China Extends Diplomatic, Military Support To Myanmar: Report

Despite strong civilian resistance, the military junta still controls Myanmar and China has also extended diplomatic and military support to the army leaders, Europe Asia Foundation reported.

The junta takeover in Myanmar will complete its second year in February and in those time periods State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior civilian leaders were arrested and also witnessed support from China.

According to an intergovernmental not-for-profit organisation, Myanmar saw a wave of protests and all sections of Myanmar society participated in it. The demonstrations have morphed into an armed struggle against the military in the past two years.

And in such a situation, China's support came as a relief for the Myanmar Junta. Immediately after the coup, the Chinese official media played down the political developments as nothing more than a cabinet reshuffle in which a set of "new union ministers [was] appointed for 11 ministries while 24 deputy ministers were removed". This raises pertinent questions about China's interests in the political developments of Myanmar, the report said.

Beijing extended diplomatic support to the Myanmar military. For instance, in April 2021, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, in his interactions with his Thailand and Brunei counterparts, urged ASEAN members to 'fend off external interference' and ensure a 'soft landing' of the situation in Myanmar, as per the report in Europe Asia Foundation.

Moreover, while the rest of the international community hesitated to interact with the military known as Tatmadaw leadership, in 2021, Myanmar's foreign minister travelled to China to interact with his counterpart. Subsequently, in July 2022, China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, attended the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) meeting in Myanmar.

Even militarily, China had extended its support to Myanmar. In December 2021, China provided Myanmar with a 'Ming-class' diesel-electric submarine. At the moment, there is no clarity if the Myanmar navy has agreed to the conditionality of allowing the presence of Chinese technicians onboard.

Even the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, in his report, noted that China, along with others such as Russia, has transferred weapons systems to Myanmar "with the full knowledge that they would be used to attack civilians".

Understandably, China's sustained diplomatic and military support to the Tatmadaw aggravated the anti-Chinese sentiment in Myanmar, Europe Asia Foundation reported.

Notwithstanding this growing anti-Chinese sentiment in Myanmar, it is unlikely that Beijing will scale down or alter the trajectory of its engagement because Myanmar is a vital land route to access and increase the Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean region. Further, the Tatmadaw dependence on China's diplomatic and military support considerably expands Beijing's influence in continental Southeast Asia.

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US Justice Department Investigating Tesla Self-Driving Features

The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Tesla's driver-assistance features, the company said Tuesday in a financial document.

The filing comes amid an ongoing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) review of the electric carmaker's "Autopilot" system.

"The company has received requests from the DOJ for documents related to Tesla's Autopilot and FSD (full self-driving) features," the Securities and Exchange Commission filing said Tuesday.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has regularly promised that a fully autonomous vehicle is just around the corner, but his cars still only feature "driving assistance" -- which helps drivers change lanes or identify stop signs -- and not full autonomy that would allow drivers to look away from the road.

The company did not say what exactly the requests were, but according to media reports, the department is looking into whether Tesla's claims about the reliability of its driver assistance systems could leave drivers with a false sense of security.

This is not the first time Tesla's public marketing statements have come under regulatory scrutiny.

On its website, Tesla says its Autopilot and its Full Self Driving Capability options "require a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment."

But National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy in 2021 told CNBC that using the term "full self-driving" is "misleading."

And the California Department of Motor Vehicles last year filed a complaint against the company for using advertising language that could make its products seem more capable than they are.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the Justice Department investigation has been opened for similar reasons.  

The NHTSA's probe includes investigations into several safety incidents associated with the driver assistance systems.

"To our knowledge no government agency in any ongoing investigation has concluded that any wrongdoing occurred," Tesla said in its Tuesday filing.

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US Says Russia Not Complying With Last Remaining Nuclear Treaty

The United States said Tuesday that Russia was not complying with New START, the last remaining arms control treaty between the world's two main nuclear powers, as tensions soar over the Ukraine war.

Responding to a request from Congress, the State Department faulted Russia for suspending inspections and canceling talks but did not accuse its Cold War rival of expanding nuclear warheads beyond agreed limits.

"Russia is not complying with its obligation under the New START Treaty to facilitate inspection activities on its territory," a State Department spokesperson said, charging that Moscow's refusal "threatens the viability of US-Russian nuclear arms control."

"Russia has a clear path for returning to full compliance. All Russia needs to do is allow inspection activities on its territory, just as it did for years under the New START Treaty, and meet in a session of the Bilateral Consultative Commission," he said, referring to the formal talks set up under the treaty.

"There is nothing preventing Russian inspectors from traveling to the United States and conducting inspections."

Moscow announced in early August that it was suspending US inspections of its military sites under New START. It said it was responding to American obstruction of inspections by Russia, a charge denied by Washington.

Diplomacy between the two powers has ground to a bare minimum over the past year as the United States leads a drive to punish Russia economically and arm Ukraine with billions of dollars in weapons as it fights back an invasion from Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, reviving Cold War era fears of an apocalyptic war.

Russia indefinitely postponed talks under New START that had been due to start on November 29 in Cairo, accusing the United States of "toxicity and animosity."

'Make the world safer'

President Joe Biden shortly after taking office extended New START by five years until 2026, giving time to negotiate while preserving what the Democratic administration sees as an important existing treaty.

The previous administration of Donald Trump had ripped up previous arms control agreements and had been hesitant to preserve New START in its current form, saying that any nuclear treaty must also include China, whose arsenal is rapidly growing but still significantly below those of Russia and the United States.

The Biden administration indicated that it wanted to preserve New START, saying the treaty was meant "to make the world safer."

"To fully deliver on the promise of the treaty by ensuring it remains an instrument of stability and predictability, Russia must fully implement and comply with its obligations," the State Department spokesperson said.

Republican lawmakers, who took control of the House of Representatives in January, had asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to report by Tuesday whether Russia was in violation of New START.

In a letter last week, the Republican heads of the committees on foreign affairs, armed services and intelligence said that Russia's actions and statements "at a minimum raise serious compliance concerns."

New START, signed by then president Barack Obama in 2010 when relations were warmer, restricted Russia and the United States to a maximum of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads each -- a reduction of nearly 30 percent from the previous limit set in 2002.

It also limits the number of launchers and heavy bombers to 800, still easily enough to destroy Earth.

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Italian Vessel In Antarctica Reaches New Destinations As Polar Ice Melts

An Italian ice-breaker carrying scientists researching in the Antarctic has sailed further south than any ship has done before, the organisers of the voyage said on Tuesday, a further sign of how ice is retreating around the poles.

The Laura Bassi vessel reached a point with the coordinates of 78° 44.280 S in the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea, according to Italy's National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics.

The voyage was made possible by an unusual lack of ice in the area, it said. Satellite analysis last year showed that Antarctica's coastal glaciers are shedding icebergs more rapidly than nature can replenish.

"I am happy with setting a record, but at the same time I am sad to see that things are really changing here in Antarctica and in the world in general," Franco Sedmak, the ship's captain, told Italy's ANSA news agency.

A previous voyage with a different vessel to the same area in 2017 came up against impenetrable ice, he said.

"I never thought that I would find such a melting of the ice after a few years to be able to go as far south as we managed this year, helped by pushing and being a bit daring."

Researchers from the Laura Bassi took samples to study fish in the waters and explored to a depth of 216 metres to help get a better understanding of the sea currents.

An initial analysis showed the water remained extremely cold and a high density of larval and juvenile stages of fish species, with some varieties rarely observed in the Ross Sea, and a large amount of unicellular algae.

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Pakistan Finance Minister Meets IMF Delegation To Unlock Bailout

Cash-strapped Pakistan on Tuesday held a first round of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to unlock stalled funds from a $7 billion bailout to ward off economic meltdown.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met IMF Pakistan Mission Chief Nathan Porter, the finance ministry said, and briefed him on the "fiscal and economic reforms and measures being taken by the government in different sectors".

The IMF funding is critical for Pakistan, which has barely enough foreign exchange reserves to cover three weeks of imports. Fuel comprises the bulk of the import bill.

Pakistan secured a $6 billion IMF bailout in 2019, which was topped up with another $1 billion last year.

The talks, to continue through Feb. 9, are meant to clear the IMF's 9th review of its Extended Fund Facility, aimed at helping countries facing balance-of-payments crises.

The lender had set several conditions for resuming the bailout, including a market-determined exchange rate for the local currency and an easing of fuel subsidies.

Last week, Pakistan removed an artificial cap on the rupee, resulting in it losing 14.73% in interbank trading during the last three trading sessions.

