May 3, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 69 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• U.S. officials say Russia plans to hold its own referenda in the eastern Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as part of its attempt to annex the regions later this summer. [more]
• Russian state-owned news agency TASS reports that more than 1 million people have been "evacuated" from Ukraine to Russia in the last two months. [more]
• The European Commission is expected to finalize a sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia today, including a possible embargo on buying Russian oil. [more]
• Government officials in Poland yesterday urged the European Union to impose strict sanctions on Russian oil and gas and to not give in to Russian demands for gas payments in rubles. [more]

ABORTION | News outlet Politico has published what it says is a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning the landmark 1973 abortion-rights decision Roe vs Wade. The draft opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, is for a Mississippi case on the state's legislation that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. [draft decision] [politico write-up] [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Voters in Ohio are casting ballots today in the state's primary elections, with the GOP Senate primary race to choose a candidate to run for the seat of retiring Sen. Rob Portman seen as a key political battle.  [more]

JANUARY 6 | A federal jury convicted former NYPD officer Thomas Webster yesterday on charges of assaulting a police officer in connection with his actions during the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for September 2. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The U.S. Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting today at which a half percentage point increase in interest rates is expected to be approved. [more]

TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS | A special grand jury was seated yesterday in Fulton County, Georgia, in connection with investigations into whether former President Donald Trump broke the law in pressuring Georgia election officials to change the results of the 2020 presidential election in his favor. [more]

PRIVACY | In its annual transparency report released last week, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the FBI conducted 3.4 million warrantless searches of Americans’ data in 2021, up from 1.3 million in 2020. The report says the large increase was largely due to investigations related to foreign cyberattacks. [more]

ENERGY | Germany and India signed a sustainable development agreement yesterday under which India will receive $10.5 billion through 2030 to increase clean energy developments. [more]

SOMALIA | Reports from Somalia say at least three people were killed today when the Islamic group al Shabaab attacked an African Union peacekeeping troop camp in the country's central region. [more]

TECHNOLOGY REGULATION | The European Commission said yesterday that technology giant Apple is unfairly limiting competition to its Apple Pay mobile wallet by preventing other developers from accessing hardware and software on Apple devices that would allow similar functionality. [more]

COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY | Officials in Spain revealed yesterday that the cellphones of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Defense Minister Margarita Robles were infected with the powerful surveillance spyware Pegasus last year. The spyware, from Israeli company NSO Group, is typically used by governments to track criminal and terrorist activity. [more]

SOCCER | European soccer governing body UEFA announced yesterday that it has banned Russia's women's national team from participating in this summer's EURO 2022 tournament due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Portugal will replace Russia in the tournament. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1815, the Kingdom of Poland was created by the Congress of Vienna as part of the political settlement at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. [more history]