2020 Beirut explosion, Background, MV Rhosus
Customs officials had sent letters to judges requesting a resolution to the issue of the confiscated cargo, proposing that the ammonium nitrate be either exported, given to the army, or sold to the private Lebanese Explosives Company. Letters had been sent on 27 June and 5 December 2014, 6 May 2015, 20 May and 13 October 2016, and 27 October 2017. One of the letters sent in 2016 noted that judges had not replied to previous requests, and pleaded:


2020 Beirut explosion, Background, MV Rhosus
In view of the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions, we reaffirm our request to please request the marine agency to re-export these goods immediately to preserve the safety of the port and those working in it, or to look into agreeing to sell this amount ...


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Fire and first explosion
Around 6 P.M. on 4 August 2020, a fire broke out in Warehouse 12 at the Port of Beirut. Warehouse 12 was waterside and next to the grain silos; the warehouse stored the ammonium nitrate that had been confiscated from MV Rhosus, alongside a stash of fireworks. Around 17:55 local time (14:55 UTC), a team of nine firefighters and one paramedic, known as Platoon 5, was dispatched to fight the fire. On arrival the fire crew reported there was "something wrong" as the fire was huge and produced "a crazy sound".


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Fire and first explosion
The first explosion, at about 18:07 local time (15:07 UTC), likely triggered by the stored fireworks, sent up a large cloud of smoke and a crackle of bright firework flashes, and heavily damaged the structure of the warehouse itself with a force equivalent to around 1.5-2.5 tons of TNT, the size of a mid-sized truck.


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Final explosion
The second explosion, 33 to 35 seconds later, was much more substantial and was felt in northern Israel and in Cyprus, 240 kilometers (150 miles) away. It rocked central Beirut and sent a red-orange cloud into the air, which was briefly surrounded by a white condensation cloud. The orange-red color of the smoke was caused by nitrogen dioxide, a byproduct of ammonium nitrate decomposition.


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Final explosion
By the next morning, the main fire that led to the explosion had been extinguished.


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Yield
Despite inefficient transmission of the shock waves into the ground, the United States Geological Survey measured the event as a 3.3 local magnitude earthquake, while the Jordan Seismological Observatory reported that it was equivalent to a 4.5 local magnitude earthquake. A study of seismic signatures of the explosion by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Germany produced a yield estimate between 0.5 and 1.1 kt of TNT. Experts from the Blast and Impact Research Group at the University of Sheffield estimated that the explosion was one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Yield
Later, they were able to quantitatively support this rapid estimate as they compiled more distance versus time of arrival data as new videos of the explosion in Beirut became available on social media platforms. Their study found that a best estimate and upper bound prediction of the yield of the explosion are 0.5 and 1.12 kt of TNT, respectively. This is equal to around 1 GWh of energy. Another study used several videos of the explosion to describe the evolution of the fireball size and estimated the Beirut explosion yield to be 0.6 ± 0.3 kt of TNT. The Beirut explosion was similar to explosions of large amounts of ammonium nitrate in Tianjin, China, in 2015; in Texas City, United States, in 1947; or in Toulouse, France, in 2001.


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Yield
An independent estimate by the International Monitoring System of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization based on infrasonic data obtained an explosive yield equivalent to 0.5–1.1 kt of TNT, making it the sixth-largest artificial non-nuclear explosion in human history.


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Cause
Warehouses in the port were used to store explosives and chemicals including nitrates, common components of fertilizers and explosives. The General Director of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, said the ammonium nitrate confiscated from Rhosus had exploded. The 2,750 tonnes (3,030 short tons) of ammonium nitrate was the equivalent to around 1,155 tonnes of TNT (4,830 gigajoules). The failure to remove the materials from the warehouse and relocate them was attributed to mismanagement of the port, corruption of the government, and inaction of the flag registry's country and ship owner.


2020 Beirut explosion, Explosion, Cause
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International said that, according to attendees of a Higher Defence Council briefing, the fire was ignited by workers welding a door at a warehouse. A former port worker said that "[t]here were 30 to 40 nylon bags of fireworks inside warehouse 12" that he had personally seen. An American diplomatic cable on 7 August said it "remains unclear ... whether fireworks, ammunition or something else stored next to the ammonium nitrate might have been involved" in worsening the warehouse fire and igniting the ammonium nitrate. A port worker said Warehouse 12 was "not in regular use", and that "those in charge only used to open the warehouse to stack inside it materials confiscated upon judicial orders or perilous products", though he had not seen this to include any armaments.


2020 Beirut explosion, Casualties
218 people were confirmed dead, and over 7,000 people were injured. Foreigners from at least 22 countries were among the casualties. Furthermore, at least 108 Bangladeshi nationals were injured in the blasts, becoming the most affected foreign community. Also, several United Nations naval peacekeepers who were members of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured by the blast. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that 34 refugees were among the dead and missing, and an additional 124 refugees were injured. At least 150 people became permanently disabled as a result of the explosion.


2020 Beirut explosion, Casualties
All ten members of Platoon 5 died at the scene of the blast. Nazar Najarian, the secretary-general of the Kataeb Party, died after suffering severe head injuries. French architect Jean-Marc Bonfils died after suffering serious injuries at his apartment in the East Village building in Mar Mikhaël. He had been live-streaming the fire at the warehouse on Facebook at the time. Lady Cochrane Sursock, philanthropist and member of the Sursock family, died on 31 August from injuries sustained from the blast.


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage
The explosion overturned cars and stripped steel-framed buildings of their cladding. Within the port area, the explosion destroyed a section of shoreline and left a crater roughly 124 m (407 ft) in diameter and 43 m (141 ft) in depth. Homes as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) away were damaged by the blast, and up to 300,000 people were left homeless by the explosion. The grain silos were largely destroyed, exacerbating food shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a severe financial crisis. About 15,000 tonnes (14,800 long tons; 16,500 short tons) of grain were lost, leaving the country with less than a month's worth of grain in reserve. However, part of the silos' sturdy structure survived, shielding a large area of western Beirut from greater destruction.


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage
The damage from the blast affected over half of Beirut, with the likely cost above $15 billion and insured losses at around $3 billion. Approximately ninety percent of the hotels in the city were damaged and three hospitals completely destroyed, while two more suffered damage. Dozens of injured people brought to nearby hospitals could not be admitted because of the damage to the hospitals. Windows and other installations of glass across the city were shattered.


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage
Saint George Hospital, one of the city's largest medical facilities, was less than 1 kilometer (5⁄8 mile) from the explosion, and was so badly damaged that staff were forced to treat patients in the street. Four nurses died from the initial blast, fifteen patients died after their ventilators stopped working, and several child cancer patients were injured by flying glass. Within hours, after discharging all its patients, and sending some to other facilities, Saint George Hospital was forced to close. The hospital's director of intensive care, Dr. Joseph Haddad, was quoted as saying: "There is no St. George Hospital any more. It's fallen, it's on the floor ... It's all destroyed. All of it."


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage
The Sursock Museum was severely damaged, as were many of its artworks, and some ceramics were completely destroyed. The atelier for the fashion house Sandra Mansour was heavily damaged by the explosion. Sursock Palace, a 160-year-old Beirut landmark that was listed as a cultural heritage site, also sustained heavy damage, as did its many artworks. The Armenian Catholicosate in Antelias sustained great damage. All the stained glass windows of the National Evangelical Church were blown out. The FIBA Asia headquarters was also heavily damaged. Embassies in and around Beirut reported varying degrees of damage to their buildings; the embassies of Argentina, Australia, Finland, Cyprus, and the Netherlands, which were close to the blast, sustained heavy damage, while minor damage was reported from the South Korean, Hungarian, Kazakh, Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Turkish embassies.


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage, Shipping
The cruise ship Orient Queen, berthed nearby, suffered extensive damage and capsized overnight. Two members of the crew were killed, and seven crew members were injured. On 7 August, the first lawsuit related to the explosions was filed by the ship's owners, Abou Merhi Cruises, whose offices were also destroyed.


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage, Shipping
The Bangladesh Navy corvette BNS Bijoy, which participated in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, was also damaged.


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage, Shipping
The edible-oil tanker ship Amadeo II, being used as a bunker barge at the port, was nearest to the explosion, which deposited the mangled remains of the ship on a nearby quay. The ship's crew died in the explosion. Two large livestock carriers, Abou Karim I and Abou Karim III, laid up at the end of Berth 09, very close to Warehouse 12, were heavily damaged. Abou Karim I became unstable, keeled over onto the adjacent Abou Karim III and shortly afterwards capsized. The livestock carrier Jouri and the cargo ships Mero Star and Raouf H were also close to the blast and suffered serious damage; AIS from these ships stopped broadcasting at the time of the explosion.


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage, Shipping
Hapag-Lloyd's offices in Beirut were destroyed. CMA CGM's offices, located a few hundred meters away from the site of the explosion, were severely damaged. One employee died and two were severely injured.


