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COVID-19 pandemic

Pierre Nkurunziza

Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza (pictured) dies in office at the age of 55.
Russian president Vladimir Putin declares a state of emergency after a diesel spill near Norilsk.
SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 make their first crewed launch for NASA.
Protests and riots break out across the United States and elsewhere following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

June 14, 2020 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Afghan peace process
- The Interior Ministry of Afghanistan accuses the Taliban of killing or wounding more than 400 Afghan security forces personnel in the last week and said the insurgent group had increased attacks ahead of expected peace talks. The minister also accused the group of attacking religious scholars to put "psychological pressure" on the government. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

Arts and culture

Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, commits suicide in his Mumbai residence. (Firstpost)

June 13, 2020 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
- Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki says the armed forces destroyed a ballistic missile targeting the Saudi border city of Najran. In a statement, the spokesman said the missile was launched from the Yemeni city of Saada and that some people were slightly injured when it was destroyed. The Houthis did not claim responsibility. (Al Jazeera)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
- More than 3,100 deaths are officially reported in the country. However, an investigation reported the Ministry of Health told the World Health Organization that the death toll reached 5,000 cases. (France24)
- Jaime Mañalich is succeeded by Enrique Paris as Minister of Health. (France24)

Law and crime

A court in China sentences an Australian man to death for drug trafficking. The man had been arrested in 2013 at Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou. The Australian government condemns the verdict. (Reuters)
Colombian businessman Alex Saab is arrested in Cape Verde a week after Colombian authorities freezed his assets following the opening an investigation against him for alleged money laundering. The Nicolás Maduro-led Government of Venezuela denounces the arrest as an arbitrary detention and violation of international law. (Reuters)
Killing of Rayshard Brooks
- Protestors set fire to a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, US. Outside the restaurant the previous day, two police officers shot dead a man who attacked them. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

George Floyd protests
- George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom
  - Protests organized by Black Lives Matter are cancelled in London after the arrival of counter-protesters, including members of the far-right. Far-right protesters and police clashed at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square. (BBC) (Reuters) (The Times)
- French riot police clash with anti-racism protesters in central Paris, as thousands march onto the Place de la République to protest police brutality against the country's immigrants. (Reuters)
2020 Polish presidential election, LGBT rights in Poland
- President Andrzej Duda compares the "LGBT ideology" to "communist indoctrination" ahead of the upcoming presidential elections. Opposition candidate Robert Biedroń condemns his remarks. (Reuters)

June 12, 2020 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Second Libyan Civil War
- 2019–20 Western Libya campaign
  - Eight mass graves containing hundreds of bodies are discovered in western Libya, most of them in the town of Tarhuna. The Government of National Accord (GNA) says the remains are of captured GNA fighters and civilians, apparent evidence of war crimes. (Al Jazeera)
June 2020 Afghanistan attacks
- Four people are killed and eight others wounded by the bombing of a mosque in Kabul. No group claimed responsibility. (Reuters)
About 30 Indians cross the border into Nepal and clash with Nepali police when stopped in the district of Sarlahi. Nepali border guards opened fire, killing one man and injuring two. According to police, the forces fired when one of the men snatched a gun from them. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

Sanrio founder and CEO Shintaro Tsuji, whose company is best known for creating Hello Kitty, announces he will resign on July 1 citing a need for new blood. His grandson Tomokuni Tsuji is expected to replace him. (BBC)
Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras says it will not do business with tankers that visited Venezuela in the past year, adhering to sanctions placed by the United States. (Reuters)

Law and crime

LGBT rights in the United States, Abortion in the United States
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services removes protections against discrimination within Obamacare for transgender people and women seeking abortions. The move is condemned by civil rights groups and Democratic officials. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Slavery in Australia
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologizes for saying there was "no slavery" in Australia. He says that he was referring specifically to the fact that the first Australian colony of New South Wales was set up without the widespread use of slave labor. (CNN)
Lebanese liquidity crisis
- Hundreds protest over the handling of the country's economic crisis, many calling for Hassan Diab's government to resign. The Lebanese pound has lost 70 percent of its value since October, when protests began. The government announced the central bank will begin injecting more United States dollars into the market on Monday. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
2020 Republican Party presidential primaries, Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
- U.S. President Donald Trump announces the MAGA Rally that was to be held on June 19, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is rescheduled to June 20. The rally's original date had been widely criticized because the 19th is Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of American slavery. The location was also criticized due to it being where the 1921 Tulsa race massacre took place, because of the ongoing George Floyd protests. (CNN) (The Hill)
President-elect of Burundi Évariste Ndayishimiye is set to take power immediately, days after the death of incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza, as the constitutional court says "it is not necessary to have an interim period", and that Ndayishimiye should be sworn-in "as soon as possible". (Reuters)
On the 122nd anniversary of the Philippines's independence from Spain, more than a thousand protestors march at the main campus of the University of the Philippines in Manila to protest a controversial anti-terrorism bill introduced by President Rodrigo Duterte. (Reuters)

