In a year dominated by pandemic, many other dramas unfolded

t since World War II has a single phemen dominated news worldwide as COVID-19 pandemic has in 2020. In United States, a tumultuous presidential election and a wave of protests over racial injustice also drew relentless cover.

Overshowed, to an extent, were or dramatic developments. Among m: China’s crackdown on Hong Kong’s democracy; an apocalyptic explosion in Beirut; shocking helicopter-crash death of basketball icon Kobe Bryant and his daughter.

Some seemingly epic events early in year w seem distant, like President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and January anuncement by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that y were exiting ir prominent roles in Britain’s royal family. Just a few weeks later came long-awaited Brexit, Britain’s formal withdrawal from European Union.

As most of world battled COVID, armed conflicts broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in Ethiopia's Tigray region. Afghanistan's seemingly endless war dragged on, even as warring sides warily edged into peace talks. Massive protests challenged ruling powers in Belarus and Thailand.

Due to past instances of sexual assault and sexual abuse, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein received a 23-year prison sentence and Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection.

Some or major events of 2020:

Iran: year ended as it began with tensions between Iran and U.S. inflamed by killing of a top official. On Jan. 3, a U.S. drone strike killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani . Iran responded with a missile attack that injured dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq. In December, a mysterious attack near Tehran killed a nuclear scientist whom U.S. and ors h identified as organizing Iran’s effort to seek nuclear weapons two deces ago. Iran blamed that attack on Israel.

Immigration: Throughout 2020, Trump ministration pushed to extend a wall along U.S.-Mexico border, even as it implemented immigration policies that outrd human-rights vocates. targets included unaccompanied children seeking refuge in U.S.; hundreds were detained in hotels before being expelled. ministration also sought to suspend Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects some young immigrants from deportation. But a federal judge ruled that new applications for program must be accepted.

Hong Kong: China imposed a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong. ensuing crackdown on dissent effectively voided China’s pledge to allow city to maintain rights promised for 50 years following 1997 handover from British colonial rule. arrests of leing opposition figures and expulsion of local lawmakers -- prompting entire opposition camp to resign — led numerous countries to curtail legal cooperation with Hong Kong. U.S. imposed travel bans and financial sanctions.

Opioids: Purdue Pharma , maker of OxyContin, pleed guilty to three criminal charges, formally taking responsibility for its part in an opioid epidemic that has contributed to deaths of more than 470,000 Americans over two deces. Purdue mitted impeding efforts to combat diction crisis. pleas arose from a settlement that includes $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures, but victims’ vocates worried that Purdue’s owners, Sackler family, might emerge with ir fortune largely intact.

table Deaths: For sports fans worldwide, 2020 was sly bookended by deaths of two popular superstars — basketball’s Kobe Bryant , 41, and soccer’s Diego Marona , 60. Among those killed along with Bryant in helicopter crash was his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, herself a promising athlete. Or revered figures who died included U.S. civil rights leer John Lewis , guitarist Eddie Van Halen , and actors Chwick Boseman and Sean Connery . Many mirers of liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ber Ginsburg t only mourned her death, but deplored her replacement by a conservative, Amy Coney Barrett .

Beirut Explosion: Leban’s capital was devastated in August by one of largest n-nuclear explosions ever recorded. A fire detonated a stockpile of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrates left to rot at a port warehouse. explosion tore through Beirut, sucking in air and blowing up homes as windows shattered for miles around. More than 200 people were killed and thousands injured, compounding woes of a nation alrey beset by mass protests and ecomic meltdown.

France-Muslims: October beheing of a teacher by an 18-year-old Chechen outside Paris, followed by killing of three people in Nice by a Tunisian migrant, prompted France to declare its highest-level security alert. attacks came amid a trial over 2015 massacre at satiric newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which h published cartoons of Islam’s prophet. teacher was beheed for showing cartoons to his class while discussing freedom of expression -- vigorously defended by President Emmanuel Macron . caricatures and Macron’s stance fueled calls from Muslim nations to boycott French products; and some French Muslims resented security crackdown.

Hurricanes: It was such a historically busy hurricane season that forecasters h to turn to Greek alphabet after running out of assigned names. In U.S., Louisiana took brunt of onslaught: three hurricanes and two tropical storms. worst to hit state was Hurricane Laura , which swept ashore in August. In vember, several Central American countries were ravd by two Category 4 hurricanes. In Tennessee, an outbreak of tornoes in March killed 25 people.

Israel-Diplomacy: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scored a diplomatic coup in September by signing historic accords with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at White House. It was Israel’s first rmalization deal with Arab countries in more than 25 years. Later, Sudan and Morocco also pledged warmer official relations with Israel. moves enabled Netanyahu to deliver welcome accomplishments to his electorate while under fire for his handling of coronavirus crisis and his ongoing corruption trial.

Wildfires: Thousands of wildfires rd throughout western U.S., claiming dozens of lives, destroying thousands of homes , and bringing apocalyptic scenes of orange skies and hazardous air. Months before usual start of wildfire season, drought, extreme warm temperatures and winds gusting up to 100 mph fueled some of most destructive blazes in region’s history. Scientists say climate change is responsible for more intense and frequent extreme events such as storms, droughts, flooding and wildfires -- including massive brush fires that rd for months in Australia.

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Associated Press reporters Jon Gambrell in United Arab Emirates, Christopher Bodeen in Beijing, Zeina Karam in Beirut, Elaine Ganley in Paris, Rebecca Santana in New Orleans, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.