Portal:Current events/2015 November 21

Current events of November 21, 2015 (2015-11-21) (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks 2015 Brussels lockdown Belgium raises its terror alert level to the highest level in the capital Brussels and deploys soldiers on the streets of major Belgian cities such as Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent. As part of the emergency measures, the Belgian government is advising people in the Brussels area to avoid crowded places, which includes concerts, train stations, airports, public transportation, and busy shopping streets, warning of an "imminent threat". (France 24) (BNO News) The Brussels Metro is closed as part of the state of alert. (Reuters via Daily Mail) November 2015 Paris attacks Recruitment in the French Army increases after the attacks. (Channel News Asia) Ahmet Dahmani is detained by Turkish police in the resort of Antalya on suspicion of being an ISIL scout ahead of the Paris attacks. (Sky News) French police release seven of the eight people arrested during Wednesday's raid of a flat where the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks was hiding. The man who said he was in charge of the property is still being held. (Reuters) 2015 Bamako hotel attack Olivier Salgado, a spokesman for the U.N. mission in Mali, says at least 19 people were killed in the attack along with two of the attackers. Earlier reports indicated that 27 people died. (CNN) Ukrainian crisis Crimea is without power after transmission towers in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast were blown up by unknown people. The Crimean Emergencies Ministry declares a state of emergency due to the power outage and puts rescue teams on high alert. (RT) Boko Haram insurgency A suicide bomb attack in Fotokol, a town in Cameroon's Far North Region near the Nigerian border kills at least nine people. (Daily Mail) Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2015) A Palestinian terrorist stabs four people, including a 13-year-old girl, in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat; he flees and evades police for five hours before being arrested. (Times of Israel) Arts and culture British singer Adele's album 25 is released. (Billboard) Miss World 2015 Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin says that she is prevented from competing in China by the Chinese authorities after she spoke up against human rights abuses in the country. (BBC) Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of al-Azhar in Egypt, says violence has no link to authentic Islam, terrorism is a life philosophy whose adherents were willing to die and is an intellectual and psychological disease that uses religion as a front. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents Seven people, including the pilot, are killed in a helicopter crash on Fox Glacier in New Zealand. (stuff.co.nz) A fire in a coal mine in China's northeast Heilongjiang province results in 21 deaths and one person missing. (AP) Hpakant jade mine disaster A landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar kills up to 60 people with more than a hundred missing. (AP via ABC News America) The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck the central Chilean coast, south of the town of Coquimbo, at 6:05 PM EST. No immediate reports of damage or casualties; no tsunami alerts are in effect. (Reuters) (BNO News) (USGS) Health and medicine Research conducted by Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Children's Hospital and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests moderate caffeine consumption during pregnancy does not harm a baby's future intelligence or behavioral health. (UPI) International relations Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Japan's prime minister Shinzō Abe says he is considering sending Japanese Navy warships to the South China Sea to back-up U.S. naval operations, saying, "With regard to activity by the Self-Defense Forces in the South China Sea, I will consider it while focusing on what effect the situation has on Japan’s security." In response, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Hong Lei, told Chinese state media that China will remain on “high alert for intervention by Japan in the South China Sea issue”. (Bloomberg) (The Diplomat) Reactions to the November 2015 Paris attacks Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak denounces the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as an "evil" terrorist group. He said his Muslim-majority country is ready to join others to defeat it, cautioning that a military solution alone is not enough and that it is also necessary to vanquish the ideology of the group. (AP via Fresno Bee) United States President Barack Obama vows to keep United States borders open to refugees, "as long as I'm president," as he visited a Malaysian humanitarian center and met migrant children, many of whom escaped violence in homelands that include Myanmar, Pakistan, and Syria. (UPI) Law and crime A student, whose disappearance with a gun caused the precautionary closing of Washington College in Maryland (U.S.) this week, is found dead in Pennsylvania of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The campus will reopen after Thanksgiving. (Washington Post) (Washington College) Politics and elections Elections in the United States; Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2015 Democratic state Representative John Bel Edwards, the surprise winner of the October 24 open primary, is elected governor of Louisiana over Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter. Edwards' margin is 140,931 votes (56.11 percent), all 3,945 precincts reporting. Edwards will replace former Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, who was not eligible to seek another term. (NOLA.com) (Washington Post) Republican David Vitter says he will not run for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 2016. (AP) Science and technology A 14-year-old boy solves the Rubik's Cube in 4.90 seconds, beating the previous record of 5.25 seconds, and becoming the first person to solve it in under 5 seconds (The Guardian) Sport In motor sport, the team of Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber win the FIA World Endurance Championship. (Reuters via Yahoo News Australia) In baseball, South Korea defeats the United States in the 2015 WBSC Premier12. (Yahoo Sports) Boxing Anthony Crolla of England wins the World Boxing Association lightweight title defeating Darleys Perez in a title fight in Manchester. (BBC) Saúl Álvarez of Mexico defeats Miguel Cotto of Mexico to win the World Boxing Council middleweight championship. (AP) Ireland beat Australia in the 2015 International Rules Series at Croke Park. (Guardian) The Athens derby match between Superleague Greece's top two football teams, Panathinaikos and Olympiakos Piraeus, is called off before play could start. There were scuffles between riot police and fans outside the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium. Flares were also tossed onto the pitch. (Reuters) Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao F.C. win the AFC Champions League for their second time, after defeating Al-Ahli in the final. (Channel News Asia)