October 2, 2015 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War, Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The Russian Government says Russian jets bombed Syria for the third consecutive day, hitting 12 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that ISIL has no presence in the western and northern areas struck though Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front does. Russian planes also bombed Raqqah, the unofficial capital of ISIL. (Daily Mail)
- Turkey–PKK conflict
- At least 17 PKK militants are reportedly killed following a Turkish military operation in the Kurdish-majority city of Silvan. (RT)
- War in Donbass, 2014-15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine
- OSCE observers who are monitoring a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels, reported the presence of a new Russian weapons system in rebel-held territory this week, the 'TOS-1 Buratino' is a thermobaric multiple rocket launcher system which can destroy several city blocks in one strike and cause indiscriminate damage. Only Russia produces the system and it was not exported to Ukraine before the conflict broke out. (Reuters)
Business and economy
- Air France KLM will cut 2,900 jobs after talks with pilots unions are unsuccessful. (BBC)
- Google completes its reorganization into Alphabet Inc., becoming its leading subsidiary. Sundar Pichai becomes CEO of Google. (Investor Relations - Google)
Disasters and accidents
- Aviastar Flight 7503
- Indonesia's Aviastar airline loses contact with an aircraft between Masamba-Makassar carrying 10 people. (DailyMail)
- Hurricane Joaquin
- The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 735-foot (224-meter) cargo ship named 'El Faro,' with 33 people on board, that went missing near Crooked Island in the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin. Five Poles and 28 Americans make up the crew. (The Telegraph) (Reuters)
- Hurricane Joaquin attacked The Bahamas as a Category 4 hurricane and destroyed houses, cut communications and electric power, uprooted trees, and unleashed heavy flooding. So far, there are no reports of fatalities or injuries. The storm, which weakened to Category 3 status with 125 mph sustained winds, is expected to dump up to 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain in some location before it moves away from the islands. (AP via Sacramento Bee) (AFP via Yahoo News)
- Joaquin is slowly moving on an east/northeast trek lowering the possibility of a direct hit to the U.S. East Coast. However, unrelated storms have already drenched the eastern seaboard this week. Streets were underwater up and down the coast at this afternoon's high tide. Adding Joaquin's wind and rain could create deadly, unprecedented downpours, flooding, wind damage, and power outages. (WorldNetDaily) (Reuters) (AP via Portland Press-Herald).
- 2015 El Cambray Dos landslide
- A Guatemalan hillside, loosened by heavy rains, collapses and sends tons of dirt and trees onto Santa Catarina Pinula on the edge of Guatemala City, killing at least 56 with as many as 600 people missing. (Reuters) (BBC)
Law and crime
- A 15-year old boy shoots and kills a civilian NSW Police employee outside the NSW Police headquarters in Parramatta, Sydney. The incident is labelled as a terrorist attack. (Daily Telegraph)
- Hackers steal the personal information of about 15 million T-Mobile US customers and applicants. The breach is at a unit of the credit agency Experian. (BBC)
- 2015 FIFA corruption case
- Longtime FIFA corporate sponsors -- Coca-Cola Co., McDonald's, Visa Inc., and Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch InBev -- demand FIFA President Sepp Blatter step down immediately following last week's announcement of his criminal investigation by the Swiss attorney general. Blatter refused. (Reuters) (Irish Independent)