Current events: 2023-05-16

Wikipedia Current Events · May 16, 2023

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
- Twenty people are killed by armed attackers in a village in Plateau State, Nigeria. (Reuters)
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 Rakhine State, Myanmar, increases to 43 people. (VOA)
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

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)

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)

Privacy & Transparency