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China, Pakistan Reaffirm Ties as US Outreach to Islamabad Deepens

Commuters ride past the Faisal Mosque shrouded in fog on a cold winter morning in Islamabad on January 5, 2026. (AFP)
Commuters ride past the Faisal Mosque shrouded in fog on a cold winter morning in Islamabad on January 5, 2026. (AFP)
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China, Pakistan Reaffirm Ties as US Outreach to Islamabad Deepens

Commuters ride past the Faisal Mosque shrouded in fog on a cold winter morning in Islamabad on January 5, 2026. (AFP)
Commuters ride past the Faisal Mosque shrouded in fog on a cold winter morning in Islamabad on January 5, 2026. (AFP)

China and Pakistan pledged on Monday to further deepen ties and expand cooperation, reaffirming to each other their historically "ironclad" friendship as signs of rapprochement between Islamabad and Washington grow.

Pakistan is one of China's closest partners, diplomatically supporting Beijing on a wide range of internationally sensitive issues ranging from the status of Taiwan to the South China Sea.

In exchange, Beijing has poured billions of dollars into the South Asian country through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - a flagship project under China's Belt and Road trade and infrastructure initiative.

But repeated militant attacks on Chinese nationals working on the CPEC and other projects in ‌Pakistan have become ‌a major source of tension in recent years.

Adding to ‌the ⁠complexity in the ‌Sino-Pakistani relationship, US-Pakistani ties have warmed since President Donald Trump returned to the White House a year ago and landed a diplomatic victory in a region that China regards as within its sphere of influence.

Pakistan even said it would recommend Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for helping resolve a conflict it had with India.

In a joint statement on Monday, China and Pakistan said they would build an upgraded version of the CPEC, focus on their cooperation on ⁠industry, agriculture and mining, and step up collaboration in the financial and banking sector.

China then praised Pakistan's "comprehensive measures" to protect ‌the safety of Chinese personnel and projects, the statement ‍read.

Both sides also called for more "visible ‍and verifiable actions to dismantle and eliminate all terrorist organizations" entrenched in Afghanistan, which shares ‍borders with both Pakistan and China. No details were given.

'ALL-WEATHER STRATEGIC PARTNERS'

Pakistan is among an exclusive group of countries that China regards as an "all-weather strategic partner", with close ties dating back decades.

The first premier of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, once credited Pakistan as a bridge in normalizing Beijing's relations with the US in the 1970s, with Islamabad often acting as a channel of communication between Beijing and the outside world at ⁠the time.

But warming US-Pakistani ties since 2025 under the Trump administration are creating a counterweight to China's so-called neighborhood diplomacy with countries with which it shares a border.

Pakistan last March hailed its counter-terrorism cooperation with Washington after the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah, whom it blames for a 2021 attack on US troops at Kabul airport. Trump publicly thanked Pakistan for its role in the capture.

The Trump administration also released $397 million for a US-backed program in Pakistan that monitors use of F-16 fighter jets in counter-terrorism efforts despite Washington's global freeze in foreign aid.

On Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Beijing to reaffirm the "ironclad friendship and strategic mutual trust" between the two neighbors.

"China and Pakistan will ‌further promote their ironclad ties, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and continue to strengthen their strategic cooperation to break new ground," the joint statement said.

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World

Zelenskiy Seeks New Trump Meeting as Peace Negotiators Tackle Land Issue

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Nicosia, , Cyprus, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Petros Karadjias/Pool via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Nicosia, , Cyprus, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Petros Karadjias/Pool via Reuters)
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Zelenskiy Seeks New Trump Meeting as Peace Negotiators Tackle Land Issue

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Nicosia, , Cyprus, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Petros Karadjias/Pool via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Nicosia, , Cyprus, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Petros Karadjias/Pool via Reuters)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is seeking a new meeting with US President Donald Trump as their officials revisited the two most problematic issues in peace talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

Kyiv is under US pressure to secure peace quickly but wants security guarantees from allies and is pushing back on Russian demands to cede its eastern Donetsk region and give up control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Speaking to reporters over WhatsApp on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said he wanted to meet Trump again soon to gauge his openness to a Ukrainian proposal that Washington provide security guarantees for more than 15 years in the event of ‌a ceasefire.

He ‌also urged Trump to step up pressure on Russia, which ‌has been ⁠cool on ‌the US-backed peace push and is continuing its massive air attacks on Ukrainian cities and the country's energy grid.

"The Americans, in my view, are being productive right now; we have good results... They need to put pressure on Russia. They have the tools, and they know how to use them," Zelenskiy said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suggestion of a new meeting between Zelenskiy and Trump.

Citing the US operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Zelenskiy suggested ⁠Washington could similarly move against Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a Vladimir Putin ally whose troops became known for their brutality in ‌Ukraine.

"Maybe then Putin would see it and think twice," he ‍said.

Talks in Paris this week produced ‍commitments from Kyiv's allies to back up a ceasefire with guarantees such as a multinational troop ‍presence.

But Zelenskiy said the expression of "political will" had yet to be translated into legally binding pledges backed by national parliaments.

MAJOR STUMBLING BLOCKS

Zelenskiy spoke as US and Ukrainian officials in Paris discussed the matter of territory and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia plant , Europe's largest nuclear facility, which he described as the two thorniest issues in the talks.

Kyiv has refused to pull out of the industrialized Donetsk region, which Russia has failed to seize entirely despite occupying wide swathes of it.

⁠Zelenskiy has said the US has floated the idea of a free economic zone there if Ukraine withdraws from the parts of the region that it still controls.

On Tuesday, US and Ukrainian officials had already talked through "some ideas" to address the issue of territory. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff said "land options" had been discussed and that he hoped for compromise to be reached.

