Portal:Current events/2017 September 23

September 23, 2017 (Saturday)

Arts and culture

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)

Disasters and accidents

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)

International relations

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)

Law and crime

Politics and elections

2017 New Zealand general election
- 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)