May 11, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 441 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview today that the long-anticipated counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces would result in too many lost lives if launched now and that it needs more preparation. [more]
• CNN cites unnamed senior Western officials as saying the United Kingdom has supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow cruise missiles that give Ukrainian forces a significantly upgraded long-range strike capability in advance of a highly anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces. [more]
• Ukraine’s atomic energy company Energoatom said today that Russian intends to relocate some 3,100 Ukrainian staff from the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that such a move would result in a “catastrophic lack of qualified personnel” at the plant, raising security and safety concerns. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | The COVID-era Title 42 border restrictions expire later today, and the Biden administration announced yesterday that migrants at the U.S. southern border will now be denied asylum if they do not apply ahead of time or seek protection in a country through which they pass before reaching the United States. Under the new rules, migrants caught entering the U.S. illegally will be barred from returning for five years and can face criminal charges if they do so. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | In an interview yesterday, Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said inflation remains stubbornly high and that not much progress is being made in lowering U.S. inflation toward the Fed’s 2% target rate. Barkin’s comments came the same day government data showed U.S. inflation was slightly lower in April, at 4.9%, compared to the year-ago period, and up 0.4% from March to April. [more]

TRUMP | In a town hall-style event hosted by CNN last night, former president and 2024 Republican candidate Donald Trump continued to deny the validity of his 2020 election loss, said the events of January 6, 2021, when a crowd of supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, constituted a “beautiful day,” and called the sexual battery case in which he was ordered this week to pay $5 million to E. Jean Carroll “fake news.” [more]

U.S. POLITICS | U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) returned to the Senate yesterday following an absence of more than two months due to illness. Feinstein, 89, says she will work a reduced schedule as she continues to recover from side effects of the shingles virus. [more]

ENVIRONMENT The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says a new Biden administration plan announced today to limit carbon monoxide emissions from power plants would reduce carbon emissions from coal plants and new gas plants by 617 million tons between 2028 and 2042. [more]

SANTOS | U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was released on a $500,000 bond yesterday after his arraignment and indictment on 13 federal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to Congress. Santos, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges, said he does not intend to resign and that he will continue to seek re-election. [more]

TEXAS | U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday for the shooting death of Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in July 2020 in Austin, Texas. Governor Greg Abbott has previously indicated that he would like to pardon Perry, but has yet to receive the required recommendation to do so from the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. [more]

BIRTH CONTROL | A panel of advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 17-0 yesterday to recommend that the FDA issue its first-ever approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill — a progestin-only pill from Perrigo. [more]

G7 | Finance ministers of the G7 nations begin a three-day summit in Niigata, Japan, today, with high inflation, the war in Ukraine, over-reliance on Chinese supply chains, and uncertainty over the U.S debt limit standoff expected to be among the leading topics of discussion. [more]

GLOBAL DISPLACEMENT | A new report from the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre says a record-high 71.1 million people were left internally displaced by conflict or natural disasters in 2022, with the wars in Ukraine and Syria, record flooding in Pakistan, Nigeria, and Brazil, and droughts in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia cited as major contributors to forcing people to move within their own country’s borders. [full report] [more]

SUDAN | The U.N. Human Rights Council is holding a one-day emergency session today to discuss ongoing violence in Sudan in which more than 600 people have been killed since mid-April in fighting between the African nation’s military and paramilitary forces. [more]

ISRAEL AND GAZA STRIP | Israel continued its airstrikes on suspected Islamic militant operatives in the Gaza Strip today, a day after Palestinian militants fired hundreds of rockets into Israel. The escalating violence comes despite reports by Egyptian media yesterday that Egypt had brokered a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian forces. [more]

PAKISTAN | Reports say at least eight people have been killed and dozens of others injured in widespread protests across Pakistan following the arrest this week of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on corruption charges. Pakistani authorities say some 3,600 Khan supporters have been arrested this week in connection with the protests. [more]

SWITZERLAND | All residents of the small Swiss village of Brienz have been ordered to evacuate the area by Friday following geological studies indicating a high risk of some 2 million cubic meters of Alpine rock overlooking the village could break loose in the coming days. [more]

COVID-19 | South Korea has announced that, beginning June 1, it will end COVID-19 quarantine requirements and testing recommendations for international arrivals, and will lift the mask mandate for small medical clinics and pharmacies. The moves follow the recent World Health Organization decision to end the COVID-19 global health emergency. [more]

U.K. ECONOMY | Amidst ongoing inflation, the Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point today to 4.5% — its 12th-straight increase and the highest level since 2008. [more]

BASKETBALL | The NBA announced its 2023 All-NBA team selections yesterday, with the first team including Philadelphia’s league MVP Joel Embiid at center, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo at forward, and Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at guard. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 330, Constantine I dedicated Byzantium (later Constantinople; now Istanbul) as the new capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, an act that helped transform it into a leading city of the world.  [more history]