Portal:Current events/2020 September 18
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September 18, 2020 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Kurdish–Turkish conflict
- 2020 Iraq attacks
- Kurdish insurgents kill at least two Turkish soldiers when attacking a military base with rockets in Iraq. (Reuters)
- 2020 Iraq attacks
Business and economy
- The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority announces it will launch an investigation into major lending bank Swedbank for suspected market abuses between September 2018 and February 2019, as part of a larger international investigation into allegations of money laundering. (Bloomberg)
Disasters and accidents
- 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Sally
- Nearly 400,000 homes in the U.S. are left without power after Hurricane Sally made landfall. (The Hill)
- Hurricane Sally
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
- COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
- COVID-19 pandemic in the Community of Madrid
- The Madrid regional government announces new restrictions aimed at curbing the rising number of cases in the region. The order will go into effect on September 21 and last for at least two weeks, affecting more than 855,000 people, or 17% of the region's population. (El Pais in English)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the Community of Madrid
- COVID-19 pandemic in France
- France reports 13,215 new confirmed cases in the last 24 hours, a new record since the start of the pandemic, while the daily death toll jumps to 154, a four-month high according to data from the health ministry. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland
- Due to concerns over the spread, the government announces that it will move Dublin to "risk level three" restrictions in its response plan effective at midnight tonight, which means that indoor restaurant dining is banned again in the capital and residents are being advised against all non-essential travel. Meanwhile, indoor visitations are only allowed between one other household, most sporting events will be cancelled, and attendance at weddings and funerals is going to be capped at 25 guests effective September 21. (Sky News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
- Portugal reports 780 new daily cases, bringing the cumulative totals to 67,176 confirmed cases and 1,894 deaths. Ever since the end of national lockdown in May, this has been the fourth time that the country has registered some record increases in new cases, with all four records occurring during a ten-day window. (DGS)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
- The United Kingdom reports 4,322 new cases in the last 24 hours which taking the nationwide total at 385,936, the highest daily total since May 8. (ITV)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- The number of recoveries in Indonesia reaches 170,000 after 4,088 patients recover in the last 24 hours, surpassing the previous record of 3,560 set on August 24. (detikHealth)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns
- Israel enters a three-week second nationwide lockdown in an attempt to curb surging cases as people begin to mark the start of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). Under these rules, Israelis must stay within one kilometer of their homes, with exceptions, and the number of people allowed in synagogues has been greatly reduced. (BBC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar
- COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala
- President Alejandro Giammattei tests positive for COVID-19. (NPR)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
Law and crime
- LGBT rights in Hong Kong
- On two different rulings, the Hong Kong High Court rules in favor of a gay homeowner seeking inheritance equality from his partner but refuses to recognize the foreign-registered same-sex marriage of pro-democracy activist and convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front Jimmy Sham. Group Hong Kong Marriage Equality (HKME) welcomes the first ruling while Sham condemns his case outcome. (South China Morning Post)
- Vanuatu's opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu warns about the sale of honorary Vanuatuan citizenship to potential international criminals and people stripped of other nationalities for nefarious activities. The government says it has stopped selling Vanuatuan citizenship but promises further investigation into the matter. (RNZ)
- U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, dies at the age of 87. (NPR)
- London's Metropolitan Police reports that around 200 books worth £2.5 million were recovered from a house in Neamț County, Romania. The books, believed to have been stolen by Romanian gangs from a London warehouse in January 2017, include first editions by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei and English scientist Isaac Newton, and sketches by Spanish painter Francisco Goya. (DW)
Politics and elections
- Impeachment process against Martín Vizcarra
- The Congress of Peru votes 78–32 against removing President Martín Vizcarra at his impeachment trial. (Reuters)
Science and technology
- Internet censorship in the United States, China–United States relations
- The United States Department of Commerce says it will ban U.S. citizens from downloading the Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat effective September 20, unless a partnership between Oracle Corporation and TikTok owner ByteDance is agreed to and approved by President Donald Trump. (BBC News)