mexican authorities discovered an elaborate, rail equipped drug tunnel that ran from Tijuana to well into San Diego. They seized about ten tons of marijuana.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.D4)
2015 Oct 21, In northern Syria a new administration was formed for a majority Sunni-Arab town controlled by Syrian Kurds, expanding the ethnic group's semi-autonomous administration. A local leadership council including representatives of Tel Abyad's Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen and Armenian communities declared it part of the system of autonomous self-government established by the Kurds.
(AP, 10/21/15)(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Two Niger soldiers were killed in a suicide attack by a group of suspected Boko Haram militants in the southeastern region of Diffa.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, In the Philippines 2 Chinese diplomats were killed and the consul-general was wounded by a Chinese attacker armed with a pistol during a birthday celebration at a restaurant.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Russia said its jets have hit 83 targets in Syria over the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, In Singapore Pastor Kong Hee of the City Harvest Church was convicted along with five other church officials on charges related to the misuse of $36 million to promote the career of Kong’s wife, Ho Yeow, a singer also known as Sun Ho.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 21, South African riot police fired stun grenades at hundreds of protesting students who stormed the parliament precinct in Cape Town to try to disrupt the reading of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene's interim budget.
(Reuters, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, Swiss-based Credit Suisse said it plans to cut at least 3,400 jobs over three years in Britain and Switzerland and raise billions in a new share offering after its net profit fell 24 percent in the third quarter.
(AP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, in Tanzania attackers overnight tried to hack the genitals off a man with albinism. Presidential and parliamentary polls due Oct 25 have been marked by fears of a spike in albino murders, with rights groups warning that some politicians may also be seeking lucky charms or "witchcraft" potions.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 21, The UN's cultural body approved a resolution from a group of Arab states criticizing Israel for failing to protect heritage sites and rebuild regions destroyed by war.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 21, In Yemen at least 22 civilians were killed and several others wounded as rockets allegedly fired by rebels crashed into the city of Taez.
(AFP, 10/21/15)
2015 Oct 22, Pres. Obama met with Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif at the White House to talk of strengthening ties and possible financial assistance to Islamabad.
(SFC, 10/22/15, p.A3)
2015 Oct 22, The United States and its allies carried out 16 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 22, US safety regulators said 8 people have died and 98 people have been injured by exploding air bag inflators made by Takata Corp. About 23.4 million Takata driver and passenger air bag inflators have been recalled on 19.2 million US vehicles sold by 12 auto and truck makers.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, The US FCC capped cost on phone calls from prison inmates to go into effect in early 2016.
(SFC, 10/23/15, p.A10)
2015 Oct 22, The Watts Bar plant in Tennessee became the first new nuclear facility to be licensed in America in 20 years.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.58)
2015 Oct 22, Taliban fighters fled to the banks of the Amu River, one of the longest in Central Asia, deserting motorbikes and using fishing boats to reach the island on the border between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan after fleeing army troops led by the Afghan VP General Abdul Rashid Dostum.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 22, Egyptian authorities arrested businessman Hassan Malik, a senior leader and financier of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. More than 200 lawyers were reported to be behind bars for defending the government's Islamist opponents.
(AP, 10/23/15)(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, French Pres. Francois Hollande arrived in Athens for a two-day visit, as Greece seeks help from European rescue lenders for relief on its massive bailout debts.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, Amnesty International said security forces in Guinea have shot two unarmed people in the back and beat another person to death in the lead up to elections this month.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, In northern Iraq the US military freed a number of Kurdish captives in a rescue mission in the vicinity of Hawija. US Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler (39) was killed in the operation. In 2020 Sgt. Maj. Thomas “Patrick" Payne was awarded the Medal of Honor for his role in rescuing dozens of hostages.
(AP, 10/22/15)(AP, 10/23/15)(AP, 9/11/20)
2015 Oct 22, Masayoshi Son (58), the Japanese founder and CEO of SoftBank, proposed that the artifical intelligence will exceed the human kind by about 2055 in an event call the Singularity.
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.64)
2015 Oct 22, In Kyrgyzstan shooting broke out on the outskirts of Bishkek between police and a man believed to be one of the Islamist militants who escaped from a local prison this month. police believed Altynbek Itibayev, who has been convicted for murder and faces more charges, including those of terrorism, had barricaded himself inside a small building with another unidentified men.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, In southwest Pakistan a powerful bomb at a Shiite mosque killed 10 people and wounded several others in the district of Sibi.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, The Russian defense ministry said its planes had flown 53 sorties and struck 72 militant targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, Slovenia's Constitutional Court gave the go-ahead for a referendum that could overturn a law allowing same-sex marriages.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, It was reported that more than 12,000 migrants have crossed into Slovenia in the last 24 hours and thousands more were expected.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, In South Sudan government troops killed about 50 people by stuffing them into a shipping container in baking heat in Unity state. This was only made public on Jan 31, 2016. On March 11, 2016, Amnesty International said the deliberate suffocating of over 60 men and boys stuffed into a baking hot shipping container in South Sudan is a war crime.
(AFP, 2/1/16)(AFP, 3/11/16)
2015 Oct 22, A Spanish helicopter ditched about 280 nautical miles (520 km / 320 miles) from its destination on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, having set off from Mauritania. All three crew members were missing.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 22, In Sweden a teacher and student died and another teacher and student were badly injured in an attack by a knife-wielding masked man in the town of Trollhattan. Attacker Anton Lundin Pettersson (21) died after being shot by police, who later confirmed racial motivations. Wounded teacher Nazir Amso (42) died on Dec 3.
(AP, 10/22/15)(AFP, 10/23/15)(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Oct 22, In Sweden a teacher and student died and another teacher and student were badly injured in an attack by a knife-wielding masked man in the town of Trollhattan. The attacker died after being shot by police.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, Southern Thailand was hit by the most severe haze ever from forest fires in Indonesia, forcing all schools in a province to close and disrupting flights in a popular tourist area.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein accused the Czech Republic of committing systematic human rights violations by detaining refugees for up to 90 days and strip-searching them for money to pay for their own detention.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, In Vanuatu 14 members of parliament were sent to prison on charges of graft. Earlier this month Marcellino Pipite, the speaker of parliament, had pardoned himself and 13 others while acting as head of state as Pres. Baldwin Lonsdale traveled abroad. Londsdale rescinded the pardons on his return.
(SFC, 12/11/15, p.37)
2015 Oct 22, In Yemen forces loyal to Pres. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi killed at least 20 Houthi militia fighters in heavy clashes in Taiz.
(Reuters, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 22, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was awarded China's alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize for what the prize committee called his inspired national leadership and service to pan-Africanism. Mugabe received only 36 of 76 votes, but was awarded the prize following a meeting of the committee's 13-member review board.
(AP, 10/22/15)
2015 Oct 23, The United States, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia met in Vienna to explore a political solution to the Syrian civil war despite the basic US-Russian disagreement over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fate.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, The United States and its allies carried out 21 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, US FDA authorities said they have confiscated shipments of the lethal-injection chemical sodium thiopental that Arizona and Texas tried to bring in from abroad, saying such imports are illegal.
(SFC, 10/24/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 23, TalkTalk, a British telephone and broadband provider, said it has been hit by a "significant and sustained" cyber-attack and that the personal data of millions of Britons could be at risk after.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In northern Cameroon Boko Haram Islamists seized control of Kerawa, a town in on the border with Nigeria. An unspecified number of civilians were killed in the assault.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Quebec province officials said eight Canadian police officers, suspected of sexually assaulting and beating aboriginal women, have been put on leave or transferred to administrative duty.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping has ended his state visit to Britain after being greeted by hundreds of enthusiastic and well-organized well-wishers in the northwest England city of Manchester.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, China cut interest rates to support stuttering growth and announced that it was setting banks free in theory to offer depositors whatever interest they like.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.69)
2015 Oct 23, Croatia and Serbia agreed to increase the flow of asylum-seekers over their border after thousands were forced to spend a muddy night out in the open in near-freezing temperatures.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In France at least 43 people on a bus carrying elderly day-trippers were killed early today when the bus hit a truck head-on and caught fire near Puisseguin in the Gironde region.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Germany defended a decision to allow the export of tanks and artillery to Qatar, saying it was confident the arms would not be used in a war in Yemen between government supporters and the Iran-allied Houthis.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, German authorities arrested an Iranian man on suspicion he was spying for Tehran. Maysam P. (31) was accused of spying since December 2013 for Iran on the opposition group known as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, or MEK.
(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 23, India accused Pakistan of a cease-fire violation in Kashmir in which one Indian civilian was killed and another was wounded.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In Indonesia a law that makes gay sex punishable by public caning took effect in conservative Aceh province.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Japan and Turkmenistan signed deals worth over $18 billion on a package of projects in the energy-rich central Asian nation, which has become an important supplier of natural gas to China.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In Mexico Hurricane Patricia, a Category 5 storm, crashed into western Mexico with rain and winds of up to 165 mph (266 kph). The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm and then a depression as it moved northeast in Zacatecas the following morning.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, Niger was ordered to pay compensation to the family of former president Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, who was killed by members of the presidential guard in a 1999 coup. Five judges sitting at the ECOWAS Court of Justice said Niamey should pay a total of 435 million CFA francs (663,000 euros, $750,000) to Mainassara's widow, five children and 11 brothers and sisters.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In northeastern Nigeria 42 people were killed and 11 wounded in bomb attacks at mosques in Maiduguri, Borno state, and in Yola, Adamawa state.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, In southern Pakistan a suicide bomber targeted a Shiite religious procession, killing at least 18 people and wounding 40 others in Jacobabad, Sindh province.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, A Peruvian prosecutor said Lt. Wilmer Eduardo Delgado Ruiz (35), arrested for allegedly letting small planes ferry cocaine unhindered from the world's No. 1 coca-producing valley, was getting bribes of $10,000 a planeload that he apparently shared with his superiors.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Philippine aviation authorities said haze from Indonesian forest fires has spread to the southern and central Philippines, disrupting air traffic and prompting warnings for residents to wear face masks.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, Portugal's parliament elected Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues as Socialist speaker of the house. Leftist parties used their majority in the new parliament to block the incoming center-right government's candidate.
(Reuters, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In South Africa thousands of university students protesting planned tuition hikes flocked to the country's main government complex, with some setting fires and throwing stones as police responded with stun grenades, tear gas and a water cannon. Pres. Zuma met with student leaders and university managers. His office later announced that there would be no fee increase for university students in 2016.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian air strikes in Syria have killed at least 446 people, more than a third of them civilians, since they began end-September.
(AFP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 23, In Thailand police Major Prakrom Warunprapa, charged under a controversial royal defamation law, died in custody after "hanging" himself in his cell. He was accused of embezzling money by falsely claiming links to the monarchy.
(AFP, 10/24/15)(Econ, 11/14/15, p.42)
2015 Oct 23, In Ukraine pro-Russian insurgents in eastern separatist Donetsk region said they have banned Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and UN agencies.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 23, Yemeni security officials said heavy fighting between pro-government forces and the Shiite Houthi rebels besieging the western city of Taiz killed 71 people in the past two days.
(AP, 10/23/15)
2015 Oct 24, The United States and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase support to Syria's moderate opposition while seeking a political resolution of the four-year conflict as Secretary of State John Kerry met with King Salman.
(Reuters, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 24, The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria carried out 22 air strikes.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 24, In Connecticut Mozaffar Khazaee (61), a former Pratt & Whitney engineer, was sentenced to more than eight years in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine for trying to send hundreds of sensitive US military documents to Iran as he tried to get teaching jobs at state-run universities there.
(AP, 10/2515)(http://tinyurl.com/negbfpy)
2015 Oct 24, Maureen O’Hara (b.1920), Irish-born film star, died at her home in Boise, Idaho. Her many films included “How Green Was My Valley" (1941), “Miracle on 34th Street “ (1947), “The Quiet Man" (1952) and “The Parent Trap" (1961).
(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.D13)
2015 Oct 24, In Oklahoma 4 people were killed and dozens more injured after Adacia Avery Chambers (25), suspected of driving under the influence, crashed into a crowd attending an Oklahoma State University homecoming parade in Stillwater.
(AP, 10/2515)(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 24, Afghan security forces retook control of the Ghormach district in the northwestern province of Faryab after it was overrun by the Taliban several days ago.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Bangladesh unidentified attackers hurled home-made bombs as thousands of Shiite Muslims gathered for a religious procession in Dhaka before dawn injuring more than 100 other people. 2 people were killed. Authorities immediately arrested two suspects and recovered two unexploded bombs.
(AP, 10/24/15)(Econ, 11/7/15, p.36)
2015 Oct 24, In Egypt gunmen in North Sinai shot dead Mostafa Abdel Rahman, a candidate for ultraconservative Salafist Al-Nur party which is seen as pro-government. A first lieutenant and two soldiers were killed in an explosion which targeted a police armored vehicle in the northern Sinai city of el-Arish.
(AFP, 10/24/15)(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, French pilots Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos arrived in France after escaping from the Dominican Republic, where they were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for bringing drugs into the country by private plane. They denied the charges. Two other Frenchmen who were also convicted in connection with the same case remained in the Dominican Republic.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 24, It was reported that Greece this week averaged 9,600 migrants arriving per day.
(SFC, 10/24/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 24, Indonesian officials said warships have been put on standby to evacuate people affected by acrid haze from forest fires which has killed at least 10 and caused respiratory illnesses in half a million.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Iraq huge crowds of black-clad Shiite faithful massed in Karbala, crying and beating their chests to commemorate Ashura, the 7th century killing of the prophet's grandson.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Jordan US Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met In Amman, and voiced hope they might find a way to ease the Israel-Palestinian tensions but offered no details. Kerry will also met King Abdullah of Jordan, who is custodian of the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, Hundreds of S. Koreans crossed the border to North Korea for the last set of reunions this year. In the first round of reunions earlier in the week, about 390 South Koreans traveled to the resort to meet with 180 North Korean relatives.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Lebanon tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters marched through the Shi'ite southern suburbs of Beirut chanting "Death to the Saud family" as their leader railed against Sunni-led Saudi Arabia in a sign of deepening hostility towards the US-allied kingdom.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Libya the bodies of 27 people, thought to be migrants, were discovered on beaches at Zliten. Another 13 were found along the shores of Tripoli and the nearby town of Khoms.
(AP, 10/2515)(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 24, Maldives VP Ahmed Adeeb was arrested in connection with the Sep 28 explosion aboard the president's boat that authorities have called an assassination attempt. Adeeb will be charged with high treason. Three soldiers, including a former member of Adeeb's security detail and a member of the army's bomb squad, were also arrested in connection with the blast. Authorities also arrested a Sri Lankan man believed to be a sniper who was targeting President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
(AP, 10/24/15)(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Oct 24, A Nigerian court nullified the election of the governor of the oil-rich Rivers state on the grounds of irregularities and ordered a fresh vote within 90 days. Governor Nyesom Wike, of former president Goodluck Jonathan's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had been declared winner of the election.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In northeastern Nigeria 4 women suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing one other person and wounding 10, when civilian guards prevented them from entering the city of Maiduguri.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, A Palestinian was shot dead after he tried to stab an Israeli security guard at the Jalameh border crossing.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, The Russian defense ministry said its planes had flown 934 sorties and destroyed 819 militant targets in Syria since the start of its operation there on Sept. 30.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, Slovenian officials staggered to cope and tempers flared at an overcrowded refugee center as thousands more asylum-seekers poured into the tiny Alpine nation. Slovenian police estimated some 13,000 people had entered the country in the last 24 hours.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, Humanitarian organizations monitoring civilian casualties in South Sudan said 80 civilians, including 57 children, were killed in just one county in war-torn Unity state between October 4 and 22.
(AP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes battled Islamic State group fighters in a bid to restore a key supply line to Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 28 IS fighters and 21 troops and militia have been killed in the battle for the road that leads to the government-held sector of Aleppo.
(AFP, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 24, In Syria Vadim Kostenko (19) a Russian soldier, reportedly hanged himself at a base on the Syrian coast because of problems in his personal life. At his funeral his father said there were no signs on the body to support the official account.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 24, Venezuela media reported that Franklin Nieves, the state prosecutor who helped lead charges against opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, has fled the country and accused the socialist government of pressing him to use false evidence to unfairly condemn Lopez.
(Reuters, 10/24/15)
2015 Oct 25, A US-led coalition conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic state in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 25, Florida called an early end to the state’s black bear hunt saying 298 bears were taken nearing the set limit.
(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 25, Argentina held presidential elections. Mauricio Macri dealt a major blow to the ruling Front for Victory in the first round, winning 34.3 percent of the vote, slightly less than Daniel Scioli of the ruling party at 36.9 percent.
(AP, 10/2515)(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 25, Former British PM Tony Blair acknowledged the 2003 invasion of Iraq played a part in the rise of the Islamic State militant group, and apologized for some mistakes in planning the war.
(Reuters, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, In Canada 5 Britons were killed when a Canadian whale-watching boat carrying 27 passengers sank off the coast of British Columbia. An Australian man remained missing and the rest were rescued.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 25, China said it will provide Nepal with 1.3 million liters (340,000 gallons) of gasoline to help it cope with severe fuel shortages as a result of restricted supplies from neighboring India.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Colombians went to the polls to elect provincial governors and hundreds of local officials who will have a crucial role in implementing any peace agreement reached with leftist FARC rebels.
(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, The Republic of Congo voted on whether to amend the constitution to enable one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, to seek a third term, extending his 31-year grip on power. More than 92 percent of voters supported the change and turnout stood at 72 percent.
(AFP, 10/2515)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 25, Central and eastern European leaders met in Brussels to draw up a common approach to dealing with the thousands of migrants streaming into the EU every day from the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan. The leaders committed to bolster the borders of Greece as it struggles to cope with the wave of refugees from Syria and beyond who cross over through Turkey.
(Reuters, 10/2515)(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 25, It was reported that carbon nanotubes have been found in the lung fluid of asthmatic children living in Paris. The nanomaterial has only recently been used to manufacture items such as bicycle parts, sporting goods and wind turbines.
(SSFC, 10/25/15, p.D16)
2015 Oct 25, At least three migrants, two children and a woman, drowned when their boat sank off the Greek island of Lesbos.
(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Guatemala held runoff elections. Comedian Jimmy Morales faced former first lady Sandra Torres, a businesswoman and longtime political operative. Morales (46) won after officials results showed him winning about 68% of the vote.
(AP, 10/2515)(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 25, Haitians began voting for a new president with a choice of 54 candidates. Jude Celestin, of the Lapeh party, garnered 25 percent of the vote, according to results. He will face ruling party candidate Jovenel Moise, the frontrunner at 32 percent, in a December 27 runoff.
(AFP, 10/2515)(AFP, 11/6/15)
2015 Oct 25, Indonesian police on Bali arrested Rajendra Nikalje, one of India's most wanted gangsters, sought in more than two dozen murder cases. On Nov 5 he was deported to India after being on Interpol's most-wanted list for two decades.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Oct 25, In Indonesia 17 people were killed in a fire that raced through a karaoke bar early today on Sulawesi island. 71 others were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Ivory Coast voters headed to the polls as the West African nation held its first presidential election since a disputed vote five years ago triggered violence in which more than 3,000 people died. Alassane Ouattara won a landslide victory.
(AP, 10/2515)(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 25, Kenya's military says it has destroyed a base in Somalia operated by the Islamic extremist rebels of al-Shabab and killed 15 of its fighters in a dawn attack.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, In Pakistan gunfire and shelling by Indian border guards killed three civilians near Sialkot, a city in the eastern Punjab province. Another 14 people were wounded. India said Pakistan fired first.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 25, A Palestinian woman was shot dead while trying to knife Israeli border police and two Israelis were wounded in attempted stabbings as PM Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to install more security cameras at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a bid to defuse tensions.
(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Poland held parliamentary elections. The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party under party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski won 235 seats in the 460-seat lower house and a majority in the Senate, sweeping the economically liberal pro-EU center-right Civic Platform from office. No party left of center won a seat. Beata Szydlo will serve as prime minister.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(AP, 10/27/15)(SFC, 10/29/15, p.A2)(Econ, 10/31/15, p.51)
2015 Oct 25, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis demanded that the prime minister and interior minister address public anger over the on-duty death of a police motorcyclist on Oct 20. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Bucharest calling for the resignation of Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Direct flights between Russia and Ukraine stopped as a result of continuing tensions over Russia's annexation of Crimea and backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Tanzania and Zanzibar held general elections. Ruling party candidate, Works Minister John Magufuli (55), battled former PM Edward Lowassa (62), who defected to the opposition earlier this year after being rejected as the ruling party's candidate. On Oct 29 the National Electoral Commission said John Magufuli won the presidential elections with over 58 percent of votes, but the opposition said the vote was rigged and also claimed victory.
(AP, 10/2515)(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 25, In western Thailand 8 people were killed and over 20 injured when a bus carrying workers back from a holiday weekend crashed in Kanchanaburi province.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Turkish military shot at Kurdish forces deployed in the town of Tal Abyad, Syria, using mostly machine guns. There were no casualties in the shooting and the Kurdish forces didn't return fire.
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 25, Ukrainians voted in local elections that were seen as a test of the strength of President Petro Poroshenko's government and of the oligarchs accustomed to running regions of the country. The Mariupol vote was pushed back to next month "due to the improper preparation of election ballots.
(AP, 10/2515)(AFP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, Pope Francis closed a contentious bishops' meeting on family issues calling for a more open-hearted, compassionate Church rooted in people's lives and not a programmatic, arid one that fears changes and challenges.
(Reuters, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 25, In Yemen about 30 Islamic militants stormed a supermarket in Aden, firing into the air and taking hostages.
(AP, 10/2515)
2015 Oct 26, Pres. Barack Obama and John Boehner, the outgoing Speaker of the House, struck a deal to suspend the debt ceiling.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.25)
2015 Oct 26, The Mississippi state flag was taken down from the Univ. of Mississippi after student leaders, faculty and staff called for its removal because of its prominent Confederate emblem.
(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 26, In Afghanistan 2 security guards working for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission were killed in the eastern city of Jalalabad when a roadside bomb blew up as their vehicle passed.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, A major earthquake struck the remote Afghan northeast, killing at least 135 people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan and sending shock waves as far as New Delhi. The death toll from the 7.5 magnitude quake soon reached 390 with 272 killed in Pakistan and 121 in Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(AP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 26, The Belgian branch of the controversial Church of Scientology went on trial facing a possible ban for fraud and extortion, charges it claims are meant to blacken its reputation.
(AFP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, Peter Farquhar (69), British novelist and former teacher of English, died in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire. His death was recorded as accidental as the result of acute alcohol intoxication. In 2018 Benjamin Field, his brother Tom Field, and magician friend Martyn Smith, were arrested by police on suspicion of murdering Farquhar and attempting to murder his neighbor Ann Moore-Martin (83).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Farquhar)
2015 Oct 26, In Burundi gunmen hurled grenades and battled with police in a series of deadly clashes, the latest violence since the controversial re-election of President Pierre Nkurunziza. Police killed a "madman" who tried to attack officers with a machete in Bujumbura. Over the next 24 hours more than a dozen people were killed in clashes between security forces and citizens.
(AFP, 10/27/15)(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 26, In Colombia a rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) ambush on poll workers killed 12 members of the security forces in the Andean highlands. Two soldiers remained missing.
(AP, 10/27/15)(SFC, 10/28/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 26, Croatian police said that more than 13,000 migrants arrived from Serbia in the past 24 hours, while Slovenian police reported nearly 10,000 arrivals from Croatia in the same period.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, In Iraq a suicide bomber killed 7 people, including 2 police, in an attack on a Shi'ite Muslim procession in a northern Baghdad neighborhood.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, In Jordan two containers filled with fireworks exploded at a customs storage area in Amman, killing 5 people and wounding 10, several critically.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, Lebanese authorities detained Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four others at Beirut international airport after finding two tons of drugs aboard a private jet bound for the Gulf kingdom. On Nov 2 the Saudi prince and nine others were charged with drug trafficking.
(Reuters, 10/2615)(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 26, In northern Mali UN peacekeepers began lifting a security zone they imposed around the town of Kidal because fears of an attack have diminished after rival clans signed a peace deal earlier this month.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Mali’s military said 3 civilians died when their vehicle hit a landmine, and that two UN peacekeepers who went to the rescue were wounded when a second mine exploded at Tessalit in the region of Kidal.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, It was reported that Burger King has opened its first store in sparsely populated Mongolia, joining companies from Pizza Hut to Porsche in anticipating an economic boom from the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, MTN Nigeria said it has been fined $5.2 billion for failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered cellphone subscribers. The $5.2 billion is at least two average years' profit for MTN Nigeria, by far the MTN Group's most lucrative subsidiary.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, Palestinian teenager Saed al-Atrash (19) tried to stab an Israeli soldier in the southern West Bank city of Hebron and was shot dead.
(AFP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, The Russian defense ministry said its planes had flown 164 sorties and struck 285 Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra militant targets in Syria in the last three days.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, In Saudi Arabia a blast struck the mosque belonging to the Ismaili Shiite minority in Najran after sunset, killing one person and wounding several others. The bomber was identified that next day as Saudi citizen Saad Saeed Saad al-Harthy (34).
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Rebels in South Sudan seized UN barges they suspected were transporting weapons for government troops. 28 UN peacekeepers were freed on Oct 29, but 12 contractors were kept hostage. On Nov 1 the UN sent helicopters to pick up the South Sudanese workers, and recovered the barge, but not the 55,000 liters of fuel it was carrying.
(AP, 10/29/15)(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A4)(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 26, Spain’s PM Mariano Rajoy signed a decree formally dissolving parliament and calling for general elections on Dec 20.
(SFC, 10/27/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 26, In Syria the Islamic State group killed 3 of its captives in the ancient city of Palmyra by tying them to Roman-era columns at the site, then blowing the structures up with explosives.
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Two Turkish policemen and 7 Islamic State suspects were killed in a shootout in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. About 15 suspected militants were detained and the government labeled the raid as an important blow to an IS cell.
(AFP, 10/2615)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Ukraine's pro-Russian insurgents said they had expelled two ceasefire monitors from the separatist Lugansk region last week. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) denied the report. One soldier was killed when government positions came under fire from the direction of the Donetsk airport.
(AFP, 10/2615)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, Pope Francis called for a fresh start for Roma and Sinti communities, telling traveler families from around the world they could break free of prejudice by not falling into crime. The Sinti are a traditionally itinerant ethnic group that has been present in Italy for centuries.
(AFP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, The World Health Organization said hot dogs, bacon, cold cuts and other processed meats raise the risk of colon, stomach and other cancers, and red meat probably contributes to the disease, throwing its considerable authority behind what many doctors have been warning for years.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, In Yemen a suspected al Qaeda suicide bomber killed two militiamen at a checkpoint in the southern city of Aden.
(Reuters, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 26, Yemeni residents reported that a coalition air strike killed Haradh hospital director Yasser Wathab and two people he was traveling with in a car in the northwestern province of Hajja. Several shells fired from Houthi-held north Yemen over the border into the Saudi city of Najran killed 2 foreign residents and wounded a Saudi citizen. A hospital in north Yemen run by medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was bombed in a Saudi-led air strike, wrecking the facility and lightly wounding two staff members.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 26, In Zanzibar Maalim Seif Hamad of the Civic United Front party announced he had won the Zanzibar presidential election, saying he had ousted his rival, Ali Mohamed Shein of Tanzania's ruling party. Although part of Tanzania, Zanzibar is run by a semi-autonomous government with its own president.
(AP, 10/2615)
2015 Oct 27, The United States defied China by sending a warship close to artificial islands the rising Asian power is building in disputed waters, prompting Beijing furiously to denounce what it called a threat to its sovereignty.
(AFP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, The United States and its allies carried out 14 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 27, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to acquire Rite Aid Corp. for $9.42 billion in cash. Including debt the deal was valued at $17.2 billion.
(SFC, 10/28/15, p.C4)
2015 Oct 27, The Taliban encouraged aid groups to help victims of the massive earthquake in northern Afghanistan and Pakistan as rescuers struggled to form a clear picture of the damage caused by the disaster as the death toll passed 300.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Congolese opposition leaders called for "civil disobedience" to pressure the government into withdrawing a planned constitutional amendment enabling President Denis Sassou Nguesso to extend his three-decade rule.
(AFP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Egyptians voted in run-off elections for more than 200 parliamentary seats in which no clear winner emerged in the first round of polls, with candidates loyal to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi widely expected to dominate.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, In Indonesia 12 miners were buried under a landslide while digging illegally at a state-run gold mine on the main island of Java.
(AP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 27, American-Israeli educator Richard Lakin (76), wounded in a Palestinian stabbing and shooting attack on a Jerusalem bus on Oct 13, died of his injuries. His death raised to 11 the number of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Kosovo took a step towards possible European Union membership, signing a trade and political pact with Brussels less than a decade after unilaterally declaring independence from Serbia.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, In Libya a helicopter with 23 people on board crashed near Tripoli but the cause was unclear.
(AFP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, The Maldives adopted new anti-terror legislation. Opposition politicians claimed one purpose of it was to intimidate government critics.
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.40)
2015 Oct 27, Nigerian troops freed 338 people, almost all of them women and children, held by Boko Haram Islamists near the group's Sambisa forest stronghold. Troops killed 30 suspected jihadists and seized a cache of arms and ammunition in the area.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 27, Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC started auctioning annual crude grades on live television and vowed to cut contract holders by a third as part of a drive to boost transparency at an institution hit by corruption.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, approved a new law overseeing the sponsorship system, which currently only allows workers to leave the country with the approval of their employer, as well as rules that allow workers to switch jobs. Rights groups the next day dismissed as a "sham" the long-awaited reforms.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 27, In Spain Catalan separatists launched their so-called roadmap for independence, offering a declaration in the regional parliament to split from Spain, which PM Mariano Rajoy has vowed to block.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, The Syrian presidency said political initiatives could not work in Syria before terrorism had been wiped out, sticking by its long-held position on how to end the war after its Russian allies called for new elections.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, Turkish authorities took over the management of 22 companies including newspapers and TV stations linked to a US-based cleric and arch-enemy of President Tayyip Erdogan, intensifying a crackdown days ahead of an election. Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people protesting against the government's move to seize control of Koza-Ipek Holding.
(Reuters, 10/27/15)(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, The UN said more than 700,000 refugees and migrants have reached Europe's Mediterranean shores so far this year, amid the continent's worst migration crisis since World War II.
(AFP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 27, In Vietnam a court in Hanoi sentenced six executives of a state-owned railway corporation to up to 12 years in prison after convicting them of corruption involving a Japan-funded railway project.
(AP, 10/27/15)
2015 Oct 28, Former House speaker Dennis Hastert (73), once second in line to the US presidency, pleaded guilty to making illegal bank transactions, allegedly for hush-money payouts.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, In Afghanistan Taliban insurgents overran the district capital of Darqand in Takhar province, one of the northern provinces hit by a powerful earthquake this week.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, African Union investigators discovered mass graves in South Sudan and found evidence of horrific crimes, including forced cannibalism, according to a long-awaited report. Investigators found that the conflict began on Dec. 15, 2013, as a skirmish broke out between Dinka and Nuer soldiers of the presidential guard following political tension between Kiir and Machar, who had been fired as Kiir's deputy the previous July.
(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Australia’s Troy Resources Limited said it plans to open a large gold mine in upcoming weeks at the mine in the Puruni region in western Guyana.
(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Austria said it would build a fence along its border with fellow EU state Slovenia to "control" the migrant influx, in what would be the first barrier between two members of the passport-free Schengen zone.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos offered to declare a bilateral ceasefire with the FARC guerrillas from January 1, which would mark a major breakthrough in peace talks.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the rising number of Afghan asylum seekers was "unacceptable", as he urged young citizens of the south Asian nation to stay at home and rebuild their homeland.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, At least 29 people died and 274 people were rescued when a wooden boat they were on literally fell apart in rough seas off the Greek island of Lesbos.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 28, An Indonesian minister said the death toll from acrid haze blanketing parts of the country has climbed to 19.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Iran said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and three of his deputies will attend multilateral talks on Oct 29 in Vienna aimed at resolving the conflict in Syria. Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, the European Union and France also said they would attend the talks.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, The United States and its allies conducted 13 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 28, An Italian court rejected Tunisia's extradition request for Abdelmajid Touil, a Moroccan arrested on suspicion of involvement in a deadly museum attack, because he risks the death penalty.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Nepal's parliament elected communist lawmaker Bidhya Bhandari as the country's first female president.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, In southeastern Niger suspected Boko Haram militants killed at least 14 people in an overnight attack on the village of Ala in the Diffa region.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, The Pakistani documentary film “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness", directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, was released. Its worldwide premiere was on HBO on March 7, 2016. It was about honor killings in Pakistan and won an Oscar.
(http://tinyurl.com/hujbky5)(Econ, 7/23/16, p.32)
2015 Oct 28, The tiny Pacific island nation of Palau created a vast marine sanctuary the size of Spain, banning fishing across the bulk of its waters to preserve the ocean for future generations.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, A Palestinian in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron attempted to stab an Israeli soldier and was shot dead.
(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Russia said its air force flew 71 sorties over Syria in the last two days, carrying out 118 strikes on militant targets.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, South African police fired stun grenades and arrested one student in clashes at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand, as country-wide protests for free tertiary education entered a third week.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, Tanzania's opposition presidential candidate Edward Lowassa called for a recount of the Oct 25 election for the presidency, citing voting irregularities in the East African nation's tightest elections in more than five decades. Earlier, the vote in Tanzania's semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago was annulled after the election commission there cited gross violations.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, In Turkey Istanbul police used tear gas in a dawn raid on the headquarters of Koza-Ipek Holding, a major media company linked to a government critic, enforcing a court order to seize the business just days before Turkey holds a national election. Riot police firing tear gas and water cannon stormed two opposition-linked television stations and forced them off air.
(AP, 10/28/15)(AFP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 28, In Yemen warplanes from a Saudi-led alliance bombed the Iran-allied Houthi movement throughout Yemen and dropped weapons for its allies battling the group in the southwestern city of Taiz. Militants bombed a local college in the southern city of Aden, following previous threats against the school.
(Reuters, 10/28/15)(AP, 10/28/15)
2015 Oct 29, The United States and its allies conducted 11 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and one in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, The US Pentagon said Ahmed Abdel Aziz (45) has been sent back to his native Mauritania after 13 years in custody at Guantanamo. He was never charged with a crime.
(AP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Central African Republic 4 people were killed by mobs in Bangui. 3 Muslims were attacked as they left the city's only Muslim enclave, PK5, to enter the Christian sixth district. Witnesses said 2 of them were killed immediately and their bodies chopped into small pieces. A third man escaped but was then stoned to death by a crowd. A Christian was killed later in the morning as he entered PK5.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, China’s Communist Party said it will ease family planning restrictions to allow all couples to have two children after decades of a strict one-child policy, a move aimed at alleviating demographic strains on the economy.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, The EU said it will suspended most sanctions against Belarus for four months as of Oct 31, citing "improving relations" after authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko released all remaining political prisoners.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, German police said they have searched the homes of 13 people as part of an international swoop on users of the mobile phone malware DroidJack, which allows cybercriminals to assume control of Android smartphones without users being aware.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Berlin police arrested a 32-year-old man suspected of abducting a 4-year-old migrant boy after a child's body was found in his car. Mohamed Januzi of Bosnia disappeared on Oct. 1 while waiting outside the offices of the government program for social care with his mother and two siblings. Police the next day said Silvio S. had confessed during questioning to killing both Mohamed Januzi, and six-year-old Elias from Potsdam, who went missing in July. On July 26, 2016, Silvio S. was jailed for life.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)(AP, 10/30/15)(Reuters, 7/26/16)
2015 Oct 29, Authorities on the Greek island of Lesbos searched for 38 people believed still missing after the sinking of a wooden boat carrying migrants. Greece rescued 144 refugees and recovered the bodies of 22, including 4 infants and 9 children, after their boats sank in two separate incidents in the Aegean sea.
(AP, 10/29/15)(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Iraq a barrage of rockets hit Camp Liberty, a former US military base near Baghdad housing an opposition Iranian refugee group (MEK). 3 Iraqi soldiers were killed and at least 20 Iranian exiles.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 29, Israeli security forces shot dead 2 Palestinian assailants in Hebron in the occupied West Bank following knife attacks on Israeli soldiers.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Lebanese customs officials discovered 230 kg of Captagon amphetamine pills hidden inside tables prepared for export to the Gulf state of Qatar from Beirut international airport.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Moldova's parliament backed a motion of no-confidence in the ruling pro-European coalition, increasing political turmoil following the fraudulent disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system. The vote signaled an end to the short-lived government of PM Valeriu Strelet.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Prominent Moroccan academic and rights activist Maati Monjib announced he had ended a three-week hunger strike after the judiciary lifted a travel ban against him.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Four African migrants drowned and up to 35 were missing after their boat sank in the Mediterranean in the early hours around 40 miles (65 km) north of the Moroccan coast.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Myanmar police arrested Kyaw Ko Ko (34), the leader of a student movement crushed in March, after he spent more than six months in hiding, amid increasing signs of a crackdown on dissent ahead of a Nov. 8 election.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, At The Hague an int’l. tribunal ruled that it can take on a case between China and the Philippines over disputed territory in the South China Sea.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 29, In Russia 5 people were killed in a night-time blast of household gas in an apartment block in the Khabarovsk region of the country's Far East.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 29, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi (31), who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam, was awarded the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been 595 deaths in Syria from Russian air strikes since September 30. Russian warplanes renewed strikes, including in the central province of Homs and the northwestern province of Idlib.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, Turkish media said 12 people have died and dozens have been hospitalized over the last three days after being poisoned by bootleg alcohol. Istanbul police detained 15 people in connection with the production and sale of the illegally produced raki.
(Reuters, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In southern Turkey Syrian activists Ibrahim Abdelqader, aka Ibrahim Abdul-Qadir (22), and Fares Hamadi (20), journalists for the "Raqqa is being slaughtered silently" collective, were murdered by Islamic State operatives in Sanliurfa.
(AP, 10/30/15)(AP, 12/17/15)(AP, 8/14/17)
2015 Oct 29, Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian insurgents exchanged 20 prisoners in a goodwill gesture designed to get peace talks aimed at ending the 18-month crisis back on track.
(AFP, 10/29/15)
2015 Oct 29, In Ukraine a series of blasts ripped through the military complex in government-controlled Svatove, a town around 100 km (62 miles) from the front line with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Luhansk region. 2 civilians were killed and the incident was being investigated as a "terrorist act."
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, US sources said President Barack Obama plans to deploy a small number of special operations forces to Syria to advise moderate rebels, a step he has long resisted to avoid getting dragged into another war in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, Paul Ryan (45) of Wisconsin was sworn in as the 54th speaker of the US House of Representatives.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 30, In southern California Dr. Hsiu-Ying Tseng (45) was convicted of murder for killing 3 patients who overdosed on painkillers.
(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 30, In Oakland, Ca., city Councilwoman Desley Brooks struck and knocked down ex-Black Panther leader Elaine Brown at a restaurant in Jack London Square. Brown underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff and sued the city. In 2018 Oakland settled her suit for $2.2 million.
(SFC, 7/12/18, p.D1)
2015 Oct 30, In Kentucky fugitive Floyd Ray Cook (62) was killed near Burksville after being confronted by state troopers and a federal marshal following a nearly weeklong manhunt. Cook was accused of shooting and wounding a Tennessee police officer.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 30, In New Hampshire Owen Labrie (20) of Vermont was sentenced to a year in jail for sexually assaulting a freshman girl (15) as part of an upperclassman tradition at St. Paul’s School in Concord to rack up sexual conquests.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 30, In New Mexico Albuquerque police Officer Daniel Webster (47) died from wounds suffered on Oct 21 after Davon Lymon opened fire and fled as he was being handcuffed during a traffic stop.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A6)
2015 Oct 30, In Texas storms and suspected tornadoes left at least 2 people dead and flooded I-35 between San Antonio and Austin.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 30, Chevron Corp. said it will layoff 6,000 to 7,000 employees worldwide because of the sustained slump in world oil prices.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.D1)
2015 Oct 30, Coast Guard leaders from the US, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden signed an agreement setting up the Arctic Coast Guard Forum dedicated to stewardship of Arctic waters.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 30, A Chinese court ordered ConocoPhillips to pay 1.68 million yuan ($265,000) to 21 fishermen who said their livelihoods suffered from oil spills in northern China in 2011.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, The European Parliament narrowly adopted a nonbinding measure urging the 28 EU members to recognize Edward Snowden as a whistleblower and int’l. human rights defender.
(SFC, 10/30/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 30, In waters off Greece at least 27 people, more than half of them children, died trying to reach Europe.
(SFC, 10/31/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 30, Indian folk singer S. Kovan was arrested on charges including sedition for writing songs criticizing J. Jayalalitha, the chief minister of southern Tamil Nadu state, and her government of profiting from state-run liquor shops at the expense of the poor.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Oct 30, Iran signaled it backed a six-month transition period in Syria followed by elections to decide Bashar al-Assad's fate, a proposal floated at peace talks as a concession but which the president's foes rejected as a trick to keep him in power. Multilateral talks in Vienna failed, as expected, to reach a consensus on the future of President Bashar al-Assad.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Oct 30, Israel press reported that the government has retroactively legalized some 800 homes in four settlements in the occupied West Bank. The decision was taken two weeks ago.
(AFP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, In northern Italy two pilots of helicopter maker AgustaWestland were killed in an accident during a prototype test flight.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, A Palestinian (23) stabbed and lightly wounded an American tourist in Jerusalem. The assailant was shot and severely wounded. In Hebron hundreds of youths lobbed stones, firebombs and burning tires at Israeli soldiers who hit back with tear gas and rubber bullets. In Ramallah a Palestinian hurled a Molotov cocktail at border guards and was shot and wounded.
(AFP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, Puerto Rico's Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he has signed an executive order banning the use of plastic bags across the US territory effective as of mid-2016.
(AP, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 30, In Syria at least 47 people were killed and about 100 wounded when government forces fired missiles into a marketplace at Douma, a town 10 miles from Damascus.
(Reuters, 10/30/15)
2015 Oct 31, The US pledged nearly $100 million in fresh aid to support the Syrian opposition as Western and Arab officials gathered in Bahrain for the Manama Dialogue security conference.
(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A4)
2015 Oct 31, The US-led coalition conducted nine air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and 16 in Iraq. Air strikes by Turkish and US aircraft in Syria killed more than 50 Islamic State militants and wounded around 30.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Colorado police shot down a gunman in Colorado Springs after he shot and killed 23 people.
(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A8)
2015 Oct 31, Texas authorities said at least six people have died in storms that lashed parts of the state with heavy rains.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Bangladesh Faysal Arefin Deepan, a publisher of slain online critic of religious militancy Avijit Roy, was hacked to death in Dhaka hours after similar attacks on two secular writers and another publisher in the majority-Muslim country.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)(Econ, 11/7/15, p.36)
2015 Oct 31, Egypt's prosecution referred to trial the editor-in-chief for Egypt's top literary magazine and writer Ahmed Naji for publishing sexually explicit material and allegedly violating public morals.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Oct 31, Israeli security forces shot and killed a Palestinian (18) who ran at them with a knife in the occupied West Bank.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, It was reported that Nigeria's army has begun posting a photographic collage of 100 wanted Boko Haram militants that features the shadowy leader whom they claim to have killed on at least three occasions.
(AP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Pakistan 11 people were killed when rival political parties fired on each other in local elections in the Khairpur district of the southern province of Sindh, which held the polls along with the central Punjab province.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In the southern Philippines 15 people, including 6 children, died in a fire at a market in Zamboanga city.
(AP, 10/31/15)(SSFC, 11/1/15, p.A5)
2015 Oct 31, In Romania an overnight fire in a Bucharest nightclub killed at least 27 people and injured 184 during a rock concert that featured fireworks used indoors. 146 people remained in hospital from the Colectiv Club fire. By Mar 14, 2016, the death toll rose to 64 as another victim died from their burns. A suicide victim more than 18 months later raised the death toll to 65. In 2021 the Romanian movie “Collective," nominated for two Oscars, follows a team of investigative journalists searching for the truth in the wake of the fire.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)(Reuters, 11/3/15)(AP, 3/14/16)(AP, 4/16/21)
2015 Oct 31, A Russian airliner carrying 224 passengers and crew crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula after losing radar contact and plummeting from its cruising altitude, killing all aboard. The Airbus A321 was operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia under the brand name Metrojet. Egyptian security sources said early investigations suggested the plane crashed due to a technical fault. A militant group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for the downing of the plane.
