Portal:Current events/2021 June 25

June 25, 2021 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2021 Würzburg stabbing
- Three people are killed and seven others are injured in a mass stabbing attack in Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany. A Somali man is arrested after being shot by police. (BBC News)
Mali War
- Fifteen German United Nations peacekeepers are injured in a car bomb attack at their base in Tarkint, Gao, Mali. (Al Jazeera)
Tigray War
- Three Doctors Without Borders staff are found dead near their vehicle in Tigray, Ethiopia. (MSF)
- The United States Agency for International Development announces it estimates as many as 900,000 in the Tigray Region are facing a man-made famine, corroborating months-long reports from citizens and international observers that the Ethiopian Army have been obstructing and looting farmers. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed continues to claim there is "no hunger" in Tigray. (Associated Press on MSN)
Colombian conflict
- A helicopter carrying Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez and several government ministers, including Defense Minister Diego Molano Aponte, is struck by several bullets while flying to Cúcuta. Nobody was injured in the attack. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Chinese automobile company Geely, the current owners of the Volvo Cars brand, withdraws its application to open a second listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market. (South China Morning Post)

Disasters and accidents

Zhecheng school fire
- At least 18 people are killed and 16 others are injured in a fire at a martial arts school in Zhecheng, Henan, China. Most of the victims are pupils between the ages of seven and sixteen years old. (BBC News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
    - Bangladeshi authorities announces that the country will enter a total lockdown on 28 June as the number of COVID-19 cases increases dramatically. (Dhaka Tribune)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia
    - Cambodia surpasses 500 deaths from COVID-19. (Khmer Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    - Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei receives his first dose of the Iranian-made COVID-19 vaccine COVIran Barakat. Khamenei says that he would not have received a foreign vaccine and says that receiving an Iranian-made vaccine was a "national pride". (Al Jazeera)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
    - Israel reimposes the use of masks in indoor settings as the country reports a small increase in the number of cases, mostly linked to the Delta variant which was first reported in India. (Haaretz)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Uzbekistan
    - Uzbekistan restricts entry into the capital Tashkent amidst a rise of cases in the country. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia
  - Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi tests positive for COVID-19. (Euronews)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
  - Health Secretary Matt Hancock admits and apologizes for breaking COVID-19 social distancing rules in response to a reported affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo that was reported by the The Sun. The opposition Labour Party calls for Hancock's immediate resignation or termination, calling his position "untenable". (BBC News)

Law and crime

Ryanair Flight 4978
- Belarusian opposition activist Roman Protasevich is moved to house arrest after spending a month in prison. Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya welcomes the news but says that Protasevich is still considered a "hostage". (DW)
Trial of Derek Chauvin
- Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. During the sentencing, Chauvin expressed condolences to Floyd's family. (CNBC)
Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announces that American militia group Three Percenters, British Neo-Nazi group Aryan Strikeforce, the Congolese division of ISIL, and American neo-Nazi James Mason have been added to Canada's list of terror groups. (CBC)
The National Penitentiary Institute and Peruvian Navy opens an investigation into former Alberto Fujimori adviser Vladimiro Montesinos after he allegedly made phone calls to the National Jury of Elections from the Callao naval base, where he is being held. (Andina)

Politics and elections

2021 Gibraltar abortion referendum
- Gibraltar votes 62% in favour of legalizing abortion. Under the new proposed amendment to the criminal law bill, pregnancies can be terminated by a registered physician within the first 12 weeks, while abortions would be permitted at a later stage of the pregnancy under a "narrow set of circumstances". (Reuters)
Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin is barred from the next elections after being ruled as an "extremist". Yashin says that this is likely because of his support for jailed government critic Alexei Navalny. (Reuters)
Thousands of Palestinians attend the funeral of government critic Nizar Banat in Hebron. Many in attendance reiterate their calls for President Mahmoud Abbas's resignation for the role his security forces played in Banat's death. (Arab News)

Science and technology

Chinese archaeologists report in the journal The Innovation that a skull discovered in Harbin in 1933 by a Manchukuo National Railway bridge, known as Homo longi or "Dragon Man", belongs to a previously undiscovered species of early humans dating back 146,000 years ago. (BBC News)