Portal:Current events/2021 May 18

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
  • A Hamas rocket kills two Thai workers and injures ten others in southern Israel, thereby bringing the death toll in the country to 12. (Times of Israel)
  • The death toll from the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza rise to at least 217 Palestinians killed, including 63 children. About 1,500 others have been wounded. Gaza's main COVID-19 laboratory is destroyed by a strike, stopping all COVID-19 tests as a result. Four more protesters are also killed in the West Bank. (Al Jazeera)
  • The IDF reports the death of 160 Hamas and Islamic Jihad members. However, the deaths are not confirmed by either the groups or Palestinian authorities, who reported a lower number of militants killed. (Jerusalem Post)
  • Israeli police fire stun grenades, rubber bullets, and spray skunk water at protesters gathered at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City. (Sky News)
  • One Palestinian is killed and dozens more are wounded after Israeli security forces open fire on protesters marching at a military checkpoint in the Beit El settlement in the West Bank. Further clashes are also reported in Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, and Budrus. (Al Jazeera)
• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • Gunmen storm a church during a baptism in a village in Burkina Faso and open fire, killing 15 people. (Reuters)
• Spillover of the Moro conflict
  • Five Abu Sayyaf militants are killed during a shootout with police in Beaufort, Sabah, Malaysia. All of those killed are Filipinos. (Al Jazeera)
• 2021 Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan conflict
  • Officials in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan announce that they have agreed to joint security controls following clashes between the two countries at the border. (RFERL)

Arts and culture

• The first semifinal round of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 takes place in Rotterdam. (Eurovision.tv)

Business and economy

• Three Chinese industry associations announce in a joint statement that financial institutions and payment firms are banned from offering services related to cryptocurrency transactions, highlighting their high volatility. China had previously banned or restricted access to cryptocurrency exchanges, and blocked websites that had initial coin offerings. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• Cyclone Tauktae
  • At least 26 people are dead and 53 more are missing after an ONGC barge P305 sailing off the coast of Mumbai, India sank during severe weather. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports a record 4,329 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 278,719. (The Times of India)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
      • Malaysia reports a record for the second consecutive day of 47 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 1,994. (Free Malaysia Today)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, COVID-19 vaccination in Singapore
      • The Singaporean Health Sciences Authority approves the use of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 15. (CNBC)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education
      • Taipei and New Taipei City close all elementary, middle, and high schools until May 28 amidst an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (Kyodo News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
      • Thailand reports a record 35 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 649. (CNA)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
    • Argentina reports records of 35,543 new cases of COVID-19 and 745 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the total number of cases to 3.37 million and the death toll to 71,771. (Minuto Uno)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Austria
    • Austria announces that they will phase out the Oxford-AstraZeneca from its vaccination programme because of delivery problems and wariness among the population following reports of the vaccine's rare side-effects. (The Local Austria)

International relations

• European migrant crisis, Morocco–Spain relations
  • Spain deploys the Army in Ceuta to control the border with Morocco while immigrants continue to arrive in the face of the permissiveness of the Moroccan police. At least one migrant is reported dead while trying to cross the border in Melilla. (El País in English)
  • The mayor-president of Ceuta Juan Jesús Vivas calls the situation an "invasion" and announces the suspension of the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 for Wednesday as the city is experiencing a "state of emergency atmosphere". (20 minutos)
  • Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Arancha González Laya summons the Moroccan ambassador, who is later recalled to Rabat for consultations. Ambassador Karima Benyaich advises that "there are actions that have consequences, and they have to be assumed", referring to the fact that the Polisario leader is receiving treatment for COVID-19 in Spain. (Europa Press) (BBC News)
• Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
  • Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte issues a gag order that forbids his cabinet from publicly discussing the South China Sea dispute, which comes after some of his secretaries criticized the government of China over the presence of Chinese vessels in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. (Al Jazeera)
• Lebanon–Saudi Arabia relations, Lebanon–United Arab Emirates relations
  • Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates both summon their Lebanese ambassadors after Lebanese Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe accused the Gulf States of playing a role in the rise of ISIL in a heated exchange with a Saudi guest during an interview yesterday. Wehbe has since apologized for his remarks. (Al Jazeera)
• Libya–Tunisia relations
  • Tunisia's flag carrier Tunisair announces that it has resumed services to Libya in light of the UN-sponsored peace agreement, becoming the first foreign airline to connect to the country since the outbreak of the Second Libyan Civil War seven years ago. Yesterday, the airline flew its first flights to Benghazi and Tripoli, and it has scheduled five flights to both cities each week. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Xenophobia and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The U.S. House of Representatives votes 364–62 to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. The bill, which would expedite anti-Asian hate crime reviews to the U.S. Justice Department, will head to U.S. President Joe Biden for his signature. (ABC News)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
  • International protests over the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
    • Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan, stage a protest across the city during a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden to the Ford River Rouge Complex over the United States' support of Israel's response to attacks from Gaza. (Detroit Free Press)
    • Indonesians gather at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to stand in solidarity with Palestine and demand an end to Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. (AP)
  • Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and communities inside Israel hold a general strike to protest Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip and the evictions of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah. The Central Committee of Fatah calls it a "day of rage". (Middle East Eye)

Sports

• Transgender people in sports
  • The French Rugby Federation allows trans women players to feature in top-level women's rugby union in the country starting next season, overturning World Rugby's advice against this. (CNN)