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Nov. 24 (UPI) — At least three officers of Pakistan’s Federal Constabulary were killed Monday and 12 people, including civilians, were injured in a suicide bombing at the force’s regional headquarters in Peshawar in the northwest of the country.

Two loud explosions were heard coming from the compound at about 8:10 a.m. local time, with an official saying five security officials and seven civilians had been injured.

Calling it a “foiled terrorist plot,” authorities said two armed attackers were shot dead before they were able to enter the building.

“Initially, three militants tried to attack the headquarters. One terrorist blew himself up at the gate, while two others tried to enter the premises but were gunned down by FC personnel,” Peshawar Capital City Police Officer Mian Saeed Ahmad told reporters.

Ahmad said authorities were already on high alert due to the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province where Peshawar is located, which borders Afghanistan, and where the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan, has carried out a series of deadly attacks.

A TTP splinter group called Jamatul Ahrar said it carried out the attack.

“The perpetrators of this incident should be identified as soon as possible and brought to justice,” said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The Federal Constabulary is a national paramilitary police force responsible for internal security as well as tackling organized crime and drug production and trafficking.

Monday’s attack came two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 12 people and injured 36 after detonating a car bomb outside a court building in Islamabad, which Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asim blamed on the TTP and its backers in Afghanistan.

The government said the Taliban regime in Kabul backs the TTP, which has been waging a campaign of violence against Shiite Muslims in Pakistan and launching attacks against Pakistan’s military and government in a bid to replace the secular state with an Islamic one.

Tensions escalated in early October when Pakistan mounted airstrikes on TTP targets in Kabul and three other cities. The Taliban responded by launching deadly attacks along its border with Pakistan in which 23 soldiers were killed and at least 29 were injured.

Pakistan carried out retaliatory strikes that officials said killed 200 Taliban-backed Afghan militants and claimed Pakistani forces had destroyed Afghan terrorist training camps.

In September, six soldiers were killed in an attack on an FC compound in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, 100 miles southwest of Peshawar. Five militants that authorities said belonged to the TTP were killed in the ensuing firefight.

The TTP is proscribed by the United States and Britain, among others, as a foreign terror organization.

Nov. 19 (UPI) — At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured after Russian forces unleashed more than 500 drones and missiles against targets across Ukraine overnight.

The deadliest strike was in the western city of Ternopil, 70 miles southeast of Lviv, where 20 people died and 66 were injured, including 16 children, when a nine-story apartment building was almost completely destroyed, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.

Images and footage from the scene show the residential building reduced to smoldering rubble above the third floor.

Emergency rescue teams were continuing to search the wreckage for victims Wednesday morning and local authorities ordered residents to stay in their homes and keep windows closed due to the presence of harmful gases and particulates in the air at six times the normal levels.

The neighboring Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytskyi provinces were also hit in attacks targeting energy, transport and other civilian infrastructure. Three people were injured in Ivano-Frankivsk while in Khmelnytskyi, damage to power-generating and distribution facilities left as many as 2,000 people without electricity in sub-zero temperatures.

At the other end of the country, at least 30 people were injured after drones attacked three districts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, setting buildings and cars on fire.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X that the Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv and Dnipro regions were also struck in the attack, which he said involved more than 470 attack drones and 48 missiles, mostly cruise missiles.

In a social media update, the Ukrainian military said that while 442 of the drones and 41 cruise missiles were intercepted, seven missiles and 34 drones were able to penerate air defenses, successfully targeting 14 locations. A further six locations were impacted by falling debris from downed drones and missiles.

The attacks came as Zelensky headed to Turkey from Spain on Wednesday to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying he was seeking to “reinvigorate” peace talks with Moscow which have been stalled for months.

Reports have emerged that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff has been engaging behind the scenes with his Russian counterpart, Kirill Dmitriev, to work toward a peace plan.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not confirm the U.S.-Russia negotiations and said Moscow would not be sending any representative to Wednesday’s talks in Ankara.

