Sunday, May 19th, 2024 

Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope discover the earliest known merging of black holes, 740 million years after the Big Bang. (AP) 

Iranian police arrest more than 260 people, including three European citizens, on suspicion of spreading Satanism and nudity in Iran. (ABC News) 

A helicopter carrying Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian crashes in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. Rescue workers are attempting to locate the crash site. (AP News) 

Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury by split decision and becomes the first undisputed four-belt heavyweight champion in boxing history. (BBC Sport) 

At least five people are killed and 16 others are injured in a Russian double tap missile strike on a recreation area near Kharkiv. Separately, another five people are killed and nine others are injured when Russia hit two villages in Kupiansk Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, with a multiple rocket launcher. (Reuters) 

France sends police to regain control of New Caledonia airport road lost to protesters. (Reuters) 

The death toll from the ongoing protests and riots in New Caledonia increases to six. (Al Jazeera) 

France accuses Azerbaijan of being behind the protests and violence in New Caledonia after Azerbaijani and Togolese flags are seen alongside indigenous Kanak symbols at the protests. Azerbaijan has previously spoken out against French colonialism and supported pro-independence participants, in response to French support for Armenia. (Al Jazeera) 

Two people are killed and five people are missing after a suspected boat collision on the Danube, in Hungary. (Reuters) 

Citizens of the Dominican Republic vote for their president and other officials. (Reuters) 

Manchester City win the Premier League, becoming the first team in the 136-year history of the Football League to win four consecutive top-flight titles. (The Guardian) 

The FARDC says that it foiled a coup by armed men that left two police officers and Christian Malanga, opposition leader of the United Congolese Party, dead in Kinshasa, DR Congo. The perpetrators, which included Malanga’s 20-year-old son and a US citizen from Maryland, were arrested. (AP) 

Police in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, arrest American golfer Scottie Scheffler, who was travelling to the 2024 PGA Championship, for assault of a police officer, criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals. (AP) 

Saturday, May 18th, 2024 

The Israeli army recovers the body of Ron Binyamin, who was killed and brought to Gaza by Palestinian militants in October. (Reuters) 

The Israeli army recovers from Rafah the bodies of three people killed in the Re’im music festival massacre last October, including Shani Louk. (The New York Times) 

Benny Gantz threatens to withdraw his party from the unity coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t submit a post-war plan for Gaza by June 8. (Al Jazeera) 

Austria unfreezes €3.4 million ($3.7 million) in funds to the UNRWA. (Reuters) 

Hundreds of protesters march in Lima, Peru, to demand the reversal of a new law that describes transgender people as having a mental illness. (Reuters) 

President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili vetoes the proposed “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence”. (The Guardian) 

The Arakan Army seizes control of Buthidaung after the army captures Tatmadaw positions in the surrounding area. The town, which hosts a majority Rohingya population, is burned amidst the crossfire. (AP) 

At least 68 people are killed by floods in Ghor and Faryab Provinces, Afghanistan. (AP) 

At least 23 migrants are missing after boarding a boat travelling from Tunisia to Italy. (Reuters) 

The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan asks that Pakistani nationals in Kyrgyzstan stay indoors after mob attacks on Pakistanis and other foreign nationals are reported. (AP) 

Italian financial police seize 134 Fiat cars imported from Morocco following a dispute on stickers indicating the origin of the car. (Reuters) 

The Communist Party of Vietnam nominates Minister of Public Security Tô Lâm as the next President after Võ Văn Thưởng resigned as President in March due to the party’s anti-corruption campaign. (Al Jazeera) 

In association football, Bundesliga champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen become the first Bundesliga team to finish a season unbeaten after defeating FC Augsburg on the final matchday. (The New York Times) 

Friday,  May 17th, 2024 

Humanitarian aid deliveries begin arriving at the U.S.-built Gaza floating pier. (Reuters) 

Hamas announces that an Israeli strike killed Sharhabil Sayed, a Hamas commander in Lebanon. (France 24) 

Israel announces that an Air Force strike killed Islaam Hamaisa, a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Jenin Brigade. (Jerusalem Post) 

Ukraine launches a massive drone attack across southwestern Russia, causing fires at several oil refineries, including at the port of Novorossiysk. (The New York Times) 

