Portal:Current events/2019 November 18

November 18, 2019 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Hong Kong protests
- Police seal off and trap hundreds of students and protesters inside Hong Kong Polytechnic University amid fears of a crackdown. After a police officer is injured, security forces threaten to fire live bullets if protesters do not give up lethal weapons. (Reuters)
- Protesters manage to escape from the university by shimmying down plastic hosing from a bridge and fleeing on waiting motorbikes as the police fire projectiles. (Reuters)
Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- An airstrike on a biscuit shop kills five Bangladeshi nationals and two Libyans and wounds 33 others in Tripoli, Libya. A U.N. envoy to Libya claims that it could be a war crime. (Seattle Time)
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- A South Korean oil drilling rig is seized by Houthi rebels. It is unknown how many sailors were on board. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
2019 Iranian fuel protests
- A Revolutionary Guard commander vows decisive action to restore calm to Iran. (Newsweek)
- The death toll in the protests rises to 12, but reports vary. (BBC)
Northern Mali conflict
- Militants kill 24 soldiers and wound 29 others on an army patrol in northern Mali. Seventeen militants were also killed in the melee. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Japan opens its first military arms show, as it tries to improve its military technology to combat external threats from China and North Korea. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Fukushima nuclear disaster
- The Japanese government authorizes a release of contaminated water from the plant into the Pacific Ocean. Officials say that the release represents a "significantly small" risk to human health. (Kyodo News English)

International relations

Law and crime

2019 Hong Kong protests
- The Hong Kong High Court rules that the government's mask ban violates the Basic Law. (South China Morning Post)
LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia
- Two Saudi journalists, one of whom worked for CNN and the BBC, are outed as gay, which prompts them to flee and seek asylum in Australia. (Reuters)
2019 Bolivian protests
- Interim interior minister Arturo Murillo threatens to arrest MAS legislators, who refuse to recognize Jeanine Áñez's legitimacy, for "subversion". (The Globe Post)

Politics and elections

Marshall Islands general election
- Citizens cast their votes for the 33 members of the country's legislature. (Reuters)
2019 Bolivian protests
- Thousands of Bolivian coca farmers came out in protest in favour of Evo Morales and called for the resignation of Jeanine Áñez as Acting President. (Reuters)