Portal:Current events/2019 September 24

September 24, 2019 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Papua protests
- Violent protests in Papua, Indonesia, kill at least 30 people. Most casualties are in Wamena, with deaths also reported in Jayapura. Victims reportedly receive stab and arrow wounds, and others die in fires as protestors torch government buildings. (The Telegraph)

Business and economy

WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann agrees to resign as chief executive officer of the office rental firm amid investors increasing concern about the firm's true market value which has led to the company postponing its initial public offering. (BBC News) (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

A fire in the maternity ward of a hospital in El Oued, Algeria, kills eight newborn babies. (The Independent)
2019 Kashmir earthquake
- An earthquake in Azad Kashmir kills at least 37 people and wounds more than 300 others in Pakistan. The tremor hits cities including Mirpur and Islamabad. The military commences search and rescue operations. (Reuters)
Merrimack Valley gas explosions
- The National Transportation Safety Board of the United States meets to discuss a final report on the accident, including findings of cause. The explosions killed one, injured dozens, and destroyed or damaged around 100 structures. (CBS Boston)
Effects of global warming
- Italian authorities close roads in the Val Ferret valleys on Mont Blanc de Courmayeur and order evacuation of the population in the risk area beneath the Planpincieux Glacier following warnings by experts that the glacier, whose movement has accelerated to 50-60cm (16-23in) a day, could collapse. (BBC News) (Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata)
A tanker truck carrying fuel overturns after swerving to avoid a motorcycle in Bamako, Mali. A subsequent explosion kills six and seriously injures 46 more. Dozens of vehicles burn. (Reuters)

International relations

Sudanese Finance Minister Ibrahim el-Badawi says Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is to ask the World Bank for US$2 billion. Sudan has been unable to do business with either the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund because it is featured on the United States' State Sponsors of Terrorism list. The US Congress is unlikely to remove Sudan before next year, el-Badawi further announces, saying he has been told the process is complicated. (Asharq al-Awsat)

Law and crime

Luxury automaker Daimler, owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand, is fined €870 million by prosecutors in Stuttgart, Germany for its role in the diesel emissions scandal. (Reuters)
The Supreme Court of Spain rules that the body of former Caudillo Francisco Franco can be exhumed from the country's Valle de los Caídos tomb, where his body has been kept since his death in 1975. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party-led Sánchez government says it will go ahead with the exhumation following the court ruling. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

Science and technology

Microsoft issues an emergency patch for its Internet Explorer browser to close a vulnerability that allowed cybercriminals to install malware via boobytrapped websites. (BBC News)
The European Court of Justice rules in favour of United States search engine Google in a landmark right to be forgotten case, rejecting a French privacy regulator's argument that Google should apply the rules to its results and domains globally and not only within the European Union. (BBC News)