2020 Beirut explosion, Damage, Airport
Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, the city's main airport, about 10 km (6 mi) from the site of the blast, sustained moderate damage to the terminal buildings during the explosion. Doors and windows were destroyed, and ceiling tiles were shaken loose by the shockwave, severing electrical wires. Despite the damage, flights continued.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
The government formed an investigation committee led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, which will submit its findings to the Council of Ministers of Lebanon by 11 August. The committee includes the justice, interior and defence ministers, and the head of the top four security agencies: the Armed Forces, General Security, Internal Security Forces, and State Security. The investigation is to examine whether the explosion was an accident or due to negligence, and if it was caused by a bomb or another external interference. President Aoun rejected calls for an international probe despite demands from world leaders.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
On 5 August, the Council agreed to place sixteen Beirut port officials who had overseen storage and security since 2014 under house arrest, overseen by the army, pending the investigation into the explosions. In addition, the general manager of the port Hassan Koraytem and the former director general of Lebanon's customs authority Shafiq Merhi were arrested. Later, on 17 August, the incumbent director-general of Lebanon's customs authority Badri Daher was also arrested. Also, former ministers of both finance and public works are due to be interrogated by a judge appointed by the Lebanon's High Judicial Council.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
In the meantime, Lebanon's state prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat ordered a travel ban on seven individuals including Hassan Koraytem. On 12 August, Lebanon's caretaker Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm commented on the investigation by saying: "Much of the criticism is warranted due to the slow pace of work and some politicization, but this case is a chance for the Lebanese judiciary to prove they can do their jobs and win back the confidence of the people". On 19 August, a Lebanon judge ordered the arrests of more suspects over the explosion, making the total number of accused 25.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
Lebanese judge Fadi Sawan, who has been responsible for the investigation, summoned former Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ghazi Aridi, Labor Ministers Ghazi Zaiter, Youssef Fenianos, and Michel Najjar, General Director of the Lebanese State Security Tony Saliba, Director General of Lebanon's Land and Maritime Transport division, Abdul-Hafeez Al-Qaisi, and General Director of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
In September, Lebanon's state prosecution asked Interpol to detain two Russian citizens, the captain and the owner of Rhosus, as its cargo of ammonium nitrate was blamed for the explosion. In January 2021, Interpol issued Red Notices against the two Russians as well as a Portuguese man.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
In December 2020, Lebanon's outgoing Prime Minister Diab and three former ministers were charged with negligence over the Beirut port explosion. The former ministers were former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zeiter, and Youssef Fenianos, both former ministers of public works. Zeitar was transport and public works minister in 2014, followed by Fenianos in 2016, who held the job until the beginning of 2020. Khalil was finance minister in 2014, 2016, and until 2020.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
On 28 January 2021, Syrian-Russian businessman George Haswani denied any links to the Beirut explosion. He told Reuters he did not know anything about a company linked to the process of buying a shipment of chemicals that exploded. In an interview with Reuters at his home in Damascus, Haswani said that he had resorted to the Cypriot company Interstatus to register his company, which is the same agent that registered the Savaro company, and that the agent company had moved the registration site of the two companies to the same address on the same day.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
However, Haswani said that he did not know anything about Savaro and that any links between it and his company are just a coincidence because the two companies have the same agent. As stated in previous reports, Reuters was unable to determine whether Haswani had anything to do with Savaro. Haswani said, "I don't know what other companies are registered by this Cypriot company, five or three or 70 or more." "It is a fabricated media whirlwind.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
We don't know Savaro and we hadn't heard about them before this.," Haswani told Reuters, commenting on reports indicating his involvement in the explosion. Interstatus did not respond to a request for comment. Marina Psyllou, the director of the "Interstatus" company, was listed in the registration documents of the company (Savaro) as the only owner and director of the company, but she denied that she was the real manager of the company. He told Reuters in mid-January 2021 that the beneficial owner of the company was another person, whom she refused to identify.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
She added that Savaro was a dormant company that had never conducted business. Haswani said that he was not contacted by any investigators from Lebanon or any other country regarding the explosion and that he will soon work to file a legal case in Paris against media reports linking him to the explosion. He continued, "I am living my life normally and laughing because I am someone who knows well that I have nothing to do with this matter at all. Why would I worry?"


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
On 15 April 2021, six detained people were released, including two officers, although they were not allowed to travel out of Lebanon.


2020 Beirut explosion, Investigation
In September 2021 OCCRP published an investigation, which linked Savaro Limited to a Ukrainian company trading chemicals, directed by Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Verbonol. The report also mentions that only 20% of the nitrate originally stored in the warehouse was actually  left when it exploded, raising questions about what happened with the rest.


2020 Beirut explosion, Relief operations
The Lebanese Red Cross said every available ambulance from North Lebanon, Bekaa, and South Lebanon was being dispatched to Beirut to help patients. According to the agency, a total of 75 ambulances and 375 medics were activated in response to the explosions. Lebanese President Michel Aoun said the government would make up to 100 billion pounds (US$66 million) in aid available to support recovery operations. The ride-sharing app Careem offered free rides to and from hospitals and blood donation centers to anyone willing to donate blood. Volunteers removed debris while local business owners offered to repair damaged buildings for free in the absence of a state-sponsored cleanup operation. A temporary hospital was established in the city by the Iranian Red Crescent Society.


2020 Beirut explosion, Relief operations
Health Minister Hamad Hasan requested that international aid be sent to Lebanon; a number of countries sent in food, medical supplies, field hospitals, medical workers, and rescue teams. On 9 August, a multinational summit hosted by France raised 253 million euros in aid. The money pledged was not to be given to the Lebanese government, but rather to the people of Lebanon through the United Nations, other international organizations, and non-governmental organizations. On 14 August, a $565 million appeal for Lebanon was launched by the United Nations, including initial recovery efforts, as well as immediate humanitarian aid.


2020 Beirut explosion, Relief operations
In the first week after the explosion, civilians gathered in hundreds to volunteer to clean up the debris on the streets and inside homes and businesses in Gemmayze, Achrafieh, and Karantina neighborhoods. Many civil society organizations offered equipment and food to the volunteers, while many residents and businesses opened their homes and hotels for free to those who lost their homes in the blast.


2020 Beirut explosion, Relief operations
UNESCO played a leading role in the rescue and reconstruction of historic buildings, with Blue Shield International assessing the damage to houses, museums and libraries, and the International Council of Museums providing expertise. Blue Shield International, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the Lebanese Armed Forces put together a project to secure and protect cultural assets. According to Karl von Habsburg, founding president of Blue Shield International, the protection of cultural property in Beirut was not only about securing buildings, but also about preventing looting and water damage, taking dangerous chemical substances into account. The efforts also included the restoration of schools.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Domestic
Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced that 5 August, the day after the explosion, would be a national day of mourning. The Lebanese government declared a two-week state of emergency. President Aoun said the government would provide support to displaced people, and the Ministry of Health would meet the expense of treatment for the wounded. Marwan Abboud, the governor of Beirut, said he arrived at the scene to search for firefighters who were on the site attempting to control the fire that was raging before the second explosion. He broke down in tears on television, calling the event "a national catastrophe". “It resembles to what happened in Japan, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That's what [it] reminds me of. In my life, I haven't seen destruction on this scale,” he said. Lebanese civilians from every region in Lebanon came to help by offering food, cleaning the streets, and helping NGOs.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Domestic
Multiple members of the Lebanese parliament resigned in protest, including Marwan Hamadeh, Paula Yacoubian, all three Kataeb Party MPs, Neemat Frem, Michel Moawad, Dima Jamali, and Henri Helou. The Lebanese ambassador to Jordan, Tracy Chamoun, also resigned on live television. On the night of 6 August, the protests against the government that had been ongoing since the previous October resumed, with dozens of protestors near the parliament building calling for the resignation of Lebanese government officials. On 8 August, Diab called for early elections, saying it would be the only way for the country to exit the crisis.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Domestic
On 9 August, the information minister of Lebanon, Manal Abdel Samad and then environment minister, Damianos Kattar resigned, the first government resignations since the explosion. On 10 August, the justice minister, Marie-Claude Najm, also resigned, followed by the resignation of the entire Lebanese cabinet. Shortly after the resignation of the cabinet, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab stepped down from office. President Michel Aoun accepted the resignation of the government and the Prime Minister, and asked the government to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, International
Representatives of multiple countries, as well as the United Nations (UN), offered condolences. In addition to those countries which provided aid, others offered to do so. Notably, Israel offered aid via UN channels, as Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic ties and are technically at war; the offer was refused by the Lebanese government. Former Israeli official Moshe Feiglin hailed the tragedy as a gift from God, celebrating the incident and describing it as a "spectacular firework show." Despite years of conflict, including the 2006 Lebanon War, both Israel and senior Hezbollah officials ruled out Israeli involvement in the explosion, despite claims and allegations spread via social media.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, International
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was activated on 5 August, thus providing for widespread usage of various corporate, national, and international satellite assets on a humanitarian basis. Several countries expressed solidarity by lighting up landmarks and monuments in the colors of the Lebanese flag, including the Tel Aviv City Hall, whereas the Eiffel Tower in Paris went dark at midnight, and the Arab League flew its flag at its headquarters in Cairo at half-mast. Some figures from the Israeli right-wing criticized the display of the flag of Lebanon, an "enemy state", in Tel Aviv. There was also backlash inside Lebanon against the Israeli gesture.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, International
As a result of the explosion, concerns were raised about the storage of ammonium nitrate in other ports across the world. Large quantities of the chemical compound were removed from storage in Egypt, India, Romania, and Senegal.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, International
In August 2021, a memorial event marking the one-year-anniversary of the explosion was held in tribute to the victims at the Port of Beirut, joined by UN officials and International Labour Organization Regional Director Ruba Jaradat.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Conspiracy theories
Numerous conspiracy theories emerged on social media in the days following the explosion. The main themes were that there was a significant weapons cache belonging to Hezbollah stored at the Port of Beirut, and that Israel wished to destroy those weapons. The theories said that Israel launched an attack and the level of destruction took them by surprise. Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah have allegedly all conspired to deny this and blame the ammonium nitrate stored in the port.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Conspiracy theories
The apparent motives were that Israel did not want to be blamed for the level of destruction, Hezbollah did not want to be blamed for storing a significant amount of weapons in Beirut, and Lebanon is in the grip of a political and economic crisis and not denying the theories could lead to a significantly worse situation.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Conspiracy theories
Israeli military jets have been seen over Beirut both before and after the explosion. Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly in September 2018 highlighting that Hezbollah were believed to be storing weapons in Beirut, albeit in the vicinity of the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, some 10 km from the Port of Beirut. Netanyahu has furthermore claimed there is a Hezbollah arms manufacturing facility in the Jnah neighbourhood in Beirut, a claim Hezbollah denies. Danny Danon, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, is quoted as stating “The Port of Beirut has become the Port of Hezbollah.”  This led to conspiracy theorists believing that Israel knew that Hezbollah were storing arms in the Port of Beirut.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Conspiracy theories
It has been noted by military reporters that it is a possibility that Israel could have attacked the warehouse at the port without knowing how much explosive material it contained, although this would be unusually careless of the Israeli military.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Conspiracy theories
Following the blast, US President Donald Trump asserted that the explosion was the result of an attack, but this was later contradicted by The Pentagon. There is suspicion around French President Emmanuel Macron visiting Lebanon, a former French colony, at least three times to resolve the crisis.


