Portal:Current events/November 2015

2015 January February March April May June July August September October November December

November 2015 was the eleventh month of that common year. The month, which began on a Sunday, ended on a Monday after 30 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from November 2015.

Current events of November 1, 2015 (2015-11-01) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks War in Somalia (2009–present) Islamist al-Shabaab militants attack a hotel in Mogadishu resulting in at least 12 deaths. (AFP via Yahoo! News) (Reuters via ABC News Australia) Syrian Civil War Islamic State fighters seize control of Mahin, a town in Syria's central Homs province, following clashes with government forces which left about 50 dead. Fighting was also reported to be taking place on the outskirts of Sadad, a nearby town mostly populated by Christians. (Reuters) Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015) One Palestinian is killed and three Israeli soldiers injured in two attacks in the West Bank. According to the Israeli army, the Palestinian was shot dead after attempting to stab soldiers at a military checkpoint near the Beit Einun village in Hebron. In a second incident in the same area, a driver rammed and injured three Israeli paramilitary border policemen with his car before fleeing the scene. None of the three were injured seriously. (The Daily Star) (Al Jazeera) Since the beginning of October, nine Israeli citizens, 67 Palestinian and an Arab Israeli have been killed in this wave of violence. (AFP via Yahoo News) The fate of slain Palestinians is fueling a new feud with Israeli authorities. The Israeli defense minister says Israel is refusing to return the bodies of Palestinian terrorists killed during this month-old surge of violence unless the Palestinian side agrees to keep their funerals "modest." (Reuters) An Israel Defense Forces inquiry concludes the death of a Palestinian woman at a checkpoint in Hebron last month was unnecessary, finding the teenager could have been detained and not killed. (Haaretz) Disasters and accidents The United States Navy sends a remotely operated underwater craft to investigate a wreck which they believe is the remains of the SS El Faro which disappeared on October 1 near the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin with 33 people on board. (CNN) Kogalymavia Flight 9268 Airlines including Emirates, Lufthansa and Air France refuse to fly over the Sinai Peninsula until the cause of the crash is known. (AP via ABC News America) Russian air transport chief Alexander Neradko says Flight 9268 broke apart at high altitude and scattered plane parts over a wide swath of Egyptian desert. Neradko added it was too soon to determine what caused Saturday's horrific crash. (USA Today) Russia observes a nationwide day of mourning for victims of the plane crash in Egypt. (AP via Fox News) The bodies of more than 140 of those killed in the air crash have been flown back to St Petersburg. (BBC) Colectiv nightclub fire Three other victims of the nightclub fire die at hospital, bringing the death toll to 30. (Mediafax) At least eight people are dead and 70 missing following the sinking of a ferry on Myanmar's Chindwin River in the northwestern Sagaing Region, (Myanmar Times) International relations China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit The leaders of the People's Republic of China, South Korea and Japan hold their first summit in three years. (New York Times) Japan and China agree to restart mutual visits of their foreign ministers, to hold bilateral high-level economic dialogue early next year, and to work toward early implementation of communication mechanisms between their military forces. (Reuters) Switzerland Named World’s Most Positive Country For 2015. (China.org.cn) Law and crime School shootings in the United States A campus shooting at around 1:20 AM at Lot W, near Wilson Hall and Gleason-Hairston Terrace, at the Main Campus of Winston-Salem State University, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, kills at least one person and wounds at least one- the two are believed to be students; the suspected gunman, Jarrett Jerome Moore, is not believed to be a student, and is believed to be still at large. (CNN via MSN) (University note) (Winston-Salem Journal) Politics and elections Turkish general election, November 2015 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wins Sunday's snap election with more than 49 percent of the vote. AKP, projected to get 316 seats in the 550-seat parliament, regains single-party rule just five months after losing it. (Washington Post) (BBC) (Al Jazeera) Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu calls on all of Turkey's political parties to work together on a new constitution to replace the 1982 constitution written during the military junta of 1980-1983. The document has been amended 17 times revising 113 of the 177 articles. (Reuters) (Kuwait News Agency) (ODATV) Protesters clashed with police outside the headquarters of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) in the Kurds' main city of Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey as it became evident President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP were getting a solid majority and would return to power. The tumult spread to other major cities and towns in the Kurdish heartland. The HDP won 10.7 percent of the vote; the party holds 59 of its 80 seats in the parliament. (Al-Ahram) (Wall Street Journal) Azerbaijani parliamentary election, 2015 Azeri voters go to the polls for a parliamentary election, which Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's ruling New Azerbaijan Party is widely expected to win since the The Müsavat (Equality) Party and other Azerbaijani mainstream opposition parties are boycotting. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is not monitoring the election because the restrictions imposed by the authorities make credible poll monitoring impossible. (TASS) (Reuters) Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh Teachers, writers and students lead a protest rally in Dhaka against the recent killings and attacks on secular authors and publishers in Bangladesh. (AFP via Straits Times) Science and technology Smart Sheriff, the most widely used child surveillance mobile app in South Korea, is pulled from the market after specialists raised serious concerns about the program's safety. Security experts say its programming left the door wide open to hackers and put the personal information of some 380,000 users at risk. The country's April 2015 law requires all new smartphones sold to those 18 and under have software parents can use to monitor their kids' social media activity. (AP via U.S. News & World Report) Sport In athletics, Stanley Biwott and Mary Jepkosgei Keitany of Kenya win the 2015 New York City Marathon. (Runners World) (ABC7 New York) 2015 World Series In Major League Baseball, the Kansas City Royals defeat the New York Mets in the 2015 World Series 4 games to 1. (Fox Sports) (Huffington Post) Royals catcher Salvador Perez wins the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. (ESPN) Current events of November 2, 2015 (2015-11-02) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks 2015 Nepal fuel crisis Nepali police shoot dead an Indian citizen at a border checkpoint as they attempt to clear protesters whose blockade has crippled Nepal's fuel supplies and badly damaged relations between the neighboring countries. (Reuters) War in Somalia (2009–present) At least 15 Somalia army soldiers are killed in an Al-Shabaab ambush near the town of Wanlaweyn in the Lower Shebelle region. (AP) A Palestinian terrorist stabs an 80-year-old woman and two men in the Israeli town of Rishon Letzion, and another Palestinian attacks an 71-year-old man and critically wounds him in Netanya.(Times of Israel) Arts and culture New Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announces knights and dames will no longer be part of the nation’s honors system. He said Queen Elizabeth signed off on the decision. (Time) (Reuters) In the United States, the hacking group Anonymous starts releasing names and information about alleged members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a white-supremacist terrorist group originally founded after the Civil War by former Confederate soldiers. Prominent individuals listed deny the allegations. The group says they also infiltrated KKK-affiliated websites, and warned of more action culminating on November 24, the anniversary of the Ferguson, Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict. (The Hill) (USA Today) (Anonymous) Business and economics China's government-owned Comac launches the Comac C919 as part of its efforts to challenge Boeing and Airbus. (CNN) American financial services company Visa Inc. buys European franchisee Visa Europe for $US23 billion. (AP via AL.com) Volkswagen emissions scandal The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California's CARB are widening the Volkswagen investigation into several more expensive VW, Porsche, and Audi automobiles with 3.0-liter diesel engines in model years 2014 through 2016. Volkswagen says it installed no defeat device software on its 3.0 litre V6 diesel cars and is cooperating with the agency to fully investigate the matter. (Reuters) (Consumer Affairs) TransCanada Corp asks the United States Department of State to suspend its review of the Keystone XL pipeline while it negotiates with the US state of Nebraska about the route. If granted, the delay (according to Reuters) would almost certainly mean the decision on the project will be made by a future president. (The Globe and Mail) (Reuters) Disasters and accidents 2015 Southeast Asian haze The Indonesian state of Riau extends its haze emergency by another month while four airports in Sumatra and Kalimantan remain shut. (Straits Times) SS El Faro The American National Transportation Safety Board confirms that wreckage found on Saturday east of the Bahamas is the cargo ship SS El Faro that sank during Hurricane Joaquin on October 1. (NBC News) Planes have been left stranded at airports throughout the United Kingdom as the "Great Fog" descends. Heathrow Airport said around 45 flights had been cancelled there while London City Airport was closed for several hours. Other affected airports include Manchester, Leeds Bradford, Glasgow, Belfast, Southampton and Cardiff. (BBC) 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season At least one person is killed after Cyclone Chapala hits Yemen's Socotra island in the Indian Ocean with flooding reported in Hadibu, the provincial capital. The severe cyclone is expected to cause considerable damage when it makes landfall on Yemeni mainland. (BBC) Kogalymavia Flight 9268 U.S. intelligence analysts conclude the Russian plane was not brought down by surface-to-air missile. An American infrared satellite detected a heat flash at the same time and same place over the Sinai as the plane, but no evidence a missile was involved. Analysts believe it could have been some kind of explosion on the aircraft itself, either a fuel tank or a bomb. U.S. officials do not rule out that ISIL could have been responsible for bringing down the flight. (NBC News) (ABC News) The Russian Air Transportation Ministry says the flight recorders are recovered with only "minor" damage. The ministry also said charter airline Metrojet's assertion that technical failure or human errors have been ruled out pointing to "external" reasons for the crash, is "premature and not based on any real facts." (Voice of America) (Reuters) International relations A day after Sunday's trilateral summit between China, Japan, and South Korea, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are meeting in Seoul. The two countries haven't met in over three years. Expected topics include trade ties, North Korea's pursuit of nuclear bombs, and long-running disputes over Japanese wartime aggression and behavior. (AP) (Nikkei Asian Review) Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations Chinese military aircraft conduct training in the South China Sea following the cruise of a U.S. Navy ship in the vicinity of the disputed Spratly Islands. (International Business Times) A U.S. defense official says the U.S. Navy plans to conduct patrols within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands in the South China Sea about twice a quarter to remind China and other countries of U.S. rights under international law. "That's the right amount to make it regular but not a constant poke in the eye," the official said. (Reuters) (Sydney Morning Herald) Law and crime The Vatican police arrest Msgr. Lucio Ángel Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, members of a former papal commission charged with studying financial operations of the Holy See, for allegedly leaking confidential documents to the media, a crime since 2013. (New York Times) Science and technology French national public television broadcaster France Télévisions fires France 2 TV channel's weatherman Philippe Verdier, who has been suspended since mid-October. Verdier, known as “Monsieur Météo” (Mr Weather), has been promoting his recently published book, Climat Investigation (Climate Investigation), in which he throws doubt on the global warning findings of leading climate scientists and political leaders. France Télévisions said its rules, "prevent anyone using their professional status … to push forward their personal opinions." (Irish Times) (The Guardian) Sports 2015 Major League Baseball postseason The Kansas City Royals win the 2015 World Series, defeating the New York Mets 7–2 in 12 innings in Game 5 to take the best-of-seven series. (NY Times) Politics and election United States presidential election, 2016, Democratic Party presidential candidates, 2016 Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig announces his decision, via a four minute YouTube video, to end his campaign for the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination. (Politico) (The Atlantic) (YouTube) Current events of November 3, 2015 (2015-11-03) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks 2014–15 India–Pakistan border skirmishes At least two Indian soldiers are killed after Pakistani forces opened fire along the de-facto border that divides Kashmir between the two countries. (BBC) Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, Syrian Civil War The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports Russia conducted multiple airstrikes on ISIS-held Palmyra. (Air Force Times) Russia's Defence Ministry says the Russian Air Force has bombed 2,804 "militant targets" in Syria so far since beginning of its airforce campaign in September. (The Daily Star) Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant ISIS claims responsibility for the deaths of two Syrian refugee activists who fled to Sanliurfa, Turkey, raising concerns about the group’s reach in countries outside of Syria and Iraq. Ibrahim Abdel Qader, a founder of Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, and Fares Hammadi are said to have been killed by an acquaintance posing as a defector from ISIS. (New York Times) At least four people are killed and 15 injured in an ISIL attack in the Kurdish section of northern Iraq. (Al-Arabiyah) Business and economics British bank Standard Chartered announces that it will axe 15,000 jobs around the world as part of a restructure. (AFP via Manila Bulletin) Takata Defective airbag recalls (2013-present) The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Japanese manufacturer of airbags Takata Corp. agree to a five-year consent decree where the company agrees to pay a civil penalty of $70 million dollars and faces as much as $130 million more in fines if it violates the settlement. Twelve automakers are ordered to speed up recalls that so far have only reached about a quarter of the affected cars. (Bloomberg) (USA Today) Honda, Takata's biggest customer, announces it will not use airbag inflaters made by Takata Corp. for the driver or front passenger side in new Honda and Acura vehicles for any market, world-wide. (USA Today) (NASDAQ) Volkswagen emissions scandal Volkswagen says it has found faulty emissions readings for the first time in gasoline-powered vehicles, widening a scandal that so far had centered on diesel engines. (Bloomberg) (BizNews) Disasters and accidents At least seven people are dead and 35 others are injured as a bus overturns near Tula, Russia. (RT) At least 30 people are killed and 35 injured after an overcrowded bus carrying passengers inside and on its roof veered off a mountain road in northwest Nepal. (USA Today) 2015 Southeast Asian haze Scientists report fires raging in Indonesia have hit Borneo's orangutans particularly hard. Borneo is home to about 30 percent of the world's wild orangutans, an endangered species. Smoke has already displaced many orangutans and caused health problems related to smoke inhalation, according to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF). (Live Science) 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season Cyclone Chapala "Ravaged by months of war, Yemen now gets battered by the first tropical storm on record to make landfall." Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Chapala slams into Yemen's central coast, with maximum sustained winds of around 140 kph (85 mph) -- the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane. The storm floods coastal areas, brings down electricity lines and destroys houses, with severe threat of mudslides. Chapala is expected to pour over two or three years worth of rain, up to 300 millimeters (12 inches), in a single day. (CNN) (Abu Dhabi Media) International relations China–United States relations In a Peking University speech in Beijing, US Pacific Command commander, Admiral Harry Harris, says the U.S. Navy’s freedom-of-navigation patrols in the South China Sea are routine operations intended to demonstrate respect for international law principles. Harris reiterated they should not be construed as a threat to any country while emphasizing America's common ground with China. (South China Morning Post) (Bloomberg) Libyan Crisis (2011–present) The New General National Congress (Libya Dawn) which controls the capital Tripoli, and much of western Libya, threatens to send 'hundreds of thousands' of refugees to Europe unless the European Union recognizes the Islamist-led government. (Daily Mail) Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Japan–Vietnam relations Japan has delivered two more ships to Vietnam that will be refurbished into patrol boats. The ships, which arrived in the port city of Da Nang, are the second delivery of a 2014 deal in which Tokyo is to provide Vietnam with six used fishing vessels that will be converted into patrol boats for Vietnam's coast guard in the South China Sea. (Voice of America) European migrant crisis German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces a plan to register and distribute incoming refugees evenly throughout the European Union. Refugees would be stopped at EU borders, have their application processed, and then, if accepted, sent to one of the Union's 28 member states. (UPI) Law and crime Pakistani journalist Zaman Mehsud is shot dead by two motorcycle-riding gunmen in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the country's northwestern tribal region. According to a 2014 report, at least 56 journalists have been killed in Pakistan since 1992. (UPI) (Xinhua) Politics and elections U.S. elections: Gubernatorial In Kentucky, Republican Matt Bevin defeats Democrat Jack Conway and independent Drew Curtis with 52 percent of the vote to succeed term-limited Democrat Steve Beshear. (Fox News) (AP) In Mississippi, incumbent Republican Phil Bryant easily wins re-election over Democratic, truck driver Robert Gray. according to the Associated Press. (AP via Huffington Post) State, city Former five-term Bridgeport mayor Joe Ganim wins election to a sixth term as mayor of Connecticut's largest city, topping the six other candidates in the poll. Ganim is, in American parlance, an "ex-con;" i.e., a convicted felon. In 2003, He was convicted by a federal jury on 16 felony counts for racketeering, bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud, and tax evasion in an operation that also led to convictions of 10 of his associates. Ganim served seven years in federal prison; he was released from a Hartford halfway house in 2010. (Hartford Courant) (AP via CBSLocal.com) Newcomer, businesswoman, and clinical psychologist Karen Weaver tops incumbent Dayne Walling in the non-partisan, Flint, Michigan, Mayor's election. Flint, which is dealing with lead in drinking water, has been under State financial management for close to four full years, and is in the final stage where control will be returned to city officials. (AP) (Detroit News) (MLive Media) Ballot initiatives, referendums In Ohio, a ballot initiative that would have established a legal oligopoly for the sale of recreational and medicinal marijuana is resoundingly defeated by voters, according to AP. (Los Angeles Times) In Texas, the Equal Rights Ordinance that would have established nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Houston fails to win approval from voters. (AP via Washington Post) (Texas Tribune) Voters in Denver's suburban Jefferson County recall, by 64 to 36 percent, three conservative school board members who worked to weaken the local teachers union while boosting funding for charter schools and pushing through other market-driven policy changes. In Fall 2014, the conservative-led majority drew national attention when they wanted the AP U.S. history course to focus on citizenship and patriotism, while condemning civil disobedience and strike actions. (Washington Post) (AP via Huffington Post) The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issues a two-year investigative report finding the Palatine, Illinois, school district unfairly denied a transgender teenager — who was undergoing hormone therapy but had not undergone gender reassignment surgery — access to school facilities in violation of Title IX, that bars discrimination in federally funded education programs, causing her “isolation,” “ostracism” and at least one “tearful breakdown.” The school district has 30 days to reach an agreement with authorities or risk losing up to $6 million in federal funding and case-referral to the Department of Justice. The Washington Post report called this "The Palatine standoff". (The Washington Post) (Chicago Tribune) (DOE report) Sport In Australian horse racing, Prince of Penzance wins the 2015 Melbourne Cup becoming the first 100-1 winner since World War II; Michelle Payne becomes the first female jockey to ride the winning horse. (Melbourne Age) (Huffington Post) Current events of November 4, 2015 (2015-11-04) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Kogalymavia Flight 9268 Flights between the United Kingdom and the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh are suspended due to concerns of the British government that the crash was caused by an "explosive device". (ITV) CNN reports that intelligence sources suggest that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant or an affiliate organisation planted explosives on the plane. (CNN) Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh airport chief Abdel-Wahab Ali is replaced; he is now an assistant to Adel Mahgoub, chairman of the country's air transport service. (AP) Kunduz hospital airstrike, Afghanistan War The United States says that last month's airstrikes in Kunduz hit three locations, mistakenly including the Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) (MSF) hospital where at least 30 were killed. Afghan commanders, whose forces were actively engaged with the Taliban, requested the attacks. The Washington Post reports a warehouse and a mansion in two densely populated residential areas were "pulverized" without loss of civilian lives. According to residents, earlier their neighborhoods had been conflict zones, but no militants were there the time of the attacks. "Together, the three attacks raise questions about the quality and reliability of the intelligence that Afghan security forces are providing to their American partners, as well as U.S. decisions to act