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15
January

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan gestures during an interview with Reuters in Islamabad, Pakistan, June 4, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Saiyna Bashir) - 

 

Pakistan on Friday (Jan 14) launched its first-ever comprehensive National Security Policy that it said was centred on regional peace and economic connectivity, and stressed that it wanted improved relations with arch-rival neighbouring India.

The National Security Policy, seven years in the making, is meant to act as a comprehensive framework tying together policies in different sectors. Economic security is listed as the top priority.

"I am confident that effective implementation of this policy will contribute immensely to our country's economic security," Prime Minister Imran Khan said, speaking at an event to launch the public version of the policy in Islamabad.

Officials say the details of the policy, prepared by a department jointly headed by civil and military leaders, will remain confidential.

The policy revolves around seeking peace with neighbours and exploring opportunities to make Pakistan a trade and investment hub.

"Pakistan is poised to take advantage of its geo-economically pivotal location to operate as a production, trade and investment, and connectivity hub for our wider region to strengthen our economic security," the policy document stated.

It also sought peace and better relations with rival India but warned that policies being pursued by its eastern neighbour could lead to conflict."The political exploitation of a policy of belligerence towards Pakistan by India's leadership has led to the threat of military adventurism and non-contact warfare to our immediate east," it said.

Pakistan and India, both of which have nuclear weapons, have fought three wars since 1947 and had a number of military skirmishes, most recently a limited engagement between their air forces in 2019.

Pakistan has long been considered by analysts as a security state, where military policy has always trumped other considerations.

Aside from three wars with India, Pakistan has been entangled in two wars in neighbouring Afghanistan, and also dealt with violent Islamist militancy and separatist movements.

"It is like summarizing a wish list of concerns for Pakistan and ambitions, but with no reference to dearth of resources or how will consensus be developed," author and defence analyst Ayesha Siddiqa told Reuters//CNA

15
January

Pyongyang's cyberwarfare abilities first came to global prominence in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment as revenge for "The Interview", a satirical film that mocked leader Kim (Photo: AFP/Ed Jones) - 

 

North Korean hackers stole around US$400 million worth of cryptocurrency through cyberattacks on digital currency outlets last year, blockchain data platform Chainalysis said on Thursday (Jan 13).

Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its atomic bomb and ballistic missile developments but analysts say the North has also built up its cyber capabilities with an army of thousands of well-trained hackers who extract finances to fund the state's weapons programs.

In 2021, the hackers launched seven attacks on crypto platforms, extracting assets from "internet-connected 'hot' wallets" and moving them to North Korean controlled accounts, according to Chainalysis.

"Once North Korea gained custody of the funds, they began a careful laundering process to cover up and cash out," Chainalysis said in a report published on its website.

"These complex tactics and techniques have led many security researchers to characterize cyber actors for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as advanced persistent threats."

The report highlighted the rise of Lazarus Group, which gained notoriety in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment as revenge for "The Interview," a satirical film that mocked leader Kim Jong Un.

"From 2018 on, The group has stolen and laundered massive sums of virtual currencies every year, typically in excess of US$200 million."

The hackers also target a diverse variety of cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin, the world's largest digital currency, accounting for only a quarter of stolen assets.

"The growing variety of cryptocurrencies stolen has necessarily increased the complexity of DPRK's cryptocurrency laundering operation," Chainalysis said.

North Korea's cyber-programme dates back to at least the mid-1990s, but has since grown to a 6,000-strong cyberwarfare unit, known as Bureau 121, that operates from several countries including Belarus, China, India, Malaysia and Russia, according to a 2020 US military report. 

The US imposed new sanctions on North Korea this week following what Pyongyang called hypersonic missile tests on Jan 5 and Jan 11.

On Friday South Korean and Japanese officials said North Korea fired an unidentified projectile eastward in its third suspected weapons test in just over a week//CNA

15
January

FILE PHOTO: A girl plays with water as Argentina is facing a historic heat wave with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104°F) straining power grids and forcing residents to seeking sanctuary in the shade, in Salta, Argentina January 13, 2022. REUTERS/Javier Corbalan - 

 

Cities and towns in Argentina and neighboring countries in South America have been setting record high temperatures as the region swelters during a historic heat wave.

"Practically all of Argentina and also neighboring countries such as Uruguay, southern Brazil and Paraguay are experiencing the hottest days in history," said Cindy Fernandez, meteorologist at the official National Meteorological Service.

Many towns have posted their highest temperatures since records began, with some zones heating up to 45 degrees Celsius (113°F), according to the weather service.

