October 21, 2019 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Syrian Civil War
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says his country is ready to mediate between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces. (Kurdistan 24)
Arts and culture
- A team of ocean explorers announce the discovery of Imperial Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi on the Pacific seafloor. The vessel was sunk in 1942 during the World War II Battle of Midway. (The Guardian) (TVNZ)
Disasters and accidents
- A fiery bus crash near Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo kills at least 31 people, with another 18 injured. (CNN)
International relations
- New Zealand–United Kingdom relations
- 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. (Radio New Zealand)
Law and crime
- Murder of Ján Kuciak
- 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 Minister Robert Fico. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
- Opioid epidemic in the United States
- Teva Pharmaceuticals, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen reach a US$260 million settlement hours before a civil trial in U.S. federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, brought as a class-action lawsuit representing communities affected by opioid addiction. (The Guardian) (The Week)
Politics and elections
- 2019 Canadian federal election
- Voters in Canada go to the polls to elect members of the 43rd Canadian Parliament. Polls show Justin Trudeau's Liberals and Andrew Scheer's Conservatives deadlocked with equal numbers of support after a divisive campaign. (CBC News) (CTV News) (HuffPost)
- 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 News) (CTV News) (CNBC)
- 2019 Chilean protests
- Chilean President Sebastián Piñera says that Chile is "at war" and calls on citizens to take sides in the matter as violence continues in the capital and other cities. (Al Jazeera) (Pensions and Investments)
- 2019 Bolivian protests, 2019 Bolivian general election
- Protests break out across Bolivia in rejection of what are seen as fraudulent Presidential vote results. (BBC News) (MSN)
- 2019–20 Lebanese protests
- 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 News)