Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: A high-level delegation from Meta met with Pakistan&rsquo;s IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Thursday to strengthen cooperation on digital safety, responsible technology governance, and user protection.&nbsp;According to an official statement, the discussions focused on enhancing online safety measures, with particular emphasis on protecting women, children, and other vulnerable communities. <div class="fr-embed"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1240429097955617%2F&show_text=true&width=267&t=0" width="267" height="591" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div>The parties reviewed strategies to combat online fraud and financial scams occurring through social media platforms and explored potential improvements in reporting mechanisms, safety protocols, and digital literacy programs to safeguard citizens in an increasingly connected digital environment.&nbsp;Khawaja said the government remains committed to fostering a secure, inclusive, and citizen-centric digital ecosystem, highlighting ongoing reforms in digital governance.&nbsp;&ldquo;We are keen to work closely with global technology partners like Meta to ensure a safe and innovation-friendly environment for Pakistani users,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;The meeting aligns with Pakistan&rsquo;s broader &ldquo;Digital Nation&rdquo; vision, aimed at developing a robust and trusted digital framework across the country.&nbsp;The Meta delegation included Dania Mukhtar, Head of Public Policy for Pakistan; Shi Ing Tay, Lead Counsel for Pakistan and South/Central Asia; Noor Bano, Regulatory Compliance Manager; Melody Goh, Regulatory Escalations Manager; Sehar Tariq, Content Policy Development Manager; and Rebecca Oh, WhatsApp Policy Manager.

Security

The discussions focused on improving online safety measures, with particular attention given to safeguarding women, children, and vulnerable communities.

Pakistan, Meta discuss digital safety, governance, and user protection

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to &quot;make a deal&quot; or face unspecified consequences, warning that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money to Havana would now stop.&nbsp;&quot;There will be no more oil or money going to cuba - zero!&quot; Trump said on his Truth Social channel. &quot;I strongly suggest they make a deal, before it is too late.&quot;&nbsp;His remarks come a week after US forces seized Venezuela&#39;s authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro in a nighttime operation in Caracas that killed dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security forces.&nbsp;Earlier on Sunday, Trump reposted a message suggesting that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio could become the president of now communist-ruled Cuba.&nbsp;Trump shared that post with the comment: &quot;Sounds good to me!&quot;&nbsp;In his own post soon afterwards, Trump said that &quot;Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of oil and money from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided &#39;Security Services&#39; for the last two Venezuelan dictators, but not anymore!&quot;&nbsp;&quot;Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week&#39;s U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn&#39;t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years.&quot;&nbsp;Under a US trade embargo, Havana since 2000 has increasingly relied on Venezuelan oil provided as part of a deal struck with Maduro&#39;s predecessor Hugo Chavez.

Americas

US President Donald Trump warned Cuba to “make a deal” or face consequences, saying Venezuelan oil and money to Havana would stop following US actions against Venezuela’s leadership.

Trump tells Cuba to 'make a deal, before it is too late'

JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Sunday they detained a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspected of obstructing an investigation, with local media reporting that it was tied to leaks of military information during the Gaza war.&nbsp;Police did not name the individual, but Israeli media reported it was Tzachi Braverman, Netanyahu&#39;s current chief of staff, who is designated to be Israel&#39;s next ambassador to the UK.&nbsp;&quot;This morning, a senior official in the prime minister&#39;s office was detained for questioning... on suspicion of obstructing an investigation,&quot; the police said.&nbsp;&quot;The suspect... is currently being questioned under caution.&quot;&nbsp;Former Netanyahu aide Eli Feldstein recently alleged that Braverman tried to obstruct an investigation into a leak of sensitive military information to the foreign press during the war against Hamas in Gaza.&nbsp;In September 2024, Feldstein leaked a classified document from the Israeli military to the German tabloid Bild, for which he was later arrested and indicted.&nbsp;The document aimed to prove that Hamas was not interested in a ceasefire deal, and to support Netanyahu&#39;s claim that the hostages captured by Palestinian militants in their October 7, 2023 assault on Israel could only be released through military pressure instead of negotiations.&nbsp;In an interview with Israel&#39;s public broadcaster KAN, Feldstein said Braverman asked to meet with him soon after the leak.&nbsp;Braverman informed him that the army had launched a probe into the affair, and said he could &quot;shut down&quot; the investigation, according to Feldstein.&nbsp;In the same interview, Feldstein said Netanyahu was aware of the leak and was in favour of using the document to drum up public support for the war.&nbsp;Israeli media reported that police also searched Braverman&#39;s home on Sunday, and that Feldstein was expected to speak with police later in the day regarding Braverman&#39;s suspected involvement in the affair.&nbsp;Feldstein is also a suspect in the so-called &quot;Qatargate&quot; scandal, in which he and other close associates of Netanyahu are suspected of having been recruited by Qatar to promote the Gulf monarchy&#39;s image in Israel.&nbsp;Qatar hosts senior Hamas leaders and has played a mediating role between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement during the war in Gaza.&nbsp;An investigation is under way, and Feldstein, together with another Netanyahu aide, was taken into custody in late March.&nbsp;In response to Braverman&#39;s questioning by the police on Sunday, opposition leader Yair Lapid called to suspend his appointment as ambassador to the UK.&nbsp;&quot;In light of the new developments in the Qatargate affair, the appointment of Tzachi Braverman as ambassador to Britain must be immediately suspended,&quot; Lapid wrote on X.&nbsp;&quot;It is unacceptable that someone suspected of involvement in obstructing a serious security investigation should be the face of Israel in one of the most important countries in Europe.&quot;&nbsp;Braverman is not suspected of direct involvement in the Qatargate affair, according to Israeli media.

Middle East

Israeli police detained Netanyahu aide Tzachi Braverman over alleged obstruction linked to Gaza war leaks. Opposition demands suspending his UK ambassador appointment as investigations continue.

Israeli police detain aide to Netanyahu

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban authorities arrested a woman journalist in northern Kunduz province on Tuesday and transferred her to an unknown location, the Afghan Media Support Organization said in a statement. According to a statement posted on the organization&rsquo;s Facebook page, Nazera Rashidi has been detained for four days without disclosed charges. <div class="fr-embed" style="line-height: 2;"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAfghanistanMSO%2Fposts%2Fpfbid04oKVLy9c2LmT5oG1TTyWJ5CziDA9qDqmDeVCfY3BBshUtEiCyPMFjF56vxB1HCcnl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="687" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div> She is the sole guardian for her younger siblings in a household without an adult male, the organization said. The family told the Afghan Media Support Organization that Rashidi &quot;has not engaged in any illegal activities,&quot; according to the statement. The organization called for her immediate release and urged Taliban authorities to &quot;clearly state the legal reasons for her detention.&quot; The arrest adds to documented cases of journalist detentions since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. Press freedom decline Afghanistan ranked 175th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, scoring 17.88 out of 100. Within months of the Taliban takeover, 43% of media outlets disappeared, according to Reporters Without Borders. By late 2024, more than two-thirds of Afghanistan&#39;s 12,000 journalists had left the profession, the United Nations documented. Between August 2021 and September 2024, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded 336 cases of human rights violations against media professionals, including 256 arbitrary arrests and 130 instances of torture or ill-treatment. Impact on women journalists More than 80% of women journalists have stopped working since 2021, according to a survey by Reporters Without Borders in collaboration with the Afghan Independent Journalists Association. In some provinces, women&#39;s voices are banned from broadcasts, according to Human Rights Watch. Those still working face workplace segregation requirements and must cover their faces on camera. Afghan officials refuse interviews with women journalists or exclude them from press events, Human Rights Watch reported. Recent restrictions The Taliban banned broadcasting images of living beings in several provinces, including Takhar, in 2024 and 2025, and restricted social media access on smartphones. As of late 2025, the Taliban began broadcasting forced &quot;confessions&quot; of journalists online after arrests for alleged &quot;anti-Taliban propaganda,&quot; Reporters Without Borders reported. The General Directorate of Intelligence conducts most arbitrary detentions, while the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice provides oversight, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. The Committee to Protect Journalists and the #KeepItOn coalition condemned nationwide internet shutdowns in late 2025 that Taliban authorities ordered to curb &quot;immorality.&quot; The Afghan Media Support Organization called on international institutions and human rights organizations to &quot;take practical measures to prevent the continued arrests and harassment of female journalists.&quot;

