Timeline 2019 October - December Return to home
2019 Oct 1, President Donald
Trump said US interest rates were "too high" and that a strong
dollar was hurting US manufacturers, again blaming the Federal
Reserve, which is scheduled to release manufacturing data later this
month.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, The US Justice
Deptartment's inspector general said the Drug Enforcement Agency
(DEA) was slow to respond as America grappled with a rising opioid
epidemic.
(SFC, 10/2/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 1, Kristalina
Georgieva (b.1953), Bulgarian economist, took over as head of the
Washington, DC-based Int'l. Monetary Fund (IMF).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristalina_Georgieva)
2019 Oct 1, In California
Tushar Atre (50), the owner of the digital marketing company Atre
Net Inc., was abducted from his oceanfront home in Santa Cruz. He
was soon found dead near his white BMW in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
(The Guardian, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 1, A Cook County jury
awarded Ulisa Howell-Darby $4.8 million after ruling that the
security guard who shot 24-year-old Eric Knox in June 2016 was
responsible for his death at a Chicago Housing Authority complex.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 1, Missouri executed
Russell Bucklew at Bonne Terre state prison for killing a man during
a violent 1996 crime spree.
(SFC, 10/2/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 1, In New York City
former Rep. Chris Collins pleaded guilty to an insider trading case
a day after he resigned from Congress.
(SFC, 10/2/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 1, In Texas former
police officer Amber Guyger faced a lengthy prison sentence after a
jury found her guilty of the murder of Botham Jean in Dallas on 6
September last year. The following day Guyger was sentenced to 10
years in prison.
(SFC, 10/2/19, p.A7)(SFC, 10/3/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 1, Ford Motor Co and
Mahindra & Mahindra said they would form a joint venture in
India, in a move aimed at reducing risks for the US automaker's
local business and cutting the cost of developing and producing
vehicles for emerging markets.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, United Parcel
Service Inc said it won the US government's first full approval to
operate a drone airline, which gave it a lead in the nascent US
drone delivery business over rivals Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc.
(AP, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, Negotiators meeting
in the Belarusian capital of Minsk agreed on a schedule under which
elections will be held in the breakaway regions of Ukraine and a new
law will be passed granting them special status. The plan was
proposed by Frank-Walter Steinmeier when he was Germany’s foreign
minister and is known as the Steinmeier formula.
(Bloomberg, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 1, Bosnian authorities
were ordered to remove from a Muslim Bosniak woman's courtyard an
Orthodox church which was built after she was driven out by Bosnian
Serb forces who killed 22 of her relatives in nearby Srebrenica.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, British interior
minister Priti Patel will say the government will end free movement
and introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system
once the country leaves the European Union.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, British department
stores group John Lewis, part of the employee-owned John Lewis
Partnership, said it was seeking to save 100 million pounds ($123
million) through a major management restructuring.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 1, China's Communist
Party marked 70 years in power with a military parade that showcased
the country's global ambitions while police in Hong Kong fought
protesters in a reminder of strains at home.
(AP, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, Egypt said it had
returned nearly 2 million people to its food subsidy program since
February, two days after tweets by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in
which he said he was personally following the politically-sensitive
matter.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, In Finland a man
killed a woman and wounded nine other people while wielding a sword
and a firearm inside a classroom at a vocational school in Kuopio.
Police shot and wounded the subject, who was hospitalized.
(SFC, 10/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 1, Hong Kong police
shot and wounded a pro-democracy protester as the city was lashed by
its worst unrest of the year, hours after China celebrated 70 years
of Communist Party rule with a massive military parade. Medical
authorities said 31 people were admitted to hospital, two in a
critical condition. On Oct. 3 the teenage victim of police gunfire
was charged with rioting and attacking police.
(AFP, 10/1/19)(SFC, 10/4/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 1, India said it is
holding off imposing a blanket ban on single-use plastics to combat
pollution, a measure seen as too disruptive for industry at a time
when it is coping with an economic slowdown and job losses.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, Iranian courts said
they have sentenced one person to death for spying for the CIA and
jailed two others, Ali Nefriyeh and Mohammad Ali Babapour, for 10
years for the same crime, as well as imprisoning a fourth person,
Mohammad Amin-Nasab, for 10 years for spying for Britain.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, Iraqi police used
tear gas, water cannon and live fire to disperse demonstrators in
Baghdad, as well as Basra and Nasiriyah. Two people were killed and
more than 200 injured as thousands of Iraqis rallied in protest
against unemployment, government corruption and poor services. Some
3000 protesters had tried to cross a bridge leading into Baghdad's
fortified Green Zone.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)(SFC, 10/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 1, In central Italy
Fiat Chrysler worker Fabrizio Greco died overnight in an accident at
the group's factory in Cassino, prompting unions to launch a strike
at the plant to demand tighter safety measures.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, Kenyan police shot
dead three men suspected of planning militant attacks in the coastal
city of Mombasa.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, In the Netherlands
an appeals court ruled that the statute of limitations does not
apply to allegations of colonial era crimes committed by Dutch
forces in Indonesia.
(SFC, 10/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 1, Dutch police
arrested a man on suspicion of involvement in lawyer Derk Wiersum’s
Sept. 18 slaying in Amsterdam.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 1, A report by the
World Health Organization published today showed alcohol consumption
in Russia has dropped by 43 percent since 2003.
(AFP, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, In Spain separatist
leaders in Catalonia pledged to keep up their struggle for
independence on the second anniversary of an ill-fated independence
referendum, prompting Spain's acting prime minister to warn them
"not to play with fire".
(AP, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 1, In Taiwan a bridge
collapsed in Nanfangao sending a burning oil tanker truck onto boats
in the water below. Six people were missing and believed trapped on
one of the fishing boats. Five people were feared to have been on
the bridge. Searchers soon recovered five bodies from three fishing
boats that were struck when the bridge collapsed.
(SFC, 10/2/19, p.A2)(SFC, 10/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 1, Vatican police
raided the offices of the Holy See's Secretariat of State and its
Financial Information Authority (AIF) and took away documents and
electronic devices. The Vatican said the operation was a follow-up
to complaints filed in the summer by the Vatican bank and the Office
of the Auditor General and related to financial operations. Five
Vatican employees, including the number two at the Vatican's
Financial Information Authority (AIF) and a monsignor, were
suspended following a police raid.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 1, Zimbabwe's
President Emmerson Mnangagwa pleaded for time and patience to bring
the economy back from the "dead", as his government faces blame for
surging inflation evoking dark days under Robert Mugabe.
(Reuters, 10/1/19)
2019 Oct 2, The US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation
to San Francisco, accusing the city of improperly discharging waste
into the ocean and bay following through on Pres. Trump's pledge to
cite the city for water pollution.
(SFC, 10/3/19, p.C1)
2019 Oct 2, It was reported
that the United States is withholding its dues to the UN's aviation
agency, arguing the body needs to move quickly with reforms like
expanding public access to documents and giving greater protections
to whistleblowers.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, The US Library of
Congress said country music superstar Garth Brooks, whose hits
include "Friends in Low Places," ''The Thunder Rolls" and "The
Dance," will receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for
Popular Song in March 2020.
(AP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, The United States
won approval to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of European
goods over illegal EU subsidies handed to Airbus, threatening to
trigger a tit-for-tat transatlantic trade war as the global economy
falters. Tariffs were set to begin on Oct. 18.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)(SFC, 10/3/19, p.D1)
2019 Oct 2, The US Federal
Aviation Administration said that aircraft operators must inspect
165 Boeing 737 NG airplanes for structural cracks within seven days
after the issue was found on a small number of planes.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, The US National
Transportation Safety Board said it is recommending that new
vehicles that are stretched into limousines have safety belts for
all seats and seats that better protect passengers in a crash.
(AP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, Opera star Placido
Domingo resigned as general director of the Los Angeles Opera and
withdrew from all future performances following multiple allegations
of sexual harassment.
(SFC, 10/3/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 2, In Connecticut a
World War II-era B-17G bomber plane crashed in a fireball as it
tried to land at Bradley International Airport, New England’s
second-busiest airport. A former police officer and an insurance
analyst were among the seven people killed in the crash.
(AP, 10/2/19)(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 2, In central Iowa
Rev. Allen Henderson (64), a pastor who also served as a chaplain to
area first responders, was robbed and beaten to death outside of his
church in Fort Dodge. Police soon arrested Joshua Pendleton (36) and
charged him with robbery and first-degree murder.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 2, In North Carolina
Robin Hayes, a former state Republican Party chairman, pleaded
guilty to lying to federal agents conducting bribery investigations
in 2018. Hayes had used the party as a conduit of $250,000 to state
Insurance Commissioner Nike Causey's re-election campaign at the
request of insurance magnate Greg Lindberg.
(SFC, 10/3/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 2, Walmart Inc became
one of the last remaining major US retailers to suspend the sale of
over-the-counter heartburn medication containing ranitidine after
the US health agency flagged the presence of a probable
cancer-causing impurity.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, Afghan Taliban
officials arrived in Islamabad to discuss the possibility of
reviving talks for a political settlement in Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, The Museum of the
Holocaust in Argentina’s capital took custody of the largest
collection of Nazi artifacts discovered in the country’s history.
(AP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, Britain proposed
creating an all-island regulatory zone in Ireland to cover all goods
and a commitment to avoid border checks or physical infrastructure
in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, In Hong Kong
hundreds joined spontaneous rallies to protest the shooting of a
teenage student by a police officer who had come under attack by
pro-democracy activists the day before.
(The Telegraph, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, India announced an
ambitious campaign at eliminating single-use plastics within three
years, but the environment ministry said the government would not
impose a blanket nationwide ban.
(SFC, 10/3/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 2, President Hassan
Rouhani said that Iran supports a plan by European countries to
bolster a nuclear deal that Tehran reached with the West in 2015 and
from which the United States withdrew last year. Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran will continue reducing its
commitments under its 2015 nuclear deal until it reaches the
"desired result".
(AP, 10/2/19)(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, In Iraq at least
seven people were killed and at least 115 wounded in renewed
nationwide clashes between demonstrators and security forces, the
largest display of public anger against PM Adel Abdul Mahdi's
year-old government.
(Reuters, 10/2/19)(The Telegraph, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, An Israeli court
ordered Malka Leifer, a former educator accused of sexually abusing
her students in Australia, released on house arrest while she fights
extradition proceedings.
(AP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, In Israel a
shootout in Majd al-Krum killed two brothers, Ahmed and Khalil
Manaa, and a third man Mohammed Sabea. Protests soon followed over
police negligence in Arab communities.
(http://tinyurl.com/y4735jgf)
2019 Oct 2, Kenya's central
bank said an anti-corruption drive has uncovered the equivalent of
tens of millions of dollars in unexplained wealth when it retired
old banknotes, adding much of the cash appeared to have been gained
in "the criminal area".
(Reuters, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, North Korea fired
what appeared to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile, just
days before Washington and Pyongyang were set to resume long-stalled
nuclear talks.
(AFP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 2, In South Korean Lee
Chun-jae (56) confessed to killing nine women between 1986 and 1991
in what is known as the infamous Hwaseong murders. He also confessed
to five additional murders unconnected to the Hwaseong series
following DNA evidence that linked him to four of the murder cases.
He is currently serving a life sentence for raping and killing his
sister-in-law in 1994.
(Insider, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 2, In northeastern
Syria hundreds of Kurds demonstrated in protest at their minority
community's "exclusion" from a United Nations-backed committee
tasked with drafting a new constitution for the war-devastated
country.
(AFP, 10/2/19)
2019 Oct 3, President Donald
Trump again invited foreign interference in a US presidential
election, calling on Ukraine and China to investigate Democratic
political rival Joe Biden - similar to a request that has already
triggered an impeachment inquiry in Congress.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, It was reported
that survivors and family of 58 people who were slain in Las Vegas
on Oct. 1, 2017, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US
history, have reached a settlement of at least $735 million with MGM
Resorts.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In New Jersey Frank
Gilliam Jr. (49), the mayor of Atlantic City, pleaded guilty to wire
fraud, admitting he defrauded a youth basketball club he had founded
out of $87,000.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In Oklahoma Naif
Abdulaziz Alfallaj (35) of Saudi Arabia was sentenced to more than
12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to not disclosing
he had attended an al-Qaida terrorist training camp in Afghanistan
before entering the US. He has lived in Oklahoma since 2012.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In South Carolina a
federal jury sentenced Brandon Council to death for killing two
employees during a 2017 bank robbery. The same jurors found Council
guilty last month of armed bank robbery resulting in death, among
other charges for killing the manager and a teller at CresCom Bank
in Conway in August 2017.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In Washington state
a man (80) opened fire the the lobby of a building for senior
residents in Vancouver, killing a man and wounding two women before
surrendering to police.
(SFC, 10/5/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 3, US scientists said
more than 45 million people across 14 Southern states are now in the
midst of what’s being called a “flash drought” that’s cracking farm
soil, drying up ponds and raising the risk of wildfires. The weekly
US Drought Monitor report showed extreme drought conditions in parts
of Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and the Florida
panhandle.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, Paleontologists
said fossils of the pterosaur, named Ferrodraco lentoni, were
unearthed in the Australian state of Queensland. The creature, which
lived about 96 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period,
boasted a 13-foot (4-meter) wingspan, a bony crest at the tip of its
upper and lower jaws and spike-shaped teeth perfect for a diet of
fish.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, Egypt’s government
announced a decrease in fuel prices for the first time in decades, a
cut that comes after a series of hikes in recent years amid an
ambitious program aimed at overhauling the country’s ailing economy.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In France an IT
assistant (45) at the police headquarters in central Paris went on a
knife rampage inside the building, killing three police officers and
an administrative worker before he was shot dead by an officer. The
man had converted to Islam 18 months earlier.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)(SFC, 10/5/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 3, Chancellor Angela
Merkel made a veiled attack on the far-right Alternative for Germany
(AfD) party on the 29th anniversary of German reunification, saying
economic grievances in the east were no excuse for racism.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, Iraqi security
forces imposed a round-the-clock curfew in Baghdad and fired live
rounds and tear gas to disperse anti-government protests that have
gripped the country since earlier this week, killing 21 people so
far. Internet coverage across the country was temporarily switched
off by the government.
(AP, 10/3/19)(ABC News, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, Israel swore in its
newly elected parliament for what could be a very short term after
the country’s second inconclusive election of the year left it with
no new government on the horizon.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, Arab citizens of
Israel observed a general strike and held protests over a wave of
deadly violence within the minority community.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, Italy lifted a
block on 2019 spending that was agreed by the previous government
with the European Commission, in a surprise move that will result in
a higher deficit this year but which means the budget gap will not
widen in 2020.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In Kazakhstan
American Nick Hague, Russian Alexey Ovchinin and Hazzaa al-Mansoori,
the first person from the United Arab Emirates to fly into space,
landed safely after a six-hour flight from the International Space
Station following an 8-day mission.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In Libya
surveillance cameras caught armed men shooting to death a young man
in one of the busiest streets in Tripoli, sparking anger and demands
the government declare a state of emergency. The killing of Rashid
al-Bakoush and the wounding of his brother in Tripoli's Serraj
district went viral on social media.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 3, Mauritius launched
the first phase of a $525 million light rail system, hoping to cut
traffic jams with the Indian Ocean island's biggest infrastructure
project.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, North Korea
confirmed it has carried out its first underwater-launched ballistic
missile test in three years, in an apparent bid to dial up pressure
on the United States ahead of a weekend resumption of their nuclear
diplomacy.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In northern Nigeria
gunmen kidnapped six schoolgirls and two staff members from a
boarding school near the village of Kakau Daji in Kaduna state.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, A Pakistani health
official said about 20,000 cases of dengue fever have been confirmed
in recent months along with 34 deaths from the disease.
(SFC, 10/4/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 3, Diogo Freitas do
Amaral (78), Portuguese conservative politician, died. He played a
leading role in cementing democracy after Portugal’s 1974 Carnation
Revolution and later became president of the UN General Assembly
(1995-1996).
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, President Vladimir
Putin said that Russia was helping China build an early warning
system to spot intercontinental ballistic missile launches,
something only Russia and the United States possess at the moment.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 3, Russian defence
lawyers said Alexander Gabyshev, a Siberian shaman who set off to
walk across Russia to drive out President Vladimir Putin, whom he
called a demon, has been found mentally unfit to stand trial.
(AFP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 3, The Scottish
government said that the imposition of US tariffs on various goods
including Scottish whisky indicated that the United Kingdom could
not offset the damage from Brexit by striking a trade deal with US
President Donald Trump.
(Reuters, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, A UN report said
deteriorating security across Afghanistan in the past four years led
to over 14,000 “grave violations” against children, including nearly
3,500 youngsters killed and over 9,000 injured.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, Pope Francis named
Giuseppe Pignatone, one of Italy’s leading anti-Mafia prosecutors,
as president of the Vatican’s criminal tribunal, just days after a
new scandal erupted over alleged financial wrongdoing in the heart
of the Holy See.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 3, In Yemen dozens of
separatists took to the streets of the southern town of Azzan in
Shabwa province to denounce President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. One
protester was killed and five were wounded when forces loyal to the
country’s internationally recognized government opened fire to
disperse the rally.
(AP, 10/3/19)
2019 Oct 4, US President Donald
Trump signed a proclamation suspending entry of immigrants who will
not be covered by health insurance within 30 days of entering the
United States or do not have the means to pay for their healthcare
costs themselves.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, US President Donald
Trump told reporters that he had officially allowed Polish entry
into a US visa waiver program.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, The Trump
administration said it will lift the annual blending mandate for
biofuels starting in 2020 and ensure more than 15 billion gallons of
ethanol is blended into the US fuel pool, a move to retain the
support of American farmers.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Microsoft said a
hacker group linked to Iran unleashed cyber-attacks on US
journalists, government officials and accounts associated with a US
presidential campaign.
(AFP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, It was reported
that Mercury Insurance is ending its two-decade battle with
California regulators over extra fees charged to customers by
agreeing to pay the state $41 million. Most of the money will go to
the state's general fund.
(SFC, 10/4/19, p.D2)
2019 Oct 4, California police
said they have arrested Nickey Stane (52) for sexual assault and
battery cases. He was caught after he allegedly used a recording
device to view someone in the bathroom without their knowledge.
Police used DNA evidence from two decades ago to connect Stane to a
murder and a series of sexual assaults dating back to 1999.
(Good Morning America, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, Diahann Carroll,
black actress and singer,died in Los Angeles. Carroll was the first
black woman to star in a non-servant role in a TV series. "Julia"
aired from 1968-1971. Carroll's films included "Carmen Jones"
(1954), "Goodbye Again" (1961), "Paris Blues" (1961), "Hurry
Sundown" (1967), "The Split" (1968) and "Claudine (1974).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diahann_Carroll)(SSFC, 10/6/19,
p.B10)
2019 Oct 4, In Illinois
Prisciliano Carranza (22) used his car as a weapon and deliberately
drove into a family of four and killing another man in Waukegan.
Carranza was soon arrest and held on a $5 million bond.
(ABC News, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 4, In Chicago a jury
convicted Corey Morgan, a man who prosecutors said plotted then
tried to cover up the 2015 slaying of a 9-year-old boy who was shot
after being lured into a Chicago alley with the promise of a juice
box. Prosecutors argued that the Nov. 2, 2015, "execution" of
Tyshawn Lee was carried out as revenge on a rival gang member. The
verdict came after a separate jury a day earlier convicted the
alleged triggerman, Dwright Boone-Doty, and after a third man, Kevin
Edwards, pleaded guilty last month in exchange for a 25-year prison
sentence.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Biologists at the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute said that samples taken
from the waters off the shore of Collier County found high
concentrations of the toxic algae where they also received reports
of dead fish and cases of respiratory irritation. The toxic red tide
was back after fading away earlier this year following a 15-month
bloom.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, In New Jersey Marty
Small, the Atlantic City Council president, became acting mayor, a
day after Frank Gilliam Jr., a fellow Democrat, admitted stealing
$87,000 from a youth basketball club he founded, and resigned.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, In Texas Joshua
Xavier Brown (27), a man who used to live next to Botham Jean and
who was a witness in Amber Guyger's murder trial, was shot to death
in Dallas. On Dec. 5 three men were charged with capital murder in
the killing of Brown.
(SFC, 10/7/19, p.A5)(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Oct 4, In Algeria tens of
thousands of protesters chanted slogans demanding the army quit
politics, a purge of the ruling elite, an end to corruption, and the
freeing of opposition leaders.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, It was reported
that British PM Boris Johnson has told a court he will request a
Brexit delay if he fails to strike a deal with the EU by October 19.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Britain's National
Theater said it has decided to end its partnership with energy group
Royal Dutch Shell as part of a broader "climate emergency"
initiative to reduce its carbon impact.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, In northern Burkina
Faso twenty people were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists
on a gold-mining site in Soum province.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 4, In Ecuador protests
over fuel subsidy cuts paralyzed transportation for a second day as
authorities held 275 people in jail for unrest triggered by
President Lenin Moreno's belt-tightening fiscal package.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Thousands of
Haitian protesters marched through Port-au-Prince to the UN
headquarters in one of the largest demonstrations in a weekslong
push to oust embattled President Jovenel Moise. The unrest came
after almost four weeks of protests in which 17 people have been
reported killed.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Hong Kong invoked
emergency powers for the first time in more than half a century to
ban face masks for protesters after months of unrest, prompting
demonstrators to occupy downtown streets.
(Bloomberg, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Iran claimed a
"victory" after one of its banks received $1.6 billion in
compensation from British authorities over "illegal" sanctions. In
June 2013, the UK Supreme Court quashed a treasury directive
imposing sanction on Bank Mellat over alleged links with Tehran's
controversial nuclear program.
(AFP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Iraq’s top Shiite
cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on both sides to
cease violence. Security forces again opened fire on protesters
gathered in central Baghdad. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said he’s
suspending participation in parliament activities until the
government introduces a program that serves Iraqi aspirations.
Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain advised their citizens to avoid traveling
to Iraq and those who are there to leave the country immediately. A
4th day of bloody violence hit Baghdad with 22 people killed.
(AP, 10/4/19)(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, In Mexico a
National Geographic journalist was shot in the leg in Chihuahua
state late today while interviewing an alleged drug dealer, who was
killed when four armed men stormed in on the interview.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, The Dutch
government said it would spend hundreds of millions of euros to
mitigate nitrogen emissions, in a move it hopes will pave the way
for thousands of building projects to be restarted.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Dutch health
authorities ordered a major recall of processed meats from grocery
stores after saying they had linked a spate of food poisonings over
the past two years to a likely single source. Experts had been
testing the DNA of listeria bacteria involved in cases that affected
20 people in all, killing three of them and causing one woman to
miscarry.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, In Pakistan the
Taliban met with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad for
the first time since President Donald Trump declared a seemingly
imminent peace deal to end Afghanistan's 18-year war 'dead' a month
ago.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, Palestinian
officials said the Palestinian Authority has agreed to accept
hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues collected by Israel
months after declining them in protest. The PA had refused to accept
the funds because Israel was withholding an amount equal to what the
Palestinians pay to the families of prisoners and those killed in
the conflict, including slain militants.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, Palestinian Alaa
Hamdan (28) was killed by Israeli gunfire during the weekly protest
along the Gaza-Israel frontier.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, In the Philippines
at least four gunmen abducted Allan Hyrons, an elderly British man,
and his Filipino wife, Wilma, in Zamboanga del Sur province.
(SFC, 10/5/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 4, Russia said that
Moscow's move to help Beijing build an early warning system to
detect missile attacks showed the two countries had a special
relationship.
(Reuters, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, In Rwanda unknown
assailants killed eight people late today in a northern area near
the Volcanoes National Park that is popular with tourists for its
mountain gorillas.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, Spanish police
arrested four drug traffickers who stopped to save their lives after
the officers were thrown overboard during a high speed boat chase
off the coast of Malaga. More than 80 bundles of hash had been
recovered from the sea.
(The Telegraph, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, In Sudan irrigation
ministers of three key Nile Basin countries met in Khartoum, seeking
to resolve differences over Ethiopia’s soon-to-be-finished Blue Nile
dam, which Cairo claims threatens its water supply. The meeting of
the ministers from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia was expected to last
two days.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, In northern Syria
the US-led coalition and Turkey conducted their third joint patrol,
part of a plan designed to defuse tensions between Ankara and the
Syrian Kurds.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, In southern
Thailand Judge Khanakorn Pianchana shot himself in court and was
hospitalized after delivering a not guilty verdict in the case of
five Muslim suspects charged with murder in the predominantly
Buddhist country's restive south.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, Turkey's state run
Anadolu Agency said Sirri Sureyya Onder, a former deputy of the
People's Democratic Party, or HDP, has been released from a high
security prison. The former pro-Kurdish party legislator and
film-maker had been jailed since December 2018.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 4, Ukraine's
Prosecutor General said that his office is reviewing several cases
related to the owner of a gas company where former Vice President
Joe Biden's son sat on the board, as part of a review of all the
criminal cases closed by his predecessors.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 4, A panel of experts
at the UN labor agency is calling on Venezuelan authorities to halt
violence, threats and other forms of “aggression” against workers
and employers who oppose President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
(AP, 10/4/19)
2019 Oct 5, President Donald
Trump called US Senator Mitt Romney a "pompous ass" after his sharp
critique of the president's push for other nations to investigate
former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic political rival.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, The United States
and Greece signed a revised defense cooperation pact, which
Americans officials described as critical to responding to new
security challenges in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, In New York City a
homeless man wielding a long metal pipe rampaged through the city
early today attacking other homeless people who were sleeping,
killing four and leaving a fifth in critical condition. Suspect
Randy Rodriguez Santos (24) was soon taken into custody.
(AP, 10/5/19)(SFC, 10/7/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 5, In Ohio Lyric
Lawson (6) was asleep in her Cleveland home when bullets struck the
house, hitting her in the head and killing her. A dark car was
spotted leaving the scene but no further description was available.
(ABC News, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 5, Australian
travel-blogging couple Jolie King and Mark Firkin, held in Iran on
spying charges, returned home after being freed. Hours later state
media in Tehran said Iranian student Reza Dehbashi, held in
Australia for 13 months on accusations of circumventing US sanctions
on military equipment, had also been released and returned home.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, Britain's foreign
minister urged the United States to reconsider its decision to let a
US diplomat's wife who was involved in a fatal car crash to use her
diplomatic immunity to leave Britain. Harry Dunn (19) died after a
road collision near RAF Croughton, an air force base in
Northamptonshire.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, In Cameroon Maurice
Kamto, the main rival of President Paul Biya, walked free from
prison after insurrection charges against him were dropped in what
the government said was a gesture of national reconciliation.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, Ecuadorean
indigenous and union organizations kept protests going and promised
no let-up in their push to overturn austerity measures by President
Lenin Moreno's government that have convulsed the nation for three
days.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, In Ethiopia
hundreds of thousands of Oromo people, the country's largest ethnic
group, celebrated in Addis Ababa at the start of an annual
thanksgiving festival which was marred by violence in 2016.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, Iraqi authorities
lifted a round-the-clock curfew in Baghdad meant to quell the
unrest, sparked by popular anger over lack of jobs and endemic
corruption in the oil-rich country. Security forces fired live
ammunition and tear gas at demonstrators on the fifth day of
anti-government protests, killing at least eight people and wounding
17. The violence brought to 72 the total number of people killed
over five days of protests. The semi-official Iraqi High Commission
for Human Rights, affiliated with the parliament, put the death toll
at 94.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, In Iraq masked
gunmen arrived in black cars wearing black clothes stormed the
offices of the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel in Abu Nawas
street late today, beat up some of the employees and smashed
equipment before they fled.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, North Korean and US
officials gathered for new nuclear talks in Stockholm after months
of deadlock and Pyongyang's defiant test of a sea-launched ballistic
missile this week.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, President Rodrigo
Duterte (74) of the Philippines, on a state visit to Russia,
revealed that he has myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune disease
that leads to skeletal muscle weakness. The disease has led to a
slew of medical problems, including making his eye droop.
(NY Times, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 5, Russian PM Dmitry
Medvedev said in an interview broadcast today that Russia will find
ways to help Cuba secure supplies of oil and petroleum products.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, Tens of thousands
of Scottish independence supporters marched in Edinburgh, as calls
grew for a fresh vote on Scotland breaking away from the United
Kingdom with Brexit scheduled for within weeks.
(AFP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, Spain's acting PM
Pedro Sanchez said he would seek to defend the country's
agricultural sector in the face of "unacceptable" proposed US
tariffs on European agricultural goods.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, In Sudan irrigation
ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan wrapped up a two-day
meeting in Khartoum without resolving differences over Ethiopia's
soon-to-be-finished Blue Nile dam. Egypt called for international
mediation to help reach a "fair and balanced" agreement.
(AP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 5, Turkey's president
threatened to launch a military operation into northeastern Syria,
where US troops are deployed and have been trying to defuse tension
between Washington's two allies — Ankara and the Syrian Kurds.
(AP, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 5, Pope Francis
installed new cardinals, putting his stamp on the future of the
Roman Catholic Church with men who share his vision for social
justice, the rights of immigrants and dialogue with Islam.
(Reuters, 10/5/19)
2019 Oct 6, President Donald
Trump announced his decision to pull back US troops from northern
Syria. The White House issued a late-night statement that it was
effectively abandoning the Kurds who did most of the fighting
alongside US forces to drive Islamic State extremists from northern
Syria.
(AP, 10/7/19)(AFP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 6, Warner Bros.'
R-rated comic-book movie "Joker" scored $93.5 million over the
weekend and stood as the biggest October launch of all time.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, In Kansas four
people were killed and five wounded early today when one or two
suspects opened fire inside the Tequila KC Bar in Kansas City.
Police were hunting for the shooters. One of the two suspects was
arrested this afternoon. The other remained at large.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 6, It was reported
that Nevada Officials are testing dead animals and monitoring
migratory elk and deer at the state line with Utah for signs of
chronic wasting disease, a highly contagious and terminal disorder
that causes symptoms such as lack of fear of humans, lethargy and
emaciation.
(AP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, In Austria man (25)
turned himself in to police after allegedly killing his
ex-girlfriend, her family and her new boyfriend in the Alpine resort
town of Kitzbuehel.
(AP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, In Bangladesh Abrar
Fahad (21) was killed at the dormitory of the Bangladesh University
of Engineering and Technology (BUET), where he was a second-year
student. He had written a Facebook post criticizing a government
water deal with India.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 6, British rock music
drummer Ginger Baker (b.1939), a co-founder of the 1960's supergroup
Cream with bass player Jack Bruce and guitarist Eric Clapton, died.
Cream was founded in 1966 and disbanded in 1968.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, Chinese soldiers
issued a warning to Hong Kong protesters who shone lasers at their
barracks in the city, in the first direct interaction with mainland
military forces in four months of anti-government demonstrations.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, Hong Kong police
fired tear gas as protesters defied an emergency law and marched
wearing masks through the Chinese-controlled city.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, Iran's
semi-official Tasnim news reported that Iran is planning to take
legal action against the US for numerous alleged cyber attacks and
threats on its networks.
(Bloomberg, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, The Iraqi
government announced a series of reforms early today after an
"extraordinary" session overnight in response to sweeping
anti-government rallies that have left nearly 100 dead in less than
a week. At least 18 people were killed in clashes between
anti-government protesters and police in Baghdad overnight. Army
soldiers fired in the direction of about 300 anti-government
protesters who gathered in Sadr City suburb of Baghdad on the sixth
day of unrest.
(AFP, 10/6/19)(Reuters, 10/6/19)(AP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, Israeli Foreign
Minister Israel Katz said he was seeking "non-aggression" agreements
with Gulf Arab nations that do not formally recognize the country as
a prelude to possible future peace deals.
(AFP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, Teachers in Jordan
ended their longest strike ever and are opening the school year four
weeks late. A salary raise between 35-75% was secured depending on
teacher ranks.
(AP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, Kosovo held
national elections. The main issues for the country's 1.9 million
eligible voters included tackling corruption and normalizing
relations with Serbia which would pave the way for UN membership.
Vetevendosje (Albanian for “self-determination”) won about 26% of
the vote, and another opposition party, the Democratic League of
Kosovo (LDK), garnered close to 25%. This was the first election
since Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in 2008 that didn’t give
plurality support to the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which
received only 21%, largely because of the party’s poor record on
fighting corruption.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)(Bloomberg, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 6, Mauritius PM
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth dissolved parliament and said the Indian
Ocean island would hold a general election on November 7.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, North Korea said
that it won't meet with the United States for more "sickening
negotiations" unless it abandons its "hostile policy" against the
North, as the two countries offered different takes on their weekend
nuclear talks in Sweden.
(AP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, Portugal began
voting in an election that PM Antonio Costa's Socialists are
expected to win without an outright majority, leaving the fate of
potential allies as the main question. The center-left Socialist
Party collected the most votes.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)(SFC, 10/7/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 6, The Saudi
Commission for Tourism & National Heritage posted the new
requirements on Twitter, confirming an Oct. 4 report by the Saudi
daily Okaz. New guidelines allowed women to rent hotel rooms without
a male guardian's presence, and foreign men and women to share a
room without proof of marriage.
(AP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 6, Tunisians voted for
a new parliament but quiet polling stations gave an indication of
the economic disillusionment that has emerged since the 2011
revolution and brought political newcomers to challenge established
parties. Two polls estimated that Islamist party Ennahdha would win
about 40 of the 217 seats in the Assembly of People's
Representatives.
(Reuters, 10/6/19)(SFC, 10/7/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 6, In Ukraine about
10,000 people including former president Petro Poroshenko gathered
in central Kiev to protest a plan for broader autonomy for
separatist territories ahead of a high-stakes summit with Russian
leader Vladimir Putin.
(AFP, 10/6/19)
2019 Oct 7, President Donald
Trump threatened to destroy the economy of Turkey if it does not
watch over captured Islamic State fighters and their families
detained in Syria.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, US and Chinese
deputy trade negotiators launched a new round of talks aimed at
resolving the two nations' 15-month trade war, with neither side
showing any signs of giving ground.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, The Trump
administration placed eight Chinese technology giants on a US
blacklist, accusing them of being implicated in human rights
violations against Muslim minorities in the country’s far-western
region of Xinjiang.
(Bloomberg, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, The US and Japan
signed a limited trade deal that opens markets for American farmers
and brings Tokyo a degree of assurance that President Donald Trump
won’t impose new tariffs on auto imports for now.
(Bloomberg, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, US District Court
Judge Victor Marrero ordered President Donald Trump to turn over
eight years of his tax returns to New York state prosecutors.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, US House Democrats
issued subpoenas to the Pentagon and the White House budget office
as part of their impeachment inquiry, requesting documents related
to US President Donald Trump's decision to withhold military
assistance for Ukraine.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, The Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) said that Samuel Little (79), who has
confessed to murdering more than 90 women, is the most prolific
serial killer in US history. Little has been serving a triple life
sentence since 2014 for three murders, and has since been accused
and indicted with murdering multiple other women.
(Insider, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 7, Oprah Winfrey
announced she would give $13 million to her scholarship program at
Morehouse College -- a private, historically black men's college in
Atlanta, Georgia.
(Good Morning America, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 7, In Massachusetts
two adults and three children were found dead with gunshot wounds in
home in an Abington condominium complex.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, William Hoehn,
whose life sentence was overturned in the death of a North Dakota
woman whose baby was cut from her womb, was re-sentenced to 20 years
in prison for his role in the 2017 attack on Savanna Greywind, whose
baby survived.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, General Motors said
it is temporarily laying off another 415 workers in Mexico as a
strike by 48,000 US hourly workers enters its fourth week.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Americans William
Kaelin at the U.S. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical
School, Gregg Semenza of Johns Hopkins University and Peter
Ratcliffe of Oxford University won the 2019 Nobel Medicine Prize for
discovering a molecular switch that regulates how cells adapt to
fluctuating oxygen levels, opening up new approaches to treating
heart failure, anemia and cancer.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, The Carnegie
Institute for Science announced that 20 new moons have been found
around Saturn, giving the ringed planet a total of 82. This beat
Jupiter with its 79 moons.
(SFC, 10/9/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 7, Local authorities
said heavy rains over recent days in the Bolivian Amazon have helped
put out forest fires that have raged for two months across the
land-locked South American nation, charring more than 4 million
hectares of land.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Traffic in parts of
central London ground to halt as hundreds of climate protesters
began disruption set to last for two weeks in the UK capital.
(Bloomberg, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, In the Czech
Republic the Prague city council voted to cancel a partnership
agreement with Beijing after it failed to remove an article
requiring it commit to the "one China" principle, which refers to
China’s stance that Taiwan and it both belong to one China.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, In Ecuador
indigenous protesters paralyzed roads around the country and blocked
a main highway into the capital in a fifth day of action against
government austerity measures that have sparked the worst unrest in
years, resulting in 477 arrests.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel defended climate protection measures condemned by
critics as unambitious, while activists blocked traffic in Berlin to
demand drastic action to cut carbon emissions responsible for global
warming.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Greek authorities
began expanding a program to transfer migrants and refugees from
overcrowded camps on the islands to the mainland amid concern that
the number of arrivals from nearby Turkey could continue to rise.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, In Haiti stones
flew and barricades burned in Port-au-Prince as the country entered
its fourth week of protests that have paralyzed the economy.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Hong Kong police
staged a show of force in a district hit by some of the most violent
clashes with protesters in recent months, but instead of being
confronted by demonstrators were jeered by onlookers.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Iran's foreign
minister said the United States is an "irrelevant occupier" in Syria
and that the conflict-torn country's territorial integrity should be
respected.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Iran said it plans
to start using a new array of advanced centrifuges for enriching
uranium, in a move likely to intensify pressure on Europe to save
Tehran's collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, The Iraqi military
acknowledged for the first time that some of its troops used
“excessive force” against unarmed protesters as the death toll from
six days of anti-government protests topped 100. This came after at
least 15 people were killed overnight in Sadr City.
(The Telegraph, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, An Italian court
found the parents of former prime minister Matteo Renzi guilty of
issuing false invoices, and handed them suspended prison terms of
one year and nine months.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Italy's coastguard
said at least 13 people died when an overloaded migrant boat
capsized near the island of Lampedusa as they were about to be
rescued. The smugglers' boat overturned as a patrol boat was
preparing to take migrants on board. 13 men and women had survived
the sinking of a migrant boat off the island of Lampedusa. On Oct.
17 the bodies of a child and six other people were recovered from
the sea bottom.
(AP, 10/7/19)(Reuters, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 7, In Mozambique
Anastacio Matavel, a key local election observer, was shot dead this
morning, a week before the presidential vote, after leaving a
training for national election observers in southern Gaza province.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 7, Swiss-based
Novartis said its anti-blindness medicine Beovu has become the
latest eye drug to win US Food and Drug Administration approval,
giving the drugmaker a boost in the increasingly competitive market
for eye problems among an aging population.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, Syria's Kurds
accused the US of turning its back on its allies and risking gains
made in the fight against the Islamic State group as American troops
began pulling back from positions in northeastern Syria ahead of an
expected Turkish assault.
(AP, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 7, In Yemen an
explosive device went off in the town of Wadi Nakhla near the
flashpoint port city of Hodeida, killing at least four children.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 7, Striking Zimbabwean
doctors defied a government ultimatum to return to work, after
rejecting a 60% pay rise offer they say is not enough to keep up
with soaring prices of basic goods.
(Reuters, 10/7/19)
2019 Oct 8, US House
Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff blasted President Trump
and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for blocking Gordon Sondland, US
ambassador to the European Union and a central player in the Ukraine
controversy, from testifying today in the ongoing impeachment
inquiry into the president. House Democrats said they plan to issue
a subpoena for Sondland.
(AP, 10/8/19)(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Senator Lindsey
Graham, the Republican chairman of the US Senate Judiciary
Committee, opened the door to a Senate investigation into unproven
allegations regarding Ukraine raised by President Donald Trump's
personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, inviting the attorney to testify.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, The US federal
government said it will remove the Kirtland's warbler from its list
of protected species, finding the small, yellow-bellied songbird had
recovered more than half a century after being designated as
endangered. The latest census put them at about 2,300 pairs.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Montgomery,
Alabama, elected Judge Steven Reed as its first African American
mayor.
(SFC, 10/9/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 8, Paul Petersen, a
property tax assessor in Maricopa County, Arizona, was arrested for
allegedly running a human smuggling scheme which brought dozens of
pregnant women from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean to the
US, but refused to resign from his job. On Oct. 28 he was suspended
without pay for 120 days by the Maricopa County Board of
Supervisors.
(The Independent, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 8, California's Gov.
Gavin Newsom signed AB1482, the first statewide law to protect
renters. This imposed a state-wide cap on rent increases and
required landlords to provide a "just cause" when evicting tenants.
(SFC, 10/9/19, p.A1)
2019 Oct 8, The Atlanta-based
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said US infections
from three sexually transmitted diseases have risen for a fifth
consecutive year. Chlamydia rose 3% from 2017, gonorrhea rose 5% and
syphilis rose 15%.
(SFC, 10/9/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 8, Boston's sheriff
announced the ending his office's longtime relationship with US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying his jails will stop
housing hundreds of federal detainees in order to house more female
inmates.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 8, It was reported
that three Albanian 16-year-old girls have developed an app to help
victims of domestic violence access support, hoping to tackle a huge
problem in Albania, where one in two women suffered abuse last year.
The app, known as GjejZâ, (Find your Voice), will launch on Oct. 11
after winning an international technology competition for girls in
the US.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Britain sought to
ease concerns about leaving the European Union without a deal,
publishing a raft of contingency plans which included a new advice
service to help suppliers of medical goods.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, London police said
152 arrests were made today, taking the total number over the two
days to 471 as some protesters lay down in the road outside
parliament whilst others dressed in colorful costumes or brought
tree saplings to give to lawmakers.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Britain's medicines
watchdog said GlaxoSmithKline Plc is recalling its heartburn
medicine Zantac as a "precautionary measure" due to a probable
cancer-causing impurity in the drug.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, A prosecutor told a
London court that three former Barclays executives lied to the
market by hiding 322 million pounds ($395 million) in extra fees
that the bank paid Qatar in return for vital funding during the 2008
global credit crisis.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Canadian James
Peebles (84) and Swiss scientists Michel Mayor (77) and Didier
Queloz (53) won the physics prize for their work in understanding
how the universe has evolved from the Big Bang and the blockbuster
discovery of a planet outside our solar system.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, China strongly
urged the US to remove sanctions on Chinese firms and said it will
take any necessary measures to firmly protect its own interests. The
commerce ministry also said it strongly urges the US to stop making
irresponsible remarks on the Xinjiang issue and to stop interfering
in China's internal affairs.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Cuba's Pres. Miguel
Diaz-Canel signed a decree allowing prosecutors to approve
eavesdropping and surveillance of any form of communication without
consulting a judge. The new rules were made public in November.
(SSFC, 11/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 8, On the island
nation of Cyprus a new research center to monitor greenhouse gas
emissions in the east Mediterranean and the Middle East officially
launched as part of efforts to tackle climate change across the
vulnerable region. The 30 million-euro ($33 million) project is
equally funded by the European Union and Cyprus.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Ecuador's
government said it would be open to mediation via the United Nations
or the Catholic Church, after almost a week of anti-austerity
protests that have rocked the nation and brought hundreds of
arrests. President Lenin Moreno ordered a curfew around government
buildings after six days of violent anti-austerity protests that
have pushed his administration out of the capital Quito and brought
hundreds of arrests.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)(The Telegraph, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 8, Egypt, Cyprus, and
Greece condemned an "unlawful and unacceptable" bid by Turkey to
drill inside waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Egyptian
authorities have released over 200 people who were among hundreds
more arrested in a crackdown following small but rare
anti-government protests last month. t 17 other suspects were
released separately the previous evening.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Italy's parliament
voted to cut the number of elected lawmakers by more than a third,
in a reform championed by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement
which could have a profound impact on the political landscape.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Japan-based Nissan
Motor Co named Senior Vice President Makoto Uchida, the head of its
Chinese business, as its next CEO. The executive is known for close
ties to top shareholder Renault and for a frank, straight-talking
manner that has marked him as an outsider.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari presented a record 10.33 trillion-naira ($33.8
billion) budget for 2020 to lawmakers as he aims to spur growth in
Africa's largest economy at the start of his second term in office.
(Reuters, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 8, Romania's President
Klaus Iohannis gave the green light for the creation of the
country's first national Holocaust museum in Bucharest, more than
seven decades after the end of World War Two.
(AP, 10/8/19)
2019 Oct 9, President Donald
Trump lashed out over sharp bipartisan criticism of his decision to
pull back US troops from northeastern Syria, saying he is focused on
the "BIG PICTURE" that does not include American involvement in
"stupid endless wars" in the Middle East.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, The White House
budget office said it will not comply with a congressional subpoena
for documents relating to Ukraine issued as part of the impeachment
probe launched by Democratic lawmakers.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, A US federal
indictment was unsealed saying a defense Intelligence Agency
employee, identified as Henry Kyle Frese (30), has been arrested and
charged with two counts of transmitting national defense information
to the media.
(Business Insider, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 9, The US Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) issued its first set official ruling and its
first guidance of any kind since 1914 on cryptocurrency taxes.
(SFC, 10/10/19, p.D1)
2019 Oct 9, Alaska police said
Brian Steven Smith (48) has been arrested in Anchorage after videos
were found on a digital memory card depicting a woman being
assaulted and killed.
(SFC, 10/10/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 9, It was reported
that the assessor of Arizona's Maricopa county has been indicted in
an adoption fraud case, accused of arranging for dozens of pregnant
women from the Marshall Islands to come to the US to give their
children up for adoption. Utah also has charged Maricopa County
Assessor Paul Petersen with 11 felony counts, including human
smuggling, sale of a child and communications fraud.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Sheldon Breiner
(b.1936), American geophysicist, died at his home in Portola Valley,
Ca. Breiner co-founded the Peninsula Open Space Trust in 1977 to
help conserve and protect ecologically valuable land.
(SFC, 11/18/19, p.C4)
2019 Oct 9, Two foreign-born
Florida businessmen associated with US President Donald Trump's
personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani were arrested on suspicion of
conspiring to funnel foreign money to US political candidates. Lev
Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested in connection with a New York
case involving campaign finance laws. Andrey Kukushkin (46) of San
Francisco and David Correia were also indicted.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)(SFC, 10/12/19, p.A9)
2019 Oct 9, A long-awaited
report, written in 2016, from Chicago's inspector general was
finally released, detailing the actions of 16 police officers
involved in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The
report repeatedly accuses the officers of violating policies and
giving false statements and misleading characterizations "to
exaggerate the threat McDonald posed".
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Indianapolis man
Darrin Banks (28) was sentenced to 53 years in prison for the fatal
shooting of a 1-year-old girl and the wounding of her 19-year-old
aunt. Banks and Brian Palmer (30) were charged with murder in the
March 29, 2018, shooting that killed Malaysia Robson and wounded her
aunt.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 9, Southwest Airlines
Co and Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas said they have grounded a total of
13 Boeing Co 737 NG airplanes, after US regulators ordered urgent
inspections.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, AT&T Inc said
it would sell its wireless and wireline operations in Puerto Rico
and US Virgin Islands to Liberty Latin America Ltd for $1.95
billion, as the second-largest US wireless carrier cuts its huge
debt pile.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Biotechnology
start-up Ginkgo Bioworks said that it had raised a $350 million fund
to more easily invest in spinout ventures that use its
bio-engineering technology in a variety of industries that are just
starting to use cutting edge biology.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, The 2019 Nobel
Prize in Chemistry was awarded to American John B. Goodenough, M.
Stanley Whittingham of Britain and Akira Yoshino of Japan for the
development of lithium-ion batteries.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, In Bangladesh
hundreds of students protested across the country calling for
political groups to be banned from campuses days after student Abrar
Fahad (21) was killed, allegedly by activists from PM Sheikh
Hasina's ruling party.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, British Airways
announced the launch of a new flight from London's Gatwick Airport
to the Turkish resort of Antalya, once one of Thomas Cook's most
popular routes, as airlines jostle to fill the void left by its
collapse.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, The Cayman Islands
said it would make public information on the beneficial ownership of
companies, prompting anti-corruption campaigners to call on other
offshore jurisdictions to follow suit as part of a global crackdown
on money-laundering.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Chinese President
Xi Jinping said he was watching the situation in Kashmir and would
support Pakistan in issues related to its core interests.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Indigenous-led
protesters began a national strike in Ecuador after President Lenin
Moreno refused to step down or overturn anti-austerity measures that
have triggered the worst unrest in a decade. At least one indigenous
protester was killed in unrest in Quito amid protests that were
expected to continue against the austerity measures.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 9, Egypt denounced
Ethiopia for moving forward with building and operating a hydropower
dam on the Nile, which Cairo worries will threaten already scarce
water supplies.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, The German cabinet
approved climate protection measures designed to drastically cut
greenhouse gas emissions, keeping on track plans by Chancellor
Angela Merkel to pass the landmark package this year.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, In eastern Germany
two people were killed in shooting attacks on a synagogue and a
kebab bistro in the city of Halle on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of
the calendar in Judaism. One suspect was arrested, but two others
fled in a hijacked a car.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran could have taken the step to
develop nuclear weapons but will not because their use is "haram",
or forbidden in Islam.
(AFP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Italy reacted
angrily to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that it
should relax conditions for prisoners serving life sentences,
including mafia gangsters and terrorists.
(The Telegraph, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Mexican businessmen
and church leaders said they are being hit by a wave of extortion
demands by criminal gangs in the north-central state of Guanajuato.
(SFC, 10/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 9, Russia upped the
pressure on opposition leader Alexei Navalny, declaring his
Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) a "foreign agent" that will be
subject to increased state monitoring.
(The Telegraph, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Slovenia's central
bank said it will impose restrictions on consumer loans to curb
"excessive" credit growth and protect borrowers from becoming
overindebted.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, In South Korea tens
of thousands of protesters staged demonstrations, including in
downtown Seoul, over a growing corruption scandal involving a
newly-appointed justice minister Cho Kuk. Demonstrators saw the
investigation into Cho as politically motivated and called on the
Moon administration to follow through with promised reforms. Cho's
family faced probes into irregular investments and his children's'
favorable treatment in university admission.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 9, A Thailand minister
said foreigners in the "risky" over-50 age group will have to
present proof of health insurance when applying for Thai long-term
non-immigrant visas, so the government doesn't have to pick up their
medical bills.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, In Trinidad and
Tobago dozens of people were found chained and in cages in a
rehabilitation center for ex-prisoners run by the Transformed Life
Ministry religious organization in Arouca, 19 km east of the capital
Port of Spain.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Turkey launched a
military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria
with air strikes hitting the border town of Ras al Ain. Turkey's
state-run news agency said Turkish artillery units are shelling
suspected Syrian Kurdish forces targets across the border in the
Syrian town of Tal Abyad.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Tunisia freed
presidential candidate Nabil Karoui. This came shortly before the
electoral body announced that his secular Heart of Tunisia party had
won 38 seats in the Oct. 6 parliamenatry elections, finishing 2nd to
Islamist party Ennahda's 52 seats.
(SFC, 10/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 9, A much-anticipated
pullback of heavy weaponry in eastern Ukraine was derailed after
both sides traded accusations of breaking the cease-fire.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, UNICEF, the UN
children's agency, said more than 4,000 people have died in Congo
this year in the world's largest measles outbreak. More than 200,000
measles cases have been reported across Congo since January.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, A UN report
released today criticized American airstrikes earlier this year
against alleged drug facilities in Afghanistan, saying they were
unlawful and caused significant civilian casualties. The raids
killed at least 30 civilians and may have left dozens more dead.
(AP, 10/9/19)(The Telegraph, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, A United Nations
Development Program report said "If fighting continues through 2022,
Yemen will rank the poorest country in the world, with 79 percent of
the population living under the poverty line and 65 percent
classified as extremely poor".
(AFP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 9, A new study by the
World Health Organization said more than one-third of women in
Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar and Nigeria had been abused during child
birth in health centers.
(SFC, 10/10/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 9, Save the Children
warned of a spike in cholera cases in northern Yemen affecting
hundreds of thousands of children and their families as a result of
an increase in fuel shortages.
(AP, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 9, Zimbabwe's public
sector workers demanded to be paid US dollar-indexed salaries to
cushion them against soaring inflation, and will decide this week
whether to strike.
(Reuters, 10/9/19)
2019 Oct 10, President Trump
turned on his erstwhile favorite news channel, Fox News, in a pair
of tweets touched off by a new Fox News poll that found a majority
of Americans want to see him impeached and removed from office.
(Yahoo News, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, US President
Donald Trump confirmed that al Qaeda's top bomb-maker, Ibrahim
Hassan al-Asiri, believed to be the mastermind behind the failed
bombing of a US-bound airliner in 2009, has been killed. A White
House statement said that that al-Asiri was killed in 2017 in a
United States counter-terrorism operation in Yemen.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, The US Treasury
sanctioned three members of the Gupta family, friends of former
South African President Jacob Zuma who are accused of
influence-peddling, and their business associate for their
involvement in alleged corruption.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, A US Drought
Monitor report said nearly 56 million US residents are now living in
drought conditions in parts of 16 Southern states.
(SFC, 10/11/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 10, The US National
Audubon Society said two-thirds of bird species in North America,
already disappearing at an alarming rate, face extinction unless
immediate action is taken to slow the rate of climate change.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 10, Austrian writer
Peter Handke (76) won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Literature and Polish
author Olga Tokarczuk (57) was named as the 2018 winner after a
sexual assault scandal led to last year's award being postponed.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Bosnia's two rival
autonomous regions adopted a joint four-year program of
socio-economic reforms in a rare display of unity to boost growth
and competitiveness in line with EU recommendations.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, In eastern Congo
DRC a cargo plane carrying presidential staff crashed, and all eight
passengers and crew were feared dead.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 10, The family of Alaa
Abdel-Fattah, a leading Egyptian pro-democracy activist, said that
he was beaten, threatened and stripped to his underwear while in
custody. Abdel-Fattah was arrested amid a recent clampdown following
anti-government protests.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Egyptian security
forces shot and killed a militant in the Mediterranean coastal city
of el-Arish, before he could detonate his explosive-laden belt.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 10, The European Union
says that the Turkish offensive in Kurdish-held areas of Syria is
setting back any hope for progress toward ending the conflict.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, The Paris-based
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said France has detected
a low-pathogenic H5 bird flu virus on a duck farm in the center of
the country.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, In western
Indonesia a knife-wielding man, suspected of belonging to a radical
Islamic greoup, wounded security minister Wiranto and another
person.
(SFC, 10/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 10, Iraqi intelligence
officials said the US will hand over nearly 50 Islamic State
members, who were transferred from Syria in recent days.
(SFC, 10/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 10, Japan-based Nissan
said it will begin making the next-generation Juke vehicle at
Britain’s biggest car plant on Oct. 14, just over two weeks before a
possible no-deal Brexit which the industry has warned could bring
production to a halt. Nissan warned that a no-deal Brexit tariffs of
10% on vehicles would be unsustainable for Nissan in Europe, where
it runs Britain's biggest car factory.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, North Korea
threatened again to resume nuclear and long-range missile tests,
accusing the US of having instigated some members of the UN Security
Council to condemn its recent weapons tests.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Romanian PM
Viorica Dancila's center-left government collapsed after losing a
no-confidence vote in parliament, raising the prospect of prolonged
political uncertainty due to a fragmented opposition.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Rwanda's Pres.
Paul Kagame pardoned and ordered the release of 52 young women who
were jailed for having or assisting with abortions. The owmen were
to be released on Oct. 12.
(SFC, 10/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 10, Sudan appointed a
woman as the head of its judiciary for the first time in the history
of the Arab Muslim country. Taj-Elsir Ali, a former prosecutor and
lawyer, was named as the public prosecutor.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Turkey pressed its
assault against US-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria for a
second day, pounding the region with airstrikes and an artillery
bombardment that raised columns of black smoke in a border town and
sent panicked civilians scrambling to get out.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Turkey's president
Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to send "millions" of Syrian
refugees to Europe in response to criticism of his military
offensive into Kurdish-controlled northern Syria.
(The Telegraph, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Turkish police
launched criminal investigations of Kurdish lawmakers and detained
dozens of people for using social media to question the military's
cross border incursion into Syria, in a crackdown against those who
criticized the assault.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, A Turkish
provincial governor's office said two children and their mother have
been killed by mortar fire from Syria into Turkey. This followed a
separate announcement from neighboring Sanliurfa province, where a
9-month-old boy, a girl (11) and an adult male were killed in mortar
attacks. The Turkish Defense ministry tweeted that it hit targets in
Syria in retaliation.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Uganda announced
plans for a bill that would impose the death penalty on homosexuals,
saying the legislation would curb a rise in unnatural sex in the
east African nation.
(Reuters, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened to call off a summit with
Russian leader Vladimir Putin if all sides do not agree on plans to
pull out troops from the east.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, Ukraine's
president insisted that he faced "no blackmail" from President
Donald Trump in their phone call that led to an impeachment inquiry,
distancing himself from the US political drama and trying to claw
back his own credibility.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, The UN refugee
agency says tens of thousands of civilians in Syria are on the move
to escape the fighting and seek safety amid a Turkish offensive into
the area. The Kurdish Hawar news agency said an attack on the road
leading to the border town of Tal Abyad killed three people and
wounded several others.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 10, A UN photo showed
eight North Korean vessels, several carrying illicit coal shipments,
anchored in Chinese waters off the port of Ningbo-Zhoushan. The
photo was made public on April 17, 2020.
(Reuters, 4/18/20)
2019 Oct 10, The Vatican said
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of New York Bishop John
Jenik (75), who has been accused of abusing a teenage boy in the
1980s.
(SFC, 10/11/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 11, Donald Trump named
State Department number two John Sullivan to be the US ambassador to
Russia, making the veteran Republican a key player in the US
president's complicated relationship with Moscow.
(AFP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, The US and Chinese
reached a tentative agreement in principle regarding trade. The
Trump administration said it is suspending added tariffs on $250
billion in chinese imports and China agreed to buy $40 to $50
billion in US farm products.
(SFC, 10/12/19, p.D1)
2019 Oct 11, The Pentagon
announced it was bolstering US forces in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh
asked for reinforcements following the September 14
drone-and-missile attack on Saudi oil plants which Washington blames
on Iran.
(AFP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Former US
Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told House impeachment
investigators that Pres. Trump had pressured the State Department to
oust her from her post and get her out of the country.
(SFC, 10/12/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 11, A US federal
judges in California and New York halted Pres. Trump's plans to deny
legal status and work permist to noncitizens who accept public
benefits, like foodstamps and Medicaid.
(SFC, 10/12/19, p.A7)
2019 Oct 11, California Gov.
Gavin Newsom signed AB2, a bill requiring that public universities
provide abortion pills on campus.
(SFC, 10/12/19, p.C1)
2019 Oct 11, A divided federal
appeals court said Ohio cannot enforce a 2017 law banning abortions
when medical tests show that a fetus has Down syndrome.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 11, In Boston Peter
Jan Sartorio (53), the owner of a California frozen foods company,
was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and pay a
$9,500 fine for paying $15,000 to rig his daughter's college
entrance exam in a widespread admissions scandal.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Indiana state
trooper Peter R. Stephan (27) was killed in a car crash in
Tippecanoe County while he was headed to help another trooper.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 11, Uber said it would
buy a majority stake in online grocery provider Cornershop as the
ride-hailing giant moves to expand its fast-growing delivery service
into the grocery store market. Santiago-based Cornershop operates in
Mexico, Chile, Canada and Peru, but Chief Executive Oskar
Hjertonsson said the deal would allow it to deliver groceries "in
many more countries around the world".
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, NASA announced the
death of the world's first spacewalker, Russian cosmonaut Alexei
Leonov (85). His 12-minute spacewalk on March 18, 1965, preceded the
first US spacewalk by Ed White by less than three months.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Int'l. space
station astronauts ventured out on their second spacewalk this week
to swap more batteries.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, In northern
Burkina Faso armed men stormed the grand mosque in the vilage of
Salmossi, killing at least 16 people and wounding two others.
(SFC, 10/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 11, Chinese President
Xi Jinping arrived in India for meetings with PM Narendra Modi at a
time of tensions over Beijing's support for Pakistan in opposing
India's downgrading of Kashmir's semi-autonomy and continuing
restrictions on the disputed region.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Ethiopian PM Abiy
Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his peacemaking efforts
which ended two decades of hostility with longtime enemy Eritrea.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, EU governments
threatened sanctions against Turkey over its offensive in Syria,
angrily rejecting President Tayyip Erdogan's warning that he would
"open the gates" and send 3.6 million refugees to Europe if they did
not back him.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, In Hong Kong
hundreds of mask-wearing pro-democracy protesters marched through
the central business district, occupying a main thoroughfare and
disrupting traffic as the Chinese-ruled city braced for another
weekend of unrest.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Iran claimed that
its oil tanker Sabiti was been struck with two missiles off the
coast of Saudi Arabia, however the incident was shrouded in mystery.
There was no independent evidence to suggest the vessel had been
hit.
(The Telegraph, 10/11/19)(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 11, Israel said it has
asked Russia to show leniency to an Israeli tourist arrested on drug
charges and has rejected an apparent swap involving a detained
Russian national subject to extradition to the US. Naama Issachar
(26) was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison today after
being arrested at Moscow's international airport in April.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, In Nigeria global
ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc launched a pilot test of a
boat service in Lagos to attract commuters seeking to avoid the
megacity's notoriously congested roads.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Russian President
Vladimir Putin expressed concern over Ankara’s military campaign
into northeast Syria, compounding a volatile week marked by an
international backlash to the Turkish incursion.
(Bloomberg, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, The World Health
Organization said it has launched a vaccination campaign in two
southeastern provinces in Sudan to contain a cholera outbreak
following flash floods that swept the country in late August.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Thailand army
chief General Apirat Kongsompong strongly criticized opposition
politicians and academics. He accused them of colluding to brainwash
and mobilize young people and of having "communist" ideas to
overthrow the monarchy.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 11, Turkey's state-run
news agency said two more civilians have been killed in a mortar
attack on a Turkish border town while another person died of wounds
from a similar attack a day earlier. Turkey's interior minister said
that 121 people have been detained for social media posts critical
of its military offensive into Kurdish-held northeastern Syria.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Turkish forces
pushed deeper into northeastern Syria, the third day of Ankara's
cross-border offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters. At least six
civilians have been killed in Turkey and seven civilians in Syria
since Ankara this week launched the air and ground operation.
(AP, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, World Health
Organization (WHO) experts said measles is staging a devastating
comeback in epidemics across the world as the virus exploits
dangerous gaps in vaccination coverage.
(Reuters, 10/11/19)
2019 Oct 11, Today marked the
eighth annual International Day of the Girl, a UN observance that
focuses attention and resources on the fight for girls’ rights and
empowerment.
(https://unausa.org/event/international-day-of-the-girl/)
2019 Oct 11, A Zimbabwean court
ordered doctors on a 40-day strike over pay to return to work within
48 hours, after a ruling that their boycott was illegal.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, California Gov.
Gavin Newson signed AB44, outlawing the sale and manufacture of new
fur clothing and accessories effective Jan. 1, 2023. Newsome also
signed SB313, which prohibits the use of wild animals in a circus.
(SSFC, 10/13/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 12, In Southern
California fast-moving wildfires broke out overnight, leaving two
dead, destroying homes and forcing 100,000 residents to flee.
Authorities said three people have died at the scene of southern
state wildfires this week.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)(AP, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 12, In Chicago five
people were shot and four killed at an apartment building on the
city's Northwest Side. Krysztof Marek (66) with a history of issues
with his neighbors was in custody. The 5th victim died the next day.
(AP, 10/13/19)(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 12, Louisiana Governor
John Bel Edwards, a conservative Democrat, received 47% of votes,
but failed to secure outright victory in a primary election.
Edwards, seeking a second term, will face a Republican businessman
in a run-off vote on Nov. 16. Republican Eddie Rispone, making his
first run for political office, finished second with 27% of the
vote.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 12, In Louisiana a
large section of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction in New Orleans
collapsed. Three people were killed and more than 20 injured.
(SSFC, 10/13/19, p.A6)(SFC, 10/21/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 12, In NYC four men
were killed and three people wounded early today in a shooting at an
unlicensed gambling club in Brooklyn.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, In Oregon
antifascist activist Sean D Kealiher (23) was killed in the early
hours in an apparent hit-and-run outside Cider Riot, a cidery and
taproom popular with Portland's anarchist left that has been the
scene of conflict with rightwing groups.
