Portal:Current events/2017 November 13

• Border incidents involving North Korea
  • A Korean People's Army soldier defects to South Korea via the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). He was shot and injured by fellow North Korean soldiers as he crossed to the South Korean side at Panmunjom, and has been taken to hospital. (BBC)
• Syrian Civil War
  • The BBC reveals that a secret deal in mid-October allowed hundreds of ISIL fighters and their families, including some of their "most notorious members", escape from Raqqa in a convoy that was between 6 to 7 km long. The United States government confirms that the deal with ISIL was made and that the evacuations took place. The possibility of a deal was previously reported as early as October 14. (BBC) (Rudaw) (The Guardian)

• 2017 Iran–Iraq earthquake
  • The death toll from the earthquake in Iraq and Iran exceeds 400 with over 7,000 injured. The death toll is expected to rise further in coming days. (Washington Post)

• Military of the European Union
  • Twenty-three European Union countries sign a defence integration pact known as the Permanent Structured Cooperation. NATO members Denmark, Portugal and the United Kingdom (withdrawal from EU underway), and non-NATO members Malta and Ireland, opt out. (Reuters)
• Colombian peace process
  • The Foreign Affairs Ministers of the European Union unanimously vote to remove the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) from its list of designated terrorist groups. (Colombia Reports)
• Russia–United States relations
  • RT America registers with the U.S. Department of Justice as a foreign agent in the United States. (Reuters)

• Cabinet of Donald Trump
  • U.S. President Donald Trump selects Eli Lilly's American division president and former HHS deputy secretary Alex Azar to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, replacing Tom Price who resigned on September 29. (ABC News)
• Somaliland general election, 2017
  • Voters in Somaliland vote for their next president. (The National)
• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • Thousands of Yemenis protest a blockade on Yemen led by a Saudi Arabian coalition. (France 24)

• 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
  • Italy fails to qualify (for the first time since 1958) for 2018 FIFA World Cup after being defeated by Sweden in the UEFA Second Round. (Independent)