Portal:Current events/2021 March 31

March 31, 2021 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Internal conflict in Myanmar
- Kachin conflict
  - The Kachin Independence Army says that it attacked a police station in Kyaukgyi village-tract in Shwegu Township, Kachin State, injuring at least one officer. They claim that the police there are involved in killing civilians during the ongoing protests. (Irrawaddy)
Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
- ADF gunmen attack a village in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 23 civilians. Two attackers are shot dead by responding security forces. (Al Jazeera)
War in Donbass
- Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of "provoking armed confrontation" with pro-Russian separatists in the war-torn eastern portion of the country. Putin also said that Ukraine failed to comply with the July 2020 ceasefire of the conflict, which has killed over 14,000 people since it broke out in 2014. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
2021 Nigerien coup d'état attempt
- Gunfire erupts in the streets of Niamey, Niger, during an attempted coup d'état by soldiers. The coup was foiled and the perpetrators were arrested. (France 24)
Indonesian National Police headquarters shooting
- A woman opens fire at the Indonesian National Police headquarters in Jakarta before being shot dead by police. A male accomplice flees the scene. No other casualties are reported. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria
    - Bulgaria reports a record 5,176 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 338,426. (Bulgarian National Television)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - President Emmanuel Macron announces the extension of the "light lockdown" to the rest of the country, which includes a school closure from April 12 to April 26, a one-month domestic travel ban, and closure of non-essential businesses beginning April 3 in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (The Wall Street Journal) (BBC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - The Rosselkhoznadzor approves the Carnivac-Cov, which is the world's first COVID-19 vaccine for nonhuman animals. (NBC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
    - Ukraine reports a record 407 deaths in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 32,825. (Kyiv Post)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
    - Bangladesh reports a record 5,358 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 611,295. (Dhaka Tribune)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan
    - Jordan reports a record 111 deaths in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 6,858. (Roya News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka
    - Sri Lanka receives 600,000 doses of the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine from China. Vaccination of Chinese nationals could commence first as the Medicines Regulatory Authority says that the vaccination of Sri Lankans will begin after a study by a committee of experts. (Lanka Business Online)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, Lineage B.1.1.7
    - Restrictions temporarily increase in towns surrounding Byron Bay, New South Wales, after people linked to a recent outbreak of the UK variant in Brisbane spread the virus. Mask wearing is made mandatory indoors and private gatherings are limited to 30. (The Guardian)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Tonga
    - Tonga receives its first shipment of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine supplied through the COVAX initiative. (Matangi Tonga)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  - For the second consecutive day, Brazil reports a record total of 3,950 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, thereby bringing the number of deaths to 321,515. The total of 66,868 deaths in the past 31 days marked the most lethal month in the country for the duration of the pandemic. (G1)
  - Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approves the emergency use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. (The Brazilian Report)

International relations

China–Philippines relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
- The Philippines says that a Chinese maritime fleet "manned by militias" have now spread to wider areas inside its exclusive economic zone after occupying the disputed Whitsun Reef, and defying its demands for the flotilla to be withdrawn from its waters. Chinese diplomats say that the boats were sheltering from rough seas and denies the involvement of militias. (Reuters)
Myanmar–United States relations, 2021 Myanmar protests
- The U.S. State Department orders all "non-emergency" diplomats and their families to leave Myanmar amid worsening violence in the country. (France 24)

Law and crime

2021 Orange, California office shooting
- At least four people are killed and another injured during a mass shooting at an office building in Orange, California, United States. The attacker is shot and wounded by responding security forces. (CNN)
Far-right terrorism in the United Kingdom
- A young man, 16, from Newcastle, receives a non-custodial sentence after admitting to inviting support for banned neo-Nazi terror group National Action, plus multiple offences of inciting terrorism and stirring up racial hatred. The young man, who founded his own neo-Nazi cell at the age of 15, is the third-youngest UK terror convict. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

2021 Dutch general election
- The new members of the House of Representatives are installed by Speaker Khadija Arib. (NOS)
1973 Chilean coup d'état
- Newly declassified documents released by the US National Security Archive shows that Brazil supported the coup d'état that overthrew Chilean President Salvador Allende, and raised power to dictator Augusto Pinochet. (The Rio Times)