2020 Beirut explosion, Reactions, Conspiracy theories
The conspiracy theorists alleged during these visits Macron was doing a secret deal to cover up the 'true' cause of the explosion and this deal might have had wider implications for the continuation of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was due to cease operations by July 2021 due to a lack of funds.


2020 Belarusian Athletics Championships
The 2020 Belarusian Athletics Championships (Belarusian: Чэмпіянат Беларусі па лёгкай атлетыцы 2020) was the national championship in outdoor track and field for Belarus. It was held from 30 July – 2 August at Dinamo Stadium in Minsk.


2020 Belarusian First League
2020 Belarusian First League is the 30th season of 2nd level football in Belarus. It started in April and finished in November 2020.


2020 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2019 season
Two best teams of 2019 Belarusian First League (Belshina Bobruisk and Smolevichi), as well as third-placed Rukh Brest (who won the promotion/relegation play-off) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. They were replaced by 15th-placed teams of 2019 Belarusian Premier League (Gomel) and 14th-placed Dnyapro Mogilev (who lost the play-off to Rukh Brest). 16th-placed Premier League team Torpedo Minsk disbanded, leaving a vacancy in the First League.


2020 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2019 season
Last placed team of the last season (Baranovichi) relegated to the Second League. They were replaced by two best teams of 2019 Second League (Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and Oshmyany).


2020 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2019 season
NFK Minsk reverted their name to Krumkachy Minsk during the winter break.


2020 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2019 season
Dnyapro Mogilev ceased to exist in the spring. To fill in two vacant spots left by Dnyapro and Torpedo and to return to 16 participants, two teams were additionally promoted (Molodechno and Underdog Chist as the 3rd- and 4th-placed Second League teams). However, as both clubs represent neighboring cities, Molodechno were unable to secure the necessary financial support from the Maladzyechna Raion administration (who decided to fully support Underdog instead) and were forced to give up the promotion. Underdog Chist, however, were also excluded a few weeks later due to financial problems of their own, and the league was left with only 14 participants for the season.


2020 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2019 season
As a result of investigation of match-fixing incidents during 2017 and 2018 seasons, five clubs were punished with points deductions before the start of the season.


2020 Belarusian First League, Promotion play-offs, Second leg
Slutsk won 4–1 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.


2020 Belarusian First League, Relegation play-offs, Second leg
Khimik Svetlogorsk won 4–0 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.


2020 Belarusian Premier League
The 2020 Belarusian Premier League was the 30th season of top-tier football in Belarus. Dynamo Brest were the defending champions, having won their first league title last year. Shakhtyor Soligorsk became champions on the last play date by beating FC Minsk 4–2. Meanwhile, BATE Borisov didn't win and drew 0–0 at Dinamo Minsk so Shaktyor Soligorsk finished 1 point above BATE in the table and will play in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League.


2020 Belarusian Premier League
By late March 2020, it was the only European top-flight league being contested, as all others were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic; games were played with crowds. As a result, this led to substantially increased viewership from all over the world, due to sporting inactivity elsewhere.


2020 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
The 15th-placed team of the last season Gomel was relegated to the 2020 Belarusian First League. Torpedo Minsk were excluded from the league halfway through the last season and will not play in any league in 2020. Gomel and Torpedo were replaced by two best teams of 2019 Belarusian First League (Belshina Bobruisk and Smolevichi).


2020 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
14-placed team of the last season (Dnyapro Mogilev) were relegated after they lost relegation/promotion playoffs against First League third-placed team Rukh Brest (who were promoted to replace Dnyapro).


2020 Belarusian Premier League, Results
Each team plays home-and-away once against every other team for a total of 30 matches played each.


2020 Belarusian Premier League, Relegation play-offs
The 14th-place finisher of this season (Slutsk) were played a two-legged relegation play-off against the third-placed team of the 2020 Belarusian First League (Krumkachy Minsk) for a spot in the 2021 Premier League.


2020 Belarusian Premier League Reserves Championship
2020 Belarusian Premier League Reserves Championship is the official reserve season football in Belarus. It will start in March and finish in November.


2020 Belarusian Premier League Reserves Championship
The league consists of Reserves sides matching those competing in the 2020 Belarusian Premier League.


2020 Belarusian Premier League Reserves Championship, Results
Each team plays home-and-away once against every other team for a total of 30 matches played each.


2020 Belarusian Second League
2020 Belarusian Second League is the 30th season of 3rd tier football in Belarus. It started in April and will finish in November 2020.


2020 Belarusian Super Cup
The 2020 Belarusian Super Cup was held on 4 March 2020 between the 2019 Belarusian Premier League champions Dinamo Brest and the 2018–19 Belarusian Cup winners Shakhtyor Soligorsk. Dinamo Brest won the match 2–0 and won the trophy for the third time.


2020 Belarusian presidential election
The 2020 Belarusian presidential election was held on Sunday, 9 August 2020. Early voting began on 4 August and ran until 8 August.


2020 Belarusian presidential election
Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko was announced by the Lukashenko controlled Central Election Commission to have won a sixth term in office, crediting him with 80% of the vote. Lukashenko has won every presidential election since 1994, with all but the first being labelled by international monitors as neither free nor fair.


2020 Belarusian presidential election
Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed to have won a decisive first-round victory with at least 60% of the vote, and called on Lukashenko to start negotiations. Her campaign subsequently formed the Coordination Council to facilitate a transfer of power and stated that it was ready to organize "long-term protests" against the official results. All seven members of the Coordination Council Presidium were subsequently arrested or went into exile.


2020 Belarusian presidential election
All opposition candidates have filed appeals to the Central Election Commission calling for the results to be invalidated. The election was marred by claims of widespread electoral fraud. Numerous countries refused to accept the result of the election, as did the European Union, which imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials deemed to be responsible for "violence, repression and election fraud". The results of the election led to widespread protests in Belarus.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Background
On 8 May 2020, the National Assembly set 9 August as the date for the presidential election.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Background
Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko has been leading the country since the first presidential elections held in 1994. Over the next two years, he rapidly consolidated his power. In 1995, he won a referendum that gave him the power to dissolve the legislature if he felt it contravened the Constitution. In 1996, he won another referendum that dramatically increased his power, and also extended his original five-year term to 2001. Since then, his regime has been reckoned as an authoritarian dictatorship by Western observers.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Background
Opposition activists are often pressured or detained by the government, and Lukashenko or those loyal to him control (as of 2020) all of the seats in both houses of the National Assembly, all judicial appointments, the media, and the CEC (which has the power to approve or deny candidates for political offices).


