Monday, May 9

l The administration of President Joe Biden announced that it had reached a deal with 20 internet companies to provide discounted service to people with low incomes. The deal is part of the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides $30 monthly subsidies, or $75 in tribal areas, to low income Americans. The program received $14.2 billion in funding from the $1 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress last year.

l A court in Fiji paused proceeding with the United States' warrant to seize a $300 million yacht, said to be owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, after a request from Millemarin Investment, the company that officially owns the yacht.

l The Commerce Department announced it will suspend tariffs on Ukrainian steel for one year, citing the damage Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has done to the industry. “Some of Ukraine’s largest steel communities have been among those hardest hit by Putin’s barbarism,” the department said in a statement.

l U.S. diplomats requested a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea in an effort to strengthen sanctions against the communist country.

l The Justice Department announced that it charged John Joel Joseph, a former Haitian senator, in relation to the assassination of the country’s President Jovenel Moise in July last year. Joseph was extradited to the U.S. from Jamaica the previous Friday.

l The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on what it said was a network of five ISIS financial facilitators working across Indonesia, Syria and Turkey. “The United States, as part of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, is committed to denying ISIS the ability to raise and move funds across multiple jurisdictions,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said.

Tuesday, May 10

l The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report in which it showed the nationwide firearm homicide rate increased by nearly 35% from 2019 to 2020. It said the pandemic “might have exacerbated existing social and economic stressors.” It also said 79% of all homicides in the U.S. in 2020 involved firearms, while 53% of all deaths by suicide were firearms-related.

l Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Putin is still looking to achieve military objectives beyond eastern Ukraine after failing to capture Kyiv in the early stages of the war. “We assess President Putin is preparing for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the [Ukraine's eastern region of] Donbas,” Haines said.

l Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez pleaded not guilty in federal court to U.S. drug charges. Hernandez was extradited last month and charged with participating in a large-scale scheme to traffic cocaine into the U.S.

l Biden gave a speech at the White House in which he said fighting high inflation is his “top domestic priority,” and explained how the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues and Russia’s war on Ukraine are to blame for the inflation spike.

l The Justice Department announced that a grand jury indicted Joly Germin, a 29-year-old Haitian gang leader, for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a group of 17 Christian missionaries in Haiti in October 2021.

l The House approved an additional $40 billion aid package for Ukraine, totaling $7 billion more than Biden requested in April. If approved by the Senate, the funds will be used for Ukraine military and economic assistance, support for regional allies, replenishing weapons the Pentagon has shipped overseas, and aid to address global food shortages.

Wednesday, May 11

l The Senate failed to advance a bill legalizing abortion nationwide in a procedural vote of 49-51 that fell short of the 60-vote threshold needed.

l The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, called for a “thorough investigation” into the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces while reporting on Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank. State Department spokesman Ned Price later said, “Her death is an affront to media freedom everywhere.”

l The CDC revealed estimates that more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, a 15% increase from the previous record in 2020.

l The Federal Indian Boarding Schools Initiative, an investigative project ordered by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to review the history of Indigenous boarding schools in the U.S., released a 106-page report finding that at least 53 separate burial sites exist at federal Native American boarding schools and that investigators believe hundreds if not thousands of children died in these school.

Thursday, May 12

l Biden participated in a two-day meeting with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Washington, DC, in which he celebrated a “new era” in relations with the region.

Friday, May 13

l Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kent.) delayed the passage of the $40 billion aid package for Ukraine. Paul demanded the legislation be altered to include an inspector general to oversee spending on Ukraine and denied an offer to hold a vote on the amendment. Under Senate rules, unanimous consent among legislators is required to bypass time-intensive procedural steps.

l Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu by telephone, during which Austin urged “an immediate ceasefire” in Ukraine. This was the first discussion between Austin and Shoygu since the war began.

l The House Oversight Committee said it plans to investigate the four largest manufacturers of baby formula — Abbott Nutrition, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Nestle USA and Perrigo — and seek answers on how to increase production to shore up the nationwide shortage. “The infant formula shortage is a crisis for American families,” the committee said.

Saturday, May 14

l No news to report.

Sunday, May 15

l No news to report.