2020 – a year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic ------------------------------------------------------ Jan: Australia bushfires Feb: Italy lockdown Mar: Rise of Zoom May: Black Lives Matter Jun: Hong Kong law Aug: Beirut explosion Aug: Belarus protests Nov: U.S. presidency ------------------------------------------------------ JAN 14 Australia’s most intense bushfire season on record destroys 24m hectares of land and kills or displaces three billion animals 23 Wuhan and several other Chinese cities are placed under quarantine as a new strain of coronavirus spreads widely 31 The UK formally leaves the European Union ------------------------------------------------------ FEB 5 The U.S. Senate votes to acquit President Donald Trump of abuse of power at his impeachment trial 9 South Korea’s Parasite is the first non-English language film to win a Best Picture Oscar 23 Italy, with one of the highest coronavirus rates outside China, imposes a strict lockdown ------------------------------------------------------ MAR 11 The WHO recognises the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic 11 Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is jailed for 23 years for sex offences 23 Shares in video conference company Zoom reach record highs as ever more countries encourage social distancing 26 The U.S. Senate passes a $2.2 trillion relief package to combat the Covid-19 pandemic ------------------------------------------------------ APR 8 Chinese authorities lift the lockdown in Wuhan after 11 weeks 20 Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz agree to share power after three indecisive elections ------------------------------------------------------ MAY 6 The discovery of the first black hole visible to the naked eye is announced 20 Cyclone Amphan forces the evacuation of four million people in eastern India and Bangladesh 26 Black Lives Matter protests break out across the U.S. over the death of George Floyd after his arrest in Minneapolis 30 Two U.S. astronauts blast into space atop a Falcon-9 rocket, in NASA’s first use of a rocket from private company SpaceX ------------------------------------------------------ JUN 3 An emergency is declared in Siberia after 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil leak into a river inside the Arctic Circle 8 New Zealand lifts almost all coronavirus restrictions after no new cases are reported 15 India and China conduct the fiercest border clashes in the Himalayas for 40 years 30 China formally adopts a controversial security law giving Beijing unprecedented powers over Hong Kong ------------------------------------------------------ JUL 1 Russia’s constitutional referendum clears the way for President Vladimir Putin to run for two more six-year presidential terms 20 The UAE’s Hope probe is one of three missions to Mars launched in July 23 Comet NEOWISE makes its closest approach to Earth 28 Former Malaysian premier Najib Razak is found guilty of corruption in the first trial related to the 1MDB scandal ------------------------------------------------------ AUG 3 Spain’s former King Juan Carlos I goes into exile after a series of scandals 4 Beirut is devastated when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate ignites in the port area. The huge blast kills 200 people and leaves 300,000 homeless 13 Israel and the UAE agree a historic deal to establish diplomatic relations 16 Mass protests intensify in Belarus, calling for President Alexander Lukashenko to step down following his controversial re-election 22 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is airlifted to Germany after falling ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow – doctors identify novichok poisoning ------------------------------------------------------ SEP 27 Intense fighting erupts between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region, resolved after six weeks by a Russian-brokered peace agreement 29 The global death toll from Covid-19 passes one million. The U.S., Brazil and India account for nearly half of the total ------------------------------------------------------ OCT 17 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wins a landslide election victory in New Zealand 20 NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe successfully touches down on the asteroid Bennu to collect samples for analysis ------------------------------------------------------ NOV 3 Former vice president Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris win most votes in the U.S. presidential election but Donald Trump alleges fraud and refuses to concede 4 Heavy fighting flares in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia between the forces of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the former ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front 9 Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra is impeached and removed from office on corruption charges, sparking deadly protests 19 Positive clinical trial results from three Covid-19 vaccines offer grounds for optimism ------------------------------------------------------ DEC 17 China’s Chang’e 5 mission aims to return moon rock samples to Earth 31 Hopes for 2021 are focused on vaccination programmes to bring Covid-19 under control ------------------------------------------------------ Pictures: Getty Images, Newscom © GRAPHIC NEWS