Pakistan and the US have agreed to remain engaged for peace in Afghanistan, a media report said on Wednesday.

The agreement came during a meeting between US Deputy Assistant Secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Ambassador Alice Wells and Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa here on Tuesday, reports Dawn news.

“Both reaffirmed the commitment towards the common goal of peace and stability in the region and discussed measures towards that end. Both also agreed on continued engagement at multiple levels,” the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement.

Wells was on a three-day visit to Pakistan to again seek Pakistani authorities’ help for the Afghan peace process.

She met Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa and Chief of the General Staff Lt Gen Bilal Akbar.

During her visit to Kabul, which preceded the Islamabad trip, Wells said the Taliban’s refusal to join the political process was “unacceptable”.

According to the US Embassay in Pakistan, Wells’ discussion was consistent with President Donald Trump administration’s South Asia and Afghanistan strategy, reports Dawn.

The strategy announced last year signalled that Washington might take coercive steps to push Pakistan to crack down against the Taliban and Haqqani network.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was arrested on Tuesday by anti-corruption authorities in relation to state development fund 1MDB graft scandal.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said in a statement that Najib was arrested at around 2.35 p.m. (local time) from his private house over investigation linked to SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB, the BBC reported.

Najib has been accused of pocketing $700 million from the fund, set up by him in 2009. Billions of dollars are unaccounted for from the fund, authorities say.

MACC said Najib will be charged at the Kuala Lumpur court on Wednesday.

He has been under investigation since his shock election loss in May to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Najib denies wrongdoing.

Last week police said they had seized $225 million in luxury handbags, jewellery, cash and goods from six properties linked to the former leader as part of the investigation into the 1MDB scandal. He has been banned from leaving Malaysia.

The US State Department has spelled out a campaign of “maximum economic and diplomatic pressure” to drive Iran towards negotiating a “better” deal to replace the Iran nuclear deal.

State Department Director of Policy Planning Brian Hook told reporters on Monday that Iran is not a “normal” country and must meet 12 demands in order to be relieved of US sanctions.

“Normal countries don’t terrorize other nations, proliferate missiles and impoverish their own people,” Hook said.

“This new strategy is not about changing the regime, it is about changing the behavior of the leadership in Iran to comport with what the Iranian people really want them to do,” he said.

The State Department said new sanctions, which it described as “snap back” sanctions, will begin on August 4, targeting Iran’s automotive sector and its trade in gold and other key metals.

The second set of sanctions will snap back on November 6. This set will target Iran’s energy sector, focusing on petroleum-related transactions, plus transactions with the central bank of Iran.

The move comes two months after US President Donald Trump announced US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

International pressure
US officials called on countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil when it re-imposes sanctions on Tehran.

It called on allies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East to adhere to the sanctions with the aim of pressuring Iran into negotiating a new agreement.

Hook said he planned to meet with European allies Britain, France and Germany at the end of the week to discuss Iran. He also said he and senior Treasury Department officials would visit Gulf states “in the coming days.”

Hook told reporters that the goal of the United States was to get as many countries as possible down to zero Iranian oil imports.

“Our goal is to increase pressure on the Iranian regime by reducing to zero its revenue on crude oil sales,” Hook said.

“We are working to minimize disruptions to the global market but we are confident there is sufficient global spare oil capacity.”

Hook said more than 50 international firms have already announced their intention to leave the Iranian market, especially in the energy and financial sectors.

“We have been clear with countries and companies around the world that we are bringing severe economic pressure on Iran until the regime changes its destabilizing policies,” Hook said.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman promised Trump at the weekend that he would raise oil production if needed and that the country has 2 million barrels per day of spare capacity to boost output, the White House said.

In a tweet on Saturday, Trump said the extra Saudi oil would help offset a decline in supply from Iran.

He was not specific on whether the additional two million barrels was a per-day figure – but worldwide daily demand is nearing 100 million bpd.

Syrian opposition figures have begun negotiations with Russian officers about an agreement to restore state sovereignty over rebel-held parts of the southern Deraa province, rebel negotiators said.

Insurgent negotiators and a spokesman said on Saturday a six-member civilian and military committee of the southern rebels held a preliminary meeting along the administrative borders of neighboring Sweida province.

The government’s offensive this month in southwest Syria has taken much of the eastern part of Deraa province from rebels, backed by a bombardment that the United Nations says has pushed 160,000 people out of their homes.

