While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 20, 2024
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Commuters riding past a replica of Pakistan's Ghauri ballistic missile, in Islamabad on Dec 19.
PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan developing missiles that could eventually hit US
A senior White House official on Dec 19 said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets outside of South Asia, including in the United States.
In his stunning revelation about the onetime close US partner, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said Islamabad’s conduct raised “real questions” about the aims of its ballistic missile programme.
“Candidly, it’s hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States,” Mr Finer told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace audience.
“Pakistan has developed increasingly sophisticated missile technology, from long-range ballistic missile systems to equipment that would enable the testing of significantly larger rocket motors,” he said.
His speech came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile development programme, including on the state-run defence agency that oversees the programme.
US Republicans craft new deal to avert looming shutdown
Republicans in the US Congress said they had reached a new spending package that would avert a looming government shutdown and teed up a quick vote, as President-elect Donald Trump praised the deal after scuttling a prior bipartisan version.
“There’s an agreement,” Republican Representative Tom Cole, who chairs a committee that oversees spending, told reporters.
No Democrats immediately commented on the terms of the deal. The approval of the Senate, which they control by a 51-49 majority, and of Democratic President Joe Biden would be needed to enact the measure into law and avert a shutdown starting on Dec 21.
Hundreds in Damascus protest for democracy, rights
Hundreds of Syrians protested on Dec 19 in central Damascus calling for democracy and women’s rights, more than a week after an Islamist-led rebel alliance ousted president Bashar al-Assad, AFP correspondents said.
“We want a democracy, not a religious state,” men and women demonstrators chanted in central Damascus’s Ummayad Square, as well as “Free, civil Syria” and “the Syrian people are one”, while some protesters held signs including “No free nation without free women”.
Rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a lightning offensive from their north-west Syria bastion in November, sweeping swathes of territory from government control and taking the capital on Dec 8, toppling Mr Assad.
‘Welcome Donald’: Zelensky seeks to win over Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec 19 he wanted to appeal to US President-elect Donald Trump on a human level to win him over against “crazy” Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“Welcome Donald! What can I say?” Mr Zelensky said, when asked by a journalist in Brussels what emotions he will feel when Trump is inaugurated in January. “I think that President Trump is a strong man and I want very much to have him on our side.”
Trump reclaims the White House on Jan 20, having vowed to cut a quick deal to end the war in Ukraine unleashed by Moscow.
UK man denies crossbow murders of BBC presenter’s family
A 26-year-old man on Dec 19 pleaded not guilty to murdering the wife and two daughters of a BBC sports commentator in a crossbow and knife attack, as he was also charged with rape.
Kyle Clifford, who appeared before a judge at Cambridge Crown Court in eastern England via video link from prison, was arrested in July following a manhunt.
Clifford is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment and two counts of possession of offensive weapons, a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
