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Worldwide current events
Sports events

Topics in the news

Yurisbel Gracial

Thirty-nine people are found dead in a refrigerated lorry container in Grays, England.
In baseball, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks defeat the Yomiuri Giants to win the Japan Series (MVP Yurisbel Gracial pictured).
In Santiago, Chile, protests over increased metro fares cause President Sebastián Piñera to declare a state of emergency.
Several Lebanese cabinet ministers resign amid protests after the government announces plans to tax gasoline, tobacco, and online phone calls.

October 25, 2019 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- Following the U.S. military withdrawal from northern Syria, the United States is to deploy more troops to Syria's eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate to secure the country's petroleum gas and oilfields, according to a senior Department of Defense official. (Al-Jazeera)
2018–19 Iraqi protests
- At least 21 people are killed and over 1,700 wounded, when security forces violently clamp down on anti-government protestors in Iraq. (Al-Jazeera)

Arts and culture

Hundreds of tourists flock to Uluru in Australia's Northern Territory to climb it for the last time before the park’s ban on climbing goes into effect. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Lion Air Flight 610
- Indonesian investigators conclude their probe of the disaster with the release of a 353-page final report. The report states the crash was caused by a combination of flawed software design by Boeing, a failure of Lion Air to ground the jet over issues it had previously experienced, and inappropriate pilot responses to the developing emergency. (BBC)

International relations

Brexit negotiations
- The European Commission announces that the European Union has agreed to a further extension of the Brexit deadline. The length of the extension is yet to be decided. (BBC)

Law and crime

2019 Grays incident
- Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom, announces he has sent a team to Essex to verify the identities of the 39 bodies found in a lorry this week, who are thought by UK authorities to be Chinese nationals. Post-mortems are due to begin today. The Northern Irish driver remains in police custody, suspected of murder. (BBC)
- The BBC News reported that three of the victims can be Vietnamese nationals. (BBC)
- Two further people are arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people in connection to the case. (BBC)
Terrorism in Turkey
- Turkish police arrest nine people on terrorism charges in Adani, including one foreign national. The men are suspected of Islamic State membership, recruiting for the group, and planning terrorist attacks. (AA)
Gorny shooting
- A Russian soldier shoots and kills eight fellow soldiers and wounds two others at a Russian Armed Forces base in the village of Gorny, Zabaykalsky Krai. Officials say the soldier is suspected of having a "nervous breakdown", according to Russian media. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2019 Bolivian general election
- Official results announce that incumbent Bolivian president Evo Morales has achieved a great enough margin to win re-election, though the legitimacy of the electoral process has been questioned by protestors and international observers. (BBC)
Chicago Teachers Union 2019 Strike
- The CTU's 2019 strike has extended into its seventh school-day, on-par with its 2012 strike. A Cook County judge is expected to hear an emergency injunction filed against the Illinois High School Association for not allowing student athletes within Chicago Public Schools participate in state playoffs, despite the IHSA's long-standing ban against teams from striking districts. (WGN9)
2019 Lebanese protests
- Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah calls on his supporters to leave the protests, warning the government’s resignation will lead to “chaos” and “civil war”. It comes the day after Hezbollah supporters violently clashed with protestors in central Beirut. (Al-Jazeera)

October 24, 2019 (Thursday)

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International relations

Japan–South Korea relations, 2019 Japan–South Korea trade dispute
- Japan and South Korea hold a high-level bilateral meeting for the first time since the trade dispute, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe meeting with his counterpart Lee Nak-yeon. (The Japan Times)

Law and crime

2019 Grays incident
- The people found deceased in a lorry in Essex yesterday are identified as Chinese nationals. (BBC)
Persecution of homosexuals in Uganda
- The law authorities announce that they have arrested 16 LGBT activists on suspicion of gay sex. (The Guardian)
At the Old Bailey a UK jury convicts a British man who traveled to fight against the Islamic State of a terror offence for visiting a training camp used by the PKK. He is the first UK man found guilty of such a crime, and is remanded in custody to await his November 7 sentencing hearing. (BBC)

