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Cyclone Bulbul

Cyclone Bulbul (satellite image shown) hits the Indian and Bangladeshi coasts of the Bay of Bengal, killing at least 24 people.
After weeks of protests over electoral fraud, Bolivian president Evo Morales and other high-ranking politicians are forced to resign, and opposition senator Jeanine Áñez becomes interim president.
The Supreme Court of India delivers a unanimous verdict in favour of the construction of a Hindu temple at a disputed holy site in Ayodhya.
A border corridor is opened between Pakistan and India, allowing Indian Sikh pilgrims visa-free access to Kartarpur Sahib for the first time since the partition.

November 17, 2019 (Sunday)

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International relations

2018–19 Korean peace process
- U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and South Korean Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo announce their countries will postpone their annual joint military air exercises to help facilitate the peace process. (San Francisco Chronicle)

November 16, 2019 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Terrorism in Sri Lanka
- Gunmen open fire on two buses carrying Muslim voters to the polls near Anuradhapura. No casualties are reported and no arrests take place. (The Guardian)
Syrian Civil War
- Turkey blames another attack on the PKK. The bombings targeted a bus terminal in al-Bab, Aleppo Governorate, killing 18 and wounding dozens of others. (Al Jazeera)
2019 Iraqi protests
- A car bomb detonates near a protest in Baghdad, killing two people and injuring 20. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
Gaza–Israel clashes (November 2019)
- Continuing rocket fire leads Israel to launch fresh strikes into Gaza in response. (France24)
An attack on civilians in the village of Mbau, Democratic Republic of the Congo, using bladed weapons, kills over 18 civilians. Islamic militants are the suspected attackers.(Reuters)

Arts and culture

LGBT rights in Hong Kong
- Amid violent protests, Hong Kong holds its gay pride parade in spite of a police ban. Human rights and pro-democracy and openly gay activist Jimmy Sham heads the march. (Sydney Morning Herald)

International relations

Iran–United States relations
- United States Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein asks Gulf States to be united amid rising tensions with Iran as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have divided opinions with Qatar. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2019 Iranian fuel protests
- Large protests rock major Iranian cities with clashes reported between protesters and security forces. (Radio Farda)
2019 Sri Lankan presidential election
- Sri Lankan voters head to the polls to elect a new president. Although 35 candidates are running, the main frontrunners are former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the right-wing Sri Lanka People's Front and current Minister of Housing and Construction Sajith Premadasa of the centre-right United National Party. (Reuters)
- Rajapaksa claims victory and Premadasa concedes defeat, with half of the counted for. (Reuters)
Yellow vests movement
- Parisian police fire tear gas and water cannons at protestors and arrest around 105 people on the anniversary of the first Yellow Vest protests. (Reuters)
2019 Louisiana gubernatorial election
- Incumbent Democratic governor John Bel Edwards narrowly defeats businessman and Republican candidate Eddie Rispone to retain his seat. The results follow recent gains by the Democratic Party in elections in Virginia and Kentucky. (Reuters)

November 15, 2019 (Friday)

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Business and economy

The Iranian government announces that, effective immediately, petrol will be rationed to 60 litres per month, and prices will increase 50%. Fuel beyond the limit will cost double. Iranians take to the street to oppose the price hikes, which result from American sanctions in response to Iran's nuclear program. (Al Jazeera) (The New York Times)

International relations

North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens, Japan–North Korea relations
- Sakie Yokota, the mother of a Japanese girl abducted by North Korea 42 years ago at the age of 13, appeals directly to Kim Jong-un to release her and all Japanese abductees. She also decries the lack of Japanese government action on the issue. (NHK)
Japan–South Korea relations, Japan–United States relations, South Korea–United States relations
- Japan, South Korea and the United States agree to boost multilateral military cooperation and defense issues. (Yonhap Korean Agency)

