Portal:Current events/May 2019

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May 2019 was the fifth month of that common year. The month, which began on a Wednesday, ended on a Friday after 31 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from May 2019.

May 1, 2019 (2019-05-01) (Wednesday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
  • Sixteen soldiers, including a driver, are killed in a landmine explosion in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, India. Maoist insurgents are currently active in the area, leading officials to believe them to be responsible. (CNN)

Arts and culture

• 2019 Japanese imperial transition
  • The Japanese Era Reiwa (令和) begins as Emperor Naruhito accedes to the Chrysanthemum Throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The Emperor inherits two of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan during a symbolic ceremony, which formalises his ascension. (The Mainichi) (BBC News)

• Monarchy of Thailand
  • Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand, marries his head of security and mistress, General Suthida Tidjai, days before his coronation. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is sentenced to 50 weeks in prison by a judge in the United Kingdom for breaching bail in 2012. Assange still faces possible extradition to the United States on charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. (NPR) (The Guardian)
• Internet censorship in Russia
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin signs the Internet Sovereignty Bill into law. The bill has drawn fierce criticism from civil society groups over fears that it would lead Russia to establish an isolated internet landscape. (The Moscow Times)

Politics and elections

• Fiona Onasanya, the member of the UK Parliament for Peterborough, is removed from her position following a successful recall petition in the wake of her conviction for perverting the course of justice, becoming the first MP in the country's history to lose their seat in this manner. A by-election will be called to elect a replacement MP. (BBC News)
• British Prime Minister Theresa May fires Gavin Williamson as Secretary of State for Defence, following the leaking of information relating to a National Security Council meeting, regarding the security risk posed by Chinese multinational telecommunications company Huawei. Secretary of State for International Development Penny Mordaunt is appointed the first-ever female British Defence Secretary. (The Guardian) (Evening Standard)
• The UK Parliament declares "an environment and climate emergency." (CNN)

May 2, 2019 (2019-05-02) (Thursday)

Disasters and accidents

• 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • Evacuation of approximately 800,000 people is underway as Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani heads toward the Indian state of Odisha (formerly Orissa) and is expected to make landfall Friday with wind speeds in excess of 200 km/h (127 mph). (BBC News)

Health and environment

• 2019 measles outbreak
  • The Freewinds cruise ship is quarantined in Saint Lucia over concerns of a measles epidemic after it is reported that one of the passengers has the disease. The cruise ship is reportedly owned by the Church of Scientology, a religious organization that opposes vaccinations against diseases such as measles. (CNN)

Law and crime

• Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor is found guilty of racketeering in an opioid-related bribery scheme. (BBC News)
• Myanmar security forces fire into a crowd of 275 Rakhine people detained during a search for Arakan Army members, killing six and wounding eight. The military claim that they were forced to shoot after some of the detainees attempted to seize their weapons, despite warning shots and verbal warnings. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
  • U.S. Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado announces he is running for the Democratic Party's nomination to be President of the United States in the 2020 presidential election. (The New York Times)
• Catherine Pugh, Mayor of Baltimore, resigns under investigation for alleged financial improprieties. Baltimore City Council president Jack Young has been serving as acting mayor since April 2. (Baltimore Sun via MSN.com) (NPR)

Science and technology

• Facebook and Instagram ban political figures Alex Jones, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Paul Nehlen, David Duke and Laura Loomer, from their platforms and remove their pages for allegedly engaging in "violence and hate". (CNN) (NBC News) (JTA)

May 3, 2019 (2019-05-03) (Friday)

Business and finance

• Sinclair Broadcast Group buys Fox Sports Networks (FSN) from The Walt Disney Company for $10.6 billion. Disney was ordered by the U.S. Justice Department to sell FSN as part of its purchase of 21st Century Fox last year due antitrust concerns over its ownership of ESPN Inc. (The New York Times)
• Documents filed in a United States bankruptcy court indicate that the bankrupt utility company Pacific Gas & Electric has not been able to reach a settlement with its creditors over billions of dollars it owes under power purchase contracts. PG&E wants the issue settled by the bankruptcy court rather than by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• Mississippi River floods
  • Alton, Illinois, builds a barrier wall as the Mississippi River rises to levels not seen since the historic 1993 floods. (Chicago Tribune)
  • The Mississippi River rises to its highest level since the 1993 floods at the Quad Cities in Illinois and Iowa. (Chicago Tribune)
  • Flooding from Michigan to the south damages homes and sends the Mississippi River to a 157-year high in Davenport, Iowa. (Weather Channel)
• 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • Cyclone Fani, an extremely severe category 4 storm and one of the strongest in recent years, makes landfall at the coastal town of Puri in the Indian state of Odisha. Eight people have been killed in India, according to the Press Trust of India, and hundreds more injured. Severe damage and flooding has been reported. One million Indians and 2.1 million Bangladeshis have been evacuated. A storm surge possibly up to 1.5m (5ft) is expected. The storm, weakening as it travels northeast through India, is expected to reach Chittagong in Bangladesh Saturday. (Reuters) (BBC News)
• Miami Air Flight 293
  • A Boeing 737 arriving at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida slides off the runway into the St. Johns River. All on board survive. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• Tax returns of Donald Trump
  • The California Senate passes a bill that would keep Donald Trump out of the 2020 presidential primaries until he releases his tax returns. (The Hill) (Associated Press)

Sports

• 2019 NBA playoffs
  • The Portland Trail Blazers defeat the Denver Nuggets 140-137 in quadruple overtime, making the game the first quadruple overtime game in the playoffs since 1953. (The Guardian) (Vladtv)

May 4, 2019 (2019-05-04) (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya during the Libyan Civil War
  • An attack on forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in Sabha, Libya, kills at least nine people. ISIL claims responsibility. (AFP via The Times of India)
• North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
  • North Korea fires several short-range projectiles from the east coast city of Wonsan. (Reuters/AP via ABC Australia)
• Gaza–Israel clashes (May 2019)
  • The Israeli Air Force carries out dozens of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in response to a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas militants. The Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency's media office in Gaza was among those hit by Israeli missiles, prompting outrage from Turkish officials. (Deutsche Welle)
• Four Turkish soldiers were killed in an attack on their base in Iraq by Kurdish forces. Twenty PKK members were also killed in the attack. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand since 2016, is officially crowned sovereign. His wife Suthida Tidjai, who he had married only three days prior, is declared Queen consort. (Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

• 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • Cyclone Fani starts affecting Bangladesh, where over a million people have been evacuated from the storm's path. Authorities say the cyclone has killed at least five people in Bangladesh and damaged over a thousand homes. At least twelve people have been killed in total by the cyclone. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• Interstellar Technologies successfully launches uncrewed rocket MOMO-3 from its launch facility in Taiki, Hokkaido, becoming the first commercially developed Japanese rocket to reach the Kármán line. (Deutsche Welle)

Sport

• 2019 Kentucky Derby
  • In horse racing, Country House wins the 145th Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security is disqualified. The latter horse is the first Kentucky Derby winner ever to have been disqualified for interference. (CBS Sports)

May 5, 2019 (2019-05-05) (Sunday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• Gaza–Israel clashes (May 2019), Iran–Israel proxy conflict
  • Hamas and other militant groups in the Gaza Strip fire hundreds of rockets at Israel, killing two Israeli civilians in Ashkelon and one in Ashdod. Retaliatory Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 23 Palestinians, including a senior Hamas commander. (CNN) (Haartez)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • Taliban insurgents kill 13 and injure 55 people in an attack on a police headquarters in Puli Khumri, Afghanistan, using guns and suicide vests. The Taliban's high command recently rejected a ceasefire offer from the Afghan government. (BBC News)
• The United States deploys a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to respond to threats from Iran. A U.S. official told CNN, "... the threats were against both U.S. maritime and land-based forces in the region." (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

• Aeroflot Flight 1492
  • At least 41 passengers are killed after Sukhoi Superjet 100 (flight SU1492), which suffered an inflight fire, is engulfed by fire after an emergency crash landing at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia. A five-person crew and 73 passengers were on board. (Aviation 24) (BBC News)
• Seven Venezuelan military officers are killed in a helicopter crash. (AP)

International relations

• 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, United States–Venezuela relations
  • The President of the National Assembly of Venezuela Juan Guaidó tells the BBC he is considering formally requesting the United States to launch a military intervention to topple President Nicolás Maduro. Guaidó led a failed uprising against Maduro last month. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• LGBT rights in Brunei
  • Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announces, via a television broadcast, that he has extended the moratorium on capital punishment for gay sex convictions. No executions have been carried out in Brunei since 1957. There has been overwhelming international backlash against a number of the changes affected by the stricter interpretation of Islamic law published on 3 April 2019. The Sultan also said Brunei will ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture. (BBC News) (CNN)

Politics and elections

• 2019 North Macedonian presidential election
  • Voters in North Macedonia head to the polls for the second round of the 2019 presidential election. Stevo Pendarovski of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia wins over his opponent Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova. (Reuters) (The New York Times)
• 2019 Panamanian general election
  • Laurentino Cortizo of the center-left Democratic Revolutionary Party defeats Rómulo Roux of the center-right Democratic Change party in a narrow election to become the next president of Panama. Cortizo receives 33% of the vote to Roux's 31%, marking the return of the Democratic Revolutionary Party after 10 years out of the presidency. (BBC News)

