Portal:Current events/2021 April 21

April 21, 2021 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian civil war
- Qamishli clashes (2021)
  - Clashes result in the deaths of a Asayish commander and 5 NDF militiamen in the city of Qamishli, al-Hasakah. (SOHR)
War in Afghanistan
- Afghan peace process
  - Germany announces that it will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by early July. (The Economic Times)
Northern Chad offensive
- Rebels of the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) threatened to press on, reaching Chad's capital N'Djamena following the killing of President Idriss Déby. In the capital, many civilians choose to stay home as fears grow. FACT rebels reject the military junta led by Déby's son and opposition politicians also call for a civilian transition. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2021 Quetta explosion
- An explosion in a hotel parking lot in Quetta, Pakistan leaves 4 people dead and 11 injured. (Al Jazeera English)
The Indonesian government reports the disappearance of submarine KRI Nanggala during a torpedo live fire exercise, requesting search and rescue assistance from Singapore and Australia. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Gujarat
      - Gujarat reports a record 12,553 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (Devdiscourse.com)
      - Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani receives his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. (Zee News)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Maharashtra
      - In Nashik, Maharashtra, 24 COVID-19 patients die after an oxygen tanker leaks outside a hospital in the city causing medical oxygen supply to be halted for around 30 minutes. (NDTV)
    - India reports a record 295,041 new cases and 2,023 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide confirmed cases to 15.6 million and confirmed deaths to 182,553. (Anadolu Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Osaka Prefecture reports a record 1,242 new cases in the past 24 hours. (The Asahi Shimbun)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Laos
    - The Government of Laos announces a 14-day lockdown in the capital Vientiane following a rising number of the COVID-19 cases during the Lao New Year. (Laotian Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - The French government announces that the country will lift the domestic travel restrictions and ease a nationwide curfew in May amid expectation that the COVID-19 cases go down, but it will impose 10-day quarantine on travellers from India to prevent the Lineage B.1.617 variant spreading. (ABC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malta
    - Malta reports its first three cases of the Lineage P.1 variant first detected in Brazil. All of three cases are imported. (Times of Malta)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
    - Turkey reports a record 362 new COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 36,975. (Al-Arabiya English)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
    - Michigan surpasses 800,000 confirmed cases and 17,000 confirmed deaths. (WEYI-TV)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea
  - Papua New Guinea surpasses 10,000 cases of COVID-19. (CNA)

International relations

Belarus–United States relations
- U.S. Ambassador to Belarus Julie D. Fisher visits Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on the eve of a meeting between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (U.S. News & World Report)

Law and crime

2020–2021 United States racial unrest
- 2020–2021 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial justice protests, George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
  - U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announces that the Department of Justice will investigate the Minneapolis Police Department over whether they engaged in a "pattern or practice of unconstitutional, unlawful policing". (ABC News)