Portal:Current events/2020 December 17

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram insurgency
  • Kankara kidnapping
    • Katsina's governor Aminu Bello Masari says 344 pupils kidnapped from a boarding school in Kankara by Boko Haram on December 11 have been freed in Zamfara. (Al Jazeera)
• Sinai insurgency
  • Two roadside bombings near Sheikh Zuweid in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, kill three Egyptian Army troops and wound 10 others. Separately, Egyptian military raids on Sheikh Zuweid kill four Islamist militants. (ABC News)
• Terrorism in Australia
  • A knifeman kills two elderly people after storming their home and then tries to attack police officers on a highway in Brisbane, Australia. The attacker, who is shot dead by police, has been identified as a 22-year-old man inspired by the Islamic State. He was arrested in early 2019 when he tried to join the group in Somalia. (CNA)

Arts and culture

• UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists
  • Malaysian Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Nancy Shukri announces that the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has listed pantun and wangkang on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. This marks the first time that Malaysia has gained UNESCO recognition along with other countries, as the pantun was jointly nominated with Indonesia and the wangkang ceremony was jointly nominated with China. (NST)
  • The Finnish sauna culture is inscribed on the UNESCO list. As authorized by the state, the Finnish Heritage Agency commits, together with Finnish sauna communities and promoters of the sauna culture, to safeguard the vitality of the sauna tradition and to highlight its importance as part of customs and wellbeing. (YLE)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020–21 South Pacific cyclone season
  • Cyclone Yasa makes landfall in Bua Province, Fiji, at around 6:00 a.m. UTC (6:00 p.m. FJT), two hours ahead of its forecasted schedule. (FBC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland
        • The Northern Ireland Executive agrees to impose a new lockdown beginning on Boxing Day, which means that non-essential shops will be closed from the end of trading on Christmas Eve. During the first week of lockdown, essential shops will have to close each day at 8:00 p.m. GMT. (BBC)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in France
      • President Emmanuel Macron tests positive for COVID-19. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, Secretary-General of the OECD José Ángel Gurría and President of the European Council Charles Michel self-isolate after having contact with Macron earlier this week. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
      • The Robert Koch Institute reports a revised total of more than 30,000 cases in the past 24 hours, a new record, because around 3,500 cases in Baden-Württemberg were not initially reported. (The Local Germany)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
      • The Netherlands reports a new single-day record of 12,844 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 652,525. (NL Times)
      • Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge says that vaccinations using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will begin on January 8 if the European Medicines Agency approves it for use next week. (ABC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
      • Health Minister Adam Niedzielski announces a nationwide lockdown that will close hotels and ski slopes from December 28 to January 17. He also says that a curfew will be imposed on New Year's Eve from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. local time. (Poland In)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
      • Prime Minister António Costa says that an overnight curfew beginning at 11:00 p.m. will be in effect in the country on New Year's Eve. He also added that people would not be allowed to leave their homes between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. from January 1 to 3. (CNA)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in San Marino
      • The Government imposes a curfew between 00:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. from 18 December. (San Marino TV)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
      • Turkey reports a record 243 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 17,364. (Daily Sabah)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
      • Mayor Hennadiy Kernes of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, dies in Germany due to complications caused by COVID-19 after contracting the virus in September. (Kyiv Post)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan issues a gubernatorial instruction and decree that requires anyone leaving and entering the city from tomorrow until January 8 to have a negative rapid antigen test result. The order also limits the capacity of offices to 50% and requires cafés, restaurants and tourist attractions to close at 7:00 p.m. local time from December 24 to 27 and December 31 to January 2. (The Jakarta Post) (Jakarta Globe)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • The Tokyo Metropolitan Government raises its healthcare alert level to the top level for the first time as the number of infections continues to increase. This comes as Tokyo reports a record of 822 new cases in the past 24 hours. (The Straits Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Palestine
      • The Palestinian Authority impose a two-week lockdown in the entire West Bank that orders schools, universities, restaurants, barbershops, gyms and leisure venues to close. As part of the lockdown, the curfew has also been extended for two weeks. (The Times of Israel)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
      • Saudi Arabia begins its vaccination campaign a day after it received two shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. More than 150,000 people have registered to receive the vaccine. (Al Jazeera)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
      • South Korea reports a record 22 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 634. (Yonhap News Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • The U.S. surpasses 17 million cases of COVID-19. (The Daily Beast)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in California
        • California reports 52,281 new cases and 379 deaths in the past 24 hours, both a new single-day record for the state and nationwide since the beginning of the pandemic. (KABC-TV)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
        • Texas reports a new single-day record of 16,864 cases, bringing the totals to 1,371,223 confirmed cases and 167,966 probable cases. (KEYE-TV)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
        • Cedric Richmond, advisor to President-elect Joe Biden, tests positive for COVID-19. (CBS News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta
        • Alberta reports a record 30 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the provincial death toll to 790. (Calgary Herald)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario
        • Ontario reports 2,432 cases, a new-single day record. (The Globe and Mail)
      • Canada reports over 7,002 cases, a new-single day record. (Global News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • The New South Wales Northern Beaches outbreak reaches 17 cases, leading to fears of a second wave in the state. Western Australia and Queensland have reimposed border restrictions on people travelling from New South Wales. (News.com.au)

Law and crime

• Legality of euthanasia
  • The Spanish Congress of Deputies approves the decriminalisation of euthanasia, becoming the sixth country to do so. (La Vanguardia)
  • The Chilean Chamber of Deputies approves a bill to allow euthanasia. (La Tercera)
• Adass Israel School sex abuse scandal
  • Israeli Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn signs an extradition order to Australia for accused child sex abuser Malka Leifer, after she was convicted of faking mental illness to avoid extradition earlier this year. (The Guardian)
• Human rights in Australia
  • An ombudsman report finds that the Victorian state government's decision to briefly impose a "hard lockdown" on public housing towers in July in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, not allowing anyone in or out, was a violation of human rights. The state government refuses to apologise to the tower residents despite the report's recommendations. (The Guardian)
• Modern display of the Confederate battle flag
  • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signs into law a bill banning the display and sale of Confederate battle flags, Nazi swastikas and other 'symbols of hate' on state-owned property. Cuomo has promised to address concerns that this law could violate freedom of speech. (WNBC-TV)
• Jean-Luc Brunel, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein, is arrested in France on charges of rape and sex trafficking. (The New York Daily News)

Science and technology

• 2020 United States federal government data breach
  • Microsoft confirms it has discovered malicious software in its operating systems related to a mass data breach targeting the federal government of the United States. (Reuters)
• The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launches communications satellite CMS-01 into a geostationary orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. (Space.com)

Sports

• Russian doping
  • After a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling, Russia is banned from international sports for two years, including the 2020 Summer Olympics, the 2022 Winter Olympics, and other World Championships due to doping. (AP)