May 6, 2019 (2019-05-06) (Monday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• Syrian Civil War, 2019 Idlib offensive
  • The Syrian Arab Army launches a ground offensive against HTS and NFL-held areas in northern Hama and southern Idlib, after six days of intensive airstrikes on the region. (Fars) (Reuters) (ABC News)

Arts and culture

• The first child of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is born; the boy is seventh in line to the British throne. (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

• A fuel tanker lorry overturns and explodes near the airport in Niamey, Niger, killing at least 58 people. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• The United Nations Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services reports that, due to human activity, the Earth's biodiversity has suffered a catastrophic decline that is unprecedented in human history. (NPR) (Reuters)

International relations

• China–United States trade war, China–United States relations
  • Chinese stocks are down, falling more than 5 percent as of midday, following U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to raise tariffs against Chinese-made goods on Sunday. The current negotiations for a new deal between the two countries, originally planned for Wednesday, are now in question. U.S. stock futures fell sharply as well. (BBC News) (The New York Times) (Bloomberg)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Turkish local elections, 2019 Istanbul mayoral election
  • After a narrow victory of Turkey's main opposition party CHP against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP in Istanbul's mayoral election last month, Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council annulled the results and ordered a rerun of the election for the mayor of Istanbul. (The New York Times)

• 2019 Guatemalan general election
  • The Attorney General and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) present a new case of corruption involving the current Economy Minister Acisclo Valladares Urruela, the presidential candidate Estuardo Galdámez of the ruling party National Convergence Front and seven deputies. They also request the revocation of the immunity of these politicians to proceed with their arrest. Galdámez is the sixth presidential candidate who has a process for possible acts of corruption. (elPeriódico de Guatemala)

Sports

• U.S. President Donald Trump awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian awards in the United States, to Tiger Woods for his accomplishments in professional golf and charitable work. (CBS Sports) (Golf Channel)

May 7, 2019 (2019-05-07) (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Second Libyan Civil War, 2019 Western Libya offensive
  • The Libyan National Army shoots down a pro-GNA Mirage F1 fighter jet over Tripoli, capturing its pilot, who claimed to be Portuguese, though the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs couldn't confirm his identity. Pictures released by the LNA's media office show the wounded pilot flanked by LNA officials. (The Independent) (The Telegraph)

Health and environment

• Multiple environmentalists groups file a lawsuit to stop the US Forest Service from opening up large tracts of the Tongass National Forest to logging, allegedly without a proper study of the environmental impact. (Reuters)

International relations

• Iraq–United States relations
  • United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who originally expected to be in Berlin today, makes an emergency trip to Iraq amid escalating tensions with Iran. Earlier this week, the U.S. deployed a bomber task force and the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region. In today's meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and President Barham Salih, Pompeo reaffirmed the longstanding U.S. policy to ensure nobody interferes in their country. (BBC News) (CNN)

Law and crime

• Myanmar President Win Myint pardons two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who had been imprisoned at Insein Prison for more than 500 days after being charged with possession of classified documents under the Official Secrets Act. The pair were arrested in December 2017 as they were investigating the Inn Din massacre. (Reuters)
• List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump
  • Michael Behenna, an American soldier convicted of killing an Iraqi prisoner in 2008, is pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump and invited to dinner. (NPR)
• 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting
  • At least one person is killed and eight people are injured in a school shooting in Douglas County, Colorado. Two suspects are in custody. (KKTV) (ABC News via MSN.com)
• At least seven people are killed and another 20 injured in a shooting at Pavón Prison near Guatemala City. The injured have been taken to hospital. Security forces have regained control of the facility. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Danish general election
  • Danish prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen calls general elections for Grundlovsdag on 5 June, only a little more than a week after Danish elections for the European Parliament. (The Local)
• 2019 Istanbul mayoral election
  • The European Union and leading member states such as Belgium, France and Germany, criticize the Turkish government's decision to re-run Istanbul's mayoral election, which was won by underdog Ekrem İmamoğlu of the opposition multi-party Nation Alliance. (BBC News) (Reuters)

May 8, 2019 (2019-05-08) (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2019 Lahore bombing
  • A blast near the 11th-century Data Darbar Sufi shrine in Lahore, Pakistan, kills at least eleven people, half of them police officers. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • Nine people were killed after the Taliban launches an attack on the Kabul offices of international non-governmental organization Counterpart International. (Al Jazeera)
• Syrian Civil War, Northwestern Syria offensive (April 2019–present)
  • Syrian government forces capture the town of Kafr Nabudah in an ongoing offensive, marking the first major territorial change between government and rebel forces since the start of the demilitarization agreement last year. (Miami Herald)

Arts and culture

• Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, name their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. (CBS News)

International relations

• Nuclear program of Iran
  • Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sends letters to the P5+1 leaders of the United Kingdom, China, Russia, Germany, France and the European Union announcing the country's partial withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement. Furthermore, Iran announces that it will stop exporting uranium and heavy water from its nuclear program. (Miami Herald) (CBS News)
• Cross-Strait relations
  • Taiwan passes a law under which spies from China would be subject to life imprisonment or even the death penalty. (Mainichi)
• Brazil–United States relations
  • U.S. President Donald Trump notifies the Congress that he will designate Brazil as a major non-NATO ally in light of recent commitments to increase defense cooperation between both countries. (White House)
• Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute
  • In a referendum, 55.37% of the Belizean population voted in favor of allowing the International Court of Justice to adjudicate Belize's border dispute with its neighbor Guatemala. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Asia Bibi blasphemy case
  • Asia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row, has left Pakistan for Canada to be reunited with her daughters. (ABC News)
• Aftermath of the Mueller special counsel investigation
  • The United States House Committee on the Judiciary votes to hold United States Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with a subpoena ordering him to provide them with the full, unredacted version of the Mueller report last week. The full House will vote on the measure in the near future. (The New York Times)
  • Donald Trump Jr., son of U.S. President Donald Trump, is subpoenaed to testify before the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the Trump Tower Moscow project and his Russian contacts in June 2016. (The New York Times)

Politics and elections

• 2019 South African general election
  • Voters in South Africa go to the polls to elect new members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. (The New York Times)

May 9, 2019 (2019-05-09) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• North Korean missile tests
  • The South Korean military claims that North Korean military has launched an "unidentified projectile" into the sea, marking the second time North Korea has conducted a weapons test in a single week. (CNBC)
• North Korea–United States relations
  • For the first time the United States seizes a North Korean merchant ship loaded with coal in the East China Sea sailing toward Indonesia. The ship is suspected of violating sanctions. (ABC News) (CNN) (NBC News)
• International military intervention against ISIL
  • A blast hits Baghdad's northeastern Sadr City district. ISIL claims responsibility. No verified report on casualties is presently available. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• The Reserve Bank of Australia confirms it issued approximately 46 million new Australian $50 notes in late 2018 with a typo in the background fine print: "responsibility" is misspelled as "responsibilty", the third "i" is missing. The mistake appears three times on the note and is extremely small requiring magnification to see. Part of the rollout of Australia's redesigned currency, the A$50 notes feature the first female member of an Australian parliament, social reformer Edith Cowan. (BBC News) (The Age)

Disasters and accidents

• European migrant crisis
  • The United Nations states that at least 65 people are dead after a boat sinks off the coast of Tunisia while carrying migrants from Libya to Europe. (Reuters/ABC News Australia)

Law and crime

• Argentine congressman Héctor Enrique Olivares of the UCR party is shot by two assailants and is in critical condition. One of his advisers dies as a result of the gunshots. (Infobae) (Buenos Aires Times)
• Operation Car Wash
  • Former Brazilian President Michel Temer surrenders to the federal police in response to Wednesday's arrest warrant regarding an investigation into an alleged corruption scheme involving an Eletrobras nuclear power plant. Temer's lawyer's appeal will be heard on Tuesday. (Reuters) (France 24)

Health and environment

• The United States House of Representatives votes to overturn President Donald Trump’s move on the Affordable Care Act. (The Hill)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
  • SEBIN agents detain Juan Guaidó's deputy Edgar Zambrano, the Vice President of the opposition-held National Assembly, and are reported to have taken him to El Helicoide prison. He is the most high profile opposition politician arrested since the presidential crisis began in January. (BBC News) (Deutsche Welle)
  • Colleague Richard Blanco of the Brave Peoples’ Alliance party seeks refuge in Argentina's embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, following Zambrano's arrest. (Reuters)
• Montenegrin coup plot
  • Russian officials are sentenced for a 2016 coup attempt in Montenegro. (The Guardian)

May 10, 2019 (2019-05-10) (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
  • Four hostages, who were being held in northern Burkina Faso, are rescued by French naval commandos, with two French commandos killed during the rescue operation. Those freed include two Frenchmen who had been kidnapped in Benin on May 1 and a pair of women, one an American and the other a South Korean. (BBC News)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • About 900 children are released from the Civilian Joint Task Force, a militia formed in Nigeria to counter Boko Haram. (CNN)
• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • Suspected Baloch nationalist gunmen storm a coal mine in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least five people. (Al Jazeera)
• War in Afghanistan
  • One day after peace talks between the Taliban and the United States ended with no resolution, Taliban militants attack government outposts in northwestern Afghanistan, killing at least twelve Afghan soldiers. (The New York Times)

