Monday, May 16

• Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with top military and intelligence officials, traveled to the United Arab Emirates after the death of President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to offer their condolences.

· President Joe Biden authorized the deployment of American troops to Somalia, reversing a decision by former President Donald Trump to remove nearly all forces previously operating there. The decision was made based on a request made by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to “reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al Shabab,” per White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

· The State Department announced that it would ease some restrictions on Cuba, including the reintroduction of a family reunification program, expand authorized travel, increase support for Cuban entrepreneurs, and “ensure that remittances flow more freely to the Cuban people while not enriching those who perpetrate human rights abuses.”

· Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) introduced a resolution to recognize the Palestinian Nakba, the term for the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the lead-up to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. “We must acknowledge that the humanity of Palestinians is being denied when folks refuse to acknowledge the war crimes and human rights violations in apartheid Israel,” Tlaib said.

· The Air Force released a statement saying it conducted a successful test of a hypersonic weapon, which flew at five times the speed of sound, on the previous Saturday. The test was conducted off the coast of Southern California when a B-52 bomber released an Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW.

Tuesday, May 17

• Biden met with the victims’ families, local officials and first responders after a gunman killed 10 people at a market in a majority Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. During this meeting, Biden publicly condemned the “poison” of white supremacy. “Hate and fear are being given too much oxygen by those who pretend to love America but who don’t understand America,” Biden said.
• Two top United States military officials — Ronald Moultrie, the defense under-secretary for intelligence and security, and Scott Bray, the deputy director of naval intelligence — testified in the first public congressional hearing on “unidentified flying objects” in more than 50 years, which comes 11 months after a government report detailed 144 UFO sightings by the military since 2004.
• The Department of Homeland Security announced the discovery of a major drug smuggling tunnel with railways, electricity, and ventilation systems that extends from Tijuana, Mexico to a warehouse in an industrial area of San Diego.
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for large-scale economic assistance to Ukraine as the Eastern European country deals with an ongoing assault from Russia. “Eventually, Ukraine will need massive support and private investment for reconstruction and recovery, akin to the task of rebuilding in Europe after 1945,” Yellen said. “What’s clear is that the bilateral and multilateral support announced so far will not be sufficient to address Ukraine’s needs, even in the short term.”

Wednesday, May 18

• The State Department announced it reopened the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, nearly three months after withdrawing American diplomats and suspending work in the Ukrainian capital in advance of Russia’s invasion. “The Ukrainian people, with our security assistance, have defended their homeland in the face of Russia’s unconscionable invasion, and, as a result, the Stars and Stripes are flying over the Embassy once again,” Secretary of State Blinken said in a statement.
• The Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction released a report showing that the withdrawal of U.S. forces and military contractors last year was “the single most important factor” in triggering the collapse of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in Aug. 2021 and the subsequent Taliban takeover.
• Following an internal review, the Pentagon announced that U.S. troops did not violate the law of war or act negligently when they launched a 2019 air attack in Syria that killed dozens of civilians.

Thursday, May 19

• Biden invoked the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law first implemented to support defense production during the Korean War, to give baby formula manufacturers first priority from suppliers, requiring suppliers of formula manufacturers to fulfill orders from those companies before other customers, in an effort to eliminate production bottlenecks and address major shortages across the country.
• The Senate approved the nearly $40 billion military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine that the House passed last week, by an overwhelming 86-to-11 vote. The legislation includes $6 billion for weapons, training and financial support for Ukraine’s military; $4 billion in military financing over the next five months through the end of September; $9 billion to replenish U.S. stocks of weapons being sent to Ukraine and nearly $4 billion for expanded U.S. military operations in Europe; among other expenses.
• The Treasury Department announced that it imposed sanctions on a Lebanese businessman named Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah, who it accuses of acting as a “financial facilitator” for Lebanese group Hezbollah. The sanctions targeted Abdallah, five of his associates, and eight of his companies in Lebanon and Iraq.
• Dozens of legislators signed onto a letter demanding the FBI investigate the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, following news that Israel’s military would not launch a criminal inquiry into the incident. Abu Akleh was fatally shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last week.
• An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted 11 to one in favor of recommending COVID-19 vaccine booster jabs for children aged five to 11, at least five months after completing their primary vaccination course.

Friday, May 20

· The State Department delisted the a violent, far-right Israeli organization Kahane Chai from its list of “foreign terrorist organizations” because it considers it defunct, triggering Palestinian rights advocates to raise alarm and warn that such a move may embolden Kahane Chai’s supporters.

• Attorney General Merrick Garland held a news conference at which he said the Justice Department will issue guidance to help law enforcement agencies, government officials and community groups raise awareness of the problem of hate crimes. “Confronting unlawful acts of hate is a matter of moral urgency for all of us here today,” Garland said. He pledged $10 million in grant funding to go to community-based approaches to preventing and addressing hate crimes; to develop better reporting to the FBI, and to “fund states to establish and run reporting hotlines for victims of hate crimes.”
• District Judge Robert Summerhays blocked the Biden administration’s plan to end Title 42, a contentious immigration policy that allows U.S. authorities to turn away most asylum seekers arriving at the country’s border with Mexico, which was expected to be rescinded on May 23.
• Biden arrived in South Korea in the first stop of an Asia tour aimed at reinforcing the U.S.'s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and countering China’s influence. The trip includes a summit with his South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
• The Biden administration placed Cuba on a shortlist of countries the U.S. alleges are “not cooperating fully” in its fight against “terrorism,” joining with Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Syria.

Saturday, May 21

• No news to report.

Sunday, May 22

• A military cargo plane carrying the first shipment of infant formula, weighing 77,000 pounds, landed in the U.S. as part of the Biden administration’s “Operation Fly Formula” to import the product from Europe and address a critical shortage.