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Pakistan – Iran Border Tensions: Retaliatory Strikes Kill 9

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Pakistan - Iran Border Tensions: Retaliatory Strikes Kill 9

Islamabad  – Pakistan launched airstrikes against alleged militant hideouts inside Iran on Thursday, killing at least nine people in retaliation for Iran’s same raid days earlier and escalating tensions with its neighbour as the regional crisis escalated.

The unprecedented attacks by Pakistan and Iran on each side of their border appeared to target Baluch armed organizations with identical separatist objectives. The governments accuse one other of providing safe shelter for the groups on their territories.

Following Iranian bombings in Iraq and Syria late Monday, a flare-up between Iran and Pakistan occurs as the Middle East remains tense due to Israel’s conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. These airstrikes were in retaliation to a suicide bombing in Iran by Islamic State extremists in early January, which killed more than 90 people.

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Pakistan – Iran Border Tensions: Retaliatory Strikes Kill 9

Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have traditionally viewed each other with distrust when it comes to militant attacks, but observers think this week’s tit-for-tat bombings were at least partially motivated by internal political concerns.

Iran is grappling with protests against its theocracy and has been under pressure to respond since the Islamic State suicide bombing. It is also attempting to demonstrate military might at a time when the militant groups it backs in the region—Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Houthi rebels in Yemen—are embroiled in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Meanwhile, Pakistan was unable to ignore Iran’s bombings on Tuesday as it confronts a critical February general election in which its military is a significant political force.

“The government and military have been under immense pressure,” said Abdullah Khan, an analyst with the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. “Iran celebrated (Tuesday’s) attack in its media and the Pakistani public perception of a strong army is not as it used to be, so it had to respond.”

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry described Thursday’s attack as “a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes.”

The ministry stated that it received “credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities” and declared “unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats.”

Pakistan’s military described employing drones, rockets, and “standoff weapons,” which are missiles fired from planes at a distance – implying that Pakistan’s fighter jets did not enter Iranian airspace.

Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar, Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister, has left his vacation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to return home. Kakar is scheduled to meet with Pakistan’s military and intelligence chiefs and other senior government officials on Friday.

Ali Reza Marhamati, deputy governor of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, provided fatality estimates for Thursday’s strike, stating that the deceased included three women, four children, and two men near the town of Saravan on the border. He said the deceased were not Iranian nationals.

The Baluch Liberation Army, an ethnic separatist group that has been active in the region since 2000, said in a statement that the strikes “martyred innocent Baluch people.”

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Pakistani retaliatory strikes in Iran kill at least 9, raising tensions along border

The Pakistani military claimed that the strikes also hit targets affiliated with the Baluchistan Liberation Front, but the group denied this.

HalVash, an advocacy group for the Baluch people, posted photographs online that appeared to reveal the remains of the munitions used in the strike. It stated that several residences in Saravan had been struck. It posted videos of a mud-walled building damaged and smoke rising from the hit.

Iran later summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires to the country. Pakistan had already withdrawn its ambassador following Tuesday’s incident.

Pakistan titled their operation “Marg Bar Sarmachar,” which translates to ”death to the guerrillas.”

For more than two decades, Baluch nationalists have waged a low-level insurgency in Pakistan’s Baluchistan region and Iran’s neighbouring Sistan and Baluchestan province.

However, the categories targeted this week differ. Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni separatist group Iran attacked on Tuesday, evolved from Jundallah, another Islamic extremist group with apparent ties to al-Qaida. Jaish al-Adl has long been accused of operating from Pakistan and undertaking strikes against Iranian security forces.

The Baluch Liberation Army, which has no religious component and has carried out attacks against Pakistani security forces and Chinese interests, is suspected of sheltering in Iran. The Baluchistan Liberation Front is similarly nationalistic.

The potential of escalation persisted Thursday as Iran’s military began a planned yearly air defence rehearsal stretching from the port of Chabahar near Pakistan across the country’s south to Iraq.

Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometre (560-mile) border that is mainly anarchic, allowing smugglers and militants to cross freely. The route is also important for worldwide opium trafficking coming out of Afghanistan. Separately, the Taliban urged patience in the face of rising tensions.

