Portal:Current events/May 2025
May 2025 is the fifth month of the current common year. The month, which began on a Thursday, will end on a Saturday after 31 days. It is the current month.
May 1, 2025 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war
- Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war
- 2025 massacres of Syrian Druze, Southern Syria clashes
- The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reports that nine field executions were conducted against members of the Syrian Druze community amid an outbreak of sectarian clashes. Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri characterizes the killings as part of a "genocidal campaign". (Arab News) (SOHR)
- Israeli Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif appeals to Israel to intervene against ongoing massacres. (The Jerusalem Post)
- 2025 massacres of Syrian Druze, Southern Syria clashes
- Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Odesa strikes
- An overnight Russian drone attack on Odesa, Ukraine, kills two people and injures 15 others. High-rise apartments, residential homes, a supermarket and a school were among those targeted, according to Governor of Odesa Oblast Oleh Kiper. (Reuters)
- Odesa strikes
Disasters and accidents
- At least ten people are killed while 37 others are injured in a multiple-vehicle collision at a toll plaza of the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway in Tarlac City, Philippines. (GMA Integrated News) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- The bodies of three South African police officers who had been missing for six days are found in the Hennops River. (BBC News)
Health and environment
- 2025 Southwest United States measles outbreak
- North America's three largest measles outbreaks continue to expand, with over 2,500 confirmed cases. There have been three fatalities in the United States and one in Mexico. The outbreaks began in Ontario, Canada, then surged in Texas and New Mexico, and have quickly escalated in Chihuahua, Mexico. (AP News)
International relations
- North Korea–Russia relations
- North Korea and Russia announce the construction of their first road link, a bridge over the Tumen River. The bridge will be a kilometer long, and will enhance cross-border travel, tourism, and the circulation of commodities. (AP News)
Law and crime
- 2024 South Korean martial law
- The prosecutors of South Korea indict former president Yoon Suk-yeol of abuse of authority after he declared martial law in December 2024. (DW)
- Epic Games v. Apple
- A U.S. district judge finds that Apple willfully violated an injunction in a case brought by Epic Games. The injunction was supposed to block Apple from anti-competitive conduct and pricing, opening the App Store up to outside payment options. (BBC News)
- United States government group chat leaks
- In the wake of the Signalgate scandal, Mike Waltz and Alex Nelson Wong resign as U.S. National Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor respectively, marking the first resignations during the second Trump administration. U.S. President Donald Trump later nominates Waltz as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. (CBS News)
- M23 campaign (2022–present)
- Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo request the Senate to lift the immunity of former President Joseph Kabila to face trial on charges of supporting a rebel uprising. The Justice Minister alleged that there is evidence implicating him in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and massacres of peaceful civilians and military personnel. (BBC News)
- The Supreme Court of Korea overturns the acquittal judgement of Democratic Party presidential candidate and former leader Lee Jae-myung over violation of election law. The court orders the case to be sent back to Seoul High Court. (NBC News)
- United States District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. rules that US President Donald Trump cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants, deeming the previous use of this power as having been improperly invoked. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2025 South Korean presidential election
- Acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo resigns, indicating a possible run in the upcoming presidential election. (Yonhap)
- Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, the next person in the presidential line of succession, resigns a few hours later. (Yonhap)
- 2025 United Kingdom local elections
- The United Kingdom holds local elections, as well as a parliamentary by-election in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency. (BBC News)
Sports
- The Football Association bans transgender women from women's football in England starting 1 June after amending its eligibility criteria. (BBC Sport)
May 2, 2025 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war
- Gaza Freedom Flotilla incident
- A Gaza-bound activist humanitarian aid ship, part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, catches fire and issues an SOS after what its organizers alleged was an Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta in international waters. (CNN)
- Gaza Freedom Flotilla incident
- Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war
Arts and culture
- Rust is released theatrically in the United States, three and a half years after a fatal on-set shooting accident occurred involving members of the cast and crew, including cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, director Joel Souza, and lead actor Alec Baldwin. (The New York Times)
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- China–United States trade war
- The Trump administration terminates the de minimis tariff exemption for some imports shipped directly to consumers. Online shops such as Shein and Temu adjust prices, while Temu also announces a shipping pause to the United States. (The New York Times) (BBC)
- China–United States trade war
Disasters and accidents
- Seven people, including six Italian and Chinese nationals, are killed and at least sixteen others are injured, some severely, when a truck and a van collide and catch fire on U.S. Route 20 near Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, United States. (NBC News) (CBS News)
Health and environment
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 216 children have died this flu season in the United States, making it the deadliest since the 2009 swine flu pandemic. (CNN)
Law and crime
- Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration
- The United States Department of Defense designates a second area on the Mexico–United States border, attached to the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, as a military zone to enforce immigration laws. (AP News)
- Gang war in Haiti, Haiti–United States relations
- The United States Department of State designates the Viv Ansanm coalition and the Gran Grif gang as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. (NBC News)
Politics and elections
- Freedom of the press in the United States
- US President Donald Trump signs an executive order calling for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop directly funding NPR and PBS, and for government agencies to stop indirectly funding these public broadcasters. (CNN)
- The German Constitution protection office designates the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a right-wing extremist organization. The AfD came second in the 2025 German federal election after winning 20.8% of the vote for a record 152 seats in the Bundestag. (BBC News)
May 3, 2025 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Four people are injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike that struck an apartment building on Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The mayor of Novorossiysk declares a state of emergency following the strikes. (Ukrainska Pravda) (Al Arabiya)
- The Ukrainian intelligence directorate claims it has shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet using a MAGURA naval drone over the Black Sea. (The Kyiv Independent)
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Gaza war
- Gaza war hostage crisis
- Hamas releases a video allegedly showing Israeli hostage Maxim Hirkin, who was abducted during the Nova music festival massacre in 2023, alive. (Reuters) (Haaretz)
- Gaza war hostage crisis
- South Sudanese Civil War
- At least seven people are killed and 25 others are injured in an airstrike on a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières in Old Fangak, Fangak County, South Sudan. (Al Jazeera English) (CTV News) (BBC News)
- Sudanese Civil War
- Twenty people are killed when a South Sudan Air Force Boeing 727 carrying drones for the Rapid Support Forces is destroyed in an airstrike by the Sudanese Armed Forces at Nyala Airport in Nyala, Sudan. (Sudans Post) (Aviation Safety Network)
Business and economy
- Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett announces that he will step down as CEO by the end of the year at the company's annual shareholder meeting. Greg Abel will take over as CEO, pending board approval. (CNN)
Disasters and accidents
- Six people are killed and about 80 others are injured, including five critically, in a crowd crush during a Hindu temple festival in North Goa district, Goa, India. (Al Jazeera English)
Law and crime
- Corruption in Brazil
- Brazilian social security minister Carlos Lupi resigns after police announce a corruption scandal which alleges he defrauded pensioners of $1.1 billion. Federal police say that the National Social Security Institute made unauthorised deductions from payments made to millions of pensioners over the past decade. (BBC)
- A woman is killed in Thessaloniki, Greece, after a bomb she was carrying explodes in her hands, also damaging several nearby storefronts and vehicles. The bomb was possibly intended to be placed outside a nearby bank. (AP News)
- Mexican drug war
- Jalisco extermination camp
- José Murguía Santiago, the mayor of Teuchitlán, Jalisco, is arrested on charges of organized crime and forced disappearance. (France 24)
- Jalisco extermination camp
Politics and elections
- 2025 Australian federal election
- The Australian Labor Party under current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese increases its majority in the House of Representatives, winning a second term. (ABC News Australia).
