Portal:Current events/2016 October 11
October 11, 2016 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan, Violence against Shia Muslims
- Rohingya insurgency in Western Myanmar
- In a third day of fighting, an attack in Rakhine State kills four Myanmar soldiers. (BBC)
- Yemeni Crisis
- The Obama administration through the U.S. Defense Department says it will take appropriate action against those responsible for October 9 unsuccessful cruise missile attack, apparently fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, upon the USS Mason. (Reuters)
- Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a rebel official report that Russian jets have resumed heavy bombing, and, in total, have now killed at least 50 civilians in villages surrounding rebel-held eastern Aleppo. (Reuters), (Sky News United Kingdom)
Business and economy
- Samsung announces an end of production of the Galaxy Note 7 after continued problems with its battery. (The Verge)
- Following the Brexit vote and the subsequent drop in the exchange rate of the British pound to U.S. dollar, the FTSE 100 Index reaches an all-time intra-day high of 7,129. (Sky News United Kingdom)
- Computer security firm Symantec warns a second hacking group, going by the name Odinaff, is trying to rob banks using fraudulent SWIFT messages, the same approach that yielded U.S.$81 million in February's attack on Bangladesh's central bank. So far, the group has infected 10 to 20 organizations with this malware. (Reuters), (Investopedia)
Disasters and accidents
- A residential building collapses in the eastern China city of Wenzhou, leaving at least 22 people dead. (CNN)
- Hurricane Matthew
- The United Nations launches an emergency appeal for almost U.S.$120 million in life-saving help for 750,000 survivors in Haiti at risk of starvation and/or cholera. (NBC News)
- Jordanian student pilot Feras Freitekh kills himself and attempts to kill his flight instructor, when their small Piper PA-34 Seneca airplane crashes in East Hartford Connecticut. Investigators conclude the crash was an intentional act motivated by suicide based on the surviving instructor who said there was an argument and struggle for control. The FBI investigates. Reuters
Health
- 2015–16 Zika virus epidemic
- The World Health Organization warns that the Zika virus will continue to spread across Asia with cases already reported in Singapore and Thailand. (BBC)
Law and crime
- The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a patent dispute between Apple Inc. and Samsung concerning both company's smart phone designs (Samsung Electronics v. Apple (15-777)). (Reuters)
- The Obama administration through the U.S. Department of Justice announces that they will file criminal contempt of court charges against Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio for violating a judge's order to stop immigration patrols that led to a court finding of racial profiling. The charges carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail. (NPR), (Arizona Central)
- The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Oklahoma City reports that an unarmed black man, Terence Crutcher, shot dead on September 16, by a white police officer, Betty Jo Shelby, had acute PCP intoxication. Authorities charged her with first-degree manslaughter. (AP via Fox News)
Science and technology
- Astronomers announce that 2014 UZ224 is the third most distant Solar System object known from our Sun, currently over 90 times the Earth's distance from the Sun (90.8 AU or 8.44 billion miles), after Eris (96.2 AU) and V774104 (~103 AU). (The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center)