< Portal:Current events

Portal:Current events/2020 August 28

August 28, 2020 (2020-08-28) (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
  • MV Wakashio oil spill
    • The death toll of dolphins in Mauritius rises to 38, according to a government official. The dolphins showed signs of wounds but no trace of hydrocarbons in their bodies. Greenpeace urged yesterday the government to launch an "urgent investigation to determine the cause of the deaths and any ties to the Wakashio oil spill". (Reuters)
  • Officials in Niger say that floods have killed 45 people and displaced more than 226,000 people since Monday, after torrential rains caused the Niger River to overflow. Prime Minister Brigi Rafini pledges aid. (AP)
  • A polar bear kills a 38-year-old Dutch man at campsite near Longyearbyen, on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The bear was then shot dead near Svalbard Airport. It is the first fatal bear attack on Svalbard since a British student was attacked and killed in 2011. (BBC News)
Health and environment
International relations
Law and crime
  • George Floyd protests
    • 50,000 people gather in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 1963 civil rights march and in protest against police violence. The event is called the "Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks", a reference to George Floyd's killing. The relatives of Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Eric Garner deliver speeches at the march alongside civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. (BBC News)
  • Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
    • An administrative court in Berlin overturns the city government's ban on protests and demonstrations, citing "no indication" that the government's rationale for the ban of protesters breaching social distancing measures would occur. (AFP via Bangkok Post)
  • Essex lorry deaths
  • Egyptian authorities arrest Mahmoud Ezzat, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. He was serving a sentence in absentia and was detained in a hideout in Cairo. (Al Arabiya)
  • The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet says that the life of top Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is "at serious risk" after receiving multiple death threats via phone calls and social media. His hospital is located in the middle of a conflict zone and the Congolese government pledged to protect him after he survived an assassination attempt years ago. (Reuters)
  • A Pakistani court sentences three leaders of Jamat-ud-Dawa to between one and 16 years in prison for helping coordinate the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The sentences come as the deadline for the country to avoid getting placed on the Financial Action Task Force blacklist approaches. (Reuters)
  • Rioting erupts in Malmö, Sweden, following a Quran book burning event by far-right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan in the city. Police say as many as 300 people gathered to protest the anti-Islam activities, which then became violent as protesters set fires and attacked police. (Reuters)
  • The Brazilian Ministry of Health announces expansions to the country's abortion laws regarding cases of pregnancy from rape, which include requiring the victim to provide "a detailed account" to doctors, a report to police, and the victim being "expressly warned" of the possibility of prosecution for fraud for false or unverified claims. Chamber of Deputies minority leader Jandira Feghali filed a bill in response to block the decree, claiming it "constitutes psychological violence against women". (AFP via The Straits Times)
Politics and elections
Science and technology
  • American neurotechnology company Neuralink unveils a pig, named "Gertrude", that has been living with a brain-implanted chip for two months at an event in San Francisco. (Reuters)
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