October 4, 2019 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2018–19 Arab protests
- On the third day of protests in Iraq, the death toll reaches 100. The government imposes near-total internet blackout. (BBC)
- The Iraqi military says "unidentified snipers" have shot four people dead on the streets of Baghdad amid protests, including two police officers, with dozens of others wounded by sniper fire. Reuters reporters witness at least one protester being shot in the head by a sniper, killing him. (Reuters) (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- An Antonov An-12 cargo plane operated by Ukraine Air Alliance runs out of fuel and crashes as it approaches Lviv International Airport in Ukraine. Five of the seven occupants are killed, and the airport closes. (BBC News)
Law and crime
- 2019 Hong Kong protests
- Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam invokes the colonial-era Emergency Regulations Ordinance and bans the use of face masks in public gatherings. (RTHK Hong Kong English)
- Crime in Italy
- Two police officers are killed and another is wounded after a Dominican suspect opens fire on them at a police station in Trieste, Italy. (La Repubblica)
- A woman in Florida is arrested and charged with explosives offences after a police raid on her home finds 24 pipe bombs and bomb-making material and several other weapons. She admits constructing the devices to harm people. Police were notified of the problem by the 27-year-old's parents. (CNN)
- 2019 college admissions bribery scandal
- A parent is sentenced to five months in prison, a fine of $100,000 and 500 hours of community service for his involvement in the college admissions scandal. (CNN)
- Hwaseong serial murders
- Police in South Korea receive confessions from convicted murderer Lee Chun-jae to the serial rapes and murders, which occurred between 1986 and 1991 and left at least nine dead. He denies a tenth murder, now believed to be perpetrated by a copycat. The investigations inspired the movie Memories of Murder and saw 21,000 people investigated. Lee, who is serving life for the 1994 rape and murder of his sister in law, cannot be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has expired. He had been linked to three victims earlier this month by DNA. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- 2019 Argentine general election
- At a conference in Washington, D.C., Sergio Massa, candidate for the Argentine Chamber of Deputies for Frente de Todos, the coalition of candidate Alberto Fernández, says Fernández's position on Venezuela is clear and that keeping silent about the situation in Venezuela is to "become an accomplice of the government [of Maduro]". He also is the first member of Fernández's party to describe Venezuela as a "dictatorship". (Infobae in Spanish)
- 2019 Ecuadorian protests
- Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno declares a state of emergency amid nationwide protests against a hike in fuel prices. The protests have crippled the country's transport network with all major roads and bridges blocked in the capital Quito. (BBC News)
Science and technology
- Foreign interference in the 2020 United States elections, Cyberwarfare and Iran
- Microsoft says a network of hackers linked to the Iranian government has attempted to access the email accounts of people associated with a 2020 presidential election campaign, as well as prominent Iranian expatriates in the United States. Microsoft has not named the specific campaign which was targeted by Iran. (NBC News)