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Coming this week
- Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the start of Rwanda’s 100-day genocide. President Kagame, who is running for re-election in July, marked the occasion with a ceremony celebrating the country’s progress under his leadership since then.read more
- A total solar eclipse will cross the United States from Texas to Maine this afternoon. The map here shows the path of a total solar eclipse and the slope of a partial solar eclipse.read more
- President Biden will host a trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Kashido and Philippine President Marcos Jr. on Wednesday. The two men are expected to discuss maritime cooperation to counter Chinese influence in the South China Sea.read more
- South Korea will vote in its parliamentary elections on Wednesday. President Yoon is not running for election, but his party’s performance in the polls will be an indication of his own popularity.read more
Product price
- Aluminum: $2,451/ton
- Antimony (min. 99.65% ingot for China): $13,450/ton
- Cobalt: $28,550/ton
- Copper: $9,330/ton
- Gold: $2,339/Toz
- Lead: $2,124/ton
- Natural gas (Nymex): $1.79/MMbtu
- WTI crude oil (Nymex): $86.31/barrel
- Zinc: $2,639/ton
international news
Gaza
- Israel said it had withdrawn a division of ground troops from Khan Yunis and southern Gaza “to recover and prepare for future operations” and that Palestinians had returned to the city, which was reduced to rubble.read more
- Some analysts suggested that the “future operations” part could be a precursor to a ground invasion of Rafah that Israel has been planning for months.read more
- Meanwhile, Israel carried out another airstrike in southern Lebanon, killing Hezbollah’s Radwan Brigade commander. Israel blames the brigade for firing rockets into villages in the north.read more
- Separately, the International Court of Justice has begun hearing a lawsuit brought by Nicaragua against Germany over Germany’s military and financial aid to Israel. Nicaragua claims that German aid “contributed to the commission of genocide” in Gaza.read more
- Finally, Egypt’s Al-Qahera reported cautious optimism that Israel and Hamas have agreed on basic points in the ongoing ceasefire talks in Cairo. However, Hamas corrected the report, stating that negotiations remained stalled.read more
Iran
- U.S. officials expect Iran to launch “significant” retaliatory strikes in retaliation for the Israeli attack that killed seven Iranian military officers in Damascus.read more
- Some suggested that Iran could attack U.S. and Israeli facilities, such as embassies, in Israel or in other countries.read more
- To me, a direct attack on Israel seems unlikely. Because forcing Israel to respond in kind would be a disproportionate and dangerous escalation.read more
- It also seems unlikely that Iran would attack American facilities and draw the United States into the conflict. press. Chief of Staff Raisi even sent a letter to the United States warning it to “step back” and avoid involvement lest it get caught in “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trap.”read more
- Iran could find a way to retaliate with limited and targeted operations against specific Israeli targets to appease hardliners demanding action while avoiding angering Israel and retaliating again. expensive.read more
ukraine
- Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian control since February 2022, was damaged by a drone attack yesterday, damaging the reactor and killing one person, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.read more
- Russia accused Ukraine of “nuclear terrorism,” but claimed Ukraine was not involved and instead suggested Russia was responsible, but questions remain as to why Russia would attack a nuclear power plant under its control. It’s unknown.read more
China
- US Treasury Secretary Yellen visited Beijing for three days of talks, which ended today. She was warmly received, but little progress was made on the topics she sought to discuss. Among them were complaints that China was flooding the U.S. market with cheap exports such as solar panels, discouraging domestic consumers from buying them.read more
Electric car
- Tesla has announced plans to produce a low-cost electric vehicle (EV), informally known as the Model 2, with a goal of starting sales as early as 2025, Reuters reports. I gave up. The market is crowded with cheap Chinese-made models, and new entrants in the low-priced segment that Model 2 was targeting are having a hard time competing.read more
Other news
- Ecuador violated Mexico’s sovereignty by storming the Mexican embassy in Quito in December to arrest former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Gras, who had taken refuge on the premises to avoid a prison sentence for corruption.read more
- Mexico was furious at this insult and immediately severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador.read more
- NYT analysts said Ecuador’s President Daniel Novoa likely calculated that arresting Gras would boost his sluggish approval ratings ahead of next year’s elections.read more
The World Daily Brief is produced daily by former CIA and intelligence officers.
Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist, and owner of the broadcasting company Howard Stark Holdings. He is also part owner of the Baltimore Sun.
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