World Briefing: September 12, 2024
A prominent Republican pollster has predicted that Donald Trump will lose the election after what he described as the former president's "contemptuous" debate performance. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris took to the stage in Philadelphia on Tuesday night for their first, and perhaps only, debate in which the former president was fact-checked four times for repeating false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and promoting a conspiracy theory about migrants in Ohio abducting and eating pets. During an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Wednesday, pollster Frank Luntz was asked: "Do you think Kamala won, and does that mean she may now win the election?" "I think more accurately is that Donald Trump lost," Luntz replied. "And this is not the worst debate performance I've seen in my career, but it's very close to it. The conversations about people eating dogs and cats, calling the leader of Hungary one of the greatest world leaders, repeatedly missing the opportunity to focus on inflation and affordability, and the complete inability to present his point of view without completely tearing into her, into Joe Biden, into whomever was in his sights." - Newsweek
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says six of its employees have been killed in an Israeli air strike on one of the schools it runs in central Gaza. The Civil Defence spokesperson said 18 people were killed in the strike on al-Jaouni school in Nuseirat refugee camp, which is being used as a shelter by thousands of displaced Palestinians. Israel's military says it carried out a “precise strike on terrorists” planning attacks from the school, and that it had taken measures to avoid harm to civilians UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the attack amounted to "dramatic violations of international humanitarian law" in a post on X. - BBC
A decision to allow Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets inside Russia has already been made, Government sources have suggested. The Guardian reported that the decision, long called for by Kyiv, had already been sealed ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington on Friday. But the Prime Minister and Joe Biden are not expected to announce the decision in what is expected to be a short trip with no press conference. More discussions are expected to be held with European leaders before it is formally announced. Instead, Sir Keir and Mr Biden are expected to engage in a wide-ranging foreign policy discussion without a single focus on any individual weapons or tactics - Guardian
An Israeli official has floated the possibility of offering Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar safe passage out of Gaza once all remaining 101 hostages held in the Palestinian territory are released. Sinwar, one of Hamas' most powerful figures, is accused by Israel of being the key architect of the October 7 massacre in Israel, when militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 250 people hostage. He is also among the Hamas leaders charged by US prosecutors over the deadly attack. An Israeli official said the conditions for his release, along with Gaza being "demilitarized and deradicalized," could help recover Gaza and end the war. - CNN
The opening of Turkey's first nuclear plant has been delayed after Germany's Siemens Energy withheld essential parts, prompting Russia's Rosatom, the builder and owner, to buy them in China, the Turkish energy minister said on Wednesday. Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the state-run Anadolu Agency that Siemens's non-delivery would delay launching the Akkuya power plant's first reactor by a few months. He added that the decision likely stems from Western sanctions over Russia's war in Ukraine. Though Turkey had initially planned to start Akkuyu's first reactor in 2023, delays have pushed that back to next year. The remaining reactors will come online by the end of 2028.A Siemens Energy spokesperson confirmed that some parts were not delivered to Turkey due to German export regulations. Bayraktar said that Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear energy company, has already struck deals with Chinese companies to produce equivalent parts, though he provided no company names - Jerusalem Post
Much of the military aid the UK has given to Ukraine has consisted of old equipment, such as army boots that otherwise would have had to be thrown away, according to a spending watchdog. Military gear that was “often due to be scrapped or replaced” was prioritised by the Ministry of Defence because it was believed to have “immediate military value” to Ukraine — but sending it to Kyiv also “reduced waste or costs relating to disposal”, the National Audit Office said on Wednesday. The ministry also used other “innovative ways of sourcing military equipment”, such as reverse-engineering replacement tracks for Soviet-era T72 tanks from samples at a tank museum in Dorset, the NAO noted. The findings come as some of Kyiv’s western allies tire of supporting Ukraine almost three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. The £7.8bn of military aid the UK has pledged or already sent to Kyiv make it the third-largest supplier of western support to Ukraine after the US at £56.5bn, and Germany at £16.2bn, the NAO said. The UK has pledged to continue providing £3bn a year of military aid. Other western allies have also given ageing equipment to Kyiv: in one recent US example, 10 donated vehicles ostensibly worth more than $7mn had a combined book value of zero - FT
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