Portal:Current events/2021 May 13

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War In Afghanistan
  • 2021 Afghanistan attacks
    • Four separate bombings kill eleven civilians and injure many others across the country as the three-day ceasefire declared by the Taliban to observe Eid al-Fitr remains in place. No group claims responsibility for any of the bombings. (Reuters)
    • A week after two power pylons were destroyed in Kabul's Mir Bacha Kot district, an unidentified man blows up another power plant in Kalakan District on Wednesday night, removing a further 260 megawatts of electricity imported from Uzbekistan. (TOLO News)
  • The last Spanish soldiers in Afghanistan arrive in Spain, ending the mission after 19 years. (El Periódico)
• 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
  • The death toll from the airstrikes in the Gaza Strip increases to 113 people, while 600 others are wounded. The city of Rafah is attacked by multiple Israeli raids. Protests continue in the West Bank, resulting in injuries to 35 more Palestinian protesters. The number of children killed also increases to 31. (Al Jazeera)
  • The Israel Defense Forces says that it has deployed two infantry units and an armoured unit to the border on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and that a ground operation inside Gaza will be submitted to military chiefs later today, ahead of a potential approval by the Israeli government. (The Daily Telegraph)
  • Israeli strikes destroy Hamas' internal security headquarters and Gaza's central bank, as the spokesman of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, says that the group has launched "massive rocket strikes", larger than any launched on Israel since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. (The Jerusalem Post)
• Syrian Civil War
  • The Syrian Democratic Forces reports that it apprehended a 39-member ISIL cell in Al-Hasakah, Al-Hasakah Governorate, a few days ago. The cell was reportedly planning an attack during Eid al-Fitr. (Rudaw)

Arts and culture

• Eid al-Fitr, the "Feast of Breaking the Fast" that marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan, is celebrated in Istanbul's Hagia Sophia for the first time in 87 years. (Anadolu Agency)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, COVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines
      • President Rodrigo Duterte approves the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases of downgrading the Greater Manila Area under the General Community Quarantine with "heightened restrictions" on indoor dining and personal care services. These downgrades include the reopening of hair salons and barbershops. (Rappler)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
      • Thailand reports a record 4,887 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours due to the emergence of jail clusters that have infected 2,835 prisoners. This subsequently brings the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 93,794. (Bloomberg)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates
      • The United Arab Emirates approves the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 15. (The National)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, COVID-19 vaccination in Australia
    • The government signs an agreement with Moderna to purchase 25 million doses of its vaccine. (ABC Australia)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, Lineage B.1.617
    • Russia reports its first cases of the Lineage B.1.617 variant in 16 Indian students studying at Ulyanovsk State University. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hawaii
      • Hawaiian Governor David Ige says that the state will keep its mask mandate despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying that fully vaccinated Americans can go to places without wearing a mask. (Hawaii Tribune-Herald)
    • The CDC announces that all fully vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear masks or practice social distancing, unless the person is immunodeficient or still displaying symptoms of the virus. (CNN)

International relations

• 2021 Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis
  • Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan accuses Azerbaijan of moving its army more than 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) across Armenia's southern border to try to capture Lake Sev, and convenes an emergency meeting with his security council. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Protests against the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
  • Kenya Police fire tear gas at a group of crowds protesting the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip in Nairobi. (Reuters)
• Colonial Pipeline cyberattack
  • The Colonial Pipeline attempts to restart a resource movement after a cyberattack six days ago. The ransomware attackers were reportedly paid $4–5 million in cryptocurrency prior to the restart. Meanwhile, it is revealed that the cyberattack targeted the corporate business computers and that the physical resource supply was turned off in response to the attack. Furthermore, 100 gigabytes of Colonial Pipeline corporate data was stolen prior to the attack. The hacker group, DarkSide, attempts to distance itself from the Colonial Pipeline attack, saying that it provides ransomware as a service, selling licenses to other criminals. (Tom's Guide) (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (Politico.eu) (Fox Business)
• Gun violence in the United States
  • Nine people are wounded, three of them critically, in a shootout between groups at a residence in Providence, Rhode Island. It is believed to be the largest shooting in Providence's memory. (AP)
• Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol
  • An active-duty major with the U.S. Marine Corps is arrested and charged for assault and obstruction in relation to the storming of the United States Capitol, thereby making him the first known active-duty service member to be charged in relation to the events of January 6. (USA Today)
• After compromising the Washington, D.C., police department's computers in April, the Babuk group releases thousands of the department's sensitive documents on the dark web. Hundreds of police officer disciplinary files dating back to 2004 are found, as well as intelligence reports that include feeds from other agencies, including the FBI and the Secret Service. The group reportedly asked for $4 million in ransom and were offered $100,000 at which point negotiations stopped. (WMC-TV) (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• Attempted assassination of Mohamed Nasheed
  • Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed is flown to Germany for further medical treatment after being seriously injured alongside three other people during an assassination attempt in Malé with a car bomb a week ago. Maldives authorities blame Islamic extremists, amongst whom Nasheed was considered unpopular. (DW)
• 2019–2021 Israeli political crisis
  • Leader of the right-wing Yamina coalition Naftali Bennett calls off talks with oppositional leader Yair Lapid to form a new government in light of escalating violence. He instead voices his support for a unity government. (Haaretz)

Sports

• 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football
  • UEFA decides to relocate the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final, which is to be played between English clubs Manchester City and Chelsea on May 29, to the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, was originally scheduled to host the event, but stricter pandemic-related travel restrictions imposed by the British government on Turkey prompted the move by UEFA. (CNN)