A school pupil is killed and 27 others are kidnapped from their school in the early hours in Kagara, Niger State, Nigeria. Three staff members and 12 of their relatives are also abducted. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
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February 17, 2021 (Wednesday)
2.1 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
Health and environment
The British clinical trials ethics body approves the world's first COVID-19 human challenge study, which will begin in the next few weeks when volunteers aged 18 to 30 will be exposed to the virus in the trial.
The Spanish Health Ministry introduces a 10-day quarantine for all travellers arriving from Brazil and South Africa.
Somalia orders all government employees in ministries and departments except directors and senior staff to work from home following an increase in COVID-19 cases.
South Africa begins its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 using a vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, which has not yet been authorized worldwide. President Cyril Ramaphosa, government officials, and health workers are among the first to receive the vaccine.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces that the country will gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions, including curfews and weekend lockdowns beginning in March on a provincial basis, which will divide the country into four categories based on infection and vaccination rates.
The Indian government issues a new Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) guidelines that would make mandatory for travellers from the United Kingdom, Europe, Brazil and South Africa, which latter two have been transitted in Middle Eastern countries, to conduct self-paid molecular COVID-19 testing beginning from February 22 at 23:59 p.m. IST.
The European Commission signs a deal with Moderna to secure additional 300 million doses of the vaccine in the European Union.
Maryland reports their first case of the Lineage P.1 variant first detected in Brazil in a deceased adult older than 65 years old in Washington metropolitan area and had international travel.
The Israeli Maccabi Healthcare Services confirm that in a trial of 602,000 people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the effectiveness of the vaccine was 95%.
Politics and elections
Protesters in the capital Naypyidaw, Mandalay and the country's largest city Yangon stage a record number of demonstrations against military junta since February 1 coup. Many of public and private employees and civil servant join demonstrations despite military's warning.
Science and technology
Astronomers announce the discovery of HD 110082 b, a sub-Neptune exoplanet that is three times larger than Earth and which orbits a relatively young star.
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