INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. Greece becomes the first advanced economy to miss a payment in the 71year history of the IMF.
2. NASA’s New Horizons becomes the first spacecraft in history to visit the
distant world.
3. Cuba and the United States end a 54-year stretch of hostility, re-establish
full diplomatic relations.
4. Automaker Volkswagen is allegedly involved in worldwide rigging of
Diesel emissions test, affecting an estimated 11 million vehicles globally.
5. Homo Naledi, a previously unknown species of early human, is discovered
in South Africa.
6. A stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, kills at
least 2,200 people and injures more than 900 others .
7. Russia begins airstrikes against ISIL and anti-government forces in Syria
following Turkey’s attack in support of the Syrian government.
8. Hurricane Patricia becomes the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the
Western Hemisphere, with winds of 200 mph and a pressure of 879 mbar.
9. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Hindu Kush region causes death of 279 in
Pakistan, 115 in Afghanistan and 4 in India.
10. An airliner en route to Saint Petersburg from Sharm el-Sheikh, crashes
near Al-Hasana in Sinai, killing all 217 passengers and 7 crew members
on board.
11. Several suicide bombings occur in Beirut, Lebanon killing 43 and injuring
239. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant claim responsibility.
12. Chinese and Taiwanese Presidents, Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou,formally
meet for the first time.
13. Multiple terrorist attacks claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) in Paris, France resulting in 130 fatalities.
14. Turkey shoots down a Russian fighter jet in the first case of a NATO
member destroying a Russian aircraft since the 1950s.
15. A global climate change pact is agreed at the COP 21 summit, committing
all countries to reduce carbon emissions for the first time.
16. SpaceX lands a Falcon 9 rocket, the first reusable rocket to successfully
enter orbital space and return.
17. Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet wins 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.
- P.Shanmukhi Srinivas