Portal:Current events/2023 May 16

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2022–2023 Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
    • More than a dozen explosions are reported in Kyiv as Russia launches a missile barrage at the capital and other Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian forces say that they have shot down six Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. (Financial Times) (Reuters)
    • The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that it destroyed a Patriot air defense system in Kyiv. However a United States official says that the system was likely damaged but not destroyed. (CNN)
• Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria
  • 2023 Mangu violence
    • At least 80 people are killed by armed attackers during a shooting spree on several villages in Plateau State, Nigeria. (AP)
• Nine people are arrested after an alleged Iranian-backed coup d'état plot is uncovered in Azerbaijan. (Barron's)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • The death toll from Cyclone Mocha's landfall in Myanmar, increases to 81 people. The majority of casualties and damage occurred in the Rakhine State. (CNA)
• Wellington hostel fire
  • Six people are killed and eleven others are reported missing in a fire at a hostel in Wellington, New Zealand. (NZ Herald)

International relations

• Ukraine–NATO relations
  • Ukraine officially joins NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. (Ukrainska Pravda)

Law and crime

• LGBT rights in Namibia
  • The Supreme Court of Namibia recognises foreign same-sex marriages between citizens. However, homosexual acts remain illegal in Namibia under a rarely enforced colonial-era law from 1927. (AFP via Macau Business)
• Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signs a law legalizing euthanasia. (AFP via The Straits Times) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Politics and elections

• The impeachment trial against Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso begins, with Lasso attending in person for his defense. (AP)

Science and technology

• Meta Platforms begins introducing paid verification on Facebook and Instagram for users in the United Kingdom. (BBC News)