A bushfire on Fraser Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of Queensland, has burned across half the island and may irreversibly damage its unique ecosystem. Extinguishment has been ruled unlikely. (The Guardian)
HamasGaza chief Yahya Sinwar tests positive for COVID-19. A spokesman for the group says he is "following the advice of health authorities and taking precautionary measures". (Reuters)
A group of gunmen attack a bank and block roads in Cametá, Brazil, taking several hostages and stealing money. The attackers kill a hostage with a gunshot to the head, while a security guard and a policeman are injured. Several shots and explosions were also reported. It appears that the target of the attack was a branch of Banco do Brasil, the same bank robbed in Criciúma the previous night. (BBC News)
Unknown astronomical object 2020 SO makes its closest approach to Earth at a perigee distance of approximately 0.13 lunar distances (50,000 km; 31,000 mi). Researchers, who discovered 2020 SO on September 17, 2020, are still unsure whether the object is a small near-Earth asteroid or an artificial object. The booster of Surveyor 2's Atlas-Centaur rocket, launched by NASA in 1966, is suspected by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (CNET)