WORLD
Gridlock in US Congress over Speaker election raises national security fears
This is the longest speaker contest in 164 years of the Congress. Even as McCarthy kept his negotiation process with hopeless optimism with the 20-member group of extreme right-wing hardliners in the GOP members successfully derailed McCarthy, despite his receiving support from right wingers led by former President Donald Trump.
Democratic officials' homes, offices shot at in US
"We're worried and concerned that these are connected and possibly politically motivated or personally motivated ... but we don't know that for a fact," Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said at a press conference via the Albuquerque Police Department's Facebook livestream, Xinhua news agency reported. During the shootings, multiple rounds have been fired into the doors and walls of these officials' homes or offices, in some cases while the officials were inside with their families. No one has been hurt.
Speaker vote: US House adjourns as McCarthy seeks to flip more Republican holdouts
McCarthy, a Republican from California, picked up more than a dozen votes from conservative hardliners on Friday afternoon but still failed to clinch the necessary votes to be elected the new House Speaker, Xinhua news agency reported. "I'll have the votes," McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill after the House adjourned to allow more time for negotiations. "I believe we'll have the votes to finish this once and for all." Among the offers that McCarthy has made to win over his opponents include lowering the threshold to force a vote on ousting the House Speaker.
Operation to capture drug lord El Chapo's son leaves 29 dead in Mexico
The capture of Ovidio Guzman on Thursday left 19 assailants and 10 military troops dead and 35 others wounded, Sandoval was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. Army and National Guard troops led the operation to capture Ovidio Guzman, a leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, leading to armed clashes and the exchange of heavy gunfire in the Jesus Maria district of the city of Culiacan.
Ally claims attempts being made to kill Imran Khan by 'slow poison'
Rashid made these remarks on Friday while addressing an "anti-inflation protest rally" outside his Lal Haveli residence in Rawalpindi. "Now they are conspiring to eliminate Imran Khan through slow poison as they don't want to contest elections against him," he added, Express Tribune reported.
Russia to refrain from UNSC discussions over Syrian chemical weapons issue
"It is a pity that this year begins with another briefing on the Syrian chemical file. Those meetings are getting on nerves due to their complete lack of added value," Xinhua news agency quoted Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the UN, as saying. Thursday morning's meeting on the Syrian nuclear weapons issue was the first open event of the Security Council for 2023. "Alongside with other council members, we underscored repeatedly that there is no point in raising this topic every month just 'for show' to serve the internal political tasks of a number of Western states.
State Bank of Pakistan's forex reserves fall by $245 mn
During the week ending on December 30, 2022, the total foreign exchange reserves of the Pakistani central bank fell to around $5.57 billion, Xinhua news agency quoted the SBP as saying in a statement issued on Thursday night. The decrease was "due to external debt repayment," the statement said. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks came at $5.84 billion, the central bank said.
War plunges Ukraine's GDP to record 30.4% in 2022
"In 2022, the Ukrainian economy suffered its largest losses and damage in the entire history of independence," Xinhua news agency quoted Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko as saying. In December 2022, Ukraine's GDP declined 34 per cent due to a certain stabilisation of the situation with energy supply, after a fall of 37 per cent in November, the Ministry said.
Erdogan says he may meet Syrian President for peace
"We will bring our Foreign Ministers together and then, depending on developments, we will come together as leaders," Erdogan said at a party meeting on Thursday. "Our objective is to ensure peace and tranquility in the region, and to let peace prevail in the region," he added. On December 28, 2022, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and Head of the National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan met their Syrian counterparts Ali Mahmoud Abbas and Ali Mamlouk, respectively, in Moscow. This was the first high-level contact between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Pak rejects reports of carrying out airstrikes against TTP in Afghanistan
The FO statement came hours after an Afghan newspaper, Hasht-e-Subh Daily, reported that Pakistan launched an air strike on TTP strongholds in the Nangarhar province, and bombed targets in the Salala neighbourhood in the vicinity of Gushta district, The Express Tribune reported. While responding to media queries, FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch dismissed the report.
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