At least three civilians are killed and 28 others are injured by Russian guided bombs in Kharkiv. (Reuters) 

Gunmen open fire on a group of tourists in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan, killing three Spanish citizens, two Afghan civilians and a Taliban guard. Seven others are injured. (Al Jazeera) 

Two police officers are killed and another is injured outside the Ulu Tiram police station in Johor, Malaysia. The killer is later fatally shot. Seven suspected members of Jemaah Islamiyah are arrested in connection to the attack. (CNA) 

Israeli air strikes kill five people in Lebanon, including two children. (Reuters) 

Houthi forces shoot down a United States Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone with a surface-to-air missile over Marib Governorate, Yemen. Wreckage of the downed drone appears on social media. (ABC News) 

A child in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, dies of measles, the province’s first such death since 1989. (CBC News) 

A man is shot dead by police after trying to set a synagogue on fire in Rouen, France. (BBC News) 

The RCMP identifies the killer of four people in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in 1976 and 1977 as American serial rapist Gary Allen Srery, who died in prison in 2011. (CFCN-TV) 

A brawl breaks out in the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s parliament, following disagreements over draft reforms between the Democratic Progressive Party and the Kuomintang. (The Independent) 

The annual FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, awards Brazil the host rights for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. (USA Today) 

The End

Tuesday,  May 14th, 2024 

United States President Joe Biden passes tariff increases on Chinese imports, including electric vehicle batteries, computer chips, medical products, and a 100% electric vehicle tariff. (Reuters) 

Russia puts the nuclear capable submarine-launched Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile into service. (Reuters) 

Russian police arrest former head of personnel of the Ministry of Defence Yuri Kuznetsov for bribery of over ₽1 million. His charges carry up to 15 years of jail time. (Al Jazeera) 

Two prison guards are killed and three are critically injured during an ambush against a prison van near Rouen, Normandy, France. An inmate escaped alongside the attackers. (BBC News) 

Gamestop‘s stock rises another 61%. (Quartz) (Yahoo) 

The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival opens in Cannes, France, with an honorary Palme d’Or award for Meryl Streep. (AP) 

The death toll from a building collapse in George, South Africa, rises to 33. (Reuters) 

Eight people are killed and 40 others are injured when a bus carrying farmworkers collided with a truck and overturned in Marion County, Florida, U.S. (AP) 

Thirteen people die in a highway crash near Ayacucho in the Peruvian Andes. (Reuters) (Infobae) 

Two prison guards are killed and three are critically injured during an ambush against a prison van near Rouen, Normandy, France. An inmate escaped alongside the attackers. (BBC News) 

Tunisian police raid the headquarters of the Tunisian Order of Lawyers and arrests Mahdi Zagrouba, known for his opposition to President Kais Saied. This comes two days after the police detained lawyer Sonia Dahmani and two journalists. (Al Jazeera) 

Riot police clash with protesters on the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia, after the parliament approves a controversial “foreign agent” law that forces media organizations to declare foreign funding. (BBC News) 

The Supreme Court of Kazakhstan sentences former Minister of National Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev to 24 years in prison for torturing and murdering his wife. (Al Jazeera) 

Monday,  May 13th, 2024 

The Israeli military advances into northern and southern Gaza. (Reuters) 

A staff member of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security is killed and another is injured in Rafah. (United Nations) 

Hamas says that it has “lost contact” with the militants holding four Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. (Reuters) 

Russia claims that its troops have entered the town of Vovchansk, 74 kilometres (46 mi) from Kharkiv. (BBC News) 

Judge Judy Sheindlin sues A360media, the parent company of the National Enquirer and In Touch Weekly, for defamation in the Menéndez brothers case. (AP) 

Three years after the previous GameStop stock squeeze, Redditors return to artificially inflate GameStop’s share price by 75%, reaching an 18-month high. The share price of AMC Theatres also increases by more than 70%. (Reuters)

U.S. President Joe Biden signs a bill banning imports of uranium from Russia. (Reuters)

The death toll from the ongoing heavy flooding in southern Brazil increases to 147 people, with 127 people still missing. (Reuters) 

The final remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, which killed six workers, are demolished with explosives. (East Bay Times) 

