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The head of the Russian army’s chemical weapons division, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, was killed on Tuesday when an explosive device attached to a scooter went off outside an apartment building in Moscow.
Kirillov, who was placed under sanctions by Britain in October over the alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, is the most senior Russian military official to be killed in such a blast in Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His deputy was also killed.
A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service told the Guardian that Kyiv was behind the attack.
Britain and the US have accused Russia of using the toxic agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops. Chloropicrin is an oily liquid with a pungent odour known as a choking agent that was used widely during the first world war. Its use is outlawed by the chemical weapons convention.
The killing comes as Russia has gained momentum in the war. Russia has made gains in eastern Ukraine as the Kremlin seeks to secure as much territory as possible before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
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Turkey condemns Israel plan to double Golan Heights population; Syria’s rebel factions to be disbanded
Turkey has denounced Israel’s plan to double the population in the occupied Golan Heights in Syria as an attempt to “expand its borders”, as international concern grows over Israel’s actions in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime.
Israel captured about two-thirds of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 six-day war. Last week it moved troops and armour into a supposedly demilitarised buffer zone beyond the land it already occupies. On Sunday Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had approved a plan to double Israeli settlement in the occupied Golan Heights.
Meanwhile, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has pledged that Syria’s rebel factions will be disbanded. And the former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has said he had no plans to flee Syria before being evacuated by the Russian army after a base came under attack, in the first comments since his fall.
Syria’s new leadership hopes to signal to the world that the country can return from diplomatic isolation. The UN envoy to Syria visited Damascus on Monday, meeting Sharaa and the interim prime minister. The envoy urged a “credible and inclusive” transition.
Assad’s fall leaves western countries with a dilemma. HTS group has its roots in al-Qaida; it maintains it has renounced jihadism, yet it has been accused of human rights abuses and remains proscribed as a terrorist group by the UN.
McConnell warns Trump to avoid ‘isolationist’ foreign policy in second term
Mitch McConnell, the Republicans’ outgoing leader in the US Senate, has called on Donald Trump to avoid an “isolationist” foreign policy during his looming second presidency.
Writing in Foreign Affairs, McConnell, 82, took issue with a strand of Maga foreign policy thinking that casts China as the biggest threat and advocates turning away from the war in Ukraine to tackle challenges in Asia.
What does McConnell want? He urged Trump to continue robust support for Nato, which Trump has often criticised and has threatened to withdraw US backing from unless European members increase their share of defence spending. He wants American “hard power” in foreign relations.
In other news …
Elon Musk will not get the highest-level US government security clearance, the Wall Street Journal reports, likely due to former drug use and contact with foreign nationals.
Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence in the German parliament, triggering early national elections after the collapse of his government.
A man in Kenya has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of the LGBTQ+ activist Edwin Chiloba.
Stat of the day: Number of people killed in US gun violence in 2024 reaches 16,006 after Wisconsin school shooting
Three people were killed in a shooting on Monday at a Christian school in Wisconsin, including the teenage shooter, and six others were wounded. Joe Biden said it was “shocking and unconscionable” and urged Congress to pass gun new controls. It takes US deaths from firearm violence this year to 16,006 people, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Don’t miss this: Assad’s uncle, the ‘Butcher of Hama,’ and a vast property empire
Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of Bashar al-Assad, owned a vast European property empire worth hundreds of millions of euros. Known as the “Butcher of Hama” and accused of war crimes by Swiss prosecutors, Rifaat al-Assad used an adviser in Guernsey, a self-governing dependency of the British crown, to secretly manage his wealth, the Guardian and Bureau of Investigative Journalism have revealed.
Climate check: The volunteers building huge snowdrifts for Finland’s pregnant seals
In south-east Finland, Saimaa ringed seals make “snow caves” inside snow drifts where they raise their young and protect them from the elements and predators such as red foxes. But as the climate warms, the snow is disappearing. So now people are giving them a helping hand.
Last Thing: The US fascination with ‘anomalous detections’
A first-of-its-kind public archive of UFO records has opened in New Mexico. The UFO obsession has been running in waves since Kenneth Arnold, a private pilot, spotted some disk-like objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier in Washington state in June 1947. Newspapers latched on, calling them “flying saucers”.
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