The move was linked to a meeting between Zelensky and U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Randy George in Kyiv on Thursday. Driscoll and George are the most senior U.S. officials to visit Ukraine in nine months.

Nov. 11 (UPI) — Thailand on Tuesday suspended the U.S. President Donald Trump-brokered truce with Cambodia after four soldiers patrolling near their shared border were wounded by landmines.

“Agreement suspended,” the Royal Thai Army said in a social media statement. “Cambodia has clearly shown hostility.”

Thailand and Cambodia signed the fragile agreement with Trump looking on, on Oct. 26 in Malaysia, bringing a halt to renewed fighting, which began in July, in their long-held border dispute.

The Royal Thai Army said four soldiers were injured in the Huai Ta Maria area, about a half mile inside Thailand from the Cambodia border.

The wounded soldiers were identified as Sgt. Maj. Thoedsak Samaphong, whose right foot was severed at the ankle, Pvt. Watchira Phanthana, who suffered a chest injury from the blast impact, Pvt. Apirak Srichomchai, whose leg was injured by shrapnel, and Pvt. Anucha Sujaree, who suffered eye irritation caused by chemicals from the detonation.

All four are receiving treatment at a local hospital.

The soldiers were injured while conducting a routine patrol along a familiar route used for patrols.

The Royal Thai Army said Thai forces discovered a section of barbed wire barrier along the border that had been disturbed on Sunday. The next day, the patrol team dispatched to inspect the disturbed area triggered a landmine at around 8:30 a.m. local time.

Three additional landmines were later found, it said.

“From the evidence, it is concluded that the barbed wire was illegally removed and new mines were planted inside Thai territory, targeting our patrols,” Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said in a statement.

After the Thai military announced soldiers had been injured but before the agreement was suspended, the Thai Ministry of Defense put a planned prisoners of war exchange with Cambodia on hold.

Cambodia has denied the allegations that its troops had planted new landmines, stating that most minefields from Cambodia’s civil wars of the 1970s and 1980s near their border “have not yet been cleared due to difficult terrain and the undemarcated status of the border areas.”

“The Royal Government of Cambodia wishes to affirm that Cambodia remains committed to implementing the Joint Declaration, which was signed amid much applause from the international community,” Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement.

Thailand’s Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the suspension of the Joint Declaration in a statement that said the decision was made during a meeting of the National Security Council.

Included in the suspension was the repatriation of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war.

The ministry said it is preparing to issue a formal protest, while Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has instructed all security agencies to protect the lives of citizens and defend the country.

SEOUL, Nov. 7 (UPI) — After the inauguration of the Donald Trump in January, the South Korean government and its corporations were pressed to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States to avoid high tariffs.

Observers expressed concern Friday that such large-scale overseas investments could end up harming Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which heavily depends on the manufacturing industry.

Late last month, Seoul agreed to invest $200 billion in cash and $150 billion in shipbuilding and other industrial projects in the United States over the coming years, with an annual ceiling of $20 billion.

In return, Washington would reduce tariffs on Korean exports to 15% from 25%, honoring the terms agreed upon in late July. Trump also vowed to provide propulsion technology to help the key U.S. ally in East Asia build a nuclear-powered submarine.

The deal coincided with Trump’s visit to Korea to meet his counterpart, President Lee Jae Myung, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

“Beginning next year, our annual investments in the United States are expected to double compared to 2025. When corporate funds move abroad, companies will have less capacity to invest at home,” Sogang University economics Professor Hur Jung told UPI.

“The problem is that it appears to become a long-term trend, which is feared to lead to the hollowing out of Korea’s manufacturing sector. The government is required to put forth great efforts to address this,” he said.

Hur recommended the country to prioritize traditional industries, such as semiconductors and automobiles, rather than concentrate on artificial intelligence-based innovations, which have been the main focus of the incumbent Seoul administration.

Other analysts note that the worries go beyond the $350 billion investment plan, as many Korean corporations have announced major spending initiatives in the United States to avoid high tariffs.

For example, Korea’s state-backed companies and private enterprises promised up to $150 billion in investments in the United States in August, when Lee had his first summit with Trump.