(Reuters, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to discuss trade issues, a day before their three-way summit with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe that aims to repair relations strained by historical and territorial matters.
(AP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Taiwan tens of thousands marched in Taipei in Asia's biggest gay pride parade, with many hoping presidential elections next year bring to power a pro-gay government that will legalize same-sex marriage.
(AFP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Yemen overnight clashes left 19 rebels and 14 Popular Resistance fighters dead in several southern provinces as Saudi-led coalition aircraft targeted the Iran-backed insurgents.
(AFP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct 31, In Zanzibar two small blasts rocked streets but caused no casualties, in the latest unrest following the annulment of polls on the semi-autonomous Tanzanian archipelago.
(AFP, 10/31/15)
2015 Oct, The US Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $55 billion contract to develop and build some 100 Long Range Strike Bombers (LRS-B).
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.22)
2015 Oct, “City Score" was launched in Boston. It combines 24 different metrics into a single number to indicate the city’s overall health.
(Econ, 3/26/15, SR p.11)
2015 Oct, In Argentina the provincial police chief of Santa Fe was sentenced to six years in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking.
(Econ, 9/17/16, p.35)
2015 Oct, In Cambodia two opposition lawmakers from the Cambodia National Rescue Party were beaten after being confronted by a pro-government mob, which was demanding the resignation of the party's deputy leader Kem Sonkha.
(AP, 5/27/16)
2015 Oct, Chileans discovered that for ten years they had paid over the odds for toilet paper because of a cartel linking CMPC and a smaller rival now owned by SCA, a Swedish company.
(Econ, 12/5/15, p.37)
2015 Oct, Li Xin, formerly a website editor for a Chinese media group, fled to India, where he told The Associated Press that he could no longer bear working as a secret informant for the Chinese government. He later traveled to Thailand and went missing on Jan 11, 2016.
(AP, 1/22/16)
2015 Oct, Trikala, a rural town in northern Greece, began testing a driverless bus in real traffic conditions for the first time, part of a European project to revolutionize mass transport and wean its cities off oil dependency over the next 30 years.
(AP, 10/8/15)
2015 Oct, In Guyana Dominic Bernard of Britain went missing. His body was found in January, 2016, in a shallow grave in a farming village in southeastern Guyana. Five suspects were later charged in relation to the murder.
(AP, 1/16/16)
2015 Oct, Hong Kong Gui Minhai, the owner of the Mighty Current publishing house, reportedly surrendered to mainland authorities. Friends suspected he was abducted for political reasons by Chinese agents from his apartment in Pattaya, Thailand, and smuggled into China. Minhai later said in detention that he had surrendered 10 years after he fled China after killing a woman while driving drunk. Three other members of the the shop had disappeared while visiting the Chinese mainland.
(AP, 1/17/16)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.35)
2015 Oct, Iceland repaid its debt to the IMF, which had given it a big bailout in 2008.
(Econ, 4/9/15, p.53)
2015 Oct, The IOC suspended the Kuwaiti Olympic body on grounds of government interference in sports. On June 23, 2016, Kuwait said it will sue the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland for $1 billion.
(AP, 6/23/16)
2015 Oct, In South Africa twelve men attacked two couples strolling in a Johannesburg park. 2 men were bound and thrown into a lake where they drowned. One woman was raped and the other escaped. On Nov 9 one man (24, suspected to be part of the group of attackers, appeared in court.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Oct, Five Syrian media activists were captured by the Islamic State group. They were later believed to have been killed in December over their coverage of events in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, half of which is held by IS. On June 26, 2016, a graphic video emerged showing their killing.
(AP, 6/26/16)
2015 Oct, Syrian security services executed Bassel Khartabil (aka Bassel Safadi), a Palestinian-Syrian software pioneer, after torturing him in prison. In 2017 his widow Noura Ghazi Safadi wrote on Facebook that she received confirmation of his execution.
(AP, 8/2/17)
2015 Oct, Turkmenistan Pres. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (58) published his poem “Forward, only forward, my dear country Turkmenistan. In November a choir of 4,166 people inside a giant yurt broke a world record by singing the hymn.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Oct, The UN’s World Food Program was reported to be spending $1.1 million a day to feed the hungry of South Sudan.
(Econ, 10/10/15, p.50)
2015 Nov 1, The US-led coalition conducted 10 air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on Sunday and 17 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 1, Fred Thompson (b.1942), former Republican US senator from Tennessee (1994-2003), died in Nashville. He had appeared in at least 20 motion pictures with a notable role in television’s “Law and Order" (2002-2007).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Thompson)(SFC, 11/2/15, p.A9)
2015 Nov 1, A joint communique by the US and five Central Asian countries declared support for Afghanistan and its development as an independent and peaceful state.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Azerbaijan voted in parliamentary polls expected to cement President Ilham Aliyev's grip on power and boycotted by the mainstream opposition as a sham. Aliyev's Yeni (New) Azerbaijan party took 71 seats in the country's 125-seat parliament. Not a single election held in Azerbaijan since Aliyev came to power in 2003 has been recognized as free and fair by international observers.
(AFP, 11/1/15)(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 1, In Chad at least 3 soldiers were killed and 14 others wounded in a series of attacks blamed on Boko Haram Islamic militants. 14 militants were reported killed.
(AP, 11/1/15)(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea pledged to work toward greater economic integration at their first joint meeting in over three years. China and Japan agreed to restart mutual visits of their foreign ministers and hold bilateral high-level economic dialogue early next year in a meeting between Premier Li Keqiang and PM Shinzo Abe in Seoul, South Korea.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, In eastern Congo DRC fourteen humanitarian workers were kidnapped in the Rutshuru region in North Kivu province.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 1, Greek authorities said 11 more people have drown on the dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece after a boat carrying nearly 30 refugees sank in heavy seas near the eastern island of Samos. The bodies of two men, one woman and a young boy, believed to be from refugee smuggling boats, were found early today washed up on beaches in the Skala area of northern Lesbos.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, New Delhi, India, introduced a toll for all trucks and commercial vehicles in an attempt to improve air quality in the world's most polluted capital ahead of Diwali celebrations.
(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Iraq’s health ministry said it is carrying out a major vaccination campaign to combat a cholera outbreak that has infected more than 2,200 people.
(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Israeli soldiers shot dead a knife-wielding Palestinian who tried to stab them in the West Bank city of Hebron.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, In Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed a huge rally on the outskirts of Yangon, offering a message of reconciliation with political opponents if her party sweeps the upcoming general election.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Nigerian troops drove Boko Haram extremists out of an abandoned northeastern primary school in a shootout that killed 4 militants.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 1, In Pakistan a bombing in Baluchistan province early today targeted a train bound for Rawalpindi, where the military is headquartered. 3 passengers were killed and seven others wounded.
(AP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Qatar officially opened the country's biggest workers' accommodation camp, with enough space to house almost 70,000 laborers.
(AFP, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, In Somalia security forces Mogadishu fought for several hours before clearing a hotel of Islamist al Shabaab gunmen who had stormed the building after two bombs ripped into it. At least 13 people were killed.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Islamic State fighters seized the Syrian town of Maheen in Homs province from government forces, expanding their presence in Syria's west despite a Russian-backed bombing campaign against them. At least 50 fighters on the government side were killed or wounded.
(Reuters, 11/1/15)
2015 Nov 1, Turkey held parliamentary elections. The AKP won 49% of the vote, consolidating support from the right to claw back a parliamentary majority that will bolster Pres. Tayyip Erdogan's grip on power.
(AFP, 11/1/15)(Reuters, 11/2/15)(Econ, 11/7/15, p.48)
2015 Nov 1, In Yemen Cyclone Chapala killed one person, injured nine and seriously damaged or destroyed at least 20 homes on the remote island of Socotra. 3 more people were killed the next day as the cyclone headed for the mainland.
(AP, 11/1/15)(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, The United States and its allies conducted 15 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and seven in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Chicago Tyshawn Lee (9) was found shot dead in an alley in a South Side neighborhood. On Nov 27 gang member Corey Morgan (27) was charged with first degree murder. In 2016 Dwight Boone-Doty (22) was charged with first-degree murder for helping lure the boy into an alley with a juice box and then shooting him in the head.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A4)(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A4)(SFC, 3/9/16, p.A6)
2015 Nov 2, Albanian students at the Univ. of Tirana threw eggs at a car carrying PM Edi Rama, to protest against recent legislation that they say favors private over state-run universities.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull announced that Queen Elizabeth II had agreed to an Australian Cabinet recommendation to remove knights and dames from the Order of Australia.
(SFC, 11/3/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 2, In Bangladesh angry publishers burnt books and closed their businesses, in the third day of protests over the latest gruesome attacks on secular writers and publishers by suspected hardline Islamists.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, British actor and writer Colin Welland (81) died. He famously told Hollywood "the British are coming" when he won an Academy Award for "Chariots of Fire" in 1981.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza gave civilians five days to surrender any illegal weapons or face tough action by the police. 2 more bodies were discovered in Bujumbura. 9 people have been killed in gunfights with security forces since Oct 31.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, TransCanada asked the United States to suspend its review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in a move that might delay a decision until the US presidential election.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, China and France agreed to push for long-term monitoring of a UN accord to combat climate change due in Paris next month by reviewing cuts in greenhouse gas emissions every five years.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) charged in a damning report that Turkey's election was marred by a media crackdown, violence and other security concerns.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, A young French fisherman was among eight people arrested on suspicion of helping migrants cross the Channel to Britain in a high-speed inflatable boat. The fisherman had been smuggling migrants to Britain "for several months" on an inflatable Zodiac boat that could carry some 20 people at a time.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 2, Greece's islands were left without ferry links after the country's umbrella seamen's union launched a strike.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, Iran said it has begun shutting down uranium enrichment centrifuges under the terms of a deal struck with six world powers in July on limiting its nuclear program.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Iraq's parliament voted unanimously to bar the government from passing important reforms without its approval in an effort to curb PM Haider al-Abadi amid discontent over his leadership style.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Israel's lawmakers voted to impose a minimum three-year jail sentence on stone throwers. Judges would only be able to issue suspended sentences to stone throwers in exceptional circumstances.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Kashmir 2 Indian army soldiers were reported killed by Pakistani firing along the heavily militarized de facto border dividing Kashmir between the two countries.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Kosovo's Parliament voted overwhelmingly to ratify a stabilization and association agreement with the EU, considered a milestone for its economic growth. The opposition boycotted the voting.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Kyrgyzstan four parties jointly holding a majority in parliament agreed to establish a coalition and back incumbent PM Temir Sariyev, a move widely expected after the parties' success in the elections last month.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Lebanon 2 soldiers and six other people including two men wanted in connection with organized crime were killed in a shootout at a nightclub north of Beirut.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Nepalese police shot at ethnic protesters who attacked a police station with gasoline bomb and stones on the southern border, killing Ashish Kumar Ram, an Indian man who was among the attackers.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Northern Ireland's assembly voted in favor of same-sex marriage for the first time -- by just one vote -- but the ruling Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) sank the motion with a constitutional veto.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Pakistan banned all TV and radio coverage of Islamic militant groups, including the one suspected of carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and ordered broadcast outlets to stop running advertisements for the groups' charities.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, A Palestinian teen (19) from Hebron stabbed and wounded three Israelis near Tel Aviv before being arrested. Two of the victims were in severe condition. A Palestinian stabbed and wounded a 70-year-old man in northern Israel before being shot by officers.
(AP, 11/2/15)(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Puerto Rican Rep. Carlos Vargas Ferrer (44) hit a newspaper vendor after he lost control of his car early today, then crashed into a light pole in the San Juan suburb of Rio Piedras. The legislator soon died of his injuries.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Romanian prosecutors opened a criminal manslaughter investigation against the three owners of the Bucharest nightclub.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, Russia said its air force flew 131 sorties and hit 237 targets in Syria in the last two days.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, A Russian military court in the North Caucasus city of Rostov-on-Don jailed Gadzhi Magomedov for 17 years for allegedly fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria. Pres. Putin has said that up to 7,000 people from Russia and its former Soviet neighbors may be fighting for IS and that he does not want to see them returning to their native countries en masse.
(AFP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Russian state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport said it is preparing a contract to supply Iran with S-300 missile systems.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Saudi Arabia’s local media reported that the government will raise the price of water for non-residential consumers, a sign the government is cutting back an expensive system of subsidies as low oil prices strain its finances.
(Reuters, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Police in Sicily arrested 22 suspected mobsters after businesses, tired of paying the Mafia "protection" money, rebelled and contacted authorities.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, The Swiss government said the terrorism threat has increased this year, and police and intelligence services are now handling about 70 cases involving "jihadi-motivated terrorism."
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, Turkish airstrikes hit shelters, underground bunkers and weapon emplacements belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in six locations in northern Iraq, including the Qandil mountains where the rebel leadership is based.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 2, The Vatican upheld the arrests of Spanish Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Italian laywoman Francesca Chaouqui. Both had served on a financial reform commission set up by Pope Francis as part of the probe into yet another leak of confidential information and documents.
(AP, 11/2/15)
2015 Nov 2, In Zimbabwe Sunday Mail editor Mabasa Sasa, investigations editor Brian Chitemba and reporter Tinashe Farawo were arrested after allegedly implicating an unnamed top police officer and other officials in recent fatal cyanide poisonings of more than 60 elephants by poachers.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 25 air strikes in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 3, US auto safety regulators fined Japan’s Takata Corp. $70 million for concealing evidence for years that its air bags are prone to explode. The defect was linked to 8 deaths and over 100 injuries worldwide.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.C2)
2015 Nov 3, The California Dept. of Public Health judged local Dungeness crab and rock crab, from Oregon to the southern border of Santa Barbara County, to be too toxic to eat just days before the Nov 7 start of the recreational crab season. On Nov 5 the state’s Fish and Game Commission voted to suspend the recreational Dungeness and rock crab fishing season due to a potentially deadly neurotoxin.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A1)(SFC, 11/6/15, p.A1)
2015 Nov 3, In San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee was easily re-elected for a 2nd full term. Voters also approved Prop A for a $310 million fund for affordable housing and Prop D for a high-rise district near AT&T Park.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A9, 10)
2015 Nov 3, In Kentucky Republican businessman Matt Bevin defeated Democrat Jack Conway to win the race for state governor.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 3, In Louisiana police officers serving a warrant in Marksville shot and wounded Chris Few and killed his son, Jeremy Mardis (6). Officers Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenshouse Jr. were arrested on Nov 6 and indicted on Dec 10.
(SFC, 11/7/15, p.A10)(SFC, 12/11/15, p.A10)
2015 Nov 3, It was reported that Chipotle has closed down 43 of its restaurants in Oregon and Washington states after at least 37 people were reported sickened in an outbreak of E. coli. This was the third food-borne illness at the chain this year.
(SFC, 11/3/15, p.D4)(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 3, Activision Blizzard, a video game company, acquired King Digital Entertainment for $5.9 billion in cash and stock.
(Econ, 11/7/15, p.61)
2015 Nov 3, In Bangladesh about 1,000 authors and teachers marched through the streets of Dhaka, asserting their right to free speech days after a suspected Islamist group attacked writers and publishers critical of religious militancy.
(Reuters, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, A British judge ordered a huge financial payout for Palestinian-born Janan Harb (68), who claims she was the "secret wife" of the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Harb had told the court she secretly married the king in 1968 when he was still a prince.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Banking group Standard Chartered said it is slashing 15,000 jobs worldwide and plans to raise $5.1 billion from shareholders through a rights issue as part of a major restructuring to shore up its financial position.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, President Xi Jinping said that China needs at least 6.5 percent economic growth in coming years to become "moderately prosperous." Premier Li Keqiang told visiting French President Francois Hollande that China has used up too much energy and too many resources in its quest for growth, adding it has a "duty to humanity" to clean itself up.
(AP, 11/3/15)(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Experts said that some fish species are close to extinction in the South China Sea due to over-fishing fueled by a growing appetite for seafood.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Volkswagen said it had understated carbon dioxide emissions for 800,000 cars, widening its scandal over cheating on US engine tests.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 3, Iranian media reported that authorities have arrested three pro-reform journalists, one of whom has been critical recently of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They included Issa Saharkhiz, Ehsan Mazandarani and Afarine Chitsaz.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Iran's semi-official news agency Fars said Col. Mostafa Ezzatollah Soleimani, an officer with the elite Revolutionary Guard force, had died in fighting in Syria's contested province of Aleppo.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, In Iraq Ahmad Chalabi (71), a prominent Iraqi politician, died in Baghdad of a heart attack. He became a Pentagon favorite when he helped convince the Bush administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2003 by pushing false allegations of weapons of mass destruction and links to al-Qaida.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, The Israeli military raided the Palestinian Al Hurria radio station in the West Bank and confiscated equipment it said was being used to broadcast calls to attack Israelis.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, In northwest Nepal a bus packed with passengers riding both inside and on its roof veered off a mountain road, killing 30 people and injuring 35 others.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, South African-based MTN Group said that the Nigerian Communications Commission is extending its operating license to 2021 at a cost of $94.2 million even as the company faces a multibillion-dollar fine there. Last week, the commission fined MTN $5.2 billion for failing to disconnect millions of unregistered cellphone subscribers.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, In northeastern Spain a river swelled by torrential downpours overflowed its banks inundating a nursing home and killing 4 elderly residents.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Syrian journalist Batoul Mokhles al-Warar was killed in a suburb of Damascus, amid clashes and shelling between government troops and rebel fighters.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it has confirmed 185 civilians killed in Russian airstrikes in the past month. It also reported and 131 IS fighters as well as 279 rebels not connected to IS killed in the Russian airstrikes. Air strikes by Russian warplanes on the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa killed 42 people, including 27 civilians.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A3)(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish police detained 44 suspects including high-ranking bureaucrats and police officers as part of a probe into supporters of a US-based cleric accused of plotting to bring down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AFP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish authorities arrested two editors of a political weekly on charges of inciting an armed uprising against the government for suggesting on the magazine's front page that the aftermath of Turkey's election would mark the start of a civil war.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Turkish security forces backed by helicopters imposed a curfew in parts of a town in the largely Kurdish southeast, where three people were killed in clashes.
(Reuters, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, Yemeni security officials said fighting between Shiite rebels and their opponents has killed over 33 people in the past 24 hours in Taiz.
(AP, 11/3/15)
2015 Nov 3, In Yemen Chapala was downgraded to a Category 1 cyclone as it hit the southeastern coastline. Heavy flooding was reported in parts of Mukalla.
(SFC, 11/4/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 4, In central California student Faisal Mohammad (18) stabbed four people with a hunting knife at UC Merced before he was shot to death by campus police. The FBI later said he was inspired by the Islamic State Group but had acted alone.
(SFC, 11/5/15, p.A9)(SFC, 11/6/15, p.D9)(SFC, 3/18/16, p.D4)
2015 Nov 4, Melissa Mathison, screen writer and former wife (1983-2004) of Harrison Ford, died. Her work included the scripts for “the Black Stallion" (1979) and “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" (1982).
(SFC, 11/6/15, p.D7)
2015 Nov 4, It was reported that researchers from Beijing and California have found that mealworms are able to naturally biodegrade Styrofoam that would have otherwise sit in a landfill for more than a million years.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Afghanistan's president ordered a probe into the fatal stoning a week earlier of a young woman in a Taliban-controlled area after she was accused of adultery. The woman, identified as Rokhsana and believed to be aged between 19 and 21, had been forced to marry and was accused of adultery after she tried eloping with another man. The man she was eloping with was let off with a lashing.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Bahrain’s interior ministry said it had arrested 47 members of a group it said had ties to "terror elements in Iran" and was also plotting attacks.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Bangladesh an attack on a checkpoint near Dhaka left one police officer dead and another wounded. The Islamic State soonclaimed responsibility.
(SFC, 11/6/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 4, the Bosnian and Serbian governments held their first joint session since their conflict started 25 years during the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The two governments signed cooperation agreements on finding missing persons, telecommunications, protection of cultural heritage and sustainable development but announced this is just a beginning of a process of strengthening their relations.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Canada Justin Trudeau (43) was sworn in as the country’s 23rd prime minister in front of a packed crowd.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Egypt a suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives at the main gate of a police club in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 3 police and wounding 10 others in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Finland said it has suspended its decision-making process for Afghani asylum claims due to an ongoing assessment of the security situation in the country. It said it would also review EU practices and the possibility of returning people to Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, France said it will lift a ban on gay men giving blood, but only if they abstain from sex in the months beforehand, an exclusion denounced as discriminatory by rights groups.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Indian police said authorities have detained key separatist leaders and hundreds of their supporters to prevent them from holding a protest rally during a visit by PM Narendra Modi to Kashmir this weekend.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Indonesia thousands of tourists were stranded on three islands after ash from Mount Rinjani on Lombok Island forced the closure of airports and blanketed villages and farmlands.
(AP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, The Maldives declared a state of emergency for 30 days citing a threat to national security.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that growing, possessing and smoking marijuana for recreation is legal under the right to freedom.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Pakistan a factory building collapsed as a new floor was being added in an industrial area on the outskirts of Lahore, killing at least 37 workers and injuring dozens. 103 people were rescued from the rubble.
(AP, 11/4/15)(Reuters, 11/5/15)(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 4, A Palestinian driver ran over and injured an Israeli border policeman near the West Bank city of Hebron and was then killed by Israeli forces.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Romanian PM Victor Ponta announced the resignation of his government following huge protests in the wake of a nightclub fire that killed more than 30 people. The outgoing government approved an emergency ordinance to raise wages for staff in the state education sector by 15 percent from December.
(AP, 11/4/15)(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, A South Korean government commission said that the remains of nearly 2,750 people, believed to be Koreans who were forced to work in Japan in the WWII era, have been found.
(SFC, 11/5/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 4, In South Sudan a Russian-built Antonov-12 B turbo prop cargo plane with passengers on board crashed after taking off from the airport in Juba, killing at least 37 people. Officials said the plane belonged to freight and logistics firm Allied Services Ltd. and was not authorized to carry passengers.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 4, Syria's army recaptured the only road into the government-held side of Aleppo city from Islamic State group fighters. Rebels shot down a government MiG warplane with anti-aircraft fire in Hama province, forcing its pilot to eject. The pilot died after his parachute failed. Warplanes believed to be Russian carried out several air strikes on areas of the northwest that were included in a local ceasefire agreed by warring sides in September.
(AFP, 11/4/15)(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Tunisia 30 lawmakers from the ruling party suspended their membership and threatened to resign in protest over what they called attempts by President Beji Caid Essebsi's son to control the party.
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a new constitution that would give him greater powers, heightening opposition fears over authoritarian rule.
(AFP, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 4, In Turkey 2 soldiers and 15 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were killed fighting near the village of Daglica by the Iraqi border. A 20-year-old man was shot dead in the town of Silvan, where authorities ordered a round-the-clock curfew in three neighborhoods for a second successive day
(Reuters, 11/4/15)
2015 Nov 5, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 14 air strikes, and also hit the militant group with nine air strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 5, In Arkansas a charter bus ran off Interstate 40 and collided with a bridge, resulting in six dead and others injured. The bus was ferrying migrant farmworkers from Michigan to Texas as it ran off a highway and hit an overpass.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 5, The San Francisco Planning Commission approved plans for a $1 billion, 18,000 seat arena for the Golden State Warriors in the Mission Bay neighborhood.
(SFC, 11/6/15, p.A9)
2015 Nov 5, In Oklahoma some 1,000 barrels of crude oil spilled from a rural pipeline owned by magellan Midstream Partners.
(SFC, 11/7/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 5, In Washington DC controversial Russian media mogul Mikhail Lesin (57), who helped found the RT English-language television network, was found dead at the Dupont Circle Hotel. Lesin had amassed a fortune operating one of Russia's first advertising agencies and spent years as Vladimir Putin's media czar.
(AFP, 11/7/15)(SFC, 3/13/19, p.A7)
2015 Nov 5, Bahrain media reported that five citizens have been convicted of conspiring with Iran to carry out attacks inside Bahrain, sentenced to life imprisonment and stripped of their citizenship.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In southeastern Brazil a mudslide erupted from a reservoir of waste at the partly Australian-owned Samarco iron ore and minerals mine, ripping the roofs off houses in Bento Rodrigues, Minas Gerais state. 122 homes were buried in mud. At least 12 people were killed. Losses to municipalities were later estimated at 1.2 billion reais ($308 million), not considering the environmental problems.
(AFP, 11/6/15)(Reuters, 11/9/15)(SFC, 11/24/15, p.A2)(Reuters, 2/4/16)
2015 Nov 5, In Burundi some residents fled their neighborhood in Bujumbura after they found four bodies on the streets, part of a wave of killings associated with President Pierre Nkurunziza's re-election for a third term.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Egypt opened three tombs in the ancient city of Luxor to the public for the first time, hoping to spur interest in tourism despite the shadow of last weekend's airline crash in the Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, France announced it would deploy an aircraft carrier to boost its fight against the Islamic State group, which has seized control of large parts of Iraq and Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Greek ferries started operating again after the seamen's union called off rolling 48-hour strikes.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Kurdish militants scrapped a month-old ceasefire in Turkey, a day after President Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "liquidate" them.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In Lebanon 5 people were killed in a suicide attack in Arsal, a town along the border with Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Lithuanian police arrested Rimantas Bekintis (57) suspected of killing three elderly women and a social worker in a three-day stabbing spree in the rural village of Kraziai.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Maldives' Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach VP Ahmed Adeeb and said he will be charged with terrorism for plotting to kill the president.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, NATO's secretary-general sounded the alarm over the build-up of Russian military forces from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and called on the US-led alliance to come up with a response.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Niger said its air force has bombed a Boko Haram base in the country's southeast and arrested more than 20 militants, in its biggest counter-attack in eight months.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli at a junction in the occupied West Bank and was shot.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Russia sent a plane to rebel-controlled Yemen carrying what Moscow said was more than 20 tons of humanitarian aid for the conflict-torn country.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Syrian rebels, including jihadists, seized the last government-held town on the main highway between second city Aleppo and the city of Hama. Air strikes on the town on Albu Kamal on the Syrian border with Iraq killed 49 people, at least 31 of them civilians.
(AFP, 11/5/15)(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 5, Tanzania's new president John Magufuli was sworn in, promising to unite the country after a contested vote, create more jobs and drive up economic growth.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Thailand's junta launched a crackdown on organized crime, its latest effort to clean up the country and improve the image of the military government as it struggles to get a sluggish economy on track.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Thai authorities said police have cracked down on a sex ring that lured underage girls to work as prostitutes whose services were sold to high-ranking military officers, Buddhist monks and a variety of other officials.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, Turkey, said it was planning to soon launch a military campaign against IS. Turkey shares an 800-km (500-mile) border with northern Syria.
(AFP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In southeastern Turkey 18 people were killed in clashes with the military, lifting this week's death toll to almost 40 in the mainly Kurdish area and dampening prospects for a ceasefire.
(Reuters, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 5, In Hanoi Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong agreed to limit their differences and maintain peace and stability, as the two Communist neighbors attempt to repair ties strained over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
(AP, 11/5/15)
2015 Nov 6, President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, declaring it would have undercut US efforts to clinch a global climate change deal at the center of his environmental legacy.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, US and coalition warplanes carried out 20 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 6, The US military deployed six F-15C fighter jets to Turkey's southern Incirlik air base to help defend Turkish airspace against potential intruders.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Kentucky police Officer Daniel Ellis (33) died two days after he was ambushed and shot while searching an apartment for a robbery suspect. The attempted murder charge against Raleigh Sizemore Jr. (34) was upgraded to murder.
(SFC, 11/7/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 6, British drugmaker AstraZeneca said it had agreed to buy US group ZS Pharma, a specialist in treating high potassium levels linked to kidney disease.
(AFP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Bulgaria a man (28) stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death on the steps of a secondary school in Sliven, then wounded a teacher and another man before shooting and critically wounding himself.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Cambodia's defense minister said China has provided Cambodia with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, as the two countries agreed on new military aid to boost close ties.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Chinese state television reported that China and Vietnam have agreed to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea and not take any acts that "complicate" the issue.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, President Juan Manuel Santos apologized for Colombia's actions during a 1985 army raid on the Supreme Court in which nearly 100 people were killed after the building was taken hostage by guerrillas.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 6, Cuban leader Raul Castro received a warm welcome in Mexico as President Enrique Pena Nieto sought to end a diplomatic chill and boost business opportunities on the island.
(AFP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Germany's parliament voted to criminalize commercial euthanasia after rejecting draft laws that would have made assisted suicide fully legal in the country. German lawmakers passed a bill allowing assisted suicide for "altruistic motives" but banning the practice in cases where it is being conducted on a "business" basis.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Germany's flagship airline, Lufthansa, canceled 290 flights as cabin crew workers went on strike at Frankfurt and Duesseldorf airports.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Greenpeace said its registration to operate in India has been canceled. Tamil Nadu state, where it was registered, canceled the permit without giving the group a hearing. India began cracking down on foreign-funded charities last year after a government intelligence bureau report said economic growth was hurt when the groups rallied communities against polluting industries. On Nov 20 Greenpeace said a hold has been put on the ban to operate.
(AP, 11/6/15)(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Iraq three blasts in different parts of Baghdad killed at least 6 people and wounded 18.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a female Palestinian motorist (73) who the military said tried to run them over in the occupied West Bank. A knife-wielding assailant wounded an Israeli civilian. The attacker fled the scene and was being searched for. Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian Salame Abu Jamaa (23) during a protest east of Khan Yunis. Back to back shootings in Hebron wounded three Israelis.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)(SFC, 11/7/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 6, Toyota said it is investing $1 billion in a research company it's setting up in Silicon Valley to develop artificial intelligence and robotics, underlining the Japanese automaker's determination to lead in futuristic cars that drive themselves and apply the technology to other areas of daily life.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Mexican officials said authorities are investigating local security officials who put at least 105 unidentified victims of violent crime in a mass grave in central Mexico.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said all flights to Egypt will be suspended until proper security is in place there.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, Senegal charged five people suspected of links to Nigerian militant group Boko Haram. The five were arrested last month in the suburbs of Dakar and the central town of Kaolak.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 6, Serbian police said they have arrested several drug and arms traffickers, as well as a fugitive suspect in this year's clashes between police and armed groups in Macedonia.
(AP, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, A Saudi woman and a child were killed in the border region of Najran by a shell fired from Yemen.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, a Minnesota man and lawful permanent resident of the US but not an American citizen, surrendered to Somalia's federal government. He had joined al-Shabab in Somalia more than seven years ago.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Nov 6, In Togo violence broke out in Mango, some 600 km (370 miles) north of Lome, when law enforcement officers tried to disperse an unauthorized march by a group that opposed plans to rehabilitate several protected areas.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 6, Turkish Airlines canceled flights to Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt on Friday and Saturday nights over security concerns.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, The Green Climate Fund (GCF), a multi-billion dollar fund set up by the United Nations to help poor countries tackle climate change, approved its first eight projects, a key step before a global climate summit starts on Nov 30.
(Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015 Nov 6, The UN warned that over 90,000 people in war-torn southern Somalia have been hit by weeks of severe flooding, almost half of them forced from their homes.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 6, In southern Yemen at least 19 people were killed in Saudi-led coalition air strikes and clashes between pro-government forces and rebels.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, The United States and its allies conducted 31 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 7, Donald Trump spent 90 minutes in the "SNL" spotlight followed weeks of growing anticipation, increasingly sharp criticism and mounting calls for him to be dropped from the show. Until this evening, just eight politicians had served as guest hosts in the NBC sketch comedy series' 40 years.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 7, A British official said Britain hopes to return all of its stranded tourists from Sharm al-Sheikh within 10 days.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, A magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck north-central Chile, causing buildings to sway in the capital of Santiago, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, China and Taiwan must not let proponents of Taiwan's independence split them, China's President Xi Jinping told Taiwan's president at the first meeting between leaders of the two sides since China's civil war ended in 1949. Hundreds of angry protesters massed outside Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou's office, condemning his warm exchange with China's leader in a summit in Singapore that has fueled fears the democratic island will be swallowed up by its giant rival.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, Estonia's flagship airline announced its bankruptcy after the European Union ruled it would have to pay back 85 million euros plus interest of state aid pumped into the struggling business to keep it flying. Authorities in Tallinn moved to absorb the shock by immediately setting up a new carrier to take over key routes.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 7, Cabin crew at Lufthansa staged a second day of strikes, forcing the German airline to cancel some 520 short- and medium-haul flights.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, The office of Guyana's president said it is developing a code of conduct for public officials that would bar them from excessive gambling and sexually harassing people and require them to report all gifts in excess of a $50.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Iraq bombs in and around Baghdad killed at least 9 people.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Israel Yitzhak Navon (94), who served as Israel's fifth president (1978-1983), died. He quit politics in 1992 and became a successful author and playwright.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said it will send 44 planes to repatriate its nationals from two Egyptian Red Sea resorts. Around 80,000 Russians were stranded in Egypt.
(AFP, 11/7/15)(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Spain thousands of people from all over the country converged on Madrid to march against domestic violence.
(AP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, The Islamic State group released 37 Syrian Christians, most of them women, who were among more than 200 people kidnapped in February. The Britain-based Observatory said at least 23 civilians, were killed in suspected Russian air strikes on rebel-held Douma, outside Damascus.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Thailand prominent fortuneteller Suriyan Sujaritpalawong, accused of insulting the monarchy, died of a blood infection at a military prison where he had been detained since mid-October. He became the second person in connection with the high-profile case to die behind bars.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 7, In Togo clashes between police and protesters over the past two days left five people dead.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, Turkmenistan media said President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ordered the start of construction on a pipeline carrying gas from the former Soviet state to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, In western Venezuela a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck about 27 km (17 miles) from the city of Merida, knocking out power in some areas, damaging some buildings and triggering rockfalls that killed one man.
(Reuters, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 7, The World Anti-Doping Agency said Russia had sabotaged the 2012 London Olympic Games by running a state-sponsored doping program.
(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A25)
2015 Nov 7, The World Health Organization said that Ebola-ravaged Sierra Leone had beaten an 18-month outbreak that killed almost 4,000 citizens and plunged the economy into severe recession.
(AFP, 11/7/15)
2015 Nov 8, Afghan police said Islamic State militants have killed 7 people, including 3 women, in Zabul province. They had been abducted on Oct 1 from Rasani village in neighboring Ghazni province. The victims were members of the Hazara ethnic group.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Courts in Bangladesh sentenced six people to death for torturing and killing two young boys earlier this year. Samiul Islam Rajon (13) died in July after he was brutally beaten. Rakib Hawlader (12) died in August after his former employer at a car repair shop used a nozzle to pump air into his rectum and filled his body with air in retaliation for quitting his job.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Hundreds of Bulgarian policemen, firemen and prison guards protested against plans to slash their social benefits despite the center-right government's pledge to withdraw the proposed cuts.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Burundi gunmen at least 9 people were killed in an attack at a bar in Bujumbura hours before police launched house-to-house searches for weapons. Families were fleeing their homes in the capital, over fears the government will unleash a fresh wave of bloodletting as part of a crackdown to stamp out resistance to the president.
(AFP, 11/8/15)(SFC, 11/9/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 8, In Chad a twin suicide bombing by women attackers in the flashpoint area of Lake Chad killed at least 3 people and wounded 14 others.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In China air quality reached extremely hazardous levels in Shenyang as northern China began to burn coal to heat homes for winter.
(SFC, 11/9/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 8, Croatians voted in a general election with conservatives aspiring to return to power. The conservative opposition won the Balkan country's first parliamentary election since joining the European Union in 2013.
(AFP, 11/8/15)(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Egypt Ashraf Ali Hassanein Gharabli, a top commander of a local Islamic State affiliate, died in a firefight that erupted when police tried to arrest him in the El-Marg district of Cairo.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 8, In France more than 60 environment and energy ministers tasked with inking a global pact in December to rein in climate change, met in Paris seeking to narrow political rifts.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Indonesia an earthquake measuring 6.1 magnitude struck 107 km south of Sibolga, Sumatra.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Iran announced the appointment of its first woman ambassador since the 1979 Islamic revolution, naming foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham to head its embassy in Malaysia.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Libya two Serbian embassy employees were abducted.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Mexico unidentified assailants opened fire on an amateur soccer match on the outskirts of the Mexican Pacific Coast resort of Acapulco, killing 3 people.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 8, Myanmar held its first free nationwide election in 25 years. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was expected to win the largest share of votes cast by an electorate of about 30 million. The NLD won enough seats in Parliament to allow it to form Myanmar's first truly civilian government in more than half a century.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)(Reuters, 11/9/15)(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Nepal more than 70% of domestic flights were canceled due to fuel shortages as members of the Madhesi ethnic community continued to block the southern border with India in protest of the country’s new Constitution.
(SFC, 11/10/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 8, A Palestinian driver was shot dead after ramming his car into a bus stop near the Jewish settlement of Tapuach in the West Bank, injuring four people. A Palestinian woman stabbed a security guard near a West Bank settlement and was shot by the victim.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In northwestern Syria suspected Russian air strikes killed at least 11 civilians in two towns in Idlib province. At least 10 people were killed in government air strikes on a town held by the Islamic State group in Aleppo province. Another 4 people, including a child, were killed in rebel fire on the government-held area of Aleppo city.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Pope Francis told followers in St. Peter's Square that the theft of documents describing financial malfeasance inside the Holy See was a "crime" but pledged to continue reforms of its administration.
(AP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, Yemeni medical sources and residents said more than 50 people were killed in the past two days in fighting pitting an Arab coalition against Houthi fighters backed by troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 8, In Yemen another cyclone made landfall on Socotra island. At least two people were killed and dozens injured.
(AFP, 11/8/15)
2015 Nov 9, Pres. Obama met with Israeli PM Netanyahu at the White House. They reaffirmed their commitment to seeking Middle East peace.
(SFC, 11/10/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 9, The US Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a Texas judge’s injunction blocking the Obama administration’s immigration initiative until legal challenges to the program are resolved.
(SFC, 11/10/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 9, Carol Doda (b.1937), San Francisco’s world famous topless dancer, died.
(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A1)
2015 Nov 9, Timothy R. Johnson (53) of Georgia filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging arrest without probable cause and malicious persecution. In 2013 he was exonerated of the 1984 killing of Taressa Stanley for which he served 29 years in prison.
(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 9, The president of the Univ. of Missouri system and the head of its flagship campus resigned under student complaints that the 4-college system was unresponsive to racial slurs and other slights.
(SFC, 11/10/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 9, In NYC a Chinese collector snapped up Modigliani's "Nu Couche" or "Reclining Nude", painted in 1917-18, for $170.4 million, setting a new world record price at auction for the Italian artist in a bumper Christie's sale.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, Afghan officials said rival groups of Taliban militants have clashed in the southern province of Zabul, killing as many as 80 people in recent days.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs (85), whose works combined a love of color and texture with clear lines, mysticism and religious themes, died.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Chilean civil registry workers resumed work after a 39-day nationwide strike.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Congo DRC around 15 youth members of UNAFEC were arrested in Lubumbashi, including leader Kabulo Shimbe Zasou. The National Union of Federations of Congo was one of several parties expelled from the ruling coalition after voicing concern that President Joseph Kabila is seeking to cling to power beyond the end of his mandate in 2016.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, In France President Francois Hollande met with with Bolivian President Evo Morales, who approved buying a radar system from France that will be used to fight drug trafficking. Thales Air Systems will provide the equipment.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, French philosopher Andre Glucksmann (78) died. He bridged the intellectual worlds of Jean-Paul Sartre and Michel Foucault and was a towering fighter against totalitarianism.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Germany some 113,000 Lufthansa passengers were facing domestic and international cancellations due to all-day walkouts at three airports staged by a cabin crew union protesting cost cuts.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Jordan 2 Americans, one South African and 3 Jordanians were killed in a shooting incident at a police training center near Amman. The shooter was also killed.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Myanmar's ruling party conceded defeat in the general election as the opposition led by democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi appeared on course for a landslide victory that could ensure it forms the next government.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Russia announced that it has agreed to push on with a deal to deliver S-300 missile systems to Iran after Moscow halted an earlier agreement due to UN sanctions slapped on Tehran.
(AFP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air force flew 137 sorties and hit 448 targets in Syria in the last three days.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Pyotr Pavlensky, one of Russia's most radical political performance artists, was detained after setting fire to the main entrance to the headquarters of the FSB security service.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Sifiso Dabengwa, the CEO of South Africa-based MTN Group, Africa's biggest telecommunications company, resigned because of a $5.2 billion fine meted out to MTN Group's Nigerian subsidiary.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, Spanish police said they have seized more than 3,600 kg (4 tons) of hashish piled inside four luxury SUVs discovered in a warehouse in the southwestern Mediterranean coastal city of La Linea de la Concepcion.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Spain Catalonia's regional assembly voted in favor of a resolution to split from Spain.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Sri Lanka's law and order minister resigned after being accused of defending a private security company that is under investigation for allegedly running armories on ships.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Syria pro-government gunmen captured the village of Sheikh Ahmad in Aleppo province. The troops advanced under the cover of Russian and Syrian airstrikes.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, In eastern Syria the French army bombed an oil supply center near Deir Ezzor held by the Islamic State group, targeting part of an oil distribution station and secondly a gas separation plant.
(AFP, 11/9/15)(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 9, In Turkey a taxi driver was killed and five other people, including a police officer, were wounded when security forces clashed with Kurdish militants in the southeastern town of Silvan.
(Reuters, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Turkish media reported that anti-terrorist police have detained 38 foreigners, including women and children, who were reportedly seeking to join the Islamic State group in Syria. The suspects included nationals from Iraq, Iran, Indonesia and several central Asian nations.
(AFP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, The United Arab Emirates Air Force announced a $1.27-billion deal with Swedish defense giant Saab to purchase two surveillance planes and upgrade two others.
(AFP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 9, Members of the UN cultural agency narrowly rejected Kosovo's bid for membership, in a victory for Serbia and Russia and a blow to Kosovo's mission for global recognition as a state.
(AP, 11/9/15)
2015 Nov 10, The United States and its allies conducted 11 strikes against Islamic State in Syria and 17 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 10, Federal and state officials said they will allow solar, wind and other renewable energy development on 400,000 acres of public lands in the California desert, while setting aside 5 million acres for conservation.
(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A1)
2015 Nov 10, Avowed white supremacist Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. was sentenced to death for the April 13, 2014, fatal shootings of 3 people at Jewish sites in Kansas.
(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A8)
2015 Nov 10, In Ohio a small jet crashed into a home and then an apartment building in Akron’s Ellet neighborhood killing all 9 people onboard.
(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A9)
2015 Nov 10, A Texas grand jury returned sweeping indictments for all 106 cases brought before them on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity following the deadly shootout between biker gangs outside a Waco Twin Peaks restaurant in May.
(CSM, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 10, Legendary New Orleans musician and composer Allen Toussaint (b.1938) died after suffering a heart attack following a concert in Spain. He penned such classics as "Working in a Coal Mine" (1966) and "Lady Marmalade" (1974).
(AP, 11/10/15)(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A14)(SFC, 9/22/21, p.C4)
2015 Nov 10, In Brazil 2 executives of the country’s second-biggest private bank were killed in a jet crash in Goias state. The unnamed pilot and co-pilot were also killed.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 10, British police arrested a former soldier for the Bloody Sunday killings in Londonderry in 1972, part of a probe aimed at healing the wounds of Northern Ireland's three decades of unrest.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Congo DRC police fired tear gas at hundreds of people armed with sticks and shovels protesting the arrest of several youth leaders in Lubumbashi.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Twenty Iraqis at a Czech detention center for migrants began a hunger strike amid fears of being sent back home. By Nov 12 the number had grown to 60.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 10, The EU accused Ankara of backsliding on rule of law, rights and the media and urged it to react swiftly, in a sensitive report on Turkey's candidacy for the bloc that Brussels had delayed until after elections.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In France riot police and migrants camped near the port of Calais clashed in overnight violence that aid workers said reflects the growing frustration of refugees' inability to smuggle themselves aboard trucks and trains bound for England.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In Germany Helmut Schmidt (96), former West German chancellor (1974-1982), died at his home in Hamburg. He had guided West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions, stood firm against a wave of homegrown terrorism and became a respected elder statesman.
