Portal:Current events/2013 September 27

Current events of September 27, 2013 (2013-09-27) (Friday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • United Nations inspectors are investigating three alleged instances of use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war since the Ghouta chemical attack on 21 August. (BBC)
• Bahraini uprising (2011–present):
  • Tens of thousands march in Bahrain in the largest anti-government protest in months. (ABC News)
• Sudanese protests (2011–present):
  • Police fire teargas to disperse thousands of demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with the death toll of this week's unrest believed to have reached 50. (Reuters)
• Bombs targeting two Sunni mosques in Baghdad, Iraq, kill seven people. (AP via Vancouver Sun)
• A bomb detonates on a crowded bus north of Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 19 government employees and injuring 45. (The Telegraph)

Disasters and accidents

• A ship capsizes off the island of Java carrying refugees from Indonesia to Australia. Thirty people are missing and 22 bodies have been recovered, with 31 survivors rescued. (ABC News Australia)
• The Japan Coast Guard is searching for six missing sailors after the Japanese cargo ship Eifukumaru No.18 capsizes after a collision with a Sierra Leone-registered ship off the coast of Izu Ōshima island. (AFP via France 24)
• A building collapses in the Indian city of Mumbai, with at least three people killed and dozens trapped. (Sky News) (CNN)
• Pakistan earthquake:
  • Officials in Pakistan make a plea to separatist militants in Balochistan province to cease operations so that search and rescue can occur for victims of this week's earthquake. (BBC)
  • More than 100,000 people have been left homeless by the earthquake. (Al-Jazeera)

International relations

• The first part of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is released in Stockholm, Sweden. (Radio National ABC Australia)
• Iran-United States relations:
  • Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during P5+1 and Iran talks, the highest-level direct contact between the United States and Iran in six years. (Yahoo! News)
  • President Barack Obama reveals he talked with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, marking the first time leaders from the U.S. and Iran have directly communicated since the Iranian revolution. (NBC News) (Fox News)

Law and crime

• French police arrest six people in Paris over their suspected involvement in an attempt to steal 1.6 million euros worth of gold bars from an Air France plane on September 19. (Yahoo! News)

Sport

• In golf, Tiger Woods is named as the PGA TOUR's Player of the Year for a record 11th time. (Reuters)
• In swimming, retired Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit is awarded an honorary MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) (SAPA via News24)