on that intelligence," writes the Post. (Washington Post) Médecins Sans Frontières held memorials around the globe Tuesday, the one month anniversary of the bombing, to reaffirm their request for an independent investigation. U.S. officials resist an independent probe, pledging that the three investigations underway, by the Pentagon, NATO, and Afghan officials, will be thorough and transparent. Thomas Nierle, head of MSF Switzerland, told AFP that he had little hope the inquiries would ultimately see any wrongdoers punished. (The Hill) (DW Akademie) (AFP via Yahoo News) Business and economics Keystone XL Pipeline The United States State Department formally denies Calgary-based TransCanada Corporation's request, made Monday, to pause the review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. Reuters states this is expected to lead to the project's rejection by the Obama administration. (Reuters) (AP via Chicago Tribune) Whole Foods, the Texas based food retailer, announces that it will buy back $1 billion of its shares, and increases its dividend. [1] Disasters and accidents Ash from Indonesia's Mount Rinjani volcano closes Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport, the country's third busiest. Nearly 700 flights are cancelled. Officials will re-evaluate the situation tomorrow. Mount Rinjani started spewing ash last weekend. (Reuters) (International Business Times) 2015 Juba plane crash A cargo plane crashes shortly after takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan. 41 people have reportedly died. The five Armenian crew members were killed. (Reuters Africa) (RT) (Al Jazeera English) (AFP via Rappler) (Daily Mail) 2015 Lahore factory disaster A building collapses in the Pakistani city of Lahore resulting in at least 18 deaths, at least 75 injured and around 150 people still trapped. (AFP via France24) (Al Jazeera English) (BBC Online) International relations Cross-Strait relations, 2015 Ma–Xi Meeting The presidents of China and Taiwan are scheduled to meet in Singapore on November 7th, the first such meeting since the Chinese Communist Revolution. (New York Times) (BBC) An Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Malaysia fails to agree on a joint communique following disagreement between China and other nations over the South China Sea. (AP) South Korea and China agree to establish an emergency navy and military hotline. (UPI) Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations, Malaysia–United States relations U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and his counterpart from Malaysia, Hishammuddin Hussein, will visit the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) as it cruises in the South China Sea, this in the wake of China’s dismay over a U.S. Navy ship’s sailing in the vicinity of artificial islands constructed by China in the Spratly Islands. (Stars and Stripes) European migrant crisis European Union president Donald Tusk and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén, in a joint news conference, announce Sweden will ask to transfer some migrants to other European countries under an EU relocation plan. Sweden has taken the highest number of asylum-seekers per capita in the 28-member bloc. (AP) (The Local) Law and crime UC Merced stabbing spree Police, at the University of California, Merced campus, shoot and kill a male student who went on a stabbing rampage that wounded four people. The University closed its campus, except for housing, and cancelled classes for Wednesday and Thursday. The school reported all of the wounded are expected to recover. (KGO) (UC Merced) (Los Angeles Times) (AP via Houston Chronicle) Police have the gunman in custody and San Diego International Airport flights resume. The airport closed after police encountered a man with a gun shooting in a Bankers Hill apartment complex, east of the approach path to the airport. Also known as Lindbergh Field, the airport is frequently cited as one of the scariest because of its downtown location. (AP update) (Reuters) (Airfare Watchdog) The Mexican Supreme Court, in a 4-1 decision, rules that people have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use. The decision challenges the country’s current substance abuse laws. Fox News Latino and The New York Times point out the ruling only covers the plaintiffs in one case, a group that wants to form a "Pot Club." A precedent will be established if the court approves five similar petitions. (Fox News Latino) (Reuters) James Tran of Sacramento County is arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide in the October 8 stabbing of Airman Spencer Stone near a bar in Sacramento California. Stone had helped foil the 2015 Thalys train attack but officials believe it was just a drunken bar fight. (MSN) Politics and elections Colectiv nightclub fire Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his government resigns after tens of thousands took to the streets to protest over the Colectiv nightclub fire that killed 32 people. Mircea Dușa has been proposed to be installed as Acting Prime Minister. (Euronews) (BBC News) (The Guardian) Canadian government Justin Trudeau is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Canada along with his ministry. (Toronto Star) Trudeau announces an ethnically diverse cabinet which for the first time is equally balanced between men and women (15 each). (The Guardian) Belizean general election, 2015 Voters in Belize go to the polls with the United Democratic Party led by Dean Barrow hoping for a third consecutive term. (Voice of America) Current events of November 5, 2015 (2015-11-05) (Thursday) Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian Civil War Syrian Kurdish–Islamist conflict (2013–present) Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs says it's aware of reports that a Canadian national, John Robert Gallagher, has died while fighting in Syria. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, John Robert Gallagher was killed while fighting alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces against Islamic State militants in the northeast Al-Hasakah Governorate. (CBC News) Gallagher was a former Canadian Forces member served with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Syrian rebels seize control of Murak, a town located north of the city of Hama on a strategic highway that is crucial to control of western Syria, following clashes with pro-government forces. Murak was the scene of heavy fighting last year when government forces took control of the town in October 2014. (Reuters) Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Russia sends antiaircraft missile systems to Syria, where more than 50 Russian aircraft are stationed and its bombing campaign in support of the Assad regime has been in progress since late September. (Radio Free Europe) Military intervention against ISIL British Prime Minister David Cameron, under pressure from Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Foreign Affairs Committee, will not ask for a vote by Parliament to join the U.S. airstrikes in Syria. (Military.com) France announces that it will deploy its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean to boost its efforts against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria. (Independent) Disasters and accidents Minas Gerais dam disaster An iron ore tailings dam bursts in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais flooding a valley, causing mudslides in the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues and causing up to 17 deaths and 45 missing. The dam is operated by Samarco Mineração, a joint venture between BHP Billiton and Vale. (Bloomberg) (Reuters via SBS Australia) (AFP via Yahoo! News) (Al Jazeera English) Law and crime European migrant crisis Greek police say they came under fire on the country’s northeastern border with Turkey during the arrest of two suspected migrant smugglers who had just ferried 22 people across the Evros river that runs along the Greek-Turkish border. (AP via New Europe) NetCracker and Computer Sciences Corporation agree to pay fines amounting to over $12 million, settling a Justice Department investigation into the firms’ sub-contracting of computer coding work to Russian sources. The programs were subsequently installed on secure U.S. government computer networks. (The Daily Beast) University of California, Merced stabbing attack The Merced County Sheriff identifies the attacker of four students at the University of California, Merced as freshman Faisal Mohammad. (Merced Sun Star) ExxonMobil says that it is preparing a response to the subpoena from the Attorney General of New York pursuant to an investigation into whether Exxon has misled the public about climate change. (Reuters) Politics and elections Belizean general election, 2015 Belizean Prime Minister Dean Barrow wins a record third term in Wednesday's snap general election in the Central American nation as his United Democratic Party (UDP) gains a clear majority in parliament. The UDP won 19 constituencies and Francis Fonseca's People's United Party (PUP) took 10, with two constituencies yet to report. Belize is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II, the symbolic head of state. (Reuters) (Newsweek) The President of the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, declares a state of emergency suspending civil rights and giving sweeping powers to security forces. (The Guardian) The United States, Amnesty International, and the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the country's main opposition party, sharply criticize the state of emergency, concerned it might lead to a new crackdown on dissent. MDP had scheduled a protest rally for this Friday, demanding the release of its jailed leader, and former Maldivian President, Mohamed Nasheed. The government order cancels that action. (Washington Post) (AP via U.S. News & World Report) Myanmar general election, 2015 Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi says she would be "above the president" if her National League for Democracy party (NLD) gets the expected win in the Sunday, November 8, 2015, election. The 2008 constitution, drafted by the military without NLD participation, bars her from becoming President. (Reuters) (Time) Current events of November 6, 2015 (2015-11-06) (Friday) Armed conflicts and attacks Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015) Israeli forces shoot and kill a 72-year-old woman in Halhul, a town near Hebron. The soldiers say she attempted to wound them with her car. Her son denies this, saying his mother was on her way to lunch with her sister. Later, three Israelis are shot and wounded, one seriously, in two incidents in Hebron. (Al Jazeera English) (The Guardian) (Haaretz) Syrian Civil War Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inspectors conclusively identify mustard gas as the toxic agent used in the battle between Islamic State (IS) insurgents and an anti-Assad rebel group in the Syrian town of Mare' in the northern Alleppo province on August 21, 2015. This is the first confirmation of its use by non-state actors in Syria’s four-year-old conflict. (Christian Science Monitor) (Washington Post) The Ajnad al-Sham and other rebel forces recapture the village of Atshan and surrounding areas in Hama province, consolidating significant advances made the day before at the expense of pro-government forces. (Fox News) (Reuters) Art and culture The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) new policy states those in a same-sex marriage are to be considered apostates, and children living in a same-sex household may not be blessed as babies, or baptized until they are 18. (Washington Post) (AP) Business and economics India has cancelled Greenpeace India's license to operate and gave the group 30 days to close down, citing financial fraud and falsification of data, the environment watchdog said on Friday. (NDTV) (Reuters) U.S. job growth for October 2015 saw the biggest gains since December 2014, fueling hopes that the Federal Reserve Board will increase near-zero interest rates at its December meeting. (Reuters) U.S. President Barack Obama announces that the State Department has rejected TransCanada's application to complete the Keystone XL pipeline. (New York Times) (NPR) (Al Jazeera English) Disasters and accidents Kogalymavia Flight 9268 Russia has ordered the suspension of all flights to Egypt following indications that the crash near Sharm el-Sheikh was caused by a bomb.(BBC) Minas Gerais dam disaster Thursday's flooding and devastating mudslides at the BHP-Vale mine in Minas Gerais involved two dams, not one as initially reported. Brazilian officials report the mud flow is eight kilometers (five miles) long and 2.5 meters deep. Those rescued – and emergency services – are being decontaminated; mining spoils being treated as toxic. There is no official information on the number of casualties or the cause of the incident. The company that runs the mine says it detected seismic activity right before the breach. Both BHP and Vale shares declined over five percent. Brazilian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation. (Mashable) (Bloomberg) (CCTV) Health and medicine Researchers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) successfully use a 3-D printer (specifically, a fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer) to produce hair-like strands, inspired by the use of a hot glue gun to produce gossamer strands. Also, using certain materials (like collagens, alginates, and fibrins), with a 3-D printer and special bioprinting techniques, another team at CMU produced human coronary arteries and small, embryonic-like human hearts. (MSN) (CMU) (CMU) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a new, all-in-one pill to treat HIV patients that includes a new version of the drug tenofovir, which researchers think will help reduce side effects from the multi-drug regimens used for HIV. (UPI) International relations Indonesia–Philippines relations Indonesia and the Philippines discuss their borders after the Indonesian Navy sinks four Filipino fishing vessels off the coast of the Philippines triggering a diplomatic dispute. (Business World) Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations U.S. officials say the U.S. Navy deliberately avoided military drills or other actions that could have further inflamed tensions with Beijing during the USS Lassen's patrol in the South China Sea last week. For instance, the Lassen turned off its fire-control radars while transiting within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef. On its part, the Chinese destroyer following the Lassen was, "very cordial the entire time … before and after the Spratly Islands transit," said the Lassen's commanding officer, Commander Robert Francis. (Reuters) (New York Post) European migrant crisis Reuters reports the Obama Administration will be opening new screening centers for Syrian refugees in Iraq and Lebanon to speed up the process for getting vetted individuals to the United States. (Reuters) Turkey–United States relations The U.S Air Force deploys six F-15C fighter jets to Turkey's Incirlik Air Base to help defend Turkish airspace against potential intruders. (AP) Egypt–United States relations Egypt receives the final four of its order of 20 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 52 multi-role fighters, according to the Defense Ministry. The United States had delayed delivery following the 2013 coup d'état. (UPI) Japan–United States relations Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga says he "cannot comply with the recommendation" from Tokyo's Land Minister Keiichi Ishii, and will not retract his revocation of a U.S. military base relocation permit. (UPI) Politics and elections The U.S. House passes the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 370-58. In addition to funding the U.S. military, the bill contains provisions for sweeping personnel reforms. The previous version of the bill was vetoed by President Barack Obama. Some sources expect swift passage by the U.S. Senate while other sources are not so optimistic. (Defense News) (The Hill) Science and technology The United States Federal Communications Commission rejects privacy advocacy group Consumer Watchdog's petition to make it illegal for Internet companies like Google, Facebook and ad providers to ignore "Do Not Track" browser settings. (NBC News) Current events of November 7, 2015 (2015-11-07) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian Civil War The Assyrian Human Rights Network (AHRN) reports Islamic State militants released 37 Syrian Christians, mostly women, who were among more than 200 people from the Assyrian minority group abducted in February. (AP) The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the death toll from an airstrike on an IS-controlled eastern city near the border with Iraq rose from 25 to 71. (AP) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present) Bombs in and around Baghdad kill at least nine people, police and medical sources say. There is no immediate claim of responsibility. (Reuters) Art and culture The University of Sydney's Australian Archaeological Mission, excavating at a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the southwest coast of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, discover Cyprus's oldest theatre. Located in the ancient city of Nea Paphos (capital of Cyprus at the time), it is a Hellenistic-Roman structure believed to have been in use for about six and a half centuries, from c. 300 B.C. until its final destruction in the earthquakes of A.D. 365. The Roman columns are made of granite from quarries in Troad, Turkey. (AFP, via MSN) The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities says infrared thermography indicates a hidden chamber in the tomb of King Tutankhamen, findings consistent with early theories his tomb included two concealed doorways and with the theory presented in archaeologist Nicholas Reeves' paper this summer. (UPI) Business and economics Takata Defective airbag recalls (2013-present) Nissan Motor Co. says it will not use airbag inflators made by Japanese auto parts supplier Takata Corp. in its cars, joining Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Metrojet Flight 9268 A sudden noise immediately before the "black box" flight data recorder went dark indicates the plane was brought down by a bomb, according to unnamed sources. Officially, Ayman el-Muqadem says the Egyptian investigative team is "considering all possible scenarios for the cause of the accident" and has not yet reached any conclusions. (BBC) (USA Today) (The Mirror) European migrant crisis The Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex, in six separate operations, rescue a total of 383 migrants attempting to sail from Turkey to the eastern Greek islands. (AP) Minas Gerais dam disaster As rescue teams labor to reach isolated communities, state officials are taking precautions to contain the environmental fallout from the burst dams. A state public prosecutor based in Mariana says he will seek 500,000 Brazilian reais (US$130,000) in personal damages for each of about 200 families most affected by the dam burst. (Reuters) Health and medicine In Iraq, a cholera outbreak prompts United Nations agencies UNICEF and the World Health Organization to launch a prevention and treatment campaign. So far, around 2,200 cases have been confirmed, and some infections have occurred in neighboring countries. (Al Jazeera English) The WHO declares Sierra Leone free from Ebola transmissions. (France 24) (BBC) (New York Times) International relations Cross-Strait relations, 2015 Ma–Xi Meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou meet in Singapore, the first meeting between a Chinese and Taiwanese leader since the Chinese Communist Revolution. (CNN) China–United States relations The United States and China hold joint naval exercises in the Atlantic Ocean near Naval Station Mayport, Jacksonville, Florida. The United States missile destroyer USS Mason and guided missile cruiser USS Monterey along with other ships in the Atlantic, conduct drills with China's guided-missile frigate Yiyang, guided-missile destroyer Jinan, and oil tanker Qiandao Hu. (UPI) Law and crime A manhunt is underway for a gunman who shot and seriously wounded presiding Travis County, Texas State District Judge Julie Kocurek at the driveway of her home in West Austin, Texas. It was unclear whether she and/or her family members were targeted (they were arriving home) or if it was a botched robbery. She was listed in serious condition at University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin but is expected to recover. (USA Today, via MSN) In Louisiana, United States, two law enforcement officers are arrested and charged with homicide of a six-year-old and attempted homicide of his father. (Al Jazeera English) (BBC) Politics and elections Portuguese legislative election, 2015 Three leftist parties announce their ability to form a government, making it likely that Pedro Passos Coelho will no longer be Prime Minister. (BBC) Myanmar general election, 2015 Myanmar president Thein Sein says his government and the military, which gave up power only five years ago, will respect the results of Sunday's historic elections that are expected to be won by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party. (AP) Current events of November 8, 2015 (2015-11-08) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks Yemeni Civil War (2015) Houthi forces regain several positions across southern Yemen after launching a fresh offensive against loyalist and coalition forces. In Lahij province, which borders Aden, Houthi forces are now positioned on a hill overlooking the strategic Al Anad Air Base, which houses Sudanese forces. The Houthis also retook the Damt District in the Dhale province after besieging it for hours, at least 16 people were killed in the clashes. (AFP via Yahoo) At least nine people are killed after gunmen attack a bar in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura. (Voice of America) Boko Haram insurgency Two suicide bomb attacks in Ngouboua, a remote village near Lake Chad, kill three people, including the bombers, and injure four others, according to Chadian Communication Minister Hassan Sylla Bakari. (Shanghai Daily) (UPI) Syrian Civil War Syrian state news reports clashes between Syrian Armed Forces and the Islamic State in eastern Syria's Deir ez-Zor province result in the deaths of 58 militants. (UPI) (Zee News) Russian air strikes on areas in the town of Maaret al-Numan, Idlib, killing nine people, including a child, and on Saraqib in the same province, killing another two women. (Al Bawaba) At least 10 people were killed in Syrian government air strikes on Islamic State-held town of Al-Bab, including a woman and child. (France 24) Arts and Culture United States presidential election, 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump hosts Saturday Night Live. According to NBC the show attained a 6.6 household rating, giving Saturday Night Live its best overnight ratings since January 2012 when Charles Barkley was the host. (NBC) (Entertainment Weekly) (AP) In the United States, University of Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel tweets his support for the 30 black football players who, because of racial tensions on campus, are boycotting team activities until the president of the University of Missouri System, Tim Wolfe, is removed. Pinkel and athletics director Mack Rhoades issue a statement that the Tigers will not resume football activities until Missouri student Jonathan Butler ends his hunger strike against Wolfe. (NBC Sports) (KTIC Radio) (AFP via Global Post) (KCSTAR via Sacramento Bee) John Lennon's guitar sells for over $2.5 million (BBC) The Detroit Free Press reports, following this week's election, Hamtramck, Michigan, will apparently be the first city in the United States to be governed by Muslims, three of Bangladeshi descent and one Yemeni. Community leader Bill Meyer, who is not Muslim, said the influx of Muslims to Hamtramck has "helped bring stability, security and sobriety while lessening the amount of drugs and crime in the city." (Detroit Free Press) (Christian Science Monitor) (New Civil Rights Movement) Disasters and accidents A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying crude oil derails in Wisconsin; some of the 10 derailed cars are leaking oil. This is the second consecutive day for a freight train crash in the state. Yesterday, a BNSF Railway train wreck spilled thousands of gallons of ethanol. No injuries were reported in either accident. