Portal:Current events/2020 December 2

December 2, 2020 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war
  - Armenia announces that it will drop some martial law restrictions imposed during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azeri forces. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Unusually high rain fall causes flooding and landslides in Haines, Alaska, United States. Numerous homes are destroyed, and six people are missing. (KTOO-TV) (CNN)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - COVID-19 pandemic in California
      - Los Angeles issues a safer-at-home order as an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. (Los Angeles Times)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois
      - Illinois reports a record 238 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 12,639. (WLS-TV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts
      - Massachusetts reports a record 4,613 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 234,232. (Boston Herald)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in New Mexico
      - New Mexico surpasses 100,000 total confirmed cases of COVID-19. In addition, a record 40 new deaths are reported, bringing the statewide death toll to 1,629. (New Mexico Political Report)
    - The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in one day in the United States surpasses 100,000, according to the COVID Tracking Project. (NBC News)
    - The United States surpasses 14 million cases of COVID-19, less than a week after surpassing 13 million cases. (The Hill)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec
      - Quebec Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault announces that the province will tighten their capacity restrictions in shopping malls and stores to stop the spread of COVID-19. (Global News)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta
      - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announces a COVID-19 vaccine task force to distribute vaccines that are expected to be received by early January. (The Sudbury Star)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
    - Germany reports a record 487 new deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute, bringing the nationwide death toll to 17,123. (Taggeschau)
    - Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of 16 states agree to extend the partial lockdown until January 10. (DW)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia reports a record 589 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 41,053. (Yahoo! News)
    - President Vladimir Putin orders the country to start a large-scale vaccination by late next week. Teachers and doctors are expected to be the first to receive the Sputnik V vaccine. (AP)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - Former President and Co-Prince of Andorra Valéry Giscard d'Estaing dies from complications of COVID-19. (The New York Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary
    - Hungary reports a record 165 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 5,142. (Hungary Today)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
    - Poland surpasses one million cases of COVID-19, and the death toll reaches 18,208. (Poland In)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
    - Turkey reports a record 193 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 14,129. In addition, a record 31,923 new cases, including both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases, are also reported. (Daily Sabah)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 vaccine
    - The United Kingdom approves the BNT162b2 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech for widespread use, becoming the first country in the world to approve the vaccine. The government states that the vaccine will be rolled out early next week. (ABC Australia) (CBS News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - The House of Councillors passes a law that will give free COVID-19 vaccines to all residents. The new law also says that the government will cover all vaccine costs. (France 24)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Kyrgyzstan
    - The number of cases in Kyrgyzstan exceeds 73,000. (Xinhua News Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
    - President Rodrigo Duterte issues an executive order granting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) an emergency use authorization for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines. (CNA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Vanuatu
  - Prime Minister Bob Loughman declares Vanuatu free of COVID-19 again after the first case recovered. Loughman stressed that the virus-free status is not important but that the capacity to contain a positive case was what actually mattered. (RNZ)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - Moderna says that it will test their potential vaccine on children ages 12 to 17. (New York Times)
Climate change in New Zealand
- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces that the country has declared a climate change emergency and promises that it will become carbon neutral by 2025. (U.S. News & World Report) (TVNZ)

Law and crime

LGBT rights in Hungary
- Hungarian MEP, EPP Chief Whip and Vice-President, and one of the founders of the anti-LGBT Fidesz party, József Szájer, resigns after being detained by police at a homosexual orgy in Brussels alongside several other diplomats. He stands accused by Belgian authorities of being in possession of illegal drugs and violating COVID-19 restrictions. (BBC News)
Capital punishment in Egypt
- Amnesty International condemns a sharp rise in the use of the death penalty in Egypt, accusing authorities of executing 57 people in October and November alone, nearly double the number recorded in the whole of 2019. (BBC News)
2019–20 Hong Kong protests, Hong Kong national security law
- Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong is sentenced to 13 and a half months in prison for inciting an "illegal assembly" while two other activists, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, receive 10 months and 7 months in prison, respectively, for similar charges. (DW)
2020 Thai protests
- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is acquitted of breaching ethics clauses in the Constitution, allowing him to remain in power. (The Diplomat)
Legality of cannabis, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
- The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) votes to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug after removing it from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, where it was listed alongside opioids such as heroin. This change is expected to bolster medical research and legalization efforts around the world. (The New York Times)