Portal:Current events/October 2021

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
  • Thirteen
    bombing attacks in Kigali. The planned attacks came as Rwanda is helping Mozambique fighting ISIL-linked groups in the Insurgency in Cabo Delgado. (Africa News)
• Islamic State–Taliban conflict
  • A bomb targets a Taliban security forces vehicle, injuring five people. Soldiers raided an ISIL-K hideout after the attack, killing several terrorists and arresting a few more. (TOLO News)

Arts and culture

• Aftermath of the Fall of Kabul
  • It is announced that the Afghanistan pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai will remain closed to visitors due to the Taliban takeover of the country. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Economy of Venezuela
  • currency in order to simplify accounting. This move was in response to hyperinflation, which reached an annual record of 1,743%, amid a serious ongoing economic crisis. (MercoPress)
• Russian gas supplies via the Yamal–Europe pipeline fall almost 77% in a single day, raising European gas prices to an all-time high. European Parliament lawmakers request investigations of market manipulation, although Gazprom's exports outside the former Soviet Union rose 15.3% year on year in the first nine months of 2021 and German utility Uniper confirms that Russia was fulfilling its contractual obligations. (Reuters) (RFE/RL)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia
      • Coronavac vaccine for children aged above 12. (The Star)
    • Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
      • The
        British territory of Bermuda to its red list due to COVID-19. Bermuda became the first British territory to be added to the Asian country's red list. (PLS)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
      • Singapore reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 2,909 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 99,430. (The Straits Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka
      • Sri Lanka lifts a nearly six-week lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 but continues to maintain a night curfew and a ban on public gatherings and parties as the number of cases declines. (The Hindu)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
      • Larissa, Chalkidiki and Kilkis due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the region. (Ekathimerini)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 887 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 208,142. (The Moscow Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
        • COVID-19 pandemic in New York City
          • Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejects an order to block the vaccine mandate for New York City schoolteachers and employees. (CBS News)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in California
        • California Governor Gavin Newsom announces that California will become the first U.S. state to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all students in schools. (CBS News)
    • The United States surpasses 700,000 deaths from COVID-19. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina, COVID-19 vaccination in Argentina
    • Argentina authorizes the approval of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 3 and 11 years. Health minister Carla Vizzotti announces that Argentina will end the year with all of its population over the age of 3 years vaccinated against COVID-19. (El Universo)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Australia expands eligibility for the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to include seniors over the age of 60 who had previously only been eligible for the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine. (The Guardian)
  • Deployment of COVID-19 vaccines
    • It is announced that more than 50 countries have missed the World Health Organization's (WHO) target for 10% of their populations to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of September. Most of these countries are in Africa, where the WHO's overall figure for fully vaccinated populations is currently 4.4%. (BBC News)

International relations

• Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union
  • Northern Irish Protocol could work in principle if they were "fixed" but warns the European Union that they could be "ditched" if they do not work. Johnson adds that this is a problem that "the United Kingdom did not want". (Reuters)

• Murder of Cécile Bloch
  • The
    rapes. (Al Jazeera)
• September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot
  • government official said that some prisoners will be prioritized and that the main goal is to address prison overcrowding. (Reuters)

• Second Berejiklian ministry
  • New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announces her resignation after the Independent Commission Against Corruption revealed that they are investigating her over a series of suspicious historical community grants. (ABC News Australia)
• 2021 Georgian local elections
  • Exiled Georgian politician Mikheil Saakashvili announces that he is back in Georgia despite threats by prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, who said that Saakashvili would be "immediately arrested and brought to prison" if he returned. Saakashvili, in his support for the United National Movement, concluded by saying that "I risked my life and freedom to be back". Saakashvili is arrested later in the day. (Deutsche Welle) (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Sister Pietra Luana (Etra) Modica, a
  Pontifical Urbaniana University. The appointment was signed by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and university Grand Chancellor. It is the first time since its founding in 1627 that this position has been assigned to a woman. (Fides)

• Afghanistan conflict
  • Journalist Sayed Maroof Sadat, two Taliban soldiers and a civilian are killed by suspected ISIS-K gunmen in Jalalabad after opening fire against a vehicle. (La Repubblica)
  • Five Pakistani soldiers are killed by gunmen at the border with Afghanistan. (Ani News)
• Insurgency in Cabo Delgado
  • Rajab Awadhi Ndanjili, one of the leaders of the ISIL-linked groups, has been killed by Mozambique security forces in Cabo Delgado during an operation a week ago. Seventeen other terrorists were also killed. (All Africa)
• Yemeni Civil War
  • Clashes between
    Houthis. (Reuters)
• Mali War
  • A
    the border with Algeria. (Dhaka Tribune)

• Four people are dead and two others are injured in Cosenza, Calabria, Italy, after accidentally falling into a vat of grape must. (Gazzetta del Sud)
• A fire breaks out on Rome's Ponte dell'Industria, or Industry Bridge, due to an electrical fire near gas pipelines and causes portions of the structure of the bridge to collapse. (UPI)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
      • Singapore surpasses 100,000 cases of COVID-19. (CNA)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
      • Vietnam surpasses 800,000 cases of COVID-19. (The Star)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
      • Victoria lockdown is also extended to Greater Shepparton after an increase in new COVID-19 cases in the regional community. (ABC News Australia)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
    • Argentina receives a shipment of 1,673,000 doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and has now received more than 70 million vaccine doses since the start of the vaccination campaign. Health minister Carla Vizzotti also announces that the country will receive a shipment of 7.2 million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be used for teenagers. (DBSAS)
  • COVID-19 vaccination in Nicaragua
    • Nicaragua authorizes the Cuban Abdala and Soberana COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use. (Reuters)

International relations

• 2021 North Kosovo protests
  • Protests in North Kosovo end with the protesters removing barricades and vehicles used to block the border crossings, according to an agreement reached in Brussels two days ago, which will end the ban on Serbian license plates on October 4. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Georgian local elections
  • Georgians head to the polls to elect the bodies of local government in the country. The election is being closely watched in the aftermath of yesterday's arrest of Mikheil Saakashvili, who returned from exile in order to support his party. The pro-Western former leader had a ruling in his favor when Interpol turned down a request for his arrest. (Al Jazeera)
• 2021 Qatari general election
  • Qataris head to the polls to elect 30 members of the Consultative Assembly in the country's first legislative elections. (Reuters)
• 2021 Madagascar food crisis
  • Ambovombe districts after the allocation of 322 million euros of a loan requested from the International Monetary Fund. Rajoelina also promises more food aid to those affected by the disaster. (Madagascar Tribune)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Afghanistan conflict
  • Five people are killed and four others are injured when a bomb explodes at the entrance to
    Zabiullah Mujahid's mother. Three suspects are arrested. (Al Jazeera)
• 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest
  • Four farmers are rammed and killed in Uttar Pradesh by a convoy of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Other farmers then attacked the convoy, killing three members of the party and the driver of the vehicle. (Al Jazeera)
• Yemeni Civil War
  • Two children are killed when a
    Houthi missile hits their home in the city of Marib. Many others are injured. (Reuters)
• Libyan peace process
  • Second Libyan Civil War. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

• North Sea Link
  • The world's longest
    megawatt capacity, the interconnector is expected to supply at least 1.4 million homes with electricity. (BBC News)

• 2021 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • Six people are killed in Chabahar, Iran, and three more are killed in Muscat, Oman, as Cyclone Shaheen impacts the two countries. Shaheen is expected to make further landfalls in other parts of Oman later today. (Al Jazeera)
• 2021 Milan airplane crash
  • Eight people are killed when their Pilatus PC-12 plane crashes into an empty building in San Donato Milanese, Lombardy, Italy. (i)
• 2021 Orange County oil spill
  • An oil spill occurs off Orange County, California, U.S., amounting to 126,000 gallons (573,000 liters) of oil, which could affect popular Southern California locations such as Huntington Beach. (Deutsche Welle)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, COVID-19 vaccination in Israel
    • Israel introduces a new rule that requires booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to be considered fully vaccinated for everyone aged 12 and older in "Green Pass", becoming the first country to do so. (The New York Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    • Delta variant cases and the spread of the virus beyond Auckland. (New Zealand Herald)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    • Russia reports a record for the fifth consecutive day of 890 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the nationwide death toll to 209,918. (Azeri Press Agency)

