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Portal:Current events/2015 October 26

{{Current events|year=2015|month=10|day=26|content=

;Armed conflicts and attacks

;Business

  • MTN Group is fined $5.2 billion by the Nigerian Communications Commission for failing to disconnect non-registered SIM cards. [https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34638595 (BBC)]
  • Toyota is once again the world's largest carmaker with 7.5 million units sold thus far in 2015, compared to Volkswagen's 7.43 million and General Motors' 7.2 million. [https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34635468 (BBC)]
  • Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone announced it would buy US auto parts retailer Pep Boys for $835 million. [https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/26/deals-day-idUSL3N12Q3NW20151026 (Reuters)]
  • Duke Energy announced it would buy Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 billion. [https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/26/deals-day-idUSL3N12Q3NW20151026 (Reuters)]
  • USAA, one of the largest financial services companies in the U.S., announced the ending of its long-term relationship with MasterCard. The tenth-largest credit card issuer in the U.S. will replace the old credit cards with Visa cards next year. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/usaa-switching-credit-debit-cards-to-visa-from-mastercard-1445723841 (WSJ)]

;Disasters and accidents

  • 2015 Hindu Kush earthquake
  • An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Moment magnitude scale (MMS) strikes in the Hindu Kush mountain range in northeastern Afghanistan, 158 miles from Kabul, in the remote province of Badakhshan, one of Afghanistan’s most inaccessible regions. Tremors reached as far as New Delhi, India. At least 263 are dead in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan with more than 1,000 injured. The death toll will likely climb since communications in much of the affected areas are cut, and rescue teams had not yet reached districts closest to the epicenter, including some that are controlled by Taliban insurgents. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34636269 (BBC)] [https://web.archive.org/web/20151028154638/http://www.financialexpress.com/article/miscellaneous/earthquake-hits-delhi/156913/ (Financial Express)] [https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us10003re5#general_summary (USGS)] [http://www.dawn.com/news/1215519/75-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-pakistan-at-least-31-dead (Dawn)] [https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/26/earthquake-afghanistan-idUSL3N12Q3C520151026 (Reuters)] [http://www.latimes.com/world/afghanistan-pakistan/la-fg-afghan-earthquake-20151026-story.html (L.A. Times)] [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f92c69a9afaa45c698d9b3892a02996f/latest-strong-afghan-earthquake-felt-across-south-asia (AP)]

;International relations

;Law and crime

;Politics and elections

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a review of the status of certain Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu says he is considering revoking residency status for Palestinians living there, according to Israel's Channel 2. [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b24e25763d514433b461f5fe88e758de/israeli-army-palestinian-stabs-israeli-shot-dead (AP)] [http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/10/26/Netanyahu-Revoke-residency-for-East-Jerusalem-Arabs/7011445874640/?spt=hs&or=tn_int (UPI)]
  • Gun politics in the United States
  • Leaders of nine national law enforcement groups, at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Chicago, Illinois, call on federal lawmakers to strengthen background checks on gun purchases. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/10/26/polaice-chiefs-renew-push-for-expanded-background-checks-guns/74650146/ (USA Today)] [https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-usa-guns-police-idUSKCN0SK2RR20151027 (Reuters)]
  • In the United Kingdom, the unelected House of Lords, Parliament’s upper house, delays by three years reductions in tax credits paid to working people that would have cost affected families an average of £1,300 ($2,000) a year. This is the first major setback for George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, since the general election. Osborne said the government will "lessen" the impact of tax credit cuts for those affected, while vowing to press on with changes designed to save billions from welfare. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-26/u-k-lords-vote-to-delay-osborne-s-welfare-cuts-for-parents (Bloomberg)] [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-34644262 (BBC)]

;Science

  • A new study by scientists finds that areas around the Persian Gulf could become uninhabitable to humans in less than 100 years due to rising temperatures. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/globalwarming/11956627/Persian-Gulf-could-be-too-hot-for-humans-by-2100.html (The Telegraph)]

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