The 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), the UN's largest international platform on urbanism and sustainable development, has begun in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Georgia are resuming passenger rail service after a multi-year hiatus.

North Ossetia's head, Sergei Menyailo, has ordered that children from the republic not be sent on summer vacation to Tuapse following a series of drone attacks and fires at the city's oil facilities. He said the decision is primarily due to security concerns.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official statement today commemorating the anniversaries of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars and Circassians.

The country's Investigative Committee has launched an investigation into murder threats and plotting an assassination attempt against the head of government.

A secret prosecution witness testified in the Southern District Military Court during the trial of the "fourth Dzhankoy group" of Crimean Tatars. 

On May 18, 1944, the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea began.

Authorities in Kabardino-Balkaria have once again denied permission for a memorial march to be held on May 21—Remembrance Day for the Adyghe (Circassians), victims of the Caucasian War.

Azerbaijan has been hit by unusually heavy rainfall: between 70 and 103 mm of rain fell in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula over the past 24 hours. 

Azerbaijani opposition figure Gulu Mehmedli harshly criticized the authorities, accusing the country's leadership of repression, fear-mongering, and suppression of public activism.