Portal:Current events/2019 December 21

December 21, 2019 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- A suicide attack by car bomb in Galkayo, Somalia, kills at least seven civilians, though the death toll is expected to rise according to military officials. According to a military spokesman, the suicide bomber tried to enter a hotel compound but failed and hit a military pickup. No group has claimed responsibility yet. (Reuters)
Islamic insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present), Operation Barkhane
- During his visit to West Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron says that French forces killed 33 Islamist militants in central Mali earlier that day. (The Guardian)
Second Libyan Civil War, Libya–Turkey relations
- The Libyan Coast Guard loyal to Field marshal Khalifa Haftar seizes a Grenada-flagged ship with a Turkish crew off the coast of Derna, Libya, according to a spokesman for the Libyan National Army. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Nord Stream 2 says it will finish construction "as soon as possible" after a contractor suspends pipe-laying work due to U.S. sanctions on the Russian gas pipeline to Europe. (Reuters)
Russia–Ukraine relations
- Russia and Ukraine reach a new five-year agreement on gas transit. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

A fire at an apartment building in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, kills six people and injures thirteen others. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A bus collides with a truck near Gualán, Guatemala, killing at least 21 people including seven children, according to the Guatemalan Public Ministry. (CNN)

Law and crime