Current events: 2023-11-16

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Myanmar civil war
  • The Arakan Army captures the town of Pauktaw, Rakhine State. The military responds by bombing the town with helicopters and warships. (The Irrawaddy)
• 2023 Israel–Hamas war
  • Israeli Police kill three gunmen who attacked a checkpoint near Jerusalem, injuring six security forces. (AFP via RFI)
• War in Sudan
  • The Sudan Liberation Movement, Justice and Equality Movement, and other smaller rebel factions, declare war on the Rapid Support Forces, having previously remained neutral in the conflict. (Sudan Tribune)

Disasters and accidents

• Twenty-six people are killed and 63 others injured during a fire at an office in Lüliang, Shanxi, China. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• The European Commission renews its authorisation of the systemic herbicide glyphosate for 10 years, following the European Union member states' failure to reach a consensus on its renewal. (AFP via France 24)

International relations

• Foreign relations of Haiti, Foreign relations of Kenya, Haitian crisis
  • The Parliament of Kenya approves the deployment of its police officers to Haiti as part of a United Nations-backed multinational security mission to combat the gang war in Haiti. (AFP via TOI)
• Sweden–NATO relations, Sweden–Turkey relations, Enlargement of NATO
  • The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission delays a vote on Sweden's NATO membership bid. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2024 United States elections
  • 2024 United States House of Representatives elections
    • U.S. Rep. George Santos says he will not seek re-election next year after the House Ethics Committee issued a scathing report against him, which led to him being charged with felonies. (ABC News)
• Russian activist Aleksandra Skochilenko is sentenced to seven years in prison on charges related for her protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AP via WIVB)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Malagasy presidential election
  • Citizens of Madagascar head to the polls to elect a new president. (Africanews)
• 2023 Spanish government formation
  • Pedro Sánchez is re-elected as prime minister of Spain, forming his third government. (The Guardian)
• Aftermath of 2023 Guatemalan general election
  • The Guatemalan Attorney General's Office requested that the immunity of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and Vice President-elect Karin Herrera be lifted for their alleged participation in the seizure of the facilities of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. If the request is successful, both could be arrested. (Bloomberg)

Science and technology

• A flight from Norse Atlantic Airways lands in Antarctica from Cape Town, South Africa, making it the first Boeing 787 flight to land on the continent. (Flightradar24)

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