Indonesian investigators meet with families of the deceased ahead of the release of their final report, scheduled for Friday. They state the crash was caused by design flaws with software on the aircraft, and inaccurate assessments by Boeing as to how pilots would respond to it. (al-Jazeera)
Chilean PresidentSebastián Piñera in a nationally televised address apologizes for the failures of the government and pledges economic reforms as violent protests continue in the country. (WJCT)
Current events of October 22, 2019 (2019-10-22) (Tuesday)
Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, presidents of Russia and Turkey respectively, make an agreement in Russia whereby Russia's military police and Syria's border guards will enter the Syrian side of the Syrian-Turkish border from noon tomorrow, October 23rd. Over the next 150 hours, they are to remove the YPG and their weapons, back to 30 km (about 18 miles) from the border. From 6 p.m. local time next Tuesday, the Russian military police and Turkish military will begin patrols along that line to a depth of 32 km (about 20 miles). (CNN)(CNN2)
The National Transportation Safety Board of the United States concludes its investigation into the accident, which killed six and injured ten. It states design errors were the immediate cause, exacerbated by failures to take appropriate remedial action when cracks were discovered. (USA Today)
UKHome SecretaryPriti Patel announces the inquests into the deaths of the victims will be converted into a public inquiry at the request of the coroner. This enables the hearing of evidence in secret by members of the intelligence community, which would otherwise not be available as the coroner had previously granted public interest immunity to the witnesses on the grounds of possible assistance to future terrorists were the evidence to be heard. Inquests cannot hear secret evidence. (The Telegraph)
The Foreign Minister of New Zealand Winston Peters accuses the United Kingdom of "walking out" on Pacific aid to small island nations. The accusation surprised British officials. (RNZ)
Authorities in Slovakia charge four people with murdering investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée. The killings sparked widespread anti-corruption protests and forced the resignation of Prime MinisterRobert Fico. (The Guardian)
The Liberal Party win a pluralty of seats, and will remain in government, albeit as a minority and having lost the popular vote to the Conservative Party. The Bloc Québécois resurge from a 10-seat rump at dissolution to take third place and regain official party status. (CBC)(CTV News)
The Lebanese government passes a series of economic measures, such as slashing government wages and extending financial aid to poor families, in an attempt to placate protestors. (BBC)
Current events of October 20, 2019 (2019-10-20) (Sunday)
The government of Bangladesh announces it will begin moving thousands of Rohingya refugees from crowded camps to the flood-prone island of Thengar Char, starting early November. The government hopes to relocate 100,000 refugees by the end of the operation, which has been criticised by rights groups as an "inevitable" humanitarian crisis. (Al Jazeera)(Reuters)
Current events of October 19, 2019 (2019-10-19) (Saturday)
A dam on the Seiba river in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, collapses, flooding a nearby gold mine and cabins used to house miners. At least 15 people have been killed, with 13 more missing and 14 hospitalised. (BBC)
The British Parliament votes 322 to 306 to pass the so-called "Letwin amendment" to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which states it will not approve any withdrawal agreement unless all relevant formal legislation is passed. In effect any subsequent vote on a deal is not considered final, and Prime MinisterBoris Johnson will be forced to ask for an extension. (Reuters)(CNN)
Four ministers resign from the current cabinet, stating that the government is incapable of addressing any of the issues under current circumstances. Conversely, Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah announces that his group will continue to support the government, saying, "All of us have to shoulder the responsibility of the current situation that we arrived at." (Al-Jazeera)
Current events of October 18, 2019 (2019-10-18) (Friday)
According to a later statement, Mexican PresidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador and government authorities ordered officers to let Guzmán López go free to avoid a "bloodbath" and "preserve the lives of our officers and bring calm back to the city". (Clarín)
Eight people are confirmed killed in the failed raid. More than twenty others were injured. (AP News)
Washington State authorities find a crane collapse earlier this year in Seattle was caused when workers removed securing pins too early during the crane's dismantling. Four people were killed in the accident. Three firms are issued fines. (NBC News)
Catalonia goes to a general strike in protest of the prison sentence of the Catalan independentists leaders. Thousands of demonstrators arrive walking to Barcelona from the whole region. (The Guardian)
The government withdraws the controversial tax plan. Despite this, protests continue, with participants swelling to tens of thousands and them now calling for the downfall of the government. Prime MinisterSaad Hariri gives his government 72 hours to resolve the country's worsening economic crisis. (Al-Jazeera)
After a week of fare-dodging protests in the Santiago Metro, thousands of protestors clash with police in different places across Santiago, Chile. Subway service is suspended in the entire city. Protests started after a price hike in the most expensive subway system in Latin America. (The Guardian)
Current events of October 17, 2019 (2019-10-17) (Thursday)
The number of people confirmed killed in central and eastern Japan by Typhoon Hagibis rises to 77, while nine other people are still missing. (NHK World)
Police in Anchorage, Alaska charge Brian Steven Smith, who was arrested on October 8 for the murder of Kathleen Jo Henry, with a second murder, that of Veronica Abouchuk. Smith reportedly confessed to killing Abouchuk and told authorities where her body could be found. (KTLA Los Angeles)
The fourth night of violence in the streets of Catalonia in protest of the sentence of the Catalan independence leaders leaves 33 arrested and 80 injures. In Tarragona, the main door of the city hall is burnt. (El País)(La Vanguardia)
The Catalan president Quim Torra, in a special plenary session at the Parliament of Catalonia, announces that he will convene a third independence referendum and a Constitution throughout the legislature. (El Periódico)
Science and technology
NASA announces that the InSight Mars lander's heat probe had successfully dug 3 centimetres (1.2 in) into the ground after becoming stuck 35 centimetres (14 in) in the ground in February 2019, confirming that the probe had not hit a rock and instead simply didn't have enough friction in the soil to dig much deeper. The vehicle landed near the Martian equator in November 2018. (Space.com)
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