Portal:Current events/2015 November 17

November 17, 2015 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Metrojet Flight 9268
- Russia's Federal Security Service announces that the plane was destroyed by a bomb. (The Guardian), (Reuters)
- In a broadcast meeting from The Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin vows retribution to those responsible for last month’s downing of the aircraft. Putin orders the Russian Navy to coordinate military operations in Syria with the French Navy. Russia's Federal Security Service offers a $50 million bounty for the bombers. (Reuters)
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The Russian military launches cruise missile strikes from the Mediterranean on ISIS positions in Al-Raqqah, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's de facto capital in Syria, Aleppo, and Idlib. A U.S. official confirms that Russia has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to escalate his military campaign in Syria after it was confirmed that a bomb brought down Metrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. (RT), (The Independent)
Boko Haram insurgency
- A blast at a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola, kills at least 32 people and wounds 80 others. (Reuters)
November 2015 Paris attacks
- Two Air France flights bound for Paris from the United States are diverted for several hours on following anonymous bomb threats. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Disasters and accidents

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes southwest of Ioannina in Greece, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10.0 km) killing at least two people. The quake damages the main road in the southwestern part of Lefkada. (RT)
In the United States, the National Weather Service issues a blizzard warning for northeastern Colorado and western Kansas with an expected snowfall by midday of 12 inches in Denver, Colorado. Denver International Airport cancels 143 arriving and departing flighits. Several tornadoes occur overnight in northern Texas, western Kansas, and southern Nebraska. (Reuters), (USA Today)
In the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, a windstorm with gusts as high as 119 miles per hour (192 km/h) kills 4 people and leaves more than 1 million without electricity; some rivers in Western Washington also experience moderate to severe flooding. Washington Governor Jay Inslee declares a state of emergency after the storm, requesting federal assistance with cleanup efforts. (The Weather Channel), (The Seattle Times) (KIRO-TV)
2015-16 Australian bushfire season
- Bushfires burning near Esperance on the coast of Western Australia may have killed four people. (ABC)

International relations

APEC Philippines 2015
- Human Rights Watch says that the Philippine government is detaining street children and homeless people harshly and involuntarily as part of preparations for an international summit. The government denies that the people concerned are being abused and such moves were part of a regular and year-round outreach program. (The New York Times)

Law and crime

The Israeli government outlaws the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, declaring it "an illegal organization". The northern branch of the Islamic Movement is led by Raed Salah, who has been convicted in court of numerous activities, including funding Hamas, contacting an Iranian agent, assaulting a police officer, and leading a violent protest. (The Jerusalem Post)
The Japanese government officially sues the governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, over his denial of permits to allow work to begin on the Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War
- More than half of the state governors in the United States reject accepting asylum seekers from Syria after the attacks in Paris. All except one of them are Republicans. (CNN)
- Obama administration officials hold a conference call with 34 governors to assure them, "refugees would undergo the most rigorous screening and security vetting of any category of traveler to the United States." A spokesperson for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said that he has asked federal officials for "more robust data" and an "enhanced flow of information." (Reuters), (AP via ABC News)
The president of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, marks the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution by attending an anti-Islam rally in Prague with the "Bloc against Islam" group which supports the president. The rally is also attended by observers from the German protest movement, PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) and Tommy Robinson, a prominent British anti-Islam activist. Zeman tells the crowd of several thousand that they aren't extremists for advocating closing the Republic’s borders to Muslim migrants. (AP via ABC News)
2016 United States presidential election
- The Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal ends his campaign for the Republican Party nomination. (The Guardian), (Fox News)

Sports

Cancellation of football matches
- Belgium's football association calls off today's friendly (non-competitive) football game with Spain due to concerns over security following the November 2015 Paris attacks. (AP)
- A friendly match between Germany and the The Netherlands is cancelled after a suspicious object is found in the Niedersachsenstadion in the German city of Hanover. (The Guardian)