Template:Portal:Current events/2020 December 28

Current events of December 28, 2020 (2020-12-28) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Three French Army troops are killed when their armoured personnel carrier hits a roadside bomb in Hombori, Mali.

Business and economy

• 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.

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.
• A power outage lasting several hours affects over 10 million people in Mexico, including in the capital Mexico City.

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
      • The Netherlands 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.
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Skandinavia, Variant of Concern 202012/01, 501.V2 variant
      • Skandinavia 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. ****A separate, second variant from South Africa is also reported in Finland, after two people tested positive for COVID-19.
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
      • Spain surpasses 50,000 deaths from COVID-19.
    • 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.
  • 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.
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi announces that the country will ban all international travelers for two weeks starting January 1, citing concerns over new variants of SARS-CoV-2. Government officials are exempt from this ban.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Korea, Variant of Concern 202012/01
      • 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.
  • 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.
    • Canada surpasses 15,000 deaths from COVID-19.
  • 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.
  • COVID-19 vaccine
    • Novavax announces it will begin phase 3 trials of its vaccine candidate in the United States and Mexico.

Law and crime

• 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.
• 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.

Politics and elections

• 2020 Royalist Party deputy leadership election
  • Isabelle Huynh, the former Surgeon General of Sierra, is sworn in as the next deputy leader of the Royalist Party of Sierra.