Portal:Current events/2015 October 4

October 4, 2015 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Stabbing attacks carried out by Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City kill two Israeli civilians and injures three others. As a result, Isreal bans Palestinians from entering the Old City for two days unless they live there. (BBC News), (Yahoo News), (CNN)
Turkey–PKK conflict
- Turkey's air force launches a new wave of air-raids bombing PKK positions in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Turkish warplanes destroy PKK fuel and ammunition depots in the Hakkari province on the border with Iraq, as well as, in the eastern Kars province, according to a military statement. (AFP via Yahoo News)
Syrian Civil War
- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says reforms in Syria are unlikely until all of the government’s armed opponents are vanquished. The country will continue to send representatives to peace negotiations sponsored by Moscow, but rule out negotiations with the Western-backed groups opposing his government. (The Washington Post)
- Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL
  - The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant destroys a 2,000-year-old Roman-era Triumphal arch in Palmyra according to Syria's antiquities chief. (The Independent), (AP)
War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
- The death toll from Saturday's airstrikes on the Doctors Without Borders' hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan rises to at least 10 patients and 12 hospital staff in Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Doctors without Borders issues a statement expressing its "clear assumption that a war crime has been committed," and announces that all staff have left the hospital and the city. (UPI), (International Business Times)

Disasters and accidents

Heavy flooding along the French Riviera in the southeast of France killls at least 17 people with four more still missing. Rail, road, and air traffic are all suspended, and 27,000 homes are without electricity. A major stretch of the French Riviera has been declared a natural disaster zone. According to local radio station France Bleu-Azur, more than 17cm of rain fell on the Alpes-Maritimes region in two hours, the same amount the region would usually expect over two months. (AFP via Yahoo News), (Sky News), (Euro News)
October 2015 nor'easter
- U.S. President Barack Obama declares a state of emergency for South Carolina, after the state receives over two feet of rain in some areas. More than 250 roads across the state close. A low pressure area funnels heavy tropical moisture into the region, as well as, pulls in Hurricane Joaquin-related precipitation. (CNN), (NBC News)
- Rain and flooding are expected to persist along the east coast tonight. Two deaths are reported in North Carolina. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia are under coastal flood warnings. (Sydney Tenplay)
2015 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Joaquin
  - U.S. Coast Guard searchers, looking for the 790-foot El Faro cargo ship missing since Thursday, locate multiple objects, including life jackets, life rings, containers, and an oil sheen in the waters off The Bahamas. Connection to El Faro is not immediately confirmed. (USA Today) (ABC News)
  - Bermuda, which suffered a glancing hit by then-Category 2 Hurricane Joaquin, reports scattered power outages with heavy rain, high wind, and waves. The center of Joaquin, now a Category 1 hurricane (max winds 85 mph), is moving north-northeast, and will clear Bermuda sometime Monday. (AP via Orlando 6), (NHC)

Politics and elections

Portuguese legislative election, 2015
- Exit polls show Portugal’s center-right government, in its first contest since tough austerity measures were launched to combat a debt crisis, is headed for victory, but, could lose its majority in parliament. (The Guardian), (Reuters), (The Telegraph)
In Minsk, about 1,000 opposition activists protest Russia's plans to establish a military air base in Belarus, saying it would turn the former Soviet republic into a Kremlin "vassal" and add to regional tensions. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has refrained from commenting on the initiative to establish the base. (Fox News)
Kyrgyzstani parliamentary election, 2015
- Voters in Kyrgyzstan go to the polls with the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan winning the most votes which will lead to a pro-Russian coalition. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Sports

In horse racing, Golden Horn wins the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Two-time winner Treve finishes fourth. (BBC)