Portal:Current events/2019 February 19
February 19, 2019 (Tuesday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present)
- Sixteen militants are killed in two different raids in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. A number of weapons and explosives are also found in the raids. (Al Jazeera)
- 2019 Kaduna State massacre
- Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai reports the death toll from Friday's attack in Kajuru is now more than 130, most from the Fulani ethnic group. Nigerian authorities have not identified the gunmen's motive, but they do not believe the attack was related to the upcoming election. (Al Jazeera) (Eyewitness news)
Business and economy
- Economy of the United States
- American retailer Payless ShoeSource files Chapter 11 bankruptcy with plans to close all of their U.S. stores. (USA Today)
- Ford Motor Company will stop selling commercial trucks in South America. (CNBC)
- Honda confirms that it will be closing its car plant in Swindon, South West England, because of decreased demand for diesel cars and tougher emissions regulations. The closure in 2021 will result in the loss of about 3,500 jobs. (BBC News)
- Teva Pharmaceutical settles outstanding cases with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission involving payments from brand-name drugmakers to delay releasing a cheaper version of its product, so-called "pay-for-delay" agreements. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- An avalanche at the Crans-Montana ski resort in Switzerland injures four, one seriously, with fears that up to a dozen skiers may have been hit according to witnesses. 240 rescuers including police and army search the affected piste area. No further victims are immediately found, or missing persons reported. (Fox News) (SwissInfo)
- A house fire in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, kills seven children from a Syrian family. (BBC News)
- A father, his son, and a gas station employee are all killed in Wayne, New Jersey when a driver under the influence swerves his car and hits the father and son’s Chevrolet Camaro. (NBC New York)
Politics and elections
- 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign
- Vermont Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders announces on Vermont Public Radio that he is running for President of the United States as a Democrat in 2020. (NPR)
- Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign
- Politics of Spain
- Francisco José Alcaraz, from Vox, becomes the first far-right politician to become a Senator since the restoration of democracy. (El Mundo)
- History of the UK Labour Party, Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party
- Joan Ryan becomes the eighth MP to quit the Labour Party and join The Independent Group, citing a "culture of anti-Jewish racism" within the party as the reason for her departure. (BBC News)
Sports
- The opening round of the Aeroflot Open, an international open chess tournament, is postponed a day after 45 minutes of play as a bomb threat locks down the Moscow hotel hosting the event. Similar threats also shut down cinemas, shopping centres, and theatres; thousands are evacuated. (Chess.com) (Chessbase)