World Briefing: September 9, 2024

Three Israeli border guards have been killed in a shooting at the Allenby Crossing on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, the Israeli Emergency Services said Sunday. The Israel Airports Authority, which runs the border terminal at the Allenby Crossing with Jordan, told CNN that the three men who died worked at the crossing. The Allenby crossing mainly serves Palestinians and foreigners. Israelis are not allowed to use it.

My comment: I’ve used this crossing many times as a UN staffer to go to and from Jordan. Security is extremely tight, especially on the Israeli side. Nothing seems to be left to chance. So it seems extremely odd that a shooter from the Jordanian side was able to cross so freely, unchecked for weapons. In any case, it’ll put further strain on the Israel-Jordan relationship as the Gaza war places Palestinian deaths above the 40,000 mark. About a year ago a proposed bilateral deal to swap water for solar power was sunk due to the violence.

As Gaza enters its second school year without schooling, most of its children are caught up helping their families in the daily struggle to survive amid Israel’s devastating campaign. Gaza’s 625,000 school-age children already missed out on almost an entire year of education. Schools shut down after Israel launched its assault on the territory in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. With languishing negotiations to halt fighting in the Israel-Hamas war, it’s not known when they can return to classes. Humanitarian workers say the extended deprivation of education threatens long-term damage to Gaza’s children. Younger children suffer in their cognitive, social and emotional development, and older children are at greater risk of being pulled into work or early marriage - AP

A Canadian national security watchdog is to investigate why the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) decided not to launch a probe into the downing of Ukrainian Airlines PS752 over Tehran. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired a pair of surface-to-air missiles at the Boeing jet after takeoff in Tehran in 2020, killing everyone onboard. Most of the passengers were en route to Canada. Fifty five Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents died in the event. While the RCMP called the aircraft's destruction a "national tragedy," the force’s commissioner at the time, Brenda Lucki, told the victims' families she decided Ukraine would be best suited to lead a criminal investigation because it was a Ukrainian plane that was destroyed. But Ram Joubin, the lawyer representing all the complainants, said Lucki's argument has been "refuted" by Ukraine. He pointed to a statement from Ukraine's prosecutor general's office that said its investigation is being carried out "without having access to the remnants of the plane wreckage and without the possibility of questioning the witnesses and others persons in the case in the territory of Iran." - CBC

Incumbents and other loyalists of President Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party were expected to coast to victory in most of the 21 regional governorships and other local voting that wrapped up in Russian elections that most rights groups and independent experts agree lacked any genuine competition. Three days of balloting concluded late on September 8 in the votes, which include for a Moscow City Duma and the leadership of Russia's second city, St. Petersburg. All of the current or acting governors in the races appeared headed to hugely one-sided contests, with only one challenger in double digits in the early tally results. - RFE/RL

Tributes continue to be published by influential Ukrainian allies in the aftermath of the ousting of foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba. After the moving tribute by Germany’s foreign affairs minister, her Spanish counterpart, J​osé Manuel Albares Bueno, tweeted today: “Dear friend @DmytroKuleba, to me you are the best of Ukrainian dignity and resistance. We have worked closely on the defense of Ukraine’s freedom and sovereignty and to open negotiations for EU accession during the Spanish presidency. We stand with Ukraine.” To date, Ukrainian President Zelensky, nor his chief of staff Andrij Yermak, have offered an explanation as to why their chief diplomat was ushered out is his post.

In August, as a result of the war, 184 civilians of Ukraine were killed, including eight children, and 856 civilians were injured, the UN reported. According to BBC, Russia targeted Ukraine with 1300 ballistic missiles since the start of the war and only 56 were successfully intercepted by Ukraine. Separately, senior Ukraine officials have been quoted by the FT as saying that Iran has sent “hundreds” of ballistic missiles to Russia. The move marks a “serious escalation” in Tehran’s support for the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, they said, adding that Russia is likely to use the missiles to strike northern cities close to the border and troops along the frontline.

In aftermath of deadly attack on Ukrainian training academy in Poltava, the military faces questions over a culture of impunity: the Globe and Mail has reported that despite the warnings, one of the cadets who was present says he witnessed a senior officer addressing a group of 25 to 30 other cadets at their 9 a.m. assembly, a daily occurrence at the institute – and that the officer asked his charges to wait until he finished speaking before they went to the bomb shelter.”

The Paris 2024 Games came to a close just like they started, in the rain, but amid a festive atmosphere with an electro-party at the Stade de France on Sunday to conclude the Paralympics – and put an end to six weeks of thrilling sport in the French capital. Despite low expectations, A surge of enthusiasm saw 2.4 million tickets of the 2.8 million tickets sold – second only to the 2.7 million sold at the 2012 London Games – and this was some feat considering that by late June only 1 million had been sold.

This Briefing is reprinted with the author's permission. Please find the original here.