Portal:Current events/2021 August 18

August 18, 2021 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- Taliban insurgency
  - 2021 Taliban offensive
    - 2021 Afghan protests
      - Three people are killed and 12 more are wounded during a shootout as civilians protest in Jalalabad against the Taliban banner replacing Afghanistan's national flag. (Reuters)
    - The United Arab Emirates confirms through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs that former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has been welcomed into the country along with his family on humanitarian grounds. (Reuters)
    - The Afghan embassy in Tajikistan issues a request to INTERPOL to arrest former president Ghani on the accusation that Ghani stole from the country's treasury when he left Afghanistan. (Forbes)
    - Former president Ghani says that he left the country to avoid being lynched. He also denies reports that he left the country with cash and says that he is in talks to return to Afghanistan. (The New York Times)
    - The Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that 15 more citizens of Kyrgyzstan have evacuated out of Afghanistan. (Kabar)
  - Operation Allies Refuge
    - During an interview with ABC News reporter George Stephanopoulos, U.S. president Joe Biden says that the U.S. is committed to getting every American out of Afghanistan, even if it means extending the mission past the August 31 withdrawal deadline. (ABC News)
    - Oregon governor Kate Brown announces in a statement that Oregon will accept Afghan refugees, becoming the latest U.S. state to do so. (The Hill)
    - U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin says that American troops will evacuate as many Americans and allied Afghan interpreters as they can, but also admits that the Pentagon lacks the capacity to do so. Austin also announces that around 5,000 people have already been evacuated. (Stars and Stripes) (NBC News)
Insurgency in the Maghreb
- Clashes between the armed forces of Burkina Faso and militants linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL kill dozens of people. In an attack in the northern town of Arbinda, militants killed 30 civilians, 14 soldiers and three pro-government militiamen. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2021 France wildfires
- Two people are killed by wildfires that are affecting Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, mostly near the city of Saint-Tropez. (The Guardian)
Flash flooding caused by torrential rains kills at least seven people in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
    - Israel begins to require people over the age of 3 to show their vaccination certificate, a negative test result, or proof that they have recovered from COVID-19 in order to enter indoor places other than shopping malls and department stores. Additionally, there will be crowd size restrictions at large events and malls and stores will be required to limit their capacity to no more than one person per 7 square metres (75 sq ft). (Haaretz)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Japan reports a record 23,917 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, with new records also being reported in 27 prefectures. (The Japan Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Malaysia reports a record 22,242 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.46 million. (Free Malaysia Today)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka
    - Due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections, Sri Lanka closes all swimming pools, shopping malls, spas, arenas, gyms, and playgrounds, restricts travel to one person from each household for essential reasons only, and also bans carnivals, beach parties and musical events. (Economynext)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
    - Thailand reports a record for the second consecutive day of 312 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 8,285. (Inquirer)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
    - Vietnam surpasses 300,000 cases of COVID-19. (Vietnam Plus)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    - COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales
      - New South Wales reports a record 633 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    - New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern announces a snap lockdown, stating that the country's first community infection of COVID-19 in six months, reported yesterday, is suspected of being a Delta variant case. The lockdown will last for seven days in Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, and for three days in the rest of the country. (ABC News Australia) (Times of Oman)
    - New Zealand announces that the country's first community infection of COVID-19 in six months is also the country's first confirmed case of the Delta variant and that the total number of cases associated with the current outbreak has increased to 10. (9 News) (Japan Today)
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
    - COVID-19 vaccination in Mexico
      - The Mexican Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk issues an emergency use authorization for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (El Financiero)
    - Mexico reports a record 28,953 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 3,152,205. (Bloomberg)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - The U.S. surpasses 37 million cases of COVID-19. (WSOC-TV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in California
      - California announces that it will require people to show proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results in the previous 72 hours to attend any indoor “mega-events” with more than 1,000 people beginning from September 20, becoming the first U.S. state to enact these rules. (Forbes)
    - COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
      - The Biden administration announces that beginning on September 20, the U.S. will begin administering booster shots of the Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines for most people who received their second dose at least eight months ago. (Business Insider)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia
  - Tunisia eases its nightly curfew from midnight to 5:00 a.m. and allows restaurants to remain open until 10 p.m. as the number of COVID-19 cases decreases. (Reuters)
Bulgaria reports an outbreak of African swine fever at an industrial farm with 13,000 pigs in the village of Apriltsi. (Reuters)

Sports

2021 Japanese Grand Prix, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on motorsport
- Formula One announces that this year's Japanese Grand Prix scheduled for October 8–10 has been cancelled due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Japan. (BBC Sport)