Afghanistan

The Afghan Media Support Organization called on international institutions and human rights organizations to "take practical measures to prevent the continued arrests and harassment of female journalists."

Taliban detain woman journalist in northern Afghanistan

Faraz Saeed

LAHORE: The year 2026 has barely begun, yet the early signals for India&rsquo;s economy are already deeply unsettling.&nbsp; In the first week of January alone, India&rsquo;s foreign exchange reserves suffered their sharpest weekly fall in 14 months, dropping by nearly 10 billion dollars to around $552 billion.&nbsp; The decline was not the result of a sudden external shock but of a conscious policy response: the Reserve Bank of India stepped in to sell dollars to defend a weakening rupee.&nbsp; That intervention itself is telling.&nbsp; It signals that currency pressures have intensified to the point that market forces alone are no longer trusted to maintain stability. The rupee&rsquo;s weakness is not new, but its persistence is increasingly problematic.&nbsp; Over the course of 2025, the currency depreciated by nearly 6%, making it Asia&rsquo;s worst-performing unit, according to Bloomberg and Reuters.&nbsp; The slide has continued into the opening days of 2026, with further losses driven by foreign capital outflows and uncertainty surrounding India&rsquo;s external economic relationships. Eroding external confidenceForecasts from major financial institutions suggest the Indian rupee could approach 92 to the dollar by March from the current value of 90.25, a level that would deepen imported inflation, strain corporate balance sheets, and tighten domestic financial conditions.&nbsp; In effect, currency weakness is becoming a mirror of eroding external confidence. Equity markets are reflecting the same anxiety.&nbsp; The new year opened with a sharp selloff that pushed both the Sensex and the Nifty lower, erasing between $140 billion and $166 billion in investor wealth in a matter of days.&nbsp; The immediate trigger was political, renewed warnings from Washington of higher tariffs on Indian goods, but the reaction revealed something more fundamental.&nbsp; Investors are increasingly uneasy about India&rsquo;s exposure to a world in which trade is becoming more politicized, alliances more conditional, and economic relationships more vulnerable to geopolitical shifts. Foreign investors, in particular, are voting with their feet.&nbsp; Largest annual outflow&nbsp;In 2025, foreign portfolio investors sold roughly $18 billion worth of Indian equities, the largest annual outflow on record.&nbsp; The trend has not reversed with the calendar.&nbsp; In the first nine days of 2026 alone, another $1.3 billion has already been pulled out of Indian markets.&nbsp; Capital that once flowed steadily into India&rsquo;s growth story is now retreating, not because growth has vanished, but because the risks surrounding that growth have become harder to price and harder to ignore. Trade tensions with the United States have emerged as one of the most destabilizing forces. Washington has already imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods, partly linked to India&rsquo;s continued purchases of Russian oil.&nbsp; The situation has escalated further with political support in the US for even harsher measures, including proposals for tariffs of up to 500% on imports from countries doing business with Russia.&nbsp; As the world&rsquo;s second-largest buyer of Russian crude after China, India finds itself uncomfortably exposed.&nbsp; Even if such extreme tariffs are never fully implemented, their mere possibility is enough to chill investment, disrupt planning, and inject uncertainty into trade and financial markets. What makes this moment particularly troubling is not any single indicator, but the convergence of pressures.&nbsp; Weakening currency&nbsp;A weakening currency is forcing the central bank to intervene. Falling reserves are signaling external vulnerability.&nbsp; Trade tensions are undermining investor confidence. Capital is flowing out, not in.&nbsp; Together, these forces form a feedback loop in which uncertainty feeds financial stress, and financial stress reinforces uncertainty. India is not facing a crisis in the classic sense.&nbsp; Growth has not collapsed, and the economy retains significant underlying strengths. But the narrative has shifted.&nbsp; For years, India was presented as the world&rsquo;s next great growth engine, stable, predictable, and increasingly central to global supply chains.&nbsp; In 2025, that narrative was replaced by a quieter, more cautious one: the economy is under strain. In 2026, it is only getting worse.

