Portal:Current events/2021 August 25

August 25, 2021 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian civil war
- 2021 Daraa clashes, Syrian peace process
  - Rebel fighters begin withdrawing from the southern Daraa Governorate as part of a Russian-brokered truce aimed at ending fighting in the restive province. The rebels will be allowed safe passage to the opposition-held Idlib in the north-west as part of the agreement. (The Defense Post via AFP)
Boko Haram insurgency
- 2021 Niger attacks
  - Hundreds of Boko Haram militants attack a military post in Diffa, Niger, killing 16 soldiers and wounding nine others. In the ensuing gun battle, around 50 Islamist insurgents were killed. (Reuters)
Dar es Salaam shooting
- A gunman opens fire near the French embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing three policemen and an employee of a private security company, and wounding six other people. The gunman was shot dead by responding security forces. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

OnlyFans reverses its decision to ban pornographic content, saying in part that the ban is "no longer required due to banking partners’ assurances that OnlyFans can support all genres of creators". (WABI-TV)

Disasters and accidents

Twenty people are killed and 17 others are reported missing in landslides in western Venezuela, amid torrential rains. Most of the deaths occurred in Tovar, Mérida, after the local Mocotíes river overflowed its banks. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia
    - The Food and Drug Authority grants an emergency use authorization for the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. (Kompas)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - The Japanese government announces the expansion of the full state of emergency to eight prefectures and the quasi-state of emergency to four prefectures beginning on August 27, which brings the number of prefectures under all types of emergency measures to 33. These emergency measures will remain in effect until September 12. (AP)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan
    - Kazakhstan announces that beginning on August 28, in order to reduce the spread of the COVID-19, unvaccinated people will be banned from entering shopping malls, restaurants and cafés unless they show proof of vaccination, a negative test result, or have recovered from COVID-19 within the past three months and have a "green" status on a mobile app. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Laos
    - Laos reports a record 952 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 13,909. (The Laotian Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan
    - Taiwan reports zero community transmitted cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours for the first time since the country's largest outbreak began in May. (The Guardian)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
    - Vietnam reports a record 12,096 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 377,245. (VNExpress)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina, COVID-19 vaccination in Argentina
    - Argentina announces that it will receive 20 million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and that these doses will mainly be used to vaccinate teenagers. (El Cordillerano)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, COVID-19 vaccination in Brazil
    - The Ministry of Health announces that Brazil will begin offering booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to immunocompromised people and people over the age of 70 who received their second dose more than six months ago and will also shorten the interval between the first and second doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines to eight weeks beginning in mid-September. (Bloomberg)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales
    - New South Wales reports a record 919 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (ABC News Australia)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland, COVID-19 vaccination in Switzerland
  - Switzerland signs an agreement with Pfizer to supply a total of 14 million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in 2022 and 2023, which also includes an option to supply an additional 7 million vaccine doses in subsequent years. (Barron's)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
    - The Pentagon announces that COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandatory for the U.S. military after the FDA approved the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. (U.S. News & World Report)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Arkansas
    - Arkansas reports 354 patients that are on ventilators, a new single-day record. (KAIT)
2020–2021 H5N8 outbreak
- Benin identifies an outbreak of the highly contagious H5N1 avian flu in Sèmè-Kpodji and Abomey-Calavi near the capital Porto Novo. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo announces that former Alberto Fujimori advisor Vladimiro Montesinos has been transferred from the Callao naval base to the Ancon II prison to finish the remainder of his sentence. (Andina)

Politics and elections

2022 Philippine presidential election, 2021 PDP–Laban dispute
- President Rodrigo Duterte accepts the nomination of the ruling PDP–Laban party to run for Vice-President of the Philippines in the upcoming 2022 presidential elections. (Rappler)
The Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly approves all but one of Ebrahim Raisi's nominees for his cabinet, including anti-West Hossein Amirabdollahian as foreign minister. The designation of Ahmad Vahidi was also approved as minister of the interior. Argentina reiterates its "most energetic condemn" to Vahidi's designations as he is wanted by both Argentina and Interpol for alleged involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing. (Notimérica) (Reuters) (AFP via Radio France Internationale)