CHINA SAYS WON'T CHANGE POSITION ON TAIWAN AFTER LANDSLIDE ELECTIONChina will not change its position that Taiwan belongs to it and the worldwill only ever recognise that there is "one China", Beijing said on Sundayafter President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election and said she would not submitto China's threats.China's ramped up efforts to get democratic Taiwan to accept Beijing's ruleunder a "one country, two systems" model, as well as anti-governmentprotests in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, dominated the election campaign.China says Taiwan is its territory. Taiwan says it is an independent countrycalled the Republic of China, its formal name.Tsai won another four-year term by a landslide, and her DemocraticProgressive Party (DPP) also gained a majority in parliament.Speaking on Saturday after the scale of her victory become clear, Tsaicalled for talks to resume with China, but said she hoped Beijing understoodTaiwan and its people won't submit to intimidation.China's Foreign Ministry, responding to the vote, said Taiwan was aninternal affair for China."No matter what changes there are to the internal situation in Taiwan, thebasic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part ofChina will not change," the ministry said in a statement.The Chinese government will not change its stance sticking to the "oneChina" principle and opposing Taiwan independence, it added.FOUR IRAQI SERVICEMEN WOUNDED IN ROCKET ATTACK ON IRAQ BASE HOSTING U.S.TROOPSFour members of Iraq's military were wounded Sunday in a rocket attacktargeting an air base just north of Baghdad where American trainers werepresent until recently, Iraqi security officials said.The attack by at least six rockets came just days after Iran fired ballisticmissiles at two bases in Iraq that house U.S. forces, causing no casualties.There are no Americans currently at Balad airbase and there were none duringthe attack, according to a coalition spokesperson. The base had hostedAmerican trainers, advisers and a company that provides maintenance servicesfor F-16 aircraft, according to an Iraqi defense official who spoke oncondition of anonymity in line with regulations.Recent heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran were sparked last monthwhen a rocket attack killed an American contractor at a base in Iraq. TheU.S. has blamed that attack and others on Iran-backed militias.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet Sunday that hewas"outraged" by the attacks."Outraged by reports of another rocket attack on an Iraqi airbase," hetweeted. "I pray for the speed recovery of the injured and call on thegovernment of Iraq to hold those responsible for these attacks accountable.""These continued violations of Iraq's sovereignty by groups not loyal to theIraqi government must end," he added.No group claimed responsibility for the attack.IRAN PLANE DOWNING: SECOND DAY OF PROTESTS TURNS UP HEAT ON LEADERSIran's leaders have faced a second day of protests following their admissionthe military shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 peopleon board, many of them Iranians.Protesters in Tehran and in several other cities chanted slogans against theleadership.Clashes with security forces and the firing of tear gas are reported.Iran admitted "unintentionally" hitting the plane after initially denyingit, amid rising tensions with the US.Dozens of Iranians and Canadians, as well as nationals from Ukraine, the UK,Afghanistan and Sweden died on the plane.Demonstrators attended new protests despite a large deployment of securityforces.Riot police, members of the elite Revolutionary Guard on motorbikes, andplainclothes security officials were out in force.In one apparently symbolic act rejecting state propaganda, video showedstudents taking care not to walk over US and Israeli flags painted on theground at Shahid Beheshti university in Tehran.In some social media clips, protesters can be heard chanting anti-governmentslogans, including: "They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy isright here." Many of the protesters are women."DON'T KILL YOUR PROTESTERS, US IS WATCHING," TRUMP TELLS IRANUS President Donald Trump warned Iran Sunday against killing protesters whohave risen up over the regime's downing of a civilian airliner as hisdefense secretary left the door open to talks with Tehran withoutpreconditions.Trump's salvo came as Iran's Islamic regime faced a challenge from angrystreet protests, having come to the brink of war with the US after a seriesof tit-for-tat confrontations."To the leaders of Iran -- DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS," Trump tweeted,warning that the world and "more importantly, the