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Ricky Rubio

The FIBA Basketball World Cup concludes, with Spain defeating Argentina in the final (tournament MVP Ricky Rubio pictured).
In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Championship concludes, with Dublin defeating Kerry in the final.
Drone attacks on two major oil facilities force Saudi Arabia to cut more than half of its oil production.
Astronomers announce the detection of water in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b, the first such discovery for an exoplanet in the habitable zone around a star.

September 19, 2019 (Thursday)

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September 18, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Business and economy

2019 Japan–South Korea trade dispute
- South Korea officially removes Japan from its "whitelist" of countries with fast-track trade status. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

At least 27 people, a majority of them children, are killed in a fire caused by an electrical problem at a boarding school in a suburb near the Liberian capital of Monrovia. (BBC)
A Twin Otter cargo plane carrying rice and four people goes missing shortly after its departure from Timika, Indonesia. (The Loadstar)

International relations

2019 Persian Gulf crisis
- Saudi Arabia joins the International Maritime Security Construct. (Arab News)
Solomon Islands–United States relations
- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence cancels a meeting with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in response to the country's move to cut ties with Taiwan and establish relations with China. (RNZ)

Law and crime

2019 Samoa assassination plot
- Prosecution in the case of the latest attempt to kill Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi announce that Eletise Leafa Vitale, convicted of the assassination of one of Malielegoai's Cabinet members in another failed attempt at killing him in 1999, will testify in the trial against the conspirators of this year's plot. (RNZ)
Crisis in Venezuela
- Human Rights Watch reveals details of arbitrary executions and arrests on behalf of the Maduro government in areas of Venezuela where the public no longer show support for disputed president Nicolás Maduro. (Human Rights Watch)

Politics and elections

Cabinet of Donald Trump
- U.S. President Donald Trump appoints attorney and former U.S. State Department hostage negotiator Robert O'Brien as his new National Security Advisor. (The New York Times)

September 17, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflict and attacks

17 September 2019 Afghanistan bombings
- Suicide bombings in Afghanistan kill 48 people including civilians and soldiers. The first is in Charikar at a rally for Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan. The second is in Kabul near the U.S. embassy. (The New York Times) (BBC)
Islamic terrorism in Europe
- An Italian soldier in Milan was stabbed in the neck and in the back with a pair of scissors by a man. He was arrested after the stabbing, which was described as a terrorist attack linked to Islamic extremism. The soldier survived the attack. (TGCOM24)

Disasters and accidents

2019 Atlantic hurricane season
- Tropical Storm Imelda makes landfall in Texas, threatening severe flash flooding throughout Eastern Texas and the Houston area. (The Washington Post)
Italian champion speedboat designer and racer Fabio Buzzi and two other racers are killed when their boat, attempting to set a new Monte Carlo-to-Venice record in the Assonautica Italiana race, crashes into a sunken, flood-barrier dam near the finish line. A fourth racer is in hospital with serious injuries. (BBC) (Il Globo)

International relations

Foreign relations of Taiwan, Foreign relations of China, Foreign relations of the Solomon Islands
- Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen regrets and strongly condemns the move by the Solomon Islands to cut ties with Taiwan and establish relations with China. (RNZ)
2019 Abqaiq–Khurais attack
- An anonymous U.S. official says the United States is certain that the attack was launched from Iranian territory and that it involved cruise missiles. (The Daily Star)

Politics and elections

Donald Trump impeachment hearings
- Amid a gag order from the White House, impeachment hearings begin at the United States House Committee on the Judiciary. (The Independent)
Brexit, 2019 British prorogation controversy
- The UK Supreme Court begins considering the lawfulness of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament. It is jointly considering two appeals. One is against a ruling by the High Court under English law that the issue is solely a matter for the Prime Minister and one the courts do not have jurisdiction over. The other is against a ruling by the Court of Session under Scots law declaring the suspension unlawful and a nullity, and requiring Johnson to recall Parliament. (BBC)
April 2019 Spanish general election, Politics of Spain
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, after failing to achieve support from the Unidas Podemos alliance, announces the calling for a snap election on 10 November, which would be the fourth general election in 4 years. (Reuters), (BBC)
September 2019 Israeli legislative election
- Israeli voters head to the polls after the last election failed to form a government. Exit polls show the incumbent right-wing Likud barely losing to the centrist Blue and White alliance. (Reuters)
- The Arab-dominated Joint List is projected to win between 13 and 15 seats, its highest showing ever. Yisrael Beiteinu, lead by former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, is expected to play kingmaker. (Reuters)
2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- The Venezuelan secret service releases National Assembly Vice President Edgar Zambrano. The Nicolás Maduro government says his release comes after a partial compromise with members of Juan Guaidó's opposition government to live peacefully; Guaidó says the Maduro government has been forced to release him under international human rights pressure. (BBC)