(The Guardian, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 12, In Texas a police
officer shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old black
woman, inside a home where she had reportedly been playing video
games with her 8-year-old nephew. Police said the officer fired
through a window into the home while responding to a call to check
on the well-being of those inside.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 12, Climate
scientists, physicists, biologists, engineers and others from at
least 20 countries broke with the caution traditionally associated
with academia to side with peaceful protesters courting arrest from
Amsterdam to Melbourne. The declaration was coordinated by a group
of scientists who support Extinction Rebellion, a civil disobedience
campaign that formed in Britain a year ago and has since sparked
offshoots in dozens of countries.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 12, Chinese President
Xi Jinping arrived in Nepal on a state visit for talks with Prime
Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and both sides are expected to sign a deal
expanding a railway link between the Himalayan nation and Tibet.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, An Egyptian court
sentenced six people to death on terror-related charges for carrying
out a militant attack in January, 2016, outside a hotel near the
famed Giza Pyramids. The Giza criminal court also sentenced eight
defendants to life in prison on similar charges. Another 12
defendants received 10 years in prison.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, In Egypt a shell
hit a truck carrying civilians in the restive northern Sinai
Peninsula, killing at least nine people of the same family.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, In Egypt
pro-democracy activist Esraa Abdel-Fattah was arrested. She was
brought before prosecutors late the next day and ordered to remain
in custody for 15 days.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 12, In northeastern
Ethiopia armed men killed at least 16 people and injured about two
dozen others in a small village, in one of the deadliest attacks
seen in the region.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 12, France said it is
halting exports of any arms to Turkey that could be used in its
offensive against Kurds in Syria, and wants an immediate meeting of
the US-led coalition against Islamic State extremists.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Germany said it
has banned arms exports to Turkey over its assault against Kurdish
YPG militia in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Guatemala's
president-elect Alejandro Giammattei was denied entry to Venezuela,
where he was scheduled to meet with opposition leader Juan Guaido,
according to Venezuela's opposition.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, In India Chinese
President Xi Jinping and Indian PM Narendra Modi agreed to set up a
new mechanism to discuss trade during two days of informal talks in
southern India that were aimed at re-calibrating strained ties
between the nations.
(Bloomberg, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Iran offered to
engage Syrian Kurds, Syria's government and Turkey in talks to
establish security along the Turkish-Syrian border following
Turkey's military incursion into northern Syria to fight Kurdish
forces.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Typhoon Hagibis
paralyzed Tokyo, leaving millions confined indoors and streets
deserted as fierce rain and wind killed two, flooded rivers and
threatened widespread damage.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, In southern Kenya
a roadside bombing killed 11 officers near Liboi on the border with
Somalia.
(SSFC, 10/13/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 12, The main
Kurdish-led group in northern Syria is calling on the US to carry
out its "moral responsibilities" and close northern Syrian airspace
to Turkish warplanes.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Dutch police said
they had detained 130 protesters with environmental group Extinction
Rebellion who blocked locations in downtown Amsterdam to draw
attention to climate change.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, It was reported
that thousands of Nigerian hunters on the northest are preparing an
offensive against Boko Haram extremists. They were backed by Borno
state Gov. BabaganaZulum and were armed with charmed amulets and
knowledge of the harsh terrain.
(SFC, 10/12/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 12, North Korea's
foreign ministry "strongly demanded" that Japan pay compensation for
a fishing boat that sank when it collided with a Japanese patrol
boat earlier this week.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Sara Danius (57),
the first woman to lead the Swedish institution that awards the
Nobel Prize in literature, died. Danius was elected to a lifetime
position on the Swedish Academy's board in 2013 and because the
body's first female permanent secretary in 2015. She resigned the
position in 2018.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll among Syrian
Kurdish-led fighters battling a Turkish offensive has risen to 74,
most of whom have been killed in the Tel Abyad area. It was reported
that pro-Ankara fighters taking part in a Turkish offensive on
Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria have "executed" nine
civilians.
(Reuters, 10/12/19)(The Telegraph, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 12, Turkey's military
said it has captured Ras al-Ayn, a key Syrian border town under
heavy bombardment, as its offensive against Kurdish fighters pressed
into its fourth day with little sign of relenting despite mounting
international criticism. Kurdish authorities denied the town had
fallen to the Turks, saying fighting was continuing. The civilian
death toll resulting from Turkey's offensive into northern Syria had
now reportedly risen to 30.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 13, The United States
said it is poised to withdraw some 1,000 troops from northern Syria
after learning that Turkey planned to extend a military incursion
against Kurdish foes further south than originally planned.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, Hunter Biden, the
son of former US Vice President Joe Biden, for the first time
defended his work in Ukraine and China, after sustained criticism
from Republican President Donald Trump that has embroiled the White
House in an impeachment inquiry.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, The Warner Bros.
film "Joker" scored an easy victory in its second weekend with $55
million at 4,374 sites.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, The Indianapolis
Zoo said it plans to open an international center devoted to saving
threatened species, an effort that zoo officials call a natural
extension of their biennial Indianapolis Prize honoring animal
conservation leaders.
(AP, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, In Pearl River,
New York, a two-car collision sent a Porsche SUV plummeting off an
overpass onto train tracks below, where it burst into flames,
killing two teenagers and sending a third to a hospital with serious
injuries.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 13, Hundreds of
Algerians protested in front of parliament against a proposed energy
law that they say the caretaker government has no right to pass.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, Ecuador's army
patrolled the streets of Quito as the government of President Lenin
Moreno and indigenous leaders prepared for talks to end more than a
week of fuel price protests. Moreno and indigenous leaders struck a
deal late today to cancel the disputed austerity package.
(AP, 10/13/19)(SFC, 10/15/19, p.A3)
2019 Oct 13, Hong Kong
pro-democracy activists and riot police clashed in chaotic scenes
around the city with police in full riot gear chasing protesters
through crowds of horrified lunchtime shoppers.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, Hungarian PM
Viktor Orban's dominant right-wing Fidesz party faced a challenge
from opposition parties, who backed joint candidates in many cities
in the country's nationwide local election. Fidesz suffered large
losses as opposition candidates won the mayoral race in Budapest and
other large cities.
(AP, 10/13/19)(SFC, 10/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 13, Israel's Pres.
Reuven Rivlin in a letter asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin to
pardon Naama Issachar, a young Israeli woman, imprisoned on drug
charges in Russia.
(AP, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, Japan sent tens of
thousands of troops and rescue workers to save stranded residents
and fight floods caused by one of the worst typhoons to hit the
country in recent history. At least 63 people were killed by Typhoon
Hagibis with 11 others presumed dead.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)(SFC, 10/14/19, p.A4)(SFC,
10/17/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 13, In Japan a
Panama-registered cargo ship was found sunk in waters near Tokyo
after authorities lost track of it as Typhoon Hagibis lashed the
country. A newspaper said at least five of the 12 crew were killed.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, Kurdish forces
long allied with the United States in Syria announced a new deal
with the government in Damascus, a sworn enemy of Washington that is
backed by Russia, as Turkish troops moved deeper into their
territory and President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of the
US military from northern Syria.
(NY Times, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 13, In Nepal Chinese
President Xi Jinping wound up two days of meetings with separate
deals for a rail link to Tibet and a tunnel.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, Pakistani PM Imran
Khan on a visit to Iran said he was acting “not as a mediator but as
a facilitator” for talks between Tehran and Riyadh, where he’s
traveling tomorrow.
(Bloomberg, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, Poles voted in a
parliamentary election that the ruling nationalist Law and Justice
party was favored to win, buoyed by the popularity of its
conservative agenda and generous social spending. The Law and
Justice party won just under 45% of votes for the 100-seat Senate,
which translates to 49 senators, down from the 61 senators it now
has. Opposition parties seem to have won 51 seats.
(AP, 10/13/19)(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 13, Saudi Arabia
launched a new logistics zone open to private investors in the Red
Sea port city of Jeddah, as part of a wider industrial initiative to
diversify the economy away from oil and create jobs for Saudis.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said a Turkish air strike in the Syrian
town of Ras al Ain killed nine people including five civilians.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, In northern Syria
hundreds of Islamic State supporters escaped from a holding camp in
amid heavy clashes between invading Turkish-led forces and Kurdish
fighters. 780 IS supporters fled a camp for the displaced in the
Syrian town of Ein Issa. US President Donald Trump ordered all US
troops to withdraw from the north to avoid getting caught in the
fighting. Approximately 1,000 US troops in Syria are not leaving the
country entirely, but are trying to avoid becoming embroiled in the
conflict.
(AP, 10/13/19)(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 13, Tunisians cast
ballots to choose their next president. In the runoff Saied, an
independent law professor, faced Nabil Karoui, a media mogul facing
corruption allegations. Exit polls declared a landslide election win
for Kais Saied.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)(Reuters, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 13, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan said the incursion into Syria will stretch from
Kobani in the west to Hasaka in the east, going some 30 km (19
miles) into Syrian territory.
(Reuters, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 13, Pope Francis
canonized Cardinal John Henry Newman, praising the 19th-century
Anglican convert who became an influential, unifying figure in both
the Anglican and Catholic churches. Newman was canonized along with
four women, including three nuns from the 19th and 20th centuries —
Sisters Giuseppina Vannini of Italy, Mariam Thresia Chiramel
Mankidiyan of India and Brazilian Dulce Lopes Pontes — as well as
Swiss laywoman Margherita Bays.
(AP, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 14, Pres. Donald Trump
spoke directly to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan to
demand an immediate ceasefire in Syria while announcing a series of
punishments for Ankara that critics saw as an attempt to save face.
Trump announced sanctions aimed at restraining the Turks' assault
against Kurdish fighters and civilians in Syria. A US official said
the approximately 1,000 US troops being withdrawn from northern
Syria will reposition in Iraq, Kuwait and possibly Jordan.
(The Guardian , 10/15/19)(AP,
10/15/19)
2019 Oct 14, A handful of US
states celebrated their first Indigenous Peoples' Day as part of a
trend to move away from a day honoring Christopher Columbus. Native
American advocates have pressed states for the change since 1992.
(SFC, 10/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 14, In northern
California a man was arrested on suspicion of killing four people
after he showed up at a police station in Mount Shasta with a body
in his car. Roseville police said they found three other bodies at
his apartment.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 14, Harold Bloom
(b.1930), American literary critic, died at a hospital in
Connecticut. His books included "The Book of J" (1990), "The Western
Canon: Books and School of the Ages" (1994) and "Shakespeare: The
Invention of the Human" (1998).
(SFC, 10/17/19, p.C4)
2019 Oct 14, In Texas Aaron
Dean (34), the white Fort Worth police officer who shot and killed a
black woman through a back window of her home while responding to a
call about an open front door, was charged with murder after
resigning from the force.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Abhijit Binayak
Banerjee (b.1961), eminent India-born American economist, shared the
2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Esther Duflo and
Michael Kremer, "for their experimental approach to alleviating
global poverty." Banerjee along with wife Esther Duflo are the sixth
married couple to jointly win a Nobel Prize.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhijit_Banerjee)
2019 Oct 14, In Austria an
Afghan asylum-seeker (33) killed a farmer and severely injured a
social worker at his shelter in Wullowitz. He was known to the
authorities for previous violent acts.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 14, Climate activists
targeted BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, in London,
demanding that major financial institutions starve fossil fuel
companies of the money they need to build new mines, wells and
pipelines.
(Reuters, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Greenpeace
activists boarded two Royal Dutch Shell oil platforms in the British
North Sea in protest against plans to leave parts of the giant
structures in place after production shuts down.
(Reuters, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Author Bernardine
Evaristo (60) won the Booker Prize for her novel "Girl, Woman,
Other." She split the 50,000 pounds ($62,800) prize with Margaret
Atwood, Canadian author of "The Testaments", in a surprise double
award. Of Nigerian and British parentage, Evaristo was the first
black woman to win the prize.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 14, British PM Boris
Johnson set out his government's priorities at a parliamentary
ceremony. Queen Elizabeth II announced in a speech to lawmakers a
list of 26 new bills ranging from implementing a yet-to-be finalized
EU divorce agreement to criminal sentencing and the environment.
(AFP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, A team of British
experts arrived in Iran to begin work to upgrade the Arak heavy
water nuclear reactor under a deal known as the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Cambodian police
arrested the Turkish-Mexican former director of a school run by the
movement of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara
blames for a failed 2016 coup. His wife feared he would be deported
to Turkey.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 14, PM Mette
Frederiksen said Denmark said it will fast-track legislation
allowing people with dual citizenship who have gone abroad to fight
for militant groups like Islamic State to be stripped of their
Danish nationality.
(Reuters, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, In Guinea
protesters burned tires and threw stones at police in Conakry in the
first of a series of planned demonstrations against a possible
change to the constitution that could let President Alpha Conde seek
a third term.
(Reuters, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Iran's President
Hassan Rouhani urged Turkey to halt its military offensive against
Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Iran's
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it has arrested an exiled
journalist who helped fan the flames of nationwide economic protests
that struck the country at the end of 2017. Ruhollah Zam ran a
website called AmadNews that posted embarrassing videos and
information about Iranian officials.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, In Libya an
airstrike slammed into a house in Tripoli, killing three children
and wounding a women and a child. The Tripoli-based government
blamed the airstrike on Gen. Khalifa Hifter's forces, the so-called
Libyan National Army.
(Reuters, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Saudi Arabia and
Russia signed a key deal to bolster cooperation among the world's
oil giants. Visiting President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman,
penned a string of multi-million-dollar investment contracts
targeting the aerospace, culture, health, advanced technology and
agriculture sectors.
(AFP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, It was reported
that South Korea is deploying snipers to the Demilitarized Zone with
orders to shoot any wild boar that are seen in the buffer zone with
North Korea before they can bring more cases of African swine fever
into the South.
(The Telegraph, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Spain's Supreme
Court jailed nine Catalan separatist leaders for between nine and 13
years for their role in the failed 2017 independence bid, a decision
that triggered protests in the region and left the future course of
the dispute uncertain. Riot police charged at protesters outside
Barcelona's airport following the sentencing.
(Reuters, 10/14/19)(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Sudan's new
transitional government met with rebel leaders, kicking off peace
talks aimed at ending the country's yearslong civil wars.
(AP, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Syrian government
troops moved into towns and villages in northern Syria, setting up a
potential clash with Turkish-led forces advancing in the area as
long-standing alliances in the region begin to crumble following the
pullback of US forces. Assad’s forces began entering northeast Syria
in large numbers for the first time in years after the West’s
Kurdish allies agreed to a Russian-brokered deal to try to hold off
a Turkish onslaught.
(AP, 10/14/19)(The Telegraph, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 14, Zimbabwe said it
expects to increase diamond production to 11 million carats by 2023
from 3.2 million carats last year, part of an ambitious plan to
raise mining output and earn the country $12 billion a
year.
(Reuters, 10/14/19)
2019 Oct 15, US prosecutors
accused Turkey's government-owned Halkbank of participating in a
wide-ranging plot to violate prohibitions on Iran’s access to the US
financial system. The conspiracy involved high-ranking government
officials in Iran and Turkey.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 15, The fourth US
Democratic debate revealed sharper edges than its predecessors, as
the candidates were tested by the moderators and challenged by each
other.
(Bloomberg, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 15, A senior White
House official warned Guatemala that it must reach agreement with
the United States on accepting asylum-seekers from other countries
in order to benefit from a regional economic development plan.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, In the SF Bay Area
an explosion at a NewStar Energy fuel storage facility in Crockett
started a 7-hour blaze that trapped thousands in their homes for
hours because of potentially unhealthy air. A 4.5 magnitude
earthquake earlier in the day caused malfunctions at two nearby oil
refineries operated by Shell and Marathon oil.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 15, In southern
California Valerie Lundeen Ely (62), the wife of "Tarzan" actor Ron
Ely (81), was stabbed to death by their son Cameron Ely (30).
Following an unspecified threat four deputies fired on Cameron and
he was killed. Ron Ely starred as Tarzan in the 1966-1968 NBC TV
series.
(SFC, 10/17/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 15, A jury in
Wisconsin awarded $450,000 to the father of a boy killed in the 2012
Sandy Hook school shooting after he filed a defamation lawsuit
against conspiracy theorist writers who claimed the Dec. 14, 2012,
massacre in Connecticut never happened. James Fetzer, a retired
University of Minnesota Duluth professor now living in Wisconsin,
and Mike Palacek co-wrote a book, "Nobody Died at Sandy Hook," in
which they claimed the Sandy Hook shooting never took place but was
instead an event staged by the federal government as part of an
Obama administration effort to enact tighter gun restrictions.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 15, Alphabet Inc's
Google unveiled new Pixel smartphones with higher quality cameras, a
radar sensor and faster virtual assistant, but failed to provide
enough to set the devices apart from rivals and nix concerns about
price. The fourth-generation Pixel started at $799 for a 5.7-inch
(14.5-cm) display and $899 for a 6.3-inch display
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Intel Corp said it
has agreed to purchase a software business from Toronto-based Pivot
Technology Solutions Inc for $27 million. Intel said it would buy
Smart Edge, a software that helps split up data and store it closer
to users to make computing devices respond faster.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, In Brazil a
seven-story residential building collapsed in the northeastern city
of Fortaleza, killing at least one person.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, China's
Agriculture Ministry said African swine fever has been detected in
pigs being transported to Guangxi region from outside provinces.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Cuban VP Salvador
Mesa and several ministers announced on television that the
government was going to lower prices of household appliances and
other items on condition that Cubans pay in dollars. The government
was seeking dollars in a bid to stay afloat in the midst of an acute
financial crisis triggered by its dependence on Venezuela and new US
sanctions.
(SFC, 10/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 15, In Georgia Anaklia
Development Consortium (ADC), the consortium behind the construction
of the major deep sea port Anaklia on the Black Sea coast, accused
the government of sabotage and put the project on hold. The
government, which signed the 52-year concession agreement with the
ADC, refused to provide such guarantees for the private project.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, The IMF said
Kenya's economy is expected to expand by 5.6% this year and 6.0% in
2020, lowering its forecasts from earlier this year.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Lebanon's defense
minister said his country and Cyprus have agreed to work together on
curbing boat loads of migrants from reaching the east Mediterranean
island nation.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Wildfires spread
through parts of Lebanon after forcing some residents to flee their
homes in the middle of the night, while others were stuck inside as
the flames reached villages south of Beirut, authorities said.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Benghazi-based PM
Abdullah al-Thani, the head of Libya's parallel government in the
east, said rival, UN-backed authorities in Tripoli have restricted
oil revenues to areas under its control, as eastern-allied militias
battle to seize control of the capital.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 15, Mozambicans voted
today in an election which President Filipe Nyusi said should help
anchor peace, while his opposition rival warned against any
manipulation of the results.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, In the Netherlands
six young adults and their father were receiving medical treatment
after Dutch police acting on a tip-off discovered them locked away
in a secret room at an isolated farm. The family, according to local
news reports, had been waiting for the end of time.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Signify, a
Dutch-based lighting company, said it has agreed to buy US firm
Cooper Lighting Solutions from Eaton Corp. for $1.4 billion in cash
to boost its presence in North America.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 15, Russian President
Vladimir Putin visited the United Arab Emirates, as part of a
Mideast tour aimed at strengthening ties between Moscow and this
longtime US ally amid tensions in the wider Persian Gulf. Putin
sought to attract over $1.3 billion worth of investments in Russia's
economy.
(AP, 10/15/19)(AFP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Russia moved to
fill the void left by the United States in northern Syria, deploying
troops to keep apart advancing Syrian government and Turkish forces.
At the same time, tensions grew within NATO as Turkey defied growing
condemnation of its invasion from its Western allies.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Russian
investigators raided opposition offices across the country, in the
latest move to increase pressure on top Kremlin critic Alexei
Navalny and his allies.
(AFP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, In Serbia taxi
drivers in Belgrade blocked the city center to protest the impact of
a ride-sharing service on their business and to call on the
government to ban it.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, The UN Security
Council ended 15 years of peacekeeping operations in Haiti, voicing
regret that the country is still saddled with huge economic,
political and social woes.
(AFP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, The UN said Turkey
could be deemed responsible for summary executions by an affiliated
armed group of captured Kurdish fighters and a politician, acts that
may amount to war crimes.
(Reuters, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 15, Yemeni officials
said Saudi Arabian troops have taken control of the airport and
ports in the interim capital Aden from separatists backed by the
United Arab Emirates.
(AP, 10/15/19)
2019 Oct 16, Pres. Donald Trump
met with Italy's president.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, President Donald
Trump said US troops are "largely out" of a region of Syria where
Turkish forces are attacking Kurdish fighters. Trump declared the US
has no stake in defending the Kurdish fighters who died by the
thousands as America's partners against IS extremists. Hours later,
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats walked out of a
meeting at the White House, accusing him of having a "meltdown".
(AP, 10/16/19)(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 16, In the US 129
House Republicans joined every House Democrat to pass a nonbonding
resolution condemning President Trump's abrupt withdrawal of US
forces from northeastern Syria, paving the way for Turkey to invade
and slaughter America's Kurdish allies.
(The Week, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 16, Two US fighter
jets launched airstrikes to destroy ammunition that was left behind
when American forces left a cement factory south of Kobani, Syria.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, It was reported
that US Federal prosecutors have shut down the "largest dark web
child porn marketplace" and charged Jong Woo Son (23) of South Korea
with running it. The site, called "Welcome to Video," was shut down
in March 2018, years after it was first founded in June 2015. Korean
law enforcement raided his home and found servers hosting the site
in his bedroom in March 2018.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, California state
officials shut down the Contra Costa County fuel storage facility of
NuStar Energy in Crockett, following the explosion and fire two days
earlier at the site.
(SFC, 10/17/1, p.A1)
2019 Oct 15, In northern
California the Napa County Board of Supervisors voted to
indefinitely ban all commercial cannabis activites in unincorporated
areas, including the growing, processing and selling of pot in
stores.
(SFC, 10/17/19, p.D1)
2019 Oct 16, In Florida Marissa
Mowry (28),a former live-in nanny, pleaded guilty to sexual battery.
She had started relations with a boy when he was 11 and their son
was now five.
(SFC, 10/19/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 16, Chicago Public
Schools, the third-largest system in the United States, canceled
classes for 361,000 students, ahead of a strike deadline set by the
teachers who are locked in protracted labor negotiations.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, Las Vegas police
said the body of a woman missing for five months has been found
encased in concrete in the desert and that a suspect has been
arrested. Christopher Prestipino (45) was arrested on Oct. 11 on
suspicion of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder.
Lisa Mort (31) was also arrested for allegedly helping to conceal
the killing.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 15, The US Supreme
Court shut down South Carolina's attempt to complete the Mixed Oxide
Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River site near Aiken. The
government has already spent $8 billion on the nuclear fuel
facility.
(SFC, 10/16/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 16, General Motors and
the autoworkers' union said they have reached a tentative agreement
on a labor contract that could end a monthlong strike.
(SFC, 10/17/19, p.D1)
2019 Oct 16, The UK Supreme
Court ruled that judge Claire Gilham should be allowed to take her
case to an employment tribunal because excluding her from
whistleblowing protection rules would breach her human rights. The
district judge said she was bullied, victimized and suffered a
breakdown after raising concerns about the dangers of government
cuts to legal services.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, Burundi reported
that more than 40 people have been arrested since penalties for
black market trading were increased last month.
(Reuters, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 16, A Paris zoo
showcased a mysterious new organism, dubbed the "blob", a yellowish
unicellular small living being which looks like a fungus but acts
like an animal. The blob has almost 720 sexes, can move without legs
or wings and heals itself in two minutes if cut in half.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, In Guinea hospital
staff in Conakry said security forces have killed at least nine
people this week during demonstrations against a possible change to
the constitution that could let President Alpha Conde seek a third
term.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, Hong Kong leader
Carrie Lam had to abandon her policy speech because of jeering
lawmakers. She then broadcast the annual address via a video link
after the rowdy scenes in the Legislative Council.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, Indian and
Pakistan troops traded fire in the disputed Kashmir region killing
four civilians and wounding nearly a dozen others.
(SFC, 10/17/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 16, Iran's
semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting that President Hassan
Rouhani's brother. Hossein Fereidoun, has begun serving a five-year
prison sentence on bribery charges.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, Kenya's opened a
$1.5 billion Chinese-built railway line linking Nairobi to Naivasha,
despite delays in building an industrial park in the Rift Valley
town to encourage freight.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, In Libya gunmen
killed two women and three children of the same family while they
were driving on a highway near the capital, Tripoli.
(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 16, Burmese (Myanmar)
fishermen spotted a total of 23 sacks of crystal meth floating in
the Andaman Sea and mistook it for a deodorant substance. Police the
next day combed a beach and found an additional two sacks of the
same substance - bringing the total to 691 kg (1,500 pounds) which
would be worth about $20.2 million.
(The Telegraph, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 16, Police in the
Dutch city of The Hague closed its central parliament square to keep
out farmers protesting over what they see as attempts to blame them
for nitrogen pollution.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, Nigerian police
freed about 500 men and boys from a northern Islamic school in
Katsina where some had been chained to walls, molested and beaten.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, Several families
of Palestinians detainees imprisoned by Saudi Arabia held a rare
protest in Gaza, calling on the kingdom to free them. Hamas
officials said Saudi authorities intensified a crackdown on the
Islamist group's supporters in the kingdom this year, rounding up
dozens of Palestinian doctors, engineers and traders across the
country.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, The Peruvian
government authorized the intervention of the armed forces and
police to unblock access to one of the country's largest copper
mines, after owner Chinese miner MMG Ltd said it may have to cease
production at the site.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, A magnitude 6.4
earthquake struck the southern Philippines, killing at least one
child and injuring more than two dozen other people.
(Reuters, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, In Saudi Arabia 35
pilgrims were killed in a bus crash near the city of Mecca.
(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 16, Turkey's Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says his country won't be affected by
"sanctions and threats" over its military incursion into northeast
Syria.
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 16, The UN Special
Envoy for Syria said there must be a cessation of hostilities
between Turkish troops and Kurdish fighters as the world is
"extremely alarmed by the humanitarian consequences of the crisis".
(AP, 10/16/19)
2019 Oct 17, The US and Turkey
agreed to a five-day cease-fire in the Turks' deadly attacks on
Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. Tts effect was largely to
mitigate a foreign policy crisis widely seen to be of Pres. Trump's
own making.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 17, White House acting
Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters that Trump's decision to
withhold $391 million in aid to Ukraine was linked to his desire for
an investigation by Kiev into a debunked theory that a Democratic
National Committee (DNC) computer server was held in Ukraine. The
comments, which he later sought to walk back, seemed to undermine
the core arguments that Trump and his advisers have made against the
effort to oust him from office.
(Reuters, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 17, US Congressman
Elijah Cummings (68), D-Md., died of complications from what his
office called “longstanding health challenges”.
(Yahoo News, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, The US Marines
said in a statement that after questions were raised by private
historians who studied photos and films, it determined that Cpl.
Harold P. Keller (d.1979) was among the six men who raised the flag
at Iwo Jima in 1945. The Marines say Pfc. Rene Gagnon had helped in
the effort but for decades was mistakenly identified by the Marines
as one of the flag-raisers.
(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, In Alaska a
commuter plane carrying 42 people overshot a runway in Unalaska. One
of two passengers, who suffered critical injuries, soon died.
(SFC, 10/19/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 17, Teachers in the
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system picketed outside of schools
during their first day of a strike after protracted labor
negotiations between the union and district leadership failed to
produce a deal.
(Reuters, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, New York's City
Council approved a proposal for an extensive overhaul of the city's
corrections system at a cost of over $8 billion.
(SFC, 10/18/19, p.A8)
2019 Oct 17, A wind storm,
described by meteorologists as a "bomb cycle," swept the East Coast
of the US leaving more than 500,000 customers without power.
(SFC, 10/18/19, p.A7)
2019 Oct 17, Scientists said
fossils found in Morocco suggest the practice of forming orderly
lines may date back 480 million years and could have had
evolutionary advantages. Their study described groups of blind
trilobites — known as Ampyx — all facing in the same direction,
apparently maintaining contact via their long rearward spines.
(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, Britain and the
European Union reached a new divorce deal that could allow Brexit on
October 31, but faced immediate opposition among MPs in London --
who can still block it. British lawmakers approved the government's
plan to hold a special sitting of parliament Oct. 19 to vote on PM
Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.
(AFP, 10/17/19)(Reuters, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, Britain's
Intelligence and Security Committee sent a report to PM Boris
Johnson on possible Russian interference in UK elections. The report
required government approval before being made public.
(SFC, 11/6/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 17, Climate-change
activists of Extinction Rebellion disrupted rail services in London,
sparking a clash between angry commuters and a protester who had
climbed onto the roof of a London Underground train during rush
hour.
(Reuters, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, Bulgaria's
broadcast regulator sacked the chief of the country's public radio,
BNR, for taking its news channel off the air for hours last month in
a row with a popular presenter known for her coverage of the
graft-prone judicial system.
(Reuters, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, In China Sophia
Huang Xueqin, a freelance journalist who lived in the southern city
of Guangzhou, was detained there on suspicion of "picking quarrels
and stirring up trouble", a charge often used by authorities to
detain activists. Huang was recently in Hong Kong reporting on
anti-government protests.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 17, In Cuba Alicia
Alonso (b.1920), founder the National Ballet of Cuba (1959), died in
Havana.
(SFC, 10/18/19, p.C9)
2019 Oct 17, Germany slashed
its growth outlook for next year, saying it expects trade conflicts,
Brexit and other sources of uncertainty abroad to continue weighing
on an economy that remains buttressed by domestic strength.
(AFP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, Iraq's foreign
minister said his country will only take back its own citizens and
their families who fought with the Islamic State group in Syria, not
those from other countries.
(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, In Mexico cartel
gunmen surrounded security forces in the northwestern city of
Culiacan, Sinaloa state, and made them free Ovidio Guzman, the son
of jailed kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. His brief capture,
following a federal US warrant, triggered gun battles and a
jailbreak that stunned the country. At least eight people were
reported killed, including five suspected gang members.
(Reuters, 10/18/19)(SFC, 10/19/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 17, Northern Ireland's
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said it could not support PM Boris
Johnson's Brexit agreement with the European Union, complicating his
task of getting it approved by parliament.
(Reuters, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, A Palestinian
court blocked access to 59 websites critical of the Palestinian
Authority. The decision was made public on Oct. 21 and drew wide
criticism. Most of the sites are run by supporters of the Islamic
militant group Hamas or Mohammed Dahlan, rivals to President Mahmoud
Abbas. Abbas' government called on the attorney general to overturn
the decision.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 17, Humanitarian
groups in northeastern Syria scrambled to provide aid to hundreds of
thousands of people as rapidly shifting battle lines made it
increasingly difficult to reach them.
(AP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, A new UN report
said an "unprecedented" number of civilians were killed or wounded
in Afghanistan from July to September this year.
(AFP, 10/17/19)
2019 Oct 17, Venezuela won a
contested election for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council despite
a campaign by over 50 organizations and many countries opposed to
Nicolas Maduro's government and its rights record. The 193-member
world body elected 14 members to the 47-member Human Rights Council
for three-year terms starting Jan. 1. Under its rules, seats are
allocated to regions to ensure geographical representation.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, President Donald
Trump said he will nominate Dan Brouillette to be his next energy
secretary when Rick Perry leaves the job later this year.
(Bloomberg, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, The United States
said it has paid the United Nations $180 million toward its annual
dues and expects to make another payment of $96 million within the
next few weeks, which should help ease the UN's worst cash crisis in
nearly a decade.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, It was reported
that California authorities have invalidated test scores of 1,400
pharmacists because more than 100 questions from the state licensing
exam were leaked online.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, PG&E's
utility's chief executive said Northern Californians can expect
widespread power cuts aimed at preventing wildfires for a decade
while the company upgrades wires systems, cuts back trees and takes
other safety measures.
(Reuters, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, Former Georgia
police officer Zechariah Presley, who fatally shot an unarmed,
fleeing black man, was sentenced to one year in prison, nearly two
weeks after a jury acquitted him of manslaughter charges but found
him guilty of violating his oath of office. Presley was also given
four years of probation in the June 2018 killing of Tony Green (33).
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, In Indiana Alyssa
Shepherd (24) was found guilty of criminal recklessness in the Oct.
30, 2018, crash that killed 6-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and
Mason Ingle, and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 18, in South Carolina
the body of Nevaeh Lashy Adams (5) was found at a landfill near the
town of Elgin, some 40 miles southwest of the city of Sumter where
she lived with her mom. The girl had been missing since her mother,
Sharee Bradley (29), was found dead inside their apartment in Sumter
on the night of Aug. 5. Daunte Maurice Johnson (28), who was an
acquaintance of Bradley's, had confessed to killing both the mother
and child.
(Good Morning America, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 18, It was reported
that a farming business owned by West Virginia's billionaire Gov.
Jim Justice has received $125,000 in soybean and corn subsidies.
(SFC, 10/18/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 18, Johnson &
Johnson said it is recalling around 33,000 bottles of baby powder in
the United States after the US health regulators found trace amounts
of asbestos in samples taken from a bottle purchased online.
(Reuters, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, In Afghanistan at
least 62 people were killed by a blast inside a mosque during Friday
prayers eastern Nangarhar province.
(AFP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, British rapper
Ervine Kimpalu (20), who goes by the artist name Rico Racks, was
issued with a special five year Criminal Behavior Order when he
appeared at Blackfriars Crown Court preventing him from referring to
several drug-related words in his online rap videos.
(The Telegraph, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 18, Egyptian
authorities released 101 people who were among hundreds more
arrested in a sweeping crackdown following small but rare
anti-government protests last month. A local rights group tracking
the arrests said security forces have rounded up around 3,700
people, including rights lawyers, activists, journalists and several
foreign nationals since the protests on Sept. 20.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 18, French President
Emmanuel Macron led a group of leaders who blocked opening talks
with Albania and North Macedonia, despite concerns over increasing
Chinese and Russian influence in the Balkans.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 18, French drugmaker
Sanofi SA said it would recall popular heartburn medicine Zantac in
the United States and Canada, after the medicines were linked with a
probable cancer-causing impurity.
(Reuters, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, In France a
wildcat strike severely disrupted train travel around the coutnry as
railway workers demanded better security after a recent accident
left 11 people injured.
(SFC, 10/19/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 18, Hong Kong
pro-democracy protesters donned cartoon character masks as they
formed human chains across the semiautonomous Chinese city late
today, in defiance of a government ban on face coverings at public
assemblies.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, The Financial
Action Task Force (FATF), a global dirty money watchdog, said it had
given Iran a final deadline of February 2020 to comply with
international norms after which it would urge all its members to
apply counter-measures.
(Reuters, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, The Kurdish-led
administration in northern Syria accused Turkey of violating a
US-brokered cease-fire that went into effect overnight, as fighters
from both sides clashed in and around a border town that has been
one of the fiercest fronts in the Turkish invasion. A spokesman for
the Kurdish-led fighters said they were not withdrawing from Ras
al-Ayn because Turkish forces are still besieging and shelling it.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, In Lebanon
nationwide protests paralyzed the country as demonstrators blocked
major roads in a second day of rallies against the government's
handling of a severe economic crisis and the entire country's
political class. Tens of thousands of protesters set fires and cut
off roads across the country, demanding the removal of a political
class whose mismanagement and corruption they say has brought the
economy to the brink of bankruptcy. PM Saad Hariri gave his feuding
coalition government a 72-hour deadline to get behind his plan for
an economic overhaul or he would step aside and let them deal with
the deepening crisis.
(AP, 10/18/19)(Bloomberg, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, Pakistan's
government hailed the FATF's decision, which offers a reprieve to PM
Imran Khan as he works to shore up his country's faltering economy
and attract foreign investment and loans. The Financial Action Task
Force has given Pakistan four months to prove it is fighting
terrorism financing and money laundering — or it could be put on a
damaging global blacklist.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, In Spain tens of
thousands of flag-waving demonstrators demanding Catalonia's
independence and the release from prison of separatist leaders
flooded downtown Barcelona.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, Sudan's largest
single rebel group held its first round of direct peace talks with
the country's transitional government, despite an earlier boycott
following a military crackdown.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey's military will set up 12
observations posts along the border in northern Syria if a planned
safe zone is established. Erdogan also told reporters that 195 out
of some 750 Islamic State militants who he said were set free by
Syrian Kurdish fighters as Turkey launched its push into Syrian
territory have been re-captured.
(AP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 18, The UN condemned
Egypt over the recent arrests of prominent activists and demanded
that Cairo probe allegations that they were tortured by the security
services while in custody.
(AFP, 10/18/19)
2019 Oct 19, A woman identified
in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, sued the US Department of Homeland
Security, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), and
former Ice agent Wilfredo Rodriguez, seeking $10m in damages. The
Honduran woman living in Connecticut accused the Rodriguez of
sexually assaulting her over a period of seven years under the
threat of deportation.
(The Guardian, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 19, Tropical Storm
Nestor was downgraded after it spawned a tornado that damaged homes
and a school in central Florida. About 10,000 homes were without
power.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, Azerbaijan police
detained scores of protesters, including the leader of the main
opposition Popular Front, at the start of a planned rally against
low salaries, corruption and a lack of democracy in the energy-rich
ex-Soviet state. some 50 people, mostly organizers of today's
unauthorized rally, had already been detained earlier in the week.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, British lawmakers
voted for a proposal to withhold support for PM Boris Johnson's
Brexit deal until formal ratification legislation has passed, a step
that will oblige him to ask the European Union for a Brexit delay.
Tens of thousands of pro-EU protesters from across Britain wielding
banners, placards and flags converged on parliament, erupting in
cheers as MPs forced the government to ask Brussels for another
Brexit delay.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, British PM Boris
Johnson sent an unsigned letter to the European Union requesting a
delay to Brexit but he also sent another message in which he stated
he did not want the extension. Johnson was compelled by a law,
passed by opponents last month, to ask the bloc for an extension to
the current Brexit deadline of Oct. 31 until Jan. 31 after lawmakers
thwarted his attempt to pass his EU divorce deal earlier today.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, Chilean troops
patrolled the streets of Santiago after President Sebastian Pinera
evoked a state of emergency amid a surge in violent protests over
4-cent subway fare rise. At least three people died after a
supermarket in Santiago was set alight by demonstrators. Pinera
announced the repeal of a transit fare hike that had prompted the
violent student protests. Five more people were later found dead in
the basement of a burned warehouse.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)(Reuters, 10/20/19)(SSFC,
10/20/19, p.A4)(SFC, 10/21/19, p.A2)(SFC, 10/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 19, China's official
Xinhua News Agency reported that Vice Premier Han Zheng has vowed to
further reduce tariffs and remove non-tariff barriers for global
investors. Vice Premier Liu He said China will work with the United
States to address each other's core concerns on the basis of
equality and mutual respect.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, In Egypt shells
hit two houses in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at
least four civilians, including a child in the town of Sheikh
Zuweid.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, Ethiopia's Nobel
Peace Prize-winning PM Abiy Ahmed launched a book of his ideology,
with one million copies already printed. The book called "Medemer"
aims at inclusivity and consensus in a country with scores of ethnic
groups and a rising problem of ethnic unrest.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, The European
Commission said Britain must inform the EU executive of its next
steps as soon as possible after parliament voted to postpone a key
vote on a Brexit deal.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, Thousands of
people in the German city of Cologne and in the French capital
demonstrated against Turkey's offensive in northern Syria.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, In Iraq millions
of pilgrims made their way on foot to the city of Karbala for the
Shiite pilgrimage of Arbaeen, regarded as the largest annual public
gathering in the world.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, In Lebanon
thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets for a third day
of anti-government protests, directing growing rage at a political
elite they blame for driving the country to the economic brink.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the group was not
demanding the government's resignation amid widespread national
protests.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, The Malian army
said it had killed around 50 militants during an operation in which
it managed to rescue some of the soldiers who were captured during
deadly attacks last month on two bases in the center of the country.
Unidentified assailants killed 38 soldiers during the Sept. 30
attacks.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, In Mozambique the
opposition Renamo party held a press conference and issued a
statement accusing Frelimo of violating the country's fragile peace
accord. Incumbent President Filipe Nyusi has taken an early lead in
results from this week's presidential election but Renamo has
questioned the results.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, Northern Ireland's
Brexit spokesman said the Democratic Unionist Party will use every
strategy available to try and get changes to PM Boris Johnson's
Brexit deal.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, North Macedonia's
PM Zoran Zaev called for a snap parliamentary election after the
European Union failed to give his country a date to start talks on
joining the bloc.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, In Russia a dam at
a small Siberian gold mine collapsed and water flooded two workers'
dormitories leaving least 15 people dead and seven unaccounted for
near the village of Shchetinkino in the Krasnoyarsk region.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, South Sudan
opposition leader Riek Machar returned to the country to meet with
President Salva Kiir less than a month before their deadline to form
a unity government after a five-year civil war.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, In Spain the mayor
of riot-stricken Barcelona pleaded for calm after violent protests
by Catalan separatists rocked Spain's second largest city for a
fifth consecutive night.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, In Syria
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters clashed with Kurdish-led forces in
several parts of the northeast, with some crossing the border from
Turkey to attack a village. Both sides blamed each other for
fighting that has rattled the US-brokered cease-fire.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 19, President Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey would press on with its offensive into
northeastern Syria and "crush the heads of terrorists" if a deal
with Washington on the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from the area
were not fully implemented.
(Reuters, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 20, Disney's
"Maleficent: Mistress of Evil," a sequel to 2014's fantasy adventure
based on the "Sleeping Beauty" sorceress, debuted to $36 million
from 2,790 North American theaters, nearly half of what the first
movie made in its inaugural weekend ($69 million).
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, US Defense
Secretary Mark Esper said that under current plans all US troops
leaving Syria will go to western Iraq and the American military will
continue to conduct operations against the Islamic State group to
prevent its resurgence.
(AP, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, Three US Army
soldiers were killed during training early today at Fort Stewart in
Georgia. One soldier was killed and three others were injured early
today during an Army helicopter accident at the Joint Readiness
Training Center (JRTC) and Fort Polk training area in Louisiana.
(AP, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, A fire ravaged a
St. Louis apartment where three small children were left alone.
Six-month-old Damarion Eiland was found dead by firefighters who
responded to the blaze at the Clinton-Peabody public housing
complex. Two other children died over the next two days.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 20, In North Carolina
a small plane crashed late today after disappearing from radar while
approaching Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Search crews found
the wreckage of missing plane the next morning. two people were
killed.
(AP, 10/21/19)(SFC, 10/22/19, p.A7)
2019 Oct 20, Australia's Qantas
airline completed the first nonstop commercial flight from New York
to Sydney. The flight lasted 19 hours and16 minutes.
(SFC, 10/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 20, In Bangladesh at
least four people were killed and about 50 injured in clashes with
police in the southern district of Bhola over a Facebook post that
offended Muslims.
(AP, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, Bolivians voted in
an election to decide whether to extend the rule of President Evo
Morales to nearly two decades or oust the great survivor of South
America's "pink tide" of leftist leaders.
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, The British
government insisted the country will leave the European Union on
Oct. 31 despite a letter that PM Boris Johnson was forced by
parliament to send to the bloc requesting a Brexit delay.
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, In Chile any
flights into Santiago airport were suspended as crew were unable to
get to work. A curfew, a public transport shutdown and continued
rioting left flight crews struggling to get to work.
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, Hong Kong
protesters set off fires and vandalized subway stations, banks and
stores as another weekend of demonstrations descended into
destruction and violence. Organizers estimated at least 350,000
people took part in an unauthorized march that authorities had
banned.
(Bloomberg, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, India and Pakistan
blamed one another for cross-border shelling in the disputed Kashmir
region which killed and injured soldiers and civilians on both sides
and made it one of the deadliest days since New Delhi revoked
Kashmir's special status in August. India said shelling overnight by
Pakistan killed two Indian soldiers and one civilian. Pakistan said
one of its soldiers and three civilians had died and that India had
violated the ceasefire.
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, Indonesian
President Joko Widodo (58) was sworn in for a second five-year term
leading the world's third-biggest democracy, after an election
dominated by economic issues but also the growing influence of
conservative Islam.
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, Lebanese officials
were scrambling to finalize a plan to avert a financial meltdown as
tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets nationwide for a
fourth straight day, demanding the ouster of a political class they
blame for rampant corruption and worsening living standards.
(Bloomberg, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, United
International Pictures said DreamWorks' animated movie "Abominable"
will not be released in Malaysia after its producers declined to
meet a censor board requirement to cut a scene showing China's
"nine-dash line" in the South China Sea.
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, In Spain Albert
Rivera, head of the pro-unionist Ciudadanos party and one of the
most prominent figures against independence for the Spanish region
of Catalonia, staged a counter-protest after a week of separatist
unrest and called for an end to the violence.
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, The Greens made
strong gains in Switzerland's election today while the far-right
party lost ground, early results showed, potentially putting
environmentalists in the mix for a seat in the coalition that has
governed the country for decades.
(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 20, In Syria Kurdish
fighters evacuated the northern town of Ras al-Ayn. Turkey wants the
Kurdish fighters to move away from the Turkey-Syria border, pulling
back 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the south. The cease-fire is to end
Oct. 22 evening. One Turkish soldier was reported killed and another
wounded after an attack by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in
northeast Syria's Tel Abyad.
(AP, 10/20/19)(Reuters, 10/20/19)
2019 Oct 21, The US won a court
battle to take control of a North Korean cargo ship, a bulk carrier
known as the “Wise Honest,” that had been used to sell coal and
import heavy machinery, skirting economic sanctions on the country.
The ship was interdicted by Indonesia in international waters last
year.
(Bloomberg, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Overnight storms
spawned tornadoes in several US states, killing at least four people
in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Chicago classes
for more than 300,000 students were canceled for a third straight
school day, although striking teachers reported progress over the
weekend over issues such as class size and staffing in the Chicago
Public Schools (CPS), the third-largest US system.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Ohio four large
drug companies reached a last-minute $260 million legal settlement
over their role in the US opioid addiction epidemic, striking a deal
with two Ohio counties to avert the first federal trial over the
crisis.
(The Guardian, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Representatives
from more than 60 countries including Israel but not Iran met in
Bahrain to discuss maritime security following attacks on tankers in
the Gulf and Saudi oil installations.
(AFP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Local authorities
in the Bosnian town of Bihac cut off a nearby migrant camp's water
supply, to pressure the government into reducing the population of
the overcrowded site that international organizations have
criticized as unsuitable.
(AP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Brazil a small
plane crashed on a street shortly after takeoff in the city of Belo
Horizonte, killing at least three people.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Canadians began
voting to determine whether PM Justin Trudeau (47), who swept into
office four years ago as a charismatic figure promising "sunny
ways," will remain in power after two major scandals. Trudeau hung
onto power after a tight election that saw his government reduced to
a minority, results that will likely push his agenda to the left
while alienating energy producing provinces. He now looks set to
govern with support from the left-leaning New Democrats, who have 24
seats.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 21, Chilean
authorities scrambled to clear wreckage and re-open public
transportation in the capital Santiago after a weekend of violent
clashes, arson attacks and looting in cities throughout the country.
Days of protests throughout the country left 15 dead and led to the
arrest of 2,600.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Greece
municipal workers in Athens launched a series of strikes that caused
garbage to pile up on the streets of the capital.
(AP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Hong Kong riot
police fired tear gas late today to disperse pro-democracy
demonstrators gathered to commemorate the three-month anniversary of
an assault by more than 100 men on protesters, commuters and
journalists.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, India's top
vegetable oil trade body asked its members to stop buying palm oil
from Malaysia, an unprecedented call aimed at helping New Delhi
punish the country for criticising India over its policy towards
Kashmir.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Israel's PM
Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had failed to form a majority
government in parliament, marking a major setback for the embattled
Israeli leader that plunges the country into a new period of
political uncertainty.
(AP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Italy
ultra-conservative Catholic militants admitted they stole statues
they consider to be Amazon pagan idols from a church near the
Vatican and dumped them from a bridge into the Tiber River. The
statues were on display along with other Amazon artefacts at the
Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, several blocks from the
Vatican.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Lebanon's Cabinet
approved sweeping reforms, hoping to appease the thousands of
protesters that have taken to the streets for the last five days to
demand the government step down. A 2020 budget with no new taxes was
also approved.
(AP, 10/21/19)(SFC, 10/22/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 21, Mexico's Pres.
Lopez Obrador said his government still intends to arrest Ovidio
Guzman, son of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, once it can do
so safely after the suspected trafficker's forces waged gun battles
with authorities in the city of Culiacan.
(Reuters, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Thousands of
demonstrators took to the streets throughout Sudan to call for
disbanding former Pres. Omar al-Bashir's party, the political organ
he used to control the country during his 30 years of autocratic
rule before being ousted in April. Separately, Sudan's transitional
government and a main rebel faction signed a political declaration
amid peace negotiations that began last week. The two sides also
renewed a nationwide cease-fire for three months.
(AP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, In northern Syria
residents of the Kurdish-dominated city of Qamishli hurled potatoes
at departing American military vehicles as they drove by.
(AP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, Thailand's King
Maja Vajiralongkorn (67) stripped his royal consort, Sineenatra
Wongvajirabhakdi (34), of her titles and military ranks for
disloyalty. This came just three months after he granted her the
consort title.
(SFC, 10/23/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 21, International aid
group Save the Children said about 70,000 children have been
displaced since the start of the Turkish offensive in northeastern
Syria.
(AP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 21, In Yemen an
airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition killed at least five civilians,
including two children, when it hit a vehicle in a northern
province.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 21, Zimbabwe
authorities said at least 55 elephants have starved to death in the
past two months in the country's biggest national park as a serious
drought forces animals to stray into nearby communities in search of
food and water.
(AP, 10/21/19)
2019 Oct 22, A US prosecutor
called Turkey's Halkbank a "fugitive" after it failed to make an
initial court appearance in a criminal case accusing it of
conspiring to violate US sanctions against Iran.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Veteran US
diplomat William Taylor told Congress that President Donald Trump
personally and explicitly tried to force Ukraine’s president to
investigate Trump’s political opponents by withholding crucial
military aid and a coveted White House meeting.
(Bloomberg, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 22, US health
regulators announced that Swedish Match tobacco pouches are less
harmful than cigarettes. This was the first time a smokeless tobacco
product has been judged by the FDA to be less harmful than
cigarettes.
(SFC, 10/23/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 22, Alabama police
said they recovered what appeared to be the body of Kamille McKinney
(3) in a Birmingham dumpster not far from where she disappeared nine
days ago. Police planned to charge suspects Patrick Stallworth (39)
and Derick Irisha Brown (29), arrested last week on unrelated
charges, with capital murder and kidnapping in connection to the
case.
(ABC News, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 22, It was reported
that deputies in Orange County seized 18 pounds of fentanyl last
week – enough of the synthetic opioid to create four million lethal
doses.
(SFC, 10/22/19, p.A7)
2019 Oct 22, Connecticut police
Officer Kevin P. Wilcox retired from the East Hampton Police
Department after a civil rights organization raised concerns about
his membership in a far-right group known for engaging in violent
clashes at political rallies. Wilcox had been a Proud Boys member
and made online payments to a group leader.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 22, A grand jury in
Boston returned additional charges against 18 people tied to the
"Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal. The new charges affected
11 of 15 previously charged parents, including actress Lori
Loughlin, and seven university officials.
(ABC News, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 22, A report in
Clinical Infectious Diseases said a Nebraska woman was infected last
year by Thelazia gulosa, a roundworm that usually afflicts cows. She
had been out for a trail run in Carmel Valley, Ca., and ran into a
swarm of small flies. In March, 2018, she washed out three worms
from her eye.
(SFC, 11/9/19, p.C4)
2019 Oct 22, US billionaire
Jeff Bezos said his space company Blue Origin has signed agreements
with Lockheed Martin Corp, Northrop Grumman Corp and research and
development organization Draper for development of its lunar lander
designed to help NASA put humans on the moon by 2024.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Facebook said it
will invest $1 billion over the next decade to help fund 20,000 new
homes in California.
(SFC, 10/23/19, p.A1)
2019 Oct 22, Protesters in
Bolivia were set to take to the streets for a second day after a
preliminary vote count showed President Evo Morales had eked out an
outright win, sparking demonstrations that devolved into late-night
rioting as the opposition accused him of stealing the vote.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, British MPs
rejected PM Boris Johnson's bid to force his divorce deal through
parliament this week. British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his
opposition party would not support PM Boris Johnson's Brexit deal or
his timetable to pass the legislation for it through parliament.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)(SFC, 10/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 22, Burkina Faso
officials said attackes in the past few days have killed at least 19
civilians in its northern region.
(SFC, 10/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 22, In Egypt at least
seven people, including three children, were killed in the Nile
Delta and Sinai regions after heavy rains pummeled Cairo and other
parts of the country, causing massive traffic jams and flooding many
key roads.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 22, The European
Commission said that its Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will head
a new team to guide future relations with Britain after it leaves
the EU.
(AFP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, The European
Commission recommended that Croatia joins the border-free Schengen
area, more than four years after the Balkan country applied for
membership.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, European Council
President Donald Tusk said he will recommend EU leaders grant
another Brexit extension, hours after British MPs rejected PM Boris
Johnson's bid to force his divorce deal through parliament this
week.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, India's No.2
software services exporter, Infosys Ltd, said it is probing
whistleblower complaints that its top two executives engaged in
"unethical practices" to boost short-term revenue and profit,
sending its shares down 16%.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Indian forces in
Kashmir killed Hamid Lelhari, a top militant commander, and his two
associates in a counter-insurgency operation in the southern
Awantipora area.
(SFC, 10/24/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 22, Iraq's military
said US troops leaving Syria and heading to neighboring Iraq do not
have permission to stay in the country, as American forces continued
to pull out of northern Syria after Turkey's invasion of the border
region.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Six Iraqi police
officers including two senior commanders were killed in Salahuddin
province when Islamic State militants opened fire on them during a
reconnaissance mission.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Japan's Emperor
Naruhito formally declared his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne
as the nation's 126th emperor.
(SFC, 10/23/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 22, Japan-based
SoftBank Group Corp agreed to spend more than $10 billion to take
over WeWork, doubling down on an ill-fated investment and paying off
its co-founder Adam Neumann to relinquish control.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Sadako Ogata
(b.1927), leader of the UN refugee agency from 1991-2000, died. She
was one of the first Japanese to hold a top job at an international
organization.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 22, Amnesty
International said its investigation showed that the warring parties
in Libya have killed and maimed scores of civilians, with both sides
having launched indiscriminate attacks and using inaccurate
explosive weapons in populated urban areas.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Mexico's foreign
ministry said it is worried by a US proposed rule to collect genetic
samples from migrants, adding to concerns by immigration advocates
about the storage of DNA samples for minors and asylum seekers.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, In Norway an armed
man (32) stole an ambulance in Oslo, lightly injuring five people
including two babies in an apparent attempt to target pedestrians.
The man was apprehended after police shot at the vehicle. The
suspect was not critically injured.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)(SFC, 10/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 22, The chief of one
of Pakistan's largest religious parties announced a protest campaign
aimed at ousting PM Imran Khan, raising the prospect of political
turmoil as the government struggles to stabilize the economy.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Poland's
opposition challenged results in three districts in elections for
parliament's upper house, setting the scene for a dispute over a
tight result a day after the ruling party submitted requests for
recounts in other districts.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Poland said local
Synthos SA has signed a memorandum of understanding with GE Hitachi
Nuclear Energy to cooperate on the construction of a 300 MW small
nuclear reactor in Poland by 2029.
(SFC, 10/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 22, The presidents of
Russia and Turkey met in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, hours
before a five-day cease-fire between Turkish troops and Kurdish
fighters in northeastern Syria was set to expire.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, In Russia three
people were killed in an accident at Norilsk Nickel's Taimyr
underground mine in Siberia. The mine, launched in 1982, is one of
the deepest in Europe. In 2015 Nornickel said the Taimyr facility
produced 35% of the company's total nickel output, 21% of its
copper, 38% of its cobalt and 15% of its platinum group metals.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Pro-Russian
separatists in eastern Ukraine said they had sentenced a journalist
to 15 years in prison after a court found him guilty of spying on
behalf of Ukraine's SBU intelligence service. Stanislav Aseyev (30)
disappeared in Ukraine's Donetsk region in June 2017 where he was
working under a pen name for the Ukrainian service of
US-government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), among
other outlets.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, Regional offices
in Turkey said the government has replaced four mayors from the
pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) with state officials,
part of a widening crackdown on local councils controlled by the
party.
(Reuters, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, An independent UN
investigator on human rights said food insecurity in North Korea "is
at an alarming level," with nearly half the population — 11 million
people — undernourished.
(AP, 10/22/19)
2019 Oct 22, The UN said four
joint observation posts manned by both forces loyal to Yemen's
internationally recognized government and the country's Houthi
rebels have been established in the key port city of Hodeida.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, US President
Donald Trump declared success in Syria and created a bumper-sticker
moment to illustrate his campaign promise to put a stop to American
involvement in "endless wars".
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 23, President Donald
Trump said he will lift sanctions on Turkey after the NATO ally
agreed to permanently stop fighting Kurdish forces in Syria and he
defended his decision to withdraw American troops.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, A US federal judge
ordered the Trump administration to start turning over documents
regarding potentially improper White House influence on diplomacy in
Ukraine.
(Yahoo News, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, A senior Pentagon
official Laura Cooper, who oversees US defense policy on Ukraine and
Russia, testified privately in the Democratic-led US House of
Representatives inquiry against Republican President Donald Trump.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, US Attorney
General William Barr announced an effort to prevent mass shootings
through new tactics such as court-ordered counseling and supervision
of potentially violent individuals.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, About two dozen US
House Republicans delayed an impeachment related deposition for
hours when they burst into the proceedings.
(SFC, 10/24/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 23, Aniah Blanchard
(19), a student at Alabama's Southern Union State Community College,
went missing. Blanchard, the stepdaughter of Ultimate Fighting
Championship (UFC) fighter Walt Harris, was last seen at a
convenience store in Auburn. Her car was found abandoned near an
apartment complex in Montgomery on October 25. On Nov. 8 Ibraheem
Yazeed (30) of Montgomery, was taken into custody in Florida's
Escambia County. Authorities later said shot her when she "went for
the gun." Her body was found on Nov. 25, approximately 36 miles away
in a wooded area in Shorter.
(The Independent, 10/31/19)(Good Morning America,
11/8/19)(Good Morning America, 12/21/19)
2019 Oct 23, The Los
Angeles-based Berggruen Institute said US Supreme Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg is this year's winner of its $1 million Berggruen
Prize for philosophy and culture.
(SFC, 10/24/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 23, In northern
California Deputy Brian Ishmael was fatally shot early today in the
community of Somerset. A ride-along passenger with him was injured
while responding to a call about a theft from a marijuana garden in
the rural Sierra Nevada foothills.
(AP, 10/23/19)(SFC, 10/24/19, p.C1)
2019 Oct 23, In Florida Susan
Mauldin (65) went missing from her Fleming Island home. Her body was
found three months later in a Georgia landfill. Contractor Corey
Binderim (45) was later jailed on suspicion of murder.
(SFC, 2/3/20, p.A8)
2019 Oct 23, Facebook Inc CEO
Mark Zuckerberg sought to reassure skeptical US lawmakers that the
company's planned digital currency Libra would be a force for good
that could reduce costs for electronic payments and help more people
participate in the global financial system.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Google said it had
achieved a breakthrough in computer research, by solving a complex
problem in minutes with a so-called quantum computer that would take
today's most powerful supercomputer thousands of years to crack.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Albanian police
said they have discovered an Iranian paramilitary network that
allegedly planned attacks in Albania against exiled members of an
Iranian group seeking to overthrow the government in Tehran. The
foreign wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guard operated an "active
terrorist cell" targeting Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, group members
in Albania.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Botswana faced its
tightest election in history as the long-peaceful southern African
nation wondered if the ruling party would be toppled for the first
time since independence.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, British
authorities found a tractor-trailer truck in Grays, in southeast
England with 39 dead people inside. The dead were initially believed
to be Chinese nationals, but police later said the dead were all
from Vietnam. The truck had Bulgarian registration dating to 2017. A
man from Northern Ireland who was driving the truck was arrested on
suspicion of murder. On April 8, 2020, driver Maurice Robinson (25)
pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
(AP, 10/23/19)(Reuters, 10/24/19)(Reuters,
10/26/19)(Reuters, 11/7/19)(SFC, 4/9/20, p.A2)
2019 Oct 23, Cyprus said it
would investigate the circumstances under which relatives of
Cambodia's prime minister were granted citizenship and did not rule
out revoking passports if necessary.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Ethiopian police
fired gunshots and teargas as thousands protested over the treatment
of a prominent activist, in a sign that the country's Nobel
Prize-winning prime minister might be losing support among his
powerbase.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Hong Kong's
legislature formally withdrew planned legislation that would have
allowed extraditions to mainland China, but the move was unlikely to
end months of unrest as it met just one of five demands of
pro-democracy demonstrators.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Iraq's defense
minister said US troops withdrawing from northeastern Syria to Iraq
are "transiting" and will leave the country within four weeks.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Israel's former
military chief Benny Gantz received an official mandate to form the
country's next government. He had few options after last month's
elections left him in a near tie with PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Gantz
will have 28 days to form a coalition.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, The head of
Italy's Bio-on was arrested in a probe into false accounting and
market manipulation, just three months after the bio-plastics maker
suffered an attack by a short seller fund that erased 80% of its
value.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Lebanon's
state-run news agency said a Lebanese man shot down an Israeli drone
with a hunting rifle near the border village of Kfar Kila.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Six medical
workers were released in Libya after being abducted and held hostage
for nearly two weeks by unknown armed men.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 23, North Korea said
that leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the destruction of all
facilities built by South Korea at the Mount Kumgang (Diamond
Mountain) tourist zone, apparently because of Seoul’s refusal to
break ranks with the United States.
(SFC, 10/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 23, Russian President
Vladimir Putin hosted dozens of leaders of African nations for the
first-ever Russia-Africa summit, reflecting Moscow's new push to
expand its clout on the continent and saying there is "enormous
potential for growth." 43 leaders of the continent's 54 countries
attended the 2-day summit.
(AP, 10/23/19)(SFC, 10/24/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 23, Russia landed the
world’s biggest military aircraft in South Africa, the Tupolev
Tu-160 ‘Blackjack’ bomber, in a rare display of cooperation between
the defense forces of the two countries. The two bombers, which are
capable of launching nuclear missiles, are the first to ever land in
Africa and were escorted by fighter jets from the South African Air
Force as they arrived at the Waterkloof air base in Tshwane.
(Bloomberg, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Russian military
police began patrols on part of the Syrian border, quickly moving to
implement an accord with Turkey that divvies up control of
northeastern Syria. The Kremlin told Kurdish fighters to pull back
from the entire frontier or else face being "steamrolled" by Turkish
forces.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, South African
Airways (SAA) and Comair began returning grounded planes to service
a day after South Africa's air safety regulator flagged maintenance
problems.
(Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, In Switzerland a
Syrian Kurdish man set himself on fire in front of the United
Nations refugee agency's headquarters in Geneva. Security guards
doused the flames and the man was then taken by helicopter to a
hospital in Lausanne that specializes in treating burns.
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, Ukraine's Pres.
Volodymyr Zelensky urged a group of lawmakers to take lie detector
tests to show they are not involved in a widening corruption
scandal.
(SFC, 10/24/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 23, Michael Lynk, the
UN independent expert on human rights in the Palestinian
territories, called for an international ban on all products made in
Israeli settlements as a step to potentially end Israel's 52-year
"illegal occupation".
(AP, 10/23/19)
2019 Oct 23, The World Health
Organization said Zambia has reported its first case of polio since
1995, in a boy (2) paralyzed by the vaccine-derived poliovirus
(VDPV).
(http://tinyurl.com/y467dngg)(SFC, 10/24/19,
p.A2)
2019 Oct 24, It was reported
that the US Department of Justice has upgraded its probe into the
origins of the Russia investigation from an administrative review to
a criminal investigation. The investigation is being overseen by
Attorney General William Barr and being run by Connecticut US
Attorney John Durham.
(CBS News, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, A federal watchdog
agency said the US government has lost billions of dollars of oil
and gas revenue to fossil-fuel companies because of a loophole in a
decades-old law. The loophole dates from an effort in 1995 to
encourage drilling in the Gulf of Mexico by offering oil companies a
temporary break from paying royalties on the oil produced.