Business and economy

• Uber makes its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, starting by selling stocks at $42 and closing at $41.60. Uber's market cap drops from over $80 billion to about $72 billion. (Yahoo! Finance) (BuzzFeed News)

International relations

• China–United States trade war, China–United States relations
  • The United States increases tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of imports from China after no deal materialized prior to the midnight deadline. (CNBC) (The Wall Street Journal) (BBC News)

Law and crime

• Mueller special counsel investigation, Crossfire Hurricane (FBI investigation)
  • Republicans Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley request documents related to Christopher Steele, author of the Trump–Russia dossier, in a letter to United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the FBI Director Christopher Wray. (CBS News)
• Tax returns of Donald Trump
  • The United States House Committee on Ways and Means subpoenas United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Commissioner of Internal Revenue Charles Rettig to provide President Donald Trump's federal tax returns for the last six years. (The New York Times)

May 11, 2019 (2019-05-11) (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
  • Houthi forces begin to withdraw from several Yemeni ports, including Al Hudaydah, As-Salif and Ras Isa. The withdrawal is part of a UN-brokered ceasefire deal that aims to end the blockade of Yemen. (Deutsche Welle)
• 2019 Pearl Continental Hotel attack
  • In Gwadar, three insurgents attack a luxury hotel, as a result of the attack, four hotel employees, a soldier and all three attackers have been killed. The Baloch Liberation Army, an ethnic Baloch separatist group fighting for independence for Balochistan province, claimed responsibility for the attack saying that four fighters were involved. (BBC News)
• North Korea–United States relations
  • A North Korean merchant ship loaded with coal, seized by the United States in the East China Sea for suspected sanctions violation, arrives in Pago Pago, American Samoa. (Associated Press)

Health and environment

• Efforts begin in Solomon Islands to refloat a ship after an oil spill in what the government says will be a "very difficult operation." (Radio New Zealand)

Law and crime

• Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations
  • Harvard announces that they will not renew law professor Ronald S. Sullivan Jr.'s appointment as dean of Winthrop House after he joined the defense of Harvey Weinstein. He remains a regular professor. (Boston CBS) (New York Times)

Politics and elections

• David W. Panuelo is sworn in as President of the Federated States of Micronesia, succeeding Peter M. Christian, after being elected by the Congress. (Fiji Times)

May 12, 2019 (2019-05-12) (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
  • Gunmen burn down a Catholic church during mass and kill six people, including a priest, in Dablo, Burkina Faso. (BBC News)
• Gulf of Oman incident, Iran–United States relations, Iran–Saudi Arabia relations
  • The United Arab Emirates reports four commercial vessels were subject to "sabotage operations" just outside its territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman and two of the vessels suffer "significant damage" to their structure off the coast of Fujairah. One of the vessels was en route to the United Arab Emirates to be loaded with Saudi Arabia crude oil and sent to the United States. (Reuters) (Associated Press) (CNN)

• Syrian Civil War
  • Memos sent to Syria's head of military intelligence, and obtained by the New York Times, report that President Bashar al-Assad's government has been running a network of secret torture facilities across Syria, crushing opposition via routine torture in secret prisons. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Argentine lawmaker Héctor Enrique Olivares, who was seriously injured in a shooting attack near the Congress on May 9, dies in hospital as result of the gunshot injuries. (TN.com.ar) (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Lithuanian presidential election
  • Lithuanians are called to the polls to elect the new President. Ingrida Šimonytė wins the first round and will dispute the second round with Gitanas Nausėda. Prime Minister and presidential candidate, Saulius Skvernelis is about to resign after the bad results of his candidature. (Deutsche Welle) (BBC News)
• 2019 North Macedonian presidential election
  • Stevo Pendarovski is sworn in as the President of North Macedonia after winning the election, the first after the Prespa agreement. (Euronews)

Sports

• England's 2018–19 Premier League
  • Manchester City F.C. win England's 2018–19 Premier League for the second year in a row with 98 points, while Liverpool F.C. come in second with 97 points, continuing their 29-year title drought. (English Premier League)

May 13, 2019 (2019-05-13) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gulf of Oman incident, Iran–United States relations, United Arab Emirates - Iran relations
  • The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) issues a new alert to all ships passing Fujairah, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on the Gulf of Oman over "acts of sabotage" amid heightened regional tensions between the United States and Iran. (Associated Press)

Disasters and accidents

• Four people are killed when two sightseeing planes, with a total of 14 Royal Princess ship tourists, collide near Ketchikan, Alaska. Multiple people were rescued though two others are missing. (CBS News) (The New York Times)

International relations

• Iran–United Kingdom relations
  • An Iranian woman is sentenced to 10 years in prison for suspected spying for the United Kingdom. A judiciary spokesman alleged that she was recruited by the British Council's Iran desk. (Reuters)
• China–United States trade war, China–United States relations
  • China announces its intent to increase tariffs from 10% to 25% on $60 billion worth of imports from the United States effective June 1, 2019. (CNBC)
• 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, United States–Venezuela relations
  • Venezuelan National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó formally requests help from the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) for "strategic and operational planning" against the government of Nicolás Maduro. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

• Prosecutors in Sweden reopen the rape allegation investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Swedish prosecutors mention their intent to seek extradition of Assange from the United Kingdom after he has served his 50-week prison sentence for skipping bail. (BBC News) (The New York Times) (Associated Press)
• A 36-year-old man is arrested just outside Casa Rosada in Argentina, armed with a handgun, after requesting to hold an interview with President Mauricio Macri. (Perfil)
• 2019 college admissions bribery scandal
  • Actress Felicity Huffman pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud and admits to paying $15,000 for a proctor to change her daughter's SAT answers. (NBC News)
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
  • Trump's U.S. Attorney General William Barr appoints Republican U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the origins of the Crossfire Hurricane and Special Counsel investigations, and any criminality that may have occurred. (CBS News) (CNN)
• The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rules in Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, that a state cannot be sued in another state's court, overturning a 40-year-old precedent. The 5-4 decision overrules the Nevada v. Hall stare decisis set in 1979 which allowed private suits from one state to be brought in another state's court. (PBS) (SCOTUS Blog)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Philippine general election
  • Voters in the Philippines go to the polls to elect new members of the Senate of the Philippines and House of Representatives of the Philippines, as well as various other local positions. (The New York Times)
• 2019 Guatemalan general election
  • The Constitutional Court determines that Zury Ríos has a constitutional impediment to be a presidential candidate and leaves her out of the electoral contest. Her constitutional impediment is for being the daughter of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. (Prensa Libre)

Science and technology

• American undersea explorer Victor Vescovo sets a new world record for the deepest ever sea dive at 10,972 metres (35,997 ft) in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. Several unusual things are discovered at the bottom, including four new species of prawn-like crustaceans, a new species of snailfish, strange brightly coloured rocky outcrops and a plastic bag. (BBC News)

May 14, 2019 (2019-05-14) (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Saudi Arabia–Yemen relations, Yemeni Crisis (2011–present), Gulf of Oman incident
  • Two Saudi Aramco oil pumping stations are attacked in an apparent drone strike according to Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry. The stations are linked to a pipeline transporting oil from the eastern fields to the western coast port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. (Associated Press) (Bloomberg)

Disasters and accidents

• A 7.5 MMS quake rattles New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Police Sergeant Frank Kilaur says that the quake was "very, very violent" but no immediate reports of major damages or casualties have been reported. A tsunami alert is issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The tsunami threat has now largely passed. (Pacific Tsunami Warning Center) (Radio New Zealand) (Daily Express)

International relations

• Russia–United States relations
  • United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets Russian President Vladimir Putin and warns Russia to not interfere in the 2020 United States presidential election. (NPR) (Miami Herald)

Law and crime

• Former New York congressman Anthony Weiner is released from a halfway house in the Bronx, completing his 21-month federal prison sentence for illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl. (Los Angeles Times) (New York Post)
• French anaesthesiologist Frédéric Péchier, previously investigated in the poisoning of seven patients at private clinics in Besançon, France, is being held over suspicions that he poisoned a further 17 - 50. Mr. Péchier has denied all charges, and is scheduled for a hearing later this week. (CNA) (BBC News) (The Daily Telegraph)
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announces that Russian hackers accessed voter databases in two Florida counties prior to the 2016 presidential election. No data or vote tallies were affected. (NPR)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
  • Venezuelan security forces surround the Palacio Federal Legislativo in Caracas, preventing opposition National Assembly lawmakers from entering the building to discuss a response to the recent arrest of National Assembly Vice President Edgar Zambrano. (Euronews)

Science and technology

• Microarchitectural Data Sampling
  • Security researchers from Graz University of Technology and Catholic University of Leuven discover a major new class of Microarchitectural Data Sampling vulnerabilities called ZombieLoad in Intel processors, which, if exploited, can be used to steal sensitive information directly from the processor. Almost every computer with an Intel chip dating back to 2011 is affected by these vulnerabilities. (ZombieLoad disclosure website) (TechCrunch)
  • Linux kernel developers, Apple, Google and Microsoft release emergency patches for their products to mitigate ZombieLoad. (TechCrunch) (Phoronix)
• Mass surveillance industry
  • WhatsApp confirms a major security bug in the app let hackers remotely install surveillance software on its users' devices. All 1.5 billion users are urged to update WhatsApp as a precaution. The technology used in the cyberattack appears to have originated from NSO Group, a technology company operating out of Israel. (BBC News) (The Independent)

