Portal:Current events/2018 August 31

August 31, 2018 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass
- The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, is killed in a blast at a café in Donetsk. (BBC)
2018 Amsterdam stabbing attack
- Two U.S. citizens are seriously wounded after a knife attack in Amsterdam Centraal station. The attacker was shot and wounded by the police. (The Telegraph)

Arts and culture

Catholic bishops in Australia reject a recommendation from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that would force priests by law to report abuse to the police when they hear about it in confession. (Reuters)

Business and economy

The Coca-Cola Company agrees to buy British multinational coffeehouse Costa Coffee for £3.9 billion. (BBC)

International relations

Ahead of an expected U.S. announcement that it will cut all aid to the UNRWA, which supports more than 5 million registered Palestinian refugees, Germany calls on European Union states to help bridge the expected US$217 million deficit. Yesterday, Jordan made a similar appeal to the Arab League. (Ynetnews)
The President of the unrecognized Republic of Transnistria, Vadim Krasnoselsky, announces a visit to Moldovan President Igor Dodon for talks on 6 September. (TASS)
Crisis in Venezuela
- The European Union announces an aid package of €35 million ($40.6 million) for Venezuelans, both inside the country and for those displaced in neighbouring countries. (Yahoo News)

Law and crime

A court in Cambodia sentences Australian film director James Ricketson to six years in prison after he was found guilty of espionage for flying a drone at a Cambodia National Rescue Party rally. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Summer Time in Europe
- The European Commission is proposing to end the practice of adjusting clocks by an hour in spring and autumn after a survey found most Europeans opposed it. The Commission proposal requires support from the 28 national governments and MEPs to become law. (BBC)
Government of Jimmy Morales
- Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announces that he will not renew the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and orders the immediate transfer of functions to the Public Ministry and the Ministry of the Interior. The mandate of the UN anti-corruption commission ends on September 3, 2019. (Reuters)
- President Morales deploys the armed forces near the headquarters of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala. (ABC News)
- The third impeachment against President Jimmy Morales for illicit electoral financing during his electoral campaign in 2015, is discussed in the Congress. It is the third impeachment that was requested by the Attorney General and the CICIG. (Insight Crime)
Brazilian general election, 2018
- The Superior Electoral Court of Brazil rules that former President and Workers' Party (PT) presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cannot run in the election because he does not qualify under the Clean Slate law. The Court also ruled that PT cannot run political ads featuring Lula. (The New York Times)

Science and technology

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