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Electoral system
The President of Belarus is elected using the two-round system. If no candidate obtains over 50% of the vote, a second round is held with the top two candidates. The winner of the second round is elected. A turnout quorum of 50% is applied.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Electoral system
Despite the two-round system being in place, a second round has not been officially required since 1994. In the previous four elections, Lukashenko claimed margins of 77% or more in the first round. No election since 1994 has met international standards of transparency and fairness.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates, Registered candidates
To register as a candidate, each candidate was required to meet certain criteria:


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates, Registered candidates
The following list has information about registered candidates by the CEC for the presidential election on 21 July 2020.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates, Declined candidates
In January 2020, five opposition forces, the Movement "For Freedom", Belarusian Christian Democracy, Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly), BPF Party and United Civic Party of Belarus reached a definite agreement to hold primaries to field a single candidate from the Belarusian opposition. Yury Hubarevich (For Freedom), Paval Sieviaryniec, Volha Kavalkova (both BCD), Aliaksei Yanukevich (BPF) and Mikalai Kazlou (UCPB) were listed as potential candidates.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates, Declined candidates
The Belarusian Green Party announced that it would not participate in the primaries and the election.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates, Declined candidates
The Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" called for a boycott of the election, describing the election a "political farce″.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Candidates, Collection of signatures
Most government organizations forced their employees to sign for Alexander Lukashenko under threats that their work contracts would not be renewed.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
On 7 May, Belarusian blogger and entrepreneur Syarhei Tsikhanouski has announced on his YouTube channel "Country for Life" that he intended to become a candidate in the presidential election. Prior to this event, on 6 May, he was detained by the Belarusian police in the vicinity of Mahilyow.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
The police officers refused to present identification (confirming that they were legitimate policemen) and threatened to break the windows of the car that Tsikhanouski was in. Prior to that, a crowd of Tsikhanouski's supporters in Mahilyow released a member of Tsikhanouski's team from the police. A day later, allies of Tsikhanouski were arrested, including a blogger from Slutsk, Uladzimier Niaronski. The Tsikhanouski's team, including Niaronski, were chased by road police and two minivans with members of the police special forces AMAP.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
The blogger's arrest was due to his trips around Belarus that covered consequences of Lukashenko’s 26-year tenure as a president. The Tsikhanouski trips were popular and gathered hundreds of people who spoke out to him about violations of human rights and economic problems. During these trips, Tsikhanouski and his team were constantly chased by cars with people who were recording him and his activities; presumably they were employees of the Belarusian special services.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
After the Tikhanovski was arrested, his supporters held a series of protests across the Belarus. According to Radio Liberty, 20 to 30 people were detained in Homiel, which is Tsikhanouski's hometown. Viasna Human Rights Centre reported that at least 19 of his supporters were brutally detained in Minsk.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
After his arrest, Tsikhanouski was transported to Homiel, where he was placed in a temporary detention center. The formal reason for his detention was his participation in the rally against the integration of Belarus with Russia on 19 December 2019 in Minsk. After his detention, Tsikhanouski has announced on his YouTube channel his intention to run for president of Belarus. The video had recorded 250,000 views in 20 hours after the publication. The aforementioned YouTube channel had 276,000 subscribers as of 10 August. However, the Central Election Commission of Belarus refused to register the initiative group to nominate him.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
His spouse, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, decided to apply for election as a candidate, her initiative group was successfully registered by the Central Election Commission of Belarus. Tsikhanouski became the head of the initiative group to collect signatures for Tikhanovskaya's participation in the election.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
On 20 May, Tsikhanouski was released from the temporary detention center. He explained that the pressure of activist supporters helped to achieve it. In an interview with Tsikhanouski after his release, Deutsche Welle drew parallels between the Belarusian blogger and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the Ukrainian actor Volodymyr Zelensky, who became the president of Ukraine. RTVI also drew a parallel between Tsikhanouski and Navalny.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Tsikhanouski then began travelling round the country to hold pickets in order to collect signatures for Tsikhanouskaya. Tsikhanouski's pickets were very popular and attracted thousands of people. The queue to the picket in Minsk near Kamarouski market was half a mile long. Several thousand people also attended the picket of Tsikhanouski in Homiel. Tsikhanouski announced that he was collecting signatures for fair election in Belarus.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Tsikhanouski uses the slogan "Stop the cockroach!" in his campaign, which is chanted by his supporters. The symbol of the campaign is a slipper. The slogan "Stop the cockroach!" refers to the fairy tale "Cockroach" by Soviet poet Kornei Chukovsky about how a "moustached cockroach" intimidated all the animals and became their ruler. Apparently, this slogan is a reference to the current leadership of Belarus. Slippers are supposedly a traditional means of pest control. Euronews journalists called the events in Belarus the "Slipper Revolution", demonstrating the quote of the Belarusian activist Franak Viačorka with this phrase.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
On 29 May, Tsikhanouski visited Hrodna to collect signatures for his wife. On the same day, the head of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko alluded to Tsikhanouski at a meeting with workers of Minsk Tractor Works: "They come cool, all in jeeps — 10-12 cars... we know whose cars he drives, who finances it. We know where he comes from, what his citizenship is and stuff... We all know that. I'm already looking, they're giving me information, our people have already seen it."


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Tsikhanouski commented on Lukashenko's statement to the Nasha Niva newspaper: "My last name isn't there, but a hint of me: "We know his citizenship." They have information, analytical work! I have one citizenship, I never had any other. In terms of money — I've had business since 2005, I have money."


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
A few hours after Lukashenko's statement, when Tsikhanouski was talking with the residents of Hrodna, nearby there was a provocation, where a policeman fell by himself and was lying on the ground whistling. One minute and thirteen seconds later, Tsikhanouski was detained by AMAP. Eight vans arrived to detain him. The soldiers of the special unit escorted Tsikhanouski into a police GAZelle van without showing their IDs. During the arrest, the van's door was broken. The blogger's supporters tried to stop the vans from leaving the place of detention. Unidentified people in tracksuits then cleared the way for the police transport to leave in a struggle with Tsikhanouski's supporters. The supporters then went to the police station in Hrodna to demand the blogger's release.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Shortly after Tsikhanouski's arrest, Belarusian state-owned TV channel Belarus 1 showed a story where the events in Hrodna were covered as follows: "From the very first minutes, this collection of signatures turned into a rally, and according to the law, it is prohibited to hold campaign meetings at this stage of the election campaign. As a result, this manner of communication turned into a scuffle. The police, trying to restore order, found themselves in the epicenter of the scuffle, which was arranged on the square. One of the police officers was attacked."


