A victory and a defeat for Ukraine
In one of the most significant strikes against the Russian Black Sea Fleet for months, Ukrainian missiles yesterday hit a warship moored in Crimea. But success was tempered by a retreat from the eastern town of Marinka after a months-long battle.
Ukraine’s top military commander compared the battle for the city to the scorched earth battle for Bakhmut, which fell to Russia in May. Like Bakhmut, Marinka has limited strategic value, but she now stands as a crumbling trophy for Moscow.
A few hours earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had destroyed the Russian ship Novocherkassk. The Russian Defense Ministry said the ship was damaged.
These events highlighted the divergent fortunes of the two fighters. Ukraine has accumulated naval successes in the Black Sea and Crimea. But its land campaign is faltering and Russia attacks the eastern battlefields after blunting the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The big picture: Ukraine has indicated it is preparing for a protracted war against Russia. On Monday, the government introduced a bill that would lower the age of people who can be drafted into the military from 27 to 25. Military officials have said a large-scale mobilization, of up to 500,000 troops, may be necessary.
US strikes Iran-backed groups in Iraq
U.S. officials said yesterday’s U.S. airstrikes in Iraq were the largest. probably killed militants and destroyed three facilities used by Iranian proxies to target U.S. and coalition troops.
The strikes were in retaliation for a series of assaults, including a drone attack hours earlier on the Erbil air base in Iraq. This attack injured three American soldiers, one seriously, a US official said.
The United States accuses Iran and allied militias of being responsible for the near-daily barrage of rocket and drone attacks against American forces in Iraq and Syria. The United States is trying to use retaliatory airstrikes to deter these groups while avoiding a wider war.
Separately, Iran said Monday that Israel had killed one of its senior military officials during a missile strike in Syria. Israel declined to comment directly on Iran’s accusation that it was behind the killing.
But Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country was already “in a multi-front war” and “under attack” from Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and the ‘Iran. He said Israel had “already responded and taken action” in six of the seven cases.
In Washington : A member of the Israeli war cabinet, Ron Dermer, is considering meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan amid divisions between the United States and Israel over the Gaza war.
Other War Updates:
Trump eyes trade split with China
If Donald Trump returns to the White House after next year’s election, he plans to tear apart the economies of the United States and China and impose a new tax on most imported products.
He has said he wants to ban Americans from investing in China, restrict Chinese ownership of U.S. assets and phase in a complete ban on imports of key types of Chinese-made goods, such as electronics, steel and pharmaceutical products.
Trump’s plans have drawn warnings from trade experts who say the costs would be borne by U.S. consumers and producers and that the plans would risk alienating allies.
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SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICA
Celebrate artists
It was a great year for the African cultural industry. Lynsey Chutel, our Briefings editor in Johannesburg, shared some highlights and what to watch in 2024.
Watch: Independent African films like “Goodbye Julia,” which explores the complexities of life in Sudan and South Sudan, have been celebrated at global film festivals and broken some regional box office records. Streaming services have brought new audiences to African telenovelas and miniseries, like the Nigerian legal drama »Agu“and a historical drama about the 18th-century Zulu king”Shaka iLembe.”
Read then watch: A constantly evolving genre, the African fantasy is set to reach an even wider audience thanks to upcoming film adaptations. “The Woman King” director Gina Prince-Bythewood has agreed to develop a screen adaptation from “Children of Blood and Bone,” the first book in the bestselling “Legacy of Orisha” series by Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi.
Listen and dance: Amapiano, the synth-heavy South African dance music created by Gen Z producers, resonated at Coachella 2023 and then on TikTok. “Water” has gone global and has collected a Grammy nomination for the interpreter Tyla. With Afrobeats artists integrating the sound into this already popular genre, and a wink from Rihannaamapiano invades the world’s dance floors.
