Ukraine

• Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that his Wagner Group had finally seized Soledar - near Bakhmut - after several days of fierce battle. That's probably correct: the UK defense ministry thinks the Russians are probably at least in control of most of the city, if not all of it - though at a high human cost. Their next objective is likely Bakhmut.
• Germany's foreign minister paid a surprise visit to Kharkiv and promised Ukraine more weapons, but she didn't specifically commit to sending the Leopard 2 tanks Ukraine wants. Russia shelled Kharkiv just hours after her visit ended.

• China said it would stop issuing short-term visitors' visas for tourists from Japan and South Korea, in retaliation for the "discriminatory entry restrictions" those countries have imposed out of fear of new infections from China.

• The U.S. Navy said it seized over 2,100 assault rifles in the Gulf of Oman, and believes they were Iranian weapons bound for Houthi rebels in Yemen, who Iran supports. In fact, the Yemeni crew of the ship carrying the illicit cargo confirmed it had come from Iran.

• Presidents Biden and AMLO and Prime Minister Trudeau concluded their North American Leaders' Summit yesterday with an awkward press conference that AMLO commandeered with long, rambling answers to reporters' questions.
• At one point a reporter asked AMLO a question about migration, and AMLO responded with a 28-minute monologue about everything but migration - including "beautiful, well-dressed men and women with jewelry" in crime dramas on TV. Biden and Trudeau awkwardly stared at their feet as he rambled.

• Protests have escalated in Peru, and at least 17 demonstrators and one police officer were killed in the border city of Juliaca.
• The protesters are largely supporters of deposed leftist president Pedro Castillo - who was replaced by his vice president, Dina Boluarte, after he tried to dissolve Congress - and they're calling for new general elections.
• The country's top prosecutor opened a genocide investigation against Pres. Boluarte and her cabinet over the deaths, but her government won a vote of confidence that will let it stay in power for now.

• U.S. authorities seemed content to let former president Bolsonaro quietly stay in Florida until his supporters rioted in Brazilia on Sunday.
• Now there's a growing movement to expel him from the U.S., and Bolsonaro himself says he just came to Florida to "spend some time away with family" but now wants to be back home in Brazil. Either way, his days in the U.S. are likely numbered.

• European climate scientists said that eight of the hottest years on record have occurred since 2014 - i.e., in the last eight years.
• The first attempt to launch a satellite from the UK on a Virgin Orbit rocket failed to make orbit.