Portal:Current events/2021 August 9

August 9, 2021 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Taliban insurgency
- 2021 Taliban offensive
  - The Taliban captures Samangan (Aibak), the provincial capital of Samangan Province, making it the sixth capture of a provincial capital by the Islamist group in the past four days. (Al Jazeera)
  - The Afghan National Security Forces launch a counter-offensive, in an attempt to retake Kunduz, which was captured by the Taliban yesterday. Heavy fighting is reported elsewhere in the northern part of the country, where the Islamist group has launched an offensive. Civilians flee Kunduz, trying to reach Kabul as there are conflicting reports as to who is responsible for dozens of civilian casualties. (Reuters)
17 October Revolution
- Violence occurs in Lebanon due to the severe fuel shortages that are affecting the country, leaving three people dead. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

2021 Algeria wildfires
- Seven people are killed and two others are injured by wildfires in Tizi Ouzou Province, Algeria. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - France begins to require people who want to enter shopping centres, cafés, restaurants, or travel by long-distance bus, train, and airplane, to show a health pass generated by a QR code, which contains either proof of full vaccination, a negative test result from the previous 72 hours, or that the person has recovered from COVID-19. (France 24)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland, COVID-19 vaccination in Switzerland
    - Swissmedic approves the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 17. (Swissinfo)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland
      - Scotland moves to level zero and removes most of the remaining COVID-19-related restrictions, allowing all hospitality venues, including nightclubs, to reopen at full capacity and to remove most legal social distancing requirements. However, face masks remains mandatory in indoor public settings and on public transport, and must be worn by pupils and teachers at school for the first six weeks of the semester. (BBC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei
    - Brunei reports a record 42 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours after reporting their first local infections in 15 months, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 406. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    - Iran reports a record for the second consecutive day of 40,808 new cases and 588 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 4.199 million and the nationwide death toll to 94,603. (Asharq Al-Aswat)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, COVID-19 vaccination in Nepal
    - Nepal begins administering second doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine dose for nearly 1.4 million elderly people following a months-long delay due to India suspending exports of vaccines due to a substantial increase in the number of cases there. The vaccines were donated by Japan and Bhutan. (Radio France Internationale)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    - COVID-19 vaccination in Australia
      - The Therapeutic Goods Administration grants provisional approval for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the fourth vaccine to be approved for use in Australia. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Palau
    - Palau reaches herd immunity as 80% of its 12-and-over population are vaccinated against COVID-19. Plans to vaccinate teenagers are underway as tourism reopens in the country. (RNZ)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
    - United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announces that all service members will be required to be vaccinated by mid-September. (ABC News)
    - The U.S. CDC announces that 60% of Americans have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Arkansas
    - Arkansas reports 103 hospitalizations from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, a new single-day record. (AP)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt, COVID-19 vaccination in Egypt
  - Egypt receives their first shipment of 261,000 doses of the single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. (Egypt Independent)
Guinea reports West Africa's first death from the Marburg virus after a person died from viral hemorrhagic fever. (AP)

International relations

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada–United States relations
- Canada reopens their border to Americans and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for non-essential travel. All travellers must present a negative COVID-19 test result from the previous 72 hours in order to enter the country. (MarketWatch)
Foreign relations of Nicaragua
- Nicaragua recalls its ambassadors to Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia for "consultations" after those countries recalled their ambassadors to Nicaragua over a crackdown on the opposition in Nicaragua. (Reuters)
Egypt–Russia relations
- Direct commercial flights between Russia and Egypt resume for the first time since the Metrojet Flight 9268 bombing in 2015, which killed 224 people, most of whom were Russian tourists. A Rossiya Airlines passenger plane landed in Sharm El Sheikh carrying 518 passengers, and was welcomed with a water cannon salute, roses and flags. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot
- Federal prosecutors say that five men who were accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also discussed Ohio Governor Mike DeWine as a potential target. (Detroit News)
A priest is murdered at a church in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France, by the same person who committed the arson at the Nantes Cathedral in July 2020. He is arrested after confessing to the killing. (BBC News)
A barely legible letter to Pope Francis regarding the Vatican's financial scandals, which contained three bullets and is believed to have originated from France, is intercepted by postal workers in Peschiera Borromeo, near Milan. The letter is being treated by authorities as a possible death threat against Francis. (Newsweek via MSN) (Euronews)

Politics and elections

Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro
- The Brazilian government announces that President Jair Bolsonaro will attend a military parade featuring tanks and armored vehicles in Brasília tomorrow, as a preparation for military exercises. The parade is expected to pass near the National Congress building as a controversial bill reinstating paper ballots and ending electronic voting, which is supported by the government, is set to be voted. As the bill is widely expected not to pass, critics argue that Bolsonaro is using the parade as a show of force and intimidation against the Congress. (Correio Braziliense) (UOL)

Science and technology

Climate change in the Arctic; 2021 Russian wildfires
- Smoke from wildfires in Siberia is detected in the Geographic North Pole for the first time in recorded history, according to NASA. The space agency says that as of August 6 "most of Russia" is covered in smoke, while Russia's weather monitoring institute Rosgidromet says that the situation "continues to deteriorate" in the far-eastern Sakha region with around 3.4 million hectares (8.4 million acres) of land currently on fire. (The Guardian)