India

In 2025, foreign portfolio investors sold roughly $18 billion worth of Indian equities, the largest annual outflow on record; the trend has not reversed with the calendar. 

2026 starts rough for India: FX reserves drop, stocks lose over $140B

PARIS: Iran would strike US military and shipping targets in the event of a new attack by the United States during an ongoing wave of protests, the parliament speaker said on Sunday. &quot;In the event of a military attack by the United States, both the occupied territory and centers of the US military and shipping will be our legitimate targets,&quot; Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told parliament in comments broadcast by state TV, apparently also referring to Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognize and considers occupied Palestinian territory. &#39;Significant&#39; arrestsMeanwhile, Iran has made significant arrests of key figures in the protest movement that has swept the Islamic Republic over the last two weeks, the national police chief said Sunday. &quot;Last night (Saturday evening), significant arrests were made of the main elements in the riots, who, God willing, will be punished after going through legal procedures,&quot; Ahmad-Reza Radan told state TV, without giving details on the number or identities of those arrested. Iran&#39;s president to address nationMeanwhile, IRIB, Iran&#39;s state TV, said&nbsp;President Masoud Pezeshkian will address economic plans and &quot;people&#39;s demands&quot; in an interview on Sunday. It comes after two weeks of protests sparked by anger over the rising cost of living. &quot;In a conversation with the national media, the president laid out the status of the government&#39;s major economic plan to reform the subsidy system, and also discussed recent events and the government&#39;s approach to responding to the people&#39;s demands,&quot; IRIB state TV said, noting the interview would be broadcast later Sunday.

Iran has made significant arrests of key figures in the protest movement that has swept the Islamic Republic over the last two weeks, the national police chief said Sunday.

