US appreciates Islamabad's role in Afghan peace process: Wells

Dawn News:Chief US diplomat for South Asian affairs, Alice Wells, appreciated the steps taken by Pakistan to advance the Afghan peace process.

The US diplomat, in a media briefing after her visit to three South Asian nations — Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka — said, "Pakistan has important leverage to promote lasting security and stability in Afghanistan."

She said that she held several meetings in Pakistan with government, military, civil society, and business leaders. "At the top of the agenda was understanding how we can grow our bilateral relationship commensurate with the cooperation that we are achieving in promoting peace in Afghanistan and regional stability," she added.

Prince Charles: 'My dearest wish is freedom and equality for Palestinians

Skynews: Prince Charles has said it is his "dearest wish" that Palestinians see "freedom, justice and equality" in the future.

Speaking during his historic first visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the royal said there should be an end to the "suffering and division" in Bethlehem.

The Prince of Wales's words of support came as US President Donald Trump was expected to unveil his long-awaited Middle East peace plan.

But the initiative, intended to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is thought to be an unfavourable one for Palestinians with the Israelis reportedly set to receive territory gains and other concessions.

"It breaks my heart, therefore, that we should continue to see so much suffering and division," Charles said.

Davos speakers fear possibility of a China-US economic decoupling

The Express Tribune: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned on Wednesday that a possible decoupling of the Chinese and United States economies could have severe consequences.

In a speech at the 50th World Economic Forum in the ski town of Davos, Switzerland, Lee said that the US, China and globalisation are three major external factors that have driven the economic prosperity of Singapore, but they are all changing now.

“So we would like to continue to work with America, we would like to continue to work with China,” he said, adding that from time to time, Singapore will find itself being pressed to choose sides.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatens to end U.S. military pact

Nbcnews:The Philippine president has renewed a threat to terminate an accord that allows American forces to train in the country unless Washington restored a visa of a political ally linked to human rights violations.

President Rodrigo Duterte said in an expletives-laced speech Thursday night that he would give notice to the U.S. terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement, known by its acronym VFA, if the reported cancellation of the entry visa of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa was not corrected within a month.

“I’m warning you ... if you won’t do the correction on this, I will terminate the ... Visiting Forces Agreement. I’ll end that son of a bitch,” Duterte said in televised remarks in central Leyte province.

Huge rally as Iraqis demand US troops pull out

BBC NewsHuge crowds have taken to the streets of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, to demand that US forces leave Iraq.

Powerful Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr earlier called for a million people to join Friday's march, close to the US embassy in the capital.

Iranian-backed militias are among those protesting in the city.The US killing of the top Iranian military commander, Gen Qasem Soleimani, on 3 January at Baghdad airport has fuelled tensions.

Also assassinated in the US drone strike was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi who had commanded the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group

How popular is Donald Trump? Latest approval ratings as polls shows President remains steady

The Telegraph: Donald Trump's presidential approval ratings remain steady despite impeachment and the unfolding Iran crisis, according to The Telegraph's poll tracker.

The tracker, which takes an average of the last 10 polls, puts Mr Trump's approval rating at 44 per cent, while 52 per cent disapprove of the way the President is doing his job.

Donald Trump's term has been packed with controversy and intrigue but, underneath it all, few people seem to have really changed their minds about America's 45th President.

80 Muslim leaders resign from BJP over CAA in Madhya Pradesh

The statesman: Amid ongoing protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) across the country,  around 80 Muslim leaders of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh on Friday resigned from the primary membership of the party calling the contentious law a “divisive” measure.

One of the leaders, Rajik Qureshi Farshiwala, said around 80 Muslim party men have resigned from the BJP’s primary membership after writing to the newly-appointed national president, JP Nadda, on Thursday. The leaders, who called the CAA “a divisive provision made on religious grounds”, include several office-bearers of the BJP’s minority cell, he said.

“It was becoming increasingly difficult for us to participate in our community’s events after the CAA came into existence (in December 2019).

“At these events, people used to curse us and ask us how long we plan to keep quiet on a divisive law like the CAA?” he said. “Persecuted refugees of any community should get Indian citizenship. You cannot decide that a particular person is an intruder or a terrorist merely on the basis of religion,” Farshiwala added.

Trump's peace plan may polarise the Middle East it seeks to calm

Morungexpress: As U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to host Israeli leaders in Washington to reveal details of his long-delayed Middle East peace plan, Palestinians warned on Friday that no deal could work without them on board.

Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival centrist former general Benny Gantz to the White House next week, saying he would reveal details of his plan before his Tuesday meeting with Netanyahu.

But Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said there had been no communication with the Trump administration, and that no peace deal could be implemented without "the approval of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian leadership".

"This is the only way if they are serious, if they are looking for stability in the whole region," Rudeinah said.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014 and Palestinians have called Trump's proposal dead in the water, even before its publication, citing what they see as his pro-Israel policies.

The Palestinians have boycotted political dealings with the Trump administration since it reversed decades of U.S. policy on the conflict, splintering the international consensus.

India's anti-CAA protests are mirroring global protests

Deccanherald: The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which came into effect on January 10, 2020 has led to widespread protests in India since the end of 2019. Protesters hold that, coupled with a National Register of Citizens (NRC), the legislation will become an accessory in a religious test of citizenship that excludes Muslims.

Notably, the protests in India mimic many other protests taking place across the world such as those in Latin America, Europe, parts of the Middle East and South East Asia. Against this backdrop, it is likely that the anti-CAA protests have much more potent underpinnings than what is obvious. To appreciate this, it is worthwhile to look at the Indian protests in the context of global protests.

CAA protests make students fear for safety on campuses

Deccanchronicle: One of India’s most famous universities is half-empty and some students who are on campus track each other on mobile devices to ensure people are safe, as violent clashes spill on to campuses that are seen as a hotbed of anti-government protests.

The country has been rocked by demonstrations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new citizenship law that some say discriminates against Muslims. At least 25 people have died and thousands of people have been arrested.

Many of the most visible and persistent protests have been in and around universities, and some students now fear for their safety following clashes with police and unidentified mobs in recent weeks.

“I don’t think I can ever feel completely safe, either in the girls’ hostel or on campus,” said Nayla Khwaja, a student at New Delhi’s renowned Jamia Millia Islamia university.