The Pacific island nation of Samoa (not to be confused with neighboring American Samoa, a US territory) declared a state of emergency on Nov. 16 due to an outbreak of measles, with more than 5,000 people infected (out of a population of 200,000) and 72 deaths, mostly infants. The state of emergency ended on Dec. 27.

The outbreak was blamed on influential local healers who had recommended that people not vaccinate their children, instead offering natural cures. One such person was...

Antigovernment protests in Hong Kong, ongoing since June 9, 2019, increased in intensity in November after a protester was shot at close range by police on Nov. 11. That same night, after the shooting, protesters lit a counterprotester on fire. Both victims survived their injuries.

Protests continued to ramp up in intensity, culminating in protesters’ taking over the campus of Hong Kong University on Nov. 14, keeping police back with fire bombs and bows and arrows. Police laid...

On Nov. 28, more than 40 protesters were killed in Iraq, the deadliest single day since protests began there on Oct. 27. Most of those killed were in the city of Nasiriyah, where security forces using live ammunition fired on protesters blocking a bridge. Protesters were also killed in Baghdad and Najaf. In total, at press time, nearly 400 people had been killed since protests began.

On Nov. 29, after the country’s top Shia cleric called for a new government due to the continued use...