“The committee held its first meeting with Russian officers who presented their demands,” said Ibrahim Jabawi, a spokesman of the central operations room set up by the main Free Syrian Army groups in southern Syria.

A second round of talks is expected later on Saturday.

The deal being discussed does not include rebel territory in adjacent Quneitra province, bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the spokesman said.

Jordan, which borders Deraa province, has been facilitating talks between rebel factions and Moscow over a deal that would end the violence in exchange for the return of state rule there.

Russian negotiators have demanded rebels accept terms like those agreed for eastern Ghouta, where insurgents either left for opposition territory in the northwest along with their families or accepted the return of state rule, Jabawi said.

The southwest rebels did not accept this, and were instead proposing the return of civilian state institutions in the opposition areas and the entry of Russian military police rather than Syrian government forces.

However, the army has already captured large parts of the eastern zone of rebel-held territory in Deraa province in less than two weeks of fighting, and several more towns still held by the insurgents have reportedly agreed to settle with Assad.

On Saturday, state television said the town of al-Ghariya al-Sharqiya had accepted a “reconciliation” agreement with the government, and the national flag had been raised there.

It said on Friday that four other towns nearby had agreed to surrender their arms and accept state rule. The army had gained control over the towns of al-Harak, Ibta and Rakham, it said, and a rebel said opposition lines in one area had collapsed.

UN condemnation
On Friday, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the UN’s high Commissioner for human rights, said in a statement that there was a “grave risk that intensified fighting will see many civilians trapped”, condemning “[how] civilians in Syria continue to be used as pawns by the various parties”.

Launched on June 19, the Syrian government’s military push is intended to recapture the southern provinces of Deraa, Quneitra and parts of Sweida, still mostly held by opposition fighters.

UN warns of ‘catastrophe’ as 160,000 flee southern Syria push
With backing by Russian air support, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have retaken territory and continue to progress southwards where the last pockets of opposition remain.

Earlier on Friday, a temporary truce in Deraa between government forces and the rebel group Free Syrian Army (FSA), brokered by Russia and Jordan, ended at noon local time.

Later in the day, a Jordanian official told Reuters news agency that a new ceasefire had been agreed upon by the Syrian government and rebels, but did not offer further details.

However, a US Department of State official said Washington could neither confirm nor deny the truce report and described the situation in southern Syria as “grim”, with Syrian government forces and Russia continuing to bomb the area.

Golan Heights
Also on Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a new call for “an immediate cessation” to military operations in southwest Syria.

Guterres was “deeply alarmed by the military offensive in southwestern Syria and its devastating toll on civilians,” according to a statement from his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

“The secretary-general recalls that the southwest area of Syria is part of a de-escalation agreement agreed between Jordan, Russia and the United States,” the statement said.

Guterres “calls on all parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law, protect civilians and facilitate safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access”.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council on Friday unanimously renewed for six months its mission to observe the ceasefire in the Golan Heights, calling for armed groups to leave the area separating Syrian and Israeli forces.

UNDOF, which comprises nearly a thousand personnel, was created in 1974 after an agreement on the departure of Israeli and Syrian forces from Golan.

In 1981, Israel annexed part of Golan in a move unrecognized by the international community, while a smaller part of the area is under Syrian control.

“There should be no military forces in the area of separation other than those of UNDOF,” reads the resolution drafted by the US and Russia.

The text condemns “the continued fighting in the area of separation” and calls on “all parties to the Syrian domestic conflict to cease military actions in the UNDOF area of operations”.

It “stresses the obligation on both parties to scrupulously and fully respect the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement”.

“There should be no military activity of any kind in the area of separation,” either by the Syrian military or opposition forces, it said.

 

Aljazeera

China on Friday said that Pakistan must not be vilified and pressured on the front of terror after a global watchdog put the country on “grey list” of countries that finance terrorism.

China calls Pakistan its “best friend” and resolutely backs the country whenever it is slammed for funding and sheltering terrorists.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it won’t comment on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) decision to put Pakistan on the “grey list” and counseled the world to see the efforts made by Islamabad in an “objective” way.

“We will not make comment on the decision of the task force. Pakistan has made enormous efforts for counterterrorism and made a great sacrifice. The international community should view this in an objective, just way and should give more support and recognition to Pakistan,” ministry’s spokesperson Lu Kang said.

