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Worldwide current events
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Topics in the news

SMS Scharnhorst, c. 1908

In India, the four suspects in the Hyderabad gang rape case are shot dead by the police.
The wreck of the cruiser SMS Scharnhorst (pictured), which sank during the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914, is discovered.
The Power of Siberia pipeline begins operations, delivering Russian natural gas to China.
In Iraq, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigns amidst ongoing protests.

December 8, 2019 (Sunday)

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Disasters and accidents

Delhi factory fire
- 43 workers are killed in a fire in a factory in Delhi, India. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2019 Hong Kong protests
- After a massive march in the city, Civil Human Rights Front leader and Rainbow of Hong Kong activist Jimmy Sham says "it is the last chance for Carrie Lam to listen to the people". (Economic Times India)
2019 Sammarinese general election
- Citizens of San Marino are called to the polls in the first round to elect the 60 members of the Grand and General Council. (Il Resto del Carlino)

December 7, 2019 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Iraqi protests
- A drone attacks the home of prominent Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leaving no casualties and causing minimal damage. The attack follows a shooting against protestors in Baghdad yesterday. (Reuters)
Afghan peace process
- The Taliban announce that the peace talks with the United States resumed "from where they stopped" in September. (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

2018–19 Southern Africa drought
- An unprecedented drought in Zimbabwe, which is considered the worst in a century, causes the Victoria Falls waterfall on the Zambezi river to almost completely cease flowing. (The Guardian)
A woman died and 18 other people were injured after a bus crashed with a truck in Milan, Italy. (Ansa)

International relations

Iran–United States relations
- In a rare act of cooperation in recent years, Iran releases Princeton PhD candidate Wang Xiyue while the United States releases stem cell researcher Massoud Soleimani in a prisoner exchange. Both U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif thank the Swiss government for facilitating the swap. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Rohingya genocide
- Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi travels to The Hague where she is expected to face genocide charges against her government for the alleged crimes committed against the Rohingya Muslim minority, in what is described as one of the most-high profile international legal cases in a generation. (Telegraph)
Two indigenous leaders from the Guajajara tribe are shot dead in a drive-by shooting on a federal highway in Brazil's Maranhão state. (The Guardian)

December 6, 2019 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Iraqi protests
- Gunmen in vehicles open fire on protesters in Baghdad, killing over 19 and injuring around 70 others. Three of the dead were Iraqi police. The victims were either stabbed or shot. (AP) (Telegraph) (Al Jazeera)
Kenya bus shooting
- At least ten people – including seven police officers – are killed when gunmen ambush a bus in Kotulo, Kenya. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting
- A shooter kills three people and injures eight more at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, United States, before being shot and killed by police. (Pensacola News Journal)
Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
- Islamists kill 17 civilians in two attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A collision between a U.S. Navy boat and a U.S. Coast Guard boat in Kodiak, Alaska's Womens Bay injures nine, one critically. (Stars & Stripes)
A gas explosion and consecutive fire in an apartment building in Prešov, Slovakia killed at least seven people and injured dozens. (Deutsche Welle) (The New York Times)

Law and crime

2019 Samoa measles outbreak
- Samoan Police arrest Edwin Tamasese, an anti-vaccination campaigner, for incitement against a government order. (ABC Australia)
The United States District Court for the Central District of California rejects a US$190 million defamation suit against entrepreneur Elon Musk by Tham Luang cave rescuer Vernon Unsworth. The lawsuit, considered to be the first major suit by a private individual over comments made on Twitter, was filed over Musk's insulting Tweets after Unsworth criticized his role in the rescue. (Reuters)

December 5, 2019 (Thursday)

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Business and economy

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei sues the U.S. Federal Communications Commission over the latter's ban on carriers from using money from the Universal Service Fund to buy equipment from Huawei and ZTE. (Tech Crunch)

Disasters and accidents

Three Minnesota National Guard members are killed when a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashes near St. Cloud. (AOL News)

International relations

Bosnia and Herzegovina takes full control of the country's airspace for the first time since the end of the Bosnian War. Bosnia's air space had been controlled by NATO between 1995 and 2003, following which it was controlled jointly by Serbia and Croatia until this announcement. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Indonesian police arrest more than 34 people over "charges of treason" for attempting to raise the outlawed Morning Star flag, which represents the independence movement of West Papua Province. (RNZ)
Accounting fraud
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges Neil Cole, former CEO of Iconix Brand Group, with accounting fraud. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump
- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces the U.S. House of Representatives will begin to draft articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump before the Christmas recess. (The New York Times)

2019 French Pension Reform Plan Strike
- A national strike begins in France over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform plan. (NPR)

December 4, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura and five Afghans are killed in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan when militants open fire on their car while they were travelling to monitor a project. (BBC) (Euronews)
Syrian Civil War, Iran–Israel proxy conflict
- An Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps weapons depot in Abu Kamal District, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, is hit by an airstrike. Arab media say Israel is behind the attack. The United States denies any involvement. (Ynet) (Haaretz)
In Madrid, Spain, a man throws a hand grenade at a migrant unaccompanied minor centre, although it did not explode. (The Guardian)
Eighteen Indian sailors are abducted near the Nigerian coast. (The Hindu)

