Today is the 305th day of 2023. There are 60 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

1755: An earthquake rocks Lisbon, Portugal, killing 60,000 people, many in collapsed churches.

2010: Deafening explosions of hot gas rattle evacuees miles from an Indonesian volcano, the latest in a deadly week; the country reports increased rumblings at 21 other active volcanoes, raising questions about what is causing the uptick along some of the world’s most volatile fault lines.

2012: Israel acknowledges it killed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s deputy in a 1988 raid in Tunisia, lifting a 25-year veil of secrecy.

OTHER EVENTS

1981: Ending nearly 350 years of British rule, the Caribbean islands of Antigua and neighbouring Barbuda form an independent State.

1990: The world’s largest industrial countries agree to phase out dumping waste into the sea by 1995.

1994: After years welcoming more immigrants per capita than any other major industrialised nation, Canada announces it is revising its immigration laws, with tighter limits on total immigrants admitted into the country (215,000 in 1995) and preference to be given to those with higher education or skills beneficial to the nation’s economy.

1997: Indonesia closes 16 banks left insolvent by Asia’s financial problems.

1998: Rescue workers discover the remains of villagers killed when a crater lake overflowed and collapsed in Nicaragua, adding hundreds to the estimated thousands killed in the flooding following Hurricane Mitch.

1999: China agrees to work with conservation groups to stop the use of endangered plants and parts of endangered animals like the rhinoceros and tiger for medicines and traditional cures.

2007: Tropical Storm Noel drenches the central Caribbean, killing at least 107, destroying at least 20,000 homes, and causing crop damage in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba amounting to tens of millions of dollars.

2010: Jamaican culinary doyenne Norma Shirley dies.

2010: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits Kuril Islands, claimed by both Russia and Japan, marking the first time the islands have been visited by a Russian leader; the following day Japan recalls its ambassador to Russia.

2011: Syria plants land mines at parts of its border with Lebanon, further sealing itself off from the world.

2013: Hakimullah Mehsud, head of the Pakistani Taliban and thought to be behind many atrocities as well as attacks against US forces, is reportedly been killed by a US drone attack.

2017: UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon resigns due to his behaviour towards women, part of a wider scandal of sexual harassment by UK politicians.

2018: Palau becomes the first country to ban sunscreen and its chemicals, which bleach coral reefs.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Nicholas Boileau, French poet (1636-1711); Victoria de los Angeles, Spanish soprano (1923-2005); Marcia Wallace, US actress (1942-2013); Aishwarya Bachchan Rai, Indian actress (1973- )

– AP/ Jamaica Observer