BLASTS HIT BAGHDAD AREA AS IRAQIS MOURN IRANIAN GENERALSeveral blasts shook the Baghdad area hours after a huge funeral processionfor a top Iranian general, killed by a US air strike there on Friday.A projectile hit the Green Zone near the US embassy while several more werefired north of the Iraqi capital at Balad air base, which houses US forces.Nobody was hurt in the attacks, Iraqi security sources said.No group said it was behind the development. Pro-Iranian militants have beenblamed for other recent attacks.Iranian leaders have vowed to avenge the killing of Qasem Soleimani, who wasregarded as a terrorist by the US.Iraqis were also mourning the death of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi whocommanded the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah group and was killed alongwith Soleimani.In another development, the group issued a warning to Iraqi security forcesto "stay clear of American bases by a distance not less [than] 1,000m (0.6miles) starting Sunday evening", al-Mayadeen TV reported.DONALD TRUMP: US TARGETING 52 IRANIAN SITES IF TEHRAN ATTACKS AMERICANSDonald Trump warned Saturday that the U.S. is targeting 52 sites in Iran andwill hit them "very fast and very hard" if the Islamic republic attacksAmerican personnel or assets.In a tweet defending Friday's drone strike assassination of a top Iraniangeneral in Iraq, Mr. Trump said 52 represents the number of Americans heldhostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran for more than a year starting in late1979.Mr. Trump said some of these sites are "at a very high level & important toIran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HITVERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!"Mr. Trump took to Twitter after pro-Iran factions ramped up pressure on U.S.installations across Iraq with missiles and warnings to Iraqi troops - partof an outburst of fury over the killing of Soleimani, described as thesecond most-powerful man in Iran.The attack has prompted fears of a major conflagration in the Middle East.In the first hints of a possible retaliatory response, two mortar rounds hitan area near the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, security sources toldAFP.Almost simultaneously, two rockets slammed into the Al-Balad airbase whereAmerican troops are deployed, security sources said.The Iraqi military confirmed the missile attacks in Baghdad and on al-Baladand said there were no casualties. The U.S. military also said no coalitiontroops were hurt.NATO SUSPENDS IRAQ MISSIONSBrussels: NATO has suspended its training missions in Iraq, a spokesman forthe alliance said on Saturday following the US killing of Iranian militarycommander Qassem Soleimani. The NATO mission in Iraq, which consists ofseveral hundred personnel, trains the country's security forces at therequest of the Baghdad government to prevent the return of the Islamic Statejihadist group. "NATO's mission is continuing, but training activities arecurrently suspended," said the spokesman, Dylan White.WASHINGTON RESUMES MILITARY TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR PAK, GETS TACIT SUPPORTNew Delhi/Islamabad: In exchange for resumption of military cooperation,Pakistan has extended tacit support to the US. Pakistan has remainedconspicuous by its silence over the strikes. Sources said Pakistan, whichblamed Soleimani for Baloch militant attacks, found an opportunity to "killtwo birds with one stone" when the US sought its support after the Iranoperation. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took Pakistan Army chief intoconfidence after the air strike against the IRGC. Soon after, the USauthorised resumption of Pakistan's participation in the much-covetedInternational Military Education and Training Programme (IMET).CHINA REMOVES HK LIAISON OFFICER AMID PRO-DEMOCRACY PROTESTSThe Chinese Government today replaced its top official in Hong Kong, daysafter President Xi Jinping expressed concern over the continuingpro-democracy protests posing a major challenge to the ruling Communistparty.Wang Zhimin, the director of its liaison office in Hong Kong who coordinatesbetween the local government of the former British colony and the centralgovernment in Beijing, has been replaced, official media here reported.Wang was replaced by Luo Huining, the former party boss of Shaanxi province,in the first major reshuffle of the office since the city became embroiledin anti-government protests seven months ago.Though Hong Kong is governed by beleaguered pro-Beijing Chief Executive,Carrie Lam, who so far failed to quell the protests which grew in intensity,much of responsibility over policy and planning has been coordinated byWang. China's liaison office in Hong Kong, which is the symbol of Beijing'sauthority, has also become a centre of pro-democracy protests where theprotesters have burnt the Chinese flag.3K ARMY RESERVISTS ASKED TO BATTLE AUSSIE FIRESSkies turned black and ash rained down as fires raged across southeasternAustralia on Saturday, threatening power supplies to major cities andprompting the call-up of 3,000 military reservists.Temperature records were smashed, and gale-force winds pounded fire-strickencoastal communities in the two most populous states New South Wales andVictoria.New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned that worst-case scenarioprojections were "coming to fruition", although large-scale evacuationsmeant the human toll was minimised.Since late September, 23 people have died, more than 1,500 homes have beendamaged and an area roughly twice the size of Belgium or Hawaii has burned.The latest fatalities were in Kangaroo Island - a tourist haven southwest ofAdelaide - when two people were trapped in a car overrun by flames onFriday.Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the largest military call-up inliving memory, mobilising 3,000 reservists to assist thousands of volunteerfirefighters who have been battling the blazes."Today's decision puts more boots on the ground, puts more planes in thesky, puts more ships at sea," said Morrison, who made the announcement afterbeing pilloried for his response to the deadly disaster.'EUROPE SECURES RELEASE OF 11 N KOREAN DEFECTORS'A group of 11 North Koreans, who were detained in Vietnam while seeking todefect to South Korea, have been released thanks to the help of Europeaninstitutions, a Seoul-based activist group today said.The eight women and three men were caught by border guards in northernVietnam in late November after crossing from China, and had been held in thenortheastern border city of Lang Son. Peter Jung, who heads the grouphelping the refugees, Justice for North Korea, said they were freed and ontheir way to South Korea last month.Multiple European organisations played a key role, he said.The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that US officials, includingdiplomats engaged in denuclearisation talks with North Korea, intervened tosecure the defectors' release, citing unidentified sources. But Jung said hewas unaware of any US contribution. South Korea's foreign ministry said onSaturday that the WSJ report was "not factual", but said the government hadmade immediate efforts to prevent the defectors from being forciblyrepatriated. It refused to elaborate.JAKARTA FLOODS: 53 DEAD IN LANDSLIDES, FLASH FLOODS IN INDONESIA'S CAPITALLandslides and floods triggered by torrential downpours have left at least53 people dead in and around Indonesia's capital, as rescuers struggled tosearch for people apparently buried under tons of mud, officials saidSaturday.Monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged a dozen districts in the greaterJakarta area and caused landslides that buried at least a dozen people.National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said thefatalities included those who had drowned or been electrocuted since riversbroke their banks early Wednesday after extreme torrential rains hit on NewYear's Eve. Three elderly people died of hypothermia.It's the worst flooding in the area since 2007, when 80 people were killedover 10 days.Rescuers recovered more bodies as flash floods and mudslides destroyedSukamulia village in Bogor district. They were searching for a villager whowas missing in a landslide in Lebak, a district in neighboring Bantenprovince, Wibowo said.The number of fatalities was expected to increase, with rescuers andvillagers also searching for at least three people believed to be buried inanother landslide in Cigudeg village in Bogor district, said Ridwan, thevillage's secretary, who goes by a single name.Ridwan said bad weather, blackouts and mudslides were hampering rescueefforts. He said rescuers on Saturday managed to reach eight hamlets thathad been isolated for days by cut-off roads and mudslides and rescued morethan 1,700 villagers in weak condition.Four days after the region of 30 million people was struck by flash floods,waters have receded in many middle-class districts, but conditions remainedgrim in narrow riverside alleys where the city's poor live.