Portal:Current events/2021 August 10

August 10, 2021 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- Taliban insurgency
  - 2021 Taliban offensive
    - The Taliban tightens its grip in many districts and cities in northern Afghanistan as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani calls on local militias to fight the armed group. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says that the United States is willing to continue their airstrike campaign against the Taliban but warned that "it is up to the Afghan government to defend themselves" and also added that "it is their struggle". (Reuters)
    - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says he views peace talks with the Taliban as concluded and unsuccessful, and anticipates a civil war. (Stars and Stripes)
    - The Taliban captures the city of Farah, the capital of the southwestern Farah Province, as well as the city of Puli Khumri, the capital of the northern Baghlan Province. These are the seventh and eighth provincial capitals to fall under Taliban control in the past five days. (Al Jazeera)
- 2007 Bagram Airfield bombing
  - A report published from the Afghanistan Papers by The Washington Post journalist Craig Whitlock accuses former U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration of lying about the Taliban attempting to kill former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney during a 2007 attack on the Bagram Airfield base. (The Daily Beast)
Tigray War
- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed calls on "all eligible citizens" to join the armed forces to "stop the Tigray forces once and for all" and for all Ethiopians to "show patriotism" in this moment. Abiy had promised a swift victory when the war broke out in late 2020, but this changed in June when Tigrayan forces recaptured the region and advanced further into other regions. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

2021 Algeria wildfires
- Wildfires continue in Tizi Ouzou Province, Algeria, killing 25 soldiers during rescue operations and 10 more civilians, bringing the death toll to 42. (Al Jazeera)
International seafood company Grieg Seafood announces that it has accidentally dumped 4,000 gallons of chlorine in a Norwegian fjord, killing approx. 96,000 fish. The company apologizes and says it will handle the cleanup. (CBS News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, COVID-19 vaccination in Bangladesh
    - Bangladesh begins to vaccinate Rohingya refugees in 34 camps in Cox’s Bazar district which borders Myanmar as the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases poses health risks in the camps where more than one million refugees are living. (Associated Press)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in East Timor
    - East Timor reports its first community transmitted cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in 12 samples from the Ermera region. (U.S. News & World Report)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Malaysia eases its COVID-19-related restrictions for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in eight states where the number of cases have been declined that allow people to cross-border travel, play individual outdoor sports, and eat at restaurants. The government also eases the 14-day home quarantine for fully vaccinated people and allow married couple to cross state borders to meet their spouses regardless of their state. (The Jakarta Post)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
    - Singapore begins to ease some social distancing measures and allows indoor dining to resume at food and beverage establishments and increases the maximum group size to five people for those who have been fully vaccinated or who have recovered from COVID-19. However, unvaccinated people are only allowed to dine in groups of up to two people at coffee shops and hawker centres. (Today)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
    - Thailand reports a record 235 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 6,588. (Bangkok Post)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
    - Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of 16 German states agree to phase out free COVID-19 testing for citizens beginning on October 11 and will begin requiring non-vaccinated people to show a negative test result to enter certain indoor venues as well as to attend cultural, sport, and entertainment events once the infection rate in a region reaches 35 per 100,000 people unless they have recovered from COVID-19 in order to pressure people to get vaccinated. (The Guardian)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - The United Kingdom reports 146 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total of deaths since March 12. (Sky News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji
  - Fiji surpasses 300 deaths from COVID-19. (RNZ International)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Martinique
  - The French overseas department of Martinique enters a three-week strict lockdown that closes all non-essential shops as well as hotels and cultural and leisure venues such as beaches in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Residents must also restrict their movement to within 1 km (0.62 mi) from their homes. (Radio France Internationale)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - The U.S. surpasses 36 million cases of COVID-19. (KIRO-TV)

Law and crime

Capital punishment in China
- A court in China upholds the death sentence of a Canadian man convicted of drug smuggling. The man, originally sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, had his sentence upgraded on appeal. Canadian authorities say that the sentence is in retaliation for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei, in Vancouver in 2018. (Deutsche Welle)
Russian authorities open a criminal investigation into Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov, two prominent allies of incarcerated activist Alexei Navalny, for raising funds for a banned political network. It is the first investigation of its kind on Navalny's allies. (Reuters)
Voting rights in the United States
- Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signs 52 arrest warrants for Democratic lawmakers who broke quorum to stop the passing of legislation that would limit voting access for some citizens. (KSAT-TV)

Politics and elections

Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment allegations
- Andrew Cuomo announces his resignation as Governor of New York following allegations of sexual harassment, as well as an investigatory report by New York Attorney General Letitia James which stated that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women during his time in office. Cuomo's resignation will take effect on August 24 and he will be succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, who will become the first woman to serve as Governor of New York. (NBC News)
The Polish coalition government collapses after Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki dismissed deputy prime minister Jarosław Gowin, who is leading the governing party partner Agreement motivated by disagreements with fiscal policy and a controversial media law. (Politico Europe)
The U.S. Senate passes a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill, featuring provisions for broadband access, clean water, electric grid renewal, transportation and road proposals. (Reuters)

Science and technology

Climate change in Tunisia
Twitter temporarily suspends the account of U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for spreading misinformation regarding vaccines and face masks. (CNN Business)