Iran to target US military, shipping if attacked: Parliament speaker

KHAN YOUNIS: At a hospital in Gaza, wards are filled with patients fearing they will be left without care if Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is forced out under an Israeli ban due to take effect in March. Last month, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organizations, including MSF, from operating in Gaza from March 1 for failing to provide detailed information on their Palestinian staff. &quot;They stood by us throughout the war,&quot; said 10-year-old Adam Asfour, his left arm pinned with metal rods after he was wounded by shrapnel in a bombing in September. &quot;When I heard it was possible they would stop providing services, it made me very sad,&quot; he added from his bed at Gaza&#39;s Nasser Hospital. Israel&#39;s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, which oversees NGO registrations, has accused two MSF employees of links to Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, allegations MSF vehemently denies. The ministry&#39;s decision triggered international condemnation, with aid groups warning it would severely disrupt food and medical supplies to Gaza, where relief items are already scarce after more than two years of war. Inside the packed Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, one of the few medical facilities still functioning in the territory, MSF staff were still tending to children with burns, shrapnel wounds and chronic illnesses, an AFP journalist reported. But their presence may end soon. The prospect was unthinkable for Fayrouz Barhoum, whose grandson is being treated at the facility. &quot;Say bye to the lady, blow her a kiss,&quot; she told her 18-month-old grandson, Joud, as MSF official Claire Nicolet left the room. Joud&#39;s head was wrapped in bandages covering burns on his cheek after boiling water spilled on him when strong winds battered the family&#39;s makeshift shelter. &quot;At first his condition was very serious, but then it improved considerably,&quot; Barhoum said. &quot;The scarring on his face has largely diminished. We need continuity of care,&quot; she said. &#39;We will continue working&#39;&nbsp;AFP spoke with patients and relatives at Nasser Hospital, all of whom expressed the same fear: that without MSF, there would be nowhere left to turn. MSF says it currently provides at least 20 percent of hospital beds in Gaza and operates around 20 health centres. In 2025 alone, it carried out more than 800,000 medical consultations and over 10,000 deliveries. &quot;It&#39;s almost impossible to find an organisation that will come here and be able to replace all that we are doing currently in Gaza,&quot; Nicolet told AFP, noting that MSF not only provides medical care but also distributes drinking water to a population worn down by a prolonged war. &quot;So this is not really realistic.&quot; Since the start of the war in October 2023, triggered by Hamas&#39;s deadly attack on southern Israel, Israeli officials and the military have repeatedly accused Hamas of using Gaza&#39;s medical facilities as command centres. Many have been damaged by two years of bombardments or overcrowded by casualties, while electricity, water and fuel supplies remain unreliable. Aid groups warn that without international support, critical services such as emergency care, maternal health, and paediatric treatment could collapse entirely, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without basic medical care. Humanitarian sources say at least three international NGO employees whose files were rejected by Israeli authorities have already been prevented from entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. &quot;For now, we will continue working as long as we can,&quot; said Kelsie Meaden, an MSF logistics manager at Nasser Hospital, adding that constraints were already mounting. &quot;We can&#39;t have any more international staff enter into Gaza, as well as supplies... we will run into shortages.&quot;

A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (AFP)

Wards are filled with patients fearing they will be left without care if Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is forced out under an Israeli ban due to take effect in March.

Patients cling to medical organization in Gaza hospital as Israel orders it out

ISLAMABAD: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman said differences of opinion should not escalate into conflict, stressing that dialogue and democratic practice are the only sustainable paths forward for the nation, state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported on Saturday.&nbsp;Speaking at an exchange of views with editors and journalists from national-level media outlets in Dhaka, the son of former Bangladeshi prime minister late Khaleda Zia said, &ldquo;Even if there are differences of opinion, they must be reduced through discussion. Differences should not escalate to the level of conflict.&rdquo;&nbsp;Referring to recent history, Rahman said, &ldquo;The nation has seen the consequences of vengeance or retaliation on August 5, 2024,&rdquo; adding that violence, revenge, and division have brought despair but also lessons for the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;We saw on August 5 what the consequences of violence, revenge, and vengeance can be &mdash; whether for an individual, a party, or the nation,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;Emphasizing unity, Rahman urged people of all political affiliations to resolve disagreements through discussion rather than confrontation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;If we try, perhaps we can resolve many problems by keeping those differences as differences and solving them through discussions,&rdquo; he said. &#39;Must maintain the democratic process&#39;Highlighting the importance of democracy, the BNP chairman said, &ldquo;At any cost, we must maintain the democratic process,&rdquo; noting that elections must be held at all levels.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;If the democratic process continues uninterrupted, solving the country&rsquo;s problems is possible,&rdquo; he added, expressing hope that the process would begin on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/bangladesh-prepares-for-february-12-elections-with-postal-voting-security-measures" style="color:#0073e6;">February 12</a>.&nbsp;Rahman said reforms must address constitutional and legal issues as well as people&rsquo;s daily lives.&nbsp;&ldquo;There have been some fundamental issues like people&rsquo;s daily lives, security, healthcare, employment, and children&rsquo;s education,&rdquo; he said, pledging that politics should not remain limited to seminars and symposiums. Women empowermentOutlining BNP&rsquo;s future plans, Rahman discussed initiatives including women&rsquo;s economic empowerment, a universal Family Card, a Krishak Card for farmers, grassroots healthcare workers, expatriate skill development, youth employment, and IT sector expansion.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;Half of the country&rsquo;s populations are women; development is impossible, leaving them behind,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;The BNP chairman said, &quot;If we can form a government with the people&#39;s mandate in the upcoming elections, initiatives will be taken to make women economically self-reliant.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Bangladesh

Speaking at an exchange of views with editors and journalists from national-level media outlets in Dhaka, the son of former Bangladeshi prime minister late Khaleda Zia said, 'Even if there are differences of opinion, they must be reduced through discussion. Differences should not escalate to the level of conflict.'

