Portal:Current events/2020 December 28

December 28, 2020 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in the North Caucasus
- Two knife-wielding assailants kill a police officer and wound another in Grozny, Chechnya. The attackers are shot dead while trying to seize weapons. It is the second attack against police in the city in recent months; in October, two officers were killed by militants. (Reuters)
Aftermath of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war
- An Azerbaijani soldier is killed and another injured in a shooting in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan blames the attack on "an Armenian armed group"; all the six attackers are shot dead. (Al Jazeera)
Mali Civil War, Operation Barkhane
- Three French Army troops are killed when their armoured personnel carrier hits a roadside bomb in Hombori, Mali. (France 24)

Business and economy

Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- The United States House of Representatives passes the CASH Act, a bill that increases direct payments from $600 to $2,000, with a vote of 275–134. The bill is expected to head to the United States Senate for a vote. (Newsweek) (The Hill)
- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders announces that he will filibuster a Senate vote to override President Donald Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 if the Senate doesn't vote on providing $2,000 direct payments to Americans. (Politico)
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism, COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka reopens the island for tourism after closing it for nine months. (Business Insider)
Russian-led consortium Nord Stream AG says it has completed the construction of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in Germany's exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea. The U.S. had previously threatened to impose wider sanctions on the project if work continued. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

The Russian-flagged fishing trawler Onega capsizes near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Barents Sea. 17 fishermen are missing and presumed dead, while two have been rescued. Search and rescue operations in the area have been suspended due to strong winds and low temperatures. (AFP via The Moscow Times)
A power outage lasting several hours affects over 10 million people in Mexico, including in the capital Mexico City. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
    - Belgium officially begins a vaccination campaign against COVID-19, with a 96-year-old Flemish man from Antwerp becoming the first person to receive Pfizer-BioNTech's tozinameran vaccine. (Euronews)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Finland, Variant of Concern 202012/01, 501.V2 variant
    - Finland reports its first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 from the United Kingdom, after a person who travelled from Western Europe tested positive for COVID-19. (Yle)
    - A separate, second variant from South Africa is also reported in Finland, after two people tested positive for COVID-19. (News 24)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - Spain surpasses 50,000 deaths from COVID-19. (Anadolu Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland, 501.V2 variant
    - Switzerland reports its first two case of new variant of SARS-CoV-2 from South Africa after two people tested positive for COVID-19 despite having no clear traveling history to South Africa. (Business Insider South Africa)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - The United Kingdom reports a record 41,385 new cases in the past 24 hours. It is the first time that the country has reported more than 40,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. (BBC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
    - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi announces that the country will ban all international travellers for two weeks starting January 1, citing concerns over new variants of SARS-CoV-2. Government officials are exempt from this ban. (Merdeka.com)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata, who died yesterday, tested positive for COVID-19. He is the first Japanese lawmaker to die from the virus. (The Asahi Shimbun)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia, Variant of Concern 202012/01
    - Saudi Arabia extends the suspension of all international commercial flights, as well as all entry through land and sea ports for another week due to concerns about the new variant of SARS-CoV-2. (Gulf News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, Variant of Concern 202012/01
    - South Korea reports its first cases of a more infectious variant of SARS-CoV-2, after three South Korean nationals who arrived from the United Kingdom tested positive for COVID-19, including an elderly man who has since died. (Yonhap News Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta, Variant of Concern 202012/01
    - Alberta reports its first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a person who travelled from the United Kingdom. (Daily Hive)
  - Canada surpasses 15,000 deaths from COVID-19. (Global News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
  - President Cyril Ramaphosa announces that the country will move from level 1 to level 3 from midnight until January 15. This means that all alcohol sales are banned, wearing of masks in public places is compulsory, most gatherings other than funerals are banned, and the nationwide curfew will be extended from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. local time. (Bloomberg)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - Novavax announces it will begin phase 3 trials of its vaccine candidate in the United States and Mexico. (NBC News)

International relations

European Union–United Kingdom relations, trade negotiation between the UK and the EU
- European Union ambassadors unanimously approve the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the United Kingdom. (BBC News)
China–European Union relations
- The European Union announces that it is close to reaching an investment deal with China. The deal would immensely impact the global economy, especially with the U.S.-China trade war. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
Japan–United States relations, COVID-19 vaccine
- The United States Forces Japan announces that American troops in the country will begin vaccinations and prioritize front-line medical workers. (The Japan Times)

Law and crime

2020–2021 United States racial unrest, Andre Hill protests
- Officer Adam Coy, who fatally shot Andre Hill was fired. Coy had failed to follow the required protocol by not turning on his body camera and failed to aid the dying man. Hill's killing was the second police-involved shooting in Columbus, Ohio in weeks, setting off renewed protests against the authorities for excessive use of force. (NPR)
COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
- A court in China sentences a citizen journalist to four years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" while reporting during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year in Wuhan. The journalist's lawyer says that they will probably appeal the verdict. (Reuters), (BBC News)
A court in Saudi Arabia sentences women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul to five years and eight months in prison on grounds of "various activities prohibited by the anti-terrorism law". The verdict comes despite pressure from international organizations to release her. (DW)

Politics and elections

The United States House of Representatives votes 322–87 to override President Donald Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. (NBC News)