Current events: 2023-05-17

Wikipedia Current Events · May 17, 2023

Armed conflicts and attacks

2023 Sudan conflict
- 2023 Sudanese refugee crisis
  - The United Nations announces a $3 billion plan for the humanitarian and refugee crisis in Sudan. (Barron's)

Disasters and accidents

2023 Emilia-Romagna floods
- Nine people are killed in Forlì–Cesena, Bologna and Ravenna and 13,000 are evacuated during heavy floods in the region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Twenty-three rivers have burst their banks across the region. (AP) (La Repubblica)
- The 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which had been due to be held at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola on May 19–21, is cancelled as a result of the floods. (BBC)
2023 Chinese fishing boat sinking
- The Chinese government reports that fishing vessel Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 has capsized in the central Indian Ocean about a day prior. China and other countries are conducting search operations for 39 sailors, including Chinese, Indonesian, and Filipino nationals. (Associated Press via NBC News) (DW)

Health and environment

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the global temperature will pass temporarily the threshold of 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels, with a likelihood of a 66%, by the year 2027, due to a combination of climate change and El Niño. (BBC)

International relations

France–Ukraine relations
- The French Senate votes to recognize the Holodomor as a genocide of Ukrainians. (Interfax)
Iran–Russia relations
- Russian president Vladimir Putin signs an investment program deal that will make an investment of 1.6 billion euros in Iranian railroad projects, expected to come into operation within 48 months. (Tasnim)

Law and crime

Capital punishment in Thailand
- A court in Thailand sentences the former mayor of Wang Wiset district to death for the murder of an activist in May 2021. The hitman received a sentence of life imprisonment. (The Thaiger)
Censorship of TikTok
- Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signs a bill banning TikTok, making Montana the first U.S. state to ban the Chinese-owned social media app. (Reuters)
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele deploys 5,000 soldiers and 500 police officers to the northwestern town of Nueva Concepción in order to arrest the suspects of killing a policeman on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2023 Ecuadorian general election
- Amid ongoing impeachment proceedings, Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso uses the muerte cruzada provision of the Constitution to dissolve the National Assembly. Fresh elections—both presidential and legislative—will be held within six months, during which time Lasso will be able to rule by decree. (BBC News)