Portal:Current events/2021 April 20

April 20, 2021 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Northern Chad offensive
- Chadian President Idriss Déby dies from wounds sustained while commanding forces against rebels in the northern portion of the country. The Constitution is suspended, and a Transitional Military Council headed by Déby's son, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, will rule the country for an estimated 18 months. (The Africa Report)
Greenfield University kidnapping
- A group of gunmen kidnap students from Greenfield University in Kaduna, Nigeria. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France
    - The number of intensive care patients with COVID-19 in France reaches a high of 5,984 patients. (U.S. News & World Report)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
    - The government announces that it will ease strict COVID-19 restrictions, including ending the controversial curfew and allowing cafés to serve in outdoor terraces with a maximum of 50 people beginning April 28. In addition, people will also be allowed to have two guests at home per day. (France 24)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
    - Romania reports a record 237 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 26,618. (Romania Insider)
  - The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will resume rollouts in Europe. (MarketWatch)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - India reports a record 1,761 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 180,530. (Firstpost)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal
    - Nepal grants a conditional emergency use approval for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. (The Kathmandu Post)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen
    - Yemen begins their COVID-19 vaccination campaign using the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji
    - Fiji records its second community transmission case in the daughter of a woman who works at a quarantine facility and who previously tested positive for COVID-19. (Radio New Zealand)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
    - A worker at Auckland Airport tests positive a day after the country restarted reciprocal travel to Australia. (BBC)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt
  - Egypt signs an agreement to purchase 20 million doses of the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine and expects a delivery of 500,000 doses this month. (Arab News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
  - President Andrés Manuel López Obrador receives his first dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine. (Al Jazeera English)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - The European Medicines Agency publishes a report suggesting a "possible link" between usage of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine candidate and rare blood clots. The agency maintains, however, that the overall benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of side effects. (U.S. News & World Report via MSN)

International relations

Canada–United States relations, Deployment of COVID-19 vaccines
- North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum announces that the state will offer COVID-19 vaccines to Manitoba truck drivers across the border. (CBC News)

Law and crime

State v. Chauvin
- Former Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin is found guilty on all counts in the murder of George Floyd. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25. (CNN) (CNBC)
Quebec ban on religious symbols
- The Quebec Superior Court overturns certain provisions of Bill 21, which prohibits public sector employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols, on the basis that it violates Sections 3 and 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, the Court upholds most of the legislation. (Al Jazeera English)

Sports

The Super League
- Following a massive negative backlash from UEFA, FIFA, national football associations and football fans alike, all six English Premier League clubs involved in the project – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – officially withdraw from The Super League, while FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta states that the club will not join the proposed competition without support from its registered members. Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward announces his resignation. (Daily Express) (BBC Sport)
- Hundreds of Chelsea fans protest against the club's involvement in The Super League outside the club's stadium Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea supporters' trust denounces the proposed breakaway as the "ultimate betrayal", and "unforgivable". (The Guardian)