The cross-border attacks have raised concerns in both Iran and Pakistan about their military capabilities, particularly their radar and air defence systems.

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Pakistani retaliatory strikes in Iran kill at least 9, raising tensions along border

Such technologies are critical for Pakistan since tensions with India, their nuclear-armed neighbour, are constantly low. Their equipment has long been stationed on the borders rather than the border with Iran. Iran relies on these technologies to defend itself against prospective attacks from its primary adversary, the United States.

The tensions include significant geopolitical factors. Pakistan’s air force is reliant on fighter jets from the United States, China, and France, and some of this foreign weaponry was utilized in Thursday’s attack.

China, a key partner in both countries, has advised prudence. Beijing is a major regional player with a significant development project at Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Baluchistan area.

The United States also worked to reduce tensions. “There’s no need for escalation,” said Matthew Miller, a US State Department official.

SOURCE – (AP)

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The Canada Gun Ban Trudeau Adds 325 New Firearms

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The Canada Gun Ban Adds 325 New Firearms
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the Canada gun ban takes effect immediately

The Canada gun ban by Trudeau and his Liberals has added three-hundred and twenty-four firearm makes and models and variants to the banned weapons list, on Thursday.

“It is no longer legal to use, sell, or import these firearms in Canada,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc informed reporters.

According to RCMP Deputy Commissioner Bryan Larkin, the models evaluated and included on the list are assault-style guns as defined by the government in 2020. In the past, the Liberals prohibited 1,500 models using that criterion.

Current owners will have until October 30 of next year to comply with the ban during an amnesty period. The government’s intended buy-back program will include the new models.

The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR)’s Tracey Wilson blasted the Trudeau administration, claiming that the Liberals have not learnt anything from their eight-year effort to seize firearms from their rightful owners.

“They know they are out of time and Canadians are out of money, so this is just typical Liberal Party divide-and-conquer politics,” she added. They are aware that in less than ten months, the Conservatives will repeal everything.

They haven’t responded to law enforcement’s pleas, taken action against violent offenders who commit the same crimes repeatedly, or used an Order in Council to address the daily violence that afflicts Canada. Nothing.

Wilson also took issue with the government’s summary implementation of gun control laws through orders-in-council rather than through legislation.

Nicolas Johnson, a policy analyst and editor of thegunblog.ca, stated that he is not aware of any gun owner who expresses any desire or motivation to surrender their lawfully acquired firearms.

He told the Toronto Sun, “The Liberals have no idea how to carry out their confiscation fantasy, no money to pay for it, and no way to enforce it.” “With this most recent measure, the Liberals are coming across as more extreme, desperate, and weak.”

Even Liberal MPs opposed the Trudeau Liberals’ earlier attempts to impose universal gun control laws because they were so unpopular.

The Liberals subtly introduced two amendments to their gun control bill C-21 in 2022, which would have prohibited the lawful guns used by sport shooters and hunters on a daily basis.

Following strong resistance from hunters, sports shooters, and First Nations, the Liberals retracted those proposals. The opposition Conservatives called this a “humiliating climb-down” for the prime minister.

As of this writing, there is no list of the Canada gun ban for these 325 prohibited firearms.

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Man Leaps onto Polar Bear to Defend His Wife in Northern Canada

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Polar bear, Canada
The unnamed man suffered serious injuries but is expected to recover

Police say a man in Canada’s far north is recovering from injuries sustained when he jumped atop a polar bear to protect his wife from mauling.

The incident occurred at Fort Severn First Nations, a small community of approximately 400 people in far northern Ontario.

The nameless man was seriously injured but is likely to recover, according to a First Nations police officer.

On Tuesday, about 05:00 local time (11:00 GMT), the couple exited their house to find their dogs, when a bear on the driveway sprang at the man’s wife. He instantly jumped onto a polar bear to defend his wife from getting mauled.

“The woman slipped to the ground as her husband leapt onto the animal to prevent its attack,” police said in a statement. “The bear then attacked the man, causing serious but non-life-threatening injuries to his arm and legs.”

A neighbour arrived with a rifle and shot the bear multiple times. It retreated into the neighbouring woods, where it perished from its injuries.

He was later was transferred to a community nursing station and treated for his injuries.