(AP, 11/10/15)(Econ, 11/14/15, p.94)
2015 Nov 10, Iran state media reported that the dismantling of centrifuges in two uranium enrichment plants has stopped, days after conservative lawmakers complained to President Hassan Rouhani that the process was too rushed.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In Iraq attacks in different parts of Baghdad killed at least 10 civilians.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Israeli security guards shot dead a Palestinian who ran towards them with a knife near Jerusalem's Old City, shortly after two Palestinian boys, aged 12-13, stabbed a guard on a tram nearby. One boy was seriously wounded. Police said the other was taken into custody.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Italy arrested 41 people after uncovering a criminal ring that charged people thousands of euros for illegal entry to the country to work in circuses.
(Reuters, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Kurdish rebels detonated a bomb on a road in southeast Turkey, wounding six soldiers riding inside an armored military vehicle. 3 policemen were killed when PKK militants detonated an improvised explosive device on a road near the town of Silopi, in Sirnak province.
(AP, 11/10/15)(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 10, Dutch electronics giant Philips announced the inking of a multi-million-euro contract with Canada's Mackenzie Health to install and run a raft of state-of-the-art hospital equipment over the next 18 years.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In Nigeria police in Port Harcourt fired shots and teargas to disperse hundreds of pro-Biafra supporters as they marched for the release of a key activist.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, In Portugal antiausterity lawmakers forced the center-right government to resign by rejecting its policy proposals at the start of what was supposed to be a second consecutive term in office.
(SFC, 11/11/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 10, In Romania former EU agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos was appointed as the new prime minister, following the resignation last week of Victor Ponta after mass anti-government protests sparked by a deadly nightclub fire.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, President Vladimir Putin said Russia will counter NATO's US-led missile defense program by deploying new strike weapons capable of piercing the shield.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Russia rejected explosive accusations of doping and corruption and promised a rapid response to avoid suspension from the 2016 Olympics due to the scandal that threatens to spread far beyond the borders of Russia and athletics.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Slovenia outlined plans to build "obstacles", potentially including fences, on its border with Croatia, as it braced for a new spike in migrants bound for northern Europe this week.
(AFP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 10, Syrian army troops reached the northern Kweires air base in Aleppo province, breaking a nearly two-year siege by insurgents on the facility. At least 100 soldiers and fighters were killed in just over 24 hours of fierce fighting as pro-government forces reached the Kweires airbase. At least 22 people were killed in mortar fire on the coastal city of Latakia. One person was killed and five wounded in a mortar attack on residential areas of Damascus. Another 4 people, including a child, were killed in government rocket fire on Douma.
(AFP, 11/10/15)(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 10, In the first major commercial deal at the Dubai Airshow Airbus and Vietnamese air carrier Vietjet announced a deal for 30 new aircraft easily worth over $3 billion at list prices.
(AP, 11/10/15)
2015 Nov 11, The United States announced rewards worth a total $27 million for information on six top commanders in the Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Chipotle began reopening restaurants in Oregon and Washington states following a recent E. coli outbreak.
(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 11, In Afghanistan about 10,000 people marched in Kabul to demand justice for the Hazara Shite minority and calling on the government to do more to ensure the nation's security or step down.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Afghanistan Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was reportedly lured into a trap and killed by members of the main Taliban group in the Khak-e-Afghan district of southeastern Zabul province.
(AP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Bangladesh a baby girl was born with two heads. Initial tests showed she only has one set of vital organs.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 11, The world's top brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev clinched a gigantic $121-billion deal for its nearest rival SABMiller, in the third biggest takeover in global corporate history. The combined company will be headquartered in Belgium.
(AFP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Chinese Internet users spent billions of dollars in the planet's biggest online shopping splurge, as "Singles’ Day" hit new heights, despite slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.
(AFP, 11/11/15)(Econ, 11/12/16, p.61)
2015 Nov 11, The Mekong-Lancang Cooperation forum (China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) was created by China to promote sustainable development and boost the quality of life for the millions of people living in the Mekong subregion. The forum was seen as a rival to the Mekong River Commission, which has existed for more than 60 years but excludes China and Myanmar.
(http://tinyurl.com/y88vgs57)(AP, 1/10/18)
2015 Nov 11, Danish brewer Carlsberg says it will slash 2,000 jobs, or about 15 percent of its white-collar work force, after posting a 4.5 billion kronor ($650 million) loss in the third quarter.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, The European Union backed the labelling of products from Israeli settlements, sparking fresh tensions with a furious Israel, which said the move could harm the peace process with the Palestinians.
(AFP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, German public radio station rbb-Inforadio reported that the country's foreign intelligence agency spied on the FBI and U.S. arms companies, adding to a growing list of targets among friendly nations the agency allegedly eavesdropped on. The station claimed that the BND also spied on the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the WHO, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and even a German diplomat who headed an EU observer mission to Georgia from 2008 to 2011.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Mexico gun battle between Mexican soldiers and gunmen in the border city of Reynosa resulted in the deaths of four bystanders, after a military vehicle took a spray of gunfire and crashed into a taco stand.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 11, Myanmar President Thein Sein congratulated democratic champion Aung San Suu Kyi, as her party appeared to have trounced the ruling camp in the first free election in 25 years and inched towards an absolute majority in parliament.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Dozens of Palestinians were wounded in West Bank clashes with Israeli soldiers on the anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Poland thousands of flag-waving nationalists marched through Warsaw with an anti-migrant message as they mark Independence Day, a holiday marred by violence in recent years.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Qatar reported its first casualty in the conflict in Yemen saying that one of its soldiers was killed fighting with a Saudi-led coalition against Shiite rebels there.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air force flew 85 sorties and hit 277 terrorist targets in Syria in the last two days.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Serbia's PM Aleksandar Vucic said his country is donating 5 million euros ($5.4 million) to rejuvenate the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Slovenia started erecting a razor wire fence along parts of its border with Croatia amid heavy security.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, South African anti-riot police fired stun grenades to disperse scores of striking parliamentary workers demanding higher pay outside the assembly building in Cape Town.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Spain's government filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court, aimed at blocking an independence drive by the Catalan regional assembly and preserving Spanish national unity. The Constitutional Court halted a push by Catalan lawmakers to set a road map toward independence by 2017.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 11, In Switzerland the 12.03-carat “Blue Moon" diamond was auctioned in Geneva for a record $48.5 million.
(SFC, 11/12/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 11, Syrian opposition figures and Gulf commentators dismissed a Russian draft proposal for a process to solve the Syrian crisis, saying Moscow's aim was to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and marginalize dissenting voices.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, In Turkey a soldier was killed in a clash with Kurdish militants in the town of Silvan, in Diyarbakir province. PKK rebels detonated a car bomb on a road in the town of Dargecit, Mardin province, as an armored police vehicle was passing by. The explosion killed a road-sweeper and wounded a police officer.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, A wooden boat carrying dozens of migrants sank off the Turkish coast, killing 14 people including 7 children.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, Ukraine said a soldier has been killed and five others wounded in separatist attacks in eastern Ukraine and that a rise in violence is threatening the region's delicate truce.
(AP, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 11, A UN conference agreed to dedicate part of the radio spectrum to a global flight tracking system, to avoid a repeat of the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in March last year.
(Reuters, 11/11/15)
2015 Nov 12, A US attack in the Syrian town of Raqqa reportedly killed Mohammed Emwazi, aka British Islamic State leader "Jihadi John." The air strike resulted from a combined effort between Britain and the United States.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 12, In San Francisco police deputies from Alameda County beat Stanislav Petrov (29) with batons in a Mission district alley following a chase from Castro Valley where Petrov rammed two patrol cruisers in a stolen car. Petrov suffered broken bones and serious head injuries. Deputies Paul Wieber and Luis Santamaria were allowed to alter their original reports after they and their attorneys viewed surveillance video of the beating. Auto theft suspect Petrov was arrested on April 1 as police raided a SF house in Visitacion Valley, where a man was shot dead earlier in the day. On August 1, 2016, Petrov filed a federal lawsuit alleging violation of his civil rights. On Dec 16 Alameda Deputies Wieber and Santamaria were fired. On April 28, 2017, Petrov settled his suit for $5.5 million.
(SFC, 3/31/16, p.A1)(SFC, 4/2/16, p.C1)(SFC, 8/2/16, p.C1)(SFC, 12/17/16, p.C1)
2015 Nov 12, In NYC two nephews of Venezuela's first lady appeared in court charged with conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the US. They were arrested in Haiti on Nov 10 by local police, handed over to US agents and flown the same day to New York.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, In NYC mobster Vincent Asaro (80) threw his hands into the air and shouted "Free," grinning as he walked out of a courthouse following his surprising acquittal on charges he helped plan the legendary 1978 Lufthansa heist retold in the hit Mafia film "Goodfellas."
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 12, Austrian police said 12 members of a human trafficking gang, many of whose victims were from Afghanistan and Syria, have been arrested and international warrants issued for another five.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, The Brazilian government said its environmental protection agency has fined Volkswagen $13 million over the automaker's emissions cheating scheme.
(AP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Colombia's justice minister said the country plans to legalize the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Colombian courts had already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. The new rules will allow for commercial production.
(AP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Police announced a swoop on a European jihadist network that was allegedly planning to kidnap diplomats and carry out attacks to try to spring its leader out of detention in Norway. Seventeen arrest warrants were issued and 13 people were detained in Britain, Italy and Norway.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer in humans. It nevertheless proposed limits on the amount of residue of the weedkiller widely used by farmers deemed safe to consume.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Finland became the first country in the world to give a construction license for a permanent underground nuclear waste repository. It approved Posiva Oy's plan to construct a spent nuclear fuel encapsulation plant and disposal facility at the island of Olkiluoto. Up to 6,500 tons of uranium may be deposited in the facility.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, German police found the bodies of 8 babies in an apartment in Wallenfels, Bavaria. A woman (45) was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of four of her newborn babies. On July 20, 2016, the Coburg state court sentenced the woman, whose name was not released, to 14 years in prison.
(AFP, 11/13/15)(AP, 7/20/16)
2015 Nov 12, In Greece over 20,000 people demonstrated against fresh spending cuts in Athens, with a brief flare-up of violence marking the first general strike against the leftist government of Alexis Tsipras who came to power on an anti-austerity ticket.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Haitians angered by a series of rapes and robberies in Port-au-Prince burned alive a man early today they suspected of criminal connections in an upscale suburb of the capital.
(AFP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 12, Israeli undercover forces raided a hospital in the West Bank, shooting dead a Palestinian during an attempt to detain another man suspected of carrying out a stabbing. The raid was carried out to detain Azzam al-Shalalda (27) who was suspected of stabbing an Israeli settler two weeks ago in the West Bank.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Kenya's Journalists for Justice said Kenyan forces fighting militants in Somalia are taking cuts from charcoal and sugar smuggling, earning themselves about $50 million a year and boosting an illegal trade that helps fund the Islamists.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Kurdish peshmerga forces started clearing parts of the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar and have established positions along an Islamic State supply route between its two main strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, In Lebanon a twin suicide attack struck a Shiite suburb in southern Beirut, killing at least 43 people and wounded over 240. The Islamic State claimed this as its first attack in the country.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)(Econ, 12/5/15, p.49)
2015 Nov 12, The Islamic State released a Russian-language video threatening attacks in Russia "very soon".
(Reuters, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Sweden reinstated border controls in a bid to gain control over the massive influx of migrants arriving in the country, without blocking the steady flow of asylum seekers.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, Ukraine's parliament finally banned discrimination against gays in the workplace during a heated session on legislation that could open the door to visa-free travel to much of the EU in 2016.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 12, In southern Yemen Saudi-led coalition air strikes and attacks by pro-government forces killed at least 24 rebels, where the insurgents have been pushing to regain lost ground.
(AFP, 11/12/15)
2015 Nov 13, The United States said it had designated Turkey’s prisoner Maghomed Maghomedzakirovich Abdurakhmanov (41) a terrorist, triggering sanctions and penalties. Turkish authorities had recently sentenced him to prison for belonging to a terrorist organization.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, The US Treasury Department said it has blacklisted North Korea's ambassador to Myanmar for alleged involvement in illegal weapons trade.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 20 air strikes, and also hit the militant group with seven air strikes in Syria.
(AP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 13, The US Postal Service reported a $5.1 billion loss for the just-completed 2015 fiscal cycle, a slight improvement over last year.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, US presidential candidate Ben Carson recommended praying for rival Donald Trump after the real-estate mogul and television personality, in a 95-minute rant in Iowa, likened him to a child molester.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 13, Michigan woman Lois Janish of Flint (75) was sentenced to at least nine years in prison for the 1998 death of her granddaughter, whose remains have never been found. Coral Hall (14) disappeared in 1998 after using a pay phone near a Flint tavern.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A new lung cancer pill from AstraZeneca , designed for patients whose disease has worsened after treatment with other therapies, won early US approval, in a boost for the British drugmaker.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, Austria announced it would erect a 3.7-km (2.3-mile) metal fence along its border with Slovenia, in a new blow to the EU's cherished open-border Schengen accord.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A British judge sentenced Nathan Matthews to at least 33 years in prison for murdering and dismembering Becky Watts (16), his teenage stepsister. His girlfriend, Shauna Hoare, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for her role in the killing.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A Cambodian court issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Sam Rainsy in connection with an old defamation case as tension rises between Sam Rainsy and PM Hun Sen.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Central African Republic an officials said at least 22 people were killed in a string of raids on villages this week.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In China a torrent of mud and rocks unleashed by heavy rains buried nearly 30 homes in a village in Zhejiang province. 4 people were confirmed dead soon after the landslide. The death toll from a landslide soon rose to 21 people with 16 others still missing.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 13, Colombia said it plans to legalize medical marijuana in a further shift in drug policy after suspending aerial fumigation of illicit crops. Current law allows possession of up to 20 grams of marijuana or 20 marijuana plants for personal use.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 13, In France eight gunmen and bombers attacked restaurants, the Bataclan theater and a sports stadium in Paris, killing 129 people in what a shaken President Francois Hollande called an unprecedented terrorist attack. Seven gunmen, all of whom were wearing suicide vests packed with explosives, died in the multiple assaults. The first to be identified was named as Ismael Omar Mostefai, a 29-year-old who lived in the city of Chartres, southwest of Paris. Two others were later named as Samy Amimour (28) and Brahim Abdeslam. The death toll rose to 130 on Nov 20 as one of the wounded succumbed to injuries. Foued Mohamed-Aggad (23) was later identified as one of three Islamist gunmen who killed 90 people at the Bataclan. French jihadist Fabian Clain later voiced a recording claiming the attacks.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)(Reuters 11/15/15)(AP, 11/20/15)(Reuters, 12/9/15)(Econ, 11/21/15, p.21)(Reuters, 2/21/19)
2015 Nov 13, The International Criminal Court at The Hague cut a 12-year prison term imposed on Congolese militia leader Germain Katanga for a brutal attack on a village, saying he would be freed in January after he had voiced regret for his actions.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, An Indian man threw acid at a 23-year-old Bulgarian woman after she reportedly spurned his marriage offer in Varanasi.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, An Indonesian court late sentenced Hong Kong drug lord Wong Chi-ping to death for smuggling 860 kg (1,900 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine into Indonesia earlier this year.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, Iraq's military said its forces had advanced on three fronts to begin clearing Islamic State militants from the western city of Ramadi. A suicide bomber struck a Baghdad memorial service for a Shiite militia fighter killed in battle against the Islamic State group, killing 26 people.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Iraq Kurdish peshmerga forces backed by US air strikes seized the Iraqi town of Sinjar from Islamic State.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Libya a US air strike targeted Abu Nabil al-Anbari, aka Wisam al Zubaidi, a leadr of the local Islamic State affiliate. Pentagon officials believe that Anbari was killed in the strike.
(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 13, Mali's army arrested Alaye Bocari, a leading financial backer of an Islamist militant group responsible for an expansion of deadly attacks in the country.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 13, Norway said its police, who had been authorized to carry firearms for the past year due to a heightened threat of Islamist attacks, will be unarmed again now that the threat level has been lowered.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A Palestinian gunman killed an Israel father and his son near the Jewish settlement of Otneil in the southern West Bank. In Hebron Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian involved in stone-throwing clashes. A 2nd Palestinian was killed in clashes near Ramallah.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)(SFC, 11/14/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 13, Poland’s Pres. Andrzej Duda officially designated Beata Szydlo from the right-wing Law and Justice Party as the new prime minister.
(SFC, 11/14/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 13, Russia said it has banned incoming flights by Egypt's state-owned airline effective as of Nov 14.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, Russia said its air force flew 107 sorties and hit 289 terrorist targets in Syria on November 11-12.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In South Africa student protesters won the right to be taught in English at Stellenbosch University, the intellectual home of Afrikaners during apartheid.
(AFP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In South Korea eight men took the government to court after spending years as slaves on salt farms on rural islands off the southwest coast. Some were enslaved for as many as twenty years.
(SFC, 11/14/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 13, In Suriname Romano Meriba (31), a foster son of President Desi Bouterse, was arrested for his alleged ties to a gang involved in a botched armed robbery that resulted in two people being killed and five wounded.
(AP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Tunisia Islamist militants beheaded a teenager in the central province of Sidi Bouzid and sent his head to his family after accusing him of spying for the military.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 13, Turkish officials said 14 people have been killed in clashes between Kurdish rebels and security forces days before a G-20 summit in Turkey.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, A Ukrainian helicopter crashed in eastern Slovakia, killing 6 people.
(AP, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 13, In Yemen A bomb exploded during midday prayers at a mosque frequented by Houthi supporters in the northwestern Mahwit region, killing several worshippers and wounding others in Shibam.
(Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015 Nov 14, In Indiana Lonny Jordan Hatland (20), a reserve officer with the Muncie Police Department, was arrested for sexually and physically assaulting a juvenile girl and coercing her into having sex with other men.
(AP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 14, In Baltimore, Ma., the number of homicides for the year reached 305.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.30)
2015 Nov 14, In Afghanistan Helmand Governor Mirza Khan Rahimi said at least 65 Afghan soldiers have defected to the Taliban, taking their weapons and equipment with them and 88 have been killed in days of heavy fighting in the southern province.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, In Afghanistan a drone strike in Nangarhar province killed 12 Taliban. The dead included 3 Afghans and 9 foreigners. When Afghan officials refer to foreigners they usually mean Pakistanis.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 14, Costa Rica said it was giving temporary visas to a group of about 1,000 stranded, penniless Cubans, telling them they had one week to cross the country and continue their journey toward the United States.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 14, In France a high-speed train derailed into the Marne au Rhin canal during a test run near Strasbourg. At least 11 people were killed and 5 were missing.
(AFP, 11/15/15)(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 14, The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in Paris that killed 127 people.
(AP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, Israeli troops razed the West Bank homes of four Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis, pressing ahead with a controversial policy of punitive demolitions after weeks of deadly unrest. In Hebron 19 Palestinians were hospitalized after being shot in clashes with Israeli security forces.
(AFP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, In South Korea tens of thousands marched in central Seoul with diverse grievances against the government. Police detained at least 50 people.
(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 14, In Spain some 10,000 personnel of the Civl Guard marched in Madrid demanding better employment conditions and workers’ rights.
(SSFC, 11/15/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 14, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that French policy had contributed to the "spread of terrorism" that culminated in attacks claimed by the Islamic State group which killed 128 people in Paris.
(AFP, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, Syria's al Qaeda offshoot, the Nusra Front, said it had captured three Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in northern Syria.
(Reuters, 11/14/15)
2015 Nov 14, Turkish security forces killed 4 suspected IS militants near the Syrian border in the southeastern province of Gaziantep.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 15, The US Pentagon said five men who have been held for more than 13 years at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been released and sent to the United Arab Emirates. Their release brings the Guantanamo prison population to 107.
(AP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, P.F. Sloan (b.1945), singer and songwriter, died at his home in Los Angeles. His songs included “Eve of Destruction" (1965).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._F._Sloan)
2015 Nov 15, In Oakland, Ca., police officers shot dead Richard Perkins Jr. (39) as he carried a toy gun. Surveillance video later showed that Perkins had complied with police commands and never raised the pistol. On August 1, 2016, Perkins’ family filed a federal suit against the city of Oakland.
(SFC, 8/2/16, p.C2)
2015 Nov 15, Author Stephen Birmingham (b.1929) died at his home in New York. He authored some 30 books, almost all of which were about the super-wealthy including “Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York" (1967).
(SFC, 11/25/15, p.D10)
2015 Nov 15, In Texas 2 bodies were found at a campsite in Anderson County near the home of suspect William Hudson (33). 4 more bodies were found a day later in a pond on Hudson’s property.
(SFC, 11/16/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 15, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of foreign forces just outside Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, killing one civilian and wounding 12 others.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, A Bahrain court ordered 12 Shiites to life in prison and stripped them of their citizenship on charges of forming a terrorist group and targeting police with explosive devices for incidents that took place in 2013 and 2014.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Seven people were detained in Belgium in connection with the Nov 13 deadly attacks in Paris as the city entered three days of mourning for the 129 people killed in the worst violence in France in decades.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Brazil ice vendor Fabiano Machado da Silva (33) was killed by a crowd of ten people in the Ipanema neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 15, Cynthia Payne (82), British brothel-keeper, died.
(Econ, 11/28/15, p.82)
2015 Nov 15, In Egypt 15 Sudanese migrants, about to illegally enter Israel from the Sinai Peninsula, were killed as they were caught up in the crossfire of a gun battle between Egyptian security forces and Bedouin smugglers.
(AP, 11/15/15)(SFC, 11/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 15, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that authorities have arrested administrators of more than 20 groups on the messaging app Telegram for spreading "immoral content", the latest detentions in a clampdown on freedom of expression.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Iranian police warned that women who fail to wear the veil when driving will have their cars impounded for a week and are likely to be fined.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Israel’s Shin Bet security service said a Palestinian suspect has been arrested in the Nov 13 drive-by shooting that killed 2 Israelis.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Israel approved the entry of some 9,000 Ethiopians known as Falash Mura who claim Jewish lineage, ending decades of debate on whether to allow their immigration despite uncertainty over their right to settle in the Jewish state.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, Kurdish forces said they uncovered two mass graves outside Sinjar, a northern Iraqi town near the Syrian border that was ruled by the Islamic State group for more than a year before the extremists were driven out last week. The first grave uncovered contained 78 elderly women's bodies. The second grave contained between 50 and 60 bodies of men, women and children.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Lebanon’s interior minister said nine people, mostly Syrians, have been arrested over last week's Beirut bombings that killed 44 people, an attack whose original target was a hospital.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Mexico said it has extradited top drug trafficker Cesar Gastelum Serrano (47) to the United States, where he is accused of running a network that smuggles tons of cocaine into the US via Central America.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Nicaragua said thousands of Cubans forced their way into its territory from Costa Rica, accusing its southern neighbor of "deliberately and irresponsibly" flooding it with US-bound migrants.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Romania 3 handball players from the CSU Targoviste men's team died and 11 were injured when the bus they were traveling in was hit by a truck.
(AP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Syria coalition strikes destroyed 116 fuel trucks used by the jihadist group near Albu Kamal, an IS-held town in Deir Ezzor province on the border with Iraq. French raids hit the IS stronghold of Raqa. A coalition strike destroyed 116 jihadists' oil trucks. 11 pro-government forces were killed and 45 were wounded when rebels, including Islamists, attacked them in Aleppo city. Warplanes believed to be Russian carried out 40 air strikes, including on the ancient city of Palmyra.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Syria Abu Ali al-Baridi, the leader of Al-Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade, a militant Syrian faction that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed along with two other leaders in a suicide attack by rival jihadists of al-Nusra.
(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Five Tanzanian gold miners were rescued after spending 41 days trapped deep underground eating cockroaches and frogs to survive. One of the miners died during the incarceration underground following the Oct 5 collapse.
(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Tunisia at least 3 Islamist militants and a Tunisian soldier were killed in clashes in the central Kasserine province, near the Algerian border.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, In Turkey a suicide bomber opened fire on police and then blew himself up during their raid on a suspect Islamic State militant hideout near the border with Syria, injuring five police officers.
(AP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 15, Speaking at a G20 leaders summit in Turkey US President Barack Obama vowed to step up efforts to eliminate Islamic State in Syria and prevent it from carrying out attacks like those in Paris, while European leaders urged Russia to focus its military efforts on the radical Islamists. Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for UN-sponsored peace talks and a ceasefire to resolve years of war in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/15/15)(AFP, 11/15/15)
2015 Nov 16, US officials said the State Department has approved the sale of thousands of smart bombs worth a total of $1.29 billion to Saudi Arabia to help replenish supplies used in its battle against insurgents in Yemen and air strikes against Islamic State in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, Indiana Gov. Michael Pence suspended the resettlement of Syrian refugees three days after the terror attacks in Paris. As many as 30 other Republican governors and one Democrat soon made similar moves. On Feb 29, 2016, a federal judge ruled the Gov. Pence’s order to cut federal funds for the resettlement of Syrian refugees in his state was unconstitutional. On March 8 Indiana filed an appeal.
(Econ, 3/19/15, p.30)
2015 Nov 16, In Minnesota Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man, died after he was shot by Minneapolis police a day earlier. Community activists said he was unarmed, handcuffed and shot in the head. The officers were later identified as Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze. On March 30, 2016, it was announced that the police officers would not be charged.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A8)(YahooNews, 11/18/15)(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A8)(CSM, 3/31/16)
2015 Nov 16, Marriott Int’l. Inc. agreed to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. in a $12.2 billion deal creating the world’s largest lodging company.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.D1)
2015 Nov 16, In Burundi three grenades exploded in different parts of the capital following a night of violence in which 5 people, including a policeman, were killed. 60 injured people were treated after suffering injuries in grenade explosions.
(AP, 11/16/15)(AP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 16, In Cambodia opposition leader Sam Rainsy was stripped of his lawmaker status and parliamentary immunity, paving the way for his arrest in connection with a defamation case. Rainsy was on a visit to South Korea.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 16, Egypt said its security forces have shot dead 24 militants belonging to the country's Islamic State affiliate in central Sinai, 70 km from the crash site of a Russian passenger plane the group claimed it brought down.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, French police raided homes of suspected Islamist militants across the country overnight arresting 23 people. Investigators identified Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national living in Syria, as the possible mastermind behind the Nov 13 attacks in Paris.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 16, Islamic State warned in a new video that countries taking part in air strikes against Syria would suffer the same fate as France, and threatened to attack in Washington.
(Reuters, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, Israeli forces shot dead 2 Palestinians, ages 21 and 28, when heavy clashes erupted during an operation to destroy the West Bank home of Muhammad Abu Shaheen, a Palestinian who the army says fatally shot an Israeli motorist this summer.
(AFP, 11/16/15)(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 16, In Somalia at least 7 people were killed and 12 others wounded when a gunfight broke out between rival security forces as they waited for cards for food aid just outside Mogadishu.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, Yemeni loyalists and Saudi-led coalition forces launched an offensive to retake the key battleground province of Taez from Iran-backed rebels. Saudi-led airstrikes and clashes killed some 40 Shiite rebels and their allies over the past 24 hours. 25 pro-Hadi fighters were killed in an ambush laid for them by Houthi and Saleh forces at the Bab al-Mandeb. 20 Houthi fighters were killed in fighting and coalition air strikes. A family of 8 were killed in an air strike on Taiz.
(AFP, 11/16/15)(AP, 11/16/15)(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 16, Zimbabwe media said the government has passed new regulations ordering some 300,000 beneficiaries of President Robert Mugabe's controversial land reforms to pay annual rent and levies.
(AFP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 17, President Barack Obama announced that the US will hand over two ships to the Philippine Navy to boost its maritime security capabilities, in a bid to show the US and its allies won't be cowed by China in disputed waters far off its coast.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State conducted 16 air strikes in Iraq and 13 in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, House Speaker Paul Ryan called for a pause in Syrian refugees coming to the US in the wake of the Paris attacks and said the House will vote on the issue this week.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, More than 100 flights were canceled at Denver International Airport early as a powerful storm system dropped snow over the Rocky Mountains.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, It was reported that Charles F. Feeney (84), the billionaire founder of Atlantic Philanthropies, has donated $177 million to UCSF to create program to address Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
(SFC, 11/17/15, p.A1)
2015 Nov 17, UCSF said entrepreneur Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster, has donated $10 million to create research center to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes in five years.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.C1)
2015 Nov 17, Pennsylvania-based Education Management Corp. agreed to pay $96 million to settle claims it illegally paid recruiters based on the number of students they enrolled. Five states had participated in four lawsuits.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A12)
2015 Nov 17, In Washington state 3 people were killed and about 360,000 homes and businesses in the Seattle-area were without power as a storm packing powerful winds downed trees and triggered mudslides.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A8)
2015 Nov 17, Bosnian authorities arrested a police commissioner, a lawyer and a third Muslim Bosnian suspected of having committed crimes against Bosnian Serb civilians during the 1992-95 war.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Finance minister George Osborne said British spies are building elite cyber offensive forces to strike at Islamic State fighters, hackers and hostile powers.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, A British couple was found guilty of keeping a Nigerian immigrant enslaved for more than two decades, forcing him to work for no pay and threatening him with deportation if he tried to escape. Emanuel Edet (61) and Antan Edet (58) held their victim captive from the time he was brought to Britain when he was 14 years old.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, Chinese state media said police have arrested 98 people connected to online gambling networks that handled $78 billion in bets. Police in the southern provinces of Hunan and Guangdong have shut down 12 "gambling dens" since July, but only now announced the arrests.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Egypt said it would take into account Russia's conclusion that a bomb brought down a passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula on Oct 31, but its investigation had so far found no evidence of criminal action.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, France made an unprecedented demand that its EU allies support its military action against the Islamic State group. EU nations unanimously backed the French request. French police named two of the Nov 13 French attackers as Ismael Omar Mostefai, 29, from Chartres, southwest of Paris, and Samy Amimour, 28, from the Paris suburb of Drancy.
(AP, 11/17/15)(Reuters, 11/17/15)(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, France and Russia staged air strikes on Islamic State targets in northern Syria, punishing the group for the Nov 13 attacks in Paris and against a Russian airliner on Oct 31 that together killed 353 people.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, German police arrested two more people in connection with the Nov 13 Paris attacks, bringing to seven the total number of arrests linked to the deadly events.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Greece struck a deal with European creditors on economic measures it needs to make to get its next batch of bailout money.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, A plastic boat carrying migrants capsized in the eastern Aegean Sea near the Greek island of Kos, killing at least 9 people including 4 children.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, In Greece a magnitude 6.5 earthquake off the western coast killed 2 elderly women.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, An Indian army colonel was killed by suspected militants who fired automatic rifles from the forest in the Indian portion of Kashmir.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Ireland celebrated its first gay marriages, six months after voters overwhelmingly chose to legalize the practice.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Israel banned the radical northern wing of the Islamic Movement, with the government accusing it of inciting violence. The Islamic Movement was founded in the early 1970s, with the goal of "establishing an Arab Islamic state in Palestine.
(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Japan sued its southern region of Okinawa over local resistance to a new US military base.
(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Kosovo's opposition used tear gas and pepper spray inside parliament and pelted police with rocks and pink paint outside the building in another attempt to force the government to renounce recent deals with Serbia and Montenegro.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the arrest of Sambo Dasuki, the country's former national security adviser, accusing him of stealing around $2 billion received for phantom arms contracts.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, In Nigeria a blast struck a market in the northeastern city of Yola, killing 32 people and wounding 80 others.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, In southwestern Pakistan a train carrying 280 passengers derailed in a remote area, killing the train driver and 11 passengers and injuring at least 57 people.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The Philippine military verified reports that a Malaysian kidnap victim was beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines after a large ransom demand was not paid. The militants killed Bernard Then Ted Fen, who was abducted last May, in the jungles off Indanan town in Sulu province.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The Philippines and Vietnam signed an agreement to elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership as leaders from 21 countries and self-governing territories gathered in Manila for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, The head of Russia's FSB security service said a homemade explosive device brought down a Russian passenger plane over Egypt last month. President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian navy in the Mediterranean to establish contact with its French counterparts and work together.
(AP, 11/17/15)(AFP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, A Saudi appeals court sentenced Palestinian artist Ashraf Fayadh to execution for apostasy related to a book of poetry and alleged illicit relations with women in a case that dated back to 2013. In 2016 his sentence reduced to prison time and lashes instead.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A9)(AP, 2/3/16)
2015 Nov 17, Severe weather along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast claimed three lives, including an 11-year-old child who drowned.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, In Syria Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front said it had downed two Russian reconnaissance drones over a military airport it controls in the northwest.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, Turkish security forces killed one suspected Islamic State (IS) militant seeking to cross into Turkey from Syria and arrested 21 others.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 17, The UN refugee agency criticized Thailand for deporting two refugees who were about to be resettled in a third country. The US branch of Amnesty International issued a statement on Nov 16 identifying them as Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping, and said they were most likely sent to China on Nov 13.
(AP, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 17, Yemen's exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi returned to the southern port city of Aden to rally forces loyal to him in the country's civil war and oversee a campaign to retake the city of Taiz.
(Reuters, 11/17/15)
2015 Nov 18, US President Barack Obama demanded China end artificial island building in the hotly contested South China Sea, upping the pressure on Beijing at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) gathering in Manila.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The US and Cuba signed an agreement to join forces and protect the vast array of fish and corals they share.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 18, The National Book Award for Fiction was awarded to Adam Johnson for his story collection “Fortune Smiles." Ta-Nehisi Coates won the nonfiction award for “Between the World and Me," an open letter to his son (15) about race in America.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A8)
2015 Nov 18, Musician Willie Nelson was honored as the new recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular song.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 18, The National Institutes of Health quietly ended the federal government’s long history of using chimpanzees for biomedical research.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 18, In southern California police Officer Ricardo Galvez (29) was shot and killed during an alleged botched robbery in Downey. On Nov 20 Abel Diaz (16) was charged with murder. Two other arrested men awaited charges.
(SFC, 11/21/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 18, Charles Cawley (b.1940), credit-card billionaire, died in Maine. He founded MBNA Corporation in 1982 in the basement of an empty Delaware A&P store. MBNA went public in 1991.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cawley)(Econ, 12/12/15, p.86)
2015 Nov 18, Texas executed Raphael Holiday (36) for setting a fire that killed his 18-month-old daughter and two half sister 15 years ago. This made him the 13th convicted killer put to death by the state this year.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 18, Albania police said they have destroyed a large drug network in Tirana arrresting 30 people, while five people remained at large.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 18, Australian authorities said at least 4 people have died in bushfires raging out of control in parts of Western Australia.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Bangladesh's Supreme Court upheld death sentences given to opposition leaders Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid of Jamaat-e-Islami. Both were convicted in 2013 of war crimes during the country's 1971 independence war against Pakistan.
(AP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, In Bosnia a man armed with an automatic rifle killed the 2 soldiers in a betting shop and then shot at a public bus. The suspect then fled to his home nearby and blew himself up even before police had encircled the house.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 18, In France a woman suicide bomber, Hasna Aitboulahcen (26), blew herself up and another militant died when police raided an apartment in the Paris suburb of St. Denis seeking suspects in last week's attacks in Paris. Seven people were arrested in the operation in which nearly 5,000 bullets were fired. Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a cousin of Aitboulahcen and the suspected Islamic State mastermind of the Paris attacks, was identified the next day as the 2nd dead militant. On Nov 20 authorities said a 3rd body had been found at the site.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)(Reuters 11/19/15)(AP, 11/20/15)(SSFC, 11/22/15, p.A25)
2015 Nov 18, Germany said it will send 130 more soldiers to Afghanistan in support for Afghan forces struggling to tackle an Islamist insurgency.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, In Greece police fired tear gas at dozens of farmers in Athens who pelted them with oranges and tried to storm parliament during a protest against planned tax increases.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, An international coalition led by the United States conducted 19 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, targeting the militant group near Kirkuk, Kisik, Mosul, Ramadi and Sinjar. The coalition targeted Islamic State in Syria with eight strikes, including four that hit tactical units and destroyed buildings near Al Hasaka. One strike near Ar Raqqa hit a storage facility.
(Reuters, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 18, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the arrest of Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Advisor, accusing him of stealing funds through phantom arms contracts and hampering the fight against the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 18, In Nigeria two suicide bombers killed at least 15 people in the northern city of Kano.
(SFC, 11/19/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 18, Russia set up a taskforce to wipe out the "infection" of doping in track and field as the country faces being banned from next year's Olympic competition.
(AP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The Russian government said it has decided to introduce a ban on food imports from Ukraine starting from January 1 because Kiev joined Western sanctions over Moscow.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Two members of the Saudi security forces were killed in a restive eastern province after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle. On Jan 1, 2016, authorities said Mufeed bin Ahmed Hasan Omran has been arrested for his alleged involvement in this and other attacks.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)(AFP, 1/1/16)
2015 Nov 18, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense said thunderstorms and flooding along the Red Sea coast have claimed the lives of 12 people over the past two days.
(AP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Spanish sea rescue services said around 20 African migrants were missing at sea after their boat sunk in the Atlantic Ocean around 20 miles off the coast of Western Sahara. 22 men were rescued.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said French and Russian bombardments on Raqqa have killed at least 33 Islamic State militants over the past three days.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The Islamic State said in its magazine that it had killed a Chinese and a Norwegian captive, showing what appeared to be pictures of the dead men with a banner reading "executed."
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Physicians for Human Rights said Syrian government attacks on hospitals in Aleppo have devastated the frontline city's health care, with roughly 95 percent of doctors having fled, been detained or killed.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, Turkey's foreign minister said Ankara "has plans" for a joint operation with the United States to end the presence of Islamic State militants along any part of its border with Syria.
(AFP, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 18, The UN nuclear watchdog said Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium has increased in the past three months even though Tehran is supposed to reduce it significantly under a deal with major powers.
(Reuters, 11/18/15)
2015 Nov 19, The US House of Representatives voted to ban Syrian and Iraqi refugees from entering the United States until tougher screening measures are in place.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 19, The US Food and Drug Administration approved genetically modified salmon, the first such altered animal allowed for human consumption in the United States.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Square, a San Francisco-based payment processing firm, went public in an IPO at $9 per share. Shares closed at $13.07 per share.
(SFC, 11/20/15, p.C1)
2015 Nov 19, A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck northern Oklahoma.
(Reuters, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, China cut interest rates on loans by small lenders that finance the country's entrepreneurs in a new move to shore up lackluster economic growth.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Chinese scientists warned of the "epidemic potential" of deadly and fast-spreading bacteria resistant to last-line antibiotics. Prof. Jian-Hua Liu and colleagues found a gene, called MCR-1, that makes bacteria resistant to a class of antibiotics, known as polymyxins, used to fight superbugs. Although currently confined to China, they said the MCR-1 bacteria were likely to spread worldwide.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Belgian police arrested nine people in Brussels during raids connected to last week's deadly Paris attacks.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia shut their borders to those not coming from war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq, leaving thousands of others seeking a better life in Europe stranded at border crossings.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, In Estonia thirty-three countries attended NATO's largest ever cyberdrill, focusing on malware in tablets and how infected devices may compromise data privacy for staff of the world's biggest military alliance.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, France's lower house of parliament extended a state of emergency imposed after attacks in Paris for three months and toughened a series of security measures which date back to 1955.
(Reuters, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, An international coalition led by the United States targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 20 air strikes. There were no strikes in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 19, In Italy 17 masterpieces were stolen from the Castelvecchio Museum. Pasquale Silvestri Riccardi, a guard at the museum, was later convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to ten years and eight months in prison. In May, 2016, Ukrainian border guards recovered the paintings during an attempt to smuggle them into Moldova. They were returned to the museum on Dec 21, 2016.
(http://tinyurl.com/jylpt62)(SFC, 12/23/16, p.E4)
2015 Nov 19, In Israel a knife-wielding Palestinian man fatally stabbed 2 Israeli men in a southern Tel Aviv office building before being apprehended. 3 people, including one Israeli, one Palestinian and an American, were killed and six wounded in a shooting and vehicle attack in the West Bank.
(AP, 11/19/15)(SFC, 11/20/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 19, In Liberia a new case of Ebola emerged. Three members of a family had contracted the disease in a setback for the country declared free of the disease on September 3.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)(SFC, 11/21/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 19, In Nigeria Boko Haram attackers drove off with an army T-72 tank and
dozens of new camouflage uniforms. 107 soldiers were missing in the attack.
(http://tinyurl.com/p32bwn5)(SFC, 12/1/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 19, Russia signed two agreements to finance and build Egypt's first nuclear power plant, in a ceremony attended by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Russian's military blasted targets across Syria with long-range strategic bombers for a third day.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, South Sudan's parliament changed the constitution to boost presidential powers amid fears violence is spreading to new areas in the country, with seven killed on the highway to Uganda.
(AFP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 19, Syrian warplanes carried out airstrikes on a suburb of Damascus after talks for a two-week truce between the government and rebels collapsed.
(AP, 11/19/15)
2015 Nov 20, Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard was released from prison, culminating an extraordinary espionage case that complicated American-Israeli relations for 30 years and became a periodic bargaining chip between two allies.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In California regulations banning the commercial and recreational trapping of bobcat went into effect.
(SFC, 11/21/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 20, Officials said that an outbreak of E. coli linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill in Washington and Oregon has now spread to six states including California, New York, Minnesota and Ohio.
(SFC, 11/21/15, p.D1)
2015 Nov 20, British police issued an "unreserved apology" to seven women deceived into sexual relationships with officers on undercover assignments.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Cambodian officials said about 370 workers fainted at factories in the past two days, possibly because of pesticide spraying on nearby rice fields.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Police in China said they have cracked the country's biggest-ever underground banking network, which handled illegal foreign exchange transactions worth 410 billion yuan ($64 billion).
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Chinese authorities announced that police have killed 28 members of a "terrorist group" in the mainly Muslim Xinjiang region.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In China a fire broke out late today at a mine operated by state giant Longmay Mining Holding Group in Heilongjiang province's Jixi city. At least 21 people died at the mine operated by northeast China's biggest state-owned coal company.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 20, EU interior and justice ministers in Brussels pledged solidarity with France in the wake of the Paris attacks a week ago and agreed a series of new measures on surveillance, border checks and gun control.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, The Bavarian Interior Ministry said more than 900,000 migrants have been registered in Germany since the beginning of the year.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In Haiti one person was shot dead and another was wounded by a machete blow to the head during post-election skirmishes that erupted in Port-au-Prince.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In Iraq bomb attacks on a Shiite mosque and elsewhere in southern Baghdad killed at least 15 people as a top religious official urged unity among Iraqis in the fight against the Islamic State group.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Italian police arrested six members of Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia as part of an inquiry that uncovered a threat of violence against Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Malaysia deployed extraordinary security measures around Kuala Lumpur as leaders from 18 countries arrived for the East Asian and ASEAN weekend summits.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In Mali a least two Islamist gunmen stormed the Raddison Blu luxury hotel in Bamako and took 170 people hostage in the former French colony. 19 people were killed including 6 Russians, 3 Chinese, one Israeli, one American, one Belgian and one Malian soldier. The 2 gunmen were killed. The al-Mourabitoun Islamic extremist group took credit for the attack. On Nov 26 two Malians were arrested for complicity in the attack.
(AFP, 11/20/15)(Reuters 11/21/15)(SFC, 11/21/15, p.A6)(SFC, 1/14/16, p.A2)
2015 Nov 20, In Pakistan gunmen on motorcycles opened fire in Karachi, killing 4 members of the security forces who were deployed outside a mosque.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Portugal's Parliament approved laws allowing same-sex couples to legally adopt children and permitting lesbians to obtain medically assisted fertilization.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Russian and Syrian warplanes carried out more than 70 strikes in eastern Deir Ezzor province, killing at least 36 people including 10 children. Dozens of oil tankers were destroyed. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that more than 600 rebels had been eliminated as a result of a cruise missile strike a target in Syrian Deir ez-Zour province.
