Portal:Current events/2014 September 18

Current events of September 18, 2014 (2014-09-18) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Islamic State release a video purporting to be from British journalist John Cantlie as propaganda. (Reuters) The United States Senate passes a budget measure authorising President Barack Obama to equip and train moderate rebels to fight ISIL in Syria. (Washington Examiner) International relations Russian military intervention in Ukraine The President of Ukraine visits the United States to seek assistance in combating separatists in eastern Ukraine. (BBC) Health Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa The Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon announces the creation of an emergency mission to respond to the virus which has killed over 2,500 people in West Africa . (Bloomberg via Washington Post) Law and crime Australian police mount raids in the cities of Sydney and Brisbane on alleged Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant sympathisers based on intelligence claims that they were planning a public execution in Australia with fifteen people arrested. (News Limited) Eight people have been shot dead including six children in the small American town of Bell, Florida. (AAP via The Australian) Politics and elections Scottish independence referendum, 2014 Voters in Scotland go to the polls to vote on the referendum on independence. (Reuters), (The Telegraph), (BBC) German president Joachim Gauck welcomes state officials to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to address demographic change in Europe and commemorate 25 years of the Peaceful Revolution. (Official press release) Science Ultracompact dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1 is revealed to be the smallest known galaxy to have a supermassive black hole at its centre. (Washington Post via Sydney Morning Herald) Sports In cycling, Germany's Jens Voigt sets a new hour record, covering 51.115 kilometers at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Switzerland. It is the first hour record attempt since the UCI established new unified rules for such attempts. (The Guardian)