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
The leader of the United Civil Party, retired lieutenant colonel of the Belarusian police, Mikalai Kazlou, noted that during his speech at Minsk Tractor Plant, Alexander Lukashenko "gave the command to screw, twist, throw in jail, and the minister immediately seized this opportunity and created a provocation". Kazlou also noted that all the policemen involved in this provocation would be exposed and brought to justice.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
According to the Vesna Human Rights Centre, at least 13 people were detained, including two members of Tsikhanouskaya's initiative group and three assistants of Tsikhanouski. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus announced that investigators had opened a criminal case for violence against police officers.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Tsikhanouskaya made an official statement regarding the detention of her husband and the head of the headquarters of her initiative group in Hrodna: "I officially declare: Today, 29 May, during a picket in Hrodna in support of my candidacy for the presidency there was a "dirty" provocation against Syarhei Leanidovich Tsikhanouski, head of the headquarters of my initiative group. He was detained. I declare responsibly that the picket was legal and peaceful.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
In connection with this, I demand the immediate release of the head of my initiative group, otherwise, I will regard it as a violation of my constitutional rights and pressure on me as a candidate for the presidency of Belarus". She promised to submit relevant applications to the CEC and the Interior Ministry.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
The first two mass rallies after registration by the Tsikhanouskaya campaign were held on 19 July in Banhalore Square in Minsk and the city of Dzyarzhynsk with an audience of around 7,500. She was joined on stage by Babaryka's campaign manager Maryja Kalesnikava and Tsepkalo's wife Veranika as they had announced earlier that they would merge their campaigns.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Local governments cancelled several campaign events that Tsikhanouskaya had planned to hold in the run-up to the elections.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, "Female Solidarity"
Before the 2020 presidential election, Alexander Lukashenko insisted that Belarus is not ready for a woman to be president. On 17 July 2020, the three women representing the main opposition candidates (Tsikhanouskaya, Tsepkalo's wife Veronica and Babaryka's campaign manager Maryja Kalesnikava) merged their campaigns, pitting "Female Solidarity" to fight Lukashenko.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Pressure by authorities
Viktar Babaryka was detained on 18 June during the reported arrest of several hundred opposition supporters. Charges of embezzlement and fraud have been brought against Babaryka, who is currently being held in a State Security Committee detention centre in Minsk.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Pressure by authorities
Valery Tsepkalo, who was not allowed to register as a candidate, and has "gone to Moscow with his children, fearing for his safety". During an interview, Tsepkalo mentioned that his friends in law enforcement agencies warned "an order had gone out for my arrest". Tsepkalo said he planned to give press conferences in Russia, Ukraine, Western Europe and the United States to expose "the true nature of the Belarusian regime." His wife, Veronika Tsepkalo, is remaining in Belarus to help the campaign of Lukashenko's main competitor in the election, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Pressure by authorities
In June, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya released a video saying that she had been threatened with arrest, and her children being taken away if she continued to campaign. She had to send her children abroad to live with their grandmother for their safety. The children of opposition candidates have been taken away before and put into state orphanages.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Pressure by authorities
According to Belarusian Electoral Code (articles 45 and 451), local authorities have to determine some outdoor sites for rallies and meetings, where mass events are possible. In Minsk, the authorities allowed six sites to be used for this purpose (none of them in the city centre) while only one site was usually allocated in each of the small towns. During the 2020 election, the authorities and confidants of Lukashenko widely used booking of these sites to prevent independent candidates to meet with people.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Pressure by authorities
In Pinsk (Brest region), local authorities provided only one site for meetings with candidates, and this site was booked by a confidant of Lukashenko (Tacciana Lugina, mayor of Pinsk) from 24 July to 8 August. Due to this, Tsikhanouskaya failed to visit Pinsk on 2 August. In Stolin (Brest region), the only site was booked by Lugina too from 27 July to 8 August every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Pressure by authorities
On 4 August, Tsikhanouskaya planned to visit Slutsk and Salihorsk (Minsk region). On 3 August, local authorities of Slutsk informed the confidant of Tsikhanouskaya that the meeting couldn't be held due to "urgent repair" of the only provided site, but they didn't provide the alternative site (as requried by law). The meeting in Salihorsk was also cancelled by the authorities at the last moment. The people who gathered in Slutsk and Salihorsk were asked to leave and those who refused were arrested. Meetings with another independent candidate Andrey Dmitriyeu in Liepiel and Polatsk (Viciebsk region) were cancelled at the last moment for similar reasons.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Pressure by authorities
On 6 August, Tsikhanouskaya was forced to cancel a previously announced rally in Minsk due to full booking at all six sites in the city that were made available by the authorities. Instead, she, with Veranika Tsepkalo and Maryja Kalesnikava, visited one of the booked sites and invited people to join them, but the policemen did not allow three of them to come in. During the event, DJs put the song "[We Want] Changes!" by Viktor Tsoi and thus supported Tsikhanouskaya. They were later sentenced to detention for 10 days.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Pressure by authorities
On 8 August, Maryja Maroz (campaign manager of Tsikhanouskaya) and Maryja Kalesnikava (see above) were arrested, but Kalesnikava was freed a few hours later.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Campaign, Solidarity
Demonstrations in solidarity with the Belarusian opposition have been held in more than 20 countries and in more than 30 cities around the world.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Opinion polls
According to a poll conducted back in March–April 2020 by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the level of trust of current Lukashenko in the capital city of Belarus is 24%. At the same time, 11% of the poll participants trust the Central Election Commission.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Opinion polls
The state-affiliated analytical center "Ecoom" commissioned by the state TV channel ONT, which was criticized for its biased coverage of the election campaign {{cn}} , conducted a sociological survey of electoral moods and preferences of citizens. According to this data, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko enjoyed support of 72.3% of citizens. At the same time, no more than 10% in total were ready to vote for the remaining candidates.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Opinion polls
Opinion polling in Belarus requires a government license. Media outlets are also banned from conducting online polls regarding the election.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Oversight
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported that it would not be monitoring the 2020 election as it had not been sent a timely invitation. It had not recognised any elections in Belarus as free and fair since 1995. Only Russia and Azerbaijan were participating as international observers during the election. On 4 August 2020, the first day of early voting in the election, the CEC reported a turnout of almost 5%. However, independent observers disputed this figure and claimed that it was inflated.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Oversight
In several polling stations, curtains were deliberately removed from the vote cabins, leaving them covered on only three sides.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Oversight
A few days prior to the election, a number of journalists and bloggers were arrested on weak and spurious charges, or were denied accreditation to cover the elections, bringing the total to over 100 arrests made since January. It was thought that the government wants to reduce external scrutiny of the election.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Oversight
Honest People, an independent association in Belarus that monitors elections, reported having found 5096 violations from observers. They also questioned the election commission's reported turnout statistics. The group said that around 70 election observers were detained.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results
Turnout was said to be 4.98% on 4 August, 12.75% on 5 August, 22.47% on 6 August, and 32.24% on 7 August.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results
On 9 August, turnout was reported to be 84.05% as of 20:00, more than the 50% required to validate the election.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Exit poll
According to Russian government-owned media outlet RIA Novosti, official exit polls indicated a win for Lukashenko. The below figures are widely disputed by opposition figures, including Tikhanovskaya.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Results
The result of the vote, "as in previous elections, was never in any real doubt" and had a "foregone nature" according to The New York Times, stating that Lukashenko "controls vote counting, [and abused] a vast security apparatus and a noisy state media machine unwavering in its support for him and contempt for his rivals." Tsikhanouskaya, the principal challenger, was stated to have gone into hiding in Minsk after security agents detained at least eight members of her campaign staff on the day of the election.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Protocols of the polling stations
Once the votes have been duly counted, polling stations in Belarus write a "Protocol" (report) which sums up the election tallies. The Protocol is then displayed for passers-by.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Protocols of the polling stations
People took photos of the protocols, which testified that in many stations in the Minsk capital, and in foreign consulates, the support for Tsikhanouskaya was roughly equal or even several times higher than of Lukashenko.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Protocols of the polling stations
Belarusian political scientist Valer Karbalevich stated that the local protocols and final results are completely uncorrelated.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Protocols of the polling stations
Although the Electoral Code of Belarus requires to hang out the protocols on every voting station (article 55), it was reported that some stations didn't make them public. The Central Electoral Commission of Belarus stated that no such info was known and reported that there are no specific requirements to the procedure of announcement of the local protocols. While responding to complaints, the Committee announced that it cannot publish the protocols once again, adding that they were delivered to regional committees only, which disbanded after the announcement of final results.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Protocols of the polling stations
Although the voting papers should be kept for 6 months, a Brest-based human rights activist obtained a big bale of partially burned voting papers a few days after the election: according to him, they were to be burned in the boiler room.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Internet initiatives, Self-counting
The Voice (Russian: Голос, romanized: Golos, Belarusian: Голас, romanized: Holas) initiative invited Belarusian citizens to submit photographs of both sides of their voting papers, together with their voting bureau locations. The aim was to make all photographs available as a public photographic database, enabling cross-checks against the official results.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Internet initiatives, Self-counting
On 15 August 2020, Voice claimed to have had 1,248,714 valid voting papers recorded, about 18% of the voting population. As of 28 August 2020, Voice updated its count to 1,049,334 unique confirmed votes recorded, with 545,947 verified ballot photos.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Internet initiatives, Protocols vs Official data and photographs
On 21 August 2020, a final report by the Voice, partnering with the "Zubr" and "Honest People" platforms analyzed polling station results. For 1310 out of the total of 5767 polling stations, there were photographs of the protocols.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Results, Internet initiatives, Protocols vs Official data and photographs
The Voice report on the analysis of the official data, calculated that if both official results and photographs were correct, then at the polling stations where comparison was not possible (4457 out of 5847), Tsikhanouskaya would have to have had about 3% support. At the stations for which data were published, she received (according to Voice's analysis of the official data) 25% of the votes overall, split into 57% in the voting areas where she led, and 20% in those where she trailed. Voice described these differences as "extreme anomalies".


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
After state TV revealed the results of an exit poll showing a landslide Lukashenko victory, clashes between protesters and riot police broke out in Minsk. Reports of injuries and the use of stun grenades and rubber bullets emerged.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
The main opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said in a news conference that she did not trust the exit poll, saying, "I believe my eyes, and I see that the majority is with us".


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
As polling closed many internet service providers lost routing, the communication losses were widespread as police and military closed down most of Minsk.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
On the second night after the very likely falsified results were announced, protesters barricaded the area around the Rīga market. Security forces responded by tear-gassing the protesters and using flashbangs.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
After being released from a seven-hour-long detention on election night following her submission of a formal complaint to the Central Election Commission (CEC), Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was escorted by Belarusian security services to Lithuania, reportedly a condition of a deal securing the release of her campaign manager, Maria Moroz.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
On 11 August, Tsikhanouskaya released a video reading from a script following her detainment, seemingly filmed under duress and promoted on state-sponsored media, in which she called upon the people of Belarus to stop protesting and accept the victory of Lukashenko. The strong change in message and demeanor of Tsikhanouskaya post-detainment led allies to insist the video was coerced, likening it to a hostage video. She had previously sent her children abroad before the elections for their safety.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
On 14 August, Tikhanovskaya, now in Lithuania, published another video in which she claimed to have won the presidential election with between 60 and 70% of the vote, more than enough to defeat Lukashenko outright. She called for the creation of a transitional council of "civil society activists, respected Belarusians and professionals" to handle the transfer of power from Lukashenko. She also encouraged her supporters to sign an online petition calling for a recount of the election.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
Arrests and violence against protesters, including claims of torture, increased in the week after the election resulting in calls for international sanctions against the perpetrators.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
On 19 August, the Belarusian Central Election Committee said that Mr Lukashenko would be inaugurated as president for a new term within the next two months.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath
On 16 November 2020, BBC reported that more than 1,000 people were arrested during the demonstrations in Belarus, over the disputed presidential election. The police fired rubber bullets at protesters and also used tear gas to disperse the crowd.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath, Deaths
29-year-old Konstantin Shishmakov, director of the Volkovysk Military History Museum named after Bagration, disappeared on 15 August. He refused to sign the protocol of the election commission, called his wife at about 5 PM local time and said: "I will not work here anymore; I am going home." But he never came home.


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath, Deaths
Later, he was found dead. This was announced by the search and rescue squad "Angel".


2020 Belarusian presidential election, Aftermath, Deaths
"It all started on the 9th [of August], - the father recalls. - When he was on the election commission. There was another guy with him - I do not remember his last name, I will not name it. The two of them did not sign the final protocol. According to his son, they signed for them. He called his wife and talked about it."


