Portal:Current events/2021 March 9

March 9, 2021 (Tuesday)

Disasters and accidents

European migrant crisis
- At least 39 people are dead while 165 others are rescued when two boats sink off the coast of Tunisia while trying to reach Lampedusa, Italy. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Alaska
      - Governor Mike Dunleavy announces that Alaska will drop its eligibility requirements for the COVID-19 vaccine and allow all residents over the age of 16 to receive it, thereby becoming the first state to do so. The state has also led other states in the percentage of its population to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (AP)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in North Dakota
      - North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum receives the COVID-19 vaccine. (AP)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Lineage P.1
      - British Columbia reports its first three cases of Lineage P.1 variant first detected in Brazil. (Vancouver Sun)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland
      - First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces that four people from two households will be able to meet outdoors from March 12, three days sooner than expected, as part of easing of their national lockdown. (Sky News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia, variants of SARS-CoV-2
    - The Estonian government approves new measures to lockdown the entire country from March 11 until April 11 due to the spread of variants of SARS-CoV-2, which means that non-essential shops will be closed, primary schools will shift to remote learning, and groups of more than two people will be banned. (Eesti Rahvusringhääling)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - Italian President Sergio Mattarella receives the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (Wanted in Rome)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia
    - Prime Minister Zoran Zaev confirms that the government will impose a nationwide curfew from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time from tomorrow until March 22, as well as a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all travelers from Africa, in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (N1)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
    - Ukraine grants approval for the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Sudan
    - Sudan begins a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 beginning with medical workers. (Al Arabiya English)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia
    - Tunisia receives its first major shipment of 30,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. (Africanews)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
    - Zimbabwe grants emergency use authorization for four COVID-19 vaccines, including China's CoronaVac and BBIBP-CorV, Russia's Sputnik V, and India's Covaxin. (News24)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia
    - Prime Minister Hun Sen orders a temporary closure of the country's civil institutions and reduces their on-site employees by 90% for at least a week, with the exception of military and health workers due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. (The Straits Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
    - The Indonesian Food and Drug Authority approves the emergency use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. (Bloomberg News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
    - The Philippines surpasses 600,000 total COVID-19 cases. (ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  - Brazil reports a record 1,972 new deaths in the past 24 hours amid slow vaccination rollout and overwhelmed hospitals, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 268,370. (France 24)

International relations

United States–Venezuela relations, Immigration policy of the Joe Biden administration
- The Biden administration grants temporary protected status to Venezuelans living in the United States. The decision will allow thousands of Venezuelan migrants to stay and work legally in the U.S., and it will remain in effect for 18 months. (BBC News)
2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Myanmar–United Kingdom relations
- Myanmar recalls its Ambassador to the United Kingdom Kyaw Zwar Minn after he publicly called for the release of jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. (Sky News)

Politics and elections

2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis
- The European Parliament votes to strip Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín, and Clara Ponsatí of their parliamentary immunity, allowing Spanish prosecutors to extradite them to Spain and prosecute them for sedition and embezzlement. (The Guardian)
Núria Calduch becomes the first female Secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission named by Pope Francis. (Catholic Philly)

Science and technology

Exploration of the Moon
- The China National Space Administration and Roscosmos sign a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint lunar space station. Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin says that the space station will be a "complex of experimental research facilities created on the surface or in the orbit of the Moon", and will be available for use by "international partners". (France 24)