Portal:Current events/2021 October 17

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War
  • Battle of Marib
    • The Saudi Arabia-led coalition says that they have killed 160 Houthi militants in Marib, Yemen, during 32 airstrikes in the past 24 hours. The coalition also reports that they killed a total of more than 700 Houthis during the past week. (Al Jazeera)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Militants open fire on a group of non-resident workers from Bihar in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, killing two people and wounding another. (Greater Kashmir) (The Times of India)

Disasters and accidents

• Floods in India
  • Twenty-six people are killed and dozens are missing as heavy rains affect the Indian state of Kerala. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei
      • Brunei reports a record 504 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 10,860. (Borneo Bulletin)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
      • Saudi Arabia eases its COVID-19-related restrictions, lifting mandatory social distancing requirements as well as a requirement to wear face masks outdoors. (Arabian Business)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    • Russia reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 34,303 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 7.99 million. (Euronews)
• Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says that the mass release of wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear plant cannot be delayed. The water, which has been inside the plant since the 2011 meltdown, is planned to be dumped into the Pacific Ocean over several decades despite strong opposition from local fishermen and the governments of China and South Korea. (CNA)

International relations

• Foreign relations of Belarus
  • The French ambassador to Belarus departs following a directive issued by the Belarusian government, which did not cite a rationale. The ambassador had not presented his credentials to President Alexander Lukashenko. (AFP via The Moscow Times)

Law and crime

• Honour killing in Pakistan
  • A man is wanted in Pakistan after killing his two daughters and four grandchildren after setting their house ablaze, as one of the daughters married against his wishes. Her husband also died in the fire. (Reuters)
• Authorities in Haiti says that members of the "400 Mawozo" gang are behind the kidnapping of 16 American citizens and one Canadian citizen yesterday near Port-au-Prince. Those kidnapped include seven women, five men and five children. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Cape Verdean presidential election
  • Cape Verdeans head to the polls to elect their new president to replace outgoing term-limited president Jorge Carlos Fonseca. The candidates of Fonseca's right-wing MpD and the leftist PAICV are the main contenders. The election is seen as important to reopen the important tourism industry which was hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. (Reuters)
• The Instituto Nacional Electoral in Mexico says that 2.85 million signatures are needed for a recall election against president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Before becoming president, López Obrador had promised the referendum on himself to keep him accountable, although it is opposed by opposition parties, as they see it as a way to polarize voters and galvanize supporters of the president. (Yahoo! News)

Sports

• 2021 WNBA Finals
  • The Chicago Sky win their first WNBA Championship in a series against the Phoenix Mercury. (Huffington Post)