Portal:Current events/September 2017

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Irma, now a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour (175 kilometers per hour), is expected to resume strengthening this weekend increasing the danger when it nears the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean next Thursday. (Weather Channel) (CNN) (National Hurricane Center)

• Great Lakes
  • Researchers report, in the Environmental Science & Technology journal, the discovery of antidepressant concentrations in 10 kinds of fish in the Niagara River, which links to the Great Lakes via Lakes Erie and Ontario. Speculated causes include inadequate treatment of water re-introduced into said bodies of water. (New York Daily News)

• South Korea–United States relations, 2017 North Korea crisis
  • South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump agree to revise the South Korea Ballistic Missile Range Guidelines which caps South Korea's missile development. (Reuters)

• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • United States federal judge Richard Posner has announced his retirement after three decades of service on the bench of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Justice Posner has written more than 3,300 opinions from the bench. (AP)

• New Zealand general election, 2017
  • The Labour Party, led by Jacinda Ardern, surges in the polls and is neck-and-neck with the National Party, led by Bill English, for the race for Prime Minister of New Zealand. (The Guardian)
• Kenyan general election, 2017
  • The Supreme Court of Kenya annuls the results of the recent presidential election, that indicated President Uhuru Kenyatta was reelected, due to irregularities, and orders a new election. (BBC)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • Paul Ryan (R-WI), U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives, urges President Donald Trump not to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects immigrants who illegally entered the U.S. as children from deportation. (Reuters)
  • President Trump nominates Oklahoma congressman Jim Bridenstine, member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (Politico)

• 2017 in astronomy
  • Asteroid 3122 Florence, which is roughly 2.7 miles (4.4 kilometers) wide, comes within 4.4 million miles (7 million km) of Earth — approximately 18 times the distance from our planet to the Moon. (Space)

• Iraqi Civil War
  • Seven people are killed and 13 are injured after suicide bombers hit a state-run power station near the northern city of Samarra, Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the attack. (Reuters)

• Trump Tower wiretapping allegations
  • Both the FBI and NSD declare that they possess no records indicating that Trump Tower in New York City, New York was wiretapped earlier in March. (CNN)

• 2017 disasters in Kenya
  • Seven schoolgirls are killed and ten hospitalised after a fire at the Moi Girls School in Nairobi, Kenya. (Reuters)

• Timor Gap
  • Australia and East Timor settle a dispute between the two countries in the Timor Sea. (ABC.net.au)

• Law enforcement in Cambodia
  • Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha is arrested for alleged treason. (The Chicago Tribune)

• Economy of Cambodia
  • The Cambodia Daily newspaper announces it will publish its final edition after being ordered to pay USD$6.3 million in taxes as a result of an investigation, initiated by Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen, into private companies operating in Cambodia. (NPR)

• Hurricane Harvey
  • Hurricane Harvey is projected to possibly become the second costliest hurricane in the United States's history, with estimates ranging from US$72 billion to over $125 billion. In comparison, Hurricane Katrina's total damage is estimated to be around $118 to $160 billion. (ABC News)
• 2017 California wildfires
  • The La Tuna Fire continues to burn in Los Angeles, California, becoming the largest fire in the city's history at around 5,800 acres. Mayor Eric Garcetti declares a state of emergency. (Los Angeles Times) (NBC News)
• Unexploded ordnance in Germany
  • Large portions of Frankfurt, Germany, are evacuated as local authorities work to defuse a bomb left over from a Royal Air Force raid during World War II. The evacuation is the largest to occur in Europe since World War II. (CNN)
  • Bomb disposal experts successfully defuse the bomb. (AP)

• 2017 North Korea crisis
  • 2017 North Korean nuclear test
    • A 6.3 magnitude earthquake is detected near the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site in Kilju County, North Korea, after North Korea tests its sixth and most powerful nuclear weapon to date. North Korean state media claims the country tested a hydrogen bomb that can be fitted on an ICBM. (New York Times) (AFP, Wall Street Journal via The Australian) (New York Times) (AP/Reuters via ABC Australia)
    • The independent seismic monitoring agency NORSAR estimates that the blast had a yield of around 120 kilotons, approximately three times more than the combined explosive yield of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. (NOSAR)
    • U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis says in a statement “Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam or our allies, will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming". (Reuters)

• Free-electron laser
  • The European X-ray free-electron laser is inaugurated in Hamburg, Germany. (XFEL)

• Syrian Civil War
  • Syrian state television reports the Syrian Army reaches a point 3 kilometers from Deir ez-Zor, a city besieged by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant since 2014. (Reuters)
  • Two Russian soldiers, escorting the military staff ceasefire monitoring convoy, are killed in Deir ez-Zor Province by ISIL shelling. (Reuters)

• Economy of the United States
  • United Technologies Corp will buy airplane parts maker Rockwell Collins for USD$30 Billion, including seven billion in debt previously incurred by Rockwell Collins. (Reuters)
• Media of the United States
  • Tronc Inc., the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune publisher, buys the New York Daily News. (U.S. News & World Report)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Irma
    • Hurricane Irma is now a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h). Hurricane warnings are issued for the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean, which are expected to be affected Tuesday. Rainfalls of up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) are possible. Irma is forecast to strengthen over the next 48 hours. The governors of Puerto Rico and Florida issue states of emergency. (NPR) (AP via The Washington Post) (National Hurricane Center)

• 2017 North Korea crisis
  • South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo says it is worth reviewing deployment of U.S. strategic assets (aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and B-52 bombers) to South Korea more regularly. (The Washington Post)
• Crisis in Venezuela
  • The opposition movement in Venezuela seeks help from France. (ABC news)

• Crime in Italy
  • Italian fugitive and 'Ndrangheta member Rocco Morabito is arrested in Montevideo, Uruguay, after 23 years on the run. He is now expected to be extradited to Italy in the coming months. (BBC)

• Politics of Taiwan
  • Premier of the Republic of China Lin Chuan offers his resignation as head of the Executive Branch of Taiwan. (Reuters)

• Syrian Civil War
  • Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–17)
    • The Syrian Army lifts the 28-month-long siege of Deir ez-Zor by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (Reuters) (BBC News)
• 2016–17 Rohingya persecution in Myanmar
  • More than 123,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh due to escalating violence by the Myanmar Army. (BBC News)
  • Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi receives international criticism and pressure urging her to help the Rohingya. (Reuters)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Irma
    • Hurricane Irma strengthens to a maximum Category 5 hurricane, becoming the strongest Atlantic hurricane since 2005's Hurricane Wilma in terms of maximum sustained winds, described as "extremely dangerous." The National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts that Irma could strengthen even more due to favorable conditions. (Washington Post)
    • The NHC says Irma is the most powerful Atlantic storm ever recorded outside the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Ahead of Irma's landing, President Donald Trump issues a state of emergency declaration for Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Reuters) (The Washington Examiner)

• India–Myanmar relations
  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Myanmar for a state visit. (The Hindu)
• 2017 North Korea crisis
  • Japan–United States relations, South Korea–United States relations
    • Amid tensions from South Korea, U.S. President Donald Trump announces that he is "allowing Japan and South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States." (The Independent)

• Journalists killed in India
  • Prominent Indian journalist and Lankesh Patrike editor Gauri Lankesh is shot dead by unidentified men outside her house in the city of Bengaluru. (Reuters)
• Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey (Same-sex marriage)
  • The High Court of Australia receives a complaint against the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey citing the postal survey as "unique and offensive." (The Guardian)

