Axios

The ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for two deadly explosions in the northern cities of Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz on Thursday, according to SITE Intelligence Group, an NGO that tracks the online activity of armed groups and extremist organizations.

Driving the news: The first explosion targeting a Shiite mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif killed at least 10 people and injured dozens of others, Reuters reported. A second blast targeted a minibus in Kunduz, killing at least four people, per the New York Times.

An inrush of howitzers, artillery shells and drones is heading to Ukraine in a new $800 million package announced Thursday by President Biden. The Pentagon says Ukraine now has more functional tanks on the ground than Russia due to shipments from countries including the Czech Republic.

The big picture: With a potentially decisive battle now underway in the eastern Donbas region, the urgency to get arms to the front lines is ramping up, and concerns about provoking Vladimir Putin are fading — at least in Washington.

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was extradited to the U.S. on Thursday to face drug trafficking and weapons charges, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced.

The big picture: U.S. authorities have accused Hernández of leading a “violent, state-sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy” with co-opted armed forces, police, Congress members and mayors.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) will be two of the recipients presented with this year's John F. Kennedy "Profile in Courage" awards.

Driving the news: Recipients of the award are being honored "for their courage to protect and defend democracy in the United States and abroad," the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said in a statement Thursday.

Switchblade drones are among the military support items President Biden announced in March in an $800 million package for Ukraine.

Why it matters: Unlike the large drones the U.S. military uses for reconnaissance and deploying weapons against targets, these tiny Switchblades are themselves the weapon.

Newly released satellite images captured in March and early April show the construction of a mass grave site in a Ukrainian village near Mariupol, Maxar Technologies says.

Why it matters: The village of Manhush is roughly 12 miles from Mariupol, which has been besieged by Russian forces since the start of their invasion of Ukraine.

More than 7.7 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion, the UN migration agency said Thursday.

Driving the news: The figure represents 17% of the Ukraine's population. The number of displaced people has risen 9% since the agency's previous assessment at the start of April, and 19% since its first assessment in mid-March.

President Biden on Thursday announced another $800 million in military aid for Ukraine, including heavy artillery, bringing the total U.S. military aid since Russian invaded on Feb. 24 to around $3.4 billion.

Why it matters: Biden argued that U.S. support had already helped Ukraine win "a historic victory" in "the Battle of Kyiv." Now that the war has shifted to the eastern Donbas region, Biden said U.S. arms shipments would be tailored to help Ukraine win that fight. The U.S. is easily the largest supplier for the Ukrainian war effort.

President Biden on Thursday announced a "new humanitarian parole program" to welcome Ukrainian citizens fleeing Russia's unprovoked invasion into the U.S.

The big picture: The program — known as "Uniting for Ukraine" — is part of the Biden administration's commitment to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians and others fleeing the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his defense minister in a televised meeting to cancel plans to storm Ukraine's final stronghold in Mariupol and instead block the Azovstal steel plant so "not a fly" can escape.

The big picture: Ukrainian officials earlier called for a "special round of negotiations" in Mariupol without conditions in order to help evacuate civilians from the besieged southeastern port city's steel plant.

Mask use is "highly effective" at reducing COVID-19 transmission and the World Health Organization recommends people wear face coverings in public even if there are no mandates, a top regional WHO official said Wednesday.

Why it matters: Ciro Ugarte, director of health emergencies at the WHO's Pan American Health Organization, made the comments at a briefing in response to questions about the U.S. and other countries dropping face mask requirements in recent weeks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said after his military claimed to have successfully tested its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in Russia that the nuclear-capable projectile would make Moscow's enemies "think twice," per AP.

Why it matters: While the Pentagon said the launch wasn't a threat and the Kremlin had given the U.S. advance notice, it underscores the Biden administration's increasing concerns that Putin now sees "little downside to provocative actions" as Russia has become isolated following its invasion of Ukraine, the New York Times notes.

The war in Ukraine has awakened the U.S. and EU to the reality that engagement with former Soviet and Eastern Bloc states can't continue at the "snail's speed" of the past three decades, Moldova's Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu tells Axios.

Why it matters: Russia's invasion has triggered a flood of refugees throughout Eastern Europe. Many former Soviet states like Moldova have trended westward and bent toward democracy — but also been left dangling over the prospect of EU membership and NATO protection.