Portal:Current events/2021 May 19

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian officials say that fighting between Israel and Palestine will continue while working toward a ceasefire. (Reuters)
  • The United States rejects a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza. (The Washington Post) (Yahoo! News)
• Spillover of the Colombian conflict
  • Rebel forces confirm that former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia leader Jesús Santrich has been killed in a cross-border operation in Zulia, Venezuela, by the National Army of Colombia. Five others were also killed in the operation on May 17. Santrich's rebel group says that the troops also cut off his little finger before withdrawing back across the border. Santrich was wanted by the United States on charges of drug trafficking. (The Guardian)
• Spillover of the Somali Civil War
  • Al-Shabaab militants ambush a patrol in Lamu County, Kenya, killing seven soldiers. (The Washington Post)
• Manhunt for Jürgen Conings
  • A manhunt is ongoing for a far-right extremist, identified as a soldier, in Dilsen-Stokkem, Limburg, Belgium, after threatening virologist Marc Van Ranst. The suspect is heavily armed and considered as a serious threat. Four rocket launchers were found in his car. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • It is revealed that the Ganges river in India has had hundreds of human bodies floating in its waters and buried in its banks in recent days, including some thought to have died of COVID-19. (BBC News)
      • An anti-fungal drug, Amphotericin B, used in the treatment of a rare infection called mucormycosis, or "black fungus", is in short supply across states in India. Immunity to this infection can be reduced by the use of steroids in severely ill COVID-19 patients. (BBC News)
      • India reports a new world record of 4,529 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 283,248. (The Straits Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
      • Malaysia reports a record 6,075 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 485,496. (Free Malaysia Today)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, COVID-19 vaccination in the Philippines
      • Vice President Leni Robredo receives her first dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine. (CNN Philippines)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan
      • Taiwan raises its COVID-19 alert level to level 3 nationwide, which is the same level as Taipei and New Taipei City, where masks are required to be worn at all times and gatherings of more than five people indoors and ten people outdoors are banned amid an increase in the number of locally transmitted cases. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus, Lineage B.1.617
      • Cyprus reports its first four cases of the Lineage B.1.617 variant, which was first discovered in India. (Cyprus Mail)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in France
      • Restaurants, bars, and cafés are reopened in France for outdoor dining for the first time in six months. Museums, theatres, and other cultural venues are also reopened as the curfew is changed to 9:00 p.m. as part of an easing of restrictions. (The Washington Post) (France 24)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
    • Argentina reports 39,652 new cases of COVID-19, a record for the second consecutive day. This subsequently brings the national total to 3.4 million. (Big News Network)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe, Lineage B.1.617
    • Zimbabwe reports its first cases of the Lineage B.1.617 variant. The variant had been detected among a group of people in the central town of Kwekwe after a student returned from India on April 29. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The U.S. surpasses 33 million cases of COVID-19. (KIRO-TV)
• A tabular iceberg slightly larger than the size of Mallorca, dubbed A-76, calves from the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica's Weddell Sea. (CNN)

International relations

• European migrant crisis, Morocco–Spain relations
  • Morocco closes its border with Spain following the escalation of diplomatic tensions generated by the massive influx of migrants into Ceuta on Tuesday. (Euractiv)
• Russia–United States relations, Foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration
  • The Biden administration lifts sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project between Russia and Germany. Despite Joe Biden's personal opposition to the project, the U.S. State Department says that it concluded that it was in the "U.S. national interest" to waive the sanctions. (BBC News)
• International reactions to the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, China–Israel relations
  • Israel condemns an "antisemitic" report by China's state-owned China Global Television Network that claims that "wealthy Jews dominate the finance, media and internet sectors" in the United States. The report also claims that Israel is an American puppet state. The Israeli Foreign Ministry calls on CGTN to take down the video, citing its "racist and dangerous" ideas. (France 24) (The Jerusalem Post)

Law and crime

• Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, Corruption in Brazil
  • The Federal Police of Brazil reveals an investigation against Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, IBAMA president Eduardo Bim and other high-ranking officials for facilitating illegal logging in the Amazon region. Salles's fiscal and banking secrecies are lifted, and Bim is suspended from his post. (The Independent)
• Aftermath of the January 6 United States Capitol attack, January 6 commission
  • The U.S. House of Representatives votes 252–175 to approve a commission that will investigate the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol. The bill will head to the U.S. Senate. (Voice of America)
• International protests over the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
  • Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at a UAV factory in Leicester over its ties to Israel arms manufacture Elbit Systems. (Newsweek)
  • In Kuwait, protesters burn Israeli flags and rally in support of Palestine. Protesters also reject normalization agreements signed by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. (Reuters)
• The Spanish Audiencia Nacional summons the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, to present himself in court on June 1 on accusations of multiple charges related to human rights violations by human rights groups and Western Sahara individuals. Ghali, who is currently hospitalized in northern Spain, refused to sign the summon, saying that he has to refer to the Algerian embassy first. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Qatari general election
  • The Qatari cabinet approves a draft law scheduling elections to the Shura Council for October, after several years of delays. The law also provides guidelines for voter registration and campaigning, such as allowing government employees to run and limiting expenditures to QAR2 million per candidate. (Al Jazeera English)
• List of U.S. state partition proposals
  • In the United States, the Oregon counties of Baker, Grant, Lake, Malheur, and Sherman all approve measures that would require county officials to take steps to promote moving the Idaho border west to incorporate their populations. These counties join Jefferson and Union counties that have already passed similar measures, while Douglas and Harney counties are voting on similar measure in upcoming elections. (The Hill via MSN) (The New York Times)