Portal:Current events/2020 July 22

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • A Hezbollah militiaman is killed by an Israeli airstrike, apparently on Monday night, near Damascus International Airport, Syria, the group reports. It is their first casualty since they warned that if it suffered further killings, they would retaliate. (Reuters)
• Papua conflict
  • Indonesian security forces deny that two people they killed late last week were "innocent civilians". The Indonesian military is fighting the separatist West Papua Liberation Army in the region, which reported that the two killed were shot without provocation. (RNZ)
• Kurdish–Turkish conflict, Operations Claw-Eagle and Tiger
  • Turkish troops have now advanced 40 km (25 mi) inside northern Iraq and established over 30 "temporary bases" in its ongoing military offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), according to a Turkish official. An unnamed Turkish official tells Reuters the unprecedented advance is a prelude to an assault on the Qandil Mountains, the PKK's main stronghold in Iraq. (Ahval News)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • ISWAP releases a video showing the execution of five kidnapped aid workers in Nigeria. The International Rescue Committee and Action Against Hunger confirmed the authenticity of the video and condemned the killings of their colleagues. (The Washington Post)

Arts and culture

• Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials
  • The United States House of Representatives votes on a bill to remove Confederate statues from the United States Capitol, as well as replacing the bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney with Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall. (CNN)

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • South Korea's economy enters recession after exports plunge to their lowest levels since 1963. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, 2020 Pacific hurricane season
  • Two tropical storms, one in the Atlantic Ocean (Gonzalo) and the other in the Pacific (Douglas), are expected to become hurricanes Thursday. Gonzalo, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, is east of Barbados in the Windward Islands, moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 km/h), leading Barbados to issue a Hurricane watch. Douglas's maximum sustained winds have increased to near 100 mph (155 km/h), and landfall on Hawaii is expected Sunday. (USA Today) (The Washington Post)
• Floods in Vietnam's Hà Giang province result in at least five deaths and damage more than 2,800 houses. (VnExpress)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Japan reports a record of 795 new COVID-19 cases, surpass the previous single-day high set in April. (Kyodo News)
      • Tokyo cumulative cases surpasses 10,000. (The Asahi Shimbun)
      • Osaka Prefecture confirms its highest single day record of 121 new COVID-19 cases. (Kyodo News)
      • Aichi Prefecture reports its highest single day record of 53 new COVID-19 cases. (Mainichi Shimbun)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases, with 113 new cases, 105 of which are locally transmitted. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 deaths, with 139 new deaths bringing its death toll to 4,459. (detikNews)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
      • South Africa reports a record 572 new COVID-19 deaths. (Anadolu Agency)
    • The number of cases in Africa reaches 750,000. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio
        • Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issues a statewide mandate requiring masks to be worn indoors and outdoors whenever social distancing isn't possible. (Reuters)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
        • Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announces that masks will be mandatory outside of homes to battle rising COVID-19 cases in the city. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in California
      • California reports the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day, with 12,807 new cases that bring the statewide total to 413,576 cases, surpassing New York in the process. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Australia reports the highest one-day increase of new cases since the pandemic began, with 502 new cases, surpassing the previous record set on March 28 at 469 cases. Victoria records 484 new cases and two deaths, the highest of any Australian state. (The Age) (ABC News (Australia))
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • Brazil reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases days after WHO says the country reaches the plateau, with 67,860 new cases that pushes the nationwide total at more than 2.2 million. (Bloomberg)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
    • The number of daily cases in Romania exceeds 1,000. (Reuters)

International relations

• China–United States relations
  • The United States orders the closure of China's consulate in Houston. Morgan Ortagus, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State, says that the United States directed the consulate's closure "in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information". The Chinese government condemns the "outrageous and unjustified" move and threatens countermeasures against the United States. (Al Jazeera)
• Canada–United States relations
  • A Canadian federal court rules the Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement to be invalid, saying it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedom by making the country complicit in the United States's abuses of asylum seekers in detention. The ruling goes into effect within six months to give Parliament time to respond. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Killing of George Floyd
  • George Floyd protests in the United States, Operation Legend
    • President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr announce a surge of "hundreds" of federal law enforcement officers to Chicago, Albuquerque and other cities in an effort to crack down on a recent wave of violent crime. The mayors of Portland, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta and Kansas City pen a letter to Barr and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf expressing "deep concern and objection to the deployment of federal forces in our cities". (Forbes)
  • Derek Chauvin, the police officer who is expected to face charges over the killing of George Floyd, faces new felony charges along with his wife Kellie. (CBS News)
• Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, Corruption in Israel
    • About 2,000 Israelis protest outside the residence of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the COVID-19 crisis and alleged corruption. (The Guardian)
• 2020 Piacenza scandal; Police brutality in Italy
  • Seven Carabinieri are arrested in Piacenza, Italy, after being accused of drug trafficking, receiving stolen goods, extortion, illegal arrest, torture, grievous bodily harm, embezzlement, abuse of office and fraud. The "leader" of the group, officer Montella, arrested and charged people with fake proof of crimes that the detainees never committed. (Corriere della Sera)
• The Alor Setar High Court in Kedah State, Malaysia, suspends a caning sentence for 27 Rohingya refugees, citing their current status and no prior history of crime. They were sentenced with 13 other refugees to seven months in jail and caning last month for illegally entering the country. (Reuters)

Sports

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2020 NFL season
    • The National Football League issues a mandate requiring all fans to wear face masks at stadiums during the upcoming season. (ESPN)