• Politics of Taiwan
  • Tainan Mayor William Lai Ching-te is appointed as the new Premier by the President of the Republic of China Tsai Ing-wen. (AP)
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
  • The Trump Administration announces that, during the next six months, it will be ending the DACA program that has halted the deportation of about 800,000 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Congress is called upon to pass legislation to correct the situation. (The New York Times)

• 2017–18 NBA season
  • Billionaire investor Tilman Fertitta buys the Houston Rockets NBA basketball team for US$2.2 billion. (Houston Chronicle) (ESPN)

• Pastoral visits of Pope Francis
  • Pope Francis arrives in Colombia for a five-day visit. In early 2016, Francis promised he would visit the South American country once a civil war peace agreement was in place. (CNN) (Independent Catholic News)

• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
  • Business leaders from various U.S. companies, including Facebook, Marriott International, JPMorgan Chase, and Microsoft, lobby to members of Congress to work on a permanent solution for DREAMers to stay legally in the country, many of whom are their employees. (Politico)
• Economy of the United States
  • U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer announces he will resign in mid-October, eight months before his term expires. (Reuters)

• 2017 disasters in the United States
  • An Arizona Air National Guard F-16 crashes near Safford, Arizona, killing the pilot. (CBS News)
• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Irma
    • Hurricane Irma makes first landfall on Barbuda, Saint Martin, and Anguilla in the northeastern Leeward Islands. Irma has maintained 185 miles per hour (298 km/h) winds for 24 hours, setting another record for Atlantic and eastern Pacific storms. (ABC News) (The Guardian) (CNN)
    • At least seven people are killed on the islands of Barbuda, St. Barts and St. Martin. Heavy rain and Category 5 winds hit the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico’s northeast coast. (CNN) (KCRA-TV) (BBC)
    • The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne says the island of Barbuda has been almost entirely wiped out by Hurricane Irma and is "barely habitable", with "90 percent" of all structures destroyed. (ABC News) (Mirror)
  • Hurricane Katia
    • Hurricane watches are issued for the state of Veracruz on Mexico's Gulf coast. Category 1 Katia (75 mph/120 km/h) is about 185 miles (298 km) off the Mexican coast, slowly moving at 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h). (Weather Channel) (The Times-Picayune)

• Bangladesh–Myanmar relations, 2016–17 Northern Rakhine State clashes
  • Bangladesh accuses the Myanmar Army of laying landmines on the border between both countries to prevent the return of fleeing Rohingya refugees. Myanmar denies the Bangladeshi claims. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)

• European migrant crisis
  • The European Court of Justice dismisses complaints by Slovakia and Hungary about EU migration policy, upholding Brussels’ right to force member states to take in asylum seekers. (Reuters)

• Catalan independence referendum, 2017
  • A last minute presentation to the Parliament of Catalonia results in the formal approval of a referendum concerning independence from Spain after tense discussions. Though the country's president urges the government to ignore the bill, parliament is expected to vote in favor of an independence vote. For the approval of this law, the Speaker, Carme Forcadell breaks the regulations of the Parliament, placing the camera outside the law and violating the rights of the opposition. (BBC)
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
  • Fifteen states and the District of Columbia file suit challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, arguing, in part, that federal government has reneged on the promise to protect young immigrants who came forward and registered with the government. (Reuters) (Los Angeles Times)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • President Donald Trump, siding with Democrats, reaches a deal with congressional leaders of both parties to extend the U.S. debt limit and fund the federal government until Dec. 15, as well as provide Harvey disaster relief. (Reuters) (The New York Times)
• Social media in the United States presidential election, 2016
  • Facebook tells congressional investigators an operation, traced to a Russian company seeking to target voters, spent $100,000 on thousands of U.S. ads promoting divisive social and political messages during the 2016 U.S. election. (Time) (The Washington post)

• Israeli involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • It is suspected that Israeli jets bomb a military research facility near the city of Masyaf, Hama Governorate, killing at least two Syrian Army soldiers. The facility was rumoured to contain chemical weapons. (The Washington Post) (The Guardian)

• Education in the United States
  • Saturday's ACT U.S. college entrance exam test is cancelled at some of its international test centers because of leaks of test materials. (Reuters)

• Identity theft in the United States
  • More than 143 million people in the U.S. may have had their social security and driver's license numbers compromised due to a data breach on the credit rating firm Equifax. (The New York Times) (The Washington Post) (AP)
• Business in the United States
  • Amazon.com announces bidding for a second headquarters campus in North America, to house 50,000 workers and cost $5 billion USD (The New York Times)
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
  • Fifteen states sue the Trump administration over potential violations of the Due Process Clause as a result of actions concerning the rescindment of the DACA program. (NPR)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Irma
    • Irma has killed at least 14 people. The storm, still at Category 5 strength with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h), is moving west-northwest at 16 mph (26 km/h). It has reached the dual-country island of Hispaniola and is forecast to pass over the Turks and Caicos Islands as it heads towards The Bahamas and Cuba. The eye did not directly hit Puerto Rico; still casualties are reported and around two-thirds of its 3.4 million population are without electricity. (Reuters) (The Washington Post) (BBC)
    • Florida's electric utility company says it will shut down its Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear power plants before Irma comes ashore. (Reuters)
    • Georgia Governor Nathan Deal issues a mandatory evacuation order for the state's Atlantic Coast and the I-95 corridor. (eTurboNews) (Georgia's Irma page)
• 2017 Chiapas earthquake
  • A magnitude 8.1 earthquake is recorded 96 kilometers (60 miles) south of Pijijiapan, Chiapas, Mexico. This is Mexico's strongest quake since the 8.0 earthquake that hit the Greater Mexico City area in 1985. At least 26 deaths have been recorded. (USGS) (RT)

• Mexico–North Korea relations
  • Mexico expels the ambassador of North Korea in the country over the recent nuclear weapons testing. (The Washington Post) (AP)
• Qatar–United States relations
  • Qatar announces it will donate USD$ 30 million to help people in Texas recover from Harvey. (AP)

• Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
  • The High Court of Australia rejects the challenge against the postal survey on same-sex marriage, allowing the survey to begin in mid-September as planned. (SBS World News)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos plans to change the sexual assault guidelines on college campuses created by the previous administration. (Politico) (AP)
• Executive Order 13780
  • The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejects the Trump administration arguments regarding the travel ban on grandparents, cousins and others with a bona fide relationship in the United States. (Politico) (AP)
• Catalan independence referendum, 2017, 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis
  • Spain plans to sue leading members of the Catalan Parliament over the proposed independence referendum in Catalonia. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
  • Spain's Constitutional Court suspends the Catalan Parliament's independence referendum law to give the court time to consider whether the vote would breach the country's constitution. (BBC) (Irish Independent)
  • The Catalan parliament approves after tense discussions the Law of juridical transition and foundation of the Republic. (Catalan News)
• 2017 Arkema plant explosion, Hurricane Harvey
  • Seven first responders file a $1 million lawsuit against the Arkema chemical company for failing to warn them in advance about the environmental dangers from the plant explosion. The seven people, six police officers and an emergency worker, remain under a doctor's care. (UPI) (Bloomberg)

• Philippine Drug War
  • The Philippine Senate investigates Paolo Duterte, the son of current Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in an alleged methamphetamine smuggling scandal. (Bloomberg News)
• Anti-government protests in Togo, 2017
  • For the second consecutive day, hundreds of thousands of Togolese protest against President Faure Gnassingbé's 50-year family dynasty. Parliament is set to consider presidential term limits when it reconvenes in October. (Reuters) (X News Press)

• Pope Francis pastoral visits
  • Pope Francis, responding to FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Londoño's open letter asking for forgiveness for the suffering the group had inflicted on the country during his talk in Villavicencio, urges Colombians skeptical of the peace deal to be open to reconciliation. (Reuters) (Salem Radio Network)