International relations

• Algeria–France relations
  • Algeria bans French military planes from using its airspace, and recalls its ambassador to France for consultations after accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of an "inadmissible interference" in its internal affairs. (Politico Europe)
• North Korean missile tests
  • North Korea warns the United Nations Security Council against criticizing the country's renewed missile launches. The Council had convened an emergency meeting two days ago to discuss concerns over North Korea resuming missile testing. North Korea further threatens the Council with unspecified "consequences" should they "encroach upon the sovereignty" of the country in the future. (MSN)

Law and crime

• Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
  • A commission to investigate
    pedophiles who have committed sex crimes. (France 24)
• Pandora Papers
  • 11.9 million leaked documents are published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which expose hidden wealth, tax evasion and money laundering among 330 politicians, including 35 national leaders, and numerous celebrities worldwide, including 130 billionaires, totaling 29,000 beneficiaries among 27,000 companies. This is the largest offshore data leak in history, surpassing the Panama Papers by nearly half a million documents. (BBC News) (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)
• The United Arab Emirates changes the death toll of those who died while working at the Expo 2020 to six. However, the actual death toll is suspected to be higher. (Reuters)
• Police in
  traitor over his seizure of power in July. The arrests were ordered by the military judiciary for "conspiring against state security and insulting the army". (Reuters)
• The Chairman of Mitsubishi Electric resigns after the company published a report about long-term test data falsification, organized coverup of the falsification, and extended use of unapproved materials. An investigative committee at Mitsubishi Electric is currently examining 2,300 reports of issues with its manufacturing plants. (The Asahi Shimbun)

Politics and elections

• Native title in Australia
  • The Queensland Police Service refuses a request from the Adani Group to remove a group of Wangan and Yagalingu protesters occupying the Carmichael coal mine, saying that this would be a human rights violation. The Wangan and Yagalingu peoples previously held native title to the land before the Queensland Government extinguished it in 2019 in preparation for the contract with Adani. (The Guardian)

Sports

• 2021 NFL season
  • In American football, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady returns to Foxborough, Massachusetts for the first time since departing the New England Patriots in March of last year. Tom Brady also becomes the fourth quarterback to defeat all 32 National Football League teams following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-17 victory against his former team. He also surpasses Drew Brees as the NFL's all-time leading passer. (ESPN) (AP)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest
  • Ajay Kumar Mishra. Three members of the party and the driver of the vehicle were then killed by protesters. A journalist was also found dead today near the scene of the violence. (Al Jazeera)
• Islamic State–Taliban conflict
  • The Taliban says it has "destroyed an IS–K cell" in Kabul following yesterday's bombing at a mosque during the memorial for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Mujahid says that a special Taliban unit carried out the operation and that the base was destroyed and everyone inside was killed. (Deutsche Welle)
• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • Twelve Burkinabé troops are killed and five others are wounded in an attack in the northern Sanmatenga Province. No group has claimed responsibility for the ambush assault. (Reuters)
• Aftermath of the
  Second Libyan Civil War
  • A United Nations report blames all warring sides in Libya of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly against detainees, migrants and prominent women. (Al Jazeera)
• Police in Cyprus arrest a man suspected of "planning attacks against Israeli people". Israel has accused Iran of orchestrating the plot, although Iran has denied the allegations. Other reports suggest that the target of the plot was businessman Teddy Sagi and could be linked to business disputes involving Sagi. (BBC News)
• Four
  ISIL terrorists and one security forces member are killed during clashes in southern Khartoum, Sudan. Four other suspected militants are arrested during the raid, while three more soldiers are wounded. (Reuters)

• Evergrande liquidity crisis
  • Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times reports that Chinese property developer Evergrande Group will sell 51% of its property service arm to rival company Hopson Development for US$5 billion. The report comes as both Hopson and Evergrande suspended trading in their shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the morning, pending an announcement about a "major transaction". (CNBC) (AFP via The Jakarta Post)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • The death toll from the floods in Muscat, Oman, caused by Cyclone Shaheen, increases to 12 as nine more people are found dead. (Al Jazeera)
• 2021 Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption
  • The main cone of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma collapses, increasing the lava flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The main lava flow is now 1.2 km across at its widest point. (El Pais)
• 2021 Orange County oil spill
  • Authorities in Orange County, California, United States, blame a 41-year-old oil pipeline for yesterday's spill, so far releasing 3,000 barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean and severely damaging the coast of Southern California. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, COVID-19 drug development
      • The
        Merck Sharp & Dohme to buy 300,000 courses of the antiviral drug molnupiravir, pending regulator clearance, which would be the first pill to treat COVID-19 patients. (9 News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji
      • Fiji reopens businesses, places of worship and educational institutions at 70% capacity to those who have been fully vaccinated amid a decrease in the number of new cases and an increase in the vaccination rate. (Matangi Tonga)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
      • New Zealand drops the elimination strategy to combat COVID-19 in favour of a new model that contains vaccination rates amid the continued outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Isle of Man
      • The Isle of Man begins administering booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, COVID-19 vaccination in Sweden
      • The
        Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. (The Straits Times)
    • European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine
      • The
        Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people aged over 18-years-old. However, it was up to member states to decide whether to use them. (Deutsche Welle)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, COVID-19 vaccination in Thailand
    • Thailand begins a vaccination programme for children between the ages of 12 and 17 years old using the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as the government plans to resume face-to-face learning. (NHK World-Japan)
• Insulate Britain protests
  • Insulate Britain holds a sit-in protest in three major routes into London, including the Blackwall Tunnel. The group have stated that they will continue protesting until the government has concrete plans to retrofit around 29 million buildings which the group claims have insufficient insulation. (ITV News)

International relations

• 2021 North Kosovo protests
  • Kosovo and Serbia begin implementing stickers to cover national symbols and country abbreviations on their respective vehicle license plates when they are in the other country, with normal traffic on the border fully resuming. (Exit News)
• North Korea–South Korea relations
  • The North and South Korean governments reinstate the Seoul–Pyongyang hotline after North Korea suspended the connection in early August, in protest against South Korea's military exercises with the United States. (AFP via France 24)
• Cross-Strait relations
  • A total of 52 People's Liberation Army Air Force aircraft fly into Taiwan's southwestern air defense identification zone, the Ministry of National Defense says on Twitter. This amounts to 145 Chinese aircraft which have flown into Taiwan's air defense area this month (NBC News)

Law and crime

• Aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état
  • Deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi asks to reduce her time in court appearances, stating that her health has deteriorated. The judge will make a decision on the request next week. Suu Kyi currently faces multiple charges ranging from corruption to money laundering. (The Guardian)
• A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent is killed and another is critically wounded, and a Tucson Police Department officer is wounded at a shooting involving two suspects, one of whom was a gunman who is believed to have killed himself, at the Tucson, Arizona Amtrak train station; the officers had boarded the just-disembarked Sunset Limited to do a drug check. (MSN/AP)

Politics and elections

• The parliament of Singapore passes a law aimed to outlaw foreign interference in domestic affairs. Opponents of the measure have expressed concerns regarding the broadness of certain provisions that may potentially hinder some civil liberties. (AFP via The Guardian)

Science and technology

• 2021 Facebook outage
  • Oculus experience an extended global outage that began at 15:39 UTC. Some experts believe that the outage was caused by a BGP update from Facebook. (CNN) (Cloudflare)
• Scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian are awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch". (Reuters)

Sports

• 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
  • Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. wins the rain-shortened YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, becoming the first African-American to win a NASCAR Cup race since 1963. (The New York Times)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Three civilians are killed by suspected Islamist terrorists at three different locations in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, in a spike of killings targeting civilians in the area. The victims were a Hindu chemist, an Indian street food vendor from Bihar, and a Muslim taxi driver. Two other civilians were killed in Srinagar four days ago by a Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked group. (The Indian Express)
• Afghanistan conflict
  • A report by Amnesty International says that the Taliban has executed 13 Hazaras, including eleven former members of the government, shortly after the fall of Kabul. The Taliban denies that they were behind the killings. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

• Russian actress
  The Challenge, which will be the first feature-length movie filmed in outer space, on the International Space Station over one week before returning to Earth. (AFP via The Moscow Times)

