Portal:Current events/2020 December 15

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram insurgency
  • Kankara kidnapping
    • Jihadist group Boko Haram claim responsibility for Friday's mass kidnapping in Kankara, Katsina, Nigeria. (BBC News)
• War in Afghanistan; December 2020 Afghanistan targeted killings
  • A bombing in Kabul kills the deputy governor and his secretary, and wounds their bodyguards. In a later attack in the Ghor Province, a deputy provincial council head was killed while another council member and their driver were wounded when a sticky bomb attached to their vehicle detonated. (Associated Press)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020–21 South Pacific cyclone season
  • Tropical Cyclone Yasa intensifies into a category 5 storm. It is expected to head towards Fiji later today. (FBC News)
• Two magnitude 4.0 earthquakes occur in Northern California at around 6:55–7:00 a.m. PST and are felt from San Jose to as far north as San Francisco. There are no reported injuries or deaths. (San Jose Mercury News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases mandates the wearing of a "full" face shield in addition to wearing a face mask when going outside. Face shields were previously compulsory in enclosed areas, such as shopping malls. (Rappler)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
      • South Korea reports a record 13 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 600. (Anadolu Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco
      • Morocco surpasses 400,000 total COVID-19 cases. (Xinhua)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria
      • The northwestern Nigerian state of Kaduna announces the closure of schools from tomorrow due to an increase of COVID-19 cases. (The Punch)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario
      • Ontario reports 2,275 cases, a new single-day record. (National Post)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec
      • Quebec Premier François Legault announces that all non-essential businesses in the province will be closed from December 25 until January 11 in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (The Globe and Mail)
    • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces that the country has ordered 168,000 doses of Moderna's vaccine. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
    • Turkey reports a record 235 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 16,881. (Reuters)

International relations

• • Russia–United States relations
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulates President-elect Joe Biden for the first time. (CNBC)
  • Mexico–United States relations
    • Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador congratulates President-elect Joe Biden for the first time. (The Washington Post)
  • Brazil–United States relations
    • Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro congratulates President-elect Joe Biden for the first time. (WXXI)
• Kenya–Somalia relations, Foreign relations of Somaliland
  • The Somali Minister of Information Osman Abubakar Dubbe announces that the Government of Somalia is recalling its diplomatic staff from Kenya and is giving Kenyan diplomats seven days to leave Somalia. This comes after Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi's visit to Nairobi where he was received by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. (DW)

Law and crime

• Capital punishment in Japan
  • The Tokyo District Court sentences serial killer Takahiro Shiraishi, dubbed the "Twitter killer", to death, for murdering nine people at his apartment in 2017 and dismembering their bodies. Shiraishi, who was found mentally competent, pled guilty and told the court his crimes had a sexual motive. (CNN)
• LGBT rights in Hungary
  • The National Assembly passes a number of changes to the Constitution of Hungary which bar same-sex couples from adopting children. The amendments also lowers the legal threshold for the government to declare a state of emergency, and further reduces the oversights the government is required to take with regard to the spending of public funds, which critics say will allow the government to use state money to benefit loyalists. (The New York Times)
• Philippine drug war
  • The International Criminal Court says that they have found evidence that crimes against humanity were committed during Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war. (The Washington Post)
• Finnish-Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard is arrested by Canadian police after being indicted by U.S. authorities on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. The U.S. is seeking his extradition from Canada. Nygard denies the allegations. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• Rena Lalgie is sworn in as Governor of Bermuda, making it the first time that the British territory has a black woman as governor. (ABC News)

Science and technology

• 2020 United States federal government data breach
  • United States National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien interrupts a trip to Europe, returning to Washington, D.C. to address a cyberattack that is said to have targeted several federal government agencies. The U.S. National Security Council announces the formation of a "Cyber Unified Coordination Group," based on Presidential Policy Directive 41. (Politico) (NextGov)