Portal:Current events/2021 September 9

September 9, 2021 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Afghanistan conflict
- 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan
  - Qatar Airways conducts the first evacuation flight from Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport since the August 31 deadline. (RTÉ)
- 2021 Afghan protests
  - Former president Hamid Karzai says in a series of tweets that the announcement of a caretaker government by the Taliban was "necessary" and urges the Taliban to include women in the government in order to address "shortcomings of the new caretaker-announced cabinet". (India Today)
Tigray War
- The Tigray Defense Forces confirm their withdrawal from the Afar Region, saying that they are re-deploying soldiers to the neighboring Amhara Region. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

On the 20th anniversary of his assassination, the Taliban vandalizes the tombstone of Afghan mujahideen leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. The footage has sparked outrage among Afghans. (India Today)

Business and economy

Shell declares force majeure legal defense in order to forestall liabilities on some oil deliveries due to damage from Hurricane Ida. Damage discovered shortly after the storm to Shell's West Delta-143 shallow water platform, which serves as a hub for numerous offshore production pipelines, is still being assessed. The damage has caused significant issues with deliveries from the Mars, Olympus, and Ursa platforms. (Argus) (Reuters)
China releases its strategic oil reserves for the first time in an effort "to ease the pressure of rising raw material prices", according to a statement from the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration. (Al Jazeera)
American multinational financial services company Wells Fargo is fined $250 million for "unsafe or unsound practices" related to its home-lending practices by the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. (The Charlotte Observer)

Disasters and accidents

The Italian Coast Guard rescues 125 migrants stranded on an islet near Lampedusa after two of their boats partially sank. (AP via ABC News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia
    - Cambodia surpasses 2,000 deaths from COVID-19. (Khmer Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - The Japanese government announces the extension of its state of emergency in 19 prefectures until September 30 with Miyagi and Okayama prefectures being downgraded to a quasi-state of emergency after the expiry of their current orders on September 12. (The Asahi Shimbun)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
    - The Philippines reports a record 22,820 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 2,161,892. (Rappler)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
    - Singapore reports 450 new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total of new cases since August 2020. (The Straits Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland
      - The Scottish Parliament approves a requirement for people who want to attend nightclubs and large events to show an immunity passport declaring that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, despite opposition from businesses leaders and opposition parties. The requirement will take effect on October 1. (The Guardian)
    - COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom
      - The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency approves booster doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines. (BBC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, COVID-19 vaccination in Italy
    - The Italian Medicines Agency approves the administration of a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to clinically vulnerable people using the MRNA-based Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. (ANSA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
    - The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Turkey surpasses 100 million. (Daily Sabah)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
    - President Joe Biden announces new wide-ranging requirements for federal employees and employees of companies with more than 100 workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or undergo regular testing at least once a week, with no option of testing for unvaccinated federal employees. These mandates apply to over 100 million people, which represents two-thirds of all U.S. employees. (AP)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in California
    - The Los Angeles Unified School District approves a vaccine mandate for children over the age of 12 in Los Angeles schools. (CBS News)
French health minister Olivier Veran announces that the country will offer free birth control to all women under the age of 25, which will also include free contraception-related medical visits, starting in 2022. This measure will cost the government about 21 million euros (US$24,828,552) per year. (AP via NPR)

International relations

Belarus–Russia relations
- Russian president Vladimir Putin and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko agree to multiple terms that will bring the two nations' economies closer together. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

2021 Moroccan general election
- Preliminary results show the National Rally of Independents party led by Aziz Akhannouch winning a plurality in the House of Representatives, defeating the ruling Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani. (The Guardian)
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announces that the Justice Department has sued the state of Texas over its new abortion law, asking a federal judge to declare the law invalid, in order "to enjoin its enforcement, and to protect the rights that Texas has violated". (AP via ABC News)