Portal:Current events/2022 May 23

May 23, 2022 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russo-Ukrainian War
- 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
  - Government and intergovernmental reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    - Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev says that he has resigned to protest the invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)
ISIL insurgency in Iraq
- Islamic State carries out a pair of attacks in the Iraqi Diyala and Kirkuk Governorates, killing twelve civilians and injuring another six. (AP)
Rwandan authorities accuse the Democratic Republic of the Congo of shelling areas in Musanze District. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods
- 300 people are displaced by new flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (AP)
Seven people are killed and 23 others are injured when a high-speed craft carrying 134 people catches fire off the coast of Real, Quezon, Philippines. (Sky News)
Fourteen people are killed and dozens are injured when a building collapses in Abadan, Iran. (BBC News)
Two people are killed and 120 others are injured when a gas cylinder catches fire and explodes at a restaurant in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Reuters)
A mudflow hits the village of Ak-Suu, Aksy District, Kyrgyzstan, cutting off access to the village and trapping three cars. (AKIPress)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in India
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Telangana
      - Telangana reports its first case of the Omicron BA.5 variant in an 80-year old person with no history of travel. (The Indian Express)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
    - COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing
      - Beijing extends its stay-at-home order for workers and students, and orders mass COVID-19 testing amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the city. (ABC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
  - Emeritus Queen consort Sofía of Spain tests positive for COVID-19 after travelling to Miami, Florida, United States. (Diez Minutos)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - Pfizer and BioNTech say that their COVID-19 vaccine is 80% effective in young children. (The Washington Post)
2022 monkeypox outbreak
- Scotland confirms its first case of monkeypox. The patient has been hospitalized. In response, smallpox vaccines are being stockpiled in the country. (Reuters) (BBC News) (Glasgow Times)
- Denmark confirms its first case of monkeypox. (Reuters)
- England reports 36 more monkeypox cases, thereby bringing the total number of cases in the country to 56. (Reuters)
- The U.S. CDC says that American health officials are releasing Jynneos vaccines to combat monkeypox. (Axios)
- Morocco reports three new suspected cases of monkeypox. (Xinhua News Agency)
Polio eradication, Polio in Pakistan
- Pakistan launches a new anti-polio drive after a third case of the disease is reported in the country. (The Register Citizen)
In Australia, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces that Queensland residents will have access to influenza vaccines across the state amid an increase in the number of influenza A cases after two years of low case numbers due to COVID-19. (Seven News)

International relations

Cross-Strait relations, China–United States relations
- U.S. President Joe Biden states that American troops would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese invasion, a departure from a traditional policy of strategic ambiguity. (The New York Times)
Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, Turkish occupation of northern Syria
- Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatens to launch a new military incursion into northern Syria, targeting US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces and expanding its occupation zone along Syria's northern border with Turkey. (Al-Monitor)

Law and crime

War crimes in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- In the first trial for war crimes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 21-year-old Vadim Shishimarin, a Russian soldier, is sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting a 62-year-old civilian. (CNN)
A security guard is killed at the Qatari embassy in Paris, France. (Reuters)