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PARIS: The COVID-19 pandemic cast a long shadow over 2020, but it also saw President Donald Trump defeated by Joe Biden in a tumultuous US election and the Black Lives Matter movement shook the world.
These are some of the key events of the year:
RAMP VIRUS
On January 11, less than two weeks after alerting a cluster of pneumonia cases “of unknown cause”, Beijing announces its first death from a disease that will become known as COVID-19.
A pandemic was declared in March and a month later half of humanity is locked up as governments strive to stop its spread.
Massive state aid programs are implemented to save jobs as the International Monetary Fund predicts a recession, with the global economy shrinking 4.4 percent.
The year ended with positive news about vaccines after the pandemic hit the world AFP / John Cairns
In November, drug companies announced positive results for several vaccines as a second wave of cases hit the planet.
Within a month, the first injections are being given, but by Christmas around 1.7 million people have died, with the United States being the hardest hit.
READ: Europe launches vaccines in attempt to leave COVID-19 pandemic behind
READ: The COVID-19 pandemic will not be the last: WHO chief
IRANIAN ROULETTE
The world holds its breath after senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani is killed in a US drone strike in Iraq on January 3, days after pro-Iranian protesters stormed the US embassy in Baghdad.
Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike AFP / ANWAR AMRO
Iran retaliates by launching a missile barrage at bases in Iraq hosting US troops. On the same day, he shot down a Ukrainian airliner “by mistake” shortly after taking off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.
Tensions rise again in late November, when Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh is assassinated, and Tehran blames Israel.
Commentary: Assassinating a Top Scientist Makes Killing Iran’s Nuclear Program More Difficult
END OF GAME BREXIT
Britain becomes the first country to leave the European Union on January 31 following its 2016 Brexit referendum.
But crucial talks about future ties and trade with the bloc drag on for months, missing deadline after deadline as negotiators try to avoid a hard Brexit ahead of a last-minute deal on Christmas Eve.
FILE – In this Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 file photo, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, welcomes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of a meeting at the EU headquarters. in Brussels. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool via AP, File)
While British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proclaims victory, Scottish anti-Brexit leader Nicola Sturgeon says his future is “an independent European nation”.
READ: Britain faces major Brexit challenges after last minute deal
US-TALIBAN AGREEMENT
The United States and the Taliban sign an agreement in Doha on February 29, with all foreign forces to leave Afghanistan in May 2021 after nearly two decades of war.
Talks between the Afghan government and the insurgents begin in September, but the fighting continues as the Taliban launch attack after attack and a number of civil society figures are killed.
The Pentagon must withdraw 2,000 of the 4,500 US troops from the country by January 15, 2021.
GEORGE FLOYD DEAD
The murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American, by white police officers on May 25 in Minneapolis, sparks protests across the United States and inspires anti-racist demonstrations around the world.
The Black Lives Matter movement leads to a great debate about race and the overthrow of statues of figures linked to slavery or colonization.
READ: In George Floyd’s hometown, a season of protests at the American polls ends
HONG KONG CLAMPDOWN
In June, a year after a massive wave of demonstrations, China imposes a comprehensive new security law in Hong Kong that opponents say undermines the freedoms of the semi-autonomous city, promised under its handover from Britain in 1997.
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers resigned en masse when authorities disqualified four of their colleagues because of their political views AFP / ANTHONY WALLACE
Pro-democracy lawmakers are toppled, harassed, and arrested. In December, three prominent Hong Kong activists are jailed, including Joshua Wong.
THAIS RISES
The students provoke protests in July that continue for the rest of the year calling for a new constitution, the reform of the untouchable monarchy and the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Thousands of protesters gather at the Lat Phrao intersection in Bangkok. They wear waterproof jackets in preparation for possible dispersal operations by the police, where water mixed with chemical irritants is usually directed at them.
READ: IN FOCUS: Growing divisions between Thailand’s establishment and the youth-led movement
BEIRUT BLAST
A massive explosion on August 4 destroyed much of Beirut’s port and flattened parts of the capital, killing more than 200 and injuring at least 6,500.
The explosion of a large reserve of ammonium nitrate fertilizers devastates an already reeling Lebanese economy and the credibility of its ruling elite.
FIRES AND HURRICANES
Massive wildfires ravage Australia in what is known as its “Black Summer,” while San Francisco and other regions of the west coast of the United States wake up to orange skies in September as the state’s largest hell erupts.
In November, two hurricanes devastate Central America, leaving more than 200 dead.
THE NAVALNY AFFAIR
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is flown to Berlin in a medically induced coma after becoming seriously ill after boarding an internal flight to Moscow.
Tests reveal that he was poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok. Navalny accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to kill him and later publishes a recording in which he appears to trick the alleged responsible agent into telling him that they put poison in his underwear.
CRISIS IN BELARUS
The disputed victory of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the August 9 elections sparked four months of anti-government protests, centered on his main rival, political novice Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Opposition leaders are jailed or taken into exile.
NEW FRIENDS OF ISRAEL
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized ties with Israel on September 15, while the Palestinians condemn the move as a “stab in the back.”
The following month, Donald Trump announces that Sudan is joining them, while in November unconfirmed reports of a secret trip to Saudi Arabia by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked speculation that the kingdom will follow.
In another twist, Morocco “resumed its relations” with Israel on December 10 in exchange for the United States recognizing its claim on Western Sahara.
CHINA-US TENSIONS USA
In 2020, relations between the United States and China plummet, with Trump calling COVID-19 the “China virus” and saying that Beijing is responsible for “a massive global carnage.”
They are also shocked by the repression of the Turkish-speaking Uighur minority in China’s Xinjiang region, as well as by the national security law imposed in Hong Kong.
Commentary: US-China Relations: The Age of Compromise Ends
BIDEN BEATS TRUMP
Deeply divided Americans vote in record numbers in the November presidential election between outgoing Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
US President Donald Trump and President Elect Joe Biden; The Electoral College is ready to confirm Biden’s electoral victory, although Trump has yet to give in. (Photo: AFP / Morry Gash, Jim Watson)
After four days of biting his nails, Biden wins the White House by seven million votes. Trump cries fraud without proof and has yet to admit defeat.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Intense fighting for the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region, which separated from Azerbaijan after a war in the 1990s, continues for 45 days.
Several thousand die before a peace accord negotiated by the Kremlin on November 9, and Armenians lose swaths of territory to Azerbaijani forces.
ETHIOPIA: TIGRAY CONFLICT
Ethiopian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed orders a military response to attacks on federal army camps in the dissident northern region of Tigray.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which has dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades, denies responsibility and says the reported attacks are a pretext for an “invasion.”
Federal forces take the capital of Tigrayan on November 28.