(NY Times, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, The US National
Drought Mitigation Center said the drought that threatened crops and
helped spark wildfires across the South is showing the first real
improvement in weeks. The Center said more than a quarter of the
Southeast was now drought-free.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, A federal
magistrate in San Francisco held US Education Sec. Betsy DeVos in
contempt of court and fined her $100,000 for violating a court order
by continuing to collect debts from more than 16,000 former students
of Corinthian Colleges.
{USA, Education}
(SFC, 10/26/19, p.C2)
2019 Oct 24, A Northern
California wildfire exploded in size in Sonoma County amid dangerous
winds that prompted the state's largest utility to impose electrical
blackouts to prevent fires. The wind-driven wildfire forced some
2,000 people to flee homes in the wine region. The Kincade fire
erupted near the base of a damaged high-voltage transmission tower
owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. PG&E said it didn't
de-energize a 230,000-volt transmission line near Geyserville that
malfunctioned minutes before the fire erupted.
(AP, 10/24/19)(Reuters, 10/24/19)(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, In Florida the
450-foot Guitar Hotel held its grand opening on Seminole land in
Hollywood, once only a trailer park and some smoke shops. At night
beams of light will mimic the strings of the guitar shaped
structure. It's the latest step in the Seminole Hard Rock empire,
which includes naming rights on the Miami-area stadium where the
2020 Super Bowl will be played.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, Edward Adams (56),
a University of Minnesota law professor accused of stealing millions
of dollars from his father-in-law's company, pleaded guilty in an
agreement with prosecutors. Adams was indicted in 2017 and accused
of stealing more than $4 million from investors in a diamond-growing
company, Apollo Diamond, between 2006 and 2013.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, In West Virginia
Clinton Terry Powers (70) and Randy Lee Garcia (67) died when their
single-engine aircraft crashed in Summit Point, an unincorporated
community near the state's border with Virginia.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, Drugmaker Amgen
Inc said that starting next year, its official list price for
cholesterol drug Repatha will be the lower price it began offering
last year to patients on Medicare and those paying for the drug
out-of-pocket.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Argentina gave the
go-ahead to Amazon.com Inc's Web Services division AWS to build an
$800-million data facility in Buenos Aires, which would mark a
massive investment for the company in South America.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, A court in
southern Bangladesh sentenced 16 people to death for the killing of
a young woman in a horrific attack earlier this year. Nusrat Jahan
Rafi (19) was set on fire on April 6 after she and her family
refused to withdraw sexual harassment charges against the principal
of the Islamic school she attended.
(CBS News, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Researchers warned
that as the planet warms, deadly conflicts over water, food and fuel
shortages and price hikes for those essentials are expected to start
increasing dramatically, including in relatively stable parts of the
world. A new interactive "Chaos Map" from Britain's Anglia Ruskin
University (ARU) displays 1,300 deaths from violent social unrest
and suicides linked to water, food and fuel insecurity over a
13-year period from 2005 to 2017.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Bolivian President
Evo Morales rebuked a regional election observer mission for
questioning the legitimacy of what he again insisted was an outright
win for him in the first round of a disputed election.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Chile's Pres.
Sebastian Pinera announced a freeze on a 9.2% increase in
electricity tariffs until the end of next year, following large
protests in Santiago. At least 18 people have died in violence
following the announcement of a 4-cent subway fair rise.
(SFC, 10/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 24, It was reported
that Dubai has loosened its liquor laws to allow tourists to
purchase alcohol in state-controlled stores, previously only
accessible to license-holding residents, as the United Arab Emirates
saw the first drop in alcohol sales by volume in a decade.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Egypt and Ethiopia
agreed to resume talks over a giant Nile dam and reach a deal on
sharing the vital waters, downplaying a recent escalation of
tensions.
(Bloomberg, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Egyptian
authorities said the death toll from heavy rains that pummeled the
capital of Cairo and other parts of the country this week has risen
to 11.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Prominent
Ethiopian activist Jawar Mohammed called for calm amid protests that
have killed 16 people and are challenging Nobel Prize-winning PM
Abiy Ahmed in his political heartland.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, The European
Parliament awarded its annual prize for the defence of human rights
to jailed ethnic Uighur economics professor Ilham Tohti, angering
Beijing which called him a criminal and a terrorist. Uighur rights
advocate Tohti was jailed for life in China in 2014 on separatism
charges that were widely denounced at the time in Western capitals.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Rich countries
gathered in France to discuss replenishing an international fund
that is meant to help poor nations tackle climate change, but which
is falling short of its targets because the US has stopped
contributing. The Green Climate Fund has spent much of the $7
billion it received from governments in the past five years. Donor
governments pledged $9.8 billion in fresh financing for the Green
Climate Fund, set up to help developing nations tackle global
warming.
(AP, 10/24/19)(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, Thousands took to
the streets of Guinea in the largest of a series of protests over a
suspected effort by President Alpha Conde to seek a third term that
have led to the jailing of a dozen opposition campaigners and
politicians. The march was organized by the National Front for the
Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of politicians and
activists opposed to a constitutional change that could let Conde
seek a third term.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Hundreds of Hong
Kong protesters, some waving Catalan flags and banners urging "a
fight for freedom together", rallied in support of a separate
Catalonia, broaching an issue that is anathema to Hong Kong's rulers
in Beijing.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Iran's Fars news
agency reported that one hand of an unidentified convict was cut off
in a prison in Sari city, some 200 km (120 miles) northeast of
Tehran. The report said the convict had committed 28 robberies.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, Israeli rights
group B'Tselem said Israeli authorities have demolished at least 140
Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem this year, the highest annual
number since it began keeping records in 2004.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Kenya's top
telecoms operator Safaricom said it has named Peter Ndegwa as its
new CEO, ending a three-month search for a new leader following the
death of its long-time head Bob Collymore.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Lebanon's Pres.
Michel Aoun pleaded with tens of thousands of protesters who have
blocked main roads and paralyzed the nation for days, urging them to
back economic reforms proposed by the prime minister as the "first
step" toward saving the country from economic collapse.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, North Korea
accused US officials of maintaining hostility against Pyongyang
despite a "special" relationship between leader Kim Jong Un and
President Donald Trump and urged Washington to act "wisely" through
the end of the year.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Norway's foreign
minister said countries at a two-day conference have pledged at
least 583 billion kroner ($64 billion) toward protecting the oceans.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Russian President
Vladimir Putin sought to expand Moscow's clout in Africa by touting
military aid and economic projects at the first-ever Russia-Africa
summit and even offered to help mediate a growing dispute between
two of the continent's largest powers, Egypt and Ethiopia.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, A Russian
commission recommended President Vladimir Putin pardon a Norwegian
man jailed for spying, spurring hopes in Norway that he may be
released as part of a spy swap brokered behind closed doors. Frode
Berg, a retired guard on the Norwegian-Russian border, was detained
in December 2017 and jailed for 14 years after being convicted of
gathering intelligence about nuclear submarines.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Chief executive
Igor Sechin said Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, has fully
switched the currency of its contracts to euros from US dollars in a
move to shield its transactions from US sanctions.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, In South Africa
hackers shut down the cyber network of Johannesburg City Council,
targeting computers of local government employees in the economic
hub. The attack via employee computers affected its call centers,
website and online electronic platforms. The hackers allegedly
demanded ransom in the form of bitcoins in exchange for reactivating
internet and email links to the city's billing systems.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, Spanish dictator
General Francisco Franco's remains were exhumed from a state
mausoleum outside Madrid where they had lain since his death in
1975, for reburial in a private family vault.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, In northern Syria
a car boobytrapped with explosives detonated, wounding four people
in the town of Tal Abyad, taken by Turkish-backed forces from
Kurdish fighters during Turkey's invasion. Syrian news reported that
Turkish forces and their allies attacked Syrian government troops in
northeastern Syria, killing some of them, and that they also clashed
with Kurdish-led fighters.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, Turkey's central
bank slashed its policy rate more than expected to 14%, taking
advantage of an inflation dip and a steadier lira after Washington
cancelled just-announced sanctions over Ankara's military incursion
into northeast Syria.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, The Turkish and
Syrian ambassadors clashed at their first UN Security Council
encounter since Turkey launched a cross-border offensive earlier
this month following the withdrawal of US forces.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, Ukraine's central
bank lowered its main interest rate for the fourth time this year to
15.5% from 16.5%, a steeper than expected cut, saying price
pressures were easing more rapidly while economic growth was picking
up.
(Reuters, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 24, The United Nations
said it would send a special mission to investigate human rights
abuses in Chile, where a general strike went into its second day
following a week of street protests that left 19 dead.
(AFP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 24, An independent UN
human rights expert said Iran executed seven child offenders last
year and two so far this year even though human rights law prohibits
the death penalty for anyone under age 18. Javaid Rehman said he has
"credible information" that there are at least 90 child offenders
currently on death row in Iran.
(AP, 10/24/19)
2019 Oct 25, The United States
asked foreign governments to submit detailed reports on humanitarian
exports to Iran, a step observers said could have a chilling effect
and cast a pall over European efforts to allow trade.
(AFP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, The United States
suspended duty-free treatment for $1.3 billion worth of Thai
imports, including seafood products, under its Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) program, saying Thailand did not "afford workers
in Thailand internationally recognized worker rights." The tariffs
that would take effect in six months would be 4-5% instead of zero.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 25, US Defense
Secretary said the US will strengthen its military presence in Syria
with "mechanized forces" to prevent Islamic State fighters seizing
oil fields and revenue.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, The US Dfense
Dept. said it has awarded a $10 billion, 10-year Joint Enterprise
Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft Corp. Amazon had
been considered a front- runner to win.
(SSFC, 10/27/19, p.D3)
2019 Oct 25, The US Treasury
department said the government ended fiscal year 2019 with the
largest budget deficit in seven years as gains in tax receipts were
offset by higher spending and growing debt service payments. The
budget deficit widened to $984 billion, which was 4.6% of the
nation's gross domestic product.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, US officials said
the Trump administration is banning US flights to all Cuban cities
except Havana starting in December to prevent tourism banned by US
law.
(SFC, 10/26/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 24, A federal
magistrate in San Francisco held US Education Sec. Betsy DeVos in
contempt of court and fined her $100,000 for violating a court order
by continuing to collect debts from more than 16,000 former students
of Corinthian Colleges.
(SFC, 10/26/19, p.C2)
2019 Oct 25, Maria Butina,
convicted in the US of being a Russian agent, was deported by the
United States after serving a prison sentence. The Russian woman
returned to Moscow the next day and declared that she has no desire
to go back to America.
(AP, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 25, The American Civil
Liberties Union said US immigration authorites separated more than
1,500 children from their parents at the Mexican border early in the
Trump administration, bringing the total number of children
separated since July 2017 to more than 5,400.
(SFC, 10/26/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 25, The US weather
service said parts of the drought-parched South were under flood
watches and warnings with forecasters saying as much as 10 inches of
rain could fall.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, California
firefighters sought to take advantage of a brief lull in high winds
behind fast-moving wildfires that forced the evacuation of more than
40,000 residents north of Los Angeles.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, In Missouri a jury
recommended that St. Louis County police Sgt. Keith Wildhaber be
awarded nearly $20 million after finding the department
discriminated against him because he's gay.
(AP, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 25, In South Carolina
former Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis, found guilty of
misconduct for using his power and office to push a personal
assistant to have sex with him, was sentenced to the maximum of a
year in prison.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Facebook unveiled
Facebook News, its latest foray into digital publishing.
(SFC, 10/26/19, p.D1)
2019 Oct 25, Target Corp became
the latest retailer to remove all 22-ounce bottles of Johnson &
Johnson baby powder from its stores, after the healthcare
conglomerate recalled some bottles because of possible asbestos
contamination.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Argentina's
central bank kept selling dollars in defense of the beleaguered
peso, with concerns rising about the bank's falling reserves ahead
of the Oct. 27 presidential election dreaded by the financial
markets.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, It was reported
that Australia has banned climbers on Uluru, one of the country's
landmarks that is sacred to its indigenous custodians. The UNESCO
World Heritage Site, formerly known as Ayers Rock, will become
permanently off limits to climbers from Oct. 26 after a decades-long
fight by the Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Bolivian elections
officials said Pres. Evo Morales had received 47% of the Oct. 20
vote with a margin large enough to avoid a runoff.
(SSFC, 10/27/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 25, British police
arrested a 4th person in connection with the deaths of 39 people
found in the back of a truck two days earlier. A man (48) from
Northern Ireland was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the
deaths. The bodies were found in the back of a truck at the
Waterglade Industrial Park, Essex, which had arrived in the UK from
Belgium.
(AP, 10/25/19)(SFC, 10/26/19, p.A2)(Reuters,
10/26/19)
2019 Oct 25, In China Brazilian
President Jair Bolsonaro met Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping in
Beijing, as the Latin American leader looks to balance his tilt
toward the US.
(Bloomberg, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, EU ambassadors
agreed in principle to delay Brexit, but set no new date.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Iraqi police fired
live shots into the air as well as rubber bullets and dozens of tear
gas canisters to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters,
sending young demonstrators running for cover and enveloping a main
bridge in Baghdad with thick white smoke. The anti-government
violence claimed the lives of 42 people.
(AP, 10/25/19)(AP, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 25, In Iraq at least
three people died when a Shi'ite militia group opened fire on a
group of protesters attempting to break into the group's local
offices in the southern city of Nasiriya.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Torrential rains
battered parts of eastern Japan, killing at least four people,
causing rivers to overflow and prompting evacuation orders for
hundreds of thousands two weeks after the areas were hit by floods
and high winds from Typhoon Hagibis.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Lebanese banks,
universities and schools remained closed on the ninth day of
nationwide protests. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's
militant Hezbollah, called on his supporters to leave
anti-government protests to avoid friction and seek dialogue
instead.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, In northern Mexico
three people were killed and hundreds evacuated from their homes as
fires spread through forests near the US border.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, In the Philippines
David Navarro, a town mayor on Mindanao listed on President Rodrigo
Duterte's list of local officials suspected to have drug links, was
killed by still unidentified gunmen. Navarro was arrested by the
police a day earlier after he was accused of assaulting a massage
therapist in Cebu.
(Reuters, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, The Russian
Defense Ministry said it has sent hundreds of additional troops to
Syria to help patrol the country's Turkey-Syria border after a deal
between Moscow and Ankara.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Russian soldier
Ramil Shamsutdinov (20) killed eight of his comrades and wounded two
others in a shooting outburst at a base in Siberia before being
apprehended.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Serbia's Pres.
Aleksandar Vucic praised Russia for sending sophisticated
anti-aircraft missiles to joint air defense drills, the first such
deployment by Moscow to a country seeking to join the European
Union.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Serbian PM Ana
Brnabic went to Moscow to sign a free trade deal with the Eurasian
Economic Union (EEU), Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hapless EU
clone. The new agreement extends the cooperation to Armenia and
Kyrgyzstan. As Serbia worked on the deal, it received repeated
warnings from the EU that this represented an unwelcome detour from
the European path.
(Bloomberg, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Yemeni officials
said the internationally-recognized government and southern
separatists have reached an initial agreement to end their
infighting in the country's south. The tentative deal between the
separatists and the government envisages the formation of a new
Cabinet with equal representation of northern and southern
politicians, excluding the Houthis.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, A massive march
that Zimbabwe's government tried to rouse for a new anti-sanctions
public holiday appeared to fizzle, as just hundreds of people turned
out in Harare, instead of the many thousands the ruling party had in
mind.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 25, Humane Society
International said Zimbabwe has sent about 30 young elephants to
China this week, where they will be held in zoos. Authorities said
at least 55 elephants have starved to death in the past two months
in Hwange National Park as drought dries up water sources and
overcrowding results in massive loss of habitat. The park has a
carrying capacity of 15,000 elephants but is home to more than
50,000.
(AP, 10/25/19)
2019 Oct 26, A US convoy of
over a dozen vehicles was seen driving south of the northeastern
city of Qamishli, likely heading to the oil-rich Deir el-Zour area
or another base before it. Russia's Defense Ministry harshly
criticized the United States decision to send armored vehicles and
combat troops into eastern Syria to protect oil fields.
(AP, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 26, Remnants of
Tropical Storm Olga caused soggy conditions in Mississippi and
Alabama and dozens of flights were canceled or delayed at New
Orleans' main airport after two power outages.
(AP, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 26, In Texas a gunman
opened fire at a crowded football homecoming party for Texas A&M
Commerce, killing two young people and leaving 16 others injured
before escaping into what the local sheriff described as "mass
chaos." Brandon Ray Gonzalez (23) was arrested two days later in the
killing of Kevin Berry Jr. (23) and Byron Craven Jr. (23).
(AP, 10/27/19)(SFC, 10/29/19, p.A45)
2019 Oct 26, Chilean President
Sebastian Pinera called for a major cabinet reshuffle in a bid to
quell a week of mass protests against inequality that have rocked
the South American nation.
(Reuters, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 26, Iran's
semi-official news agency reported that its judiciary has released
two labor activists on bail. Sepideh Gholian, arrested in October
2018, was released on some $130,000 bail, along with Atefeh Rangriz,
arrested last May. His bail terms were not provided.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 26, In Iraq at least
seven more protesters were killed in clashes with security forces in
Baghdad and the southern town of Nasiriyah. Four people were killed
when they were struck by tear gas canisters in Baghdad, Three
protesters were shot dead In Nasiriyah when they attacked the office
of a provincial official. Iraq's semi-official human rights
commission said at least 63 protesters have been killed in two days
of anti-government rallies.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 26, Kurdish fighters
wounded six Turkish soldiers amid a shaky truce in northern Syria
south of Ras al-Ayn. One of the wounded soldiers died the following
day.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 26, Lebanese
protesters dug in behind roadblocks they had set up in and outside
Beirut, lying in the street and chanting "peaceful, peaceful" to
resist as security forces struggled to drag them out of the way.
(AP, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 26, In Myanmar the
Arakan Army abducted more than 50 people, most of them members of
the security forces in Rathedaung township, Rakhine state, in the
latest escalation of violence in the region where it has been
fighting government troops for months.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 26, Portugal's PM
Antonio Costa promised to raise the monthly minimum wage by 25% to
750 euros ($830) by 2023 as he started his second term in the
office, while reiterating the goal to cut public debt to below 100%
of GDP.
(Reuters, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 26, In South Sudan
several volunteers of International Organization for Migration were
caught in a crossfire during clashes between rival groups in the
Central Equatoria region. The UN migration agency soon halted Ebola
screenings at five border crossings in East Africa.
(GMA, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 26, In Syria Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, was killed in a
daring nighttime airborne raid by American special operations in
Idlib province. President Donald Trump announced his death the next
day saying al-Baghdadi had fled into a "dead-end" tunnel with three
of his children and detonated a suicide vest. Two children died with
al-Baghdadi, one fewer than originally reported. The children
appeared to be under the age of 12. Eleven other children were
escorted from the site unharmed. Four women and two men who were
wearing suicide vests and refused to surrender inside the compound
were killed. Baghdadi's remains were buried at sea within 24 hours
of his death.
(AP, 10/27/19)(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 26, More than 100,000
people thronged the streets of Taiwan's capital Taipei for East
Asia's largest Pride march, months after the self-ruled island began
formally allowing same-sex marriage, the first place in Asia to do
so.
(Reuters, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 26, Pope Francis
called for an end to the plundering of the Amazon basin, as he
closed an assembly of Roman Catholic bishops who discussed the
challenges the Church faces in the region. Catholic bishops from
across the Amazon called for the ordination of married men as
priests to address the clergy shortage in the region. The majority
of 180 bishops also called for the Vatican to reopen a debate on
ordaining women as deacons.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)(SSFC, 10/27/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 26, Vietnamese PM
Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered local authorities to establish whether
Vietnamese citizens are among the 39 people found dead in the back
of a truck near London on October 23.
(Reuters, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 26, Sources said a
preliminary deal between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and
southern separatists to end a power struggle in Aden will see the
separatists included in a new technocrat cabinet and both sides'
forces placed under government control.
(Reuters, 10/26/19)
2019 Oct 27, It was confirmed
that Sabrina de Sousa, a former US spy pardoned by Italy in
connection with the CIA kidnapping of a terrorism suspect in Milan,
has fled from Italy to the United States fearing for her safety.
Sousa is one of 26 people convicted by Italy in absentia over the
2003 abduction of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, but the
only one to spend any time in prison for the operation, in which she
denies involvement.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, The US Air Force
X-37B landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center following a 780-day
mission. The solar-powered plane was flown by remote control without
a crew.
(SFC, 8/30/19, p.A5)
2019 Oct 27, Authorities in
Northern California ordered 180,000 residents to flee their homes as
historic winds fueled a wildfire in the wine country, while
electricity was shut off for millions of people in an effort to
prevent more fires.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, A Texas deputy
located a woman's remains in a shallow grave on Padre Island, near
Corpus Christi. The next day a man's body was discovered beneath the
first body. The bodies were later identified as a missing New
Hampshire couple James Butler (48) and Michelle Butler (46).
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Oct 27, Argentines headed
to the polls, after a year of twists and turns in a dramatic
election race that has been chastening for conservative President
Mauricio Macri, who trails well behind Peronist rival Alberto
Fernandez in opinion polls. Alberto Fernandez, an hour after his
election win, called for Brazil’s left-wing legend Luiz Inacio Lula
Da Silva to be freed from prison.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)(AP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 27, Australia’s most
notorious serial killer, who murdered at least seven people
including two British tourists, has died in prison. Ivan Milat was
convicted in 1996 of the murders of seven backpackers. Milat, who
inspired the horror film Wolf Creek, was successfully prosecuted in
part due to the testimony of British backpacker Paul Onions, who
escaped from the murderer in 1990.
(The Telegraph, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, British police
said three people arrested in connection with the investigation into
the death of 39 people in a truck container have been released on
bail.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, French auction
house Acteon said "Christ Mocked," a long-lost painting by 13th
century Italian master Cimabue, found earlier this year in the
kitchen of an elderly French woman, was sold for 24 million euros
($26.6 million), more than four times the pre-auction estimate.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, Germans in the
eastern state of Thuringia voted in an election in which the
far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) sought to build on successes
in two other regional votes last month and to beat Chancellor Angela
Merkel's conservatives. Bjoern Hoecke led the anti-immigrant,
anti-Muslim Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to double its score
from the previous election in 2014 to 23.4 percent in the
ex-communist Thuringia state, knocking Chancellor Angela Merkel's
CDU party off second spot. The ex-Communist Left Party of Gov. Bodo
Ramelow won 30.1% of the vote.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)(AFP, 10/28/19)(SFC, 10/28/19,
p.A2)
2019 Oct 27, Hong Kong police
said anti-government protesters set fire to shops and hurled petrol
bombs, after riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber
bullets to disperse thousands in the Tsim Sha Tsui harbor-front
hotel district.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, Iraq said that its
National Intelligence Service found Islamic State leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi's location and provided it to the United States.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, Iraqi
anti-government protesters remained in Baghdad's central Tahrir
Square after a night of clashes with security forces who failed to
evict them. Elite counterterrorism forces and state-backed militias
meanwhile deployed across the capital to protect political party
offices and militia headquarters. Security forces dressed in black
arrested 13 activists in Nasiriyah.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, The Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they had worked with the United
States on a "successful" operation against Islamic State, in an
apparent reference to reports that IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is
believed to have been killed in a US military operation in Syria.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, The Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it had agreed to withdraw more
than 30 km (19 miles) from the Turkish border, an announcement
welcomed by Damascus which said Turkey should now end its
"aggression" in northeast Syria.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, Thousands of
Lebanese formed a human chain along highways and coastal roads in a
show of solidarity with anti-government protests.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, It was reported
that volunteer searchers in Mexico have found 12 skeletons and one
decomposed body in a shallow pit near the resort of Puerto Penasco.
(SSFC, 10/27/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 27, Mozambique's
National Election Commission (CNE) said incumbent President Filipe
Nyusi has won a landslide victory in the Oct. 15 election it was
hoped would calm tensions in a nation soon to become a top global
gas exporter, but has instead stoked divisions as opposition parties
cry foul.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, In Myanmar the
Arakan Army said government troops sunk several boats carrying
dozens of soldiers and police officers taken hostage by the rebels a
day earlier. Many deaths were reported.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, North Korea said
it's running out of patience with the United States over what it
described as hostile policies and unilateral disarmament demands,
and warned that a close personal relationship between the leaders
alone wouldn't be enough to prevent nuclear diplomacy from
derailing.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, In Spain tens of
thousands of people marched in Barcelona to protest the separatist
movement in the northeastern Catalonia region that has created
Spain's worst political crisis in decades.
(AP, 10/27/19)
2019 Oct 27, Uruguayans headed
out to vote in the South American country's general election, with
the liberal coalition that has ruled for more than 14 years facing
its toughest challenge yet from a resurgent conservative right.
Neither candidate managed an outright win. Daniel Martinez of the
ruling Broad Front had 37.5% support and Luis Lacalle Pou of the
National Party had 29% support.
(Reuters, 10/27/19)(SFC, 10/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 28, US President
Donald Trump said he expected to sign a significant part of the
trade deal with China ahead of schedule but did not elaborate on the
timing.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, US President
Donald Trump said in a letter the United States plans to cooperate
with "like-minded nations" to promote security in next-generation 5G
networks.
(AP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Pres. Donald Trump
attended a conference of police chiefs in Chicago. Eddie Johnson,
the city's top cop, skipped the event. City Mayor Lori Lightfoot
also refused to meet with Trump during his visit.
(SFC, 10/29/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 28, The US government
extended temporary protection for Salvadorans living in the United
States by an additional year, in a potential sign of easing tensions
over migration. El Salvador's Pres. Nayib Bukele said the temporary
protected status (TPS) will protect more than 200,000 Salvadorans
living in the US.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)(SFC, 10/29/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 28, In southern
California the Getty Fire in Los Angeles erupted early today and
forced thousands of residents to flee their homes as winds reached
extremely dangerous levels. In northern California The Kincade Fire
that broke out last week amid Sonoma County's vineyards and wineries
grew to at least 103 square miles (267 square km), destroying 94
buildings, including 40 homes, and threatening 80,000 more
structures, authorities said. Nearly 200,000 people were under
evacuation orders, mostly from the city of Santa Rosa.
(AP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, In Chicago classes
were canceled for about 300,000 students for an eighth day as the
teachers' union and public school district failed over the weekend
to resolve a deadlock in contract talks over class sizes, support
staff levels and pay.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, It was reported
that a newly approved three-drug treatment for tuberculosis will be
available in 150 countries including India and South Africa, priced
at $1,040 for a complete regimen, more than twice the cost proposed
in the past by advocacy groups for other treatments.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Allergan Plc said
it would pay $750 million to settle a class action lawsuit from a
group of direct purchasers of Alzheimer's disease therapy Namenda,
in a resolution to the litigation that was set to face trial today.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, AT&T Inc
unveiled a three-year strategic plan that included adding two new
board members, selling off up to $10 billion worth of non-core
businesses next year and paying off all its debt from the purchase
of Time Warner, bowing to pressure from activist investor Elliott
Management.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, In Bolivia
protesters blocked roads and shop owners kept their stores shut in
La Paz as people took to the streets in a strike called by the
opposition to protest at what they say was fraud at elections giving
President Evo Morales a fourth term.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, British MPs
defeated yet another attempt by PM Boris Johnson to force an early
election, just hours after the EU agreed to postpone Brexit for up
to three months.
(AFP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, In northern
Burkina Faso suspected jihadists killed 16 villagers in an incident
highlighting the increased presence of Sahel-based Islamists in the
area.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Bitcoin held
ground near a one-month high scaled over the weekend after China's
president Xi Jinping said the world's second biggest economy should
accelerate the development of blockchain technology.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, An Egyptian train
conductor forced two poor street vendors without tickets to jump off
a moving train, leading to the death of one of the youths in the
Nile Delta town of Tanta. The conductor was soon arrested.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 28, In Egypt a police
conscript was killed in a militant attack in the restive northern
part of the Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 28, France-based LVMH
offered to buy Tiffany & Co, known for its engagement rings and
ties to Hollywood glamor. The owner of Louis Vuitton and Bulgari
sought to expand in jewelry, one of the fastest-growing parts of the
luxury goods market.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, In Georgia
thousands of state, private and media websites were knocked out and
their home pages made to display an image of former Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili holding a poster saying "I'll be
back!"
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 28, Hong Kong's
Financial Secretary said the city has fallen into recession, hit by
five months of anti-government protests that erupted in flames at
the weekend, and is unlikely to achieve any growth this year.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Iran blocked a
female UN inspector from touring its Natanz nuclear facility. Iran
alleged the inspector tested positive for suspected traces of
explosive nitrates.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Oct 28, Iran's state TV
reported that five people were stabbed to death in a house in the
northern Gilan province, including four members of the same family.
One suspect was arrested.
(AP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Iraqi authorities
imposed a curfew from midnight to 6 a.m. in Baghdad, as renewed
anti-government protests rage for a fourth day. Three
anti-government protesters were killed and 105 were wounded in
clashes with security forces in Baghdad as thousands of students
took to the streets in defiance of a government order and tear gas
from security forces. Parliament voted cancel all privileges and
bonuses for senior officials, but the legislature did not actually
amend the law governing such matters.
(AP, 10/28/19)(SFC, 10/29/19, p.A3)
2019 Oct 28, Italy's UniCredit
said it has uncovered a data breach involving the personal records
of 3 million domestic clients, the third security incident at
Italy's top bank in recent years.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Lebanese banks
said they would ensure public sector workers were paid their
salaries as they remain closed by a wave of protests against
politicians blamed for corruption and steering Lebanon towards
economic collapse. Protesters set up new roadblocks early to keep
pressure up, defying security forces who tried to re-open roadways
but with orders not to use force.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, It was reported
that South Africa has imposed emergency measures, including
rationing, to save dwindling water supplies after an abnormally hot,
dry summer coupled with below average rainfall and a spike in usage
pushes the country towards a crippling shortage.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Syrian Kurdish
forces said they are increasing security at prisons and detention
facilities holding tens of thousands of Islamic State militants and
supporters, including foreigners, following the death of the
extremist group's leader in a US military raid.
(AP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Turkey's state-run
news agency said police have detained 20 foreign nationals suspected
of links to the Islamic State group.
(AP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, The Vatican
released a declaration in which leaders of Christianity, Islam and
Judaism joined forces against assisted suicide and euthanasia. The
declaration states that no health care provider should be "coerced
or pressured" into providing assisted suicide or any form of
euthanasia.
(AP, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, The Vatican Secret
Archives, containing millions of documents spanning 12 centuries,
are no longer officially "secret." The Vatican said the new name
will be the Vatican Apostolic Archives. The archives first got their
name around 1610. The collection of papers, documents and parchments
date back to the 700s and make the archives one of the world's most
important research centers.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 28, Zimbabwe's
national airline resumed flights to South Africa, after a halt last
week when South Africa's state-run airports management firm barred
the airline from using the country's airports over unpaid fees.
(Reuters, 10/28/19)
2019 Oct 29, The US House
overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill threatening to sanction
Turkey, warning that a deal struck with the Trump administration
won’t necessarily save the NATO ally from economic punishment for
its military operation in northern Syria.
(Bloomberg, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, A US appeals court
issued a stay that blocks the release to a congressional committee
of an unredacted copy of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's
report detailing Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 29, White House
adviser Jared Kushner said the United States and China have come to
an understanding on the direction of their trade relationship after
a nearly 16-month trade war.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, US Army Lieutenant
Colonel Alexander Vindman, director of European affairs on the
National Security Council, testified that after listening to Trump
ask Ukraine's president to investigate a domestic political rival he
was so alarmed that he reported the matter to a White House lawyer
out of concern for US national security.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, The Pentagon
announced pricing details for its agreement with Lockheed Martin Co
that lowers by 12.7% the cost of the F-35 jets it plans to purchase
through 2022, which may encourage other nations to buy warplanes.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Human Rights Watch
said Washington's sanctions against Tehran have drastically
constrained its ability to pay for humanitarian imports and are
threatening the health rights of Iranians.
(AFP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, A federal judge
blocked Alabama from enforcing the strictest abortion laws in the
country, which were due to come into effect next month and would ban
all abortions unless a mother's health was in danger.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, In southern
California a gunman opened fire on a party late today killing three
men and wounding nine people in Long Beach. The gunman fled the
scene.
(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 29, John Witherspoon
(77), Detroit-born comedian known for his role as Willie Jones in
the "Friday" films, died in Los Angeles.
(Good Morning America, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 29, Ohio-based coal
giant Murray Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,
despite regulatory breaks from the Trump administration.
(The Week, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 29, Dr. Michael
Schloss died as his small plane crashed this morning in the Colonia
section of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, a suburb of New York
City.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 29, In North Dakota an
oil leak was detected late today in the Keystone pipeline near
Edinburg, a tiny community northwest of Grand Forks. An estimated
9,120 barrels of crude oil spilled from a leak.
(Good Morning America, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Texas a mother
and her three young children were discovered dead inside their home
in Deer Park, about 20 miles east of Houston. Police later said that
Ashley Auzenne (39) appeared to have shot and killed her three
children, ages 7, 9 and 11, before turning the gun on herself
following a recent divorce.
(Good Morning America, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 29, Amazon.com Inc
said it would make its grocery delivery service free for Prime
members in the US and integrate all orders for groceries into one
portal.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, WhatsApp filed a
lawsuit against Israeli hacking tool developer NSO Group. The
Facebook-owned software giant alleged that NSO Group built and sold
a hacking platform that exploited a flaw in WhatsApp-owned servers
to help clients hack into the cellphones of at least 1,400 users.
Senior government officials in multiple US-allied countries were
targeted earlier this year with hacking software that used Facebook
Inc's WhatsApp to take over users' phones.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 29, Argentine diplomat
Rafael Mariano Grossi (58) was chosen to head the United Nations'
nuclear watchdog, succeeding the late Yukiya Amano.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, An Australian
judge sentenced Codey Herrmann (21) to 36 years in prison for the
January 16 murder and rape of Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe, whom he
bludgeoned into unconsciousness moments after she stepped off a tram
in Melbourne before setting her corpse on fire.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Australian Border
Force agents discovered 881 pounds of meth hidden in a shipment of
Sriracha hot sauce that arrived in the country from the US. The
estimated street cost in Australia was $300 million. Four people
were soon arrested.
(Insider, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 29, Austrian Post said
a 18 million euros ($20 million) fine for illegally using marketing
data would weigh on its 2019 profit.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Bolivia police
fired tear gas in the capital to disperse protesters as Pres. Evo
Morales and opposition candidate Carlos Mesa wrestled over an audit
of the results.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Brazil the
chief executive of state-run oil giant Petrobras said oil slicks
washing up on beaches along more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of the
northeast coastline could be the worst environmental "attack" in the
country's history.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, The British House
of Commons backed an early national vote authorizing an election on
December 12.
(SFC, 8/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 29, Bulgaria's foreign
ministry gave a Russian diplomat allegedly involved in espionage 24
hours to leave the country after it found that its request to Moscow
to recall him by Oct. 28 had not been carried out.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Cameroon rescue
teams scoured the rubble of destroyed houses for survivors after an
overnight landslide caused by heavy rainfall killed at least 34
people. The death toll soon rose to 42.
(AP, 10/29/19)(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 29, Chileans gathered
for a 12th day of demonstrations demanding greater equality and
better public services.
(SFC, 8/30/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 29, China and the West
clashed at the UN human rights committee over claims that Beijing
systematically oppresses ethnic minority Muslims in far western
Xinjiang province. The United States and 22 other countries at the
United Nations pushed China to stop detaining ethnic Uighurs and
other Muslims, prompting China's UN envoy to warn it was not
"helpful" for trade talks between Beijing and Washington.
(AP, 10/30/19)(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Egyptian security
forces killed 13 suspected militants in a raid in the Mediterranean
coastal city of el-Arish' el-Obour neighborhood.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Egypt at least
four people were killed when a vehicle crashed into a train in the
southern tourist city of Luxor.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Estonia's state
prosecutor's office said police and prosecutor have launched a
separate criminal investigation of Swedbank over alleged money
laundering in 2011-2017.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, European Union
lawmakers began the first visit by a foreign delegation to Indian
Kashmir since New Delhi revoked the region's autonomy in August, and
stone-throwing protests resumed after a weeks-long lull.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Bruno Kahl, the
president of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), said
Huawei Technologies Co. “can’t fully be trusted,” signaling security
hardliners in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government want to keep the
Chinese technology giant out of the country’s fifth-generation
networks.
(Bloomberg, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, German prosecutors
said they have charged two suspected former members of Syria's
secret police with crimes against humanity in a case that human
rights campaigners say marks a major step in the fight to hold to
account Syrian officials responsible for atrocities in the country's
long-running civil war.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Hong Kong activist
Joshua Wong confirmed that he has been disqualified from running in
District Council elections next month, in a blow to protesters’
efforts to win greater electoral influence in the former British
colony.
(Bloomberg, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Indian budget
carrier IndiGo said it has placed an order for 300 Airbus
A320neo-family jets worth at least $33 billion at recent catalog
prices, handing the European plane maker what could be its biggest
ever order from a single carrier.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Iraq masked
gunmen opened fire at protesters in the Shiite city of Karbala,
killing 18 people and wounding hundreds, in one of the deadliest
single attacks since anti-government demonstrations erupted earlier
this month. Protesters said Iraqi soldiers had been stationed around
the protest site but withdrew after the attackers began firing tear
gas and live ammunition. A total of 240 people have been killed
since the unrest began.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Tens of thousands
of Iraqis packed Baghdad's Tahrir Square for a fifth day of
protests, spurred on by reports of security forces shooting dead
protesters in Karbala overnight and the prime minister's refusal to
call early elections.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Israel's PM
Benjamin Netanyahu said he is establishing a committee to address
violence and crime in Israel's Arab community after a spike in
deadly violence this year.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Lebanon's PM Saad
Hariri resigned, bowing to one of the central demands of
anti-government demonstrators shortly after baton-wielding Hezbollah
supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in Beirut,
torching tents, smashing plastic chairs and chasing away protesters.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, North Korea
rejected South Korea's request for working-level talks to discuss
the possible demolition of South Korean-made hotels and other
facilities at the North's Diamond Mountain resort that North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un wants removed. North Korea said face-to-face
meetings would be unnecessary and repeated its stance that details
should be worked out through document exchanges.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, In the Philippines
a magnitude 6.6 earthquake triggered a landslide that killed six
people and injured more than 100 others in Cotabato province.
(SFC, 8/30/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 29, Russian President
Vladimir Putin hailed Cuba's resilience in the face of US pressure
as he hosted Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel for talks on
expanding cooperation between the old allies.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, In Sweden the
Nordic Council handed out annual prizes for literature, youth
literature, film, music and environment, each worth $52,000. Climate
activist Greta Thunberg (16) declined the environmental prize,
saying "the climate movement does not need any more prizes".
(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 29, A Swiss minister
said over 10% of the Alpine country's glaciers have been lost over
the last five years — a depletion not seen in over a century — as
the UN's weather agency opened its first-ever meeting on how climate
change is affecting mountains.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Turkey's state-run
news agency said police have detained three suspected Islamic State
group militants who were allegedly scheming a "sensational" attack
in the aftermath of the killing of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
(AP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Turkey's defense
forces captured 18 Syrian government soldiers in northeastern Syria,
including two who were wounded. Syrian government forces withdrew
from the area after their soldiers were captured.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 29, The Ukrainian army
and Moscow-backed separatists said they had begun to withdraw their
troops from a key area in the war-torn east ahead of a high-stakes
summit with Russia.
(AFP, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 29, Cardinal Pietro
Parolin, the Vatican's number two, acknowledged that the Holy See's
deal to buy a luxury building in London was not transparent and
promised to shed light on it. The Church had spent about $200
million in 2014 for a minority stake in a complex plan to buy a
building in London's Chelsea district and convert it into luxury
apartments.
(Reuters, 10/29/19)
2019 Oct 30, The DC Nationals
beat the Houston Astros 6-2 at Minute Maid Park coming from behind
in the last two games to take the first championship in the history
of the organisation. It was DC’s first baseball title since 1924,
when the Washington Senators won.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3o96r5b)
2019 Oct 30, The United States
and six Gulf allies announced sanctions on 25 entities associated
with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanon's
Hezbollah, in a move to tighten controls on both group's finances.
(AFP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, John Sullivan,
Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to Russia, confirmed the
assertion from former diplomat in Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, that
she was removed after concerted pressure by the president and his
lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
(Bloomberg, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, The US Federal
Reserve lowered borrowing costs for the third time this year. The
benchmark index has notched record highs in the past three sessions.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 30, A new US
government website, FindTreatment.gov, went online to help citizens
with substance abuse issues learn about and locate treatment
options.
(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 30, Imaad Zuberi (40),
a prolific fundraiser charged with funneling illegal foreign
campaign contributions to American political candidates, surrendered
to authorities in Los Angeles and was released on $3 million bond.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 30, A woman in her 40s
was kidnapped in North Las Vegas. Shed was dragged to, Palmdale,
California, by father-and-daughter kidnappers. She was found by
military personnel on Oct. 6 cold but alive after a harrowing,
weeklong kidnapping where she was raped, robbed and left for dead in
the desert. Stanley Alfred Lawton (54) and his daughter Shaniya
Nicole Poche-Lawton (22) were soon arrested.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Oct 30, In Pennsylvania a
mother, stepfather and two brothers, including a 6-year-old, were
found shot to death. Maurice Louis (29), a mentally unstable son,
soon confessed to killing them in their west Philadelphia home.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 30, Boeing Co Chief
Executive Dennis Muilenburg acknowledged the company made mistakes
in the development of a key safety system known as MCAS at the
center of two fatal 737 MAX crashes, at a US House hearing.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Former Exxon Mobil
Corp Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson answered questions about
the oil major's methods of measuring potential costs of climate
change, as he testified in a closely watched civil lawsuit accusing
the company of hiding the costs from investors.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, In southern
California a new wildfire erupted, forcing the evacuation of the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and nearby homes, as both ends of
the state struggled with blazes, dangerously gusty weather and
deliberate blackouts.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, In Georgia two
person were killed when a Piper PA-28 plane crashed into a townhome
in the Atlanta area.
(AP, 10/30/19)(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 30, In Indiana
emergency workers were called to the home in Battle Ground and found
36-year-old Laura Hurst dead with an 8-foot python coiled around her
neck. The Reticulated Python was one of 140 snakes that were found
inside the home.
(ABC News, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 30, In Michigan corn
farmers, ethanol producers, refinery representatives, energy traders
and state and local officials from the Midwest all blasted away at
the Trump administration's proposed biofuels plan for next year
during a public hearing hosted by the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Facebook said it
had suspended three networks of Russian accounts that attempted to
interfere in the domestic politics of eight African countries, and
were tied to a Russian businessman accused of meddling in past US
elections.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, A Bosnian court
jailed former Bosnian Serb soldier Radomir Susnjar (64) for 20 years
for setting ablaze 57 Muslim Bosniaks, of whom 26 including a
two-day-old baby died, near the eastern town of Visegrad early in
Bosnia's 1992-95 war.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Brazil's Justice
Minister Sergio Moro said that he has asked the top public
prosecutor to investigate a statement by a Rio de Janeiro doorman
that links President Jair Bolsonaro to suspects in the March 14,
2018, murder of Rio councilwoman Marielle Franco. President Jair
Bolsonaro said he could cancel the license of Brazil's largest TV
network Globo after it reported an allegation connecting him with a
former police officer accused of the killing of councilwoman Franco.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, An official
British inquiry said combustible materials used to refurbish
London's Grenfell Tower were central to the catastrophic chain of
events in June 2017 that turned an ordinary kitchen fire into an
inferno that killed 71 people.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Bulgaria said it
had declined a visa to the incoming defence attaché at the Russian
embassy in Sofia, a day after expelling another Russian diplomat
over spying allegations.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, The World Health
Organization said more than 7 million cases of malaria have been
reported in Burundi this year. Officials blamed the outbreak on
factors including the lack of protective bed nets, problems with
medicines and climate change. Malaria has killed nearly 2,700 people
this year in the East African nation and caused 64% more cases than
in 2018.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Chile's Pres.
Sebastian Pinera canceled the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
summit of world leaders next month in Santiago after a wave of
deadly protests in recent weeks. The decision also cancelled the
United Nations climate change conference, the COP25, due to take
place in Santiago Dec. 2-13.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Denmark said it
will allow the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline to pass through
its territory. The decision removed a major hurdle for the $11
billion project slated for commissioning by the end of this year to
bring even more gas from Siberia into Germany. The link has drawn
sanctions threats from US President Donald Trump, who wants Europe
to buy his country’s liquefied natural gas.
(Bloomberg, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's Cabinet passed new measures aimed at helping fight
far-right extremism and anti-Semitism following an attack on a
synagogue earlier this month.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Hungary vetoed a
joint NATO declaration on Ukraine as it did not contain a reference
to its neighbor's obligation to fully respect the rights of ethnic
Hungarians living there.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Hungary's PM
Viktor Orban, after hosting a meeting with Russian President
Vladimir Putin, said that good relations with Russia are a necessity
because of his country's geographical location. Putin said that
Russia expects to complete construction of the TurkStream pipeline
to Turkey this year and build extensions to Bulgaria and Serbia the
following year.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Two rockets were
fired into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, killing one Iraqi soldier
and adding to the violence gripping the country amid unprecedented
anti-government protests and a violent security crackdown.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Israeli police
officers shot a Palestinian woman who attempted to stab troops
outside a contested holy site in the West Bank city of Hebron. The
woman was treated by Israeli paramedics and hospitalized in critical
condition.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, In Lebanon life
slowly returned to normal in Beirut after troops reopened major
roads following 13 days of nationwide protests that paralyzed the
country and forced PM Saad Hariri to resign.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, A Myanmar court
sentenced five members of a traditional theatrical troupe to a year
in prison for their gibes about the military.
(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 30, NATO chief Jens
Stoltenberg welcomed a pullback by the Ukrainian army and
Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, but reiterated calls
for Russia to "withdraw all their troops".
(AFP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Police in the
South African city of Cape Town used water cannons while dispersing
and arresting hundreds of foreigners, including children, who have
camped for weeks outside the UN refugee agency's office.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Sudan officials
said "several thousand troops," mainly from the paramilitary Rapid
Support Forces, have returned from Yemen over the past two months.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, South Sudan's main
opposition accused the government of failing to push through a peace
deal and called for a six-month delay in the formation of a unity
administration, casting a shadow over efforts to end years of
fighting.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Syrian state media
reported that Syrian army troops clashed with Turkish forces near
the border town of Ras al Ain, as Ankara said it reserved the right
to launch another cross-border offensive against the Kurdish YPG
militia.
(Reuters, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Syria's government
and opposition sat down in Geneva for their first face-to-face
talks, amid the hopes of millions of Syrians and governments from
Washington to Moscow that they could become a step toward ending the
country's devastating 8 ½-year war.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 30, Turkey summoned
the US ambassador in protest at votes in Congress the previous day
to recognize the Turkish genocide against Armenians and to sanction
Ankara for its military offensive in northeast Syria.
(The Telegraph, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Turkey's police
chief said 100 people have been detained in raids against the
Islamic State and that the group was allegedly planning an attack.
The suspects were detained in 26 raids across 21 provinces.
(AP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, Michel Kafando,
the UN envoy to Burundi, announced that he planned to step down from
the post he has held for two years, amid concerns over the
impartiality of elections set for 2020.
(AFP, 10/30/19)
2019 Oct 30, The UN
humanitarian office said that humanitarian groups are "relieved"
that Nigeria's has suspended the ban on Mercy Corps and Action
Against Hunger.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, President Donald
Trump tweeted that he was changing his primary residence from NYC to
Florida.
(NY Times, 11/2/19)
2019 Oct 31, The US House of
Representatives passed a resolution to establish formal procedures
for the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s alleged
political interference in foreign aid to Ukraine.
(Yahoo News, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, The United States
extended its sanctions on Iran by taking aim at its construction
sector, which Washington linked to the country's Revolutionary
Guards.
(AFP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, US federal
prosecutors charged a 12th United Auto Workers official with alleged
corruption. Union official Edward Robinson was accused of conspiring
with colleagues to embezzle more than $1.5 million in union money to
fuel "lavish lifestyles," and to defraud the US.
(The Week, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 31, The US State
Department warned that it had seen indications of Russian
"influence" on recent unrest in Chile, where two weeks of protests
and riots have rocked the administration of President Sebastian
Pinera.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, The US military
says its first batch of mechanized armored vehicles have arrived in
southeast Syria, where they are to take part in securing oil fields
and fighting remnants of the Islamic State group. The speaker in the
audio also confirmed the death of Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, a close
aide of al-Baghdadi and a spokesman for the group since 2016.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 31, California
officials said the northern Kincade wildfire in Sonoma County, that
forced the evacuation of more than 180,000, people is now 60%
contained and has not increased in size in the last 24 hours. More
wildfires ignited near Los Angeles, destroying homes and forcing
evacuations, as the region faced a second day of gusting desert
winds that have fanned flames and displaced thousands of people.
(AP, 10/31/19)(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, In the SF Bay Area
a shooting at a party in Orinda left four people dead. The party was
held in a mansion rented through AirBnB. A fifth victim died the
next day.
(CBS News, 11/2/19)
2019 Oct 31, Chicago Mayor Lori
Lightfoot called on the city's teacher's union to embrace a "spirit
of compromise" as a strike that has kept 300,000 public students
away from school extended into an 11th day, despite a tentative
contract deal.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Memphis,
Tennessee, store clerk Anwar Ghazali (30) was sentenced to 22 years
in prison for fatally shooting Dorian Harris (17) who had shoplifted
a beer on March 29, 2018.
(NY Times, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 31, Altria Inc took a
$4.5 billion hit from its investment in embattled
electronic-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc, the latest setback for the
startup as a regulatory crackdown on vaping threatens to upend the
fast-growing industry.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Fiat Chrysler and
Peugeot owner PSA said they plan to join forces in a 50-50 share
merger to create the world's fourth-largest automaker, seeking scale
to cope with costly new technologies and slowing global demand.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Abu Hamza
al-Qurayshi, the new spokesman for the Islamic State, identified the
successor of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi
al-Qurayshi — tracing his lineage, like al-Baghdadi, to the Prophet
Muhammad's Quraysh tribe.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, In Ethiopia a
spokeswoman for PM Abiy Ahmed said at least 78 people were killed
during protests last week over the treatment of prominent activist
Jawar Mohammed.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, The European
Medicines Agency (EMA) said Pfizer Inc's rheumatoid arthritis drug
Xeljanz could increase the risk of blood clots in the lungs and in
deep veins.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, The French-based
Sanofi company slashed the price of a key anti-tuberculosis drug
boosting the battle against the world's deadliest infectious
disease, as a new treatment was also set to begin extensive testing.
(AFP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Hong Kong police
fired tear gas to break up masked anti-government protesters
mingling with Halloween revelers in fancy dress near the upmarket
club district of Lan Kwai Fong after a standoff lasting hours.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, India formally
implemented legislation approved by Parliament in August that
removed Indian-controlled Kashmir's semi-autonomous status and
begins direct federal rule of the disputed area.
(SFC, 11/1/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 31, A World Trade
Organization (WTO) panel ruled that Indian export subsidies are
prohibited and should be removed, upholding a complaint brought by
the United States.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, In Indonesia
Mukhlis bin Muhammad (46), a member of the Aceh Ulema Council (MPU),
was caned 28 times in a public park by a religious officer for
adultery in Aceh province. The woman he had the sexual relationship
with was flogged, also in public, receiving 23 lashes.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 31, Iraq's President
Barham Salih called for the drafting of a new election law and said
he would approve early elections once it is enacted, bowing to
anti-government protesters while insisting that the sweeping changes
they are demanding be carried out in a constitutional way.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Israeli forces
rearrested former Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar (57) from her
home in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Jarrar, a senior official
with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was released
in February from 20 months of administrative detention.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Japan's justice
minister Katsuyuki Kawai resigned over election payment allegations
involving his wife, also a lawmaker, and about his own reported
gift-giving.
(SFC, 11/1/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 31, Lebanese security
forces struggled to open some roads as protesters continued their
civil disobedience campaign in support of nationwide anti-government
demonstrations.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, It was reported
that the recent transfer of hundreds of elephants to Malawi's
largest wildlife reserve has led to residents falling ill from
sleeping sickness, a parasitic disease spread by testse flies, a
companion of the elephants.
(SFC, 8/31/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 31, North Korea fired
two short-range projectiles, as nuclear talks between Pyongyang and
Washington remained at a deadlock.
(AFP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, In Pakistan a fire
swept through a train in Punjab province killing at least 74 people.
Passengers said it took nearly 20 minutes for the train to stop.
(SFC, 11/1/19, p.A4)
2019 Oct 31, In the Philippines
another strong earthquake, the third this month, killed five people
in Cotabato province.
(SFC, 11/1/19, p.A2)
2019 Oct 31, In Spain five men
were acquitted of a 2016 rape on the grounds that their 14-year-old
victim had been unconscious at the time. The Barcelona-based court
ruled that the men were guilty of the lesser crime of sexual abuse
and sentenced them to 10-12 years and fined them 12,000 euros
($13,300).
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Oct 31, Turkey's Anadolu
news agency said an appeals court ruled for the release of
Republican People's Party ex-legislator Eren Erdem. He was sentenced
to more than four years in prison in March, accused of supporting
US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Ukraine's
parliament approved a bill that criminalizes state officials
illegally enriching themselves. Ukraine had passed a law
criminalizing illicit enrichment in 2015 but the constitutional
court overturned the law in February.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Ukraine and NATO
issued a joint statement committing to uphold minority rights in
Ukraine, a step welcomed by the Hungarian authorities who had
threatened to block Kiev's NATO membership over the issue.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, Three United
Nations agencies warned that record 45 million people across
southern Africa face severe food shortages in the next six months,
with around a quarter of them currently enduring drought-induced
"crisis" food insecurity.
(Reuters, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, The UN Security
Council voted unanimously to keep the joint UN-African Union
peacekeeping force in Darfur for another year in hopes the new
civilian-led transitional government can restore peace.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct 31, The Armed Conflict
Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, said Yemen's civil war
has killed more than 100,000 people since 2015.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Oct, This was the first
full month in at least 18 years in which the United States did not
admit any refugees.
(Yahoo News, 11/2/19)
2019 Oct, The New York Times
revealed that a specialized group of Russian intelligence operatives
— Unit 29155 — had for years been assigned to carry out killings and
political disruption campaigns in Europe.
(NY Times, 12/23/19)
2019 Oct, A Pakistani court
acquitted 31 Chinese nationals charged in connection with
trafficking women to be sold as brides in China. Investigators later
revelaed a list of 629 girls and women who were sold as brides and
taken to China since 2018. Investigations were said to have ground
to a halt in June because of pressure from government officialls
fearful of hurting lucrative ties with Beijing.
(SFC, 12/5/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 1, The US Department
of Homeland Security announced it is extending temporary protected
status coverage for migrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras,
Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan through Jan. 4, 2021.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Senior Chinese and
US officials again sent positive signals about their efforts to
formalize the partial trade bargain announced last month, with
President Donald Trump saying he may meet with Chinese counterpart
Xi Jinping in the state of Iowa.
(AFP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, It was reported
that the US government has launched a national security review of
TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co's $1 billion
acquisition of US social media app Musical.ly.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, The US Dept. of
Health and Human Services released a proposed rule that would allow
foster care and adoption agencies to deny their services to LGBT
families on faith-based grounds.The rule would become final 30 days
after it is published in the Federal Register.
(SFC, 11/4/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 1, A new wildfire
exploded in Southern California overnight, closing schools and
forcing over 7,000 residents to evacuate. The Maria Fire broke out
in Santa Paula in Ventura County the previous evening and raced
across the land, growing to 8,300 acres.
(Good Morning America, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, A parade of 13
Democratic presidential hopefuls vowed to oust Republican Donald
Trump from the White House in 2020, promising a raucous crowd in
Iowa they would lead the fight to fulfill longtime party goals like
ending income inequality and providing universal healthcare.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Chicago teachers
returned to work after a grueling 11-day strike as parents hoped the
deal struck between the teachers' union and district would improve
their children's education.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, UAW senior leaders
at Ford's US plants recommended approval of a tentative four-year
labor agreement with the automaker, sending the deal to the 52,000
UAW members at Ford for final approval. The union previously
ratified a similar deal with General Motors Co and will soon move to
negotiate with Fiat Chrysler.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 1, The Oklahoma Pardon
and Parole board commuted the sentences of more than 450 inmates.
House Bill 1269, which just took effect after it was passed in May
by the state legislature, was designed to limit prison time for
low-level drug and property crime offenders. They were scheduled to
be released on Nov. 4.
(ABC News, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Northrop Grumman
launched its Cygnus capsule for NASA from Wallops Island, Virginia.
The 8,200-pound shipment (3,700 kg) should reach the Int'l. Space
Station on Nov. 4.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 1, In Wisconsin
Clifton Blackwell threw acid on Mahud Villalaz, a Latino man, who
suffered 2nd degree burns. In 2020 Blackwell (61) was pronounced
competent to stand trial for reckless injury in a hate crime.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6p9wosp)(SFC, 1/7/20, p.A5)
2019 Nov 1, A clash of storm
fronts that began on Halloween created havoc that caused flooding,
knocked over trees, downed power lines and damaged homes from the
Deep South throughout the Northeast. More than 100,000 homes and
businesses were without electricity in the Philadelphia suburbs.
More than 200,000 customers were without power in New York state. In
Maine, more than 120,000 customers were without power. In Vermont
more than 20,000 customers were without power and in New Hampshire
it was about 16,000.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Alphabet Inc-owned
Google said it will buy Fitbit Inc for $2.1 billion, as the biggest
Web search company looks to take on Apple and Samsung in the crowded
market for fitness trackers and smart watches.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, The International
Rescue Committee said more than 1 million people in East Africa are
affected by flooding after higher than normal rainfall. Parts of the
region braced for a tropical storm, Kyarr, that could worsen an
already dire humanitarian situation.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Brazilian police
raided the offices of a Greek company as they investigate an oil
tanker carrying heavy Venezuelan crude that was allegedly spilled at
sea, tarring thousands of kilometers of Brazil's coastline over the
past two months. Police said oceanographic and geolocation data
showed that the Greek ship was the only one navigating near the
origin of the spill between July 28 and 29, after docking in
Venezuela on July 15. The next day Delta Tankers, which manages the
Greek-flagged Bouboulina ship, reiterated the vessel sailed from
Venezuela in laden condition on July 19, heading directly, with no
stops at other ports, for Melaka, Malaysia, where the tanker
discharged its entire cargo without any shortage.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 1, In Brazil Paulo
Paulino Guajajara, also known as Lobo or "wolf", was killed in an
attack, the latest fatality in an escalating battle between illegal
loggers and indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest. One logger
also died in the attack in Maranhao state.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)(SFC, 11/4/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 1, In Burundi gunmen
wearing police and army uniforms killed three people and injured
three others at a bar in a heavily guarded neighborhood of Bujumbura
late today.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 1, China warned it
would not tolerate any challenge to Hong Kong's governing system, as
it laid out plans to boost patriotism in the city and change how its
leader is chosen or removed after months of pro-democracy protests.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Denmark's
immigration minister says the number of British citizens seeking
Danish citizenship has more than tripled compared with 2017, the
year after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel got a toxic welcome to India as PM Narendra Modi
welcomed her in air so polluted that authorities declared a public
health emergency. The two sides signed a series of agreements in
agriculture, maritime technology, "green urban mobility" and even
yoga.
(AFP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Hong Kong
anti-government protests fizzled after a night of clashes in a
central bar district and prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua
Wong called for 100,000 people to take to the streets of the
Chinese-ruled city the following day.
(Reuters, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Indonesian
activists Martua Parasian Siregar (55) and Maraden Sianipar (42)
were found dead with multiple stab wounds near a palm plantation in
the island of North Sumatra. Police later said was ordered by a palm
oil businessman. On Nov. 9 Police said they had arrested the head of
the Amelia palm oil company, who they identified only as "H" or
"Harry", on suspicion of having paid several men about $3,000 to
kill the two activists.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 1, Tens of thousands
of Iraqis massed in Baghdad's Tahrir Square in the biggest
demonstrations since anti-government protests erupted a month ago,
defying security forces that have killed scores of people and
harshly criticizing Iran's involvement in the country's affairs.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said combat forces shouldn’t be
deployed to confront demonstrations as their presence would only
fuel violence.
(AP, 11/1/19)(AFP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, A Lebanese criminal
court sentenced Tarek Houshi, a local Uber driver, to death in the
case of Rebecca Dykes, a British woman, who was raped and killed in
Beirut in December, 2017.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, A Lebanese court
has sentenced Youssef Diab to death for twin car bombings in 2013
that targeted two mosques in the northern city of Tripoli, killing
47 people.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Mali's government
said at least 53 soldiers and one civilian have been killed in an
attack on a northern army post, in one of the deadliest strikes
against the West African country's military in recent memory.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 1, Netherlands'
Environmental Assessment Agency said the country is unlikely to
reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030
despite a tough package of measures agreed in June.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, North Korea
confirmed it conducted its third test-firing of a new "super-large"
multiple rocket launcher that it says expands its ability to destroy
enemy targets in surprise attacks.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, In Pakistan tens of
thousands of members of a radical Islamist party camped out in
Islamabad overnight and demanded the resignation of PM Imran Khan
over economic hardships. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of the
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, began his "Azadi March" from the
southern city of Karachi last Sunday.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Russia's "sovereign
internet" law, which President Vladimir Putin signed back in May,
took effect. It gives the country's government power to block access
to content whether from within or from outside Russia "in an
emergency," which is up to the government to decide.
(Engadget, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 1, Turkey and Russia
launched joint patrols in northeastern Syria, under a deal that
halted a Turkish offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters who were
forced to withdraw from the border area following Ankara's
incursion.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, The UN said Spain
will host the COP25 climate summit in December, after Chile
abandoned plans to hold it due to deadly anti-government protests.
(AFP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 1, Yemen's Iran-backed
Houthi rebels reportedly shot down a US-made drone along the border
with Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 2, A federal judge in
Oregon temporarily blocked a Trump administration proclamation that
would have required prospective immigrants to prove they would have
US health insurance within 30 days of their arrival or enough money
to pay for "reasonably foreseeable medical costs".
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 2, In southern
California Ventura County officials said firefighters contained 30%
of the Maria Fire, which has burned nearly 15 square miles (39 sq.
km) and continued to threaten more than 2,500 homes and other
buildings.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, In central
California an off-duty law officer killed a police officer and
critically wounded his father before killing himself during a
birthday party in Hanford.
(SFC, 11/4/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 2, In western Indiana
two Amish people were killed when a van car crashed into a
horse-drawn buggy.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, The United Auto
Workers (UAW) said its president Gary Jones, who has been linked to
an ongoing corruption probe by US federal officials, has taken a
leave of absence.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, In Afghanistan nine
children were killed when a mine exploded as they walked to school
in the northeastern province of Takhar.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, The British
government announced that it will impose an immediate moratorium on
fracking, saying the controversial gas extraction technique risked
causing too much disruption to local communities through earth
tremors.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, Chile's government
backed off from a plan to cut corporate taxes following two weeks of
protests. At least 20 people have been killed since a proposed
increase in subway fares set off protests that morphed into a call
for seep-rooted changes.
(SSFC, 11/3/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 2, China granted
conditional approval to its first self-developed treatment for
Alzheimer's disease, a move that may point to revived opportunities
in a therapeutic area where drug makers have burned billions of
dollars without yielding a validated new drug. Oligomannate, which
uses extract from marine brown algae as raw material, received a
conditional green light to treat mild-to-moderate level AD.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 2, El Salvador said it
had ordered Venezuela's diplomats to leave the Central American
country within 48 hours, arguing that the decision was in line with
its position that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is
illegitimate.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, Hong Kong police
fired tear gas at black-clad protesters after they set fire to metro
stations and vandalized buildings including China's official Xinhua
news agency in some of the worst violence to hit the city in weeks.
At least 200 people were arrested as protesters seeking greater
democracy and police accountability blocked roads, vandalized public
facilities and set alight exits of subway stations.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)(Bloomberg, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 2, Indian officials
said more than 100 migrant workers from Kashmir will be moved after
a spate of killings by suspected separatist militants underlined the
threat to outsiders in the restive region.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, Iran signed a
preliminary agreement with Syria to help rebuild the Arab ally's
electricity grid, as Tehran seeks a deepening economic role after
years of the Syrian conflict.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, In Iraq thousands
of protesters blocked all roads leading to Iraq's main Gulf port Umm
Qasr, after security forces used live rounds and tear gas on them
overnight. Security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to
disperse thousands of anti-government protesters, killing at least
one and wounding more than 200 in Baghdad and in the country's
south.
