A joint early-morning raid conducted by Iraqi and US forces on an IS-run prison in Hawija, Kirkuk Province has freed 70 Kurdish hostages. One U.S.Delta Force soldier was reported killed – the first American combat death since the start of the US-led intervention against IS. (BBC)
Authorities in Slovenia say around 2,000 migrants from a refugee camp at the Croatian border are traveling in four trains toward Austria, three to the overloaded crossing at Šentilj and the other to Jesenice. (Washington Post)
A teacher and a student are killed, and another student injured, in an attack at a high school in Trollhättan, Sweden. The attacker was shot dead by police. (BBC)(The Guardian)
Chilean officers start to grant civil unions licences to both heterosexual and homosexual couples, marking the first time a same-sex relationship is officially recognized in the country. (BBC)(The Guardian)
The UKHouse of Commons passes an "English votes for English laws" bill by 312 to 270 votes giving English MPs a greater say over legislation that only applies to England. The bill has been fiercely opposed by the opposition Labour Party and the Scottish National Party. (BBC)
ISIL orders males aged 14 and older in Raqqa, its de facto Syrian capital, to register with the police, an action seen as the first step toward forced conscriptions in this region. (Al Jazeera America)
According to a civilian vigilante, 20 people are killed after Boko Haram militants open fire on cars outside a village in Nigeria's restive northeast Borno state. (AFP via Yahoo)
The American Academy of Pediatrics calls for pregnant women to abstain completely from alcohol during the entire three trimesters of the pregnancy, saying no amount of any type of alcohol should be considered safe since the risks, to the baby in particular (such as fetal alcohol syndrome, among many others), are too great. This puts the U.S. alongside other Western developed countries- except Italy and the United Kingdom, which still allow occasional small amounts- in urging complete abstinence. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the two other U.S. agencies that comment most about this issue, already recommend total alcohol abstinence. (CNN)
Two Chineseconsulate staff are killed and a consul general injured after a gunman opened fire on a restaurant in the city of Cebu, the "second city" of the Philippines. Various reports named the gunman as Chinese national Li Qingliang. (The Telegraph)
Wikileaks releases U.S.Central Intelligence Agency director John O. Brennan's personal information after the top spy's personal email account was allegedly hacked by a 13 year old and information sent to Wikileaks. All of the documents predate Brennan's time in the Obama administration and reveal no classified data. Among the information released are Social Security numbers, an incomplete questionnaire for security clearance, and addresses of his family and associates. (BBC)(CNN)
At least three Russian troops fighting along side the Syrian Army are reportedly killed after a shell hit their position in the coastal province of Latakia. If confirmed, the deaths would be the first Russian military casualties since intervening in the civil war in September. (Reuters)
Taliban forces advance on Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, amid fierce fighting with government forces that threatens to cut off a major highway and has prompted many families to flee. (Reuters)
Lamar Odom, who had been hospitalized in grave condition after ingesting, in a binge, herbal Viagra, alcohol, and other substances in a 3-day, $75,000 stay at a legal brothel in Nevada, comes out of his coma, improves, and is able to have conversations, though he is still on dialysis to deal with the renal damage he suffered. He is released from intensive care and Sunrise Hospital, to a hospital closer to his Los Angeles home. (MSN via Sporting News)
Current events of October 19, 2015 (2015-10-19) (Monday)
19-year-old soldier Omri Levy was killed and nearly a dozen injured in a shooting and stabbing attack in the central bus station in the southern city of Beersheba carried out by an Israeli Bedouin Arab, 21-year old Mohind al-Okbi, who was killed after a gun battle. (Washington Post)(NBC News)
Israeli hospital officials announce an Eritreanmigrant, Haptom Zerhom, mistakenly shot by an Israeli security guard and then attacked by bystanders who thought he was involved in the Beersheva bus station attack, has died of his wounds. Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahsho said this latest incident seemed to capture the current climate of ratcheted-up tensions. Police are looking to identify and locate members of the crowd who beat and fatally wounded the man; the security officer whose shot incapacitated the victim will not be investigated. (AP)(Yediot Ahronot – Ynet)
