Portal:Current events/September 2013

• Syrian civil war:
  • The Arab League discusses the ongoing crisis in Syria at a closed-door meeting in Cairo. (Al Jazeera)
  • Secretary of State John Kerry asserts the United States now has evidence of sarin gas use in Syria from hair and blood samples. (AP via News24)
• Armed militants stage an unsuccessful attack on a container ship passing through the Suez Canal in an attempt to disrupt the flow of ships through the waterway. (Al Jazeera)
• War in North-West Pakistan:
  • A roadside bomb targeting a passing Pakistani army convoy kills nine soldiers in North Waziristan near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. (ABC) (Reuters)

• A 5.9-magnitude earthquake kills at least four people in southwestern China. (CNN)

• The controversial spiritual guru Asaram Bapu is arrested on a rape charge filed by a teenage girl in northwest India. (AP via News24)

• Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela is discharged from hospital in the capital Pretoria. (BBC)

• Mexican Drug War
  • Mexican forces arrest Alberto Carrillo Fuentes, the alleged leader of the Juárez Cartel. (The Telegraph)

• The new eastern span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opens to the public after a decade-long project to replace the old span which was damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. (KTVU)

• Verizon Communications agrees to acquire Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, the third largest M&A deal ever. (Reuters)

• Diana Nyad successfully completes a swim from Cuba to Florida, the first person to do so without a shark cage. (BBC)

• The Hemisphere Project, through which AT&T gives data about telephone calls to the DEA and other law enforcement agencies, is made public. (New York Times)

• Syrian civil war:
  • France claims to possess documentation of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war. (Huffington Post)
  • Anticipating a retaliatory strike from Syria, Israel carries out a joint missile test with the United States in the Mediterranean. (BBC) (Sky News)
  • U.S. government officials say that they are willing to rewrite a proposed resolution to clarify that any operation would be limited in scope and duration and would not include the use of ground troops. (Washington Post)
  • A former US army chief claims that Barack Obama is eyeing intervention in Syria that would go beyond a mere deterrent against chemical weapons to damage the military capacity of the Assad regime. (The Telegraph)
  • UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon questions the legality of US plans to strike Syria without UN backing, saying that the use of force is only legal when it is in self-defence or with Security Council authorization. (Reuters)
• Sinai insurgency:
  • An Egyptian army helicopter kills 15 militants in the Sinai Peninsula. (Reuters)

• Microsoft purchases Nokia's mobile device division for $7.2 billion. (MarketWatchPulse)

• Ariel Castro, the Cleveland, Ohio kidnapper, hangs himself in his prison cell. (CNN)

• Syrian civil war:
  • Reuters reports that the former defense minister of Syria, Ali Habib Mahmud, has defected to Turkey. (Reuters)
  • The Russian government releases a report that claims to show a makeshift weapon used in a chemical attack near the Syrian city of Aleppo in March was similar to ones made by rebels. (Reuters)
  • The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approves a resolution authorizing a limited US military intervention in Syria, setting the stage for a debate in the full Senate next week on the use of military force. (Reuters)

• Police arrest a student for allegedly stabbing another student to death and injuring three more at Spring High School in Spring, Texas, U.S. (CNN)

• The EuroBasket 2013 tournament starts in Slovenia. (NBC Sports)
• Al-Shorta SC win the 2012–13 Iraqi Premier League by defeating Al-Talaba SC 3-0 on the last day of the season. (The AFC)

• Syrian civil war:
  • According to Turkey, almost all G20 summit leaders support operations against Syria. (Reuters)
  • Russian opposition to military intervention in Syria gains increasing international support. (The Daily Telegraph)
• Political violence in Egypt (July 2013–present):
  • Egyptian interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim Moustafa survives an assassination attempt as his convoy traveled through the Nasr City district in Cairo. (The Guardian) (Wall Street Journal)
• Bengali writer and Social Worker Sushmita Banerjee, whose book about her escape from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was made into the Bollywood movie Escape from Taliban, is shot by suspected Taliban militants. (BBC)

• Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York says Islamic leaders should be challenged to speak out in condemnation of terrorists, Dolan hopes that Pope Francis will challenge Islamic leaders to “speak up in an effective way,” condemning violence. (Catholic World News)

• Smartphone wars: Microsoft wins a much-watched lawsuit, with a federal judge finding that Motorola had breached agreements about the licensing of its patents. (BBC)

• Sixty-eight people are injured as more than 130 vehicles are involved in a series of crashes in thick fog on the Sheppey Crossing, a major road bridge in the United Kingdom. (BBC)
• A hunter is blamed for starting the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park. (BBC)

• Rochus Misch, the last witness to Adolf Hitler’s suicide in the Führerbunker dies at the age of 96. (Washington Post)