Any compromises on land should be put to a referendum for Ukrainians, Zelenskiy has previously said. According to an opinion poll last month, around three-quarters of Ukrainians are prepared for a deal that would freeze the current front line, but oppose ceding territory.

The US has also proposed trilateral operation of the Zaporizhzhia plant, which Moscow captured in 2022 and connected to its own power grid, with an American chief manager, ‌Zelenskiy said last month.

Kyiv has instead proposed joint Ukrainian-American use of the plant, according to Zelenskiy, with the US itself determining how to use 50% of the energy produced.

World

US Says It Needs to Control Venezuelan Oil Sales Indefinitely to Drive Change

The city of Caracas, days after the US launched a strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela January 7, 2026. (Reuters)
The city of Caracas, days after the US launched a strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela January 7, 2026. (Reuters)
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US Says It Needs to Control Venezuelan Oil Sales Indefinitely to Drive Change

The city of Caracas, days after the US launched a strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela January 7, 2026. (Reuters)
The city of Caracas, days after the US launched a strike on Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Venezuela January 7, 2026. (Reuters)

The United States needs to control Venezuela's oil sales and revenue indefinitely to drive the changes it wants to see in the country, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday.  

The comments reflect the importance of the South American country's crude oil reserves to President Donald Trump's strategy since US forces ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid on the capital Caracas on Saturday. 

"We need to have that leverage and that control of those oil sales to drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela," Wright said at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami. 

STORED OIL MOVING TO MARKET FIRST 

He said ‌the US would ‌market stored Venezuelan oil first, then sell ongoing future production, including ‌to ⁠US refineries specially equipped ‌to process it, with revenues deposited into accounts controlled by the US government. 

Wright added he was speaking to US oil companies to learn what conditions would enable them to enter Venezuela to help boost production there. 

"The resources are immense. This should be a wealthy, prosperous, peaceful energy powerhouse," he said. 

"That's the plan." On Tuesday, Caracas and Washington reached a deal to export up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to the United States, an accord that would divert supplies from China while helping Venezuela avoid deeper oil production cuts. 

The agreement ⁠is a sign Venezuelan government officials are responding to Trump's demand that they open up to US oil companies or risk more military ‌intervention. 

Trump has said he wants interim President Delcy Rodriguez to give ‍the US and private companies "total access" to Venezuela's ‍oil industry. 

"Instead of the oil being blockaded as it is right now, we're going to let ‍the oil flow," Wright said at the conference. 

Selling Venezuelan oil "will benefit the American people, the American economy and global energy markets, but of course, it will also massively benefit the people of Venezuela," he said. 

Shares of US refiners Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy were up between 2.5% and 5%. 

WHITE HOUSE MEETINGS 

Raising crude output from Venezuela is a top objective for Trump, who is scheduled to meet with the heads of major oil companies at the White House on Friday, according to sources. 

Representatives from ⁠Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron - the top three US companies, all of which have experience in Venezuela - would be present, according to a source familiar with the planning. 

The companies have declined to comment. 

Venezuela was producing as much as 3.5 million barrels per day in the 1970s. But mismanagement and limited foreign investment led to a huge drop in annual production, which averaged about 1.1 million bpd last year. 

Wright said he believed short-term production increases in Venezuela are possible, but that a bigger recovery to past production levels would take years. 

"We could get several hundred thousand barrels a day of additional production in the short to medium term if the conditions are there for just small capital deployments," Wright said. "To get back to the historical production numbers, you know that takes tens of billions of dollars and significant time," he said. 

The South American country ‌sits atop the world's largest oil reserves but accounts for only about 1% of global supply.  

World

Netanyahu Tries to Calm Tensions After Israeli Bus Runs Over and Kills Ultra-Orthodox Teen

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a debate initiated by the opposition as part of a plenary session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 05 January 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a debate initiated by the opposition as part of a plenary session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 05 January 2026. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Tries to Calm Tensions After Israeli Bus Runs Over and Kills Ultra-Orthodox Teen

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a debate initiated by the opposition as part of a plenary session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 05 January 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a debate initiated by the opposition as part of a plenary session in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 05 January 2026. (EPA)

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged calm on Wednesday after a bus driver ran over and killed a teenage boy during a protest by thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish demonstrators against a law seeking to draft them into Israel’s military.

“I call for restraint to prevent the mood from becoming further inflamed so that, heaven forbid, we do not have additional tragedies,” Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that the death would be thoroughly investigated.

The incident on Tuesday evening killed yeshiva student Yosef Eisenthal, who police said was 14. Video from the protest obtained by The Associated Press showed the boy being trapped under the vehicle while the driver continued to drive on for several meters as onlookers jostled and screamed.

Police officers arrested and questioned the bus driver, who told investigators he was attacked by protesters before his vehicle hit the boy. Police said Wednesday that the driver's arrest had been extended until Jan. 15. He has not yet been charged.

Protesters had been blocking the road and acting violently toward police officers, throwing eggs and other objects at them, a police spokesperson said.

The violence reflected growing tensions between the Israeli authorities and the ultra-Orthodox, known as Haredim, as the government mulls plans to draft them into the military.

When Israel was founded in 1948, a small number of gifted ultra-Orthodox scholars were granted exemptions from the draft, which is compulsory for most Jews in the country. But with a push from politically powerful religious parties, those numbers have swelled over the decades.

There is support for rolling back the ultra-Orthodox exemption among many secular Israelis, especially those who have served multiple rounds of duty in the latest war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza.

Measures to draft the ultra-Orthodox have been met with staunch opposition and occasional violence from religious protesters who claim serving in the military will destroy their way of life. The pushback has created a political problem for Netanyahu, who relies on the support of religious parties in the Israeli Parliament.