Portal:Current events/2020 October 30

October 30, 2020 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Terrorism in Russia
- A police officer is wounded after being stabbed several times by a 16-year-old boy in Kukmor, Tatarstan, Russia. The attacker is then shot dead by a fellow officer. The stabbing is being investigated as a terrorist incident. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

List of most expensive coins
- A near-mint condition Roman coin celebrating the assassination of dictator Julius Caesar is sold at an auction for £2.7 million (US$3.5 million), becoming the most expensive Roman coin ever auctioned. (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

2020 Aegean Sea earthquake
- An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hits Greece and Turkey, with an epicentre in the Aegean Sea. Flooding and destruction of houses is reported in Samos, where two people have died, and Izmir, where 20 people have died and 786 injured. (BBC News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - COVID-19 vaccination in Russia
      - Moscow city authorities announce that residents who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 may be able to do so as early as next month if large volumes of doses are supplied by then. Deputy mayor Anastasia Rakova also said the city was creating a large network of specialized vaccination rooms with 2,500 high-risk people already having been vaccinated. (News18)
    - Russia reports 18,283 new cases in the past 24 hours, a new record for the second consecutive day, bringing the nationwide total to 1,599,976, still the fourth-highest in the world. (The Moscow Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Austria
    - Austria reports a record increase of 5,627 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the cumulative nationwide total to 99,576 confirmed cases. (Vienna.at)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns
    - Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called the situation a "state of sanitary emergency" in the country and announces a second nationwide lockdown from November 1 for at least six weeks, with all non-essential businesses ordered to close. Belgium is the worst affected country in Europe with more than 1,600 cases per 100,000 people. (Houston Chronicle) (The Brussels Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
    - The Chamber of Deputies votes to extend the state of emergency in the Czech Republic until November 20. The present state of emergency is due to expire on November 3. (Radio Prague International)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
    - Germany reports a record 18,681 new cases, pushing the total of confirmed cases near 500,000, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute, making it the third consecutive time the country sets a new record of daily infections. (RND)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland
    - Iceland announces new restrictions, lowering its limit on public gatherings from 20 people to 10 people and suspending sporting activities and stage performances. The new restrictions will take effect tomorrow and last until November 17. (Reykjavik Grapevine)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - Italy reports a record 31,084 new cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total of confirmed cases to 647,674. (Il Sole 24 ORE)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
    - Poland reports 21,629 new cases, the largest jump in the number of cases since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total number of cases to 340,834. It also reaches 5,351 COVID-19 deaths, with 202 deaths in the last 24 hours. (Poland In)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
    - Portugal reports a record daily increase with 4,656 new cases, bringing the cumulative counts to 137,272 confirmed cases and 2,468 deaths. (DGS)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - Spain registers its record daily jump in COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row, when the country's Ministry of Health reports 25,595 new cases over the past 24 hours. (Anadolu Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in California
    - COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area
      - San Francisco Mayor London Breed announces that the city will pause reopening due to an increase of cases. (CNN)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey
    - New Jersey reports over 2,000 cases, its largest increase in cases during a one-day period since early May. (News 12)
  - The United States surpasses nine million cases of COVID-19. (CNN)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
  - Iran surpasses 600,000 COVID-19 cases. (Al-Arabiya English)

International relations

France–Pakistan relations, aftermath of the Murder of Samuel Paty
- Riot police clash with thousands of anti-Charlie Hebdo cartoons protesters who attempted to march on the French Embassy building in Islamabad, Pakistan. (VOA)

Law and crime

LGBT rights in Taiwan
- The military of Taiwan conducts the first mass same-sex marriages since the country became the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex unions in 2019. (BBC)
Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections
- Reuters reports that Fancy Bear, the Russian hacker group accused of interfering in the 2016 United States presidential election, had attempted, earlier this year, to hack the email accounts of the California and Indiana branches of the Democratic Party, and those of influential think tanks like the Council on Foreign Relations and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. (Reuters) (The Verge)

Politics and elections

2020 New Zealand euthanasia referendum, 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum
- The preliminary results are announced for a referendum on the End of Life Choice Act 2019, which legalizes doctor-assisted euthanasia, with voters approving it. Another referendum on the legalization of the sale and use of cannabis was not approved by voters. (Al Jazeera) (BBC News) (RNZ)