RUSSIAN NAVAL SHIP IN CRIMEA DAMAGED IN UKRAINIAN AIR STRIKE

In a significant development, Ukraine launched a cruise missile attack on a substantial Russian landing warship in Crimea, resulting in at least one fatality. The strike targeted the Crimean port of Feodosia, damaging the Novocherkassk large landing ship, according to the Russian defense ministry. Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat emphasized the severity of the explosion, indicating the formidable impact of the attack. The Novocherkassk, capable of carrying tanks and armored vehicles for troop landings, may face challenges in returning to service, Ihnat suggested. The use of cruise missiles in the assault was confirmed by Ukrainian officials, with the specific type unspecified. The Kremlin reported that Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu briefed President Vladimir Putin on the incident. This event could potentially impede any Russian efforts to seize additional Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast, marking a significant development in the ongoing conflict between the two nations. Both Britain and France have supplied Ukraine with cruise missiles.

ISRAEL WARNS OF PROLONGED CONFLICT WITH HAMAS AS UN RAISES ALARMS OVER GAZA STRIKES

In the midst of escalating tensions, Israel has issued a stark warning, asserting that the conflict with Hamas is anticipated to endure for several months. This caution follows international concern, particularly from the United Nations, regarding Israeli airstrikes responsible for claiming the lives of over 100 Palestinians within a two-day span in the strife-torn Gaza Strip. Speaking in a televised statement, Israel's military chief, Herzi Halevi, emphasized the absence of quick solutions in dismantling a "terrorist organization" and emphasized the imperative need for determined and persistent efforts. Halevi underscored the commitment to reach the leadership of Hamas, underscoring that the duration of this endeavor might span from weeks to months.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined three prerequisites essential for achieving peace: the dismantling of Hamas, demilitarization of Gaza, and deradicalization of Palestinian society. Meanwhile, the United Nations estimates reveal that approximately 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced, with many seeking refuge in the southern regions. This vulnerable civilian population is grappling with critical shortages of essential resources such as water, food, fuel, and medicine, heightening the humanitarian concerns associated with the ongoing conflict.

ISRAEL ACTS WHEREVER IT HAS TO, ARMY CHIEF SAYS AFTER SYRIA STRIKE

Jerusalem : Israel’s military chief, asked on Tuesday about a reported Israeli strike that killed a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Syria, declined to comment but said Israeli forces work throughout the region.

An Israeli air strike outside Damascus on Monday killed a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, three security sources and Iranian state media said. “I will not comment on various actions we take. The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is working together with other security organisations throughout the West Asia, ” chief of the general staff Herzi Halevi said. “We take whatever action necessary to make it clear that we are determined to defend the country, ” he said. The adviser, known as Sayyed Razi Mousavi, was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran. The Revolutionary Guards said Israel would suffer for killing Mousavi, who held the Guards’ rank of brigadier-general.

WON’T LET ANYONE SPLIT TAIWAN FROM CHINA: XI

Beijing : President Xi Jinping vowed on Tuesday to resolutely prevent anyone from “splitting Taiwan from China in any way”, the official Xinhua news agency reported, a little more than two weeks before Taiwan elects a new leader. China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the strong objections of the government in Taipei, and has ramped up military and political pressure to assert its sovereignty claims. Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections on January 13 and how the island handles relations with China is a major point of contention on the campaign trail.

At a symposium commemorating the 130th anniver sary of the birth of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who in 1949 defeated the Republic of China government in a civil war which then fled to Taiwan, Xi said “the complete reunification of the motherland is an irresistible trend”. “The motherland must be reunified, and inevitably will be reunified,” Xinhua cited Xi as telling senior officials from the Communist Party. China must deepen integration between the two sides, promote the peaceful development of ties across the Taiwan Strait, he said. China says the Taiwan election is an internal Chinese affair but that the island’s people face a choice between war and peace and any attempt at Taiwan independence means war.