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (WBAY) Health and medicine A 1-year-old from London with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who had undergone myriads of unsuccessful treatments since she was 14 weeks old is in remission thanks to gene-editing technology, used for just the second time, that allowed her to receive modified immune cells from another person. (Chicago Tribune) (Bangkok Post) (Nature) International relations United States–Venezuela relations Venezuela says a U.S. Coast Guard intelligence plane violated its airspace on November 6. (Reuters via Yahoo) European migrant crisis Spain's interior minister Jorge Fernández Díaz says the first of more than 1,400 refugees from Syria and Eritrea are being welcomed for resettlement in new homes across the country. (AP) Law and crime Hossam Bahgat, an investigative reporter for the independent Egyptian news website Mada Masr is detained and is interrogated on charges of publishing false news that could harm the nation. (Middle East Eye) (NPR) Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. announces over $800 million in grants available to various agencies across the U.S. for law enforcement-related initiatives such as testing of potentially expired rape kits, the funding of an international center devoted to monitoring cyber attacks, and a program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice dedicated to training prosecutors. The grants are funded from criminal penalties paid by several international banks accused of violating sanctions. (New York Times) Politics and elections Croatian parliamentary election, 2015 Early official results show the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the country's largest opposition party, has a slim lead over Prime Minister Zoran Milanović’s ruling Social Democrats (SDP) in today's elections. With 32 percent counted, the HDZ, has 61 of parliament’s 151 seats and the SDP is second with 53. The third place Most (Bridge of Independent Lists) party is likely to have the balance of power in the parliament. (Wall Street Journal) (Bloomberg) (The Guardian) After the votes were counted, HDZ had 59 seats and SDP 56, and with 3 additional seats from the regional IDS party, SDP amounted to 59 seats. The greatest surprise was MOST, who won 19 seats and will be the key in formation of the government. If MOST refuses coalition with the two main parties, the country will have to repeat the elections in January 2016. (EUROPP) Myanmar general election, 2015 Voters in Myanmar head to the polls with the National League for Democracy, the party of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi, expected to win a majority of seats in Parliament and the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party conceding defeat on Monday. Early indication is an 80 percent turnout of the more than 30 million people eligible to vote. (Los Angeles Times) (Ahmedabad Mirror) Bihar, India, Legislative Assembly election, 2015 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP Party concedes defeat to the grand alliance of Bihar sitting chief minister Nitish Kumar in the fifth and final phase of the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election. (NPR) (FirstPost.com) Science and technology Mysterious lights from an unidentified flying object spook people in Arizona, California, and Nevada. It was later confirmed as a test flight of a UGM-133 Trident II missile. (BBC) According to a new World Bank report, climate change could drive more than 100 million people into poverty by 2030 largely due to difficulties producing crops. (Time) (CNBC) (World Bank Report) Current events of November 9, 2015 (2015-11-09) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks Amman shooting attack A Jordanian policeman shoots dead two American instructors and a South African before being killed at a police training centre in Al-Muwaqqar, on the eastern outskirts of Amman. U.S. contractors are sent to the facility to assist Jordanian police trainers. (BBC) Boko Haram insurgency The government of Chad declares a state of emergency in the Lake Chad area a day after a double suicide bombing that has killed two people. (AFP via Yahoo News) Syrian Civil War, Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Using social media, Russian investigative bloggers from the Conflict Intelligence Team photo-geolocate three Russian military personnel outside expected air support operations areas — evidence of what the group says may be a broader Russian military role in Syria. (Reuters) Art and culture 2015 University of Missouri protests In the U.S., after mounting criticism over his handling of racial issues, University of Missouri System president Tim Wolfe announces his resignation; the Board of Curators votes to accept his resignation. R. Bowen Loftin, chancellor of the flagship Columbia campus, announces he will step down from his post by the end of the year. (ESPN) (USA Today) (ABC News) Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 painting Nu couché sells at an auction at Christie's for $170.4 million, the second highest price for a painting on record. (New York Times) Business and economy The German airline Lufthansa suspends 929 flights leaving 113,000 passengers stranded as a result of a cabin crew strike. (AFP via Yahoo! finance) Disasters and accidents 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season Cyclone Megh Cyclone Megh had sustained winds of 204 km/h (127 mph), the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane, when it hit the island of Socotra. According to AFP, Megh killed six, injured dozens with three reported missing and 5,000 people forced to leave their homes. (Reuters) (USA Today) (Al Jazeera) (AFP via Yahoo) Megh is expected to cross the Yemen coast Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. Arabia Standard Time (6:00 a.m. UTC). In the Gulf of Aden, the storm has maximum sustained winds of 111 km/h (69 mph), gusting to 130 km/h (81 mph). Its strength will significantly erode once it makes landfall and continue to decay after it moves inland into the dry and rugged terrain of Western Yemen. It is not expected to track back over water. (United States Naval Observatory) (Regional Specialized Meteorological Center) International relations European migrant crisis Slovenia tightens controls over its Schengen border with Croatia due to concerns of an influx of migrants. (AFP via Yahoo News) Syrian Civil War Human Rights Watch releases a report finding, because of a language barrier, integration issues, and financial difficulties, more than 400,000 Syrian refugee children in Turkey are not able to attend school despite the Turkish government allowing them access to the Turkish schooling system. (AP) Law and crime Detainees at Australia's Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre riot, following the death of an asylum seeker. (The Australian) Federal district court judge Richard Leon rules the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of U.S. phone records is unconstitutional. This ruling has limited impact since it applies to only one case, and the NSA is scheduled to replace this protocol with a more targeted system the end of this month. (Reuters) (Foreign Policy) In the United States, the University of Virginia fraternity that was the subject of a Rolling Stone article about a brutal campus rape, filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against the magazine and the article's writer. (NBC News) (The Washington Post) The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a 2-1 decision, upholds a lower court’s injunction that blocks implementation of an Executive order to shield from deportation millions of undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children. The White House is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Reuters) (The Washington Post) Politics and elections The Catalan Parliament passes a resolution calling for the Catalonian region to secede from Spain. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy says his government will seek to invalidate the motion with an appeal to the Constitutional Court in the coming days. (AP) (Reuters) (The Himalayan Times) Myanmar general election, 2015 Myanmar's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) concedes defeat in Sunday's first free nationwide election in a quarter of a century. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which has won 49 of the first 54 declared seats for the 330-seat lower house, appears headed for a landslide victory that would ensure it forms the next government. (Reuters) (Tribble Agency) United to End Genocide, an American-based human rights group, in the aftermath of the country’s historic election, warns that ethnic and religious tension in Myanmar could boil over and lead to violence. (The Washington Post) The United Kingdom House of Commons passes the Scotland Bill devolving powers to Scotland. (BBC) Science and technology The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2014 and the relentless fueling of climate change is endangering the planet for future generations. (Scientific American) (USA Today) Sport A World Anti-Doping Agency investigation into a Russian doping scandal recommends the suspension of Russian athletes from international competition and lifetime bans for five athletes, four coaches and an administrator. Among the athletes are London Olympic medalists Mariya Savinova-Farnosova and Ekaterina Poistogova. (AP via ABC News America) Current events of November 10, 2015 (2015-11-10) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Sinai insurgency Egypt's Interior Ministry announces the death of a senior figure in the Islamic State’s “Sinai province.” Ashraf Ali Hassanein al Gharabli, killed in a Cairo shootout with police, was also linked to other extremist groups and terrorist activities. (The Long War Journal) (ARAnews) Syrian Civil War Aleppo offensive (October–November 2015) Syrian Army troops break an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant siege of the Kweires airbase in the Aleppo Governorate. (Reuters via Times of Oman) A mortar attack on the coastal city of Latakia kills at least 23 and injures 65. (UPI) Business and economics Technology news website Re/code reports Dell Incorporated's $67 billion offer to buy data storage company EMC Corporation could be derailed by a tax bill of up to $9 billion if key aspects of the deal do not qualify for the sort of tax treatment the companies consider essential for the transaction. (Reuters) (Economic Times) (Re/code) Disasters and accidents All nine people aboard a Hawker H25 business jet are killed after the plane crashes into an apartment complex in the American city of Akron, Ohio. (Fox News) (WOIO via WNEW) Health and medicine Pollution in China Chinese state news agency Xinhua joins critics of Shenyang's handling of serious pollution problems. "The city of Shenyang has failed to apply emergency measures that could have reduced smog, and didn't provide advisories to residents to stay indoors," Xinhua wrote. The BBC reported pollution readings in the northeastern Chinese city have been 50 times higher than levels considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO). (UPI) International relations British Prime Minister David Cameron sets out his four-point EU re-negotiation agenda, including a demand to end Britain's obligations to EU's "ever closer union". (Guardian) Myanmar tops the 2015 Charities Aid Foundation's World Giving Index which measures each country's charitable behavior. Individuals indicate whether they have donated money, volunteered, or helped a stranger in the past month. The United States, which tied with Myanmar last year, is second, followed by New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Ireland, and Malaysia. (Market Watch) (The Guardian) (CAF 2015 Report) Syria peace talks in Vienna, Syrian Civil War Reuters reports Russia's eight-point proposal, drafted prior to this week's international talks on Syria, wants the Syrian government and the opposition to agree on launching a constitutional reform process of up to 18 months, followed by early presidential elections. (Reuters) Iran, P5+1 & European Union Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran stops dismantling decommissioned centrifuges in two uranium enrichment plants, according to state media reports. This comes days after Iran's conservative lawmakers complained to President Hassan Rouhani that the process was too rushed. (Reuters) French media reports that a planned lunch for November 17 between Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and French president François Hollande is scrapped after Rouhani asked that all wine be pulled from the menu. (Fox News) Law and crime New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sends cease and desist letters to DraftKings and FanDuel ordering them to stop operating in the state because they violate New York laws against illegal gambling. (NBC News) (New York Daily News) The United States FBI foils an alleged plot by white supremacists in Virginia who were planning a reign of terror — shooting or bombing religious institutions, robbing jewelers and armored cars, purchasing land, stockpiling weapons, and training for the "coming race war." (Washington Post) (WTVR) Kenyan police arrest Daily Nation senior reporter John Ngirachu who wrote about corruption at the Interior Ministry. Reports alleging outrageous spending by civil servants has raised pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta. (Reuters) The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia suspends district court judge Richard Leon's ruling yesterday that found the U.S. National Security Agency's phone data collection program is unconstitutional. Leon's decision barred the agency from further collection of data on the plaintiffs in the case -- California attorney J.J. Little and his law firm -- but did not have sufficient authority to outlaw the practice against all Americans. The government plea for the injunction said it will take "at least several weeks" for the NSA to implement a technical change that would prevent collection of Little's data and therefore the entire program would have to shut down early based on Leon's order. (UPI) The Obama administration will ask the Supreme Court to overturn yesterday's ruling by the New Orleans, Louisiana, federal Court of Appeals that blocks the deferred deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children. (UPI) Politics and elections Former West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt (1974 to 1982) dies at the age of 96. (The Guardian) Sport Lamine Diack, who is provisionally suspended as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in connection with suspected involvement in the Russian doping scandal cited in yesterday's World Anti-Doping Agency report, resigns as president of the Monaco-based International Athletics Foundation (IAF), according to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAFF). Diack stepped down as president of the IAAF in August. The 82-year-old native of Senegal is under investigation in France on suspicion of corruption and money-laundering. (Reuters) (BBC) Current events of November 11, 2015 (2015-11-11) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian Civil War, Spillover of the Syrian Civil War The Israeli Air Force reportedly conducts an airstrike near Damascus International Airport, in Syria's capital, the target apparently a weapons shipment reportedly intended for Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, according to Syrian opposition groups. (Times of Israel) (The Jerusalem Post) Turkey–PKK conflict, 2015 PKK rebellion Turkish security forces backed up by tanks and combat helicopters launch a large-scale operation against PKK militants in the mainly Kurdish town of Silvan, which has been under a punishing curfew for nine days. At least five people are killed in the fighting, including a Turkish soldier. (AFP via Yahoo) War in Afghanistan (2015–present) Carrying coffins holding the beheaded bodies of seven ethnic Hazara, thousands of demonstrators from Afghanistan's different ethnic groups - Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara - march on the Presidential Palace in Kabul, urging the government to take action against the rising violence against Afghan civilians. The murders, which the United Nations denounced as a potential war crime, have fueled a growing sense of insecurity since the Taliban briefly seized control of Kunduz in late September. (RAWA News) (Reuters) Business and economics Metrojet Flight 9268 Tourism bookings in Egypt’s main Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh plunge in the wake of the plane crash with some 80% of reservations cancelled and at least 40% of the tourists leaving the resort since the crash. (The Globe And Mail) International relations European migrant crisis Slovenian border barrier Slovenia's army begins erecting a razor wire fence along parts of its southern border with Croatia in order to stop a tide of illegal migrants entering the country. Around 180,000 people, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan have streamed into Slovenia since mid-October after trekking northwards along a Balkan corridor from Greece, most of them bound ultimately for Germany. (Reuters) Sweden is imposing temporary border controls to stem a record inflow of refugees. The Nordic nation pleads with the rest of Europe for help. (Bloomberg) (Newsweek) Law and crime Anti-corruption campaign in China Beijing Deputy Communist Party Secretary Lü Xiwen and Shanghai vice mayor Ai Baojun are placed under investigation by the top anti-graft body of the Communist Party of China, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. (New York Times) The Constitutional Court of Spain agrees to hear an appeal by the national government against a bid for independence by Catalonia suspending legal bids for secession. (Reuters) Three aircraft, a Southwest Airlines 737, a Virgin America A319, and a private plane, were all struck by a laser coming from the same direction as they were about to land at Dallas's Love Field, according to the U.S. FAA. (Fox News) Politics and elections Myanmar general election, 2015 With 45 percent of the Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) results announced from Sunday's election, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) moves closer to an absolute majority in the country's parliament, winning over 90 percent (135 of 149 seats) in the country's lower house. The NLD also has taken over 85 percent in the upper house and regional assemblies. The NLD needs to win more than two-thirds of seats that were contested in parliament to form Myanmar's first democratically elected government since the early 1960s. (Reuters) Twenty-five percent (25%) of the seats in the legislature are not elected; they are reserved for military appointees, taken from Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) personnel, and officially known as "Army Representatives." (Channel 3000) Pro-independence Catalan leaders vowed to continue their efforts to secede from Spain, defying a ruling by the Madrid-based constitutional court that suspended a law defining a path for independence. (International Business Times) (Time) Science and technology Astronomers announce the discovery of V774104, the most distant object yet found in the solar system, a dwarf planet orbiting at three times the distance of Pluto. (NPR) Current events of November 12, 2015 (2015-11-12) (Thursday) Armed conflicts and attacks Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israeli agents, disguised as Arabs escorting a woman in labor, raids a hospital in Hebron, West Bank, seizing a Palestinian suspected of stabbing and shooting dead his cousin. (New York Times) (Haaretz) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present), Military intervention against ISIL American-led intervention Kurdish forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, capture several villages in an offensive to retake the Iraqi town of Sinjar from Islamic State militants, who overran it more than a year ago. The operation aims to cordon off the town, take control of Islamic State supply routes, and establish a buffer zone to protect the town from artillery, according to the Kurdish national security council. (Reuters) (NBC News) 2015 Beirut bombings: Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk reports at least 43 people were killed and more than 239 wounded as two, simultaneous suicide bomb blasts hit a Shi'ite community center and a nearby bakery in the Beirut suburb of Bourj el-Barajneh, a section of the Lebanese capital controlled by Hezbollah. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the attack. Machnouk said a third suicide bomber had been killed by one of the explosions before he could detonate his own bomb. The bombers struck as Lebanese lawmakers held a legislative session for the first time in over a year. (Daily Star) (Sky News) (Reuters) Arts and culture French-American Florent Groberg receives the Medal of Honor, becoming the first foreign-born Medal of Honor recipient of the War in Afghanistan. (CNN) Business and economy Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, tells the European parliament in prepared testimony that the outlook for inflation is "weakening." The comment was taken to suggest the ECB will soon take a more stimulative stance on interest rates or money quantity. (Bloomberg) The city of Montreal in Canada begins dumping 2 billion gallons of raw sewage into the Saint Lawrence River, an action the mayor, Denis Coderre, says is necessary to make repairs and improvements to the city's wastewater system. The move has caused outrage among residents and environmentalists, while the hashtag "#‎flushgate‬" is being used on social media sites to voice opposition to the dumping effort. (CNN) International relations The Valletta Summit on Migration concludes with European leaders setting up a fund to promote development in African countries, in return for help in the European migrant crisis. (Times of Malta) Health and medicine The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that maternal deaths will have fallen 44% between 1990 and 2015; although, this falls short of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goal of 75% reduction. (BBC) Law and crime Two nephews of Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores, who were arrested in Haiti by U.S. authorities on Tuesday, are indicted in New York for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States. (USA Today) (Venezuelanalysis.com) More than a dozen alleged ISIS-linked, terrorist members of Rawti Shax, a European offshoot of the Iraqi Kurdish jihadist network Ansar al-Islam, are arrested in a coordinated, multi-nation sweep by police across Europe. The operation dismantled an integrated cell in Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Germany. The group is accused of radicalizing fighters, planning attacks targeting Norwegian and British diplomats in the Middle East, and planning to establish a caliphate in Iraq's Kurdistan region. (NBC News) (The Local) (CNN) Human rights in Uzbekistan Uzbek political prisoner Murod Juraev is finally released after being imprisoned for 21 years. (New York Times) Sport Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko says there will be no boycott of next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and that he is ready to own up to some of the charges leveled in the World Anti-Doping Agency commission's massive report on doping, the Associated Press reports. (AP) Current events of November 13, 2015 (2015-11-13) (Friday) Armed conflicts and attacks Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant The United States conducts airstrikes targeting Kuwaiti-British militant Jihadi John. Later, the U.S. says it is "reasonably certain" a drone strike in Syria killed Jihadi John, né Mohammed Emwazi. (BBC) (Reuters) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present) November 2015 Sinjar offensive Kurdish Peshmerga forces backed by U.S. airstrikes seize control of Sinjar in northern Iraq. Sinjar has been under Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant occupation since August 2014. (Reuters) Multiple bombings in Baghdad targeting Iraqi Shiites kills at least 26 people. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility. (AP via Yahoo) November 2015 Paris attacks French police report multiple blasts and gunfire in Paris with at least 26 dead in a restaurant in the 10th arrondissement and an explosion near the Stade de France. (Daily Beast) (AP) (Washington Post) Police report the hostage siege is over at the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan theatre in the 11th arrondissement. Approximately 100 people are dead in the Bataclan. (The Daily Beast), (Deadline) The President of France François Hollande declares a state of emergency across France. (The Guardian) 2015 Beirut bombings A day of mourning is held in Lebanon following two suicide attacks in the capital Beirut which killed at least 43 people. (Al Jazeera) During an arrest attempt in Cairo, Egyptian security forces kill Aly Ashraf Hassanein al Gharabli, an ISIL-linked militant who masterminded the murder of Apache Corporation worker William Henderson in Egypt last year. (Fuel Fix) Central African Republic Civil War (2012–present) At least 22 people are killed this week in a string of raids on villages in the Central African Republic. The escalation of violence threatens to derail a visit by Pope Francis and crucial elections scheduled for December 27, 2015. (Reuters) Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015) 40 year old Rabbi Ya’akov Litman and his 18 year-old son are shot dead by a Palestinian gunman, south of Hebron. (The Times Of Israel) Arts and culture The Anne Frank Fonds in Basel, Switzerland, announces that Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank, is editor and legally the co-author of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” (New York Times) South Korean news agency Yonhap reports China's mobile phone users are discarding 80 million devices annually, but almost none are being recycled. China's recycling rate stands at 9-10 percent of the global recycling average. (UPI) Business and economy Nasdaq is engaged in negotiations to buy the Canada unit of Chi-X Global Holdings. Chi-X is an important provider of alternative equity trading venues. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents The bodies of eight babies are found wrapped in towels and inside plastic bags in an apartment in the town of Wallenfels in Germany's state of Bavaria. Authorities are looking for the apartment's most recent occupant, Andrea G, a 45-year-old woman. (CNN) (Irish Times) At least four people are dead and 33 injured in a landslide in China's Zhejiang province. (CRI) International Relations U.S. diplomats, amid growing international concern the violence could spiral into an ethnic conflict, push for peace talks in Burundi. The European Union advises non-essential staff to evacuate the Central African nation amid rising violence and an uptick in political rhetoric. The head of the opposition UPRONA group urges the United Nations to send peacekeepers quickly. Yesterday, the UN Security Council called on the Burundi Government to protect human rights and cooperate with regional African mediators to immediately convene “an inclusive and genuine inter-Burundian dialogue” to find a peaceful resolution of the crisis. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) (UN) European migrant crisis German Chancellor Angela Merkel asserts she still isn't prepared to name an upper limit to the number of refugees who can come to Germany, despite mounting domestic political pressure. (AP) Oxfam's Belgrade Center for Human Rights reports migrants coming through Bulgaria have faced beatings, threats and other abuses by police, though the country's own refugee agency said it had received no such complaints. (Reuters) Syrian Civil War peace process U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets in Vienna, Austria, with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.N. special envoy for Syria, ahead of Saturday's next round of international summits on the Syrian Civil War. The talks, aimed toward a cease-fire in Syria's devastating war and a political transition to a post-war government, will include senior officials from 19 nations/groups and, as in October, Iran will participate. (AP) Metrojet Flight 9268 As a temporary security measure, effective Saturday, Russia bans incoming flights by Egypt's state-owned airline, EgyptAir, two weeks after an apparent terrorist bomb downed a Russian jet in the Sinai. (Reuters) Law and crime Police in the Dominican Republic raid a mansion owned by 30-year-old Francisco Flores de Freites, one of the two nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro facing charges for allegedly trying to traffic 800 kg of cocaine into the U.S., and found more than 280 pounds of cocaine and 22 pounds of heroin hidden inside the nephew’s posh Casa de Campo property and a 135-foot yacht named “The Kingdom” docked behind it. (Fox News) Politics and elections Myanmar general election, 2015 Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) wins an absolute majority with 348 seats taken in the country's parliament, 19 seats more than the required 329, marking Myanmar's first democratically-elected government since the 1962 Burmese coup d'état. (The Economist) (The Guardian) Colombia plans to legalize medical marijuana in a further shift in drug policy after suspending aerial fumigation of illicit crops. A decree approving the therapeutic use of marijuana will be signed in the coming days. Growing, distributing and selling cannabis will remain illegal. (Reuters) (teleSUR) Science and technology WT1190F, an artificial satellite orbiting the Earth since before June 2009, impacts the Earth south of Sri Lanka. (CBC) Sport The International Association of Athletics Federations votes overwhelmingly to ban Russian athletes and the All-Russia Athletic Federation from international competitions following overwhelming evidence of widespread state sponsored doping in a World Anti-Doping Agency report. (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald) Yelena Isinbayeva, a former Russian Olympic pole-vaulting champion calls on the IAAF not to punish honest athletes in response to doping allegations against Russia. (Reuters) Current events of November 14, 2015 (2015-11-14) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks November 2015 Paris attacks, Spillover of the Syrian Civil War The death toll from the terrorist attacks in Paris stands at 129. (Reuters) Michel Cadot, the head of the Paris Police Prefecture, says that all the attackers are believed to be dead. (The Guardian) French President François Hollande announces the cancellation of his participation at the G-20 Antalya summit in order to focus on the attacks. (Reuters via Channel News Asia) Thousands are turning to social media (#PorteOuverte/twitter) to check-in on loved ones in the area, many using Facebook's "Safety Check" feature. (CBS News) The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant releases an official statement and video, claiming responsibility for the attacks. (The Jerusalem Post) A Syrian passport is found near the body of one of the gunmen who died in Friday's attacks in Paris. The holder passed through the Greek island of Leros on October 3 as a refugee, according to Greek officials. A Greek police source said the passport's owner was a young man who had arrived in Leros with a group of 69 refugees and had his fingerprints taken by authorities there. Police declined to give his name. (Reuters) (ABC News Australia) Poland's recently elected government led by Law and Justice (PiS), declares it will no longer accept EU-mandate quotas for refugees following the terrorist attacks in France. (RT) Military intervention against ISIL, Libyan Civil War (2014–present) A U.S. airstrike on a compound in the Libyan port city of Derna is said to have killed Wisam al Zubaidi, also known as Abu Nabil al-Anbari, who commands the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's branch in Libya. A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation, said the airstrike involved F-15 aircraft and was believed to have killed Zubaidi. He said the attack had been planned for some time. (The Washington Post) (BBC) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present), Persecution of Yazidis by ISIL Kurdish Peshmerga forces discover a mass grave believed to contain the remains of more than 70 members of Iraq's Yazidi minority, mostly women, east of the recently liberated town of Sinjar. (Reuters via The Huffington Post) Spillover of the Syrian Civil War, Turkey–ISIL conflict Turkish forces engage Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants along the Syrian border: Turkish troops kill four Islamic State militants in Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep Province when two cars with ISIS passengers advanced on a Turkish armored vehicle near a border post in Oğuzeli. (Daily Sabah) During a raid on a suspected ISIL hideout in the city of Gaziantep (Antep), a suicide bomber fires on Turkish police before he explodes, wounding five police officers, one seriously. (Al Jazeera) Disasters and accidents The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the southwest coast of Japan. The quake occurred 119 miles (191 km) west-southwest of Kagoshima. The Pacific Tsunami Center reported no major tsunami threat. A small tsunami, 30 centimeters (11.8 inches), was observed on the southern island of Nakanoshima. No reports of major damage or injuries. (Reuters) (AP via Marysville Appeal-Democrat)(AFP via Channel News Asia) Eckwersheim derailment Ten people are dead and eleven injured after a high-speed TGV train catches fire and derails near the northeastern French city of Strasbourg. (Independent) (BBC) Four people are killed after a light aircraft crashes near the village of Churchstanton in Somerset. (BBC) International relations China–Indonesia relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Indonesia announces that it is planning to take China to court over the Natuna Islands. (Forbes) Law and crime Scott N. Johansen, a Utah Juvenile Court judge, reverses his original order to remove a foster child from same sex-parents. The state Division of Child and Family Services and foster parents all filed motions asking for the reconsideration and promising an appeal. The new decision eliminates the phrase, "It is not in the best interest of children to be raised by same-sex couples" and strikes an order for the child to be placed with a non-same-sex couple. (New York Times) Police in South Korea fire tear gas and water cannons at anti-government protesters in Seoul. Around 70,000 people took part in the protests, the largest in Seoul since the 2008 US beef protest in South Korea. (Christian Science Monitor). Science and Technology A team of scientists from the United States and Europe are predicting that declining snowpacks on mountain ranges could lead to Northern Hemisphere water shortages by the year 2060. (Insight Ticker) Science Monitor) Current events of November 15, 2015 (2015-11-15) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks November 2015 Paris attacks One of the Paris attackers is identified as Ismael Omar Mostefai, a 29-year-old who was born and raised in the Paris suburbs. (Fox News) (BBC) Paris prosecutor François Molins says three jihadist cells, apparently multinational teams with links to the Middle East, Belgium, and possibly Germany, as well as France, staged coordinated attacks at bars, a concert hall, and a soccer stadium, killing 132 people and injuring 350, including around 90 who are in a serious condition. (Reuters) French authorities identify two of the suicide attackers; both French nationals living in Belgium, one age 20, the other 31. (AP) Turkey–ISIL conflict Turkish police detain seven ISIS-linked suspects in simultaneous operations in Ankara. (Daily Sabah) 2015 Beirut bombings, Spillover of the Syrian Civil War Lebanon arrests nine people including seven Syrians over the recent Beirut bombings that killed at least 44 people. (Al Jazeera) Egyptian security forces allegedly shoot dead at least 15 Sudanese asylum seekers in the Sinai Peninsula near the Israeli border. (Al-Jazeera) Syrian Civil War France-led coalition intervention against ISIL France launches a series of airstrikes on Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria, destroying a jihadi training camp and a munitions dump. (AP) American-led intervention in Syria A government official says the United States made a fresh delivery of ammunition to Syrian Arab Coalition fighters battling Islamic State in northern Syria, pushing ahead with a strategy that initially unnerved ally Turkey. (Reuters) Business and economy Daily fantasy sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel, who are fighting New York's cease-and-desist order that their industry is gambling in the U.S. state, apparently are OK with that label in the United Kingdom. DraftKings obtained a British gambling license in August and FanDuel applied for one earlier this month. (AP) Disasters and accidents The death toll from a landslide on Friday in China's Zhejiang province rises to 16 with 21 still missing. (New York Times) Heavy rain leads to warnings of floods in mid and north Wales. (BBC) International relations 2015 G-20 Antalya summit The leaders of nations with the top 20 economies vow to use all their policy resources to bolster a sagging global economic environment. While the European migrant crisis and terrorism were high on the agenda of this economic summit the terror attacks in Paris dominate conversations and meetings. In the wake of the attacks and during ongoing investigation, French President François Hollande remains in Paris. (Reuters) (CNN Money) (New York Times) United States President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a G20 working lunch meeting, traded views on Syria's civil war: where they agreed, i.e. UN negotiations, cease-fire, and Syrian-led political transition; and where they disagreed, i.e. President Bashar al-Assad's future role. Obama reiterated his support for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements on Ukraine, including Ukraine's control of its borders. (AP) (RT), (Reuters), (NBC News) November 2015 Paris attacks The top of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper, is lit up in the blue, white and red of the French flag, in tribute to France and those killed in the attacks in Paris. Other landmark buildings in the United Arab Emirates, including the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab building, also paid tribute. (AP), (Arabian Business) European migrant crisis Swedish police increase checks of asylum facilities in the country's southwest amid reports refugees are leaving to avoid being registered by immigration officials. (AP) Japan–Philippines relations Reuters reports Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Philippine President Benigno Aquino are set to agree on a deal paving the way for Tokyo to directly supply Manila with used military equipment. An announcement is expected this week during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila. (Reuters) Politics and elections Myanmar general election, 2015 Aung San Suu Kyi holds talks with parliament's outgoing chairman, Shwe Mann, seeking his help in an orderly democratic transition to the newly-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government. Mann, who was ousted as head of the Union Solidarity and Development Party in August, lost his house seat in the November 8 vote. The current parliament will have at least one more session. (Reuters) Myanmar's President Thein Sein promises a smooth transfer of power following the National League for Democracy winning a majority of parliamentary seats in last week's elections. (UPI) Sport UFC 193 Holly Holm defeats Ronda Rousey in a women's bantamweight title match at Etihad Stadium in the Australian city of Melbourne, Victoria. (News Limited) (Los Angeles Times) In a suit filed by two former American professional football (NFL) players, the Ohio Supreme Court upholds a lower court ruling that Cleveland's formula for taxing visiting professional athletes, the so-called "jock tax," violates players' due process rights. A spokesman says the city will begin issuing refunds to players. (AP) 2015 Fed Cup In tennis, the Czech Republic retains the Fed Cup defeating Russia 3-2 in the final played at the O2 Arena in Prague. This is the Czech Republic's fourth title in five years. (Yahoo News) Current events of November 16, 2015 (2015-11-16) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks November 2015 Paris attacks Authorities search for Belgium-born French national Salah Abdeslam, one of three brothers suspected of involvement in the attacks. Raids are reported to have taken place in Grenoble, Toulouse, Jeumont and the Paris suburb of Bobigny. This contradicts previously published official information that all the perpetrators of the attacks were dead. (CNN) (The Guardian) Mohamed Abdeslam, brother of suspect fugitive Salah Abdeslam, and Ibrahim Abdeslam, a suicide bomber in the attacks, is released by authorities after questioning this weekend. His attorney told reporters, her client "hadn't made the same life choices." (The Independent) (Fox News) Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a leading Belgian jihadist who is one of the most active ISIS operators in Syria, is the suspected head organizer behind the Paris massacre. He is also linked to thwarted attacks on a Paris-bound high-speed train and a church near the French capital, earlier this year. (NBC News) Hacktivist group Anonymous declares war on ISIS taking down 2,000 related Twitter accounts as well as some donation groups for the terrorists on the Dark Web. The group also criticized the lack of similar actions by Western governments. (MSN) A U.S. official states that intelligence sources detect increased chatter encouraging terrorist attacks on the U.S. but lacks credible or actionable information. This, following reports that Iraqi intelligence sources warned anti-ISIS coalition members of attacks one day before the attacks. The information from Iraq also lacked specific information. (Associated Press via Military.com) (Associate Press via Military Times) The governors of the U.S. states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin say they will not accept Syrian refugees in response to the Islamic terror attacks in Paris. Twenty-three of the 24 governors are Republican with the other being Democrat (New Hampshire). (USA Today) Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Yemeni security officials, who are neutral in the conflict, say Saudi-led airstrikes and clashes have killed over 40 Houthi militants and 4 civilians over the past 24 hours, with most of the airstrikes taking place in the southwestern Ibb Governorate. (The Washington Post) Sinai insurgency Egypt's security forces shoot dead at least 24 ISIS militants as they hid inside a cave in a mountainous area in central Sinai, not far from the crash site of Metrojet Flight 9268, a Russian airliner the group says it brought down. (Reuters) (Independent) Business and economy Economy of Japan The Japanese economy goes into recession for the second time since the election of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Sky News Australia) Marriott International announces it has agreed to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts in a $12.2 billion deal that would create the world’s largest hotel company. (Washington Post) In the United States, federal and state authorities announce Education Management Corp., a company that enrolls more than 100,000 students at North American for-profit trade schools and colleges, agrees to pay $95.5 million to settle claims it illegally paid recruiters and exaggerated the career-placement abilities of its schools. EDMC also agreed to forgive $102.8 million in loans made to more than 80,000 former students. (AP Via Washington Post) (Los Angeles Times) American, British-based telecommunications and television company Liberty Global announces a £3.5bn (US$5.3bn) deal to buy British multinational telecommunications company Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC). (The Telegraph) Disasters and accidents The death toll from a landslide in a village in China's Zhejiang province rises to 25 with 12 people still missing. (AP) 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season Floods in Sri Lanka and the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu cause over 70 deaths with the city of Chennai worst affected. (Thomson Reuters) 2015 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Joaquin The United States National Transportation Safety Board announces it has completed its search of the sunken El Faro, but did not find the voyage data recorder, i.e., the black box. (Time) International relations Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations The USS Stethem visits Shanghai, signaling that relations between the two countries continue despite tensions over the recent USS Lassen cruise near artificial islands constructed by China. The navies of the two nations plan combined maritime exercise as well. (Associated Press via ABC News) Nicaragua deploys its military to help close its southern border in a dispute with Costa Rica over the passage of Cuban migrants on their way to the United States. Nicaragua’s government said Costa Rica’s decision to grant seven-day transit visas to 1,200 Cuban migrants who entered the country through Panama, “violated national sovereignty”. Nicaraguan troops and riot police fired tear gas at people attempting to enter in what Costa Rica called a "humanitarian crisis". (Bloomberg) Law and crime Six people, including a child, have been found dead on private property in Anderson County, southeast of Dallas, Texas, USA. The victims are members of two different families. One person, unrelated to the victims, is charged with one count of murder. More charges are expected. (CBS DFW) Politics and elections United States President Barack Obama, in Antalya, Turkey, says America will continue to accept refugees from Syria and elsewhere, though, "Only after subjecting them to rigorous screening and security checks." Responding to calls to admit Christians but not Muslims into the country, he said, "We don’t have religious tests to our compassion." (The Washington Post) Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy delays his return home from South Korea as tension comes to a head between his supporters and those of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Friday, a Cambodian court issued an arrest warrant related to an old defamation case for which Sam had already received a royal pardon. Today, Parliament stripped him of immunity protection. (Reuters) Current events of November 17, 2015 (2015-11-17) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Metrojet Flight 9268 Russia's Federal Security Service announces that the plane was destroyed by a bomb. (The Guardian), (Reuters) In a broadcast meeting from The Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin vows retribution to those responsible for last month’s downing of the aircraft. Putin orders the Russian Navy to coordinate military operations in Syria with the French Navy. Russia's Federal Security Service offers a $50 million bounty for the bombers. (Reuters) Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War The Russian military launches cruise missile strikes from the Mediterranean on ISIS positions in Al-Raqqah, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's de-facto capital in Syria, Aleppo, and Idlib. A U.S. official confirms that Russia has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to escalate his military campaign in Syria after it was confirmed that a bomb brought down Metrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. (RT), (The Independent) Boko Haram insurgency A blast at a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola, kills at least 32 people and wounds 80 others. (Reuters) November 2015 Paris attacks Two