Portal:Current events/2021 December 15

December 15, 2021 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2020–2021 Ethiopian–Sudanese clashes
- The Sudanese Armed Forces announces that they are in "full control" of the disputed Al Fushqa District after clashing with Ethiopian forces in the border region. (Africa News)

Disasters and accidents

A boat carrying Indonesian migrants capsizes off the southern coast of Malaysia, killing 11 people and leaving 25 others missing. (Al Jazeera)
A privately-owned Gulfstream GIVSP jet crashes near Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, killing all nine people onboard, including Puerto Rican music producer Flow La Movie. (Reuters)
A fire occurs at the World Trade Centre Hong Kong, injuring 13 people and leaving 300 others trapped within the building. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark
    - Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark tests positive for COVID-19. (7 News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France, COVID-19 vaccination in France
    - France begins to require people aged above 65 years to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose or lose their Health Pass validity status unless they show proof of a negative test in the previous 24 hours. The requirement will be extended to all age groups from January 15. (France 24)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary, COVID-19 vaccination in Hungary
    - Hungary begins administering the COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11 years using the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. (Hungary Today)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia
    - Slovenia reports its first cases of the Omicron variant in four samples from people in the Ljubljana region who tested positive between November 29 and December 6. (See News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - COVID-19 pandemic in England, COVID passports in the United Kingdom
      - The NHS COVID pass begins to be implemented in England as a precondition in order to enter nightclubs, indoor events with more than 500 people, outdoor events with more than 4,000 people, and all events with more than 10,000 people as part of "Plan B" measures that are intended to reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. (ITV News)
    - The United Kingdom reports a record 78,610 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (BBC News)
  - European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic
    - The European Medicines Agency recommends that adults over the age of 18 years who received the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine should get a booster dose two months after receiving their first dose of the vaccine. (The Times of India)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia
    - Cambodia reports its first case of the Omicron variant in a 22-year-old woman who travelled from Ghana. (CNA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
    - The Philippines reports its first two imported cases of the Omicron variant in an overseas Filipino who travelled from Japan on December 1 and a Nigerian national who arrived in the country on November 30. (Rappler)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    - South Korea reports a record 7,850 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 536,495. (Yonhap News Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    - COVID-19 vaccination in New Zealand
      - The number of people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in New Zealand surpasses 90%. (Stuff)
    - Auckland reopens its domestic borders to travellers who are vaccinated or who have tested negative in the previous 72 hours after closing its borders for four months due to an outbreak of the Delta variant. (RNZ)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    - Australia reopens its borders to vaccinated skilled migrants and foreign students without an exemption, after a closure of more than 18 months due to the pandemic, despite the worldwide spread of the Omicron variant. (ABC News Australia)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya
    - Kenya reports its first three cases of the Omicron variant. (Anadolu Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda
    - Rwanda reports its first six cases of the Omicron variant in a group of travellers and their contacts, prompting the government to close all nightclubs and extend the quarantine for international travellers to three days. (MedicalXpress)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in California
    - California reimposes its indoor mask mandate due to fears of the spread of the Omicron variant. The mandate will last until at least January 15. (The New York Times)

Law and crime

Cannabis in Malta
- Malta legalizes the personal use and limited cultivation of cannabis, becoming the first country in the European Union to do so. (Reuters)
One person is killed, eleven others are injured and more people are unaccounted for after an arson attack at a four-storey block of flats in Reading, England. A suspect has been arrested. (BBC News)
A court in Hanoi, Vietnam, sentences two Facebook users to lengthy jail sentences for "conducting propaganda against the state". One man was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of house arrest while another man was given a six-year prison term and three years of house arrest. (Reuters)
David Fuller, a double murderer who sexually abused the corpses of more than 100 women, is sentenced to a whole life tariff. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

Siaosi Sovaleni becomes prime minister-designate of Tonga. (RNZ)