(AFP, 11/20/15)(Reuters, 11/20/15)(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 20, A Singapore court sentenced Kong Hee, the founder and senior pastor of City Harvest Church, to eight years in jail for misappropriating more than $35 million in donations to support his wife's singing career. Other sentences for five church leaders ranged from 21 months to six years.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 1,300 people, around two-thirds of them combatants, have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria since Moscow's aerial campaign began on September 30.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Turkish media reported that authorities have seized close to the Syrian border a record haul of almost 11 million pills of the synthetic stimulant drug captagon which is believed to play a crucial part in Syria's civil war. It has been repeatedly dubbed as the drug fueling Syria's civil war since its production provides income for the warring factions and also keeps fighters awake and energized over long periods.
(AFP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, Turkish army warplanes carried out a new wave of air strikes on northern Iraq hitting 23 suspected targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 20, The UN Security Council unanimously approved a French-sponsored resolution calling on all nations to redouble and coordinate action to prevent further attacks by Islamic State terrorists and other extremist groups.
(SFC, 11/21/15, p.S2)
2015 Nov 20, A new study was released that estimated poverty in Venezuela has hit an all-time high of some 73 percent of households. It was prepared by researchers at three Venezuelan universities on the basis of surveys with 6,000 people.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, The World Trade Organization ruled in favor of Mexico in a trade dispute with the US, saying Washington's requirement for "dolphin-safe" tuna labels is unfair to Mexican fishermen.
(AP, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 20, In Yemen Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the army in the eastern region of Hadramawt that a security source said killed at least 19 soldiers and 35 militants.
(Reuters, 11/20/15)
2015 Nov 21, The United States and its allies conducted 16 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and nine in Syria. The US military destroyed 283 tanker trucks used by the militants to transport oil from producing fields in eastern Syria to smuggling points.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 21, Louisiana voters elected Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards as governor.
(SSFC, 11/22/15, p.A12)
2015 Nov 21, A heavy fall snowstorm hit the Midwestern United States, blanketing states from South Dakota to Wisconsin with as much as 16 inches (40 cm) of snow. The storm affected air travel, with 514 US flights canceled by morning, with Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway International airports the hardest hit.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, In Afghanistan up to 20 ethnic Hazaras were abducted in the volatile southern province of Zabul.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Belgium put the capital Brussels on maximum security alert, shutting the metro and warning people to avoid crowds because of a "serious and imminent" threat of coordinated, multiple attacks by militants.
(Reuters, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, In the Far North region of Cameroon a suicide attack by suspected members of Nigerian Islamist militants group Boko Haram killed at least 10 people over the border from Nigeria. 4 teenage, female suicide bombers blew themselves up near Fotokol killing 5 civilians including a traditional chief.
(Reuters, 11/21/15)(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Migrants who have been blocked at the Greek-Macedonian border for three days, protested against being prevented from entering Macedonia after new restrictions were imposed.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, In Iraq four separate attacks in Baghdad killed 8 people and wounded 20.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, The Israeli military said it shut down the El-Khalil radio station in Hebron overnight and confiscated equipment used to broadcast calls to attack Israelis.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, In Mexico a burnt-out van was found in Sinaloa state with two unidentified bodies believed to be Australian surfers Dean Lucas (33) and Adam Coleman (33), last seen a day earlier. On Dec 4 authorities reported the arrest of three alleged highway robbers in connection with the suspected murders. Two other suspects were on the run.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Nov 21, In northern Myanmar a landslide near a jade mine killed at least 120 people, most of them villagers digging for green stones in a mountain of displaced earth in the Kachin state community of Hpakant.
(AP, 11/22/15)(AP, 11/23/15)(SFC, 11/24/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 21, In New Zealand 4 British and 2 Australian tourists, along with their pilot, were killed when their helicopter crashed into Fox Glacier during bad weather on the west coast of the South Island.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, In southern Somalia a suspected drone late today targeted a base belonging to al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab insurgents, killing at least 5 fighters.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, Syrian journalist Wasim al-Nuqari (38) was killed while covering the army's operations against Islamic State militants in the country's central region.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Syrian rebels backed by Turkey and the United States seized two villages from Islamic State (IS) jihadists close to the Turkish border after fierce fighting.
(AFP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, A Turkish official said a Belgian man of Moroccan origin has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Islamic State's Nov 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Ahmet Dahmani (26) was arrested at a luxury hotel in the southern coastal city of Antalya after traveling from Amsterdam on Nov 14.
(Reuters, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 21, Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant targets, part of an air and ground offensive against the group in southeast Turkey, where some areas have been under curfew for as long as ten days.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, An explosion in Ukraine's Kherson region bordering Crimea cut the two working power lines to the peninsula.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 21, A Vatican judge indicted five people, including two journalists and a high-ranking Vatican monsignor, in a scandal involving leaked documents that informed two books alleging financial malfeasance in the Roman Catholic church bureaucracy.
(AP, 11/21/15)
2015 Nov 22, More than 130 flights were cancelled in and out of Chicago’s O’hare Int’l. Airport as a deep freeze set in across the Midwest.
(SFC, 11/23/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 22, In Louisiana 17 people were wounded at the Bunny Friend Playground in New Orleans when gunfire broke out between two groups of gunmen as hundreds of people gathered for a block party and the filming of a music video.
(SFC, 11/24/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 22, Argentina held a run-off election. The center-right opposition coalition Cambiemos (Let’s Change), led by candidate Mauricio Macri (56), the favored candidate of big businesses and foreign investors, beat leftist rival Daniel Scioli by less than three percentage points, ending years of rule by the populist Peronist movement.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.33)(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AFP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 22, A Bahraini court jailed for 10 years freelance photographer Sayed al-Mousawi, and revoked his citizenship after convicting him of "terrorism." He was convicted of having given mobile phone SIM cards to "terrorist" demonstrators and taking photos of protests. Mousawi was arrested "without a warrant" on February 10 last year in the Shiite town of Diraz.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 22, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid (Mojaheed), secretary general of the main Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, were hanged at 12:55 a.m. at Dhaka Central Jail. Unknown assailants opened fire on a Bangladesh television channel's vehicle and wounded a journalist.
(AP, 11/22/15)(Reuters, 11/22/15)(Econ, 11/28/15, p.35)
2015 Nov 22, Brussels, Belgian, was locked down for a second day with police and troops patrolling deserted streets as authorities reviewed whether to extend a security alert meant to prevent a repeat of the bloody Paris attacks.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Burundi police said at least 5 people were killed in overnight clashes. Residents reported a battle at the president's office in the capital Bujumbura which has been plagued by violence since a disputed presidential election.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Crimea declared a state of emergency after its main electricity lines from Ukraine were blown up, leaving the Russian-annexed peninsula in darkness after the second such attack in as many days.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Egyptians voted across 13 of the country's 27 provinces in the second phase of elections meant to restore parliament after a more than three-year gap, but which critics say have been undermined by widespread repression.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Hong Kong voted in district-level elections that will mark the first real test of public sentiment since pro-democracy protests crippled parts of the Chinese-controlled city last year.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Iran state news said a court has sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian (39) to a prison term.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, An Israeli woman (20) was stabbed to death and 3 Palestinian attackers were killed in a series of incidents in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A Palestinian driving a taxi attempted to ram into civilians in the West Bank and charged at them with a knife before being shot dead.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In southern Nepal police opened fire on ethnic protesters blocking the nation's main highway, killing 2 in overnight violence that threatened to escalate political tensions.
(AP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, Russian law enforcement officers raided a hideout in the North Caucasus of armed militants allied with the Islamic State group, killing all 11 of them in an exchange of fire on the outskirts of Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic.
(AP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In Malaysia ASEAN nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) established a formal community that attempts to create freer movement of trade and capital in an area of 625 million people with a combined economic output of $2.6 trillion.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In northwestern Pakistan unidentified gunmen killed TV journalist Hafeez Ur Rehman (42) on the outskirts of Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in the second such murder this month.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, UNICEF's representative said some two million Sudanese children under five suffer from malnutrition every year.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In Syria a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Tel Abyad, a Kurdish-held town along the Turkish border, killing at least 3 and wounded 20 others.
(Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In Taiwan a service helicopter crashed outside of Taipei, killing both people on board.
(AP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 22, In Yemen pro-government forces pressed their advance to recapture the southwestern province of Taez but were slowed by landmines planted by Shiite rebels.
(AFP, 11/22/15)
2015 Nov 23, The US said it would impose sanctions on four current and former Burundi government officials, including the minister of public security and the leader of a failed coup, because of violence in Burundi.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 23, A US-led coalition targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with 26 air strikes against the militant group.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 23, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called for calm ahead of the release of a "hideous" video showing officer Jason Van Dyke fire 16 bullets into Laquan McDonald (17). Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged the next day with first degree murder.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 23, A panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled 2-1 that a Wisconsin law requiring that abortion providers have admitting privileges at a local hospital, is unconstitutional.
(CSM, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 23, Douglass C. North (b.1920), Nobel Prize winner in economics (1993), died in Benzonia, Michigan. He helped found a branch of inquiry called cliometrics, named after the muse of history, after he and others conculded that traditional market-oriented economics did not fully recognize that markets are embedded in institutions and the cultural phenomena behind them.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.D6)
2015 Nov 23, In Minnesota five people were wounded, though none gravely, when gunmen opened fire at the Minneapolis protest over the Nov 15 fatal police shooting of Jamar Clark. Two suspects were arrested the next day.
(AFP, 11/24/15)(SFC, 11/25/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 23, Pfizer and Allergan said they will join in a $160 billion deal to create the world's largest drugmaker the biggest health care deal ever. US-based Pfizer will reorganize in Ireland with a lower corporate tax rate.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Argentina's President-Elect, Mauricio Macri, said he would seek Venezuela's suspension from South America's Mercosur trade bloc because of accusations of rights abuses committed by Pres. Maduro's socialist government.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Belgium soldiers patrolled the streets of Brussels and police detained five more people on the third day of a security lockdown.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Egypt's PM Sherif Ismail granted government workers a half-day off in a bid to boost the low voter turnout on the final day of the second stage of parliamentary elections.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Egyptian security officials said 6 Sudanese migrants were killed and 17 wounded during a gun battle between security forces and smugglers as they tried to illegally enter Israel from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In northern Greece Moroccans, Iranians and Pakistanis on the border with Macedonia blocked rail traffic and demanded passage to western Europe, stranded by a policy of filtering migrants in the Balkans that has raised human rights concerns.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta declared corruption a national security threat and he presented a raft of measures to fight the endemic graft.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Iran President Vladimir Putin met with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Following their meeting a Kremlin official said Russia and Iran jointly oppose "external attempts" to bring regime change in Syria. President Vladimir Putin eased an export ban on nuclear equipment and technology to Iran.
(AFP, 11/23/15)(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Iran's ambassador to Russia said that Moscow had started the procedure of supplying Tehran with S-300 anti-missile rocket system.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Liberia a teenager (15) died in the first such death since the country was officially declared free of the virus in September. His parents had also tested positive for the virus and were under observation in the capital Monrovia.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Mexico an overnight highway traffic accident due west of Mexico City killed 20 people and injured at least 15 others.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, A Palestinian stabbed and killed an Israeli at a petrol station in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Jerusalem two Palestinian girls attacked and slightly wounded an elderly man with scissors before a policeman shot them both, killing one.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In Qatar rival tribes from southern Libya, who have battled for control of oil fields, signed a peace agreement. Representatives of the Tebu and Tuareg agreed to a ceasefire and to withdraw armed forces from the flashpoint town of Ubari.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Russia said its warplanes had hit 472 targets in war-torn Syria in the past two days, including tanker trucks and oil infrastructure in territory controlled by the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, A Russian court ordered the Church of Scientology in Moscow to be dissolved. A church representative said the decision would be appealed.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, In South Korea a US military helicopter crashed during a routine training mission, killing both pilots on board.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured areas from the Islamic State group in the central province of Homs, in the latest push since the aerial campaign began nearly two months ago. A US official said recent attacks with chlorine and mustard gas on the battlefield in Syria show that the use chemical weapons in the civil war is becoming routine.
(AP, 11/23/15)(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Ukraine ordered a halt to all delivery of goods to Crimea. PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk described the halt as temporary, but added that he had ordered the Cabinet to prepare a draft of a "concrete" halt of goods and services from Ukraine to Crimea.
(AP, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 23, Pro-Ukrainian activists prevented repairs to sabotaged power lines leading to Crimea, keeping the Russian-annexed peninsula starved of electricity for a second day and tensions between Moscow and Kiev high.
(Reuters, 11/23/15)
2015 Nov 24, President Barack Obama recognized 17 people with the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
(AP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Kentucky’s outgoing Gov. Steve Beshear signed an executive order to restore the right to vote and hold public office to thousands of nonviolent felons who’ve seved out their sentences.
(SFC, 11/25/15, p.A6)
2015 Nov 24, In NYC Abid Naseer (29) a Pakistani former school cricket captain, was jailed for 40 years over an Al-Qaeda plot to bomb a British shopping center in 2009. He was extradited to the United States from Britain in 2013 for helping al-Qaida target attacks on the New York subway.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, A rocket from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin private space company landed upright following a test flight in West Texas.
(SFC, 11/25/15, p.C1)
2015 Nov 24, In Afghanistan Taliban insurgents captured 16 people in Faryab province after their helicopter made an emergency landing in territory under the militants' control. 3 people were killed in a shootout followed.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)(AP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, In Algeria a fire sparked by an electrical fault killed 18 African migrants, including children, and injured 50 others at a camp housing over 650 migrants in Ouargla.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Brazil's environmental assets exchange BVRio launched an app that promises to help foreign traders and buyers of Brazilian timber make sure the product hasn't been illegally logged.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Canada's New Liberal government announced its plan to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees.
(AP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that the world's largest animal cloning factory is under construction in in the northern port of Tianjin, with plans to churn out dogs, horses and up to a million beef cattle a year.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Power cuts in Crimea affected nearly 940,000 people as tensions raged between Kiev and Moscow over the annexed peninsula and Russia threatened to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, In Egypt an elaborate militant attack, involving a suicide car bombing and claimed by Islamic State group, targeted a hotel in El-Arish, killing 4 policemen, 2 judges and a civilian in the restive north of the Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 11/24/15)(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, President Francois Hollande of France arrived in Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama on how to confront the threat posed by the Islamic State group in the wake of the Paris attacks.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, A Japanese rocket lifted off and successfully put the national space program's first commercial satellite into orbit.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta fired five government ministers embroiled in corruption scandals in a cabinet reshuffle late today amid growing criticism of runaway graft.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, A female Pakistani air force pilot was killed when her trainer jet crashed near the central town of Mianwali.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, The Philippines asked global judges to recognize its right to exploit waters in the South China Sea.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, A Scottish court handed oil major Royal Dutch Shell a 22,500 pound ($33,919) fine by for a spill of more than 200 tons of oil into the central North Sea in August 2011.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Int’l. experts meeting in Singapore said more than half the world's primates, including apes, lemurs and monkeys, are facing extinction.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Syrian fighters destroyed a Russian helicopter with a missile, shortly after they forced it to make an emergency landing in a nearby government-held area in Latakia province.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, A Tanzanian court charged four Chinese nationals for smuggling rhino horns.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, In Tunisia a suicide bomber attacked a presidential guard bus killing at least 12 people. Pres. Beji Caid Essebsi declared a 30-day state of emergency and imposed on overnight curfew in the capital. A day later the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(AP, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/25/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 24, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu unveiled a new cabinet stacked with loyal allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including his son-in-law who was named energy minister.
(AFP, 11/24/15)
2015 Nov 24, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, saying it had repeatedly violated its air space, one of the most serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a NATO member country and Russia for half a century. The pilot was shot dead by rebels as he parachuted to the ground.
(Reuters, 11/24/15)(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale dissolved parliament and called a snap election after a corruption scandal destabilized the government.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 24, Vietnam’s National Assembly passed a law recognizing the rights of transgenders effective in 2017 as part of a revised civil code.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 25, The United States and its allies staged 27 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, A new nuclear treaty with the United States governing South Korea's commercial nuclear activities during the next 20 years went into effect. The treaty, which replaces a previous accord reached in 1972, opens the possibility of South Korea gaining the ability to enrich uranium to produce non-weapons-grade nuclear fuel depending on future negotiations with the United States.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Australian officials said at least 2 people have been killed and several others injured by huge wildfires that also destroyed homes near the southern city of Adelaide and continue to burn out of control.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Bangladesh police commandos killed Al Bani, the suspected military chief of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a banned Islamist group, in a shootout in Dhaka.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, In Belgium schools and much of the Brussels metro system reopened as the capital started to return to normal after four days of lockdown.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Brazilian police arrested Senator Delcidio do Amaral, a senior ruling party senator and a billionaire investment banker, in the intensifying probe of a huge corruption network centered on state oil giant Petrobras.
(AFP, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 25, Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh advocated banning female genital mutilation, giving hope to human rights activists who are urging Gambia to adopt a law against the practice.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, Germany said it will send up to 650 soldiers to Mali to provide some relief to France in its global fight against the Islamic State jihadists.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Indian media and a rights group accused the Assam Rifles paramilitary force of attempting to curtail press freedom by asking newspapers in the insurgency-hit northeastern state of Nagaland to stop publishing statements from a banned rebel group.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, In the Indian portion of Kashmir 3 heavily armed rebels stormed an army camp and were killed in a fierce gunbattle with soldiers. A civilian was also killed.
(AP, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 25, Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the United States is using "money and sexual attractions" to try to infiltrate the Islamic Republic.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Pope Francis arrived in Kenya and was received at Nairobi's airport by President Uhuru Kenyatta on the first leg of a six-day pilgrimage that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic. Francis urged all Kenyans to work for peace and forgiveness in order to heal ethnic, religious and economic divisions.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, In southeastern Niger 18 people were killed and 100 homes torched in an attack in the dead of night by Nigeria's Boko Haram fighters in the village of Wogom.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, A year's worth of rain deluged parts of Qatar as seasonal storms moving through Saudi Arabia flooded streets in a city northwest of the capital, Riyadh.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, A Palestinian stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli soldier and was shot dead by troops in the Israeli-occupied West Bank at a road junction near a cluster of Palestinian villages and Jewish settlements.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Romania's Parliament approved a law that restricts what banks can reclaim from people who default on their mortgage payments. Lawmakers passed a law allowing banks to seize the property the loan was taken for, but not to seize other assets or claim further payment.
(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Russia accepted its "full suspension" from world athletics over widespread doping without requesting a hearing from the International Association of Athletics Federations.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 25, Russia sent an advanced missile system to Syria to protect its jets operating there and pledged its air force would keep flying missions near Turkish air space, sounding a defiant note after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, The surviving crew member of a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey said the plane received no warnings from the Turkish Air Force and did not fly over Turkish air space. Navigator Konstantin Murakhtin was rescued by Russian and Syrian special forces after ejecting from the plane. The US said data showed the Russian aircraft had transited Turkish airspace.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 25, Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom said it would stop shipping fuel supplies to Ukraine because Kiev had failed to make the required pre-payments on time.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Russian forces launched a heavy bombardment against insurgent-held areas in Syria's Latakia province, near where a Russian warplane had been shot down by Turkey the day before. Air strikes hit a crossing on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey's southern province of Kilis. The strikes reportedly hit a garage for commercial trailers, killing 3 people.
(Reuters, 11/25/15)(AP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Ukraine decided to stop buying gas from Russia and closed its airspace to its giant eastern neighbor's airlines. The Ukrainian military said another soldier was killed in a new bout of clashes across the shattered war zone in the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 11/25/15)
2015 Nov 25, Venezuelan opposition election candidate Luis Manuel Diaz was shot dead while campaigning. The shooter was believed to be a member of an "armed gang" linked to the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Azerbaijan said 2 policemen and 4 alleged members of the Movement for Muslim Unity have been killed in a shootout during a raid in the village of Nardaran.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In northern Bangladesh at least five assailants opened fire on devotees during evening prayers at a Shiite mosque, leaving one person dead and three others wounded in Haripur village.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Britain's financial regulator fined Barclays bank £72 million ($109 million, 102 million euros) for failing to carry out proper checks on a vast so-called "elephant" deal for ultra-wealthy clients.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In southwest Burkina Faso 22 people drowned after the minibus they were travelling in veered off a road.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Anastasia Lin, Canada's outspoken Miss World contestant, said she was barred from entering China to take part in this year's pageant and accused Beijing of overreach in extending its campaign of censorship even to beauty contests.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, China said that it planned to establish a military facility in Djibouti to resupply navy ships serving in the area.
(SFC, 11/27/15, p.A7)
2015 Nov 26, In China Gao Yu (71), a journalist imprisoned on a state secrets conviction, was released for medical reasons after pleading guilty during a closed-door appeal hearing.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, El Salvador's Roman Catholic Church announced it has suspended a well-known priest, saying he acknowledged sexually abusing a young girl. Monsignor Jesus Delgado (77) was the vicar general of the Archdiocese of San Salvador and was considered a close associate of assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Ten European governments signed a letter to the European Commission calling for a summit-level debate on the Nord Stream II project, Russia's plans to extend its gas link to Germany.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, French President Francois Hollande arrived in Moscow for talks on Syria with Russia's Vladimir Putin. They agreed to tighten cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State group, although they remained at odds over their approach toward Syrian President Bashar Assad.
(AFP, 11/26/15)(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Germany confirmed that it will deploy Tornado reconnaissance jets to support France in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Voters on the disputed British colony of Gibraltar re-elected Fabian Picardo's left-leaning coalition in parliamentary elections.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Hundreds of Algerians, Moroccans, and Pakistanis tried to storm the border between Greece and Macedonia, tearing down part of the barbed wire fence at the crossing and demanding to be allowed to carry on into northern Europe.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Sixteen migrants from India, Nepal and Bangladesh and their Indonesian skipper were found stranded in Indonesia's part of Timor Island. The next day Indonesia said Australian officials had destroyed a boat carrying asylum seekers and then pushed them back to sea in another vessel.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Iraq said its forces have cut Islamic State's last supply line into the western city of Ramadi by seizing a key bridge.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Italian police said they have seized almost 800 shotguns bound for Belgium from Turkey from a truck that arrived in the northeastern port of Trieste.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In Kenya Pope Francis held his first open-air mass in Africa with huge crowds hailing heavy rains as "God's blessing" as they sang and danced in Nairobi.
(AFP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In Lebanon AL-Manar, a Hezbollah TV station, said a joint operation by the Lebanese militant group and Syrian security agents killed Abdul-Salam Hendawi, also known as Abu Abdo, an Islamic State figure suspected of involvement in Beirut's deadly bombing earlier this month.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Moldovan police said they have detained a total of 13 suspected members of a paramilitary group allegedly planning to attack the capital and a northern city with a majority Russian population, with the aim of creating a new separatist republic similar to the one in eastern Ukraine.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, North and South Korean officials met for talks at the border truce village of Panmunjom after the two sides signed an agreement in which Pyongyang expressed regret over landmine blasts near the border that wounded two South Korean soldiers.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Three Palestinians were shot and killed in separate clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank as Israel announced plans to strengthen a fence near the flashpoint city of Hebron in an effort to contain a two-month spate of violence.
(AP, 11/26/15)(SFC, 11/27/15, p.A3)
2015 Nov 26, Philippine marines killed 8 suspected sympathizers of the Islamic State group in a clash in the southern Philippines, seizing bomb-making equipment, assault rifles and black flags in Sultan Kudarat province.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Russia threatened economic retaliation against Turkey and said it was still awaiting a reasonable explanation for the shooting down of its warplane, but Turkey dismissed the threats as "emotional" and "unfitting".
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Russia vowed to work "very actively" with track and field's governing body to eradicate the doping culture that led to its blanket ban from international competition.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, In Russia 10 people on board a Mi-8 helicopter, including employees of Russia's state oil company Rosneft, died when the aircraft crashed in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, A South African court opened the way to allowing local trade in rhino horns, alarming some conservationists who warned the ruling leaves rhinos even more vulnerable to poachers who are slaughtering them in record numbers.
(AP, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, On the South Sudan border with Sudan a 4-year-old girl and an Ethiopian peacekeeper were killed and three others wounded in an attack in the contested Abyei area.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, Syrian residents said that Russian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Saraqeb, Idlib province, along the Turkish border a day after hitting a truck depot near a crossing between the two countries.
(Reuters, 11/26/15)
2015 Nov 26, Ugandan lawmakers passed a bill that would give authorities sweeping powers to regulate civil society, which rights groups say will "strangle" criticism of the government, just before Pope Francis arrived on a visit.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 26, It was reported that the United Arab Emirates has secretly dispatched hundreds of Colombian mercenaries to the conflict in Yemen. 450 Latin American troops also included Panamanian, Salvadoran and Chilean soldiers.
(SFC, 11/26/15, p.A8)
2015 Nov 27, In Colorado Robert Lewis Dear (57) entered a family planning clinic in Colorado Springs and opened fire, killing 3 people, including a police officer, and wounding nine others.
(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Louisiana Johnny Max Mount shot and killed an employee at a Waffle House restaurant in Biloxi after she asked him not to smoke. Mount was quickly arrested and charged with first degree murder.
(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 27, A Belgian judge charged a sixth suspect, arrested a day earlier, with terrorism offences in connection with the Nov 13 Paris attacks.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Brazil announced plans to sue Samarco's co-owners, BHP and Brazilian miner Vale, for damages for 20 billion reais ($5.2 billion) over the Nov 5 bursting of a dam in Bento Rodrigues.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 27, Queen Elizabeth openeed 24th biennial Commonwealth Summit in Malta. Leaders of 53 countries -- around a quarter of the world's countries and a third of its population, gathered to discuss global issues.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Bulgaria's parliament ratified an agreement with NATO ally Poland for the repair of its ageing Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, part of a push by the Balkan country to reduce its reliance on Russia.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Burundi attackers shot at a lawmaker from the ruling party as he drove to parliament, killing one police officer and wounding others.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 27, A court in southern China sentenced Yang Maodong to six years in prison in what his lawyer described as an unfair trial with an extra criminal charge added at the last minute. The leading activist had organized rallies for media freedom.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Japan said it is investigating nearly a dozen suspicious boats recently found drifting off the country's coastline, some with decaying bodies aboard. At least 11 cases involving wooden boats, some badly damaged, with 20 bodies on board have been reported during October and November. Korean writing was visible on the boats as well as clothes left inside the vessels.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Mexico the bodies of 8 slain men were found dumped in the Oaxaca town of Cosolapa. All the men were from the city of Cordoba, about 30 miles away.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Nepal tens of thousands of students held hands, waved banners and chanted slogans in Kathmandu to protest against a border blockade that has caused severe shortages of fuel and an increase in food prices.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Nicaragua's military said all clandestine airfields used by cartels to run drugs to the United States have been destroyed and steps taken to make sure they would not reopen.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Nigeria a suicide bomber blew himself up among crowds at a Shia Muslim procession outside the north city of Kano, killing at least 21 people.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Two Palestinians rammed vehicles into Israeli soldiers in separate attacks in the occupied West Bank and were then shot dead.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Pirates attacked the Cyprus-registered Szafir, a Polish-owned cargo vessel, off the Nigerian coast and kidnapped its captain and four crew. The five Polish seamen were reported freed on Dec 8.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Nov 27, Russia said it would suspend its visa-free regime for Turkish nationals from January 1 as it retaliates against Ankara for the downing of a Russian warplane.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Slovakia's economy minister said his country will join forces with other Central and Eastern members of the European Union to protest a recent deal to expand a pipeline that delivers natural gas directly from Russia to Germany.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, A Swiss court convicted in absentia Herve Falciani, a former French employee with international bank HSBC, for economic espionage and sentenced him to five years in prison. France does not extradite its own citizens and Falciani appears unlikely to serve the sentence.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Syria suspected Russian warplanes carried out several air strikes on the town of Azaz near the Turkish border, killing an estimated 5 people including a child. A series of airstrike on Raqqa killed at least 8 people including 5 children.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 27, Turkish media said the government has "temporarily" suspended air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria after the downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border sparked a major row with Moscow.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, In Turkey hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Istanbul office of an opposition newspaper, accusing the government of silencing critics and attempting to cover-up a scandal after two journalists were jailed on terror and espionage charges for their reports on alleged Turkish arms smuggling to Syria.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, At least six children drowned in two separate incidents when their boats sank off Turkey while trying to make the risky crossing to Greece.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Ukraine said Russia has begun to restrict coal supplies, days after the Kremlin threatened to punish Kiev for a power blackout of Russian-annexed Crimea. Ukraine depends on coal to fulfil around 44 percent of its power needs.
(Reuters, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Pope Francis landed in Uganda on the second leg of a landmark trip to Africa, with choirs and dancers waiting to greet him.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Vietnam’s National Assembly passed a revised Penal Code. Death sentences imposed on corrupt Vietnamese officials will now be commuted to life in prison if they pay back at least 75 percent of the illegal money they made.
(AP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 27, Human Rights Watch alleged that at least 10 air strikes carried out by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen broke the laws of war and killed civilians.
(AFP, 11/27/15)
2015 Nov 28, The United States and its allies conducted 19 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and three in Syria.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, Actress Marjorie Lord (b.1918), the TV wife (1957-1964) of Danny Thomas, died at her home in Beverly Hills.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Lord)(SFC, 12/16/15, p.D5)
2015 Nov 28, In Afghanistan a senior member of the election commission survived an assassination attempt when a suicide bomber targeted his vehicle in Kabul, killing one of his employees and wounding two others.
(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Burundi Colonel Serges Kabanyura was wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on his way to Bujumbura.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, In northern Cameroon 2 female suicide bombers detonated their explosives, killing at least 5 people and injuring 12 others in the town of Dabanga.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, China’s state news said police have busted an online gun selling operation, seizing 1,180 guns and more than 6 million bullets. Gun possession by ordinary people is illegal in China.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In China air pollution in Beijing reached hazardous levels as smog engulfed large parts of China despite efforts to clean up the foul air.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In eastern China a gas leak at a steel parts factory killed 5 people and left seven others hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning in Shandong province. 5 more people died the next day.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, Congolese police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered in the eastern city of Goma to pay tribute to victims of recurrent attacks nearby.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Egypt a drive-by shooting killed 4 police near a famed historic site on the outskirts of Cairo.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Egypt said there is a 90 percent chance that hidden chambers will be found within King Tutankhamun's tomb, based on the preliminary results of a new exploration of the 3,300-year-old mausoleum.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Duesseldorf, Germany, Britain's Tyson Fury (27) was crowned the new world heavyweight champion after a unanimous points win over Wladimir Klitschko (39), who suffered his first defeat in eleven years.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, Iran unveiled a new model of oil contracts aimed at attracting foreign investment once sanctions are lifted under a landmark nuclear deal reached earlier this year.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Jordan US Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said, after visiting a camp for Syrian refugees, that the displaced should be absorbed by Middle Eastern countries, with the international community sending aid and "encouragement" to the host nations.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Kosovo some 35 thousand opposition supporters held a protest against the deals with Serbia and Montenegro — a peaceful one in contrast to recent disruption of parliament.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Macedonian police fired tear gas and stun grenades at desperate migrants stranded for days at the Greek border and who are demanding passage to western Europe, as soldiers began erecting a metal fence to keep them out.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Police in the Maldives dispersed opposition protesters for a second straight day, using tear gas and pepper spray and arresting more than a dozen demonstrators demanding the release of a former president and other jailed political leaders.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Mali mortars lit up the dawn sky when they were fired on a United Nations base in the northern city of Kidal early today, killing at least 3 people.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Malta heads of government from the Commonwealth family, which represents around a third of the world's population, pledged to demand an "ambitious" and legally-binding outcome from the world climate change summit in Paris, which officially starts on Nov 30.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 28, In Niger Boko Haram activists raided a border village, killing 4 people and torching some 50 homes.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 28, The Philippines took delivery of two Korean-made fighter jets — the country's first supersonic combat aircraft in a decade.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Syrian state reported that the Syrian army has captured territory from Islamic State east of Aleppo including several kilometers of highway linking the city with the jihadists' de facto capital of Raqqa. One person was killed and 30 wounded in rocket and mortar attacks on two neighborhoods of Damascus.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed "sadness" over Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane that has severely strained relations. Erdogan said the climate change summit in Paris next week could be a chance to repair relations with Moscow.
(AFP, 11/28/15)(Reuters, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, In southeastern Turkey police killed Tahir Elci (49), a prominent Kurdish lawyer, during a shootout between police and militants. The pro-Kurdish HDP Party called it a "planned assassination" and urged people to take to the streets in protest. Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse around 2,000 people marching in Istanbul's Taksim Square after Elci was shot dead in Diyarbakir. Shortly before Elci's killing, two police officers were shot dead after they stopped a "suspicious vehicle" in a nearby street. In 2020 three police officers went on trial for the killing of Elci.
(Reuters, 11/28/15)(Reuters, 11/30/15)(AP, 10/21/20)
2015 Nov 28, In Uganda Pope Francis honored Uganda's 19th century Christian martyrs and encouraged its 21st century Christian youths during a day that saw nearly a half-million Ugandans turn out to see him.
(AP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 28, On the southern coast of Yemen warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition hit two small boats allegedly carrying weapons to Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
(AFP, 11/28/15)
2015 Nov 29, The United States and its allies conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, Collection of telecommunication metadata by the National Security Agency (NSA) ended today following a halt ordered by Congress last June. The program had begun in secret in 2001 under Pres. George W. Bush.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Freedom_Act)(SFC, 11/28/15, p.A4)
2015 Nov 29, Burkina Faso held presidential and legislative elections. Preliminary results released on Dec 1 gave Roch March Christian Kabore (58) an outright win.
(AP, 11/29/15)(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Burundi gunmen in Bujumbura shot dead army Major Salvator Katihabwa and wounded the husband of the senate's deputy speaker.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, Cameroon reportedly ended a 3-day operation against Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists, killing around 100 fighters and freeing 900 hostages.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Nov 29, The Central African Republic welcomed Pope Francis as he brought a message of peace to the divided country, visiting people displaced by months of bloody sectarian violence and calling for unity. Interim president Catherine Samba-Panza asked for "forgiveness" from Pope Francis for two years of "evil" sectarian violence.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd warned Japan against resuming "research" whaling in the Antarctic and called on the Australian government to intervene.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, French riot police fired tear gas at climate change protesters at the Place de la Republique in central Paris, near where climate change activists had earlier formed a human chain.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Tens of thousands of people from Sydney to London joined one of the biggest days of climate change activism, telling world leaders gathering for a summit in Paris there is "No Planet B" in the fight against global warming. More than 2,000 events were being held in cities including London, Sao Paulo and New York, making it perhaps the biggest day of climate action in history.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Germany clashes broke out between hundreds of asylum seekers at a shelter in Berlin, in the second mass brawl to erupt over the weekend in the crowded migrant accommodations.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Guatemala gunfire broke out at the Canada Rehabilitation Farm, a prison designed to hold 600 inmates, but which housed 3,092. The death toll in the brawl rose to 16, including 3 inmates who were decapitated.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, In India hundreds of gay rights activists danced to drum beats and held colorful balloons as they marched in a parade in New Delhi, celebrating what they call the diversity of gender and sexuality.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Moldova thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in Chisinau and other towns demanding better governance and an end to widespread corruption.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, In Nigeria Boko Haram destroyed a military base as soldiers fled. Self-defense fighters prevented the insurgents from retaking Gulak town. Extremists kidnapped dozens of girls and set ablaze hundreds of buildings in Bam, Borno state.
(AP, 11/30/15)(SFC, 12/1/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 29, A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli police officer in Jerusalem before being shot dead by security forces.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee announced that security forces had killed the three militants in Dagestan after they refused to surrender.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Hundreds of Saudi women began campaigning for public office, in a first for women in the conservative Muslim kingdom's slow reform process even as two activists were disqualified.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Three Saudi border soldiers were killed after exchanging fire with "enemy elements" trying to cross the border from Yemen to attack two watch towers.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, In northeastern Spain a snorkeler found eight apparently human skulls, and other bones, in shallow waters just off Els Palangrers beach.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 29, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens in the insurgent held town of Ariha. Ariha Today, a Facebook page that covers events in the town, said the airstrikes killed 40 people and wounding more than 70.
(AP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu struck a deal with EU leaders to prevent migrants from traveling to Europe in return for 3 billion euros (dollars) in cash, a deal on visas and renewed talks on joining the 28-nation bloc.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 29, Turkey recovered the body of Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov from northern Syria and presented it to Russian diplomats, five days after shooting down his warplane in an incident that wrecked relations between the two countries.
(Reuters, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 29, Yemeni loyalists supported by a Saudi-led coalition battled to oust Iran-backed rebels from a southern province where they have made gains in recent weeks, with at least 16 reported dead.
(AFP, 11/29/15)
2015 Nov 30, A coalition led by the United States conducted 12 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, and hit the militant group with a single strike in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 30, US District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans ordered Anadarko Petroleum Corp to pay a $159.5 million civil fine reflecting its stake in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 30, In New York former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (71) was convicted on charges that he traded favors for $4 million in kickbacks.
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A9)
2015 Nov 30, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency after storms over the weekend caused floods, coated roads with ice and left about 60,000 customers without power.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, American activist Lori Berenson (46) was finally heading home to New York, two decades after being found guilty of aiding leftist rebels in Peru. Her 20-year sentence lapsed on Nov 29.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Argentina’s Pres. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner signed a decree boosting government spending by 133 billion pesos ($13.7 billion).
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.37)
2015 Nov 30, Cameroonian troops crossed into Nigeria and killed about 150 people near the Banki border post according to refugees who walked for days to Adamawa’s Fufore transit center. Cameroon’s government denied the charges.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A5)
2015 Nov 30, Canada-based BlackBerry said it is exiting Pakistan rather than hand over its customers' private messages, after the government demanded access to encrypted data sent through company servers.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In the Central African Republic Pope Francis said Christians and Muslims were "brothers" and urged them to reject hatred and violence as he visited a mosque in Bangui, which has been ravaged by sectarian conflict.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, China and Taiwan said they have swapped three high-level convicted spies in a sign of goodwill linked to the first meeting ever between their presidents. China first sent back the two Taiwanese men, Chu Kung-hsun and Hsu Chang-kuo on Oct 13. Taiwan followed with the release of Li Zhihao.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Beijing suffered its worst air pollution of the year, with monitoring sites throughout the city reporting extremely hazardous levels of pollutants.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In eastern Congo DRC at least 13 people, including a UN peacekeeper, were killed in an overnight attack by rebels in North Kivu province. The attack was blamed on Ugandan rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In eastern Congo DRC more than 20 people were missing after a government-operated speed boat capsized on Lake Kivu.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, World leaders arrived in Paris for UN climate change talks. Over the next two weeks, negotiators will hammer out the strongest international climate pact yet.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Marcus Klingberg (b.1918), the man considered the Soviet Union's most successful spy in Israel before being unmasked more than 30 years ago, died in Paris.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 30, PM Haider al-Abadi said that Iraq has sufficient forces to fight the Islamic State group, after American senators called for more US troops to be deployed to the country. A suicide bomber targeted Shiite Muslims taking part in an annual pilgrimage in Baghdad, killing 9 people and wounding another 21.
(AFP, 11/30/15)(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In southeastern Niger militants from the Islamist group Boko Haram killed 8 people in an attack on a village in the Diffa region.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov 30, In Northern Ireland the Belfast High Court found that the country’s restrictive abortion legislation is in breach of human rights law.
(AFP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Russia said it will restrict imports of Turkish fruit and vegetables as part of a package of new sanctions following the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey last week. Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said his country would not apologize to Russia for shooting down the warplane and said he hoped Russia would reconsider sanctions.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Officials say that more than 35,000 people were without electricity in Sweden after a storm battered southern Scandinavia, damaging buildings, toppling trees, canceling trains and closing bridge links between Denmark and Sweden.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In northern Syria 15 militants, 8 DFS fighters and 20 civilians were reported killed over the last 24 hours near the border area near Azaz.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Thai soldiers and police detained two top leaders of the anti-government Red Shirt movement as they prepared to visit a park celebrating past Thai kings that is at the center of a corruption scandal linked to the army.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, In Thailand Andre Cabau (39), a French drug trafficker, was arrested in Bangkok. He was part of a notorious international network that authorities say copied tactics from Hollywood's "Fast and Furious" films.
(AP, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Turkish authorities rounded up some 1,300 migrants that they said were planning to sail to Greece from hideouts near secluded Aegean beaches and forests.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, The World Bank launched a $500 million market-based scheme designed to help developing countries pay for emission reductions and combat climate change.
(Reuters, 11/30/15)
2015 Nov 30, Dozens of Yemeni Houthi fighters were reportedly killed during an assault on the border with Saudi Arabia.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Nov, In Botswana a 3-billion-year-old diamond the size of a tennis ball was unearthed at a mine owned by Canada’s Lucara Diamond Corp. The Lesedi la Rona diamond was set to be auctioned in London on June 29, 2016. Bidding failed to make a $70 million reserve.
(SFC, 5/5/16, p.A2)(Econ, 7/2/16, p.56)
2015 Nov, In China a mother entrusted her daughter to Bao Yuming, a high-ranking director at two large companies. He started raping her a month later, when she was just 14 years old. In 2016 the girl began reporting sexual abuse to police, but they did not pursue her claims. In 2020 the central government probed the handling of the case.
(https://tinyurl.com/yd2t5rkw)(Econ, 4/25/20, p.35)
2015 Nov, The Egyptian military destroyed 20 underground tunnels this month along the border with the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Nov, In Ethiopia demonstrations began mainly by members of the Oromo ethnic group against a government plan to expand the limits of Addis Ababa. The Oromo accounted for about a third of the country’s 97 million people.
(Econ, 3/26/15, p.58)
2015 Nov, In France exiled Rep. of Congo General Ferdinand Mbaou was shot in the back as he was leaving his home in Bessancourt north of Paris. In 2018 two former French secret service agents were accused of plotting to assassinate the senior opposition figure.
(AFP, 10/5/18)
2015 Nov, Abu Saleh, the Islamic State finance chief in Iraq, was killed late this month along with two associates in a coalition air strike. The two others were identified as Abu Mariam, an enforcer and senior leader in the IS group's extortion networks, and Abu Waqman al-Tunis, who coordinated the group's transfer of people, weapons and information.
(AFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Nov, Russian authorities declared the Soros Fund an "undesirable agent" and forced it to stop working in Russia.
(AP, 1/14/16)
2015 Nov, The number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria was estimated at 30 to 100 thousand. Pentagon sources said coalition airstrikes have killed 20,000 IS fighters over the last 14 months. Coalition airstrikes against the IS this month alone numbered more than 3,000.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.23)(Econ, 12/12/15, p.47)
2015 Dec 1, The United States and its allies staged 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 1, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the United States is deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to help Iraq put additional pressure on Islamic State and be positioned to conduct unilateral operations into Syria.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, US General Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that approximately 43 percent of the revenue stream that ISIL derives from oil has been affected over the past 30 days.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla chan announced the birth of a baby daughter and plans to give away 99% of the Facebook shares, currently worth $45 billion, during their lifetimes.
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A1)
2015 Dec 1, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy following the public outcry over the handling of the Oct 20, 2014, shooting of Laquan McDonald (17).
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 1, In northern Afghanistan an explosion struck a group of children who were playing on the outskirts of Puli Khumri, Baghlan province, killing 3 boys and wounding 12 children, four of them critically.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, The Bank of China appealed a decision by a New York court to fine it $50,000 a day for withholding information about counterfeiters' bank accounts in China.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 1, Beijing grappled with severe air pollution for a 5th straight day and ordered hundreds of factories to shut and allowed children to skip school as choking smog reached over 25 times safe levels.
(AFP, 12/1/15)(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A7)
2015 Dec 1, In eastern Congo DRC fierce fighting between UN peacekeepers and Ugandan rebels raged, after a weekend attack by the mostly Muslim group left 24 people dead.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, The Cuban government announced that it is re-imposing a hated travel permit requirement on many doctors, requiring them to get permission to leave the country in an attempt to counter a brain drain that it blames on the United States.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, President Francois Hollande said France will give African countries two billion euros ($2.1 billion) over the next four years to develop renewable energy and replace climate-harming fossil fuels.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, The German cabinet approved a mandate offering military assistance to back the international fight against the Islamic State jihadist group following the Paris attacks.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, An Indonesian report said a faulty component and the crew's inadequate response caused an AirAsia A320 to crash into the Java Sea last Dec 28, killing all 162 people on board.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Iraq gunmen shot and killed prominent Sunni councilman Moahmmed Khalil al-Jubouri and his wife in the northern city of Kirkuk.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 1, Japan's whaling fleet set out for the Antarctic to resume a hunt for the mammals after a year-long hiatus.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Police in Kenya tear-gassed demonstrators as some 200 people marched against to the Supreme Court and parliament to protest government corruption. 26 people were arrested.
