World Briefing: December 23, 2024

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to retake the Panama Canal. “We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” he said. On Truth Social Saturday, Trump accused Panama of charging American vessels “exorbitant prices” to use the vital waterway that acts as a shortcut linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. “The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.,” Trump vented. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he stridently added, referring to a 1977 treaty. The 78-year-old Republican also echoed his plans to impose tariffs against the European Union, Canada and Mexico. He said he wouldn’t let the E.U. turn the U.S. into a “dumping ground.” - The Independent

Sources told CBC News that more than 50 Liberal MPs came to a consensus that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to step down as party leader during a meeting of the party’s largest regional caucus. The abrupt departure from cabinet on Monday of former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland prompted a growing tide of MPs to call for Trudeau to go. The public count is currently at 21. Quebec Liberal MP Anthony Housefather told Rosemary Barton Live that the “vast majority” of people he’s talking to believe the prime minister should resign, “whether they’ve gone public or not.” Trudeau remaining as leader puts the party in an “impossible situation,” he said, one where the leader becomes “the ballot issue….There are many people who would vote for the Liberal Party but don’t want to vote for the leader,” Housefather said.

The British wife of Syria’s deposed president Bashar al-Assad, Asma al-Assad, has filed for divorce after expressing dissatisfaction with her life in Moscow, Turkish and Arab media reported Sunday. She reportedly seeks to move to London. Asma applied to the Russian court and requested special permission to leave Moscow. Her application is reportedly currently being evaluated by Russian authorities. Asma is a dual British-Syrian national who was born and raised in London by Syrian parents, the BBC reported. Asma moved to Syria in 2000 and married Assad in the same year at the age of 25. Although his asylum request was accepted, Bashar al-Assad is still reportedly subject to severe restrictions. He is not permitted to leave Moscow or engage in any political activities. Russian authorities have also frozen his assets and money. His assets include 270 kilograms of gold, $2 billion, and 18 apartments in Moscow - Jerusalem Post

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that North Korea has suffered 1,100 irrecoverable losses in the Russia-Ukraine war, Yonhap News Agency stated. North Korea appears to be preparing to send additional troops and military equipment to support Russia’s forces in the conflict. “A comprehensive assessment of multiple intelligence sources indicates that North Korea is preparing to rotate or increase the deployment of troops [to Russia],” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Seoul also suggested that North Korea may be planning to supply Russia with attack drones. Military officials have observed “some signs” since November that North Korea has begun producing them. Estimates from South Korea, the United States, and Ukraine indicate that North Korea has already sent between 10,000 and 12,000 soldiers to Russia to aid in the war - Meduza

What began as smaller-scale attempts to seize aid early in the year — often by hungry Gazans — has now become “systematic, tactical, armed, crime-syndicate looting” by organized groups, said Georgios Petropoulos, a senior U.N. official based in the southern city of Rafah. “This is just larceny writ large,” he said. The situation in Gaza deteriorated after the Israeli military invaded Rafah in May, seeking to oust Hamas from one of its final strongholds. Hamas’s security forces fled, and organized gangs — with no one stopping them — began intercepting aid trucks as they headed from the main border crossing into southern Gaza. They are stealing flour, oil and other commodities and selling them at astronomical prices, aid groups and residents say. In southern Gaza, the price of a 55-pound sack of flour has risen to as much as $220. In northern Gaza, where there are fewer aid disruptions, the same sack can cost as little as $10. International aid workers have accused Israel of ignoring the problem and allowing looters to act with impunity. The United Nations does not allow Israeli soldiers to protect aid convoys, fearing that would compromise its neutrality, and its officials have called on Israel to allow the Gaza police, which are under Hamas’s authority, to secure their convoys. Israel, which seeks to uproot Hamas, accuses the group of stealing international aid and says that the police are just another arm of the militant group. They have repeatedly targeted Hamas’s police force, severely weakening it, and police officers are rarely seen in much of Gaza, residents say - NYT

Separately, Oxfam says just 12 trucks have distributed food and water in northern Gaza since October. The aid group is accusing Israel of systematic delays and obstruction amid the worsening humanitarian crisis. It highlighted incidents where aid-receiving shelters were shelled within hours - France 24

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met in the Kremlin on December 22 to discuss a soon-to-expire contract allowing for Russian natural gas to transit through Ukraine. Fico said the meeting with Putin came in reaction to Ukraine saying it would not renew the contract, which is set to run out on December 31. “Putin confirmed [Russia’s] readiness to continue supplying gas to the West and to Slovakia in view of the Ukrainian president’s stance after January 1, 2025,” Fico said on Facebook. He said he and Putin also exchanged views on the military situation in Ukraine, the possibility of a peaceful settlement to the war, and mutual relations between Slovakia and Russia. Fico is one of the few European leaders with whom Putin has maintained ties since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying earlier on December 22 - RFE/RL

Donald Trump’s second stint as president will be like a “24/7 bar-room brawl”, according to the UK’s former ambassador to Washington. Lord Darroch was the representative for the UK to the US between 2016 and 2019 - when Mr Trump was last in power - until cables he sent to London were leaked and showed him criticizing the president. Lord Darroch said it was important not to take criticism and political attacks “too seriously”. He added: “It’s like a 24/7 bar-room brawl, you get this sort of stuff going on all the time. “You need to have a thick skin, and you need to manage it.” - Sky News

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