Wednesday,  Sept. 16th, 2020

The Trump administration and federal officials from Operation Warp Speed unveil plans for distributing doses of a COVID-19 vaccine once the FDA approves their use. (CBS News)

Madrid announces plans to introduce targeted lockdowns and other restrictions on movement on September 18, in areas with high cases, local authorities said as the region accounts for around one-third of active cases in Spain. (El Pais in English)

In Popayán, Colombia, members of the Misak indigenous community topple and decapitate a monument dedicated to Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar. (BBC)

The United Kingdom returns three antique bronze sculptures to India more than 40 years after they were stolen from a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu. They were found in London after one was offered for sale in 2019. A total of four bronzes from the Vijayanagara period, which lasted from the 14th to the 17th century, were stolen in 1978 from a temple dedicated to the god Vishnu in Nagapattinam. (Reuters)

Part of the Pensacola Bay Bridge in Pensacola, Florida, collapses due to 30 inches of rain. (USA Today)

A United Nations Human Rights Council fact-finding mission formally accuses the Venezuelan government of crimes against humanity, including cases of killings, torture, violence against political opposition and disappearances since 2014. President Nicolás Maduro and other senior Venezuelan officials are among those implicated in the charges. (BBC)

The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, accuses the United States of “working behind the scenes” in Belarus towards another “colour revolution”, funding bloggers and training activists through NGO’s against the interests of Belarusian citizens. Minister of Defence Sergey Shoygu flies to Minsk after disputed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for weapons during a meeting in Moscow on Monday. Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov says Russia will, before the end of the year, disburse the first $1-billion tranche of a loan that was agreed also on Monday, to help Belarus’ financial stability. (Reuters)

Sources around President Donald Trump say that the United States plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems, including mines, cruise missiles and drones to Taiwan. (Reuters)

Yoshihide Suga is elected Prime Minister of Japan, following the resignation of his predecessor Shinzo Abe over health concerns. (BBC)

A United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure report blames a “horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing’s management, and grossly insufficient oversight” by the Federal Aviation Administration for two deadly Boeing 737 MAX crashes, resulting in the airliner being grounded worldwide. (Reuters)

The Big Ten Conference announces its 2020 football season will begin on October 24 with an eight-game schedule, reversing its previous decision to cancel the season. (AP via WJRT-TV)

The End