Portal:Current events/2020 October 20
October 20, 2020 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan
- October 2020 Afghanistan attacks
- The governor of Zazi Maidan District and a bodyguard are shot dead and another two injured in Khost Province. (TOLOnews)
- At least five people are killed and another nine injured after two bombing attacks. The attack occurred in Jalrez District, Maidan Wardak Province. (TOLOnews)
- At least 12 police were killed after two bombs exploded in Kang District, Nimruz Province. (TOLOnews)
- October 2020 Afghanistan attacks
- Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
- Gunmen storm a jail in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and free more than 900 inmates, also attacking the military camp that provides security to the prison. The mayor of the town says the gunmen used electrical equipment in the attack and blames the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for the attack. (Al Jazeera English)
- 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- Azerbaijani troops capture the town of Zəngilan and several nearby villages in Zangilan District, Nagorno-Karabakh. (The Washington Post)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
- COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria
- After new infections in Bulgaria hit a record 1,024 cases in the past 24 hours, Health Minister Kostadin Angelov announces that the country will make wearing protective masks obligatory in all outdoor spaces from October 22 to slow the spread of the virus by about 30% and help prevent the health system from being overwhelmed. (Sofia Globe)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
- German authorites in Bavaria impose a lockdown in the district of Berchtesgadener Land starting at 2:00 pm local time today, making it the first area in Germany to go back into lockdown since April. Residents in the district for the next two weeks are not allowed to leave their homes without a valid reason, such as outdoor exercise, going to work, or buying groceries. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
- Authorities in Lombardy are given the green light by Health Ministry to impose a curfew in the region. The curfew will last between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am local time, and it will take effect between October 22 and November 13. Medium and large shopping malls will close on weekends. (Arab News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
- Russia reports 16,319 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its official number of cases to 1,431,635 and breaking its record for new infections since the pandemic began. (The Moscow Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria
- COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
- Iran reports a record 5,039 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima-Sadat Lari, bringing the total number of cases to 539,670. It is the first time that the country has reported more than 5,000 cases in a single day. (Bloomberg)
- COVID-19 vaccine
- AstraZeneca is expected to resume vaccine trials in the United States as early as this week. (CNBC)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
International relations
- Russia–United States relations
- Two United States F-22 fighters intercept a pair of Russian Tu-95 bombers in international airspace near Alaska. (Fox News)
Law and crime
- 2020 Thai protests
- A Thai court orders the suspension of an online TV station, critical of the government, named Voice TV, which has been accused of violating emergency measures aimed at ending three months of protests. Voice TV was also found to have breached the Computer Crime Act by uploading "false information". (Reuters)
- The United States Department of Justice files an antitrust lawsuit against Google. (Fox News)
Science and technology
- 2020 in spaceflight
- NASA's OSIRIS-REx is expected to collect samples from the Bennu asteroid. The samples will be returned to Earth in 2023. (CNN)