• 2017 Chiapas earthquake
  • Tsunami waves are reported in Mexico from the earthquake late yesterday with the biggest wave measuring 2.3 feet (0.70 m). (Fox News)
  • The death toll from yesterday's earthquake rises to over 50 people. (AP) (AFP via Focus News Agency) (Sky News)
• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Jose
    • Hurricane Jose intensifies into an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane as it nears the northern Leeward Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center. (CBS News)
  • Hurricane Irma
    • Hurricane Irma's death toll this week is at least 21 people after recently hitting Cuba and The Bahamas as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph (250 km/h). (Reuters) (National Hurricane Center)
    • Approximately 5.6 million people in the U.S. states of Florida and South Carolina have been asked to evacuate. (Fox News) (AP)
    • Hurricane Irma regains category 5 strength just before it makes landfall on Cuba's Camaguey Archipelago. (Washington Post)
• Accidents involving helicopters
  • A Duke University medical helicopter crashes near Belvidere, North Carolina, killing four people. (Daily Mail)
  • A helicopter crashes in Medford, New Jersey, leaving two people dead, including singer Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry. (Sky News)

• Bahrain–United States relations
  • The U.S. State Department has approved a package of potential arms sales worth more than USD$ 3.8 billion to the Kingdom of Bahrain including F-16 jets, upgrades, missiles and patrol boats. (Reuters)
• North Korea–Philippines relations
  • The Philippines suspends trade relations with North Korea to comply with a recent United Nations Security Council resolution over its repeated missile tests. (Reuters)
• 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis
  • Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Than telephones Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to discuss the three-month old crisis. (Al Jazeera)
  • U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Saudi Arabian, Emirati, and Qatari leaders emphasizing that unity among Arab partners is essential for regional stability and for countering Iran's threat. (The Hill) (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

• Identity theft in the United States
  • The U.S. Justice Department announces Roman Seleznev, the son of Russian parliament member Valery Seleznev, pleaded guilty in a $50 million identity theft probe. This past April, Roman Seleznev was sentenced to 27 years in prison on 38 counts of hacking crimes. (Reuters) (Sputnik)
• Law of Brazil
  • Brazilian prosecutor Rodrigo Janot files charges in the Supreme Court against officials in President Michel Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party accusing them of forming a criminal organization. Earlier the Court said, next week, it will consider Temer's request to block Janot from issuing further charges. (Reuters)
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
  • The University of California files a lawsuit against the potential termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme which may affect more than 4,000 students. (Los Angeles Times) (Politico)
• Crime in Massachusetts
  • In Groton, Massachusetts, Orion Krause is arrested for killing his mother, grandparents, and a caretaker in their home. Authorities believe the killings were an act of domestic violence. (Boston CBS)

• Syrian Civil War
  • Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–17)
    • The Syrian Army breaks the nine month long siege of the Deir ez-Zor Airport by ISIL militants. (Reuters)
  • Deir ez-Zor offensive (September 2017–present)
    • SDF announces an offensive against ISIL militants in northern Deir ez-Zor Governorate. (Reuters)
• 2016–17 Northern Rakhine State clashes
  • The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army declares a unilateral ceasefire to allow humanitarian groups to facilitate aid for Rohingya refugees. (BBC)

• Egyptology
  • Egypt announces the discovery of a tomb in Luxor belonging to a royal goldsmith who lived more than 3,500 years ago in the 18th Dynasty. (AP)
• Roman Britain
  • Archaeologists discover a cache of Roman Britain-era artefacts, including weapons, at an ancient Roman cavalry barracks near Hadrian's Wall in northern England. Archaeologists liken the discovery to winning the lottery. (The Guardian)
• 2017 Venice Film Festival
  • Film director Guillermo del Toro wins for The Shape of Water. (Vulture)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Irma
    • Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Cuba. The death toll across the Caribbean is at least 25 people, (CNN) (The New York Times)
  • Hurricane Katia
    • Hurricane Katia makes landfall in Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane, causing heavy damage and at least two deaths. (UPI)
• 2017 Chiapas earthquake
  • The death toll in the earthquake that struck the Chiapas region of Mexico rises to 90. (CNN)

• 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis
  • Saudi Arabia suspends any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of “distorting facts” in its reporting of yesterday's phone call between the leaders of both countries which suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute was possible. (Reuters) (RT via Newsline)

• Politics of Uruguay
  • Vice President Raúl Sendic of Uruguay resigns amid a graft investigation. (Bloomberg)

• 2017 US Open (tennis)
  • In tennis, Sloane Stephens of the United States wins the women's singles final defeating fellow American Madison Keys 6–3, 6–0. (Reuters via Yahoo!)
• West Indian cricket team in England in 2017
  • In cricket, England defeat the West Indies by nine wickets to win the three-match series. England bowler Jimmy Anderson takes 7–42 and becomes only the third fast bowler in history to take 500 Test wickets. (BBC)

• Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  • Russian airstrikes on several ferries attempting to cross the Euphrates near Deir ez-Zor kill at least 34 civilians, including 9 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (AFP via Daily Mail)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Irma
    • Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Florida as a category 4 hurricane, killing at least three people and knocking out power to over one million households. (ABC News)(CNN) (The Guardian)
• 2017 Livorno floods
  • Floods, following torrential rain, kill at least six people in the port city of Livorno, Italy. (Deutsche Welle)

• 2017 Plano shooting
  • A gunman shoots seven people dead at a house party in Plano, Texas, amid a domestic dispute. The gunman was then killed after exchanging fire with a Plano Police Department officer. (The Independent)

• 2017 US Open (tennis)
  • Spain's Rafael Nadal defeats South African Kevin Anderson, 6–3, 6–3, 6–4, in the US Open men's singles final for his third championship at Flushing Meadows Park in the New York City borough of Queens. This is Nadal's second Grand Slam title this year, and his 16th overall. (ESPN)
• 2017 Vuelta a España
  • The general classification of the 72nd edition of the Vuelta a España is won for the first time by British cyclist Chris Froome from Team Sky, ahead of Vincenzo Nibali of Bahrain-Merida Pro Cycling Team. (BBC)

• Sinai insurgency
  • Militants ambush a police convoy in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killing 18 police and wounding seven others. (AP)
• Syrian Civil War
  • Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–17)
    • Russia sends 175 demining combat engineers to defuse mines in Deir ez-Zor Governorate. (Reuters)

• Monkey selfie copyright dispute
  • PETA and David Slater settle the monkey selfie copyright dispute. (CNN)

• Rail accidents in 2017
  • Two trains collide in Andermatt railway station in the Canton of Uri, Switzerland, injuring around 30 people. (Reuters)

• Aurora 17
  • Sweden starts its largest military exercise in over 20 years. Nearly 20,000 troops are set to participate, including a contingent of over 1,000 U.S. soldiers. The drills will take place on and around the island of Gotland, including soldiers from NATO countries. (AP)
• 2017 North Korea crisis, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2375
  • The United Nations Security Council approves new sanctions on North Korea, limiting refined petroleum imports and banning textile exports, in response to its recent nuclear test. (Bloomberg)

• Crime in Belgium
  • Mouscron mayor Alfred Gadenne is found dead with his throat slashed inside the Belgian city's cemetery. A suspect has reportedly turned himself in to police. (Reuters)
• Crime in Brazil
  • Brazil is to investigate the supposed murder of ten members of an Amazonian tribe in the Javari Valley. (The Guardian)
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
  • California, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota sue the Trump administraion over the termination of DACA. (The Los Angeles Times)

