Russia Continues To Intensify Bombardment of Ukrainian Cities |
Russian missiles and drones targeted Ukraine’s two largest cities (Reuters) of Kyiv and Kharkiv today, killing at least five people, injuring dozens, and causing widespread damage, Ukrainian authorities said. The strikes extended a series of heightened Russian bombardments of Ukraine that began on Friday with one of Russia’s largest air attacks of the war, an assault that killed at least thirty-nine people. On Saturday, Russia blamed Ukraine for an attack on its border city of Belgorod that killed more than two dozen people, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning that the attack would “not go unpunished.”
The large-scale air attacks prompted (NYT) emergency UN Security Council meetings on both Friday and Saturday. The escalation comes as the war approaches its two-year mark in February and as Ukraine’s Western backers debate upholding their military support. Western-supplied missile defense systems blocked (NYT) part of Russia’s air barrage on Friday, Ukrainian officials said.
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“Many Russians have held onto a sense of relative normalcy despite the war, but the violence in Belgorod—which explosions have rocked repeatedly over the last two years—shattered that stability. To many Ukrainians, the strikes bring home to Russia the kind of suffering that they have endured almost daily for nearly two years; to many pro-war Russians, they are evidence that Moscow must use even more aggressive tactics in Ukraine,” the New York Times’ Constant Méheut and Ivan Nechepurenko write.
“[U.S. stalling on war aid to Ukraine] will make Russians more confident that as long as they persevere, we will eventually let our domestic politics overwhelm our strategic interests in Ukraine's victory,” the American Enterprise Institute’s Kori Schake told The President’s Inbox podcast. |
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South Korean Opposition Leader Stabbed at Event |
Lee Jae-myung underwent surgery (Yonhap) after he was stabbed in the neck at an outdoor event in the southeastern port city of Busan today. Authorities arrested a suspect and are investigating whether he is a member of a political party. Lee lost (Nikkei) South Korea’s last presidential election by the narrowest margin in the country’s democratic history.
Japan: Rescue efforts are underway (Kyodo) after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit central Japan’s northern coast yesterday, killing at least forty-eight people, authorities said.
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Bangladesh Court Sentences Microfinance Pioneer in Labor Case |
The six-month labor law sentence against Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate for his work in microfinance, appears to be retaliation (Dhaka Tribune) for his political dissent and is “emblematic of the beleaguered state of human rights in Bangladesh,” Amnesty International said. Yunus was granted bail and plans to appeal (BBC).
India: The country’s space agency launched an observatory mission (UPI) yesterday to study black holes. It is the second such mission in the world after NASA launched a similar one in 2021.
For the Asia Unbound blog, Raji Rajagopalan, Zoe Jordan, and CFR expert Manjari Chaterjee Miller unpack India’s space policies.
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Middle East and North Africa |
Israeli Supreme Court Strikes Down Legal Pillar of Netanyahu’s Judicial Overhaul |
The court struck down (WaPo) a law yesterday that sought to limit its power over government decisions and that had been central to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plans. In a written statement, the court’s chief justice said the law endangered (NYT) one of the few checks on government decisions and the court’s ability to protect the public interest. Netanyahu’s Likud party said the decision ran counter to national unity during a time of war; the bill triggered nearly a year of public unrest prior to the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
This In Brief by CFR expert Steven A. Cook explains what to know about Israel’s judicial reforms.
Israel/Palestinian territories: Israel’s military will pull thousands of troops (AP) from the Gaza Strip in the coming weeks so they can rest and receive further training, it announced yesterday. Officials did not say whether the change represented a new phase of the war.
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Somalia Schedules Emergency Cabinet Meeting After Ethiopia-Somaliland Port Deal |
Mogadishu considers (AFP) yesterday’s deal giving Ethiopia Red Sea port access via the breakaway region of Somaliland to be a violation of Somalia’s sovereignty. The deal came days after Somalia’s central government agreed to resume talks with Somaliland, which seeks full statehood, after years of stalled dialogue.
Chad: The presidency appointed (AFP) opposition leader Succès Masra as the head of the country’s transition government. The announcement follows the country’s constitutional referendum last month and an October 2023 deal that allowed Masra to return to the country, ending his exile amid protests against Chad’s military regime in 2022.
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Turkey Detains Thirty-Three People Accused of Spying for Israel |
Turkey’s interior minister said (AFP) the people were planning abductions and spying on behalf of Israel’s intelligence service. Turkish opposition to Israeli actions in its war against Hamas has halted a previous political thaw between the countries. Israel’s foreign ministry did not immediately comment (Times of Israel) on the arrests.
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Pope Denounces Fresh Crackdown on Catholic Church in Nicaragua |
Pope Francis said in his New Year’s Day address yesterday that he was “following with concern what is happening in Nicaragua” after at least fourteen priests, two seminarians, and a bishop had been reportedly arrested (NYT) in recent days. Church leaders have been a rare group that voice their positions as Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega government has increasingly jailed dissenters in recent years.
Bolivia: The country’s top court ruled that former President Evo Morales cannot run (Bloomberg) for president again in 2025, overturning its previous decision in 2017 that allowed him to seek a third term.
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California Ban on Carrying Guns in Most Public Places Takes Effect as Legal Fight Continues |
The law that took effect yesterday bans concealed carry of handguns (AP) in twenty-six types of establishments, with an exception for privately owned businesses that post signs saying it is allowed. The California Rifle and Pistol Association sued to block the law and won an initial injunction before it was put on hold by a federal appeals court on Saturday.
For Think Global Health, Jonathan Lowy discusses the role of gun companies in U.S. gun violence.
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