An analysis of nine teeth found in France's Peyre Cave has revealed that Middle Pleistocene Neanderthals were much more diverse than previously thought. The study, published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, was the first to apply multiple methods to samples—morphometry, geometric morphometrics, and tooth enamel thickness analysis. The Peyre Cave in the Rhone Valley was inhabited by ancient people approximately 250 thousand years ago.

A group of researchers has described a new species of octopus, called Microeledone galapagensis. These creatures were first noticed in 2015 - three octopuses were filmed using a deep-sea submersible by scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation off the coast of the Galapagos Islands at a depth of approximately 1,800 meters. One female was caught and preserved for study. Der Spiegel reports this.

The US Department of Justice called Saturday's shooting near the White House another attempt on the life of President Donald Trump and used the incident as an argument in a legal dispute over the construction of a new ballroom on the complex, ABC News reports. On the evening of May 23, 21-year-old Nasir Best of Dundelk, Maryland, approached a security checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue and opened fire in the direction of the White House.

Indonesia has blocked online betting platform Polymarket as part of its crackdown on online casinos, Reuters reported , citing the country's Ministry of Communications and Digital Technology. This happened after the opportunity to bet on the early resignation of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto appeared on the platform. Ministry spokesman Alexander Sabar said Polymarket is classified by Indonesia as an online gambling platform and gambling is prohibited under Indonesian law.

Some NATO countries did not support the plan for mandatory annual military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of 0.25% of GDP, The Telegraph newspaper reported . According to her, the initiative proposed by the Secretary General of the Alliance was opposed by Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Canada. As the publication notes, this position of London may call into question its status as one of Ukraine’s most consistent allies.

The New Cloud Technologies company, which develops the MyOffice office software, notified employees of upcoming mass layoffs, Vedomosti reported . According to the newspaper's interlocutors, the organization sent a letter to staff in mid-May. Many departments will be laid off in their entirety. It is expected that only technical support workers will remain on staff. The exact number of employees we are talking about is not specified.

Before the May 23 strike, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote , citing Western intelligence, that Ukraine could face a massive attack that night, potentially involving the Oreshnik missile: “We are preparing our air defenses as much as possible and will respond entirely fairly to every Russian strike. We gave permission for the parade, but Russia was given no permission for madness,” he wrote. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) later confirmed the Oreshnik strike.

Metropolitan Hilarion (in the world - Grigory Alfeev) was detained by the Czech authorities.

According to the calculations of CIT volunteers, during the day from 20:00 on May 21 to 20:00 on May 22, it became known ( 1 , 2 ) that at least 11 civilians were killed and 123 were injured as a result of shelling and strikes in Russia and Ukraine, including in the occupied territories. Last weekend, 39 civilians were killed ( 1 , 2 ) and another 283 were injured. CIT also publishes ( 1 , 2 ) summaries of energy infrastructure strikes during the same period.

The center-right Democratic Rally (DISY) party took first place in the Cypriot parliamentary elections, which took place on May 24. According to Reuters, DISY received 27.2% of the votes. Second place with 23.8% of the votes was taken by the communists from the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL), third - the far-right National Popular Front (ELAM), which was supported by 10.9% of voters.

The Lithuanian authorities have recorded a large-scale data leak from state registers - more than 600 thousand records were stolen, and a foreign state is suspected of hacking, reports the Associated Press. The Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office announced the start of an investigation into a major data leak from the country's state registers.

Following massive Russian air attacks and threats of new strikes on Kiev, Ukraine faces a "serious shortage" of missiles for air defense systems. Yuri Ignat, head of the communications department of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated this on Radio NV. According to Ignat, Ukraine lacks, among other things, PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems, AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles for NASAMS, as well as ammunition for other Western air defense systems.

The post of Deputy Defense Minister was transferred from Oleg Savelyev, who held it, to Police Colonel General Vitaly Shulika. RBC and Kommersant write about this with reference to sources. According to the publications’ interlocutors, Savelyev left his post “due to a transfer to another job.” The former auditor of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation received this position in May 2024 after the replacement of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with Andrei Belousov.

Vladimir Putin signed a law on amendments to the Labor Code, which will double the maximum duration of overtime work in Russia - from 120 to 240 hours per year. The document was published on the official legal information portal. According to the law, it will be possible to increase the overtime limit if it is provided for by a collective agreement or industry agreement.

Next week the State Duma will consider bills on multiple increases in state duties for foreign citizens. This was announced by the speaker of the lower house Vyacheslav Volodin. According to the initiative, the fee for obtaining Russian citizenship will increase 12 times - from 4,200 to 50 thousand rubles. A temporary residence permit will rise in price 8 times - from 1,920 to 15 thousand rubles, a residence permit - 5 times, from 6 thousand to 30 thousand rubles.