May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15) (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Militants kill at least 17 Niger Armed Forces troops in an ambush near the Malian border. Another 11 soldiers are missing; six others have been evacuated to a hospital. No group has claimed responsibility. (BBC News) (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• The Jeremy Kyle Show, one of the United Kingdom's most watched reality television programmes, is cancelled by ITV Studios following the suicide of a male guest shortly after taking part in the programme. The show has long been criticised for its style, with many describing it as poverty porn. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• A helicopter with only the pilot onboard crashes into the Hudson River shortly after taking off from the West 30th Street Heliport in New York City injuring the pilot and the dockworker on the ground. (CBS New York)
• Pacific Islands Forum
  • United Nations Secretary General António Guterres says Pacific island nations are "running out of time" in regards to climate change and global warming effects. (Radio New Zealand)

International relations

• Iraq–United States relations, Iran–United States relations
  • The United States Department of State orders all non-emergency, non-essential government employees at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and Erbil consulate office to leave Iraq amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf between the United States and Iran. (Reuters) (Associated Press)
• Germany–Iraq relations, NATO Training Mission – Iraq, Germany–Iran relations, Iraq–European Union relations
  • Germany and the Netherlands suspend military training mission in Iraq citing escalating tensions in the region with Iran. (Deutsche Welle) (Reuters)
• Christchurch Call summit
  • Representatives from 17 world governments and various U.S. technology companies meet in Paris to support a set of anti-terrorism guidelines called the "Christchurch Call to Action" drafted by the governments of France and New Zealand. The White House expressed support for the "overall goals reflected" in this pledge, but refused to back it, citing freedom of speech concerns. (SBS)

Law and crime

• San Francisco becomes the first U.S. city to ban the use of facial recognition systems by law enforcement. (BBC News)
• Abortion in the United States by state, Fetal heartbeat bill
  • The Governor of Alabama Kay Ivey signs the Human Life Protection Act into law, effective six months after signing, bans all abortions in the state of Alabama, except when "abortion is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk" to the woman according to the bill's text. The law reclassifies abortion as a Class A felony and attempted abortion as a Class C felony. (CBS News) (WBRC Birmingham, AL)

Politics and elections

• Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama asks developed nations, especially the United States, to help fight climate change to "prevent the current crisis from escalating into total chaos." (Radio New Zealand)
• 2019 Andorran parliamentary election
  • Xavier Espot Zamora is elected the new Prime Minister by the General Council, succeeding Antoni Martí. (Diari d'Andorra)
• Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro
  • Hundreds of thousands of students, schoolteachers, and university professors hold demonstrations across Brazil's biggest cities in opposition to large cuts in the education budget. From Dallas, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro calls demonstrators "stupid." (Al Jazeera)
  • President Bolsonaro expresses support for comedian Danilo Gentili who was sentenced to six months in prison for a sexually graphic rant against a congresswoman, saying that she was a transexual or a prostitute. (The Washington Post)
• 2019 Guatemalan general election
  • The Constitutional Court ruled that former Attorney General Thelma Aldana can not participate as a presidential candidate and leaves her out of the elections. Aldana was one of the favorites to succeed the current President Jimmy Morales. (The Washington Post)

May 16, 2019 (2019-05-16) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Sinai insurgency
  • Forty-seven insurgents and five Egyptian soldiers are killed in a gunfight in the Sinai Peninsula. (Al Jazeera)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Multiple people are killed, including three militants, two Mujahideen, two civilians and two Indian soldiers, in Kashmir after a shootout. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• The U.S. Government under the Trump administration cancels $929 million federal grant for California High-Speed Rail project. (Los Angeles Times)

Disasters and accidents

• Three Britons and a South African die when their light aircraft crashes on approach to Dubai International Airport, closing the world's busiest airport for 45 minutes. (Sky News)

International relations

• Second Libyan Civil War
  • Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives meets with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and has scheduled a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron for next week. (Libya Observer) (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
  • Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio announces he is running for the Democratic Party's nomination to be President of the United States in the 2020 presidential election. (The Guardian)
• Immigration policy of Donald Trump
  • U.S. President Donald Trump proposes a new immigration plan based on merits such as college degrees and skilled trades and less on family ties. (The New York Times)
• U.S. federal agents raid the Venezuelan embassy to evict Code Pink protesters, at the request of National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó. They had been staying at the embassy at the invitation of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is locked in a dispute over the presidency with Guaidó. Maduro's government considers the raid to be a violation of the Vienna convention. (Reuters) (The Independent)
• Brexit negotiations in 2019, Premiership of Theresa May
  • UK Prime Minister Theresa May says that she will detail the timetable for her resignation after the Brexit vote in June. (FT) (The New York Times) (Time)

May 17, 2019 (2019-05-17) (Friday)

International relations

• Canada–United States relations, Mexico–United States relations
  • The United States lifts tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico. (NPR)

Law and crime

• China–United States relations
  • A former CIA officer, Kevin Patrick Mallory, is sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal judge in Virginia for spying for China. (The New York Times) (BBC News)
• LGBT rights in Taiwan
  • Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passes legislation legalizing same-sex marriage and limited joint-custody rights, making Taiwan the first country in Asia to do so. President Tsai Ing-wen and her cabinet helped draft the bill, and she will sign it into law on or before May 24. (Taiwan News) (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
• LGBT rights in the United States
  • The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. (Business Insider)

May 18, 2019 (2019-05-18) (Saturday)

Arts and culture

• Eurovision Song Contest 2019
  • Duncan Laurence, representing the Netherlands, wins the 2019 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Arcade". It is the country's first win since 1975. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

• Five foreign tourists, four of whom were Americans, are killed when their Piper PA-32 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near Honduras shortly after taking off from Roatán island. (ABC News)

Health and environment

• 2019 Cook Islands dengue fever outbreak
  • The Cook Islands secretary of health, Josephine Herman, says that the country is holding and containing the latest outbreak of Dengue, which has killed 22 people and infected another 28. (Radio New Zealand)

Law and crime

• Crime in Alabama
  • One person was killed and eight injured in a shooting after a dispute between two women at a large high school graduation party. The suspect is still at large. (Associated Press)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Argentine general election
  • Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announces that she will run for Vice President in the 2019 Argentine general election, with former Chief of Staff Alberto Fernández as her running mate for President. (Télam) (La Nación)
• 2019 Australian federal election
  • Voters in Australia go to the polls to elect new members of the House of Representatives and half of the Senate. (SBS)
  • Prime Minister Scott Morrison declares victory. It remains unclear whether his Liberal-National Coalition has won a majority of seats, or whether it will form a minority government. (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Despite opinion polls predicting a Labor victory, the Labor Party loses several seats, with support in the key state of Queensland far lower than expected. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten concedes defeat and steps down as party leader. (Canberra Times)
  • Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott loses his seat to independent candidate and former Olympian Zali Steggall. (The Guardian)
• Efforts to impeach Donald Trump
  • Justin Amash from Michigan's 3rd congressional district becomes the first Republican U.S. Representative to support the impeachment of President Donald Trump. (Fox News)
• Ibiza affair
  • Vice-Chancellor of Austria, Heinz-Christian Strache, steps down both as Vice-Chancellor and chairman of the Freedom Party of Austria due to an alleged corruption scandal. (DW)
  • Sebastian Kurz, Chancellor of Austria, announces the dissolution of his government and calls for a snap election. (Independent)

Sports

• 2019 FA Cup Final, 2018–19 Manchester City F.C. season
  • Manchester City F.C. win England's 2018–19 FA Cup by defeating Watford F.C. 6-0 in the final, marking the first time that an English club has won all three domestic titles in one season. (England's Football Association)

May 19, 2019 (2019-05-19) (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• An explosion hits a tourist bus carrying South African nationals near the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, injuring at least 14 people. (CNN)
• Iraq–United States relations, Iran–United States relations
  • A rocket explodes inside the heavily fortified Green Zone sector of Iraq's capital, landing less than a mile from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad amid heightened tensions in the region between the United States and Iran. (Associated Press) (Los Angeles Times)

Business and economy

• China–United States trade war
  • Google pulls Android update support for Huawei phones, as well as the Google Play Store and Gmail apps, after the Chinese technology company was blacklisted by the United States Commerce Department. (The Guardian)
• Martin Tower, the tallest building in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is destroyed in a controlled demolition by the Controlled Demolition, Inc. firm. The 21-story building, which was listed on National Register of Historic Places, had been vacant since 2007. (BBC News)

International relations

• The White House is expected to announce the first part of their Middle East peace proposal in what officials are calling an economic "workshop" to encourage investing capital in the West Bank, Gaza, and the region. The workshop is expected to happen on June 25 and 26 in Manama, Bahrain. (CNN)
• Iran–Saudi Arabia relations
  • Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir says his country "seeks to avert war, ready to respond with force and determination" to a would-be attack by Iran. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Several gunmen open fire inside a bar in Belém, Brazil, killing at least eleven people. (Bloomberg)