• Politics of the Philippines
  • Philippine Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre is caught allegedly conspiring a lawsuit against opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros. (Rappler)
• Catalan independence
  • Around a million people rally in Barcelona to mark the National Day of Catalonia and to support the upcoming independence referendum on 1 October. (Reuters)

• 2016 United States presidential election
  • Hillary Clinton releases the book What Happened, a memoir about her most recent presidential campaign. Clinton has implied that she may not run again in 2020. (CNN)

• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
  • The United States Department of Justice has requested Moscow-based Russian media channel RT America to register as a foreign lobbying firm in the United States. (The Hill)
• Russia–Turkey relations
  • President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan affirms Turkey has paid a deposit on the purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems. (Hürriyet)

• Law of California
  • California Governor Jerry Brown signs a bill that will protect all California residents, regardless of their immigration status, from unnecessary detention and questioning; similar to those ordinances in sanctuary cities. (Los Angeles Times)
• Executive Order 13780, Asylum in the United States
  • The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Trump administration can block international refugees from entering the United States. (Reuters)
• Terrorism in Spain
  • The Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona is evacuated due to an anti-terrorism operation. (AP)
• Terrorism in the Philippines
  • In an unconfirmed video, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant instructs its followers to go and fight in the Philippines instead of the Middle East. (NBC)

• 2017 Singaporean presidential election
  • Halimah Yacob is elected as the first female president of Singapore as the sole candidate in the upcoming elections. (The New York Times)
• Politics of the Philippines
  • Philippine senators call for Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre to resign. (Philippine Canadian Inquirer)
  • The House of Representatives of the Philippines approves a bill that limits the budget of the Commission on Human Rights to only ₱1,000 (US$20). (Rappler) (BBC)
• Politics of Washington (state)
  • Seattle mayor Ed Murray announces his resignation after allegations surface that he sexually abused five teenagers in the 1970s and 80s. (The Seattle Times)
• 2017 Norwegian parliamentary election
  • The right-wing coalition led by Erna Solberg wins its second term in office in the Norwegian parliamentary election held late yesterday. (BBC News)
• Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
  • Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accuses the Burmese government of "atrocities" against the Rohingya people and calls for these alleged atrocities to stop. (The Indian Express)

• Apple media events
  • Apple Inc. announces three new iPhone models: the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X. The Apple Watch Series 3 and a new Apple TV are also announced. (The New York Times)

• War in Afghanistan
  • A suicide bombing occurs at a checkpoint near the Kabul International Cricket Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least three people and injuring five. (Reuters)
  • The United States Senate blocks an amendment to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that would have repealed the war authorizations for the use of force in Iraq and Afghanistan. (CNBC)

• Antivirus software
  • United States Homeland Security bans Kaspersky Lab products from government computers due to fears they could be coerced into sharing information with the Russian government. (Gizmodo)

• Immigration to the United States
  • The United States stops giving out visas to high ranking officials of Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone for failing to accept deportations. (Radio Free Asia)

• Politics of Texas
  • The United States Supreme Court confirms (5–4) a temporary stay of a lower court ruling which would have required Texas to undergo new redistricting of congressional districts with large Hispanic and African American populations. The ruling was made in advance of a formal hearing on the gerrymandering case, Abbott v. Perez, which has no scheduled hearing date yet. (Politico), (The Houston Chronicle)
• Law of Israel
  • The Supreme Court of Israel strikes down the exemption on the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews. (The Los Angeles Times)
• Crime in New York
  • Former businessman Martin Shkreli has his bail revoked for threatening former politician Hillary Clinton, after Shkreli posted on Twitter that he would offer $5,000 to anyone who could directly obtain a lock of Clinton's hair. Shkreli was convicted of fraud in August and is awaiting sentencing. (CNN)

• State of the Union (European Union)
  • President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, holds his annual State of the European Union speech in Strasbourg. (Reuters)
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
  • In an official dinner hosted by the United States President, Donald Trump and leaders of the Democratic party Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi agree to fix DACA but disagree with the details, with Trump denying on Twitter the following day that a deal had been made which excluded funding for his proposed wall on the Mexico–United States border. (CNN)
• Catalan independence referendum, 2017
  • Spanish Attorney General, José Manuel Maza, imputes 700 Catalan mayors for their role in the banned independence referendum. (BBC)

• Galápagos tortoise
  • Scientists hope to revive the extinct Floreana island tortoise using a 'genetically-informed' captive breeding program with the tortoises closest ancestors. (Phys.org)

• 131st IOC Session
  • The International Olympic Committee awards the 2024 Summer Olympics to Paris and the 2028 Summer Olympics to Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Times)
• 2017 Major League Baseball season
  • The Cleveland Indians defeat the Detroit Tigers 5–3 for their 21st consecutive win, surpassing the previous American League record of 20 set by the 2002 Oakland Athletics. The streak is the longest in Major League Baseball since the 1935 Chicago Cubs won 21 straight. (AP via ESPN)

• Iraqi Civil War
  • 2017 Nasiriyah attacks
    • Several members of ISIL stage multiple attacks on the outskirts of Nasiriyah in the southern Dhi Qar Governorate, killing at least 50 people and injuring 87 others. (BBC) (RT)

• History of mathematics
  • The origin of the zero may have been in South Asia according to a Sanskrit script housed in the United Kingdom since 1902 and discovered in Bakhshali near Peshawar, Pakistan. (The Guardian)

• Feminism in the United States
  • Google is being sued over alleged inequality in the pay of male and female employees. (BBC)

• 2017 disasters in Malaysia
  • A fire at an Islamic boarding school for boys kills 24 people, most of them students, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Reuters)
• 2017 Pacific typhoon season
  • Flights are cancelled and evacuations are ordered for over 100,000 people in the North Central Coast of Vietnam, in preparation for Typhoon Doksuri. The system has already claimed four lives passing over the Philippines. (The Washington Post)

• Zapad 2017 exercise, Belarus–Russia relations
  • Russia and Belarus begin a six-day joint strategic military exercise inside Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast. The military exercise simulates war against the fictional state of Veyshnoria. According to the Defence Ministry of Belarus, fewer than 13,000 personnel will be taking part in the exercise; however, Western analysts believe the total number will range from 60,000 to 100,000. (Reuters)
• India–Japan relations
  • Japan agrees to help with the construction of an Indian bullet train. (The Guardian)

• Philippine Drug War
  • The Communist-aligned Makabayan bloc leaves the majority of the Philippine lower House over disagreements due to the ongoing drug crackdown. (Rappler)

• 2020 United States presidential election
  • California wants to schedule its primaries earlier than usual, possibly on March or Super Tuesday, to have much more influence in comparison to its weight and diversity and to help Californian candidates, such as Eric Garcetti and Kamala Harris. (NPR)(CNN)

• Snow leopard
  • The International Union for Conservation of Nature upgrades the conservation status of the snow leopard from endangered to vulnerable. (Sky News)

• 2017 Major League Baseball season
  • In baseball, the Cleveland Indians break the Major League Baseball record for longest winning streak with 22 wins in a row. The 1935 Chicago Cubs previously held the record with 21. (Washington Post)

• 2017 Parsons Green bombing
  • An explosion on a train at the Parsons Green tube station in London injures 29. Scotland Yard is treating the incident as a terrorist attack. (The Guardian) (BBC)

• Oldest living people
  • Jamaican Violet Mosse-Brown, the world's oldest person, dies in Montego Bay at age 117. (UPI)