September 16, 2019 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Abqaiq–Khurais attack, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, Iran–United States relations
- Iran says the accusations about the Saudi Arabian oil facilities attacks are unacceptable and baseless. (Al Arabiya English)
- Iraq says the United States has told them that the information the U.S. has "confirms the Iraqi government's statement that its territory was not used to carry out this attack". (Reuters)

Business and economy

Economy of China
- Figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China show that industrial production growth in August was at a 17-year low. (SCMP)

Law and crime

Grenfell Tower fire
- Officers with the Metropolitan Police interview members of the London Fire Brigade under caution in connection with the disaster. The fire brigade is being treated as a corporation suspected of breaching health and safety legislation. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

One firefighter is killed and six others are injured after a propane gas leak leads to a large explosion at a non-profit organization in Farmington, Maine. (CNN) (WGME)

International relations

2019 Persian Gulf crisis, Iran–United Arab Emirates relations
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran says it has seized a vessel in the Persian Gulf which it claims was smuggling diesel fuel to the United Arab Emirates. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Political status of Taiwan, Foreign relations of China, Foreign relations of the Solomon Islands
- The Cabinet of the Solomon Islands votes to shift diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China. Taiwanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu says that, since the Solomon Islands decided to establish diplomatic relations with China, this prompts Taiwan to cut ties with the Solomon Islands". (Hong Kong Free Press) (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Brexit
- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson abruptly pulls out of a press conference in Luxembourg to avoid an anti-Brexit protest organised and attended by British citizens living in Luxembourg. Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel attends the press conference, where, during a short speech followed by questions from journalists, he contradicts Johnson's prior public statements and exposes that the UK government has not submited any concrete proposals for amendments to the UK's Withdrawal Agreement from the European Union, or delivered any alternative to the "Irish backstop" which Johnson wishes to replace. Bettel warns that Johnson "holds the future of all UK citizens in his hands" and that he shouldn't "hold the future hostage for party political gain". (BBC)
- At the Liberal Democrats conference, party leader Jo Swinson reaffirms that if elected any future Liberal Democrat led government, would halt Brexit by revoking Article 50, adding that in the case of a hung parliament she would not enter a coalition with either the Conservatives or Labour. (BBC)

September 15, 2019 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Abqaiq–Khurais attack, 2019 Persian Gulf crisis, Saudi Arabia–United States relations
- During a phone call, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly tells Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman that the "U.S. supports Saudi Arabia in its efforts to fight terrorism" and that the U.S. will cooperate in the aftermath of the oil facilities attacks. (Al Arabiya English)
- After accusations by U.S. and Saudi officials, Iran denies involvement in the attack and says it's "ready for war" against both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom blamed Iran for backing the Houthis. (Reuters)
- An anonymous senior Iraqi intelligence officer says the drones that attacked Saudi Arabia were launched from Popular Mobilization Forces bases in southern Iraq. The drones on that flight path reportedly would have crossed Kuwait's airspace to carry out the strikes. Kuwait's government says it is investigating the sighting of a drone, reportedly flying low and hovering over Kuwait City on the day of the attacks. (Middle East Eye)
- An unnamed United States official says evidence suggests the drones approached Saudi Arabia from the northwest from Iraq or Iran, contrary to the Houthi militants' claim that the drones were launched from Yemeni territory. Three experts cited by CNN say the official's evidence is not conclusive. (Reuters) (CNN)
- Donald Trump says the U.S. military is "locked and loaded" after the attacks on its ally Saudi Arabia, but is awaiting confirmation from Riyadh on who launched the strikes before taking action. (CNBC)
Syrian Civil War
- 2019 al-Rai bombing
  - A car bomb in the Syrian town of al-Rai, close to the Turkish border, kills at least ten people after it explodes near a hospital. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Price of oil
- Following the drone attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities, the price of benchmark Brent Crude oil futures contracts surges as high as 19.5% at market opening, the biggest increase in percentage terms since the 1990 oil price shock in response to Ba'athist Iraq invading Kuwait. (Yahoo! Finance)
Donald Trump authorizes the use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to "keep the markets well-supplied", following severe disruption to crude oil output in Saudi Arabia. (The Hill)
Opioid epidemic in the United States
- U.S. company Purdue Pharma files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Agreeing to contribute more than US$3 billion from the sale of a daughter company, the owners propose to settle thousands of lawsuits related to the risk of addiction to their narcotic painkiller Oxycontin. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