Air France flights bound for Paris from the United States are diverted for several hours on following anonymous bomb threats. (Reuters) Arts and culture American actor Charlie Sheen confirms he has HIV. (CBS) (BBC) Disasters and accidents A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes southwest of Ioannina in Greece, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10.0 km) killing at least two people. The quake damages the main road in the southwestern part of Lefkada. (RT) In the United States, the National Weather Service issues a blizzard warning for northeastern Colorado and western Kansas with an expected snowfall by midday of 12 inches in Denver, Colorado. Denver International Airport cancels 143 arriving and departing flighits. Several tornadoes occur overnight in northern Texas, western Kansas, and southern Nebraska. (Reuters), (USA Today) In the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, a windstorm with gusts as high as 119 miles per hour (192 km/h) kills 4 people and leaves more than 1 million without electricity; some rivers in Western Washington also experience moderate to severe flooding. Washington Governor Jay Inslee declares a state of emergency after the storm, requesting federal assistance with cleanup efforts. (The Weather Channel), (The Seattle Times) (KIRO-TV) 2015-16 Australian bushfire season Bushfires burning near Esperance on the coast of Western Australia may have killed four people. (ABC) International relations APEC Philippines 2015 Human Rights Watch says that the Philippine government is detaining street children and homeless people harshly and involuntarily as part of preparations for an international summit. The government denies that the people concerned are being abused and such moves were part of a regular and year-round outreach program. (The New York Times) Law and crime The Israeli government outlaws the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, declaring it "an illegal organization". The northern branch of the Islamic Movement is led by Raed Salah, who has been convicted in court of numerous activities, including funding Hamas, contacting an Iranian agent, assaulting a police officer, and leading a violent protest. (The Jerusalem Post) The Japanese government officially sues the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, over his denial of permits to allow work to begin on the Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. (Reuters) Politics and elections Refugees of the Syrian Civil War More than half of the state governors in the United States reject accepting asylum seekers from Syria after the attacks in Paris. All except one of them are Republicans. (CNN) Obama administration officials hold a conference call with 34 governors to assure them, "refugees would undergo the most rigorous screening and security vetting of any category of traveler to the United States." A spokesperson for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said that he has asked federal officials for "more robust data" and an "enhanced flow of information." (Reuters), (AP via ABC News) The president of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, marks the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution by attending an anti-Islam rally in Prague with the "Bloc against Islam" group which supports the president. The rally is also attended by observers from the German protest movement, PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) and Tommy Robinson, a prominent British anti-Islam activist. Zeman tells the crowd of several thousand that they aren't extremists for advocating closing the Republic’s borders to Muslim migrants. (AP via ABC News), (Breitbart) United States presidential election, 2016 The Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal ends his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. (The Guardian), (Fox News) Sports Cancellation of football matches Belgium's football association calls off today's friendly (non-competitive) football game with Spain due to concerns over security following the November 2015 Paris attacks. (AP) A friendly match between Germany and the The Netherlands is cancelled after a suspicious object is found in the Niedersachsenstadion in the German city of Hanover. (The Guardian) Current events of November 18, 2015 (2015-11-18) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Moro conflict Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak condemns the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf's beheading of a Malaysian man. Businessman Bernard Then and a woman were kidnapped in May from the Malaysia-island Sabah; the woman was released last week. Philippine Colonel Restituto Padilla said the killing followed a "failure of the negotiations about money." (ABC), (BBC), (AFP via Yahoo), (The International Business Times) November 2015 Paris attacks A raid by French police in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis kills at least two terror suspects, including a female suicide bomber, with eight others arrested. (CNN), (France 24), (AP), (NBC News) Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ringleader of the Paris terrorist attacks, is killed during the raid. (The Independent), (CNN) Three ISIS supporters stab a 56-year-old French Jew and history teacher in Marseille, France. The attackers are interrupted and flee. The teacher's wounds are not life-threatening. (The International Business Times), (Time) Boko Haram insurgency A twin-suicide bombing of a mobile phone market in the northern Nigerian city of Kano kills at least fifteen people. (BBC) Boko Haram was the world's deadliest terrorist organisation in 2014, being responsible for 6,664 deaths as compared to 6,073 for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (BBC) Syrian Civil War Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War The Russian Air Force destroys around 500 fuel tanker vehicles used by ISIS and other extremist groups for transporting illegal oil from Syria to Iraq. (RT) A local 15-day ceasefire between Syrian rebels and government forces in the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus will be announced shortly. (Reuters) 2015 Sarajevo shooting A gunman inside a betting shop near army barracks in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, shoots dead two Bosnian Army soldiers. The gunman, identified as Salafi extremist Enes Omeragić, later commits suicide after police surround his house. (Reuters) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant says that it has killed a Chinese hostage and a Norwegian hostage. (AP via ABC News) Both the FBI and New York City police say they are aware of a newly released Islamic State video suggesting America's most populous city is a potential target of attacks. The agencies say that there are no specific threats, they will investigate, and they will remain at a heightened state of vigilance. (Reuters) The United States warns travelers in Italy that St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the La Scala opera house in Milan, and the Milan Cathedral, as well as "general venues" like churches, synagogues, restaurants, theaters and hotels, have been identified as "potential targets" for terrorist attacks. The message added the Italian authorities are aware of these threats. (AP) Art and culture Ta-Nehisi Coates wins the National Book Award’s top prize for nonfiction for his bestselling depiction of America’s race problem, Between the World and Me. Adam Johnson’s Fortune Smiles took home the National Book Award for fiction. (The Guardian) Business and economy An auction for the acquisition of chipmaker PMC-Sierra continues, with a new bid by Microsemi Corp., topping the previous bid from Skyworks Solutions. The latest bid values PMC at $2.3 billion. (Reuters) The Obama Administration through the U.S. Treasury Department will clamp down further on corporate income tax-avoiding inversion deals by U.S. companies with foreign rivals. There is a pending inversion deal between U.S. drug maker Pfizer Inc. and smaller Irish competitor Allergan, Plc. (Reuters) Airport workers at seven of the busiest U.S. hubs plan to strike tonight and Thursday over wages and what they allege are threats against unionizing. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) says some 2,000 plane cleaners, baggage handlers, and other workers will strike at New York City's Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, as well as Newark Liberty, Chicago O'Hare, Boston, Philadelphia, and Fort Lauderdale. (Reuters), (The Philly Voice) Disasters and accidents 2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season Some 25,000 households in Ireland lose power as a result of Storm Barney. (The Independent Ireland) 2015–16 Australian bushfire season Authorities confirm that bushfires have killed four people, including three German backpackers, in southern Western Australia near the town of Esperance. (ABC News Australia) An explosion at a steelworks plant in Cardiff, South Wales, leaves two people dead and five injured. (BBC) International relations APEC Philippines 2015, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea U.S. President Barack Obama calls on China to stop constructing artificial islands in the South China Sea. Obama’s comments to reporters come after a meeting with Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III. The U.S. president is in Manila for the latest Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit where the Trans-Pacific Partnership is the central topic of conversation. China attempts to keep the topic of the islands off the agenda. (The New York Times), (The Diplomat) U.S. and Cuban officials sign an environmental accord in Havana, the first such agreement since the countries renewed diplomatic relations this summer. (UPI) Law and crime Sweden's terror threat level is raised to 'high' for the first time in history, as national security service Säpo says that police are hunting a suspected terrorist. (The Local) Washington College, on the U.S. Delmarva Peninsula, closes until Sunday, November 30, as police search for an upset, potentially armed student who just returned to campus. His Pennsylvania high school is on alert. (WBAL), (The Washington Post), (NBC 10) Politics and elections Police in the Democratic Republic of the Congo fire teargas at students protesting increases in school fees in the capital Kinshasa. The students had started throwing stones. (ENCA) Glen Casada, a top Republican Tennessee lawmaker who is the chair of the state’s House Republican Caucus, suggests activating the Tennessee National Guard to 'round up' Syrian refugees and remove them from the southeastern state, saying “Tennessee is a sovereign state, if the federal government is forsaking the obligation to protect our citizens, we need to act". (The Tennessean) Sports 2015 FIFA corruption case Sergio Jadue resigns as the head of the Football Federation of Chile and travels to the United States to speak with the Federal Bureau of Investigation about corruption at FIFA. (AAP via Yahoo! News) Current events of November 19, 2015 (2015-11-19) (Thursday) Armed conflicts and attacks Killing of captives by ISIL China vows to "bring to justice" those responsible for executing one of its citizens after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant said it had killed a Chinese hostage. China's Foreign Ministry also confirms the hostage's identity for the first time, naming him as Fan Jinghui. (Channel News Asia) Metrojet Flight 9268 According to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's official propaganda magazine, a soft drink can with an IED, a so-called "Schweppes bomb," was used to destroy the Russian airliner. (Reuters) November 2015 Paris attacks The French National Assembly approves President François Hollande's request to extend the current state of emergency for three months. The Senate must still approve the measure. (NPR) U.S. officials say at least four of the Paris attackers were listed in a central counter-terrorism database maintained by the United States Intelligence Community. (Reuters) (UPI) United States authorities report dozens of suspected radicals in the U.S. are under "tight surveillance" to preclude a Paris copycat. An ISIL video threatens Washington, D.C. (ABC News) Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015) A Palestinian kills three people, including an American student and another Palestinian, and injures four others, after opening fire at Israeli cars and then ramming his vehicle into a group of pedestrians, injuring several more near Alon Shvut in the West Bank. (The Times of Israel) A Palestinian kills two men and wounds another outside an office building synagogue in southern Tel Aviv. (Ynet) (The Times of Israel) A gunman shoots dead two Saudi Arabian policemen while they are on patrol in their vehicle in Saihat, located in Saudi Arabia's restive Eastern Province, which is predominantly Shia. (BBC) U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehend five Pakistani nationals and one Afghan national trying to sneak into Arizona through the Mexico-U.S. border. (Fox 10 Phoenix) Arts and culture The Obama Administration through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports more than 500,000 people. a quarter of them children, were homeless this year amid scarce affordable housing across much of the nation. Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Hawaii all recently declared emergencies over the rise of homelessness. (Reuters) 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences members present the Latin Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. (Newser) "Hasta la Raíz" wins Song of the Year and Record of the Year. (ABC News) Todo Tiene Su Hora performed by Juan Luis Guerra wins Album of the Year. (The Miami Herald) Leaders and representatives from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints release statements clarifying recent policy changes effecting same-sex couples and their children. (Deseret News) Business and economy The World Economic Forum in its annual Global Gender Gap Report says that it would take 118 years before women and men have equal pay for similar occupations, such as white collar jobs. (BBC) (The Huffington Post) (The Guardian) The New York State Department of Financial Services fines Barclays $150m (£98.2m) for the way it treated its foreign exchange customers. (The Guardian) Most of the employees of the Reserve Bank of India, that country's central bank, go on strike demanding better pension benefits. The RBI acknowledges "some interruptions" in its clearing and settlement functions. (BBC) Health and medicine In connection with World Toilet Day, the United Nations reports that 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation, and nearly one billion have no toilet facilities and are forced to relieve themselves in areas without facilities. (AP) The U.S. clears genetically-modified Atlantic salmon, made by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies, for human consumption. (Reuters) The American Medical Association urges Congress and/or the FDA to ban direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs and medical devices. The AMA says that the ads increase demand for inappropriate, expensive treatments even if cheaper ones have the same potentials. (The Washington Post) (The Science Times) International relations APEC Philippines 2015 Asia-Pacific leaders, in the Philippines for the 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, which has been overshadowed by the concurrent Paris attacks, call on governments to urgently increase cooperation in the fight against terrorism. (AP) Local labor and farmer groups protest in Manila over talks on inclusive growth during the APEC meeting. (The Economic Times) A Pew Research Center report finds, from 2009 to 2014, more Mexicans, including unauthorized immigrants, are leaving the United States than entering it. An increasing share of Mexicans says life north of the border is neither better nor worse than life in Mexico. (Reuters) The United Nations General Assembly humanitarian committee adopts, by a 112–19 vote (with 50 abstentions), a resolution that condemns North Korea for gross violations of human rights and supports referring the country and its leaders to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The resolution will be sent to the full General Assembly, where it is expected to pass, given the committee vote. (Reuters via CBS News) (UPI) The Obama Administration through the United States State Department expresses deep frustration over the lack of democratic progress in Thailand after last year's military coup, saying a new constitution there won't pass the "smell test" unless civil society helps to draft it. (AP) (US Dept of State) Law and crime A court sentences former restaurant spokesperson Jared Fogle to over 15 years imprisonment for sex with minors and the possession of child pornography. (NPR) Convictions for sex offenses against minors accounts for the largest group of military inmates in U.S. military prisons. (AP via The Star Tribune) Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. intelligence analyst convicted and sentenced to a life imprisonment for providing top secret classified information to Israel, will be released by the Obama Administration on parole tomorrow after serving 30 years in a U.S. federal prison. He will be given an ankle monitor while he completes five years of parole in America. (CNN) (AP) (The Jerusalem Post) Kuwaiti authorities announce they arrested six members of an extremist network suspected of supplying funds and weapons, including rockets, to Daesh (Islamic State) militants. Four others are still being sought outside of the country. The group includes a Lebanese, an Egyptian, five Syrians, two Australians, and a Kuwaiti national. (Reuters) (Time) (The Gulf News) Politics and elections 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference A mass rally due to be held on November 29, 2015 in Paris on the eve of climate change talks is called off due to the threat of terrorism. (ABC News) Peter Robinson announces he will step down as Northern Ireland's First Minister and as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, corresponding with recent tensions in the area and a murder linked with the Irish Republican Army. (ITV News) The U.S. House of Representatives, defying a veto-threat by President Barack Obama, overwhelmingly passes legislation to suspend the Obama administration's program to admit 10,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the country. The bill will now face a vote in the U.S. Senate. (Reuters) Current events of November 20, 2015 (2015-11-20) (Friday) Armed conflicts and attacks Military intervention against ISIL Cyprus offers France the use of its airbase facilities to bomb the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria. Cypriot airbases are already being used by British and Canadian air forces for military operations. (The Guardian) Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Russian warships launch cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant positions in Syria's eastern Deir ez-Zor. Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu, reported over 600 terrorists were killed in the strikes. Video footage also emerged of Russian ground crew servicemen writing the words "For Paris" on bombs to be dropped on ISIL targets in a show of solidarity with France in the wake of the November 13 terror attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris. (RT) (Sky News) 2015 Bamako hotel attack Ten gunmen storm the five-star Radisson Blu Hotel in the Malian capital Bamako, taking 170 hostages with at least 27 people killed. The grenade-toting assailants free captives who are able to recite the Quran. The hotel is "often used" by Air France staff. (France 24) (NBC News) (The New York Daily News) (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mali security forces launch an assault on the gunmen and all surviving hostages are freed. (UPI) (BBC) Mali declares a 10-day state of emergency following the attack. (i24 News) African militant jihadist organization Al-Murabitoun and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claim responsibility. (CNN) (Reuters) Xinjiang conflict Chinese security forces have killed 28 members of a supposed terrorist group in the mainly ethnic Uyghur Xinjiang region. (BBC) November 2015 Paris attacks Officials report three people died in the Saint-Denis raid. The body of a second woman is found at the apartment where a woman and Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud were killed. (Sky News) The French Senate approves President François Hollande's request to extend the state of emergency until the end of February 2016. The National Assembly passed the three-month extension yesterday. (AP) (Radio France Internationale) Fugitive ISIS gunman Salah Abdeslam called three friends saying he is hiding in the Brussels area and is desperately trying to get to ISIS territory in Syria. He said local ISIS members are unhappy with him since he failed to detonate his suicide vest. His brother Mohamed Abdeslam has publicly pleaded with Salah to turn himself in. (ABC News) A newly released ISIS video threatens attacks on the White House in the U.S., monuments in France, U.S. President Obama, French President François Hollande, and targets in Italy. (Reuters) (CNN) Yemeni Civil War (2015) Two attacks on security checkpoints by ISIS militants in Yemen's historic Shibam town and Al Qatn District in the central Hadhramaut Governorate leave at least 15 pro-Hadi government soldiers dead. (The National) Art and culture A New York City businesswoman, who wanted to bring a "grander scale" to her yearly charitable giving, bought a toy store's entire inventory to donate to homeless kids. (UPI) The world’s second-largest diamond of gem quality, Karowe AK6, is found in the Karowe mine located north of the Botswanan capital Gaborone by the Lucara Diamond Corp. The 1,111-carat diamond is second only to the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond (Star of Africa) found in South Africa in 1905. (Forbes) Business and economy Britain's National Union of Journalists announces a strike against the Financial Times, protesting the changes in pension arrangements since the acquisition of the FT by a Japanese media group, Nikkei. (BBC) International relations European migrant crisis Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia shut their borders to so-called economic migrants, those not coming from war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, or Iraq, leaving thousands stranded at Balkan border crossings. Around 500 migrants from Iran, Morocco, and Algeria gather on the border between Greece and Macedonia to protest the closure. (The Irish Independent) European Union ministers, in light of the attacks in Paris last week, gather in Brussels for an emergency security summit on the need to strengthen border checks on travelers. (AFP via NDTV) French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said some of the Paris attackers exploited Europe's refugee crisis to "slip in" to France unnoticed. Valls warns the passport-free Schengen zone is at risk if Europe fails to "take responsibility" over border controls. (Sky News) North Korea–South Korea relations North Korea and South Korea agree to hold talks next week. (Yonhap) Law and crime Sweden's national security service Säpo are questioning terrorist suspect Moder Mothama Magid, a 22-year-old Iraqi, who is accused of planning to launch a terror attack on the Swedish capital Stockholm. (Local) The family of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust only to languish in a Russian prison, have asked authorities to officially declare him dead. (Times of Israel) The United States releases on parole convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. intelligence analyst, who served 30 years in federal prison. His parole, approved on July 28, 2015, is for five years during which time he has to remain in the United States. A supporter said Pollard will have a curfew and will wear a GPS unit. (The Globe and Mail) (The Globe and Mail-2) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pollard’s lawyers, two Democratic members of Congress from New York, Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler, and