Year of Variants: Stubborn virus marks momentous 2021 (April)

ANKARA (AA) - US President Joe Biden announcing new sanctions against Russia, NASA conducting the first helicopter flight on planet Mars as well as American troops beginning withdrawing from Afghanistan marked the top news stories globally in April.

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April 1

- France bans the consumption of alcohol on public roads and gatherings of more than six people amid coronavirus.

- Myanmar’s military, which overthrew the country’s elected government in a coup in February this year, declares a month-long cease-fire.

April 2

- At least 51 people are killed, and 146 others are injured in a train accident in eastern Taiwan.

- The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are administered in Turkey.

April 4

- Exit polls in Bulgaria show that Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party is winning the general elections.

- Kosovo’s parliament elects Vjosa Osmani as the country’s new president.

April 5

- Russian President Vladimir Putin signs legislation allowing him to serve another two terms in office.

April 6

- At least 182 people are killed, dozens are missing, and thousands are displaced as a tropical cyclone strikes Indonesia and neighboring East Timor.

April 7

- Turkey reports more than 54,700 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily count since the pandemic began.

- Serdar Karagoz succeeds Senol Kazanci as Chairman of the Board and Director General at Anadolu Agency, Turkey’s leading news source.

April 8

- A police officer is injured in Northern Ireland violence, bringing the total number of police injuries to 74. Rioters in the Tigers Bay Area launch missiles and petrol bombs at police before ramming a burning car into police vans.

April 9

- Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, dies, says a Buckingham Palace statement.

April 10

- At least 80 civilians in Myanmar are killed during protests in the Bago region against the Feb. 1 military coup, according to media reports.

April 11

- The head of Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority says the Ever Given container ship, which ran aground in the waterway for almost a week, will not be allowed to sail until compensation is paid.

April 12

- Muslims around the world begin the holy month of Ramadan with the first Tarawih prayer.

April 13

- Johnson & Johnson announces a halt to the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe, following a request from US health regulators for an immediate stop in use.

April 14

- US President Joe Biden officially announces that American troops will return from Afghanistan on Sept. 11, saying, "It is time to end the forever war."

April 15

- Medical charity group Medecins Sans Frontieres warns of a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Brazil in the face of the federal government’s “failed COVID-19 response.”

April 16

- US President Joe Biden announces new sanctions against Russia, including the expulsion of 10 diplomats for alleged presidential election interference and hacking.

April 17

- The Czech Republic expels 18 Russian diplomats for alleged links to an explosion in 2014, Prime Minister Andrej Babis announces.

April 18

- At least 11 people are killed and 98 others are injured when a train derails just north of the Egyptian capital Cairo.

April 19

- NASA conducts the first helicopter flight on planet Mars.

- Several major football clubs, including AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, announce reaching an agreement to establish a new mid-week competition – the Super League – despite earlier objections by UEFA, European football's governing body.

April 20

- Chadian president dies during military operations that pitted the country’s armed forces against rebels in the north over the weekend.

April 21

- Olympic champion Turkish wrestler Taha Akgul wins gold in the 2021 European Championships in Warsaw.

April 22

- Mentioning Turkey's action plans and strategies to stem the effects of climate change at the virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country expects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 21% by 2030.

April 23

- At least 172 people are believed to have drowned in three separate shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean Sea, and the number of drownings in the world's deadliest crossing more than doubles this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

April 24

- The US begins the process to remove military armaments from Afghanistan as it prepares to withdraw all of its forces from the war-torn country.

April 25

- Chloe Zhao's neo-western drama Nomadland wins the best picture at the Academy Awards, becoming the second woman to receive the best director award in the Oscars' 93-year history.

- Bangladesh experiences its highest temperature in seven years, reaching 41.2 degrees Celsius (106.2 F).

April 26

- Turkey announces full lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19.

- The European Commission sues AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, for failing to deliver vaccines, an EU official says.

April 27

- Four Venezuelan soldiers are killed and eight others are wounded during operations along the border against a Colombian criminal group.

April 28

- Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins dies at the age of 90 after a "valiant" fight with cancer, his family says.

April 29

- American troops begin withdrawing from Afghanistan as part of the Biden administration's plan to fully exit the war-hit country after 20 years of conflict.

- The tally of coronavirus cases across the world surpasses a grim 150 million milestone, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

April 30

- A stampede at a Jewish religious festival in northern Israel kills at least 44 people and injures 103 others.

- At least 39 people are killed, including a 13-year-old girl, and 134 others are wounded in two days of clashes along a disputed section of the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border over control of the local water distribution network.