• Evergrande liquidity crisis
  • Two further
    Evergrande raised investor concerns, and were both downgraded to "CCC" or "substantial credit risk". (CNBC)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
      • Romania reports a record 15,037 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,289,156. (Romania Insider)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a record 895 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 211,696. (Interfax)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, COVID-19 vaccination in Spain
      • The Ministry of Health announces that the National Public Health Commission will offer booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine beginning in late October to elderly people who received their second vaccine dose at least six months ago. (MedicalXpress)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
        • Australian state since the start of the pandemic. (ABC News Australia)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, COVID-19 vaccination in New Zealand
      • Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces the details of the COVID-19 vaccine certificates, which show full vaccination status, in order to make large-scale events safer. The vaccine certificate is expected to come into use in November. (TVNZ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
    • Singapore reports a record 3,486 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 109,084. (The Straits Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Zambia
    • Zambia lowers its vaccination target from 70% to 30% in December as the country will relaunch the nationwide vaccination program on Thursday. (Anadolu Agency)

International relations

• Afghanistan–United Kingdom relations
  • UK special envoy Simon Gass meets with Taliban Deputy Prime Ministers Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi in Kabul for the first time since the takeover of the country to discuss Afghanistan's growing humanitarian crisis and terrorism, and to guarantee safe passage to those wishing to emigrate. Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi also said they discussed the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations, with Gass saying the foreign ministry wishes to "begin a new chapter of constructive relations". (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Two prison guards are taken hostage at a prison in Condé-sur-Sarthe, Normandy, France. One of the hostages is injured. The hostage-taker later surrenders. (Reuters)
• A court in the Holy See agrees to return to the investigative phase of an ongoing trial against Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu for alleged embezzlement, abuse of power and fraud, and other charges. Becciu was fired from his position in the Vatican City by Pope Francis in 2020 for alleged nepotism, which Becciu also denies. (Reuters)
• Nine barracks at the former Auschwitz concentration camp, now the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, are vandalized with Holocaust denial graffiti. (MSN)
• Alexandru Stoianoglo is suspended from his positions by President Maia Sandu, and is detained by security forces following allegations of corruption. (Reuters)

• 2021 Romanian political crisis
  • The
    no confidence vote against the centrist government of Prime Minister Florin Cîțu. (Reuters)
• 2021 Libyan general election
  • The Libyan House of Representatives votes to postpone the parliamentary elections initially scheduled for December 24, alongside the presidential election, until January 2022. (AFP via Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

• Microsoft Windows version history
  • Microsoft launches Windows 11, its latest version of the Microsoft Windows operating system. The upgrade to Windows 11 will be free for Windows 10 users. (BBC News)
• Climatologists
  theoretical physicist Giorgio Parisi are awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work towards the understanding of physical systems through climate models. (AFP via NDTV)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Afghanistan conflict
  • Islamic State–Taliban conflict
    • ISIL claims responsibility for the beheading of a Taliban soldier in Jalalabad. (Reuters)
• Nigerian bandit conflict
  • Dozens of armed
    Zamfara, killing 18 civilians, burning shops and cars, and forcing many residents to flee. (Reuters)
• Mali War
  • A battle between
    insurgents dead. The mayor of the nearby town of Bankass says that up to 16 soldiers were killed in the attack. (Reuters)

• The Afghanistan pavilion opens at the Expo 2020 after being closed during the first week of the event following the Taliban takeover in the country. (Khaleej Times)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark, COVID-19 vaccination in Denmark
      • Denmark suspends the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for people under the age of 18 after reports of myocarditis and meningitis, which are rare side effects of the vaccine. (The Local Denmark)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
      • Romania reports a record 331 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 38,260. (Euractiv)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a record 929 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 212,685. (Gulf News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, COVID-19 vaccination in Sweden
      • Sweden temporarily suspends the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for people born since 1991 for precautionary reasons after reports of possible rare side effects, such as myocarditis. (CBS News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan
      • Kazakhstan signs an agreement to purchase four million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine which will be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year. (KAZINFORM)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
      • Singapore reports a record 3,577 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 113,381. (TODAY)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
      • Vietnam surpasses 20,000 deaths from COVID-19. (VnExpress)
  • Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
    • COVID-19 test result. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, COVID-19 vaccination in Canada
    • Canadian federal government announces a nationwide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for rail and train passengers and will place unvaccinated core federal employees under unpaid leave as early as November 15 if they had not disclose their vaccination status by October 29. (CNN)
• The World Health Organization endorses the mass rollout of the malaria vaccine RTS,S across Sub-Saharan Africa and other countries affected by the disease after pilot programs with the vaccine in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi reduced malaria-related hospitalization and death rates among children by 70%. (The Guardian)

International relations

• Nuclear weapons of the United States
  • The U.S. State Department reveals that the current stockpile of nuclear weapons is 3,750 warheads. (State.gov)
• Russia–NATO relations
  • NATO expels eight members of the Russian Mission to NATO, accusing the Russians of secretly operating as intelligence officers. NATO also reduces the number of Russian positions at the organization to 10. (Military.com)
• Paris Agreement
  • Turkey ratifies the Paris Climate Accords, an international treaty on climate change, becoming the last G20 country to do so. (MSN)

Law and crime

• Abortion in the United States
  • United States federal judge Robert L. Pitman issues an order to block the Texas Heartbeat Act. (USA Today)
• Four people are wounded as a gunman opens fire at a high school in Arlington, Texas, United States after a fight. The suspected attacker escaped from the scene, but was arrested several hours later. (The Daily Beast)
• Chilean opposition politicians agree to seek impeachment of President Sebastián Piñera due to potential conflict of interest and tax evasion, as revealed by the Pandora Papers which were released on Sunday. (Mercopress)
• Case Breakers, a group of former law enforcement individuals, claim to have identified the
  FBI, who assert the case is "still very much open". (The Independent)

• Peruvian President Pedro Castillo announces the resignation of Prime Minister Guido Bellido. Mirtha Vásquez is sworn-in to replace Bellido. (Reuters) (Andina)

Science and technology

• Facebook Files
  • Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, tells U.S. lawmakers that the company's sites and apps "harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy". (BBC News)
• Chemists Benjamin List of Germany and David MacMillan of the United States are awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on molecular engineering through organocatalysis. (AFP via Gulf News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Two teachers are killed by suspected Islamist terrorists inside a school in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The victims, who were members of the Hindu and Sikh minorities, are the 24th and 25th civilian victims killed by suspected terrorist groups in Kashmir this year. (Al Jazeera)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • ISAWP militants kills 87 Boko Haram fighters after raiding their camp in Borno State, Nigeria. The attack is said to be a reprisal over the killing of 24 ISWAP fighters, five days ago, by Boko Haram. (Daily Post)
• Afghanistan conflict
  • A bomb explodes at a religious school in Khost, killing one student and injuring 17 other people. (Xinhua)

Arts and culture

• Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah wins the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee". Gurnah's most renowned novel is Paradise, set in colonial East Africa during World War I. (The Economist)

Business and economy

• Economy of Venezuela
  • The
    IMF COVID-19 relief funds. The State Department says that only recognized governments can access these funds. (Reuters)

• 2021 Balochistan earthquake
  • At least 24 people are killed and around 200 others injured as a 5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Harnai, Balochistan, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera)
• An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 hits Tokyo, Japan, and surrounding areas, injuring 41 people and stopping train lines but without any immediate reports of severe damage. According to Japan's system, this was labeled as a "strong-5 earthquake". (Reuters)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India, COVID-19 vaccination in India
      • India begins the use of commercial drones to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to remote areas of the country in order to increase the country's vaccination rate. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia
      • The
        Drug and Food Control Agency issues an emergency use authorization for the three dose Zifivax ZF2001 vaccine. (Antara)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, COVID-19 drug development
      • Malaysia signs an agreement with Merck & Co. to obtain 150,000 courses of the experimental drug Molnupiravir as part of a transition towards the endemic phase and "living with the COVID-19". (The Straits Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea, International aid related to the COVID-19 pandemic
      • The World Health Organization begins shipping essential COVID-19 medical supplies into North Korea via the Chinese port of Dalian and quarantine facilities in the seaport of Nampo, a possible sign of easing one of the world's strictest pandemic border closures. (NPR)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Finland
      • Finland suspends the usage of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for people born since 1991 due to unpublished reports of rare cardiovascular side effects such as myocarditis. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, COVID-19 vaccination in Germany
      • The
        mRNA-based booster doses for people who previously received the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. (Deutsche Welle)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports 27,550 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total of new cases this year. (AP)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The U.S. surpasses 44 million cases of COVID-19. (KRIS-TV)

International relations

• Taiwan–United States relations
  • The
    Wall Street Journal reports a contingent of U.S. special forces soldiers have been deployed in Taiwan to train Taiwanese forces amid tensions with China. The military trainers were first deployed under the Trump administration. (The Guardian)
• minimum corporate tax rate of 15 per cent, making them the last OECD member countries to join the deal. (AFP via Radio France Internationale)

