Portal:Current events/2017 October 26

October 26, 2017 (Thursday)

Business and economy

Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
- Twitter bans all ads from Russian news agencies RT and Sputnik based on U.S. intelligence's conclusion that both attempted to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election on behalf of the Russian government. (Business Insider)

Disasters and accidents

Tangerang fireworks disaster
- An explosion in a fireworks plant located west of the Indonesian capital Jakarta kills at least 47 and injures 35. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Rail accidents in 2017
- Four people (three military conscripts and a train passenger) are killed and four conscripts are injured after a passenger train collides with an off-road military truck in Raseborg, Finland. (Yle)
Helicopter accidents and incidents
- A Russian Mi-8 helicopter crashes into the sea off Svalbard with eight people reported missing. A search and rescue operation is underway. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2017 Spanish constitutional crisis
- At least two Catalan officials defect from the ruling Junts pel Sí party as Catalan president Carles Puigdemont cancels a speech regarding snap elections. Puigdemont plans to draw back from declaring independence from Spain. (Bloomberg)
Politics of the Netherlands
- Prime Minister Mark Rutte presents his third cabinet. It took a record 225 days of negotiations to form the government composed of VVD, D66, CDA and CU. (Deutsche Welle)
IRS targeting controversy
- The Trump administration's Department of Justice settles two lawsuits which alleged that the Obama administration's Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups. (The New York Times)
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- Nearly 3,000 files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 have been released, while U.S. President Donald Trump orders others to be withheld citing national security concerns. The documents were scheduled for release today in a 1992 law. (BBC)
Kenyan presidential election, October 2017
- Voters in Kenya go to the polls following the annulment of the results in the Kenyan general election. The President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta wins with a 98% majority following an opposition boycott. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Sakharov Prize
- Venezuela's democratic opposition wins the Sakharov Prize, the European Union's top human rights award. (BBC)