October 23, 2020 (2020-10-23) (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Disasters and accidents
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 spread of COVID-19 when the current state of emergency expires tomorrow. Under the new rules, bars and restaurants will have to close by midnight and will not be able to accept new patrons after 11:00 p.m. local time, and socializing with people outside of one's household will be prohibited between midnight and 6:00 a.m. local time. Outside of these hours, social gatherings will be limited to a maximum of six people. Capacity at theaters and cinemas, as well as indoor sports facilities, will be reduced to 50%. Parks and gardens will be closed between midnight and 6:00 a.m. local time. (El Pais in English)
- The regional government of Castile and León orders a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time that will take effect tomorrow and last for two weeks. (RTVE)
- The Governments of Catalonia, Euskadi, Extremadura, Asturias, Melilla, and La Rioja urge the national government to declare a state of emergency. (La Vanguardia)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
- COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
- Belgium's Consultative Committee announces that it will tighten its restrictions on social contacts by banning fans from sporting events, closing amusement parks, and imposing a limit of 200 people allowed in theatres, concert halls, and cinemas. The measures take effect immediately and will last for four weeks until November 19, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 threatening to overwhelm hospitals. (The Brussels Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in France
- France surpasses one million COVID-19 cases after a record 42,032 new infections are reported in the last 24 hours, becoming the second European Union country to reach the milestone after Spain and the seventh country in the world to reach the same level. (ABC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
- Italy reports 19,143 new cases in the last 24 hours, a new record for the third consecutive day since the pandemic began, taking the nationwide total to 484,869. (ANSA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
- The Flevo hospital in Almere begins to transfer two of its COVID-19 intensive care patients by helicopter to a hospital in Muenster, near the Dutch-German border, as hospitals in the Netherlands come under increasing strain from a second wave of infections. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
- After Poland reports the highest single-day record of 13,632 new infections, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announces the designation of the country as a "red zone" area, which means that tomorrow it will partially close schools, with only grades one to three attending classes, restrict gatherings to five people, and restrict the operations of restaurants, cafés, and pubs to only serve take-away or delivery services. He also advises people over 70 years of age to stay home. (Times of India)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
- The Portuguese Parliament approves a bill that imposes the mandatory use of a mask for people over ten years of age in crowded outdoor areas if social distancing cannot be implemented, as requested by the government, as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19. The measures will be in effect for 70 days. (The Star)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
- The number of new cases since the beginning of the pandemic in Romania rises by a record of 5,028 in the past 24 hours, as new restrictions are introduced in Bucharest and other cities. (Digi 24)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
- Russia reports 17,340 new cases, a new record high in the past 24 hours, raising the cumulative case total to 1,480,646. Despite the rise, authorities pledge not to reimpose strict lockdown measures across the country and declare the epidemic "under control." (CBS News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
- The number of new cases since the beginning of the pandemic in Iran rises by a record of 6,134 in the past 24 hours and pushes the overall count up to 556,891. This is the first time that new cases have surpassed more than 6,000. In addition, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari warns that 30 of 31 provinces are in the red zone with a high risk of COVID-19 infection. (Anadolu Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia
- COVID-19 vaccine
International relations
Law and crime
- Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
- Hundreds of people protests in Naples after stricter COVID-19 measures were imposed in the city and the whole region of Campania. The protestors clashed with police, wounding seven officers with smoke bombs, burning trash bins and chanting against the President of the region, Vincenzo De Luca. Two people are arrested. (Il Fatto Quotidiano) (ITV)
- George Floyd protests, 2020–2021 United States racial unrest
- Rohingya genocide case
- The decomposed remains of seven people, believed to be undocumented migrants, are discovered in a fertiliser container in Asunción, Paraguay. The container set off from Serbia on 21 July and travelled through Croatia, Egypt, Spain and Argentina en route to Paraguay. Three of the seven were identified as being from Morocco and one from Egypt. According to the coroner, asphyxiation was the likely cause of death. (BBC News)