Portal:Current events/2021 September 7

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état
  • Duwa Lashi La, leader of the anti-junta National Unity Government, calls for a national revolt and uprising against the military government led by Min Aung Hlaing and for a "defensive war" in "every corner of the country; every village, town and city". (Deutsche Welle)
• Aftermath of the 2021 Guinean coup d'état
  • As the military consolidates power in the country, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya vows to free all "political prisoners" without mentioning any specific people or referring to deposed president Alpha Condé. Condé opposition groups welcome the news but say that no prisoners have been released. (Deutsche Welle)
• 2021 Afghan protests
  • Around 300 to 500 protesters, including women, took to the streets of Kabul. The Taliban used gunfire, detentions and beatings to disperse the crowds. (CNN)
• Kidnapping in Nigeria
  • Gunmen kidnap 18 villagers in Kaduna State, Nigeria, including seven children, according to a community leader. (Reuters)

Businesses and economy

• El Salvador becomes the first country in the world to adopt the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender as well as the national currency as the Bitcoin Law comes into effect. However, a small but growing number of people opposed to the new law protested against it in the capital, San Salvador. (Al Jazeera English) (The Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Guerrero earthquake
  • A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck just outside the tourist city of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, killing at least one person and leaving more than 1.6 million without electricity. (Reuters) (The Guardian)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia
      • The Indonesian Drug and Food Control Authority issues emergency use authorizations for the single-dose Janssen vaccine and the CanSino Convidecia vaccine. (detikHealth)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, COVID-19 vaccination in Japan
      • The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare signs a agreement with the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company to purchase 150 million doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine that will be manufactured and distributed domestically by Takeda beginning next year. (The Japan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Mongolia
      • Mongolia reports a record 3,963 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 240,042. (Montsame)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
      • Singapore reports 328 new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total in more than a year. (The Straits Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, COVID-19 vaccination in Spain
      • The Spanish Public Health Commission approves the administration of a third "booster" dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for severely immunosuppressed people. (Euro Weekly News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
      • Turkey reports its first two cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Mu variant, which was originally detected in Colombia. (Anadolu Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
    • The number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Africa surpasses 200,000. (Radio France Internationale)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in New Caledonia
    • The French overseas department of New Caledonia enters a two-week lockdown after three community transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday. (RNZ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
    • Venezuela receives their first shipment of 693,600 doses of the Sinovac Coronavac vaccine supplied through the COVAX initiative. (Bloomberg)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The U.S. surpasses 40 million cases of COVID-19. (U.S. News & World Report)

Law and crime

• Abortion in Mexico
  • In a unanimous vote, the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation rules that criminalizing abortion is unconstitutional, setting a precedent for the legalization of abortion. (The New York Times)
• Human Rights Watch accuses security forces in Egypt of killing 755 people, mainly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, during extrajudicial executions, between 2015 and 2020. Security forces claimed that the deaths only occurred during "shootouts". (BBC News)
• The Supreme Court of Cape Verde approves the extradition of Alex Saab to the United States for alleged money laundering on behalf of the Venezuelan government. Saab was arrested in Cape Verde in June 2020, when his plane stopped there for refuelling while flying to Iran. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro
  • On Independence Day, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and his main opponent, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, hold rallies in different cities to mark the anniversary. (MercoPress)
  • During the rallies, Bolsonaro alleges that next year's presidential election would be a "farce" and criticizes the Supreme Federal Court for investigating him and his allies. (Reuters) (CNN Brazil)
  • Gettr CEO and former Donald Trump 2020 campaign adviser Jason Miller is detained following a CPAC event in Brazil. (The Washington Post) (The Independent)
• Politics of Afghanistan
  • The Taliban names Mohammad Hassan Akhund as the leader of Afghanistan and Abdul Ghani Baradar as the deputy leader of the country. Akhund was an associate of the late Mullah Omar. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)