United States The United States officially declares its intent to withdraw from the World Health Organization in 2021.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics Thousands of people protest outside the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in the capital Belgrade, in response to President Aleksandar Vučić's plan on introducing stricter lockdown measures in Belgrade, due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the city. A small group of protesters storm the building after pushing through a police cordon.
Tom Meighan Tom Meighan, former lead vocalist of the band Kasabian, pleads guilty to assaulting his former partner.
Censorship in Vietnam In what is seen as an increase in arrests of political activists, a court in Vietnam sentences a 29-year-old Facebook user to eight years in prison for making anti-government posts, including several criticizing communist leader Ho Chi Minh. The man was also sentenced to serve three years of house arrest after finishing his prison term.
Assassination of Qasem Soleimani United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnès Callamard concludes, in a report to be presented at the United Nations Human Rights Council, that the killing of Qasem Soleimani in January by the United States was "unlawful". Callamard says that based on U.S. evidence, the killing was "arbitrary" and "violated the UN charter".
Contact tracing is no longer possible across the Southern United States due to rapid COVID-19 surges in the region.
The United States has averaged just under 50,000 new cases daily over the last week, twice as high as a month ago.
Sinovac Biotech is starting Phase III trials of its potential COVID-19 vaccine following a fast-track approval for the trials by Brazilian regulators last week. The study, done in partnership with Brazilian vaccine producer Instituto Butantan, will recruit nearly 9,000 healthcare professionals working in COVID-19-specialized facilities and start this month.
Wildfire Hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers are deployed to battle wildfires in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk Oblast. The fires have killed six people and destroyed more than 120 houses. Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai says some of the fires may have been caused by arson.
Collides At least two people die and over 20 are injured when two trains collide near Pernink in the Czech Republic.
Anshun bus crash A bus carrying students to an exam plunges into a reservoir in Anshun, Guizhou, China, killing 21 and leaving 16 injured.