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)
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)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - 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 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 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - Melania Trump, First Lady of the United States, who recently recovered from a Covid-19 infection, will not participate in the scheduled campaign rally for her husband, President Donald Trump, today in Erie, Pennsylvania, because of a lingering cough. (APNews)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - AstraZeneca is expected to resume vaccine trails in the United States as early as this week. (CNBC)

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)