Yemen

• Yemen's Houthis fired two more missiles at a cargo ship in the Red Sea, and this time U.S. / UK naval forces didn't bother to intercept them...because the ship they were fired at - and struck - was bringing corn to the Houthis' benefactors in Iran. The vessel sustained minor damage but continued sailing.

Middle East

• France pitched a peace plan for northern Israel to Hezbollah, Israel, and Lebanon The proposal calls for Hezbollah to withdraw 10 km (6 miles) from Lebanon's border with Israel - taking its anti-tank missiles out of range of Israeli positions - in exchange for a commitment to eventually resolving the long-running dispute over the Israeli-Lebanese border.
• Hezbollah already rejected the French proposal: it refuses to negotiate with Israel before the Gaza war ends.
• Meanwhile, CIA Director Burns returned to Cairo today to continue talks about a ceasefire and hostage release plan for Gaza. That suggests U.S. optimism that a deal is still possible - despite Israel's quick rejection of Hamas's latest proposal.

DRC

• The UN Security Council expressed concern about "escalating violence" in perpetually-violent eastern DRC: M23 rebels reportedly launched a new offensive in recent weeks.
• In response, South Africa said it would send 2,900 troops to the region under the South African Development Community (SADC) force replacing UN peacekeepers there.

Ukraine

• Ukrainian analysts think Russia used hypersonic Zircon missiles in Ukraine for the first time last week. The Zircon has a long range (1,000 km / 625 miles) and fly at nine times the speed of sound, giving Ukrainian air defenses very little time to intercept it.

Azerbaijan

• Armenia blamed Azerbaijan for shooting four of its soldiers dead in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has otherwise been fairly calm since Azerbaijan reclaimed it in a quick war last fall. As usual, Azerbaijan counter-blamed Armenia for shooting first.

Other News

• Trinidad declared a national emergency over a large oil spill leaking from a mysterious overturned tanker discovered off the coast of Tobago last week. It's unclear who owns the vessel or the oil aboard it, and that mystery caused PM Rowley to guess its origin may have been "illicit" (like Venezuela).