Top News Stories –

Vanuatu president’s anger as stand-in pardons himself –
The president of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has expressed his anger after his deputy pardoned himself and 13 other convicts while he was out of the country. Speaker Marcellino Pipite was one of 14 MPs – half of the country’s parliament – who were convicted last Friday of giving and receiving corrupt payments over a vote of no confidence in a previous government. With President Baldwin Lonsdale out of the country on Saturday, Pipite used his delegated powers to gazette a pardon for himself and his fellow defendants. Vanuatu’s constitution allows the speaker to assume presidential powers in the absence of the head of the republic, including the power of pardon. [BBC]

Aerosmith To Donald Trump: Stop Using Our Song –
Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has asked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to stop using the band’s power ballad Dream On at campaign events. Attorneys for Tyler have sent a second cease-and-desist letter to Mr Trump’s campaign committee, saying he does “not have our client’s permission to use Dream On or any of Tyler’s other songs”. The letter adds that it “gives the false impression that he is connected with or endorses Mr Trump’s presidential bid”. Tyler, a registered Republican, went to the GOP contenders’ first debate in August. Attorney Dina LaPolt said in a statement that the letter is not a “political” or “personal issue with Mr Trump”, but one of permission and copyright. [Sky News]
Steven Tyler

Video of the Day –

INPUT/OUTPUT from Terri Timely on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Aerosmith Studio Album discography

• Aerosmith (1973)
• Get Your Wings (1974)
• Toys in the Attic (1975)
• Rocks (1976)
• Draw the Line (1977)
• Night in the Ruts (1979)
• Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
• Done with Mirrors (1985)
• Permanent Vacation (1987)
• Pump (1989)
• Get a Grip (1993)
• Nine Lives (1997)
• Just Push Play (2001)
• Honkin’ On Bobo (2004)
• Music from Another Dimension! (2012)

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas weapons facilities in the Gaza Strip result in an explosion that collapsed a nearby house, killing a 30-year old pregnant Palestinian woman and her two-year old daughter. Four others were wounded, including the woman’s husband and son, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said the airstrike was in response to Saturday’s pair of rocket launches from Gaza at Israel, as well as two large riots that succeeded in breaching the border fence. (Reuters) (AP via New York Times) (AFP via New Indian Express)
  • Israeli traffic police stop a Palestinian woman transporting a small car bomb within Israeli territory near Jerusalem. She detonates the bomb, lightly wounding a police officer and critically wounding herself. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (AFP via NDTV)
• War in Afghanistan (2015–present)
  • A suicide bomber targets a foreign forces convoy in the Joy Shir area of Kabul. Taliban insurgents claim responsibility. A statement from Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry reported at least three civilians were wounded. There are no report of casualties among the foreign forces. (AFP via Times of India) (Reuters)
  • Five members of the NATO-led coalition die and five others are injured in a non-combat helicopter crash in Kabul. The Associated Press reported the chopper collided with a monitoring balloon on landing. Nationalities weren’t identified by NATO’sResolute Support; the British said two were Royal Air Force personnel. (BBC) (CNN) (USA Today)
• Syrian Civil War
  • Following Russian airstrikes, the Syrian army and allied Lebanese Hezbollah militia take control of a highland area in Idlib province close to insurgent-held positions, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Reuters) (Malaysian Insider)
• Boko Haram insurgency in Cameroon
  • At least eight people are killed following a suicide bomb attack in northern Cameroon‘s Sangueleri region near the Nigerian border. Boko Haram have previously carried out attacks in the region. (Business Standard)
• Turkey–PKK conflict
  • The Turkish Air Force launches a wave of airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Turkish security officials have also rejected a PKK ceasefire declared on Saturday shortly after the bombings in Ankara, saying “The PKK ceasefire means nothing for us. The operations will continue without a break”. (Reuters)
  • Thousands gather in Ankara to pay their respects to those killed in Saturday’s peace rally bombings. Marches and sit-ins protesting the attack were also held in Istanbul. No group has claimed responsibility. Turkey’s already polarized political parties traded accusations of responsibility for the attack. National elections are still scheduled for November 1, 2015. (Los Angeles Times) (The Guardian) (CNN)
• Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
  • Iraq’s military reports bombing a convoy possibly carrying Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The group was headed to a meeting in the western Al Anbar Governorate, close to the Syrian border. Eight senior ISIS figures were killed, but al-Baghdadi did not appear to be among them according to Iraqi officials. (Reuters) (New York Daily News)
• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • An Arab coalition airstrike on a prison in Yemen‘s central Al Bayda Governorate, reportedly kills 20 prisoners. The prison which held more than 100 prisoners was controlled by the Houthis. (Yahoo)

International relations

• South Africa plans to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the government faces criticism for, earlier this year, ignoring a court order to arrest Sudan’s president. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Iranian Students News Agency reports an undisclosed verdict has been reached in the espionage case of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been held by Iran for more than 14 months. The final closed door hearing on Rezaian’s case was on August 10, 2015. By not disclosing details, the Post stated that it seems Tehran could be working a political angle. Last month at the UN, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told journalists he would welcome quicker steps on mutual prisoner releases.(Washington Post) (Christian Science Monitor) (Reuters)
• A shooting at a house in Omeath, County Louth in the Republic of Ireland leaves two men dead, including an on-duty police officer. (BBC)
• A 15-hour protest about police-related deaths, in Thalang on Thailand’s Phuket Island in the Andaman Sea, turned into a riot when the crowd attacked the Thalang Police Station with rocks and fire bombs. Two young men were killed in a motorcycle crash while being chased by police. Fourteen police were injured, nine cars were torched, 13 others and five motorcycles damaged. While numerous people were inconvenienced by the blockade, a heart attack patient died on his way to Thalang Hospital when the ambulance couldn’t get through the crowd. (AP via Fox News) (Celebcafe.org) (Immortal.org) (PhuketWan Tourism News)

Politics and elections

• Belarusian presidential election, 2015
  • Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth term by a landslide in today’s election. (Radio Free Europe), (Reuters) (Reuters)
• Guinean presidential election, 2015
  • Millions of Guineans vote peacefully in the West African country’s second free election since gaining independence from France nearly 60 years ago. Ballot counting started; the provisional outcome is not expected until the end of this week, an official said. Incumbent President Alpha Conde is expected to win reelection. (Deutsche Welle)

Sport

• Bathurst 1000
  • In motor sport, Australian driver Craig Lowndes wins the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for the sixth time. He also appeared on the podium for the 13th time, setting a new record for the event. (NZ Newswire via Yahoo! 7)

News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource