[continues for 2020)

• May 1 – COVID-19 pandemic: The total number of recovered COVID-19 patients reaches 1 million worldwide, according to data from The Johns Hopkins University.[110]
• May 3–4 – Venezuelan dissidents and an American-based private military company, Silvercorp USA, unsuccessfully attempt to infiltrate Venezuela and forcibly remove President Nicolás Maduro from office.[111]
• May 4 – 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, potentially paving the way for the control of malaria.[112]
• May 5
• COVID-19 pandemic: The U.K. death toll from COVID-19 becomes the highest in Europe at 32,313 after exceeding the death toll of 29,029 in Italy.[113]
• The Philippines' National Telecommunications Commission issues a cease and desist order to the broadcasting operations of ABS-CBN, the country's largest media network, as Congress fails to renew its franchise granted on March 30, 1995.[114] The last time the network was shut down was upon the declaration of martial law by the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1972.[115] On July 10, Members of the Philippine House Committee on Legislative Franchises vote against the franchise renewal of the said network.[116]
• May 6
• Astronomers announce the discovery of the first black hole located in a star system visible to the naked eye.[117]
• COVID-19 pandemic: New evidence indicates that an Algerian-born French fishmonger, who had not traveled to China and did not have contact with any Chinese nationals, was treated for pneumonia from an unknown source on December 27, 2019, now identified as COVID-19.[118]
• May 7 – Eleven people die and over 5,000 fall ill from a styrene gas leak from an LG Polymers chemical plant in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, India.[119]
• May 9 – Several Chinese and Indian soldiers are injured in a cross-border clash at the Nathu La crossing. About 150 troops participated in the face-off, which involved fistfights and stone-throwing.[120]
• May 10
• The Iranian Navy frigate Jamaran accidentally strikes the Iranian support vessel Konarak with a missile, killing nineteen sailors. This is the first friendly fire incident since February 2019, when an Indian Mil Mi-17 helicopter was mistakenly shot down by Indian air defense forces.[121][122]
• COVID-19 pandemic:
• The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 4 million worldwide.[123]
• Wuhan reports its first coronavirus cases in more than a month. An 89-year-old man is confirmed positive, but his wife and several members of the community are recorded as asymptomatic cases.[124]
• May 11 – The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology publishes the result of radiocarbon and DNA analysis from the fossils that has been found in the Bacho Kiro cave, Bulgaria. The result, showing that the fossils belong to Homo sapiens instead of Neanderthal, indicates that modern humans may have arrived in Europe thousands of years earlier than previously thought.[125]
• May 12 – Gunmen storm a maternity hospital and kill 24 people, including two newborn babies, in Dashte Barchi, a majority-Shia neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan. In a separate incident in Kuz Kunar, 32 people are killed at a funeral by a suicide bomber.[126]
• May 14
• COVID-19 pandemic:
• The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 300,000.[127]
• The UN warns of a global mental health crisis caused by isolation, fear, uncertainty and economic turmoil.[128]
• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance is "ready to support" the UN-recognized Government of National Accord while Greece, a member state of NATO, strongly criticizes Stoltenberg's remarks, saying his recognition of the "Muslim Brotherhood government" does not reflect the positions of the military alliance.[129][130]
• May 15 – Researchers announce a 2.5 cm millipede fossil belonging to the Kampecaris genus, discovered on the island of Kerrera in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, is the world's oldest-known land animal, which lived 425 million years ago in the Silurian period.[131]
• May 16
• COVID-19 pandemic: Bundesliga becomes the first major sports league to resume its season since March 11.[132]
• Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan businessman responsible for supporting the Rwandan genocide, is arrested in Asnières-sur-Seine, France, after 26 years as a fugitive.[133]
• May 18
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announces that nearly 1 million people are affected and at least 24 people have died in flash floods that have hit Beledweyne and Jowhar, Somalia.[134]
• In a historic move, the World Health Organization holds its annual World Health Assembly using video conferencing instead of in-person meetings.[135]
• May 19 – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announces the termination of all agreements, including security ones, with Israel and the United States in response to Israel's plans to annex the Jordan Valley.[136]
• May 21
• Cyclone Amphan makes landfall in eastern India and Bangladesh, killing over 100 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 4 million others. It causes over US$13 billion in damage, making it the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean, shattering the record previously held by Nargis.[137]
• The U.S. announces it will withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty within six months, alleging continuous violations by Russia.[138]
• COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 5 million worldwide, with 106,000 new cases recorded over the past 24 hours, the highest single-day figure so far.[139]
• May 22
• Flight PK8303, a Pakistan International Airlines passenger aircraft, crashes in a residential area near Karachi, in Pakistan, killing 97 of the 99 total people on board and injuring dozens on the ground.[140]
• COVID-19 pandemic: Brazil overtakes Russia to become the country with the second highest number of COVID-19 cases, with over 330,000 reported. President Jair Bolsonaro continues to dismiss the threat of the virus.[141]
• May 23 – COVID-19 pandemic: China reports no new cases for the first time since the pandemic began, according to the National Health Commission.[142]
• May 24
• Mining corporation Rio Tinto admits to blowing up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge caves in the Pilbara area of Western Australia. The firm later issues an apology to the two Aboriginal peoples who are the traditional owners of the site.[143]
• A "once in a decade" storm batters 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) of the coast of Western Australia.[144]
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardons 3,157 prisoners to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and, two days later, President of Zambia Edgar Lungu pardons nearly 3,000 inmates to commemorate Africa Freedom Day.[145][146]
• May 26
• Protests caused by the killing of George Floyd break out across hundreds of cities in the U.S.[147] and around the world.[148] These are followed by further protests and rallies on June 6 against racism and police brutality around the world.[149]
• Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage.[150]
• LATAM Airlines, the largest air carrier in Latin America, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[151]
• May 27
• The Chinese National People's Congress votes in favour of national security legislation that criminalizes "secession", "subversion", "terrorism" and foreign interference in Hong Kong;[152] the legislation grants sweeping powers to the Chinese central government to suppress the Hong Kong democracy movement, including banning activist groups and curtailing civil liberties.[153] The U.S. government responds by declaring Hong Kong is "no longer autonomous" under the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act.[154]
• COVID-19 pandemic: The U.S. death toll passes 100,000 – more Americans than were killed in the Vietnam War and Korean War combined, and approaching that of the First World War, where 116,000 Americans died in combat.[155] The total number of cases continues to rise, although the rate is slowing.[156]
• May 28 – 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 Rwandan genocide.[157]
• May 30 – The first crewed flight of the SpaceX Dragon 2 (initially scheduled for May 27 but delayed due to weather) is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first manned spacecraft to take off from U.S. soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.[158]
• May 31 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 6 million worldwide.[159]

