Portal:Current events/2019 November 23

November 23, 2019 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, November 2019 Syria bombings
- A car bomb detonates in Tell Abyad, Raqqa Governorate, killing ten people and wounding 25 others. (Reuters)
2019 Colombian protests
- Three Colombian police are killed and seven wounded by a car bomb in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca province. (The Guardian)

Health and environment

2019 Samoa measles outbreak
- Tonga and Fiji declare a state of emergency as part of an ongoing measles outbreak. Conditions worsen in Samoa where the death toll continues to rise and schools remain closed. There are 1,797 confirmed cases as of Saturday, with 153 detected on Friday alone. (BBC News)

International relations

2019 Iranian fuel protests
- Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri warns regional states of dire consequences, claiming the protests are "directly linked to the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel." (Reuters)
Iran–Iraq relations
- The border between Iran and Iraq reopens, after being closed for a week due to mass protests in their respective countries. (Reuters)
China–United States relations
- Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi accuses the United States of being the "world's biggest destabilizing factor" and of "smearing China everywhere" at the G20 meeting in Nagoya. (Reuters)
Australia–China relations, Chinese intelligence activity abroad
- Australian network newspapers, Nine’s The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers, report that a Chinese spy, Wang ‘William’ Liqiang - who defected to Australia, gives counter-espionage agency the names of senior military intelligence officers he says funded and conducted operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. (South China Morning Post)
- Wang says he was personally involved in infiltration and disruption operations in all three territories, and “revealed in granular detail” how Beijing covertly controls listed companies to fund intelligence operations, including the surveillance and profiling of dissidents and the co-opting of media organizations. (BBC News)
- Wang is now seeking asylum in Australia, saying he ‘will be dead’ if he returns home. (ABC)
- The Shanghai police department says that Wang is a conman who was convicted for fraud in 2016 and is being investigated for another case of fraud since April 2019. (South China Morning Post)
Pope Francis travels to Japan
- During his 23 to 26 November journey to Japan, Pope Francis visits Tokyo, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The only pope to previously visit Japan was Pope John Paul II from 23–26 February 1981. (Holy See Press Office) (Vatican News)

Politics and elections

2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum
- People in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville vote to choose between more autonomy within Papua New Guinea or outright independence. However, the Papua New Guinea central government will have the final say on accepting independence. (RNZ)
2019 referendum on the creation of a Sidama region
- The Ethiopian electoral board announces that the referendum to grant autonomy to the Sidama Zone passed with 98.5% of the vote. (Reuters)
Climate change policy, Harvard-Yale football game
- A non-violent protest was held at the Yale Bowl during the annual Harvard-Yale football game at halftime. The apparently scheduled protest included both Yale and Harvard students. The students were protesting the colleges' usage of endowments from fossil fuel companies. The game was delayed for about an hour. There were some arrests. (CNN) (The New York Times}

Sports

2019 Copa Libertadores
- The premier association football club competition of South America concludes with Brazilian club Flamengo beating titleholders River Plate 2-1 in Lima's Monumental Stadium. It is their first title since 1981 and second overall. (BBC Sport)