Portal:Current events

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Senegal
  - After violent protests erupt across the country against a lockdown imposed to combat the virus, the government announces it will "relax" the restrictions. Interior Minister Aly Ngouille Ndiaye says the curfew will be shortened and inter-regional travel ban lifted. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  - Brazil surpasses Italy with the third high COVID-19 death toll. (The Guardian)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- North Korea issues a warning that it would end a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement if South Korea fails to stop defectors and activists from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the demilitarized zone (DMZ). (DW)
Iran–United States relations
- U.S. Navy veteran Michael R. White is released from Iranian custody. White was under house arrest for nearly two years and is now en-route to Zurich, Switzerland. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

George Floyd protests
- George Floyd protests in California
  - Los Angeles officials announce an end to the county-wide curfew amid continuing protests. (Los Angeles Times)
- George Floyd protests in New York (state)
  - Two Buffalo police officers are suspended without pay after shoving a 75-year-old protestor to the ground. He has been hospitalized from the resulting head injury. (The New York Times)
Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
- One of the suspects involved in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery testifies that the gunman who shot and killed Arbery had shouted a racial slur at the victim moments after his death. The allegation opens up the possibility for hate crime charges. (The Washington Post)
Freedom of religion in Russia
- A court in Russian-controlled Crimea jails a Jehovah's Witness for six years for practicing an outlawed religion in the territory. (Reuters)
Riots break out and the governor’s palace is attacked in Guadalajara, Mexico, after police officers in Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos beat a young worker to death for not wearing a medical mask. (Puerto Vallarta Daily News)

Politics and elections

31st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
- The mass annual vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, is banned by the city police for the first time, citing concerns of local COVID-19 transmissions. Local commemorations are held across the city. (Hong Kong Free Press)
- Tens of thousands of people, in multiple locations across Hong Kong, defy the ban against gatherings to observe the anniversary, carrying lit candles and chanting democracy slogans. The largest group, in Victoria Park, heard Lee Cheuk-yan, former Chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, read the Alliance's manifesto and vow to return next year. (South China Morning Post) (International Business Times)

June 3, 2020 (Wednesday)

edithistorywatch

Disasters and accidents

2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Cyclone Nisarga, COVID-19 pandemic in India
- Severe Cyclonic Storm Nisarga makes landfall south of Mumbai. This is the first time a tropical cyclone has targeted the megacity since 1891. About 100,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas in the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, areas already hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. (NPR) (India Meteorological Department)
2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes
- A M_w 5.5 aftershock to the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes of July 2019 takes place. It is the third-largest earthquake of the sequence, taking place only 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the Garlock Fault. (NBC Los Angeles) (The Los Angeles Times)
Norilsk oil spill
- Russian President Vladimir Putin declares a state of emergency after 20,000 tons of oil leaked into the Ambarnaya River near the Siberian city of Norilsk within the Arctic Circle on May 26, 2020. The spill happened when a fuel tank in a Nornickel NTEK power plant collapsed. Putin lambasted the company for not reporting the incident. The World Wildlife Fund said the accident is believed to be the second-largest in modern Russian history. (BBC) (The Guardian)

International relations

Hong Kong–United Kingdom relations, 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces that the United Kingdom will change its immigration laws to offer a pathway to UK citizenship for all Hong Kong citizens who are eligible for BN(O) status, if the government of China imposes new security laws on the territory. (BBC)

Law and crime

Killing of George Floyd
- George Floyd protests
  - George Floyd protests in California
    - Vallejo police announce that Sean Monterrosa, a 22-year-old Hispanic resident of San Francisco, was shot and killed by police the day before at a Walgreens. Police allege that a hammer in his pocket was mistaken for a gun. Monterrosa was on his knees. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
    - Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti pledges to cut the budget of the Los Angeles Police Department by up to $150 million in the wake of allegations of police misconduct during protests. (Los Angeles Times)
  - George Floyd protests in Texas
    - Texas State University President Denise Trauth announces on social media that a 20-year-old African-American student protestor, Justin Howell, had been critically injured by a bean bag round fired by Austin police on Sunday. Police maintain that Howell was not the intended target. (Austin American-Statesman)
  - Death of David Dorn
    - African-American former police captain David Dorn is shot and killed while trying to protect a pawn shop in St. Louis. (CNN)
- The criminal charge for former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd is upgraded to second-degree murder, while the three officers who helped restrain Floyd are charged with aiding and abetting murder. (CNBC)
Papua conflict, 2019 Papua protests
- An administrative court in Jakarta rules that it was unlawful for the Government of Indonesia to shut down the internet in Papua and West Papua during heightened security tensions caused by antiracism protests in the two provinces last year. (The Jakarta Post)
Former Lesotho First Lady Maesiah Thabane is arrested on charges of murder. Her husband, former Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane, is also accused of murder but not formally charged. (Reuters)
A court in France orders Rwandan genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga to be handed over to a United Nations tribunal for trial. Kabuga's lawyers said that their client would not receive a fair trial at a UN tribunal and that his health was too fragile to be transferred amidst the pandemic. However, French justice said his transfer is "not incompatible" with the decision. (Reuters)
Former President of Ecuador Abdalá Bucaram is arrested for illegal possession of weapons during a raid on his home against corruption. (CNN Español)

