Monday, Jan. 3

• A United States-led military coalition released a statement saying that “two fixed-wing suicide drones” were shot down as they approached an Iraqi military base hosting U.S. forces near Baghdad’s international airport. No one was harmed in the incident, the statement explained, but still described it as “a dangerous attack on a civilian airport.” The perpetrators have not been identified.
• Five global nuclear powers — the U.S., United Kingdom, Russia, China and France — released a rare joint statement pledging to prevent atomic weapons from spreading and to avoid nuclear conflict. All five powers are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” the statement said.

Tuesday, Jan. 4

• The Labor Department release its latest “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey” showing that a record 4.5 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in November 2021, an increase of 382,000 over the previous month.
• The Justice Department charged Mario Antonio Palacios, 43, of Colombia, with “conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the U.S.” for his participation in a plot to kidnap or kill Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated in July last year. Palacios was also charged with “providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap.”
• The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol sent a letter to Fox News host Sean Hannity requesting that he provide information about his text communications with former President Donald Trump, as well as his aides and lawyers, in the days leading up to and following the attack.
• The Coast Guard issued a statement saying it returned 119 Cuban migrants to the country over the course of a dozen operations in three days. Coast Guard figures show 586 Cuban migrants have attempted to enter the U.S. in the first three months of the 2022 fiscal year, a significant jump from 2021, when the Coast Guard expelled a total of 838 Cubans throughout the entire fiscal year.

Wednesday, Jan. 5

• Attorney General Merrick Garland held a news conference at which he promised justice and accountability for the Jan. 6 insurrection, describing it as an “unprecedented attack” on democracy. “Those involved must be held accountable. And there is no higher priority for us at the Department of Justice,” Garland said.

Thursday, Jan. 6

• President Joe Biden delivered a speech on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, condemning Trump for promoting the “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen and inciting an angry mob of supporters to storm the Capitol building. “For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,” Biden said.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced David Satterfield, the outgoing ambassador to Turkey, will take up the role of Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa after Jeffrey Feltman stepped down from the post. Feltman recently visited Ethiopia, where an estimated tens of thousands of people have been killed in an ongoing war in the country’s Tigray region.
• A federal judged ruled that incriminating statements made by El Shafee Elsheikh, a British national charged with a role in the torture and beheading of American and British hostages held by ISIS, can be used against him in trial. Elsheikh sought to toss out the statements, claiming they were obtained through torture after he was captured.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said an agreement to resume the 2015 nuclear deal could be reached if the U.S. lifts all sanctions it has imposed against Iran.
• The State Department imposed visa restrictions on eight Cuban government officials, barring them from entering the U.S. The officials were targets based on allegations that they were, according to Blinken, complicit “in attempts to silence the voices of the Cuban people through repression, unjust detentions and harsh prison sentences.”
• The Justice Department arrested Pierre Girgis, 39, an Egyptian-American man from New York, on allegations that he unlawfully worked on behalf of the Egyptian government to track the “political opponents” of the country’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. He was charged with conspiring to act as a foreign agent and acting as a foreign agent without notifying the attorney general’s office.
• The Justice Department announced that Xiang Haitao, a Chinese citizen employed by the agricultural company Monsanto and a subsidiary from 2008 to 2017, pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal trade secrets from Monsanto to benefit the Chinese government. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Friday, Jan. 7

• The Treasury Department announced the $46 billion federal program enacted by Congress last year to prevent evictions is now distributing cash so quickly that many states are running out of money, revealing that there is less money available in the program for renters than needed.
• Biden visited with the victims of the majorly destructive wildfire that wiped out hundreds of structures in cities near Boulder, Colorado, scorching more than 6,000 acres in about two hours.
• Blinken told reporters that Russia will face “massive consequences” if it continues to perform “aggressive actions” in Europe, especially its military buildup on the Ukrainian border. “We’re prepared to respond forcefully to further Russian aggression,” Blinken explained. “But a diplomatic solution is still possible and preferable if Russia chooses it.”

Saturday, Jan. 8

• No news to report.

Sunday, Jan. 9

• Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) announced he would refuse to cooperate with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. “It amounts to an unprecedented and inappropriate demand to examine the basis for a colleague’s decision on a particular matter pending before the House of Representatives,” Jordan argued.

· Russian and American officials met for a preliminary dinner ahead of negotiations Monday regarding threats to Ukraine and U.S.-Russian relations more broadly. At this dinner, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov allegedly said the U.S. lacked understanding of the Kremlin’s security demands at the Ukrainian border.