“Pakistan efforts in the counter terrorism have not only won recognition from China but also from many countries around the world. In recent years, it has taken positive measures to enhance financial regulations to combat terrorism financing and made very important progress,” Lu said.

“We hope all the relevant parties can view the efforts made by Pakistan on counter-terrorism in an objective way instead of accusing and pressuring it. China and Pakistan are all-weather, strategic partners. China is willing to enhance counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan.”

The FATF on Thursday put Islamabad on “grey list” for failing to rein in terrorists and funding to outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Paris-based FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

Chinese defence against its “all-weather” ally is not new. Beijing has invested over $50 billion in infrastructure projects in Pakistan, which are part of its ambitious Belt and Road programme.

Five people were killed and two others injured when a man armed with a shotgun and smoke grenades stormed into the newsroom of a community newspaper chain in the US state of Maryland, prompting law enforcement agencies to provide protection at the headquarters of all American media organisations.

The suspect, identified as Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, was taken into custody after the targeted attack on Thursday at the office of the Capital Gazette located in Annapolis, reports The New York Times.

The attack has been deemed as the deadliest day for journalism in America in several years.

Ramos had a long history of conflict with the daily, which produces a number of local newspapers along Maryland’s shore.

He lost a defamation case against the paper in 2015 over a 2011 column he contended defamed him. The column provided an account of Ramos’s guilty plea to criminal harassment of a woman over social media.

“This person was prepared today to come in, this person was prepared to shoot people,” The Washington Post quoted Anne Arundel County Deputy Police Chief William Krampf said.

“His intent was to cause harm.”

The police said all of the victims killed were Capital Gazette employees: Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters.

Fischman and Hiaasen were editors, McNamara was a reporter, Smith was a sales assistant and Winters worked for special publications, according to the newspaper’s website.

Four of the victims died on the spot while the fifth was pronounced dead at the University of Maryland Medical Centre.

The shooting began at about 3 p.m. in the office building just outside of downtown Annapolis, The Washington Post reported.

Ramos entered the building with a shotgun and looked for his victims, the police said.

The police, who arrived at the scene within a minute of the reported gunfire, apprehended Ramos found hiding under a desk in the newsroom.

Gazette reporter Phil Davis described the scene as a “war zone” and a situation that would be “hard to describe for a while”.

After his arrest, Ramos refused to cooperate with the authorities or provide his name. He was identified using facial recognition technology, a law enforcement official told The New York Times.

President Donald Trump tweeted: “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” CNN reported.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said: “The senseless attack on a Maryland newspaper today is sickening. God bless these journalists. We pray for them and their families tonight.”

Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said that violence against journalists was unacceptable.

“Newspapers like the Gazette do vital work, and our thoughts are with them amid this unconscionable tragedy,” he added.

The Capital Gazette, which has an editorial staff of 31 people, had a daily circulation of about 29,000 and a Sunday circulation of 34,000 as of 2014.

Commonly referred to as the Capital, the paper was founded in 1884 as the Evening Gazette.

The paper promotes itself as one of the oldest publishers in the country, with roots dating to the Maryland Gazette in 1727.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who provided key votes for same sex-marriage, abortion access and affirmative action, has announced his retirement from the US Supreme Court, a move that will give the President a chance to replace the pivotal justice and solidify a more conservative majority.

“It has been the greatest honour and privilege to serve our nation in the federal judiciary for 43 years, 30 of those years on the Supreme Court,” The Washington Post quoted the 81-year-old as saying in a statement released on Wednesday, his last day of the term.

He said his final day in office will be July 31.

Kennedy hand-delivered a short letter of resignation to President Donald Trump, shortly after a half hour meeting at the White House.

“Please permit me by this letter to express my profound gratitude for having had the privilege to seek in each case how best to know, interpret and defend the Constitution and the laws that must always conform to its mandates and promises,” Justice Kennedy wrote to Trump.

Trump said he held Kennedy in high esteem, reports CNN.

“He’s been a great justice of the Supreme Court… He is a man who’s displayed great vision, he’s displayed tremendous vision.”

Trump also announced that a search for a replacement from a list of 25 conservative jurists he had previously identified as candidates for the court’s next vacancy will begin immediately, reports The New York Times.

Potential nominees include Brett M. Kavanaugh, a federal appellate judge for the District of Columbia Circuit who clerked for Justice Kennedy at the Supreme Court.

