Thursday, Nov 2, 2017
Trump expected to name Jerome Powell as Fed chair Thursday President Trump is expected to name Federal Reserve board governor Jerome Powell as the next chair of the U.S. central bank on Thursday. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s term expires in February 2018. Powell is largely considered to be a safe pick that “signal[s] continuity with the current low-interest rate environment and take-it-slow approach that Yellen has overseen,” Business Insider writes. Whoever Yellen’s successor, economists warn that the job ahead won’t be easy, as rate hikes could potentially swing the economy back into a recession if they keep inflation below the target. “Tightening too slowly could stoke asset values even further, creating trouble down the road,” Bloombergwrites. “Powell, and Trump by association, will own the outcome.” Source: Business Insider, Bloomberg
Wednesday, Nov 1, 2017
A Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a market in Sahar District in Yemen’s northern Saada Governorate, which is under Houthi control, kills at least 26 people, according to medics and local officials. (Reuters)
Citing “inappropriate behavior”, Michael Oreskes resigns from his position as senior vice president of news at NPR after three journalists accuse him of sexual harassment. (CNN)
Shinzō Abe is officially reinstated as Prime Minister of Japan following the election on 22 October 2017. (Reuters)
France declares the end of the country’s state of emergency which was enforced as a reaction to the November 2015 Paris attacks. The state of emergency gets replaced with a new counterterrorism law signed by President Emmanuel Macron. (The Independent)
Michael Fallon resigns as the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defence amid controversy over reports he touched a female journalist inappropriately in 2002. (BBC)
In baseball, the Houston Astros defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5–1 in the seventh and deciding game of the World Series. It is the first World Series title for the Astros, who had lost 111 games just four seasons earlier. The Astros’ George Springer, who set records for most extra-base hits (8) and total bases (29) in a single World Series, and tied the record for most home runs in a single World Series (5), is named series MVP. (CNN) (CBS Sports)
Tuesday, Oct 31, 2017
Eight people are killed and at least 11 others injured when a man in a rented pickup truck drives down a bike path along the West Side Highway in Lower Manhattan. The 29-year-old suspect, later identified as Uzbekistani immigrant Sayfullo Saipov, is shot and taken into custody by police. Police are treating this incident as an act of terrorism. (New York Post) (AP) (UPI) (NBC News)
A tunnel under construction at North Korea’s nuclear test site collapses, killing as many as 200 workers. (Yonhap News Agency)
A car accident on highway 400 involving 14 vehicles, including two tanker trucks, results in three deaths near Barrie, Ontario. Police suspect distracted driving to be the cause. (CBC)
U.S. senators question lawyers representing Facebook, Twitter and Google about Russian activity on their platforms during the 2016 United States presidential election. (BBC)
A Minotaur-C rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and deploys 10 commercial Earth-imaging satellites for Planet Labs. It is the first successful mission for the Minotaur-C, formerly known as Taurus, since 2004. (Spaceflight 101)
Monday, Oct 30, 2017
The IDF destroys a partly-completed tunnel from the Gaza Strip border near the town of Khan Yunis that crossed into Israeli territory, killing seven Hamas militants. Several more died in the rescue efforts. (Reuters)
A U.N. and Syrian Arab Red Crescent interagency convoy brings food and medical aid to 40,000 people on the verge of starvation in the towns of Kafr Batnaand Saqba in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus for the first time since June 2016. (Reuters)
Paul Manafort and Rick Gates surrender to the FBI after both are indicted on multiple charges stemming from the investigation into the Donald Trump presidential campaign’s possible associations with the Russian government. The two men—who respectively served as manager and deputy manager of the campaign from March to August 2016—are being charged on twelve counts, which include conspiracy against the U.S., money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents. (USA Today)
George Papadopoulos, who worked as a foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, is also revealed to have plead guilty on October 5 to making false statements to FBI agents about contacts that he had with the Russian government during the campaign. (Los Angeles Times)
Tony Podesta, brother of John Podesta, resigns from the Podesta Group lobbying firm. A spokesperson for the group says they are cooperating with the Special Counsel’s team. (Reuters)
Starting in 2018, women will be allowed to attend sports events in stadiums in Saudi Arabia for the first time in the country’s history, officials say. (BBC)
Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere surged by a record amount in 2016, according to the World Meteorological Organization. (BBC)
In coordination with Libya’s internationally recognized government, American special operations forces and FBI agents capture Mustafa al-Imam, a militant who allegedly was involved in theArchives from Hewlett-Packard founders William Hewlett and David Packard are among those destroyed by fires in a Santa Rosa neighborhood. (Quartz)
Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq since 2005, announces that he will step down after November 1. The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament now has to redistribute the authorities of the presidency. (AFP via SBS)
After a first-lap collision and a ninth-place finish in the Mexican Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton becomes the fifth driver to win four FIA Formula One World Championship titles. (The Guardian)
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