World Briefing: December 9, 2024

Fighters with HTS, the main opposition group now controlling Damascus, say they are preparing to push into the regime’s final strongholds in Latakia and Tartous. Buses of Syrian refugees are heading into the country from Jordan “now that the fear of al-Assad’s regime is gone”, reports Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh from the border. Israeli forces have continued to seize more parts of a buffer zone in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights on the orders of Defense Minister Israel Katz, reports Israel’s Ynet News site. The United Nations Security Council is set to meet later today, at Russia’s request, to discuss the developments in Syria - Al Jazeera

Syria's ousted president Bashar al-Assad and his family are in Moscow, Russian news agencies announced Sunday evening citing a Kremlin source, hours after he fled the country as Islamist-led rebels entered Damascus. The announcement comes as Russia, a key Assad ally, called for an emergency meeting of the UN security council on the fast-changing situation on the ground in the war-torn country. “Assad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow," the source told the TASS and Ria Novosti news agencies. "Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds," he added. Asked whether Assad was confirmed to be in Moscow, a Western official said they believed that was likely the case and had no reason to doubt Moscow's claim. The Kremlin source also said the rebels who ousted Assad in a lightning offensive "guaranteed the security of Russian army bases and diplomatic institutions on Syria's territory" - AFP

The Kremlin reportedly secured an agreement on December 8 with unspecified Syrian opposition leaders to ensure the security of Russian military bases in Syria, but the contours of this arrangement and its longevity remain unclear given a volatile and rapidly evolving political situation on the ground in Syria. The Institute for the Study of War has collected strong indicators that Russia has been setting conditions to evacuate its military assets from Syria and that Russian military basing is not secure. The loss of Russian bases in Syria will have major implications for Russia’s global military footprint and ability to operate in Africa.

South Korea’s Justice Ministry barred President Yoon Suk Yeol from leaving the country on Monday as officials investigate whether his brief declaration of martial law last week amounted to leading an insurrection. The justice ministry approved the travel ban on Monday afternoon. Oh Dong-woon, the chief prosecutor who heads the office for investigating high-ranking officials, earlier told lawmakers that he was seeking the ban as they carry out search and seizure operations targeting officials who were involved in the martial law order. No sitting president has ever been arrested in South Korea. The president can be arrested or indicted while in office if he commits insurrection or treason. The investigation and travel ban are part of the spiraling fallout of Mr. Yoon’s extraordinary move last Tuesday, which has thrust the country into a leadership vacuum and triggered widespread protests calling for his removal. An attempt on Saturday by opposition lawmakers to impeach Mr. Yoon failed, prolonging the uncertainty over who was at the nation’s helm. - NYT

About 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began, Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post. However western estimates place that figure at much higher - almost double the figure quoted. Overflowing cemeteries and memorials point to the extent of the losses - as do villages that I’ve visited which are virtually devoid of males.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to take to the witness stand Tuesday for the first time in his trial on corruption allegations, a pivotal point in the drawn-out proceedings that comes as the leader wages war in Gaza and faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes charges. At home, Netanyahu is on trial for accusations of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, but his appearance on the witness stand will be a low point in his decades-long political career, standing in contrast to the image of a sophisticated, respected leader he has tried to cultivate. It will be the first time an Israeli prime minister has taken the stand as a criminal defendant, and Netanyahu has repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings, citing the ongoing Gaza war and security concerns. The judges ordered the trial to resume Tuesday, moving the proceedings to an underground chamber in a Tel Aviv court as a security precaution - AP

President-elect Trump shared an image of first lady Jill Biden when trying to sell his perfume Sunday. “Here are my new Trump Perfumes & Colognes! I call them Fight, Fight, Fight, because they represent us WINNING,” Trump posted to his Truth Social site. “Great Christmas gifts for the family.” The post included a photo of Trump and the first lady in Paris. They both were in France for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday. They shared a moment before French first lady Brigitte Macron took the seat between them at the ceremony. The cathedral reopened this weekend after it suffered a devastating fire in 2019. On his fragrance website, Trump said the perfume is a “Rally Cry In A Bottle.” The bottle of cologne features Trump with his raised fist and the words “fight, fight, fight,” which are references to the assassination attempt against him in July. The men’s cologne and women’s perfume are both selling for $199 - The Hill

Police in Romania have detained several people as they headed toward Bucharest carrying guns, machetes, and knives to allegedly "disrupt public order and peace," authorities said on December 8. At least 13 people were being questioned by law enforcement agencies after their vehicles were stopped overnight in the Ilfov county, police sources told RFE/RL. Authorities did not release the names of those in custody but according to sources at the judiciary, among them is Horatiu Potra, leader of the contingent of Romanian private military contractors fighting in the African nation of Congo. The arrests came as dozens of supporters of Romania’s far-right, pro-Russian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu were preparing to stage a protest in Bucharest after a runoff vote -- scheduled for December 8 -- was scrapped by the country's Constitutional Court - RFL/RL

This year is "effectively certain" to be the hottest on record and the first above a critical threshold to protect the planet from dangerously overheating, Europe's climate monitor said Monday. The new benchmark affirmed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service caps a year in which countries rich and poor were hammered by disasters that scientists have linked to humanity's role in Earth's rapid warming. Copernicus said an unprecedented spell of extraordinary heat had pushed average global temperatures so high between January and November that this year was sure to eclipse 2023 as the hottest yet. "At this point, it is effectively certain that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record," the EU agency said in its monthly bulletin. In another grim milestone, 2024 will be the first calendar year more than 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than pre-industrial times before humanity started burning large volumes of fossil fuels. Scientists warn that exceeding 1.5C over a decades-long period would greatly imperil the planet, and the world agreed under the Paris climate accord to strive to limit warming to this safer threshold - France 24

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