At least eight Azeri soldiers are killed following clashes with Armenian troops on the border and near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan said Armenia had also suffered losses, although it did not provide any details. (Yahoo! News)
A 72-hour ceasefire brokered by the UN and United States which began at 08:00 falls apart with each side accusing the other party of breaching the ceasefire. An Israeli soldier is kidnapped and several killed during a suicide bomber attack at 09:30, according to Israeli officials. Ninety-one Palestinians were killed in the city of Rafah south of Gaza according to the Gaza Officials since the Israeli soldier was captured. The UN and USA strongly condemn the attack. The ceasefire was cancelled. (Times of Israel)(Global Post)
Disgraced Australian former entertainer Rolf Harris has applied for permission to appeal against his conviction for indecent assault. Eighty-four-year-old Harris was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in prison in July on 12 counts of indecent assault against four girls between 1968 and 1986. (BBC News)
Five more Azeri troops are killed in overnight fighting with ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. The casualties bring the death toll to at least 13 in a flare-up of violence over the last few days around Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia has said that any further escalation is unacceptable. (Reuters)
Israel Defense Forces declare that the Israeli soldier previously believed to have been captured by Hamas fighters in Rafah had in fact been killed in battle that day and his body taken. (CBC)
At least 68 people were killed and more than 180 injured in an early morning explosion at a factory near Shanghai that makes automobile parts for General Motors. The factory produces aluminum alloy tire rims. (LA Times)
The pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, who are now in great danger of being encircled by the Ukraine government forces, renew their calls for Russia to send troops and arms to their aid. (AP via Guardian)
A UNRWA-run school in Rafah is hit by an Israeli air strike. At least seven people are thought to have been killed, and at least 30 injured. (The Guardian). UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemns in strong terms the attack as 'moral outrage and criminal act'. (UN News Centre)
The Islamic State seizes the Yazidi-dominated town of Sinjar. (BBC News) It also seized control of the Mosul Dam, which is Iraq's biggest dam, the Ain Zalah oil field, and two more towns. (Reuters)
Ukrainian government forces recapture control of Yasynuvata from pro-Russian insurgents; government troops have now all but encircled the rebels' second-largest stronghold of Luhansk, and rebels declared a "state of siege" in Donetsk. (Reuters)
The Ukrainian military urges residents of Donetsk to evacuate amid reports of "increased rebel attacks" on civilians and to clear the way for government troops to advance on one of the insurgency’s biggest stronghold. (Washington Post)
A Palestinian drives a tractor down a crowded street into a bus in Jerusalem killing one and injuring six before being shot dead by a police officer. (Times Of Israel)
A Palestinian shoots and critically injures an Israeli soldier in Jerusalem and escapes on a motorcycle hours after a trailer terrorist attack. (Times of Israel)
The death toll from an explosion at an auto parts factory on Saturday in the Chinese city of Kunshan rises to 75 with investigators blaming faulty safety measures. (AP via Daily Mail)
Rescuers in Nepal find another two victims of Saturday's landslides bringing the official death toll to ten with none of 159 people missing expected to be found alive. (AP via The Buffalo News)
The Russian consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, adds Kentucky Gentleman to a growing list of imports banned, saying that this Bourbon whiskey includes "additives that can cause functional and eventually organic changes in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the endocrine system, as well as cause cancer and problems with infertility in men and women." (Los Angeles Times)
Renowned Japanese scientist Yoshiki Sasai commits suicide, after the discrediting of certain experimental results he supervised, regarding stem cells. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabia grants Lebanon US$1 billion to help the country in its conflict with self-declared jihadist fighters on the border with Syria. (Al Jazeera)
Russia bans all United States agricultural products, European Union fruit and vegetable imports in response to Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukrainian crisis. (RT)(BBC News)
Officials in Karamay in Xinjiang, western China, places a temporary ban on Islamic headscarves, clothing and those with beards from using public transport, following violence in the region. (BBC News)
Two medical students Neil Dalton, 23 and Aidan Brunger completing their exchange from Newcastle University to a hospital in Malaysian Borneo were murdered after four men followed them after an argument over singing in a bar and stabbed them from behind. (The Telegraph)
Hamas rejects the continuation of a 72-hour ceasefire and has shot over 60 rockets since 8:00 into southern Israel. Israel launches air strikes in response. (AP)(CNN)
Ukraine’s government picks 172 individuals and 65 companies that will face sanctions for "support and financing of terrorism" or responsible for crimes on country’s territory during the pro-Russian unrest. (Kyiv Post)
The Italian senate votes in favor of a dramatic reduction of its own size and powers to challenge laws proposed in the lower house, and for turning itself into an unelected body. (BBC)
Rebel commander Igor Girkin confirms that Ukrainian government forces have recaptured control of the strategic town of Krasnyi Luch from pro-Russian insurgents, effectively closing in the Donetsk People's Republic rebellion. (BBC)
