WORLD BRIEFING: January 17, 2024
Exclusive
This incident brought on a sense of deja vu to the first weeks of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, when UN chiefs couldn’t bring themselves to utter the name of the aggressor, Russia. During a rambling three minute intro of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the ongoing World Economic Forum in David, founder Klaus Schwab, didn’t mention Russia once when speaking about the war. Throughout it all, Zelensky appeared perplexed, possibly due to the unbelievably sanitized intro. Hard to say what was going through Schwab’s mind, but it could speak to the apparent softening of support towards Ukraine in some European countries. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised if at WEF 2025 we see someone like Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov being introduced by Schwab?
A wave of Russia drone attacks overnight in Ukraine: the southern port city of Odesa was particularly hard hit. Damage to residential buildings and infrastructure and some injuries. Drones were targeted at other Ukrainian cities and at least two missiles towards Kharkiv, causing significant damage.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside of a court building in Baymak, a town in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, on Wednesday in support of prominent local activist Fail Alsynov, who was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred.” He plans to appeal the verdict. The independent outlet Verstka reported that about 3,000 people joined the protest. According to eyewitnesses, the crowd was significantly larger than the one on January 15, when about 1,000 people gathered in opposition to Alsynov’s prosecution. The activist’s sentencing was originally scheduled for that day but was postponed in response to the demonstration - Meduza
At least 10,600 children have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said. And the UN emergency relief chief warned Israel's war has brought famine with "such incredible speed." - CNN
Israeli forces are moving toward a key hospital in southern Gaza, prompting patients and sheltering civilians to flee. "The hospital is shaking and there is panic," an American doctor told CNN from the Al Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. Meanwhile, Qatar said it has brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas that will see medicines delivered to Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the delivery of aid to Palestinian civilians - CNN
North Korea is abandoning its policy of seeking reunification with South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for the constitution to be revised to say that the South is the country’s “primary foe and invariable principle enemy” during a speech Monday before the Supreme People’s Assembly, the North’s rubber-stamp parliament, according to state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim said the constitution should also include plans for “occupying, subjugating and reclaiming” the South if another war breaks out between the two bitter rivals - VOA
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have claimed to have struck what they say are Israeli "spy headquarters"in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. The US has condemned the strikes, calling them "a reckless and imprecise set of strikes" - BBC
Cyclone Belal: Authorities in Mauritius and the French Réunion island are assessing the damage after the cyclone brought torrential rain and flooding to the Indian Ocean islands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughter Maria Vorontsova earns hundreds of millions of rubles per year from her stake in Nomeco, a company which receives all its money from a healthcare facility called the Sogaz clinic, according to a new investigation by jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny’s associates - Meduza
Germany has prepared a training scenario in which the Ukrainian armed forces will lose the war, according to Bild newspaper. The German army (Bundeswehr) has developed a training scenario for a war with Russia in the event that the Defense Forces of Ukraine are defeated in the war. According to the scenario published by the newspaper, Russia is launching a new wave of mobilization and conscripting another 200,000 people into the army in February. In the spring, the Kremlin launches a major offensive in Ukraine and by June 2024 wins over the Armed Forces. Further, according to the document, inter-ethnic clashes will begin in the Baltic states, Russia is deploying large military exercises "West-2024" on its territory and in Belarus in September. In October, according to the scenario, the Russian Federation transfers troops and missiles to Kaliningrad to strike the Suvalcorridor. Meanwhile, the Bundeswehr said that "consideration of various scenarios, even extremely unlikely ones, is part of everyday military affairs."
The UN and its partners appealed to donors to provide $4.2 billion to support the war-affected population in Ukraine and refugees in 2024. This was stated by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 14.6 million people, or 40% of the population of Ukraine, will need humanitarian assistance this year due to the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.
Canada is good at pointing fingers at other countries but is missing in action on the international scene when it is most needed, said former Liberal deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister John Manley - National Post