2020 Belarusian presidential election, International reactions
Countries and organisations have voiced their opinions with some accepting and some rejecting the election result. Many have commented about the protests with more condemning the violence.


2020 Belgian Athletics Championships
The 2020 Belgian Athletics Championships (Dutch: Belgische kampioenschappen atletiek 2020, French: Championnats de Belgique d'athlétisme 2020) are the year's national outdoor track and field championships for Belgium. These are being held from 14 August to 16 August at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, with the exception of the hammer throw events which took place in Kessel-Lo. The national championships in 10,000 metres and women's 3000 metres steeplechase took place on Saturday 27 September in Braine-l'Alleud. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no supporters were present at any of the events.


2020 Belgian Cup Final
The 2020 Belgian Cup Final, named Croky Cup after the sponsor, was the 65th Belgian Cup final. It was originally scheduled to take place on 22 March 2020, but was postponed to 1 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium. The match was played without supporters and saw Club Brugge play Antwerp. Prior to the match, Club Brugge had already won the Belgian Cup 11 times, with their most recent appearance the 2016 Belgian Cup Final loss against Standard Liège. Antwerp featured in the cup final for the fourth time, with their previous final already 26 years ago when the club beat Mechelen on penalty kicks.


2020 Belgian Cup Final
Defending champions Mechelen were unable to defend their title as they were found guilty of match-fixing as part of the investigation surrounding the 2017–19 Belgian football fraud scandal and therefore banned from the competition for one season.


2020 Belgian Cup Final, Pre-match
Both clubs were only allowed to use players that were part of the squad during the 2019–20 season, meaning that newly signed players during the summer 2020 transfer window were not eligible, while all players who had already left could of course no longer be used either. Antwerp was hampered due to this as no less than nine players had left the club over the summer up to that point, most notably including goalkeeper Sinan Bolat, defenders Dino Arslanagić, Wesley Hoedt and Daniel Opare, midfielders Steven Defour and Kevin Mirallas; and striker Zinho Gano. On the other hand, Club Brugge had seen almost no departures, with Percy Tau most influential.


2020 Belgian Darts Championship
The 2020 Belgian Darts Championship was the first of four PDC European Tour events on the 2020 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at the Expo Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium, from 28 February–1 March 2020. It featured a field of 48 players and £140,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.


2020 Belgian Darts Championship
This was the first PDC European Tour event to take place in Belgium.


2020 Belgian Darts Championship
Gerwyn Price won his third European Tour title with an 8–3 win over Michael Smith in the final.


2020 Belgian Darts Championship, Prize money
This is how the prize money is divided, with the prize money being unchanged from the 2019 European Tour:


2020 Belgian Darts Championship, Qualification and format
The top 16 entrants from the PDC ProTour Order of Merit on 4 February will automatically qualify for the event and will be seeded in the second round.


2020 Belgian Darts Championship, Qualification and format
The remaining 32 places will go to players from four qualifying events and to two invitees – 24 from the Tour Card Holder Qualifier (held on 14 February), two from the Associate Member Qualifier (held on 27 February), three from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 27 February) and one from the East European Associate Member Qualifier (held on 7 February).


2020 Belgian Darts Championship, Qualification and format
The two highest ranked Belgian players on the cut-off date will also qualify.


2020 Belgian Darts Championship, Qualification and format
From 2020, all Tour Card holders will enter into one qualifier instead of two separate ones for the UK and Europe. For this tournament, there is no Nordic & Baltic qualifier due to the event being a late addition to the calendar. The place will be taken by an extra Host Nation qualifier.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix
The 2020 Belgian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix 2020) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 August 2020 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium. The race was the seventh round in the 2020 Formula One World Championship.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
A minute of silence was held before the race to mark the one year anniversary of Anthoine Hubert's death and Pierre Gasly, one of Hubert' s best friends, wore a tribute helmet for Hubert. All drivers and teams put a star sticker on their chassis and helmets in tribute to Hubert.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Background, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
The opening rounds of the 2020 championship were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed after the planned opening round in Australia was called off two days before the race was due to take place, prompting the FIA to draft a new calendar. However, the Belgian Grand Prix was not impacted by this change and kept its original date.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Background, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
In April 2020, the Belgian government extended a ban on mass gatherings until 31 August 2020 in a bid to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the race later received permission to be held behind closed doors.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Background, Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as those on the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for either the race or practice.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Background, Tyres
Pirelli brought forward the C2, C3 and C4 tyres for the race weekend, the second, third, and fourth hardest tyre compounds available.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Practice
The first practice session took place without major incident and ended with Valtteri Bottas fastest for Mercedes ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi were all unable to set a lap due to power unit issues for the Haas cars and unexplained issues for Giovinazzi's Alfa car. In the second practice session, Max Verstappen was fastest for Red Bull, ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Hamilton in the Mercedes.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Practice
Daniel Ricciardo suffered a hydraulics issue on the Kemmel straight shortly after setting the second fastest time resulting in a virtual safety car. A short red flag period followed soon due to an advertising billboard coming loose and falling on the track at turn 1. In the third and final practice session, Hamilton was fastest followed by Esteban Ocon for Renault and Lando Norris for McLaren. Ferrari, who had won the previous Belgian Grand Prix struggled in third practice with Charles Leclerc 17th and Sebastian Vettel last.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton took pole, 0.511 seconds ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas in Q3 (the third part of qualifying) with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen only 0.015 seconds behind Bottas in third. Hamilton dedicated his pole position to Chadwick Boseman, who had died in the days preceding the race. Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth for Renault with Alexander Albon fifth and Esteban Ocon sixth. The rest of the top 10 were Carlos Sainz Jr. for McLaren, the Racing Point duo of Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll followed by Lando Norris in the other McLaren.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying
The AlphaTauri’s of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly were 11th and 12th, followed by the Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. This was the first time since the 2014 British Grand Prix that Ferrari took no part in Q3. George Russell impressed in 15th, getting through to Q2 (the second part of qualifying) for the fifth time this season for Williams. Out in Q1 (the first part of qualifying) were both Alfa Romeos, both Haas drivers and the Williams of Nicholas Latifi.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. suffered a power unit issue which also damaged his exhaust, meaning he was unable to start the race. On lap 10, Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi lost control of his car coming out of turn 14 and crashed into the wall. One of his wheels detached from the car which subsequently hit the front right suspension of George Russell's Williams forcing both drivers to retire from the race.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
This caused significant debris resulting in a safety car. All drivers except Pierre Gasly and Sergio Pérez pitted under safety car conditions. At the end of the safety car period the top 6 were Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen, Gasly, Pérez, and Daniel Ricciardo.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
On older tyres and out of position due to not pitting under the safety car, Pérez and Gasly both began to fall down the field. Nonetheless, by the time Ricciardo had passed them a few laps later, he was over 10 seconds behind third placed Max Verstappen and despite a much praised race Riccardo would be unable to challenge for third.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
Sergio Pérez pitted at the end of lap 18 for new hard tyres dropping him to 17th, the last of the runners still on track, before starting to gradually make his way up the field using his newer tyres. On lap 26 Pierre Gasly pitted from 10th position and put on a set of medium tyres that were to see him to the end of the race. He came out in 16th position, behind every driver other than Charles Leclerc who had been forced to make a second pit stop due to a pneumatics issue.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
Similarly to Pérez before him Gasly used his newer tyres to start to make his way though the field, by lap 36 he was in 10th position behind Pérez in 9th. Gasly passed Pérez on lap 39 before closing the gap to Lance Stroll whom he passed on lap 42 to take 8th position where he finished.


2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
Hamilton won the race, having led for every lap, followed by Bottas and Verstappen who had also held second and third respectively for the entire race. Ricciardo completed the fastest lap, a 1:47.483, on the final lap of the race for an extra championship point and closing the gap to Max Verstappen in third to just over three seconds. He finished in fourth, a position he had held the entire race other than briefly during and immediately after the safety car due to Gasly and Pérez not pitting. Ocon was able to overtake Albon on the last lap. The race was also notable for Kimi Räikkönen finishing ahead of both Ferraris, including his former teammate Vettel.


2020 Belgian Indoor Athletics Championships
The 2020 Belgian Indoor Athletics Championships (Dutch: Belgische kampioenschappen indoor atletiek 2020, French: Championnats de Belgique d'athlétisme en salle 2020) was the year's national championship in indoor track and field for Belgium. It was held on Sunday 16 February at the Flanders Sports Arena in Ghent. A total of 25 events, 13 for men and 12 for women, were contested. It was to serve as preparation for the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak in China before the national championships.


2020 Belgian Road Cycling Cup
The 2020 Belgian Road Cycling Cup (known as the Bingoal Cycling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth edition of the Belgian Road Cycling Cup. Baptiste Planckaert was the defending champion. He was not succeeded as the organisers decided not to keep the overall standings due to the large number of cancelled races as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 Belgian Road Cycling Cup, Events
With respect to the previous season the event in Halle–Ingooigem was dropped due to the organisers of this race focusing on the organisation of the 2020 Belgian National Road race championships. As a result the number of events dropped from eight to seven, although the late cancellation of the Grote Prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré due to storms in 2019 resulted in just seven races to be held that year as well. Eventually only two races were held as only the Grote Prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré was completed before the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, thereafter all other races got cancelled with the exception of Dwars door het Hageland which was rescheduled from 17 June 2020 to 15 August 2020.