• The trial against a 100-year-old former
  concentration camp guard begins in Germany. The man is accused of collaborating in the murders of 3,518 people at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp between 1942 and 1945, when he was employed as a standing guard in the watchtower. (The Guardian)

• Politics of Ukraine, 9th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada
  • Servant of the People party's stances on legislation which aimed to reduce the influence of Ukrainian oligarchs. (Kyiv Post)
• Politics of Norfolk Island
  • A political party named the Norfolk Island Party is formed to advocate for the islanders' self-determination from Australia. The party's goal is to achieve sovereignty for Norfolk Island. (RNZ)
• Poland and the European Union
  • The
    Polish rule-of-law crisis and in particular around the country's controversial judicial reforms. (The New York Times) (Politico)
• 2022 Philippine presidential election
  • Opposition leader and Vice President Leni Robredo joins the race to replace President Rodrigo Duterte. (Bloomberg)

Sports

• A Saudi-backed consortium, funded through its sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund, officially purchases Newcastle United F.C. for £300 million. An agreement on its purchase was finalized upon last April, but impasses on the issue of ownership among the specific entities in the consortium prevented the deal from moving forward until recently. (ESPN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Afghanistan conflict
  • 2021 Kunduz mosque bombing
    • At least 50 people are killed and more than 100 injured when a
      Shiite mosque in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. IS–K claims responsibility for the attack. (BBC News)
• Six migrants are shot dead by guards at a detention center in Tripoli, Libya. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

• Public sector undertakings in India
  • Tata Sons is announced as the winning bidder for Air India, ending years of attempts by the government to privatise the loss-making airline. Tata Sons was the initial owner of the airline before it was nationalised. (NDTV) (Times of India)
• ITA - Italia Trasporto Aereo is announced as the new state-owned airline for Italy, following the closure of Alitalia due to bankruptcy. ITA is a reorganization of Alitalia under a new name signed by decree in October 2020. (CNN)
• The severity of the energy crisis in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces of China is reported as worsening, with power outages occurring every week and "notices ... telling us which days the following week that they will cut the power". Some factories report receiving power for only two or three days per week and are operating primarily on generators. China has also placed large bids for coal that are causing supply issues in locations as far away as Ukraine. (Nikkei Asia) (Interfax)

Disasters and accidents

• Mining industry of Zimbabwe
  • Gas cylinders explode at a gold mine in Mazowe, Zimbabwe, killing seven people and injuring another. (Reuters)
• At least 51 people are dead after their makeshift vessel sinks in the Congo River, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Several more are missing. (Al Jazeera)
• Five people are killed by flash flooding occurs in parts of the U.S. states of Alabama and Tennessee, with as much as 13 inches of rain falling in some areas. (ABC News) (CNN)
• The U.S. Navy reports that the USS Connecticut, a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, struck an unidentified object while submerged in the South China Sea, causing 11 crew members to be injured. The extent of the damage to the Seawolf-class submarine is still being assessed although the submarine is noted as being "safe and stable". (Bloomberg)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus
      • President Nicos Anastasiades receives a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Financial Mirror)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland, COVID-19 vaccination in Iceland
      • Iceland suspends the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine due to concerns of side effects, becoming the fourth European country to do so. (Bloomberg)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a record 936 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 214,485. (The Washington Post)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia
      • Malaysia grants conditional approval for the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be used as a booster dose for people over the age of 18 years old who received their second dose at least six months ago. (The Independent)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
      • Singapore reports a record 3,590 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 120,454. (The Straits Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
      • Australian state or territory since the beginning of the pandemic. (ABC News Australia)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • Brazil surpasses 600,000 deaths from COVID-19. (VOA)
• Authorities in the
  Kivu Ebola outbreak which ended in 2020 and killed more than 2,200 people, but said that they were closely monitoring 100 people who may have been exposed to the virus and that three boys, all of whom were neighbors of the toddler, were already showing symptoms of the disease. (Reuters)

• 2021 Nobel Peace Prize
  • Journalists
    freedom of expression". (AFP via India Today)
• Politics of Austria
  • The
    left-wing member of the coalition, says that Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is "unfit" for the position as he is investigated for corruption. The party demands that Kurz step down, although Kurz has denied any wrongdoing. (Reuters)
• In his first speech,
  Japan coast guard and missile defenses while maintaining the country's peace. Kishida also vows to strengthen the country's alliance with the United States. (Al Jazeera)
• The United States
  House Oversight Committee releases documents showing that the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. accumulated $70 million in losses while public financial disclosures claimed that the hotel was producing an income of $156 million for former president Donald Trump. General Services Administration documents also showed that Trump received "undisclosed preferential treatment" from Deutsche Bank on a $170 million construction loan during his presidency. (CNN) (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Afghanistan conflict
  • Islamic State–Taliban conflict
    • Daesh independently". (Taiwan News)
• Nigerian bandit conflict
  • At least 20 people are killed as gunmen open fire at a market and torch cars in Sokoto, Nigeria. (Al Jazeera)
• Mali War
  • A
    government refuses to state if any ransom was paid for her release. (Reuters)

• 2021 Cumbre Vieja eruption
  • The north face of the volcano collapses, generating three new lava flows. No new evacuations have been ordered as authorities call for calm. (El País)
• alcohol poisoning, after drinking a beverage mixed with methanol. (Reuters)
• The Deir Ammar and Zahrani power stations shut down in Lebanon after running out of diesel fuel, leaving the entire country without electricity. According to a government official, power is not expected to be restored for several days. (BBC News) (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
      • Australian state or territory. (ABC News Australia)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    • Russia reports a record 968 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 215,453. (AP)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
    • Singapore reports a record 3,703 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 124,157. (The Straits Times)
  • Mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
    • A study conducted by researchers from the University of Queensland concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder worldwide in 2020. (The Guardian)

International relations

• Afghanistan–United States relations
  • The
    U.S. troops from Afghanistan, will begin today in Doha, Qatar. A spokesperson for the State Department says that the U.S. will pressure the Taliban to "respect the rights of all Afghans, including women and girls" and form an inclusive government. The spokesperson also clarifies that this is not a recognition of the Taliban government by the U.S., saying that the Taliban will have to earn recognition by its actions. (France 24)

• Memorandum of understanding between Argentina and Iran
  • Families of the victims of the 1994
    cabinet of Ebrahim Raisi. (MercoPress)
• Central American migrant caravans
  • Indian migrants trapped inside an abandoned shipping container near Nueva Concepción, Escuintla, Guatemala. (AFP via The Straits Times)
• In Rome, Italy, demonstrators protesting against the country's COVID-19 restrictions, notably the extension of the Green Pass, clash with police, and the demonstrations turn into riots. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Czech legislative election
  • The opposition
    SPOLU party calls for the formation of a new government in view of the poor electoral result of prime minister Andrej Babiš' ANO 2011 party. (Reuters)
• Kurz corruption probe
  • resigns amid a corruption inquiry against him, although he continues to deny any wrongdoing. (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War
  • Six people are killed and seven others are injured by a car bomb targeting the governor of Aden. Both the governor and a minister survive and are moved to a secure location. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Southwest Airlines cancels more than 1,000 flights and delays hundreds more over the Columbus Day weekend. The airline cites problems resulting from both air traffic control and the weather. (KGO-TV)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Menzelinsk parachute Let L-410UVP-E crash
  • A
    Let L-410 aircraft carrying a group of parachute jumpers, with 22 people on board, crashes after take-off from Menzelinsk Airport, Tatarstan, Russia. Sixteen people are killed and six others are injured. (Al Jazeera English)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei
    • Brunei reports a record 381 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 8,980. (The Star)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, COVID-19 vaccination in Italy
    • vaccinate 80% of its adult population. (RTÉ News and Current Affairs)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
    • Venezuela receives a shipment of 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX initiative. (Reuters)

International relations

• Cross-Strait relations
  • In a National Day speech, President Tsai Ing-wen states that Taiwan will not bow to pressure from China, vowing to uphold the island's sovereignty and democratic norms. (The Guardian)
  • Taiwanese independence closes the door to dialogue. (The Jerusalem Post)

