May 21, 2015 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- Islamic State fighters enter the ancient ruins of Palmyra after capturing the Syrian city of Tadmur yesterday. A hundred pro-government fighters are believed to have died in fighting. (Reuters)
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that Islamic State now controls more than half of Syria dominating 95,000 square kilometres and controls settlements in nine provinces. (News Limited)
- Al-Shabaab militants briefly take over a mosque in Kenya's Garissa County. (BBC)
- 2014–15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine
- Video interviews show that two Russians captured in Ukraine have publicly admitted to being soldiers in the GRU Russian special forces. The Donetsk People's Republic (separatists) authorities claim these men were official policemen in the self-proclaimed republic, publicized their ID badges, and claimed they retired from the Russian military last year. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Arts and culture
- Robert Gates, the President of the Boy Scouts of America, calls on the movement to end the ban on gay adult leaders and says the movement will no longer revoke the charters of chapters that accept gay male leaders. (Yahoo! News)
Health
- South Korea confirms its third case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. (Yonhap)
- Two prisoners die and 30 are hospitalised following a cholera outbreak at the Shimo la Tewa facility in Mombasa, Kenya. (The Star via AllAfrica)
- Cleanup continues after the Refugio Oil Spill at Refugio State Beach along the coast of Santa Barbara County, California.(ABC7.com)
- Health authorities in the United States say that 53 people in nine states have been sickened in a salmonella outbreak. California is the worst affected state with 31 cases with the other states with cases include Arizona, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. (NBC News)
Law and crime
- Brazilian anti-corruption blogger Evany José Metzker is found dead after investigating a drug dealing and prostitution case. (Deutsche Welle)
- Death of Freddie Gray
- A grand jury in the American city of Baltimore indicts six police officers relating to the death of Freddie Gray in police custody. All six officers will face charges of reckless endangerment. (AP via ABC News America)[permanent dead link], (ABC2)
- Daron Dylon Wint is arrested in the American capital of Washington D.C. in relation to the murder of four people on May 14. (NBC Washington)
- Mexican Drug War
- Mexican police find three dismembered bodies in a search for ten missing people in Chilapa, a city occupied by vigilantes with alleged links to drug rings between May 9-14. (AP)
Sports
- Amnesty International accuses Qatar of failing to meet commitments on labor market reforms for migrant workers to be introduced before the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Among other charges, Qatar uses North Korean labourers who are not paid personally but instead the money goes to their government. (AFP via Yahoo! News)