Ukraine

• Russia claimed to have killed hundreds of Ukrainian troops housed in two former college dorms in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine - probably so Russian citizens don't feel like the deadly Ukrainian strike on Makiivka last week didn't go unanswered - but Ukrainian officials say there's no sign of unusual casualties or even a significant Russian strike in or around Kramatorsk.
• Pres. Zelensky said Ukraine still holds Bakhmut and nearby Soledar, despite fierce Russian (Wagner Group) attempts to encircle and capture the cities.
• There's been a lot of news about France's commitment to send Ukraine AMX-10 RC light armored combat vehicles. Many articles called these AMX-10 RCs "tanks," but others pointed out they're not actually tanks, but "tank killers."
• From what I understand of the semantics going on here, calling them "tanks" would make France the first Western country to send tanks to Ukraine. That would upstage - and reveal a lack of coordination with - Germany and the U.S., which have refused repeated Ukrainian requests for front-line tanks like the M1 Abrams. Regardless, Ukraine will make the most of the AMX-10 RCs - even if they're not suitable for front line combat.

• Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress and the Supreme Court and surrounded the presidential palace yesterday. After hours of clashes, Brasilia police regained control of all the buildings they'd attacked and arrested 300 of them.
• Newly (re)inaugurated president Lula vowed to punish the rioters and the Supreme Court sacked several Brasilia officials - including the city's governor - for remaining "painfully silent" during the incident.
• Bolsonaro - who's thought to be staying with former UFC champion Jose Aldo in Florida after fleeing Brazil the day before Lula's inauguration - condemned "vandals and fascists" for the violence and denied that he'd incited it (his critics say his silence was enough to encourage his supporters to riot on his behalf).

China

• China carried out large-scale military exercises around Taiwan for the first time in 2023, sending 28 warplanes across the median line and triggering a multi-faceted response from Taiwan's military.

• German police acting on a U.S. intel tip arrested two Iranian men who were allegedly planning a biological terrorist attack using cyanide and ricin in Munster. They haven't released many details about the case yet.

• Pres. Biden visited the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time in his presidency, and neither side was happy with it: liberals criticized his new immigration policies as a "humanitarian disgrace," and conservatives complained that he took too long to visit and has been too slow to address illegal immigration.

• Heavily-armed gunmen kidnapped 32 people from a train station in Nigeria's southern Edo state. Islamist attacks are rare in southern Nigeria, so this seems more likely to be a mass kidnapping for ransom.