• Economy of California
  • Key housing bills pass in California, the U.S. state with the highest number of people suffering from homelessness and poverty. (The Sacramento Bee) (Los Angeles Times)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the island of Barbuda is fully depopulated for the first time in 300 years. (CNN)
• 2017 Pacific typhoon season
  • Typhoon Doksuri (Maring) hits central Vietnam killing one person and injuring ten. (AP)
• Crocodile attack
  • A journalist for the British newspaper Financial Times is killed by a crocodile in Sri Lanka. (The Chicago Tribune)

• Fight against hunger
  • The World Health Organization says that hunger around the world has risen as a result of war and climate change. (The World Health Organization)

• 2017 North Korea crisis
  • September 2017 North Korean missile launch over Japan
    • A North Korean missile flies over Hokkaido, Japan, triggering the J-Alert system, following a similar event on 29 August. (Bloomberg)
    • South Korea responds with its own missile firing just six minutes after the North's test was detected. (Yonhap)

• Shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith
  • The ex-police officer involved in a fatal 2011 shooting of a black man in St. Louis, Missouri is acquitted of all charges related to the case. (DW)
  • Hundreds of people protest the decision. After some protests become violent, 10 police officers are injured and 32 protesters are arrested. (ABC News)

• Politics of Iceland
  • Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson is criticised after his father wrote a letter recommending that a convicted child molester be pardoned. The Bright Future party withdraws from the governing coalition, triggering its collapse. (BBC)
• Philippine Drug War
  • Around 1,200 members of the Philippine National Police in the suburb of Caloocan are fired over allegations of crimes attributed to the police. (U.S. News and World Report)
• Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum, 2017
  • The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament votes to go ahead with the planned independence referendum, scheduled to take place on 25 September, 2017. (BBC)

• Cassini retirement
  • After 20 years "floating" the Solar System, the Cassini space probe to the Saturn system ends the mission with a controlled fall into the atmosphere of the planet. (BBC)

• Airlines of the Republic of Ireland
  • Irish low-cost airline Ryanair cancels 82 Sunday flights as the first step in a six-week program that will eliminate 40 to 50 flights daily to wipe out its crew vacation backlog in order to meet Irish Aviation Authority requirements by the end of this year. (Bloomberg)

• Catalan independence referendum, 2017
  • More than 700 Catalan mayors meet in Barcelona with Catalan President Carles Puigdemont to confirm their support for the October 1 independence referendum. Earlier this week, Spanish prosecutors warned that officials participating in this vote could be criminally charged. (Reuters)
  • Spain–United Kingdom relations
    • The government of Scotland releases a statement in support of the Catalan independence referendum but would prefer that both Catalonia and Spain agree on the terms. (The Scotsman)
• Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum, Germany–Turkey relations
  • Turkey summons the ambassador of Germany after at least 10,000 people rally in Cologne in support of the referendum. (Deutsche Welle)

• Icelandic parliamentary election, 2017
  • Iceland will vote for a new Alþingi (parliament) on November 4 after the collapse of the previous government. (News.com.au)
• 2020 United States presidential election
  • California passes a bill that will move the primaries to March near Super Tuesday. (Politico)
• Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
  • Bangladesh announces plans to build a giant refugee camp the size of a small city to house nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees. (BBC)

• War in North-West Pakistan
  • A roadside bomb kills five people in Bajaur, Pakistan. (Geo TV)

• 69th Primetime Emmy Awards
  • The Primetime Emmy Awards is held in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater. Political satirist and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert hosts the event. (The New Yorker)
  • The Handmaid's Tale wins eight awards including Outstanding Drama Series, while Veep wins for Outstanding Comedy Series. (ABC News Australia)
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won Outstanding Variety Talk Series, while Saturday Night Live won for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. (Vox)

• 2017 disasters in Romania
  • At least eight people are killed and 137 injured after a strong storm hits western and central Romania. (Washington Post) (Reuters)
• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Maria
    • Hurricane Maria has been upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane. Hurricane watches and warnings have been issued in parts of the Caribbean. It is following a path similar to Category 5 Hurricane Irma which left at least 82 dead. (CNN)

• Crime in France
  • A British Airways airplane is evacuated at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport after a "direct threat" was made against it. After a search, it is declared safe. (The Guardian)

• Pakistan by-election, Panama Papers case
  • Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif, wife of ousted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, defeats the opposition party's Yasmin Rashid in the by-election for Nawaz Sharif's National Assembly seat. Kulsoom, represented by her daughter and proxy Maryam, is being treated in London for cancer. (The Nation) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
• Macanese legislative election
  • Voters in Macau vote for a new Legislative Assembly. (South China Morning Post)
• Next Japanese general election
  • Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe is expected to dissolve the House of Representatives on September 28, 2017 to make way for fresh elections. (The Japan Times)
• Palestinian politics
  • Hamas, through Egyptian-mediated talks, agrees to dissolve its Gaza administration, hold talks with the Fatah West Bank government, and hold elections for a Palestinian unity government. (The Guardian) (Reuters)

• EuroBasket 2017
  • In basketball, Slovenia wins EuroBasket for the first time in history, beating Serbia 93–85 in the final. (EuroNews)
• 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
  • The fifth Asian Indoor Games open in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, with around 5,500 athletes from 61 countries participating in the event which will last until September 27. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

• Northern Rakhine State clashes
  • A few hundred pro-government protesters gather in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon, condemning Rohingya militants as well as perceived foreign interference in the Rakhine conflict. (MSN)

• Bankruptcy in the United States
  • Toys "R" Us files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, and also files for bankruptcy in Canada, as it attempts to restructure its debts. (BBC) (CNBC)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Maria
    • Hurricane Maria reaches Category 5 as it threatens the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. (NBC News)

• Politics of the Netherlands
  • Eberhard van der Laan, the mayor of Amsterdam, takes a permanent leave of absence after disclosing that his metastatic lung cancer has been diagnosed as terminal. (NOS) (RTL Nieuws)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Maria
    • Hurricane Maria makes landfall on Dominica as a category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h). Maria is the second category 5 hurricane to make landfall at that intensity in the 2017 season, making this and 2007 the only seasons on record to feature this occurrence. (National Hurricane Center)
• 2017 Central Mexico earthquake
  • A magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes Mexico, killing at least 220 people and collapsing several buildings in Mexico City and widespread evacuations, hours after a yearly earthquake drill in commemoration of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. (KTLA)

• 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly
  • The 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly commences its General Debate at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York. (amNewYork)

• Crime in Louisiana
  • Two African-American men are killed in separate incidents near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a third home is shot at in what local and federal officials call racially-motivated crimes. A local man is arrested on suspicion of the murders. (CBS News) (U.S. News & World Report)
• 2017 Spanish constitutional crisis
  • Spain's Guardia Civil raid private delivery offices in the Catalan city of Terrassa, searching for and confiscating envelopes suspected of containing voting cards for the upcoming Catalan independence referendum. (BBC)

• Mobile operating system
  • Apple Inc. releases the iOS 11 update for most current models of the iPhone and iPad. (CNN)

• Economy of the United States
  • The U.S. Federal Reserve announces its benchmark interest rate will not change this month, though it expects an increase by the end of the year, along with three increases in 2018 and two in 2019. The Federal Reserve also says its balance sheet reduction program will begin in October. (CNBC)

• 2017 Central Mexico earthquake
  • Searches continue for possible survivors of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit central Mexico yesterday. By mid-afternoon, 52 people are rescued while at least 226 people have been killed and another 800 injured. (Los Angeles Times) (ABC News)
• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Maria
    • Hurricane Maria makes landfall on Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane. Effects are disastrous and the entire island loses power. Seven deaths are reported on Puerto Rico, along with two on Guadeloupe. Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló declares a 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew through Saturday. (NHC) (Reuters) (The Telegraph) (The Washington Post) (The New York Times)
    • Now a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (180 km/h), Maria is moving toward the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic, and is forecast to affect the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas Thursday night and northern Haiti Friday. (National Hurricane Center)
    • The National Hurricane Center predicts Puerto Rico's total rainfall through Saturday will be 20–30 inches (51–76 cm) inches with 35 inches (89 cm) in isolated areas. The Virgin Islands will receive an additional 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm). (National Hurricane Center²)