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev declares a ‘state of war’ with Armenia on Twitter saying “We are not living in peace, we are living in a state of war". (The Independent)
Five artillery shells fired by Ukrainian government forces hit a high-security prison in outskirts of Donetsk, sparking a riot in which 106 inmates escape; the shelling also resulted in the death of one prisoner and the injury of five other prisoners and two guards. (BBC)
The Foreign Press Association issues a statement condemning Hamas for intimidation and censorship and not allowing an objective reporting of events. (YNet)
Business and economy
The Natural Development and Reform Commission, an economic planning agency of the People's Republic of China, announces an increase in the price of natural gas sold to non-residential buyers. (Dow Jones)
Associated Press journalist Simone Camilli, a freelance translator and four Gaza police officers are killed when police tried to defuse unexploded ordnance. (AP)
Two hours before the end of a 72-hour ceasefire, rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel. One rocket landed in Egypt and one child died and several were injured. Despite the violations, the cease-fire has been extended. (The Daily Mail)
An interview with Fatah militants in the Gaza Strip was aired on Lebanon TV in which they claim to be planning a "high profile" attack and claim to be moving rockets in order to be fired into Israel. (Memri)
In the Philippines a southbound MRT Line 3 train heading to Taft Avenue station derailed and overshot to the streets. The train first stopped after leaving Magallanes station due to a technical problem. Later on, the train broke down altogether, so another train was used to push the stalled train. During this process, however, the first train got detached from the rails and overshot towards Taft Avenue, breaking the concrete barriers and falling to the street below. At least 38 people were injured. The accident was blamed on two train drivers and two control personnel for failing to follow the proper coordination procedures and protoco. (Rappler)
Igor Girkin, a Russian citizen from Moscow and military commander of the Donetsk People's Republic rebellion, resigns, making it the third change at top of the rebel leadership of the past week. (Reuters)
PresidentObama announces that U.S airstrikes broke the IS siege of Mount Sinjar, allowing thousands of Yazidi refugees to escape, and declares plans for further airstrikes against IS forces. (BBC)
A column of at least 23 Russian armoured vehicles and military trucks crosses the border from Russia into Ukraine, in the first confirmed sighting of such an incident by Western journalists. (Daily Telegraph)
An Egyptian newspaper leaks the proposed plan for a long lasting truce compromising 11 articles which is now being reviewed by both sides. (Times of Israel)
Arts and culture
A ceremony is held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal. (BBC)
Protesters loot an Ebola quarantine centre in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, resulting in the escape of 17 patients and the theft of blood-stained bedding and medical equipment. (BBC)
Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardene plays his final test innings for Sri Lanka, scoring 54. Upon retirement, he has a total of 11814 test runs, and is 6th on the all time run-scorer's list. (BBC)
Ukrainian forces say they recapture control of Mala Ivanivka and Andrianivka from pro-Russian insurgents, effectively isolating the rebel controlled city of Horlivka. (Reuters)
An American volunteer in the Donbas Battalion, identified only under his nom de guerre of "Franko", becomes the first officially acknowledged foreign casualty on the Ukrainian side of the military conflict against pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine. (Kyiv Post)
Ukrainian government forces enter the center of Stanytsia-Luhanska after having recaptured full control of a strategically important section of the M-04 highway near Luhansk from pro-Russian insurgents. (Interfax)
Hours before the expiration of the latest cease-fire Hamas claims responsibility for firing over 29 rockets into Israel reaching Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel responds with airstrikes as the peace talks break down. (CNN)
In response to rocket fire six hours before the end of a cease-fire, Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians including the wife and infant son of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif - the first deaths in a week - while Hamas launches over 130 missiles at Israel during the day. This is the 11th cease-fire broken by rocket fire from Hamas. (BBC), (AP via Fox News)(Reuters)[permanent dead link]
The Syrian opposition accuses the Syrian army of launching a chemical attack on the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus, killing at least six people. (Arabnews)
36 people are killed by landslides in Hiroshima, Japan, after a night of heavy rain. (Reuters)
International relations
The governments of Romania and Hungary sign a framework agreement for opening 20 cross-border roads, strengthening traffic links with the entire European Union. (Nine O'Clock)
The internationally-acclaimed environmental campaigner Marina Silva replaces Eduardo Campos, who died in a plane crash on August 13, as the presidential candidate of the Brazilian Socialist Party, with polls suggesting she could surpass Aecio Neves in the first round and current president Dilma Rousseff in the second. (BBC)
At least 18 people are executed in public by Hamas after being accused of "collaborating" with Israel. Al Majd, a Hamas website, warns that future suspects will be dealt with "in the field" rather than the courts. (AP),(NY Times)
