Portal:Current events/2020 August 9

• War in Afghanistan
  • August 2020 Afghanistan attacks
    • At least seven policemen are killed and 15 others injured after a car bomb explodes outside a police station in Ghazni, Afghanistan. As yet nobody has claimed responsibility. (TOLONews)
  • Afghan peace process
    • Afghanistan's Loya Jirga approves to release 400 "hard-core" Taliban prisoners after deliberation. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says he will sign the order and that doing this, the Afghan government complies with the Taliban demand of freeing prisoners to start intra-Afghan peace talks. (Reuters)
• Maghreb insurgency
  • Kouré shooting
    • Six French aid workers, their driver, and a local guide are shot dead by gunmen in an attack on a group of aid workers in Kouré, Tillabéri, Niger. (BBC News)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
  • State-run oil company Saudi Aramco reports that profits in the first half of 2020 plunged by 50% compared to the same period last year, with decreased demand in oil caused by COVID-19 cited as the main reason by CEO Amin H. Nasser. The company plans to uphold its promise of paying out US$75 billion in annual dividends in spite of this. (AP)

• 2020 Sparta earthquake
  • An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 hits near the small town of Sparta, North Carolina. Shaking was felt throughout the U.S. East Coast, though no damage and injuries are reported. The earthquake is the largest in the state since 1916. (ABC News)
• 2020 Vijayawada fire
  • At least 11 people are dead and 22 others injured in a fire at a COVID-19 facility centre in India's Andhra Pradesh. (Al Jazeera)
• Eight people are dead after floods caused by thunderstorms and torrential rains affected Evia, Greece. Dozens of people have been evacuated from the area. (BBC News)(Canberra Times)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
      • Victoria reports Australia's deadliest day since the pandemic began in the country, with 17 deaths reported aside from 394 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. (The Guardian)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
      • New Zealand marks 100 days without community transmission of COVID-19. (The New Zealand Herald)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
      • National Public Health Organization reports 203 new COVID-19 cases in Greece in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single day for the country since the pandemic began. (Greek Reporter)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • The United Kingdom reports 1,062 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. It is the first time that the country has recorded more than 1,000 new cases since late June. (ITV)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in India
    • India reports its highest single day record of 64,399 new cases in the last 24 hours. (Times of India)

• • A teenager is killed and 20 others are shot, including an off-duty police officer, in a mass shooting at a large gathering in Southeast Washington, D.C. Police are searching for at least three shooters. (CNN)
• A 17-year-old Chili's hostess is hospitalized after being attacked at a Chili's restaurant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after telling a large group of women that they may not share a table due to safety regulations regarding the coronavirus. The hostess has no plans to return to the Chili's restaurant where she was attacked. (MSN)

• 2020 Belarusian presidential election, 2020 Belarusian protests
  • Citizens of Belarus head to the polls to elect the country's president. Long-ruling Alexander Lukashenko is challenged by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya after her husband and pro-democracy activist Siarhei Tsikhanouski was jailed and banned from the vote like other prominent opposition figures. Protesters and journalists were also detained in the weeks leading to the election. (DW)
  • A state television exit poll shows President Alexander Lukashenko winning 79.7% of the vote. These results have been dismissed by the main opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who criticized them has "massively rigged". (BBC News) (The Guardian)
  • Lukashenko, in power since 1994, declares a landslide victory against the opposition, as riot police clash with protesters in the capital Minsk. Protests in reaction to the disputed results have been reported in at least 20 other Belarusian cities. Fifty civilians and thirty-nine police officers were injured, while at least 3,000 protesters are arrested across the country, one-third of them in Minsk. (BBC News) (The Guardian)
  • A police van in Minsk rams a group of protesters, hitting one of them. The condition of the victim is unknown, with reports of his death not confirmed. (Mandiner.hu)
  • NetBlocks reports that the internet has been "significantly disrupted" in Belarus, with a near total blackout in Minsk. (NetBlocks)