Portal:Current events/2021 July 9

July 9, 2021 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan, Taliban insurgency
- 2021 Taliban offensive
  - The Taliban captures the border town of Islam Qala, Herat, Afghanistan's biggest border crossing with Iran. (Associated Press) (India Times)
  - A spokesperson for the Taliban says that they now control "85% of the territory" as the Afghan government vows to retake all seized districts. (France 24)
  - Taliban insurgents capture the border town of Torghundi on the border with Turkmenistan as the Afghan National Security Forces collapse in Herat. The Ministry of Interior Affairs says that troops had been "temporarily relocated" and that efforts are underway to recapture the border crossing. (TRT World)
  - A spokesperson for Kandahar Province Governor Rohullah Khanzada says that the Taliban has captured the city of Kandahar. (The New York Times)
- China evacuates 210 nationals from Afghanistan on a flight to Wuhan. (Hindustan Times)
Assassination of Jovenel Moïse
- The Government of Colombia reports that 13 of the 26 Colombian mercenaries who killed Haitian President Jovenel Moïse were retired members of the National Army of Colombia. Two were killed during the gunfight with the police while the eleven others were arrested. (The New York Times)
- The Government of Haiti requests security and investigative assistance from the United States. (The Hill)
Operation Barkhane
- French President Emmanuel Macron announces that he will reduce the presence of troops in the Sahel to between 2,500 and 3,000 over the long-term, and will also close bases in Timbuktu, Tessalit and Kidal in northern Mali, as part of a reorganization effort to focus on missions in the Malian, Nigerien, and Burkinese border regions. (Al Jazeera)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- More than 370 Palestinians are injured after Israeli security forces opened fire on demonstrators protesting the presence of an illegal outpost near Beita in the occupied West Bank. Thirty-one of those injured were hit with live ammunition. Dozens more are injured in similar confrontations in Kafr Qaddum, Beit Dajan, and Hebron, with demonstrators in Hebron protesting the presence of settlements in the Masafer Yatta area. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

Lebanese liquidity crisis
- Lebanon's electricity utility Électricité du Liban shuts down two of its biggest power stations due to lack of fuel, reducing total electrical output by 40% and leaving much of the country without power. (BBC News)
U.S. President Joe Biden signs a 72-point executive order placing tighter regulations and scrutiny on major corporations in a variety of sectors, including Big Tech companies. Policies outlined include banning non-compete clauses, curbing the ability of manufacturers to restrict the right to repair certain products, granting the Federal Trade Commission the ability to set guidelines on data collection, banning unfair competition practices in online marketplaces, and ordering the Food and Drug Administration to work with states and Native American tribal governments on procuring cheaper medicines from Canada. (BBC News) (FT) (WH.gov)