• Thirty people storm a hospital in Rome, Italy, trying to free an injured man under arrest due to his involvement in violent acts yesterday during an anti-Green Pass protest. Four people are injured during the incident. (The State)
• The personal doctor of Georgian politician Mikheil Saakashvili says that he needs hospital treatment as he continues his hunger strike after returning from exile and being arrested on October 1. Saakashvili's condition has been described as "worsening". (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election
  • Iraqis head to the polls to elect the members of the Council of Representatives. (AFP via UrduPoint)

Sports

• 2020–21 UEFA Nations League
  • In
    final held at the San Siro in Milan, Italy, to win their first UEFA Nations League title in only the second edition of the tournament. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)

Arts and culture

• XVIth Synod of Bishops, ends in Rome in October 2023. In his opening address, Pope Francis presented three “key words”: communion, participation, and mission. (Catholic World News)

• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • 2021 Niger attacks
    • Ten people are killed and another is wounded as gunmen open fire at a mosque in the village of Abankor, Tillabéri, Niger. (VOA)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Five soldiers are killed by rebels in a mountain pass in Jammu and Kashmir. (Al Jazeera)
• Tigray War
  • A spokesperson for the Tigray People's Liberation Front says that the Ethiopian Ground Forces have launched a ground offensive against rebels, with the support of local militias of the Amhara Region. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Economists David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens are awarded the 2021 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their natural experiments showing economic impacts. (Deutsche Welle)

Disasters and accidents

• European migrant crisis
  • The
    coastguard boats returning to Libya after they attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea in order to reach Europe. (Reuters)
• 2021 China floods
  • At least 15 people are killed and three are missing as heavy floods affect Shanxi. (Al Jazeera)
• Two people are killed, and two homes and a UPS delivery van are destroyed after a Cessna 340 crashes in Santee, California, United States. (CNN)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
      • COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales
        • vaccinated, with the exception of residents of some regional towns where infections are low, will be expected to continue to follow lockdown restrictions. (The Guardian)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, COVID-19 vaccination in New Zealand
      • The
        healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 1 and teachers by January 1, 2022, as the country suspends its "zero-COVID" strategy amid the spread of the Delta variant. (Forbes)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea
      • A two-week lockdown begins in Eastern Highlands Province as cases overwhelm hospitals and the number of deaths increases nationwide. (RNZ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Wales
        • Wales begins to require people over the age of 18 to show their NHS COVID Pass or their proof of vaccination status in order to enter nightclubs, indoor non-seated events for more than 500 people, outdoor non-seated events for more than 4,000 people and any event with more than 10,000 people. (Evening Standard)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
      • Germany ends free COVID-19 testing for non-medical reasons in order to encourage people to get vaccinated. Children younger than twelve and pregnant women are exempt from this rule. (Anadolu Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
      • Malaysia lifts a ban on non-urgent interstate travel and resumes international travel where Malaysians travelling internationally are exempt from MyTravelPass as the country reaches a target to fully vaccinate 90% of its adult population. (Bloomberg News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
      • Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announces that Thailand plans to end quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers from at least 10 low-risk countries beginning on November 1. Additionally, the government will allow entertainment venues to reopen on December 1 and permit alcohol sales at establishments. (BBC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
      • vaccine mandates. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 vaccine
    • The
      Sinovac vaccine three months after their second dose, citing the performance of the vaccines in Latin America. (Reuters)

• 1987 Burkinabé coup d'état
  • The trial for the 1987
    president Blaise Compaoré, who will be tried in absentia. (Al Jazeera)
• Two teenagers are arrested in
  NSW, Australia, for killing 14 kangaroos two days ago. The animals were found slaughtered on two different roads. (BBC News)

• 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election
  • Preliminary results show that the Sadrist Movement of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will retain its plurality in the Council of Representatives. (AFP via The Times of Israel)
• Alar Karis is sworn in as the 6th President of Estonia, succeeding Kersti Kaljulaid. (Euronews)

Sports

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, COVID-19 pandemic in Boston
  • 2021 Boston Marathon
    • The 125th
      Diana Kipyogei, both from Kenya. (ESPN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Indian Armed Forces kill three suspected terrorists during a gunfight in Shopian. Another security operation is carried out several hours later at an apple orchard, resulting in the deaths of two more terrorists. The raids came a day after five Indian soldiers were killed by suspected terrorists. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

• Korean wave
  • American streaming service Netflix, the world's largest entertainment company by market capitalization, confirms that the South Korean television series Squid Game is its most-watched program worldwide, having been viewed by more than 111 million accounts since its release in September. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)

Business and economy

• Economy of France
  • President Emmanuel Macron announces a €30 billion plan to re-industrialize France, in order to address what he called "a kind of growth deficit" and make France reclaim its title as a "global leader in innovation and research". (CNA)
• Economy of Ukraine
  • The
    Volodymyr Zelensky underlines his concerns of potential Russian political leverage in the region in the aftermath of the agreement with Germany regarding the Nord Stream pipeline. (Deutsche Welle)
• The
  climate bond worth €12 billion (US$13.9 billion) as part of its European Green Deal, the largest climate bond issued in the global capital market. (AFP via Times of Malta)

• 2021 Pacific typhoon season
  • At least nine people are killed in the Philippines during floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Kompasu. (Reuters)
• At least 25 people are killed and several others are injured in a bus crash in Mugu District, Nepal. (BBC News)
• A train kills three people and injures a fourth, all of whom were lying on the tracks in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. (Deutsche Welle)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
      • Romania reports a record 16,443 new cases and 442 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,382,531 and the nationwide death toll to 40,071. (Romania Insider)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a record 973 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 218,345. (ABC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in San Marino
    • The need to show an immunity passport for access to indoor premises where it is not possible to guarantee an interpersonal space, as well as for access to events, including sporting events, shows, entertainment events, parties and events where dancing takes place and for practicing contact sports, comes into force. (San Marino RTV)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in India, COVID-19 vaccination in India
    • Indian drug regulator approves the emergency use of the Bharat Biotech Covaxin vaccine for children aged between 2 to 18. (Hindustan Times)
  • COVID-19 vaccination in Panama
    • Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as booster for high-risk people, including healthcare workers, bedridden residents, nursing home residents, and people aged over 55. (Reuters)
• Iqaluit, capital city of Canada's Nunavut territory, is placed under a Do Not Drink Water advisory until further notice due to the possibility of contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons. Both boiled and filtered water are not safe for consumption at this time. (CTV News)

International relations

• Foreign relations of Afghanistan
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that Germany "is not yet prepared to recognize the Taliban government" since they have not met demands of inclusiveness. However, Merkel reassures the promise of Germany's 600 million euro aid to the country. (Reuters)
• The International Court of Justice rules in favor of Somalia in its dispute with Kenya over a maritime border rich in gas and oil. Kenya labels the case as "biased" and says that it does not recognize the ruling. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• LGBT rights in Botswana
  • A panel of judges in
    gay sex was punishable by up to seven years' imprisonment. (Reuters)
• 2021 Cuban protests
  • The
    United States government. (AFP via France 24)

• Discoveries of exoplanets
  • TIC 257060897b, a Hot Jupiter exoplanet that is 50% larger and 30% less massive than Jupiter. The discovery was made using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. (Science Times)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kongsberg attack
  • Five people are killed and two others are injured in the streets of Kongsberg, Viken, Norway, by a man using a bow and arrow. A suspect has been arrested. (BBC News)
• 2021 Bangladesh communal violence
  • Four people are killed and 24 others are injured as police open fire on a mob of 500 Muslims protesting over an alleged Quran desecration at a Hindu temple in Haziganj Upazila, Bangladesh. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
• 2021 Eswatini protests
  • Pro-democracy protests intensify in
    King Mswati III denies accusations of autocratic rule in the last absolutist monarchy in Africa. (Reuters)

• Eight people are hospitalized as a fire breaks out at the El Gouna Film Festival in El Gouna, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. (BBC News)
• A Cessna 172 with two pilots crashes near Halat, Lebanon, during a training exercise. Rescue teams have been dispatched to look for the pilots. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
      • COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia, COVID-19 pandemic in Sarawak
        • Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine for high-risk individuals who had received their second dose of that vaccine at least six months ago. (Codeblue)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • It is reported that at least 415 children committed suicide in Japan in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic while schools were closed. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • The Philippines surpasses 40,000 deaths from COVID-19. (Philstar)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria
    • The
      government announces that they will require workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or to submit a negative PCR test from the previous 72 hours beginning on December 1. (Vanguard)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea
    • vaccinated. Peter Numu, the governor of Eastern Highlands Province, says that the situation in his province is "scary". (RNZ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    • Russia reports a record for the second consecutive day of 984 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 219,329. (Newsweek)
• Iqaluit, capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, issues a state of emergency after evidence is found of gasoline in the city's tap water. All residents are advised to not drink, boil or cook with the city's water. The city had issued a Do Not Drink Water advisory the previous day. (Global News)