(Reuters, 11/2/19)(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, Israeli airstrikes
on Gaza killed a Palestinian man as aircraft pounded militant sites
in response to barrages of rockets launched toward Israel from the
seaside enclave.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, In Mali an attack
on a French army convoy near Indelimane village disabled a vehicle,
killing one soldier and wounding others onboard. The Islamic State
group soon claimed responsibility. The IS also claimed
responsibility for another attack last week in Indelimane.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 2, It was reported
that Orlando Tercero (23), accused of killing Haley Anderson (22), a
nursing student at SUNY Binghamton in March, 2018, has been found
guilty by a court in Nicaragua, to which he fled after the woman's
murder.
(ABC News, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 2, In northern Syria
car bomb went off in the town of Tal Abyad, killing 13 civilians.
Turkey's defense ministry blamed Syrian Kurdish fighters for the
attack A Kurdish-led force said Christian fighters will now oversee
security in a northern Syrian region that has witnessed fighting
between Turkey-backed fighters and Kurdish-led militiamen.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 3, Lawyers said the US
official whose whistleblower complaint led to the impeachment
inquiry against President Donald Trump has offered to communicate
directly with Republicans on the intelligence committee leading the
inquiry.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, In New Mexico two
people died overnight and 14 others were injured during a
traditional religious ceremony on the Alamo Navajo Reservation in
Socorro County.
(AP, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 3, Chris Kempczinski,
who was in charge of McDonald's operations in the United States,
took over as CEO, following Steve Easterbrook's dismissal over a
recent consensual relationship with an employee, which McDonald's
board determined violated company policy.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 3, Instacart's "gig"
workers targeted the grocery shopping and delivery firm with a
three-day work action aimed at disrupting service and forcing
executives to fix inequalities in pay structures that they say are
getting worse every year.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, In Burkina Faso
Parliament member Oumarou Dicko, who was also one of the last
authorities in a region ravaged by militants, was killed in a
suicide bomb attack in the northern Djibo region.
(Bloomberg, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, China launched a
new high-resolution remote sensing satellite capable of providing
stereoscopic imagery, marking another important step as Beijing
seeks to reduce reliance on foreign technology in topographic
mapping.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, In Hong Kong more
unrest broke out when police and protesters clashed at malls full of
afternoon shoppers. Riot police used pepper spray and detained
several people. Shopfronts were vandalized and subway turnstiles
were damaged.
(Bloomberg, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, India's main
opposition Congress party said that its general secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra had been informed by messaging service WhatsApp that
her phone was hacked during this year's election campaign by malware
from Israeli surveillance firm NSO.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, Iraqi PM Adel
Abdul-Mahdi called on anti-government protesters to reopen roads.
Protesters blocked roads in Baghdad to raise pressure on the
government to resign after more than a week of renewed mass
demonstrations. Dozens of protesters attacked the Iranian consulate
in the Shiite city of Karbala, scaling the concrete barriers ringing
the building, bringing down an Iranian flag and replacing it with
the Iraqi flag.
(AP, 11/3/19)(SFC, 11/4/19, p.A3)
2019 Nov 3, In Lebanon
thousands of supporters of Pres. Michael Aoun and his son-in-law,
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, held a rally in a suburb of Beirut
to counter anti-government protests that have paralyzed the country
for more than two weeks. The Shiite Amal party, another close
Hezbollah ally, also held a rally in support of its leader, longtime
parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
(AP, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, In Mexico armed men
threatened the "Searching Mothers of Sonora" after the group
detected a clandestine burial pit over the weekend. Excavations
followed with police protection and four complete skeletons were
found.
(SFC, 11/15/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 3, Saudi Arabia's
giant state oil company finally kick-started its initial public
offering (IPO), announcing its intention to float on the domestic
bourse in what could be the world's biggest listing as the kingdom
seeks to diversify its economy away from oil.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, Some 300 to 400
Singaporeans held a rare rally in a park against the government's
immigration policies. Around 40% of the 5.7 million people living on
the small city-state are foreign and some Singaporeans are
frustrated with the number of immigrants in the city-state.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, In Sudan hundreds
of protesters took to the streets in Khartoum and across the
country, demanding the disbanding of the former ruling party that
underpinned Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's three decades in
power.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 3, In northern Syria
Turkey-backed opposition fighters struck an international medic
group killing one member with the Free Burma Rangers near the town
of Tal Tamr.
(AP, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, In Thailand
Southeast Asian leaders, worried by the US-China trade war, pushed
for a deal on what could be the world's largest trade bloc as
officials worked behind the scenes to try to salvage progress
following new demands from India.
(Reuters, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, Speaking in
Thailand at a meeting of ASEAN leaders UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres expressed concern over the plight of the 730,000 Muslim
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine state, calling on Myanmar's
government to take responsibility by dealing with the "root causes"
of their flight to Bangladesh and working toward their safe
repatriation.
(AP, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, In Turkey police in
Istanbul detained a driver (33) who rammed his bus into a crowded
stop and attacked people who tried to prevent him from escaping with
a knife. At least 13 people were injured.
(AP, 11/3/19)
2019 Nov 3, The UN agency for
Palestinian refugees reached an agreement with its employees in
Jordan to end a strike launched earlier today.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, The United States
formally notified the UN that it was withdrawing from the Paris
climate accord, making the world's largest economy the sole outlier
from the agreement.
(AFP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 4, A US appeals court
ruled that Pres. Donald Trump's longtime accounting firm must hand
over eight years of his tax returns to New York prosecutors. The
office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance agreed not to
enforce the subpoena while Trump petitions the Supreme Court.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, The Trump
administration moved to relax Obama-era limits on coal plants
discharging ash and metal contaminated waste into waterways.
(SFC, 11/15/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 4, The US Supreme
Court refused to hear Time Warner's appeal in a 2017 case against
the Charter Communications Inc unit. Time Warner Cable must pay $140
million in damages for infringing five Sprint Corp
telecommunications patents.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, The Dow Jones
industrial average climbed 114.75 to close at a record high of
27462.11.
(SFC, 11/15/19, p.D3)
2019 Nov 4, FBI officials said
they have arrested a suspected white supremacist who was allegedly
planning a bombing at a Colorado synagogue. Richard Holzer (27) was
allegedly planning to target Temple Emanuel in Pueblo, the state's
second-oldest synagogue.
(ABC News, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, State elections in
Kentucky, Mississippi and Virginia tested the political waters ahead
of 2020. Democrats took control of the Virginia legislature for the
first time in more than two decades. In Mississippi GOP nominee Tate
Reeves defeated Democrat Jim Hood.
(Good Morning America, 11/5/19)(SFC, 11/6/19,
p.A8)
2019 Nov 4, A US Border Patrol
agent shot and killed a gunman who opened fire in Sunland oark, New
Mexico, about a mile from the US-Mexico border.
(SFC, 11/15/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 4, In South Dakota
Charles Rhines (63) was executed by lethal injection at the state
penitentiary in Sioux Falls. He had been found guilty of murdering
Donnivan Schaefer (22) in 1992 after Schaefer surprised him while he
was burgling the Rapid City doughnut shop where Schaefer worked and
Rhines was had been fired from weeks earlier.
(Independent, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 4, Microsoft Corp
announced a new service aimed at helping large businesses put to use
the huge amounts of data stored in corporate systems. The Azure
Synapse system, to be unveiled at an event in Florida, is part of
the company's fast-growing cloud computing unit, which has driven
the company's shares up over the past five years.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Medical device
maker Stryker Corp said it would buy smaller rival Wright Medical
Group for about $4 billion in cash, expanding into the fast-growing
business of implants for shoulders and wrists.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, It was reported
that heavy rains and floods have killed more than 50 people and
forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes across East
Africa as researchers warned warming oceans are causing
unpredictable weather patterns in the region. Kenya reported 48
people killed; Somalia reported at least 17 killed.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 4, Long-serving Labour
Party lawmaker Lindsay Hoyle was elected speaker of Britain's House
of Commons, taking up the job with a clear message: I'm not John
Bercow.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 4, It was reported
that hundreds of thousands of Canadians have been unwittingly
exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water, with
contamination in several cities consistently higher than they ever
were in Flint, Michigan, according to an investigation that tested
drinking water in hundreds of homes and reviewed thousands more
previously undisclosed results.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Chinese President
Xi Jinping expressed "high trust" in Hong Kong's embattled leader
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in a meeting with Lam in Shanghai and
"fully affirmed" the chief executive's response to unrest that has
rattled the city since June.
(South China Morning Post, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 4, China joined 14
ASEAN countries meeting in Thailand in agreeing terms for what could
be the world's biggest trade pact. India pulled out at the last
minute on the grounds that the deal would hurt its farmers,
businesses, workers and consumers.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Cyprus Pres. Nicos
Anastasiades pledged to revoke any of his island republic's
passports found to have been "mistakenly" granted to wealthy
overseas investors under a controversial cash-for-citizenship
program.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, The European Union
criticized Israel's approval of plans to build over 2,000 new homes
in West Bank settlements.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, It was reported
that Germany plans to increase by half the grants available to
buyers of electric cars over the five years from 2020, the latest in
a series of measures to speed the adoption of low-emissions
vehicles.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Thyssenkrupp, a
German industrial conglomerate, said it plans to invest 250 million
euros ($279 million) at its unit that builds submarines and
warships.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Authorities in
India's capital New Delhi banished from the roads cars with number
plates ending in an odd number in a bid to cut hazardous air
pollution shrouding the city.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, In Iran thousands
rallied outside the former US embassy in Tehran to mark the 40th
anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis.
(AFP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Iran announced a
more than tenfold increase in enriched uranium production following
a series of steps back from commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal
abandoned by the United States.
(AFP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, In Iraq
anti-government protesters crossed a major bridge in central
Baghdad, approaching the headquarters of state-run TV and coming to
within 500 meters of the office of PM Adel Abdul-Mahdi. Security
forces fired live ammunition and tear gas, killing at least five
protesters and wounding dozens. A member of the security forces was
also killed.
(AP, 11/4/19)(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 4, In
Indian-administered Kashmir one person died and at least 45 were
injured in a grenade attack in Srinagar.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Israeli-based
RedHill Biopharma Ltd's said its three-drug combination therapy to
treat Helicobacter pylori bacterial infections had been approved by
the US Food and Drug Administration, sending its shares up 25%.
Talicia, is an oral capsule comprising two antibiotics, amoxicillin
and rifabutin, as well as omeprazole, a common treatment for
heartburn.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Kenya's chief
justice lashed out at budget cuts that he said were intended to
undermine the court system and would hamper an anti-corruption
drive.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, In Lebanon
protesters closed major roads in Beirut and elsewhere in the
country, accusing political leaders of dragging their feet on the
formation of a new government amid differences over who should be
included.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, In Mexico at least
nine people from USA, including women and children traveling in at
least three cars, were killed south of the Arizona border. They may
have been targeted by mistake or caught in a crossfire between rival
gangs. All the victims were believed to be Mormons with dual
American-Mexican citizenship. A boy (13) who survived the mass
shooting managed to hide his six siblings in a bush before
walking 14 miles for help. In December federal authorities arrested
Fidel Alejandro Villegas, the police chief in the town of Janos, for
suspected involvement in the attack that killed 3 women and 6
children. Villegas was the 4th person to be arrested on suspicion of
participating in the attack.
(Yahoo News, 11/5/19)(The Independent,
11/6/19)(SSFC, 12/29/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 4, Romania's centrist
government of PM Ludovic Orban won parliament's vote of confidence,
unlocking the country's European commissioner nominating process and
ending a gridlock that risked to extend the bloc's policymaking
vacuum.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, President Vladimir
Putin's conferred a state award on a Bulgarian charged with spying.
The next day Russia warned of "very negative consequences" if this
affected ties. Tensions had spiked in September when Bulgarian
prosecutors charged a pro-Russian activist, Nikolay Malinov, with
espionage and banned his alleged Russian handler from entering
Bulgaria.
(AFP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 4, South Korean
President Moon Jae-in and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe had an 11-minute
conversation on the sidelines of an international conference in
Bangkok, the first time they had met in more than a year. They
reaffirmed the principle of resolving pending bilateral issues
through dialogue.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)(SFC, 11/15/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 4, A Turkish court
convicted journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazli Ilicak of aiding a
terror group but ordered both released from prison, where they had
served more than three years in a case that has severely tested
press freedom in the country.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 4, Turkey captured
Rasmiya Awad (65), the elder sister of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the
slain leader of the Islamic State group, near the Syrian town of
Azaz in Aleppo province.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Turkey's interior
minister Suleyman Soylu said Turkey will send back Islamic State
group members to their countries of origin.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Turkey said one of
its soldiers has been killed by roadside bomb in northeastern Syria,
bringing Turkey's military death toll to 14 since launching its
incursion into Syrian Kurdish-held areas on Oct. 9.
(AP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Eight Ugandan
journalists were detained as they marched in the capital Kampala to
protest what they said were police abuses, including beatings and
detentions, during coverage of student protests last month.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, Ukrainian soldiers
and Moscow-backed separatists deferred the last phase of a troop
pullback in war-torn eastern Ukraine at the 11th hour, delaying a
high-stakes summit with Russia.
(AFP, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 4, The Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) detained and charged Joram Gumbo,
a cabinet minister and long-time ally of Pres. Emmerson Mnangagwa,
for abuse of office alleged to have cost the government $3.7
million, the second high-profile graft case this year.
(Reuters, 11/4/19)
2019 Nov 5, The Trump
administration imposed sanctions on five Venezuelan security
officials and political figures, the latest round of measures taken
against Caracas in an effort to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas
Maduro.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, The US Commerce
Dept. said that the nation's deficit fell in September to $52.5
billion, the lowest level in five months.
(SFC, 11/6/19, p.D4)
2019 Nov 5, Democrat Andy
Beshear claimed victory in the Kentucky governor’s race, with a
margin of about 5,000 votes over Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, in a
state won by President Trump by 30 points in 2016.
(Yahoo News, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, US Air Force Staff
Sgt. Cole Condiff (29) fell into the Gulf of Mexico south of
Hurlburt Field after an unplanned parachute jump from a C-130
aircraft off Florida's Panhandle.
(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 5, In Missouri voters
in Kansas City overwhelmingly approved removing Dr. Martin Luther
King's name from one of the city's most historic boulevards, less
than a year after the city council decided to rename The Paseo for
the civil rights icon. A group of residents intent on keeping The
Paseo name began collecting petitions to put the name change on the
ballot and achieved that goal in April.
(AP, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 5, Robert Watson, lead
author of the report by the nonprofit Universal Ecological Fund,
said the vast majority of national commitments in the 2015 Paris
Agreement are inadequate to prevent the worst effects of global
warming. The report named the world's biggest greenhouse gas
emitting countries as among those that must ratchet up their
efforts.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, In an article
published in BioScience a group of 11,258 scientists from 153
countries declared "clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is
facing a climate emergency." They warned that untold human suffering
is unavoidable unless people make large and lasting lifestyle
changes to curb global warming.
(The Week, 11/5/19)(SSFC, 11/10/19, p.C18)
2019 Nov 5, Brazil's President
Jair Bolsonaro said he would push for a constitutional amendment to
allow the government to cut public sector employee salaries, hours
and benefits to help it comply with a public spending cap.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Air France-KLM
outlined plans to expand its budget Transavia business and push the
core French carrier upmarket, while overhauling its fleet in pursuit
of improved sales and profitability.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, A coalition of
Georgian civil society groups called on the government to condemn
threats against the Nov. 8 premier of a Georgian movie about gay
love. They called for security forces to deploy outside movie
theaters as far-right groups threatening to block the premiere of
"And Then We Danced", a joint Swedish, Georgian and French
production.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 5, Hong Kong leader
Carrie Lam said that she has received the backing of Chinese
President Xi Jinping in her handling of five months of
anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory,
as hundreds of masked demonstrators took to the streets again.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, President Hassan
Rouhani said that Iran would resume uranium enrichment at an
underground plant south of Tehran in its latest step back from a
troubled 2015 agreement with major powers.
(AFP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, In southern Iraq at
least three anti-government protesters were killed in clashes with
security forces, as authorities tried to reopen the country's main
port, which had been blocked by demonstrators for three days.
Security forces shot dead at least 13 protesters in the past 24
hours in efforts to stamp out demonstrations against political
parties that control the government.
(AP, 11/5/19)(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Israel's Supreme
Court rejected an appeal by Omar Shakir, the local director of Human
Rights Watch, which sought to block the Israeli government's attempt
to expel him for allegedly supporting an international boycott
movement against Israel.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Lebanese troops
deployed in different parts of the country to reopen roads and main
thoroughfares closed by anti-government protesters faced resistance
in some areas, leading to scuffles.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Nigerian police
said they have freed 259 people from an Islamic rehabilitation
center in the southwestern city of Ibadan, taking the number rescued
from abusive institutions since September to nearly 1,500.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Norwegian Air said
it is planning a share issue and a $175 million bond, raising enough
cash to meet the struggling budget airline's needs through 2020 and
beyond.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Russian lawmakers
backed legislation in a preliminary vote that would require all
smartphones, computers and smart TV sets sold in Russia to come
pre-installed with Russian software.
(Reuters, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Syria's state news
agency SANA reported that Syrian troops have taken positions along
the border with Turkey east of the city of Qamishli toward the Iraqi
border.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for Russia and the United States to keep
to their promises and ensure that Syrian Kurdish fighters pull out
of a so-called safe zone along Syria's northern border with Turkey.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 5, Yemen's
internationally recognized government signed a power-sharing deal in
Riyadh with Yemeni separatists that are backed by the United Arab
Emirates. The deal envisages a new Cabinet and allows for Pres. Hadi
to return to the temporary capital in Aden.
(AP, 11/5/19)
2019 Nov 6, The US Justice
Department announced that two men arrested last year for spying on
Iranian dissidents in the United States have pleaded guilty to
charges in a Washington court. Iranian-US dual citizen Ahmadreza
Mohammadi Doostdar and Majid Ghorbani, an Iranian resident of
California, tried to penetrate the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a group
of Iranian dissidents in exile, in New York and Washington from
2017-2018.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 6, US federal
prosecutors said that three Saudi nationals were charged in Southern
California with violating federal export laws by buying $100,000
worth of gun parts in the US while on student visas and smuggling
them to Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 6, Brianna Williams
reported Taylor Rose Williams (5) missing from their Jacksonville
home. On Nov 12 Williams was charged with child neglect and
providing false information to police in the case after
investigators found human remains near her hometown in Demopolis,
Alabama. Sheriff’s officials say Williams was admitted to the
hospital in serious condition because of an apparent overdose.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 6, New York developer
Paramount Group confirmed in an earnings report that it is buying
the former Chevron headquarters at 555 and 575 market St. in San
Francisco for $722 million, in one of the biggest real estate deals
in city history.
(SFC, 11/8/19, p.D1)
2019 Nov 6, A federal judge in
Manhattan struck down a rule letting health care clinicians object
to providing abortions and other services that conflict with their
moral and religious beliefs.
(SFC, 11/7/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 6, The Washington Post
reported that US federal prosecutors have charged two former Twitter
employees with spying on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government.
Beginning in 2015 the former employees snooped on the accounts of
people who were critical of Saudi Arabia.
(Business Insider, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 6, In Texas Justen
Hall (38) was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. CST
(0000 GMT) at the state's death chamber in Huntsville for the murder
of Melanie Billhartz on Oct. 28, 2002. He had been convicted of
strangling Billhartz so she would not tell police about a drug house
where he and members of his white supremacist gang gathered.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, In Benin Albert
Tevoedjre (b.1929), a political scientist and one of former UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's most trusted experts on social and
economic development strategies for Africa, died in Porto-Novo. His
1980 book "Poverty, Wealth of Mankind" was honored in France for its
work in macroeconomics.
(AP, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, In Bolivia scores
were injured and one person killed in protests over a contentious
presidential election last month.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 6, In Burkina Faso
unidentified assailants attacked a convoy transporting workers of
Canadian gold producer Semafo Inc., killing at least 38 people.
(Bloomberg, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 6, Chile's Pres.
Sebastian Pinera sent a law to parliament to guarantee a minimum
wage of $480 a month, part of an ambitious social spending plan
announced last month as the protests grew. The government planned to
draw $600 million from a sovereign wealth fund to finance the social
plan. Protests continued.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, Cyprus said that it
had started a process to strip 26 individuals of citizenship they
received under a secretive passports-for-investment scheme,
admitting it had flaws.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, In Hong Kong a
knife-wielding assailant injured Junius Ho, a pro-Beijing lawmaker,
and his assistant, as tensions worsen with protests nearing the
start of a sixth continuous month. Police arrested the attacker.
(The Telegraph, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, India's cabinet
approved 100 billion rupees ($1.41 billion) for a fund to help clear
stalled housing projects. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said
the State Bank of India (SBI) and state-run insurance company Life
Corporation of India will contribute an additional 150 billion
rupees, taking the total size of the fund to 250 billion.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, Iran said it'll
start injecting uranium gas at midnight into 1,044 centrifuges at
the underground Fordo facility. The centrifuges there will enrich
uranium up to 4.5%.
(AP, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, Iraqi protesters
stormed a fourth bridge in central Baghdad, where security forces
pushed them back with batons and tear gas, wounding dozens, after
two anti-government demonstrators were killed in overnight clashes
in the city of Karbala.
(AP, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, Israeli authorities
released two Jordanian citizens who'd been detained for two months
and returned them to Jordan, easing a standoff that has soured
relations between the countries just as they marked a chilly 25th
anniversary of their historic peace deal. Israel arrested Heba
al-Labadi (32) on Aug. 20 and Abdul Rahman Miri (29) on Sept. 2 as
they entered the West Bank from Jordan through an Israeli-controlled
crossing.
(AP, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, In northern Jordan
a man from a Palestinian refugee camp stabbed eight people,
including four foreign tourists and their tour guide, at a popular
archaeological site in Jerash. Mustafa Abu Tuameh (22) was subdued
and arrested.
(AP, 11/6/19)(SFC, 11/7/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 6, Mexican
investigators said that a suspect has been arrested in the Nov. 4
deaths of 9 American Mormons based in Mexico.
(Insider, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, Slovakian President
Zuzana Caputova vetoed a new law extending a ban on publishing
opinion polls up to 50 days before elections and vowed to challenge
it at the Constitutional Court if the parliament overturns her veto.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, Slovakia's
government approved a bill to double a special tax on banks and
extend it indefinitely instead of ending the levy next year, moves
the central bank said would threaten financial stability. The
banking tax was adopted in 2012 to build a buffer against potential
future crises and scheduled to expire at the end of 2020.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa secured about 200 billion rand ($13.5
billion) of new investment pledges, saying these would spur economic
growth and reduce unemployment, but foreign firms made few
commitments.
(Reuters, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, In southern
Thailand gunmen killed 15 village defense volunteers and wounded
five security personnel.
(SFC, 11/7/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 6, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed that Turkish police detained one of
al-Baghdadi's wives and a daughter last year.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 6, The UN said Pierre
Krahenbuhl, commissioner general of the agency known as UNRWA, has
been placed on administrative leave as an internal probe into
alleged mismanagement at the organization proceeds. The UN agency
for Palestinian refugees was set up in the years after more than
700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled their lands during the
1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.
(AFP, 11/6/19)
2019 Nov 6, In Yemen a Houthi
attack late today struck warehouses used by a government-allied
force, causing a huge fire. The drone and missile attack targeted
buildings near a hospital, causing huge explosions that killed at
least eight people.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, A US-led naval
coalition officially launched operations in Bahrain to protect
shipping in the troubled waters of the Gulf, after a string of
attacks that Washington and its allies blamed on Iran.
(AFP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, The United States
imposed sanctions on the leader of an Islamist militant group in
Mali called the Macina Liberation Front. The sanctions target Amadou
Koufa, a Salafist preacher and leader of the al Qaeda-linked group
operating in Central Mali.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, The US Census
Bureau said it plans to raise wages for census workers in some areas
and make it easier for applicants to get fingerprinted for
background checks.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, In southern
California a man fatally shot his visiting mother, a dog and himself
in a Ventura County home.
(SFC, 11/9/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 7, Idaho granted a
conditional waiver to the US Department of Energy that could allow
research quantities of spent nuclear fuel into the state after years
of blocking such shipments. The waiver requires the Energy
Department to first prove it can process 900,000 gallons (3.5
million liters) of high-level radioactive liquid waste that sits
above a giant Idaho aquifer that supplies water to farms and cities.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, A New York state
judge ordered Pres. Donald Trump to pay $2 million to an array of
charities as a fine for misusing his own charitable foundation to
further his political and business interests. Trump had admitted to
a series of abuses that were outlines in a lawsuit brought against
him last year by the New York attorney general's office.
(SFC, 11/8/19, p.A8)
2019 Nov 7, South Carolina
restaurant owner Bobby Paul Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in
prison for abusing Chris Smith, a mentally disabled African-American
employee, and forcing him to work with no pay for years.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 7, In Virginia
Satyasurya Sahas Thumma (23) was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison
for cyberstalking his ex-girlfriends and sending nude photos of them
to their families, friends and even a church.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 7, Major global oil
firms snubbed a second Brazilian oil auction in a row, passing up
promising offshore blocks and forcing officials to reconsider a
bidding system that gives a privileged position to state-run
Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Bulgaria's
President Rumen Radev blocked the appointment of Ivan Geshev as the
next chief prosecutor. His selection as the sole candidate for the
powerful post sparked street protests.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, A court in China
convicted and sentenced to death a man accused of trafficking
fentanyl to the US after a joint investigation with US law
enforcement agencies. Liu Yong led an illicit network of labs that
produced and shipped packages of fentanyl to American users who
placed orders online through a dealer simply known as “Diana.” Liu’s
death sentence was suspended for two years, leaving open the
possibility that it could be commuted to life in prison.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 7, China said it had
agreed with the United States to remove tariffs in phases, while
state-owned Xinhua News Agency said Beijing was also considering
removing restrictions on poultry imports.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Chinese electric
car maker BYD Co Ltd and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp said they planned
to set up a joint venture to design and develop battery electric
cars as they ramp up efforts to produce zero emissions vehicles.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, The EU's top court
annulled a decision from the European Parliament that demanded a
political group linked to the British party UKIP reimburse tens of
thousands in EU funds.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, French police
dismantled makeshift migrant camps in areas underneath suburban
highways in northeast Paris. 1,606 people were evacuated. The
operation, the biggest in over a year, came one day after a French
government pledge to "take back control" of immigration.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Germany's Lufthansa
airline announced plans for more cost cuts and delivered
better-than-expected results, sending shares higher even as a cabin
crew strike posed a further challenge to its efforts to revive
profits.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Iran resumed
uranium enrichment at its underground Fordow plant south of Tehran
in a new step back from its commitments under a landmark 2015
nuclear deal, raising alarm from Western powers.
(AFP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Six Iraqis were
shot and killed as they tried to remove barriers blocking their
march in central Baghdad. Masked men attacked anti-government
protesters in the southern city of Basra late today, killing five
people. Protesters forced the closing of the country's main port
hours after services had resumed following days of closure. At least
24 protesters were wounded as security forces fired live rounds and
tear gas to disperse the march in downtown's Rashid Street, where
the central bank is located.
(AP, 11/7/19)(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 7, It was reported
that Italy will become the first country in the world to require
climate change studies in classrooms alongside reading, writing, and
arithmetic.
(ABC News, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Former Lithuanian
judge Neringa Venckiene (48), wanted in connection with claims she
made about a pedophile ring, appeared at a detention hearing after
being extradited to her home country from Chicago. The once-rising
judicial star led an anti-pedophilia movement that swept her and six
others into Lithuania's Parliament in 2012.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Mauritius held a
parliamentary election, with the main parties all promising a fairer
distribution of wealth on the prosperous Indian Ocean island.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, The International
Criminal Court at The Hague passed its highest ever sentence,
sending Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, known as "The Terminator,"
to prison for 30 years for crimes including murder, rape and sexual
slavery.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, It was reported
that Russian businessman Arkady Rotenberg, who has been under US
sanctions since 2014, has sold his gas pipeline construction firm
Stroygazmontazh to construction company Gazstroyprom for some 75
billion rubles ($1.18 billion). Russian gas giant Gazprom owns a 49%
stake in Gazstroyprom.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Russian and Syrian
officials said that the US military has blocked efforts to disband
the Rukban camp near the Jordanian border despite "inhumane
conditions" there.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, South Korea handed
two men, understood to both be in their 20s, to North Korean
officials at the border truce village of Panmunjom. The two men had
admitted that they and another member of the vessel’s crew had
killed a boat captain in late October because he had been abusive.
The men added that they then killed the other 15 crew of the ship
and threw their bodies overboard. The men asked for asylum in South
Korea but, after a three-day investigation, the request was denied.
(The Telegraph, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Turkey's President
Tayyip Erdogan said his country will have to open the doors to
Europe for Syrian refugees unless the European Union provides Ankara
with enough support, adding that Turkey could not carry that burden
alone.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, Meeting in Uganda
South Sudan's president and a former rebel leader agreed to delay
forming a unity government for 100 days beyond the Nov. 12 deadline,
buying time after concerns that war could resume if the two sides
were pushed.
(Reuters, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 7, The UN General
Assembly voted 187-3 to condemn the American economic embargo of
Cuba for the 28th year, rejecting US criticism of human rights
violations there and criticizing the Trump administration's
increasingly tough enforcement measures.
(AP, 11/7/19)
2019 Nov 8, President Donald
Trump told reporters he has not agreed to roll back tariffs on China
but that Beijing would like him to do so.
(Reuters, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, The White House
denounced a book written by the author of an anonymous New York
Times op-ed, saying the book claiming to contain inside knowledge of
the Trump White House is "fiction" and the author is a "coward." The
book titled “A Warning” isn’t scheduled to publish until Nov. 19 but
the Washington Post and other organizations have published excerpts.
(Good Morning America, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, Jeffrey Yohai, Paul
Manafort’s former son-in-law, was sentenced to more than nine years
in prison for a wide-ranging series of fraud schemes the court said
bilked victims out of more than $6 million. Yohai pleaded guilty to
a brazen array of frauds, including renting out luxury homes without
the permission of their owners, selling non-existent backstage
passes for the Coachella music festival, and pawning band equipment
that belonged to someone else.
(Politico, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, Atlanta police said
the body of Alexis Crawford (21) was found at a park in DeKalb
County. A suspect led investigators to where Crawford's body was
found. Crawford, a Clark Atlanta University student, had filed a
police report on Oct. 27 describing "unwanted kissing and touching"
by Barron Brantley (21), the boyfriend of her roommate, Jordyn
Jones. Crawford was reported missing on Nov. 1.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, Brazil's leftist
former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a strong rival of
right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, was released from
prison.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 8, Police in Georgia
arrested more than 25 people after ultra-nationalist protesters
attempting to derail the premiere of "And Then We Danced," an
award-winning movie about gay love, clashed with security forces.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 8, In Hong Kong
student Chow Tsz-lok, who fell from the third to the second floor of
a parking lot in the early hours of Nov. 4, died today. Vigils
mourning his death quickly spiraled into street fires, bursts of
tear gas and cat-and-mouse clashes between pro-democracy protesters
and police.
(Reuters, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, Iran shot down an
unidentified drone that "infiltrated" near Bandar-e Mahshahr port on
the Gulf coast.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, A magnitude 5.9
earthquake rocked northwestern Iran before dawn, killing at least
five people and injuring more than 300 in crumbling and collapsed
buildings. The number of injured people from the earthquake soon
jumped to 520.
(AFP, 11/8/19)(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 8, Iraq Shiite
spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for a road
map out of the impasse, saying the country's political class has a
"unique opportunity" to meet the demands of protesters who have
taken to the streets for weeks, demanding change — only to have
their rallies met with a deadly crackdown.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, The IMF said
Pakistan's fiscal deficits are narrowing, as it announced it would
release the second tranche of its $6 billion financial assistance
program to the country.
(Reuters, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, A Syrian protester
was killed after he was run over by a Turkish military vehicle
during a joint Turkish-Russian patrol in northeastern Syria.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, The United Nations'
highest court ruled that it has jurisdiction in a case brought by
Ukraine that alleges Russia breached treaties on terrorist financing
and racial discrimination following its annexation of Crimea by
arming rebels in eastern Ukraine and reining in the rights of ethnic
Tartars and other minorities.
(AP, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, Zimbabwe fired more
than 200 public sector doctors who have been on strike for more than
two months demanding better pay to protect them from soaring
inflation. Junior and middle level doctors from state hospitals have
been on strike since Sept. 3. They want their pay indexed to the US
dollar to stop their earnings being eroded by triple-digit
inflation.
(Reuters, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 8, Zimbabwe said it
has suspended imports of livestock and meat from South Africa for
the second time this year after an outbreak of foot and mouth in the
north of the country.
(Reuters, 11/8/19)
2019 Nov 9, Militias and
conservative activists rallied in Washington DC to demand protection
of gun ownership rights, term limits for lawmakers in Congress, and
tighter US borders against immigrants, among other things.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 9, Rodney Brown (54)
was shot and killed just before noon at his home in Hardy, Virginia.
The following day, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office named
Michael Alexander Brown (22), a former marine and the son of Rodney
Brown's live-in girlfriend, the suspect in his killing.
(Good Morning America, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 9, Argentine
President-elect Alberto Fernandez joined the inaugural meeting of
the so-called Puebla Group in Buenos Aires, a conference of
left-leaning regional political leaders.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, Australian
authorities said three people have died, four are missing and at
least 150 homes have been destroyed as bushfires rage across eastern
Australia.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, The government of
Bolivian President Evo Morales denounced what it called a coup by
violent groups, as some police forces carried out acts of "mutiny"
in support of opposition protests amid a weeks-long standoff over a
disputed election.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, Cambodian
opposition veteran Sam Rainsy (70) flew into Malaysia and told
supporters to "keep up the hope" after promising to return home from
self-imposed exile to rally opponents of authoritarian ruler Hun Sen
(67).
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, Congolese forces
said they had killed 25 Islamist rebels since launching an offensive
against them on Oct. 30 in the eastern region of North Kivu
province, an area also struggling with an Ebola outbreak. Congolese
forces killed Juvenal Musabimana, also known by his nom de guerre
Jean-Michel Africa, alongside four of his bodyguards following an
intense firefight in Binza, North Kivu, near the Ugandan border.
Musabimana led a splinter group of the Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group founded by Hutu officials who
fled Rwanda after orchestrating the 1994 genocide.
(AP, 11/9/19)(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 9, In Egypt a roadside
bomb killed two members of the security forces in Rafah, northern
Sinai province.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, French bishops
voted in favor of a plan to offer payments to people who were
sexually abused as children by members of the Catholic clergy.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, Greek authorities
announced they had arrested three people and detained a further 15
in a "wide sweep" by the police's counterterrorism squad on
suspected left-wing extremists that also yielded an arms cache.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, Hong Kong
protesters held a vigil for "martyrs" and many demanded "revenge"
after a student died in hospital this week following a high fall,
fuelling anger among pro-democracy demonstrators who first took to
the streets in June.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, India's Supreme
Court awarded a bitterly contested religious site to Hindus, dealing
a defeat to Muslims who also claim the land that has sparked some of
the country's bloodiest riots since independence. The ruling paves
the way for the construction of a Hindu temple on the site in the
northern town of Ayodhya. In 1992 a Hindu mob destroyed the
16th-century Babri Mosque on the site.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, Meeting in Rome
more than 70 countries signed a pledge to do more to cut down on the
amount of food lost due to poor refrigeration. Ministers, government
officials and experts signed the pledge at an annual meeting of the
Montreal Protocol where they worked on regulating man-made chemicals
used in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems that are harmful
to the ozone layer.
(AP, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, Iraqi security
forces fired live ammunition at anti-government protesters in
central Baghdad, killing six people and wounding more than 100
others, pushing them back from three flashpoint bridges. Three more
protesters were killed overnight in Basra. Demonstrators complained
of widespread corruption, lack of job opportunities and poor basic
services, including regular power cuts, despite Iraq's vast oil
reserves.
(AP, 11/9/19)(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 9, Lebanon's Grand
Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, the top cleric for Sunni Muslims,
called for the formation of a new emergency government of technical
experts and for those in power to meet protesters' demands.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 9, In Russia Oleg
Sokolov (63), a prominent Saint Petersburg-based Napoleon expert,
was arrested. He confessed to murdering his young lover and former
student and dismembering her body in a grisly crime that sent shock
waves across the country.
(The Telegraph, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 9, Saudi state oil
giant Aramco unveiled the prospectus for its initial public offering
(IPO), laying out the main material risks that may adversely affect
the company's business or its financial position.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 9, In Sweden unknown
assailants opened fire into a pizza parlor in Malmo. A boy (15) was
killed and another teenager was in critical condition after the
shooting. The shooting took place just minutes after an explosion in
another Malmo district where a bomb set under a car detonated. It
was not known if the two incidents were related.
(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 9, Sweden arrested an
Iranian citizen (58) on suspicion of carrying out crimes against
humanity and murder in the late 1980s in Iran. The unidentified man
was suspected of committing the crimes between July 28, 1988, and
Aug. 31, 1988, in Tehran.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 9, In northeast Syria
intense clashes broke out between Syrian government troops and
Turkish-led forces in the village of Um Shaifa near the town of Ras
al-Ayn. At least four Syrian government soldiers were killed in the
fighting with Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition fighters.
(AP, 11/9/19)(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 9, Two Ugandans were
killed by Rwandan security forces late today in an incident that may
escalate the border tension between the two East African countries.
The victims had reportedly smuggled tobacco to Rwanda. The political
tension between the two countries climaxed in February when Rwanda
closed its border and blocked all goods from Uganda.
(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 9, Ukrainian
government forces and Russian-backed rebels began withdrawing from a
village in the disputed Donbass region, one of a series of measures
that could pave the way for a summit between Ukraine, Russia, France
and Germany.
(Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019 Nov 10, In the SF Bay Area
Russell Chatham (b.1939), a West Marin landscape painter and
printer, died. His grandfather, Gottardo Piazzoni had painted the
murals that had lined the halls of the former San Francisco Main
Library.
(SFC, 11/27/19, p.C6)
2019 Nov 10, Bernard Tyson
(b.1959), chairman and CEO of Oakland-based health care giant Kaiser
Permanente, died. Tyson was the first African-American to lead the
not-for-profit health care provider. He was criticized for a $16
million salary in 2017.
(SFC, 11/11/19, p.A1)
2019 Nov 10, Winfred off-duty
sheriff's deputy Terrell Adams (32) killed Univ. of Georgia graduate
student Benjamin Lloyd Cloer (26) during a domestic dispute. Adams
said he shot the man because his wife was cheating on him.
(https://tinyurl.com/yx7pn9cy)(SSFC, 2/16/20,
p.A8)
2019 Nov 10, An Oklahoma police
chief was found dead in a Florida hotel late today and local
authorities soon arrested one of his officers in connection with his
death. Mannford's police chief, Lucky Miller (44), was pronounced
dead at a Hilton hotel in Pensacola Beach. Officer Michael Nealey,
was booked into the Escambia County Jail the next day and charged
with homicide. The two had been staying in Pensacola Beach for a
conference.
(SFC, 11/12/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 10, It was reported
that parents in Albania are trafficking their teenage sons to the UK
to join organized crime gangs that control large tranches of
Britain’s cocaine market.
(The Telegraph, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Australian
firefighters raced to contain widespread bushfires that have left
three people dead, and warned of "catastrophic" fire conditions
ahead, including around the country's biggest city of Sydney.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Officials said at
least 13 people were killed in Bangladesh and India after cyclone
Bulbul lashed coastal areas this weekend, though prompt evacuations
saved many lives and the worst was over. At least seven people were
killed in India's West Bengal state and another seven in Bangladesh.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)(SFC, 11/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 10, Bolivian President
Evo Morales agreed to hold new presidential elections at the
recommendation of the Organization of American States (OAS), but
opposition figures called on him to give up his candidacy and
resign. Morales, South America’s longest-serving president and a
towering figure for the region’s left-wing movements, resigned after
election irregularities triggered weeks of violent clashes and
intervention from the armed forces.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)(AP,
11/11/19)
2019 Nov 10, Cambodia lifted
house arrest restrictions on opposition leader Kem Sokha, more than
two years after he was charged with treason, but the charges remain
and he is banned from politics and from leaving the country.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Cambodia's
self-exiled opposition veteran Sam Rainsy, speaking in Malaysia,
said he would help organize protests against authoritarian ruler Hun
Sen to build on growing international pressure for change in his
home country.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats
(SPD) broke a deadlock over a higher basic pension that had
threatened the future of their governing coalition.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Hong Kong police
fired tear gas and water cannon to break up rallies as activists
blocked roads and trashed shopping malls across the New Territories
and Kowloon peninsula during the 24th straight weekend of
anti-government unrest.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Police in India
detained dozens of people in Uttar Pradesh state on suspicion of
publishing inflammatory social media posts and setting off
celebratory firecrackers after the Supreme Court a day earlier
awarded a bitterly contested site in the town of Ayodhya to Hindus.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Iran and Moscow
inaugurated a new phase of construction for a second reactor at
Iran's sole nuclear power plant in Bushehr on the Gulf coast. Iran
began pouring concrete at its Bushehr power plant, a facility Tehran
points to as its reason to break the enrichment limit set by its
unraveling 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
(AP, 11/10/19)(AFP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Iran's President
Hassan Rouhani said a new oilfield has been discovered in the
southwest of the country that has the potential to boost its
reserves by about a third.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Iraqi protesters
struggled to keep up their anti-government sit-ins following a
deadly crackdown by security forces that Amnesty International
warned could turn into a "bloodbath".
(AFP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, In Iraq says five
Italian soldiers were wounded by the explosion of an Improvised
Explosive Device (IED). An Italian special forces team was carrying
out "mentoring and training" of Iraqi armed forces involved in the
fight against Islamic State group.
(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Jordan's king
announced that his country is retaking "full sovereignty" over two
pieces of land leased by Israel, reflecting the cool relations
between the neighboring countries as they mark the 25th anniversary
of their 1994 landmark peace deal.
(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, It was reported
that Malta's armed forces have started cooperating with Libya's
coastguard to turn back migrant boats heading into Malta's search
and rescue zone.
(Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Poland released
Ihor Mazur, a Ukrainian activist and veteran of the war in the
country's east. He had been detained in Poland two days earlier
based on an Interpol request issued by Russia. Mazur was on Russia's
wanted list for reportedly participating in battles against Russian
forces during the first war in Chechnya.
(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 10, Romania held a
presidential election after a lackluster campaign that has been
overshadowed by the country's political crisis, which saw a minority
government installed just a few days ago. Pres. Klaus Iohannis got
36.9% of the vote and former prime minister Viorica Dancila got
23.4% forcing a Nov. 24 runoff.
(AP, 11/10/19)(SFC, 11/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 10, Spaniards voted in
the country's fourth election in as many years. Socialist PM Pedro
Sánchez, who won the most votes in April but failed to whip up
enough parliamentary support to form a government, was tipped to win
again but is not expected to capture a majority. Sánchez's
left-of-center Socialists won the most seats — 120 — but fell far
short of a majority in the 350-seat chamber and will need to make
deals on several fronts if they are to govern.
(AP, 11/10/19)(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 10, In northern Syria
killed a car bomb at least eight civilians and wounded 20 others in
a town near the border with Turkey. Syrian government troops fought
for a second day with Turkish-led forces in an area between the
towns of Tal-Tamr and Ras al-Ayn, according to a war monitor,
Syria's state media and activists.
(AP, 11/10/19)
2019 Nov 11, The impeachment
inquiry against President Trump entered a new phase with the public
release of transcripts of House committee interviews with Marie
Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, and Michael
McKinley, a former top adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
(Yahoo News, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, The US Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded Malaysia's air safety
rating, restricting the country's airlines from adding new flights
to the United States.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, It was reported
that two political supporters of US Energy Secretary Rick Perry
secured a potentially lucrative oil and gas exploration deal from
the Ukrainian government earlier this year soon after Perry proposed
one of the men as an adviser to the country's new president.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, US Customs and
Border Protection officers at the George Bush Intercontinental
Airport in Houston caught a Colombian citizen trying to smuggle 35
pounds of liquid cocaine in shampoo bottles into the country.
(USA Today, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 11, SpaceX launched 60
mini satellites, each weighing 575 pounds, from Cape Canaveral. This
was the 2nd batch of an orbiting network meant to provide global
internet coverage.
(SFC, 11/12/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 11, Brexit Party
leader Nigel Farage said that his party would not contest the 317
seats won by the Conservative Party in the 2017 election but would
contest nearly all other seats.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, British drugmaker
AstraZeneca Plc said its experimental treatment significantly
reduced disease activity in patients with autoimmune disorder lupus,
in a late-stage study.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, China's Jingye
Group said it has reached a provisional deal to buy British Steel
and promised to invest 1.2 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) over the
next decade and save thousands of jobs.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, China and Greece
agreed to push ahead with a 600 million euros investment by COSCO
Shipping into Greece's largest port, Piraeus, as part of efforts to
boost its role as a hub in rapidly growing trade between Asia and
Europe.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, The EU extended
sanctions against Venezuela for a year due to the political and
economic crisis that it blames on he government of Pres. Nicolas
Maduro.
(SFC, 11/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 11, Gambia filed a
case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Myanmar of
committing genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority, drawing
praise from human rights groups and Rohingya activists. The Gambia
filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, a coalition of 57 countries with significant Muslim
populations.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, Germany-based
Adidas said it plans to close high-tech "robot" factories in Germany
and the United States it launched to bring production closer to
customers. Adidas said deploying some of the technology in Asia
would be "more economic and flexible".
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, Greek police fired
teargas at students protesting against the shutdown of a prominent
Athens university that authorities raided at the weekend to
confiscate materials they said were typically used in violent
demonstrations.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, In Hong Kong a
traffic police officer shot an unarmed 21-year-old pro-democracy
protester at point-blank range. Hours later, a man was set on fire
after defending Beijing in an argument. Both individuals were listed
in critical condition.
(The Daily Beast, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 11, Hungary accepted a
penalty for poorly managing funds it receives from the EU that could
cost Budapest more than 500 billion forints ($1.65 billion) in
funding. Hungary agreed to a 10% reduction in the EU funds deemed by
the European Parliament's Budget Control Committee to have been
mismanaged in the current 2014-2020 EU budget period.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 11, Iran awarded the
Mustafa award in the study of science and technology to five
scientists, three Iranians and two Turks. The winners included two
US-educated scientists. Iran first handed out the prize in 2015 to a
Taiwanese-Singaporean nanotechnology researcher Jackie Y. Ying and
Jordanian-American chemistry professor Omar Yaghi.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, Israeli forces
shot dead a Palestinian (22) during confrontations with
stone-throwing protesters in Al-Aroub refugee camp, near Hebron city
in the occupied West Bank.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, Mexico granted
asylum to Bolivia's former President Evo Morales as unrest shook the
South American nation, helping cement the Mexican government's
emerging role as a bastion of diplomatic support for left-wing
leaders in Latin America.
(The Telegraph, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, Mexican forensic
scientists in Sonora state recovered 10 more bodies from mass graves
near Puerto Penasco raising the number of bodies and skeletons found
in the area since October to 52.
(SFC, 11/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 11, A Dutch court said
the government must attempt to bring home children whose mothers
traveled to Syria to join Islamic extremist groups. The case was
filed by lawyers on behalf of 23 women and their 56 children who
were being housed in camps in northern Syria.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, Human Rights Watch
published a report saying thousands of people with mental health
conditions are held in chains in institutions across Nigeria and
urged the government to ban the practice.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, It was reported
that Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel agreed that Ukraine should give its separatist-led Donbass
region a special status set out in Ukrainian law.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, In Saudi Arabia
two men and a woman were wounded in a knife attack this evening as
they performed on stage in a park in Riyadh, marking the first such
incident since the kingdom began loosening restrictions on
entertainment. Police detained a 33-year-old Yemeni male resident of
Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, It was reported
that South African researchers and city officials are racing to
understand the extent of a beetle infestation damaging trees across
the country that, if left unaddressed, could have a ripple effect on
the climate, air quality and ecosystems. The Polyphagous Shot Hole
Borer (PSHB), indigenous to Southeast Asia, is a tiny beetle that
drills holes into trees, depositing a fungus that can eventually
kill its hosts.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, Swiss-based
Roche's bid to rival Biogen and Novartis in treating spinal muscular
atrophy (SMA) got a lift when the drugmaker said its drug risdiplam
improved motor function in a key study.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, In northeastern
Syria three car bombs went off in the town of Qamishli near the
border with Turkey, killing at least six people. An Armenian
Catholic priest and his father were shot dead in a nearby area by
extremists.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, Turkey deported
citizens of the United States and Denmark who fought for the Islamic
State group and made plans to expel other foreign nationals as the
government began a new push to send back captured foreign fighters
to their home countries.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, In Turkey former
British army officer James Le Mesurier was found dead in Istanbul
early today. He was the founder and CEO of May Day Rescue, which
founded and trained the White Helmets, also known as the Syria Civil
Defense.
(AP, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, A report by UN
experts said Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have
repeatedly violated an arms embargo on Libya and it is "highly
probable" that a foreign attack aircraft is responsible for a deadly
strike on a migrant detention center. The report also accused Sudan
and the head of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan
Dagalo, known by his nickname Hemeti, of violating UN sanctions by
deploying 1,000 Sudanese troops to Libya.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 11, In Zimbabwe new
low-denomination banknotes touted by the government as the solution
to the acute cash shortage that has crippled the economy failed to
arrive, leaving banks in confusion and customers frustrated.
(Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019 Nov 12, It was reported
that the Trump administration held a record 69,550 migrant children
in US government custody in fiscal 2019, up 42 percent from the
previous year, and it detained the children for longer periods of
time.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, The US Supreme
Court dealt a blow to the firearms industry, rejecting Remington
Arms Co's bid to escape a lawsuit by families of victims aiming to
hold the gun maker liable for its marketing of the assault-style
rifle used in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that killed 20
children and six adults.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, A US federal court
in Boston ruled that warrantless US government searches of the
phones and laptops of int'l. travelers at airports and other US
ports of entry violate the Fourth Amendment.
(SFC, 11/13/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 12, American
prosecutors expanded an election-fraud case against 13 Russians that
was first brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, adding details
to flesh out how the defendants allegedly defrauded the US by
interfering in the 2016 US presidential race.
(Bloomberg, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, In Los Angeles
Ruben Martinez Jr., who spent 11 years in prison for a series of
armed robberies he didn't commit, was exonerated after prosecutors
agreed he had been wrongly convicted.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 12, In Georgia a road
rage that began on a metro Atlanta freeway led a gunman to open fire
into a carload of five people after they turned onto a nearby
street, killing one of them and critically wounding another.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 12, New York took
first place in a list of the world's most innovative cities, with
the United States performing strongly for its embrace of smart
technology and start-ups.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Texas-based Dean
Foods Co said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, months
after the owner of TruMoo chocolate milk and Meadow Gold ice creams
ended a strategic review and decided to remain as a standalone firm.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, The US National
Weather Service said the snow total had surpassed 10 inches (25 cm)
at the Buffalo airport this morning. Snow and icy conditions snarled
traffic and closed or delaying schools in parts of the Northeast and
South.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Tesla Chief
Executive Elon Musk said the US electric vehicle pioneer will build
its first European factory and design center near Berlin.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 12, Hate crime murders
in the US reached a 27-year high in 2018, according to data released
today by the FBI.
(CBS News, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Amarin Corp Plc's
fish oil-derived drug received a largely positive review from FDA
staffers, dispelling investor fears that the company's choice of
placebo in its trial could challenge the approval of its potential
blockbuster. A late-stage trial last year showed Vascepa cut the
combined rate of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular
events by 25%.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Global health
agencies said pneumonia killed more than 800,000 babies and young
children last year - or one child every 39 seconds - despite being
curable and mostly preventable.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Officials said the
Afghan government and the Taliban have agreed on a prisoner exchange
that would free American Prof. Kevin King (63) and Australian Prof.
Timothy Weeks (50) who were abducted by the insurgents in 2016.
(SFC, 11/13/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 12, In eastern
Bangladesh two trains collided killing at least 16 people.
(SFC, 11/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 12, In Bolivia Senate
vice-president and conservative Jeanine Anez (52) assumed the
interim role of interim president with a Bible in her hand after
Pres. Evo Morales took refuge in Mexico following the end of his
14-year socialist rule of the poor Andean nation.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 12, Brazil's Congress
officially ratified the government's landmark social security reform
bill into law, in a ceremony notable for the absence of President
Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Hackers attacked
Britain's opposition Labour Party for the second time in two days,
flooding its web services with malicious traffic in an attempt to
force them offline just weeks ahead of a national election.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Canadian
billionaire Guy Laliberte (6), co-founder of global circus company
Cirque du Soleil, turned himself in and was arrested in Papeete,
Tahiti, for growing cannabis on his private island in French
Polynesia.
(Good Morning America, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 12, In Chile protests
against social inequality continued for a 26th day with huge
demonstrations and a national strike that brought much of the
country to a standstill.
(SFC, 11/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 12, Danish police
began performing border checks at the country's crossings with
Sweden, moves that followed a series of shootings and explosions
around Copenhagen that Danish authorities say were carried out by
people crossing the waterway between the Scandinavian neighbors.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, In the Dominican
Republic American teacher Patricia Anton (63) was killed.
Authorities soon arrested six people in connection with her death.
(Good Morning America, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 12, The EU's top court
(ECJ) ruled that goods from Israeli settlements must be labelled as
produced in occupied territory, a decision hailed by Palestinians
and condemned by Israel, which said it would try to persuade
countries to ignore it.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Authorities in
Germany detained three alleged supporters of the Islamic State group
in Offenbach on suspicion of preparing a deadly attack against
non-Muslims.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, The Berlin-based
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights said it has
asked Norwegian prosecutors to open a criminal investigation against
senior Syrian officials over allegations of torture and crimes
against humanity.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Haitian police
arrested Jacques Yves Sebastien Duroseau, an active-duty US Marine
and Haiti native, when he landed in the capital, Port-au-Prince. He
landed with boxes filled with guns, ammunition and body armor.
Federal prosecutors later indicted Duroseau in North Carolina on gun
smuggling charges.
(Miami Herald, 12/2/19)
2019 Nov 12, Hong Kong police
fired tear gas at pro-democracy protesters in the Central financial
district and at demonstrators on the other side of the harbor as a
senior officer said the unrest had brought the city to "the brink of
total breakdown".
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Iraqi protesters
shut down state institutions as the UN stepped up pressure on the
government to enact a raft of reforms in response to anti-government
rallies.
(AFP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, An Israeli
airstrike in the Gaza Strip killed Bahaa Abu el-Atta (42), a senior
militant with the Islamic Jihad group, as well as his wife. Eight
others were killed, including at least seven militants. Israel said
more than 50 rockets were fired in just a few hours following the
attack, with at least 20 intercepted by its Iron Dome defense
system. Israeli warplanes responded with a series of airstrikes on
Islamic Jihad targets.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, An Israeli
airstrike in Damascus targeted another Islamic Jihad commander,
Akram al-Ajouri, who was not harmed.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Lebanese President
Michel Aoun appealed to Arab neighbors for help to revive his
country’s economy, driven to the brink of collapse after weeks of
unrest that have brought down the government. Alaa Abu Fakhr (38)
was shot dead by a soldier, who was trying to open a road closed by
protesters in southern Beirut, marking the first death since
widespread protests against Lebanon’s ruling elite began Oct. 17.
The soldier was detained and on Nov. 21 was charged with murder.
(Bloomberg, 11/12/19)(AP, 11/13/19)(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 12, Moldova's
government coalition between a pro-European group and a
Russian-backed party collapsed after losing a no-confidence vote in
parliament. PM Maia Sandu's five-month-old government lost the vote
as 63 of 101 lawmakers supported the no-confidence motion initiated
by the Socialists, her own coalition partners.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Saudi state run
television said a Saudi court has convicted 38 people of financing
terrorism and declaring other Muslims non-believers, handing out
sentences ranging from 30 months to 25 years.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, South Africa's
struggling state-owned airline South African Airways (SAA) said it
could cut more than 900 jobs as it restructures to stem severe
financial losses.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Spain's Socialists
and the far-left Unidas Podemos party agreed on the basis of a
coalition government, just two days after a parliamentary election
delivered a highly fragmented parliament.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, In Tanzania
unknown gunmen killed six farmers on an island in the Ruvuma River
near the southern border with Mozambique, amid growing concerns over
Islamist militants in a poor region where foreign companies are
developing gas deposits.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 12, Turkey's Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Syrian Kurdish fighters have failed to
vacate areas along the Turkish border despite agreements with Russia
and the United States, and says he will raise the issue with US
President Donald Trump.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, Turkish forces
conducting a joint patrol in northern Syria under a Russian-Turkish
deal fired live rounds at protesters near the mainly Kurdish town of
Kobani. Two people were reported killed and seven others injured
near the town along the Syrian-Turkish border.
(Reuters, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 12, A panel of
experts' report to the UN Security Council said a significant
escalation of US airstrikes targeting al-Shabab militants and
leaders has kept the al-Qaida-linked group "off-balance" but has had
"little effect on its ability to launch regular asymmetric attacks
throughout Somalia".
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 12, In Yemen
government's forces repelled an attack by Houthi rebel forces south
of the key port city of Hodeida. Fur Houthi fighters were reported
killed.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 12, Zimbabwe said more
than 200 elephants have died amid a severe drought, and announced
plans for a mass relocation of animals to ease congestion.
(AP, 11/12/19)
2019 Nov 13, Senior Democratic
and Republican lawmakers presented dueling narratives as a US
congressional impeachment inquiry that threatens Donald Trump's
tumultuous presidency entered a crucial new phase with the first
public hearing.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, US federal
authorities unsealed an indictment alleging that 14 members of an
international criminal organization have been ripping off Apple to
the tune of $6 million. An organization, led by three brothers, was
accused of importing over 10,000 counterfeit iPhones and iPads from
China and then going to Apple stores in states across the country
and Canada in order to exchange them for the real thing.
(Good Morning America, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, It was reported
that New York's insurance regulator has formally notified a group of
opioid manufacturers and distributors that it will launch a civil
enforcement action against them for contributing towards a rise in
health insurance premiums in the state.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Boston Igor
Dvorskiy, a former college entrance exam administrator, pleaded
guilty to participating in a vast college admissions cheating and
fraud scheme. Real estate company executive Toby Macfarlane was
sentenced to six months in prison for conspiring to bribe University
of Southern California employees to secure the admission of his
children as fake athletic recruits.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)(SFC, 11/14/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 13, In Afghanistan a
car bombing in Kabul targeted a private security convoy. 12 people
were reported killed including children.
(SFC, 11/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 13, Bolivia's new
interim president pledged to hold a new election as soon as possible
and condemned "revenge" acts by disgruntled supporters of fallen
leader Evo Morales who resigned after protests over a disputed vote.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Brazil a 2-day
meeting of the BRICS heads of state opened in Brasilia. Leaders of
the BRICS group of emerging economies (China, Russia, India, Brazil
and South Africa) criticized what they view as politically motivated
protectionism at a time of a global slowdown and said their
countries are doing their best to counter the trend.
(AP, 11/13/19)(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Brazil
supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido entered the
country’s embassy in Brasilia, a move coinciding with the arrival of
Russian and Chinese leaders for an international summit (BRICS).
(Bloomberg, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, Britain's
Communication Workers Union said that postal company Royal Mail had
won a high court injunction to block potential strikes by the union.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, Chinese e-commerce
giant Alibaba Group launched the share sale for its Hong Kong
listing, braving unrest in the global financial hub to try to raise
up to $13.4 billion to fund its expansion plans.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, It was reported
that Prague's Charles University has closed its Czech-Chinese
Center, after local media reports that some of its staff had failed
to declare payments from the Chinese embassy intended to support its
programs.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, Egyptian
authorities arrested Radwa Mohamed, a woman who voiced harsh
criticism of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and his wife in a
series of online videos. She was accused of spreading false news.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Egypt a
pipeline for oil products caught fire when thieves tried to tap into
it to siphon off gasoline in the Nile Delta province of Beheira. At
least seven people were killed.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, The German
parliament’s legal affairs committee ousted Stephan Brandner, its
chairman and a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany
party, amid anger over a string of inflammatory comments he had
made.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, India's top court
censured the federal government for its inaction in fighting
pollution, as poisonous smog choked the streets of the capital New
Delhi forcing schools to shut and half of vehicles to be banned from
the streets.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Iraq
anti-government rallies swelled in Baghdad and in the south as the
government faced new pressure from the street, Washington and the
United Nations to respond seriously to weeks of demonstrations.
(AFP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, The president of
Iraqi Kurdistan travelled to Baghdad for talks with senior officials
just hours ahead of a special parliament session to discuss weeks of
deadly anti-government demonstrations. Nechirvan Barzani met with PM
Adel Abdel Mahdi in Baghdad.
(AFP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, Israeli airstrikes
pounded Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza and militants resumed rocket
fire toward Israel after a brief overnight lull, as the death toll
rose to 23 Palestinians, including a 7-year-old boy and two other
minors, in the heaviest round of fighting in months.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Italy the worst
flooding in Venice in more than 50 years prompted calls to better
protect the historic city from rising sea levels as officials
calculated hundreds of millions of euros in damage.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Lebanon
protesters blocked major highways with burning tires and other
debris, saying they will remain in the streets despite the
president’s appeal for them to leave.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, Namibia's justice
and fisheries ministers resigned over bribery claims involving
Icelandic fishing firm Samherji.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, North Korea’s
supreme decision-making body lashed out at planned US-South Korean
military drills and warned that the US will face a “bigger threat
and harsh suffering” if it ignores North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s
end-of-year deadline to salvage nuclear talks.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Pakistan
anti-government protesters called off a two-week sit-in on the
capital's main highway, but began what they called a "Plan B" aimed
at crippling the country's roads and ousting PM Imran Khan.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, An attack on the
Saudi-Yemen border by Yemeni rebels killed six members of a Sudanese
paramilitary force that’s been fighting in Yemen.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 13, In western
Slovakia a lorry carrying gravel collided with a passenger bus,
killing 12 people, the country's deadliest road accident in a
decade.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, South African
Airways (SAA) said it might never recover if a strike by labor
unions goes ahead this week, underscoring how close the state-owned
company is to collapse. Unions representing around 3,000 of SAA's
5,000-strong workforce said that cabin crew and other workers at SAA
would go on strike on Nov. 15 over the airline's refusal to give in
to salary hikes and its plan to cut more than 900 jobs.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, Switzerland
approved a change to its environmental legislation allowing
companies to take part in the European Union’s emissions trading
system.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, Ukrainian
lawmakers voted to remove a ban on the sale of farmland for the
first time in nearly two decades, a move supported by the country's
foreign backers that risks a political backlash.
(Reuters, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, The UN refugee
agency said nations in Latin America and the Caribbean will need
$1.35 billion to respond to the massive exodus of Venezuelans. An
estimated 4.6 million Venezuelans have now fled their crisis-torn
country.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 13, In Yemen a missile
attack killed five soldiers in Sahn al-Gin district in northeastern
Marib province.
(AP, 11/13/19)
2019 Nov 14, The Democratic-led
impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump moved forward
with preparations for the appearance of another central figure -
former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch - in the
investigation's second public hearing.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, The crowded
Democratic presidential candidates seeking to challenge President
Donald Trump next year swelled again as former Massachusetts
Governor Deval Patrick entered the race, seeking to carve a fresh
path toward the party's nomination.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, A US State
Department spokesperson confirmed the death of an American in the
Dominican Republic, but said they could offer no further
information. Dominican Republic police said they found Patricia
Anton (63) deceased in her apartment in Puerto Plata, on the
country's northern coast, with her hands and feet bound.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, A federal judge
ruled the US government was correct when it determined that Hoda
Muthana, woman who joined the Islamic State group, was not an
American citizen despite her birth in the country. She was born in
New Jersey to a diplomat from Yemen and grew up in Alabama. In 2014,
she left the US to join IS apparently after becoming radicalized
online.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 14, Authorities in
southern California said at least six people have been injured
during a shooting at a high school in Santa Clarita. Two of the
injured soon died. The suspect was identified as Nathaniel Berhow,
who turned 16 today. The next day Berhow succumbed to a head wound
he suffered after turning his gun on himself following the attack.