- Liberal Leader Peter Dutton loses his seat of Dickson, becoming the first Leader of the Opposition to lose their seat in Australian electoral history. (ABC News Australia)
- 2025 South Korean presidential election
- Former Labor Minister Kim Moon Soo wins the presidential nomination of South Korea's main conservative party, People Power. (AP News)
- 2025 Singaporean general election
- Singaporeans vote to elect 92 out of 97 members of the Parliament of Singapore across 32 of the 33 constituencies in the general election. (CNA) (The Straits Times)
- The People’s Action Party wins the election, receiving 65.57% of the vote. (CNN)
- Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé is sworn-in as President of the Council of Ministers of Togo. Following constitutional reform that introduced a parliamentary system, this new post becomes the highest office in the government's executive branch. (BBC)
- Over 20,000 Hefazat-e-Islam protesters rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to denounce proposed legislation that would provide equal rights for Muslim women such as inheritance law, a ban on polygamy, and recognition of sex workers as laborers, which they allege oppose Sharia law. (AP) (DW)
Sports
- 2025 Kentucky Derby
- In thoroughbred racing, Sovereignty ridden by Junior Alvarado wins the 151st Kentucky Derby in a upset over Journalism ridden by Umberto Rispoli. (Courier Journal)
May 4, 2025 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Red Sea crisis
- 2025 Houthi attack on Tel Aviv airport
- A ballistic missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen hits near Ben Gurion International Airport in Central District, Israel, injuring eight people. (Reuters) (The Telegraph)
- 2025 Houthi attack on Tel Aviv airport
- Sudanese Civil War
- The Rapid Support Forces launch drone attacks on Port Sudan's international civilian and military airport. Drones also hit an ammunition depot at Osman Digna Air Base, causing damage but no casualties. (Al Jazeera)
Business and economy
- Tariffs in the second Trump administration
- U.S. president Donald Trump announces he will introduce 100% tariffs on foreign films brought into the United States. (The Guardian)
Disasters and accidents
- Port of Shahid Rajaee explosion
- The casualty figure from the explosion at the Port of Shahid Rajaee in Hormozgan province, Iran, is revised by the judiciary of Iran to 57 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries. Two people, including a government official, are arrested in connection with the explosion. (Arab News)
- Sinking of the Bayesian
- Marine salvage experts begin operations to recover the superyacht Bayesian which sank in August 2024 and killed seven people, including British billionaire tech magnate Mike Lynch and members of his family. (CTV News)
- Ten people are killed and 70 others are rescued and hospitalized after two passenger boats carrying 84 people capsize on the Wu River near Qianxi, Guizhou, China. (Barron's) (CTV News) (SCMP)
- At least three people are killed, fifteen others are injured, including children, and several apartments are destroyed in a gas explosion at an apartment block in Moscow, Russia. (UNN) (News.AZ)
- Two people are killed and four others are injured after a car crashes into an entrance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila, Philippines. The driver of the car is in police custody. (AP) (Reuters) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Law and crime
- Two people are arrested after planning to carry out attacks with improvised explosive devices at Lady Gaga's concert with more than two million attendees on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to gain notoriety on social media. The suspects spread hate speech, mainly against children, adolescents and the LGBTQIA+ community. (BBC News)
- Thirteen gold mine security guards that were abducted in an ambush last month in Pataz province, Peru, are found dead. (CTV News)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Romanian presidential election
- The first round of the Romanian presidential election is held with eleven candidates on the ballot. George Simion leads the first round with 40% of the vote. As no candidate has won over 50% of the vote, a run-off between the first two candidates will be held on May 18. (BBC News)
- 2025 Lebanese municipal elections
- First round of voting in the Lebanese municipal elections begin in the Mount Lebanon Governorate and Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate. (NBC News)
May 5, 2025 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Red Sea crisis
- May 2025 Israeli attacks on Yemen
- The Israeli military carry out six airstrikes on Hudaydah Port in Hodeidah, Houthi-controlled Yemen, in response to yesterday's attack on Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Al Jazeera English)
- May 2025 Israeli attacks on Yemen
- Gaza war
- The Israel Security Cabinet confirms they plan to control more than 70% of the Gaza Strip indefinitely, alongside moving its civilians southwards. (The Guardian)
- Syrian civil war
- A woman is killed and others are wounded after unidentified armed men open fire with automatic weapons inside a nightclub in Damascus, Syria. (CTV News)
Disasters and accidents
- Three people are killed, four others are injured, and nine are missing after a panga boat capsizes near a beach at the Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego, California, United States. (ABC News)
International relations
- Holy See–Palestine relations, Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war
