Portal:Current events/2020 May 9

May 9, 2020 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Second Libyan Civil War
- 2019–20 Western Libya offensive
  - The National Oil Corporation of Libya reports that LNA forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar fired multiple rockets toward Mitiga International Airport, Tripoli's only functioning airport. The rockets hit jet fuel tanks and damaged a plane. (Al Jazeera)
2020 East African Express Airways shootdown
- Ethiopia admits shooting down a Kenyan private aircraft, killing all six on board. The Ethiopian National Defense Force says it believed the plane was on a "potential suicide mission". (Al Jazeera)
At least 20 people are killed when a group of gunmen storm villages in Niger. The militants also loot shops, steal cattle and order villagers to flee. (BBC News)

Law and crime

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan
  - Four civilians are killed in Ghor, Afghanistan, when police open fire on protesters who grew angry at the local distribution of food, which they said favored those with political connections. Two policemen also are killed. Police say they responded when protesters tried to enter the governor's house. (Reuters)

Sports

Live sports returned as UFC 249 occurred. In the Co-main event Henry Cejudo defeated Dominick Cruz to retain his Bantamweight Championship and retired after the win. In the main event Justin Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson to win the Interim UFC lightweight title. This set up a fight with undisputed UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. (The New York Times)