World Briefing: November 30, 2024
Insurgents breached Syria’s largest city Friday and clashed with government forces for the first time since 2016, according to a war monitor and fighters, in a surprise attack that sent residents fleeing and added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars. The advance on Aleppo followed a shock offensive launched by insurgents Wednesday, as thousands of fighters swept through villages and towns in Syria’s northwestern countryside. Residents fled neighborhoods on the city’s edge because of missiles and gunfire, according to witnesses in Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country’s unresolved civil war, said dozens of fighters from both sides were killed. Aleppo has not been attacked by opposition forces since they were ousted from eastern neighborhoods in 2016 following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups. But this time, there was no sign of a significant pushback from government forces or their allies. Instead, reports emerged of government forces melting away in the face of advances, and insurgents posted messages on social media calling on troops to surrender. Robert Ford, who was the last U.S. ambassador to Syria, said the attack showed that Syrian government forces are “extremely weak.” In some cases, he said, they appear to have “almost been routed.” - AP
Separately, The Telegraph cited video clips shared on social media that showed fighters and vehicles advancing into the Aleppo throughout the day, and by early morning local time were celebrating their apparent capture of the city home to 2 million people.
Lawmakers in Britain voted on Friday to allow assisted dying for terminally ill patients in England and Wales under strict conditions, opening the way to one of the most profound social changes in the country in decades. After five hours of debate in the House of Commons, they voted by 330 to 275 to support a plan that would allow doctors to help patients with less than six months to live to end their lives. The vote was not the final word on the legislation: It will now be scrutinized in parliamentary committees and amendments to the bill may be put forward. But it is a landmark political moment, setting the stage for a significant shift that some have likened to Britain’s legalization of abortion in 1967 and the abolition of the death penalty in 1969 - NYT
President-elect Donald Trump is having dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday evening at Mar-a-Lago, a source familiar with the meeting told CNN. Some members of Trudeau’s Cabinet are expected to join the dinner, a senior Canadian government official told CNN. Trudeau is expected to leave Mar-a-Lago shortly after the dinner. The meeting comes just days after Trump promised massive hikes in tariffs on goods coming from Mexico and Canada starting on the first day of his administration, specifically calling for a 25% tariff on all products sent to the US - CNN
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested a ceasefire deal could be struck if Ukrainian territory he controls could be taken "under the NATO umbrella" - allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later "in a diplomatic way". In an interview with Sky News's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, the Ukrainian president was asked to respond to media reports saying one of US president-elect Donald Trump's plans to end the war might be for Kyiv to cede the land Moscow has taken to Russia in exchange for Ukraine joining NATO. Mr Zelenskyy said NATO membership would have to be offered to unoccupied parts of the country in order to end the "hot phase of the war", as long as the NATO invitation itself recognises Ukraine's internationally recognised borders. He appeared to accept occupied eastern parts of the country would fall outside of such a deal for the time being. If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," he said. “We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way." Mr Zelenskyy said a ceasefire was needed to "guarantee that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will not come back" to take more Ukrainian territory. He said NATO should "immediately" cover the part of Ukraine that remains under Kyiv's control, something he said Ukraine needs "very much otherwise he will come back". - Sky News
Analysis: Zelensky’s comments are significant as it’s the first time he’s hinted at giving up territory. Previously he has fiercely clung to the idea of fighting until Ukraine regains its 1991 borders - which would include occupied Crimea. He has been quoted as saying that Ukraine "will never exchange any status for any of our territories." If Zelensky indeed meant he is prepared to cede territory in exchange for NATO protection of unoccupied lands, it could be influenced by many factors - including pressure from western allies, painful losses on the battlefield, recent Russian gains and a gradual shift in Ukrainian public opinion. Curiously, the president’s official nor official media channels have commented. One would have expected Zelensky to announce such a major policy shift in a televised address to the nation. I’ve previously suggested that large parts of occupied territories in Donbas, which Russia took control over as far back as 2014, is so bombed out and Russified that Kyiv may want to think twice about taking them back - notwithstanding the incorrect signal this would send to Putin and other land-hungry dictators and bad actors. And as the BBC correctly pointed out: “It is also worth noting that so far Russia's President Vladimir Putin has given absolutely no indication that he’s abandoned his desire to subjugate Ukraine entirely. The idea that he would be willing to allow any part of Ukraine to join Nato is, for now, unthinkable.”
A Russian victory in Ukraine would “embolden” Moscow’s allies and endanger US security, British spy chief Richard Moore said, calling for enduring support for Kyiv as Donald Trump prepares to take office. “If Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state, he will not stop there,” Moore said in Paris on Friday. “Our security — British, French, European and transatlantic — would be jeopardised.” Moore, who heads the UK foreign intelligence service MI6, said his agency and its French counterpart DGSE were working to prevent a dangerous escalation by “calibrating the risk” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “mix of bluster and aggression”. He stressed the importance of continued western support to Kyiv, although Trump has said that he would end the war in 24 hours — comments that suggested the US president-elect might press Kyiv to agree a deal favourable to Moscow. “The cost of supporting Ukraine is well known, but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher,” Moore warned. “China would weigh the implications, North Korea would be emboldened, and Iran would become still more dangerous.” - FT
Vladimir Putin has an illegitimate daughter living under a pseudonym in Paris, where she works as a DJ, Ukrainian media has reported. The 21-year-old, who goes by the name of either Luiza Rozova or Elizaveta Olegovna Rudnova, was tracked down by a Ukrainian TV channel using leaked airline manifests. She is said to be a love child from a brief affair between Putin and Svetlana Krivonogikh, a former cleaner who is now one of Russia’s richest women. Ms Krivonogikh has previously been referred to in the media as “Putin’s acquaintance”. Reporters said that they had tracked down the birth certificate of Ms Rozova, who was born on March 3 2003. The father’s name was not given on the birth certificate, but her patronymic name was indicated as Vladimirovna. Under Russian naming convention, Putin’s daughters would take this patronymic - Telegraph
Taiwan’s president set off on a mission on Saturday to shore up relations with some of his island democracy’s shrinking band of diplomatic allies: three tiny Pacific Island nations that have taken an outsize importance in Taiwan’s struggle against Chinese efforts to push it off the international stage. Lai Ching-te, the Taiwanese president, is scheduled to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, which amount to one-quarter of the dozen states that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Since the 1970s, dozens of countries have shifted ties to China. Beijing claims the self-governed island of Taiwan as its territory, and insists that governments end diplomatic relations with Taipei if they want full relations with China. Mr. Lai’s weeklong trip comes as his government tries to fathom what changes President-elect Donald J. Trump will bring to U.S. dealings with Taiwan, and with China. Mr. Trump has called for Taiwan to sharply increase its military spending and has complained about Taiwan’s global dominance in making semiconductors. But Mr. Trump’s proposed cabinet includes Republicans who have been deeply distrustful of China and sympathetic to Taiwan - NYT
The struggling Italian flag carrier, ITA, has confirmed in a statement emailed directly to journalists that the government will send a stake in the airline to the Lufthansa Group of Germany. The sale comes after months of intense bickering. ITA emerged from the ashes of Alitalia, which was gouged out by mismanagement and corruption.
