Portal:Current events/2019 November 4
November 4, 2019 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2019 Iraqi protests
- At least five people are killed, and up to 30 wounded, when security forces fire live rounds at protestors trying to scale a barricade near Ahrar Bridge in Baghdad. (Al Jazeera)
- The Iraqi government cuts off internet access in much of the country, including a total blackout in Baghdad, amid continued civil unrest. (Reuters)
- LeBarón family massacre
- Gunmen kill 9 American Mexican Mormons in Sonora, northern Mexico. (BBC News) (USA Today) (BBC News)
- Sinai insurgency
- Egypt military kill over 80 Islamic State militants in central and North Sinai over the month. (Reuters)
- Nine crew members of a Norwegian ship were kidnapped off the coast of Benin. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- The Niagara Parks Commission says the wreckage of the Niagara Scow, stuck in the rapids above Niagara Falls since 1918 before being moved downstream about 164 feet due to a strong storm, is being monitored as it moves closer to the edge of the falls, but that the scow could be stuck in its new position for "days or years." (Sky News) (CTV News)
International relations
- Iran–United States relations
- On the 40th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran chairman Ali Akbar Salehi announces his government has doubled the amount of advanced centrifuges limited by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and are working on a prototype that is fifty times faster than those allowed. He blames the United States's withdrawal from the agreement last year for these actions. (Al Jazeera)
- United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement
- The United States notifies the United Nations of its formal withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. (NPR)
- Japan–South Korea relations
- South Korean President Moon Jae-in hold a 11-minute conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe at ASEAN summit in Bangkok. (The Hankyoreh)
Law and crime
- Tax returns of Donald Trump
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rules that Mazars, a global audit, accounting and consulting group, must turn over eight years of U.S. President Donald Trump's tax returns in its possession to New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. (Forbes)
- Impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump
- The U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs release the transcripts of the first two closed-door depositions in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The testimonies are that of former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and former Ambassador to Brazil Michael McKinley. Yovanovitch said she felt threatened by President Trump, while McKinley said that he resigned from his position because he was concerned about "the engagement of our missions to procure negative political information for domestic purposes," something he says he had never observed the State Department try to take part in throughout his career, with the exception of the Trump administration. (CNN)
- U.S. House Republicans are reportedly having "active and serious" discussions about assigning Ohio Representative Jim Jordan to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence so that the Republican Party can more effectively challenge the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. (Mediaite)
Politics and elections
- 2019 Speaker of the British House of Commons election
- Members of the UK House of Commons vote to elect a new Speaker of the House, replacing the retiring John Bercow. The Labour Party's Sir Lindsay Hoyle defeats Chris Bryant in the fourth and final ballot. (The Guardian)
- Politics of Romania
- The Romanian Parliament elects Ludovic Orban as Prime Minister after Viorica Dăncilă was ousted on 10 October by a vote of no-confidence. (ABC News)
Science and technology
- Voyager program
- NASA says it has received the first message from interstellar space from its Voyager 2 spacecraft. (The Guardian) (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Sports
- Hulman & Company, owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and INDYCAR, LLC (including the IndyCar Series), announces its sale to Penske Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Penske Corporation, parent company of Team Penske. The transaction is expected to close in January, pending regulator approval and ends 74 years of Hulman-George family ownership of the historic race track. (The Washington Post)