Poland, Iraq, Zimbabwe Become Latest Members Of Minamata Convention On Mercury

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October 18, 2021

1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock

1685 French King Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes cancelling rights of French Protestants

1867 Alaska Purchase: US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million

1931 American gangster Al Capone convicted of tax evasion

1962 James Watson (US), Francis Crick (UK) and Maurice Wilkins (UK) win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining the structure of DNA

1938 Spetume Florence Njangali is converted and becomes an active member of the East African revival movement within the Anglican Church. She will overcome barriers that had prevented women from obtaining a theological education and ordination as deacons.

Today’s Historical Events

Today in Film & TV

1922 British Broadcasting Company (BBC) founded, later called British Broadcasting Corporation

Today in Music

1946 Aaron Copland’s 3rd Symphony premieres

Do you know this fact about today? Did You Know?

In a bar decorated with bird tail in Elmsford, New York, a customer requests a glassful of “those cock tails” from bartender Betsy Flanagan, on this day in 1776

Would you believe this fact about today? Would You Believe?

Count Bernard von Bulow becomes Chancellor of Germany, famous for first referring to Germany’s need for ‘place in the sun’ and global empire, on this day in 1900

Today in History – Oct. 17 – 2006 – The United States’ Population Reaches 300 Million

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October 17, 2021

1854 French and British forces bombard Sevastopol for the first time during the Crimean War

1907 Guglielmo Marconi’s company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland

1937 Martyrdom of Alexander Ivanovich Shchukin, Archbishop of Semipalatinsk, shot by the Soviets for preaching against destroyers of churches.

1943 Burma railway completed, built by Allied POWs and Asian laborers for use of the Japanese army

1949 Singer Stuart “Stew” Hamblen is converted to Christianity in Billy Graham’s 1949 Los Angeles Crusade. He will go on to write two popular Christian hits, “It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)” and “This Old House.”

1973 OPEC oil ministers use oil as an economic weapon in the Arab-Israeli War, mandating a cut in exports and recommending an embargo against unfriendly states

2017 Islamic State headquarters Raqqa declared under full control of US-led alliance by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman Talal Sello after 4 months of fighting

Today’s Historical Events
Today in Film & TV
1939 “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, is released

Today in Music
1963 The Beatles record “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at EMI Studios in London

Today in Sport
1860 1st British Open Men’s Golf, Prestwick GC: Willie Park Sr. wins inaugural event by 2 strokes from fellow Scot Tom Morris Sr

Do you know this fact about today? Did You Know?
The United States population reaches 300 million, on this day in 2006

Would you believe this fact about today? Would You Believe?
Chicago declared the ‘rattiest city’ in America for the sixth year in a row by pest control service Orkin, on this day in 2020

C.A.R Declares Unilateral Ceasefire In Fight With Rebels

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October 16, 2021

Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera has declared a unilateral cessation of fighting against armed groups, saying he hoped it would lead to peaceful dialogue.

The country has seen recurrent rounds of rebel violence since former president Francois Bozize was ousted in 2013. Armed groups control large swathes of territory and about one-quarter of the nearly 5 million population has been displaced.

The spokesman for the main rebel alliance, the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), told Reuters he welcomed the initiative and the CPC would respect the ceasefire if the government did. Past peace accords have quickly fallen apart.

Touadera said on television that he believed the ceasefire would help protect civilians from violence and allow them to access humanitarian aid and basic services.

The latest fighting between the CPC rebels and the army was sparked by a court decision to bar former President Bozize from running in last year’s presidential election, in which President Faustin-Archange Touadera won a second term.

Touadera announced he would hold a national dialogue with his opponents shortly after being sworn in, but the talks have not yet materialized.

The authorities blame the CPC for frequent attacks on civilians, including one which killed 20 people last week.

CPC spokesman Abakar Sabone said the group also wants peace but is fighting in self-defence.

Cambridge University College To Be 1st UK Institute To Hand Back Artifact To Nigeria

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October 16, 2021

A Cambridge University college says it would return a looted bronze cockerel to Nigeria later this month, making it the first U.K. institution to hand back one of the artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes.

Jesus College announced in 2019 that it would return the Okukor, a statue that was taken from the Court of Benin in what is now Nigeria.

British colonial forces took the artwork in 1897, and it was given to the college in 1905.

The college removed it from public view in 2016 after students protested, saying it represented a colonial narrative.

The college set up a working group to examine the legacy of slavery, and the group concluded that the statue “belongs with the current Oba at the Court of Benin.”

The Oba of Benin is head of the historic Eweka dynasty of the Benin Empire, centered on Benin City in modern-day Nigeria.

The college said Friday that it will hand over the statue to Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments in a ceremony at Cambridge on Oct. 27.