The death toll from the flash flood and lahar in West Sumatra, Indonesia, increases to 43, with 15 others still missing. (Reuters) 

At least 14 people are killed, 75 are injured, and others are trapped after a billboard collapses during heavy rains in Mumbai, India. (Reuters) 

The Airlines for America trade association and several major American airlines file a lawsuit against the United States Department of Transportation over a rule requiring upfront disclosure of airline fees. (Reuters) 

Indonesian police conducts a major drug raid on a lab hidden in a villa in Bali, Indonesia. They arrested one Indonesian, two Ukrainians, and one Russian. (AP) 

A referendum to allow dual citizenship in Lithuania fails to pass. (LRT) 

Gitanas Nausėda and Ingrida Šimonytė advance to the run-off election, which will be held on 26 May. (The Guardian) 

An administrative court in Münster, Germany, rules that the Alternative for Germany political party could threaten democracy and can be spied on. (The Washington Post) 

The High Commissioner of New Caledonia imposes a curfew and mobilizes security forces after a general strike and violent protests over proposed constitutional changes in the capital city Nouméa. (Al Jazeera) 

OpenAI announces a new model of their generative pretrained transformer (GPT) named GPT-4o, capable of visual and video speech recognition and translation. (Reuters) 

Sunday, May 12th, 2024 

The death toll from the ongoing flooding in northern Afghanistan increases to 315, with more than 1,600 people injured, and more than 1,000 houses destroyed. (Reuters) 

The death toll from the ongoing flooding in southern Brazil increases to 143, with 125 people still missing. The Brazilian government has announced R$12.1 billion in emergency spending in response to the crisis. (Reuters) 

The Marywilska 44 shopping mall in Białołęka district, Warsaw, Poland, is destroyed in a suspected arson attack. Many of the venues were Vietnamese-owned. (The Times of India)

Wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, force thousands to evacuate. (CNN) 

Egypt announces it will intervene on South Africa’s side in the South Africa v Israel case in response to Israel’s growing assault on Rafah. (Reuters) 

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova is sworn in as the first female President of North Macedonia. (Bloomberg Macedonia) 

The End

Sunday, May 12th, 2024 

The Russian Defence Ministry states that its forces have captured several villages in Kharkiv Oblast. (CNN) 

At least thirteen civilians are killed and 20 others are injured when pieces of a downed Ukrainian Tochka missile hit an apartment block in Belgorod, Russia, Russian officials said. (AP) (Reuters) 

President of Russia Vladimir Putin reassigns Defence minister Sergei Shoigu to the National Security Council and replaces him as Defense minister with Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov. (The Washington Post) 

Fighting during RSF attacks on eastern El Fasher, Sudan, over the weekend kill at least 38 civilians and injure 189 others amid fears of an all out RSF assault on the city. (The Washington Post) 

The death toll from the ongoing flooding in northern Afghanistan increases to 315, with more than 1,600 people injured, and more than 1,000 houses destroyed. (Reuters) 

The death toll from the ongoing flooding in southern Brazil increases to 143, with 125 people still missing. The Brazilian government has announced R$12.1 billion in emergency spending in response to the crisis. (Reuters) 

A shopping mall in Warsaw, Poland, is destroyed in a suspected arson. (Puls Biznesu) 

Western Canada wildfires force thousands to evacuate. (CNN) 

Egypt announces it will intervene on South Africa’s side in the South Africa v Israel case in response to Israel’s growing assault on Rafah. (Reuters) 

The Socialists’ Party of Catalonia wins the regional election with its best result since 2003. Pro-independence parties lose their absolute majority in the Parliament. (Reuters) 

Lithuanians elect the President of Lithuania and vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow dual citizenship. (ABC News) (lnk.lt) 

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova is sworn in as the first female President of North Macedonia. (Bloomberg Macedonia) 

Forty-nine Vatican Museums employees start an unprecedented labor dispute over unfair and poor working conditions against the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission. (Reuters) 

Hundreds of protesters march in Tunis, Tunisia, to demand the release of imprisoned journalists, activists, and opposition figures. (Reuters) 

Bayer Leverkusen extend their record unbeaten streak in European football to fifty matches. (Bundesliga) 

