Portal:Current events/2020 November 12

November 12, 2020 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Tigray military intervention
- Amnesty International reports that massacres are taking place in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia after a conflict broke out last week. Amnesty cites witnesses blaming the Tigray People's Liberation Front for the "horrific tragedy" taking place as airstrikes continue to hit the region after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed blamed the political group of committing war crimes. Amnesty's report could not identify the perpetrators of the massacres. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India
  - Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces a $35.14 billion package to stimulate the economy by boosting jobs, consumer demand, manufacturing, agriculture and exports hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the package includes 9 billion rupees ($121 million) for development of a vaccine by the government’s biotechnology department. (ABC News)

Disasters and accidents

2020 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Eta makes landfall as a tropical storm near Cedar Key, Florida. (ABC News)
European migrant crisis
- The International Organisation for Migration says at least 74 people have died after their boat, which was carrying more than 120 people, capsized off the coast of Libya. The Libyan Coast Guard has rescued 47 survivors. (BBC News)
2020 Pacific typhoon season
- Typhoon Vamco makes landfall in Luzon in the Philippines and causes flooding in Metro Manila killing at least seven people. In Marikina alone, around 40,000 homes were fully or partially submerged. (Reuters)
A helicopter carrying Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) peacekeepers crashes near Sharm el-Sheikh, South Sinai Governorate, Egypt. Seven people are killed, including five Americans, a French national and a Czech national. One crew member, an American, survived and was medically evacuated to an Israeli hospital. (BBC News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois
      - Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot issues a new stay-at-home advisory that asks people to leave the house only for work, school or other essential reasons. It is scheduled to take effect for 30 days beginning at 6:00 a.m. CST on November 16. (WMAQ-TV)
      - Illinois reports 12,702 new cases in the past 24 hours, a new single-day record since the pandemic began. (Chicago Sun-Times)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in California
      - California surpasses one million cases of COVID-19, becoming the second state after Texas to reach that milestone. (KABC-TV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
      - Michigan reports 6,940 new cases, a new single-day record, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 236,225. (Detroit Free Press)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota
      - Minnesota reports 7,228 new cases, a new single-day record, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 201,795. (Star Tribune)
    - Nationally, more than 150,000 cases are reported, setting a world record for a third consecutive day. (MSN)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta
      - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announces new restrictions that will suspend indoor group fitness programs, team sports, group performance activities, limit the number of people who attend weddings and funeral services to 50 and reduce operating hours for restaurants, bars and pubs in the areas that are under enhanced status from tomorrow until November 27. It comes after Alberta reports a record 860 cases. (The Globe and Mail)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia
      - British Columbia reports a record 1,130 new cases in the last two days. This number includes 536 on Wednesday and 594 on Thursday. In addition, there are a record 155 people that have been hospitalized because of the virus. (Global News)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario
      - Ontario reports a record 1,575 new cases in the last 24 hours, raising its seven-day average to 1,299 cases and the cumulative cases in the province to 89,784. (CBC)
    - Nationwide, 4,981 new cases are reported in Canada in the last 24 hours, a new single-day record. (CTV News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Delhi
      - Delhi reports a record 8,593 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the capital to 459,975. (The Hindu)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    - Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has tested positive, only days after being released from prison. (Radio Free Europe)
    - Iran surpasses 40,000 total COVID-19 deaths after 457 new fatalities are reported in the last 24 hours. (Al Jazeera)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - The number of new confirmed cases in Japan surges to a record high of 1,651 cases in the last 24 hours as Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura warned of more stringent measures if the number of cases continues to rise. (The Straits Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
    - Pakistan reports 1,808 new infections in the last 24 hours, the highest since July 30, raising its nationwide total to 349,992 cases, according to data from the National Command and Operation Centre. (The Nation)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
    - Ukraine surpasses 500,000 total COVID-19 cases after a record 11,057 new cases are reported in the last 24 hours. (Kyiv Post)
    - President Volodymyr Zelensky is hospitalized after he contracted COVID-19 earlier this week. (Daily Sabah)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia
    - Croatia reports 3,082 new cases over the past 24 hours, a new single-day record, raising the total number of cases to 75,922. (Total Croatia News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
    - Greece reports 3,316 new cases and 50 deaths over the past 24 hours, a new single-day record for both cases and deaths since the pandemic began, taking the nationwide totals to 66,637 cases and 959 deaths. (The National Herald)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - Italy reports 636 new deaths, the highest single-day total since April 6, which brings the nationwide death toll to 43,559. (ANSA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia reports a record 439 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the nationwide death toll to 32,032. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - The United Kingdom reports 33,470 new cases, a new single-day record since the pandemic began, taking the nationwide total to 1.29 million cases. (Sky News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Marshall Islands
    - President David Kabua states that the Marshall Islands are COVID-free again after the US Army workman who had tested positive is no longer contagious. Initially, two US Armed Forces personnel had tested positive for the virus and have both recovered. (RNZ)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    - COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins asks New Zealanders who work in the Auckland CBD to stay home if possible from tomorrow after a new case was found in the city. (The Guardian)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco
  - Morocco reports 6,195 new cases, a new single-day record since the beginning of the pandemic, taking the nationwide total to 276,821 cases. (Morocco World News)
- COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships
  - In a first cruise since March, five passengers aboard the SeaDream I cruise ship have tested positive for COVID-19. (CNN)

Law and crime

Legality of cannabis
- Cannabis in Israel
  - Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn announces that Israel will begin a nine-month process to legalise and regulate recreational use of cannabis. (The Jerusalem Post)
Belgium expels five far-right Danish activists associated with Rasmus Paludan, ahead of a planned Quran burning event in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels. The area has a large Muslim community and it was feared that the Quran burning could spark civil unrest. Asylum Secretary Sammy Mahdi said the group is a "serious threat to public order". (BBC News)
William Vollmar, who formerly worked as a doctor in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison after pleading no contest to sexual assault charges. (Fox 43) (WJAC TV)

Politics and elections

2020 Belizean general election
- The People's United Party wins Belize's latest general election, ending the United Democratic Party's rule after 12 years. Johnny Briceño will be sworn in as the next Prime Minister of Belize. (BBC News)