Portal:Current events/2015 August 27

August 27, 2015 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Iraq (2013–2017)
- Two generals of the Iraqi Army and three soldiers are killed and ten wounded when an Islamic State suicide bomber detonates in northern Ramadi. (The Los Angeles Times)
Gaza–Israel conflict
- In retaliation to a rocket attack on Southern Israel, Israel Defence Forces destroy a Hamas weapons manufacturing facility located within the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz)
The Government of India deploys the Army to the state of Gujarat after two days of caste-related violence results in seven deaths. (Reuters via The Daily Mail)
War in Donbass
- Seven Ukraine servicemen have died and 13 were wounded in skirmishes with pro-Russian separatists in the past day. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Walmart will stop selling the AR-15 and other semi-automatic rifles allegedly because of sluggish customer demand. (Reuters)
Panasonic will stop making lithium-ion batteries for phones and cameras in Beijing, China, with a cut of 1,300 jobs. The company will instead refocus on higher-margin products such as electric car batteries. (Reuters)
The Obama Administration, through its appointment of a majority of board members on the Democratic-controlled U.S. National Labor Relations Board's 3–2 ruling in the Browning-Ferris case uses an expanded definition of joint employer when determining if a parent company shares responsibility for workers hired by a subcontractor or franchisee. The Republican-controlled US Congress responded to arguments from businesses such as the International Franchise Association by adding another NLRB-related rider to the budget to block implementation of this latest ruling. Browning-Ferris can appeal the decision to a federal appeals court. The ruling could affect current unionization and pay efforts at McDonald's franchises. (The International Business Times), (Forbes), (The Chicago Tribune), (The Washington Post)
Oilfield services provider Schlumberger agrees to acquire construction company Cameron International in a $12.71 billion deal. (AP via The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Disasters and accidents

European migrant crisis
- Two boats carrying migrants capsize off of the coast of Zuwarah, Libya, with hundreds feared dead. (BBC)
- Austrian police discover as many as 50 dead refugees in a truck. (Reuters)
A sinkhole in China swallows five people. (AP)
2015 Atlantic hurricane season
- Four people are killed on the Caribbean island of Dominica as a result of floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Erika. (WRAL)

Law and crime

David H. Murdock, the CEO and chairman of Dole Food Company, along with a fellow confidant, are ordered to pay $148 million for misleading directors and shareholders. (AP via The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, the head of the Court of Cassation, is appointed as interim Prime Minister of Greece for the duration of the upcoming election. She is the first woman to hold the post. (AP via Roanoke)
Thousands of protesters joined a Guatemalan national strike Thursday demanding the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina for corruption. Five of 13 cabinet ministers have resigned since Friday, and Tuesday, the Supreme Court unanimously approved a motion to impeach the president. (Bloomberg), (The Bayou Buzz), (The Weather Space)