Friday briefing: Pakistan retaliates with strikes in Iran

Pakistan retaliated with attacks in Iran

Pakistan announced yesterday that it had carried out attacks on what it said were terrorist hideouts in Iran. A day earlier, Iran struck what it called militant camps in Pakistan. The military exchange is the latest example of a widening series of hostilities linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Pakistan yesterday indicated that it did not want the clash with Iran to escalate. The military called the two neighbors “brotherly countries,” and officials refrained from directly accusing Iran, saying Pakistan was only targeting separatists.

Iran condemned the attacks, but also appeared to try to defuse tensions. The Foreign Ministry called Pakistan a friendly neighbor and added that it made a distinction between the government of Pakistan, an ally, and terrorist groups operating within its borders.

Details: Iranian officials said nine people were killed, including four children. Pakistani officials said the death toll from the Iranian attacks on Tuesday included at least two children.

Context: An emboldened Iran has been using its proxy forces against Israel and that country's allies since the start of the war in Gaza. These actions, and now attacks on other countries in the region, have increased the risk that conflicts in the Middle East could worsen.

Houthis: The US has attacked military sites in Yemen belonging to the group, an Iranian-backed militia, for the fifth time in a week.

The US-run repository, designed to help scientists share everyday data, never added the entry to its database. Instead, it asked the Chinese scientists to resubmit the genetic code with more details, a request that went unanswered. The virus's code was made public two weeks later by a separate pair of virologists, kicking off a frantic global effort to save lives by building tests and vaccines.

Bribery allegations in Singapore

Singapore's Transport Minister S. Iswaran was accused of corruption and taking bribes. He is accused of accepting “Hamilton” and football tickets, a private jet ride and more. He resigned before pleading not guilty yesterday.

This unprecedented series of events was a blow to the country's squeaky clean reputation. The ruling People's Action Party has faced several accusations of impropriety in recent months, and this new scandal could damage the party as it moves toward a major transition in 10 months.

In Japan, a popular comedy show on Amazon Prime has a surprising mandate: don't laugh. Participants try to get each other to panic; the last one with a straight face wins.

The antics in the show are funny. But it's the moans, screams and contorted expressions of the participants as they try to stifle their laughter that are truly riveting. So much so that the show spawned a sprawling international franchise, with local versions in more than a dozen places around the world.

Our travel predictions for 2024

A record 4.7 billion passengers are expected to fly worldwide by 2024, according to the International Air Transport Association. And they go to new destinations.

London, Rome, Tokyo, Cancun and Las Vegas – some of the hottest destinations of 2023 – are still popular, but so are the Cayman Islands and French Polynesia. And after last year's record high temperatures, some travelers are aiming for cooler places like Scandinavia.

The increasing use of artificial intelligence could also impact the way we book online, what happens if flights are canceled or delayed and even how much we pay for tickets.