Portal:Current events/2021 February 24

February 24, 2021 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram insurgency
- 2021 Maiduguri rocket attacks
  - Boko Haram militants fire a series of rockets in Maiduguri, Borno, Nigeria, killing 10 civilians and wounding others. (BBC News)

Arts and culture

Africanization
- The South African city of Port Elizabeth is formally renamed "Gqeberha" ([ᶢǃʱɛ̀ɓéːxà]), the Xhosa name for the Baakens River which flows through the city. Port Elizabeth International Airport is also renamed Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport, after David Stuurman. These name changes are part of a wider campaign to remove colonial and apartheid-era names in the Eastern Cape. (BBC News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan, Lineage B.1.1.7
    - The cabinet extends the curfew to 10:00 p.m., and orders all businesses to close at 9:00 p.m. local time beginning tomorrow due to the spread of the Lineage B.1.1.7 variant. The cabinet also re-imposes a Friday lockdown. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah receive their first doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine as the country officially begins its national immunisation programme. (The Star)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
    - Pakistan lifts their COVID-19-related restrictions, allowing indoor dining and wedding ceremonies to resume on March 15. Time limits for shopping centres, markets, and amusement parks are also lifted. (Geo News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
    - Thailand receives their first shipment of 200,000 doses of the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccines. (Bangkok Post)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
    - Vietnam receives their first shipment of 117,000 doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine from South Korea. (CNA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark
    - The government announces the easing of national COVID-19 restrictions, with shops reopening on March 1. Schools in some areas will also reopen on March 1, but classes will be at 50% capacity. (The Local Denmark)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - Health Minister Olivier Véran announces that the government will impose a weekend lockdown in Dunkirk beginning this weekend due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections. (France 24)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, variants of SARS-CoV-2
    - The Polish Health Ministry bans the use of scarves, bandanas, and face shields and requires people to only wear surgical masks as of February 27 due to the spread of variants of SARS-CoV-2. (Poland In)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland
    - The government announces that it will allow non-essential shops, museums and outdoor sporting facilities to reopen on March 1 as part of an easing of social distancing restrictions. In addition, outdoor gatherings up to 15 people will also be allowed. (Bloomberg)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt
    - Egypt grants emergency use authorization for Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. (PR Newswire)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana
    - Ghana becomes the first country in the world to receive vaccines distributed through the COVAX initiative, with 600,000 doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine. (The Washington Post)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Alaska
    - Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy tests positive for COVID-19 following a brief period of isolation after suspected exposure. (The Hill)
    - Alaska reports their first case of the Lineage P.1 variant first detected in Brazil in a person from Anchorage with no known travel history. (AP)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in California
    - California surpasses 50,000 deaths of COVID-19, becoming the first U.S. state to do so. (The Guardian)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Idaho, Lineage B.1.1.7
    - Idaho reports their first case of the Lineage B.1.1.7 variant in a person from Ada County. (Idaho Press)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina
    - North Carolina governor Roy Cooper announces that some stay-at-home and curfew restrictions will be lifted on February 26, such as allowing bars to reopen indoors, increasing the number of people in gatherings, and extending the alcohol sale cutoff to 11:00 p.m. (The News & Observer)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
    - Mayor of Washington D.C. Muriel Bowser's sister, Merica Bowser, dies from COVID-19 as the city surpasses 1,000 total deaths. (USA Today)
  - COVID-19 vaccine
    - Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine candidate meets the standards for emergency use authorization, according to analysis from a committee within the FDA, though formal authorization will not be determined until February 26. The vaccine is 66% effective in combating the virus and can be stored in normal refrigerators. (CNN)
- COVID-19 vaccine, 501.V2 variant
  - Moderna announces that they will ship their vaccine candidate for testing against the 501.V2 variant that originated in South Africa. (Time)

International relations

Nicolás Maduro's government declares European Union Ambassador to Venezuela Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa a persona non grata and gives her 72 hours to leave the country following new sanctions by the EU against 19 Venezuelan officials. (El Mundo)

Law and crime

Assassination of Luca Attanasio
- Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi asks the United Nations and the UN World Food Programme to open an investigation into the attack that killed Italian ambassador Luca Attanasio and two other people. (AP)
Drug policy of Germany
- Authorities in Germany and Belgium seize more than 23,000 kilograms (51,000 lb) of cocaine, worth billions of dollars, in an international operation that resulted in one arrest. Authorities consider this to be the largest amount of cocaine ever seized in Europe. The containers came on a ship from Paraguay, via Tangier and Rotterdam, the police said. (CNN)
Philippine drug war, PNP–PDEA shootout
- A mishandled sting operation between the national police and the country's drug enforcement agency in Quezon City results in the deaths of two police officers following a shootout between the two parties. (CNN)

Science and technology

Scientists discover Dzharatitanis kingi, a Diplodocus-like dinosaur fossil, in Uzbekistan. It is the first dinosaur of its kind to be discovered in Asia. (New Scientist)