MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Stories for May 22nd 2026
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Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 23:12 UTC
Humpback whales observation show they moved between Australia and Brazil, the longest travel distance ever
Two humpback whales have been sighted in separate breeding grounds off Australia and Brazil, the first time scientists have seen the species travel such vast distances across the Southern Ocean during their lifetimes.
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Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 23:04 UTC
Record art sales at Christie’s, US$ 1,1bn in three hours; US expressionist Pollard painting sold for US$ 181 million
A painting by US Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock sold for a record US$181.2 million (€156.2 million) with fees, at Christie’s auction house in New York this week, alongside other staggering sales on what was a blockbuster event for the institution.
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Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 22:40 UTC
Four French frigates for Swedish navy, in a plus US$ 3.5 billion deal
The Swedish government this week announced a deal to purchase four new frigates for its navy from France’s Naval Group. Sweden neutral throughout the Cold War, applied for NATO membership in May 2022 alongside Finland, following on Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 11:48 UTC
Air France and Airbus found guilty of manslaughter over 2009 Rio-Paris crash
The Paris Court of Appeals on Thursday found Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter in connection with the crash of flight AF447, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009 on the Rio de Janeiro–Paris route with a death toll of 228 people. The ruling overturns the April 2023 decision in which both companies had been acquitted, and finds the airline and the manufacturer “solely and entirely responsible” for the disaster, according to the BBC news agency. Both Air France and Airbus rejected the charges and announced they would appeal.
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Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 03:20 UTC
Caracas authorizes overflight of two US aircraft for embassy evacuation drill
The Venezuelan government on Thursday authorized the holding, on Saturday 23 May, of an evacuation drill requested by the US Embassy in Caracas, which will include the controlled overflight of two aircraft over the Venezuelan capital and landing operations at the premises of the diplomatic compound. The activity, announced in an official statement by the Ministry of People's Power for Foreign Affairs, was framed by the administration of acting President Delcy Rodríguez as part of “the regular protocols of diplomatic security and protection.”
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Friday, May 22nd 2026 - 00:03 UTC
UN C 24 previous seminar in Nicaragua; main meeting in New York 15/26 June
The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization will hold the Caribbean Regional Seminar in Managua from 25 to 27 May within the framework of the fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2021-2030).
