One protester is killed and dozens are injured when police attack protesters gathered at Baghdad's Tahrir Square in the evening, where hundreds marched to demand the end of targeted killings of prominent journalists and activists.
S&P 500
+0.26%
$6,840
BTC
+0.11%
$109,922
OIL (WTI)
+0.51%
$60
May 25, 2021 (Tuesday)
4.1 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and culture
The Mexican Secretariat of Culture announces that construction crews are bulldozing the northern outskirts of the ruins of Teotihuacan. The department claims it has been issuing stop-work orders since March, but the crews have ignored them, and now threaten at least 25 structures. A criminal complaint has been made.
Business and economy
Tata Steel has said that it will support the families of its workers in India who have died of COVID-19. The firm said that it will pay deceased employees' salaries, housing and medical benefits until what would have been their retirement at the age of 60. The company has also pledged to cover the education costs of the children of deceased front line workers until they graduate. This is the third firm to make such an announcement, after hospitality group Oyo Rooms and glass manufacturer Borosil.
Costa Rica becomes the 38th member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Disasters and accidents
The MV X-Press Pearl, a container ship sailing with a Singaporean flag and carrying cosmetics and chemicals, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid, catches fire off the coast of Sri Lanka after an explosion was detected onboard. Rescuers evacuated all crew from the ship and reported that two people were injured.
An explosion and subsequent fire at the Callide C power plant is to blame for a significant power outage that affected over 375,000 premises in Queensland, Australia. The hydrogen-filled generator had a catastrophic failure, resulting in damage that will take months to repair.
Health and environment
The Philippines surpasses 20,000 deaths from COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces that 50% of the American adult population has been fully vaccinated.
Restrictions are tightened in Melbourne, Victoria, after an increase in cases, potentially linked to a hotel quarantine breach in South Australia. The mask mandate is reintroduced, public gatherings are limited to 30 people and private gatherings are limited to 5 people. Residents will also be expected to adhere to these rules when leaving the city.
Moderna says that their vaccine is 100% effective in teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. They say that they will seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in early June.
Michigan surpasses 19,000 confirmed deaths from COVID-19.
Austria bans direct flights to the United Kingdom beginning from June 1 amid fears of Indian Lineage B.1.617 variant. The country previously lifted the travel ban to the UK on March 21 as the latter began to emerge from lockdown.
International relations
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States would eventually reopen the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem, but did not give a date.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration downgrades Mexico's aviation safety rating to a Category 2, prohibiting Mexican airlines from expanding their services in the U.S. or arranging codeshare agreements with U.S. airlines.
Law and crime
Two women in Kyrgyzstan are arrested for calling for residents of Chaldybar to get rid of Tajikistan citizens.
Protests break out across the United States to mark the anniversary of the killing of George Floyd. Floyd’s family also met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House and called for U.S. Congress to pass police reform legislation.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. says that he has convened a grand jury in his criminal investigation into former U.S. President Donald Trump over his real estate business, as well as the Trump Organization.
Four people are killed in a mass shooting at an apartment complex in West Jefferson, Ohio. The killings mark the village's first homicides in nine years. A motive has yet to be determined, and no arrests have been made.
Shots are fired near George Floyd Square, the intersection where Floyd died last year, as people gathered to mark the anniversary of his death. Over 30 shots were fired, and at least one person was being treated at the hospital.
Politics and elections
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces that it will begin making $4 billion of loan forgiveness payments for 13,000 loans that were made by the agency to Black, Hispanic and Indigenous farmers beginning in June. From there, the agency said that it will also distribute loan relief for another 3,000 loans which were made by banks and guaranteed by the USDA. The program has been delayed because of accusations of racism and is currently facing multiple lawsuits.
An independent report commissioned by the ruling Conservative Party on discrimination within the party details that two-thirds of the 727 discrimination complaints filed against the party from 2015 to 2020 are classified as Islamophobic incidents. Incidents listed include comments made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the attire of Muslim women, and comments by London Mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith about his opponent and current Mayor Sadiq Khan during the 2016 election. It also found "no evidence" that these complaints were treated significantly different from other complaints.
Iran's Guardian Council formally approves seven candidates to run in this year's presidential election. Incumbent Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and all reformist candidates were the most notable rejections.
Sports
UEFA launches disciplinary cases against association football clubs Barcelona, Juventus, and Real Madrid for their commitment to the proposed European Super League, despite its suspension. The governing body suspects that the clubs have violated its legal framework, which prohibits the unauthorized groupings of clubs or leagues.
Get the app
