Portal:Current events/2021 January 11

Business and economy

• Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol
  • The Parler social networking service goes offline after Amazon discontinued providing cloud computing services. The company's chief executive said that the service will be down "longer than expected" as "most people with enough servers to host us have shut their doors to us." (CNBC)
• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  • Ford Motor Company announces that it will cease production at its plants in Camaçari and Taubaté in the coming months due to losses aggravated by the pandemic. Ford also plans to close its Troller plant in Belo Horizonte in the fourth quarter of 2021. (AFP via Deccan Herald)

Disasters and accidents

• Sriwijaya Air Flight 182
  • Indonesian authorities identify the first victim of the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 that crashed into the Java Sea, a 29-year-old male flight attendant. (DW)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      • China announces that a World Health Organization team investigating the origins of COVID-19 will arrive in the country on Thursday. (France 24)
      • Mainland China reports 103 new cases in the past 24 hours, mainly in Hebei province, which is the highest single-day total since July 30 and brings the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 87,536. (CNA)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
      • COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia
        • The government signs a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech to buy an additional 12.2 million doses of the tozinameran vaccine. (The Star)
      • Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announces a lockdown in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya as well as in five states and also bans interstate travel for two weeks beginning January 13 in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (South China Morning Post)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia
        • The Food and Drug Supervisory Agency approves Sinovac's vaccine for emergency use in the country. This comes after a clinical trial showed the vaccine had a 65.3% efficacy in Indonesia compared to an efficacy of 91% in Turkey and 78% in Brazil. (Jakarta Globe)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • COVID-19 vaccination program in the Philippines
        • The Philippines orders 25 million doses of Sinovac's vaccine. 50,000 doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in the country by February. (Inquirer)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon
      • Lebanon declares a state of emergency and imposes a 24-hour curfew for 11 days beginning January 14 as part of a lockdown that began on January 7. All private and public companies as well as house of worships will be closed with few exceptions and travel restrictions will also be introduced. (The Daily Star)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Albania
      • COVID-19 vaccination in Albania
        • Albania begins its vaccination programme against COVID-19 with doses received from an undisclosed European Union country. Prime Minister Edi Rama is among the first to receive the vaccine. (ABC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands, Variant of Concern 202012/01
      • The Netherlands detects at least 30 cases of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in an outbreak linked to a primary school in Bergschenhoek. (Dutch News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
      • Portugal reports a record 122 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 7,925. (The Washington Post)
      • President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa tests positive for COVID-19. He is self-isolating in Belém Palace asymptomatic. (PÚBLICO)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Seychelles
      • COVID-19 vaccination in Seychelles
        • Seychelles becomes the first African country to begin vaccination campaign against COVID-19. One of the first to receive the vaccine is the president Wavel Ramkalawan. (Africa News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia
      • Tunisia reports a record 3,074 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide case total to 162,350. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
      • The government orders that victims of COVID-19 must be buried where they die, forbidding viewings and the transfer of corpses as the country experiences a significant increase in the number of cases. (Xinhua)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Delaware
        • President-elect Joe Biden receives a second dose of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine on camera. (CNN)
      • The CDC says it has administered 8 million vaccine doses in the United States and distributed an additional 25.5 million doses. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in California
      • Two gorillas in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park test positive for COVID-19, making this the first case of transmission to non-human primates or great apes. (The Los Angeles Times)
      • The state surpasses 30,000 deaths from COVID-19, just a month after surpassing 20,000 deaths. (AP)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana, Variant of Concern 202012/01
      • Indiana reports its first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 from the United Kingdom. (Indystar)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Lockdowns in Brisbane and the Northern Beaches of Sydney are lifted as the number of cases in those areas drop. (ABC Australia) (9 News)
  • COVID-19 vaccine
    • BioNTech says it plans to produce two billion vaccine doses this year. (The Hill)

International relations

• Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Uzbekistan
    • Uzbekistan extends their travel restrictions to the United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Australia, the Netherlands, and South Africa until February 1. (Xinhuanet)
• United States–Yemen relations
  • The leader of the Houthi movement, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, condemns a move by the United States to designate the group as "terrorists" saying that the group "reserves its right to respond to any designation" by the Trump administration. Iran and the Norwegian Refugee Council also condemn the designation, saying that it will create more devastation in the impoverished nation. (Al Jazeera)
• Cuba–United States relations
  • The United States declares Cuba a State Sponsor of Terrorism. Cuba was removed from the list by the Obama administration in 2015 during the Cuban thaw. (NBC News)

Law and crime

• Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol
  • 2021 efforts to remove Donald Trump from office
    • Democrats in the House of Representatives introduce an article of impeachment against Trump for "incitement of insurrection". (ABC News)
  • The New York State Bar Association announces that it has launched an inquiry into removing President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani from its membership over his role in the "violent uprising" at the Capitol building. (Bloomberg)
  • Yogananda Pittman is named as acting United States Capitol Police chief, making her the first woman and first African-American to lead the agency. (NPR)
• Three police officers are killed, two by gunfire and one in a hit-and-run, after a carjacking in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico. A fourth police officer is also injured. This is the first time in Puerto Rico's recent history in which multiple police officers were killed in one incident. The suspect remains at large. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2020–21 United States election protests
  • An internal bulletin by the FBI warns of nationwide armed protests being planned from January 16 to 20, the day of Joe Biden's inauguration. The bulletin also warned of an armed group threatening to start a "huge uprising" if there is an attempt to remove Donald Trump from office via the 25th Amendment. (ABC News) (AP)
  • Airbnb says it will ban bookings for hate groups and rioters in Washington, D.C. ahead of Biden's inauguration. (CNET) (Washingtonian)
  • Michigan announces it will ban open-carry guns at the state capitol. (HuffPost)
  • President Trump approves an emergency declaration request from District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser ahead of Biden's inauguration. (Politico) (Fox News)
  • Chad Wolf resigns as Acting United States Secretary of Homeland Security, citing "recent events, including the ongoing and meritless court rulings regarding the validity of my authority as Acting Secretary". He is replaced by FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor. (The Guardian)
• Pope Francis publishes an apostolic letter in which, modifying the canon law, opens officially ministries of lector and acolyte to women. (Catholic News Agency)

Science and technology

• Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election
  • Facebook bans "Stop the Steal" content ahead of Biden's inauguration. (NBC News)
  • Twitter says that they have suspended over 70,000 accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy since the Capitol storming. (CNBC)

Sports

• Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol
  • Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots, declines the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump, citing the storming of the United States Capitol. He had been scheduled to receive it on Thursday. (CNN)
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, 2020–21 NBA season
  • The NBA announces that they have postponed Monday night’s matchup between Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans, and Tuesday match between Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls due to COVID-19 health protocols. (The New York Times)
• 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship
  • In American football, Alabama defeats Ohio State to win the national championship. (NBC News)