NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 ‘ Historic’ visit: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on his first official visit to Kabul on Thursday, focusing on the ongoing peace talks with the Taliban as well as on building trust and strengthening relations between the two often acrimonious neighbors. Ghani called Khan’s visit “historic” while the Pakistani prime minister assured the Afghan leader that his government would do “everything possible” to help reduce violence in the wartorn country. The visit comes at a crucial time for Afghanistan as Kabul government negotiators and the Taliban are holding U.S. brokered negotiations in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office, to chart a course for a postwar Afghanistan.
2 Venezuela ambassador: Washington has its first ambassador for Venezuela in a decade despite the U.S. having no diplomats at its Caracas embassy amid a breakdown in relations. James Story’s nomination as ambassador was confirmed Wednesday by a U.S. Senate voice vote. The South Carolina native takes the job that he will carry out from the capital of neighboring Colombia as Venezuela endures a historic economic and political crisis. The two nations totally broke diplomatic ties last year, each withdrawing its diplomats shortly after Washington backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s legitimate leader over President Nicolás Maduro.
3 Kashmir violence: Four suspected militants were killed and two Indian police officers were wounded Thursday in a gunfight in Indiancontrolled Kashmir, police said. Police InspectorGeneral Mukesh Singh said the shooting erupted on the outskirts of the city of Jammu and lasted three hours. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, and both claim the region in its entirety. Insurgent groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels. Pakistan says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to insurgents.
4 Uganda protests: Seven people were killed and 45 others wounded as violent demonstrations broke out across Uganda on Wednesday, police said, after two presidential candidates were arrested while trying to campaign ahead of a January election. Police arrested one of the candidates, the popular musician turned law maker Bobi Wine, on accusations that his rallies had breached coronavirus rules. Another presidential contender, Patrick Amuriat, was arrested and accused of planning to hold an unauthorized assembly. He was later released. The demonstrations come barely two months before a general election in which President Yoweri Museveni will face off with 10 other candidates. Museveni, 76, is one of Africa’s longestserving rulers and has presided over the East African nation since 1986.
5 Royal probe: Prince William has “tentatively welcomed” an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding a BBC interview in 1995 with his mother, Princess Diana, royal officials said Thursday. William, who is second in line to the throne, said the probe “should help establish the truth behind the actions” that led to the interview. The BBC announced Wednesday it has appointed a retired senior judge to lead an investigation into the 1995 interview after Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, made renewed complaints this month that journalist Martin Bashir used false documents and other dishonest tactics to persuade Diana to agree to the interview. Diana divorced from Prince Charles in 1996 and died in a Paris car crash in 1997 as she was pursued by paparazzi.