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 1, Kenya's sports ministry said it will require all government payments to athletes be made via an electronic system in a bid to stop theft by sports officials.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Al Qaeda's Syrian wing freed 16 Lebanese soldiers and policemen in exchange for the release of jailed Islamists including the ex-wife of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Bashir Yuguda, the former minister of state for finance, has been arrested along with some other people in connection with a $2 billion arms deal that is currently being investigated.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Pakistan gunmen killed 2 soldiers in the southern city of Karachi.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, Two Palestinians attempted to stab an Israeli soldier and a pedestrian in separate attacks near Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but both attackers were shot dead.
(AFP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In the Philippines three members of the second division of the Commission on Election (Comelec) said Senator Grace Poe could not run for president in elections in May because she fails to meet the 10-year residency requirement. Poe's camp said it would appeal against the decision to Comelec before elevating it to the Supreme Court.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, A Philippine court convicted US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton of killing Filipino Jennifer Laude last year after he discovered in a hotel that she was a transgender woman. He was sentenced to 6-12 years in jail and credited with time already spent in detention.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Singapore Tan Seet Eng, aka Dan Tan, was re-arrested, a week after his release from jail was ordered by a Court of Appeal. He was suspected of running a global soccer match-fixing syndicate and said to be a danger to public safety. Tan was previously jailed in October 2013 after Italian prosecutors accused him of coordinating a global crime syndicate that made millions of dollars betting on rigged Italian matches and other games around the world.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 1, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Syrian official said a deal has been reached for thousands of insurgents to leave the last opposition-held neighborhood in the city of Homs. Implementation of the deal will begin early next week.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, NATO allies sought to strengthen Turkey's defenses along its Syrian border after the United States withdrew its missile defense battery for modernization.
(Reuters, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Turkey 6 children died in a fire that broke out at a school teaching the Quran in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.
(AP, 12/1/15)
2015 Dec 1, In Zimbabwe China’s President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of 10 economic agreements, including on expanding the southern African nation's largest thermal power plant.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
3,
2015 Dec 2, A coalition led by the United States bombarded Islamic State in Syria with 14 air strikes, and also hit the militant group in Iraq with 18 strikes.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 2, In southern California Syed Rizwan Farook (28) and Tashfeen Malik (27) who had a 6-month-old daughter together, were killed in a shootout with police. They had just killed 14 people and wounding 17 at the Inland Regional Center, a social services agency in the city of San Bernardino where Farook worked as an inspector. The attack appeared to have been planned. After two days the FBI became involved saying Farook had "some kind" of contact with people from the Nusra Front and the radical Shabab group in Somalia. In 2020 Farook's mother, Rafia Shareed, pleaded guilty to destroying a map her son may have used to plan the massacre.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)(Reuters, 12/5/15)(SFC, 3/17/20, p.A4)
2015 Dec 2, In San Francisco Mario Woods (26) was shot dead by police in the Bayview district. Investigators said he was armed with a knife and was suspected in an earlier stabbing. At least five officers fired at him 20 times. Part of the shooting was captured on video. On May 24 District Attorney George Gascon announced that he would not charge the officers involved.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A1)(SFC, 5/26/18, p.A1)
2015 Dec 2, In Tennessee 2 Army pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed near Fort Campbell.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 2, Texas sued the US government in an effort to block six Syrian refugees from resettling in Dallas this week. On Dec 4 Texas stopped trying to block Syrian refugees from resettling in the state.
(SFC, 12/2/15, p.A8)(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 2, John Rassias (b.1925), former Dartmouth professor of language, died at his home in Norwich, Vt. His language teaching method was adopted by the Peace Corps and formalized after he began teaching at Dartmouth in 1965, as the Dartmouth Intensive Language Model.
(SFC, 12/7/15, p.C3)
2015 Dec 2, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was injured in a firefight following an argument at a meeting of militant commanders in Pakistan. 4 people were reported killed in the firefight.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Brazil Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress, triggered an impeachment process against Pres. Dilma Rousseff on grounds that she illegally manipulated government accounts. Cunha was one of 34 sitting congressmen under investigation in the bribery scandal centered on Petrobras.
(AFP, 12/3/15)(Econ, 12/5/15, p.36)
2015 Dec 2, Britain voted to extend airstrikes to Syria.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Burundi at least 7 people were killed over the last 24 hours in gun battles and grenade blasts with bodies found dumped on the streets.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with South Africa's President Jacob Zuma that were expected to focus on boosting investment and trade worth around $20 billion dollars a year.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, China’s cabinet announced that the country will reduce emissions of major pollutants in the power sector by 60 percent by 2020.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, The EU and Vietnam signed a free trade deal that removes nearly all tariffs between Europe and one of the world's last communist states.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Afghanistan's visiting President Ashraf Ghani agreed to work jointly for stability in the South Asian country and to reduce illegal migration.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi said his country does not need foreign ground troops to defeat the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Israel indicted former senior politician Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (79) on charges that include taking bribes and money laundering.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Israel demolished the home of a Palestinian who killed two officers and wounded several others in an attack last year.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Kuwaiti MPs called on the government to refer 24 ex-oil officials to the public prosecutor over a scrapped deal with US firm Dow Chemical that resulted in a $2.2 billion fine.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Libya rocket fire killed Colonel Ali al-Themen and wounded five other soldiers of the armed forces loyal to the internationally recognized government in the coastal city of Benghazi.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Macedonian police fired tear gas at hundreds of mostly Pakistani migrants who tried to storm into the Balkan country from Greece demanding passage to wealthier northern Europe.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, NATO invited Montenegro to become the 29th member of the US-led military alliance, defying Russia's warnings it would have to respond to what it branded a threat to its security. Russia said it will end joint projects with Montenegro if the ex-Communist country joins NATO.
(AFP, 12/2/15)(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Pakistan hanged four convicted militants who were sentenced to death over a Taliban attack on an army-run school last year that killed more than 150 people.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Russia's defense ministry said it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Slovakia filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice against a European Union decision to redistribute 120,000 asylum seekers among member countries.
(Reuters, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, Spain's Constitutional Court revoked a resolution by Catalonia's parliament that declared the start of a secession process in the wealthy northeastern region.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, In Syria rebel shelling of Damascus reportedly killed two women and wounded 26 people, including 16 students.
(AP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 2, The Islamic State posted footage online of Magomed Khasiev (23) in an orange jump suit kneeling beside a lake in Syria and confessing in Russian to spying on Islamic State militants. Another Russian speaker, this one in camouflage fatigues, then uses a hunting knife to hack off the kneeling man's head.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 2, A Venezuelan military helicopter landed in Guyana amid a border dispute between the two nations. Venezuela has long claimed 40 percent of Guyana's territory.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 2, In southern Yemen Al-Qaeda fighters drove pro-government forces out of the town of Jaar, in fighting that killed 15 people.
(AFP, 12/2/15)
2015 Dec 3, An Arkansas judge struck down a portion of the state’s law that keeps secret details about drugs used in executions.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 3, In Minnesota Scott Weiland (b.1967) former frontman for rock bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, was found dead on his tour bus while on tour with his band the Wildabouts. A medical examiner later said he died of a toxic mix of drugs that included cocaine.
(SFC, 12/4/15, p.A16)(SFC, 12/19/15, p.E2)
2015 Dec 3, In West Virginia Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was convicted on a misdemeanor conspiracy charge in connection with the April 5, 2010, mine disaster that killed 29 men.
(SFC, 12/5/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 3, In southern Afghanistan a US-Afghan military operation backed by helicopter gunships freed more than 40 soldiers and police held captive in a Taliban prison in Nawzad district of Helmand province.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 3, Australia's parliament passed legislation to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are convicted of terrorism offences or found to have fought with banned groups overseas, despite concerns about deporting jihadists.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's party appealed to the Supreme Court to block impeachment proceedings against her.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Britain joined the US-led air strikes against Islamic State in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, A Cambodian court sentenced Yem Chrin, an unlicensed medical practitioner, to 25 years in prison Thursday after finding him responsible for infecting more than 100 villagers with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, by reusing unsanitized syringes.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of Russia's Chechnya region, said that whoever was responsible for the beheading of a Russian man from Chechnya, purportedly shown on an Islamic State video, will be killed.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In China Cai Rongsheng, former admissions officer at Renmin University in Beijing, admitted to taking $3.6 million in bribes at a trial in Nanjing.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Ecuador's Congress voted overwhelmingly to lift presidential term limits from 2021, triggering violent demonstrations that saw police attacked with spears, clubs and home-made rockets.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, EU member Denmark voted in a referendum on adopting the union's justice rules, with the Paris terror attacks and immigration both major issues in the campaign. 53 percent of Danish voters decided to continue a decades-old opt-out from justice affairs in the European Union.
(AFP, 12/3/15)(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 3, Egypt's top court ordered a retrial of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and thirty-six co-defendants, overturning a death sentence for Islamist protest violence.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Egypt opened its border with the Gaza Strip for the first time in months, drawing thousands of Palestinians who crowded the Rafah border crossing in hopes of leaving the coastal territory.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Greece public and private sector workers walked off the job in the second 24-hour general strike in a month against new austerity measures.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Hungary said it had filed a legal challenge to the European Union's plan to distribute 160,000 asylum-seekers among member states under a quota system.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In southern India the heaviest rainfall in more than 100 years has devastated swathes of Tamil Nadu state, with thousands forced to leave their submerged homes and schools, offices and a regional airport shut for a second day.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Indonesia two rain-triggered landslides left 5 villagers dead and 15 others missing on Sumatra Island.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Iraq millions of Shiite Muslims, beating their heads and chests in mourning, packed the city of Karbala for the culmination of Arbaeen, one of the world's largest religious events.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Israeli authorities said they had arrested a number of alleged Jewish extremists over the July 31 firebombing of a Palestinian home that killed a toddler and his parents in an attack that drew international condemnation.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Malaysia's Parliament approved a security law that gives sweeping security powers to a council led by the prime minister, in a move slammed by rights groups and critics as a step toward a dictatorship.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Mexico Antonio Oseguera Cervantes (57), the brother of the head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, was detained while driving in the town of Tlajomulco de Zuniga, western Jalisco state. He managed the group's finances.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 3, Mongolia’s lawmakers approved a new criminal code eliminating executions effective September 2016. The last execution in Mongolia was in 2008 and the death penalty remained classified as a state secret. The move made Mongolia the 105th country to abolish the death penalty in law.
(http://tinyurl.com/zdfketo)
2015 Dec 3, Pakistan refused to allow about 30 "unverified deportees" from Greece to get off a plane at Islamabad. 19 others whom Pakistan deemed legitimate deportees were allowed to disembark.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, A Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli policeman near Jerusalem's Old City before being shot dead.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Puerto Rico the FBI arrested 10 government officials and businessmen charged with bribery and extortion.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Qatar signed the first contracts on a mega-accommodation project which will eventually see almost 180,000 migrant workers housed in seven specially built "cities". All seven sites could be in operation within two years.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters work on Turkish Stream, a pipeline intended to pump Russian gas into southeastern Europe via Turkey while bypassing Ukraine, had been suspended.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, The foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia met in Belgrade in the first high-level bilateral talks since the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish jets sparked an unprecedented crisis.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Saudi Arabia lent its backing to a power-sharing plan that would make Suleiman Franjieh, a family friend of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, president of Lebanon.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Saudi local media said female divorcees and widows in Saudi Arabia are set to get their own ID cards allowing them to act independently from men.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Citizens of Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago, began voting in presidential elections.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In South Africa Oscar Pistorius was convicted of murder by an appeals court that described the once-glittering story of the double-amputee Olympian and Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend he killed in his home in 2013, as a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.
(AP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Spain a trial of 35 members of Basque separatist parties including Batasuna, the banned political wing of the armed ETA group, got under way after being repeatedly postponed. The defendants stand accused of carrying out political activities to back ETA, blamed for the deaths of 829 people in a four-decade campaign for an independent Basque homeland.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, In Spain acting Catalon President Artur Mas said Catalonia's government will continue its drive for independence.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, The Swiss justice ministry (FOJ) arrested two more top FIFA officials on a request from the US justice department. South American Football Confederation president Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay and Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, head of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean, were arrested at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, It was reported that three Tanzanian universities are offering a new course on female genital mutilation (FGM) to train health care professionals how to deal with victims of the harmful practice that is still widespread although illegal.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, Turkey said it has agreed with Azerbaijan to accelerate the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), with an aim to have the gas projected completed before the planned 2018.
(Reuters, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 3, A Turkish court sentenced three men to life in prison over the Feb 11 murder and attempted rape of female student Ozgecan Aslan (20.
(AFP, 12/3/15)
2015 Dec 4, The Spike Lee musical film “Chi-Raq" was released. It was about gang violence on Chicago’s South Side. It was a contemporary take on Lysistrata, the 411BC Greek comedy by Aristophanes.
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.32)
2015 Dec 4, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 12 strikes in Iraq and 11 in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, The US Center for Disease Control said that seven additional people in three more states have been sickened in an E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle.
(SFC, 12/5/15, p.D4)
2015 Dec 4, In Oakland, Ca., Jack Lewis (16) was killed when a tree limb that he was climbing broke and hit him on the head near Lake Merritt. In 2018 the Oakland City Council approved a $1.75 million payment to his family.
(SFC, 10/4/18, p.C5)
2015 Dec 4, In Connecticut Amador Medina (32) was arrested in Hartford on a charge of being a fugitive from justice from Worcester, Massachusetts, where authorities allege he stole the remains two months ago from a family mausoleum that dates to 1903. Medina told police he was a Santeria priest and wanted the human bones for religious and healing ceremonies.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Tennessee skilled-trades workers at the Volkswagen's lone US plant voted to be represented by the United Auto Workers, marking the union's first victory at a foreign-owned automaker in the South.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, American actor Robert Loggia (b.1930) died at his home in Los Angeles. His films included “Scarface" (1983), “Prizzi’s Honor" (9185) “Lost Highway" (1997) and “Big" (1988).
(SFC, 12/5/15, p.A11)
2015 Dec 4, In Afghanistan a mortar attack by government troops killed at least 8 civilians and wounded two others near a mosque in a district south of Kabul.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Azerbaijan 29 workers were missing after a platform in Azerbaijan’s Guneshli oil field, operated by state energy company SOCAR, caught fire in the Caspian Sea. 33 people were rescued. 6 bodies were soon recovered and 23 remained missing.
(AFP, 12/5/15)(AP, 12/6/15)(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 4, British bombers made their second round of strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria late today, again hitting oil fields.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, Aravindan Balakrishnan (75), a cult leader who led a secretive Maoist commune in London, was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting his female followers and imprisoning his own daughter for 30 years.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Burundi police shot dead 3 attackers and arrested three others when they foiled an attempt to ambush and assassinate a top police officer in the capital.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Canada said posted its 14th consecutive monthly trade deficit in October, as exports to its key trading partner the United States fell.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, It was reported that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has signed a decree that removes marijuana from the country's list of hard drugs.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking at a summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in South Africa, told African leaders his country would pump $60 billion into development projects, cancel some debt and boost agriculture under a three-year plan that will extend Beijing's influence in the continent.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Costa Rica said it has asked Belize to accept nearly 3,000 Cuban migrants who have been stuck at the Costa Rican border with Nicaragua for weeks.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Egypt a Molotov cocktail hurled at a Cairo restaurant killed 16 people and wounded two. The attacker was said to be a fired employee.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, The European Union agreed on a system to share airline passenger information, paving the way for closer scrutiny of extremists.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Georgia stripped former leader and reformer Mikheil Saakashvili of his citizenship as he had acquired a Ukrainian passport to serve as governor of the strategic Odessa region.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Germany's lower house of parliament approved government plans to join the military campaign against Islamic State in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Guatemalan prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Brayan Jimenez, president of the country's football federation, who is accused in a widening bribery investigation into FIFA.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, In southern India rains eased in the flood-hit city of Chennai, raising hopes that rescue efforts could pick up, after the death of 18 patients at a private hospital added to the official toll of 280 confirmed killed in the disaster. The death toll from the flooding was later raised to some 450.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)(Econ, 12/12/15, p.40)
2015 Dec 4, Veteran Israeli dove Yossi Sarid (75), who championed the cause of a Palestinian state over a political career spanning three decades, died in Tel Aviv.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Nigeria at least 3 people were killed and six others injured in suicide attacks in northeastern Borno state blamed on Boko Haram Islamists.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Two Palestinians stabbed an Israeli soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight, moderately wounding him before they were shot dead by soldiers. A Palestinian driver ran over and injured two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank before being shot dead.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Peru the former head of the Peruvian football federation, Manuel Burga, was arrested in the growing FIFA bribery probe.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 4, Philippine security forces arrested Kadaffy Muktadil, a suspect in the kidnappings of two Malaysian hostages last May. Malaysian Bernard Then Ted Fen was beheaded last month. Thien Nyuk Fun was freed on Nov 8.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Russian prosecutors declared the US-Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law (USRF) an "undesirable" organization, the fourth entity to be banned under a controversial law targeting foreign groups accused of political meddling in the country.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, South African authorities issued a warrant of arrest for Oscar Pistorius (29), a day after the Paralympic champion was convicted on appeal of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
(Reuters, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, South Africa-based MTN announced that its fine by Nigeria's communications agency had been reduced to 674 billion naira ($3.4 billion). Spokesman Tony Ojobo said there was a typo and the actual amount is 780 billion naira ($3.9 billion).
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, In Syria at least 35 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in a series of regime raids on a rebel stronghold east of Damascus.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, The New York Times decried limits on media freedom in Thailand after its local printer refused to publish articles about the Southeast Asian country for a third time.
(AP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Turkish media said authorities have rounded up in the past four days nearly 3,000 migrants planning to cross the Aegean Sea to EU member Greece.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 4, Turkish media said more than 100 Turkish soldiers have been deployed to an area near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is under Islamic State control, to replace a unit providing training to Iraqi troops.
(AFP, 12/4/15)
2015 Dec 5, The United States and its allies conducted 17 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and 12 in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 5, The New York Times published an editorial on its front page for the first time since 1920, using the rare, prominent placement to urge gun control following the latest mass shooting in the United States.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, The Afghan Taliban released an audio message it said was from leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, vehemently rejecting reports of his death in a firefight with his own commanders as "enemy propaganda".
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, A ship carrying 25 tons of radioactive waste arrived back in Australia, met by activists who warned against the vast nation becoming a nuclear dumping ground. Australia sent spent nuclear fuel to France for reprocessing in the 1990s and early 2000s over four shipments, and it has now been returned for long-term storage.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In northern Bangladesh unidentified attackers hurled three homemade bombs on the premises of a Hindu temple during a drama performance early today, injuring 10 people outside the Kantajir temple during an annual fair in Dinajpur district.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In Britain Storm Desmond whipped across the country. A 90-year-old man died near a north London Underground station after he was apparently blown against the side of a moving bus.
(AFP, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 5, Muhaydin Mire (29) slashed a man (56) at the east London Leytonstone metro station, reportedly screaming "this is for Syria", in what police described as a terrorist incident. On June 8 a British court convicted Mire, a mentally ill taxi driver, of attempted murder.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)(AFP, 12/7/15)(AP, 6/8/16)
2015 Dec 5, In Chad four female suicide bombers attacked the Chadian island of Koulfoua on Lake Chad. State TV said the provisional death toll was 19 dead, including the four kamikazes, and 130 injured.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Chinese media reported that Zhang Yun (56), head of the country’s 4th largest state bank, has resigned citing personal reasons amid reports of his involvement in a corruption investigation.
(SSFC, 12/6/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 5, In France negotiators from 195 nations delivered a blueprint for a pact to save mankind from disastrous global warming. Negotiators agreed to a draft accord that still leaves hundreds of points of dispute for ministers to resolve next week.
(AFP, 12/5/15)(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Guyana's Government Information Agency said British petroleum giant Tullow Oil PLC will be awarded an exploration license near an offshore basin where Exxon Mobil found large quantities of oil and gas in May.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Iraqi President Fouad Massoum called the deployment of several hundred Turkish troops inside Iraq near the northern city of Mosul "a violation of international norms and law".
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In northern Lebanon suspected Islamist militant Mohammed Hamzeh killed himself, his wife and his mother, when he blew himself up during an army raid on his home in Deir Ammar.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Lawmakers from Libya's two rival parliaments signed a declaration of principles aimed at ending the North African country's civil conflict.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 5, Malaysia's police said that they have arrested five people, including a European employed as a teacher, on suspicion of links with militant groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. The arrests were made between Nov. 17 and Dec 1.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Nigeria's intelligence agency said it has arrested nine alleged Boko Haram extremists plotting attacks on Abuja, the capital, over the festive season. All nine were detained in the past month and had infiltrated the capital in central Nigeria from the country's northeast.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, The main islands of the Seychelles voted in a presidential election with incumbent James Michel facing his first serious challenge after two terms in office. No candidate got more than 50 percent of the votes cast. A run-off was scheduled to be held in two weeks between incumbent President James Michel, Leader of the ruling Lepep party, and Wavel Ramkalawan, leader of the Seychelles National Party.
(AFP, 12/5/15)(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 5, Slovakia's leftist PM Robert Fico (51) promised to protect voters from international terrorism and unveiled a billion euro welfare plan as he launched campaign for a third term in office.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Thousands of South Koreans, many wearing masks, marched in Seoul against conservative President Park Geun-hye, who had compared masked protesters to terrorists after clashes with police broke out at a rally last month.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Syrian Turkmen rebel fighters seized three villages from the Islamic State group near the Turkish border in clashes over the last 24 hours that killed 13 from the ethnic minority.
(AFP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In Turkey 3 members of the security forces were killed in clashes with militants the mainly Kurdish southeast.
(Reuters, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi met with a UN envoy in Aden to agree on peace talks with Shiite Houthi rebels set to begin in mid-December.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 5, In Yemen masked gunmen killed prominent Judge Mohsen Alwan, who was known for sentencing al-Qaida militants to prison in the southern port city of Aden.
(AP, 12/5/15)
2015 Dec 6, Holly Woodlawn (69), a transgender Puerto Rican woman featured in two Andy Warhol films, died in Los Angeles County. She was the woman described by Lou Reed in his song “Walk on the Wild Side" (1972).
(SFC, 12/8/15, p.C3)
2015 Dec 6, In Florida an unmanned Atlas V rocket lifted off carrying the Orbital ATK capsule to supply astronauts at the int’l. space station.
(SFC, 12/7/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 6, The Texas Legislature adopted legislation allowing guns to be carried on university campuses. It was the 8th US state to do so.
(http://tinyurl.com/q5q9njz)(Econ, 11/7/15, p.26)
2015 Dec 6, Armenia held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes that would give more powers to the prime minister and parliament at the expense of the president, who would become largely a figurehead. Armenians voted to curb presidential powers in the disputed referendum.
(AP, 12/6/15)(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 6, Authorities in Burkina Faso said they have charged General Gilbert Diendere, who led a failed coup in September, with complicity in the 1987 assassination of President Thomas Sankara.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, In Cambodia 6 people died after eating the barbequed carcass of a dog that had died for unknown reasons. 4 others died on Dec 8 after drinking rice wine.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 6, In western China some 100 masked men attacked a government office, smashing vehicles and equipment and leaving 13 people injured in a regional dispute over farmland. The attack was part of a disagreement between residents of Gansu province and the vast Inner Mongolia region it borders to the north.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 6, France's far-right National Front was tipped for historic gains as regional polls were held under a state of emergency just three weeks after Islamic extremists killed 130 people in Paris. Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front chalked up scores that reached 40 percent of the vote in several regions.
(AFP, 12/6/15)(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 6, The top security officials from India and Pakistan held talks in Thailand's capital, signaling a resumption of the rival countries' on-again, off-again peace dialogue.
(AP, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, In Indonesia a commuter train slammed into a passenger minibus at a railroad crossing in Jakarta, killing at least 18 people and seriously injuring six others.
(AP, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, The Israeli Ofer military court near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank sentenced Khalida Jarrar, a senior member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a well-known political figure, to 15 months in jail. She had been arrested in April on a series of charges, including encouraging attacks against Israel and violating a travel ban.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 6, Israel's state-owned electric utility said Egyptian natural gas companies will pay it compensation of $1.76 billion plus interest for halting gas supplies in 2012.
(AP, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, In Saudi Arabia Israa al-Ghomgham and her husband were arrested in a night raid on their home. She was accused of encouraging demonstrations for greater rights for the Shiite Muslim minority in Eastern province.
(SFC, 8/23/18, p.A4)
2015 Dec 6, At least 32 Islamic State fighters were killed and 40 more wounded in Syria's Raqqa province, in a series of air strikes believed to be carried out by a US-led coalition targeting the jihadists.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 6, Venezuelans voted in tense elections that could see the opposition seize legislative power from the socialist government and risk sparking violence in the oil-rich, cash-poor nation. The opposition Democratic Unity coalition won 112 of 167 of the National Assembly seats. The ruling Socialists and its allies got 55 seats.
(AFP, 12/6/15)(Reuters, 12/7/15)(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 6, In Yemen General Jaafar Mohammed Saad, the governor of Aden, was killed by a car bomb in the port city. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack that also killed at least 6 members of Saad's entourage.
(Reuters, 12/6/15)
2015 Dec 7, The United States said it has agreed with Singapore on a first deployment of the US P8 Poseidon spy plane in Singapore this month, in a fresh response to China over its pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, US Vice President Joe Biden assured Ukraine of continuing US support and announced the release of an additional $190 million in US aid to help support reforms.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, US presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," immigrants and visitors alike, because of what he describes as hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, Two Afghan men failed to report to maintenance training with the 81st Fighter Squadron while training with the US military at a base in south Georgia.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 7, The County of Hawaii said 119 residents and 17 visitors have been confirmed with dengue fever.
(SFC, 12/8/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 7, Lawyers hired by the Turkish government filed a civil suit against cleric Fethullah Gulen, a political enemy of President Tayyip Erdogan, in a US court alleging human rights abuses. Gulen has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 7, Thermo Fisher Scientific, a US based life sciences company, opened a new aseptic processing laboratory at its Molecular Biology Center of Excellence in Vilnius, Lithuanian capital. The new laboratory will produce Dynabeads, the magnetic beads. Coated with antibodies the magnetic beads stimulate lymphocytes, enabling the patient's cells to fight cancer and prevent metastasis. The company expects the new technology will replace conventional treatment methods to treat cancer.
(Xinhua, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, In eastern Afghanistan a suicide car bombing wounded nine people, including six policemen in the Surkh Rud district in Nangarhar province.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, In Brazil impeachment proceedings against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff faced their first major hurdle with the formation of a special congressional committee that will analyze the accusations against her.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Beijing issued its first-ever red alert for smog, urging schools to close and invoking restrictions on factories and traffic that will keep half of the city's vehicles off the roads.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Interpol agents arrested a Rwandan with a $5 million bounty on his head who is among the most wanted for the 1994 genocide. Ladislas Ntaganzwa was arrested in the eastern Congo city of Goma. Between about 14 and 18 April 1994 he is accused of substantially participating in the planning, preparation and execution of the massacre of over 20,000 Tutsis at Cyahinda Parish.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 7, Germany said the number of people registered as asylum-seekers this year hit 965,000 by the end of November.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, The German firm JAB Holding Co. announced a $13.9 billion acquisition of Keurig Green Mountain as part of its quest to dominate the global coffee industry. JAB Holding is the investment arm of the Reimann family, heirs to consumer goods company Joh. A. Benckisser GmbH.
(SFC, 12/8/15, p.D3)
2015 Dec 7, In eastern India a speeding train rammed into an SUV at an unmanned railroad crossing, killing all 13 people in the vehicle in Jharkhand state.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, Latvian PM Laimdota Straujuma said that she was resigning her post after political squabbles within her center-right ruling coalition and dissatisfaction about her leadership.
(Reuters, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a video showing three men purportedly confessing to spying for the Mauritanian and French military and then one being taken out of a pick-up truck in the desert and shot in the head. The 22-minute video shows the men saying they had been spying in northern Mali since at least 2006.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, A Palestinian man stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli in the West Bank city of Hebron and was then shot dead by security forces. Genadi Kaufman (41) died of his wounds on Dec 30.
(Reuters, 12/7/15)(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 7, The Kremlin said is not interested in the allegations made in a recent documentary because they do not concern the prosecutor general, but his sons. Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and his team released an investigation and a documentary online last week, detailing what they described as shady deals involving sons of the prosecutor general and other senior prosecutors.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, In Russia five people were lightly injured when a grenade exploded at a bus stop in central Moscow. The hand grenade went off on Pokrovka Street, an area dotted with bars and restaurants.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, In Somalia Abdimalik Jones, an American who had been fighting with al-Shabab, left the rebels and was arrested by Somalia's security forces in the southern port of Barawe. Jones claimed he fled al-Shabab because of rifts within the group.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 7, Syria's government accused the US-led coalition of launching airstrikes a day earlier on an army camp in Der el-Zour that killed 3 soldiers and wounded 13, which if confirmed would mark the first time US-led forces have struck troops loyal to President Bashar Assad. A US military official said the strike was from a Russian warplane.
(AP, 12/7/15)(SFC, 12/8/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 7, Syrian authorities released 35 opposition detainees in Homs, ahead of a deal that will lead to the departure of thousands of opposition fighters.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Eastern Tajikistan was struck by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake. State television said one person was killed ten were injured.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Thailand's military government blocked an anti-corruption protest, detaining about three dozen students and other activists who were headed to a park honoring past kings that was allegedly built with money from shady dealings involving several senior officers.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, Turkey said it would not withdraw hundreds of soldiers who arrived last week at a base in northern Iraq, despite being ordered by Baghdad to pull them out within 48 hours.
(AP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 7, The UN appealed for a record $20.1 billion (18.6 billion euros) to provide aid to a surging number of people hit by conflicts and disasters around the globe.
(AFP, 12/7/15)
2015 Dec 8, The United States and its allies staged 26 air strikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 8, John Trudell (b.1946), American Indian activist and poet, died at his home in Santa Clara County, Ca. In 1969 he was the spokesman for the American Indians who had occupied Alcatraz.
(SFC, 12/10/15, p.D8)
2015 Dec 8, In Kansas Floyd Bledsoe (39) was freed after serving more than 15 years of a life sentence for the 1999 shooting death of his sister-in-law after his brother confessed in suicide notes that he was the actual killer.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A10)
2015 Dec 8, Boston College said the number of students complaining of gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at Chipotle has climbed to 80. Chipotle said it thinks the illnesses are an isolated case of norovirus.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A10)
2015 Dec 8, In southern Afghanistan Taliban militants stormed the airport complex in Kandahar city, triggering gunfights and explosions as a regional conference kicked off in Pakistan with hopes of reviving peace talks with the insurgents. More than 50 people were reported killed and dozens more wounded in renewed and ongoing fighting between rival Taliban factions in Shindand district near the western city of Herat.
(AFP, 12/8/15)(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Six Afghan children drowned after a rubber dinghy carrying migrants to Greece sank off Turkey's Aegean coast.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, In Albania several thousand opposition supporters scuffled with police during a protest in central Tirana against government economic reforms that they say have increased poverty.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Bosnian police arrested retiree Sakib Mahmuljin (63), a wartime Muslim army commander, on charges of failing to prevent crimes committed by foreign Islamic fighters against captive Bosnian Serb soldiers during a 1992-1995 war.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Britain's National Crime Agency warned the average age of suspected cyber criminals has become younger, with investigations in the past year showing that suspects' average age dropped to just 17 compared to 24 in the previous year.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, London-based Anglo American said it will shed 85,000 employees, 63 percent of its workforce, in a radical restructuring meant to cope with tumbling commodity prices.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Former British spy chief Richard Barrett said Syria has become the pre-eminent global incubator for a new generation of militants after Islamist groups more than doubled their recruitment of foreign fighters to as much as 31,000 over the past 18 months.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced an inquiry into why nearly 1,200 indigenous women have been murdered or gone missing over decades.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Central African Republic's exiled former president Francois Bozize, who is wanted for helping foment deadly unrest, was barred from running for election late this month.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, In Chile Douglas Tompkins (72), the co-founder of The North Face and Esprit clothing companies, died from severe hypothermia in a kayaking accident. He had bought up large swaths of land in South America's Patagonia region to keep them pristine.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 8, In China Half of Beijing's private cars were ordered off the streets and many construction sites and schools closed after authorities in Beijing responded to scathing public criticism with their first-ever red alert for pollution.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Air France said it will resume flights to Tehran for the first time in more than seven years, as part of resuming European trade with Iran following a hard-fought deal to curb its nuclear activities.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Mahmoud Doaei, the managing editor of the moderate Ettelaat daily, Iran's oldest newspaper, was indicted for defying a national reporting ban on comments and pictures of the country's reformist former president Mohammad Khatami.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Iraqi security forces recaptured a large part of the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian protester while they were carrying out an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, A boat carrying African migrants sank apparently due to bad weather as they tried to cross to the Canary Islands. Moroccan authorities recovered the bodies of 11 African migrants.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 8, Poland's constitutional crisis deepened, with the president indicating that he will stick by appointments to the Constitutional Tribunal that were declared illegal last week by that same court, the nation's highest arbiter of the law.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Russia said that recent air strikes against targets in Syria included the new Kalibre cruise missile from its Rostov-on-Don submarine in the Mediterranean Sea.
(SFC, 12/9/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 8, World Chess Federation (FIDE) president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (53), a Russian citizen, said he would seek $50 billion from the United States over his addition to a blacklist for alleged ties to the Syrian regime. Ilyumzhinov has dismissed the charge, repeatedly telling local media he has no economic interests in Syria or Iraq.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, The Slovak Parliament amended the constitution to give authorities more powers to deal with terror suspects following the attacks in Paris.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Syria said it will export more than 700,000 tons of citrus fruits to Russia to "fill the gap" left by Moscow's ban on Turkish agricultural products.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, The administration in Ukraine's Kherson region said that Ukraine has restored electricity to the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
(AP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, The United Nations called on Jordan to allow in 12,000 Syrian refugees stranded at the border in deteriorating humanitarian conditions and offered to help reinforce security at registration points.
(Reuters, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 8, Pope Francis launched an extraordinary Catholic Jubilee year of mercy by opening a "Holy Door" in the walls of St Peter's, embracing a 700-year-old tradition as he urged his Church to reach out to the modern world.
(AFP, 12/8/15)
2015 Dec 9, US President Barack Obama welcomed Israel's Pres. Reuven Rivlin to the White House, with both sides eager to prevent a deeper crisis between Israel and the Palestinians.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, The United States announced plans to double grant funding it provides to help developing countries adapt to climate change to around $860 million a year.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, The United States and its allies conducted 23 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 9, Torrential rains pummeled parts of the Pacific Northwest leaving 2 women dead in Oregon.
(SFC, 12/10/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 9, In Afghanistan 38 civilians and 12 members of Afghan security forces were killed in fighting at the airport in Kandahar as operations ended. 11 Taliban were also reported killed. Officials said the district of Khanishin in Helmand province has fallen to the insurgents. 14 policemen were killed and 11 others wounded.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 9, Armenia said it has arrested Garik Marutyan (38), a former senior army officer, on suspicion of spying for Azerbaijan and selling state secrets.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Former Australian PM Tony Abbott defended his comments suggesting that Western culture is superior to that of Islam, and called for US-led assistance in defeating the Islamic State group.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Azerbaijani tanks shelled positions in the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region for the first time in more than 20 years killing one rebel soldier.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Azerbaijan released Leyla Yunus, head of the Baku-based Institute for Peace and Democracy. She had been held in detention since July 2014.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Brazil's Supreme Court suspended impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff until it can rule on the constitutional validity of the opposition bid to impeach her.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Bulgaria's Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov resigned after parliament watered down changes to the constitution in a vote which he said would prevent genuine reforms to the country's graft-prone and inefficient judiciary.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, In Burundi at least 7 people were killed in Bujumbura during a night of violence in flashpoint districts where months of protests took place against President Pierre Nkurunziza.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, China’s government said it will pay bonuses from Jan. 1 to companies meeting coal efficiency standards. Beijing residents stayed indoors, schools were closed and limits on cars, factories and construction sites kept pollution from spiking even higher.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Luzolo Bambi, a counselor to President Joseph Kabila on graft and money laundering, said Congo DRC loses up to $15 billion a year due to fraud, an amount close to twice the central African country's budget.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Anger peaked in Kinshasa's slums as DR Congo's poor grappled with little more than bare hands against torrential rains and flooding that have left 31 people dead and 20,000 families homeless in less than three weeks.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, French hosts of 195-nation climate rescue talks released a crucial new blueprint, reporting important progress but some sticking points two days ahead of the deadline for a UN deal.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, A wooden smuggling boat carrying about 50 people sank in the eastern Aegean Sea. Greek authorities said at least 12 people drowned, including six children, and 12 others were missing.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, India and Pakistan announced that they were resuming the dialogue on outstanding issues, ending a two-year-long stalemate. A regional conference held in Pakistan ended with calls for the resumption of Afghan peace negotiations and an agreement by Islamabad and New Delhi to relaunch bilateral talks that broke down in August over tensions in Kashmir.
(AP, 12/9/15)(SSFC, 12/13/15, p.A25)
2015 Dec 9, Millions of Indonesians voted in nationwide elections for regional leaders in the sprawling archipelago.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Iran’s Fars news reported that a booby trap exploded in Nikshahr, near the border with Pakistan, killing 3 policemen and wounded an unspecified number of others.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, It was reported that Jamaican activist Maurice Tomlinson has filed a claim in the country;s Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of 1864 laws that ban sex between men.
(SFC, 12/10/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 9, Japan's space agency said its "Akatsuki" probe had successfully entered into orbit around Venus after an initial attempt at reaching the second planet from the sun failed five years ago.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Kenya and Britain signed a deal to allow British troops to continue military training in the East African nation for five more years, ending half a decade of protracted negotiations which tested their relations.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Myanmar inaugurated a new stock exchange with plans for six companies to start trading in March.
(AP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, A Palestinian was shot dead by security forces after wounding an Israeli soldier and a civilian when he stabbed them in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Russia said its air force flew 82 sorties against 204 targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, South Africa’s Pres. Jacob Zuma fired respected finance minister Nhlanhla Nene. He was replaced by David van Rooyen.
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.49)
2015 Dec 9, Switzerland's main anti-immigration party secured a second seat in the federal government in a boost for isolationist forces as the country seeks to redraft treaties with the European Union to include curbs on immigration.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Syrian rebels began evacuating the last opposition-held district in Homs, paving the way for President Bashar al-Assad's regime to take full control of the country's third-largest city.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Representatives from Syria's fragmented opposition began an unprecedented meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia, seeking a united front for potential talks with President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Tajikistan's lower house of parliament approved a bill that strengthens President Imomali Rakhmon's grip on power by awarding him the title of "Leader of the Nation" with lifetime immunity from prosecution.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, Turkey said its fighter jets carried out a new barrage of air strikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq overnight.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 9, The UN said more than 170,000 people have fled war-torn Yemen for the Horn of Africa and the Gulf, as they appealed for $94 million in aid.
(AFP, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 10, The United States and its allies staged 25 air strikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that Fiat Chrysler will pay a $70 million fine to the US government for its mishandling of 23 recalls involving 11 million vehicles.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Nevada’s Gov. Brian Sandoval announced plans to offer $335 million in state tax incentives and infrastructure upgrades to an upstart, Chinese investor-backed electric carmaker that wants to build $1 billion production plant in a Las Vegas suburb.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Afghanistan a woman detonated her explosives' vest at a checkpoint in eastern Nangarhar province, killing her 3 children and an officer who stopped their suspicious-looking car.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, Argentine President Mauricio Macri was sworn in, inheriting myriad economic problems from the often-divisive outgoing President Cristina Fernandez. Inflation was about 30% and the budget deficit was 5.4% of GDP.
(AP, 12/10/15)(Econ, 11/28/15, p.31)(Econ, 3/18/17, p.32)
2015 Dec 10, Azerbaijan said 3 of its troops have been killed in the past ten days as the conflict in its separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh escalates.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The Bosnian Serb regional government said it has stopped all cooperation with the state court, prosecution office and police because they ordered or carried out the arrest of five Serb war crimes suspects and raided a local police station in the Serb republic.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Four tobacco giants launched a High Court legal challenge against a British law banning the use of logos or branding on packets of tobacco products from May 2016.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The first Canadian government plane carrying Syrian refugees arrived in Toronto late today where they were greeted by PM Justin Trudeau.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has agreed to loan China $430 million to support government efforts to reduce coal use and tackle the choking smog that regularly envelops the capital and other major cities.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Costa Rica the body of Sondra Lynn was discovered on a bed in a San Jose hotel. She had organized volunteer medical missions in Central America and was found stabbed to death. The Vida Volunteer organization identified her as Sondra Lynn Elizondo and gave her age as 46.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, EU lawmakers backed plans to track airline passenger names as part of efforts to prevent a repeat of the Paris attacks.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The European Commission launched an "infringement case" against Hungary over its asylum legislation, a move Budapest dismissed as an act of revenge for its rejection of mandatory migrant quotas.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The European Commission said it has decided to take Poland to court over its failure to address its poor air quality.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Finnish police said they have arrested two Iraqi brothers believed to have been members of the Islamic State group in Iraq and suspected of fatally shooting "11 unarmed and defenseless prisoners" in June 2014.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, German authorities said five South Koreans have been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a relative in an exorcism ritual attempting to "expel a demon" at a Frankfurt hotel. On Feb 20, 2017, the five South Koreans were convicted. The main defendant was sentenced to six years in prison. Four others were given suspended sentences of between 18 months and two years.
(AP, 12/10/15)(AP, 2/20/17)
2015 Dec 10, Gabon, home to half of Africa's endangered forest elephants, said it has impounded more than 200 kg (440 lbs.) of ivory in what may be its largest seizure ever.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Honduras midfielder Arnold Peralta was shot to death in the city of La Ceiba. Peralta (26) was attacked by several men as he got into his car at a shopping center in his birth city.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, Iran’s Health Minister Hassan Hashemi said an outbreak of H1N1 swine flu has claimed 42 lives since mid-November.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Iraqi security forces have made advances on two fronts in the city of Ramadi, clearing Islamic State militants from a key military command base and a sprawling neighborhood on its western edge.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, A Dutch court convicted six men of belonging to a network recruiting young Muslims to join the Islamic State jihadist group, handing them jail terms of up to six years.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, An Israeli parliamentary committee said that $400,000 of gold was exported to North Korea after a 2006 UN ban.
(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to claim his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, a step up from the less powerful atomic bomb, but outside experts were skeptical.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Saudi Arabia opponents of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad agreed to bring together political and armed factions in a single body in preparation for possible peace talks with his government. Ahrar al-Sham pulled out of opposition talks. The group had insisted the priority should be overthrowing the regime, preserving Syria's unity and rejecting sectarianism.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)(AFP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, South Korean police detained Han Sang-gyun, the president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, for his alleged involvement in organizing antigovernment protests that turned violent last month. Sang-gyun had been holed up in a Buddhist temple for a month.
(SFC, 12/11/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 10, Preliminary results said the ruling party in the eastern Caribbean islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has won a narrow election victory that gives it a fourth term in office. The Unity Labor Party led by Ralph Gonsalves obtained a one-seat majority in the House of Assembly.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, In northern Syria the Islamic State staged attacks in the predominantly Kurdish province of Hassakeh targeting offices of the main Kurdish militia known as YPG. At least 26 people were reported killed.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 10, In Tajikistan a Dushanbe district court sentenced a man and a woman, recruited by the militant group Islamic State, to 10 and eight-and-a-half years in prison respectively for planning to assassinate President Imomali Rakhmon.
(Reuters, 5/6/16)
2015 Dec 10, A Turkish news agency said authorities have begun constructing a wall along a 82-km (50-mile) stretch of Turkey's border with Syria that is under the control of the Islamic State group on the Syrian side.