• June 1 – 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.[160]
• June 2 – 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.[161]
• June 3
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK will change 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.[162]
• SpaceX successfully launches and deploys 60 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, bringing the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit to 482.[163]
• 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 World Wildlife Fund said the accident is believed to be the second-largest in modern Russian history.[164]
• June 4
• Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) says they are in full control of the capital, Tripoli, after forces of the Libyan National Army (LNA) retreat from the territory following months of intense fighting in the city.[165]
• Hong Kong legislative council passed the controversial National Anthem Ordinance.[166]
• June 7 – COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 400,000.[167]
• June 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 7 million worldwide.[168]
• June 9 – COVID-19 pandemic: A Harvard University study suggests that COVID-19 may have been spreading in China as early as August 2019, based on hospital car park usage and web search trends.[169]
• June 15
• At least 20 Indian soldiers and over 40 Chinese forces are killed or injured in skirmishes in the disputed Galwan Valley, the largest escalation along the Sino-Indian border in five decades.[170]
• Turkish and Iranian forces commence air and artillery strikes against Kurdistan Workers' Party forces in Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkey launches a land operation in the region on June 17.[171]
• June 16
• COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 8 million worldwide.[172]
• North Korea demolishes the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong, established in 2018 to improve relations.[173]
• June 21 – An annular solar eclipse occurs.[174]
• June 22 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 9 million worldwide.[175]
• June 23 – A 7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico and kills at least four people. It is felt more than 640 kilometres (400 mi) away in Mexico City.[176]
• June 27 – Micheál Martin succeeds Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach of Ireland in a historic three-party coalition government.[177]
• June 28
• COVID-19 pandemic:
• The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 10 million worldwide.[178] The U.S. continues to report the highest number of any country as it reaches 2.5 million, a quarter of all cases globally.[179]
• The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 500,000.[180]
• June 30 – China passes the controversial Hong Kong national security law, allowing China to crack down on opposition to Beijing at home or abroad.

