Portal:Current events/2021 August 3

August 3, 2021 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- Taliban insurgency
  - 2021 Taliban offensive
    - August 2021 Kabul attack
      - Taliban gunmen and a suicide car bomber attack Kabul. Thirteen people, including five attackers, are killed. (The Independent)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei
      - Chinese authorities announce city-wide COVID-19 testing for 11 million people in Wuhan after the first locally transmitted cases since May 2020 were reported in the city, where three cases that had been found were of the highly-transmissible Lineage B.1.617 Delta variant. (The Daily Telegraph)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    - Iran reports a record for the second consecutive day of 39,019 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 3.979 million. (The Times of Israel)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
    - Pakistan surpasses one million daily COVID-19 vaccination doses for the first time after the government warned that it may ban unvaccinated people from entering some public places and using some forms of transportation. (The Straits Times)
    - Islamabad becomes the first city in Pakistan with a population of more than one million people to have 50% of its eligible population vaccinated with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. (Dawn)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    - South Korea reports its first two cases of the Delta Plus variant in a man who had not travelled internationally and a person who had travelled from the United States. (Yonhap News Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Louisiana
    - Louisiana reports a record 2,112 hospitalizations from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (U.S. News & World Report)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in New York City
      - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announces that the city will issue a vaccine mandate for indoor dining, gyms, and public performances, making New York City the first U.S. city to do so. The program will begin on August 16 and will be enforceable beginning on September 13. (The New York Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Utah
    - Utah Governor Spencer Cox announces that Utah will offer K95 and KN95 masks to students during the fall semester. (KTVX)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
    - Greece surpasses 500,000 cases of COVID-19. (Greek City Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland
      - Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces that the legal requirement for social distancing in Scotland will be removed on August 9 and the blanket 10-day self-isolation for school pupils will also be ended in order to prevent educational disruption, as long as all pupils test negative. However, face coverings will be mandatory for secondary school students and staff for the first six weeks of the new term. (The Guardian)
    - The United Kingdom reports 138 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day death toll since March 17. (ITV News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco
  - Morocco extends its nightly curfew nationwide to from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and restricts the operation of all businesses and tourist hubs in Casablanca, Agadir and Marrakesh to essential travel and those who have been vaccinated in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the Solomon Islands
  - The Solomon Islands indefinitely closes its borders in an attempt to prevent the Delta variant from entering the country. (RNZ International)

International relations

Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
- Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud says that he "sees an emboldened Iran acting in a negative manner around the Middle East, endangering shipping, arming the Houthis and contributing to a political deadlock in Lebanon". Al Saud further stated that Saudi Arabia supports any talks with Iran "as long as it ensures that Iran will not now nor ever get nuclear weapons". (Reuters)

Law and crime

Belarus at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya loses a bid to continue competing in the games as she was granted a humanitarian visa by Poland while the International Olympic Committee begins an investigation. Tsimanouskaya, who refused to fly back to Belarus, entered the Polish embassy in Tokyo on Sunday and requested temporary asylum in Japan. Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi assured Tsimanouskaya that Japan had taken measures to protect her. (Deutsche Welle)
Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment allegations
- A report released by New York Attorney General Letitia James says that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women. (NBC News)
A Pentagon police officer is fatally stabbed in an apparently random attack outside the Pentagon building. The attacker then fatally shoots himself with the officer's weapon, while a civilian bystander is wounded. (CBS News)
A court in Russia sentences Lyubov Sobol, an ally of Alexei Navalny, to eighteen months of parole-like restrictions after finding her guilty of violations of COVID-19 restrictions. She rejects the convictions, calling them politically motivated and nonsense. (Reuters)

Science and technology

Amid an unprecedented heatwave, Greece records its highest-ever temperature of 46.3°C (115.3 °F) in Makrakomi, Phthiotis, according to the National Observatory of Athens. (Greek Reporter)

Sports

2020 Summer Olympics
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, Greece at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Artistic swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics
  - The Hellenic Olympic Committee withdraws its entire synchronized swimming team from the duo and group artistic swimming competitions after four of the team's athletes tested positive for COVID-19. (NPR)