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Topics in the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Netanyahu and Gantz

Canada bans the sale of assault-style firearms after a mass killing in Nova Scotia leaves twenty-two victims dead.
After seventeen months of stalemate, the Likud and Blue and White parties reach an agreement for Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz (pictured) to share power in Israel.
In the South Korean legislative election, the ruling Democratic Party and their allies increase their majority in the National Assembly.

May 6, 2020 (Wednesday)

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May 5, 2020 (Tuesday)

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Disasters and accidents

At least two miners are killed in a mine collapse in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia. The mayor of the county’s administrative centre says scores of others are unaccounted for and feared dead. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen
  - The Houthis-controlled area of Yemen reports its first case of COVID-19 and first death; that of a Somali man who had liver and kidney conditions. The government in the south reports nine new infections. (Reuters)

Law and crime

The Philippines' National Telecommunications Commission orders the broadcasting operations of ABS-CBN, the country's largest media network, to cease at 7:45 p.m. as Congress fails to renew its franchise granted in 1995. The last time the network was shut down was upon the declaration of martial law by the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. (Al Jazeera) (ABS-CBN News) (Rappler)

May 4, 2020 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- The Taliban claims responsibility for an attack on Sunday on an Afghan military centre in southern Helmand where they say that "dozens were killed or wounded". (Reuters)
Ituri conflict
- The armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo announce that 12 soldiers were killed in an attack by militants in Ituri Province over the weekend. (Anadolu Agency)
La Guaira naval attack
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro says "13 terrorists", including two U.S. citizens working for Jordan Goudreau's private security company Silvercorp USA, have been detained after foiling a plot to assassinate him, accusing them of "playing Rambo". State television broadcasts footage of captured mercenaries in Aragua. (Reuters)
- Opposition leader Juan Guaidó denies any involvement with the Silvercorp USA operation. Jordan Goudreau claims his company signed a contract with Guaidó to remove Nicolás Maduro from power by force, but says he has only been paid "a tiny share of the amount agreed upon." (AP via Toledo Blade)

Arts and culture

Reuters wins the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for its coverage of the protests in Hong Kong. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Coronavirus recession, COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- The U.S. government announces plans to borrow $3 trillion for the second quarter, five times more than the previous record set during the 2008 financial crisis. (BBC)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
  - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe extends the national state of emergency to May 31. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
  - New Zealand reports no new cases of COVID-19 for the first day in almost two months. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

UK Trade Minister Conor Burns resigns after a watchdog group recommended suspending him from parliament for making "veiled threats" towards a company his father had financial disputes with. (BBC)

Science and technology

A team of British and Kenyan scientists announce the discovery of Microsporidia MB, a parasitic microbe in the Microsporidia fungi group that blocks mosquitos from carrying malaria. While acknowledging they need to understand how the microbe spreads and how it blocks the disease, the team believes it has potential to be used in malaria control. (BBC) (Nature)

May 3, 2020 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Korean conflict
- North and South Korean soldiers exchange gunfire across the DMZ at a South Korean guard post in Cheorwon, but no injuries are reported. South Korean and U.S. officials suspect the initial shots from the north to be accidental. (BBC) (Reuters)
Sinai insurgency
- Egypt's military says that 15 of its members were killed or wounded in recent operations in Sinai and that 126 suspected militants had been killed. (Reuters)
Crisis in Venezuela
- Former U.S. Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who took part in the failed 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt to oust Nicolás Maduro, releases a video claiming responsibility for an incursion in Venezuela, announcing the start of "Operation Gideon", an effort to capture senior Venezuelan officials wanted by the U.S. government. Goudreau claims 60 troops have successfully entered Venezuela by "land and sea" and fighting is underway. (The Washington Post)
- Venezuelan Interior Minister Néstor Reverol says the country's security forces have foiled a "marine incursion" by "terrorist mercenaries" from Colombia, killing at least eight gunmen and capturing two others. The foreign group reportedly landed on a beach in the city of La Guaira on speedboats. (Al Jazeera)
- State television broadcasts images it says are captured high-calibre weapons, Peruvian documents, and uniforms emblazoned with an American flag. (Canberra Times)