(The Independent, 11/14/19)(Insider,
11/15/19)(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 14, In California the
Contra County Sheriff's arrested four men along with a fifth man,
who was charged with being an accessory to the Oct. 31 shooting,
which left five dead and several others wounded.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)(SFC, 11/15/19, p.A1)
2019 Nov 14, It was reported
that the city of Baltimore, Maryland, has reached 300 homicides in a
year for the fifth year in a row.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Ramiz Zijad
Hodzic, a Bosnian immigrant living in St. Louis County, was
sentenced to eight years in prison and will be deported for raising
money to support terrorists.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 14, South Carolina
teenager Jesse Dewitt Osborne (17), who on Sep. 28, 2016, killed his
father before driving to an elementary school and fatally shooting a
6-year-old boy and injuring two other people, was sentenced to life
in prison without parole.
(NY Times, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 14, Apple Inc launched
an app that will let users of its devices to enroll in three health
studies, allowing them to share health-related data for medical
research.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, IBM said it will
launch a new weather forecasting system which will be able to
predict conditions up to 12 hours in advance and cover parts of the
world which have not had access to such detailed data. The Global
High-Resolution Atmospheric Forecasting System (IBM GRAF) will run
on a supercomputer and provide more detailed and higher quality
forecasts.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Bolivian interim
President Jeanine Anez said that exiled former President Evo Morales
will not be able to take part in upcoming elections because he is
barred from running for a fourth consecutive term.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, China lifted a
nearly five-year ban on poultry meat imports from the United States,
a move that senior US officials said would pave the way for more
than $1 billion in annual poultry exports to China.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Gabon's new
environment minister, Lee White, a British-born conservationist,
vowed to fight illegal logging by strengthening governance of
forests after a national scandal in which about 350 containers of
rare kevazingo wood went missing.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Hundreds of
demonstrators gathered outside the parliament building in the
country of Georgia to protest the legislature’s failure to pass an
elections-reform measure promised by the governing party.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, India's capital
Delhi was shrouded in a deeper cover of toxic smoke, as data showed
that PM Narendra Modi's pledge to stamp out the burning of crop
stubble in neighboring states is not working. Schools in the Delhi
area were ordered to close as the city's air quality index hit a
dangerously high 474 on a scale of 500.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Iran’s Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pardoned thousands of prisoners
including 32 activists and others being held on “security” charges.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, In Iraq four
protesters were killed by tear gas canisters in Baghdad, the latest
deaths from what rights groups have slammed as a "gruesome" misuse
of the weapon. The UN had already documented 16 deaths from the
military-grade canisters, which are up to 10 times heavier than
regular tear gas grenades and can pierce skulls or lungs.
(AFP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Italy-based
Ferrari rolled out the Roma, a record fifth new model announced this
year, as the Italian luxury carmaker with the famous "prancing
horse" logo looks to sustain profit and share price growth.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Kuwait’s Cabinet
submitted its resignation, days after the country’s minister of
public works announced she would step down after being grilled by
parliament. Some elected lawmakers had accused Jenan Ramadan, who is
also minister of state for housing, of failing to fix infrastructure
and roads that were damaged in massive floods in 2018.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Lebanese troops
reopened major roads around the country after a two-day closure
triggered by a TV interview with President Michel Aoun in which he
called on protesters to go home.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Libya’s
internationally recognized PM Fayez al-Sarraj said Russian
mercenaries backing his rival, Khalifa Haftar, will drag out a
months-long war in the North African oil producer, and urged the US
to act to restore peace.
(Bloomberg, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Moldova’s
parliament voted to back a new, technocratic government led by
former finance minister Ion Chicu.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Mongolia amended
its constitution for the second time since it was ratified in 1992,
strengthening the powers of the prime minister in a bid to end years
of costly political instability and economic stagnation.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 14, The International
Criminal Court at The Hague said that it had approved a prosecution
request to investigate crimes against humanity against Myanmar's
Rohingya minority who were systematically driven across the border
to Bangladesh.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, North Korea said
it had turned down a US offer for fresh talks, saying it was not
interested in more talks merely aimed at "appeasing us" ahead of a
year-end deadline Pyongyang has set for Washington to show more
flexibility in the negotiations. North Korea launched a visceral
diatribe against US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden,
calling the former vice-president a "rabid dog" -- while also
borrowing the terminology of Donald Trump.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)(AFP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, In Pakistan
thousands of anti-government protesters blocked highways across the
country in a bid to oust PM Imran Khan, though the disruption fell
short of what organizers had planned.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Palestinian
militant group Islamic Jihad and Israel declared a halt to
hostilities across the Gaza Strip border, but a lasting ceasefire
appeared tenuous as they differed on terms. Militants in Gaza fired
a barrage of rockets into Israel hours after a cease-fire was
declared to bring to an end to two days of intense fighting. The
fighting has killed at least 34 Palestinians, among them three
women, eight children and 18 militants. The Israeli airstrike in the
central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah came in the closing hours of a
fierce two-day burst of fighting between Israel and the Islamic
Jihad militant group. Nine members of a Palestinian family were
killed.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)(AP, 11/14/19)(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Nov 14, Russia said it has
set up a helicopter base at an airport in the north-eastern Syrian
city of Qamishli, a move designed to increase Moscow's control over
events on the ground there.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, It was reported
that Saudi Arabia is intensifying informal talks with the
Iran-aligned Houthi movement on a ceasefire in Yemen.
(Reuters, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, A Scottish court
ordered bail for Clara Ponsatí (62), the fugitive Catalan former
politician whose extradition is sought by Spain on charges of
sedition for her role in a secession drive by Catalonia.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, In South Africa
hundreds of asylum-seekers who have staged a sit-in protest outside
the UN refugee agency in Pretoria for five weeks barged into the
premises. The protesters said they are seeking protection and want
UNHCR to relocate them to a safer country.
(AFP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is willing to purchase US-made
Patriot air defense systems but will not agree to disposing of the
Russian S-400 system it has already bought.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, Turkish officials
said seven German and one British Islamic State suspects have been
deported to their home countries. The Interior Ministry also
announced that the United States will take back a US national and IS
suspect who was stuck in a no man’s land between Turkey and Greece,
after Athens refused him entry.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, A key UN committee
approved a resolution condemning North Korea’s widespread human
rights violations which may amount to crimes against humanity — a
decision denounced by the country’s UN mission as “politically
motivated” and based on “fabrications”.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 14, The Yemen Archive
said that the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-aligned Houthi
rebels has been allegedly responsible for 72 attacks on medical
facilities, while the Houthis were blamed for at least 52 such
attacks since April 2014.
(AP, 11/14/19)
2019 Nov 15, President Donald
Trump launched an extraordinary Twitter attack on Marie Yovanovitch,
a former US ambassador to Ukraine, as she testified to an
impeachment hearing in Congress, a move she called "very
intimidating." Yovanovitch was removed from her post as ambassador
to Kiev in May after coming under attack by Trump's personal lawyer,
Rudy Giuliani.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Roger Stone (67),
a longtime friend and ally of President Donald Trump, was found
guilty of witness tampering and lying to Congress about his pursuit
of Russian-hacked emails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election
bid. He is the sixth Trump aide or adviser to be convicted of
charges brought as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia
investigation. Stone was scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6. He
could face up to 20 years.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Charles Gary
Sullivan (73) of Arizona was charged with open murder of Julia
Woodward (21) of San Rafael, California. In 1979 the woman's
bludgeoned body was discovered in a shallow grave near Reno, Nevada.
(ABC News, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 15, It was reported
that Giles Daniel Warrick (60), suspected of being the “Potomac
River Rapist,” is now awaiting extradition from Horry County, South
Carolina. He was accused of raping 10 women and killing one of them
between 1991 and 1998 in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding
suburbs.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Chicago teachers
approved the contract deal that ended an 11-day strike and includes
pay raises, $35 million to enforce limits on class sizes and a
pledge to supply each school with a nurse and a social worker.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, Texas's top
criminal appeals court halted the scheduled execution of inmate
Rodney Reed (51). His conviction was being questioned by new
evidence that his supporters say raises serious doubt about his
guilt in a 1996 murder. Reed has long maintained he didn't kill
Stacey Stites and that her fiancé, former police officer Jimmy
Fennell, was the real killer. Reed says Fennell was angry because
Stites, who was white, was having an affair with Reed, who is black.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, Martin Fox (62),
former president of a private tennis club in Texas, pleaded guilty
in the college admissions scandal. He had brokered bribes to help
wealthy parents rig their children's college entrance exams.
(SSFC, 11/17/19, p.A8)
2019 Nov 15, The Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJIA) crossed the 28,000 mark for the first time
as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq his all time highs.
(SFC, 11/16/19, p.D1)
2019 Nov 15, Astronauts
launched an extraordinarily complicated series of spacewalks to fix
a cosmic ray detector at the International Space Station.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Apple removed 181
vaping apps from its online store as regulators cracked down
e-cigarette products.
(SFC, 11/16/19, p.D3)
2019 Nov 15, Bolivia's interim
President Jeanine Anez said that ousted former President Evo Morales
is free to return, but would have to respond to allegations of
electoral fraud and would not be immune from investigation. Nine
people died in the latest escalation of violence between security
forces and supporters of former president Evo Morales. Most of the
dead and injured were in Sacaba, near Cochabamba.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)(The Independent,
11/17/19)(SSFC, 11/17/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 15, Britain's Prince
Andrew said in comments broadcast today that he had no recollection
of ever meeting an American woman who alleges she was forced to have
sex with him when she was underage. Virginia Giuffre has said she
was forced to have sex with Andrew in London, New York and on a
private Caribbean island between 1999 and 2002, when she says
Epstein kept her as a "sex slave".
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, Chilean lawmakers
agreed to hold a referendum next April on replacing the country's
unpopular Pinochet-era constitution, bowing to demands of protesters
who say the country's decades-old social model has created deep
inequality.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, China’s People’s
Liberation Army troops appeared on the streets of Hong Kong as part
of a clean-up mission that risked a backlash from pro-democracy
protesters who have brought the city to a standstill in recent
months.
(AFP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, In eastern Congo
DRC suspected Islamist militants killed at least 15 people in and
around the village of Mbau, in the latest massacre since the army
launched a major offensive against the rebels last month.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, Croatian police
fired shots at a group of migrants. One migrant fought for his life
after being shot.
(AP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 15, Cuba's foreign
ministry said it was terminating its medical mission as officials
were fostering violence against the doctors by claiming they were
instigating rebellion.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, The German lower
house of parliament approved a major climate protection package
which aims to ensure Germany will meet its 2030 target for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Volkswagen
installed former BMW executive Markus Duesmann to reinvent Audi
after the German premium brand lost key engineering know-how and
influence in the wake of the 2015 diesel-cheating scandal.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Hong Kong
protesters returned to the central financial district, the
fifth-straight day of rallies in a broader democracy push that’s
driven Asia’s premier financial hub toward recession.
(Bloomberg, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Iran imposed
petrol rationing and raised pump prices by at least 50 percent,
saying the move aims to help the needy with cash handouts and is not
due to a budget deficit. One person was killed and others injured in
Sirjan as protesters tried to set a fuel depot ablaze but were
thwarted by security forces. Demonstrations broke out hours after it
was announced the price of petrol would be increased by 50 percent
for the first 60 liters and 300 percent for anything above that each
month.
(AFP, 11/15/19)(AP, 11/16/19)(AFP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, In Iraq a roadside
bomb killed three people and wounded 18 late today near Tahrir
Square, the epicenter of the protest movement. Another roadside
blast in the southern city of Nassiriya wounded 18 the same evening.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, Israel said it has
completed a series of airstrikes on targets linked to the Islamic
Jihad militant group in Gaza after overnight rocket fire that
rattled a day-old truce. The Palestinian territory’s Hamas rulers
cancelled the weekly protests they organize along the perimeter
fence without explanation — apparently in an effort to preserve the
calm.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, In Italy an
exceptionally high tide hit Venice again just three days after the
city suffered its worst flooding in more than 50 years, leaving
squares, shops and hotels once more inundated. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro
said the damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of euros.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)(SFC, 11/16/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 15, Italian TV said a
scandal over alleged sexual molestation and abuse at the Vatican’s
youth seminary is growing, with more former papal altar boys
alleging inappropriate behavior by priests inside the Vatican walls.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, It was reported
that Kenya and Somalia have agreed to restore diplomatic relations
that had deteriorated over the disputed ownership of an Indian Ocean
territory thought to be rich in hydrocarbons.
(Bloomberg, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, The Netherlands
showed off the spoils of Brexit as it officially handed over the
European Medicines Agency's new building in Amsterdam after the
regulator was forced to move from London.
(AFP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, A Nicaraguan judge
sentenced a man to 30 years behind bars in the killing of a young
nursing student in upstate New York. Authorities said Orlando
Tercero strangled Haley Anderson (22) at his off-campus residence in
Binghamton, New York, in March 2018 and then fled to Nicaragua.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 15, South African
police removed about 150 refugees who the United Nations refugee
agency said forced their way into its compound in Pretoria while
protesting recent anti-immigrant attacks.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, South African
Airways (SAA) said its future is hanging in the balance after its
workers went on strike to demand higher wages and protest planned
job cuts, forcing the struggling state-owned carrier to cancel all
flights.
(Reuter, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Tunisia's moderate
Islamist Ennahda, which came first in last month's parliamentary
elections, named Habib Jemli, a former junior agriculture minister,
as its choice to become prime minister.
(Reuters, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Turkish police
detained four mayors over their suspected links to Kurdish rebels,
as part of an ongoing crackdown on the country's pro-Kurdish party.
(AP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, Ukraine's security
service said it had detained Al Bara Shishani (aka Cezar
Tokhosashvili), the deputy of Abu Omar al-Shishani, a man the
Pentagon described as Islamic State's "minister of war." Al Bara
Shishani, the former commander of the so-called Islamic State and
deputy head of its intelligence operations, had crossed into Ukraine
on a fake passport last year. He had been presumed dead for more
than a year.
(AP, 11/15/19)(The Daily Beast, 12/29/19)
2019 Nov 15, The United Nations
Security Council extended the UN's peacekeeping mission in the
violence-plagued Central African Republic for another year.
(AFP, 11/15/19)
2019 Nov 15, The UN Security
Council extended an arms embargo on Somalia and a ban on trade in
charcoal, a key source of funds for al-Shabab extremists — and it
imposed a new ban on ingredients for explosive devices the group is
increasingly using.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, In southern
California five family members were killed, and another underwent
emergency surgery following a shooting at a San Diego home, just a
day after one of the victims obtained a restraining order against
the alleged suspect. The estranged husband had turned a gun on
himself and was among the dead. One child was in critical condition.
(ABC News, 11/16/19)(SSFC, 11/17/19, p.A8)
2019 Nov 16, Louisiana Governor
John Bel Edwards, a conservative Democrat seeking a second term,
faced an election run-off against Eddie Rispone, a Republican who
has tightly aligned himself with President Donald Trump.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, It was reported
that sport fish have declined significantly in portions of the Upper
Mississippi River infested with Asian carp, adding evidence to fears
about the invader’s threat to native species.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, In Australia
dozens of wild fires burned across broad swaths of the country's
east and west as firefighters scrambled to shore up defenses ahead
of hotter weather and stronger winds expected to bring more danger
in the coming days. The death toll was now at four as about 60 fires
burned in New South Wales.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)(SFC, 11/16/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 16, Eight Burundian
soldiers were killed when gunmen attacked their camp close to the
Rwandan border. Burundi said the invaders retreated back into Rwanda
after the attack.
(Bloomberg, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 16, The first of
around 700 Cuban doctors were scheduled to fly home from strife-torn
Bolivia as officials railed against what they charged was slander
and mistreatment by Bolivia's conservative interim government.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, More than 200,000
Czechs gathered on the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution
that brought an end to decades of communist rule in the country to
give PM Andrej Babis an ultimatum — sell your business or quit your
job.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, In Egypt nine
people were killed when a minibus collided with a small truck on a
highway in the southern province of Sohag.
(AP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 16, French police
fired water cannon and fired tear gas in Paris to drive back
protesters marking the first anniversary of anti-government "yellow
vest" demonstrations.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, In Iran protests
spread across the country after a surprise decision to impose petrol
price hikes and rationing in the sanctions-hit country.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, Iran informed the
UN IAEA that its stock of heavy water, a moderator used in a type of
reactor it is developing, had exceeded 130 metric tons.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 16, Iraq closed its
southern Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran to travelers from both
countries because of ongoing public protests in both Iran and Iraq.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, Israeli aircraft
hit military sites for Gaza’s Hamas rulers early today after two
rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, Malaysia's ruling
coalition lost its fourth electoral contest since coming to power
last May, uncovering deepening cracks in the young alliance mired by
uncertainty over a succession plan for its top leadership.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, In the Netherlands
anti-racism campaigners held protests in cities across the country
as Dutch children hailed the annual arrival of St. Nicholas and a
blackface character who traditionally accompanies him.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, In Spain dozens of
protesters crowded into Barcelona's main railway station in the
latest show of dissent to grip the city more than a month after a
Spanish court handed stiff prison sentences to nine Catalan
separatist leaders.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, Sri Lankans packed
into polling stations to choose a new president for the
island-nation still struggling to recover from Easter Sunday attacks
on hotels and churches that have heavily weighed on its
tourism-dependent economy. Former defence secretary Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, who oversaw the military defeat of Tamil separatists 10
years ago, and government minister Sajith Premadasa were locked in a
close fight.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, In Switzerland
climate-change activists blocked Geneva airport's private jet
terminal in protest against what they said is an absurd form of
transport.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, In northern Syria
a car bomb exploded in the town of al-Bab, Aleppo province,
controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, killing at least 18
people and wounding several others. Turkey’s Defense Ministry blamed
the main Kurdish militia, known as the People’s Protection Units.
(AP, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, Turkey removed
four more mayors from their posts as part of a widening government
crackdown against the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP),
and replaced them with state appointees.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 16, The Venezuelan
opposition held nationwide protests in the hope of reviving a
stalled movement to oust President Nicolas Maduro, who has held on
to power despite an economic crisis and aggressive US sanctions.
(Reuters, 11/16/19)
2019 Nov 17, US President
Donald Trump welcomed a "cash" payout to American farmers before the
Thanksgiving Day holiday that he attributed to China tariffs, but
that money actually is part of a US government aid package. A day
earlier the US Department of Agriculture said it will begin making a
second round of 2019 trade aid payments to US farmers next week.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, "Ford v Ferrari"
left its box office competitors in the dust as Disney's historical
sports drama sped its way to $31 million in North America. "Joker"
by Warner Bros. officially became the first R-rated movie in history
to gross over $1 billion at the global box office.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, US Defense
Secretary Mark Esper said the United States and South Korea have
indefinitely postponed a joint military exercise in an “act of
goodwill” toward North Korea.
(AP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, The New York Times
reported that rare and huge leak of Chinese government documents
have shed new light on a security crackdown on Muslims in China's
Xinjiang region, where President Xi Jinping ordered officials to act
with "absolutely no mercy" against separatism and extremism.
(AFP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, In Fresno, Ca.,
four people were killed and six others were injured when a gunman
burst into a backyard and sprayed bullets toward a family who
gathered to watch football. The victims were all of Hmong descent. A
man in his 20s was shot to death earlier today at a home in another
part of the city. Police later said the Mongolian Boy Society gang
had mis-targeted the victims believing Asia Crips were responsible
for the fatal shooting of Randy Xiong (28) earlier that day.
(AP, 11/18/19)(SSFC, 11/24/19, p.A8)(SFC, 1/1/20,
p.C1)
2019 Nov 17, In Bangladesh at
least seven people were killed and eight injured after a gas
pipeline exploded in the port city of Chittagong.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Belarus voted in
parliamentary elections that will be closely watched by the West to
see how much leeway President Alexander Lukashenko (65) will allow
opposition candidates while keeping his grip on power. Lukashenko
threatened to pull out of signing an integration deal with Russia
next month if Moscow failed to resolve their dispute over energy
subsidies.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Bolivians suffered
long lines on the streets of La Paz to secure chicken, eggs and
cooking fuel as supporters of ousted President Evo Morales continued
to cripple the country's highways, isolating population centers from
lowland farms.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Chile's Pres.
Sebastian Pinera condemned for the first time what he called abuses
committed by police in dealing with four weeks of violent unrest
that have rocked the country.
(AFP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Two Nigerian table
tennis players who traveled to Croatia for a sports competition were
arrested by police, bundled into a van and forced over the border
into Bosnia. For the next three weeks they were stuck in the Miral
camp, run by the International Organization for Migration, as
organizers of the sports event tried to help get back to Croatia and
return home.
(The Telegraph, 12/6/19)
2019 Nov 17, In Egypt a
roadside bomb killed at least three members of the security forces
in the restive northern Sinai province. A military court sentenced a
Libyan national to death on terror-related charges for carrying out
an ambush on police forces southwest of Cairo two years ago. Five
Egyptians were given life sentences.
(AP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, In France yellow
vest activists staged peaceful demonstrations across the country, a
day after scuffles between Paris police and protesters marred the
anniversary of their movement for economic justice.
(AP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, A French damning
justice ministry report said police missed opportunities to save the
lives of 41 per cent of women murdered in France by current or
former partners.
(tt, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, In Georgia about
20,000 people rallied in the center of Tbilisi to protest against
the government and to demand an early parliamentary election.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Georgia demanded
the release of a doctor detained by separatists after crossing into
breakaway South Ossetia, which is controlled by Russia after a war
between two ex-Soviet republics in 2008. Vazha Gaprindashvili,
president of Georgia's Association of Orthopedist and
Traumatologists, was taken to South Ossetia's regional center
Tskhinvali on Nov. 13 and given two months of pretrial custody by
the separatists.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Thousands of
Greeks, including former PM Alexis Tsipras, marched through central
Athens this evening to mark the anniversary of a violently quashed
student uprising in 1973 that helped topple a military junta.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, A Hong Kong police
officer was struck by an arrow fired by a protester and an armored
vehicle set ablaze, as fires raged into the night around a campus
which has turned into a base for a pro-democracy movement that has
sunk the city into turmoil. Activists dug in around Hong Kong
Polytechnic University (PolyU), setting large fires to prevent
police from conducting a threatened raid on the campus.
(AP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Iran's Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei backed the sharp gasoline price rises that have sparked
country-wide protests, which he blamed on the Islamic Republic's
opponents and "sabotage" by foreign foes.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Iran's
semi-official ISNA news agency said authorities have restricted
internet access in Iran, after nearly two days of nationwide
protests triggered by a petrol price hike.
(AFP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, In Iraq
anti-government protesters seized control of a third strategic
Baghdad bridge, while others blocked roads with burning tires in
parts of central and southern Iraq, halting traffic and paralyzing
work following a call for a national strike. One protester was
killed by a direct hit to the head from a tear gas cannister amid
fresh clashes on the bridge. 32 others were wounded hours after
protesters retook control of half of Ahrar Bridge.
(AP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Lebanon slipped
deeper into political crisis after the withdrawal of Mohammad
Safadi, a top candidate for prime minister, narrowed the chances of
creating a government needed to enact urgent reforms.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Authorities at
Libya's Misrata airport seized a Libyan Airlines aircraft operating
from Benghazi in the east of the country.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, North Korea said
nuclear issues will not be discussed when talks with the United
States restart unless the withdrawal of US "hostile policy" was put
on the agenda.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Russian news said
Russia will return three captured naval ships to Ukraine on Nov. 18
and is moving them to a handover location agreed with Kiev.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Samoa declared a
state of emergency this weekend, closing all schools and cracking
down on public gatherings, after several deaths linked to a measles
outbreak that has spread across the Pacific islands. The island
state of just 200,000 declared a measles epidemic late in October
after the first deaths were reported.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Saudi Aramco is
worth up to $1.7 trillion at the price range set by the oil giant,
below the $2 trillion sought by Saudi's crown prince but putting it
in the running to become the world's biggest IPO.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Sri Lanka's former
civil wartime defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa was declared the
winner in the presidential election, after promising to secure the
country against militant threats following Easter bombings this
year.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, In Thailand Jeong
Kyeong-doo, the South Korean minister of defence, and his Chinese
counterpart, Wei Fenghe, agreed to set up more military hotlines and
to push ahead with a visit by Mr Jeong to China next year to “foster
bilateral exchanges and cooperation in defence”.
(The Telegraph, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 17, Turkey's defense
ministry said authorities have captured a Syrian Kurdish YPG fighter
suspected of a car bomb attack in the northern Syrian town of Al-Bab
a day earlier, which killed 18 people and wounded 30 others.
(Reuters, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, At the Vatican
Pope Francis hosted 1,500 homeless and needy people for lunch as the
Roman Catholic Church marked its World Day of the Poor.
(AP, 11/17/19)
2019 Nov 17, Yemen's Houthi
rebels seized a Saudi vessel while it was towing a South Korean
drilling rig. Rebels said in a statement that they had seized three
vessels including, a Saudi one, allegedly for entering Yemeni
waters.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, The Trump
administration said it no longer considers Israeli settlements in
the West Bank to be a violation of international law, reversing four
decades of American policy and further undermining the Palestinians’
effort to gain statehood.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, US Chief Justice
John Roberts ordered an indefinite delay in the House of
Representative's demand for Pres. Trump's financial records.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 18, The US announced
it would halt sanctions waivers for Iran's Fordow plant, ending a
key part of a landmark nuclear deal after Tehran said it had resumed
enrichment activities.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, The United States
granted another 90 days for companies to cease doing business with
China's telecoms giant Huawei, saying the move would allow service
providers to continue to offer coverage in rural areas.
(AFP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 18, An independent
expert working with the UN human rights office estimated that over
100,000 children are being held in migration-related detention in
the United States. The 100,000 figure was drawn from a UN refugee
agency report citing data from 2015, the latest figure his team
could find. New US government data released this month found 69,550
migrant children have been held in US government custody over the
past year.
(AP, 11/18/19) (AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Arizona the
coal-fired Navajo Generating Station, one of the largest in the
West, was shut down after serving customers for nearly 50 years.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A10)
2019 Nov 18, Extinction
Rebellion activists pressing for more rapid action on climate change
threats began a week-long hunger strikes in 27 countries. The
strikes were in part spearheaded by Giovanni Tamacas (20), a
University of San Diego student, who carried out a solo hunger
strike last month in front of the White House.
(Reuters, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Colorado
Patrick Frazee was convicted of killing Kelsey Berreth (29) on Nov.
22, 2018. She was his fiancee and the mother of his young daughter.
(ABC News, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Indiana Dennis
Tyler (76), the mayor of Muncie, was arrested for allegedly taking a
$5,000 bribe in exchange for a public works contract.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 18, In Missouri
Jennifer Rothwell’s body was found late today about 45 miles (72 km)
northwest of her home. Rothwell’s husband, Beau Rothwell (28), was
in jailed without bond on charges of second-degree murder and
evidence tampering.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Oklahoma the
Pottawatomie County jury convicted Byron James Shepard (38) for the
2017 killing of Officer Justin Terney, who was shot during a traffic
stop. Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 18, Projects to
protect Texas marshes from erosion and an Alaskan village from the
Bering Sea got help from some of the 44 grants awarded today by the
National Coastal Resilience Fund, a public-private partnership
assisting communities threatened by storms and flooding from rising
and warming seas.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Adela Raz,
Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the UN, launched a UN group
to protect the rights Afghan women gained after the Taliban was
ousted from power 18 years ago, amid fresh efforts to rekindle talks
with the fundamentalist group to end the country’s long-running war.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 18, Opposition groups
in Belarus lost their only two seats in parliamentary elections
criticized by international observers, as the country’s
authoritarian leader focused on looming trade negotiations with
Russia. The two sitting opposition deputies and many other
opposition activists were barred from running.
(Bloomberg, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Bolivia
residents in several cities were reporting food and gasoline
shortages because of protests by supporters of ousted Pres. Evo
Morales. At least 23 people have been killed in street violence that
erupted after the disputed Oct. 20 election.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 18, Brazilian
government data showed that deforestation in the Amazon rainforest
rose to its highest in over a decade this year, confirming a sharp
increase under the leadership of right-wing President Jair
Bolsonaro.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Police in Brazil
said four homeless people have died and four hospitalized after
drinking from a bottle containing a "suspicious" liquid given them
by unidentified people in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 18, A miniature
manuscript written by the teenage Charlotte Bronte returned to her
childhood home in West Yorkshire after it was bought by a British
museum at auction in Paris. The Bronte Parsonage Museum bid 780,000
euros ($862,600) for the unpublished manuscript, written by Bronte
when she was 14 years old.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, The Czech
government approved a 7% digital tax proposal aimed at boosting
state coffers by taxing advertising by global internet giants like
Google and Facebook. The proposed tax must still make it past
lawmakers in parliament.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, German biotech
company Morphosys said more patients would be recruited for a study
testing its most advanced drug against a common type of blood
cancer, following an encouraging interim data readout.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Police in Georgia
used water cannon to disperse protesters near the parliament and
arrested several people calling for an early election.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Hong Kong leader
Carrie Lam urged protesters holed up in a university to heed police
calls to surrender, as tens of thousands of protesters marched to
support the trapped demonstrators.
(Bloomberg, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, The Hungarian
government signed a special agreement with an Orthodox Jewish group,
granting them a status in the country enjoyed only by a small number
of churches.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Iran three
members of the security forces were stabbed to death near Tehran as
protests continued in several cities. The Revolutionary Guards
warned of "decisive" action if anti-government protests do not
cease.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 18, In southern Iraq
anti-government demonstrators blocked roads leading to the Umm Qasr
port, while the country’s central bank reduced working hours because
of ongoing demonstrations.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Italian police
broke up a cross-border criminal gang illicitly trafficking in
archaeological artifacts clandestinely excavated in southern Italy
for export abroad. Two suspects were jailed and 21 put under house
arrest, most of them in Calabria.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Japan's first ever
fully fledged arms show opened, creating a forum that Japan's
government hopes will help it tap technology it needs to counter
threats posed by China and North Korean.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Kuwait’s ruler
Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah fired his own son and another Cabinet
minister after they publicly feuded over accusations of corruption,
ordering the prime minister to form a new government.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Libya an
airstrike slammed into a biscuit factory in Tripoli, killing at
least seven workers including five foreign nationals and two
Libyans. The Tripoli-based government blamed the airstrike Gen.
Khalifa Hifter’s LNA, which did not return calls seeking comment.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, A Myanmar judge
extended the sentences of the Peacock Generation troupe, a group of
satirical performers jailed for mocking the military, in a case that
has raised new concern about freedom of expression. A court in
Yangon added another year under the same charge.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Nicaraguan
authorities said 16 anti-government protesters have been accused of
arms trafficking. They included student protesters such as
Nicaraguan and Belgian national Amaya Coppens, who has been arrested
previously. The Roman Catholic Church in Nicaragua accused groups
linked to the government of beating a priest and violently taking
control of the cathedral.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 18, North Korea
responded to a tweet by US President Donald Trump that hinted at
another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it has
no interest in giving Trump further meetings to brag about unless it
gets something substantial in return.
(Politico, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Portugal's
Champalimaud Foundation announced the world's largest annual prize,
worth 1 million euros, for research and clinical practices aiming to
control or eradicate cancer.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Russia returned
three Ukrainian naval ships that were seized by Russia nearly a year
ago. The two gunboats and a tug were taken by the Russian coast
guard on Nov. 25, 2018, as they maneuvered near the Kerch Strait
that connects the Black Sea with the Azov Sea.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, South Korean and
US officials resumed talks to narrow a $4 billion gap in how much
they want Seoul to pay for the cost of hosting the American military
amid public protests of "highway robbery" against sharply increased
US demands.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, A Spanish National
Court official confirmed that Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, a former
Venezuelan spymaster accused of attempting to "flood" the United
States with drugs, remains missing since an order for his arrest
pending extradition was issued on Nov. 8.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Human Rights Watch
said the deadly crackdown by Sudanese security forces against
pro-democracy demonstrators last June may have amounted to a crime
against humanity.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, Swiss-based
Novartis said is exiting drug discovery at its Shanghai site and
shifting its focus to drug development as accelerating approvals in
China are pushing the company to dedicate the operation's resources
to getting its medicines to market.
(Reuters, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, A UN nuclear
watchdog IAEA report showed that Iran has breached another limit of
its nuclear deal with major powers by accumulating slightly more
than 130 tons of heavy water, a substance used in a type of reactor
it is developing.
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 18, The head of a UN
treaty said a rare species of porpoise is facing imminent extinction
as fishing vessels appear to be flouting an international ban on
them entering its last sanctuary, off the coast of Mexico.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 18, Yemen’s
internationally recognized government returned to the war-torn
country for the first time since it was forced out by southern
separatists during clashes last summer. PM Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed
described the government’s return as “foundational for the
improvement of civic services".
(AP, 11/18/19)
2019 Nov 19, The US Senate
unanimously passed a bill aimed at supporting protesters in Hong
Kong and warning China against a violent suppression of the
demonstrations -- drawing a rebuke from Beijing.
(Bloomberg, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Lt. Col. Alexander
Vindman (44) told Congress that he listened to President Trump’s
July phone call with the president of Ukraine and immediately knew
it was his “duty” to report Trump’s “improper” behavior to White
House lawyers.
(Yahoo News, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Thousands of
red-clad Indiana teachers swarmed the state capitol building,
chanting loudly to protest low salaries and evaluation policies and
forcing half the state's school districts to cancel classes for the
day.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, A new US federal
law, effective January 1, was published in the federal register. It
will restrict bottom trawling over 90% of the sea floor along the
West Coast from Canada to Mexico.
(SFC, 11/20/19, p.A1)
2019 Nov 19, A federal judge in
San Francisco ruled that the Trump administration flouted federal
law with a rule that would allow any health care worker to refuse to
provide abortions or other procedures for religious or moral
reasons.
(SFC, 11/21/19, p.C1)
2019 Nov 19, In Abu Dhabi donor
governments and philanthropists pledged $2.6 billion to help fund a
worldwide polio eradication plan that has taken decades to reach
what global health specialists say is now the "last mile." The
funding included $1.08 billion from the Gates Foundation, around
$514 million from Britain, $215 million from the United States, $160
million from Pakistan and $150 million from the charity Rotary
International.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Austria's interior
minister said the house where Adolf Hitler was born will be turned
into a police station, after years of debate over how best to
prevent it becoming a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis.
(Reuters, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 19, Bosnia named Serb
economist Zoran Tegeltija as prime minister after a compromise
between its Serb, Croat and Muslim co-presidents on submitting
annual reform plans to NATO ended a 13-month deadlock between
opponents and supporters of integration with the West.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Britain's PM Boris
Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn traded blows over Brexit and
the health system as they vied for votes during the first ever
head-to-head TV debate.
(AFP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 19, Thousands of
unionized Canadian National Railway workers held their first strike
in a decade after negotiating parties failed to resolve contract
issues at a time of softening demand for freight service.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, It was reported
that Chinese Catholic bishop Guo Xijin (61) is believed to be on the
run from state security after refusing to bring his church under a
government-sanctioned religious association.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, In Egypt a captain
was killed and four members of the security forces were wounded in a
roadside bombing. The Islamic State group soon claimed
responsibility.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 19, The European
Union's top court ruled that there are reasons to question the
independence of a new judicial chamber in Poland that monitors and
potentially punishes judges. However, the European Court of Justice
(ECJ) left it to Poland’s highest court to determine whether the new
Disciplinary Chamber is independent of influence from the nations’
legislative and executive powers.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, German special
police forces arrested a Syrian man (26) in a raid on his apartment
after receiving intelligence from American officials that he was
planning an extremist attack.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Haiti’s embattled
leader, Jovenel Moise, said he will not resign despite months of
protests calling for his ouster, which he said are partially a plot
by groups holding the crisis-torn Caribbean nation “hostage” and
trying to thwart his reforms.
(Bloomberg, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Anti-government
protesters holed up in a Hong Kong university searched for escape
routes after more than two days of clashes with police, dramatic
breakouts by rope and motorcycle and more than 1,000 arrests in 24
hours. About 100 protesters remained trapped in the Polytechnic
University.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Tata Steel, the
Indian steel manufacturer, announced that it will be slashing 3,000
jobs across its operations in Europe, citing a global consumption
slowdown and the uncertainty surrounding the UK general elections
and Brexit that is scheduled to follow right after.
(Benzinga, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, An Iranian
judiciary spokesman said protests triggered by petrol price hikes
last week have subsided.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Israel’s PM
Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to the West Bank to celebrate the US's
announcement that it does not consider Israeli settlements to
violate international law.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, The Israeli
military said it intercepted four incoming rockets from Syria and
explosions were heard shortly after that in Damascus, a week after
another Israeli strike targeted a top Palestinian militant in the
Syrian capital.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Kuwait's ruler
named Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah as prime minister, elevating
him from his role as foreign minister, after a row between ruling
family members and parliament prompted the last government to
resign.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, In Lebanon
thousands of protesters rallying against the political elite blocked
roads in central Beirut, preventing lawmakers from reaching the
parliament and forcing the postponement of a legislative session.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Maltese PM Joseph
Muscat said he has offered an official pardon to a suspect if his
evidence leads to the arrest of the mastermind behind the Oct. 16,
2017, assassination of journalist Caruana Galizia.
(SFC, 11/20/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 19, In the Philippines
Pres. Rodrigo Duterte ordered a sweeping ban on vaping in public and
threatened to use the police and military to enforce the order.
(SFC, 11/22/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 19, Russia says it has
repatriated another 32 children of members of the Islamic State
group from Iraq.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Mothers of Russian
prisoners denounced the prosecution of protesters as a "travesty of
justice" as they gathered outside the offices of the presidential
administration. They called on Pres. Vladimir Putin to have the
courts, investigators and the FSB security service probed over their
handling of the cases.
(AFP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, South African
Airways (SAA) resumed some regional flights but warned that only a
deal with striking unions can resolve its current crisis, with no
prospect of more money from the government.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, A Swedish
prosecutor dropped a rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange, ending the near decade-old case that had sent the
anti-secrecy campaigner into hiding in London's Ecuadorian embassy
to avoid extradition.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, Turkey's state-run
news agency said prosecutors have issued warrants for the detention
of 133 military officers over suspected links to the US-based Muslim
cleric who is blamed by Ankara for a failed coup attempt in 2016.
101 of the suspects were detained in simultaneous raids in 45
provinces for alleged links to Fethullah Gulen's network.
(AP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, The United Nations
voiced alarm at reports dozens may have been killed in Iranian
demonstrations, as the Islamic republic said it will unblock the
internet only once calm has been restored.
(AFP, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, The UN and
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that Israeli
settlements in occupied Palestinian territory remain in breach of
international law, rejecting the Trump administration's position
accepting them.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 19, The World Food
Program (WFP) said jihadist violence in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso
has forced nearly 1 million people to flee their homes, destroyed
fragile agricultural economies and hobbled humanitarian aid efforts.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2019 Nov 20, In his opening
statement before the House Intelligence Committee, Gordon Sondland,
the US ambassador to the European Union — who has been widely seen
as the impeachment inquiry’s most consequential witness — put
President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani at the center of the
effort to pressure the president of Ukraine to carry out Trump’s
political agenda.
(Yahoo News, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Joe Biden sought
to turn Donald Trump's impeachment to his own advantage at the fifth
Democrat presidential debate, declaring it showed he was the
candidate the president feared most. Bernie Sanders called the
president a "pathological liar." Elizabeth Warren said she had
already decided to convict Mr Trump in a Senate trial. Speaking on
stage at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, California Senator Kamala
Harris went after Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard on foreign
policy. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker took on former Vice President
Joe Biden over marijuana. And Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
characterized South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg as
inexperienced.
(The Telegraph, 11/21/19)(Bloomberg, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, The US Justice
Department said The Assistance Fund, a Florida-based charity, will
pay $4 million to resolve claims that it acted as a conduit for
companies including Biogen Inc and Novartis AG to pay kickbacks to
Medicare patients using their high-priced multiple sclerosis drugs.
(Reuters, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, The US House
Judiciary Committee took the first step to legalizing marijuana in
the US advancing a bill to remove pot from the Controlled Substances
Act and create a 5% tax to fund programs to heal damage to people
hurt by the war on drugs.
(SFC, 11/21/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 20, In Arizona former
Border Patrol agent Matthew Bowen (39), who hit a fleeing Guatemalan
migrant with his truck in 2017, was sentenced to three years of
probation. Bowen, more than two weeks before the encounter, had
referred to immigrants in a text message as “subhuman” and “mindless
murdering savages”.
(NY Times, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 20, Michael J. Pollard
(80), Hollywood character actor, died in Los Angeles. His more than
200 films and television show included his role as the gas station
attendant turned criminal accomplice in "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967).
(SSFC, 11/24/19, p.B10)
2019 Nov 20, A Louisiana man
who took the stand in his own defense was found guilty of
first-degree murder in the shooting death of a Shreveport police
officer. Grover Cannon (31) said several people lied about his
involvement in the shooting. He says he believes another officer’s
bullets killed Officer Thomas LaValley (29) on Aug. 5, 2015.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 20, Former Louisiana
State University student Matthew Naquin (21) was sentenced to five
years in prison in the 2017 hazing death of fraternity pledge Max
Gruver.
(ABC News, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 20, In New Jersey
Michael Tennant (10), who was shot at a high school game between
Pleasantville and Camden on Nov. 15, died. Charges against the
suspected gunman were upgraded to murder.
(SFC, 11/21/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 20, A North Carolina
county removed a Confederate statue from the historic outside the
historic Chatham County courthouse early today, joining the handful
of places around the state where such monuments have come down in
recent years despite a law protecting them.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Gary Jones
resigned as president of the United Auto Workers after the union
moved to oust him and another official under the cloud of a
broadening federal corruption investigation.
(The Week, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 20, In Afghanistan two
US servicemen were killed in a helicopter crash.
(SFC, 11/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 20, It was reported
that major hotels in Britain are failing to protect workers from
debt bondage and sexual exploitation, according to a study that
found 75% of hospitality businesses were flouting 2015 anti-slavery
legislation.
(Reuters, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Ethiopia's Sidama
people voted overwhelmingly to form their own self-governing region
as many of the country's ethnic groups demand greater autonomy under
sweeping reforms led by PM Abiy Ahmed. The Sidama represent about 4%
of Ethiopia's 105 million population.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 20, Greece announced
plans to overhaul its migration management system, replacing
overcrowded refugee camps on the islands with smaller detention
facilities and moving some 20,000 asylum seekers to the mainland
over the next few weeks.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani declared that street unrest had been put down in a
victory over foreign enemies, after a wave of violent demonstrations
swept the country following a hike in fuel prices last week. Amnesty
International said it had documented at least 106 deaths of
protesters killed by security forces.
(Reuters, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Activists said six
conservationists working to save the critically endangered Asiatic
cheetah have been sentenced to prison on internationally criticized
espionage charges in Iran.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Iraqi security
officials say at least 27 protesters have been wounded in renewed
clashes overnight in central Baghdad.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Israeli officials
announced that dozens of world leaders will arrive in Jerusalem for
the largest-ever gathering focused on combatting anti-Semitism amid
a global spike in violence against Jews.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Israel struck
dozens of Iranian targets in Syria in a “wide-scale” operation in
response to rocket fire on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights the
day before. The airstrikes killed at least 23 people, including 15
non-Syrians, some of them Iranians. The airstrikes targeted several
areas in the capital Damascus and its suburbs.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Malta police
arrested one of the country's most prominent businessmen as part of
an investigation into the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana
Galizia. Yorgen Fenech was detained by armed forces as he tried to
leave the Mediterranean island before dawn aboard his luxury yacht.
(Reuters, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, The Saudi-led
coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen confirmed the return of the
impounded ships.
(AP, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, In Somalia Almaas
Elman, a Somali Canadian peace activist, was killed after she was
hit by a stray bullet while traveling in a car inside a heavily
defended base near the international airport where many diplomats
and aid workers have offices.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 20, In Syria more than
15 civilians, including six children, seeking shelter in a refugee
camp in the town of Qah, Idlib province, were killed after it was
hit by ballistic missiles fired by pro-government forces.
(The Telegraph, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 20, Ukraine's
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy unveiled a rebuilt bridge that was
blown up in Stanytsia Luhanska in 2015, among several
confidence-building measures before a summit next month meant to end
a conflict with Russian-backed separatist forces.
(Reuters, 11/20/19)
2019 Nov 20, Pope Francis
arrived in Thailand as part of a two-country tour to boost the
morale of Thailand's and Japan's minority Catholic communities.
(SFC, 11/21/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 21, US President
Donald Trump blasted the US Navy's handling of a Navy SEAL whose
rank he recently restored following a court martial, saying he would
not allow the service to remove his SEAL status. Gallagher and three
other SEALs were notified a day earlier that they must appear before
a board that will decide whether they should be stripped of their
SEAL status.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, US President
Donald Trump said he had asked Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim
Cook to look into helping develop telecommunications infrastructure
for 5G wireless networks in the United States.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, Congress gave
final approval to a stopgap spending bill that would punt the threat
of a US government shutdown to just before Christmas. Pres. Trump
signed the bill into law.
(SFC, 11/22/19, p.A8)
2019 Nov 21, Fiona Hill, a
Russia expert who’s written extensively on the Kremlin, scolded
Republican lawmakers for propagating what she said was a “fictional
narrative” — that somehow Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the
2016 US presidential election.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, US diplomat David
Holmes told Congress that he overheard President Trump discussing
the need for Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden
in July, and that he came forward to testify because of complaints
about the lack of firsthand accounts.
(Yahoo News, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, The US military
lost an unmanned drone aircraft over the Libyan capital, Tripoli,
where rival armed groups have been fighting for control of the city
for months. Libyan officials later said LNA forces trying to seize
Tripoli shot down the drone over the capital by mistake.
(AP, 11/22/19)(AP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 21, In southern
California a 13-year-old boy was arrested after he allegedly
threatened to shoot fellow students at Animo Mae Jemison Charter
Middle School in Willowbrook. When authorities searched the
suspect's home they found an unregistered AR-15 with a high-capacity
magazine, approximately 100 rounds of ammunition, a map of the
school, and a list of some students and teachers.
(CBS News, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 21, A judge concluded
that an Illinois man who spent nearly 20 years behind bars wasn’t
guilty of a crime in the fatal shooting that sent him to prison. The
judge granted Terrence Haynes a certificate of innocence after
determining Haynes shouldn’t have been charged in the fatal 1999
shooting of Cezaire Murrell.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 21, Former Baltimore
mayor Catherine Pugh (69) pleaded guilty to federal crimes in a book
fraud. She had written a series of children's book that were used to
defraud health care companies, the city's school system and
taxpayers.
(SFC, 11/22/19, p.A9)
2019 Nov 21, In Oklahoma two US
airmen were killed at Vance Air Force Base during a routine training
mission in Enid.
(SFC, 11/22/19, p.A8)
2019 Nov 21, AstraZeneca said
that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given its go
ahead for the company's Calquence drug to treat chronic lymphocytic
leukemia (CLL), one of the most common types of leukemia in adults.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 21, WeWork said it is
laying off around 2,400 employees globally, as the office-sharing
company seeks to drastically cut costs and stabilize its business
after it transformed from a Wall Street darling into a pariah in a
matter of weeks.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, An Argentine
criminal prosecutor requested the arrest of Vatican-based Catholic
Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta after officials said he ignored repeated
calls and emails about an investigation of sex abuse allegations
against him.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, Brazil's far-right
President Jair Bolsonaro launched a new political party, the
Alliance for Brazil (APB), under the banner of fighting graft and
advancing Christian values, a breakaway move that could fragment his
base.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, Britain's main
opposition Labour party unveiled its general election manifesto,
promising a radical agenda for social change, including
nationalizing key industries and a controversial second referendum
on Brexit.
(AFP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, In Colombia more
than 250,000 people marched to express growing discontent with
President Ivan Duque's government. Three people were killed in
events following marches across the country.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 21, Amnesty
International alleged Aisha el-Shater (39), the daughter of a senior
leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, has been tortured
and denied medical treatment in an Egyptian prison. Khairat
el-Shater, long seen as the Brotherhood’s most powerful leader, has
been jailed since 2013 after the military overthrow of President
Mohamed Morsi.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, The first Honduran
asylum-seeker arrived in Guatemala from El Paso, Texas, under a
controversial US agreement that establishes Guatemala as a safe
third country to process people fleeing persecution in their
homelands.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, In Hong Kong only
a handful of activists held out as they desperately searched for
ways to escape or hide while squads of police encircled the grounds
of Polytechnic University.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, Iran began
restoring internet access in the capital Tehran and a number of
provinces after a days-long nationwide shutdown meant to help stifle
unrest over fuel price hikes. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards
said several alleged ringleaders of the recent unrest in the country
have been arrested by intelligence services. The Guard’s official
news service Sepah News reported that the unidentified individuals
had links to foreign security services.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)(Bloomberg, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, In Iraq at least
10 protesters were killed in clashes on Rasheed street very close to
Ahrar Bridge.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 21, Israel's PM
Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted with all three charges of fraud,
breach of trust and bribery relating to a series of corruption
scandals.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, A Lebanese soldier
who shot and killed a protester in Beirut last week was charged by a
military prosecutor with murder.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, North Korea
rejected an invitation for leader Kim Jong Un to attend a planned
summit in South Korea next week with Southeast Asian nations, saying
it would be "pointless" due to strained ties with Seoul.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, Poland’s
parliament elected three ruling party nominees as judges to the
constitutional court, including two widely denounced by opposition
lawmakers, raising concerns about the court’s independence.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 21, Russia's lower
house of parliament passed legislation that will allow individual
journalists to be labelled foreign agents, a move that critics say
will tighten curbs on the media. The bill now goes to the upper
house and then President Vladimir Putin for approval.
(Reuters, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, In Syria at least
seven civilians were killed in the government-controlled city of
Aleppo in intense shelling from rebel-held areas in the country’s
northwest.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, Pope Francis urged
more efforts to combat the “humiliation” of women and children
forced into prostitution as he began a busy visit to Thailand, where
human trafficking and poverty help fuel the sex tourism industry.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 21, Ukraine's navy
said three Ukrainian navy boats seized by Russia a year ago were
vandalized before being handed back to Ukraine. Ukraine's navy said
the vessels had been stripped bare and left so badly damaged that
they had to be towed home by tug.
(AP, 11/21/19)
2019 Nov 22, US President
Donald Trump said he had saved Hong Kong from being destroyed by
persuading Chinese President Xi Jinping to hold off on sending in
troops to crush its pro-democracy movement.
(AFP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, President Donald
Trump said that he’ll stand by his man Mike Pence in the 2020
campaign.
(Bloomberg, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, American-led
forces and their Syrian Kurdish allies carried out their biggest
joint operation against the Islamic State in Syria since President
Donald Trump ordered a pullback of US forces there. Coalition
officials said the operation captured dozens of militants.
(AP, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 22, The United States
imposed sanctions on Iran's communications minister for his role in
"widescale internet censorship," a reference to a five-day-long
nationwide shutdown meant to help stifle protests against fuel price
hikes in Iran.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, A US federal judge
awarded Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and his family
nearly $180 million in their lawsuit against Iran over his 544 days
in captivity and torture while being held on internationally
criticized espionage charges.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, It was reported
that the Trump administration is withholding more than $100 million
in US military assistance to Lebanon that has been approved by
Congress and is favored by his national security team, an assertion
of executive control of foreign aid that is similar to the delay in
support for Ukraine at the center of the impeachment inquiry.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, In Virginia former
CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee (55) was sentenced to 19 years in
prison for conspiring to deliver classified information to China in
a case that touched on the mysterious unraveling of the agency’s
informant network in China but did little to solve it.
(AP, 11/23/19)(SFC, 11/23/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 22, A mostly white
Alabama jury convicted white police officer Aaron Cody Smith of
manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Gregory Gunn (58), an unarmed
black man, in 2016.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, Eddie Duran
(b.1925), San Francisco-based jazz guitarist, died. The
Mexican-American artist recorded five solo albums in a career that
lasted 70 years.
(SFC, 11/29/19, p.C1)
2019 Nov 22, Amazon.com Inc
filed a lawsuit in a federal US court contesting the US Defense
Department's decision last month to award a Pentagon cloud computing
contract worth up to $10 billion to rival bidder Microsoft Corp.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, Tens of thousands
of Algerians marched through the capital and other towns and cities
as their months-long campaign of protests gathers steam ahead of an
election they demand to be cancelled.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, Bosnian officials
bowed to pressure from protesters and dismissed the management of a
residential home after an opposition lawmaker publicized photos
showing children with special needs tied to beds and radiators.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, British metal
detectorists George Powell (38) and Layton Davies (51), who failed
to declare a large hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure worth around 3
million pounds ($3.8 million), were jailed for a total of nearly 20
years.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, Demonstrators from
the Chagos Islands protested at British defiance of a United Nations
deadline to end their "illegal occupation" of the Indian Ocean
archipelago. A six-month UN deadline to return control of the Chagos
Islands back to Mauritius came and looked set to pass, with the UK
refusing to recognize Mauritius's claim of sovereignty over the
islands.
(AFP, 11/22/19)(The Telegraph, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, In Colombia three
police officers were killed in a bomb blast late today at a police
station in the town of Santander de Quilichao, Cauca province, after
thousands gathered for renewed protests and sporadic looting erupted
in the capital Bogota. Pres. Ivan Duque ordered a curfew in Bogota
to contain ongoing clashes.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)(SSFC, 11/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 22, Several hundred
Cypriots from both sides of the divided island marched to demand
reunification as the Mediterranean country's two leaders prepared to
meet for talks.
(AFP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, In Georgia
opposition activists tried to shut state buildings with padlocks and
chains in the capital and other cities across the country, as
protests spread demanding an early parliamentary election.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, In Hong Kong an
unknown number of protesters remain holed up inside the Polytechnic
University as riot police encircled the campus, which has been the
site of violent clashes in recent days.
(Good Morning America, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, Hong Kong's High
Court said the government could enforce a ban on face masks for one
week as police readied for any unrest during contested elections
this weekend.
(SFC, 11/23/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 22, Thousands rallied
in several Iranian cities in a state-organized show of support for
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following a crackdown on
anti-government protests. Amnesty International has said that at
least 106 people were killed last week as protesters clashed with
security forces, while officials in Iran put the death toll at 12.
(Bloomberg, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, In Iraq four
protesters were killed and 25 wounded amid ongoing clashes with
security forces near a strategic bridge in Baghdad.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, Lebanon’s
protesters and top politicians held competing Independence Day
celebrations, reflecting the deepening rift that has beset the
country grappling with its worst political and economic crises in
decades.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, At least six
bodies of Europe-bound migrants were found on Libya’s Mediterranean
coast, while another 90 were intercepted by Libya’s coast guard.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, A Dutch appeals
court overturned a lower court’s order that the government must
attempt to bring home children whose mothers traveled to Syria to
join Islamic extremist groups.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, A New Zealand man
(27) was convicted of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane
after a Tinder date last December. Sentencing was expected in
February 2020.
(Insider, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, Amnesty
International said tens of thousands of people in Lahore, Pakistan,
are at risk of respiratory disease because of poor air quality from
thick smog.
(SFC, 11/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 22, Palestinian
officials said Israeli settlers attacked five villages in the
occupied West Bank overnight, torching vehicles and olive trees, and
leaving graffiti on the walls of homes.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, Philippine troops
killed militant Talha Jumsah, aka Abu Talha, in a clash in Sulu
province. Jumsah had acted as a key link of the Islamic State group
to local jihadists.
(SSFC, 11/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 22, Samoa's government
said deaths related to measles, mostly among small children, have
more than tripled to 20 in the past week, eight days after declaring
a state of emergency over the outbreak.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, It was reported
that a month's long drought is affecting most of southern Africa.
The area has received just one normal rainfall in the last five
growing seasons. More than 11 million people faced food insecurity
in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
(SFC, 11/22/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 22, South African
Airways (SAA) signed a wage deal with trade unions to end an
eight-day strike that brought the cash-strapped state airline to the
brink of collapse.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, South Korea made a
last-minute decision to stick with its critical intelligence-sharing
deal with Japan, a dramatic reversal after months of frigid
relations complicated by painful, wartime history.
(Reuters, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 22, It was reported
that the Vatican’s Caritas Internationalis charity learned in 2017
of pedophilia concerns involving Rev. Luk Delft, its Central African
Republic director, but left it for his superiors to investigate and
he remained in place and in ministry until this year.
(AP, 11/22/19)
2019 Nov 23, Vice President
Mike Pence visited Iraq to reassure Iraqi Kurds of US support after
President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from northern
Syria drew criticism that Washington had betrayed its Kurdish allies
there.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, In Alabama Lowndes
County Sheriff John Williams was “tragically killed” in the line of
duty at a QV gas station. A suspect in custody was identified as
William Chase Johnson (18).
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 23, In Union City,
California, two boys, ages 11 and 14, were fatally shot while
sitting in a van outside Searles Elementary School early today.
(AP, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, In Egypt Shady
Zalat (37), an editor for the independent news website Mada Masr,
was arrested from his home in Cairo. Mada Masr is one of the
hundreds of websites blocked by the Egyptian government in recent
years. Egypt has arrested at least 3,000 people since September amid
a sweeping crackdown following rare anti-government protests.
(AP, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, In France tens of
thousands of people took the streets of Paris and other cities to
protest against domestic violence, after more than 130 women are
believed to have been killed by their partner or ex-partner in
France this year.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, Germany’s ruling
Christian Democrats approved a motion that calls on the government
to restrict Chinese equipment supplier Huawei Technologies Co. from
participating in the country’s planned 5G network.
(AP, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, In northern
Germany more than 5,000 people followed the call by the governor of
Lower Saxony to join rallies against a far-right protest in
Hannover. Only about 100 far-right protesters showed up for their
march.
(AP, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, Iraqi security
forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds of
protesters, killing two people in a third day of fierce clashes in
central Baghdad. Security forces opened fire on protesters in the
southern city of Nassiriya late today, killing at least three
people.
(AP, 11/23/19)(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 23, Iraq's southern
border with Iran reopened to travelers after a week-long closure
during mass protests in both countries.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, The Italian coast
guard said it had rescued 149 migrants after their foundering boat
overturned. Once ashore, survivors told authorities that 169 had
been originally crowded aboard the 10-meter (33-foot) long boat
utilized by Libya-based migrant smugglers.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 23, A Kenyan official
said at least 36 people, including seven children, have been killed
overnight by landslides triggered by unusually heavy rains in
northwestern West Pokot County.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, The last Sumatran
rhinoceros in Malaysia, a female rhino named Iman, died. This left
the smallest species of rhino, which once roamed across Asia,
surviving in small numbers mostly in Indonesia. The Sumatran rhino
was declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia in 2015. Malaysia's
last male Sumatran rhino died in May this year.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, Namibian police
arrested the former Minister of Fisheries Bernhardt Esau and a
former senior manager of investment firm Investec on charges of
corruption.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, In northern Syrian
a car bomb exploded in the Turkey-controlled town of Tal Abyad on
the border, killing at least three people. The Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights put the death toll from the explosion at nine,
saying four of them were from the same family.
(AP, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, Tanzania's
government said it has summoned Canada's envoy to protest after a
DHC Dash 8-400 turboprop, set to be delivered to state-owned Air
Tanzania, was impounded earlier this week in a land compensation
dispute. A retired Tanzanian farmer claimed compensation over what
he says was the expropriation of his land several decades ago.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, Pope Francis (82)
arrived in Japan, the second leg of a week-long Asian trip whose
main aim is to bring an anti-nuclear message to Nagasaki and
Hiroshima, the world's only cities to suffer atomic bombing.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 23, Zimbabwean Vice
President Constantino Chiwenga (63) returned home after spending
four months in China receiving medical treatment for an unknown
illness.
(Reuters, 11/23/19)
2019 Nov 24, US Defense
Secretary Mark Esper removed Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, the
Navy's top civilian, over the case of a Navy SEAL convicted of
battlefield misconduct in Iraq. Special Operations Chief Edward
Gallagher had won the backing of President Donald Trump.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 24, Disney's "Frozen
2" iced out the box office competition in North America, where
family audiences powered the animated adventure to a dazzling $130
million debut.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Billionaire
businessman Michael Bloomberg (77), the former mayor of New York
City, jumped into the US presidential race, adding another moderate
voice to a crowded field of Democratic contenders seeking to face
Donald Trump in the November 2020 election.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, In Texas Christine
Rollins (59) was killed by multiple feral hogs outside a rural home
where she worked as a caretaker.
(SFC, 11/28/19, p.A7)
2019 Nov 24, The UAW said that
union official Vance Pearson has resigned. Federal prosecutors in
September charged him in connectio with a scheme to embezzle union
money for persoanl use.
(SFC, 6/2/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 24, State-owned Abu
Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) and Mayo Clinic said they would
operate Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, one of the UAE's largest
hospitals for patients with serious or complex medical conditions.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, In Afghanistan a
blast in Kabul targeting a UN vehicle left at least 1 person dead
and five injured. US citizen Anil Raj was killed in the attack in
Kabul. Taliban insurgents stormed a checkpoint in Daykundi province
and killed at least eight Afghan soldiers. Reinforcements were
dispatched to the area in Kajran district, driving off the Taliban
and killing at least 20 of their fighters. The Taliban disputed the
casualty figures.
(AP, 11/24/19)(Reuters, 11/26/19)(SSFC, 12/1/19,
p.B9)
2019 Nov 24, Interim Bolivian
President Jeanine Anez agreed to withdraw the military from protest
areas and repeal a law giving them broad discretion in the use of
force as part of a preliminary "pacification" deal struck early
today with protest leaders.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, China denied the
explosive clims of a self-confessed spy seeking asylum in Australia.
Newspapers reported that Chinese defector Wang Liqiang has given
Australia’s counterespionage agency intelligence on how Beijing
conducts its interference operations abroad and revealed the
identities of China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong
Kong.
(SFC, 11/16/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 24, In Congo DRC a
small passenger plane carrying at least 17 passengers crashed
shortly after takeoff in the eastern city of Goma, killing at least
25 people, including people on the ground.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Egyptian police
raided the Cairo office of independent news website Mada Masr and
briefly detained three journalists, including the editor-in-chief,
as authorities intensify a crackdown on press freedoms.
(Good Morning America, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, At least two
people were killed in France and a landslide collapsed a stretch of
elevated highway in Italy, leaving cars perched perilously on a
precipice as heavy rains pounded the region over the weekend.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Guinea-Bissau held
presidential elections. Twelve candidates ran for head of state,
including incumbent Jose Mario Vaz, who has been in power since
2014.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Polls closed in
Hong Kong with no major disruptions after people turned out in huge
numbers to vote in district council elections seen as a test of
support for chief executive Carrie Lam following six months of
pro-democracy protests. Hong Kong residents handed an overwhelming
victory to pro-democracy candidates in a vote for local district
councils, a stunning repudiation of the city’s Beijing-backed
government after months of increasingly violent protests seeking
meaningful elections.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)(Bloomberg, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 24, Iran vowed to
severely punish "mercenaries" arrested over nationwide street unrest
sparked by a fuel price hike, as much of the country came back
online after a week-long internet blackout.
(AFP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Iraqi security
forces opened fire on protesters in Baghdad and several cities in
the south, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens of
others. Clashes in Baghdad’s historic Rasheed Street continued for a
fourth day. Anti-government protests swept the oil-rich south as
demonstrators burned tires and blocked main arteries, outraged by
rampant government corruption, poor services and scarcity of jobs.
So far, 16 people have died and over 100 have been wounded in the
latest round of street battles. At least 342 people have died since
demonstrations began Oct. 1.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)(AP, 11/24/19)(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Omar Shakir, the
Israel and Palestine Director for Human Rights Watch since October
2016, said he will remain in his position and continue doing the
“important, urgent work” of documenting violations in Israel and the
Palestinian territories from abroad. Shakir is being deported from
Israel over his alleged advocacy for an economic boycott of Israel
or its settlements in occupied territory.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, The Italian coast
guard said the bodies of five migrant women, two of them washed
ashore, have been recovered as search efforts continued near the
tiny island of Lampedusa for around another dozen people feared
missing in the capsizing of a fishing boat.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, In Japan Pope
Francis brought his campaign to abolish nuclear weapons to the only
two cities ever hit by atomic bombs, calling their possession
indefensibly perverse and immoral and their use a crime against
mankind and nature.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Lebanese security
forces fired tear gas amid confrontations in central Beirut between
Hezbollah supporters and demonstrators protesting against the
political elite. The confrontations began after dozens of supporters
of the Iran-backed militant group arrived on scooters and attacked
the protesters with clubs and metal rods, chanting pro-Hezbollah
slogans.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Romanians voted in
a presidential runoff election in which incumbent Klaus Iohannis
vied for a second term while vowing to continue efforts to fight
corruption. Iohannis, a conservative, faced Social Democratic Party
leader Viorica Dancila, a former prime minister.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, The Queen Hind, a
cargo ship carrying 14,600 sheep, capsized off the coast of Romania.
