Portal:Current events/2020 August 17

August 17, 2020 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
- Militants kill a policeman and two paramilitary officers in Srinagar. A spokesman for the police says they thwarted another attack when they recovered improvised explosive devices placed under a bridge. This has been seen as an increase in attacks on security forces in recent months. (Reuters)
Yemeni civil war
- A Houthi missile attack kills 11 Yemeni government troops, including a senior officer, in Al Jawf. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 recession
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Japan suffers its biggest economic slump on record as its economy's GDP fell 7.8% in April-June quarter. (BBC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
    - Thailand's economy suffers its biggest annual contraction since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, with its GDP down 12.2% in the second quarter from a year earlier. It fell a record 9.7% on the quarter, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (Reuters)
China–United States trade war, Chinese espionage in the United States, Concerns over Chinese involvement in 5G wireless networks
- The United States Department of Commerce expands its sanctions on Chinese technological vendor Huawei by adding 38 of the company's affiliates to its "entity list", limiting Huawei's access into U.S. integrated circuits and other technology. The Trump administration has viewed Huawei as "an arm of the Chinese Communist Party's surveillance state." (AFP via The Independent)
The bankrupt NPC International announces it will close 300 Pizza Hut locations. (Fox Business)

Disasters and accidents

2020 Sri Lankan blackouts
- Electrical blackouts in Sri Lanka began nationwide due to a transmission technical failure at the Kerawalapitiya Grid-Sub station. (Daily News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - The Basque Country declares a sanitary emergency for the second time since the start of the pandemic, but doesn't foresee a general confinement of the Basque population. (La Vanguardia)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Andorra
    - With 16 new daily confirmed cases, Andorra exceeds 1,000 cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. (Diari d'Andorra)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria
  - The Federal Ministry of Aviation announces that international flights from Lagos and Abuja will resume on August 29, after a four-month hiatus. (Anadolu Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
  - Australia reports 25 new COVID-19 deaths (all of them in Victoria), the deadliest day since the pandemic began. (ABC News Australia)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns
  - President Rodrigo Duterte downgrades the lockdown restrictions on the Greater Manila Area to the level of general community quarantine, effective August 19, following a two-week reimposition of a modified enhanced community quarantine to prevent a "collapse" of the country's health care system. (Reuters)
The Trump administration is pushing ahead with plans to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The first leases to drill for oil and gas could be sold by the end of 2020, and is backed by the Republicans and opposed by environmental groups and some members of Alaska's Indigenous communities. (CNN)

International relations

Aftermath of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election
- Belarus–United Kingdom relations
  - British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab issues a statement that the United Kingdom does not recognize the results of the Belarusian presidential election, which saw President Alexander Lukashenko re-elected. Raab calls the election "fraudulent" and demands an independent investigation into the results. (AFP via The Straits Times)
- Belarus–Ukraine relations
  - Ukraine recalls its Ambassador to Belarus to assess "the new reality" and prospects of further bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries. (Reuters)
Netherlands–Russia relations
- The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summons the Dutch ambassador in Moscow after surveillance equipment was discovered in the vehicle of a Russian military attaché in The Hague. (CGTN)
Malaysia–Vietnam relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- Vietnam presses Malaysia for answers after a Vietnamese fisherman was shot dead when Malaysia's coast guard attempted to inspect two Vietnamese fishing boats in waters east of Kelantan deemed to be engaged in illegal fishing. Malaysia alleged the 19 crew members aboard the boats "acted aggressively" and threw "diesel bombs" when ordered to surrender. (SCMP)

Law and crime

George Floyd protests
- George Floyd protests in Washington
  - George Floyd protests in Seattle
    - 18 protesters are arrested in Seattle after a protest in the SODO neighborhood is declared a riot. (CNN)
Hong Kong national security law
- Pro-democracy activist Sunny Cheung reportedly flees to the United Kingdom after reporting fears of imprisonment. (HK Free Press)
Aftermath of the 2020 Beirut explosions
- Badri Daher, the director general of the Lebanese Customs Administration, is arrested amid the investigation on the storage of ammonium nitrate at the Port of Beirut for six years. (AP via CTV News)
A court in Malaysia jails a teenager until the King's decision for starting a fire that killed 23 people in 2017. He was not eligible for the death penalty due to being a minor at the time of the arson, the court explained. (Reuters)
Two men are charged with the death of Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay in Queens, New York, United States. The killing had remained unsolved as a cold case for 18 years. (NBC News)
The government of Colombia offers a reward of 200M pesos ($53,000; €44,000; £40,000) for information about the four gunmen who burst into a house party and killed eight people in Samaniego in Nariño Department Saturday. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
  - Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education
    - Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announces that the Ofqual has discarded the use of an algorithm to award the final grades of GCE Advanced Level and General Certificate of Secondary Education candidates in lieu of the exams that were cancelled due to the pandemic, instead basing the qualifications on teacher-assessed grades. The decision comes after hundreds of students in England protested following the release of the Advanced Level results on August 13, which saw around 40% of teacher-predicted grades downgraded under the algorithm. (The Guardian) (Reuters via The Straits Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, WE Charity controversy
  - Bill Morneau resigns as Canada's finance minister following his involvement in the WE Charity scandal. (AAP via The Canberra Times)
2020 Belarusian protests
- President Alexander Lukashenko says he is "ready to share power in Belarus, although not under pressure from the streets". Meanwhile, opposition leader in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urges security forces to defect to her side and says she is prepared to lead the country. (Reuters)
- Addressing workers at a truck factory, Lukashenko states that there will be no fresh elections "until you kill me", he warns. He urges people to let people who want to work to work amid a general strike. He is booed and jeered by the crowd. (Sky News) (Politico)
- The Belarusian state media National State Television and Radio Company of Belarus headquarters in Minsk is reportedly emptied after staff members walked out and joined the general strike. State television is still on air but only showing an empty studio with music playing in the background. (DW)
2020 United States presidential election
- The 2020 Democratic National Convention begins, running until Thursday. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris are expected to be officially nominated for their party's choice for President and Vice President, respectively, in the upcoming election. (NPR)
- In a show of bipartisan support for the Democrats national ticket, four longtime Republicans gave speeches: former Ohio governor John Kasich, former New Jersey governor Christine Whitman, former New York congresswoman Susan Molinari, and Quibi CEO Meg Whitman. (USA Today)
2020 United States Postal Service crisis
- Congressional Democrats have announced investigations and hearings into allegations of widespread mail delays ahead of the coming 2020 United States presidential election, which many expect will see a surge in mail-in voting due to the ongoing pandemic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the House of Representatives back from recess several weeks early in order to consider legislation to address the crisis. (The Hill) (Axios)