Portal:Current events/2020 September 16

September 16, 2020 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- September 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  - A bomb kills two people and injures 12 others in Kalafgan District, Takhar Province. (TOLOnews)
  - A member of the Afghan National Directorate of Security is shot dead and his driver injured in Kabul. (TOLOnews)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Two men are injured during a rocket attack in Ashdod, Israel. In response, the Israel Defense Forces strike Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)

Arts and culture

List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
- In Popayán, Colombia, members of the Misak indigenous community topple and decapitate a monument dedicated to Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar. (BBC)
The United Kingdom returns three antique bronze sculptures to India more than 40 years after they were stolen from a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu. They were found in London after one was offered for sale in 2019. A total of four bronzes from the Vijayanagara period, which lasted from the 14th to the 17th century, were stolen in 1978 from a temple dedicated to the god Vishnu in Nagapattinam. (Reuters)
Pope Francis appoints Bishop Mario Grech, the former Bishop of Gozo, Malta, as secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops. Bishop Grech replaces Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, just prior to his 80th birthday. (Vatican Press Office)

Disasters and accidents

2020 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Sally
  - Hurricane Sally strengthens into a Category 2 hurricane. The storm has forced evacuations and left more than 150,000 people without electricity. It is now expected to make landfall near southeastern Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle. (CNN)
  - Hurricane Sally makes landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 5:45 am ET as a Category 2 hurricane. (USA Today)
  - Part of the Pensacola Bay Bridge in Pensacola, Florida, collapses due to a crane falling on it. (USA Today)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - COVID-19 pandemic in the Community of Madrid
      - Madrid announces plans to introduce targeted lockdowns and other restrictions on movement on September 18, in areas with high cases, local authorities said as the region accounts for around one-third of active cases in Spain. (El Pais in English)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia
    - Slovenia reports 123 new cases, an all-time high. (RTVSLO)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
    - Czech Republic reports 1,677 new cases, its highest daily count since the beginning of the pandemic, as the government plans to ban indoor events in an attempt to stabilize the situation. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia
    - Georgia reports 196 new cases, its highest single-day increase. (Xinhua)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - India's cases top five million to become the second country in the world after the United States to record that many cases. (Al Jazeera)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
    - Indonesia reports 3,963 new cases in the past 24 hours, which takes the nationwide total at 228,993, a new all-time high since the pandemic began in the country. (detikNews)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - The Trump administration and federal officials from Operation Warp Speed unveil plans for distributing doses of a COVID-19 vaccine once the FDA approves their use. (CBS News)

International relations

Venezuelan protests, Crisis in Venezuela
- A United Nations Human Rights Council fact-finding mission formally accuses the Venezuelan government of crimes against humanity, including cases of killings, torture, violence against political opposition and disappearances since 2014. President Nicolás Maduro and other senior Venezuelan officials are among those implicated in the charges. (BBC)
International reactions to the 2020 Belarusian presidential election and protests
- The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, accuses the United States of "working behind the scenes" in Belarus towards another "colour revolution", funding bloggers and training activists through NGO's against the interests of Belarusian citizens. Minister of Defence Sergey Shoygu flies to Minsk after disputed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for weapons during a meeting in Moscow on Monday. Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov says Russia will, before the end of the year, disburse the first $1-billion tranche of a loan that was agreed also on Monday, to help Belarus' financial stability. (Reuters)
Cross-Strait relations, Taiwan–United States relations
- Sources around President Donald Trump say that the United States plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems, including mines, cruise missiles and drones to Taiwan. (Reuters)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announces plans to repeal the Dublin Regulation and reform the migration policy of the European Union, which von der Leyen says will be presented on September 23. (AFP via France 24)

Law and crime

Rwandan humanitarian and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Paul Rusesabagina, the subject of the film Hotel Rwanda, faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the crimes with which he is charged, according to the prosecution. Rusesabagina had called for armed resistance against the government of Paul Kagame on YouTube. Rusesabagina, however, declined to respond to the charges. (Reuters)
Hundreds of inmates escape from a jail in Moroto District, Uganda, after killing a soldier and looting weapons. A Uganda People's Defence Force spokesperson says two inmates have been captured and two others killed by security forces. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Republicanism in Barbados
- Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley announces that the Caribbean island will become a republic next year before its 55th anniversary of independence from the United Kingdom in November 2021, replacing Elizabeth II as head of state with a Barbadian. Governor-General Sandra Mason says "the time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind." (Sky News)
Yoshihide Suga is elected Prime Minister of Japan, following the resignation of his predecessor Shinzo Abe over health concerns. (BBC)
Prime Minister of Libya Fayez al-Sarraj announces his wish to step down at the end of October amidst the ongoing civil war and protests over corruption. (DW)

Science and technology

Boeing 737 MAX groundings
- A United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure report blames a "horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing's engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing's management, and grossly insufficient oversight" by the Federal Aviation Administration for two deadly Boeing 737 MAX crashes, resulting in the airliner being grounded worldwide. (Reuters)

Sports

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
- 2020–21 NCAA Division I FBS football season
  - The Big Ten Conference announces its 2020 football season will begin on October 24 with an eight-game schedule, reversing its previous decision to cancel the season. (AP via WJRT-TV)