Police stated they “continued to patrol the area to ensure there were no other bears roaming the community.”

According to Alysa McCall, a scientist with Polar Bear International, polar bears rarely attack humans.

When an attack occurs, the bear is frequently hungry, young, and ill, she explained. Normally, bears avoid human towns and prefer to hunt ice seals at sea.

“If you’re attacked by a polar bear, definitely do not play dead — that is a myth, “you fight as long as you can.”

According to Wikipedia, Fort Severn First Nation is a Western Swampy Cree First Nation band government located on the Severn River near Hudson Bay. It is the most northern community in Ontario, Canada. In 2001, the population was 401, consisting of 90 families in an area of 40 square kilometres.

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Macron of France Will Complete His Tenure And Choose a New Prime Minister Shortly.

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Macron
AFP

(VOR News) – The current French President, Emmanuel Macron, reportedly promised on Thursday to stay in office until the end of his term, which runs until 2027.

Moreover, he said he would appoint a new Prime Minister within a few days after Michel Barnier left, which explained his dismissal from the Prime Ministerial post.

Macron emerged the day following the unheard-of National Assembly vote of no confidence. The vote of no confidence left France without a functioning government. Instead of owning the flaws in his own government, he blamed his opponent on the extreme right for the downfall of Barnier’s rule.

They arrived at a decision. He described using the phrase “not to do but to undo”. “They preferred anarchy.”

According to the US President, the far-right and far-left have teamed to produce what he calls “an anti-Republican front.”

Furthermore, Macron’s carelessness will not be blamed on him.

Although he did not say anything about the name of the next prime minister in his statement, he said that he would choose a new prime minister during the next days.

The Elysee presidential palace’s communiqué said that President Macron “acknowledged” the resignation Barnier had turned in earlier that day. According to the statement, until a new government is chosen, Barnier and other ministers will keep responsibility for current affairs. The sentence included this phrase.

Following just three months in office, Barnier was obliged to resign as prime minister, hence shortening his tenure in modern France. Support for the no-confidence resolution—which the National Assembly finally approved—was shown in 331 votes overall.

In a parliament without a majority, Macron must choose a successor able of running a minority government. This is a difficult project. President of the National Assembly Yael Braun-Pivet, a Macron party member, advised him to act quickly.

Braun-Pivet made a statement on Thursday that France Inter radio carried. “I advise that he promptly pick a new prime minister,” she said. Regarding political issues, uncertainty had no place. Essential is a leader who can successfully interact with all the stakeholders and help to approve a new budget item.

Still, the approach could be difficult. French media claims that a shortlist of moderate candidates with ability to appeal to both political extremes has been produced. Still, Macron’s government has not confirmed any of the recommended public post choices.

Concerns have been voiced regarding possible delays this time resulting from Macron’s extended two-month term to name a replacement to Barnier following the June legislative elections’s loss by his party.

Following the no-confidence vote, Macron has been called on to resign.

Leading far-left France Unbowed party member Manuel Bompard said on BFM TV Wednesday night, “I contend that stability necessitates the resignation of the President of the Republic.” Bompard was addressing the matter involving the Republic’s President. Bompard was considering the matter at that moment.

The head of the National Rally, the party with the most Assembly seats, Marine Le Pen said that “the pressure on the President of the Republic will intensify” but did not demand Macron’s resignation. This happens even though she refrained from advocating Macron’s leaving.

On the other hand, Macron has rejected these demands and declared that under his government there would not be any further legislative elections. The French constitution states that should their administration be ousted by the National Assembly or should the National Assembly decide to dissolve the government, a president is not obliged to retire.

“I will execute that mandate; I was elected to serve until 2027,” he said to reporters earlier this week. “I will totally meet that mandate.” “I will fulfil that mandate.”

The constitution says that fresh legislative elections cannot take place before July. For those assigned policy formulation, this might cause an impasse.

Political unrest has heightened worries about France’s economy, especially with relation to the national debt, which, should significant action not be taken, may equal seven percent of GDP.

The collapse of Barnier’s government could cause a rise in French interest rates, therefore aggravating the debt load of the country. This is grounded in analysts’ evaluations.

SOURCE: VA

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