Top News Stories –

Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool boss sacked after Merseyside derby –
Liverpool have sacked manager Brendan Rodgers after three and a half years in charge. He was dismissed after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Everton, which left the Reds 10th in the Premier League, but the decision was made before the game. “Although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for success on the pitch,” read a club statement. Carlo Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp are the favourites to replace Rodgers. [BBC]
Brendan Rodgers

Dick Advocaat: Sunderland boss quits Premier League strugglers –
Dick Advocaat has resigned as Sunderland boss, with the team yet to win in the Premier League this season. The 68-year-old Dutchman was appointed in March, when the Black Cats were one point above the relegation zone.
He guided them to safety and was due to leave the club in the summer, only to sign a new one-year contract. [BBC]
Dick Advocaat

Woolly mammoth skeleton unearthed by Michigan farmers –
Two farmers in Michigan made an astonishing discovery when they unearthed the remains of a woolly mammoth while digging in a soybean field. Experts say it is one of the most complete sets ever found in the state. University of Michigan researchers say there is evidence the mammoth lived 11,700-15,000 years ago. [BBC]

How rugby star daughter’s doll captivated Australia –
North Queensland swept to victory in Australia’s National Rugby League final on Sunday, but it was a little girl’s doll which stole the limelight. Cameras captured the moment a crying Queensland captain Johnathan Thurston celebrated his team’s win with his daughter who was clutching a dark-skinned doll. For the first time in NRL history, both teams in the final had been skippered by an Indigenous Australian, and the moment was seen by many as a moment of inclusion and diversity. [BBC]
Johnathan Thurston

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What Do You Mean / Epic Segway Dance Cover @justinbieber

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Two Israeli civilians are killed and three injured by stabbing attacks carried out by Palestinians in Jerusalem‘s Old City. As a result Palestinians are banned from entering the Old City for two days unless they live there. (BBC News) (Yahoo News)(CNN)
• Turkey–PKK conflict
  • Turkey’s air force launches a new wave of air-raids bombing PKK positions in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Turkish warplanes destroyed PKK fuel and ammunition depots in the Hakkari province on the border with Iraq as well as in the easternKars province according to a military statement. (AFP via Yahoo News)
• Syrian Civil War
  • Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says reforms in Syria are unlikely until terrorism (“a word typically used to describe all of the government’s armed opponents”) is vanquished. The country will continue to send representatives to peace negotiations sponsored by Moscow, but ruled out negotiations with the Western-backed groups opposing his government. (Washington Post)
• Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL
  • The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant destroys a 2,000-year-old Roman era Triumphal arch in Palmyra according to Syria‘s antiquities chief. (The Independent) , (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 17 people have been killed with four more missing following heavy flooding along the French Riviera in the southeast of France. Rail, road and air traffic were all suspended and 27,000 homes were without electricity. A major stretch of the French Riviera has been declared a natural disaster zone. According to local radio station France Bleu-Azur, more than 17cm of rain fell on the Alpes-Maritimes region in two hours, the same amount the region would usually expect over two months. (AFP via Yahoo News) (Sky News) (Euro News)
• October 2015 nor’easter
  • U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for South Carolina, hit by a once-in-a-millennium downpour that dumped over two feet of rain in some areas and turned South Carolina roads into rivers and parking lots into lakes. More than 250 roads across the state closed. A low pressure area is funneling heavy tropical moisture into the region as well as pulling in Hurricane Joaquin-related precipitation. “Catastrophic flash flooding” is expected overnight. (CNN) (NBC News)
  • Downpours and catastrophic flooding are expected to persist along the east coast tonight. Two deaths have been reported in North Carolina. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia are under coastal flood warnings. (Sydney Tenplay)
• 2015 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Joaquin
    • U.S. Coast Guard searchers, looking for the 790-foot El Faro cargo ship missing since Thursday, located multiple objects including life jackets, life rings, containers and an oil sheen in the waters off The Bahamas. Connection to El Faro is not immediately confirmed. (USA Today) (ABC News)
    • Bermuda, which suffered a glancing hit by then-Category 2 Hurricane Joaquin, reports scattered power outages with heavy rain, high wind, and waves. The center of Joaquin, now Category 1 (max winds 85 mph), is moving north-northeast and will clear Bermuda sometime Monday. (Palm Beach Post) (AP via Orlando 6) (NHC)

Politics and elections

• Portuguese legislative election, 2015
  • Exit polls show Portugal’s centre-right government, in its first contest since tough austerity measures were launched to combat a debt crisis, is headed for victory but could lose its majority in parliament. (The Guardian) (Reuters) (The Telegraph)
• In Minsk, about 1,000 opposition activists protest Russia’s plans to establish a military air base in Belarus, saying it would turn the former Soviet republic into a Kremlin “vassal” and add to regional tensions. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has refrained from commenting on the initiative to establish the base. (Fox News)

Sports

• In horseracing, Golden Horn wins the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Two-time winner Treve finished fourth. (BBC)

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