Portal:Current events/2021 December 31

December 31, 2021 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Four soldiers and two militants are killed during gunfights between the Pakistan Army and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Mir Ali, North Waziristan. (Al Jazeera)
Six soldiers from Niger and Nigeria are killed and 16 others are wounded during a fight with ISWAP militants in the Lake Chad region of Borno State, Nigeria. Twenty-two militants are also killed and 17 more are captured. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila
      - Metro Manila moves into Alert Level 3 from January 3 to 15 amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the detection of local cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
    - The Philippines reports its first three locally transmitted cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. (CNN Philippines)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
    - Hong Kong reports its first potential community cluster of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, which are also the first locally transmitted cases reported by the city since June. (Bloomberg)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, COVID-19 vaccination in Israel
    - Israel extends fourth doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to elderly people in care facilities and begins administering fourth doses for vulnerable people, citing the high-risk of infection. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
      - Florida reports 75,900 cases of COVID-19, a new single-day record. (WFTV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
      - New York reports a new record of 85,476 cases, with 22% of all tests being positive. (The New York Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - COVID-19 pandemic in New Brunswick
      - New Brunswick premier Blaine Higgs tests positive for COVID-19. (CBC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - Paris begins to implement mandatory outdoor mask wearing for people over the age of 11 years. This comes as France reports a substantial increase in new cases of the Omicron variant nationwide. (France 24)
    - France reports a record 232,200 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is also the highest daily total recorded in any European nation since the beginning of the pandemic. (Arab News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus
    - Cyprus reports a record for the fifth consecutive day of 5,048 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 166,827. (In-Cyprus)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
    - Greece reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 40,560 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,170,293. (Greek Reporter)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - Italy reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 144,243 new cases of COVID-19. (ANSA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 drug development
    - The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approves the use of Pfizer's anti-viral oral drug Paxlovid for high-risk patients. (The Independent)
- COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
  - New Zealand moves COVID-19 traffic light settings for Auckland from red to orange, allowing bars, restaurants and cafes that enforce the vaccine pass requirement to remove crowd size limits and requirements to sit down, despite fears of community transmission of the Omicron variant. (The Guardian)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Niger
  - Niger reports its first case of the Omicron variant in the capital Niamey. (Anadolu Agency)