Portal:Current events/2021 October 15

October 15, 2021 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Afghanistan conflict
- 2021 Kandahar bombing
  - Three suicide bombers attack a Shiite mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing 47 people and injuring 70 others. The explosions occur at the main door and inside the mosque. Taliban authorities later arrived and secured the mosque. Taliban interior ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosti says that authorities are currently collecting evidence in order to determine responsibility for the bombing. (Al Jazeera)
  - ISIL-K claims responsibility for the attack, reporting that two attackers shot and killed security guards outside the mosque before blowing themselves up inside, where people were worshipping. (Reuters)
- Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan
  - United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel Stuart Scheller is reprimanded by a military judge following his criticism of the U.S. military’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. (ABC News)
Murder of David Amess
- David Amess, United Kingdom MP for Southend West, is stabbed to death in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, while meeting constituents at Belfairs Methodist Church. The suspect was arrested at the scene, and police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. (BBC News) (BBC News)
Anglophone Crisis
- A Cameroonian policeman is lynched by a mob after he killed a five-year-old girl at a checkpoint in Buea Southwest Region. Protests involving hundreds of people occurred after the killing of the child. (The Guardian)
Central African Republic Civil War
- President Faustin-Archange Touadéra declares a unilateral ceasefire with the Coalition of Patriots for Change and the anti-balaka militia groups. (AFP via Barron's)

Disasters and accidents

Four migrants are found dead by the Spanish Maritime Safety and Rescue Society in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cape Trafalgar in the Province of Cádiz after their boat sank. The coast guard reports that 21 others from the boat are missing. (AFP via i24 News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei
    - Brunei surpasses 10,000 cases of COVID-19 after reporting a record 423 new cases in the past 24 hours. (The Scoop)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - India is expected to reopen its borders to overseas travellers as it relaxes COVID-19-related restrictions amid a decrease in the number of new cases. (BBC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, COVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines
    - The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases announces that the National Capital Region will be downgraded to Alert Level 3 beginning on October 16, which will allow cinemas and theme parks to reopen for the first time since March 2020. (Rappler)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, COVID-19 vaccination in South Korea
    - President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook receive booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Yonhap News Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
    - The Brussels-Capital Region expands the use of the COVID Safe Ticket to the hospitality industry, sports centres, and indoor events with more than 50 people. (The Brussels Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - Italy's Green Pass becomes mandatory for all workplaces, but there are fears of disruption among transport workers and at ports where COVID-19 vaccination rates are relatively low. (BBC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 999 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 221,313. The country also reports a record for the second consecutive day of 32,196 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 7.92 million. (Interfax)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
      - A COVID-19 vaccination mandate comes into effect in Victoria, with all essential workers required to have at least one dose of a World Health Organization-approved vaccine to continue working. (The Guardian Australia)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea
    - The COVID-19 crisis worsens in Papua New Guinea, as the government seeks international help in order to combat the increase in new cases and deaths. The government has admitted to a slow response to the crisis and also blames vaccine hesitancy as part of the problem. The World Health Organization has agreed to help the country. (RNZ)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Yukon
    - Yukon imposes a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for sports facilities, restaurants and other non-essential services. The mandate will take effect on November 30. (Yukon News)

International relations

2021 Myanmar protests
- During an online emergency meeting, the foreign ministers of the ASEAN agree to exclude Myanmar's military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing from the upcoming ASEAN Summit to be held later this month. The country will instead be represented by non-political representative at the summit. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
Paramount leader Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China will not attend in person the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow, as it's told to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The announcement comes amid international pessimism that, now compounded by the absence of China, a global leader in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, the event would not result in any substantiative change. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Masten Wanjala, the Kenyan suspected serial killer of 14 boys, who escaped from prison two days ago, is murdered by lynching by a mob of villagers in Bungoma. Wanjala was hiding at his parents' home when he was identified by neighbours. (BBC News)