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Paul Romer

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded to William Nordhaus and Paul Romer (pictured) for integrating climate change and technological innovation, respectively, into "long-run macroeconomic analysis".
Meng Hongwei resigns as President of Interpol, while being detained by China's National Supervisory Commission.
The 43rd Chess Olympiad concludes with China winning both the open and women's events.
Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict".

October 10, 2018 (Wednesday)

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October 9, 2018 (Tuesday)

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Disasters and accidents

2018 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Michael strengthens to a category 2 storm with 110 mph winds as it continues to ascend through the Florida Panhandle. (Washington Post) (Tampa Bay Times)
A sinkhole in Dazhou, China kills four people. (NY Post)

Law and crime

Former Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti was sentenced to 15 years and 6 months in prison for fraud in a system to clean the polluted Lake Amatitlán. Baldetti still has four pending lawsuits and extradition to the United States. (The Guardian)

International relations

Foreign relations of the Holy See, Foreign relations of North Korea
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invites Pope Francis to Pyongyang, and said he would be "warmly welcomed" to North Korea. (New York Times) (UPI)

Politics and elections

Nikki Haley announces her resignation as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, effective at the end of the year. (NBC News)

October 8, 2018 (Monday)

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Business and economy

Google announces that it is shutting down its Google+ network for consumers after seven years due to "very low usage" and a software error, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, that potentially exposed the data of 500,000 users. Google+ will fully shut down in August 2019. (Sky News)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Haiti earthquake
- The death toll of a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck Haiti rises to 15. At least 333 others are injured. (The Punch)
2018 Atlantic hurricane season
- A hurricane watch is issued for the Florida Panhandle as Hurricane Michael begins moving toward the Yucatan Channel. (Upi)
- Tropical Storm Michael becomes Hurricane Michael and is upgraded to a category 1 storm. (NBC News)

Law and crime

Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
- Investigative website Bellingcat identifies the second suspect involved in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal as Alexander Mishkin, a doctor who works for the Main Intelligence Directorate. (The Guardian)

Science and technology

Moons of Jupiter, Colonization of Europa
- New research suggests Europa, a moon of Jupiter, may be covered in tall, jagged ice spikes, presenting a problem for any potential landing on its surface. (The Verge) (Washington Post)

Sports

2018 NFL season
- New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees becomes the NFL’s career leader in passing yardage, surpassing Peyton Manning. (Fox News) (The Washington Post)
2018 Major League Baseball season
- Boston Red Sox player Brock Holt becomes the first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle during a postseason game. (ESPN) (Bleacher Report)

October 7, 2018 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- Afghan officials say that the Taliban destroyed highway bridges in Maidan Wardak Province, cutting off road traffic between the capital Kabul and the provinces of Ghazni, Zabul and Kandahar. Electricity was cut off in four provinces, and fighting was reported in Ghazni Province. At least ten Afghan police officers were killed. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in two weeks. (AP via Tampa Times) (Reuters via The National)
2018 Barkan Industrial Park shooting
- A 23-year-old Palestinian opens fire and kills two Israelis, seriously wounding a third inside the Barkan Industrial Park on the West Bank. The gunman, who had worked at the factory where the shooting took place, fled the scene and remains at large. (The Washington Post) (Reuters) (Ynet News)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami
- The Indonesia's disaster agency confirms the deaths of 1,944 people in the double earthquake and tsunami. 5,000 people are still missing and presumed dead. (ABS-CBN News)
Six people in Honduras, three in Nicaragua, two in El Salvador, and one in Costa Rica died after heavy floods affected Central America. Several others are injured and at least one is missing. (Channel NewsAsia)

Law and crime

Police announce that investigative journalist Viktoria Marinova was found murdered yesterday in a park in Ruse, Bulgaria. Marinova's latest work was on "GPgate", a scandal involving alleged corruption and abuse of European Union subsidies in Bulgaria. (Thuner Tagblatt) (RFE/RL)
The Communist Party of China announces that Interpol president Meng Hongwei is suspected of violating the law and is "under the supervision" of a party anticorruption watchdog. Hours later, Interpol announces that it has received his resignation. (The New York Times) (Twitter)
2018 attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants in Gujarat
- A total of 342 people have been arrested for attacking Hindi-speaking migrants in the Indian state of Gujarat. The new wave of violence was prompted by the arrest of a non-Gujarati for the alleged rape of a 14-month-old baby a week prior. (First Post)

