Portal:Current events
Topics in the news
- Robert Fico (pictured), the prime minister of Slovakia, is hospitalised after an assassination attempt.
- Lee Hsien Loong steps down after nearly 20 years as the prime minister of Singapore, and is succeeded by Lawrence Wong.
- Switzerland, represented by Nemo with "The Code", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
- A series of solar storms impact Earth, creating aurorae seen farther from the poles than usual.
- Former prime minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama is sentenced to one year in prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
International relations
- China–Russia relations
- President of Russia Vladimir Putin meets President of China Xi Jinping in Beijing, as part of his two-day visit to China. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- Permanent Member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee's Secretariat Trương Thị Mai resigns after just over a year in office amid the Communist Party's anti-corruption campaign. (Xinhua)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Southern Ukraine campaign, 2024 Kharkiv offensive
- Russia says its forces have captured the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and several more villages in Kharkiv Oblast. Ukraine confirms it has pulled back its troops from Vovchansk to "preserve the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses". (BBC News)
- Southern Ukraine campaign, 2024 Kharkiv offensive
- Attempted assassination of Robert Fico
- Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico is injured in a shooting in Handlová, Slovakia, which is being treated as an assassination attempt. The shooter has been apprehended and is identified as a 71-year-old writer from Levice, Slovakia. (BBC News) (The Wall Street Journal)
- The Slovak government describes Prime Minister Robert Fico's condition as life-threatening. Deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba stated that Fico underwent surgery, was stabilized, and is expected to survive. (Reuters) (The Guardian)
- 2024 New Caledonia unrest
- France declares a state of emergency in New Caledonia as anti-French rioting continues, which has killed four people. Schools are closed and a curfew is announced in the capital Nouméa. (Reuters)
- War in Sudan
- The United States issues sanctions on two commanders of the Rapid Support Forces, Ali Yagoub Gibril and Osman Mohamed Hamid, for their roles in the escalating violence in Darfur. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
- 2024 Canada wildfires
- Authorities evacuate over 6,000 people as wildfires approach the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (Reuters) (NPR)
- 2024 West Sumatra floods
- The death toll from the flash flood and lahar in West Sumatra, Indonesia, increases to 62, with 25 others still missing. (Reuters)
International relations
- Nicaragua–United States relations
- The United States impose visa restrictions on more than 250 members of the Nicaraguan government and also sanction three Nicaraguan entities for "repressive action" and a failure to control migrant smuggling through Nicaragua. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Six people are injured during a mass stabbing at a railway station in Zofingen, Switzerland. The suspect, who has suffered self-inflicted wounds, is detained. His motives are unknown. (Al Arabiya)
- Federal prosecutors in New York City charge two brothers, Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, after they were arrested for exploiting the Ethereum blockchain and stealing $25 million worth of cryptocurrency. (Reuters)
- The United States Supreme Court lets Louisiana use a new congressional map with two majority-Black congressional districts in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections. (CBS News)
Politics and elections
- 2024 United States presidential election
- 2024 United States presidential debates
- U.S. President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump agree to hold a presidential debate on June 27, hosted by CNN, which will be the earliest general election debate in modern history in the United States. A second debate will be held in September. (The New York Times)
- 2024 United States presidential debates
- 2023–2024 Dutch cabinet formation
- A new coalition government in the Netherlands is agreed by Geert Wilders, Dilan Yeşilgöz, Pieter Omtzigt, and Caroline van der Plas. (The Guardian)
- Lawrence Wong is sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister of Singapore, succeeding Lee Hsien Loong. (BBC News) (CNA)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2024 Kharkiv offensive, Kharkiv strikes
- At least 20 people are injured when Russian airstrikes hit a residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Ukraine pulls back from positions near Lukyantsi and Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast. (Reuters)
- 2024 Kharkiv offensive, Kharkiv strikes
- Israel–Hamas war
- Rafah offensive
- Israeli tanks enter residential areas of Rafah as they attempt to capture the city. Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades says that it destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with a Al-Yassin 105 anti-tank missile, killing several troops and injuring several others, while the Israel Defense Forces claim to have "eliminated" several terrorists in the city. (Reuters)
- Rafah offensive
- Israeli settler violence
- Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Israel–Hamas war
- Israeli protestors attack a convoy of aid trucks in the West Bank, damaging 15 trucks and causing $2 million worth of damage. (Reuters)
- Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Israel–Hamas war
- 2024 New Caledonia unrest
- Riots erupt in New Caledonia as France plans to change the constitution, allowing more recent white French settlers to vote in the island's provincial elections, which protesters claim would marginalise the Indigenous Kanak people. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
- Three Kanak residents are killed and many more injured during a drive-by shooting by a group of French settlers. (Reuters)
- At least 54 officers are injured and more than 130 people are arrested. Shops and cars are looted, while a prison breakout has been prevented. (AP) (Al Jazeera)
Arts and culture
- The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival opens in Cannes, France, with Meryl Streep receiving an honorary Palme d'Or award. (AP)
Business and economy
- China–United States trade war
- U.S. President Joe Biden passes tariff increases on Chinese imports, including electric vehicles and batteries, computer chips, and medical products. (Reuters)
- Economy of Argentina
- Inflation in Argentina slows to a single digit number of 8.8 percent amid severe austerity plans by president Javier Milei. (AP)
- GameStop short squeeze
- The share price of GameStop increases by a further 61%. (Quartz) (Yahoo! News)
Disasters and accidents
- The death toll from a building collapse in George, South Africa, last week, increases to 33. (Reuters)
- Thirteen people, including former Congressman Édgar Alarcón, are killed in a bus crash in Vinchos, Huamanga Province, Peru. (Reuters) (Infobae)
- Eight people are killed and 40 others are injured when a bus carrying farmworkers collides with a truck and overturns in Marion County, Florida, United States. (AP)
Law and crime
- Corruption in Russia
- Russian police arrest former head of personnel of the Ministry of Defence Yuri Vasilievich Kuznetsov for bribery of over $1 million. Kuznetsov's charges carry up to 15 years of jail time. (Al Jazeera)