Science and technology

SpaceX successfully launches and deploys 60 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This brings the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit to 482. (Space.com)

June 2, 2020 (Tuesday)

edithistorywatch

Business and economy

A US$5 billion class action lawsuit is filed against Alphabet Inc. and Google, alleging the company violates users' right to privacy by tracking them in Chrome's incognito mode. (BBC)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic in India
- India approves the use of remdesivir to treat emergency COVID-19 cases that require immediate attention. (The Jakarta Post)

International relations

Philippines–United States relations
- President Rodrigo Duterte suspends for six months the termination of the Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. says the decision comes due to "political and other developments in the region". (Al Jazeera)
United States–Venezuela relations
- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces sanctions on four shipping firms for transporting oil from Venezuela. Three firms are based in the Marshall Islands and another in Greece. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza responds by saying Pompeo has a "criminal obsession" with Venezuela. (Reuters)

Law and crime

George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C.
- James N. Miller, former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, announces his resignation from the Defense Science Board, citing disagreement with the Trump administration's actions against protestors in Washington, D.C. (The Washington Post)
In France, despite being banned by the police headquarters, a demonstration organized by the Justice pour Adama movement in Paris gathered 20,000 participants. They were protesting for charges against police officers who had killed a young black man, Adama Traoré, during his arrest in 2016. They also demonstrated in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, and in protest against police violence against black and Arab individuals in France in general. Some clashes occur at the end of the event. Other smaller demonstrations took place in the towns of Lyon, Marseille and Lille. (France 24)

June 1, 2020 (Monday)

edithistorywatch

Armed conflicts and attacks

ISIL-linked militants attack a police station in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, killing an officer. One of the militants is shot dead as he tries to attack other policemen. (Jakarta Globe)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia
- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, his wife and their four children test positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
- The annual Tiananmen Square massacre vigil in Hong Kong is banned for the first time since 1990 citing health concerns due to COVID-19. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, who organize the vigil, say the ban signals the end of Hong Kong's "one country, two systems". (BBC)
Kivu Ebola epidemic
- The World Health Organization reports six new cases of ebola, and UNICEF reports five deaths, in a renewed outbreak of the disease in Mbandaka, Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (CNN)

International relations

United States–Zimbabwe relations, George Floyd protests
- Zimbabwe summons the U.S. envoy for comments by U.S. National Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien suggesting that Zimbabwe is among "foreign adversaries" that could face retaliation for trying to foment unrest in the U.S. over the killing of George Floyd. (AP News)

Law and crime

Killing of George Floyd
- George Floyd protests
  - Shooting of James Scurlock
    - Prosecutors conclude a bar owner who fatally shot a protester during protests in Omaha, Nebraska, acted in self-defense and therefore will not press charges against him. (Omaha World-Herald)
  - Shooting of David McAtee
    - Police and National Guard troops open fire on a group of protesters after allegedly being fired upon in Louisville, Kentucky, resulting in the death of David McAtee, a local barbecue shop owner. An investigation is ongoing, while the LMPD Chief has been fired, as the officers involved in the shooting did not have their body cameras turned on. (Associated Press)
  - George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C.
    - An active duty military police battalion of 200 to 250 troops are deployed in the U.S. capital Washington, D.C. to provide security as protests continue. Defense officials say the troops are from Fort Bragg in North Carolina. (CNN)
  - Forty cities across the United States impose overnight curfews in order to quell the violence from the protests. (CNN)
  - Two protesters are shot and killed during riots in Davenport, Iowa. In a separate incident, a police vehicle is ambushed, resulting in the wounding of an officer. (The Des Moines Register)
  - Two bystanders are shot and killed by "outside agitators" during protests in Cicero, Illinois. (CBS Chicago)
  - Police shoot and kill an armed man wearing body armor at a protest in Las Vegas. In another incident, a policeman is shot and critically injured. (Reno Gazette Journal)
  - Anonymous sources suggest President Donald Trump is considering invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy the military to respond to protests throughout the country. (NBC News)
  - Four police officers are shot in St. Louis amid rioting in the downtown area of the city. (New York Post)
- An independent autopsy concludes George Floyd died of "asphyxiation from sustained pressure" and that there was "neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain" and that Floyd died at the scene of his arrest and not at the hospital, contradicting the Hennepin County, Minnesota coroner's report. (USA Today)

