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Pakistan appoints caretaker cabinet ahead of likely delayed elections

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Pakistan swore in a caretaker cabinet under interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Thursday, tasking it with running the country until fresh elections, which may be delayed beyond November as constituency boundaries are redrawn, Reuters reported.

The caretaker cabinet's top job will be to lead Pakistan towards economic stabilisation, with the $350 billion economy treading a narrow recovery path after getting a last minute $3 billion bailout deal from the International Monetary Fund, averting a sovereign debt default.

The election commission said on Thursday that new constituencies based on the latest census would be finalized by Dec. 14, state television reported. After that, the commision will confirm an election date.

Electoral experts have suggested that process could see the nationwide vote pushed back several months, possibly until February. Under the constitution, elections should be held within 90 days of the dissolution of parliament's lower house, which in this case would mean early November.

In the interim cabinet, former central bank chief Shamshad Akhtar was appointed as finance minister and Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States, Jalil Abbas Jilani, was named foreign minister, the new information minister Murtaza Solangi said.

According to Reuters the main challenge for the caretaker government and its successor remains the economy. Recent economic reforms have led to historic levels of inflation and high interest rates, putting pressure on ordinary people and businesses.

Kakar, a little-known politician who is believed to be close to the military, was sworn in himself on Monday after President Arif Alvi dissolved parliament last week on the advice of outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Political analysts say that if the caretaker set-up stretches beyond its constitutional tenure, a prolonged period without an elected government would allow the military, which has ruled the country directly for more than three decades of its 76-year existence, to consolidate control.

The opposition party led by former premier Imran Khan had accused Sharif's coalition of seeking to avoid facing an election as Khan's popularity grew. Khan is currently under arrest over a conviction for charges stemming from the sale of state gifts.

Khan has denied wrongdoing and his lawyers are lodging appeals over the conviction, read the report.

Sharif's government had denied dragging its feet, saying it is a constitutional requirement to hold elections under the latest census.

Other names in the cabinet include former provincial minister Sarfaraz Bugti as interior minister and Mishaal Malik, the wife of jailed Kashmiri Leader Yaseen Malik, as Minister for Human Rights.

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Iran never plotted to kill Donald Trump, Iranian president says

Iran has also previously denied U.S. claims of interfering in American affairs, including through cyber operations, Reuters reported.

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Iran never plotted to kill Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an NBC News interview on Tuesday, denying past claims from Trump and the U.S. government, Reuters reported.

In November, the U.S. Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate the U.S. president-elect. Law enforcement thwarted the alleged plan before any attack was carried out.

Trump also said last year during the U.S. election campaign that Iran may have been behind attempts to kill him, read the report.

"None whatsoever," Pezeshkian said on NBC News, when asked if there was an Iranian plan to kill Trump. "We have never attempted this to begin with and we never will."

Trump, who won last year's U.S. election and will take office on Monday, survived two assassination attempts during the campaign - one in September while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, and another during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Investigators have found no evidence of Iranian involvement in either.

Iran has also previously denied U.S. claims of interfering in American affairs, including through cyber operations, Reuters reported.

Tehran says Washington has interfered in its affairs for decades, citing events ranging from a 1953 coup against a prime minister to the 2020 killing of its military commander in a U.S. drone strike.

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Russia’s Putin and Iran’s Pezeshkian to sign strategic partnership pact on Jan. 17, Kremlin says

Putin and Pezeshkian will also talk about regional and international issues, it added.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Russia on Jan. 17 after which they will sign a long-awaited comprehensive strategic partnership pact, the Kremlin said on Monday.

The two leaders will discuss options for further expanding ties between Moscow and Tehran, including in the trade and investment, transport and logistics, and humanitarian spheres, the Kremlin said.

Putin and Pezeshkian will also talk about regional and international issues, it added.

Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran and other countries hostile towards the U.S., such as North Korea, since the start of the Ukraine war, Reuters reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in October that Moscow and Tehran intended to sign the strategic partnership pact which would include closer defence cooperation.

The United States accused Tehran in September of delivering close-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, and imposed sanctions on ships and companies it said were involved in delivering Iranian weapons. Tehran denies providing Moscow with the missiles.

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US sees possible Gaza deal this week, Sullivan tells Bloomberg News

Biden leaves office next week after Democrats lost the White House in November’s election, handing back the U.S. government to Trump and his fellow Republicans, who will control both chambers of Congress, read the report.

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The Biden administration sees a possible Gaza truce as soon as this week, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan told Bloomberg News on Monday, adding that there were no guarantees that the parties would agree to such a deal, Reuters reported.

Sullivan, speaking to Bloomberg in an interview, added that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has been in contact with incoming President Donald Trump's team and has sought to have a united front on the issue ahead of Washington's Jan. 20 transition of power.

"The pressure building here towards the end of President Biden's term has been considerable," Sullivan said. "It's there for the taking."

Biden leaves office next week after Democrats lost the White House in November's election, handing back the U.S. government to Trump and his fellow Republicans, who will control both chambers of Congress, read the report.

Envoys of both Biden and Trump attended weekend talks on the potential deal.

"The question is now: Can we all collectively seize the moment and make this happen," Sullivan told Bloomberg, adding that Biden had directed him to work closely with the incoming team.

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