Portal:Current events/2021 May 24

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Internal conflict in Peru
  • San Miguel del Ene attack
    • Sixteen people are killed in a mass shooting in a community in Vizcatán del Ene, department of Junín. A dissident faction of the Shining Path is suspected to be behind the attack. (Al Jazeera)
• Tigray War
  • The United States sanctions Ethiopian and Eritrean government and military officials for their involvement in the Tigray War. These sanctions are intended to push all parties in the war to pursue peace. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

• Josep Almudéver Mateu, the last surviving member of the Spanish Civil War's International Brigades, dies in France at the age of 101. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Afghan truck drivers, faced with roads that have not been repaired by the Ministry of Public Works, launch a campaign to repair them by themselves by collecting 500 Afs from their trade union members to pay for it. Current efforts are focused on the Kabul–Kandahar Highway and the Salang Pass. (TOLO News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Mount Nyiragongo eruption
  • Thirty-two people are confirmed dead following the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, two days ago. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
• 2021 Kelana Jaya LRT collision
  • An underground train collision between the KLCC LRT Station and Kampung Baru LRT Station on the Kelana Jaya line in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, injures 213 people, 47 of them seriously. (New Straits Times)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India surpasses 300,000 deaths from COVID-19, becoming the third country to do so after the United States and Brazil. India recorded its last 100,000 deaths in less than a month. Experts warn that the real number of deaths could be much higher as many are not officially recorded; some models speculate that about a million people may have actually died. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Japan opens two mass vaccination centres in Tokyo and Osaka staffed by Japan Self-Defense Forces two months before the delayed Summer Olympics as the country aims to vaccinate up to 10,000 people per day in Tokyo and another 5,000 per day in Osaka for the next three months. (Time)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
      • Malaysia reports a record 61 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 2,309. (CNA)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila, COVID-19 vaccination in the Philippines
        • Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte receives her first dose of the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine. (The Philippine Star)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan
      • Taipei bans all on-site dining and drinking in response to the continued increase in the number of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases. All food and beverage vendors are only allowed to serve takeout or deliveries. (Focus Taiwan)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Delaware, Lineage B.1.617
      • Delaware reports its first case of the Lineage B.1.617 variant that originated in India. (WDEL-AM)
    • Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
      • The U.S. State Department tells Americans not to travel to Japan due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases there. (CNN)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Malta
    • Malta has vaccinated 70% of its adult population with at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, thereby becoming the first country in the European Union to achieve this herd immunity-related milestone. (U.S. News & World Report)

International relations

• Ryanair Flight 4978
  • Belarus–European Union relations
    • In response to the grounding of Ryanair Flight 4978 and the subsequent arrest of activist Roman Protasevich, the Lithuanian government closes its airports to flights from Belarus and urges its citizens to leave the country. Wizz Air, Austrian Airlines, and Air Baltic have all rerouted their flights to avoid Belarusian airspace. (Politico.eu)
    • The European Union bans all Belarusian airlines from using its airports and airspace in response to the hijacking, and places sanctions on the officials believed to be involved in the operation. (Al Jazeera)
  • Belarus–United States relations
    • U.S. President Joe Biden condemns Belarus for the hijacking and the arrest of Protasevich, and he says that his administration will "develop appropriate options". U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) urge Biden to ban flights to the country. (Bloomberg.com) (Business Insider)
  • Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum rejects the claim by Belarusian authorities that the diversion was caused by a bomb threat from them. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• 2021 Colombian protests, Human rights in Colombia
  • Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Marta Lucía Ramírez denies a request by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for on-site visits to investigate growing concerns of police brutality, censorship, and government repression amidst the ongoing civil unrest. (El Espectador)
• Aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état
  • Deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears in person in court for the first time since the February coup to face various charges, including "incitement to sedition". During the 30-minute hearing, Aung San Suu Kyi refused to respond on the protests due to alleged lack of information from the outside, wished her people good health and expressed support for her party, which faces dissolution under the junta. (DW) (Reuters)
• International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur
  • The International Criminal Court begins its trial against Janjaweed senior commander Ali Kushayb, who is charged with 31 counts of war crimes. He is the first person to be prosecuted by the Court for personal involvement in the violence committed during the Darfur conflict. (Al Jazeera)
• Police raid the Delhi and Gurgaon offices of Twitter's Indian branch to search for an alleged toolkit used by the oppositional Indian National Congress to allegedly spread misinformation about the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Indian Express)
• Omani police fire tear gas at protesters in Sohar as protests break out in the country's major cities. Omanis have been protesting since yesterday over a lack of jobs and worsening economic conditions. (Middle East Eye)
• A suspicious package is sent to the home of U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). The incident is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Capitol Police. (NBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Samoan constitutional crisis
  • Incumbent Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi refuses to concede power to recently elected Prime Minister Naomi Mataʻafa and a disputed government ensues with a FAST spokesman calling Malielegaoi's move as a "coup". New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern calls for upholding of democracy and law but rejects any interventionist role whereas the Federated States of Micronesia is the first country to recognize the legitimacy of Mataʻafa's government. Mataʻafa and FAST MPs remain locked out of parliament on the opening day of the new legislative session. (RNZ) (Reuters)
• 2021 Ecuadorian general election
  • Guillermo Lasso is sworn in as the 47th president, succeeding Lenín Moreno. (The Washington Post)
• 2021 Malian coup d'état
  • Interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane are reported to have been arrested by the military and taken to a military base in Kati. This follows the detection of an increased military presence in Bamako. (Reuters)
• Dame Cindy Kiro is announced as the next Governor-General of New Zealand. (Newshub)