Portal:Current events/2021 May 8

May 8, 2021 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- 2021 Afghanistan attacks
  - 2021 Kabul school bombing
    - A bombing outside a school in a Hazara area of Kabul kills 58 people and injures more than 150 others. The majority of the casualties are schoolgirls. The Taliban denies involvement in the attack, which is the deadliest in Afghanistan so far this year. (Al Jazeera)
Moro conflict
- Datu Paglas market occupation
  - More than 200 BIFF militants storm the town of Datu Paglas, Philippines, forcing many residents to evacuate. The town's market is occupied by the fighters, before being reclaimed by the army. (Al Jazeera)
2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
- Further clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police in East Jerusalem's Old City injure at least 90 Palestinians. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, Lineage B.1.617
    - Bangladesh reports its first six cases of the Lineage B.1.617 variant, which was discovered in India, prompting the authorities to extend the land border closure by two weeks. (Dhaka Tribune)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala, COVID-19 lockdown in India
      - Kerala enters a nine-day complete lockdown, closing shops, suspending public transport, and severely restricting the on-road movement of people amidst an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (The Economic Times)
    - India reports 401,078 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 21.9 million. The country also reports a record 4,187 deaths in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 238,270. (Khaleej Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
    - Pakistan declares an eight-day partial lockdown until May 16 ahead of the celebration of Eid al-Fitr next week. (BBC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka
    - Sri Lanka approves the emergency use of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as the country faces its third wave of the pandemic and the highest number of active cases since the pandemic began. The minister overseeing the situation says that Sri Lanka will try to secure five million doses of the vaccine as India has restricted the supply of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Madagascar
  - Madagascar receives its first shipment of 50,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. (Africanews)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, Lineage B.1.617
  - South Africa reports its first four cases of the Lineage B.1.617.2 variant in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, where all of these had a travel history to India. (SABC News)
- European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic
  - The European Commission signs a new deal with Pfizer and BioNTech to purchase 900 million doses of its vaccine with an additional option to purchase another 900 million doses for delivery from 2021 to 2023 which they intend to use as booster shots against the illness and to allow for the vaccination of children and teenagers. (The Irish Times)

Politics and elections

2021 Scottish Parliament election
- The Scottish National Party wins a historic fourth term in office. Along with the Scottish Greens, the majority of seats in the new Scottish Parliament will belong to parties favouring a proposed second independence referendum. Voter turnout also reaches a record high of 64%. (The Guardian)