Portal:Current events/2021 July 20

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Somali Civil War
  • American military intervention in Somalia
    • The United States conducts a drone strike against Al-Shabaab militants near the Somalia town of Galkayo, making it the first military action in the country that was carried by the Biden administration. (VOA)
• Mali War
  • A knifeman wounds Malian President Assimi Goïta in the arm at a mosque in Bamako. The perpetrator is arrested, and the attack is described as an assassination attempt. (Al Jazeera)
• Israel–Lebanon relations
  • The Israeli military bombs southern Lebanon after rockets are fired into Israeli territory from these locations. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett justifies the air strike by stating that "anyone who tries to harm us will pay a painful price in return". (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Henan floods
  • Major floods in Henan, China, caused by 20cm of rain per hour, affect subways and kill at least 12 people in the underground rail system of Zhengzhou. (The New York Times)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
      • Iran reports a record 27,444 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the national total of cases to 3,576,148. (AP)
      • Iran imposes a week-long lockdown in Tehran and the surrounding region in the province of Alborz where all bazaars, public offices, market places, restaurants, gyms, and movie theatres are closed, due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (AP)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Laos
      • Laos reports a record 170 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 3,710. (The Laotian Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar
      • Nyan Win, a senior advisor to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, dies in hospital after contracting COVID-19 in prison, amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country. (Al Jazeera)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
      • South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum and Minister for National Defnese Suh Wook apologize for the outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the destroyer Munmu the Great off the coast of Africa. Currently, nearly 250 of the 301 unvaccinated crew aboard the ship have contracted COVID-19. Prime Minister Kim says "I apologize for having failed to take better care of the health of our soldiers who devoted themselves to the country". (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta
        • Alberta reports 98 hospitalizations, making it the first time since October 2020 that less than 100 people have been hospitalized. (CBC)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario
        • Ontario reports that over 8 million people in the province has been fully vaccinated. (CTV)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in California
        • Pasadena becomes the first city in Southern California to require vaccinations for employees. However, the mandate will not be in effect until it receives a full approval by the Food and Drug Administration. (KCBS-TV)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in New Hampshire
        • New Hampshire surpasses 100,000 cases of COVID-19. (WMUR-TV)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Lockdown restrictions return in South Australia after an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Three Australian states, and roughly half the national population, are now under strict lockdowns. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    • Russia surpasses six million cases of COVID-19, becoming the fourth country to do so after the United States, India, and Brazil. (AKIPress)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
    • COVID-19 vaccination in Zimbabwe
      • Zimbabwean authorities order compulsory vaccinations for civil servants and also reduce the number of government workers to physically report for duty to 25% in an attempt to reduce the local transmission of COVID-19. (RTÉ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Peru
    • The Peruvian Ministry of Health announces that the country will purchase 20 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. (Reuters)

International relations

• Lithuania–Taiwan relations
  • Taiwan announces that it will be opening a representative office in Vilnius, Lithuania. This comes amid warming relations between the two nations and the opening of a Lithuanian office in Taipei. The office will be known as the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, making it the first Taiwanese diplomatic mission in Europe to include Taiwan in its name. (Taiwan News)

Law and crime

• A second criminal investigation is opened into the husband of Popular Force leader and former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori over allegations of money laundering. (Radio Havana Cuba)

Politics and elections

• COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics
  • Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi fires Minister for Public Health Faouzi Mehdi and appoints Mohamed Trabelsi as caretaker Minister for Public Health amid a collapse of the nation's healthcare system due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. (Anadolu Agency)
• During a visit to Washington, D.C., Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya asks the Biden administration to impose sanctions on companies in Belarus in order to put pressure on the government of President Alexander Lukashenko. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• Blue Origin, Blue Origin NS-16
  • Blue Origin launches its first crew onboard its New Shepard rocket to outer space. The mission was crewed by American billionaire and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, pilot and Mercury 13 candidate Wally Funk and Dutch student Oliver Daemen. Funk and Daemen respectively become the oldest and youngest people ever to travel to space. (BBC News)

Sports

• 2021 NBA Finals
  • In basketball, the Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Phoenix Suns 105-98 in game 6 of the NBA Finals, making it their first NBA championship since 1971. Giannis Antetokounmpo is named NBA Finals MVP. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)