| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Monday, May 23, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. A Ukrainian court jails a Russian soldier for life, Biden says he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan, and the crypto crowd dominate Davos | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin sits inside a cage during a court hearing in Kyiv, May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR Ukraine said it had held off the latest assault on an eastern city that has become the main target of Moscow's offensive since Russian forces finally seized Mariupol last week.
Russian forces tried to storm Sievierodonetsk, but were unsuccessful and retreated, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said.
The city, on the banks of the Siverskiy Donets river that winds through eastern Ukraine, has been the main Russian target in recent days as Moscow tries to encircle Ukrainian forces in the east and fully capture the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.
A Ukrainian court sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian in the first war crimes trial arising from Russia's invasion. Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old tank commander, had pleaded guilty to killing 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov in the northeastern village of Chupakhivka.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a meeting of global business leaders at Davos that the world faced a turning point and had to ratchet up sanctions against Russia as a warning to other countries considering using brute force.
Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now
|  U.S. President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity launch event at Izumi Garden Gallery in Tokyo, May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
WORLD
U.S. President Joe Biden said he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan, in a series of critical comments about China he made in Tokyo that an aide said represented no change in U.S. policy on the self-ruled island. Here's a timeline of comments by Biden and others on the U.S. policy of 'ambiguity' on Taiwan.
Australia's Labor Party leader, Anthony Albanese, was sworn in as the country's 31st prime minister, promising to bring the country together after a fractious election campaign as he vowed to tackle climate change and inequality.
Beijing authorities extended work-from-home guidance for many of its 22 million residents to stem a persistent COVID-19 outbreak, while Shanghai deployed more testing and curbs to hold on to its hard-won 'zero COVID' status after two months of lockdown.
Ethiopian authorities have arrested more than 4,000 people in the northern Amhara region, local state media said, as part of a wider crackdown against militia fighters, critics and the press.
Indonesia summoned Britain's ambassador to explain the raising of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender flag at its embassy, and urged foreign missions to respect local "sensitivities" following a backlash among conservatives.
U.S.
A military cargo plane carrying the first shipment of infant formula from Europe to help address a critical shortage in the United States landed in Indianapolis, and the White House said a second flight had been arranged.
Health authorities said they may have found a third case of the monkeypox virus in the United States and are running tests on a patient in South Florida to confirm if the person has contracted the disease, which is staging a rare outbreak outside of Africa.
A 48-year-old man was fatally shot in the chest while riding on a New York City subway car in the latest in a series of random attacks in the city's transit system.
For decades, complaints of sex abuse by pastors and staff in the largest U.S. Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, were either ignored or covered up by top clergy, according to an internal report.
For thousands of migrants who have waited for months in northern Mexico, today was supposed to mark the moment when the U.S. government finally dropped a pandemic-era policy that has largely prevented them from seeking asylum in the United States. Instead, it marks the latest setback for many, after a federal judge in Louisiana blocked U.S. authorities from lifting the sweeping policy.
| | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Ukrainian artists transform 'Russian House' in Davos Now dubbed the 'Russian War Crimes House', the building will be filled with photographs taken by Ukrainians depicting the war and a map of alleged atrocities, using data provided by the general prosecutor of Ukraine and Amnesty International. | | | | And finally… Cold beer to your door: brewers in Latin America go direct  With lockdowns normalizing home delivery of everything from fast food to aspirin, brewers are tapping into a lucrative new sales format - delivering cold beer on demand to consumers still gathering at home with friends even as bars reopen. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
