Portal:Current events/2021 March 21

March 21, 2021 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

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)