Portal:Current events/2021 March 17

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Mali War
  • At least 33 soldiers are killed and 14 others are wounded in an attack on a military post in Gao. (Al Jazeera)
• Internal conflict in Myanmar
  • Nearly 200 civilians, mostly Catholics, are forced to flee their villages due to renewed fighting between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Myanmar’s conflict-stricken Kachin state. (UCA News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan
      • Kazakhstan suspends talks with AstraZeneca for purchasing its vaccine amidst fears of blood clots in many countries. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon
      • Lebanon suspends the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine pending a review from the international health agencies following fears of blood clots in vaccinated people. (Naharnet)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the State of Palestine
      • The Palestinian National Authority receives 61,440 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. 37,440 of the doses are the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the other 24,000 doses are the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. (The Times of Israel)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Uzbekistan
      • Uzbekistan receives its first shipment of 660,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and distributed through the COVAX initiative. (AKI Press)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary
      • Hungary reports a record 195 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 17,421. (Hungary Today)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
      • The Government of Poland announces a new national lockdown, which will close all cultural venues and non-essential shops for three weeks beginning on March 20 as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase. (Politico.eu)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
      • Ukraine reports a record 289 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 28,986. (UNIAN)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
      • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo receives the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (The New York Daily News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in North Dakota, variants of SARS-CoV-2
      • North Dakota reports their first four cases of the California variant of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, the state also reports seven cases of the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2. (The Bismarck Tribune)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • Brazil reports a record 90,303 new confirmed cases from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide case total to 11,693,838. (Reuters)

International relations

• Russia–United States relations
  • U.S. President Joe Biden says that Russian president Vladimir Putin "will pay a price" for reportedly leading efforts to influence the 2020 United States presidential election and that he has "no soul" and is "a killer". (RFE/RL)
  • Russia recalls its Ambassador to the United States in order to figure out what to do and where to move in terms of relations with the U.S. (TASS)
• UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay is expected to be reelected as head of the agency after no other candidates were nominated. (Reuters)
• Pope Francis expresses his concerns over the tense situation in Paraguay due to a deepening health and political crisis in the South American nation which have led to protests and instances of violence in recent days. In his message, the Pope appeals for dialogue to prevail over violence. (Vatican News)

Law and crime

• Same-sex marriage in Japan
  • The Sapporo district court rules that prohibiting same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Dutch general election
  • The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy of incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte finishes first in the nation's general election. The liberal Democrats 66 party is projected to equal their best-ever result, finishing second with 24 seats. A record of 17 parties are also in track to enter the House of Representatives. (DutchNews.nl)
  • According to exit polls, turnout was at 82.6%, the highest since 1986. (Euronews)
• Politics of Tanzania
  • President John Magufuli dies of heart complications, which are believed to have resulted from COVID-19. Vice President Samia Suluhu is expected to succeed him and become Tanzania's first female president. (Al Jazeera)