Portal:Current events/2021 January 20

January 20, 2021 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- 2021 Afghanistan attacks
  - Three Afghan soldiers are killed and four others are wounded in an attack on their vehicle by unidentified gunmen in Herat Province. (Tolo News)

Arts and culture

Events affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland
- Dublin cancels their annual Saint Patrick's Day festival for the second year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will instead be held virtually on a special online TV channel. (RTÉ)
- Cork, Limerick, and Ennis have all cancelled their respective Saint Patrick's Day parades for the second year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (RTÉ)

Disasters and accidents

2021 Madrid explosion
- An explosion caused by a gas leak at a residence for priests in Madrid, Spain results in four fatalities and injures ten others. It also partially destroys the residence. (Reuters)
A boat carrying migrants from West Africa capsizes in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, resulting in 43 fatalities. (France 24)
An explosion caused by coal dust and air in a thermal power plant in Angren, Uzbekistan kills three workers and leaves three others injured. (Xinhua)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
    - The Netherlands bans all flights from the United Kingdom, South Africa and all South American countries beginning January 23 in order to reduce the spread of more contagious variants of SARS-CoV-2. (NL Times)
    - Prime Minister Mark Rutte issues a statement that would ask the parliament to vote regarding a weekend curfew from 8.30 p.m. to 4.30 a.m. in a parliamentary debate that will begin tomorrow. (Dutch News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Andorra
    - Andorra begins its vaccination campaign against COVID-19. (Periòdic d'Andorra)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
    - Portugal reports a record 14,647 new confirmed cases and 219 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide totals to 581,605 confirmed cases and 9,465 deaths. (Bloomberg) (SIC Notícias)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - The Russian Direct Investment Fund files the registration of the Sputnik V vaccine with the European Medicines Agency with the first review expected in February. (The Moscow Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - Spain reports a record 41,576 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 2,412,318. (elDiario.es)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - The United Kingdom reports a record 1,820 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 93,290. (ITV)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - India begins exporting the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Bhutan and Maldives. (Hindustan Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
    - Indonesia reports a record 9,755 recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of recoveries to 763,703. (Okezone)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon
    - Lebanon reports a record 61 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 2,084. (The961)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - The government reaches an agreement with Pfizer for an additional 12 million doses of their vaccine. (The Japan Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, Variant of Concern 202012/01
    - Beijing impose a partial lockdown in five neighbourhoods after two cases in Daxing were linked to B.1.1.7 variant found in the United Kingdom. (AFP via Barron's)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
    - The Philippines surpasses 10,000 deaths from COVID-19. (GMA News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya, 501.V2 variant
    - Acting Health Director-General Patrick Amoth confirms the first cases of the variant found in South Africa. The patients are two people who had traveled to that country. (Kenyans.co.ke)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
    - Zimbabwe's International Trade and Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo dies due to complications from COVID-19. (News24)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - President Joe Biden signs an executive order mandating face masks on federal property and during interstate travel. (Reuters)
  - The United States reports a record 4,409 deaths in the past 24 hours. (Financial Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
  - Chile approves the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac for emergency use in the country. (MedicalXpress)
2020–21 H5N8 outbreak
- Iraq reports an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu in the city of Samarra. (Reuters)

International relations

China–United States relations
- The Chinese foreign ministry places sanctions on 28 members of the outgoing Trump administration, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. The sanctions are believed to be in response to Pompeo's announcement on Tuesday that the internment of Muslim Uyghurs constitutes genocide. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Presidency of Joe Biden
- Inauguration of Joe Biden
  - Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. (BBC News)
  - Kamala Harris is sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States, making her the first woman, first Indian American in United States history to hold the office. (The Washington Post)
  - Donald Trump becomes the first outgoing president to refuse to attend his successor's inauguration since Andrew Johnson, who did not attend Ulysses S. Grant's inauguration in 1869. (The New York Times)
- Cabinet of Joe Biden
  - The Senate votes to confirm Avril Haines, Biden's nominee for United States Director of National Intelligence (DNI), 84-10. Haines is the first Biden appointee to be confirmed by the Senate, and the first woman to serve in the DNI. (CBS News)
- Biden signs his first executive orders reversing several Trump administration decisions, including rejoining the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization, repealing 2017 travel bans, ending funding for the United States–Mexico border wall, and revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. (BBC News) (NBC News) (The Guardian)
117th United States Congress
- 2020 United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 United States Senate special election in Georgia
  - Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia are officially sworn in as Senators of the United States Senate. (USA Today)
- Alex Padilla of California is officially sworn in as Senator of the United States Senate, as an appointee replacing Kamala Harris. (LA Times)