May 20, 2019 (2019-05-20) (Monday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• Thirty-two people are killed when Islamic State members started a prison riot and a fire in a prison located in Vahdat, Tajikistan. (BBC News) (Al Jazeera) (RT)

Arts and culture

• Whole Foods Market announces it will eliminate disposable plastic straws in July from its stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. (USA Today)

Business and finance

• Ascena Retail Group announces it will close all 650 Dressbarn stores by the end of the year. (USA Today)

Disasters and accidents

• Two people are killed, the pilot and the passenger, when a floatplane crashes into Metlakatla harbor near Ketchikan, Alaska. The pilot and passenger were the only people on board. (CBS News) (NBC News)

International relations

• North Korea–South Korea relations, Droughts in Korea
  • South Korea vows to send humanitarian aid to North Korea through international organizations as it suffers droughts. (Star Tribune) (The New York Times)

• Iran–Saudi Arabia relations, Iran–United States relations
  • Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif states that the "genocidal taunts" of U.S. President Donald Trump "won't end Iran", in response to President Trump's comments that if Iran attacked U.S. interests, "that will be the official end of Iran." He also blasted Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir for his previous May 19 remarks regarding Iran. (Brecorder)
• Russia–United States relations
  • U.S. F-22 stealth jets intercept four Russian Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bombers and two Russian Su-35 jets entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone off the coast of Alaska. The Russian jets and bombers did not enter the U.S. nor Canadian airspace according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. (CBS News) (CNN)

Law and crime

• The Swedish prosecutor files an arrest warrant against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a rape allegation. Assange is serving a 50-week prison sentence in the United Kingdom for skipping bail. (Reuters)
• The U.S. Supreme Court in Herrera v. Wyoming rules in favor of a Native American elk hunter from Montana who was convicted for hunting off-season in Bighorn National Forest, deciding that the 1868 federal treaty between the Crow Nation and the U.S. Government is still in force even after Wyoming became a state in 1890. The treaty gave tribe members hunting rights on "unoccupied" lands. (Reuters) (SCOTUS Blog)
• Tax returns of Donald Trump
  • Judge Amit Mehta of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rules that accounting firm Mazars must comply with a subpoena issued by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform to turn over U.S. President Donald Trump's financial records. (The New York Times)

Politics and elections

• Ukrainian presidential inauguration
  • Former comedian and reality television actor Volodymyr Zelensky is sworn in as the 6th President of Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada. Zelensky announces the dissolution of parliament and calls a snap parliamentary election. (Deutsche Welle)
  • Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman announces he will resign Wednesday in response to the new president's disbanding of parliament. (Al Jazeera)
• Ibiza affair
  • All ministers from the far-right Freedom Party of Austria, who make up close to half of Austria's cabinet, are resigning in response to their party leader, Heinz-Christian Strache being forced to resign as Vice-Chancellor after a video was published Friday showing Strache's participation in a compromising video. (BBC News)
• 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
  • Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro proposes early elections for Venezuela's National Assembly. Opposition leader and National Assembly President Juan Guaidó has stated a rejection of the proposal. (BBC News)
• After several months of negotiations, President Félix Tshisekedi names Sylvestre Ilunga Ilukamba as the new Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in an agreement with former president Joseph Kabila. He had not appointed a prime minister since being elected in December 2018. (Yahoo! News)

Science and technology

• The redefinition of the SI system of measurement adopted by the majority of countries in the world takes effect. (BIPM)

May 21, 2019 (2019-05-21) (Tuesday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• Eleven people were killed in an ambush at 12th mile in Khonsa-Deomali road in Tirap District in Arunachal Pradesh. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. announces that it will purchase Peloton Therapeutics Inc. for $1.05 billion in cash. The catalyst for the deal is Peloton's recent progress in the development of a kidney cancer treatment. (Reuters)
• The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group, owned by British restaurateur Jamie Oliver, collapses into administration, resulting in 1,000 job losses. (BBC News)

International relations

• 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Italy–Venezuela relations
  • Venezuela's Ambassador to Italy, Isaías Rodríguez, resigns, citing the government's lack of finances amid international sanctions on the Nicolás Maduro government. Rodríguez says, due to the sanctions, he has been unable to pay his staff or the rent for his office in Rome. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

• Aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings
  • Brenton Tarrant, accused of killing 51 people and wounding 49 others in two New Zealand mosques, is also charged with committing terrorist acts. (New York Post) (Mid Day)
• Washington becomes the first U.S. state to legalize human composting, the right to allow people to have their body turned into soil after death. The process is seen as an alternative to traditional cremations and burials. (BBC News)
• The California High-Speed Rail Authority sues the U.S. Transportation Department to block the cancelling of $929 million federal grant for the California High-Speed Rail project. The suit comes after the Trump administration canceled the federal grant for California's bullet train on May 16, 2019. (Los Angeles Times)
• 2015–19 Irish gangland feud
  • A man is shot dead and his car set alight in Walshestown near Balbriggan, Dublin. It is believed the shooting is linked to the 2015–19 Irish gangland feud. (RTÉ)
• Aftermath of the Mueller special counsel investigation
  • The United States House Committee on the Judiciary subpoenas former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks and former Deputy White House Counsel Annie Donaldson in regards to their actions during the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Indonesian general election
  • Indonesia's General Elections Commission announces that incumbent President Joko Widodo has won last month's presidential election, with 55.5% of the vote. His rival Prabowo Subianto's team, however, refuses to sign and validate the results. (The Guardian)
• 2019 Malawian general election
  • Voters head to the polls to elect the next President of Malawi, Parliament and local government councillors. (BBC News) (France 24)
• 2019 Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district special election
  • Voters head to the polls in a special election to elect a new U.S. House Representative to finish the term for Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district after Republican Tom Marino resigned on January 23, 2019. (Fox Philadelphia)
  • Republican Fred Keller wins the special election against his Democratic opponent Marc Friedenberg. (The Hill) (The New York Times)
• Trial of Catalonia independence leaders
  • The Catalan leaders who are imprisoned accused of rebellion, Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Jordi Sànchez and Josep Rull, are sworn in as members of the Congress of Deputies after being elected in the 28th April general election by an authorization of the Supreme Court. (Fox News)
  • Catalan leader Raül Romeva is sworn in as Senator. (The Washington Post)
• 2019 Kentucky elections
  • Incumbent Governor Matt Bevin wins the Republican nomination and Andy Beshear wins the Democratic nomination primaries ahead of the November 5 gubernatorial election. (The New York Times) (Lexington Herald-Leader)
• Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Mark Harbers resigns amid a scandal over a government report which played down crimes committed by asylum seekers in the country, including rapes and murders, which were placed under a category called "other". The omission was first highlighted by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. (FRANCE 24)

Sports

• 2019 NBA playoffs
  • The Golden State Warriors qualify for the NBA Finals for the fifth year in a row by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 119–117, in overtime in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. (USA Today)

May 22, 2019 (2019-05-22) (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Donbass
  • The Ukrainian military reports that eight Ukrainian soldiers have been captured by pro-Russian fighters near the village of Novotroyitske. (Newsweek) (UNIAN)
• At least nine people are killed when a car bomber attacks a police checkpoint in the Bondhere District of Mogadishu (Al Jazeera)
• Central African Republic Civil War (2012–present)
  • A French nun is found decapitated in a village in the Central African Republic. (France24)
  • Armed militias kill over 30 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks since a peace deal was reached back in February of this year. (Reuters)
• Syrian Civil War, Northwestern Syria offensive (April 2019–present)
  • Syrian government airstrikes in Syria’s northwestern de-escalation zones target the towns of Maarrat al-Nu'man and Maarat Herma in Idlib Governorate, killing twelve civilians. (AA) (Daily Sabah)
  • The Syrian Army and Iran-back militants shell the town of Khan Sheykhun and the villages of Al-Kassabiyya, Abdin, Karasaa, Kafr Sajna and Al-Naqeer. (AA)

Business and economy

• Economy of the United Kingdom
  • British Steel Limited goes into compulsory liquidation after rescue talks between the British government and the company's owners, Greybull Capital, fail. Around 5,000 workers are employed by the company, 3,800 of whom are based in the UK. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• Tornadoes of 2019
  • A powerful tornado hits Jefferson City, Missouri, leaving people trapped or injured and structural damage according to city and state officials. At least three people are killed in southwestern Missouri when a storm system sweeps across the state causing extensive damage. (CBS News) (NBC News) (The Kansas City Star)

International relations

• Russia–United States relations
  • United States F-22 Raptors intercept four Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighter jets off the coast of Alaska on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command. (ABC News)
• Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute
  • The United Nations General Assembly passes a non-binding resolution demanding the United Kingdom return control of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius. The Mauritians claim they were forced to give up the islands to the British in 1965 in exchange for independence. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (2019)
  • The U.S. Justice Department agrees to provide the House Intelligence Committee with intelligence files from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. (USA Today via MSN.com)
• Lawyer Michael Avenatti is indicted in separate cases charging him with allegedly stealing about $300,000 from Stormy Daniels and blackmailing Nike. (CNBC)
• Tax returns of Donald Trump
  • The New York State Legislature passes a bill that will authorize state tax officials to release U.S. President Donald Trump's state returns to Congress. (The New York Times)
  • Judge Edgardo Ramos of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York rules Deutsche Bank and Capital One can release President Trump's financial records to Congress. (CNBC)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Indonesian general election
  • Six people die and more than 200 are injured in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, after protesters of the announced results of the presidential election clash with security forces and set fire to a police dormitory and vehicles. (The Guardian)
• Andrea Leadsom resigns as the United Kingdom's Leader of the House of Commons with immediate effect in response to Prime Minister Theresa May's handling of Brexit. Several other cabinet ministers are reportedly threatening to resign. (BBC News)

