Pakistan hits 'terrorist hideouts' in Iran after Tehran strikes - CNA

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday (Jan 18) it carried out strikes against militant targets in Iran, with Tehran reporting a death toll of seven civilians after staging its own air raid in Pakistan earlier this week.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and neighbouring Iran are both battling simmering insurgencies along their sparsely populated border regions.

The cross-border attacks add to multiple crises across the Middle East, with Israel waging a war against Hamas in Gaza and Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province, Pakistan's foreign ministry said.

It said the action was taken in light of "credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities", adding that "a number of terrorists were killed".

Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that at least three women and four children were killed in blasts around the city of Saravan in the country's southeast.

An "informed official" was quoted as telling state media: "Iran demands an immediate explanation from the Pakistani authorities about this incident".

Tehran and Islamabad frequently accuse each other of allowing militants to operate from the other's territory to launch attacks, but it is rare that official forces on either side engage.

"Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Islamabad's foreign ministry said.

"The sole objective of today's act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own security and national interest which is paramount and cannot be compromised."

Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar will cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, "in view of the ongoing developments", foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a press conference in Islamabad.

ESCALATING TENSIONS

The attack comes after Iran staged missile and drone attacks on the Jaish al-Adl group late on Tuesday, after Tehran also launched attacks in Iraq and Syria against what it called "anti-Iranian terrorist groups".

Islamabad said the strikes in its territory killed "two innocent children".

Formed in 2012, Jaish al-Adl is blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group and has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday that Tehran respected the sovereignty of Pakistan but would not allow his nation's security "to be compromised or played with".

Islamabad called the strike an "unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan's sovereignty" and recalled its ambassador to Iran and blocked Tehran's envoy - currently in Iran - from returning to the country.

China, a close partner of Iran and Pakistan, urged restraint, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Wednesday saying both should "avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension".

The United States, meanwhile, condemned the Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tehran had violated the "sovereign borders of three of its neighbours in just the past couple of days".

Pakistan has not specified where Tuesday's Iranian strike took place.

But Pakistani media said it was near Panjgur in southwest Balochistan province, where the countries share a border of nearly 1,000km.

The Pakistani military has been waging a decades-long fight against ethnic Baloch separatists in the province, the largest but poorest region of the country.

Hours before the strike, Prime Minister Kakar had met the Iranian foreign minister on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"This violation of Pakistan's sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences," Pakistan's foreign ministry statement said.

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2024-01-18 08:00:00Z
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Hezbollah rejected US overtures, still open to diplomacy to avoid wider war - CNA

BEIRUT: Iran-backed Hezbollah has rebuffed Washington's initial ideas for cooling tit-for-tat fighting with neighbouring Israel, such as pulling its fighters further from the border, but remains open to US diplomacy to avoid a ruinous war, Lebanese officials said.

US envoy Amos Hochstein has been leading a diplomatic outreach to restore security at the Israel-Lebanon frontier as the wider region teeters dangerously towards a major escalation of the conflict ignited by the Gaza war.

Attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea, US strikes in response and fighting elsewhere in the Middle East have added urgency to the efforts.

"Hezbollah is ready to listen," a senior Lebanese official familiar with the group's thinking said, while emphasising that the group saw the ideas presented by veteran negotiator Hochstein on a visit to Beirut last week as unrealistic.

Hezbollah's position is that it will fire rockets at Israel until there is a full ceasefire in Gaza. Hezbollah's rejection of the proposals presented by Hochstein has not been previously reported.

Despite the rejection and Hezbollah's volleys of rockets in support of Gaza, the group's openness to diplomatic contacts signals an aversion to a wider war, one of the Lebanese officials and a security source said, even after an Israeli strike reached Beirut on Jan 2, killing a Hamas leader.

Israel has also said it wants to avoid war, but both sides say they are ready to fight if necessary. Israel warns it will respond more aggressively if a deal to make the border area safe is not reached.

Such an escalation would open a major new phase in the regional conflict.

Branded a terrorist organisation by Washington, Hezbollah has not been directly involved in talks, three Lebanese officials and a European diplomat said. Instead, Hochstein's ideas were passed on by Lebanese mediators, they said. Reuters consulted eleven Lebanese, US, Israeli and European officials for this story.

