Portal:Current events/2015 December 20

December 20, 2015 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Air France Flight 463 en-route to Paris from Mauritius makes an emergency landing in Mombasa, Kenya, after a package, suspected to be a bomb is found in the toilet. Later, Air France CEO Frédéric Gagey says it was a false alarm; the package contained a mixture of cardboard, sheets of paper, and a timer. (AP via News24) (CNN) (Reuters)
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–Vietnam relations
- Vietnam is reported to be preparing for a possible military conflict with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea. (Reuters)
Syrian Civil War
- Israeli involvement
  - An Israeli Air Force missile-strike on Jaramana in southern Syria kills prominent Lebanese Hezbollah militant, Samir Kuntar, and eight National Defence Force (NDF) personnel. Kuntar was the longest serving Lebanese prisoner in Israel until his release in 2008. (Reuters)
- International intervention
  - Airstrikes, apparently from Russian jets, kill scores of people in the center of rebel-held Idlib in northwest Syria. The missiles hit a busy market place, several government buildings, and residential areas. At least 73 bodies, 30 unidentified, have been recovered. Yasser Hammo, a civil defense worker, says, "There are a lot of corpses under the rubble." (Reuters)

Business and economics

Thousands, including families, children, and miners from around the country, march from Knottingley to North Yorkshire to mark the end of deep coal mining in the United Kingdom. The last facility, Kellingley Colliery in Beal, North Yorkshire, closed for good, Friday, 18 December 2015. The march was organized by two miners' wives to pay tribute to this industry. (The Independent) (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Twenty-two buildings collapse after a landslide hit an industrial park in Shenzhen, China, leaving at least 59 people missing. (PTI via The Economic Times)
An avalanche in Svalbard, a Norwegian Arctic archipelago, kills one and injures nine others as the snow smashes into 10 houses in Longyearbyen. The deluge from Sukkertoppen mountain follows Friday's 60 mph storm that ripped off a school roof and temporarily closed the airport. Dozens of homes at the foot of the mountain were evacuated and all of the area's residents have been located, according to Tone Hertzberg, a spokeswoman for Svalbard's governor. Experts from Norges Geotekniske Institutt are examining nearby slopes. (AP via CBS News) (newsinenglish.no)
A ferry ran into trouble in rough seas off the coast of Indonesia's island of Sulawesi, with at least three killed, including two children, 39 rescued, and 77 missing. The New Marina, a fiberglass boat, was reported to be carrying 109 passengers with a crew of 10. The National Search and Rescue Agency says the boat sank 22.5 km (24 miles) off the coast of the Wajo Regency in South Sulawesi. Rescue teams expect to resume their search for the missing, Monday. (BenarNews) (Muscat Daily)

Politics and elections

Spanish general election, 2015
- Today's parliamentary election is forecast to end Spain's two-party system as the traditional powers, the center-right People's Party (PP) and the center-left Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), are facing real challenges from the anti-austerity Podemos Party and the liberal Ciudadanos party (C's). Analysts expect a high turnout. (Reuters via Huffington Post) (Newsweek)
United States presidential election, 2016
- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders presidential campaign fires national data director Josh Uretsky, and suspends two staffers following Friday's announcement the campaign had improperly accessed and downloaded voter data belonging to Hillary Clinton's campaign. NBC News reports at least four individuals affiliated with the campaign were involved in the breach, which occurred Wednesday. (NBC News) (Bloomberg)
Elections in Iran
- Iranian legislative election, 2016
  - Iran starts registering candidates for the 290-seat parliamentary elections scheduled for 26 February 2016. Potential candidates must be approved by the Guardian Council. The elections will, effectively, be a vote on President Hassan Rouhani’s moderate policies that received a boost from the July 14 landmark nuclear deal. (AP via The Washington Post)
- Iranian Assembly of Experts election, 2016
  - Elections for the 88-seat Experts Assembly, a clerical body empowered to choose or dismiss Iran’s supreme leader and supervise his activities, are scheduled for Thursday 25 February 2016. Those elected may decide who replaces Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is 76. (Deutsche Welle)