Politics and elections

2019 Hong Kong protests
- A 70-year-old bystander dies after being hit by a brick in clashes between two opposing groups of protesters. (BBC) (South China Morning Post)
- Pro-Beijing Hong Kong Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng suffers minor injuries after being heckled in London. China's Foreign Ministry condemns the protesters. (Reuters) (South China Morning Post)
2019 Chilean protests
- An agreement is signed by most of the political parties supporting a referendum in April 2020 regarding the draft of a new constitution through a constituent convention. This will be the first time the Constitution of Chile is written with popular participation. (Cooperativa)
Criminal charges brought in the Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)
- A federal jury convicts Roger Stone of lying to the United States Congress and tampering with a witness about his efforts to learn about the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks's release of hacked Democratic emails in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (The Washington Post)
2019 Bolivian protests
- Security forces open fire on protesters in Cochabamba, killing at least five. (CBC)

November 14, 2019 (Thursday)

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Business and economy

Ford announces that its new electric SUV will be known as the Mustang Mach-E. The "Mustang" model name, previously employed by Ford's muscle cars, could be an important asset for the new venture. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A vehicle collision in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province kills at least 28 people, all Afghan nationals. (BBC)

Law and crime

Saugus High School shooting
- A school shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, injures five students, two fatally. The 16-year-old gunman, identified as Nathaniel Berhow, shoots himself, is hospitalized, and dies a day later. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis
- After the admission of the European Arrest Warrant against her, ousted Catalan Education Minister Clara Ponsatí, who is in a "self-exile" in Edinburgh, appears in court and is bailed without charges hours after. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2019 Hong Kong protests
- Chief Superintendent of Police of Hong Kong Tse Chun-chung says protesters' acts are "another step closer to terrorism". (Reuters)
Japan–South Korea relations
- South Korean government officials announce that Japan and the United States are interested in renewing the GSOMIA pact between Japan and South Korea to maintain bilateral cooperation between the two nations in defense issues. (Yonhap Korean Agency)
2019 Bolivian protests, 2019 Bolivian political crisis
- Bolivian police use tear gas to break up a peaceful pro-Morales counter-protest in La Paz, then block about a dozen pro-Morales senators from entering the nation's legislature. Pro-Morales demonstrators respond with cries of "dictatorship" and throw stones at the police. (The New York Times)
Politics of Moldova
- Ion Chicu is sworn in as Prime Minister after the collapse of Maia Sandu's government on 12 November. (Reuters)

November 13, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- November 2019 Kabul bombing
  - A suicide car bomb kills 12 people and injures 20 others near the Interior Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Al Jazeera) (Yahoo News)
Terrorism in Indonesia
- A suicide bomber kills himself and injures six other people when he detonates near police headquarters in Medan, Indonesia. (DW)
Gaza–Israel conflict; Gaza–Israel clashes (November 2019)
- Israeli airstrikes leave 22 Palestinians (20 militants and 2 civilians) dead and dozens injured. (Haaretz)
- More than 200 rockets are fired into Israel from Gaza. (New York Post)
- An Islamic Jihad rocket commander and five relatives are killed in an Israeli airstrike. (The Times of Israel)
Islamist insurgency in Mozambique, Mozambique–Tanzania relations
- Jihadists kill six civilians and injure seven in a village near the Mozambique–Tanzania border. All the victims are Tanzanian nationals, while the terrorists are identified as Mozambicans. (News24)
Terrorism in Poland
- Two people are arrested in Poland for planning to kill Muslims in an attack inspired by the 2011 Utoya/Oslo attacks by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, and the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shootings. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A bus collision with a truck near Nitra kills 13 people and leaves at least 17 wounded. The disaster is the deadliest in Slovakia in a decade. (Reuters)

International relations

Japan–North Korea relations, Japan–South Korea relations
- South Korean media reports that between May and September, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe sent personal letters to North Korea's Kim Jong-un to hold bilateral meetings to ease tensions between the two countries. A Japanese government spokesman denies the report. (The Japan Times)

