Portal:Current events/2023 October 25

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza–Israel conflict
  • Israel–Hamas war
    • International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war
      • The UN Security Council holds an open debate, with many of the nearly 90 countries on the speakers' list calling for a ceasefire amid the increasing death toll in Gaza. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters via SCMP)
      • Draft resolutions calling for a ceasefire are being considered by both the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. (Reuters)
    • Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip
      • The Gaza Health Ministry announces that at least 704 people have died in the past day. The UN relief agency states this is "the highest fatality toll reported in a single day". (The Hill) (Al Jazeera)
      • At least 16 people are killed and several others are injured in Israeli airstrikes in areas including Jabalia, Khan Younis, and the Nuseirat refugee camp. (The Business Standard)
    • Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
      • In a televised address to the nation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he has set the date for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip with the main goals of the operation being to destroy Hamas and to rescue hostages. (Sky News)
    • Israel bans United Nations officials from visiting the country after remarks on the conflict are made by UN secretary-general António Guterres. (The Independent)
    • At least 11 people are arrested in Hebron in the West Bank following an Israeli raid. Israeli troops stormed several villages including al-Burj and al-Majd. (Al Jazeera)
• Syrian civil war
  • The Israeli Air Force launches airstrikes on "military infrastructure" of the Syrian Armed Forces in Daraa Governorate, killing eight Syrian soldiers and injuring seven others. (The Times of Israel)

Business and economy

• 2023 United Auto Workers strike
  • Ford reaches a deal with the United Auto Workers, signaling an end to the strike after 41 days. (NBC News)
• Credit rating agency S&P says that it is downgrading Israel's rating outlook to "negative" to reflect "the risk that the Israel–Hamas war could spread more widely". Fitch Ratings also places a similar negative rating on Israel. (AFP via The Straits Times)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Pacific hurricane season
  • Hurricane Otis becomes the most intense landfalling cyclone in the Eastern Pacific basin on record after making landfall near Acapulco, Mexico, and killing at least 27 people in the city, as a category 5 hurricane with 1-minute sustained winds of 165 miles per hour (266 km/h). (AP)
• Two people are killed, and more than five buildings are destroyed, as more than forty out-of-control bushfires continue to burn in the Darling Downs in Queensland, Australia. (ABC News)

Health and environment

• 2020–2023 H5N1 outbreak
  • Brazil reports the deaths of 522 seals along the coast of Rio Grande do Sul, attributing the cause to avian flu. (AFP via Phys.org)

International relations

• International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and says that Hamas is "not a terrorist organization, it is a liberation group, mujahideen waging a battle to protect its lands and people". (Reuters via Al Arabiya)
• Russia and weapons of mass destruction
  • The Russian Federation Council unanimously approves the State Duma's bill to revoke Russia's membership in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

• Israel–Hamas war
  • Violent incidents in reaction to the Israel–Hamas war
    • A man is charged with hate crimes after being accused of pepper spraying pro-Palestine protesters that gathered near an Israel solidarity event at a banquet hall in northern Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (AP)
    • US legal organization Palestine Legal says it has responded to more than 260 requests for assistance in the past two weeks, ranging from job losses to the cancellation of classes. (Al Jazeera)
• 2023 Lewiston shootings
  • Multiple shootings in Lewiston, Maine, United States, leave at least 18 people dead and dozens more injured. The suspected gunman remains at large. (CNN)

• LGBT rights in Japan
  • The Supreme Court of Japan rules that requiring sterilization as part of gender transitioning is unconstitutional, but sends its ruling on the gender-affirming surgery requirement back to a lower court. (AFP via RFI)
• Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee announces plans for Hong Kong to formulate its own national security law by 2024. (AFP via France 24)
• Surrey Police arrest British Conservative MP Crispin Blunt on suspicion of rape and possession of controlled substances, but is later released on conditional bail. The Conservative Party has suspended Blunt, who continues to sit in the House of Commons as an independent MP. (AFP via TOI)

Politics and elections

• October 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election
  • Republican Mike Johnson is elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. (AP)