Portal:Current events

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Topics in the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Protests in Minneapolis

Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage.
In the United States, protests (pictured) break out following the death of George Floyd during a police arrest in Minneapolis.
A Pakistan International Airlines passenger aircraft crashes in Karachi, killing ninety-seven people.
Cyclone Amphan impacts eastern India and Bangladesh, killing over one hundred people and forcing the evacuation of more than four million others.

May 29, 2020 (Friday)

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May 28, 2020 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan, Afghan peace process, May 2020 Afghanistan attacks
- In the first attack since the end of a truce declared by the Taliban, and despite a petition of the government for the Taliban to extend the ceasefire, at least 14 security forces members are killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Parwan. A government spokesperson says the Taliban also suffered casualties. The group has not commented on the attack. (Al Jazeera)
Rwandan genocide
- A court in Rwanda sentences former Mayor of Nyakizu Ladislas Ntaganzwa to life imprisonment for his role in orchestrating the massacre of hundreds of thousands of people in the 1994 genocide. His lawyer is planning to appeal the ruling. (Al Jazeera)
Somali Civil War
- Gunmen abduct multiple health care workers in Somali capital before executing seven of them and another civilian. (Reuters)
Gunmen kill 60 to 74 in the Nigeria province of Sokoto. (BBC) (SR)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- The death toll from COVID-19 in the United States exceeds 100,000. (CNN)

International relations

2020 China–India skirmishes, China–India relations
- China moves thousands of People's Liberation Army troops to its Himalayan border with India, bringing vehicles and heavy machinery to what India says is its territory. India sends several battalions of the Indian Army from nearby Leh to the border in response. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi, COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
- A manhunt is launched after hundreds of people, some with COVID-19, escape from quarantine centers in Zimbabwe and Malawi, with authorities worried that they will spread COVID-19 in countries whose health systems can be rapidly overwhelmed. (AP News)
Death of George Floyd
- Protests continue for a second day in Minneapolis and two other U.S. cities after an unarmed man, George Floyd, died while being arrested. Some of them have escalated into a riot, including looting and arson. A protester is shot dead by a man, who has been arrested. (CNN)

May 27, 2020 (Wednesday)

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Disasters and accidents

A fire at a hospital kills five patients being treated for COVID-19 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. No cause for the fire has been determined. (Reuters)

International relations

Hong Kong–United States relations, 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
- United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells Congress that Hong Kong is "no longer autonomous from China" following Beijing's plans to impose a new security law on the territory, and no longer meets its special designation for trade under U.S. law that was established in the United States–Hong Kong Policy Act. (BBC)

Law and crime

Kyoto Animation arson attack
- In Kyoto, Japan, Shinji Aoba is arrested. He was moved from the hospital and charged for an arson attack at an animation center in July 2019, which killed 36 people. Aoba had been unable to be arrested due to the severe injuries he sustained during the attack. (Reuters) (BBC)
Death of George Floyd
- Rioting and looting take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, following the death of African-American man George Floyd during his arrest by Minneapolis Police Department officers. Several buildings are looted and burned down, and riot police have been deployed. (Fox News) (NBC News)
Terrorism in the United States; Crime in Florida
- The May 24 arrest of a 23-year-old man in Tampa, Florida, is announced by federal prosecutors. He had allegedly been planning a mass shooting at Honeymoon Island in support of ISIS. (WTSP)
Zambian police arrest three people suspected of murdering three Chinese nationals three days prior and burning their bodies. (BBC)

May 26, 2020 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Afghan peace process
- The government urges the Taliban to extend the three-day truce due to expire today. It also announces the government will release 900 Taliban prisoners today. (Reuters)
Second Libyan Civil War, Libya–Russia relations
- The United States Africa Command accuses Russia of deploying fighter jets to eastern Libya to provide air support to Russian mercenaries allied to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who is locked in a civil war with the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA). (BBC)
Kivu conflict, Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
- The Allied Democratic Forces kill at least 17 people in a village in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the Kivu Security Tracker. (Reuters)
Islamic State militants killed two soldiers and wounded five others during an assault in Soueram, Cameroon. Five militants also died in the attack. (Actu Cameroun)

Business and economy

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation, COVID-19 pandemic in Chile, Coronavirus recession
- LATAM Airlines, the largest air carrier in Latin America, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

Huge swarms of desert locusts destroy crops in central and western India prompting authorities to step up their response to the country's worst plague in nearly three decades. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

LGBT rights in Costa Rica
- Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalize same-sex marriage. (Reuters)
LGBT rights in Zambia
- President Edgar Lungu pardons a gay couple jailed for 15 years due to consensual homosexual acts amid a mass wave of pardons of nearly 3,000 inmates to celebrate Africa Freedom Day. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