• The new Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran doesn't deny the Holocaust. "The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year," he adds. (Time)

• US Open in tennis:
  • In the men's singles quarterfinals, defending champion Andy Murray is beaten in straight sets by Stanislas Wawrinka 6–4, 6–3, 6–2. (AP via ESPN)
  • In the men's doubles semifinals, Leander Paes and Radek Štěpánek defeat Bob and Mike Bryan 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, denying the American twins a chance at a calendar-year Grand Slam. (AP via ESPN)

• Syrian civil war:
  • UN chief Ban Ki-moon says military action against Syria could worsen sectarian violence in the country. (Al Jazeera)
  • Russia sends four more warships to Syria, one with alleged "special cargo," (The Washington Post) [1] (Ynetnews)
• Nigerian Sharia conflict:
  • Suspected Islamist militants armed with guns and machetes kill at least 20 people in villages in northeast Nigeria. (Reuters)

• The elusive Australian Central Rock Rat, not seen since 1960, is rediscovered in Central Australia. (9 News National)

• South Korea bans all fishery imports from eight Japanese prefectures, amid concern over leaks of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. (BBC)

• Zimbabwean police arrest six men accused of killing 41 elephants with cyanide in the Hwange National Park. (ABC News)
• Aaron Hernandez was arraigned and pled not guilty to first-degree murder. He was held without bail, but reserved the right to request bail later.

• Egypt's army-backed authorities decide to annul the Muslim Brotherhood's non-governmental organization status. (Reuters)

• Syrian civil war:
  • Heavy government shelling of rebel positions near the Syrian capital kills 14 rebels and two civilians in the south of Damascus. (USA Today)
• Sinai insurgency:
  • The Egyptian army launches a major operation against Islamist militants in North Sinai killing at least 30 people. (Reuters) (BBC)
• A car bomb and suicide bomber kills 15 at a restaurant in Mogadishu, Somalia. Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. (Reuters)

• Sacro GRA, directed by Gianfranco Rosi, wins the Golden Lion at the 70th Venice International Film Festival. (France 24)

• A man is arrested on suspicion of burglary, trespass and criminal damage after scaling a fence to get into Buckingham Palace. (BBC)

• Australian federal election, 2013:
  • Voters in Australia go to the polls for a federal election with the Liberal-National Coalition Opposition led by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott winning government. (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Conceding defeat, outgoing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he will not seek re-election as Labor Party leader. (BBC)
• Former SNP politician Bill Walker resigns as a Member of the Scottish Parliament following conviction for a series of domestic abuse offences. (BBC)
• Voters in the Maldives go to the polls for a Presidential election with no candidate achieving an outright majority with a runoff election to be held on September 28. (BBC)

• During the 125th IOC Session, the IOC announces the winning bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan. (National Post)

• Syrian civil war:
  • The Islamist al-Nusra Front captures the historic Christian town of Ma'loula from the Syrian Army; Russia calls for protection of the town. (CNN) (Interfax)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021):
  • The Taliban kills four Afghan National Army troops in an attack on an intelligence office near Kabul. (AP via Fox News)
• A group of men in a car opens fire in a town on the outskirts of Guatemala City, Guatemala, with 11 killed and 18 others injured. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)

• Eleven people were killed after a collision between a minibus and a train near Iași, Romania. (Xinhua)
• Six people were killed and nine injured after a collision between car and minibus in Jakarta, Indonesia. (The Jakarta Globe)

• Russian elections:
  • Results indicate that Sergei Sobyanin will be elected as Mayor of Moscow with over 50 per cent of the vote. (Reuters) (BBC)
  • Voters in Russia go to the polls for regional and local government elections. (RIA Novosti)
• Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is reelected for a third term as Mayor of Tehran. (Tabnak)
• The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari has a farewell ceremony after the completion of his five year term. He will be replaced by Mamnoon Hussain. (AP)

• In hurling, Clare (0-25) and Cork (3-16) draw in the Championship Final, marking the second straight time that the Final has been drawn. (RTÉ)
• The International Olympic Committee votes to reinstate wrestling as an Olympic sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. (ESPN)
• In Formula One, Sebastian Vettel wins the 2013 Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull Racing.
• American tennis player Serena Williams wins her fifth Women's Singles at the US Open over Victoria Azarenka. (ESPN)

