US News

• The Biden administration yesterday urged a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the ban on gun possession by medical marijuana users, saying that law is consistent with a long tradition of firearm regulation in the United States. Reason
• The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of Javelin missiles and related equipment to Brazil for an estimated cost of up to $74 million, the Pentagon said. Reuters

Russia

• The war in Ukraine began with Crimea and must end with its liberation, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. BBC
• Moscow accused the US of “unreasonable and unnecessary escalation” in announcing an inspection on Russian territory under the New START nuclear arms reduction pact, knowing that it would not let Russia carry out reciprocal inspections. Reuters The Institute
• Russia said that there are still issues hampering the transit of sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad. AWC
• The State Department announced it will provide $89 million to help demining efforts in Ukraine. The Hill
• Secretary of State Antony Blinekn said, “If we allow a big country to bully a smaller one, to simply invade it and take its territory, then it’s going to be open season, not just in Europe but around the world.” NYT
• The leaders of Estonia and Finland want fellow European countries to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens, saying they should not be able to take vacations in Europe while the Russian government carries out a war in Ukraine. AP
• Zelensky has called on Western countries to ban all Russian visitors. BBC AWC
• President Biden signed the ratification documents for Sweden and Finland to join NATO, bringing the two countries a step closer to formally becoming part of the alliance. Axios AWC

China

• US warships will continue to make Taiwan Strait transits and perform freedom of navigation operations in the Indo-Pacific despite the recent Chinese live fire drills, the undersecretary of defense for policy told reporters. USNI The Institute 
• Taiwan kicked off its two-day military exercise—known as Tianlei, which can be loosely translated as “Heaven’s Thunder”—with an hour-long live-firing drill involving more than 700 troops, according to Taiwan’s Eighth Army Corps, with 38 howitzers firing 114 shells into the waters. WSJ
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended her trip to Taiwan as “absolutely” worth it and said the United States cannot allow China to isolate the self-governing island. Reuters AWC
• Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, a massive $280 billion piece of legislation that is meant to help the US counter China. AWC

Afghanistan

• Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both houses of US Congress to establish a path to American citizenship for thousands of Afghan evacuees admitted to the US on temporary immigration status. Reuters
• At least four Pakistani soldiers were killed and seven others injured in a suicide blast on a military convoy in Pakistan’s restive North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, the military’s media wing said. TOI 

Africa

• The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, warned African countries last week not to purchase anything from Russia besides grain and fertilizer, or else they could face sanctions. AWC
• Authorities in Somalia say bomb blasts near the southern coastal town of Kismayo killed at least four people and wounded 11 others. Separately, Somali authorities say the US launched an airstrike in central Somalia in support of counterterrorism operations. VOA
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Tunisia’s “dream of self-government” was in danger. Reuters
• Two explosions killed 15 soldiers in Burkina Faso, the army said, the latest in a series of such attacks as the country battles a jihadist insurgency. France 24
• Blinken said Washington was “very concerned” about what he called credible reports that Rwanda has provided support to M23 rebels in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Reuters