current Events/2021 March 21

• Syrian civil war
  • Russian–Syrian hospital bombing campaign
    • Seven civilians are killed and 16 others are wounded in a Syrian government airstrike on a hospital in Atareb, Aleppo Governorate. (Al Jazeera)
  • Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war
    • Russian jets strike gas facilities in the town of Sarmada, Idlib Governorate, near the border with Turkey, and strike Qah with a surface-to-surface missile, according to the Turkish Ministry of National Defense. Turkey says it has sent a statement to Russia asking for the attacks to stop immediately. (Reuters)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • Afghan peace process
    • U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin makes an unannounced trip to Afghanistan ahead of a May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from the country. (ABC News)
• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • 2021 Niger attacks
    • Suspected ISIL-linked militants kill 22 people in a series of raids on three villages in Tahoua Region, Niger. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• The Turkish lira plunges by 15% after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fires Governor of the Central Bank Naci Ağbal. He is replaced by Erdoğan ally Şahap Kavcıoğlu. (Bloomberg)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Rajasthan
        • The Rajasthan state government imposes a curfew in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur, Sagwara, and Kushalgarh from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. IST beginning tomorrow. The government will also require travelers from other states to carry a negative PCR test from the previous 72 hours beginning March 25 due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (Hindustan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • COVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines
        • The government places the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal under the "general community quarantine" and bans all mass gatherings and cross-border travel in those provinces from tomorrow until April 4. (Rappler)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria
      • Bulgaria surpasses 300,000 cases of COVID-19. (Bulgarian News Agency)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
      • The number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU reaches a record 1,334 people. (Europa FM)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • The United Kingdom reports 33 deaths in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily total since October 5. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
      • Turkey surpasses three million cases of COVID-19. (Daily Sabah)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida, Variants of SARS-CoV-2
      • Florida becomes the first U.S. state to surpasses 1,000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 variants. (Tallahassee Democrat)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, 501.V2 variant
    • South Africa concludes the sale of their Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to the African Union after the country stopped using these vaccines because they were found to be not highly effective against the 501.V2 variant. (News24)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Republic of the Congo presidential election
  • Citizens in the Republic of the Congo head to the polls to elect their President. Incumbent Denis Sassou Nguesso is expected to extend his 36-year rule as his main rival Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas remains hospitalized in France, where he was evacuated after contracting COVID-19. (Reuters)