World Briefing: December 17, 2024

The Russian general in charge of the country’s nuclear protection forces has been killed in an explosion in Moscow. Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was leaving a residential block on Tuesday when a device hidden in a scooter went off. On Monday, Kirillov was charged in Ukrainefor the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine. Kirillov had already been sanctioned by the UK, and others, for his role in Russia’s use of chemical weapons. The UK said Kirillov was also “a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behaviour.”

Ukraine was behind the killing of Kirillov in Moscow, a Ukrainian security source has said, according to both Reuters and AFP news agency.

Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister (of Ukrainian origin) who led Canada’s response to the first Trump administration, resigned abruptly on Monday from the cabinet in a stinging rebuke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, marking the first open dissent from any cabinet member and raising questions about his hold on power. The revelation, in a letter of resignation, came hours before Ms. Freeland, who had been the finance minister, was scheduled to outline the government’s commitments to improve border security with the United States as part of an interim budget. Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, which was meeting in Ottawa soon after the letter was made public, seemed stunned by the development. Mr. Trudeau’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comments. On Monday, another senior cabinet member and rising star within Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party, Sean Fraser, the housing minister, announced he would resign, compounding the sense that the prime minister’s lieutenants were abandoning him. Ms. Freeland’s high-profile departure comes at a treacherous moment for Canada: President-elect Donald J. Trump has warned that he will impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico unless the two countries do more to curb the flow of undocumented migrants and drugs into the United States. Mr. Trudeau needs to call an election by October, and his party is deeply unpopular, according to polls, badly trailing the Conservative Party, which is led by Pierre Poilievre - NYT

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s minority coalition government in Germany has lost a confidence vote, paving the way for new elections in February. Some 394 lawmakers cast their votes against the government, with 207 voting in favor. Another 116 abstained, leaving Scholz far short of the majority of 367 needed to win. The confidence vote came after the Free Democrats (FDP) left the coalition government with Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens following disputes over the budget. Scholz’s party is trailing behind Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the polls - DW

In his first statement since leaving Syria over a week ago, ousted President Bashar Assad claimed his departure was “neither planned nor did it occur in the final hours of the battles.” The statement was released on the social media accounts of the Syrian presidency on Monday. Assad claimed that he moved to Latakia in coordination with the Russians when the rebel forces, whom he called “terrorists,” entered Damascus on the morning of Dec 8. “As the field situation in the area continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base [in Latakia] itself came under intensified attack by drone strikes,” Assad said. “With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday, 8 December.” On the afternoon of Dec 8, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Syrian leader Bashar Assad had left his post and the country, hours before Russian media began reporting that he had arrived in the country with his family and was granted asylum. “When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position is void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless,” Assad said - DW

An alleged Chinese spy was unmasked on Monday as the founder of the Duke of York’s money-making venture in China. Yang Tengbo was named as the suspected foreign agent at the heart of the spy scandal after a court order giving him anonymity was lifted. The Chinese businessman, who has mixed with figures from across the British establishment, was a founding member of the Duke’s venture Pitch@Palace China. The Duke is understood to have benefited financially from the scheme thanks to a clause that allowed him to take a 2 per cent cut of investment deals. The revelation puts pressure on the Duke to reveal how much he earned from the Dragons’ Den-style partnership and whether any other money changed hands. Earlier this year it emerged that he now privately funds his home and security, but the source of the funding is not known. Richard Tice, the Reform deputy leader, said: “Anyone who earned commission or profits from dealing with an alleged Chinese spy needs to come clean to prevent more concerns over a massive cover-up.” - Daily Telegraph

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