May 31, 2020 (Sunday)

edithistorywatch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Somali Civil War
- At least six civilians are killed when a minibus hits a roadside bomb near Mogadishu. There has been no claim of responsibility. (Reuters)
Second Libyan Civil War
- At least three civilians are killed and several others are injured in Tripoli when a park comes under shelling from suspected Libyan National Army forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. (Reuters)
Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria
- Hundreds of men on motorcycles, some armed with assault rifles, kill at least 18 people, including a local official in Sabon Gari, and steal thousands of livestock in Katsina State, Nigeria. (Reuters)
A 20-year-old Kurdish man was stabbed multiple times by three men in Ankara, Turkey, killing him. The attack, described as a xenophobic murder, was carried out as the victim was playing Kurdish music. (Middle East Eye)

Disasters and accidents

Anglo-Australian mining corporation Rio Tinto admits blowing up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge caves in Pilbara, Western Australia, on May 24. The firm issues an apology to Aboriginal Australians who are the traditional owners of the site, saying "We are sorry for the distress we have caused". (BBC)
A plane crash in Nettuno, Lazio, Italy, kills two Italian competitive swimmers, Fabio Lombini and Gioele Rossetti. (Khaleej Times)
A plane crash near St. Louis, Missouri kills four people. (WCRZ)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda
  - Rwanda reports its first death from COVID-19, a 65-year-old who had severe respiratory complications and was being treated at a specialised center. (Reuters)
- The number of worldwide confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpasses six million. The United States remains the global epicenter, accounting for approximately 29% of all reported and confirmed cases in the world. (CNN)

International relations

India–Pakistan relations
- India expels two officials at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, accusing them of being involved in espionage activities. Pakistan condemns the expulsion and alleges that the two were detained and tortured by Indian authorities. (DW)

Law and crime

George Floyd protests
- Shooting of James Scurlock
  - Police investigate the overnight shooting death of a protester, James Scurlock, by a bar owner in Omaha, Nebraska. Eyewitness video indicates the shooter was attacked by a group of people, one of whom was apparently Scurlock, before the fatal shots were fired. (Omaha World-Herald)
- George Floyd protests in New York City
  - A woman is facing four counts of attempted murder, as well as counts of attempted arson, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon, and assault for throwing a Molotov cocktail at an occupied NYPD van during a riot in Brooklyn. (Fox News)
- Rioting and looting continue overnight in cities all over the United States as 12 states activate the national guard to defuse the situation. (Al-Jazeera) (Voice of America)
- At least 1,383 people have been arrested in 17 cities during the protests since Thursday. (Yahoo! News)
- During protests in Indianapolis, two people are shot dead and two others injured after unidentified assailants open fire against protesters. (Fox News)
- President Donald Trump announces his plans to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization after saying they were responsible for the looting and arson occurring during the protests. Various government and non-government officials claim that designating domestic terrorist groups is prohibited by the First Amendment. (CNN)
- The media is revealed to have been the target of violence and harassment at least 50 times on Friday and Saturday. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro
- Anti-fascist protesters gather in the Brazilian cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte in response to police brutality and President Bolsonaro's defence of unconstitutional measures. A pro-government crowd forms in São Paulo, with police reporting neo-Nazi flags hung from a sound truck. (The Republic)
2020 New Caledonian independence referendum
- In New Caledonia, the largest pro-independence party Caledonian Union agrees to postpone the referendum on independence from France due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Anti-independence parties welcome the decision. (RNZ)
2020 Niuean general election
- In Niue, Sir Toke Talagi loses his seat at the Common Roll and is now leaving his position as Premier of Niue. Former Secretary to Government Richard Hipa, a first-time candidate, topped the Common Roll votes with 440 and now looks to be a contender for the premiership. (RNZ)