A 4-year-old boy is killed in a mortar attack on a southern Israeli village near the Gaza border; Israeli Prime MinisterNetanyahu vows that military operations will "intensify" because of his death. The IDF claims the mortar was fired from a school used as a shelter by Hamas. (BBC)(Times of Israel)
Russian aid convoys enter eastern Ukraine without permission from the Ukrainian government, sparking condemnation from the US, the EU, and NATO, and prompting the UN to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the action. No other country sent humanitarian aid to the region. (BBC)
Four additional Palestinians charged with collaborating with Israel are publicly executed outside of the Jabaliarefugee camp by Hamas; the killings are denounced by the secretary-general of the PA, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, who compared them to ISIS. (Times of Israel)
The IDF retracts claims that the mortar shell that killed an Israeli child was fired near or from a school run by UNRWA, saying that the shell was fired from a school used as a shelter run by Hamas. (The Guardian)
The UN calls for action to prevent what it suspects may become a massacre in the northern Iraqi town of Amirli, which has been besieged by IS forces since June. (BBC)
Iceland issues a red alert warning for the Bárðarbunga volcano meaning significant emissions are likely. (BBC)
A oil tanker carrying 5,000 liters of oil explodes while docking at the Lach Bang port, Thanh Hoa, Viet Nam killing two people and injuring four others. The fire is ignited either in the oil compartments or from the cooking gas cylinder. (Thanh Nien News)
After more than 18 months of requests, Turkey comes under heavy international pressure to secure its borders to the influx of foreign fighters, oil, and weapons crossing into Syria to fight for ISIS. ISIS fighters have been moving towards the Turkey-Syria border using armored cars looted from Iraqi military bases. (The Guardian)
Four Arab-Israeli taxi drivers are injured, two seriously, after they came under mortar and rocket attack at the Erez border crossing while waiting to transport critically injured Palestinians for treatment at Israeli hospitals. (Times of Israel)
An Israeli airstrike levels a seven story apartment building in Gaza, injuring 20 people and displacing over 40 families. Due to warnings by the IDF to evacuate the building, there were no fatalities in the strike. (Fox News)
The Palestinian Authority confirms earlier reports that Fatah activists were shot in the legs and arms after being placed under house arrest by Hamas. Hamas alleges the attacks were carried out by members acting on their own. (Jerusalem Post)
During an interview with Iranian TV, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, rejects resuming negotiations for a cease-fire while saying resistance is the only way of achieving demands. (Times of Israel)
Association footballerAlbert Ebossé dies after being struck by a projectile thrown by a fan just hours after a matchup between his home team JS Kabylie and USM Alger. The match ended in a 2-1 defeat and the Cameroonian died of head injury due to the strike. He was aged 24. (The Guardian)
Ukrainian forces say they managed to stop a larger part of a convoy of around 50 armoured vehicles, which entered Ukraine from the border with Russia near Novoazovsk. ('Reuters)
On the 50th day of the conflict, an internationally supported long-term truce is reached where the borders of Gaza, Egypt, and Israel are opened for humanitarian and reconstruction supplies and the Gaza fishing zone is extended to 6 km. Other issues such as an airport/seaport and the Israeli demand for demilitarization will be negotiated within a month. (Times of Israel)
Two high-ranking officials in China's Shanxi province, Chen Chuanping and Nie Chunyu, are placed under a corruption investigation by Chinese Communist Party authorities. Chen Chuanping was the CPC party chief of Taiyuan, the provincial capital. The president of China Resources Power, Wang Yujun, is also detained. (Bloomberg)(SCMP)
Klaus Wowereit makes it official that he will resign as the mayor of Berlin on 11 December, after having held the post for nearly 14 years, making him Germany's current longest-serving head of a state government. (Deutsche Welle)
Russian journalists say they have been attacked at a cemetery in Pskov while investigating reports that Russian soldiers were secretly buried after being killed in Ukraine. (BBC)
The US government confirms that an American man believed to have been fighting alongside Islamist militants in Syria has been killed; the total number of Americans killed while taking part in the civil war rises to three. (BBC)
Syrian rebels take over the border Quneitra crossing between Israel and Syria after heavy fighting. Mortar rounds and rockets were launched into Israel. One IDF soldier is wounded by a bullet just days after rocket attacks from Lebanon. (Times of Israel)
The UN Refugee Agency announces that over 2000 migrants from Africa and the Middle East have drowned this year while trying to reach Europe by boat, a record number. (Reuters)
The NATO officials state more than 1,000 Russian troops are operating in Ukraine as more air-defence systems, artillery, tanks and armoured personnel carriers are being delivered to pro-Russian insurgents. (Financial Times)
Russian troops capture the key town of Novoazovsk, opening a new front that threatens to encircle and capture the port city of Mariupol. (Washington Post)
Sound supervisor Bryce Dion is accidentally shot and killed by police after being caught in the crossfire while working to film an episode for the reality series Cops. (New York Times)
Malaysian Airlines announces plans to lay off 6000 staff as a result of a restructuring following the loss of two aircraft in disasters this year. (Bloomberg)
An explosion in an apartment building in the Paris suburb of Rosny-sous-Bois results in four deaths, 11 people injured and five unaccounted for. (AFP via SBS)
