Five Things to Know, June 13, 2022

1.   The U.S. Navy announced Saturday it would pause all flight operations to conduct safety reviews and training after three recent crashes, including one this week in California that killed five U.S. Marines. Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, Naval Air Forces commander, has directed more than 300 naval aviation units that are not deployed in the United States or overseas to take a one-day pause June 13 to review their safety procedures and practices.

2.   Day after day, Russia is pounding the Donbas region of Ukraine with relentless artillery and air raids, making slow but steady progress to seize the industrial heartland of its neighbor. With the conflict now in its fourth month, it’s a high-stakes campaign that could dictate the course of the entire war.

3.   North Korea test-fired suspected artillery pieces into the sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater defense capability to cope with outside threats. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected several flight trajectories believed to be North Korean artillery on Sunday morning. It said South Korea maintains a firm military readiness in close coordination with the United States amid boosted surveillance on North Korea.

4.   China's defense minister accused the United States on Sunday of trying to “hijack” the support of countries in the Asia-Pacific region to turn them against Beijing, saying Washington is seeking to advance its own interests “under the guise of multilateralism.”

5.   American Legion Post 358 celebrated its 100th anniversary on Saturday, but that’s not the only thing they celebrated. The American Legion Post 358 also recognized Otis Kath, a senior member who has served the post for 71 years. The American Legion wanted to shed a special light on 97-year-old Kath who is the oldest living member of the Unity American Legion Post.