Portal:Current events/2020 December 26

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • The Israeli military (IDF) carries out several airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, in response to overnight rocket attacks in Israel. IDF says it targeted a rocket manufacturing site, underground infrastructure and a military post. Two minor injuries are reported. The attacks caused power outages in the eastern part of the strip. Hamas claims the strikes damaged a children's hospital, a centre for disabled people, and damaged the windows of several residential buildings. IDF claims that the damage was due to detonations of ground munitions. (Al Jazeera) (The Times of Israel)
• Kashmir conflict
  • India arrests 75 Kashmiri political leaders and activists for "preventive custody" due to recent violence following local elections. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• Twelve climbers die during avalanches and blizzards on mountains north of Tehran, Iran. Fourteen others went missing but are rescued alive. (The Guardian)
• A fire inside an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients at a hospital in Obour, Egypt, kills seven people and injures five others. (ABC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
      • COVID-19 vaccine
        • Spain receives its first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine tozinameran in Guadalajara, a day before the country begins its vaccination programme. (Euro Weekly News)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in the Community of Madrid, Variant of Concern 202012/01
        • Madrid reports the nation's first four cases of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2. (The Guardian)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland
        • Northern Ireland enters a six-week lockdown in an effort to reduce the number of COVID-19 infections. All "non-essential" shops and businesses will be closed, while "essential" shops must close each day by 20:00 GMT during the first week of the lockdown. No gatherings will be allowed between 20:00 and 6:00 each day, and anyone travelling to Northern Ireland must self-isolate for at least 10 days. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus, 2020 Belarusian protests
      • Two men jailed for protesting against President Alexander Lukashenko say they tested positive for COVID-19, after developing symptoms in jail and not receiving treatment. (AP)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
      • The German state of Saxony-Anhalt begins a vaccination campaign against COVID-19, which also began nationwide. A 101-year-old woman in a nursing home become one of first people in the country to get vaccinated. (DW)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary
      • Hungary begins a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine tozinameran. The first vaccinations are being delivered at two hospitals in Budapest. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia surpasses three million cases of COVID-19, becoming the fourth country to do so after the United States, India, and Brazil. (Arab News) (Mint)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, Variant of Concern 202012/01
      • Sweden reports their first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 after a traveller from the United Kingdom tested positive for COVID-19. (The Hill)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Variant of Concern 202012/01
        • Ontario reports its first two cases of a new SARS-COV-2 variant in a couple from Durham Region with no known travel history, exposure, or high-risk contacts. Ontario is the first province in Canada to identify a case of this new variant. (CBC)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues guidelines stating that people with underlying health conditions can receive the vaccine. (The Hill)
      • One out of every 1,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, according to a comparison of census and death toll estimates. (CNN)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Tokyo reports a record 949 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the prefecture to 55,851. (The Japan Times)
      • The Japanese Foreign Ministry will ban non-resident foreign nationals from entering Japan from December 28 until the end of January after several cases of a more infectious variant of SARS-CoV-2 were reported in the country. Japanese citizens and foreign residents will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days when they enter the country. (CNN)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia reports a record 6,389 recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of recoveries to 576,693. (detikNews)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
      • Iran extends a nighttime traffic curfew that runs from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. local time to 330 lower-risk "yellow" cities in an effort to sustain a recent decrease in the numbers of new cases and deaths. (Hindustan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
      • Malaysia reports a record 2,335 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 103,900. (CNA)

Law and crime

• 2020 Nashville bombing
  • Federal investigators identify a person of interest in yesterday's bombing in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, and join local police in raiding his home. (AP)
  • Authorities announce that they suspect the incident was a suicide bombing, following the discovery of human remains at the blast site. (CNN)
• Breonna Taylor protests, 2020 United States racial unrest
  • A statue of Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police during a raid at her home in March 2020, has been smashed and destroyed during a racist assault. The statue was erected two weeks ago in Oakland, California. (BBC News)
• Crime in Germany
  • Four men are seriously injured in a mass shooting in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The city's attorney said that rival gangs may have been responsible for the shooting. (BBC News)
• Crime in China
  • China lowers the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years old for "abominable" crimes such as murder or causing injury that leads to death or severe disabilities by extremely cruel means. The measure was passed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee. (Al Arabiya)
• Mass shootings in the United States
  • Three people are killed, and three others are injured, during a mass shooting at a bowling alley in Rockford, Illinois. Police believe the suspect, in custody, identified as a soldier from Florida, randomly selected his victims. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Ethiopian general election
  • The government sets June 5 as the date for the 2021 parliamentary elections. The elections were delayed to 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with the delay being a cause of the ongoing Tigray conflict. (Reuters)

Sports

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, 2020 NFL season
  • The Cleveland Browns announce that they will close their facility and delay their flight to New Jersey for an upcoming matchup with the New York Jets after a player on the team tested positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)