TAIWAN BEGINS VOTING WITH FUTURE OF ITS DEMOCRACY ON THE LINEThe future of Taiwan's democracy is on the line as the self-ruled island's19 million voters decide on whether to give independence-leaning PresidentTsai Ing-wen a second term.Voting began at 8 a.m. on January 11 and wraps up at 4 p.m. The vote countwill begin soon after, with results expected later in the evening.For many in Taiwan, months of protests in Hong Kong have cast in starkrelief the contrast between their democratically governed island andauthoritarian, communist-ruled mainland China.Tsai said the election was a chance to protect Taiwan's democracy."Let's get out there and vote tomorrow, let us tell the world with our ownvotes that Taiwanese are determined to defend sovereignty, determined toguard democracy and determined to persist in reforms," she said at a rallylate Friday.Tsai's Nationalist Party challenger, Han Kuo-yu, has said Taiwan should bemore open to negotiations with China, in contrast to Tsai, who has dismissedBeijing's overtures. At his last rally, attended by hundreds of thousands ofpeople in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, he focused on practicalissues such as improving education and the economy. "I want to attractmassive investments. I want products to be exported non-stop," he said.A win by Tsai is anticipated to draw more diplomatic, economic and militarypressure from Beijing on the island, in a continuation of President XiJinping's campaign to compel her administration to endorse its insistencethat Taiwan is a part of China.Tsai has refused to do so, maintaining that Beijing has no claim overTaiwan, although her government has repeatedly called for the reopening oftalks between the sides without preconditions.If reelected, Tsai will face challenges in trying to reform the governmentand economy and push through unpopular cuts in generous civil servicepensions.US ANNOUNCES NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN AFTER MISSILE STRIKESThe Trump administration on Friday announced a new wave of sanctions on Iranfollowing this week's missile strikes by the Islamic Republic on U.S. basesin Iraq.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin saidthe new sanctions will target eight senior Iranian officials involved in"destabilising" activities in the Middle East as well as Tuesday's missilestrike, which came in retaliation for the US killing of a senior Iraniangeneral in a drone strike.Mr. Mnuchin said President Donald Trump will issue an executive orderimposing sanctions on anyone involved in the Iranian textile, construction,manufacturing or mining sectors.They will also impose separate sanctions against the steel and iron sectors."As a result of these actions we will cut off billions of dollars of supportto the Iranian regime," the treasury secretary said.THOUSANDS OF IRAQIS RALLY AGAINST GOVERNMENT, IRAN, USThousands of Iraqis rallied across the country on Friday, reviving amonths-long protest movement against the government and adding criticisms ofboth the US and Iran to their chants.The anti-regime demonstrations had been overshadowed recently by spirallingtensions between Tehran and Washington, which led each country to carry outstrikes against the other's assets in Iraq over the last week.Fearing their movement would be eclipsed by war, Iraqi activists postedcalls on social media in recent days for a mass protest on Friday, whichmarked the inverse date, 10/1, of the first rallies on October 1, or 1/10.Iraqis turned out across the country, with hundreds streaming into thecapital's Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the anti-regime movement, AFPjournalists said."Screw Iran! Screw America!" they cried out in the iconic square, stilllined with tents and stalls set up three months ago.Thousands more took to the streets in the country's Shiite-majority south,including the main protest hotspots of Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, the oil-richport city of Basra and the twin shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.Protesters in Karbala clashed overnight with security forces and others werearrested in Basra on Friday."By relaunching the protests, we're showing our commitment to the demands ofthe October revolution: that our leaders stop monopolising our country'sresources," said Haydar Kazem, protesting in Nasiriyah.Transparency International ranks Iraq the 12th most corrupt country in theworld.'AGGRESSIVE' RUSSIAN NAVAL SHIP NEARLY CAUSED COLLISION IN ARABIAN SEA:PENTAGONThe Pentagon on Friday claimed that a Russian naval ship very nearlycollided with a US Navy destroyer in the Arabian Sea due to its 'aggressive'actions.In a video released by the US Navy 5th fleet, it said that the Russian shipignored collision warning blasts from the USS Farragut and came "extremelyclose" before