Ongoing protests in India, hurricane hits US coast, near-miss in Syria

It happened while you were sleeping. Here's what world agencies reported overnight from Sunday to Thursday.

• In India, protests continue. Residents are demanding justice for a doctor who was raped and murdered during her hospital shift. Despite the end of the strike called by the doctors' association, some young doctors did not go to work and are still striking. Doctors across the country organised protests and candlelight marches. They have refused to accept emergency patients over the past week. On 9th August, a 31-year-old doctor in residency was raped and killed at a medical school in Kolkata. There are no restrooms for doctors on the premises, so the woman lay down to sleep on a carpet in a lecture hall after a 36-hour shift. Local police reported that they had detained a suspected police volunteer.

• The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that Hurricane Ernesto regained strength on Sunday and caused dangerous riptides on beaches along the East Coast of the USA and Canada. Located about 1,290 kilometres south of the eastern coast of Canada, Hurricane Ernesto gained strength, and wind speeds reached up to 120 kilometres per hour, which is slightly above the minimum threshold for a Category 1 hurricane. American media reported that three people have died due to waves generated by the tropical storm.

• On Sunday, there was a dangerously close encounter of aircraft in Syrian airspace - a coalition fighter-bomber aircraft came dangerously close to a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the province of Homs. According to the Reuters news agency, the Russian media reported the incident.

• Reuters reported an incident in the South China Sea. Two Philippine Coast Guard vessels "illegally intruded" the waters near the Sabina Shoal. According to information from the China Coast Guard, the Philippine vessels "illegally intruded" the waters bordering the shoal, resulting in a collision. The Sabina Shoal is located about 120 kilometres from the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,000 kilometres from the southern part of China's Hainan province. The Chinese authority stated that one of the Philippine ships, ignoring warnings, "unprofessionally and dangerously" collided intentionally with a Chinese vessel. China and the Philippines reached a "temporary agreement" in July following multiple incidents near the Second Thomas Shoal. Western countries have sharply criticised China for blocking Philippine efforts to supply soldiers aboard a navy ship that was intentionally grounded 25 years ago.

• A police officer from Gulfport, Mississippi, shared a rather amusing conversation. The officer received a message from an unknown number. The correspondence began on Friday around 22:00, quite innocently. The stranger greeted him and asked, "What are you doing?" Without hesitation, the officer replied that he was resting. To which the random person replied: "Wanna smoke?" To be clear, it was about marijuana. Cannabis in Mississippi is legal for medical use and illegal for non-medical use. Possession of small amounts was decriminalised in 1978. The officer replied: "I don't think I'm going to be able to smoke with you." The person responded: "Bruh, we smoke all the time." The officer informed the person that they probably have the wrong phone number, but they insisted. "Bruh, stop cappin [lying and joking - editor's note]" - the person wrote. Instead of continuing, the officer took a selfie holding his police badge and sent it to the person. The police posted the entire conversation on Facebook. "Pro tip: Before you send the text, double-check the number. Nothing like a wrong number text to really spice up someone’s day," we read in the post.