| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Friday, May 20, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Russia paves the way to sign up over-40s for the army, Biden arrives in South Korea, and a dire warning from Sri Lanka's prime minister | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Service members of the Ukrainian armed forces, who surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, sit in a bus upon their arrival in the settlement of Olenivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine May 20, 2022 RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR Russian forces bombarded areas of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region from land and air, destroying houses in residential districts and killing a number of civilians, Ukrainian officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the assaults had turned the Donbas into "hell".
The White House is working to put advanced anti-ship missiles in the hands of Ukrainian fighters to help defeat Russia's naval blockade, officials said, amid concerns more powerful weapons that could sink Russian warships would intensify the conflict.
The top U.S. military officer, General Mark Milley, spoke by telephone with Russia's Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the Pentagon said, the first conversation between the two since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In a sign of Russia's urgent need to bolster its war effort, parliament said it would consider a bill to allow Russians over 40 and foreigners over 30 to sign up for the military.
Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now
|  Protestors stand on a water cannon vehicle as they shout slogans during a protest organised by students near the President's House in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 19, 2022
WORLD
Sri Lanka's prime minister has warned of a food shortage as the island nation battles a devastating economic crisis and vowed the government will buy enough fertilizer for the next planting season to boost productivity. "I sincerely urge everyone to accept the gravity of the ... situation," Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a message on Twitter.
President Joe Biden arrived in South Korea, the first stop on his first trip to Asia as president, where his attempts to counter China's influence and build economic ties are likely to be overshadowed by North Korean threats.
Shanghai announced its first new COVID cases outside quarantined areas in five days, triggering stricter curbs and mass testing in one district but plans to end a prolonged city-wide lockdown on June 1 appeared on track. Meanwhile, North Korea said it was achieving "good results" in its fight against its first confirmed COVID outbreak, as the number of people with fever symptoms rose past 2 million.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison crisscrossed Australia in a final day of campaigning, insisting he could still win tomorrow's election despite polls pointing to a change of government or hung parliament.
A leading Sudanese politician was arrested as protests raged in the capital Khartoum for the seventh month against military rule, with tear gas and heavy security force deployment. A military coup in October effectively ended a 2019 power-sharing deal between generals who overthrew President Omar al-Bashir and political parties that opposed him.
U.S.
Oklahoma lawmakers gave final approval to a bill that would ban nearly all abortions and would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps women terminate a pregnancy. We examine the penalties abortion providers could face in a post-Roe world and whether the laws could apply to women seeking abortions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the COVID vaccine booster for children ages 5 to 11 after an advisory panel voted to back them, at least five months after completing their primary vaccination course.
The congressional committee probing the attack on the Capitol said it wants to ask Republican Representative Barry Loudermilk about a tour it believes he led through the complex the day before the riot.
The 18-year-old white man accused of killing 10 people in a livestreamed shooting in a Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, briefly appeared in court in a case that has spurred a national debate over the intersection of guns, hate and the internet.
The civilian oversight agency of the Chicago police is investigating an officer's shooting of an unarmed 13-year-old boy who was suspected of having taken part in a carjacking. The boy is in a serious but stable condition at a local hospital.
|  A woman uses an ATM at a reopened branch of Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, May 20, 2022 BUSINESS
Shares rebounded after China cut a key lending benchmark to support its economy, though a global equities gauge remained set for its longest weekly losing streak on record amid investor worries about slowing growth and high inflation.
China is quietly ramping up purchases of oil from Russia at bargain prices, according to shipping data and oil traders who spoke to Reuters, filling the vacuum left by Western buyers backing away from business with Russia.
British retail sales jumped unexpectedly in April as shoppers loaded up on alcohol and tobacco, likely a blip in an otherwise bleak trend that has driven consumer confidence to all-time lows amid a worsening cost-of-living crunch. The cost of living crisis is likely to shut the door on bumper UK house price rises, a Reuters poll of housing market experts found.
Boeing's new Starliner capsule was launched on a do-over uncrewed test flight bound for the International Space Station, aiming to deliver the company a much-needed success after more than two years of delays and costly engineering setbacks.
ASML, a semiconductor industry and stock market giant, has to think smaller. Or maybe bigger. It is building machines the size of double-decker buses in its quest to produce beams of focused light that create the microscopic circuitry on computer chips used in everything from phones and laptops to cars and AI.
| | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Prince Charles acknowledges indigenous suffering in Canada On the final day of his Canadian tour, Britain’s Prince Charles spoke of the suffering of indigenous children who survived residential schools, saying his "heart goes out to them and their families". | | | | And finally… Grunt, hoo, pant, scream: Chimps use complex vocal communication  Scientists exploring the evolutionary origin of language have detected a vocal communication system among wild chimpanzees more complex and structured than previously known, with a dozen call types combined into hundreds of different sequences. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
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