A sightseeing boat capsizes on the Godavari River in India's East Godavari district, killing at least 12 people and leaving 35 others missing, all Indian nationals. (The Independent)
A Transpacifico airplane crashes shortly after departing an airport in Popayán, Colombia for a domestic flight. Seven of the nine occupants are killed. The remaining two on board are injured, as is a child on the ground. (al-Jazeera)

International relations

Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israel–Turkey relations
- The Cabinet of Israel legalizes the outpost settlement of Mevo’ot Yericho, in the occupied West Bank. (The Jewish Press)
- Referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposed annexation of the West Bank, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu says Israel is turning into "a racist, apartheid regime." (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2019 Hong Kong protests
- Despite an official ban, thousands of people march from Causeway Bay to the center of town. Police use tear gas to disperse the protestors. (CNN)
2019 Tunisian presidential election
- Tunisians cast their vote in the first round of presidential elections. (Reuters)

Sports

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Final
- In basketball, Spain defeats Argentina 95–75 to win their second World Cup title. (news.com.au)

September 14, 2019 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Abqaiq–Khurais attack, Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Two Saudi Aramco oil refineries, one in Abqaiq and one in Khurais, Saudi Arabia, are attacked by drones, resulting in massive fires. The fires are under control, according to the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry. Houthi militants claim responsibility, saying that they used 10 drones for the attack. (Euronews)
- According to Al Jazeera, Saudi Aramco's exports and oil production are disrupted by 5 million barrels of oil a day, half of the entire Saudi Arabian oil exports. (Al Jazeera) (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

Seven people are hospitalized after a taxi drives onto the sidewalk outside Kanayama Station in Nagoya, Japan. (NHK)

Politics and elections

A charity ship, carrying 82 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya, is offered docking at the Italian island of Lampedusa. The migrants can be brought ashore after "several E.U. countries" agreed to take them in, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday. (Reuters)

Sport

In Gaelic football, Dublin defeat Kerry 1–18 to 0–15 in the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final replay to become the first team in GAA history to win 5 All-Ireland titles in a row. (RTE)

September 13, 2019 (Friday)

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Business and economy

Transport in Paris
- Parisian metro workers launch a general strike, the largest of its kind since 2007, in protest at Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms. Ten of the sixteen metro lines and two major regional train lines are shut down during morning rush hour. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A fire in a hospital kills eleven people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (G1)
Two students are killed when a bus rolls over east of Bamfield, British Columbia. (Global News)

International relations

Sanctions against North Korea, North Korea–United States relations
- The U.S. Treasury imposes sanctions on the Lazarus Group and two of its affiliates, accusing them of being responsible for several recent cyberattacks under direction from North Korea's RGB intelligence agency. (Washington Post)

Law and crime

Ponte Morandi collapse
- Three employees of infrastructure firm Atlantia are arrested by Italian police on suspicion of offences connected to falsification of safety documentations for motorway bridges. The probe follows the disaster which killed 43 in August 2018. (Reuters)
2019 college admissions bribery scandal
- American actress Felicity Huffman is sentenced to fourteen days in jail and fined US$30,000 for her role in the conspiracy. (Reuters)

More September 2019 events...

Time: 12:18 UTC|Day: 19 September