Law and crime

• LGBT rights in Namibia
  • The
    homosexual activity remains illegal in Namibia. (Reuters)
• Pandora Papers
  • Opposition lawmakers present a formal
    Chilean president Sebastián Piñera over connections to a 2010 sale of a mining company, for which a prosecutor opened a case against Piñera for alleged bribery, corruption, and tax violations. (Al Jazeera)
• Masten Wanjala, who was imprisoned for murdering 14 boys in Kenya escapes from his prison cell in Nairobi and is on the run. He is described as "extremely dangerous". (BBC News)
• Kenyan world record holder in the women's 10 kilometres event Agnes Tirop is stabbed to death at her home in Iten, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. Tirop's husband is the prime suspect in her murder, according to police. (BBC News)

• Blue Origin NS-18
  • space tourist Glen de Vries, and actor William Shatner. Shatner, best known for his portrayal of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek media franchise, becomes the oldest ever person in space at the age of 90. (BBC News)

• South Korean short-track speed skater Shim Suk-hee is barred from the national team ahead of qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics as the Korea Staking Union launches an investigation into a text message exchange involving her that suggests fraudulent behavior while competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics. (AP)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2021 Beirut clashes
  • Six people are killed and 32 more are injured during a shooting at a protest in
    army was deployed. (BBC News)
• Kongsberg attack
  • The man accused of killing five people and injuring three more yesterday in the streets of
    convert to Islam with Danish citizenship, who police had been concerned about regarding radicalization. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Four Indian soldiers are killed during a gunfight with rebels in a forest in Mendhar, Jammu and Kashmir. (Greater Kashmir)
• Islamic State–Taliban conflict
  • A
    Shigal District, Afghanistan. (The Defense Post)
• The Nigerian Army confirms that Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the leader of ISWAP, died two months ago. However, the circumstances of al-Barnawi's death are not clear. (BBC News)

Business and economy

• US$1 billion to offset declines in the real, which has fallen ⅓ relative to the dollar in 2021 alone, with another US$1 billion in sales scheduled for later today. (Mercopress)
• LinkedIn announces that it will shut down its social media services in China later this year, citing heavy-handed compliance requirements from the government, and will replace it with a traditional job-listing site. LinkedIn was the only major Western-based social media site to legally operate within the country prior to the announcement. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Kaohsiung tower fire
  • At least 46 people are killed and 79 others are injured in a fire at a 13-storey tower block in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. (BBC News)
• Aftermath of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302
  • A former Boeing chief test pilot is indicted by a United States grand jury for deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration during the certification process for the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which resulted in two fatal crashes and a subsequent grounding of the aircraft. (AFP via The Australian)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
      • WHO's criteria as the number of COVID-19 cases declines in Indonesia. (AP)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
      • Singapore reports a record 15 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 207. (The Straits Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, COVID-19 vaccination in Vietnam
      • The Vietnamese Ministry of Health approves vaccination against COVID-19 for children between the ages of 12 and 17 years old, with those aged 16 to 17 years old receiving priority before vaccination expands to other age groups. (Vietnam Plus)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia
      • Sauli Niinisto to self-isolate. (AFP via Barron's)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a record for the third consecutive day of 986 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 220,315. The country also reports a record 31,299 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 7,892,980. (Interfax)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
      • Victoria reports a record 2,297 new cases and 11 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest daily total of any state of Australia since the beginning of the pandemic. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announces that the state will continue to reopen based on vaccination rates. (The Guardian)

• Chinese Catholic Bishop Stephen Yang Xiangtai, the retired leader of the Handan diocese, died at the age of 99 after a long illness. Bishop Yang was arrested in 1954 and again in 1966, and served more than a decade in labor camps before being released in 1980. He became Bishop of Handan in 1999. (Catholic World News) (Asia News)

Law and crime

• Armenia–Azerbaijan relations
  • Armenia expands its case before the International Court of Justice against Azerbaijan, accusing Azerbaijan of violating the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which both states are signatories, for allegedly promoting ethnic hatred against Armenians. Azerbaijan denies the accusation and accuses Armenia of violating the treaty. (Reuters)
• Murder of Giulio Regeni, Egypt–Italy relations
  • An Italian court in Rome drops charges against four Egyptian police officers for the 2016 murder of Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni in Cairo, citing its inability for the four officers to be tried in absentia since their prosecutors failed to inform them of their charges. (AFP via France 24)
• extort money from their families. The actual number of children murdered by the group is suspected to be at least three times higher. The crimes were carried out in 2008 and 2009, amid the chaos of the Sri Lankan Civil War. (Al Jazeera)

• 2021 Japanese general election
  • Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolves the lower house of the Japanese Parliament ahead of the election on October 31. (UPI)
• 2021 Norwegian parliamentary election
  • Jonas Gahr Støre takes office as Prime Minister of Norway. (Associated Press)
• Pakistan International Airlines suspends flights to the Afghan capital Kabul, citing "heavy-handed" interference from the Taliban. It was the only foreign carrier operating regular flights out of Kabul. (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Afghanistan conflict
  • 2021 Kandahar bombing
    • Three
      suicide bombers attack a Shiite mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing 47 people and injuring 70 others. The explosions occur at the main door and inside the mosque. Taliban authorities later arrived and secured the mosque. Taliban interior ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosti says that authorities are currently collecting evidence in order to determine responsibility for the bombing. (Al Jazeera)
    • ISIL-K claims responsibility for the attack, reporting that two attackers shot and killed security guards outside the mosque before blowing themselves up inside, where people were worshipping. (Reuters)
  • Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan
    • Stuart Scheller is reprimanded by a military judge following his criticism of the U.S. military’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. (ABC News)
• Murder of David Amess
  • Methodist Church. The suspect was arrested at the scene, and police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. (BBC News) (BBC News)
• Anglophone Crisis
  • A
    lynched by a mob after he killed a five-year-old girl at a checkpoint in Buea Southwest Region. Protests involving hundreds of people occurred after the killing of the child. (The Guardian)
• Central African Republic Civil War
  • President Faustin-Archange Touadéra declares a unilateral ceasefire with the Coalition of Patriots for Change and the anti-balaka militia groups. (AFP via Barron's)

Disasters and accidents

• Four migrants are found dead by the Spanish Maritime Safety and Rescue Society in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cape Trafalgar in the Province of Cádiz after their boat sank. The coast guard reports that 21 others from the boat are missing. (AFP via i24 News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei
      • Brunei surpasses 10,000 cases of COVID-19 after reporting a record 423 new cases in the past 24 hours. (The Scoop)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India is expected to reopen its borders to overseas travellers as it relaxes COVID-19-related restrictions amid a decrease in the number of new cases. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, COVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines
      • The
        theme parks to reopen for the first time since March 2020. (Rappler)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, COVID-19 vaccination in South Korea
      • President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook receive booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Yonhap News Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
      • The
        sports centres, and indoor events with more than 50 people. (The Brussels Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
      • Italy's Green Pass becomes mandatory for all workplaces, but there are fears of disruption among transport workers and at ports where COVID-19 vaccination rates are relatively low. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 999 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 221,313. The country also reports a record for the second consecutive day of 32,196 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 7.92 million. (Interfax)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
        • A COVID-19
          Victoria, with all essential workers required to have at least one dose of a World Health Organization-approved vaccine to continue working. (The Guardian Australia)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea
      • The
        government seeks international help in order to combat the increase in new cases and deaths. The government has admitted to a slow response to the crisis and also blames vaccine hesitancy as part of the problem. The World Health Organization has agreed to help the country. (RNZ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Yukon
      • Yukon imposes a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for sports facilities, restaurants and other non-essential services. The mandate will take effect on November 30. (Yukon News)

International relations

• 2021 Myanmar protests
  • During an online emergency meeting, the
    foreign ministers of the ASEAN agree to exclude Myanmar's military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing from the upcoming ASEAN Summit to be held later this month. The country will instead be represented by non-political representative at the summit. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The announcement comes amid international pessimism that, now compounded by the absence of China, a global leader in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, the event would not result in any substantiative change. (Reuters)

