Memorial Day,  May 29th, 2023 

Commander-in-chief of the Russian special forces in Syria, Colonel Oleg Pechevisty, is killed by an HTS artillery strike on a military post in the Latakia Province. (SOHR) (Enab Baladi) 

Russian forces strike Kyiv using Iskander ballistic and cruise missiles, with debris injuring one civilian and damaging infrastructure. Ukraine claims to have shot down all the missiles. (AP via Los Angeles Times) 

Russian airstrikes on Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast, target a petrol station and a multi-storey building, killing two people and injuring eight others. (Reuters) 

Twenty-five peacekeepers of the NATO-led KFOR are injured after clashes with ethnic Serbs in North Kosovo over the installation of ethnic Albanian mayors. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić places the Serbian Armed Forces on the highest level of combat alert in response. (BBC News) 

The Russian Interior Ministry issues an arrest warrant against United States Senator Lindsey Graham over comments Graham made about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters) 

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni signs the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law, introducing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and 20 years in prison for the “promotion of homosexuality”. (Reuters) 

Sunday, May 28th, 2023 

Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden wins the 107th Indianapolis 500. (CNN) 

Citizens in Turkey head to the polls to vote in the second round of the presidential election. (AP) 

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is declared the winner by the Supreme Election Council, defeating his opponent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu with 52 percent of the vote. (Tagesschau) 

The Comac C919, China’s first domestically-built passenger jet, completes its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing by China Eastern Airlines. (AP) 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates a new parliament building capable of holding 1,272 MPs. The ceremony is boycotted by the opposition for not asking President Droupadi Murmu to inaugurate it and for selecting the birthday of Hindutva founder Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as the inauguration date, while Delhi Police detain wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik for protesting the sexual abuse of female athletes at the ceremony. (BBC News) 

new above

Sunday, May 28th, 2023 

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the 2021 attacks on the Capitol. (CNN) 

A potent new antibiotic, abaucin, capable of killing Acinetobacter baumannii (one of three superbugs the World Health Organization has identified as a “critical threat” to humanity), is created using artificial intelligence. (BBC News) 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves Neuralink‘s first-in-human clinical study of brain implants to treat conditions such as paralysis and blindness. (Reuters) 

Police in the Netherlands announce the arrest of 1,500 Extinction Rebellion protesters, including actress Carice van Houten, after protesters blocked a section of the A12 motorway near The Hague. (BBC News) 

Two people are killed and three others are injured in a “record drone attack” on Kyiv. Ukrainian authorities claim to have shot down 52 of 54 drones. (Euronews) 

Thirty three people are killed by ethnic clashes in Manipur, India. (Reuters) 

Citizens in Turkey head to the polls to vote in the second round of the presidential election. (AP) 

Somalia announces that starting next year, Somalis will change to a presidential system and elect their officials via direct vote, ending more than three decades of indirect voting where lawmakers elected the country’s leaders with approval of clan and elderly leaders. (Reuters) 

Saturday, May 27th, 2023 

Russian authorities claim that shelling killed a person in Shebekino, Belgorod Oblast and Kursk, Kursk Oblast, respectively. Russia accuses Ukraine of the attacks, although Ukraine denies any involvement. (AFP via The Moscow Times) 

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says that Iran does not recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan due to the lack of an inclusive government as well as recent tensions between Iran and the Taliban over border incidents and a dispute over the Helmand River. (Xinhua) 

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs swaps Asadollah Asadi for Belgian prisoner Olivier Vandecasteele. (CNN) 

Two Iranians and one Afghan are killed when Taliban troops engage Iranians along the border. (Reuters) 

The Afghanistan health department reports two deaths from Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever. (Tolo News) 

Eleven people are killed and 25 more injured when a nomadic tribe is hit by an avalanche in the Astore District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. (AP) 

The Texas House of Representatives votes 121–23 to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton on 20 counts. (AP) 

Friday,  May 26th, 2023 

A Russian missile strike on Dnipro damages a medical facility, killing two people and injuring 23 others. (Ukrainska Pravda) (The Guardian) 

Germany‘s Bundestag votes 375–263, with one abstention, to approve the Bundeswehr‘s deployment in Mali as part of the UN‘s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission until May 31, 2024. (DW) 

The Constitutional Court of Guatemala blocks the candidacy of frontrunner Carlos Pineda in the 2023 Guatemalan general election due to alleged violations of electoral law. (AP) 

Thursday, May 25th, 2023 

Wagner Group forces begin withdrawing from Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, transferring control over to the Russian Ground Forces. (BBC News) 

Russia and Belarus sign an agreement in Minsk allowing the stationing of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says that the weapons are already being transferred to Belarus. (Reuters) 

The Supreme Court of Russia orders the liquidation of the People’s Freedom Party, the oldest opposition party in the country. (The Moscow Times) 