The Social Democratic Liberal Party, the main opposition party in Fiji's parliament, is suspended from parliament for 60 days amid a political feud which has caused its appointments to be declared null and void. The party's parliament leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, said the decision will not be appealed. (RNZ)

May 25, 2020 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
- The Bulgarian captain of Portuguese-flagged cargo ship the Tommi Ritscher, who was kidnapped along with seven other sailors by pirates off the coast of Benin last month, is freed. The captain was kidnapped at the port of Cotonou in the Gulf of Guinea on April 19. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

List of earthquakes in 2020, list of earthquakes in New Zealand
- A 5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes 60 miles (97 km) west of Wellington, New Zealand. No injuries are reported. (The Guardian)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifts the state of emergency in all remaining parts of the country, including Tokyo. (Associated Press)

International relations

European migrant crisis
- The Coast Guard of Libya stops nearly 400 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean in five boats in the past two days, according to the office for migrants of the United Nations. (Reuters)

Law and crime

The government of Cyprus will deport 17 immigrants suspected of having links to extremist groups or involved in acts of terrorism. (AP News)
Death of George Floyd
- A man dies after being restrained by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. (CNN)

Politics and elections

2020 Burundian general election
- Candidate for the ruling party, National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy, and retired general Evariste Ndayishimiye wins the election with 68.72% of votes cast amid an election preceded by political violence including the arrest, torture and murder of opposition activists, according to a local human rights group. (Reuters)
2020 Surinamese general election
- Citizens of Suriname head to the polls in the country's latest general election. It is the first election after Suriname's president Dési Bouterse was convicted of murder for the December murders in 1982. (BBC)

May 24, 2020 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Afghan peace process
- President Ashraf Ghani pledges to speed up the release of more Taliban prisoners, and asks that the Taliban release more government prisoners in return. (Al Jazeera)
War in Somalia
- At least five people are killed and twenty others injured by a car bomb during an Eid festival in Baidoa, Bay. No claims of responsibility have been reported. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
Insurgency in the Maghreb
- The Army of Ivory Coast and the military of Burkina Faso report that they conducted a joint operation against jihadists at the border between the two countries, killing eight suspected militants and arresting fourteen more. The operation is ongoing. (Reuters)
Second Libyan Civil War
- 2019–20 Western Libya offensive
  - Wagner Group fighters withdraw from the frontline near Tripoli, after the Libyan National Army suffers a series of defeats. The mayor of Bani Walid says the Russians, who are allied to Khalifa Haftar, retreated to his town then left Bani Walid Airport on three military planes to Al Jufra Airbase, while their heavy equipment were driven there. (Reuters)
Papua conflict
- Indonesian police says an armed group had shot two health workers affiliated with the local COVID-19 task force in Wandai district, Intan Jaya, Papua. (The Jakarta Post)

Disasters and accidents

3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) of the coast of Western Australia is battered by a "once in a decade" storm. (The Guardian)

International relations

North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
- In his first appearance in three weeks, leader Kim Jong-un meets with state officials to discuss improving nuclear war deterrence measures, including increased artillery firepower. (Reuters)
Iran–Venezuela relations
- The first of five Iranian tankers en route to Venezuela to deliver fuel enters Venezuelan territorial waters, after being escorted by the Venezuelan Air Force and Navy. Both Iran and Venezuela warned the United States not to interfere with the delivery. (BBC)

Law and crime

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardons 3,157 prisoners to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. (Middle East Eye)

Politics and elections

National People's Congress Decision on Hong Kong national security legislation
- Thousands of protesters take to the streets of Hong Kong to oppose a controversial national security law expected to be passed by China's National People's Congress. (BBC) (CNN) (Reuters)

May 23, 2020 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan, Afghan peace process
- The Taliban declares a three-day Eid ceasefire starting on Sunday. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid orders all attacks to cease and only use force "if any action is taken against you by the enemy". Afghan President Ashraf Ghani welcomes the ceasefire and orders the armed forces of Afghanistan to "comply with the three-days truce and to defend only if attacked". (National Post) (Reuters)
Second Libyan Civil War
- 2019–20 Western Libya offensive
  - Forces of the international-recognized Libyan government retake two military camps, Hamza and Yarmuk, from forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli. (Anadolu Agency)

Disasters and accidents

A four-alarm fire destroys a warehouse at Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. More than 150 firefighters are able to contain the blaze and save both the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a World War II Liberty ship that saw action on D-Day at Normandy Beach in northwest France; and the USS Pampanito submarine, which had six war patrols from March 1944 through early 1945 in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. (KPIX) (The Guardian)