Portal:Current events/2017 September 7

September 7, 2017 (2017-09-07) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • It is suspected that Israeli jets bomb a military research facility near the city of Masyaf, Hama Governorate, killing at least two Syrian Army soldiers. The facility was rumoured to contain chemical weapons. (The Washington Post) (The Guardian)

Arts and culture

• Education in the United States
  • Saturday's ACT U.S. college entrance exam test is cancelled at some of its international test centers because of leaks of test materials. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Identity theft in the United States
  • More than 143 million people in the U.S. may have had their social security and driver's license numbers compromised due to a data breach on the credit rating firm Equifax. (The New York Times) (The Washington Post) (AP)
• Business in the United States
  • Amazon.com announces bidding for a second headquarters campus in North America, to house 50,000 workers and cost $5 billion USD (The New York Times)
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
  • Fifteen states sue the Trump administration over potential violations of the Due Process Clause as a result of actions concerning the rescindment of the DACA program. (NPR)

Disasters and accidents

• 2017 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Irma
    • Irma has killed at least 14 people. The storm, still at Category 5 strength with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h), is moving west-northwest at 16 mph (26 km/h). It has reached the dual-country island of Hispaniola and is forecast to pass over the Turks and Caicos Islands as it heads towards The Bahamas and Cuba. The eye did not directly hit Puerto Rico; still casualties are reported and around two-thirds of its 3.4 million population are without electricity. (Reuters) (The Washington Post) (BBC)
    • Florida's electric utility company says it will shut down its Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear power plants before Irma comes ashore. (Reuters)
    • Georgia Governor Nathan Deal issues a mandatory evacuation order for the state's Atlantic Coast and the I-95 corridor. (eTurboNews) (Georgia's Irma page)
• 2017 Chiapas earthquake
  • A magnitude 8.1 earthquake is recorded 96 kilometers (60 miles) south of Pijijiapan, Chiapas, Mexico. This is Mexico's strongest quake since the 8.0 earthquake that hit the Greater Mexico City area in 1985. At least 26 deaths have been recorded. (USGS) (RT)

International relations

• Mexico–North Korea relations
  • Mexico expels the ambassador of North Korea in the country over the recent nuclear weapons testing. (The Washington Post) (AP)
• Qatar–United States relations
  • Qatar announces it will donate USD$ 30 million to help people in Texas recover from Harvey. (AP)

Law and crime

• Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
  • The High Court of Australia rejects the challenge against the postal survey on same-sex marriage, allowing the survey to begin in mid-September as planned. (SBS World News)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos plans to change the sexual assault guidelines on college campuses created by the previous administration. (Politico) (AP)
• Executive Order 13780
  • The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejects the Trump administration arguments regarding the travel ban on grandparents, cousins and others with a bona fide relationship in the United States. (Politico) (AP)
• Catalan independence referendum, 2017, 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis
  • Spain plans to sue leading members of the Catalan Parliament over the proposed independence referendum in Catalonia. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
  • Spain's Constitutional Court suspends the Catalan Parliament's independence referendum law to give the court time to consider whether the vote would breach the country's constitution. (BBC) (Irish Independent)
  • The Catalan parliament approves after tense discussions the Law of juridical transition and foundation of the Republic. (Catalan News)
• 2017 Arkema plant explosion, Hurricane Harvey
  • Seven first responders file a $1 million lawsuit against the Arkema chemical company for failing to warn them in advance about the environmental dangers from the plant explosion. The seven people, six police officers and an emergency worker, remain under a doctor's care. (UPI) (Bloomberg)

Politics and elections

• Philippine Drug War
  • The Philippine Senate investigates Paolo Duterte, the son of current Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in an alleged methamphetamine smuggling scandal. (Bloomberg News)
• Anti-government protests in Togo, 2017
  • For the second consecutive day, hundreds of thousands of Togolese protest against President Faure Gnassingbé's 50-year family dynasty. Parliament is set to consider presidential term limits when it reconvenes in October. (Reuters) (X News Press)

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September 2017

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