(AP, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, The Vatican said Catholics should not try to convert Jews and should work with them to fight anti-Semitism.
(Reuters, 12/10/15)
2015 Dec 10, Venezuela's outgoing congress promoted a judge who drew international criticism by handing down a long prison term to opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Lawmakers from the ruling socialist party named Judge Susana Barreiros as head public defender.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, The US and Cuba announced they have struck a deal to re-established direct mail service, which was cut in 1963.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 11, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 12 strikes in Iraq and five in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, In California a Sky Life air ambulance crashed near McFarland, Kern County, killing all 4 people aboard.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 11, Several big-name Silicon Valley figures said they have pledged $1 billion to support a non-profit firm that would focus on the "positive human impact" of artificial intelligence. Backers of the OpenAI research group include Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk, Y Combinator's Sam Altman, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, DuPont and Dow Chemical said they have agreed to merge. On Dec 29 DuPont CEO Ed Breen sent a letter to employees saying that some 1,700 Delaware jobs would be eliminated at the beginning of the new year.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.D1)(SFC, 12/30/15, p.C1)
2015 Dec 11, It was reported that Pep Boys agreed to be acquired by Bridgestone for $863 million in cash after the tires and auto service company sweetened its offer following a bid from Carl Icahn's investment firm.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, In Afghanistan three Taliban insurgents staged a car bomb attack on a guest house near the Spanish embassy in Kabul. 7 people were killed in addition to the 3 attackers.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A2)(AFP, 12/13/15)(SSFC, 12/13/15, p.A7)
2015 Dec 11, Jaguar Land Rover signed a deal with the Slovak government to build a new plant for the luxury car maker in Slovakia.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, In Burundi gunmen stormed three military installations before dawn. At least 15 people were killed as gunfire and explosions rocked the capital. 87 people were reported killed in the violence.
(AP, 12/11/15)(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, Cameroon said a suicide bomber has killed 7 people and wounded 27 in its Far North region.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said it's buying Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, as part of a plan to create a global platform for news about China.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, China’s business magazine Caixin reported that police have arrested a former chief of one of the country’s top investment banks. Xue Rongnian, who headed Ping An Securities from 2008 to 2011, was arrested on suspicion of insider trading in connection to two cement businesses.
(AGFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, China’s Fosun Group said Chairman Guo Guangchang (48), one of the country’s richest men, was assisting relevent judicial organs with an investigation. His disappearance a day earlier had forced suspension of trading in company shares.
(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 11, In Ethiopia at least 17 people were injured when a grenade was thrown into the main Anwar Mosque in Addis Ababa after Friday prayers.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, In France an armed man robbed the famed Parisian jeweler Chopard, making off with gems worth around 1 million euros ($1.1 million). The robbery took place across the street from the Elysee palace.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, France detected a case of the highly pathogenic H5N9 bird flu in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques region, taking to five the number of regions affected by the outbreak in the country's southwest.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh declared the formerly secular country an Islamic republic in a move he said was designed to distance the West African state further from its colonial past.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, Indian officials investigating the death of a 30-year-old pregnant woman working at a brick kiln in Telangana state said they had uncovered an organized racket where hundreds of people were being trafficked and forced to work in inhumane conditions.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, The Israeli army killed Issa Hroug (55), a Palestinian who it said tried to ram his car into soldiers near Hebron. Palestinian Oday Ersheid (22) was shot dead by Israeli forces during a violent demonstration in the flashpoint West Bank city. Army gunfire in the Gaza Strip killed a Palestinian (38) and wounded five as Palestinians massed at the fenced-off border with Israel.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 11, A three-person crew from the International Space Station landed safely in the snowy steppes of Kazakhstan.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, In Kazakhstan former PM Serik Akhmetov (2012-2014) was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the first time a former official of such stature will serve jail time in the country. Akhmetov (57) was found guilty on four corruption-related charges including embezzlement and abuse of power, in a huge case involving more than 20 defendants.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, The Mexican government granted the first permits allowing the cultivation and possession of marijuana for personal use.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Romanian prosecutors detained Prince Paul in a case of alleged real estate fraud involving a top aide to a former prime minister and a newspaper editor. Prosecutors also ordered businessman Remus Truica, the former head of Cabinet of ex-Premier Adrian Nastase, be put under house arrest.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia has provided air cover, weapons and supplies to a leading Western-backed opposition group in Syria and called for closer coordination with the US-allied coalition.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Russian investigators charged ex-oil tycoon and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky with organizing the 1998 murder of a mayor in Siberia. Khodorkovsky, who now lives in London, has claimed that the new probe into the mayor's murder was ordered personally by President Vladimir Putin.
(AFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Russia officially launched its own rating agency as it seeks to counterbalance the influence of Western agencies which have taken a pessimistic line on the country's crisis-hit economy.
(AFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, South Africa expelled a North Korean diplomat. He was arrested in neighboring Mozambique in May on charges related to rhino horn smuggling.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 11, Spanish police said they have seized 40 pallets made out of 1.4 tons of compressed cocaine that was made to look like wood that arrived on a shipping container from Colombia. Authorities arrested 12 people in Spain, Dubai and Britain as part of the operation, including two Colombian experts in using chemicals to process cocaine into different formats.
(AFP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Swiss authorities arrested two people of Syrian origin on suspicion of transporting "explosives and toxic gases" as part of a probe into a terror threat.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 11, President Tayyip Erdogan declared he would not bow to Iraqi demands he withdraw Turkish troops from a camp close to the Islamic State-held city of Mosul. Baghdad said it would ask the UN Security Council to order them to leave.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Turkey issued arrest warrants for US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and 66 others, pressing President Tayyip Erdogan's campaign to root out the influence of the former ally he accuses of trying to topple him.
(Reuters, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 11, Turkey's state-run news agency said the country's communications authority has imposed a 150,000 Turkish Lira (US$51,000) fine on Twitter for failing to remove content it said praised terror and incited violence.
(AP, 12/11/15)
2015 Dec 12, The Golden State Warriors lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 108-95 ending a 24-game winning streak for the Warriors.
(SSFC, 12/13/15, p.B1)
2015 Dec 12, In western Argentina at least 2 people were killed when a helicopter being used by film crew with the American television channel MTV crashed into a lake.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Burundi residents awoke to find at least 39 dead bodies scattered in the streets of Bujumbura, a day after coordinated armed assaults on three military installations. 87 people were killed in an escalation of the violence surrounding the disputed third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
(AFP, 12/12/15)(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, China’s state media reported that the government will loosen some restrictions on the free movement of workers within the country, long stymied by registration papers that limit access to critical social services.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Egypt a Cairo court convicted two officers for the torture and murder of a detained lawyer in an eastern Cairo slum. National security officers Omar Mahmoud and Mohamed el-Anwar were sentenced in absentia to five years in prison each for beating lawyer Karim Hamdi to death last February.
(http://tinyurl.com/zrpejuw)(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius presented a landmark global climate accord. The 31-page draft text creates a system for ensuring countries make good on voluntary domestic efforts to curb emissions, and provides billions more dollars to help poor nations cope with the transition to a greener economy.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Germany riots started this evening started after hundreds of leftwing activists demonstrated against a rally by far-right protesters in Leipzig earlier in the day. 69 officers have been injured and some 50 police cars were damaged.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Germany Ivory Coast footballer Steve Gohouri (34) went missing. His body found in the Rhine river on New Year's Eve in the city of Krefeld. Gohouri was playing this season for German fourth-tier side TSV Steinbach.
(AP, 1/2/16)
2015 Dec 12, India and Japan signed agreements in New Delhi that could pave the way for Tokyo to supply New Delhi with military aircraft and high-speed trains, as PM Shinzo Abe promised to fully support India's efforts to become an economic powerhouse.
(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Thousands of Iraqis protested against Ankara's deployment of troops to a base near the northern city of Mosul.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Iraq at least 6 border guards were killed when a suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into an outpost near the border with Saudi Arabia in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Mozambique said the United States will grant it $1.2 billion in aid to fund projects in healthcare, food production and education under a five-year agreement signed this week.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In northern Nigeria soldiers besieging the home of Ibraheem Zakzaky, the leader of a Shiite movement accused of trying to assassinate Nigeria's army chief, shot and killed at least 20 people in Zaria.
(AP, 12/13/15)(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 12, The first high-level talks between North and South Korea since an August agreement to end an armed confrontation across their border ended in Kaesong inconclusively.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)(SFC, 12/12/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 12, In Poland tens of thousands, angered by an ongoing constitutional conflict, marched in Warsaw. They argued that President Andrzej Duda is breaking the constitution with the steps he is taking concerning the appointment of new judges to the Constitutional Tribunal, the top law arbiter.
(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Russian police detained dozens of opposition activists who tried to hold a demonstration in central Moscow on Constitution Day.
(AP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Russia a fire swept through a home for people with mental illnesses, killing 23 patients and injuring another 23, many of whom were on medication or otherwise unable to walk in Alferovka, a village in the Voronezh region.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, Saudi women voted for the first time, in a tentative step towards easing sex discrimination in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom. Women were also allowed for the first time to stand as candidates in the polls for municipal councils, the country's only elected public chambers. Saudi Arabians voted 17 women into public office in municipal elections.
(AFP, 12/12/15)(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, Spanish police arrested Hector Albeidis Arboleda Buitrago, a suspected former combatant in the Colombian rebel force FARC, who they say carried out more than 500 forced abortions on female guerrillas.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 12, In Syria a powerful car bomb exploded near a hospital in the central city of Homs, killing 16 people and wounding dozens. Most residents belong to the same Alawite sect as Pres. Assad.
(AFP, 12/12/15)
2015 Dec 12, Yemeni officials said a seven-day ceasefire will start Dec 14, the day before planned UN-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland. In southern Yemen 9 rebels and 4 pro-government fighters were killed in clashes late today.
(Reuters, 12/12/15)(AFP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, The United States and its allies conducted 16 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Fresno, Ca., 5 people died after a fire broke out in an abandoned home.
(SFC, 12/114/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 13, In Redding, Ca., two children were found dead at a storage locker. On Dec 21 Salinas couple Tami Huntsman (39) and Gonzalo Curiel (17), the custodians of the children, were charged with murder, child abuse, torture and conspiracy.
(SFC, 12/23/15, p.D5)
2015 Dec 13, In San Francisco Olga Diaz Clark (60) identified her ex-friend Rickey Roberts as the man who beat her in her Mission District apartment shortly before she fell into a coma. She died three days later died at San Francisco General Hospital. On June 20, 2018, Roberts (60) was convicted of second-degree murder. On August 23 Roberts was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.
(SFC, 6/21/18, p.A7)(SFC, 8/27/18, p.C1)(SFC, 8/27/18, p.C1)
2015 Dec 13, Afghan forces battled to hold Marjah district center in Helmand province that Taliban insurgents have cut off as part of a months-long campaign in which they have taken three districts and threatened the regional capital.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Brazil dozens of cities staged protests asking Congress to impeach President Dilma Rousseff.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Bulgaria shut its busy border crossing with Turkey as 14 customs officials were detained in an anti-corruption raid.
(AFP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In the Central African Republic 5 people were killed as heavy weapons fire and clashes in the Muslim-majority PK-5 district of Bangui. Violence prevented many from voting in a constitutional referendum seen as a test of whether national elections can take place later this month. Final results showed 93% of the citizens voting yes. Turnout was about 38%. The referendum creates a senate, allows freedom of worship and prohibits religious fundamentalism.
(AFP, 12/13/15)(AP, 12/13/15)(AFP, 12/14/15)(AP, 12/22/15)(SFC, 12/23/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 13, Ecuador said it has signed a pact with Sweden that would allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be questioned by Swedish authorities at Ecuador's embassy in London where he has been holed up for more than three years since facing sexual assault charges.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Amnesty International said Egypt must immediately release Mazen Mohamed Abdallah (14), who says he was sexually abused in detention by police using a wooden stick and bring his alleged torturers to justice.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, French voters flocked to runoff polls in regional elections as the far-right National Front (FN) looked for a historic win in regional elections. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front did not win any region.
(AFP, 12/13/15)(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 13, Israeli military forces shot a Palestinian girl (16) after she allegedly attempted to stab a pedestrian in the West Bank city of Hebron. The woman was in critical condition.
(AP, 12/13/15)(AFP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Western powers called for a ceasefire in Libya to pave the way for an agreement to form a national unity government.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In northern Nigeria Zeenah Ibrahim, the wife of Shiite movement leader Ibraheem Zakzaky, was shot and killed hours after she called The Associated Press to report that soldiers were besieging her home in Zaria. On Aug 1, 2016, a commission of inquiry said that 348 people were killed in Zaria in three days of clashes, December 12-14, between Nigerian troops and Zakzaky’s Iranian-inspired Islamic Movement.
(AP, 12/14/15)(AFP, 1/15/16)(SFC, 8/2/16, p.A2)
2015 Dec 13, In Pakistan a bomb blast killed 24 people at a crowded bazaar in a predominantly Shiite area of the northwestern Kurram tribal region. Sectarian jihadist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the blast at the Eidgah used-clothes market in Parachinar city.
(AFP, 12/13/15)(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Poland tens of thousands of people marched through Warsaw to express support for the ruling conservatives, as the country remained locked in a constitutional crisis over the appointment of judges who could help the government pass its legislative program.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Russia warned Turkey to stop staging what it called provocations against its forces in or near Syria after one of its warships fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean to avoid a collision.
(Reuters, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, Spanish police said they have arrested two alleged gun-runners in Barcelona on suspicion they formed part of a gang involved in selling high-powered weapons to Mexican drug cartels. The suspects, a 40-year-old Iranian and a 44-year-old Swiss national, were arrested in November.
(AP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Syria rebels entrenched in an eastern suburb of Damascus fired volleys of mortar shells into Damascus. 6 civilians died in rebel fire on government-held areas in and near Damascus. At least 45 civilians were killed in four Eastern Ghouta towns in air strikes and rocket fire by pro-regime forces,
(AP, 12/13/15)(Reuters, 12/13/15)(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Thailand Thanet Anantawong was arrested for sharing an infographic on Facebook detailing alleged graft in an army-built park. Plainclothes security officers took him by force from a hospital while he awaited an operation. Anantawong was granted bail on Dec 18.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 13, In Yemen saudi coalition warplanes early struck a rebel military convoy between the strategic Taez province and Lahj, killing 7 people. 12 rebels were killed when loyalist artillery hit two rebel vehicles near the city of Damt. Medical and military sources said at least 44 people have been killed in Saudi-led coalition air raids and fighting between Yemeni loyalists and rebels ahead of a possible ceasefire.
(AFP, 12/13/15)
2015 Dec 14, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens" premiered in Los Angeles. It opened in US theaters on Dec 17. Box office revenues crossed the billion-dollar mark in 12 days.
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.25)(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A5)
2015 Dec 14, In Michigan the mayor of Flint declared a state of emergency, acknowledging that switches in the city's water sourcing have caused high lead levels in drinking water. In October, the city switched back to the Detroit system, but lead levels were still "well above" the acceptable federal level in many homes.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 14, Lillian Vernon (b.1927), founder of the Lillian Vernon catalog business, died in New York. In 1987 Lillian Vernon was the first company owned by a woman to be listed on the American Stock Exchange.
(SFC, 12/16/15, p.D8)
2015 Dec 14, In Afghanistan 8 family members, including 5 children aged from two months to five years, were found in the eastern province of Nangahar, each shot once in the head, apparently by three unknown men who had been guests of the family.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 14, In northern Argentina 43 police officers died and several more were injured when their bus drove off a bridge, plunging into a dry riverbed.
(AFP, 12/14/15)(SFC, 12/14/15, p.A3)
2015 Dec 14, Cameroon security forces armed with guns and arrows killed two young women wearing explosive vests in the northern town of Kolofata, the second raid there in days by suspected Boko Haram militants from neighboring Nigeria.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In the Central African Republic Maouloud Moussa, a spokesman and chief lieutenant for rebel leader Noureddine Adam, proclaimed the Republic of Logone in the town of Kaga-Bandoro. Adam, one of the main leaders of the Seleka rebel coalition, used intimidation in areas under his control to block voting on a crucial Dec 13 constitutional referendum. On Dec 22 Noureddine Adam dropped his opposition to the holding of pivotal elections.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 14, In the Central African Republic Maouloud Moussa, a spokesman and chief lieutenant for rebel leader Noureddine Adam, proclaimed the Republic of Logone in the town of Kaga-Bandoro. Adam, one of the main leaders of the Seleka rebel coalition, used intimidation in areas under his control to block voting on a crucial Dec 13 constitutional referendum.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 14, The Colombian government and leftist FARC rebels said they have reached a deal on reparations for war victims and could be near a pact on the terms of confinement for ex-combatants who would be tried in special tribunals once a definitive peace agreement is reached.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Ales Vesely (80), a Czech artist known for his monumental sculptures, was found dead in his Prague apartment.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 14, The Paris Club of creditor nations, led by France, announced a deal under which creditors will cancel $8.5 billion in overdue interest payments in exchange for a promise by Cuba to pay off $2.6 billion of the original debt over the next 18 years.
(SFC, 12/114/15, p.A3)
2015 Dec 14, In Iraq gunmen in Kirkuk shot dead a senior employee of the state-run North Oil Company (NOC), the third company official to be killed in the past four months.
(Reuters, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman was awarded this year's Genesis Prize, the "Jewish Nobel," for his accomplishments as a musician, teacher and advocate for the disabled, organizers of the $1 million prize.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Israel detained Mohammad Abu Sakha (23), a Palestinian circus performer and teacher. Three months later he was still detained without trial.
(AFP, 3/5/16)
2015 Dec 14, In Italy police in Rome said they had seized 3,500 fake Vatican parchments that were being sold to unsuspecting pilgrims taking part in Pope Francis' Holy Year celebrations.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Kosovo’s opposition lawmakers released tear gas in parliament as they once again tried to pressure the government into renouncing deals with Serbia and Montenegro.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Libyan news agencies said the Islamic State jihadist group has executed a woman for "witchcraft" and a man accused of spying in its Libyan stronghold.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Mexican authorities said illegal taps drilled into government pipelines by fuel thieves have risen 55% this year reaching almost 500 per month.
(SFC, 12/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 14, Nigerian prosecutors charged former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki (60) with corruption. He pleaded innocent to embezzling $2.1 billion meant to purchase arms to fight Boko Haram, and said some of the money was diverted on the order of former Pres. Goodluck Jonathan to try to get himself re-elected.
(AFP, 12/14/15)(AP, 12/14/15)(SFC, 12/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 14, Palestinian Abed Almohsin (21) drove a car into Israelis at a Jerusalem bus stop injuring eight people before being shot dead.
(AFP, 12/14/15)(SFC, 12/15/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 14, Romanian lawmakers voted to ban all advertising of prescription drugs and radio and television advertising of over-the-counter medicines in a bid to stop what they say is harmful self-diagnosis.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing Russia’s Constitutional Court to decide whether or not to implement rulings of international human rights courts.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 14, South Africa's third finance minister in less than a week reassured the country that the economy will be steadied, which saw the currency stabilize.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Spanish police wrapped up an operation in which they seized 3,000 kg (3.3 tons) of cocaine and arrested 11 people, including Spaniards, Britons and Dutch citizens.
(AP, 1/5/16)
2015 Dec 14, A Swedish court sentenced two men to life in prison on terrorism charges over their role in two "cruel and brutal" murders in Syria in 2013. Hassan al-Mandlawi (320 and Al-Amin Sultan (30) both Swedish nationals, were convicted after graphic videos showed them taking part in the killing of two men in the northern city of Aleppo.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Syrian troops recaptured Marj al-Sultan and its airport east of Damascus, more than three years after they were overrun by rebel groups.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In southeastern Turkey 2 protesters were killed in clashes with police in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir amid growing tensions over a days-long curfew.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In Tunisia a lawyer said a court last week sentenced six students to three years in jail each on charges of homosexuality in a judgment condemned by rights activists.
(AFP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, Turkey said it withdrew some of its soldiers from a camp in Iraq, days after Iraq had demanded that Turkish troops immediately leave its territory.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 14, In Yemen fierce fighting was underway between forces loyal to the internationally recognized government and the country's Shiite rebels just hours before an agreed-on truce was supposed to start at midnight. Saudi Col. Abdullah Mohammed al-Sahyan and Emirati officer Sultan Mohammed Ali al-Ketbi were killed in Taiz.
(AP, 12/14/15)
2015 Dec 15, The United States and its allies staged a fresh round of air strikes against Islamic State, with six in Syria and 11 in Iraq.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Arizona a medical helicopter crashed outside Phoenix killing 2 crew members and seriously injuring a third.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 15, In Colorado a storm dropped up to two feet snow in the mountains before hitting the plains prompting airlines to cancel 425 flights at the Denver airport.
(SFC, 12/16/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 15, In New Jersey three men were charged in a computer hacking and spamming scheme that federal prosecutors said compromised the personal information of 60 million people and netted more than $2 million in profits.
(SFC, 12/16/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 15, A task force led by northern Ohio's US Marshal arrested manslaughter convict Ramon Flores (64) in, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He’s been on the run since 1975.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 15, Brazil's federal police carried out sweeping raids in the homes and offices of top political figures ensnared in a massive corruption investigation.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, British police arrested a man (21) on hacking-related charges linked to the November hacking of children’s technology maker VTech, which compromised the personal information of some 6.4 million children worldwide.
(SFC, 12/16/15, p.C2)
2015 Dec 15, In China smog in Shanghai hit its highest level since January, prompting schools to ban outdoor activities and authorities to limit work at construction sites and factories as polluted air spreads around the country.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Ethiopia's government said 5 people had died in weeks of protests sparked by land grab fears in the country's Oromia region, dismissing opposition reports of dozens dead and scores arrested.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, The EU unveiled plans for a new border and coast guard agency that can intervene even without the host country's consent, saying it had to restore security threatened by the migration crisis.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, French police arrested two men and a woman in connection with deadly Islamist militant attacks on Paris last month and in January.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, The French air force used its first cruise missiles against Islamic State group targets. The jets targeted buildings in the Al-Qaim area of western Iraq.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Thomas Fabius, the son of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, was taken into custody as part of a probe into forgery, fraud and money laundering.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, France's competition regulator fined 20 package delivery companies, including the French operations of FedEx and DHL, a total of 672 million euros ($740 million) for colluding on price increases over a period of six years.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, German Islamist preacher Sven Lau (35) was arrested for recruiting fighters for a militant group in Syria and purchasing and delivering military equipment.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Iran’s the health ministry said an outbreak of swine flu has claimed 57 lives since mid-November. Hundreds of people have been diagnosed with the virus.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Ivory Coast’s national action plan against child labor (PFTE) said that 23 people had been brought to trial as part of a bid to cut the number of children exploited in the cocoa sector by a third by 2017. Some 4,000 child victims of "slavery and exploitation" were removed from cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast from 2012 to 2014.
(AFP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, Japan-based SoftBank said SB Energy, a three way joint venture of Japan's SoftBank Group, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn Technology Co Ltd, has won an order to develop a solar plant in India, marking SoftBank's first foray into renewable energy there.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Kazakhstan Tim Peake (43), the first British astronaut to travel to the International Space Station, blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome with Russian space veteran Yury Malenchenko and Tim Kopra of NASA for a six-month mission.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Mexican prosecutors said they have caught the leaders of a drug gang that stole at least 41,400 gallons (157,000 liters) of fuel from government pipelines. Two men and a woman arrested last week in Reynosa with 53 small bags of heroin.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in the Gobi desert signed a new financing package worth $4.4 billion. Rio Tinto controlled the mine. Mongolia’s government held a 34% stake.
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.53)
2015 Dec 15, Nigerian police opened fire on unarmed Shiite Muslim protesters in the northern city of Kaduna, leaving 3 dead. Activists accused soldiers of having killed hundreds of Shiites in "a massacre" in a nearby town in recent days.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Philippine troops clashed with Islamist militants on Basilan Island and 15 rebels and 3 soldiers were killed as security forces step up an offensive against rebels who beheaded a Malaysian captive.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, Typhoon Melor left wide areas without power as it crossed over the central Philippines. The category 3 typhoon died out on Dec 17 leaving at least 41 people dead.
(AP, 12/15/15)(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 15, Polish geology experts said they have found no traces of a train at a site allegedly hiding a World War II Nazi train.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Romania thousands of angry shepherds engaged in a tense standoff with riot police outside the parliament building in protest at a law that restricts the number of sheepdogs they can use and bans them from grazing sheep during the winter. The law was introduced by supporters of hunting, a popular pastime among Romania's elite.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Romanian lawmakers approved a ban on smoking in public places, one of the last countries in the European Union to do so.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the military coalition. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the new "anti-terrorism" military coalition of 34 Muslim countries would share intelligence and deploy troops if necessary. The coalition did not include Iran, or Syria and Iraq.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, A spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority said the country's High Commissioner to Australia has been charged with corruption. Sibusiso Ndebele appeared in a Durban court and was released on $655 bail.
(AP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, In northern Syria airstrikes on a fuel market in a rebel-held village killed and wounded dozens and destroyed several tanker trucks. Warplanes also struck a market in Maskaneh killing at least 18 people.
(AP, 12/15/15)(SFC, 12/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 15, In Thailand Chayapa Shokpornbudsri (49) was found guilty of defaming the monarchy on Facebook at a hearing held without her lawyer's presence. She was handed a 19-year sentence which was cut to 9½ years after she pleaded guilty.
(AFP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Turkey 8 Kurdish militants were killed in Cizre after they shot at the soldiers during an operation. A roadside bomb ripped through an armored vehicle and killed 3 policemen in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 15, The UN nuclear watchdog's 35-nation board decided to close its investigation into whether Iran once had a nuclear weapons program.
(Reuters, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, The UN Yugoslav war crimes court quashed the acquittals of two top figures from the late Slobodan Milosevic's regime, ordering them to be retried on charges of running Serbian death squads in the 1990s. Judge Fausto Pocar said former intelligence chief Jovica Stanisic and his deputy Franko Simatovic must be retried on all counts of the indictment.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 15, In Yemen a ceasefire took effect as warring sides began UN-brokered peace talks in Switzerland. Rebel artillery and tanks killed 7 civilians in residential districts of Taez. The World Health Organization outlined plans to take advantage of a ceasefire to distribute medical supplies across the crisis-hit country.
(AFP, 12/15/15)
2015 Dec 16, The Obama administration announced the approval of a $1.83 billion arms deal with Taiwan.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, The US central bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Fed officials voted unanimously to raise the key federal funds rate — the interest banks charge each other overnight — to a range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, up from near-zero for the first time since December 2008.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 16, The United States and its allies conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Baltimore a judge declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the trial of Officer William Porter, the first of six defendants in the Freddie Gray case.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A14)
2015 Dec 16, New York announced a major overhaul in the way solitary confinement is administered in the state’s prisons as part of a far-reaching legal settlement.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A15)
2015 Dec 16, In Oklahoma a man began firing randomly from a pickup truck and killed 2 people on I-40. A suspect was arrested the next day following a 25-mile chase.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A9)
2015 Dec 16, Total Trib Media said it is closing the Valley Independent in Monessen and the Daily News in McKeesport, western Pennsylvania on Dec 31, putting 87 employees out of work.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 16, Austria said two people were arrested over the weekend at a refugee center in Salzburg on suspicion of being connected to last month's Paris attacks.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Fitch became the 2nd of three big credit-rating agencies to downgrade Brazil’s debt to junk states. Standard & Poor’s soon followed Fitch. On Dec 18 finance minister Joaquim Levy resigned in despair after a year on the job.
(Econ, 1/2/16, p.7,14)
2015 Dec 16, British lawmakers voted in favor of the use of fracking to extract shale gas under national parks, weakening a decision against fracking in national parks made earlier this year and giving shale gas explorers access to more resources.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Cambodia garment workers in eastern Svay Rieng province went on strike to boost their monthly wages to $148.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 16, As many as 69 Canadian special forces took part in a 17-hour counteroffensive east of Mosul. Two CF-18 fighter jets, along with US, British and French warplanes, launched airstrikes.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 16, In France the wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi accepted the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize on his behalf, urging Arab countries to abandon theocratic diktats and embrace free speech.
(AFP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Germany introduced a new police unit that officials said will be better armed, outfitted and trained to deal with terrorism.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, India's top court ordered a temporary ban on the sale of large diesel cars in New Delhi to combat toxic smog in the city, prompting concern in the auto sector as some carmakers say they may reconsider investment plans in the country.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In India a maintenance technician was accidentally sucked into an aircraft engine at an airport in Mumbai.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 16, The World Bank said it has approved a $1.5 billion loan for a state-led sanitation program in India, where millions of people have no access to toilets.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, The embattled speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives resigned over his involvement in one of the biggest political scandals in years. Setya Novanto allegedly sought kickbacks from a giant US-owned gold and copper mine in exchange for helping it extend its operating contract.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Indonesia deported 49 Taiwanese and one Chinese citizen who were members of a cross-border telephone and Internet fraud ring.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In southern Iraq gunmen kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters, the second high-profile abduction of foreigners in the country in three months.
(AFP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, PM Matteo Renzi said Italy will deploy 450 troops near the front line with Islamic State militants in Iraq to protect workers carrying out repairs to the Mosul hydro-electric dam, the country's biggest.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, A team of sanctions monitors said Iran violated a UN Security Council resolution on October 10 by test-firing a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Japan's Supreme Court ruled that requiring married couples to have the same surname is constitutional, dealing a blow to a longtime effort for gender equality in choosing names.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Jordan said it plans to deport about 800 Sudanese men, women and children to Sudan, after troops tore down a makeshift tent camp for the displaced in a pre-dawn raid.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Kenya al-Shabab militants attacked a convoy on the Mpeketoni-Lamu road burning vehicles and driving another police vehicle to Somalia. 2 people were shot dead, including a police officer, in the coastal Lamu County.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 16, Nepal's parliament approved new laws to allow the government to spend billions of dollars pledged by foreign donors on reconstruction for hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes during a devastating earthquake earlier this year.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Dutch police fired warning shots and arrested 14 demonstrators when a protest by hundreds of people against the opening of a refugee center turned violent, leaving several injured.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 16, North Korea's Supreme Court sentenced Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to life in prison with hard labor for what it called crimes against the state.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to suspend Russia's free trade zone with Ukraine from Jan. 1, making good on Moscow's threats to Kiev which seeks closer ties with the European Union.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Russia said its air force made 59 sorties in Syria in the past 24 hours and hit 212 Islamic State targets in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Khaseke and Raqqa.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Sweden said it would send a transport plane and logistical support to Mali and other parts of Africa to free up French forces stationed there and let them join the fight against Islamic State.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Syrian government forces captured the strategic Noba Mountain, inching closer to a rebel-held stronghold in the coastal province of Latakia.
(AP, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Turkey's ambassador to Qatar said Turkey will establish a military base in Qatar as part of a defense agreement aimed at helping them confront common enemies.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Turkish security forces stepped up operations targeting Kurdish militants in southeastern towns, as pro-government media detailed plans for a 10,000-strong force to restore state control in the region.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, Ukraine accused Russia of looting two of its oil rigs after Crimea-based oil and gas firm Chornomornaftogaz moved the equipment off the coast of the annexed peninsula into Russian waters.
(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 16, In Yemen clashes were underway along several front lines, claiming at least 42 lives and undermining a day-old cease-fire and peace talks between the internationally recognized government and Shiite rebels taking place in Switzerland. Saudi-led air strikes hit positions of the Iran-allied Houthi group in two conflict zones. Warring parties agreed to exchange hundreds of prisoners in a move aimed at supporting UN-sponsored peace talks.
(AP, 12/16/15)(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2015 Dec 17, The United States and Cuba said they have agreed to restore scheduled commercial airline service between the two countries, the first anniversary of the Cold War foes' announcement they would normalize relations. The deal would allow as many as 110 regular flights a day.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 17, The United States and its allies conducted 22 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 17, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter acknowledged making a "mistake" when he used his personal email for government business in the early part of his tenure.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, In Los Angeles the FBI arrested Enrique Marquez (24) on charges of conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook to commit terrorist attacks in 2011 and 2012. Marquez was also charged with illegally purchasing two assault rifles used by Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, to kill 14 people on Dec 2. On Feb 16, 2017, Marquez pleaded guilty and faced up to 25 years in prison.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A9)(SFC, 2/17/17, p.A5)
2015 Dec 17, In Louisiana the New Orleans City Council voted to remove prominent Confederate monuments along some of its busiest streets.
(SFC, 12/18/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 17, In Syracuse, NY, Stephen Howells (40) and girlfriend Nicole Vaisey (26) were sentenced to 580 years in prison for sexually abusing six children.
(SFC, 12/31/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 17, In Albania anti-government protesters pelted police with tomatoes, eggs, and smoke flares during a rally near parliament. The opposition has launched a protest campaign against Socialist PM Edi Rama's government, accusing it of corruption and ineffective leadership.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Argentina's currency sharply devalued against the US dollar as the new administration lifted deeply unpopular limits on the buying of foreign currencies.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Austria’s Univ. of Salzburg said it has posthumously stripped 1973 Nobel Prize-winning scientist Konrad Lorenz of his honorary doctorate due to his fervent embrace of Nazism.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the release of billionaire financier André Esteves, who has been in jail since Nov. 25 on suspicion he sought to obstruct a corruption investigation.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The popular WhatsApp smartphone messaging application came back to life in Brazil as a court threw out a two-day suspension that had infuriated millions of users. A judge had suspended it because the Facebook-owned service failed to disclose information requested by prosecutors as part of a criminal investigation.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, British Judges upheld a ruling that Britain's Mirror Group Newspapers must pay record damages to phone-hacking victims, saying the papers' staff engaged in "disgraceful conduct."
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Britain cut more renewable energy subsidies, putting jobs at risk and drawing criticism for losing credibility in tackling climate change.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, A Quebec court upheld Canada's first assisted dying law, ruling against doctors who argued it conflicts with federal criminal law an could see doctors jailed for helping someone die.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 17, China’s environment ministry said police have detained 10 company officials for fabricating pollution data, as the government steps up inspections of businesses amid growing public discontent over pollution.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, China's biggest airline said it is buying more than a hundred Boeing 737 jets in a deal worth about $10 billion that comes just months after the US plane maker announced plans to build a Chinese finishing plant for the aircraft type.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The Danish cargo ship Thorco Cloud collided with the chemical tanker Stolt Commitment and sank off western Indonesia. Six Filipino crewmen were missing.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, A legal source said International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde has been ordered to stand trial over her handling of a massive state payout to French tycoon Bernard Tapie during her time as finance minister.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, In Hong Kong the film “Ten Years" was released. Its five vignettes portrayed how China has explicitly or overtly taken control of Hong Kong, where autonomy had been guaranteed for 50 years in 1997.
(Econ, 3/5/15, p.42)
2015 Dec 17, Indian defense ministry sources said the Defense Acquisition Council has cleared the purchase of five S-400 air defense systems from Russia.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu signed a major natural gas deal with a consortium, that includes US firm Noble Energy, aimed at tapping large deposits in the Mediterranean, but a court challenge was expected over the contentious agreement.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Israel's most famous model Bar Refaeli (30) was arrested and questioned for allegedly evading taxes on millions of dollars of income from abroad by lying about her residency.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian in the West Bank after he charged at them with a knife.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, In Mali a gunman killed 3 people outside a Christian radio station in the city of Timbuktu. Radio host Joel Dicko, a local contractor with the UN and a student were killed. Authorities later arrested two people in connection with the shooting.
(AFP, 12/18/15)(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 17, Montenegro police detained Svetozar Marovic (60), who served as president of Serbia-Montenegro before Montenegro split from the union in 2006, on suspicion of abuse of power and embezzlement of millions of euros.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, In the Moroccan coastal town of Skhirat delegates from Libya's warring factions signed a UN-brokered agreement to form the Government of National Accord (GNA), a deal that Western powers hope will bring stability and help fight a growing Islamic State presence.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)(Econ, 4/9/15, p.47)
2015 Dec 17, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou said several arrests had been made in the army ranks and of a former chief of staff because of a coup attempt.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 17, In Nigeria insurgents killed 14 people, some of whom were decapitated, when they raided Kamuya village.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 17, Rwandans abroad voted in a referendum to amend the constitution allowing President Paul Kagame to rule until 2034, a day ahead of the main vote inside the country.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Residents in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles voted on the second day of three days of polls. Incumbent president James Michel (71) faced the first serious challenge to his decade-long rule. President James Michel won a third term in power by the narrowest of margins of just 193 votes.
(AFP, 12/17/15)(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 17, National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the electric vehicle company born out of the ashes of Swedish automaker Saab, said it has inked a $12 billion deal with Chinese leasing firm Panda New Energy Co.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The Syrian opposition hosted by Saudi Arabia elected former PM Riad Hijab as a coordinator of a body that is expected to lead future peace talks.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Tanzania sentenced four Chinese men to 20 years in jail each after they were convicted of smuggling rhino horns.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 17, Turkey said its security forces have killed 25 Kurdish militants this week as they battle suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the two flashpoint towns of Cizre and Silopi.
(AFP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, Finance ministers from the 15 UN Security Council nations adopted a plan aimed at disrupting outside revenue that the Islamic State extremist group gets from oil and antiquities sales, ransom payments and other criminal activities.
(AP, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 17, The UN Security Council's Central African Republic (CAR) sanctions committee added Haroun Gaye and Eugene Barret Ngaikosset to a UN blacklist for attempting to undermine the transitional government. They are now subject to an international travel ban and assets freeze.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 17, Participants at Yemeni peace talks hosted by the United Nations in Switzerland agreed on the full resumption of humanitarian aid to the city of Taiz.
(Reuters, 12/17/15)
2015 Dec 18, The United States and its allies staged 20 strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, including one near the Iraqi city of Fallujah that is being investigated as a possible friendly fire incident. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said an Iraqi officer was killed and nine injured by a coalition air strike near Amariyat al-Fallujah.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)(SFC, 12/19/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 18, The US Congress authorized the payment of $4.4 million to Americans held hostage by Iran from Nov. 4, 1979, to Jan. 20, 1981, – or $10,000 for each day of captivity – to the surviving members of that ordeal and their families. As of 2021 full payment had not been made.
(https://tinyurl.com/ywrxc46u) (USA Today, 8/14/21)
2015 Dec 18, The US Congress passed a bill barring citizens from 38 mainly European countries from traveling to the United States without a visa if they have previously visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan since 2011.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, The US Senate approved a bill that would phase out the use of plastic microbeads starting in 2017. The House approved the bill a week earlier.
(SFC, 12/19/15, p.A8)
2015 Dec 18, In NYC some 20 foreign ministers gathered for the latest conference on Syria's civil war. The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than a quarter million lives.
(AP, 12/18/15)(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, The United States government announced $88 million to help feed hungry people in drought-stricken areas of Ethiopia, bringing the total amount of humanitarian aid to the country in 2015 to more than $435 million.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, In NYC some 20 foreign ministers gathered for the latest conference on Syria's civil war, hopeful about arranging a cease-fire and launching peace negotiations in the new year.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Martin Shkreli (32), the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, resigned from Turing after being arrested on unrelated charges of securities fraud at a hedge fund. On Dec 21 biotech firm KaloBios announced that Shkreli had been terminated as its CEO.
(SFC, 12/19/15, p.D1)(SFC, 12/22/15, p.D1)
2015 Dec 18, Afghan forces drove Taliban militants out of the center of a district in the southern province of Helmand, as they fought back against insurgents who have threatened a series of districts over recent months.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, The African Union said it will send a 5,000 strong force to stop violence in troubled Burundi, giving Bujumbura a four-day deadline to agree but warning it would send troops anyway.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, In Bangladesh at least six naval personnel were seriously wounded in explosions at the end of prayers at a mosque inside a naval base in Chittagong. Two people were arrested and police said they had confessed to being members of banned militant group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A judge in Brazil's state of Minas Gerais froze the Brazilian assets of mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale SA after determining their joint venture Samarco was unable to pay for damage caused by the bursting of a dam at its mine last month.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, Britain's Kellingley Colliery in Yorkshire, the country’s last deep coal mine, closed.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, China's capital Beijing issued its second smog red alert of the month on Friday, triggering vehicle restrictions and forcing schools to close.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Costa Rica partially pulled out of SICA, a regional body promoting Central American cooperation, after neighboring nations refused to help handle a growing Cuban migrant crisis. Costa Rica said it will suspend visas to Cuban migrants trying to head north to the US after yet another failure to broker a deal with neighbors.
(AFP, 12/19/15)(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, Cuban President Raul Castro urged the US government to halt radio and television broadcasts aimed at the island and other programs that Cuba considers harmful.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, EU leaders in Brussels pledged an uncompromising fight against terrorism and called for wide-ranging countermeasures including beefed-up immigration controls and a crackdown on illicit weapons trafficking.
(SFC, 12/19/15, p.A5)
2015 Dec 18, French livery drivers protested a drop in their rates, again striking out against what they say an unfair decision by Uber and other companies to drive down their earnings.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, In Haiti several government buildings were set ablaze in scattered sections of the country and one demonstrator was killed in violent protests ignited by the release of final legislative election results.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 18, Japan executed two people by hanging, including one who was convicted in a jury trial for the first time under a new system that began six years ago.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Mali officials said a gunman killed 3 people outside a Christian radio station in the city of Timbuktu overnight.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A Mexican environmentalist said studies have found that illegal loggers clear-cut at least 24 acres (10 hectares) in the monarch butterflies' wintering grounds in central Mexico this year.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, NATO and US officials certified an anti-missile defense site in southern Romania that is scheduled to become operational next year.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A Dutch appeals court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell may be held liable for oil spills at its subsidiary in Nigeria, potentially opening the way for other compensation claims against multinationals in the Niger Delta and elsewhere.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Pakistan's army said it has killed 23 suspected militants in early morning strikes in Shawal valley in North Waziristan and in the Khyber tribal region.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Two Palestinian drivers tried but failed to run down Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank, with one attacker shot dead and the other wounded. Troops later shot dead Nashat Asfour (33) in clashes at Sinjil village northeast of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Rwandans voted in a referendum to decide if President Paul Kagame should be allowed to extend his time in power. More than 98% from 21 out of 30 districts, representing 70% of registered voters, voted to lift term limits for Kagame.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Turkish security forces pressed on with a relentless operation to root out Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels from two urban centers in the troubled southeast that has left at least 55 militants dead and angered Kurdish representatives.
(AFP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, A Turkish government official said authorities at Istanbul's main airport have detained two people suspected of attempting to smuggle 148 blank European passports concealed in pizza-making equipment.
(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Ukraine PM Arseny Yatseniuk said the government has imposed a moratorium on the repayment of a $3 billion Eurobond held entirely by Russia, after Moscow refused to accept the terms of a restructuring of the debt.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 18, Yemeni troops loyal to Pres. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi gained control of Al-Hazm, capital of the northwestern al-Jawf province. Peace talks in Switzerland were halted after the country's Shiite Houthi rebel delegation suspended all meetings.
(Reuters, 12/18/15)(AP, 12/18/15)
2015 Dec 19, In California 5 people died when their single-engine plane crashed south of Bakersfield.
(SFC, 12/21/15, p.C2)
2015 Dec 19, In Connecticut German conductor Kurt Masur (b.1927) died. He is credited with helping prevent violence after the collapse of communism in East Germany and later reinvigorated the New York Philharmonic during an 11-year stint as music director.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, An off-duty Baltimore policeman shot and killed a man he says appeared to be holding him at gunpoint in the suburbs of Linthicum Heights. Detectives surveyed the crime scene and realized the would-be robber was wielding a toy gun.
(CSM, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 19, The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Switzerland to discuss their long-running dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Canada Dennis Oland (47), the son of a wealthy Canadian brewer, was found guilty of murdering his father following a long and sensational trial in the eastern province of New Brunswick. Richard Oland (69), part of the family that owns Moosehead Breweries, was found dead in a pool of blood in his office on July 7, 2011.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 19, Ten of Chile's airports remained closed as striking workers tied to the civil aviation authority and officials failed to reach an agreement.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Beijing was enveloped in eye-watering, throat-irritating smog as the second red alert of the month went into effect.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In China Spain's Mireia Lalaguna Royo (23) was named the winner of the Miss World 2015 competition in the southern island resort of Sanya.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Human Rights Watch said at least 75 people have been killed during weeks of protests in Ethiopia, which have seen soldiers and police firing on demonstrators protesting a government plan to incorporate some rural areas into the capital city, Addis Ababa.