Differences must not escalate into conflict, says Bangladesh's Tarique Rahman

PARIS: Anti-government chants filled the streets of Iran&#39;s capital on Saturday night, as protesters pressed the biggest movement against the Islamic Republic in more than three years despite a crackdown under the cover of an internet blackout. Iran has blamed the United States for the demonstrations, which ignited in Tehran two weeks ago over economic hardship and have since spread nationwide with calls for ousting the clerical authorities. US &lsquo;ready to help&rsquo;Rights groups have reported dozens of deaths and expressed alarm on Saturday that authorities were intensifying the crackdown. Little information is filtering out after an internet shutdown, with monitor NetBlocks showing virtually no connectivity since Thursday. US President Donald Trump said his country was &quot;ready to help&quot; the movement, after warning Iran was in &quot;big trouble&quot; over its efforts to suppress the protests. &quot;Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!&quot; Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday. Possible military strikes&nbsp;According to the New York Times, Trump was recently briefed on options for possible military strikes. US officials, speaking to the Times anonymously, said Trump has not yet made a final decision about another intervention, after Washington joined Israel&#39;s 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June. Crowds gathered again on Saturday in the north of the Iranian capital, setting off fireworks and banging pots as they shouted slogans in support of the ousted monarchy, according to video verified by AFP. Other videos, that AFP could not immediately verify, showed demonstrations in other parts of the capital where protesters shouted anti-government slogans. Shah&rsquo;s son calls for targeted protests&nbsp;Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran&#39;s deposed shah, urged Iranians to stage more targeted protests over the weekend. &quot;Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centers,&quot; Pahlavi said in a video on social media. The demonstrations have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. &lsquo;Vandals&rsquo; doing Trump&rsquo;s bidding&nbsp;After initially calling for &quot;restraint&quot; and acknowledging economic grievances, they have since hardened their stance. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a defiant speech on Friday, lashed out at &quot;vandals&quot; doing Trump&#39;s bidding. Amnesty International said it was analysing &quot;distressing reports that security forces have intensified their unlawful use of lethal force against protesters&quot; since Thursday. Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has said at least 51 people have been killed in the crackdown so far, warning the actual toll could be higher. It posted images it said were of bodies of people shot dead in the protests on the floor of Alghadir hospital in eastern Tehran. &quot;These images provide further evidence of the excessive and lethal use of force against protesters,&quot; IHR said. Other images disseminated on social media and by Persian-language television channels outside Iran showed similarly large protests elsewhere in the capital, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad, Tabriz in the north, and the holy city of Qom. In the western city of Hamedan, a man was shown waving a Shah-era Iranian flag featuring the lion and the sun. Iranian embassy in London&nbsp;The same flag briefly flew over the country&#39;s embassy in London after protesters reached the building&#39;s balcony, witnesses told AFP. On Thursday and Friday, an AFP journalist in Tehran saw streets deserted and plunged into darkness. &quot;The area is not safe,&quot; said a cafe manager as he prepared to close the shop around 4:00 pm. &lsquo;Enemy seeking to disrupt order&rsquo;&nbsp;Authorities say several members of the security forces have been killed, and state television aired images on Saturday of funerals for several members of the security forces killed in the protests, including a large gathering in the southern city of Shiraz. It also aired images of buildings, including a mosque, on fire. Iran&#39;s army said in a statement that it would &quot;vigorously protect and safeguard national interests&quot; against an &quot;enemy seeking to disrupt order and peace&quot;. Global leaders have urged restraint from Iranian authorities, with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen saying Europe backed Iranians&#39; mass protests and condemned the &ldquo;violent repression&rdquo; against the demonstrators.&nbsp;

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a speech on Friday, lashed out at ‘vandals’ doing Trump's bidding; Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's deposed shah, urged Iranians to stage more targeted protests over the weekend.