- The Vatican announces that it will convert and donate a Popemobile into a mobile health clinic for wounded children in Gaza, Palestine, in accordance with one of Pope Francis' final wishes. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Law and crime
- Sudanese civil war, Sudan–United Arab Emirates relations
- Darfur campaign
- The International Court of Justice dismisses Sudan's case against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alleging that the UAE violated the Genocide Convention by supplying weapons to the Rapid Support Forces and other paramilitary groups in the Darfur region. (DW) (PBS)
- Darfur campaign
- Gaza war protests
- Five pro-Palestinian protesters are arrested by police during a World War II anniversary event in Wageningen, Netherlands, after throwing a smoke bomb onto the stage during a speech by Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof while Polish prime minister Donald Tusk was visiting, and holding up banners and flags. (Reuters)
- Mass shootings in the United States
- Three people are killed and five are injured in a mass shooting in Glendale, Arizona, United States. (ABC News)
- Three traffic police officers and two gunmen are killed and at least four others, including a police officer and two other shooters, are injured in a mass shooting and shootout by gunmen in Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia. One of the attackers fled in a police car. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Australian federal election
- 2025 Australian Senate election
- The incumbent Australian Labor Party overtakes the Liberal–National Coalition as the largest plurality in the Senate, meaning support will be required only from the Coalition or the Australian Greens to pass legislation. (The Guardian Australia)
- 2025 Australian Senate election
Science and technology
- After more than twenty years of activity, Microsoft telecommunications application Skype is shut down in favor of its alternative Teams. (Microsoft) (GSMArena)
Sports
- 2025 World Snooker Championship
- In snooker, Zhao Xintong of China defeats three-time champion Mark Williams of Wales 18–12 at the World Snooker Championship to win his first championship, becoming the first amateur player and the first player from China to do so. (Reuters)
May 6, 2025 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Red Sea crisis
- May 2025 Israeli attacks on Yemen
- Israeli airstrikes hit Sanaa International Airport in Sanaa, Yemen, and destroy three of Yemenia's seven planes. (The Times of Israel)
- United States attacks in Yemen
- U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the United States has reached a ceasefire with the Houthis, with Oman as mediator, and will stop its airstrikes, after they agreed to stop disrupting international shipping. (Reuters) (NBC News)
- A second U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter jet is lost in the Red Sea, due to an equipment failure during its attempted landing on USS Harry Truman. Both of its crew members ejected and were recovered. (CNN)
- May 2025 Israeli attacks on Yemen
- Insurgency in Balochistan
- Seven Pakistan Army soldiers are killed and five others are injured when their vehicle in a convoy heading to a security operation is exploded by a Balochistan Liberation Army improvised explosive device in Balochistan, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera English)
- Mexican drug war
- Five gunmen are killed and six vehicles burned, after an encounter between Cártel del Noreste and Jalisco New Generation Cartel´s which took place in the Rayones, Nuevo León, México. (El Universal)
Disasters and accidents
- Twelve people are killed and 23 others are injured after a bus overturns in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, Indonesia. (VOI.ID)
- Four people are killed and over 40 others are injured when a passenger bus rolls down into a gorge in Poonch District, Jammu and Kashmir, India. (The Times of India)
International relations
- India–United Kingdom relations
- British prime minister Keir Starmer and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi announce they have signed a bilateral free trade agreement to significantly lower tariffs on 99% of Indian exports into the UK, including textiles, and halve tariffs of British exports into India, including aerospace manufacturing, whiskey, and lamb meat. (DW)
Law and crime
- The government of Peru imposes a curfew and temporarily suspends gold mining in Pataz Province for 30 days after the bodies of thirteen miners who were kidnapped and killed were discovered on Sunday. (DW)
Politics and elections
- 2025 German federal election
- The Bundestag elects Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, as the 10th Chancellor of Germany in the second round of voting, with 325 votes out of the 316 votes necessary. (BBC News) (Tagesschau)
May 7, 2025 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2025 India–Pakistan standoff
- 2025 India–Pakistan conflict
- Indian airstrikes impact multiple locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least 8 people. (Reuters) (India Today)
- Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes into India and Indian-administered Kashmir, and claims to have destroyed five Indian fighter jets. Three civilians are killed. (The Express Tribune) (Al Jazeera)
- Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif declares the Indian attacks to be an act of war and vows further retaliation. (ABC News)
- A state of emergency is declared in Pakistan's Punjab province following the airstrikes, with all schools in the region being closed. Hospitals and emergency services are placed on high alert. (The Express Tribune)
- 2025 India–Pakistan conflict
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Gaza war
