Portal:Current events/2019 August 28
Appearance
August 28, 2019
(Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Three Palestinian police officers are killed and several wounded in two separate suicide attacks on police checkpoints. ISIL's affiliate in Gaza, the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade, are the suspected perpetrators. (BBC)
- Border police announce they have detained an unnamed man who tried to bring a pipe bomb into Samaria Military Court in Salim, Nablus, on the West Bank. (The Times of Israel)
Disasters and accidents
- Three people die as heavy rains pound southwestern Japan. Authorities ask almost one million people to evacuate, warning "unprecedented" levels of rainfall could cause the flooding of rivers, trigger landslides, and submerge houses. (BBC)
- 2018 Pretoria Convair 340 crash
- The Civil Aviation Authority of South Africa concludes its investigation with a final report indicating the accident was caused by poor maintenance and errors by unqualified pilots. (The Aviation Herald)
- 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires
- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announces all Amazon-region nations except Venezuela will meet to discuss a coordinated response to the disaster. He also reiterates rejection of G7 money to assist the efforts unless French President Emmanuel Macron issues him an apology, but after meeting with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera accepts an offer of four firefighting aircraft from Chile. (BBC)
- Finland, current chair of the European Union, writes to the body's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, urging the use of the EU's "full toolkit" including foreign and trade policy to counter the use of deliberate fires as a means of deforestation in Brazil. (Bloomberg)
Health and environment
- New Zealand bans tourists from swimming with bottlenose dolphins, saying dwindling numbers are caused by excessive interaction with tourists, as the animals choose socialising with people over necessary biological functions. Authorities say the species risks "being loved into extinction". (The Independent)
International relations
- Foreign relations of Tonga
- Through a spokesman Lopeti Senituli for the government, Tonga blames the World Bank over the situation of their schools in Tongatapu, which are still in tents 17 months after Cyclone Gita. (Radio New Zealand)
Law and crime
- At least 25 people are killed and 11 injured in a bar fire in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, that police believe followed an attack linked to drug cartels. Mexican media reports that the bar was peppered with gunfire and Molotov cocktails were thrown inside. (BBC)
- Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, experiences widespread looting and violent attacks by rioters against foreigners. Police are currently outnumbered and many businesses have been set on fire. The riots follow the death of a taxi driver reportedly shot by Nigerian drug dealers after they realized he'd seen them complete a drug deal and had also seen their supplier. Bus services are suspended and authorities say the capital is currently unsafe. (Radio 702) (ZimEye)
- LGBT rights in the United States
- Forty-eight members of the Republican Party – eight from the Senate and 40 from the House of Representatives – file a joint amicus brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the Civil Rights Act does not protect LGBT+ people from discrimination. They argue the law "does not prohibit discrimination because of an individual’s actions, behaviours, or inclinations". (The Independent)
Politics and elections
- Politics of the United Kingdom, Brexit
- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson asks Queen Elizabeth II to suspend Parliament until October 14. Following precedent, the constitutional monarch approves the request. (CNN) (CBC)
- 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand drops out of the presidential race. (Yahoo! News)
- The Five Star Movement and Democratic Party of Italy agree to form a new coalition. The move comes weeks after Deputy Prime Minister and Northern League secretary Matteo Salvini unsuccessfully pushed for a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. (BBC)
Science and technology