Portal:Current events/2021 July 1

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
  • Authorities reveal that the attackers who attempted to assassinate Ugandan general Katumba Wamala in Kampala were Islamic extremists who were trained in a jihadist camp in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, and had links with the Allied Democratic Forces and the Islamic State. Wamala was injured during the attack but survived, while his daughter and his driver were killed. (Reuters)
  • U.S. Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Michael A. Hammer announces that the U.S. government will assist in training Congolese forces and with intelligence sharing. (Newsweek)

Arts and culture

• 2021 Canadian Indian residential schools gravesite discoveries
  • Indigenous protesters tear down the Statue of Queen Victoria in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as protests grow over the mass graves of indigenous children discovered at former Canadian Indian residential schools. A smaller statue of Queen Elizabeth II was also toppled nearby. (BBC News) Multiple Catholic Churches on or near indigenous grounds have been burned down. (CBC)

Business and economy

• Economy of El Salvador
  • President Nayib Bukele requests a minimum wage increase of 20% due to poor Salvadorans suffering from an "onslaught of global inflation". Bukele also orders more food handouts to combat hunger during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The country recently had a government reshuffle, which has put in doubt negotiations for a potential $1 billion financing program from the International Monetary Fund. (Reuters)
• Economy of Uganda
  • Uganda imposes a new tax rate for using the internet as the government orders a 12% excise duty on mobile data. President Yoweri Museveni defends the tax as he says that social media users are "endlessly donating money to foreign telephone companies through chatting or even lying" and described the use of social media as a "luxury". This tax proposal, which takes effect immediately, resulted in protests in 2018 and 2019. (Africa Feeds)

Politics and elections

• Politics of China
  • CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech in which he specifically announced the realization of the first goal of the Two Centenaries goal set. (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Madagascar food crisis
  • UN agencies report that due to the food insecurity that has affected around one million people in Madagascar, the population has been surviving by eating ashes mixed with tamarind and shoe leather, as the United States and South Korea pledge economic aid to Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina. (Metro UK)
• 2021 Western North America heat wave
  • Lytton wildfire
    • The village of Lytton, British Columbia, is evacuated after a wildfire destroys 90% of the village amid an unprecedented heat wave caused by a rare "heat dome" event over the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. The village recently recorded Canada's highest ever temperature of 49.6 °C (121.3 °F). (BBC News)
• 2020–2021 Taal Volcano eruptions
  • The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) raises the alert status of Taal Volcano to level 3 after the volcano emitted a kilometer-high ash plume, forcing authorities in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite to evacuate thousands of people. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
      • Bangladesh imposes a lockdown that suspends all public transport and only allows people to leave their house for emergency reasons due to a substantial increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Soldiers are deployed to enforce the lockdown. (Voice of America)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Community Activities Restrictions Enforcement
        • President Joko Widodo announces emergency community restrictions in 122 regencies and cities in Java and Bali, including the capital Jakarta from July 3 to 20 which would require non-essential businesses and places of worship to close. (Reuters) (CNA)
      • Indonesia reports a record 24,836 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 2.2 million. (detikNews)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
      • Thailand reports a record 57 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 2,080. (Bangkok Post)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Russia reports a record for the third consecutive day of 672 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the nationwide death toll to 135,886. (The Moscow Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
      • Turkey lifts nearly all COVID-19-related business restrictions, as well as nighttime and Sunday curfews as the number of cases remains steady. Only hookah shops continue to remain closed. (AP)
      • COVID-19 vaccination in Turkey
        • Turkey begins to give a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers and people aged above 50 years old. (Hurriyet Daily News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
      • The United Kingdom reports 27,989 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total of cases since January 25. (ITV News)
    • The European Union launches the EU Digital COVID Certificate that contains a proof of vaccination, a negative test, or proof of recovery from COVID-19, and is designed to allow Europeans to resume travel across the bloc without quarantine in order to boost tourism. (Financial Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji
    • Fiji reports a record of 431 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the national total of cases to 4,849. The Ministry of Health and Medical Services also reports two deaths, bringing the death toll to 24, with 22 of these deaths having occurred since the current outbreak began in April. (RNZ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
        • Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announces a month-long vaccination raffle in which residents can win a total of $5 million in cash (one grand prize of $2 million or three prizes of $1 million) and $500,000 total in college scholarships for children aged 12 to 17 years old (nine prizes of $55,000). The winners will be drawn on August 4. (MLive.com)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone
    • President Julius Maada Bio announces a nationwide curfew in the country to combat the spread of COVID-19. (The Sierra Leone Telegraph)

International relations

• Turkey–United States relations
  • The United States adds Turkey to its list of governments that are implicated in the use of child soldiers, saying that the country has provided "tangible support" to the Neo-Ottoman Sultan Murad Division, in Syria and Libya, which uses child soldiers. It is the first time that a NATO member state has been included in the Trafficking in Persons Report. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Cannabis in Rwanda
  • Rwanda legalizes the medical use of cannabis. However, recreational use of cannabis remains illegal. (The East African)

Science and technology

• Climate change in Antarctica
  • The United Nations' World Meteorological Organization confirms that a record high temperature of 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) has been recorded in Antarctica at the Esperanza Base. (France 24)