The central bank said the rupee gained 0.65% against dollar on Tuesday in inter-bank trading, but, according to the exchange companies' association, lost 0.54% in the open market.

"We believe that the rupee's weakness still has further to run, particularly with Pakistan's balance-of-payments position likely to remain weak for several more months," Fitch Solutions said.

New measures also include taxation, shedding power sector debt and hiking energy prices, with people already facing 24.5% inflation.

The central bank also raised interest rates this month by 100 basis points to fight inflation.

The finance ministry, which raised fuel prices by 16% over the weekend ahead of the talks, said in its monthly report issued on Tuesday that fiscal consolidation was key to saving official reserves and exchange rate stability.

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Apple Workplace Rules Violate US Labour Law, Agency Finds

Apple Inc maintains workplace policies that unlawfully discourage employees from discussing working conditions, a U.S. labor agency has found.

The National Labor Relations Board will issue a complaint targeting the policies and claiming Apple executives made comments that stymied worker organizing unless the company settles first, an agency official said on Monday in an email reviewed by Reuters.

The official had sent the email to Ashley Gjovik, a former Apple senior engineering manager who filed complaints against the company in 2021.

The NLRB investigates charges filed by workers and unions and decides whether to issue formal complaints against companies. The agency can seek to strike down workplace policies and require employers to notify workers of legal violations.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment. The company has said it takes worker complaints seriously and thoroughly investigates them.

An NLRB spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gjovik in an email on Tuesday said she hoped the development will spur more Apple workers to speak up about working conditions and to organize.

In her complaints, Gjovik said various Apple rules, including those relating to confidentiality and surveillance policies, deter employees from discussing issues such as pay equity and sex discrimination with each other and the media.

Gjovik also cited a 2021 email from Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook that allegedly sought to stop workers from speaking to the press and said "people who leak confidential information do not belong here."

Many tech companies have strict confidentiality policies designed to protect trade secrets.

U.S. labor law prohibits policies that could discourage workers from exercising their right to band together to improve working conditions.

Apple is facing several pending NLRB complaints, including one claiming the tech giant unlawfully required workers at an Atlanta retail store to attend anti-union meetings. Apple has denied wrongdoing.

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The Palestinian President And His Unfulfilled Quest For A State

Mahmoud Abbas spent much of his life before becoming Palestinian president in the shadow of Yasser Arafat, long the figurehead of the Palestinian cause, but he has never secured the same status in the role and has not brought his people closer to statehood.

Based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the 87-year-old has seen his role further eclipsed by the rise of Hamas, the Islamist group that has controlled Gaza since 2006, and by the expanding Jewish settlements on occupied West Bank land.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited him on Tuesday, after repeating Washington's support for a two-state solution. But Abbas has previously said Western governments have effectively undermined that goal by failing to recognise Palestine as a state and by failing to hold Israel to account.

It now seems a distant hope with rising bloodshed on the West Bank in the past year, a drive by the new Israeli government to expand West Bank settlements and recurrent exchanges over Gaza of militant rockets and Israeli airstrikes.

"The Israeli government is responsible for what is happening today, because of its practices that undermine the two-state solution and violate the signed agreements," Abbas during Blinken's visit, a charge the Palestinian president often makes and which Israel refutes.

Abbas was the first generation of Palestinian exiles, born after colonial powers drew new Middle Eastern borders and is old enough to recall the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 when half the 1.4 million Arabs of Palestine - including Abbas himself - fled or were driven from their land into a new life as refugees. 

He was an early member of Fatah, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) faction that dominated Palestinian politics for decades. He became leader of both when Arafat died in 2004, and a year later was elected president of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited sovereignty in the West Bank.

The high point of his career was a 1993 White House ceremony at which he and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres signed the Oslo accords which offered the prospect of Palestinian autonomy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.  

Behind them were U.S. President Bill Clinton, Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, applauding warmly.

In his suit and tie - a stark contrast to Arafat's keffiyeh headscarf and combat fatigues - Abbas' advocacy of dialogue over violence and long service as a negotiator raised hopes for a negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

But when Arafat died more than a quarter of a century later the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was moribund and relations with Washington were at a nadir. Critics accused Abbas' inner circle of graft, nepotism and ineffectiveness.

Fewer Appearances

He has been seen less and less in later years, and repeated visits to hospitals have added to concerns about his ability to lead the Palestinian government through political turbulence.

One public appearance in 2018, backfired dismally when - not for the first time - he was accused of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in a speech. Amid international condemnation of his remarks, he was forced to apologise.

Abbas was born in 1935 in Safed, a town in what was then British-ruled Palestine and is now northern Israel. He fled to Syria as a child amid fighting over the creation of Israel and later went to work in Qatar, where he joined other Palestinians including Arafat in Fatah.

After Israel captured and occupied the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six Day War, Arafat's Fatah seized control of the PLO and a decades-long guerrilla campaign against Israel began, with its leaders moving from Jordan to Lebanon and later Tunisia.

When the Palestinian leadership returned from exile to Gaza after the Oslo Accords Abbas was upbeat, promising: "I will live in Palestine." But peace talks faltered in following years.

Abbas won a presidential election in 2005 but his Fatah group was defeated 2006 parliamentary elections. Hamas routed Fatah in a civil war in Gaza, leaving Abbas with control of Palestinian-administered areas in the West Bank but there have been no Palestinian elections since.

Seeking to regain the initiative, Abbas made unilateral moves to seek Palestinian statehood at the United Nations. In 2012, Palestine won "non-member statehood" at the U.N. General Assembly. But the goal of a state has remained elusive.

Abbas has held little sway with successive U.S. presidents, whose role is vital in Middle East diplomacy, and he has looked ever more isolated as regional allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco have signed diplomatic deals with Israel.

"Having contributed to achievements that place our people at the forefront of history," he warned as far back as 1994, "I remain deeply concerned that we could get swept away by history, lose control, and suffer an unrecoverable setback."

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US, South Korea To Hold 'Tabletop' Exercises On Nuclear Threats

The United States and South Korea will hold discussion-based exercises on addressing nuclear threats, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday.

Washington and Seoul will conduct "increasingly complex scenario-based tabletop exercises focused on nuclear threats on the peninsula," Austin wrote in an op-ed published by the Yonhap news agency, without specifying when this would occur.

Austin is visiting Seoul for the third time as defence secretary, during which he is to meet with his South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-sup and President Yoon Suk-yeol.

His visit is aimed at deepening cooperation and discussing security challenges, as well as reaffirming "that the US extended deterrence commitment to the ROK (Republic of Korea) is ironclad," he wrote.

Military tensions on the Korean peninsula rose sharply last year as the North conducted sanctions-busting weapons tests nearly every month, including firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also recently called for an "exponential" increase in Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal, and declared the North an "irreversible" nuclear state last year.

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Over 1,000 US Flights Cancelled Due To Winter Storm

More than 1,000 Monday flights into or out of the United States have been canceled due to a severe winter storm, with about half of those coming from Southwest Airlines Co.

A total of 1,019 flights were canceled as of 6:00 pm ET, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.

Low-cost carrier Southwest earlier this month faced U.S. government backlash for canceling 16,700 flights over the holidays as it grappled with bad weather and outdated technology.

The company has scrapped about 12% of its Monday schedule, while American Airlines Group Inc has canceled 6%, or 200 flights.

The fresh cancellations come as the U.S. aviation sector recovers from a nationwide ground stop imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over a computer issue.

For Tuesday so far, 797 flights are scheduled to be canceled into or out of the United States.

Southwest Airlines and other major U.S. airlines have issued winter weather waivers. A waiver allows customers to change their itinerary with no fare differences if they remain in the same cabin as originally booked.

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Biden Says US Won't Send F-16 Fighter Jets To Ukraine Amid War

President Joe Biden said Monday he will not be sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to help its war against Russian invaders, but said he would visit crucial ally Poland.

"No," he said when asked by reporters at the White House if he was in favor of sending the jets, which Ukraine's leaders have said are at the top of their latest weapons wish list.

Western nations this month finally agreed after serious divisions to send Ukraine modern NATO-standard tanks, one of the most powerful weapons in their conventional armies.

The upgrade in support sparked hope in Kyiv that it will soon begin getting F-16 warplanes to bolster its own depleted air force, but the issue remains very much under debate in the West.

With the first anniversary of Russia's invasion on February 24 looming, there are growing expectations that Biden could travel to Europe as a show of support for the alliance supporting Ukraine. Poland is at the heart of the effort as a logistics hub, provider of weapons, and key US ally in eastern Europe.