One suggestion floated last week was that border hostilities be scaled back in tandem with Israeli moves towards lower intensity operations in Gaza, the three Lebanese sources and a US official said.

A proposal was also communicated to Hezbollah that its fighters move 7km from the border, two of the three Lebanese officials said. That would leave fighters much closer than Israel's public demand of a 30km withdrawal to the Litani River stipulated in a 2006 UN resolution.

Hezbollah has dismissed both ideas as unrealistic, the Lebanese officials and the diplomat said. The group has long ruled out giving up weapons or withdrawing fighters, many of whom hail from the border region and melt into society at times of peace.

Israel's Prime Minister's office declined to comment on "reports of diplomatic discussions" in response to questions from Reuters for this story. Spokespeople for Hezbollah and the Lebanon government did not immediately respond to detailed requests for comment.

The White House declined to comment on Reuters' reporting.

Hezbollah has, however, signalled that once the Gaza war is over it could be open to Lebanon negotiating a mediated deal over disputed areas at the border, the three Lebanese officials said, a possibility alluded to by Hezbollah's leader in a speech this month.

"After the war in Gaza, we are ready to support Lebanese negotiators to turn the threat into opportunity," one senior Hezbollah official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He did not address specific proposals.

Hezbollah previously held fire during a 7-day Gaza truce in late November.

Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy, in response to a Reuters question at a media briefing on Wednesday, said there was "still a diplomatic window of opportunity," to push Hezbollah away from the border.

Hochstein has a track record of successful mediation between Lebanon and Israel. In 2022, he brokered a deal delineating the countries' disputed maritime boundary - an agreement sealed with Hezbollah's behind-the-scenes approval.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in whose cabinet Hezbollah has ministers, has said Beirut was ready for talks on long-term border stability.

During his Jan 11 visit to Beirut, Hochstein met Mikati, the parliament speaker and army commander. He said publicly at the time that the United States, Israel and Lebanon all preferred a diplomatic solution.

Hochstein was hopeful "all of us on both sides of the border" could reach a solution to allow Lebanon and Israel to live with guaranteed security, he told reporters.

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2024-01-18 08:52:56Z
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Sexual assault accuser confronts Donald Trump in NY trial - CNA

NEW YORK: The woman whom Donald Trump was found liable of sexually assaulting faced off with the former president on Wednesday (Jan 17) in a New York courtroom to say he subsequently ruined her reputation.

E Jean Carroll, 80, is seeking more than US$10 million alleging that Trump defamed her in 2019, when she first made her assault allegations public, by saying she "is not my type".

"It means I'm too ugly to assault," Carroll told the court.

Asked about how the comment damaged her reputation, Carroll said "previously I was known simply as a journalist, and now I'm known as a liar, a fraud, and a whack job" - quoting insults leveled at her by the 2024 White House hopeful.

There were tense moments in court as Carroll gave evidence just a few rows away from where Trump sat.

Carroll's legal team complained that Trump was making audible comments about her evidence and that jurors could be influenced, CNN reported.

The judge in the civil case asked that Trump lower his voice when conferring with his legal team.

"Mr Trump has the right to be present ... That right can be forfeited," the judge reportedly said. "I understand you're probably eager for me to do that."

"I would love it," Trump replied.

Following the day's proceedings, Trump used a media briefing to attack the judge for his refusal to delay the trial by a day so he could attend his mother-in-law's funeral.

"He said 'absolutely not'... I thought it was terrible," Trump said before heading to New Hampshire to give a speech ahead of the state's primary vote. "He's a nasty judge."

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2024-01-17 22:56:30Z
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UK's King Charles III and Princess of Wales Kate in health scares - CNA

Britain's royal family has had a double health scare as King Charles III faces treatment for an enlarged prostate and his daughter-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales, recuperates from abdominal surgery.

Separate announcements came within 90 minutes of each other from Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, in a rare show of transparency from royal officials about personal health matters.

The king, 75, is due in hospital next week, while Catherine, often known as Kate, was admitted to a private London clinic on Tuesday (Jan 16).

She now faces up to two weeks in hospital and several months' recuperation from the operation, which the palace said was not cancer-related.

Charles has thrown himself into his role as king after succeeding his mother Queen Elizabeth II on her death in September 2022, at a time when most men of his age have retired.

He is head of state of 14 other countries outside the United Kingdom, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and is head of the 56-member Commonwealth, which comprises 2.4 billion people.