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- According to Hamas officials, Israeli airstrikes kill at least 92 Palestinians, including women, children, and two journalists, and wound at least 86 others. (AP)
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- Palestinian political violence
- Four people are injured, at least two seriously, in a drive-by shooting at a car at the Reihan crossing in the West Bank. (YNet) (Times of Israel) (Arutz Sheva)
- One person is injured in an attempted car ramming and stabbing in Mount Hebron in the West Bank. (YNet)
- Gaza war
Business and economy
- The Walt Disney Company announces plans to open its seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, their first in the Middle East. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- Eleven kindergarten teachers are killed in a collision between a minibus and dump truck in Purworejo Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. (AP)
Law and crime
- A woman is decapitated and a security guard is critically injured in a axe mass stabbing attack by a 22-year-old Polish citizen on the campus of University of Warsaw at an auditorium in Warsaw, Poland. A day of mourning is declared. (Reuters) (BBC News)
- One student is killed and two others are injured in a mass stabbing attack outside the entrance of Santa Ana High School in Orange County, California, United States. (KTLA-TV)
Politics and elections
- 2025 papal conclave
- A total of 133 cardinal electors begin the process of electing a new pope following the death of Pope Francis. (The Guardian)
May 8, 2025 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria
- At least thirty travellers are killed and more than twenty vehicles are set ablaze in an arson and mass shooting attack by gunmen suspected to be from the Eastern Security Network along the Okigwe-Owerri highway in Southeastern Nigeria, Nigeria. (CTV News)
Disasters and accidents
- Six people are reportedly killed when a Piper PA-31T Cheyenne air ambulance crashes between Tiltil and Curacaví in Chile. (El Morrocotudo)
- Five tourists and a pilot are killed, and one other person is injured, when a Bell 407 helicopter crashes and falls into a deep gorge near Bhagirathi River in Uttarakhand, India. (The Hindu) (NDTV)
- One hundred and twenty-three vultures are killed, more than 80 others are rescued, and an elephant is also poisoned in a mass poisoning at Kruger National Park in South Africa. South African National Parks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust says it was one of the largest vulture poisoning events in the country. (CTV News)
Law and crime
- Abundant Life Christian School shooting
- The father of Natalie Rupnow, the perpetrator of the shooting that killed three people, including herself, and injured six others at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, in December 2024, is charged with felonies in connection with the shooting. (CTV News)
- Murder of Cassius Turvey
- Jack Brearley and Brodie Lee Palmer are found guilty of the murder of Aboriginal Australian schoolboy Cassius Turvey in Middle Swan, Western Australia, in 2022, while Mitchell Forth is convicted of manslaughter. (BBC News)
- A member of the MS-13 gang is sentenced to 55 years imprisonment for the mass stabbing murders of five people, including a teenager and three young men at a park in Long Island, New York, United States, in April 2017. (Toronto Sun)
Politics and elections
- 2025 papal conclave
- Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States is elected to the papacy on the fourth ballot and takes the name Leo XIV. He is the first pope from North America and the second from the Americas, after Pope Francis. A dual citizen of the United States and Peru, he also becomes the second South American pope. (CNN) (The Guardian)
May 9, 2025 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2025 India–Pakistan conflict
- The Indian Air Force strikes Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan in Punjab, Pakistan, with cruise missiles with reports of multiple explosions. The Pakistan Armed Forces says the airbase has come under attack from air-to-surface missiles and that air defences are engaging hostile targets over Pakistani airspace. (News18)
- Pakistan closes its airspace to all non-military flights saying the Indian Armed Forces has launched ballistic missiles at the country. (The Times of India)
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Nine soldiers are injured in an improvised explosive device explosion in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestine. (CTV News)
Disasters and accidents
- Sinking of the Bayesian yacht
- Six people are killed and six others are injured when a Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 212 helicopter crashes into the Maduru Oya river in Sri Lanka. (CNA)
International relations
- France–Poland relations
- French president Emmanuel Macron and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk signs a treaty committing both sides to mutual assistance. (France24) (Reuters)
- Hungary–Ukraine relations
- The Security Service of Ukraine arrests two people on suspicion of spying for Hungary in Zakarpattia Oblast, which is home to an ethnic minority of over 150,000 Hungarians. The Hungarian foreign ministry expels two Ukrainian diplomats in response to the allegations, characterizing them as anti-Hungarian. (AP)
Sports
- In cricket, the 2025 Pakistan Super League is suspended indefinitely due to the ongoing military action between India and Pakistan. (Sky Sports)
May 10, 2025 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- At least 23 Palestinians are killed, including three children, in overnight Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Palestine. (CTV News)