All crew members were saved along with 32 sheep found swimming by
the ship. Many of the sheep were expected to have drowned.
(USA Today, 11/26,19, p.4A)
2019 Nov 24, In South Korea Koo
Hara (28), a former member of a top K-pop girl group, was found dead
at her home in southern Seoul.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, In Spain topless
female activists interrupted a demonstration in Madrid commemorating
the legacy of former dictator Francisco Franco, 44 years after his
death.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Spanish police
intercepted what is believed to be the first submarine used to
smuggle drugs into Europe and seized a reported three tons of
Colombian cocaine. The submarine crew deliberately sank the vessel
with a large amount of cocaine still on board after reportedly
dumping some of their cargo at sea.
(AP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 24, Syrian government
forces captured the northwestern village of Msheirfeh, Idlib
province, from insurgents after clashes that left more than a dozen
killed on both sides. In eastern Syria, a mine left behind since the
days of the Islamic State group in the village of Taybeh killed a
child and wounded 17 others in a school field. The Observatory said
the blast in the village in Deir el-Zour Province killed five
children and wounded others.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 24, Uruguayans headed
to the polls to elect a new president in a second round run-off
vote. Some 2.7 million Uruguayan voters chose between Lacalle Pou of
the center-right National Party and Daniel Martínez of the ruling
Broad Front party.
(Reuters, 11/24/19)
2019 Nov 25, Today marked
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Tens of thousands of women marched as the UN women's agency kicked
off 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 25, The US State Dept.
said it has recalled its ambassador from South Sudan after the
leaders of formerly warring factions failed to agree on a unity
government.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, The US Supreme
Court allowed prominent climate scientist Michael Mann to pursue a
defamation lawsuit against a conservative magazine and a think tank
that compared him to a convicted child molester. The justices
declined to hear appeals filed by National Review magazine and the
Competitive Enterprise Institute seeking to overturn a lower court's
ruling that allowed the lawsuit filed by scientist Michael Mann to
go forward.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, A US military
official said Qatar and Kuwait have told the US that they will join
a US-led naval coalition in the Gulf which was established in
response to a series of attacks on oil tankers.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, In California a
fire ripped through brush and woodland on hills above the city of
Santa Barbara early today, forcing some 5,500 residents to leave
their homes. Most of the evacuees were able to return home the next
day.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A7)
2019 Nov 25, In Florida Chinese
national Yujing Zhang was sentenced to eight months in prison and
two years of supervised release over her arrest for trespassing at
President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida last March.
(ABC News, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, A teenage boy in
Florida faced manslaughter charges he accidentally shot and killed
two friends.
(ABC News, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 25, Charles Schwab
Corp agreed to buy TD Ameritrade Holding Corp in an all-stock deal
valued at $26 billion, creating a brokerage giant in a market that
has been ravaged by price wars.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, The World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) said greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere hit a new record in 2018, rising faster than the average
rise of the last decade and cementing increasingly damaging weather
patterns.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, British man
Maurice Robinson (25) admitted plotting to assist unlawful
immigration after 39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead in the back
of a truck he was driving.
(AP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, A second leak of
secret Chinese Communist Party (CCP) documents revealed details of
how over one million detainees in China are indoctrinated,
controlled and punished in a huge network of internment camps. The
papers, dated to 2017 and leaked to the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), have been dubbed The China Cables
and feature instructions to “never allow escapes” from the camps.
(The Telegraph, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, In Congo DRC angry
residents of the eastern city of Beni burned the town hall and
stormed the United Nations peacekeeping mission Monday after rebels
killed eight people and kidnapped nine overnight in their latest
assault.
(AP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, An Egyptian court
has handed down death sentences to seven people convicted of
carrying out attacks that killed 11 policemen in 2016. The Cairo
Criminal Court also sentenced 18 others to 10-15 years in prison for
the same charges.
(AP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, Officials said at
least seven people have died as heavy rain slammed the Riviera
coasts of France and Italy, trapping travelers in their cars, as
well as parts of western Greece.
(AP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, It was reported
that Louis Vuitton owner LVMH has agreed to buy Tiffany for $16.2
billion in its biggest acquisition yet, as the French luxury goods
maker bets it can restore the U.S. jeweler's luster by investing in
stores and new collections.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, Thieves in Germany
looted the historic Green Vault Museum in Dresden of potentially
millions of dollars worth of valuables in a brazen heist early this
morning. Police later said at least seven people were involved in
the theft of the 18th-century jewels.
(SFC, 1/26/19, p.A2)(AP, 3/5/20)
2019 Nov 25, Supporters of
Iran's government poured into central Tehran for a massive rally to
condemn days of "rioting" that the Islamic republic blames on its
foreign foes.
(AFP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, Iran rejected a US
court order for Tehran to pay $180 million in damages to a
Washington Post reporter for jailing him on espionage charges.
(AFP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, Amnesty Int’l.
said at least 143 demonstrators have been killed across Iransince
Nov. 15, almost all of them shot by security forces.
(AFP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, Fiat Chrysler said
it has already started 90% of the investments earmarked for Italy.
FCA announced last year it would spend 5 billion euros ($5.5
billion) in Italy up to 2021.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, In Japan Pope
Francis appealed to world leaders to ensure that nuclear weapons are
never used again, a day after he visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the
only cities ever to be hit by atomic bombs.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, In Lebanon a key
road in Beirut reopened following clashes throughout the night
between rival groups, some of the worst violence since protests
against the country’s ruling elite began last month. A business
group representing much of the private sector called for a three-day
general strike to press the country's divided politicians to form a
government and end a crisis that has brought the economy to a
standstill.
(AP, 11/25/19)(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, Maltese police
sources said Melvin Theuma, suspected of being the middleman in the
murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has
been granted a presidential pardon in return for information about
the case.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, Retail
subscription for Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO)
reached 21.77 billion Saudi riyals ($5.8 billion). The last day of
subscription for the retail tranche of the share sale is Nov. 28.
Aramco launched the IPO on Nov. 3. Aramco said it plans to sell 1.5%
of the company, or about 3 billion shares, at an indicative price
range of 30 riyals to 32 riyals, valuing the IPO at as much as 96
billion riyals ($25.6 billion) and giving the company a potential
market value of between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion.
(Reuters, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 25, In northern
Thailand a wild deer was found dead in a national park with seven kg
of plastic waste and other trash in its stomach. Officials estimated
that the 10-year-old deer had died at least two days earlier.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 25, Turkish
media say Turkey is poised to begin testing Russian-made S-400 air
defense systems, despite threats of sanctions from the United
States.
(AP, 11/25/19)
2019 Nov 26, Pres. Donald Trump
signed an executive order creating a White House task force on
missing and slain American Indians and Alaska Natives.
(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 26, Frank Caufield
(80), co-founder of the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner,
Perkins Caufield & Byers, died. Caufield and Brook Byers founded
their Menlo Park firm in 1972. In 1977, Frank Caufield and Brook
Byers teamed with Eugene Kleiner and Tom Perkins to expand their
venture capital firm.
(https://www.kleinerperkins.com/perspectives/frank-caufield/)(SFC,
11/28/19, p.D1)
2019 Nov 26, Authorities
arrested a southwest Missouri man who is suspected of killing a
woman about four years ago and then stowing her body in a freezer in
a storage unit.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 26, Missouri mother
Nicole Mallat (36) went missing. A number of Mallatt's belongings
were found Dec. 5 within 100 yards (91 meters) of her home Bates
County, about 70 miles (110 km) south of Kansas City.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Nov 26, Pennsylvania
overhauled its child sexual abuse laws. Gov. Tom Wolf signed
legislation that give future victims of child sex abuse more time to
file lawsuits and ends time limits for police to file criminal
charges.
(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A5)
2019 Nov 26, In Albania at
least 13 people were killed when a magnitude 6.4 earthquake, the
most powerful to hit the country in decades, shook the capital
Tirana and the country's west and north. The death toll soon climbed
to 51 with more than 750 people injured. A disaster report later
said the 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Albania caused $1.1 billion in
damages and left 17,000 people homeless.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)(Reuters, 11/27/19)(AP,
11/28/19)(AP, 2/5/20)
2019 Nov 26, London Stock
Exchange shareholders overwhelmingly backed the exchange's $27
billion takeover of data and analytics company Refinitiv, a deal
designed to broaden LSE's trading business and make it a major
distributor of market data.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, China arrested Lee
Henley Hu Xiang, a citizen of Belize, for allegedly colluding with
people in the United States to meddle in the affairs of Hong Kong.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 26, Congo DRC
officials said heavy rains have left at least 32 people dead in and
around Kinshasa.
(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 26, The EU’s
anti-drugs agency said Europeans spent at least 11.6 billion euros
($12.7 billion) in 2017 on illegal cannabis purchases, confirming
marijuana as the largest drugs market in the 28-country European
Union..
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, In Germany
thousands of farmers drove their tractors to Berlin's famed
Brandenburg Gate in a mass protest against new environmental
regulations they say threaten their livelihoods.
(AFP, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, Germany-based Audi
announced a major restructuring scheme, slashing around 9,500 jobs
until 2025 in an effort to adopt production to the e-mobility era
and achieve billion-euro cost savings.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, In Indian Kashmir
suspected militants threw grenades killing two people and wounding
eight, the latest outbreak of violence in the disputed Himalayan
region months after New Delhi revoked its autonomy and statehood.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, In southern Iraq
three protesters were killed and 35 wounded by security forces after
sit-ins and road closures, raising the death toll to six people.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 26, Malta was in
political turmoil after the government’s chief of staff abruptly
resigned amid the continuing investigation into the car bombing
murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Keith Schembri had been
under pressure to resign for days because of his alleged financial
links to Yorgen Fenech, a business tycoon who was arrested last week
on his luxury motor yacht.
(The Telegraph, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, Pakistan's Supreme
Court suspended an extension of the term of office for the country's
army chief, putting it on a possible collision course with the
powerful military.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, In Pakistan at
least nine members of the Pakistan navy were killed and 29 other
people injured when their bus fell into a deep roadside ditch in the
south of the country.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, Thousands of
Palestinian protesters took part in a “day of rage” across the
occupied West Bank, with some groups clashing with Israeli forces to
protest the US announcement that it no longer believes Israeli
settlements violate international law.
(AP, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, Russian internet
giant Yandex was given the green light to pursue planned changes to
its governance structure, after President Vladimir Putin signed a
law late today concerning the management of Russian offshore
companies.
(Reuters, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 26, A Saudi-led
military coalition said it will release 200 Yemeni rebels and permit
some flights from the insurgent-held capital Sanaa, as efforts to
end the nearly five-year conflict gain momentum.
(AFP, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, The Slovenian
government approved legislation that will prohibit paramilitary
groups, after a group led by a nationalist politician began
conducting border patrols in the woods in recent months.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, Spanish rescuers
saved 58 people from a raft, which was found drifting around 37
miles off the coast of Morocco late today. Four migrants died and up
to 16 more were missing after trying to cross into Europe from North
Africa.
(Reuters, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 26, In northeastern
Syria a car bomb in a Turkish controlled area killed at least 17
people in the village of Tal Half.
(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 26, The World Health
Organization (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) evacuated
dozens of their staff working on the Ebola epidemic from the town of
Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the worsening
security situation.
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 26, A court in Vietnam
sentenced a Facebook user to six years in prison for a series of
posts he made on the social media platform that the Southeast Asian
country's government said were "anti-state".
(Reuters, 11/26/19)
2019 Nov 27, US President
Donald Trump signed into law congressional legislation which
supported protesters in Hong Kong, despite angry objections from
Beijing, with which he is seeking a deal to end a damaging trade
war.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 27, The US Navy
canceled a peer-review process that would have determined if three
Navy SEAL officers who supervised an enlisted SEAL convicted of
posing with a dead teenage captive in Iraq should remain on the
elite force.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 27, A US Navy warship
seized a “significant cache” of suspected Iranian guided missile
parts headed to rebels in Yemen, marking the first time that such
sophisticated components have been taken en route to the war there.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Nov 27, The Alabama
Supreme Court upheld a 2017 state law barring cities from moving or
altering Confederate monuments.
(SFC, 11/28/19, p.A7)
2019 Nov 27, In Minnesota a
fire swept through a Minneapolis high-rise apartment building early
today, killing five people and sending three others to the hospital
with injuries.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 27, In Texas a pair of
explosions at the TPC Group's petrochemical plant in Port Neches
prompted an evacuation order for at least four surrounding cities.
Eight people were reported injured.
(SFC, 11/28/19, p.A9)
2019 Nov 27, William Doyle
Ruckelshaus (b.1932), former US EPA administrator, died in Medina,
Wa. On Oct 20., 1973, he joined his boss Attorney General Elliot
Richardson, in resigning rather than carry out an order to fire
Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox. From 1988 to 1995 he
served as CEO of Browning Ferris Industries.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ruckelshaus)(SFC, 11/29/19,
p.C3)
2019 Nov 27, In Afghanistan an
explosion in Kunduz province killed at least 15 people, most of them
women and young girls. Hours later an explosion at acheckpoiunt in
Sari Pul province killed at least one policeman.
(SFC, 11/29/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 27, A Bangladesh court
handed death sentences to seven members of an Islamist militant
group for their role in an attack on a cafe in 2016 that killed 22
people, mostly foreigners, in the south Asian nation's worst such
incident.
(Reuters, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 27, British satirist
and director Jonathan Miller (85) died. His career spanned over 50
years from the hit comedy review show "Beyond the Fringe" to
directing for some of the world's grandest opera houses.
(Reuters, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 27, In Canada seven
people were killed when a single-engine aircraft crashed in a wooded
area on the outskirts of Kingston, Ontario. Two families from
Uzbekistan died in the crash.
(Reuters, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 27, Iran said it has
arrested eight people it accused of CIA links and sending abroad
information on recent urban unrest, days after the United States
said it had received thousands of messages on a protest crackdown in
the Islamic republic.
(AFP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 27, Iraqi protesters
torched the Iranian consulate in the holy city of Najaf. Six
protesters were killed by security forces in the dramatic escalation
of anti-government demonstrations that have left more than 350
people dead.
(AFP, 11/28/19)(SFC, 11/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 27, Israeli aircraft
attacked several sites for Gaza’s Hamas rulers early today in
response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. There were no
reports of injuries.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 27, It was reported
that Kurds will allow Syria to try war prisoners. The Kurdish SDF
currently held more than 10,000 militants.
(SFC, 11/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 27, In Lebanon
overnight confrontations between supporters and opponents of the
president — mostly fistfights and stone throwing — erupted in cities
and towns across the country, injuring dozens of people, and 16
people were detained for their involvement.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 27, Namibia held
elections for president and National Assembly members. The ruling
SWAPO party faced its biggest challenge since independence nearly
three decades. On Nov. 30 the electoral commission said President
Hage Geingob led with 57% of the vote while opposition challenger
Dr. Panduleni Itula had 28%.
(AP, 11/27/19)(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 27, In Nepal a bus
driver lost control of his vehicle in Narpani. 18 people were killed
and 13 others injured.
(SFC, 11/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 27, President Vladimir
Putin opened what has been billed as Russia's first modern motorway,
almost halving the driving time between the two biggest cities of
Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
(AFP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 27, It was reported
that Saudi Arabia has detained at least eight intellectuals and
former bloggers in a fresh wave of arrests targeting people with
links to reformers.
(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 27, Sweden-based IKEA,
the world's biggest furniture group, said it would spend around 100
million euros ($110 million) to support direct suppliers as they
switch over to renewable energy use.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 27, Turkish Pres.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Libyan PM Fayez Sarraj reached a deal on
maritime and security cooperation. It was soon denounced by Libya’s
eastern parliament.
(AP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 27, A mortar attack
targeting a Turkish military post near the border with Syria killed
two soldiers. An opposition group that monitors the war in Syria
said the first shots were fired by Turkish troops and Turkey-backed
opposition fighters.
(AP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 27, In the UAE British
newspaper editor Francis Matthew, convicted of killing his wife with
a hammer, had his sentence reduced by Dubai’s Court of Appeal. The
court ordered that former Gulf News editor must serve a seven-year
sentence for manslaughter in the 2017 killing of his wife, Jane.
(AP, 11/27/19)
2019 Nov 28, Pres. Donald Trump
made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan where he announced
ongoing peace talks with the Taliban, met with US troops and sat
down with Pres. Ashraf Ghani.
(SFC, 11/29/19, p.A4)
2019 Nov 28, Virgil Griffith
(36), was once dubbed an “internet man of mystery," was arrested at
Los Angeles International Airport Thanksgiving Day and arraigned the
following day. He faced 20 years in prison if convicted of flouting
US law to give North Korea advice on evading American sanctions by
using cryptocurrency.
(The Daily Beast, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 28, In Missouri Torry
Andre Upchurch (27) shot and killed Earle Key Jr. (17) and hours
later killed Shantae Hil-Cook (33). A day later he walked into a
police station admitted the two murders.
(SSFC, 12/1/19, p.A8)
2019 Nov 28, It was reported
that a pack of United Parcel Service workers allegedly helped to
import and traffic thousands of pounds of drugs and fake vape pens
across the country during the past decade, the Washington Post
reported, citing police sources.
(Business Insider, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Bolivia said it
will restore diplomatic ties with Israel, a decade after
then-President Evo Morales severed relations because of an Israeli
military offensive in Gaza.
(AP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Chinese special
police took part in their first joint training drills in Europe,
joining Serbia's elite anti-terrorist unit and local police in an
exercise at a Chinese-owned steel mill outside Belgrade.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, In eastern Congo
DRC rebels killed four Ebola response workers overnight, an alarming
development that could cause the waning outbreak to again pick up
momentum in what has been called a war zone. An overnight attack in
Oicha killed more than a dozen people. Officials blamed rebels of
the Uganda-based Allied Democratic Forces.
(AP, 11/28/19)(SFC, 11/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 28, A Copenhagen court
found three men guilty of helping a terror organization by buying
drones and components on behalf of the Islamic State group. The
items were meant to be used in combat actions in Syria and Iraq.
(AP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Djibouti officials
said flash flooding has hit the small but strategic East African
nation, where the government and UN said the equivalent of two
years’ rain fell in a single day. Several regional countries
including Kenya were struggling after heavy rains, with more to
come.
(AP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, European Union
lawmakers declared a "climate emergency" in a symbolic vote that
heightens pressure for action against global warming at an upcoming
summit.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, European Union
lawmakers approved an increase in US beef imports to the EU, a move
likely to ease transatlantic tensions.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Iraqi officials
said at least 27 protesters have been shot dead in the last 24
hours, amid spiraling violence in Baghdad and southern Iraq. Nearly
45 people were killed and hundreds wounded across the south after a
deadly crackdown by authorities in one of the bloodiest days in two
months of anti-government demonstrations. The violence brought the
total death toll since the start of October to nearly 400.
(AP, 11/28/19)(AFP, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 28, Italian police
said they have uncovered a plot to form a new Nazi party and seized
a cache of weapons during searches across the country.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Lebanon paid back
a Eurobond worth $1.5 billion that was scheduled to mature today,
pacifying concerns of a first-ever default on its debt amid the
worst financial crisis in three decades.
(AP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, East Libya-based
warplanes attacked targets near oilfields in the southwest of the
country after fighting in the area briefly shut one field.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Former Maldives
president Abdulla Yameen was convicted and sentenced to five years
in prison for money laundering, as dozens of his supporters gathered
outside the courtroom saying his was innocent.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, North Korea fired
two "unidentified projectiles" as nuclear talks between Pyongyang
and Washington remained deadlocked.
(The Telegraph, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Pakistan's top
court gave the government six months to justify why it granted a
controversial extension to the country's army chief, in a rare case
that pits the judiciary against the government and the military.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Syria's President
Bashar al-Assad approved a $9.2-billion budget for his war-torn
country.
(AFP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, The UN said
African migrants were among at least 20 civilians killed this week
in two attacks on a market in northern Yemen where migrants are
known to congregate as they make their way to wealthy Gulf states in
search of a better life.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, Vietnamese media
reported that three more people have been jailed for anti-government
posts on social media platform Facebook, bringing the total
imprisoned this month to five.
(Reuters, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 28, A special expert
on the right to food said Zimbabwe is on the brink of man-made
starvation and the number of people needing help is “shocking” for a
country not in conflict.
(AP, 11/28/19)
2019 Nov 29, In Arizona a
vehicle was swept away while attempting to cross a runoff-swollen
creek in the Tonto National Forest. Six people were rescued and
three children were missing. Authorities soon found the bodies of
two young children. A third child remained missing. Snow and rain
slammed Arizona as a blizzard bore down on the Midwest. Flagstaff
was buried under 9 inches of snow. On Dec 13 searchers recovered the
body of a missing six-year-old girl at a lake northeast of Phoenix.
(AP, 11/30/19)(AP, 12/1/19)(Reuters, 12/13/19)
2019 Nov 29, Two people were
killed in a terrorist attack in the heart of London. Three others
were injured in the stabbing incident in the London Bridge area. The
attacker, soon identified as convicted terrorist Usman Khan (28),
was restrained until police arrived. After he flashed what looked
like a suicide vest police shot him dead.
(AP, 11/29/19)(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 29, In eastern Congo
DRC suspected Islamist fighters killed 14 people in the village of
Kukutama, North Kivu state.
(AP, 12/1/19)
2019 Nov 29, In Gabon the
spokesman for President Ali Bongo was transferred to the capital's
main prison, one of eight people held in custody under a new
anti-corruption drive.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 29, Iranian
authorities in Tehran closed down all kindergartens, schools and
universities because of high levels of air pollution.
(AP, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 29, Iraqi PM Adel
Abdul Mahdi announced his resignation following the Nov. 27
firebombing of the Iranian consulate in Najaf and weeks of
antigovernment protests that have left hundreds dead. Four
protesters were killed amid ongoing violence in Baghdad and southern
Iraq, hours after Adel Abdul-Mahdi announced his intention to
resign.
(AP, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 29, Israeli troops
shot dead Palestinian teen Fahed al-Astal (16) near the Gaza-Israel
frontier and Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern
Israel in the evening, apparently in response to the fatal shooting.
Earlier today an Islamic Jihad militant died of wounds he sustained
during the fighting, becoming the 20th gunman to have been killed in
the round of violence. Fifteen non-combatants also died in the
fighting.
(AP, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 29, Yasuhiro Nakasone
(b.1918), former prime minister of Japan (1982-1987), died in Tokyo.
(SSFC, 12/1/19, p.B9)
2019 Nov 29, In Lebanon angry
motorists blocked roads with their vehicles in Beirut and other
parts of the country, creating traffic jams to protest a strike by
owners of gas stations demanding an increase in gasoline prices as
the local currency drops and the nation slides deeper into a
financial crisis.
(AP, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 29, Malta’s government
turned down a request by a prominent businessman for immunity from
prosecution in connection with the 2017 killing of investigative
reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia. Yorgen Fenech was arrested just
over a week ago as he tried to leave the Mediterranean island aboard
his luxury yacht and is considered to be a person of interest in the
investigation.
(Reuters, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 29, In the Netherlands
three teens were stabbed on a street in The Hague that was crowded
with Black Friday shoppers. Two girls (15) and a boy (13), were
treated in a hospital and released.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 29, In Peru Keiko
Fujimore, a two-time presidential candidate, left prison after a
13-month stay for alleged corruption in the Odebrecht scandal.
(SSFC, 12/1/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 29, Students took to
the streets in eight cities across Portugal to call for action on
climate change, but Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was unable to
join them because she was held up by bad weather in mid-Atlantic.
Thousands of people in Asia and Europe joined rallies demanding more
action on climate change, aiming to force political leaders to come
up with urgent solutions at a United Nations conference next week.
(Reuters, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 29, Singapore's
government said that it has ordered Facebook to publish a correction
on a user's social media post under a new "fake news" law, raising
fresh questions about how the company will adhere to government
requests to regulate content. a correction notice was soon embedded
at the bottom of the original post without any alterations to the
text.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 29, Sudan’s
transitional government announced that it overturned a moral
policing law that criminalized revealing clothing for women and
drinking alcohol and moved to dissolve the country’s former ruling
party, fulfilling two major demands from the country’s pro-democracy
protesters.
(AP, 11/29/19)
2019 Nov 29, A court in
Suriname convicted President Desi Bouterse of murder for the
execution of 15 opponents in 1982 following a coup to seize power,
sentencing the man who has dominated the former Dutch colony's
recent history to 20 years in prison. No arrest warrant was issued.
(Reuters, 11/29/19)(SFC, 12/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 30, In Michigan Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles NV and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union
announced a tentative agreement for a four-year labor contract, a
boost for the automaker as it works to merge with France's Groupe
PSA.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, In New York City a
blocked sewer main flooded some 300 basements in Jamaica, Queens,
with raw human waste.
(SFC, 12/2/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 30, In South Dakota
nine people died and three more were injured when a single-engine
plane bound for Idaho crashed shortly after takeoff in Chamberlain.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, In Texas a boy
shot (14) and wounded his older sister (18) and killed her boyfriend
(20) during “a house party gone bad” in a Houston suburb.
(AP, 12/1/19)
2019 Nov 30, In Virginia Petty
Officer 3rd Class Oscar Jesus Temores (23) died when the driver of a
Chevy Silverado pick-up truck entered the Joint Expeditionary Base
Fort Story at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was chased by
security and collided with a patrol car driven by Temores.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Nov 30, In Wyoming
back-to-back snowstorms and strong winds have combined to make
travel difficult to impossible across much of the state as wintry
caused serious complications for post-Thanksgiving holiday travel
while a powerful storm moves east toward the Midwest.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, In Afghanistan an
overnight US drone strike reportedly killed five people, including a
mother who had recently given birth, three of her relatives and
their driver in Khost province. The US military command later said
three Taliban fighters had been killed by a drone strike on Nov. 29
in Khost province.
(SFC, 12/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov 30, Albania ended its
search for survivors of a powerful earthquake that killed 51 people,
and buried more victims of the disaster including toddler twins and
their mother.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, A crowd in eastern
DR Congo lynched two people they suspected of being members of a
militia blamed for the killing of more than 100 civilians over the
past month. The killings came on the same day that UN peacekeeping
chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix visited the area where anti-UN protests
have erupted since the militia attacks.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, In Hong Kong
secondary school students and retirees joined forces to protest, the
first of several weekend rallies planned across the city, as
pro-democracy activists vowed to battle what they say are police
brutality and unlawful arrests.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, In India thousands
of protesters gathered outside a police station on the outskirts of
the city of Hyderabad demanding four men accused of raping and
murdering a 27-year-old woman be handed over to them. The charred
body of the woman, a veterinarian, was found in the town of
Shadnagar, near Hyderabad, on Nov. 28.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, Iran disputed
death tolls issued abroad for bloodshed that erupted during protests
in the country over fuel prices, after a rights group said over 160
demonstrators were killed.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, Air pollution
forced the closure of schools and universities in parts of Iran,
including Tehran, which was cloaked by a cloud of toxic smog.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, In Iraq three
anti-government protesters were shot dead and at least 58 wounded in
Baghdad and southern Iraq, as PM Adel Abdul-Mahdi formally submitted
his resignation to parliament.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, Italian coast
guard divers recovered the bodies of seven people in the sea near
Lampedusa where a boat crowded with migrants capsized a week
earlier. At least eight other bodies were spotted on the sea bottom.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, In Malta
businessman Yorgen Fenech (38) was taken to a Valletta court late
and charged with complicity in the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne
Caruana Galizia. He pleaded not guilty to that and other charges.
(Reuters, 12/1/19)
2019 Nov 30, In northern Mexico
10 gunmen and four police were killed in shootouts in Villa Union,
Coahuila state. Security forces early the next day shot dead seven
more suspected cartel gunmen, bringing the death toll to 21 and
adding fuel to a debate about whether the gangs should be deemed
terrorists.
(Reuters, 12/1/19)
2019 Nov 30, Dutch police
arrested a 35-year-old homeless man on suspicion of stabbing three
teens on a street in The Hague that was crowded with Black Friday
shoppers.
(AP, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, A group of about
50 New Zealand firearm owners protested further gun reforms,
sounding a note of discord over the tightening of the country's gun
laws after the mass shooting in Christchurch in March that killed 51
Muslim worshippers.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, Russia's TASS new
agency reported that a MiG-31K interceptor jet carried out a test of
the Kinjal (Dagger) hypersonic missile in Russia's part of Arctic
earlier this month.
(Reuters, 11/30/19)
2019 Nov 30, Police in Spain
announced the seizure of 1,400 pounds of methamphetamine in a raid
near Barcelona. Two people were arrested in Spain and four elsewhere
in Europe.
(SSFC, 12/1/19, p.A2)
2019 Nov, South Florida agents
arrested University of Miami Prof. Bruce Bagley. Federal prosecutors
later said Bagley had parlayed his mastery of Latin American crime
into a secret side job, laundering at least $3 million in dirty
Venezuelan money through his own US bank accounts and keeping about
$300,000 as a fee for himself.
(https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article241129956.html)(Miami
Herald, 3/12/20)
2019 Nov, Iowa grandfather
Larry Dawson (66) reached a settlement with the Multi-State Lottery
Association. Dawson had won a $9 miilion jackpot in 2011 and later
learned that the game's previous $16.5 million jackpot had been
rigged by Eddie Tipton, the association's information security
officer as part of a massive frady scheme.
(SFC, 11/26/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov, North Carolina's
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper warned that no more than 14 known red
wolves remain in the wild and that the breed is on the verge of
extinction. Red wolves were reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987.
An additional 200 live in captive breeding programs.
(SFC, 12/27/19, p.A11)
2019 Dec 1, Disney's "Frozen 2"
stuffed the box office competition during Thanksgiving, generating
$85.2 million over the weekend and a record-setting $123.7 million
over the five-day holiday frame.
(Reuters, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, Heavy snows in the
United States closed roads and canceled nearly 900 flights on what
was forecast to be the busiest day of the year for highways and
airports, stranding hordes of travelers trying to head home after
the Thanksgiving holiday.
(Reuters, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 1, Allan Gerson (74),
a lawyer who pursued Nazi war criminals, died at his home in
Washington, DC. He pioneered the practice of suing foreign
government in US courts for complicity to terrorism.
(AP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 1, In Texas three
people were killed when a single-engine plane crashed on a city
street one block away from a residential area while attempting to
land at San Antonio International Airport.
(AP, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 1, A Bangladeshi
health official said his country plans to prohibit the sale and use
of electronic cigarettes and vaporizers, as countries around the
world move to ban devices that have been linked to health risks and
teen addiction.
(Reuters, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, Brazilian officials
said nine people were trampled to death as police pursuing suspects
clashed with people at a street parade in Sao Paulo.
(SFC, 12/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 1, In Burkina Faso a
band of assailants opened fire on worshippers at a small-town
Protestant church. The victims included the pastor and several
teenage boys; regional authorities attributed the attack to
“unidentified armed men” who, according to witnesses, got away on
motorcycles.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 1, In China new rules
came into effect making it a legal requirement for people signing up
to new mobile phone and data plans to have their faces scanned, in a
major growth of the surveillance state.
(The Telegraph, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, China said it will
use its national drug bulk-buy scheme to lower the price of drugs
currently sold at higher prices compared with other markets. The
move could force international drug makers to further cut prices and
enable copycat medicines to replace imported off-patent brands at
faster pace.
(Reuters, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, China announced a
slate of new officials to head the world's top gambling hub of
Macau, changing key roles including the city's economy and justice
secretaries. They followed nominations by soon-to-be Macau chief
executive Ho Iat Seng, who will be formally sworn in on Dec. 20.
(Reuters, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, A helicopter crash
killed three French rescuers on a mission to save people trapped by
floods, and two others were also killed in in heavy rains that
pounded France’s Mediterranean coast in a second week of deadly
flooding in the region.
(AP, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 1, In Hong Kong
thousands of black-clad protesters marched in the busy tourist
district of Tsim Sha Tsui this afternoon one day after a group
blocked roads and set fire to a subway station entrance.
(Bloomberg, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, Iraq’s parliament
approved the resignation of PM Adel Abdul Mahdi after some of the
worst violence during two months of anti-government protests. One
protester was killed in Baghdad. At least 400 people have been
killed since Oct. 1.
(Bloomberg, 12/1/19)(SFC, 12/2/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 1, An Iraqi court
sentenced a police officer to death after convicting him of killing
demonstrators, the first such sentence in the two months of deadly
unrest.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 1, In Libya an
airstrike hit a civilian area in a southern Tripoli neighborhood,
killing at least four children. The interior ministry blamed the
Libyan National Army for the airstrike.
(AP, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 1, Mexican authorities
announced that they had arrested "several individuals" connected to
the ambush and cold-blooded murders of nine U.S. citizens, including
many young children, in Chihuahua state on Nov. 4.
(ABC News, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, In Myanmar about
700 people rallied to show support for Aung San Suu Kyi, as she
prepares to defend the country against charges of genocide at the
UNs highest court.
(AP, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, In eastern Russia
19 passengers died and 21 were injured when a bus skidded off a
bridge and plunged into a river in the Zabaikalsk region.
(Reuters, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, Suriname's
President Desi Bouterse, recently convicted in the 1982 killings of
15 political opponents, returned home from an official trip to
China.
(SFC, 12/2/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 1, In northern Tunisia
a regional bus crashed off a hill this morning, killing 22 of 43
local passengers who were on an excursion in the Amdoun region.
(AP, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 1, UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres said the world must stop a "war against
nature" and find more political will to combat climate change.
Guterres also said Bank of England Governor Mark Carney (54) will
lead a push by the United Nations to make the finance sector take
proper account of the risks posed by climate change.
(Reuters, 12/1/19)(AP, 12/1/19)
2019 Dec 2, US President Donald
Trump said he would restore tariffs on US steel and aluminum imports
from Brazil and Argentina, surprising officials in the two South
American countries who sought explanations.
(Reuters, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, US President Donald
Trump said that a new law authorizing the US to sanction Chinese
officials over human rights abuses in Hong Kong could complicate his
administration's efforts to secure a trade deal with Beijing.
(South China Morning Post, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 2, The Trump
administration finally released $105 million in annual aid to the
Lebanese Armed Forces that had been appropriated by Congress but,
like the more notorious hold on military assistance to Ukraine, was
inexplicably delayed by the White House.
(Bloomberg, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 2, Pres. Trump's
campaign said it will no longer give credentials to Bloomberg
reporters to cover campaign events because of coverage biases.
(SFC, 12/3/19, p.A6)
2019 Dec 2, Iranian-American
activist Masih Alinejad, famous for her campaign against the Islamic
Republic’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, for women, sued Iran in US
federal court, alleging a government-led harassment campaign targets
her and her family.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 2, Stanford philosophy
Pref. Kenneth Taylor (65), co-host of the popular syndicated radio
show "Philosophy Talk," died at his home in Los Altos.
(SFC, 12/9/19, p.C3)
2019 Dec 2, A Colorado judge
sentenced a mother to 24 years in prison after her 2-year-old son
fatally shot himself with her pistol, believing it was a squirt gun.
Melissa Michelle Adamson was sentenced after pleading guilty to
child abuse resulting in death in the October 2018 death of Lokhi
Bloom.
(AP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 2, Chicago Mayor Lori
Lightfoot fired Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson even though he
was about to retire, accusing him of lying to her about an incident
in October when patrol officers found him sleeping in his car.
(Reuters, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, Spacewalking
astronauts attached new pumps to a cosmic ray detector outside the
International Space Station in a bid to extend its scientific life.
(AP, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, China’s Foreign
Ministry said that US military vessels and aircraft would not be
able to visit Hong Kong. China has also introduced sanctions against
US pro-democracy NGOs after US President Donald Trump signed a bill
supporting Hong Kong protesters last week.
(AP, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, Irrigation
ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan began a 2nd round of talks
in Cairo on Ethiopia's soon-to-be-finished $5 billion mega-dam
project. Egypt feared the project would reduce its share of the Nile
waters, a lifeline for its 100 million people.
(SFC, 12/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 2, In India the state
government of Tamil Nadu said at least 25 people have died in recent
monsoon rains.
(SFC, 12/3/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 2, In Iraq the bruised
body of Zahra Ali (19), a girl taking part in protest rallies, was
left outside her family home late today. A court later established
she had suffered electrical shocks.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 2, Israel’s attorney
general officially submitted his indictment against PM Benjamin
Netanyahu, giving him 30 days to appeal for immunity. Netanyahu was
charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate
corruption cases.
(AP, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, In Jordan a fire
killed 13 Pakistani nationals in the village of al-Shuna al-Janobia,
a farming community along the border with Israel and Syria.
(AP, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, In Kyrgyzstan Mira
Djangaracheva resigned as director of the national arts museum after
receiving death threats from supporters of right-wing nationalist
movements who saw the exhibition as offensive to traditional Kyrgyz
values. An art exhibition that featured a woman undressing in front
of an audience was censored by the government.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 2, Norwegian Air
became the first airline to sign the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) pledge, committing to become climate neutral
by 2050.
(Travel+Leisure, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 2, Russia and China
launched a giant gas pipeline linking the countries for the first
time, one of three major projects aimed at cementing Moscow's role
as the world's top gas exporter. The 3,000-km (1,850-mile) pipeline
will supply China with 38 billion cubic meters (1.3 trillion cubic
feet) of gas annually when fully operational in 2025.
(AFP, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, Samoa's government
said five children have died due to measles in the last 24 hours
bringing the death toll to 53 since late October.
(SFC, 12/3/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 2, In northwestern
Syria an airstrike on a market in the rebel-held town of Maaret
al-Numan in Idlib province killed at least 11 civilians and wounded
others.
(Reuters, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, The UN opened a
two-week climate summit in Madrid. UN secretary-general Antonio
Guterres warned that governments risked sleepwalking past a point of
no return.
(Reuters, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 2, Zimbabwe’s
opposition party said it is suffering unprecedented persecution and
state-sanctioned violence and claims it is unable to function as a
political party as most of its rallies are banned.
(The Telegraph, 12/2/19)
2019 Dec 3, President Donald
Trump rejected the possibility of US lawmakers censuring him instead
of impeaching him over accusations he improperly pressured Ukraine
to probe a political rival, as Democrats prepared to lay out their
case for impeachment.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, A US appeals court
handed President Donald Trump another defeat in his bid to keep his
financial records secret, directing Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One
Financial Corp to comply with subpoenas from congressional Democrats
demanding the material.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, The House
Intelligence Committee released its report on the impeachment
inquiry into President Donald Trump, a day before the House
Judiciary Committee holds its first hearing on constitutional
issues.
(Bloomberg, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, The Trump
administration detailed a new program for providing an HIV
prevention drug for free to people who need the protection but have
no insurance to pay for it. Gilead Sciences had announced in May
that it would donate to the government enough supplies to protect up
to 200,000 people a year over the next 11 years.
(SFC, 12/5/19, p.A8)
2019 Dec 3, The US House of
Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation that would
impose sanctions on Chinese officials over human rights abuses
against Muslim minorities, prompting Beijing to threaten possible
retaliation just as the world’s two largest economies seek to close
a trade deal.
(Bloomberg, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 3, A snowstorm that
doesn’t want to end coated coastal New England at the height of the
morning commute, snarling travel and closing schools. The National
Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for coastal areas of
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine and a winter weather advisory
for southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
(AP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, Maine's Gov. Janet
Mills originally delayed the opening of state offices, then
announced that they’d be closed altogether because of the storm.
(AP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, In Maryland more
than two dozen Baltimore corrections officers were indicted with
allegations that they used "illegal and excessive" force against
inmates in state jails.
(ABC News, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 3, Charles Bridges
(20) pleaded guilty, just as his trial was set to begin, for killing
his mother’s boyfriend in 2017 and then working with her to cut up
his body and leave it in several containers under a South Carolina
home. Bridges was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 3, The World
Meteorological Organization issued its annual state of the global
climate report, concluding a decade of what it called exceptional
global heat. “It’s more urgent than ever to proceed with
mitigation”.
(NY Times, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 3, In Afghanistan
Japanese humanitarian Dr Tetsu Nakamura (73) was among six people
killed when their vehicle was ambushed by unknown gunmen in the
eastern border province of Nangarhar. In 2003 Dr Nakamura was
awarded Asia's equivalent of the Nobel prize for his aid to
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(The Telegraph, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 3, A new investigation
by Human Rights Watch said close to 400,000 Rohingya refugee
children living in Bangladeshi camps are being deprived of the right
to education.
(The Telegraph, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, Prime ministers and
presidents of the 29-member alliance converged on London to mark
NATO’s 70th birthday. US President Donald Trump took aim at
President Emmanuel Macron over the French leader’s criticism of
NATO, and criticized the other members of the military alliance for
being too slow to beef up their defense budgets.
(AP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, German public
prosecutors raided the Wolfsburg headquarters of Volkswagen in the
latest investigation into the carmaker's diesel emissions scandal.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, Iranian state
television acknowledged that security forces shot and killed what it
described as “rioters” in multiple cities amid recent protests over
the spike in government-set gasoline prices. Iran also rejected as
"utter lies" unofficial casualty figures given for street violence
that erupted last month during demonstrations against a shock
decision to hike fuel prices. Amnesty International estimates
claimed 208 lives were lost.
(AP, 12/3/19)(AFP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, In Lebanon scores
of Syrians boarded buses in several locations before heading back to
their hometowns in war-torn Syria. This raised the number to about
27,000 refugees who have returned to Syria over the past two years.
(AP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, President Andres
Manuel Lopez Obrador pushed back against US attempts to subject
Mexico to oversight of its labor market, and said the Mexican Senate
should be consulted before changes to a new North American trade
deal are signed off.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, The Dutch
parliament voted to require companies listed in the Netherlands to
have at least 30% of supervisory board seats held by women. The
motion also requires around 5,000 other large companies to draw up
detailed plans to increase the number of women on their supervisory
and executive boards.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, Pirates kidnapped
19 crew members from a crude oil tanker off Nigeria in an area where
acts of piracy are on the rise. The Nave Constellation was attacked
77 nautical miles off Bonny Island and 18 Indians and one Turk from
the crew were seized.
(Reuters, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 3, In the Philippines
Typhoon Kammuri blew across the country after slamming ashore
overnightin Sorsogon province.
(SFC, 12/3/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 3, It was reported
that Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin has signed into law an amendment
that could require bloggers and independent journalists to register
as foreign agents, a move that rights activists say poses a threat
to independent journalism.
(The Telegraph, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, Russia accused
former US Marine Paul Whelan, who has been held for almost a year on
spying charges, of faking health problems in custody and lying about
his ill-treatment to stir up noise around his case.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, In Sudan at least
23 people died in a huge explosion that tore through a tile factory
in Khartoum. The fire reportedly erupted when a gas tanker exploded
while unloading cargo.
(AP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, Agnes Callamard,
the UN rapporteur for extrajudicial executions, said the world has
not done enough to ensure justice is done over the killing of Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
(Reuters, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, The UN said this
decade is set to be the hottest in history in an annual assessment
outlining the ways in which climate change is outpacing humanity's
ability to adapt to it. Man-made emissions from burning fossil
fuels, building infrastructure, growing crops and transporting goods
mean 2019 is set to break the record for atmospheric carbon
concentrations, locking in further warming. Oceans, which absorb 90
percent of the excess heat produced by greenhouse gases, are now at
their highest recorded temperatures.
(AFP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 3, The United Nations
said about half of Zimbabwe’s population faces severe hunger amid a
devastating drought and economic collapse.
(AP, 12/3/19)
2019 Dec 4, US President Donald
Trump cancelled his scheduled news conference at the end of the NATO
summit in Britain, saying he had briefed the media many times during
his two-day trip.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, TV producer Leonard
Goldberg (85) died in Los Angeles. He and Aaron Spelling co-produced
"Charlie's Angels" and "Fantasy Island" in the 1970s. Goldberg and
Spelling produced 35 movies for television. He later conceived the
hit police drama "Blue Bloods" (2010), which continued running for a
10th season in 2019.
(SSFC, 12/15/19, p.B10)
2019 Dec 4, In Colorado Alec
McKinney (16) was ordered along with Devon Erickson (19) to stand
trial on first-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges
in the May 7 shooting rampage at the Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math (STEM) School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, in
which one student was killed and eight others wounded.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, It was reported
that fourteen women, ranging in age from 30 to 56 and nearly all
first-time offenders, have banded together to sue the United States,
not under pseudonyms but under their real names, over the abuse they
say they’ve endured at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in
Florida. Seven of the women are still incarcerated.
(Miami Herald, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Georgia's Rep. Gov.
Brian Kemp formally announced his selection of Kelly Loeffler,
pushing aside intense criticism from hard-core Trump advocates who
wanted Kemp to appoint Rep. Doug Collins, one of Trump’s staunchest
defenders in Congress.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, In Hawaii an active
duty US sailor, whose submarine was docked at Pearl Harbor, opened
fire on three civilian employees, killing two and then taking his
own life just days before dignitaries and veterans descend on the
base for the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, In Chicago Ernesto
Godinez, a purported “chief” of the Almighty Latin Saints, was
sentenced to 16 years in federal prison. He was convicted earlier
this year of shooting and wounding a plainclothes federal agent he
mistook for a rival gang member.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 4, Former United Auto
Workers vice president Joseph Ashton pleaded guilty in Detroit to
conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud as part of a
wide-ranging federal corruption probe into the union.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 4, In New York state
Bishop Richard Malone (73) of Buffalo resigned, forced to step aside
amid mounting calls for his ouster from his staff, priests and
public over his handling of allegations of clergy sexual misconduct.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, The Northeast began
digging out from a monster nor'easter that dumped over two feet of
snow onto towns in New York, Massachusetts and Vermont.
(Good Morning America, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Charlotte resident
Arlando M. Henderson (29), a former Wells Fargo employee, was
arrested in San Diego, of stealing more than $88,000 in cash from
the vault of a bank in North Carolina. An indictment unsealed later
alleged Henderson took the cash from customer deposits on at least
18 occasions throughout 2019 and then rigged the books to try to
hide his actions.
(AP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 4, Oil prices surged
4% on expectations that OPEC and allied producers would extend
production curbs, and as US government data showed a large drop in
domestic crude stockpiles.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, It was reported
that a drug that curbs delusions in Parkinson's patients did the
same for people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia
in a study that was stopped early because the benefit seemed clear.
Pimavanserin, a daily pill sold as Nuplazid by Acadia
Pharmaceuticals, was approved for Parkinson's-related psychosis in
2016 and is thought to work by blocking a brain chemical that seems
to spur delusions.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Scientists released
the first results from NASA's sun-skimming spacecraft, the Parker
Solar Probe. They observed bursts of energetic particles never seen
before on such a small scale as well as switchback-like reversals in
the out-flowing solar magnetic field that seem to whip up the solar
wind.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Armenia's special
investigation service said it is investigating former president
Serzh Sarksyan on suspicion of exceeding his authority and
embezzling of around $1 million in state funds.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Australia's
conservative government repealed a contentious law that allowed ill
asylum-seekers languishing in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru to
travel to the country for medical treatment. More than 460 people
remain in limbo in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, In Chile thousands
of women, blindfolded and dressed in black, descended on Santiago
chanting what has now become their rallying cry: “El violador eres
tu”, or, “The rapist is you”.
(The Independent, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 4, It was reported
that Chinese startup AutoX, backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, has
applied to test self-driving vehicles without an in-car backup
driver in California, the first challenger to Alphabet Inc's
autonomous driving venture Waymo to say it has done so.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, The Czech
Republic's top state attorney said Andrej Babis will be investigated
further for fraud in a case involving EU subsidies, reversing an
earlier decision to drop the matter.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Colombian unions
and student groups held a third national strike amid fraught talks
between protest leaders and the government over President Ivan
Duque's social and economic policies.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Danish PM Mette
Frederiksen said her country would provide four more planes to NATO
after holding "positive" talks with US President Trump at an
alliance summit in London.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, In Ethiopia armed
men abducted students from Dembi Dollo University in the Oromiya
region. An unknown group of people blocked a bus and kidnapped
students on board who were leaving for home. The students, mostly
ethnic Amharas, were fleeing ethnic violence and threats in the
university. 17 of the students went missing as one managed to
escape. The government later said that the army had rescued 21 of
the students, but at least 12 others remained missing.
(Reuters, 2/1/20)(BBC, 3/15/20)
2019 Dec 4, The European
Environment Agency warned that Europe faces extreme heat waves every
two years over the coming decades as the effects of climate change
drive up global temperatures. The EU also said that it will likely
miss its target for reducing greenhouse gases by 2030.
(The Telegraph, 12/4/19)(SFC, 12/5/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 4, President Emmanuel
Macron demanded West African leaders of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso,
Chad and Mauritania to dismiss growing anti-French sentiment across
the region if they wanted France's military to continue its
operations against Islamist militants.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, The French
government said it is creating a national anti-hate crime office
following the discovery of anti-Semitic graffiti at a Jewish
cemetery in eastern France.
(SFC, 12/5/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 4, Germany expelled
two Russian diplomats as it opened a formal investigation into
suspicions the Kremlin was behind the killing of a man in central
Berlin. Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian national, was shot dead
in a Berlin park in August.
(The Telegraph, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Deutsche Telekom
said it has put all deals to buy 5G network equipment on hold, as it
awaits the resolution of a debate in Germany over whether to bar
Chinese vendor Huawei on security grounds.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Hungary's foreign
minister said Budapest would block Ukraine's membership in NATO
until Kiev restored the rights that ethnic Hungarians had before a
language law curbed minorities' access to education in their mother
tongues.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Iran’s supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for those detained in recent
gasoline price protests to be treated with “Islamic mercy” even
after authorities acknowledged government forces shot and killed
demonstrators nationwide in unrest that reportedly killed over 200
people. President Hassan Rouhani said Iran is willing to return to
the negotiating table if the United States first drops sanctions,
after a fuel price hike sparked deadly violence ahead of elections.
(AP, 12/4/19)(AFP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, An expose by
Israel’s public broadcaster Kan found that the military “doubled or
even tripled” the number of ultra-Orthodox men drafted for the past
several years. In recent years the army has said ultra-Orthodox
draft figures have surged.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Mexican President
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his government will seek to
strengthen cooperation with the United States to control the flow of
"arms and dollars" during meetings this week with US Attorney
General William Barr.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Loss-making budget
airline Norwegian Air said it is selling its Argentinian subsidiary
Norwegian Air Argentina (NAA) to JetSMART Airlines for an
undisclosed sum.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Poland's
agriculture minister said an outbreak of African swine fever near
the German border has killed 21 wild boar.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said that the United States was rapidly developing
its military forces for potential operations in space and that
Washington openly viewed space as a potential theatre of war.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Russian President
Vladimir Putin accused Bulgaria of deliberately delaying the
implementation of Russia's TurkStream natural gas pipeline on its
territory and said that Moscow could find ways to bypass Bulgaria if
needed.
(Reuters, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 4, Russian media
reported that authorities have arrested a man accused of building a
fake border with Finland and charging four South Asian migrants more
than 10,000 euros, or $11,000, to help them cross into what they
believed was the European Union.
(Insider, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 4, It was reported
that the United Nations human rights office is urging Tanzania to
reconsider its decision barring individuals and non-governmental
groups from filing cases against it at the African Court on Human
and People’s Rights. The continental court is based in the East
African nation.
(AP, 12/4/19)
2019 Dec 5, US House Speaker
Nancy said she was authorizing the drafting of formal impeachment
charges against Pres. Donald Trump “sadly but with confidence and
humility”.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, US and British
authorities took aim at the Russia-based cybercriminal group known
as Evil Corp, indicting two of its leaders, Maksim Yakubets and Igor
Turashev, and ordering asset freezes against 17 of its associates
over a digital crime spree that has netted more than $100 million
from companies across the world.
(Reuters, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, Democratic
presidential contender Michael Bloomberg unveiled a gun control
policy just steps from the site of one of Colorado's worst mass
shootings, calling for a ban on all assault weapons, mandatory
permits for gun purchasers and a new position in the White House to
coordinate gun violence prevention.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 5, In south Florida
four people, including a UPS driver, were killed after robbers stole
the driver’s truck and led police on a chase that ended in gunfire
at a busy intersection during rush hour in Miramar.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, Three Minnesota
National Guard crew members were killed when their Black Hawk
helicopter crashed south of St. Cloud.
(SFC, 12/6/19, p.A7)
2019 Dec 5, In New York City
Dr. Gordon Freedman was convicted of accepting thousands of dollars
in bribes and kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics Inc in exchange for
prescribing his patients an addictive fentanyl spray the drug
manufacturer produced.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 5, US federal
officials in Massachusetts announced that more than 60 members of
the Latin Kings gang have been arrested.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, A federal judge in
McAllen, Texas, temporarily blocked a plan for a construction firm
favored by President Trump to build a privately-funded segment of
border wall along the banks of the Rio Grande River. Fisher
Industries of North Dakota, recently won a $400 million federal
contract to construct 31 miles of barrier along the border near
Yuma, Ariz. President Trump has urged the Army Corps of Engineers to
hire the North Dakota–based firm, whose head is a major Republican
donor and a frequent guest on Fox News. In January, 2020, a federal
appeals court ruling freed up construction money for 175 miles of
border wall.
(Yahoo News, 12/6/19)(SFC, 12/13/19, p.A9)(SFC,
1/10/20, p.A5)
2019 Dec 5, A report by the
Environmental Integrity Project released showed some 30 states have
reduced funding for pollution control programs, 16 of them by more
than 20%. Forty states, meanwhile, have cut staffing at
environmental agencies, half of them by at least 10%. Over the last
decade, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s budget and work
force have both decreased by 16%, and the Trump administration has
proposed slashing the agency’s budget further while shifting more of
its work to states.
(Reuters, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, General Motors Co
and South Korea's LG Chem said they will invest $2.3 billion to set
up an electric vehicle battery cell joint venture plant in Ohio,
creating one of the world's largest battery facilities.
(Reuters, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, The Australian
Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) issued a
joint statement saying three people have been charged with importing
1,633 kg (3,600 lbs.) of methamphetamine and heroin into Australia
by hiding them inside of stereo speakers originating from Bangkok,
Thailand.
(Insider, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, A British judge
exonerated three black men who served time in prison 50 years ago
based upon the testimony of a corrupt police officer. The group,
dubbed the “Oval Four,” served eight months in prison but sought to
clear their names. A fourth man could not be located to take part in
the case.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, Burundi authorities
said at least 28 people have died in landslides following weeks of
heavy rains. Many people remained missing.
(SFC, 12/6/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 5, The Czech
Republic’s defense ministry said it has signed a deal to buy eight
mobile MADR 3D radars from Israel for 3.5 billion crowns ($152
million).
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, French police fired
tear gas at protesters in the center of Paris. Public transport
ground to a near halt in one of the biggest strikes in France for
decades, aimed at forcing President Emmanuel Macron to ditch a
planned reform of pensions.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, In western Iran an
explosion of a heating gas pipe killed at least 11 people and
injured 42 others during a wedding ceremony in the predominantly
Kurdish city of Saqqez.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, In Iraq crowds
backing a paramilitary force close to Iran flooded Baghdad's main
protest camp, rattling anti-government demonstrators who have
denounced Tehran's role in their country. At least 15 people
suffered stab wounds in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, Uber launched in
Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan, part of its expansion into
African markets with low levels of car ownership and limited mass
transport.
(Reuters, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, A Kosovo court
sentenced a former ethnic Serb minister to two years in prison for
inciting ethnic hatred. The Pristina court said that Ivan
Todosijevic incited national, racial, religious and ethnic hatred
when he denied a massacre of Kosovo civilians in Recak in 1999,
which prompted NATO to step in and stop the war.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, Libya's
UN-supported government and US officials accused Russia of deploying
mercenaries to fight alongside opponents in the country's civil war.
The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) has documented
600-800 Russian fighters in Libya.
(SFC, 12/6/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 5, The Silvana III, an
oil tanker managed by a Chinese company under US sanctions, anchored
off Kuala Kurau on Malaysia's west coast. It did not follow
instructions to drop its ladder to allow maritime authorities to
conduct checks. After several attempts to instruct the ship to drop
ladder were not heeded, the ship lifted anchor and left the
location.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 5, In Mauritania
scores of migrants, who swam through rough Atlantic Ocean waters to
safety from a capsized boat, received care after 58 others drowned
in one of the deadliest disasters this year among people making the
perilous journey to Europe. The boat had left Gambia a week ago
carrying at least 150 people, including women and children.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, Russian state
nuclear company Rosatom said it has suspended work on revamping a
factory at Iran's Fordow nuclear complex due to an issue with
uranium compatibility.
(Reuters, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, Samoa's government
told most public and private workers to stay at home and shut down
roads to nonessential vehicles as teams began going door-to-door to
administer vaccines against the measles epidemic that has killed 62
people.
(SFC, 12/6/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 5, Slovakia’s police
said they have charged former PM Robert Fico with racism for his
comments about the embattled Roma minority.
(AP, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 5, South Africa was
hit by power cuts after a number of generating units broke down,
forcing the struggling state power utility Eskom to cut up to 2,000
megawatts (MW) of power from the national grid on a rotational
basis.
(Reuters, 12/5/19)
2019 Dec 6, US President Donald
Trump called for the World Bank to stop loaning money to China, one
day after the institution adopted a lending plan to Beijing over
Washington's objections.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, The United States
imposed sanctions on three Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary leaders
over a deadly crackdown on protests in the country, as it warned
Tehran to stay out of its neighbor's affairs.
(AFP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, The US Supreme
Court blocked the Trump administration from restarting federal
executions next week after a 16-year break.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, US Food and Drug
Administration staffers reviewing Correvio Pharma Corp's heart drug
said they did not believe the benefits of the therapy outweighed its
risks, sending the company's shares down nearly 38%.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, Democratic
presidential candidate Bernie Sanders promised to invest $150
billion to bring high-speed internet to “every household in America”
while breaking up and better regulating monopolies he says currently
limit access to drive up their profits.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, A Los Angeles jury
acquitted Elon Musk, Tesla Inc's outspoken chief executive, of
defamation over a 2018 Twitter message describing British cave
explorer Vernon Unsworth as "pedo guy".
(Reuters, 12/6/19)(SFC, 12/7/19, p.D1)
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, An Alabama police
officer was killed during a drug-related shooting. The suspect was
captured after a short foot chase.
(SFC, 12/7/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 6, California's
bankrupt power producer PG&E Corp said it had reached a $13.5
billion settlement with victims of some of most devastating
wildfires in the state's modern history.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, In Florida a
shooter opened fire at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola in an
attack that left four people dead including the assailant, and
multiple people injured. The gunfire prompted a massive law
enforcement response to the base, which was locked down. The shooter
as soon identified as aviation student Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a
second lieutenant in the Saudi Air Force. The New York Times later
reported that six other Saudi nationals were being questioned by
investigators in Florida, three of whom were seen filming the
incident.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, Gov. Ralph Northam
of Virginia ordered the suspension of a policy that allows prison
officials to strip-search children after an 8-year-old girl was told
to remove her clothes before being allowed to see her imprisoned
father on Nov. 24.
(NY Times, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, Tens of thousands
of Algerians took to the streets, making a show of strength of their
last weekly protest before a presidential election next week that
they have rejected as meaningless.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, Australian
firefighters said a giant bushfire on the edge of Sydney, which has
blanketed the city in smoke causing a spike in respiratory illnesses
and the cancellation of outdoor sports, will take weeks to control
but will not be extinguished without heavy rains.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, In Austria The
remaining signatories to the faltering Iran nuclear deal began
crunch talks in Vienna with questions over the survival of the
landmark agreement after Tehran vowed to continue to breach the
deal's limits on its nuclear program. Envoys from Britain, France,
Germany, China, Russia and Iran took part in the meeting,
(AFP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, Oil-rich Azerbaijan
planted more than half a million trees to celebrate 14th century
poet Seyid Imadeddin Nesimi, an initiative the government said would
help tackle climate change but some environmental activists called
"a waste of money." Elsewhere in the country, thousands of hectares
of bushlands and forests were being cleared to make way for hazelnut
plantations and farms.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, Bosnian
authorities, bowing to international pressure, agreed to dismantle
the makeshift Vucjak refugee camp of freezing snow-covered tents,
but some migrants living there have been refusing food in protest at
being resettled.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, British opposition
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he had a confidential government
report which showed there would be customs checks between Northern
Ireland and mainland Britain under a Brexit deal negotiated by PM
Boris Johnson.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, Social news and
aggregation firm Reddit Inc. banned 61 accounts under its policies
against “vote manipulation” ahead of Britain’s general election on
Dec. 12. The accounts, which were used to draw attention to the
trade documents, were “part of a campaign that has been reported as
originating from Russia,” according to Reddit.
(Bloomberg, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, A multi-million
pound prosecution by Scotland Yard's war crimes unit against Agnes
Reeves-Taylor (54), a former wife of Liberian warlord Charles
Taylor, collapsed after her lawyers won a bid to have the case
discontinued.
(The Telegraph, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, State-run Xinhua
News Agency reported that China’s leaders have vowed to avoid
systemic financial risks next year and keep growth in a “reasonable
range,” citing a Politburo meeting in Beijing, as the economy
stutters with its slowest growth in decades.
(Bloomberg, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, The Republic of
Djibouti announced, in New York, that it is starting its official
campaign for election as a non-permanent member of the United
Nations Security Council.
(PRNewswire, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, French PM Edouard
Philippe said he was sticking with plans to reform the country's
pension system but insisted change would be gradual and "not
brutal".
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, French unions
continued to bring rail, bus and metro systems to a standstill in
protest over the government's planned pension reforms. Railways
company SNCF said it expected rail traffic would continue to be
heavily disrupted through the weekend and Dec. 9, based on
statements from transport unions.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, In Germany an
off-duty firefighter (49) was killed in an altercation between two
couples and a group of youths in the southern city of Augsburg. Two
teenagers were soon arrested after surveillance cameras enabled
investigators to identify the suspects.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 6, Greece said it was
expelling the Libyan ambassador, angered by an accord between Libya
and Turkey signed on Nov. 27 that maps out a sea boundary between
the two countries close to the Greek island of Crete. Libya called
the move unacceptable. Turkey dismissed it as outrageous.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, The World Food
Program (WFPP issued an appeal for $62 million in emergency food
assistance in Haiti, where a protracted political and economic
crises are fanning a humanitarian disaster.
(Miami Herald, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, In Hungary a
government spokesman confirmed that the government is seeking a
greater say in the operation of theaters that it partly funds. He
said a recent sexual harassment case at a Budapest theater made the
changes necessary as the government currently has no power to sack
the director of the theatre involved.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, In southern India
police fatally shot four men being held on suspicion of raping and
killing a woman after investigators took them to the crime scene,
drawing both praise and condemnation in a case that has sparked
protests across the country. The suspects had reportedly seized some
weapons from policemen who had taken them there and started firing.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, In India a
23-year-old rape victim set on fire by a gang of men, which included
her alleged rapists, died in a New Delhi hospital. A day earlier the
woman was on her way to board a train in Unnao district of northern
Uttar Pradesh state to attend a court hearing over her rape when she
was doused with kerosene and set on fire. Her death prompted
protests from opposition leaders who blamed the ruling party for
failing to check incidents of violence against women.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, In Iraq the
casualty toll rose to 25 dead and 130 wounded as attacks by unknown
gunmen targeted anti-government demonstrators in Baghdad continued
into the night.
(AP, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, In Kenya at least
ten people were killed and 30 injured when a residential building
collapsed in Nairobi. Rescue workers struggled to free a woman who
was screaming from under the rubble. 20 people remained missing.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)(SFC, 12/9/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 6, Kenyan police
officers were among those killed when gunmen suspected to be from
Islamist militant group al Shabaab attacked a bus near the border
with Somalia. Police said 10 people were killed and that the
attackers had specifically targeted non-Somalis after flagging down
the bus.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, Kosovo's Pres.
Hashim Thaci accused the European Union maintaining double standards
for blocking a visa-free travel deal with his country but opening
new chapters in Serbia's integration process despite its affiliation
with Russia.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, Lebanon's outgoing
PM Saad Hariri called on several Arab and world leaders to help his
country secure credit lines for imports from friendly nations as the
tiny Mediterranean country passes through its worst economic and
financial crisis in decades.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, A three-month-old
Malaysian infant was diagnosed with polio, the first case reported
in the country in nearly three decades.