Law and crime

Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
- The Australian High Court agrees to hear a final appeal from ex-Vatican treasurer and convicted child sex offender George Pell, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting three teenage choirboys. (Reuters)
After the South Korean government launches an investigation into comfort women, a survivor tells the press that Japan "lacked honor" for failing to attend the South Korean court's proceedings. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2019 Hong Kong protests
- Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam vows not to give in to protesters as chaos continues into Wednesday morning. (The Straits Times)
- Schools, transport links and businesses close amid rising clashes in the city. (Reuters)
2019 Bolivian protests, Evo Morales government resignation
- Bolivia's exiled former president Evo Morales rejects the presidency of opposition senator Jeanine Áñez, but police bar lawmakers from his party from entering the legislature to undo it. (The Washington Post)
- Two people were killed on in clashes between Bolivian police and supporters of former president Evo Morales. In total, 10 people have been killed so far since political turmoil broke out in Bolivia. (Al-Jazeera)
Rached Ghannouchi is elected Speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People of Tunisia. (Arabic Euronews)

November 12, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Gaza–Israel conflict
- Israel conducts airstrikes on Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (PIJ) targets in Gaza Strip. (NPR)

Disasters and accidents

Mondobhag train collision
- Two passenger trains collide head-on in Kasba, Bangladesh, killing at least 16 people and injuring over 100. (Reuters)
Sea level rise driven by effects of global warming on oceans, Acqua alta
- An exceptional high tide of 187 centimetres (6.14 ft) hits flooded Venice, Italy. It is the second highest acqua alta in Venetian history, after the 1966 Venice flood. Two deaths are reported. (NDTV) (BBC) (The Guardian)

Law and crime

LGBT rights in Uganda
- Police in Uganda raid a gay-friendly bar in Kampala and charge 67 people with "common nuisance" in what is described as the "latest attack on Uganda's LGBT community". (The New York Times)
Crime in China
- A man attacks a kindergarten class in Kaiyuan, China, with chemical spray, injuring 51 children and three teachers. (CNN)
Crime in Thailand
- In Chanthaburi Province, Thailand, an ex-policeman shoots and kills two people, including a former prime minister's lawyer and a plaintiff, before being killed by return fire. (ABC News)

Politics and elections

2019 Hong Kong protests
- As the situation worsens with clashes in the central financial district, police say violence is bringing the city to the "brink of total breakdown". Large-scale protests continue near the City University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and other districts including Central and Tai Po. (Reuters)
- After police shoot a protester with live ammunition, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam speaks out and labels the protesters as "selfish" for "paralyzing" the city and urges all students not to take part in protests. (Reuters)
- Police investigate protesters for attempted murder after they are filmed setting a 57-year-old man on fire during an argument. (CNA)
November 2019 Spanish general election
- Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez from the PSOE and Pablo Iglesias, leader of the left-wing Podemos, announce a first government agreement that will constitute the first coalition government in Spain's democratic history. This follows the failure to reach an agreement last summer and the rise of the far-right party Vox. (El País) (The New York Times)
2019 Catalan protests, Catalan independence movement
- Protesters block the two main passages between Spain and France. In La Jonquera, on the border between Catalonia and France, French National Police try to expel rioters. (The Guardian) (BBC)
- The Parliament of Catalonia approves a resolution expressing willingness to exercise the right to self-determination concretely, mocking the warnings of the Constitutional Court, which suspends its effects shortly thereafter. (El País) (The New York Times)
- During the night, some major throughways of Barcelona and Tarragona and national roads in Basque Country are blocked for a few minutes. (La Vanguardia)
2019 Bolivian protests, Evo Morales government resignation
- Despite lacking a quorum in a session of the National Congress, Senator Jeanine Áñez immediately declares herself President of Bolivia due to the vacancy arising from the resignation and exile of Evo Morales. (The New York Times)
2019 United Kingdom general election
- Nigel Farage announces that his Brexit Party will withdraw its candidates in the 317 seats that the ruling Conservative Party won in the last general election. The move is expected to increase the chances of a Conservative majority in parliament. (The Washington Times)
Politics of Moldova
- A vote of no-confidence oustes the government of Prime Minister Maia Sandu after breaking the coalition government with Socialist Party. (Reuters)