• U.N. Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Treaty
  • Fifty countries (50) sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted on 7 July 2017, at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The world's nuclear-weapon states oppose the measure. (AP via MSN.com) (Reuters) (United Nations)

• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • California Attorney General Xavier Becerra files suit in federal court against U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed plan for a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. (AP) (The Hill)
• Catalan independence referendum, 2017
  • Spanish police raid Catalan government offices and arrest Catalan officials as part of the effort to halt a banned referendum on independence. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont says, "The Spanish state has by all rights intervened in Catalonia’s government and has established emergency rule." (Reuters) (The New York Times)
• Philippine Drug War, Human rights in the Philippines
  • Speaking to government workers at the presidential palace in Manila, President Rodrigo Duterte orders police to kill his eldest son, Paulo Duterte, if drug trafficking allegations against him are proven true, and adds that those who carried out the execution would be protected from prosecution. (Independent)

• Censorship in Saudi Arabia
  • Saudi Arabia lifts its 2013 ban on internet calls, effective midnight local time (21:00 UTC). (Reuters)

• Long-term effects of global warming
  • MIT physics professor Daniel Rothman's mathematical formula, published in the peer-review journal Science Advances, predicts a sixth mass extinction may be set to occur within 10,000 years if by the year 2100 current carbon dioxide emissions are not reduced, and a critical amount of carbon (310 gigatons) is added to the oceans. (Phys.org) (Science Advances)

• Syrian Civil War
  • Russian and Syrian warplanes carry out airstrikes in southern Idlib, killing three civilians and wounding others. (Iraqi News)

• Economy of the United States
  • Google strikes a $1.1bn (£822m) deal with Taiwan's HTC to expand its smartphone business. (BBC)
• Economy of China
  • China's credit rating has been downgraded by Standard & Poor's (S&P) because of worries over the rapid build up of debt in the country. (BBC)

• European migration crisis
  • At least five migrants have died and ninety are missing after their boat sinks off the western coast of Libya. (AP via U.S. News and World Report)
• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Maria
    • Maria, now a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h), is passing offshore of the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, expected to impact the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern Bahamas later tonight and Friday. (National Hurricane Center)
    • Casualty reports indicate at least 15 people have been killed on Dominica and two on Guadeloupe. The casualty report for Puerto Rico is now two deaths, including a man from a capsized boat near Vieques, Puerto Rico. Power remains out for an estimated 3.4 million Puerto Ricans as the energy grid is all but destroyed. Guajataca Dam in Puerto Rico will experience an "imminent dam break" according to the National Weather Service which will threaten 70,000 residents. In addition, more than 95 percent of the island’s wireless cell sites are out of service. (The New York Times)
    • Puerto Rico is forecast to get an additional 4 inches (10 cm) to 8 inches (20 cm) of rain through Saturday, on top of the several feet of rain that has fallen on parts of the island. Caguas has received the most, 37.9 inches (96 cm). The NHC expects 8 inches (20 cm) to 16 inches (41 cm) rain for the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, and Mayaguana in the southeast Bahamas. (National Hurricane Center) (The New York Times)
• 2017 Central Mexico earthquake
  • Rescuers are focusing on 10 collapsed buildings where people may still be alive. Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera reports the death toll is now at least 273, with 50 people still missing. (Reuters)

• North Korea–United States relations
  • U.S. President Donald Trump announces new sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. (BBC)

• Protests against Rodrigo Duterte
  • Coinciding with the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law in 1972 by the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, nationwide protests are conducted by various groups against the government's implementation of war on drugs and the ongoing martial law in the whole of Mindanao under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. (Rappler)
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
  • Facebook agrees to disclose ads that ran in the U.S. in 2016 from accounts associated with a Russian entity known as the Internet Research Agency to United States Congressional investigators. Earlier, this information was provided to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. (CBS News) (Facebook)

• Transport in London
  • Transport for London announces that it will not issue Uber a new private hire license. (BBC)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Tens of thousands of people in northern Puerto Rico are ordered to evacuate after floodwaters from Hurricane Maria damage the Guajataca Dam. (The Washington Post)

• Aruban general election, 2017
  • Voters in Aruba go to the polls to elect a new Parliament, with the ruling Aruban People's Party losing 4 of its 13 seats. Prime Minister Mike Eman announces his intention to step down as leader of the Aruba People's Party. (NRC)

• Human evolution
  • A new study shows that Neanderthal brains developed more slowly than those of modern humans, contradicting previous studies. (BBC)

• Beatification
  • The Venerable Rev. Father Stanley Rother, a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City (born in Okarche, Oklahoma), is beatified at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City by Cardinal Angelo Amato, head of the sainthood Congregation in the Roman Curia and Pope Francis's delegate. Rother, who became a missionary, was assassinated in July 1981 in the poor rural village of Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, and is the first Catholic martyr born a citizen of the United States. (The New York Times)
• Apocalypticism
  • Conspiracy theorist and book author David Meade predicted that a mythological rogue planet known as Nibiru (sometimes known as Planet X) would collide with Earth and that the world would end on this day. (Fox News)

• Mount Agung seismic activity
  • Thousands of people on the Indonesian island of Bali flee from their homes due to concerns over Mount Agung erupting. The alert status for the volcano was increased to the highest level possible the day before. (AP via Fox News)
• Earthquakes in 2017
  • A magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes the central Mexican state of Oaxaca, killing at least five people and damaging housing and infrastructure already damaged by Tuesday's 2017 Central Mexico earthquake. (Sky News) (Time and AP) (Reuters)

• 2017 North Korea crisis
  • China limits petroleum exports and bans imports of textiles from North Korea as part of new sanctions following the latest nuclear test. (BBC)
  • An earthquake is detected in North Korea that China's earthquake authority believes is due to a North Korean nuclear test. South Korea states that it could be a natural earthquake. (ABC News)
  • North Korea–United States relations
    • U.S. Air Force bombers, escorted by fighter jets, fly in international airspace over waters east of North Korea. A Pentagon spokesperson says this flight's route was the farthest north of the peninsula's Demilitarized Zone of any U.S. aircraft in the 21st century. (Reuters via NBC News)
    • North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, at the United Nations General Assembly, says his country targeting the U.S. mainland is becoming more likely given the U.S. President's escalating rhetoric over their military programs. After this speech, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres met with Ri to express his concern with this situation. (Reuters) (CBS News)
• Iran and weapons of mass destruction
  • Iran successfully tests the Khorramshahr missile. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

• Crime in London
  • Acid attacks around a mall and tube station in Stratford, East London, leave 6 injured. A 15-year-old is arrested. (Telegraph)

• New Zealand general election, 2017
  • Voters in New Zealand go to the polls, electing all members of their House of Representatives and the consequent Prime Minister. (The Guardian)
  • Prime Minister Bill English of the National Party wins a plurality of votes, but not enough for a majority, as the Labour Party led by Jacinda Ardern makes significant gains. Winston Peters becomes a kingmaker with his third-placed New Zealand First party, able to form a coalition government with either major party. (RNZ)

• Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  • A Russian lieutenant general, Valery Asapov, is killed by mortar fire from ISIL militants near the city of Deir ez-Zor, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. Asapov has been described as one of the senior Russian military advisers in Syria. (Al Arabiya)

