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China’s Xi Cements Ties with Belarus Leader against Background of Ukraine War

A handout photo made available by the Belarusian President Press service shows Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) pose for a handshake during their meeting in Beijing, China, 01 March 2023. Lukashenko is on a state visit to China. (EPA/Belarusian President Press service)
A handout photo made available by the Belarusian President Press service shows Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) pose for a handshake during their meeting in Beijing, China, 01 March 2023. Lukashenko is on a state visit to China. (EPA/Belarusian President Press service)
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China’s Xi Cements Ties with Belarus Leader against Background of Ukraine War

A handout photo made available by the Belarusian President Press service shows Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) pose for a handshake during their meeting in Beijing, China, 01 March 2023. Lukashenko is on a state visit to China. (EPA/Belarusian President Press service)
A handout photo made available by the Belarusian President Press service shows Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) pose for a handshake during their meeting in Beijing, China, 01 March 2023. Lukashenko is on a state visit to China. (EPA/Belarusian President Press service)

China President Xi Jinping and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko sealed a series of agreements on Wednesday to build up an "all weather" partnership between their countries, against the background of the war in Ukraine.

Their meeting in Beijing brought together two of the foreign leaders on whom Russian President Vladimir Putin is most reliant for support as his army struggles to achieve the goals of its year-old invasion.

In televised comments, Xi said China was keen to strengthen trust and cooperation with Belarus "given the instability and turbulence of the international situation".

Lukashenko said the meeting was taking place "in a very complicated time which demands new unorthodox approaches and responsible political decisions. They must be primarily aimed at the prevention of an uncontrolled descent into a global confrontation which has no winners."

He said Xi had "clearly, definitively, pointedly declared this to the international community" - a reference to a 12-point paper released by China last week in which it called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine.

"This is why Belarus has been actively putting forward its peace proposals, and comprehensively supports your incentive on international security," Lukashenko added.

The two countries signed a range of cooperation documents in economy and trade, industry, agriculture, science and technology, health, tourism and sports, Xinhua News reported.

The Belarusian economy ministry said one of the agreements was on the planned creation this year of a free trade and investment zone. With a population of just 9.3 million, Belarus has a tiny economy compared to China's but is a major producer of fertilizer.

Beijing has become increasingly vocal in calling for peace as the Ukraine conflict drags on, and denied it would provide arms to Moscow after US officials said China was considering doing so.

Lukashenko allowed Putin to launch his initial invasion from Belarusian territory and has let Russia train newly mobilized soldiers at Belarusian bases, while saying he will not enter the war directly unless his country is attacked by Ukraine.

In September last year, Xi and Lukashenko announced an "all-weather" strategic partnership, in a step-up in bilateral ties. China signed a "no limits" partnership with Russia just weeks before Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year.

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World

Back From Iran, Pakistani Students Say They Heard Gunshots While Confined to Campus

A Pakistani medical student Arslan Haider waits at the airport after arriving from Tehran on a commercial flight amid the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, January 15, 2026. (Reuters)
A Pakistani medical student Arslan Haider waits at the airport after arriving from Tehran on a commercial flight amid the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, January 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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Back From Iran, Pakistani Students Say They Heard Gunshots While Confined to Campus

A Pakistani medical student Arslan Haider waits at the airport after arriving from Tehran on a commercial flight amid the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, January 15, 2026. (Reuters)
A Pakistani medical student Arslan Haider waits at the airport after arriving from Tehran on a commercial flight amid the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, January 15, 2026. (Reuters)

Pakistani students returning from Iran on Thursday said they heard gunshots and stories of rioting and violence while being confined to campus and not allowed out of their dormitories in the evening.

Iran's leadership is trying to quell the worst domestic unrest since its 1979 revolution, with a rights group putting the death toll over 2,600.

As the protests swell, Tehran is seeking to deter US President Donald Trump's repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters.

"During ‌nighttime, we would ‌sit inside and we would hear gunshots," Shahanshah ‌Abbas, ⁠a fourth-year ‌student at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, said at the Islamabad airport.

"The situation down there is that riots have been happening everywhere. People are dying. Force is being used."

Abbas said students at the university were not allowed to leave campus and told to stay in their dormitories after 4 p.m.

"There was nothing happening on campus," Abbas said, but in his interactions with Iranians, he ⁠heard stories of violence and chaos.