Arts and culture

Gadhimai festival
- Thousands of animals are sacrificed by beheading at the Hindu Gadhimai Temple in southern Nepal. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A boat carrying refugees capsized near Nouadhibou, off the coast of Mauritania, in one of the deadliest maritime disasters this year, leaving 58 people dead and many more who tried to swim to shore in need of treatment. The boat had departed The Gambia on 27 November 2019. It was heading towards the Canary Islands when it approached the Mauritanian coast to get fuel and food. The boat had been carrying between 150–180 people when it capsized, most of them aged between 20 and 30. (The Guardian)

Health and environment

2019 Samoa measles outbreak
- Amid the imposed curfew, the Samoan government asks unvaccinated families to display a red flag or red cloth in front of their homes to warn others and to aid mass vaccination efforts as the death toll hits 60 and confirmed cases surpass 4,000. (Deutsche Welle)

International relations

Japan–United States relations
- The National Diet of Japan ratifies a United States–Japan trade deal. Under the deal, Japan will reduce its tariffs on U.S. beef and pork; in return, Japan will receive reductions in tariffs on certain manufactured goods. (Financial Times)
Iran–United States relations, Iran and weapons of mass destruction
- The Pentagon says the United States Navy's USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98) intercepted a vessel in the Arabian Sea last month and seized advanced missile parts that were of Iranian origin. The crew were handed over to the Yemen Coast Guard, while the missile parts are in the possession of the United States military. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Crime in Hawaii
- The U.S. military says a sailor shot and killed two people at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii, before killing himself. (UPI)

Politics and elections

Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump
- The U.S. House Judiciary Committee begins its hearings into the impeachment inquiry of U.S. President Donald Trump. (The New York Times)

Nunes v. CNN
- U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes files a US$435 million defamation lawsuit against CNN. (USA Today)

December 3, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Business and economy

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announce they are stepping down as CEO and president respectively from the company. Sundar Pichai will become the new CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc. effective immediately. (ABC News)

Disasters and accidents

An explosion at a ceramic factory in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, kills at least 16 people and leaves dozens injured, according to the Sudanese Professionals Association. (Gulf News)

Health and environment

2019 Samoa measles outbreak
- The government makes it illegal to make non-essential domestic travel on the roads while vaccination units cross the country with 40,000 still to be vaccinated. Also, the opposition calls for an inquiry into the low vaccination rates which began after a mistake by two nurses last year which resulted in the deaths of two children. (RNZ)

International relations

2019 London summit
- World leaders from members of NATO gather for their annual summit in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. (Time)

Law and crime

Pakistani business tycoon Malik Riaz agrees to surrender £190 million in cash and assets to the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency, including his Grade II listed-London home in One Hyde Park. The NCA accuse the tycoon of acquiring his wealth and property through crime. (Sky News)
The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland upholds a 2018 ruling that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is not a criminal group. The Tamil Tigers' primary objective in the Sri Lankan Civil War was, according to the court, to be recognised as an independent ethnic community. (swissinfo.com)
In Oshkosh, Wisconsin a school stabbing (shooting) broke out at one of there high schools, Oshkosh West High School at 9:15 am. A representative police officer was stabbed in the chest a few times. Then, the student who caused this event: was shot and Officer Mike Wissink and the 16 year-old student were taken to the hospital with no fatal injuries. (FoxNews.com) Dec-4-2019.

Politics and elections

Politics of Finland
- Antti Rinne resigns as the Prime Minister of Finland after losing the support of coalition partner Centre Party over Rinne's handling of industrial strikes. The Rinne Cabinet will continue as a caretaker government until a new government can be formed. (Reuters)
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- California Senator Kamala Harris drops out of the presidential race, citing a lack of funds for her campaign. (NPR)
Impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump
- The U.S. House Intelligence Committee releases a 300-page report of its impeachment inquiry saying there is "overwhelming" evidence of misconduct and obstruction of Congress by U.S. President Donald Trump. It is sent to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee for review. (CNN)

December 2, 2019 (Monday)

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Business and economy

Russia and China inaugurate their joint Power of Siberia gas pipeline. (The Seattle Times)

Disasters and accidents

Thirteen Pakistani nationals, including eight children and four women, have died and three others are injured in a fire at a farm in rural Jordan. (BBC)

Health and environment

2019 Samoa measles outbreak
- Police urge people to respect the curfew. Authorities order that children stay at home and announce that Christmas celebrations and public gatherings have been cancelled in order to prevent the epidemic from spreading even further. The death toll from the outbreak now stands at 53. (RNZ) (Stuff.co.nz) (RNZ₂)

International relations

China–United States relations
- China bans visits by United States military ships to Hong Kong and sanctions five U.S. NGOs, in response to the American Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act passed last week. (CNBC)
International Atomic Energy Agency approved Rafael Grossi as the new Director General.(IAEA)

Law and crime

A 12-year-old boy is killed and five other people are injured in a deliberate hit-and-run crash near a school in Loughton, Essex, United Kingdom. (BBC)
A man shoots himself on the steps of the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, causing an early adjournment of the day's question period. The individual is pronounced dead at the scene. (Global)