Portal:Current events/2021 August 5

August 5, 2021 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency
- At least 20 Chadian soldiers are killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants during a routine patrol near Lake Chad. (Reuters)
Tigray War
- The Tigray Defense Forces capture the town and UNESCO heritage of Lalibela in the Amhara Region. (National Post)
The Colombian government announces that it has foiled an alleged bomb plot in Bogotá by FARC dissidents. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Wildfires in 2021
- 2021 California wildfires
  - The Dixie Fire destroys most of Greenville, California, including large portions of its historic downtown area. (Al Jazeera)
- 2021 Turkish wildfires
  - Hundreds of workers and residents are evacuated as a wildfire nears a coal-powered power plant in Muğla Province. More than 36,000 people have been evacuated in the province, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declares the wildfires to be the worst in Turkey's history. (Reuters)
- 2021 Greek wildfires
  - People in Athens are told to remain indoors due to smoke from wildfires burning on the outskirts of the city. More than 500 firefighters are fighting a wildfire on Mount Parnitha, while the suburb of Varympompi is evacuated. (EU Reporter)
- 2021 Italy wildfires
  - Thousands of firefighters and water-bombing aircraft are deployed as wildfires continue to spread across Italy amid an unprecedented heat wave caused by a heat dome event over southeast Europe. Hundreds of people are evacuated on Sardinia and Sicily, with Sardinian President Christian Solinas describing the situation as an "unprecedented disaster." (Voice of America)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Japan reports a record 15,263 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, including a record 5,042 cases in Tokyo, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 987,163. (NHK World-Japan) (Associated Press)
    - The Japanese government announces the expansion of the quasi-state of emergency to eight prefectures from August 8 to August 31. (The Mainichi)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan
    - Kazakhstan reports a record 7,792 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 610,744 (Kazinform)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia
      - The Malaysian Ministry of Health grants a conditional approval for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. (CNA)
    - Malaysia reports a record for the second consecutive day of 20,596 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.2 million. (Malay Mail)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
    - Thailand reports a record for the second consecutive day of 20,920 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 693,305. (Bangkok Post)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Uzbekistan
    - Uzbekistan reports a record 951 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 133,852. (AKIpress News Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Finland
    - Finland restricts the operating hours in Southwest Finland, Pirkanmaa, Kymenlaakso, and the Helsinki metropolitan area to until 10 p.m. for bars and until 11 p.m. for restaurants and also bans karaoke and indoor dancing beginning on August 8 due to the worsening situation in those regions. The government also announces that vaccination of children between the ages of 12 and 15 will begin next week. (Yle)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - The Italian government announces that the usage of a "Green Pass" will be mandatory for teachers and university students to enter educational institutions and will also be mandatory for use in long-haul air, rail, ferry, and intercity bus services beginning on September 1. (Swissinfo)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec
    - The province of Quebec announces that it will implement vaccine passports. (CBC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
  - The state of Victoria enters a lockdown for the sixth time since the beginning of the pandemic, joining New South Wales and Queensland, after a currently unexplained increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (ABC News Australia)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
  - The Chilean government announces that they will begin administering booster doses for those who have received the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine beginning on August 11 for people over the age of 55 using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and in September for people under the age of 55 using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in order to protect the population from the Delta variant. (Bloomberg News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco
  - Morocco reports a record 12,039 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 665,235. (Morocco World News)
- International aid related to the COVID-19 pandemic
  - Spain donates 7.5 million vaccines to Latin American countries, with the first countries to receive these vaccines being Peru, Paraguay and Guatemala. (Prensa Latina)

Law and crime

COVID-19 pandemic in France, COVID-19 vaccination in France
- The French Constitutional Council approves most of the controversial measures that would begin on August 9 which include requiring health passes to enter restaurants, cafés, some shopping centres, and use some types of public transportation. The council also approves the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers and other health professionals, in which they must present proof that they have received at least one dose of the vaccine beginning on September 15 and must present proof of full vaccination beginning on October 15. However, judges considered the mandatory 10-day quarantine to be a violation of aspects of French liberties. (Euronews)
Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves is injured during protests against changes to the Public Health Act, which includes mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 for public sector workers and those in "frontline jobs". The Prime Minister received treatment for a head wound. (Caribbean National Weekly)
Hong Kong national security law
- LGBT organizations and Amnesty International ask Hong Kong to release detained activist Jimmy Sham, who has been repeatedly denied bail since his arrest in February. Amnesty says that Sham has been held in prison "simply for speaking out for his community and LGBTQIA+ rights in Hong Kong." These organizations also warned of Sham's upcoming trial along with 46 others where he could face many more years in prison for "subversion." (Star Observer)
2021 Ghana gay arrests
- A court in Ghana drops a case against 21 LGBT activists who were arrested in May. The 16 women and five men were arrested at a hotel in the Volta Region for an alleged unlawful assembly, of which the court said that there was not enough evidence to prove the charges. The other charges were dismissed, as promoting LGBT rights is not a crime in Ghana. (Reuters)
Six members of a paramilitary force in Sudan are sentenced to death for their involvement in the killing of six people during a 2019 protest in El-Obeid. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

Venezuelan presidential crisis
- President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador announces that the country would host talks between the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition. (Reuters)
2021 Iranian presidential election
- Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi is sworn-in as the eighth President of Iran after being approved by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Raisi has promised to end US sanctions and work for the vital oil sector of Iran, which has been affected by the sanctions. (Deutsche Welle)

Science and technology

Apple Inc. announces that it will begin to continuously scan its smartphone and tablet devices for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Before an image is stored on the iCloud, the new system will search for matches of already known CSAM. The company claims the system has an "extremely high level of accuracy", and will be included in iOS and iPadOS updates later this year. (BBC News)

Sports

2020 Summer Olympics
- Burkina Faso at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics
  - Burkinabé athlete Hugues Fabrice Zango gets third place in the men’s triple jump event, winning Burkina Faso its first Olympic medal. (The Punch)