Portal:Current events/2020 September 4
September 4, 2020 (Friday)
Disasters and accidents
- Typhoon Maysak
- Rescuers find a second survivor from the presumed wreck of the Panamanian-flagged cargo ship Gulf Livestock 1. A body was also pulled from the East China Sea. (News.com.au)
- The MT New Diamond is towed out of sea off the coast of Sri Lanka amid major fears of a massive oil spill after the ship caught fire yesterday, killing one Filipino crewman. The Panamanian-registered ship carries about 270,000 tonnes of crude oil. The government of the Maldives has expressed worry, with a presidential minister saying that the country needs to take all precautions to prevent oil from reaching its shores. (BBC)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
- COVID-19 pandemic in France, COVID-19 pandemic in Réunion, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education
- Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer announces that 22 schools across Metropolitan France and the overseas department of Réunion are closed again, only two days after the reopening of schools across the country, in response to rising cases and protests from parents and teachers' unions. (Sky News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
- Studies show that the Gam-COVID-Vac, Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, has produced an antibody response and a few side effects. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in France, COVID-19 pandemic in Réunion, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education
- COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extends the Alert Level 2.5 restrictions on Auckland until at least September 14, while the rest of the country remains under Alert Level 2, after the health ministry reported the first COVID-19 death in New Zealand since May. (Reuters via The Straits Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
International relations
- 2020 Kosovo–Serbia agreement
- Serbia and Kosovo announce that they will normalize economic relations. (Daily Sabah)
- Israel–Kosovo relations, Israel–Serbia relations
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that Kosovo and Serbia will open their embassies in disputed Jerusalem, recognizing the city as Israel's capital. Netanyahu says Kosovo is the first Muslim-majority country to do so. Until this day, only the United States and Guatemala have moved their embassies to Jerusalem, a move that Palestinians reject. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- Politics of the Solomon Islands
- Malaita Province Premier Daniel Suidani announces an independence referendum to potentially secede from the Solomon Islands due to growing tensions over the central government's diplomatic switch to China and a recent incident where Taiwanese medical supplies were seized by the government. (RNZ) (Reuters)