Monday, May 23

• President Joe Biden said that the United States would defend Taiwan militarily if the self-governed island were attacked by China. “We agree with the ‘One China’ policy; we’ve signed on to it and all the attendant agreements made from there,” Biden said. “But the idea that it can be just taken by force is just not appropriate.” In response, the Chinese State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office warned that the U.S. is “playing with fire.”

Tuesday, May 24

• The FBI released data showing that 2021 had the highest ever rate of active shooter incidents in the U.S. There were 61 such incidents — a 52% increase from 2020.

· Meteorologists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released forecasts for another record-shattering Atlantic hurricane season for the seventh consecutive year, estimating 14 to 21 named storms, six to 10 of which will become hurricanes and three to six of those developing into major hurricanes during the June 1 to November 30 season.

• The U.S., Japan, India and Australia — known as the “Indo-Pacific Quad” — launched a maritime initiative to combat illegal fishing, pledging to invest more than $50 billion in developing infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region. The initiative is called the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness.

Wednesday, May 25

• Biden signed an executive order aiming to advance “effective, accountable policing” in the U.S. and strengthen public safety. The order revises use-of-force policies for 100,000 federal law enforcement officers, creates a national registry of police misconduct and limits the resale of U.S. military equipment to state and local police departments, among other measures.
• Biden gave a speech in the wake of the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, pleading to elected representatives to pass “common-sense” gun control legislation. “When, in God’s name, are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” he asked. “I’m sick and tired. We have to act. Don’t tell me we cannot have an impact on this carnage.”

· Robert Malley, U.S. special envoy for Iran, testified before Congress to defend the U.S.'s efforts to return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, although he acknowledged that prospects of restoring the agreement are “tenuous at best.” Malley said, “If Iran maintains demands that we go beyond the scope of the [the original agreement], we will continue to reject them and there will be no deal.”

Thursday, May 26

• The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits is at its lowest rate in nearly five decades. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 to 210,000 for the week ending May 21.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a speech in which he unveiled the U.S.’s multi-pronged strategy amid intensifying competition with China, which he called the “most serious long-term challenge to the international order.” Blinken explained, “We will invest in the foundations of our strength here at home — our competitiveness, our innovation, our democracy. We will align our efforts with our network of allies and partners acting with common purpose and in common cause, and harnessing these two key assets we’ll compete with China to defend our interests and build our vision for the future.”
• The U.S. renewed calls for Yemen’s Houthi rebels to release detained U.S. embassy staff after the death of Abdulhameed Al-Ajami, a retired employee of the U.S. Agency for International Development who was in the rebels’ custody. “We extend our condolences to his loved ones and call on the Houthis to end this injustice and release every single current and former U.S. Embassy employee now,” the embassy said in a statement.
• The Justice Department announced that it secured the forfeiture of a Maryland property purchased by former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh with about $3.5 million in alleged corruption proceeds, the result of a civil forfeiture complaint filed by the U.S. in 2020. “The United States intends to sell the property, and recommend to the Attorney General that the net proceeds from the sale of the forfeited property be used to benefit the people of The Gambia harmed by former President Jammeh’s acts of corruption and abuse of office,” the department said in a statement.
• U.S. officials expressed disappointment at the United Nations Security Council after China and Russia vetoed an effort to tighten U.N. sanctions on North Korea. The remaining 13 council members all voted in favor of the resolution, which was drafted by the U.S. and proposed banning tobacco and oil exports to North Korea.

Friday, May 27

• Secretary of State Blinken told his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid to conclude Israel's investigation into the death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
• The U.S. and Germany signed an agreement to deepen cooperation on shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy in an effort to rein in climate change. The two countries will develop and deploy technologies to accelerate the transition to clean energy, especially offshore wind power, zero-emissions vehicles and hydrogen.
• The U.S., Japan and South Korea released a joint statement strongly condemning North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches. “Each of these launches violated multiple UNSC [United Nations Security Council] resolutions and posed a grave threat to the region and the international community,” the statement read. “We urge the DPRK to abide by its obligations under UNSC resolutions and immediately cease actions that violate international law, escalate tensions, destabilize the region, and endanger the peace and security of all nations.”

• Former President Donald Trump lost a bid to stop the New York state attorney general’s investigation into his business practices, allowing the three-year probe to continue. Federal District Judge Brenda Sannes ruled that federal judges are barred from interfering in state-level investigations.
• The U.S. and the Netherlands issued a joint statement calling for international action to address the “imminent threats” of a “decaying and unstable” oil supertanker called the FSO Safer, which holds more than one million barrels of oil off the coast of Yemen. “It could leak, spill, or explode at any time,” the statement said.

Saturday, May 28

• Blinken released a statement expressing concern over China’s “efforts to restrict and manipulate” UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet’s visit to China's Xinjiang region, where the Chinese government is accused of detaining more than a million people in indoctrination camps. Blinken claims the visit did not enable Bachelet to conduct “a complete and independent assessment of the human rights environment in [China].”

Sunday, May 29

• The Justice Department announced that it will review the law enforcement response to the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 school children and two teachers dead. The goal of the review is “to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and response that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said.