Business and economy

Indonesian e-commerce site Tokopedia launches a security investigation after a hacker said they stole the information of 91 million users and plans to release it on the dark web. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
  - Russia reports a record 10,633 new cases of COVID-19 and 58 more deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's total cases to 134,686 and 1,280 deaths. Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin says the peak has still not been reached, warning residents to remain indoors. (BBC)

May 2, 2020 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Arif Wazir, a prominent PTM leader, dies of injuries from an attack that was carried out in a drive-by shooting in Wanna, Pakistan, a day earlier. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Iraqi insurgency (2017–present)
- At least 10 members of the Popular Mobilization Forces are killed by ISIL militants in attacks in the town of Mekeeshfa and the city of Balad. Iraq and the paramilitary forces' official media report that scores of others were wounded. (Al Jazeera)
Mali War, Operation Barkhane
- A French Foreign Legion soldier dies at a military hospital in Paris, after being wounded in an IED blast, while conducting an operation against Islamist insurgents in Mali. (The Star)

International relations

Foreign relations of Palau
- President of Palau Thomas Remengesau Jr. condemns the exclusion of Taiwan from the World Health Organization, saying that it "endangers, not only Taiwanese people, but people everywhere". Palau remains one of Taiwan's few political allies in the Pacific. (RNZ)
Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Brazil's Supreme Federal Court issues a 10-day injunction against President Jair Bolsonaro's demand that all 30 members of Venezuela's diplomatic team leave the country. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Inmates take seven guards hostage at a prison in Manaus, Brazil, during an attempted escape. A raid later frees the guards and ends the prisoners' rebellion. (Global News)

Politics and elections

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reports that leader Kim Jong-un attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a fertilizer plant today, in his first official appearance since his disappearance from public focus last month. (Reuters)

May 1, 2020 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Sinai insurgency
- ISIL claims responsibility via its Amaq News Agency for a bombing that killed and wounded several Egyptian Army personnel near the city of Bir al-Abd in North Sinai Governorate. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Lebanon's banking association rejects a plan proposed by the government to secure emergency funding from the International Monetary Fund, saying they were not consulted and the plan will “further destroy confidence” in the country's financial system. (Reuters)

Law and crime

South Hedland stabbing attack
- A fly-in fly-out worker from Perth attacks seven people in South Hedland, Western Australia. None were killed, though five were hospitalised. Police shoot the attacker dead. (The Guardian)
A riot over food shortages at the overcrowded Los Llanos prison in Guanare, Portuguesa, Venezuela, leaves at least 46 people dead and dozens more injured, including the prison's director, according to the military. (BBC) (Inquirer)

Politics and elections

Gun control in Canada
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces a ban on assault-style weapons, which includes buying, selling, transporting, importing or using the designated weapons. The legislation is said to be motivated by last month's killing spree in Nova Scotia. (Reuters)

April 30, 2020 (Thursday)

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Business and economy

Syrian businessman and Syriatel owner Rami Makhlouf makes an "unprecedented" public appeal to his cousin, President Bashar al-Assad, on Facebook, saying a "cadre of officials" are seeking to seize his assets. Makhlouf, who was a part of President al-Assad's inner circle, says he will pay the President himself but not the state. (The Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

Tornadoes of 2020
- The 2020 tornado season in the United States is named the deadliest tornado season since 2011, particularly due to the outbreaks on March 2–3 and Easter Sunday. (Fox News)

Health and environment

2019–20 coronavirus pandemic
- 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Yemen
  - Officials in Yemen report the country's first deaths from COVID-19 in the port city of Aden. (BBC)
- 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Tajikistan
  - Tajikistan reports its first confirmed cases of COVID-19. Five people have tested positive for the virus in the capital Dushanbe, and 10 others in the northern Sughd Region, according to the state-run news agency Khovar. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

2020 coronavirus pandemic in Russia
- Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin temporarily steps down after being diagnosed with COVID-19; he will be replaced by Andrey Belousov. (Reuters)
The government of Sudan criminalises female genital mutilation. (The New York Times)

Science and technology

Artemis program
- NASA officially selects SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics to build its next-generation lunar lander to carry American astronauts to the Moon by 2024. (Reuters)

Sports