2020 Belgian Super Cup
The 2020 Belgian Super Cup was a football match that was planned to be played in late July or early August 2020, as opener of the 2020–21 Belgian football season, between the winners of the 2018–19 Belgian First Division A and the winners of the 2018–19 Belgian Cup, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, all football in Belgium was cancelled from mid-March until the end of July.


2020 Belgian Super Cup
While the decision was made to discontinue the league, awarding the title to league leaders Club Brugge and the entry tickets into the UEFA competitions based on finishing positions, the 2020 Belgian Cup Final was not cancelled but instead rescheduled to be played on 1 August 2020, instead of organizing the 2020 Belgian Super Cup (which would, in any case, be disputed by the same teams as champions Club Brugge had also qualified for the cup final).


2020 Belizean general election
General elections were held in Belize on 11 November 2020 to elect the 31 members of the House of Representatives. Nomination day was 21 October.


2020 Belizean general election
The People's United Party achieved its first national election victory since 2003, winning 26 seats, while the incumbent United Democratic Party had its worst result since 1998, winning the remaining 5 seats. Despite the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a recent tropical storm, election turnout was over 81%, the highest since 1998.


2020 Belizean general election
The election also featured the first female party leader and Prime Ministerial candidate in Belizean general election history: Nancy Marin, leader of the Belize People's Front.


2020 Belizean general election
Several high-profile MP's also chose not to contest the elections. The previous prime minister, Dean Barrow (UDP), was constitutionally required to step down after serving three terms in office; having been an MP since 1984, he also decided to retire from the House. His predecessor as prime minister, Said Musa (PUP), also chose to retire; Musa was the last remaining MP to have served before independence in 1981.


2020 Belizean general election, Date
The previous general elections were held on 4 November 2015, and the new National Assembly was opened on 13 November 2015. According to Section 84 of the Constitution of Belize, the National Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by the Governor-General of Belize upon the advice of the prime minister. A general election must be called within three months of a dissolution, which meant the latest possible date for the next Belizean general election would be 13 February 2021.


2020 Belizean general election, Date
Despite the five-year term, three of the last four general elections had been called at least a year early. Both Prime Minister Dean Barrow and the opposition People's United Party were on record supporting the reduction of the maximum term of the National Assembly to four years.


2020 Belizean general election, Date
Barrow initially stated his intention to retire as Prime Minister no later than the end of 2019, but changed his mind to stay on until 2020 at the urging of his Cabinet. However, he said that he would still retire as the United Democratic Party Leader at the party's national convention and leadership election, which was first tentatively scheduled for 9 February 2020. He strongly hinted at a snap election in early 2020. But in May 2019, Barrow dismissed that remark and said that elections would be held in November 2020.


2020 Belizean general election, Date
On 5 October 2020, Barrow called the elections for 11 November, with Nominations Day on 21 October. The Writ of Election was formally filed by the Governor-General immediately afterwards. He advised the Governor-General to dissolve the National Assembly on 6 October.


2020 Belizean general election, Date
The Belize Peace Movement (BPM), a civil society organisation, filed a court petition in December 2019 for a redistricting process to be held before the next elections. In the BPM's view, the district map in use did not reflect the distribution of the population, leading to unequal representation. As no action had been taken by the court before the election announcement on 6 October, the BPM filed for a Supreme Court injunction on 13 October to delay the election until this process could be completed.


2020 Belizean general election, Date
The PUP joined the case on the side of the government, arguing that they would lose their campaign money if the election were to be delayed. On 28 October, acting Chief Justice Michelle Arana ruled in favour of the Government: as the election process had already begun and the National Assembly had already been dissolved, the court did not have jurisdiction to intervene.


2020 Belizean general election, Date
During election week, Tropical Storm Eta led to flooding in parts of the country. While Barrow acknowledged that postponing the election would be possible (with the approval of the participating parties), he decided to stay with 11 November as there was no explicit provision for postponement in the Constitution.


2020 Belizean general election, Debates
For the first time since 1998, a Prime Ministerial debate was held, organized jointly by the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Galen University and LOVE FM. It was scheduled for 28 October, and the rules and format were taken from the Jamaica Debates Commission. The questions were submitted by a variety of local NGO's, business associations, and unions. As of 23 October, three of the four invited party leaders had announced their participation in the debate. The remaining invitee, Johnny Briceño of the PUP, wanted to meet privately with the organizers before deciding to participate.


2020 Belizean general election, Debates
The organizers had already released the debate rules publicly; since one of the rules prohibited private communication between the organizers and the participants, the organizers did not reply to the PUP. Patrick Faber of the UDP then decided not to participate either. In the end, the debate was held between Belize Progressive Party leader Patrick Rogers and Belize People's Front leader Nancy Marin. The debate was livestreamed on each of the organizer's Facebook pages, attracting 33,500 viewers overall.


2020 Belizean general election, Debates
At the constituency level, the Dangriga-based NGO "Citizens for Good Governance" (CGG) organized a debate on 3 November between the two challenger candidates, Louis Zabaneh (PUP) and John Suazo (BPF). The incumbent, Frank Mena (UDP), declined to participate. This debate was broadcast live on Dangriga Cable Vision (Channel 58). It was also livestreamed from the Facebook pages of the CGG, Southern Belize Media, and Tropical Vision Limited.


2020 Belizean general election, Background, Contesting parties
With the exception of the Belize Progressive Party, led by Patrick Rogers in the 2015 elections, all parties were contesting under first-time leaders.


2020 Belizean general election, Background, UDP
The ruling United Democratic Party, in power since 2008, attempted to win a fourth consecutive general election. However, as the Constitution of Belize limits the Prime Minister to three terms in office, the UDP needed to contest with a new leader. To this end, the incumbent UDP leader and Prime Minister Dean Barrow had stated his intention to step down from both posts in the months leading up to the election. The UDP tentatively scheduled a May 2019 convention to name Barrow's successor as party leader, but in January 2019 the date was pushed back to February 2020. Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber and Belmopan Area Representative John Saldivar contested the position. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Pickstock Area Representative Wilfred Elrington had also been mentioned as a possible candidate, but did not stand in the convention.


2020 Belizean general election, Background, UDP
On 9 February 2020, Saldivar was elected UDP leader over Faber, but three days later was forced to resign after allegations surfaced he accepted US$50,000 from accused fraudster Lev Dermen, who was on trial in Salt Lake City. Saldivar was also stripped of his Cabinet post.


2020 Belizean general election, Background, UDP
On 12 July 2020, a second leadership convention was held with Faber, Saldivar, and Elrington as candidates. This time, Faber won with a margin of 19 votes over Saldivar (286 to 267). Elrington received 10 votes. Faber was formally inaugurated as party leader on 9 October, with Barrow continuing to serve as Prime Minister until the elections.


2020 Belizean general election, Background, PUP
Despite gains in Belize City in 2015, most notably Kareem Musa's upset win over Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley in the Caribbean Shores constituency, the opposition PUP remained at 11 seats overall thanks to losses in the Cayo and Corozal Districts. For its leader, the PUP chose Johnny Briceño, who had served as Deputy Prime Minister in the previous PUP administration. Francis Fonseca, who led the party during the past two general elections, resigned from leadership soon after the party's 2015 loss.


2020 Belizean general election, Background, PUP
Although Briceño served a previous term as PUP leader from 2008 to 2011, he had yet to lead the party during a general election. Briceño, who represented a constituency in Orange Walk Town, was the first PUP member to lead the party in an election from outside Belize City. Belizean news sources pointed out that the PUP nominated only 2 female candidates out of 31 total, while the UDP had nominated 5.


2020 Belizean general election, Background, BPP
The Belize Progressive Party, which made its electoral debut in 2015 but failed to win any seats, announced its intention to contest nine seats, of which they ultimately filed for eight.


2020 Belizean general election, Background, BPF
The Belize People's Front, a progressive party, announced its intention to contest 17 seats, of which they ultimately filed for 13. The party was founded in 2013, but this was its first general election. BPF leader Nancy Marin was the first female political party leader in Belize.


2020 Belizean general election, Retirements
The election was marked by several high-profile retirements. Fonseca had initially indicated that he would not stand in this election. However, he decided to stay for the last time. Former PUP leader Said Musa also stood down from his seat in this election. Musa, who contested the Belize City-based Fort George constituency in every election since 1974, was the sole remaining House member from before Belize's 1981 independence from Great Britain.


2020 Belizean general election, Retirements
On the UDP side, former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega also announced that he would stand down. Other announced UDP retirements include Barrow – who had served in the Belize House continuously since 1984 – and Michael Finnegan, who had been in office since 1993. Moses Barrow, Dean Barrow's son and Finnegan's nephew, was nominated to succeed Finnegan as the UDP standard bearer in the Mesopotamia constituency. Veteran UDP Area Representative Wilfred Elrington also did not seek re-election.