USA is watching."In an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation" just before the tweet, USDefense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump was still willing to hold talks withIran's leaders. "We're willing to sit down and discuss without preconditiona new way forward, a series of steps by which Iran becomes a more normalcountry,"aid.And if something happened to the protesters? Esper replied: "The presidenthas drawn no preconditions other than to say we're willing to meet with theIranian government."IRAN'S ONLY FEMALE OLYMPIC MEDALIST REPORTEDLY DEFECTSIran's only woman Olympic medalist said she defected from the IslamicRepublic and fled to the Netherlands in an online letter that describesherself as "one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran." Taekwondoathlete Kimia Alizadeh accused Iranian officials of sexism and mistreatment."Whatever they said, I wore," Ms. Alizadeh wrote in the letter postedSaturday. "Every sentence they ordered, I repeated."She described the decision to leave Iran as difficult, but necessary.There was no immediate reaction from Iranian authorities. ISNA said Ms.Alizadeh had been reported injured and unable to compete. Their reportsuggested Ms. Alizadeh may try to compete under another nation's flag at the2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.Ms. Alizadeh, 21, won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.In recent years, many Iranian athletes have left their country, citinggovernment pressure. In September, Saeed Mollaei, an Iranian judoka, leftthe country for Germany. He said Iranian officials had forced him to notcompete with Israeli judoka.Alireza Faghani, an Iranian international soccer referee, also left Iran forAustralia last year.NIGER GOVERNMENT REVISES TOLL OF JIHADIST ATTACK TO 89A jihadist attack on a military camp in western Niger on January 9 left 89soldiers dead, according to a new toll announced by the government on publicradio on January 12."After a thorough search, the toll has been established as 89 dead amongfriendly forces, and 77 dead for the enemy," said spokesman ZakariaAbdourahame.The previous toll given for the attack on the Chinegodar camp on January 9was 25 soldiers killed.Three days of national mourning have been declared to honour the dead.Heavily armed assailants had stormed the military base in an area wheredozens also died in a previous jihadist attack.The raid near to the volatile frontier with Mali was carried out byattackers in vehicles and on motorbikes.The attack happened in the same region Tillaberi, also bordering BurkinaFaso, where 71 Niger soldiers were killed in a December attack, claimed bythe Islamic State group, that saw hundreds of jihadists storm a camp nearthe border with Mali with artillery.The latest attack is the deadliest on Niger's military since Islamistextremist violence began to spill over from neighbouring Mali in 2015.PAK FM QURESHI EMBARKS ON VISIT TO IRAN, SAUDI AMIDST REGIONAL TENSIONPakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday embarked on avisit to Iran and Saudi Arabia amidst regional tension over the killing of atop Iranian general in a US drone strike in Iraq.Mr. Qureshi's visit came after Prime Minister Imran Khan directed him totravel to the region following the tension between the US and Iran.Mr. Khan has said that Pakistan, which shares its border with Iran, will notbe party to any regional conflict and rather play the role of a peacemaker.Pakistan's powerful military has also said it will not allow its soil to beused against anyone.In Tehran, Mr. Qureshi will meet his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif andexchange views on the evolving situation in the Middle East and Gulf region,the Foreign Office said.From Tehran, he will visit Riyadh on January 13 to hold talks with SaudiForeign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and consult on the issues ofregional peace and stability."The recent developments seriously endanger peace and security in an alreadyvolatile region and underscore the need for immediate and collective effortsfor a peaceful resolution," the FO said.During these visits, Mr. Qureshi will share Pakistan's perspective on thecurrent situation, stress the imperative of avoiding any conflict,underscore the importance of diffusion of tensions, and stress the need forfinding a diplomatic way forward, it said.The Foreign Minister will convey Pakistan's readiness to support all effortsthat facilitate resolution of differences and disputes through political anddiplomatic means, the FO said.TAAL VOLCANO: LAVA SPEWS AS 'HAZARDOUS ERUPTION' FEAREDA volcano in the Philippines has begun spewing lava, as authorities warnthat a "hazardous eruption" is possible "within hours or days".In the early hours of Monday weak lava began flowing out of Taal volcano-located some 70km (45 miles) south of the capital Manila.It comes after it emitted a huge plume of ash triggering the evacuation ofsome 8,000 people from the area.Taal is the Philippines' second most active volcano.It is one of the world's smallest volcanoes and has recorded at least 34eruptions in the past 450 years."Taal volcano entered a period of intense unrest... that progressed intomagmatic eruption at 02:49 to 04:28... this is characterised by weak lavafountaining accompanied by thunder and flashes of lightning," the PhilippineInstitute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said in a statement.But PHIVOLCS director Renato Solidum said that signs of a hazardouseruption, including "flows of ashes, rocks, gas at speeds of more than 60kph horizontally" had not yet occurred, according to CNN Philippines.PHIVOLCS has now raised the alert level from 3 to 4, out of a maximum of 5.RETIRED POPE BENEDICT WARNS FRANCIS AGAINST RELAXING PRIESTLY CELIBACY RULESRetired Pope Benedict XVI has issued a defence of priestly celibacy in theCatholic Church as his successor considers easing a ban on married menserving as priests.Pope Benedict made the appeal in a book co-authored with Cardinal RobertSarah.It comes in response to a proposal to allow married men to be ordained aspriests in the Amazon region.Pope Benedict, who retired in 2013, said he could not remain silent on theissue.In the book, Pope Benedict says celibacy, a centuries-old tradition withinthe Church, has "great significance" because it allows priests to focus ontheir duties.The 92-year-old says "it doesn't seem possible to realise both vocations[priesthood and marriage] simultaneously".It is rare for Pope Benedict, who was the first pontiff to resign in almost600 years, to intervene in clerical matters.The Vatican is yet to comment on the book, which was previewed in part byFrench newspaper Le Figaro before its full publication on Monday.WHITE HOUSE SAYS US HAS ASKED NORTH KOREA TO RESUME TALKSWhite House national security adviser Robert O'Brien said the United Stateshad reached out to North Korea seeking to resume talks, according to aninterview published on Sunday by Axios.O'Brien also said it was a "positive" sign that North Korean leader Kim JongUn had not delivered on a warning of a "Christmas gift." Some analysts hadsaid that might be a sign Pyongyang was preparing a long-range missile test,while U.S. President Donald Trump said last month the gift "might be abeautiful vase.""We've reached out to the North Koreans and let them know that we would liketo continue the negotiations in Stockholm that were last undertaken in earlyOctober," O'Brien told the online news site on Friday. "We've been lettingthem know, through various channels, that we would like to get those back ontrack."A spokesman for the National Security Council did not immediately comment onSunday.On Saturday, North Korea said it had received birthday greetings for Kimfrom Trump, but their personal relationship was not enough for a return totalks, according to a statement published by state news agency KCNA.Trump relied on his personal rapport with Kim to push for denuclearizationin talks in 2018 and 2019, but those efforts have largely failed at theworking level and sparked new concerns about Pyongyang's nuclearcapabilities.North Korea will not discuss proposals such as those Trump made at his lastsummit with Kim in Hanoi in February 2019, a Foreign Ministry adviser saidSaturday.11 KILLED IN US STORMSAt least 11 people were killed as powerful storms swept across southernparts of the US, with winds, tornadoes and floods.Of the victims, a police officer and a firefighter were killed in Lubbock,Texas on Saturday morning, with another critically injured, after they werehit by a car while responding to a traffic accident, Xinhua news agencyreported.Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power from Texas to Ohio.Chicago: More than 1,000 flights were cancelled as a winter storm hit theChicago area with heavy winds and rain.On Saturday morning, the city's O'Hare International Airport cancelled over950 flights, while the Midway International Airport cancelled about 60,reports Xinhua news agency. A Winter Weather Advisory was issued fornorthern Illinois and the Chicago area early Saturday morning, and would bein effect until 3 p.m. on Sunday.Freezing rain started to hit the Chicago area overnight into Saturdaymorning, and was expected to transition to snow. A Flood Watch is also ineffect for some counties. The Chicago Department of Emergency Managementsaid it was prepared, with 1,800 trucks and other equipment state-wide onstandby.