Portal:Current events/2021 November 1

November 1, 2021 (Monday)

Disasters and accidents

2021 Lagos high-rise collapse
- At least 15 people are killed and several others are trapped when a high-rise building under construction in Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria, collapses. (BBC News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on The Walt Disney Company
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai
      - Shanghai Disney Resort suspends entry into Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown and asks 33,863 visitors to take a nucleic acid test upon exiting, and another test after 24 hours, after a visitor from Hangzhou tested positive for COVID-19. (NBC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia
    - The Indonesian Drug and Food Control Agency issues an emergency use authorization for the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine for children between the ages of 6 and 11 years. (VOI)
    - Indonesia becomes the first country in the world to approve the protein-based Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which will be manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. (The New York Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
    - Israel reopens its borders to vaccinated international travellers for the first time since March 2020, where they must have received two doses of any WHO-approved vaccine, a booster dose within the past six months, or only one dose if they have recovered from COVID-19. (La Prensa Latina)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Japan lifts its 10,000 spectator attendance limit for large-scale events in 27 prefectures and allow events across the country to have 5,000 spectators or 50% venue capacity in order to restore social and economic activities amid decline of COVID-19 cases. (Kyodo News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    - South Korea begins to implement a "Living with COVID-19" campaign with easing of movement restrictions and lifting operating hour restrictions for businesses as well as requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test from the previous 48 hours in order to enter high-risk venues. This comes as 75% of the South Korean population has been fully vaccinated. (CNA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
    - Thailand reopens its international borders for the first time in 18 months to fully vaccinated travellers from 60 countries, where they are allowed to enter the country without quarantining, despite only 42% of the country's population being fully vaccinated. (BBC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
    - Greece reports a record 5,449 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 747,595. (Greek Reporter)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
    - The Ukrainian capital Kyiv begins to require vaccine certificates or negative test results in order to enter restaurants, cafés, gyms, entertainment facilities and shopping malls as well as to use public transportation in an attempt to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
  - Australia completely reopens its international borders to fully vaccinated citizens who are currently overseas. In the past, returning citizens were staggered through arrival caps and were required to pay for two weeks of quarantine. This will also allow fully-vaccinated Australians to leave and return to the country without an exemption. (The Guardian)
  - Australia fully reopens its maritime border with New Zealand for fully vaccinated travelers, who will be able to visit Australia without needing an exemption or quarantine. (The Guardian)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - The U.S. surpasses 46 million cases of COVID-19. (KIRO-TV)
- The worldwide death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic surpasses five million. The actual death toll is suspected to be higher as some countries may not have reported all deaths. (Al Jazeera)

International relations

2021 Jersey dispute, France–United Kingdom relations
- French President Emmanuel Macron announces that his government will postpone the imposition of "tighter controls" on British imports initially scheduled for Tuesday midnight as negotiations between France, the UK, and the European Commission over the rights of French fishermen to fish in Jersey's territorial waters continue. (AFP via Expatica)
Algeria-Morocco relations, Spain–Algeria relations
- Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune orders the termination of its natural gas exports to Spain through the Maghreb–Europe Gas Pipeline as a diplomatic measure against Morocco. The pipeline, which supplies most of Spain's gas, runs through Morocco. (Euronews)

Law and crime

Capital punishment in Iraq
- A man is sentenced to death in Iraq for shooting two journalists dead while driving home in Basra in January. The court said that the man committed the murders "with the aim of destabilising security and stability and intimidating people for terrorist purposes". (Al Jazeera)
United States federal judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the Southern District of Florida dismisses seven of eight charges of money laundering against Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who is accused of moving $350 million out of Venezuela into accounts controlled in the U.S. and other countries. (AFP via RFI)

Politics and elections

Politics of Nicaragua
- President Daniel Ortega tightens his grip ahead of upcoming elections. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States would increase sanctions on Nicaraguan officials, accusing Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo of staging a "sham election" in the second poorest country in the Americas. (Reuters)
Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda is sworn in as the Governor of Baja California, making her the first woman to represent Baja California. (San Diego Union Tribune)