May 25, 2020 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
- The Bulgarian captain of Portuguese-flagged cargo ship the Tommi Ritscher, who was kidnapped along with seven other sailors by pirates off the coast of Benin last month, is freed. The captain was kidnapped at the port of Cotonou in the Gulf of Guinea on April 19. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- List of earthquakes in 2020, list of earthquakes in New Zealand
- A 5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes 60 miles (97 km) west of Wellington, New Zealand. No injuries are reported. (The Guardian)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifts the state of emergency in all remaining parts of the country, including Tokyo. (Associated Press)
International relations
- European migrant crisis
- The Coast Guard of Libya stops nearly 400 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean in five boats in the past two days, according to the office for migrants of the United Nations. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- The government of Cyprus will deport 17 immigrants suspected of having links to extremist groups or involved in acts of terrorism. (AP News)
- Murder of George Floyd
- A man dies after being restrained by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, subsequently triggering public outrage. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- 2020 Burundian general election
- Candidate for the ruling party, National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy, and retired general Evariste Ndayishimiye wins the election with 68.72% of votes cast amid an election preceded by political violence including the arrest, torture and murder of opposition activists, according to a local human rights group. (Reuters)
- 2020 Surinamese general election
- Citizens of Suriname head to the polls in the country's latest general election. It is the first election after Suriname's president Dési Bouterse was convicted of murder for the December murders in 1982. (BBC News)