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- 2025 India–Pakistan conflict
- Pakistan announces Operation Bunyanun Marsoos, the start of large-scale military action against India. (Samaa.tv)
- Pakistan Air Force warplanes launch airstrikes throughout India with missile strikes targeting Udhampur, Pathankot Airport and a BrahMos missile storage facility in Beas City, Punjab. (Al Jazeera)
- A Pakistani Fatah-II missile is intercepted over the city of Sirsa in the Indian state of Haryana. (News18)
- India announces the temporary closure of its airspace over the northern and western regions of the country until May 14. (Al Jazeera)
- United States President Donald Trump and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar announce a full and immediate ceasefire between India and Pakistan, mediated by the U.S. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri later confirms the ceasefire as well. (BBC News)
- Violations of the ceasefire and new clashes are reported shortly after the announcement of the agreement. (Reuters)
- Ecuadorian conflict
- Ecuador announces a three-day mourning period after eleven soldiers are killed in an ambush by guerrillas. (News Express)
- Sudanese civil war
- At least 19 prisoners are killed and 45 others are injured in an airstrike by the Rapid Support Forces on a prison in Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan. (CTV News)
Disasters and accidents
- At least seven people die and others are injured over two districts in Mogadishu, Somalia, after a flood triggered by severe rainfall sweeps infrastructure including Aden Adde Airport. The rain also collapses nine houses and floods over 200 others. (Reuters) (Devdiscourse)
- Four people are injured and 150,000 people are issued health warnings and stay-indoors orders when a chemical plant catches fire in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia, Spain. (CTV News)
Politics and elections
- The government of Bangladesh bans the Awami League party of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year during mass protests, before her flight to India. (AP)
Science and technology
- Soviet space program
- Kosmos 482, a failed Venus probe launched by the Soviet Union in 1972, re-enters Earth's atmosphere, splashing down in the Indian Ocean west of Indonesia, according to Roscosmos. (The Guardian) (CNN)
May 11, 2025 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- Fifteen Palestinians, mostly women and children, are killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. (CTV News)
- Gaza war hostage crisis
- Hamas agrees to release Edan Alexander, a dual American-Israeli citizen hostage, tomorrow. (Reuters)
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian President Vladimir Putin proposes holding direct negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 15 after the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland threatened further sanctions if it does not agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire beginning on May 12. (Reuters)
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls on Russia to confirm an unconditional ceasefire before any direct negotiations between the two nations. (Reuters)
- Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- At least two police officers are killed and three others are injured in a roadside bombing targeting a police vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (CTV News)
- Israeli MIAs
- The body of Israel Defense Forces soldier Zvi Feldman, missing since the 1982 Lebanon War, is repatriated to Israel from "deep inside Syria" in a joint Mossad–IDF operation. (The Times of Israel) (AP)
Disasters and accidents
- Mediterranean Sea migrant smuggling
- A bus carrying Buddhist pilgrims in Kotmale, Sri Lanka, swerves off a cliff, killing 21 people and injuring 35 others. (CTV News)
- Five people are killed, dozens are injured including three critically, and hundreds are displaced in a fire at a four-story apartment building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. (WTMJ-TV) (CNN)
- A runner collapses and later dies near the finish line during running event Loop Leeuwarden in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, causing the organizers to cancel the event. (NOS)
International relations
- Poland–Russia relations
- Polish authorities confirm evidences of Russian sabotage behind the arson attack that destroyed most of the Marywilska 44 marketplace in Warsaw in 2024. As a reaction, the Russian consulate general in Kraków is ordered to close down. (The Guardian) (AP)
- In his first Sunday address, Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine, the release of all war prisoners and the return of abducted Ukrainian children to their families, an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the allowance of humanitarian aid in Gaza, as well as a permanent ceasefire to the India–Pakistan conflict. (The Guardian)
Law and crime
- The Taliban bans chess in Afghanistan, with a Taliban spokesman saying that chess is considered a form of gambling under Sharia law. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Albanian parliamentary election
- Albanians vote to elect the 140 members of the Parliament, as Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks reelection for a fourth term. (Reuters)
May 12, 2025 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Gaza war hostage crisis
- Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander is released by Hamas after being kept in captivity in Gaza for 19 months since the October 7 attack. (Reuters)
- Gaza war hostage crisis
- Libyan crisis
