Portal:Current events/2020 May 14

• May 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  • A truck bomb explodes near a court in Gardez, Paktia, Afghanistan, killing five civilians. The Taliban claims responsibility, calling it a retaliation to statements by President Ashraf Ghani blaming the group for an attack on a maternity hospital two days ago. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Cabo Delgado
  • The government of Mozambique announces that 50 Islamist insurgents have been killed in recent operations in Cabo Delgado Province. (Reuters)
• Second Libyan Civil War
  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance is "ready to support" the UN-recognized Government of National Accord. (Libya Observer)
  • 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. (Greek Reporter)
• Colombian conflict
  • An air force raid kills a senior National Liberation Army (ELN) commander and three others in a rural area of Bolívar. (Reuters)
• Gunmen opened fire against two social workers delivering aid for people amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Van Province, Turkey, killing them at the scene. (Xinhua)

• The Vatican announces that Pope Francis is sending a donation to Lebanon for 400 scholarships in an expression of his concern for the country’s young people. Lebanon is experiencing a “severe crisis” that is robbing younger generations of hope. (Catholic News Agency)

• Equinor, a multinational oil company two-thirds owned by the government of Norway, rejected a group of environmental and climate change-related resolutions at its shareholders meeting. One of these called on Equinor to stop oil exploration in ecologically sensitive areas. (Reuters)
• The New York Stock Exchange is expected to partially reopen following Memorial Day. (Forbes)

• 2020 Pacific typhoon season
  • Typhoon Vongfong makes landfall in the Philippines. (CNN)
• The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul in Sheffield, England, suffers damage due to a fire. There were no injuries. A 40-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with arson, burglary and assault of an emergency worker. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey
      • Governor Phil Murphy announces that their beaches will reopen for Memorial Day, but with restrictions. (Politico)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen
    • Save the Children reports a surge in deaths of people with coronavirus-like symptoms in Aden, with at least 380 in the last week. Officially, Yemen has only reported 13 COVID-19 deaths. (BBC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
    • China marks a month without announcing new deaths. (ABC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Seychelles
    • The Seychelles bans cruise ships until the end of 2021 effective immediately, amid fears over COVID-19. (NPR)

• China–United States relations
  • The U.S. Senate unanimously passes a bill placing visa and property sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. (Al Jazeera)

• COVID-19 pandemic in Burundi
  • Burundi expels the country's top World Health Organization representative and three other experts coordinating the COVID-19 response. The government says they are persona non grata and must leave Burundi. They accused them of "interfering with the government response to the pandemic". (Al Jazeera)

• UFO sightings in the United States
  • The United States Navy's Naval Safety Center discloses "hazard reports" of Navy pilot encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena, including an incident in March 2014, in which a fighter jet pilot encountered an "unknown aircraft", which was "approximately the size of a suitcase, and silver in colour." (Sky News)