"I'm going to be going to Poland. I don't know when, though," he told reporters when asked about a visit.

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Probe Into Activist Narendra Dabholkar's Murder Over, CBI Tells Court

 The CBI filed a closure report on Monday, telling the Bombay High Court that their investigation into the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was over.

The Bombay High Court had asked the CBI to inform within three weeks whether the investigation into Dabholkar's murder had been completed. The closure report was filed on Monday.

A bench of Justices Ajay S Gadkari and Prakash D Naik gave three weeks' time to the Central Bureau of Investigation to inform the court so that it could decide whether to continue with the trial.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Mukta Dabholkar, daughter of Narendra Dabholkar, seeking a continuation of the Bombay High Court's monitoring of the case.

Dabholkar, 67, was shot dead in August 2013 in Pune. The Pune Police initially probed the murder but the case was handed over to the CBI in 2014 following a court order.

The CBI told the court that it had completed the investigation into the murder of Dabholkar and the investigating officer had submitted the closure report to the competent authority.

On behalf of Mukta Dabholkar, her lawyer told the court that the CBI had not investigated the case properly and there were still many lapses.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet against five accused persons in the case. The court, earlier this month, asked the central agency to apprise it of the status of its investigation in the case.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, told the court that as far as the CBI is concerned, the investigation has been conducted and is now complete. Out of 32 witnesses, 15 have been cross-examined, he informed the court.

The court then asked the CBI whether further surveillance was required. To this, advocate Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, submitted that no further investigation was needed as the investigating officer had filed a report and it was pending before the competent authority.

The court then asked the CBI to decide how much time would it take to decide. To this, Singh sought three weeks' time for the CBI to take a final decision on the matter.

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Brazil's Ex-President Bolsonaro Seeks 6-Month Visa To Remain In US: Lawyer

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under investigation for his supporters' storming of government buildings, is seeking a six-month visa to remain in the United States, his lawyer said Monday.

Bolsonaro flew to Florida in late December as his term ended rather than watch the inauguration of his leftist successor President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

He is understood to have entered on a visa for visiting world leaders, which expires on Tuesday as he is no longer on official business.

AG Immigration Group, a California-based law firm known for its work with Brazilians, said that Bolsonaro has requested a six-month visa to stay in the United States.

"We look forward to achieving the highest level of satisfaction and desired results for our client," it said in a statement.

Bolsonaro had previously told CNN Brasil that he had planned to return by the end of January, and was considering moving his departure earlier for health reasons.

The far-right leader was injured in a knife attack in 2018. He has suffered ongoing health complications from that attack, and received hospital care during his stay in Florida.

But Bolsonaro has since come under scrutiny over the January 8 riot in the capital Brasilia by his supporters who refused to accept Lula's victory.

The new government has ordered a probe of Bolsonaro and arrested his last justice minister, Anderson Torres.

Thousands of Bolsonaro backers broke into the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court buildings in Brasilia in an unsuccessful attempt to seek the overthrow of Lula.

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Twitter Working On Payments Feature: Report

Twitter Inc is working to introduce payments on the social media platform and has begun applying for regulatory licenses, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

New boss Elon Musk is pushing Twitter to create new streams of revenue as it faces a drop in advertising income, following his $44-billion takeover of the company in October.

The development on the payments feature is being led Esther Crawford, a director of product management at Twitter, according to the report, which added that the executive was emerging to be a key lieutenant to Musk.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Musk had previously said that the Twitter acquisition would be part of a master plan to create "the everything app", a service that would offer social networking, peer-to-peer payments and e-commerce shopping.

Prior to Musk's takeover, Twitter in early 2021 was exploring allowing its users to receive tips, or digital payments, from their followers.

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Tiny 'Highly Radioactive' Capsule Lost In Australian Desert Raises Alarm

Rio Tinto Group has lost a "highly radioactive" capsule somewhere along a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) highway through the Western Australian desert.

"We are taking this incident very seriously," Rio Tinto head of iron ore Simon Trott said in a statement on Sunday. "We recognize this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community."

The mining giant and Western Australia's government are attempting to find the widget, which is as much as 8 millimeters (0.3 inch) in length and contains a small amount of the radioactive isotope caesium-137. While the risk to the general community is low, exposure to the substance could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness, Emergency WA said on its website.

The widget was a component in a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore. Rio said the radioactive capsule was collected from the mine on Jan. 12 by a transport contractor, and was due to arrive at a radiation storage facility in Perth on Jan. 16. It was only discovered to be missing when its container was opened for inspection on Jan. 25.

The Western Australian government said when the package holding the device was inspected, it was found to have been "broken apart with one of the four mounting bolts missing and the source itself and all screws on the gauge also missing."

It comes as Rio Tinto, which is listed in Sydney and London, attempts to rebuild its reputation after destroying a site of sacred significance to Indigenous Australians in 2020 as part of an iron ore mine expansion.

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UN Security Council Paralysed, Unable To Function: General Assembly Chief

The UN Security Council does not reflect today's realities, is paralysed and unable to discharge its basic function of maintaining international peace and security when one of its permanent members has attacked its neighbour, UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi has said.

Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN, attacked Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has vetoed UNSC resolutions on Ukraine while it has voted against a resolution in the UN General Assembly which calls on countries not to recognise the four regions of Ukraine that Russia has claimed.

Korosi, a Hungarian diplomat currently serving as President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, said that there is a push from a growing number of member nations to reform the powerful UN organ.

“The Security Council which has been created back then” and given the primary responsibility of maintaining “international peace and security and preventing wars now is paralysed,” he told PTI ahead of his visit to India.

Korosi arrived in India on Sunday on a three-day visit at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. It is his first bilateral visit to any country since he assumed his role as President of the UN General Assembly in September 2022.

“The Security Council cannot discharge its basic function for a very simple reason. One of the permanent members of the Security Council attacked its neighbour. The Security Council should be the body to take action against the aggression. But because of the veto power, the Security Council cannot act,” he said, in a reference to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Korosi said this was a “very serious lesson learnt” for the future when talking about how to improve functioning of global organisations.

He said that the issue of UNSC reform is both “burning” and “compelling” since the composition of the Security Council reflects “the outcome of the Second World War”.

India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserved a place as a permanent member in the United Nations.

Currently, the UNSC has five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. Only a permanent member has the power to veto any substantive resolution.

In the 77-year-old history of the UN, the composition of the Security Council has been altered only once - in 1963 when the General Assembly decided to expand the Council from 11 to 15 members, with the addition of four non-permanent seats.

“Since then, the world has changed. The geopolitical relations in the world altered, the economic responsibilities in the world in some countries, including in India, including some other very strongly developing countries, actually changed,” Korosi said.

“So, the composition of the Security Council does not reflect today's realities,” he said adding that not to mention “a whole continent with 50 plus countries, Africa,” is not in (the Council) in terms of permanent members.

In response to a question on whether he has hope for any forward movement in the long-pending UNSC reform, Korosi replied in the affirmative.

“Yes, I do have hope," he said, noting that reform of the United Nations entails several areas and Security Council is “a very important” part of it.

Korosi stressed the reason for hope of the UNSC reforms is that the issue has been on the agenda for decades and negotiations have been going on for several years.

“But this particular issue, the urgency and concrete steps to be achieved in the reform of Security Council” has been mentioned and urged for by over 70 leaders of the world during the high-level UN General Assembly session last September.

“More than one-third of the UN membership directly addressed this question. So, there's very clearly a push (from) the membership. I do have hopes,” he said.

Korosi has previously noted that during the high-level week in September 2022, one-third of world leaders underscored the urgent need to reform the Council – more than double the number in 2021.

Korosi has appointed Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the United Nations Michal Mlynar and Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait Tareq M A M Albanai as co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on UNSC reform.

He said he has asked them to do their best to try and convince the UN membership that it is their responsibility and a membership-driven process to achieve UNSC reforms.

“But if they really want to achieve results, they may think in little bit different terms, in terms of whether or not they could make compromises, negotiations. If they don't do that, the chances will be very small. But I do have hopes,” he said.

Korosi said nations around the world would like to see the United Nations, an organisation they finance, cater to their needs, help them navigate the multifold crises, ease conflicts in the world, and bring wars to an end.

“If this organisation fails because of the Security Council, because of any other part, the whole organisation fails,” he said, adding that the credibility of the UN is at stake.