"In Argentina, from the center of Patagonia to the north of the country, thermal values ​​are being recorded that are reaching or exceeding 40 degrees," Fernandez said.

The heat and a prolonged drought have hit the grains-producing country's crops, though there is hope that an expected drop in temperature next week will bring a period of rainfall to cool both plants and people.

"It's another hellish day," said Elizabeth Bassin as she waited for a bus in Buenos Aires. "But well, we live through a week of hot weather and it's almost as if the body is getting used to that heat."

Emanuel Moreno, who was delivering soft drinks, said he was working through the heat but had to keep hydrating.

"Truthfully it is really hot and heavy, though when you are working you don't realize so much. You realize that you are very thirsty and you have to drink a lot of water, water and more water because if you don't, you can't go on," he said.

Fernandez, the meteorologist, said a warm air mass had formed over Argentina, right in the middle of the southern hemisphere summer.

"We're having many days of clear skies where solar radiation is very intense and in a context of an extreme drought Argentina has been going through for about two years," she said.

"This means that the soil is very dry, and earth that is dry heats up much more than soil that is moist."//CNA

15
January

Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani leaves the nuclear talks at Palais Coburg in Vienna on December 27. The EU says the atmosphere has improved since Christmas. (Photo: AFP/ALEX HALADA) - 

 

Despite a painful start weeks ago, international talks to save the Iran nuclear deal have entered the New Year with positive signals emerging, including the EU saying Friday (Jan 14) that a deal remained possible.

There has been a marked shift in tone since the current round began in November, even if the Western powers complain how slow the process is at a time when Iran accelerates its nuclear work.

"There's a better atmosphere since Christmas - before Christmas I was very pessimistic," European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Friday.

"Today I believe reaching an accord is possible," even within the coming weeks, he said after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brest, France.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said earlier this week that efforts by "all parties" to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement had resulted in "good progress" during the Vienna talks.

And Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the negotiations had "accelerated" and that "the chances of reaching a solution have risen".

But French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking next to Borrell on Friday, reiterated his view that the talks were progressing "much too slowly to be able to reach a result".

France currently chairs the EU's rotating presidency.

Continuous negotiations to salvage the nuclear deal resumed on 29 November after they were suspended in June as Iran elected a new, ultraconservative president.

The 2015 deal - agreed by Iran, the United States (under Democratic president Barack Obama), China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany - offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to ensure it would not develop atomic weapons.

But Republican president Donald Trump pulled the US out in 2018 and reimposed biting sanctions, prompting Tehran to begin rolling back on its commitments.

Determined to revive the deal, Trump's successor Joseph Biden, a Democrat who was Obama's vice president, sent an American delegation to Vienna to participate indirectly in the talks.

European diplomats have been shuttling between the talks venue at a luxury hotel and where the US team is based.

US State Department Ned Price said on Wednesday that although there had been "modest progress in recent weeks" this was "not sufficient" to secure a return to the deal.

The main aims of the talks are to take the US back into the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and bring Iran back into line with the limits the deal laid down on its nuclear activities.

Among the outstanding bones of contention between Iran and Western powers are "sanctions relief, guarantees that the US will never again renege, ... (and) the degree to which Iran has to roll back its nuclear program," according to Ali Vaez, Iran specialist at the International Crisis Group.

He said that when it comes to verifying sanctions have been lifted, this will be "possible in two areas: Iran's oil exports and its ability to repatriate the generated oil revenues and frozen assets".

But the subject of future US actions is trickier as "there is no guarantee that any US administration can provide that would bind the hands of its successor," he said.

But Vaez said the Biden administration "can and should provide assurances that companies that engage the Iranian market are immune to US penalties as long as Iran is in compliance with the deal."

When it comes to dealing with the physical evidence of Iran's increased nuclear activity, "the West wants Iran to destroy its advanced centrifuges" and the uranium enriched above JCPOA limits "will either have to be shipped to Russia or blended down".

A European diplomat told AFP that while Iran was resisting the idea of destroying centrifuges, "putting them under seal or a range of intermediate solutions" were also on the table.

While the various delegations haven't set a deadline for success, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that there were only "a few weeks left" to save the deal, pointing to the increases in uranium enrichment Iran has been undertaking.

Blinken said that in the case of the talks failing, the US was "looking at other steps, other options" with its allies.

Vaez said new UN sanctions could be an option but US hawks, mainly among the Republicans, opposed to the deal want a campaign of economic and diplomatic pressure backed up by the option of military action.

Julia Masterson from the Arms Control Association think tank said the deal can be restored if both sides "are creative and flexible."//CNA