• July 1 – Russian voters back a constitutional amendment that, among other things, enables Vladimir Putin to seek two further six-year terms when his current term ends in 2024, potentially allowing him to remain in power until 2036.[182]
• July 2 – A landslide takes place at a jade mining site in Hpakant, Kachin state, Myanmar,[183] killing at least 174 people.[184]
• July 3 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 11 million worldwide.[185]
• July 7
• Protests begin throughout Bulgaria with the goal of removing Borisov's cabinet and Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev from office.[186]
• COVID-19 pandemic: Thousands of people rally outside the House of the National Assembly of Serbia in Belgrade in response to stricter lockdown measures proposed by President Aleksandar Vučić following an increase of cases in the city.[187]
• July 8
• COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 12 million worldwide.[188]
• At least 180 bodies are found in mass graves in Djibo, Burkina Faso, where soldiers are fighting jihadists. It is suspected that government forces were involved in mass extrajudicial executions.[189]
• July 10
• The ECB accepts Bulgaria and Croatia into ERM II, a mandatory stage for countries wishing to adopt the euro. This is the currency union's first major expansion in half a decade.[190]
• Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan orders the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to be reverted to a mosque following a supreme court annulment of a 1934 presidential decree that made it into a museum.[191]
• July 12 – China reports 141 dead or missing in floods since June; 28,000 homes have been damaged.[192]
• July 15 – The Twitter accounts of prominent political figures, CEOs, and celebrities are hacked to promote a bitcoin scam.[193]
• July 18 – COVID-19 pandemic: The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 600,000.[194]
• July 19 – Flooding of the Brahmaputra River kills 189 and leaves 4 million homeless in India and Nepal.[195]
• July 21 – COVID-19 pandemic: European leaders agree to create a €750 billion (US$858 billion) recovery fund to rebuild EU economies impacted by the pandemic.[196]
• July 22 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 15 million worldwide.[197]
• July 25 – COVID-19 pandemic: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convenes an emergency meeting, declares a state of emergency, and orders the lockdown of Kaesong after a person suspected of having COVID-19 returned from South Korea. If confirmed, it would be the first case to be officially acknowledged by North Korea.[198]
• 28 July – Ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak is found guilty of all seven charges in the first of five trials on the 1MDB scandal, being jailed 12 years and fined RM210 million as a result.[199]
• July 30 – NASA successfully launches its Mars 2020 rover mission to search for signs of ancient life and collect samples for return to Earth. The mission includes technology demonstrations to prepare for future human missions.[200]

• August 1 – The Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE becomes operational following delays since 2017. It is the first commercial nuclear power station in the Arab world.[201]
• August 2 – COVID-19 pandemic: In rare talks, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hold a video call to discuss various regional issues, including combating COVID-19 in their respective countries.[202]
• August 4 – Two explosions caused by unsafely stored ammonium nitrate kill over 220 people, injure thousands, and severely damage the port in Beirut, Lebanon. Damage is estimated at $10–15 billion, and an estimated 300,000 people are left homeless. The following day, the Lebanese government declares a two-week state of emergency.[203][204][205]
• August 5
• U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar travels to Taiwan, the highest U.S. official visit to the country in 40 years. The PRC condemns the visit.[206]
• COVID-19 pandemic: The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 700,000.[207]
• August 7 – Air India Express Flight 1344 crashes after overrunning the runway at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, India, killing 19 of the 191 people on board.
• August 9 – A presidential election in Belarus which led to incumbent Alexander Lukashenko's reelection sparks protests throughout the country after major opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya rejected the results. Seven days later, the largest political march in Belarusian history takes place, with an estimated 300,000 people in Minsk and 200,000 in other Belarusian cities and towns.[208]
• August 10 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 20 million worldwide.[209]
• August 11 – COVID-19 pandemic: Russian President Vladimir Putin announces that Russia has approved the world's first COVID-19 vaccine.[210]
• August 13 – Israel and the UAE agree to normalise relations, marking the third Israel–Arab peace deal.[211]
• August 15 – The Japanese bulk carrier Wakashio, which stranded on a reef in Mauritius last month, breaks in half. Approximately 1,000 tonnes of oil are spilled into the ocean, becoming the largest environmental disaster in the history of Mauritius.[212]
• August 18 – A mutiny in a military base by soldiers of the Malian Armed Forces develops into a coup d'état. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé, among other senior governmental and military officers, are arrested. The next day, Keïta announces his resignation on state television.[213][214][215]
• August 19 – The Special Tribunal for Lebanon convicts in absentia Salim Ayyash, a senior member of Hezbollah, for the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.[216]
• August 22 – COVID-19 pandemic: The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 800,000.[217]
• August 25 – Africa is declared free of wild polio, the second virus to be eradicated from the continent since smallpox 40 years previously.[218][219]
• August 26 – Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos becomes the first person in history to have a net worth exceeding US$200 billion, according to Forbes.[220]
• August 28 – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Japan, announces his resignation from office, citing ill health.[221]
• August 30 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 25 million worldwide. India continues to record the highest daily increase of cases.[222]

As it continues on Liam's Blog 42.