Disasters and accidents

2021 Atami landslide
- The death toll from the landslide in Atami, Japan, increases to nine, as more bodies are found under the mud. Twenty-two people are still missing. (Jiji Press)
Surfside condominium building collapse
- The death toll in the Champlain Towers South condominium building collapse in Surfside, Florida, increases to 78, with the overnight recovery of 14 more bodies. (ABC News)
An airplane carrying skydivers crashes in Örebro, Sweden, killing all nine people on board. (BBC News)
The Russian Federal Forestry Agency reports that 160 wildfires are currently burning an area covering 4,400 square kilometres (1,700 sq mi) in the Siberian republic of Sakha. (RFE/RL)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
    - Johannesburg mayor Geoff Makhubo dies from COVID-19-related complications, after being hospitalized for a week. (Al Jazeera)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia
    - Tunisia reports a record 189 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 16,050. (Xinhuanet)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
    - Bangladesh reports a record 212 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 16,004. The country also surpasses one million cases of the virus. (Anadolu Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, Community Activities Restrictions Enforcement
    - The Government of Indonesia announces an extension of emergency community restrictions to 15 regencies and cities outside Java and Bali beginning on July 12 amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases outside Java and Bali. (Kontan)
    - Indonesia reports a record 28,975 recoveries in the past 24 hours, thereby surpassing the nationwide total of recoveries to 2 million. (detikHealth)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
    - Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
      - The Israeli Ministry of Health announces that all visitors who are traveling to Israel, including vaccinated individuals, will be required to quarantine for 24 hours or receive a negative COVID-19 test beginning on July 16. (Haaretz)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Malaysia reports a record 9,108 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 817,838. (The Star)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
    - Saudi Arabia approves the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna. (Al Arabiya)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    - South Korea reports a record for the second consecutive day of 1,316 new cases of COVID-19, prompting the government to raise its restrictions to the highest "Level 4" in the Seoul Capital Area for two weeks beginning on July 12. (CNBC)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
    - Germany declares all of Spain as a COVID-19 risk area, which will require travellers to present a negative test result in order to avoid quarantine beginning on July 11, due to the spread of the more contagious Delta variant. (DW)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malta, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
    - Malta announces that beginning on July 14, they will become the first country in Europe to close their borders to unvaccinated travellers, only allowing those with a Maltese, British or European vaccination certificate to enter following an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (Barron's)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia reports 25,766 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total of new cases since January 2 and thereby brings the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 5.73 million. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba
    - Cuban health regulator CECMED approves the emergency use of the domestically-produced Abdala vaccine, becoming the fifth COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in the country. Manufacturers last month claimed that the vaccine, which requires three doses, has a 92% effectiveness rate against the virus. This makes Cuba the first Caribbean and Latin American country to successfully develop its own variation of the vaccine. (DW)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - COVID-19 pandemic in California
      - California will require face masks in schools despite CDC guidelines saying that vaccinated students are not required to wear a mask. (Los Angeles Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji
  - Fiji reports a record 860 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the national total of cases to 9,521. The Ministry of Health and Medical Services also reports three deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the national death toll to 51. (RNZ)
- COVID-19 vaccine, Variants of SARS-CoV-2
  - A University of Campinas study finds that the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine is less effective against the Lineage P.1 Gamma variant, which originated in Brazil. (CNA)
Climate change in Australia
- Australian Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley announces that she will appeal a historic ruling from the Federal Court which found that she has a "duty to take reasonable care" that young people will not be harmed in the future by the effects of global warming. (The Guardian)

International relations

Belarus–Lithuania relations, European migrant crisis
- Lithuania begins construction on a $48 million fence along its border with neighboring Belarus. A week prior, Lithuania had declared a state of emergency due to an increase in the number of undocumented migrants crossing into the country from Belarus, accusing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately trying to destabilize the country by encouraging and allowing refugees, mostly Syrians, to illegally cross the border. (Newsweek)
Russia–Ukraine relations
- The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence accuses Russia of hacking the website of the Ukrainian Naval Forces to publish fake news and upload false documents regarding naval drills between Ukraine, NATO, and most Black Sea nations. (RFE/RL)

Law and crime

Murder of Sarah Everard
- London police officer Wayne Couzens pleads guilty to the murder of Sarah Everard. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

South Sudanese Civil War
- President Salva Kiir Mayardit promises peace on Independence Day and also offers peace to opponent Riek Machar. A civil war has been fought in South Sudan since 2013 when ethnic differences contributed to an armed conflict that has killed more than 400,000 people. This offer of peace comes after Pope Francis said that he would visit the Christian-majority country if some kind of peace is achieved. (Reuters)
2021 Dublin Bay South by-election
- In Ireland, Labour candidate Ivana Bacik is declared the winner in a by-election for the Dublin Bay South constituency, wresting control from the ruling Fine Gael. (The Irish Times)

Science and technology

The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment's Department of Nature and Ecology Conservation announces that it no longer considers the giant panda to be endangered, but instead considers it to be vulnerable. This comes five years after the International Union for Conservation of Nature made a similar reclassification. (The Guardian)