Portal:Current events/2021 September 30

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Three Palestinians are killed, two are injured and two more are arrested by Israeli soldiers during armed confrontations in the West Bank. [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/30/israeli-forces-kill-two-palestinians-burqin-jerusalem (Al Jazeera)]
• 2021 Afghanistan protests, Treatment of women by the Taliban
• Taliban forces use gunfire to disperse a group of six women who protested in front of their high school in Kabul against the Taliban regime forbidding them to return to study. Security forces also pushed the women and threatened arrests. A guard said that they dispersed the protest because the six women "did not coordinate with security forces regarding their protest". [https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/afghanistan-taliban-takeover-taliban-fire-shots-to-disperse-woman-protesters-in-kabul-2558728 (NDTV)]
• Afghanistan conflict
• The Taliban orders all members belonging to the group's defense, interior and intelligence agencies who are living in private homes to "report back to military bases" across the country and stop occupying private homes they had taken over. [https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/09/30/taliban-order-fighters-out-of-afghan-homes-they-took-over.html (Military.com)]

Arts and culture

• Expo 2020
• Dubai holds an opening ceremony to kick off the Expo 2020 event after it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 192 countries will be participating in the event. This will be the first world's fair to be held in the Middle East. [https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/09/30/UAE-officially-launches-Expo-2020-Dubai-the-world-s-biggest-cultural-gathering (Al Arabiya)]

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
• The government's furlough scheme ends in the United Kingdom after 18 months. Almost a million people are reported to still be on furlough from their employer. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58735299 (BBC News)]

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
• COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
• COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt
• Egypt receives their first shipment of 1.6 million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine donated by the United States. [https://english.alarabiya.net/coronavirus/2021/10/01/Egypt-receives-first-1-6-mln-doses-of-Pfizer-COVID-19-vaccine-from-US (Al-Arabiya English)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Somalia
• Somalia opens its first public oxygen plant in Mogadishu to treat patients infected with COVID-19. The new plant was purchased from Turkey by a local foundation for $240,700. [https://www.reuters.com/world/the-great-reboot/somalia-opens-first-public-oxygen-plant-help-treat-covid-19-amid-severe-shortage-2021-09-30/ (Reuters)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
• COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia
• The Malaysian Public Service Department mandates that all federal government employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with exceptions only to be allowed on health grounds, in order to increase the country's vaccination rate. [https://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2021/09/30/malaysia-makes-covid-19-jabs-compulsory-for-government-workers.html (The Jakarta Post)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
• Singapore reports a record for the third consecutive day of 2,428 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 96,521. [https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-new-covid19-cases-record-sep-30-2-deaths-dormitory-clusters-2212476 (CNA)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
• COVID-19 pandemic in France
• France begins to implement a mandatory health pass for children aged 12 to 17 to enter most activities in their daily lives. [https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20210930-health-pass-becomes-mandatory-for-french-teens-from-30-september (Radio France Internationale]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
• Romania reports a record 12,032 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,233,668. [https://www.romania-insider.com/covid-cases-ro-sept-30-2021 (Romania Insider)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
• Russia reports a record for the third consecutive day of 867 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 207,255. [https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/09/30/russia-reports-record-virus-deaths-for-third-day-a75178 (The Moscow Times)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
• COVID-19 pandemic in Queensland
• Restrictions are increased in Queensland after an increase in locally-acquired COVID-19 cases, resulting in 25% of ticket-holders for the NRL Grand Final in Brisbane receiving cancellations. [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/30/queensland-covid-update-nrl-grand-final-capacity-cut-as-six-new-cases-recorded (The Guardian)]
• COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
• Victoria reports a record 1,438 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, surpassing New South Wales as the epicentre of the pandemic in Australia. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews blames the increase on illegal parties held to celebrate the AFL Grand Final and also announces that the time between doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine will be reduced to three weeks. [https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/state-records-surge-of-1438-new-covid-19-cases-five-deaths-as-double-dosed-victorians-allowed-to-return-home-20210930-p58vxq.html (The Age)]

International relations

• Nuclear program of Iran
• European Union diplomat Josep Borrell says that nuclear talks will resume "soon" at an acceptable time period. [https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-nuclear-talks-resume-acceptable-period-time-eu-2021-09-30/ (Reuters)]
• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns that Iran is running out of time to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed in 2015. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-30/blinken-says-there-s-limited-runway-for-iran-nuclear-talks (Bloomberg.com)]
• Abraham Accords
• Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid travels to Bahrain for the first official visit by an Israeli cabinet member to the Gulf kingdom since the countries established diplomatic ties last year. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-58745885 (BBC News)]
• 2021 North Kosovo protests
• Serbia and Kosovo agree to defuse their previously high tensions. Kosovo will withdraw its police units from protest sites on the Serbian border and the two countries will also end their bans on the other country's license plates. [https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kosovo-serbia-agree-deal-end-border-tensions-2021-09-30/ (Reuters)]
• Tigray War
• The Ethiopian foreign ministry announces that it will expel seven senior United Nations humanitarian officials working in Ethiopia and declare them as persona non grata for "meddling" in the country's internal affairs. [https://www.barrons.com/news/ethiopia-to-expel-seven-senior-un-staff-for-meddling-ministry-01633011608?refsec=afp-news (AFP via Barron's)]

Law and crime

• A 96-year-old German woman accused of collaborating with the SS in the deaths of thousands of people at the Stutthof concentration camp, where she was employed as a typist, is arrested by German police shortly after a court ordered her arrest for evading the beginning of her trial. The court now orders the woman to be examined to determine whether she is fit to be jailed or to attend the court proceedings in person. [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/30/former-nazi-camp-secretary-96-caught-hours-after-fleeing-trial (Al Jazeera)]

Politics and elections

• 2021 Ethiopian general election
• Voters in Ethiopia's Somali Region go to the polls as part of the larger general election originally scheduled to be held on June 21. Three opposition parties withdrew from the election, leaving President Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party as the sole party to participate. [https://addisstandard.com/news-voters-in-somali-state-cast-ballots-for-incumbent-candidates-after-withdrawal-of-three-opposition-parties/ (Addis Standard)]
• 2021 South West Region referendum
• Voters in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region zones of Keffa, Sheka, Bench Sheko, Dawro, West Omo, and Konta vote 98.07% in favor of separating from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region becoming the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region. [https://addisstandard.com/news-alert-ethiopia-gets-eleventh-state-with-more-than-96-approval-for-south-west-referendum/ (Addis Standard)]

Sports

• 2021 in sumo
• Hakuhō, the 69th yokozuna and widely considered to be one of the greatest professional sumo wrestlers of all time, officially retires from competition after a 20-year career, 14 of them at the sport's highest rank. [https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210930/p2g/00m/0sp/057000c (The Mainichi)]

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