Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Australia’s deadliest shooting in decades, Hong Kong convicting Jimmy Lai on national security charges, and a potential peace deal concession from Ukraine.
Countering Antisemitism
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed on Monday to tighten the country’s already strict gun control laws following a rare mass shooting targeting a Jewish celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. The attack, Australia’s deadliest shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, has fueled criticism that Canberra is not doing enough to combat rising antisemitism in the country.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Australia’s deadliest shooting in decades, Hong Kong convicting Jimmy Lai on national security charges, and a potential peace deal concession from Ukraine.
Countering Antisemitism
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed on Monday to tighten the country’s already strict gun control laws following a rare mass shooting targeting a Jewish celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. The attack, Australia’s deadliest shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, has fueled criticism that Canberra is not doing enough to combat rising antisemitism in the country.
According to local authorities, two suspected gunmen opened fire on a group of worshippers celebrating the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah on Sunday. At least 15 people were killed—including a 10-year-old girl, a rabbi, and a Holocaust survivor—and around 40 others were injured. One of the suspected perpetrators died at the scene, while the other remains in a coma at a nearby hospital; Albanese confirmed on Monday that the latter suspect had been investigated in 2019 over possible ties to the Islamic State.
Albanese has denounced the attack as “antisemitic terrorism” and pledged to enact tougher gun restrictions in response. “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian,” Albanese said, adding that “the government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary.”
Australia has one of the lowest gun-related death rates in the developed world, largely due to its strict gun laws, which virtually ban rapid-fire rifles. Albanese’s proposed new measures would limit the number of firearms that someone can own as well as enforce a review of licenses; authorities said that one of the suspects held a gun license for 10 years and had amassed six guns legally. Other government leaders called for restricting gun ownership to Australian citizens and allowing the “additional use of criminal intelligence” to decide who is eligible for a gun license.
Offenses against Jewish people and property around the world have doubled or even tripled since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Australia has been no exception. In recent months, Australian officials have recorded attacks on synagogues, Jewish companies and homes, and Jewish individuals, particularly in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
“There has been a shocking level of antisemitism that has been rearing its head in this country as it has in other countries,” Levi Wolff, the lead rabbi of Sydney’s Central Synagogue, told Reuters. “When antisemitism goes unchecked from the top, these are the things that happen.”
Canberra has taken various steps to counter antisemitic attacks in recent years, including appointing a special envoy to work on the issue and investing in security for Jewish schools and temples. In August, Albanese cut off diplomatic relations with Iran after accusing Tehran of organizing two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia; authorities have not suggested that Iran is linked to Sunday’s massacre.
However, promises to reform gun laws may not be enough to improve Australia’s ties with Israel. Albanese has tried to separate antisemitism from criticism of Israel’s government. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains that Canberra’s decision—alongside several other countries—to recognize a Palestinian state has fueled antisemitism.
In an interview on Monday, Albanese rejected such accusations, saying, “Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognizes a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East.”
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The World This Week
Tuesday, Dec. 16: British Defense Secretary John Healey and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius co-chair a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Wednesday, Dec. 17: Brussels hosts the annual European Union-Western Balkans summit.
Egypt begins two-day parliamentary election runoffs.
Thursday, Dec. 18: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concludes a four-day trip to Jordan, Ethiopia, and Oman.
The European Council begins a two-day leaders’ meeting in Brussels. A major farmers’ protest is expected to coincide with the event.
Saturday, Dec. 20: Brazil hosts the signing of the EU-Mercosur trade deal.
Sunday, Dec. 21: Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union.
What We’re Following
Jimmy Lai’s conviction. On Monday, Hong Kong’s High Court found pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai guilty of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious materials. His landmark conviction, detailed in an 855-page verdict, concludes the city’s most high-level trial since China imposed its national security law in June 2020. Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges; he now faces a sentence of life in prison.
As founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, Lai was considered one of the most prominent critics of the Chinese Communist Party. When mass pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong in 2019, state authorities labeled Lai as the mastermind behind the movement and accused him of advocating for U.S. sanctions against Hong Kong and the mainland. He was arrested in 2020 and sentenced to two back-to-back 14-month prison terms for other charges related to the protests. According to Lai’s family, the 78-year-old media tycoon’s health has greatly deteriorated since being detained.
Democracy and dissent in Hong Kong have all but disappeared in the five years since the draconian national security law was enacted. “This was a sham trial, and the verdict provided final confirmation—although confirmation was not needed—that press freedom no longer exists in Hong Kong,” Committee to Protect Journalists CEO Jodie Ginsberg said during a press conference on Monday, adding that if Lai receives the minimum sentence for some of his convictions, “he will almost certainly die in prison.”
Dropping NATO ambitions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with senior U.S. and European negotiators on Monday for a second day of high-level talks to discuss a peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war. This week’s meetings are aimed at determining which concessions Kyiv is willing to make to secure a cease-fire with Moscow.
Although Zelensky remains opposed to relinquishing any territory to Russia—a view backed by Kyiv’s European allies, but one that contradicts U.S. demands that Ukraine cede its largely Russian-occupied Donetsk region—the Ukrainian president signaled on Sunday that he would be willing to suspend the country’s NATO membership bid in exchange for strong security guarantees from the United States.
Dropping NATO ambitions marks a significant shift in Ukraine’s negotiating strategy, and it meets a key Russian demand outlined in a U.S.-proposed 28-point peace deal. The United States appeared optimistic about Zelensky’s decision, with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff saying on Sunday that “a lot of progress was made.” However, given that Zelensky described the U.S. security guarantees as “Article 5-like” in nature, referring to NATO’s mutual defense clause, it is unclear whether Moscow will accept these terms.
Right-wing leadership. Far-right candidate José Antonio Kast won Chile’s presidential election runoff on Sunday with more than 58 percent of the vote. With a resounding victory over Communist Party candidate Jeannette Jara and replacing outgoing left-wing President Gabriel Boric, Kast’s win represents another rightward shift in Latin America.
Kast campaigned on a tough-on-crime platform, echoing U.S. concerns about undocumented migration in the region and even promising to build a wall between Chile and its northern neighbors. “Chile will be free from crime again, free from anguish, free from fear,” Kast said on Sunday. According to a recent Ipsos poll, nearly two-thirds of surveyed Chileans consider crime and violence to be their top concerns.
Among Kast’s most controversial opinions is his admiration for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who ruled for nearly two decades starting in the 1970s. Kast has denounced Pinochet’s human rights abuses, which killed thousands of people and caused many more disappearances. However, Kast has championed Pinochet’s economic policies and said that if he were alive today, Pinochet would vote for him.
Odds and Ends
Visitors hoping to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris on Monday were disappointed to discover that the museum was closed after around 400 of its workers voted to go on strike for the day, citing concerns that poor staffing meant they were unable to manage the museum’s record-breaking crowds, undermining Louvre security. A brazen heist in October reinforced their fears, as thieves stole $102 million worth of jewels. Labor talks with government officials last week failed to adequately address the union’s demands, and it is unclear whether the strike will continue when the Louvre is set to reopen on Wednesday.
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