(AFP, 12/19/15)(SFC, 12/24/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 19, In France an attack plot targeting representatives of state forces was foiled and two men were arrested in the region of Orleans, southwest of Paris.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Iran residents of Tehran were warned to stay at home as a thick smog of pollution hung in the air.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, An Israeli air strike killed Samir Qantar, a Hezbollah militant leader, in Damascus. Kantar, a Lebanese who was convicted of carrying out one of the most notorious attacks in Israeli history, had spent nearly three decades in an Israeli prison.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Japan about 20 anti-Christmas protesters calling themselves "Losers with Women" marched through Tokyo's streets, bashing the upcoming holiday as a capitalist ploy that also discriminates against singletons.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Libyan medical sources said at least 14 people have been killed and 25 wounded during clashes between armed groups loyal to official government and Islamist groups. The fighting had erupted Dec 17 and was ongoing in the eastern town of Ajdabiya.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Niger said nine military officers involved in allegedly planning an attempted coup have been arrested and will face a military tribunal.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Nigeria said its military has commuted the death sentences handed to 66 soldiers for mutiny over claims they refused to fight Boko Haram Islamists. Instead, each soldier will serve a 10-year prison term.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Nigeria Boko Haram gunmen launched a dawn raid on Buratai, Borno state, the hometown of the army chief, triggering a fierce gunbattle with troops.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Norway a man was killed when an avalanche hit the town of Longyearbyen, the biggest settlement on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The avalanche engulfed about 10 houses in the town, which has some 2,000 inhabitants.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, A Palestinian man (20) stabbed three Israelis in the central city of Raanana, seriously wounding one of them, before being shot and then arrested by Israeli security forces.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In the Philippines heavy rains pummeled the entire country, flooding more areas as the government declared a "state of national calamity".
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Poland thousands of people took part in demonstrations across the country to protest moves by the new right-wing government to neutralize the Constitutional Tribunal as a check on its power.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Polish police seized a record amount of cocaine worth around $27 million that arrived via Belgium in a shipment of bananas from Colombia.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Saudi Arabia shelling from Yemen killed a Saudi citizen and two Indian workers.
(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, In Somalia a gun attack on a government official in Mogadishu was followed shortly afterwards by a car bombing that left at least 4 people killed and nine wounded.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Karin Soder (87), Sweden’s first female foreign minister (1976-1978) and party leader (1985-1987), died in Stockholm.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkey said 69 Kurdish insurgents and two Turkish soldiers have been killed in four days of fighting across the southeast as security forces ramp up operations against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
(Reuters, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkey said it would "continue" to pull its troops out of northern Iraq after US President Barack Obama urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to do so in order to de-escalate tensions with Baghdad over the deployment.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Turkish media reported that 18 people drowned overnight when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea as it was heading for the Greek island of Kalymnos.
(AFP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 19, Yemeni negotiators in Switzerland taking part in UN-sponsored peace talks agreed to form a committee to oversee a fragile ceasefire after fresh fighting imperiled their efforts to end Yemen's civil war. Yemeni security officials said clashes in Hajjah Province near the Saudi border between rebel-allied units and pro-government Yemeni forces have killed more than 75 over the past three days.
(Reuters, 12/19/15)(AP, 12/19/15)
2015 Dec 20, The United States and its allies conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 20, In Nevada Lakeisha Holloway, with a toddler in her car, swerved multiple times onto a busy sidewalk on the Las Vegas Strip, leaving one dead and 30 injured.
(AFP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 20, In Nevada Colombian contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was already wearing this year's Miss Universe crown when host Steve Harvey returned to announce on live television that he had mistakenly read from a cue card, and that Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, the contestant from the Philippines, was actually this year's winner.
(AP, 12/21/15)(SFC, 12/22/15, p.E6)
2015 Dec 20, In Afghanistan the deputy governor of Helmand said the province could fall to the Taliban after months of heavy fighting, with 90 members of the security forces killed over the past two days.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Burundi's government said it would not agree to the deployment of African Union peacekeepers, warning that they would be seen as an invasion force.
(AFP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Cameroonian troops killed at least 70 residents while chasing Islamic insurgents in the Gwoza area of Borno state in northeastern Nigeria.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 20, In southern China a landslide swept through an industrial park and triggered a gas explosion in the city of Shenzhen. 33 buildings were buried in a sea of mud. 76 people were left missing. Migrant worker Tian Zeming was pulled out alive on Dec 23 after he was buried for more than 60 hours. On Jan 9 charges were brought against 16 people who owned or helped operated the landfill. On Jan 18 state media said a dozen government officials were charged in the tragedy that left at least 69 dead and eight people missing. In July, 2016, 53 people were detained for the tragedy that left 73 people dead.
(AFP, 12/20/15)(AP, 12/21/15)(AP, 12/22/15)(AP, 12/23/15)(SFC, 1/19/16, p.A3)(Reuters, 7/15/16)
2015 Dec 20, Rescuers pulled out 39 survivors and three dead from the Marina Baru 2B passenger boat that sank in central Indonesia. By Dec 24 the death toll stood at 63 as more bodies were recovered leaving 15 still missing.
(AP, 12/20/15)(Reuters, 12/22/15)(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 20, Iranian authorities closed all schools and kindergartens in the capital for two days beginning today, saying air pollution had reached dangerous levels.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Iraqi military planes dropped leaflets on Ramadi, asking residents to leave within 72 hours the western city which is under the control of Islamic State militants.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Three rockets fired from Lebanon landed in Israel. No injuries or damage were reported.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, French forces in Mali killed about 10 extremists over the last 24 hours and recovered arms and explosives after heavy fighting in the country's north.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 20, Police in southern Nepal opened fire on ethnic Madhesi protesters who were attempting to attack a police station, killing one. Ethnic Madhesis have been protesting for months against a new constitution, which they say unfairly divides the country into seven states with borders that cut through their ancestral homeland.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, In Nigeria 3 young suicide bombers set off explosions that killed six others and injured at least 24 people in Benisheikh, northeastern Borno state. A military spokesman said troops have killed 12 Boko Haram fighters and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from the hardline Islamist group whose six-year insurgency has claimed thousands of lives.
(AP, 12/21/15)(AFP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 20, A Palestinian woman tried to stab Israeli soldiers in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron before she was shot and arrested.
(AFP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, A Philippine army commander said troops killed 26 Abu Sayyaf gunmen and possibly a Malaysian militant in a weeklong counterterrorism offensive on Basilan Island that ended today with the capture of a major jungle training camp where bombs and bomb-making components were found.
(AP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Slovenians held a referendum on whether to allow same-sex marriage and become the first former communist nation in Europe to do so. More than 60 percent of the voters opposed the measure in a referendum marked by low turnout.
(AP, 12/20/15)(AFP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Spain held general elections. Neither outgoing PM Mariano Rajoy's PP conservatives nor left-wing parties won a clear mandate to govern. Two newcomers - leftist anti-austerity Podemos ("We can") and liberal Ciudadanos ("Citizens") - entered the mainstream for the first time in the parliamentary vote. The country faced weeks of uncertainty that cast doubt on the durability of its flagship economic reforms and unnerved financial markets
(AP, 12/20/15)(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 20, Spanish firefighters battled around 100 wildfires in the northwestern Asturias region, as flames fed by strong winds forced the closure of roads and a rail line.
(AFP, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, The Syrian army with the backing of Russian air power said it had seized the rebel held town of Khan Touman in southern Aleppo. In northwest Syria air strikes believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes killed 58 people in the center of the rebel-held city of Idlib. At least 10 people were wounded in an explosion that hit a military bus in the Mazzeh residential district of western Damascus.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)(AFP, 12/20/15)(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 20, In northern Thailand 12 Malaysian tourists and a Thai guide were killed after their bus crashed in the Doi Saket district, near the city of Chiang Mai.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, In southeastern Turkey armed clashes persisted, where an operation by Turkish forces intensified on the sixth day of a campaign that security sources said had resulted in the death of 110 Kurdish militants. Turkish police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred protesters in Istanbul's main Taksim square demonstrating against security operations and curfews in the southeast.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 20, Yemeni peace talks concluded in Switzerland without an agreement to end nine months of civil war and foreign intervention. Rival factions will resume negotiations on Jan 14.
(Reuters, 12/20/15)
2015 Dec 21, The Obama administration announced a move to make it harder for American big-game hunters to bring a lion head or hide into the country.
(SFC, 12/22/15, p.A7)
2015 Dec 21, At Cape Canaveral, Florida, SpaceX successfully landed its powerful Falcon 9 rocket for the first time, a major milestone in the drive to cut costs and waste by making rockets as reusable as airplanes.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, In Afghanistan a suicide bomber attacked a joint NATO-Afghan patrol near Bagram air base killing 6 NATO service members, all Americans.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, Austria's Vice Chancellor said that Austria could not accept much more than the roughly 100,000 asylum seekers it expects to receive this year.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Azerbaijan let its currency float freely, leading to its sharp depreciation as global oil prices hit new lows. Following the move, the manat fell by 32 percent.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Burkina Faso said it has issued an international warrant for ousted leader Blaise Compaore, who is living in exile in the Ivory Coast, for his suspected role in the 1987 killing of his former comrade, ex-president Thomas Sankara.
(AFP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Cambodian police made dozens of arrests and used water cannon to break up a strike by garment workers protesting over low pay.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, China's top prosecutor said prosecutors in eastern Shandong province filed a lawsuit last week against a county-level environmental protection department, accusing it of "failing to fulfil its regulatory duties" in its supervision of a local sewage firm. This marked the first time prosecutors had sued a government department in a public interest case.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, China’s government said it ordered 2,100 factories to suspend or reduce production as part of its "red alert" measures to deal with smog in Beijing.
(AFP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, The Central Bank of Cyprus revoked the operating license for the local branch of Tanzania's FBME Bank Ltd. In July the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCen, concluded that FBME was used by customers involved in money laundering, fraud and terrorist financing.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, In Djibouti at least 7 civilians were killed and scores of people wounded in clashes when police broke up a traditional religious ceremony in Buldhoqo district. The opposition Union for National Salvation (USN) party claimed 19 people died.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, The EU extended sanctions against Russia for six months for fueling the separatist war in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea.
(SFC, 12/22/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 21, Japan’s scandal-plagued manufacturer Toshiba Corp. said it is cutting 6,800 jobs after projecting a net loss of 550 billion yen ($4.5 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2016.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, The unmanned Progress cargo spacecraft blasted off from Russia's space launch complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on a journey to the International Space Station.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, In Kenya witnesses said 2 people died in the attacks in northern Mandera County when gunmen believed to be Somalia's al-Shabab rebels shot at a bus and truck headed for Mandera town.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Two migrants trying to reach Europe by boat drowned off Libya, another 10 were missing and more than 100 were rescued by the Libyan coastguard.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, Mali's government announced a state of emergency that will last for 10 days through the holidays.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 21, Panama’s Supreme Court ordered the detention of Pres. Ricardo Martinelli for allegedly intercepting communications of at least 150 people during his 2009-2014 administration. Martinelli said he would stay outside the country while fighting the charges.
(SFC, 12/23/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 21, In Poland a chemist was convicted of a bomb plot against parliament and other government buildings, and he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Brunon Kwiecien, an agricultural university teacher in Krakow, was arrested in 2012 in a much publicized case in which prosecutors said a "terrorist" attack was foiled.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Saudi Arabia intercepted multiple missiles fired before dawn by Houthi rebels from Yemen towards its southern border region.
(AFP, 12/21/15)(SFC, 12/22/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 21, In Saudi Arabia journalist Zuhair Kutbi was found guilty of inciting public opinion, fomenting sedition, defaming state institutions and harming the government’s prestige. He was sentenced to four years in prison with two years suspended.
(SFC, 12/23/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 21, Sweden's state-owned railway operator SJ said it would halt its passenger services to and from Denmark because it was unable to carry out the identity checks demanded by the government to stem an influx of refugees.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Thailand's government said it is not ignoring the slavery and forced labor in its lucrative shrimp industry.
(AP, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 21, Ugandan police arrested 20 supporters and security guards at the headquarters of an opposition candidate vying to end the nearly 30-year rule of President Yoweri Museveni in elections next February.
(Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015 Dec 22, Clarence Moses-El (60), who spent 28 years in prison after being convicted of a rape he says he didn’t commit, was released from the Denver County Jail on bond after a judge threw out the guilty verdict in the case.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Afghanistan British military advisers were deployed to the Helmand region. Military planes dropped supplies to besieged Afghan forces in Sangin after Taliban insurgents captured large swathes of the opium-growing southern district.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Belgium police detained a 9th man, identified as Abdoullah C. (30), in connection with the Nov 13 attacks in Paris.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A3)
2015 Dec 22, Burundi's government rejected a proposed African Union peacekeeping mission already dubbed an "invasion force" by parliament.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, An Egyptian military court sentenced Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to 10 years in prison over deadly clashes following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Greece's parliament approved a resolution calling on the government to recognize the state of Palestine.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, India passed legislation lowering the age at which someone can be tried for rape and other crimes to 16, spurred into action by an uproar over the release of a minor convicted in a 2012 fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a Delhi bus.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, India’s media reported that Alam Khan, the son of an murder victim, has confessed to stabbing his father's killer to death and chopping his body into 12 pieces, one for every year since his father was slain.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, A small Indian paramilitary plane crashed just outside New Delhi's main airport, killing all 10 people on board.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry's investigations director said the government has punished 23 companies for causing forest fires that spread thick, smoky haze around Southeast Asia.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Iraq's armed forces stormed the center of Ramadi, in a drive to dislodge Islamic State militants from their remaining stronghold in a city they captured in May.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, The Italian coastguard more than 650 people have been plucked to safety in the Mediterranean and one body recovered.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Malawi’s justice minister said the government it will not arrest or prosecute gay citizens while lawmakers review existing anti-gay laws.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Nepal a group of ethnic protesters rejected a proposal from the government to end months of conflict that has resulted in shortages of fuel and other supplies and the deaths of 50 people. The group said the proposal does not address their concerns and that the government was not serious about their demands.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in a phone call to coordinate their two countries' actions to fight terrorism in the Middle East.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, An appeals court in Saudi Arabia commuted a sentence of death by stoning for a Sri Lankan maid convicted of adultery. The sentence was commuted to three years in prison.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Spain the Madrid city council announced it would rename 30 streets that pay tribute to heroes of Francisco Franco's brutal dictatorship.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Syria Islamic State group jihadists killed 9 students when they shelled a school in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Tanzanian authorities said they have seized tusks from about 45 elephants and arrested two suspects at their home in Dar es Salaam.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 22, Tunisia extended for another two months a state of emergency imposed after a deadly November bus bombing claimed by the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Turkish tanks pounded Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in Cizre. The army said it has killed 127 Kurdish militants in a week.
(Reuters, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Turkish police killed two female "terrorists" in a pre-dawn raid on a cell of suspected militants in Istanbul.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Eleven migrants bound for EU member Greece, including 3 children, drowned off the Turkish coast.
(AFP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Uruguayan authorities said flooding caused by heavy rains has killed at least two people and forced nearly 1,000 from their homes.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, Yemeni officials said a Saudi-led coalition has launched more than a dozen airstrikes against anti-government rebels in Taiz province, killing at least 20.
(AP, 12/22/15)
2015 Dec 22, In Yemen unidentified gunmen shot dead resistance leader Jalal al-Awbali in the Dar Saad district of northern Aden.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 22, Most of Zambia was plunged into darkness following a problem in the network. Power was restored around midnight after an about five-hour outage.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The US Department of Justice announced that Puerto Rico will spend $77 million to upgrade its water infrastructure in a settlement with the federal government. Storm water systems in San Juan were currently releasing, daily, an estimated 6 million gallons of untreated sewage into waterways in and around San Juan in violation of the Clean Water Act.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The United States and its allies conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and six in Syria.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, A storm system packed high winds and triggered more than 20 tornadoes in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. At least 15 people were killed including at least 8 people in Mississippi, 6 in Tennessee and one in Arkansas.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 23, The Afghan defense minister said the military has rushed reinforcements to a southern district threatened for days with takeover by the Taliban.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Argentina's new government fired the country's chief media regulator, saying the head of the AFSCA television and radio watchdog commission was openly acting against the country's new center-right President Mauricio Macri.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Bosnia Sarajevo authorities said they are closing down schools because of high pollution mixed with fog, and volunteers have begun distributing face masks to those who still decided to get out of the house despite warnings to reduce movement.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Brazil gunmen opened fire in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown killing two boys ages 11 and 17.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, Burundi's rebels came together for the first time as a force aimed at ousting President Pierre Nkurunziza, after months of bloodshed in the troubled central African country. The rebels have called themselves the Republican Forces of Burundi, or "Forebu" from its name in French, Les Forces Republicaines du Burundi.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Chad 3 militants were killed when they detonated suicide bombs after being found out by a group of local people as they sought to embark from an island to a lakeside market in Bol. A fourth set off his bomb but survived.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Chile both houses of Congress approved a law granting free university education to many of the South American country's students.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Croatia's conservatives and a small pro-reform party reached an agreement to form a new government.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, It was reported that the European Commission has more than doubled its assistance to Papua New Guinea as El Niño-related drought and frost have triggered severe food and water shortages.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, German investigators in North Rhine-Westphalia state arrested a 40-year-old Italian man, who wasn't identified, in Gelsenkirchen as he left his hiding place. Investigators later said he was a member of the Sacra Corona Unita group, based in southeastern Italy, and will soon be extradited to Italy.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 23, Organizers said Pope Francis will accept next year's Charlemagne prize, a prominent annual German award for promoting European values.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili (33) said he is resigning. President Giorgi Margvelashvili now has seven days to name a candidate for the prime minister's post, who then must be approved by parliament.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Greece's parliament approved a bill granting same-sex couples the right to a civil union, becoming one of the last European countries to give them legal recognition after years of opposition from the influential Orthodox church.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Greek police said least 13 people including seven children, drowned when their overloaded boat capsized overnight in the Aegean.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Guinea's PM Mohamed Said Fofana stepped down in order to make way for a new administration after President Alpha Conde (77) was sworn in for a controversial second five-year term.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Indonesian police in Bekasi, West Java, arrested two suspected militants, including Arif Hidayatullah, a member of China’s ethnic Uighur minority who was allegedly preparing to be a suicide bomber.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 23, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a new US law putting visa restrictions on Iranians and those who had visited Iran would, if implemented, breach a nuclear deal Tehran struck with world powers earlier this year.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Iraq a wave of attacks across the country killed at least 15 civilians as government forces pressed on with their offensive to dislodge Islamic State militants from a major city west of Baghdad.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Israeli security forces shot dead 2 Palestinians who had gone on a stabbing spree along a popular walkway in Jerusalem. One Israeli was stabbed and killed and a 2nd Israeli died after apparently being mistakenly shot by police.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)(SFC, 7/5/16, p.A2)
2015 Dec 23, In Mali a pro-government armed group accused the French military of killing four of its fighters during a weekend clash with an Al-Qaeda-linked movement in the country's restive north.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Niger suspected Boko Haram militants killed 5 people in an overnight raid in the third suspected attack by the group in less than 24 hours.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Human Rights Watch said Nigerian soldiers fired on unarmed Islamic Shiite children with no provocation in Dec 12-14 raids in Zaria that killed hundreds of the minority group.
(AP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The World Bank approved a $500 million loan to help the Philippines deal with natural disasters. It can access the new credit line following "a state of calamity" declared by the president.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin welcomed Indian PM Narendra Modi. Their planned talks were expected to focus on defense, nuclear and space cooperation.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air force has carried out 302 sorties in Syria between Dec. 18 and 23, hitting 1,093 Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Investigators said Russia has issued an international arrest warrant for Mikhail Khodorkovsky on suspicion of ordering a contract killing, prompting the former oil tycoon to declare the Kremlin had gone mad.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Saudi King Salman said he has ordered economic reforms to diversify sources of income and reduce high dependence on oil following a sharp drop in crude prices.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, The government of Somalia issued a ban on Christmas and New Year's celebrations in the Muslim country, saying the festivities have nothing to do with Islam.
(Reuters, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy suffered a setback in his bid to stay in office as the Socialists refused to back his attempt to form a new government following an inconclusive general election.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Spain a helicopter battling a fire crashed, killing the pilot in a forest in a rural area in the northwestern region of Asturias.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Syria clashes and suicide attacks by the Islamic State group killed at least 26 pro-government fighters in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.
(AFP, 12/23/15)(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 23, In Turkey a female cleaner was killed and another wounded after an explosion near a plane at Istanbul's second international airport. A mortar attack was the cause of a deadly incident at Sabiha Gokcen airport.
(AFP, 12/23/15)(AFP, 1/7/16)
2015 Dec 23, Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian rebels accused each other of violating a holiday ceasefire, just hours after it came into force.
(AFP, 12/23/15)
2015 Dec 24, The United States and its allies conducted 31 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Afghanistan senior army commander General Abdul Wodud said a joint Afghan and NATO operation backed by air support had driven the Taliban back from central areas, killing 60 Taliban fighters and wounding 40. The interior ministry said security forces had killed a senior Taliban commander it identified as Mullah Nasir.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In northern Afghanistan at least 24 people were killed when a passenger bus plunged into a ravine after a head-on collision with a truck in Samangan province.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, Argentina authorities said that 10,000 people were evacuated in Entre Rios province after rains swelled the Uruguay River to its highest level in nearly a century. Flooding caused by heavy rains also has led to the evacuation of an estimated 100,000 people in Paraguay and more than 4,000 in Uruguay.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, The Churches of England and Scotland said they have reached an historic agreement to work more closely together.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, China’s state media reported that more than 100 million people have been warned to stay indoors after at least 10 Chinese cities issued red alerts for smog.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In China Shen Hao, the former chairman of the company that publishes one of the country’s most prominent business newspapers, was sentenced to prison for coercing companies into paying to avoid negative coverage. Former chief financial officer, Le Bing, was convicted of embezzlement and given a suspended two-year sentence.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In central Congo DRC an air cargo plane overshot the runway in Mbuji-Mayi, hitting homes and killing at least 7 people on the ground.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Egypt a roadside bomb struck a police vehicle near a town in the Sinai Peninsula, killing a policeman and wounding two others.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Egyptian border guards reportedly opened fire killing a mentally disabled Gazan who tried to get across the border between Egypt and the coastal strip. Hasan Izhaq was harmless and naked and trying to cross the coastal border.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 24, In India Delhi's firebrand Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called on residents to cooperate with his ambitious plans to clean up the toxic air of the world's most polluted city.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Iraq US-led coalition warplanes pounded positions held by Islamic State in the western city of Ramadi.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Israel 3 Palestinian attackers were shot dead as they carried out stabbings and a car ramming and another killed in clashes with soldiers.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Japan's Cabinet approved a record-high military spending plan, endorsing proposals to purchase pricey US surveillance drones and F-35 fighter jets as Tokyo steps up cooperation with Washington amid China's increasingly assertive activity in regional seas.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Kenya's police chief said about 200 Islamic extremist fighters have split from Somalia's al-Shabab rebels, who are allied to al-Qaida, and have instead pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In northeastern Mali 6 former fighters were killed in the Kidal region in an attack claimed by an Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Nigeria blast at a gas plant engulfed the southeastern industrial city of Nnewi. 9 people were killed and three others remained in critical condition.
(AFP, 12/25/15)(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 24, In the southern Philippines guerillas from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) captured nine farmers and shot them dead on Mindanao. The BIFF also launched an attack on a village in Pigcawayan town, some 900 km (560 miles) south of Manila, that left a district official dead. Six guerillas were killed and eight wounded in fighting that lasted 3 days.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Saudi Arabia a fire tore through the intensive care unit and the maternity ward of a hospital in the southwestern port city of Jazan before dawn, killing at least 24 people and injuring 123.
(Reuters, 12/24/15)(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir made a Christmas Eve decree dissolving the nation's 10 states and creating 28 new ones. Critics said it threatens the peace deal signed in August to end the country's two-year civil war.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 24, Syria's regime said it was ready to take part in new talks in Geneva aimed at ending the war but appeared to make its participation conditional on which opposition groups will attend.
(AFP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Syria air raids by government warplanes killed 20 civilians, including 7 children, in an area southeast of Damascus. A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups advanced toward a dam in northern Syria held by Islamic State fighters, in an assault aimed at capturing the militants' stronghold of Raqqa.
(AFP, 12/24/15)(Reuters, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, In Syria French national Charaffe al Mouadan (26) was killed in a US-led coalition air strike. He had "direct" ties to the alleged mastermind of the Nov 13 Paris attacks.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 24, Turkey said another 19 people, including 6 children, drowned in the waters of the Aegean off the coast of the Turkish city of Izmir after their boat capsized.
(AP, 12/24/15)
2015 Dec 24, Turkish Internet servers suffered a powerful cyberattack, slowing banking services and fanning fears that it could be a politically motivated attack from abroad.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, The United States hit Islamic State group targets in Iraq and Syria with 17 airstrikes on Christmas Day.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Gun violence today in the US killed 27 people and left 63 injured. The US averaged 36 fatalities each day this year.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A6)
2015 Dec 25, A tornado struck Birmingham, Alabama, damaging houses, uprooting trees and injuring at least three people in the state's largest city.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Afghanistan and Pakistan a 6.3 earthquake jolted the Hindu Kush just before midnight. At least 12 people were injured in eastern Nangarhar province. A pregnant woman was killed when a boulder fell on her house in Peshawar.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Algeria Abu al-Hassan Rachid al-Bulaydi, head of the Sharia Committee, was killed in an ambush by government soldiers.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Australia more than 100 homes burned down along parts of Victoria state's picturesque Great Ocean Road in bushfires and the situation continued to remain dangerous.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Bangladesh's state-run Atomic Energy Commission signed a deal with Russia to set up two nuclear power plants, each with 1,200 megawatt capacity.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northwest Bangladesh a bomb attack on a mosque during prayers killed one person and wounded at least a dozen. The mosque was run by the minority Ahmmadiya Muslim community in Rajshahi.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Bolivia 12 people were killed and nine more injured as a result of a crash between a bus and a truck.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Brazil police in Rio de Janeiro tortured five young people, aged between 13 and 23, on Christmas night, allegedly burning them and sexually molesting them after demanding extortion money.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 25, In China Wan Qingliang, a former top official for the prosperous city of Guangzhou, wept in court as he confessed to taking $ 17 million in bribes.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In China’s eastern province of Shandong a gypsum mine owned by Yurong Commercial and Trade Ltd. Co. caved in. All 29 workers were accounted for. One person was killed and 17 remained trapped at two sites and could not be immediately rescued. On Dec 27 the owner of the mine drowned after jumping into a well in an apparent suicide. On Jan 29 four miners were rescued after spending 36 days trapped underground.
(AP, 12/26/15)(AP, 12/27/15)(AP, 1/30/16)
2015 Dec 25, Colombia's top security official said authorities have captured eight members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and rescued a minor who also belonged to the guerrilla group.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Corsica a crowd vandalized a Muslim prayer room a day after an ambush injured two firefighters responding to an emergency in a housing project.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Georgia's president nominated vice premier Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the new head of government after the surprise resignation of Irakli Garibashvili.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Indian PM Narendra Modi made a surprise "goodwill" visit to Pakistan to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif, both reaffirming to resume high-level peace talks.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Israeli border police shot dead a Palestinian woman who tried to ram them with her car in the West Bank.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Japan local authorities on Okinawa sued the central government in an attempt to stop the relocation of a US air base.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Malawi media said that the government has suspended 63 civil servants who allegedly stole millions of dollars of US funds sent for fighting HIV and AIDS.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Mexican forces clashed with suspected organized-crime figures in the hometown of fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, killing two and netting 4.5 tons of marijuana in Badiraguato, Sinaloa state.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Moroccan and Spanish news agencies said over 200 migrants tried swim to Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta and although 180 made it, two drowned, 12 were injured and others were intercepted.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northern Myanmar dozens of people were missing and feared dead after a landslide struck a remote jade mining region in Kachin sate, the second such incident in a month.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northeastern Nigeria at least 14 people were killed and several others injured by Boko Haram gunmen in an attack on Kimba village, Borno state.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, Russia’s environment ministry said the country is warming more than twice as fast as the average for the rest of the world, sounding an alarm on the rise in floods and wildfires nationwide.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, Rebel sources in Syria said Zahran Aloush (44), the head of Jaysh al Islam, one of the most powerful insurgent groups in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, was killed in a Russian aerial raid that targeted his group's headquarters. Abu Hammam al Buwaidani was soon chosen as the group’s new leader.
(Reuters, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Syria Islamic State militants released 25 more Assyrian Christian hostages they had held captive for 10 months.
(AP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 25, In northern Syria fierce clashes between regime loyalists and rebels including Al-Qaeda fighters left more than 70 dead.
(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Turkey a three-month-old baby and her grandfather were killed when they became caught in the crossfire between security forces and Kurdish rebels in Cizre.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 25, In Yemen assailants shot dead Commander Jarallah Salhi, a senior intelligence officer, in Marib city east of the capital Sanaa.
(AFP, 12/25/15)
2015 Dec 26, The United States and its allies conducted 28 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and five in Syria. Abdul Qader Hakim, who facilitated the militants' external operations and had links to the Nov 13 Paris attack network, was killed in Mosul by a US-led coalition air strike.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 26, Chicago police shot and killed 3 people, including a mother of five who they said was shot "accidentally" when officers responded to a domestic disturbance.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, In Texas at least 11 people were killed in the Dallas area from a storm system packing torrential rains and unleashing a string of tornadoes that toppled homes, cut power lines and snarled transport for people returning from the Christmas holidays.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, Britain's Meteorological Office issued two of its most severe weather warnings after days of torrential rain in northern England caused rivers to burst their banks and flood several villages.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, In Burundi thousands of supporters of the president protested against the African Union's plan to deploy 5,000 peacekeepers to quell the country's escalating unrest.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, Guinea's President Alpha Conde appointed mining executive Mamady Youla as the West African country's new prime minister.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, Israeli policemen shot and killed a Palestinian as he tried to stab them in Jerusalem. A Palestinian motorist rammed his car into a checkpoint and lightly wounded a soldier stationed there. Troops on the scene opened fire at the attacker and seriously wounded him.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, Japanese authorities said that for the first time, an armed Chinese coast guard vessel entered its territorial waters off islands claimed by both countries.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, A Kenyan police official said an Islamic extremist died in the north when a roadside bomb he was planting exploded in Mandera.
(AP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, Serbian police arrested 80 people including a former minister on graft charges, stepping up an anti-corruption drive days after opening talks on joining the European Union.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 26, Syrian government forces booby trapped a cluster of farm buildings in the southern Daraa province and detonated the explosives as several Islamic rebel factions gathered at the venue, killing 17 militants.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 26, A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups, backed by US coalition planes, captured Tishreen Dam from Islamic State.
(Reuters, 12/26/15)(AFP, 1/2/16)
2015 Dec 26, Yemeni officials said overnight fighting between Shiite rebels and pro-government in southwestern Taiz province has killed 31 people, including 8 civilians. Yemeni loyalists killed at least 20 Iran-backed rebels in a pushback against insurgents seeking to retake positions to the northeast of the capital they control.
(AP, 12/26/15)(AFP, 12/26/15)
2015 Dec 27, The United States and its allies conducted 37 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, Ellsworth Kelley (b.1923), American abstract painter, sculptor and printmaker, died in Spencertown, NY.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellsworth_Kelly)
2015 Dec 27, Meadowlark Lemon (83), “clown prince" of the Harlem Globetrotters, died in Scottsdale, Arizona.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.C2)
2015 Dec 27, An Afghan official said the local Islamic State affiliate and a rival militia controlled by a prominent lawmaker have killed 8 fighters from both sides, captured a day earlier, in a brutal killing spree in the eastern border province of Nangarhar.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In western Australia a train was carrying around 200,000 liters (53,000 gallons) of the sulfuric acid when it derailed near the small town of Julia Creek in Queensland state.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, Burkina Faso said authorities have arrested around 20 soldiers for plotting to free from prison a prominent general who has been charged with staging a coup.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, Rival Burundi factions traveled to Uganda ahead of talks aimed at ending months of violence, as the African Union pushed the government to accept a peacekeeping force.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, China officially ended its one child policy with the signing into law of a bill allowing all married couples to have a second child as it attempts to cope with an ageing population and shrinking workforce.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, China's rubber-stamp national legislature approved the country's first anti-terrorism law, amid concerns that its requirements that tech companies share information with the government could hurt business interests and further infringe upon human rights.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, China’s ruling Communist Party announced that Chang Xiaobing, chair of China Telecom, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of corruption.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, China's legislature approved the country’s first national anti-domestic violence law. It will take effect in March.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, In China Xu Yuan'an, head of the City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau for Shenzhen's Guangming New District, where a Dec 20 huge landslide left scores of people missing, killed himself.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, An Egyptian military spokesman says that security forces chased two militants as they fled on a motorcycle, killing one and injuring another in the provincial capital of el-Arish. In another incident military forces pursued a third militant near Mount Halal, leading to his death amid a gunfight.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Egypt an explosion in Cairo's twin city of Giza killed 3 people, including a senior judge, and injured 11 believed to be the result of a gas leak.
(AP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, France banned demonstrations in part of the Corsican capital Ajaccio following two days of anti-Arab protests and sectarian tensions.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Indonesia a group of about 15 gunmen attacked a police station in Sinak town, Papua province, killing 3 officers and wounding two others.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, Iran postponed two premier league football matches, as air pollution more than twice the acceptable level persisted in Tehran.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, Iraqi forces took control of the government complex in central Ramadi, the last Islamic State stronghold in the western city.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, Israeli ministers endorsed contentious draft legislation to toughen rules on rights groups receiving funds from abroad. Left-wing NGOs called the move a witch-hunt.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians who stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank.
(Reuters, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In northeastern Kenya gunmen killed 2 policemen and wounded two others in Mandera County.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In northeastern Nigeria an attack blamed on Boko Haram killed 21 people in Maiduguri, Borno state.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Turkey 3 soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the town of Cizre in the Kurdish majority southeast.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 27, In Turkey Naji Jerf, a Syrian journalist and filmmaker who documented atrocities by the Islamic State, was killed in Gaziantep. On Jan 10 state media reported the arrest of three people in relation to the killing.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)(AFP, 1/10/16)
2015 Dec 27, Ukraine said at least 3 people were killed over the last 24 hours as government forces and pro-Russian separatists clashed in the first violation of a holiday truce.
(AFP, 12/27/15)
2015 Dec 28, The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 31 air strikes in their latest daily operations against the militant group in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 28, Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister (70), the hell-raising frontman of pioneering British heavy metal band Motorhead, died of cancer in Los Angeles, bringing to an end the story of a band dubbed the loudest in the world.
(AFP, 12/29/15)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.78)
2015 Dec 28, In Afghanistan two gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a female polio vaccination campaigner and seriously wounded her granddaughter. A suicide car bomb attack killed at least one civilian near the Kabul international airport.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Burundi's government and opposition kicked off peace talks in Uganda.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In northern Cameroon two female suicide bombers blew themselves up while trying to carry out attacks for Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, China fined seven foreign shipping companies that carry vehicles for automakers a total of $65 million on price-fixing charges in its latest effort to end anti-competitive behavior in the auto industry.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In eastern Cuba 13 people were killed and 34 more injured when two trucks retrofitted as passenger buses collided in Santiago de Cuba province.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 28, France opened police and legal archives from the collaborationist Vichy regime from WWII.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 28, In France DNA traces helped police identify and arrest a Frenchman (40) suspected of 33 rapes or attempted rapes in a suburban Paris forest from 1995 to 2001.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 28, Gambian lawmakers passed a bill criminalizing female circumcision and introducing prison terms of up to three years for anyone flouting the ban.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 28, Greek police in Thessaloniki said they have arrested Simon Dutton (39), a man wanted in Britain on suspicion of running a large cocaine trafficking ring.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Iran media reported that a swine flu outbreak has killed 112 people since mid-November and the country's first medical worker has died of the virus.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Milan, Italy, began a 3-day ban for six hours per day in a bid to alleviate persistent smog.
(SFC, 12/25/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 28, In western Mexico the bullet-ridden bodies of 4 people including the co-founder of a violent drug cartel were found early today on a highway. The prosecutors' office later confirmed in a statement that one of the victims was Carlos Rosales Mendoza (53) alias "El Tisico." Rosales was considered one of the founders and leaders of La Familia Michoacana cartel and the Knights Templar.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Authorities in Mexico detained a wealthy Texas teenager sought in the United States after he disappeared while serving probation for killing four people in a high-profile drunk-driving case. Ethan Couch (18) and his mother Tonya were arrested in the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta. On April 13, 2016, Couch (19) was sentenced to 180 days in jail for each of the four deaths in the June 2013 crash. In 2018 Couch was released after serving nearly two years.
(AFP, 12/29/15)(SFC, 4/14/16, p.A10)(SFC, 4/3/18, p.A5)
2015 Dec 28, A Myanmar court jailed a woman for six months for a Facebook post "ridiculing" the country's army chief and the color of a new uniform.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In Nigeria Boko Haram Islamic extremists struck Maiduguri for the first time in months with rocket-propelled grenades and multiple suicide bombers. At least 50 people were killed and the death toll could go higher. Another twin suicide bombing killed at least 30 people in Madagali, a town 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Maiduguri.
(AP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, Poland's President Andrzej Duda approved controversial legislation that regulates the Constitutional Tribunal. This required the tribunal to approve all verdicts by a two-thirds margin.
(AP, 12/28/15)(Econ, 1/2/16, p.41)
2015 Dec 28, A Puerto Rico policeman fatally shot two high-ranking officers and a policewoman following an argument at the station where they worked in Ponce. On Dec 20, 2016, Guarionex Candelario was sentenced to more than 200 years in prison for the fatal killing of Lt. Luz Soto, Cmdr. Frank Roman and policewoman Rosario Hernandez.
(AP, 12/28/15)(AP, 12/20/16)
2015 Dec 28, South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement to resolve the issue of "comfort women", as those who were forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels were euphemistically known.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, In Syria at least 32 people were killed and 90 wounded in two bomb explosions in Homs. It was the second major attack in the city since a ceasefire deal took effect earlier this month. Homs-based activist Bebars Al-Talawy later said Abu Bilal al-Homsi most likely carried out one of the bombings.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)(AP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 28, In Syria buses and ambulances carrying around 450 fighters and civilians evacuated from two besieged areas crossed into Turkey and Lebanon.
(Reuters, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 28, A Turkish court remanded in custody a 17-year-old construction worker on charges of "insulting" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Facebook.
(AFP, 12/28/15)
2015 Dec 29, The United States and its allies staged 28 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 29, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said a total of 110 journalists were killed around the world this year, noting that while many died in war zones the majority were killed in supposedly peaceful countries.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Bahrain said two of its soldiers attached to a coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen have been killed in Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Bahrain handed down sentences ranging from five years to life in prison to 29 people found guilty of attempting to murder policemen in a bomb attack last year. The sentences were linked to a bomb blast in a Shiite village on December 19 last year that authorities said left three policemen slightly wounded.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Burkina Faso Roch Marc Christian Kabore (58) was sworn in as president, completing a transition from the 2014 overthrow of longtime ruler Blaise Compaore.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In northern China Wei Pengyuan, a low-ranking energy official accused of hiding more than $30 million in cash at home in one of the country's most sensational corruption cases, admitted his guilt during a court appearance.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Dagestan one person was killed and 11 injured in a shooting near the UNESCO heritage citadel site in Derbent, which claims to be Russia's oldest city and celebrated its 2,000th anniversary this year.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 29, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan signed an agreement finalizing the two firms tasked with carrying out studies on the potential impact of Ethiopia's $4.8 billion Grand Renaissance Dam on the flow of the Nile.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)(Econ, 1/16/16, p.49)
2015 Dec 29, Egyptian judicial officials said a court has reduced the jail term for Islam al-Behairy, a controversial Muslim scholar convicted of insulting Islam on his television show from five years to one.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In England and Wales a law became effective that said coercive or controlling behavior can now be prosecuted as a crime punishable by a fine and up to five years in prison.
(SFC, 12/30/15, p.A5)
2015 Dec 29, A German court sentenced former Rwandan mayor Onesphore Rwabukombe (58) to life in prison, convicting him after a second trial of participating in genocide for helping organize the killing of some 400 members of the Tutsi minority in 1994.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Georgian lawmakers approved former foreign minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the new head of government after the surprise resignation of Irakli Garibashvili.
(SFC, 12/31/15, p.A3)
2015 Dec 29, In Haiti 2 UN police officers from Rwanda were fatally shot at their residence in Cap Haitien.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 29, Israel's top court upheld a bribery conviction against former premier Ehud Olmert, which will make him the country's first ex-prime minister to serve jail time. The Supreme Court reduced his sentence to 18 months in prison, and acquitted him of one of the charges.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In northwestern Pakistan a suicide bomber attacked a government office, killing at least 26 people and wounding 45 in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A Pakistani Taliban faction claimed responsibility.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)(SFC, 12/30/15, p.A4)
2015 Dec 29, Russian investigators filed an indictment against four men accused of involvement in the Feb 27 murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, a brazen killing which sent shockwaves among the opposition earlier this year.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Saudi Arabia Filipino murder convict Joselito Lidasan Zapanta was publicly beheaded after failing to meet the demand of the Sudanese victim's family for payment of $1 million to save him from the death penalty.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In southern Thailand suspected Muslim insurgents attacked police and a government office, killing one official as they seized hostages in Narathiwat province.
(Reuters, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the leader of the main Kurdish party Selahattin Demirtas (42) of "treason" over his call for autonomy for the country's Kurdish minority.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, In Turkey a former soccer referee won a court case against Turkey's football federation which he has accused of outing him as a homosexual and stripping him of his license to referee games because of his sexual orientation. The court ordered the federation to pay Halil Ibrahim Dincdag 23,000 lira (US$8,000) in compensation.
(AP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, Uganda police said at least 13 people drowned in Lake Victoria, when sudden waves swamped them as they celebrated the Christmas holiday.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 29, The UN's health agency declared Guinea's Ebola outbreak over two years after it emerged.
(AFP, 12/29/15)
2015 Dec 30, The US-led coalition carried out 24 strikes against Islamic State militants, in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 30, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said at least 13 people have died since the weekend, when days of downpours from a massive winter storm system triggered the state's worst flooding in two decades.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, In London a husband Mohammed Rehman (25) and his ex-wife (Sana Ahmed Khan (24), convicted of planning a major attack to mark the 10th anniversary of the London suicide bombings, were both sentenced to life in prison. The couple were accused of planning their attack for around May 28.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Thousands in Central African Republic's capital voted in national elections with hope that a new president will lead to greater stability after years of violence. Anicet-Georges Dologuele won 23.74 percent of votes cast followed by Faustin-Archange Touadera with 19.05 percent.
(AP, 12/30/15)(Reuters, 1/25/16)
2015 Dec 30, Chinese rescuers in Shandong province using infrared cameras to peer into darkness at a wrecked mine found eight surviving miners who were trapped for five days after a collapse so violent it registered as a seismic event. Nine others remained missing.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, A China-Taiwan hotline went into service connecting the heads of the two Cabinet-level agencies responsible for their relations.
(SFC, 12/31/15, p.A2)
2015 Dec 30, In Egypt a program that had been giving free basic Internet services to over three million Egyptians was shut down. Facebook said it hoped to "resolve this situation soon" so the program, which it had launched with Etisalat Egypt some two months ago, could be restored.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Guyana's parliament approved anti-terrorism legislation that includes the death penalty for certain offenses and would allow rendition of suspects to other countries.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 30, In Hong Kong Lee Bo (65), chief editor of a publisher which produces books critical of the Chinese government, went missing. He was a colleague of the four others who had also disappeared last autumn. Bo returned to Hong Kong on March 24, 2016, but did not provide thorough information about his undocumented departure.
(AFP, 1/1/16)(AP, 3/24/16)
2015 Dec 30, India asked authorities in and around its capital to crack down immediately on overloaded trucks, illegally parked cars and vehicles emitting visible smoke in the world's most polluted city.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Italian prosecutors said Apple has agreed to pay Italy about $350 million in taxes for years 2008-2013.