2020 Belizean general election, Results
At the invitation of the Belizean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CARICOM sent a six-member observation team. The team's preliminary statement showed the elections to have been conducted in a smooth and timely manner; they especially commended the election commission's ability to implement COVID-19 sanitary measures while dealing with the effects of Tropical Storm Eta.


2020 Belizean general election, Results
The polls closed at 6:15 pm. With the early counts already forecasting a lead for the PUP, Faber delivered a concession speech on television three hours later, congratulating Briceño and the PUP while calling for national unity. Election turnout was over 81%, the highest since 1998.


2020 Belizean general election, Results
The results showed the PUP achieving its first national election victory since 2003, winning 26 seats. By contrast, the incumbent United Democratic Party had its lowest result since 1998, winning the remaining 5 seats. Four of the five UDP seats were in Belize City: Faber and Tracy Panton retained their seats, while Denise Barrow and Shyne Barrow won seats of retiring UDP members. The fifth seat was in Corozal, retained by incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Hugo Patt.


2020 Belizean general election, Results
Briceño was sworn in as the new Prime Minister on 12 November by the Governor-General. He intended to swear in his cabinet on 16 November.


2020 Belizean general election, Reactions
Additional congratulations were sent by the Organization of American States.


2020 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic
The 2020 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the fourth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2020 ITF Women's World Tennis Tour. It took place in Tyler, Texas, United States between 26 October and 1 November 2020.


2020 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2020 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic – Doubles
Beatrice Gumulya and Jessy Rompies were the defending champions but chose not to participate.


2020 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic – Doubles
Twins Allura and Maribella Zamarripa won the title, defeating Polish duo Paula Kania-Choduń and Katarzyna Piter in the final, 6–3, 5–7, [11–9].


2020 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic – Singles
Mandy Minella was the defending champion, but chose not to participate as she was on maternity leave.


2020 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic – Singles
Ann Li won the title, defeating Marta Kostyuk in the final, 7–5, 1–6, 6–3.


2020 Belmont Stakes
The 2020 Belmont Stakes was the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes and the 109th time the event took place at Belmont Park. It was run June 20, 2020, and was won by Tiz the Law, the first New York-bred winner of the event since Forester in 1882. The race is one of the three legs of the American Triple Crown, open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds.


2020 Belmont Stakes
Due to concerns relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the race, which is normally the last Triple Crown race of the season, was run as the first race in the 2020 Triple Crown series and was shortened to 1+1⁄8 miles (9 furlongs) instead of the usual 1+1⁄2 miles (12 furlongs), which it had been run at since 1926. This was the first time since 1931 for the Triple Crown races to be run in a different order and the first time for the Belmont Stakes to be run as the opening leg of the Triple Crown.


2020 Belmont Stakes, Background
Since 1969, the American Triple Crown has been scheduled to begin with the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May, followed by the Preakness Stakes two weeks later in mid-May, and the Belmont three weeks after that in early June. Major prep races for the series are normally run from three to six weeks before the Derby. However, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of several race meetings starting in mid-March, which led to the postponement or outright cancellation of several of these major preps.


2020 Belmont Stakes, Background
The shutdowns led Churchill Downs to reschedule the 2020 Kentucky Derby to the first Saturday in September. Pimlico followed suit by rescheduling the 2020 Preakness Stakes to the first Saturday in October. The New York Racing Association (NYRA) decided instead to hold the Belmont Stakes on June 20, three weeks after racing in New York reopened on June 3. Because of the disrupted racing schedule, NYRA also decided to shorten the race from its traditional distance of 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) to 1+1⁄8 miles (1.8 km).


2020 Belmont Stakes, Background
The race thus went from being the longest race of the series, the so-called "test of the champion", to the shortest. NYRA had considered running the race at 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km), but this would have meant starting the race on the clubhouse turn — a serious disadvantage for some horses in a large field. "I think given the circumstances this was the best choice," said trainer Todd Pletcher of the revised distance. "A mile and a half wasn't going to fit many horses at this stage. It was the right move."


2020 Belmont Stakes, Background
The Belmont was the first major sporting event in New York state since the pandemic began. There were no fans in attendance, and thus no on-track betting. Total prize winnings for the race were $1 million, down from $1.5 million the prior year.


2020 Belmont Stakes, Field
After the new date and distance were announced in mid-May, the field was expected to have up to 16 starters. However, Nadal and Charlatan, both leading contenders trained by Bob Baffert, were subsequently injured. This left Tiz the Law as the clear favorite, and connections of several other contenders decided to skip the Belmont to focus on preparing for the Kentucky Derby. "There's other opportunities out there," said owner Barry Irwin of his decision to bypass the race. "Even though it's the Belmont Stakes, it's not the Belmont Stakes.


2020 Belmont Stakes, Field
Whatever prestige that would have come from it, that little extra something that makes you run in a race like that is lacking this year. If your goal is to get into the Kentucky Derby, why do you want to get your socks knocked off by Tiz the Law when you can go elsewhere?"


2020 Belmont Stakes, Results
Only essential personnel such as trainers, grooms and a limited number of press were allowed to attend the race – not even the owners were allowed on site. Governor Andrew Cuomo gave the traditional call for "Riders up" remotely. Several sources commented on the eerie silence of the racetrack, with one comparing the experience to filming a movie. "You come out of the tunnel on your horse and there's nobody there," said jockey Manny Franco. "But this is the world we are living in."


2020 Belmont Stakes, Results
Given the shortened distance and the dimensions of Belmont Park, the race started in a chute at the end of the backstretch. Tap It to Win went to the early lead and set a moderate pace. Tiz the Law raced in stalking position a few lengths behind, then launched his move on the turn. He moved by Tap It to Win near the head of the stretch and continued to draw away, winning by 3+3⁄4 lengths. Dr Post closed ground late to finish second.


2020 Belmont Stakes, Results
Barclay Tagg became the oldest trainer, at age 82, to win the Belmont. Tagg was previously best known as the trainer of 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide, who also won the Preakness but failed in his Triple Crown bid by finishing third in that year's Belmont. Both Funny Cide and Tiz the Law are owned by Sackatoga Stable, although the composition of the ownership group has changed over the years. Sackatoga's managing partner Jack Knowlton remarked on how rare it was for such a small operation to have such success. "We buy New York-breds — that's our game — and we don't spend a lot of money. We've been with Barclay Tagg for 25 years, and I keep telling everybody Barclay doesn't get a lot of big horses, big opportunities, but when he does, he knows what to do."


2020 Belmont Stakes, Results
Jockey Manny Franco earned his first win in the Belmont Stakes in his first start in the race. Tiz the Law became the first New-York bred to win the race since Forester in 1882.


2020 Bendigo Challenger
The 2020 Bendigo Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the first edition of the tournament which was a part of the 2020 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Bendigo, Australia between 12 and 18 January 2020.


2020 Bendigo Challenger, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2020 Bendigo Challenger, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry into the singles main draw as an alternate:


2020 Bendigo Challenger – Doubles
Nikola Čačić and Denys Molchanov won the title after defeating Marcelo Arévalo and Jonny O'Mara 7–6(7–3), 6–4 in the final.


2020 Bendigo Challenger – Singles
Steve Johnson won the title after defeating Stefano Travaglia 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3) in the final.


2020 Bendigo Spirit season
The 2020 Bendigo Spirit season is the 14th season for the franchise in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).


2020 Bendigo Spirit season
Ahead of the 2020 season, the Spirit announced that local property development company, Villawood Properties, would serve as naming rights partners after signing a two-year deal in September 2020. Their leadership team for the season was announced with Tessa Lavey as captain, alongside Carley Ernst and Amelia Todhunter as co-vice captains.


2020 Bendigo Spirit season
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a North Queensland hub is set to host the season. The season was originally 2020–21 and would be traditionally played over several months across the summer, however this seasons scheduling has been condensed. The six-week season will see Townsville, Cairns and Mackay host a 56-game regular season fixture, plus a four-game final series (2 x semi-finals, preliminary final and grand final). Each team will contest 14 games starting on 12 November, with the grand final scheduled for 20 December.


2020 Bengaluru Open
The 2020 Bengaluru Open was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the third edition of the tournament which was part of the 2020 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Bangalore, India from 10 to 16 February 2020.


2020 Bengaluru Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2020 Bengaluru Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received entry into the singles main draw as alternates:


2020 Bengaluru Open – Doubles
Max Purcell and Luke Saville were the defending champions but chose not to defend their title.


2020 Bengaluru Open – Doubles
Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan won the title after defeating Matthew Ebden and Leander Paes 6–0, 6–3 in the final.


2020 Bengaluru Open – Singles
Prajnesh Gunneswaran was the defending champion but lost in the third round to Benjamin Bonzi.


2020 Bengaluru Open – Singles
James Duckworth won the title after defeating Bonzi 6–4, 6–4 in the final.


2020 Bengaluru drug raids
On 10 August 2020, members of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) made simultaneous drug raids in Mumbai and Bengaluru relating to an alleged international MDMA (ecstasy) drugs racket. Based on evidence collected during the raids, the NCB made arrests of 3 other individuals on 21 August. Police said they had seized Rs. 2.2 lakh cash and 145  MDMA pills. According to police, one of the accused had a diary allegedly containing the names of 15 celebrities: including reality stars, musicians, Sandalwood actors and models, who the accused claimed were regular customers.