Back then, Hyundai Motor Group unveiled a plan to funnel $26 billion in the United States until 2028, while Hanwha Group committed $5 billion to expand its shipyard in Philadelphia, which the Korean conglomerate acquired late last year.

Korean Air also plans to purchase 103 aircraft from Boeing by the end of the 2030s, which is expected to total $36.2 billion in value.

“Korea Inc. invested $106 billion in domestic facilities last year. And its companies are now ready to spend $150 billion in the United States alone after a single meeting between the two countries’ political leaders in August. Does it make sense?” economic commentator Kim Kyeong-joon, formerly vice chairman at Deloitte Consulting Korea, asked rhetorically in a phone interview.

“Our foreign exchange reserves stand at just over $400 billion, and we are preparing to pour more than that amount into a single foreign market. Such an approach could weaken our ability to invest domestically, weighing heavily on the manufacturing-based economy,” he said.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, manufacturing accounts for 27% of South Korea’s gross domestic product, which is almost double the average among other member countries.

Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources is set to establish a forum involving related researchers and businesses to deal with the expected crisis. The Bank of Korea also warned of the gravity of the situation in an August report.

“As in past crises, our corporations, the government and households need to share a sense of urgency and work together to overhaul the country’s aging economic structure,” the central bank said at the time.

However, critics take issue with the complacency of top policymakers like Kim Yong-beom, chief presidential secretary for policy in the current administration, who downplayed fears about the hollowing out of the domestic manufacturing sector.

“Such assessments may be premature because many partner firms and key operations, including research and development centers, still remain based in Korea,” Kim told a conference in early September.

Nov. 2 (UPI) — Nine people were wounded Sunday in a shooting that erupted at a party being held at a large Airbnb in northern Ohio, authorities said.

Vito Sinopoli, chief of police for Bath Township, located about 26 miles due south of Cleveland, told reporters during a press conference that officers were working to identify the victims.

He said they were a “mix” of adults and youth. At least one suffered a leg injury in a fall, he said, stating they were unsure of how many suffered gunshot wounds.

Their conditions were unknown.

“This kind of violence is unacceptable in our community, and we’re committed to applying all available resources to this investigation,” he said.

Police were notified of the shooting at a residence in the 900 block of Top O Hill Drive at about midnight Saturday.

Officers arrived to find what Sinopoli described as a “chaotic scene” and began administering life-saving aid to the victims, who were then transported to area hospitals.

The shooting disrupted a “large party” at the residence that Sinopoli said had been advertised on social media as a birthday party that was to begin at 9:30 p.m.

Attendees fled when the shots were fired, he said, adding that preliminary information indicates that the majority of the shots were fired on the ground floor.

No arrests have been made. The number of shooters, if more than one, was unknown.

“We don’t have a clear indication yet of the number of individuals who may have been responsible,” he said.

Evidence was being gathered, surveillance was being reviewed and witnesses were being interviewed, he said, while calling on members of the public with information about the shooting, no matter how seemingly insignificant, to contact the authorities.

Police are in contact with Airbnb and the property owner.

There is a zoning prohibition on short-term rentals, such as those offered by Airbnb, Sinopoli said.

“Typically in a situation like this, there’d be a compliance letter issued to the property owner,” he said.

In July 2017, a shooting was reported at an Airbnb in Bath township, resulting in one person sustaining a leg wound.

On Monday, Airbnb announced an “anti-party system” to be in effect for the Halloween weekend.

It said the system uses “machine learning” on bookings to identify potential party risks. Employed last year, the system “deterred” 38,000 people in the United States and 6,300 people in Canada from booking listings over Halloween.

In a statement to ABC News, Airbnb said it was “heartbroken by this senseless act of gun violence.”

“Unauthorized and disruptive gatherings are strictly prohibited on Airbnb and our Safety team acted immediately to remove the account of the individual who deliberately broke rules by booking this stay,” the company said.

According to The Gun Violence Archive, which tallies gun violence across the United States, there have been at least 358 mass shootings involving four or more victims in the country so far this year.