Portal:Current events/2021 August 21

August 21, 2021 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- Operation Allies Refuge
  - Seven people are killed during a stampede at the airport in Kabul. (Reuters)
  - United States Army major general William D. Taylor announces that the United States has evacuated 17,000 people, including 2,500 Americans, in the past few weeks. (CNBC)
  - The U.S. and Germany both issue advisories warning nationals not to travel to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul almost a week after the Taliban took control. (Reuters)
Insurgency in Northern Chad
- Chad recalls half of its 1,200 troops in the tri-border area of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The decision notified to the coalition by Chadian military was explained as part of a plan to deploy troops elsewhere, where Chad is currently facing other conflicts. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    - COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales
      - New South Wales reports a record of 825 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest number reported by any state or territory since the beginning of the pandemic. (ABC News Australia)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
      - Regional Victoria re-enters a lockdown as COVID-19 infections spread from an ongoing cluster in Melbourne. (The Age)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    - New Zealand reports 21 new community transmitted cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total since April 2020. (The Guardian)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Palau
    - Palau reports their first cases of COVID-19 in two people who travelled from Guam and were placed in quarantine with their known contacts. (France 24)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, COVID-19 vaccination in Bangladesh
    - Bangladesh receives a shipment of 781,440 doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by Japan. (Dhaka Tribune)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei
    - Brunei extends its nationwide partial lockdown for two weeks until September 4 amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (The Straits Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
    - Vietnam reports a record for the third consecutive day of 11,321 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 336,707. (The Star)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco
  - Morocco surpasses 800,000 cases of COVID-19. (MAP News)

International relations

Foreign relations of Afghanistan
- The European Union says that there will be "no recognition, no political talks" with the Taliban. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says that the EU will "measure the Taliban by their deeds and actions" before engaging in any recognition. Von der Leyen also announced an increase in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. (Reuters)

Law and crime

2021 Taliban offensive, LGBT rights in Afghanistan, Persecution of homosexuals
- Afghan-American LGBT rights activist Nemat Sadat says that gay Afghans are facing death under the Taliban, as a 21-year-old man from Balkh Province says that he is trying to seek asylum and thinks that he may never see his boyfriend again. Another gay man from Kabul who worked for the United Nations described the current situation for homosexuals as a "nightmare". (Yahoo! News)
Former president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez cuts her arm while in jail in what was allegedly a suicide attempt. (El Comercio) (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2020–21 Malaysian political crisis
- Ismail Sabri Yaakob is sworn in as the ninth prime minister of Malaysia. (CNA)

Science and technology

The world's highest elevation expressway, between Lhasa and Nagqu in Tibet, China, opens. The average elevation of the 295 kilometres (183 mi) expressway is more than 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) above sea level. (China Daily)