turning away and narrowly averting a crash."While the Russian ship took action, the initial delay in complying withinternational rules while it was making an aggressive approach increased therisk of collision," the fleet said in a statement."The Russian ship initially refused but ultimately altered course and thetwo ships opened distance from one another," the statement added.The video shows the Russian vessel rapidly approaching the stern of USwarship. It ignored five short blasts sounded by the Farragut, theinternational maritime signal for collision danger.The USS Farragut was in the region as a part of the strike group attached tothe USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier deployed to ease the tensions withIran rose.IRAQ ASKS U.S. FOR TEAM TO PREPARE TROOP PULLOUTIraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi has asked the United States tosend a delegation to Baghdad to begin preparing for a troop pullout, hisoffice said on Friday.In a phone call late on Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,Mr. Abdel Mahdi "requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set themechanisms to implement Parliament's decision for the secure withdrawal of(foreign) forces from Iraq."Some 5,200 U.S. soldiers are stationed at bases across Iraq to support localtroops preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State group.They make up the bulk of a broader U.S.-led coalition, invited by the Iraqigovernment in 2014 to help combat the jihadists. Their deployment was basedon an executive-to-executive agreement never ratified by Iraq's Parliament.But on Sunday, Iraq's Parliament voted in favour of rescinding thatinvitation and ousting all foreign troops.The following day, U.S. commanders sent a letter to their counterparts inBaghdad saying they were preparing for "movement out of Iraq".Signed copiesThe letter said the coalition would "be repositioning forces over the courseof the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement".The Pentagon said the letter was a draft sent by mistake but Mr. Abdel Mahdidisputed that account, saying his office had received signed and translatedcopies. He has demanded clarification from Washington of its intentions,while the U.S.-led coalition said on Thursday that it too was seekingclarity on the legal ramifications of Parliament's vote.IRAN WAS TARGETING FOUR US EMBASSIES, SAYS TRUMPIran was planning attacks on four US embassies when its top general waskilled, President Donald Trump says.When asked what threat led to last Friday's US drone strike, he told FoxNews: "I can reveal that I believe it probably would've been fourembassies."The killing of Gen Qasem Soleimani, a national hero, came after days ofprotests at the US embassy in Baghdad.But Democrats given intelligence briefings on the fatal strike say they haveseen no evidence of embassy plots.Mr Trump first made the embassy claim at the White House on Thursday andrepeated it that night at a rally in Ohio.He was also backed up by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo."We had specific information on an imminent threat and those includedattacks on US embassies. Period, full stop," said Mr Pompeo as he announcednew sanctions against Iran.WHITE HOUSE CONSIDERING DRAMATIC EXPANSION OF TRAVEL BANThe White House is considering dramatically expanding its much-litigatedtravel ban to additional countries amid a renewed election-year focus onimmigration by President Donald Trump, according to six people familiar withthe deliberations.A document outlining the plans _ timed to coincide with the thirdanniversary of Trump's January 2017 executive order _ has been circulatingthe White House. But the countries that would be affected if it movesforward are blacked out, according to two of the people, who spoke to TheAssociated Press on condition of anonymity because the measure has yet to befinalized.It's unclear exactly how many countries would be included in the expansionif it proceeds, but two of the people said that seven countries _ a majorityof them Muslim _ would be added to the list. The most recent iteration ofthe ban includes restrictions on five majority-Muslim nations: Iran, Libya,Somalia, Syria and Yemen, as well as Venezuela and North Korea.PAKISTAN NOT TO TAKE PART IN ANYONE ELSE'S WAR, SAYS IMRAN KHAN ON US-IRANCONFLICTWhile again offering mediation between the US and Iran, Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan reiterated that Islamabad would not become part ofanyone else's war but would try to resolve differences between warringstates."Pakistan will not become a part of any war because we had committedmistakes in the past by taking part in the wars of others," Dawn news quotedKhan as saying at an event on Thursday."Today I want to present my foreign policy that we are not going to repeatour