May 23, 2019 (2019-05-23) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War, Northwestern Syria offensive (April 2019–present)
  • Sky News journalist Alex Crawford and her media team are fired on by Syrian Army tanks in the Tahrir al-Sham-held village of Hbit, Idlib Governorate, while covering the fighting there. Their guide, Bilal Abdul Kareem, is injured by shrapnel to his chest. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

• Panasonic suspends shipments of certain hardware components to Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. to comply with U.S. restrictions on the company. (Reuters)
• U.S. President Donald Trump announces a second aid package worth $16 billion for farmers impacted by the China–United States trade war. (CNBC) (Fox Business)

Law and crime

• John Walker Lindh, the first person to be convicted of a crime in the War on Terror, is released on probation from a U.S. federal prison after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence. Lindh has refused to renounce Islamist extremism and will be on probation for three years. U.S. President Donald Trump condemns the early release. (CNN) (Associated Press)
• The U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland, has been battling a ransomware attack that has blocked government email accounts and disabled online payments to city departments. The hackers breached the city's servers on May 7 and demanded $100,000 (£79,000) worth of Bitcoin. (BBC News)
• Interpol's Operation Blackwrist arrests nine people in Australia, Thailand and the United States, and rescues 50 children in connection with a 63,000-member online pedophilia ring. More arrests are expected. Investigators from nearly 60 countries participated in this operation. (ChannelNewsAsia) (CBS News)
• Indictment and arrest of Julian Assange
  • The United States Department of Justice charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act, including provisions that prohibit a conspiracy to obtain, receive and disclose national defense information, attempting to crack computer passwords, and unlawful receipt of sensitive information such as State Department communications and Defense Department logs. (NPR)
• Aftermath of the Mueller special counsel investigation and Crossfire Hurricane (FBI investigation)
  • U.S. President Donald Trump, in a directive, orders the Intelligence Community to cooperate with U.S. Attorney General William Barr's review of the origins of the Special Counsel investigation. The order allows Attorney General Barr to declassify information he sees fit for the review process. (Reuters) (Fox News)
• American serial killer Bobby Joe Long who murdered 10 women in the Tampa Bay Area during an eight month period in 1984 is executed by lethal injection. (CBS News)

Politics and elections

• 2019 European Parliament election
  • European citizens in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands vote in the first day of 2019's European Parliament elections. (European Parliament)
• 2019 Indian general election
  • The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is declared the clear victor of the latest Indian general election. (Reuters)
• 2019 Malawian general election
  • The Malawi Electoral Commission reports, with 75% of the vote counted, President Peter Mutharika leads with 40.44% of votes, the opposition Malawi Congress Party's Lazarus Chakwera has 35.34%, and Deputy President Saulos Chilima received 18.35% of the votes cast in Tuesday's presidential election. (Reuters)
• The French Senate approves the reworded autonomy statute for French Polynesia. (Radio New Zealand)

Science and technology

• Discoveries of exoplanets
  • Eighteen Earth-like exoplanets are discovered via a new algorithm. (New Atlas) (Space Ref)

May 24, 2019 (2019-05-24) (Friday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• Iran–United States relations
  • U.S. President Donald Trump orders 1,500 troops and several Patriot missile launchers to the Persian Gulf as tensions rise with Iran. (CBS)
• 2019 Lyon bomb attack
  • Multiple people are injured in Lyon, France, by a bomb filled with bolts. (CNN)
• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • A bombing at a mosque in the Pakistani city of Quetta, the capital of the restive province of Balochistan, kills three people, including the prayer leader, and injures at least 28 worshippers. (Al Jazeera)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • Three people, including a senior Muslim preacher, are killed and at least 20 injured after an explosion in a mosque during Friday prayers in the Afghan capital, Kabul. (Al Jazeera)
• 2019 Portuguesa, Venezuela prison uprising
  • At least 23 prisoners are killed during a prison riot in Acarigua, Portuguesa, Venezuela. (TIME) (Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

• 2019 Surat fire
  • Twenty children die in a fire in Surat, India. (India Today)
• 2017–2019 eruptions of Mount Agung
  • Mount Agung in Bali, Indonesia, erupts. (ABC)

Law and crime

• Shiregreen child deaths
  • During a police raid, six children are found unconscious inside a residential property in the Shiregreen suburb of Sheffield, England. The eldest two children, aged 13 and 14, subsequently died at Sheffield Children's Hospital; the other four children remain hospitalised. (BBC News)
  • Two people – a 37-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman – have been arrested under suspicion of murder at the property in Sheffield where six children were found. They remain in police custody. A murder investigation has been opened. (Evening Standard)
• LGBT rights in Taiwan, Legal status of same-sex marriage
  • Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Taiwan, making Taiwan the first nation in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage. (The Telegraph)
• LGBT rights in Kenya
  • The High Court of Kenya rules against a bid to strike down Section 162 and 165 of the Kenyan Penal Code, a sodomy law. The plaintiffs plan to appeal to the Court of Appeal. (Daily Nation) (The Guardian)
• Aftermath of the kidnapping of Jayme Closs
  • In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, Jake Thomas Patterson is sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping of Jayme Closs and the murders of her parents. (NPR)
• Human Life Protection Act
  • A federal lawsuit is filed to block Alabama’s abortion ban. (ABC News)
• Abortion in the United States by state, Heartbeat bill
  • The Governor of Missouri Mike Parson signs House Bill 126 into law, effective on August 28, 2019, bans all abortions in the state of Missouri at or beyond 8 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of medical emergencies. Persons who perform abortion in the state after 8 weeks of pregnancy face 5 to 15 years in prison. (CBS News) (The Kansas City Star)
• Trial of Catalonia independence leaders
  • The Board of the Congress of Deputies suspends Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Oriol Junqueras and Jordi Sànchez Catalan leaders elected lawmakers due to they judicial situation. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2019 European Parliament election
  • Voters in Ireland and the Czech Republic head to the polls to vote for their country's representatives in the European Parliament. (European Parliament)
• 2019 UK Conservative Party leadership election
  • United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as leader of the Conservative Party, effective June 7. She will remain Prime Minister until a successor is elected. (The Guardian)
• The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocks the redrawing of Ohio and Michigan electoral maps while it prepares to rule on whether or not partisan gerrymandering is constitutional. Lower federal courts ordered Michigan and Ohio electoral maps to be redrawn before the 2020 United States presidential election. (Reuters) (Los Angeles Times)

May 25, 2019 (2019-05-25) (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Saudi Arabia–United States relations, Iran–Saudi Arabia relations, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
  • U.S. President Donald Trump bypasses Congress to approve the sale of billions of dollars' worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, citing Iranian threats against the latter. (BBC News)

Arts and culture

• 2019 Cannes Film Festival
  • The South Korean film Parasite wins the 2019 Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's top prize. (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

• Tornadoes of 2019
  • Two people are killed and several are missing due to a tornado in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. (ABC News)
• A boat sinking on Lake Mai-Ndombe in western Democratic Republic of the Congo kills at least 45 people with 200 passengers still missing. The vessel was carrying more than 400 people, the majority of whom were teachers going to collect their salaries. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2019 European Parliament election
  • Citizens in Latvia, Malta, Slovakia and the French overseas territories head to the polls to vote in the latest European Parliament election. Additionally, voting in the Czech Republic continues for the second day. (European Parliament)
• Hundreds of counter-protesters show up and protest against an estimated nine attendees of a planned rally by a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated group in Dayton, Ohio. (CBS News)

Science and technology

• Binary Aten asteroid (66391) 1999 KW4 and its minor-planet moon make their closest-ever recorded flyby of Earth at 3.2 million miles away. The asteroid will approach even closer at 0.0155 AU (2,320,000 km) from Earth in 2036, and is the largest asteroid to approach Earth until (4953) 1990 MU in June 2027. (Newsweek)

Sports

• 2019 NBA playoffs
  • The Toronto Raptors defeat the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in the team's history. (CBC) (Sports Illustrated)

May 26, 2019 (2019-05-26) (Sunday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• May 2019 Kathmandu bombings
  • Four people are killed and seven others are injured in three blasts in the city of Kathmandu, Nepal. Police believe a Maoist splinter group may have been responsible. (Reuters) (BBC News)
• Iraqi insurgency (2017–present)
  • Iraq sentences three French militants to death for their involvement in ISIS. (BBC News)
  • A truck bomb explodes at a popular market in the village of Nineveh, Iraq, killing 5 and injuring 8. (Xinhuanet)
• Boko Haram
  • Four soldiers of the Chadian Army and a journalist are killed following a Boko Haram attack near the northern shore of Lake Chad. Boko Haram have reportedly continued their incursion into northern Chad. (Africanews)
• Four people are killed in an attack on a Catholic church in northern Burkina Faso, the latest in a string of assaults on Christian places of worship in the region. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

