Portal:Current events/2020 May 24

• Afghan peace process
  • President Ashraf Ghani pledges to speed up the release of more Taliban prisoners, and asks that the Taliban release more government prisoners in return. (Al Jazeera)
• War in Somalia
  • At least five people are killed and twenty others injured by a car bomb during an Eid festival in Baidoa, Bay. No claims of responsibility have been reported. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • The Army of Ivory Coast and the military of Burkina Faso report that they conducted a joint operation against jihadists at the border between the two countries, killing eight suspected militants and arresting fourteen more. The operation is ongoing. (Reuters)
• Second Libyan Civil War
  • 2019–20 Western Libya offensive
    • Wagner Group fighters withdraw from the frontline near Tripoli, after the Libyan National Army suffers a series of defeats. The mayor of Bani Walid says the Russians, who are allied to Khalifa Haftar, retreated to his town then left Bani Walid Airport on three military planes to Al Jufra Airbase, while their heavy equipment were driven there. (Reuters)
• Papua conflict
  • Indonesian police says an armed group had shot two health workers affiliated with the local COVID-19 task force in Wandai district, Intan Jaya, Papua. (The Jakarta Post)

• 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) of the coast of Western Australia is battered by a "once in a decade" storm. (The Guardian)

• COVID-19 pandemic in Montenegro
  • Montenegro becomes the first European country to declare itself "coronavirus free". (Government of Montenegro)

• North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
  • In his first appearance in three weeks, leader Kim Jong-un meets with state officials to discuss improving nuclear war deterrence measures, including increased artillery firepower. (Reuters)
• Iran–Venezuela relations
  • The first of five Iranian tankers en route to Venezuela to deliver fuel enters Venezuelan territorial waters, after being escorted by the Venezuelan Air Force and Navy. Both Iran and Venezuela warned the United States not to interfere with the delivery. (BBC News)

• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardons 3,157 prisoners to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. (Middle East Eye)

• National People's Congress Decision on Hong Kong national security legislation
  • Thousands of protesters take to the streets of Hong Kong to oppose a controversial national security law expected to be passed by China's National People's Congress. (BBC News) (CNN) (Reuters)