Portal:Current events/2015 October 25

October 25, 2015 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015)
- Israeli border police shoot dead a 17-year-old girl after she approached them with a knife in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. (The New Daily AU)
- A Palestinian stabs an Israeli settler in Gush Etzion. 3 more stabbing attacks against Israelis resulted in no Israeli fatalities. (Ynet)

Business and economics

The United Parcel Service pilots’ union authorizes its executive board to call a strike at the board’s discretion as contract talks slog into a fifth year. This is in the wake of competitor FedEx pilots' approval of a new six-year contract. (Wall Street Journal)
Danish A.P. Moller–Maersk Group announced smaller-than-expected earnings because of weak earnings by its bellwether container shipping unit, Maersk Line. (WSJ)

Disasters and accidents

At least 17 people are killed and 71 injured following a fire in a karaoke bar on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. (AP via Fox News)
European migrant crisis
- The bodies of 40 migrants wash ashore on the Libyan coast with another 30 people missing. (AAP via SBS)
At least five people are dead, one missing, and 21 rescued, from a tour boat carrying 27 people that sinks west of Vargas Island, off the coast of Tofino on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The RCMP is responsible for the missing person now that the search has been called off. (CTV) (CNN) (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Eleven European and Balkan leaders meet about the migrant crisis at an emergency summit in Brussels, Belgium; Turkey did not attend. The Prime Minister of Slovenia says the EU will ‘start falling apart’ within weeks if the migrant crisis continues unchecked. Huge divisions remain among EU states over how to deal with the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants. (Chicago Tribune) (Radio New Zealand) (Daily Mail)
- Balkan and European leaders agree to work together implementing a 17-point action plan that includes United Nations-aided accommodation for 100,000 places in reception centers along the route from Greece towards Germany, half in Greece and half in the countries to the north. Some of the other measures: within a week, deploy 400 police officers to Slovenia; step up efforts to return migrants not needing international protection; and, reinforce support of the bloc’s border agency, Frontex', role in securing external borders between Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, and Albania. (Reuters) (The Guardian)
United States military and intelligence sources cite concerns about Russian activities near undersea cables that suggest plans to intercept or cut communication over these vital links. (New York Times)

Law and crime

2015 Oklahoma State University homecoming parade crash
- Police have updated information on the casualties from this crash. Four died and 47 were injured; five remain in critical condition. (Q13 Fox) (Lethbridge Herald)
- The attorney for Adacia Chambers, the woman whose car plowed into a homecoming parade crowd, says he doesn't think his client was intoxicated at the crash. Tony Coleman said, "I don't believe right now that she was intoxicated. ... she's suffering from mental illness." (USA Today) (KFOR)
More than 200 black bears are killed in a single day in the U.S. state of Florida after state officials allow the hunting of the animals for the first time in 21 years; supporters say the aim is to cut down on the animals' surging population, but animal rights activists have criticized the hunts as cruel and ineffective. (Sky News)

Politics and elections

Polish parliamentary election, 2015
- Official results show Poland's conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, led by eurosceptic Jarosław Kaczyński and the new PM Beata Szydło, won more seats than any other party in today's general elections. Kaczyński is the twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczyński, who died in a 2010 jet crash. Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz has conceded defeat. (NDTV) (Newstalk) (AP via US News and World Report)
Guatemalan general election, 2015
- Voters in Guatemala go to the polls for the second round of voting in a presidential election with former TV comedian Jimmy Morales winning a landslide victory. (Wall Street Journal) (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Elections in the United States; Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2015
- Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter and Democratic state Representative John Bel Edwards top two Republican candidates for spots in the November 21 runoff election. Edwards wins 40 percent and Vitter 23 percent of the primary vote, according to unofficial returns. (AP)
Haitian presidential election, 2015, Haitian parliamentary election, 2015
- Unlike the first round of the Haitian parliamentary elections when balloting was cancelled in 22 constituencies, voting appeared orderly, and largely peaceful, with a large turnout in Sunday's presidential and parliamentary second round elections. Electoral officials said there might be partial results in 10 days but final results would not be ready until late November. Haitians faced lengthy ballots featuring 54 presidential hopefuls and significant numbers of legislative and municipal candidates. An expected runoff between the top two presidential candidates is scheduled for December 27. (Miami Herald) (AP via Washington Post) (AFP via Capital Broadcasting Network)
Argentine general election, 2015
- Voters in Argentina went to the polls Sunday to select a new President and legislature. The race to be Argentina's next president heads for a November 22 runoff. With 80 percent of polling places reporting, opposition, Republican Proposal (PRO) candidate Mauricio Macri, and ruling party, Justicialist Party (PJ) candidate Daniel Scioli each have 35 percent of the votes. (BBC) (AP via Washington Post) (CNN)
Ivorian presidential election, 2015
- Voters in the Ivory Coast go to the polls for a presidential election with incumbent Alassane Ouattara favoured to win. (AP via New York Times)
Tanzanian general election, 2015
- Voters in Tanzania, including Tanganyika and semi-autonomous Zanzibar, which also elects its own government, go to the polls for an election with the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Revolutionary Party) facing the greatest challenge to its dominance in over 50 years. (Washington Post)

Sports

Lewis Hamilton wins a third World Drivers' Championship in Formula One, as his team Mercedes secures the Constructors' Championship. (The Guardian)