INDIAN and Pakistani soldiers have shelled military outposts and villages along their highly militarised frontier in disputed Kashmir.

The two armies accused each other of initiating the artillery and mortar fire and small-arms gunfire. No casualties have been immediately reported.

Tensions have been high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan last week, carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a suicide bombing on February 14 in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops.

Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian planes and capturing a pilot, who was later returned to India in a peace gesture.

MEANWHILE, the US trade deficit jumped by nearly 19% in December, forcing the trade imbalance for all of 2018 to widen to a decade-long high of $621 billion.

The gap with China on goods widened to an all-time record of £419.2bn.

The new Commerce Department figures undermined a key commitment by President Donald Trump, who promised to cut the trade imbalance on the belief that it would bring back overseas factory jobs and bolster the broader US economy. But America’s dependence on imports appears to have increased after the tariffs that Trump imposed last year on foreign steel.

ELSEWHERE, Vladimir Putin has urged Russia’s top domestic security agency to tighten its protection of information related to new weapons and sensitive data.

The National:

In a speech to top officials of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the main KGB successor agency, Putin said foreign spies have intensified their efforts to get access to Russia’s secrets.

“They are looking for access to political, economic, scientific and technological information,” he said. “That means that your work should become even more effective.”

The Russian leader noted that the FSB last year exposed 129 foreign intelligence officers and 465 of their agents.

He said the FSB should pay particular attention to protecting information related to the development, testing and production of new Russian weapons.

FINALLY, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has caused outrage after sharing a video on Twitter that shows one man urinating on another.

The National:

He made the post to criticise the country’s Carnival. Many conservatives in the country detest Carnival celebrations. The president himself was one of the main targets of revellers’ mockery during Carnival.

The post included video of a street party in which a man touches himself sexually and then lowers his head while another man urinates on him.