(Reuters, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 6, Lawyers for the
Nigerian government filed "new and substantive" allegations of fraud
with a British court in an ongoing fight against an arbitration
award now worth some $10 billion. The government has been fighting
efforts by British Virgin Islands-based Process & Industrial
Developments (P&ID) to enforce the award for a failed gas
project and is also seeking to overturn the underlying award.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, North Korea's
Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported the recent launch of the "Treatment
Tourism Exchange Corporation", aimed at capitalizing on the "rising
demand for tourism, including medical care, in line with an
international trend".
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, Thousands of
Palestinians demonstrated along the Gaza-Israel frontier as the
territory’s Hamas rulers resumed the regular protests after a
three-week pause. 14 Palestinians were reported wounded by Israeli
fire, four of them with live gunshots.
(AP, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, In Russia Moscow
student Yegor Zhukov (21) stepped out of a courthouse, effectively
free after a judge handed down a three-year suspended sentence.
Zhukov, a student at the liberal Higher School of Economics, spent a
month in pre-trial detention in August before rioting charges
against him were dropped amid a public campaign, supported by many
Russian celebrities.
(The Telegraph, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 6, Saudi Arabia and
Russia spearheaded a deal in which OPEC and its allies committed to
some of the deepest oil output cuts this decade aiming to avert
oversupply and support prices.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, It was reported
that Slovak police have charged former president Andrej Kiska with
tax fraud, stirring up the political scene ahead of an election due
in February.
(Reuters, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 6, In eastern Slovakia
a gas explosion in an apartment building in Presov killed at least
five people and injured more than 40. Firefighters rescued people
trapped in the building, which officials said is still in danger of
collapse. The death toll soon rose to least seven people. Police
soon charged three people with putting the public in danger over the
gas explosion. One person remained missing.
(AP, 12/6/19)(Reuters, 12/7/19)(Reuters, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 6, In South Africa
four mineworkers were killed and one was seriously injured after a
rock fall at a gold mine trapped five workers underground. The
collapse at the Village Main Reef's Tau Lekoa gold mine in North
West province followed at least one earth tremor.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 6, In Spain climate
activist Greta Thunberg arrived in Madrid to join thousands of other
young people in a march to demand world leaders take real action
against climate change.
(AP, 12/6/19)
2019 Dec 7, US Pres. Donald
Trump energized an audience that numbered in the hundreds at the
Israeli American Council National Summit in Florida by recounting
his record on issues of importance to Jews, including an extensive
riff on his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital
and relocate the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv.
(AP, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, US peace envoy
Zalmay Khalilzad held the first official talks with Afghanistan's
Taliban since President Donald Trump declared a near-certain peace
deal with the insurgents dead in September. The talks were held in
Qatar.
(AP, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, Arkansas police
Officer Stephen Carr was shot and killed inside his patrol car
outside a Fayetteville police precinct. Suspect London T. Phillips
(35) was shot and killed. It was later reported that Carr was shot
10 times in the head and his killer was interested in anti-law
enforcement groups.
(Good Morning America, 12/8/19)(AP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 7, It was reported
that a flesh-eating bacteria linked to the use of black tar heroin
has killed at least seven people over the past two months in the San
Diego area.
(SFC, 12/7/19, p.A6)
2019 Dec 7, Texas sheriff’s
deputy Floyd Berry (49) was arrested after police say he performed
unlawful strip-searches on at least six women in 11 days. An
investigation discovered that Berry had “unlawfully strip-searched”
six women while on patrol in the southern portion of Bexar County
between Nov. 24 and Dec. 4.
(Miami Herald, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 7, In Texas Houston
police officer Sgt. Christopher Brewster (32) was shot and killed
while responding to a domestic violence report. Suspect Arturo Solis
was arrested.
(http://tinyurl.com/wy7kfxb)(SFC, 12/9/19, p.A6)
2019 Dec 7, Bristol-Myers
Squibb Co said that an experimental cancer therapy it acquired as
part of its $74 billion deal for Celgene Corp produced positive
results in a clinical trial. The treatment, liso-cel, is a newer
type of immunotherapy known as CAR-T cell therapy, that takes immune
cells from a patient, engineers them to better recognize and attack
cancer and infuses them back into the patient.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, Belarus Pres.
Alexander Lukashenko met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
in Russia to discuss "key issues in our bilateral relations. Roughly
1,000 Belarusians joined an unauthorized demonstration against the
prospect of a closer union with Russia.
(AFP, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, In France truckers
blocked roads in about 10 regions to protest against a planned
reduction in tax breaks on diesel for road transport, while train
and metro services remained heavily disrupted by a strike against
pension reform. In Paris several hundred "yellow vest" protesters
continued their weekly demonstrations over the cost of living.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, German farmers set
up “warning bonfires” this evening at hundreds of sites across the
country in a continuation of protests against new environmental
controls that have caught Berlin on the back foot.
(The Telegraph, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 7, In Hong Kong
hundreds of pro-government demonstrators packed a local park to
denounce what they say is a reign of terror by anti-government
protesters.
(SSFC, 12/8/19, p.A6)
2019 Dec 7, Indonesian
authorities arrested five suspected poachers of a pair of critically
endangered pregnant Sumatran tigers and seized four fetuses that had
been preserved in a jar. About 400 Sumatran tigers remained because
of forest destruction and poaching.
(SFC, 12/9/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 7, Tehran announced
the release of Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani from the United
States shortly before Washington declared American researcher Xiyue
Wang was returning home. Wang (38) has spent the past three years in
jail on spying charges in a prisoner swap. Soleimani, an Iranian
scientist, was arrested at Chicago airport last year and convicted
on charges of violating US trade sanctions.
(AFP, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, Iran's semiofficial
Fars news agency reported that a soldier has shot three policemen to
death in the country's south. The soldier was immediately arrested.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 7, In Lebanon scores
of women marched through the streets of Beirut to protest sexual
harassment and bullying and demanding rights including the passing
of citizenship to children of Lebanese women married to foreigners.
(AP, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, In Mexico four
people were killed and two injured in a shooting near the National
Palace, the presidential residence in the capital's historic
downtown. The dead included the gunman who was killed by police.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, North Korea carried
out a "very important" test at tits Sohae satellite launch site, a
rocket testing ground that US officials once said Pyongyang had
promised to close.
(AFP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 7, Swiss astronomer
Didier Queloz, who shared the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physics for
discovering planets orbiting distant suns, urged humans to fix the
climate crisis and save the Earth at a news conference in Stockholm.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 7, In Syria airstrikes
on areas in the last major rebel stronghold in the northwest killed
at least 20 people, including women and children, and wounded others
in the Idlib region as a three-month truce crumbled.
(Reuters, 12/7/19)
2019 Dec 8, In Atlanta,
Georgia, Zozibini Tunzi (b.1993), South African model, was crowned
Miss Universe 2019. Tunzi had previously been crowned Miss South
Africa 2019. She is the third woman from South Africa to win the
title, and the first black woman since Leila Lopes was crowned Miss
Universe 2011.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zozibini_Tunzi)
2019 Dec 8, American actor Rene
Auberjonois (b.1940), died at his home in Los Angeles. He was best
known for his roles on the TV show "Benson" and "Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine" and his part as Father Mulcahy in the the film "M*A*S*H"
(1970).
(SFC, 12/9/19, p.C2)
2019 Dec 8, Sesame Street
puppeteer Caroll Spinney (b.1933), the animator of Big Bird and
Oscar the Grouch, died at his home in Connecticut.
(SFC, 12/9/19, p.A7)
2019 Dec 8, Paul Volcker (92),
the towering former Federal Reserve chairman (1979-1987), died in
NYC. He tamed US inflation in the 1980s and decades later inspired
tough Wall Street reforms in the wake of the global financial
crisis. His memoir, "Keeping at It: The Quest for Sound Money and
Good Government," was published in 2018.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 8, The SpaceX Dragon
caqpsule delivered three tons supplies to the Int'l. Space
Station.The delivery include 8 of 40 mice genetically engineered
with twice the normal muscle mass for a muscle and bone experiment.
(SFC, 12/9/19, p.A6)
2019 Dec 8, In Belarus some 500
hundred protesters braved the repressive climate to hold a
demonstration for a 2nd day against deepening the country's ties
with Russia.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Belarus state news
agency Belta reported that the government is seeking about $70
million in compensation because of disruption in flows in a pipeline
on its territory caused by contaminated Russian oil. The Russian
Druzhba pipeline, which pumps 1 million barrels per day of oil to
eastern and western Europe, was found in mid-April to be
contaminated.
(Reuters, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Congolese health
authorities said an Ebola survivor has fallen ill with the disease
for a second time in eastern Congo. It was not yet clear if it was a
case of relapse or reinfection. The Ebola outbreak in Democratic
Republic of Congo has infected over 3,300 people and killed more
than 2,200 since the middle of last year, making it the second worst
year on record.
(Reuters, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, In Egypt a militant
attack killed a police conscript in Rafah, a restive northern part
of the Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Finland's transport
minister, Sanna Marin (34), was tapped by the ruling Social
Democratic Party to be the new prime minister. When she takes the
reins of the country, most likely on Dec. 10, she will become the
world’s youngest sitting head of government.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 8, In France travel
tangles continued for a fourth day as strikes kept most trains at a
standstill. PM Edouard Philippe held special meetins about the
government's divisive redesign of the national retirement system.
(SFC, 12/9/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 8, Hong Kong saw its
biggest pro-democracy protest in months, signaling more unrest to
come in 2020 as the movement that began in June to fight China’s
increasing grip on the city shows its staying power.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, In India a fire
believed to be caused by an electrical short circuit engulfed a
building New Delhi, where handbags and other items were made by
workers earning as little as 2 dollars per day. At least 43 people
were killed.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Iran's President
Hassan Rouhani announced a "budget of resistance" against US
sanctions targeting the country's vital oil sector, backed by a $5
billion Russian investment.
(The Telegraph, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Israeli aircraft
bombed several militants’ sites in Gaza early today, hours after
three rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave toward
southern Israel.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Saudi authorities
said restaurants in Saudi Arabia will no longer need to maintain
entrances segregated by sex, further eroding some of the world's
strictest social rules as sweeping reforms take hold.
(Reuters, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Sudan's PM Abdalla
Hamdok said his country has 5,000 troops operating in Yemen, down
from a peak of 15,000, adding that he believed no military solution
was possible.
(Reuters, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Some 5,000
Ukrainians rallied in Kiev warning President Volodymyr Zelensky to
resist pressure from Russia's Vladimir Putin when the two men meet
on Dec. 9 for talks on the conflict in Ukraine's east.
(AFP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 8, Pope Francis named
Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (62) to a major global Vatican
post in a move likely to increase the Filipino's chances of one day
being elected pope himself. He will become the new head of the
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which oversees the
Roman Catholic Church's work in many developing countries.
(Reuters, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 9, The US Justice
Department's internal watchdog declared that the FBI was justified
in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump
presidential campaign and Russia and did not act with political
bias. The report rejected theories and criticism spread by Pres.
Trump and his supporters, though it also found “serious performance
failures” up the bureau’s chain of command.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 9, US lawmakers
announced an agreement on a $738-billion bill setting policy for the
Department of Defense, including new measures for competing with
Russia and China, family leave for federal workers and the creation
of Pres. Donald Trump's long-desired Space Force.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, The US Supreme
Court left in place a Kentucky law requiring doctors to perform
ultrasounds and show fetal images to patients before abortions.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, US federal agents
in Dallas arrested Genaro Garcia Luna (51), the former secretary of
public security in Mexico (2006-2012), on drug charges for bribes he
accepted from the Sinaloa cartel. Prosecutors said they will seek
his removal to New York to face federal charges.
(SFC, 12/11/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 9, The Washington Post
released thousands of documents detailing the war in Afghanistan
painting a stark picture of missteps and failures. The reports were
from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR), formed in 2008.
(SFC, 12/10/19, p.A3)
2019 Dec 9, The US CDC said a
multistate E. coli outbreak, linked to packaged salad from the
Salinas Valley of California, has sickened 8 people in the
upper-Midwest and 16 in Canada.
(SFC, 12/10/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 9, Intel Corp
announced a chip called "Horse Ridge" that is designed to take all
the work being done by the wires in a quantum computer and shrink it
down to a chip and electronics about the size of a tea cup saucer.
The chip is named for one of the coldest spots in the state of
Oregon, where many of its factories are located.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, The fate of the
World Trade Organization's top court was effectively sealed after
the US said it would not back a proposal to allow it to continue.
The Trump administration has been blocking appointments to the WTO's
seven-member Appellate Body that rules on trade disputes for over
two years, with US officials saying the court had gone beyond its
remit.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, In Afghanistan a
suicide car bomb attack killed at lest five Afghan soldiers and
wounded four others in the southern Helmand province.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 9, Austria's caretaker
Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein made clear she would not sign into law
the European Union's first national ban on the weedkiller glyphosate
due to a technicality, infuriating environmentalists while
delighting farmers' groups.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, Bosnian police
removed residents who have been blocking access to Mostar's only
landfill over concerns that it poses serious health and
environmental risks.
(SFC, 12/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 9, In London convicted
burglar Joseph McCann (34), who assaulted and raped women and
children during a two-week rampage across Britain while wrongly free
from jail, was given 33 life sentences, with the judge saying he
would never cease to be a danger to society.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, Canada and the
Netherlands put out a joint statement in support of Gambia, the
tiny, mainly Muslim West African country that filed the suit in
which the Buddhist-majority Myanmar is accused of genocide against
its Rohingya Muslim minority a day before genocide hearings begin at
the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, A Chilean Air Force
transport plane carrying 38 people vanished en route to a base on
Antarctica. The plane crashed over the Drake Sea, a vast untouched
ocean wilderness off the southernmost edge of Antarctica. There were
no survivors.
(AP, 12/10/19)(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 9, Walmart in Chile
pulled requests it filed earlier with Chilean courts demanding
police protection for its supermarkets, but said looting of its
stores continued and that the situation following weeks of unrest
remained "complex".
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, Chinese officials
said a “de-radicalization” training in its western Xinjiang region
has been completed, as the government sought to defend the
widespread detention of ethnic minorities. Uighurs and other
predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities from the region say their
family members continue to be arbitrarily detained in camps and
prisons.
(AP, 12/8/19)
2019 Dec 9, Egyptian human
rights activist Ahmed Abdel-Fattah (40) went missing in Cairo. On
Dec. 20 his wife said that he is scheduled to appear before a local
prosecutor.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 9, A consortium of 19
hydropower companies and organizations said it will receive European
Union funding of 18 million euros ($20 million) to research the
green energy form's role, as the 28-member bloc seeks to become
carbon neutral by 2050.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, In France the
leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France met in Paris to
discuss a peace settlement for Ukraine’s war-ravaged east for the
first time in more than three years. Ukraine's Pres. Volodymyr
Zelenskiy made clear at the talks that Ukraine must regain control
of its eastern border before elections can take place in the
disputed region as part of a peace accord. Russia's Pres. Putin said
the elections must come first. Participating leaders agreed to
implement a comprehensive ceasefire and hold a major prisoner
exchange between the Ukrainian government and the separatists.
(The Telegraph, 12/9/19)(Bloomberg, 12/10/19)(The
Telegraph, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 9, Hong Kong police
arrested 12 people suspected of preparing gasoline bombs.
(SFC, 12/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 9, In India day
laborers in one of New Delhi's most congested neighborhoods
demonstrated against unsafe working conditions, a day after at least
43 people were killed in a devastating fire at an illegal factory
there.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, In Iraq four
Katyusha rockets hit a military base near Baghdad International
Airport early today, wounding at least six soldiers.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, Israeli police said
vandals overnight slashed the tires of over 160 vehicles and sprayed
slogans such as “Arabs=enemies” in a Palestinian neighborhood of
Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, In Kenya Mike
Gideon Mbuvi, governor of Nairobi, was charged with ten counts of
graft related charges including embexxlement and money laundering.
(SFC, 12/10/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 9, A rainstorm
paralyzed parts of Lebanon's capital Beirut, turning streets to
small rivers, stranding motorists inside their vehicles and damaging
homes in some areas.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, In New Zealand a
volcano erupted on the White Island tourist spot. Six deaths were
later confirmed after the eruption. Another eight people were
believed to have died, with their bodies remaining on the
ash-covered island for now. The death toll later rose to 19.
(AP, 12/9/19)(AP, 12/10/19)(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 9, Russia's interior
minister said passports have been issued to 125,000 residents of
rebel-held eastern Ukraine, deepening Moscow's ties with the
separatist region even as it begins talks with Kiev aimed at ending
the conflict.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, The World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russian athletes from competing in
the Olympics and other major sporting events under the country’s
flag after it found Russia tampering with key doping test data. WADA
banned Russia from hosting or participating in any major sporting
events for a four-year period.
(Benzinga, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 9, In Spain teenage
activist Greta Thunberg and a group of young climate campaigners
from across the world addressed a UN summit on climate change in
Madrid.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, Turkey said it
would join Albania and Kosovo in boycotting the Nobel awards
ceremony in protest against 2019 literature prize laureate Peter
Handke, who has been criticized for backing late Serbian strongman
Slobodan Milosevic.
(Reuters, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, The UN's general
assembly passed a resolution condemning Russia's occupation of
Crimea and the city of Sebastopol and urging the withdrawal of its
military forces "without delay".
(The Telegraph, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 9, The UN released
$2.6 million in emergency aid to combat the measles epidemic in
Samoa as the death toll reached 70.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 9, Save the Children
said in a report that over 110 Yemeni children were killed between
January and October in the key port city of Hodeida and in the
southwestern province of Taiz.
(AP, 12/9/19)
2019 Dec 10, US House Democrats
announced two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump
— abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — pushing toward
historic votes over charges he threatened the integrity of the US
election system and endangered national security in his dealings
with Ukraine.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, The United States
held back a UN Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea’s
human rights abuses, after Pyongyang warned it would be a “serious
provocation”.
(The Independent, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 10, The United States
blacklisted four Myanmar military leaders, including the
commander-in-chief, in the toughest action taken yet by Washington
for alleged human rights abuses against the Rohingya and other
minorities.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, The United States
barred from entering the country Mohammed al Otaibi, the former
Saudi consul general in Istanbul in October 2018, when Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed there.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Canada, Mexico and
the United States signed a new deal in Mexico City agreeing to a
fresh overhaul of their quarter-century-old regional trade pact
after negotiators approved changes to a preliminary deal struck last
year. The USMCA would replace the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), a regional pact in place since 1994 that
encompasses $1.2 trillion in annual trade across the continent.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Federal officials
announced the arrest of three people for running a cryptocurrency
mining operation that bilked investors out of $722 million. Matthew
Goettsche (37) was arrested in Colorado, Jobadiah Weeks (38) was
arrested in Florida and Joseph Abel (49) was arrested in California.
(SFC, 12/12/19, p.A7)
2019 Dec 10, The Detroit News
reported that Leotek Electronics USA has agreed to pay $4 million to
settle a lawsuit over thousands of defective streetlights in
Detroit. The cost of the replacement project was estimated at $7
million.
(SFC, 12/11/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 10, In New Jersey a
police officer, three bystanders and two killers all died in an
attack that targeted a Jewish market in Jersey City. The shooting
began near a cemetery, where Detective Joseph Seals, a 40-year-old
member of a unit devoted to taking illegal guns off the street, was
killed while trying to stop “bad guys.” The two killers had
apparently been followers of the Black Hebrew Israelites — a fringe
group whose members have been known to rail against white people and
Jew. The attackers were later identified as David N. Anderson 47)
and Francine Graham (50) — both of them also prime suspects in the
slaying of a livery driver found dead in a car trunk in nearby
Bayonne over the weekend.
(AP, 12/11/19)(AP, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 10, The Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette reported that Ravitej Reddy, the owner of Personalized
Genetics LLC in Pittsburgh and Med Health Services Management in
Monroeville, is scheduled to plead guilty to federal charges that he
conspired with out-of-state marketing companies to pay kickbacks for
lucrative lab tests at his two testing facilities.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Washington-based
research group C4ADS said global consumers purchasing teak may be
fuelling conflict in South Sudan, warning that armed groups are
benefiting from an unregulated logging trade worth tens of millions
of dollars.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Afghan officials
said the Taliban have abducted as many as 45 elderly family members
of a late Afghan government employee who were attending his funeral.
The head of intelligence in Jawzjan province disputed the number of
people who were kidnapped, saying only six family members were taken
and that other local elders were negotiating for their release.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Argentina's
Peronist leader, Alberto Fernandez, was sworn in as president,
marking a shift to the left for Latin America's No. 3 economy as the
country fights rampant inflation, credit default fears and rising
poverty.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, In Australia smoke
from wildfires engulfed the city of Sydney. People were advised to
stay indoors and avoid all outdoor activity.
(SFC, 12/11/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 10, Brazilian
authorities widened a political graft investigation to target
telecom firms Oi and Telefonica Brasil over alleged irregular
payments to a company part-owned by the son of ex-president Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, A Bulgarian court
sentenced radical imam Ahmed Mussa and 13 other Bulgarians for
propagating religious hatred and incitement to war in their support
for the Islamic State militant group.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, In the Czech
Republic a man (42) with an illegal gun fatally shot six people and
wounded three others at a hospital in Ostrava. The gunman later
killed himself as police approached his car.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, It was reported
that evidence from Denmark suggested that when frozen embryos are
used during in vitro fertilization (IVF), the resulting children
have a slightly higher risk than other kids for certain types of
cancer.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, British author
Lindsay de Feliz went missing in the Dominican Republic. Days later
her body was found buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area near
her home. Her Dominican husband, step-son and another man were
arrested by police.
(The Independent, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 10, Finland's new PM
Sanna Marin (34) took office as the world's youngest national
leader.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 10, Finland, which
holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year, said it
aims to teach 1% of all Europeans basic skills in artificial
intelligence through a free online course.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, The Greek
government said it has lodged objections to the United Nations over
an accord between Libya and Turkey mapping out maritime boundaries
as a violation of international law.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Iran said that
American authorities are holding about 20 Iranian nationals in jail,
a day after Tehran said it was ready for more prisoner swaps with
the US.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Former Soviet
dissident Natan Sharansky was awarded Israel's prestigious 2020
Genesis Prize for a lifetime of work promoting political and
religious freedoms.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Latvian politician
and oligarch Aivars Lembergs, sanctioned this week by the US over
alleged corruption, hit back saying allegations against him were
"fake news" and instigated by his political opponents. The sanction
means US citizens are prohibited from doing business with Lembergs
and four entities the US says he owns or controls and which are
crucial to the running of Ventspils port. Latvia moved to ensure the
port could still operate.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, In Lebanon angry
protesters attacked the municipality headquarters in Tripoli,
smashing windows and setting a room on fire, in an outburst of
violence triggered by the collapse of a house overnight in the area
that killed two siblings.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, A Russian court
ordered the deportation of five employees of the United States'
University at Buffalo after finding them guilty of violating the
terms of their visas. The court in the city of Ryazan, 200 km (125
miles) southeast of Moscow, said the group had arrived in Russia on
a multiple-entry tourist visa but had given a lecture at a local
university.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 10, Yury Luzhkov (83),
who served as Moscow’s mayor for 18 years, died after a heart
operation at a clinic in Munich. He had presided over the rapid
transformation of the Russian capital after the Soviet Union’s
collapse.
(Bloomberg, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, In Saudi Arabia a
summit of Arab Gulf nations opened in Riyadh without Qatar’s ruler
in attendance, despite signs of a thaw in a diplomatic crisis that
has gripped the regions US allies. Qatar's PM Sheikh Abdullah bin
Nasser Al Thani attended the annual Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
(AP, 12/10/19) Reuters,
12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Mines across South
Africa shut down after flash flooding triggered the most severe
power blackouts in more than a decade, threatening a key export
sector in a further blow to the country's already slowing economy.
(Reuters, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, In Spain a global
assessment at UN climate talks of countries' emissions trajectories
said the United States and Saudi Arabia are among major polluters
showing "hardly any signs" of reducing their greenhouse gas
production.
(AFP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Spanish arms
control groups staged a protest against the presence of a Saudi
cargo ship they suspect is carrying weapons for use in Yemen.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, Taiwan’s top
diplomat said that his government stands with Hong Kong citizens
pushing for “freedom and democracy,” and would help those displaced
from the semi-autonomous Chinese city if Beijing intervenes with
greater force to quell the protests.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 10, UN experts said
the interference of Chadian and Sudanese fighters in Libya is “a
direct threat” to the security and stability of the war-torn
country, which a leader of the Islamic State extremist group has
declared “one of the main axes” of its future operations.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 11, President Donald
Trump signed an executive order targeting what his administration
describes as a growing problem with anti-Semitic harassment on
college campuses. Under the order, the Department of Education will
consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's
definition of anti-Semitism — which can include criticism of Israel
— when evaluating discrimination complaints under Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act. The department could withhold funding from schools
that it finds in violation of Title VI.
(AP, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, The United States
imposed new sanctions on Iran's biggest airline and its shipping
industry, accusing them of transporting lethal aid from Iran to
Yemen and weapons of mass destruction proliferation.
(AP, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, The Los Angeles
Times reported that Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch and the
co-chairman of News Corp., has purchased the 25,000 square-foot
Chartwell estate in the the city's Bel Air neighborhood for about
$150 million. This was the highest home price ever in California.
The 1930s mansion is seen in the credits for the "Beverly
Hillbillies" TV show.
(SFC, 12/13/19, p.A8)
2019 Dec 11, The New York Times
reported that Harvey Weinstein and his former film studio's board
have reached a tentative $25 million settlement that would end
nearly every sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against him and his
company.
(AP, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, Tessa Majors (18),
of Charlottesville, Virginia, was walking in Manhattan’s Morningside
Park just before 7 p.m. when she was accosted and stabbed during a
struggle in an armed robbery. Three teenagers were involved. Two
juvenile suspects, aged 13 and 14, were soon arrested in the fatal
stabbing. On Dec 26 the New York City Police Department said it has
located a teen they were seeking in connection with the stabbing
death of Barnard College student Tessa Majors.
(AP, 12/13/19)(NY Times, 12/14/19)(CBS News,
12/26/19)
2019 Dec 11, A Dallas man who
prosecutors said tried to recruit fighters for the Islamic State
group through social media, encouraged others to carry out terrorist
attacks and lied to federal agents was sentenced to 30 years in
prison. Said Azzam Mohamad Rahim was arrested at Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport in March 2017 while trying to board a flight
to Jordan.
(NY Times, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 11, It was reported
that Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swede who inspired millions of
young people to take action against climate change, has been named
Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2019.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, It was reported
that Walt Disney Co's Disney+ has been downloaded 22 million times
on mobile devices since the launch of the streaming service in
November, according to a report by research firm Apptopia.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber struck an under construction medical facility at
Bagram, the largest US military base in northern Afghanistan. At
least two people were killed and 73 wounded. The Taliban claiming
responsibility for the attack.
(SFC, 12/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 11, Angolan
authorities opened a criminal case against a former fishing minister
for alleged involvement in a bribery scandal with Iceland's biggest
fishing company that has seen six arrests in neighboring Namibia.
State-owned Jornal de Angola said authorities had frozen the assets
of ex-minister of fisheries Victoria de Barros Neto and opened a
case against her, her husband and four children.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, The Bosnian
capital Sarajevo declared Nobel Prize-winning Austrian author Peter
Handke "persona non grata" over his support for late Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic and denial of the 1995 genocide in the
Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, Research showed
that China's bitcoin miners now control two-thirds of the crypto
network's processing power, a growing share that is likely to
benefit the country's miners.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, Danish police made
several raids throughout the country and arrested a number of people
in connection with suspected preparations for an Islamist militant
attack.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, Europe sought to
bolster the world's faltering battle against climate change with its
"Green Deal" to slash fossil fuel dependence, while teen activist
Greta Thunberg rebuked global leaders for dragging their feet.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, France's PM
Edouard Philippe outlined an overhaul of France's byzantine pension
system that he said would be fairer and plug a gaping deficit in the
pension budget. People born after 1974 would have to work until the
age of 64 to get a full pension, instead of 62 previously, drawing a
hostile response from trade unions who said they would step up
strike action to force an about-turn.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)(SFC, 12/12/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 11, The German
government said it was unaware that Russia had made an extradition
request for a Georgian man murdered in Berlin in August after
Russian President Vladimir Putin said requests from Moscow had not
been heeded.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, India's ruling
Hindu nationalist government won parliamentary approval for a
far-reaching citizenship law that critics say undermines the
country's secular constitution, as protests against the legislation
intensified.
(AP, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, The Israeli
parliament began voting to dissolve itself and pave the path to an
unprecedented third election within a year. The preliminary vote
passed without objections. Barring a nearly unfathomable about-face,
three more measures are expected to pass and call a new election for
March 2, 2020.
(AP, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, At The Hague Nobel
Peace Prize winner and former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi
denied that Myanmar's armed forces committed genocide, telling the
United Nation's top court that the mass exodus of Rohingya people
from the country she leads was the unfortunate result of a battle
with insurgents.
(AP, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, The International
Criminal Court said it has confirmed the charges brought by
prosecutors against two men suspected of war crimes and crimes
against humanity in the Central African Republic. The court said
Alfred Yekatom and alleged co-conspirator and Patrice-Edouard
Ngaissona, who have said they are innocent, will face trial.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, It was reported
that North Korean state-backed hackers appear to be cooperating with
Eastern European cybercriminals, a finding that suggests digital
gangsters and state-backed spies are finding common ground online.
(AP, 12/11/19)(http://tinyurl.com/s6yc83s)
2019 Dec 11, In Papua New
Guinea results from two weeks of voting on a referendum on the
island of Bougainville, population about 200,000, showed 98% of the
voters favored independence. The referendum was nonbinding and
independence would need to be negotiated.
(SFC, 12/12/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 11, Saudi Aramco
shares surged the maximum permitted 10% above their IPO price to
$9.39 per share on their Riyadh stock market debut, in a move hailed
by the government as a vindication of its towering $2 trillion
valuation of the state oil company.
(Reuters, 12/11/19)(SFC, 12/12/19, p.D3)
2019 Dec 11, Spain’s King
Felipe VI invited acting PM Pedro Sanchez to attempt to form a
government and end the country’s prolonged political gridlock.
(Bloomberg, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 11, In Spain dozens of
young campaigners and indigenous rights activists were thrown out of
United Nations climate talks after staging a protest demanding that
nations commit to act now to avert catastrophic climate change.
(AFP, 12/11/19)
2019 Dec 12, US President
Donald Trump said on the United States was "very close" to nailing
down a trade deal with China.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, The US Senate
voted unanimously on a resolution that recognizes as genocide the
mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago. The
following day Turkey summoned the ambassador from the US to protest
the approval.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 12, The US Department
of Justice announced charges against 10 former NFL players over an
alleged scheme to defraud millions of dollars from the league's
health care benefits program.
(ABC News, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 12, Officials with
Homeland Security Investigations announced the seizure of $250
million from convicted ex-Venezuelan national treasurer Alejandro
Andrade, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence for his central
role in a $1 billion money-laundering scheme that allowed him to
hide a fortune in overseas banks as well as luxury real estate in
South Florida.
(Miami Herald, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 12, The Trump
administration gave the go-ahead to new oil-drilling leases on
federal land in 8 California counties, mostly in the Bakersfield
area.
(SFC, 12/13/19, p.C1)
2019 Dec 12, San Francisco
police displayed some $2.5 million in stolen property following
their recovery after 30 search warrants were served this week.
(SFC, 12/13/19, p.A12)
2019 Dec 12, Kentucky Gov. Matt
Bevin (R) signed an executive order to restore voting rights to more
than 400,000 nonviolent offenders who completed their sentences.
Over the last few weeks the governor has issued 428 pardons, with
his list including a woman who threw her newborn in the trash, a
convicted child rapist, and a man who murdered his parents when he
was a teenager. Bevin was defeated last month by Democrat Andy
Beshear.
(AP, 12/13/19)(SFC, 12/13/19, p.A8)
2019 Dec 12, Louisiana sued the
state of California over its decision to ban the import and sale of
alligator products, saying the ban will hurt an important Louisiana
industry and ultimately could hurt the state's wetlands. California
banned alligator skins and meats in the 1970s but repeatedly issued
exceptions that allowed sales. The most recent exemption expires on
Jan. 1 of next year, and this time California's legislature did not
pass another exemption.
(AP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 12, Danny Aiello
(b.1933), American film and stage actor, died in New Jersey. His
films included: "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973),"The Front" (1976),
"Fort Apache: The Bronx" (1981), "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1984),
"Once Upon a Time in America" (1984), "Moonstruck" (1987), "Radio
Days" (1987), "Do the Right Thing" (1989).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Aiello)(SSFC, 12/15/19, p.A11)
2019 Dec 12, New US Energy
Secretary Dan Brouillette slammed New York state regulators for
blocking pipelines that would bring natural gas from Appalachia to
New England, but did not specify whether the Trump administration
could do anything to push the projects forward.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, In Texas Heidi
Broussard and her baby, Margot Carey, went missing in Austin. On Dec
19 her body was found in the trunk of a vehicle at a home in the
Houston area. The infant daughter was found safe. Broussard's close
friend Magen Fieramusca was soon arrested and charged with two
counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse.
(CBS News, 12/20/19)(CBS News, 12/23/19)(SFC,
12/25/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 12, A Utah judge ruled
that people born in the the territory of American Samoa should be
recognized as US citizens.
(SFC, 12/14/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 12, CVS Health Corp
said it will make it easier for patients with advanced cancer
enrolled in some Aetna insurance plans to receive broad genetic gene
sequencing tests that can help identify the best drug or treatment
for them.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, In Algeria
thousands of people took to the streets in Algiers and other cities
chanting "No vote! We want freedom!" as authorities held a
presidential election that protesters view as a charade to keep the
ruling elite in power. All five candidates that won approval to
stand are former senior officials.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Argentine Foreign
Minister Felipe Sola said Bolivian ex-president Evo Morales has
arrived in Argentina where he will be granted refugee status.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Britain voted in a
deeply divisive election that posed a historic choice between an
imminent split from the EU or another referendum that could scrap
the entire Brexit process. PM Boris Johnson's Conservative Party won
a resounding victory that all but seals a divorce from the EU bloc.
The Scottish National Party took back most of the districts it lost
two years ago. Such a dramatic outcome, winning 48 of the 59 seats
available in Scotland, will galvanize the party in its pursuit of
the independence referendum leader Nicola Sturgeon.
(AP, 12/12/19)(AFP, 12/13/19)(Bloomberg,
12/13/19)
2019 Dec 12, Costa Rica's
President Carlos Alvarado issued a technical decree that will allow
for therapeutic abortions in the Central American nation, despite
opposition from religious and conservative political groups.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, The European
Parliament told EU leaders that Malta's PM Joseph Muscat should
resign immediately to avoid risks of political interference with the
investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Germany pushed
back on President Donald Trump’s moves to impose sanctions on the
controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, with Angela
Merkel’s top diplomat rejecting outside meddling.
(Bloomberg, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, In India violent
mobs in the northeastern state of Assam torched buildings and
clashed with police, leaving two dead and 11 with bullet wounds, as
protests grew over a new citizenship law for non-Muslim minorities
from some neighboring countries. Protesters in Assam, which shares a
border with Bangladesh, say the measure would open the region to a
flood of foreign migrants. Tens of thousands rioted in three
northeastern states. Authorities in Assam state shut down the
internet and imposed a curfew. Neighboring Meghalaya state banned
groups of more than four people from assembling.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)(SFC, 12/13/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 12, In Iraq an angry
mob killed a 16-year-old and strung up the corpse by its feet from a
traffic pole after the teen shot and killed six people, including
four anti-government protesters.
(The Telegraph, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Italian police
said they had arrested 13 people and dismantled an international
crime gang that smuggled small groups of migrants from Greece to
Italy aboard yachts.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Latvia's
parliament passed legislation to take control over the Baltic
country's two biggest ports in an effort to keep them open after US
sanctions against a Latvian oligarch threatened operations.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Libyan authorities
re-opened the capital's main airport, after closing it nearly three
months ago amid heavy fighting between rival militias.
(AP, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Gen. Khalifa
Hifter of the self-styled Libyan National Army declared a final,
“decisive battle" to take Tripoli from PM Fayez Sarraj's
UN-supported government. "The zero hour has ticked," Hifter said in
a televised speech.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 12, At The Hague
lawyers seeking to halt what they allege is ongoing genocide in
Myanmar slammed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s defense of her country’s
armed forces, saying that the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former
pro-democracy icon chose to ignore “unspeakable” crimes targeting
Muslim civilians.
(AP, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, The Islamic State
group claimed responsibility for an attack on a military camp in
Niger that killed at least 71 soldiers earlier this week.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 12, North Korea said
the United States had nothing to offer it in possible renewed talks
aimed at getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and missile
programs after Washington said it was ready to take "concrete steps"
towards securing a deal.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Russia expelled
two German diplomats in what it called a standard diplomatic
response to a similar move by Germany last week and said it hoped a
dispute over the killing of a Georgian citizen in Berlin would not
damage ties further.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, A fire on Russia
Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier broke out during welding work at
a shipyard in the Arctic port of Murmansk and spread quickly through
the carrier's internal compartments. Two crew members were killed
and 11 others injured.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 12, In Saudi Arabia a
fire broke out at a prison in Riyadh. Three inmates were killed and
21 others injured 21.
(AP, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, In Spain Carolina
Schmidt, the Chilean president of UN climate talks in Madrid, told
governments there could be no excuses for not reaching an agreement
as the talks entered their final stretch.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Syrian officials
and experts said more than 1,000 ancient relics and mosaics were
saved from Islamic State group militants when staff at the museum of
the city of Raqqa managed to hide them underground and in
storehouses. Hundreds of other pieces that were hidden in Raqqa's
branch of the central bank were discovered and stolen by militants.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 12, The body-folding,
sharp-elbowed techniques of Thai massage was added to UNESCO's
prestigious heritage list.
(AFP, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Turkey sent its
accord with Libya on a maritime boundary between the two countries
to the United Nations for approval, despite objections from Greece
that the agreement violates international law.
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Former Turkish PM
Ahmet Davutoglu established a new political party, Future Party, in
a move that represents a challenge to President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan's ruling party.
(AP, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, Ukrainian
lawmakers extended a law offering special status to
separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine in accordance with
agreements brokered by France and Germany.
(AP, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 12, The United Nations
warned that famine threatens the lives of up to 5.5 million people
in South Sudan, where droughts and flooding have destroyed crops and
livestock, compounding "intense political instability".
(Reuters, 12/12/19)
2019 Dec 13, US President
Donald Trump and Chinese officials have agreed to a "phase one"
trade deal that includes cutting US tariffs on Chinese goods.
Neither side offered specific details on the amount of US
agricultural goods Beijing had agreed to buy.
(Reuters, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, Impeachment
charges against US President Donald Trump went to the full House,
following approval by the House Judiciary Committee.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, Democratic
presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg unveiled a climate plan to
slash US carbon emissions by 50% in ten years, by slapping tougher
pollution standards on new gas-fired power plants and replacing coal
with cleaner energy sources like wind and solar.
(Reuters, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, It was reported
that federal regulators are setting up a new three-digit number
(988) to reach a suicide prevention hotline. The current National
Suicide Prevention Lifeline use 800-273-8255. Lst year counselors
answered 2.2 million calls.
(SFC, 12/13/19, p.A8)
2019 Dec 13, California
Governor Gavin Newsom rejected a bankruptcy reorganization plan
submitted by PG&E Corp, the state's largest investor-owned
utility, saying its proposal fails to meet the requirements of a
recently enacted wildfire law.
(Reuters, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 13, In Florida Hialeah
Police Sgt. Jesús Menocal Jr. (32) was arrested by FBI agents at the
city’s police department in connection with allegations that he
sexually assaulted and threatened four girls and women while he was
on duty.
(Miami Herald, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, In Louisiana a
cyberattack triggered a shutdown of city government computers in New
Orleans.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 13, In New Mexico
Saudi Arabian engineering student Hassan Alqahtani (27) was arrested
on a federal firearms charge the day before he was scheduled to
graduate from the University of New Mexico.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 13, Tennessee Pastor
Ronnie Gorton (41) was sentenced to 38 years in prison after he was
found guilty on 24 coutns of child sex abuse.
(SSFC, 12/15/19, p.A8)
2019 Dec 13, In Texas Mohamed
Ibrahim Ahmed (45), an East African man imprisoned for terrorism,
was convicted of trying to recruit fellow prisoners to join the
Islamic State group and plan attacks in the United States.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, A Wisconsin judge
ordered that the registration of up to 234,000 voters be tossed out
because they may have moved, a victory for conservatives that could
make it more difficult for people to vote next year in the key swing
state.
(AP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 13, In central
Afghanistan a roadside bombing killed 10 civilians in Ghazni
province.
(SFC, 12/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 13, In Algeria
protesters in the main cities took to the streets again after
Abdelmadjid Tebboune (74), a former prime minister and loyalist of
the influential army chief, was declared the oil-rich nation's new
president in an election boycotted by members of the vibrant
pro-democracy movement. Turnout was just 41%.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, A famous Belgian
carnival was removed from the UN's cultural heritage list following
complaints that its most recent edition contained blatant displays
of anti-Semitism. The Aalst carnival was taken off UNESCO's
Intangible Cultural Heritage list during a meeting in Bogota,
Colombia, becoming the first cultural tradition stricken from the
UN's global inventory of cultural practices.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, It was reported
that some 17,000 Brazilians were apprehended at the US-Mexico border
in the El Paso Sector in the fiscal year ending in October, a 600%
increase from the previous high in 2016.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, In London millions
of dollars worth of jewelry were stolen from the Kensington
neighborhood home of heiress Tamara Ecclestone. Cleaner Maria Mester
(47), a Romanian national, and her son bar worker Emil-Bogdan
Savastru (29) were later charged with conspiracy to commit burglary.
(AP, 2/1/20)
2019 Dec 13, It was reported
that The Xinjiang regional government in China’s far west is
deleting data, destroying documents, tightening controls on
information and has held high-level meetings in response to leaks of
classified papers on its mass detention camps for Uighurs and other
predominantly Muslim minorities.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, In eastern Congo
DRC rebels again attacked Beni, a city at the center of the Ebola
outbreak, killing at least six people including a pregnant woman.
(AP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 13, EU leaders broke a
deadlock and claimed a deal over a key climate target by committing
to achieve neutrality by 2050.
(SFC, 12/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 13, France's Pres.
Macron said that he wants the government to push ahead with an
overhaul of the nation's pension system despite more than a week of
damaging strikes.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, In France a man
who lunged at a Paris police patrol with a knife and threatened to
kill the officers was shot to death in the capital's main business
district.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, In eastern Germany
one person died and 11 were injured in an explosion at an apartment
building in the town of Blankenburg.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, New Zealand
military specialists wearing protective gear landed on the small
volcanic White Island and recovered six bodies of the 16 people who
died in an eruption four days earlier. Another recovery operation
was planned for the last two bodies.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, North Korea
conducted another "crucial test" at its Sohae satellite launch site,
as nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington remain
stalled with a deadline approaching.
(AFP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 13, In Pakistan at
least 13 people were killed in a fiery collission between a
passenger bus and a pickup truck in Baluchistan province.
(SFC, 12/14/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 13, Swiss drugmaker
Roche said a late-stage clinical trial has shown therapy combining
its immunotherapy Tecentriq with two of its other drugs helped
people with a form of advanced melanoma.
(Reuters, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, The UN Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention said that despite some improvements,
Greece was still in violation of certain international obligations
in how and where people are imprisoned.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, A UN human rights
report accused Chilean security forces of serious human rights
violations against protesters over the past two months, including
deaths, torture, sexual abuse and the use of excessive force.
(AP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 13, The United Nations
extended the work of its Palestinian refugee agency for another
three years, despite fierce opposition from the United States and
Israel.
(AFP, 12/13/19)
2019 Dec 14, Federal officials
said two programmers in Las Vegas recently admitted to running two
of the largest illegal television and movie streaming services in
the country. An FBI investigation led officials to Darryl Polo (36)
and Luis Villarino (40) who have pleaded guilty to copyright
infringement charges for operating iStreamItAll, a
subscription-based streaming site, and Jetflix, a large illegal TV
streaming service.
(USA Today, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 14, Miami Beach
parking enforcement Officer Dante Zirio (57) was arrested after
police said he extorted a valet company for cash payments in
exchange for not enforcing parking violations. He faced two counts
each of extortion, bribery and accepting an unlawful compensation or
reward for official behavior.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 14, In Afghanistan at
least one member of an Afghan militia opened fire on his fellow
militiamen in central Ghazni province, killing nine people. The
Taliban claimed this was a coordinated insurgent assault and that
over over two dozen militiamen were killed.
(SSFC, 12/15/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 14, In Argentina
Matthew Charles Gibbard (50), a British millionaire property
magnate, was shot dead outside a five star hotel after being held up
by armed robbers shortly after his arrival in the country. His
stepson, Stefan Zone, 28, was shot in the thigh. The perpetrators
escaped after the attack.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 14, Hong Kong police
arrested three men for testing homemade explosives. Police said the
explosives were intended for use during protests.
(SSFC, 12/15/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 14, Indonesian police
arrested two men suspected of being part of a ring that poaches and
trades in endangered animals and seized from them several lion and
leopard cubs and dozens of turtles.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 14, In Iraq hundreds
of demonstrators supporting a powerful Iran-backed militia group
poured into a central Baghdad plaza, some burning American flags to
protest recent US sanctions against key leaders.
(AP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 14, Libyan officials
said fighting has raged over the 24-hour period between rebel Libyan
commander Khalifa Hifter and an array of militias loosely allied
with the UN-supported government based there. Hifter is backed by
the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia,
while the Tripoli-based government receives aid from Turkey, Qatar
and Italy.
(AP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 14, Libyan
intelligence agents arrested journalist Reda Fhelboom at the airport
outside the capital Tripoli after he arrived from neighboring
Tunisia. Fhelboom is the founder of The Libyan Organization for
Independent Media, which works to document rights violations against
Libyan journalists, as well as to advocate for independent news
media and to combat incitement of violence online. Libya's
intelligence body acknowledged the detention four days after his
disappearance.
(AP, 12/16/19)(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 14, New Zealand police
said another person has died from their injuries in the deadly
volcanic eruption on New Zealand's White Island, bringing the
confirmed fatalities to 15.
(Good Morning America, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 14, Speaking at a
conference in the Qatar Malaysia's PM Mahathir Mohamad said US
economic sanctions against Iran are illegal and Malaysia does not
support them.
(Bloomberg, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 14, In Sudan a court
convicted former President Omar al-Bashir of money laundering and
corruption, sentencing him to two years in a minimum security
lockup. Al-Bashir is also wanted by the International Criminal Court
on charges of war crimes and genocide linked to the Darfur conflict
in the 2000s.
(AP, 12/14/19)
2019 Dec 15, Ahmad Khalil
Elshazly (22) of West Haven, Connecticut, was arrested in the
shoreline town of Stonington, where he expected to board a boat and
begin a trip to Turkey. He was ordered to be detained during a
federal court hearing in New Haven. He had allegedly expressed
interest in fighting for the Islamic State group in Syria.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 15, The Hallmark
Channel, a division of Crown Media Family Networks, moved to
reinstate ads featuring a same-sex couple that had been removed from
the cable network. The decision came after considerable backlash
over the initial decision to stop airing the ads from the
wedding-planning company Zola.
(SFC, 12/16/19, p.A9)(http://tinyurl.com/wz7ujhr)
2019 Dec 15, In Bangladesh at
least ten people were killed in a fire at the Luxury Fan Factory in
the Gazipur area outside Dhaka.
(SFC, 12/16/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 15, China's State
Council's customs tariff commission said additional tariffs on some
US goods that were meant to be implemented on Dec. 15 have been
suspended, after the world's two largest economies agreed a "phase
one" trade deal on Dec. 13.
(Reuters, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 15, Iran's
telecommunications minister announced that the country has defused a
second cyberattack in less than a week, this time “aimed at spying
on government intelligence".
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 15, In Iran air
pollution forced schools to close in parts of the country including
Tehran, as the capital lay under a thick cloud of smog considered
hazardous to health.
(AFP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 15, Iranian state TV
reported that several cake factories in some of the country’s
southern provinces had been forced to suspend production after
pills, including the narcotic-like pain relief drug Tramadol, were
discovered in packaged produce.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 15, In Iraq a
suspicious explosion hit the car of prominent activist Thaer
al-Tayeb badly wounding him and fellow activist Ali al-Madani, in
Diwaniyah. Al-Tayeb died of his wounds on Dec. 24.
(AFP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 15, Attackers in
northern Lebanon set fire to the offices of two major political
parties, just hours after Beirut was rocked by the most violent
government crackdown on protesters since nationwide demonstrations
began two months ago. The overnight confrontations in Beirut left
more than 130 people injured.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 15, In Montenegro
police Officer Milutin Lekovic (41) was shot and killed while
apprehending suspects. Three Albanian nationals were soon detained
in connection with the slaying. Lekovic had detained three suspects
he had caught without documents in the area that is close to the
border with European Union member Croatia.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 15, In Peru employees
Alexandra Porras (18) and Carlos Campo (19) were electrocuted at a
McDonald's-branded restaurant in Pueblo Libre, a district of Lima,
while cleaning the kitchen.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 15, In the Philippines
a magnitude 6.9 earthquake jolted Davao del Sur province, killing at
least one child and causing a three-story building to collapse in
Matanao town.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 15, Saudi Aramco
shares gained for a third consecutive day, rising 1.63% to 37.4
Saudi riyal ($9.97), pushing the company's value back toward the $2
trillion level it topped last week.
(Reuters, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 15, The UN Secretary
General said global efforts to tackle climate change have stalled
due to a lack of ambition, as the COP25 conference in Madrid drew to
a close with a watered-down agreement. Brazil, Australia and the
United States were singled out for their refusal to compromise on
their own emissions targets.
(AP, 12/15/19)
2019 Dec 16, US authorities
said at least nine people have died in weather-related crashes in
several Midwestern states amid a storm that dumped nearly a foot of
snow in places, forced schools to close and snarled traffic.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 16, Stocks advanced on
Wall Street for a 4th straight day sending the major indexes to
record highs. The Dow closed at 28,235.89; the Nasdaq closed at
8814.23; the S&P 500 closed at 3191.45.
(SFC, 12/17/19, p.D3)
2019 Dec 16, Three people were
confirmed dead, two in Alabama and one in Louisiana, and a dozen
more injured as a powerful storm front packing suspected tornadoes
smashed into buildings, downed trees and left a trail of destruction
around the Deep South.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, In Florida a Miami
federal court sent five businessmen to prison. They were convicted
of exploiting a “Buy American” program to fleece tens of millions of
dollars from US medical and food suppliers in a global racket.
Ringleader Bryamji Javat, a Pakistani who headed Dubai-based
Uniworld Group, received a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to
a wire-fraud conspiracy.
(Miami Herald, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 16, Hawaii police
Officer John Rabago admitted in federal court that he trapped Sam
Ingall in a restroom in January 2018 and gave him an ultimatum: lick
a urinal or face arrest. He had previously denied the charges
against him and another officer, Reginald Ramones, who pleaded
guilty in September.
(The Independent, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 16, A Mississippi man
whose murder conviction was overturned by the US Supreme Court for
racial bias was granted bond and will be free for the first time in
22 years.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, Bullets were fired
into an Oklahoma City home early today, killing a 2-year-old girl
and wounding her grandmother as the two were sleeping in bed.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, In South Carolina
Seth Hopkins, the son of a man accused of shooting seven law
officers in 2018, admitted to raping a young girl in his home
multiple times in 2017 and 2018. He was sentenced to 20 years in
prison for first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, In Texas Eduardo
Arevalo (19) killed his pregnant sister in their home. He wrote a
fake suicide note in her name and later left her body in an alley.
He was arrested on Dec 22 in the Dallas suburb of The Colony.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 16, The American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued its first new autism treatment
guidelines in 12 years aimed at helping doctors identify at-risk
children and getting them the care they need as early as possible.
(Reuters, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, Axsome
Therapeutics Inc said its drug succeeded in reducing symptoms of
major depressive disorder in a late-stage trial, taking the company
a step closer to entering a multi-billion dollar market for
depression treatments.
(Reuters, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, Boeing Co
suppliers, customers and financiers braced for a possible freeze in
Boeing 737 production for the first time in more than 20 years as
the grounding of the best-selling MAX looks set to last well into
2020.
(Reuters, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, US-based WPX
Energy Inc said it would buy privately held Felix Energy in a $2.5
billion deal, as the Permian basin operator looks to add oil-rich
acreage in the Delaware region of West Texas and southern New
Mexico, sending its shares up more than 9%.
(Reuters, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, It was reported
that mass abuse of the opioid drug tramadol, originally made by
Grumenthal of Germany, is now creating havoc spanning continents
from India, to Africa to the Middle East. Most of the unregulated
drug was coming from India.
(SFC, 12/16/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 16, Algeria's
Constitutional Council confirmed Abdelkader Tebboune as the new
president of Africa's largest country for the next five years —
despite mass protests challenging his election last week.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 16, Belarus said it
has reached an agreement with China to receive a $500-million loan.
The loan will be provided by the Shanghai office of the China
Development Bank.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, Central Africa
Rep.'s Kwa Na Kwa party said former President Francois Bozize, who
was ousted nearly seven years ago by a coalition of rebel groups,
has returned from exile.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, China and Russia
proposed easing sanctions against nuclear-armed North Korea, in
response to steps the North takes towards denuclearization. The US
knocked back the call to ease sanctions on North Korea despite
threats of further provocations, as President Donald Trump said he
would “take care of” any threats the regime had in the works.
(AFP, 12/16/19)(Bloomberg, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 16, India's PM
Narendra Modi appealed for calm today as violent nationwide
student-led protests against "anti-Muslim" citizenship legislation
continued for a fifth day.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, Amnesty
International said that at least 304 people were killed in last
month's anti-government protests in Iran, a significantly higher
number than what the rights group had reported previously.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, Seven African
migrants died and 70 other people were rescued when their boat sank
while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Morocco to Spain.
The rescued migrants, including 10 women and a baby, were brought
back to the Moroccan coastal city of Nador.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, Northern Ireland's
squabbling parties met in the hope of reviving their power-sharing
regional government after three years, with the UK election having
cleared the path to Brexit.
(AFP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, Sri Lankan police
arrested a local Swiss embassy employee after she claimed she was
abducted by government officials, interrogated and sexually
assaulted before being released. The alleged victim claimed she was
abducted by CID officials in a white van on November 25, and held
for hours, while her abductors sexually abused her and tried to
force her to disclose embassy-related information.
(The Telegraph, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 16, The United
Nations' AIDS agency fired two staffers for financial and sexual
misconduct, including whistleblower Martina Brostrom, whose
allegations of being sexually assaulted sparked months of turmoil at
the organization.
(AP, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, It was reported
that Venezuelan businessmen have taken advantage of his government’s
quiet abandonment of price, currency and import controls to buy
direct from US wholesalers including Costco and Walmart. Their
products now line the shelves in scores of new US dollar-only shops
known as “bodegones”.
(Reuters, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 16, It was reported
that mosquito-borne dengue fever is the latest challenge facing
Yemenis who have endured almost five years of a conflict that has
killed thousands, pushed millions to the brink of famine and caused
major cholera outbreaks.
(Reuters, 12/16/19)
2019 Dec 17, On the eve of his
likely impeachment, President Trump sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
a scathing, insult-filled letter calling the articles drawn up
against him “a completely disingenuous, baseless and meritless
invention of your imagination,” among other things.
(Yahoo News, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, The US Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court issued a rare order to the FBI and
Department of Justice, demanding they spell out a series of planned
reforms following a damning report from the DOJ's inspector general
that scrutinized surveillance of a former aide to President Donald
Trump's campaign. The court gave the FBI a Jan. 10 deadline to come
up with a proposal.
(ABC News, 12/18/19)(SFC, 12/18/19, p.A6)
2019 Dec 17, The US government
proposed new rules overhauling parts of the nation's transplant
system to make sure organs from the dead no longer go to waste — and
to make it easier for the living to donate.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, A small group of
President Donald Trump's fiercest conservative critics, including
the husband of the president's own chief adviser, launched a super
PAC designed to fight Trump's reelection and punish congressional
Republicans deemed his “enablers." The new organization, known as
the Lincoln Project, represents a formal step forward for the
so-called Never Trump movement.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, A US federal judge
sentenced GOP operative Rick Gates to 45 days of weekend jail time
and three years of probation. This followed his cooperation with
prosecutors investigating President Donald Trump and his 2016
campaign.
(Politico, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, A bulletin issued
by the US Navy showed up on a Facebook page serving military
members, saying users of government issued mobile devices who had
TikTok and did not remove the app would be blocked from the Navy
Marine Corps Intranet. Last month US army cadets were instructed not
to use TikTok, after Senator Chuck Schumer raised security concerns
about the army using TikTok in their recruiting.
(Reuters, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 17, It was reported
that the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, had withdrawn
more than $10 billion from the company during the past dozen years.
Purdue's OxyContin opioid drug was approved in 1995. The company now
faced more than 2,800 lawsuits related to the nation's opioid
crisis.
(SFC, 12/18/19, p.D4)
2019 Dec 17, In eastern
Kentucky at least 15 horses were found fatally shot at a strip mine
site along US 23 near the Floyd-Pike County line.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 17, A winning Mega
Millions ticket worth $372 million was sold at a Giant Eagle
supermarket in Mentor, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. The winning
numbers drawn today, just eight days before Christmas, were:
22-30-53-55-56 +16.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 17, The US government
sued CVS Health Corp and its Omnicare unit for fraudulently billing
Medicare and other programs for drugs for older and disabled people
without valid prescriptions.
(Reuters, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, A new report said
fewer than 30 people were executed in the United States and under 50
new death sentences were imposed for the fifth straight year, part
of a continuing decline in capital punishment that saw only a few
states carry out executions.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, It was reported
that a new study by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration has found that waters off the California coast are
acidifying twice as fast as the global average.
(SFC, 12/17/19, p.A7)
2019 Dec 17, An early morning
shooting at a Montana casino in Great Falls left three people dead
and another person injured and the suspect was later tracked down
and killed by police.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, It was reported
that scientists are working quickly to discover the cause of a
massive fresh water mussel die-off on the Clinch River in Tennessee
and understand whether it is related to similar die-offs on at least
five US rivers and another in Spain.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, Australia
experienced its hottest day on record and temperatures were expected
to soar even higher as heatwave conditions embrace most of the
country. The average temperature across the country of 40.9 degrees
Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) beat the record of 40.3 Celsius (104
Fahrenheit) from Jan. 7, 2013.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 17, China's second
aircraft carrier, named the Shandong, entered service, adding major
firepower to its military ambitions as it faces tensions with
self-ruled Taiwan as well as the US and regional neighbors around
the disputed South China Sea.
(AFP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, Shanghai's Fudan
University removed references to "freedom of thought" from its
charter, triggering a rare act of student defiance. The Ministry of
Education announced similar pro-government changes for Nanjing
University in eastern China, and Shaanxi Normal University in the
north earlier this month.
(AFP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 17, In France hundreds
of thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country to
protest Pres. Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reform plans.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 17, Iranian media
reported that two labor activists in southern Khuzestan province
have been sentenced to five-year prison term each for taking part in
a January protest over several months of owed back pay. A third
worker from the same region was also given a five-year sentence for
supporting a workers' strike last year.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, Kuwait media
reported that a new government has been formed after the previous
Cabinet was dissolved amid a dispute among powerful members of the
country's ruling family. The new Cabinet is led by PM Sabah
al-Khalid Al Sabah, formerly the foreign minister in the previous
government.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, In Lebanon
assailants attacked several protest camps in the north and south,
demolishing tents and burning down others as anger boiled over in
the capital following a video deemed offensive to the country’s
Shiites.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, In Mexico seven
gunmen and a National Guard officer were killed in a shootout near
the city of Irapuato, Guanajuato state. Gangs in the state have
unleashed a campaign of extortion and violence as the government
cracked down on pipeline fuel steeling.
(SFC, 12/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 17, A Pakistani court
sentenced former military dictator Perve Musharraf to death in a
treason case for subverting the country's Constitution in 2007 when
he imposed a state of emergency in an attempt to thwart politiacl
opposition. Musharraf (76) was currently in self-imposed exile in
Dubai.
(SFC, 12/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 17, In Panama at least
12 people were killed and another 13 were injured during a shootout
among inmates at La Joyita prison near Panama City.
(Reuters, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, Scottish First
Minister Nicola Sturgeon reiterated her plan to demand the right to
hold another independence referendum.
(Bloomberg, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, In northwestern
Syria airstrikes and artillery shelling killed at least 16
civilians, including six members of the same family, amid
intensified violence in rebel-held areas. The bombardments hit three
villages in Idlib province.
(AP, 12/17/19)(SFC, 12/18/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 17, The UN urged
governments, businesses and others to “reboot" the world's response
to refugees as the number of people fleeing their homes rises along
with hostility to migrants.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 17, Pope Francis
abolished the use of the Vatican's highest level of secrecy in
clergy sexual abuse cases, responding to mounting criticism that the
rule of “pontifical secrecy" has been used to protect pedophiles,
silence victims and prevent police from investigating crimes.
(AP, 12/17/19)
2019 Dec 18, The US House
gaveled in for a historic session to impeach President Donald Trump
on charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress, votes
that will leave a lasting mark on his tenure at the White House.
Trump was impeached by the US House of Representatives, becoming
only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under
the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors.
The historic vote split along party lines.
(AP, 12/18/19)(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 18, The Trump
administration said it is proposing a rule to allow states to import
prescription drugs from Canada, moving forward a plan announced this
summer that the president has said will bring cheaper prescription
drugs to Americans.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, The United States
and India agreed to expand defense, science and technology
cooperation following security talks at the US State Department.
(Defense News, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 18, The US Food and
Drug Administration said it has approved Astellas Pharma Inc and
Seattle Genetics' experimental drug to treat advanced bladder
cancer, about three months ahead of schedule.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, Chinese national
Jing Lu (56) trespassed at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club
and was arrested when she refused to leave.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 18, A grand jury in
Savannah, Georgia, returned an indictment bringing a new murder
charge against Samuel Little (79). He has confessed to more than 90
killings from Florida to California, prompting detectives with cold
cases from across the US to seek interviews with Little at the Texas
prison where he's already serving multiple life sentences. The FBI
has called Little the deadliest serial killer in US history.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 18, In Louisiana a
federal appeals court struck down "Obamacare's" now toothless
requirement that Americans carry health insurance, but sidestepped a
ruling on the law's overall constitutionality.
(SFC, 12/19/19, p.A6)
2019 Dec 18, In Oregon Salvador
Martinez-Romero (20) carried out a series of stabbings and car
jackings at a suburban Portland shopping center and in a nearby
town, killing one person and wounding three others before being
arrested.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 18, A New York judge
threw out state mortgage fraud charges against Paul Manafort (70),
ruling that the criminal case was too similar to one that has
already landed President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman in
federal prison.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, JPMorgan said it
has received the final approval from Chinese regulators to set up a
majority-owned securities venture in the country.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, Kenny Lynch (81),
whose pop hits including "Up on the Roof," died in London. The song
made him one of the best-known black British entertainers of the
1960s.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, In India a
student-led protest movement against a new law that grants
citizenship on the basis of religion spread nationwide despite
efforts by the government to contain it.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, Indonesian
authorities said they have arrested six foreigners since Nov. 4 for
allegedly trying to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali.
(SFC, 12/19/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 18, Indonesian
officials said nearly 30,000 pigs have died from African swine fever
(ASF) in North Sumatra province as of Dec. 15, causing millions of
dollars of economic losses as authorities try to quarantine the
areas affected.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, Iran's top
security official said the Islamic Republic opposed US negotiations
with Afghanistan's Taliban, as the talks excluded the Afghan people
and government.
