Portal:Current events/2019 August 28

August 28, 2019 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Hamas says that Tuesday night, three Palestinian police officers were killed and several wounded in two separate suicide attacks on police checkpoints. ISIL's affiliate in Gaza, the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade, are the suspected perpetrators. (BBC)
Border Police announce they have detained an unnamed man who tried to bring a pipe bomb into Samaria Military Court in Salim, Nablus, on the West Bank. (The Times of Israel)

Disasters and accidents

Three people are killed amidst heavy rains in southwestern Japan. Authorities ask almost one million people to evacuate, warning "unprecedented" levels of rainfall could cause the flooding of rivers, trigger landslides, and submerge houses. (BBC)
2018 Pretoria Convair 340 crash
- The Civil Aviation Authority of South Africa concludes its investigation with a final report indicating the accident was caused by poor maintenance and errors by unqualified pilots. (The Aviation Herald)
2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires
- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announces all Amazon-region nations except Venezuela will meet to discuss a coordinated response to the disaster. He also reiterates rejection of G7 money to assist the efforts unless French President Emmanuel Macron issues him an apology, but after meeting with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera accepts an offer of four firefighting aircraft from Chile. (BBC)
- Finland, current chair of the European Union, writes to the body's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, urging the use of the EU's "full toolkit" including foreign and trade policy to counter the use of deliberate fires as a means of deforestation in Brazil. (Bloomberg)
Hurricane Dorian
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declares a state of emergency in anticipation of Hurricane Dorian, which is expected to make landfall in the state in the upcoming days. (WOFL) (The New York Times)

Health and environment

New Zealand bans tourists from swimming with bottlenose dolphins, saying dwindling numbers are linked to excessive interaction with tourists, as the animals choose socialising with people over necessary biological functions. Authorities say the species risks "being loved into extinction". (The Independent)

International relations

Foreign relations of Tonga
- Through a spokesman, Lopeti Senituli, for the government, Tonga blames the World Bank over the situation of their schools in Tongatapu, which are still in tents 17 months after Cyclone Gita. (Radio New Zealand)

Law and crime

Mexican Drug War
- Coatzacoalcos nightclub fire
  - 28 people are killed in a bar fire in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, that police believe was caused by an attack by drug cartels. Mexican media reports that Molotov cocktails were thrown inside. (BBC)
Crime in South Africa
- Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, experiences widespread looting and violent attacks by rioters focused on foreigners. Police are currently outnumbered and many businesses have been set on fire. The riots follow the death of a taxi driver reportedly shot by Nigerian drug dealers after they realized he had seen them complete a drug deal and had also seen their supplier. Bus services are suspended and authorities say the capital is currently unsafe. (Radio 702) (ZimEye)
LGBT rights in the United States
- Forty-eight members of Congress from the Republican Party – eight from the Senate and 40 from the House of Representatives – file a joint amicus brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the Civil Rights Act does not protect LGBT+ people from discrimination. They argue the law "does not prohibit discrimination because of an individual's actions, behaviours, or inclinations". (The Independent)

Politics and elections

Science and technology

Archaeologists in Huanchaco, Peru unearth 227 sets of human remains aged between five and fourteen, and believed to be sacrificed over 500 years prior. The discovery is the largest known child sacrifice in history. (BBC)