Portal:Current events/2020 November 13

November 13, 2020 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- November 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  - A car bombing leaves at least four soldiers dead and five others injured in Paghman District, Kabul Province. (TOLOnews)
Tigray military intervention
- The United Nations says that war crimes might have been committed in the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. (NBC News)
Kashmir conflict
- Cross-border shelling between Indian and Pakistani troops kill 15 people, including ten civilians, and five security personnel. The Indian Army says it foiled an "infiltration attempt from Pakistan" in northern Kashmir. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Delhi
      - Delhi reports 104 new fatalities on Thursday, the highest single-day figure since the beginning of the pandemic and pushing the overall death toll to 7,332. (The New Indian Express)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, COVID-19 vaccine
    - Indonesia reports a record 5,444 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide total to 457,735 cases. Central Java reports the highest number than any other provinces, with 1,362 cases. (detikHealth)
    - President Joko Widodo informs that the country has sought emergency authorization to start a mass vaccination programme by the end of the year using CoronaVac and the Sinopharm vaccine. He also said that health workers, police and military will be the first to receive the vaccine. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
    - China's General Administration of Customs suspends seafood imports from Basu International for one week after it detects COVID-19 infection on the outer packaging of the frozen cuttlefish. (The Times of India)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    - South Korea begins to fine people and operators who fail to wear masks in public. In the new rules, people caught without masks in public venues face fines of up to 100,000 won (US$90), while the operators of those places face fines of up to three million won. (The Japan Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
    - The number of new confirmed cases in Germany surges to a record 23,542 cases over the past 24 hours, according to data from Robert Koch Institute. (Zeit Online)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - The number of new confirmed cases in Italy surges to a record of 40,902 cases, pushing the nationwide total to 1.1 million cases as the government designate Tuscany and Campania regions to high-risk "red zones". (ANSA) (BBC)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
    - Portugal surpasses 200,000 cumulative cases of COVID-19. (DGS)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia reports a record 21,983 new cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the cumulative case total since the start of the pandemic to 1.88 million cases. (The Moscow Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden
    - Sweden, whose government took a lighter approach to the pandemic, including not enforcing lockdowns, reports 5,990 new cases, a new single-day record that pushes the nationwide cumulative case total at 177,395. (Dagensvimmerby)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland; COVID-19 vaccine
    - Switzerland begins reviews of Moderna's potential vaccine candidate. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
    - The number of new confirmed cases in Ukraine surges to a record of 11,787 cases, pushing the nationwide total since the start of the pandemic to 512,652 cases. (Kyiv Post)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    - Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces that all states and territories in Australia will reopen their borders by Christmas, with the exception of Western Australia. (9 News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    - The Auckland CBD reopens after contact tracing of a new case revealed it was linked to a known case from a border isolation facility, reversing an earlier call for people to work from home. (RNZ)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois
    - Illinois registers 15,415 new cases in the last 24 hours, a new single-day record and breaks a national record that previously held by Florida on July 12, when the state reports 15,299 cases. (WBBM-TV)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
    - Michigan reports 8,516 new cases, a new single-day record. (WDIV-TV)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
    - New York reports more than 5,000 new cases for the first time since April, when the state registers 5,401 cases and positivity rate reaches 2.65 per cent. (The Hill)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin
    - Wisconsin reports 7,777 new cases, a new single-day record and surpassing 300,000 total confirmed cases. (WBAY-TV)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland
    - Maryland reports 1,869 new cases, a new single-day record. (The Baltimore Sun)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
    - More than 130 Secret Service agents have been ordered to isolate or quarantine because they tested positive for the coronavirus or had close contact with infected co-workers. (The Washington Post)
- COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships
  - SeaDream Yacht Club halts a cruise in the Caribbean after several passengers test positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Corruption in South Africa
- Ace Magashule, a top official of the African National Congress, is expected to face 21 charges of corruption in Bloemfontein. (ABC News)
A major police operation is conducted at the headquarters of Ubisoft Montreal following reports of a hostage situation. The employees remaining in the building have been safely evacuated. The police tells the local media that it was a false alarm. (Le Journal de Montréal) (PC Gamer)
Recently unsealed court documents reveal a teenager had been arrested last year for plotting an attack on an unidentified school in the Tasman District of New Zealand. He was in possession of an AR-15 style rifle, a modified shotgun, and homemade explosives. The suspect had pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful possession of restricted weapons and objectionable material and had been sentenced to two years of supervision. (Stuff)

Politics and elections

2020 United States presidential election
- President-elect Joe Biden is projected to win 306 electoral votes against incumbent President Donald Trump following victories in Arizona and Georgia. (NBC News)
2020 Belarusian protests
- Protesters gather in Belarus to mourn the death of 31-year-old protester Raman Bandarenka, who died in a hospital in Minsk after being beaten by security forces. (ABC News)

Sports

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
- Egyptian Football Association announces that Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has tested positive for the COVID-19 on the eve of Egypt's 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Togo. (Al Jazeera)