Coming Up This Week

• The Pope is visiting DRC and South Sudan this week. His Anglican counterpart, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will join him in South Sudan.

Commodity Prices

• Aluminum: $2,639/ton
• Antimony (ingot min. 99.65% fob China): $12,300/ton
• Cobalt: $49,000/ton
• Copper: $9,330/ton
• Gold: $1,928/toz
• Lead: $2,205/ton
• Natural Gas (Nymex): $2.85/MMbtu
• WTI Crude Oil (Nymex): $79.68/barrel
• Zinc: $3,487/ton

Libya

• As anticipated, Italy's ENI signed a $7.5 billion oil deal with Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Saturday. It will be the largest investment in Libyan oil in over 20 years...if it comes to fruition.
• The deal is already contentious - even within PM Dbeibah's government: Dbeibah's oil minister, Mohamad Aoun, refused to attend the signing ceremony and called the deal "illegal" (he wasn't consulted: his ministry is fighting with the NOC for power over the oil sector - and losing).
• NOC chairman Bengdara said Aoun can challenge the deal in court if he cares to do so.

Ukraine

• The Wagner Group said it captured the village of Blahodatne between Soledar - which Russia / Wagner also recently captured - and Bakhmut - Russia's primary target in the region. Ukraine disputes Wagner's claim.
• Fores, a Russian company that makes supplies for fracking, is offering 5 million rubles ($72,000) to the first Russian soldier to "capture or destroy" one of the forthcoming M1 Abrams tanks the U.S. is sending Ukraine - and 500,000 rubles ($7,200) for every subsequent successful disabling of an M1 in Ukraine. It's not clear when the first M1s will reach Ukraine, but it will likely be several months from now.
• Fores also offered a 15 million ruble ($215,000) bounty for downing a Western fighter jet in Ukraine (Ukraine is asking the West for fighter jets but none have been pledged yet).

Middle East

• Israel's far-right government isn't exactly helping to quell the spate of tit-for-tat attacks happening in Jerusalem and the West Bank: it announced plans to expedite gun licenses for Israeli citizens and authorize more raids to arrest Palestinian militants (one such raid was the catalyst for this round of violence).
• Israeli settlers seem emboldened by the government's actions: they carried out at least 144 attacks targeting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over the weekend.

Iran

• Drones - likely from Israel - struck a military plant in Isfahan, central Iran. Iran says its air defense system downed two of the drones and denied that the others caused any significant damage. I'm not sure what goes on at Isfahan, but apparently it's something threatening enough for Israel to target the plant.

DRC

• Allied Democratic Forces rebels killed at least 15 people in Ituri. This time Congolese soldiers intervened and prevented worse bloodshed.

Venezuela

• Venezuela's new opposition leadership is on a European charm tour seeking to unlock frozen funds to finance a humanitarian deal with Pres. Maduro's government. If they're successful, Maduro might reopen political discussions - which he's currently holding hostage.