Portal:Current events/2022 May 26

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Eastern Ukraine offensive
      • Battle of Kharkiv
        • Seven people are killed by Russian shelling in downtown Kharkiv, according to local authorities. (Ukrinform)
      • The Russian defense ministry says that civil vessels are allowed to use a maritime humanitarian corridor to access the port of Mariupol, which Russia captured last week. (Reuters)
• Kivu conflict
  • Heavy fighting between DRC forces and the M23 movement continues in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)
• Yemeni Civil War
  • Five people are killed and more than 50 others are injured after an explosive device detonates at a fish market in Aden, Yemen. (Reuters)
• The caliph of the Islamic State Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi is arrested in Istanbul, Turkey. (Bloomberg)

Arts and culture

• Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree wins the 2022 International Booker Prize. (BBC News)

Business and economy

• Lebanese liquidity crisis
  • The value of the Lebanese pound falls to 35,600 pounds against the U.S. dollar, its lowest value ever. (Al Jazeera)
• The US seizes a Russian owned oil tanker carrying Iranian crude oil in Greece and has transferred the cargo to another ship destined for the US. It is unclear if the seizure was due to US sanctions against Iran or US sanctions on Russia. (Reuters)
• Italian fossil fuel company Eni signs an agreement with Algerian state-owned company Sonatrach to both explore up to 3 billion cubic meters of gas and launch a pilot green hydrogen project in the Algerian desert. The agreement comes as Italy looks to decrease its dependence on Russian gas in light of the conflict in Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)
• British Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces a 25% levy, a so-called windfall tax, on the profits of energy companies in order to help fund emergency economic support amid a cost of living crisis in the UK. The extra support includes increased welfare payments for low-income households, disabled people and pensioners, as well as a universal grant of £400 towards energy bills. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• Eleven babies are killed in a hospital fire in Tivaouane, Senegal. (Reuters)
• A cargo ship travelling on its way to Pangkajene and Islands Regency from Makassar sinks off the Makassar Strait in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. 25 people are missing. (AP)
• Two people are killed in an explosion at a biodiesel plant in La Rioja, Spain. (Reuters)
• Five people, including four children, are killed and two more are injured in an explosion at a house in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States. (The Washington Post) (CBS News)

Health and environment

• 2022 monkeypox outbreak
  • Quebec will begin offering the Imvamune vaccine after 25 cases of monkeypox were confirmed in the province. (Montreal Gazette)
  • The UK Health Security Agency says that it has procured 20,000 doses of a smallpox vaccine produced by Bavarian Nordic as part of an effort to combat the increase in monkeypox cases. (Reuters)

International relations

• Iraq–Israel relations
  • The Iraqi parliament prohibits all attempts at normalizing relations with Israel with the punishment of life imprisonment or capital punishment. The law was introduced by Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose party won the most seats in the last election. (Reuters) (CTV News)
• Australia–United States relations
  • The United States Department of State approves the sale of the M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system to Australia. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Polish constitutional crisis
  • The Polish Parliament passes a law replacing the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, established by a controversial judicial reform bill, with a new body, in order to allow the European Union to unfreeze €35 billion in COVID-19 recovery funds earmarked to the country. (Reuters)
• Zimbabwean courts rule that the age of consent in Zimbabwe must be raised to 18. (AP)

Sports

• Canada–Iran relations
  • Canada Soccer cancels a match between the Canadian and Iranian teams due to the latter's connection with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in 2020. (Sportsnet)