Politics and elections

The remains of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco are exhumed from Valle de los Caídos and are moved to a private mausoleum with his wife Carmen Polo, 44 years after his death. Some pro-Franco protestors gather outside the national mausoleum. (CNN)
2019 Lebanese protests
- As protests enter its eighth day, President Michel Aoun in a televised address states he is willing to meet with protestors and offers support for various reforms, such as increasing transparency for banks and lifting immunity for government officials. He however states that changes “can only happen through state institutions" in response to calls to bring down the government. (Al-Jazeera)
The Chicago Teachers Union's strike enters its sixth school day as it is unable to reach an agreement with Chicago Public Schools. (NBC Chicago)

October 23, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Disasters and accidents

Lion Air Flight 610, Boeing 737 MAX groundings
- Indonesian investigators meet with families of the deceased ahead of the release of their final report, scheduled for Friday. They state the crash was caused by design flaws with software on the aircraft, and inaccurate assessments by Boeing as to how pilots would respond to them. (al-Jazeera)
Yirol Let L-410 Turbolet crash
- Ukraine releases the final report into the disaster, which was prepared by South Sudan. The report concludes mistakes by both crew and maintenance, as well as poor weather, combined to cause the crash. (The Aviation Herald)

Health and environment

Pacific Gas and Electric is set to shut off power to 179,000 customers in Northern California due to an elevated wildfire risk, while Southern California Edison does so for 308,000 in Southern California. (The New York Times), (KTLA)

International relations

2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Turkey–United States relations
- The Trump administration lifts the sanctions it placed on Turkey, in response to the latter's ceasefire. While U.S. President Donald Trump states the ceasefire is permanent, he threatens to reinstate the sanctions if "something happens that we are not happy with". (Reuters)

Law and crime

2019 Grays incident
- Police discover 39 bodies inside a lorry container in Grays, Essex, UK. They had been transported from Zeebrugge, across the English Channel to Purfleet. The driver, a man from Northern Ireland, is arrested. (The Guardian)
Right-wing terrorism in the United Kingdom, Christchurch mosque shootings
- Two men are given prison sentences in the United Kingdom after they incited copycat attacks following mosque shootings in New Zealand. They were convicted of a series of terror offences. (BBC)
Police in Albania say they have identified a terrorist cell in the country operated by the Revolutionary Guards of Iran and seeking to attack members of exiled Iranian anti-government group Mujahedin-e Khalq. (The Guardian)
Murder of Nusrat Jahan Rafi
- A court in Bangladesh sentences sixteen people to death after they burned a student alive when she reported sexual harassment by a teacher. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2019 Botswana general election
- Citizens of Botswana cast their vote to elect the members of the National Assembly and local government councils. (EWN)
2019 Chilean protests
- Chilean President Sebastián Piñera in a nationally televised address apologizes for the failures of the government and pledges economic reforms as violent protests continue in the country. (WJCT)
2019 Bolivian protests
- Evo Morales accuses opposition politicians of plotting a coup d'etat with foreign powers. (The Guardian)
Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump
- Roughly two-dozen U.S. House Republicans storm a secure room being used by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, demanding more access to proceedings regarding the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, despite that many of the Republicans in attendance could legitimately enter the room and participate in those proceedings. (The Washington Times)
Trump–Ukraine controversy
- At a hearing in New York City, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two associates of U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who aided him with a search in Ukraine for detrimental information on President Trump's political opponents, plead not guilty to charges that they funneled $350,000 in illegal donations to a pro-Trump political committee and another $20,000 to former Republican Congressman Pete Sessions while acting on behalf of at least one Ukrainian government official. (AOL)
- A lawyer for Lev Parnas says some of the evidence collected in his client's case could be subject to executive privilege. (Yahoo! News)
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Fort Lauderdale airport shooting
- In a special session of the Florida Senate, the chamber voted 25–15 to uphold the suspension of former Broward Sheriff Scott Israel for his agency's response to the mass shootings at both Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Parkland. (WPLG)

October 22, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone
- Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, presidents of Russia and Turkey respectively, reach an agreement in Sochi, which would end Turkey's offensive into Northern Syria. (CNN) (CNN₂)