• Kenyan suspected serial killer of 14 boys, who escaped from prison two days ago, is murdered by lynching by a mob of villagers in Bungoma. Wanjala was hiding at his parents' home when he was identified by neighbours. (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Afghanistan conflict
  • 2021 Kandahar bombing, 2021 Kunduz mosque bombing
    • The Taliban says that they will step up security at Shi'ite mosques after ISIS–K bombed mosques in Kunduz and Kandahar this month, killing over 120 people in total. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Two workers are killed by gunmen in Srinagar and Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, in a spike of civilians being killed by rebels in the area. (Greater Kashmir)
  • A Lashkar-e-Taiba commander and another militant are killed during a gunfight with security forces in Pulwama. The killed commander, who was involved in the murder of two policemen, was among the top 10 targets of Jammu and Kashmir police. It is also announced that two more rebels, involved in the recent killings of civilians, were killed yesterday during a gunfight in Srinagar. (India Today)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • Twenty Boko Haram militants and three Nigerian Army soldiers are killed during a gunfight as the military has tried to recapture the Nigerian town of Maiduguri. (Sahara Reporters)
• Murder of David Amess
  • Yesterday's killing of
    Methodist church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, is declared as a terrorist incident by police. (BBC News)

• 2021 Bali earthquake
  • Three people are killed and seven are injured as a 4.8 earthquake hits Bali, Indonesia. (Al Jazeera)
• Eleven people
  school outing for a river clean-up in West Java, Indonesia. (Al Jazeera)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Tasmania
      • Southern
        lockdown after an increase in locally transmitted COVID-19 cases. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    • Russia reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 1,002 deaths from COVID-19, which is the first time that the country has reported more than 1,000 COVID-related deaths in a single day since the pandemic began. Only 32% of the population has been fully vaccinated, amid wide distrust in vaccines. (France 24)

Law and crime

• Hong Kong national security law
  • Seven activists are sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to twelve months' imprisonment for protesting against the national security law in July 2020. Among those sentenced are Leung Kwok-hung and Figo Chan. Leung is currently serving two sentences of 18 months' imprisonment for other charges and Chan is currently serving a sentence of 18 months' imprisonment for unauthorized assembly. (Al Jazeera) (RTHK)
• Argentine federal judge María Romilda Servini indicts post Franco-era Spanish minister Rodolfo Martín Villa on four counts of homicide. Villa, who resides in Spain, says that he will appeal the decision of the Argentine judge. (SwissInfo)
• An unidentified armed gang kidnaps 15 American
  missionaries and their families in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (AFP via Barron's)
• Colombian businessman Alex Saab is extradited to the United States from Cape Verde ahead of an initial court appearance in Florida on October 18 over his alleged money laundering for the Venezuelan government. (AFP via Deccan Herald)

Politics and elections

• French president Emmanuel Macron condemns the Paris massacre of 1961 on the eve of its 60th anniversary, but does not issue a formal apology. Macron is the first French president to attend a memorial ceremony for the victims. (AFP via WION)

Science and technology

• Chinese space program
  • Shenzhou 13 launches on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, for the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station, where the crew will stay for six months. It will be China's longest crewed mission to date. (AFP via NDTV)
• Discovery Program
  • Lucy, a NASA spacecraft that will visit Jupiter's trojan asteroids in twelve years, launches at 05:34 EDT from Cape Canaveral, Florida. (CNN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War
  • Battle of Marib
    • The Saudi Arabia-led coalition says that they have killed 160 Houthi militants in Marib, Yemen, during 32 airstrikes in the past 24 hours. The coalition also reports that they killed a total of more than 700 Houthis during the past week. (Al Jazeera)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Militants open fire on a group of non-resident workers from Bihar in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, killing two people and wounding another. (Greater Kashmir) (The Times of India)

Disasters and accidents

• Floods in India
  • Twenty-six people are killed and dozens are missing as heavy rains affect the
    Indian state of Kerala. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei
      • Brunei reports a record 504 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 10,860. (Borneo Bulletin)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
      • Saudi Arabia eases its COVID-19-related restrictions, lifting mandatory social distancing requirements as well as a requirement to wear face masks outdoors. (Arabian Business)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    • Russia reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 34,303 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 7.99 million. (Euronews)
• Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says that the mass release of wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear plant cannot be delayed. The water, which has been inside the plant since the 2011 meltdown, is planned to be dumped into the Pacific Ocean over several decades despite strong opposition from local fishermen and the governments of China and South Korea. (CNA)

• Foreign relations of Belarus
  • The French ambassador to Belarus departs following a directive issued by the Belarusian government, which did not cite a rationale. The ambassador had not presented his credentials to President Alexander Lukashenko. (AFP via The Moscow Times)

Law and crime

• Honour killing in Pakistan
  • A man is wanted in Pakistan after killing his two daughters and four grandchildren after setting their house ablaze, as one of the daughters married against his wishes. Her husband also died in the fire. (Reuters)
• Authorities in Haiti says that members of the "400 Mawozo" gang are behind the kidnapping of 16 American citizens and one Canadian citizen yesterday near Port-au-Prince. Those kidnapped include seven women, five men and five children. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Cape Verdean presidential election
  • Cape Verdeans head to the polls to elect their new president to replace outgoing term-limited president
    right-wing MpD and the leftist PAICV are the main contenders. The election is seen as important to reopen the important tourism industry which was hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. (Reuters)
• The Instituto Nacional Electoral in Mexico says that 2.85 million signatures are needed for a recall election against president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Before becoming president, López Obrador had promised the referendum on himself to keep him accountable, although it is opposed by opposition parties, as they see it as a way to polarize voters and galvanize supporters of the president. (Yahoo! News)

Sports

• 2021 WNBA Finals
  • The
    WNBA Championship in a series against the Phoenix Mercury. (Huffington Post)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Tigray War
  • ENDF airstrikes on the city of Mekelle in Ethiopia's Tigray Region kill at least three people. (Al Jazeera)
• 2021 Eswatini protests
  • King Mswati III, the last of its kind in Africa, as ministers back the move, saying that there "is no room for such anarchy in our society". (Bloomberg)

• Me Too movement
  • German
    publishing house Axel Springer dismisses Julian Reichelt as the editor-in-chief of its tabloid newspaper Bild following sexual harassment complaints against Reichelt from his co-workers. (The New York Times)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Burundi
      • Burundi launches its COVID-19 vaccination rollout using part of a shipment of 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm BIBP COVID-19 vaccine donated by China in a shift to make the country more active in its approach to containing the pandemic. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
      • civil servants from working in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (Newsday)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia surpasses eight million cases of COVID-19 after reporting a record for the fourth consecutive day of 34,325 new cases. (ABC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
      • PSOE's three-day party congress in Valencia. (El Mundo)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
      • Ukraine reports a record 538 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 61,348. (DIP)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales
      • Restrictions are eased further in New South Wales as more than 80% of the adult population are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Limits on private gatherings and density caps at businesses are relaxed, and schools begin a phased reopening. (The Guardian)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Tasmania
      • The
        lockdown is lifted across southern Tasmania, including the state capital Hobart. The lockdown was initiated because a person with COVID-19 entered the state, but was lifted when no community transmission was reported. (News.com.au)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The U.S. surpasses 45 million cases of COVID-19. (KIRO-TV)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland
      • Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell dies from COVID-19 at the age of 84 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. (The New York Times)
  • COVID-19 vaccine
    • Phase three trial results suggest that the Valneva COVID vaccine is effective at priming the immune system to fight COVID-19. (BBC News)

International relations

• Russia announces that it will be suspending its mission to NATO in Brussels as early as November 1, in response to the expulsion of 8 diplomats accused of espionage from the mission earlier this month. The NATO information bureau and military liaison in Moscow will also be terminated. (CNN)

Law and crime

• 2016 Karrada bombing
  • ISIL suicide truck bombing that killed 340 people in Karrada, Baghdad, in 2016, which was the deadliest single-bomb attack in Iraq. Al-Zawbaee was arrested two days prior through a joint operation in a neighbouring country. (BBC News)
• 2021 Bangladesh communal violence
  • At least 300 suspected members of a Muslim mob are arrested for the killing of two Hindu men three days ago at a temple in Noakhali, Bangladesh. The violence occurred after an alleged Quran desecration at a Hindu temple in Haziganj Upazila. Several Hindu temples were also damaged in the clashes. Four members of the mob were also killed when Bangladesh Police personnel opened fire in Chandpur. (Al Jazeera)
• 2021 Myanmar protests
  • State Administration Council chairman Min Aung Hlaing announces that his military junta will release a total of 5,636 jailed protesters to commemorate the Thadingyut Festival. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
• Three people are killed and three more injured during a police raid at a compound of a religious group in Montego Bay, Jamaica, due to concerns that they were preparing ritual killings. (Reuters)
• Citing Roe v. Wade, the United States Department of Justice requests the Supreme Court to vacate the mandate of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on allowing the Texas Heartbeat Act to remain in effect, thereby blocking the law. (AFP via RTL)
• Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso declares a nationwide state of emergency, citing an increase in drug-related crime. (AFP via Manila Bulletin)