- Two prison guards are killed and three others are critically injured in an ambush of a prison van near Rouen, Normandy, France, to free an inmate with ties to a drug dealing gang. (BBC News)
- Tunisian police raid the headquarters of the Tunisian Order of Lawyers in Tunis and arrest Mahdi Zagrouba, who is known for his opposition to President Kais Saied. (Al Jazeera)
- 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)
- Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza loses his appeal against a 25-year prison sentence. (Reuters)
- A court in Germany convicts and fines Alternative for Germany member Björn Höcke €13,000 ($14,000) for using a Nazi slogan that once belonged to the Sturmabteilung. (Al Jazeera)
Politics and elections
- 2023–2024 Georgian protests
- Riot police clash with protesters on the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia, after the parliament approves a controversial "foreign agent" law that requires media organizations to declare foreign funding. (BBC News)
- The United States warns Georgia that $390 million in planned economic support will be "under review" if the Georgian government considers the U.S. as an "adversary", and not as a strategic partner. (The Guardian)
Science and technology
- May 2024 solar storms
- The sun emits the largest solar flare since 2005, days after producing auroras in the Northern and Southern Hempisheres. (Axios)
- Russia places its nuclear capable submarine-launched Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile into service. (Reuters)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Israel–Hamas war
- Rafah offensive
- 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)
- Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
- 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)
- Rafah offensive
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2024 Kharkiv offensive
- Russia claims that its troops have entered the town of Vovchansk, 74 kilometres (46 mi) from Kharkiv. (BBC News)
- 2024 Kharkiv offensive
Business and economy
- GameStop short squeeze
- 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) (CNBC)
- Russia–United States relations
- U.S. President Joe Biden signs a bill banning imports of uranium from Russia. (Reuters) (The Washington Post)
Disasters and accidents
- 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods
- Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse
- 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)
Law and crime
- 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)
Politics and elections
- 2024 Lithuanian constitutional referendum
- A referendum to allow dual citizenship in Lithuania fails to pass. (LRT)
- 2024 Lithuanian presidential election
- Gitanas Nausėda and Ingrida Šimonytė advance to the run-off election, which will be held on 26 May. (The Guardian)
- 2024 New Caledonia unrest
- 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)
- 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)
Science and technology
- OpenAI announces a new model of their generative pretrained transformer (GPT) named GPT-4o, capable of visual and video speech recognition and translation. (Reuters)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2024 Kharkiv offensive
- The Russian Defence Ministry states that its forces have captured several villages in Kharkiv Oblast. (CNN)
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- President of Russia Vladimir Putin reassigns Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to the National Security Council and replaces him with Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov. (The Washington Post)
- 2024 Kharkiv offensive
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel–Hamas war
- Rafah offensive
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns Israel lacks a credible plan to protect Rafah civilians. (Reuters)
- Rafah offensive
- Israel–Hamas war
- War in Sudan
- Battle of El Fasher
- Fighting during RSF attacks on eastern El Fasher, 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)
- Battle of El Fasher
Disasters and accidents
- 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods
- 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)
- 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods
- 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) (Puls Biznesu)
- Wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, force thousands to evacuate. (CNN)
International relations
- Egypt–Israel relations, Rafah offensive
- 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)
Politics and elections
- 2024 Catalan regional election
- 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)
- 2024 Lithuanian presidential election, 2024 Lithuanian constitutional referendum
- Lithuanians elect the President of Lithuania and vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow dual citizenship. (ABC News) (lnk.lt)
- 2024 North Macedonian presidential election
- 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)
Sports
- Bayer Leverkusen extend their record unbeaten streak in European association football to fifty matches. (Bundesliga)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and culture
- Eurovision Song Contest 2024
- 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)
Disasters and accidents
- 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods
- The death toll from the ongoing flooding in northern Afghanistan increases to 300, with more than 1,000 houses destroyed. (AP)
- 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods
- 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)
Politics and elections
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2024 Kharkiv offensive
- 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)
- 2024 Kharkiv offensive
- M23 offensive
- The death toll from rocket strikes on an IDP camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, increases to 35. (AP)
- Insurgency in Cabo Delgado
- Hundreds of Islamic State-linked fighters attack the town of Macomia, Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique. (Al Jazeera)
- Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
- Indian security forces kill 12 Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods
- Over 200 people are killed by floods in Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. (NDTV)
- 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods
- 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)
Health and environment
- Demographics of Italy
- 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)
International relations
- Palestine and the United Nations
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/23
- 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)
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/23
Law and crime
- Colombian conflict
- Catatumbo campaign
- 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)
- Catatumbo campaign
- Arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, 2024 Indian general election
- 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)
Politics and elections
- Israel–Hamas war protests
- 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
- 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)
- 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
- 2024 United States presidential election
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 2024 presidential campaign
- 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)
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 2024 presidential campaign
- 2024 Polish farmers' protests
- 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)
Science and technology
- May 2024 solar storms
- 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)