(SFC, 12/31/15, p.A5)
2015 Dec 30, An Italian parliament-mandated health survey confirmed higher-than-normal incidents of death and cancer among residents in and around Naples, thanks to decades of toxic waste dumping by the local Camorra mob.
(AP, 1/2/16)
2015 Dec 30, Palestinian police said Islamist group Hamas has banned public New Year's Eve parties in the Gaza Strip because they offend the territory's "values and religious traditions".
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Philippine troops clashed with about 100 Abu Sayyaf gunmen suspected of plotting attacks on New Year's Eve, leaving 8 militants and one soldier dead.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, A Russian court sentenced blogger Vadim Tyumenstev (35), from the Siberian region of Tomsk, to five years in jail for what it said was his extremist activity on the Internet after he urged people to attend a protest against high transport fares and criticized Russian intervention in Ukraine.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Russia said its air force made 121 sorties and hit 424 targets in Syria during December 28-29.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Rwanda's high court said Pastor Jean Uwinkindi (64), accused of leading and coordinating attacks on minority Tutsis during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, A Spanish judge named Jordi Pujol (80), former longtime leader of Spain's powerful northeastern Catalonia region, as a suspect in a money-laundering probe.
(AP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Syrian authorities arrested Ahmad al-Asrawi and Munir al-Bitar, prominent members of the country's domestic opposition, as they traveled to Riyadh to meet other regime opponents.
(AFP, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, In northeastern Syria two restaurants were bombed in a predominantly Kurdish city of Qamishli. The attack killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 30.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 30, Syrian troops fought their way into a rebel-held town in the southern province of Deraa in an assault which rebels said was supported by the heaviest Russian aerial bombing campaign so far in the south.
(Reuters, 12/30/15)
2015 Dec 30, Venezuela’s Supreme Court barred four recently elected lawmakers from taking their seats in the National Assembly. No legal justification was provided.
(SFC, 1/1/16, p.A4)
2015 Dec 31, The United States and its allies conducted 24 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Arizona retired California police officer Frank Pascua (52) was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Gila River Casino in Phoenix. Suspect John Campos Sr. (47) was arrested the next day.
(SSFC, 1/3/16, p.A8)
2015 Dec 31, The largest container ship to visit the US passed under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco before arriving at the Port of Oakland. The nearly quarter-mile-long megaship named the Benjamin Franklin can hold up to 18,000 20-foot shipping containers.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Natalie Cole (b.1950), Grammy-winning daughter of Nat King Cole, died in Los Angeles of complications from health issues.
(SFC, 1/2/16, p.A7)
2015 Dec 31, Wayne Rogers, TV actor who played Trapper John on MASH (1972-1975), died in Los Angeles from complications of pneumonia.
(SFC, 1/2/16, p.A7)
2015 Dec 31, Midwest floodwaters began receding. Three days of torrential rain, that had begun on Dec 26 across a wide swath of Missouri and Illinois, left 25 people dead.
(SFC, 1/1/16, p.A7)(Econ, 1/9/16, p.25)
2015 Dec 31, General Electric announced that it had won a contract worth nearly $1 billion from the Saudi Electricity Company to build and supply a power plant in northern Saudi Arabia.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, A court in Bangladesh sentenced two people to death and six others to prison for killing atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013, the first verdicts since suspected Islamist militants began targeting secular activists.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed the so-called LDO law overruling more than 50 amendments made by lawmakers in the nation's budget guidelines law for this year, including reductions to her flagship social program and a ban on state foreign financing for some projects.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, Ursula Gauthier, the China correspondent for France's L'Obs news magazine, left Beijing. She was obliged to leave for criticizing government policy in violence-wracked Xinjiang. She had questioned official comparisons between global Islamist violence and unrest in the homeland of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority.
(AFP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila pardoned nine members of the Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK) separatist group as he pursues a policy of national dialogue ahead of elections later this year.
(AFP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Egypt a couple and their 3 children, including a five-year-old girl, were killed when shelling hit their house in Rafah, North Sinai. It was unclear who fired the projectile.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, In Egypt a small ferry boat sank late today in the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh. At least 15 people were killed and two remained missing.
(AP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In southern Ethiopia a hand grenade attack killed two students and injured six at Dilla University in the SNNPR region.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Germany dozens of apparently coordinated sexual assaults took place against women on New Year's Eve in the western city of Cologne. "Arab-looking men" were blamed. The port city of Hamburg also reported around 10 similar attacks against women on New Year's Eve. By Jan 19 the number of complaints had risen to over 800.
(AFP, 1/4/16)(SFC, 1/20/16, p.A2)
2015 Dec 31, In Guatemala a fight at an overcrowded prison in Puerto Barrios, killed at least 8 prisoners and wounded 20.
(AP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, Officials said Israel's Education Ministry has ruled against the inclusion of a novel about a romance between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man in the Hebrew high school curriculum because it feared it could raise tensions among pupils. The plot of Dorit Rabinyan's novel "Borderlife" takes place in New York.
(Reuters, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian who rammed them with his car in the occupied West Bank, as a wave of violence approached its fourth month.
(Reuters, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara announced in his New Year's address that he had reduced the sentences of 3,100 prisoners held over bloody post-election unrest.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Rights campaigners said a Mauritanian court has remanded in custody two men accused of keeping women and children as slaves, during a crackdown on the deeply rooted practice.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, The Russian finance ministry said it will file a lawsuit against Ukraine after Kiev failed to repay a $3 billion Eurobond and $75 million of interest due today.
(Reuters, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In southwestern Saudi Arabia 3 civilians including two children were killed in cross-border missile attacks from Yemen on a residential area.
(AFP, 1/1/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Sweden at least 15 young women were reportedly groped by groups of men on New Year's Eve in the city of Kalmar.
(AP, 1/8/16)
2015 Dec 31, In Turkey hundreds of flights were cancelled from Istanbul's two main airports after the city was hit by a picturesque but troublesome snowfall.
(AFP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, Electricity from Ukraine to the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula was cut again after the collapse of a power pylon.
(AP, 12/31/15)
2015 Dec 31, In Yemen a drive-by shooting killed top pro-government militia leader Ahmed al-Idrisi and five of his companions in the southern city of Aden, just hours after he reluctantly handed over control of the city's strategic port to government troops.
(AP, 12/31/15)(AP, 1/3/16)
2015 Dec, In Louisiana an indictment was announced against a gang in Abbeville called the Gremlins. By this time most of the 17 supposed gang members were in custody.
(Econ, 3/25/17, p.25)
2015 Dec, In Nevada the family of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson acquired control of the Las Vegas Review Journal, the state’s largest newspaper. Adelson was a major benefactor of the Republican Party.
(SFC, 12/30/15, p.C3)
2015 Dec, In Texas three former officials at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) pleaded guilty under seal to conspiracy to commit money laundering. They were charged with violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
(Reuters, 3/23/16)
2015 Dec, In Afghanistan a new, nearly $100 million Afghan National Assembly building was inaugurated.
(Reuters, 5/30/16)
2015 Dec, Brazil declared a national public health emergency due to the mosquito-born Zika virus.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.73)`
2015 Dec, Ecuador, bowing to pressure from the Cuban government, imposed a visa requirement on Cubans, in effect closing off the most popular route to the United States.
(Econ, 1/16/16, p.38)
2015 Dec, Egypt cancelled the results of student council elections in the country’s universities after pro-revolution candidates won across the board.
(Econ, 1/9/16, p.39)
2015 Dec, In Kosovo Slobodan Gavric (b.1968), a Serbian man, was arrested after police found 12.2 kilos of explosives in his car in an area where the United States and other Western embassies are located. On June 29, 2016, a court sentenced Gavric to 13 years in jail on charges of preparing a terrorist attack.
(Reuters, 6/29/16)
2015 Dec, In Libya a girl and two boys ranging from five to 12 years old, were kidnapped by armed men on their way to school in the coastal town of Surman. In 2018 their bodies were found south of the town. Preliminary findings suggested the children were killed months after their abduction.
(AP, 4/8/18)
2015 Dec, Madagascar held senatorial elections. On Jan 9 preliminary results said President Hery Rajaonarimampianina's HVM party won more than 60 percent of the vote in each of the country's seven provinces.
(AFP, 1/10/16)
2015 Dec, Sibur, a Russian petrochemical firm co-owned by Gennady Timchenko, sold 10% of its shares to Sinopec, China’s largest state-owned oil refinery, for $1.3 billion. In 2016 Sibur sold another 10% to China’s state-backed Silk Road Fund.
(Econ 7/29/17, p.36)
2015 Dec, Sudan's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) suspended the independent Al-Tayar newspaper after it published a series of editorials criticizing the government over subsidy cuts on fuel and electricity. On May 2 the country's Constitutional Court ordered that the ban on the daily be lifted.
(AFP, 5/2/16)
2015 Dec, Sudan arrested Czech Christian aid worker Petr Jasek. In January 2017 he sentenced to 24 years in jail on charges of spying and inciting hatred. In February President Omar al-Bashir ordered Jasek (53) be released.
(AFP, 2/26/17)
2015 David Abraham authored “The Elements of Power: Gadgets, Guns and the Struggle for a Sustainable Future in the Rare Metal Age."
(Econ, 1/16/16, p.90)
2015 George Akerlof and Robert Shiller authored “Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception."
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.82)
2015 Ayaan Hirsi Ali authored “Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now."
(Econ., 4/18/15, p.74)
2015 Anthony Atkinson authored “Inequality: What Can Be Done."
(Econ, 6/6/15, p.74)
2015 David Bainbridge authored “Curvology: The Origins and Power of Female Body Shape."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.75)
2015 Michael Barber authored “How to Run a Government So that Citizens Benefit and Taxpayers Don’t Go Crazy."
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.87)
2015 Elmira Bayrasli authored “From the Other Side of the World: Extraordinary Entrepreneurs, Unlikely Places."
(Econ, 10/10/15, p.88)
2015 Mary Beard authored “SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome."
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.85)
2015 Daniel Bell authored “The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy."
(http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10418.html)(Econ, 9/5/15, p.50)
2015 Ben Bernanke authored “The Courage to Act: A Memoir of a Crisis and its Aftermath."
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.88)
2015 Thor Bjorgolfsson, Iceland’s first billionaire, authored “Billions to Bust: How I Made, Lost And Rebuilt a Fortune, And What I learned on the Way."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.78)
2015 Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov authored “The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia’s Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries.
(Econ, 9/12/15, p.78)
2015 Ian Bostridge authored “Schubert’s Winter Journey: An Anatomy of an Obsession." Shcubert’s “Winterreise" cycle of 24 songs was written in 1827-1828 set to a collection poems by Wilhelm Muller.
(Econ, 1/17/15, p.80)
2015 H.W. Brands authored “Reagan: The Life."
(SSFC, 5/24/15, p.N3)
2015 Steven Brill authored “America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix our Broken Healthcare System."
(Econ, 1/17/15, p.79)
2015 David Brooks, NY Times columnist, authored “The Road to Character."
(Econ, 5/23/15, p.73)
2015 Edward Brooke-Hitching authored “Fox Tossing and Other Forgotten and Dangerous Sports, Pastimes, and Games.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.78)
2015 Bill Browder authored “Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man’s Fight for Justice." Browder’s lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in 2009 in a Russian prison, had pieced together how corrupt officials had taken over Browder’s assets and treated themselves to a $230 million tax refund paid out in a single day.
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.73)
2015 Jason Burke authored “The New threat From Islamic Militancy."
(Econ, 8/29/15, p.69)
2015 Bryan Burrough authored “Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence.
(SSFC, 4/12/15, p.N1)
2015 Liz Carlisle authored “Lentil Underground: Renegade Farmers and the Future of Food in America."
(SSFC, 1/25/15, p.N1)
2015 Nicholas Carlson authored “Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!"
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.79)
2015 Michael Casey and Paul Vigna authored “The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money Are Challenging the Global Economic Order."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.77)
2015 Alexa Clay and Kyra Maya Phillips authored “The Misfit Economy: Lessons in Creativity from Pirates, Hackers, Gangsters and Other Informal Entrepreneurs."
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.74)
2015 Blake Clayton authored “Market Madness: A Century of Oil Panics, Crises and Crashes."
(Econ, 11/26/16, SR p.5)
2015 Marc Clifford authored “The Greening of Asia: The Business Case for Solving Asia’s Environmental Emergency."
(Econ., 4/25/15, p.77)
2015 Matthew Cobb authored “Life’s Greatest Secret: The Story of the Race to Crack the Genetic Code."
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.71)
2015 Gordon Corera authored “Intercept: The Secret History of Computers and Spies."
(Econ, 7/18/15, p.70)
2015 David Crystal authored “Making a Point" a history of punctuation.
(Econ, 3/12/15, p.80)
2015 Lawrence A. Cunningham authored “Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.78)
2015 In China Wang Daqi (30) authored “Burden of Wealth" in which he profiled several of his monied peers.
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.36)
2015 Christine Desan authored “Making Money: Coin, Currency and the Coming of Capitalism."
(Econ, 2/14/15, p.74)
2015 Alex de Waal authored “The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power."
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.86)
2015 Pedro Domingos authored “The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World."
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.86)
2015 Don Doyle authored “The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War."
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.73)
2015 Lanny Ebenstein authored “Chicagonomics: The Evolution of Chicago Free Market Economics."
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.80)
2015 Kathryn Edin and Luke Schaefer authored “$2.00 a day: Living on Almost Nothing in America."
(Econ, 8/20/16, p.22)
2015 Joseph Ellis authored “The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution: 1783-1789."
(Econ, 5/9/15, p.79)
2015 Mark Essig authored “Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig."
(Econ, 5/2/15, p.75)
2015 Lillian Faderman authored “The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle."
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.81)
2015 Jonathan Fenby authored “The History of Modern France: From the Revolution to the Present Day."
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.68)
2015 Niall Ferguson authored “Kissinger: The Idealist, 1923-1968." This was the first volume of Ferguson’s two-part Kissinger biography.
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.85)
2015 Ronald Fierstein authored “A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak patent War."
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.86)
2015 Jean-Pierre Filiu authored “From Deep State to Islamic State: The Arab Counter-Revolution and its Jihadi Legacy."
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.70)
2015 Paul Fischer authored “A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power."
(SSFC, 3/8/15, p.N3)
2015 Eric Foner authored “Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad."
(SSFC, 2/8/15, p.N5)
2015 Gavin Francis, a Scottish doctor, authored “Adventures in Human Being".
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.80)
2015 Barney Frank authored his memoir “Frank: A Life in Politics From the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage."
(SSFC, 3/15/15, p.N5)
2015 Peter Frankopan authored “The Silk Roads: A New History of the World."
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.70)
2015 Dan Gardner and Philip Tetlock authored “Superforcasting: The Art and Science of Prediction."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.83)
2015 Gilbert Gaul authored “Billion Dollar Ball: A Journey Through the Big-Money Culture of College Football."
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.82)
2015 Robert Gildea authored “Fighters in the Shadows: A New History of the French Resistance."
(Econ, 8/29/15, p.67)
2015 Paul Ginsborg authored “Family Politics: Domestic Life, Devastation and Survival 1900-1950."
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.75)
2015 Ted Gioia authored “Love songs: The Hidden History."
(Econ., 2/14/15, p.76)
2015 Charles Glass authored “Syria Burning: ISIS and the Death of the Arab Spring."
(Econ, 7/11/15, p.73)
2015 Leon Goldsmith authored “Cycle of Fear: Syria’s Alawites in War and Peace."
(Econ, 7/11/15, p.74)
2015 Philip Glass authored “Words Without Music."
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.88)
2015 Misha Glenny authored “Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio."
(Econ, 9/12/15, p.78)
2015 Marc Goodman authored “Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It."
(SSFC, 3/8/15, p.N1)
2015 Robert Goodwin authored “Spain: The Center of the World 1519-1682."
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.67)
2015 Robert Grenier, former CIA station chief in Pakistan, authored “88 Days to Kandahar."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.76)
2015 Chen Guangcheng authored “The Barefoot Lawyer: A Blind Man’s Fight for Justice and Freedom in China."
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.83)
2015 Blaine Harden authored “The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant who Created North Korea and the Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom." (see South Korea Sep 21, 1953).
(Econ, 5/16/15, p.78)
2015 Journalists Hassan Hassan and Michael Weiss authored "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror." The authors spoke to dozens of fighters and members of the group to understand its allure and how it justifies its brutal tactics.
(AFP, 2/5/15)
2015 Daisy Hay authored “Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli: A Strange Romance."
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.87)
2015 Sudhir Hazareesingh authored “How the French Think: An Affectionate Portrait of an Intellectual People.
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.79)
2015 Zackeray Hearn authored “The Emergence of Modern Shiism: Islamic Reform in Iraq and Iran."
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.69)
2015 Sarah Helm authored “Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women."
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.84)
2015 Revecca Hercig authored “Plucked: A History of Hair Removal."
(Econ, 2/7/15, p.79)
2015 Catherine Hickley authored “The Munich Art Horde: Hitler’s Dealer and His Secret Legacy."
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.81)
2015 Cesar Hidalgo authored “Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies." His aim was to lay out a universal theory of information.
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.66)
2015 Dilip Hiro authored “The Longest August: The Unflinching Rivalry Between India and Pakistan."
(Econ., 2/21/15, p.81)
2015 Bruce Hoffman authored “Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947.
(Econ., 3/21/15, p.74)
2015 Henry Holt authored “Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel."
(Econ, 7/18/15, p.72)
2015 British journalist Alistaire Horne authored “Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century."
{USA, Books}
(Econ, 11/7/15, p.79)
2015 Roel Janssen authored “The Art of Audit: Eight Remarkable Government Auditors on Stage."
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.73)
2015 Morten Jerven authored “Why Economists Get It Wrong."
(Econ, 7/25/15, p.67)
2015 Josh Karp authored “Orson Welles’ Last Movie: The Making of the Other Side of the Wind."
(SSFC, 5/10/15, p.N3)
2015 Pamela Katz authored “The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women, and Germany on the Brink."
(SSFC, 2/15/15, p.N7)
2015 John Kay authored “Other People’s Money."
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.69)
2015 Andrew Keen authored “"The Internet is Not the Answer."
(SSFC, 1/25/15, p.N3)(Econ, 1/17/15, p.81)
2015 Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins authored “Baptists in America".
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.80)
2015 Nick Lane authored “The Vital Question: Why Is Life the Way It Is?"
(Econ, 5/2/15, p.75)
2015 Thomas Laqueur authored “The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains."
(Econ, 11/28,15, p.76)
2015 Erika Lee authored “The Making of Asian America: A History."
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.88)
2015 The novel “Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee (89) was published. The original manuscript had preceded her classic “To Kill a Mockingbird" (1960).
(Econ, 7/18/15, p.71)
2015 John Leigh authored “Touché: The Duel in Literature".
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.81)
2015 Jill Leovy authored “Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America."
(SSFC, 1/25/15, p.N1)(Econ., 3/7/15, p.86)
2015 Steve LeVine authored “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.76)
2015 Dominic Lieven authored “Towards the Flame: War and the End of Tsarist Russia."
(Econ, 5/16/15, p.76)
2015 Bobby Lo authored “Russia and the New World Disorder."
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.73)
2015 David Lough authored “No More Champagne: Churchill and His Money."
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.77)
2015 George Makari authored “Soul Machine: The Invention of the Modern Mind."
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.117)
2015 Noel Malcolm authored “Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Late Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World."
(Econ, 5/23/15, p.73)
2015 David Maraniss authored “Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story."
(Econ, 10/10/15, p.84)
2015 William J. Maxwell authored “F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature."
(SSFC, 2/8/15, p.N4)
2015 William McCants authored “"The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.86)
2015 Sean McFate authored “The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.75)
2015 Lisa McGirr authored “The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State."
(Econ, 1/30/15, p.77)
2015 Sean McMeekin authored “The Ottoman Endgame: War Revoloution and the Making of the Modern Middle East."
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.80)
2015 Ted Merwin authored “Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish
Deli."
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.79)
2015 Charles Moore authored “Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Volume Two: Everything She Wants."
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.86)
2015 Taggart Murphy authored “Japan and the Shackles of the Past."
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.74)
2015 Donald Murray authored Herring Tales: How the Silver Darlings Shaped Human Taste and History.
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.83)
2015 Willie Nelson with David Ritz authored “It’s a Long Story: My Life."
(SSFC, 5/24/15, p.N4)
2015 Joseph Nye authored “Is the American Century Over?"
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.86)
2015 Francis O’Gorman authored “Worrying: A Literary and Cultural History."
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.72)
2015 David Peterson, the language-smith of Game of Thrones," authored “The Art of Language Invention."
(Econ, 8/5/17, p.65)
2015 John Plender authored “Capitalism: Money, Morals and Markets."
(Econ, 8/15/15, p.75)
2015 Serhii Plokhy authored “The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine."
(Econ, 1/2/16, p.64)
2015 Sam Quinones authored “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic."
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.72)
2015 Eric Rauchway authored “The Money Makers: How Roosevelt, and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism and Secured a Prosperous Peace."
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.78)
2015 Robin Renwick, former British ambassador to South Africa, authored “The End of Apartheid: Diary of a Revolution."
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.85)
2015 J.J. Robinson authored “The Maldives: Islamic Republic, Tropical Autocracy."
(Econ, 11/28/,15, p.76)
2015 Richard Rhodes authored “Hell and Good Company: The Spanish Civil War and the World It Made."
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.74)
2015 Eugene Rogan authored “The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East."
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.85)
2015 Sharon Rotbart authored “"White City, Black City: Architecture and War in Tel Aviv and Jaffa."
(Econ, 2/7/15, p.78)
2015 Simon Carnell and Erica Segre translated Carlo Rovelli’s work “Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" from Italian to English.
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.79)
2015 Jonathan Sacks authored “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence."
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.82)
2015 Pedro Salinas authored "Half Monks, Half Soldiers." Here he blew the whistle on the twisted practices of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, himself once a victim of leader Luis Fernando Figari's psychological abuse.
(AP, 2/25/17)
2015 Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli authored “Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader."
(Econ., 4/4/15, p.77)
2015 Bruce Schneier authored “Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World."
(Econ., 4/4/15, p.80)
2015 Delphine Schrank authored “The Rebel of Rangoon: A Tale of Defiance and Deliverance in Burma."
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.72)
2015 John Seabrook authored “The Song Machine," a history of the past 20 years of pop music.
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.81)
2015 Brian Seibert authored “What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.80)
2015 Steve Silberman authored “Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity."
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.68)
2015 Adam Sisman authored authored “John le Carre: The Biography." John le Carre’s real name is David Cornwell (b.1931).
(Econ, 10/31/15, p.77)
2015 Andrew Small authored “The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics."
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.74)
2015 Mike Smith authored “Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria’s Unholy War."
(Econ., 3/28/15, p.85)
2015 Timothy Snyder authored “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning."
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.80)
2015 Susan Southard authored “Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War."
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.74)
2015 Nicholas Stargardt authored “The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939-1945."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.86)
2015 Gloria Steinem authored “My Life on the Road."
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.77)
2015 Paul Strohm authored “The Poet’s Tale: Chaucer and the Year that Made the Canterbury Tales."
(Econ, 2/7/15, p.79)
2015 Dana Thomas authored “Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano."
(Econ., 3/7/15, p.88)
2015 Levi Tillemann authored “The Great Race: The Global Quest for the Car of the Future."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.76)
2015 Adair Turner authored “Between Debt and the Devil: Money, Credit, and Fixing Global Finance."
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.84)
2015 Ashlee Vance authored “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future."
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.72)
2015 Thomas de Waal authored “Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide."
(Econ., 4/18/15, p.75)
2015 Edmund de Waal authored his personal history of porcelain: “The White Road: A Pilgrimage of Sorts."
(Econ, 9/26/15, p.84)
2015 Q. Edward Wang, a China-born American historian, authored "Chopsticks: A Cultural and Culinary History."
(Econ, 4/25/20, p.34)
2015 Leif Wenar authored “Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence and the Rules that Run the World."
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.80)
2015 Jay Winik authored “1944: FDR and the Year that Changed History."
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.81)
2015 David Wooton authored “The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution."
(Econ, 10/24/15, p.78)
2015 Xue Xinran (b.1958), British-Chinese journalist, authored “Buy Me the Sky: The Remarkable Truth of China’s One-Child Generation." It was translated to English by Esther Tyldesley and David Dobson.
(Econ, 6/6/15, p.75)
2015 Andrew Zimbalist authored “Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup."
(Econ., 2/28/15, p.74)
2015 Mikhail Zygar authored “All the Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin." It became available in English in 2016.
(Econ, 9/17/16, p.79)
2015 The phrase Fourth Industrial Revolution was first introduced by Klaus Schwab, the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, in a 2015 article in Foreign Affairs. "Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution" was the theme of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2016 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. On October 10, 2016, the Forum announced the opening of its Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco. This was also subject and title of Schwab's 2016 book. Schwab includes in this fourth era technologies that combine hardware, software, and biology (cyber-physical systems), and emphasizes advances in communication and connectivity. Schwab expects this era to be marked by breakthroughs in emerging technologies in fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the internet of things, the industrial internet of things, decentralized consensus, fifth-generation wireless technologies (5G), 3D printing and fully autonomous vehicles.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3ky6csv)
2015 The US government said deadly combinations of opioids resulted in 33,091 fatal opioid overdoses this year. Gun deaths accounted for 36,132 deaths and car crashes for 35,092. The number of US deaths from all drugs was above 50,000.
(http://tinyurl.com/pa2zgw2)(SFC, 5/5/17, p.A16)(Econ 5/13/17, p.24)
2015 In the United States 49 people were sentenced to death this year, the lowest total in modern records.
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.33)
2015 The US federal government owned 60% of the land in Alaska. The state owned 28%.
(Econ, 9/5/15, p.36)
2015 The FDA approved genetically modified AquAdvantage Salmon, a Massachusetts-based company, as “safe and effective." In 2018, the federal agency greenlit AquaBounty’s sprawling Indiana facility. In 2021 the inaugural harvest of genetically modified salmon began after the pandemic delayed the sale of the first such altered animal to be cleared for human consumption in the US.
(AP, 5/27/21)
2015 America's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a rule increasing the amount that firms could raise in "mini" initial public offerings to $50 million.
(Econ., 9/12/20, p.61)
2015 The American Psychological Association imposed a ban on US military psychologists from treating prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba.
(SFC, 8/9/18, p.A1)
2015 Chicago-based HERE, a digital map-making firm, was purchased by German carmakers: BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen, for $3.1 billion. In late 2016 a Chinese and Singaporean consortium took a 10% stake.
(SFC, 11/11/17, p.68)
2015 Maine dropped its review process for car licenses. In 2021 legislation went into effect banning profanities on car licenses in the state. An estimated 400 plates were subject to recall.
(SFC, 10/18/21, p.A7)
2015 New York-based muralist Matthew Willey began his project of hand-painting 50,000 individual bees on buildings around the world. By 2021 he rendered more than 5,500 of the insects in 30 murals and installations.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2015 In New York state General Electric completed removal of 2.75 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated river sediment north of Albany.
(SFC, 4/12/19, p.A4)
2015 Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, part of a Paris-based global conglomerate, conducted tests in the summer of 2015 and reported a PFOA level of 18,000 ppt in groundwater under its plant, 500 yards from the main water wells in Hoosick Falls, NY. The EPA has a non-enforceable guidance level of 400 parts per trillion. In 1999 the company had become the fifth owner of the plastics factory.
(AP, 1/26/16)
2015 The population of West Virginia was about 1.9 million.
(SFC, 6/22/15, p.33)
2015 Drive.ai was founded by engineers from Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In 2017 it received a $15 million investment from Grab, a Singapore-based ride-hailing service.
(SFC, 9/28/17, p.C1)
2015 Everipedia was started as a more modern and inclusive alternative to Wikipedia by Theodor Forselius and Sam Kazemian, Everipedia. By 2018 it was building the world's first encyclopedia on the blockchain, incentivizing content creators by allowing them to become stakeholders in the encyclopedia network themselves. With over 3 million unique monthly users and over 6 million wiki articles, everipedia.org surpassed English Wikipedia by content, currently making it the world's largest English Encyclopedia.
(http://news.sys-con.com/node/4207113)
2015 Expedia, an online travel website, bought HomeAway, an Airbnb rival, for $3.9 billion.
(Econ 5/27/17, p.58)
2015 The game Pie Face by Hasbro was released and became a big hit.
(SFC, 12/23/17, p.D4)
2015 Intel bought Altera, a maker of field-programmable gate arrays, for $16.7 billion.
(Econ, 2/25/17, p.54)
2015 The star KIC 8462852, aka Tabby’s Star, was detected by the Kepler space telescope. It was nearly 1,500 light-years away and was noted for emitting strange pulses of light.
(SFC, 11/25/16, p.A10)
2015 In the US there were an estimated 35,200 traffic deaths this year, making it the deadliest driving year since 2008.
(SFC, 7/2/16, p.A6)
2015 Black people in America, numbering 13% of the country’s population, represented 52% of Americans slain this year.
(Econ 7/1/17, p.23)
2015 Life expectancy for Americans born this year was 78 years and 9½ months.
(SFC, 12/9/16, p.A7)
2015 Muslims reportedly represented less than 1% of America’s population, yet accounted for 10% of America’s doctors.
(Econ, 12/12/15, p.29)(http://tinyurl.com/la9nyph)
2015 In Afghanistan at least 3,545 noncombatants died and another 7,457 were injured by fighting this year in a 4-percent increase over 2014.
(Reuters, 2/14/16)
2015 An estimated 395,000 Africans died of malaria this year, compared to 764,000 deaths in 2000 according to the World Health Organization.
(Econ, 3/12/15, p.23)
2015 Some 185 environmental activists were murdered worldwide this year, an increase of 59% from the year before according to a 2017 report by Global Witness.
(Econ, 2/11/17, p.28)
2015 In Argentina the government of Pres. Cristina Fernandez Kirchner signed a $1 billion agreement to buy Chinese fighter jets and ocean-going patrol vessels. Pres. Kirchner also approved a deal giving the Chinese the right to build a satellite tracking station in Argentina.
(Econ, 11/19/16, p.28)
2015 Azerbaijan devalued its currency two times this year after its central bank burned through some $10 billion of foreign currency reserves in an effort to defend the manat.
(Econ, 5/21/16, p.45)
2015 The US lifted restrictions on arms sales to Bahrain, in place since 2011.
(Econ, 6/25/16, p.41)
2015 The documentary film “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll," was directed by John Pirozzi.
(SFC, 5/8/15, p.E5)
2015 It was estimated that some 3,000 tons of rocket debris were in orbit around Earth.
(Econ., 4/25/15, p.75)
2015 Britain mandated that coal-fired power be phased out in England, Scotland and Wales within a decade.
(Econ., 12/5/20, p.26)
2015 Britain gained 333,000 people through immigration this year — a near-historic high that fanned the debate about newcomers ahead of a June 2016 vote on whether the country should remain in the European Union.
(AP, 5/26/16)
2015 Britain’s National Health Insurance (NHS) employed one in 18 workers.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.54)
2015 The population of Burundi was over 10 million.
(Econ., 5/2/15, p.42)
2015 In the Central African Rep. Alfred Yekatom became the target of US sanctions for suspected attacks against Muslims, civilian deaths, and for using 153 child fighters.
(AFP, 11/17/18)
2015 The 3R ("return, reclamation, reconciliation") emerged in western Central African Rep. late this year, led by a man known as Sidiki who claims to be protecting the Peul community -- the French term for the Fulani.
(AFP, 1/22/19)
2015 Chile’s population was about 18 million.
(Econ, 11/14/15, p.68)
2015 The Hugo Award for the best science-fiction novel went to “The Three-Body Problem" (2008) by Liu Cixin of China. A film adaptation of the same name was scheduled for release in July, 2016.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three-Body_Problem)
2015 Six Rooms (6.cn), a Chinese live-streaming internet service co-founded by Liu Yan, was sold for close to $400 million to a Chinese entertainment conglomerate. Live-streaming emerged in China following the financial crisis of 2007-08.
(Econ, 2/11/17, SR p.10)
2015 The Chinese firm Pinduoduo, an agriculture-focused technology platform, was founded. It connects farmers and distributors with consumers directly through its interactive shopping experience. In 2017 the company ended its online direct sales model of acquiring fresh produce and other perishables from suppliers to sell to consumers, and transitioned to purely providing online marketplace services to third-party merchants across more categories.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinduoduo)(Econ., 1/2/21, p.4)
2015 China's leader Xi Jinping launched a plan for "experimental reform" of the umbrella organization to which all unions must belong, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).
(Econ., 1/30/21, p.32)
2015 In China some 20,000 workers at the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone worked to complete a 2nd terminal and runway. Officials expected the planned aerotropolis to have five runways by 2030 serving some 70 million passengers annually.
(Econ., 3/14/15, p.47)
2015 China banned the drug flakka late this year and its use plummeted in the US.
(AP, 3/26/20)
2015 Vanke, one of China’s biggest property firms, had revenues this year of over $30 billion. In 1988 Vanke CEO Wang Shi decided to donate his shares in the company to charity.
(Econ, 7/9/16, p.54)
2015 Shenzhen-based Chipscreen Biosciences received Chinese approval for a cancer drug called Epidaza.
(Econ, 3/18/17, p.68)
2015 In China a startup called Ofo launched the first bike-sharing service that allowed users use bicycles and leave them anywhere and to pay using a smart-phone.
(Econ, 4/22/17, p.38)
2015 Wind power in China tripled since 2010 to 3% of the electricity generation. Coal still accounted for near two-thirds of the country’s electricity.
(Econ, 8/1/15, p.39)
2015 Shanghai, China, produced the most household rubbish in the country with 22,000 tons per day.
(Econ., 4/25/15, p.42)
2015 China’s contribution to the UN this year reached $140 million, about the same as Britain or France.
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.45)
2015 HNA Group, a sprawling Chinese conglomerate, acquired Avalon, an Irish aircraft leasing business, for $7.6 billion.
(Econ., 2/6/21, p.52)
2015 By the end of this year China’s total debt reached about 240% of GDP.
(Econ, 3/5/15, p.71)
2015 Costa Rica slapped a ban on the import of Hass avocados from nine countries including Mexico, the top producer. This was supposedly a precautionary step against sunblotch, an infection that can hop from one species to another.
(Econ, 9/10/16, p.28)
2015 Financier Low Taek Jho obtained Cyprus nationality under the country’s investment for passport scheme after buying a mansion for 5 million euros ($5.6 million) in the resort town of Agia Napa. He immediately left the island after purchasing the property and getting the passport. This was reported in 2019. Low has been painted by prosecutors as the mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, which saw more than $4.5 billion allegedly misappropriated from the Malaysian investment fund.
(Bloomberg, 11/4/19)
2015 The Czech Rep. accepted 520 Muslim refugees this year.
(Econ, 1/30/16, p.43)
2015 Egypt destroyed thousands of homes in Rafah this year to stop the smuggling of weapons and fighters from Gaza.
(Econ, 4/8/17, p.41)
2015 Egypt ranked 112th on the World Bank’s ease-of-doing-business index. In order to start a business investors needed permits from 78 different agencies.
(Econ, 5/16/15, p.43)
2015 In El Salvador the number of homicides reached an estimated 6,650 this year, from 3,912 the year before. The killing of police officers nearly doubled to more than 60.
(Reuters, 1/21/16)(SFC, 4/14/16, p.A3)
2015 Equatorial Guinea’s GDP shrank by an estimated 10.2%.
(Econ, 3/12/15, p.47)
2015 The population of Ethiopia was about 100 million.
(Econ, 12/12/15, p. 23)
2015 A study funded by the European Commission found that palm oil and soybean oil had the highest indirect greenhouse gas emissions because of the deforestation and the drainage of peatlands associated with their cultivation.
(Reuters, 6/14/18)
2015 German writer Christine Eichel authored “Deutschland, Lutherland: Why the Reformation Still Impresses Us Today."
(Econ, 1/7/17, p.45)
2015 In Germany Niels Hoegel was found guilty of two murders, two attempted murders and one count of serious bodily harm at a clinic in the northern town of Delmenhorst. In 2016 prosecutors said Hoegel, who was convicted of killing patients with overdoses of heart medication, had at least 43 victims. In 2017 investigators said he may have killed over 100 patients.
(AP, 11/25/16)(SFC, 11/10/17, p.A5)
2015 Germany’s car makers employed one in seven workers nationwide.
(Econ, 11/21/15, p.59)
2015 Germany accepted some 1.1 million refugees this year.
(Econ, 2/13/15, p.51)
2015 Scientists counted 65 Chinese White dolphins (sousa chinensis) around Lantau Island in Hong Kong. This was a drop from 188 surveyed in 2003.
(Econ 5/27/17, p.40)
2015 Hong Kong’s population was about 7.3 million.
(Econ, 6/27/15, p.37)
2015 In India fake pesticide caused brought infestations of whitefly to the cotton crop in the Punjab.
(Econ, 11/28/15, p.36)
2015 Indonesia's parliament passed a law barring the relatives of incumbants from running for regent, mayor or governor. The law, deemed unconstitutional by the courts, was overturned.
(Econ., 12/5/20, p.42)
2015 Indonesia’s top clerical council passed a fatwa condemning homosexuality.
(Econ, 8/13/16, p.28)
2015 Tuberculosis claimed the lives of an estimated 1.8 million people around the world this year, 60% of whom lived in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa.
(AFP, 3/23/17)
2015 Iran’s population was almost 80 million.
(Econ, 11/28/15, p.44)
2015 Israel’s GDP per person stood at $35,700. For the West Bank it was $3,700. For Gaza it was $1,700.
(Econ 5/20/17, SR p.9)
2015 Jamaica suffered 1,207 murders this year, almost ten times the rate in the US.
(Econ, 2/20/15, p.30)
2015 Reporters without Borders ranked Japan in 61st place this year, a fall of 50 places in five years.
(Econ, 5/16/15, p.37)
2015 A record 19.7 million people visited Japan this year, up from 13.4 million in 2014. Travelers from China topped the list.
(SSFC, 1/24/16, p.A4)
2015 In Jordan incoming Syrian refugees now made up a fifth of the population.
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.40)
2015 In Liberia George Werner was made education minister. He soon removed 1,892 dead or retired teachers from the government’s payroll. In September, 2016, he launched Partnership Schools for Liberia, a pilot program based on charter schools in America and academies in England.
(Econ, 2/25/17, p.42)
2015 Mauritania ordered preachers at Friday prayers to publicize a fatwa by the country’s leading clerics declaring that slavery has no foundation in sharia law.
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.51)
2015 The population of Mauritania was about 3.5 million.
(Econ, 10/17/15, p.57)
2015 Morocco earned €4.8 billion from car exports this year.
(Econ, 6/4/16, p.66)
2015 The UN estimated that opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has nearly tripled over the past six years, making it the world’s second-largest producer of heroin and the region’s leading supplier of methamphetamine.
(SSFC, 6/7/15, p.A17)
2015 In the Netherlands the flow of refugees rose to a record 59,100 this year.
(SFC, 1/9/16, p.A2)
2015 The population of New Zealand was about 4.5 million.
(Econ, 5/23/15, p.56)
2015 The World Bank estimated Nigeria’s population to be about 182 million based on census figures from 2006.
(Econ, 4/29/17, p.36)
2015 The World Economic Forum (WEF) rated Nigeria 124th out of 140 countries on the quality of its institutions; 133rd for its infrastructure and last out of 140 on its primary education.
(Econ, 4/16/15, SR p.11)
2015 Northern Ireland’s public sector employed nearly one in three of its workers. This compared to less than one in five for Britain as a whole.
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.50)
2015 The population of the Palau archipelago numbered about 21,000.
(SSFC, 3/1/15, p.L4)
2015 Peru’s spy agency purchased commercial spyware from Verint Systems, an Israeli-American company, and engaged in a $22 million program capable of snooping on thousands of citizens at a time. This took place despite the March 30 congressional sacking of PM Ana Jara over alleged spying against lawmakers, reporters, business leaders and other citizens.
(SFC, 8/3/16, p.A4)
2015 The chief of Peru’s forest inspection service was dismissed and forced by death threats to flee to the US. He was behind the impoundment of a freighter in Houston that contained 1,770 metric tons of illegally harvested Amazon rain-forest wood.
(SFC, 4/20/17, p.A4)
2015 Transparency Int’l.‘s corruption index ranked the Philippines in 95th position up from 134th in 2010.
(Econ, 5/14/16, p.16)
2015 In Poland Mateusz Kijowski founded the Committee for the Defense of Democracy to fight judicial changes he and supporters saw as anti-democratic. He stepped down after the allegations of financial wrongdoing came to light in 2017. In 2018 he was accused of illegally appropriating 121,000 zlotys ($35,000) from the organization. Kijowski, a computer specialist, said that the money he took was for computer work rendered to the organization.
(AP, 3/6/18)
2015 Puerto Rico’s population numbered about 3.5 million. Another 5 million lived on the US mainland.
(Econ, 7/11/15, p.34)
2015 In Russia the total number of registered HIV cases exceeded one million this year, with authorities struggling to contain an epidemic that experts say could be curbed by increased funding and more awareness campaigns.
(AFP, 5/28/16)
2015 Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia bought the Serene yacht for approximately 500 million euros while vacationing in the south of France. The ship was built for Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler for $330 million In the summer of 2014.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serene_(yacht))
2015 The population of Saudi Arabia was about 30 million.
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.39)
2015 In Scotland a package of changes, contained in a Land Reform Bill, defined land as a finite resource that must be protected in law for the common good and in the public interest. The third stage of a detailed, 10 part Bill passed in March, 2016, paved the way for a new Land Register to ensure greater transparency of land ownership and improvements to community rights to roam common land. Centuries-old traditions had led to 430 people owning half of Scotland's privately held land.
(Reuters, 4/8/16)
2015 In South Africa Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini received $4.8 million this year for the upkeep of his household, which included seven palaces, six wives and at least 28 children. King Goodwill and nine other traditional kings and one queen received a yearly public stipend of about $110,000.
(Econ., 5/2/15, p.42)
2015 The population of South Africa was about 54 million.
(Econ., 4/25/15, p.44)
2015 In South Africa 1,175 rhinos were killed by poachers this year, a slight decrease on 2014, but another year of carnage fueled by Asian-led demand for their horn.
(AFP, 1/21/16)
2015 South Korea’s Supreme Court conferred official status to a migrant workers’ union.
(Econ, 4/15/17, p.34)
2015 The population of Swaziland numbered about 1.3 million.
(Econ, 10/3/15, p.49)
2015 In Sweden some 163,000 asylum seekers arrived this year.
(Econ 5/20/17, p.47)
2015 A Tajikistan court banned the moderate Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, the main challenger to Pres. Emomali Rahmon, branding it a terrorist group. Party leader Muhiddin Kabiri fled abroad.
(Econ., 10/10/20, p.34)
2015 A study guessed that the value of Thailand’s Crown Property Bureau, a firm that manages the royal family’s properties and investments, was worth about $44 billion.
(Econ, 7/23/16, p.30)
2015 Turkish businessman Akin Ipek, who built a multi-billion-dollar fortune in Turkey based on gold mining, left the country after relations between the government and followers of US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen soured.
(AP, 4/9/19)
2015 A UN estimate in 2016 put AIDS-related deaths for 2015 at 1.1 million, down from a peak of 2 million in 2005.
(Econ, 6/4/16, p.76)
2015 Land mines and other explosive remnants killed 6,461 people this year according to a 2016 report by Geneva-based Int’l. Campaign to Ban Landmines.
(SFC, 11/22/16, p.A2)
2015 The population of Vanuatu was about 281,000 spread over 65 islands.
(Econ, 11/7/15, p.37)
2015 Pope Francis allowed priests of the schismatic Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1969, to validly hear confessions.
(SFC, 4/5/17, p.A2)
2015 In Zimbabwe at least 50 rhinos were poached this year, up from 20 a year earlier.
(SFC, 1/13/16, p.A2)
2015-2020 About 300,000 Burundians fled their country following violence that broke out after Pres. Pierre Nkurunziz said he would stand for an unconstitutional 3rd term.
(Econ., 12/5/20, p.49)
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