Thirty students and several staff members are kidnapped from a school in Kaduna State, Nigeria, by a group of gunmen.
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March 12, 2021 (Friday)
2.8 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
Health and environment
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announces the suspension of the use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine following the death of a 57-year-old woman from Plovdiv after she received her dose.
Thailand postpones the public vaccination of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his cabinet using the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of side-effects in some vaccinated people.
The World Health Organization grants emergency use approval for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, becoming the third vaccine to be approved after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul receives a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at Catholic Health in Buffalo.
Japanese health authorities reports its first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a traveler aged 60s from the Philippines. The variant is different from the Brazil, South African, and UK variants.
A lockdown will start on March 15 and last until April 6 for the Italian regions of Lombardy, Apulia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Lazio, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, and Marche, thereby bringing the total number of regions under lockdown in the country to 11. The Autonomous Province of Trento is also placed under a lockdown, while strict measures are imposed for eight more regions. Between April 3–5, the entire country will be placed under a lockdown.
Sri Lanka reports its first case of the 501.V2 variant, which originated in South Africa, in a person who travelled from Tanzania and is currently staying at a quarantine centre.
Auckland returns to alert level 1 and lifts all COVID-19-related restrictions aside from their face mask requirement on public transport after no community cases were found.
International relations
In an interview with Greek newspaper Ta Nea, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain is the legitimate and legal owner of the historic 2,500-year-old Elgin Marbles amid growing calls to return the marbles to Greece.
Law and crime
An upper court in Hong Kong denies bail for a second time to 11 of the 47 defendants in the case, citing national security risks. Among those who were again denied bail are prominent activists and politicians such as Leung Kwok-hung, Claudia Mo, Jimmy Sham, Lester Shum, and Fergus Leung. The remaining defendants either withdrew their bail application or remain in custody under other circumstances.
The family of George Floyd, the man killed while in police custody last May, settles their lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis for $27 million.
The Bolivian office of the Prosecutor General issues an arrest order for former interim President Jeanine Áñez, five former members of the national cabinet and the former leadership of the Armed Forces, accusing them of the crimes of sedition and terrorism.
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