• Aftermath of the Central African Republic conflict (2012–13):
  • At least 60 people are killed in Central African Republic during clashes between pro-Séléka rebels and forces loyal to ousted President François Bozizé. (BBC)
• Nigerian Sharia conflict:
  • Fighting between Boko Haram and government-backed vigilantes in Borno State leaves 18 dead. (Reuters)
• Islamic insurgency in the Philippines:
  • Followers of Muslim separatist leader Nur Misuari launch an attack on the southern Philippines port of Zamboanga City, forcing the closure of businesses and schools. (AP via Fox News)
• Political violence in Egypt, 2013:
  • Mahmoud Badr, the founder of the Tamarod grassroots movement that helped spark the July 2013 Egyptian protests, reportedly survives an assassination attempt. (Al-Arabiya)
• A senior Russian diplomat is gunned down in Sukhumi, the capital of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia. (RFE/RL)
• A man calls the police that he has an AK-47 in both Santa Fe Middle School in Monrovia, California and the "Citrus Medical Center" in West Covina, California. (KTLA5)

• The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam identifies a new Vincent Van Gogh painting, Sunset at Montmajour. (AP)
• Israel's Hebrew University of Jerusalem announces the discovery of a 1,400-year-old golden treasure trove at the foot of the Temple Mount. (Haaretz)

• At least 44 people are dead and 45 injured after a bus crashes into a ravine in northern Guatemala. (AP via ABC News America)
• Two buses collide and catch fire in Iran, killing at least 44 people. (Global Post)

• The centre-right parties win a majority in the Norwegian parliamentary elections, with the Conservative Party's Erna Solberg defeating incumbent Jens Stoltenberg (Labour) for the position of Prime Minister. (BBC) (AAP via SBS)

• In tennis, Rafael Nadal wins the Men's Singles at the 2013 US Open defeating Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. (The New York Times)
• In hurling, the Gaelic Athletic Association announces that the replay of the 2013 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final between Clare and Cork will take place on 28 September. (RTÉ)

• Syrian civil war:
  • Human Rights Watch issues a report concluding that Syrian government forces were most likely to be responsible for chemical weapons attacks on two suburbs in Damascus on August 21. (Human Rights Watch)
  • France announces that it will propose a United Nations Security Council resolution proposing that Syria hand over its chemical weapons to international control. (France 24)
  • Barack Obama, the President of the United States, gives a televised address to the nation, saying that he has asked the United States Congress to postpone a vote on the use of force while he pursues a diplomatic solution. (AFP via the Australian)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Bomb attacks targeting both Shi'ite Muslims and Sunnis kill at least 16 people in Iraq. (Reuters)
• 2013 protests in Turkey:
  • Clashes erupt across the country after the funeral of a 22-year-old student activist and security forces respond by teargas and water cannons. (Russia Today)

• Miley Cyrus breaks the record for the greatest number of views in 24 hours with her latest video Wrecking Ball. The video, uploaded on Monday, has 19.3 million views after a single day, and many people complain about this video. This has been her second record, and the third Vevo record video to become a frequent target for negative comments, the others being Stupid Hoe by Nicki Minaj and We Can't Stop by Miley Cyrus, the latter record set earlier this year.(E online)

• Alcoa, Hewlett-Packard, and Bank of America will be dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average from next week to be replaced by Visa Inc., Nike, Inc and Goldman Sachs. (Wall Street Journal)

• Three people die after a helicopter working with the Canadian Coast Guard research ship CCGS Amundsen crashes in the Arctic Ocean. (CTV News)

• All four defendants in the 2012 Delhi gang rape case are found guilty of rape and murder. (AFP via The News)
• The legislature of the US state of California passes a bill banning new sales of semi-automatic rifles with removable magazines. (Reuters)
• John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, appoints Judge William Curtis Bryson as presiding judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. (Secrecy News)

• Ali Shamkhani is appointed as Secretary of Supreme National Security Council of Iran by President Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani also appoints Masoumeh Ebtekar as Vice President of Iran (Farsnews)
• Nigel Evans resigns as Deputy Speaker of the British House of Commons after being charged with eight sexual offences. (BBC)

• Apple unveils the iPhone 5c and 5s (CNN)

• Thomas Bach of Germany is elected President of the International Olympic Committee. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)

• Syrian civil war:
  • The UN accuses both the Syrian government and, to a lesser extent, the rebels of war crimes. Out of 9 massacres they investigated, 8 were attributed to the Syrian Army. The remaining massacre was attributed to insurgents. (The New York Times)
  • Russia gives the alleged proof of chemical weapons use by militants in Syria to United Nations Security Council. (Russia Beyond the Headlines) (Interfax)
  • Fighters from an Al Qaeda-linked rebel group kill 12 members of the minority Alawite sect in central Syria after seizing their village, opposition activists say. (Reuters)
  • UN investigators in Syria say Syrian army forces continue to bomb hospitals and massacre civilians. (NBC News)
  • France drafts a resolution forcing the Syrian government to hand over its stockpiles of chemical weapons in 15 days (The Independent)
• Sinai insurgency:
  • Two suicide bombers ram a car with explosives. Egyptian military says one hit the local branch of military intelligence, while the other struck an army checkpoint in Rafah killing nine soldiers and wounding 17 others. (Houston Chronicle)
• Post-civil war violence in Libya:
  • On the first anniversary of the 2012 Benghazi attack, a powerful car bomb explodes near the Libyan Foreign Ministry building in the city. (The Independent) (Sky News)
• Protestors and police clash in Chile due to the 40th anniversary of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. (BBC)
• Over 10,000 people have been displaced and ten thousand arrested as a result of an ongoing dispute in India's Muzaffarnagar district. (Times of India)