Last week, the G4 countries of India, Brazil, Japan and Germany told a meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform that "we have been meeting in this informal format for 15 years now, with nothing concrete to show for our efforts.” “We do not even have a zero-draft consolidating the attributed positions of interested stakeholders, to base our discussions on. We do not have a single factual account or record of the IGN proceedings,” they said.

The G4 has said that expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories of UNSC membership is “by far the one that garners the most support from Member States and is the only way to make the Council more representative, effective, transparent and legitimate.”

Korosi's visit coincides with the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination on January 31, observed as Martyrs' Day.

Korosi will lay a wreath at Raj Ghat to mark the anniversary of Gandhi's death. Jaishankar, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Korosi jointly unveiled the bust of Gandhi at the expansive North Lawns in the UN headquarters last month.

Korosi said he will be “very proud” to be able to lay a wreath at the Raj Ghat.

He described Gandhi as “one of my prophets” in terms of political philosophy, solutions through peace, traditions, cooperation and building on cultural values.

These are the issues he offered to the global community and “these values are still ours, and they're still very valid,” Korosi said.

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Imran Khan To Run For All 33 Seats In Key Pakistan Polls

Imran Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has decided to contest the by-elections to 33 seats in the National Assembly in March, The Express Tribune reported citing senior party leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi. "We have decided to participate in the bypolls and Imran Khan will contest from all seats," Mr Qureshi announced Sunday.

Earlier, on Friday, The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that bypolls to the 33 seats would be held on March 16. The seats fell vacant after Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted the resignations of PTI lawmakers.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had already announced earlier this month the party chief's decision to contest by-elections on all vacant National Assembly seats, according to The Express Tribune.

"Tehreek-e-Insaf will contest elections on all the seats and Imran Khan will be the candidate of Tehreek-e-Insaf on these 33 seats," Mr Chaudhry had said in a statement on Twitter on January 17.

Mr Qureshi said people had also supported PTI during the July 17 bypolls, and the party hopes that the masses would once again express their confidence in Imran Khan on March 16 with their votes.

He said that ECP was mandated to hold elections within 90 days after seats become vacant, and it would be a violation of the constitution if they are not held on time.

The PTI leader said they were not in contact with the establishment, according to The Express Tribune.

Earlier in the month, Mr Ashraf accepted the resignations of 35 more PTI lawmakers, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The PTI lawmakers had resigned en masse from the lower house of the parliament after the party chief Imran Khan's ouster from the National Assembly in April 2022.

But, Mr Ashraf had accepted only 11 of the resignations, stating that the remaining lawmakers would be summoned individually for verification.

After stalling the process for eight months, Mr Ashraf, accepted the resignations of 34 more PTI lawmakers and of Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid as the party hinted it would "test" Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with a confidence vote.

Now, the total number of PTI lawmakers whose resignations have been accepted stands at 80, the Pakistan-based news portal said.

The resignations of Haider Ali Khan, Saleem Rehman, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Mehboob Shah, Muhammad Bashir Khan, Junaid Akbar, Sher Akbar Khan, Ali Khan Jadoon, Engr Usman Khan Tarakai, and Mujahid Ali, were accepted among others.

From the reserved seats, the resignations of Andaleeb Abbas, Asma Qadeer, Maleeka Ali Bokhari, and Munawara Bibi Baloch, were accepted, reported Dawn.

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New Zealand's Auckland Expected To Receive More Rain As Floods Remain

Flood ravaged Auckland is expected to receive further heavy rain over the coming days, according to the city's council, even as people start to count the cost of the flash floods that have hit New Zealand's largest city since Friday.

Four people have now lost their lives in the flash floods that have hit Auckland since over the last three days and millions of dollars of damage has occurred. A state of emergency remains in place in Auckland and further south in regional Waitomo.

"There has been very significant damage across Auckland," New Zealand new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told state-owned television station TVNZ Monday.

"I had the opportunity to view that first hand on Saturday and obviously (there were) a number of homes damaged by flooding but also extensive earth movements," he said.

He said at the moment, 350 people were in need of emergency accommodation.

The city has experience record levels of rainfall since Friday. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said in a tweet that Auckland has now recorded more than eight times its average January rainfall and 40% of its annual average rainfall.

Metservice has issued an updated Heavy Rain Warning for Auckland and Great Barrier Island for 12 hours from Jan. 31 at 6pm (0700 GMT).

Auckland Council said if rain continues at this pace there will be further flooding and landslides are expected.

Fire and Emergency Service received 30 call outs in the previous 12 hours, including responding to a landslide when a carport slid down a hill. The council so far have deemed 40 houses unlivable and have prevented people from entering them and put yellow stickers - meaning people can only enter certain areas and for short periods - a further 151 properties.

Insurance Australia Group's New Zealand divisions have received over 5,000 claims so far and Suncorp Group said it received around 3,000 claims across the Vero and AA Insurance Brands.

"The number of claims is expected to rise further over the coming days, with the event still unfolding and as customers identify damage to their property," IAG said in a statement.

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8 Killed, 5 Injured In Shooting At Busy Nightclub In Mexico: Cops

Eight people died and five were injured in a shooting at a busy nightclub in the town of Jerez, in northern Mexico, police said Sunday.

The incident in Zacatecas state took place late Friday into Saturday when heavily armed men, arriving at the bar in two vehicles, burst in and began shooting indiscriminately, a report from the Security Secretariat said. 

Six people died on the spot and two more succumbed while receiving medical attention; five people remained hospitalized on Sunday for gunshot wounds. 

Victims included club employees, musicians and customers, local media said. Witnesses said people panicked as the club's floor became awash in blood.  

The bar, called "El Venadito," is in the center of Jerez, a municipality about 60 kilometers (36 miles) southwest of the state capital city of Zacatecas.

Jerez has been hit in recent years by a wave of violence that last year forced hundreds of residents of nearby rural communities to leave their homes. 

Zacatecas state is a strategic point for the US-bound drug trade, which has sparked violent disputes between the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels, Mexico's most powerful.

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Turkey May Accept Finland To NATO, But Without Sweden

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that Ankara could accept Finland into NATO without its neighbour Sweden.

"If necessary, we can give a different response concerning Finland. Sweden will be shocked when we give a different response for Finland," Erdogan said in televised remarks.

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"Assets Will Be Used For Our Defence": Ukraine Sanctions Russian Firms

Ukraine imposed sanctions against 182 Russian and Belarusian companies, and three individuals, in the latest of a series of steps by President Volodymyr Zelensky to block Moscow's and Minsk's connections to his country.

"Their assets in Ukraine are blocked, their properties will be used for our defence," Zelensky said in a video address.

The sanctioned companies chiefly engage in the transportation of goods, vehicle leasing and chemical production, according to the list published by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

The list includes Russian potash fertiliser producer and exporter Uralkali, Belarus state-owned potash producer Belaruskali, Belarusian Railways, as well as Russia's VTB-Leasing and Gazprombank Leasing both dealing with transport leasing.

Ukraine has sanctioned hundreds of Russian and Belarusian individuals and firms since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

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"We Are Sorely Missing It": Snowless Streak Puzzles New York

The idea of New York in wintertime conjures up images of Manhattan's Times Square and Central Park shrouded in snow. Not this year.

The city is forecast Sunday to surpass a 50-year record for the latest first snowfall of the season.

It is also close to recording its highest number of consecutive days without any measurable flakes.

The snowless streak has New Yorkers puzzled, some questioning their love-hate relationship with the white stuff.

"It's really sad," said retired teacher Anne Hansen. "Basically, we don't like to see the snow. But now we're sorely missing it," she told AFP.

The Big Apple usually gets its first dusting around mid-December. Last season it arrived on Christmas Eve.

A heavy load often results in "snow days," beloved by children and office workers who gets days off school and work.

Kids grab their sleds and head to the nearest grassy slope. Adults cross-country ski around the main parks.

"You stay home, you drink hot cocoa; it's beautiful and the dog loves it," filmmaker Renata Romain told AFP.

Joy turns to despair fairly quickly though, as the snow turns yellowy-brown, trash piles up on the sidewalk and trips to the launderette become hazardous.

"The snow is pretty to look at the first day, but afterwards it's dirty and I don't like it. It's slushy. It's nasty," added Romain.

Meteorologists define snowfall in NYC as snow that measures at least 0.1 inches in Central Park. Some flakes fell last Wednesday but not enough to count.

The longest residents have had to wait for measurable snow is January 29, a record set in 1973, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

No snow Sunday will mean the longest wait since records began in 1869.

