Portal:Current events/2015 October 17

October 17, 2015 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

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 Online)
Syrian Civil War
- A top Al-Qaeda commander is killed in an airstrike in Syria. (USA Today)
- Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016), Iranian involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  - The Syrian army, backed by Iranian fighters, captures several villages south of Aleppo. (Reuters)
Terrorism in Saudi Arabia
- A gunman from the Islamic State opens fire on a Shiite meeting hall in Saudi Arabia, killing five people. (Reuters)
2015 PKK rebellion
- Three Turkish troops, including a lieutenant colonel, are killed following clashes with PKK insurgents around Dağlıca village, in the southeastern Hakkâri Province. At least 17 PKK insurgents were also reportedly killed in the fighting. (Today's Zaman)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- A Saudi-led coalition airstrike targeting Houthis in the southern Taiz Governorate mistakenly hits a Hadi-loyalist position, killing at least 20 fighters. (BBC)
- Hundreds of Sudanese troops arrive in the southern port city of Aden to reinforce coalition forces. (CBC News)
Mexican Drug War
- Fugitive drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán suffered injuries to his leg and face as he escaped Mexican authorities who were closing in on him in the mountains in Sinaloa in northwestern Mexico. (CNN), (The Yucatan Times)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli security 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)

Arts and culture

Stephen Glass, author, former journalist and attorney, will repay Harper’s Magazine and other outlets because works he authored were found to have been fabricated. (The New York Times)
Nayantara Sahgal, is one of the latest authors in India who will return that nation’s highest award from the National Academy of Letters in protest against what Salman Rushdie has characterized as "thuggish violence" creeping into Indian life under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (The New York Times)

Business and economy

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)
US Airways final flight, Flight 1939 – named for the airline's founding year, landed at Philadelphia International Airport at 5:54 a.m. Saturday. Future flights will fly under the American Airlines banner, completing the merger announced in 2013. (The Christian Science Monitor), (AP via WSAW)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Pacific typhoon season
- 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 15 people are killed in a wedding bus crash in Andhra Pradesh state in southern India. (AAP via News Limited)
At least 16 people are killed near Odesa 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)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- The first migrants reach Slovenia after the border between Hungary and Croatia is closed. (Reuters)
- Turkey's Anadolu Agency reports that 12 migrants have drowned in the Aegean Sea while trying to get to Europe. (AP)

Politics and elections

Egyptian parliamentary election, 2015
- Egyptians residing abroad begin casting votes in the country's first parliamentary election since the 2013 military overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi. Embassies and consulates in 139 countries will be open for two days of voting. (AP via The Florence Times Daily), (Gulf News)
Guinean presidential election, 2015
- The Guinea electoral commission reports that the President of Guinea Alpha Conde has won the election with 58 per cent of the vote. (Reuters)