Portal:Current events/2021 January 27
< Portal:Current events
January 27, 2021 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Somali Civil War
- Sixteen people are dead and eight injured after three bombs explode in Balad, Mogadishu and Dinsoor. The attacks are claimed by Al-Shabaab. The deadliest attack is in Balad, which result in 14 soldiers killed. (Anadolu Agency)
Business and economy
- Boeing 737 MAX groundings
- The European Aviation Safety Agency clears the Boeing 737 MAX passenger airliner to return to service in European Union airspace. (AFP via Barron's)
- GameStop short squeeze
- A short squeeze causes GameStop stock to increase tremendously after Reddit users predicted a hedge fund closure over the last week. (The Guardian) (AP)
Disasters and accidents
- Dschang bus-truck crash
- A collision between a bus and a truck in Dschang, West, Cameroon, kills 53 people and leaves 29 others injured with severe burns. (AFP via Manila Bulletin)
- Mount Merapi on Java, Indonesia, erupts. No casualties have been reported. (The Guardian)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey, Variant of Concern 202012/01
- New Jersey confirms their first death from the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a person who had "significant underlying conditions." (Patch.com)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama, Variant of Concern 202012/01
- Alabama confirms their first three cases of the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in two children and an adult from Montgomery and Jefferson counties. (U.S. News & World Report)
- COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey, Variant of Concern 202012/01
- COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
- Mexico reports a record 27,944 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to over 1.8 million. (Business Standard)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- President Joko Widodo receives his second dose of the Sinovac Biotech vaccine. (Antara News)
- Indonesia reports a record 387 deaths and 10,974 recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide totals to 28,855 deaths and 831,330 recoveries. (detikNews)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launches a vaccination programme in Bangladesh using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. (All India Radio)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar
- Myanmar begins a vaccination programme using the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Healthcare workers are the first people to be vaccinated. (AP)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal
- Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli launches a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in Nepal beginning with 430,000 frontline and healthcare workers. (The Kathmandu Post)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
- COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus
- Cyprus announces a cautious easing of the second nationwide lockdown beginning February 1 following a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases that peaked after Christmas. (France 24)
- COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia, Variant of Concern 202012/01
- North Macedonia reports their first case of the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a person with no known travel history who recovered on January 22. (Xinhua)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Norway
- Prime Minister Erna Solberg announces the closure of all borders for non-essential travel beginning January 29 in an attempt to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants into Norway. (Forbes)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Malta
- Prime Minister Robert Abela announces the imposition of new measures to stop the curve: restaurants, kiosks, and snack bars must remain closed for the entire month of February from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., bars are completely closed, recommends that schools postpone the two days of school holidays for Carnival. (Times of Malta)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces the introduction of 10-day hotel quarantine for travellers from 30 high-risk countries, including Brazil, Portugal, South Africa, and all South American nations due to spread of variants of SARS-CoV-2. (The Daily Telegraph)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
- COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco
- Morocco receives half a million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine. (Morocco World News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
- South Africa approves a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca for emergency use in the country. (Deccan Herald)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco
- COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
- Chile's health regulator approves a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca for emergency use in the country. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
Law and crime
- Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot
- One of the fourteen men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer pleads guilty in a federal court and agrees to testify against his co-defendants. His sentencing is scheduled for July 8. (MLive.com)
- a 16-year-old far-right extremist boy is arrested in Singapore for plotting attacks against two mosques on the anniversary of the deadly 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings. (Al Jazeera)
- In the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, 100 Hindu activists attack a prayer gathering in the Catholic media center. (UCA News)
Politics and elections
- Statehood movement in the District of Columbia
- Democrats in the United States Senate introduce a bill that would make Washington, D.C. the 51st state. (CBS News)
- Decommunization in Ukraine
- In accordance with decommunization laws, the last statue of Vladimir Lenin in the country (excluding territories currently annexed by Russia or occupied by separatists) is demolished in Odesa Oblast. (Svoboda Radio)