Portal:Current events/2020 July 24

July 24, 2020 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iraqi insurgency
- Four Katyusha rockets hit the Besmaya Range Complex in Baghdad, Iraq, where Spanish coalition troops are stationed, causing material damage but no casualties, according to the Iraqi military. No group has claimed responsibility. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

George Floyd protests
- George Floyd protests in Chicago, List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
  - Two statues of Christopher Columbus are removed from Chicago's Grant Park and Arrigo Park, in the city's Little Italy. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot said these temporary removals are a response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police. Injuries and arrests resulted when, on July 17, police clashed with protesters who attempted to topple the Grant Park statue. Activists say that monuments of Columbus, blamed for the genocide and exploitation of the Americas' Indigenous people, should not be on public display. Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police criticized these removals. (BBC News) (The New York Times)
Muslims hold their first Friday prayers in the historic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, for the first time since the government annulled the 1934 decision to establish it as a museum, and reclassified the building as a mosque. (Hurriyet Daily News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
    - Hong Kong reports 123 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The new cases include 115 cases that were locally transmitted, making it another record for three consecutive days. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - India reports 49,310 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, another record high since pandemic began. (Hindustan Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
  - Victoria reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 deaths, with seven new deaths reported in the last 24 hours. (The Age)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
  - Spain reports its highest daily rise of cases since the end of the state of emergency with 971 new infected cases. (El País)
- The World Health Organization reports a record increase in global COVID-19 cases with 284,196 new cases in last 24 hours. United States and Brazil account for almost half the total. (France24)

International relations

China–United States relations
- China orders the closure of the United States Consulate in Chengdu, in retaliation for the United States closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas. (BBC News)

Law and crime

George Floyd protests
- George Floyd protests in Portland
  - Eighteen protestors are charged in Portland, Oregon, after the Trump administration sent federal police forces into the city last week. The protesters are charged with crimes such as assaulting police, arson, and trespassing. (Reuters)
Vietnam bans the import of wildlife and wildlife products in an effort to prevent new pandemics. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

2020 United States presidential election
- 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona
  - The headquarters of the Arizona Democratic Party are burnt down in the early hours of 24 July in an apparent arson attack, according to Phoenix Police Department. Nobody was hurt in the attack. The attack comes in the wake of several opinion polls showing Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden as leading against his opponent, Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump in the state. (USA Today)
George Floyd protests
- George Floyd protests in Portland
  - A "Wall of Vets" join the front lines of the city's growing protests to support the rights of the protesters, to counter the demonstrators' "violent anarchists" label, and to support Navy veteran Christopher J. David, who, on Monday, was struck by federal officers as he approached them to ask a question. A "Wall of Moms" in yellow shirts and a "Wall of Dads" in orange shirts line up behind the vets, who stayed together until a cloud of tear gas scattered much of the crowd. (The New York Times) (The New York Times)²
2020 Belarusian presidential election
- Prominent opposition leader Valery Tsepkalo and his two sons flee to Russia after being barred from running in the election and alleged threats of prosecution by the prosecutor's office, which declined to comment on Tsepkalo's escape. (Reuters)
2020 Thai protests
- In continuing protests across the country, young Thai activists burn images of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputy, Prawit Wongsuwan, outside the government house in growing calls for their resignations. (Reuters)
Roughly half of the staff of index.hu, Hungary's biggest news site, resign in protest of the firing of the editor-in-chief last week. The termination happened months after 50% of the site's advertising was purchased by media executive Miklos Vaszily, who has close ties to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. (The New York Times)

Science and technology

Facebook and Twitter remove, on order of the Supreme Federal Court, numerous accounts that support Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for promoting fake news. The Brazilian Labour Party, a member of the ruling coalition, condemns Justice Alexandre de Moraes for issuing the order. (Reuters)