TURKEY HITS BACK AFTER SYRIAN SHELLS KILL TURKISH TROOPSPresident Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey and Russia shouldresolve differences over the conflict in Syria's Idlib without anger, aftera deadly flare-up in violence challenged the fragile cooperation betweenMoscow and Ankara.The two countries support opposing sides in Syria's nearly nine-year war, aswell as in Libya's escalating conflict, but have worked together to containsome of the bloodshed and have forged close defence ties in recent years.An attack by Russian-backed Syrian government forces that killed eightTurkish military personnel on Monday posed the biggest challenge toRussian-Turkish ties since their 2018 deal to stem fighting in Syria'snorthwest Idlib region.Erdogan told Russian forces on Monday there to "stand aside" while Turkeystruck dozens of targets in retaliation. Moscow and Ankara then argued aboutwhether Turkey had told Russia it was sending waves of reinforcements intoIdlib."There is no need for us to be engaged in a conflict or a seriouscontradiction with Russia at this stage," he was quoted as telling reporterson a flight from Ukraine."We will of course sit down and discuss everything. Not with anger, though.Because those who sit down with anger, get up with losses," Erdogan added.PAKISTAN WILL 'COMPENSATE' MALAYSIA BY BUYING MORE PALM OIL AFTER INDIAWITHDRAWS: IMRAN KHANPakistan will do its best to buy more palm oil from Malaysia after top buyerIndia put curbs on such imports last month amid a diplomatic row with theSoutheast Asian nation, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday.India has put general restrictions on refined palm oil imports andinformally asked traders specifically to stop buying from Malaysia, theworld's second-biggest producer and exporter of the edible oil, inretaliation for Malaysia's accusation that recent Indian policiesdiscriminate against Muslims.India is a Hindu-majority country while Malaysia and Pakistan are mainlyMuslim. Neighbours India and Pakistan have been mostly hostile to each othersince the partition of British India in 1947, and have fought two of theirthree wars over competing territorial claims in Kashmir.Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he discussed palm oil withMr. Khan - in Malaysia on a state visit - and that Pakistan had indicated itwould import more from Malaysia."That's right, especially since we noticed India threatened Malaysia forsupporting the Kashmir cause, threatened to cut palm oil imports," Mr. Khantold a joint news conference, referring to India's Muslim-majority region ofKashmir."Pakistan will do its best to compensate for that."Pakistan bought 1.1 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia last year,while India bought 4.4 million tonnes, according to the Malaysian Palm OilCouncil.CORONAVIRUS JOLTS CHINA ECONOMY, FORCING RETHINK ON ALMOST EVERYTHINGChina is preparing steps to adjust to a slower rate of economic growth asthe coronavirus outbreak shows few signs of abating.Officials are evaluating whether to soften the economic-growth target for2020, while state-owned liquefied natural gas importers are consideringdeclaring themselves unable to fulfill some obligations on cargo deliveries- known as force majeure - according to people familiar with the matter. Andauthorities in Beijing are hoping the U.S. will agree to some flexibility onpledges in their phase-one trade deal, people close to the situation said.Two-thirds of the Chinese economy will remain closed this week as severalprovinces took the extraordinary step of extending the Lunar New Yearholiday to help curb the spread of the disease that's claimed 425 lives,with 20,438 confirmed cases, mostly in Hubei.The annual growth target is typically unveiled in March at the country'slegislative session after being endorsed by top leaders at the yearlyclosed-door Central Economic Work Conference in December. Economists hadexpected China would aim for output growth of "around 6%" this year afterseeking a range of 6% to 6.5% in 2019. Bloomberg Economics reckons growthcould dip to 4.5% in the current quarter.Officials are also considering further measures to shore up the economy,including selling more special government bonds, said the people, who askednot to be identified discussing the private talks. They also could increasethe planned cap on the ratio of the budget deficit to gross domesticproduct, they said.This year's legislative gathering, which is scheduled to begin March 5,could be delayed as the epidemic disrupts work across the country.Any changes to the growth target would have to be approved by top leaders ofthe Communist Party.DEMOCRATS START 2020 WHITE HOUSE RACE WITH A BLANKDemocrats' search for a nominee to take on President Donald Trump inNovember got off to a disastrous start with party official unable to declareresults of the Tuesday Iowa caucuses for more than 12 hours because of atechnical snag.Frustrated with the delay, many of the candidates moved on to the next stagein the nominating contest, the New Hampshire primaries that are due netweek, expressing optimism about their performance in Iowa."I have a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well here inIowa," said Senator Bernie Sanders, who has led the polls in Iowa,"We have the momentum," said former mayor Pete Buttigieg.Iowa party officials blamed the delay on issues with the reporting ofoutcomes from polling stations.Republicans wrapped up their caucuses easily, on the other hand. Trump isfacing two challengers but neither stands a chance.The president celebrated