Portal:Current events/2020 October 7

October 7, 2020 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- October 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  - A bomb kills at least three people in Tagab District, Kapisa Province. (TOLOnews)
Yemeni Civil War
- A report from the United Nations recommends that war crimes committed by Saudi Arabia and the Houthi movement be referred to the International Criminal Court. (The Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

2020 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Delta
  - Hurricane Delta makes landfall in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula at 5:30 CDT. (The Weather Channel)
  - Carlos Joaquín González, governor of Quintana Roo, says that "half of the state is without power" due to Hurricane Delta. (The Weather Channel)
  - New Iberia, Louisiana, issues a city wide curfew as Hurricane Delta approaches. (KLFY-TV)
Russian authorities evacuate people from over a dozen villages in the Ryazan Oblast, following a large fire and explosions at a military arms depot. No casualties are reported. (Reuters)
A bus accident leaves at least 18 people dead in Ivory Coast. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Andorra
    - The Andorran government orders all bars in the Principality to close and only offer food at home, and restricts the hours of restaurants between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. local time, and between 7 p.m. and midnight local time. (El Periòdic)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
    - The regional government in Brussels declares that bars and cafes in the city will be forced to close for a month effective tomorrow, even if they only sell tea or coffee, after the Belgian capital overtook Paris in terms of infections per inhabitant. (Swiss Info)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria
    - Bulgaria registers 436 new cases in the past 24 hours, a record high for a single day since the beginning of the pandemic, as shown by data from the national information platform on the disease. A total of 22,306 cases have been registered in the country. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
    - The Czech Republic reports a record 4,457 new cases in a single day, according to data from the Health Ministry, as in infections over the past month are now rising at the fastest pace in Europe, seeing 326.8 per 100,000 over the past two weeks. (Daily Sabah)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - French health authorities reported 18,746 new confirmed cases in 24 hours, a new all-time daily high since the beginning of the outbreak, taking the nationwide total at 653,509. President Emmanuel Macron responded to that record cases by saying there will be a new restrictions to curb spread of the virus. (France 24)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
    - Berlin's nightlife is facing a closing time for the first time since 1950, effective October 10, as bars, restaurants, and off-licences will have to close between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time. Under new rules that have been announced, public gatherings of more than five people from more than two households, as well as private gatherings of more than ten people, will also be banned. (The Guardian)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - Italy imposes a compulsory nationwide outdoor mask mandate, with fines ranging from 400 to 1,000 euros (AS$659 to AS$1,650; US$463 to US$1,163) for violators in a bid to curb the second wave of COVID-19. This decree passes at the same time the country reports 3,678 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest figure since the peak of the outbreak in April. Exceptions include outdoor sporting activities, children under six years of age, and people with health conditions that preclude wearing masks. (Sydney Morning Herald) (ABC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
    - Poland reports 3,003 new cases and 75 new deaths in the last 24 hours. It is the highest jump of number of cases and deadliest day since the start of the pandemic. (Radio Poland)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
    - Romania records 2,958 new cases, as well as 82 deaths. It is the highest jump of number of cases and deadliest day since the start of the pandemic. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin
    - Governor Tony Evers announces that the state will open a field hospital at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee. (The Hill)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  - Brazil surpasses five million COVID-19 cases, becoming the third country to reach that milestone after the United States and India. (Bloomberg)
Canadian Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announces that Canada will ban plastic bags, drinking straws, cutlery and other single-use items by the end of 2021. (CTV)

International relations

Iran–United States relations, Internet censorship in the United States
- The U.S. Department of Justice announces the seizure of 92 domain names believed to be used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to "spread pro-Iranian disinformation". (Middle East Eye)

Law and crime

Indonesia omnibus bill protests
- Indonesian police detains nearly 400 protesters, some armed with molotov cocktails and sharp weapons. Demonstrations take place in at least 12 places, with police detaining 183 people outside local parliament in Palembang, and holding more than 200 protesters in the capital Jakarta. (CNA)
George Floyd protests
- Ex-police officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged in George Floyd's death, is released on bail. (WCCO-TV)
A Greek court rules that far-right political party Golden Dawn operated as a criminal organization in connection with the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in 2013 and other crimes. (CBS News)

Politics and elections

2020 Kyrgyzstani protests, October 2020 Kyrgyz parliamentary election
- Kyrgyz parliamentarians launch impeachment procedures against President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. (Sputnik news)
Foreign Minister of Northern Cyprus Kudret Özersay resigns in protest of Prime Minister Ersin Tatar's decision to re-open Varosha, a Greek Cypriot-majority resort town that was abandoned after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, days before the presidential election. He also pulled the People's Party out of the ruling coalition late yesterday in light of the announcement. (The New Arab)

Science and technology

Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna "for the development of a method for genome editing." (ABC)
2020 in archosaur paleontology
- Multiple skeletons of Oksoko avarsan are discovered in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. (BBC News)
Starman, a Tesla Roadster that was launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket three years ago by Elon Musk, makes its closest approach to Mars at a distance of 0.05 astronomical units. (CNN)