New York is also approaching its longest streak of consecutive days without snow. The current record is 332, which ended on December 15, 2020.

Sunday would be day 326. Accuweather has called the period a "snow drought."

"It's very unusual," NWS meteorologist Nelson Vaz told AFP, saying the global La Nina weather pattern was responsible for keeping colder fronts further north and west.

Up to 40 inches (one meter) of snow fell in Buffalo, New York state, near the Canadian border, in December, killing at least 39 people.

But a few hundred miles southeast, in NYC and surrounding Atlantic coastal areas, the precipitation has meant lots of rain amid mild temperatures.

Only 1932 had a warmer first 25 days of January in New York than 2023, according to Weather.com.

Scientists say climate change is causing winters to be warmer and shorter.

"It's disconcerting," Hansen said of recent balmy days that have felt more like fall.

New York has never gone a whole cold season without measurable snow.

And with February usually its snowiest month, a white blanket could soon envelope the Big Apple yet.

"That's what makes New York, New York, right?" said Romain.

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"To Justify Own...:" North Korea Slams US On Arms Deal Claim With Russia

North Korea on Sunday criticized for a second day a US decision to send tanks to Ukraine, calling it a "criminal act against humanity" aimed at perpetuating an unstable international situation.

Washington's allegations that North Korea has provided arms to Russia are a "baseless" effort to justify its own military aid to Ukraine, Kwon Chung-keun, director of US affairs at North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.

"The United States' attempt to slam offensive armed equipment such as the main tank, into Ukraine, ignoring the legitimate concerns and condemnation of the international community, is a criminal act against humanity aimed at perpetuating the unstable international situation," the statement said.

The baseless claims of North Korea-Russia arms deals are an "unacceptable and a grave provocation that must be responded to," Kwon added.

On Saturday North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, denounced U.S. pledges of battle tanks to Ukraine, claiming Washington was "further crossing the red line" to win hegemony by proxy war, KCNA reported.

Nuclear-armed North Korea launched an unprecedented number of missiles last year, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US mainland. US and South Korean officials have also warned the North could be preparing for its first test of a nuclear device since 2017.

The White House said in December that North Korea completed an initial arms delivery of infantry rockets and missiles to a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, to shore up Russian forces in Ukraine.

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24 Dead After Bus Carrying 60 Passengers Plunges Over Cliff In Peru: Cops

At least 24 people died Saturday when a bus carrying 60 passengers, including an unknown number of Haitians, plunged over a cliff in northwestern Peru, police said. 

They had earlier stated the count in Piura province as 25, before correcting it to 24.

The bus, belonging to the Qorianka Tours company, departed from Lima and was en route to Tumbes, on the border with Ecuador, when it went off the road near the town of Organos, according to police. 

Police at the scene told local media that the accident occurred at a difficult spot known as "Devil's Curve," but they said the cause remained under investigation.

An unknown number of injured passengers were transported to hospitals in El Alto and Mancora, popular resorts some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Lima.

Some passengers were from Haiti, the police said.

The number of Haitian migrants in Peru has been increasing, though the situation of those on the bus remains unclear.

Several passengers were thrown from the bus while others were trapped inside. 

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'Scorpion Unit' Of Police Deactivated After Black Man Thrashed By US Cops

Memphis police on Saturday permanently deactivated the unit of the five officers who fatally beat a young Black man, the latest instance of police brutality to elicit nationwide calls for reform.

The shocking death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols has reopened anguished debate across the United States about officer violence, particularly after promises of reform swept the country following the death of another Black man, George Floyd, in 2020.

The five officers, who were also Black, had belonged to Memphis' Scorpion unit, which was launched in November 2021 with the intent of reducing illegal activity in crime hotspots, including by blanketing those areas with more officers.

But on Saturday, the MPD said in a statement it was "in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION Unit."

"The officers currently assigned to the unit agree unreservedly with this next step," it added.

Nichols's family welcomed the decision in a statement from their lawyers, calling it "both appropriate and proportional to the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, and also a decent and just decision for all citizens of Memphis."

"We hope that other cities take similar action with their saturation police units in the near future to begin to create greater trust in their communities," the family added.

Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, who created the unit, had previously told CNN it was at least initially successful, with reduced crime in 2022 following a record number of 345 homicides the prior year, a number which she said had prompted "an outcry from the community."

The unit, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, had been intended "to reduce gun violence, to be visible in communities, and to also impact the rise in the crime," she said.

Despite nationwide calls for police reform following Floyd's death, the number of people who died during interactions with police hit a 10-year high in 2022, at 1,186 fatalities, according to the website Mapping Police Violence.

The officers involved in Nichols's death face second-degree murder charges as well as indictments for aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping.

Even after the Friday release of graphic video showing the beating, some key questions remained unanswered, mainly what caused Nichols to be stopped.

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5.6 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Turkey-Iran Border: Report

An earthquake with a magnitude of up to 5.9 struck the Turkey-Iran border region on Saturday, destroying houses in a main provincial city in Iran, Iranian media and the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported.

"The amount of destruction of some houses and buildings in the city of Khoy city is relatively high," Iranian emergency services spokesperson Mojtaba Khaledi told the YJC news agency.

The quake had a magnitude of 5.6 and was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), EMSC said. Iranian media said the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.9 and hit near the city of Khoy in Iran's Western Azerbaijan province.

Iranian emergency officials said rescue teams were despatched to the area and hospitals were put on alert, state media said.

An emergency official told state TV that it was snowing in some of the areas affected by the quake amid freezing temperatures and that there were some power cuts.

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"Will Educate People On Kashmiri Pandits Genocide": UK MP

Conservative Member of Parliament for Harrow East, Bob Blackman on Saturday vowed to educate people about the atrocities on Kashmiri Pandits that forced them to flee their homes in 1990.

"The room was packed as I and other dignitaries commemorated 33 years since the #KashmiriPandits genocide. We will continue to educate people on the brutal genocide and the atrocities that forced so many from their homes in 1990," tweeted Blackman.

The room was packed as I and other dignitaries commemorated 33 years since the #KashmiriPandits genocide. We will continue to educate people on the brutal genocide and the atrocities that forced so many from their homes in 1990. pic.twitter.com/1y2mGqJwz5

— Bob Blackman (@BobBlackman) January 27, 2023

Earlier on Wednesday, January 25, the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Hindus, the Kashmiri Pandit diaspora and allies commemorated 33 years of Kashmiri Pandits genocide.

The event took place at the Houses of Parliament, London, and was hosted by Bob Blackman, Chair All Party Parliamentary, APPG group for British Hindus.

An Early Day Motion (EDM) was also tabled to commemorate the killings of Kashmiri Pandits, signed by cross-party MPs, reminding them that justice was yet to be done.

Bob Blackman reiterated his support for India and the Kashmiri Hindu community and reminded that it was Pakistan's invasion of Kashmir that led to erstwhile Maharaja acceding to India.

On 26 October, 11,000 people in Baramullah were killed by the invaders. Maharaja Hari Singh requested armed intervention from India in order to calm the situation and suppress the invasion.

The Instrument of Accession was signed by Hari Singh and Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India. The Indian army airlifted its troops to Kashmir on 27 October and stopped the invaders within two weeks. The National Conference also supported the Indian army in driving out the Pashtuns.

He further said that efforts must be made to dispel widespread ignorance about the truth of the matter within the UK and the world.

He also spoke about the recent documentary against Prime Minister Narendra Modi shown by the BBC describing it as a "hatchet job".

Speaking at the event, MP Jonathan Lord, Woking, said that just as we must never forget about the Holocaust, we must not forget this Genocide.

Sarvjeet Sudan, First Secretary (Political, Press & Information), Indian High Commission, saluted the spirit of Kashmiri Pandits as he recalled his own memories after the exodus. He further said that the sacrifices of the people must be remembered, and their stories must be heard.

MP Theresa Villiers sent her message to be read at the event, "The world must be told about the grave injustices committed against Kashmiri Hindus. 33 years after so many were driven from their homes, it is time to change the narrative on Kashmir so that the voice of Hindus can finally be heard. I am committed to doing this and I am sorry not to be able to join you at your event this evening."

Messages from all over the world were shared; including from Surinder Kaul GKPD, Dr Agnishekhar, Panun Kashmir, Dr Dileep Kaul, Director, Jonaraja Institute of Genocide & Atrocities Studies (India). A message was also shared by Bitta ji Bhat, father of Rahul Bhat, who was murdered in 2022 by terrorists.