• Sweden marks the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. (The Local)
• At least one person is killed and several Jamaica Constabulary Force officers injured following a melee at the police lockup in the town of Mandeville. (AP via ABC News)

• Hundreds of thousands of Catalans link up in a human chain for the independence of Catalonia. (The Washington Post)

• Baruto Kaito, the first Estonian sumo wrestler to win the makuuchi (top division) championship in history, surprisingly announces his retirement. (Eesti Rahvusringhääling)

• Islamic insurgency in the Philippines:
  • The Moro National Liberation Front attacks the Philippines town of Lamitan with five people missing and two injured. (AP)
• American born Islamist militant Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki is shot dead in a dawn raid in a shootout with his former al-Shabaab colleagues in southern Somalia. (ABC News Australia)

• Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, leaves the Royal Air Force to devote his energies to Royal and community work. (The Australian)

• The People's Republic of China sets goals for use of coal as part of a comprehensive plan for reducing air pollution. (Reuters via Thomson-Reuters Trust)

• A massive fire burns parts of the boardwalk in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Numerous decades-old buildings are destroyed. (USA Today)(ABC News}

• Syria applies to join the Chemical Weapons Convention which outlaws the production and use of such weapons. (BBC)

• The governing body of the Church in Wales votes to allow the ordination of women bishops. (BBC)

• NASA announces the Voyager 1 space probe has left the Solar System becoming the first man-made object to reach interstellar space. (BBC)
  • The announcement, while confirmed by external research, is still met in some quarters by skepticism. NBC News

• Taliban insurgents attack the United States consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, with two members of the Afghan National Police reported as killed and about 20 civilians injured. (BBC)
• Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri calls for attacks inside United States to "bleed America economically". (Reuters)
• A bomb in a Baghdad Sunni mosque kills at least 30 people. (AP via NZ Stuff)

• Dozens of people are feared dead after a fire at a psychiatric hospital in Russia's Novgorod Oblast. (RT)
• Nine people are confirmed dead following massive floods in the past 24 hours in Galați County, Romania. (journalgazette)
• At least four people are dead, 80 unaccounted for and thousands have been evacuated following heavy floods in Boulder County in the US state of Colorado. (Fox News), (9 News)
• A World War II shell explodes in the Finnish town of Kemi in Lapland, killing one person and causing the evacuation of hundreds of residents. (Reuters via Yahoo News UK)

• Four people are found dead in a car in Crossville, Tennessee, U.S. A man is arrested in connection with the deaths. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)
• An Indian court sentences four men to death for the 2012 Delhi gang rape case. (CNN)

• Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese will contest a month-long ballot process to determine who will be the Leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition. (Canberra Times)
• Narendra Modi is named as the Bharatiya Janata Party leader in next year's Indian general election. (BBC)

• Syrian civil war:
  • The United States and Russia reach a deal on Syrian chemical weapons. (Washington Times)
• Moro National Liberation Front rebel soldiers continue to hold 100 people hostage in the Philippine city of Zamboanga as they exchange gunfire with Philippine Army troops. (AP)

• Authorities in Mexico's Veracruz state evacuate residents in low-lying areas ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Ingrid. (AP)

• Japan's Epsilon rocket makes its maiden flight, carrying the Hisaki satellite from the Uchinoura Space Centre (AFP)

• Floyd Mayweather defeats Canelo Álvarez in a Las Vegas championship superfight. (BBC)

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Bombings in Baghdad and Shia provinces kill at least 21 people. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
• Saboteurs blow up an export oil pipeline in Yemen. (Voice of Russia)

• At least 27 miners die in an Afghanistan coal mine collapse. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
• Japan switches off its last working nuclear reactor for a scheduled inspection with no restart in sight. (Al Jazeera)
• Six people die in a stampede in a bar following a police raid in the Colombian capital Bogota. (AP)
• Nearly 6,000 people flee after Mount Sinabung explodes in Indonesia's North Sumatra province. (AP via ABC News)

