Portal:Current events/2020 July 13

• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • The Houthis launch missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia during an overnight attack. The movement claims it successfully hit Saudi warplanes, military installations, an airport and the Jizan oil facility, operated by Aramco. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki says they destroyed four missiles and six drones launched against the kingdom from capital of Yemen, Sanaa. (Al Jazeera)
• War in Afghanistan; July 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  • The Taliban attack an intelligence building in Aybak, Samangan Province, leaving 11 people dead and 63 people injured. The attack started with a suicide car bombing at the government compound and finished after gunmen were killed by Afghan security forces. (Reuters)
• 2020 Armenian–Azerbaijani skirmishes; Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
  • Several Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers are killed and/or wounded after a clash at the border of the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan. (Reuters)

• Diageo plc announces that Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky will soon be sold in paper bottles. The bottles will be made from wood pulp and will be fully recyclable. A trial run is scheduled for spring 2021. In addition, Diageo is co-launching Pulpex with venture management firm Pilot Lite that will make paper bottles for beverage companies such as Unilever and PepsiCo. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in California
      • California Governor Gavin Newsom orders further restrictions and prohibitions on indoor activities, building on previous orders. California has seen a sustained rise in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, resulting in the state pausing and rolling back some reopening plans. (CNBC)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
      • Michigan begins tighter restrictions on public face mask usage, including $500 fines for refusal to wear one and the potential loss of business licenses for failure to enforce their usage. (MLive.com)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkmenistan
    • State media issues an order from the Ministry of Health mandating that all citizens wear masks to combat "dust", and maintain a distance between people of at least one meter (3 feet). The Turkmen government maintains that the country remains free of COVID-19 but refuses to explain the purpose of these mandates. (CTV News)

• China–United States relations
  • In response to the United States placing sanctions on Chinese officials for their roles in the internment of Uyghurs, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announces it will place sanctions on several American politicians, such as Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and the government agency Congressional-Executive Commission on China for "wrong actions". (BBC News)
  • The U.S. State Department formally rejects most of China's maritime claims in the South China Sea. (U.S. Department of State)

• Capital punishment in the United States
  • An appeals court overturns a ruling by a federal judge blocking the execution of convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee, who along with Chevie Kehoe, murdered a family during a home invasion in Arkansas in 1996. It will be the first federal execution since 2003. (BBC News)
  • Federal district judge Tanya Chutkan blocks the four federal executions scheduled for July and August including that of Daniel Lewis Lee, whose execution was scheduled for later today per the Chicago U.S. Court of Appeals' ruling Sunday. Judge Chutkan said this will allow continuation of the condemned men’s legal challenges to the new lethal injection protocol. She stated scientific evidence before the court overwhelmingly indicates the 2019 protocol is very likely to cause extreme pain and needless suffering during their executions. The federal government is likely to appeal her ruling. (Reuters) (NPR)

• 2020 Polish presidential election
  • The National Electoral Commission announces that incumbent President Andrzej Duda has been re-elected after winning 51.2% of the votes in a second round run-off with challenger Rafał Trzaskowski. (BBC News)
• Politics of Ivory Coast
  • Ivory Coast's Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan resigns days after the death of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly. His office says he is leaving for personal reasons. (Reuters)
• Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law says he is in the United Kingdom after fleeing persecution from a controversial security law implemented by the Hong Kong government. (BBC News)

• Washington Redskins name controversy
  • The Washington Redskins announce they are dropping the team nickname and logo after decades of criticism of them being offensive to Native Americans. The new name will be announced later. (AP) (USA Today)