Portal:Current events/2019 December 21

{{Current events|year=2019|month=12|day=21|content=

;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. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-attack-galkayo/suicide-bomb-outside-somali-hotel-kills-at-least-seven-military-idUSKBN1YP0KT (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. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/21/french-forces-kill-33-islamic-extremists-in-mali-says-macron (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. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-turkey/eastern-libyan-forces-seize-ship-with-a-turkish-crew-spokesman-idUSKBN1YP0LW (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. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-nord-stream-completion/nord-stream-2-to-press-on-with-europe-gas-pipe-despite-u-s-sanctions-idUSKBN1YP061 (Reuters)]
• Russia–Ukraine relations
• Russia and Ukraine reach a new five-year agreement on gas transit. [https://apnews.com/5025492604b2378ef41e5e040351814c (AP)]

;Disasters and accidents

• A fire at an apartment building in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, kills six people and injures thirteen others. [https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/6-dead-in-downtown-las-vegas-apartment-fire-1919071/amp/ (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. [https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/21/americas/guatemala-bus-crash/index.html (CNN)]

;Law and crime

• Censorship in Pakistan, Blasphemy in Pakistan, Capital punishment in Pakistan
• A court in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan, sentences university professor Junaid Hafeez to death for blasphemy – verbal and on Facebook. [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/pakistani-academic-junaid-hafeez-sentenced-death-blasphemy-191221091139428.html (Al Jazeera)]
• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest two suspects after they allegedly made online death threats to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau had to wear a bulletproof vest during a visit to Mississauga, Ontario, due to the threats made during his electoral campaign. [https://ca.news.yahoo.com/rcmp-arrests-2-alleged-online-184209881.html (Yahoo! News Canada)]

}}