• Edi Rama is elected by Parliament as Prime Minister of Albania. (Reuters)
• Voters in Bavaria go to the polls for a state election. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
• New Zealand Labour Party MP David Cunliffe is elected leader of the party with 51.5% of the total vote. (New Zealand Herald)

• In Nippon Professional Baseball, Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Wladimir Balentien hits his 56th home run of the season to break the single-season record formerly held by Sadaharu Oh, Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera. (AP via ESPN)

• Syrian civil war:
  • The United Nations confirms the use of sarin gas in the Ghouta Attacks. (The Guardian)
• Battle of Zamboanga City: The Armed Forces of the Philippines launch a helicopter strike against Moro National Liberation Front rebels holed up in parts of the city of Zamboanga. (AFP)

• Hurricane Ingrid is due to make landfall in Mexico as the remnants of Tropical Storm Manuel causes heavy rain on the Pacific coast. So far, 21 people have died as a result of the two storms including 14 people in Guerrero state. (AP via ABC News America)
• Typhoon Man-yi hits central Japan with concerns raised about a possible impact on the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. (The Australian)
• Rain continues in the American state of Colorado as more than 1,200 people remain unaccounted for in the current floods. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Singaporean container ship Sima Sapphire collides and sinks a Vietnamese fishing vessel about 50 nautical miles to the south of Vũng Tàu, leaving one dead. The Maritime Executive

• The United States and Russia agree to a deal to eradicate chemical weapons in Syria. (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia)

• A gunman opens fire at Washington, D.C.'s Naval Yard killing 12; the gunman also dies.(NBC) (The Washington Post) (CNN)
• Cardinal Donald Wuerl joins "people of all faiths across our community in praying for the people killed and wounded in the attack at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C." A shooting at the Navy Yard in southeast Washington left 13 dead and about a dozen more injured. (Catholic News Agency)
• Cadbury Adams Canada Inc., Hershey Canada Inc., Nestlé Canada Inc. and Mars Canada Inc., as well as distributor ITWAL Limited agree to pay more than CAD$23 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging price-fixing and price maintenance in the Canadian market.(CTV News)

• Voters in Rwanda go to the polls for a parliamentary election with the Rwandan Patriotic Front of President Paul Kagame achieving a landslide victory. (AFP via Google News), (NineMSN)

• Bombardier's CS100 successfully completes its first test flight out of Montréal-Mirabel International Airport. (CBC)

• In association football, the coach and eight players with Southern Stars FC are arrested in relation to matchfixing in Australia's Victorian Premier League. (The Australian)

• Naegleria fowleri is found in tap water near New Orleans, marking the first time the pathogenic amoeba has been detected in U.S. public water supply. (NBC)

• The videogame company Rockstar Games releases its fifth installment of the Grand Theft Auto series Grand Theft Auto V, which nets 800 million U.S. Dollars on its launch day. [2]

• Syrian civil war:
  • The head of a United Nations war crimes tribunal states that it is investigating 14 alleged instances of chemical weapons attacks. (Al-Jazeera)
• Islamic insurgency in the Philippines:
  • Philippine Army troops free dozens of prisoners held hostage by the Moro National Liberation Front in the Battle of Zamboanga City in the city of Zamboanga. (BBC)

• The Costa Concordia is pulled completely upright from the place where it sunk in early 2012 off the coast of Tuscany in Italy. (Courier-Mail)

• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani confirmed he had contacted U.S. President Barack Obama via letters. Both countries cut all diplomatic relations after the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1980. (Reuters)

• Abdul Kader Mullah, a leader of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party, is sentenced to death for war crimes in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. (BBC)
• A standoff between Austrian police and a poacher suspected of killing three police officers and an ambulance driver in a shooting near Annaberg ends with the suspect likely to be dead. (ABC)

• The United States Federal Reserve announces that it will continue its stimulus program due to concerns about weakening growth. (The Age)

• Hurricane Manuel:
  • More than 2,000 tourists have been airlifted by the Mexican Army after floods caused by Hurricane Manuel isolate the resort city of Acapulco with many tourists and residents stranded. (BBC)
  • At least 58 people are missing after a mudslide caused by Hurricane Manuel buries approximately 70 people in the Mexican town of Atoyac de Alvarez. (CNN)
• At least 6 people are dead in Ottawa after a collision between a Via Rail train and a double-decker OC Transpo bus. (CTV)
• Teen Graciela Martinez is found dead after school from possible heat stroke in a locked BMW in which the doors would not open. (Los Angeles Times)

• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani releases 11 political prisoners. He will visit the United States tomorrow. (The New York Times)

