Portal:Current events/2020 December 12

December 12, 2020 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency
- 2020 Toumour attacks
  - Boko Haram kill 28 people and burn down hundreds of homes in Toumour, Diffa, Niger. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan
      - Saskatchewan reports 11 deaths, a new single-day record since the start of the pandemic. (Regina Leader-Post)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
      - Florida surpasses 20,000 deaths from COVID-19. (Orlando Sentinel)
    - The U.S. surpasses 16 million cases of COVID-19. (USA Today)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Tokyo reports a new single-day record of 621 cases, according to data from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the prefecture to 46,745. (NHK World)
    - Japan records a new single-day record of 3,041 cases. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are deployed to Asahikawa, Hokkaido, where hospitals are facing shortages of medical staff to treat COVID-19 patients. (Kyodo News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
    - Bangladesh surpasses 7,000 total deaths from COVID-19. (Dhaka Tribune)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    - South Korea reports a new record of 950 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 41,736 cases. 928 of the new cases are locally transmitted and more than 70% of these are from the Seoul Capital Area. (CNA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus
    - Belarus reports 1,975 cases in the past 24 hours, a new single-day record. (The Star)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - Italy reaches 64,036 total deaths from COVID-19, surpassing the United Kingdom to have the highest death toll in Europe. (Newsweek)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
  - Victoria reports a new case in a person currently quarantining in a hotel. It is the first time that the state has reported a COVID-19 case in more than 40 days. (7 News)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - Peru temporarily suspends Phase III trials of Sinopharm's vaccine after detecting neurological problems in one of its volunteers. Peru's trials for the vaccine were due to conclude this week, after testing around 12,000 people. (CNA)
2020 H5N8 outbreak
- South Korea issues a 48-hour standstill order on all poultry farms across the country following a series of highly pathogenic bird flu (H5N8) cases. (Yonhap News Agency)

International relations

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Queensland reopens its borders to travellers from New Zealand after 28 days without any community transmission cases. (The Canberra Times)
Foreign relations of Switzerland, International reactions to the 2020 Belarusian presidential election and protests
- Switzerland freezes Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's assets in the country. Lukashenko, his son Viktor, and 13 other officials will be banned from entering Switzerland following violent protests that occurred following the election. (Reuters)
International recognition of Israel, Foreign relations of Bhutan
- Bhutan and Israel agree to establish full diplomatic relations for the first time. (The Jerusalem Post)

Law and crime

Aftermath of 2017–2018 Iranian protests, Capital punishment in Iran
- Iranian authorities execute once-exiled dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam over his online work that helped inspire the 2017–2018 Iranian protests. This comes after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence on Tuesday. (DW)
2020 United States election protests
- Pro-Donald Trump protests over the 2020 United States presidential election results are held in Washington, D.C. Participants included members of the far-right group Proud Boys. During the demonstrations, four people are stabbed, one is shot, and 33 others are arrested, six for assaulting police officers. (CNN) (Slate)