Portal:Current events/2018 September 16
September 16, 2018 (Sunday)
Health and environment
- The Sunspot Solar Observatory in New Mexico is set to reopen on Monday after being closed due to "an on-going law enforcement investigation of criminal activity that occurred at Sacramento Peak" in which "a suspect in the investigation potentially posed a threat to the safety of local staff and residents". (CNET)
- A man and a woman are taken ill after a medical incident in Salisbury, United Kingdom. Police seal off a restaurant as a precautionary measure. According to The Guardian, tensions are high due to recent Novichok poisonings. According to the BBC, "there's no suggestion that this is connected". According to Sky News, at least one of the individuals who fell ill is a Russian. (The Guardian) (BBC) (Sky News)
- Two people die and 700 others seek medical attention, including three people in critical condition at the Defqon.1 Festival in Sydney, Australia, for drug-related issues. Premier of New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian says that the event is dangerous and will never take place again, effectively banning the music festival. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Forty-one inmates escape from Hpa-an Township's main prison in Kayin State, Myanmar, after hijacking a garbage truck and driving it through the prison gates. Eleven of the escapees are apprehended by police, but 30 remain at large. (The Myanmar Times)
Politics and elections
- Politics of Syria
- Local elections are held in government-held areas of Syria for the first time since 2011. (TASS)
- Government of Jimmy Morales
- The Constitutional Court of Guatemala annuls the decision of President Jimmy Morales to prevent the entrance to Guatemala to the head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala Iván Velásquez Gómez. In the resolution, President Morales is forced to exhaust the dialogue with the United Nations. (ABC News)
Science and technology
- British space programme
- The first of a series of British satellites, known as NovaSAR, is launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. The Surrey Satellite Technology satellite is designed to monitor suspicious shipping activity. (BBC)
Sports
- 2018 Berlin Marathon
- Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya sets a new world record for the fastest marathon time, at 2:01:39. (BBC)
- Décastar
- At the season's last IAAF Combined Events Challenge in Talence, French athlete Kevin Mayer breaks the decathlon world record with a score of 9,126 points. (IAAF)