Portal:Current events/2021 March 16

March 16, 2021 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in the Maghreb
- 2021 Tillabéri attacks
  - Gunmen in Niger kill at least 58 people after ambushing a convoy returning from a market and then attacking a nearby village. (Al Jazeera)
Yemeni Crisis
- Protesters storm the Presidential Palace in Aden, Yemen, amidst anger over the lack of services and poor living conditions. (Al Jazeera)
2021 Myanmar protests
- Thousands of residents flee Hlaingthaya Township in western Yangon amidst fears of a massacre by the military after martial law was declared in the industrial suburb. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

The Israel Antiquities Authority finds fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Cave of Horror, believed to be hidden during a Jewish revolt against Rome 1,900 years ago. In addition, a 10,500-year-old weaving basket made of woven flowers is also found. (Haaretz) (ABC Australia)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - COVID-19 pandemic in England, Variants of SARS-CoV-2
      - England reports their first two cases of the new P.3. variant, which was originally detected in the Philippines and has been designated as a "variant of investigation". (The Independent)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Lithuania
    - Lithuania suspends the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution following three reports of suspected serious adverse thromboembolic reactions among vaccinated people in the country. (Baltic Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, 501.V2 variant
    - Russia reports its first two cases of the 501.V2 variant, which was originally detected in South Africa. (The Moscow Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in San Marino
    - San Marino surpasses 5,000 people vaccinated and becomes the fifth country in the world in terms of vaccine administrations in proportion to its population. (San Marino RTV)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia
    - Serbian prime minister Ana Brnabić announces a five-day nationwide lockdown from tomorrow until March 21, which will close all non-essential shops. Students in the lower grades of primary schools will most likely switch to online classes from March 22 for at least one week. (See News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - Emeritus queen consort Sofía receives the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (El Mundo)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden
    - The Public Health Agency of Sweden temporarily suspends the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine pending a review from the European Medicines Agency following reports on abnormal blood clotting in vaccinated people. (NPR)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia
    - Cambodia reports a record 105 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,430. (Khmer Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Gujarat
      - The Gujarat state government decides to extend the curfew timing by two hours to 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. IST in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot until March 31. (The Economic Times)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Delhi, 501.V2 variant
      - Delhi reports its first two cases of the 501.V2 variant, which was originally detected in South Africa. The patient is a 33-year old man from Kerala. (Hindustan Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga receives his first dose of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine ahead of an April visit to the United States to meet President Joe Biden. (Nikkei Asia)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
    - Thailand resumes their vaccination rollout using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after it was temporarily suspended due to safety concerns. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is one of the first people to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. (CNBC)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts, Lineage P.1
    - Massachusetts confirms its first case of the Lineage P.1 variant that originated in Brazil. (The Boston Globe)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea-Bissau
  - Guinea-Bissau suspends the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine until May amid safety concerns regarding the vaccine, including fears about blood clots. (Urdu Point)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  - Brazil reports a record 2,841 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 282,400. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - Moderna begins testing its vaccine in babies and children aged six months to 11 years in the U.S. and Canada. (The Wall Street Journal)

International relations

Integrated Review, United Kingdom and weapons of mass destruction
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces that the UK's nuclear weapon arsenal will increase from 180 to 260 warheads, and that the UK will shift its foreign policy focus to the Indo-Pacific region, while remaining committed to NATO. The government's review also identifies Russia as the "most acute threat" to British security. (BBC News)

Law and crime

2021 Atlanta spa shootings
- Eight people, including six Asian-American women, are murdered and another is wounded in mass shootings near Atlanta, Georgia, United States. (CNN) (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)