SWEDEN MOVES A STEP CLOSER TO NATO ENTRY AFTER TURKISH HOUSE PANEL GIVES GREEN LIGHT

The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee gave its consent to Sweden’s bid to join Nato on Tuesday, drawing the previously non-aligned Nordic country closer to membership in the Western military alliance. Sweden’s accession protocol will now need to be approved in the general assembly for the last stage of the legislative process in Turkiye. No date has been set. Turkiye, a Nato member, has delayed ratifying Sweden’s application for more than a year, accusing the country of being too lenient toward groups that Ankara regards as threats to its security, including Kurdish militants and members of a network that Ankara blames for a failed coup in 2016. The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee had begun discussing Sweden’s membership in Nato last month. On Tuesday, a majority of legislators in the committee voted in favor of Sweden’s application to join. The delays have frustrated other Nato allies who were swift to accept Sweden and Finland into the alliance.

‘IRAN INCREASING PRODUCTION OF ENRICHED URANIUM’

Vienna : Iran has increased the rate at which it is producing near weapons grade uranium in recent weeks, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report to memberstates.

Director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said that Iran “in recent weeks had increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023,” according to an IAEA spokesperson Sunday.

Iran had previously slowed down the rate at which it was enriching uranium to 60%purity. The UN nuclear watchdog said its inspectors had verified the increased rate of production since the end of November at facilities in Natanz and Fordow to about 9 kg per month, up from 3 kg per month since June and representing a return to earlier levels of production.

1ST HINDU WOMAN IN PAK FILES NOMINATION TO CONTEST POLLS

Peshawar : Saveera Parkash has become the first woman from the minority Hindu community to run in the provincial elections in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A doctor by profession, Parkash, 25, on Friday filed her nomination papers for the general seat of PK-25 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Buner district, her father Om Parkash told PTI on Tuesday. Om Parkash said his daughter will fight as a Pakistan People’s Party candidate. She has also filed papers for a seat reserved for women in the KPK assembly. Parkash will formally get aparty ticket during a PPP rally in Buner on Wednesday.

According to local politician Saleem Khan, who is affiliated with the Qaumi Watan Party, Parkash is the first woman from Buner to have filed nomination. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban terror group.

COURT ORDER HELPS IMRAN’S PARTY RETAIN ITS ‘BAT’ ELECTORAL SYMBOL

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party partially won a legal battle when the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday suspended an order of the Election Commission to deprive the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of its electoral symbol of a cricket ‘bat’.

The Election Commission of Pakistan last week in a verdict rejected the intra-party polls of Khan’s party and also stopped it from using ‘bat’ as the party’s electoral symbol.

The party had challenged the verdict in the Peshawar High Court where after a detailed hearing, Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel suspended the ECP ruling until the final adjudication of the petition.

“It is the victory of justice and we hope that in the final decision, the court would permanently revoke the ECP ruling,” said Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, who was elected as the party’s new chairman in the intra-party polls held earlier this month.

ISRAEL ARMY ARRESTS SENIOR PALESTINIAN LAWMAKER JARRAR

RAMALLAH: Khalida Jarrar, a senior leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was arrested by the Israeli Army in the West Bank. The PFLP said the Army had launched a vast campaign to arrest its leaders. Jarrar is an advocate of women’s rights and has lobbied for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

TAIWAN EXPANDS RUSSIAN SANCTIONS TO STOP TECH BEING USED FOR ARMS

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s Economy Ministry expanded a list of sanctioned goods for Russia and its ally Belarus, in order to prevent high-tech goods from being used for military purposes. Taiwan has condemned Russia's attack and already joined the Western-led sanctions effort, despite the minimal direct trade between the countries.

AZERBAIJAN EXPELS TWO FRENCH ENVOYS OVER UNWORTHY ACTIONS

BAKU: Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said two French diplomats had been ordered to leave over actions “incompatible with their diplomatic status”. The move came amid tense relations between the countries as Baku accused France of being biased towards Armenia during the European-mediated peace talks with its arch-foe.