Nikki Haley resigns as US ambassador to the United Nations
Nikki Haley announced she is resigning as the US ambassador to the United Nations, but the rising Republican star immediately denied she was preparing to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Sitting beside Trump in the Oval Office, Haley said her 18-month stint at the United Nations had been "an honour of a lifetime" and said she would stay on until the end of the year.
A former governor of South Carolina who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is the highest profile woman in Trump's Cabinet and is often seen as a possible presidential candidate.
But she said in her resignation letter to Trump she would "surely not be a candidate for any office in 2020" and would support his re-election bid.
'Monstrous' Hurricane Michael menaces Florida
Hurricane Michael grew into a major Category 3 storm as it howled closer to Florida's Gulf shore, sending tens of thousands of coastal residents fleeing to higher ground one day before its expected arrival with towering waves and roof-shredding winds.
Michael is projected to plough into Florida's panhandle at midday on Wednesday, unleashing potentially devastating waves of seawater as high as 3.6m that could rush inland for miles around the storm's centre, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) warned.
By Tuesday, Michael was already causing major disruptions to US oil and gas production as it churned north over the Gulf of Mexico.
Singer Taylor Swift helps boost voter registrations after endorsement
Pop music luminary Taylor Swift's decision to wade into electoral politics for the first time has driven a spike in online voter registration, particularly among young people, according to the website Vote.org.
The nonprofit site, which helps people register online, reported 240,000 new registrations since Sunday, when Swift posted a message on Instagram endorsing two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee and urging people to register.
By comparison, the site recorded 57,000 new registrations in all of August and 190,000 last month. About 102,000 of the registrations since Sunday were among voters between 18 and 29 years old, an increase that the site said was likely prompted by Swift's post.
Explosion at Bosnia oil refinery injures several workers
A powerful explosion hit the Brod oil refinery in northern Bosnia near the Croatian border and several workers were injured, police said.
Police and firefighters are trying to extinguish the blaze after the explosion at around 9.30pm local time (3.30am on Wednesday, Singapore time), said police spokeswoman Dragana Kerkez.
"This was a strong explosion and the detonation could be heard in Slavonski Brod," Kerkez told Reuters, referring to the town just across the Sava river in Croatia.
Golf: Koepka named PGA Tour Player of the Year
Brooks Koepka added another accolade to a sensational season on Tuesday when, as had been widely expected, he was named PGA Tour Player of the Year following a 2017-18 campaign highlighted by two major victories.
Koepka landed the coveted honour despite missing nearly three months with a wrist injury as he would go on to become the first repeat US Open winner in 29 years and then triumphed at the PGA Championship for his third career major title.
The 28-year-old Koepka claimed the Player of the Year honours over Italy's Francesco Molinari, Englishman Justin Rose and fellow Americans Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau in a vote of his peers.
