Portal:Current events/2021 July 25

July 25, 2021 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in the Maghreb
- 2021 Niger attacks
  - Fourteen people are killed and one more is wounded as gunmen storm the village of Wiye, in Niger. Nine of the victims are killed while working at fields. (Al Jazeera)
Chikun kidnapping
- Nigerian authorities confirm that the bandits who kidnapped dozens of children from a school in Chikun, Kaduna State, have released 28 of them and that 81 others remain in captivity. This was the tenth mass kidnapping incident since December 2020. (Reuters)
- Armed bandits kidnap a negotiator who had been sent to pay the ransom by the parents of the remaining students being held in captivity. The bandits had demanded nearly US$73,000. (Reuters)
Mali War
- The man who tried to kill Malian President Assimi Goïta with a knife at a mosque in Bamako six days ago dies in custody. The cause of death is unknown. (Al Jazeera)
Insurgency in Cabo Delgado
- Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi reports that the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces are advancing in Cabo Delgado Province and gaining territory previously held by Daesh-affiliated groups. The insurgency has caused thousands of deaths as well as monetary losses Mozambique's economy, primarily in the gas and oil industries. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2021 wildfire season
- 2021 California wildfires
  - Dixie Fire
    - The Dixie Fire grows to 190,000 acres in Butte County and Plumas County after merging with the Fly Fire. Approximately 16 structures have been destroyed. (The Washington Post) (KCRA-TV)
    - The Plumas County Sheriff's Office orders mandatory evacuations in the area amid the spread of the Dixie Fire. (KRCR-TV) (KTXL-TV)
- An uncontrolled fire in the Spanish Catalan counties of Anoia and Conca de Barberà burns more than 1,100 hectares of land. The ashes reach Barcelona, 100 kilometers away from the focus of the fire while a confinement order is issued for two municipalities. (El Periódico) (El Confidencial)
- Massive fires in the region of Sardinia, Italy, damage buildings, force the evacuation of 1,500 people and destroy 20,000 hectares of land. Italy has asked for help from other European countries to battle the fires. (The Guardian)
Ten people are killed and 44 are injured in a bus crash near Slavonski Brod, Croatia. The bus, traveling on a regular route from Frankfurt, Germany, to Pristina, Kosovo, swerved off the highway after one of the drivers briefly fell asleep. The driver was arrested after the incident, while the second driver was killed in the crash. (Washington Post)
Nine people are killed and three more are injured in Himachal Pradesh, India, after being hit by falling boulders. (BBC News)
Flash flooding in London leaves a number of Underground stations submerged with widespread damage reported. (The Independent)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan
    - COVID-19 vaccination in Jordan
      - Jordan begins to vaccinate children over the age of 12 using the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. (MedicalXpress)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Malaysia reports a record for the third consecutive day of 17,045 new cases of COVID-19 and surpasses one million total cases. (Free Malaysia Today)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
    - Thailand reports a record 15,335 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 497,302. (CNA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Albania
    - Albania reports its first case of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, which was originally detected in India, (Euronews Albania)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland
    - Iceland restricts the gatherings to 200 people, requiring bars and nightclubs to stop selling alcohol at 21:00 and close no later than midnight amid an increase of COVID-19 cases. (Iceland Monitor)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba
  - Cuba reports a record 8,853 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (Presna Latina)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
  - South Africa returns to adjusted alert level 3, which means that inter-provincial travel can resume, alcohol sales bans are lifted, non-essential businesses can reopen, and gatherings of 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors are allowed. Additionally, schools can reopen from 26 July 2021. (Businesstech)

Law and crime

Police in Fiji carry out a crackdown on opposition politicians and human rights activists who are opposed to a newly proposed land bill and who criticized the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Among those arrested are opposition politicians Biman Prasad, Lynda Tabuya and Litia Qionibaravi as well as former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. (RNZ)

Politics and elections

2021 Cuban protests
- A South Florida caravan heads to Washington, D.C., to urge the Biden administration to take more action against Cuba and end the country's communist regime. (WFOR-TV)
- Cuban dissidents in exile demonstrate in Madrid, Spain, with the leaders of the Spanish opposition political parties. (La Vanguardia)
2021 Tunisian political crisis
- Tunisian President Kais Saied, in a televised speech, announces the dismissal of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and the suspension of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, and also assumes executive authority. The opposition calls the actions a coup d'état. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)

Sports

2020 Summer Olympics
- Netherlands at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  - The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games reports the first post-competition case of COVID-19 after Dutch rower Finn Florijn tested positive on Friday and self-isolated at a separate location. (The Japan Times)
- Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Skateboarding at the 2020 Summer Olympics
  - Japanese skateboarder Yuto Horigome wins a gold medal in skateboarding, making him the first athlete to do so. (NPR)