(AFP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, An international
team of researchers said it has discovered a 7,000-year-old-seawall
along Israel's Mediterranean coast, providing evidence that coastal
communities protected themselves against rising waters even in
ancient times. The seawall, found about 120 meters (130 yards) off
the coast, is the only structure of its kind found in Israel's
coastal region. The Neolithic era village, called Tel Hreiz, was
abandoned and eventually swallowed by the sea.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 18, Italian-American
Fiat Chrysler and France's Peugeot maker PSA sealed a binding deal
to create the world's fourth biggest carmaker.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, In Lebanon a mob
attacked the office of a Sunni Muslim religious leader in the
northern city of Tripoli, smashing in windows. The assailants then
moved to one of the city's main squares and set fire to the
traditional Christmas tree.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, Malaysian PM
Mahathir Mohamad said a three day Islamic conference beginning
tomorrow is aimed at tackling Islamophobia and finding solutions to
challenges facing the Muslim world. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived for the Kuala
Lumpur Summit, which will also include the emir of Qatar, Sheikh
Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, a high-level delegation from Indonesia and
Islamic scholars.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, In Northern
Ireland thousands of nurses staged short strikes in a long-running
dispute over pay and patient safety.
(SFC, 12/19/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 18, Puerto Rico
adopted a law to keep cock-fighting alive, seeking to protect a
400-year-old tradition despite a US federal ban due to go into
effect this week.
(SFC, 12/19/19, p.A9)
2019 Dec 18, Prominent Serbian
investigative news portal KRIK said that Stevan Dojcinovic, its
editor-in-chief, has been detained in Abu Dhabi and deported back to
Serbia without being allowed to take part in a UN anti-corruption
meeting. He not blacklisted by the United Arab Emirates, but that it
was a request from another government.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, Sweden's Volvo AB
agreed to sell its Japan-based UD Trucks business to Isuzu Motors
and share technology to help cut costs.
(Reuters, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, The UN Mideast
envoy said that Israel advanced or approved plans for over 22,000
housing units in West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem in the
three years since the Security Council adopted a resolution
condemning settlements in lands the Palestinians want for their
future state.
(AP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, The UN General
Assembly called on the US, which hosts the organization's
headquarters, to lift restrictions on Iranian diplomats. The
resolution also condemned the denial of visas to Russian diplomats.
(AFP, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 18, To celebrate
International Migrants Day, the United Nations rolled out the
#WeTogether hashtag on social media to draw attention to the
struggles of 272 million migrants. The Trump administration,
meanwhile, spent the day unveiling proposals to tighten eligibility
requirements for US asylum seekers.
(The Week, 12/18/19)
2019 Dec 19, President Donald
Trump lashed out at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she threw
uncertainty into the impeachment process by refusing to say,
repeatedly, when or whether she would send two impeachment articles
to the Republican-controlled Senate for a trial.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, The Trump
administration finalized us biofuel blending requirements for 2020,
leaving a key part of the rule unchanged from an earlier proposal
that the corn lobby had criticized as inadequate to help struggling
farmers.
(Reuters, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, President Donald
Trump railed behind closed doors about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's
decision to delay sending articles of impeachment to the
Republican-controlled Senate, putting an expected trial in limbo.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, The US House
overwhelmingly approved the renegotiated deal intended to replace
the North American Free Trade Agreement, handing President Trump a
bipartisan victory a day after impeaching him. The 385-41 vote came
after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) secured concessions,
including strict labor standards and environmental provisions.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 19, The US Senate
passed the $1.4 trillion spending deal needed to prevent a partial
government shutdown when current funding expires at midnight Dec.
20.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 19, The sixth debate
for Democrats seeking their party's nomination to challenge
President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election was held in Los
Angeles. Opinion polls showed the race up for grabs, with Mayor
Buttigieg of Indiana taking the lead in Iowa and former VP Joe
Biden, US Senator Bernie Sanders and Warren fighting for the top in
national polls.
(Reuters, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 19, The US Food and
Drug Administration for the first time approved a vaccine for the
prevention of the deadly Ebola virus disease. Ervebo, a single-dose,
injectable vaccine is manufactured by American pharmaceutical
company Merck.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 19, Stanford Univ.
researchers revealed that yellow mealworms can break down plastic
and poop out chemicals added to plastic.
(SSFC, 12/22/19, p.B1)
2019 Dec 19, In Connecticut
Camille Schrier (24) of Virginia was crowned Miss America after she
wowed judges with science experiment.
(Good Morning America, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 19, Election officials
in the US state of Georgia restored some 22,000 voters after purging
308,753 from voter rolls on Dec. 16, citing an error in the way
their voting history had been screened.
(SFC, 12/20/19, p.A6)
2019 Dec 19, Ward Just
(b.1935), American journalist and novelist, died in Plymouth, Mass.
His books included: "To What End: Report from Vietnam" (1968), "In
the City of Fear"(1982), "Echo House" (1997) and "American Romantic"
(2014).
(SSFC, 12/22/19, p.B9)
2019 Dec 19, The Washington
state Supreme Court ruled that the Public Records Act fully applies
to state lawmakers. The case was sparked by a September 2017 lawsuit
filed by a media coalition, led by The Associated Press, that sought
sexual harassment reports, calendar entries and other documents.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, It was reported
that Novartis AG has secured Medicaid coverage for a pricey new
sickle cell disease therapy in two US states just weeks after
winning US approval, following an early campaign to convince local
officials of its value.
(Reuters, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 19, The Arab League
condemned Brazil’s opening of a trade office in the contested city
of Jerusalem, warning the move will “seriously damage” Brazil’s
political and economic interests in the Arab world.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, Australia's most
populous state of New South Wales declared a seven-day state of
emergency as oppressive conditions fanned around 100 wildfires. Two
volunteer firefighters were killed late today when a tree fell and
caused their vehicle to roll off the road.
(AP, 12/19/19)(SFC, 12/21/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 19, In Canada an
Ottawa judge dismissed all 19 charges against former Taliban hostage
Joshua Boyle, who was charged with sexual assault of his estranged
wife, Caitlan Coleman. Mr Boyle and Ms Coleman were kidnapped in
October 2012 while backpacking in Afghanistan. They spent five years
in captivity, during which their three children were born.
(The Telegraph, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 19, Chinese leader Xi
Jinping met with Macao’s new chief executive amid celebrations of
the 20th anniversary of the former Portuguese colony’s handover to
Chinese rule.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, The EU’s top court
ruled that Oriol Junqueras, one of nine pro-independence leaders
jailed in Spain, is entitled to parliamentary immunity because he
was elected as an MEP in May.
(The Telegraph, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, Germany's
parliament passed a resolution calling for a national ban on the
activities of Hezbollah and for the Lebanese militant group to be
put on the European Union's terrorist list.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, India's police
detained several hundred protesters in some of the biggest cities as
they defied bans on assembly that authorities imposed to stop
widespread demonstrations against a new citizenship law that
opponents say threatens the country's secular democracy.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, Lebanon's Pres.
Michel Aoun asked Hassan Diab, a university professor and a
Hezbollah-backed former minister, to form a new government.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, Speaking in
Malaysia the president of sanctions-hit Iran called for Muslim
countries to cooperate in fighting US "economic terrorism" at the
opening of a summit aimed at tackling the Islamic world's woes.
Pres. Rouhani also said his country's nuclear experts are testing a
new type of advanced centrifuges.
(AFP, 12/19/19)(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, In the Netherlands
an appeals court overturned a local ordinance banning catcalls in
the port city of Rotterdam. The court ruled that only Parliament has
the power to criminalize such behavior because doing so amounts to a
possible infringement of the freedom of expression.
(SFC, 12/20/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 19, Pakistan's foreign
minister said that he has written to the United Nations this month,
warning the world body of what he says are actions by New Delhi to
position missile launchers in the Indian-controlled Kashmir.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, Palestinian
militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket toward southern Israel
early today and Israeli aircraft responded with airstrikes in the
Hamas-ruled territory.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, Dozens of
Palestinians protested outside an Israeli military court in the
occupied West Bank calling for the release of a prisoner who has
been on a partial hunger strike for nearly three months.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, A Philippine court
found key members of a powerful political clan guilty of a 2009
massacre in a southern province that left 57 people dead, including
32 media workers, in a brazen execution-style attack that horrified
the world.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, In Russia an
officer of the Federal Security Service (FSB) was killed in a
shooting near its Moscow headquarters. The attack killed two of the
agency’s employees. The attacker, identified as Moscow resident
Evgeny Manyurov (39), was killed.
(AP, 12/19/19)(The Telegraph,
12/19/19)(Bloomberg, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 19, Amnesty
International urged Sudan's new transitional government to deliver
on popular demands for sweeping change as the country marked the
first anniversary of mass protests that led to the ouster of former
president and longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, Turkey denied
accusations that a militant Palestinian group is using its territory
to plan attacks against Israel.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 19, Yemen's warring
parties agreed to create humanitarian corridors in the key port city
of Hodeida, which remains the main entry point for food and aid in a
country witnessing the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
(AP, 12/19/19)
2019 Dec 20, US President
Donald Trump signed a $1.4 trillion budget package for the fiscal
year 2020 into law to avert a government shutdown.
(Reuters, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, US President
Donald Trump's signature on defense legislation turned White Sands
National Monument in southern New Mexico into White Sands National
Park.
(SSFC, 12/22/19, p.A8)
2019 Dec 20, President Trump
signed off on sanctions against companies building a Russian natural
gas pipeline to Germany that Congress fears will give the Kremlin
dangerous leverage over America's European allies.
(The Telegraph, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, President Donald
Trump blasted Christianity Today, a prominent Christian magazine
founded by the late Rev. Billy Graham, that published an editorial
arguing that he should be removed from office.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, The Trump
administration awarded billions of dollars in contracts for private
companies to operate immigration detention centers in California,
less than two weeks before a new state law takes effect to prohibit
them. A federal website posted long-term awards worth a combined
$6.8 billion for detention facilities in San Diego, Calexico,
Adelanto and Bakersfield.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 20, The US Food and
Drug Administration said it had approved Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd and
AstraZeneca Plc's drug to treat an advanced form of breast cancer,
four months ahead of schedule.
(Reuters, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, A US federal judge
handed out prison sentences to a husband and wife who arrived to the
US from Cuba on a raft and went on to create a $38 million
healthcare and wire fraud scheme, using the proceeds to purchase
multiple properties, fancy cars, expensive jewelry and cosmetic
procedures.
(Miami Herald, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 20, The US
Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department said in a
friend of the court brief a federal appeals court should reverse a
lower court verdict finding the Bayer company liable in the case of
a man who blamed the weed killer by Bayer's US unit Monsanto for his
cancer.
(Reuters, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 20, In Alabama
Paighton Houston (29) texted a coworker saying she might be in
trouble. She was last seen at a Birmingham bar leaving with two men.
On Jan. 3 Alabama police announced they found her body. The cause of
death was later determined to be morphine and methamphetamine
toxicity, and the manner of the death was accidental. On Jan. 29
members of the US Marshals Service's Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive
Task Force arrested Frederick Hampton (50) at a relative's home in
Cleveland. He had reportedly disposed of her body after she died.
(Business Insider, 1/4/20)(Good Morning America,
1/31/20)
2019 Dec 20, Former southwest
Missouri sheriff's lieutenant David Hastings (68) was sentenced to
six consecutive life terms for sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl.
Jurors found Hastings guilty in October of 11 felonies, including
statutory rape, statutory sodomy and child molestation.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 20, California state
Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that Sutter Health is
required to pay $575 million to employers, unions and the government
for abusing its market power to raise prices. Sutter Health operates
24 hospitals and 35 outpatient clinics in Northern California.
(SFC, 12/21/19, p.D1)
2019 Dec 20, PG&E Corp's
creditors sweetened their offer to California wildfire victims,
saying they are now prepared to pay $13.5 billion in cash upfront,
according to a letter sent today to state Gov. Gavin Newsom.
PG&E reached a settlement to raise monthly bills by an average
of $5.69 per month beginning next year to help fund wildfire safety
investments.
(Reuters, 12/21/19)(SFC, 12/21/19, p.A1)
2019 Dec 20, New York state
authorities announced charges against 96 MS-13 gang members and
associates in what's described as the largest take down of the
violent street gang in state history. Law enforcement officials said
the notorious MS-13 street gang in Suffolk County, New York, has
been declared "inoperable".
(ABC News, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, In North Carolina
a city worker was killed and a police sergeant and third employee
were shot and injured when a man opened fire at a sanitation
department facility in Winston-Salem before being shot by police.
(ABC News, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 20, In Oregon a judge
revoked the grazing permit of two ranchers who were pardoned last
year by President Donald Trump on an arson conviction for setting
fire to federal lands. The US Bureau of Land Management had granted
a 10-year grazing permit to Dwight and Steven Hammond after Trump's
July 2018 pardon. The renewal prompted a coalition of environmental
groups to sue.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, Virginia Attorney
General Mark Herring said resolutions passed by local governments
declaring themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” have “no legal
effect." Herring said localities “cannot nullify state laws” and
must follow gun violence prevention measures passed by the General
Assembly.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, Record rainfall
and darkness hit Seattle as a major storm begins to lift across
western Washington on the first day of winter, though the region is
still at risk for flooding, mudslides and avalanches. Today became
the wettest day in Seattle in the past 10 years, and the most rain
recorded for Dec. 20 since record-keeping at Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport began in 1945.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 20, A timer error
prevented Boeing Co's new astronaut capsule from reaching the orbit
it needed to get to the International Space Station, cutting short a
critical unmanned test mission. The plan was now for the capsule to
head back to Earth, landing at White Sands, New Mexico on Dec. 22.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, The UK's Crown
Prosecution Service announced that Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US
diplomat, has been formally charged in the Aug. 27 death of British
teenager Harry Dunn.
(ABC News, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, China and Russia
blocked a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended
for a year cross-border humanitarian aid to four million Syrians.
(The Telegraph, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, French Pres.
Emmanuel Macron met with French military personnel stationed in
Ivory Coast, which shares a long border with volatile Mali and
Burkina Faso.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 20, In Honduras an
prison riot in Tela left 19 people dead and 16 others injured. This
came several days after the government declared a state of emergency
in its prison system.
(SSFC, 12/22/19, p.A4)(SFC, 12/24/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 20, India's police
banned public gatherings in parts of New Delhi and other cities for
a third day and cut internet services to try to stop growing
protests against a new citizenship law that have left 11 people dead
and more than 4,000 others detained.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, A court in India
sentenced a regional politician to life imprisonment for raping a
teenage girl (17). Kuldeep Singh Sengar had been jailed since last
year on charges of having brutalized the young woman in 2017. The
ruling came a few months after the teenager was critically injured
in a car crash on a rural highway that killed two of her aunts.
(NY Times, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 20, Hassan Rouhani
paid the first visit by an Iranian president to Japan in 19 years,
just as the US strengthens enforcement of its sanctions in a
standoff over nuclear development.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, Iranian officials
said schools in Tehran province will be closed for the next two days
over rising levels of air pollution, following similar measures last
week.
(AFP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, called for the speedy
formation of a government and early elections as ongoing political
wrangling caused Parliament to miss a deadline to name the next
premier. That has sparked concerns of protracted political crisis
and uncertainty.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, Lebanon's newly
designated PM Hassan Diab said that he plans to form a government of
experts and independents to deal with the country's crippling
economic crisis.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, The self-styled
Libyan National Army, fighting to capture the country's capital from
the UN-supported government based there, gave the militias defending
Tripoli a three-day deadline to pull out.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, Macau celebrated
20 years since the former Portuguese colony was returned to China
with President Xi Jinping praising the pliant gambling hub for its
patriotism, a stark contrast to protest-ravaged Hong Kong. Beijing
loyalist Ho Iat Seng (62) was inaugurated as China's chief executive
in the tiny gambling enclave.
(AFP, 12/20/19)(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, At The Hague the
prosecutor of the International Criminal Court took a major step
toward opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in the
occupied Palestinian territories, asking judges exactly what
territory a future investigation could cover.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, A Swedish court
sentenced Raghdan al-Hraishawi, a 46-year-old Iraqi man, to 2 1/2
years in prison on charges of spying for Iran by gathering
information about Iranian refugees in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and
the Netherlands.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 20, A group of
independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights
Council called for Iran to release all people detained during recent
unrest. They said they are “shocked” by reports that suggest
prisoners are being tortured or otherwise abused.
(AP, 12/20/19)
2019 Dec 21, US Pres. Donald
Trump officially launched the US Space Force, America’s first
military service in more than 70 years.
(The Telegraph, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, President Donald
Trump complained about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's delayed
transmission of the articles of impeachment to the Senate, which may
delay a trial in the GOP-controlled chamber.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, The United States
dropped Sudan from its list of nations that severely violate
religious freedoms, signaling increased support for Sudan’s newly
created transitional government.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, In Nevada six
people were killed and 13 injured after a fire this morning in a
three-story apartment complex in downtown Las Vegas.
(AP, 12/21/19)(SFC, 12/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 21, Joseph Segel (88),
the founder of home shopping television channel QVC, died. Segel
founded QVC, which stands for Quality Value Convenience, in 1986 as
an alternate to the Home Shopping Network (HSN).
(Reuters, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 21, The Afghan
government said it has detained about 700 Islamic State group
fighters and family members in eastern Afghanistan over the past six
months. Many of the group were from foreign countries.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, Australia’s most
populous state (New South Wales) was paralyzed by “catastrophic”
fire conditions amid soaring temperatures, while one person died as
wildfires ravaged the country’s southeast. The devastation has put
pressure on PM Scott Morrison, who has received criticism for going
on a family vacation in Hawaii during the wildfire crisis.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, Cuba's Pres.
Miguel Diaz-Canel named Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the
country's first prime minister since 1976.
(SFC, 12/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 21, Cyprus hailed the
new US Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of
2019 geared toward boosting energy and security cooperation in the
east Mediterranean saying it is indicative of the significance that
Washington attaches to the region.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, France carried out
its first armed drone strike, killing seven Islamic extremists in
the Ouagadou forest of central Mali. French President Emmanuel
Macron said French forces have killed 33 Islamic extremists in
central Mali.
(AP, 12/21/19)(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 21, French travelers
and tourists were struggled to get to their destinations as the
Christmas season ramped up amid continuing strikes against the
government's plans to raise the retirement age to 64.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, Berlin accused
Washington of interfering in German internal affairs, after Donald
Trump signed off on US sanctions against companies building a
Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany. Switzerland-based Allseas,
which operates ships laying sections of the undersea pipeline, said
it was suspending work on the £8.5 billion project, which is well
advanced.
(The Telegraph, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, In eastern
Guatemala a trailer truck collided with a passenger bus early today,
killing at least 20 people and leaving a dozen wounded. The national
disaster agency said nine of the dead were minors.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 21, In northern India
9 people died during clashes between demonstrators and police,
raising the nationwide death toll in protests against a new
citizenship law to 23.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, The Times of India
reported that Indian banks may ask depositors and customers to list
their religion. Reserve Bank of India made changes to a banking law
that allows selected non-residents to open bank accounts and own
property. The amendments were made last year but went unnoticed.
(Bloomberg, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, Libya's
self-styled Libyan National Army, which backs the east-based
administration, said a vessel flying a Grenada flag with several
Turkish crew members had been forcibly taken into a Libyan port for
inspection.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 21, In New Zealand a
sweeping nationwide ban on most semiautomatic weapons took effect.
It was reported that New Zealand authorities have collected more
than 50,000 semi-automatic guns in a government buyback program
eight months after lawmakers responded to the country's worst
massacre in history.
(SSFC, 12/22/19, p.A4)(Insider, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, In central Syria
near-simultaneous attacks believed to have been carried out by
drones hit three government-run oil and gas installations in Homs
province.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 21, In northern Syria
airstrikes on a rebel-held town killed seven people and wounded more
than a dozen in Idlib province. A surge in violence left 12
civilians dead in the last major opposition bastion as aid groups
warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if cross-border aid stops
reaching the region. At least seven regime loyalists died in a car
bombing by the country's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir
al-Sham (HTS).
(AP, 12/21/19)(AFP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 21, Turkey’s
parliament approved a security and military deal with Libya’s
UN-supported government on the heels of a controversial maritime
agreement earlier this month that has drawn international ire. The
deal allows Turkey to provide military training and equipment at the
request of the Libyan government that controls Tripoli and some of
the country's west.
(AP, 12/21/19)
2019 Dec 22, Ram Dass (born
Richard Alpert), died in Hawaii. In the 1960s he joined Timothy
Leary in promoting psychedelic drugs as the path to inner
enlightenment before undergoing a spiritual rebirth he spelled out
in the influential book "Be Here Now".
(Reuters, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, The Boeing
Starliner spacecraft successfully landed in New Mexico after a
failed mission to the International Space Station.
(Reuters, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, Afghanistan's
election commission said Pres. Ashraf Ghani has won a second term,
earning 50.64% of a preliminary vote count from the Sep. 28
elections, but his opponents can still challenge the results.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, Australian PM
Scott Morrison apologized Sunday for taking a family vacation in
Hawaii as deadly bushfires raged across several states, destroying
homes and claiming the lives of two volunteer firefighters.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, In Burundi at
least 15 people were killed by landslides caused by heavy rains.
Another 30 people were injured and dozens of homes were damaged or
destroyed in the landslides earlier in the day north of Bujumbura.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 22, In Canada Julie
Berman (51), a vocal campaigner for transgender rights, died after
she was subjected to an alleged assault in central Toronto. Police
arrested Colin Harnack (29) and charged him with second-degree
murder.
(The Independent, 12/29/19)
2019 Dec 22, Voters in Croatia
cast ballots in a tight presidential election, with the ruling
conservatives seeking to keep their grip on power days before the
country takes over the EU's rotating presidency for the first time.
Left-wing politician Zoran Milanovic won nearly 30% of the vote.
Pres. Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic won 27%. They will face a run-off on
Jan 5.
(AP, 12/22/19)(SFC, 12/23/19,
p.A4)
2019 Dec 22, A court in Egypt
convicted three teenage boys of fatally stabbing a boy who was
defending a girl from sexual harassment, sentencing them each to 15
years in prison. A fourth boy, who was involved in the attack, was
sentenced to five years. The three suspects had repeatedly stabbed
Mahmoud el-Banna (17) in October.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, The Egyptian
military released one of the country's former chiefs-of-staff,
nearly two years after his arrest following an announcement that he
would challenge President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in the 2018
presidential vote. A military court had sentenced Sami Annan earlier
this year to nine years' imprisonment.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, Pirates took four
Chinese crew members hostage in speedboats off Gabon's capital
overnight. Four vessels anchored in the bay off Libreville were
targeted in the attack. A Gabonese national, the commander of a
vessel operated by the Satram company, was killed.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 22, Clashes broke out
between Hong Kong police and protesters at a rally in support of
China's Uighur minority. Police arrested two protesters who were
attempting to burn a Chinese flag at the rally, which was attended
by several hundred people.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, In Honduras an
prison riot in El Porvenir left 18 people dead. The MS-13 gang had
reportedly ordered prison riot to force the government to back down
from emergency measures decreed a week earlier.
(SFC, 12/24/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 22, Protesters angered
by India's new citizenship law that excludes Muslims defied a ban
against demonstrations, as PM Narendra Modi used a rally for his
Hindu nationalist party to defend the legislation, accusing the
opposition of pushing the country into a “fear psychosis".
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, Thousands of
protesters poured into the streets of Baghdad and Iraq's southern
provinces, rejecting a nominee for the post of prime minister who
some say is too close to Iran.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, Israel announced
that it will allow Christians in the Gaza Strip to travel to
Jerusalem and the West Bank for Christmas.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, Japan-based
drugmaker Eisai Co's US subsidiary announced that it had received
approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for Dayvigo, its
insomnia treatment in adult patients.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 22, In Lebanon
thousands of protesters demonstrated in central Beirut and elsewhere
against the country's new PM Hassan Diab, saying he should abandon
the post because he is a member of the ruling elite.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 22, Pakistani
authorities said mortars fired by Indian troops into its portion of
the Kashmir region killed three civilians and damaged nearly a dozen
home in recent days.
(SFC, 12/23/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 22, In Spain the lucky
holders of ticket number 26590 struck it rich when they won the top
prize in the nation’s bumper Christmas lottery. The Christmas
lottery, held each year on Dec. 22, is ranked as the world's richest
for the total prize money involved.
(AP, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 23, The Trump
administration said it will allow Medicaid expansion with a work
requirement in Utah, a decision that came despite courts taking a
dim view of the requirement in other states.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 23, Missouri police
arrested Kirby King (64). He was charged with second-degree murder
in the 1987 death of Karla Jane Delcour (22). The crime took place
at a home in Union, about 50 miles west of St. Louis, Missouri.
(ABC News, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 23, A Texas homeowner
near Houston shot and killed three people who broke into his mobile
home in Channelview. The homeowner, also shot, was in critical
condition.
(SFC, 12/24/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 23, Boeing Co ousted
Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg as the world's biggest plane maker
sought to control an escalating crisis that has seen it halt
production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner following two fatal
crashes.
(Reuters, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, Intra-Cellular
Therapies Inc said Caplyta, its lead drug to treat schizophrenia in
adults, has received approval from the US Food and Drug
Administration, sending its shares soaring 85%.
(Reuters, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, In Afghanistan an
American service member was killed in combat. The Taliban claimed
they were behind a roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province that
killed the US soldier. Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble (33) was with
his unit when its members discovered an undisclosed amount of
Taliban weapons. Goble and others were clearing out the cache when
an explosion happened.
(AP, 12/23/19)(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 23, Algeria's powerful
military chief Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah (79), who was instrumental in
pushing out the gas-rich country's long-serving president amid
pro-democracy protests earlier this year, died unexpectedly.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, In eastern Bosnia
a car crashed into a gas station, triggering a huge explosion that
killed at least one person and injured 20 others.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, The leaders of
China and South Korea said that they look forward to improved ties
following a protracted disagreement over the deployment of a US
anti-missile system that Beijing considers a threat.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, India’s main
opposition party staged a silent protest in the capital against a
contentious new citizenship law. The protest was led by opposition
Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi along with other senior leaders,
including former PM Manmohan Singh.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, India and Iran
agreed to accelerate the development of an important Iranian port.
Chabahar port, being jointly developed by India, Iran and
Afghanistan, is on the Indian Ocean about 100 km (62 miles) west of
the Pakistan border.
(AFP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, In Indonesia a bus
plunged into a ravine on Sumatra island just before midnight after
its brakes apparently malfunctioned, killing at least 28 people and
injuring 13 others.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 23, Iran began new
operations at a heavy water nuclear reactor, the head of the
country's nuclear agency said. The move was seemingly designed to
intensify pressure on Europe to find an effective way around US
sanctions that block Tehran’s oil sales abroad.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, In Iran
dangerously poor air quality forced Iran’s government to extend
school closures in Tehran, a city home to over 10 million people.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, An Israeli missile
strike overnight near the Damascus killed at least three foreigners,
who were most likely Iranians.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, Authorities in
Ivory Coast issued an arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro, prompting
the ex-rebel leader and presidential hopeful to divert his plane to
another country instead of returning home.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 23, Libya’s forces
based in the country’s east said they have released a vessel with
Turkish crew members seized over the weekend amid heightened
tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over a contentious maritime
border deal involving Tripoli and Ankara.
(AP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, Armed groups in
northern Nigeria reportedly executed many civilians and abducted
many others in Borno state where Boko Haram is active.
(AP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 23, Russia's President
Vladimir Putin stood in the driver's cabin of a train for the
official opening of a railway bridge that links annexed Crimea to
southern Russia. The bridge for car traffic opened in May last year
when the president drove a truck across it.
(AFP, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, Russian
authorities conscripted Navalny ally, Ruslan Shaveddinov (23) for
compulsory military service in a remote Arctic base. Authorities
flew him to Novaya Zemlya after breaking into his Moscow apartment,
in what supporters denounced as a state abduction reminiscent of
Soviet times. Shaveddinov was well known for presenting vivid,
well-documented corruption investigations on YouTube.
(Bloomberg, 12/26/19)(The Daily Beast, 2/24/20)
2019 Dec 23, A Saudi court
sentenced five people to death for the murder of government critic
Jamal Khashoggi, but ruled that last year’s assassination wasn’t
premeditated and said it didn’t have enough evidence to incriminate
two top officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Three
out of 11 who stood trial for the murder at the kingdom’s consulate
in Istanbul were given a total of 24-year prison terms.
(Bloomberg, 12/23/19)
2019 Dec 23, In Somalia
al-Shabab extremists killed three soldiers during an attack on the
Gofgadud military base in the southwest.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 23, South Korea-based
Hyundai Engineering and Construction (HDEC) said it had suspended
construction of the bridge, which will connect the Chilean island of
Chiloe to the mainland, accusing the government of bad faith for
seeking to increase the scope of the project without additional
remuneration.
(Reuters, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 23, In Syria a vehicle
rigged with explosives blew up in a market in the northern village
of Suluk, killing five people and wounding others. Turkish troops
and Turkey-backed fighters captured Tal Abyad and Suluk from
Kurdish-led fighters in October. Syrian government troops captured
the northwestern village of Jarjanaz from al-Qaida late today and
surrounded a Turkish observation post in the area.
(AP, 12/23/19)(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, In California a
huge redwood tree fell and killed a man visiting Muir Woods National
Monument on Christmas Eve. Subhradeep Dutta (28) of Edina,
Minnesota, died while walking on a marked dirt trail with two other
people in the park north of San Francisco.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 24, In NYC muggers
took $1 from two men. They kicked and punched one man, who tried to
defend his partner. Juan Fresnada (60) suffered fatal blows and died
Dec. 27.
(http://tinyurl.com/qtlyz5a)(SFC, 12/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 24, Travis Kalanick,
co-founder of Uber, severed his last ties with the ride-services
company, resigning from the board and selling all his shares as he
turns his focus to a new venture creating "ghost kitchens" for food
delivery services. He will depart Uber's board of directors by the
end of the year.
(Reuters, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, In Afghanistan the
Taliban targeted an army checkpoint in northern Balkh province,
killing at least seven Afghan soldiers. In the west the Taliban
ambushed a peace convoy and abducted 26 activists, members of a
peace movement in the district of Bala Buluk, Farah province.
(AP, 12/24/19)(AP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 24, An attack by
militants in northern Burkina Faso killed 35 civilians, almost all
of them women. Seven soldiers and 80 jihadists were also killed in
the double attack on a military base and the town of Arbinda, Soum
province.
(AP, 12/25/19)(SFC, 12/25/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 24, In Chile a fire
swept through neighborhoods of Valparaiso destroying more than 120
homes.
(SFC, 12/26/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 24, China's
agriculture ministry said African swine fever has been detected in
pigs being illegally transported in southwestern Sichuan province.
(Reuters, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, Germany rejected
calls from the European Commission asking the country to take in
more unaccompanied migrant children from overcrowded refugee camps
in Greece. Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, said while he was
concerned about the plight of the migrants, doing so without a
concerted European strategy would only encourage people smugglers.
(The Telegraph, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, In Iran Kylie
Moore-Gilbert, a Cambridge University graduate and specialist in
Middle East politics at the University of Melbourne, said in a
letter dated today that she had begun refusing food and water at the
Evin prison in Tehran. She was joined by Iranian-born French
researcher Fariba Adelkhah. Iranian officials disclosed in July the
arrest of Adelkhah, a prominent anthropologist who often traveled to
Iran for her research on post-revolutionary Iranian society.
(AP, 12/26/19)(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 24, Nourali Tabandeh
(92), the leader of Iran’s Sufis, died , nearly three decades after
taking the leadership post in the movement. Sufis are followers of
the teachings of an ancient form of Islamic mysticism.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, Iraqi protesters
late today torch the regional headquarters of two pro-Iran militias
in the city of Diwaniyah following the death of prominent activist
Thaer al-Tayeb. TV satirist Aws Fadhil was targeted by unknown
assailants, with three bullets hitting his car.
(AP, 12/25/19)(AFP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 24, The leaders of
Japan and South Korea signaled they wouldn’t let relations spin out
of control even as they made little progress in resolving disputes
that have plunged relations to new depths. The two began their
45-minute meeting on the sidelines of a trilateral summit hosted by
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Chengdu.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, In Montenegro
Serbian Orthodox Church clergy protested against the planned
adoption of a religious law that they say will strip the church of
its property. The law envisages that religious communities in
Montenegro would need to produce evidence of ownership over their
property from before 1918, when Montenegro joined a Balkan kingdom.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, Nepalese officials
said police have detained 122 Chinese nationals in their biggest
crackdown on crime by foreigners entering the country on tourist
visas. The Chinese were suspected of carrying out cyber crime and
hacking into bank cash machines.
(The Telegraph, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, President Vladimir
Putin said that Russia has got a strong edge in designing new
weapons and that it has become the only country in the world to
deploy hypersonic weapons.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, Sudan’s
transitional authorities and a rebel faction, the Sudan
Revolutionary Front (SRF) known as the “Center Track, reached a
peace deal, part of government efforts to end the country’s
decades-long civil wars.
(AP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 24, In northwestern
Syria a missile struck a school building killing eight civilians, as
government forces captured a key village held by al-Qaida insurgents
in the country's last rebel stronghold.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, The UN said a
dozen humanitarian organizations in war-torn southern Yemen have
suspended their operations following a string of targeted attacks.
Yemen's rebel-led health ministry announced that severe outbreaks of
swine flu and dengue fever have killed close to 200 people since
October.
(AP, 12/24/19)
2019 Dec 24, Uruguay Naval and
Customs officers seized more than four tons of cocaine this week at
a seaport in the capital Montevideo, with an estimated street value
of nearly $1.3 billion.
(The Independent, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 24, In northern Yemen
the shelling of a busy market killed at least 17 people. The region
has been under control of Yemen's Iran-backed rebels known as
Houthis. The dead included 12 Ethiopian migrants who had reached
Yemen in search of a better life.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 25, TV producer Lee
Mendelson (b.1933) died at his home in Hillsborough, Ca. He produced
more than 50 animated "Peanuts" TV specials beginning with "A
Charlie Brown Christmas" in 1965..
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Charlie_Brown_Christmas)(SSFC,
12/29/19, p.B3)
2019 Dec 25, Data showed that
China's November soybean purchases from the United States surged
from a year earlier, as cargoes booked by importers with tariff-free
quotas cleared customs.
(Reuters, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 25, The team of six
men from four countries finished crossing the Drake Passage in just
under two weeks after pushing off from the southern tip of South
America. The Drake Passage or Mar de Hoces—Sea of Hoces—is the body
of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South
Shetland Islands of Antarctica.
(AP,
12/28/19)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Passage)
2019 Dec 25, Protests spread
through Hong Kong over Christmas Eve and Day, with some
demonstrators donning reindeer costumes in light of the holiday.
Rallies ended in clouds of tear gas, with one police officer
pointing his gun at the crowd, but not firing.
(The Telegraph, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 25, India and Pakistan
traded fire in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, with the
latest exchanges killing two Pakistani troops, an Indian soldier and
a civilian woman.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 25, In India more than
a thousand students, artists and writers protested in New Delhi and
northeastern Assam state against a new citizenship law introduced by
the Hindu nationalist government that excludes Muslims.
(SFC, 12/26/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 25, Iran's
semiofficial ILNA news agency reported that authorities have shut
down mobile internet service in some provinces over security
concerns.
(AP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 25, An Iranian
military fighter jet crashed near the dormant Mount Sabalan volcano
in the northwest of the country. Helicopter and rescue groups were
sent to the region
(AFP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 25, Iraqi
anti-government protesters again hit the streets, angered by an
activist's death and an attempt on the life of a popular TV
satirist.
(AFP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 25, In Niger Islamic
extremists on motorcycles killed 14 security force members who were
escorting election officials late today near Sanam.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 25, Typhoon Phanfone
barreled through the central Philippines and left at least 20 people
dead. Thousands were forced to flee their homes, devastating
Christmas celebrations in the predominantly Catholic country.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 25, In Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Abdullah Saeed Suwaid and Abdullah Hussain Saeed al-Nimr were
shot and killed in the eastern city of Dammam. Authorities later
said had been planning an attack and were in possession of
explosives that could have been used to deploy a car bomb.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 25, Ukrainian
officials opened a criminal probe after a passenger train from
Russia arrived in Crimea via a new Russian-built bridge, arguing
that the train illegally carried people across the Ukrainian border.
(AP, 12/25/19)
2019 Dec 26, Broadway composer
Jerry Herman (b.1931) died in Miami. His shows included "Milk and
Honey" (1961), "Hello Dolly" (1964), "Mame" (1966) and "la Cage aux
Folles" (1983).
(SSFC, 12/29/19, p.B3)
2019 Dec 26, In Hawaii a tour
helicopter with seven people aboard disappeared. A search was
underway in weather conditions described as challenging. The
Eurocopter AS350 helicopter had taken off from the town of Lihue for
a tour of Kauai's Na Pali Coast. The remains of six of the people on
board were found the next day.
(AP, 12/27/19)(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 26, Ohio Dr. William
Husel, accused of ordering drug overdoses in the deaths of 25
hospital patients, sued his former employer (the Columbus-area Mount
Carmel Health System and its parent organization, Trinity Health
Corp.) for defamation, arguing that he did nothing wrong and did not
deviate from hospital policy on end-of-life care.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 26, US stocks rose
higher with the Nasdaq topping 9,000 for the first time, closing at
9,022.39. The DJIA rose 105.94 to a record 28,621.94. The S&P
500 rose 16.53 to a record 3,239.91.
(SFC, 12/27/19, p.D1)
2019 Dec 26, In northern
Afghanistan a powerful suicide car bombing targeted an Afghan army
compound in Balkh province, killing six Afghan soldiers. A roadside
bombing struck a police patrol in eastern Khost province, wounding
at least five policemen.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, Burundi’s Pres.
Pierre Nkurunziza (55) again indicated he will not run for another
term next year in the politically volatile East African nation.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, Iraqi President
Barham Saleh refused to designate the Iran-backed parliamentary
bloc's nominee for prime minister after he was rejected by
anti-government protesters, saying he was prepared to submit his
resignation to Parliament.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, Japan executed its
first foreigner in 10 years, a Chinese man convicted in the 2003
murder and robbery of a family of four.
(SFC, 12/27/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 26, In Lebanon a storm
dubbed "Loulou," lashed the country causing flooding and landslides
in some parts, while the first heavy snow fell on the mountains,
forcing some road closures.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, Mexican
authorities ordered the temporary closure of a shelter housing
Central American migrants sent to Mexico from the United States
following an outbreak of chicken pox. 72 people, including 69
children, were diagnosed with the virus.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 26, Moroccan
authorities sentenced a Youtuber who criticized the king to prison,
and detained a journalist-activist who defended anti-government
protesters in a tweet.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 26, In eastern
Pakistan five al-Qaida operatives were arrested in a raid late
today. The raid in Punjab province was carried out in collaboration
with the country's top intelligence agency, the Inter Services
Intelligence.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 26, The organizers of
the weekly Palestinian demonstrations along the Gaza Strip's
frontier with Israel said that they will significantly scale down
the gatherings early next year.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, Russian security
officials searched the offices of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's
anti-corruption foundation, with his team calling the raid a new bid
to disrupt their work. Masked police dragged away opposition leader
Alexey Navalny.
(AFP, 12/26/19)(Bloomberg, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, Russia's Ministry
of Communications announced that it has successfully tested a
countrywide alternative to the internet. The government's "sovereign
internet" law, which allows content to be blocked in an "emergency
situation," took effect in November, and Pres. Vladimir Putin
recently signed a law that bans the sale of devices without
pre-installed Russian apps.
(Endgadget, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, A bus crash in
southwestern Russia killed two people and injured eight others near
the village of Yarkino in the Lipetsk region.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, Turkey's president
said that the UN-supported government in Libya has asked Ankara to
send troops to help authorities in Tripoli defend the city from an
offensive by rival forces.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, Turkey’s state-run
news agency reported that the Constitutional Court has ruled in
favor of Wikipedia, saying the Turkish government's two-year ban on
the online encyclopedia constitutes a violation of freedom of
expression. Turkey blocked Wikipedia in April 2017, accusing it of
being part of a “smear campaign” against the country.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, In eastern Turkey
a boat carrying migrants capsized in Lake Van, killing seven people
on board. At least 64 migrants were rescued.
(AP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 26, The UN reported
that more than 100,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured
over the past decade, as it renewed calls to end the bloody 18-year
conflict.
(AFP, 12/26/19)
2019 Dec 27, A US federal judge
denied an attempt to restore about 98,000 voters in Georgia to the
state's electoral rolls after they were removed earlier this month
upon being classified as "inactive".
(Reuters, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 27, A US federal
appeals court said that a 17-year sentence for a New York City man
who sought to aid the Islamic State group by trying to kill an FBI
agent is “shockingly low," as it ordered a judge to re-sentence him.
Fareed Mumuni (25), a US-born citizen, was sentenced in April 2018
after pleading guilty to charges that he planned to aid the
extremist organization and tried to kill the agent who was searching
his Staten Island home.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, In southern
California a fire in an apartment in Riverside County killed Juan
Moreno and two daughters. Moreno had gotten his wife and two
children out of the apartment and then returned to save his other
children. An injured son (8) died the next day.
(SFC, 12/31/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 27, In the SF Bay Area
Phillip Carl Jablonski (73), a serial killer whose five victims
included two wives, was found unresponsive in his San Quentin State
Prison cell and pronounced dead within minutes. A San Mateo County
jury sentenced him to death in 1994 for the first-degree murders of
his wife, Carol Spadoni (46) and her mother, Eva Petersen (72).
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 27, It was reported
that Pennsylvania's Roman Catholic dioceses have paid nearly $84
million to 564 victims of sexual abuse. The tally was expected to
grow as backlog claims are processed.
(SFC, 12/27/19, p.A7)
2019 Dec 27, US disc jockey Don
Imus (b.1940) died in Texas. His radio stardom crashed in April 2007
after describing the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team as
"nappy headed hos." He was yanked 8 days later by CBS Radio, but
reportedly collected a multimillion dollar settlement of his
five-year contract with the company.
(SFC, 12/28/19, p.A7)
2019 Dec 27, In Afghanistan a
Taliban attack on an army checkpoint in southern Helmand province
killed at least 10 soldiers.
(SSFC, 12/29/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 27, In Australia the
temperature in Adelaide hit 108º F prompting the South Australian
government to declare a code red alert.
(SFC, 12/28/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 27, A court in Bosnia
sentenced Bosnian man Ibro Cufurovic (24) to four years in prison
for fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria. Some 260 Bosnian
citizens remain in the camps in Syria, including approximately 100
men and 160 women and children.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, In Chile clashes
between protesters and police left one man dead, raising the death
toll during protests that started in October to 27. The man
was electrocuted after falling into a pit in Plaza Italia, Santiago.
(SFC, 12/30/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 27, China, Iran and
Russia started four days of joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean
and the Gulf of Oman.
(The Telegraph, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, It was reported
that Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the
world’s longest-serving ruler, should declare his assets before the
nation receives more financial support, according to the
International Monetary Fund. Under a program agreed to last week,
the state will be required to increase transparency, improve
governance and implement reforms to fight corruption.
(Bloomberg, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, In India a group
of protesters in New Delhi was beaten and shoved into buses by
police as they attempted to demonstrate against a new citizenship
law that has triggered nationwide protests in recent weeks.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, A rocket attack on
an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk killed an American contractor and
wounded several US and Iraqi military personnel.
(Bloomberg, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 27, Japan approved a
contentious plan to send its naval troops to the Middle East to
ensure the safety of Japanese ships transporting oil to the
energy-poor country that heavily depends on imports from the region.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, In Kazakhstan a
jetliner with 98 people aboard struggled to get airborne and crashed
shortly after departing from Almaty, killing at least 12 people.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, Montenegro’s
Parliament adopted a contested law on religious rights after chaotic
scenes that saw the detention of all pro-Serb opposition lawmakers.
The government pushed through parliament a bill that requires
religious groups to prove ownership over land and places of worship
they had before 1918, or see the property become state-owned.
(AP, 12/27/19)(Bloomberg, 3/7/20)
2019 Dec 27, Nigeria's
government condemned extremists linked to the Islamic State group
after a video circulated of 11 hostages, most of them Christians,
being executed. They were thought to be killed on Christmas Day.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, Russia's defense
minister reported that a new intercontinental weapon that can fly 27
times the speed of sound became operational, bolstering the
country's nuclear strike capability. Pres. Putin has described the
Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle as a technological breakthrough
comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, Russian Energy
Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview broadcast on Russian
state television that Russia and Ukraine are withdrawing all of
their lawsuits against each other after they agreed on a gas transit
deal last week.
(The Telegraph, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, A Syrian
opposition leader called on the international community to help
millions of civilians in the country's last rebel-held stronghold
amid a crushing government offensive, calling it a "disaster area".
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 27, A Turkish court
convicted six journalists and one other employee of an independent
newspaper of aiding the network of a US-based cleric who is accused
of masterminding the failed coup in 2016. The seven were accused of
supporting the coup through their work for the newspaper Sozcu,
which has been extremely critical of the government of President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(AP, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, Turkey unveiled
its first fully domestically-produced car, saying it aimed to
eventually produce up to 175,000 a year of the electric vehicle in a
project expected to cost 22 billion lira ($3.7 billion) over 13
years. The vehicle sported the TOGG label of the consortium that is
building them.
(Reuters, 12/27/19)
2019 Dec 27, The UN General
Assembly approved a Russian-led resolution that will start the
process of drafting a new international treaty to combat cybercrime
over objections from the European Union, the United States and other
countries.
(AP, 12/27/19)(AFP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 27, The UN General
Assembly approved a resolution strongly condemning human rights
abuses against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims and other minorities,
including arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and deaths in detention.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, In southern
Louisiana five people were killed after a small plane crashed near a
post office in Lafayette. One passenger survived the crash.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, In New York a man
attacked a Hanukkah celebration late today at a rabbi’s home in
Monsey, a town north of New York City, stabbing and wounding five
people before fleeing in a vehicle. Five people were taken to
hospitals for treatment. Police soon arrested Grafton Thomas (37), a
man with a long history of mental illness and hospitalizations.
Josef Neumann (72) one of the five people stabbed, died on March 29.
In April 2020 a judge ruled that Thomas is mentally unfit to
stand trial.
(AP, 12/29/19)(AP, 12/30/19)(SFC, 12/31/19,
p.A4)(SFC, 3/31/20, p.A4)(SFC, 4/21/20, p.A3)
2019 Dec 28, In Texas two
workers died while cleaning a chemical tank at a business near
Houston. The workers were apparently overcome by fumes.
(SFC, 12/30/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 28, NASA astronaut
Christina Koch broke the record set by retired astronaut Peggy
Whitson for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with 289 days
in space.
(Good Morning America, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 28, The comet
ATLAS was discovered by the ATLAS survey. It has a near-parabolic
orbit and will reach its nearest point to Earth on May 23. It will
come to perihelion (closest to the Sun) on May 31.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2019_Y4_(ATLAS))
2019 Dec 28, Algeria's newly
elected Pres. Abdelmadjid Tebboune reached beyond the political
class to name educator and diplomat Abdelaziz Djerad as prime
minister.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, In Australia
thousands of koalas were feared to have died in a wildfire-ravaged
area north of Sydney, further diminishing the iconic marsupial,
while the fire danger increased in the country’s east as
temperatures soared.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, It was reported
that China is blocking American books. Publishers inside and outside
of China say the release of American books has come to a virtual
standstill.
(SFC, 12/28/19, p.D1)
2019 Dec 28, In northern Egypt
about two dozen people, mostly laborers, were killed when a minibus
collided with a truck on a highway in Port Said.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, In France
thousands of protesters opposed to the government's plan to revamp
the retirement system marched through Paris, the 24th day of
crippling strikes.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, In Hong Kong
police fought protesters who marched through a shopping mall
demanding mainland Chinese traders leave the territory. 14 people
were reported detained.
(SSFC, 12/29/19, p.A4)
2019 Dec 28, Iraq’s
semi-official human rights commission said at least 490 protesters
have been killed in Baghdad and southern cities in nearly three
months of anti-government rallies.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, Japanese police
found the remains of at least five people in a wooden boat suspected
to be from North Korea on Sado Island in Niigata prefecture. Police
found the heads of two persons, as well as five bodies. The wrecked
boat was found a day earlier.
(The Telegraph, 12/28/19)(AP, 12/29/19)
2019 Dec 28, Dozens of Lebanese
protesters held a brief sit-in inside a bank in Beirut and another
in the country's south, part of their focus on banking policies they
complain are inefficient and corrupt.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, Aguila Saleh, the
speaker of Libya's parliament, urged the international community to
reject the legitimacy of the war-torn country's UN-recognized
government which is pursuing closer military ties with Turkey.
(AFP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un presided over a plenary meeting of the party's
Central Committee convened in Pyongyang. Kim made a speech on
overall state affairs and the work of the Central Committee.
(AP, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, The South Pacific
island nation of Samoa lifted a six week-state of emergency after
the infection rate from a measles outbreak that has swept the
country started to come under control.
(Reuters, 12/28/19)
2019 Dec 28, In Somalia a truck
bomb exploded at a busy security checkpoint in Mogadishu. University
students, the future of a country rebuilding from decades of
conflict, made up most of the 79 people killed.
(AP, 12/28/19)\(AP, 12/29/19)
2019 Dec 29, US air strikes
against Kataeb Hezbollah, a pro-Iran group in Iraq, killed at least
25 fighters late today at bases near Al-Qaim, triggering anger in a
country caught up in mounting tensions between Tehran and
Washington. The attacks hit three locations in Iraq and two in
neighboring Syria. The following day an Iranian-backed militia vowed
to exact revenge.
(AP, 12/30/19)(SFC, 12/30/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 29, US Congressman
John Lewis of Georgia announced that he has stage IV pancreatic
cancer, vowing he will stay in office and fight the disease.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 29, In Texas Keith
Thomas Kinnunen (43) pulled out a shotgun at a church service
and fired on worshippers at West Freeway Church of Christ in White
Settlement, killing two people before he was shot to death by
congregants who fired back. Church members Richard White and Anton
“Tony” Wallace were killed. Kinnunen was fatally shot by Jack
Wilson, a member of the church's volunteer security team, within
seconds of the attack.
(AP, 12/29/19)(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 29, It was reported
that Virginia's Fairfax County Public Schools, one of the largest
school districts in the US, will allow students, in 7th through 12th
grades, one excused absence beginning Jan. 27, 2020, for "civic
engagement activities." Two days notice will be required plus
written parental or guardian permission.
(SSFC, 12/29/19, p.A9)
2019 Dec 29, It was reported
that there have been 41 mass killings in the US this year, the
highest number dating back to at least the 1970s. Mass killings were
defined as four or more people killed excluding the perpetrator.
(SSFC, 12/29/19, p.A9)
2019 Dec 29, Taliban leaders
agreed to a temporary ceasefire in Afghanistan, providing an opening
for a peace deal with the US The Taliban ruling council did not
immediately set a date for the start of the ceasefire.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 29, Guinea-Bissau held
elections. two former prime ministers vied for the presidency in the
runoff election after the incumbent failed to reach the second round
in the tumultuous West African country once described by the United
Nations as a narco-state. Domingos Simoes Pereira faced Umaro
Sissoco Embalo.
(AP, 12/29/19)
2019 Dec 29, The Israeli
Security Cabinet voted to withhold $43 million of tax funds from the
Palestinians, saying the money has been used to promote violence.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 29, The Israeli
government appointed Yaacov Litzman as health minister, sparking a
litany of condemnations from Australia's staunchly pro-Israel Jewish
community. Litzman is suspected of aiding an alleged sexual abuser
wanted in Australia.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 29, Saudi state media
reported that a court has ruled that a Yemeni man (33) be executed
for attacking and wounding dancers and a security guard during a
performance on stage at a park in Riyadh. A second suspect, who also
was not identified, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for aiding
and abetting the attacker and sending money to al-Qaida in Yemen.
(AP, 12/29/19)
2019 Dec 29, In northwestern
Syria a teacher and four students were killed in government shelling
of the village of Sarmin.
(AP, 1/1/20)
2019 Dec 29, Turkey's defense
chief said that his country's troops won't evacuate their 12
observation posts in rebel-held northwestern Syria., even as a
Syrian government offensive pushed deeper into Idlib province, the
last remaining opposition stronghold.
(AP, 12/29/19)
2019 Dec 29, Ukraine and two
breakaway regions supported by the Kremlin exchanged prisoners under
an agreement reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier
this month as the former allies seek an end to more than five years
of war in the Donbas area. Ukraine received 76 captives from the
Russian-backed rebels. Ukraine returned 127 captives to the
self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics.
(AP, 12/29/19)
2019 Dec 29, In Yemen a
ballistic missile ripped through a military parade for a southern
separatist group that's backed by the United Arab Emirates, killing
at least six troops and four children. Houthi rebels were blamed for
the attack.
(AP, 12/29/19)
2019 Dec 30, President Donald
Trump signed into law legislation that provides funding to help
states eliminate backlogs in rape kit testing.
(Good Morning America, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 30, President Donald
Trump signed a bill that increases fines on criminal robocall
violations and cracks down on companies making the calls, as part of
a federal push against telephone scammers.
(http://tinyurl.com/tzr33ak)(SFC, 1/1/20, p.A6)
2019 Dec 30, Robert J. Goldberg
(61) filed a lawsuit in San Francisco that describes years of
psychological control and sexual abuse he suffered from age 11 into
adulthood while working for the late Jesuit Rev. Donald J. McGuire
as a valet. McGuire died in federal prison in 2017 while serving a
25-year sentence for molesting other boys who came under his sway.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 30, In Florida white
nationalist and ex-Senate candidate Augustus Sol Invictus (36) was
arrested on an out-of-county warrant on charges of kidnapping, “high
and aggravated” domestic violence and possession of a firearm during
a crime of violence.
(Miami Herald, 1/1/20)
2019 Dec 30, The Florida
corporation GEO Group filed a federal lawsuit challenging California
law AB32, due to go into effect on Jan 1. The law bans new private
prison contracts across the state.
(SFC, 1/1/20, p.A1)
2019 Dec 30, The first public
alert outside China about a novel coronavirus came from the
automated HealthMap system at Boston Children's Hospital.
(SFC, 2/24/20, p.D1)
2019 Dec 30, Danielle Outlaw
was announced as the first female black police commissioner in
Philadelphia.
(The Independent, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 30, A judge in Texas
ordered InfoWars host Alex Jones to pay over $100,000 in court fines
in a Sandy Hook defamation lawsuit against him. Jones and InfoWars
are being sued by Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was one of
the 26 people killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.
(CBS News, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 30, West Virginia Gov.
Jim Justice announced that more than 30 trainees, seen in a
photograph of correction officer cadets giving Nazi salutes, were
being fired, along with their instructor.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 30, Microsoft Corp
said it has taken control of web domains which were used by a
hacking group called "Thallium" to steal information. Microsoft said
Thallium is believed to be operating from North Korea.
(Reuters, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, It was reported
that AstraZeneca and Merck's ovarian cancer drug Lynparza has
received US regulatory approval for the treatment of advanced
pancreatic cancer, cementing its lead in a niche category of cancer
treatments.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, In northern
Afghanistan the Taliban targeted a pro-government militia compound
before dawn in Jawzjan province, killing 14 members of the Afghan
security forces.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, Bank of England
Governor Mark Carney said in an interview broadcast today that
financial services have been too slow to cut investment in fossil
fuels, a delay that could lead to a sharp increase in global
temperatures.
(Reuters, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, Bolivian Interim
Pres. Jeanine Anez said her government is expelling the top Mexican
and Spanish diplomates in the country over an alleged attempt by
nine members of Bolivia's former government to leave refuge in the
Mexican embassy with Spanish help and flee the country.
(SFC, 12/31/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 30, China's
agriculture ministry said it plans to issue biosafety certificates
to a domestically grown, genetically modified (GM) soybean crop and
two corn crops, in a move toward commercializing GM grain production
in the world's top market.
(Reuters, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, Chinese scientist
He Jiankui, who set off an ethical debate with claims that he had
made the world's first genetically edited babies, was sentenced to
three years in prison. He was convicted of practicing medicine
without a license. Two other researchers involved in the project
received lesser sentences and fines.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, A Cyprus court
found a 19 year-old British woman guilty of fabricating claims that
she was gang raped last July 17 by 12 Israelis in a hotel room at a
tourist resort in the east Mediterranean island nation, saying that
her story lacked credibility. The woman says she is innocent and
will appeal the ruling.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, Iran’s
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized a ship in the Persian Gulf
suspected of carrying smuggled fuel. All 16 crew members, who are
Malaysian nationals, were also detained.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, Lebanese
protesters staged a sit-in inside a commercial bank in the capital
Beirut, forcing tellers to give them more than the weekly limit for
withdrawal amid a wave of protests against recent capital controls.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, South African
telecoms firm MTN said it was reviewing allegations raised in a US
complaint which accuses several firms of paying protection money to
militant Islamist groups in Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, A Sudanese court
sentenced 27 members of the security forces to death for torturing
and killing Ahmed al-Khair, a teacher, while in detention in
February.
(SFC, 12/31/19, p.A2)
2019 Dec 30, Turkey's
government submitted a motion to parliament seeking approval to
deploy troops to Libya, arguing that the conflict in the North
African country could escalate into a civil war and threaten
Turkey's interests.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 30, Turkey's state-run
news agency reported that police have detained at least 124 people
suspected of links to the Islamic State group.
(AP, 12/30/19)
2019 Dec 31, President Donald
Trump ordered about 750 US soldiers deployed to the Middle East as
about 3,000 more prepared for possible deployment in the next
several days in response to recent events in Iraq.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, US President
Donald Trump said that Phase 1 of trade deal with China would be
signed on Jan. 15 at the White House, though considerable confusion
remains about the details of the agreement.
(Reuters, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, The Wall Street
Journal reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would
ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes.
(SFC, 1/1/20, p.A7)
2019 Dec 31, Two crew members
of the Scandies Rose were rescued after the 130-foot crab fishing
vessel from Dutch Harbor, Alaska. A search for the five crew members
lasted 20 hours before it was called off.
(AP, 1/1/20)
2019 Dec 31, In San Francisco
the last performance of the "Beach Blanket Babylon" show took place
at Club Fugazi following a run of 45 years.
(SFC, 1/1/20, p.A1)
2019 Dec 31, A federal judge
temporarily blocked a California labor law meant to take effect from
Jan. 1 from impacting over 70,000 independent truckers by granting a
temporary restraining order.
(Reuters, 1/1/20)
2019 Dec 31, In Oakland, Ca.,
Shuo Zeng (34) was killed as he tried to chase down two robbers of
his laptop from a Starbucks café in Montclair. Zeng was hit by the
getaway vehicle and dragged on the ground. Suspects Byron O.J. Reed
Jr. (22) and Javon Eugene Lee (21) were soon arrested. Zeng earned a
doctorate in physics in 2015 and worked as an engineer at Aspera.
(SFC, 1/6/20, p.C2)
2019 Dec 31, Three of the most
powerful tribes in Oklahoma filed a federal lawsuit against state
Gov. Kevin Stitt, asking the court to help resolve a dispute over
gambling at tribal casinos. Stitt contends the gaming compacts
expire on Jan. 1 and that casino gambling after that date will be
illegal. Stitt has signaled he wants to renegotiate the compacts to
give the state a larger slice of revenue.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, In Afghanistan at
least 10 Afghan forces were killed and four others were wounded in
an attack late today on a police checkpoint in the district of
Dashti Archi. In Balkh province, the Taliban killed nine police
officers in an attack on their checkpoint. A gunbattle with the
Taliban killed seven members of the security forces in Takhar
province.
(AP, 1/1/20)
2019 Dec 31, Wildfires burning
across Australia's two most populous states trapped residents of a
seaside town in apocalyptic conditions, destroyed many properties
and caused at least two fatalities. In the southeastern town of
Mallacoota in Victoria state, around 4,000 residents fled toward the
waterside as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward their
homes.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Bosnia's war
crimes prosecutor charged Milomir Savcic, a former Bosnian Serb
general, with aiding genocide in the 1995 massacre at the eastern
Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Prince William,
the Duke of Cambridge, unveiled a new initiative called the
Earthshot Prize, described by Kensington Palace as "the most
prestigious environment prize in history." The multimillion-dollar
prize will be awarded to five winners per year over the next 10
years to encourage "Earth’s greatest problem solvers to solve
Earth’s greatest environmental problems.
(Good Morning America, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Chinese President
Xi Jinping called for Hong Kong to return to stability following
months of pro-democracy protests.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, China's National
Medical Products Administration said it has approved a pneumonia
vaccine developed by Chinese drugmaker Walvax Biotechnology's unit,
offering an alternative to one of Pfizer's best-selling products
Prevnar 13.
(Reuters, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Chinese health
authorities said they are investigating 27 cases of viral pneumonia
in the central city of Wuhan, after rumors on social media suggested
the outbreak could be linked to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS).
(Reuters, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, In Ingushetia one
police officer was killed and three were injured when two men
attacked a police post in Magas, the republic's capital. The Islamic
State group soon claimed responsibility. One of the attackers was
killed when police opened fire and the other was wounded in
the northern Caucasus region.
(AP, 1/2/20)
2019 Dec 31, Iraqi supporters
of pro-Iran factions attacked the US embassy in Baghdad, breaching
its outer wall and chanting "Death to America!" in anger over
weekend air strikes that killed two dozen fighters. President Donald
Trump said he expects Iraq to "use its forces" to protect the US
embassy in Baghdad as he blamed Iran for orchestrating the "attack"
that breached the wall of the compound.
(AFP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Carlos Ghosn, the
former chairman of Nissan, announced that he is now in Lebanon,
despite being ordered by Japanese courts not to leave the country
while awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges.
(The Week, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Pakistan began
issuing special health ID cards for transgender people as a way to
lessen health care discrimination.
(SFC, 1/1/20, p.A2)
2019 Dec 31, Hundreds of
Palestinians marched through the West Bank city of Ramallah to mark
the 55th anniversary of the Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud
Abbas.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, In Sudan sporadic
tribal clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs continued in West Darfur
province, as the death toll climbed to at least 24 people, some of
them burned to death.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Taiwan's
legislature passed its Anti-Infiltration Law aimed at blocking
political interference from China.
(SFC, 1/1/20, p.A2)
2019 Dec 31, Police in Turkey
detained five suspected Islamic State militants who were allegedly
planning to carry out attacks in the Turkish capital of Ankara
during New Year's Eve celebrations. Anadolu news said close to 170
suspected IS militants have been detained in the past two days.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Turkish Airlines
said it has agreed a compensation deal with plane maker Boeing Co
over the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX following two fatal
crashes.
(Reuters, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Yemeni officials
said that a powerful rebel group's ban on recently-printed
government banknotes in areas under their control, including the
capital, Sanaa, has held up the salaries of tens of thousands of
civil servants and pensioners. Officials in Sanaa said the Houthis
had given residents a month to hand over the newly printed but
banned banknotes or face penalties that include jail.
(AP, 12/31/19)
2019 Dec 31, Two Zimbabwe
rangers, who had arrested four Zambian men for poaching, were
transporting them by boat to Kariba town to be charged and jailed.
But the four suspects overpowered the rangers and threw them into
Lake Kariba. The rangers' bodies were discovered after a week-long
search.
(AP, 1/7/20)
2019 Dec, Japanese carmaker
Mazda shifted production of its SUVs from Thailand to Japan.
(Economist, 4/4/20, p.29)
2019 James Lovelock and Bryan
Appleyard authored “Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence”.
(Econ, 7/27/19, p.74)
2019 Former US National
Security contractor Edward Snowden (36), now living in Russia,
authored "Permanent Record," a memoir detailing why he chose to
become a whistle-blower following his six years of working for the
NSA and CIA.
(SFC, 9/14/19, p.A6)
2019 Richard Susskind authored
"Online Courts and the Future of Justice." Susskind has been
evangelizing for online courts since 1981.
(Economist, 4/4/20, p.45)
2019 Timothy Winegard authored
“The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator.” The
insects kill over 800,000 people every year.
(Econ, 8/3/19, p.70)
2019 Argentina’s poverty
climbed to 35% as compared to 27% in 2017.
(Econ, 8/27/19, p.24)
2019 China reportedly cancelled
$78m owed by Cameroon. A month later Cameroon withdrew its candidate
for director-general of the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization,
clearing the way for China candidate to get the job.
(Econ, 4/18/20, p.31)
2019 In Colombia 107 human
rights defenders were killed this year despite a peace accord aimed
at improving conditions in poor, rural areas. The first two weeks of
2020 saw at least ten more activists killed.
(SFC, 1/15/20, p.A4)
2019 Saudi Arabia this year
executed the highest number of prisoners in recent years. In total,
184 people were executed, including 90 foreign nationals, according
to a report by the legal charity Reprieve.
(ABC News, 1/14/20)
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