October 31, 2021 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Yemeni Civil War
- Two missiles are launched against a mosque in Marib Governorate, killing and injuring a total of 29 people. (Al Jazeera)
- Insurgency in the Maghreb
- Gunmen open fire against security forces in Sourou, Burkina Faso, killing five policemen. Fifteen attackers are killed in a gunfight after the attack. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2021 Salisbury rail crash
- Seventeen people are injured in a derailment and crash between two trains near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. (BBC News)
- One person is killed and 15 others are injured when a Pemex gas pipeline explodes in Puebla, Mexico. The Governor of Puebla, Miguel Barbosa Huerta, blames an illegal tap for the explosion. (The Canberra Times)
- Nine firefighters are killed during a training exercise inside a cave in Altinópolis, São Paulo, Brazil, after the roof of the cave collapsed. (AFP via The Straits Times)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar
- Myanmar surpasses 500,000 cases of COVID-19. (Asian News International)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates
- The United Arab Emirates issues an emergency use authorization of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar
- COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
- Russia reports a record for the second consecutive day of 40,993 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 8.51 million. (ABC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says that she has tested positive for COVID-19 following a meeting with President Joe Biden. She said in a statement that she is experiencing mild symptoms. (CBS News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
International relations
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Pope Francis in the Vatican. It is the first-ever meeting between the two leaders. Modi is in Rome for the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit, October 30-31, before he flies to Glasgow, Scotland, for the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), October 31 to November 12. (Vatican News) (Asia News)
Law and crime
- October 2021 Tokyo attack
- A man attacks passengers on a train in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan, with acid and a knife, before setting the train on fire, injuring 17 people. A man is arrested at the scene. (Reuters)
- The Mexican National Guard open fire against a vehicle carrying Cuban citizens, killing one person and wounding four more people. The guards said that "the vehicle didn't stopped when ordered to do so". (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2021 Japanese general election
- Japanese citizens head to the polls to elect members of the Lower House. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party faces more opposition than in previous elections due to the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. (The Washington Post)
- October 2021 Sudanese coup d'état
- Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok says that he will not step down despite being under house arrest following the military coup. (CNN)
- North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announces his resignation following a decisive defeat of his party, the Social Democratic Union, in the local elections. (AP)