Portal:Current events/2021 January 7

January 7, 2021 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2020–21 United States election protests
- 2021 storming of the United States Capitol
  - A United States Capitol Police officer injured in yesterday's riot in Washington, D.C., is revealed to be on life support as a result of the events. After being erroneously reported as having died earlier, he was finally reported as deceased by the Capitol Police, who name him as Brian D. Sicknick. (CNN) (ABC News)
  - Michael C. Stenger and Paul D. Irving, the respective Sergeants at Arms of the Senate and House of Representatives, resign upon the requests of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. (The Hill) (Roll Call)
  - United States Capitol Police chief Steven Sund announces that he will resign following the storming of the United States Capitol by pro-Trump supporters. (HuffPost)

Business and economy

Boeing 737 MAX groundings
- Boeing agrees to pay US$2.5 billion to settle criminal charges claiming that it covered-up design flaws in its Boeing 737 MAX passenger planes from safety officials. The U.S. Department of Justice says that the firm chose "profit over candour". (BBC News)
Elon Musk overtakes Jeff Bezos by just over US$4 billion to become the richest person in the world. (CNN)
The cryptocurrencies market capitalization reaches US$1 trillion for the first time. (Marketwatch)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario
      - Ontario reports a record of 3,519 new cases and 89 deaths in the past 24 hours. (CBC)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
    - Mexico reports a record 13,734 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of cases to 1,493,569. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Connecticut, Variant of Concern 202012/01
      - Connecticut reports its first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in two people, aged 15 and 25, who live in New Haven County. One had traveled to Ireland and the other to New York. (WVIT-TV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in New York
      - New York reports a record 17,636 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo. It also reports 197 new deaths, which is the highest single-day total since the second week of May. (WNBC-TV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania, Variant of Concern 202012/01
      - Pennsylvania reports its first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a resident of Dauphin County who traveled internationally. (WCAU-TV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Texas, Variant of Concern 202012/01
      - Texas health officials report the state's first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a resident of Harris County with no travel history. (KTVT-TV)
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois
      - Illinois surpasses 1 million cases of COVID-19, becoming the fifth state to do so after California, Texas, Florida, and New York. (Chicago Sun-Times)
    - The United States reports a world record of more than 4,000 deaths for the first time. (CNN)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in China
    - COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      - China reports 52 locally transmitted cases in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day total since July, as Hebei, which enters "wartime mode", reports 51 of the cases. (Al Jazeera)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
    - Indonesia reports a new record for the second consecutive day of 9,321 new cases, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 797,723. (detikHealth)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declares a state of emergency for the Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the capital Tokyo and neighbouring prefectures such as Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, from tomorrow until February 7. The government asks restaurants in those areas to close at 8 p.m. daily and also urges residents to limit non-essential travel. (CNA)
    - Nationwide, Japan reports a record 7,568 new cases in the past 24 hours. Tokyo reports a record 2,447 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in the prefecture to 68,790. (The Japan Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
    - Malaysia reports a new record for the second consecutive day of 3,027 new cases. It is the first time that the country has reported more than 3,000 cases and brings the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 128,465. (The Edge Markets MY)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
    - The Czech Republic reports a record of 17,668 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of cases to 794,740. (Anadolu Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia surpasses 60,000 deaths from COVID-19. (The Moscow Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    - Spain surpasses two million cases of COVID-19. (Cadena SER)
    - Catalonia reports their first case of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 from a British resident who travelled to that region. (RTVE)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    - The United Kingdom reports 1,162 new deaths in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total since April 21, bringing the nationwide death toll to 78,508. (The Independent)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Palau, COVID-19 vaccine
  - Palau begins its vaccination program, with outgoing President Thomas Remengesau Jr. and incoming President Surangel Whipps Jr. receiving the first two doses. The country plans to vaccinate more than 18,000 people with the Moderna vaccine provided by the United States. (RNZ)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  - Brazil surpasses 200,000 deaths of COVID-19, becoming the second country to do so after the United States, as a record 87,843 cases are reported in the past 24 hours. (France 24) (Bloomberg)
The World Organisation for Animal Health confirms that Senegal has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu at a poultry farm in Thiès. (Reuters)

International relations

Iraq–United States relations, Assassination of Qasem Soleimani
- Iraq issues an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing him of "premediated murder" due to his role in the killings of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. (U.S. News)
Australia's financial watchdog is reviewing calculations for transfers worth US$1.8 billion sent to the country from the Vatican since 2014, after the Vatican and the Australian Church call for clarification. The transfers ranged from yearly totals of A$71.6 million (US$55.2 million) in 2014 to A$581.3 million in 2017, with about 47,000 separate transfers. "That amount of money and that number of transfers did not leave the Vatican City", a senior Vatican official with knowledge of the city-state's finances told Reuters last week. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2020 United States elections
- 2020 United States Senate elections
  - 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia
    - Incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler concedes to her Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock. Former Republican Senator David Perdue has yet to concede to Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, even as Ossoff expands his lead beyond the margin necessary to demand a state-funded recount. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- 2020 United States presidential election
  - 2021 United States Electoral College vote count
    - U.S. Rep. Scott Perry and U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri object to Pennsylvania's electoral college votes, forcing a second vote to accept or reject the objection. This comes after the House and the Senate defeated a similar objection to Arizona's electoral college votes from Rep. Paul Gosar and Senator Ted Cruz. The Senate and the House both vote to reject the objection, allowing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to receive the state’s electoral votes. (The Guardian)
    - The United States Congress certifies the election of Joe Biden as President-elect of the United States and Kamala Harris as Vice President. Biden and Harris received 306 electoral votes while President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence received 232. The winners will be inaugurated on January 20. (NPR)
    - Rep. Jake LaTurner (KS-2) is notified of his positive COVID-19 diagnosis after the vote on Arizona and goes into isolation, missing the Pennsylvania vote. (Kansas City Star)
  - Presidential transition of Joe Biden
    - Donald Trump, still disagreeing with the election results that resulted in a victory for President-elect Joe Biden, said through spokesperson Dan Scavino, "Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th." (Reuters)
    - White House Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Liddell orders the Trump administration staff to submit resignation letters by January 20 as a step to clear the way for Biden to fill the government with his own staff. (Politico)
    - President Trump condemns the attack on the United States Capitol and concedes the race for the first time. He also says that his focus is to ensure a smooth transition of power to the Biden administration. (Newsweek) (The Denver Post) (Forbes)
  - Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol
    - Elaine Chao and Betsy DeVos submit their resignations as Secretaries of Transportation and Education, respectively, in response to the storming of the United States Capitol by pro-Trump protesters. (CNN) (The Hill)
    - U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) calls for Trump to be removed via the 25th amendment following the Capitol riot, making him the first Republican to do so. (Newsweek)
2020 Ghanaian general election
- Nana Akufo-Addo is sworn in as President of Ghana for a second term. (BBC News)

Science and technology

Donald Trump on social media
- Facebook announces that it has extended the lock of Donald Trump's official account for at least the remainder of his term due to the heightened risk of political violence. Snapchat also bans Trump from posting on the app until further notice. (Bloomberg)
Twitter suspensions
- Twitter announces that it has permanently suspended American attorney and conspiracy theorist L. Lin Wood for violating their rules. (The Hill)