Portal:Current events/2021 May 27

May 27, 2021 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
- 2021 Democratic Republic of the Congo attacks
  - At least 22 civilians are killed in a mass stabbing attack with knives and machetes, during a raid on villages near the town of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Islamist militants are suspected to be behind the attack. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

In Kebbi State, Nigeria, 45 people are found dead following the sinking of a boat yesterday. More than 100 others are still missing. (Al Jazeera)
A boat crash off the coast of Florida leaves two dead. Eight others have been rescued. The boat had departed from Cuba on May 23. (WPLG-TV)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia
    - Indonesia resumes the usage of the temporarily suspended batch of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after tests conducted by the Food and Drug Authority showed that there is no relation between the quality of vaccine batch number CTMAV547 and the death of a young man earlier in the month. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Malaysia reports a record 7,857 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 541,224. (The Star)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan
    - Taiwan reports a record 13 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 59. (South China Morning Post)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
    - Thailand reports a record 47 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 920. (Bangkok Post)
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - COVID-19 vaccination in Canada
      - Canada announces that it will purchase two million doses of the vaccine produced by Moderna. (Global News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico, COVID-19 vaccination in Mexico
    - The Mexican Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk grants an emergency use authorization for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
  - Argentina reports a record 41,080 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total to 3.66 million. (Perfil)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji
  - Fiji reports 28 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the most since the second wave began in mid-April, when a soldier breached protocol at the border and did not notify the authorities. This thereby brings the total number of cases to 308. (RNZ)

International relations

Ryanair Flight 4978, Austria–Russia relations
- Austrian Airlines cancels a passenger flight from Vienna to Moscow after the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency denied a reroute request to avoid Belarusian airspace. The request was made on the recommendation of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for EU carriers to avoid the airspace in response to the hijacking and arrest of Belarusian opposition activist Roman Protasevich on May 23. (The Moscow Times)
2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
- The UN Human Rights Council authorizes an open-ended investigation into human rights violations committed during the conflict. The Palestinian National Authority welcomes the decision, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns it as "yet another example of the UN Human Rights Council’s blatant anti-Israel obsession," and declares that Israel will not cooperate with the probe. (Al Jazeera)
Role of France in the Rwandan genocide
- During an official visit to Kigali, French President Emmanuel Macron admits French involvement in the Rwandan genocide. Macron is the first French president to visit Rwanda in ten years, with relations between the two countries having deteriorated following the genocide. (DW)

Law and crime

2017 Barcelona attacks
- The National Audience court sentences three members of the jihadist organization which committed a series of 4 terrorist attacks across southern Catalonia in 2017. Two of the accused are sentenced to 53 and 46 years in prison, and the third is sentenced to eight years in prison for the crime of collaboration. The three accused are also banned from entering the town of Alcanar, where they prepared the attacks. (La Vanguardia)
Bill Cosby sexual assault cases
- American comedian Bill Cosby is denied parole, and will remain in prison. (People.com)
Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, the founder of the Indonesian hardline Islamist group Islamic Defenders Front, is sentenced to eight months in prison for holding several mass events in violation of Indonesia's COVID-19 regulations, and is fined Rp 20 million (US$1,400) for a specific event held at an Islamic boarding school in West Java. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2021 Samoan constitutional crisis
- The Attorney General of Samoa, Savalenoa Mareva Betham Annandale, petitions to have the Supreme Court disqualified from presiding over further challenges to the results of the 2021 Samoan general election. Annandale criticized the Supreme Court for ruling in favor of the opposition FAST party, led by Naomi Mataʻafa, in four previous decisions. (RNZ)
2021 Somali presidential election
- Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble announces that Somalia's presidential election will be held within 60 days following a two-month deadlock triggered by incumbent president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's refusal to leave office beyond the expiration of his term on February 8. This deadlock has also resulted in violent public protests in Mogadishu. (Africanews)
2021 Syrian presidential election
- Parliamentary speaker Hammouda Sabbagh declares the re-election of President Bashar al-Assad, who received over 95.1% of votes. Several countries have expressed concerns about the fairness and legitimacy of the election and stated that they would not recognize the results. (RTE)
Politics of the Philippines
- President Rodrigo Duterte signs a law that would divide Maguindanao into two new provinces: Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur. A majority of Maguindanao's residents must approve the creation of the new provinces in a plebiscite to be held within 90 days. (Rappler)