Monday, April 12, 2021

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Donbass
  • Two Ukrainian soldiers are killed in front line clashes with separatist forces in the Donbas, bringing the total number of troops killed in action this year to 29. Both died due to small arms fire. (The Defense Post)

Arts and culture

• Death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
  • The BBC receives a record 110,994 complaints over their coverage of Prince Philip's death. (The Guardian)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland
      • COVID-19 vaccination in the Republic of Ireland
        • The National Immunisation Advisory Committee recommends that the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given to people over 60 years old following concerns about rare blood clots. (Thejournal.ie)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
      • Schools, libraries, zoos, and some stores in the Czech Republic reopen after months of closure as the six-month state of emergency expires and restrictions of movement are lifted. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
      • High schools in Greece reopen after five months of closure. Precautions, including wearing mask and COVID-19 testing for all teachers and students twice per week, are in place. (France 24)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • Lockdown restrictions are relaxed in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as cases continue to fall, with non-essential shops, pubs, gyms, restaurants, hairdressers, community centres, libraries, and theme parks permitted to reopen. Domestic holidays are also permitted again in England with the same household members. A "stay at home" order is ended in Northern Ireland, and secondary school pupils from years 8–11 return to lessons. (BBC)
      • Apple Inc and Google reject an update by the National Health Service to their contact tracing app because it breaches their privacy rules. (The Telegraph)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
      • Bangladesh issues a new lockdown rules that order the closure of all government, semi-government, autonomous, and private offices for one week beginning April 14, as well as all public transport. However, the government allows the factories to remain open. (Bdnews24.com)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong announces that restaurants will be permitted to remain open until midnight and seat more customers, provided that all staff are vaccinated against COVID-19 and all patrons use a government tracking app. (The Hong Kong Standard)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports 168,912 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, a record for the seventh consecutive day, thereby surpassing Brazil to become world's second-most affected country with 13.52 million cases. (Hindustan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
      • Thailand reports a record 985 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours for the second consecutive day, thereby bringing the nationwide total of cases to 33,610. (AP)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Solomon Islands
    • Solomon Islands receives 50,000 doses of the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine from China. (Solomon Times)
  • COVID-19 drug development
    • The U.S. government terminates a deal with Eli Lilly & Co. for 350,856 remaining doses of single antibody bamlanivimab that were scheduled to be delivered by the end of March 2021. It instead be focused on supply of combined antibodies with etesevimab. (Bloomberg)

International relations

• Philippines–United States relations, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the military
  • Philippine and U.S. troops resume the annual Balikatan military exercises following last year's cancellation of the event due to the pandemic. (Reuters)
• War in Donbass, Ukraine–NATO relations
  • Ukraine triggers Article 15 of the Charter on a Special Partnership, initiating an emergency meeting with NATO to discuss the Russian escalation in Donbas and build-up of Russian forces on its border. The article was last triggered in 2018 during the Kerch Strait incident. (Ukranews)
• Cross-Strait relations
  • Taiwan reports the largest incursion into its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) to date by People's Liberation Army Air Force warplanes. Twenty-five aircraft entered its airspace, including nuclear-capable H-6K bombers and anti-submarine aircraft. The Chinese fleet flew in an area close to the disputed Pratas Island, according to Taiwan's Defence Ministry. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• A gunman on a motorcycle opens fire in front of a COVID-19 vaccination centre at a hospital in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, killing a man and wounding a female security guard before riding away. (Reuters)
• Police respond to reports of an armed individual at Austin-East High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, and fatally shoot the suspect in a shootout. One of the responding officers is also injured but recovering in a hospital. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Peruvian general election
  • Far-left candidate Pedro Castillo is set to win the first round of the presidential election. His opponent in the runoff election in June is still to be determined, amidst a political and economic crisis. (Reuters)