Portal:Current events/2012 September 19

Current events of September 19, 2012 (2012-09-19) (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian civil war: Syrian opposition forces facilitate infiltration from Turkey by seizing control of a border crossing in the province of Ar-Raqqah. (The Washington Post) A car bomb targeting a van belonging to the Pakistan Air Force explodes in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least nine people and wounding up to 20 others. (BBC) Business and economy Teachers go back to work in Chicago after the union leadership votes to suspend its strike while the membership reviews a tentative pact with mayor Rahm Emanuel. (Los Angeles Times) The Czech Republic temporarily imposes a ban on hard liquor after a spate of deaths related to bootleg hard alcohol poisoning. (Los Angeles Times) Environment and health The cabinet of Yoshihiko Noda reverses a pledge made by the Japanese government earlier in the week to end reliance on nuclear power by the 2030s. (Kyodo News and Jiji Press via The Japan Times) International relations Senkaku Islands dispute: A man turns himself in to police after throwing smoke bombs into the premises of the Chinese Consulate General in Fukuoka, Japan. (Jiji Press via Yomiuri Shimbun) Police in Hong Kong arrest a man accused of attacking a Japanese couple near the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade on Monday. (Kyodo News via The Japan Times) China's Xi Jinping denounces Japan's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands as a "farce" and that Tokyo should "rein in its behavior." (Reuters via Asahi Shimbun) (Jiji Press) Demonstrators in Taipei gather before Taiwan's Legislative Yuan building chanting anti-Japanese slogans and burning Japanese flags. (Jiji Press via The Japan Times) Protesters in Beijing surround a car transporting US ambassador to China Gary Locke and attack it as it tried to make its way into the gate of the Japanese embassy. (Los Angeles Times) Beijing informs its citizens via mass-text messages that it has imposed a ban on any further anti-Japan protests. (Yomiuri Shimbun) Over 700 Chinese fishing vessels are operating in the contiguous zone surrounding Japan-controlled waters around the Senkaku Islands. The Japan Coast Guard is monitoring the situation. (Kyodo News via The Japan Times) Politics The US Justice Department's inspector general finds that the agency's Operation Fast and Furious created a "significant danger to public safety". The investigation also finds that Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. had no prior knowledge of the operation. (Los Angeles Times)