• The French parliament moves to ban children's beauty contests in an attempt to halt what one former minister called the hyper-sexualization of young girls. (The Guardian)
• In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Antonio Feliu fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and her adult daughter, and killed another woman in a head-on crash during a police chase. He shot himself as police approached his stopped car. (Epoch Times)

• Tony Abbott is sworn in as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia together with his Ministry. (BBC)

• iOS 7, the seventh iteration of Apple Inc.'s iOS mobile operating system, is officially released. The new OS includes major changes to the user interface. (Huffington Post)
• Cygnus 1 (also known as Orbital Sciences COTS Demo Flight) launches the first planned flight of the Orbital Sciences' unmanned resupply spacecraft Cygnus, its first flight to the International Space Station and the second launch of the company's Antares launch vehicle. The flight is under contract to NASA as Cygnus' demonstration mission in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The launch site is MARS on the Delmarva Peninsula in Virginia. (NASA)

• Ken Norton, a boxer who was one of the few to defeat Muhammad Ali, dies, aged 70. (ESPN)

• Political violence in Egypt, 2013:
  • Egyptian security forces clash with militants in the town of Kerdasah on the outskirts of Cairo with one member of the security forces dead. (BBC)
• Syrian civil war:
  • Jihadis belonging to the al-Qaida offshoot known as the ISIL overrun the town of Azaz, after driving out the Free Syrian Army. (The Washington Post)

• Japan reports that two Chinese ships have entered territorial waters off the coast of the disputed Senkaku Islands. (AFP via Google News)

• Major MMO Toontown Online Closes

• Singapore police arrest 14 people in Singapore in relation to alleged match fixing in football matches, including alleged financier and organiser Dan Tan Seet Eng. (The Age)
• Thirteen people, including a three-year-old, are shot and wounded in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of the American city of Chicago, Illinois. (Chicago Tribune) (Yahoo News) (The New York Times)
• Imperial Petroleum is indicted in the largest instance of tax and securities fraud in Indiana state history. (Inside Indiana Business)
• A Texas state appelate court overturns the November 2010 money laundering conviction of former United States House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. (FOXNews)
• JPMorgan Chase is fined $920 million for illegal practices (misleading investors and government regulators) related to trading losses in 2012. (FOXBusiness)

• Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen:
  • Separate attacks on army bases in Shabwa Governorate kill at least 38 soldiers and 8 militants. (CBS News)
• Syrian civil war:
  • Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is "ready to facilitate talks between the Syrian government and opposition". (The Guardian)

• The video game Grand Theft Auto V becomes the fastest single entertainment product to reach sales of US$1 billion. (Reuters)
• The US Obama administration and the EPA propose that new coal plants be at least about 40% cleaner than current coal plants. (The Guardian)

• The Philippines evacuates coastal villages, suspends ferry services and calls in fishing boats as category 5 Typhoon Usagi approaches. (Reuters)

• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani calls for "constructive dialogue" and an end to "unhealthy rivalries". (CNN)
• The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, which was protesting against Gazprom drilling in the Arctic area 60km north of the Russian coast, is boarded by the Russian military. The activists claim that oil exploitation would risk three nature reserves protected by Russian law. (The Guardian)

• In baseball, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees sets a new record in Major League Baseball for grand slam home runs with 24. (Major League Baseball)

• Islamic insurgency in the Philippines:
  • Zamboanga City crisis: Six people die in the Philippines city of Zamboanga as fighting continues between the Army and Moro National Liberation Front insurgents. (AP via The Sun Herald)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Over 100 people are killed in a series of attacks across Iraq, most of them in a twin suicide bombing at a Shiite funeral in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. (BBC)
• Aftermath of Operation Linda Nchi:
  • A gun battle breaks out in a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi with "at least 39 dead and 150 wounded". A hostage situation is evolving. Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. (France 24) (CNN) (RTE)

• Exxon Mobil, BP and BG decline to take part in the upcoming international bidding for rights to explore Brazil's deep-water Libra oil field, one of the largest pre-salt fields yet to be explored in that country. (GloboNews)

• Typhoon Usagi hits the northern Philippines causing flooding and landslides and disrupting transport, communications and power supplies. (Reuters)

• Pakistan frees Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a cofounder of the Taliban in Afghanistan. (BBC)
• The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons reports that Syria has handed over data on its chemical weapons program. (BBC)

• Police in the Indian city of Mumbai charge several people in connection with a cricket match fixing scandal, including umpire Asad Rauf, former Chennai Super Kings principal Gurunath Meiyappan, Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh and 15 bookies. (Hindustan Times)

• Voters in Sri Lanka go to the polls for provincial elections with the Tamil National Alliance doing well in the north. (AAP via SBS)