Science and technology

• Egor Babaev and collaborators with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology publish an experiment showing evidence of a new state of matter called electron quadruplets. (Phys.org)

Sports

• 2022 Winter Olympics torch relay
  • The Olympic torch relay begins in Olympia, Greece, without public attendance. (ANI News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War
  • government. This equates to an average of four children killed or injured every day since the start of the conflict. (Reuters)
• Mali War
  • Defence minister
    government and the local branch of al-Qaeda, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin. The move is strongly opposed by France. (Al Jazeera)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria
      • Bulgaria launches its COVID-19 Green Certificate which indicates that a person is either vaccinated, has tested negative, or has recovered from COVID-19. The certificate will be mandatory for all indoor activities beginning on October 21. (Novinite)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Sergei Sobyanin announces a stay-at-home order for unvaccinated or unrecovered people age 60 years and older for four months and ordering businesses to shift 30% of their workers to remote work beginning from October 25 due to record 1,015 deaths in Russia over the past 24 hours. (CBC)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • United Kingdom reports 233 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total of daily deaths since March 3. (Inews.co.uk)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
      • Israel reports its first case of the Delta subvariant "AY4.2" in a boy who travelled from Moldova. (The Times of Israel)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
      • Singapore reports a record 3,994 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 154,725. (Today)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    • New Zealand reports a record 94 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, COVID-19 vaccination in South Africa
    • The
      HIV vaccines that use Adenovirus Type 5 that are similar to the Russian-made vaccine. (AP)

• International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi says that he plans to visit Iran by the end of November in an effort to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. (Newsweek)

Law and crime

• National responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • The
      Brazilian Senate releases a report recommending that President Jair Bolsonaro should face criminal charges for homicide regarding his response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. (Reuters)
• 2021 Leverkusen explosion
  • Three people are charged in Germany for killing and causing an explosion by recklessness at a chemical park in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, in July. Seven people were killed and 31 others were injured. (Reuters)
• The
  Russian oligarch and Vladimir Putin ally Oleg Deripaska, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018. (The Moscow Times)
• Global
  wire fraud towards investors, which violated the anti-corruption law of Mozambique regarding bond offerings. (AFP via RFI)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • 2021 Damascus bus bombing
    • Two
      Ariha, Idlib Governorate. (BBC News)
• Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
  • Sixteen civilians are killed after armed militants raided villages in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Nepal floods
  • The death toll due to floods and landslides in western Nepal increases to 77. The government has pledged aid to the hardest-hit areas. (NDTV)
• eruption began around noon local time. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno says that there are no reports of injuries but that they are currently investigating reports of climbers on the mountain before the eruption. (The Asahi Shimbun)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya
      • Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta lifts the nationwide curfew that had been in place since March 2020 and allows places of worship to be filled to two-thirds of their capacity as the number of COVID-19 cases decreases. (Bloomberg)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Senegal
      • Senegal reports zero COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. (News 24)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russian President Vladimir Putin approves the cabinet proposal for non-working days for employees from October 31 until November 7 amid a persistent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. (VOA)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia
      • The Serbian government announces that they will introduce COVID-19 health passes for all indoor cafés and restaurants, which will be mandatory beginning from October 23 at 10:00 p.m. (N1)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 drug development
      • The
        Merck Sharp and Dohme, and 250,000 courses of Ritonavir produced by Pfizer, where both of them need to be approved by health regulator. (Sky News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
    • Singapore reports a record 18 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 264. (Today)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
    • The Food and Drug Administration authorizes booster doses of the Moderna and Janssen COVID-19 vaccines, as well as allow Americans to choose a different vaccine from their original inoculation as a booster. (NPR)

International relations

• President of Russia Vladimir Putin says that he will not physically attend the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Expert state that Russia's potential absence coult threaten efforts to get leaders to negotiate a new deal to stall rising global temperatures. However, the Kremlin states that Putin could still appear virtually. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
  • Nikolas Jacob Cruz, who is accused of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, United States, pleads guilty on all 34 charges. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• An indirect presidential election was held to choose the first ever President of Barbados. The outgoing Governor-General of Barbados, Dame Sandra Mason, was the only candidate nominated; Mason will be sworn in on 30 November, the 55th anniversary of Barbadian independence from the United Kingdom. The government of Barbados announced in September 2020 that they would transition to a republic by that date. (BBC News)

Science and technology

• Xenotransplantation
  • Researchers at NYU Langone Health in New York City announce that a team of surgeons last month, led by Dr. Robert Montgomery, successfully attached a genetically-modified pig kidney to a brain dead patient for two days without rejection. (NPR)

Disasters and accidents

• Rust shooting incident
  • American film Rust in Bonanza City, New Mexico, while film director Joel Souza is in critical condition, after actor Alec Baldwin reportedly shot a loaded gun. (AFP via The Straits Times)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Sergei Sobyanin announces a non-working week from October 28 until November 7 in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Only firms that serve essential goods and the city infrastructure would be allowed to operate. (The Moscow Times)
      • Russia reports a record 36,339 new cases and 1,030 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 8.13 million and the nationwide death toll to 227,389. (Anadolu Agency)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia
      • Latvia enters a month-long lockdown until November 15 that closes non-essential shops, cinemas and hairdressers, as well as implements a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (Medical Xpress)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
      • Ukraine reports a record 22,415 new cases and 546 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 2.7 million and the nationwide death toll to 62,389. (AP)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India, COVID-19 vaccination in India
      • India reports that it has administered more than one billion COVID-19 vaccinations since it started its vaccination drive in January. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 vaccination in Saudi Arabia
      • Saudi Arabia begins the rollout of booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines for people aged above 18 and have received their second dose at least six months ago. (Gulf News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    • New Zealand reports a record 102 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the first the time that the country has reported more than 100 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
      • The Biden administration announces that the United States has donated 200 million COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world, fulfilling a pledge from president Joe Biden that the U.S. would be the "world's arsenal" in vaccines. (The Hill)
      • The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorses booster shots of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. (The New York Times)
  • COVID-19 misinformation
    • COVID-19 misinformation by China
      • The
        Maine lobsters shipped to a seafood market in Wuhan in November 2019. (NBC News)
• Climate change
  • International Panel on Climate Change, revealing that a number of large oil, coal, beef and animal feed-producing countries including Australia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Argentina are lobbying the IPCC for looser restrictions on global heating. (AP)

• 2021 North Kosovo crisis
  • A working group to find a more permanent solution to the license plate issue, consisting of negotiators from the governments of Kosovo and Serbia, meet for the first time in Brussels. If negotiations are successful, the group will announce their proposals in 6 months. (Gazeta Tema)

Law and crime

• Aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack
  • The
    the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The contempt is referred to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and United States Attorney General Merrick Garland to decide whether to prosecute Bannon. (AP)
• COVID-19 pandemic in France, Vaccine passports during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The French National Assembly votes 135 to 125 to approve the extension of the COVID-19 Health Pass until at least July 31, 2022. The bill will be debated at the French Senate on October 28 in preparation for adopting the bill on November 15. (The Connexion)
• Killing of Justine Damond
  • Former
    9-1-1 caller Justine Damond. Noor had originally been sentenced to 12.5 years for murder in 2017. (CNN)
• Twenty-four people have been executed in Syria for deliberately starting wildfires in late 2020 that killed three people. (BBC News)
• The leader of the
  missionaries has threatened to kill the hostages if the gang does not receive the $17 million ransom for their release. (CNN)
• The Benin National Assembly votes to legalize abortion within the first three months of pregnancy if it is likely to "aggravate or cause material, educational, professional or moral distress" or is "incompatible with the woman or the unborn child's interest", becoming one of the few countries in Africa to authorize abortions. (Africanews)

Politics and elections

• president-elect of Fiji. He will replace incumbent president Jioji Konrote when he is confirmed by parliament. (RNZ)
• Cindy Kiro is sworn in as the 22nd Governor-General of New Zealand. (RNZ)