Portal:Current events/2021 April 2

April 2, 2021 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Mali War
- Four Chadian soldiers are killed and many more are wounded when their base is attacked by jihadists in Aguelhok, Kidal, Mali. (Al Jazeera)
United States Capitol car attack
- A Capitol Police officer is killed and another is wounded after being struck by a vehicle outside Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The attacker is shot dead after lunging at the officers with a knife. (BBC News)
Far-right terrorism in Spain
- The regional office of the leftist Unidas Podemos party in Cartagena, Murcia, is firebombed, leaving damage to its exterior. (Reuters)
Kashmir conflict
- At least four civilians were injured in anti-Indian protests against the killing of three suspected rebels by Indian soldiers in Kashmir. (Al Jazeera0

Arts and culture

A sealed copy of the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System game Super Mario Bros. sells at auction for US$660,000, the most ever paid for a single video game. (KSL-TV)

Business and economy

Aftermath of the Battle of Palma
- French energy company Total SE ceases operations and evacuates all of its staff from its power plant in the Cabo Delgado Province, after IS-CAP insurgents infiltrate a security perimeter surrounding the liquefied natural gas reserves where the plant is located. (TRT World)
Canadian airlines Air Canada and Air Transat mutually terminate a planned merger deal after failing to secure an approval from the European Commission. (CBC)

Disasters and accidents

2021 Hualien train derailment
- At least 50 people are killed and 156 others are wounded when a Taroko Express train, headed for the celebration of the Tomb Sweeping festival, derails in Hualien, Taiwan. (BBC News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - COVID-19 vaccination in India
      - India reports a new single-day record of 3.67 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered. (Livemint)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Maharashtra
      - Maharashtra reports a record 47,827 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (The Times of India)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
    - Bangladesh reports a record 6,830 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 624,594. The country also reports its highest ever seven-day moving average of deaths with 50. (Dhaka Tribune)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq
    - Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, a former Iraq judge who presided during the trial of former dictator Saddam Hussein, dies from COVID-19 at the age of 52. (Al Arabiya)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
    - The Philippines reports a record 15,310 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which includes 3,709 cases that were not reported since March 31. This brings the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 771,497. (ABS-CBN News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina
    - Bosnia and Herzegovina reports a record 2,154 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the first time that daily cases surpassed 2,000 in the country. (The National Herald)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
    - The Netherlands suspends the administration of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine to people under 60 years old following the death of a woman who had received the vaccine. (The Independent)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
    - Turkey reports a record 42,308 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 3.4 million. (Daily Sabah)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
    - Ukraine reports a record 19,893 new confirmed cases and 433 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.71 million and the nationwide death toll to 33,679. (Kyiv Post)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
    - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 100 million people have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Business Insider) (Forbes)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
    - Governor Ron DeSantis issues an executive order banning the state from issuing vaccine passports. (Orlando Sentinel)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
  - President Alberto Fernández tests positive for COVID-19. (The Courier)

International relations

The Biden administration lifts sanctions that targeted several members of the International Criminal Court, such as Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and human rights lawyer Phakiso Mochochoko. They were sanctioned last year by former U.S. President Donald Trump for investigating allegations of war crimes committed in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. The administration maintains that the ICC lacked jurisdiction in both cases, as neither the U.S. nor Israel are member states. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

2021 Northern Ireland riots
- Eight police officers are injured and eight people are arrested during a riot in Sandy Row, south Belfast. (The Guardian)
Far-right terrorism in the United Kingdom, History of the Metropolitan Police
- 22-year-old Metropolitan Police Constable Ben Hannam admits to possession of an indecent image of a child, and a judge accordingly lifts reporting restrictions designed to allow a fair trial, revealing that Hannam became the first serving UK officer to be convicted of a terror offence after being found guilty at the Old Bailey of National Action membership. (The Guardian)

Sports

2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Major League Baseball announces that it will move this year's All-Star Game from Atlanta in response to the U.S. state of Georgia passing a series of controversial voting laws that critics say disproportionately target the state's minority voters. (USA Today)