Fresh protests in Iran as internet blackout persists

MONTREAL: Prime Minister Mark Carney will begin a state visit to China on Tuesday, the first in eight years for a Canadian leader, with the aim of discussing trade and rebuilding ties after years of diplomatic tensions. Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Carney last October during a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which Carney described as a &ldquo;turning point&rdquo; in the two nations&rsquo; strained relationship. The Jan. 13-17 trip seeks to &ldquo;strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, energy, agriculture and international security,&rdquo; a Carney spokeswoman told AFP. &lsquo;Huge step forward&rsquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a huge step forward,&rdquo; said Gordon Houlden, a former Canadian diplomat and director of the University of Alberta&#39;s China Institute. Houlden told AFP that if &ldquo;some of the commercial problems that are affecting our exports had a political origin, then solving the political origin may, or should, have some positive effect on the trade.&rdquo; The last Canadian leader to visit China was Justin Trudeau in December 2017. Ties withered in 2018 after the arrest of a senior executive from Chinese tech giant Huawei on a US warrant in Vancouver and China&rsquo;s retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges. China has also been accused of interfering in Canadian elections in recent years. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Second-largest trade partner</h2>Carney will meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and business leaders to advance trade negotiations, focusing on efforts to attract new investors and secure strategic partnerships. In the face of protectionism and attacks from US President Donald Trump, he will also seek to develop new markets to lessen Canada&rsquo;s economic dependence on its neighbor to the south. China is currently Canada&#39;s second-largest trade partner, with bilateral trade reaching $118.7 billion Canadian dollars ($85.3 billion) in 2024. &ldquo;This visit is important because China is obviously an inescapable superpower,&rdquo; Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada&rsquo;s ambassador to China from 2012-2016, told AFP.<h2 style="line-height: 2;"> </h2><h2 id="isPasted" style="line-height: 2;">&lsquo;The elephant in the room&rsquo;&nbsp;</h2>He said a deal on Chinese energy supplies and electric vehicles was a possible outcome from the talks. But &ldquo;the elephant in the room,&rdquo; he mentioned, is the thorny issue of tariffs. Since the summer of 2024, Ottawa and Beijing have clashed on trade, with Canada imposing tariffs on electric vehicles and Chinese steel, while Beijing has retaliated with levies on agricultural products, including canola. Economic objectives vs security priorities&nbsp;&ldquo;Whatever agreements Canada has with China will be scrutinized in Washington and might have implications&rdquo; for three-way talks with Washington and Mexico on a free trade agreement, set to be renegotiated this year, said Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Carney&#39;s challenge is &ldquo;going to be to advance economic objectives while not sacrificing our national security and economic security priorities,&rdquo; she added. After his trip to Beijing, Carney is scheduled to travel to Qatar for a bilateral visit and then head to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.

The Jan. 13-17 trip seeks to ‘strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, energy, agriculture and international security,’ a Carney spokeswoman told AFP; bilateral trade reached $118.7 billion Canadian dollars ($85.3 billion) in 2024.

