Sunday, Aug 23rd, 2020
State-run oil company Saudi Aramco suspends plans to build a US$10 billion oil refinery in Liaoning, China, due to decreased global demand for oil. Its Chinese partners said they will press ahead with the project. (Al Jazeera)
Dueling protesters clash, ignore police warnings in Portland Demonstrators faced off in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, with the two sides — one aligned with a “Back the Blue” rally and the other a Black Lives Matter counter-demonstration — reportedly largely ignoring police warnings. The competing protests reportedly drew hundreds of people to a plaza near a federal court house that has been the site of a series of demonstrations. A volley of fire from paintball guns reportedly prompted a nearby officer to threaten the crowd with arrests, and a member of the Proud Boys, a far-right hate group, reportedly pulled a pistol on the Black Lives Matter demonstrators (he did not fire), but the city police never attempted to move in on the protesters. Ultimately, Department of Homeland Security officers deemed the gatherings unlawful and moved through the plaza, forcing the crowd to disperse. Source: The Oregonian
American company Pfizer and German company BioNTech says that they are on track to being submitted for regulatory review as early as October. (Financial Express)
Indonesia signs a deal with Chinese company Sinovac Biotech to purchase 50 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. (Bloomberg)
Global coronavirus deaths top 800,000 The global death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 800,000 on Saturday, data collected by Johns Hopkins University shows, while the number of confirmed cases across the world shot past 23 million. The United States has recorded the highest number of fatalities and infections of any country, while Brazil is second in both categories. India on Saturday became the third country to pass 3 million cases. Elsewhere, The Washington Post notes, Lebanon has experienced an alarming rise in new infections, compounding the country’s financial, economic, and political crises. Since a devastating explosion rocked Beirut’s port in early August, killing at least 180 people, the number of coronavirus case has nearly doubled in Lebanon, forcing the government to order a partial lockdown. Source: The Washington Post
India’s number of confirmed cases tops 3 million, making it the third country to surpass that number after the United States and Brazil as the country leads the world in daily new cases. (Al Jazeera)
Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko is reportedly in serious condition, according to one of her party’s spokesperson after testing positive for COVID-19. (Bloomberg)
More than 2,000 athletes representing 46 nations participate in the 32nd annual Bosphorus Cross Continental Swim to empty audiences. It was scheduled for last month but was pushed back due to the ongoing pandemic. (Al Jazeera)
Takuma Sato of Japan wins the 104th Indianapolis 500. It is Sato’s second career Indy 500 victory.
Department of Homeland Security officers force demonstrators out of a plaza near Multnomah County Justice Center as dueling demonstrations in Portland, Oregon by right-wing and left-wing protesters turn violent. Images show hundreds of people involved, many of them wearing helmets and carrying makeshift shields. Some demonstrators appeared to use pepper spray and at least one person appeared to pull a gun, but no arrests have been made so far. (NBC News)
Alexei Navalny is admitted to the Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany, following a medical evacuation flight from Omsk, Russia. The chairman of the Cinema for Peace Foundation, which organized the evacuation, says the comatose Russian opposition leader is in a “stable condition”. (CNN)
Russian opposition leader transferred to Germany after suspected poisoning Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny arrived in Berlin on Saturday morning, a day after his spokesperson said he was not permitted to be transferred from the Russian state-run hospital where he was being treated after falling ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow on Thursday. Navalny remains in a coma and is is reportedly in critical condition, although he was reportedly stable during the flight and upon arrival. After touching down, he was taken to a Berlin hospital where he underwent a comprehensive medical examination. Doctors reportedly would not comment on his illness or treatment until those were completed, although his supporters believe he was poisoned at the behest of the Kremlin. The Russian hospital where Navalny was previously treated said there was no sign of poisoning, but toxicology experts have expressed doubts it could have been ruled out so quickly. Source: The Associated Press
The S&P Global Ratings downgrades Lebanon’s credit rating for its external debt to “selective default” (SD), following defaults due to the resignation of the government in the aftermath of the August 4 explosion in Beirut and the implementation of a two-week lockdown from August 18 following a surge in infections. (AFP via France 24)
At least 13 people are killed after police raid a nightclub in Lima for breaching restrictions that were imposed in response to the pandemic. Police report that a stampede occurred as patrons tried to escape, resulting in casualties, while others were killed due to asphyxiation. (Reuters via Hindustan Times)
South Korea announces a ban of large gatherings, shutting down high-risk facilities, banning in-person churches, and removing fans from professional sports nationwide tomorrow, as the country reports a new five-month high of 332 new cases in the last 24 hours, citing “a very dangerous situation that could trigger a massive nationwide spread of COVID-19”. (The Telegraph)
Robert Koch Institute reports more than 2,000 new cases in Germany in the last 24 hours, which is the highest number of reported cases since late April. (Euronews)
The number of daily new cases in Italy surpasses 1,000 for the first time since May. (Daily Sabah)
In a 257–150 vote, the House of Representatives approves a bill that would reverse changes to the operations of the Postal Service implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, amid a series of backlogs and delays in the delivery of mail following his appointment in June. The bill also aims to provide the agency financial support worth $25 billion in preparation for an expected surge in postal voting in the upcoming election due to the pandemic. (AP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)
South Korea announces a ban of large gatherings, shutting down high-risk facilities, banning in-person churches, and removing fans from professional sports nationwide tomorrow, as the country reports a new five-month high of 332 new cases in the last 24 hours, citing “a very dangerous situation that could trigger a massive nationwide spread of COVID-19”. (The Telegraph)
Trump claims ‘deep state’ operatives are slowing FDA’s coronavirus treatment development President Trump on Friday tweeted that “the deep state, or whoever, over at the” Food and Drug Administration is “making it very difficult for drug companies” to enroll people in coronavirus vaccine and therapy trials. “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after Nov. 3,” he added, suggesting that the agency’s operatives were attempting to halt a life-saving, pandemic-altering coronavirus treatment to keep him from winning re-election. There is no evidence to back up the claim and the FDA, drug companies, and researchers are, on the contrary, working at an unprecedented pace to deliver something that will curb the spread of the coronavirus. As Politico notes, the FDA is not in charge of who enrolls in drug company trials. Source: Politico
The End
artificial stupid 