Portal:Current events/2018 October 7
October 7, 2018 (Sunday)
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)
- Hurricane Michael
- Six people in Honduras, four in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador died after heavy floods triggered by Hurricane Michael affected Central America. Several others are injured and at least one is missing. (BBC)
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
- 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)
- São Toméan legislative election, 2018
- The ruling Independent Democratic Action (ADI) under Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada loses its absolute majority in the National Assembly. (Africanews)