Portal:Current events/2018 October 31

October 31, 2018 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

A 17-year-old local student, who studied at a nearby polytechnic school, detonates an explosive device inside a Federal Security Service building in Arkhangelsk, Russia, killing himself and wounding three FSB officers. The agency is Russia's primary state security agency and a successor to the KGB. (Meduza)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Boko Haram militants kill at least 15 people in a village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in northeast Nigeria. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

List of tallest statues
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils the Statue of Unity, which depicts the first Deputy Prime Minister of India, first Home Minister of India and recipient of the highest civilian award of the Republic of India, the Bharat Ratna, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The statue is located near the Narmada Dam in the Indian state of Gujarat. At 182 metres, it is the world’s tallest statue. (NDTV)

Disasters and accidents

A helicopter carrying senior Afghan National Army officials crashes, killing all 25 people on board in the western Farah Province, Afghanistan. The Taliban claims responsibility for shooting it down, however Afghan officials blame bad weather as the cause of the crash. (Al Jazeera), (Sky News)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- North Korea is set to allow inspections of its Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, which officially closed in May 2018. (The Guardian)
Denmark–Iran relations, Iran and state-sponsored terrorism
- Denmark calls on the European Union for new sanctions against Iran after Danish security services accused the Iranian intelligence service of plotting an assassination of an Iranian activist on Danish soil. Copenhagen also recalls its ambassador to Tehran. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

Blasphemy law in Pakistan
- A Pakistani court overturns the death sentence of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy. (BBC)
Killing of Jamal Khashoggi
- The Turkish chief Istanbul prosecutor İrfan Fidan’s office states that Jamal Khashoggi was, with premeditation, strangled and his body was dismembered as soon as he entered the Saudi consulate building in Istanbul. This is the first such accusation against Saudi Arabia by any Turkish official. (AP)
Legality of cannabis, Cannabis in Mexico
- A complete ban on recreational use of marijuana is ruled unconstitutional by Mexico's Supreme Court, putting the responsibility of regulating its consumption on lawmakers. (Reuters)
The Venezuelan Intelligence Agency, SEBIN, names a new director, General Manuel Cristopher, in the wake of the death of Fernando Albán. (Voice of America)
Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (July–December 2018)
- After three prominent legal analysts (Geoff Shepard, Benjamin Wittes, Jack Goldsmith, and Stephen Bates) filed separate lawsuits seeking its unsealing and Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on October 11 ordered the disclosure, the National Archives releases a set of documents from the Watergate investigation as a possible "road map" for the Mueller probe, including a would-be indictment against former president Richard Nixon. (CNN), (The Washington Post)