20 Jan, 2024 | 07:12:24 AM IST
Pakistan-Iran Border Tensions Live News: Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and agreed to de-escalate the situation that emerged after strikes by both sides in each other’s territories, said the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Foreign Ministry said on Friday in a statement that Jilani talked to Amir-Abdollahian over the phone and expressed Pakistan’s desire to work with Iran based on the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation while stressing the close brotherly relations between Pakistan and Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.
Jilani stressed that respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty must underpin the cooperation, said the statement.
According to the Ministry, the two Foreign Ministers agreed that working-level cooperation and close coordination on counter-terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened.
Both Foreign Ministers also discussed the return of the ambassadors of the two countries to their respective capitals, the Ministry added.
Pakistan on Wednesday accused Iran of violating Pakistan’s airspace, killing two Pakistani children, after Iran hit some targets near the Pakistan-Iran border inside Pakistan.
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13 dead in China school fire
Thirteen people have died in a school dormitory fire in central China’s Henan province, the official Xinhua news agency reported Saturday. The blaze at the Yingcai School in Henan’s Yanshanpu village was reported to the local fire department at 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) Friday night, Xinhua said. Thirteen people have been confirmed dead, Xinhua said, adding that one person was injured.
DRI recovers cocaine worth Rs 6.2 crore at Mumbai airport
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Mumbai, in a statement, said they have recovered 628 grams of cocaine worth Rs 6.2 crore from a passenger arriving from Venuzula at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Acting on “credible inputs,” officers of DRI intercepted one male Venezuelan passenger suspected to be carrying drugs on January 16. A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was registered after he was arrested on January 18, the statement said. He has been remanded to judicial custody, it said.
Musk’s AI company secures $500 mn toward $1 bln funding goal
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has secured $500 million in commitments from investors toward a $1 billion goal, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The company is discussing a valuation of $15 billion to $20 billion, though terms could still change in the coming weeks, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.
Pakistan: Bilawal’s dig at joining forces with Nawaz Sharif
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Biden and Netanyahu have finally talked
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally spoke Friday after a glaring, nearly four-week gap in direct communication during which fundamental differences have come into focus over a possible pathway to Palestinian statehood once the fighting in Gaza ends.
Biden and his top aides have all but smothered Netanyahu with robust support, even in the face of global condemnation over the mounting civilian death toll and humanitarian suffering in Gaza as the Israelis have carried out military operations in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
But the leaders’ relationship has increasingly shown signs of strain as Netanyahu has repeatedly rebuffed Biden’s calls for Palestinian sovereignty, gumming up what the U.S. president believes is the key to unlocking a durable peace in the Middle East — the oft-cited, elusive two-state solution.