• The initial stage of Sydney Metro, Australia's first automated rapid transit system, opens to the public. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announces, two days before their scheduled trial, it has agreed to pay $85 million to the U.S. state of Oklahoma in connection with allegations that it helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2019 Peru earthquake
  • A strong earthquake measuring M_w 8.0 strikes northeastern Peru, causing one death and several injuries. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• 2019 European Parliament election
  • In the final stage of the latest European Parliament election, voters in Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Metropolitan France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden elect their country's representatives. (European Parliament)
• 2019 Belgian federal election
  • In addition to the European Parliament and regional elections, voters in Belgium head to the polls to vote for the members of the Chamber of Representatives. (Euronews)
• 2019 Lithuanian presidential election
  • Lithuanian citizens also are heading to the polls to elect their future president in the second round of the latest presidential election. (Politico)
• Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announces his resignation over disputes of him holding dual citizenship and after weeks of defections from his coalition government. (Radio New Zealand)
• 2019 Greek legislative election
  • Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose term expires in October, calls for snap elections following his leftist Syriza party's heavy defeat by the opposition conservatives in the European Parliament elections. (Reuters)

Sports

• 2019 IndyCar Series
  • 2016 IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud of France wins the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. (CBS News)
• 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship
  • Finland defeats Canada to win gold medal at Ice Hockey World Championship in Slovakia. (Yle News)

May 27, 2019 (2019-05-27) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• French police arrest four people in connection with last Friday's bombing in Lyon's historic city center that injured 13 people. Anti-terrorist prosecutors are leading the investigation. District mayor Denis Broliquier said the bomb was a relatively weak explosive that was too small to kill. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. (BBC News)
• Over Sunday and Monday, 55 people die of asphyxiation in various prisons across the Brazilian city of Manaus. (BBC News)

Business and economy

• Italian firm Fiat Chrysler proposes a merger with French carmaker Renault. The new company will be based in the Netherlands and will be listed on the Milan, Paris and New York stock exchanges. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 45 people die when a boat sinks on Lake Mai-Ndombe in western Democratic Republic of Congo. (BBC News)
• Eight miners die in a goldmine explosion in central Zimbabwe. (BBC)
• An airplane crashes in Sergipe, Brazil, killing Brazilian singer Gabriel Diniz. (G1)
• U.S. tornadoes of 2019
  • Multiple destructive tornadoes strike Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding communities. There was at least one known fatality in Celina. Multiple homes and businesses were destroyed, with reports of numerous power outages and a boil and water conservation advisory issued for Dayton. (Accuweather)

Law and crime

• Romania's Supreme Court denies Social Democratic Party leader Liviu Dragnea's appeal of his conviction and three-and-a-half year prison sentence for corruption. (BBC News)
• Amazonas prison massacres
  • Brazil prison officials report at least 42 prisoners are found strangled to death in four separate jails in the state of Amazonas. Yesterday, 15 prisoners were killed in a fight between rival prison gangs at a facility near the Amazonas capital Manaus. (Reuters) (Firstpost)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Austrian legislative election
  • Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz loses a no-confidence vote following a corruption scandal over a secret video. (BBC News)
• 2019 Malawian general election
  • Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party wins Malawi's May 21 presidential election with 39% of the vote, followed by Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party with 36% and Saulos Chilima of the United Democratic Movement with 20%. (Reuters)
• 2019 Canadian federal election
  • In separate press conferences, former Liberal cabinet members Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, who both resigned over the government's handling of the SNC-Lavalin criminal case, announce they are running as independents in the October 2019 elections. (BBC News)

May 28, 2019 (2019-05-28) (Tuesday)

International relations

• Australia–China relations, South China Sea dispute
  • Australian helicopters, from the Royal Australian Navy flagship HMAS Canberra, are forced to make an emergency landing after being targeted by lasers from fishing boats in the South China Sea. The Canberra was being trailed by a Chinese warship. (AP via MSN.com)

Law and crime

• Kawasaki stabbings
  • A man stabs two people to death and wounds 17 others, including sixteen children, in Kawasaki, Japan, before slitting his own throat; he later dies of his wounds. Three people are in critical condition. (BBC News) (CNN)
• China–United States trade war
  • Huawei files for a summary judgment, seeking to expedite its March lawsuit against the U.S. Government, challenging the constitutionality of Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act that bans U.S. executive government agencies from procuring Huawei and ZTE telecommunications equipment based on national security. (CNBC) (CNN)
• Former Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Ali Najafi is arrested after confessing to the murder of his wife. (IFP)

Politics and elections

• 2018–19 Sudanese protests
  • Opposition leaders lead a two-day protest in Sudan over stalemate in negotiations between the military and opposition alliance groups over the transition of government following the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état. (Reuters) (The Washington Post)

Science and technology

• Discoveries of exoplanets
  • Rare-earth metals are discovered in KELT-9b, an exoplanet located 650 light-years away from Earth. (Astronomy Now)

May 29, 2019 (2019-05-29) (Wednesday)

Arts and culture

• Indian record label and film production company T-Series' most-subscribed YouTube channel reaches 100 million subscribers. (Times News Now)

Disasters and accidents

• Sinking of Hableány
  • The Hableány, a sightseeing river cruise ship on the Danube in Budapest, capsizes and sinks with 34 South Korean tourists on board. At least seven people are killed and 19 remain missing. (The New York Times)

Law and crime

• A 55-year-old pediatrician, Ricardo Russo, is arrested at the Hospital Garrahan in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was Chief of the Immunology Department. He is accused of sexually abusing minors, distributing and possessing child pornography, including handicapped children and babies. He was wanted by the U.S. FBI and public prosecutors in Brazil. (Clarín) (Fox News)
• Maine becomes the 17th U.S. state to ban conversion therapy for minors. (The Hill)
• Trial of Catalonia independence leaders
  • Imprisoned politician Raül Romeva is suspended as Senator by the Board of the Spanish Senate. (MSN)

Politics and elections

• 2019 Latvian presidential election
  • Egils Levits, a Judge of the European Court of Justice, is elected President by the Saeima. (Reuters)
• Elections in Israel
  • Israel is expected to hold a new election on September 17 as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to form a government. (The Jerusalem Post)

Science and technology

• China–United States trade war
  • The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) bans Huawei scientists from reviewing submissions to its peer-reviewed journals, due to the "severe legal implications" of U.S. sanctions against the Chinese company. (Sciencemag)

May 30, 2019 (2019-05-30) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• An explosive device is detonated in a commercial center in the Colombian city of Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela, with at least 12 injured. (La Vanguardia) (El Universal)
• Six explosive devices detonated in several locations in Kirkuk, Iraq kill 5 people and injure 20 others. (Reuters)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • A suicide bombing near a military training center in the Afghan capital city of Kabul kills 6 people and leaves 6 others injured. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province claims responsibility (Press TV)

Arts and culture

• 2019 Bilderberg Conference
  • The annual meeting of the secretive Bilderberg Group takes place at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace in Montreux, Switzerland. The Conference will last for four days. (The Washington Post)

Health and environment

• A study, published in the journal Science, finds a genetically enhanced fungus that produces spider toxin can rapidly kill huge numbers of the mosquitoes that spread malaria. Trials held in Burkina Faso showed mosquito populations collapsed by 99% within 45 days. The fungus did not affect other insects, such as bees. (BBC News) (Science)
• Measles resurgence in the United States
  • Sixty new cases in the past week are reported, bringing this year's total to 971 cases in 26 U.S. states – the highest since 1994. The CDC warns, "If these outbreaks continue through summer and fall, the United States may lose its measles elimination status." (BBC News)

International relations

• Mexico–United States relations
  • U.S. President Donald Trump announces a 5% import tariff on all products from Mexico, effective June 10 and rising in steps to 25% by October, "until the illegal immigration problem is remedied". (BBC News)
  • Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador responds with a letter to the U.S. president stating he wants to avoid a confrontation, saying that ideals such as justice and universal brotherhood are more important than borders. He also ordered his foreign minister to travel to Washington on Friday. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• American songwriter R. Kelly is charged by Cook County prosecutors with 11 counts of sexual assault and abuse. (USA Today)
• Sinking of Hableány
  • The captain of the M/V Viking Sigyn that was involved in the deadly sinking of the Hableány is questioned and arrested by the Hungarian police. (BBC News)
• Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax
  • New documents reveal that Jussie Smollett bought drugs from Abimbola "Abel" and Olabinjo "Ola" Osundairo, the two people who accused him of staging an attack on January 29. (USA Today)

Politics and elections

• Politics of Papua New Guinea
  • James Marape is elected Prime Minister by the National Parliament following the resignation of Peter O'Neill. (ABC)
• Abortion in the United States by state
  • Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signs a heartbeat bill that bans abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The law’s effective date is tied to a similar Mississippi law which has already been temporarily blocked by a federal court. (BBC News)
• Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro
  • Fifteen days after the first wave of protests, millions of students, schoolteachers and university professors hold demonstrations in over a hundred Brazilian cities against massive cuts in the education budget. Brazilian Education Minister Abraham Weintraub accuses teachers of "coercing" students into participating in the protests. (The Guardian)

Sports

• 2019 NBA Finals
  • The Toronto Raptors host the first National Basketball Association (NBA) finals game in their franchise history, against the Golden State Warriors, and the first outside the United States in NBA history at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The Raptors win 118–109. (NPR)

