Portal:Current events/2021 October 18

October 18, 2021 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Tigray War
- ENDF airstrikes on the city of Mekelle in Ethiopia's Tigray Region kill at least three people. (Al Jazeera)
2021 Eswatini protests
- Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini orders the closure of schools across Eswatini in an attempt to stop pro-democracy protests that have occurred across the kingdom in the past few months. Protesters demand an end to the absolute monarchy of King Mswati III, the last of its kind in Africa, as ministers back the move, saying that there "is no room for such anarchy in our society". (Bloomberg)

Business and economy

Me Too movement
- German publishing house Axel Springer dismisses Julian Reichelt as the editor-in-chief of its tabloid newspaper Bild following sexual harassment complaints against Reichelt from his co-workers. (The New York Times)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Burundi
    - Burundi launches its COVID-19 vaccination rollout using part of a shipment of 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm BIBP COVID-19 vaccine donated by China in a shift to make the country more active in its approach to containing the pandemic. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
    - Zimbabwe bans unvaccinated civil servants from working in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (Newsday)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia surpasses eight million cases of COVID-19 after reporting a record for the fourth consecutive day of 34,325 new cases. (ABC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - President of the Government of Aragon Javier Lambán tests positive for COVID-19 after attending the PSOE's three-day party congress in Valencia. (El Mundo)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
    - Ukraine reports a record 538 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 61,348. (DIP)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales
    - Restrictions are eased further in New South Wales as more than 80% of the adult population are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Limits on private gatherings and density caps at businesses are relaxed, and schools begin a phased reopening. (The Guardian)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Tasmania
    - The lockdown is lifted across southern Tasmania, including the state capital Hobart. The lockdown was initiated because a person with COVID-19 entered the state, but was lifted when no community transmission was reported. (News.com.au)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - The U.S. surpasses 45 million cases of COVID-19. (KIRO-TV)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland
    - Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell dies from COVID-19 at the age of 84 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. (The New York Times)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - Phase three trial results suggest that the Valneva COVID vaccine is effective at priming the immune system to fight COVID-19. (BBC News)

International relations

Russia announces that it will be suspending its mission to NATO in Brussels as early as November 1, in response to the expulsion of 8 diplomats accused of espionage from the mission earlier this month. The NATO information bureau and military liaison in Moscow will also be terminated. (CNN)

Law and crime

2016 Karrada bombing
- Iraq receives Ghazwan al-Zawbaee, the alleged mastermind of the ISIL suicide truck bombing that killed 340 people in Karrada, Baghdad, in 2016, which was the deadliest single-bomb attack in Iraq. Al-Zawbaee was arrested two days prior through a joint operation in a neighbouring country. (BBC News)
2021 Bangladesh communal violence
- At least 300 suspected members of a Muslim mob are arrested for the killing of two Hindu men three days ago at a temple in Noakhali, Bangladesh. The violence occurred after an alleged Quran desecration at a Hindu temple in Haziganj Upazila. Several Hindu temples were also damaged in the clashes. Four members of the mob were also killed when Bangladesh Police personnel opened fire in Chandpur. (Al Jazeera)
2021 Myanmar protests
- State Administration Council chairman Min Aung Hlaing announces that his military junta will release a total of 5,636 jailed protesters to commemorate the Thadingyut Festival. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
Three people are killed and three more injured during a police raid at a compound of a religious group in Montego Bay, Jamaica, due to concerns that they were preparing ritual killings. (Reuters)
Citing Roe v. Wade, the United States Department of Justice requests the Supreme Court to vacate the mandate of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on allowing the Texas Heartbeat Act to remain in effect, thereby blocking the law. (AFP via RTL)
Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso declares a nationwide state of emergency, citing an increase in drug-related crime. (AFP via Manila Bulletin)

Science and technology

Egor Babaev and collaborators with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology publish an experiment showing evidence of a new state of matter called electron quadruplets. (Phys.org)

Sports

2022 Winter Olympics torch relay
- The Olympic torch relay begins in Olympia, Greece, without public attendance. (ANI News)