Portal:Current events/2020 August 26

August 26, 2020 (2020-08-26) (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram insurgency
  • Boko Haram insurgents carries out an overnight attack against a village in Gwoza, Nigeria, killing 75 elders. (Premium Times)
• Somali Civil War
  • The United States Africa Command announces that the U.S. carried out an airstrike on Monday that resulted in the deaths of six militants of the al-Shabaab jihadist group after they had attacked Somali forces during preceding days. It was carried out in Lower Shabelle, Somalia. Three other al-Shabaab militants were wounded. (AP via Al Arabiya)

Arts and culture

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion
  • Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Catholic Church, COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City
    • The Holy See announces that Pope Francis will resume public audiences in September for the first time in nearly six months. However, the events will be limited to 500 people, held in a closed courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. (AFP via The Korea Times)
• Marieke Lucas Rijneveld of the Netherlands is awarded the 2020 International Booker Prize for their novel The Discomfort of Evening. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approves new rules that will allow companies that wish to raise capital, and be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, to use direct listings instead of IPOs. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020 Afghanistan flood
  • Flash floods brought by torrential rains in northeastern Afghanistan kill at least 100 people in Charikar, Parwan Province, Afghanistan, with at least 300 houses in the area destroyed. The Ministry of Disaster Management has also reported some casualties and destruction of infrastructure in the provinces of Kapisa, Maidan Wardak, Nangarhar, Paktia, and Panjshir. (Al Jazeera)
• 2020 wildfire season
  • 2020 California wildfires
    • Evacuations are lifted for 35,000 people in Napa and Sonoma counties. (SFGate.com)
• 2020 Pacific typhoon season
  • North and South Korea prepare to receive Typhoon Bavi which is already lashing the South Korean island of Jeju flooding roads, toppling trees, ripping off signboards and knocking down lampposts as it passed over waters off the island’s western shores. No casualties are reported. (AP)
• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Laura is upgraded to a Category 4 as it nears the Gulf Coast of the United States. (CNBC)
• Llangennech derailment
  • A freight train is derailed and catches fire near Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Local residents are evacuated. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Columbus, Ohio
        • Ohio State University suspends more than 200 students for breaking some COVID-19 guidelines even before the school year starts. (NPR)
    • COVID-19 pandemic testing in the United States
      • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week changed its COVID-19 testing guidelines to say that people who've been in close contact with someone known to have COVID-19 but are asymptomatic now "do not necessarily" need to get tested. Health experts are expressing alarm over this revision since, for example, up to 50 percent of all COVID-19 transmissions are due to people who do not exhibit symptoms of the disease. (Voice of America)
      • Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said he was in surgery for vocal cord polyp removal and was not part of the discussion during the August 20 task force meeting when updated guidelines were discussed. He also expressed concerns over how people would interpret the new recommendations. (CNN) (The Daily Beast)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in California
      • California Governor Gavin Newsom confirms that the state has signed a deal with Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer to provide faster testing results. (The Hill)
    • Moderna announces that their potential COVID-19 vaccine produced promising results in elderly patients during an early stage clinical trial. (CNBC)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
      • The city of Berlin bans any and all future protests against the city's quarantine measures after organizers of a rally earlier in the month failed to ensure its 20,000 marchers wore masks and practiced social distancing. (MSN)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
      • Greece confirmed 293 new cases in the last 24 hours which is the highest daily spike since the outbreak began in the country. According to National Public Health Organization, 22 of the new cases were reported at the country's entry points. (Anadolu Agency)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia
      • Croatia reports its highest single day number of 358 new cases in the last 24 hours as a tricky summer tourism season brings a resurgence of COVID-19 to the Adriatic country. (France 24)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin invites residents to join COVID-19 vaccine trials. (ABC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in France
      • The French Health Ministry reports 5,429 new cases in the last 24 hours, a new post-lockdown high and a level of new infections not seen since the height of the epidemic in early April. (France 24)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar
      • Myanmar orders all public and private schools closed as authorities try to tackle a resurgence of the virus following weeks without confirmed domestic transmission. (Reuters)
      • Myanmar reports 106 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day surge since the first case was detected in the country in March. Of those new cases, 93 new virus cases were found in Rakhine State. (Anadolu Agency)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the State of Palestine
      • Authorities in the Gaza Strip impose a strict lockdown after the first locally transmitted death from COVID-19. The death was that of a 61-year-old man who had previous illnesses and was on a respirator, the health ministry said. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
    • The number of daily new cases in Argentina tops 10,000 for the first time with 10,550 new cases in the past 24 hours as the country extends lockdown restrictions in and around capital city Buenos Aires until the end of August. (Reuters)

International relations

• Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in France, COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
    • Belgium's foreign ministry banned travel to Paris amid concerns over a possible resurgence of cases in the French capital. Belgians are being advised to avoid visiting Paris unless travellers agree to take a COVID-19 test or undergo a period of self-isolation on their return. (Euronews)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, COVID-19 pandemic in Norway, COVID-19 pandemic in Liechtenstein
    • Norway will impose a 10-day quarantine on all people arriving from Germany and Liechtenstein from August 29 due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in those countries. (The New York Times)
• China–United States relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
  • The United States Department of Commerce adds 24 Chinese state-owned enterprises to its "entity list", restricting the access of these enterprises to U.S. goods and content. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claims that these enterprises are involved in China's expansion and militarization efforts in the disputed regions of the South China Sea. (AFP via CNA)
• Sudan–United States relations
  • In a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the United States proposed removing Sudan from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list for $330 million compensation. The payment would allegedly go to American victims of Al-Qaida but ministers, opposition leaders, and other people in the country have expressed anger at the prospect of a multimillion-dollar payment to the United States. (The Guardian)
• Turkey–United States relations, Aegean dispute
  • The Turkish Ministry of National Defense reveals that a Barbaros-class frigate of the Turkish Navy and the TCG Burgazada have conducted joint military exercises with the USS Winston S. Churchill of the U.S. Navy in the Eastern Mediterranean, hours after Greece conducted similar exercises with France, Italy, and Cyprus in the disputed region. (AFP via WION)

Law and crime

• Kenosha unrest shooting
  • A 17-year-old is arrested for the killing of two people during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The teenager, who is originally from Antioch, Illinois, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide. (AP)
• Police in Hong Kong arrest pro-democracy Legislative Council members Lam Cheuk-ting and Ted Hui for their presence in an anti-government protest in Tuen Mun last year. Lam was also accused of rioting in connection with the protest during an attack on pro-democracy activists in Yuen Long. (The New York Times)

Politics and elections

• EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan resigns for violating Ireland's COVID-19 restrictions by attending a golf dinner last week. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• Osaka Nana Grave
  • A mass grave with more than 1,500 bodies is discovered in Osaka, Japan, that dates from the 1600s to the mid-1800s. (News AU)

Sports

• 2020 NBA playoffs
  • All three NBA Playoff games today involving the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers are postponed as teams sit in protest after the shooting of Jacob Blake. (NBA)
• In conjunction with NBA, several teams from the MLB, WNBA, and MLS postpone their games to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake. (Bloomberg)

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