Randy Bruce Traywick, known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and charted over 50 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including sixteen that reached the number-one position.
Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone, which became the most intense on record to strike the Bahamas. It is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin in terms of maximum sustained winds. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in the Bahamas' recorded history. With winds peaking at 185 mph (295 km/h), it was also one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic Ocean in terms of 1-minute sustained winds, and the strongest since Wilma in 2005. Dorian was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, the first major hurricane, and the first Category 5 hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. Dorian struck the Abaco Islands on September 1 with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), tying with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the highest wind speeds of an Atlantic hurricane ever recorded at landfall. Dorian went on to strike Grand Bahama at similar intensity, stalling just north of the territory with unrelenting winds for at least 24 hours. The resultant damage to these islands was catastrophic; most structures were flattened or swept to sea, and at least 70,000 people were left homeless. After it ravaged through The Bahamas, Dorian proceeded along the coasts of the Southeastern United States and Atlantic Canada, leaving behind considerable damage and economic losses in those regions.
An Atlantic hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean primarily between June and November. The terms "hurricane", "typhoon", and "tropical cyclone" can be used interchangeably to describe this weather phenomenon. These storms are continuously rotating around a low pressure center, which causes stormy weather across a large area, which is not limited to just the eye of the storm. They are organized systems of clouds and thunderstorms that originate over tropical or subtropical waters and have closed low-level circulation, and should not be confused with tornadoes, which are another type of cyclone. In the North Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific, the term hurricane is used, whereas typhoon is used in the Western Pacific near Asia. The more general term cyclone is used in the rest of the ocean basins, namely the South Pacific and Indian Ocean.
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's axial tilt; the width of the tropics is twice the tilt. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone.
The Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS) is a tropical cyclone intensity scale that classifies hurricanes—which in the Western Hemisphere are tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms—into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds. This measuring system was formerly known as the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale, or SSHS.
2000
Speakers' Corner, a free speech area in Hong Lim Park in Singapore, was launched.
The Speakers' Corner in Singapore is an area located within Hong Lim Park at the Downtown Core district, where Singaporeans may demonstrate, hold exhibitions and performances, as well as being able to engage freely in political open-air public speeches, debates and discussions. As a free speech zone, it is based upon the premise of its namesake, Speakers' Corner, which was first launched at Hyde Park in London and has since been established in many other countries with a political system of representative democracy.
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognised as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and international human rights law. Many countries have constitutional laws that protect freedom of speech. Terms such as free speech, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression are often used interchangeably in political discourse. However, in legal contexts, freedom of expression more broadly encompasses the right to seek, receive, and impart information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.
Hong Lim Park, formerly known as Hong Lim Green and Dunman's Green, is a 0.94-hectare (2.3-acre) heritage park in the Downtown Core district of Singapore located next to the Parkroyal Collection Pickering hotel and Clarke Quay station.
1983
A Soviet jet interceptor shot down the civilian Korean Air Lines Flight 007 near the island of Sakhalin in the north Pacific, killing all 246 passengers and 23 crew on board.
An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are capable of being or are employed as both "standard" air superiority fighters and as interceptors are sometimes known as fighter-interceptors. In the post-World War 2 jet age, there are two general classes of interceptor: light fighters, designed for high performance over short range; and heavy fighters, which are intended to operate over longer ranges, in contested airspace and adverse meteorological conditions. While the second type was exemplified historically by specialized night fighter and all-weather interceptor designs, the integration of mid-air refueling, satellite navigation, on-board radar, and beyond visual range (BVR) missile systems since the 1960s has allowed most frontline fighter designs to fill the roles once reserved for specialized night/all-weather fighters.
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KE007/KAL007) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska. On September 1, 1983, the flight was shot down by a Soviet Sukhoi Su-15TM Flagon-F interceptor aircraft. The Boeing 747-230B airliner was en route from Anchorage to Seoul, but owing to a navigational mistake made by the crew, the airliner drifted from its planned route and flew through Soviet airspace. The Soviet Air Forces treated the unidentified aircraft as an intruding U.S. spy plane, and destroyed it with air-to-air missiles, after firing warning shots. The South Korean airliner eventually crashed into the sea near Moneron Island west of Sakhalin in the Sea of Japan, killing all 246 passengers and 23 crew aboard, including Larry McDonald, a United States representative. It is the worst Korean Air disaster to date.
Sakhalin is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies 6.5 km (4.0 mi) off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An island of the West Pacific, Sakhalin divides the Sea of Okhotsk to its east from the Sea of Japan to its southwest. It is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast and is the largest island of Russia, with an area of 72,492 square kilometres (27,989 sq mi). The island has a population of roughly 500,000, the majority of whom are Russians. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Ainu, Oroks, and Nivkhs, who are now present in very small numbers.
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A magnitude-6.0 earthquake in Afghanistan leaves more than 500 people dead.
On 31 August 2025, at 23:47 AFT, a Mw 6.0 earthquake struck Nangarhar and Kunar Provinces in Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. More than 622 people were killed and 1,500 others were injured.
Protests in Indonesia (pictured) erupt over increased benefits and salaries given to parliament members.
On 25 August 2025, protests began in Indonesia as part of a larger civil unrest that began in early 2025 over economic frustrations and a proposed hike in housing subsidies for members of parliament. The protests, which were largely concentrated around the capital Jakarta, grew in intensity and spread nationwide following the killing of Affan Kurniawan, a motorcycle taxi driver who was run over by a Brimob police tactical vehicle on 28 August during a larger violent and excessive crackdown on civil dissent.
Prime Minister of Thailand Paetongtarn Shinawatra is removed from office by the Constitutional Court for misconduct.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, also referred to by her nickname Ung Ing, is a Thai politician who has been the leader of the Pheu Thai Party since 2023. She previously served as the 31st prime minister of Thailand from 2024 until her removal from office in 2025.
The prime minister of Thailand is the head of government of Thailand. The prime minister is also the chair of the cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed since the Siamese Revolution of 1932, when the country became a constitutional monarchy. Prior to the 2014 coup d'état, the prime minister was nominated by a vote in the Thai House of Representatives by a simple majority, and is then appointed and sworn in by the King of Thailand. The house's selection is usually based on the fact that either the prime minister is the leader of the largest political party in the lower house or the leader of the largest coalition of parties. In accordance with the 2017 Constitution, the Prime Minister can hold the office for no longer than eight years, consecutively or not. Paetongtarn Shinawatra was appointed Prime Minister of Thailand on 16 August 2024 following the Constitutional Court's ruling that terminated Srettha Thavisin’s premiership due to the unlawful appointment of an unqualified minister, Phichit Chuenban. In July 2025, her own premiership was challenged after an audio recording of her conversation with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen regarding a border closure was leaked, prompting a petition to the Constitutional Court. On 1 July 2025, the court ordered her to suspend duties pending a decision. During the interim, Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit served as acting Prime Minister, as the first-ranking Deputy Prime Minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, had not yet received formal royal endorsement. Upon his swearing-in on 3 July 2025, Phumtham assumed the role of acting Prime Minister.
The Constitutional Court, officially the Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Thailand, is a Thai court created by the 1997 constitution with jurisdiction over the constitutionality of parliamentary acts, royal decrees, draft legislation, as well as the appointment and removal of public officials and issues regarding political parties. The current court is part of the judicial branch of the Thai national government.
