Portal:Current events/2021 April 26

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram insurgency
  • Mainok attack
    • ISWAP jihadists attack an army convoy and base in Mainok, Borno State, Nigeria, killing at least 31 soldiers. (The Guardian)
• Makurdi kidnapping
  • Gunmen kidnap students from the Federal University of Agriculture in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. (The Guardian)
• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • Two Spanish journalists and an Irish campaigner are killed after their convoy is attacked in eastern Burkina Faso. Two Burkinabe soldiers are wounded. (Al Jazeera)
  • At least 18 civilians are killed after militants attack the village of Yattakou, in Burkina Faso. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Karnataka, COVID-19 lockdown in India
        • The state government announces a two week lockdown across Karnataka from April 27 at 9:00 p.m. until May 12 at 6:00 a.m. IST. Additionally, only essential shops would be allowed to operate from 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. (The Hindu)
      • India reports 352,991 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, a world record for the fifth consecutive day, and thereby bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 17.3 million. The country also reports a record 2,812 deaths in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 195,123. (CBS News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
      • Iran reports a record 496 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 70,070. (Tasnim News Agency)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Japan surpasses 10,000 deaths of COVID-19. (Kyodo News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
      • Pakistan surpasses 800,000 cases of COVID-19. (The News International)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • The Philippines surpasses one million cases of COVID-19. (ABS-CBN News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in France, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education
      • Nursery and primary schools reopens in France after a three-week closure in the first step of the partial lockdown easing. (France 24)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
      • Italy reopens bars, restaurants, cinemas, and concert halls as three-quarters of the regions are placed in the low-risk "yellow zone" categories. (Euractiv)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
      • The Netherlands bans all passenger flights from India until May 1 due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in India. (DutchNews)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Norway
      • Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg receives her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
      • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces a full lockdown from April 29 until May 17 in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Under the new restrictions, all workplaces, except for those excluded by the Interior Ministry, will be closed, intercity travel will be subject to permission and public transportation will operate at only 50% capacity. (Anadolu Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New Brunswick, Lineage B.1.617
      • New Brunswick reports its first case of the Lineage B.1.617 variant, which was originally detected in India. (Global News)
  • COVID-19 vaccine
    • The Bio E COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Biological E. Limited and the Baylor College of Medicine, enters phase III of clinical trials at the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. (Mirage News)

International relations

• Egypt–Turkey relations, Libyan peace process
  • A Turkish government spokesman says they are working on improving ties with the Egyptian government in order to boost efforts in the Libyan peace process. Relations between the two countries have been strained since the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état due to close relations between Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• A court in Russia orders the Anti-Corruption Foundation, linked to opposition leader and activist Alexei Navalny, to cease its activities. Navalny's ally Leonid Volkov explains that the ruling forbids the Foundation from publishing anything online, taking part in elections, and organizing protests. The ruling comes after prosecutors sought to label the group as "extremists". (Deutsche Welle)
• Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism Reyes Maroto receives an envelope containing a bloody knife, thereby becoming the second minister and the fourth senior politician to receive death threats. (Reuters)
• More than 1,300 prisoners in Burundi are released after President Évariste Ndayishimiye pardoned nearly 5,000 prisoners in March to reduce the overcrowding of the country's prisons. (Channels TV)
• British Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is sentenced to one year in prison and is barred from leaving Iran for a further year over propaganda activities against the government. (Radio France Internationale)
• Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, states that the Armenian genocide is a ‘stain’ of evil on all humanity. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the genocide. (Catholic News Agency)

Politics and elections

• 2020 United States census, 2020 United States redistricting cycle
  • The United States Census Bureau announces the country's total population to be over 331 million people, thereby marking the second-slowest growth rate in its history. It also announces that Texas will gain two congressional seats during the redistricting process, with Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon gaining one seat each; California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia will each lose a seat. (CNN)