Portal:Current events/2021 February 18

February 18, 2021 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War
- Ma'rib Campaign
  - Houthi forces take control of the Marib Dam, al-Balaq, Dahwan, and Athaf mountains, and the Kholan area, among others, as coalition forces retreat. This is the first time since 2015 that the Houthis control Marib Dam, which gives the Houthis fire control of the southern road to Marib. (ISWNews)
Insurgency in the Maghreb, Mali War
- Jihadist insurgents kill nine people in an ambush in Burkina Faso, while another jihadist attack near Bandiagara, Mopti Region, Mali, kills nine people and leaves others missing, according to local government officials. (Reuters)
ISIL insurgency in Iraq
- Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg announces an increase in NATO personnel in Iraq from 500 to around 4,000 amid a surge in ISIL activity in the country. The training mission will also be expanded to more areas beyond Baghdad and include more Iraqi security institutions, according to Stoltenberg. (France 24)

Business and economy

News Media Bargaining Code
- Facebook bans Australian news publishers from posting and Australian users from viewing and sharing news content in a preemptive retaliation move against the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's (ACCC) proposed News Media Bargaining Code, which would require Facebook to pay to host Australian news content. A number of key government and charity organisations were also blocked for several hours. (The Guardian)
- Alphabet Inc. agrees to begin paying News Corp for news content. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson credits the ACCC's proposed legislation with making the deal possible. (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

2020–21 North American winter
- February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm, 2021 Texas power crisis
  - In Texas, power is restored to millions of homes, but millions of people lack safe drinking water and 325,000 homes and businesses remain without power. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    - Lockdown restrictions are eased in Victoria as contact tracers are confident that all cases linked to a recent outbreak are self-isolating. People are permitted to leave their homes for non-essential reasons but are required to wear a mask when they are indoors. Private gatherings of up to five people and public gatherings of up to 20 people are once again permitted. Non-essential businesses and on-campus learning have been reopened, and businesses that were working from home can have up to 50% of their employees return to the office. (The Guardian)
    - South Australia reopens its land border with Victoria to the state's regional population, while still restricting travelers from Melbourne, the location of the recent outbreak. Similar restrictions are also in place at the New South Wales and Tasmanian borders. (9 News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    - Restrictions are eased in New Zealand, with Auckland downgraded to alert level 2 and the rest of the country to alert level 1. Most Auckland schools are reopened and masks are made mandatory on public transportation. (New Zealand Herald)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
    - Hong Kong grants emergency use authorization to the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine, making it the second vaccine to be approved in the city. (Quartz)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Malaysia reports a record 25 deaths in the past 24 hours, thereby surpassing 1,000 deaths from COVID-19. (The Star)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal
    - Nepal approves the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccine, which is the second vaccine to be approved in the country. (Deccan Herald)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
    - Saudi Arabia's Food and Drug Authority approves the use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine. (Gulf News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria
    - Nigeria approves the emergency use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India. (Bloomberg)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
    - Zimbabwe begins its vaccination programme against COVID-19 using China's Sinopharm vaccine. Health minister and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is the first person to receive the vaccine. (Anadolu Agency)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    - Brazil surpasses 10 million cases of COVID-19, being the second country to do so after the United States. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
    - Venezuela launches a vaccination program against COVID-19 using Sputnik V vaccine starting with frontline health workers. (VOA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada, 501.V2 variant
    - Nevada reports their first case of the 501.V2 variant in a person who travelled from South Africa to Reno and who later began showing symptoms of COVID-19. (U.S. News and World Report)
- COVID-19 vaccine, 501.V2 variant
  - Lab studies suggest that the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are significantly less effective in providing antibody protection against the 501.V2 variant of the disease, which is most prevalent in South Africa. (The Guardian)

International relations

Iran–United States relations, United States sanctions against Iran
- The Biden administration rescinds the UN sanctions placed on Iran by his predecessor Donald Trump, seen as a potential step towards rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The "snapback" of sanctions had been ignored by the rest of the world. (AP)
Israel–Syria relations
- Israel and Syria carry out a Russian-mediated prisoner exchange. An Israeli woman who crossed the border into Syria's Quneitra Governorate and was detained by the Syrian military, is returned in exchange for two Syrian shepherds held by the Israel Defense Forces. (BBC News)
2021 Myanmar coup d'état
- Canada and the United Kingdom announce sanctions on the military junta generals in response to the coup and the arbitrary detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political figures. (France 24)

Law and crime

2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest, Internet Censorship in India
- A New Delhi court sends climate activist Disha Ravi to jail for allegedly sharing a "toolkit" on social media in connection with the ongoing farmers' protest against three farm bills as it investigates further. Ms. Ravi, a resident of Bangalore, was arrested on February 4 and flown overnight to New Delhi. (The Hindu)
Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security rearrests former deputy chief of Custom Service Raimbek Matraimov due to an ongoing investigation into allegations of money laundering. The arrest comes days after hundreds protested in the capital of Bishkek over a court commuting his sentence last week. (Radio Free Europe)

Politics and elections

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigns due to disagreements with his cabinet over the detention of prominent opposition figure Nika Melia. (Reuters)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in a televised address, announces he will pardon dozens of protestors associated with the Hirak movement, reshuffle the cabinet within 48 hours and will dissolve the lower chamber of parliament to make way for new elections. (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

Mars 2020
- The rover Perseverance successfully lands on Mars as part of the Mars 2020 mission. (The New York Times)
A coalition of technology companies including Facebook, Google, and Amazon, as well as the United States Chamber of Commerce, file a federal lawsuit against the U.S. state of Maryland for passing a gross revenue tax on digital ads by non-media companies. It is the first tax of its kind in the nation. (The Verge)