others have requested Pollard be able to travel immediately to Israel so he can live with his family. The White House has said it has no intention of altering the conditions of Pollard’s parole. (The Globe and Mail) The U.S. Justice Department files criminal charges against three individuals and three companies--Black Elk, Grand Isle Shipyard and oil field services company Wood Group--in connection with a 2012 oil platform incident in the Gulf of Mexico that left three workers dead. The charges range from manslaughter to violations of the federal Clean Water Act. (UPI) USPlabs and S.K. Laboratory are indicted following a U.S. Department of Justice investigation finds synthetic ingredients manufactured in China were added to workout boosters and weight-loss products the firms claimed to be natural. Supplements from these companies were previously implicated in consumer illnesses and death. Several other defendants from the companies face additional charges. (Military Times) Politics and elections New Zealand flag referendum The first stage of the voting process to potentially select a new flag of New Zealand starts. (BBC) Science and technology NASA orders its first commercial crew mission from private company SpaceX. (The Verge) A jury in a Texas federal court finds for Apple Inc., in a lawsuit brought against Apple by a subsidiary of Pendrell Corporation. Pendrell has charged that Apple infringed patents on techniques that help restrict the use of web content to authorized persons, i.e. anti-piracy software. (Reuters) Sport Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, who has two Olympic gold medals and 30 world records, told Sky News she is going to fight for what she believes to be her right to compete at the 2016 Olympics. She calls on the IAAF, at the world governing track and field organization's annual meeting on 26 November, to rescind their ban on clean Russian athletes. (Sky News) In association football, Corinthians win their sixth Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title with four games remaining of the season. (Yahoo! via AFP) Current events of November 21, 2015 (2015-11-21) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks 2015 Brussels lockdown Belgium raises its terror alert level to the highest level in the capital Brussels and deploys soldiers on the streets of major Belgian cities such as Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent. As part of the emergency measures, the Belgian government is advising people in the Brussels area to avoid crowded places, which includes concerts, train stations, airports, public transportation, and busy shopping streets, warning of an "imminent threat". (France 24) (BNO News) The Brussels Metro is closed as part of the state of alert. (Reuters via Daily Mail) November 2015 Paris attacks Recruitment in the French Army increases after the attacks. (Channel News Asia) Ahmet Dahmani is detained by Turkish police in the resort of Antalya on suspicion of being an ISIL scout ahead of the Paris attacks. (Sky News) French police release seven of the eight people arrested during Wednesday's raid of a flat where the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks was hiding. The man who said he was in charge of the property is still being held. (Reuters) 2015 Bamako hotel attack Olivier Salgado, a spokesman for the U.N. mission in Mali, says at least 19 people were killed in the attack along with two of the attackers. Earlier reports indicated that 27 people died. (CNN) Ukrainian crisis Crimea is without power after transmission towers in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast were blown up by unknown people. The Crimean Emergencies Ministry declares a state of emergency due to the power outage and puts rescue teams on high alert. (RT) Boko Haram insurgency A suicide bomb attack in Fotokol, a town in Cameroon's Far North Region near the Nigerian border kills at least nine people. (Daily Mail) Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015) A Palestinian terrorist stabs four people, including a 13-year-old girl, in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat; he flees and evades police for five hours before being arrested. (Times of Israel) Arts and culture British singer Adele's album 25 is released. (Billboard) Miss World 2015 Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin says that she is prevented from competing in China by the Chinese authorities after she spoke up against human rights abuses in the country. (BBC) Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of al-Azhar in Egypt, says violence has no link to authentic Islam, terrorism is a life philosophy whose adherents were willing to die and is an intellectual and psychological disease that uses religion as a front. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Seven people, including the pilot, are killed in a helicopter crash on Fox Glacier in New Zealand. (stuff.co.nz) A fire in a coal mine in China's northeast Heilongjiang province results in 21 deaths and one person missing. (AP) Hpakant jade mine disaster A landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar kills up to 60 people with more than a hundred missing. (AP via ABC News America) The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck the central Chilean coast, south of the town of Coquimbo, at 6:05 PM EST. No immediate reports of damage or casualties; no tsunami alerts are in effect. (Reuters) (BNO News) (USGS) Health and medicine Research conducted by Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Children's Hospital and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests moderate caffeine consumption during pregnancy does not harm a baby's future intelligence or behavioral health. (UPI) International relations Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Japan's prime minister Shinzō Abe says he is considering sending Japanese Navy warships to the South China Sea to back-up U.S. naval operations, saying, "With regard to activity by the Self-Defense Forces in the South China Sea, I will consider it while focusing on what effect the situation has on Japan’s security." In response, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Hong Lei, told Chinese state media that China will remain on “high alert for intervention by Japan in the South China Sea issue”. (Bloomberg) (The Diplomat) Reactions to the November 2015 Paris attacks Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak denounces the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as an "evil" terrorist group. He said his Muslim-majority country is ready to join others to defeat it, cautioning that a military solution alone is not enough and that it is also necessary to vanquish the ideology of the group. (AP via Fresno Bee) United States President Barack Obama vows to keep United States borders open to refugees, "as long as I'm president," as he visited a Malaysian humanitarian center and met migrant children, many of whom escaped violence in homelands that include Myanmar, Pakistan, and Syria. (UPI) Law and crime A student, whose disappearance with a gun caused the precautionary closing of Washington College in Maryland (U.S.) this week, is found dead in Pennsylvania of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The campus will reopen after Thanksgiving. (Washington Post) (Washington College) Politics and elections Elections in the United States; Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2015 Democratic state Representative John Bel Edwards, the surprise winner of the October 24 open primary, is elected governor of Louisiana over Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter. Edwards' margin is 140,931 votes (56.11 percent), all 3,945 precincts reporting. Edwards will replace former Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, who was not eligible to seek another term. (NOLA.com) (Washington Post) Republican David Vitter says he will not run for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 2016. (AP) Science and technology A 14-year-old boy solves the Rubik's Cube in 4.90 seconds, beating the previous record of 5.25 seconds, and becoming the first person to solve it in under 5 seconds (The Guardian) Sport In motor sport, the team of Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber win the FIA World Endurance Championship. (Reuters via Yahoo News Australia) In baseball, South Korea defeats the United States in the 2015 WBSC Premier12. (Yahoo Sports) Boxing Anthony Crolla of England wins the World Boxing Association lightweight title defeating Darleys Perez in a title fight in Manchester. (BBC) Saúl Álvarez of Mexico defeats Miguel Cotto of Mexico to win the World Boxing Council middleweight championship. (AP) Ireland beat Australia in the 2015 International Rules Series at Croke Park. (Guardian) The Athens derby match between Superleague Greece's top two football teams, Panathinaikos and Olympiakos Piraeus, is called off before play could start. There were scuffles between riot police and fans outside the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium. Flares were also tossed onto the pitch. (Reuters) Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao F.C. win the AFC Champions League for their second time, after defeating Al-Ahli in the final. (Channel News Asia) Current events of November 22, 2015 (2015-11-22) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks 2015 Nepal fuel crisis Nepalese police open fire on groups, who were protesting the new constitution proposals by blockading a highway. Two protesters were killed and at least 28 were hurt, including 15 police officers. A third protester was killed in Rajbiraj, the headquarters of the Saptari District. (AP via WTOP) (Singapore Today Online) Insurgency in the North Caucasus Russian special forces kill 10 ISIS-linked militants in a counter-terrorist operation in a mountainous region near the city of Nalchik in Russia’s North Caucasus. (RT) 2015 Brussels lockdown Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel announces Brussels remains on the highest state of alert; concern a new, Paris-style mass attack may be imminent. (EuroNews) Belgian authorities announce 16 more arrests in anti-terror raids. Neither weapons nor explosives were discovered during the raids. Tomorrow, a judge will decide whether these people will continue to be detained. (Fox News) (Reuters via Yahoo News) The Canadian government announces its embassy in Brussels will be closed "until further notice" and will only be providing emergency consular services. (CBC) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present) Salahuddin campaign Islamic State militants counter-attack in Iraq's Saladin province and seize locations west, north and south of Baiji, home to Iraq's largest oil refinery. In addition, the militants attack oilfields west of Tikrit, capture parts of the town of Seiniyah, portions of Mak'houl Mountain, and an abandoned fertilizer plant. (UPI) Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015) A Palestinian terrorist fatally stabs a 21-year-old Israeli woman at the Gush Etzion junction in the West Bank; the attacker is shot and killed by Israeli soldiers. (Ynet News) (Times of Israel) Business and economy United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union The UK may not face a credit rating downgrade if it votes to leave the EU in a referendum due by the end of 2017, according to the lead UK analyst at Moody’s. (Irish Examiner) Disasters and accidents Hpakant jade mine disaster The death toll in a landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar rises to about 100 people, with up to 200 others missing. Most of the victims were villagers digging for jade in a mountain of displaced earth. (Reuters) (AP via Boston Globe) A Turkish Airlines plane flying from New York City (U.S.) to Istanbul, Turkey, is diverted to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, after authorities received information of a bomb threat. All 256 passengers and crew are safe. The flight (Turkish Airlines TYH2/TK2) left JFK International Airport at 9 p.m. Saturday and landed just before 1 a.m. Sunday at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating. (NBC News) (International Business Times) No explosives were found. The plane is cleared to continue its journey. (Reuters) Sixteen (16) people are wounded in a gunfight between two groups that erupted in a New Orleans park's Bunny Friend playground where hundreds of people gathered for a block party and filming of a music video. No fatalities were reported. The fighters ran from the park immediately after the shooting. (Reuters) (NOLA.com) International relations The ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agree to set up an economic community to commence on January 1, 2016. (AP) Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin says the United States was making political provocations with its patrols in the disputed South China Sea. He also says China is building military facilities on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of its national defense policy. Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama said, for the sake of regional stability, countries should stop building artificial islands and militarizing their claims in this sea. (The Nation Multimedia) (Reuters) (Oracle Herald) Law and crime Bangladesh executes two former members of parliament, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, who were convicted in 2013 of war crimes committed during the country’s 1971 war of independence. (BBC) (Washington Post) Iranian Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei says an Iranian court sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to a prison term, length unspecified, for espionage. Mohseni Eje said, "I cannot give details." Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl said this might move the case closer to a final resolution in the judiciary, so it can then go to Iranian leaders who can make things right. (Reuters) (Washington Post) Politics and elections Argentine general election, 2015 Voters in Argentina go to the polls for a presidential runoff between Daniel Scioli of the ruling Justicialist Party and Mauricio Macri of the opposition PRO. Mauricio Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires, was elected with 53% of the vote. (AP via the Washington Post) (BBC). (BBC) Former President Kim Young-sam, who formally ended decades of military rule in South Korea, dies in a Seoul hospital from a severe blood infection. He was 87. (AP via NBC News) Egyptian parliamentary election, 2015 Voters in many parts of Egypt including Cairo go to the polls for a parliamentary election. (AP) United States President Barack Obama orders an assessment of whether intelligence reports from U.S. Central Command were changed by supervisory military personnel before formal submission to present a more optimistic picture of the American military campaign against Daesh (Islamic State). The Pentagon's Office of the Inspector General investigators seized emails from military servers over the last few weeks. (Jurist) Science and technology Nola, a 41-year-old female northern white rhino, dies at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. She was euthanized after her health took a turn for the worse. Nola was rescued from violent poaching in the southern savanna woodlands of Sudan and came to the park in 1989. Only three animals of this endangered species are known left in the world. (ABC News) (San Diego Union Tribune) (F&F Photography-2014) Sports In motorsport, Kyle Busch wins the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to become the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. He missed the first 11 races of the season with a broken leg and foot, becoming the first champion not to start the complete season since 1971. 4-time champion Jeff Gordon, who has scored the third-most NASCAR Cup wins of all-time, finishes in 6th position in his final race before retirement. (USA TODAY) Current events of November 23, 2015 (2015-11-23) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks Maguindanao massacre Human rights activists and families of the victims decry the lack of justice six years after the murder of around 58 people, including journalists and politicians, in Maguindanao, Mindanao. They criticize the regime of Philippines President Benigno Aquino III for the lack of convictions in the trial. (ABC News) (Voice of America) (Fox News) Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015) A Palestinian kills a 20 year-old Israeli and wounds two women in a stabbing attack at a gas station near the town of Modi’in; the Palestinian assailant is shot and killed by an officer at the scene. (Ynet News) (Times of Israel) Two Palestinian teenage girls, ages 14 and 16, use scissors to stab a 70-year-old Palestinian man whom they misidentified as an Israeli, and other Israeli civilians, near Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market; one of the attackers is killed and the other wounded while being subdued, and an Israeli civilian is wounded by police gunfire. (Times of Israel) Business and economy American pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Allergan, Plc announce plans to merge to form the world's largest drug company. The merger is subject to approval from regulators in the U.S., European Union and elsewhere as well as approval by shareholders of both companies. If approved, the deal will reduce tax revenue paid to the U.S. by approximately $930 million. (Reuters via The Washington Post) (AP via Denver Post) A Washington University in St. Louis (U.S.) international tax law expert says this deal is the biggest merger involving tax inversion, i.e., relocation of a corporation's legal domicile to a lower-tax nation, usually while retaining operations in its higher-tax country. "None of the special anti-inversion laws and regulations issued by the federal government will apply to Pfizer post-merger," Professor Adam Rosenzweig, JD, said. Rosenzweig believes this deal will encourage more U.S. companies to follow Pfizer's approach in future mergers. (Washington University) Disasters and accidents An explosion at Japan's controversial Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead in Tokyo damages the ceiling and a wall of a public bathroom near the shrine’s southern entrance. No one was injured. (Japan Times) (AP via ABC News) Seven people are feared dead after a helicopter crashes in the Indian town of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, near the Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi. (NDTV) A U.S. Apache helicopter crashes in South Korea's Gangwon Province, killing the pilot and one crew member. (Reuters) A highway traffic accident in the Mexican state of Puebla kills 20 people and injures at least 15 others. (Reuters) All four crew members aboard a United States military helicopter (UH-60) are killed when their chopper crashes at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. (NBC News) International relations The United States issues a worldwide travel alert due to heightened activity by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (aka Da’esh/ISIS), Boko Haram, al-Qa’ida and other terrorist groups through February 24, 2016. (US State Department) Politics and elections Hong Kong local elections, 2015 Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement gets a boost with Umbrella Soldiers winning at least four seats in Sunday's election although the distribution of political power over the district council seats remains broadly the same vis-a-vis the Hong Kong local elections, 2011. (Reuters) (AFP via Yahoo) Science and technology A new United Nations report finds 90 percent of the thousands of disasters over the last two decades are weather-related. The majority have been caused by floods, storms, heatwaves and droughts. Researchers with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) suggest the cost has been between $250 and $350 billion per year, i.e., total of $5 trillion/$7 trillion. The report concurs with findings of previous studies that weather disasters are on the rise compared to previous decades. Flooding, in particular, is becoming more frequent and more devastating as sea levels continue to rise. (UPI) Blue Origin launches the unmanned rocket New Shephard to the edge of space (100.5 km) and lands safely upright on its original launch pad in Texas, becoming the first organization to do so. (press release) (WSJ) Current events of November 24, 2015 (2015-11-24) (Tuesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Sinai insurgency November 2015 Sinai attack A day after the second round of parliamentary elections closes, militants attack a hotel housing election judges in the provincial capital of al-Arish in Egypt's North Sinai. At least seven people are killed and 12 others injured, including two judges. The Islamic State's Wilayat Sinai branch claims responsibility. (Reuters) (Eyewitness News) Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown Turkish F-16 fighter jets shoot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft that had allegedly infringed its airspace near the Syrian border. Russia's Ministry of Defence denies the Su-24 entered Turkish airspace and initially said it was shot down by ground fire over Syria's Latakia Governorate. A video emerged of one pilot killed as local rebel Turkmen fighters shot at him while he was parachuting and a video of his body, while the fate of the other pilot is unknown but is presumed dead. A combat search and rescue mission by Russian forces failed to reach them. It is the first time a NATO member has shot down a Russian plane since the 1950s. (Irish Independent) (BBC) (The Telegraph) A Russian military helicopter is destroyed on the ground by a U.S. TOW missile used by Syrian rebels after it was forced to make an emergency landing in northern Latakia. (Reuters) A Russian marine is killed by rebel gunfire while on a mission to rescue the crew of the downed Su-24 near the Syrian-Turkish border, Russia's Defence Ministry confirms. (BBC) Russian President Vladimir Putin says there will be “serious consequences” for Russia–Turkey relations following Turkey's actions, and describes the incident as a "stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorists”. Russian government agencies began limiting Russian tourists from traveling to Turkey. (Independent) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warns everyone to "respect the right of Turkey to defend its borders," says that the reason why worse incidents have not taken place in the past regarding Syria is because of the "cool-headedness of Turkey" and stresses that Turkey's actions are fully in line with the new rules of engagement that the country adopted after Syria shot down a Turkish jet in 2012. (BBC) Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu defends the action saying Turkey has the right "to take all kinds of measures" against border violations as a "national duty," but that it did not amount to an aggression against any foreign territory and the country called for NATO to hold an extraordinary meeting later in the day. (AFP via The Express Tribune) Libyan Civil War (2014–present) A car-bomb kills five guards at a checkpoint east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (Channel News Asia) Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) An explosion on a bus carrying Tunisian Presidential Guard personnel in Tunisia's capital Tunis leaves at least 15 people dead, as the country's government declares a state of emergency. (Independent) Yemeni Civil War Houthi militants blow up several bridges in Yemen's southwestern Taiz Governorate to halt the advance of pro-Hadi government forces. (AFP via Yahoo) UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien accuses Houthi militia of blocking and diverting deliveries of aid to Taiz city where some 200,000 people are living under siege. (Gulf News) Arts and culture Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people including Willie Mays, Barbra Streisand, Itzhak Perlman, James Taylor, Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan, Stephen Sondheim and Steven Spielberg. (New York Times) LGBT rights in Vietnam The National Assembly of Vietnam unanimously passes the law, which will take effect in 2017 as part of