Science and technology

Twitter says it has removed a network of more than 170,000 accounts it says were spreading pro-Communist Party of China propaganda on the social media platform, saying the Chinese-based network had links to earlier state-backed operations on Facebook and YouTube. More than a thousand Russia-based misinformation accounts are also removed. (BBC)

June 11, 2020 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Maghreb insurgency
- At least 10 Ivorian soldiers are killed and six others wounded at the border with Burkina Faso when an armed group ambushed them; one of the attackers was also killed. It is the first attack in the country since the 2016 Grand-Bassam shootings. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

The death toll from the sinking of a ship carrying 53 migrants off the coast of Tunisia on Tuesday rises to at least 46 as more bodies are recovered from the sea. (Reuters)
The Ministry of Emergency Management of China says that flooding in south and central China has killed more than a dozen people and forced hundreds of thousands to seek emergency shelter since 2 June. (Al Jazeera)

International relations

Iraq–United States relations, Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq (2020)
- The United States and Iraq begin negotiations, conducted remotely, to discuss the withdrawal of U.S. troops and countering Iranian influence. (The New York Times)
United States war crimes
- U.S. President Donald Trump authorizes sanctions against the International Criminal Court in retaliation for their investigation into potential war crimes by U.S. officials. (CNN)

Law and crime

Bærum mosque shooting
- A court in Norway sentences Philip Manshaus to 21 years in prison for the racially-motivated murder of his stepsister and for attempting to kill Muslim worshippers. It is the longest prison sentence allowed by law. The prison term contains a provision that his release can be put off indefinitely should he still be considered a threat to society. (Al Jazeera)
Turkey–United States relations, 2016–present purges in Turkey
- A court in Turkey sentences a U.S. Consulate employee Metin Topuz to 8 years and 9 months in prison on charges of aiding the followers of Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based preacher who is accused in Turkey of being the mastermind behind a failed coup attempt in 2016 against Erdoğan. The U.S. Embassy in Ankara releases a statement on Twitter saying officials were “deeply disappointed” in the decision. (The New York Times)
An attacker, believed to be a former student, kills the deputy head and injures five others with a knife at a school in Vrútky, Slovakia, before being killed by responding police officers. (BBC)
The Senate of the Republic of Colombia approves a resolution banning the testing of cosmetics on animals, as well as the commercialization of cosmetics which are actively tested on animals. (La FM)
The suspect in the murder of a transient and the shooting at a police station that left a San Luis Obispo deputy injured, both occurring yesterday in Paso Robles, California, shoots and injures another police officer. He is later shot and killed in a shootout that also leaves two additional officers injured. (ABC News)

Sports

2020 AFL season, George Floyd protests in Australia
- After a ten-week suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 AFL season resumes with Collingwood facing Richmond at the MCG. Before the match began, both teams knelt to show solidarity with the George Floyd protests. The match finished in a draw. (News.com.au)

June 10, 2020 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

A gunman opens fire at a police station in Paso Robles, California, injuring a deputy with the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office. He then flees and kills a transient, leading to a manhunt. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Arts and culture

A&E cancels Live PD after police brutality protests. (EW)

Disasters and accidents

2020 Assam gas and oil leak
- Two firefighters are killed and four others are injured in a Baghjan gas well blowout fire in Assam, Northeast India. (Indian Express)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  - The United States surpasses two million cases of COVID-19, the first country in the world to do so. (CNN)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- A day after North Korea severed its hotlines with South Korea over defectors who sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the border, South Korea announces it is taking legal action against two organisations that conducted such operations, saying that they "have created tension between the two Koreas and caused danger to the border-area residents' lives and safety". (Reuters)
Territorial disputes of India and Nepal
- The Nepali parliament moves to approve a new map and revision of the national emblem which includes territory in India's Uttarakhand state. (Times of India)