• Foreign relations of Iraqi Kurdistan
  • Iranian forces launch a military exercise near the border of Iraqi Kurdistan, hours before a Kurdish vote on independence from Iraq. Turkey is also conducting a military exercise in the region. (CNBC)
  • The Iraqi government discourages foreign countries from importing crude oil directly from its Iraqi Kurdistan region. (Reuters)
• Immigration policy of Donald Trump
  • The White House announces that citizens of North Korea, Venezuela, and Chad will be restricted from travelling to the United States, along with citizens of the six nations previously listed in Executive Order 13780 with the exception of Sudan. (CNBC)

• Burnette Chapel shooting
  • A shooting at a church in Nashville, Tennessee, leaves one dead and seven injured. The suspected shooter is arrested. (KTLA)
• Crime in Indiana
  • Indiana gerontophobe and prolific serial killer Orville Lynn Majors, believed to have committed as many as 130 nursing home murders between 1993 and 1995, dies in prison at the age of 56. (My Wabash Valley)

• German federal election, 2017
  • Voters in Germany go to the polls to elect members of the Bundestag. Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union is widely expected to win a fourth term in office. (DW)
  • Exit polls indicate Merkel has won a fourth term in power, and that Alternative for Germany will enter the Bundestag for the first time as the third largest party. (BBC)
• U.S. national anthem protests (2016–present)
  • Amid criticism of U.S. national anthem protests by U.S. President Donald Trump, some National Football League players and teams react to the controversy by kneeling, linking arms, or skipping game performances of the national anthem. (ESPN)

• Transportation in Dubai
  • City officials in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, announce that residents will receive incentives for swapping their petrol engine vehicles for electric ones, including a free Salik tag, and an exemption from RTA registration and renewal vehicle fees. (Khaleej Times)

• Northern Rakhine State clashes
  • A mass grave of 28 Hindus, including children, allegedly slain by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, is discovered by the Myanmar Army. (The Australian)
• 2017 North Korea crisis
  • North Korea says that the recent flight of U.S. aircraft off the coast of North Korea amounts to a declaration of war. (BBC)

• Women in the United States Marines
  • The first ever female United States Marine Corps Infantry officer graduates. (NPR)

• Media of the United Kingdom
  • The BBC plans to launch a service in Korean. (BBC)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Maria
    • Puerto Rican officials request aid from the United States federal government for welfare in the aftermath of the hurricane-induced humanitarian crisis on the island. (CNN)

• Crime in Nigeria
  • Gunmen attack the Ogba Zoo in Benin City, Nigeria, killing three police officers and abduct the zoo's director. There is no information on who the gunmen and abductors are, or whether they have made any demands. (BBC)
• Crime in Russia
  • Russian police arrest a couple from the southern Krasnodar region that has allegedly murdered as many as 30 people since 1999 and consumed parts of the human bodies. (CNN) (International Business Times)

• Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum, 2017
  • Voters in Iraqi Kurdistan head to the polls for a referendum on independence from Iraq. (Sky News)
• Japanese general election, 2017
  • The Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe calls a snap election with the election to be held on October 22. (Reuters)
• German federal election, 2017
  • Frauke Petry resigns as leader of the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a day after the party won seats in the Bundestag for the first time, saying the party has become too "anarchical" and "could not offer a credible platform". (The Guardian)
• Efforts to repeal Obamacare
  • United States Senator Susan Collins says she will vote "no" on the Graham–Cassidy bill joining Senators John McCain and Rand Paul and possibly ending the most recent effort to repeal Obamacare. (The Hill)

• Science in Australia
  • At the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, the Government of Australia announces that it will create an Australian space agency. (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• 2017 Har Adar shooting
  • Three Israelis are killed and one other is wounded after a Palestinian gunman opens fire in an entrance to the Israeli settlement of Har Adar in the West Bank. (Reuters)

• Mass surveillance in the United States
  • The United States Department of Homeland Security plans to collect the social media information of all immigrants, including green card holders and naturalized citizens, beginning on October 18, 2017. (CNET)
• Social networking services
  • Twitter is experimenting with doubling its 140 character limit to 280 characters for all languages except Japanese, Chinese and Korean. (USA Today)
• Economy of the United States
  • The U.S. Commerce Department imposes preliminary anti-subsidy duties on Bombardier Inc. CSeries jets following American rival Boeing's claims of unfair Canadian subsidies. The penalty is on hold pending the U.S. International Trade Commission's final decision, expected in 2018. (Reuters) (The Washington Post)

• Women's rights in Saudi Arabia
  • The king of Saudi Arabia issues a decree allowing women to be issued driving licenses by June 2018. Saudi Arabia is the world's last sovereign state that does not allow women to drive. (The Guardian) (The Telegraph)
• 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal
  • The office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announces that 10 individuals, including assistant coaches at four NCAA Division I men's basketball programs—Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State, and USC—have been arrested on federal corruption charges. The accused are alleged to be part of a scheme by which coaches accepted bribes to steer NBA-bound college players toward certain agents and financial advisers. Court documents also allege that an apparel company later identified as Adidas paid $100,000 to the family of an unnamed player to ensure his signing with an unnamed Division I school, which was later confirmed as the University of Louisville. (ESPN)

• Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum, 2017
  • The result of a non-binding independence referendum by Iraqi Kurdistan will to be announced within 72 hours. The vote is widely expected to be in favor of independence. (Al Jazeera)
  • Iran and Turkey have vowed that there may be military aggression if the result is independence. (Newsweek)
  • Turkey's president has said Iraqi Kurds could go hungry as a result of the punitive measures it is considering after Monday's independence referendum. (BBC)
• United States Senate
  • Senate special election in Alabama, 2017
    • Justice Roy Moore and U.S. Senator Luther Strange face off in Alabama’s special election in what political analysts claim is a deepening rift between the Republican Party's establishment and anti-establishment factions. Moore is projected to win the primary runoff. (BBC), (New York Times)
  • United States Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn), the senate's Foreign Relations Chairman, announces he will not seek reelection in 2018. He is the first senator to announce his retirement this term. (Politico) (The Washington Post)
• Politics of Russia
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin dismisses Nizhny Novgorod Oblast governor Valery Shantsev from his post, the second governor to lose his job in a week after Putin dismissed Samara Oblast governor Nikolay Merkushkin the day before. The dismissals come amid speculation that governors of several federal subjects will resign in anticipation of presidential elections in 2018. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • Acting U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Chuck Rosenberg announces his resignation, effective Oct. 1, after more than two years in the position. (USA Today)

• Green wall
  • Africa's Great Green Wall is successfully reversing desertification. (BBC)

• Syrian Civil War
  • Russian aircraft carry out air strikes on the Christian-majority Qaina and Yaqobia villages, in the western countryside of Idlib, killing a child and injuring 5 others. (Iraqi News)
  • Five Russian warplanes bombard the city of al-Tamane’a with rockets, bombs, and Bunker-Buster missiles, wounding several civilians and causing a significant damage to the area, and causing large number of civilians to flee. (Iraqi News)
• Russia and weapons of mass destruction
  • Russia announces it has completed the destruction of all of its chemical weapons under the terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention. (New York Times)
• 2017 Kalynivka ammunition depot explosion
  • Thirty thousand people are evacuated from Kalynivka, Ukraine, following an explosion in an ammunition dump 180 kilometres (110 mi) southwest of Kiev. The Government of Ukraine blames sabotage. (Irish Independent)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Maria
    • Maria strengthens into a hurricane and causes flooding in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. (ABC News)
    • The United States Department of Homeland Security says it will not waive the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (or "Jones Act") in response to the ongoing disaster in Puerto Rico. (The Hill) (Newsweek)

