The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.

FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2011 file photo, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, speaks during a press conference at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. Erekat, a veteran peace negotiator and prominent international spokesman for the Palestinians for more than three decades, has died Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. Erekat's body was brought to a West Bank hospital and was to be laid to rest in Jericho on Wednesday. He spent most of his life in the occupied West Bank town of Jericho, a palm-studded desert oasis about 30 minutes from Jerusalem. ___Associated Press writers Mohammed Daraghmeh and Haitham Hamad in Ramallah, West Bank, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

J.B. Pritzker says President Donald Trump and his allies in Illinois are partly to blame for a surge in coronavirus cases in the state. The first-term Democrat says Trump’s local allies are encouraging people not to follow COVID-19 restrictions. The number of new daily COVID-19 cases recorded in El Paso soared Thursday to a record-breaking 838. ___COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The South Carolina State Fair is coming to Columbia, but like so much during the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be drive-thru. His death at 67 on March 11 death shocked the Italian medical establishment and underlined the risk that the coronavirus pandemic to family doctors.