May 31, 2019 (2019-05-31) (Friday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• A Taliban suicide car bomber kills four Afghan civilians and injures over 20 including four American soldiers. (VOA)

Disasters and accidents

• 2019 Alberta wildfires
  • In northern Alberta, Canada, an estimated 10,000 people have been evacuated due to fast spreading wildfires. (Global News)
  • Air quality warnings are issued for most of Alberta as a result of the thick smoke moving across the province. Places as far south as Calgary have reached 10+ on the Air Quality Health Index, and rated worse than some of the most polluted cities in the world. (Calgary Herald)

Law and crime

• North Korea–United States relations
  • According to South Korean media, North Korea executed five officials back in March, including Kim Hyok-chol, its nuclear envoy to the United States, for their part in the failed second summit in Hanoi. In addition, three other officials involved in the summit have reportedly been sent to a camp for political prisoners. (Reuters) (Fox News)
• Eddie Gallagher, a U.S. Navy Seal charged with the murder of an ISIL prisoner, attempted murder of civilians, and obstruction of justice, is temporarily released from custody amidst allegations of misconduct by Navy prosecutors. (CBS News)
• 2019 Virginia Beach shooting
  • Thirteen people are killed, including the shooter, and four are injured in a shooting at a municipal center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. (WAVY)

Sports

• 2018–19 CAF Champions League
  • In African football, the 2019 CAF Champions League Final between Morocco's Wydad Casablanca, and Tunisia's Espérance Sportive de Tunis, is abandoned after Wydad Casablanca players refused to play following a row over a goal ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR). The referee subsequently awarded the victory to Espérance Sportive de Tunis for their fourth CAF title. (BBC Sport)

May 2019

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Ongoing events

Disasters

• 2018 Kivu Ebola outbreak
• 2018–19 European windstorm season
• Midwestern U.S. floods
• Yemeni famine
• 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season

Politics

• 1MDB scandal
• Afghan peace talks
• Algerian protests
• Austrian political scandal
• Brexit negotiations
• European migrant crisis (timeline)
• Haitian protests
• Iranian protests
• Iraqi protests
• Montenegrin protests
• Nicaraguan protests
• Qatar diplomatic crisis
• Rohingya persecution in Myanmar
• Serbian protests
• Sudanese protests
• Turkish purges
• Mueller report (investigation) (timeline)
• Venezuelan presidential crisis (protests)
• Yellow vests movement

Religion

• 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism

Sports

• NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal

More details – ongoing conflicts

Elections and referendums

Recent

• May
  • 18: Australia, Senate (one half) and House of Representatives
  • 19: India, Lok Sabha (59 of 543 seats)
  • 21: Malawi, President and National Assembly
  • 23–26: European Union, Parliament
  • 24: Ireland, Constitutional referendum
  • 26: Belgium, Chamber of Representatives
  • 26: Lithuania, President (2nd)
  • 27: Madagascar, National Assembly

Upcoming

• June
  • 5: Denmark, Folketing
  • 9: Kazakhstan, President
  • 16: Guatemala, President and Parliament

Trials

Recently concluded

• Malaysia: Assassination of Kim Jong-nam

Ongoing

• Guatemala: Otto Pérez Molina, Roxana Baldetti, Juan Carlos Monzón and others
• Israel: Faina Kirschenbaum
• Philippines: Leila de Lima
• South Africa: Jacob Zuma
• Spain: Bárcenas affair, Trial of Catalonia independence leaders
• United Kingdom: David Duckenfield, Graham Mackrell
• United States: Fat Leonard scandal, NXIVM
• International
  • ICC: Bosco Ntaganda

Upcoming

• Egypt: Mohamed Morsi
• Guatemala: Álvaro Colom, Manuel Baldizón, Juan Alberto Fuentes
• Japan: Carlos Ghosn
• Philippines: Andal Ampatuan Jr.
• United Kingdom: Football sex abuse scandal
• United States: 6ix9ine, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Elizabeth Holmes, Meng Wanzhou, Chris Collins, Duncan D. Hunter, Roger Stone, R. Kelly, Harvey Weinstein, Varsity Blues scandal, Michael Avenatti, Golden State Killer, Eddie Gallagher
• Zimbabwe: Ignatius Chombo

Sport

• Association football
  • UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
  • 2018–19 UEFA Champions League
  • 2018–19 UEFA Nations League
  • 2019 MLS season
• Women's association football
  • 2019 NWSL season
• Baseball
  • 2019 MLB season
  • 2019 NPB season
• Basketball
  • 2019 NBA Finals
  • 2019 WNBA season
• Golf
  • 2019 European Tour
  • 2019 PGA Tour
  • 2019 LPGA Tour
  • 2019 PGA Tour Champions
  • 2019 Ladies European Tour
• Ice hockey
  • 2019 IIHF World Championship
  • 2019 Stanley Cup Finals (NHL)
• Motorsport
  • 2019 Formula One Championship
  • 2019 World Rally Championship
  • 2019 MotoGP
  • 2019 Supercars Championship
  • 2019 NASCAR Cup Series
• Rugby league
  • 2019 NRL season
    • 2019 State of Origin series
  • 2019 Super League
• Rugby sevens
  • 2018–19 World Rugby Sevens Series
  • 2018–19 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series
• Rugby union
  • 2018–19 Premiership Rugby
  • 2018–19 Top 14
  • 2019 Super Rugby season
• Tennis
  • 2019 ATP Tour
  • 2019 WTA Tour
  • 2019 Davis Cup
  • 2019 Fed Cup (World Group)
• Other sports seasons
  • 2019 AFL season
  • 2019 international cricket season
  • 2018–19 figure skating season
  • 2019–20 snooker season

More details – current sports events

Recent deaths

May 2019

• 30: Thad Cochran
• 30: Leon Redbone
• 28: Freddy Buache
• 28: Carmine Caridi
• 28: Apolo Nsibambi
• 28: Edward Seaga
• 27: Jocelyne Blouin
• 27: Bill Buckner
• 26: Bart Starr
• 26: Prem Tinsulanonda
• 25: Claus von Bülow
• 24: Murray Gell-Mann
• 22: Ahmad Shah of Pahang
• 22: Judith Kerr
• 22: Eduard Punset
• 20: Niki Lauda
• 20: John Moore
• 18: Austin Eubanks
• 17: Herman Wouk
• 16: Bob Hawke
• 16: Ashley Massaro
• 16: I.M. Pei
• 14: Tim Conway
• 13: Doris Day
• 12: Machiko Kyō
• 11: Peggy Lipton
• 11: Silver King
• 10: Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
• 9: Alvin Sargent
• 9: Freddie Starr
• 8: Sprent Dabwido
• 8: Jim Fowler
• 7: Jean Vanier
• 6: John Lukacs
• 2: Rafael Hernández Colón

Ongoing conflicts

Africa

• Algeria, Libya and Tunisia
  • Maghreb insurgency
• Cameroon
  • Anglophone Crisis
• Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria
  • Boko Haram insurgency
• Central African Republic
  • Civil War
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Kivu conflict
  • ADF insurgency
  • Ituri conflict
  • Lord's Resistance Army insurgency
• Ethiopia
  • Oromo conflict
• Libya
  • Civil war
• Mali
  • Northern Mali conflict
• Nigeria
  • Communal conflicts in Nigeria
• Somalia
  • Civil war
• South Sudan
  • Ethnic violence (South Sudanese Civil War)
• Sudan
  • War in Darfur
  • South Kordofan conflict
  • Sudanese nomadic conflicts

Americas

• Colombia
  • Colombian conflict
• Mexico
  • Mexican War on Drugs
• Peru
  • Internal conflict in Peru

Asia

• Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan War
• China
  • Xinjiang conflict
• India
  • Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
  • Insurgency in Northeast India
• India and Pakistan
  • Kashmir conflict
• Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines
  • Moro conflict
    • Cross border attacks in Sabah
• Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
  • Papua conflict
• Myanmar
  • Internal conflict in Myanmar
    • Kachin conflict
    • Karen conflict
    • Rohingya conflict
• Pakistan
  • War in North-West Pakistan
  • Balochistan conflict
• Philippines
  • Communist rebellion in the Philippines
• Thailand
  • South Thailand insurgency

Europe

• Armenia and Azerbaijan
  • Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
• Georgia
  • Abkhaz–Georgian conflict
  • Georgian–Ossetian conflict
• Russia
  • Chechen–Russian conflict
  • North Caucasus insurgency
• Ukraine
  • War in Donbass
    • Russian military intervention in Ukraine

Middle East

• Egypt
  • Sinai insurgency
• Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria
  • Arab–Israeli conflict
• Iran
  • Iran–PJAK conflict
• Iraq
  • American-led intervention in Iraq
  • Iranian intervention in Iraq
• Iraq and Syria (map)
  • Military intervention against ISIL
• Israel and Lebanon
  • Israeli–Lebanese conflict
• Israel and Palestine
  • Gaza–Israel conflict
  • Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Syria
  • American-led intervention in Syria
  • Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War
  • Turkish occupation of northern Syria
• Turkey
  • Kurdish–Turkish conflict
• Yemen
  • Yemeni Civil War
  • Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • Al-Qaeda insurgency

Further information: List of ongoing armed conflicts