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COVID-19 pandemic

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A gas leak in Andhra Pradesh, India, kills at least eleven people and injures over a thousand others.
Astronomers announce the discovery of the first black hole located in a star system visible to the naked eye.
In the Philippines, the leading television network ABS-CBN (headquarters pictured) is ordered to stop broadcasting by the National Telecommunications Commission.

May 8, 2020 (Friday)

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May 7, 2020 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019–2020 Persian Gulf crisis
- The U.S. removes four Patriot missile batteries, two jet fighter squadrons and dozens of military personnel from Saudi Arabia while considering a reduction in the U.S. Navy presence in the Persian Gulf. (The Wall Street Journal)

Disasters and accidents

Visakhapatnam gas leak
- At least 11 people die and over 5,000 fall sick after a styrene gas leak from an LG Polymers chemical plant in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, India. (Times of India)

International relations

China–Indonesia relations
- Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi summoned Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia, Xiao Qian to express concerns about the alleged human rights violation of Indonesian workers aboard Chinese fishing vessels after a video showing Chinese sailors throwing the body of a dead Indonesian crew member overboard went viral. (The Jakarta Post)

Law and crime

Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
- Gregory and Travis McMichael are arrested for murder and aggravated assault in relation to the February 2020 shooting of an African American man in Brunswick, Georgia. (ABC News)
Lesothan King Letsie III approves a law barring Prime Minister Tom Thabane from dissolving parliament and calling an election in the event of a vote of no confidence. (Reuters)

May 6, 2020 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
- Indian Army troops kill Riyaz Naikoo, a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist group, after launching an offensive that resulted in the death of at least three other militants in Kashmir's Pulwama district. (Reuters)
Macuto Bay raid, United States–Venezuela relations
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro says that the two captured American mercenaries accused of organizing an armed incursion into Venezuela will be tried in the country by its civil courts. United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. government will "use every tool that we have available to try to get them back." (FRANCE 24)

Disasters and accidents

At least two people are killed and two others seriously injured after a plane carrying vital medical supplies crashes near Esquel Airport in Esquel, Argentina. (Mirror)

Law and crime

Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
- A cellphone video of the shooting of an African-American man jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, surfaces. The two men who killed him claim that they believed he was a burglary suspect and then got into a fight with him when he was fatally shot. The case is subsequently taken to a grand jury. (CNN) (CBS News)

Politics and elections

2020 Polish presidential election
- The Polish governing coalition announces the presidential election, scheduled for Sunday, May 10, is postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new election date will be announced later. (AP)

Science and technology

The European Southern Observatory announces the discovery of Earth's closest-known black hole (HR 6819). The invisible object in the QV Telescopii system has a mass at least four times that of our Sun, and is roughly 1,000 light years (10 quadrillion km) from Earth in the constellation Telescopium. (NPR) (BBC)

May 5, 2020 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Macuto Bay raid, United States–Venezuela relations
- U.S. President Donald Trump denies any involvement by the U.S. government in Silvercorp USA's armed incursion into Venezuela on May 3, which left eight people dead and several others captured, including two U.S. citizens. (Reuters)
Western Iran clashes (2016–present)
- Gunmen kill three Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members near the Kurdish-majority city of Divandarreh, in the Kurdistan Province, while "several counterrevolutionaries" are reportedly killed in the fighting, according to Iranian media. (RFERL)

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)
A massive fire breaks out at the 48-storey residential skyscraper Abbco Tower in Al Nahda, Sharjah, UAE. At least 12 people are injured. (Gulf News)

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)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  - Brazil's Ministry of Health reports 6,935 new cases of COVID-19 and 600 more deaths, the highest daily death toll in the country to date, bringing the country's death toll to 7,921 and 114,715 total cases. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
  - The Department of Health and Social Care reports that the death toll from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom stands at 29,427, which is now the highest in Europe, after surpassing Italy. (BBC)

Law and crime

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 in 1995. The network signed off at 7:52 PM, Philippine Standard Time. 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)
Macuto Bay raid
- 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)
Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
- Unidentified forces attacked two fishing vessels near the Gabonese capital of Libreville and abducted six crewmen (3 Indonesian, 2 Senegalese, and a South Korean). It was the second pirate attack reported this year off the coast of Gabon (Korean Herald)
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)
Macuto Bay raid, 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 an effort to capture senior Venezuelan officials wanted by the U.S. government, codenamed "Operation Gideon". 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)

More May 2020 events...

Time: 02:43 UTC|Day: 8 May