Politics and elections

Cameroonian presidential election, 2018
- Voters in Cameroon head to the polls. Incumbent President Paul Biya seeks a seventh term to his 36-year rule. (Reuters)
Brazilian general election, 2018
- Brazilians elect a new president (first round), state governors and parliaments. (RTÉ) (Al Jazeera)
- Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro falls short of a majority in the first round with 46% of the vote and will face Fernando Haddad, who received 29%, in a runoff vote set for October 28. (The Guardian)
Romanian constitutional referendum, 2018
- A referendum on changing the constitutional definition of a family is invalidated, as voter turnout announced by the Central Electoral Bureau is 20.41%, 10% under the validation threshold. (Digi 24)

October 6, 2018 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Defense Minister of Israel Avigdor Lieberman says that Israel will reduce the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip from 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi) to 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) as a reaction to the weekly Gaza border protests. Three Palestinians were killed in yesterday's protest, in which over 20,000 protestors took part. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

At an auction in London, the painting Girl with Balloon by Banksy self-destructs through a built-in shredder hidden in the frame after selling for US$1.4 million. (NBC)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami
- The death toll of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Sulawesi, Indonesia, rises to 1,649. More than 265 are missing. (The New York Times)
At least 50 people are killed and 100 others are injured after an oil tank truck collides with a vehicle on the Kinshasa—Matadi highway in Kisantu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (NDTV)
At least 22 people are killed and 14 injured after a minibus falls into a gorge on the Srinagar Jammu National Highway in India's Jammu and Kashmir state. (Tribune of India)
2018 Haiti earthquake
- A magnitude 5.9 earthquake kills at least 12 people in northern Haiti. At least 162 others are injured. (Miami Herald)
2018 Schoharie New York traffic accident
- Twenty people have been killed when a limousine and another vehicle crashed into a crowd of pedestrians at a store near a busy intersection in Schoharie County, New York, United States. All 18 people in the limousine died along with two pedestrians. (BBC)

Law and crime

Food Additives Amendment of 1958
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration bans the usage of seven artificial flavors as food additives. Six of them cause cancer in animals when used in "much higher" doses than the conditions of their intended use. (NPR)

Politics and elections

Gabonese legislative election, 2018
- After long delays, voters in Gabon head to the polls for the first time since the controversial 2016 presidential election. (EWN)
Latvian parliamentary election, 2018
- Voters in Latvia go to the polls to vote for a new parliament. The governing coalition loses its majority with two new parties Who owns the state? and the New Conservative Party becoming the second and third biggest parties behind the pro-Russian Social Democratic Party "Harmony" party. (Deutsche Welle), (Reuters)
Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination
- Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court is confirmed when a final vote takes place, with 50 senators for his confirmation and 48 against. (ABC News)
Romanian constitutional referendum, 2018
- Romanians go to the polls to vote in a referendum on changing the Constitution to redefine marriage as being only between a man and a woman. (CNN)

October 5, 2018 (Friday)

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Arts and culture

The Swedish Academy names two new members: Swedish supreme court justice Eric Runesson, and Swedish-Iranian writer and poet Jila Mossaed. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Defense industry of Russia
- India buys the S-400 missile system, potentially facing CAATSA U.S. sanctions. (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami
- The confirmed death toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia has risen to 1,571. (First Post)
At least 13 passengers are killed in a head-on bus collision in Tver, Russia. The bus driver and another passenger are injured. (The Moscow Times)
Two people are killed and another is reported missing after heavy floods strike the Italian region of Calabria. A bridge collapses and landslides also occur. (Il Fatto Quotidiano)

International relations

2018 Nobel Peace Prize
- Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict." (NBC News)

Law and crime

Corruption in South Korea
- Lee Myung-bak is sentenced to 15 years in jail and US$20 million in fines and forfeiture, on charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. All four living former Presidents of South Korea now have been convicted. (Reuters via Malay Mail)
Shooting of Laquan McDonald
- A Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, is convicted of second degree murder in a historic jury verdict. (Chicago Tribune)
French police launch an investigation into the disappearance of Meng Hongwei, the president of Interpol. He was reported missing after traveling to his native country of China last week. (The Independent)

Politics and elections

Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination
- A cloture vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh passes 51–49. A final confirmation vote is set to occur on Saturday. (BBC)

October 4, 2018 (Thursday)

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International relations