WORLD BRIEFING: January 4, 2024

At least 95 people have been killed by two bombs near the tomb of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, on the fourth anniversary of his assassination by the US, Iran’s state media reports - BBC

Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, says the killing of Hamas's powerful deputy leader will "not go unpunished". Saleh al-Arouri died in a drone attack in Beirut on Tuesday. Israel has not confirmed it was responsible. Mr Nasrallah described Arouri's death as a "major, dangerous crime about which we cannot be silent". He added that if Israel wages war on Lebanon "there will be no ceilings, no rules" to Hezbollah's response. "We are not afraid of war," said Mr Nasrallah in a televised address. "Those who think of going to war with us will regret it. War with us will come at a very high cost." He previously said that any killings in Lebanon would be a red line - BBC

Chinese shipments to Russia of an important class of advanced machine tools have increased tenfold since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with the country’s producers now dominating trade in high-precision “computer numerical control” devices vital to Moscow’s military industries. The soaring shipments of CNC units, which permit extremely precise metal milling, have become a big concern to Ukraine’s allies as they seek to crack down on Russia’s access to the equipment. Russian customs returns show Chinese producers shipped $68mn worth of CNC tools in July, the latest verifiable figure available, up from just $6.5mn in February 2022 when Moscow launched the full-scale invasion. Michael Raska, assistant professor at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said CNC exports were an example of how China and Russia were being drawn into a deepening military-industrial partnership. “China and Russia share the same political interest, which is to challenge and confront the US,” Raska said. “The fact is Russia has been cut off from importing European machinery, it has no choice but to rely on China.” - FT

Ukraine returned home 230 POWs and civilians, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of the Prisoners of War reported on Jan. 3. It marks Ukraine's largest prisoner exchange since the start of the full-scale war - Kyiv Independent

The Kyiv City Military Administration said overnight on January 3-4 that criminal investigators examining the scene of the deadliest air attack on the capital so far in the 22-month-old full-scale Russian invasion discovered two more bodies, raising the death toll to 32. More than two dozen more were injured in Kyiv in the December 29 bombardment in which 158 missiles and drones targeted military and infrastructure and major population centers all over the country. More than 40 people died in total, and Russia launched another major bombardment on January 2

Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, says it “neutralized” a group of smugglers who “transported Ukrainian citizens of conscription age outside the borders of our country.” The route allegedly ran from Odesa to Transnistria, then deeper into Moldova. “Escape ticket” price: up to $5000.