• Interpol members
  • Along with the Solomon Islands, the State of Palestine joins Interpol despite objections from Israel. (Al Jazeera)

• Politics of Uzbekistan
  • Uzbekistan dissident writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon is arrested on his return to the Central Asian country from exile. (Reuters)
• Politics of Thailand
  • Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is sentenced to five years in prison in absentia. (BBC)

• Japanese general election, 2017
  • Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike establishes the conservative Kibō no Tō (Party of Hope) to contest the upcoming election although she will neither lead it nor run. (Kyodo)
• Abortion in the Republic of Ireland
  • The Republic of Ireland announces a referendum on abortion will be held between May and June 2018. (The Telegraph)
• Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum, 2017
  • The government of Iraqi Kurdistan announces that they won the referendum by over 92% of the vote. (The Independent)
  • Iraq's prime minister has demanded the Kurdistan Regional Government "cancel" the outcome of the referendum on independence that it held on Monday. (BBC)
• German federal election, 2017
  • Former members of the Alternative für Deutschland party Frauke Petry and Marcus Pretzell may create a new party. (Deutsche Welle)
• United States presidential primary
  • California moves its 2020 presidential primary to March 3, making it fifth in the nominating process after Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. The 2016 primary was held on June 7. (Reuters) (Los Angeles Times)
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
  • Facebook, Google, and Twitter executives have been asked to testify before the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in October and the Senate Intelligence Committee on November 1, according to committee sources. (Reuters)

• 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal
  • The University of Louisville, whose men's basketball team was linked to illicit payments by Adidas to the family of freshman player Brian Bowen, places head coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich on administrative leave, pending further university action. Pitino's attorney tells Louisville's newspaper, The Courier-Journal, that Pitino has been "effectively fired", and multiple media reports indicate that Jurich has also been effectively fired. Louisville men's basketball was already on NCAA probation due to violations related to a recent sex scandal. (CBS Sports)

• Syrian Civil War
  • The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant releases footage which apparently show its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urging his followers to expand their attacks against "crusaders and apostates". (Los Angeles Times)

• Credit card fraud
  • Whole Foods Market, recently acquired by Amazon, announces hacking of payment card information from some of its stores. (Reuters)

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Maria
    • U.S. President Donald Trump waives the Jones Act for Puerto Rico after he first disallowed additional aid, citing shipping industry business interests. Senator John McCain says the Jones Act makes prices for food, water, and other emergency supplies too high in Puerto Rico. (Newsweek)
• Ring of Fire
  • More than 134,000 people on the island of Bali, Indonesia, have been taken to shelters as the Mount Agung volcano continues to release smoke. The alert level for an eruption has been raised to the second highest level, 4. In addition, the entire population of Vanuatu's Aoba Island, also at alert level 4, is being moved from the path of the increasingly active Lombenben volcano. (news.com.au) (CNN)
• Rohingya refugee crisis
  • At least 14 Rohingya people, including 10 children, fleeing violence in Myanmar are killed when their boat apparently hits a submerged object and capsizes just yards from the Bangladesh coast. (AFP via MSN.com)

• Japanese general election, 2017
  • Prime Minister Shinzō Abe dissolves the lower house of parliament prior to the October 22 election. (Bloomberg) (Japan Times)
• Catalan independence referendum, 2017
  • The President of Catalonia vows to continue on with the vote despite objections from Spain. (USA Today)

• Aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
  • Aquatic species from Japan hitched a ride on debris from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and were able to reach the West Coast of the United States alive. (Phys.org)

• War in Somalia
  • Al-Shabaab militants attack a military base outside the Somalian capital Mogadishu, with 15 soldiers reported dead. (Reuters)

• 2017 Mumbai stampede
  • At least 22 people are killed and over 30 are seriously injured in a rush hour stampede on a footbridge between the Parel and Elphinstone Road railway stations in the Indian city of Mumbai. (Reuters) (NDTV)
• 2017 Central Mexico earthquake
  • A Mexico City borough president says previous officials ignored warnings that unauthorized construction work had damaged the structural integrity of several buildings in the city. The overall death toll from the magnitude 7.1 quake which hit Sept. 19 now stands at at least 358 people. (AP)

• Aftermath of the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum, 2017
  • Iraq's federal government halts all international flights to and from Iraqi Kurdistan until Kurdish security forces hand over control of Erbil International Airport and Sulaimaniyah International Airport. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) calls the ban "illegal". (BBC)
• Cuba–United States relations
  • The U.S. State Department removes all families of employees and nonessential personnel from Cuba following apparent sonic attacks that injured 21 personnel on the island. Cuba denies any involvement and has authorized the FBI to travel to the island to help the ongoing investigation into the causes. (CNN)

• UK Independence Party leadership election, 2017
  • Henry Bolton wins UKIP leadership, taking over the position from Paul Nuttall, who resigned after the party's poor performance in the last general election. (BBC)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • Tom Price resigns as the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the midst of a scandal over his use of private planes. (CNN)
• Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping
  • Sun Zhengcai is expelled from the Communist Party of China after the results into the internal disciplinary investigation are announced by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. (The Washington Post)
  • Reverberations from the Sun Zhengcai case are said to have ensnared a number of senior officials from Chongqing, including former Organization Department head Zeng Qinghong (female). 14 out of 43 delegates to the 19th Party Congress from Chongqing are said to have lost their eligibility. (SCMP)

• Gene therapy
  • The journal Protein & Cell publishes Sun Yat-sen University research describing the use of gene therapy in the removal of a version of the inherited blood disorder beta-thalassemia from an artificially-created nuclear transfer-type of cloning-model system of human oocytes. Collectively, this study demonstrated the feasibility of curing this and a range of other inherited diseases using the same genome editing technology of CRISPR. (BBC) (Protein & Cell)

• 2017 Edmonton attack
  • In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, near Commonwealth Stadium, a man drives into a police officer and then stabs the officer. The suspect fled the scene and was later arrested that night following a police pursuit, where four pedestrians were hit by the suspect in a rental truck. Police are investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. (Edmonton Journal) (Reuters)

• 2017 disasters in Romania
  • A fire at a retirement home in Bucharest, Romania, leaves one person dead and 19 others injured. (The New York Times)
• 2017 disasters in DR Congo
  • A military transport plane crashes after take-off from N'djili Airport in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing all 12 Russian crew members. (Deutsche Welle via MSN)
• Human stampede
  • A crowd surge collapses a barrier during a soccer match at Stade de la Licorne in Amiens, France, injuring twenty-nine people, five of them seriously. (AFP via Yahoo! Sports)

• Foreign relations of Thailand, Rohingya persecution in Myanmar (2016–present)
  • Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is "closely following the situation" in Rakhine State and offers aid for the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh. (Reuters)

• Abortion in the Republic of Ireland
  • Tens of thousands of protesters march through Dublin to demand Ireland to change its abortion laws, and anti-abortion activists stage counter-demonstrations. A pro-choice rally is held outside the Irish embassy in London. (BBC)
• Nazism in Sweden
  • About 600 members of the Swedish neo-Nazi group Nordic Resistance Movement march through Gothenburg, and 10,000 people hold a counter-demonstration. More than 50 people are arrested and several people are injured during the protests. (The Washington Post)

• 2017 AFL Grand Final
  • The Australian rules football club Richmond Football Club defeats the Adelaide Football Club in the 2017 AFL Grand Final by 108 points to 60. Dustin Martin won the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground after having won the 2017 Brownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the competition. (ABC Australia) (ABC Australia)