mistakes of getting involved in others' wars. Pakistan will become acountry which will make peace among states," he added.He said Pakistan would try its best to resolve confrontation between Iranand Saudi Arabia as well as between Iran and the US."We will try to restore friendly ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia. I havealso offered to US President Donald Trump that Pakistan is ready to mediatebetween Iran and the US to resolve differences between them."Nobody emerges victorious from wars...Now Pakistan will not fight wars butwill bring countries together."Ever since tensions have heightened in the Middle East following the deathof Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani in a US drone attack on January 3in Baghdad, Pakistan has stood by its decision not to become party in theregional conflict.Pakistan had on Sunday reaffirmed its resolve not to become a part of anyconflict in the region and renewed its offer for mediating in the MiddleEast crisis, Dawn news reported.HELL AND ICE WATER: GLACIER MELT THREATENS PAKISTAN'S FUTUREThe villagers of Hassanabad live in constant fear. Above them the vastShisper glacier dominates the landscape: A river of jagged black ice movingtowards them at as much as four metres per day.Climate change is causing most glaciers worldwide to shrink, but due to ameteorological anomaly this is one of a few in the Karakoram mountain rangein northern Pakistan that are surging.This means hundreds of tonnes of ice and debris are pushing down the valleyat ten times the normal rate or more, threatening the safety of the peopleand homes below."People's lives, properties and animals are in danger," warns villager BasirAli.Flash floods caused by glacial lakes, ice and rock falls, and a lack ofclean and accessible water are all serious risks for those close to itspath."When a glacial lake bursts there is an enormous amount of not only ice,water and debris that falls through, but also mud and this has devastatingeffects, it basically destroys everything that comes in its way," saidIgnacio Artaza of UNDP Pakistan.But repercussions of the Shisper glacier surge extend far beyond its path:The mighty Indus river is reliant on seasonal melt for more than half of itsflow and changes in Pakistan's ice fields affect this.That has implications not just for those living in its basin, but for thewhole nation, which relies on it for much of its food.Shifting water levels also have implications for the fragile relationshipbetween nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India.Already ranked among the planet's most water-stressed nations according tothe World Resources Institute, both need the Indus and its tributaries.15 KILLED, 20 INJURED IN BLAST AT MOSQUE IN PAKISTAN'S QUETTAA powerful blast at a mosque during Friday evening prayers killed at least15 people, including an Imam and a senior police officer, and left 20 othersinjured in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, three days after a bombexplosion claimed two lives in Quetta.The nature of the explosion, which occurred inside the mosque during Maghribprayers in Ghousabad neighbourhood, was not immediately known, Dawnnewspaper reported.Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Amanullah was among the 15 peoplekilled in the incident, Quetta Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Abdul RazzaqCheema said.According to some media reports, the slain police officer was the likelytarget. Last month, unidentified gunmen killed the DSP's son in Quetta, TheExpress Tribune reported. Twenty others were also injured in the blast, thereport said. Law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area toinvestigate the incident.The mosque, which is located in a densely-populated Pashtun-majority area,was being searched be the bomb disposal squad and security personnel.OMAN'S SULTAN QABOOS DIES AGED 79: STATE MEDIAOman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said died on Friday evening, state media said earlyon Saturday without mentioning a cause of death, and a three-day period ofnational mourning was declared.Western-backed Qaboos, 79, had ruled the Gulf Arab state since he took overin a bloodless coup in 1970 with the help of Oman's former colonial powerBritain.Qaboos had no children and had not publicly appointed a successor. A 1996statute says the ruling family will choose a successor within three days ofthe throne becoming vacant.If they fail to agree, a council of military and security officials, supremecourt chiefs and heads of the two consultative assemblies will put in powerthe person whose name has been secretly written by the sultan in a sealedletter.A three-day period of official mourning for the public and private sectorshas been declared, and flags are to be flown at half mast for 40 days, statemedia said.