Portal:Current events/2026 May 15

May 15, 2026 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Middle Eastern crisis
- 2026 Iran war
  - Antisemitism during the 2026 Iran war
    - Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a commander of the IRGC-aligned Shia Iraqi militia group Kata'ib Hezbollah, is arrested in Turkey by the U.S. justice department after allegedly planning attacks on Jewish sites in the United States, along with attacks in Europe as part of a broader campaign of retaliation by Iran over the war. (Haaretz) (The New York Times)
  - 2025–2026 Iran–United States negotiations
    - U.S. president Donald Trump says that he is open to accepting Iran's 20-year suspension on their nuclear program if Iran gives a real guarantee. (The Times of Israel)
- 2026 Lebanon war
  - 2026 Israel–Lebanon peace talks
    - The United States announces that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire for 45 days, and that more specific political and security negotiations will begin on May 29 and June 2, respectively. (The Times of Israel) (PBS)
  - Israeli airstrikes kill at least seven people across Nabatieh, Tibnin, and Harouf, and injure 37 people in Tyre, Lebanon. (Sky News)
- Gaza war
  - Hamas military leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad is assassinated alongside his wife and daughter in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. (Reuters)
Boko Haram insurgency
- Killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki
  - U.S. president Donald Trump announces that U.S. and Nigerian forces have eliminated ISIS second-in-command Abu-Bilal al-Minuki during a joint mission. (Abuja Politico) (CBS News)
- Seventeen police trainees and an unknown number of soldiers are killed in a mass shooting by Islamist militants at a specialised military school in Buni Yadi, Yobe State, Nigeria. (Reuters)
Russo-Ukrainian war
- Prisoners of war in the Russo-Ukrainian war
  - Russia and Ukraine swap 205 prisoners of war following a violated three-day ceasefire. (Euronews)
Sudanese civil war
- 2026 Blue Nile campaign
  - The Sudanese Army says that they have re-captured the Blue Nile town of Khor Hassan, near the border with Ethiopia, from the Rapid Support Forces. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

Anti-fur movement
- The Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, which organizes Milan Fashion Week in Italy, announces guidelines encouraging participating brands not to display fur products during fashion shows following pressure from animal rights groups. (AFP via RFI)

Disasters and accidents

Drought in Somalia
- All UN agencies warn that the Somalian hunger and malnutrition crisis is rapidly worsening, with a growing risk of famine. More than 6 million people, approximately 31% of the population, face critical levels of food insecurity, while nearly 1.9 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition. Of those children, approximately 493,000 are facing severe acute malnutrition. (AA) (Relief Web) (UN News)
Famine in Sudan
- The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warns that 19.5 million people in Sudan are facing hunger amidst the three-year civil war. (Middle East Monitor)
Six people are killed and 19 others injured in a collision between a passenger bus and a cargo truck in Hadramout, Yemen. (Xinhua)
Six people are killed and 10 others were injured after a speeding tanker hit the vehicle they were traveling in from behind in Karnataka, India. (Xinhua)

Health and environment

2026 Central Africa Ebola epidemic
- An ebola outbreak is confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ituri Province by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, killing 80 people. (AP) (Sky News)
- The South Sudan Health Ministry issues an ebola alert in the country following cases in the DRC and Uganda. (Radio Tamazuj)

International relations

China–United States relations
- 2026 state visit by Donald Trump to China, China–United States trade war
  - Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi says that China and the United States have agreed to continue implementing previous trade agreements and to establish trade and investment councils following talks between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. president Donald Trump in Beijing. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
Foreign involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war
- Thirty-six countries and the European Union join the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. (Euronews)

Law and crime

Mexican drug war
- Two Mexican officials sought for extradition by the U.S. in April on charges of alleged collusion with organized crime are reportedly detained in Europe and the U.S. (Tribuna de México in Spanish)

Politics and elections

Constitutional crisis in Somalia
- Controversies of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
  - A third day of talks mediated by the UK and US between the Somali federal government and the opposition Somali Future Council are collapsing over their legal future and the electoral process after Hassan Sheikh Mohamud broke his constitutional presidential term limit. His four-year constitutional term is formally expiring on 15 May, but it is ending with no plan for an upcoming election. (Garowe Online) (Horseed Media) (Addis Standard)
Matthew Wale is appointed as the prime minister of Solomon Islands after Jeremiah Manele was ousted in a no-confidence vote. (The Guardian)

Sports

Boycott of Russia and Belarus
- The United World Wrestling lifts restrictions on wrestlers from Russia and Belarus that was imposed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will allow them to compete under their respective national flags. (Reuters)