TRUMP AVOIDS ESCALATING CRISIS, SAYS IRAN IS 'STANDING DOWN' US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Iranian missile strikes on bases in Iraq had not harmed any US troops stationed there and damage was minimal, an outcome, he said, showed Tehran wanted to prevent an escalation into conflict. Iranian forces fired missiles at military bases housing US troops in Iraq early on Wednesday, saying it was in retaliation for the killing in a US drone strike of powerful Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani on January 3. "All of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases," Trump said. "Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world." "The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we have to use it. We do not want to use it," the US President said in an address. There was no immediate reaction from Iranian officials to Trump's comments. The semi-official Fars news agency described the US President's remarks as a "big retreat from threats." Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who earlier on Wednesday addressed a gathering of Iranians chanting "Death to America", said Iran's attacks were a "slap on the face" of the US and said US troops should leave the region. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had said the strikes "concluded" Tehran's response to the killing of Soleimani, who had been responsible for building up Iran's network of proxy armies across the Middle East. "We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression," he tweeted. Trump's reaction in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday's attacks had been to say on Twitter that "All is well!" and that Washington was assessing the damage. That early tweet and the comment by Iran's foreign minister had acted to soothe some initial concerns about a wider war and calmed jittery financial markets. Oil prices slipped back after an early spike. US and European government sources said they believed Iran had deliberately sought to avoid US military casualties in its missile strikes to prevent an escalation. But an Iranian Army spokesman had denied "foreign media reports" suggesting there had been some kind of coordination between Iran and the US before the attack to allow bases to be evacuated, Fars news agency said. Iranian television had said 80 "American terrorists" had been killed, without saying how it obtained this information. Germany, Denmark, Norway and Poland said none of their troops in Iraq were hurt. Britain, which also has personnel in Iraq, condemned the Iranian action. Iraq said its forces did not suffer casualties. UKRAINIAN AIRCRAFT CRASHES IN IRAN, ALL 176 ON BOARD KILLED A Ukrainian airliner crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board, mainly Iranians and Canadians. Search-and-rescue teams were combing through the smoking wreckage of the Boeing 737 flight from Tehran to Kiev but officials said there was no hope of finding anyone alive. The vast majority of the passengers on the Ukraine International Airlines flight were non-Ukrainians, including 82 Iranians and 63 Canadians, officials said. The crash occurred with tensions high in the Middle East and shortly after Tehran launched missiles at bases in Iraq housing US troops. But there was no immediate indication of foul play and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against "speculating" on the cause of the disaster. The US aviation authority said it had banned US-registered carriers from flying over Iraq, Iran and the Gulf, and airlines including Lufthansa and Air France suspended flights through Iraqi and Iranian airspace. Footage released by Iranian state media showed that the plane caught fire after crashing, but a video aired by the state broadcaster appeared to show the plane already on fire as it fell down. A statement posted on the Ukrainian embassy website in Iran saying the crash was caused by an engine malfunction and ruling out an act of terror was later redacted, saying all information would be provided by an official commission. Iran says won't give Americans crashed plane's black box Tehran: Iran's aviation authority said it would not hand over to Americans the recovered black box of a Boeing 737. "We will not give the black box to the manufacturer (Boeing) and the Americans," Iran Civil Aviation Organisation head Ali Abedzadeh said, quoted by Mehr news agency. "It's not yet clear which country the black box will go to for the investigation," he added. "This accident will be investigated by Iran's aviation organisation but the Ukrainians can also be present during the incident's investigation," he added. CARLOS GHOSN HITS OUT AT NISSAN AND JAPAN Carlos Ghosn, speaking publicly for the first since his dramatic escape from Japanese justice, told reporters in Beirut he had been treated "brutally" by Tokyo prosecutors and was the victim of a conspiracy to oust him from the helm of automaker Nissan. Wearing a blue suit and red tie and speaking defiantly, the one-time titan of the car industry told a packed news conference on Wednesday he would not have faced a fair trial in Japan and would have been tied up in appeals there for five years. The 65-year-old fled Japan last month where he was awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies. Mr. Ghosn said he had escaped to his childhood home of Lebanon to clear his name. He declined to say how he fled, noting there were conflicting stories about his departure. "You are going to die in Japan or you are going to have to get out," he said, describing his feelings. "I felt like the hostage of a country I served for 17 years," he told reporters crowded into Lebanon's seaside Beirut press syndicate. Others waited outside in heavy rain, including some Japanese media who had been excluded from the briefing. "The charges against me are baseless," Mr. Ghosn added, repeating his allegation that Nissan and Japanese authorities colluded to oust him following a downturn in Nissan's fortunes and in revenge for French government interference in the carmaker's alliance with Renault. AMID SPAT WITH CHINA, INDONESIA DEPLOYS WARSHIPS TO PATROL ISLANDS Indonesia has deployed fighter jets and warships to patrol islands near the disputed South China Sea, the military said Wednesday, escalating tensions with Beijing after a diplomatic spat over "trespassing" Chinese vessels. President Joko Widodo also headed Wednesday to the fishing-rich waters around the Natuna islands, which border the South China Sea, most of which is claimed by China despite competing claims from other Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. The Indonesian military said it had deployed eight warships and four jet fighters ahead of Widodo's visit in an apparent bid to assert its sovereignty over the region. "I have said many times Natuna is our sovereign territory," Widodo told reporters. "There is nothing to be debated...I hope this is clear." A Chinese coast guard vessel was spotted in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone Wednesday, the government said. "We have deployed eight warships," said Navy spokesman Fajar Tri Rohadi. The air force said fighter jets had also been deployed. "(But) our personnel have been told that we are not going to make provocations but rather protect our territory," said Air Commodore Ronny Irianto Moningka. China's foreign ministry downplayed the incident and said there was "no dispute over territorial sovereignty" between Beijing and Jakarta -- though the two have "overlapping claims for maritime rights" in the South China Sea. PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN TO 'STEP BACK' FROM ROYAL DUTIES IN EXTRAORDINARY RETREAT Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will step back as senior members of the royal family and spend more time in North America, the couple said in a historic statement Wednesday. "We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the royal family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen," they said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace. "After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution," they added. "We now plan to balance our time between the UK and North America." The shock news follows a turbulent year for the royal family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent Christmas in Canada after speaking of the pressure of being in the spotlight following their wedding and son Archie's birth in May. They had previously announced they would miss Christmas with Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the royal family.