November 11, 2019 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Bolivian protests, Evo Morales government resignation
- Buildings are set alight in La Paz overnight in apparent retaliatory attacks after Evo Morales resigned under pressure from anger over his disputed re-election. (Reuters)
- Armed gangs attack people in Cochabamba who appear to be celebrating Evo Morales's resignation. (The New York Times)
- Drinking water supplies to La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia's top two largest cities, are cut off. (The New York Times)
- Former Bolivian President Evo Morales says he has accepted an offer of political asylum in Mexico and boards a Mexican government plane as Bolivian Army troops are deployed in the capital. (BBC)
Gaza–Israel conflict
- The Israel Defense Forces say they've killed Baha Abu al-Ata, leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine's armed wing known as the Al-Quds Brigades, in an airstrike on a building in the Gaza Strip. PIJ confirms the death of Baha Abu al-Ata and his wife, vowing to "shake the Zionist entity to its core" in response. (Haaretz) (The Jerusalem Post)
Syrian Civil War, Israeli involvement in the Syrian Civil War
- Israeli Air Force jets target a downtown Damascus house belonging to Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. The strike killed one of the militant's son. (Haaretz)
- Three blasts targeting the town of Qamishli in Syria kill 6 and wound dozens of others. All the blasts were claimed by ISIL. (Al-Jazeera)
- ISIL also claims responsibility for the killing of an Armenian priest and his father. (Vatican News)
Gunmen kill nine in twin attacks in Punjab a Pakistan province. The ambushes killed two police officers, two intelligence officers and an informant in the first attack. The second attack happened at a checkpoint when unknown gunmen killed an officer and three others. (TOLONEWS) (RadioFreeEurope)

Arts and culture

The wreckage of United States Navy submarine USS Grayback (SS-208), which disappeared with its 80 crew members in the East China Sea on February 27, 1944 during World War II, is discovered on the sea floor using new drone technology. (BBC) (CNN)

Law and crime

James Le Mesurier, the British co-founder of the White Helmets, a volunteer civil defence organisation in Syria, is found dead near his home in Istanbul, Turkey. The cause of death is not known. (BBC)
Cristian Sabou pleads guilty to the murder of Valerie Graves. He is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 23 years 272 days. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

2019 Hong Kong protests
- Protesters in Hong Kong call for a city-wide strike amidst an escalation in violence. Police shot a man with a live round at point-blank range in Sai Wan Ho district, besieged the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and fired tear gas inside the campuses. (Reuters)
- Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says on Monday that violence has exceeded protesters' demands for democracy and labels the demonstrators as the "people's enemy". (Reuters)
The Kiribati High Court clears the way for the opposition to file a motion of no confidence against President Taneti Mamau amid reported discontent with the government's decision to switch its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan to recognition of the People's Republic of China. (RNZ)
International reactions to the persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar
- Fifty-seven countries file a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice against Myanmar, formally accusing their government of committing a genocide against the country's Rohingya population. (ABC News)
2019 United Kingdom general election
- Major parties put forward veterans' platforms for Remembrance Day, the first in a campaign season since the 1923 election, with the Conservatives proposing an amendment to the Human Rights Act so that it will no longer apply to The Troubles or other 20th-century actions and the Labour Party promising extra childcare for military families and a new railcard for veterans. This is the 100th anniversary of the two-minute silence and other Armistice Day commemorations worldwide. (BBC) (Wikispore)

Science and technology

Transit of Mercury
- In a rare celestial event, Mercury passes directly between Earth and the Sun for five and a half hours. Mercury's next transit will be in 2032. (CBS News)

More November 2019 events...

Time: 06:26 UTC|Day: 17 November