December 30, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 309 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian officials say at least 18 residential buildings and 10 critical infrastructure sites across the country were damaged in yesterday’s increased missile and drone attacks by Russian forces. [more]
• Officials in Belarus say their air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile that entered Belarus’ airspace near the village of Harbacha in the Brest region yesterday. [more]

U.S. BUDGET | President Joe Biden signed the recently passed $1.7 trillion fiscal year 2023 federal budget bill last night. The bill, which funds the federal government through September 2023, includes a roughly 6% increase in spending for domestic initiatives, to $772.5 billion, a 10% increase in defense spending, to $858 billion, and about $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The Labor Department reported yesterday that weekly initial applications for unemployment benefits rose by 9,000 to 225,000 in the week ended December 24. [more]

MORE U.S. ECONOMY | A report released this week by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank says that 27 U.S. states had signs of slowing economic activity in October 2022, suggesting that the U.S. economy may fall into recession at some point in the coming months. [more]

TRAVEL | Southwest Airlines says it expects to return to normal operations today, ending a period that saw more than 13,000 flight cancellations since December 22. [more]

MARIJUANA | The first legal dispensary for recreational marijuana in New York opened yesterday. The dispensary, operated by the nonprofit group Housing Works in lower Manhattan, is the first of the state’s 36 recently licensed dispensaries to open. [more]

RUSSIA AND CHINA | Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that he expects Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Moscow early next year and that he aims to strengthen military cooperation between Russia and China. [more]

SYRIA | Reports say at least 10 people were killed today when a bus carrying oil industry employees was hit in a rocket attack in the eastern Syria province of Deir el-Zour. The U.K-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Islamic State militants were behind the attack, though no claims of responsibility have yet been made. [more]

IRAN | Iranian state TV reports the start today of the country’s annual military exercises in coastal regions of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. The exercises are expected to include commandos and airborne infantry, along with drones, fighter jets, helicopters, military transport aircraft, and submarines. [more]

MYANMAR | Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi — already serving a total of 26 years’ imprisonment on previous convictions — was sentenced to seven more years in prison on corruption charges today by a court in military-ruled Myanmar. [more]

PERU | An appeals panel of the Peruvian Supreme Court yesterday upheld the pre-trial detention of former President Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office and arrested earlier this month after attempting to dissolve the country’s legislature. [more]

COVID-19 | The Indonesian government announced today that it is ending all remaining COVID-19-related restrictions on gatherings and movements in the country. The Southeast Asia nation — the world’s fourth-most-populous country — recorded more than 6.7 million cases of COVID-19 during the pandemic, with 160,583 fatalities. [more]

TIKTOK | Citing security and privacy issues, the U.S. state of Indiana became the latest state yesterday to ban use of the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on state devices. [more]

R.I.P. | Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, considered by many to be the greatest soccer player ever, died yesterday at the age of 82. Pelé won a record three World Cups with Brazil — in 1958, 1962, and 1970. [more]

SKIIING | With last night’s win in the World Cup slalom event in Semmering, Austria, American skier Mikaela Shiffrin became the first ski racer ever with 50 World Cup wins in a single discipline. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the USSR or Soviet Union, was formed on this date in 1922 with its capital in Moscow. It eventually incorporated 15 republics and was, by area, the largest country in the world until its dissolution in 1991. [more history]