Portal:Current events/2019 August 27
< Portal:Current events
August 27, 2019 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War, Kurdish–Turkish conflict
- YPG units withdraw from Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ayn as the first stage of the Northern Syria Buffer Zone agreement enters into effect. (Reuters) (Kurdistan 24)
Disasters and accidents
- Tropical Storm Dorian
- Tropical Storm Dorian is expected to grow stronger as it reaches Puerto Rico, the National Hurricane Center says. (Sun-Sentinel)
- 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires
- The Brazilian government through President Jair Messias Bolsonaro is open to accepting financial aid from organizations and foreign countries to help fight fires in the Amazon rainforest on the condition that the funds must be under the country's control. (Gulf News)
- An Air China Airbus A330 preparing to takeoff as Flight 183 catches fire during boarding at Beijing International Airport. Passengers and crew successfully evacuate, but the aircraft is severely damaged. (Simple Flying)
- A Spanish C-101 military jet crashes into the sea near La Manga, killing its pilot. (The Independent)
Law and crime
- Abortion in Missouri
- A U.S. federal judge blocks a Missouri law banning abortions eight weeks after conception from going into effect. (The Daily Beast)
- Illegal immigration to the United States
- The Donald Trump administration is in the process of shifting at least $155 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Department of Homeland Security, in order to fund the return of some migrants to Mexico. The move comes as Tropical Storm Dorian nears hurricane status as it approaches Puerto Rico. (CNN)
- Boeing 737 MAX groundings
- Russian aircraft leasing firm Avia Capital Services, which has ordered 35 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, sues Boeing in an Illinois court in the first legal action taken by a 737 MAX customer in the wake of the groundings. Avia seek damages and a cancellation of the order, claiming Boeing were fraudulent, breached their contract with Avia, and negligently introduced design flaws to the aircraft and made negligent representations to the Federal Aviation Authority seeking the plane's certification. With nearly 400 jets grounded worldwide since March, lawyers representing Avia say they are discussing the possibility of joining the litigation with other companies. (CityNews Vancouver)
- 2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot
- An appeals court in Ontario, Canada overturns the terror convictions of Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier, citing an error by the trial judge regarding jury selection. A new trial is expected to take place. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2019 Nauruan parliamentary election
- Lionel Aingimea is sworn in as the President of Nauru, replacing Baron Waqa. (Radio New Zealand)
- Poland announces a planned national budget with zero deficit for the first time in 30 years. (Yahoo! Finance)
Science and technology
- The uncrewed Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft successfully docks with the International Space Station on its second attempt, with the Zvezda module. The docking follows the failure of the automated systems aboard the Poisk module with which the spacecraft was originally intended to dock on 24 August. MS-14 carries supplies for the ISS, along with a humanoid robot named Fedor. (SpaceNews) (Space.com)
- SpaceX executes a successful test of its Starhopper vehicle at Boca Chica. The vehicle was raised 150 metres (490 feet) into the air by its methane-fueled Raptor engine. The engine is planned for use on SpaceX's Starship vehicle – a crewed spacecraft capable of interplanetary flight. (Forbes) (Los Angeles Times)
Sports
- 2019–20 in English football
- English association football club Bury F.C., who were in EFL League One, are expelled from the English Football League (EFL) after a takeover bid to save the club collapses. Fellow EFL League One club and local rivals Bolton Wanderers F.C. are given an extra 14 days to avoid being expelled due to financial difficulty. EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans calls the expulsion of Bury F.C. "one of the darkest days in the league's recent history". (BBC News)