Ukraine

• Pres. Putin addressed his parliament today, and told them that Russia’s war in Ukraine had yet to start “in earnest.” He also warned that the window for negotiating closes further as the war drags on.

Russia

• WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges against her but said she hadn’t intended to break the law and had merely packed in a hurry and forgotten to remove hash oil from her bag.
• Her lawyers probably recommended that strategy in hopes of a more lenient sentence than she would’ve received claiming innocence in a court that convicts 95% of those tried.
• A WSJ video investigation uncovered a Russian smuggling network that’s stealing Ukrainian grain and redirecting it to Russia’s Middle Eastern allies like Syria. Russia denies stealing Ukrainian grain.

Iran

• Iran said it arrested several foreigners – including a former UK deputy chief of mission – on suspicion of spying. According to Iran, the Brit had returned to the country after finishing his posting in Dec. 2021, and was collecting soil samples in a restricted part of the Shahdad Desert (Iran hinted they were illegally collecting soil samples to monitor nuclear activity).
• The British Royal Navy belatedly said it seized smuggled Iranian weapons – including surface-to-air missiles and engines for cruise missiles – from warships near the Iranian coast in January and February of this year. Iran rejected the accusation and counter-accused the UK of complicity in the war in Yemen for selling weapons to the Saudi-led coalition.

China

• Authorities in Beijing announced plans to require proof of COVID vaccination for anyone entering a public building, but quickly retreated after online backlash. Instead, residents will have to show a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours.
• In response to a joint MI5 / FBI briefing warning about China’s economic espionage, China called the U.S. “the biggest threat to world stability and development.”

Sahel

• Islamic State’s West Africa Province claimed the jailbreak that took place in Abuja, Nigeria earlier this week and freed at least 800 prisoners – 300 of whom surrendered or have been recaptured.

Other News

• Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was assassinated with an apparently homemade gun during a campaign speech in Nara. Abe was Japan’s longest-serving leader, and his murder stunned Japan, which has strict gun laws and very little violence in general.
• Former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos also died today, following a long illness (though one of his daughters suspects a vague and unlikely conspiracy put him in a coma). Dos Santos ruled – or rather, misruled – Angola for nearly 40 years, leaving behind one of the world’s poorest and most corrupt countries when he resigned in 2017.
• UK PM Johnson finally agreed to resign as PM, after much of his cabinet rebelled against him. The Conservative Party will agree on a process to replace him next week, and Johnson will remain in a caretaker roll until new elections in the coming months. Two of the candidates to replace him are former Health Secretary Sajid Javid and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak – who were among the first to quit his government.