Israel

• PM Netanyahu addressed the U.S. Congress yesterday to plea for continued U.S. support for his side of a war that has killed tens of thousands on the other side. He framed Israel's war in Gaza as part of America's broader proxy war with Iran, which pleased Congressional Republicans - but got a cold shoulder from Democrats.

• Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing yesterday - for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine.
• Kuleba said Ukraine is ready to enter peace talks with Russia when Russia is "ready to negotiate in good faith.” However, Kuleba noted: “No such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side."
• China's invitation to Kuleba brings Beijing two benefits: first, it revalidates China's status as an arbitor of international peace deals (following hot on the heels of an agreement - also signed in China - between 14 Palestinian factions "ending" their disunity). And second, it shows the West that China's "no-limits" friendship with Russia has some limits when it comes to siding fully with Russia - and against most of the rest of the world - on Ukraine.
• Wang told Kuleba China supports a ceasefire resolution on Ukraine "through political means" - and seemed to agree with Kuleba that now is not the right time to negotiate.

• Reuters reported that Russia has been printing so many fake Libyan banknotes that their collective worth has caused the real Libyan dinar to devalue. Some of the counterfeit notes were reportedly printed in Russia and exported to Libya; others were printed by Russia inside Libya.
• The fake notes were allegedly traded for real currency, which was used to fund infrastructure projects in Eastern Libya - as well as Russian mercenary activity.

• The U.S. Treasury designated three Islamic State (IS)-linked facilitators in Africa as terrorist organizations and slapped sanctions on them. The Ugandan and South African nationals were involved in transferring money to IS affiliates in DRC, Somalia, and Uganda.

• Monday was the hottest day ever recorded (in terms of average global temperatures). It beat a record set...Sunday.