Arts and culture

2019 Japanese imperial transition
- Japanese Emperor Naruhito officially proclaims his enthronement as the Emperor of Japan in an ancient enthronement ceremony held in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, after ascending to the throne on 1 May. It was attended by about 2,000 guests with 420 foreign dignitaries. (CNN) (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse
- The National Transportation Safety Board of the United States concludes its investigation into the accident, which killed six and injured ten. It states design errors were the immediate cause, exacerbated by failures to take appropriate remedial action when cracks were discovered. (USA Today)
A convention centre catches fire in Auckland while still under construction, causing signficant disruption in the CBD. (Stuff)

Law and crime

Crime in Norway
- Police officers in Oslo wound an armed 32-year-old man, who injured three people when he rammed a stolen ambulance into them. The police then arrest him and a 25-year-old woman, both of whom have connections to the Nordic Resistance Movement. (The Guardian) (The Telegraph)
Manchester Arena bombing
- UK Home Secretary Priti Patel announces the inquests into the deaths of the victims will be converted into a public inquiry at the request of the coroner. This enables the hearing of evidence in secret by members of the intelligence community, which would otherwise not be available as the coroner had previously granted public interest immunity to the witnesses on the grounds of possible assistance to future terrorists were the evidence to be heard. Inquests cannot hear secret evidence. (The Telegraph)
In Alabama, police say the body of 3-year-old Kamille McKinney has been discovered in a dumpster. McKinney disappeared during a birthday party in Birmingham on October 12 after being lured away from the party by a trail of food set up by a man and a woman. Authorities are obtaining arrest warrants for two suspects. (KDVR)

Politics and elections

2019 Chilean protests
- According to candidate for Vice President of Argentina for the Together for Change alliance, Miguel Ángel Pichetto, there is a "destabilization plan in Latin America directly linked to Venezuela's and Cuba's governments' activities". Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie also expressed his concerns and said there were "calculated and identical methods of destabilization in the region". He blames Nicolás Maduro's government after Constituent Assembly President Diosdado Cabello says there is a "Bolivarian breeze" in the region. (Clarín) (Buenos Aires Times)
Abortion in Northern Ireland, Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland
- As a result of the local government failing to reconvene in time, the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 comes into effect. This means abortion is decriminalized in Northern Ireland, and same-sex marriage is scheduled to commence in February 2020. (BBC)
Brexit
- The British Parliament votes 329 to 299 to pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, but then rejects the proposed timetable in a separate 322 to 308 vote. Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow says the bill is now "in limbo", and Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to consult with European Union leaders for the time being. (BBC)
Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump
- Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor Jr. testifies before Congress that he had been told President Donald Trump would, to help his reelection chances, withhold military aid to Ukraine until that country publicly declared investigations would be launched into Burisma Holdings, a company that hired former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter, as well as Ukraine's alleged involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (Salon)
Presidency of Donald Trump
- An anonymous senior Donald Trump administration official, who in 2018 wrote a controversial New York Times op-ed called treasonous by President Trump, has written a book about the administration titled "A Warning," its publisher says. It will be released next month. (The Washington Post)

October 21, 2019 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Syrian Civil War
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says his country is ready to mediate between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces. (Kurdistan 24)

Arts and culture

A team of ocean explorers announce the discovery of Imperial Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi on the Pacific seafloor. The vessel was sunk in 1942 during the World War II Battle of Midway. (The Guardian) (TVNZ)

Disasters and accidents

A fiery bus crash near Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo kills at least 31 people, with another 18 injured. (CNN)

International relations

New Zealand–United Kingdom relations
- The Foreign Minister of New Zealand Winston Peters accuses the United Kingdom of "walking out" on Pacific aid to small island nations. The accusation surprised British officials. (Radio New Zealand)

Law and crime

Murder of Ján Kuciak
- Authorities in Slovakia charge four people with murdering investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée. The killings sparked widespread anti-corruption protests and forced the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
Opioid epidemic in the United States
- Teva Pharmaceuticals, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen reach a US$260 million settlement hours before a civil trial in U.S. federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, brought as a class-action lawsuit representing communities affected by opioid addiction. (The Guardian) (The Week)