The event took place as a reminder to the world that Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir were persecuted and forced to flee their homeland in 1989- 1990 and 33 years later, targeted Hindu killings are still taking place.

Kashmiri Hindus await recognition of genocide and justice after 33 years after the night of 19th January 1990, when screaming mobs and loudspeakers from mosques blared in unison- Raliv, Galiv ya Chaliv (Convert, Die or Leave).

The programme included readings from first-person accounts and second-generation stories of Kashmiri Hindus living in the UK and was supported by British Hindu organizations who vowed to be the voice for Kashmiri Pandits and demand justice.

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S Jaishankar Invokes Mahabharata's Pandavas In Fresh Jibe Against Pak

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that just as the Pandavas could not choose their relatives, India cannot choose its geographical neighbours.

"It is a reality to us ... Pandavas could not choose relatives, we can't choose our neighbours. Naturally, we hope good sense prevails" said EAM S Jaishankar when asked if "a neighbour and rogue nation (Pakistan), who happens to be nuclear power, will be an asset or a liability."

S Jaishankar was in Pune for the release of his English book "The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World," which has been translated into Marathi as 'Bharat Marg'.

The Marathi version of S Jaishankar's book was released by Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis.

When asked about the economic situation in Pakistan, S Jaishankar said that he cannot comment on what is happening in Pakistan.

The World Bank has slashed Pakistan's economic growth by half -- from 4 per cent to 2 per cent for the current fiscal year, saying Islamabad faces mounting economic difficulties, reported The News International.

"Nonetheless, Pakistan faces mounting economic difficulties and Sri Lanka remains in crisis. In all regions, improvements in living standards over the half-decade to 2024 are expected to be slower than from 2010-19," read the World Bank in Global Economic Prospects report.

Pakistan's economic condition is precarious with low foreign exchange reserves and large fiscal and current account deficits that have been further worsened by severe flooding.

About one-third of the country's land area was affected, damaging infrastructure, and directly affecting about 15 per cent of the population, reported The News International.

Moreover, with low foreign exchange reserves and rising sovereign risk, Pakistan saw its currency depreciate by 14 per cent between June and December and its country risk premium rise by 15 percentage points over this same period.

Amid this Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government has agreed to meet all conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the early resumption of the next review.

Shehbaz Sharif on January 24 said that Pakistan's ruling PDM alliance is ready to sacrifice its "political career for the sake of the country" by accepting IMF's "stringent" conditions to revive the loan programme.

Reports reveal that over 9,000 containers are stuck at different Pakistani seaports, threatening to disrupt the supply chains of essential goods. Inflation in the country has risen to almost 30 per cent. The country's funds are running low and food prices are increasing.

According to Islam Khabar, importers are unable to clear containers due to a shortage of dollars, while shipping companies are threatening to suspend Pakistan's operations over the country's failure to make timely payments. This will negatively impact both imports and exports.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has only USD 4.4 billion in forex reserves, barely enough for three weeks of imports, while the estimated needs to clear the containers and pending requests for opening more letters of credit is in the range of USD 1.5 billion to USD 2 billion, according to the Islam Khabar report.

Businesses in Pakistan are at risk of closure due to a breakdown of supply chains as domestically manufactured goods rely on imported raw materials. The textile industry in Pakistan is also in a critical position as it is losing credibility and market share among international buyers.

Hospitals in the country are running short of medicines, and there may soon be shortages of goods such as wheat, fertilizers, and gasoline.

Prime Minister Sharif has thus asked people to conserve resources such as water, gas, and electricity to assist the government in reducing its import bill, which has risen significantly in recent years.

S Jaishankar also said that the Indus Waters Treaty is a technical matter and future course of action will depend on talks between the Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan.

"This is a technical matter, Indus Commissioners of both countries will talk about the Indus Water Treaty. We can only discuss our future steps after that," he said.

India issued notice to Pakistan for modification of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of September 1960 after Islamabad's actions adversely impinged the provisions of the treaty.

The notice was conveyed on January 25 through respective Commissioners for Indus Waters as per Article XII (3) of the IWT.

The objective of the notice for modification is to provide Pakistan with an opportunity to enter into intergovernmental negotiations within 90 days to rectify the material breach of the IWT. This process would also update IWT to incorporate the lessons learned over the last 62 years.

India has always been a responsible partner in implementing the IWT. Pakistan's actions, however, have encroached on the provisions of IWT and their implementation and forced India to issue an appropriate notice for modification of IWT.

Highlighting sea-change in India's foreign policy, S Jaishankar said that the country's influence has reached beyond the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

Speaking at the publication ceremony of the book "Bharat Marg" written by S Jaishankar, he said, "Nowadays India's influence has reached beyond the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, this is why I speak on history, big countries always think only about themselves, this is a deficiency in their DNA."

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Ukraine Says 321 Heavy Tanks Promised By Allies To Fight Against Russia

A total of 321 heavy tanks have been promised to Ukraine by several countries, Ukraine's ambassador to France said on BFM television on Friday.

"As of today, numerous countries have officially confirmed their agreement to deliver 321 heavy tanks to Ukraine," Vadym Omelchenko, Ukraine's ambassador to France, said in an interview with French TV station BFM.

"Delivery terms vary for each case and we need this help as soon as possible," he added.

Omelchenko did not provide a breakdown of the number of tanks per country.

On Thursday, several Western nations led by Germany and the United States said they would send tanks to Ukraine.

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US House Panel To Vote Next Month On Possible TikTok Ban

The House Foreign Affairs Committee plans to hold a vote next month on a bill aimed at blocking the use of China's popular social media app TikTok in the United States, the committee confirmed on Friday.

The measure, planned by the panel's chair Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican, would aim to give the White House the legal tools to ban TikTok over U.S. national security concerns.

"The concern is that this app gives the Chinese government a back door into our phones," McCaul told Bloomberg News, which reported on the timing of the vote earlier.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump attempted to block new users from downloading TikTok and ban other transactions that would have effectively blocked the app's use in the United States but lost a series of court battles over the measure.

The Biden administration in June 2021 formally abandoned that effort. Then in December, Republican Senator Marco Rubio unveiled bipartisan legislation to ban TikTok, which would also block all transactions from any social media company in or under the influence of China and Russia.

But a ban of the short video app, which is owned by ByteDance and is popular among teens, would face significant hurdles in Congress to pass, and would need 60 votes in the Senate.

For three years, TikTok - which has more than 100 million U.S. users - has been seeking to assure Washington that the personal data of U.S. citizens cannot be accessed and its content cannot be manipulated by China's Communist Party or anyone else under Beijing's influence.

TikTok did not immediately respond Friday but said earlier of congressional efforts to ban it: "It is troubling that rather than encouraging the administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States."

The U.S. government's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a powerful national security body, in 2020 ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok because of fears that U.S. user data could be passed on to China's government.

CFIUS and TikTok have been in talks for months aiming to reach a national security agreement to protect the data of U.S. TikTok users.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the bill on Friday. "It's under review by (CFIUS) so I am just not going to get into details on that," Jean-Pierre said.

Last month, Biden signed legislation that included a ban on federal employees using or downloading TikTok on government-owned devices. More than 25 U.S. states have also banned the use of TikTok on state-owned devices.

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Iran Executes More Than 50 People So Far This Year: Report

Iranian authorities have executed 55 people in 2023, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Friday, adding that the surging use of the death penalty aims to create fear as protests shake the country.

Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International said three young people sentenced to death over protests -- the youngest aged just 18 -- had been subjected to "gruesome torture" in detention.

IHR said it has confirmed at least 55 executions in the first 26 days of this year.

Four people have been executed on charges related to the protests, while the majority of those hanged -- 37 convicts -- were executed for drug-related offences, IHR said.

At least 107 people are still at risk of execution over the demonstrations after being sentenced to death or charged with capital crimes, the group added.

With Iran's use of the death penalty surging in recent years, IHR argued that "every execution by the Islamic Republic is political" as the main purpose "is to create societal fear and terror".

"To stop the state execution machine, no execution should be tolerated, whether they be political or non-political," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

He added that a lack of reaction from the international community risked lowering "the political cost of executing protesters".

- 'State-sanctioned killing' -

Activists have accused Iran of using the death penalty as an instrument of intimidation to quell the protests which erupted in September following the death of the Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country's dress code for women.

UN rights chief Volker Turk has said Iran's "weaponisation of criminal procedures" to punish demonstrators "amounts to state-sanctioned killing".

On Friday, Amnesty said three men sentenced to death in December had been subjected to torture "including floggings, electric shocks, being hung upside down and death threats at gunpoint".

