WORLD BRIEFING: January 23, 2024
A major Russian missile attack on Ukraine this morning, including Kyiv. At least 5 dead and 40 injured. Officials say several fires broke out in the capital. Two high-rise buildings were hit in Kharkiv with deaths and several injuries. Only about 50% of 41 incoming missiles were reportedly intercepted. This suggests either the Ukrainian side is running low on missile defence kit or the Russians are using new, evasive techniques.
Israel's military officially announced that at least 21 of its soldiers were killed in a single attack in the Gaza Strip. This adds to three deaths announced yesterday bringing the total to 24 killed in 24 hours, the deadliest day for Israeli troops since 7 October.
Christine Lagarde is performing poorly or very poorly as president of the European Central Bank, according to most respondents in a union survey of its staff that suggests internal dissent has surged in recent years. The rising unhappiness with Lagarde’s leadership reported in the survey, seen by the Financial Times, is a setback for the ECB president just over halfway through her eight-year term in charge of eurozone monetary policy. Slightly more than half of the 1,159 respondents said Lagarde’s performance was “poor” or “very poor”. That is well above the negative ratings of just under 9 per cent for Mario Draghi, who Lagarde replaced in 2019, and 14.5 per cent for his predecessor, Jean-Claude Trichet. The surveys about the two previous ECB presidents were done at the end of their terms. The Ipso union that represents the ECB’s 5,089 staff, said the findings, first reported on by Politico, suggested Lagarde had “opened the flank” of the central bank to criticism because “her external activities are visibly more focused on matters not related to the core business of the ECB”. It criticised her for straying “too frequently” into politics — this month she said the potential re-election of Donald Trump as US president was “clearly a threat” to Europe - FT
Thousands of families living in frontline areas in Ukraine are exposed to freezing temperatures, especially given that vital utilities such as water and electricity have been hard-hit by ongoing hostilities. Jurg Eglin, ICRC’s Head of Delegation in Ukraine, said: "The struggle we are witnessing in rural and frontline communities is immense. The fighting has already forced thousands to flee. Those who remain face sub-zero temperatures, including the most vulnerable, children, people with disabilities and the elderly."
U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, granted the Biden administration's request to vacate the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' injunction in a case involving razor wire places along Texas's border with Mexico. The move paves the way for federal officials to remove the wire. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. Texas has maintained that it needs to act on the border because the federal government has failed to stem the tide of migrants crossing from Mexico. Gov. Greg Abbott launched a controversial state-led, border security effort called "Operation Lone Star" in 2021. Since then, Texas has installed razor wire, a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, and added thousands of Texas state troopers and National Guard soldiers to patrol parts of the state's 1,254 mile long border with Mexico - NPR.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was visiting Kyiv on Monday, his office said, his first trip to the war-torn country since returning as head of government of one of Ukraine’s most ardent EU supporters. He was scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmygal during the trip. Tusk returned as Poland’s head of government in December, following October elections that ousted the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) after eight years in power. He has vowed to continue Poland’s steadfast support of its eastern neighbour following Russia’s invasion in February 2022. In recent comments, he said that the situation in Ukraine “is question number one for Polish security” - Kyiv Post
Two US Navy SEALs who went missing in the Gulf of Aden earlier this month have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased, military officials say. The SEALs were reported missing after boarding an Iranian vessel in a Jan. 11 operation near the coast of Somali, the US Central Command says on X - Reuters
The family home of detained Ukrainian investment banker Ihor Mazepa burned down overnight, Anna Diakonova, head of public relations at Mazepa's company Concorde Capital, told the Kyiv Independent on Jan. 22. Mazepa, who was a vocal critic of state pressure on business, was detained on Jan. 18 under suspicion of illegally seizing land in Kyiv Oblast. Mazepa and his press service called his detention an unfounded attack against his business. Ukrainian media outlet LB reported earlier on Jan. 22 that the house in Chernihiv Oblast had burned down, citing anonymous sources. Sources told LB that the house was equipped with surveillance systems, so the cause of the fire is being investigated - Kyiv Independent