Afghanistan’s acting defense minister has stated that the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz bombed on 3 October by U.S. forces was being used as a safe haven by insurgents. MSF has repeatedly denied the allegation, stating "Every staff member in Kunduz working for MSF has repeatedly reported to us that there were no armed people in the hospital at the time of the bombing". (AP)
Business and economics
China’s economy expanded 6.9% in third quarter over last year’s growth, just slightly better than forecast. (New York Times)
Spencer Stone, primarily responsible for thwarting an August terrorist attack on a train en route to Paris from Amsterdam and later stabbed in downtown Sacramento has undergone open heart surgery. The wounds from the most recent altercation were more serious than previously reported. (Air Force Times)
Following 21 days of deliberation the deadlocked jury in Manhattan declared a mistrial in the case against three former senior attorneys from the “once large and prominent law firm” Dewey & LeBoeuf. The three had been charged with “plotting to manipulate financial records in an attempt to defraud bank lenders and insurance companies during the financial crisis.” (New York Times)
The Israeli military evacuated dozens of Jewishworshippers who were surrounded by Palestinians after entering Joseph's Tomb compound in Nablus, which was recently torched by Palestinians. The area is under full Palestinian control but Jewish prayer is permitted there when coordinated with authorities. The military said Sunday's visit was not, and the worshippers had no permit. (AP)(New Delhi Television)
U.S. Military officials announce that a military airstrike in northwest Syria killed a financial manager and leader of an al Qaeda network. Sanafi al-Nasr, of Saudi Arabia, was said to have been plotting terror attacks against the West. (New York Times)
Slow-moving Koppu weakened after blowing ashore with fierce winds in the northeastern Philippines leaving at least two people dead and at least six missing, displacing 16,000 villagers, and knocking out power in entire provinces, according to authorities. (AP via NBC News)(UPI)
At least four people are killed and a dozen injured after a small plane crashes in a residential area of the Colombian capital Bogota. (AP)
A San Francisco-boundSouthwest Airlines flight returned to Los Angeles after an apparent altercation on the plane. Eyewitness accounts indicate that the fracas may have begun after one passenger reclined her seat, and the passenger behind her allegedly “started choking her." One passenger was removed from the flight. The airline moved the remaining passengers to a different plane to resume their journey to San Francisco. (USA Today)(NBC News)
Henriette Reker, a candidate in Cologne's mayoral race, is stabbed in the neck by a man claiming to be angry over Germany's refugee policies. Reker is in serious condition, as is an aide. Three others suffered minor injuries. (BBC)(Today)
Three Turkish troops, including a lieutenant colonel, are killed following clashes with PKK insurgents around Dağlıca vlliage, in the southeastern Hakkâri Province. At least 17 PKK insurgents were also reportedly killed in the fighting. (Today's Zaman)
Israelisecurity forces kill four Palestinians and critically wound another who attempted to stab either police officers or a member of the public today. This is the latest in a month of similar attacks where 17 Palestinian attackers and eight Israelis have been killed. (UPI)(Abu Dhabi National)
The United States cancels two potential Arctic lease sales off Alaska's northern coast, and announces Shell and Statoil current leases will not be extended because of "current market conditions and low industry interest." (NPR)(BBC)
Typhoon Koppu (Lando) heads towards the Philippines island of Luzon where it is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 storm, linger and deposit up to 50 inches of rain in some areas. (Mashable)
At least 16 people are killed near Odessa in the Ukraine after a passenger boat sinks in bad weather. (RT)
Law and Crime
Ardit Ferizi, a 20-year-old hacker from Kosovo and computer student in Malaysia, is arrested for hacking into a Phoenix, Arizona computer system and stealing the names and personal information of thousands of U.S. military personnel. Ferizi is accused of giving the information to ISIS. The U.S. is seeking Ferizi’s extradition. (CNN)
A shooting just before midnight at the ninth annual Fort Myers, Florida, Zombicon kills one person and injures four others, none with life threatening injuries, and causes pandemomium on the city's downtown streets. Police ask attendees to share smartphone video from the incident. (USA Today)(Reuters)