Politics and elections

2019 Canadian federal election
- Voters in Canada go to the polls to elect members of the 43rd Canadian Parliament. Polls show Justin Trudeau's Liberals and Andrew Scheer's Conservatives deadlocked with equal numbers of support after a divisive campaign. (CBC News) (CTV News) (HuffPost)
- The Liberal Party win a pluralty of seats, and will remain in government, albeit as a minority and having lost the popular vote to the Conservative Party. The Bloc Québécois resurge from a 10-seat rump at dissolution to take third place and regain official party status. (CBC News) (CTV News) (CNBC)
2019 Chilean protests
- Chilean President Sebastián Piñera says that Chile is "at war" and calls on citizens to take sides in the matter as violence continues in the capital and other cities. (Al Jazeera) (Pensions and Investments)
2019 Bolivian protests, 2019 Bolivian general election
- Protests break out across Bolivia in rejection of what are seen as fraudulent Presidential vote results. (BBC News) (MSN)
2019 Lebanese protests
- The Lebanese government passes a series of economic measures, such as slashing government wages and extending financial aid to poor families, in an attempt to placate protestors. (BBC News)

October 20, 2019 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present)
- U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says American troops withdrawing from Syria will go to western Iraq, where the U.S. military will continue to conduct operations against the Islamic State to prevent its resurgence. (Yahoo! News)

Disasters and accidents

Three American soldiers with the 3rd Infantry Division are killed and three others are injured in a training accident at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. (CNN)

Politics and elections

2019 Bolivian general election
- People in Bolivia head to the polls for the latest general election. (France 24)
- Authorities abruptly stop updating the results, causing concern among opposition politicians and the Organization of American States, which has election observers in Bolivia. Before the results were halted, incumbent President Evo Morales held 45 percent of the vote and former President Carlos Mesa held 38 percent. (BBC News)
2019 Chilean protests
- Curfew is extended to Concepción and Valparaíso Region. Including Santiago, nine million people are under a state of emergency, equal to 52 percent of the country's population. (La Tercera) (Sputnik)
- Three people are found dead in a supermarket that had been set on fire in San Bernardo. (BioBioChile) (The Raw Story)
2019 Swiss federal election
- Voters in Switzerland elect the members of the country's Federal Assembly and Council. Provisional results show the Swiss People's Party retaining their plurality, and that the Green Party has become the fourth-largest party. (DW) (Le News) (The Local)
Second inauguration of Joko Widodo
- Joko Widodo is officially inaugurated as president of Indonesia for the second time, while Ma'ruf Amin is inaugurated as the new vice president. They will serve their terms from 2019 to 2024. (Tempo) (Al Jazeera)
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
- The government of Bangladesh announces it will begin moving thousands of Rohingya refugees from crowded camps to the flood-prone island of Thengar Char, starting early November. The government hopes to relocate 100,000 refugees by the end of the operation, which has been criticised by rights groups as an "inevitable" humanitarian crisis. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)

October 19, 2019 (Saturday)

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Disasters and accidents

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- An Iraqi man is arrested at Brisbane Airport for his membership in a human trafficking syndicate responsible for chartering a boat carrying 421 Afghan and Iraqi refugees to Australia. More than 350 of those aboard perished when the boat sank off the coast of Indonesia in October 2001. (The Guardian)
A dam on the Seiba river in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, collapses, flooding a nearby gold mine and cabins used to house miners. At least 15 people have been killed, with 13 more missing and 14 hospitalised. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2019 Santiago protests
- The Chilean government declares a state of emergency in the capital Santiago, following riots in response to a price hike in Santiago Metro fares. Overnight, the high-rise headquarters of Enel Generación Chile is set on fire by rioters. (BBC)
- 19 stations of the Santiago Metro are set on fire during the night. (La Tercera)
- Police and military officers clash with protestors in Plaza Baquedano, Maipú Main Square and other places, while several cacerolazos are heard in the city. (ADN Radio)
- Curfew is announced for the Greater Santiago area, the first time it is used since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship. (El Desconcierto)
Brexit
- The British Parliament votes 322 to 306 to pass the so-called "Letwin amendment" to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which states it will not approve any withdrawal agreement unless all relevant formal legislation is passed. In effect any subsequent vote on a deal is not considered final, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be forced to ask for an extension. (Reuters) (CNN)
2019 Lebanese protests
- Four ministers resign from the current cabinet, stating that the government is incapable of addressing any of the issues under current circumstances. Conversely, Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah announces that his group will continue to support the government, saying, "All of us have to shoulder the responsibility of the current situation that we arrived at." (Al-Jazeera)