"The surrounding areas, like banks, mosques, they were damaged, set on fire ... ‌so things were really bad."

Trump has repeatedly ‍threatened to intervene in support of protesters ‍in Iran but adopted a wait-and-see posture on Thursday after protests appeared ‍to have abated. Information flows have been hampered by an internet blackout for a week.

"We were not allowed to go out of the university," said Arslan Haider, a student in his final year. "The riots would mostly start later in the day."

Haider said he was unable to contact his family due to the blackout but "now that they opened international calls, the students are ⁠getting back because their parents were concerned".

A Pakistani diplomat in Tehran said the embassy was getting calls from many of the 3,500 students in Iran to send messages to their families back home.

"Since they don't have internet connections to make WhatsApp and other social network calls, what they do is they contact the embassy from local phone numbers and tell us to inform their families."

Rimsha Akbar, who was in the middle of her final year exams at Isfahan, said international students were kept safe.

"Iranians would tell us if we are talking on Snapchat or if we were riding in a cab ... ‌that shelling had happened, tear gas had happened, and that a lot of people were killed."

World

Bomb Hoax Forces Turkish Airlines to Make Emergency Landing in Barcelona

A Turkish Airlines aircraft after landing at El Prat airport, in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 15 January 2026, after Spanish security forces where alerted due to a bomb threat on board the aircraft. (EPA)
A Turkish Airlines aircraft after landing at El Prat airport, in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 15 January 2026, after Spanish security forces where alerted due to a bomb threat on board the aircraft. (EPA)
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Bomb Hoax Forces Turkish Airlines to Make Emergency Landing in Barcelona

A Turkish Airlines aircraft after landing at El Prat airport, in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 15 January 2026, after Spanish security forces where alerted due to a bomb threat on board the aircraft. (EPA)
A Turkish Airlines aircraft after landing at El Prat airport, in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 15 January 2026, after Spanish security forces where alerted due to a bomb threat on board the aircraft. (EPA)

A false bomb threat delivered via an onboard mobile connection caused a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to make an emergency landing at Barcelona's El Prat Airport on Thursday, Spanish police and the airline ‌said.

A Turkish ‌Airlines spokesperson ‌said ⁠earlier that ‌the plane had landed after crew detected that a passenger had created an in-flight internet hotspot which was named to include a bomb threat as the aircraft approached ⁠Barcelona.

Spain's Guardia Civil police force said ‌in a statement ‍that following a ‍thorough inspection of the aircraft ‍after its passengers had disembarked, the alert had been deactivated and no explosives had been found. Spanish airport operator AENA said El Prat was operating normally.

Police have launched ⁠an investigation to determine who was behind the hoax, the statement added.

Türkiye's flag carrier has faced previous incidents of hoax threats, usually made via written messages, that led to emergency landings over the years.

World

US Sanctions Iranian Officials Over Protest Crackdown

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent watches as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn at the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent watches as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn at the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
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US Sanctions Iranian Officials Over Protest Crackdown

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent watches as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn at the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent watches as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn at the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP)

The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on Iranian security officials and financial networks, accusing them of orchestrating a violent crackdown on peaceful protests and laundering billions in oil revenues.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the measures in the wake of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the last few days in the face of repression and an almost week-long internet blackout.

"The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice," Bessent said in a statement, adding that the action was taken at President Donald Trump's direction.

Among those sanctioned is Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme Council for National Security, whom Washington accused of coordinating the crackdown and calling for force against protesters.

Four regional commanders of Iran's Law Enforcement Forces and Revolutionary Guard were also sanctioned for their roles in the crackdown in Lorestan and Fars provinces.

Security forces in Fars "have killed countless peaceful demonstrators" with hospitals "so inundated with gunshot wound patients that no other types of patients can be admitted," the Treasury said.

The Treasury additionally designated 18 individuals and entities accused of operating "shadow banking" networks that launder proceeds from Iranian oil sales through front companies in the UAE, Singapore and Britain.

These networks funnel billions of dollars annually using cover companies and exchange houses, as Iranian citizens face economic hardship, according to the Treasury.

The sanctions freeze any US assets of those designated and prohibit Americans from doing business with them. Foreign financial institutions risk secondary sanctions for transactions with the designated entities.

The action builds on the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. In 2025, the Treasury sanctioned more than 875 persons, vessels and aircraft as part of this effort, it said.