- 2025 Tripoli clashes
- Clashes erupt between rival militia gunmen from the 444th Brigade and the Stability Support Apparatus in Tripoli, Libya, after the assassination of Commander Abdel Ghani al-Kikli. Six people are injured, and a state of emergency is declared by authorities. (The Jerusalem Post) (Al Jazeera English)
- 2025 Tripoli clashes
- Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency
- At its 12th Congress, the Kurdistan Workers' Party announces an immediate halt to its insurgent activities in Turkey and plans for its formal dissolution. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
- Myanmar civil war
- The National Unity Government of Myanmar says that an airstrike by junta forces killed 17 students and injured 20 others at a school in Tabayin, Sagaing Region. (Reuters)
- Syrian civil war
- The remains of 30 people believed to have been killed by Islamic State militants are found in a search by Qatar and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in the remote town of Dabiq, Aleppo Governorate, Syria. (CTV News)
- Unknown gunmen attack a Chinese artisanal gold mine in Narena, Koulikoro Region, Mali, killing one Malian and two others from Ghana, and abducting two Chinese nationals. (AP)
Disasters and accidents
- Thirteen people are killed by an expired ammunition explosion in Garut Regency, West Java, Indonesia. (Jakarta Globe)
International relations
- China–United States trade war
- The U.S. and China agree to a trade deal in which, for 90 days, U.S. tariffs on most Chinese goods will drop from 145% to 30%, while China's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods will drop from 125% to 10%. (BBC News)
- Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration, South Africa–United States relations
- The first group of Afrikaners arrive in the United States after U.S. president Donald Trump grants refugee status to the white minority group, who Trump says face a "genocide" in the South African farm attacks. The government of South Africa rejects the claims. (AP)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Philippine general election
- Filipinos vote to elect all 317 members of the House of Representatives and 12 members of the Senate, in addition to local elections. (Asian Journal) (Reuters)
May 13, 2025 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- 2025 Gaza European Hospital strikes
- At least 28 people are killed in an Israeli air strike that struck the Gaza European Hospital, which the Israeli military claims had a Hamas command and control centre beneath the building. (BBC News)
- 2025 Gaza European Hospital strikes
- Puntland counter-terrorism operations
- Three Al-Shabaab fighters, including a senior commander, are killed in a coordinated operation by the Somali National Army in Jowle, Mudug, Puntland. (Garowe Online)
Business and economy
- Microsoft Inc. abruptly lays off 6,000 people, 3% of its global workforce, citing workforce productivity. (AP) (GeekWire)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Russian wildfires
- A state of emergency is declared in Buryatia, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia, as firefighters fight wildfires currently burning more than 53,000 hectares. (The Moscow Times)
- Fourteen people are killed and four others are hospitalized after drinking toxic liquor in Amritsar, Punjab, India. (AP)
International relations
- Syria–United States relations
- US President Donald Trump announces that the United States will lift all sanctions imposed on Syria under the previous regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and expresses willingness to work with the Syrian transitional government. (Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
- Armed conflict for control of the favelas
- Brazilian Military Police kill the main leader of the Terceiro Comando Puro, a drug trafficking criminal organization, and two other suspected members, in a shootout in the Maré favela in Rio de Janeiro. (AP) (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Politics and elections
- Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
- Puntland counter-terrorism operations
- A spokesperson for the Puntland Security Force confirms that Puntland has acquired four military helicopters to support ongoing military operations against Islamic State militants in the region. (Garowe Online)
- Puntland counter-terrorism operations
- 2025 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election
- Sussan Ley is elected as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Australia following the party's defeat at Saturday's federal election. Ley is the first woman to hold the post. (Reuters)
- 2025 Malian protests, 2020 Malian coup d'état
- Malian interim president Assimi Goïta signs a decree dissolving all political parties and organizations and bans them from holding meetings following ongoing pro-democracy protests in the capital city Bamako. (AP) (Al Jazeera)
- Prime Minister of Peru Gustavo Adrianzén resigns a day before a vote of censure against him over rising crime in Peru. (Reuters)
Sports
- Major League Baseball
- Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred announces that all deceased individuals on the permanent ineligible list will be reinstated, allowing players like Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. (ESPN)
May 14, 2025 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Gaza war
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- Israeli airstrikes kill at least 70 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- Palestinian political violence
- Two Israelis, including a pregnant woman and her child, are critically wounded in a shooting near Brukhin in the West Bank. (The Jerusalem Post) (YNet)
