Portal:Current events/2021 October 20

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
• 2021 Damascus bus bombing
• Two bombs attached to a military bus detonate as it passes under Jisr al-Rais bridge in Damascus, killing 14 people. Minutes later, military shellfire kills at least 10 civilians in Ariha, Idlib Governorate. [https://bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-58930309 (BBC News)]
• Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
• Sixteen civilians are killed after armed militants raided villages in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo. [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/21/sixteen-civilians-killed-in-overnight-eastern-drc-village-attacks (Al Jazeera)]

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Nepal floods
• The death toll due to floods and landslides in western Nepal increases to 77. The government has pledged aid to the hardest-hit areas. [https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/nepal-floods-and-landslides-kill-at-least-77-2582286 (NDTV)]
• Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, erupts, sending smoke 3,500 meters into the sky. The eruption began around noon local time. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno says that there are no reports of injuries but that they are currently investigating reports of climbers on the mountain before the eruption. [https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14464596 (The Asahi Shimbun)]

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
• COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
• COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya
• Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta lifts the nationwide curfew that had been in place since March 2020 and allows places of worship to be filled to two-thirds of their capacity as the number of COVID-19 cases decreases. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-20/kenyan-president-lifts-night-time-curfew-as-virus-cases-decline (Bloomberg)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Senegal
• Senegal reports zero COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. [https://www.news24.com/amp/news24/africa/news/covid-19-senegal-logs-zero-new-cases-for-first-time-since-pandemic-began-20211020 (News 24)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
• COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
• Russian President Vladimir Putin approves the cabinet proposal for non-working days for employees from October 31 until November 7 amid a persistent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. [https://www.voanews.com/a/putin-imposes-week-long-workplace-shutdown-to-combat-covid-19-/6278358.html (VOA)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia
• The Serbian government announces that they will introduce COVID-19 health passes for all indoor cafés and restaurants, which will be mandatory beginning from October 23 at 10:00 p.m. [https://rs.n1info.com/english/news/serbia-introduces-covid-19-passes-for-indoor-cafes-and-restaurants/ (N1)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 drug development
• The British government signs an agreement to secure 480,000 courses of Molnupiravir produced by Merck Sharp and Dohme, and 250,000 courses of Ritonavir produced by Pfizer, where both of them need to be approved by health regulator. [https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-uk-strikes-deals-for-two-antiviral-drugs-to-help-combat-coronavirus-surge-this-winter-12439406 (Sky News)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
• Singapore reports a record 18 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 264. [https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/covid-19-3862-new-cases-spore-record-18-deaths-reported-day-brings-tally-264 (Today)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
• The Food and Drug Administration authorizes booster doses of the Moderna and Janssen COVID-19 vaccines, as well as allow Americans to choose a different vaccine from their original inoculation as a booster. [https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/10/20/1047093449/the-fda-authorizes-moderna-and-j-j-covid-vaccine-boosters (NPR)]

International relations

• President of Russia Vladimir Putin says that he will not physically attend the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Expert state that Russia's potential absence coult threaten efforts to get leaders to negotiate a new deal to stall rising global temperatures. However, the Kremlin states that Putin could still appear virtually. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58977993 (BBC News)]

Law and crime

• Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
• Nikolas Jacob Cruz, who is accused of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, United States, pleads guilty on all 34 charges. [https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/20/us/nikolas-cruz-parkland-shooting-guilty/index.html (CNN)]

Politics and elections

• An indirect presidential election was held to choose the first ever President of Barbados. The outgoing Governor-General of Barbados, Dame Sandra Mason, was the only candidate nominated; Mason will be sworn in on 30 November, the 55th anniversary of Barbadian independence from the United Kingdom. The government of Barbados announced in September 2020 that they would transition to a republic by that date. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58993728 (BBC News)]

Science and technology

• Xenotransplantation
• Researchers at NYU Langone Health in New York City announce that a team of surgeons last month, led by Dr. Robert Montgomery, successfully attached a genetically-modified pig kidney to a brain dead patient for two days without rejection. [https://www.npr.org/2021/10/20/1047560631/in-a-major-scientific-advance-a-pig-kidney-is-successfully-transplanted-into-a-h (NPR)]

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