Portal:Current events/2020 September 17

• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • Kouré shooting
    • The Islamic State's West Africa Province claims responsibility for last month's attack in Kouré, Niger, which resulted in the death of six French aid workers and two Nigerian citizens. (Reuters)
• Iraqi insurgency
  • 2020 Iraq attacks
    • A bomb hits a convoy, killing four members of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Kirkuk. (National Iraqi News Agency)
• War in Afghanistan
  • September 2020 Afghanistan attacks
    • The Taliban kills 32 members of the security forces and two civilians, and injures another 17 security forces, in four attacks across Afghanistan. At least 84 Taliban militants also died in the attacks. (TOLOnews)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    • The economy enters recession for the first time since 1987 after the country's GDP declined by 12.2% between April and June, amid a nationwide lockdown and travel bans due to COVID-19. (BBC News)
  • Shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic
    • An additional 150 million children live in multidimensional poverty since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year. The analysis by UNICEF and Save the Children is based on shortcomings in education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, and water. (PTI via The Week)

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Teddy strengthens into a Category 3 hurricane over the Atlantic Ocean and heads to Bermuda, which is recovering from Hurricane Paulette. (The Washington Post) (The Weather Channel)
• 2020 California wildfires
  • A firefighter dies in the El Dorado Fire while battling blazes in the San Bernardino National Forest. (The Guardian)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • COVID-19 pandemic in England
        • Health Secretary Matt Hancock announces that temporary restrictions will be in place in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Northumberland, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, and the Durham County Council area effective at midnight tonight due to "concerning rates of infection." Almost two million people in North-east England will be banned from meeting with other households. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
      • Portugal reports a record increase of 770 new cases and ten deaths since the end of national lockdown in May, thus bringing the cumulative totals to 66,396 confirmed cases and 1,888 deaths. Today also marks the official start of the 2020/2021 public school year, which began with in-person classes nationwide. (DGS)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
      • A two-month-old baby dies of COVID-19 in Michigan, the youngest known fatality in the state thus far. (MLive.com)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
      • Texas Governor Greg Abbott eases restrictions on retail stores, gyms, and restaurants. Bars, however, remain closed. (CNBC)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in India
    • India reports another record jump in daily infections, with 97,894 cases reported in the last 24 hours, as shown by data from the health ministry. (CNA)

• International response to the 2020 Belarusian protests, Belarus–European Union relations
  • Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki proposes a €1 billion (US$1.2 billion) stabilization fund by the European Central Bank to revitalize the Belarusian economy amid the protests. (AFP via France 24)
• Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
  • France, Germany, and the United Kingdom issue a joint note verbale to the United Nations rejecting China's claims to the South China Sea, and supporting the ruling in Philippines v. China that said the historic rights per the nine-dash line ran counter to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However the statement says that on "territorial sovereignty" they "take no position". (CNN Philippines)

• Women in Afghanistan
  • President Ashraf Ghani signs an amendment allowing mother's names to appear on their child's birth certificate, after discussion on the law was delayed by the National Assembly last week. The move is seen as a "significant milestone" for women's rights, following Afghan tradition stating that using a woman's name in public brings shame on their family. (ABC Australia)
• A court in Hong Kong convicts an 81-year-old man for stabbing pro-democracy activist Leung Kwok-hung, also known as "Long Hair". Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong adjourned sentencing to October 13 and praised the perpetrator for "loving society", while also commenting that Leung was not hurt seriously. (The Standard)
• 2020–2021 United States racial unrest
  • U.S. Attorney General William Barr tells prosecutors to aggressively charge people arrested at recent demonstrations across the country, even suggesting including a sedition charge, which is usually reserved for those who have plotted a threat that posed imminent danger to the government. (The Guardian)

• 2020 Bolivian general election
  • Interim president Jeanine Áñez withdraws from the presidential race, saying the opposition needs to consolidate to beat frontrunner Luis Arce, who is representing deposed President Evo Morales' party Movement for Socialism. (Reuters)

• Armand Duplantis sets the outdoor pole vault world record at 6.15 metres at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, eclipsing the previous record held for 26 years by Sergey Bubka. (ABC)