December 21, 2019 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- A suicide attack by car bomb in Galkayo, Somalia, kills at least seven civilians, though the death toll is expected to rise according to military officials. According to a military spokesman, the suicide bomber tried to enter a hotel compound but failed and hit a military pickup. No group has claimed responsibility yet. (Reuters)
- Islamic insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present), Operation Barkhane
- During his visit to West Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron says that French forces killed 33 Islamist militants in central Mali earlier that day. (The Guardian)
- Second Libyan Civil War, Libya–Turkey relations
- The Libyan Coast Guard loyal to Field marshal Khalifa Haftar seizes a Grenada-flagged ship with a Turkish crew off the coast of Derna, Libya, according to a spokesman for the Libyan National Army. (Reuters)
Business and economy
- Nord Stream 2 says it will finish construction "as soon as possible" after a contractor suspends pipe-laying work due to U.S. sanctions on the Russian gas pipeline to Europe. (Reuters)
- Russia–Ukraine relations
Disasters and accidents
- A fire at an apartment building in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, kills six people and injures thirteen others. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
- A bus collides with a truck near Gualán, Guatemala, killing at least 21 people including seven children, according to the Guatemalan Public Ministry. (CNN)
Law and crime
- Censorship in Pakistan, Blasphemy in Pakistan, Capital punishment in Pakistan
- A court in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan, sentences university professor Junaid Hafeez to death for blasphemy – verbal and on Facebook. (Al Jazeera)
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest two suspects after they allegedly made online death threats to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau had to wear a bulletproof vest during a visit to Mississauga, Ontario, due to the threats made during his electoral campaign. (Yahoo! News Canada)