Portal:Current events/2016 October 18
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October 18, 2016 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Somalia
- Clashes between Pygmy and Bantu tribes in Tanganyika region of Democratic Republic of Congo leave 20 people dead. (Africa News)
- A gunman shoot dead a policemen in Cairo. (Al-Ahram)
Disasters and accidents
- 2016 Pacific typhoon season
- The death toll in Vietnam, from Typhoon Sarika, rises to at least 31 people. (Fox News)
- A building collapse killed one. The disaster occurred in Cairo. (Al-Ahram)
International relations
- UNESCO's executive board approves the "Occupied Palestine" resolution which reaffirms the cultural heritage of Palestine, especially East Jerusalem, and criticizes certain Israeli actions regarding the Palestinian territories. For the land in Jerusalem where the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands, the board uses only Islamic naming terms without also mentioning Jewish or Christian historical references. (AP), (BBC), (Haaretz)
- War in Donbass
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel invites the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, and France to meet tomorrow in Berlin to discuss peace efforts in eastern Ukraine. (AP), (Reuters)
Science and technology
- Applications of nanotechnology
- While attempting to create a nanotechnology-based, catalyst-mediated series of chemical reactions to turn carbon dioxide (CO
2) (a greenhouse gas) into a usable fuel, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory instead discover a single-step process using the surface area of tiny spikes of copper and carbon as a catalyst to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol (CH
3CH
2OH). The reaction may serve as a method to alleviate possible climate change by both decreasing CO
2 in the atmosphere and by using the ethanol as an additive to fuels to increase efficiency and thereby decrease consumption. (Popular Mechanics), (The Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
- While attempting to create a nanotechnology-based, catalyst-mediated series of chemical reactions to turn carbon dioxide (CO