Portal:Current events/2021 May 20
May 20, 2021 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan
- 2021 Afghanistan attacks
- Two separate roadside bombings kill 13 civilians in Helmand and Ghor Provinces. Meanwhile, militants stop a bus in western Afghanistan, targeting Hazara passengers, killing three of them. (ABC News)
- 2021 Afghanistan attacks
- Boko Haram insurgency
- Nigerian intelligence officials say that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is killed or critically injured after detonating explosives in his house to avoid capture from the rival IS–West African Province faction. Several other Boko Haram members are killed in the attack. No secondary sources currently have confirmed Shekau's death. (The Guardian)
- 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
Business and economy
- ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, whose company owns TikTok, announces he will step down as CEO and that human resources chief Rubo Liang will succeed him. (Reuters)
- Following recommendations from the Council on Ethics, the Government Pension Fund of Norway drops two firms from its portfolio for doing business with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the Norges Bank Investment Management blacklists another company for owning factories in Myanmar. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
- COVID-19 pandemic in Nicaragua
- Nicaragua approves the emergency use of the single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine. (Pharmiweb)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Panama
- Panama closes its border with Colombia out of COVID-19 concerns. The Colombian government had recently reopened the border, which had been closed since March 2020. Panama has recorded over 370,000 COVID-19 cases and over 6,300 deaths so far. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COVID-19 vaccine
- The FDA announces its approval for measures allowing the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be stored at regular refrigerator temperatures for up to 30 days before administration. Previously, the agency had only allowed such storage for 5 days. (Time)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Nicaragua
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Laos
- Laos extends its nationwide lockdown for another 15 days until June 4 as the COVID-19 cases continue to spread. (The Laotian Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
- Malaysia reports a record 6,806 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours for the second consecutive day, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 492,302. A record 59 patients has been reported dead, with the nationwide death toll now standing at 2,099. (Malay Mail)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Laos
- COVID-19 pandemic in South America
- COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
- President Alberto Fernández announces a 9-day lockdown nationwide to curb COVID-19 infections amidst a surge in both cases and fatalities from COVID-19. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
- Brazil reports its first cases of the Lineage B.1.617 variant, which was first discovered in India. The variant had been detected among a group of six crew members of a ship coming from South Africa to deliver iron ore in São Luís, Maranhão. (Geo News) (UOL)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom
- Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, receives his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (CBS News) (BBC)
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
International relations
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international relations, COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
- The International Institute for Strategic Studies cancels the Shangri-La Dialogue intergovernmental forum to be held in Singapore on June 4–5 due to the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country. (France 24)
- Ethiopia announces that it will press ahead with plans to start generating power from the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) gravity dam in the coming rainy season between June and August. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it won't tolerate "any move that’s aimed at disrupting the water filling process, its operation and water releasing scheme". (AP)
Law and crime
- Colonial Pipeline cyberattack
- In the aftermath of the attack, it is revealed at a Senate Armed Services cyber subcommittee hearing that the Department of Homeland Security was not alerted to the ransomware attack and that the Justice Department was not alerted to the ransom type or amount, prompting discussion about the numerous information silos in the government and difficulties of sharing. (USNI News)
- Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic publishes a bitcoin wallet report showing $90 million in bitcoin ransom payments were made to DarkSide or DarkSide affiliates over the last year, originating from 47 distinct wallets. According to a DarkTracer release of 2226 victim organizations since May of 2019, 99 organizations have been infected with the DarkSide malware - suggesting that approximately 47% of victims paid a ransom, and that the average payment was $1.9 million. The DarkSide developer has received bitcoins worth $15.5 million (17%), with the remaining $74.7 million (83%) going to the various affiliates. (Elliptic.co)(FOX Business)
- A fight between rival gangs erupt in a jail in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, resulting in the death of seven people. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- 2021 Ethiopian general election
- After delaying it twice, the National Election Board of Ethiopia schedules elections for June 21. (Reuters)
- International reactions to the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduces a resolution that would block an arms sales of $735 million in weapons to Israel in response to the conflict between Israel and Gaza. (CBS News)
- The Central Electoral Commission of Kyrgyzstan announces that it has invalidated the results of the Bishkek City Council elections. During a meeting, Chairwoman Nurzhan Shaildabekova called for free elections. (Kabar)
Science and technology
- Microsoft announces it will discontinue support for Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022. (Reuters)
- Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden publish a method in the journal Buildings for creating rechargeable cement-based batteries, demonstrating a prototype with an average energy density of 7 Wh/m2 during six charge/discharge cycles. (Journal Buildings, vol 11, issue 3) (Popular Mechanics)
Sports
- 22021 Copa América , 2021 Colombian protests
- The CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, announces that Colombia will no longer co-host the 2021 Copa América with Argentina as the country undergoes social unrest (CONMEBOL)