They were convicted of inciting arson and vandalism during protests in September in Mazandaran province in Iran's north, Amnesty said in a statement.

Javad Rouhi, 31, suffered torture that included being "sexually assaulted by having ice put on his testicles", Amnesty said.

Mehdi Mohammadifard, 19, was kept for one week in solitary confinement in a mice-infested cell and was raped, leading to "anal injuries and rectal bleeding, which required hospitalisation", it said.

Arshia Takdastan, 18, "was subjected to beatings and death threats, including having a gun pointed at his head if he did not 'confess' in front of a video camera".

- Surging executions -

IHR and other rights groups have yet to publish figures on executions in Iran for 2022.

But IHR said in early December that more than 500 people had been hanged by then -- the highest figure in five years -- while according to its data, at least 333 people were executed in 2021, a 25 percent increase compared to 267 in 2020.

As well as arresting thousands of people, Iranian security forces have also used what campaigners describe as lethal force to crack down on the protests.

IHR said that according to its latest count, security forces have killed at least 488 people, including 64 aged under 18, in the nationwide protests.

Of the 64 children, 10 were girls, it added.

Mohsen Shekari, 23, was executed in Tehran on December 8 for wounding a member of the security forces, while Majidreza Rahnavard, also 23, was hanged in public in Mashhad on December 12 on charges of killing two members of the security forces with a knife.

On January 7, Iran executed Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini for killing a paramilitary force member in November.

In another high-profile execution, Iran said on January 14 that it had executed British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari after he was sentenced to death on charges of spying for Britain. He had been arrested more than two years earlier.

Analysts say demonstrations have subsided since November, but the protest movement still remains a challenge to the Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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UN Experts Say UK Racism Is "Institutional, Systemic"

Racism is "structural, institutional, and systemic" in Britain, a group of United Nations experts concluded on Friday, warning that people of African descent were witnessing the "erosion of their fundamental rights."

Public spending cuts have exacerbated racial discrimination and intolerance, the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent said following an official visit to Britain.

"We have serious concerns about impunity and the failure to address racial disparities in the criminal justice system, deaths in police custody, 'joint enterprise' convictions, and the dehumanising nature of the stop and (strip) search" police tactic, they said.

The five-member group is mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to report to the UN's top rights body. The experts are unpaid and do not speak for the UN.

The group said it had documented the "trauma" felt by people of African descent who were suffering racial discrimination and injustice in Britain.

"A decade of austerity measures in the UK had exacerbated racism, racial discrimination and other intolerance people of African descent encounter, which had an adverse impact on their fundamental rights," they found.

They said people of African descent felt public institutions and the private sector both perpetuated racial hierarchies.

"Racialised acts targeting people of African descent have remained steadfast, and the experience is similar across different parts of the UK," the experts said, after visiting London, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol.

"They are victimised and have no assurance of effective redress from authorities or the justice system."

Windrush scandal

In October, a report by a top UK lawyer and the University of Manchester said it found evidence of "institutional racism" in the justice system in England and Wales, particularly in the treatment of black and Asian defendants.

The UN experts welcomed "emerging efforts towards reparation for the legacies of the trade and trafficking in enslaved Africans."

They encouraged the British government to do more to ensure the "rehabilitation, restoration and reconciliation of the state with its people."

In what became known as the Windrush scandal, it was revealed in 2017 that thousands of Britons of Caribbean origin, who arrived legally between 1948 and the early 1970s without needing documentation, had been wrongly caught up in new hardline policies targeting illegal immigrants.

Some were detained or deported.

On Thursday, British media reported that interior minister Suella Braverman had scrapped some reforms the government had promised to introduce in order to address the Windrush scandal.

Ugandan expert Catherine Namakula, who chairs the UN working group, called for accessible, independent and effective complaint mechanisms to address racism.

"Ensuring police accountability, fair trial guarantees for all persons, and redress to all persons affected by the Windrush scandal are imperative," she said.

"Austerity to the peril of fundamental rights is a costly undertaking for the UK," she added.

The group will present its findings and recommendations to the Human Rights Council in September.

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On Holocaust Day, Polish PM Accuses Putin Of Building 'New Camps'

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Friday used the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of building "new camps" while waging war against Ukraine.

"On the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, let us remember that to the east Putin is building new camps," Morawiecki said on Facebook.

"Solidarity and consistent support for Ukraine are effective ways to ensure that history does not come full circle," he added.

Morawiecki did not elaborate on his accusation against Russia, though it echoed a claim made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year.

In an address in October, Zelensky spoke of Olenivka, "a concentration camp where our prisoners are kept".

UN investigators also said last year they had documented more than 400 arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Poland on Friday marked the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau at the site of the former camp in the southern Polish city of Oswiecim.

Attendees included religious leaders, Holocaust survivors and Douglas Emhoff, the Jewish husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Auschwitz museum had earlier said that Russia had not been invited to this year's commemoration given its "aggression against a free and independent Ukraine".

The museum denounced the Russian offensive as a "barbaric act" on the day Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year.

Auschwitz-Birkenau has become a symbol of Nazi Germany's genocide of six million European Jews, one million of whom died at the camp between 1940 and 1945 along with more than 100,000 non-Jews.

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Nepal's Combative Deputy PM Loses Post Over Citizenship

Nepal's top court on Friday barred combative deputy prime minister Rabi Lamichhane from office for failing to regain citizenship in the Himalayan republic after giving up his US passport.

Lamichhane, 48, is well-known for his career as a television host, making his name as an anti-corruption crusader through aggressive interviews with public officials.

He was one of the biggest winners in elections last November, securing his new party a place in the ruling coalition and himself the post of deputy prime minister.

But Supreme Court spokesman Bimal Poudel told AFP that Lamichhane was ineligible to keep his post after not "following the due process" when he relinquished his US citizenship in 2018.

"The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court has ruled that his candidacy and election to the post of a member of the House of Representatives are void," Poudel said.

Only Nepali citizens are allowed to stand for election and hold office, and the republic does not allow dual citizenship.

Court documents state that Lamichhane did not re-apply for Nepali citizenship as required by the law.

Lamichhane was elected on the back of widespread discontent over Nepal's elderly, back-scratching political leadership at a time when the country's remittance- and tourism-dependent economy is teetering.

"This issue is a setback to that wave of change," Guna Raj Luitel, editor of the local daily Nagarik, told AFP.

"The people were hopeful in the new faces, but this will affect the trust they had put in them.

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5 US Police Officers Charged With Murder Over Beating Of Black Man

US authorities on Thursday charged five officers with second-degree murder over the fatal beating of a Black man in the eastern state of Tennessee following a traffic stop.

Tyre Nichols, 29, was stopped on January 7 for what the Memphis Police Department said was reckless driving.

After a chase ensued, "police brutalized him to the point of being unrecognizable," family attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement.

The five officers, who are also Black, were fired after an internal police investigation found them to have "violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid," the MPD said last Friday.

Nichols was transported to the hospital in critical condition, according to police, where he died on January 10.

"These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr Nichols," Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said late Wednesday.

"This is not just a professional failing, this is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane."

The five officers -- Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr -- were additionally charged with aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. All are now in police custody.

"The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre," the family's lawyers said.

Officials have said a video of the episode exists and will be released sometime after 6 pm Central time Friday (0000 GMT Saturday).

"I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights," Davis said.

Family lawyers who watched the clip said they had seen "with our own eyes the disgusting way in which he lost his life at the hands of Memphis police."

The lawyers added that the beating of Nichols "points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop."

Racial injustice and police brutality has been in the spotlight in the United States since the 2020 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

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Canada Says It Will Send 4 Leopard 2 Tanks To Ukraine

Canada will send four Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said on Thursday, after Germany this week allowed other countries to re-export the German-built tank.

"This donation, combined with the contributions of allies and partners, will significantly help the armed forces of Ukraine" in the their defense against the Russian invasion, Anand told reporters in Ottawa.

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Archaeologist Unveil Possibly 'Oldest' Mummy Found In Egypt

Egyptologists have uncovered a Pharaonic tomb near the capital Cairo containing what may be the oldest and "most complete" mummy yet to be discovered in the country, the excavation team leader said on Thursday.

The 4,300-year-old mummy was found at the bottom of a 15-metre shaft in a recently uncovered group of fifth and sixth dynasty tombs near the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, Zahi Hawass, director of the team, told reporters.

The mummy, of a man named Hekashepes, was in a limestone sarcophagus that had been sealed in mortar.

