Portal:Current events/2019 September 23

• War in Afghanistan
  • Afghan officials say a government strike Sunday night on a militant facility in Musa Qala District, Helmand Province, killed 35 or more civilians at a wedding party nearby. The Afghan Defence Ministry says the operation targeted a training facility for suicide bombers and it killed 22 members of the Taliban. The Taliban say 18 members of the Afghan forces were killed. (Reuters)

• In a rare joint press release, European car makers warn that a no-deal Brexit, introducing administrative hassle and tariffs, would have a "seismic" impact on frictionless trading conditions and that it would deal a "severe" blow to the industry's just-in-time manufacturing supply chains, also potentially affecting "consumer choice and affordability on both sides of the Channel". (AFP via The Guardian)
• Collapse of Thomas Cook
  • British travel company Thomas Cook enters compulsory liquidation, leaving 150,000 British holidaymakers stranded abroad and endangering 22,000 jobs worldwide. In response, the UK government and the Civil Aviation Authority launches Operation Matterhorn, the largest repatriation in the UK's peacetime history. (BBC News) (Gov.uk)
  • Tunisian tourism minister René Trabelsi says Thomas Cook owes Tunisian hotels €60 million for stays in July and August, with 4,500 customers still in the country. Tourism is a major component of the national economy. (Reuters)

• 2019 Southeast Asian haze
  • Raging wildfires in Indonesia cause the sky to turn red over much of Sumatra. The phenomenon is a result of Rayleigh scattering. (BBC News)
• Boeing 737 MAX groundings
  • Boeing announces each relative of victims of two air disasters will be paid US$144,500 by the aircraft manufacturer, and will not have to waive their right to litigate to receive the money. (Reuters)

• Doctors Without Borders alleges the World Health Organisation is rationing vaccines for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo despite adequate resources. (France 24)

• Iran says a UK-flagged ship seized several months ago is free to depart. MV Stena Impero, an oil tanker, was captured in response to the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar over allegations it was carrying fuel to Syria. (The Independent)

• After "seriously considering feedback from different parties who feel objections on some substantial content", Indonesian President Joko Widodo postpones the vote on a new criminal code, intended to replace the century-old Dutch colonial-era penal code. The proposed code would criminalise extramarital sex, insults to the president and "obscene acts". (CNN)
• The Spanish Civil Guard arrests nine members of the Committees for the Defence of the Catalan Republic for planning violent acts and creating homemade explosives. Expressions of support come from politicians including the Government and President of Catalonia claiming the charges represent repression against Catalonia. (La Vanguardia)
• 2016 Notre-Dame de Paris bombing attempt
  • A group of alleged ISIL sympathisers go on trial in France, including two women accused of an attempted car bombing at Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2016. Defendants also include a man being tried in absentia whom the United States claims to have killed via drone strike in 2017; the court ruled no evidence had been provided to confirm his death. (France 24)
• In Port-au-Prince, an Associated Press photojournalist and a security guard are wounded when Senator Jean Marie Ralph Féthière (PHTK) opens fire, reportedly trying to pass through a demonstration outside the Haitian Parliament. The Senate tries to convene and appoint Fritz-William Michel as Prime Minister. (The Guardian)

• The World Anti-Doping Agency launches a probe into "inconsistencies" with laboratory results from Russia, promising "the most stringent sanctions" if violations are found. Russia was previously banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics following a similar probe. (France 24)