Portal:Current events/2021 July 24

July 24, 2021 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- Taliban insurgency
  - 2021 Taliban offensive
    - The government imposes a nighttime curfew between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. in 31 of the country's 34 provinces in an attempt to reduce both the level of violence as well as the surveillance of the Taliban and its movements. (Al Jazeera)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Six soldiers are killed and four more are wounded as Boko Haram militants open fire against a military base in Sagme, Cameroon. (France 24)

Arts and culture

LGBT rights in Hungary
- Thousands of people join the pride march in Budapest, which was also in protest of the newly passed law that prohibits teachings about homosexuality in schools. Organizers criticized the government and said that the ruling party was making "laws to make members of the LGBTQ community outcasts in their own country". (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Typhoon In-fa
- In the Philippines, two people are killed and thousands more are evacuated from their homes after monsoon rains compounded by a tropical typhoon cause heavy flooding in Metro Manila. (Al Jazeera)
2021 Henan floods
- Thirty-three more people are killed during the heavy floods in Henan, China, bringing the death toll to 58. (South China Morning Post)
Fourteen people are killed and 26 more injured during a warehouse fire in the Jingyue High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Changchun, Jilin province, China. (Xinhua News Agency)
The death toll from the heavy floods that are affecting India since a week rise to 135 people, the majority of whom in Maharashtra. (Al Jazeera)
A seaplane incident involving the French power grid causes a blackout affecting more than one million users in 9 regions, mostly in Spain, but also in some regions of Portugal. (El Mundo)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
    - Indonesia reports a record 39,767 recoveries from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of recoveries to 2.47 million. (detikNews)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Laos
    - Laos reports a record 278 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 4,620. (Xinhuanet)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Malaysia reports a record for the second consecutive day of 15,902 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 996,393. (CNA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
    - Vietnam's strictest social distancing measures are imposed in Hanoi for the next 15 days under "Directive 16" which requires people to stay home except for essential reasons in order to prevent further spread of COVID-19. (Vietnam Net)
    - Vietnam reports a record 7,978 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 90,934. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania, COVID-19 vaccination in Tanzania
    - Tanzania receives its first shipment of 1 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine donated by the U.S. government. (Bloomberg)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia
    - Tunisia reports a record 799 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 18,369. (Anadolu Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia
  - Colombia reports its first case of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in an international traveller who arrived in Cali from the United States. (CNN Español)
- COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
  - New Zealand suspends its quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. However, there will be managed return flights for the next seven days for New Zealand citizens who wish to return home. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
  - Former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan says that he tested positive for COVID-19 during the UEFA Euro 2020 Final. (Plymouth Herald)
Climate change in Australia
- The World Heritage Committee rejects calls from UNESCO to list the Great Barrier Reef as a World Heritage Site "in danger" due to the effects of anthropogenic climate change and ocean acidification, in line with scientific consensus on the Reef's health. Australia lobbied a number of oil-rich countries, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, to reject the proposal. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Protests take place across Europe and Australia in response to COVID-19 restrictions and vaccination requirements for healthcare workers. (The Independent)
2021 Iranian protests
- Protests continue to occur in Iran for the tenth consecutive day as people in Tabriz also take to the streets. (Iran International)

Sports

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, 2021 NFL season
- The National Football League announces that players not adhering to COVID-19 restrictions will be subjected to a fine of $14,650 during the season. (ESPN)
2020 Summer Olympics
- Yang Qian of China's women's 10-meter rifle team wins the first gold medal of this year's Olympics. (Reuters)