He is also Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the mother church of the worldwide Anglican communion.

His last public appearance was with other senior royals, including Kate, at a Christmas Day service at his Sandringham estate in eastern England.

"In common with thousands of men each year, The King has sought treatment for an enlarged prostate," the palace statement read.

"His Majesty's condition is benign and he will attend hospital next week for a corrective procedure. The King's public engagements will be postponed for a short period of recuperation."

Benign prostate enlargement is common in men aged over 50 and is not normally considered a serious threat to health or an increased risk of developing prostate cancer.

If the prostate gland is enlarged, it can put pressure on the bladder and urethra, affecting urination.

Causes of prostate enlargement are unknown but are thought to be linked to hormonal changes with age, according to the UK's National Health Service.

Charles was keen to share details of his diagnosis to encourage other men to get checked if they have similar symptoms, UK royal correspondents said.

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2024-01-17 20:06:00Z
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Kim Jong Un's move to label South Korea an enemy, drop reunification policy part of North's diplomatic playbook: Experts - CNA

In October that year, the elder Kim also sent a special envoy to visit then-US president Bill Clinton in the White House, and also received then-US secretary of state Madeleine Albright in Pyongyang.

Through such overtures, the world saw “the arrival of a reform-minded (and) reasonable leader”, said Mr Lee.

The younger Kim had re-enacted such diplomatic moves in 2018, sending his sister Kim Yo Jong on a visit to South Korea, and holding a series of summits with his Chinese, South Korean and American counterparts.

“With elections in South Korea in April and in the US in November, I expect North Korea to continue to try to enhance its net value, which is not through diplomacy, conventionally speaking, but causing problems (and) exploiting insecurity,” said Mr Lee.

SOUTH KOREAN RESPONSE 

In response to Kim’s announcement, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol had vowed to punish North Korea "multiple times stronger" in the event of any act of provocation against his country. 

While such a response is expected, Mr Kang said both Koreas should be careful and understand where the limits of provocation lie, so as not to inadvertently escalate tensions in the Korean peninsula into an actual conflict.

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2024-01-17 07:51:11Z
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China's population drops for 2nd year, raises long-term growth concerns - CNA

The fresh data adds to concerns that the world's No 2 economy's growth prospects are diminishing due to fewer workers and consumers, while the rising costs of elderly care and retirement benefits put more strain on indebted local governments.

India surpassed China as the world's most populous nation last year, according to estimates by the United Nations, fuelling more debate over the merits of relocating some China-based supply chains to other markets, especially as geopolitical tensions rise between Beijing and Washington.

Long-term, UN experts see China's population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019.

China's population aged 60 and over reached 296.97 million in 2023, about 21.1 per cent of its total population, up from 280.04 million in 2022.

PENSION ISSUES

China's 2023 rate of 7.87 deaths per 1,000 people was higher than a rate of 7.37 deaths in 2022.

The country's retirement-age population, aged 60 and over, is expected to increase to more than 400 million by 2035 - more than the entire population of the United States - from about 280 million people currently.

The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035.

Zhu Guoping, a 57-year-old farmer in northwestern Gansu province, said his annual income of about 20,000 yuan (US$2,779.59) leaves his family with meagre savings.

If they have a bad harvest there is not enough money to pay for fertilisers and pesticides for the next year, Zhu said.

He will receive a 160 yuan monthly pension in three years once he turns 60, the equivalent of US$22.

"The money is definitely not enough," Zhu said. "Maybe our children can provide us with some support in the future."

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2024-01-17 02:50:00Z
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#NSTviral: Royal Poco-Poco dance takes social media by storm (Our king and queen are in it, too!) [WATCH] - New Straits Times

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1. #NSTviral: Royal Poco-Poco dance takes social media by storm (Our king and queen are in it, too!) [WATCH]  New Straits Times
2. Baju khatam al-Quran, majlis bertunang Anisha Rosnah ciptaan pereka Malaysia  Utusan Malaysia
3. Perkahwinan Diraja Brunei: Mahkota berlian dan busana mempelai perempuan, serlah kejelitaan  Berita Harian
4. King, Queen congratulate Prince Mateen, new wife  New Straits Times
5. Agong, Raja Permaisuri zahir ucapan tahniah buat Putera Mateen, pasangan  Harian Metro

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