Net migration to the United Kingdom reaches a record of 606,000, mostly due to non-EU arrivals, according to the Office for National Statistics. In response, Minister of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick reaffirmed the governments commitment “to reducing overall net migration to sustainable levels”. (Sky News) 

The German economy enters a recession for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic amid high levels of inflation. (BBC News) 

The End

Thursday, May 25th, 2023 

In a medical first, a paralyzed man is able to walk naturally through the use of electronic brain implants implanted by Swiss scientists. (BBC News) 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves Neuralink‘s first-in-human clinical study of brain implants to treat conditions such as paralysis and blindness. (Reuters) 

A potent new antibiotic, abaucin, capable of killing Acinetobacter baumannii (one of three superbugs the World Health Organization has identified as a “critical threat” to humanity), is created using artificial intelligence. (BBC News) 

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the 2021 attacks on the Capitol. (CNN) 

Wagner Group forces begin withdrawing from Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, transferring control over to the Russian Ground Forces. (BBC News) 

The German economy enters a recession for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic amid high levels of inflation. (BBC News) 

Net migration to the United Kingdom reaches a record of 606,000, mostly due to non-EU arrivals, according to the Office for National Statistics. In response, Minister of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick reaffirmed the governments commitment “to reducing overall net migration to sustainable levels”. (Sky News) 

Russia and Belarus sign an agreement in Minsk allowing the stationing of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says that the weapons are already being transferred to Belarus. (Reuters) 

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says that Iran does not recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan due to the lack of an inclusive government as well as recent tensions between Iran and the Taliban over border incidents and a dispute over the Helmand River. (Xinhua) 

The Supreme Court of Russia orders the liquidation of the People’s Freedom Party, the oldest opposition party in the country. (The Moscow Times) 

Police in South Africa arrest Fulgence Kayishema, who was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2001 for his involvement in the Rwandan genocide. (Al Jazeera) 

Police arrest a man after he crashed his car into the gates outside Downing Street in London, which houses the official residences and offices of the prime minister Rishi Sunak. (BBC News) 

Wednesday, May 24th, 2023 

Japan announces that it will donate 100 military vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. (ABC News) 

People in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are told to seek refuge as Typhoon Mawar approaches with winds reaching 282 km/h (175mph). (RNZ) 

The historic Cotton Tree, a large Ceiba pentandra, is felled during a rainstorm in Freetown, Sierra Leone. President Julius Maada Bio calls the destruction of the iconic tree a “great loss to the nation”. (Reuters) 

Canada and Saudi Arabia agree to restore full diplomatic relations and to appoint new ambassadors for the first time since a breakdown in relations in 2018 over the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. (Reuters) 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announces his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election. (Reuters) (AP) 

 

Tuesday,  May 23rd, 2023 

Three Sinjar Resistance Units militants are killed by a Turkish drone strike in Sinjar District, Iraq. (Reuters) 

Typhoon Mawar officially strengthens into a category 4 super typhoon as it approaches the US territory of Guam. (CNN) 

Nine people are injured in a fire caused by an explosion in Eshtehard, Alborz province, Iran. (Reuters) 

Namibia declares an outbreak after a person dies of Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever in Windhoek. (Reuters) 

Rioting occurs in Ely, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, after two teenage boys were killed when their e-bike collided with a bus as they were being pursued by police. (BBC News) 

Tajikistan announces the repatriation from Syria of 104 partners and children of jihadists. (i24NEWS) 

 

Monday,  May 22nd, 2023 

More than 75,000 people gather in Chișinău to demonstrate in favor of Moldova joining the EU, following a call for a rally by President Maia Sandu in order to outdo anti-government and pro-Russian demonstrations organized by the opposition. (Al Jazeera) 

Members of the Last Generation activist group pour charcoal into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy, turning the water black. (The Guardian) 

Belarusian democracy activist Roman Protasevich is pardoned by president Alexander Lukashenko and released from custody. Protasevich had been sentenced to eight years in prison on May 3. (Al Jazeera) 

Governor of Belgorod Oblast Vyacheslav Gladkov says that Ukrainian “sabotage groups” have entered Grayvoronsky District. Ukrainian media reports that the cross-border excursion is being performed by the Russian rebel opposition groups, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion. The Freedom of Russia Legion reports that it has captured the Russian towns of Kozinka and Gora-Podol. (Meduza) (Reuters) 

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner fines Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, a record €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) for violating General Data Protection Regulations protections. (ABC News) 

Brazil declares an animal health emergency for the next 180 days after the detection of the Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 for the first time in the country. (Reuters) 

Israeli security forces kill three Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militants and injure six others during a raid in Nablus, West Bank. (ABC News) 

Papua New Guinea and the United States sign a security pact that will see American troops stationed in the country. (RNZ) 

A massive fire damages the Manila Central Post Office in Manila, Philippines. (CNN Philippines) (Rappler) 

The End