Colombia

• Left-wing ex-guerrilla Gustavo Petro won Colombia’s presidential election. [Link]

Assange Extradition

• Australia is lobbying the US behind the scenes to secure the freedom of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. [Link]

Russia

• Ukraine’s Parliament passed two bills that will restrict Russian music and books. If President Volodymyr Zelensky signs the legislation, it will be a significant step forward in Kiev’s attempt to purge the Russian culture. [Link]
• The Washington Post reports the White House is planning for an extended conflict in Ukraine. Leaders in NATO, the UK and Germany have joined the US in support of a long war. However, there is anxiety among some in the Western alliance that war fatigue will set in and support for Kiev will dry up. [Link]
• The Pentagon is leaning toward sending four more long-range rocket launchers to Ukraine in the next weapons package. The shipment would double the number of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems the gives to Ukraine. [Link]
• Reuters reported that a Biden administration plan to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones to Ukraine has been put on pause over fears of the drone’s surveillance technology falling into “enemy hands.” The plan to sell the drones to Ukraine was approved by the White House but was put on hold due to an objection raised during a review by the Pentagon’s Defense Technology Security Administration. [Link]
• NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the Ukraine war could last years but the supply of state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would increase the chance of liberating the Donbas region from Russian control. [Link]
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the G7 will continue to support Ukraine “for as long as necessary.” “We want to make sure that Russian President (Vladimir Putin’s) calculations do not work out. Putin obviously hopes that everything will fall into place once he has conquered enough land and the international community will return to business as usual.” [Link]
• Britain’s defense ministry said in its daily assessment of the war, “Combat units from both sides are committed to intense combat in the Donbas and are likely experiencing variable morale. Ukrainian forces have likely suffered desertions in recent weeks.” [Link]
• Lithuania banned the transit of goods in their territory to the Russian exclave. [Link]

Middle East

• Palestinian fired a rocket into southern Israel from Gaza early Saturday. The Israeli military said aerial defense systems intercepted the projectile. Israeli aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes on four military sites for Hamas. No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the rocket fire but the Israeli military blamed Hamas. [Link]
• Iran has now formally dropped the conditions of removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the terror list, and are interested in reviving the nuclear deal process. The US has ruled out removing the IRGC from the terror watchlist and has used that refusal to stall the ongoing nuclear talks. [Link]
• Senators from both parties have been briefed on the US position on the Iran nuclear talks, and are pessimistic about the chances of any deal. [Link]
• Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said that she thinks President Biden will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the US leader’s controversial upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia. [Link]
• Turkish military operations in Iraq are reported to have killed ten Kurdish militants. Turkish operations targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK left six guerrillas dead. A Turkish airstrike killed four PKK members in Kalar and wounded a fifth. [Link]
• The Russian airstrikes targeting US-backed Syrian rebels at al-Tanf, was at an outpost and not the main base. No US troops were present. [Link]

Africa

• Libyan oil minister Mohamed Oun told Reuters that oil production is at about 700,000 barrels per day (bpd). Last week, oil output was at 100,000-150,000 bpd, a spokesman for the oil ministry said. [Link]
• An attack in Ethiopia leaves 230 dead, according to witnesses. Most victims were ethnic Amhara. The witnesses are blaming a rebel group, Oromo Liberation Army, for the attack, but the group denies it. [Link]
• Authorities in Burkina Faso control 60 percent of the country, a mediator from the Economic Community of West African States. [Link]
• A UN peacekeeper was killed by a mine Sunday in restive northern Mali as he was participating in a patrol. A total of 175 of its peacekeepers have been killed since the UN began its mission in Mali in 2013. [Link]
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo has welcomed Kenya’s proposal to deploy a regional force to fight the M23 rebel group in the east of the country but said it won’t accept neighbor Rwanda’s participation. The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the militant group. [Link]