- Gaza war
- Hezbollah–Israel conflict
- Israeli invasion of Lebanon
- The Israel Defense Forces claim that a drone strike in Qaaqaait al-Jisr, Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon, killed a Hezbollah commander. (The Times of Israel)
- Israeli invasion of Lebanon
- Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
- Operation Black Forest
- Indian authorities declare a "major success" in a military operation against Naxal insurgents in the border between the states of Chhattisgarh and Telangana, killing 31 militants, including top leaders of the Maoist group. (The Hindustan Times)
- Operation Black Forest
Disasters and accidents
- Two hikers are found dead and seven others are rescued after they were swept away by a river while hiking near Didier Waterfall on the island of Martinique. (AP)
International relations
- China–Colombia relations
- Colombia joins China's Belt and Road Initiative during the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing. (AFP via RFI)
- Syria–United States relations
- U.S. president Donald Trump meets with Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa during a trip to Saudi Arabia prior to departing for Qatar, marking the first meeting between a U.S. and Syrian president since 2000. (Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
- Immigration to Argentina
- Argentine president Javier Milei orders restrictions on immigration to Argentina, saying that immigrants are bringing "chaos and abuse" to Argentina. (AP)
- Tajik president Emomali Rahmon signs a law decriminalizing the "liking" of posts on social media publicly calling for terrorism or other serious crimes. (Reuters)
- Russian election observer Grigory Melkonyants is convicted on charges of working with an "undesirable organization" and sentenced to five years in prison. (The New York Times)
Politics and elections
- Deportation of undocumented Afghans from Pakistan
- Pakistani interior minister Mohsin Naqvi says that more than 1 million Afghans have been deported back to Afghanistan since November 2023 as Pakistani authorities intensify a crackdown on illegal immigration. (AMU TV)
May 15, 2025 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso
- Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist militant group Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin claims 200 soldiers were killed in an attack on a Burkina Faso Armed Forces military base on Sunday in Djibo, Sahel, Burkina Faso. They also claimed responsibility for another attack this week at a military post in Loroum Province that killed 60 soldiers. (Al Jazeera)
- Papua conflict
- The Indonesian military confirms that 18 Papuan separatists and three civilians were killed in yesterday's military operation in Intan Jaya Regency, Central Papua, Indonesia. (Reuters) (detikcom)
Arts and culture
- A long-lost version of the British Magna Carta, dating to 1300 in the reign of King Edward I, is believed to have been found at Harvard University, United States. (BBC) (The Guardian)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Canadian wildfires
- Two people are killed and 1,000 others are evacuated after wildfires spread across central Manitoba, Canada. (Euronews)
- Sinking of the Bayesian
- British investigators say the cause of the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht that killed seven people, including billionaire tech magnate Mike Lynch in Italy in 2024, is from being knocked over by extreme wind and could not recover. (CTV News)
- Five people are killed and three others are injured after a van drives into the back of a truck on the national road 2 in Konotopa, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. (TVN24)
International relations
- Iran–United States relations
- 2025 US–Iran negotiations
- U.S. president Donald Trump says that the U.S. and Iran have "sort of" agreed on the terms of a deal on Iran's nuclear program, which reportedly includes Iran agreeing to give up highly enriched uranium while keeping lower-grade uranium needed for civilian nuclear power, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. (AP)
- 2025 US–Iran negotiations
- Visa policy of mainland China
- At the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry announces it will allow nationals from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay to enter the country without a travel visa starting June 1. (AP)
Law and crime
- Capital punishment in Florida
- The U.S. state of Florida executes serial killer Glen Edward Rogers for the 1995 murder of a woman at a motel in Tampa. (The Washington Post)
- LGBT rights in Russia, Russian anti-LGBTQ law
- Russian media reports that police raided the publisher office of Eksmo Publishing House yesterday and arrested several of its employees, accusing them of spreading "LGBTQ+ extremism". (The Moscow Times)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Australian Greens leadership election
- Larissa Waters is elected leader of the Australian Greens, following the resignation of Adam Bandt after the party's poor performance at the 2025 Australian federal election. (ABC News)
May 16, 2025 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Gaza war
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
- 50 people are killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since midnight. (RTÉ News)
- Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
Disasters and accidents
- Five people are killed and three others are injured after a landslide at a hydropower plant construction site in Phong Thổ, Lai Châu province, Vietnam. (News.az)
May 17, 2025 (Saturday)
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