Portal:Current events/2020 July 27

July 27, 2020 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Darfur
- 2020 Darfur attacks
  - The UN says approximately 500 gunmen attacked a Masalit community in West Darfur, looting, burning down houses, and killing more than 60 people. (DW)
2020 Israel–Hezbollah clashes
- Explosions and exchanges of fire are heard during an armed incident involving Israeli troops and Hezbollah at the border between Israel and Lebanon. Four Hezbollah militants crossed the border and fled back to Lebanon after being shot at, while IDF reported no Israeli casualties. An Israeli shell smashed in a Lebanese civilian home, narrowly missing a family in the house at the time, but nobody was hurt. (The New York Times) (Reuters)
2019–2021 Iraqi protests
- Two protesters in Baghdad are killed by Iraqi security forces when they are hit by teargas canisters in the head and on the neck; the forces also opened fire at demonstrators in Tahrir Square. The protesters were protesting power cuts in the midst of a heatwave. It was the first major spate of violence at the Square in months. Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi condemns the killings and orders an investigation. (Reuters)
Mali War
- ECOWAS demands the release of Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cissé, who was kidnapped in March just days before a disputed election, asks 31 elected MPs whose results were disputed to resign, and requests an urgent inquiry into protesters' deaths on 10–12 July. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta is given ten days to respond to the bloc's proposals or face sanctions. (BBC News)
War in Donbass
- Ukraine's military says pro-Russian separatists have violated a ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine just hours after it was declared, after opening fire on Ukrainian positions with anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms. Ukrainian forces did not return fire. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Musician Drake breaks the record for the most top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing Madonna. (Billboard)

Business and economy

Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
- The price of gold hits a record high of US$1,944 per ounce as uncertainty over the global economy grows due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The previous record was set in 2011 when prices hit US$1,921 per ounce. (CNN)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in China
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      - Hong Kong announces a ban on all dine-in services at restaurants and restricting public gatherings not from the same family to only two people starting 29 July and orders the compulsory wearing of masks in outdoor public areas, with only medical exemptions. Sports venues and swimming pools are also closed. (Bisnis Indonesia) (Bloomberg)
      - Hong Kong reports a record 145 cases of COVID-19; 142 of them are locally transmitted. (Reuters)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      - China reports 61 new cases, up from 46 cases a day earlier, with new infections not involving people returning from overseas hitting the highest number since early March of 57. (U.S. News & World Report)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - India reports 50,362 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. This is the highest one day increase since the pandemic hit the country and the first time daily new cases in India crossed 50,000 mark. (Times of India)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
    - Indonesia's total COVID-19 cases pass 100,000; 58% of them are recovered. (detikHealth)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
    - After three residents tested positive for COVID-19, Vietnam announces it will evacuate 80,000 people, mostly domestic tourists, from Da Nang. The evacuation will span at least four days and involve roughly 100 domestic flights per day. (Sky News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    - Victoria reports its record number of new COVID-19 cases so far, with 532 cases in the last 24 hours, as well as six deaths. This number also made it Australia's highest one day increase of new cases. (ABC News Australia)
    - New South Wales reports 17 new cases of COVID-19. Of these, eight are returning travellers in hotel quarantine and another nine are locally transmitted, including one case under investigation. (The Australian)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea
    - Prime Minister James Marape announces a two-week lockdown of the capital amid a spike of infections in the city. Schools are also ordered to close. (RNZ)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
  - Belgium announces the unveiling of drastic social distancing measures aimed at avoiding a new lockdown. These measures include restricting social contact outside every household to five people over the next four weeks and limiting crowds at public events to 100 people indoors and 200 people outdoors. This measure will take effect next Wednesday. (France24)
  - Antwerp imposes a curfew from 11.30 p.m. to 6 a.m and the mandatory wearing of face masks in public spaces should a distance of 1.5 meters between individuals not be observed. (The Washington Post)

International relations

China–Philippines relations
- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he has no choice but to treat the disputes in the South China Sea diplomatically because the alternative is to "go to war with China", defending a government decision not to press a ruling that went in favor of the Philippines. Separately, Duterte claimed China may offer vaccines “on credit” if not as a donation and grants package. (Reuters) (Asia Times)
China–India relations, Boycott China
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India bans 47 Chinese-origin apps on the grounds that these apps were clones of banned apps made by Chinese companies to circumvent bans. The ban comes less than a month after 59 apps were banned in June, including TikTok and Helo, as the government deemed them a "threat to national security". India also begins investigating over 250 Chinese apps over user privacy violations including popular Tencent-backed gaming app PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. The bans comes in the wake of a movement to boycott Chinese products in India following the 2020 China-India skirmishes. (India Today)
Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya announces it will begin an audit of the central banks of the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord and the rival House of Representatives, saying it is a “critical step” in eventually uniting both factions. (Reuters)

Law and crime

George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon
- United States Attorney General William Barr defends the Department of Justice's decision to send security forces to Portland in a congressional testimony. Portland has seen 61 consecutive days of protests, which escalated after federal officers arrived this month. (BBC News)
Rene Boucher is sentenced to an additional eight months in prison for assaulting United States Senator Rand Paul in 2017. (NBC News)
French Environment Minister Barbara Pompili announces that France will ban the use of terrace heaters in restaurants and cafes by the end of this winter to cut down on carbon emissions. (Reuters)
German prosecutors launch an investigation into a retired Bavarian police officer and his wife for sending several threatening emails to politicians of Turkish background, including the head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, signing them with "NSU 2.0". (Reuters)
Indonesian police arrest four executives at Indonesian recruitment agencies and charge them with human trafficking in connection with the alleged torturing to death of an Indonesian worker on board a Chinese fishing vessel last month. (Channel News Asia)

Politics and elections

2020 Singaporean general election
- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his new Cabinet of Singapore is sworn-in at dual locations at the Istana and the Parliament House due to the ongoing COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. (Channel News Asia)
George Floyd protests
- Six Democratic mayors, of Portland, Oregon, Chicago, Seattle, Albuquerque, Kansas City, Missouri, and Washington, D.C., urge the US Congress to block the Trump administration from sending federal law enforcement agents to their cities, saying the agents' presence, against the request of local authorities, is unlawful. (BBC News)

Sports

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
- 2020 NFL season
  - NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell cancels the preseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (NFL)
- 2020 Major League Baseball season
  - Monday's regularly scheduled baseball games between the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins, and the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, are postponed because 14 members of the Marlins traveling party, including 12 players, tested positive for COVID-19. Tuesday's Orioles-Marlins game is also postponed; the status of the second Yankees-Phillies game will be announced later. Miami just finished a three-game series in Philadelphia this past weekend. Before Sunday’s series finale, Miami learned that four of its players had tested positive and adjusted its lineup accordingly. (WFLA-TV) (The New York Times)