January

January 4: The border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia reopens.

January 6: Supporters of Donald Trump attack the United States Capitol, disrupting certification of the 2020 presidential election and forcing Congress to evacuate.

January 10: Kim Jong-un is elected as the General Secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, inheriting the title from his father Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011.

January 15: The global death toll from Covid-19 passes two million.

January 20: Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States.

January 20: The US officially accused China of genocide against Uyghur Muslims.

January 22: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, comes into effect.

February

February 4: President Joe Biden announces that the United States will cease providing weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for use in the Yemeni Civil War.

February 9: A joint WHO-China investigation into the source of the outbreak concludes. Investigators deem a Wuhan laboratory leak to be "extremely unlikely", with a "natural reservoir" in bats being a more likely origin.

February 20: Seven people test positive for H5N8 bird flu at a poultry farm in southern Russia, becoming the first known human cases.

February 25: The global death toll from Covid-19 surpasses 2.5 million.

March

March 6: Pope Francis meets with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq. It is the first ever meeting between a pope and a grand ayatollah.

March 20: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces his country's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the first country to do so.

March 23: Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in the world, runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal, disrupting global trade.

April

April 13: The Janssen Covid-19 vaccine is paused over causing rare blood clots.

April 14: Egypt seized the Ever Given ship, which was stuck in the Suez Canal for about a week last month, over a bill of $900 million.

April 17: The global death toll from Covid-19 surpasses three million.

April 22: World leaders mark Earth Day by hosting a virtual summit on climate change, during which more ambitious targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions are proposed, including a 40 per cent cut by 2030 for the United States.

April 25: At least 82 people were killed, and another 110 were injured, after a Baghdad hospital caught fire.

April 26: Dozens of Palestinians were injured after clashing with police.

April 30: At least 45 people died, and another 150 were injured, in Mount Meron, Israel.

May

May 7: The World Health Organisation gives emergency use listing to the Sinopharm BIBP Covid-19 vaccine, the first non-Western vaccine to be authorised.

May 7: At least 163 Palestinians and six Israeli officers were injured after clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

May 11: Israel hits the Gaza Strip with airstrikes as Hamas increases rocket fire. This occurred after Israel began displacing Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

May 20: Following international pressure, and nearly 250 deaths, Israel agrees to a ceasefire deal to end the conflict with Gaza militants, effective the next day at 2:00 AM local time.

May 26: Shell becomes the first company to be legally mandated to align its carbon emissions with the Paris climate accord, following a landmark court ruling in the Netherlands.

May 29: Chelsea beats fellow English club Manchester City in the final 1–0 to win the UEFA Champions League for the second time.

May 29: The remains of 215 children were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Canada.

June

June 1: The World Health Organisation gives emergency use listing to the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, the second non-Western vaccine to be authorised.

June 7: A train collision in southern Pakistan resulted in the death of dozens of people.

June 11: The UEFA Euro 2020, hosted by 11 different countries, is held, and is won by Italy after beating England on penalties.

June 11: World leaders meet at the 47th G7 summit, hosted by the United Kingdom, with topics of discussion including the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and the corporate taxation of multinationals.

June 23: New Zealand wins the 2019-2021 ICC World Test Championship.

July

July 3: Over 130 wildfires, fuelled by lightning strikes, burn through Western Canada following a record-breaking heatwave in North America that results in over 600 deaths.

July 5: More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers flee to neighbouring Tajikistan after clashing with Taliban militants.

July 6: The Ever Given, ship blocking the Suez Canal back in March, was finally released. The ship was impounded for three months as negotiations occurred.

July 10: The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup is held in, and is won by, the United States.

July 19: Women are permitted to attend Hajj without a male guardian (mehrem) provided they go in a trustworthy group.

July 23: The 2020 Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan.

July 28: The first direct observation of light from behind a black hole is reported, confirming Einstein's theory of general relativity.

August

August 3: The oil tanker Asphalt Princess is hijacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

August 14: A 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti, killing more than 2,100 people.

August 15: The Taliban capture Kabul; the Afghan government surrenders to the Taliban.

August 24: The 2020 Summer Paralympics were held in Tokyo, Japan.

August 26: At least 182 people are killed, including 13 US service members, in a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport.

August 27: The United States launches an airstrike killing the Islamic State member who is believed to have planned the Kabul airport bombings.

August 30: The United States withdraws its last remaining troops from Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, ending 20 years of operations in Afghanistan.

September

September 7: El Salvador becomes the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as an official currency.

September 14: The inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, the third tier of European club football, kicks off with Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv winning 4-1 against Armenian club FC Alashkert.

September 15: Both North and South Korea tested missiles, exacerbating tensions that already exist.

September 27: Various elections took place around the world.

October

October 1: The 2020 World Expo in Dubai begins.

October 6: The 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals is held in Italy, and is won by France.

October 6: The World Health Organisation endorses the first malaria vaccine.

October 17: The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup is held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, and is won by Australia.

October 31: The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held, after being postponed in 2020 due to Covid-19.

November 

November 3: The World Health Organisation gives emergency use listing to the Covaxin Covid-19 vaccine, the third non-Western vaccine to be authorised.

November 26: The World Health Organisation convenes an emergency meeting in Geneva amid concerns over Omicron, a highly mutated variant of Covid-19.

November 30: Barbados becomes a republic on its 55th anniversary of independence while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

November 30: The 2021 FIFA Arab Cup is held in Qatar.

December

December 6: The United States announces a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in response to China's human rights record.

December 9 – 10: The Summit for Democracy, a virtual summit, was hosted by the United States "to renew democracy at home and confront autocracies abroad".

December 12: Russia becomes the fifth country to surpass 10 million Covid-19 cases after the United States, India, Brazil and the United Kingdom.