U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin makes an unannounced trip to Afghanistan ahead of a May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from the country.
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March 21, 2021 (Sunday)
1.7 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
Russian jets strike gas facilities in the town of Sarmada, Idlib Governorate, near the border with Turkey, and strike Qah with a surface-to-surface missile, according to the Turkish Ministry of National Defense. Turkey says it has sent a statement to Russia asking for the attacks to stop immediately.
Suspected ISIL-linked militants kill 22 people in a series of raids on three villages in Tahoua Region, Niger.
Seven civilians are killed and 16 others are wounded in a Syrian government airstrike on a hospital in Atareb, Aleppo Governorate.
Business and economy
The Turkish lira plunges by 15% after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fires Governor of the Central Bank Naci Ağbal. He is replaced by Erdoğan ally Şahap Kavcıoğlu.
Health and environment
The United Kingdom reports 33 deaths in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily total since October 5.
South Africa concludes the sale of their Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to the African Union after the country stopped using these vaccines because they were found to be not highly effective against the 501.V2 variant.
The Rajasthan state government imposes a curfew in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur, Sagwara, and Kushalgarh from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. IST beginning tomorrow. The government will also require travelers from other states to carry a negative PCR test from the previous 72 hours beginning March 25 due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Florida becomes the first U.S. state to surpasses 1,000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Politics and elections
Citizens in the Republic of the Congo head to the polls to elect their President. Incumbent Denis Sassou Nguesso is expected to extend his 36-year rule as his main rival Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas remains hospitalized in France, where he was evacuated after contracting COVID-19.
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