Portal:Current events/2020 October 27

October 27, 2020 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- Artsakh Defence Minister Jalal Harutyunyan is seriously wounded in an Azerbaijani drone strike on his vehicle in Nagorno-Karabakh. He is replaced by Mikael Arzumanyan until he recovers from his injuries. (Public Radio of Armenia)
- Azerbaijan says an Armenian missile attack on the city of Barda killed at least four civilians and injured 13 others. (Caspian News)
Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- 2020 Peshawar school bombing
  - Eight students are killed in a bombing at a madrasa in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (BBC News)
An Islamic State inmate kills a guard and wounds three others with a metal object at a prison in Rabat, Morocco. The fate of the militant, who was arrested a month ago, is unknown. It is the first terrorist attack in the country since the 2018 murders of two Scandinavian tourists. (The Defense Post)

Disasters and accidents

2020 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Zeta makes landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula as a Category 1 hurricane. (Fox News)
- Hurricane warnings are issued by the National Hurricane Center across the Gulf Coast of the United States from Morgan City, Louisiana, to the Mississippi–Alabama border. (Fox News)
The Greek Navy's mine countermeasures vessel HS Kallisto is cut in two in a collision with a container ship. (New Greek TV)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
      - COVID-19 pandemic in New York City
        New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio asks residents to avoid traveling out of state during the upcoming holidays. For those who decide to travel, he urges them to get tested and quarantine for two weeks. (CNBC)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Arkansas
      - Arkansas surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 cases and sets a new record of 27 new hospitalizations, bringing the total to 676. (KATV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky
      - Governor Andy Beshear reports a record-high number of new infections in the state with 1,786 cases. (Courier Journal)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin
      - Wisconsin reports 5,262 new cases and 64 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, setting a record number for both new cases and deaths since the pandemic began, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. (WKOW-TV)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba
      - Manitoba reports 184 new cases, its highest number since the pandemic began. (CBC)
    - Canada surpasses 10,000 COVID-19 deaths. (CTV)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
    - Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum tests positive for COVID-19 but is asymptomatic. (Mexico Daily News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia's Rospotrebnadzor orders all people to wear masks in crowded places starting tomorrow and recommends all restaurants and other late-night establishments to close between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time, with all public events banned during that time. (Barron's)
    - Russia reports a record of 320 new deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide death toll since the pandemic began to 26,589. (The Moscow Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria
    - Bulgaria reports 2,243 new infections, a new record of cases since the pandemic began. (Novinite)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - France reports 523 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, which includes 292 people that died in hospitals and another 231 people who died in nursing homes. This is the highest number of daily fatalities since the first wave in April, as President Emmanuel Macron prepares to announce new restrictions tomorrow. (Anadolu Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
    - Greece reports 1,259 new infections, the highest number in a single day, bringing the nationwide total to 32,752. (Neos Kosmos)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - The number of new confirmed cases in Italy rises by a record 21,994 in the past 24 hours. In addition, the country also reports 221 new fatalities, the highest daily death toll the country has had since May. (ANSA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - La Rioja orders the closure of restaurants and bars in its two largest towns, Logroño and Arnedo, for a month in an attempt to curb the second wave of COVID-19. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
    - Hong Kong announces that it will reopen public beaches and increase the number of people allowed to sit together in bars to four people, and at restaurants to six people, on October 30, as part of a relaxation of social distancing measures. The city's government also said that those venues will be allowed to run on-site services until 2:00 a.m. local time. (South China Morning Post)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    - Iran reports 6,968 new cases and 346 deaths in the past 24 hours, its highest daily tally since the pandemic began, pushing the death toll to 33,299 and cumulative total cases to 581,824. (Arab News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria
  - President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is hospitalized at a military hospital in Algiers, days after he went into self-isolation after suspected COVID-19 cases amongst his aides. (AFP Via Yahoo! News)
- The United Nations cancels all in-person meetings at its New York City headquarters after five people on the Niger mission tested positive. (Reuters)

International relations

Aftermath of the murder of Samuel Paty
- Thousands rally in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka calling for a boycott of French goods over French President Emmanuel Macron's defense of cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which Muslims consider to be highly blasphemous. Police prevented the protesters from reaching the French Embassy. (Al Jazeera)
- Iran summons the French ambassador over Macron's "insulting comments" regarding Islam and Muslims. (Republic World)
- Saudi Arabia condemns Macron's "attempts to link Islam with terrorism" but does not join calls for a boycott of France. (Al Jazeera)
- Protesters burn French flags and pictures of Macron outside the French Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. (Rudaw)
- France's Foreign Ministry warns its citizens to take extra security precautions while traveling in Muslim-majority countries as a Muslim backlash against France grows. (Reuters)
India–United States relations
- Following high-level talks in Delhi, India and the United States sign a military agreement on sharing sensitive satellite data. The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation (BECA) gives the Indian Armed Forces access to a range of sensitive geospatial and aeronautical data for military use. Agreements on nuclear energy, earth sciences and alternative medicine are also signed. (BBC News)
Netherlands–Turkey relations
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan files a criminal complaint against Dutch far-right politician and activist Geert Wilders for allegedly "insulting him on social media". Turkish prosecutors accepted the complaint at an Ankara court. Erdoğan's lawyers say Wilders insulted "honour, dignity, character and reputation". (Reuters)

Law and crime

2020–2021 United States racial unrest, Killing of Walter Wallace
- Protests break out in Philadelphia after police shoot and kill Walter Wallace, who they say had been armed with a knife. There are also reports of vandalism, including looting, spray painting and smashing of windows at a police station. Police also say 30 officers have been injured, many of which were struck by bricks and other debris, and that 91 protesters were arrested. (WCAU-TV)
2020 Tanzanian general election
- Tanzanian political party Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT Wazalendo) reports that its Zanzibar presidential candidate Seif Sharif Hamad has been arrested following condemnation by him and the political party of the shooting deaths of at least seven civilians amid unrest over alleged fraud on the eve of presidential election. Police confirm Hamad's arrest but do not comment. (AP)
LGBT rights in Nigeria
- A Nigerian court throws out a case against 47 men for allegedly publicly engaging in same-sex relationships at a Lagos hotel in 2018, claiming a lack of diligence on the prosecutor's part. (Reuters)
Hong Kong national security law
- Hong Kong pro-independence activist Tony Chung is arrested when he tries to seek asylum at the U.S. Consulate General. He was on bail for alleged national security law offences. (The Guardian)
Australian Aboriginal sacred sites
- A yellow box tree sacred to the women of the Djab wurrung indigenous group in western Victoria is cut down to make way for a new highway. 50 protesters are arrested at the site for violating social distancing laws. (The Guardian)

Science and technology

British telecommunication regulator Ofcom announces that all mobile network providers in the country will be banned from selling locked phones beginning in December 2021. (BBC News)

Sports

2020 World Series
- The Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series after a Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was their first World Series win in 32 years. (ESPN)
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
- FIFA announces that the President Gianni Infantino tests positive for COVID-19. (BEIN Sports)