his victory with a tweet with a swipe theDemocrats. "The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the RepublicanParty did not," he wrote Tuesday morning."I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, byfar, beating President Obama's previous record by a lot. Also, 97% Plus ofthe vote! Thank you Iowa!"POMPEO MESSAGE IN EUROPE, CENTRAL ASIA TRIP: BEWARE OF CHINAThe countries Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited on a five nation-tourover the last week varied from longtime ally Britain to ex-Soviet republicsin Central Asia. But the message he conveyed to his hosts stayed the same:Beware of China.In his trip to Europe and Central Asia, Mr. Pompeo denounced China's humanrights record, criticised its aggressive trade practices and urged his hoststo be wary of Chinese investment and influence. He warned that China poses arisk as countries develop next-generation, high-speed wireless networks.His language was blunt. The Chinese Communist Party presents the centralthreat of our times," Mr. Pompeo said last week in London, just days afterthe European Union unveiled security guidelines for 5G wireless networksthat stop short of a ban on Huawei in the latest setback for the U.S.campaign against the Chinese tech company.Mr. Pompeo's tough rhetoric, on a trip coinciding with the rapid spread of anew virus that originated in China and threatens global growth, underscoreshis preoccupation with the country and its recent diplomatic and tradevictories.His comments contrast with President Donald Trump's more conciliatorylanguage on China. That's partly because Mr. Trump is working to complete atrade deal with President Xi Jinping.U.N. TAKES NO ACTION ON ORDER AGAINST MYANMAR ON ROHINGYASThe U.N. Security Council on Tuesday discussed the International Court ofJustice's order that Myanmar must do all it can to prevent genocide againstthe Rohingya Muslims, but failed to agree on a statement.Myanmar's ally China as well as Vietnam, which is part of the regionalAssociation of Southeast Nations along with Myanmar, objected, diplomatssaid, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.Instead, the European Union members of the council urged Myanmar in a jointstatement to reporters afterward to comply with the measures ordered by theU.N.'s top court, stressing that they are "compulsory under internationallaw."France, Germany, Belgium and Estonia along with former council member Polandalso urged Myanmar "to take credible action to bring to justice thoseresponsible for human rights violations.""Myanmar must address the root causes of its conflicts, in Rakhine State,but also in Kachin and Shan States," the EU members said. "Accountability ofperpetrators of human rights and humanitarian law violations is a necessarypart of this process."HYUNDAI TO SUSPEND SOUTH KOREA PRODUCTION ON CHINA CORONAVIRUS IMPACTHyundai Motor plans to gradually suspend production at its South Koreanfactories from Tuesday, the first global major automaker to do so outsideChina, due to supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.Many global automakers including Ford, French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroenand Japan's Nissan and Honda Motor have already suspended some plants inChina this week in line with Beijing's guidelines.Most of Hyundai's South Korean factories will be fully idled from Feb. 7 toFeb. 10 or Feb. 11, a union official said, declining to be identified giventhe sensitivity of the matter.Schedules for suspension will vary by production line, a spokeswoman for theautomaker said.The idling, which had been discussed by Hyundai management since Monday, wasdue to a shortage of auto parts called wiring harnesses, auto industryofficials told Reuters earlier.The automaker and its affiliate Kia Motors do not keep a large inventory ofthe parts, a majority of which are manufactured in China, said Lee Hang-koo,senior researcher at Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade."Hyundai and Kia may be more affected (than their rivals peers) as they tendto import more parts from China than other global automakers," Mr. Lee said.PAKISTAN LAWYER MOVES SC AGAINST SUSPENSION OF MUSHARRAF'S DEATH SENTENCEA Pakistani lawyer has appealed to the Supreme Court to set aside theverdict of a High Court that annulled the death sentence of self-exiledformer President Pervez Musharraf.The special court in Islamabad on December 17 last handed down the deathpenalty to the 74-year-old retired general, now based in Dubai, after sixyears of hearing a high-profile treason case against him.The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government led by former PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif had filed the treason case against the former armychief in 2013 over the imposition of an extra-constitutional emergency inNovember 2007, which led to the confinement of a number of superior courtjudges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.On January 13, Mr. Musharraf's trial in the high treason case was declaredas "unconstitutional" by the Lahore High Court (LHC), leading to theannulment of the death sentence against the former President.The LHC declared that the formation of the special court was"unconstitutional" and that the treason case against Mr. Musharraf was notprepared in accordance with the law.In an appeal on February 3, senior counsel Hamid Khan, representingpetitioner, advocate, Taufiq Asif, requested the apex court to set aside theLHC verdict by declaring it illegal and without lawful authority, Dawnnewspaper reported on February 4.