Portal:Current events/2012 October 1

October 1, 2012 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

African Union troops enter the Somali port town of Kismayo following the withdrawal of Al-Shabaab Islamist militants during the Battle of Kismayo. (BBC)
Syrian Civil War: Syrian government forces shell areas of eastern Damascus - a stronghold of rebel forces. (Al Jazeera)
War in Afghanistan: A suicide bombing in the eastern Afghan city of Khost kills three NATO soldiers and 16 Afghan police officers and civilians. (BBC) (New York Times)
2011–present Libyan factional fighting: Chairman of the General National Congress Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf says that al-Qaeda elements, who fought alongside the rebels in the Libyan Civil War, number "up to 200" in Libya now. (Al-Hayat)

Arts and culture

Eric Hobsbawm, one of the leading historians of the 20th century, dies at the Royal Free Hospital in London at the age of 95. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

At least 36 people are killed in a ferry collision off the coast of Hong Kong. (RTHK) (CNN)

Law and crime

A court in Bahrain upholds the jail sentences of nine medics convicted for their role in the country's uprising. (Reuters)
The appeal hearing in the Russian band Pussy Riot's case is delayed after one member of the group fired their lawyer. (RIA Novosti)
Chinese authorities close down the firm handling dissident artist Ai Weiwei's affairs, possibly saving him from paying the remainder of a 15 million yuan tax fine. (The Guardian)
California becomes the first U.S. state to forbid "conversion therapy" for minors, effective January 1st, 2013. (Fox News)

Politics and elections

Colombia's president Juan Manuel Santos announces that he has prostate cancer and will undergo surgery on Wednesday. He said his condition is unlikely to derail the upcoming peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). (Yahoo! News)
Mikheil Saakashvili's ruling United National Movement party and Bidzina Ivanishvili's new party Georgian Dream are expected to be the main contenders in the Georgian parliamentary elections. (RIA Novosti) (Radio Free Europe)
In Japan, Koriki Jojima is appointed as the new finance minister and Seiji Maehara as the new minister of national strategy and economic policy. (Financial Times)
Palestinian footballer Mahmoud Sarsak turns down an FC Barcelona offer to attend an El Clásico game, after Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been held captive in Gaza for five years, is also invited. A Hamas spokesperson asked the media not to broadcast the game. (Daily Star)
Mohamed Nasheed, the former president of the Maldives, fails to appear in court and departs on tour for his party. Vice-president Mohammed Waheed Deen, opening an academic conference in Malé, says a nation can achieve democracy by the teachers imparting the relevant information. (Haveeru) (Haveeru)