Portal:Current events/2023 May 16
May 16, 2023 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2022–2023 Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- More than a dozen explosions are reported in Kyiv as Russia launches a missile barrage at the capital and other Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian forces say that they have shot down six Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. (Financial Times) (Reuters)
- The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that it destroyed a Patriot air defense system in Kyiv. However a United States official says that the system was likely damaged but not destroyed. (CNN)
- 2022–2023 Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria
- 2023 Mangu violence
- At least 80 people are killed by armed attackers during a shooting spree on several villages in Plateau State, Nigeria. (AP)
- 2023 Mangu violence
- Nine people are arrested after an alleged Iranian-backed coup d'état plot is uncovered in Azerbaijan. (Barron's)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- The death toll from Cyclone Mocha's landfall in Myanmar, increases to 81 people. The majority of casualties and damage occurred in the Rakhine State. (CNA)
- Wellington hostel fire
- Six people are killed and eleven others are reported missing in a fire at a hostel in Wellington, New Zealand. (NZ Herald)
International relations
- Ukraine–NATO relations
- Ukraine officially joins NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. (Ukrainska Pravda)
Law and crime
- LGBT rights in Namibia
- The Supreme Court of Namibia recognises foreign same-sex marriages between citizens. However, homosexual acts remain illegal in Namibia under a rarely enforced colonial-era law from 1927. (AFP via Macau Business)
- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signs a law legalizing euthanasia. (AFP via The Straits Times) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Politics and elections
- The impeachment trial against Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso begins, with Lasso attending in person for his defense. (AP)
Science and technology
- Meta Platforms begins introducing paid verification on Facebook and Instagram for users in the United Kingdom. (BBC News)