Portal:Current events/2020 August 1
August 1, 2020 (Saturday)
Business and economy
- China–United States trade war
- Chinese IT company ByteDance agrees to divest from the U.S. branch of TikTok, in light of U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to ban the app within the country. If the deal is approved, Microsoft will handle the app's personal data rather than ByteDance, averting a main source of contention with U.S. officials. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Isaias
- Category One Isaias makes landfall on northern Andros Island heading toward Grand Bahama. The storm, strength slightly reduced to 75 mph (120 km/h) with heavy rains and coastal flooding, will move over the Straits of Florida tonight and approach the southeast coast of Florida early Sunday. North Carolina orders the evacuation of Ocracoke Island. (USA Today) (National Hurricane Center)
- Hurricane Isaias
- 2020 Punjab alcohol poisoning
- Officials say at least 86 people have died in recent days due to consuming toxic illegally-made alcohol in Punjab, India. Police are carrying out raids in the state, confiscating supplies of the suspected alcohol and have made 25 arrests. (BBC News)
- Flash floods in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, kill 16 people, injure four others and damage several houses. (TOLONews)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
- Okinawa declares a state of emergency for two weeks until August 15 and asks people to stay home after the popular tourist destination sees an "explosive spread" of COVID-19 cases. (The Straits Times)
- Tokyo reports 472 new cases, its highest toll to date for the city. (The Japan Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait
- The Kuwaiti Directorate General of Civil Aviation bans flights to 31 countries as Kuwait International Airport resumes operations at reduced capacity. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in India
- COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
- The Philippines report 4,963 new cases, its highest toll to date. The cases rise to 98,232 and the deaths jump by 17 to reach a total of 2,039. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
- Queensland closes its border with Greater Sydney at 1 a.m. (AEST) after its premier Annastacia Palaszczuk declared all of Sydney a COVID-19 hotspot on July 29. (9 News)
- Australian COVID-19 death toll reaches 200. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
- South Africa surpasses 500,000 cases after adding a total of 10,107 new cases Saturday night. (AP)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
Law and crime
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, Religion in South Korea, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion
- Lee Man-hee, a Shincheonji Church of Jesus pastor, is arrested for allegedly hiding contact information from virus trackers and embezzling 5.6 billion won. (The Guardian)
- 12 people, including Booker Prize-nominated author Tsitsi Dangarembga, are released from detention by Zimbabwean authorities for participating in anti-government protests in the capital of Harare yesterday. They are to return for trials on September 18. (Al Jazeera)
- The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announces the detainment of Jamshid Sharmahd, the leader of the pro-Pahlavi group Kingdom Assembly of Iran, for coordinating the 2008 attack on worshippers in Shiraz. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2020 Khabarovsk Krai protests
- Protests in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk, Russia continue for the fourth consecutive weekend. Protesters demand the release of regional governor Sergei Furgal, who was arrested on charges of murder, which he denies. Thousands of people reportedly join the protest. (Reuters)
- Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
- A demonstration against coronavirus restrictions attended by thousands of people in Berlin, Germany, is terminated by police over "non-respect of hygiene rules". Police say they launched legal action against the organisers. (Al Jazeera)
Science and technology
- The Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates becomes operational following delays since 2017. It is the first commercial nuclear power station in the Arab world. (BBC News)