Also, armed conflicts broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in Ethiopia’s Tigray region as most of the world battled Covid-19.

Afghanistan’s seemingly endless war dragged on, even as the warring sides warily edged into peace talks. Massive protests challenged the ruling powers in Belarus and Thailand.

Also, the year ended as it began with tensions between Iran and the US inflamed by the killing of a top official.

Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visit the Canada House in thanks for the hospitality and support they received during their recent stay in Canada, in London, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. Photo: AP

On January 3, a US drone strike killed Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani. Iran responded with a missile attack that injured dozens of US troops in Iraq.

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In December, a mysterious attack near Tehran killed a nuclear scientist whom the US and others had identified as organising Iran’s effort to seek nuclear weapons two decades ago. Iran blamed that attack on Israel.

And throughout 2020, the Trump administration pushed to extend a wall along the US-Mexico border, even as it implemented immigration policies that outraged human-rights advocates.

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The targets included unaccompanied children seeking refuge in the US; hundreds were detained in hotels before being expelled.

The administration also sought to suspend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme that protects some young immigrants from deportation. But a federal judge ruled that new applications for the program must be accepted.

Also read: Iran says Israel remotely killed military nuclear scientist

People gather for a vigil for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, Thursday, June 4, 2020, despite applications for it being officially denied. Photo: AP

Also, China imposed a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong. The ensuing crackdown on dissent effectively voided China’s pledge to allow the city to maintain rights promised for 50 years following the 1997 handover from British colonial rule.

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The arrests of leading opposition figures and the expulsion of local lawmakers – prompting the entire opposition camp to resign – led numerous countries to curtail legal cooperation with Hong Kong. The US imposed travel bans and financial sanctions.

And Lebanon’s capital Beirut was devastated in August by one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded. A fire detonated a stockpile of nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrates left to rot at a port warehouse. 

Also read: Beirut Blast: Death toll climbs to 154

The explosion tore through Beirut, sucking in the air and blowing up homes as windows shattered for miles around.

An injured man stands at the scene of an explosion that hit the seaport in Beirut Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020. Photo: AP

More than 200 people were killed and thousands injured, compounding the woes of a nation already beset by mass protests and economic meltdown.

Also read: China restricts US official travel to Hong Kong

And the October beheading of a teacher by an 18-year-old Chechen outside Paris, followed by the killing of three people in Nice by a Tunisian migrant, prompted France to declare its highest-level security alert.

The attacks came amid a trial over the 2015 massacre at the satiric newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had published cartoons of Islam’s prophet.

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The teacher was beheaded for showing the cartoons to his class while discussing freedom of expression – vigorously defended by President Emmanuel Macron.

President Donald Trump, center, with, from left, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington. Photo: AP

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The caricatures and Macron’s stance fueled calls from Muslim nations to boycott French products, and some French Muslims resented the security crackdown.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scored a diplomatic coup in September by signing historic accords with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at the White House. It was Israel’s first normalisation deal with Arab countries in more than 25 years.

Also read: Israeli PM flew to Saudi Arabia, met crown prince

Later, Sudan and Morocco also pledged warmer official relations with Israel. The moves enabled Netanyahu to deliver welcome accomplishments to his electorate while under fire for his handling of the coronavirus crisis and his ongoing corruption trial.