Portal:Current events/2021 November 20

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong authorises the usage of the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine for children between the ages of 3 and 17 years. (The Guardian)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq
      • Iraq receives 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX initiative. (AFP via Barron's)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, COVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines
      • The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has fully implemented nationwide, the Alert Level System (ALS) formally replacing the previous community quarantine system that had been in place since March 2020. (Rappler)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
      • Belgium begins to implement mandatory face masks in indoor places and outdoor events. The country is also enforcing teleworking four days a week for all companies until 12 December. (The Brussels Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
      • The Czech Republic reports a record 22,936 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (ABC News)
• Water crisis in Iran, 2016–2021 Iranian protests
  • Thousands of people gather at the Khaju Bridge in Isfahan to protest the government's water and energy policies. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
  • Three people are seriously injured after being shot by police during protests against COVID-19 measures in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Fifty-one people are also arrested, half of whom are less than 18 years old. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Malacca state election
  • Barisan Nasional (BN) retains power, winning 21 out of 28 seats, defeating its rivals Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN). (The Straits Times)