World roundup: May 19 2026

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You’re reading the web version of Foreign Exchanges. If you’d like to get it delivered straight to your inbox, sign up today:Subscribe nowPROGRAMMING NOTE: In the interest of staving off burnout I am going to take a break for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. We’ll be on our regular schedule through Thursday and then resume on Tuesday.TODAY IN HISTORYMay 19, 1919: The Turkish War of Independence begins with the deployment of General Mustafa Kemal (the future “Atatürk”) to Samsun ostensibly as Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI’s new inspector-general. In reality Kemal had wrangled that appointment for himself with the intention of organizing a resistance to the Allies’ plan to carve up post-World War I Anatolia. His successful war (or wars, depending on your perspective) against Anatolia’s occupying powers led to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which birthed the modern Republic of Turkey.May 19, 1961: The Soviet Union’s Venera 1 probe, also sometimes called “Sputnik 8” in the West, becomes the first man-made object to complete an interplanetary voyage when it passes by Venus. Unfortunately from a scientific perspective, the probe lost contact with Earth about a week after its February 19 launch so it was unable to transmit any data it might have gathered during the flyby.MIDDLE EASTSYRIAA car bombing in Damascus on Tuesday killed one Syrian soldier and wounded at least 21 more people. The explosion came as military personnel were reportedly attempting to disarm another explosive device discovered nearby. There’s been no claim of responsibility but Islamic State may be the likeliest sus…