• Two suicide bombers attack a church in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 78 people. (BBC)
• Westgate centre shooting:
  • The death toll from the Westgate centre shooting in Nairobi, Kenya, reaches 59 with 175 injured. (BBC)
  • Kenyan troops launch an assault on cornered Somali militants holding hostages inside the shopping mall to end the deadly siege. (AFP via News24)

• The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards are held in the US city of Los Angeles, California, with Breaking Bad winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and Modern Family winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. (CBS)

• Hong Kong braces for the impact of Typhoon Usagi after two people are killed in the Philippines. (AP)

• A Chinese court finds former senior politician Bo Xilai guilty of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power and sentences him to life imprisonment. (BBC)

• Voters in Germany go to the polls for a federal election, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union achieving its highest vote since 1990. (AP via USA Today), (AFP via The Australian)

• In Gaelic football, Dublin win the Championship Final - their second in three years - by a single point (2-12 - 1-14), condemning opponents Mayo to yet another final defeat, their seventh since their last victory in 1951. (The Times) (BBC)

• Westgate shopping mall shooting:
  • Explosions and gunfire are reported from the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi where Al-Shabaab gunmen are still holed up. (BBC)
  • The Kenyan Interior Minister says that three gunmen were killed and that his troops are in control of all five floors of the building. (Euronews)
• Syrian civil war:
  • President Bashar al-Assad said he will allow international experts to access chemical weapons sites. (CBS News)

• At least 25 people are dead in Hong Kong and southern China after Typhoon Usagi passes through with the storm having killed eight people in the Philippines. (NBC News), (AP)

• In his first public statement since his resignation, former Pope Benedict XVI denies that he covered up child sexual abuse cases involving priests during his tenure. (Reuters)

• An Egyptian court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities nationwide and its assets will be confiscated according to the court ruling. (Reuters)

• Australian footballer Gary Ablett Jr. wins his second Brownlow Medal in the Australian Football League 5 days before the Grand Final between Hawthorn and Fremantle on Saturday, 28th September.

• Hundreds of garment factories in Bangladesh shut down due to strikes by workers seeking higher pay. (Bloomberg)

• A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Balochistan in western Pakistan with at least 40 people dead. (USGS) (Wall Street Journal)
• Twenty-one provinces in Thailand are hit by flooding, affecting over 600,000 people. (Bangkok Post)

• The Parliament of Cambodia votes for Hun Sen to continue as Prime Minister despite an opposition boycott. (AP via ABC News America)
• The General debate of the 68th UN General Assembly opens. (United Nations)

• In road cycling, Ellen van Dijk won the women's time trial at the 2013 UCI Road World Championships. (Mail & Guardian)

• A three-day national mourning period begins in Kenya for the victims of a four-day siege that began on September 21 when heavily armed Al-Shabaab militants stormed the Westgate shopping mall in the capital, Nairobi, killing 61 civilians and 6 soldiers. (BBC)
• A shooting at a workplace in East Garden City, New York, kills one person and wounds another. (CNN)

• The death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Balochistan, Pakistan, on September 24 rises to at least 328. (BBC)

• In sailing, Oracle Team USA wins the America's Cup by defeating Team New Zealand 9-8 after a remarkable comeback. (AAP via The Australian)

• Terrorists attack a police station in India's Jammu and Kashmir state, killing six people, before attacking an Army camp. (Reuters)
• Interpol issues a red notice arrest warrant for Briton Samantha Lewthwaite at Kenya's request. (BBC) (Irish Times)
• Al-Shabaab militants attack two Kenyan towns near the Somali border. (USA Today)

• Authorities in the U.S. arrest Paul Konigsberg, an accountant, charging him with complicity in the Ponzi scheme of former New York financier Bernard Madoff, a scheme that unraveled in 2008. (Reuters)

• The United States and Russia agree on a draft United Nations Security Council resolution aiming to rid Syria of its chemical weapons. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

• South Korean prosecutors charge Unified Progressive Party MP Lee Seok-ki with plotting an armed revolt in support of North Korea. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
• The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague rejects an appeal against a conviction of former President of Liberia Charles Taylor on war crime charges. (BBC)

• Syrian civil war
  • United Nations inspectors are investigating three alleged instances of use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war since the Ghouta chemical attack on 21 August. (BBC)
• Bahraini uprising (2011–present):
  • Tens of thousands march in Bahrain in the largest anti-government protest in months. (ABC News)
• Sudanese protests (2011–present):
  • Police fire teargas to disperse thousands of demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with the death toll of this week's unrest believed to have reached 50. (Reuters)
• Bombs targeting two Sunni mosques in Baghdad, Iraq, kill seven people. (AP via Vancouver Sun)
• A bomb detonates on a crowded bus north of Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 19 government employees and injuring 45. (The Telegraph)