the revised civil code, that recognizes and allows gender reassignment surgery. (ABC News) Health and medicine Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa A 15-year-old boy from Liberia's Paynesville district, who tested positive for Ebola last week, dies of the disease at a treatment center near the capital, Monrovia, just over 11 weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the country free of the virus. The boy's father and brother, who also tested positive, are at the center; his mother and two other siblings were admitted for observation. In addition, 160 people who came in direct contact with the boy, are being monitored. (Reuters) (BBC) (AP via ABC News) U.S. federal health officials are investigating an outbreak of deadly E. coli bacteria that has sickened 19 people in California, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. Preliminary evidence suggests that rotisserie chicken salad made and sold in Costco Wholesale stores is the likely source. This follows a totally unrelated outbreak earlier this month connected to Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. Those restaurants have been cleaned, new ingredients ordered, and have been reopened. The Costco E. coli 157 strain, which has caused five people to be hospitalized- two of which developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS; which can readily lead to acute renal failure and sepsis), is more dangerous than the Chipotle E. coli 026 strain, though there have been no deaths yet. (AP via MSN) (Washington Post) (Washington Post-2) International relations United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union According to an opinion poll, a majority of British citizens now want the United Kingdom to leave the European Union as voter anxiety rises over the bloc's handling of a crisis provoked by an influx of migrants into Europe. A referendum on the United Kingdom's EU membership is scheduled to take place before the end of 2017. (Reuters) European migrant crisis Sweden will introduce tighter border controls and asylum rules in a bid to reduce the number of asylum seekers entering the country. Sweden expects up to 190,000 asylum seekers to reach its borders this year and says its reception system cannot cope. "The situation is untenable", according to Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven who told reporters, "to put it bluntly, more people will have to seek asylum and get protection in other European countries". (Reuters) Germany starts deporting unsuccessful asylum seekers to the Balkans. (Reuters via Thomson Reuters Foundation) Israel–United States relations, Palestine–United States relations United States Secretary of State John F. Kerry holds separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, his first on their home turf in over a year since Israeli-Palestinian negotiations broke down in the spring of 2014, in a bid to curb the persistent wave of violence that erupted two months ago. (Los Angeles Times) Law and crime A military court in Bangkok charges two men, Adem Karadag and Yusufu Miefaili, with offences related to the 2015 Bangkok bombing. (Al Jazeera) A bomb blast at the Hellenic Business Federation offices in central Athens, Greece, damages the Cypriot Embassy across the street. While there is yet no claim for responsibility the authorities suspect a domestic guerrilla group set off the blast. (Reuters) Shooting of Laquan McDonald Chicago, Illinois police officer Jason Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder for the October 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old boy armed with a 3-inch knife. The charge comes shortly before the release of the police video showing the shooting. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel meets with community leaders to discuss the video’s release and the potential ramifications for the city. (CNN) 2015 Roubaix shootings At least one person is killed after a group of armed men took people hostage in the northern French town of Roubaix near the Belgian border. The hostages are thought to be a bank director and his family. French police say the incident may be related to a robbery and not to the November 2015 attacks in Paris. (Irish Independent) Recordings of JFK Assassination Gayle Nix Jackson, granddaughter of Orville Nix who filmed U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, sues the government to get the original copy of her grandfather’s movie back — or to get paid for it. A former FBI analyst said, “The film is a mirror image of the Zapruder film from the other side of Dealey Plaza." (Washington Post) (BBC) (Document on Scribd.com) Minneapolis, Minnesota (U.S.) police arrest three men suspected of involvement in Monday's shooting of five people, with non-life-threatening gunshot injuries, who had been protesting the recent police killing of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old African-American man. Protesters, who had been told to watch out for white supremacists wearing masks or camouflage clothing, said that the shooting occurred after a group of people — three men and a woman, all wearing ski masks — were seen filming the protest. The two officers involved in Mr. Clark's shooting are on paid leave during the investigations, including one by the Justice Department's civil rights division. (Washington Post) (Washington Post update) Politics and elections U.S. reactions to November 2015 Paris attacks The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sues Indiana Governor Mike Pence over his decision to block Syrian refugees from resettling in the state. The ACLU, on behalf of Indianapolis-based nonprofit Exodus Refugee Immigration, accuses Pence of violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution by accepting refugees from other countries but not those from Syria. (AP via Miami Herald) (Indianapolis Star) (USA Today) António Costa, the leader of the Socialist Party, is named as the Prime Minister of Portugal. (Reuters) Echoing criticisms of the U.S. intelligence community in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Derek Harvey, a former U.S. intelligence official, says that the U.S. intelligence community is failing in its assessments of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Another unnamed source says the U.S. intelligence community is “playing catch up“ regarding efforts to monitor ISIL activities in the U.S. These, following reports that U.S. Central Command intelligence analysts were instructed to give favorable spin on anti-ISIL efforts. (The Telegraph) (Fox News) Current events of November 25, 2015 (2015-11-25) (Wednesday) Armed conflicts and attacks Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Insurgents attack an Indian Army base in northern Kashmir. At least three attackers are killed. (NDTV) (Reuters) Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu, says Russia will deploy its S-400 defense missile system at the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria's Latakia Governorate. (RT) Several trucks are left burning at a rebel-run border crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border after a Russian airstrike hit what was reported to be an aid convoy in the town of Azaz. At least seven people are reportedly killed. (Reuters) (Daily Sabah) Balochistan conflict Unidentified gunmen abduct 22 passengers from a coach in Kandasool near the city of Pasni. (Daily Times) Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claim responsibility for yesterday's attack on Tunisia's presidential guard in Tunis that killed 14 people. (AP) Germany will deploy up to 650 troops to Mali as part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA). (The Daily Star) Yemeni Civil War (2015) The United Arab Emirates has recruited several hundred Central and South American mercenaries to fight the Houthis in Yemen. (New York Times) November 2015 Paris attacks The French Senate votes 325-0 to extend the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (AP) War in Afghanistan (2015–present) Several American personnel are suspended after an official report finds that human error was to blame for an airstrike on a Doctors without Borders hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz in October that killed 30 people. No criminal charges were filed. (CNN) Arts and culture An 18th-century pink Indian diamond worth at least $5 million and a Cartier diamond tiara are discovered in the jewelry recovered from Imelda Marcos. (The Guardian) The Gambia bans female genital mutilation with President Yahya Jammeh saying it is not required in Islam. (BBC) Business and economics The new 20 euro note, the third in the Europa series, enters into circulation today. The European Central Bank says the banknote has a “refreshed look and more vibrant colours,” and includes a new kind of security feature: a “portrait window” near the top of the hologram stripe which becomes transparent when seen against the light. (Sofia Globe) Disasters and accidents 2015–16 Australian bushfire season A bushfire burns out of control near the South Australian town of Wasleys with authorities warning of significant risk to lives and property. Two deaths have been confirmed with another person feared dead. (ABC News Australia) (ABC News) International relations Russia–Ukraine gas disputes Russia's Gazprom halts gas supplies to Ukraine until the Ukrainian government pays in advance for future supplies to replenish the current supplies of gas that it has used up; Ukraine says it has stopped buying from Gazprom because it can get cheaper gas from Europe. Roughly 15% of the gas used in Europe travels through Ukraine, and a previous cut-off of gas supplies in 2009 caused serious disruptions in shipments to EU countries at the height of winter. (Sky News) (BBC) Ukraine bans all Russian planes from using its airspace. (BBC) Pope Francis' 2015 visit to North America A one-year old baby girl with an apparently incurable illness, who was kissed by Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia in September, gets MRI results showing her brain tumor has shrunk significantly. Some friends and family call it the "Miracle on Market Street." (NBC News) (Philadelphia Daily News) Pope Francis' visit to Kenya Pope Francis makes his first official visit to Africa. (Reuters) Francis encourages Kenyans to work for peace and forgiveness amid a wave of extremist violence on the continent which has threatened to disrupt his trip. His six-day pilgrimage will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic. (AP via The Salt Lake Tribune) The Associated Press reports that Russia's crackdown on Muslims is fueling their exodus to ISIS. For example, Russia's southernmost republic of Dagestan keeps devout Muslims under surveillance, routinely raids their homes, and hauls them to police stations to give DNA samples and fingerprints. Regional police say nearly a third of the estimated 3,000 Russians who are believed to have gone to fight alongside IS militants in Syria are from Dagestan. The AP added, "Few efforts are made by Russian authorities to stop young men from leaving." (AP) The U.S. Treasury Department sanctions Syrian businessman George Haswani who "serves as a middleman" for oil purchases by the Syrian government from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. His company, an engineering and construction firm, is also sanctioned. (Reuters) Law and crime Former world cruiserweight boxing champion O'Neil Bell is shot to death in a robbery in the American city of Atlanta. (Daily Mail) Sergey Mironov, leader of the Russian opposition party, A Just Russia, submits a bill to the State Duma on holding to account anyone who denies that the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces was a "genocide". (Reuters) General Motors ignition switch scandal U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman rules General Motors Co., and its outside law firm King & Spalding, do not have to turn over lawyer-client documents from previously settled ignition switch lawsuits to plaintiffs’ lawyers in pending cases. (The Detriot News) Sports Ukrainian marathon runner Tetyana Hamera-Shmyrko is given a four-year ban for a doping offence. (AP) The family of U.S. National Football League star Frank Gifford, who died last August at age 84, announces that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease linked to head injuries commonly found in American football. (CNN) (New York Times) Current events of November 26, 2015 (2015-11-26) (Thursday) Armed conflicts and attacks 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown The Turkish military releases what it says are a series of audio recordings of warnings issued to a Russian jet before it was shot down near the Syrian border. (ABC Australia) Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015) The Palestinian Ministry of Health says a 21 year-old man has died in clashes with Israeli Army soldiers. (AP) Military intervention against ISIL British Prime Minister David Cameron, in a speech to the House of Commons says that Islamic extremists have already threatened citizens of the United Kingdom and UK military airstrikes against ISIL in Syria will serve only to make the UK safer. Cameron also says that the UK cannot outsource its security and must stand by France in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks. (BBC) Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Defence, calls on the United Kingdom to join France in bombing ISIL. (The Guardian) Following meetings with French President François Hollande at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is ready to coordinate strikes against the Islamic State with the United States and its allies, but warns acts like the Turkish downing of a Russian jet could destroy any chance of collaboration. (Washington Post) 2015 Brussels lockdown, Paris attack aftermath Belgian authorities reduce the threat level in Brussels from its highest level of four to three. The escalation to level four came after suspects in the ISIL attacks in Paris were linked to the city. Suspected Paris gunman, Salah Abdeslam, who lived in Brussels for several years, remains at large. (BBC) A suspicious powder feared to be anthrax found at a Brussels mosque, close to the European Union headquarters, is a false alarm. Testing determines it is flour. (Reuters) (Intenational Business Times) Islamist insurgency in West Africa At least 18 people are killed and over 100 homes torched after Boko Haram militants attacked a village near the commune of Bosso in Niger's southern Diffa Region. (AFP via Yahoo) Business and economics Martin Shkreli's Turing Pharmaceuticals is reneging on its pledge to cut the $750-per-pill price for Daraprim, a medication that has been marketed for 62 years. Instead, the biotech company is reducing what it charges hospitals, by up to 50 percent, for this parasitic infection treatment. Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, a pharmacy that compounds prescription drugs for individual patients, started selling a custom-made version of Pyrimethamine, the chemical name for Daraprim, for 99 cents per capsule. Impris reports orders are pouring in from doctors. (AP via Washington Post) Disasters and accidents At least 15 people are killed after a Russian Mi-8 transport helicopter carrying oil workers crashes in eastern Siberia near the Yenisei River. (AP via ABC News) (Reuters) A sinkhole the size of a football field swallows a large section of beach on Australia's North Stradbroke Island. Local authorities have warned beach-goers to stay away from Jumpinpin beach due to fears the sinkhole could grow even larger. (The Guardian) 2015-16 Australian bushfire season A New South Wales Rural Fire Service firefighter dies while fighting an out of control bushfire near Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. (Daily Telegraph) At least eleven people have died and 70 injured after two buses carrying tourism workers collide in the eastern Dominican Republic. (AP) International relations Pope Francis' visit to Kenya Pope Francis condemns the way young people have been "radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear," during a talk in Nairobi, Kenya. (Washington Post) Pope Francis celebrates a historic Mass in Kenya before delivering a stern environmental warning to the world. "It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects," the Pope said, urging nations to reach agreement over curbing fossil fuel emissions. (CNN) 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) France is deploying more than 10,000 personnel to provide security for the two-week UN Climate Change Conference that opens in Le Bourget in Paris on Monday, November 30, 2015. Around 150 heads of state or government are expected to attend COP21's opening day. (Xinhua News Agency) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015 Queen Elizabeth II (U.K.) arrives in Malta for the Commonwealth summit what begins tomorrow. The then-future Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh lived on the island from 1949-51. The Commonwealth is a group of 53 nations; most member states were once part of the British Empire, and 16 retain the Queen as head of state. (Telegraph) Song Tao is named head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, a key post responsible for relations with other communist parties, replacing Wang Jiarui. (SCMP) Current events of November 27, 2015 (2015-11-27) (Friday) Armed conflicts and attacks One person is killed and several injured in clashes between police and Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldiers. (ABC News Australia) November 2015 Paris attacks France holds a memorial service for the 130 victims of the attacks two weeks ago. (BBC) 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warns Russia not to "play with fire" and says Russia is supporting the "state terrorism" of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria that has "killed 380,000 people". Relations between the former Cold War antagonists have been severely damaged after Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 near the Syria–Turkey border on November 24, 2015. (Sky News) 2015 Bamako hotel attack Malian forces arrest two men in their early 30s linked to a cell phone found at the scene of last week's deadly hotel attack. No details are provided on what their exact role was. (CNN) Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015) Two Palestinian drivers drive their vehicles into groups of Israeli soldiers in two separate attacks in the occupied West bank. Both drivers are shot dead. In this current wave of violence that began in October, 19 Israelis, one U.S. citizen, and 93 Palestinians have died. (Reuters) The Israeli cabinet authorizes the Israeli Army to close the village of Beir Ummar near Hebron to search for suspects. (Haaretz) Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea Pirates attack a Polish-owned cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria, kidnapping its captain and four crew. Polish Foreign Minister, Witold Waszczykowski, said the as yet unidentified kidnappers have made no demands so far and Poland was currently liaising with Nigerian authorities. (Reuters) Islamist insurgency in West Africa A suicide-bomb attack on a Shia Muslim procession in Nigeria's northern Kano state leaves at least 21 people dead. (BBC) Arts and culture Archaeologists discover four prehistoric Ichma culture tombs in the centre of the Peruvian capital Lima. (AFP via ABC News Australia) Business and economics China's Shanghai index closed down 5.5%, a drop of almost 200 points in what was its largest single-day decline in three months. (New York Times) Greek government-debt crisis A new study shows Greece's six-year austerity program is even affecting prostitution. Gregory Laxos, a sociology professor at the Panteion University in Athens, told the Times of London the going rate for sex with a prostitute was 50 euros ($53) when the economic crisis began. Now, it’s fallen to as low as two euros ($2.12) for a 30-minute session, or to a cheese pie, a sandwich because they are hungry. (Washington Post) Disasters and accidents 2015–16 Australian bushfire season At least 87 homes have been lost in the fires that started in Pinery, South Australia which also claimed two lives and hospitalised 90 with five people in a critical condition. (ABC News Australia) Floodwaters in the North Texas area of the United States claim at least three lives on Thursday and today with another person missing. (Dallas Morning News) International relations Pope Francis' visit to Kenya Pope Francis, speaking in the Kenyan shantytown Kangemi, a sprawling slum filled with tin-roofed homes, lashes out at the elite in a neighborhood that feels largely disenfranchised. He describes injustices against the poor, such as unfair distribution of land, and lack of access to infrastructures and basic services, as "new forms of colonialism." (CNN) Francis, at a Nairobi sports center, says education and jobs will prevent young people from being radicalized and heading off to join militant groups. At the Kasarani Stadium, the Pope urges attendees to resist the temptation of corruption. “It’s in all the institutions, including in the Vatican ..." (USA Today) Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, is appointed as the sixth Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations. She will become the first woman to hold the position from April 2016. (NYSE Post) Law and crime Former Saenuri Party member of the South Korean National Assembly Cho Hyun-ryong is jailed for five years for accepting bribes. (Yonhap) The appellate prosecutors office in the Polish city of Krakow decides not to appeal a decision against extraditing filmmaker Roman Polanski to the United States to face prosecution for historic child sex offences. (Reuters) 2015 Colorado Springs shooting An active shooter in a Planned Parenthood facility in the American city of Colorado Springs, Colorado shoots at least four members of the Colorado Springs Police Department with one officer later dying. Two civilians were also killed, and six were injured. The shooter later surrendered. (Denver Post) (Reuters) (NBC News) (CNN) Politics Detroit, a city in which property values are among the lowest in the United States, is looking to reverse this. The Detroit Land Bank Authority is demolishing structures that are beyond repair and auction (bids start at $1,000) ones that are salvageable. (Washington Post) Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a major overhaul of China’s military to make the world’s largest army more combat ready and better equipped to project force beyond the country’s borders. Under the reorganization, all branches of the armed forces would come under a joint military command. The Chinese president said the reform aimed to "build an elite combat force" and called on the officials to make "breakthroughs" on establishing the joint command by 2020, Xinhua said. (Bloomberg) Yu Weiguo becomes the acting Governor of Fujian province, replacing Su Shulin, who had been detained on suspicion of corruption. (SCMP) Science and technology Retreat of glaciers since 1850 Scientific studies confirm more than 90 percent of the world’s glaciers are retreating, and many of the smaller ones — like the alpine ice sheets of Glacier National Park in the U.S. — are rapidly disappearing. On the other side of world, at Khumbu Glacier near Mount Everest in the Himalayas, expanding ponds are merging and forming larger bodies of water. This could threaten settlements downstream if they overflow. Thawing glaciers account for about 20 percent of the sea-level rise recorded in the past century, adding to the meltwater coming from polar ice caps and ice sheets. (Washington Post) (BBC) (Radio New Zealand) Current events of November 28, 2015 (2015-11-28) (Saturday) Armed conflicts and attacks At least three people are killed in an attack on a United Nations peacekeeping base in Kidal, northern Mali. The jihadist group Ansar Dine claims responsibility. (Euronews), (AFP via Yahoo! News) Terrorism in Egypt At least four Egyptian police officers are killed in a drive-by shooting in Saqqara, south of Cairo. An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant affiliate claims responsibility. (BBC), (AP via Fox News) Turkey–PKK conflict Tahir Elçi, a pro-Kurdish lawyer, is shot dead at a press conference in the city of Diyarbakir as clashes break out between Turkish security forces and PKK militants. (Bloomberg via Washington Today) Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, despite deep uncertainty over how many Labour MPs will back him, is planning to stage a parliamentary vote on British military action against ISIL in Syria this week. (The Guardian) Arts and culture Egyptologists announce that radar scans indicate an empty space behind King Tutankhamun's tomb. British archaeologist Dr. Nicholas Reeves speculates if a second chamber exists, it could be Queen Nefertiti's long-lost burial place. Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Eldamaty says work inside the tomb will not begin until all the data from the radar and infrared devices are carefully analyzed by Japanese experts. (Sky News) (CNN) Disasters and accidents A slow moving wintry storm system is responsible for more than a dozen deaths in the U.S. states of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. (AP) International relations 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown, Russia–Turkey relations A day after Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had harsh words for Russia, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, in an essay in the London Times, says the downing of the Russian jet, "was not -- and is not -- an act against a specific country. ... While the measures to defend our territory will remain in place, Turkey will work with Russia and our allies to calm tensions." (CNN) (Times of London) Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a decree imposing economic sanctions on Turkey. The sanctions include a ban on charter flights from Russia to Turkey, that Russian tour operators should stop selling trips to Turkey, and that imports of some Turkish products are to be halted. All work visas for Turkish citizens are cancelled.(Irish Times) South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports North Korea appears to conduct a submarine-launched ballistic missile test that ended in failure with no indication that the missile successfully ejected from the vessel and took off. (Reuters) European migrant crisis, Macedonian border crisis Macedonia's Army begins erecting a metal fence on its southern border with Greece. Around 250 migrants later clash with Macedonian police on the border. (CNBC), (AP) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015 The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta calls for an ambitious and legally binding outcome at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. (AFP via Yahoo! News) The United Kingdom will host the next CHOGM meeting in 2018 as Vanuatu, which was to host the meeting, had its infrastructure damaged by Cyclone Pam earlier in the year. (AFP via Yahoo! News) Law and crime 2015 Colorado Springs shooting Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey says all nine of the injured – five police officers and four civilians – are listed in good condition at area hospitals. (Reuters) Whaling in Japan Japan advises the International Whaling Commission that it plans to resume hunting minke whales for scientific research in the Antarctic Ocean by the end of March 2016. The United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in March 2014 that Japan's decades-old whale hunt in the Antarctic should stop, prompting Tokyo to cancel the bulk of its whaling for the 2014/2015 season. ICJ decisions were binding and cannot be appealed. (Reuters via The Daily Telegraph), (UPI) Politics and elections The United Kingdom's Minister of State for International Development, Grant Shapps, resigns amid claims he failed to act on allegations of in-party bullying of a young Conservative Party activist who committed suicide in September. (BBC) Sport Tyson Fury of the United Kingdom defeats Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in a title fight in Dusseldorf winning the WBA Super, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles. (BBC) 2015–16 Premier League Leicester City's Jamie Vardy scores in a record eleven consecutive Premier League matches after scoring against Manchester United in a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium, breaking former Manchester United player Ruud van Nistelrooy's record. (BBC) Current events of November 29, 2015 (2015-11-29) (Sunday) Armed conflicts and attacks Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports Russian airstrikes kill at least 18 civilians and wound dozens more in the town of Ariha in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. Idlib is controlled by the Army of Conquest, a rebel alliance of mainly Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front. (Reuters), (AFP via The Express Tribune) Disasters and accidents A fire in the South African city of Cape Town leaves two people dead and four thousand people homeless. (The Times Live) International relations 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu says the body of the pilot from the Sukhoi Su-24 jet downed this past Tuesday will be handed over to Russia. The body is being treated in accordance with the Orthodox tradition. Russia's military attaché is going to Hatay in southern Turkey as part of the procedures to recover the remains. Turkish officials refused to comment on how they came to be in possession of the body. (Reuters) Pope Francis' 2015 visit to Africa Pope Francis arrives in the Central African Republic, the last stop of his six-day African tour, becoming the first modern pope to enter an active war zone as the country is in a state of civil war. (The Guardian) November 2015 Paris attacks Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls the recent Paris attacks “blind terrorism,” according to IRNA, the country's official news agency. The Iranian government condemned the attacks immediately after they occurred. (The Washington Post) European migrant crisis Turkey agrees with leaders of the European Union to help stem the flow of migrants to Europe in return for cash and visas, and renewal of talks on joining the EU. A key element is 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in EU aid for the 2.2 million Syrians now in Turkey. (Reuters) Law and crime Conservative MP Philip Davies calls for a crackdown after it was announced up to 100 prisoners serving life sentences in British prisons will be let out of jail at Christmas for a five-day break with their families. Last year a total of 1,347 prison inmates, including 93 lifers, were given leave. The scheme has been defended by Justice Minister MP Andrew Selous but has caused outrage among justice campaigners. (The Sunday Express) European migration crisis A mass brawl breaks out in a refugee shelter in Berlin with a hundred police required to restore order. (The Daily Star) Politics and elections Burkinabé general election, 2015 Voters in Burkina Faso go to the polls to elect a new parliament and president after a year of turmoil. (BBC) Labour deputy leader Tom Watson demands party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who opposes PM David Cameron's (Conservative) proposed air strikes on Syria, to ensure MPs are given a free vote on the proposal this Tuesday. (The Independent) 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference About 20,000 pairs of empty shoes lay around Paris, symbolizing the absent marchers who would have joined this weekend's worldwide climate change protests pressing for a bold international agreement at the upcoming climate summit there. The capital city was planned to be the center for demonstrations but French police banned large protests following the terrorist attacks this month. (The Washington Post), (The Daily Mirror) Sport 2015 Davis Cup In tennis, the Great Britain Davis Cup team wins their tenth title in the Davis Cup and their first since 1936 defeating Belgium 3–2 in the final in Ghent. Andy Murray won all of their games he played with two singles wins and teaming with his brother Jamie Murray to win the doubles. (The New York Times) 2015–16 NBA season In basketball, American star Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers announces he will retire at the end of the season. (ESPN) Current events of November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30) (Monday) Armed conflicts and attacks Paris attack aftermath French intelligence services are reportedly operating under the theory that Paris-attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has escaped to Syria despite country-wide martial law in 3 different countries. (CNN) Iraqi Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL, American-led intervention in Iraq With the support of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, Iraqi Armed Forces have launched operations to retake Ramadi from ISIL. (The Military Times) Syrian Civil War, Military intervention against ISIL The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that at least 50 United States military instructors have deployed to northern Syria from Turkey and Iraq to train Kurdish forces ahead of an assault on ISIL's de-facto capital Al-Raqqah. (Deutsche Welle) Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Clashes with Yemeni forces in the kingdom's southern Jizan Region near the border with Yemen leave at least three Saudi border guards killed. (Reuters) Business and economics Responding to reports, the American Tribune Publishing Co. states it is not in talks to sell the company. (The Chicago Tribune) Canadian BlackBerry Limited announces plans to shut down operations in Pakistan at year's end because it cannot comply with the Pakistani government's monitoring orders which would result in a massive invasion of user privacy. (CNET) The International Monetary Fund modifies its benchmark currency basket to include the yuan of the People's Republic of China. The basket also includes the U.S. dollar, the euro, the pound sterling, and the Japanese yen. (Reuters) The United States Federal Reserve Board approves a rule prohibiting the government from extending emergency loans to "too big to fail" companies, a practice deemed essential during the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. (UPI) Disasters and accidents One person dies and at least 31 are injured when students and staff at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya, frantically try to escape after hearing nearby gunshots during an “approved safety and security simulation drill.” The Strathmore campus did not hear, before or during the test, that this was a drill. Tensions have been high at Kenyan schools since April when 139 were killed during a terrorist attack at Garissa University College. Many Kenyan universities have held security drills; six were hospitalized at the latest at Kenyatta University. (The Washington Post), (BBC) Health and medicine The capitals of the world’s two most populous nations, China and India, are blanketed in hazardous, choking smog. Beijing, on the second-highest pollution alert, is closing highways, halting or suspending construction while warning residents to stay indoors. The U.S. New Delhi embassy’s monitoring station recorded an air quality index of 372, putting air pollution levels into “hazardous” territory. No action by the New Delhi government. (The Hindustan Times) A UNICEF report finds AIDS is now the leading cause of death for African teenagers and the second most common killer for adolescents across the globe. While the Asia Pacific region has seen a 31 percent drop in new HIV infections, and 28 percent decline in AIDS-related deaths, the estimated number of adolescents dying of AIDS in the region has more than doubled since 2005. Tomorrow is World Aids Day. (AP via The Huffington Post), (Reuters) International relations Martyrs' Day (United Arab Emirates) is being observed in United Arab Emirates as Commemoration Day this year on November 30, 2015, recognising the sacrifices and dedication of Emirati martyrs who have given their life in the UAE and abroad in the field of civil, military and humanitarian service. (Gulf News) South Korea's parliament approves a free trade pact with China after opposition lawmakers, concerned that deal that would hurt agriculture and fisheries, secured a $1.4 billion relief package for farmers. (AP via Fox News) 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference Around 150 world leaders attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, aiming for a global deal on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. (CNN) Pope Francis' 2015 visit to Africa Pope Francis travels to a besieged Muslim neighborhood known as PK5 in the Central African Republic, a country wracked by sectarian violence. This visit is part of Francis's message of peace and reconciliation. As a result of the violence over the last two years, most of the capital Bangui's 100,000-plus Muslims have fled; now only 15,000 remain. (AP via The Bastrop Daily Enterprise) Pope Francis tells a crowd in a mosque in Bangui that "Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters." (BBC) Israel will open a diplomatic mission to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), the headquarters of which are located near the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. Israel will be the first Irena member to open such a mission; other member nations work Irena relations from their missions to the UAE, which Israel does not have. (The New York Times) Arctic Joint Strategic Command (Russia) A Russian Airborne Troops spokesman says the VDV is planning to expand their military exercises into the North Pole area of the Arctic in 2016. (UPI) Law and crime The University of Chicago cancels classes for the day, and asks students, faculty, and non-essential staff to stay away from its main campus after being informed by the FBI of a threat of gun violence. (Reuters via The Jerusalem Post), (USA Today) One suspect, a student from the University of Illinois at Chicago is arrested. The University of Chicago announces classes remain canceled for the day. (The Chicago Tribune) Russian undesirable organizations law Russia bans two George Soros-run foundations, including the Open Society Foundations, for posing a threat to "Russian national security". The Open Society Foundation and the Open Society Institute’s Assistance Foundation, both financed by business magnate Soros, are the latest additions to a list of “undesirable organizations”, a list the Russian government says is necessary to stop foreign governments from interfering in Russia’s internal affairs. (The Guardian) Jury selection begins for the trial of William Porter, a Baltimore, Maryland police officer charged with manslaughter and other charges surrounding the April 19 death of Freddie Gray. Porter is the first of six officers to be tried. (CNN) Politics and elections Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2015 Venezuela announces it will suspend the sale of alcoholic beverages, fireworks and weapons before Sunday's parliamentary elections, starting Friday at 6 p.m. until next Monday at 6 p.m. Civilian permits for the possession and use of firearms and knives will be also be suspended for the same period. (UPI) Burkinabé general election, 2015 Former prime minister Roch Marc Kaboré appears on course for a commanding victory in Burkina Faso's election, one large enough to eliminate the need for a run-off. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, with results from about 72 percent of the country counted, Kaboré has 54 percent of the vote with his closest challenger, former finance minister Zéphirin Diabré, getting 29 percent. (The Globe and Mail) Saudi Arabia elections, 2015 For the first time in the country's history, Saudi Arabian women are allowed to vote and to stand for office in the December 12, 2015, elections. Candidacy filings opened yesterday. In two days, more than 900 women have signed up to run for various local government positions in the Arab nation. (UPI) Science and technology Researchers at North Carolina State University discover a new diamond-like, solid phase of carbon, called Q-carbon, that can be attained at room temperature. The result is a uniquely crystalline material, harder than a real diamond and likely boasting a variety of new properties, most unknown or unstudied. (UPI)

<< November 2015 >> S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  Ongoing events Political Iraqi Civil War Military intervention against ISIL American-led Iranian Islamist insurgency in West Africa Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2015) Lebanese anti-government protests Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 2015 Nepal fuel crisis PKK rebellion Yemeni Civil War Saudi Arabian-led intervention Second Libyan Civil War Sinai insurgency South China Sea disputes Syrian Civil War American-led intervention Russian military intervention War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine Sports 2015-16 UEFA Champions League 2015–16 La Liga season 2015–16 NBA season 2015–16 NHL season 2015–16 Premier League season More details on ongoing conflicts below  Recent deaths November 29: Wayne Bickerton 29: Joe Marston 28: Doug Lennox 28: Luc Bondy 28: Gerry Byrne 28: Olene S. Walker 27: Maurice Strong 27: Philippe Washer 26: Eldzier Cortor 26: Guy Lewis 26: Tom Moss 25: O'Neil Bell 25: Elmo Williams 24: Robert Ford 24: Quincy Monk 24: Niel Tupas, Sr. 23: Jamiluddin Aali 23: Jouni Kaipainen 23: Douglass North 23: Yoram Tsafrir 22: Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury 22: Adele Morales 22: Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid 22: Nola 22: Joseph Silverstein 22: Kim Young-sam 21: Peter Dimmock 21: Ameen Faheem 21: Bob Foster 21: Adele Horin 20: Naim Dangoor 20: Austin H. Kiplinger 20: Keith Michell 20: Jim Perry 20: Kitanoumi Toshimitsu 19: John E. Zuccotti 18: Abdelhamid Abaaoud 18: Charles Cawley 18: Dan Halldorson 18: Jonah Lomu 18: Jim Slater 18: Mal Whitfield 17: Ishtiaq Ahmed 17: Milton Crenchaw 16: David Canary 16: Nando Gazzolo 16: Paul Laffoley 16: Bert Olmstead 15: Norm Ellenberger 15: George Genovese 15: Saeed Jaffrey 15: Guo Jie 15: Vincent Margera 15: Moira Orfei 15: Cynthia Payne 15: P. F. Sloan 14: Nick Bockwinkel 14: Warren Mitchell 13: Bruce Dayton 12: Márton Fülöp 12: Jihadi John (claimed) 12: Peter McLeavey 12: Aaron Shikler 11: Nathaniel Marston 11: "Philthy" Phil Taylor 10: Gene Amdahl 10: Robert Craft 10: Pat Eddery 10: André Glucksmann 10: Helmut Schmidt 10: Allen Toussaint 10: Laurent Vidal 9: Carol Doda 9: Ernst Fuchs 9: Tommy Hanson 9: Byron Krieger 9: Andy White 8: Rhea Chiles 8: Angad Paul 7: Gunnar Hansen 6: Yitzhak Navon 6: Ri Ul-sol 5: George Barris 5: Nora Brockstedt 5: Soma Edirisinghe 5: Hans Mommsen 4: Kostas Tsakonas 4: René Girard 4: Melissa Mathison 3: Ahmed Chalabi 3: Howard Coble 3: Peter Donaldson 3: Csaba Fenyvesi 3: Tom Graveney 2: Mike Davies 2: Hashim Abdul Halim 2: Kondavalasa Lakshmana Rao 2: Colin Welland 1: Brijmohan Lall Munjal 1: Günter Schabowski 1: Fred Thompson October 31: Ants Antson 31: Charles Herbert 31: Gus Savage 30: Mel Daniels 30: Zehra Deović 30: Al Molinaro  Ongoing conflicts Africa Algeria, Tunisia and Niger Maghreb insurgency Central African Republic Civil war Democratic Republic of the Congo Kivu conflict ADF insurgency Katanga insurgency Ituri conflict Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Libya Civil war Mali Northern Mali conflict Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger Boko Haram insurgency Somalia Civil war South Sudan South Sudanese Civil War Sudan War in Darfur South Kordofan conflict Americas Colombian conflict Internal conflict in Peru Mexican War on Drugs Asia Afghanistan War China Xinjiang conflict India Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Insurgency in Northeast India India and Pakistan Kashmir conflict Pakistan War in North-West Pakistan Balochistan conflict Philippines CPP-NPA-NDF rebellion Moro conflict Moro conflict in Sabah Southeast Asia Internal conflict in Burma Papua conflict South Thailand insurgency Europe Georgia Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Georgian–Ossetian conflict Chechen–Russian conflict North Caucasus insurgency War in Ingushetia Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Ukraine War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine Middle East Arab–Israeli conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli–Lebanese conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Egypt Sinai insurgency Iran Iran–PJAK conflict Iraqi civil war American-led intervention in Iraq Iranian intervention in Iraq Syrian Civil War American-led intervention in Syria Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon Turkey Turkey–PKK conflict Turkey–ISIL conflict Yemeni crisis Houthi rebellion Al-Qaeda insurgency South Yemen insurgency  Elections Recent October 25: Argentina, President, National Congress 25: Republic of the Congo, Referendum 25: Côte d'Ivoire, President 25: Guatemala, President (2nd round) 25: Haiti, President, National Assembly (2nd round) 25: Oman, Consultative Assembly 25: Poland, Parliament 25: Tanzania, President, National Assembly November 1: Azerbaijan, National Assembly  :1: Turkey, Grand National Assembly 4: Belize, House of Representatives 8: Croatia, Parliament 8: Myanmar, Legislature 16: Marshall Islands, Legislature 21–23: Egypt, Parliament (2nd phase) 22: Argentina, President (2nd phase) 22: Hong Kong, Local elections Upcoming 29: Burkina Faso, President, parliament December 3–5: Seychelles, President 6: Armenia, Constitutional referendum 6: Venezuela, Parliament 9: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Parliament  Trials Recently concluded Australia: Brett Peter Cowan, Craig Thomson, Robert Hughes Brazil: Mensalão scandal Canada: Luka Magnotta China: Ji Jianye, Li Chuncheng, Jiang Jiemin, Liao Shaohua, Ni Fake, Chen Baihuai, Zhou Yongkang, Gu Junshan Croatia: Ivo Sanader Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, Peter Greste, Mohamed Morsi Germany: Bernie Ecclestone, Uli Hoeness, Christian Wulff Iran: Mohammad Reza Rahimi Israel: Hussam Qawasmeh Jordan: Abu Qatada Romania: Liviu Dragnea, Dan Diaconescu Russia: Leonid Khabarov, Eston Kohver, Vladimir Kvachkov South Africa: Shrien Dewani, Oscar Pistorius Turkey: Kenan Evren, Tahsin Şahinkaya United Kingdom: Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, Kweku Adoboli, Tony McCluskie, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, Chris Huhne, Nicola Edgington, Vicky Pryce, Derek Rose, Mick Philpott, Mairead Philpott, Paul Mosley, Stuart Hazell, Mark Bridger, Andrew Lancel, Dale Cregan, Ray Wilkins, Liam Adams, R v Grillo and Grillo, Ian Watkins, William Roache, Dave Lee Travis, Nicholas Jacobs, Nigel Evans, Max Clifford, Stuart Hall, Dappy, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Rolf Harris, Tulisa Contostavlos, Chris Denning, Ray Teret, Gary Glitter, Fred Talbot United States: Abu Hamza al-Masri, Michael Grimm, Jesse Jackson Jr., Bob McDonnell, Vilma Bautista, Jared Lee Loughner, Lauryn Hill, Kermit Gosnell, George Zimmerman, Chelsea Manning, Ariel Castro, Whitey Bulger, Robert Bales, Nidal Malik Hasan, Jodi Arias, Anas al-Libi, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, James Eagan Holmes International ECCC: Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan ICC: Germain Katanga ICTY: Momčilo Perišić, Mladen Markač, Ante Gotovina, Zdravko Tolimir Ongoing China: Yao Mugen, Guo Youming, Zhu Zuoli Germany: Beate Zschäpe Iran: Babak Zanjani, Jason Rezaian Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr., Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Janet Lim-Napoles, Jovito Palparan, Joseph Scott Pemberton Romania: Darius Vâlcov, Dan Șova, Elena Udrea, Radu Mazăre, Gheorghe Nichita, Marian Vanghelie, Cătălin Voicu, Relu Fenechiu, Gheorghe Ștefan, Gabriel Sandu, Dorin Cocoş, Dumitru Nicolae Russia: Alexei Navalny South Korea: MV Sewol crew members International ICTY: Radovan Karadžić, Ratko Mladić PCA: China Upcoming China: Wu Changshun, Ling Jihua Estonia: Edgar Savisaar Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Spain: Lionel Messi United States: Paul Anthony Ciancia, Javaris Crittenton, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Dylan Quick, Aaron Hernandez, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Rick Perry International ICC: Laurent Gbagbo

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