Canada's Carney plans to talk trade, relations during China visit

MUMBAI: India is aggressively seeking trade deals to open markets for exporters and soften the blow of steep US tariffs, as efforts to secure an agreement with Washington remain elusive.&nbsp;Relations between Washington and New Delhi plummeted in August after President Donald Trump raised tariffs to 50 percent, a blow that threatens job losses and hurts India&#39;s ambition of becoming a manufacturing and export powerhouse.&nbsp;That pressure, experts say, has pushed New Delhi into a rapid diversification drive beyond its biggest market.&nbsp;India signed or operationalized four trade agreements last year, including a major pact with Britain &mdash; the fastest pace of deal-making it has seen in years &mdash; and is now eyeing fresh deals.&nbsp;Negotiations are underway with the European Union, the Eurasian Economic Union, Mexico, Chile and the South American Mercosur trade bloc, either for new deals or to expand existing agreements.&nbsp;If successful, India would have trade arrangements with &quot;almost every major economy,&quot; said Ajay Srivastava, from the New Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).&nbsp;Srivastava said 2025 was &quot;one of the most active years&quot; for trade agreements, which he said aimed to &quot;spread risk&quot; rather than to pivot from Washington.&nbsp;&#39;Expand its destinations&#39;Washington&#39;s punishing tariffs aimed at stopping India&#39;s purchases of Russian oil &mdash; which it says finances Moscow&#39;s invasion of Ukraine &mdash; have driven New Delhi&#39;s desire to grow other markets.&nbsp;&quot;The strategy was a reaction, as I read it, to what Trump did,&quot; trade economist Biswajit Dhar told AFP. &quot;This has now become an imperative for India to actually expand its destinations.&quot;&nbsp;Major deals will help labor-intensive sectors hurt by tariffs.&nbsp;India&#39;s apparel export promotion council projects that the UK trade deal could help double garment exports to Britain over the next three years.&nbsp;The gains from a potential EU agreement could be even bigger.&nbsp;European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, expected to visit New Delhi later in January, has said it would be the &quot;largest deal of this kind anywhere in the world&quot;.&nbsp;Although the two sides missed a deadline to conclude talks by the end of 2025 &mdash; reportedly over disputes related to steel and auto exports &mdash; Indian negotiators remain optimistic.&nbsp;German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit India and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, holding talks on &quot;intensifying cooperation in trade and investment&quot;, Modi&#39;s office said in a statement.&nbsp;Smaller agreements also matter.&nbsp;Trade between Oman and India totaled less than $11 billion last financial year, but a December deal with Muscat offers &quot;a gateway to the broader Middle East and Africa markets&quot;, and a template for a wider &quot;Gulf engagement strategy&quot;, analysts at Nomura suggested.&nbsp;And while a free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand added little to Indian export growth, it secured $20 billion in foreign investment, increased visa access and showed Washington that New Delhi is willing to compromise.&nbsp;&quot;The New Zealand FTA makes concessions on agricultural produce like apples, even though farmers here may have concerns,&quot; said an Indian commerce ministry official, who declined to be identified.&nbsp;&quot;Who says we can&#39;t be flexible?&quot;&nbsp;&#39;Eggs in one basket&#39;&nbsp;India&#39;s goods exports rose a surprising 19 percent in November 2025, reversing an October decline.&nbsp;While the surge was helped by electronics shipments &mdash; still exempt from US tariffs &mdash; marine product exports also posted gains.&nbsp;&quot;Diversification has certainly happened,&quot; KN Raghavan, of the Seafood Exporter Association of India said.&nbsp;&quot;We have increased exports to the EU and China,&quot; he said, adding they were the top markets after the United States.&nbsp;But exporters caution that alternative markets cannot fully replace the United States, with Raghavan saying a US deal is &quot;paramount&quot;.&nbsp;That remains in limbo.&nbsp;India&#39;s imports of Russian oil fell sharply in December to 1.2 million barrels per day from 1.8 million per day in November, according to Kpler trade data.&nbsp;It is unclear if that will be enough for Trump.&nbsp;Pankaj Chadha, chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council, said diversification had become a necessity to lessen dependence on the &quot;biggest and the most lucrative&quot; market.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s better not to put all your eggs in one basket,&quot; he said.

Experts says the pressure from the United States to stop buying Russian oil has pushed New Delhi into a rapid diversification drive beyond its biggest market.
