May 20, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 86 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today characterized Ukraine's eastern Donbas region as "completely destroyed," as Russian forces increasingly concentrate military operations on the region. [more]
• The U.S. Senate yesterday approved nearly $40 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine -- the largest U.S. aid package for Ukraine thus far. [more]
• Ukraine's finance ministry says it has received about $530 million in U.S. and British grants from a fund set up by the World Bank for donations to the Kyiv government. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | The issue of computer chip shortages that have contributed to supply chain issues in multiple industries is expected to be among the main topics discussed when South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden meet today in Seoul. [more]

POLAND | A package of judicial reforms was agreed to by Poland's ruling coalition yesterday in hopes that the agreement will unlock some 35 billion euros in EU funding put on hold over rule-of-law concerns. [more]

COVID-19 | Following FDA approval earlier this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday recommended that children aged 5-11 should receive booster doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. [more]

CLIMATE CHANGE | The U.S. Department of Energy announced yesterday that it is providing $3.5 billion in funding to groups developing direct air capture machines and other technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. [more]

ABORTION | The Oklahoma state legislature passed a bill yesterday banning abortion at any point after conception, except in cases where pregnancy results from rape or incest, or when the life of the woman is at risk. [more]

SRI LANKA | Authorities in Sri Lanka closed schools and many government offices today amidst the island nation's continuing fuel shortage. [more]

SUDAN | Reports say Sudanese Communist Party leader Mohamed Mukhtar Al-Khatib was arrested yesterday after meeting with rebel leaders who oppose the country's military government that gained power in October of last year. [more]

ISRAEL | Following the second resignation of a member in two months, Israel's governing coalition has lost its legislative majority, raising the possibility of the country's fifth national election in three years. [more]

U.S. CENSUS | A report released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau says that the 2020 census undercounted residents in six states and overcounted those in eight others. [Census Bureau data release] [more]

HEALTH | A new report in the journal JAMA Oncology concludes that the cancer death rate among Black Americans fell by about 2% annually between 1999 and 2019, but that the death rate in this population group remains higher than that in other racial and ethnic groups. [more]

MONKEYPOX | Health officials in New York City say they are investigating a possible case of monkeypox in the city as small outbreaks of the disease are being investigated in Canada and several European nations. [more]

SPACE LAUNCH | Boeing and NASA successfully launched the company's unmanned Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station yesterday in a move that could lead to a crewed test mission of the Boeing craft later this year. [more]

CANADA | Citing security concerns, Canada yesterday barred Chinese telecommunication equipment makers Huawei and ZTE from working on the country's 5G communications networks. [more]

JAPAN | Consumer inflation in Japan rose by an annual rate of 2.1% in April on higher commodity prices and a weak yen, reaching a seven-year high and exceeding the Bank of Japan's 2% target rate for the first time since 2015. [more]

GOLF | Rory McIlroy shot a 5-under-par 65 yesterday to take a one-shot lead following the first round of the PGA Championship tournament at the Southern Hills course in Oklahoma. [more]

SOCCER | World soccer governing body FIFA has selected six female referees for the 2022 men's World Cup in Qatar, marking the first time a men's World Cup will have a game refereed by a woman. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1927, airplane pilot Charles Lindbergh took off from New York in his airplane "Spirit of St. Louis" on his way to becoming the first pilot to solo a non-stop trans-Atlantic flight. Lindbergh landed in Paris 34 hours after departing New York.  [more history]