Portal:Current events/2015 September 17

September 17, 2015 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
- At least 21 people are killed in multiple attacks in Baghdad with more than 70 others injured. (BBC), (Headlines & Global News)
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Houthi militants parade captured Saudi soldiers on pro-Houthi Al Masirah TV. (AFP via Yahoo)
- Arab Coalition warplanes bomb Yemen's capital Sana'a targeting a high-profile Houthi leader's house. At least nine civilians are killed in the attack. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that the government has used barrel bombs resulting in the deaths of 21 people in the rebel held town of Bosra in the Daraa Governorate. (AFP via France 24)

Business and economy

The United States Federal Reserve decides to leave interest rates at a record low. (Reuters)
U.S. car maker General Motors pays $900 million fine to settle a criminal lawsuit over problems with the ignition system in its small cars. (AP via Yahoo! Autos)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Illapel earthquake
- Thousands of people in the Chilean town of Illapel sleep outside following yesterday's 8.3 magnitude earthquake as the death toll rises to 11. (CBS News), (Reuters)
- Waves of up to 4.5 meters are recorded at Coquimbo, Chile. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center, etc., issue tsunami advisories for Pacific Ocean coastlines. (The Guardian), (Westside Today)
Nearly 180 people are killed in South Sudan after an oil tanker truck veers off the road and explodes. (RT), (The Independent), (Voice of America)
2015 California wildfires
- The death toll rises to five in the Butte and Valley Fires. Most bodies have been found in mandatory evacuation areas. The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office says the majority of missing persons have been located at shelters or evacuation centers. (Sacramento Bee), (Reuters)
American Airlines halts flights for 90 minutes at its major hubs in Chicago, Dallas, and Miami because of a computer glitch. The incident produces a cascading effect of delays throughout all US airlines. (UPI)

Health

International relations

European migrant crisis
- Seven thousand migrants arrive in Croatia with the President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović placing the army on standby. (WA Today)
- The European Parliament approves (372–124 with 54 abstentions) a European Commission plan to relocate 120,000 asylum seekers around the EU. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), (EuroNews)
Cuba–United States relations
- Along with 15 other international envoys, Cuban diplomat Jose Ramon Cabañas Rodriguez presents his credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama, becoming the island's first ambassador to the United States since 1961. The Obama Administration has yet to name an ambassador to Cuba. (Havana Times), (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Politics and elections

2015 Burkinabé coup d'état
- The provisional government of Burkina Faso is overthrown in a military coup. (The Daily Telegraph), (BBC)
- Coup leaders announce on national television and radio that General Gilbert Diendéré is now the head of state of a new transitional body, the "National Council for Democracy". (AP via Huffington Post), (Al Jazeera America)
- At least three people were killed and more than 60 injured after members of the presidential guard acted to disperse crowds protesting the takeover. (Irish Times)
Fist-fights erupt between legislators in the National Diet of Japan over a security bill that would allow Japan Self-Defense Forces to fight abroad. Japan had previously sent only a small amount of troops to Iraq. (AFP via StraitsTimes), (BBC)
Brazil's Supreme Court issues a decision that bans corporate money in elections. This ruling comes as a major investigation is underway in the country on a campaign financing bribery and corruption scandal. (Singapore Today Online), (AP via Fox News)