Law and crime

Assassination of Olof Palme
- Sweden closes the case of the murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986 after 34 years of investigation, indicating Stig Engström as the suspected murderer. (CNN)
Killing of George Floyd
- Several people, including George Floyd's brother, testify about police brutality and systemic racism before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in support of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. (NPR)

Politics and elections

2020 Polish presidential election, LGBT rights in Poland
- Ahead of the upcoming presidential election, President Andrzej Duda vowes to ban teaching about LGBT issues in Polish schools in a bid to secure re-election. Duda is a staunch ally of the ruling right-wing populist Law and Justice party. (Reuters)
2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election
- Sri Lanka postpones, for a second time, the election from June 20 to August 5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)

Sports

Modern display of the Confederate battle flag
- NASCAR announces that the display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all of its events and properties. (ESPN)

June 9, 2020 (Tuesday)

edithistorywatch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Gubio massacre
- Insurgents destroy a village in Gubio, Borno State, Nigeria, killing 81 residents. No group has claimed responsibility for the massacre, which is believed to have been carried out by the Islamist Boko Haram terror group. (BBC)

Arts and culture

The American reality TV program Cops is canceled after 31 years amid police brutality protests. (Washington Post)
The film Gone with the Wind is removed from the HBO Max streaming service. They say the 1939 film, which takes place in Georgia during the American Civil War and the Reconstruction era, was "a product of its time" and depicted "ethnic and racial prejudices" that "were wrong then and are wrong today". (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

53 migrants die when a boat carrying them sinks off the coast of Tunisia on its way to Italy. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- A Harvard University study suggests that COVID-19 may have been spreading in China as early as August 2019. (The Guardian)
China removes pangolin scales from its 2020 list of approved ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine. This comes after China upgraded all species of pangolin from second-class to first-class protected animals considering their rapidly decreasing numbers due to over-hunting and habitat destruction. (Global Times)

International relations

North Korea–South Korea relations
- North Korea announces it is severing hotlines with South Korea in retaliation for actions taken by defectors who sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the border. In addition, South Korea says the North refused to respond to calls to its liaison office. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom
- The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan establishes the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm in order to review statues in London. A statue of merchant and slave owner Robert Milligan is removed. (The Independent)
Tanzanian opposition leader Freeman Mbowe is attacked by unidentified assailants as he enters his home. His party, the Chadema, says the attack may have been politically motivated. (Reuters)
Darfur militia leader Ali Kushayb is handed over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder and rape. He had surrendered in the Central African Republic. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Politics of Burundi
- Incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza dies at the age of 55. Pascal Nyabenda, president of the National Assembly, assumes the presidential office ad interim. (BBC)

June 8, 2020 (Monday)

edithistorywatch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Second Libyan Civil War
- 2019–20 Western Libya campaign, Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War
  - Turkish-backed GNA forces enter the Libyan National Army-held city of Sirte and capture two districts. (Anadolu Agency)
  - The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) says it has received "numerous" reports of looting and destruction of public and private property in the town of Tarhuna, which was recently captured by GNA forces. Videos uploaded to social media appear to show GNA fighters torching the homes of families accused of supporting Khalifa Haftar. (Reuters)
Mali War
- The government orders an inquiry into the killing of 43 civilians in two villages in Mopti. Human rights groups accused the Malian Armed Forces of being responsible for the killings, in a volatile part of the country that has seen a resurgence of insurgent attacks. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

Multinational energy company BP announces in a conference call that it is cutting 15% of its workforce, which is roughly 10,000 jobs. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand
- New Zealand has no active cases, as the last remaining patient is reported to have recovered. (Stuff)
- New Zealand moves to its lowest alert level effective midnight local time (12 UTC), removing most restrictions but maintaining strict border controls. (Stuff)
COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
- Most schools in South Africa re-open after Education Minister Angie Motshekga says that efforts to contain the virus allowed 95% of schools to return to classes. South Africa has recorded nearly 50,000 cases and almost 1,000 deaths. (Reuters)

More June 2020 events...

Time: 13:18 UTC|Day: 14 June