• A ship capsizes off the island of Java carrying refugees from Indonesia to Australia. Thirty people are missing and 22 bodies have been recovered, with 31 survivors rescued. (ABC News Australia)
• The Japan Coast Guard is searching for six missing sailors after the Japanese cargo ship Eifukumaru No.18 capsizes after a collision with a Sierra Leone-registered ship off the coast of Izu Ōshima island. (AFP via France 24)
• A building collapses in the Indian city of Mumbai, with at least three people killed and dozens trapped. (Sky News) (CNN)
• Pakistan earthquake:
  • Officials in Pakistan make a plea to separatist militants in Balochistan province to cease operations so that search and rescue can occur for victims of this week's earthquake. (BBC)
  • More than 100,000 people have been left homeless by the earthquake. (Al-Jazeera)

• The first part of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is released in Stockholm, Sweden. (Radio National ABC Australia)
• Iran-United States relations:
  • Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during P5+1 and Iran talks, the highest-level direct contact between the United States and Iran in six years. (Yahoo! News)
  • President Barack Obama reveals he talked with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, marking the first time leaders from the U.S. and Iran have directly communicated since the Iranian revolution. (NBC News) (Fox News)

• French police arrest six people in Paris over their suspected involvement in an attempt to steal 1.6 million euros worth of gold bars from an Air France plane on September 19. (Yahoo! News)

• In golf, Tiger Woods is named as the PGA Tour's Player of the Year for a record 11th time. (Reuters)
• In swimming, retired Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit is awarded an honorary MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) (SAPA via News24)

• Sudanese protests (2011–present):
  • Sudanese security forces fire live ammunition on a march that followed the funeral of a demonstrator killed the day before. (The Washington Post)
• Islamist insurgency in Nigeria:
  • Gunmen from the Islamist group Boko Haram kill 27 villagers in two attacks in Nigeria's restive northeast. (Reuters)
• Syrian civil war:
  • Syrian rebels claim taking control of a military post on the edge of the city of Deraa on Syria's southern border with Jordan after four days of heavy fighting with the Syrian Armed Forces. (Reuters)

• Megan Young from the Philippines is crowned Miss World 2013 at Bali Nusa Dua International Convention Center, South Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. (BBC)

• A 6.8-magnitude earthquake strikes the Pakistani province of Balochistan, four days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake killed at least 515 people in the same region. (AP via Fox News)

• Nikolaos Michaloliakos, the leader of the Greek far-right party Golden Dawn, is arrested on charges of forming a criminal organization. (BBC)
• U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Tim Giardina is suspended from his duties as #2 of the U.S. Strategic Command due to an investigation into gambling-related issues. (NBC)

• Voters in Guinea go to the polls for a legislative election. (BBC)
• All the ministers from Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party resign from the Government of Italy. (Reuters)

• In Australian rules football, Hawthorn defeats Fremantle 77-62 to win the 2013 premiership. (AFP via Yahoo! NZ)
• In Hurling, Clare beat Cork by a score of 5-16 to 3-16, to win the 2013 All-Ireland Hurling Final. (RTE Sport)

• Islamist insurgency in Nigeria:
  • Gunmen from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram kill 42 people, mostly students, in an attack on a college in the town of Gujba, Yobe State. (The Telegraph)

• Mexican Drug War:
  • Shootings erupt over the weekend in three Mexican cities (Cuernavaca, Fresnillo, Monterrey) where drug gangs are fighting turf battles, killing at least nine people and wounding six more. (ABC News)

• Syrian civil war:
  • Activists fighting Syrian government forces say that at least 16 people, most of them students, were killed in an air strike from Syrian government warplanes that hit a secondary school in the rebel-held Syrian city of Raqqa. (Reuters)

• Award-winning American television series Breaking Bad airs its final episode on AMC, concluding the series after five seasons and 62 episodes. (Associated Press via NPR)

• The death toll from a building that collapsed in Mumbai, India, on September 27 rises to 60 as the rescue operation is called off. (BBC)
• Heavy rains in Rajkot, Gujarat, India, lead to damage valued at over 100 million rupees. (Times of India)

• Voters in Austria go to the polls for a legislative election. (BBC)

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • Fourteen car bombs targeting Shi'ite neighborhoods in Baghdad leave 54 people dead. (Reuters)

• Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline agrees to sell its thrombosis drug brands to Aspen Pharmacare. (Reuters)

• Tropical Storm Wutip lashes central Vietnam, uprooting trees, cutting power lines and damaging more than 1,000 houses. (The Weather Channel)
• Thirteen refugees drown off the Italian coast swimming to shore from their leaky vessel. (U.N. High Commission for Refugees)