Saturday, May 11th, 2024 

Three people are killed in a Ukrainian strike in Donetsk. Separately, two people are killed in Ukrainian strikes in Belgorod and Kursk Oblasts, Russia. (Reuters) 

Switzerland‘s entry, “The Code” by Nemo, wins this year’s Eurovision contest. (DW) 

Dutch musician Joost Klein is disqualified from the Eurovision final over reported verbal threats, which are under investigation by Swedish authorities. This is the first time that a performer has been disqualified during the festival. (Aftonbladet) 

The Norwegian announcer for Eurovision, Alessandra Mele, announces that she will withdraw from announcing votes while declaring support for Palestine in the ongoing war. (Times of Israel) 

The death toll from the ongoing flooding in northern Afghanistan increases to 300, with more than 1,000 houses destroyed. (AP) 

The death toll from the ongoing heavy flooding in southern Brazil increases to 136, with 125 still missing, and more than 300,000 people displaced. (Reuters) 

At least 28 people are killed after heavy rains in the Agam and Tanah Datar districts in West Sumatra, Indonesia, which triggered a flash flood and cold lava flow from Mount Marapi. (Al Jazeera) 

Eleven people are killed and 53 others are injured when a bus crashes in West Java, Indonesia. (AP) 

Fifty thousand people march in Tbilisi, Georgia, in protest of the proposed Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence. (Reuters) 

Friday,  May 10th, 2024 

Russian forces launch an attack on Ukraine‘s Kharkiv Oblast, near the town of Vovchansk, opening up a new front. (Reuters) 

A Ukrainian strike against oil infrastructure kills three in Luhansk. (Reuters) 

Hundreds of Islamic State-linked fighters attack the town of Macomia, Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique. (Al Jazeera) 

Indian security forces kill 12 Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh. (Reuters) 

Over 200 people are killed by floods in Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. (NDTV) 

The death toll from the ongoing heavy flooding in southern Brazil increases to 126, with 141 still missing and more than 300,000 people displaced. (Reuters) 

Seven people are killed and six others are injured when a passenger bus plunges from the Potseluev Bridge into the Moyka river in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Reuters) 

At least 60 people are injured when a passenger train collides with a locomotive in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Reuters) 

Amid record low birth rates and an aging population, Pope Francis urges Italians to have more children. The Italian government also expands a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033. (AP) 

The United Nations General Assembly votes 143–9 with 25 abstentions to approve a resolution granting Palestine new rights and privileges, and to reconsider Palestine’s request to become a UN member. The nine countries that opposed the resolution were Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the United States. (AP) (The National) 

A Colombian court in Bogota grants conditional release to former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso. He was held at La Picota prison while being accused of war crimes and human rights violations. (Reuters) 

The Supreme Court of India grants Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal interim bail for 21 days in connection with the Delhi liquor policy money laundering case, thereby permitting Kejriwal to campaign in the ongoing general election. (The Hindustan Times) 

A Pennsylvania jury orders ExxonMobil to pay $725.5 million to a former mechanic who claimed that the company’s gasoline and solvents caused him to develop leukemia. (Reuters) 

Peruvian authorities launch an investigation into President Dina Boluarte for disbanding a police force that was investigating her brother Nicanor Boluarte, who was arrested for alleged influence peddling. (Reuters) 

Police dismantle encampments and arrest dozens of students protesting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Reuters) 

Academic staff of The New School in New York City hold the first faculty-led solidarity encampment in the United States. (The Guardian) 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. qualifies to appear on the ballot in Oklahoma for the 2024 United States presidential election as an independent candidate. (Yahoo! News) 

Thousands of protesters march through Warsaw, Poland, against the European Union‘s environmental regulations. (Euronews) 

Emir of Kuwait Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dissolves the National Assembly and suspends some articles of the Constitution. (Reuters) 

Eight hundred protesters storm the Tesla plant in Grünheide, Germany, in protest of the environmental impact of the company’s expansion. (Reuters) 

A geomagnetic storm hits Earth, reaching G5 intensity and causing widespread aurorae, with NOAA‘s Space Weather Prediction Center issuing its first G4-level storm watch since 2005. (NOAA) 

The End