Another possibility is Judge Thomas M. Hardiman of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, whom Trump seriously considered last year to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. The President chose Judge Neil M. Gorsuch instead.

Justice Kennedy, a Californian and graduate of Harvard Law School, was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

He wrote some of the country’s most important gay rights decisions and helped to drastically shift the US legal treatment of gays, lesbians and transgender people.

In 2015, he wrote the court’s opinion that established the right for gay people to marry each other.

He determined how far a government may intrude on a woman’s right to an abortion; whether attempts to curtail the corrupting influence of campaign contributions violated free speech; and how and when it was appropriate for the government to exercise affirmative action, The Washington Post reported.

His decisions shielded juveniles and the intellectually disabled from death penalty.

The US efforts to ban Iran’s oil exports will be futile as it is not an easy task to block the country’s crude from the global market, an Iranian oil official said on Wednesday.

Although some European companies, such as Shell and Total, have stopped buying Iranian oil over the past few weeks, Iran is still exporting oil to Europe, Asia and elsewhere in the world, officials at the Iranian Petroleum Ministry said.

A day earlier, a senior US State Department official said told the US has been pushing its allies to stop oil imports from Iran by November 4, Xinhua reported.

“This big claim (of cutting Iran oil supply) is not feasible. Last month, Iran exported 2.8 million barrels of crude oil and condensate per day,” the Iranian official said.

“Removing this from the global market in a few months is not possible,” the Iranian official said.

However, “Iran is prepared for the worst-case scenarios” in case the US pressures take effect, he noted.

Meanwhile, “there is no surplus capacity for countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to supply oil for a long term,” the official pointed out.

Following US President Donald Trump’s decision to quit the historic Iran nuclear pact on May 8, Washington vowed to re-impose sanctions against Iran and inflict punishments including secondary sanctions on countries that have business links with the Islamic republic.

Firms doing business in Iran were given up to 180 days to terminate investments, before they risk huge fines.

The US withdrawal from the landmark nuclear deal has been widely criticized, as some of its major European allies have been working to prevent the 2015 deal from falling apart.

At least nine people were killed and 11 others wounded on Tuesday in an airstrike by the Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition in the city of Hudaydah, eyewitnesses said.

The occupants of the bus that was hit in the attack were inhabitants of Hudaydah, who were attempting to leave the Houthi-controlled city before the Arab coalition begins an all-out offensive to take the city, Efe reported.

In the past weeks, fighting has taken place as Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have advanced toward the port city from the south, seizing its international airport.

Hudaydah’s seaport is a critical lifeline for food aid to reach millions of Yemenis living in areas controlled by the Houthis, including the capital Sanaa.

The UN has been trying to prevent an assault that would lead to even greater food insecurity.

At least 26,000 people have been displaced by violence and fears of an impending assault by government troops on Hudaydah, according to UN data.

These forces have been pushing toward Hudaydah as part of the ongoing Saudi-led war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which began in March 2015.

Yemen has been locked in a political and military crisis since the popular regional uprisings of 2011, with the Houthis taking control of the capital Sanaa in September 2014, expelling President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is supported by Saudi Arabia.

The bombing campaign by the Saudi-Emirati-United States coalition has destroyed much of Yemen’s infrastructure and led to a humanitarian catastrophe, pushing millions to the brink of starvation.

Over 22 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.

Two Israeli missiles struck targets near Damascus airport early on Tuesday, Syrian state media said.

The Syrian state news agency, Sana, said: “two Israeli missiles came down near Damascus international airport”.

Syrian opposition sources told DPA news agency that the midnight attack targeted an Iranian cargo plane, which was landing at Damascus International Airport.

When contacted by AFP news agency, a spokesman for the Israeli army said: “We do not comment on foreign reports.”

Syria intensifies offensive to retake Deraa
Israel has warned of a growing Iranian military presence in neighboring Syria, which it sees as a threat to its safety.

Its military has carried out attacks on Iranian and Iran-affiliated targets in Syria since April of this year.

In May, Israel hit dozens of military sites in Syria after accusing Iran of launching rocket and missile attacks towards its forces in occupied Golan Heights.

Iran has vowed retaliation for one alleged Israeli attack on April 30 that reportedly killed a number of Iranian personnel.

Iran and their Hezbollah-backed movement have been fighting alongside Syrian government forces since the conflict started in 2011.

Israeli seized a large swathe of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, in a move never recognised by the international community.

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