Ukraine

• Pres. Biden ruled out sending Ukraine F-16s, which Ukrainian officials had requested. France may still offer jets, though: Pres. Macron responded to a reporter's question about sending planes by saying that "nothing is excluded" when it comes to assistance for Ukraine.

• The U.S. charged four men in connection with the 2021 assassination of Haiti's Pres. Moïse.
• Haiti has fallen further into disarray since Moïse's death, and its justice system isn't capable of trying these four alleged ringleaders of the coup attempt (an unnamed Haitian Supreme Court judge even reportedly supported the putsch). Hence holding the trial in the U.S. and not Haiti.

• The CEO of TotalEnergies is visiting Mozambique's Cabo Delgado this week to evaluate the possibility of restarting the company's enormous LNG project there. The project was paused in 2021 when Islamic militants encroached on the area.
• The government of Mozambique is desperate to relaunch the project so it can start collecting tax revenues. It's such a big project that its construction costs alone are worth more than the entire economy of Mozambique.

• During a visit to DRC, Pope Francis drew attention to the country's poor and criticized rich countries and companies for exploiting them: "Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: It is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered."
• DRC produces at least 60% of the world's cobalt - which is essential for modern batteries - so companies are unlikely to relinquish their grasp easily.

• The IMF raised its global economic growth forecast for 2023 by 0.2% to 2.9%. That's still lower than the long-run average of 3.8%, but it's not as bad as the fund had expected in October: China's reopening and a warm winter in Europe contributed to the improvement.
• Yesterday Boeing transferred the last 747 it will ever make. The 747 launched in 1968 as the world's first huge passenger plane; in recent years smaller and more efficient two-engine planes have replaced them for passenger flights as 747s have shifted towards cargo.