Protests In Congo Amid selecting Electoral Commission Chief

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October 16, 2021

Police in Democratic Republic of Congo used tear gas to break up clashes between supporters of the president and an opposition leader on Saturday, as lawmakers selected a new head of the electoral commission.

The National Assembly chose Denis Kadima, an election expert with decades of experience, to lead the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI).

However, CENI is a body that political analysts and diplomats have criticized for its role in the disputed 2018 vote where Felix Tshisekedi emerged as president.

Tshisekedi is expected to seek a second term when Congolese voters return to the polls in 2023, with CENI likely to play a pivotal role again.

Opposition leader Martin Fayulu and Tshisekedi formed an electoral pact in the run-up to the 2018 election, but Tshisekedi eventually split off to form another political group before the vote.

Amid widespread accusations of fraud, the CENI declared Tshisekedi the winner, while Fayulu, who said he had won a landslide victory, came second.

On Saturday, around 10,000 Fayulu supporters marched through the streets of Kinshasa in protest over several issues including the accusation the process to select the leadership of the CENI was being influenced by politicians.

Police fired tear gas to break up clashes in the Limite neighborhood between Fayulu’s followers and those of Tshisekedi, who hurled petrol bombs at the protesters, according to Reuters witnesses.

Standing on the back of a truck, Fayulu told a large crowd of supporters that Congo needed an independent and transparent CENI, and a CENI president who would publish “the real results.”

Iran Court Upholds Jail Term For UK-Iranian Aid Worker

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October 16, 2021

An Iranian appeals court has upheld a one-year prison term for British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on security offences, according to her lawyer was quoted by an Iranian news website as saying on Saturday.

In April, an Iranian court sentenced Zaghari-Ratcliffe to a new term in jail on charges of propaganda against Iran’s ruling system, just a month after she finished a prior five-year sentence.

However that sentence has not yet started.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at a Tehran airport in April 2016 and later convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.

There was no immediate official comment from Iran’s judiciary on the appeals court decision.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family and the foundation have denied the charges. The foundation is a charity that operates independently of media firm Thomson Reuters and its news subsidiary Reuters.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who served out most of her first sentence in Tehran’s Evin prison, was released in March 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic and kept under house arrest. In March 2021, she was released from house arrest but she was summoned to court again on the new charge.

The detentions of dozens of dual nationals and foreigners have complicated ties between Iran and several European countries including Germany, France and Britain, all parties to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers.

The court decision came as indirect talks between Iran and the United States to revive the nuclear deal have stalled after the election of hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi as president.

Payments offered To Family Of Afghans Killed In Drone Attack

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October 16, 2021

The Pentagon has offered unspecified condolence payments to the family of 10 civilians who were killed in a botched U.S. drone attack in Afghanistan in August during the final days before American troops withdrew from the country.

The U.S. Defense Department said it made a commitment that included offering “ex-gratia condolence payments”, in addition to working with the U.S. State Department in support of the family members who were interested in relocation to the United States.

Colin Kahl, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, held a virtual meeting on Thursday with Steven Kwon, the founder and president of Nutrition & Education International, the aid organization that employed Zemari Ahmadi, who was killed in the Aug. 29 drone attack, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said late on Friday.

Ahmadi and others who were killed in the strike were innocent victims who bore no blame and were not affiliated with Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) or threats to U.S. forces, Kirby said.

The drone strike in Kabul killed as many as 10 civilians, including seven children.

The Pentagon had said earlier that the Aug. 29 strike targeted an Islamic State suicide bomber who posed an imminent threat to U.S.-led troops at the airport as they completed the last stages of their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

However, reports had emerged almost immediately that the drone strike in a neighborhood west of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport had killed civilians including children.

San Francisco Popular Wildlife Preserve Stripped Of Accreditation

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October 16, 2021

A popular wildlife preserve in the San Francisco Bay Area has been stripped of accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums over concerns about the facility’s care for animals.

The association, also known as the AZA, announced this week that it would deny its “gold standard” accreditation to Santa Rosa’s Safari West.

“The Commission noted serious concerns with veterinary practices and care, and acquisition and disposition of animals,” Dan Ashe, the association’s president, said in a statement. “I am hopeful that the owners and leadership at Safari West are taking these matters seriously.”

Safari West is appealing the decision. Executive director Keo Hornbostel said its operations remain largely unchanged in the decades since it first received AZA accreditation.

“Some of the information they were provided is not accurate,” Hornbostel told the news station. “Having our vet care compromised is not true at all.”

After the appeal is filed, AZA’s commission has 45 days to change its mind. If the denial is upheld, the association said, Safari West can apply again next September.

Asean Excludes Myanmar Junta Leader From Regional Summit

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October 16, 2021