The mummy, of a man named Hekashepes, was in a limestone sarcophagus.

"This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date," Hawass, one of Egypt's former ministers of antiquities, said in a statement.

Among other tombs found was one belonging to Khnumdjedef, an inspector of officials, a supervisor of nobles and a priest during the reign of Unas, last pharaoh of the fifth dynasty. It was decorated with scenes of daily life.

Another tomb belonged to Meri, "keeper of the secrets and assistant to the great leader of the palace".

Numerous statues were found among the tombs, including one representing a man and his wife and several servants, the statement said.

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China's Economic Slowdown Could Have Ripple Effect Across World: Report

According to China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the annual GDP growth of the country fell to 3 per cent, much below the 5.5 per cent official target in 2022 and its economic slowdown has the potential to generate ripple effects across the world, reported Financial Post.

The concerns and challenges facing China and the global economy were well articulated by Liu He, the vice-premier of the People's Republic of China, while speaking at the World Economic Forum at Davos 2023.

"Over the past five years, we have experienced all kinds of unexpected events, and witnessed profound changes in the world's political and economic landscape. Therefore, the theme of this year's Annual Meeting, 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World', cannot be more relevant," He said.

"The Covid-19 pandemic punctured China's growth saga. China's GDP growth was also slightly lower than forecasts published by the IMF in October 2022. IMF predictions expected a GDP growth rate of around 4.4 percent.USD 18 trillion in 2021 mainly due to a sharp rise of the dollar against RMB. This is the slowest growth of the Chinese economy since the 2.3 per cent registered in GDP in 1974," reported Financial Post.

Observers were already talking about China falling into the middle-income trap and now, evidence has come to light that the country is finding it hard to keep its miracle of sustained higher growth rates anywhere closer to 10 per cent or more recorded during the late 1980s and the whole of 1990's.

Kim Byung-yeon, author and a professor of economics and head of the Institute for Future Strategy at Seoul National University succinctly argued that "the Chinese economy is slipping into the middle-income-country trap."

According to Kim, productivity that determines the long-term growth rate has sunken sharply in the case of China.

The downward trend has deepened since 2014. China's fast growth over the past 15 years stemmed largely from the infrastructure investment to build factories, housing and roads - and less from structural reform and innovation. Extensive growth led by capital and labor input is not sustainable, reported Financial Post.

The sharp decline in the Chinese GDP growth in 2022 was blamed on a host of factors mainly China shutting itself from the outside world due to the 'Zero Covid' policy. The slow pace was blamed mainly on the strictly 'Zero Covid' policy, leading to periodic lockdowns and the ruling Communist Party's crackdown on big industrial firms besides the lingering real estate crisis.

The most disturbing fact that comes out from the NBS data is that China, the so called 'manufacturing hub' of the world recorded a very feeble growth in industrial output at 3.6 per cent year-on-year in 2022 and even feebler at 1.3 per cent in the month of December. Zhu Hong, a senior NBS statistician, highlighted a rebound in COVID outbreaks and lackluster demand in November that curbed industrial production and placed increasing pressure on Chinese businesses.

According to him, the factors that weighed on slow industrial growth included a squeeze in profits both from anti-virus curbs in big manufacturing hubs such as Guangzhou and Zhengzhou, and from the persistent weight of a protracted property crisis and slowing exports, reported Financial Post.

NBS data in November 22 showed that profits fell for 21 of 41 major industrial sectors, with the ferrous metals smelting and pressing industry suffering the steepest decline, at 94.5 per cent. That compares with a 92.7 per cent fall for the first 10 months.

Another reason for the industrial slowdown is that many Chinese companies are also facing western sanctions including those in the US, especially against the Chinese tech companies which allegedly breach data security and steal patents.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) that he was 'deeply concerned' about the Chinese government's artificial intelligence program, asserting that it was "not constrained by the rule of law."

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Pakistan Yet To Respond To India's Invite For Regional Meet In May

Pakistan on Thursday said that it is yet to decide on India's invite to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa from May.

"Pakistan and India are members of SCO. India is holding the chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State for 2022-2023. These invitations are being processed as per standard procedures and a decision will be taken in due course," said Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson.

India has invited Pakistan's foreign minister to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting scheduled to take place on May 4-5, 2023 in Goa.

"SCO is an important transregional organization that aims to strengthen economic linkages and cooperation among its Member States in different fields. Every year, SCO develops a calendar of activities, which include the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers," added the spokesperson.

India has formally sent invitations to all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) including Pakistan and China for the upcoming foreign ministers' meeting which will be held in Goa from May 4-5.

The invitation includes invites to the new Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang and Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto.

India took over the chairmanship of the 9-member mega grouping in September last year and will be holding key ministerial meetings and the summit this year.

Relations between the two countries have been precarious for many years with regard to issues of cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, even as Islamabad has been seeking the restoration of Article 370 for the former Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir for any talks.

Besides, Foreign Minister Bilawal's remarks at the United Nations (UN) last month on PM Modi have cast a shadow over any improvement in ties between the two countries.

The 20-year-old organization has Russia, India, China, Pakistan, and four central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as its members.

Iran is the latest country to become a member and under Indian Presidency will for the first time attend the grouping's meeting as a full-fledged member.

The last meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Samarkand in Uzbekistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit. The 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO is the first in-person summit since 2019.

This year's SCO foreign ministers meeting comes in the wake-up of escalating Russia-Ukraine war and India's G20 Presidency.

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Donald Trump To Be Allowed Back On Facebook, Instagram, Says Meta

Social networking giant Meta announced Tuesday it would soon reinstate former president Donald Trump's accounts on Facebook and Instagram with "new guardrails," two years after he was banned over the 2021 US Capitol insurrection.

"We will be reinstating Mr. Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks," Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, said in a statement, adding that the move would come with "new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses."

Going forward, the Republican leader -- who has already declared himself a 2024 presidential candidate -- could be suspended for up to two years for each violation of platform policies, Mr Clegg said.

It was not clear when or if Trump will return to the platforms, and his representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But the 76-year-old tycoon reacted in typically bullish fashion, crowing that Facebook had lost "billions of dollars in value" in his absence.

"Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution!" he said on his Truth Social platform.

Facebook banned Trump a day after the January 6, 2021 uprising, when a mob of his supporters seeking to halt the certification of his election defeat to Joe Biden stormed the US Capitol in Washington.

The former reality TV star had spent weeks falsely claiming that the presidential election was stolen from him and he was subsequently impeached for inciting the riot.

In a letter asking for the ban to be overturned, Trump's lawyer Scott Gast said last week that Meta had "dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse."

He asked for a meeting to discuss Trump's "prompt reinstatement to the platform" of Facebook, where he had 34 million followers, arguing that his status as the leading contender for the Republican nomination in 2024 justified ending the ban.

American Civil Liberties Union executive director Anthony Romero said Meta was making "the right call" by allowing Trump back onto the social network.

"Like it or not, President Trump is one of the country's leading political figures and the public has a strong interest in hearing his speech," Mr Romero said in a release.

"Indeed, some of Trump's most offensive social media posts ended up being critical evidence in lawsuits filed against him and his administration."

The ACLU has filed more than 400 legal actions against Trump, according to Romero.

Extremism engine?

Advocacy groups such as Media Matters for America, however, vehemently oppose allowing Trump to exploit Facebook's social networking reach.

"Make no mistake -- by allowing Donald Trump back on its platforms, Meta is refueling Trump's misinformation and extremism engine," said Media Matters president Angelo Carusone.

"This not only will have an impact on Instagram and Facebook users, but it also presents intensified threats to civil society and an existential threat to United States democracy as a whole."

A US congressional committee recommended in December that Trump be prosecuted for his role in the US Capitol assault.

His Twitter account, which has 88 million followers, was also blocked after the riot, leaving him to communicate through Truth Social, where he has fewer than five million followers.

Trump's shock victory in 2016 was credited in part to his leverage of social media and his enormous digital reach.

Andrew Selepak, a University of Florida professor specializing in social media, suggested that Facebook doesn't want to go to war with Trump's supporters in Congress, who are likely to protest if he were kept off the platform.

"Trump needs the platform for fundraising and Facebook doesn't want to be called before Congress," Mr Selepak tweeted.

Conservative republican leaders have raged against Trump being booted from Facebook, while a group of Democrats in Congress last month urged Meta to extend the ban to keep "dangerous and unfounded election denial content off its platform."

New Twitter owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump's account last November, days after Trump announced a fresh White House run. He has yet to post.

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