Portal:Current events/2019 October 22

October 22, 2019 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone
- Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, presidents of Russia and Turkey respectively, reach an agreement in Sochi, which would end Turkey's offensive into Northern Syria. (CNN) (CNN₂)

Arts and culture

2019 Japanese imperial transition
- Japanese Emperor Naruhito officially proclaims his enthronement as the Emperor of Japan in an ancient enthronement ceremony held in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, after ascending to the throne on 1 May. It was attended by about 2,000 guests with 420 foreign dignitaries. (CNN) (BBC News)
Presidency of Donald Trump
- An anonymous senior Donald Trump administration official, who in 2018 wrote a controversial New York Times op-ed called treasonous by President Trump, has written a book about the administration titled "A Warning," its publisher says. It will be released next month. (The Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse
- The National Transportation Safety Board of the United States concludes its investigation into the accident, which killed six and injured ten. It states design errors were the immediate cause, exacerbated by failures to take appropriate remedial action when cracks were discovered. (USA Today)
A convention centre catches fire in Auckland while still under construction, causing significant disruption in the CBD. (Stuff)

Law and crime

Crime in Norway
- Police officers in Oslo wound an armed 32-year-old man, who injured three people when he rammed a stolen ambulance into them. The police then arrest him and a 25-year-old woman, both of whom have connections to the Nordic Resistance Movement. (The Guardian) (The Telegraph)
Manchester Arena bombing
- UK Home Secretary Priti Patel announces the inquests into the deaths of the victims will be converted into a public inquiry at the request of the coroner. This enables the hearing of evidence in secret by members of the intelligence community, which would otherwise not be available as the coroner had previously granted public interest immunity to the witnesses on the grounds of possible assistance to future terrorists were the evidence to be heard. Inquests cannot hear secret evidence. (The Telegraph)
Trump–Ukraine scandal, Impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump
- Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor Jr. testifies before Congress that he had been told President Donald Trump would, to help his reelection chances, withhold military aid to Ukraine until that country publicly declared investigations would be launched into Burisma Holdings, a company that hired former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter, as well as Ukraine's alleged involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (Salon)

Politics and elections

2019 Chilean protests
- According to candidate for Vice President of Argentina for the Together for Change alliance, Miguel Ángel Pichetto, there is a "destabilization plan in Latin America directly linked to Venezuela's and Cuba's governments' activities". Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie also expressed his concerns and said there were "calculated and identical methods of destabilization in the region". He blames Nicolás Maduro's government after Constituent Assembly President Diosdado Cabello says there is a "Bolivarian breeze" in the region. (Clarín) (Buenos Aires Times)
Abortion in Northern Ireland, Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland
- As a result of the local government failing to reconvene in time, the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 comes into effect. This means abortion is decriminalized in Northern Ireland, and same-sex marriage is scheduled to commence in February 2020. (BBC News)
Brexit
- The British Parliament votes 329 to 299 to pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, but then rejects the proposed timetable in a separate 322 to 308 vote. Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow says the bill is now "in limbo", and Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to consult with European Union leaders for the time being. (BBC News)

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